Avatar: Keiji's Legacy- Book One

Chapter Two: Down to Earth

Keiji woke with a start to the sound of Ryuu roaring and the sight of a thousand feet between him and the ground.

"Oh my-" He scrambled back to the centre of their uselessly massive saddle and stared to where Kazu had apparently taken the helm... with a book.

"Oh good, you're awake. Ba Sing Se is within sight."

"Finally." They had been sleeping on the road- or apparently napping on Ryuu's back for nearly a week now. Keiji stood up and went to look out at what there was to see past his dragon's red scaled head and gasped.

"It's massive," he said, staring.

"It is the biggest city in the world, Keiji-"

"I know. But I didn't think it would be so big." The city disappeared away from his view, a seemingly endless sprawl of houses and buildings, all enveloped by the curtain walls.

"We better land," said Kazu. "They're not going to be too happy with Fire Nation people just completely bypassing their security."

"But I'm the Avatar-"

"Seriously, shut up."

Ryuu touched ground and the boys slipped off his back onto the hard, dry land of the Earth Kingdom by one of the gates of the outer wall. "Sta-state your business," said the guard, eyeing Ryuu who snorted out a small flame.

"I'm the Avatar," Keiji said smiling. "Look!" And with his left hand he lifted a pebble to the guard's level with Earthbending, and then called a gust of wind with his right hand to blow the pebble away, and then opened a small flame in his palm. "If you had water around, I could bend that too!"

The man scowled. "And you?" he asked Kazu.

"I'm his brother. And bodyguard. And babysitter."

"And this is Ryuu! He likes steak. And tea. Ryuu loves tea."

The soldier was not impressed by a tea-drinking dragon which begs the question what did impress him? "What's your business in Ba Sing Se?"

"We're seeking a spiritual teacher. A city the size and significane of Ba Sing Se seems a likely place to find one."

They were waved on, given stamps on pieces of paper and they were within the first wall. It was a long way to the second wall, everybody else walking or on slow-moving carts. Ryuu hovered a few feet.

Keiji paused and then said, "It would be really obnoxious of us to fly while all these old people are walking, wouldn't it?"

Kazu nodded.

Keiji sighed and fell into step. Ryuu snorted and landed with a thump. Keiji patted his neck.

"What do we do if there's no guru here? I mean how do you even start looking for one?"

"Well we'll report to the Earth King, because that's the kind of thing Avatars do, I guess," said Kazu. "And maybe he can help us."

Keiji stretched. "I guess we can just enjoy the culture of Ba Sing Se if not. And the girls." He looked around waiting to catch the eye of a pretty girl... or any girl under the age of sixty...

Kazu patted him on the shoulder. "You're just going to have to wait for your nomadette."

"We're in the Earth Kingdom. What are the chances of meeting a nomadette before a pretty Earthbender?"

"She has to be a bender now?"

"Well preferably."

"Kula wasn't."

"Which is why I let you have her." He winked at Kazu who half scowled, half smiled and touched the bandana.

"Well we're in Ba Sing Se now, might as well enjoy it. I hear they have a great library here."

Dohna | Ba Sing Se

Even if Dohna would never admit it to her serious and over-worked little pupil, she had actually wanted to leave this place behind and never come back the moment she step foot into the sprawling city. Her back twinged painfully in memory, the memory of a young girl who had stepped into a difficult situation without fully understanding and had become maimed for life. She couldn’t stand Earthbenders; no, she couldn’t stand the other nations. To think that there could be something like the Avatar connecting them all together, it was impossible to digest.

Tashi seemed excited, though. Her young pupil was one of those slow ones; she was supposed to receive her airbending tattoos at 18, but she was on track to receive her tattoos at the age of 19, the rate she was going. She was desperate to impress her elders; she would do almost anything to gain her tattoos.

For Dohna, however, she had become something of an amusement. The girl, often unbearably clumsy for the other masters, had been dumped promptly on the patient-seeming Dohna who had often dealt with these lost cases before. However, Tashi was different from all the other cases. She tried her hardest and tended to be so clumsy about everything that it wasn’t hard to find mistakes whenever the older woman looked at her; and Dohna did like criticizing others. It was a pastime of hers.

The streets were packed with people; a usual thing for such a city as Ba Sing Se. This made Dohna even more uncomfortable, however; to brush shoulders with people of the Earth Kingdom, it was only because that she had a far greater aim to achieve that she suffered through this. The girl inside cringed and shrank from the world; but the woman simply smiled serenely and bore with it.

Tashi looked around in awe; Dohna was tempted to tell her to stop looking like such an airhead and behave properly, but she decided that would come off as too harsh. Stay calm. Don’t let your real feelings show, never. The older woman paused as someone intentionally brushed into her shoulder, however, and was about to comment on how rude that was, before she stopped; it was one of their contacts, who beckoned to them and disappeared into an alleyway. She put her hand on Tashi’s shoulder lightly. “This way, Tashi.”

