Chapter 16: Detective Katara
The night before...
Katara groaned as she reread the letter again, for what could've possibly been the fifty-sixth time that night. The waterbender had spent the entire night and early morning, with no sleep at all, trying to decipher the contents of the letter Aang had received from an unknown party, while also trying to refrain from reliving the moments before where her lips were tightly and passionately locked against his. However, much to her annoyance and frustration, the letter itself and the message imprinted upon it was as restricted, cryptic and inconspicuous as Aang's secret - not so much a secret now, to her.
Her eyes continued to gloss over the ink: 'Ibis is ready to squawk' - was what was written on the seemingly fresh parchment she held tightly in her hands - her oceanic orbs analysing with scrutiny.
No other detail was present, well, apart from what appeared to be fresh, talon-like markings, indications that the letter was likely delivered by either a hawk or any other several native, flying mammal species inhabiting the Fire Nation. Nothing about the ink on the parchment aroused suspicion; it wasn't specialised or of a rare breed - just normal, everyday ink. Therefore, there would be no point in assessing it as it was likely sold at every convenience store within the Capitol, and not to mention widely distributed to anyone who could afford it on the poor villages and islands.
Unsure of how to continue, Katara set her gaze onto the message once more as she read it aloud slowly, as if caressing each word with her tongue and lips would bring about an epiphany, "Iiiiiibissssss... is rrrrreaddddy... tooooo... sqqqqquuuuuaaaaawwwwwwk."
Having heard herself, and after realising how stupid she sounded, Katara harshly groaned while simultaneously slamming her head against her study. "Ugh! What in the name of Tui and La is that supposed to mean?!" Frustration enraging her, Katara continued to scrape her forehead against the warm wood of her desk while she rubbed her right eye. The bags under her eyes were now revealing themselves radically, though they weren't as noticeable as she feared, for now at least.
After mulling it over, Katara concluded that she may need to clear her head for a bit. So, the waterbender set herself onto a new task; creating a replica of the letter she'd stolen. She didn't know when Aang would return, or if he would return that night at all, but if she was to avoid arousing further suspicion, Katara recognised that she needed to return the letter. However, the only problem was that the letter was the only evidence she had to go by, 'barely, considering it wouldn't seem the least bit incriminating to any objective viewer' - she begrudgingly admitted. So, she concluded that she needed another approach; if seen through a different perspective, she may be able to retrieve the hidden message within the letter and help the airbender. Unfortunately, in that moment, she lacked the insight and calmness to analyse the message properly, and, if Aang were to return to his room with his open folder and stolen note not yet returned, he'd certainly suspect her if he hadn't already. So, knowing that she needed to borrow more time, Katara retrieved a similar parchment from her study, dipped her pen into regular ink, and rewrote the message to the best of her ability; she wasn't an artist by any means, but Sokka and Aang had often told her she had a steady hand, and the benefits were being acknowledged as she imprinted almost an exact replica of the message from the original note.
Standing from her seat, Katara shuffled to her closet to retrieve a dark cloak and donned the hood. With the replica letter safely tucked inside the inner pockets of her robes, she slowly and quietly opened and closed the door to her room. It was around two in the morning, and she didn't want to disturb anyone else, but she also didn't want to alert them to seek her out. Carefully and quietly, Katara practically crawled over to Aang's room which was a few doors down the corridor. When arriving, however, she tried to discreetly open the door only to realise it had been locked.
'Ahhh fuck. Of course it's locked, now I'll have to get the key," she chastised herself for forgetting the most obvious detail.
Scowling, the waterbender left the dorms and headed towards the head of security's building instead, where they kept all the details regarding the Palace's rotation of guards, information about the guests, the location and time of all occurring, postponed and future meetings, and conveniently, the spare keys to all guest suites - for emergency purposes. The walk was a long one, though when she neared the room that held the keys, she was disappointed that the guard wasn't snoring. He was wide awake… on the one night where she needed him to be asleep; she'd berated him on many occasions when she'd caught him dozing off many countless nights ago and he never heeded her advice, 'but of course tonight was the one and only night when he'd actually do his job, what an inconvenience.' Katara was beyond frustrated, however, she knew she had to find a way to get her hands on that spare key. The door to the room was already half-open, and the guard was seated by a desk - the key she sought was hanging above him, to his far right, on a key hanger, though the guard was directly facing the door, which would almost make it impossible for her to sneak in… almost.
As she analysed the room, Katara noted what seemed to be a school of important papers with security details inscribed on them… and a cup of tea placed right above them atop another desk to the guards far left. 'That's it,' she smirked as she formulated a plan.
