Chapter 7: The Thorn Princess
[Aunt Wu's Fortune-Telling Parlour, Makapu Village]
Katara tried to calm her heart that was rapidly beating in her chest- almost like it wanted to burst out of her blue waterbending robes.
This was it. In this mystical candlelit parlour, she was going to get her fortunes read by a real live fortune teller despite how much her meathead brother whined about it! Sokka had always been dismissive of things he couldn't understand after all. First, it was her waterbending, now it was Aunt Wu's fortune-telling. But Katara knew otherwise, there were few things more significant than the spiritual side of nature after all. And now, she was going to experience it first hand! Literally!
With her hand extended out, the elderly fortune teller in fine yellow robes traced the lines of her palm.
"Your hands are so smooth, Katara." Aunt Wu complimented with a smile, and Katara beamed.
"Thanks, Aunt Wu, I've been using a special seaweed lotion. I can get you some if you'd like!" She blurted out nervously before asking the question that she had been wanting to ask all this time, "So... do you see anything interesting in my loveline?"
Aunt Wu just laughed with a motherly smile, and Katara blushed in embarrassment. She must get that question a lot from girls her age, but the fortune teller just indulged her- tracing Katara's palm lines with a gentle finger.
"I see a great romance for you." She told her, "The man you're going to marry."
"Tell me more!" Katara almost shouted as she felt her heart leap in excitement.
"...I can see that he is a very powerful bender."
A thousand questions popped in her head. Was it a fellow Waterbender that she'll meet at the North Pole? Maybe an Earthbender that she'll meet on the way there? Maybe a rebel Firebender with a dark past like in those books!
"Wait... There's more." Aunt Wu hummed after a long pause- still tracing Katara's palm, "Oh, I haven't seen this in a while!"
"What is it?! Tell me, please!"
"It would seem that there will be more than one." She said with a bemused smile, "A man blessed by the spirits with exceedingly good looks at that."
Katara could only gape in shock.
"Not only am I going to be courted by a powerful bender, but also by a really cute guy?!" She exclaimed in disbelief before she realised something, "Wait, uh... does that say in my future or in my whole life in general?"
"Oh?" Aunt Wu giggled, "Have you had a lover that matches that description?"
"Well... not a lover." Katara trailed off- looking away as she sheepishly scratched the back of her head. Jet was really cute before she found out that he was a horrible person. Hopefully the powerful bender and the 'man with good looks' weren't mass murdering maniacs too. Honestly, Trying to drown an entire village of people... She felt like a total idiot for overlooking that just because of Jet's rugged, bad boy looks. Katara pouted, "Hopefully, he wasn't it. I'd feel so disappointed if he was 'the man blessed by the spirits with exceedingly good looks.'"
"Well... not a lover." Katara trailed off- looking away as she sheepishly scratched the back of her head. Jet was really cute before she found out that he was a horrible person. She pouted, "But hopefully, he wasn't it. I'd feel so disappointed if he was."
"Well, you don't have to worry!" the elderly fortune teller in yellow just laughed, "This tells of your future, if you must know."
"But how can I have two guys fighting over me? I don't feel that pretty!"
Aunt Wu just gave a reassuring smile as her wrinkled hand patted Katara's own, "Oh little Silver Lily, you underestimate yourself."
That cheered Katara up, and more important questions began popping up in her head that she immediately peppered the fortune teller with, "How will I meet him? What would I be wearing when I meet him? What kind of good looking are we talking about? Is he the hot-kind of good looking or the cute kind?"
"Well, if you must know, we can do another method of fortune-telling." Aunt Wu suggested- offering Katara a plate full of dried animal bones, "This is the most reliable way of telling your fortune. Pick one and throw one into the fire. The heat will makes cracks in the bones, and I read the bone cracks to tell you your destiny."
With hands that shook slightly, Katara did as instructed- picking out a bone from the pile and throwing it into the fire. Almost immediately, it caught fire and popped like a firecracker as smoke rose.
"Oh my! This- this is incredible!" Aunt Wu exclaimed as she stared at the fire, "Your heart will be host to a great battle. An awesome conflict between the forces of good and evil in a swirling firestorm of immense passions! A battle of love and lust whose outcome will shape the destiny of the ENTIRE WORLD!"
Katara gasped- her blue eyes wide. "That... that's so..."
"So romantic/horrible!"
Both Katara and Aunt Wu blinked at the closed door from where the shout of 'horrible' came from.
"Aang!" She shrieked in pure embarrassment at the closed door. "Were you eavesdropping on my fortune-telling?!"
The door slid open to reveal the airbender wearing a sheepish expression at being caught, "I'm sorry, you were just gone for so long that I got worried. Yeah, that's it!"
"Oh, sorry for making you worry but I was just asking Aunt Wu one last question anyway!"
"But Aunt Wu just told you that it's going to be a 'swirling firestorm'!" Aang butted in, "How is that romantic in any way?!"
"It's a figure of speech, Aang!" Katara harrumphed before excitedly turning to face the fortuneteller, "So, is he hot or cute?!"
