tushanshu | 017 ✤ audio

[ this is what he gets for using up all of his allotted Waterbending time for the day earlier. but it was too tempting to just play for a bit, and then little kedan children joined in, and... anyway, it's really, really hard to regret it. but he does. just a little bit.

mostly because his Bending is the way he avoids violent confrontation 99% of the time - just freeze a mugger's shoes to the ground and stay out of range and voila! easy avoidance. today, however, that was not an option, and he wasn't about to use a Fang on a couple of older kedan who didn't even look like they wanted to be mugging him. they seemed so reluctant that had Akito any juulan on him to spare he would have given it to them, but they wanted his gem. the one that - according to what he's been told - houses his soul. and no. he wasn't about to give that up.

the thing about Waterbending that Akito misses the most when he doesn't have it is that it gives him a nice, pain-free, long-range method of self-defense. especially when his would-be muggers are carrying some sort of bowie knives and seem to actually know how to use them. which makes his close-combat training a bit disadvantageous, even if he shifts himself some claws.

a roundhouse kick to the scarred one's side earns him a very nice, deep slice to his calf. which is super lame. and kind of hurts. but whatever. what hurts a bit worse is the kedan's partner getting scared and lashing out unpredictably with his own blade and getting him just under the clavicle.

but hey! the violence scared the kedan off. meaning Akito gets to keep all of his stuff without injuring anyone! all for the low low price of a little pain, and ... well, okay. not a little bit of blood.

the Midnight Hotel is the closest place to go to get some help, so he heads in that direction and arrives within a few minutes. because leg pain be damned, he's going to use his A-Ts anyway.

first thing's first though - giving people the head's up on the consoles. while simultaneously asking for some help. ha ha ... ha... ]

...I think someone might have blackmailed some kedan to steal my soul gem from me. I scared them off so they didn't actually take it, but... Be careful when you go out, and try not to travel alone.

[ he sounds more confused than bothered by this. but with that aside- ]

Um, if there are any people competent in first aid in the Midnight Hotel... Ah... If they could please come to the lobby it would be appreciated!

[ he'll clean up all the blood afterwards, Anton! he promises! ): ]

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[Still older than she would have guessed. Then again, her dad had been getting pretty up there in years, and he could still put up a good fight.]

[Along with several other Leaguers whose ages she could only guess.]

Anything else that might point us their way? Features that kind of stuck around even with the shifting? Clothes? The way they spoke?

[ nothing he's going to talk about over the network, unfortunately. ]

I'm going to talk to Meisheng about it tomorrow. She promised to help me if I ever got attacked again, as long as I didn't retaliate.

But if someone is wanting to get a hold of Foreigner gems they're not likely to use the same kedan twice.

[Good point. All of them.]

[Zatanna's lips pressed together in a thin line on her end, even though he wouldn't be able to see. She was well aware of the public function of the consoles, of course, and that was actually one of the reasons she had been so adamant about asking--information like this could be made known. It should have been made known.]

[Strangely enough, it was the specification of Foreigner gems that triggered something in her mind. Residual paranoia. Things had been going relatively well until that point, with relationships slowly improving. She and Jack had even visited some of the kedan kids not too long ago, all without incident. But for this to start happening, now...]

Why do you think they want our gems?

[It didn't make sense, but she could think of a few answers. The more pressing question, though, was precisely who they was--did all the kedan secretly still feel that way, was it just a select few working on their own...or was it somebody else altogether?]

I dunno... Lots of reasons. Could be simple malice, wanting to hurt us by separating them from us. Or... It could be someone wanting to see how they work in order to harness the power of them for themselves if there is any. It could be greed, because they're technically all one of a kind...

[ forgive him if his speech gets a bit slower he's still trying to stop bleeding *^* ]

[Forgiven, but definitely noticed. And with little visual to go by...]

Are you alright?

You sound...I don't know...kind of tired?

Oh, um. Yeah. I'm just trying not to bleed out, ne?

[ which is why he made the second part to his post! because he is a smarty pants and knows when to ask for help. :) ]

[There was a long pause on her end. Followed by a very heavy sigh.]

How bad is it?

I just need stitches.

[ not 100% true, but stitches will stop the bleeding long enough that his Waterbending will kick in. and then everything will be all better ♥ ]

[...yeah, not really her area of expertise BUT--]

Is somebody on the way yet?

Un, someone should be here soon.

Are you sure?

I'm not really much of a nurse or a doctor, but I do know a little bit of healing magic. It might help. A bit.

I just need the bleeding to stop, then I can heal the rest of it myself tomorrow.

[In that case--]

Think you can stay conscious for the next fifteen minutes?

I can be there by then.

Ah, no - that's okay. Someone else has offered to help me.

...alright, if you're sure.

But would you mind giving me a call back in, say, an hour or two? Just so I know that they made it to you in time. Otherwise, I'm coming over.

I'll be fine. In an hour or two I hope that I am napping, not calling people... And if I am not napping then I'd be dead by then, but Anton wouldn't let anyone die in his hotel. It would be bad business practice.

[...then I'd be dead by then.]

[She was going to take the fact that he'd said it so lightly as a sign it wasn't serious. Hopefully.]

Alright.

Feel better. And I'll definitely be on the look out for a few rebellious kedan going around, trying to snatch things that aren't theirs. If we're lucky, it's just a couple of petty thieves.

Thank you! And un! Hopefully we get lucky.

[ because they've all had so much luck in Keeliai up to this point, right? but he will keep his sarcasm to himself because he knows it's just because he's cranky from the whole mugging thing. ]