Chapter One: Sozin and the Facestealer

Firelord Sozin was out hunting with his party that day. The sun was high in the air, and there was a stiff breeze around them. Only a few clouds were in the sky, and as Sozin made his way through the trees, he saw a deerelk, its head hidden by a tree.

Summoning a flame, he launched a bolt through the air. The bolt caught the deerelk in the side before it could spring away and it fell to the ground, dead. Sozin approached and shuddered at what he saw.

At that moment, his friend, Zune approached. Zune was a tall, bearded man and he at once saw Sozin's distress. "What is it, Firelord?"

. "…This deerelk has no face." said Sozin, kneeling by it.

"No face?" asked Zune as he approached. "What do you mean?" Then he saw it. "This is impossible. What could tear a face from an animal without killing it?"

"A spirit." said Sozin, thinking of all the nightmares he had learned of. "And a powerful one at that.

"Koh the Face Stealer."

The men murmured in concern. "But why would he be here? He hasn't been seen in the Fire Nation for centuries."

"He has not been seen." said Sozin as he stood. "But he travels the world, taking the faces of innocent creatures for his collection. Don't make an expression, Zuko. Keep your emotions in check.

"We return to the palace at once."

And so they began their journey back. As they walked, Zune tapped Sozin on the shoulder. "If this Koh is around, should we not do something about him?"

"He is a powerful spirit. Far more powerful than most." said Sozin. "We will call upon Avatar Roku to deal with this. He will know what to do."

"Roku?" asked Zune. "But we have not seen him here in many years. Are you certain he will not be too late?"

"The Avatar can move with great speed. He will be in time." said Sozin. He had to believe that.

They were two days out from the palace. On the first of these, they traveled through a field. Here a girl rushed out of the underbrush suddenly. Her hair was a mess, and she had torn clothes. When she saw them, she ran toward Sozin. "Please! Please, Firelord! You have to help me! You must!"

"What is it, girl?" asked Sozin.

She fell to her knees before him. "A huge centipede, but with the face of a human! It attacked my farm! My family, they, they are in the house, but he is outside it! I managed to slip away through a window, and he let me go!" "Firelord, we cannot wait for the Avatar." said Zune. "Innocent lives are at stake."

Sozin considered the matter. This girls family were at risk, and Roku was days away at best. The Avatar was meant to be the intermediary between humans and the spirit world. But he could not simply do nothing.

"…Very well then." said Sozin. "I will challenge Koh." Then he looked to his men. Every one of them had lost their composure. They were gazing around in obvious fear. "And I will go alone."

"What?" said Zuko. "But how can you-"

"Go. None of the rest of you have enough control over your emotions." said Sozin. "Lead me to this centipede, girl."

The girl led him across several fields. Finally, they came before a farmstead. Yet the doors had been broken in and the windows shattered. Sozin and the girl rushed in. Within the farm they found a man, slumped up against the wall, a woman lying near them.

They were still breathing. But they didn't have a face.

Sozin shuddered as the girl ran to them. "Mother! Father!"

Sozin averted his eyes from the horror as the girl began to weep. Then he saw something far worse. He saw a cradle and a babies hands was moving back and forth. Yet there was no crying. What kind of child could be so silent?

He approached, dreading what he might find. The baby was lying there. It had no face.

"No… this can't be…" gasped the girl.

Rage boiled within Sozin's heart. These were his people. His subjects. "A child. He has stolen the face of a child."

"This can't… this can't be happening…" gasped the girl.

Sozin stalked out of the house and kneeled by the ground. Seeing tracks, he looked back. "There are tracks here. They lead into the forest. Wait here. I will return when I've killed the beast."

Without waiting, he pursued.

The tracks led him deep into the woods. They dodged and weaved, but he always managed to pick them up again. Little by little he became afraid. He felt as though he were nearing his quarry, and his ever fiber demanded he turn and flee.

But he did not.

Then a great centipede descended from above and halted inches from his face. He kept his expression, barely, and saw that the centipede had the face of a human.

"Hail, Firelord Sozin. Friend of the Avatar." said Koh.

"Koh. The Facestealer." said Sozin.

"So I am called." said the centipede, scuttling around him. "Would you care to look upon my acquisitions?"

"Why did you kill them?" asked Sozin, keeping in control of himself.

