Our Blood Boils

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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AN: Here is chapter eleven. Sorry about not updating as often, but I've been feeling really tired lately, not sure why. As usual, reviews come before the chapter.

truefortune- Jin still has a chance to win, as I don't plan on closing the poll for the moment… Azula and Katara are most likely going to reunite in the North Pole. Not sure if it will be before, during, or after the invasion though.

Hell7Born7Terra7- Heh heh… thanks. :3

Spikesagitta- Yep, looks like Dormin's probably gonna get both… of course, if more votes come in before the poll is closed, that could change. Time alone will tell…

GoddessAthena01- Thanks. :D

Less reviews than normal, but oh well. On with the chapter.

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Dormin stood in the shadows next to Jin, using them to hide. There were several Dai Li agents in the room with them, but only Dormin and Jin were going to make themselves known. Long Feng was talking to the Earth king, no doubt manipulating him into doing something stupid. The shadow bender had been waiting a long time for this moment. He whispered to his newfound friend, "Are you ready?" She nodded, and they stepped into the light.

The Earth King was the first to notice them. "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" Straight to the point.

"My name is Dormin. I'm a member of the Dai Li, the only air bender in their ranks… in fact, I'm the only one among them that isn't an earth bender." Long Feng could tell something was wrong, but didn't seem to know how to react. "Your advisor there, along with whomever his predecessors have been, have kept the truth from you and the Earth Kings of the past."

"What secrets?"

Jin cleared her throat, getting their attention. "There's been a war for the past one hundred years. The Fire Nation used Sozin's comet to wipe out almost all the air nomads, hoping to kill the avatar in the process. They failed then, but the avatar disappeared. Ever since then, the Fire Nation has been slowly taking over the Earth Kingdom. They almost completely wiped out the water benders in the Southern Water Tribe. Long Feng has been keeping it a secret from you with the help of the Dai Li."

Said earth bender was angry, but he managed to keep his cool. "This is nonsense. Dai Li, arrest these two." The Agents came out of hiding, but none of them made a move for Dormin or Jin. "What is this?"

The air bender smirked, "Their loyalties are with me now, Long Feng. You should know better than anyone, the Dai Li serve the Dai Li, or more accurately, their best interests. That means they let the strongest person lead."

"Your air bending couldn't possibly win them over." The Earth King observed the situation, clearly nervous but also very intrigued.

"You're right… but I never showed you where my true talents lie… You see, I'm a shadow bender… all the darkness around us is under my control." As a show of his power, he caused the shadows of the Dai Li and Jin to rise from the ground. When he raised his own, it was noticeably more monstrous than before.

As the six years went by, it had grown along with Dormin, though at a much faster rate. He had grown very tall, nearly fifteen feet, and had a very slender figure. The legs and arms were large, the arms being long enough to be dragged across the ground, with massive claws. Dormin had also traveled out of the city a few times, and stumbled across the remains of a dragon. As they were all bone, they seemed almost useless, but his shadow had taken to wearing it. The bones jutted out from it's body, held in place by the inky blackness that was it's shadowy body.

It Had also thought of a name for itself. Deimos. It said that it had something to do with fear, but Dormin didn't quite remember everything about it that Deimos had told him.

"Now… I was going to kill you myself, but Jin here has decided to get revenge for all the people in this city who have suffered because of you. That is, if you don't mind, your Highness?"

He appeared to be considering it. "Dai Li… is this true?" The agents around them nodded, and Kuei sighed in disbelief. "Very well. You may proceed."

Long Feng's shock only lasted a second, as he quickly had to turn to a boulder that Jin had sent flying towards him.

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"Will you get off of that fucking fish?!" Katara was getting very frustrated with Aang. As soon as they had gotten onto the ground, he went into the water and started riding some rather large fish. She was going to just ignore him, but that was a much bigger one in the water, that looked like it was looking for a meal.

They couldn't be losing an avatar to a fish. Just couldn't. Growling in frustration, she decided to just make a massive wave of water to carry him in. Aang crashed into the sand on the beach.

"Katara, that wasn't very nice." Kya said while she was preparing them something to eat. Katara just crossed her arms and walked away. Her mother just shook her head in amusement. "Don't go wandering too far, I'm almost done."

"Alright…" The blood bender continued walking along the beach. It had been a long time she was at a beach. The last time was while she was in the Fire Nation. She had gone to Ember Island with Azula, Ursa, and Zuko. Ozai had an important war meeting, and wanted them out of the palace. She doubted that there was actually a war meeting, but there was no way to prove otherwise now.

It was early in the morning, Appa had flown all night. Said bison was currently resting under a tree not too far off, with their new friend Momo. The little lemur didn't seem to like Katara very much, probably because she had reacted rather violently when it tried to sneak up on them. Momo was also wary of Sokka, who had made it clear that he wanted to eat Momo when they first met.

The blood bender suddenly stopped. A twig, or maybe a tree branch had just snapped nearby. Something or someone was watching. Unfortunately for them, there was a rather large source of water right next to Katara. Smirking almost sadistically, she swung her hands towards the trees and bushes, causing water whips to lash out from the water and enter them. Katara managed to contain her smirk, and had an impassive look replace it. Hearing a yell of surprise, she quickly had the water whips wrap around the person spying on her, and yanked them out. She made sure that they hit several branches along the way.

