The market was packed as always, the stalls were stuffed and the streets weren't bare at all, which made the street extremely narrow; forcing people to walk in a single file like soldiers. Large tattered wagons decorated with a collage of fruits and vegetables were parked to the side and their owners stood beside them screaming out prices like auctioneers.
These people were so busy that they didn't even know that one of their apples were missing. Korra had of course flicked a coin or two behind the counter, she never liked stealing. She scrambled up to her usual spot on top of Jinora's house and watched the market scene play out. There was a humour to watching the people go about their days, there would often be a few arguments as people bumped into eachother; this amused Korra sometimes. The way their faces scrunch up in fury as they are knudged by someone else, it was funny to her.
She bit into her rosy apple and smiled. She hadn't tasted something sweet like this in a while. Her legs swung down towards the floor and she sat on the roof, happily gazing down at the market below. No one could see her of course, this side of the roof went unnoticed by the Sato guards.
Sadly, her fun time came to an abrupt halt as a group of Sato guards moved through the streets of the market. They were marching in a protective manner and Korra could see why. Mr Sato was being escorted through the streets. Korra squinted her eyes in suspicion, placing her half eaten apple down on the tiles. She got to her feet and begun to follow the escort from the rooftops. What are they up to?
<->
Captain Beifong glanced towards the men and women she had ordered to help escort Mr Sato. She had brought Mako along since he is known to have a good shooting arm. She needed someone like that with her in this situation. However, the boy did decline at first since he is the personal guard of Asami Sato, he couldn't just leave his post. But Asami insisted that he went. After that, he agreed to come and here he was.
Lin recognised the numbers on the page Opal had presented. It was a place she had went to before, a warehouse near the outskirts of town; perhaps that's where most of the Red Lotus were hiding out. It made sense since the warehouse has been abandoned for many years. As the group strode through the market, the villagers weren't hesistant to move out of the way for them.
Hiroshi sighed as the looks he was getting from the people were full of worry and confusion. He understood why they were giving him these looks. He was a target for the Red Lotus after all. Being out in the open like this wasn't really the wisest idea. But, something serious must have taken place at this location and he was going to find out what. He was surrounded by his guard, Lin Beifong was leading the group; her hand not leaving the flintlock that was by her side. He was more than safe at this point.
As they exited the market area, Lin turned down into a street; the unfortunate part of the whole town came into view. Hiroshi had plans to make this place a lot better; however its not as easy as it sounds. It was far too expensive, but he's doing everything in his power to help the people. They marched further into the street until Lin noticed a Sato guard at the end. A rookie standing at attention with their back to them.
"Korra is right this way Sir." The rookie said and turned to continue walking down a path. The group followed the rookie down the path and the warehouse Lin had visited before was now in view.
It was a complete mess, to put it nicely. From outside the boarded windows, the shabby wood paneling and the pealing door that was bolted with iron rods. However behind the scary exterior the innards where equally destroyed, if not worse off. The rookie moved forward into the building and the door closed behind them. Hiroshi gave Lin a nod and he walked forwards towards the rotten door.
"I want you lot to stay outside and keep guard." Lin ordered to the squad that had followed.
"But Captai-." Mako contradicted but he was immediately cut off as Lin gave him a glare.
"Yes ma'am." He said with a nod.
Lin opened the heavy door for Hiroshi and they both walked in. The Captain took a look around the abandoned building, it was in a lot worse shape than the last time she was here. There were no doors separating the rooms on the floor they were on yet they could be found a few feet into each room often with large chunks torn out of them, large scratch marks creating cross hatched patterns and occasionally there was still paint left clinging to the worn wood.
Surprisingly most of the furniture had survived with minimal damage, only a few scratches and chips to their name. There was only one rickety staircase leading to the floor above, again the same long scratch marks could be seen all the way up the wall opposite the worn, beaten banister. The only light source for the dark building were the cracks within the roof and barricades over the windows throwing stripes of light into the near destroyed building.
Lin eyeballed the rookie who still stood with their back to them. The rookie was tall, a feminine physique, dark hair. She didn't look familiar at all.
"So, where's the assassin?" The Captain demanded, she had a funny feeling that rested at the bottom of her stomach. Something wasn't right.
The rookie didn't say anything. Silence. Lin shuffled infront of Hiroshi slightly as her hand slid down to her belt again.
"Who are you?" She questioned, earning a chuckle from the rookie that stood a few feet away from them.
