The Blooded

by katamari3524

Sixteen years after the end of the series, in Ba Sing Se, two teens embark upon what seems like an ordinary rainy day. Very quickly, the two come to a town. Please review.

2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER II

"Hey Muzen, look over there. You see it right?"

On their second day of traveling, Yatzen had said those words to his sister, Muzen. The two were exhausted, finding that the quality of their sleep had been poor. Woken hourly by a slight paranoia of noises in the still of the night coupled with awakening with sunrise had made them both sleep deprived. And, at the same time, they both had never realized the true exhaustion of walking distances with a load.

"You mean by the fruit stand?" Muzen responded. Because of the slight rain of the area earlier, all manners of bugs had been out, and they had both discovered insects of a plethora of varieties. Although they had ample food, they had never even considered the water requirements that they would need. Both were badly dehydrated by that point, although neither of the two were aware of it.

"Yep, just look at the trouble he's in," Yatzen said looking at a child no older than twelve being grabbed by a rather large looking young man in an Earth Nation uniform while an angry street vendor looked on. Two days of walking had worn through their shoes and feet quickly. Both had blisters, although they had maintained their feet rather well for their experience level. Their feet ached by the end of the first day, so when the first glimpses of a town had appeared over the horizon, they had quickly made the decision to take a brief visit.

"I bet I can convince that cop and vendor to forget about the kid," Muzen said with a slight grin. The town was tiny. In reality, by far the busiest looking building was a tavern, and there were few stores to pick up supplies, with downright laughably small selections.

"This I got to see," Yatzen laughed out.

Within a second, of hearing his response, Muzen had dropped her backpack, and pulled her top down slightly, revealing her cleavage. She tightened her pants next, making her clothes show off her hips and buttocks. She wasn't an unattractive female, merely she had a sort of rural beauty. Compared to the carefully tailored and groomed beauty of the Ba Sing Se, she seemed out of place, as if a flower that grew upon the sides of the road was placed alongside the carefully grown flowers of a botanist. But, away from the walled-in city, she became more of the norm for attractive females.

She pulled out a mirror that she carried with her, and she looked at herself, carefully looking at her face and body. She smiled into the looking glass with an approving look, and tucked it back into her backpack.

Muzen walked toward the spectacle with the sort of confident stroll that most girls had when they were well aware of their assets, and were willing to show them off. Oddly, she had perfected the trick while mocking other girls, and had found a skill: instead of a parody, she had pulled off flawlessly copying their technique.

The shop vendor noticed her first. As she walked slightly toward a nearby general store, he watched her. Muzen could tell that he was observing her, but as she slightly glanced toward his stand, appearing as if she was a traveler merely looking around, she could see no lust for anything of hers but her money in his eyes.

Muzen was somewhat stubborn. In reality, it was more of seeing Yatzen smug face at her failure that propelled Muzen toward the vendor. She maintained her composure, continuing to confidently stride toward the vendor.

The vendor's words were typical of that time, talking about his produce being the freshest and the best value. Muzen did continue her act. She appeared to retain her innocence, appearing to be hung upon each and every one of his words.

She leaned over toward the food, clearly and somewhat blatantly showing her intentions and cleavage. And, she carefully eyed over her food, looking over his goods. It was likely grown from one of the farms that they had passed on their walk there. Unfortunately, all the vegetables were rather poor looking; evidently the parched summer had taken its toll.

Still, she looked up, and forcing a slight blush and a smile, she decided to use her words.

"It's too bad. I wish this summer had been a bit wetter. Is there any way you have any healthier vegetables?"

For a second, the shop vendor merely seemed to stare toward her, yet neither lust nor desire nor longing seem to be in his eyes. Only a slightly unimpressed look crossed across his face as he began to speak. He hushed his voice, partially trying to make sure that only she could hear him.

"Listen kid, you're trying pretty hard, I can tell that, but it won't work. My wife is flaming hot."

"Oh," Muzen said as she stood up, feeling and sounding defeated. As she turned around to return from her failed attempt, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy, still waiting, glaring at the policeman who held him by the wrist so he could not escape. Yet, the policeman appeared to be staring at her.

Although he was trying to hide it, the policeman was staring at her with lustful eyes. Her attempts had merely been directed toward the wrong person; that was all.

She looked toward him, with the all too common curious look.

"What do we have here? Was this child misbehaving?"

"Yes miss, caught him stealing from this stand," the policeman said. His accent was terrible. He truly had no formal education, Muzen was almost sure of that. Still through her own lack of interest in the man, she forced herself to go on.

"Really? What a naughty child. But, I've been naughty myself," Muzen said. She had messed up. In Ba Sing Se, in the worse parts, she had heard prostitutes say those kinds of things, or at least she thought they were prostitutes. Sounding like a prostitute in front of a policeman was a good way to get herself thrown in jail or worse.

Still, the policeman appeared to have never been subjected to the darker realities of the city. That was in Muzen's favor.

"Oh come now, what could a little innocent flower like you have done, miss?" the policeman asked. "Whatever it is, I bet it's not that serious."

"Well, I, well," Muzen stuttered out, looking down in an attempt to simultaneously emote guilt and try to think her way out of her situation. "I tricked my little brother into stealing."

For a second, there was silence. Muzen had grown bold in her lying, so bold that she had dared to tell a lie that was painfully obvious. A mere half-minute earlier, she had acted as if the boy was a complete stranger. So, she kept her head down, waiting for the policeman to call her out.

"Oh, so this is your little brother?" the policeman asked, "Now I see the resemblance." Muzen had no idea what the policeman was talking about. She and the boy looked completely different. He had different skin tones than hers, their faces looked completely different, and quite frankly between the two of them, the only common factor was they were both dirt poor.

"Sorry. I didn't think my brother was that gullible. Please, it's all my fault. Could you possibly just keep this our little secret?"

"Well…" The policeman said to himself. He was fighting amongst himself. His uniform called one way, but something else pulled him away. Muzen was sure that he was attracted to her; he had looked upon her with eyes of yearning and the way he spoke to her, as if he were being a bit too polite for normal circumstances.

"Your brother didn't really do anything that wrong. I suppose I could let him off with a warning. Miss?"

"Muzen. And, thank you." She smiled, attempting to appear to be the simple small town girl.

"My name's Tetung by the way. Pleasure to meet you. Maybe when I'm off duty I could buy you a drink some time."

"I'd like that." Muzen said. She watched as the young man let go of the boy's wrist and he looked back at him with a glare before walking toward Muzen.

"Come on sis. Mom and dad have dinner waiting," the boy said before grabbing Muzen's hand and pulling her away from the man.

"That's a lovely necklace by the way," Muzen heard Tetung say as she turned to walk away. She turned slightly to see him once more, and she gave a slight smile in appreciation of his compliment.

As she turned to look toward Yatzen, she could see him smiling laughing slightly even. She had succeeded, but Yatzen wasn't laughing in surprise. He realized the truth. She was slightly attracted to the policeman herself. Although, she wasn't sure herself, Yatzen could tell that Muzen was faintly enticed by him. Still, he didn't have too much time to truly react to the situation. Tetung was watching Muzen, seemingly reveling in the dream of her attention. Seeing her walk toward another male her age would be troublesome at best.