To distract the guard, Katara waterbended the tea within the cup to tip it over, thus causing it to crash onto the lower leveled desk which in turn ruined the security detailed papers as the tea blessed it with its fragrance. The guard yelped and sprung to action, turning his back to the door - where Katara was - and tried to salvage what he could of the papers… and his tea to no avail. While he fussed over the spillage, Katara discreetly crouched, snuck inside and retrieved the key. She knew, however, that she couldn't take the key because, as lazy as the guards of the Palace were at times, they always made sure all items were accounted for, including the spare keys. So, if the key to a room, and the Avatar's of all people, suddenly went missing, it would cause more unnecessary havoc than Katara could bear to handle. So, thinking on her feet, she pulled water from the air and encased it around the key. With the guard still focused on salvaging the important papers, Katara set her focus on the water as it took the form of the key. Then, she created a slight opening by the tail, and slowly and carefully pulled it out, concentrating to make sure the water replica of the key didn't lose its distinct form or shape. When the spare key was completely removed, Katara froze the bended water, thus creating an ice replica of the key to Aang's suite. Grinning in victory, the waterbender hastily returned the spare key to its original position and snuck out discreetly successfully, without alerting the guard of her presence at all. When she turned the corner and left the building, the waterbender released a long and heavy breath she was otherwise unaware she was holding before trailing back to Aang's suite
Although beaming with pride at her cleverness, Katara still took caution as she arrived once again at Aang's door. In the off chance that he was inside, the waterbender didn't want to alert him of her presence by making unnecessary noise. So, praying to Tui and La that she hadn't forgotten a detail when creating her replica key, Katara slowly penetrated the keyhole of the door and turned it tentatively. After a few seconds of slowly turning the key, she released yet another sigh of relief when she heard the click, thus indicating it was open. Taking care, the master waterbender slowly opened the door to reveal an empty bed…
She let out, for what seemed like the tenth time that night, another sigh of relief as she stepped inside. Katara couldn't feel Aang's presence, or anyone else's as a matter of fact, and as she approached his study, to her unimaginable luck and good fortune, the folder was still in the same mess she'd previously left it in; Aang hadn't touched it. Feeling blessed by the spirits that night, Katara retrieved her replica letter from her cloak and placed it inside the folder. After setting the folder underneath the pile of other important files - where it'd initially been - Katara hastily turned to leave the room. She closed the door and made sure to lock it again before she dissolved the ice into nothingness; if Aang returned to his room with the door unlocked, he'd definitely suspect someone had entered and searched it, and she'd likely be the first person on his list of suspects due to her odd and inconsistent behaviour.
Now that that variable was dealt with, Katara wondered how she should further progress with her investigation. Though immensely tired, the waterbender realised that she likely wouldn't be catching any sleep that night, not until the mystery of the letter was solved. So, the master waterbender instead opted to travel to the Royal Library that was a short walk away, thinking she could decipher the contents of the original letter still tucked within her black robe if she had access to a more credible, variety of sources.
As her feet carried her over to the library, she thought of the message again: 'Ibis is ready to squawk,' she thought to herself. 'Squawk… What squawks? Birds… birds do. Though, I doubt whoever's trying to relay this message is talking about an actual bird. So, the squawking must be a euphemism for something else… a person perhaps?'
Finally arriving at the Royal Library after a short while, Katara knocked on the heavy doors, hoping the librarian: Jeda - who seemed to have made the Royal Library her home - was still awake. Thankfully, the spirits continued to be the waterbender's guiding light as only a few short hours after knocking, the doors were opening and Jeda appeared before Katara, surprised yet happy to see her friend.
"Lady Katara?" Jeda asked, not the least bit tired or exhausted; she was a night owl, Katara had realised.
"Hi, Madam Jeda," Katara replied, offering an apologetic smile for disturbing the old lady at such a time, even though she knew Jeda would likely still be awake.
"Pardon me but… what're you doing here m'lady? You need to rest. Don't the preparations and decorations planning for your wedding begin…" she glanced upwards, to her left, possibly checking the clock, "in five hours?"
"Yeah," Katara answered sheepishly - now, she had no intention of actually marrying Zuko, but she had to keep the pretense to avoid arousing unwanted suspicion. 'This would be so much easier if I didn't care about that idiot,' Katara thought to herself, realising that if she didn't still love Aang and wanted to help him get better, she would've revealed his true identity to everyone the minute she'd uncovered it herself. Therefore, she wouldn't have to lie and sneak around anymore, and her now dying relationship with Zuko would needn't be the concern of others.
