Fixed some grammar and spelling mistakes pointed out by Matheus-Bezerra de Lema
Question from anonymous user:
1. Considering that this story is called the avatar after Korra, will the avatar reappear?
-There are people in the story such as Temujin, who believes that the Avatar is no more. This is because he believed the Avatar cycle is broken, since Korra died when she was in the Avatar state. I would say maybe there is an Avatar after Korra like the title implied.
2. Considering that is called the legacy of kyoshi and kyoshi is among the characters listed, will the avatar reconnect with his/her past lives?
-If there even is somehow an Avatar reincarnated into the chaotic Earth Kingdom, it is technically possible that he/she can reconnect with Kyoshi. But remember, Korra lost the past lives. Meaning, the next 'one' is both broken and connected from Kyoshi's connection. I know that answer is a little ambiguous and not as direct, but I don't want to spoil any details in regards to how the next Avatar might appear in this story.
3. Will we see a ideological clash between kyoshi warriors and the Dai li. After all Kyoshi created both groups.
-Ah yes, my favorite part of the story. There is potential disagreement AND shared identity between the Kyoshi warriors and the Dai Li. We don't get to see any canon interactions(at this current point in time) of a REAL Kyoshi warrior and a Dai Li agent. As both are creations of Avatar Kyoshi, both would exercise what they perceive as justice in their own ways. The Dai Li's role is to ensure stability above all else. Brainwashing, spying is only the common stuff in their trades. While some might find them untrustworthy, it is safe to say that they are pretty affective in their own rights. Despite the cruel methods and controlling nature, at their core, they do intend to deliver justice by ensuring stability is not compromised. The Kyoshi warriors on the other hand, also believes in justice. But I believe their distain of Chin the conqueror might be something the Dai Li would disagree with. We need to remember, Chin, although a tyrant, is also a person who attempts to unify the Earth Kingdom, which was also in chaos at that time. His actions received praise because presumably his actions allowed the people to live a safer life under a unified country, but he was also labeled a tyrant because some people think his rule is too tyrannical. Chin the conqueror is a controversial figure in the Avatar world, one group called him the great, and the others called him a conqueror. I don't think neither side is wrong, since we don't know much about Chin and the context before he was killed by Kyoshi. I would personally say that Chin, while is a tyrant, does have some merits that allowed the people of Chin village to worship him. Like Mayumi said from an earlier chapter, different perspectives breeds different people. The Dai li and Kyoshi warriors saw the world from their own lens and experiences, which molded them into different people.
The Kyoshi warriors and Dai Li would most definitely have opposing views on what they perceived as true justice. While both are shown to be deadly and unforgiving in their own rights, what they believe in changes and advance throughout the passage of time.
Spoilers for the Kyoshi novels up ahead
Lei tried to hand a bandage to the pilots in captivity, but Wuli violently swiped it out of his hands. Anticipating this unreceptive attitude, the guerrilla simply placed the bandages on the ground. Whether or not these guys would pick it up themselves, would be entirely up them. Although, he wouldn't be as prideful if he was in their situation, since many of their members, including Wuli himself, is losing plenty of blood. Based on past experiences of losing many of his friends, he knew that untreated wound is all it takes to kill a healthy adult.
One of the pilots even have an arrow still stuck in him, the least Wuli can do is allow them to stop all that bleeding.
Without saying a word, Lei stepped away, perhaps they needed some time to process their captivity. As the strongest military power in the world, the United Republic never faced an opponent it has failed to defeat, nor is it common for its personnel to be taken captive before. To Wuli and his men, it is great humiliation that they are now in the custody of the very people they are targeting.
"You will never get away with this!" Wuli bellowed loudly. "Mark my word, your puny guerrilla fighters will be crushed under our mighty army! By then, the people of the Earth will be free from your oppressive terror!"
Lei stopped in his path, he gripped the sword's handle harder. After risking his own reputation to save his enemy, he didn't even get a 'thank you'. Part of him actually wanted to kill all these pilots and feed their innards to the birds. In the past, when he was a different person, Lei would definitely have lobbed off their heads from their body. But he restrained himself, he is changed man now.
"Such are the words spoken by a man who still thinks like child." Lei riposted. "Maybe you should read more good books instead of harmful newspapers."
Wuli faltered. The painful grunts of a nearby pilot grew louder. An arrow still stuck inside his flesh, is causing the nearby skin to display signs of inflammation. Clearly, there is now infection near the wound.
"Save your energy in trying to bombard me with your idealistic nonsense, and try help your friend there." Lei then walked back to the camp, not waiting around to hear Wuli's response.
