Part 3 - Chaos
Claire remained perched in the icy living room whilst Kaishi quizzically stroked his chin, "Now where was I... ah, yes!"
"I travelled across the lands for thirteen years, tirelessly training with masters of the elements, human and animal alike, and in time, I became an undisputed master of the four."
"Finally prepared to face The Dark One, Raava. My erstwhile companion Vaatu and I set out to put an end to the World of Chaos."
Kaishi flew with the glider to the Heart of Chaos with Vaatu in tow. His hair had grown long and shaggy over the years, and his sideburns had turned into a flowing hermit-like beard.
Claire's eyes darted between the two Kaishi's, "How and why did you let yourself get like that?"
He lowly hummed, "Some things had to be forsaken to speed up my training."
"...Did you at least bathe?"
"Of course! I wouldn't receiveth an audience with half the masters I trained with if I didn't."
She smirked as the two turned their attention back to the unfolding story.
The human-spirit duo landed on the patch of ground where he and Shinu stood all those years ago, a pit growing in his stomach as the wind blew through his unkempt hair. He rubbed his shaggy hair and thick, draping beard, but with a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a blob of water from a satchel and formed a reflective sheen of Ice, sighing and staring at his reflection. He withdrew his Dao sword and took hold of the blade's spine, placing the razor-sharp edge to his face and cutting with the grain of his beard, shaving it off entirely and leaving behind a faint stubble and sleek sideburns. Next, he grasped the handle and pulled his hair up into one giant clump, slicing off an extensive amount before pulling out a decorative hair tie, smiling with fond memories and placing his hair back into a topknot.
Kaishi stared at himself within the Icy mirror, sighing and smiling as he rubbed his sideburns and stubble, "Much better!"
He turned his fearless gaze up to the Heart of Chaos and clutched the handle of his sword, "I wonneth't let thy death beest in vain, Shinu... I promise!"
"Alloweth us not waste any moo time, Kaishi. Our time hast finally cometh at last!"
He nodded as Vaatu sighed and grunted to himself, catching his friends attention.
"Is something wrong?"
"Thither... is something I has't brainsickly neglect to bid thee."
He turned his attention to his erstwhile friend, "Most wondrous to bid me anon, ere our war begins."
The spirit's head turned up to the ominous, chaos riddled Heart, "Raava and I art one and the same. Two spirits born of the Primordial Lion Turtles to maintain the equilibrium between Order and Chaos. Avatar's of the planet we did hold so lief."
Kaishi affirmatively nodded and suspiciously slanted his eyes.
"And thus I harbour a piece of her soul, as she holds a piece of mine."
"Stand ho dancing 'round the subject, Vaatu. What is't yond thee needeth to bid me?"
He begrudgingly sighed, "To end Raava's life, thee wilt end mine. F'r if 't be true thee doth not, she shall merely rise again."
Kaishi's eyes flared, "I can not killeth thee! Certes thither might not but beest some other way!"
Vaatu smiled, and if he could, a tear would run from his abyssal black eyes, "Thou art a valorous sir, Kaishi. But it hast to beest this way. If we seal'd Raava hence like the lady didst to me, someone would certes revive her."
His head lowered as he clutched his sword.
"I'm sure thee hath worked out wherefore I tooketh thee all ov'r the world, right?"
Kaishi's head bewilderingly raised as Vaatu sighed.
"Twasn't just to strengthen thee. Twas to showeth thee the world I once did love. The people, the spirits, the animals; and to ensure thou art capable of taking up mine own mantle as an- ...The Avatar."
A tear welled in Kaishi's eye, but before he could say more, a roar bellowed overhead. The Warrior swiftly withdrew his sword, only to find a Giant fluffy, horned creature descending before him with an Air Nomad woman, and Water Tribe man sat atop a saddle.
Kaishi raised an eyebrow to the unlikely duo, "Pang? Tarrik? What in the world art thee doing hither?"
The duo leapt from the Sky Bison's back as Pang broke their descent with a gust of wind.
"Ah, stoic as ever I see," Tarrik said, crossing his arms.
"I toldeth thee both yond I wouldst finish this alone!"
Pang approached, her hair now draping to her shoulders.
"We haven't cometh to fight, Kaishi... we've cometh to see thee ere the hurlyburly."
Tarrik strode up beside her, his black hair ruffled as ever, and his body still adorned in Navy blue and white robes, Brown patched up pants, and fluff lined black boots covering his lower body.
"Aye. I shalt admit, we has't not the bollocks thee doth to wend hurlyburly 'gainst The Dark One."
Pang jabbed his side, making him wince and clutch his arm.