Yatzen grabbed Muzen's bag, and, without even glancing toward her, he turned and walked down the nearest street, appearing to be merely called to other affairs.

Muzen and the boy walked down the same street a few seconds afterword. They acted naturally well together, almost seemingly complementing one-another, although it was impossible to see why. They just seemed like they were natural family. When Yatzen first saw the two as they walked down the street he had hidden in, he swore that his sister had found some long lost family member that looked completely different. Still, as he began to speak, the two ceased holding hands, and they began to once more seem like complete strangers.

"Color me impressed," Yatzen said. "You actually managed to pull it off."

"Well, what do you expect from the master?" Muzen responded, grinning as if she was a sort of queen. "I bet I could have gotten that cop to apologize."

"Yeah, sure," Yatzen said. "Just offer a touch rather than a look. You'd go pretty far."

Muzen, at that moment, seemed to blush and be flustered by her brother's words. Although unafraid of showing off to suit her means, a whore she was not. For a moment, she had tried to come up with any sort of witty response, but nothing had come to mind. So she merely continued blushing and glaring until a completely foreign voice entered her ears.

"You two aren't from around here are you?"

In a second, both Muzen and Yatzen both knew who had said it. It was a younger child's voice. And, although he had seemed to have left their world, both Muzen and Yatzen turned their heads to see the same young boy that Muzen had claimed to be the older sister of mere minutes before.

"Was it our backpacks or the fact that nobody knows us in a shit-small town give us away?" Yatzen said. He spoke in pure monotones and with a look of superiority on his face. But, the child's reaction was odd. Instead of appearing annoyed or defeated, he smiled.

"No," the child responded, his smile growing larger, "It's because sis agreed to go out on a date with the biggest man-whore in three towns."

Silence took to the three as Muzen began to regret her decision. And at the same time, the child began laughing slightly to himself.

"My name's Kai by the way," the boy stated, "Thanks for helping me out back there. Mom and dad would have hemorrhaged if that guy brought me back home."

"Name's Muzen. And, I'm just that kind of person. I give and give some more. Back home I even was known as the giver."

"Yeah," young Kai said, smiling and giggling to himself slightly, "Bullshit."

Muzen seemed to be visibly annoyed by the surprisingly age-defying response of the mere child. But, after what had been a mere second of annoyance, she folded her arms and leaned toward the child.

"Aren't we a bit young to be swearing?" Muzen asked with a slightly vindictive grin. "Or maybe we really need to rethink how our life's going, as in, oh say, not stealing."

"Hey, it's not my fault; I got dared to do it."

For a moment, Yatzen looked on and chucked to himself. It was ironic. Some five of six years earlier, he had given his mother the same excuse for nearly the same situation. And, he looked toward the young boy.

"Kid, take this as a bit of advice: don't take dares. They only end up with you going on dates with fat chicks, licking half moldy foods, and, or, sticking your hands down other men's pants in the winter for no reason whatsoever." Yatzen said, simultaneously seeming regretful and nostalgic, "And, you know, after that you're just the dare moron."

For a second, Kai seemed to be in awe of Yatzen's words. Even Muzen seemed to be impressed. Yatzen had seldom appeared intelligent in any way. He had always seemed like an idiot who wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. Yet, for a single second, right as he had started speaking, he truly seemed to be a wise older brother.

"Wow," Kai responded, his voice full of reverence, "You stuck your hands in another guys pants."

In that moment, Yatzen seemed to wish to slam his head through a wall while Muzen broke out laughing.

"Yep, and old Yatzen here, he really impressed everybody, he went wrist deep with both hands. It was truly impressive. The poor guy nearly jumped out of his body after Yatzen's icy hands went right up against his"

"Muzen! Virgin ears! "Yatzen snapped out. "We don't need to taint his mind."

"What? I was going to say leg," Muzen said while clearly feigning innocence.

"Hey," the kid said, smiling wider than he usually had. "You don't have to edit for me, I know you were going to say balls. I even bet he squeezed too, just to make the dare more entertaining."

And with that simple statement, both Muzen and Yatzen looked toward the small boy. And, they both looked on at a boy, raised in such a rural town, yet completely devoid of the simplicity of the rural world.

"So, where are you two planning to sleep tonight?" Young Kai asked. "Because, as a bit of advice, the one place with beds around here doesn't bother to ever wash their sheets. And, believe me there are more than a few stories of people's hands sticking to the beds."

"How the hell do you…?" Muzen asked, her words trailing off.

"My dad talks about that kind of stuff all the time. And, you two are obviously flat out exhausted. I can tell by the way you two stand when you're not inviting a man-whore into your pants."

"So kid, just what do you propose we do?" Yatzen asked as if he was negotiating while a knife was pointed at his throat.

"Honestly, my parents love visitors." Kai said. "I bet they would be more than happy to put you up for the night."

For a second, Yatzen seemed to look on as if the child was attempting to sell something. His face and voice seemed to be completely honest in his statements. At the same time though, Kai has managed to appear to be an innocent rural boy while being more warped than most city children.

"I'd love to," Muzen said. A free bed and a meal sold the idea to Muzen. Although, Yatzen had failed to realize it, they really were getting more and more destitute by the day. Before, the two were poor, and in reality, their pitiful savings were rapidly depleting themselves. Although they hadn't realized it, traveling was expensive. Food, water, shoes, medicine, and clothing: it all cost more and more. And, any way to keep their little money for longer or somehow make more of it was of incredible importance.

So, Muzen grabbed her bag and walked toward the young boy. But, Yatzen hesitated.

"Coming?" Muzen asked as she looked back toward her brother. She seemed to be oddly curious, as if her brother's actions defied logic.

"My parents aren't cannibals if that's what you're thinking," Kai said as he looked toward Yatzen. "They just love having company, and nobody ever comes around this area."

The two sets of eyes stared toward the young man, simultaneously pleading and forcing him to submit to their will, to conform to their norm. There was no escape, no way to deal with their gazes. Leaving was out of the question for him. Even if he had, the guilt of abandoning the two would bring him back to the two. If he turned his head, they were still there, still staring, still waiting for his response.

"I guess I have no choice," he said, shaking his head and grabbing his backpack. "Where do you live?"

"Well, it's a bit of a walk," Kai said, smiling as Yatzen and Muzen both looked at him in a way that seemed to cuss at him for more walking. "But, it's not too far. And, that man-whore doesn't ever go out that way, so sis here might be able to skip out on her hot date."

For a second, Muzen seemed to look pleased at the statement while Yatzen slightly laughed.

"Just follow me."

"So there we were," Muzen heard partway through the meal. "Me as a corporal, Private Xiang, and Private Hu."

Neither she nor her brother were particularly interested by Kai's father's ramblings. But, to make sure that they didn't seem ungrateful, the two felt they were obliged to listen to the stories that the old man told over the dinner table.

