(Ave! Thanks for reading my first story, this might just seem like a retelling of episode 11 at first, but we're going places with this. Trust me.)
The trapdoor opened into a wooden attic, the one window cast beams of light onto a solitary figure, crumpled against the wall behind a set of steel bars. The first equalist to climb up immediately focused on the body. "Ah, we're not alone up here."
The second equalist, climbed up from the trapdoor. "Tarlok?" The second equalist said, taking off her mask, it was Korra. Mako did the same.
"I don't suppose you're here to rescue me."
Mako and Korra stepped forward. "We, had no idea you were here." They stopped at the steel bars, behind them was definitely Tarlok, his hair was in disarray, as was his distinctive pale blue coat and grey dress trousers. "Are there other prisoners on the island?" Korra asked.
"No." Tarlok looked off to the side, "I'm the only one."
Korra cocked an eyebrow, "and what makes you so special?"
Tarlok looked down. "I'm Amon's brother. Amon is from the Northern Water Tribe, he's a waterbender and a Bloodbender, just like I was."
Korra and Mako were tense, as if peering over a cliff. "What?" Korra looked to Mako who got straight to business.
"Did you know this all along?"
"No, not until after he captured me," Tarlok looked down.
"How did your brother end up, becoming Amon?" asked Korra.
"It all began with my father, Yakone." Tarlok's gaze shifted to the floor and he began speaking to no one in particular. "With the help of his former gang, he escaped prison, and underwent surgery to change his appearance. He assumed a new identity and settled down in the Northern Water Tribe. That's where he met, my mother. A warm, caring woman." Tarlok smiled absently. "Before long," his voice grew almost irritated, "they started a family together." He spat that word out. Family, as if it had a bitter taste.
"Amon was the first-born, onto the name: Noatak. I was born three years later. Noatak was a good natured kid, always looking out for me. Those were the good years." He sighed. "Before I discovered I was a Waterbender. At first I was excited by my new abilities, but my training brought out a different side of my father. Even back then, my brother wanted everyone to be treated fairly and equally. When I was seven, my father took me and Noatak on a hunting trip, far away from our home. He told us his true identity was Yakone, Republic City's most notorious crime-boss, and that he was once a bloodbender of rare skill. The good days, were behind us. Every full moon, our father took us on another supposed hunting trip, where he secretly trained us in bloodbending. We kept the truth from our mother.
"A few years later, my father taught us to bloodbend anytime, without the need of the full moon. We practised constantly, and I hated every minute of it. I had no stomach for manipulating helpless animals, my brother, however, couldn't bloodbend at all. To my father, he was a failure, unable to bend so much as a drop of water by the time he was 14. Even though I was my father's favorite, it wasn't any easier for me. I carried the burden of all Yakone's expectations and demands. Something changed in Noatak over the years, the loving brother I once knew became cold and detached. Our father pushed us to extremes, and one day, he made us Bloodbend each other. He thought it would somehow force Noatak to bend, believing that Noatak was holding himself back. Out of nowhere, Noatak made my father collapse,to protect me. It must have been some form of bloodbending. He'd had the ability the whole time, then, he ran away.
"My father and I searched for days, but we never found a sign of Noatak. We thought he perished in that storm, my mother was never the same after the loss of my brother. My father stopped training me, with my brother gone, his hopes for revenge failed and he passed away a few years later…"
"That's, one of the saddest stories I've ever heard." Korra said.
"Avatar Korra, I'm truly sorry for all that I did to you. I thought I was better than my father, but his ghost still shaped me; I became a soldier of revenge, just like he wanted me to be and so did my brother. The revolution, may be built on a lie, but I think Amon truly believes bending is the source of all evil in the world."
Korra kept her head held low while Mako asked, "How did you figure out Amon was your brother?"
"When he took my bending, the sensation was somehow familiar. I later recognized it was my brother's Bloodbending grip."
Korra looked off to the side, frowning, her eyebrows bent in thought. "So," she looked back, "he somehow uses Bloodbending to take people's bending."
Tarlok looked up at the two benders. "I don't know how he does it," he said, before slumping in defeat, "but then again, I've never encountered a bender as strong as Noatak."
"How in the world do we beat him?" Korra asked.
"We can't" Mako glanced at her, "any attack we throw at him, he'll redirect with his mind. That's how he's been able to challenge any bender."
Korra turned away, "So much for our ambush." She said, throwing her arms up and walking away.
"If we stay here we're toast."
Suddenly she spun around, her eyes kindled with thought, "but there's another way to beat him."
"How?"
Korra stepped forward, "this whole time, Amon has been one step ahead of us, but finally," she put a hand to her chest, "we have the advantage. If we expose him, as a bender, in front of all his supporters..."
"At the rally," Mako realized.
"We could take away his true power,"
"and undermine this whole revolution!"
Korra suddenly stopped and turned to Tarlok. "Thank you, for your help."
Tarlok nodded but couldn't quite meet the Avatar's eyes.
Mako turned to leave.
"We can't just leave him here."
"Go," Tarlok said, getting to his feet, and stumbling forward. "Amon can't know anyone spoke with me." He clutched the bars, his hair falling over his weary eyes, "defeat him. Put an end to this sad story."