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Post by belated valentine on Dec 17, 2016 23:26:46 GMT -5
Frost shrugged. "I've never really done this before, so I honestly can't tell you how long it'll take," she said. "I can write when I get there and speak to the others. They'll probably have a better idea than me." She ran her hands through Pumpkin's mane when he slithered over, licking his lips after his meal. "I take him, obviously," she stated as if it were clear. Frost rarely went anywhere out of the base without Pumpkin nearby. She did prefer to have him with her, but it mostly because he refused to stay behind most of the time. It had been that way since ever since she was a young girl. Even when she appeared to be alone, he was always slithering along in the woods nearby, ready if anything were to happen.
Echo leaned forward, wiping his lip with his thumb. "We can take one of the benders," he said. "Just in case. It might be handy." He shrugged and looked at the two of them.
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Post by Fateful on Dec 17, 2016 23:32:40 GMT -5
Jet nodded. "I knew pumpkin was going with you." He considered letting them take Chakan, but that might set off some flags. An animal that rare so faraway from where it usually lived would be hard to explain and hard to predict. Not to mention, Chakan listened to Jet more than anyone else and there was a risk of Chakan and Pumpkin fighting if Frost couldn't make shaken obey. The two got along well, but they had a little scrap now and then to establish dominance, though, which one of them was actually dominant was anyone's guess.
"You can interview and audition the if you think that would be the best fit for what's going on, especially knowing what they're going have to see and do. I can get a list of names for you and we can figure this out by the end of the day and you can leave as soon as your ready." He stated. Frost seemed eager and even Echo was keen on wanting to go. "So when you guys take over the city, you're going to let me know when I can swoop in and take out the Avatar, yeah?"
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Post by belated valentine on Mar 15, 2017 20:13:48 GMT -5
Frost shrugged, sitting up in her seat. She eyed the paperwork spread out in front of him, feeling stressed out for him. "Forget the list, send out a notice telling the fighters to meet in the gathering area. I'll choose from there," she said. She looked at Echo, who was fiddling with something. "Actually, you go and gather everyone."
Echo looked up. "Why me?" he looked at the two of them and saw them staring at him. He sighed and stood up. "Fine, I'll meet you in twenty meet minutes."
Frost stood up too. "I guess I've got to pack my stuff."
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Post by Fateful on Mar 15, 2017 20:33:56 GMT -5
- - -
Jet saw them off, but wasn't able to go all the way to Republic City with them. While he did travel much of the way, he didn't want to get too close to the city, knowing what Frost was going to get into. "You can do this." He told her when the stopped for him to turn back. "if you need anything else, find a way to get in contact with me and I'll send more back up for you."
It had been made clear that Frost would have access to earth benders and fire benders in the city, those who had lived there for a while, or who at the very least had moved there before Frost had arrived to make them appear established in the city. Now, it would solidify their hold of the city. Ideally, this would get rid of gangs, but Jet wasn't too sure that was the case, but was hopeful all the same. Sokka seemed convinced this would solve everything. He had been traveling with them, telling Frost what Republic City was like and giving her advice on how to get involved in the gang scene - which was mostly held by distribution and sales of drugs.
This was also when Sokka noticed Suyin was with the Freedom Fighters, and a few days into the journey, he gasped when Jet bent down and kissed Suyin that he'd stormed off and had to be alone for a few hours - until he was dragged back by Suki for dinner. Then, he declared Suyin a traitor and that he had not yet forgiven her for ripping out Fang's heart. Jet smirked and felt pretty good about himself. Sokka ignored Suyin for two days while Suki apologized for her husband and eventually convinced Sokka to call a truce with Suyin - as long as Suyin agreed to tell him why she broke up with Fang and was now hanging around with Jet.
By this time, Toph had met with them half way between the Freedom Fighter base and Republic City and she announced her arrival by telling Sokka he was blind to the entire relationship if he thought it was a good one. This was also when she mentioned Aang didn't like Fang. Of course, Sokka argued this because Fang was too pure a man for a woman like Suyin.
