A/N: Holy crap, Elite isn't permanently inactive! It's summertime (writing season) and I'm ready to kick out more of this story as soon as possible. I've kept you waiting long enough, get reading!
Chaos. Fire.
The spy discretely pulled on her cowl as the stands around her scrambled and panicked. She wove through the crowd like a leaf on the wind and leapt stealthily into the arena's pit. With a quick roll and a leap, she peeked her flaming red hair and deep blue eyes over the floor of the platform.
Her target was saying something now, pointing at the group of guards that had stormed through the arena's main entrance. They slowly and cautiously began to surround the boy, but a loose arrow shattered the wavering silence. The Acolyte fell to a knee; his arm went limp and the tattoos on it flickered and disappeared.
After a second, his body erupted into golden, divine fire. The spy pulled away from the edge, an involuntary reflect from the blinding light. As she hung to the edge of the ring, she could feel the rock stressing and breaking across the platform.
Vision attuned, the spy cautiously pulled herself up over the floor of the platform, but the Acolyte was gone. A trail of golden fire and lava led out into the night beyond the stadium doors. The spy readjusted her cowl, drew her dagger and sprinted after her prey…
Earlier that day…
"Aidan," Kynthia's hand scraped the bottom of their nearly empty rucksack, "we're all out of supplies."
They smuggled themselves in right as the sun had broken over the small mountains around Gaoling. Between the two of them, they had just enough gold to rent a room at a small, rundown inn. Aidan had spent the last few hours sleeping on the old wooden floor of the inn while Kynthia had continued reanalyzing Borealan's journal.
"No food, no water, nothing," Kynthia said with a final sigh, "Aidan, we need money… or rather steal what we need."
Aidan was perched at the room's small window. It was a beautiful spring day outside and the bright sun had warmed the air to unseasonable temperatures. Kynthia guessed he was longingly looking down at the occasional passersby of Gaoling.
"No," Aidan said, turning around and meeting Kynthia's surprised eyes, "I will not steal from these people. They are honest men and women of the Earth Kingdom."
Kynthia flashed him a ridiculous look, but Aidan sternly returned it.
"I'm serious," he replied, "I've spent many years with these people. I cannot bring myself to bring them down any further than the Fire Nation already has."
"Well," Kynthia snapped impulsively, tossing the rucksack aside and throwing up her hands, "what do you suggest we do? Clearly, your morals are too high to ever harm another human being."
It was instantaneous. The temperature in the room plummeted and Aidan slowly turned away from the window. The golden rays of sunlight that had pierced the small, dingy window retreated into the shadows before Aidan's stoic anger. Aidan's silvery eyes were sharpened like swords in the darkened room. Kynthia's stomach dropped like a bag of flour and she knew she had pushed Aidan's sleep-deprived, hunger-starved tolerance too far.
"Aidan, I'm sorr-"
"You crossed a line," he interrupted, his teeth bared like an animal, "I'll be back after dark. Try not to get yourself killed."
And with the swift flip of his hood, he strode past Kynthia without another look, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as he set foot outside of the inn, Aidan's mood lifted into the beautiful spring sky. A warm breeze danced through his olive hood and caressed the back of his neck. Instantly, his ears were filled with sounds of the not-too-distant marketplace; children laughing and playing, merchants preaching their products, and the occasional authoritarian report of an Earth Kingdom Army recruiter making his rounds on the town's able-bodied men. Even though his outlash at Kynthia dampened his mood slightly, he couldn't help but grin as he squinted through the rays of the early morning sun.
Even though Aidan found the ragtag shops and stalls charming, he somberly knew it was direct wear and tear the Hundred Year War had put on this town. Broken windows, unrepaired fences, crudely-patched walls adorned nearly every home and shop around him. Shoddy stone walls sadly crumbled into the street. The children wore clothing only above that of rags and nearly all of the townsfolk looked slightly thin. Yet Aidan could feel their spirit in the market's air: Hope, it seemed, was here to stay.