"Now we had never seen any sort of fighting in our entire stay in that town. People merely didn't seem to be aggressive there. Now, we had gone out of our way to make sure we were friendly with all of them, and that may have helped a bit. But, people in that town seemed to merely continue life as usual."

The family was oddly quaint, almost dreamlike despite their oddities. Perhaps it was just the corruption of city life, but Muzen and Yatzen had found the overly open style of Kai's parents to be almost disturbing. They had nearly welcomed the two into their home with next to no questions asked.

"Now we were all off duty that evening. We were even wearing their clothing. The briefings had told us to or else we might attract unwanted aggression."

For a few minutes after initially arriving, Muzen and Yatzen had even had creeping thoughts that, despite Kai's assurances, they were walking into a family of cannibals. That feeling had subsided, but there was something slightly odd about the parents.

"But while we were in the tavern, we had gotten a lot of attention. Every single person seemed to glance over at the three of us all the time. Now we had tried our best to be the perfect guests possible. Remember how large of a tip we had given, honey?"

"Oh my yes darling, it was nearly a fifty percent."

It wasn't something that was bad in any particularly large way. But, Muzen and Yatzen had realized after a single moment. They just didn't understand it, either.

"Now, we had decided to leave before we were too tipsy, or else we may have lost a good portion of our control. But, after we left, those three came running after us."

They had their wariness after realizing it. But, after a few minutes of seeing how he was treated by his family and how realistically he had acted, they were pretty sure he didn't have any negative intentions.

"Now I don't remember how exactly the fight began. In hindsight we may have been a bit tipsier than we believed, but I don't remember blacking out that badly. But, man, in that fight, we got the living shit beaten out of us. Xiang and Hu nearly cried for their mamas after that thrashing. And, wouldn't you know it, those two ran like hell. But, I was always a bit better in a fight than those two, and I refused run. Now in hindsight, that may have been because of the rather large blisters I had on my feet from those damned boots I had to wear."

"Honey, do try to keep from swearing so much," S's mother had stated. "Kai is right here."

"Oh, my apologies. Now, I remember that I wasn't going to use Firebending. But, somehow I had managed to get two to run away. Or, maybe I had managed to knock one out. I really can't remember."

The father was a Firebender. That was the thing that had confused Muzen and Yatzen. That was the only large thing. He even kept a full suit of armor standing aside their mantle proudly displaying his heritage.

"Now, I remember that I had managed to take one big hit to the noggin while in that fight, but I remember that I retained some level of lucidity."

From what they had been taught in schools, all the Fire Nation troops had left the Earth Kingdom after some kind of formal treaty had been written up. Yet, sitting across from them was a veritable former Fire Nation soldier.

"And, right when the fight was getting good, there came a pretty young waitress. Now, mama had taught me right, so I immediately stopped fighting. It just ain't right to fight in front of ladies. And, she came right up to the two of us, because I think at that point we were grappling. And I remember that she grabbed the other guy and proceeded to slap and cuss at him. And, then I swear to it that she threw that guy across the street."

"Now honey, I didn't manage to do all that."

"And, when she came up to me, she slapped me right across the cheek and proceeded to give me back my bag of money." Kai's father blushed slightly as the mother chuckled to herself slightly. "It turned out, I had left it back at the tavern, and she had asked those three to return it to me.

"She straight up slapped the drunk out of me. And, in that moment, I fell head over heels in love for her. Isn't love just knowing that your wife can both watch your money and throw other men? So, I went back to that bar every single off moment I had. And, when we got the orders to leave there, I just couldn't. On that day, I proposed to this woman. It's been a dream ever since."

"Um, wow," Muzen responded, "That's really amazing sir."

"Yep," Kai's father said, "All you have to do is find someone you really love and you'll never have an unhappy day in your life. But, you and your husband seem to know that pretty well already."

"Hus-band?" Muzen said, seeming feeling the word as it gave her creepy feelings. By no sense was Muzen afraid of marriage. But, she had a very eerie feeling that Kai's father had greatly misjudged her relationship with Yatzen.

She watched as Kai's father looked toward Yatzen, and then back toward her. The two slightly looked alike, but at the same time so did a good portion of couples. He looked toward Yatzen once more.

"You two aren't married? Then when's the marriage date? Or is it one of those types of steady relationships, where you don't believe in weddings?"

"She's my sister," Muzen heard. Yatzen had said it almost automatically, as if he wasn't going to waste time being surprised. He even sounded somewhat offended by the mere thought of being married to her. In reality, Muzen had felt the same way, although she had felt more shocked by the father's reaction.

"Older or younger?"

"Twin sister."

"But, you two don't…"

"Fraternal twin sister."

"So is she in any sort of…"

"No."

"Then she's single?"

Yatzen smiled slightly in a saucy way.

"Sicko."

The father laughed at his response.

"I should introduce her to Tetung then," the father said. "I hear he's single."

Muzen blinked as the father said those words. A moment of fear had come over her. In reality, ever since Kai had told her about the truth about Tetung, she had wanted to avoid him until she and Yatzen left that town. But, the father had established himself to be a major hindrance in her plan with his single statement.

Kai couldn't even help but chuckle to himself.

"Have you met him yet?" The father asked her as he looked toward her, "He's a policeman around here."

"Why yes. Actually I met him right before meeting your son," Muzen said. If nothing else, Muzen's words immediately wiped any sense of humor off of Kai's face in an instant. Within a breath, both of his parents' eyes were immediately looking toward him, giving glares of death.

"What did you do this time, Kai?" his mother immediately asked.

"I didn't do anything," Kai responded, clearly on the defense, "That guy just hates me."

"He hates you because you always break the law," Kai's mother stated with a matter of fact tone.

"No!" Kai responded as his voice clearly showed anger.

"Well then Kai, why does he hate you?" his father said, looking slightly out of the corner of his eye toward his son. The look on his father's face told his feelings clearly. Kai was being an eyesore in front of his guests, and that Kai would pay for his actions later.

Kai grew silent after that, and his father and mother returned to playing the roles of the happy rural family with happy rural values. Though Yatzen and Muzen were never fully convinced afterword, they played along with the two's acts, biting their tongues at any smart remarks about the father and mother's obvious attempts to show off.

"Kai, why don't you show these two to the guest house."

Those words were the next time that Kai's parents even took notice of him. They were gearing up for a nightmarish punishment toward him. That both Muzen and Yatzen could sense.

Yet, he fully obeyed his mother. Without a word, Kai led the two to a somewhat dinky looking structure next to the farmhouse.

He kept his head down, and despite all his friendliness toward the two, he seemed oddly detached from himself, as if a sort of great tragedy was about to befall him.

Before reaching the door, Muzen stopped him.

"Kai, listen, I'm sorry. I… I didn't…"

And, for the first time since his father's words, Kai spoke. Although it was barely a shadow of his previous voice, he finally had said something.

"It's not your fault. My parents just won't ever understand. Tetung just hates me."

For a second, Yatzen seems to look toward the young boy with confusion.

"Why is that?"

Kai merely looked away, appearing to be hiding something, a truth, from the two.

