When Assassins Find Circus Performers

Matsu was doing her regular breathing exercises, occasionally opening one eye to peek at Sifu Niu and Run-Li. Hun-Hun was no where to be seen, but she didn't worry about that; Sifu Niu wagged a finger at Matsu and she quickly closed her eyes again, sighing. Mediation was just soooooooo boring!

Eventually, Sifu Niu bounded off of a meditation post and Run-Li and Matsu did the same. "You girls go eat lunch; I must hold a meeting with some of the elders. I expect to see you here at sundown." she said, giving Matsu a knowing look. Matsu rolled her eyes, and as soon as Sifu Niu was out of sight, she jumped onto Run-Li's back, scrambling all about the other girl. "What should we dooooo?" she sang happily, while Run-Li attempted to push her off until finally blasting her best friend onto her butt with her airbending.

Matsu laughed and they chased each other across the meditation posts, narrowly missing falling forty feet to the ground below. That would REALLY hurt; Matsu let out a whoop, she'd made it to the end first. Run-Li shoved her off of her post and Matsu laughed as she flew above her friends head, expressing the ONE airbending ability Run-Li didn't have.

Landing lightly, they went and ate their lunch, then watched as Run-Li's crush played an Airball game with a bunch of his friends. Matsu was bored and kept flicking peas across the table and hitting Run-Li in the head with them. Run-Li eventually just bended them away from her face and Matsu was bored watching sweaty teenagers compete. She stood, told Run-Li she was going for a walk--which she received no reply to--and left.

She walked to the stables where they kept the air bison, rubbing the first bison she'd ever seen's nose. She murmured soothing words to him, and he rumbled in response; sometimes, she wished she could just turn ChenChen into a teddy bear and keep him in her room. She missed the circus dearly; airbending training was becoming boring fairly quickly, and the way of life in the Air Temples was growing more stagnant by the second. She wanted to go on an adventure again, meeting random people in random places for a day or two. She'd never realized how lucky she was, being a circus performer.

Eventually, she walked along the path going down the mountain, ending up at the bridge that tied the mountain to the peak of a mountain in the south-eastern region of the Earth Kingdom. She remembered when this bridge hadn't existed--it was the day she'd arrived at the temple. With a shout, she heard someone calling her name and knew that Run-Li had finally realized that she'd trailed off. Sighing, she headed back up the trail to the three pagoda temple at the top of the mountain, not cartwheeling, not jumping around, not even floating above the ground. Just walking. Like a boring, regular old airbender.

Matsu wondered if she turned back right then, if she went across that bridge and never looked back, what would happen. She'd never finish her training, that was one. And she'd probably hurt Hun-Hun and Run-Li's feelings. Maybe even Sifu Niu's...she couldn't be sure, but she THOUGHT Sifu Niu liked her.

Itamatsu's depressing trudge up the mountain-side was interrupted with a rumbling boom, a giant boulder, and the arrival of a man she recognized instantly as the dust cleared. A smile spread across her face like butter on toast; she couldn't help it. This was exactly what she'd been wanting for the past week--something new, and exciting. And here it was, landing straight out of the sky.

Run-Li shouted from up above, something about Matsu being okay but Matsu ignored her; Run-Li was scared of everything outside of the three pagoda home to the Eastern Airbenders, and wouldn't dare come down after a flying boulder hit their mountain.

She took a moment to look at Daichi, standing there, with a smile on his face so wide...it looked like she'd rubbed off on him after all. With a single bound, she tackled him to the ground, her airbending assisting her in monstrous leap. She hugged him, burying her face in his chest; typical Matsu behavior, honestly. "Where have you been, Daichi?! I saw you after the Ball...when I was taken...and then you left." she said, her tone betraying the hurt she felt as he'd run away. She continued hugging him, not wanting to let go. Part of her couldn't believe that he was there, and she felt that if she let go of him, he'd disappear--again.

Matsu rested her head against his chest, her arms around his waist tightly; he was little more than five inches taller than her, which was surprising--she was pretty tall. Eventually, she felt the need to break away; she had to make sure he was there. She had to hear his voice, see his serious little face...which wasn't serious at all at this point. A smile lit her own up to match his. "What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were gone for good..." she said, her eyes sad but her face smiling.