"They are not dead." said Koh, with what might have been laughter. "And they will no longer have to eat or drink. Even their emotions are now but a shadow of what they once were. A fair trade for their faces."

"A fate worse than death." said Sozin, focusing.

"A matter of perspective." said Koh, scuttling onto a branch, climbing around a tree and looking down. "I had initially intended to take only the wife. But the husband interfered, so I took his face as well. And when I saw the child, well… there are few of those in my collection.

"Even now their identity, their thoughts, and dreams, everything that makes them who they are lie within me. Eternally." He drew near. "You should return to your palace, Sozin. While your face might be worth taking, it is not my desire to anger the Avatar again. Killing him once was… difficult to say the least."

"You need not fear." said Sozin. "You will not live long enough to face him again."

And then he unleashed his flame. Fire poured from his fists, engulfing the tree and Koh with it. But Koh surged forward toward him. Sozin rolled aside and unleashed another wave of flame.

Yet it could not harm Koh, who merely stood there in the inferno.

"Foolish Firelord." he said. "My carapace is beyond the power of your flames." Then he surged forward. Thinking quickly, Sozin drew his sword from his side and brought it down. It struck Koh's body and broke against it. Moments later Koh wrapped around him and began to constrict. "Doubly foolish. No weapon of this world can pierce my skin. All that have tried have died."

Sozin kept his expression stoic. But he knew that it did not matter. Koh could crush him to death at any time. He had failed.

"And yet, I cannot kill you." noted Koh. "Not unless Roku becomes lazy like the other Avatara. Still, such disrespect to the spirits should be punished.

"You will hear of me again."

Then Sozin was loosed, and Koh slithered away without another word.

Sozin picked up the broken halves of his weapon and walked back. Eventually, he came to where the girl was in the house still. She looked up, eyes bloodshot with tears. "Did… did you kill him?"

"I failed." said Sozin. He had all but forgotten her in his anger. "What is your name, girl?"

"I, my name is Iza." said the girl.

Sozin looked away, then to her parents and the child. "You… you should come to the palace with me. Take your family with you. I will see to it that they are cared for there.

"It may be that the Avatar may know a means to restore them."

Iza nodded and stood unsteadily. "…Thank you, Firelord Sozin."

Sozin wished this were the end of it. But he knew the truth in his heart. This was but the beginning.

Within the palace some days later, amidst the running of his country, Sozin received Zune. The soldier kneeled before him, face downcast. "Firelord Sozin, we have dispatched the message to the Avatar as you requested. However, it may take some time before we can find him. When last we heard he was in the South Pole, but he may have moved on."

"Good." said Sozin. "With luck-"

At that moment the doors burst open and a man rushed in. "Firelord!" he cried. "I must speak with you!"

He was obviously afraid. Sozin looked up. "What is it?"

"An entire village, the spirit Koh he…" the man gasped.

"Calm down!" snapped Sozin. "Speak to me calmly."

The man took a breath. "The spirit Koh has taken the face of an entire village. A few escaped, but he hunted them down and took their faces as well.

"What do we do?"

Sozin clasped his hands. So the spirit sought to punish him for seeking justice, did he? What action could be taken now? "…Equip our soldiers with masks at once. And recommend that all villagers do the same. It may be that if our faces are hidden, he cannot take them. Send out our trackers to find the beast. If we can locate where he is, we may be able to trap him. But do not engage him directly." Even if he went after him with an army, no weapon could pierce Koh's carapace. And his flames had done nothing. "I will consult the library."

"The library?" asked Zuko.

"Yes." said Sozin. "My fire was useless against the Facestealer. And my sword broke against his carapace. There must be some means by which we can bring him to harm."

And search he did.

But as the weeks past, no word came from Roku. More and more people had their faces stolen. Entire villagers now worked their fields without faces or identity. The masks did nothing to stop Koh, and Sozin labored in vain to find a means by which he could stop the beast.

One day, Zuko came to him on a balcony. "Have you had any luck?"

"No." said Sozin bitterly. "It appears that Koh spoke truthfully. No weapon of this world can pierce the hide of Koh. And my fire is not great enough to burn him.

"Roku may have better luck. But he is far away. And many will suffer at Koh's hands before he can come."

"Perhaps… perhaps we should find a weapon that is not of this world?" suggested Zune. "A blade forged by a spirit, perhaps?"

