Chapter 2

Zaheer opens a bedroom door and gestures for Karnak to enter. It was small and bare, with only a window and a bed in the middle of the floor.

"It isn't extravagant, but it should be enough." Zaheer explains.

Karnak thanks him nonetheless. He stands near the window and looks out into the cloudless sky, the setting sun casting beautiful colors across the heavens.

"What is the Red Lotus?"

"We are a group of humble men and women who have dedicated ourselves in saving this world and all who live in it." He answers.

"Is that why you saved me?"

"Of course. I saw someone, a child no less, alone and in need of help. How could I as a decent human ignore you? That is why I joined the red lotus when I was younger, a little older than you. I wanted to help people, but I was shackled and held down by the constructs or society and its leaders. I was lost until I found the red lotus."

Karnak nods then scrunches his eyebrows, "Is that like-?"

"The white lotus?" Zaheer finishes, "Yes and no. 300 years ago our founding leaders freed themselves from the White lotus organization once they realized how disgraceful they became, allowing themselves to be influenced by the nations petty politics and agendas. For 100 years we were lead by a man named Xai Bau who first declared our principles. The natural order is disorder. Only through anarchy can our world truly be balanced."

He kneels down in front of Karnak and looks him dead in the eye. "I brought you here because I saw something in you. I saw you were lost like me, but I also saw a fire in you. A fire that if you let it grow, can shine a light over all of us. If you choose to, I would like to teach you everything I know, so that you can become a red lotus and bring justice to the world, the way your father would have wanted."

Karnak's eyes widened at the offer. Zaheer smiles almost imperceptibly could see the answer in his eyes before the boy even said a word,

"Yes."

Zaheer accepts his answer and leaves closing the door gently. Behind him stood his comrade, the earthbender Ghazan.

"So why are you recruiting kids now?"

"Get them while they're young… and the possibilities are endless."

"We have remained in the shadows for 300 years. Influencing the world in our favor, slowly but surely bringing it to our vision of freedom. Making adjustments when necessary but ultimately keeping our existence a secret. That is only possible through intense training and dedication. Training that will not be easy; it will be harder than anything you've done before in your life. It will make you bleed and break. But if you're strong enough, you will forge those broken pieces into something powerful. Know that I will not treat you any differently or play favorites, understood?" Zaheer announces to the group of recruits standing before him. They were of all ages, from young child to grizzled old men. Zaheer glances at Karnak in the crowd who nods. Zaheer does the barest of nods before calling forth his second in command and lover, PL'i.

The tall intimidating woman strides to the front of the crowd and orders them to go into their fighting stances. She analyzes each and everyone of them, then suddenly picks apart all of the recruits, about 30 men and women, as if they were rag dolls. She held nothing back either. When Karnak grabbed ahold of her calf she backhanded him hard enough for his body to be thrown off and knock a grown man down. It was barely a minute before everyone was down on the ground.

"Pathetic, all of you! Get yourselves up and back in formation now! This is gonna be a long training day." She promises.

A hand appears before Karnak's face. It belonged to another child with red hair, smiling down at him. Karnak accepts the hand and is pulled back onto his feet. "My name is Karai."

"Karnak."

"Well Karnak, I'm happy to see I'm not the only kid around here. Kinda wish that meant they'd be more gentle with us."

"Really? I thought they were." Karnak remarks with an eyeroll.

Zan laughs at this but quickly snaps out of it when she sees the glare PL'I is wearing.

"Well happy first day at the Red Lotus. Think we'll survive this?" she whispers.

A look of pure determination overtakes Karnak's expression. "I will." He promises.

And he did. For the next 4 years Karnak spent every moment of his life living and breathing for the Red Lotus. The training was agonizing. He would travel to different camp sites, learning survival tactics in different types of terrain whether it'd be a jungle, the freezing arctic or the scorching desert. The combat training wasn't simple hand to hand or self defense, it was survival. Everything was based on real life situations, fighting a nonbender, with a weapon, or a fire bender or earthbender, or even a group of all the above. He hardly came out unscathed. His still growing body was slowly becoming covered in scars and burn marks. But he pushed himself and improved. Spending countless hours training his body in any technique and tactic he could learn.

And as his body improved, so did his mind. He got ahold of any book and scroll he could find, whether it'd psychology, philosophy, or the art of war. He read them all. There was power in knowledge after all. Of course he stumbled ever now and then, suffering a breakdown when his parents deaths dominated his mind. But that didn't stop him. He began meditating, using methods he had read about from ancient air nomads from the north air temple. Every night before sleeping he would meditate and bring himself back to the night his parents died. He would watch the events unfold, but it would end differently in his mind. He would take out a dagger and drive it into the muggers' throat, stare into his eyes as his life wanes away. When the scenario finished, he would find himself in a dreamless sleep. This helped him gain focus and he thrived from it.

His superiors were astonished by his progress. As they watched his sparring match, they were amazed at how an 11 year old child is dismantling a man in his 20s who has a decade of experience under his belt. But it didn't stop Karnak. He used his wooden sword to deflect the punch the older man threw and twirl low before kicking the man at the back of his knee. This topples him and Karnak steps inward and elbow strikes the man in the throat. Before he does the finishing move, a blast of fire closes in on him and he rolls out the way just in time. His eyes narrows when he sees the firebender throw 4 more puffs of fire at him. Karnak acts fast dodging to one side, sliding to the other and flipping into the air. Mid air, he throws the wooden sword to the firebenders eye, stunning him. Acting fast, Karnak zeroes in and delivers a crushing knee to his groin. While his opponent doubles over in pain, Karnak tackles his knees then rolls over to his sword, holding it over his opponents throat. His opponent meets his eyes,

"Go on. Finish me." He beckons.

