Trial and Error Pt 2
Toph pushed open the large doors of City Hall and walked purposefully down the aisle. People were chatting and milling around in the seating area, a few more filtering in behind her as she walked. She made her way to the head of the room where the council's large half-circle table and chairs resided, approaching the lone councilman in the center gathering his papers into a neat pile.
"Councilman Sokka." Toph said addressing him professionally as she bowed to which he returned the favor. "Are you ready for us, sir?"
"Yes, I'll retrieve the other council members." He said, and then turned out to the crowd. "If everyone would please take your seats, we will begin momentarily."
"Sokka," Toph whispered and took a step forward. "I'll never get used to calling you 'sir'." A small smile appeared on her face lightening the mood a little.
"No kidding, Chief." He joked sort of chuckling.
"Alright, well good luck." She said. "We've got him this time."
"I'll do the best I can." Sokka responded as he left for the conference room on the side of the building.
Toph returned to the lobby where Aang, the prosecution, Yakone in handcuffs, his lawyer, and her officers stood waiting. "They're ready for us now." She said simply and took her position in front of the accused to escort him inside. Aang moved to go inside, but his gaze lingered behind on Yakone who subsequently smiled in a subtly mischievous manner. He took a seat in the front directly behind the defense's desk, so in case anything went wrong he would be right there to act if needed. The councilmen and women filed out into the courthouse, everyone took their seats, and the trial commenced. There was no turning back now…
"I got you Tenzin!" Lin yelled as she ran over to the spot where her friend was hiding.
"Aw! How'd you find me so fast?" He said and stood up from behind a boulder and some green brush.
"I felt it! It was kinda blurry, but I felt your feet when I got closer."Lin said like it was no big deal.
"Well, that's not fair. How am I supposed to win if you can sense me through the ground?" He asked, giving her a look.
"Hey, it's exactly the same as you airbending yourself off the ground or hiding on top of a tree." She said, placing her hands on her hips.
"Alright, fair enough." He responded with a sigh. "Well, what do you want to do now?"
"Why? You don't want to lose again at hide and seek?" She joked with a smirk.
"Not really." He said, unenthused
"Fine…" Lin sighed, not pleased that she wouldn't be able to put him in his place again. "Come on." She said and started walking toward the main gate.
"Where are we going?"
"I want to explore the ledge path around the island."
"Lin! That's dangerous. We aren't allowed to—"
"Oh, quit being such a momma's boy, Tenzin. It'll be fun." She stated, gaining a moment of silence between them. Tenzin sighed as he thought about the situation.
"Alright… We can go. But on one condition." He said and paused. "I get to be the leader."
"No way!"
As the two of them made their way to the clearing in front of the temple arguing about whether or not Tenzin could lead the way, Katara rounded the corner and spotted them.
"Hey kids. What are you two up to?" Katara asked and started approaching them.
"Not a word, Tenzin." Lin said through the clenched teeth of her fake smile.
"Nothing." Tenzin said quickly and shifted his glance to Lin.
"Well, you are most certainly doing something." She said and then noticed the innocence of Lin's eyes knowing that whenever Lin tried to act innocent, she was definitely up to something.
"Well," Lin began. "We were going to go swimming, but its cold outside, so we can't really do that, so we decided to play with the sky bison instead."
"Yeah." Tenzin interjected and nodded along with her story.
"Well, okay, just be careful." Katara said, not buying this scheme of theirs. "Tenzin, you're in charge okay? Make sure to look after your friend. And make sure you're back in time for lunch."
Lin crossed her arms as Tenzin smirked deviously in her direction.
"Go on, now. Have fun."
"Thanks mom." Tenzin responded as Lin walked off in the direction they were previously traveling.
Tenzin ran to catch up and laughed as he reached her side.
"Mom says I'm the boss of you." He teased in a sing-song type of pattern.
"Can it, airhead. Just because you're the boss doesn't mean you can tell me what to do."
"Actually, that's exactly what it means." He snickered, but abruptly shut up when Lin punched him hard on the shoulder. They walked the rest of the way to the path in silence.
"Yakone has ruled Republic City's criminal empire for years, yet he has always managed to stay out of the law's reach until now. You will hear testimony from dozens of his victims and they will tell you Yakone has maintained his grip on the underworld by using an ability that has been illegal for decades—bloodbending." Jun, the prosecutor, said cryptically as she gave her opening statement. "This man is being charged with crimes against innocent citizens, exploitation, fraud, violence, and his utilization of bloodbending to control and torture his victims. Today, a few brave souls came forth to testify against this man and unveil exactly what he has put each of them through. We will begin with calling Xin to the stand."
Escorted inside by Chief Beifong, A rather scrawny old man with a twitch approached the stand. His expression captured contempt and hatred as he stared daggers at Yakone who seemed to have no interest at all.
"You may proceed." Councilman Sokka stated.
"Please state your name." Jun began.
"Xin." He said flatly, his voice gravely and disgruntled.
"Now tell us Xin, do you recognize this man?" She said, pointing to Yakone.
"Yes." He responded in the same tone.