Run-Li continued shouting her name, and she bended an airball up at her best friend, smacking her clean away from the banister. She was getting better with her bending, that was for sure. She then turned back to him, looking up at him carefully, worry lining her features. He was so different that she was both pleased and worried at the same time; at the moment though, she just wanted to give him another hug. He'd hugged her back, so she assumed it was okay. With a single step, she wrapped her arms around him yet again, hugging him tightly. She didn't know why she felt like she'd missed him so much; she hadn't thought of him much after the Ball.

Well, sure, she'd cried for two days straight, thinking she'd upset him somehow. She wasn't used to her friends just running away like that. But eventually, she went back to Hapy Matsu Land, and forgot all about it. That is...until now.

Matsu smiled at Daichi's question. "My best friend, Run-Li. She talks too much." she said, adding the comment as an afterthought. She didn't realize how hilarious that statement was--her mouth was always running. "....But really....what are you doing here?" she said, watching him examine ChenChen. She wasn't one to pry, and basically assumed he was here for a meeting with the elders. But, she still wanted to hear him say that. And if he lied to her...well, it wouldn't be the first time.

She folded her arms, a smile not lighting her features but there was no frown. She basically watched him blankly, unable to decide if she was glad he was here or not. She was so scared that he'd just disappear that it was marring the fact that she should be bursting with joy at seeing him. She didn't want to end up crying for another two days, after all.

Matsu's flat look disappeared with a wide, trusting smile. "I forgive you! Do you want to come up to the temple with me? Or...you know, not?" she asked, hoping he chose the second option. She didn't want to go back to the temple with the stuffy old teachers and the jeering kids. Especially not with Daichi; she didn't want him to meet the kids who teased her so harshly. Even more so, she didn't want him to see the hurt she felt when they did. She knew that she was older than them and that it should just roll right off her back...but it didn't. Whoever made the saying, "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me" was sorely wrong. So wrong that there wasn't much more wrong they could get and eventually started looking like they were right.

She examined her friend; he looked like he didn't even know what he'd done to hurt her feelings. The apology was crummy, but she knew he had a hard time with some things, and automatically forgave him. He probably didn't know how hurt she'd been when he'd disappeared on her. She couldn't blame him for ignorance.

Matsu didn't respond. He wanted to meet a friend of hers? She guessed there wasn't much harm that could be done....Run-Li knew lots of kids and was fairly popular, so Matsu could just play it like they were her friends. She didn't want to admit to Daichi that she didn't have many friends in the Temples, although she doubted if he would even care. Still, it was embarrassing for her.

"I guess you can meet some friends of mine...What's the harm?" she said with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her head. Happy Matsu was temporarily shut up and confined to a small space in the back of her head at the moment.

With a half-hearted smile, Matsu led the way back up to the temples, not really saying much. Eventually they reached the open yards, where ChenChen had already flown up and rested quite a bit ago. They had hardly reached the temples when Run-Li immediately came running with the goofiest smile in the world.

"ITAMATSU PASANG." she shouted, and launched into the air a few yards away to land in Matsu's arms as they occasionally did; the girls were perfectly matched for one another. Right before Matsu could catch Run-Li, she stopped bending, looking over at Daichi before falling flat on her face two feet in front of Matsu.

Run-Li stood almost immediately and began examining Daichi, circling him suspiciously. Eventually, she stopped and gave Matsu a cheeky grin. Matsu could already feel a blush starting up. "Ooohh....so is this why you've been so moody lately? Guy on your mind?" she teased and Matsu smacked her friend in the face with another airball.

"He's just a friend, Run-Li." Matsu replied, before turning to Daichi. "This is my best friend and world's biggest goofball, Run-Li." She then looked back over at Run. "This is Daichi."

Run-Li gave Daichi a cheeky smile. "Hey there," the slightly boy-crazy teen said, and Matsu sent her flying back with yet another airball to the face. This was all in good fun, as a second later, Run-Li was perched on Matsu's head, scrambling all about. Matsu managed to shove her friend off before looking at Daichi sheepishly.

