Chapter 12: The Red Lotus
Talos and Kazel travelled for over three weeks, beating the time Zin Bu said it would take to make it to the Southern Air Temple. Talos gazed up at the Mountain, spotting a large spire looming amongst the clouds.
"That must be it!" Talos muttered to himself, patting Kazel on the neck.
"Up the Mountain we go, Kazel!" He told him, but Kazel uneasily looked back at him as Talos gave him a reassuring head pat.
"We'll be fine, Kazel. I promise," Talos told him as Kazel let out a joyous bark, the two beginning their adventure up the mountainside. Talos assisted Kazel with pathways of ice, slowly but surely scaling the mountain, whilst the Elderly polar bear dog would often look down towards the ground, letting out low whines as the two climbed upwards, to which Talos would keep reassuring him.
"You're doing well Kazel!" He told him, slowly becoming short of breath from the constant path making, but after an hour of climbing, the two finally made it onto stable ground, falling flat out before the temple.
"Let's rest for a while," Talos breathlessly spoke, to which Kazel let out an affirmative brief howl. The two rested for hours, awaking to find the sun close to setting over the horizon, Talos nudged Kazel to wake up, the elderly polar bear dog perking his head up as he looked for danger.
"Let's move to the inside of the Temple, I'd rather not sleep out in the open tonight," Talos told him as he stood up, slowly stretching his limbs before proceeding forward, Kazel did the same, shortly following Talos into the Temple, however, the water-bender abruptly stopped upon seeing a campfire, kneeling down and inspecting it.
"This appears at least a day old..." Talos spoke as he examined the burnt wood before looking to Kazel.
"Proceed with caution," Talos told him as Kazel hunkered down, the two stealthily making their way into the temple.
As they investigated the temple, Talos could hear distant chattering and the flickering of embers. Proceeding light on his feet, he found the source behind a corner, spying a shadow on a pillar, listening closely to the people, hearing them chatter amongst themselves.
"Three... no, four people. Two women, Two Men... all possibly over the ages of thirty," Talos thought to himself, trying to listen in to their conversation.
"Has Unalaq sent any reports recently?" A woman asked.
"No... But we know the Avatar is still in the hands of the White Lotus!" A man replied.
"I told you we should've struck after that whole Republic City mess!" Another woman told him whilst Talos jerked back, trying to remain silent.
"I need to find out more... but how!?" Talos thought to himself before an idea came to his mind.
"Hello? Is there anyone around here?" Talos called out, alerting the group.
"I came up here hoping to uncover teachings on the styles of Air-bending, although I've had no luck thus far!" Talos continued calling out as Kazel tilted his head to his friend.
The leader of the group, a man with long grey hair styled into a bushy ponytail and a short beard gestured to a tall woman with an odd eye tattoo on her forehead to retrieve Talos. The tall woman stood up walking out towards Talos and Kazel.
"Ah, a friendly face! At least... I hope you're friendly..." Talos played coy as the woman approached. She observed Talos, slithering her gaze up and down his body.
"Follow me," The tall woman told him, to which Talos grinned.
"Come, Kazel. We've found company!" Talos spoke in a cheery voice as Kazel uneasily walked forward.
The two entered the campsite of the four people Talos heard. The other two members were an armless black-haired woman and a moustached man with long flowing brown hair.
"Well... this seems welcoming!" Talos spoke in a deceptively oblivious tone, sitting down with Kazel before them.
"Why are you searching for Air-bending teachings, traveller?" The leader asked as Talos quickly thought of a reason.
"The Air Nomad culture is a fascinating thing, and I wished to learn more about it!" Talos told them, not entirely letting out the truth as the leader and the other three remained silent, all glaring at Talos, who slowly observed them.
"May as well just point a bunch of knives at me with those glares..." Talos thought to himself, clearing his throat to change the subject.
"So, what brings a... merry band of people like you four to the Southern Air Temple?" Talos asked them in a cheery tone as the four all looked to one another before turning their attention back to Talos.
"We are the four known members of the Red Lotus," The leader told them.
"P'li," The leader told him, gesturing to the tall woman.
"Ghazan," he added, gesturing to the Brown-haired man.
"Ming Hua," he added once more, gesturing to the armless woman.