"I couldn't sleep," Katara offered instead, lamely. The old lady nodded in sympathy, even though she could understand there was likely much more than what meets the eye. "Thought I'd spend some time here and brush up on some things I wanted to read about. You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all m'lady," Jeda shook her head, smiling as she further opened the door, allowing the waterbender to enter. "Take as much time as you want, I'll be right here by my desk." She gestured to her left, where a book about the dragons Ra and Sha was laid bare. Jeda loved reading about distinct species, understanding them and communicating with them; she'd often had lengthy discussions about her favourite rare species of flying mammals and fish during her six month stay in the Fire Nation. She'd often also tried to get Katara to convince her fiance to allow her to meet one of the dragons at least once, or their offspring - Zuko wouldn't budge; his protectiveness was one thing Katara still admired about him, at least.
"Thank you. And you don't have to address me so formally," the waterbender smiled as she turned to regard the old lady. "You can just call me Katara, Jeda."
The older lady matched her smile as she nodded, "Okay, Katara. Enjoy your reading, and call me if you need any help."
It had been an entire hour since Katara began analysing different bird species. Currently, she was flipping through a detailed encyclopedia, attempting to find a possible match of claw markings that matched the ones present on the original letter she held in her hand. She hoped that by identifying the proper mode of transportation from which the letter arrived - by successfully recognising the species of bird and locating their natural habitat - she'd gain further insight and, hopefully, another lead. However, an entire hour had passed, and Katara was nowhere closer to finding an answer than she was when she began her search. So, she instead turned to the letter and attempted to read between the lines again.
'Ibis is ready to squawk.'
'Ibis… Ibis… Ibis…' she tapped her chin as she mulled it over. 'What is an Ibis? Is it the name of a person? Or is it yet another euphemism? A symbol? Wait…' suddenly recalling her previous realisation, Katara tried to link the two ideas together. 'The letter mentioned squawking. And Ibis sounds like a name… could it be the name of a bird maybe? Is there a connection here?' With her interest aroused, Katara's first thought was to continue flicking through the pages to possibly find this Ibis creature, however, she'd learned from reading a previous book that over eighty-nine species of birds existed in the Fire Nation, and over three-hundred-and-ninety mixed species existed in the entire world. So, Katara instead recalled that a certain librarian had a distinct interest and passion for animals… flying mammals to be exact.
'Perfect.'
With hopeful eyes, the waterbender eagerly descended the flight of stairs with the original letter in tow, two books in hand, and approached the old librarian seated by her desk, engrossed in her book regarding the two dragons.
"Jeda," she whispered, taking care not to startle her. When the old lady met her gaze as she lifted her head from her book, Katara continued. "I need your help. Can I please borrow your expertise for only a moment?"
"Sure, m'la- Katara," the older lady smiled as she donned her glasses that previously hung by her neck with a string "What can I help you with?"
Returning the smile in appreciation, Katara placed the two books she brought with her onto the lady's desk. "I've been trying to identify what this 'Ibis' could be, and I have a suspicion that it may be a particular breed of birds. Can you confirm?"
"Ibis," she mulled it over for a second before responding. "Yes, you are correct. The Ibis are a rare breed of birds with a long and complicated lineage, much like many endangered species due to the war - and now these stupid regulations and expansion projects are forcing these animals out of their homes - you can't help but feel for them," Jeda stated, saddened and annoyed by the state of the Fire Nation and world in general, in regards to animals and mammals at least. "Their original home was believed to be located near the Northern Air Temple. However, most of them were either killed by the Fire Nation - when they attacked - or predators, or were smuggled across nations as they became a rare breed. Most of them are dead now."
In an instant, the glimmer of hope in Katara's eyes died as it dawned on her that her only lead could likely be a dead end. However, her head shot up immediately when the old lady spoke again.
"Though, I did happen to come across a rare breed of Ibis in the Fire Nation; descendents of the original colony. To my guess, they may have been the ones that either relocated here, or were smuggled and simply - somehow - were freed. I had a book somewhere here," Jeda ducked her head as she began searching under her desk, "which was written by an explorer who'd found a flock of them near the mountains, I think. Ah! Here it is."
Jeda sat straight once again as she placed the newly revealed book onto the desk. After dusting it off, she navigated to the table of contents and flipped through the pages as Katara watched hopefully until she landed on the page she was hoping for.
"Yes, here they are," Jeda turned the book around so Katara could gaze at it too, pointing at a picture of a particular breed of flying mammals. "They are a rare breed, only found within the Fire Nation: the 'Scarlet Ibis', we call them," Jeda elaborated.
