Fanon:Hanbao (HotN)

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"earth"

- Were those mosquito bites the best you can do, little girl? Pity, I'd expected more from you after your defiant actions. I guess it is true after all what they say, 'barking cat dogs don't bite'. . . especially not when they're bitches. So why not do yourself a favor and just hand over your pretty jewelry yourself, and I promise I'll make it quick.

Hanbao was a member of the Desert Dwellers, a scouting party of Tegan's regiment, specialized in reading tracks and ambushing travelers. Unbeknownst to whom he was dealing with, he encountered a battle-eager Seraphine, who was looking for "a bark to sharp her claws on, to prove to the world that she still had it, that she had not gone soft, and there was no better wood to be found than a desert robber". This confrontation would eventually end in his death. Hanbao's demise would also offer Jumoke, Trok, and the other nomads a way out of the ambush the Desert Dwellers had set up for them, giving them a fighting chance. It turned out that he was part of the reason the nomads survived the assault.

History
After Seraphine's disappearance from the Shrike camp, Tegan managed to persuade Apepi from sending a squadron after Seraphine, stating that she would likely kill them anyway. However, unbeknownst to Apepi, Tegan tasked the Desert Dwellers to track her down regardless, as he was worried about his wounded sister.

Hanbao and the rest of the Desert Dwellers managed to track Seraphine down to the regions near Thebes, but then they lost her trail. Scouring the surrounding area, they eventually stumbled upon a camp of nomads. As usual, the Desert Dwellers' commandant ordered his man to circle around the camp as to cut off every possible escape route.

As Hanbao made his circle around the camp, he came across a young woman, huddled at the base of a rock. When the girl stood up, he could see that she was young and pretty, but her face remained obscured by her scarf, thus he remained ignorant to the fact that he had found Seraphine, believing her to be a desert traveler originating from the camp. He immediately noticed the precious jewelry Seraphine was wearing, and moved to take them from her. However, much to his surprise, the girl showed no sign of fear for him, even going as far as antagonizing him. Enraged, he threatened her, but his words were met with laughter. When Seraphine nearly burned his face in a surprise attack, Hanbao fiercely attacked her, intending to pierce her with his sword. He was blinded by Seraphine's fire, however, when she snapped her fingers, creating a brilliant light. Subsequently, his swing missed its goal, and he was hit several times in his side. The punches lacked any real power though, and Hanbao easily forced Seraphine back.

Confident that he could take her down, he let himself be enticed to charge her full on again, though this time, Seraphine sidestepped him again and planted her knee hard in his groin. Hanbao was completely caught off guard, and sagged down in the sand, needing several minutes to regain his senses. When he managed to get up again, his rage was getting the better of him, and he was only just in time to raise a wall with his earthbending, protecting him from the cindering hot fire blast that melted part of his sword.

The event made him realize just how serious of an opponent he was facing, letting the warrior in him take over from his bruised ego. As the girl stood near him to continue gloating, he managed to catapult her in the air with an earth pillar. As Seraphine landed, Hanbao sent an all-devouring fissure coursing through the earth toward her. The earth pillar he conjured out of the ground connected with the young woman's solar plexus and knocked the wind out of her. Pleased about his actions, he rose two large rocks, intending to crush his opponent, though she managed to avoid his attack.

Seraphine's fiery retaliation forced Hanbao to dig himself in, protecting himself by creating an earth tent around him. The more fire blasts that crashed against the stone, the hotter it became inside. Hanbao knew that he could not lower his protection lest he exposed himself to the flames. As such, the only way out he could think of was down. He used his earthbending to tunnel out of the tent, and surface behind the firebender. Believing he had her, he catapulted himself straight at the her, the half-molten remains of his sword ready to strike. Much to his surprise and painful shock, she avoided his attack, and brought her elbow to his face, knocking out one of his front teeth and breaking his nose. Stunned by the pain, Hanbao was unable to shake Seraphine off, and she proceeded by breaking his wrist. Unable to put any more pressure on his arm, he released his sword; the weapon was instantly snatched out of the air and used to slash his right arm so deeply that it uncovered the white of his humerus, slightly chipping the bone.

Paralyzed by his injuries, Hanbao sagged down, where Seraphine brought the sword to his face and made a deep gash over his right cheek. He could no longer control himself and silent tears of agony merged with the blood on his face. He knew he was done for it, but when Seraphine called him pathetic, a last defiant fire sparked in him and he spat in the girl's face. He uttered his threats at her address, warning her that the rest of the Shrikes would avenge his death. However, before he could finish his sentence, Seraphine killed him by slitting his throat with his own sword.

Physical appearance
Hanbao was a bulky, menacing figure, swathed in the woolen robe of the desert traveler, which barely covered his prominent biceps. He had brown hair that gleamed red like the setting sun in the light, and his grotesque facial features would haunt little children in their sleep. His left eye was an opaque jelly from the blind-worm that burrows deep into the eyeball of its victims, and underneath it, a scar, pale white against the tanned skin, slithered down till the nape of his neck. His nose was like the beak of a raven vulture, and his voice croaked like one. He was missing his left fang.

Abilities
Hanbao is a very skilled earthbender. He was among the older soldiers of the Shrikes, and his years of service made him into a very proficient hitman. His raw physical strength allowed him to launch enormous boulders to his opponents, and made him a dangerous close-range fighter. However, his bulky muscles did impede his speed, making that an exploitable weakness.

Hanbao was also a very skilled tracker, and as such, he was the Shrikes go to man when they were contracted to find and kill someone.

Trivia

 * Hanbao was the first of many 's to appear on the fanon portal, and all thanks to the dissuading advice of the WLS of 25 March to ever name your character "Hanbao", since it means "hamburger" in Chinese.
 * Lady Lostris decided to create Hanbao as a character because she could not pass up on the opportunity to "fry a burger", referring to his confrontation with Seraphine. She did not end up killing him by fire, but it was still sufficient to add him to the story.