[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kj5ThCk.png[/img][/center] [hr] [indent]Location: [i]Lower Ring - At the wall to the Middle Ring[/i] Interacting With: [i]Dao [@Milkman][/i][/indent] [hr] [b]“Can’t you even fail right, Peizhi?”[/b] The dry tattered handkerchief felt gritty and rough against Peizhi’s split lip – she could already feel sand particles digging into the wound. She’ll have to wash this out with water quick so it doesn’t get infected. As if the split lip weren’t enough, Peizhi’s legs were aching something fierce and there was a distinct pulsing from her ribs that could only mean a nice, large purple bruise. The lower ring was extra crowded that morning, but then it was always clustered with the poor and dying. Peizhi found it particularly annoying, having to deal with people accidentally bumping into her sore shoulder or kicking a wounded shin. Her best friend, Yazhu, didn’t seem to have a care about any of it all. She weaved with the waves of citizens, her arms tucked behind her head and a scowl that only lost money could put on her face. [b]“The one time you get lucky in a fight! The one time!”[/b] Yazhu shouted, her nose wrinkling in irritation. Peizhi smirked at Yazhu over the clump of handkerchief pressed to the side of her face, [color=FF8247]“Your concern for me is absolutely touching.”[/color] Yazhu waved her remark away, tugging at her hair until Peizhi was positive she would be missing a clump the next day. [b]“So much money lost…Gah, I’m so tired. We’ve been at the arena all night ‘cause of you.”[/b] Peizhi rolled her eyes, [color=FF8247]“If I remember correctly, you were the one who wanted to throw me in at the last round. Shouldn’t you have figured that the other guy would be tired by then? Not my fault he fell asleep ten seconds in…”[/color] What a spectacle that had been. Peizhi hadn’t even planned on fighting in the arena that night. After a long day at the field, she just wanted to relax in her hammock until Yazhu brought up the idea of sneaking into Big Mama’s cactus juice stash. They spent half the night delirious when, at the peak of the moon in the sky, they stumbled their way into the bending arena to enter the last three rounds. Her competitor – named something something big something something rock – was so tired, he fell onto his face with a loud, disturbing snore. [b]“You’re such a pitiful bender, he decided to sleep on you instead of fight!”[/b] Yazhu proclaimed and, at that, Peizhi scowled. [color=FF8247]“Way to kick me where it hurts, [i]pal[/i].”[/color] Yazhu smiled brightly, throwing an arm around Peizhi’s shoulder and knocking their heads affectionately together. [i]Girl had a skull of steel[/i], Peizhi thought as she rubbed her temple. Their conversation became idle and sluggish after that – the bright exuberant Yazhu bringing up a wide range of topics from the clouds to that weird looking cat-owl (what a strange cat-owl it was, it had the face of a cat-owl but its body was slinky and it had a long tail! No matter how far it fell, it always landed on its feet!). [b]“-no cause for alarm!”[/b] Their debate over the cat-owl ceased when they hit a wall of Ba Sing Se residents, standing by the tall structure that separated the classes. A echo of dissent came across the crowd at whatever the guard had said before the duo arrived – ([b]“Oh yeah? How long for? How are we meant to get to work?”[/b]) – and Peizhi could feel the people’s displeasure like pinpricks on her arms. There was an older woman to her side that Peizhi politely grabbed the sleeve of, tugging once to gain her attention. [color=FF8247]“What’s this all about?”[/color] Peizhi asked with a flicker of her eyes towards the guardsman. The older woman huffed, crossing her arms and leaning towards Peizhi like there was an important secret for her to tell. [b]“There’s a [i]quarantine[/i]. No one gets pass that wall – can’t risk getting those noblemen sick, now can we….[sub]rich bastards[/sub]…”[/b] The woman turned away from Peizhi, phasing into the crowd without another thought. When the sandbender rested back on her heels, Yazhu turned to her and gave her a shrug. A quarantine wasn’t quite that odd, nor was it so alarming for Peizhi or Yazhu. They never had business in the Middle Ring and it wasn’t the first quarantine to rock Ba Sing Se’s lower sector. Though, they would have to be careful of any possible contagions. If one of them were to become sick, the whole tribe would fall ill due to close quarters. [b]“Down with the Earthking! The avatar will return and liberate us from the oppression!”[/b] Wait, what? The words were slow to register in Peizhi’s mind and she had to take a second to mull over the key ones, those being: down, avatar, liberate, and oppression. Wasn’t getting her ass kicked by two earthbenders in a row and then her pride wounded by a dozer bad enough? Peizhi’s outward reaction took longer than her mental one and she was mid-yawn before her body less-sprung and more-dragged into action. Yazhu tried to grab Peizhi’s collar in time, but it was a bit too late before a damn Dai Li agent had pushed her into a mob of tripping victims. Her feet got all tangled in the dirt and Yazhu’s attempts in helping her only made it worse, ending with Yazhu’s knee smacking into Peizhi’s nose and split lip. The sandbender’s tailbone vibrated with tension as her ass collided into the ground, two solid bodies on top of her. [b]“[sub]The hell?[/sub]”[/b] Yazhu muttered under her breath, attempting to extract her friend from the jumble of limbs.