Right now, the prisoners of both the Acolytes of Vaatu and pilots are separated to two groups. They were moved from the main camp to a secluded area in the forest, with a few warriors and a bison guarding them. Although the prisoners outnumbered the guards, the Kheshigs here are quite confident that none of them can escape. The fire-bending cultist would burn themselves to death if they tried to bend out of it, the oil flask that encased their hands would make short work of their fragile body.
As for those pilots, they doubt that those men can do any harm. As non-bending pilots, they have zero close quarter combat experience. While powerful when piloting a bi-plane, none of them have the skill or the equipment to kill a Kheshig warrior. If would be like a fox trying to fight a bear. These pilots would easily be torn into pieces even by the weakest Kheshig, who have refined their combat skills since they were still young.
The Kheshig men started a small camp fire, and proceeded to cook some meat over it. They pulled out some dried meat from last night, attached them to sticks and roasted them.
The bandits and pilots can only watch with a starving stomach as the smell of food lingered around their nose. Of course their captives would not share it with them, sparing them is already asking too much for the vengeful nomads. Some of them drooled at sight of the Kheshig eating the meat while pairing it with some fermented milk.
As the guards enjoyed their food leisurely, the bison nearby turned its head to a small rustle in the bushes. While its human allies didn't detect it, the superior sense of smell and hearing allowed it to not only pick up the disturbance, but also identify its source.
Batu held up a single finger near his mouth in a shushing manner, implying to the bison to remain silent. After living with them for a long time, he knew these creatures can understand him very clearly. The question is whether or not the bison would agree with what he is about to do. There is a high risk that this bison would alert the guards, who might intervene.
The Kheshig warriors sitting around the fire drank their fermented milk to drown their displeasure. The enemy is right over there sitting under the tree. Yet, they are not allowed to kill them because some good for nothing guerrilla fighter showed and wished for the Khan to grant the acolytes mercy.
"That Lei fellow," an air-bender guard groaned while eating his meat. "If he wasn't also an enemy of those stupid colony folks, I doubt he would be alive now!"
"Shh!" Another man tried to lower his friend's volume. "That man was just here, if he was listening right now, who knows what bad thing would happen!"
"What? Are you afraid?" The air-bender challenged. "He is just one man, we outnumbered him! Why should we bother keeping the cultists and puny pilots alive when we can just kill them and be done with it? The Khan just killed one himself today, you saw it!"
"Of course I saw it!" The warrior said, trying to keep his cool. "I was right next to you remember?"
"Oh, right." The air-bender replied with a little bewilderedness. His friend covered his eyes with his hand to demonstrate his disappointment.
The non-airbending guard knew the decision to spare their mortal enemy would not be popular for everyone. Even himself, whose family have been killed during the massacre, very wanted to thrust his sword into the acolytes' throat. But he have to stand with the Khan on this one, they can't risk the entire clan just to be in bad grace of a guerrilla fighter. While he isn't exact sure why Temujin decided to agree with Lei's humanitarian approach to protect the enemy's welfare, he knew this decision wasn't made lightly.
If the guerrilla fighters truly claim to be fighting for the common people, that would naturally put them at odds with the Vaatu Acolytes, who have a fond of killing civilians that is deemed to be 'impure'.
Good allies are as rare as the famed panda lily flower, and ones that you can trust are even rarer. In this day and age, the Earth Kingdom mainland is nothing more but a dog eat dog world. The strong devours the weak, and the weak can only pray and hope that their deaths are as painless as possible. Even though Lei and his potentially rag tag guerrillas might be someone who is barely making any difference, who knows when their help might come in handy.
But what is still a mystery to the Kheshig is why Lei is demonstrating such compassion towards a people that have murdered innocent lives in cold blood. The acolytes of Vaatu have many followers around the Earth Kingdom. Organized armies of believers, composed of benders, non-bending cannon fodders as well as many vehicles, would target towns and villages for the sake of their ruthless ideology. Entire populations were put to the blade, brutally wiped out, and for what? They knew, that many people around the Earth Kingdom suffered the same fate as the Kheshig. Normal bandit raids are already a severe problem for the Earth Kingdom, but a well organized genocidal cult is a threat much higher than regular armed thieves.
"That Lei," the airbender said while looking into the fire in front of him. "He said that he cared so much about the people, yet wanted us to spare the cult freaks and those colonizers, what is his deal anyway!" He then smashed his bowl on the ground, startling the other guards and the bison. Even Batu took some time to look at the commotion.
"If the great Avatar killer is still alive and here right!" The air-bender went on ranting. "Then he would have wanted us to chop off all those heads!" He pointed at the captured pilots and the acolytes. The prisoners trembled when hearing that, as those two words in the air-bender's sentence shook their morale to the core. Many people wouldn't put those two words together and say it in public.
Everyone, the Kheshig guards, the United Republic pilots, the Acolyte of Vaatu, all felt a cold chill when they heard that name. Even the mighty warriors of the Khan can tremble when such a powerful title was uttered aloud.
