"You'll never get away with this." The guard trembled, trying to keep his voice steady. "The Avatar will not allow for such treachery to occur in the Earth Kingdom."
A blade tilted slightly towards the man's neck, drawing a trickle of blood. A young, black haired woman holding it smirked. The cream colored wraps on her arms tightened as she flexed her arms to get a closer cut. "The Earth Kingdom's guards are slipping if they think they Avatar can hear their cries."
A slightly older, brown haired man stepped from behind the young woman, placing a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, Lil, we've got all we need." He turned his gaze to the man beneath the blade. "Nervous?"
The guard glared at him. "You would never do anything to harm a guard. I know your type. Both of you!" He added, glancing towards the woman before him, recovering from his short lapse in bravery. "You come, take what you can, but never leave any bodies. You know that I have a family to feed and a life that I have not fully lived. You're not the type of people to kill others, just threaten them."
"Proud of your ability to read others?" the woman questioned, still smirking.
"Quite," he replied, still glaring at the man.
A pause. "…Leave him with something to remember us by, Lil. We're all done here." The man walked out of the room without another word.
"What're you gonna do, leave a scar? Do you really think you're a better person because you have skills with a blade?"
"The skills of mine do not only deal with weaponry," she replied, taking a step back from her opponent.
"Fool," the guard smiled. His hands were free.
She tilted her head to the side just in time to dodge a flying piece of earth. "Tsk, tsk," Lil responded, glancing towards the massive dent in the wall behind her. "Getting rusty with old age, are we?"
"I haven't even begun." The man took his battle stance.
"Don't even bother," she murmured, flicking her wrist up towards the ceiling. In a flash, the guard became immobile in ice, blocks securing his legs, arms, and torso. Only his head remained above the massive trap.
Looking at the block entrapping him, the guard's eyes grew wide. "Water benders can't bend without a source! What are you?"
The young woman smiled, stepping towards him. She traced a finger along the ice holding his neck. "Feel that cold? That icy feeling seeping into your skin? Get used to it. It's not going anywhere." She moved her arm towards his forehead, moving her palm so that it faced him, touching two fingertips to him. She smiled sadistically. "How cold is it before you begin to shiver?"
"My lady."
An Earth King guard kneeled in deep respect to the water bender before him. Notorious for her kind, gentle heart and her fierce ability with water, she was respected in all the land. In her early twenties, she had the body of a strong fighter and a shapely woman: muscular arms and legs, a tight torso and stunning curves. She was Katara, master water bender, advisor to the Avatar, and an aid to all nations. While her superior worked on bigger rebellions among the four nations, she concerned herself with the littler issues.
She acknowledged his kneel with a little nod of her head. "Where can I find the Earth King?"
"He's right inside his chamber, Lady Katara. He has been awaiting your arrival. Would you like an escort?"
"Thank you, but I can manage," she responded, heading down the hall.
The Earth King was sitting in his throne, but arose immediately when he saw Katara had arrived. "Lady Katara! Thank you for coming on such short notice." He stepped down, extending a hand to her.
She shook it with a smile. "It's good to see you again, King Arto. Always a pleasure. So what seems to be the problem?"
He stood beside her, guiding her away from the throne area. "Well, it seems we have a peculiar case of water bending on our hands. One of guards claims that a gang of thieves attacked him. They were successful in their attack, stealing some of our precious and classified documents. Among those thieves was an extremely gifted water bender. Her accomplices called her 'Lil'. Ever hear of her?"
Katara shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. But, if you don't mind me asking, what was so significant about her?"
"Of course I don't mind you asking, Lady Katara. Well, you see, her bending style was most peculiar. Being an Earth Kingdom guard, this man knows all types of bending fighting styles. Hers was a bit… different."
"How different?"
"I'll let him explain to you himself." The King took the solid, Earth Bending stance, thrusting his arms forward to create a doorway in the wall closest to them. It opened to a common room which, to Katara's knowledge, was usually used by the Earth King for important meetings with the Avatar, herself, and other nation Kings. A man sat in one of the guest chairs with wool blankets covering his shoulders, shivering. He stood and knelt at the sound of the door opening.
"My L-Liege," he stuttered.
"Please, Takeshi, put the blankets back on." The King went over to the guard and helped him back into the chair.
Katara walked closer to the guard as well, taking the seat next to him. "What's happened to you?" she asked, confused.
"M-m'lady!" he tried to kneel again, but the Earth King restrained him.
"Just tell your story, Takeshi."
The guard looked up at his King and nodded. "Y-Yes, my liege." He turned to Katara, fear in his eyes. "She was... un-unnatural, Lady Katara. I-I couldn't believe what she—what she did. What she c-can do."
"What can she do, Takeshi? How did this happen?"
He shivered again, pulling the blankets closer around him. "S-She bent without having a s-source."