"And myself, Zaheer!" Zaheer told him as he gestured to himself, making Talos smirk.
"The Red Lotus? Is that supposed to be a parody of The White Lotus?" Talos jested, to which he garnered no response, the tense atmosphere rising.
"We are a splinter group of The White Lotus, originally formed by a man known as Xai Bau," Zaheer explained as Talos raised a quizzical eyebrow to him.
"A Splinter group known as The Red Lotus... I assume there are more of you?" Talos curiously asked, delving deeper into the Rabbit hole.
"We have secret members in high-ranking positions of power in the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Northern Water Tribe and Southern Water Tribe," Zaheer told him as Talos froze at the sound of 'Northern Water Tribe'.
"What, uh... is it you intend to do? Perhaps I could be of assistance to you!" Talos replied, trying to entice them to tell more as P'li worryingly looked to Zaheer, raising a hand to the grey man, signalling for him not to reveal too much, but Zaheer proceeded.
"We intend to usher in a new world order, reuniting the Spirits and Humans into one glorious world, we should not live separated from them, we should live united!" Zaheer passionately told him as Talos' eyes widened.
"And here I thought they'd intend something much different..." Talos thought to himself.
"But how do you intend to do that? Surely mere humans cannot pull down the veil which divides our worlds?" Talos questioned them, to which Zaheer smiled.
"Reuniting the Spirits and Humans is our endgame. Our current goal is to bring down all world leaders, be them Lords, Ladies, Kings, Queens, Governors or Mayors, we will strip the world of their presence. Allowing the people to live in a world of true freedom!" Zaheer passionately explained.
"And there it is..." Talos thought, thinking he'd jinxed his previous thought.
"... Including the Avatar," Zaheer told him in a threatening tone as Talos glared at him.
"Why kill the Avatar? They exist as a bringer of balance to the world, without them we woul-" "Live in a world of true freedom!" Talos tried arguing his point but Zaheer cut him off as the water-bender gritted his teeth.
"We need the Avatar in this world!" Talos argued as he jumped to his feet.
"And what makes you say that?" Zaheer asked as he jumped up from his seated position almost weightlessly.
"A random human plucked from all of us to continue a cycle and given authority over others from birth?" Zaheer argued back.
"The Avatar exists for a reason, although we've lost that reason to time now. Who are we to judge the choices of those beyond our comprehension?" Talos argued back, fists clenched as he snarled.
"The Avatar will either die or serve us as a weapon, by any means necessary!" Zaheer argued, keeping his cool demeanour, but Talos had finally snapped.
"I will not allow you to harm Claire!" Talos shouted as he formed a torrent of water from the clouds which encircled them, blasting Zaheer back into a column before pointing his finger towards The Red Lotus.
"The Avatar is my prey, and mine alone. I will not allow you Anarchist ingrates to stand in my way!" Talos confidently proclaimed as Kazel stood to his side, snarling at The Red Lotus who all stood to fight Talos.
The Red Lotus stood a fair distance from Talos, but Ming Hua formed two watery tentacles onto her shoulders, latching onto Talos as P'li took in an audible intake of air, pointing her attention towards Talos, intending to execute him on the spot, however, Talos quickly used Ming Hua's water against her, pulling the watery Tentacle into him and dragging Ming Hua with it, using her as a shield against P'li's oncoming attack.
Kazel leapt away as he saw the concentrated ray of heat travel towards Talos and Ming Hua, and the last thing the Armless Water-bender saw was the malicious smile on Talos' face as he kicked her into the oncoming ray, her body exploding as she hit the ray, knocking back Talos, P'li, Kazel and Ghazan.
"Quickly, Kazel, flee! I'll handle these three!" Talos told him, causing Kazel to retreat around the way they came in whilst Talos stood before an angered P'li, Ghazan and Zaheer.
"You'll pay for that!" Ghazan spoke as he heated the earth beneath Talos, transforming it into Lava, Talos swiftly leapt into the air, quickly bending water from a satchel then dosing the Lava with it.
"A Lava-bender? And here I thought only the Avatar could do that," Talos commented, as Ghazan smirked.
