It was nearly midnight when they came. They sawed into the nursery set up in one of the guest houses. Their target: Rohan, the youngest of the family. He would serve as good bait. Because of his youth and inexperience, he likely wouldn't be a threat to them. And his family wouldn't want to risk a full on attack seeing him tied to the back of one of them. Everything was carefully choreographed. If any member of the advance team failed, they didn't have to worry. Serik would cover them with his rifle.
Tarkhan used his waterbending to cut the glass as silently as possible and create a window big enough for the child to be lifted through with a water arm. Timur used the blow gun to stick the child with two darts before they performed the extraction. One to keep him asleep, and one to suppress any bending he might have, and they lifted him from his bed.
"Who is holding the boy?" Tarkhan asked, holding Rohan floating at the end of his water arm.
"Not me!" Furase insisted.
"With you, he's the least likely to wake. You ARE a woman after all. Might make him feel more at ease… keep him quiet for as long as possible," Blaze snickered. Furase slugged him in the shoulder and he cackled.
"Quiet, you two!" Tarkhan barked.
"I'll take him!" one of the earthbenders exclaimed in annoyance.
"Thank you, Bulat. Remember, when you bend, don't hurt him. We are not animals. We don't harm children… not intentionally." the waterbender lowered his voice as he tied the child to the earthbender's back and injected him with a small dose of an orange serum to suppress any bending the child may have. "Tonight, our target is the Beifong Family's second greatest asset: its seismic sense."
Commence operation: Level the Playing Field!
Furase sent a bolt of lightning barely missing a guard stationed above the entrance to the main house. The Zaofu City Guardsman practically flipped over in shock and fear much to the group's amusement as he raced to slam the alarm and turn on the flood lights. As soon as the button was hit, Blaze and Furase simultaneously bent bolts of lightning at separate guard towers killing all of their occupants by electrocution. Bulat and Timur took care of the remaining two guard towers away from the main houses, Bulat with precision accuracy killing instantly and Timur with mediocre accuracy. If the younger earthbending brother's targets didn't die on impact, they would die of tetanus from the rusted blades Timur wielded instead of the traditional tin and aluminum used by most metalbenders.
Yin frowned and handed her boss the pair of binoculars they shared. "Do you think we should have let them get this far? They know we won't go full out while they have a hostage, especially a child." Yin whispered to her boss.
"It is essential. Besides, only Lin and the Yeshe children will be handicapped by the presence of a hostage which is fine. They can run for all we care. We just need a minute. Trust in your control when the time comes," Sasuke responded, checking on the activity below.
Rohan woke up, breaking through the shirshu toxin and fell into a fit of wailing. Furase also screamed and covered his own ears.
"Is it just me or does his airbending make him louder?!" Furase yelled over the child's screaming.
"Even if it did, it shouldn't after that dose of nardensol!" Tarkan groaned, watching out for the first counter attack.
"Stay away from my baby brother!" Jinora yelled, bursting out of one of the guest houses in her pajamas. She assaulted the group with a massive air funnel careful to keep the current away from Rohan as Huifan, Lin, Hungjian, and Jinkun moved into position while they couldn't see.
Tarkhan patted Furase and Timur on the shoulders. "Remember. The airbender children are NOT our targets tonight. No harm will come to them!" He yelled just enough to reach their ears but not break through the wind barrier of the air funnel.
"Do you think they know who we are after?"
"No, or else they wouldn't have handed them to us on a silver platter," Timur said as the dust settled and they found themselves surrounded by all the Earthbending Beifongs except Lin and Tenzin's youngest.
"Will you be able to reach from here?" Yin asked Jinkun as he settled himself on the roof beside Sasuke's secretary.
"Perfectly," the airbender in the earthbender's body replied. In case anything got out of hand, he would use passive bending. After the minute was up, the non-bending Royal Fire Nation siblings would jump in and capture one to interrogate on the whereabouts of Izumi.
"As the Earth Queen, I ORDER you to release Rohan!" Suyin yelled, with one hand above her head holding one of those metal panels as a shield. With her foot and her other hand, she stomped,elevating a rock the size of a head.
"Not until we've obtained what we came here for!" Tarkhan replied.
"Which is what?" Lin asked.
Blaze narrowed his eyes and grinned. "A victory!"
Everyone attacked at the same time, fire, water, and metal all clashed with eart.
Furase grumbled, "If only the former Chief came out in her armor, things would have been so much easier!" She hissed dodging a cable from Hungjan only to be snatched up by a shackle bent by Huifan.
The prodigy threw the firebending girl onto a nearby bridge. Furase rolled to disperse the energy then flipped onto the railing.
