New chapter incoming! Hope you've been enjoying Tekeh! Avatar is one of my favorite cartoons of all time and I'm really hoping to have been doing this series justice. Enjoy!

~0~0~0~

Ow. Damn, that hurts.

Sorry, yeah, ground was blowing up in my face; I'll get back to that.

I had just gone to grab Hei Jin's wrist and the pavement a few feet away erupted and sent the two of us flying over the lake.

I closed my eyes as I was expecting a swim and some gross wet socks but instead I continued to feel the air dance across my skin and through my hair.

Cracking the left one I estimated I was hovering about twenty feet or so above the lake and still jetting towards the opposite shore. I felt something tighten around my wrist and upon inspection found Hei Jin's fingers.

"C-could you stop moving? You're really heavy!" she grunted.

Oh. This is interesting. The girl I fell for is flying.

"Sorry…uh, you seem to have forgotten to mention the flying thing a moment ago," I noted.

She glared down at me. I'm going to assume it was because of the strain of keeping us both afloat and not for my poor timing. "Not flying! Just falling way slower than we should be!"

"That still doesn't make much sense."

"I'm an air-bender you moron!"

Dang. Those are rare.

Before I got to impress her with more linguistic flamboyance my feet touched the ground and we tumbled along the lakebed. Despite the anonymous attacker and completely embarrassing myself it was a decent first flight.

"Why is someone attacking us!?" she shouted, jumping to her feet.

I palmed the ground and a miniature pillar pulled me to my feet.

"I dunno! Last time it was coz' I beat a guy in the arena, maybe some crazed fan hunted me down? Or are you some sort of criminal and the police are after us?" I called back.

Gents, a word of advice, when you're trying to make a nice impression on a girl, don't ask her if she's a wanted criminal.

"What!? No! If I were a criminal why would I have saved you from a wet jog home!? I just moved to Ba Sing Se, I'm blaming whoever or whatever is attacking us on you!" she said, jabbing her index finger towards me.

I shook my head and brushed a lock of hair from my face. "Hey, look I'm sorry for the criminal thing, I'm weird around pretty girls, I guess, you're kind of the first one I've had an issue with, but I'm gonna go kick that thing's butt, you in our out?" I asked ever so suavely with a hand extended.

She looked like she was mulling over whether she should blast me into the lake or run away before nodding and grabbing my hand.

'Ignore the fact that she's holding your hand, Tekeh, we have a beating to give' I thought as I rocketed us across the lake.

~0~0~0~

Hei Jin slowed our fall as we approached our original spot on the other side of the lake where a rather plump figure awaited.

"How considerate of you to come back! I'd really appreciate it if the guy I'm supposed to take out would not run away from a fight!" he screamed.

I crossed my arms and raised a brow. Seriously? This was the guy that had launched me a few hundred yards?

He was a good head and a half shorter than Hei Jin who wasn't exactly tall to begin with. He had a swindler's mustache and his brow was thick. Speaking of thick, he was pretty tubby, I'm pretty sure he'd make a great beach ball. He wore a dark gray blazer along with black cargo pants and boots. Wanted to blend into the shadows I suppose. Around his head was a dark hood restricting his hair, though one curly lock broke free.

"Who said I'm running? You're the one that made the path explode."

He looked bewildered for a moment before shaking his head and stomping his feet. "Yeah! That's all part of the plan you see! I'm to assassinate the Avatar!" And with that, he shot a rock at my face.

I crossed my arms as it broke upon contact and sighed. I'd been Avatar for two hours and I already had creeps trying to kill me.

"Avatar?" Hei Jin said as she sent a gust of air his way, "I thought the Avatar cycle ended years ago?"

I chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, me too, but surprise! Now I'm the captain of a pro-bending team, and responsible for protecting the entire world!" I said with my arms wide, a fake smile plastered across my face.

Hei Jin leapt above another rock and landed gracefully, "That would have been nice to know."

I opened my mouth to respond and a high-pitched screech reminded me of what was happening.

"Don't ignore me, Avatar! Your reign over this world is over! My lord will have you killed and return this world to its original state before the time of the Avatar! He'll-"

Before he could finish Hei Jin shot him into the tree above, "Jeez he's annoying."

I really like this girl.

The plump man dropped from the tree with a groan. The top button of his blazer had popped off and a few more locks of dark hair had escaped the restraint of his hood.

"Grah!" he whined stomping his feet like a child once more. "I told the boss I needed backup!"

As Hei Jin and I watched the short man throw a temper tantrum a spotlight broke through the dark sky and plastered the ground as intense gusts of wind battered down on us.

"Freeze!" Oh great, metalbenders.

The three of us looked to the source of the spotlight and watched as metallic wires were dropped from either side of the zeppelin and multiple metal-benders began to slide down.

"Grah! My luck! This isn't the last you've seen of Rellil! No sir! Victory will be ours!" The now identified Rellil cried as he leapt in the air, flipped and broke through the ground, the hole sealing up behind him like some sort of mole.

