Chapter 4 – The Exorcism and the Sacrifice
"Uncle taught me how to do this, I can do this," Zuko didn't know whether he was talking to Katara or himself. He sprang to his feet like a fire had been lit under him.
He grabbed Katara by the forearms and tried to get her to walk, but her legs wouldn't support her weight. Huffing impatiently, he lifted her bodily and moved them away from the water to where they would be shielded from view by the cliffs. She didn't protest his cavalier handling of her person, and Zuko ignored the dull pain in his side.
"Sit here and try to keep still, I need to concentrate for this," he commanded, letting her legs drop onto the sand.
"For what?" Katara asked weakly, sinking to her knees.
"I'm getting rid of that cursed spirit once and for all!" he declared. He missed seeing the look of resignation on Katara's face as he spun on his heel to march twenty paces away from her.
The firebending form moved in a full circle around a fulcrum for completion, and the fulcrum was usually a flaming monument. Zuko assumed Katara should take the place of the fulcrum.
Once he was satisfied he had enough space, the only other thing he needed was something to represent the gateway to the spirit world, something he could destroy at the end of the ceremony…
Uncle didn't specify what kind of object should be used, but he remembered fire sages using small, square wooden rectangles, carved with designs.
There was nothing like that here on the barren beach…
"Zuko, wait-" Katara held something out to him. He approached, and saw her mother's necklace, gleaming ethereally in the moonlight.
"I-if you see my brother again, could you give him this?"
He looked at her sharply. Her chin was raised defiantly, but her whole body was trembling. For a moment, Zuko was utterly confused… and then he clicked.
"I already told you, I'm not killing you!" his temper snapped, "Do you think I went through all the trouble of stopping you from drowning just to strike you down now?!" he bellowed.
Katara was looking at him like she'd never seen him before.
"Give me that," he snapped, snatching the necklace from her limp fingers. It wasn't carved wood, but it would do.
He crouched in front of her and held the necklace up, looking her dead in the eye, "I'm going to destroy this to get rid of that spirit. Sit still and shut up," he barked.
Still fuming, but satisfied that he'd gotten his point across, Zuko stormed back to his starting position, and placed the necklace on the ground in front of him.
He didn't have any sage or white lotus petals, he'd just have to do without and hope his fire was enough to protect him.
To begin, he performed a traditional bow to Katara, just as the fire sages did to their fiery monument.
He started to dance.
As soon as he completed the first movement, he noticed something different in the air. The sounds and sensations surrounding him, the gentle ocean breeze, the sound of crashing waves, the cackling sound of fire burning his ship in the distance, they all become muted.
Katara's slumped posture very slowly shifted, until she was siting very erectly with her back unnaturally straight.
Her eyes simultaneously changed, black bleeding over until the whites and blues were no longer visible. The frightened lines of her face relaxed, and her skin glowed unnaturally as the spirit took over.
In a circle around her, smoky black figures blossomed, circling and straining against the sand, but they didn't peel away or break rank. At least not yet.
Instinctively Zuko knew that if he messed this up, those creatures and the spirit would get to finish what they started in the mess hall. Sweat beaded on his brow, and his resolve hardened even further. He would not mess this up.
He named the moves is his head as he went, left fire jab, back flip, fire whip, sideways fire slam…
Ghostly tracings of his fire were left hanging in the night air behind him, looping in a spiral pattern as he bent. The tracings pulsed, flaring brightly in time to a familiar staccato rhythm.
Thump thump, thump thump.
Zuko felt like he was in a trance, he couldn't have stopped if he wanted to. He had never performed this form so smoothly before, it was as if some otherworldly power was guiding his bending…
Thump thump, thump thump.
The final move was a series acrobatics and precisely timed fire streams and lashes. Zuko landed lightly in a crouch on completion of the last movement in the exact spot he started.
He was breathing hard, and his muscles were shaking from the effort they had put forth. Around them was a complete circle of floating tracings from his fire.
The necklace was now glowing at his feet, imbued with some sort of spiritual power. In contrast, Katara had stopped glowing. They lined up perfected, Zuko, the necklace, and Katara.
Zuko stared into Katara's hateful black eyes, and stood tall, before bowing low and bringing his fists together to end the form.
Katara's eyes closed and her fists came together mirroring his, her head bowing in return.
The circle of tracings suddenly flashed blindingly bright, and rushed in like shooting stars to collide with Katara.
On impact her body seized, her back arched and her arms flung wide. Her mouth opened in a soundless scream. Black smoke started exiting her body, collecting into an amorphous cloud above her head.
The cloud swelled, blocking Zuko's view of the moon, before suddenly condensing into a nightmarish creature of frightening proportions. It had black leathery wings with the body of a scorpion, but instead of pincers, it had sharp talons. Most disturbingly, it had the face of a serene woman with pale skin and delicate features, marred only by hateful pitch black eyes.
Katara keeled over in a dead faint, and the creature hovered about her, large and menacing.
The temperature dropped perceptibly by several degrees and Zuko felt gooseflesh rise on the bare skin of his arms. The spirit regarded Zuko haughtily, and he felt his hackles raise in response.
The black smoke creatures finally started peeling away from the sand, and as one, the spirit and her minions lunged.
Zuko knew what he had to do.
With a deep breath like his Uncle had taught him, Zuko punched forward with both fists flaming, concentrating his energy into destroying the necklace.
As soon as his flames touched the carved stone, the spirit let out an ear-splitting screech, and started writhing. The pale face twisted into an expression of fury as her shadowy minions disintegrated into smoke.
Zuko pushed more energy into his fire, grimacing with the effort. He was using the last of his reserves, and his fists quivered with the effort. The stone of the necklace glowed red, and Zuko knew he was close to cracking it, just a little longer…
And then out of nowhere, something struck him in the back of the head, hard, breaking his concentration and making his fire splutter.
The spirit took advantage of his momentary distraction.
He looked up in time to see the scorpion stinger sink straight into his chest. It passed through his flesh as if he were a ghost, but then he felt something is his chest rip.
Reacting in pure panic, Zuko lashed out with a fire whip, and finally, the stone of the necklace cracked, right down the middle.
The spirit withdrew her pincer slowly, and it was excruciating. It felt like she was tearing his heart from his chest. He couldn't stop the anguished scream that was torn from his lips. He expected the appendage to come out covered in blood, but it didn't.
There was however something else floating on the tip of the pincer. Something round, and glowing red. It thrummed an uneven beat.
Zuko's knees buckled, and he fell forward heavily onto his hands and knees. He had never felt so cold and empty. Black spots danced across his vision.
The spirit started fading away.
"A fitting punishment," were the last words it cackled, and then it disappeared completely.
The sounds of the night suddenly came back at full volume.
"Katara!" screamed a familiar voice. Zuko was too weak to lift his head to see who it was.
His eyes fluttered close, and he knew no more.
Any guesses for what hit Zuko in the head, and who yelled for Katara? :)
Don't worry, Zuko isn't dead! Neither is Katara.