"Perhaps you shouldn't believe everything you hear!" Ghazan spoke as he brought two Clumps of the earth to him, heating them into bullets of Lava and shooting them at Talos whilst P'li charged another Combustion ray. Talos quickly dodged and fled around the corner, catching up with Kazel.
"Fighting them whilst they're together is suicide... I'll need to divide and conquer!" Talos thought to himself as P'li gave chase whilst Zaheer and Ghazan began circling around to corner Talos.
Talos and Kazel reached a staircase, with a gigantic pile of snow beside it, snatching the water-bender's attention before he turned to his elderly polar bear dog.
"Kazel, hide amongst that!" Talos commanded him as he pointed to the snow. Kazel dived in, slowly making a snowy mould around himself, leaving a set of eye holes for him to see out of.
"Good boy!" Talos commented as he fled, Kazel let out a happy bark, causing Talos to turn back around.
"Don't make a sound, they'll catch you!" Talos told him before returning to flee.
P'li followed Talos up the staircase, finding a small balcony with four pillars within, knowing there was no way for him to hide, P'li knew he was in here as she slowly investigated the pillars.
Talos stood behind the pillar on the far left side but he had set up a small Ice cube behind the pillar diagonally from him, and upon noticing P'li had given chase, he quickly ducked back behind his pillar.
"She always inhales prior to her attack. If I encapsulate her head in Ice just as she's about to strike, she'll be dead on the spot!" Talos thought to himself with a cunning grin.
Talos thawed the ice behind the pillar, causing water to spread out amongst the ground, catching P'li's attention as she smirked, trying to contain laughter, inhaling through her nose as her energy channelled up to her forehead, but Talos heard P'li inhale, quickly dashing out from his pillar with water in hand, but the Combustion Woman saw him in her Peripheral vision, trying to turn to him as he inched ever closer whilst the Combustion ray emerged from her tattoo, but Talos successfully encased her head in ice, causing an immediate explosion and knocking Talos into the far sidewall. Both Ghazan and Zaheer heard the explosion.
"Zaheer, I think P'li got him!" Ghazan shouted to Zaheer as he ran back the way he came, intending to reunite with P'li to see Talos combusted to a crisp.
The Combustion ray destroyed P'li's head and upper torso as well as charring her lower body. Her corpse stumbled and fell to the ground whilst a disorientated Talos chuckled to himself.
"Two to go!" Talos confidently spoke.
Ghazan sprinted around to where Talos had killed P'li, but he fell under the watchful gaze of Kazel, the mighty polar bear dog sprung out from the Snow, petrifying Ghazan as Kazel towered over him, slamming his paws onto Ghazan's chest, crushing his ribs as he bit down on Ghazan's neck, ripping it out with merciless ferocity, but quickly spitting out the flesh followed by shaking his open mouth, displeased by the taste of Ghazan.
Talos heard the wails of Ghazan as Kazel mauled his flesh, letting out a shaky chuckle as he stood back up.
"Good boy," Talos said with a smirk as he formed a watery tendril onto his hand, using it to pull himself up onto the level above him, sneaking around as to not alert Zaheer whilst Kazel began sniffing around for the final Red Lotus member, quickly picking up on him then following the trail whilst Talos sneaked around, encountering Zaheer who glared at him with a murderous gaze, but Talos stared at him with a confident grin.
"I'm two to none, and from the sounds of it, you're the only one left!" Talos taunted Zaheer, but the grey man assumed a stance Talos had never seen before, accidentally letting his guard down as he observed him, and with a mighty slash of Zaheer's arm, a razor-sharp blade of Air propelled towards Talos, the water-bender sensed the lethal breeze, leaping to his right, but his dodge came too late, and the air cleanly cleaved his left forearm from his body in one go, making Talos collapse to his knees as he grasped his severed arm.
"An Air-bender!? But how!? All the Air-benders died!" Talos bewilderingly shouted as Zaheer maliciously smirked.
"Do people still believe that?" Zaheer asked as he began swishing his arms around his form.
Talos' chest seemingly tightened, something happened within his body; within his lungs, Zaheer had begun pulling the air out from them. The water-bender grasped his throat, trying to stop it, but his breath left his mouth as it formed a sphere around his head, slowly suffocating him.