"If you would be so kind, could you tell the court and the council what you wrote in your statement?"
"Gladly. — My family owns Xin and Sons Mechanic. We can fix anything. You name it, we fix it. — Anyway… It was—uh…Tuesday a few years ago. My oldest son, Han and I were conducting business as normal in Dragon Flats Borough at the site of what we didn't know at the time was one of the fronts for the Triads. We walked inside of the warehouse with our equipment, then the door closed behind us and the whole room was dark as night. A man—a firebender appeared in the corner, holding a flame in his hand. I yelled, I demanded to know what was going on, but he didn't say nothin'… I heard footsteps and a figure came out of a side door on the other side of the room away from us. "So…" He says, "You're son's got himself mixed up with gambling" He says… I—I told him we weren't involved in none of that and that we were clean with clean records! He said that my youngest owed some of his guys some money and that I needed to pay them back or else. I wouldn't cooperate, so's he started controlling me…"
"If you could tell the council what it felt like."
"It felt like my body was moving despite what my brain was sayin'. I couldn't control my limbs, I felt like I was struggling to breathe—"
"Alright, go on." Jun interrupted, seeing that talking about it was bothering him.
"Anyways, I told him to let us go; that he couldn't get me to cooperate even if he tortured me to death. That's when he let me go and began to torture my son. I got on my knees and begged, but he would not quit until I agreed to his terms. Han—he was never the same after that… He died last year…"
"We're so sorry to hear that. One more question for the court. Was it on or near the full moon the day that you speak of?
"No. It was 15 days away. I couldn't believe it myself."
"That is all your honors."
Everyone was shocked, including the council who wrote furiously on their papers.
"May I have the floor, your honors?" Yakone's lawyer asked and stood behind their desk.
"The floor is yours."
"Xin, is it?" He asked, stepping forward to the stand. "Could you tell the court what happened on the day of the fall equinox last year?
Fear spread across his face. "How did you know about that?" He whispered.
"Please tell us Xin, how you attempted to kill my client and his colleagues in the first degree."
"I—I don't know what—"
"So, you deny that you came to confront my client in his quarters—"
"Of course I deny—"
"And you ran into one of his employees who restricted you."
"No!"
"You grabbed a wrench and struck his head—"
"I went to have a conversation! Nobody was s'posed to get hurt!" Xin yelled and then realized what he had said. The whole room seemed to gasp.
"No more questions your honors." The lawyer smiled slyly then returned to his desk leaving everyone muttering in confusion.
"Silence! Everyone, please contain your comments. Chief Beifong, take the witness into custody where he will be submitted for further questioning." Sokka said then turned back to his papers. "Let's move on."
Aang shook his head; it was going to be a long day…
Each witness willing to confront Yakone went up to the stand one by one and gave their testimonies. Every bloodbending victim, no matter how much dirt the Lawyer could pull out on them, could constitute one fact; Yakone used bloodbending each time when the moon was not in its full phase. The only chance the prosecution had to actually convict Yakone, despite his well-known other crimes, was the overwhelming amount of evidence and testimonies that suggested that he was indeed the man who committed the heinous and deplorable acts he was being accused of.
After all of the witnesses finished and the interrogations were over, the defense stood for a final closing statement. Yakone stayed seated in the same fixed position with a dark smile that he had kept during the entire trial.
"The prosecution's entire case is built upon the make-believe notion that my client is able to bloodbend at will at any time on any day. I remind the council that bloodbending is an incredibly rare skill and it can only be performed during the full moon. Yet, the witnesses will claim that my client used bloodbending every other time except during the full moon. It would be a mockery of justice to convict a man of a crime that is impossible to commit." Yakone's lawyer said then made his way back to their desk. "The defense rests your honors."
"— and then, Bumi called her a 'crazy controlling beaver-monkey'." Tenzin said continuing with a story as the two of them scooted along a thin ledge on the side of the island, their backs sliding along the smooth rock, the two of them very high above the water and boulders below. Lin laughed a little, looking down before she shuffled sideways.
"So, Kya bent all the water out of the pond and froze him to the side of the temple. It was great! All she did was say 'that'll teach him' then she walked away."
"Ha! Bumi should know better by now."
"Yeah, I never even mess with her and I know not to mess with her."
They continued along the ridge, coming up on a rocky plateau jutting out from the mountainside with a large moon-shaped hole carved out of it by the sea. .
"Uh oh." Lin said and stopped moving. "The path is broken here."
"Oh well…" Tenzin said after a moment. "I guess it's about time to get back. I'm getting hungry anyway."
"No! We're not even half way!" She complained, and turned her head to the other side to look at him.
"We could probably jump to the rocks. It's not that far." She focused her attention again on the ridge.
"Huh. Far enough." He huffed. "Come on, Lin, let's just go back."
"No." She said sternly. "Maybe I can bend it out. You know, so we can get across."
Tenzin sighed with exasperation. She never listened to him unless she absolutely had to.
"I—I mean, I guess you can give it a shot. Just be careful."
Lin smiled and got into her horse stance, or, at least what she could manage with what little space she had.