The girl obediently followed as the older woman led her towards where the old man had disappeared. Their contact stood there quietly, an almost invisible eyebrow raised at them. He was old; older than Dohna, and one of the Nomads’ most trusted informants. Still, Dohna couldn’t stand him; he was from the Earth Kingdom. “Did anyone see you?”

“No,” Dohna replied curtly, barely concealing the distaste in her tone. “So what have you got to tell us?”

The man pursed his lips and considered both her and Tashi for a moment; the girl that stood beside her was as still as a wall, as if she could blend into one and no one would notice. Dohna liked this about her--this silent obedience. “He’s on his way here.”

“Ah.” That was all it was; just a simple sound that could indicate either disappointment, comprehension or relief. Dohna didn’t attempt to clarify, however; she simply tilted her head politely at the other man and guided Tashi out of the alleyway. “I dislike talking to these people. They lack a certain...refinement, shall we say, Tashi?” She watched the girl squirm, and smirked internally to herself.

Kazu

“Do you know the muffin man?”

“The muffin man?”

“The muffin man!”

Keiji ambled around an old woman to get to Kazu, only to be pushed up against his body like a remora on a dolphin shark. “I’ve never heard of the muffin man.”

Kazu pointed at the board. “His ad is posted here!”

The two boys were standing in front of--well, against--a huge board covered in paper advertisements for businesses, services, and even sultry women that were offered in Ba Sing Se. There were bits and pieces of everything Kazu had ever imagined. So while Kazu read up more on the Muffin Man, Keiji slithered through the lines of people to read more ads, stopping when he saw something that caught his eye.

“Kazu! Kazu! Kazu, lookit!”

Kazu stumbled around to get to his brother, once again getting pushed up against him by old people. Keiji pointed at the flyer.



“Ba Sing Sensei...visit now and get a free lesson. Huh.” He turned his head to read his brother’s expression: mouth wide, eyes beaming. He was suddenly very glad he handled the money for the two of them. After reading it again, he shook his head. “A true spiritual guide won’t want money in exchange for spiritual enlightenment! We may as well buy a few vials of spirit water and just pray you into the avatar state!”

That got everyone’s attention.

“The avatar!”

“Look! It’s the avatar!”

“Lend me money, avatar!”

Keiji stared blankly at his brother, eyebrow twitching. “I...I think we should run.”

“The avatar owes me money!”

Kazu noticed the crowd closing on them. “Yeah, I’d say that’s a good id--whoa!”

Keiji grabbed Kazu by the waist and jumped, blowing a gale of wind at the ground and lifting them over the ad board and onto the roof of the shops behind it. Keiji let go and put his hands on his hips, looking out over the people gathering around. Then he clicked his teeth together a few times and pursed his lips, looking at Kazu. “If everyone’s going to act like this,” he said, musing, “maybe we should hold off on telling anyone I’m the avatar.”

“Well, that’s easy,” Kazu said, nodding. He had dozens of flyers in his hand he’d taken from the board, and was sorting them into alphabetical order by business name.

“Really?”

“Boringly easy, I’d say.” Kazu rolled up the flyers and tucked them into his messenger bag. “I do it every day.”

“That doesn’t count!” Keiji crossed his arms and peered around for any sign of Ryuu off misbehaving on the skyline. “If you told anyone you were the avatar, you’d be lying. If I say it, it’s true.”

“We’re identical twins, though. Maybe I got some of the avatar powers, too, and they just haven’t come out yet.”

“Yeah,” Keiji replied, “the avatar power of file sorting.” Keiji walked to the side of the roof and looked up into the far hill of the inner circle where the royal palace stood above all else, glimmering with its gold-trimmed rooftop. “You also firebend like a waterbender.”

Kazu took a small green flute--no bigger than the palm of his hand--out of his bag and rolled it through his fingers, thinking of the fluid motion. “I don’t like offensive fighting. So sue me.”

“In Ba Sing Se? That’d take years. Did you bring the dragon flute?” Keiji turned on his heels as Kazu played quick five notes before a friendly roar came from down the street. In a few seconds (as they ignored the gasps from the crowd below), their sprawling dragon friend settled in front of them with Kazu’s messenger hawk roosting on his head. Keiji climbed into the saddle, followed by Kazu, who dug a flyer out of his bag.

“There’s this library in the upper ring I’d like to check out. I’m sure there’s someone there who can lead us to a spiritual guide for you.”

“Sounds boring, but also like a lead. Let’s go, boy!” Keiji tugged on Ryuu’s reigns. The dragon slithered into the air and over the second ring of Ba Sing Se. Kazu poked his head out over the saddle, black hair blowing in the wind, and saw two women in golden and orange robes walking the same way. He beamed. “I finally found a girl under forty!”