"So..." Toph started. "I can see traveling with Sokka is going well."
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Post by belated valentine on Mar 19, 2017 23:45:32 GMT -5
Suyin wasn't all too hurt by Sokka's sudden distaste for her. Frankly, she wasn't all that fond of him to begin with, so losing his trust wasn't much of a loss. She was relieved to meet up with Aang and Toph, instantly deciding to travel beside them the rest of the time. Frost glared at her from afar because Sokka had latched onto her after that. "I forgot how much of an idiot he is," she said. She honestly thought it'd be best if Suki dumped him and he left to marry Fang instead since he was so incredibly fond of the man.
They traveled for a while longer and by the end of it, everyone was sick of Sokka. Frost had nearly ripped all of her hair out and even Pumpkin had slithered off into the woods to find something to eat. When they arrived, Frost and Echo left to find shelter in one of the hotels for the time being. They could have stayed with Toph and Aang, but it was likely best not to be seen with them as she was supposed to be infiltrating the gang system. They were set to meet up occasionally, but throughout the day it was best to stay apart.
This went on for about a month. Frost had a fairly easy time getting noticed by the other gangs. She did what she did best, intimidate and taunt people. A few weeks in she had gotten into multiple bar and street fights, all of which she'd won. Though she didn't escape unscathed. She sprouted various bruises and gashes and one fairly shallow swipe from a knife. It didn't take long before she began to gather respect and power. Even as a nonbender, she managed to gain enough reputation in the streets to frighten the benders of the rival gangs. She wrote to Jet often, letting him know what was going on, but she kept it in the old Earth Kingdom dialect to keep things secure.
It was a week after her full month in Republic City and she met up with Aang and Toph in an abandoned warehouse near the shore. She was sitting on the floor, Pumpkin spread across her lap and a good portion of the area around her. "What's our next step?" she asked.
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Post by Fateful on Mar 20, 2017 0:02:33 GMT -5
Jet had written to Frost a few times and sent her money twice. Just shipped her gold and recorded how much he sent her and what it would be valued. Since they had their own dialect and used it easily, he wanted to ensure she would be well funded. And a woman like her was entitled to a little sugar daddy money, at least that's what Jet told Smellerbee. Frost was doing something dangerous and she likely needed money for weapons, drugs, and whatever else he wanted. At the bottom of every letter, he told her to be safe and that he loved her.
He did of course, but it was a common phrase that most people would know. If anyone did intercept it, they would likely see that and just assume it was some sort of love note and wouldn't try to translate it much further than that, assuming it was a decoy. At least, Jet thought it would work. They had used this tactic successfully in the past.
"Honestly, you're doing a great job and you should just keep doing whatever it is you're doing." The bar fights had been reported and Toph didn't tell any of her officers who Frost was, so they tried to arrest her a few times, but never got very far. "Just... stop stabbing my officers. Katara's complaining about healing them and they want hazard pay for it." She added with a small smirk. "They're running a pool right now on how many rookie's you're going to stab this week. It keeps their morale up and everything, but it's scaring some of the trainees." Not that she wanted them if being stabbed scared them. Toph scared away more wealth benders and offers than anyone else. Her training to be an officer was enough to knock anyone on their ass.
A few officers tried to convince Aang to try it, assuming even he would fail it. So far, he had yet to accept this challenge.
All in all, Frost's gang was hell for the police. Now they had almost twice the product in the city, but now they had more knowledge and control of where it was going. The competition made business great for Frost, since her drugs were cheaper, as a good amount of them had come directly from Toph and police confiscation. Being free, they could sell it pretty cheap. They also didn't have to pay as much for storage and guards, since evidently Pumpkin was being used for that purpose. And no officer was foolish enough to get close to him.