The rookie slowly turned around to face them and when she did, Lin's frown hardened. This was the woman that Mako had mentioned that time at the meeting. Kuvira. The Corporal was right. As Lin was about to aim the flintlock at the woman, the door to the warehouse flung open; revealing a taller man, his face scarred. He was breathing heavily as his knuckles were slightly black and blue with bruises. Had he punched something?
"Mako! Get in here!" Lin yelled, pulling Hiroshi closer to her and away from the two assassins.
"I'm afraid they aren't able to come to your assistance." Amon replied as he shut the doors to the warehouse, locking them. The Captains eyes glanced down at his bruised knuckles again. Her squad had been put to sleep by this guy?
Kuvira unsheathed her blade and held it by her side as she advanced slowly towards the Captain.
"Please pass on my thanks to Opal for me. She did an excellent job." She said with a straight face. Hiroshi scowled at the woman, she had manipulated his servants in order to get to him.
"What do you want?" Lin spat, pulling her flintlock up. She looked between the two assassins, moving her gun to mirror her gaze. She could only shoot one, but not the other.
Kuvira used her dagger to gesture towards the man who stood behind the Captain.
"We want him." She said calmly.
"Hand him over and you'll walk out safe and sound with the rest of your crew."
"Over my dead body." Lin growled as she pulled the trigger, sending a pellet over to the woman.
Kuvira's eyes widened as she swiftly moved to the side, the pellet skimmed across her cheek and punched into the wooden pillar from across the room. She had dodged it.
"Very well." without waiting any longer, the tall woman bolted towards the Captain, swinging her blade down towards her. Lin blocked the strike with her forearm and pushed the assassin away. She needed to reload but it took time; she couldn't do it now.
Amon turned the other way towards Mr Sato, he too had a blade in his hand as he advanced towards the older man. Hiroshi's breath hitched, he felt absolutely powerless. What was he supposed to do? The Captain was occupied, the rest of the squad had been knocked out outside. It was just him and the Red Lotus assassin.
"I'll make it quick Hiroshi." Amon muttered, he didn't really want to do this but he couldn't go against Zaheer's orders.
Suddenly, a barricaded window smashed open. The wood had been split in half as a small figure dived through the broken window. She quickly regained her stance and stared at the tall man that was advancing towards Hiroshi.
"Amon!" She yelled and rushed towards him, unsheathing her own dagger in the process. Kuvira snapped her focus onto the woman who had just entered the warehouse; Korra. Her rage spiked to the extreme. The Captain noticed the assassin's unfocused state and landed a solid punch to Kuvira's cheek, sending her stumbling backwards. Kuvira groaned but recovered quickly, charging back to tackle into the Captain.
Korra had finally reached Amon and she stood in between him and Hiroshi. Her eyes travelled over his face in pure horror. His face shrivelled, burnt. She had given him that scar on accident that day.
"You can't do this." She said with pleading eyes, keeping her dagger by her side in a symbol of peace.
"Korra?" He said dumbfounded, taking a step back. He hadn't seen her since the accident.
"What are you doing here?"
"You need to stop this Amon." Korra pleaded, her eyes snapping towards the scuffle that the Captain and Kuvira were in. It was an equal fight but it was getting more dangerous the longer Korra stalled.
"Hiroshi is innocent."
Amon furrowed his eyebrows as he pointed his blade towards the short haired girl furiously.
"How dare you protect the Satos. What would your parents think about this?"
Korra clenched her jaw as she stepped back towards Hiroshi in a defensive stance.
"Hiroshi didn't kill my parents." She replied, making Amon and Hiroshi look at her with shock.
"It was Zaheer."
Amon's speech silenced itself as Korra's words filtered into his mind.
"That's not true." He growled as he swung his blade at the smaller woman who dodged it with ease. As she moved to the left, she brought up her leg and kicked the dagger out of his grasp. Korra spun herself around and jumped off the floor, landing a kick to the side of his face. The large man stumbled and swayed as he held his cheek. He collapsed into a sitting position as his head begun to spin; she had kicked him hard, but not hard enough.
Hiroshi looked between Amon and Korra, not understanding what was going on. Korra had just protected him. That was clear enough. Soon, the small girl grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him back to reality.
"Hiroshi, get out of here!" Korra commanded, earning a nod from the older man. He rushed to the window that she had smashed open earlier and climbed out to safety.
As the ex-assassin turned around, she frantically looked between the two fighting women.
Captain Beifong had dropped her gun to the floor in order to make it easier to block multiple attacks from the assassin; however she was starting to find it difficult to keep up with Kuvira's swift movements. Flaws started to show in her stance and Kuvira took that to her advantage. She continued to jab her blade into the Captain's direction who was hardly dodging them now, the blade had started to slice at her uniform; a few nipped her skin.