Analysing the page, Katara's eyes fell upon a rather large species of bird with long, slender legs, a sharp, long beak, dark eyes, with feathers completely scarlet red - as the name suggested - no hint of another shade whatsoever. 'Scarlet…' she mulled it over, 'Scarlet… Ibis. Red… bird? Red… Red… wait - what was the name of that councilman from the Northern Tribe that Amon captured? Ummm… fuck… it was something Red wasn't it? Quill Red? Quian Red? Qin Re - Quinn! Quinn Red! Yes! That was his name!' Energised from realising she may have uncovered the hidden message, Katara tried to decipher the remainder of the information entirely to see if it made sense as a complete picture. 'Ibis is ready to squawk. Ibis, as in Scarlet Ibis… as in Quinn Red. And squawk… squawking could mean talking… so: Quinn Red is ready to talk? Yes! That makes sense. There's no other way to read it!'
Hopeful and excited, Katara eagerly turned to Jeda as she asked, "Jeda… do you have a book that could be used to match this Scarlet Ibis's claw markings?"
"The one you brought with you should contain it," the librarian answered as she retrieved Katara's book and flipped through the pages. It took a few moments, but she eventually landed on the Scarlet Ibis's bio page. "Try here."
Katara placed the original letter Aang had received, with the fresh talon carvings, and compared it to the ones displayed on the book. It was difficult to tell, but…
"It's a match," Jeda stated, leaning back and removing her glasses as she'd analysed it just as closely as Katara.
"Are you sure?" The waterbender asked hopefully.
The old librarian nodded, "Indeed. Those seem the same to me. Don't you think so?"
"I do," the waterbender agreed.
"Notice the similar size of claws, and the length. Also, the Scarlet Ibis leaves a subtle, distinct pattern specific to its feet; it's present on both your letter and in this book," Jeda explained further, thus further strengthening the waterbender's resolve.
Suddenly, her expression turned serious as she regarded the librarian with urgency. "Jeda, do you know where these birds could be located? Or where they're normally found?"
Nodding, the librarian turned back to the book she'd retrieved from beneath her desk as she used her finger to trail across the words, searching for the possible answer to Katara's question. After a few seconds of flipping pages, she finally smiled as she turned to the waterbender.
"The Black Cliffs," she answered. "That's where you'll find them, Katara."
'The Black Cliffs,' realisation dawned on her as she recalled the war, 'that's where Aang, Sokka, Toph and I camped before the failed Invasion; when Aang was unable to sleep due to his nightmares.' Despite her self-control, a distant smile carved itself onto Katara's lips as she recalled the time Aang told her of her nightmares a few months after they'd begun dating; she'd asked about it, and he told her about the Fire Lord taunting him for facing him with no pants, and being unprepared for a maths test…? Baffled, the waterbender spent the next few minutes laughing at her boyfriend gleefully while he pouted and pretended to act mad, when in reality, he was beaming inside from hearing her laugh so mirthfully, even if it was at his expense. Those times had been much better, much simpler… and she'd been much, much happier than she was now.
As Aang's secret attacked her again, reminding her of what she had to do, Katara steeled herself and pushed the sweet memories away from the forefront of her mind. She needed to focus, and after she thanked Jeda for her help, Katara set her mind to travelling to The Black Cliffs. Though, from recent memory, she recalled that it was a rather large area and mostly abandoned. Therefore, Katara hadn't a clue what she would particularly look for when she would arrive at her destination. So, the waterbender ran back upstairs and began searching for books and news articles regarding the history of housing and infrastructure in the Fire Nation, specifically the Black Cliffs. After about forty or so minutes of hunting for insight, Katara finally landed upon a news article that provided her with the missing piece to the puzzle.
'Believing it a sin, the builders refused to build or deconstruct any properties within the lower forest of the mountain. "The Spirit of Agni protects that forest, and all that reside within it, including that torn down building," one of the men had stated. "His wrath would fall upon us if we so much as touched that shedding with ill intent." Their beliefs derive from the ancient story told by villagers that resided near the forest a few centuries ago. They'd witnessed a hunter hunting deer in Agni's sacred forest, and just a few short days after he'd killed a deer and its cubs, he was never to be seen again. The locals of that time called it Agni's curse; for taking something from his sacred forest. In fear of Agni's curse, all contracted individuals refuse to take down the cottage residing within the forest. Today, it still stands. Possible outsourcing from the Earth Kingdom is being considered.' (Reference: Baba Banda Singh Bahudur)
Katara closed the book of articles as she felt triumph wash over her. She now had many leads, all pointing towards this building within the Black Cliffs. Again, she didn't know what she would find when she arrived… a hideout, maybe? Another lead? A dead end? Though, despite her fears and doubts, it was the only hint she had, and Katara knew she couldn't rest for the day until she uncovered the truth about the cottage within the Black Cliffs. So, after thanking Jeda for her services once again, Katara left the library and strode to her room, preparing for yet another long day.
She noted that without air travel, it would take her approximately three to five hours to reach the Black Cliffs by road, and to make matters worse, despite the urgency, her body was now realising it was exhausted as she felt sleep tug at her eyelids while walking. It was around five in the morning at that moment, and if she wanted to capitalise on her newfound advantage, Katara knew she needed to arrive at The Black Cliffs immediately. However, first she needed to settle on transport, and find a fix to her exhaustion.