"Can I help you in some way?" The blood bender's voice was laced with sarcasm. She didn't get an immediate answer from the currently incoherent stranger, so she took their appearance in. Green armor, some weapons, make up. In fact, this girl she pulled out of the bushes reminded her of Avatar Kyoshi. "What's with the getup? Are you some fan girl or something?"

That comment seemed to snap the girl out of it. "I'm one of the Kyoshi Warriors. Who are you?"

"Usually one introduces themselves first before asking for another's name." She could feel her smirk returning.

The girl growled in frustration. "My name is Kirai."

"That's more like it. I'm Katara. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I'm guessing you were keeping an eye out for any enemies from the Fire Nation?" Kirai nodded. "Well, there's no need to worry about that right now. I don't think there's anyone from there near the island. Is there anyone else keeping an eye out?" Kirai just looked over Katara's shoulder, causing Katara to turn and see that some other Kyoshi Warriors had already subdued Aang, Sokka, and her mother. The blood bender rolled her eyes and dropped the girl, "Let's get over there before your friends do something stupid…"

The other warriors had noticed that Kirai had been unable to subdue Katara, but only got into defensive stances. At least they weren't totally stupid. "I didn't think you were Fire nation, since there's an air nomad with you, who I'm guessing is the Avatar…" Katara nodded, "But Suki insisted. She's our leader."

"She attacks first, and asks questions later…" The blood bender's sadistic smirk returned in full force, "I like her already." She heard Kirai swallow nervously, most likely frightened by Katara's look. Said water bender silently chuckled. Azula had taught her a lot of things, and that evil smirk of hers was one of them. Spirits, how she missed her. The two girls stood in front of the Kyoshi Warriors. "So… which one of you is Suki?"

"That would be me," the girl who said this stepped forward, "And you are?"

"As I told this one here, I'm Katara. And I would appreciate it if you would untie my mother… you can leave the other two alone if you want." She smiled mischievously at that.

"Very funny, Katara. We'd appreciate it if you could free all of us…" Sokka said.

"Kirai, they aren't enemies, are they?" Said warrior shook her head, and the other girls untied their 'prisoners.' "Sorry about that. We've been trying our best to stay out of this war, but the Fire Nation seems to just keep getting closer and closer to us."

Katara shrugged, "It's fine. Just try not to attack the Avatar again, we kind of need him."

Suki's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… this shrimp right her," She jabbed her finger at Aang, "Is the Avatar?" Katara nodded. "We almost did something very… very stupid." Another nod.

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Azula looked out at the vast expanse of water. They were just about ready to set out, and she was feeling very nervous. The only time she had ever left her home was to go to Ember Island, she had never been anywhere else. At least she had Mai.

"So…" Azula nearly jumped in surprised. She hated how her friend would do that. "Do you think we'll run into Katara somewhere along the way?"

Azula looked behind them, and saw a lot of people around. Too many people that could hear them talking. She grabbed Mai's hand and led them to her room, making sure to lock the door when they got inside. "I'm not sure if we will. But, if we do, we're ditching these fools and joining her and the Avatar."

Mai smiled. "Oh, I can't wait to see the reunion…" She tried to stop herself from laughing when Azula muttered what sounded like "pervert."

"I can't wait either. Problem is, we have no idea when it will happen."

"We do know when it will be at the latest." Azula looked at her questioningly. "Katara knows how to strategize. So, she'll be going to the Northern Water Tribe to get allies."

The fire bender felt a smile on her face. "You're right…" a frown quickly replaced the smile, though. "We're going to have to find a way to get to the North Pole before the invasion begins…"

"Aren't you supposed to be the brilliant military mind here?" Azula glared at her. "We wait until were with the fleet going to the tribe. Then we tell them were going to go ahead and try to capture the Avatar so he can't aid the water benders, and that we need maybe… three days?"

"That might work… And I really should have been able to think of that myself."

"Yes. Yes you should have. But… you didn't." Mai added that last part with a smirk. The smirk quickly disappeared when blue flames ignited in Azula's hands.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear you."

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Kuei sighed. "So much has been hidden from me. I should have found it odd that I was never allowed to leave the palace…"

Dormin shook his head, "Even if you had known, there would be nothing you could have done. As long as Long Feng had the Dai Li, he had too much power. It's a good thing I came here six years ago. Who knows what could have happened, otherwise." Dormin looked over at Jin, who was looking at nothing in particular, deep in thought. "I've sent a message to the generals. They'll bring you up to speed on what's going on. In the meantime, I think someone else could use a friend." Kuei nodded, and Dormin got up and walked over to Jin.

Said earth bender was trying to get over her first kill. She didn't think taking a life could affect her like this, but she now realized how wrong that was. "What's wrong?" She looked up at Dormin, who was looking at her with a worried expression.

"How did you feel? After your first kill?" The shadow bender sighed, and sat down next to her. "Were you upset at all? Maybe… angry?"