The advisor to the Avatar leaned back, stunned. "But, but that's impossible! No water bender has ever been able to do that! Are you sure—"
"It was w-within a document holding base. There's no available w-water in the whole building. It's against p-protocol. Any of our d-documents can be destroyed by water."
"I see," Katara replied, clearly troubled. "Go on."
"Y-you see," Takeshi continued. "The gang's leader said—he s-said leave something to re-remember us by. I assumed it would be a scar of s-some kind because the girl held me by a knife—"
"I'm sorry, but did you say a girl did this to you? As in a young girl?!"
"Not quite y-young, m'lady," the guard tried to explain. "She looked around tw-twenty, slightly younger than yourself. However, as I am m-much older than twenty, I-I call her a g-girl." He was clearly beginning to struggle controlling his shivering.
"Would you like more blankets?" Katara offered, looking from the Earth King to Takeshi, baffled.
"You see, Lady Katara, that is the real issue here," the king replied.
"S-she did this to me." Takeshi whispered. "She t-touched my head and s-said, 'how cold is it b-before you begin to shiver?' And, like a f-fool, I responded that I am able to withstand weather in the c-coldest parts of the p-poles, and that her blocks of ice, whether they came from nowhere or fr-from some secret water source, did not s-scare me. And she t-touched my forehead." He shook violently, clinging to the blankets around him.
"Go on, Takeshi," The King gestured.
The guard glanced at the King, gathered himself, and looked back to Katara. "It felt as though the heat from my body was escaping, s-slowly, through my forehead and to her fingers. I f-felt my… my blood slow, as if it were icing up."
"So you believe she… made your body temperature drop?"
"We believe she made it drop permanently." King Arto left the side of the guard. "Thank you, Takeshi. Your information has proven to be extremely valuable to us."
"But wait, King Arto… water benders can't adjust the temperature in people, let alone adjust it permanently. It's impossible!" Katara stood up from her seat, flabbergasted. "Fire benders may be able to increase the heat of things, but water benders don't adjust temperature in anything but water. I've tried it, it just doesn't work that way."
The Earth King turned to face Katara, speaking lightly. "There may be a possibility, Lady Katara, that this water bender is stronger than you." He paused for a moment, holding her gaze, then motioned for her to follow him. "Come, we have more to discuss on this matter."
After quickly thanking Takeshi, Katara dutifully followed the King out of the doorframe.
"What do you suggest we do for the poor soldier?" King Arto asked once he had sealed the doorway. His face grew suddenly soft. "It pains me to see a devoted guard in that much agony."
"I would suggest calling on Firelord Zuko and asking for a well trained fire bender. Maybe he or she would be able to warm Takeshi back to normal body heat, even if only for a little while."
The Earth King pondered this for a moment. "Are any fire benders able enough to permanently alter a person's or thing's body heat?"
"It's possible, but not probable. You would most likely get someone who can warm him for a short while, but not forever."
"So that's it, then. He's scarred." The King ran a hand through his hair. "Lady Katara, we need your help. We need to find this water bender before she strikes and scars someone else. I just hope I haven't been too late on that account."
"You mean you don't know if your people have already been hurt by this bender?"
The King's hands tensed up, but he did not turn around to look at her. "I apologize if my security does not cater to every soul in the Earth Kingdom, Lady Katara, but we can only do so much."
She said no more, recognizing the King's frustration at the situation. They walked for a few more minutes, heading to what Katara knew to be the security room in the Earth King's Palace.
"In here, we have a picture of what we think the girl looks like. Takeshi says that the girl was wearing a bandit mask, but he had a full description of the man she was with. Our artists here have been at hard work painting what Takeshi said each attacker looked like. I was hoping you'd be able to identify at least one of the members. Then at least we have somewhat of a lead."
"Yes, of course, King Arto. I will do the best that I can," Katara replied, following the King past the attentive guards at the doorway.
The Earth King took a piece of parchment from a guard sitting at one of the tables inside. "Here is what we believe the girl to look like."
Katara examined the first picture, memorizing it. The girl looked around twenty in age, just as Takeshi had said. Her hair almost looked white in the photo. It was short, tied into a long, messy ponytail, and pieces of it framing the side of her head and face. The bandit mask covered just above her nose, under her eyes. Her eyes were piercing, a fierce green, mixed with a tinge of blue. Her features seemed soft, yet clearly defined. It was tough to tell with only a painting with a bandit mask on her.
"I do not recognize her," Katara stated after a long study of the photo. "But hopefully I can help with her accomplice."
"One can only hope," King Arto commented, taking the parchment carefully from Katara and replacing it with another.
She took the painting carefully, placing it on the table before her. Her eyes glazed over it, then snapped into focus. Her heart stopped dead, her hands forming a cool sweat in the palm.
"Do you know him?"
Katara nodded. She knew that smirk anywhere.