"Well, to answer your question..." The older woman- who had just been sitting amused- said as she just picked up a fragment of bone, scrutinised it under the candlelight, and gave her the answer she was waiting (and hoping for), "Oh yes. He's really, really hot."
Katara squealed uncontrollably in excitement at the same time as Aang groaned in exasperation.
She hoped he was taller than her!
[Khan's Forge, Omashu]
Over a great anvil, my muscled seven-foot-tall frame clad in a blacksmith's apron hammered away at a red-hot piece of damascus-style steel that I was shaping into a knife. The sound of metal striking metal resounded, rhythmic and powerful, throughout the hazy interior of my personal blacksmithy.
Every tradesman needed good tools for their profession after all: The abacus for the clerk, the plough for the farmer, and deadly weapons for the soldiers of the 41st Division. That was why- all along the metal walls of my workshop- blades of all kinds lined the surfaces in such great numbers that there was now more blade than there was wall. Slender spears and hefty dao swords for my spearmen, baleful guandao glaive for my cavalry, and utilitarian woodsman hatchets for my mounted scouts. Every single one of them having had their cutting edges honed to a murderous sharpness; and all of them stamped with the same seal of the very best blacksmith to ever grace the Four nations: myself.
Skill Level up: [Smithing]! Lvl 16 - Lvl 17
After all, there was nothing quite like the monstrous power scaling and sheer bullshit of someone with a Gamer System. In a paltry two months, I had achieved a mastery of the forge that other people would have spent their entire lifetime trying and failing to attain.
[Smithing] Lvl 17 - Master
The skill of fashioning items from raw materials, repairing them, and honing them to a greater quality.
At higher levels, [Smithing] becomes more than just crafting weapons, armour and knick knacks; you will turn it into an artform. In a world filled with uncertainty, your creations will be where all doubt halts in its tracks. Why concern yourself about an enemy's parry when your blade can just shear right through their weapon like it was cork? Why worry about some waterbender's frozen spears when you know your armour won't even dent under the icy points? And you would be certain that your creations themselves will be there to endure the passing of the ages... and witness the bones of the enemies they have been used to slay turn to dust.
Level 5 - Apprentice Skill Perk
Muscle Smith (Passive): Everyone knows that you need at least a four pack abs to forge properly. Add 5% of your Strength and Dexterity as a smithing quality bonus.
Level 10 - Expert Skill Perk
Quality Assurance (Passive): Shit stuff done shit quick. You may choose to increase smithing speed by 5% for each 1% of smithing quality you forego, or vice versa. (e.g. Smith an item 100% faster in exchange for a 20% decrease in Item Quality; or smith an item 100% slower in exchange for a 20% increase in Item Quality.)
Level 15 - Master Skill Perk
Tools of the Trade (Passive): 'A real blacksmith knows how to make do with subpar equipment.' told the blacksmiths to their wives in bed. Drastically reduce the quality penalty of using [Smithing] skill with low-quality or missing tools; conversely, smithing quality and smithing speed bonuses scale slightly better with good tools.
+ R +
Of course, I was quick to realise that my effective [Smithing] was pushed beyond that of just Master-level thanks to the combined effects of the perks. The synergy and versatility of these perks were just that good.
I acquired them right on time as well!
The Fire Nation doesn't really equip its cheap, expendable infantry divisions like the 41st with the best weapons and armour; so, I had been aiming to outfit the 41st with better equipment for a while now. But between the raiding and the pillaging, I had struggled to find the time to forge all of it... until now. With the [Quality Assurance] perk, I can mass produce my work in record time; and with the bonuses from [Muscle Smith] and [Tools of the Trade], the Item Quality debuff from rush-building was all but negated.
Attainable Item Qualities
Poor - Shoddy - Common - Fine - Superior - Exquisite - ?
I'll have to level up my Smithing even more if I want to unlock the next level of Item Quality. For now, equipping my men with even (Fine) quality weapons and armour was going to be welcome compared to the (Shoddy) quality gear that we had left the Fire Islands in. Now, I was able to give my troops a clear and definite upgrade: They'll be slashing through piddly Earth Kingdom armour in no time. And it was all thanks to sticking around Omashu for a week, the troops definitely deserved a bit of off time to enjoy their spoils and concubines.
Speaking of horny troops lazing about...
"Are you girls just going to watch me all day?" I asked my honour guard of Kyoshi Warriors who were garbed in comfortable Fire Nation cotton reds as they sat there fanning themselves.
Suki just shrugged with an impish smirk on her full, pink lips.
"Well..." She said playfully, "if you're going to spend the entire day hammering away at something that isn't us... We might as well get some entertainment out of it, yeah? Honestly, you got six ready and willing girls right here; if we weren't still carrying your cum from the other night, we'd have thought that you aren't interested in women. Besides~ If you didn't want us watching, then maybe you shouldn't be doing that in just a leather apron and pants... and maybe close the windows too."
She smirked at the window behind me where the mid-afternoon sun was shining through, and when I turned, I caught a glimpse of the tops of some of the local girls' heads. Visiting sisters and nieces to the troops' concubines in the newly constructed Fire Nation base within Omashu.