"Define victory, Bitch!" Huifan yelled, marching towards her with a metal panel above her head serving as a shield and six curved, metal blades held in the air on either side of her face, looking ready to decapitate.
Furase laughed and charged up her lightning. "You!" She yelled, launching a frontal attack. Huifan twisted to the side and sent the first blade at Furase's side. "Oh? Not gonna kill? In that case, let us play!" the wild one yelled, creating a wall of flames as a diversion to get behind the earthbender.
Hungjian flew out of the ground like a mole and tried to grab one of the invaders with a metal strip only to get a spear of ice run through his shoulder mid-air.
"For the descendents of war heroes, your tactics are truly awful!" Timur yelled, sending a metal blade through Hungjian's side, wrapping around his hip bones. "Don't you know, earthbenders are useless in air!" He yelled, slamming Hungjian as hard as he could into one of the metal panels that lined the floor of the courtyard.
"Jian!" Lin screamed, fighting a tear at the sight of her eldest child brutally taken out of commission.
She tried to get to him only to be surrounded by a wheel of fire. She created a donut of earth and then broke it apart, spraying the intruders with a combination of dust and pebbles.
Rohan screamed louder.
"Fuck!" Lin cursed. She dissipated the dust immediately and decided to charge, taking hits from icicles, burns from flames, and-
"Lin there's rust!" Suyin screamed, bending a metal floor panel between Lin and one of Bulat's curved attacks just in time.
"Nobody attacks our home and gets away with it!" Wing declared as he, his twin and mother yelled, took over the group.
"These dunderheads won't be able to keep their attacks away from Rohan. I have to go down there!" Jinkun realized, moving to stand.
Without a motion, Yin trapped his ankle to the roof. "Don't. Your passive bending is too valuable. And don't worry. The Earth Queen and her sons won't forget about the hostage so soon."
"How much longer must they endure?" Jinkun asked.
"Just sixteen seconds," Sasuke replied, slowly unsheathing his sword.
They had two on the panels: the former Chief of Police of Republic City, and her eldest Son. The Earth Queen and her twins still had both feet off, and nobody knew where Huifan and Jinkun were for that matter.
They needed all of the Beifongs standing on a metal panel at once. If they tried to burn one at a time, the rest would simply retreat. Still something didn't add up. Why was nobody else fighting? Why had just the earthbenders emerged to defend the property against infiltration? Was it because the Air Nation, being on the brink of extinction, was too valuable to put at risk in a skirmish like this? No, they fought in the Battles for Republic City against Kuvira AND Pema…
Before Tarkhan could finish his thought he found himself evading some instinctively dangerous ray of light that crossed his vision.
The trio scattered when a katana, a naginata, and a chigiriki broke their tight formation.
The one with the ponytail stood up first, cackling like a mad man intoxicated by violence. With a swing of a gleaming diamond-coated spiked club at the end of a chain fixed to his pole, he sent Blaze and Bulat rolling.
"Ha! What was that about our tactics being awful?!" he yelled, looping the chain around Bulat's wrist and pulling, breaking several veins and tendons before releasing the tension.
The Earth Queen and her twins backed off into the shadows to give way for the non-benders to take over.
A man with a standard katana faced Timur while the ponytailed man's identical twin faced Tarkhan.
"Release the child," the one with the sword ordered.
"Not until we get what we want," Tarkhan replied, steadfast, bending extra arms of water.
"Brother, who are they?" Bulat asked Timur from across the courtyard.
"Amber League," Timur replied, recognizing the condescending gaze from his opponent.
"I should warn you, with a word, my brother WILL kill your comrades," the man with the pole-arm informed the waterbender holding his naginata.
"I suggest you tell us your demands and let the child go peacefully." Sasuke suggested. "We might even concede."
Timur refused to answer.
The one with the naginata flipped his pole arm so that the blade was raised again. "Don't say we didn't warn you, Stranger."
"We don't play with the lives of children..." the one with the sword mused, raising his weapon.
"TATSU!" the one with the naginata yelled, breaking his weapon out of a block of ice with brute force before swinging it in Tarkhan's direction.
"HAI!" his identical twin with the ponytail responded with a grin. The wild one landed a vicious blow with the club end of his weapon on Blaze's torso, shredding flesh and spraying blood.
"ELIMINATE!" the man with the pole arm yelled, granting his brother permission to use full force.
"Heh," Tatsu smiled and stopped attacking, tucking the pole of his chigiriki under his arm while evading a blast of fire and a flurry of rusty blades from his opponents. Blaze cauterized the wound with a hiss and tried to shift his attention to the Earth Queen and her earthbending twins. Tatsu danced around Blaze with his hair ribbon in his mouth, catching the firebender in one of Bulat's attacks.
