It was not really his style, but it was pertinent that he gather more information. Putting his espionage-like skills to the test, he deftly shadowed three Dai Li agents, stalking after them as they made their way to what the masked man hoped, was their headquarters.
Taking over the organization would be a good first step into gaining a foothold in this world and working towards returning home. Resources were everything. After careful research, Amon found that these Dai Li agents controlled nearly every facet of internal affairs in the city. With use of the Dai Li, he would have nearly infinite funds, resources, anything, before moving on to his next step. Finding the Avatar. As much as he loathed needing the use of such a villain, he was well aware of the powers of the "Bridge Between the Spirit World and Physical World".
The three unsuspecting agents were now walking out of the city's borders towards the shore of Lake Laogai. Remaining aware of the need for camouflage Amon dashed to the side to rest behind a boulder, large enough to hide his presence.
Silently, two of the agents performed a concerted movement. A manhole-shaped opening materialized as if by command, and the three descended the entrance.
Amon, knowing he had seconds before the entrance disappeared, made a beeline straight for the opening, and stopped just after making it through. The instant lack of light after the entrance closed forced him to squint his eyes from underneath his mask. Still not moving, he mentally counted to seven before sliding down the steel ladder.
"I had received a scroll from one of Zuko's friends, Sokka, that they had commandeered a fire nation vessel and are going to 'be the tree that hides within the forest'."
Bolin scratched his head with a single finger, concentrating on the gray haired Iroh's statement.
"...What?"
"It means that Korra and her new friends are going to be hiding from within the fire nation," Lin Beifong explained as if bored. Bolin sighed in response, craning his head back.
"And we couldn't say that, to begin with, why?" Bolin asked aloud, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. The teamaker simply laughed heartily.
"I can see that you are a straightforward kind of person," Iroh appraised.
"So can you tell us how we can reach them, Mr. Iroh?" Bolin replied, to which Iroh simply laughed, but this time it was more subdued.
"Please, just call me Iroh," he said with a smile. Once again becoming serious, the retired general turned to open a drawer, and pulled out a map. Turning to face the two earthbenders again, he placed the map, spread out, onto the table.
"The first stop that they've told me they would head is through the wilderness that surrounds the fire nation colonies. Here." Iroh pointed to a specific area on the map. "From there, unfortunately, i'm not sure where their next stop would be."
Lin Beifong stood up and bowed respectfully to Iroh. "Thank you for your assistance, General."
"Anything for a charming young lady," Iroh replied coolly.
"Hm," Lin muttered, clearly not impressed. Quickly, she rolled up the map and walked out of the tea shop, Bolin following after waving to Iroh.
"Korra, wake up."
"Huh?" she voiced groggily. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Korra stretched her arms and legs. Belatedly, Korra realized the sun was just beginning to rise. It was still dawn.
"Hey, what happened to the guys chasing us?"
"Dunno," Zuko replied calmly. "Azula's men had turned around without a word. Something must have come up." Zuko's voice was heavy. No doubt he disliked being kept out of the information loop.
"What could be more important than two teens storming a fire nation palace?"
Zuko stopped his packing to glare pitilessly. "Did you seriously just ask that?" he retorted sarcastically.
"Sounded better in my head," Korra countered defensively. Zuko finished up packing all of the laid out supplies and reattached them to the already awake Kimodo-Rhino.
"Bright side is it's better for us. We better get going," Korra said, throwing her spare water skins into the satchels on the sides of the saddle. Zuko nodded in agreement as he unhooked the leash from the impromptu stable.
"Well, see, it's a funny story," Sokka answered. "You might wanna sit down," he offered, removing his fire nation helmet. Aang nodded, sitting down on upraised metal surface.
"After Azula went and shot that lightning at you, Katara got Appa and got all of us out of there. Her spirit magic water thing woke you up before you passed out again.
Aang touched his back, almost as though reaching for the scar. He could feel it there, like a dull ache. "I think I was actually...gone," Aang muttered. "But you brought me back," looking at Sokka's sister. "Thank you Katara."
Katara only smiled softly, but didn't say anything else.
"Anyway, we decided to conduct a grand theft ship, and here we are! Oh, and Zuko and Korra went to rescue the Iroh from the future."
"Wait, what!"
"Hey it's a good idea! You were kinda, you know, unconscious, and she's the Avatar, too! Just the confusion we need!" Sokka reasoned while holding up his hands defensively.
"I know, but this is dangerous. More dangerous than normal," Aang persisted, finally standing up. He settled for pacing rather than sitting down.
"I don't know what'll happen if I get hurt or if she gets hurt. Two Avatars living at the same time is already an imbalance. And i'm supposed to be all about balance! Two people that represent balance, living at the same time, causes an imbalance! This is not good!"
"Aang, calm down! I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is," Sokka assured with a hand on his shoulder.
"I hope so. I'm surprised nothing crazy has happened in the Spirit World yet," Aang said while rubbing his head. Then his eyes widened as he remembered something.
"Oh, no! That one guy!"
The gaang, Pipsqueak and Duke looked at each other dumbly.
"Uh, what guy?" Sokka asked the obvious question.
Aang sighed before plopping back on the seat he was using. "You guys aren't going to believe this."
