Kibu-Shi(Earth Bending)
Working a job on the Minister of Records' house.
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Kibu was leaned up against a wall on the other side of the street across from a two story stone house. It was somewhat plain for an Upper Ring home, but it's appearance was deceiving. It was the home of the Minister of Records to the Royal Council. He had spent a week watching the house, looking for entrances, exits, and openings. He had learned earlier that morning from gossiping passerby that it was the Minister's fourteenth anniversary and that he was having a mover bring in an expensive golden vase for his wife, and that he would be taking her out to the finest restaurant in the city to celebrate. The mover was supposed to arrive any minute to deliver the vase while the Minister had his wife distracted with a long walk around the gardens in the Upper Ring. This was important to Kibu, because he had decided that he would enter through the back of the house where there was a door for reaching a lawn and a turtleduck pond. Kibu had encountered a problem, however, at the beginning of his stakeout when tried the locks on the doors one night. They were very intricate and complex, probably very expensive too. Kibu could pick them, but it would require too much time in the open fighting with a lock. He could be seen. Instead, he had been waiting for this moment to happen. The Minister was careful to avoid people while he walked, which ruled out pickpocketing the key from him, so this mover who had come to inspect the house was his savior.
A few minutes passed and the movers appeared from around a corner down the street. Kibu straightened up when he saw them. He dug around in his bag for a second and withdrew a small bottle of potent sake. He could smell it even though the bottle was corked. He pulled the top of and winced from the odor, recalling how the bartender who sold it to him said that he could start a small forest fire with the contents of that bottle and a set of spark rocks. He took a swig of the volatile sake and swished it like mouthwash for a few seconds before swallowing. it felt like acid in his stomach, but it achieved it's goal. He smelled drunk, looked drunk, and surprising even himself, felt drunk. He made a mental note to burn the stuff when this job was over. He tottered around, very convincingly, and mumbled to himself until the movers got near. There was one in the lead, wearing a nice silken robe and carrying a clipboard, and two in the rear with dirty tunics, leading an ostrich horse with the vase being drawn on a cart behind it. It was much larger than Kibu had expected, but the vase wasn't his target. Just before the lead mover reached the gate that lead to the Minister's house, Kibu stumbled forward into the man, almost knocking him over. As he did, Kibu raised his left elbow slightly to knock the clipboard out of his hand and while he was focusing on that, Kibu swiftly reached into the man's robe for a lumpy bulge he had felt when he walked into him and slipped out a small ring of keys. once he had these tucked safely up his sleeve, he toppled over, not entirely meaning to.
The mover took a step back and brushed himself off as Kibu slowly staggered to his feet. Kibu reached for the dropped clipboard as he stood and then he stumbled towards the man again. This time, Kibu feigned a fall right before he reached him and the mover reached out and caught Kibu. Kibu looked up at the guy and breathed his alcohol breath into his face to send the message and started to talk, slurring his words heavily.
"Sarz man, I did'n shee choo there... herz your... thing." he handed the clipboard to the man and stumbled away, leaving him looking bewildered and confused.
Kibu rounded the corner and straightened up, brushing his hair down with is hand. He heard the man swear loudly in the distance as he discovered that he'd forgotten his keys. Kibu smiled.
Later that night-
Kibu was watching the front door of the minister's house. He and his wife were going to leave soon for the restaurant and Kibu was almost going to miss hearing their conversation. When the Minister and his wife arrived from their walk, the Minister was dismayed to find the movers sitting on his front step with the gold vase in plain view. He was furious and ranted on and on about their incompetency and refused to pay for the delivery of the vase, and much to Kibu's amusement where he watched from an alley on the other side of the street, the mover refused to deliver it and took it back with them. The Minister had stood there dumbfounded for several minutes before suddenly exploding and storming inside his house, his very unhappy wife following. For the next few hours leading up their date at the restaurant, they argued constantly, on all topics ranging from her cooking to his mother and beyond. Kibu had been enjoying himself greatly. But now, as they walked out their front door, snapping quietly at each other, Kibu readied himself. He felt like this before every job. The thrill, the rush, the danger, it was an adrenaline rush he had been craving since his earthball days. It set him on edge. He noticed every detail in perfect clarity. It would be another half an hour before the street cleared an he could move on the house, but the adrenaline was still coursing through him.
Kibu looked one last time around the street, but the only thing there to witness him was a pair of pigeons on the roof of one of the houses. Kibu exited his hiding spot in the alley and moved quickly and carefully across the street. He hopped the low fence and made his way to the back of the house. He spotted the turtleduck pond again, with a number of fat turtleducks swimming in lazy circles. He jumped up to the back patio and found the door. He tried one or two of the mover's keys before finding the right one and slipping inside the house.
