Part 2 - Order
The Quarterfinal Victors waited for their moment to step out onto the Arena, the crowd murmuring and chattering whilst Claire, her mother and the previously defeated participants sat in the stands with the Sun high above the arena grounds.
While they waited for the festivities to begin, Ty Lee hobbled over to the group, everyone welcoming her with open arms as she smiled and took a seat in front of Claire.
"Are you alright, Ty Lee?" She asked.
"As one can be after such a... painful beat down."
She heavily sighed and shook her head as the Avatar leaned in, "do you know why she got so... violent?"
Ty Lee nodded and pinched her nose, "She had a difficult life as a Kyoshi Warrior... Suki and I did what we could to help, but..."
Claire hopped down to her side, "are you upset with her?"
Ty Lee sighed and softly rolled her fist, "No... well, a little... but she's just got so much bottled up anger and resentment that it's..." she scoffed and shook her head, "now's not really the best time to be talking about this, Avatar. Sorry."
Claire nodded and hopped back up to her seat.
"Welcome Back to the Tournament of Glory! Only four participants remain, and only two can go forward into the Final! Up first, we have The Goggled Dragon, Kang! And the Light-bearer, Joseph!"
The two walked out into the Arena, Norrak cheering for Joseph whilst Zu and Li cheered for Kang, but Claire peered at them out of the corners of her eyes, unsure who to cheer for.
"Well, Kang, ye're probably the first person outside of the Bright Empire to kill a Shadow-Bender. Now I'm curious to see if ye can beat a Light-Bender!"
"Just... don't lose your head if I win."
"Fight for Glory!"
Joseph unleashed a sphere of dazzling light, stunning every unprepared bystander but leaving Kang unaffected by its harsh shine. He conjured several orbs of light in his hands and launched them at Kang; however, he ducked and leapt over all the oncoming attacks while Joseph stared with a perplexed raised eyebrow.
"Hang on a wee second there, how are ye still able to see?"
But Kang didn't reply; he simply tapped his goggles and softly chuckled to himself as Joseph's eyes widened before laughing to himself.
Kang unleashed several fast fire jabs at Joseph, followed by kicking out a crescent of flame, but he deftly avoided them, striking out his hands and ensnaring Kang in chains of light, restraining his arms and legs, forcing The Goggled Dragon to the ground with seemingly no escape.
"Good luck getting out of this!" He chuckled as Kang assessed the chains and pondered to himself.
"Woo! That's my Jo-Jo!" She cheered, leaping and pumping her fists in the air.
But as she did, something fell from her robe, the rustling of paper catching Claire's attention, "Oh, you dropped thi-," She looked to the cover, her voice croaking whilst Ty Lee, Zu, and Li peered over her shoulder.
They gazed at the painting of a lean, scantly clad man on the cover with the title popping out at the reader.
Norrak stood frozen in her cheering posture, the humming of Zu pounding against her eardrums, "'The Koala-sheep's Eye: Beefcake edition'... Ah, brings back memories of my modelling days."
Li disturbingly gazed at his friend, "...seriously?"
"What? I had to pay for Metal-bending tuition somehow; the Captain's rates weren't cheap."
Claire and Norrak remained silent, the murmuring of the crowd deafening against their ears as she slowly leered up at her mother.
"Mother... why do you have this?"
"Um... I read them for the Articles, darling!" Her arms slowly lowered back down.
Claire opened the magazine, flipping through to find pages had been cleanly cut out, "Ah, what a surprise... the Articles," She turned the pages to her, "Have been cut out."
"Well, miss... it would seem you've been caught red-handed," Zu said.
Norrak turned back to her daughter with her face flushed red, "Please don't tell your father."
She sat back down as her daughter handed back the magazine, quickly hiding it back in her robes.
"You know what... you, me and laddie down there need to have a wee chat."
The rest of the crowd sat on the edge of their seats whilst Kang theorised in his head and snapped his fingers.
Joseph raised a sceptical eyebrow as he watched him flick his wrist at the ground, unleashing a small puff of flames and launching the Goggled Dragon back to his feet.
He went to tighten the chains, but with a swift thrust of his hips, Kang let loose a fireball from his crotch. The light-bearer's face scrunched up as he rolled to his side, freeing Kang of his radiant binds.
"Crivens, how vulgar..."