Karnaks hand begins to shake, he's conflicted. He isn't sure if he should.

"Why did you stop? Why do you show him compassion?" Zaheer asks.

There was something different in his voice, disappointment clearly, but a hint of anger.

"He's already down, he won't hurt anyone." Karnak explains.

"He can get up can't he? He can recover and attack again and you might not be so lucky next time." Zaheer shoots back, now circling the two.

Karnak begins to shift uncomfortably under the gaze. "Then next time I'll make sure to stop him."

"Why next time, why not now? He certainly won't show you the same mercy, none of your enemies will ever show you mercy. So why should you?"

Before Karnak can answer his opponent gets up and disarms Karnak, twisting his arm behind his head and driving his face into the dirt. True to his masters word. His foe grabs the discarded wooden sword and raises it to strike. But Karnak, in an act of desperation, grabs a hand full of dirt and coarsely rubs it into his enemy's eyes. When he feels the grip on his arm lax, he rotates from under him and knocks him on the ground and begins raining punch after punch to his downed foe. Even when his knuckles begin to bleed he doesn't stop. He keeps going until his fists feel numb. He rolls onto his back in exhaustion, physically and emotionally. He looks up and sees Zaheer looking down with an unreadable expression.

"Good. Now do it again."

Karnak gets up, passing by two recruits who lift his unconscious opponent, to take him to the infirmary most likely. One of them being Karai, who stops for a moment to give Karnak a smirk, "A bit sloppy but still beautifully brutal. Now let me show you how it's really done."

Karnak just grunts unintelligibly, trying to ignore the growing pit in his stomach.

A few weeks later, Karnak woke up feeling like the day was going to be different. And he was right. All of them were called out of their room and sent to the main hall. Karnak was quick to notice the absence of Zaheer. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Pl'I or Ghazan or even Ming-Hua. Standing in their absence was an intimidating man, larger than even Zaheer. His bald head was contrasted by a thick beard that reached his chest. Despite wearing robes, Karnak could clealy see massive muscles underneath and if his scarred knuckles were anything to go by, he was a deadly fighter. What stood out the most, was the horizontal scar running across the bridge of his nose, running from one side of the head to the other. For lesser men, it was probably a good distraction. Because his eyes, they could probably kill with a glance.

He gazes across his audience, glaring at each and every soul.

"So this is what I have inherited. Pitiful." He grunts.

"You must all be wondering who I am. Simple. My name is Marek and I am your new master." He states. "Now I know that you're all wondering what has happened to Zaheer. Plain and simple, he acted rashly and got himself and his chosen teammates captured. Leaving me to right his wrongs. And spirits has he lead you lot wrong."

There were murmurs of confusion. What did he mean by that?

"when this organization was founded, it was with the purpose to bring balance to this world. And have we? For decades we have stood far too deeply in the shadows, without so much as a whisper into the world, simply watching it as it rot. And for what? So that Zaheer could lead a foolish attack to capture the Avatar. Now look at where he is. That idiot. I however will lead you differently. Our time of apathy has ended. It is time for us to take a more active role in the world. It is time for the Red Lotus to resurge." He vows.

And that vow was met with a thunderous yell for victory, for blood. He begins giving orders to his new subordinates before pointing to Karnak and 4 other recruits.

"You five, come to my chambers. There is much to discuss."

From the corner of his eye, Karnak could see that Karai was also called. Since they had met, The two have become quite close, not friends per say, attachments become liabilities. But they do have a bond, a friendly rivalry to better each other. They share a nod before following suit into the private quarters of their master.

Once entering, the guard closes the door behind them, Marek's back to them.

"I have called you all here because from what I have heard, you 5 show the most promise. But that is up to me to decide. From here on out, forget any attachments, forget any family or loved ones or friends. Forget anything that makes you who you are. From here on out you will live for and die for the Red Lotus. You will serve the cause by any means necessary, even if you must take another life." Marek turns to face his chosen recruits.

Karnak tries to hide it, but his expression shifts for a second, but to Marek, it might as well have been an hour.

"Will that be a problem Karnak?" he questions. Karnak can hear in his voice that there's more to the question, almost as if he was setting a trap.

"No sir."

"Don't lie to me. I saw you sparring the other day; you hesitated when you had the killing blow ripe for the taking. Why?"

Karnak looks down at the ground, "I didn't think it was necessary."

Marek chuckles, "Not necessary." Faster than Karnak could see, Marek backhands him off his feet and into the door that creaked from the blow.

Karnak lands roughly on his back tenderly holding his face. That hit was harder than anything he's ever felt before. He can taste the coppery taste of blood and feel something floating around in his mouth. He spits out a glob of blood and just as he suspected, some of his teeth flew out. Marek is upon him again and slams him onto his back with his boot on Karnak's chest, almost crushing him.

"Not Necessary? Have you not seen the world? Have you not witnessed the animals that infest the nations? You think a bunch self righteous assholes like the white lotus can better the world by sweet talking dirty politicians and sleeping with the devil? No the only way to change the world, the only way it can make any sense is if you force it to! All of you will make that possible! You will be my swift and terrible rock." He adds pressure under his boot, making Karnak groan.

"Is that understood?"