Kaishi shook his head as his eyes darted between the two, "How didst thee two cometh to findeth each other?"
"Well, after word did start spreading about 'a sir in a long coat bending four elements' did receiveth 'round, Pang hither wenteth searching f'r thee atop her fluffy ste'd."
"And whilst looking f'r leads, I ranneth into Tarrik... and so we both setteth out to findeth thee."
A smile cracked over Kaishi's aged face, "Either way... tis valorous to see thee two again."
Pang blushed and pointed a fierce finger to The Warrior as the two smiled, "And forget not thy promise!"
Kaishi lightly scoffed, "Worry not, I wonneth't."
Vaatu transformed into a tiny white spark and hid inside Kaishi's pocket as he flicked out his glider, unleashing the wings and flying up into the Heart of Chaos. Lightning crackled in the Chaos cloaked skies, but Kaishi did not flinch or falter; he merely squinted and silently ascended. He flew into the hole he and Shinu did, finding it blocked by rubble. But he assumed a firm stance, parting the stone away and gazing down the corridor as visions of his original venture here clouded his sight. Nevertheless, he strode onward with his head held high.
Kaishi came to Raava's throne room, finding the Dark One still slumped in her throne as he marched in, standing firm and clutching the sheathed Dao Sword.
"Raava!"
Her eyes flared open, "and so thee returneth..."
She sat up on her throne, her rage pulsing out like a shock-wave. However, Kaishi remained silent as it brushed past him, his glare affixed on the Dark One.
"So, the lowly human returns ov'r a decade anon to falleth in the same lodging his cousin didst..."
Kaishi withdrew his Dao Sword as a mystical ringing radiated around the room, "I'm not the same person thee combated all those years ago."
He held the Dao sword before Raava as a faint glow emitted from his pocket.
Her hollow white eyes widened, "Vaatu..."
She growled and chuckled as she arose from the throne, "Thee bethink by joining forces with a lowly human, thou anon standeth any chance 'gainst me!?"
"I am the primordial Spirit of Chaos; I has't held this world with an iron grip f'r thousands of years! And thee has't the gall! The audacity! To standeth ere me anon, the petulant Spirit of Order who didst falleth ere the world he so loved."
"Thee shall both falleth by chaos' hand once moo! And mine own Will shalt eternally reign ov'r this world, the nexus and the Spirit World! Cometh, mortal! Cometh, Vaatu! At which hour this is ov'r, thee shalt beest nought but dust blown on the wind!"
Her malice cloaked the room, but Kaishi remained steadfast.
"Wow, the lady very much did get an ego ov'r the years..."
Kaishi tightly gripped his Dao sword, swinging and unleashing a razor edge of flame, shocking the Dark One as it scorched her form.
She quizzically glared at Kaishi as her form remoulded around the wound, "Thou did learn fire-bending?"
He remained focused, striking his fists out and unleashing a mighty blast of fire, but Raava formed a barrier of Chaos as blackened tendrils shot out from her back, lunging at him like a pack of wild vipers. However, he gracefully ducked, dived and weaved through them as the befuddled Raava snarled, viciously unleashing orbs and beams of toiling Chaos, but despite her attempts to catch him, he remained seemingly untouchable. He released his Dao sword from his grasp, forming a sphere of air around the handle and spinning it like a propeller in his palm, slashing the tendrils into ribbons and spewing her blackened blood all over the place. She writhed and roared, stumbling back as Kaishi firmly clutched his sword and unleashed a razor slash of air, cutting through Raava, then pulling water from a satchel and lashing out with a mighty torrent, freezing it around her form. He mercilessly charged in, leaping with his Dao Sword poised to plunge into her, but her arm shattered free and punched Kaishi across the chamber. He roughly landed with a mighty thud, grunting and willing himself back up as Raava broke free of her icy binds.
The Warrior took a deep breath and raised a hand to his forehead, "Vaatu!"
He flexed his arm out to the side, summoning the Spirit of Order from his pocket and to his side. An enormous Claymore materialised in Vaatu's hand, gripping it tightly as he rushed in and swooped behind Raava, mercilessly slamming the massive blade into her back and blasting her forward.
Kaishi sheathed his Dao sword, "Quake to thy hams!"
He rapidly withdrew his blade, striking within the blink of an eye as the stone beneath Raava launched up to strike with its jagged edges. The Dark One stumbled back into Vaatu as he leapt to the air, twisting the Claymore around his form and cleaving through her body. Raava wailed as Kaishi dashed in, swinging his Dao sword up and ascending into the air, quickly followed by his erstwhile companion. He poised his Dao sword in its sheath, his chest pumped out to the ceiling whilst The Spirit released his sword, spiralling as the Claymore loomed above him. Kaishi withdrew his sword as Vaatu firmly grasped his, both blades splitting through Raava's form.