“Kula’s not forty!” Yelled Keiji as he fell into a fit of laughter. Kazu grinned, sitting back in the enormous saddle while the wind blew around them. He could smell something weird and uppity wafting off of his brother.

“Did you buy that perfume I told you not to buy?” He sniffed.

“It’s Eau du Sky Bison, and it was a great bargain.”

“I am pretty sure those first two words are not real words.”

“Eauuuuuu.”

“Ewww doooo?”

“You do Sky Bison.”

“Oh, duh, Sky Bison!”

“You due, Sky Bison?”

“The library!” Kazu shouted.

“That sounds nothing like Sky Bison,” shouted Keiji in return. Regardless, he steered Ryuu down and into the plaza in front of the royal library. A man sat meditating outside the doorway, a bowl of yellow juice in one open palm. Keiji knelt down in front of him and cocked his head to the side. “Y’think this guy’s a guru?”

Kazu narrowed his eyes and took out his flyers again, getting a good look at the man’s face. “Looks to me like the Ba Sing Sensei.”

The man popped an eye open and grinned, yellowed teeth gleaming. “You may call me Guru Ababwa!”

“Gu...ru...Bobloblah.”

“Gooroo Aruba.”

“GoooOOOoooru Abooboo.”

The guru simply frowned. “No,” he said, “that is not my name.” And with that, he picked up his mat and floated away. Kazu watched on with a raised eyebrow while Keiji, naturally, popped onto air skates and followed him around the corner of the building.

“Hey wait!” he yelled, “I’m the avatar! It’s your destiny to train me...” His voice faded off as he gained distance from Kazu. The bookish brother just stood where he was and looked at the sign over the door.

“Library, do you think Keiji will find his way back on his own?”

The library did not respond.

“I thought so. Thank you, wise and powerful library of ages. Thank you for your eternal wisdom and innumerable, delicious books.” Without wasting a second, Kazu popped into the library and gawked at the rows upon rows of scrolls and tomes, stacked higher than Kazu even thought was possible. From his eye ran a single tear.

“Excuse me,” asked a soothing voice from beside him, “but do you have an inner ring personel pass?”

Kazu’s expression fell apart as he turned to look at the woman, his bottom lip poking out pitifully. “N-no.”

The woman’s kind smile vanished in the same manner. “Then I must inform you,” she said, still kind and warm, “that you are under arrest for cultural violation.” She smiled again. “Guards, if you will?”

Kazu gulped as two burly earthbenders grabbed him from behind, cuffing his wrists with obsidian rocks. “I, uh, don’t suppose I can bribe you out of this?”

The woman shook her head. “I’m afraid that, too, is a crime. Please enjoy your stay in the Ba Sing Cell.” The men picked Kazu up off his feet and hauled him off, his legs swinging indignantly as he struggled to get his foothold back.

“B-but my brother is the ah--! Brhbrh!” A guard pulled his bandana up around his mouth and tied it tightly, shutting him up before they dropped him into an opening in the ground that, when his butt hit the cold stone floor below, sealed itself and left him in complete darkness.

Akaik | Battle field

Akaik pulled the water from one of her fellow soldier’s water skin, and in one fluid motion hardened it into an ice shard and launched it at the earthbender in front of her. He stepped back again, pulling up a block of earth to block her attacks again. This was the same earthbender she had healed roughly a week ago, now. Somehow their paths had crossed again, and she was determined to make up for her mistake. Earthbenders weren’t to be shown mercy.

For now, it was best to keep him at a distance. She needed to figure him out first, and see what he was capable of. That was not an easy task when all he was doing was blocking her attacks effectively, albeit lazily in her opinion. It still had her wondering if he had the same battle strategy as her. If that was the case this was going to become a very long and useless fight. The end result would either be someone else intervening and taking over, or both of them tiring of each other’s antics and moving on to a more active target.

So she took the first serious attack, pulling the water from her own water skin now. She took her stance and moved through the motion to make a proper, strong water whip at him. He tried to bend another wall of earth to block her, but the whip lashed too quickly, sweeping his feet from under him. Akaik sprung from her stance, recoiling the water around her shoulders and barrelling it into the earthbender’s gut, burying him deeper in fresh mud.

Just as she flicked her wrist to bring her attack in for another circle, the boy gripped into the earth, pulling a casing of gushing stone around his body to block. The water deflected. Akaik sprang back from her opponent, her arsenal orbiting her torso, waiting for an attack to strike down. The earthbender stood--his encased body looked like a statue. A dirty statue.

“Hrnn mhh hnn hn hn mrh hnn hrm!” Whatever he said, the earth blocked it out completely. Or maybe he was simply an idiot. Akaik would believe either.

“I can’t hear you, earthbender.”

