Twelve figures shrouded in black stood just outside the bonfire's ring of light as they all gathered around a ghostly clearing in the middle of a dark forest. "Today my brothers and sisters in arms we welcome the newest member of our nameless order into our ranks." Spreading his arms wide, a seasoned warrior stepped into the ring of light. His golden eyes reflected the dancing flames as he addressed the others. He pulled back his hood, exposing the tiger strips tattooed on his face. "At birth, we were all given names, names that were to be our marks we leave on this world. We as the nameless ones choose to give up our birthrights for the greater good. We become the shadows that ensure the success of those that come after. The weapons that protect our homes, our families, and our nation. Come."

Immediately all eyes fell upon a small Karra who took her place in the firelight. Her dark hair, not yet turned silver, danced in the evening breeze. There was a murmur that rippled through the others still cloaked in the shadows of night, but no one objected. The old soldier knelt before the small child, and placed a callused hand on her young shoulder. "Though your years may only number nine, in battle, you have proved your courage and strength. In hunting, you have proven your skills and stealth. Are you ready to give up your name and become a true weapon of the Fire Nation?"

Karra turned to look at a lone figure standing a bit apart from the rest of the warriors crowed around the small campfire. Although he wasn't standing in the light, she could still make out the dragon tattoo covering the left half of his face. He stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest, and as she shook her head yes, the slight droop in his shoulders seemed to deepen. "Very well. Then from this moment on you will live by the code of our unit. First and foremost, we are soldiers. As such we are charged with carrying out every order we are given to the best of our abilities. Second, all life is sacred. When hunting, one must never take more than one needs to survive. Therefore, when hunting, any collateral damage is unacceptable. Last, but not least, a warrior's brothers and sisters in arms are the roots that give one strength in battle. They must never be left behind. Can you accept our code and live by these rules?"

Again, Karra nodded.

"Then from this day forward, you will be known as Snake in honor of your mother, our fallen sister, Viper." The man with the tiger stripe tattoos reached down and lifted a metal poker from the flames. "With this mark, you join our ranks." Without another word, he pressed the hot end against the flesh of Karra's left arm. When the poker was removed, a snake dancing in flames had been burned into her arm.

***(*)***

Karra was jolted awake by a pain in her arm, only to find she had been dreaming again. It had been so long since she'd even thought about that night. Rubbing her arm as she tried to get comfortable again leaning against the furry flying bison, she remembered she still hadn't managed to fix the worn-out leather band that had gotten damaged during the avatar's rescue. Orders, every order we'd ever been given was to hunt down some enemy and eliminate them. Jet's orders were no different, hunting and eliminating Fire Nation soldiers. That stupid code has always been as clear as mud, even when she swore to follow it. Still it seemed that once a soldier, always a soldier.

With a heavy sigh, Karra tried to push the memory from her mind, but even as she watched Sokka splash about in the river after his fishy adversary she just couldn't shake the sinking feeling settling into her bones. Why in the world was she remembering this stuff now? These troublesome memories were just that. Memories. Things she'd been trying so hard to forget, so why was it so hard, so hard to forget. Absentmindedly Karra ran her thumb over the water symbols on the warn stones sown onto the armband. She didn't understand how a simple act could have such a calming effect, nor how such a foreign object could bring such peace. It was a small consolation.

"Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!" Aang's voice pulled Karra from her thoughts. Thrusting the warn leather band back into her bag, she turned to grab her sword, only to discover that the other three were running towards the danger. Grinding her teeth together, Karra cursed under her breath. Didn't this boy know how dangerous it was to be out in the open? Didn't he even care that people were hunting him? Didn't he understand the danger careless involvement with strangers would cause? The danger you dumped on top of these children?

That last thought that past across her mind made her chest hurt, and her heart sink. Cursing again, it wasn't the first time the idea of tying the boy up and hiding him in a cave had crossed her mind, but she didn't feel like there was anyway of accomplishing that goal without hurting the two siblings who traveled with the Avatar. With a white knuckled grip on the worn handle of her weapon, Karra was once again at a loss. She had promised to protect the boy and his friends, because the Avatar was clearly attached to the others, but that only gave her a new mission. It didn't solve the problem that she still had no leader. There was no one to tell her how to protect them. A leader to follow made things easier. They made the decisions, the choices of how and when to do what. It was there job to do the thinking. Following a leader took away the feelings of guilt if things went wrong. Suddenly the image of the man with the dragon tattoo popped in to her mind. He was injured, laying with his face in the mud of a vast swamp. Karra's knees almost buckled as a sick feeling clawed at her stomach. Closing her eyes, she shook her head, willing the image away. Now was not the time to be stuck in the past. She had a mission.

