A Matter of Opinion

[Neva]

Zula was quickly learning that life wasn’t going to slow down anytime soon. It had been shocking, to say the least, when Zuka had returned to the city the first time. Zula certainly hadn’t expected to see her soon after that, but as fate had it, her twin was back in the city to stay. Of course, the circumstances weren’t exactly the best as someone unknown to them all had brought her and her mysterious friend back. That was an issue that had yet to be settled, and it had everyone wary and wondering just what was going on.

But, despite all of that, it had been nice having Zuka here instead of the previous situation. Their relationship had strengthened much more, and they’d been upholding that since they’d talked out everything when she first visited. It was such a nice change of pace and they were closer than ever, and Zula could not be happier to not have to worry about fighting with Zuka every time they talked. So when Zuka had asked her if she’d like to go to a probending match, she’d been happy to accept.

She didn’t really know how Zuka had managed to keep her private box in the arena, but her sister was someone of many talents. Zula was a bit surprised by Zuka’s invitation as well, simply because she had been trying to keep such a low profile since her return. While the box would be private and the last time she’d gone to a match they hadn’t been disturbed once, Zula supposed it wasn’t such a bad idea. It also could have easily been one of Zuka’s attempts to get her out and having fun, which she had been so adamant that Zula tried to do.

While the game wasn’t scheduled to start for a couple hours, Zuka had insisted that she meet her there early. Her sister hadn’t said why and really hadn’t given Zula a chance to ask, and so she simply agreed to it. That afternoon Zula finished up a few letters and got ready, deciding to dress in something more relaxed than usual. No need to dress in her entire Fire Nation ensemble, and besides, she was learning that she liked being more toned down than blaring her heritage in everyone’s face.

Once she was ready she made her way to the arena and headed up to the box. The arena was quiet, with a small amount of people loitering around and prepping for the match. It was strange without the excitement in the air, but the noise would kick up eventually. Zula entered the box, and found it empty. Well, she was a little earlier than the meeting time, so she would just have to wait.

Zula took a seat, watching as a few staff members made their rounds around the ring. There wasn’t much to look at for now, so she couldn’t really figure out why Zuka would have wanted her here right now, unless it was just to give her time to slip in unnoticed. She tapped her fingers idly, wondering just what was taking Zuka so long to get here.

A few minutes later the door opened and Zula turned to greet Zuka, and started in confusion. The person who had entered was not her sister, and far from it. In fact, she had no idea who he was, and that confused her more. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

[Kenji]

Kenji neared the stadium. They had been back for a little bit of time and he had been busy. Most of his old safe houses had been burned during the the final fight, but a few were still there in the corners and back alleys off the city. Turning those into actual legitimate safe houses and getting a few more under the radar was delicate work. Then there was also what brought them here, it was equal parts bold and subtle as the thugs that had been sent, hadn't even known who they were, just thought he and Zuka were just some people they were sent to collect money from.

It was an ambitious first move, and thats what worried him. He much preferred the brazen and unsubtle moves of the Triads to....whatever this was.

Perhaps that was why Zuka had suggested going to a pro-bending match tonight. Even kenji had to admit he was starting to withdraw into himself, his mind trying to work out the puzzle they were in. So it was probably best to get some air and get his mind away from this. He couldn't say that part of him wasn't looking forward to enjoying it. Nothing like some good oold fashioned city fun to shake things loose.

He, however, had no idea why she insisted on having him meet her there so early, but he didn't see the point in makng waves over something so trivial. So he soon found himself heading for the private box. He opened the door and walked inside, the face that turned to greet him, was similar to Zuka's but different. Plus there was an aura of.....well that wasn't important.

The point was it wasn't her.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” the lookalike asked

....and just like that Kenji realized what this was.

I'm going to kill her, Kenji thought I'm not sure how yet, that's a question for later, but definitely going to kill her.

However his murderous thoughts aside he then affixed a small smile on his face and turned her question away with simply extending his hand saying " You must be Zuka's sister, nice to finally meet you.... I suppose."

