Weeks Before, Ba Sing Se
Soro had stared into the face of death many a time in his life. To him, death was not something to be feared, but rather, a friend well recognized, cherished, and loved. For when death had come into Soro's life, it removed his enemies with its unforgiving justice. One day, death would give Soro the welcome rest he at times greatly desired. As for that day, however, death likely would not show its face.
Instead, Soro stared toward a hulking man in heavy clad armor, plastered with green and gold metals that glistened in the rays of sun that found their way inside of the cave-like arena, an arena that in any other day would have acted as a mausoleum for an unfortunate warrior. There were distracting noises to be heard from the surroundings, a large crowd filled the side stands engraved into the solid stone walls. The cavernous walls only amplified their calls for violence. The air made it hard to breathe, it was bitterly damp and cold; and some rather unsavory wafts of rare wind pushed the scent of aged blood into unsuspecting victims. All of it didn't matter to Soro. His focus was on the man's eyes.
Now, this man was a gladiator and a very good one at that, so much so that he was known for having the largest death toll out of any gladiator in the history of Ba Sing Se. Over a hundred men saw both their lives and the hopes and dreams of the thousands that supported them crushed in mere moments. It would not matter if the fight was officially declared to be till the first strike, submission, or death, any spar ended in death. He bore the name of Reaper, but that day he would not be taking any lives. Well, as long as Soro maintained eye contact.
The ground shuttered, and Soro sprang to the side as pillars of stone erupted from the ground with a grinding crash, sending earthen shrapnel across the gritty stone floor. Soro made to close the gap between him and the man, only to be met with a cart sized boulder that about took his head off if he hadn't committed to sliding moments before. He was then mere feet away, half-seconds from ending the fight, and could make out the whites of his opponents eyes. Back on his feet Soro collected momentum while the man readied another wave of earth bending horror, only he did not realize that Soro had already won. Soro could still see his eyes, so he knew where his opponent could not see. The man lost his balance mid-bending and fell to the same earth that moments before was under his control. He was so confident and absorbed in his bending that he did not realize two snakelike chain whips had wrapped themselves around his ankles when Soro had slid. The man tried to get up but could not, as he was dragged ever closer to Soro, the chains being pulled in like fishing line. Small boulders seemingly flinged themselves at Soro but to no avail, the last of which Soro punched straight through with his metal bracers. And with that, the Reaper found himself eventually defeated by a non-bender, Soro, Ba Sing Se's Master of Chains.
Current Time
It had been weeks after the greatest victory in Soro's career when the city announced its Decennial Gladiator tournament and he had received an official invitation as an at-large bid. The top 20 gladiators in the Earth Kingdom were invited, and the winner would be granted land and title in the innermost level of the city, something that he and his siblings have fought for since the first day they had arrived in Ba Sing Se three years prior. Each of the 19 other gladiators were bending masters in their own rights, and for the first time Soro felt intimidated by his competition. Having little chance to improve his fighting within the confines of the city, Soro decided to leave his brother and sister and to journey on his own, preparing himself and enhancing his already masterful art of chain whip martial combat. To Soro, it took seemingly little time before running into the band that had seemed to have found themselves in grave danger.
Soro had little sense of what was happening in the commotion that was taking place in front of him, but his sense of honor drove him forward into the chaos. He could make out three figures apparently on the aggressive. One figure stood out to him however, as through the silver moonlight he could make out her eyes. Those were not eyes of the type of people who took pleasure in violence. Something, he concluded, was terribly wrong, even past the matter of life and death that was taking place.
With seemingly mere seconds to act, Soro decided to rush towards a fighter warding off one of the attackers with her spear.
"Woman! I'm on your right! Go on the offensive and I'll cover your weak spots!"