"Good ventilation in a workplace is undervalued." I shrugged back at Suki as I began to put the finishing touches to the knife I was forging, "It is especially important here in a blacksmithing workshop where it will help keep the temperature and toxic gases under control."
The redhead just chuckled- the playful smile never leaving her face.
"Citing ancient airbender wisdom doesn't change the fact that there are already rumours floating around the city about your 'princely' appearance." Suki laughed, "Yeah, it's completely true, but it's still really funny."
"Let the people gossip." I grunted as I held up the finished knife before putting it into its brass-gilded leather sheath. I also pulled out five more identical ones and handed them to Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors, "Here, a (Superior) [Survival Knife]. It's meant for everything outside of combat. Cut rope, carve wood, field dress a hare, even come with a flint stick for starting a fire. But, in a pinch, its edge will hold up well enough in battle."
"Thanks, Khan... it's a fine blade." Suki murmured- running a slender finger along the cheek of the blade and along the diamond inlaid on the hilt. She smirked in amusement at me, "But you know that jewellery that you give to girls don't usually come in the form of a knife?"
"Are you sure that you're the type of girl to walk around glittering with jewellery?" I shrugged, I only did that because I get a bonus in [Smithing] experience the more expensive an item is. I would rather forge fashionable
"Eh, you're right. Who would even want to have jewell- Hey!" Suki said- only to be interrupted by her compatriots who they pushed her aside.
"Ignore Suki. She's a tomboy with no sense of romance."
"No, I'm not! I'm just a lot more practical!"
"The knife is really handy and pretty, but we'd definitely appreciate custom jewellery! Every girl wants to feel like a princess every once in a while!"
"Can I give you designs?! I always dreamed of a personalised gold unagi bracelet!"
"Oh, can you do jade, Khan? I'd love a lion-turtle necklace!"
"I'd love some jade earrings in the shape of the moon! I want to feel like the princess of Kyoshi Island!"
"Bull pig, I'm the one who's going to look like the princess of Kyoshi Island!"
"Hey, you two can't just outshine everyone else like that!"
"Just watch me!"
"Well..." I hummed in consideration, "If we ever find ourselves needing to mingle with high society, I'll certainly deck you all out properly with distinct styles. And yes, I can do jade. Just be ready with your designs, and I'll do the rest. For now, however, I still have to finish putting together my armour."
Their pretty faces lit up in delight as they rushed out of my blacksmithy, their shouts of excitement following them out.
"I'm going to be the first to get my design in!"
"My design will be better though!"
"No, it's not. Your sketches look like ostrich-horse scratchings!"
Watching her sisters rush out and leave her alone with me, Suki just sighed with a fond smile, "I guess we know what we'll be doing this evening. We'll see you back home, Khan?"
"Yes." I leaned down and kissed the blushing redhead. And she melted into the kiss- pressing her soft, busty body against my torso and grinding herself up and down. By the time I pulled away from the kiss, two hard points poking through the thin fabric of her shirt and her deep blue eyes were clouding over hotly with lust as she looked up at me.
For giving them lovely gifts and sweet promises...
{Suki & the Kyoshi Warriors} Affection: 5 - 10
{Suki & the Kyoshi Warriors} Obedience : 80 - 83
"Mmmm... spirits..." Suki moaned softly- her slender hands gripping desperately at my apron, "What do I have to do to get this body on top of me tonight?"
"Be lucky."
"I'll keep my fingers crossed then." Suki grinned as she turned towards the door before stopping at the threshold- glancing back at me with a sultry smirk on her lips, "But I think it'll help if I stack the odds in my favour, hmm? I'll talk to the others and see if we can't give you a nice surprise when you get home. So... don't keep us waiting, alright?"
With that last suggestive comment, she left for home- her footsteps echoing away as I was left alone in my blacksmithy. I shouldn't have kissed her...because now Suki was going to go and rile up the other Kyoshi Warriors; and once again, I definitely won't have time to read through the books I had acquired. I had a wealth of knowledge that could and would be extremely useful in the future, as well as being the fastest way to level up my Intelligence stat. But oh well. In terms of things to get distracted by, six extremely horny girls waiting for me in my bedroom was not so bad.
For now, however, there was work to be done.
Attainable Item Qualities
Poor - Shoddy - Common - Fine - Superior - Exquisite - ?
"Let's see if I can't improve my armour past (Exquisite) quality." I muttered to myself as I pulled out my unfinished armour from my Gamer Inventory. "One day, I'll be clad in armour that could withstand even the wrath of the Heavens themselves, and this is where it starts."
I lifted up my hammer; and once again, the sound of metal striking metal began to resound from my blacksmithy.
(Later that night)
By the time that I had finished, the sun had set, the stars were out in the sky and this mountain city of stone was dark out.
For light, Omashu only had scant lamp posts placed at intersections, but people usually slept before nightfall unless it was a special occasion. The pre-industrial world was certainly a dark and quiet place. Not that I was in any rush to show off my new armour: it didn't look any different from before after all. However, it was good to be back to being the big bad warlord in spiky Fire Nation armour, instead of just some tall guy in trousers and a t-shirt.