A couple hours later, somewhere within the outskirts of the Capitol...
The waterbender peered through her hood as she observed the individual hand yet another small pouch to a passing stranger after having a brief conversation. Katara understood that what she was about to do was hypocritical, but she hadn't a choice, no convenient or as effective of an alternative, and not to mention, her intentions were pure. She wasn't chasing a high or momentary pleasure, but in fact something that would help her focus on the upcoming search and keep her wide awake for any possible upcoming battles.
Katara observed the individual once again; after receiving another pouch of what probably contained money, the man wrapped a page of the daily Capitol newspaper around another pouch - likely containing drugs - before discreetly handing it over to his customer.
'I hate to have to do this but…' Katara steeled herself and silenced her moral compass as she donned her black face mask. Kicking off the wall she was previously leaning on, the waterbender crossed the street and made her way over to the man, dodging the influx of automobiles filling the roads - due to a new shipment of the technology from Republic City. The Capitol was the most corrupt state within the Fire Nation due to its crime rate, which predominantly included illegal arms dealing and the sales of drugs of all kinds; mostly weed, opium, and what some called 'snow'. Katara, understanding the euphemism due to Toph complaining about the cocaine problem in Republic City, approached the man with the intention of purchasing said product.
What she didn't know however, was that he had a set of loyal customers who always approached him at an agreed upon time, therefore, he wasn't too eager to sell his product to a random stranger. So, she knew she'd likely have to try it the hard way later on.
"What?" The man asked, confused as he stared up at the cloaked individual who'd recently approached him. From what he could see - since the face mask and hood obscured most of his vision - this person was likely a woman, 'a sexy one at that,' he added as he noticed her blue eyes and, not to mention, the cloak didn't do much to hide her figure either. Still, he remained true to his post, "What do you want lady?"
"You got… snow?" Katara made sure to deepen her voice to keep her identity discreet, even though it was already muffled due to her face mask.
"Snow?" The man snickered. "Keep walking kid, I don't do that sorta stuff. But if you wanna newspaper then it'll cost ya 50 yen."
"I'm not law enforcement, okay," Katara replied, trying to contain her anger and irritation; she was already ashamed that she was stopping so low, and on top of that, her exhaustion was making it that much harder for her to keep her eyes open, and this guy wasn't making it easier for her. When he was about to object again, Katara interjected. "Listen, I know for a fact that you're a dealer. I've been watching you for the last thirty minutes and I know the drill. A guy walks up to you and pays you 3500 yen for a folded newspaper that has either snow, opium, or weed in it."
The man gazed at her cautiously for a few moments, seemingly calculating his and her possible next moves.
Sighing in annoyance, Katara offered him an ultimatum, "Listen, I can either buy from you, or I can buy from the guy down the street on the next left on Phoenix St, who we both know is your biggest competition."
Nodding in surrender, the man retrieved a newspaper from underneath his stand while Katara retrieved a pouch containing a little more than 3500 yen. As she dropped the pouch into his open palm, he handed her the newspaper. "Have a nice day..." the man smirked, extending his arms further so he could slide his hand up and down her arm when she tried to leave, "...sweetheart."
Growling deeply through her hood and face mask, Katara glared at him until she formulated a last minute plan to teach the man a lesson. Although this would take a hit on her pride, Katara knew she couldn't leave without putting this man in his place first. So, taking off her hood, thus surprising the man, Katara smiled behind her face mask and offered him seductive, 'bedroom' eyes as she traced his forearm lightly with her fingertips and nails.
"How about I give you a proper payment…" she batted her eyelashes at him blatantly while gesturing behind them, towards an empty and discreet alleyway, "...back there. Hmmm? What do you say? Let's have some fun…" she trailed her hand up to cup his bicep, squeezing seductively, and after a simple glimpse of her sexy cerulean eyes, the man had forgotten that this was a random, and likely dangerous stranger, luring him into an empty alleyway as he trailed behind her, thus giving into her seduction and his temptation.
Although disgusted inside for having to act as if she were a whore, Katara regained her resolve when she realised she'd be helping people by doing this. Once safely tucked inside the alleyway, the man attempted to grasp her hips, but she simply pushed him up against the wall roughly and held his arms above his head.
The man thought she was teasing him as he smirked and tried leaning forward. "Kinky," he murmured. She grinned behind her face mask, relishing the fact he would soon realise he'd lost all his current supplies because he was foolish… and horny… and insanely stupid. "Why don't you take off that mask so you can stick my dick in your mouth properly?" He suggested while smirking, and she had to restrict herself from physically gagging at the notion.
