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<Narrator> ::At a little past midnight, Pier 44 of the South Docks appears quiet and deserted. The pier itself looks a little run-down, the harborman's shack at the near end deserted and locked. Few seamen choose to visit the pier whose name sounds like "double death" in their home tongue.:: <Narrator> ::A small boat, little more than a fishing sloop with a stepped-down mast, rides at anchor at the end of the dock, a few yards away from the pilings. There is not even a running light aboard; it appears deserted.:: * Jade watches Pier 44 and the surrounding area from the rooftop of a nearby warehouse. A simple crane stands nearby. * Jade is dressed all in black and hugs the rooftop, doing her best to minimize her silhouette. She has a short bow strung and a quiver of arrows at hand. Additionally, she's surrounded the various pathways to her rooftop with caltrops to slow anyone seeking to engage her. <Narrator> ::The pier remains apparently deserted. Night sounds drift over the water from some of the more-occupied piers, but all is quiet here. There is a light overcast, and the moon is dark.:: * Jade waits patiently for something to occur, her senses straining for any sign of activity, her ki damped down to avoid detection. <Narrator> ::A half-hour passes. An hour. An hour and a half. From the shadowed far end of the dock, there's a faint creak, and the sound of muffled hooves. A light breeze kicks up across the water, bringing the sleepy quacks of ducks. The single, guttering lamp illuminating the dock goes out, snuffed by the errant breeze.:: * Jade blinks as the lamp goes out, but otherwise remains motionless. <Narrator> ::There is a faint scrape of wood-on-wood, and then the occasional stealthy noise progressing down to the end of the dock-- several people, she would guess, with a burden of some sort. A faint clink of metal, and a hooded lantern opens, shining its directed light towards the little boat and then closing again. Twice more, the light shines towards the boat.:: * Jade continues to watch, trying her best to make out shapes in the darkness and occasional bursts of lamp light. <Narrator> ::The directional lamp does not give away much more than the position of its holder-- that's its job, after all. But after about a minute, when her eyes have had the chance to adjust to full dark again, another such lamp shines from the boat onto the dock, answering the three flashes with three of its own. In those brief bursts, Jade can make out four figures on the pier, and some long bundles.:: <Narrator> ::A long pole extends from the craft, pushing it closer to the docks. Another set of hands wields a boathook and secures a place on the pier:: * Jade continues to lie in wait. <Narrator> ::there are a few more faint sounds of muffled movement from the end of the dock, and the long, heavy bundles are dragged to the edge, where they can be reached from the boat. The boatman opens his lantern and hangs it from a pole to illumine their work, reaching for the first bundle and grunting a little at the unexpected weight of it.:: <Narrator> ::the other man on the boat comes around to help the boatman. Between the two of them, they wrestle the first piece of cargo aboard a bit more easily, and secure it to the deck.:: * Jade rises to a kneeling position and begins raining arrows down on Pier 44, aiming to kill or at least drive away the men handling the carpets, but also taking care that no carpet accidently gets dropped in the water or punctured. <Narrator> ::One carpet teeters dangerously on the edge as the first man falls under Jade's hail of arrows with a cut-off cry of pain and surprise. He falls across the end of the carpet, effectively pinning it from slipping any further. Another man dies with an arrow through his neck, and a third takes one in the arm as he dives into the water. The boatman and his crewman drop to the deck as the fourth man dives for cover at the shack:: <Jade> ::not wanting to give her quarry time to react Jade clenches her teeth around her bow as she jumps for the hook of the crane. Her momentum swings the crane around, allowing her to come to a rolling landing next to the carpets on Pier 44.:: <Narrator> ::The errant breeze that snuffed the lantern before returns in full force, a gust snuffing the boat's lantern and making the staylines creak as it's pushed out away from the dock. Jade's keen ears pick up a separate, hollow-sounding puff of air from somewhere near the shack, before feeling a light sting in her arm.:: * Jade gives thanks for Rong Wei's information as she ignores the dart in her arm and fires an arrow at the shadow that she guesses produced the