"Sorry about her..." she said with a slight blush. Run-Li decided at that very moment that Daichi's shoulder looking like the perfect place to hang. Matsu visibly sweat-dropped, ready to get the girl off of her friend's shoulder, when Kunjyo showed up.

Run-Li immediately got off of Daichi and went to stand next to Jyo, and he slung an arm across her shoulders. Matsu raised an eyebrow at this development--usually Run-Li tried to hide when Jyo was around. Childhood crushes were 'complicated' according to her.

Kunjyo, being one of the most popular guys in the temple, had brought the entire Airball team with him and a bunch of girls who were always falling all over them. Matsu bit her lip and looked over at Daichi; these were those kids that enjoyed teasing her and pushing her down.

"Hey, Circus Frea--" Kunjyo began before Run-Li hissed something at him. He rolled his eyes, before looking at Matsu once again. "Hey, Matsu, who's the stranger? You don't have permission from the elders to be bringing newcomers here." he said, emphasizing her name for added effect.

Run-Li seemed unsure of what to do; risk upsetting Kunjyo or stand up for her friend? Matsu bit her lip even harder; if she didn't know any better, she'd say she was trying to draw blood. This was exactly what she'd been worried about; would Daichi care, or would he laugh at her?

Everyone else, other than Kunjyo, began to flock around Daichi and Matsu though. They seemed interested in the new guy--they didn't get many new people at the temples. Matsu had been their last new arrival, and had been quite the 'disappointment'. Whispers such as "Where's he from?" and "Where'd Circus Freak find him? began circulating and Matsu stood there, bouncing on her heels, unsure of what to do.

Matsu looked over at Daichi as he spoke, and smiled slightly at how confident he seemed. Maybe, just maybe, she could pull this off. The airbenders around looked massively impressed as he earthbended a bit, and she felt a tad proud. The slight cloudiness that had been in her gray eyes cleared away as she, for the first time since arriving here, felt like not everyone was inspecting her every move as though she were an insect they'd like to crush.

His introduction alighted a smile, especially when he said he was her friend. Every single eye turned to look at her for a moment, and she couldn't help but stare back with a smug grin. They then went back to examining him, most of them whispering and murmuring between themselves as Kunjyo and Run-Li watched from a few feet away. Jyo looked bored as h'ell while Run-Li whispered something to him. He waved her off after a moment, and she fell silent.

Something in the atmosphere changed for a second as the murmurs continued; Daichi's smile went into a complete pokerface--but Matsu could see, he was upset. She could tell just by standing near him. She almost spoke, to ask him what was wrong, when he said, "Everyone. Quiet. Now." Matsu's slightly open mouth snapped shut.

Silence met Daichi almost immediately as he stepped forward, pulling her behind him a bit. She went willingly enough, her eyes almost as wide as everyone else's. No one had any idea what was going on, until Daichi's sights locked onto Kunjyo. "Circus...Freak." Daichi murmured, and Matsu's wide, clear eyes were instantly shuttered with the cloudiness back in place. She hid her face behind her bangs as Daichi continued, shame emanating from every point of her being.

But he didn't laugh, or jeer--he told Jyo to explain. She peeked through her bangs for just a second, not understanding. She was a Circus Freak. Why wasn't Daichi laughing? She watched as Kunjyo stared at him, obviously not knowing what was happening either. She watched his eyes flit towards Dai's hands, and Matsu followed--a subtle gesture. She didn't understand from where she was at, but obviously Jyo saw something and his swagger fell a bit until he noted the people watching and set it confidently back in place.

Now he was shaking? Was Daichi....upset about this? The idea was so new to Matsu that she had a hard time registering with it. Then Kunjyo's voice, cold as ice, slid through Matsu's train of thought. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you care about the little freak. I mean, saying you were her friend, I was a little convinced she'd paid you off to do this. Maybe bump up her points a little." He said, sneering. A few of his posse began edging off quietly, mostly the Airball Team--the girls who fawned over them seemed enthralled in what was happening. Matsu's cheeks burned bright red with embarrassment, and she started to do the same, edging off towards the stables to hide with ChenChen until this all died down.