"Huh?!" Blaze gasped in horror, feeling the rusted metal sink into his back.
"What kind of creature are you?!" Bulat screamed at Tatsu, catching his friend as he fell.
Tatsu finished twisting his long hair into a bun and secured it with the ribbon in his mouth before picking up his weapon again. He laughed. "One without a conscience!" He looped the chain of the chigiriki around Bulat's already-injured wrist and with a spin and a yank, tore off the hand completely.
"Bulat!" Timur froze for a fraction of a second at the sound of his brother's screams. It wasn't much, but still was enough.
Sasuke slid between Timur's legs, sheathing his sword and drawing a tanto dagger. He sliced through the cable bindings that held Rohan to Timur's back and caught him. Before Timur could react, Sasuke closed the distance between them and struck the metalbenders back with his foot, knocking the wind out of him.
The Lawyer threw Rohan with full strength onto the roof where his dear secretary waited with open arms and first-aid away from the center of the battle.
Sasuke continued, delivering a knee to the solar plexus and a sweep kick that dropped Timur flat on his back.
"You're all useless!" a voice yelled from behind Tetsuya. Furase walked towards them with blood dripping down the side of her head, a deep gash in her left shoulder and leaves in her disheveled hair. In front of her, Huifan walked awkwardly with stiff arms and a look of pain and terror in her eyes as rudimentary dark lightning forced her limbs forward.
Both Tetsuya and Sasuke's faces fell.
"Jinkun! You need to break her focus! She doesn't know what she's doing! If she messes up, sends too much lightning through the wrong synapse- Huifan can suffer permanent brain damage! Anyone that girl tries to bend could suffer permanent brain damage!" Yin whispered in his ear. Without moving or revealing his position, he threw Furase into the air.
Huifan fell on all fours and gasped for air.
As Furase twisted through the air, she pinned her sights on the Earth Queen, Wing and Wei and forced all three of them onto the metal panels.
"SERIK NOW!" she yelled as she fell on the ground.
Electricity spread from a corner of each panel and burned everyone's feet, Huifan's hands, and Hungjian's back where he laid focusing on his breathing.
Screams filled the night as the fuses depleted.
"Tsuya! Don't forget," Sasuke called to the one with the naginata.
"We only need one to answer questions," Tetsuya replied, his eyes narrowing as he lunged towards Tarkhan.
The waterbender, Tarkhan, slid to the side and blocked as fast as he could only to get his ice shattered and his face sliced as he fell down.
"RETREAT!" Tarkhan ordered his dear comrades.
The one with his hair in a bun wrapped his chain around Blaze's neck and turned to face Furase as he pulled his chigiriki forward, nearly completely decapitating the firebender.
"No!" Timur screamed, reaching for Furase as Sasuke sliced through the back of his knees. The lawyer threw his sword at a fleeing Furase, sinking the blade into her upper leg as she jumped up off of one of the buildings and started flying towards the top of the domes.
"I'm sorry Brother," Bulat whispered as he ran past his maimed bro on the ground to escape with Tarkhan and Furase.
Jinkun used passive bending to make a wall of earth around them and try to cut off their escape.
"Give up! You have nowhere to go!" Tatsu screamed, marching towards them with a cocky grin, spinning the weight at the end of the chain of his blood covered chigiriki.
Just when Sasuke, Tetsuya, and Tatsuya thought they had the battle, the domes of the estate began to open and an unmarked airship dropped cables for the intruders to escape.
Tarkhan gritted his teeth begrudgingly and used bloodbending to freeze the three troublesome weapons masters in place so he and Furase could reach the cables.
"Your- Hold-" Tetsuya grumbled, trying to resist it. "Is- WEAK!" He threw the naginata upwards, spearing through Tarkhan's forearm. Just then, a needle flew through the air and into Tetsuya's arm. He pulled it out and pressed his thumb over the opening of the needle.
Yin dropped in front of him and bent a rock in the direction it came.
A second needle flew towards them. She caught it in a muddy slurry she bent out of the blood-soaked ground. In it, an orange serum glowed.
After a night of wrangling coroners and nursing staff, Sasuke, Tetsuya, Tatsuya and Yin found themselves alone in the breakfast hall with half-eaten containers of instant noodles and a third pot of black tea.
"Good morning, Brothers!" Rikuto exclaimed, practically dancing his way into the room with fresh eyes and a beaming smile."Yin! Didn't expect to see you still here! How is everything!"