Unable to keep the facade up for any prolonged period of time lest she barf with her face mask still worn, Katara gathered water from the air and froze both the man's hands and feet. Once he was trapped and confused - though still aroused - she left the alley and began summoning the disgusting water from beneath them, in the sewers. Once the sewage water erupted out of the drain pipes and sewer drains, she waterbended a tidal wave of the contaminated water at the cart containing his products, thus causing it to tip over and ruin his supply of drugs completely.
"No! You bitch!" He yelled from the alleyway, still frozen to the wall. Realisation dawned on him as he understood the implications; if he returned to his boss without the projected profits, he would become their pet 'cow-hippo's' next meal. As Katara turned the corner and returned to him, the man continued hurling insults with venomous intent, "You water cunt! Why the fuck did you do that?! Do you have any idea what you've done to me! They'll end me! And you, once they hear of this! My fucking boss is gonna -"
Katara, refusing to hear another word, slapped the man across the face before encasing his mouth with ice. "Now you listen to me," she began warningly. "All your 'business' does is ruin lives. You profit off others' suffering, and you act like it's something noble. Well, it's not. Now, despite my better judgement, I'm giving you a second chance; the money I gave you is more than what I owed you. That, plus everything you earned from your earlier customers, should give you more than enough to buy some nice clothes, and apply for jobs." Stepping closer to him with her arms crossed, the waterbender glared at the man suspended above her as she spoke threateningly, "use the money you got today to better your life tomorrow. Instead of wasting it getting shitfaced or buying more supplies, use it to get straight. If you don't… if I see you again - here; ruining more lives, you'll be spending a minimum of your next ten years in prison."
A few hours later, among the Black Cliffs...
Katara took in a deep breath as she approached the decent-sized cottage. The ride to the Black Cliffs was an… 'interesting' one; even now, as she analysed her surroundings, she recalled the rush.
She didn't know where she was. Darkness surrounded her as her own personal guardian, the only guiding light were the bright blue tattoos that encircled her thin waist. The feel of rough, calloused hands gliding across her midriff attacked her at full force, the added feeling of soft lips trailing down her neck, landing wet kisses on her sensitive sections only heightened her high. Her hands followed a burning trail down his chest, nails digging into the muscles of his back, and her tongue tasting the sweet yet salty taste of his abdominals. She was everywhere at once, all over him, climbing the Avatar like a mountain she wished to conquer.
For years she'd missed his taste, craved it. Now that he was here, she knew she'd never let him go again, not even if he was a murderer. She would help him get better, help him see the error of his ways, the light, just as he'd done for many others in the past. She'd repay him for his wise words when he warned her about seeking revenge against Yon Rah, and she'd repay him for everything else… so much more.
The distinct feeling of hand wrapped around her throat destroyed her thoughts and heightened state of pleasure. When she opened her eyes, she saw not the gentle, silver she'd fallen in love with, but instead the graphite brokenness. Soft pink lips became blood red, eyes pitch black, jet-black hair crimson, and sunkissed skin pale as the moon.
The sweet and kind smile was replaced by a savage and sinister one.
And moments before a blade was extended into her midsection, she saw not her airbender, but the monster known as Amon.
Katara had caused quite the scene when she awoke gasping and painting, sweat dripping off her forehead and chin as if she'd just been the victim of a surprise waterfall cascading down her. The passengers on the ferry regarded her with worry - some offered a bottle of water. Though she reassured them she was fine, Katara couldn't quite shake the sensations of feeling the airbender pressed against her nor the images of Amon grinning while he killed her. It was quite the dilemma, she noticed: on one hand, she wanted to help, protect and be with Aang more than anything, on the other hand, she knew her duty came first; Amon was dangerous, and by extension and association, so was Aang. Her Aang. And now, she'd likely have to bring him down.
After spending two hours catching rides on buses, rickshaws and fairies just to reach the Black Cliffs, and after spending over an hour searching for the cottage, Katara had once again tired herself out.
A vast range of trees surrounded the cottage; Agni's shield, and rare animals wondered about - a flock of Scarlet Ibis's were in her field of vision. She grinned; her intuition hadn't been just a reach, 'maybe Sokka has rubbed off on me - in a good way, finally,' she thought. Remaining observant, Katara heard a few voices originating from inside the structure, and she knew that if these were men associated with Aang, she'd need all the energy she could get to take them down; reports from two nights before had demonstrated to her that these men were on par with Mai, Ty Lee and Uncle Iroh as the three struggled to take them down during her engagement party.
