Chapter 9

Haku turned to Katara. "Would you like to meet the Speaker?"

She turned sharply. "Meet him?"

"I'm not sure how he would like it, but I feel you have a right to know who he is."

Haku frowned. "In fact, I doubt he would like it at all. I don't think you'd like it either. When you met him, he was an enemy to you."

Katara stood firm, holding her head high. "I don't care. I have to know how I'm supposed to defeat Kolyn and according to you, he's the only one who knows."

There was a soft flutter of wind and Haku stood beside her in his Ki-lin form. She suddenly felt insignificant beside him. If he had been intimidating in his human form, it was nothing compared to now.

Slowly, he bent one knee and knelt before her clearly indicating what she was to do but she stood still.

Haku chuckled, a deep sound from within his chest.

"I have only offered my back to one human besides you. Don't be afraid."

Katara walked forward and swung her leg over his back. As he stood, she felt the surge of power beneath her and threw her arms around his neck.

Ziri sat with a sigh on the nearest boulder he could find next to the stream, peeling off his clothes to bathe. Kanna had not let them rest, pushing him on to what she called his duty. He had worn his clothes until they were as tough as his boots and then worn them still. At last, she said they could stop; however, she did not rest as he did. Instead she stood a ways away, unmoving, ever looking to the south beyond the trees, her snow white cloak unmoved by the gentle breeze.

The water was edged with ice and chilled him to the bone but it felt so good to be clean for the first time in so long. He scrubbed his clothes and then wrapped up in his own cloak to wait for them to dry. Unlike his regular clothes, the cloak Kanna had given him never became caked with ice, or made him too hot, or became stiff with over-wearing.

Wrapped in the cloak even the snow didn't seem as cold and he walked over to the edge of the cliff where the stream erupted into beautiful waterfall. He sat by the edge and looked over. The crevice in the earth was deep. The water disappeared into the black abyss and it seemed to fall forever with no echo of the torrential crash at the bottom.

"Something my brother used to say," Kanna stated. "'When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you."

Below him, something seemed to move. Ziri leaned further over the edge to get a better look. Again, it seemed like the bottom of the crevice was moving. Whatever was down there was huge.

Suddenly Kanna grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him backwards. Ziri skidded over the snow until he came to a stop. When he looked back to her, she had changed into her Ki-Lin form and an enormous dark cloud was rising up from the crevice.

Fire…the trees…

Dark shapes…arrows…

Blood…her blood…

Zyperis treaded softly to where the Fire Lord lay dying. He pressed his cheek to the man's upraised hand and closed his eyes.

"All goes well." He said, talking as much to himself as to Ozai.

The sick man smiled. "I knew it would with you taking charge."

Zyperis smiled weakly. Ozai raised his free hand and patted his cheek.

"You look thin, Peris. You are taking care of yourself aren't you?"

"I admit I'm stretching myself thin. I want so much to live up to those before me."

It was strange that this man, this victim of his, was the only one he could speak to honestly.

"Don't forget yourself." Ozai replied. "You can't appear like this to the people. You have dark circles under your eyes and you look half-starved."

He called to a servant and ordered her to bring them some food.

"I'm just afraid," Zyperis continued, lying down next to the Fire Lord who wrapped an arm around him.

"I'm afraid that I've missed something, that something I've not foreseen is going to happen and all will go horribly wrong."

"We make mistakes to learn from them. I don't think you've ever made one."

Zyperis sighed. "That's why I'm afraid. Have I done things too well?"

Ozai chuckled but did not reply. By the time the maid had returned with food, the Fire Lord was asleep and Zyperis was gone.

Sokka ate with gusto like one half-starved. The inn was large but quiet, travelers too tired to engage in much conversation. Jun ignored the reborn Water Tribe soldier for she had eyes only for Rou. He had been rather quiet the past couple of days, his eyes almost weary now.

Noticing her gaze, he turned and smiled. "Where to next, Jun?"

She shrugged and the boy stopped eating long enough to throw in a word.

"I have to find Katara and Aang and Toph! They probably still think I'm dead."

Rou's smile grew somber but remained there none the less and he nodded.

"Yes, I think that's the way we should go."

Sokka shoved another mouthful in. "By the way," he said, muffled by the chewing of food, "Who are you guys again?"

"Jun," she replied for the fifth time.

"I'm…Rou." He responded and Jun noted the hesitation. She wondered but she said nothing.

Katara was surprised when her body fell in line with Haku's step instantly as they skipped across the waves with a speed she couldn't comprehend. He moved as lithely as a cat, surefooted over the storm waves. The rain which should've hit her like bullets never made it to her skin.

With her hands wrapped in his silken mane, she couldn't enjoy the experience with the apprehension of meeting the Speaker just ahead of her.

Maybe he knew if Zuko was okay.

Deception…disgrace…

He hadn't shed a tear in centuries. Even when he had left, it had been dry sobs that wracked his body until he collapsed.

"You lied to me, Haku."

Katara looked around sharply. She'd barely felt Haku stop moving. They were in a place she'd never seen before but a dark aura from in front of her made her feel sick. At the top of a hill before them stood another Ki-Lin and a dark-haired man and she slipped down from Haku's back suddenly glad she had brought the Kun.