"Where the fuck were you last night?" Tetsuya asked, twirling one of the capped syringes in his hand while his twin slipped some unwanted peas into Sasuke's serving.
"I went to the swamp to see if Grandma Toph could find mother through the vines with her enhanced seismic sense. Why?"
"Did you not see the damage outside?" Sasuke asked, not looking up from his newspaper.
"Everything looked fine from underground," Rikuto replied.
"Check this out." Sasuke passed the older brother a copy of the Zaofu Daily Newspaper.
Earth Queen's Private Estate Under Assault!
Only one casualty reported on the intruders' side. All residents of the Beifong Family are safe.
"Safe but severely injured." Sasuke clarified. "We had the censors cut that little tidbit out of the final publication."
"They'd planted electric bombs on the ground panel and used the invasion as an opportunity to wipe out your family's seismic sense in one fell swoop." Yin explained
"What?" Rikuto fell into a chair in disbelief. "Even Huifan's?"
"They got everyone except you."
"Fuck!" Rikuto cursed, running his fingers through his hair.
"On the bright side, Sunako now has a sample of pure nardensol to work with and we have a hostage and one less enemy," Tetsuya shrugged.
"Hey!" Takeo interjected as he arrived. "Who gave you authorization to kill?"
"Tsuyu," Tatsu answered plainly.
Tetsuya sighed and rolled his eyes. He set the syringe down and brandished the serial number burned into his arm in case the Fire Lord needed a reminder. "We've murdered before; it's not like this little act of self-defense will make our sentences worse."
"I couldn't give two fucks about your sentences now!" Takeo declared, marching towards his little brothers. "But did you think for a moment what they might do to Mother in retaliation for your brutality? Remember Rohan wasn't their only hostage!"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "She'll be fine. She's tough. And we already know they don't want to kill her."
The Fire Lord yanked the newspaper out of the lawyer's hands and burnt it to ash. "There is more to life than just surviving! Remember that!"
Izumi woke to another bucket of ice water drenching her simple shift.
"Wake up, Fire Woman, the boss wants to see you," Tarkhan grumbled, helping Izumi to her feet.
"You look like you haven't slept in a week," Izumi noted, seeing the shadows under his eyes. "Or like you've witnessed a great tragedy recently." She added upon noticing his limp. Maybe she could take advantage of this.
"I'm fine."
"You're lying."
"Just shut up before you do something you'll regret," he ordered as the facility workers rolled Izumi to the showers. Insignificant assistants scrubbed all the sweat, urine, and even some of her scabs off her body under a frigid tap.
"The boss doesn't like the smell of homelessness," one explained with an expression of pity on their face.
"Does anybody?" Izumi asked, watching them avoid her wrists with the coarse sponges. She opened her hand and let her flame flicker. "Why didn't you inject me with that drug this morning?" She asked Tarkhan who stood guard with his eyes closed, waiting for them to be through with the washing. "You can't possibly trust me."
"You're right. We don't." He opened his eyes and unfolded his arms. "But try something, I dare you."
Izumi clenched a fist and with a shock wave of heat, completely boiled the ice water off of her body and burned the assistants tending to her.
Tarkhan blocked it with a shield of ice then raised a hand and curled his fingers back. Izumi found herself forced to bend the knee.
"Bloodbender!"
"I always hated it —" he confessed, releasing her. "Though I wish I had set aside that hatred sooner last night. Izumi-san, your sons are monsters."
Izumi froze. "You— met them?"
"Perhaps." Tarkhan replied, kneeling down to her level. "Just know… that everything that happens to you from here on out… is simply the consequence of their actions."
Izumi received a pair of pants and a tank top for her audience with the boss, a middle-aged woman with shoulder length, light brown hair and sandy skin from the Si Wong Desert.
"It was so nice of you to join us," the boss said, feigning politeness as she poured for Izumi a cup of hot tea.
They're really pushing their luck with all this heat, Izumi thought. That and the lack of injections that morning.
Tarkhan walked over to stand beside a fuming Furase and a terrified Bulat.
"Do you know why you're here?" the boss asked Izumi.
"You want my inner fire," Izumi replied.
"It would be nice, I'll admit," the Boss confessed with a light chuckle. "But that is not my intention. Do you know who I am, Lady Ido?"
"I don't think so," Izumi replied, staring down at the food on the table, still on her hunger strike.
"Well, take a closer look!" the Boss yelled, slamming one of Izumi's old knives into the center of Izumi's plate across the table.
"If you're ever in need of any help, take this to any Fire Nation embassy… tell them Ziyuan Feng sent you, and help shall come..." a 24 year old Izumi told the 12-year-old little girl.