"It's a secret isn't it?" Muzen asked. And, Kai looked toward her. "My brother and I have a bit of a secret too. If I tell you ours, will you tell us yours?"

"Stop it," Kai said at a volume barely above a whisper. "You two don't have any secrets that are anywhere near as large as mine. You're just trying to make me feel better."

After what had seemed like a moment of staring toward the boy, plotting any way to find a way into his head, an idea donned on her. Muzen looked toward Yatzen with a look that seemed to ask permission for something. And, after a moment of internal debate, Yatzen nodded.

Muzen grabbed the boy's head and put her mouth up against his ear. Within a moment, his eyes bugged open, as he looked toward Muzen. But, as quickly as she grabbed the boy's attention, she let go and stood up.

"C… could you show me?"

"No, were not very good, yet." Muzen responded, smiling as if she knew all. "We haven't known for too long. That's why we're traveling. There isn't enough water around here."

For a mere moment, a slight smile forced itself onto Kai's face. But, as Kai shook his head, it disappeared before a look of anger. He looked down, appearing to be spiteful about the very idea.

"The reason Tetung hates me, it's because I can Firebend."

"So, he hates you because you take after your father?" Yatzen responded with an unsure tone. Kai had treated his words like he was telling a big secret, but it wasn't all that impressive to Yatzen. In comparison to the secret he had let Muzen spill, Kai's revelation had seemed to be a total waste of time.

"Nope," Kai said, smiling somewhat. "He hates me because I'm special like him. He wants to be the only one." Yatzen's look at the kid, as if he was talking a different language, immediately convinced Kai to explain.

"What I mean is, both Tetung and I are so special that we aren't just Firebenders. We're Earthbeders too."

For a second Yatzen smiled. He had gotten a good secret out of the boy, one that had truly surprised him. He and his sister weren't alone.

"Why, don't you tell your parents? I bet they'd"

"I'm a freak to them," Kai said smiling as if the mere word meant nothing to him, "But, I"

"HURRY UP KAI!"

Within an instant, the three nearly shook in fear. It didn't sound like a person was calling for Kai. Instead, it seemed like a monster was roaring from the cave of his house, demanding Kai as the main course.

"Shit," Muzen whispered as Kai seemed to look back toward his home.

"The guest house is right over there, okay?" Kai said, clearly trying to hurry through everything. "It's not too big, but there are two full beds in okay condition. And…" He paused for a second, seemingly preparing to say something important. "I…"

The boy seemed to try to say something, as if he wanted to tell them that he would be okay. But, he had stopped after the first word, seemingly groping for any words. After a shake his head, almost appearing to remind himself of his parents growing annoyance, Kai turned and ran back toward his home, toward his awaiting parents, and toward a sure beating. He had tried to put on a strong face, but he was clearly bluffing. Muzen and Yatzen could see it; he was searching for a way to escape, searching for a way, any way, to just run away from his parents. But, he opened the front door the farmhouse, and walked in.

"Hey Yatzen," Muzen said. She sounded like she had seen a horror, as if she had just watched someone die, and was attempting to force herself to speak.

"Yeah Muzen?" Yatzen asked. He tried to seem compassionate, even though he wasn't entirely sure why his sister had acted the way she had. He only knew not to upset her more.

"Do," Muzen stopped momentarily, appearing to need to swallow something. "You think there's anything to do around here?" Her speech was slow, as if she had to fight to get each and every word out of her mouth.

"There's the tavern. So, sorry, unless you"

"Good," Muzen immediately stated. "I need something to drink, something hard."

At that point Yatzen finally realized why Muzen was acting so strangely.

His mother had never laid a hand on him. For some reason, she had never even touched him when he had been naughty. Even when he had come home escorted by two policemen, his mother had merely turned away, as if his actions had caused her pain. Eventually, when he was a bit older, he began to understand it. His mother had said he looked like his father. That simple statement had explained a lot to him. Perhaps it was fear, perhaps it was love, perhaps it was something else that had caused her pacifism. But, as far as he could understand, she viewed hitting him as hitting his father. So, she had never dared to do it.

But, the exact opposite was true for his sister. If his mother did indeed see his father in him, she saw herself in Muzen, and his mother hated herself. His mother had beaten Muzen for any reason whatsoever, even for no reason. Some days, she'd make one up; some days, she'd find a mistake. His sister had even been beaten for his mistakes on more than one occasion. And, his mother was very skilled at talking like the worst of women did. She could lie, twist views, and make his little sister seem like she was the cause of everything wrong in the world. Most parents seemed to understand when to stop, but it seemed like his mother kept hitting her for hours. Some days, Muzen would merely seem to will her body to her bed, only to fall into it, without saying a word. Merely, her eyes seemed to have a sort of emptiness inside of them, as if nothing human was left inside. And, she cried.

So, Yatzen had a pretty good idea of Muzen's angle. She had thought about Kai's beatings. And, when she did, she had remembered all of her old memories that she had tried to merely box up in that old home. That was Yatzen's theory about her actions. She wanted to drink, drink so hard that she couldn't even remember her first name, much less anything about Kai.

It wasn't the first time the two had walked into a tavern either. They had done it before, at one point even gotten so drunk that they hadn't been able to remember their own address and had slept on the street. So, as they entered the tavern, they didn't seem like two teens trying to sneak in to be the first of their friends to drink like all the older teens do. They seemed to be two young adults, trying to get a drink after a long day.

Muzen's eyes scanned across the tavern, making sure that there wasn't anyone watching them. As far as she could tell, it was all half-drunk farmers, drinking so they could forget the trouble of the worst drought in half a century. Nobody seemed to be watching her or her brother, until she locked eyes with someone. In that single moment, she nearly fainted.

Staring back at her was Tetung. He was out of uniform, evidently off duty, sitting at a table right next to the door and right next to where she was standing, and well on his way to being completely drunk. And, without a glance even Yatzen could tell that he wanted his sister.

"Hey, Muzen! Come over, relax, I don't bite," he immediately said. His speech wasn't terribly slurred, and he didn't smell outrageously badly of alcohol. Tetung had barely taken notice of Yatzen either. He merely seemed to be acting friendly, like a boy prying for a girl's attention instead of a man wanting another trophy on his list.

"I'll be over there," Yatzen said quietly and discretely before walking toward the counter. He wanted to be seen as a complete stranger to his sister, that way Tetung wouldn't make the same assumption of Kai's father, and make more trouble for his sister.

So, Muzen sat down next to Tetung, still scanning around the bar for anyone even glancing toward her.

"Muzen calm down," Tetung said. "You seem a bit stressed out. What happened?"

"It's," Muzen said, taking a breath, "just been a long day."

"Ah, I know what you need," Tetung said, sounding as if he understood everything about Muzen. For a second she looked toward him, fearfully wondering if he had implied something sexual.

"Waitress? We need another round!" Tetung yelled out. For a second he paused, appearing to rethink his order. "No, make that five or six more rounds!"

Yatzen had heard the order; the entire bar had heard it. But, instead of being annoyed he laughed. Free alcohol was free alcohol, so Muzen would merely have to watch out for herself, and be careful.

