Fight, Flight, and Confirmation

[maixknives]

Mai's idea of relaxation never coincided with most people's. When people thought of "relaxing", they thought of curling up somewhere, maybe reading or snoozing, or spending time with something or someone cuddly. Maybe it had something to do with food or scenery.

Or, in Zuko's case, it meant making an ass out of himself in front of dozens of people.

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[npc_inc]

Pang! The arrow streaks towards its target, Fire Lady Mai's leg. He knows this wasn't going to be the killing blow, but it will be enough to stun or incapacitate her, so he could finish her off. He drops the bow and unsheathes his sword.

"The traitor can scream all she wants. No one will hear her. His employer gave him enough money to pay off the guards." He thinks to himself as he walks towards his target.

"I will give you a traitors death, Lady Mai!" He says to her and quickens his pace.

[maixknives]

It was almost like a chill, the sudden realisation that she was being tailed. It wasn't soon enough, and it was only when the bright pain suddenly registered into her mind from her leg that she realised why.

Her body dropped, almost all the way down, before she got a grip on herself. With a gritting of her teeth, she reached down and searched for whatever it was that was hurting her - an arrow - and broke it off, leaving only the arrow's head and a small shaft remaining. Ignoring the rest, she looked over her shoulder towards where it had come come, noting only a glint of steel and a flash of cloth before she grabbed a handful of shuriken from her sleeve.

Turning herself towards the figure, she flung her hand out, releasing them towards whoever the hell it was who decided to ruin her quiet night.

[npc_inc]

From what his employer told him, she was deadly with throwing weapons. He ducks behind a pillar as a the shuriken sail bye him, however, one grazes his calf. He growls to himself at the pain, and he drops his sword and takes a deep breath. Flames appear in his hands, he jumps from his hiding places and throws a two fire balls towards her direction.

[maixknives]

She would have laughed, really, if her leg didn't ache so much and she wasn't worried about how this entire thing might or might not affect her.

And, indeed, she wasn't sure if this would hinder her chances of avoiding fireballs being thrown at her.

One she managed to lean away from fast enough, but her attacker certainly knew his stuff, and had aimed the second one to catch her on the rebound. It singed her left shoulder, just a bit, only yielding a tiny sting of pain that was easy to ignore. If anything, she was more annoyed that one of her favourite dresses had gotten ruined by some idiot's bending.

Using the momentum from the hit, she lunged back and threw out her other arm, the springs in her wrist-holster flinging out another barrage of sharp arrows this time. She aimed for his legs, eager to take him out but to keep him alive for questioning.

[npc_inc]

Realizing he made a mistake as three knives embed in his leg, he stumbles forward, and he loses his balance. Way to cocky for his own good, he should of just ended it. Maybe she will give him the opportunity to strike.

He slumps to his knees and rests his hand on one of the knifes. He looks up at her and waits for his fate.

[maixknives]

Mai just stood there, leaning as much weight on her good leg as possible. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look as unaffected as possible.

"So," she said flatly. "You're an assassin. You're here to kill me. Is it really just that simple?"

She rolled her eyes, not really expecting an answer. With a quick glance, she realised with growing irritation that this was the one time the hallways were completely void of anyone else... or maybe they're hiding...

Either way, she was on her own.

"What if you just...go away and I pretend this never happened?" she wondered idly, inwardly stalling and trying to find a way out of this situation - and coming up with nothing.

[maixknives]

Mai winced as the last of the bandages were tightened onto her foot. The procedure itself had been gruesome, involving lots of digging and many fainting scares, but it was over, now, and she was grateful... mostly. She made a face at the once-pristine white linens that she rested on, warily taking in the various splatters of red.

Gross.

"There's another reason why I came here," she admitted carefully, the poppy that Datsu had given her earlier making her words slur together, despite its pain-killing affects. "I honestly wasn't planning on being attacked on my way here."

[npc_inc]

Datsu set her foot down gently, then moved away to clean up the tools and mess, including the remaining pieces of arrow and cloths that had been used to stem the bleeding.

At her remark, he smirked a little over his shoulder. "I'm not sure, Lady Mai," he teased. "You do have a penchant of being bored and wanting something interesting to ease that."

He washed his hands and came back to her side all the same. "What's on your mind, then?"

[maixknives]

She shifted, looking away shyly. While she was pretty comfortable when it came to her life - and love - with Zuko, she was still unable to, after all these years, to shake the damned shyness she felt whenever she talked about it.

"It's been over two months since my last bleeding," she blurted, glad that her voice was flat. "I came to check and see if there's a reason."

[npc_inc]

"Ah," Datsu said calmly, his eyebrows going up without his control. "Indeed, that is curious. Have you had any other symptoms?" He went to her side as he spoke, carefully examining her face and pulse, his hands going over her as deftly as possible to avoid embarrassing her or calling attention to it.