"Nala!" Izumi gasped. The middle aged woman threw the table and bent earthen shackles around Izumi's arms and legs, pinning her to the chair.
"Five years after that, I went to the Fire Nation embassy. My village was starving and you know what they did? They filed a piece of paper and put me to work in your Amber League! I was a child and they didn't even let me say goodbye to my family. I thought it made sense at the time. Of course I'd have to work for their reprieve, so I didn't complain.
"But years later, once I had finally earned a vacation day I went home to see and you know what I found? The entire village was completely leveled, torched to the ground, the ashes scattered to the wind! Only bits of charcoal remained. Your government lied to me— YOU lied to me! You said you'd help and what did you do instead? COMMIT GENOCIDE!"
Izumi's heart raced. "I didn't! My government wouldn't— they COULDN'T—" she insisted
"—This is no quest for clean energy. This is revenge. I will take all that you hold dear just as you did to me. If Dr. Sheng and Varrick get something out of it in the end, great for them, but in the meantime— pray for your children… and pray for your country."
With a kick to the ground, Nala reduced the stone shackles to sand and launched Izumi towards Furase and Tarkhan. A set of stadium lights turned on revealing they were in an underground arena.
"Your pony-tailed prick killed my brother!" Furase yelled, kicking. Izumi rolled to the side to avoid it, pausing for a moment to catch her head, dizzy after two days without food water.
"You all have fun!" Nala yelled as she walked away.
"And took my hand with that damn chigiriki!" Bulat added, brandishing his freshly wrapped stump before sending a rock towards Izumi's head.
She flipped backwards, stumbling slightly. She couldn't run forever. Not in this state.
Breathe, Iziyi! BREATHE!
Izumi ran to the center of the arena, dodging fire, lightning, earth, and water. She slid to the middle and turned to face them. As they all struck at once, she dropped into a lotus position and slammed her firsts together creating that fire shield of rainbow colors. One of those platinum encased needles flew through the barrier but she dodged it. They always did aim at the center of the sphere. She just had to stay close to the edge with the flames. She paced, crying. Tatsuya killed the fire boy… and her government destroyed Nala's village? Tatsuya— he would kill if his family was in danger… but her government? After 100 years of oppressing other nations— Zuko and she made sure nothing like that would happen again. They would never just wipe out a village. It didn't make sense!
With a burst of energy she dissipated the sphere. "NALA!" She yelled, hair blazing blue but voice cracking, pleading.
"She's gone!" Furase yelled, kicking Izumi in the jaw.
Izumi spat out blood and a piece of a chipped tooth. "Tell your boss— the villagers must have been relocated! My government couldn't have killed them. Burning the structures may have been a way to eliminate the scent and protect the villagers' new location!"
"Likely story!" Furase yelled, charging up lightning to shoot Izumi point blank. Izumi rolled onto her feet and redirected the bolt into the wall.
"Fight back!" Furase yelled, staggering on a shaky leg that was still bleeding from whatever happened last night.
"WHY?!" Izumi replied. "WHAT'S THE POINT?! Why waste energy fighting when that guy can just snipe me with a needle. Do what you must with me, just leave my family alone! Please!"
"Don't you want to fight for your family when the time comes for us to take them?" Tarkhan asked.
"Ha! As if you'll give me that opportunity!" Izumi laughed with tears in her eyes. "I can only hope now that I've taught them enough to survive on their own."
She stopped crying. For some reason she felt a sense of calm wash over her as she looked at her feet, tired. They hadn't attacked in a while she realized. She looked up and saw then backing up, away from her. She turned around and saw her largest dragon standing over them.
"You've learned their purpose, Izumi— I told you— if they stepped out of line—" the dragon reared.
"Fear! Don't!" Izumi yelled, grabbing him by his tail just before he could bury Tarkhan, Bulat and Furase in his flames.
"Why are you so against killing these monsters?!" Fear asked. "They hurt you! They assaulted your family! All for vengeance!"
"Well what would you have done? Killed them on my behalf also for vengeance? We're supposed to be better than that! You stupid, impulsive, emotion! We're DEFENDERS!" Izumi yelled, pulling the dragon back to her by his tail. She was level with her fear out of her head. It was much easier to think without Fear meddling with the other senses. "Defenders of the good and bad and everything in between! All life is sacred!"
"Spoken like an Air Nomad!"
"Is that really such a bad thing?"
Fear grumbled.
"I know you're scared, but if you succumb to anger and vengeance, they'll return it ten-fold, as you've seen!"
The dragon lowered its head pensively as she continued to drag it back, to her, absorbing its flames back into her body. "And quit leaving me whenever you feel like it you little shit—"
"You're the one who keeps feeding me. Soon I won't fit in my vessel anymore…and you will be the one to break," Fear warned Izumi.