"Excuse me..." The soft voice of a woman rang out through the night air, formal and polite, "Captain Khan, commander of the 41st Division, I presume?"
She stood in the middle of the stone road. Her tight black dress, black thigh high boots and raven black hair made her look like a shadow standing amongst shadows; and if not for her rare eyes, I would not have seen her. Her blood red eyes that were almost luminous in their intensity as she stared at me coldly- like some demon of the night. Ultimately, it was her brass hair ornaments in the shape of flowers that completed her look and made me recognise her. Her name immediately came to me.
Yor Briar.
An incredibly lethal assassin known for her preternatural strength, speed and beauty... and a character from the manga/anime Spy x Family. Unfortunately for me, that was about as much as I knew about her- the manga had been on my backlog to read. Regardless, her existence here shouldn't be possible here in the world of Avatar, except I had already expected deadly assassins because of the [Marked for Death] perk that I took. Without a doubt, she must be it.
Lustrous brass-plated stiletto knives twirled in her slender palms as she spoke just as politely as before, "I am sorry to bother you, but may I have the honour of taking your life?"
"I respectfully decline." was my answer... right before my arms winded in a graceful arc to launch a screeching ball of flame straight up into the night sky.
Yor's blood red eyes widened slightly in surprise as several red flares shot up into the sky in response to my fireball. Shouts of alarm echoed all across the city as my soldiers woke up and readied themselves for battle. I couldn't risk the possibility that Yor had come at the head of an Earth Kingdom offensive after all. Whatever plan she was part of, it stops here.
"Now the entire 41st Division knows you're here." I told her simply as I pulled out my new (Exquisite) [Steel Meteor Hammer].
"That is acceptable." The assassin murmured with a cold stare. Her heels tapping against the stone as she began approaching me. "Our business will be concluded long before they find us."
She burst into a dead sprint- rocketing towards me faster than anything I'd ever seen before.
Seeing her rapid approach, I did the only thing a mongolian warrior under Chinggis would do in this situation: I turned tail and ran. For the Mongols who were the penultimate horse archers, honour in battle did not matter whether you kill an enemy while charging or retreating; it only mattered that you did. A mindset that could be traced back to their nomadic hunter roots, one either came back home with that game or came back home in shame. The means did not matter, as long as food was put over the fire.
With [Power Move] adding to my movespeed/jump height and [Parkour Prodigy] doubling my Dexterity for all things parkour, I was able to keep distance as I sprinted down roads, ran up walls, and leapt from rooftop to rooftop with the extremely dangerous assassin hot on my heels. And all while, I kept lashing out at Yor with my [Steel Meteor Hammer]- the chain clinking crisply as it sliced through the night air. The raven-haired assassin dodged every strike that I attempted on her of course- the flanged metal ball of my weapon gouging and smashing the patches of stone road and slate rooftop that she had been standing on just half a heartbeat ago.
"A poor choice in location, assassin!" I shouted to her, "You'd have had a better chance of killing me out in the open fields!"
It was here that the reasoning behind my choice in weapons was clearest, I had immense reach with my meteor hammer while still being able to leverage all of my Strength and Dexterity in battle. Meanwhile, her immense strength and armour-piercing stilettos were all but useless now that she can't get close enough to stab me with them. But more importantly, it was apparent that she hadn't been expecting me to be this fast and agile.
"Were you expecting another bender stuck in his stances and styles?" I taunted as I shortened the distance by two paces- allowing me to increase the speed of my attacks and ramp up the pressure. And sure enough, I landed the first hit of our fight- my meteor hammer smashing against her side with enough force to crush boulders. It was the same for the follow up strikes that came after, the dangerous mass of my meteor hammer working into a continuous kata as it struck her thigh, her arm, her shoulder. Such an avalanche of blows would have pulverised the torso of a lesser woman. But for Yor, I bet it will only bruise.
She stood there as a momentary lull fell on our battle. Breathing through gritted teeth as she shakily held up her still unused stilettos..
"Surrender, and I promise that I'll listen to your pleas." I told her honestly. Because in order to remove [Marked For Death] and stop the annoying stream of assassins that will be coming my way, I needed to confront whoever hired her; and that meant that Yor needed to be alive. I was ready to bribe her in whichever way was necessary to knock that debuff perk from my list, but...
Imagine my dismay when instead, Yor actually got serious.
Stone broke under her feet as she exploded into a dash, and I immediately found my meteor hammer stuck as she stabbed her brass stiletto down onto the chain of my weapon- staking the chain to the ground and stopping my offensive right in its tracks.
So fast was she that she closed the distance between us in a blink of an eye- her arm outstretched with her stiletto in a brutal lunge. Even the reflexive activation of my [Bullet Time] wasn't enough for me to dodge in time... her brass stiletto pierced through the solid steel of my new chestplate with an ear-piercing shriek of metal. Seven inches of stiletto blade sank so deep into my chest that the tip exited out my back and clinked against the backplate of my armour.