[Neva]

It took her a moment to realize that this man had not just wandered in here for no reason. She should have assumed that, considering it was a private box, but as he mentioned her sister it all clicked together. Not to mention that she had the distinct feeling that Zuka was not coming, and that in fact explained quite a lot of the confusion. Leave it to her sister to fool her into something like this.

She stood up from her seat and shook his hand, which felt sort of odd for some reason. “Yes, my name is Zula. I’m assuming you are Zuka’s mystery friend that she mentioned.”

Well, more than friend, but Zuka had insisted on only referring to him as that. It was to hide his identity she knew, and now understood, but she wished that Zuka had given her the name beforehand. Actually she wished Zuka had actually shown up to introduce him to her properly, but obviously she’d done this for a reason. What had she said? That he would grow on her.

Now that could very well be why Zuka decided to arrange this instead.

Later, Zula told herself. I will worry about being annoyed with her later.

More pressing matters were at hand at the moment, and she folded her hands in front of her. “It’s nice to meet you as well. Unfortunately Zuka never gave me your name.”

[Kenji]

“It’s nice to meet you as well. Unfortunately Zuka never gave me your name.”

Kenji smirked and said " No I suspect she didn't." with that he sat down. He pulled a coin out of his pocket. He then tossed it in the air and caught it. He then opened his hand and the coin had vanished. He then turned to his other hand and with a snap of his fingers the coin materialized in the other hand. He then slowly moved the coin in between his fingers. Though this all seemed less like he was doing it for her benefit, but more that he was just amusing himself for a minute or two to pass the time.

He still had not given his name.

He then turned his attention back to her and then sized her up for a minute before casually shifting the topic with a small smirk " So...The Cinder huh?"

[Neva]

Thankfully, Zula had a good grip on her expressions, or the look she would have given him would have been less than pleasant. She waited a moment and then sat down as well, watching as he pulled the coin and began his tricks. The entire time he said nothing, and she waited for a name that never did come. Zula sat there in silence, wondering just what type of game he was playing. Maybe the whole ‘mystery man’ had gone to his head, and perhaps his ego.

As his gaze moved to her Zula felt her eyes narrow. She knew that look, it was one she’d gotten often in recent times, and she didn’t appreciate it. Was he capable of normal conversation, or was he just going to sit there the whole time?

“So...The Cinder, huh?”

Oh, he was irritating.

Zula supposed he did have the right to ask about it, considering he was The Ghost and all. She wouldn’t have thought it would be the first thing to discuss, but then again, he wasn’t exactly what she expected, either. She just hoped this conversation was not about to take a turn for the worst.  Considering she couldn't tell whether or not he was mocking her, that indicated enough.

“I guess we’re going to skip the awkward small talk,” Zula kept her voice calm, undisturbed. She crossed one leg over the other, her hands in her lap. “Yes, that would be me. What about it?”

[Kenji]

“I guess we’re going to skip the awkward small talk,”



Kenji just gave a simple shrug and said " Oh I'm sure their will be plenty of time for that later."

Yes, that would be me. What about it?”


Kenji laughed for a minute and said "Nothing, nothing at all." he then paused and a slow smile crept across his face and said " Well seeing as you asked..." He paused again and said " I get your reasons for doing it, the part I don't get is why your choosing to do it in the most...."


Kenji paused and opted to be at least a little bit tactful as he said "The most unwise way possible."


He held up his hands and said " Now I get that it's not entirely your fault,you were trained by Triads so there was bound to be plenty of bad habits for you to pick up, but seriously what your doing now is like using a battleship to sail across the lake in Republic City Park. Sure, it'll get the job done but it's massively unreliable and inefficient and it'll do more damage than help to the people around it."

[Neva]

At his laughter, Zula truly wondered if her sister had chosen to fall for a lunatic. She could tell she was playing right into whatever he wanted to say, and she couldn’t figure him out. That was frustrating enough that it was so hard to read him, but how he was clearly manipulating the conversation also was aggravating. Still, Zula let him talk, as much as she knew she’d probably regret it.

When he called her methods unwise, Zula opened her mouth to speak. How many times was she going to have to have this conversation? First Zuka had come all this way to give her thoughts on the matter, and now him. However, she didn’t get the chance to say anything as he held up his hands, and she closed her mouth and listened reluctantly.