Jyo caught her eye, though, laughing as he did. Run-Li shot him a look, and he chuckled faintly for a second before staring at Matsu coldly, then turning back to Daichi. "She's only allowed to sleep outside of the stables because she knows Run-Li, anyways. You want me to explain? Your little friend--she's a Circus Freak. A loud-talking, back-flipping, high-flying little weirdo who acts more like a twelve year old than her own age. She's crazy. Now get lost before I go get Sifu Retu."

Matsu stepped forward, her hand clenched in anger; not for herself, but because he was addressing Daichi so. He could make her own life miserable, that was fine, but now he was screwing with Daichi? He looked at her again and she shrunk back, wishing she could disappear, her anger and confidence gone. This kid was stupid though; Dai was obviously angry and something about him told her that he wasn't one to mess with. She held her breath, half-hoping that Kunjyo got the living sh'it beat out of him.

Matsu had been hiding her face sufficiently behind her slightly-too-long bangs when she caught Daichi turning around--to smile at her. She smiled back for a second as he went back to Kunjyo. The internal sense of wanting him to get the stuffing beat out of him disappeared as she saw Run-Li's face; she was pretty much terrified of what was going to go happen. She looked at Matsu with wide eyes, and she looked back with an expression that could only be described as "Sorry, not my fault."

Daichi moved pretty quickly suddenly, grabbing Jyo by his collar and lifting him into the air. Kunjyo started kicking his feet and moving about in an insane hope to be released; he seemed to forget about his bending. Run-Li ran off, along with everyone else there. Matsu was left to watch with wide eyes. "I killed my first man when I was five." he snarled. Matsu took three steps back, a hand over her mouth as he reached down--a dagger was what he was grabbing.

He looked around suddenly, examining the other airbenders who were running off. His hand then came off the dagger; Matsu's head tilted to the side, her brow crumpled with confusion. He went from aiming to gut Kunjyo like a fish to setting him down. Kunjyo immediately ran away too, screaming for Sifu Retu.

He turned towards Matsu then, who was still examining him with curious eyes. Matsu was, indeed, a strange gal: she usually hid behind a wall of happiness, and when bad things happened, she examined them in a curious light. She looked him over with her shuttered gray eyes for a moment, before tilting her head the other way and saying: "Why did you kill him? I mean, the man. When you were five?" Now that all the little snot-brained airbending kids were gone, she was much less wired, and spoke a bit more confidently.

Matsu waited for a moment for him to answer; she wasn't one to pry, and was merely curious. He suddenly began to stutter, before a string of words spilled from his mouth. "I'm an assassin. My dad made me do it."

Matsu's initial reaction was that her eyes widened; Daichi? An assassin? She took a moment to think about, then nodded. She could see that; he was serious, obviously well-trained, focused. She opened her mouth to respond, although she wasn't sure what she might say in return, when his voice cut across her thoughts. "I was ordered to kill you at the Omashu ball."

At this point, Matsu couldn't help the small tears that sprang to her eyes; she hoped he didn't notice, and thankfully, they didn't fall. She sniffled once, the areas around her eyes now slightly red from the tears. "Well...why didn't y--" she began as an irritated voice screamed, "ITAMATSU PASANG!"

She looked to the left; Sifu Retu was tearing into the courtyard with Kunjyo behind her; her eyes were wildly angry and small gusts of wind were being expelled as she approached. "YOU! YOU BRING A STRANGER INTO OUR HOME?! YOU LET HIM HARM KUNJYO?! WHEN I GET DONE WITH YOU YOUR HIDE IS GOING TO BE PERMANENTLY BLACK AND BLUE, AND YOUR FRIEND IS TAKING A ONE-WAY NOSEDIVE DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE."

They didn't have much time, as she was nearly there, and send quite a powerful strike Matsu's way. She managed to deflect the air blast with a small motion, not eliminating it but sending it slightly off course, then looked at Daichi. He hadn't killed her yet, and while she felt like she shouldn't trust him, she couldn't help it. "Well, sh'it. Daichi, don't protest. Hang on," she said, flipping into the air and bending herself up, so that she was gliding. She hooked her arms under Daichi's shoulders and lifted him into the air, flying down towards the bridge that connected the Temple to the mountains below--Sifu Retu's angry screams and uncontrolled bursts of wind followed them down.