* Critical Hit! * [Thorn Princess' Charge], -882 hp
HP: 1050 - 168
The force was enough for me to stumble back- falling onto my back with Yor sitting on my abdomen. Blood red eyes staring at me as she panted breathlessly. "It's over... it's too close to your heart. You'll bleed out within seconds of me pulling this out."
"I agree. It is indeed over..." I grunted- staring back at her through the slits of my skull-faced helm, "...Because you just lost your one chance of winning this fight."
[Berserker Rage]
HP at 16%.
All stats at 268%
[Furor of Furious Fury]
Angry caveman powers, activate!
For the next 4 strikes you make, your strength is doubled.
Yor barely saw my punch shoot in from the side- my steel-encased fist striking her cheek with the concentrated force of a runaway train and sending her tumbling away like a stone skipping across water before crashing against a wall.
I stood up to my full armoured height. The Gamer System allowing me to operate at full power for as long as I had HP left.
[Furor of Furious Fury]: 3 of 4 Charges left
"I learned from fighting Bumi." I explained to her as I pulled out the stiletto from my chest- the brass blade slick red with my own blood, "Immediately after my confrontation with him, I went about rounding out my build so that I wasn't so dependent on my Dexterity to carry me to victory. I had prepared and built for powerful Earthbenders, but it seems that this build is just as suitable for assassins who can't kill me in one strike."
After Bumi's fight, I had six total perk points: Four perk points from the mission reward and two perk points from level ups. I immediately went for the perks that would be my backup plan should my Dexterity ever fail, like it had right now.
Furor of Furious Fury (Active): Angry caveman powers, activate! For the next 4 strikes you make, your strength is doubled.
[Lvl 2] Flex it off! (Passive): You feel a lot better after you pose and flex your muscles. On top of your Constitution, add 50% Strength to your Health points and Resistances calculations.
[Lvl 2] Overpower (Passive): Hit 'em hard when they're not looking, but hit 'em even harder when they are. Gain 40% bonus Strength against enemies that you're not outflanking.
Riposte (Passive): A skill distilled from a billion hours in Soulsborne games. Attacking directly after a successful parry now carries a guaranteed crit.
+ R +
Name: Khan "The Giant"
Level: 7
Level exp: 192/3500
Rank: Captain. 41st Division, Fire Nation Army.
HP: 168/1050
Strength: 54 (220)
Dexterity: 52 (139)
Constitution: 58 (155)
Intelligence: 5 (13)
Spirit: 39 (104)
* 0 Perk Points Available.*
+ R +
With a casual yank on my meteor hammer's chain, I snapped the stiletto that had staked it down, and the flanged steel ball was once again swinging in deadly circles around me.
"You can't win this." I told the woman as she shakily got back onto her feet, "You should just take my offer of surrender, Yor."
Red eyes widened at the mention of her name, "How do you know my name?"
"That depends. Are you surrendering?"
"... No." She said simply, her eyes narrowed into hard slits.
"Then wouldn't you like to know." I laughed as I activated [Bullet Time]- time once again slowing down to 80%. Against someone as outlandishly quick like the Thorn Princess, it would not have mattered. But with almost three times the Strength and Dexterity, I was able to swing my meteor hammer so fast that it howled through the air. Yor had been dodging my longer ranged attacks the entire fight, but not this time. This time she found that she was no longer fast enough to dodge it, and she was forced to take the strike- blocking the flanged metal ball with a spare stiletto that immediately snapped under the blow.
"Arggh!" She grunted as the meteor hammer crushed through her block and struck her upper arm.
[Furor of Furious Fury]: 2 of 4 Charges left
She was off-balance now, it was time to end the fight. Stone exploded underneath my feet as my seven-foot-tall armoured frame erupted into a sprint aimed right for her
The raven-haired woman gritted her teeth in pain and pulled out her last stiletto knife, once again rushing forward as well into yet another [Thorn Princess' Charge] that would definitely have killed me, except... This time, I was the faster one. Her stiletto knife found itself tangled in a web of my meteor hammer's chain in a masterful parry; and whenever I parry...
[Riposte]
* Next attack is a guaranteed crit! *
Her pretty face, which was currently in a shocked expression, suddenly found my large armoured hand grasping it...right before I slammed her down with all my supercharged Strength. Such was the force that it made a great crater on the stone road with her body.
* Critical Hit! *
[Furor of Furious Fury]: 1 of 4 Charges left
I was certain that a hit that strong would have killed Bumi in one blow, but Yor was made of much sterner stuff- groaning in pain as she lay there.
"Surrender, Yor." I told her as I stood over her. My large armoured frame casting a shadow over her as she lay there under moonlight that seemed to be unusually bright tonight. Even as she lay there defeated, she was beautiful under the moonlight like an angel that had fallen from on high. Black hair spread out around her head like a dark halo.
"I... I can't. I can't surrender." Yor grunted- trying and failing to get onto her feet when her entire body seemed to be unresponsive. Blood leaked out of the corner of her mouth as she coughed, "I'm sorry... I can't give up. I have to- until my last breath."
"I see... then so be it." I nodded- my meteor hammer swinging in tight circles, and Yor closed her eyes.