"Fresh meat! Fresh eggs! Come get your breakfast here!"
Aidan's stomach growled loudly; his gloves, clutched at his abdomen, did little to hide the sound from the elderly woman preaching nearby.
"I heard that," she smiled with a spark in her light blue eyes, "You can't hide that from my sharp senses!"
Aidan grinned and shifted over to the rickety breakfast bar. It looked like it had been built out of the surrounding rubble; blocks of misshapen stone were stacked haphazardly in four columns with a torn piece of olive cloth fluttering between them. Regardless, the bar was sound and the stool felt worn in with years of service.
"Pull back that hood and stay awhile! What can I get you, darling?" the elderly woman asked. Her voice rang with a country accent that Aidan had been absent from for far too long, and her hair was pulled back in a long, country-spun white ponytail.
"Give me the house special, beautiful," Aidan winked, flashing a kind smile and throwing down his hood.
"Oh goodness," the old women laughed, placing a hand upon her bosom, "You're talking to the wrong 'beautiful', young man. Ava!"
Aidan's eyes darted over the breakfast bar to the young woman behind the shack's grill. His eyes connected with hers right as she had spun around; dartingly, Aidan looked away, but not before he could catch a sign of blush upon the young woman's cheek.
"This is my granddaughter Ava," the elderly woman smiled, holding Ava's shoulders, "I think she'll be able to take care of you." And with a wide smile, Ava's grandmother swept back to the grill, leaving Ava awkwardly alone for a moment.
"So," she began, her apprehensive voice laden with the same country accent as her grandmother, "you're a traveler?"
"Some call me that."
"Where have you been?" she asked, an eyebrow raised over her deep, dark brown eyes.
Aidan's memory unexpectedly raced into overdrive: The frozen wastelands of the North, a destroyed Water Tribe inn, the rotting floor of their commandeered Tribe ship. Flashes of Earth Kingdom forest, the massive night sky, and crackling fires flickered like rapid shockwaves through Aidan's psyche. Peppered here and there were the faces of the fallen, the men and women he had heartlessly cut aside to fulfill his bounties in years past. Some screaming, some baring teeth, some crying, all holding fanatic fear as Aidan swept his blade across their body… But something began to warmly pulse and fight back the screams. The sound of her laugh, her voice and the smell of her hair purged Aidan's mind.
"Are you okay?"
Ava's voice jumped Aidan out of his thoughts. He cleared his glassy eyes and found Ava leaning on the countertop, curiously examining him. He grinned.
"Just fine, but to answer your question, I've been everywhere you can imagine."
"Everywhere? I don't believe you."
"Ba Sing Se, Northern Water Tribe, Trav's Tavern, Thieves Landing, the Southern Bay, Kyoshi, Western Air Temple…"
"Fire Nation?" she asked, her tone changing. Aidan saw her eyes flick to his red, linear tattoo on his forearm. He shook his sleeve down.
"Captured," he lied. Aidan knocked the bar with his fist, using his Earthbending to slide a stone cup into his open hand. Ava's suspicious eyes let up with surprise, and Aidan could feel her apprehension evaporate away.
"Let me get you some water," she said with smile, twirling away from the bar and missing Aidan's sigh of relief.
She returned shortly with his meal, pulled up a stool and began to chat. Aidan sideways listened through bites of his surprisingly delicious breakfast: She and her grandmother had moved here only a few years ago after her father and grandfather went off to war. They had literally started with nothing. Poor to begin with, Ava worked up enough gold to purchase this lot in the market and her grandmother had scavenged anything she could in order to get a grill up and running. So far, they had made enough money to rent a room at a nearby inn and support themselves, but the newly imposed "War Taxes" had drained anything else dry.
"We've been doing the best we can," she sighed, sweeping Aidan's cleaned plate away and placing it into a nearby basket, "Anyway, that'll be 3 silver pieces."
Aidan plunged his hand into his cloak and his stomach lurched.