"Chiemi," Haku said, walking forward and Katara followed. The Ki-Lin nodded to him before returning her gaze forward. The dark-haired man wore a mask over most of his face, only showing his mouth. The mask was pure white and carved in the likeness of a creature she'd never seen before, some type of large cat. The rest of his clothing was black giving the mask a look of floating against the night sky.

Haku turned. "I did not lie to you. I said the pain would heal with time. I did not say how long it would take."

Katara spun around. "It's you?"

The Speaker turned and she could feel his stare through the eyes in his mask and Katara shook her head and drew the Kun, holding it between him and her. The frozen blade began to glow with her anger.

"You killed my brother!"

"Katara!" Haku said reproachfully but she stood there, shaking. However, the Speaker did not draw the blade that hung on his back.

"Your brother's alive, Katara. His death fulfilled two purposes, releasing your mother from her bondage and bringing Alem into his true power, the power over life and death. "

"Why must you be so cold," she cried, tears spilling down her tired cheeks. "So cruel,"

He sighed. "Someone must be. You may hate me for it but admit it must be done. Someone must make the decisions no one else can make. It is Fate that is cruel, I only speak for it."

The Kun fell to the ground and she cried soundlessly. Behind the mask, his gaze softened.

"In answer to your next question, Zuko is well."

Katara dropped the Kun but the Speaker stepped forward and caught her as she fell. It felt so strange lying there in the arms of the man who'd caused so much pain and being watched by two immortal creatures.

"Tell me there's a happy ending."

She felt his smile rather than saw it.

"Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet. But there will be peace for you."

He gently pulled her to her feet and she followed his gaze to the valley below them. Chiemi and Haku were watching as well and in the valley floor a hole opened, the earth falling in as if it had been eaten away from below.

Chiemi laid her ears back flat and stamped a hoof. "Please tell me we can kill them, Speaker."

Katara looked to the masked man and he seemed to contemplate for a moment. Then he drew the sword from its sheathe on his back.

"Yes. I think it's time we let Kolyn know we're here."

Katara picked up the Kun and Chiemi drew herself up. Haku merely gave himself a mild shake. At first Katara couldn't see what they were talking about and then something moved in the valley floor.

People…no…things were crawling out of the hole in the valley floor; grotesque manifestations of something that might have been living centuries ago but clearly was no more. The moon fell on the swarm and one such creature raised its head. Katara automatically recoiled. The thing had no eyes, two slits for nostrils and a gaping hole where its mouth should've been. It gave an unearthly screech and she could actually see its vocal cords vibrating.

"You shouldn't have brought her, Haku." The Speaker said.

Katara shook her head. "I'll have to face them sometime or another."

"For Mother." Chiemi said softly.

"For life," Haku said.

The Speaker remained silent for a moment but then spoke.

"For Ana."

Katara closed her eyes. She felt as if the Kun itself was speaking to her. She raised the blade straight over her head.

"Notame Heiwa!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

She blinked with surprise as the Speaker thrust his sword into the air beside hers and shouted the same. Chiemi screamed it while raised on her hind legs and Haku gave a fearsome cry as they all thrust forward. She had little time to think about what it was she had said before the first of the undead was upon them. At first Katara froze, unable to think, when the snarling beast was split in half by the Speaker's sword.

Then instinct took over. The Kun flew, sliced, and hacked through the never-ending onslaught of demon flesh.

Jet gasped, the frozen tundra making it hard to breathe. Kazearashi looked at him coldly.

"Get up," she said.

He stood, the muscles in his legs trembling. The Hiketsu felt like a thousand pounds hanging from his neck.

"I can barely stand, Kaze…"

"Do you think your enemies will wait until you are well rested?" she retorted.

He sat in the snow and put his head in his hands. As he did so, the Spirit Realm faded and he shook his head, barely able to stand and crawl into his sleeping bag.

The three had been having a rough time since leaving Tasha. Peris had gotten the word around faster than Azula had planned and they had to run. She had felt no guilt in leaving the camp in ashen ruins however finding the Avatar again would be difficult.

They began raiding Fire Nation patrols and supply chains. Azula had all the information locked away in her head but she felt low being that this was all she could do.

Ty Lee slipped behind a tree, the girl nimble and thin enough to hide behind it. Azula motioned for Mai to move ahead and she appeared from her hiding place, taking out the two guards silently with two throwing stars.

Azula snapped forward, Ty Lee right behind her, and they took out the remainder of the guards. Mai started to signal for the refugees hidden in the trees when Azula raised a hand for silence. There was still an enemy in the area.

She sent an arc of lightning through the nearby trees and a young man dove out from his hiding place to dodge. He landed roughly in the dirt and sent her a glare.

Azula knew those eyes, she knew them very well, the eyes of the demon that had attacked her and Jet with his monstrous dragon and that had nearly killed her by pretending to be Zuko. She screamed ethereally and attacked him with repetitive bursts of lightning which he narrowly dodged. Before he could counter, she was upon him, pressing him to the ground with her foot on his throat. He swallowed and looked up at him.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." She spat.