The sounds of laughter and palms slapping foreheads reverberated throughout the Arena, "Trust Kang to come up with something like that," Zu laughed whilst Li giggled, and Claire shook her head.
Kang hopped on the spot, flexing his freed limbs and unleashing a crescent of Fire; however, Joseph formed a light barrier in front of him as his opponent swished his arms around his form, lightning generating along his fingers.
"KANG!"
Despite her shouts, he fired the bolt; however, Joseph smirked, dropping the barrier and outstretching his hand to the lightning, gracefully swishing his arms around his form as the electricity bent to his will.
"That's... what!?"
Joseph bent the lightning back at him as the Goggled Dragon leapt out of the way, watching it explode on the ground.
"That'sLight-bending for you, laddie!"
Kang scoffed and ruthlessly unleashed jabs and slashes of Fire at Joseph; however, the Light-bearer gracefully ducked and dived out of the way, but try as he might, a crescent of flame struck his chest, burning his shirt and chest hair as it blasted him down to the ground with a swaying groaning head.
"Joseph is down and out! Kang moves onto the Final!"
He pulled himself off the ground and pinched his burnt shirt, "Och, that was my favourite shirt too."
Kang winced, "Apologies!"
He stood up and waltzed over, patting his shoulder with a hearty grin, "Donnae, worry, I've got five more just like it!"
The two left the Arena while Khana and Hou stepped out into the Arena, standing across from each other.
"And for the last round of the Semi-Final, we have The Glorious, Hou Beifong! And The Fire Lord's personal guard, Khana!"
The crowd's cheering for Hou almost drowned out the boos being thrown at Khana, but despite the wave of negativity surging through the crowd, Claire and Ty Lee still cheered for her.
She dismally smirked, "I didn't think she'd ever want to see me again after yesterday."
Hou tapped his foot and hummed, "You're lucky to have people like that. Most would've ostracised you."
He took a firm stance and inhaled a long, deep breath, "now's not the time to chit-chat! Now's the time to-"
"Fight. For. GLORY!"
Hou smiled and flipped into the air, smashing his heel on the ground and bringing earthen discs up before him, surprising the Kyoshi Warrior as he shot them out like bullets.
She rolled and leapt over the discs, smashing through several of them before the final disc glanced at her arm.
She winced and grasped her wound as she fell to the ground.
"Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark!" The announcer shouted.
She stood back up and lightly squeezed the impact area, "Not broken... miraculously."
Khana glared at Hou before pulling out one of her daggers and hurling it at him, but he struck up an earthen pillar and knocked the blade up into the air.
However, as it flew, she outstretched her hand and bent a piece of earth attached to the dagger's handle, sending it back down at the Glorious Governor and catching him by surprise as it impaled his leg.
While he winced and clasped his wound, Khana closed the gap between them, taking a sturdy stance and striking her fist out, erecting a spike of the earth up at him, but he leapt to the side, pulling the dagger from his leg and throwing it back at Khana.
However, she caught and sheathed it as Hou slammed his foot on the ground, shaking the earth and forcing Khana off her balance as the foundations of the Colosseum shook.
Hou pulled several large boulders to his side, each orbiting around him like planets to a Sun as veins popped out along his arms, and despite his strain, he blasted them out one after another at the unbalanced Khana.
The first one she dodged by leaping in the air, but the second one smacked her leg, spinning her around as the third one struck her back, smashing her through the air and onto the ground.
The final boulder flew and loomed over the wounded Kyoshi Warrior; however, Hou broke it up into slender stalagmites, precisely stabbing them around Khana and completely restraining her.
The stubborn Kyoshi Warrior tried to move but realised movement had become impossible and rested her head on the ground, "I guess I concede..."
"And with that, Hou Beifong moves onto the Final!"
The crowd cheered as Hou limped over, releasing Khana from the Stalagmite prison, "I have to say, redirecting your dagger by using a chunk of earth in the handle is a crafty idea."
"Came up with it myself," she wryly smirked, standing up and limping with Hou out of the Arena.
"Tomorrow will be the last round of the Tournament of Glory! Be sure to come back to see the conclusion!"
The crowd dispersed along with Claire and her friends, who made their way down the hall.
A medic healed Hou's leg whilst Khana, Joseph and Kang stood around speaking to one another.