Katara retrieved the pouch containing 'snow' from her black robes as she waterbended an icicle with ease due to the high humidity in the Fire Nation. The waterbender had already consumed some cocaine just to merely remain awake during the trip - or mostly just to relieve herself of her thoughts and dreams regarding Aang - but now, she knew she needed to consume all of it if she were to succeed with her mission. So, after dabbing the remainder of cocaine onto her icicle, Katara hastily sniffed it all, taking a moment to breathe in once again and blinking wildly as she waited for it to kick in. Once her eyes refocused and narrowed down on the cottage, Katara felt this rush of energy within her, thus making her feel unstoppable for the moment as she once again donned her black face mask.
Crouching, she trailed closer towards the cottage. The master waterbender couldn't see inside as the windows were blocked by wooden planks nailed onto the walls, and the only point of entry and exit was the front door which seemed sealed. As she settled by the locked door, Katara once again noticed the muffled voices, of which she counted at least six. Understanding how dangerous these men likely were, Katara recognised that she'd need to tread lightly. 'It's a small structure; within it I'll be outnumbered, have limited movement, and I'll have a low supply of water, so fighting them head on inside isn't a sound strategy,' - she remarked. 'I could try to ambush them, but that would require me to lure them outside first. And… if bringing the fight out here is the best option, then maybe I should be stealthy about it; I'll take them out one by one, and see what they're protecting inside.'
Decided, Katara ensures that there's some distance between her and the cottage before she hides behind a tree. The tree she was hidden behind, although a distance away, was directly facing the cottage door, and after taking in a deep breath to compose herself, the waterbender drained the pools of water available on trees and plants, and crashed it against a nearby tree, thus creating a ruckus. If the sound of the crash alone wouldn't be enough to alert the men, then the instant chirping of retreating birds from the branches would be.
The men inside were instantly alarmed though, "What was that?" One of them asked.
"Could just be a Komodo-rhino or Platypus-bear," another offered while shrugging.
"I'll check it out," cautious, the man wore a black face mask and donned his hood as he unlocked the door and stepped outside. Instantly, his eyes shot towards the skies, watching the alarmed birds retreat from the forest. Following the trees, his eyes began searching for the cause of the commotion, and soon, they landed on a tree, one immensely more drenched than others.
Suspicious, the warrior unhooked his axe from his belt as he took a few steps towards the tree, making sure that his steps were light as the fallen leaves on the grass allowed a crunching sound to haunt his approach. The tanned man inspected the drenched agriculture as he neared it, attempting to identify the cause of the radical change. Though, he hadn't been as aware of his surroundings as he should have been as a certain waterbender leapt down from a high branch and landed on the man. Katara had perched herself on a high branch when she became aware of an opportunity. While falling, the master waterbender created a block of ice above her head, and as she landed atop the man, she rammed the large block of ice into the back of his head, therefore knocking him unconscious immediately.
"Did - did you hear that?" Another warrior within the cottage asked his companions, to which a few of them mutely nodded, their lips pursed and eyes trained on the shut door.
"Nyquil!? Nyquil… you good?!" One of them shouted - they all exchanged wariful and nervous glances when the humming of the blazing sun's heat, currently searing the land, was their only received response. "Drangr. Baso. See what happened to Nyquil," he ordered before gesturing towards the door that led to the basement, "I'll keep an eye on Ibis."
Nodding, the two warriors exited the battered cottage, donning their hoods and face masks, and retrieving their weapons; Drangr, his long sword, and Baso, his flail. As the sunlight momentarily pierced their eyes, the two raised their hands to further pull down their hoods while they called out for their missing ally, blue and green eyes searching to locate him.
"Nyquil? Nyquil, where are you?" The both of them called out with slightly raised voices; they didn't want to attract unwanted attention, even if the forest had been forsaken by human beings for decades out of the fear of belief.
As the both of them analysed their surroundings, they were unaware that a certain waterbender was shuffling around them, attempting to catch them off guard by flanking them; the distant squawking of a flock of Scarlet Ibis's allowed her to move hastily without worry, her steps filtered out.
While they neared the drenched tree, to which their unconscious ally was frozen two, Baso became alerted as he immediately turned around; the sound of yet another crash from behind them catching their attention. Drangr too turned towards the crash, however, he'd unknowingly offered Katara an opportunity as she appeared behind him, beside the tree, and encased his mouth with ice. Therefore, preventing him from shouting and alerting his ally immediately, thus also buying herself some time. Precise, Katara waterbended an ice-forged-hammer and smashed it against the side of the man's knee, therefore causing his kneecap to protrude outwards while he fell to one knee. Baso instantly turned around when heard his commrade's muffled yelp, but by then, Katara had already smashed her ice-hammer against Drangr's chest and encased him to the floor with ice; Drangr was unconscious.