So much for the arrest.

"The two of you are going to need to come with us."

Oh joy.

~0~0~0~

"For the last time, he attacked us and I don't know why! Can I go now? I just wanna go home and pass out on my bed."

I was in the middle of questioning by Ba Sing Se Police Chief Meng. Meng was a man of average height and build with dark brown eyes and light complexion. His hair was cut short, likely to prevent tangling with his metal wires and on his chest plate he bore the insignia of Ba Sing Se.

"Fine, but you're still due a fine for the property damage to the park, oh, and the mayor's office has sent for you first thing tomorrow morning," he replied.

Meng handed me a slip detailing the expenses I'd be forced to pay and sent me off with a wave to collect my things.

I picked up my wallet and pro-bending license from the counter and thumped down the stairs onto the still busy streets of Ba Sing Se. What a bummer of a day.

I stifled a yawn with the back of my hand and started heading with the flow of the traffic. For some reason as headlights rolled past I remembered a game I played with my mother back in school. I could hear her voice in my head.

Count the lights now, Tekeh. It's ten headlights to home.

Of course, it never was. But for some reason counting the headlights on our walk home would always cool my head after a frustrating day. What better time to reuse old destressing techniques than the day you find out you're the Avatar?

So, I began, "One…two…three…"

"Why are you counting car lights?"

I stopped and spun on my heels.

"Hei Jin? Why are you following me, I mean, you're welcome to stalk me but I'd like to know why?"

She sighed and leaned back on her feet. "Did you think I'd let you run off after an attempted assassination without an autograph?"

I chuckled and rubbed my neck, "Oh yeah, just so it's on the record, I was going to give you one."

She smirked and raised her brow, "Well, for the record, now I'm getting two, one from the pro-bending captain and another from the Avatar, just imagine how much cash I can make selling off the first signed material from Avatar Tekeh," she said with a sweeping gesture.

I smiled down at her and glanced over my shoulder where I was heading. "Listen, I've had, a difficult day and really just wanna head back to my crappy apartment and get some sleep…can I get a raincheck on that autograph?"

She danced on her toes around me with a slight breeze, "As it so happens, I'm heading this way too, how about we scrap the autographs all together and we talk pro-bending, I'm itching to see who you're considering for the team."

~0~0~0~

The moon had risen fully by the time we reached my apartment, and the neighbors had certainly had enough of pro-bending talk coming from the staircase for the night.

"Alright, alright, regardless of who you choose as your water-bending teammate (even though Goh is a total sledgehammer with ice) you should definitely get someone you trust enough to teach you."

I smiled at her and rested my elbows on my knees, "Well I'm going to need a fire-bending teacher first…ah, man…when did my life get so ridiculous?"

There was a pregnant moment of silence.

"Sometime this morning if what you've told me is true…that's just how life works, alright? You don't know why or when but it moves itself along and there's nothing you can do about it except work with what you have."

I looked into her gray eyes and instantly felt the tsunami of emotion rush forward. I really liked this girl. My cheeks heated to inhuman levels and I stood up and stretched.

"Thanks for the pointers, you're definitely a way bigger nerd than me, but I'm gonna have to call it a night." I began to make my way up the stairs when a burst of wind hit my left shoulder and spun me violently back towards the street.

Hei Jin had a hand on her hip and most gorgeous smile on her face, "I'll see you around, kay? I'm coming to every practice! I think Ba Sing Se's finally got a shot with you in charge!"

And with that, she jogged off into the night.

I entered my apartment building and clenched a fist over my rapid heart rate. Man, if she was going to be at every practice I'd really need to stop making eye contact with her. I didn't need to be blasted from the arena because I was caught up in the audience.

But that's an issue for another day.

~0~0~0~

The cavern was dark and damp. The only noise the constant dribble of fluid as it followed the path gravity had set for it. The eerie pattern was disrupted gradually by a small rumbling. Slowly it grew until with a drill-like twirl a short man burst from the floor and landed on stubby legs.

"Grah! Grah! Graaaaah!" the man roared, sending fluid flying as he stamped his feet. This man was Rellil, the mole-like earth-bender accused of assaulting two people in a park earlier that night.

"My lord…I have failed you, I should be punished! Punished for denying you the Avatar's blood. Leave me to rot in the sewers, my lord!" he groaned to the emptiness.

Pick yourself up…

The voice was nothing more than a whisper infecting the man's head.

"But my lord! I've wronged you! I do not deserve to be your servant!" Rellil cried.

Your task was to kill the Avatar…you have a lifetime to do so…now listen closely…I have a venture for you…

And once more the mole-man was lost to the bittersweet rasp of the voice. It had been in his dreams, his every waking moment for weeks. And he had finally understood.

He was a prophet. It was his duty to usher in a new age of spiritual blessings upon the world. So long as he obeyed his lord.

Now tell me…Rellil…can you do this for your lord…

He smiled, revealing his slightly pointed, slightly yellowed teeth.

And that was all the answer he needed to give.