Nothing! Kynthia probably has it!
For a split second, there was an awkward moment where Aidan sheepishly looked up from Ava's outstretched palm to her eyes, but her visage instantly and stoically solidified.
"Gran," she called over her shoulder, not letting Aidan leave her sight, "the boy can't pay!"
"Whoa, hold on," Aidan said, leaping out of his stool, "Look I can get the mon-"
"DON'T YOU MOVE!" Ava's grandmother called, pointing a dirtied, bent spatula in his direction, "GUARDS!"
Conveniently, a nearby two-man patrol froze and turned, lowering their pikes at Aidan's back. Aidan froze with his hands in the air, and the cheery atmosphere of the market died away.
"What do you think you're doing, boy?" one of the guards asked, poking Aidan's lower back with the tip of his pike, "Stealing from these poor women… dishonorable. What would your family say?"
"He's not from around here, Sergeant," Ava said loudly, causing previously undisturbed passerbys to cease their activities, "Some traveler."
"Please, give me a moment to explain," Aidan said calmly, gazing over his left shoulder at the guards, "I promise I can make this up to them if you give me a chance."
The guard eyed Aidan behind his rough, grizzled beard before cautiously lowering his pike. His associate followed suit, but Aidan could sense that they were ready to react should Aidan pull some dubious move. Aidan looked back into Ava's eyes with sincerity.
"I'm going to need you to cover all of your equipment with cloth; it's about to get a little dusty."
"What'd he say?" Ava's grandmother asked loudly, still wiggling the old spatula in the ranger's direction.
"Gran," Ava said quietly, not breaking Aidan's gaze, "Let's do as he says. Help me cover the grill."
Aidan waited pertinently, hands behind his head, as Ava threw a grimy cloth over the grill, stowing what meager possessions they had underneath it. The guards were still close, clearly within Aidan's comfort zone, and a small, curious crowd had congealed, emitting a low rumble of gossip over the scene.
"You've got five minutes, stranger," the Sergeant growled, "Or we'll haul your hide away."
Aidan rolled his eyes.
"Ava," he called, "Can you and your grandmother leave the grill for a moment? I don't want you two to get in the way."
"Get in the way of what?" a young, but butch feminine voice mockingly asked from the crowd. Aidan ignored it.
"Gran, this way," Ava said, taking her grandmother's arm, but she ripped it away.
"I'm not that old, Ava. I can walk on my own!"
Aidan shared a quick grin with Ava as she trotted behind her grandmother to safety. Once they had positioned themselves safely within the crowd, Aidan unbuttoned his cloak and tossed it to the side, revealing his tan skin and rich, linear tattoos to the populace. Despite the gasps and whispers, Aidan focused and pulled his body into a stable Earthbender's stance. The sounds of the market slowly faded away and tranquility filled Aidan's senses.
Quickly, Aidan swept the haphazard columns of stacked stones away in a single brush and leapt forward, slamming his fist down onto the dusty earth. Six perfectly square columns erupted from the ground, arranged in a flawless hexagon shape. Some people in the crowd were clapping; Aidan's sharp ears could hear a baby laughing, but he pushed this distraction out of his mind. He refocused, breathed deep and slammed his fore-foot forward, simultaneously lifting the wall of earth with his clenched hands. Even with his muscles budging, the first wall of six rose rather quickly and Aidan repeated the same technique for the next four walls with increasing difficultly. After solidifying the fifth wall into place, Aidan exhaled and broke his stance, leaning down on his knees and watching beads of sweat roll off his nose onto the dusty road below.
"That's incredible!"
"Amazing! We need more of you around here!"
"Hey!"
Aidan looked up, still breathing heavily, to meet Ava's voice that he had picked out from the astonished crowd. She was clearly flabbergasted, nearly stumbling on her way up to him.
"You don't have to do this… this is too much… the guards already said you're clear to-"
"Ava," Aidan said, cutting her off and placing a hand on her shoulder, "It's nothing. After your life of hardship and uncertainty, a stranger giving you and your grandmother a favor is small act of Fate in the right direction. I am honored to help your family."