"Jackpot!" The Human-Spirit duo shouted as they brought Raava down and crashed into the crystalline stone floor.
But as they regrouped, she roared in anguish and rage, blasting them away as the enraged Raava loomed before them, pumping out a black aura across the room and around the Heart of Chaos' exterior.
"I shall not... beest defeat'd!"
The Dark One desperately roared as a persistent shock-wave forced the human-spirit duo back. But they firmly stood their ground against the sheer pressure of Raava's might as Kaishi's trench coat flapped behind him.
"Kaishi, mine own knave. We needeth to moveth!"
Vaatu grabbed hold of him and flashed out of the chamber.
"Vaatu! What art thee doing!"
"Trust me, mine own knave, the lady's building up enow power to wipe out half the world!"
He smashed through the crystal as a sickening black light emanated from the centre of the crystal, a brief silence looming as Pang and Tarrik's eyes widened.
"Is't just me 'r doth thee has't a lacking valour humour too?" Tarrik asked.
Pang nervously nodded, "Aye!"
He quaked in his boots, "Oh, I kneweth we shouldst've skedaddled! Oh, I'm too young and quite quaint to kicketh the bucket!"
She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, yoinking him up onto her Sky Bison, "Fluffer, yippiddy-yip!"
The Sky Bison roared and ascended into the sky as the Heart exploded in a display of shattered crystal and chaotic spiritual energy. The Heavens shook, the Earth quaked, and the Oceans thunderously lashed out across the world, all the while Pang and Tarrik could only watch.
"KAISHI!" Pang shouted.
Tarrik's eyes scanned around before spying a falling white dot, "Ov'r thither!"
She turned her gaze to the white dot and made Fluffer swiftly shoot over to Vaatu and Kaishi as they fell with the crystal fragments. The blast cleaved away part of the spirit's leg and partially broke his helmet. Kaishi desperately scanned around, only to hear the familiar roar of a Sky Bison bellow beneath him. Tarrik stretched his hand out to the two, grappling Kaishi's hand and pulling them onto the saddle.
"I appreciate the save, but what part of 'alone' didst thee two not receiveth?"
Tarrik scoffed as his muscles tensed, "Oh, Pisseth off, Fire-pounder!"
Kaishi stood in perplexed silence as Vaatu pushed himself up against the side of the saddle, his wounded legs sparkling with cosmic energy.
"I shall needeth time to recov'r..." He gazed out to the shattered Heart, spying a black blotch amongst it all, "But tis time we doth not has't..."
The Warrior turned his vision out to the falling crystals, heavily sighing and clutching his sword, "Receiveth to safety thee three. I'll end this hither and anon."
Pang turned to Kaishi, their eyes locked as they marched up to each other, "Tis... valorous yond I did get to see thy visage one last time ere this war."
A smile cracked on his face as Pang welled up, "Doth not dare breaketh thy promise!"
Kaishi stroked her hair as the two leant in, sharing in their first kiss. Claire awed at the two as she and his spirit hovered beside the Sky Bison. But Kaishi's Spirit heavily sighed and shook his head, grasping the curious attention of the young Avatar.
"I shalt see thee again, at which hour the Sun's true light shines on our faces."
He went to leap from the Sky Bison, but Vaatu's pained yelp caught his attention.
"Shall thee beest good, Vaatu?"
"I cannot kicketh the bucket like this, mine own knave. Thee needeth not worry."
"Knave..." Vaatu scoffed, "nay, thou art a Sir anon, Kaishi. And thee has't done this fusty spirit proud!"
The two smiled as a tear brewed in Kaishi's eye until finally, he leapt from the Sky Bison and jetted off on fire toward the looming Dark One. The two hovered before each other, a brief silence looming until Raava slowly broke it with quiet, frustrated grunts.
But they turn into pride riddled chuckles, "I dare sayeth I'm impressed, human. Behind all yond serious attitude and those ridiculous robes, thither's a real warrior! Dare I sayeth, a Hero!"
Kaishi poised his sword out to her, "And behind all yond hubris is a dead sir!"
But she simply chuckled, "Oh, mortal. Thou couldst not comprehend the amount of dead men behind me."
Her hands boiled with black energy as she fired wave after wave of Chaos at Kaishi, but he deftly weaved through them, closing the gap between the two and withdrawing his sword, clashing with her gauntlets and locking the two in a stalemate as they scowled at one another. However, he unleashed a burst of flame from his feet, flinging him over the Dark One as he swiftly thrust his fist into her back. Raava jutted forward as Kaishi cleaved and slashed through her form, but with an almighty howl, she knocked him away.