"Batzorig!" The guard yelled at the air-bender in a controlled and disapproving tone. "Roaring his name to the whole world to hear is a taboo! It brings bad luck!"
"I don't care Amgalan!" Batzorig yelled at his non-bender friend. "You think I believe that nonsense!" He then picked up another bowl from his bag to get some fermented milk from the boiling cauldron. "We have been traveling around the Earth Kingdom for years, have you forgotten that there are people who idolizes that man so much, they decided to build small statues of him. It was simply because he got enough guts to fight that incompetent Avatar and succeed, he managed to kill the unkillable! When was the last time a normal person can even do that!"
"Whatever the people build and revere is none of our business!" Amgalan tried to calm the air-bender down. "Just because he killed the Avatar, does not mean you should treat him like some hero! What is important now, is that we don't make anymore enemies out those guerrilla fighters!"
Amgalan tried to think logically. He wanted to ensure that Batzorig isn't going to act without thinking. Killing the prisoners right now would definitely not sit well with Lei.
"That Lei managed to sneak up on us without anyone noticing, why do you think that is possible?" Amgalan asked the air-bender, who cannot deliver a single word to answer this mind boggling question. "We have men scouting out the whole area to make sure no one can make a jump of us, but he somehow did it. If he can do that, what do you think would happen to our clan if all of Lei's little friends wanted to kill us all? There could be thousands of them, and how many of us is there again? All it takes is for all of them to embody the same values of Lei, and we would make new enemies just by killing those stupid bandits!"
As the two continued to argue, and the other guards tried to stop the escalating tension, the bison noticed that Batu is pulling an arrow out of his small quiver. He drew his composite bow backwards, aimed it at a bandit he had failed to kill before, Tufei.
The leading firebending bandit is still unconscious, he is still in a state where he is completely vulnerable to attack.
Batu doesn't know why he was so eager to kill Tufei. He was quite young when his village, his parents were beheaded by the Acolytes of Vaatu. Many memories were too murky for him to even remember. Or maybe, he doesn't want to remember. It was all too much for him to bear.
The little boy pulled the bow even harder, his tiny fingers pained as the string dug deeper into his skin. He wanted these people to pay for their crimes, to hurt the acolytes in the same way how they have treated his birth parents, who will never come back after being brutally murdered.
After taking one last look at Tufei, Batu let go of the string. The bison hold its breath, but let go when it realized that the arrow did not fly from its original position. Batu's arrow, while technically released by his bow, did not even get to fly out of his arm span. A single large hand managed to grab the arrow by its shaft, stopping it from being shot towards the bandits.
Batu dropped to ground, fell backwards by the shock of another person suddenly standing next to him.
"Dad!?" Batu struggled to comprehend. "What are doing here?" He was confused, but mostly shocked.
Khenbish didn't answer immediately, he helped Batu get back up on his feet. He even wiped off some of the mud that have stuck itself on Batu's clothing.
"I was going to ask you the same question son," Khenbish said like everything's normal. "What are you doing here? You know the last time you run off without thinking, you almost got killed."
"I am about to kill those bastards of course!" Batu snatched the arrow from Khenbish's hands and proceeded to once again aim it at Tufei. The boy is still in rage, disgruntled that they have spared people belonging to the evil Acolytes of Vaatu. Why should they not exercise justice by killing those bandits, just because some random person came and asked them not to.
"Son listen, those people are already defeated, they are injured and are no longer a threat." Despite Khenbish's counsel, Batu refused to let go.
"What makes you think they are harmless?" Batu refuted. "They tried to kill us just because we are air-benders, and they even kill non-benders just because they are related to benders, in my eyes, they don't deserve to live!"
"But son, have you forgotten that I have taught you to never harm a man that is defenseless, even if he is your enemy." Khenbish asked his adapted son. Batu dropped his angry expression, and tried to look at his father in neutral manner. Even though Batu was not biologically related to his new family, he was still treated like one.
Whatever knowledge and wisdom Khenbish's parents passed down to him, he would do his best to pass it down to both Batu and Sarangerel.
"But..." Batu tried to argue. "You told me they killed your parents didn't you? Why are you telling me this now? Aren't you also wanting to kill the same people that have killed your parents?"
"I have told you before, there is no honor in continue kicking a man when he has already fallen." Khenbish said, looking at the pathetic state of those acolytes. Most of them are now reduced to men who no longer held the will to fight. Despite their fanatic devotion to the master, they knew they would die just by breathing in the wrong way. The Khan would immediately kill them if even one of them managed to anger him. "Even though it might feel good to kill a them now, it will never bring back the the dead people they killed. Our loved ones, whom we cherished so much, we never return even if vengeance is achieved."
