"I am not in danger, Varrick. I am the danger. A man opens his door and gets his bending taken away and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"
The loud clear voice sounded throughout the room as hands slammed onto the wooden desk. Swift strong hands with two blue arrows upon the backside of his hands. Staring over at down at Varrick as he slowly leaned away from his desk. Tenzin raised his hand to touch and groom his beard.
"Tenzin, we been partners for the last two years and I just want to make sure you are doing well. This is a serious business Tenzin and I see you as a friend." Varrick stated leaning a bit forward his gaze fixed on Tenzin as he was concerned as a friend.
"I know Varrick, you don't have to watch out for me. I know how dangerous this business is, but with your connections and my lead we won't have any issues."
"Right, so when will I receive the shipment of Spirit Vine?"
"You should get them down by the docks late tonight at 2:00am. They will be marked with a green star on the top side. Those will be your shipments, so be careful Tenzin. You're still a family man."
"Were both family men now Varric, we have to be careful." Tenzin stated as Varrick gazed over to his left hand showing the ring on his finger. With a slight smile he nodded.
With a wave Tenzin left Varrick's office heading down the hall toward the city. It had been a long and strange road for Tenzin and how he had come to this point but when you have a whole air bending nation to support there are things that you need to do. Tenzin had found his, ever since the whole incident with Kuvira. Spirit vines and anything related to it had become quite hard to obtain, so there was a demand for it. The vine could be used for many things, when burned with certain chemicals to make a green gas that acted as a pain killer as well as a way to get people high.
While it boosted spiritual abilities it greatly distorted someone's view of reality under the drug as well cause breathing problems due to small chemicals being left inside the body when it was inhaled. Once their breathing condition worsened they would have to go to the air nomads to get their lungs cleaned of the chemicals before it was too late.
It was a circle that kept returning them to one man, Tenzin. Nobody would have guessed the leader of the air nation would be the one producing the drug that had taken the streets by storm 2 years ago. It had been only 3 years since Kuvira had fallen and due to her collapse a lot of people had been left in poor conditions.
The rest of the day had passed rather quickly as Tenzin laid in his bed with his wife Pema at his side, staring up the roof. His gaze glanced at his clock.
'1:22am…'
With a light groan Tenzin rose from his bed slowly pulling away from his wife's grip. With soft eyes he stared down at his wife sleeping, he hoped she would never have to find out what he had to do for his nation. His whole life he had been raised to be the one who would lead the air nation once Aang would step down and this was the only way he could make Aang's dream come true.
"Sorry Pema, I promise I'll buy you some of those pastries you like when I get back." With a soft kiss placed on Pema's forehead Tenzin got dressed and headed out toward the docks to get his supplies.
Tenzin had always been one to be discrete as he used his air bending to get himself around and in the dead of night there was nobody to notice him jumping from rooftop to rooftop as he made his way to the docks. It was empty as he expected on a working day in Republic City. Finally arriving at the docks he searched for his supplies as he found a few small crates with the symbol that Verrick had told him. Gripping the boxes as he organized he felt a change in the one.
"I am the air…" A soft whisper flows from behind Tenzin.
With a sudden jump Tenzin quickly turned around raising his hands in his bending stance as it seemed he had been found out. His eyes looking fierce as the wind quickly came to his hands ready to strike but he stopped dead in his tracks once seeing the man that stood behind him.
"Bolin? What are you doing here? You should be at the lab!" Tenzin practically yelled at Bolin who quickly took a step back with a goofy grin on his face.
"Hey, Hey, Hey, Take it easy Tenzin. I heard from Varrick that you were here so I was wondering if you needed help." Bolin said as he smiled that goofy grin on his face.
"Next time give me a warning your coming…Now help me get these supplies." Tenzin stated with an exhausted sigh.
"Yes sir." Bolin nodded soon going over grabbing the boxes as he lifted them off the ground, holding up.
"Alright Bolin lets head back to the lab. We can't stay here too long and risk a sailor catching us."
With a quick turn Tenzin flew off to the opposite side of the docks soon reaching what looked like a speed boat, loading up the boat with the supplies they both got on. Quickly riding off toward Aang's memorial island where the giant statue of Aang stood. Nobody expected the Aang memorial to be the lab that Tenzin had made. Who else could know about a secret shelter than Aangs's son. Finally arriving at the isand they both unloaded the boat as they made their way to the base of the giant memorial. Reaching the base of memorial Tenzin moved to one of the extensive air design on the base. Tenzin looked at the designs as there were two hole like molds in the front as Tenzin placed his hands upon the holes and with a sudden gush from his hands the design began moving and unlocking the entrance to the secrete shelter underneath the Aang Memorial.
The shelter opened as Tenzin lead Bolin inside as the lights turned on, placing the crates on the inside. The shelter was big but they had left everything in the side cargo room. The walls made of steel and a strange mix of air tunnels as well as other strange contraptions laying around the round.
"Alright, just lay it there Bolin."
Bolin laid the supplies next to where Tenzin had laid it down.
"So are we going to cook Tenzin?"
"No, not yet Bolin. I'll call you when we need to cook. For now go home, I'm sure Opal will be worried if you are gone when she wakes up."
"Oh right, yeah…Opal."
"Had another fight with Opal again?"
"Yeah…She has just been quite distant lately and we get into fights sometimes. She just seems to be quite touchy lately ever since I started saying I had to go out and work…I think she is starting to wonder where I get all the money."
"I know the feeling Bolin, the moment we decided to do this…We could never go back. I hope you understand that Bolin."
"I know Tenzin, so I'll be seeing you at Korra and Asami's engagement celebration tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll be seeing you there, Bolin…You're a good kid, don' get bummed out. I'm sure things will work out with you and Opal. You're a strong one…Stronger than you think."
"Thanks Tenzin…" Bolin said with the goofy smile appearing once more on his face.
"Alright, let's go Bolin. We have to go back."
With a small smile Bolin headed out with Tenzin as they made their way back on the boat, quickly heading back to shore. With a simple wave they both left heading back to their homes before the sun broke the darkness in the sky.
Later that evening…
It was time for Korra and Asami's Engagement party.