"Anya... Mama is so sorry. But at least I can give you this one last gift..."
...
[Furor of Furious Fury]: 0 of 4 Charges left
(A day later) [Elsewhere]
= G =
Dear esteemed director,
The Thorn Princess has been slain by the Giant. Her body charred to ash and buried right where she fell in combat at Omashu.
That very same morning, the Giant wasted no time in addressing his troops of how he had vanquished an 'Earth Kingdom Assassin' and he held the Thorn Princess' stiletto knives aloft as a trophy. He had even commissioned a monument for himself to commemorate his victory over her, which also functions as the Thorn Princess' final resting place. From his account of the battle, the Thorn Princess had fought valiantly and honourably. It is with my recommendation that we fulfill our bargain with her. Attached is a list of Fire Nation schools where Anya Forger may live out a peaceful life as was previously discussed.
Ultimately, the bloodline yet lives and the contract remains dreadfully unfulfilled. We shall dutifully maintain our vigil until we receive new orders; however, we will also quietly work under the assumption that another assassin will be sent to complete the contract.
Respectfully yours,
Gardener Chrysanthemum
= G =
(Meanwhile) [Khan's Abode, Omashu]
It was slow, gentle and idyllic.
The bed's cover was still soft and warm. The morning sunlight streamed through an open window alongside the chirping of birds and the laughter of children; and the scent of someone cooking a hearty breakfast was wafting in through the door crack. It was like the ideal lazy summer sunday- the type where nothing needed to be done, and there was nothing to do but to do whatever you wanted.
So, I suppose that left us with one big question to be answered.
"Why am I still alive?" Yor murmured to me just as I walked into the room with her breakfast. I had left her in black dress so that she wouldn't panic- having dressed her wounds with clean bandages wrapped around her head, arms and sides where she had been injured. Her red eyes looked over to my chest to the small bandage where she had stabbed me as if confirming my identity. The salve that I had mixed with my [Herbalism] skill accelerated the healing of it four-fold, the same salve that I had applied to her.
I needed her alive for a specific reason: So that she can help me stop the stream of assassins that [Marked for Death] was going to be sending my way.
If Yor was an indication of what level of assassin I was facing, then I might not survive them all. I needed the client who had put the contract on my head. Whoever they were, they needed to die so that I could cut this problem off at the root, and convincing Yor to cooperate was my ticket to that.
"We'll talk over breakfast." I told her gently as I approached her bed and extended little legs out from underneath the tray to place it over her lap.
Dumplings, rice, steamed vegetables and even some fresh fruits... It was a lavish, hearty breakfast in bed for the assassin that almost killed me. A peace offering, because even Chinggis Khan valued diplomacy. However, Yor wasn't interested much in the food, it seemed. Her beautiful face not-so-subtly glanced down to the meal then to the metal knife right by her plate, then back at me. Yes, yes. She was still contemplating killing me, and I could still take her down if she tried it again. But I was counting on her curiosity... and it did not disappoint.
"Why did... you spare me?" She said hesitantly.
"Because I think we can help each other." I said simply- pulling up a chair and sitting my seven-foot-tall frame down by her bedside. "Help each other achieve what we couldn't on our own."
"I'm... not sure about that." Yor replied- her red eyes looked down to her plate.
Times like these I wish I had read the manga. All the promotional art that I had seen of her depicted either a doting mother or a competent cold-blooded assassin. From what little I knew of the plot, she had managed to trick some super spy to be her husband. So, without a doubt, she was incredibly intelligent and cunning: Assassins needed superb planning skills and a knack for deceiving people after all. I treaded carefully around such a dangerous mind.
"You want to quit this assassin business, don't you?" I asked- basing my assumption on what little I knew of her background. "But your guild holds your leash tight- possibly against your will?"
My words seemed to have struck a chord something in Yor, because she fell silent while she poked at her food.
"I can supply you whatever you need." I said- taking a stab in the dark, "Get you wherever you wish or maybe help you find someone as well?"
The kitchenware crumpled under her fists like paper as I yet again hit home with my words- an indecipherable expression of deep, focused thought on her face. Was she angry? And if she was, was I the target of her ire or for someone else? Hard to tell. But what I did know now was that I had to tread even more carefully. I did expect a tense negotiation with Yor after all, and had appropriately prepared myself for it: I was prepared to be wrong in my assumptions and retreat to other talking points, I was prepared for a round two in case she turned hostile and I was prepared with a number of potential bargaining chips- some very costly...
But what I was not prepared for was for Yor to suddenly burst out in tears- burying her face in her hands.
"They have my daughter... they have Anya!" She sobbed, "I wanted to quit. For her! She was just so happy having a normal childhood that I can't bear to take that away from her, no matter how much I wanted to take her under my wing and teach her all she needs to know how to be a great assassin- like how to slit a target's throat or how to toss someone off a balcony. Everyone always said that we looked like a good mother-daughter pair. It shouldn't matter if I had adopted her just for a cover identity: She's my daughter, I'm her mother and that's all that really matters, right?!"