"Okay," She muttered to herself. "Just breathe—and—" Lin moved her fist out and the stone shifted, but nothing happened in particular. "Urgh!" She grunted and stomped. "Why can't I do it?!—I'm trying again." She said and moved back into her stance a little too quickly her right foot landing too close to the edge. The little earthbender gasped as she lost her balance then screamed when she realized she was really going to fall. Tenzin reached out but if he leaned forward too much he would be falling too.
"Lin!" He yelled his heart pounding as he watched her slip off the ridge. He closed his eyes wishing that this was all a dream and that he could just wake up. When he opened them, reality still prevailed, but thankfully, she grabbed a vine on the edge and dangled off the side breathing heavily.
"Help!" She shouted and looked up at him, her eyes wide. Tenzin kneeled down and tried to pull her up, but it was no use; he was not strong enough to pick her up from that angle.
"Just hold on and don't look down!" He said, his face getting serious as he thought of a plan. He jumped, using the resistance of the air to his advantage, and flew down to a group of sharp rocks below, jumping on the tips like he had to do on the wooden posts when he played airball.
"Tenzin!" She said nervously and glanced down.
"Just hang on!" He yelled from below, hopping from rock to rock, needing to get into the right position.
"I—AH!—I can't hang on much longer!" She screamed as her sweaty hands tried desperately to cling on to the vine and the ledge. Tenzin looked up, finally finding the spot under her and off to the side a little, so that if he executed his plan correctly, they would land on the plateau.
Lin looked up at the vine as she heard a ripping sound, then all of a sudden it broke and she was falling and screaming. Tenzin sprung up into the air, using his feet to airbend enough beneath him to keep his momentum. He grabbed onto her with a thud in mid air and with one last push from his hand, bent enough wind behind them to propel their bodies over to the plateau. They both looked ahead, yelling as they neared the edge, hoping that they would clear it and land safely on top. All too soon, they hit the rocky surface, rolling and sliding until they finally became still, their lungs gasping for breath.
Tenzin was the first to get up. "Lin! Are you alright?!" He yelled and crawled over to Lin, who was lying on her side. He rolled her onto her back and exhaled. Her eyes were open wide, her chest heaved up and down, she had a few scrapes, but she was fine. He helped her sit up and they sat in silence for a minute then looked at eachother. Somehow, probably from coming down from the adrenaline and shock, the two of them stared at one another then burst out laughing.
"Wow!" Lin said through her laughter. "We almost DIED!"
"I know—why—why are we laughing?"
"I—don't—know!"
It took a few minutes to let it all out, but once their stomachs were aching, they collected themselves and looked over the side.
"Wow." Lin exhaled, still stifling a laugh. "I can't believe that just happened."
"Me neither." He said and sat back down.
"Well, I think that's enough excitement for one day. How about lunch? I'm starving." She said and stood then walked over toward the path.
"What? No, 'thanks for saving my life, Tenzin'?" He asked and followed her.
"Thanks for saving me, Tenzin." She said in a mocking tone, acting very unappreciative.
"You know, if you had just listened to me, I wouldn't have even had to save you."
"Would you just shut up so I can concentrate!?" Lin exclaimed and got into her horse stance once more, this time given the proper space. She moved her fits up then forward and a rock formation jutted out from the plateau creating a path to the ridge.
"We are not doing that again." Tenzin said and followed her back to the top of the island, rubbing the soon-to-be bruises all the way.
"We find Yakone guilty of all charges and sentence him to life in prison." Sokka announced, his loud voice filling the interior of the entire courthouse.
Yakone's lawyer crumpled up his papers and violently threw them in frustration. Aang watched from his seat behind their table, his face stern as everyone else began muttering to each other. He was not convinced this was over, not yet… Yakone stood slowly and lingered for a moment calmly, but then his eyes widened and a dark power filled his being. All of a sudden Sokka yelled as he lost control of his body and it distorted to a puppet-like position; Yakone was bloodbending him. The other four council members started going down as well, so Toph immediately came to their aid, bending one of her metal cables forward to restrain him, but was not quick enough. The cable went limp and fell to the floor as Toph also lost control of her functions; she couldn't think, couldn't focus; all she could perceive was the uncontrollable shaking of her body and the sound of people moaning in pain. Yakone had taken everyone in the courthouse under his grip, laughing maniacally with a glance behind him where Aang was frozen in his last position, his outstretched hand reaching for the man in front of him from some failed attempt to stop him.
Sokka managed to turn his head ever so slightly to look at Toph on the other side of the room, not unable to move, straining to breathe. Toph's internal intensity increased as her feet were lifted off the ground and her body was manipulated in the air; now not only was she clinging onto control, but she could not longer "see" anything. Yakone forced her body back to one of her officers who had a ring of keys on his belt; He made her grip the keys then hover forward to him where she unwillingly unlocked his handcuffs. The addition of his free hands enhanced his power greatly to the point where he was ready to make his escape. All at once, the intensity skyrocketed to the point where it was too much to bear—and then everything went black…