The boy stripped away a layer of rock from around his face. His lips poked out as he spat a clod of mud into the ground. “I said my name is Jiang, and I’m gonna bring you down.”

Akaik scoffed, spreading her fingers to draw her water into a circular shield. “No gratitude for your savior?”

“No gratitude for the enemy!” He hacked up another wad of spit, blowing it out with an audible ptooi, but Akaik was tired of this mess.

She swung an arm down and around like a bat, swatting the spit back into his face, splattering it over his eyes, blinding him. Without another word, she rolled her arms forward, imitating a crashing wave. The shield around her gathered at a peak--twisting, curving, condensing into a drill of water that bore into his chest armor, shattering the loose stones. Groaning, his body flew back, rolling down the field of mud. Akaik repeated her motion, crashing a boot into the mud and forcing the water drill underground, only to bring it back to the surface in a geyser. Jiang hurled into the air, crashing down with one loud thud.

Akaik’s chest heaved, her breath heavy and energy dropping like crazy. She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead and took in a deep breath before walking to where her enemy lay, face-down in bubbling mud. It only meant he was breathing. It was the moment of truth--where she’d have to decide if he lived or died.

But to be honest, she wasn’t even sure she could execute another finishing move. Confident her enemy was down for the count, Akaik took a knee, reeling her stream of water back into her cloth flask. “Your name is Jiang,” she mimicked after him, breathing harshly, “and you’ve lost this battle to Akaik, the youngest female soldier in Water Tribe history.” Slowly, she stood up, clearing her thoughts and exhaling to focus her energy. And, as she drew her arms in to control her water, something very hard, very dense smacked against the back of her head, sending her down on top of her earthbending enemy.

Stowing a dense metallic weapon, a tall, collected woman scribbled on a palm-sized scroll. “Bronze club--effective, sturdy, but definitely not exceedingly agile. Explore a possible tin mixture.”

Akaik’s eyes rolled as things became eerily fuzzy. “Who rh yh?”

The woman knelt beside the dogpile of the two soldiers, looking at the one she’d taken out. “Hm. That’s a thick skull you’ve got there. I suppose it’s my duty to treat your wounds now, or something.” She smirked. “I tell you what. I’ll help you only because it’ll drive my husband up a wall. He hates visitors, and you’ll be the best anxiety attack he’s had all summer!”

That’s when Akaik closed her eyes, and just slept.

Keiji | Inner Ring of Ba Sing Se

Keiji was facing a moral dilemma when he decided to ask for directions. On one side of the road was an old woman with arthritis-knotted hands and a crooked back... and on the other was a very pretty young woman with a parasol.

"Ask for help or ask her out, ask for help or ask her out..." He muttered. Ryuu snorted. "You're right. I should probably help Kazu out first. Besides, I'd hate him to miss me meeting the Earthbender of my dreams." So, regretfully, he turned to the old woman and said in his poshest Fire Nation voice, "Excuse me, but I'm visiting Ba Sing Se and I know that I have a cousin- black sheep of the family you understand of course, he got it from his mother's side- in prison." He made a disdainful face. "Anyway, while I am doing my grand tour of the Earth Kingdom I was asked to drop in on him and tell him our grandmother is sickly and would appreciate a get-well message- do you know how one might reach the prisons?"

"Well, I've never had cause to visit them, but everyone knows that they're under the city!"

"Underground?"

"That's what I said, young man!" She tapped the ground with her walking stick. "Right under our feet."

And then.

She winked.

And walked away.

"Right... under our feet..." Keiji thought about the words. He made sure his stance was solid, held both arms out... and jumped.

The problem with breaking into an underground Earth prison is that it was built by Earthbenders and so when they said underground, they really meant underground. But he got there eventually, landing in front of a row of cells as lightly and quietly as he could all things considered. The prisoners stared at him.

“Hello!” he said. “If I wanted to find a new prisoner, how might I do that?”

They did not seem inclined to answer, so seeing as there was only two directions, Keiji went right, since his gut was going that way. He passed a guard on the way and said, “Excuse me! I was given visiting rights to see my brother but I seem to have lost him.”

“What’s the name?”

“Keiji.” The man frowned. “He looks just like me!” Keiji said, posing and pouting. “Possibly a little poutier.” He pouted some more. Then he stood normally. “You seen him?”

The guard grunted. “Where’s your papers?”

“I. Um. I- I seem to have-“ he patted all his pockets. “Maybe I left them up here-“

The guard held his arm out. “You didn’t come that way.”

“No but I was up there earlier and-“ he hit the wall with the flat of his hand, sending a cylinder of Earth into the guard’s head. Then he ran. “Kazu?” he shouted. “Kazu!”

He was approaching light at the end of the tunnel- and a whole new host of guards- when he got a reply. “Keiji- what in flamio are you doing?”

“Breaking you out of prison!” Keiji said and then got stumped by the metal bars. “Or at least I will be. Um. Okay. Plan plan plan. Planplan.”