"Right..." I just agreed to her tearful rambling. I was definitely taken aback at how easily she was pouring her heart out to a complete stranger that she had been aiming to murder on the streets just last night... ... But I wasn't falling for it. My money was that this was an elaborate trick to get me to lower my guard down. I was definitely dealing with a cunning killing machine who wasn't afraid to use her 'innocent mother' appearance to lull targets into a fall sense of security.
"But the Garden said that I can't just retire... so they... so they..." She hiccuped- tears streaming down her cheeks and snot dripping from her nostrils.
She actually looks like a naive helpless woman... What a frighteningly competent actress.
"So they're holding her hostage to ensure your compliance..." I nodded- playing along with her ruse. "But what matters is that I know how to help you. What if we found where she was being held?"
She whipped her head towards me- red eyes wide in shock.
"You would do that?!"
"Naturally." I nodded- handing her a handkerchief, "I help you, you help me. Everyone walks away happy. I just need the name of the client that placed the contract on my head, so that we may settle our differences."
... by pulping their skull with my meteor hammer.
"I... don't know who that is." Yor muttered- poking at her food, "I never directly talk with the client who commissions the contracts. The Shopkeeper just gives me my contracts. The one thing I know about your contract is that you're the last target in a list of fourteen targets."
"They gave our names?"
"Only some... oh, this ish good." She explained- happily munching on her dumplings now, "For other targets like yours, they gave me a description like 'The paternal grandchild of the female Fire Nation Commander who was captured during the first siege of Ba Sing Se.'"
"Books like these?" I guessed as I held up a specific book. Hardback and bound in red, the Royal Family's insignia proudly displayed in gold right underneath the title: Transcript of the 2nd Negotiations with the 50th Earth King, Volume 3.
Her eyes lit up in recognition, "How did you find..."
"A villager stumbled on your stash and exchanged it for food." He told her as he flipped through the thick book, "It's impressive that you tracked me down like you did. This barely mentioned me."
I had scant memories of my earlier life here in Avatar. An orphanage, a second-rate public school, and Fire Nation Army boot camp... Apparently, grandmother was a hotshot commander.
"I... uh... I accidentally assassinated two other Fire Nation Captains before I got it right with you."
"...What?" I glance away from the book to look at the raven-haired woman who was looking clueless- what with bits of rice on her cheek...
"It was really, really hard too, okay!" Yor pouted, "The records were so hard to find that it took me a whole year to find them and I'm... uh... I'm not really good at putting clues together or figuring things out or reading thick books that use big, weird words like 'genealogy.'"
"I can imagine..." I said dumbly. I knew I should have read the manga. I was starting to think that Spy x Family may not have been the 'Spy vs Spy' thriller that I first thought it was. Was it a romcom or something? Because I was now uncertain if I was being masterfully deceived by a penultimate actress who can feign innocence to get closer to her target. Or... maybe, just maybe... This woman really was as naive and innocent as she acted. I'll just play things safe and assume this is just some galaxy-brained play to get me to lower my guard.
"Regardless... Do we have an accord?" I cough- getting this conversation back on track and extending my hand to her, "I'll help you find your daughter, and you'll help me get the hit on me rescinded?"
Yor grinned bright and happy in response as she shook my hand, "If you can bring me to Anya, I will forever be in your debt!"
"It is agreed then." I said- smiling in return. Her expression was so earnest and her voice cracking with sincere gratitude that I almost began to doubt that this was all an act. Almost. I really needed to keep my guard up with this assassin.
"So, how do you plan on finding Anya?" She asked immediately after.
"There's a tracking specialist hanging around in an inn a few days north from here." I told her, "I still have some business here in the city with the formal ceding of control of Omashu to the Fire Lord's officially appointed governor; but afterwards, we will be marching north anyway- the perfect time to pick up that specialist. Speaking of which, do you have anything that Anya has worn or held a lot?"
"Just these..." Yor muttered- reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pair of black cloth cones with gold trimming, "Anya's favourite hair ornaments."
"If I may, I'll hold onto those for safe-keeping, we'll need those to find Anya."
For a moment, Yor looked reluctant about handing them over- staring at the pieces of cloth with a pained expression before looking away and muttering a hesitant, "...okay, but please take care of them."
"I will." I told her as I placed them in a small jewellery box which I placed in my Inventory. "They'll be perfectly untouched until the moment we need them for finding Anya."
"Thank you..."
"In the meantime, I'd like to conduct an interview with you." I informed her- pulling out my pen and paper ready.
"I see... of course." Yor looked away- blushing heavily for some reason. "If it's for Anya, I'll... I'll do it."
"I'll try to keep it away from more personal-"
Yor slipped the top of her dress down- the soft, round globes of creamy pale skin topped with luscious pink tips swaying with each breath she took.
"-topics." I finished dumbly. A few seconds of perturbed silence followed before I continued, "If I had a copper piece for everytime a girl had spontaneously stripped down in an interview, I'd have two copper pieces... which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice already... Is there a particular reason why you're flashing me your breasts?"