"You believe the Avatar is an essential part of this world, a person no one wanted who gets to dictate the freedom of others on a whim. But to the people of this world, freedom is just as essential as air!" Zaheer began monologuing to Talos as he slowly suffocated, his eyes turning bloodshot.
"I've... come too far to die here..." Talos thought as he slowly lost consciousness, but to his luck Kazel approached Zaheer from behind, the elderly polar bear dog looming over him with his mighty form.
"And without air, there is no life, only De-" Zaheer spoke as Kazel bit down on his head, immediately crushing his skull as his body went limp.
The air from Talos' lungs slowly dissipated, causing him to collapse to the floor, gasping for air, whilst Kazel flailed Zaheer's corpse around like a rag doll, throwing him onto the floor before charging over to Talos, worryingly sniffing him, then sniffing his severed arm.
"Kazel... fetch me my arm," Talos groggily spoke as he gestured towards his arm. Kazel walked over to it, lightly picking up the arm in his mouth and carrying it to Talos.
"Good boy, now hold it still for me," Talos told him as Kazel sat with his arm held still whilst Talos stood up, pressing the severed parts together, then bending water up with his right hand, forming a blob of water around the severed parts of his arm, emitting a healing light, but the arm did not heal back together as Talos had hoped, it merely stopped the bleeding, to which Talos let out a disgruntled sigh.
"Perhaps I require a better healer," Talos commented, gesturing to Kazel to hand over the arm as the water-bender sealed it within a block of ice.
"Let's go Kazel... I need to find a healer... perhaps the Southern Water Tribe can help," Talos told him as he unsteadily climbed aboard Kazel, patting his neck slowly, Kazel let out a happy bark as the two began venturing through the temple, finding a secluded tunnel down the mountain.
"Of course... there's a Secret Tunnel..." Talos groaned as he buried his face in Kazel's fur whilst the elderly polar bear dog quietly howled 'through the mountain' in his canine tongue. The two ventured through the Secret Tunnel, finding themselves back at the base of the mountain.
Throughout their journey, Kazel had become fatigued, moving slower and slower as the days went by until Talos saw the Perimeter of the Southern Water Tribe in the distance, perking his head up with minor glee.
"Further Kazel, then we can get a decent night's rest!" Talos told him, to which Kazel let out a small grumble as the two proceeded forward, greeted by two Southern Water Tribe guards who halted them as they reached the gates.
"State your business!" One guard demanded.
"I... am Talos of the... Northern Water Tribe," Talos groggily spoke as the guards looked to each other, muttering to themselves as Talos and Kazel gazed at them.
"You are free to enter, Talos. If you need a healer, I suggest visiting your cousin, Korra," The guard suggested as Talos raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"I have a cousin?" Talos asked in surprise as the guards quizzically looked to him.
"Yes... and if you're here on political business on behalf of your father, I suggest visiting Chief Sokka!" The guards recommended, and as they mentioned Sokka, Talos remembered what Zaheer had told him.
"As a matter of fact... I have something important to tell Chief Sokka," Talos replied before entering the City of the Southern Water Tribe.
The Southern Tribe had grown significantly since the end of the one hundred year war, instead of a dingy area of igloos and tents, the Southern Tribe had now spread out as far as the eye could see, houses of stone and wood decorated the snowy terrain, and keeping to their roots with some buildings made almost entirely of ice, and Water-Benders had flourished in the Southern Tribe.
Talos hopped off Kazel to walk beside him whilst people who walked the streets gave Talos odd looks, especially at his severed arm, until he found a scruffy-looking man in a red jacket and white pants.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't know where I can find Chief Sokka?" Talos asked as the scruffy man gandered at him.
"He lives inside the large Ice building over there!" The scruffy man replied, gesturing to a large, almost castle-like building in front of them.
"I'll take you there right now!" The scruffy man added as he began leading the way to Sokka's Castle. The three walked together, eventually making it to the front of the ice castle, but two guards stopped them.
"Ah! Bumi, what brings you here?" The guards asked.
"Just bringing this young chap to meet Uncle Sokka," Bumi replied as he gestured to Talos.
"I'm from the Northern Tribe. And I have a warning for Chief Sokka about The Red Lotus," Talos told them, making the guards stand aside as Talos, Kazel and Bumi proceeded inwards.
