The Red Spirit
Chapter 1
It's almost unfair isn't it? How the worst things in life are always the things you remember the best. You could have 20 or 30 years of nothing but love filled anniversaries, playful birthdays where the whole family gets together for one evening, putting aside all petty arguments and rivalries to enjoy and celebrate one more year of life. The feeling of bliss from your first kiss, the pride you feel from your child's first steps. But all those moments, all those memories we hold so dear, they always find themselves eclipsed by a single moment of tragedy and horror. For Karnak, up until the age 7, his world was warm and full of color. He wasn't born to a wealthy family. But where they were still rich with love. His father loeb was a dock worker, dedicated long strenuous hours of hard work for a pittance of pay. But he never let it stop him, he never complained, he would just smile and say 'hard work keeps a man honest' whenever Karnak's beautiful mother would fuss. His mother, Mira, was the kindest soul he had ever known, a woman who's smile would brighten the whole room and who's gentle voice would wash way all of his fears. They may not have had much, but they were happy.
But the first lesson Karnak truly learned, was that happiness never seems to last. The day his world lost color was the day his father and mother were struck down right in front of him. oh he remembers that alright. It never leaves his mind for long. Everytime he closes his eyes he can see it. The mugger stepping out of the shadows, a scowl marring his rough and dirty face. With every step the fire he had growing from his hand would grow more and more, dancing around so dangerously, burning brighter. Karnak clung to his fathers side in fear, dread growing more and more in his heart. He remembers the mugger demanding money from my father, the little that he had.
Loeb though, was not so easily frightened and he would be damned if he ever let anyone push him around. It was one of his countless lessons he would teach his son whenever he came home with bruises form school bullies.
'Bullies come in all shapes, sizes, and class son. But no matter what, never run away from them, cause once you do, they'll never let you stop. You keep your feet firm on the ground and you push back with everything you got.'
True to his word, that's what loeb did. But everything he had wasn't enough. Karnak always felt it was some cruel joke, that whenever he thought of that moment in his life, the only thing that had color, was the fire as it shot from the mugger hand and into his fathers chest, like a beam of light bursting through his heart. He can see the crimson red blood as it escaped from his fathers mouth. He can remember oh so hauntingly, the horrified scream that escaped his mothers throat. A scream that never stopped as she was burnt alive. The mugger's vicious eyes locked onto Karnak's. The eyes that held remorseless and sinister glee. The mugger raised his hand, ready to strike the child down. But the sirens stopped him. He growled but smiled at Karnak,
'Next time, scream for me.' He cackles before he disappears back into the shadows.
Karnak dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face, but his expression remained stone like. He spoke no words as the scene in front of him forever etched itself into his brain. He doesn't remember how long he stayed there, how long it took for the police to arrive. What good they were. His father had always taught him to trust the police, 'they'll always have your back, they'll always protect you'. Karnak was once again disappointed with the cold reception he had gotten from the police.
"another mugging gone wrong I guess." One says as he uninterestedly observes the scene of the crime.
"You sure? The way this guy looks, probably a drug trade gone bad." His partner comments, his foot uncaringly kicking loeb's dead body.
Karnak jumped to his feet and attacked the cop, to little use, he was merely swatted away.
"Get that mutt off of me!" his partner restrains karnak who simply glares and growls at the cop. Said cop sneers at him,
"Attacking a cop huh boy? You know that's a crime right? You're lucky you're so young else I would've had you in cuffs already." He threatens.
Karnaks only response is to spit in his face. The Officer angrily wipes the gunk off his face and brings up his fist before a voice stops him.
"Officer! Mind telling me what you're doing?" a tough looking woman with 2 long scars on her right cheek demands with her arms crossed tight over her chest.
"Nothing, I was just—"
"Just mishandling a crime scene, disrespectfully I might add, and threatening and preparing to strike a child who just witnessed the murder of his parents who's corpse you were just kicking around. Anything else I missed?" she states as she closed in until she was directly in his face.
The cop chewed on the inside of his cheek and said nothing.
"Both of you get out of here, I'll deal with you later." As the leave, spewing insults under their breaths, she turns her attention to the child who glares at her.
She softens her expression and kneels down to his level. "Hi, I'm sergeant Lin Beifong. What's your name?" she asks, but is met with silence and distrust.
She expected this, a traumatized child is someone who must be met with patience and care. "It's alright, you don't have to say anything. I'm sorry, about those two. Couple knuckleheads I'll make sure they get reprimanded for this. I promise you I wont hurt you." she extends her hand as a peace offering.