"But-" Ava began, but Aidan laughed.
"I'm not taking this down now!" he said, then gestured to Ava's grandmother, "Stay with her, I need some room."
The crowd backing away from Aidan's strained and glistening body, the powerful Earthbender stood strong, intently focused on the remaining wall. Aidan closed his eyes: He could envision the slab of earth breaking out of its eternal prison, throwing gravel and dust everywhere. It excited Aidan, the challenge and the risk of failure. His boots dug deep into the ground with the quick twist of his ankles. The earth shook and quaked underneath his wide stance as Aidan slowly lifted the mass of stone. Blood rushed fast into Aidan's face; his joints strained and cracked; the bulging muscles along the top of his back felt like they were about to tear themselves in two. Pain slowly threatened to clog Aidan's focus like viscous industrial sludge.
And then suddenly, the wall shot into the air and slammed into the structure's ceiling, anchoring itself perfectly on the building's foundation, completely without any extra effort from Aidan. His stomach dropped momentarily as he thought he saw a glint of gold fade away; he half expected the crowd to be gawking at him like some freak. His Acolyte powers were normally well-reserved and controlled, but its animalistic spirit would occasionally flare up under high-stress conditions. However, Aidan was unsure whether or not his powers had activated or rather something or someone else had powerfully intervened.
But then the crowd cheered. Ava and her grandmother quickly squeezed Aidan tight around his sweaty abdomen, expressing thanks over and over as they jumped up and down. But Aidan couldn't focus on them or the praise.
Someone in that crowd helped me. Had to…
Unconsciously throwing on his dusty cloak, Aidan broke free and wove into the crowd, his sharp eyes searching for any telltale sign of an Earthbender: Wide standing stance, mangled knuckles, general refusal to move body if at all possible and a healthy, omnipresent coating of dust and dirt.
Nothing!
The villagers quickly disbanded, having already been delayed from their daily routine by the impressive display of bending. The dispersing of the mob only discouraged Aidan from seeking the mysterious bender and, with an audible sigh, he gave up.
"With that attitude it doesn't surprise me you couldn't lift that little wall," a pugnacious, taunting voice chimed from a nearby, covered alley. Aidan perked up, the fires of retort quelled by his thirst for knowledge.
"People get so impressed by sissies nowadays," the voice mumbled thereafter, and Aidan saw the small figure kick a rock upon the street.
"Sissies? Little girl, you're talking some big game. What's your deal?" asked Aidan with a slight sneer. His eyebrows narrowed on the covered, dark alleyway.
"This 'little girl' saved your butt back there, Golden Boy. You should be singing me praises!"
Aidan had enough of this. Quickly checking for guards or snooping villagers, Aidan threw two fingers toward the girl and flashed a bolt of fire past her figure. She instinctively leapt back up against the dusty wall, but not before Aidan caught a glimpse of her.
Past her rough, bull-like bun of jet black hair, the girl's jade eyes flashed like fogged over crystals. Clearly blind, she was composed and completely coordinated. Her frame was wide, strong and supported, but, as an attribute to her age, she was barely half Aidan's height. Aidan couldn't help smiling at the character; she was a loaded pistol. A very small pistol.
"Hey!" she yelled, facing Aidan with her heels dug into the earth, "How'd you do that? Who are you?"
"Do what?" Aidan jeered, grinning ear to ear.
"Firebend! Right there, I just felt it!"
"Little girl, you are so confused. I'm an Earthbender. Now where are your parents? I'm sure their getting worried that you're talking with strangers," Aidan patronized, adding to the girl's very visible frustration and slowly began to turn away.
"Prove it!"