“Flan?” asked Kazu.

“Nalp –nope- this isn’t the time-“

“And you’re not the planner! I am! You can’t take my part!”

“I can when you get thrown in prison.”

“Right. Um. I’ll think of the plan-“

“Never mind I have one!” Keiji said, seeing guards coming rushing down the passageway.

“You there! What are you doing?!” one said, ahead of the others. “How did you get out?”

“Me? You never arrested me! This is all just a big misunderstanding-“

“You broke into the prison! That’s an imprisonable offence!”

“Surely you should be stopping people trying to break out- never mind. Listen. My brother Keiji here,” Keiji said carefully, “is the Avatar.”

The guard snorted and Kazu stared. “Yeah, like we’ve never heard that excuse before,” said the guard.

“Look, we’re undoubtedly Fire Nation, and you know the Avatar is. We’re the right age. And I would never lie about this sort of thing.” He gave Kazu a meaningful look and he supplied-

“It’s true! Look, I can lift my brother with just airbending!” He took an airbender’s stance- thank goodness Kazu read so much and Keiji made his own movements as subtle as possible as he levitated as high as the tunnel allowed.

“And look! Fire!” Kazu said, making his own flames.

“Why didn’t you say this before you came in?”

“He’s not the smartest,” Keiji said, “and we promised our parents not to tell anyone unnecessarily that he was the Avatar because it can be dangerous-“

“Hooligans might want to hurt me,” Kazu said fearfully.

“And we didn’t mean to break the law but I’m sure if we just talked to the Earth King…” Keiji wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

Kazu played along. “Our mother… she would be so upset that I’m in prison and after she did so much… we had to sell our pet turtleduck for money for us to get here- and my Earthbending Master at home, his last dying wish was for me to get him a book from that library… if we never got back.”

The head guard sniffed. “Okay. You’re free to go. Just have clearance next time.”

“Of course, sir, thank you!” As soon as the key turned, Kazu hugged the guard, and then they scarpered.

“I think the hug was overkill,” Keiji observed.

“Noted,” said Kazu, giving him a sideways glance. “Thought you would never tell people that I was the Avatar- something about your honour-“

“Desperate times. Besides, you’re the closest thing to the Avatar there is, so it’s not a bad lie.”


They walked towards the light together and out into the sunshine of Ba Sing Se. “We must be back in the third ring,” Kazu said, squinting. “Where’s Ryuu?”

“We can call him in the second. Let’s wander a bit. If every day is like this, I’m glad we came exploring!” Keiji said.

“Keiji, I was in prison!”

“Exactly, a new experience for yo- FLAMIO HOTMAN!” He ducked behind a corner of a building and Kazu stared at him and then followed his line of sight.

“What’s got you so- flamio.”

They were nomadettes.

“What are they doing in Ba Sing Se?!” Keiji hissed.

“Same thing as us- travelling the world, I presume!”

Keiji snuck another look at them, getting a full shot of one of the women. “Well, at least they’re old. I can’t ask them out.”

“Not both of them. Look.” Kazu pointed gleefully at the other woman. Smaller, slighter… and definitely younger.

“Dude, she’s like twelve. Seriously creepy-“

“She’s pretty-“

“She’s a twelve year old Air nomadette! ‘Pretty’ doesn’t even come into it-“

“Avatar Keiji?”

A burly Earth Kingdom guard was behind them. He was wearing a different uniform to the prison guards, fancier looking, with gold thread embroidering the hems and the motif on the front. Keiji thought he should get some gold thread on his own clothes. Kazu took a fighting stance at the sight of the man, hands raised, but Keiji decided to put his people skills to the test before his bending ones.

“That’s me.”

The guard bowed reverentially- not in the way Keiji was used to in the Fire Nation, but that was probably another fun cultural thing. He’d have to ask Kazu.

“We were just made aware of your arrival in the city, Avatar. It is a great honour to have you here in Ba Sing Se.”

“May I ask whom you represent?” asked Kazu.

“The Earth King. And he wants you to come to the Royal Palace with all haste.”

The brothers exchanged look, amber eye on amber eye.

“Well then, I guess we better go!” Keiji said quickly. “What a pity- come on Kazu!” And he turned his back on the nomadettes and the fate-worse-than-death his brother surely had in store for him.

“This is going to come back to haunt you,” Kazu muttered.

“Helping the Earth King? Never! It’s a kind deed for a wonderful man, done by the selfless Avatar.”

Kazu just snorted and, with a last glance in the direction of the nomadettes, who still had not moved, followed Keiji and the guard.

Gold embroidery, thought Keiji, looking at the back of the guard’s tunic. Remember to research that.