The interior was almost akin to Unalaq's throne room, giving Talos the nostalgic sense of home. Sokka noticed Talos, Kazel and Bumi approach him, the Southern Chief's curiosity growing at the sight of Talos.
"Bumi, good to see you! But who's this guy?" Sokka asked, still keeping his wolf's tail styled hair, which had grown grey in the years, and a beard similar to that of his father's.
"This is Talos of the Northern Water Tribe, and he has news that may interest you, Uncle Sokka," Bumi informed him, but Sokka raised a sceptical eyebrow to his nephew.
"Talos... that doesn't sound very... water tribe-y," Sokka commented as Talos let out a brief sigh.
"A man from a far off land suggested the name to my father, Chief Unalaq, and it stuck," Talos explained.
"You're Chief Unalaq's son? In that case, come with me where we can speak privately," Sokka told him as he stood up from his throne, leading Talos and Kazel to a room off to the side of the throne room, Sokka's right-hand man and most trusted adviser, a man with short brown hair and a devious moustache, followed them in.
"I'll wait out here and keep watch on everything!" Bumi told Sokka as the Southern Chief patted his nephew's shoulder before entering the room.
Sokka and Talos sat at a Table, Kazel lay down next to Talos whilst Sokka's advisor stood beside Sokka.
"So, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Sokka eagerly asked as Talos leant in on the table, looking the Southern Chief in the eye.
"Have you ever heard of a Splinter group known as The Red Lotus, Chief Sokka?" Talos asked, to which the adviser's eyes widened, grasping the attention of Talos before redirecting his vision back to Sokka.
"You can just call me Sokka, I'm not much of a formal guy. But yes, I've heard of The Red Lotus," Sokka nonchalantly replied.
"Do you know that they've infiltrated high-ranking positions within every nation?" Talos asked him as the adviser began sweating from his brow, whilst Sokka assumed a more formal seating position, looking to Talos with a curious disbelieve.
"How do you know? I thought The Red Lotus was just four people," Sokka dauntingly asked.
"I met those four people at the Southern Air Temple, and they revealed their plans to me, possibly hoping I'd join them, and when I refused they attacked," Talos began explaining, The adviser's legs quaked causing Kazel to perk his head up slowly, looking to the adviser with an untrusting gaze.
"How did you get away?" Sokka curiously asked him as he leant in on the table whilst Talos looked to The Adviser with a steely gaze.
"I killed them, with the help of Kazel here," Talos told them as the Adviser almost gasped at the statement whilst Sokka stared in disbelieve.
"First there was Ming Hua who attempted to restrain me, but she and P'li didn't expect me to drag Ming Hua in and use her as a shield to block P'li's combustion ray," Talos explained.
"Then I fled in order to divide them, and when I faced P'li, I encased her head in ice as she formed an explosive ray, blowing off her head and most of her upper body," Talos began explaining the gory details.
"Nice, I did a similar thing to Sparky Sparky Boom Man during my time with Aang!" Sokka replied as he fondly recalled the memories.
"With your trusty boomerang. I've heard the stories," Talos told him with a smile.
"After P'li there was Ghazan, who Kazel ripped the throat out of, and finally Zaheer, an Air-bender who severed my arm and tried to suffocate me with the air from my own lungs," Talos continued retelling the story, but Sokka slanted his gaze in disbelieve.
"Wait, an Air-bender? They're all gone except for Tenzin and Jinora!" Sokka replied, not entirely believing Talos' story now.
"I thought the same... Zaheer must have known something about them, but Kazel bit his head off before he could finish the job," Talos finished explaining his story, much to the adviser's horror whilst Sokka thought for a moment.
"Although the part about Zaheer being an Air-bender seems a little... unbelievable, I doubt you'd cut your own arm off just to spin a story about facing The Red Lotus... but what do we do about The Secret members in high-ranking positions?" Sokka asked as Talos half-smiled.
"Before I say anymore, I have a question, Chief Sokka..." Talos replied as he leaned back in his chair.
"Go ahead," Sokka curiously told him.
"Do you know the signs of someone hiding a secret?" Talos asked as he gazed at the Adviser from his peripheral vision, making Sokka raise a quizzical eyebrow.