Aidan's eyes flared as the girl deftly dropped into an unusual stance. He had seen it only once before, in an ancient Earthbending scroll, and Aidan was certain its practice had died out long after the first, blind Earthbending monks. The girl skillfully drew her bare foot across the dusty street and lashed out with one of her hands. A pillar rocketed out of the ground with unexpected speed; Aidan didn't even recognize that he had dodged it. Dropping out of adrenaline, Aidan sneered, spun and kicked the ground with the tip of his boot. A blunderbuss blast of fist sized rocks scattered toward the girl, but she calmly blocked them with her hand. They quivered slightly before, one by one, falling to the street from whence they came.
"You're good."
"Well, you're not bad, Golden Boy," the blind girl said with an approving smile. She folded her arms.
"Southern Mantis style? Not formally trained?" Aidan asked. Her jaded eyes lit up behind her jagged bangs.
"I'm the greatest bender in this city and I trained myself. Formal enough for me," she retorted, "And look who's talking? What are you, a Firebender gone Earth?"
"Something like that," Aidan brushed off, "Thanks for your help back there. What's your name?"
The girl froze for a moment before replying with a grin.
"Bandit."
Aidan raised an eyebrow.
"Convincing. Mine's Aidan… not Golden Boy."
Bandit folded her arms and blew her bangs from her face in apparent annoyance. Her jaded eyes snapped to Aidan's vacant purse.
"You're a little light on the coin," she said smugly, "But how would you like to help me out? You're a better bet than these other idiots in this town."
Aidan's first reaction was apprehension and before he could reply, the little girl quickly cut him off.
"Look, I feel you getting scared. You can't bend shops and houses every time you need a meal. How about you be a man and help me... Golden Boy."
She extended her rough, callused hand. Aidan stared her down for a moment before abandoning all caution and thus placing trust in this curious, little girl.
"Deal," Aidan said, matching her mischievous grin, and the two Earthbenders' hands came together in a burst of dry dust.
The crowd's roar echoed throughout the empty, stone locker room. Although slightly muffled, its amplitude was still impressive after penetrating through several feet of bedrock. It became a soft of mind-numbing white noise similar to that of a rain shower underneath the canopy of the forest or ocean breakers crashing upon a seaside cliff. A slight sigh broke the ambience, originating from a lone figure resting on one of the locker room's many bland, stone benches.
Head in his hands, Aidan rubbed his temples, his eyes closed. His tattered olive cloak was folded beside him; a singed, burnt white tank top stretched across his chest and bruised back. Boots unstrapped and thrown aside, Aidan methodically dug his toes into the stone, digging ten miniature trenches underneath the stone bench. He sighed again and opened his eyes, staring unfocused at the cuffs of his tan pants.
Rig the largest bending competition in the Earth Kingdom… Earth Rumble VI…
That was the plan, short and simple. Bandit wanted into the championship round and a little help was needed. The top contender, The Boulder, was on a weeklong hot streak and showed no signs of slowing down. The Bandit was in a separate bracket, otherwise, as she had reminded Aidan several times, she would deal with The Boulder herself. The Boulder would be impossible to knock out of the tournament completely… but if Aidan won their bracket, The Boulder would have to fight every single contender tomorrow in order to face the defending champion, The Blind Bandit.
Of course, this wasn't without compensation. The Bandit promised to take her daily winnings and split it with Aidan, summing over 200 gold Earth Kingdom pieces.
Easily enough to support Kyn and I for months…
The opportunity was too good to pass up. Plus, Aidan had been itching to release some frustration out on someone other than Kynthia. The sting of her comment still hung heavy on his conscious. He breathed in deep, closing his silvery eyes, and slowly exhaled, allowing his respite to echo in the barren, stone walls of the locker room. The silence was momentary as quick footsteps rapidly approached his position.
"Ah, there you are," Xin Fu growled, standing stalwart in the bended doorway, "You're up, Drifter. Three round fight against Boulder, now."
"Yes, sir!" Aidan mocked, eyeing Xin down. Aidan hardly knew him, but it was instant dislike from first sight.
"Just get out there and make those people give me their money."
