Second Prologue: Lessons

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Katara had never been able to remember a time in her life that she hadn't been honing herself, body and mind, into the weapon the White Lotus needed. To the farthest reaches of her memory she couldn't recall a time when someone had not been trying to impress upon her the importance of her final mission. Not that anyone ever really told her what her last mission would entail, only that it would be the catalyst that would enable the White Lotus to overthrow the Fire Lord and his regime.

No one told her what the mission would be… she should have demanded the tell her. If she had then maybe the whole thing could have been avoided. As it is, fate would have her way and a legend would be born…

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Katara had always been special, as far as her trainers were concerned. She learned faster than any of the other children and mastered new techniques within minutes of having seen then. She was always the first to answer any question and never contradicted her teachers. In short she was the perfect student.

When she was four she was already fluent in two languages and could recite the names and positions of the entire Fire Nation Imperial Court. During the spring of her sixth year she defeated her waterbending sensei in a spar… she never lost to him again.

Katara flew through her lessons and it seemed that nothing could challenge the young prodigy for long. Eventually, out of boredom, she began to find things to challenge herself. So it came as no surprise to her teachers when they found her and some of her fellow spies-in-training, drawing up battle plans for a raid on a local pastry shop. Of course they scolded the children and sent them on there way. What they did not expect however, was the fact that the plans, written entirely in Katara's flowing calligraphy, were so well done that they were almost indistinguishable from the work of any General in the Order. So her teachers did the responsible thing and presented her plans to Spymasters Pakku and Paindao.

The Council members, after a glance at the almost flawless battle plans, came to the conclusion that something had to be done about this disturbing demonstration of her ability to think for herself. In private they thanked the Spirits that this had been brought to their attention before it was too late and she developed a mind of her own, Agni forbid. After all, weapons did not think for themselves. The same day that they were informed of the unfortunate development of self government in the girl Pakku issued the command that from that day forth Katara would be placed under new tutelage as befitting a student of her abilities.

Just like that, Katara's entire world was turned upside down and she was ripped once more from all that was familiar. At the time if you had asked her what she was feeling, she wouldn't have been able to name the emotion that welled up inside her and stung her throat with its bitterness. But sometimes, it is for the best that resentment is not named.

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Katara was able to keep one thing that she had gained while training with the other children and that was her best friend Sarissa. They had been inseparable for as long as they could talk. Both of them had been trained as spies and assassins if need be, but Sarissa's cover would eventually be that of a nurse in the home of a high ranking Fire Nation official. After all, people tend not to watch what they say in the sickbed.

Sarissa and Katara were allowed to stay in contact only because it was understood by the Council that having someone to confide in could prove the difference between Katara's ultimate success and failure. It also didn't hurt that Sarissa was utterly loyal to the White Lotus, after they had had saved her family from horrible deaths at the hands of the Fire Nation. So the Council had a spy for their perfect spy.

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After Katara was taken away from the rest of the young spies (with the exception of Sarissa), she was placed under the tutelage of the best warriors that the White Lotus had at their disposal. They were the best of the best and pushed Katara farther than any child should be made to go. So far in face that she should have broken but just like her element she adapted. Weaving herself into a new form and taking paths that were never there before. It was the way of her element after all, to change.

So Katara went on like this, finding ways to do things that couldn't be done. It came as no great surprise then, to the rest of the remote training compound, that when her first mission was given to her she did not bat and eyelash at the fact that she was being asked to infiltrate the most impenetrable stronghold of the Fire Nation before her eighth birthday. She was the Blade of the White Lotus and it was something that should be within her abilities. However, even though it was expected when she came back with a list of all the prisoners of war held in the Boiling Rock and only bruised knuckles to show for it, the High Council of the White Lotus was shocked. They obviously had not been there to witness her training. If they had, they would already have known that Katara did not fail.

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The legends do not tell that the first time the Blade of the White Lotus was ordered to kill she hesitated. It had been during the summer of her tenth year and when then missive had arrived, by way of an inconspicuous messenger hawk, at first Katara had not moved. For some inexplicable reason she was reluctant to kill the Earth Kingdom noble whose estate she had been masquerading as a maid on for the past two weeks. The thought of course was ridiculous, she had been training for this her entire life and he was a traitor to his Kingdom.

That same day however, Katara's dilemma was solved for her when she walked in on the man beating his four year old son. She had been delivering his evening meal and froze at the violence. For a moment as she took in the scene she did not see a brown eyes bushy haired boy but a child with laughing blue eyes and a wolf tail…

One moment she stood in the doorway watching the nobleman kicking the boy, who lay curled in a fetal position at his feet and the next she was standing over him as he twitched on the floor, a dagger protruding from one eye. As the blood pounded in her ears and the red haze clouding her vision slowly faded, reality seeped back into her fury crazed mind. The child was going to wonder why the beating had stopped so suddenly. In her shock she reached for the boy and pulled him to her, hugging him as he sobbed. It was the only thing she could think to do, as stunned as she was. As she knelt on the floor holding the broken child Katara began to sing a lullaby that Sarissa had sung to her when she was hurt. She did not tell him that everything would be all right because it wouldn't and Katara hated to lie if she didn't have to.

Slowly but surely the child stopped crying and simply lay still in her arms. Katara clutched the boy and pulled herself to her feet and holding her soft burden, cautiously made her way back to the nursery. Then she turned, marched back to her rooms and began to pack. There was no need to dispose of the body, by the time someone found it she would be long gone, and his death would serve as warning to others who were contemplating treason.

As she began her journey home, or the closest approximation she had ever experienced, she could not bring herself to regret her actions. The disgusting animal had deserved what he got and more. She decided then and there, as she leapt across a stream at the edge of his property, that she would only ever kill if there was a real reason for her target to die. A real reason being something quantifiable not just a simple changing of sides in the war… This decision went unnoticed by the White Lotus because by fluke or synchronicity she was never given a target that did not deserve death. That is, not until she was given her final assignment.

Next Chapter: Katara is given her assignment and the story really begins...

Authors Note

Thanks so much for all the reviews and please keep them coming, its always good to hear what you guys think! I'll try to update every week or so and possibly more often during the spring break. Until my next update though, don't lose hope because it is coming! TTFN