"It may. Spirits are dangerous things to meddle in-" Sozin halted. At that moment he saw a star fall from heaven. It landed in the palace's inner walls and shattered them. People fled in terror as flames scorched the buildings.

"Quickly, gather the firebenders!" said Sozin. "We must ensure that it does no harm!"

Rushing down to the lower levels he came to the start. Taking the heat from it, he and Zune worked to quench the flames. Soon, other firebenders came to work upon it. Before long the flames had been doused, and the star was cool enough to touch. It was made of metal.

"It was fortunate that this star landed so near to us." said Zune. "Otherwise its fires may have done great damage."

An idea occurred. "Fortunate? Or destiny?" asked Sozin. "This is a gift from Agni. We will make two swords from the metal of this star. And we will use them to finish the Facestealer. Once and for all."

The finest smiths of the fire nation went to work. They worked upon the metal of the star for nearly a week. They folded steel and before long Sozin had the weapons before him.

They were magnificent. Two swords of the purest black. They gleamed in the light. And Sozin knew that no carapace would halt there.

Then a scout came.

"Lord Sozin, our scouts have found the lair of Koh." said the man. "We have not attacked, as you ordered. But…"

"But what?" asked Sozin.

"We can hear voices from that place." said the man, white-faced. "Voices of people whose face he's stolen."

"Take me there." said Sozin. "His evil will not long stand before the might of these swords."

And so Sozin journeyed for a day and a night, led by his guards. As he walked, he saw them tremble. The closer they drew to Koh's lair, the more terrified they became. As they came within sight of the cave, they could bear it no more. They broke and fled, and Sozin was left alone.

Steeling his courage, he drew both his swords, swords he had not yet named. Making his way into the cave, he summoned a flame to light the way. Within was a massive cavern, with a high ceiling. At the far end was a great pool of water. Bits of ice were floating at the top, though it was a hot day.

An air of the unreal was around him. Sozin knew he was halfway into the spirit realm. But not entirely. He could still wield his power. Out of the water emerged Koh, the face stealer. His face now was that of a baby. It was smiling. "Once again, you return, Firelord. Have you come to beg forgiveness? I hope so, for my forgiving moods come rarely?"

"Facestealer, today you answer for your crimes against the Fire Nation." said Sozin, raising his sword.

Koh laughed. "Crimes? What authority do you humans have over spirits? What power do you possess that can be wielded against me?"

"This power." said Sozin.

Then he surged forward. Koh made no move to dodge, but merely waited. Then the blades struck, and the swords of starmetal bit deep. Koh howled in agony, and it was a babies cry. He slid back into the freezing water.

But Sozin pursued.

The Firelord swarm downwards, ever deeper into the freezing cold. He caught hold of Koh's tail. There they grappled. Again and again, Sozin slashed at his enemy, keeping the freezing air from his heart with his own inner fire. Again and again, Koh thrashed at him, bruising him all over. His legs cut Sozin when they could.

Then the cold stopped, and he could no longer summon fire.

Out of the water, they fell, into a waterfall and were separated. There was a splash as Sozin and Koh hit the water. Sozin beat his way to the top and reached the shore, but he saw Koh coming at him. The spirit radiated a desire for murder, and Sozin knew that to face him in the open would be his doom.

So he fled, into the woods. And he heard Koh scuttling behind him, snarling with a million voices.

Then he halted and slipped behind a tree. Raising one sword, he looked upon his reflection and saw Koh following in a rage. For endless ages, Koh had taken the faces of all those who showed even a touch of emotion. And yet now he was consumed with it. His faces were switching with every moment, screaming with voice after voice. Curses of every language, some long dead, in every pitch.

And he drew near, heedless that Sozin was waiting.

As he passed, Sozin leaped onto his back and drove his swords home. The Facestealer screamed in agony as yellow blood poured from the wounds. He thrashed viciously, and Sozin was thrown away. His grip on his swords was loosened and he landed on the ground.

Koh was scuttling toward him now, dead silent.

Even as the spirit lunged at him, Sozin snatched up his blade and stabbed up, into the spirits face. Koh reeled backward, covered in wounds and fell to the ground. He thrashed no more. His blood was soaking the ground, and Sozin heard a gasp from the heavens.

Retrieving his other sword, Sozin arose. He walked toward the spirit and saw him helpless. And he knew that to kill him would be a kind of heresy. None had done so in the past. Then Sozin thought of the faceless heads that Koh had made, of that poor girl and her younger sibling.