Aidan stared him down as he left the locker room. Aidan threw off his tank top and quickly dug into the folded cloak at his side to retrieve a pitch black bandana. He hastily tied this around his face as he rounded the corner out of the locker room.
It hit Aidan like lightening. Xin Fu, ten or so meters ahead, bended a doorway into the ring with the stomp of his foot and the roar of the crowd came storming in. From both the intense light and sound, Aidan winced and threw up a forearm. He squinted into the blinding glare and slowly his vision began to adjust.
Aidan followed Xin Fu onto the platform. The stadium's stands revolved around him for meters into the air. A distinct, empty band of rows circled in the inner perimeter of the stands, absent to prevent injury to the notoriously ravenous Earth Rumble fans. Gigantic, glowing green crystals high above lit the stadium's floor.
"Citizens of Gaoling and the Earth Kingdom itself," Xin Fu announced from his high podium, "I bring you the final event of Day Five! The Boulder must defeat this last challenger in order to directly move into the championship ring!"
The crowd roared and Aidan could feel the vibrations in his feet. Across the platform, The Boulder relished in the praise. As he flexed his muscles to the crowd, Aidan caught a glimpse of his purple, badgermole tattoo slung across his back.
"Should our challenger, who calls himself Drifter, defeat The Boulder, he will be able to compete tomorrow in the final championship!"
The crowd apparently did not find Aidan's presence amusing. Aidan ignored the small rocks and slurs that were pelted in his direction.
"The Boulder agrees with his loyal fans and can't wait to… rock and roll over his opponent!" The Boulder wildly proclaimed, pointing a finger at Aidan.
"The Drifter wonders why The Boulder talks in such a self-conceited fashion," Aidan mocked without skipping a beat, behind his black bandana, "Probably because he uses every muscle but the one that matter most." Aidan grinned wildly underneath his bandana and tapped his temple with two of his fingers.
A few brave souls in the crowd chuckled, but the laughter was quick to die. The Boulder shifted into his stance and Aidan mirrored.
"Earthbenders… fight!" Xin Fu declared.
Xin Fu's falling hand slowed to a crawl as Aidan entered his familiar, comforting combat state of mind. Silvery eyes fixated, Aidan watched his opponent began to slowly shift forward, digging into the ring with the outside edge of his foot. The Boulder slowly pushed it forward and then, with surprising agility, to the side swiftly, slamming Aidan out of his premeditated trance with a block of earth to his ribs. Tears clouded Aidan's vision for a moment, but it was clear enough to see one thing: The Boulder was not intending to show-boat this round. Using the split second to shield his face and eyes, Aidan clenched his gut as another pillar rocked his torso and, consequently, sent him flying out of the ring.
The roar of the crowd exploded into his senses and his vision was still clouded with pain. He had landed in the stands amongst the fans, who viciously mocked and patronized him as Aidan struggled to regain his grounds. To be honest, he had not expected this level of skill out of someone whose sole purpose was to put on shows for a crowd. Popping his neck, Aidan jumped up, throwing the hecklers off of his battered body, and stared down his worthy opponent as the blood from his toothy grin soaked through his concealing bandana.
"The victor of the first round, the crowd favorite, The Boulder!" Xin Fu shouted, bending a small platform underneath The Boulder's feet. Aidan rolled his eyes and rolled his shoulder around in an attempt to ignore the dull, widespread pain that was set deep into his torso.