Clearly he’d heard all about where she’d been and what she’d done, which wasn’t much of a surprise. Zuka had probably ranted about it to him at some point. Still, she couldn’t say she appreciated his thoughts on the matter. If anything, it was just going in one ear and out the other. She saw no damage done thus far, nothing but her getting her point across in a manner that worked, and at the end of the day was overall better for the city. Zula let him finish and waited a few moments, looking at him levelly. “If this is your attempt to talk me out of it, you’re failing miserably.”

Her mind had been made up a long time ago and even Zuka had seen that and given up changing her mind. Hearing it from another person, and well, the originally masked entity, wasn’t going to be impactful, either. But, she supposed she’d have to go along with it for a little bit, at least. She raised her head a little, arching one eyebrow, “Out of curiosity, what would the almighty Ghost recommend instead? As I can only imagine your methods were quite similar to mine.”

[Kenji]

His smile disappeared as he said " I'm not trying to get you stop. If I wanted to get you to stop I'd tell you about certain Earth Kingdom politician that after being threatened by The Cinder was unsure what to do, but knew he needed some protection and so he was inadvertently driven into the arms of the criminal element of Republic City. He was a clean politician, but now in their pocket all because he was afraid"

"Or perhaps I'd tell you of the likely scenario that because your targeting other politicians one of them is secretly keeping track of the appearances and figuring out who you are. Instead of hurting you though, they'll just blackmail you,  threaten to have you arrested if you don;t cooperate. Meanwhile they'll use you as their own personal weapon, find ways to keep you under their thumb and then you'll  be forced to be nothing more than a puppet."


He shrugged "Honestly I don't care if you stop or not, I think the eventuality your leading yourself to will be a good deterrent so that the next idiot who thinks it's a good idea to put on a mask will think twice and realize its not a game."


He paused " However, your Zuka's sister and she cares for you ,and I care about her, so I'll try and get some things through to you so you start seeing the bigger picture and acting smarter, no matter how annoyingly self righteous you act."


His casual smile returned as he then continued "Now as for how I would handle this I would use some subtlety. No need for a battering ram when a lock pick will do. I also wouldn't need a mask to do it either." he smirked " Spirits, I could show you a proof of concept, but that would require legwork and a couple of days and I suspect even if you were actually willing to put in the time instead of going for the quick fix, you may not want to be around me for that long to observe....

He paused and then said " Then again I''ve been wrong before."

[Neva]

She sat there utterly silent, gaze hard as he spoke. Part of her itched to blast him into the center of the ring, but that wasn’t exactly an option. As aggravating as he was, Zula had no choice to put up with it. Not only that, but he had succeeded in catching her attention, although she made no indication that was the case other than her eyes narrowing at his words. Of course, she’d done her best to make sure no one could figure her out, but that wasn’t full proof.

He was smart, too smart for his own good, probably. She knew in terms of experience she had far less, and she’d thrown herself into it and was learning as she went. While Zula did what she could, she knew she couldn’t possibly be making all the right moves. That would be too easy, and she was well aware that she was lacking in different areas. There was plenty she didn’t know, and she wasn’t foolish enough to think that she knew everything.

Zula waited for him to finish, and when he had gone quiet she sat there for a long moment, still as a statue as she thought. He raised decent points, she’d give him that. Getting angry, and showing him her anger, would not help. No, if anything he was giving her an opportunity. Finally Zula found her words, well, the ones that she figured she could say. “You’re under the impression that I don’t want to listen to any useful advice. If you took anything from what you seem to know about me, and apparently you think you know a lot, you'd know that when I set my mind to something, my intent is to master it.”

That was what the fighting rings had all been about. It was what joining a Triad had boiled down to. Zula wanted to be perfect at fighting, she wanted to master it and the streets. So she'd done what she had to do in order to fulfill that. In this situation, The Cinder was no different. It was something she was well aware she hadn't mastered, but that didn't mean she was going to let people take it from her.

No, if anything it meant she had to master that too.

Of course, she doubted he really cared about her thought process or anything of the sort. He’d made it clear that the only reason he was even opening his mouth on the topic was because of Zuka, and really, that’s where his concern should be. She steepled her hands in front of her, “Do I want to be around you? No, I can think of many things I'd rather do. I don't think the Triads were nearly as infuriating as you are alone. Very impressive, honestly.”