Yor just shyly glanced back with hesitant red eyes and a bright red blush, "So, you're not going to sketch my naked body while you ask me all sorts of embarrassing things? Even I heard rumours about your interviews..."
"Ah, there seems to be some misunderstanding as to what an interview entails." I surmised in a thoughtful tone, "Let me address the root of this problem."
I turned towards the door, and inhaled.
"SUKI! GET IN HERE!"
A scant few seconds later, the red-headed Kyoshi Warrior cracked the door open and stuck her head in- a sheepish and all too innocent smile already on her face.
"Hey, Khan!" She greeted with that same bright grin, "Uh, if this is about that underground ostrich-horse street racing tournament, we had nothing to do with it!"
"Nevermind that. What weird rumours have you been spreading about my interviews?!" I demanded- gesturing at Yor who still had her tits hanging out as she watched on.
"Oh, a new interviewee, huh?" Suki nervously chuckled, "Me and the girls might have been talking a bit too loud about you, and someone might have overhead us?"
I just shot her a crossed look.
"Hey, you can't blame me for that one!" she pouted,"I don't control what people say. And it's not my fault that all our interviews end with the kind of mind-blowing sex that I can't help but brag about!"
"Yes, it certainly is your fault." I retorted- feeling a headache rise already, "Especially since you're the one who insists on it! Do you understand how much harder you've just made getting interviews with people now that they think I'm going to do lewd things?!"
"You're overreacting, Khan~" Suki waved off with a laugh, "It's just rumours, it's not like they're going to have far reaching consequences!"
(Meanwhile) [Several dozen kilometres north of Omashu]
Sitting in a rustic inn, Iroh excitedly sipped his jasmine tea as he considered the Pai Sho game that he was spectating.
"Oh, what a tense game." He remarked with a soft laugh as the two gentlemen who were playing stared intently at the board between them. It may have been a war-torn battlefield from how back-and-forth the game had been so far.
Iroh considered himself a player of considerable skill in the game- mostly because that to underplay one's skill in Pai Sho is to wrongfully prey on less experienced players, and he could understand the intensity of the game: The Eastern player's Knotweed and Blue Lotus pieces had just moved in and took much of the Western player's once numerically-superior pieces. The Western player's powerful defence was made completely irrelevant because he was lured out by a poisoned prize rather than the correct move of just sitting still... just like that victory in Omashu.
Oh, how games imitate life!
Still, Iroh could count three different strategies for him to be on the path to victory...but for once, Pai Sho wasn't what had his whole attention right now. No, that honour went to the group of gentlemen loudly and drunkenly talking just the next table over.
"That scarred giant sounds scary..." one of the skinny pubgoers noted with a deep swig from his rice wine, "Where had the Fire Lord been hiding him all this time, and can't he take him back?"
"No, no." his friend replied with an exaggerated shake of his head, "The Fire Nation prince with the burn scar and ugly visage is hunting the Avatar. The giant is the Fire nation warlord with the 'princely' looks that has been despoiling Earth Kingdom villages."
Doubtful expressions sprouted all around the table.
"Are you sure that you're not getting it mixed up?" another pub goer disputed, "It's not the other way around? I mean, if I had princely good looks, I wouldn't be going around raping girls- they'd be climbing up on my pecker all on their own."
It was at that point that other people around the table joined in.
"Well, I heard from one of my dockworker friends about how Kyoshi Island got attacked by someone with an ugly scar..."
"And I heard that a group of Kyoshi Warriors were bragging about bedding a Fire Nation Prince. At once."
"Well, when you say it outloud, it does make more sense." the skinny one conceded. "Okay, maybe I'm wrong."
"Maybe?! Just admit that you're wrong, you dolt!" his friend groaned, "Those frigid Kyoshi Warriors wouldn't sleep with anyone less than a prince, much less someone who burned down their village! The giant is the Fire Nation prince that's hunting the Avatar, and the scarred ugly bastard is that Fire Nation captain burning our villages and raping our women."
Noises of agreement and nodding heads were all around the table.
"Oh dear..." Iroh sighed to himself as he stood up and shook his head in dismay, "My nephew will not be pleased when he hears about these rumours."
It would be better if he was the one to introduce Zuko to the rumours rather than having him discover them on his own.
(Later) [Omashu]
For besmirching what little honour he has left...
{Zuko} Reputation : -10 - -50
Why? Just why?
What the hell am I doing that's pissing the Fire Nation royal family off?!
AN:
Note how in Aunt Wu's prediction... Nowhere does it say that Khan is actually interested in her. That whole part where they fight over her affections was all Katara's assumptions, lol. As for whether Katara will join or not, I haven't decided on anything yet. But I am leaning towards her affections being comedic relief or a fling at most. Jinora is the superior waifu. Yes, we're reaching ATLOK.
Yor's and Anya's backstories are a bit messy... but that's just how it is when adapting across time periods. She would have been a better fit in ATLOK, but I had already committed. Oh well. Also, Twilight just never existed. Apart from him having no reason to exist and add more moving parts to the narrative, he is also just out of the picture because I know people dislike NTR. So, yeah. Yor has always been single in this adaption of her. Anya will be fun to write.