Aidan pulled himself back up onto the ring and shook the sweat from his hair. Focusing, Aidan's vision became narrowed and colorless; The Boulder stood alone at the end of a blackened plane of existence. Xin Fu yelled some showy gibberish that echoed incoherently and distortedly through Aidan's cleared mind. Behind narrowed, sharp blades of silver, the Acolyte's spirit was focused on one thing and one thing only: his enemy. The adrenaline in his arteries began to ramp up; Aidan squeezed his fists tight, bulging the veins in his forearm. His Acolyte spirit lashed and tore at its internal chains like a beast threatening to unleash itself at a moment's notice. Dull stripes of divine gold began to pulsate over his tattooed Chi lines…
Again, with surreal slowness, Xin Fu's hand swiped downwards. Instantly, Aidan dug his toes deep into the earth and pushed off with almost super-human fervor. The Boulder reacted quickly with skill, swiping his fist upwards and punching block after block of solid stone at Aidan's rolling and weaving figure. The Acolyte's mind cleanly calculated every evasive maneuver; spent chunks of stone were sent hurdling in every direction. The crowd's roar violently vamped louder and louder as the distance closed; Aidan's heart surged and pumped energy throughout his entire being. His breathing was rampant, fast, vicious; a familiar burning filled his lungs and his mind and suddenly-
The crowd was silent. Awaking, Aidan found himself with his glowing hand curled around The Boulder's neck. The arrogant showman now held fear and shock in his eyes; Aidan quickly noticed two spots of radiant gold reflecting out from his wide pupils. Shocked himself, Aidan pulled his hand away from the man's neck like reacting to hot pan. He fell to the ground in a pitiful slump.
Suddenly, the silence was broken with the rupturing of earth and Aidan instinctively peeled backwards to avoid a lethally launched boulder. He caught himself from stumbling and wheeled around to see his attacker. Xin Fu stood breathing heavily, glaring.
"Guards, control him!" he yelled, bringing up another boulder and kicking it in Aidan's direction. Instincts told Aidan to dodge and duck, but his Acoylte spirit refused.
Quickly solidifying his stance, Aidan reached out with both of his hands and swiftly slowed the boulder down in midflight. Then, with the same fluid motion, he launched his entire body behind it and forced it, with ten times the power, back at Xin Fu. His victim rolled away from the missile, but it wasn't fast enough. Aidan, with some degree of pleasure, watched Xin Fu's body tumble and skid off the side of his Earth Rumble ring.
"That's clear assault! Arrest him!"
The guard's shout brought Aidan back to the reality of the situation. The crowd now was in full panic; they commenced to flood out of the ring through any possible orifice. A large force of city and arena guards began to circle around Aidan, all with swords, spears, and bows drawn. Their nerves could be felt in the dusty air of the arena; a golden aura still persisted in around Aidan's vision. He raised a calming hand up.
"Pleas-"
A frightened guard let loose his arrow and, falling to a knee, Aidan felt the feeling out of his left arm vanish. His illuminated Chi lines flickered and died as his arm went limp. Nearly panicking, Aidan attempted to move his arm or hand… nothing. Aidan stared at it for a moment in shock before the anger began to rise like an erupting volcano. He snapped the shaft of the arrow off with his other hand and slowly rose his eyes to the guards. The golden aura at the edge of his vision threatened to take over completely and Aidan struggled to maintain cool control over his animalistic spirit.
"Leave or die where you stand."
A few of the greener guards were quick to take Aidan's offer. Their weapons hadn't even hit the arena's floor before they were rushing out with the crowd into the streets. The more grizzled guards didn't even flinch. Aidan had to momentarily admire their training before narrowing his eyes…
With a vicious yell, Aidan let the fire engulf his body and his vision boiled over in gold.
Lightening fractured the night sky, blinding Aidan's already smudged vision. His legs were in full sprint and screaming in pain. Someone was chasing him, but he didn't know who or even why. He just knew he had to run, sprint, hide, escape. Gold light rapidly splashed off of the soaked cobblestone alleyway. With a glance, Aidan involuntarily looked down at the Chi line along his forearm. Mysteriously no tattoo…
Before Aidan could raise his eyes, he found himself flat on his back with the wind knocked clear out of him. The distinctive sounds of Fire Nation armor stomped their way over Aidan's body, roughly followed by a grasp around Aidan's collar. Aidan looked up into the grizzled soldier's face, splashed unnaturally with gold. Fear dug deep into Aidan's chest and heart; the soldier slowly raised back a charged fist.