"I... can't say I do," Sokka nonchalantly replied as Talos cleared his throat.
"It often starts upon hearing something related to their secret. There's always a reaction, sometimes a small minute detail like say... the eyes widening," Talos began his explanation.
"As we talk about their secret more and more, anxiety rises in their body, legs quake, sweat breaks and if they hear something daunting about their secret they lose their breath," Talos continued explaining whilst Kazel glared at the adviser.
"And did you know a Polar Bear Dog is exceptionally talented at sniffing out rising anxiety?" Talos told them whilst Sokka continued gazing at Talos, the tension rising in the air.
"Anything else, Talos?" Sokka curiously asked.
"One last thing, when backed into a corner, about their secret, only two options remain. Fight or Flight. And well..." Talos explained, flicking his hand forward, and as he did, Sokka could hear the rapid freezing of water behind him, turning to see his adviser with a knife aimed at the back of the Southern Chief's neck.
"He chose Fight..." Talos finished speaking whilst Sokka looked at his adviser with shock as Bumi kicked the door down, pumping his fists ready to fight.
"What's going on in here!?" Bumi shouted as he stood ready to throw a fist.
"You're a part of The Red Lotus!?" Sokka angrily asked him but the ice restricted the adviser's jaw, preventing him from talking properly.
"The Red Lotus?" Bumi replied as he walked to the front of the adviser, poking at his face.
"This guy? Really?" Bumi curiously asked.
"I'm afraid he is. He must've gone through a great deal to earn your trust..." Talos told him as he looked to Sokka.
"Tell me, how should we deal with the Traitor?" Talos asked, hoping for violent justice, but Sokka let out a heavy sigh.
"Bumi, throw him in a cell for now..." Sokka replied in a disheartened voice.
"Will do, Uncle Sokka!" Bumi replied as he cracked the adviser's icy prison from the ground, lugging him away whilst Sokka, Talos and Kazel exited the room. The Southern Chief returned to the throne whilst Talos and Kazel stood before him.
"Thank you for warning me about The Red Lotus, Talos. I'll inform the leaders of the other nations immediately!" Sokka told him.
"For now, is there anything you need help with? That severed arm looks like it could do with treatment..." Sokka added as Talos grimaced at his severed arm.
"I heard a guard tell me of a Cousin called... Korea?" Talos replied, not remembering the name properly whilst Sokka thought to himself until he realised who Talos meant.
"Oh! You mean Korra, Tonraq's daughter, she runs a clinic just west of this building, she may be able to heal your arm fairly well!" Sokka informed him as Talos' eyes perked up at the sound of his uncle's name.
"Is Tonraq still here?" Talos eagerly asked.
"Yeah, he helps run the clinic," Sokka briefly replied whilst Talos bowed before him.
"Thank you for your help, Chief Sokka!" Talos replied before leaving whilst Sokka got comfy on his throne.
"No problem! And tell your Dad to return my messages, I haven't heard from the North in months!" Sokka told him as he left, but Talos became curious upon hearing the latter half of Sokka's statement.
"Why would father ignore messages from the South... something's up..." Talos thought to himself as he left.
Talos and Kazel ventured to the west of the city, finding a building with a Water Droplet sign out front.
"If I was a guessing man, I'd say this is the clinic," Talos told Kazel, to which Kazel slowly nodded with an affirmative grumble.
The two ventured in to see a large burly man with shoulder-length brown hair and a Goatee, his eyes widening as he saw Talos.
"Talos! What are you doing here?" The man asked as Talos smiled.
"Uncle Tonraq! I'm here about, uh... well..." Talos replied as he raised his severed arm in the Iceblock, making Tonraq wince at the sight of it.
"Korra! Your cousin's here and needs help!" Tonraq shouted. A few seconds passed as the doors swung open, slamming into the wall.
"I have a Cousin?" Korra said aloud, the brown-haired blue-eyed woman with a blue sleeveless shirt and baggy greyish-blue pants spooking both Talos and Kazel.
"Good to know both of us have never heard of one another," Talos commented as Tonraq cleared his throat.
"This is Talos, he's Unalaq's son and your cousin. I know my brother and I don't get along, but I like Talos," Tonraq explained as Korra approached him, observing the severed parts of Talos' arm then looking to Tonraq.