Unfortunately, nothing free was going to come his way. So, he sat down at the bar and tried to think about what drink and how much of it he could afford. And, as he attempted reconsidering the value of personal finance classes, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation of two men to the right of him.

Both were at the dangerous middle ground between having drunk a bit and being nearly completely drunk. They were older men, child raising age men, and apparently farmers. Yet, Yatzen had noticed something far different. They too were Firebenders. He was sure of it. They looked just like Kai's father. The way they pronounced each word seemed eerily similar to Kai's father's way as well. He just wasn't sure about what the two were talking about as he sat down.

"Naw man, it's awesome. Just think about it. It would be brilliant. I'd get any chick I want any time, just 'cause of it."

"No way. It'll never work."
"I'm telling you, you add one and all of the sudden, you'd become the most awesome guy anywhere you go, 'cept maybe a pirate convention."

"Fine, let's ask this guy."

For a moment Yatzen's eyes bugged open as he realized that he was the "this guy". He hadn't wanted to get involved in the affairs of that town too much, especially the alcohol consumers. By experience, drunken people always had spelled trouble for Yatzen.

"Hey buddy, wouldn't it be awesome to have a stuffed Reptile Bird on your shoulder?"

"Stuffed?" Yatzen repeated, somewhat wondering if the drunks were real and he was not in a particularly weird dream.

"Yeah, stuffed. If you had a Reptile Bird on your shoulder, after a while that damned thing would keep squalking and squalking. I'd probably kill any live one, but with a stuffed one on my shoulder, well. Well… All the ladies would think I'm one of those world traveling types, the real suave kinds, without all the noise and pooping."

"I knew a guy for a little while," Yatzen said, "Back in Ba Sing Se, tried the nearly same thing. Guy ended up finding out really quickly that those bearded cats do indeed go into heat, that and that cat sex with a stuffed one and a live one is still not entertaining shitfaced drunk." He tried to seem relatively quiet, as if he were himself: a normal traveler stopping in for a drink.

"I told you it wouldn't work," the further of the two stated. His drunken slur was nearly atrocious by that point, yet it barely phased Yatzen.

"Man, birds would be doing it right next to my… bird-reptile-thing on bird-reptile-thing action on my shoulder…"

The man seemed to look almost mortified before looking into his drink and within a second, slamming it back.

And, after a few moments for the cheap stuff to pass his throat, he looked toward Yatzen with a puzzled look.

"You're from Ba Sing Se, eh? Then you must be staying in one of the rooms upstairs. I got some advice for you. There's a whore around here somewhere, and supposedly if you"

"I'm… I'm staying with a family around here," Yatzen immediately blurted out.

"Oh, which one?"

"Uh, it's one of the farmers a bit away from here. I'm working for them as payment for lodging." Kai stated. "I think their son's named Kai."

"Oh, you mean Zhou. Hey Xiang, remember that time we gave that bitch waitress his money-bag so she could buy better makeup."

"Do I," the other Firebender said as he laughed and took another drink, "Bitch sent three thugs to beat the shit out of us. And, Zhou thought he could take them."

Yatzen watched as the two broke into hysterics all the while drinking. After a second, he finally broke down and pulled out enough for the cheapest drink available and slid it forth, the bartender nodding in acknowledgement and comprehension.

"I see his son around the shop all the time," the farther of the two Firebenders said. "He acts just like Zhou back in the day."

"And one day, he'll be just like the asshole: alcoholic, psychopathic as fuck, wife beating, and dumb as hell," the nearer of the two F's said smiling as if everything he had said was a great honor.

Yatzen grabbed his liquor after a second and took a drink. A drink would make everything make sense. That was what Yatzen had thought. The other two kept drinking as if they were toasting a horrid future for an unfortunate boy. But, before he could even finish his drink though, a noise entered his ear.

It was the sound of a slap across the face, and although the noise cane behind Yatzen and therefore out of his sight range, Yatzen knew that it had come from Muzen and Tetung's table.

He wasn't the only one who had heard it. It seemed like half the tavern had heard it, and was turning with him, wanting to see who had slapped who. Muzen had. He could see the hand imprint across Tetung's face, and although he wasn't entirely sure why, he could venture a fairly educated guess.

His eyes scanned across their table first. The two had been busy. From what Yatzen could tell, the two had already finished all the drinks that Tetung had ordered, but he was nearly sure that Muzen was still nowhere near drunk. The girl had always held an astounding alcohol tolerance, out-drinking grown men on occasion.

Muzen was standing at that point, and Tetung seemed to be utterly dumbfounded by Muzen's reaction. He seemed to be caught off guard, surprised and hopelessly grasping at anything to say to recover. Muzen wouldn't let him, though. Before, even a single second thought, though, she stormed out, seemingly enraged by whatever had transpired.

Yatzen hesitated exiting that tavern. Leaving right after her may have been troublesome. That was what he had thought. Muzen would understand. So, he took his time finishing his drink, took his time feeling his teeth seem to crack with the sheer cheapness of the stuff he had purchased as it burned down his throat, and left as quietly as he had entered. Tetung was still there, drinking again, and from what he could see, making advance after advance toward a poor waitress.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Tetung's hand began moving toward the waitress, waiting for the perfect time for a feel. As he turned away, Yatzen could hear a shriek by the waitress as the hand made contact. And, while slightly smiling, he left.

"Took you long enough," Yatzen heard Muzen say as walked out the door. The way she held herself told him everything. Whatever had happened to his sister in the bar had largely made her forget about what had driven her to drink in the first place. The way she stood, it told him that his sister was more annoyed and angered than anything else. But, all her bad memories had largely been forgotten for the time being.

"Got held up by two drunks' conversation," Yatzen lied. "What happened? Did your little date not go as expected?"

"Ass," Muzen said as she shot a glare toward him. "I'm not a whore. I'm not. But… But, every single man seems to think that they can get a free ride out of me. Is it impossible to find someone to have a non sex-based relationship?"

"He touched?" Yatzen immediately said. And, for a second, Muzen seemed visibly annoyed at Yatzen's quick reaction.

"Yeah yeah, he touched," she said, blushing slightly. "Evidently, the tavern's out of the options now."

"Yeah, well we might as well head back anyway," Yatzen said to a sister who seemed to be utterly dreading returning. "No parents would still be beating their children. It's been too long. They'd have to be crazy to be still beating him."

"Yeah," Muzen responded, trying to forget about all of her previous nightmares that replayed themselves over and over again. "I hope so."

Their walk back to Kai's family's farm was oddly silent. Muzen's attempts to drink herself into a stupor where she would not remember anything had for the most part failed. She was furious about it: furious, depressed, and feeling like she needed another drink. Her brother had been able to pick up on her state, so he hadn't really hadn't wanted to start up any sort of conversation. Merely, he had walked their entire way to Kai's house attempting to think of any way to cheer up his sister. But, as far as he could see, the only way that Muzen would be pleased was if she could personally beat the living daylights out of Kai's parents. For a moment, as the two had reached the Kai's old house, Yatzen almost thought about doing it himself.