"No. I enjoyed my first kill. It was a tough fight, but victory just felt so good…" He chuckled. "Of course, my first kill was a dragon made of shadows. So, by the time I killed my first human… well, I was already used to killing monsters so… not really much of an effect. I'm also a bit sadistic in nature, so maybe if my first kill was a human, it wouldn't have mattered much to me anyway." He put his hand on her shoulder, "It'll be alright though. It's not like he didn't deserve what he got, right?" Jin sighed, but nodded. "You were impressive, last night. Tell you what… after we get you trained up by the Dai Li, we'll head to the Si Wong desert to see if any of the sand benders can teach you."

Jin looked at him oddly. "Why should I learn sand bending?"

"You never know what can be useful. Right?" She shrugged.

"You still owe me your life's story." She suddenly spoke. They had been sitting in silence for five minutes.

Dormin rolled his eyes in response. "Yes, and I also promised that I would tell your parents as well. So let's get back to them first, right?" She nodded and they stood up, beginning their long walk from the palace back to Jin's home.

They didn't seem to notice that they were holding hands.

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"And this is where you two will be staying." Suki said as she opened the door and motioned for them to step inside. Now that it was known that they were not only friends, but that the Avatar was with them, they were being treated almost like royalty. Well, royalty according to their standards. Katara had lived with Azula, after all. Nothing seemed to compare to that. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors was showing her and Kya to their room for the time they would spend on the island. Aang and Sokka got their own.

Katara frowned as she thought of Aang. There was now a pack of wild fan girls following him around, and a lot of people were giving him all kinds of attention. He was only twelve, so it would probably make him get a bit full of himself. She just hoped he didn't try to do something stupid to be a showoff.

Then again, if he did something like get eaten by the Unagi, as the people here called it, then she could do her oh so very sadistic blood bending. It had been awhile since she did any blood bending, so she was feeling slightly on edge. Maybe she could start making Sokka hit himself several times while saying 'quit hitting yourself, your going to cause even more brain damage you already have.' Then, Katara noticed something. A sword that Suki was carrying.

"I'm assuming you girls train everyday?"

Suki didn't seem to have expected the question, but answered nonetheless. "Yeah, every morning at dawn. Why?"

Katara glanced at her mother, who raised an eyebrow in response. "Well, I need to keep up with my exercises with my katana and armor… and I think my mom should learn how to use a weapon, since her offensive water bending is… well, abysmal."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to tear everything in sight apart like a certain someone I know." Kya crossed her arms and looked away, trying to look angry. She was failing to do so, however, as she was smirking slightly.

Suki seemed to be considering it for a moment, "Alright, you can join. But you better arrive on time."

Katara nodded while Kya s=responded, "We'll be there."

"Good. If either of you need anything, there's plenty of people around that would be more than happy to help. I'll see you both later!" She waved goodbye and walked out.

"My offensive water bending is abysmal, huh?" Katara gulped, and looked at her mother. Up until now, she had never seen the kind woman ever look sadistic at all.

She supposed that there was a first time for everything.

She didn't realize it until it was too late, however , that the threat wasn't really in front of her, but behind her, as their water skins were set on the table behind her. One minute, she was staring at her mother, watching for any sudden moves. The next, she was trying to swim out of a ball of water that moved wherever she swam, thanks to Kya. Finally, her arms were frozen together and her feet were frozen to the ground.

"You know all I have to do to get out of this is yell for help, right? Suki just said-" She was cut off by water freezing over her mouth.

"I'll come back and check on you in a few hours, alright sweetheart?" Kya walked out of the room giggling madly. Katara just stood, shocked. She didn't know her mother could be so… evil. It was amazing.

She just wish Azula had been here to take advantage of her predicament.

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"Wow…" Jin couldn't believe what they were just told. Born in the Fire Nation, raised in the Royal Palace as well as whoever his teacher traveled. Friends with the princess of the Fire Nation, her two friends, a kidnapped water bender, and his own shadow. And nearly killed by the Fire Lord of all people, which had led him to Ba Sing Se. "So… what happens now?"

Yin and Qingtong hadn't said anything. Dormin wasn't surprised by that, his story was a lot to take in. Here cleared his throat, before answering "Well, I think that things have been set into motion. As I've told you, I'm familiar with the shadows of my friends due to how long I was around them, and Katara as well as Azula are now on the move. And I've felt an air nomad awaken, most likely the Avatar. So, we'll train until we can all meet up. From there… we take down Ozai and the rest of those who are corrupt in the Fire Nation."

"Sounds like a plan."

Everyone was now on the move. Even Ty Lee, as she was traveling with the circus.

Only Dormin seemed to be aware of the other danger which, quite literally, lurked in the shadows. Oh, others had seen it. But only Dormin truly understood it, thanks to his power.

It was the beginning of the end.

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AN: I took way too long wit this chapter! Every single time I got to starting it, something came up. That, along with so much fatigue… man. Oh well. I've been thinking that instead of Aang and Toph, Aang and On Ji might be a better idea… I don't know though. Leave a review! The current poll results are;

Both- 7

Jin- 6

Mai-1

Poor Mai. Hope you all enjoyed his chapter. Until next time!