Saras knocked on the door. He took a deep breath. Aang was his brother, right ? He would tell him the truth, right ? I mean why would he lie to him ? The same reason he's been avoiding you all week. Saras ignored the voice in his head.

The last week was a blurred memory of dreams and visits. Shan Qu had visited twice. Shou and Pang once each, that had been it. Nothing from Aang. He knocked again.

"Enter", came Aang's voice and Saras pushed open the door, and entered Aang's room. It was plain, painted black, it would have been pitch black but for a single candle that illuminated the room from it's perch on Aang's desk. Behind which sat the Bat Lord himself. Saras sat down. "So, little bro, what brings you here"?

"I have a question", Saras asked innocently.

"Go ahead", Aang continued, unsure of where this was headed.

"You see the Jit Kun. What exactly were they"?

Our family, were the words Saras wanted to hear so badly. But Aang didn't say them. "Look little bro, I think you already know. Back then you weren't old enough to know. I mean, how could I possibly explain. The Jit Kun were a clan that took in children, by force or will"-

Saras had heard enough."'Back then' I was too young to know, but not too young to put my life on the line for them"?

"Kanbu"-

"Shut up"! What am I, if not a Jit Kun ? "I have been swallowed whole, fought monsters and nearly died twenty times over, for what ? A bunch of kidnappers who I never even knew ? And the worst thing is you knew, this whole bloody time you knew but didn't bother to tell me". Saras stood up. Anger pulsed through him like blood. Aang had never cared about him, if he had he would have told him, rather than let him run off and nearly die. Aang had been using him this entire time. Sure he had volunteered for half of it, but only because he thought what he was doing was right, and of course his 'big bro' had never bothered to fill him in with all the details.

"Little bro"- That was the final straw. Saras' temper exploded within him, but he kept himself calm.

"I am not 'little' and I'm not your brother", Saras turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him as he bumped into a bewildered Daitui, whose gaze he avoided.


Daitui strolled into Aang's room. The two stared at each other. The vulture cleared his throat. "Lord Aang". He bowed.

Aang waved away the bow. "Forget all of that, you practically raised me, you don't have to address me as such".

"But you don't mind me doing it". Daitui replied with a chuckle.

Aang grumbled. "What do you want"?

Daitui wore a plain black robe that covered some of his muddy brown feathers. His head was not bald like a vulture's should be, but covered in fluff the same colour as his feathers. His eyes were black all over, and were useless. Daitui was blind, but Aang had always suspected he had a way of seeing things, or at the very least a sixth sense.

"I bring news".

"Is it good"?

"Not exactly".

"Then tell me".

"Your brother returned from Pinqu a week ago. Now Pinqu is destroyed."

"What"?

"The whole place is a ghost-town. Everyone dead, no survivors. The residents corpses have all been found bloodless and hollow." The vulture paused. "In your brother and the bat's mission report there was a creature that wielded blood."

"The reports also said the creature died."

"Reports are written by the confused. I believe this being is still alive. For I have been keeping a track on it's movements. A trail of bloodless corpses have been found leading off from Pinqu, and guess in which direction"?

Aang groaned. "How long do we have until this 'creature' catches up to where we are"?

"Two days, I believe that until further notice we put the base into lockdown."

Aang nodded, finally noting the importance of the situation. "Right, you go do that. I'll go make it up to my brother".


Aang knocked, but realising that his brother would be in no mood to open the door, instead he chose to wait outside. "Look Kanbu, I know I lied and I'm sorry. But just remember that the reason I do everything I do, is because I care. Okay, everything is for the greater good. And even if I'm not your brother, I still care".

He waited a moment, before deciding that Saras should know if there was a crazy hemomancer on the loose after him. He pushed open the door. When he lay eyes on the room he realized that his brother was not there. Oh crap.


Saras obliterated the earth as he kicked at it savagely, imagining Aang's lying face as he did so. Stupid, evil little bat. He huffed, deciding that the portrait was good enough for now, he put his paws in his pockets and walked through the woods.

Saras walked through the woods,breathing heavily the whole time. If not for the Jit Kun I would have been normal, I'd have had friends who weren't criminals of one form or another. I'd actually be a kid. Saras had been called a kid more times than he could remember, but had never actually felt like one. He had killed people, ruined others and cheated death for the sake of the people who took his life away. A people he had never even known. One that had ruined the lives of countless children and parents. He kicked a rock savagely into a bush. The sun set behind him. It would be getting dark soon. He sighed, why was his life so over-complicated.

He heard a crack of twigs and looked to his left. He caught sight of something that shook him to the very bone. They stared at each other for a second, before recognition set in with a kind of deathly finality.

The Hemomancer threw a bubble of blood at him, Saras dodged it.

"Well, well, well, we meet again". The wolf said.

"Hello to you too", Saras retorted, balling his paws into fists.

The Hemomancer was a wolf, his fur was crimson all over, as was the hooded robe he wore. Behind him stood a shorter figure, dressed in a similar robe, though with him the hood was drawn up and his face was hidden. This figure had what looked like a bar of steel, attached to his back, with a wooden handle. "Xueye, wait here while I attend to some unfinished business".

The bubble of blood came from behind, but Saras teleported away. He stood a bit more to the right now. "I'd love to finish this business with you, but right now I have somewhere else to be"!

Saras turned, teleported a few feet forwards and raced away from the wolf, in the opposite direction of the Bat Cave.

The Hemomancer chased after him, leaving the shorter figure to himself.

Saras turned sharply to the left, using a tree to spin around, but the wolf was quicker than he looked. The Hemomancer launched a bloody chain towards the shapeshifter at interstellar speeds, catching him on the tail. Using this chain the hemomancer suddenly pulled himself towards the shapeshifter, grabbing him by the ear and lifting him into the air.

Saras felt like his ear was going to rip.

"I am going to enjoy running you through with your own"-

"You talk to much", Saras retorted mid-sentence, as his paws shot up and clapped the lupine on both ears, leaving him with a pair of ringing ears. The hemomancer let him go and raced through the treeline, abandoning the scene behind him.

He's faster than me, I can't fight him now, which means my only other option is to hide.
He changed direction and slipped silently into a muddy pond. He waited in agony, too scared to draw breat, his body coated in and hidden by the thick layer of mud. He felt a weight press on top of him for a split second as the hemomancer raced straight past him. He waited a bit longer before taking a massive gulp of fresh, breathable air.

He rose, drenched in mud, looking more like a part of the earth than a fox. He knew better than to stay in one place, however and kept walking, in the opposite direction of the wolf. Hopefully the mud would also disguise his scent. He knew there was a road somewhere, and he stalked forwards in his search for it.


Aang was devastated. Saras was somewhere out there, with a crazy hemomancer he didn't even know was still alive. He was probably still mad at him and now he had no way of returning until the council deemed they could put the base out of lockdown. Aang sighed. Sorry little bro, I really let you down this time.


Saras found the road and followed it. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, but didn't dare stop for anything. His eyes dropped and he snapped them open again. Must stay awake. He was being hunted. His life depended on him keeping on the move. Must stay awake, he reminded himself. He heard the horse coming towards him, but was too tired to look behind him. He heard approaching hoofsteps, and stopped, and turned around. Coming towards him was a horse dragging a carriage. His ears drooped and he whimpered as he realized he was too tired to get out the way.

The next thing he knew, the world was black.


Footnote: Cliffhanger, DUH DUH DUH.

This chapter was really hard to write because it was supposed to depict some emotional drama, I'm not sure how I did with that.

Aside from that the plot continues as normal.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT ?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME.

I hope you enjoyed.

Update soon.