If they were going to save this stranger, the least they could do was do it safely. With a heavy sigh, Karra climbed onto Appa's head between his horns. "Come on buddy, a roar from you and the Platypus bear will clear out." With a grunt, the large bison lazily hauled himself towards the direction of his master.

***(*)***(*)***(*)***

Karra leaned against the far wall of the fortuneteller's home wondering how in the world she'd ended up here as a young girl introduced herself. "My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." This was ridiculous, how could they trust that the man on the road wasn't a set up. For crying out loud, the fire nation was hunting the avatar after all. Even if this wasn't a setup, just interacting with people causes troubles by itself. Word of mouth alone made the avatar trackable. They shouldn't be here. Trying not to show her discomfort, Karra didn't like the way 'Meng' was looking at Aang. "Well hello there."

"Hello."

"Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Fingering the handle of a knife she'd stashed up her sleeve, Karra watched as the young girl seemed a bit to egger for her comfort.

"I'll try a curd puff."

Waving off Sokka's comment, Meng bent down so she was face to face with Aang as he made himself comfortable on a pillow. "Just a second. So, what's your name?'

"Aang."

"That rhymes with Meng! And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?"

"I guess."

"Oh, don't be modest. They're huge!" Sokka added spreading his arms wide to demonstrate just how huge they are, as Aang gave him an angry look. Aang even tried to use his palms to try and squish them into a more acceptable size.

"Well Aang, its very nice to meet you. Very nice." There was something suspicious about the way their host was acting. Unfortunately, the only thing she could do at the moment was wait. Karra just hoped she wasn't waiting for a disaster to fall.

Turning her attention away from the others, Karra tried to shake the exhaustion that was creeping into her bones again. She really had to find a way to sleep at night. Truth be told, she really just needed to find a way to sleep period. Ever since escaping the fire nation fort, the nightmares that had been plaguing her dreams had begun to creep into her waking hours as well. It wasn't a good sign. She saw eyes in every shadow, footprints in animal tracks, she was just seeing things that weren't there. Karra hated herself for her stupidity, but the truth of the matter was if she didn't find a way to deal with this problem, if, no when the enemy did finally track them down she'd be of no use.

"Oh, Meng! Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love! He's going to give me a rare panda lilly." Startled by the sudden out burst from a woman in green who came out of the back room, Karra's head snapped up from where she'd let it rest against the wall. Realizing it was just a silly squealing women, Karra let her head fall back with another inward groan. This was going to be a long day.

It wasn't long after the woman in a green kimono left that an elder lady entered the waiting room. "Welcome young travelers." The women's wrinkled face beamed at her guests, as she spread her arms in greeting. "Now, who's next? Don't be shy?" From her spot in the corner, Karra watched as the two boys she traveled with looked around appearing disinterested. Katara looked around as well, but before she could volunteer Karra pushed away from the wall and stepped forward. To tell the truth, Karra could care less about getting her fortune told. She just wanted to be able to see what was in the back room. She had a feeling the Avatar at some point would want to have his fortune read, and wanted to make sure things were safe. It was already a big enough gamble leaving the others in the front room with the creepy assistant, but the bean curd puffs didn't appear to be spiked with sleeping powder. And if the guard at the front door was going to attack, the other two would probably make enough noise for her to realize what was happening.

Karra was lead into a room with a large dip in the middle of the floor. Moving to one of the pillows surrounding a small fire, it was easy enough to tell there was no one else in the room. There was another door at the other end, but nothing screamed danger.

"Troubles fill your mind like a great storm." There was such a matter of fact tone to Aunt Wu's words that Karra couldn't help but absentmindedly fiddle with the hidden knife under her sleeve. Could she have been wrong? Could this really be some kind of trick? Karra's eyes narrowed, but Aunt Wu held up her palms in a sign of peace. "I mean only to help. Perhaps the tiles will help us discover the source of what troubles you." Before settling on a pillow beside her customer, Aunt Wu retrieved a worn leather pouch. Karra could hear the faint clinking of some kind of tiles with in. Handing a frowning Karra the pouch, "I'd like you to pick 10 tiles from the bag and hand them to me one at a time."