"Are you sure I can heal that back on?" Korra asked, unsure of herself.
"If not, at least heal the arm until it's a stump," Tonraq told her as Korra nodded, leading Talos into the back room, Kazel attempted to follow but Talos halted him.
"It may be best if you stay out here with Tonraq, Kazel," Talos told him, the polar bear dog let out a low grumble before slowly walking over to Tonraq who patted him on the head, making Kazel's tail slowly wag.
Talos and Korra walked into the back room, several chairs lined across the walls of the room and a medical table positioned in the centre.
"Just lay on there and I'll see what I can do about your arm!" Korra told Talos as he passed the ice-blocked arm to the medic before slowly hopping onto the table, laying down flat.
Korra thawed the ice, allowing the arm to be free as she held the water in her hand, placing the severed parts of the arm against one another, before placing the water around the entire arm.
The water emitted a radiant healing light, but the arm did not heal back together, merely forming a stump around the severed parts of Talos' arm, to which he let out a disappointed sigh.
"Sorry about your arm," Korra abruptly apologised as Talos hopped off the table, picking up the arm.
"I'll find some way to get this back on... or at least a way to replace it," Talos replied as he put the arm back on the ice, proceeding towards the door, But as he did Tonraq opened the door with a hesitant look.
"Talos I think something's wrong with Kazel..." He uneasily told him as Talos immediately rushed through without a word, running towards Kazel and sitting down next to him while the polar bear dog lay on the ground seemingly uninterested in anything.
"Kazel, are you alright?" Talos asked him, worry washing over him as Kazel slowly lifted his head up to Talos' lap.
"Talos... how old is Kazel?" Tonraq asked as he and Korra approached. Talos looked up at him as he thought to himself.
"I've known him all my life, so possibly eighteen or twenty years old," Talos replied as he placed his right hand on Kazel's head.
"Polar Bear Dogs usually only have the life span of Eighteen years, I'm afraid Kazel's old age is catching up to him," Tonraq explained as he crossed his arms. Talos looked down at Kazel who let out a low whimper.
"And me taking you on this near five-year-long journey hasn't helped has it..." Talos sombrely spoke to Kazel as he placed his hand on Kazel's chest, Kazel replied with a low gruff before looking up at Talos.
"You've been a Good boy, Kazel," Talos told him with a saddened smile as Kazel licked his face before his head lowered back down to his lap, closing his eyes, and in the final moments, Kazel's heart stopped as Talos let out a disheartened sigh.
"... He's gone," Talos spoke as he hung his head, but as he did Kazel's body began emitting a hazy light.
"What's happening?" Talos asked as his head perked up, looking to Tonraq and Korra for an explanation.
"The animals of this world have a strong connection with the spirits, almost as if they're spirits themselves, and when an animal naturally passes on, their bodies turn into Spiritual energy, dissipating across the world," Tonraq explained, and just as he said, Kazel's body slowly turned into Spiritual Energy, flowing up into the air then out of the window, a departing howl reverberating as the Spiritual energy dissipated.
"Goodbye, Kazel... And thank you!" Talos spoke as a single tear streaked from his right eye, lowering his head in grief.
"Do you perhaps have a... fast way to get home?" Talos asked them.
"We have air balloons, I'll ask Chief Sokka if you can take one of those back to the North Pole!" Tonraq told him before leaving the room whilst Talos slumped down on a nearby chair.
The moments passed as Talos mourned the passing of Kazel, the doors to the clinic opened, Tonraq, Bumi and Sokka entering the room and carefully approaching Talos.
"I'm sorry to hear about Kazel, but if you're planning to go home, we'll happily lend you an airship!" Sokka told him as Talos let out a heavy sigh before standing up.
"Thank you, Chief Sokka," Talos replied with a bow as Sokka smiled at him before leading him to the airship yard.
They had lined the Air balloons across an ice field, all ready to fly. Talos picked one out whilst Sokka showed him how it worked and taught him how to use it.
Sokka hopped off the airship, thinking Talos had learnt enough as he watched him soar off into the air, waving him goodbye whilst Talos flew off into the distance, back to the North Pole.