He looks at her hand then to her eyes. He seems to be searching for deception in them. Once he was satisfied, he tentatively reaches out and grasps her hand. She pulls him in and hugs him tightly and he began to whimper and the whimper turn to sobbing. Through it all she held him, whispering words of comfort to him. She held for as long as she could until the ambulance arrived. As he was being checked on, she addressed him once again. "Good news, child services have arrived, they're ready to take you in. you'll be safe with them. I promise."
The second lesson he learned, promises were made to be broken.
Karnak was in foster care for only 2 months. When he looks back on his time there he understands that the horrible treatment there, was preparation for what was to come. His first night started nice enough, the kids were calm and well behaved. The ward was a frigid old woman and it didn't take long for Karnak to realize why everyone behaved so well.
It was dinner time when it started. The ward placed a plate of food in front of every one and she sat down at the head of the table. "Remember to use your utensils properly when you eat." She says sternly. Her hard eyes pierced each one of the children.
They all fearfully begin to eat their food, no one making so much as a noise, not a slurp or burp. She seemed pleased with herself until her eyes land on Karnak and she frowns. "Karnak, dear, why aren't you eating?"
He said nothing in return.
She purses her lips and gets up, strolling slowly to him. She tilts her head. "Your poor old ward spent a long time cooking you that meal. Why don't you show her gratitude by eating?"
Again he said nothing.
Her frown turns into a snarl and she roughly grips his head yanks back painfully. He strains his mouth closed. "Now you listen you little twerp, you eat your food right now or so help me it'll be the last plate you'll see for the next month."
When she sees that he won't answer, she begins to roughly pry his mouth open hooking her fingers into his cheeks and digging them into his molars, making him bite the inside of his mouth. She grabs a handful of food and shoves it into his mouth.
"Eat up you little bastard!"
She keeps shoving more and more food into his mouth forcing him to chew. And when he didn't swallow, she would hit his throat almost making him choke. All while this happened, none of the kids even looked up. They just ignored it as best they could. Once the plate was clear, she yanked him by the arm to the head of the table.
"You want to act like an ungrateful miscreant, then you'll be treated like one." She takes out a whip from her handbag.
She looks at all the children present. "All of you watch and learn, or else it'll be your turn." She threatens.
Reluctantly, one by one they bring their eyes to Karnak, sorrow and fright visible in their expression.
The ward lifts Karnaks shirt off then holds him by his hair. She raises her arm then brings it down hard. Karnak's face twists in pain as the whip made contact with his back. She raises her arm again and strikes it down again. Once more, Karnak winces, but not a sound escapes his mouth. She didn't like that one bit. She brought her arm down harder and harder, Karnak's face twisting more and more. She kept going, her anger being fueled by this child's silence. Karnak tried to keep quite, but he was just kid after all. And when his skin finally began to break and bleed, that's when he whimpered.
The ward smiled to herself, satisfied with the result. "well now that we got that out of the way, let me show you to your room." she informed him with sadism dripping from her words.
She dragged him up to the attic of the foster home. A dark room with a few boxes and nothing but dust there. It was cold, damp and there wasn't a single place to sleep. She tosses Karnak inside. "Since you want to be a disrespectful little runt, you'll be here for the next week. No food or water allowed. Lets see if you'll keep the attitude afterwards, because if you do, well… that means we'll have to adjust it then wont we?"
She cackles to herself as she leaves him in the dark. The first time he was ever alone without any light in his life. Sure like any child, he cried and called out for his parents, hoping to be saved from the gloom that befell his life, but no one answered. Just him and his thoughts. For one week, he was there, with nothing but the rats as company. The attic was kept perpetually in the shadow with the windows being boarded up. He had no telling how much time had passed before his hunger became too much to bare. Desperation took hold and as one rat crawled too close to him, his hand shot out like a viper and gripped the vermin by its neck. The child looked at its beady eyes for a moment, unsure what to do, but once again, desperation took hold and he snapped the small animals neck. Unsanitary it may have been, but eating the rats kept him alive.
By the time the ward allowed him out the room, he was full enough to keep refusing the food she had provided for him. Angering her further. She became creative with her punishment.
"All of you get in line!" she ordered.
The orphans wasted no time getting themselves into a single file formation. She had Karnak face the line.
"All of you step forward one by one. I want you each one of you, to strike him."