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Post by belated valentine on Mar 23, 2017 21:21:05 GMT -5
Frost had joked with Toph, telling her that it wasn't her fault that her men kept testing her. She'd furthered her case by letting her know the stab wounds were always in fairly "harmless" and that they would heal quickly. They talked for a little while longer until Echo brought back food. He was lugging a basket of prepared meals in one hand and an oversized pumpkin in the other. His breathing was heavy and his face red. The two of them were staying in the small abandoned upstairs of the warehouse. It was low key and out of the way. Suyin brought them baked goods every so often.
It was when he dropped the large pumpkin into the mouth of the lion-cobra that Aang decided he and Toph should leave. On their way out he cringed at the sound of the squash cracking between Pumpkin's teeth. He wondered if that was how the animal got its name.
He wished Frost and Echo a good evening, reminding her to tone down the violence, and then the two of them left.
Nights later, Aang was returning to the small apartment he and Toph shared. He breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the home, warmth hitting him. It was early fall in Republic City and both the leaves and the weather were dropping. He shut the door behind him, dropping the keys onto the hook beside the door. Aang had a bad habit of forgetting to lock the doors. In the Air temples it was unheard of as most of the rooms didn't even have doors to begin with.
He slid out of the cloak he wore over his robes and set it down over the arm of the couch. "Toph," he called. He saw her enter the room moments later and he kissed her lightly. "Do we have anymore lychee nut salad? I've had a rough day and I think eating myself into a coma might help," he joked as he headed to the kitchen, filling a glass of water from the sink.
The two of them ate dinner together, deciding on leftovers since it was fairly late. Aang told her about his day, having to deal with the thousands of complaints from the citizens. Toph spoke of hers too, and overall, it was a nice dinner. After that, he had retired to shower. Once he was finished, he returned to the living area, dropping down beside her on their couch and placing an arm around her shoulders.
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Post by Fateful on Mar 23, 2017 21:58:29 GMT -5
Toph didn't have much of an issue with the violence in all honesty. Her officers were afraid of Frost and the gang's reputation. It was working. Honestly, she just hated to hear them complain. if they didn't want to get stabbed, then they should get better at stopping knives. Still, it was worth mentioning. Katara had started up her hospital recently. She had been training her first round of water benders in healing various wounds and had brought down a few from the Northern Water tribe. The healers seemed to love the city, especially the girls. They seemed to enjoy the busy city life. And the healers did heal up the officers fairly quickly.
Katara said that Toph's officers needed to stay away from her healers, so naturally, Toph encouraged them.
Granted, most of said officers were more interested in Katara's attention, but seemed well aware of the fact they wouldn't be able to snag her attention once Khal showed up.
Since Frost had arrived, Sokka and Katara had been staying in Republic City and Khal ended up hanging out as well. He liked to be useful and there was always room for another water bender, he would say.
All things considered, the city was running better. There was less violence in the streets and the gangs were doing business more privately than normal - inside shops and private business' that served as fronts, laundering money for gang actives. Overall, Frost's influence was a success, as her control forced stricter competition between the two other gangs. Except the bars - those were another story entirely. There was always violence in and around them. Weird right? It was almost like people went there to impair judgements or something.
Toph came home late one evening, expecting Aang to be home. He wasn't, which was somehow a welcomed change from the previous few days. She left and went out to get cupcakes at a bakery that disappointed her and made her miss Suyin. Then, she went home, showered, and waited for Aang to come back. Once he had, they ate together and hung out for a while. He mentioned it was a late and she shrugged. "S'all the same to me." She teased, but stood up and stretched. "So I had this idea for my metal benders." She told him as she stood in front of him. "Actually, I got the idea from something Sokka said. Remember when he was talking about fighting and the styles of bending, that we learn an adopt attacks from one another's bending styles?" She paused, "well, everyone learns from me and each other. My bending style is perfect." She grinned as she said this.
"I think I want to designs one sort of metal that moves fluidly like water that will let my metal benders move through the city faster without needing to touch the ground - like air bending." Not that she had any interest in this, but for metal benders who could see, apparently they couldn't need the constant contact with the ground she needed and they might be able to stop people faster and minimize damage. Not that she was particularly against damage.
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