一線天

Allow my blade to sing for you

[razorbladeballad]

Subterfuge

[razorbladeballad]

irohthesecond:

While peace is almost always in everyone’s best interest, few seemed to realize it, and fighting across the world to settle local quarrels had earned Iroh plenty of enemies among those dissatisfied with the outcome; assassination attempts were an accepted risk in his profession and for those with his status, and he’d trained his own unit in executive protection.

All warfare is based on deception, and Iroh made sure to incorporate that principle into the unit he’d founded years ago; when on duty protecting his person, they rarely wore uniforms, and never the ornamental armor of the Lifeguards seen patrolling the palace, instead using them as visual bait while the soldiers in plainclothes or servant’s attire stood ready to defend his person.  With the calamity of an intruder in the palace, the Lifeguards quickly set to barricading the Crown Prince away, while the plainclothes operators feigned cowering in the halls and side rooms, diligently scanning for the assassin.

When the disguised intruder and the ad hoc team of uniformed Lifeguards rushed to protect him, Iroh instinctively challenged them, to make sure there was no one among them acting as an impostor.  ”Ranger!” he shouted, waiting for the approved response from the incoming team.

He wasn't expecting a test and had assumed that his infiltration would all too easy. When Yi realized this grave misstep and failed to respond in the correct manner, he drew his trademark straight razor from his uniform and readied himself for combat. However, his opponents had firearms and there was no amount of dodging or rolling that could save him from a skilled marksman...

Raising his hands and folding up the blade back into it's safety position, he showed no signs of fighting back against Iroh's disguised special guards who currently had him in their sights.

Perhaps being jailed and tortured was next for him, assuming he didn't manage to escape. Having gotten this far, he could only hope that the Prince would deem him enough of a threat to really make him fear for his life. Anything else would be... disappointing.

[razorbladeballad]

Subterfuge

Sneaking into the Fire Nation royal palace was something only a very crazy, or very confident man would do. Yi Xian Tian could be considered both, though he most certainly only qualified as extremely confident in his mind. He'd been paid handsomely to assassinate Prince Iroh II, but the Bajiquan grandmaster honestly taken the offer simply for the sheer challenge of it.

He'd studied the patterns of the guards visible in the main courtyard, as well as those of the archers stationed on the looming walls protecting the palace. There was a slim window of opportunity to sneak into a blindspot near the the easternmost gate, which he exploited successfully when the freshly woken archers came to exchange positions with those whose shifts just ended.

Now that he'd been able to infiltrate the first layer of protection housing the royal family, all he needed to do was make his presence known.

Turning the corner, Razor stepped forward and struck the surprised guard nearest to him with a double-fisted body blow. His strike didn't do much damage past the armor, but the force of the opening move had caused his opponent to double over. He caught the guard under the chin with a quick elbow strike- the only way to cause pain barring needing to remove the helmet protecting the man's skull. Blood splattered against his jacket sleeve from the guard's lips- perhaps he'd bitten his tongue and would bleed to death soon.

The sound of tensing bow strings triggered him to move onto the next guard, twisting the man's arm behind his back to employ him as a living shield once the arrows had let fly. Dropping the body, Razor made a beeline for the nearest open corridor, using his momentum to jump kick another armored guard straight in the chest enough to topple him. Once he'd landed, he brought his heel down right in the winded man's face, listening to satisfying crunch of bone and ignoring the spray of red against his leather shoe.

He lead the pursuing guards on a merry chase down winding hallways, taking down men and women employed as bodyguards alike during his progress until he found one around his height and complexion. Dragging the corpse into an empty calligraphy room, he quickly changed and hid his civilian clothes (as well as the freshly stripped body).

Dressed as one of their own, the assassin secured his helmet in place and dropped to the floor as though injured. Once the guards entered, they immediately mistook him for a comarade and seeing the blood still painted down his breastplate, they helped him to his feet. Razor groaned and staggered, gesturing to the open bay windows silently to make them search the adjoining courtyard that lead to the gardens.

He kept the winded act up until he heard orders barked- certain troops being sent on his manhunt to the right, others spread out to protect various, lesser members of the court. Feigning enough strength to join his comrades, he followed a small group of elite warriors in different armor sent to the innermost rooms and tried scanning the surroundings to determine where they'd holed up the prince during the ensuing chaos.

[[ irohthesecond ]]

[razorbladeballad]

Bajiquan fight scene (The Razor/一線天) from The Grandmaster

[a-necessary-fiction-blog]

一線天 (Razor / Yixiantian played by Chang Chen)

[razorbladeballad]

Strangers in the Rain

themaskedmercenary started following you

Folding metal security lattices had already been drawn against the display windows of the traditional barber's shop, nothing more than a free standing oak and brass coat rack keeping the entryway door cracked open. Florescent overhead lights flickered as a passing subway car rattled the entire foundation of the building- making nearby wheeled storage carts meander across the tiled floor and glass apothecary jars lining the shelves tremble briefly.

Yi tapped the ashes of his handrolled cigarette into an old cloisonné ashtray, artfully reclining against the middlemost leather chair like a cat stretched out in a sunbeam.

"Come back tomorrow, friend. I've already seen my last customer for the evening. I'll give you a discount for your trouble, since you dropped in," he drawled, not bothering to move or open his eyes- instead focusing on the lilting, dulcet tones of a Beijing opera starlet playing over his radio.

[razorbladeballad]

Testing.