She glared and let go of Fear's tail. The dragon sighed and turned away from the dumbstruck assailants and flew right back into her. Izumi fell to her knees with shaking hands, and a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.
Serik shot her then with four of those orange needles. She didn't bother dodging and just let the tears fall onto the floor as her hair turned dark grey again.
Kuvira woke with the child's head buried between her breasts and tiny fists clutching onto her nightgown. Don't go!
She smiled, stroking the child's face moving some moose strands of her hair from her eyes.
"Mmm?" Young Arisu cooed like a bird, only able to make a single sound as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning, little love." Kuvira smiled. "Gentle with your own face, darling." Kuvira said, blocking the child's face from her own hands, gently removing the muck from her eyes with her thumb.
"Good morning, milady!" a maid exclaimed, blasting into the room with some assistants. One brought water and tea while two others opened the curtains over the windows. A fourth brought clean towels for the bathroom and a fifth brought clothes freshly altered by the sewing team.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Kuvira asked Ta Wen.
"That is your secretary's job to say." Ta Wen replied, holding out a hand to help Kuvira out of bed.
"You and Arisu will start your day with exercise led by Taemon. Then you will eat, bathe, dress, then meet the house staff and assist with the changing of the sheets for all beds in the estate- This includes the servant quarters." Nira announced. "Then you will have lunch with the Master and the rest of the house in the Great Hall. The afternoon begins with a doctor's appointment, followed by the first in a series of courses on business management, finance, and psychology. Arisu will begin learning to read, write, and play either piano or violin. Your choice. The current plan is to get her up to speed with other children her age within the month so we can send her to school-"
"In a month?" Kuvira asked from the bathroom. "But that's so soon!"
"It is, but she needs to interact with children her age if she's going to be able to learn how to be human."
"But children her age can be mean."
"With all due respect, Ma'am you can't protect her forever."
"But it has only been with us for three days!"
"You know what they say! The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The second best time is today," Nira responded with a wink.
Kuvira sighed and bent down to examine her tiny child. "I suppose you're right."
"Don't worry. You'll have plenty of tasks to distract yourself with while she is away, and you'll have most evenings free to help her with her assignments and everything. It will be okay!" Nira promised. "Come on, let's get you dressed."
It was weird not having to bind her own chest in the morning now that she had an army of maids tending to her every need.
She donned a minty tank top and darker yoga pants, braided Arisu's hair while Ta Wen braided hers, then they went to find Taemon.
They found him in the garden with half of his hair in a tight, tiny bun. He wore a beige tank top with dark burgundy pants.
Arisu made a face at him.
"Do you not like it?" Taemon laughed, bending down to her level. She reached for his bun.
He laughed and pulled the ribbon out, running his fingers through it straight back and the child's grimace went away.
"I guess she is developing preferences," Kuvira laughed.
"Apparently! Shall we? We will jog the perimeter of the estate first. I'd like to show you some of the defenses and then we'll stretch and do a bit of gymnastics in the grassy patch of the garden and some meditation, before we eat. If you're in agreement, I would like to do this daily. If we make it 'normal' for Arisu, she can become accustomed to the physical exertion and less likely to complain about it when she is older."
Kuvira nodded and followed as he broke into a slow jog. Arisu, naturally not wanting to be left behind followed.
For a while they jogged in silence, closely monitoring the state of the small child sprinting to keep up with them the entire way to the edge of the property where there was a water well.
Taemon dipped a metal finger tip into the water from the well first before offering it to his child to drink.
"Checking for poison?" Kuvira asked, watching the little girl chug and then pace.
"Yep," he replied, refilling his canteen from the bucket and handing it to Kuvira. He caught Arisu the next time she passed and lifted her arms, placing her tiny hands on her head. "Expand your lungs," he instructed, arching his back and lifting his arms in the air. Arisu mimicked him.
He drank last from the well once he ensured his child and Lady were taken care of.
"We'll take a break here for a bit before moving on?" He asked Kuvira.
"That's fine," she nodded. Running at a speed fit for a five year old wasn't at all taxing, but watching Arisu panting and not understanding why they were running, harder than anything in the world.
Taemon bent down into a side leg stretch and Arisu followed. "Since Arisu bears the name Yamakatsu, I expect her to act like one." He started.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kuvira asked.
"She must know what it means to be a proper, noble lady in our society. How to dress, how to walk, how to talk, and how to act."
"Won't that make her weak?"