No one moved at first, but all it took was one look at her whip before they began. The first 3 hits weren't bad, sure it hurt but it wasn't anything Karnak couldn't handle. But after the third, the others became bolder. They put more force into it, more anger. Its like they began to channel all of their frustrations and misery of their time in the orphanage into Karnak, taking it out on him. His lips were split, his eyes bruised black. By the time all the children had their turn, his jaw felt like it would break off.
It became worse each time he got out. He would refuse to eat the plate she would either force it down his throat or shove his face into the plate, breaking his nose at least twice. She would whip him, hit him, starve him, keep him from drinking water, And she would always send him right back into the attic. What she didn't know was that every time she threw him into the attic, he was preparing his escape. There was a boarded up window at the top of the wall and as his eyes got used to the darkness, he found boxes around the room that he could use to climb. Each time she threw him there he would sneak in a knife from the silverware and use it to pry off the nails. By the fourth month, he had gotten it loose. As he sat on the windowsill he waited until a carriage of cabbages passed by close enough for him to jump on. Once landing, he wasted no time and began to eat as much of the cabbages as he could. After eating nothing but rats for the past 2 months, those cabbages tasted better than anything he could remember.
4 months later he found himself in Omashu. He lived as a street urchin, stealing food to eat, pickpocketing others for chump change. He'd have good days and bad days. This one however was a bad day. It all started with him pickpocketing the wrong guy. It was simple enough, bump in to him and take out whatever he could from the split second he got. He took too long. A hand grabbed his,
"Hey what's the big idea!?"
Karnak attacked quick and stomped on the mans foot before breaking off into a sprint, he heard him yell for his friends to go after him and he ran faster. He skidded under a carriage and jumped over a table. Taking a chance and glancing over his shoulder hoping it slowed down his pursuers. It didn't. They were gaining on him.
He made a sharp left turn, but that was a mistake. It led him right to a dead end. He didn't get a chance to backtrack either, as his pursuers found him and blocked the only way out. The one he tried to rob stepped forward smiling as he took out a knife.
"So you little street brat, you think you coulda stole from me and get away with it? Oh ho ho buddy, no one and I mean no one steals from me and gets away with it. Not even a kid. Stretch, grab him." he orders and the one to his left quickly snatches the kid and holds his wrists in a vice grip, nothing Karnak does so much as makes him budge.
Karnak stares at him defiantly as the knife inches closer to his face, "Oh we got a badass here? look at that boys, not even a whimper, you got more guts than most. Guess I should cut them out!"
Just as he is about to strike, a hand shoots out from behind him and yanks the knife out of his grip.
"Hey what the—oof!"
he's cut off by a strong kick to the solar plexus. The knife was thrown through the air and into the hand of the man holding Karnak, who screams in pain as he drops the child. The scream is cut short as an open palm jabs his throat and rips out the knife to stab the other assailant in the eye before knocking them both out. Karnak is amazed as whoever the man is that saved him, moved so quick all he could see is a blur. Before he knew out, everyone was unconscious, except Karnak and his rescuer.
Said rescuer dusts off his shoulder before focusing, "Do you always get yourself into trouble?"
Karnak stays silent, his body tensed, ready to run if needed.
His rescuer raises his hands as a sign of peace. "I will not hurt you child. Trust me, if I wanted anything to happen to you, I wouldn't have interfered."
Karnak relaxes ever so slightly.
"My name is Zaheer, what is yours?"
He is not given an answer. "I don't mean to boast, but I did save you from being gutted as this man so eloquently put it, the last I can get is a name."
Karnak looks away for a moment then finally answers, "my… n-name… is Karnak."
Zaheer raises an eyebrow, from how raspy his voice sounded, it seems like the child hadn't spoken in a long time, most likely from some type of trauma. "I'm staying at a motel a few blocks from here, if you'd like, you can come with me. I can give you shelter and food for at least the night."
Seeing how Karnak appears hesitant Zaheer adds, "or you can stay on the cold streets and starve another night. It's your choice."
He turns and starts walking away, but starts to smirk as he hears rapid little footsteps hone in on him. A comfortable silence fell between them, Zaheer knew that they'd have a chance to talk soon enough, so he let the boy settle himself near him. He could see the side eye glances Karnak would throw at him as they walked but he paid it no mind. It didn't take long for them to reach their safe haven. Zaheer sat himself on a chair and gestured for Karnak to sit at the one opposite of him. He opened his bag and took out a loaf of bread.