"The final's going to be interesting: fighting against Lin's brother and all..." Zu said as Claire and the others approached.
"It will be!"
The sound of boots smacking against the earthy floor reverberated across the hall as everyone turned around to find Lin approaching.
"Hi, Lin!" Kang smiled.
"Hey, Kang!" She affectionately smiled.
Zu crossed his arms, "So, Lin. Who do you think's going to win? Your brother or Kang?"
She hummed and sized up the two combatants, "I think that depends on whether Kang takes it seriously."
"I took every fight seriously!"
"First, I can tell that was a lie. Second, you started cooking a fish in your first fight, tried taking a nap in the second fight, and then in your third fight... you shot a fireball from spirits knows where."
Kang, Zu and Li scrunched up, "Oh, you were watching?" He sheepishly asked.
She nodded with a steely gaze and smirked, "Just your fights; I was curious to see how you'd perform."
His cheeks flushed red, "Well! I hope I put on a good show tomorrow then!" he uncomfortably grinned, "If I knew she was watching, to begin with, I would've taken those fights seriously!"
"Anyway, good luck with your fight tomorrow!" She patted his shoulder and returned to her duties.
Claire and Norrak waltzed over to Joseph and Khana, exchanging pleasantries with Kang, Zu, Li and Ghazi whilst The three Governors and the White Lotus conversed amongst themselves.
"Are you two all right?" Claire asked.
"Mostly just wounded chest for me," Joseph replied, dismally staring at the burnt up shirt.
But Norrak patted his shoulder and gave him a hearty smile, "You haven't fought for a long time, dear. You did well to get where you did!"
A smile broke over his face as Khana clutched her wounded arm, "As for me, well... I forgot how much getting hit by boulders hurt."
She winced at her arm, but Claire pulled a blob of water from her satchel and formed it around her hand, "I might be able to help dull the pain."
She placed her wet hands against Khana's wounded areas, the water gleaming with a healing light as the Kyoshi Warrior smiled and lightly blushed. Joseph and Norrak observed them, inaudibly whispering to each other whilst Claire healed her arm, leg and back.
"That's much better! Thank you, Ava- Claire!"
"Glad I could help!"
Joseph signalled Zu to distract his daughter for a moment. The Giant curiously stared at him, then to Claire, "Avatar! Can you come here for a moment?"
His call caught Claire's perplexed attention as she marched over to him.
Joseph tapped Khana on her Pauldron and grasped her attention.
"Yes?"
Joseph crossed his arms while Norrak placed her palms together before her abdomen, "We know that look anywhere, lassie."
Khana hesitantly gasped and clutched her fists as her eyes flared, "I... I'm sorry, I-"
Joseph placed a hand on her Pauldron, "Settle down; there's no need to worry."
Norrak nodded, "Jo-Jo has a tendency to come across as... intimidating when people have a thing for our Claire."
"Aye, aye, apologies. Fatherly instincts and all."
Khana slowly nodded as she eyed the two up, "so... what did you want to say?"
Joseph peered over to Claire, watching her, Zu and Kang converse before turning his gaze back to her, "we wanted to let ye know, that if yer serious about how you feel toward Claire..."
"Then go right for it! I doubt she'd say no to a pretty girl like you!"
A tear welled in Khana's eye as she scoffed, "I... appreciate your blessing, but it's nothing more than a fantasy. There's no way she'd be with a freak like me."
They worryingly slanted their eyebrows as their eyes lightly flared, "what makes ye say that?"
Khana shook her head and rubbed her glove across her face to dry her eyes, "I don't like to talk about it, but thank you anyhow."
Claire began to venture back over to her parents as Norrak quickly bent the tears out of Khana's eyes.
"Thanks," she whispered
"No problem, dear."
Claire eyed up the three, "Why do I feel like I missed something?"
"We just had a wee chat with yer pal, is all."
But before Joseph could speak again, Claire clicked her fingers, "That reminds me! We need to talk!"
His eyes darted to a red-faced Norrak and her daughter, "About... what?"
"During your fight with Kang, Mother dropped a certain... magazine."
Joseph turned his wide eyes to Norrak, his mouth hanging ajar as she too twisted to him, knowing the look in his eyes, "YOU OWN ONE TOO!?" They said, catching the attention of the tournament participants.
"Yes! You both own pervy magazines with the articles cut out!"