Kazu | The Earth King’s Court

“What do you mean ‘I want to keep this quiet’?!” Kazu crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, blowing a tuft of black hair from his face. He stood behind the table where he and Keiji and been seated, and where Keiji still sat, crumbling bits of his cookies and airbending them into his tea with tiny tornadoes.

The Earth King stood across from the both of them, arms crossed and lips pouty--practically a mirror of Keiji’s brother. “There are troops to my north, and troops to my south. Everyday, I lose more of my strapping young soldiers to these petty squabbles, and I don’t want word of it getting into the walls of my pretty little city.”

Kazu cocked an eyebrow. “Ba Sing Se is the trade hub of the entire world! Every fruit pie that comes out of the Air Islands, every crate of tea that ships from our home--it all touches base here. Everyone in the world knows that the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes aren’t getting along. Why can’t your people know the same?”

The King sat back down, taking a sip of steaming tea. “It is my original belief that crime, poverty--all the bad things in society--they vanish when all news is good news.”

Kazu sat down as well, arms still crossed. “Of course they do! That’s how people operate! They put out what they take in. Just like how my brother’s going to have ridiculous gas for a week just because he ate so many of your Whale Tail Sugar Cookies. And you know why? Because his body reacts badly to Tail Spice.”

Keiji spat his cookie out onto his plate. “Tail spice?”

Kazu murmured, “It’s just a name. It’s just cinnamon.”

The Earth King nodded. “You are correct, boy, but the principle remains that I have the ability to control the amount of tail spice that my brothers eat! And if I simply take tail spice out of my brother’s diet? He’ll never have gas from tail spice again.”

Kazu pondered for a moment. “I see where you’re going with the metaphor, King Li, but the idea feels wrong.”

King Li nodded. “Perhaps it is simply your concept of moral singularity that has you feeling wrong, young firebender.”

Kazu flicked a flame into his tea, watching it smoke. “That’s what morals should be, though,” he said, “there must be right and wrong, or the world falls out of balance.”

Keiji interrupted with a loud yawn. “I hate to interrupt such a great debate, but I’ve been wondering for a while, really since I got here, about what you want from me, King Li.”

The Earth King placed his cup on the table and folded his hands in his lap, peering down into the woodgrain on the table. “Not too far north of here lies the quiet island village of Ebao. It was founded as a small inlet for wary seafaring travelers on their route to the central Earth Kingdom. The town once was rather renowned for its cultural mix of Earthbenders and Waterbenders living together. In fact, people have called Ebao one of the most fertile towns in the north! However, several months ago, a fleet of Water Tribe soldiers came to rest in Ebao, and killed the mayor. They said that their people had been held up in the tundras for far too long, and wished to conquer Ebao for the Water Tribes.”

Kazu traced a finger along the design in the wood for a moment before looking to the king. “Why would they invade, though? Weren’t the citizens already living together in peace?”

“I’m afraid that thought did not occur to the invading fleet. Whether or not the citizens were waterbenders, earthbenders, or non-benders, the commanding officer ordered their loyalty, under threat of death.”

Keiji cocked his head to the side, popping another cookie into his mouth. “So you want the avatar to smack down some spirit world justice in Ebao, put things back the way they’re supposed to be?”

King Li nodded.

Keiji shrugged. “Sounds fun!”

“Wait,” Kazu interjected. “If we interfere with the Ebao situation, you must withdraw your troops as well. If not, it’ll appear to be a nation taking advantage of the avatar, and more importantly, my brother.”

King Li slowly nodded, sliding a parchment across the table to the two boys. It was a portrait of a family of four by the sea. “In the portrait, you see the late mayor of Ebao, his late wife, late son, and daughter.”

“Only the daughter is alive?”

“We assume so,” Li said.

“She’s beautiful.” Keiji stared at her for a moment, a faint fixation in his eyes. “But I have a strange feeling about her. Like she isn’t who she...used to be. Or something.”

“Perhaps that is simply the nature of growth, young avatar.”

Kazu pursed his lips and looked at the girl. “What’s her name?”

“Her name as a girl was Wu Chen. Once you quell the battle in Ebao, find Wu Chen, whoever she may be now, and convince her to bring peace to her village once more.”

“Problem,” Keiji said, stretching. “If no one talks about her anymore, and if her entire family is dead, then how the heck are we supposed to find her?”

“I believe the avatar spirit will guide you.”

Both boys just stared at the king blankly.

Moments passed.

Servants passed.

A cricket hopped from the King’s robes. “You are in-tune with the avatar spirit, are you not?”

“Wellllll--”

Kazu interrupted. “My brother is...studying...the ways of the avatar spirit.” His face grew serious. “In fact, we’ve come to Ba Sing Se to find a spiritual guide, someone to help Keiji control the avatar state.”

Keiji peered off, distancing himself from the conversation.

“Then you need a guru.” Li pondered. “Have you considered the Ba Sing Sensei?”

Kazu sighed. “That didn’t end well for us.”