dart. <Narrator> ::A numbness spreads over her skin from the point of the dart, but Rong Wei's medicine does its work, and the slightly numb patch spreads no farther, allowing her to retain the use of her arm. The shadow whirls to one side with a light, tinkling laugh, a slight tearing sound attesting to the very near miss.:: * Jade continues to chase the shadow with arrows, both in hopes of getting a lucky shot in and to ascertain the skill level of her opponent. <Narrator> ::The shadow continues to dance and dodge, gracefully evading Jade's arrows, but only barely. Jade's last arrow appears ready to pierce her opponent just as the other ducks into a patch of deeper shadow near a piling, but then the shadow melts away, leaving the arrow quivering in the tarred wood. Jade hears a soft gasp behind her.:: * Jade drops the bow as she swings around, launching a trio of shuriken at the person behind her. <Si Hua> ::the shadowy figure hisses as one of the shuriken strikes her in the leg. The second misses, and the third swipes her cheek, opening a thin cut-- barely enough to bleed-- and carrying her loose hood out over the water before falling. A young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, is revealed. Long black hair is pinned tightly to her head, and her face is striking, a classic Oriental beauty. Her black eyes, however, are as cold as a viper's.:: * Si Hua's hand dips into her clothes, coming out with three slim darts tucked between her fingers. She tosses them at Jade and rolls away, plucking the shuriken from her thigh. * Jade realizes too late that the darts will hit the carpets if she dodges them. Instead Jade attempts to knock them out of the air with her already injured arm as she forms a ki blade in her other hand. Unfortunately, all three darts strike true. <Jade> Cursing under her breath Jade leaps away from the carpets, while using the flat of her blade to knock the darts out of her arm. * Si Hua comes to rest near the water-end of the dock, standing in a slight crouch that favors her injured leg. She watches Jade with flat, gleaming eyes and the air of a spider waiting for the fly to stop struggling. * Jade assumes a stance from which she can either attack or defend as she shifts slightly to keep Si Hua cornered at the end of the dock. An experienced opponent can tell that Jade's injured arm is bothering her. "I assume you're Si Hua." * Si Hua dips a neat, mocking bow. Her voice is a light alto, unexpectedly rough for such a small, pretty woman, and she speaks an elegant, accented Common. "And I assume you are our Chameleon, at last. So sad you will not be for much longer. You have been a worthy adversary." * Jade laughs, not bothering to put any intimidation into it, "I would say the same about you, but honorless opponents are never worthy. So, how do you propose to kill me?" <Si Hua> ::nodding to Jade's arm:: You are already dying. You feel the numbness, the burning? It is only the beginning of your end. ::a faint smile touches her lips:: * Jade laughs again. "Child, I'd take you as a student if I thought you could be reformed. Such arrogance. Do you really think you're the only person in this city who knows poisons, or that I would come here without taking antidotes and preventatives first?" Jade gives Si Hua a smile that shows teeth. <Si Hua> Hm. ::a faint line of consternation appears between her brows as she studies Jade a moment longer:: Well, so. Still, I am not so arrogant as you, who would presume yourself my master. ::she holds two fingers upright in front of herself, softly muttering what sounds like a mantra under her breath. A light breeze ruffles her hair as her stance changes, mirroring Jade's.:: * Jade smiles and assumes a defensive stance. <Si Hua> Ah... a ki warrior. I should have guessed, when we could not penetrate your disguises. ::she raises her voice a little, calling over her shoulder:: Ah Chiu! Come and take the rest of your cargo and be off with you. The hour approaches. I promise, this one will not disturb your work. <Ah Chiu> ::behind Si Hua, the men on the boat peer cautiously over the side. Using the staylines, the pull the boat back in close to the dock and start to tug at the next carpet, already sticking halfway out over the water:: * Jade waits, her senses tracking those around her as she keeps her eyes locked on Si Hua. * Jade shifts her sword to her injured arm as she throws a ki dagger at the head of one of the men trying to move the carpets. "Don't." * Si Hua flashes out with a blade of her own, deflecting Jade's dagger from its course. The crewman freezes. "You will load the boat, Ah Chiu, or *I* will kill you. And I will not make it an easy death. You have already been paid well. Do