She turned to face him with rage boiling in her eyes as she outstretched her darkened arms, and the looming Chaos seeped into her form. Kaishi sheathed his Dao Sword, keeping his hand on the handle and closing his eyes as he raised his hand to the opposite side of his face, calmly hovering before her. Their powers grew ever more; her form radiated with a malicious light whilst a gigantic air sphere swirled around the two. Fire flared out of his nostrils and coiled around him, as did the water from his satchel. Even a collection of rocks spiralled up and orbited him like planets to a star.
Raava poised one hand up and one down, slowly spiralling them in front of her, forming a runic circle as her howling cries grew louder and louder.
But Kaishi's eyes shot open, "Thy nightmare begins hither!"
He disappeared from view as if becoming one with the wind itself as the elements surged and slashed open her form near ten thousand times. Raava faintly floated in the skies as Kaishi reappeared behind her, his sword poised to the heavens. And as she turned to face him, he twisted the blade down and aimed its sharpened point at her. He shot at the Dark One like a missile, plunging the blade straight through her form and rocketing down to the ground, smashing into the Earth as dust, rubble, and crystals exploded into the air. And as the dust settled, Kaishi found himself trembling all over, his sword still pierced through her chest, but her fist also plunged into his own.
His blurring gaze turned down at her hand, shakily chuckling as his grip loosened on the handle and blood trickled from his lips, "Thee son of a wench."
Raava faintly cackled as her head tilted back; however, Kaishi scowled as he tightened his grip and ran his blade in a touch deeper, making her lowly screech.
"Cease thy cackling, Demon. If 't be true, I kicketh the bucket; I at least kicked it, showing the world thee can beest defeat'd!"
He spat a glob of blood coated saliva on her face, his final defiance of The Dark One before letting go of his sword and falling to her side, his eyes slowly shutting.
"My most humble apology... Pang... Tarrik... Vaatu..."
He rolled his head away from Raava, his life ebbing away as the story came to its conclusion.
Claire and Kaishi returned to the dreamy living room of her home while the Young Avatar sat in bewilderment, her eyes fluttering and her mouth hanging ajar.
"Well... that explains why she's still alive..."
He heavily sighed and nodded as his eyes closed, "My confidence bested me... I thought after that attack, the fight was finished... so when I recklessly attacked her, I paid the price."
"Do you... know what happened to everyone after that?"
"Vaatu watches over my tomb, as for Tarrik and Pang... It has been... so long that I do not know what became of them."
Claire sighed and tapped her fingers on her knee, "whatever happened to your Dao Sword? It seemed pretty special."
"My Sword's final resting place is at my side... And you are right; it is the erstwhile weapon of the Avatar!"
Her eyebrow raised, "How did you get your hands on it?"
"Twas simply there by my side when I was born."
"That seems a little... doubtful."
Kaishi smiled as Claire slanted her eyes.
"Either way, I doubt the sword's of much use now... wouldn't it have rusted away or broken by now?"
"Don't worry... I'm sure it's in tip-top condition!" He winked.
Claire quizzically hummed to herself, "Do you... mind if I ask a question about us?"
He acceptingly gestured his hand out, "By all means, ask away."
"The Avatar... if we're all the reincarnation of you, why are we all so... different from each other?"
"We may be the same spirit, young Avatar, but our souls are very much different. We are constantly reincarnated, given a new life, and with that, we create our own conscience and personality based on the world we inhabit."
"Why are we reincarnated? Wouldn't it be better if the Avatar were immortal?"
"If I were immortal, I would stagnate; I would not be able to keep up with an ever-changing world."
"Aye, good point..."
Kaishi nodded and perched his fingertips against one another, "If you truly intend to finish my quest in defeating Raava. Come to my tomb, and we shalt see if thou is worthy to wield Balance's Edge."
Before she could reply, he faded from her sight as her eyes became heavy, her vision blurring and blackening, until she seemingly fell asleep atop the leather couch.
Claire awoke atop the wooden table, suddenly jerking up and startling Iroh.
"Oh, you're finally awake!" he clutched his teapot.
"And a lot more knowledgeable too!" She observed her surroundings, "Where's Kang?"
"He has returned to the Mortal World."
Claire lightly scoffed, "Up and ditches me here while I'm unconscious."
She hopped off the table as Iroh turned to her with a cup of tea in hand.
"He has gone on a personal quest... one he had to do alone!"
He handed the tea to her, which she wholeheartedly accepted.
"Does it have to do with... you know who?"
He solemnly nodded, "Yes."
Claire sat down, drinking the tea and thinking of Kang and the task laid out before her.