And he knew that justice for them was worth any heresy. "You… will not… do this… thing…" gasped Koh. "I am a primal spirit. Older than your race itself. You kill me… is to sin against all spirits… against nature itself…"

Sozin halted and looked up to the sky. There was the sun, rising high above. The element of flame. The source of inner fire. Greater than any other.

"The sun rises high above all of you." said Sozin. "Agni is supreme, and all of us her subjects. I will make my case to her after I spill your blood. Beneath her gaze, you will be destroyed!"

He raised his sword to kill the beast.

"Stop!" cried a familiar voice.

And Roku leaped between them. The black-bearded avatar held his staff out, his black beard flowing around him. Sozin hesitated and stepped back. "Roku, what is the meaning of this?"

"Sozin, what are you doing?" asked Roku.

"This monster has ravaged its way through my people, stealing their faces." said Sozin. "Now he will die for it."

"At no heed to the cost?" asked Roku. "Spirits are not animals like you or I. Killing one can have massive repercussions! You should have waited for me!"

"There was no more time." said Sozin. "I had to find my own solution."

"Avatar…" wheezed Koh, "you arrive in time as always."

"What is the meaning of this, Koh?" asked Roku, looking to the beaten creature. "Why have you launched such an attack against the Fire Nation?"

"I did so in response to an insult." hissed Koh. "The Firelord sought to slay me. And so I responded in kind."

Roku looked to him, as if he had done something wrong. "Is this true, Sozin?"

"He stole the faces of a farmer, his wife, and his child." said Sozin. "All three were my subjects. So I went to destroy him. When I failed, he began to consume the faces of entire villages."

"They should be glad." said Koh. "Had I not been angered so, I should have never taken many of them."

"I did what I had to do in the defense of our people, Roku." said Sozin. "Will you tell me that is wrong?"

Roku remained silent for a long moment. He looked to Koh, and there was a sudden hatred in his eyes. But it was not Roku's hatred, or so Sozin guessed. "…Regardless of my personal feelings in this matter, Koh is not merely a monster. I cannot let you kill him.

"But neither will I act as if what you have done is justified in any way, Koh."

"You forget your place, Avatar." said Koh. "Your role is to act as our representative among these mortals."

"I am also a representative of humans." said Roku. "Leave now, Koh. If you ever show your face in the four nations while I yet live it will go badly for you."

"So be it. Avatar." said Koh. "I can wait." He scuttled away into the trees. But his voice came back to them. "I can wait a very long time."

Sozin looked to Roku. "Why did you save that creature?"

"I have no choice." said Roku. "Koh is an aspect of the spiritual world. He was created by the originator of identity itself, the Mother of Faces. She is the one who creates the identities of every living creature to live.

If you killed Koh, it would severely upset the balance. The results could be catastrophic. Floods. Forest fires. Earthquakes.

"Killing a spirit is not something to be done lightly."

"And so he has escaped justice." said Sozin.

"Has he?" asked Roku. "The wounds you have dealt him will take a long time to heal. Spirits are immortal; they are meant never to be injured. He will carry the pain of them wherever he goes for a very long time. Perhaps centuries.

"Unfortunately he'll never forget this. I'm afraid he'll never forgive it either.

"This may haunt your descendants, Sozin."

Sozin brought up his nameless blades and wiped them upon the grass. "If that is the price for justice, I pay it gladly.

"Even so, it doesn't matter now. We must find something to do about those he has hurt."

"There is only one power in this world that I know of who can reverse the powers of Koh." said Roku.

Sozin eyed him. "Who is it?"

Roku turned away. "The one who created Koh herself. The Mother of Faces."

Author's Note:

So this is an idea I had a little while ago. I figured I'd start with a short story, and if people like this I may expand it.

Koh the Facestealer is easily one of the most memorable characters from Avatar. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that he never reappears. Meanwhile, Sozin is an interesting character, being a predecessor villain to the entire series. Yet he's also a three-dimensional character with one of the most memorable episodes in season 3 to his name. And he was implied to be a benevolent and just king, at least to the Fire Nation.

So then I said; What if Sozin ended up coming into conflict with Koh?

The result was the Fire Nation version of Beowulf. I went for a mythical style with the writing in this one. I just hope I got everyone in character.

If you like this, please leave a comment to tell me what you think.