Kuvira smirked as she swung an unexpected clenched fist into the Captain's stomach. Lin hurled over as her lungs felt like they were restrained by large metal chains, not letting any air through at all. The older woman collasped to her knees as she gasped for air desperately. The Red Lotus assassin begun to raise her dagger above the Captain, clasping the handle with both hands. Lin closed her eyes shut, she couldn't do anything now. She would die right here in this warehouse and she knew it. The older woman inhaled a slow breath and held it.
Before Kuvira could clash the blade into the woman's skull, she was tackled to the ground by a strong force. Korra had shoulder barged her onto the floor, making Kuvira's dagger skid across the ground of the abandoned warehouse.
Lin shot her eyes open and weakly turned her head up to her saviour. A pair of blue eyes gazed into her own and it made the older woman freeze in surprise. The assassin she had been tracking down for days had just saved her life.
Korra nodded at the Captain and held a hand out for her to take. The older woman took the assassin's hand hesitantly and groaned from the pain when Korra helped her onto her feet. Lin's breathing became average again, however her stomach still stung.
Kuvira regained into a standing position and looked at the scene in front of her. Korra hands clasped together with Lin's. She was helping a Sato guard.
"You traitor!" Kuvira cried, her dagger in her hand again. Korra stepped in front of the Captain and frowned at her old friend, but a hand was placed onto her shoulder.
"I don't know what side you're on Korra." The captain croaked out, clutching her stomach.
"But Hiroshi needs to be safe, I'll handle her. Go."
Korra looked at the older woman's serious expression and nodded, she sheathed her dagger and sprinted towards the door. However, Amon stood in her way. She clearly didn't kick him correctly earlier, he was still conscious.
"You really have turned against the Guild." He scowled, stepping closer.
"Zaheer has lied to you all! If you knew what I knew, then you would've done the same." Korra responded, blocking an attack that was sent from Amon.
"I would never turn against my family." Amon shouted as he swung his leg around in a roundhouse kick. Korra easily ducked under it and swiped the floor with her own in an attempt to whip the large man off of his feet. It failed as Amon jumped over it. He clashed down onto the smaller girl, tripping her up by the ankle. Korra fell backwards, bashing her head against the solid floor. The two were tangled together on the ground, both fighting for control of the blade that was inbetween them.
They rolled around, kneeing each other whenever they got the chance. Yet, the impact from her fall was effecting Korra's vision gradually. Everything was becoming blurry and her arms were weakening by the second. The two had soon scuffled themselves into a position where Amon had control over the blade. He towered over the smaller girl as he pushed the dagger towards her chest. Korra had a hold of his forearms; pushing the blade back with all her strength. The tip of the dagger was hovering just above her chest, graudally inching closer and closer towards it.
"Amon." She mumbled, clenching her teeth together as she tried to push him back but he was too strong. Or she was too weak.
"Stop." She pleaded but his face was so full of rage, he wasn't stopping for nothing.
Lin Beifong's teeth bared like a wild animal as she aggressively tried to free her arm from under Kuvira's grasp. She did so by kneeing the taller girl in the stomach, which resulted in Kuvira dropping to a kneel. The Captain's injuried joints clashed hard into the side of the woman's torso, smacking her directly in the ribs. Kuvira yelped as she gripped her side, that got her good.
Lin took the chance and grabbed her flintlock that was on the ground near her foot and raised it high above the assassin. Before Kuvira could regain her stance, Lin used the handle of her pistol to smack the assassin at the side of the head, causing her to fall into an unconscious state. Kuvira'a limp body flopped to the floor, her eyes closed shut.
The victor took a few exaggerated breaths and she scrunched her bloodied face up in pain. She had been cut, bruised and it was hurting really bad. Her victory breaths soon came to an end as she heard the others scuffling on the floor from across the room. The blade that was in Amon's grip was inching closer to Korra's chest, it had torn a small hole through her coat and was almost grazing against her shirt.
Lin wasted no time. She pulled out a small packet from inside her coat and tore it open with her teeth. Sprinkles of black powder puffed into her face but she couldn't care, she tipped the rest of it inside of her flintlock despite her shaking hands. She frantically swirled around in her pocket again and pulled out a small pellet. The Captain placed the pellet at the end of her barrel and let go, hearing the metal pellet clink against the barrel of her pistol. It was loaded.
She flicked the hammer of the pistol back and aimed it at the two on the ground. Lin took in a breath and pulled the trigger.