"Does Izumi look weak to you? Or Lin Beifong? They were both trained in high society. Knowing how to conduct yourself at court and being physically strong are not mutually exclusive." Taemon replied. "She will be able to fight and defend herself and those she loves from anything. Ideally we will have her be trained in weapons and chi-blocking at bare minimum. If she is a bender, great. If not? Also great. One less burden for her to bear.
"Still, life isn't all about fighting. I would like to see you two dance together some day. I'd like to see her know beauty and strength, appreciate the arts and the I need your help. Together we can establish a new normal for the little thing and when the time comes, foster her curiosity so that she will never settle for being told what to do without knowing why."
Kuvira looked down at the five year old who had lost interest in stretching and was laying down in the grass, looking up at the sky. She moved to remind Arisu what they were doing to help establish the "new normal" but Taemon raised a hand slightly to stop her.
"Some things can only be learned by example. We'll save discipline for much later. Right now I think it would be best if we just showed how we want her to act," Taemon suggested.
"It… it makes sense. I think I like that. I would also like to never see her defenseless."
"Good. Now? Shall we continue?" He asked. They ran to the next well and then stopped to stretch more, have a planking competition and then onto the next. Arisu stayed by them but was more interested in the flowers and small insects buzzing around than any actual conditioning which was totally fine. She was young, and still getting used to her new environment.
The Earth Queen was the first to receive skin grafts after the doctors cut away the bulk of the blistering flesh that remained after receiving third degree burns. Next, the doctors treated her twin sons, Wing and Wei, then Lin, Hungjian, and Huifan.
"I can't believe only Jinkun managed to escape unscathed!" Huifan exclaimed curling and uncurling her toes, trying to train herself to get used to the pain so she could walk again.
"And me," Huan added, arriving with changes of clothes for everybody.
"Huan!" Suyin exclaimed, feigning a mother's cheer.
"Sorry, you're not an earthbender anymore so you don't count!" Wei chirped. Huan rolled his eyes.
"Any update on the status of that one guy Sasuke captured?" Lin inquired, her detective's instinct kicking in.
"He'll never walk again after Sasuke severed nearly every ligament in his knees," Huan answered flatly.
"Spirits, that's brutal!" Wing gasped.
"But who is he? What organization are he and his little friends a part of? What was their purpose in attacking?"
"To buy time," Huan sighed. "Our cousins were right. They want to do research on Izumi's inner fire. And they didn't want us finding them and interfering. So they sought to limit our mobility- at least for a little while. Unfortunately for them, Taemon and Kuvira are out there."
"Do you really think it is wise to let those little traitors be our saviors?" Suyin asked quietly.
"You don't want to risk the safety of your own family. Think of it this way. They can try. And if they die in the process, they do so at no expense to you," Huan reminded his mother dryly.
Lin and Huifan both were taken aback. Was that how Takeo convinced Suyin to let Taemon leave?
"But don't you think it is a little too coincidental that the attack happened immediately after they left? What if they're in cahoots?" Hungjian asked.
"Tae doesn't like to send his people on such high-profile suicide missions. He would have gone himself."
After the morning jog and the exercise, Kuvira and Arisu went to assist the staff with some chores, while Taemon went to his study to check on the financial status of the estate. Things were… to say the least… being maintained. He looked over reports on costs, expenditures, and redirection of funds from investment accounts to education. He reviewed case studies from internal auditors and letters from various members of the organization and copies of Nira's replies.
He wondered if he even should visit his companies and schools while he was free, if it would help or be detrimental in the long run since he wouldn't be able to keep coming. He didn't want to be a tease for the students at the bending schools, but at the same time… he knew if he dropped in… it would remind the teachers at least of their goal in teaching.
"Sir, Sir Chode on the phone for you," his secretary announced, peering into his office.
Taemon sighed. So soon? "Fire Lord Takeo, to what pleasure do I owe this audience," Taemon droned.
"The Beifong Estate in Zaofu was attacked last night. All of the earthbenders except for Rikuto have been burned on the feet. They should take about eight months at least to make a full recovery. Until then,"
"Their seismic sense is out of commission and they're vulnerable to more attacks."
"Yes."
"What would you like me to do? Send my elite team to cover defense-"
"No. The Earth Queen has allowed me to install my Imperial Firebenders to guard the family. Find Mother by any means necessary. And sooner rather than later."
"Are you sure?" Taemon asked. "With time we can be discrete, but you're asking that we—"
"This is an order from your Fire Lord. Avenge our family."
"Yes, My Lord," Taemon hung up the phone and ran his fingers through his hair. "Nue! Summon Wangdue and Aibanu! And tell Kuvira I won't make lunch. Wish her luck with her day."