it." <Ah Chiu> ::the men on the boat move again, tugging the carpet free from beneath the dead thug and loading it onto the boat:: * Si Hua waits, smiling. "I have all night, 'Teacher.' But it seems you do not. Come, what have you to show me? How easily you fail, at the end?" * Jade keeps her eyes locked on Si Hua, "Ah Chiu, I'll give you a choice. Deliver those to Pier 12 and I'll pay you double whatever she's paying you. Fail to deliver them and *I'll* hunt you down." * Jade grins, "How little you've learned. Failure is only possible for those whose thinking is limited by the concept of victory. If you wish to master the Void you must abandon such concepts." <Ah Chiu> ::in a shaky voice:: Honored madam, consider your bargaining position. If you are dead, you can neither pay me nor hunt me down. I have seen the color of Si Hua's gold and heard its sweet sound in my pocket. Perhaps later, good madam. <Jade> ::As if to prove her point, Jade drops her stance, her blade hanging at her side.:: * Jade ignores Ah Chiu, her mercy having run its course. <Si Hua> ::in an amused tone:: You presume to know something of Wuxing Kun, outlander. ::her voice turns hard:: Alas for you, you have already slain the follower of the Void. ::the wind from across the water picks up a little more, plucking at the women's clothing and snugging the boat a little more firmly against the dock. Si Hua begins muttering her soft mantra again, watching Jade closely:: * Jade smiles, "Good. He was the one I was worried about. Since I know the follower of Fire has also been killed that must mean that you're Wind. Sorry if I'm not impressed, but I've known storm mages, I'm afraid you're going to have to whip up something a bit more impressive before I think you're more than a child with a dangerous toy." <Si Hua> ::softly:: I have no desire to impress you, O arrogant one. Only to delay you sufficiently to see my task completed, and then be rid of you. <Si Hua> ::the wind picks up a little more as Ah Chiu and his mate load the third carpet and secure it on deck:: * Jade shrugs and sits on the pier in the formal fashion. "By all means, let us wait if it means so much to you." Jade claps her hands together twice and begins reciting a prayer for the dead. * Si Hua laughs delightedly but remains standing on guard as the boatmen retrieve the last carpet from the pier and stow it aboard. <Si Hua> ::without turning to look:: Very good, Ah Chiu. I will see that you receive a bonus, when this load is delivered. The ship will await your arrival at the given location until dawn. <Ah Chiu> ::unable to restrain a small tremble of relief that he's getting out of there:: Yes, mistress. ::he bows, and bows to Jade:: My apologies, honored madam. Perhaps next time, when your bargaining position is more assured, we might do business. * Jade lunges forward from her sitting position, her sword transforming into an arc of ki that tears up the planks of the pier in a line for Si Hua. <Si Hua> Ah-ah! We have touched a nerve. ::she gestures towards the boat just as the crewman casts off the bowline, and the wind suddenly shifts direction. A gust blows Si Hua's garments wide and pushes the little vessel away from the pier, out into deeper water and out of the path of the ki strike. Si Hua leaps, seeming to hang in the air for a moment as she vaults away.:: * Jade grins, spinning and throwing two handfuls of ki shuriken, not at Si Hua, but at her makeshift wings. * Si Hua wavers slightly and somersaults once in the air before landing on a piling. She brings both hands together in front of her chest and pushes forcefully outward towards Jade. A sudden blast of wind strikes Jade in the chest. * Jade stumbles as the wind blast hits her, a ki whip lashing out and ensnaring Si Hua's ankle as Jade tumbles through the hole she cut in the pier. * Si Hua curses as she is yanked from her perch, narrowly avoiding conking her head on the end of the piling. She manages to throw an arm around the rough wood and keep from getting yanked down through the hole as she tries to regain her footing. * Si Hua reaches for a knife with her free hand, intending to cut the whip. * Jade uses Si Hua's anchorage as a pivot point to swing herself back onto the stable part of the pier. * Si Hua slices herself free and drops to the stable part of the pier herself. She centers herself again, holding two fingers up before her, and waits for Jade's next attack. * Jade throws a flashbang at Si Hua's feet, then charges Si Hua in an attempt to run her through with a ki sword. * Si Hua leaps back-- out, over the water-- as the flashbang explodes. Her muttered mantra rises to a shout as she spreads her arms and a gust of wind arcs up