But their wide-eyed disbelieve turned to giggling, the couple doubling over with laughter as their daughter raised a bemused eyebrow to them, as did Khana.
"You're laughing? You've been... arguably disloyal to each other, and you're..." she turned to Khana, but she simply shrugged.
"Ye see, lassie. We might find the people in those magazines attractive, but they're just eye candy for us."
"Just because we find other people's physique and... assets attractive, doesn't mean we love each other any less," Norrak rested her head on Joseph's chest and dreamily gazed into his eyes, "I wouldn't replace this man for anyone."
He smiled as a tear streaked from his eye, "Aye, nothing beats being with someone ye truly love."
Claire stood taken aback as Khana turned her sorrowfully, affectionate gaze to her, smiling while the other arena participants watched.
"Well... I... am very lost for words now," Claire stared at the ground.
But as she did, Khana nudged her, "Perhaps an apology?"
"Och, there's no need to apologise, the poor lass didnae know about all this 'til recently," he slapped his hands together, "Now, how about we go find somewhere to eat!"
The couple, Claire and Khana, left the Arena, going out into the city whilst Kang returned to his lab, and Hou returned to the Beifong Manor, resting for their battle Tomorrow.
Kang and Hou stood in the Arena, the water ring dried up and covered with earth. The Colosseum stands were packed with fans of Hou and Kang alike, cheering for them both, along with Claire and her friends all cheering on Kang and the Governors cheering for Hou.
Lin stood atop a balcony, gazing down upon the two as the heat of the Sun cloaked the Arena.
"We have finally arrived at the Last Round! The Goggled Dragon, Kang! Against The Glorious, Hou Beifong!"
The crowd screech with appraisal while Kang gazed up at Lin, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of her softly glaring back at him and nonchalantly waving, to which he nervously waved back.
Hou lightly hopped side to side, psyching himself up, "Well, Kang. I don't know if you made it here by sheer skill or sheer luck, but you won't get past me!"
He crossed his arms and slumped back in his posture, "And what makes you so sure, Mr Glorious?"
"Because I'm the Son of The World's Greatest Earth-bender!" He proudly pumped his fist into the sky.
The crowd cheered his name whilst Lin buried her face in her hands and groaned at his statement.
Kang glared and scoffed, muttering to himself before taking in a deep breath.
"FIGHT. FOR. GLORY~!"
Hou smashed his feet into the ground, tearing up several giant earthy slabs and slowly launching them one after another at Kang; however, he deftly leapt under and over them as they rocked and smacked the Colosseum walls.
Kang unleashed a raging fire stream at his opponent, but The Glorious Governor erected two walls of earth, forking the flames off to his side, and as the Fire ceased, he hoisted the Walls up and swung them around his body before hurling them at Kang.
He shrieked and frantically leapt out of the way as the earthen walls shattered around him, and as he attempted to regain his balance, Hou struck his foot out and split the ground between Kang's legs, then spread the gouged earth.
But to his surprise, instead of falling in, his legs straightened out into a split, and as a moment of silence loomed, The Goggled Dragon yowled in agony whilst the entire Crowd and Lin winced.
"Oh, that's gotta hurt..." The announcer looked away
Hou scoffed as he slowly raised his fists, "As expected, you did just get through this by luck!"
Kang's tender legs shook as Hou punched up an earthen pillar from the gorge, aimed at his chest; however, the Goggled Dragon ejected a burst of flame from his foot, pushing him away from the pillar and his painful split as he quickly twisted around and kicked out a fireball.
But Hou raised a wall between him and the attack, blocking and punching out segments of the wall as sweat grew on the Goggled Dragon's brow. He frantically dodged the small boulders, but inevitably one struck his gut and tossed him to the ground.
"Damn it, Kang," Lin muttered, gritting her teeth and rolling her fists.
He lay on the ground, coughing up a small puddle of blood as he tried to force himself back up; Lin instinctively jolted forward, as did Kang's friends, but all they could do was look on.
Hou stood tall and confidently crossed his arms, "You can always concede, Kang; save yourself the beating!"
Despite the pain, Kang rose back up and affixed his glare on Hou as he spat out a glob of blood, "I'm not giving up, I won't disappoint her again..."
He clenched his fists and stood tall as Hou glanced up to Lin, scoffing and turning back to his opponent, "You're committing this much for Lin?"