Batu looked down on the ground. Part of him wanted to weep. The death of his birth parents has always been a stinging pain even to now. No matter how much he tried to bury that guilt, he cannot free himself from the fact that it was his possession of air-bending that have attracted the cultists to their peaceful village.
"You are still just child, and I know you have been through a lot pain." Khenbish said reassuringly, placing a hand on Batu's shoulder. "But I don't want you to repeat the same act of cruelty like us foolish adults. It's not easy to take a person's life, it's even more difficult for you to mentally process what you have done after your act."
"Have you ever killed a person yourself?"
"No," Khenbish simply said. "But I don't want you to grow up knowing only hatred. Those bandits, whether they live or die, I just don't want you to stain your hands with their blood. It's just...wrong. I mean just look at them."
Tufei and the bandits are now in a much weakened state. Without food, their faces grew sore and tired. While it's true that they have done unspeakable things, there is still a tiny aspect that still makes them a human. Perhaps such things are too complex for a little boy to understand. To him, the morality is white and black. Those that killed innocent people should not only be killed themselves, but they deserved to suffer an even worst punishment. But he will keep his thoughts to himself for now, as he doesn't want to disobey his father's words.
Batu reluctantly nodded to Khenbis, and used his fingers to clean some tears from his eyes. Admittedly, all he thought about was vengeance. His simple mind often ignored how much weight there is when a person was killed, even if that one person is evil.
The bison watched quietly as both father and son left the area. This whole time, the squabbling guards did not notice the two Kheshig.
Batzorig sunk down on the grass and crossed his arms, deeply frustrated. Despite his lower intelligence then the rest of his people, even he know being outnumbered is a death wish. The whole point of avoiding the wars between petty warlords and bandits, is so that the whole clan would not be wiped due to opposing superior numbers.
...
A Kheshig warrior munched on a piece of left over meat greedily, after the unexpected battle from today, him and everyone else need to replenish their stamina as soon as possible.
"The meat is a little dry," the warrior grumbled. Despite the hardy nature of these people, sometimes even they have something they are not satisfied about. They just had a good meal last night, with freshly roasted meat and other delicacies. It's hard to adjust after eating such good food.
He rested his bow and lamellar armor on the grass besides him, keeping a scimitar in case he needed it.
"At least it's still meat! Unlike one of Jargal's disgusting cooking, it's nonetheless food!" A nearby airbending warrior shrugged. "You rather eat spoiled vegetables and grass before we became nomads? Remember back when we were farmers, we have wait for a whole year to harvest food, even then there is still not enough to feed our family's mouths!"
The Kheshig warrior stared at the piece of meat he is holding. In the past, him and his family are poor farmers before their town was destroyed. Being heavily taxed by landlords, meeting end's meet was always difficult. They lived off any scrap vegetables and rice left after they've paid their taxes. Malnourishment was a huge problem, and many children were not as lucky to reach adulthood. And since his family cannot afford education for him, he is expected to live his entire life as farmer, doing backbreaking work to pay taxes to those above him. If he have children, they would not go to school, because he doesn't have money to even feed himself. So his children would also be poor farmer and so on. The cycle will repeat, and the rich gets richer, and poor people like them either stay poor, or become poorer.
Thinking about all of it, he now remembered how rare eating meat was, which was never. Occasionally, he climbed on the fence of the wealthy mayor's home, just so that he can smell the meat being cooked by the mayor's personal servant.
The man then gobbled up the meat entirety, leaving none to spare. Even though it wasn't that tasty, he knew most people of this world would love to be in his position. "I'm never going back to being a farmer! Never!"
Mayumi and Satchiko sat along the countless people on the makeshift camp. No actual tents were set up, just a few sticks and cloths assembled together to create shade.
As they waited patiently for Jargal to return, Mayumi took spent some time with the Khan who explained all the problems one might encounter when entering the small trading town. Satchiko was with Sarangerel and Saran, who are all a bit further away from where she is.
"Petty merchants and pickpockets are the everyday nonsense we have to deal with whenever we go there." Temujin explained while drinking some fermented milk. "If you don't want to lose anything valuable like money, make sure you don't get scammed."
Being the older sister, Mayumi took up the responsibility to listen to every advice the Khan dispensed. Since Satchiko is not as attentive, Mayumi has to be the one that handles these important details.
"Well we probably are not going to spend our money anyway," Mayumi said candidly. The money given by her parents must be spent as resourcefully and possible. They can't expend a single coin on useless items at a small simple trading town. "I know Jargal is scouting ahead, but can you tell me more about who is controlling that town?
It was prudent question, a wise one in fact. Here in the Earth Kingdom, you are not safe anywhere, even at a trading town.