Even though it was dark, Kibu could tell that the interior of this plain-looking house was lavish and excessive. He saw many paintings on the walls and the dull glint of gold on their frames in the dim light. Too obvious to just carry down the street. He passed a small room where sheets and towels were stacked around a stone basin. There were stairs going down in the room, and he guessed that this was where the house cleaners worked. He moved on past some large flowering plant that he couldn't identify and turned to his left at an opening. It was the living room, with several couches and a fireplace on the far wall. He saw a spot where things had been cleared out to make room for the vase that came earlier. It was empty. There were assorted trinkets and general expensive junk on the mantle and several tables scattered around the room, so Kibu moved on. He passed and empty guest bedroom and the kitchen, which he ignored. Past the kitchen there was a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Kibu softly ascended, two steps at a time. He turned left at the top into a large bedroom, which lead to a large washroom on the far wall. After a quick scan of the room, he saw what he had come for. A medium-sized redwood box with a silver lily on the top of it. He walked over the box and opened it with a small key that had been hidden behind a nearby picture frame.
Inside was what Kibu had come for. There were ten rings in the box. Each ring was made of solid gold that shined even in the low light of the darkened room. Atop each ring was a diverse mix of gemstones. There were diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, jade, topaz, amethyst, a light bluish-green stone that was glowing faintly, which Kibu recognized as a gem that was common under Ba Sing Se, and two more which were brilliant mixes of many colors he had never seen before. He took one of these out and slipped it on his little finger. It barely fit, as the Minister's wife must have had small hands. Kibu admired the ring for a second, then he closed the box and picked it up. He decided that while he was in the house, he might as well look for something else to lift, since this Minister obviously made much more money than he appeared to make. He found a pearl necklace on the nightstand next to the box and dropped it in his bag. on the dresser, there was a solid jade comb, which he also pocketed, but everything else was fairly plain, or too large or unconcealable to take with him. He decided to check the room across the hall, which he knew was the office and private study of the Minister. He opened the door slowly, but stopped short when he heard papers rustling inside. The sound ceased as soon as he had cracked the door. He thought better of it, but decided to check out what was going on, so he opened the door a bit more and peered inside.
Inside the room, in front of a desk facing a window was a man. And, as soon as Kibu had opened the door, then man quickly spun around and spotted Kibu with a bewildered look of surprise. The man was dark, both in complexion and clothing, but also his expression, as if he were about to murder someone. Kibu thought for a brief second, "I'm the only other one here..." with an internal laugh, and then got his own joke and sobered up. Kibu slowly finished opening the door, and noticed that whoever this man was, he had not chosen jewels or gold to steal, but instead had a white file with a strange insignia stamped on it in his hand. He also had two axes hanging from his belt and a dagger handle protruding from around his back. But the file made Kibu wonder what could be happening with the Minister and this heavily armed thief.
"Hey... Alright buddy, um, we don't need any trouble. I'm not going to bother you. I was just about to leave. Ok? No harm done. Right?" Kibu eyed the axes warily.
Instead of replying, the man dropped the file on the desk and drew his axes. Kibu could hardly make out the action, but his quick reflexes urged him to do the same. He dropped the ring case and slid his cane out of it's cradle. He was just in time, because the man had rushed Kibu with a speed that bordered on freakish. Kibu could barely bring his cane up to parry the double axe blow that followed, and he took advantage of the man's forward momentum by holding his cane with a hand on each end and cracking his exposed attacker in the ribs. As if he hadn't just broken one of the guy's ribs, Kibu dodged a spinning axe slash with a leap to the side and found his back up against the desk where the man had been. He reached out with his left hand to steady himself and felt the file under it. He decided it would be good to know why this guy was trying to kill him, so Kibu picked it up and crammed it in his bag. The attacker had faced and charged at Kibu again with a downward slash that Kibu avoided with a sidestep and another that he parried with his cane. He took this opening to deliver a few short snapping punches to the man's chest and abdomen, but was forced to duck an right elbow. As he ducked, Kibu turned and slid his left arm up under the man's right and wrapped it around his arm, and grabbed his shirt. The next part seemed to happen in slow motion. Kibu stepped in front of the man and crouched a little. He brought his left knee up into the man's abdomen and pulled him forward, flipping him over on top of the desk.
The attacker landed with a hard crash and the table collapsed under him. Kibu knew this was his chance and ran out the door he came through. The man recovered quickly and picked up one of his dropped axes. Kibu had barely rounded the corner when an axe went whizzing by his ear and buried itself deep in the wall to his right. Kibu ran back down the hall and into the bedroom. Of all the exit plans he had, the bedroom exit had been the one he least favored. It consisted of throwing himself out the window of a second story building. But, this was exactly the situation needed for this exit, and he wasn't keen on staying in a house with a crazed axe-murderer. Kibu kept his steady run and barreled out the window, creating an explosion of shattered glass and wood. He landed on the edge of the roof and rolled a few times before leaving solid footing behind and letting gravity work. He landed hard on his left leg to avoid hurting his right, and rolled. He felt his back smack against the hard stone of the street and knew it would hurt tomorrow. He rose in a fluid motion from his rough landing and quickly moved into a limping run along an escape course he had walked out earlier that week. He disappeared around the corner of a house and was gone.
The dark man who had attacked Kibu followed a few seconds later, leaping out the broken window and sliding down the roof before landing effortlessly. He was carrying both axes on his belt again and spun around, searching with keen eyes for his prey, but Kibu was long gone. There were the voices of two women nearby. A strange glint crossed his eyes as a wicked idea formed and he drew his axes again.
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There we go, first post for Kibu-Shi.
Much longer than I expected, but the fight was too short to be it's own post.