"No!"
He raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Then... who?"
Claire watched on in the audience, but something across the other side of the Colosseum caught her eye, two blue ethereal forms too far away to make out, "Spirits...?"
She stared up at Tenzin and nudged his leg, "Hey, you see that too right?" She pointed to the ethereal apparitions.
He leaned forward and squinted with his arms crossed, "I do... I think I recognise one, but I can't be certain..."
They returned their attention to the fight, but Zu solemnly gazed over to where Claire and Tenzin saw the spirits, then down to Kang, "Spirits?... She's here?"
Kang sharply breathed, hopping and spinning around as he outstretched his arm, unleashing a mighty roaring flame. Hou's eyes widened as he quickly raised a wall, but the earth crumbled at the sheer force of the Fire, the Crowd and Lin awing at Kang, but Claire simply smirked.
The Fire stopped while Hou gazed at the singed hair on his arms, his lips quivering and eyes shaking, "Where did that come from?"
Kang charged in, ignoring the pain as Hou struck up a pillar of earth, but he used the rising column as leverage to launch himself into the air, gliding and descending to the centre of the Arena before unleashing a mighty cry and slamming his fist into the ground, letting loose an almighty blazing shock-wave.
Hou quickly leapt up on a high platform, the raging red flames roaring past him while his pillar crumbled underfoot. Kang took a firm stance, swirling his arms around his body; one hand crackled with lightning while the other roared with Fire. He struck them out together, letting loose an indomitable electrified flame.
The Glorious Governor leapt to the side, sweat breaking on his brow at the fierce heat of the Fire and Lightning until finally, he retaliated, unleashing waves of earthen discs at Kang; however, he deftly weaved through them, spiralling through the air, ducking and spinning on the ground.
Tenzin raised a sceptical eyebrow before leaning down to Claire, "Your friend... it's as if he's moving like an Air-bender."
"Yeah... no kidding."
Li inched over to the two with a smug grin, "Kaz taught him those moves."
Tenzin raised a perplexed eyebrow and whiffled his head.
Kang conjured two flaming whips in his hands and lashed at Hou from afar, but the Glorious Governor dodged and blocked his lashings, concealing himself within an armour of earth and mercilessly charging in, thwacking him over to the other side of the Arena then leaping back to his side, shaking off the stone then studying Kang with his fists at the ready.
His vision blurred as he stumbled up, getting on one foot but falling back onto his stomach.
"Could this be it for Kang? Will he concede? Or will he blackout?"
The crowd murmured and watched Kang with an intense gaze.
"Come on, buddy..." Zu mumbled, his arms shaking as he watched.
Kang punched the ground and gritted his teeth, painfully roaring as he rose once more, his breath shaking, the taste of blood filling his mouth as his body trembled all over.
"You are one persistent Fire-bender..."
The crowd watched on as an uneasy silence loomed over the Arena.
"Just stand down, Kang..." Lin muttered.
He slowly regained control of his breathing before grasping the shoulder of his shirt and shredding it from his body, revealing his slim and toned torso, as well as the Crimson and Gold ascending dragon tattoo on his back, surrounded by raging azure flames.
Lin flushed a light red while Hou stared in utter bewilderment
"Well... I guess I'll be as gentle as possible," Hou outstretched his arms and flexed his fingers.
The foundations shook as the earth cracked all around, but Kang stood tall, taking in a long, deep breath, assuming a shoulder-length stance and flexing his arms as his fingers curled.
"This looks like it could be the deciding attack!" The announcer shouted, the crowd cowering in wonder at the two.
"Do you have any idea what Kang's going to do?" Khana asked.
"Not a clue," Zu replied.
"Not the foggiest," Li replied.
Kang continued his breathing, red flames swirling around him in a circle before slowly spiralling around his body, growing more significant with each breath while Hou formed an arsenal of bullet sized rocks around him.
The Fires continued spiralling upwards, beginning to form; two prongs emerged from the circling flames whilst the centre fire elongated. The two prongs took the shape of Dragon wings, and the centre took the form of a dragon's head.
The Crimson flames roared around Kang as he reached for his goggles and took a shaky breath, "I know what I did is unforgivable... but I hope I can make you proud... just this once."
He removed his goggles with a pop, placing them around his neck as a tear streaked from his eye.