The house itself, was eerily quiet. The night in the countryside seemed so still compared to the city, to an extent that the two had never heard any silence of the sort except when being passed by funerals. As they looked toward the house their odd feeling grew. All the lamps were still lit and burning, so evidently his parents were still up.

"Hey Muzen, didn't they have that big old jug of water in their kitchen?" Yatzen immediately asked.

"Yatzen…" his sister responded with rising apprehension. She had seen through his attempt to hide his desires, and she nearly couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What? Yatzen asked, feigning innocence. "I'm thirsty, and well water doesn't really seem all that healthy."

"Damnit Yatzen!" Muzen said as her brother walked toward their door. "That water came from a well and you know it. Don't pull this bullshit."

Yatzen knocked. "Nah, I'm telling you, they like boil it or something. It tasted way better than the crap that comes out of those wells."

"It's the same stuff," Muzen said as her brother seemed to pound on the door so hard that it seemed like he attempted to knock it off its hinges. After a moment of waiting, Yatzen pressed his ear up to the door.

"It's quiet in there."

"Great," Muzen immediately quipped. "They must be out." Her brother smiled at that statement.

"Good, if they're out, then nobody will see us do this." And, with that statement, Yatzen opened the door and proceeded to walk in, seemingly un-phased by the crime he was committing.

As soon as Muzen and Yatzen walked in, they seemed to be oddly on edge by the house itself. The dishes from dinner remained, dirty and in the same place as they were before, as if dinner itself had ended mere moments before, even though hours had passed. Kai's parents seemed like the type to be obsessively clean, the unique cut of people that would never leave dirty dishes lying around unless something dire had happened.

Yatzen grabbed his cup from their earlier dinner ad walked over to the jug filled with water. Nearly silently, he proceeded to fill it up and sipped it. And, after a second, he put it down with a smile on his face.

"I think you're right," he whispered out, "That water tastes just like it was well water."

Still, despite his smile and humorous tone, his sister kept a serious look on her face.

"Great," she whispered, "Let's get what they call the fuck out of here."

"Nah."

"NAH?" Muzen seemed to yell out while she whispered.

"If Kai's parents are out or something," Yatzen whispered. "I bet he could use some cheering up."

"Oh I know this is going to end badly," Muzen whispered as she followed after her brother.

Despite their common sense telling them that Kai's parents were gone, instinct dictated that the two were to remain as quiet as possible. It was odd; they seemed to be sneaking around an empty home, yet some feeling told them that nobody had left.

For a moment, before deciding that he had read far too many thrillers and listened to far too many tales of horror, Yatzen had felt like behind any door, Kai's parents were going to be waiting. They would look upon him holding a bloody knife, with a sort of look on their faces that he had seen only in his nightmares. Whatever remained of Kai, probably a mutilated and bloody corpse, would be lying on the ground behind them. The poor boy would look so afraid; he'd be crying and have a look of screaming on his face. And, before Yatzen could even move to run, Kai's parents would take a second life.

But, as he walked down the hallway toward where all the bedrooms seemed to be, Yatzen could faintly hear a sound of heavy breathing. Muzen had heard it at the same time, and after a glance from her brother, she got the picture. They continued, but with a conscious effort to make no sounds whatsoever. Their footsteps seemed to come amazingly slowly, touching down so delicately with each foot that it seemed as if they were walking on rice paper. Their breath silenced, and they seemed to focus on the sounds that they could hear.

The heavy breathing wasn't the sort of pant of a person that had done exhausting work. It was the exact opposite. There was a sort of shudder to it. And, they could tell that it hadn't come from a fully grown man. It was coming from Kai. They were sure of it. And, they thought they could tell which room he was in.

Its door was cracked ever so slightly, and light seemed to pour into the dim hallway. They smiled slightly, but they were a bit too cautious to merely go rumbling in. They still had the odd fear of Kai's parents being around, waiting in the room.

So, Yatzen crept toward the door, moving in complete silence. He reached the crack in the door, and looked in, and after a second, his eyes froze in surprise. He backed up after a second, and seemed to stare onward. He was shaking his head, seemingly trying to say no to everything, but his mouth was closed. Muzen recognized his expression after a moment.

Yatzen had always been a relatively stable person. When the two had first discovered that their mother was dead, Yatzen had shown a sort of military bearing. While they had watched his mother's condition deteriorate, he was the one who had acted as a rock in the storm of confusion and unease that had followed. But, when he had looked through the crack and seen the room, something had broken the stability. Something had shaken him deeper than anything ever had.

Within a second, Muzen was nearly running toward the door. Gone were her fears about being caught for intruding. Gone were her inhibitions about being heard. Gone was any sort of desire to merely get out. Something was wrong in that room. And, despite her logic saying to flee, she couldn't. Her curiosity demanded she see the truth, to see what had happened.

Before her brother could even realize what had happened, her fingers closed around the door, and she flung it open. In that single moment, the light of the room filled the hallway, revealing all the secrets of the room to the two. All that in the room was clearly in view for the two.

"Oh… oh shit."

Kai was in the room. He was sitting in the corner, his knees against his head, and his legs tucked in toward him. Bruises were visible upon his legs and arms, proof of the beating he had taken. His face had a look like he had seen something horrid, and he had been crying. But, they had barely even taken a second glance in his direction. Instead, right in front of him, lay the true reason they had been so surprised.

In front of him, bloody and almost fearful looking, laid his parents bodies. They had been cut open, cleaved like meat in front of a butcher, and there was so much blood. A pool of it had formed on the floor, and it seemed to spread everywhere, almost as if it wanted to cover the world in red.

Muzen, as she saw what her brother had seen, nearly fell over. She felt her stomach turning, as if she were about to puke, but she didn't. Even though the smell of blood had been nearly overpowering as soon as she had opened the door, it wouldn't make her puke. Somehow, even though her body seemed to be ready to force up all the alcohol and food in her stomach, it wouldn't. Puking might have made her feel better, but her stomach fiercely held onto its contents.

By, that point, her brother had halfway recovered from the initial shock of seeing the dead bodies, and had begun to look upon the room. He had a very simple question to which he wanted the answer. How had it all happened? Kai physically couldn't have done it. He was far too weak to have forced his way past two fully grown adults, even if he had managed to find a blade. Kai looked around the room. There was, mounted on a wall, the sheath of a short sword, but there was no sword in it. He looked further around the room, searching for the damned blade. Perhaps some robber had stolen it, thinking it valuable. But, after a second, that school of thought died. Against the wall was the blade, or what remained of it.

"Muzen," Yatzen began, while he kept his voice down, "Look right over toward the wall." His sister followed suit, although she seemed to force herself to. The sheer sight of the blood had shaken her more than him. "You do see it right?"

The sword was covered in blood: it had clearly killed the two. But, that was the very least of their concerns. Although its hit and guard matched the sheath on the wall, the actual blade couldn't have fit into the sheath. Something had happened to the blade, something unnatural. It looked like it had melted, seemingly forming another puddle, but neither of the two could possibly think of a way that the metal would melt as it had without being heated to unreal levels.