“For you.”

“For me,” Kazu admitted, dejected.

“Then I suggest asking around a bit more. Spiritual guides pass through Ba Sing Se daily. Have you considered checking the Air Nomad teashop in the upper ring?”

“Not...really? I didn’t know Air Nomads liked tea.”

King Li peered to and fro before grinning. “Secretly, it’s not much of a tea shop, and more of an information hub for traveling nomads!”

The brothers’ eyes lit up instantly. “Nomads!” they shouted together.

“Yes,” Li replied, “the name of the shop is The Tea Weevil. Just two blocks from the palace.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Kazu stood, bowing Fire Nation style.

King Li nodded, catching them before they could run out the door. “Boys,” he said, “remember your task for me--and tell no one!”

Xueyi

There was something soothing in numbers, she’d come to realize over the years. She’d checked over the accounts in her husband’s stead so many times the familiarity of it gave her a break from everything else. She needed that now, if only to stop her mind from gnawing at the recurring thoughts of Oma and Shu, Xueyi, what in the world were you thinking?

Sadly there were only so many trade reports to check over before she ran out, and that left her back to square one, plus one stack of neatly organized scrolls.

“So, is this going to be like the time with the ostrich-horse?” and that was Ming, of course. He always had a knack for showing up when she least needed him around. She turned around to face him, a faint twist to her lips. “That time with the ostrich-horse, as you say, happened to bring us the best courser in the area, darling.”

Her husband shook his head. “Somehow I doubt that last pair of strays will prove as fortuitous. Enough that this conflict is threatening the trade routes, to bring soldiers into our home? I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Soldiers?” She tsk’d, crossing her arms over her chest. “Please. If they’re a day over twenty then I’m the Fire Lady. They’re children playing at war for stakes they haven’t even thought about and it is an absolute waste.”

“Of course. And we all know how much you dislike that.” Condescending old coot, Xueyi thought at his tone of voice, though not unkindly. “Well, I suppose nothing I say has ever stopped you from doing as you willed, and I won’t presume to try again now. Do try not to fluster the serving girls and have the house still standing when I return from Omashu, will you?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve put the sulphur and saltpetre experiments on hold.”

“Yes, of course, that’s very reassuring.”

“Your lack of faith in me is wounding, husband. Now, was there a particular reason you came here or were you merely passing by to question my ability to keep two concussed young people in line?”

“Actually, yes—I do believe they were stirring when I passed by the guest pavilion.” He tipped his head at her, face carefully neutral, but years of practice meant she knew how to look for the hidden smile, and she bit back a couple unladylike invectives targeted at his retreating back before she went to investigate her strays’ state of consciousness, out her study and through the rock garden to the sliding doors to the guests’ quarters, usually kept for visiting traders and the occasional official.

A quick check that the metal-tipped staff she liked to keep around when unpleasant people came around was at the ready, neatly leant against the wall by the entrance, and she was stepping in, eyeing the supine shapes of the two benders.

“Alright kids. Pretend to sleep all you want, that’s more than fine with me. However, let me just set down the house rules, since that is where you currently are. Quite simple, really: kindly refrain from trying to finish killing one another, as that would, firstly be extremely stupid on your part, secondly rather tricky to pull off in your current states and thirdly a complete waste of the time I spent dragging you two out of the field—meaning it might make me rather cross if you were to undo that work for the sake of foolish notions of national pride or a bruised ego. Now, can I trust you to cooperate, or will I have to tie you down until I deem you fit to leave and not murder each other on sight?”

Jiang

The water tribe girl, Jiang was having trouble recalling her name. responded quickly. “I for one am perfectly able to restrain myself, although I cannot speak for Jiang. I do hope he feels the same, though.”

Jiang was happy to oblige. “I have no desire to finish our fight,” he lied. “I would never want to disrespect someone such as yourself. You healed me, saved my life, and I am in your debt.” Jiang could see anger flash on the water tribe girl’s face, which he took joy in.

The lady smiled, quickly unbinding the soldiers from their beds. “Very good! You should be healed up and fine in a few days, but be sure not to do anything strenuous. Added incentive not to kill each other, I guess.” She walked over to the door. “I have some business to attend to, feel free to wander. Lunch will be in two hours, one of our workers will alert you.” She smiled again and left the two alone.

Jiang starred the water tribe girl, she was mad for sure, but she was holding back her temper, trying her best to be calm here. She turned to Jiang, the earth bender was grinning, trying to hold back laughter. It was how she was acting, in the battlefield she was downright terrifying, like a wild Shirshu on the hunt, but here she seemed so weak. She was out of her element. Even when her face changed, trying her best to intimidate him into submission, he couldn’t help smiling.

The girl nearly broke for a moment, cups and jugs around the room shaking as she calmed herself. “Are you trying to piss me off? Or are you just that annoying by default?” She muttered something under her breath. “ I save your life and this is your reaction? No gratitude?”