"Would you like some? It's sweet bread."
Karnak nodded lightly. Zaheer tossed it to Karnak who caught it and devoured it whole in seconds.
Zaheer chuckled, "you must've not eaten for a long time. Which begs the question, why are you on the streets? Did something happen to your family, your parents?" he asked.
Karnaks quickly forming tears were all the answer he needed. He reached over and gave Karnak's hand a gentle squeeze. "When I was a boy, around your age, my father was killed in a car accident. The driver just mowed him down right in front of me. I held onto his hand as the life slowly faded from his eyes. Even now the memory is still fresh in my mind. I know how you feel, like the world has lost all color, food has no taste anymore. I couldn't sleep or concentrate. But no matter how dark your world seems now, I promise you Karnak, there will be light."
Karnak looks into his eyes with such desperation and he leaped forward into Zaheer's arms. Zaheer let him cry into his shoulder.
"I miss them, I miss them so much!" Karnak sobs.
Zaheer pats him on his back, "and you always will."
Karnak continued to cry for another hour before he eventually went to sleep. Zaheer allowed him to take the bed, suspecting he hasn't been on one since becoming an orphan. It took until the next morning before Karnak finally awoke. By then Zaheer had made breakfast which Karnak gratefully accepted. As he ate Zaheer decides to strike up a conversation.
"So how was your father like?"
Karnak raises an eyebrow.
"It has been my experience that when you lose a loved one, sometimes it's best to remind yourself of them so that you may honor them in life. So how was your father like?"
"… He was a good man. But stupid."
Zaheer's eyebrows furrow. "Stupid?"
"He told me… that if you work hard enough, then your dreams become true. But he worked hard and now… he's dead. He told me that you can always trust police officers to do the right thing and help you… but they didn't care and left me in that orphanage." Zaheer notices the amount of hate he added to the last word.
"My father was stupid to believe that. The world is cruel." Karnak finishes, a cold hardness in his eyes.
Zaheer rubs his chin in thought. "Your father, mistaken as he may be, was a honorable man. And smart, it is true that tenacity helps you to achieve your dreams but only if you apply it to the right place. But trusting this worlds systems and governments, is a mistake."
Karnak looks at him questioningly, "What do you mean?"
"These systems are like shackles that hold down the world and keep it off balance. It allows corruption to infect ever aspect of life until the lines between good and bad are nonexistent and things like justice and freedom are but a comforting lie. Told to everyday citizens through false promises and empty morals just to keep them in check." Zaheer explains.
"I don't have false morals." Karnak defends.
"Then answer me this, if your parents taught you that it is wrong to steal, why did you steal food or try to rob that man?"
Karnak looks away, "so I wouldn't starve." He admits.
"See? You only saw it as wrong when you had food and shelter. But when you found yourself with neither, you didn't see it as wrong, you saw it as survival. Its ok, don't burden yourself with unwarranted guilt. Anyone would do the same if they were in your shoes."
Karnak rubs his arm in an effort to console himself. "So what do you do then? If everything is some big lie?"
Zaheer smiles and stands up. "You free yourself, then you free the world."
"… And how do you do that?"
"Come with me and maybe, just maybe, I can get you the answers you're looking for." Zaheer offers his hand.
Karnak stares at it for a long time, weighing his options. Being honest, he had no other choice, it was either follow Zaheer and survive or, stay and die. He finally made his decision and grasped the hand.
They didn't have to travel too far; they found themselves at a monastery hidden at the top of the mountains not far from Omashu. Karnak recognized the mountains from stories he heard about Avatar Aang. The mountain contained the cave of two lovers. Too bad its entrances seemed to have caved in some time ago. Zaheer knocked on the large old doors in a sequence, 2 knocks, then 4, then 2 again. A second later the doors opened. Zaheer gestures for Karnak to follow him and what he saw amazed him. It was an open courtyard running with life, men and women dressed in a variety of clothes but each one in some way bearing a symbol of a lotus colored red. The training ground has quite a number of people doing all kinds of combat training from weapons to hand-to-hand. Older members were holding scrolls and books as they pass by in deep conversation about something Karnak is sure he'll never understand. He sees a female waterbender who is missing her arms, but in place of them are two streams of water that is allowing her to move and fight in ways Karnak would never dream of being possible. He witnessed another take a simple rock and turn it into lava and used it to take down all the targets presented to him. Karnak's wide eyes meet Zaheers.
"Karnak, Welcome to the Red lotus."