"I didn't want them to die."

Both Muzen and Yatzen nearly jumped at hearing the statement. Although they did recognize the voice, it had surprised them. For some reason, they hadn't expected Kai to even be able to do anything, merely regarding him as a sort of breathing furniture. They turned to him after a surprised breath, and watched as he spoke again. His voice had a surprisingly saddened tone, and while he spoke he had a sort of thousand yard stare, his eyes never moving from a single spot in the room.

"I didn't want to see them die. But, they kept hitting me. I wanted them to stop. I wanted them to just stop, to just have everything end. And, the metal… the metal…" For a second, Kai seemed to shake his head almost in denial of some thought. "Oh shit."

For a moment, Muzen and Yatzen began to realize the truth. Although neither of the two, nor Kai himself could understand how, he had murdered his parents.

"They're gone. Oh shit. What's going to happen? What will the police say? Oh, oh shit."

"Yatzen," Muzen said with a respectfully hushed tone. "They'll…."

"They'll think I murdered them," Kai blurted out. His speech and tone were cracking, eroding as he seemed to fight breaking down into tears. "Oh shit." And, as he said that, he finally had started crying. He looked utterly pathetic, and as he did, Muzen and Yatzen began to wonder about him. Although at first they had thought that he had murdered the two, and such fears had caused them to willfully keep their distance, his words and his tears began to make the two wonder. He didn't seem like a cold blooded murderer; merely, he seemed like a boy. And, that simple bit of humanity had made Muzen and Yatzen change everything.

"Muzen," Yatzen whispered. He kept his voice down even though Kai seemed to be crying too loudly to hear. "We have to do something."

"I know," Muzen whispered, as she grasped for any idea. "We have to get rid of the bodies somehow."

"Bury them out back?" Yatzen asked in whispers.

"It'd be too messy."

"Burn them?"

Muzen remained silent for several seconds after hearing her brother's option. Her eyes had lit up as if she had seen an idea with true promise.

"Yeah. What if we were to make it look like a house fire? Everything burns down and it all looks an accident."

"But, what about Kai?"

Kai had looked toward the two, and he seemed to freeze. There was so much uncertainty in his face, so much fear. Before Muzen and Yatzen sat a boy with no hope, no options, and no future. Merely, he seemed to come to the end of his road, the end of his journey, and he wasn't even dead: he was trapped.

Muzen looked upon the boy for a few moments, considering their options, considering his future. And, after a few seconds, she walked toward the Kai. A pool of blood separated the two, yet Muzen seemed to walk as if it didn't exist. The blood was staining her shoes, soaking into the leather soles, but she walked as if it wasn't at all in existence.

Yatzen watched as she stopped short of Kai, and took a knee in front of him. She had an oddly serene look on her face, as if something magical was happening in front of her. For a moment, it seemed that the three weren't in a room of death and blood, where a child was beaten; instead it was as if the three were in a temple where the faint sounds of hymns could be heard, bringing peace to the entire place. There was no fear, no confusion, nothing to keep a soul up at night. And, time itself seemed to slow, almost to a restful pace in that moment.

"Kai," Muzen's voice started to say. There was no apprehension, no harsh thorns of pitch to get ensnared by; her voice appeared to be completely soft. "Do you want to come with us?"

A new road had opened for Kai. That was how he had seen it. A road had ended, and as soon as he had begun to lose hope, another option had opened to him. There was another option. There always was another one. Kai merely hadn't realized it.

"Y… yeah," Kai said, his voice trembling. Yatzen smiled somewhat at the boy's response. He closed his eyes for a mere moment.

"Three jugs of water, four pairs of clothes, all their food that won't go bad in a few days, those shoes with the best overall soles, all of their money, any jewelry that looks like it could fetch a price, that large pot and pan, that pile of assorted cooking utensils, the tent, those two swords, that gigantic freaking knife, those three canteens, their spark rocks, and, and why is that bowl of noodles lying there?" Muzen asked as she looked upon the odd bowl lying amongst the small pile of things upon the table.

"Midnight snack, obviously," Kai responded as he grabbed the bowl. "They made some excellent noodles, and I got really, really hungry, hauling all this shit down here. You know how much it all weighed?"

"How do you plan to carry all this stuff anyway?" Muzen asked, "Even with another person with us, there isn't a damn way we can manage to carry all of this stuff on our backs, especially considering the fact that Kai's too young to carry too much."

"It's not too much for him to carry. Back when I was his age, I used to carry you around everywhere, even when you went through that… chubby… stage…"

Yatzen seemed to freeze as he spoke those words. He had enraged his sister, and despite her being smaller than him, Muzen could be as dangerous as a fully grown Gorilla Goat. Her very eyes seemed to reach out and strangle him.

"Okay. That was my mistake. I'll admit that I should not have said that," Yatzen said as he stepped backward slowly, as if he were staring down a dangerous and territorial beast. His very speaking style seemed to sound as if he was negotiating in a hostage situation.

"Yatzen… Just start running…"

Outside, young Kai could hear their conversation and had begun to laugh to himself slightly. He slowly moved toward the door listening for any further sounds he could hear.

"Hot, hot, HOT!" Yatzen's voice seemed to yelp out.

"Oh shit! Those were hot? How? You okay, Yatzen?"

"You…"

And, as Kai walked into the room, Muzen seemed to give her brother a gesture that insinuated that he desperately needed to stop whatever he was about to say. Yatzen seemed to understand and watched as the boy looked toward him.

Yatzen had been covered in noodles. It seemed that the entire bowl he had held in his hand was on his face and shoulders, with his face and shirt dripping wet from the broth that was amongst them. His face and neck were red as well, appearing to have been slightly cooked by steaming hot food.

"Awww, I never get to watch food fights," Kai said as he laughed slightly.

"Stick around," Yatzen quipped as he pulled noodles away from his face and shoulders. "Eventually, a certain female will end up throwing food at you."

"Shut it Yatzen!" Muzen snapped out as her mood visibly seemed to turn sour. "And, Kai, where have you been all night while Yatzen and I hauled down all this stuff."

"Oh, you hauled down all this stuff?" Yatzen retorted as he grew a snide smile. "Every time I saw this girl, Kai, she was looking through your parent's jewelry."

"Some of that can fetch a good price!" Muzen nearly yelled back. "If you want to inspect them, go ahead, but I bet that your eyes can't tell the difference between a quality gem and colored glass."

"I bet it can fetch a good price!" Kai seemed to growl back through gritted teeth. "But, that's only if a certain person is willing to part with it!"

"You two are gonna scare the animals," Kai said, his voice appearing as a whisper between the two's nearly yelling volume.

"Kai understands that we may need to sell some of it to get by!"

"Do I?" Kai asked to himself, smiling at his own humor at making a fight funnier to himself.

"I wasn't referring to Kai!" Yatzen growled out.

"I can give them up at any time!" Muzen yelled out. And, as she did, an odd sound seemed to enter the three's ears. Kai recognized it. He even felt slightly important having predicted it. It was the sound of three scared Ostrich Horses, apparently terrified by the loud sound.