Zula looked at him for a moment, and then continued, “But this is not about what I want, but what I need. And if you are willing to show me, I'm willing to learn.”

She dropped her hands then, the hard look in her eyes returning. “Because when I do put on that mask, I’d like to be doing it right.”

Learning was not where the issue was for her. It was that she refused to let anyone run her life again, and she wasn’t giving it up so simply. As awful as it was, Zula would rather make all her mistakes than drop The Cinder. That being said, she’d suffer through being around him and learn something useful if that was what it took for her to be better.

[Kenji]

When she made mention of mastering something, Kenji snickered as if being amused by his own private joke however, soon enough he was back to focusing on her. When she was finished, a slow,sly smile spread over Kenji's face as he said " Tell you what, let's make a deal, I'll show you how I would handle and solve a problem of yours in real time, plus give you six lessons. If at the end of the lessons you still want to put the mask on,then it'll be the last conversation we have about the subject."

He paused and said " That is, if your really willing to sit down, shut up and learn a few things, like you say. Of course  if your afraid that I might scare you out of it, I understand."

He held out his hand toward Zula "What do you say,do we have a deal?"

[Neva]

At the mention of a deal her eyebrow arched, and Zula had to admit that peaked her interest. A chance to learn a few things and for him to get off her back about this sounded way too good to be true. And really, it probably was. Even if she did agree and get through it, he wasn’t going to make it that simple. No, then there would be no point. She was almost completely sure that he was about to make her life hell. 

Nothing can be worse than what I’ve already done, Zula thought. Not to mention that she saw it as a challenge to put up with him and stick to what she wanted in the end. Be open to learn, sure, but as he said, she could still choose to keep the mask in the end. As far as she was concerned, her endgame was to keep that mask.

“Of course if your afraid that I might scare you out of it, I understand."

Zula withheld her scoff. There was nothing to fear here, nothing at all. She could handle this, whatever it was that he intended to show her. No way would she let him change her mind. She’d come too far for that. Though, she was curious to see how he would try.

There was a flash in Zula’s eyes, and she reached out and clasped her hand in his, a faint smirk on her face, “Alright, then, deal. I expect nothing less than the Ghost’s best. Whenever you think you're ready, of course."

[Kenji]

As she shook his hand he smirked and said " Oh we began five minutes ago, but it'd just be bad sportsmanship to not let the the other person know their playing." He released her hand and then leaned back slightly and said " Now  before your first lesson what I need from you is information."

"Specifically." he paused and then held up one finger " Something you want done, not something major but something small that you think will benefit the people but cant get it through due to political red tape." He held up another finger " The second is I need to know which ambassador is the biggest roadblock for this thing you want done." He then held up a final finger and said " Last I need to know who your biggest supporter is," he paused " I assume you have some other ambassador in your corner backing you, or else you'd never get anything done, what with being the rookie and  no doubt the youngest ambassador to boot."

He paused and said " Choose carefully."

[Neva]

Zula resisted every temptation to show her annoyance. She knew she had to play along and that he was calling the shots, and really, he had the upper hand. It was clear he knew that from the moment he sat down, and if she was going to at least attempt to focus, she was going to have to let him string her along. It would be a small price to pay, she hoped.

At his request Zula sat back for a moment, thinking over her options. There was so much she wanted to do and a lot of her ideas were big picture, so narrowing it down was a feat in itself. Still, she could get as small as possible, and she knew that her main focus right now was the poverty that seemed to only be increasing as time went on.

“I want to get more funding into education here,” Zula said thoughtfully. “It’s a start to getting Republic City’s youth off the streets and get them to stop turning to the Triads.”

She attended plenty of meetings and interacted with the other ambassadors enough to know everyone had their own agenda, some better than others. It didn’t mean she knew which ones had the best and worst motives or what they secretly wanted out of the city, but she was well aware which ones were against her and which agreed with her. That being said, she knew for certain the answer to his second question.

