Listen to his song while reading this chapter if you like. Makes it quite entertaining. Enjoy.
watch?v=cLiPISVAwek
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A dusty looking man drowned in steel armour. He steps silently off the ferry and steel boots land on the stiff planks from air Temple Island. It was morning and the sun was stacks of pink bleeding into yellow. Bae toys with the private detective licence in his pocket. His head is soaked in last night's hang over and he struggles with the migraine that drips into his brain. A few more painful seconds and now he's strolling towards the temple.
Twenty killed and forty wounded. What do they put in bombs theses days? Whatever was in the bomb, it made a damn mess. Another bombing incident and with no one less the then the avatar involved. They still talked about the flakes of skin and ash that fell down. You'd think it would stop with Amon missing but the spate of violence has steadily started rising. Amon orchestrated his bombing with grandiose and a sense of theatre, as if an explosion was made of paint and words. These bombings were clumsy. Pointless. Brutal.
It didn't make sense. Bae would stare at the Island, a union of old architecture and strange plants he's never seen before. Here was an island that was made from a culture everyone thought extinct. The Great War had ended in a mutual peace. Sato was an equalist that made heavier than air flying machines. When he thinks about it a lot of things didn't make sense.
Then what's the point in making sense of this situation? Maybe the bombing was because someone's radio was broken and they needed to do something to pass the time. To simply stand up, stroll out and throw down a satchel which would turn people into a fine red paste. Bae put great faith in the random cruelty of man.
It was only several steps before a mob of air acolytes appeared and questioned him with their stares. He takes a second to admire the red on their robes, as if the colour has been strangled on to it.
"Excuse me sir, what is your business here?"
He could see their manners edged with teeth. They're a tired and scratchy bunch of people dressed in air nomad clothing and bags under their eyes. Their muscles are slack with restlessness. He could see headaches thriving in their skulls. He can tell they haven't been sleeping well. He pulls out his licence.
"I'm a private detective and I'm hired under Lin Bae Fong's authority. I'm here to lend my services to her and get briefed on my assignment"
"I'm sorry but there's a change in plans. She told us to tell you to report to Tenzin"
"Who?
"Tenzin. Now if you could follow me."
"The councilmen right?"
"Yes"
"You could be lying"
"What do you think that would mean? What would you do?"
"I'd follow you to see why"
"Then follow us please, detective"
He steps in time with them. He reaches into his pocket takes out a cigarette. Lights it up, breathes it in and watches smoky wings fly away from him. They try to charm him with polite smiles and warm words. He responded with rather cold frowns and a seemingly endless reservoir of cynicism and sarcasm. Someone made a joke but it also seems as if his humour is a dead and useless thing. In the end the air acolytes give him the tolerance that people give to a stray dog.
One of them was chuckling though. A girl who was barely a woman that had her hair tied back and eyes so piercing that youth melts from them.
"Something funny?"
"You remind me of Tenzin"
"Boring?"
"Yeah. Maybe. Just really moody"
"I can be exciting you know"
"Really?"
"No"
Well his humour isn't dead but dry. Chokingly dry.
Before long they reached a long slope of steps. Bae takes them two at a time, a natural occurrence to him. He's a long lanky man with stretched limbs and pinched green eyes. His steps are lopsided sways of legs and arms. His left hand moves up and wrestles with riots of dark hair.
The acolytes walk the stairs like good habits. Their steps are small coughs of sound in this hushed world. His are an unfortunate and thunderous collision of steel and stone.
They reach the top and proceed to walk towards a tall bearded man. He is tented in orange, yellow and saffron robes. He has tattoos, a bald head, and yet for some unknown reason he manages to pull it off as something very serious or sobering. His skin is smoothed but is slowly becoming crinkled into entropy. He has a striking set of hard edged brows and incredibly good posture. A mouth is curved into a withering frown. Overall Tenzin is a rather severe man.
"Detective"
Smooth words that are placed roughly on the air.
"Councilman"
Tenzin bows low and the acolytes dissipate into the island. Pollen is pasted to the wind that howls at the two men.