"Yes, Master," the secretary bowed and hurried to deliver the message.
Taemon opened his desk drawer and pushed aside an old newspaper to reveal a secret compartment. He pulled out a ring with a red stone in it and a pai sho tile and pulled on his coat.
"I might not make dinner either," he added as he passed his secretary and buttoned his collar up against his throat.
"Sir, if the Lady asks where you've went-"
"Tell her… it's business. No more. I don't want her coming after."
"Yes, Master."
Timur's legs had to receive four layers of stitching before being set and splinted. "We almost had to amputate it", a doctor said, changing the soaked wrappings. They still couldn't put a long term cast on it without risking the wound go gangrene or something.
"Don't bother replacing the bandage, Doctor," Tetsuya advised the healer with his hand resting on his sword.
"But—" the doctor stammered.
"By the Queen's orders, he's our prisoner now. We'll take over treatment from here on out," Sasuke explained.
The doctor glanced back at the earthbender whose eyes begged him not to go.
With gritted teeth and fear wracking his body, the doctor left the earthbender to the Fire Boys.
Later that night, in an alleyway off the main strip of a small city of the southern Earth Kingdom, Bulat could barely breathe.
That airbender… how could he possess such a penchant for violence? How?! I thought the airbenders abhorred violence. This isn't natural!
"He wasn't always an airbender." Taemon answered, arriving at the scene of the capture. "Thank you for getting us this far, Wangdue. Is anyone else around?"
The airbender with hair shook his head
"Are you okay?"
Wangdue nodded.
"Any injuries?"
Wangdue shook his head again.
"Excellent. You may go. I'll take it from here," Taemon said, bending down to examine their prisoner.
Wangdue nodded and retreated.
"Pfft what can a non-bender like you do to make me speak after that bastard fractured half my ribs, and burst a lung?" Bulat wheezed, clutching a bone protruding from his abdomen.
"I can aggravate the wounds," Taemon whispered, digging his hand into Bulat's side while maintaining eye contact. Bulat screamed. "Make new ones," he added standing up. In his shoe, Taemon curled his toes back, flicking a switch that released a blade out the front of his steel-toed boots. He kicked Bulat in the solar plexus spraying blood onto his boot. The battered earthbender coughed. "Maybe I'll tell you how weak your brother was under pressure. How fast he gave away your location, your operation —" Taemon mused, gently pushing the blade further into Bulat's chest.
"I heard how you raided the Earth Queen's estate and how you used a five year old boy to keep my family at bay…" Taemon's expression changed from apathy to disgust. "I don't even care that you maimed the earthbenders of the family… they're all adults, most who haven't known enough suffering— but the moment you touched a hair on a child's head— was the moment you signed your death sentence."
"You have no authority!"
"You're right— I don't have authority— I have something stronger."
Bulat whimpered.
"Ever heard of immunity?" Taemon asked, kicking the broken man across the face and slicing open his cheek
Bulat lowered his head. This was the end wasn't it?
"You will die… but you can save your brother if you tell me, where is the World's Weapon?"
Bulat chuckled at first, then burst out into a full on laugh, a deranged laugh. "Don't worry! She'll come for you! That Weapon will be coming for your ass VERY soon, and when she does, nothing can save you!"
Taemon removed his shoe from the earthbender's abdomen and stood up. Just as expected. The last kick put Bulat out of his misery.
"Aibanu!" Taemon called another one of his servants on standby.
"Yes, Sir!" the woman asked, jumping down from the roof. "Clean up this mess for me, will you?"
"As you wish," Aibanu replied, surrounding the corpse with water from the sewers and washing the blood off of Taemon's shoe. She froze the mass then shattered it into ten billion tiny particles that fell inconspicuously back into the drain.
"Thank you." Taemon said.
"Any time, Sir."
"Care for a drink?"
"Always."
"Master Nala, all of the recruits have been slain—"
"How—"
"Taemon Yamakatsu. He found us and is closing in."
"Then I suppose we will need to accelerate our plan, get Denkuo. Tell him to start processing Izumi for the conversion."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Izumi watched as they attached tubes to each arm and began to drain the blood from her body. They needed her weak for what they were planning and drugs wouldn't be enough.
"Weak enough to not be able to resist your dark lightning— but still with enough strength left to to speak?"
"Enough strength to beg for mercy," Denkuo corrected her with a toothy sneer.
Nala came to watch the procedure.
"She will forget herself, her life and her family. And we will save her. And she will feel like she owes us everything," Hatsu explained.
"Even the lives of her husband and children?"
"Yes. We will make her end them. And with the Beifong Family out of the way, the world will be up for taking."
"Perfect."