Temujin scratched his beard. "The town is technically protected by the militia of this state. They are not locals, and they originated from the well protected capital of this state. Most of them are untrained and arrogant fools who always get into fights with my men. Personally, I think those self proclaimed soldiers are only good at being drunk, and bullying those they were supposed to protect." Temujin narrowed his eyebrows, remembering the rude attitude displayed by the town's security whenever they came here to sell bison wool. Knowing Mayumi and Satchiko might be at risk when entering the town, he gave Mayumi his final advice. "I suggest you two stay away from them as far as possible. Who knows what dark thoughts they would have when they saw you two running around without protection."
"Thank you for your concern my Khan," Mayumi said while addressing the man with his title. "I acknowledge your warnings, my sister and I will be careful."
"Just to be safe, stay near my warriors, I would like see if those fools would have the audacity to even provoke us." The Khan proceeded to drink. Just as Mayumi was about to get up and leave, a small shiny glint caught Temujin's attention.
"Wait, what is that you have in your pocket?"
"Oh this?" Mayumi pulled out a small throwing knife. She handed it to the Khan, allowing it to be examine further. "I used this and threw it at that water bender lady that blood bends."
Temujin examined it further. He felt he has seen such knife before. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even ask how Mayumi and Satchiko got to the mainland, and why they are going to Ba Sing Se. Of course, the Kheshig assisted them, to make it even after they helped Batu.
"By the way," the Khan said while looking at the knife. "During the battle with the blood bending Acolyte, why didn't you kill that blood bender?"
Mayumi felt she was being interrogated, but she calmed herself when she was reminded that she has done nothing wrong against the Kheshig. "My body was trapped in ice, I couldn't help my sister in battle." She admitted for failing as a guardian to Satchiko, who would probably have lost her life if the nomads didn't intervene immediately.
"Half of your body was frozen, if I recall correctly." Temujin raised the issue with the Kyoshi warrior. He remembered before he killed Shui by throwing his scimitar, the blood bender was speeding towards Satchiko. He recollected the moment when Mayumi threw the very knife at Shui's leg, temporarily slowing her down. That shot, while landing its mark, did not fully halt Shui's advance. The bandit at that time relentlessly charged at Satchiko, trying desperately achieve something.
"I have seen many people throw knives for a living," Temujin lamanred. "I can tell just by the way you throw that knife, you are exceptionally good with your accuracy. I must give credit to the person who trained you."
Mayumi humbly accepted the praise without acting too proud. She is glad that the skills Akahana have taught her have received recognition by someone outside their island. To her, she owned many of her training to her mother. Whenever pirates would invade, small throwing projectiles such as knives, kunai and shuriken are excellent tools to injure and then capture the enemy.
Before Mayumi can reply this flattering comment, the next thing she heard from Temujin completely thwarted her attempt.
"But," Temujin sharply announced, catching Mayumi off guard. From one word, she can heard the tiniest hint of disappointment. It's like the amicable Temujin have suddenly turned judgmental for absolutely no reason. She feared that there is something she has overlooked, something she has done that did not fare well with this ferocious Khan.
"It is because your aim was so good that allowed me to notice your weakness." The Khan unapologetically said while looking at the fire. His voice dropped the judgmental tone, replaced with a more concerning one.
"I...I," Mayumi stuttered. "What do you mean?" She was very confused by what the Khan is implying. First he applauded Mayumi's incredible accuracy at throwing knives, but then he completely turned around and used her skill to imply that she has a weakness not known to her. She wasn't angry with this comment, she just wanted to know what weakness the Khan saw in her.
Temujin took a sip from his bowl of fermented milk. There was a long silent, which was broken when Temujin finally revealed his answer.
"You didn't throw the knife to kill that blood bender."
Mayumi was dumbstruck, eyes widened. She didn't anticipate this was what the Khan was saying about her. But how is that supposed to be her weakness?
Temujin didn't stop there. He continued to express his thoughts like how a teacher would evaluate a pupil's poor exam performance.
"When that acolyte was charging towards your sister, your own family member, why did you not throw this knife at her head?" Temujin said with a little accusatory tone while holding up Mayumi's knife by the iron tip. The sharp blade is strong enough to cut through fresh and bones when enough force was applied in a single throw. If Mayumi had aimed for Shui's head, it would guarantee a kill.
Mayumi isn't sure how to answer the difficult question. Is he somehow suspecting that Mayumi is sympathizing the bandits?
"I know you two are Kyoshi warriors, a group of female trained fighters who are made of merely weavers, housewives and fisherwoman." Temujin stated, demonstrating his clear knowledge and understanding of the Kyoshi warrior's origin. He knows a lot of things, even though he never went to Kyoshi island due to the lack of incentives. But he still knows a lot about them. In fact, many people across the world at least know something about Kyoshi island and the famous women warriors. The achievements of the hero Suki made her own home and female warriors a rather iconic cultural heritage of the Earth Kingdom. "It is admirable, that women have taken up arms to defend their home from those who wish only bad ill towards them, I can say for certain, that the likes of you have fought pirates. Haven't you?"