"Told you two that you'd scare the animals."

"What animals?" Muzen asks.

"Muzen, you think this is a farm right?" Yatzen asks. "Well, most farms need more water than this area can provide so that it can grow enough food to sustain its owners. It's not a farm. It's a ranch."

"An Ostrich Horse ranch to be particular," Kai said.

"So then," Muzen said, an idea dawning on her, "Instead of walking, we could"

"Yes, we could ride around on the Ostrich Horses," Yatzen interrupted. "Hence, I got Kai to find his best three and release the rest, and hence the animal feed. Can we hurry this up? I'm getting tired."

"Fine princess," Muzen responded within a second. "Kai lets hurry up and get everything packed really quickly so Yatzen can get his nap."

And, Yatzen closed his eyes as a blink that comes to men only on the precipice of slumber seemed to crash through him. Fatigue was reaching him, even though he seemed to fight it as much as he could. As he reopened them, he prepared for a long night and an early morning. Between packing and waking before the dawn to make their last few preparations, he did manage to get a few hours of restful sleep, even though it seemed like he merely blinked and they were over. His last preparations were nearing completion by the time that Yatzen truly awakened, and began to have conscious thought rather than seemingly moving along as if a wind-up toy.

"Arson," Muzen said nearly laughing.

"What's so funny about it?"

"Well, before I fell asleep last night, I thought about something," Muzen said before grabbing a bowl full of lamp oil. "We're criminals, all three of us."

"Yeah so," Yatzen said picking up the rest of the large pot of the oil. While searching for anything of use or value, Yatzen had nearly died laughing at seeing such an amount of lamp oil. Quite frankly, even if he hadn't come along, eventually the house would have burned by some spark setting off the pot like an incendiary bomb. If it hadn't been too risky to have tried it, Yatzen probably wouldn't have bothered to come up with such a complicated scheme, instead lighting the pot on fire in the middle of the house and watching the fireworks.

"Well, between the assault charges we have to have in Ba Sing Se by now, underage drinking, assaulting an officer, all our theft, and now this arson, it seems to oddly fit that we have a kid with double homicide on his back coming with us, doesn't it? I swear if this journey goes on for too long, we ought to just have a cross country killing spree."

"Might be fun. Dump that all around Kai's old room. In fact, fill another bowl with the shit and dump it right on the, well, you know."

"Where is Kai, anyway?" Muzen asked as she grabbed another bowl.

"I think he's feeding the Ostrich Horses. That or sleeping near them. Either way, I'm not complaining. Having Kai help with this just leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"Might be the fumes messing with your tongue," Muzen said with a bit of a smirk while she filled the second bowl. "Just smelling this stuff is giving me a headache."

"Hurry up, then, the sooner you get this stuff dumped up there, the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Muzen said, smiling, as she walked toward Kai's old room. Yatzen watched and heard the splash as the lamp oil splattered unceremoniously across the two dead bodies. His sister turned to go back to him, and as she did, Yatzen watched his sister's face. She seemed utterly uninterested in her job. Muzen had poured accelerants on a pair of dead bodies in a house they had robbed blind, and she seemed to look like she was merely walking around town. Most people wouldn't have even dared to sleep in that house, but they had slept and eaten in it as if nothing had happened. How long had he and his sister been so twisted, so incapable of being phased by death?

"So, what about the rest of this stuff?" Muzen asked as she returned to Yatzen.

"Simple," Yatzen responded, as he took a step behind it. "Get behind me, and get ready to haul ass." There was a pause, between everything as his sister slowly walked behind him. The room was silent except for her footsteps tapping upon the floor. And, as the last footstep stopped, everything began.

Yatzen raised his foot, and then proceeded to thrust it outward. The pot tipped over, covering the floor in the lamp oil. He and his sister ran from the flowing oil: starting up a fire did seem downright dangerous to them with a foot covered something extremely flammable. The door slammed behind them, and they both seemed to laugh at their success; both were remarkably untouched by the stuff. But, after a second, Yatzen stopped and moved toward a large rock that was outside the window. He threw it through the window, glass shattering and flying everywhere.

In the shadows of the Ostrich Horses, Kai watched the two. He had memories of that house. Some were bad, some were good, but they were all he truly had of everything in his life up until that moment. The farmhouse was the one place he could point to a decade later and lie to himself about his childhood not, frankly, sucking. And, Muzen and Yatzen were about to destroy it.

There was something else. The two had turned the destruction of his former home into a sort of wild party. They had laughed as they had outran the oil, seeking to burn the arsonists. They had been oddly chipper about pouring lamp oil across his house to make the fire even more consuming. Yatzen's overall action of smashing in the window had seemed like he was one of the Earth Rumble wrestlers, preparing to deliver a finishing blow. Was the destruction of his house truly that entertaining? Muzen had certainly seemed to think so. She had nearly laughed as bits of glass had shot toward Yatzen, as if it were funny. Their actions had seemed nearly manic to Kai.

But, Kai wasn't offended by their actions. He understood. It was a chance for the two to go crazy for a few fleeting moments: to live out the simple desire to destroy without repercussions, to simply break stuff without reason, to cast off the controls that everyone had put on them. And, Kai wanted to join in on the fun.

For so long he had been required to act as a perfect little soldier before his parents, and as they laid dead, about to receive their cremation, he was freed of them. He finally had felt like they were gone. And he wanted to act as the wild little boy that his parents had tried for so long to snuff out. They had nearly succeeded, but as soon as they were removed, he was free.

He took a step forward.

He hadn't said a thing, but the way he had stepped, it had a sort of gravity about it, and Muzen and Yatzen turned to see the boy walking toward them. Any sort of smile seemed to stop at that moment for the two, as they looked toward the boy, waiting for the boy to show any sort of emotion. They appeared frozen, waiting for the boy to yell at them to stop. They watched as he picked up a rock about the size of his fist and walked with it.

With each step, his feet made crunching sounds upon the dried grass, the only audible noise at that moment. Neither Muzen, nor Yatzen, nor the horses, nor birds, nor the earth itself dared to make a single sound as he walked toward the house. And, once he was barely past Yatzen, he stopped and inhaled, the rock still in his hand.

The boy took a step forth, and as he exhaled, he threw. The rock seemed to be aflame as he threw it. It hurtled through the air, silently flying toward its target. And, it hit it dead on. The window shattered as it flew through it, glass flying everywhere in a sort of firework celebrating the occurrence. And, as the rock seemed hurtle through the true fireworks began.

Flames seemed to erupt from the floor, and within a second, it seemed to leap out of the windows clawing for anything to burn further. Muzen and Yatzen stepped toward Kai, watching the fire as it consumed his chains to the town. The three were freed once again: free from society's rules and restrictions, and free from its protections. They left a few minutes after that, silently riding on into the rising sun, never to return but always to remember. As Kai rode away he looked back every few seconds, wondering what the town would believe, wondering what Tetung would do, wondering how he would be remembered, and wondering what would become.