from the water's surface to support her there in midair. She laughs, a sound of pure joy. * Jade grins, cupping her hands together as a sphere of ki grows between them. A moment later Jade releases the ki in blast that shoots out across the water at her suspended target. * Si Hua realizes the nature of the attack too late. The wind beneath starts to push her higher, but the ki blast strikes her hard enough to knock the wind-- literally-- out of her. The gust beneath her dies away and she plunges into the water. * Jade forms a wickedly barbed ki harpoon, casually tossing the loop of rope over a mooring as she waits for her target to surface. <Si Hua> ::ripples spread from the point of Si Hua's dive, lap gently against the dock pilings, and eventually still, with no sign of Jade's opponent.:: * Jade extends her senses, searching for Si Hua's ki. <Si Hua> ::Jade senses the same faint shadow-trace she noted earlier, somewhere down below the water. The bright, silvery ki of a few fish, disturbed from their shelter beneath the dock by the splash, clouds her view somewhat:: * Jade resumes the sitting position she had been in earlier, a sigh of exhaustion escaping her lips as she settles in to wait for her opponent. Jade continues to do her best to track Si Hua's elusive ki. <Si Hua> ::The faint ki-trace seems to drift, as if floating, and lodges somewhere beneath the dock. Long minutes pass-- longer, one would think, than anyone could possibly hold a breath:: * Jade rises, transforming her harpoon into a boar spear. She then walks over to stand above the trace she's detecting. Pausing to confirm her target, she thrusts downward with the spear as hard as she can, the spear shooting forward in length until it's more than long enough to pin anything it might hit to the harbor floor. <Si Hua> ::the spear encounters spongy resistance that may or may not be the harbor bottom. There is a burbling from under the ruined dock, and Jade can see roiling bubbles rise through the cut she straddles:: * Jade keeps the pressure on the spear, hoping to feel the vibrations of something struggling against it, while continuing her attempts to track Si Hua's ki. <Si Hua> ::Jade feels nothing but the same spongy resistance-- perhaps the marshy bottom of the harbor, perhaps something else. The bubbling under the dock gets more violent. The ki is nowhere to be found, now.:: * Jade concentrates for a moment, then with a kiai sends a surge of ki down through the spear. <Si Hua> ::the water beneath the dock erupts upward in a stinging, typhoon-driven spray, shattering what remains of the ruined end of the dock and sending bits of splintered planking flying on vicious winds. Si Hua, still dripping from her dunking, rises from the water on the back of the mini-typhoon like a vengeful spirit, her wet hair twisting and snapping in the strong wind like striking snakes.:: * Jade goes flying as the dock explodes underneath her, only years of training allowing her to snag the crane with her ki whip and swing herself onto a neighboring pier as Si Hua emerges from the water. * Si Hua hovers in the air a moment, seeking her prey. She holds her arms out from her sides, landing gently on a piling, and points at Jade, her lips moving. Jade cannot hear her command over the screaming wind that suddenly comes tearing in her direction. * Jade slides several feet across the pier before managing to brace herself against the wind. Several loose planks around Jade are pulled up and go flying as the first blast of the wind hits. The entire pier shudders as it's buffeted by the waves the wind generates. * Jade cups her hands together, forming another ki sphere between her hands before once more firing a blast at Si Hua. <Si Hua> ::the ravening wind turns-- for a moment, Jade can almost see the snarling face of a beast at its head-- and blocks her ki blast, catching a glancing blow from it. The wind veers, twists, and strikes at her again. Boats all around rock and bump against pilings as the harbor's surface is whipped into white froth:: * Jade stumbles with the sudden shifts of the wind, and is clearly startled upon seeing the elemental's face. Unfortunately, Jade's stumble coincides with the collapse of the pier she's standing on. * Si Hua looks on, smiling grimly, as her air elemental plucks Jade from the ruins of the collapsing pier and spins her into the air, sending her flying into the wall of the same warehouse Jade perched on earlier. Lucky for Jade, she is driven not against the wall itself, but into a window and through it, the wooden crossbars and heavy oiled paper breaking and tearing under her weight. <Si Hua> ::As its prey vanishes inside, the air elemental circles the building with