Matsu smiled at Dai's comment as she lifted off, the blasts of air knocking her here and there for a moment until she was able to right herself. She hoped she didn't scare Daichi too badly, and managed to keep them going straight; she looked behind herself as the gusts of air noticeably lessened, seeing earthen walls blocking their path. She was incredibly grateful for this.

Keeping her eyes ahead, she was glad for the extensive training she had gone through; she would never have been able to pull this off before her arrival at the Temple. "Where are we going?" Daichi yelled; she looked down at him for a second before paying attention to where they were going. She then began descending rapidly, almost diving; were she not worried about Daichi, she herself would've stopped bending altogether until the last second and then pulled up.

Of course, at the moment, she was focused and her head clear. She was rarely like this; usually her entire being was protected by her shell of happiness, and while things that Kunjyo and the like said normally rolled right off, the constant berating knocked down her confidence when she was at the Temples. She shook her head, her mind moving to other subjects. So Daichi had been ordered to kill her? What on earth for? The tears came back, stinging, and she hurriedly changed to yet another subject. Where was her mother? Was the circus better off without her? What would she say about all of this?

No, no, these were no good. Onto the subject of her teaching...would she even be allowed back in the Temple after this? Oh, goodness, she was horrible at thinking. Finally she realized that she hadn't answered Daichi's question as they neared the base of the mountain, the bridge coming closer and closer into view. "The bridge, I suppose, unless you have somewhere else in mind," she yelled back, over the sound of the wind rushing in their ears due to her speed.

"I don't. Well, I might, but it all depends on what we're actually doing at the bridge....I mean, I could always just drop myself off down the mountain. Literally, actually. But what's going to happen to you?" was Daichi's response, to which she didn't answer and suddenly began bending again, their speedy descent halted abruptly. They basically floated down now, as Matsu was merely cushioning their fall, not flying.

She set Daichi down at the end of the bridge that connected the Temples to the Earth Kingdom. It was long and wide, made of stone, designed with beautiful carvings and colors. She touched down beside him, looking back up at the Temple; it was partially hidden by cloud, as it always was. She looked back at Daichi, pursed her lips for a moment, then said, "I'll go back to the Circus. I doubt I'm welcome at the Temple anymore, and I've had my fill of those stuffy old monks and idiot kids to last me a lifetime." She responded, although she had no idea how she was going to finish her training, or what she would tell her mother.

But, heck, she knew enough to have many new tricks for the Circus, and wouldn't come back empty handed. Those mastery tattoos were silly anyways. "What now?" she finally asked, as she was at a loss for a new plan of action. She doubted that Daichi had searched and come all this way to be flown off a mountain and then say goodbye. But, if he wanted to go, she wouldn't stop him.

I'm turning into my mother, came a sudden, abrupt thought, and with that, Matsu broke into a happy grin and bounced on her feet a bit. The Happy Matsu Haze was coming back, da'mmit, she hated being like this.

"Are you sure that's your only option? I mean, granted we think differently, but spending the rest of your life in the circus sounds kind of...dull I guess. I mean, you're like...20ish? There is other stuff you could do.....But that's just me..." was Daichi's response to her statement of returning to the Circus. She quirked an eyebrow; do something other than the circus?

She laughed out loud, backflipping off the edge of the bridge, dropping at an alarming rate towards the abyss below; when she could see the huge stalagmites, she began spiraling back up and landed on the other side with a somersault. "There's no place for someone like me anywhere, else, Daichi. I am circus, I always will be." She said with a smile, albeit a little sad one, brushing her bangs away from her face.

To her comment of what they should do next, his response made her frown a little. "You just got here!" she protested. She merely sighed and agreed to the idea of going somewhere. "Where are we going anyhow? And...would you be mad if I asked you questions about your...job? Because if it'll make you mad, I don't want to talk about it," she said, her voice generally cheerful and innocent.