Mayumi nodded, reluctantly. She doesn't know what Temujin would say next. Whatever it is, perhaps he is critical of how she fought.
"Tell me, Mayumi. Whenever the pirates attacked your home, how did you and your people fight them?" Temujin asked, he probably didn't inquired this out of curiosity.
Mayumi did her best to answer this question as honestly as pos. "We fought them, head on." She then cleared her throat and continue. "My fellow sisters and I defended our island against anyone who wishes to harm it. Every time pirates come, we will defeat them until they flee or they surrender."
"How many times have a bandit been killed?" Temujin asked. This topic was the only one Mayumi wished he would avoid. It was an uncomfortable subject to bring up.
"Well, our island was split up into three main groups of defenders, each one protecting one side of the island." Mayumi clarified, she can only tell her experience just by her own hometown. "Our mentors taught us, the new generation of Kyoshi warriors, that killing pirates are always the last resort. We need to do our best to injure them until they can no longer to fight or force them into submission. Of course, as you already know, this is not always the case. Some people, like that blood bender, refused to surrender even after heavily injured. Occasionally, we would use chi-blocking or the net guns made by Future Industries to subdue our opponents."
Mayumi was nervous when mentioning the part that Kyoshi warriors also used the same equipment those bandits used on Batu. She expected that the Khan would lash out at her people for also buying weaponry from the United Republic, an entity they considered the great eyesore.
But instead of hearing the Khan's angry reaction, Temujin only drink his fermented milk like nothing significant has happened.
"Go on," he commanded.
"Ah yes," Mayumi quickly resumed, not wanting to delay anything. "The reason why I decided to not aim for the blood bender's head is because my mother have taught me that killing is always the last resort, when nothing else can be done to defeat a dangerous pirate." Mayumi finished her lengthy sentence. At the same time, Temujin emptied his bowl of beverage.
"So, you never kill a pirate before?" Temujin asked, although he felt confident that his hypothesis is correct. Based on Mayumi's description, he concluded that most of the younger Kyoshi warriors probably never killed anyone.
"Yes," Mayumi admitted. "With the exception one of person I know of, all the other Kyoshi warriors in my generation and younger have never actually taken a life before."
"Your leaders told you that killing a cutthroat is the last resort," The Khan reiterated, a little displeased but almost chuckled at what Mayumi said. "At least you are not like that Lei, what a hindering chap he is." Temujin commented. "It's ironic how I told my own warriors that killing a bandit is the first thing they should prioritize. When we were ambushed, my men would never hesitate."
Mayumi can sense that there is a contention here. She knew that Temujin would not hesitate to kill a person that is a danger to him and his people. She saw what he did to Shui, and to that fire-bender he just killed before. Anyone who wishes to even harm a single hair of a Kheshig, the Khan's would strike them down without question.
The vivid image of what transpired when the Khan killed the fire-bender on the spot is still clear in her memory.. While Satchiko could not handle that overly gruesome scene she was exposed to, even the more mature Mayumi felt a bit disturbed by what she witnessed. But at least she can still cope with such act. After all the Khan's did committed it against dangerous people who wanted to harm Kyoshi island by capturing the two sisters. Despite the violent tendencies of Temujin against his foes, he doesn't seem like man who would go around the world killing people senselessly.
"I am not looking down on you, if that is what you are thinking." Temujin stated firmly. He gave the knife back to Mayumi, while he retrieved an object from his garment. "What I am saying, is that you are underestimating the willpower of a cultist. They would jump off a cliff with joy if their leader commanded it."
When Temujin finally revealed the object he is pulling out, Mayumi can clearly see that it is Shui's water bottle. The same container looted from the woman who could have ended Satchiko's life.
The eerie symbol of the spirit Vaatu is still apparent on the front. She doesn't know what this symbol very means, but she doubt it's a good one since it served as a trademark for those cultist.
"Such talent, yet she used it to spread death and chaos." Temujin glared at Shui's water bottle. Simply holding it in his hands took a lot of self-control to not crush it all into pieces. The very symbol of the cultist is right in front of him, as if mocking and making light of everything him and his people have went through. Those acolytes, for the sake of fulfilling their ideological urge, laid waste to countless innocent lives just because of some ambiguous view of keeping bending pure. They have many powerful benders in their ranks, and sometimes, Temujin felt all them could have devote their skills for something better than being a lackey for their 'Master'.
"Mayumi, I don't know what your perception of water benders are. Whatever people tell you about them, you know those water loving folks are not all benevolent." The Khan sighed, reminding the Kyoshi warrior about how terrifying blood bending was. "That blood bender who almost killed Ganbaatar, is an exceptionally skilled one. Not only could she bend the flesh of many my warriors all at once, she also almost killed your sister had I not intervene. If you have killed that bandit when you got the opportunity, you could have ended it right there."