Zu gasped as the vibrations of his actions surged through the Arena. Li stared up at the Giant as he gazed down at him, uneasily nodding and returning their gaze to the ensuing fight.
Kang crossed his arms in front of his face as The Crimson Dragon pulled its wings in, the two flexing their limbs and flicking out a rain of Azure embers, elegantly fluttering in the wind like confetti.
Hou's legs trembled, his lips quivering at the sight of Kang's Dragon, "I'm going to need something better than pebbles..."
He dropped the tiny rocks and stomped his foot, bringing forth a colossal boulder around himself, "Let's do this the traditional way, a good ol' boulder to the face!"
Claire and Khana stared in petrified wonder, "He's... made a Dragon..."
"I hope it's more than just a fancy light show..."
A tear shed from Zu's eye, "Go on, buddy, make her proud!"
Kang locked his piercing gaze onto Hou's boulder, slowly stretching his leg forward and gracefully swirling his arms around, the Crimson Dragon mimicking his movements and spiralling around as he slowly inched forward.
Hou made his last charge as the Dragon descended, and Kang swiftly struck his fist out, launching the roaring Dragon Fire out as its ultimate power shattered the boulder. He frantically pulled fragments of it to his arms and blocked his face as the blazing Dragon engulfed him and blasted the Glorious Governor into the arena walls.
The flames smashed and ascended into the sky, forcing the Crowd and Lin to shoot back as it erupted and flexed out its fiery wings one last time before dispersing.
Kang's entire body trembled as he gazed over to Hou; The Crowd fell into a dead silence, and as the smoke cleared, it revealed Hou led against the walls with his eyes closed.
"KANG IS THE WINNER!"
The crowd burst into an uproar of appraisal as he smirked, gazing around at the audience and putting his goggles back on, muttering to himself before his legs gave way.
"Kang!" His friends cried out.
"Hou!" The Governors and Lin cried.
Both groups leapt into the Arena and ran over to them. Lin placed her foot firm in the ground, detecting Hou's heartbeat before breathing a sigh of relief, "Can you three take care of him?"
"Of course!" Gao replied.
They picked him up and escorted him from the Arena whilst Lin ran over to Kang and anxiously gazed upon his unconscious body, "Is he all right?"
"I think so, he's breathing, but he's badly hurt. Li, Claire, get on it!" Zu commanded.
They brought water to their hands, running them up and down Kang's body, as it emitted a healing glow. Lin pushed her foot into the ground once more, detecting Kang's slow heartbeat and breathing a sigh of relief.
"I think he'll be okay now... but he's still unconscious..."
The two healers stopped as Khana approached with an idea, "I know what'll wake him up."
Her wiggling fingers descended towards the goggles, and as they hovered an inch from them, Kang smacked her hand away, "No... Touchy...!"
Everyone let out a quick chuckle before Zu plucked his friend up and carried him out of the Arena and into the hall, where Claire and Li continued healing him.
The respective groups of Kang and Hou returned them to their homes. The mad inventor rested within Zu, and Li's house whilst Hou regained consciousness within the Beifong manor.
He sat up in his bed while Lin watched over him, his arms, legs and chest wrapped in bandages, whilst his burnt battle attire hung across the room, "I'm guessing I lost..."
Lin nodded, "You did. And got pretty burnt up..."
He stared at the bandages and winced, "They'll serve as a friendly reminder of the first time I lost to someone who wasn't mother." He chuckled.
"I'm sure they will..." she strolled over to the window and gazed out to the Derelict Estate, "I'm surprised Kang went to the lengths he did... I hope it wasn't all just to impress me."
"Surprisingly, you had nothing to do with it... at least I don't think so."
A surprised Lin turned to him, "Then why not just concede when he was so badly wounded? He's a Fire-bending inventor, not an honour-bound warrior..."
"He mentioned something about not wanting to disappoint someone again. I don't know who, but it must have been someone important to him."
She narrowed her gaze and pondered to herself as she leered at the Derelict estate.
Kang awoke within Zu and Li's house, finding Li asleep in a chair while the moonlight dimly illuminated the room. He sat up on the bed, groaning and clasping his chest to find his shirt mended with a new array of stitches in it.
He slowly stood up and hobbled over to the window, gently placing his hand onto it as he gazed out to the Northern horizon.