a furious howl, sending tendrils of itself whining through cracks and shaking the walls with its fury as it tries to get inside. Si Hua, limping and holding her ribs, follows after, moving away from the ruined pier and towards the building. A smile of anticipation lights her face as she urges her wind-beast on.:: * Jade slowly climbs to her feet, several rips in her garments revealing bleeding cuts from splinters and broken glass. Jade spends a few moments moving gingerly as she assesses the extent of her more serious injuries before choosing a position where she can watch both the broken window and the main door. <Jade> ::Once in position Jade closes her eyes and centers herself before extending her senses towards the air elemental, seeking out the animating spark at the center of its whirlwind.:: * Si Hua limps closer. Jade can hear the low murmur of her voice as a counterpoint to the raging whirlwind. The winds rattling the warehouse walls quiet suddenly, and Jade feels a pop in her ears and an odd hollowness in the pit of her stomach as the pressure outside drops. The wind-noise takes on a more ominous character, a low growling whine. * Si Hua opens the wide loading door to the warehouse, holding on to it like a shield as she backs up, pulling it wide. A dark, swirling funnel of wind waits just outside. Si Hua points to Jade again, and this time her command is clear. "Destroy her." <Si Hua> ::The ominous growling whine rises in pitch as the small tornado moves into the building, growing in size to reach the rafters as soon as it clears the door. Though empty now, it looks like this warehouse most recently held feed or bedding for animals. A choking cloud of dust rises from the floor, and bits of straw and hay begin to whirl into the air.:: * Jade turns to face the elemental as it enters the warehouse, then lunges at it, a needle thin jet of ki shooting from her extended fingers towards the elemental's center. Si Hua> ::The whirling winds' noise rises to a howl, and then to a scream as Jade's narrow bolt of ki pierces its center. The vortex suddenly loses its center, rattling the walls from the inside this time as little dust devils spin off from its heart and the winds suddenly blow themselves out.:: <Si Hua> ::A flash of silver glances out from the center of the winds, and a small, gleaming disc spins in midair for a few moments more, after the winds have died. Jade's needle of ki is just visible, transfixing it. Then the talisman shatters, broken pieces dropping to the floor with a musical tinkle:: * Si Hua watches from the door, a despairing howl like the mournful call of the wind itself escaping her lips. Her eyes are wide, and her right hand goes to a now-empty cord at her throat. * Jade tiredly recovers from her lunge and faces Si Hua. "So, child, shall we see what you're capable of without your toy?" * Si Hua fixes a look of pure hatred on Jade, her hand moving from her neck to dip within her garments again. "You have had only the faintest taste of what Wuxing is capable of, vain and foolish woman. But in time, you will learn. This I swear to you, on the spirits of those you have taken from me. You will learn, and you will grieve for it." * Si Hua steps into the building, moving to one side of the door, towards a patch of deeper shadow. Her hand reappears, clutching a gold talisman similar to the silver one lying in pieces on the floor. Her lips move, repeating another mantra softly, and the shadows draw about her more closely until she is a bare silhouette against a deepening pool of shadow that stretches towards her. * Jade lunges again, sending another ki jet at Si Hua and her talisman. * Si Hua is trembling slightly as she brings her will and discipline to bear on the energies of the unfamiliar talisman. She steps sideways into the shadowy void just as Jade's ki bolt strikes, piercing her wrist and pinning it to her chest, causing the talisman to drop from suddenly numb fingers. Her dark eyes grow wide with horror and her shadow-mouth opens in a soundless scream of utter terror. <Si Hua> ::The Void talisman falls away from her, vanishing into the darkness. Si Hua is sucked in as well. The outstretched shadow of her good hand is the last Jade sees of her before the portal recedes, and the dark shadows fade back to normal. The warehouse is quiet once more.:: * Jade slumps when she finds no trace of Si Hua. Clearly tired, Jade walks slowly over to the corner where Si Hua disappeared. Reaching into a hidden pocket, she pulls out a jade talisman shaped like a lotus blossom. Jade drops the talisman in the corner before heading for Pier 12 at the best speed she can manage. |
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