Mayumi felt her heart suddenly dropped into her stomach. Was she very that incompetent to the point of almost letting Satchiko getting killed? She thought that simply injuring Shui would stop her from reaching Satchiko, while not killing her.
"You said that before you ended Shui's life, she almost killed my sister, can you elaborate?" Mayumi asked with hesitation. She wanted to know what she have overlooked during with the battle with four bandits. Knowing what shortcoming the battle hardened Khan is criticizing her about, may be essential to safeguarding Satchiko in the future.
"Remember Avatar Yun, does that ring any bells?" Temujin said, as quietly as he can. He wanted to keep this topic between the two of them if possible.
Mayumi was suddenly quiet, and little timid upon hearing this name. Back on the island, they never mention that name too often. He was the false Avatar, but he was also a very close friend of their founder Kyoshi.
"If I remember correctly, Avatar Kyoshi herself was at one point at the mercy of Yun." Temujin recalled. It's hard to remember what the scrolls of the White Order said about that specific moment word by word. He has unofficially left the order many years ago, and no longer have access to their documents about the past. While he was a young member of the order, he studied their achieves diligently, and remembered that Avatar's Yun's death was caused by Kyoshi herself. But it was said that the way Kyoshi killed Yun was not a common feat a water bender can do out the blue.
Temujin gulped a mouthful of beverage. "You are a Kyoshi warrior, tell me, how did Avatar Kyoshi killed Yun."
"She did it because she had no other choice. She did not have the will to take his life, but she also knew that Yun must be stopped at all cause. Wait..."
Mayumi remembered something in the story, something minor. Because her father have vast arrays of books, one of it documented the nature of water bending healing.
While it is great that the master water benders can use special techniques to heal people, many people are not aware, that there are a darker sides to the element. While blood bending is feared and infamous across the world, there is still another rare technique that is just as dangerous if not more fatal.
A deadly technique, used by Kyoshi to kill Yun, a friend she tried save but failed to do so. All the Earth Avatar did was placed her hand on Yun's chest, and froze his heart and lungs. That was all it took, a simple manipulation of the body's water and ceased all functioning that can maintain a life.
Mayumi's face went blank and horrified upon this realization. Was Shui proficient in this technique too? Was that what the Khan is trying to tell her about?
She thought she has almost failed Satchiko when she was trapped in the ice and couldn't do anything. But when she can, her conscious decision almost doomed her goal. When Shui tried to place her hand on Satchiko's chest armour, she thought Shui was trying to take her sister hostage. Now did she understood what the Khan is talking about, and how much was actually at stake when she didn't kill Shui the moment she had the opportunity.
Temujin, noticing the change in Mayumi's facial expression, he simply allowed her to process the information. Unlike Mayumi, who lived on the comparatively peaceful island for most of her life, Temujin have went through a lot of wars and trauma. Stopping a psychopath water bender from killing Satchiko using some deadly technique is only the tip of the iceberg for what horrors he has seen in his younger days.
"I don't want to tell you this, since you just got here." Temujin added, trying his best to not cause further distress on the female warrior. "Your selflessness and bravery is honorable, a great attribute a person can have. But if you truly wish to protect your sister in this dog eat dog world, do you think you very naively thought that you can accomplish that without killing wouldn't even spare a life of a child?"
It was a direct challenge to every Mayumi have been taught about. The difference between Temujin and Lei is now as clear as the sky. One wanted only death to those that would harm his people, whereas the other wanted to give those evil people a chance to redeem themselves.
The Khan's suggestion that Mayumi should take a life when needed opposed her own practices. Even without rules and conduct she must abide by, her morale conscience would is also not receptive to such actions.
Despite being competent warriors of Kyoshi island, she and her sister have frankly never killed a living person. They protect, they attack, but unlike Akahana's generation, the younger ones never openly seek the deaths of their enemies. Perhaps such cultural differences is the reason why both of them are dismayed at Batu behaving like a normal Kheshig, who advocated the death of the bandits even after capturing them.
Mayumi took a deep breathe, the thought that Shui could have killed Satchiko due to her own decision is a great revelation she doesn't want to face. But at the same time, she still doesn't want to stain her hand with a person's death. Perhaps she now better understood why Lei was so against killing the cultist prisoners. The weight of life taking is heavy, and witnessing it without intervening is also a great burden. But if Temujin didn't kill Shui at that moment, that bandit could have ended Satchiko's life by freezing the heart and lungs.
"Are you sure that was what Shui tried to accomplish? Killing my sister in her last moment?" Mayumi unwillingly asked. Part of her is still adamant to admit that Shui mastered such dangerous technique.