Tenzin eyes over the detective he was told to expect. A man weighed down by a tattered coat and sheets of steel battered into the shape of armour. His undercoat is too big for him and often ends in messy scruffs of fabric. His body is made of haphazard lines that tumble and lean into each other to make a slim build. Both of his hands are skinny bony limbs that dig themselves to the pockets in his coat. His face could only be described as burnt out with a staggering indifference. A cluster of whiskers make a last stand of stubble on his cheeks. If he was capable of smiling he could be handsome enough to be dangerous. A stubborn cigarette pokes out from his lips.
"You have a nice home Councilman"
"Thank you"
When they shake hands it's obvious that Bae's muscles are made of long days and nights of drinking nothing but tea. Diminutive yet deceptively strong. Tenzin thinks that Bae makes a very imperfect metal bender.
"So detective Bae, Lin speaks highly of you"
"I have a good collection of talents"
"Such as?"
"Ones that will protect the Avatar"
"Such as?"
"Well Let's just say I'm not part of the force anymore"
"And?"
"One of my talents is that the law doesn't stick to me like it used to"
"I don't think that's a good talent"
"It's a useful talent"
Bae takes another distasteful lungful of ash. Breaths out smoke.
"You don't really get what purpose I serve do you?"
"No, to be honest detective I'm a little confused"
The detective has etched his mouth into a hard smile.
"Well you see it's because the metal bender officers are motivated by more than serving justice. Firstly they serve their families because they need the money from the job to support them. Next they serve their commanding officers because they need to keep their job, if their officer says something goes they have to go for it. If none of the above are effected they serve themselves. I think you know the extent of this don't you? When once upon a time the new chief started reporting to Tarloc"
"Are you saying that the mental benders are corrupt?"
"I'm saying that metal benders are human. If you can understand it justice is not something that is built into the system. It's not a spectre that haunts us. Justice didn't come down and strike Amon in the face. I can't reach into my pocket and give you a handful of justice. Justice is just an idea to control people. Soon they realise that's all justice is and spend time on duty just getting through the day. Serving justice becomes a soulless set of actions you repeat. You want one?"
He's taken out a cigarette. Stretched bits of paper rolled and glued. Bae's fingers holds it in a questing grip. Tenzin shakes his head while Bae pulls his skinny arms into himself and smokes against the wind. Tabaco and bitterness settles on the detective. Tenzin speaks up.
"Let me guess, you serve justice?"
"No. It'd be a little vain if I said that. Who do you think I am? I only serve myself and right now I want to find out who did the bombing"
"That's it?"
"Yes I just want to find out who did it. I'm a little curious"
"You're not very convincing"
"Well Lin thought so as well. I caused her a bit of an inconvenience by only being selfishly curious. I Lost my job. She lost some face."
"What happened"
"Well for starters she arrested someone called Pema for no real reason. I called her on it and sent some stuff to the papers. She got a little angry and beat me a little. You know how it is."
Bae stares at the fused ash floating in the wind. He smells sky bison and flowers and family. Delicately he would hand Tenzin some more words.
"I lost my job. Yet I reeled her in, she'll never admit it but I really helped her start to fix her messed up head. I had no job but a lot of experience, so I fixed a ship to Ba Sing Se and went private. You wouldn't believe what goes on there. Some years later I heard about the revolution and I came back to check on some old friends"
He hurls out the word revolution, like a man would hurl out the word "asshole".
"I Left for the first boat, and got drunk at the first bar and that's where Lin found me. Heh. Who would've thought she still kept tabs on me"
"So your talent is that you are curious, detective?"
"Yeah. I'm curious"
"Well with everyone tied down trying to restore order I think we could do with a man of your talent. Find out who did this and you'll be paid. Please."
Tenzin gives him his hand and Bae takes it. An awkward handshake made of smoke, air and filtered sunlight. Tenzin grasps it tightly. Tenzin Stabs him with his glare.
"Detective tell me, why would Lin keep tabs on you?"
"Well that's the question isn't it?"
Bae's eyes are faded grey gems. A crippled half-light glinted out of them. You could only guess how old they are and how much they have seen. What's your move Tenzin? They release their handshake but hold their stares.
"Please I need to see Korra. I need some witnesses."
Tenzin relents and squeezes out a sigh.
"Follow me detective"