"You sick abomination…"
Aidan closed his eyes, looked away and tried to pull himself away from the man's grasp. It was fruitless.
Make it quick…
The man's grasp went limp; Aidan slipped from his armored forearm and fell hard upon the street. The solder screamed something before a rush of wind deafened Aidan's ears. Disoriented, confused, Aidan scrambled underneath an abandoned street stall and skidded onto his back. The Fire Nation soldier yelled again and lit the alleyway up with a plume of flame, but it was quickly and easily dispersed by some invisible force. The soldier began to back away, throwing bolt after bolt down the dirty alleyway, until a tendril of water raced past the shop stall and slammed its way into the Fire Nation soldier's body. Slumped up against the wall, the soldier's armor was now crumpled like parchment; protruding icy spikes began to drip crimson from his chest.
Quickly, Aidan's savior rapidly approached. Aidan gingerly crawled out from under the shop stall and looked up into two electric blue orbs. A circlet of illuminated water wove its way around his savior's old, tired body. Weathered hands lifted Aidan up by his shoulders.
"I should have never left you."
Aidan's head pounded. A high pitch ring chimed in his ears, nearly cutting out any sound from his surroundings. He weakly clawed at the filthy dirt underneath his broken body; his left hand felt alien, heavy. Aidan tried rolling over onto his back, but at the slightest twist, his ribs exploded in pain. Aidan let out an involuntary cry; it echoed like a canyon in the abandoned alleyway.
The alleyway became silent. Aidan's ears searched for a sound. Nothing. Ambient noises from the street, the surrounding slums, everywhere seemed to fear and retreat from Aidan's broken body and withdraw back into the shadows. Frantically, Aidan's silver eyes scanned the half of the alleyway that his useless body would allow him to see. The inky, wet darkness of the corridor hid anything beyond a few feet. His heart threatened to explode from his throat.
Footsteps. Slow, methodical, trained footsteps. The intense pain prevented him from rolling over; Aidan's eye widened into a silvery mirror. A measured unsheathing of a blade quickened Aidan's pace. His right arm useless, Aidan slammed his left fist onto the ground and bended a sharp rock the size of his palm into his hand. He grimaced, but it was the best he had.
"The great and elusive Acolyte Aidan..." the muffled feminine voice played, "After years of searching and research, you were the one to defeat yourself. It was nice, really, I didn't have to risk a bloody encounter nor did I hurt any… innocents in the process."
She ended on a disturbingly sarcastic note. A leather-bound hand latched onto Aidan's shoulder and ripped his body over onto his back. The enormous shock of pain sent gold searing into his vision and another yell into the street. Both seemed to fade into the night without a second thought.
"I really thought you'd be a challenge over that girl, but," the assassin placed a knife up to Aidan's tense throat, "I guess I was wrong."
Aidan growled and spit a slug of congealed blood onto the assassin's cowl. She didn't even flinch.
"I never die," Aidan snarled defiantly.
The knife pierced his skin.
A gust of wind barreled down the alleyway and the knife was thrown to the side. Aidan winced in pain as his body was roughly thrown to the wayside underneath a destroyed vendor's stand. He peered up from its wreckage to see a heaving, tense form. Electric blue light pierced the inky black of the abandoned alleyway.
"Kyn?"
Her eyes shown with brief Acolyte fury, but they faded back to emerald green as soon as she saw him. Within seconds, she was under his shoulder.
"I should have never left you."
Her voice was choked and tears streamed down her dirtied face. She quickly wiped them away in the nook of Aidan's neck before trekking down the length of the alleyway. Fading fast, Aidan got one last look at her streaked, yet determined face before the pain began to overtake the adrenaline. The clutches of sleep pulled his conscious away…
A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. I appreciate each and every single one of them. Drop me a review if you so please and feel free to criticize/hate/love/tell-me-off-for-making-you-wait-so-long-for the chapter. Reader input makes me a better writer! Thanks!