"Judging from that witch's attempt to place a hand on your sister's chestplate, I can say for sure, that she wanted to freeze the water inside Satchiko. You do know there is actually water inside us right?" Temujin then casually grabbed a piece of meat that was cooking over the fire. He knew that this information is very unsettling, even though Shui is killed before she can succeed.
Mayumi stared at the fire, unsure what to make of this situation. "What should I do if we got into a similar situation like last time?" She pondered. "If my sister's life is at risk, what should do?"
"You kill, even if you don't want to." Temujin stated bluntly, not even mentally prepare Mayumi before saying it. "I know you have a code of conduct that you follow, and taking a human life by itself is already a morally wrong act no one should do."
Mayumi is surprised that Temujin is willing to accept that killing a person isn't something that must be done lightly. She thought that Temujin takes pleasure in killing bandits.
"But if you knew that a bandit will go on and kill a person you deeply cared about, would you not destroy them before they succeed? Think about it."
Temujin hoped that Mayumi can consider the question, is it justified to take a life of one if it can prevent a death of another?
As expected Mayumi did not give an immediate response, she is still in limbo of what she truly believes in. Stepping aside from the campfire, she's going to get some more food, and contemplate about everything.
Right before she leaves, she thanked the Khan for all his help so far, including saving them from the bandits.
As the Khan continued to eat his meal alone, sounds of boot approached from behind.
"Subutai," Temujin addressed the physician without even looking at him. He knew the identity of the man just by listening to the sound of the shoes. "What are the status of Khiimori?"
"His work of breathing and heart rate is returning normal, and the skin regained some of its warm after his bleeding has stopped." The physician said, keeping his words as concise as possible. It wasn't easy for him to maintain treatment of the injuried air-bender while on a moving bison. He would have definitely much preferred to perform his duty while on ground. "But I have yet to see improvement in his consciousness, what's more we may need to restock more vital herbs while at the trading town. While we were lucky enough to not sustain any casualties today, those still injured by the blood bender still need some medical herbs. However, I see that Jargal has yet to return from his scouting mission."
Temujin looked at the sky. The sun is still high up in the air, but his loyal warriors are already a little tired out from today's unexpected battle. Usually, it wouldn't take long for Jargal to return, riding a sky bison to that town from here should be a speedy process.
"Something tells me that we might not be able to sell our wool this time." Temujin's instincts kicked in. Being alive for a long time allowed him to sense that something is not right here.
As Temujin glanced into his bowl of soup, he labored on the thought that Jargal might be in trouble or have suffered some setbacks. However, he still believed that the hunter would not easily be caught, especially when the Kheshig often prefers to maintain a distance with an enemy.
Temujin took one last gulp from his soup, and stand up from the spot.
"Ganbaatar!" The leader yelled.
The captain immediately came forward, dropping his plate of left over meat he was just eating. He stood in attention, preparing to receive and execute whatever order the Khan has to give.
"Get everyone ready, we will march on foot in full force! When I mean everyone, I mean everyone!"
Those still eating heard the command loud and clear. Before Ganbaatar can tell them to stop eating and pack everything up, many Kheshig started to eat as much food as possible before they leave.
Whatever trouble might be up ahead, they would make sure that they make people regret crossing them.
-In this chapter, Iactually wanted to spend some moment to establish the goals of Batu and what he wanted to achieve. I don't want to introduce him just to fill some kind of role or act as a convenience to the plot, no, I don't want for him to just be a plot device.His interaction with his adopted father Khenbish, emphasizes the weight of taking another person's life. It also demonstrated how the Kheshig nomads have a contrasting view when compared to Lei's mysterious guerrilla fighters, who prefer not harming the Acolytes of Vaatu.
-Another key note of this chapter is how one of the nomads said how there are people around the Earth Kingdom that built statues about the Avatar killer. Now, it might be weird seeing how there are people out there who are strange enough to respect a man that killed the Avatar. But I linked this to how many people saw the killer, despite being a completely normal person, is able to kill an entity that is "unkillable". Now, I know many of you would say that an Avatar can be killed easily, and you are absolutely right. Aang was almost killed by Azula, and Roku was killed because Sozin left him to his death. But I perceive the unusual recognition to the Avatar killer is due to the man being able to kill Korra directly, and succeeded. To my knowledge(correct me if I am wrong), there hasn't been an Avatar that was killed by a human before in recent history. This itself is quite a big deal, all the while considering how paramount the role of the Avatar is to a regular human. The reason why there might be people in awe at this also stemmed from possible discontent towards Korra. We know that not everyone in the world liked the Avatar regardless of their performance. It's only natural that some people might saw the Avatar killer as a 'savior' type of figure. I promise I will explain this strange phenomenon in later chapters, to dive deeper as to why the Avatar killer somehow was revered by some people.