“Not really,” Jiang said, quickly moving towards a dresser, picking through the context while the girl responded. The place had some nice things just laying around, he wondered why the help hadn’t snatched it up already.

“Good to know I saved the biggest ass in the Earth Kingdom,” she muttered, thinking Jiang couldn’t hear her.

Jiang threw the pot in his hands across the rooms. “And you’re just the the holiest of the holy, aren’t you-whatever your name is.”

“I’m better than whatever you are, you just like to make people angry for your own amusement. And my name is Akiak, you waste of space.”

“Is this the part where we spitefully make out? Because I could get behind that.” Jiang staggered backwards as a fist of water socked on the head, his body collapsing on the nearest wall. “I was only playing around!” Akiak was already gone, the walls vibrating as she slammed the door shut. “Why does everyone have to hit me?”

Tashi | Ba Sing Se

There wasn’t nearly enough time to look through everything in the middle ring. Dohna had kept Tashi mostly in their rooms, continuing to train her in the air blade. Every repetition had just gotten worse, with Dohna continuing to point out more mistakes.

The only reason Tashi was out walking the streets now was the Avatar having finally arrived in Ba Sing Se. Dohna insisted they stick to parts of the city with a large population of air nomads, because the Avatar would look there, first. ‘Airbenders are the most spiritual, Tashi. The earth kingdom lacks the refinement the Avatar would need. Never forget this’ had been the woman’s often repeated mantra.

Tashi simply nodded along, avoiding the fact she was disappointed at not being able to see the markets. She shouldn’t be disappointed, after all. The markets wouldn’t be anything to see. A little voice told her they would be utterly beautiful and busy— but that would simply distract her from following Dohna.

After getting lost once, Tashi didn’t want to repeat the training that had happened after.

There had been nothing but nomads and a handful of earth kingdom natives for the past few hours. Most of them were captivated by bending demonstrations, and weren’t even returning the gam— games are for children. Dohna had also mentioned only the air nomads were blessed enough to have all of their children born as benders. Most of the residents here likely couldn’t bend. Tashi suppressed a shiver at the thought.

She kept looking around. She couldn’t help it. Her breath caught when she saw two men from the fire nation striding towards the Tea Weevil. They hadn’t seen anybody from the fire nation yet. She entertained the thought that one of them was the Avatar, but he looked too human. The fact it would be difficult to tell the two apart made that perfectly clear.

One of the brothers kept glancing around, seemingly looking for something. His eyes lit up when he saw them— if Tashi wasn’t so firmly in Dohna’s shadow, she could’ve sworn it was her— and grabbed his double’s arm, dragging the other man towards them.

Dohna paused, letting them approach. Tashi stopped just shy of running into the woman, going up on her toes then eating back on flat feet once she regained her balance.

The dragged man seemed to be muttering something until he was a foot or two away. He inhaled as if bracing himself. The man who’d been doing the dragging seemed much more at ease. “Hi! We’re, uh. We’re looking for somebody, and were wondering if you two nomadettes might be able to help us.”

Dohna nodded, her back having gotten a tiny bit straighter. “It depends on who you are looking for.”

“Somebody to... help,” the man who’d spoken before said. “We seem to have run into a slight problem and were wondering if you knew a teacher?” He stole a glance at the man behind him, who shrugged. “Not, like, a math teacher. Keiji is awful at math. But, uh.” He made a strange spirit-y motion with his hands. “A sort of...spiritual...”

“Guru!”

Tashi couldn’t see Dohna’s face, but her voice had gotten slightly higher. “I would be more than willing to help! What, exactly, are you looking for?”

The man who’d been dragged— Keiji— finally got the nerve to speak. “Since air nomads are such masters of energy, we were hoping you could help me unlock energy channels to improve my bending. See it’s just... I happen to be the Avatar.” He smiled at the end and made a strange boastful gesture with his hands.

Tashi paused, trying not to show any reaction that he was the Avatar. It was her first look at the man she’d have to kill, and it was almost disappointing. The disappointment was quickly turned on herself as she realized her naivety at assuming the Avatar would carry some obvious mark, or look like the reincarnation of the spirit world he was. To top it all off, he looked happy, despite the fact he was standing in this dense world. The past few days of wide-eyed wonder were pushed aside as she remembered the reason she was here.

“Of course!” Dohna said in an unusually cheery tone. “I would be more than happy to take on another student. Tashi might have some progress to make, still, but she is making it.”

Tashi cast her eyes down. She knew the word ‘barely’ was hidden in that tone. Air blades were a master level move, and she was only at level twenty nine. With the Avatar standing in front of her, she’d need to learn airbending faster than ever before.

The nomads wouldn’t wait forever.

There will be a post a la Kazu here tomorrow.