“My biggest opponent is Ambassador Ratna, from the Earth Kingdom,” Zula said, looking up to him. “He’s much more interested in putting Republic City’s money into keeping up the best parts of the city and ignoring the poverty altogether. He doesn’t see it as a problem, apparently.”

“On the other hand, Ambassador Tikaani is in my corner, Northern Water Tribe, actually.” Knowing the whole story behind how Zuka had gotten rid of their last ambassador, it was interesting that their new representative was on her side. “She’s been backing me from the start.”

Having finished answering all three she looked to him and after a moment asked, “Good enough of answers for you?”

[Kenji]

He listened patiently to what she said an when she had finished he said " That will do just fine."

Kenji then held a finger and said "Now as promised, your first lesson. You know how you said about mastering something? Well there's an old saying, The worlds best swordsman doesn't fear the second best swordsman, he fears the worst swordsman, because he has no idea what that guys gonna do." He chuckled and said " In this line of work you always have to be the worst swordsman, because while practice makes perfect, perfect makes predictable."

He paused and said " Case in point it was your predictability that made me able to shift the topic of the evenings and avoid certain sisterly questions you no doubt would have asked by now, like my intentions with your sister....or my name."

He let that sink in before  he gazed out into the arena that was filling out with more people now that it as getting closer to game time. His eyes lit up as he said " Speaking of which, I'll be right back, couple of people I should talk to." he got up and began to walk out for the box right before turning around and saying " You think on that first lesson, trust me it will be important later."

Kenji then left the box.

From her vantage point Zuka would see him  make his way toward a small crowd of people that she might recognize as various attaches and assistants from the  Northern Water Tribe embassy. He approached them with a smile and which they quickly returned as it it seemed that he had some familiarity with them. She could see them  chatting and even at one point he pointed toward her for a moment. They continued to talk for  another bit of time before, one of them handed him a couple of small square envelopes which he then tucked away into his suit jacket and then they parted for their seats.

Kenji soon returned to the box and took a seat as he said " That's what I love about politicians, they're the only people I know that'll trade real information for invisible promises, never gets old."

[Neva]

Zula’s attention sharpened when he said he was about to give her the first lesson. As he explained it to her, she sat still, listening closely. It all made sense of course; if she left a pattern she’d be found out way too easily, and then it would be over. In order to do this right, she was going to have to be unpredictable.

"Case in point it was your predictability that made me able to shift the topic of the evenings and avoid certain sisterly questions you no doubt would have asked by now, like my intentions with your sister....or my name."

Wait, had he done all of this just so that he didn’t have to discuss Zuka with her? It wouldn’t be all that shocking, but it would be even more irritating. The fact that he still hadn’t given her his name, and that he probably was enjoying keeping that simple piece of information to himself, was just as grinding on her nerves. ”Both things which we will discuss, in due time.”

He may be getting out of it now, but they would come back to it, she was determined in that. She watched as he stood, and then left the room to go speak with some people, though she couldn't guess who. Well, since he was giving her time she decided to lean back in her chair and think it all over. The predictable response had been to directly respond to the question. It was something that he probably assumed she wouldn’t just ignore, and would end up falling into a discussion about it. He distracted her, which made it easy for him to avoid giving information he didn’t want to share. She hadn’t seen that coming, hadn’t even given thought that there was a way around that, but there had been, in his mind. Therefore, the unpredictable would have been to ignore the question and be persistent and ask her own questions instead.

...right?

Zula blew out a breath, looking out to the rest of the arena. She didn’t like that he was going to be able to do this to her every move, but that was how it was going to have to be. Eventually, she’d learn exactly what he meant, she was just going to have to focus and put it to use when the time came. As she sat there pondering she noticed him approach the group and raised her eyebrows before narrowing them as he spoke to everyone. While they seemed to be getting along, and recognize him, that only made her more nervous. Trusting him was something she really didn’t have a choice to do, but she’d be lying if she said she fully did.

She leaned forwards a little as she saw him gesture to her and then receive the envelopes. What was he saying about her? What could he possibly be doing? She didn’t really have any clear idea, and that gave her no answers or easy assumptions. Zula watched intently as they parted ways, and then waited for him to return. Once he did, she decided she was just going to be direct, “And what kind of information could you have wanted from them, exactly?”