Alarmed, Baso swung his spike flail at the waterbender, but she caught it with a water-whip and encased his arm with her element. He tried to break free with the dagger that he drew from his shin, however, the waterbender, noticing his shift in position, used his own momentum to whip him into a nearby tree. When his back collided against the rough trunk, a few branches and leaves fell beside him - Baso attempted to regain his bearings but Katara was already two steps ahead; after forming a large watersphere and solidifying it, Katara launched an ice-wrecking-ball at him. As he laid there, only one elbow propping him up, Baso soon felt the full force of a hard frozen sphere crushing his face, which also caused the back of his head to collide against the trunk of the tree, therefore knocking him out. Katara drew her sphere of water back into the waterskin strapped across her back, and used the water within the air to trap the unconscious warrior in ice, thus securing him.
'That's three,' she counted, though, the waterbender didn't have much time to regroup as three more men bolted through the door and sprinted towards her. The one headed straight for her wielded a double-headed long-axe, and he was rather large, a few two or three feet taller than her. The other two, she noticed, kept their distance, one wielding a bow and arrows and his ally wielding dual-handguns.
The two ranged warriors didn't instantly attack her, probably because their large ally was close by, charging towards her. Once close enough, the man held his large axe in two hands and swung for her head. She ducked the attack, drew water from her waterskin while doing so, and whipped his midsection. The man was barely phased as he simply smiled smugly and took another swing at her. She stepped back and dodged the attack, and soon noticed that the other two men were now aiming for her, so she immediately closed the distance between her and the larger warrior again while he reestablished his footing from the big swing. 'If I steer away from him they'll have a clear shot; I need to take them out first and I need to use this guy as a shield,' she thought to herself as she formed a battle plan. While dodging yet another swing, as the man had swung wildly with one hand this time, Katara noticed that the helmet he wore was quite loose as it shifted with each large swing he took at her. 'Maybe I can work with that' - calculating, Katara froze the man's hands together when he regained his footing, thus his hands were stuck together, axe in hand. Grunting in annoyance, the large warrior simply took yet another swing that Katara dodged; she leapt over it as the man had aimed for her legs. Mid-air, the waterbender swung her arms and whipped the back of the man's head - it caused him no harm due to the protective helmet, but he'd now been blinded as his rather loose armour had spun around; the back of his helmet blinding him to her advances.
Satisfied, Katara drew the water towards her - as well as all water within the agriculture around her - and blasted it towards the large man, thus pushing him backwards, towards his allies. Stumbling, the warrior tried to regain his battle-vision, but found he couldn't do so as his hands were encased in ice.
"Lasim, help me out here!" The larger man called out to who Katara assumed was the archer as he held his hands out towards him.
"You need to get away from her idiot! I don't want to accidentally shoot you," the archer reasoned, whom Katara now knew to be Lasim.
The larger warrior nodded as he took several step backwards, away from Katara to create space between them, but she stuck to him like Sokka stuck to the dinning table when dinner was served in the Royal Palace. Knowing they needed to try another strategy, the man wielding the dual guns attempted to flank Katara as he run around her and his ally. Now at her left, he aimed his handguns at her, but she created an opportunity for herself by drawing and shooting yet another tidal wave towards the larger man; the trajectory and intensity of her attack caused him to stumble to her left, thus creating a cover for her as he blocked the gunman's view of her. The archer however, was now completely free to target her, but she'd already prepared for him; while maneuvering around, Katara had split her stream of water and sent a small whip towards the archer. Therefore, when he aimed and fired his arrow, her whip disturbed his aim and he misfired, his arrow met a tree as he was swept off his feet.
Recalling the split-stream of water to herself, Katara hastily sent another large stream of water at the larger man, this time launching him onto the gunman as he fell atop him. When the larger man attempted to stand on his feet as he desired to return to battle but also wanted to stop crushing his teammate who was beneath him, he was unaware of the large block of ice Katara had summoned above his head. She allowed it to drop and it crushed the man's helmet, thus successfully knocking him unconscious - his teammate remained sandwiched between him and the forest grounds - Katara kicked his handguns away so he couldn't surprise her later on.
Regaining his bearings, the archer made it to his feet and drew another arrow, only to be met with sight of his subdued teammates… and the waterbender surrounded by her own element, her body encased in ice similar to how Toph and Aang summoned the earth to form around their bodies. Grunting, he released his arrow and fired it at her anyways - she held out her hand to block the attack and the arrow was unable to pierce through the ice; simply bouncing off it. Annoyed, he retrieved three more arrows from his back pouch and drew them, only to witness the sight of the waterbender dashing towards him. Since the ice weighed her down, Katara understood he'd be able to dodge her with ease. So, while he drew his arrows, the waterbender had subtly encased his feet in liquid. It was only when she dashed forward that she hardened the particles and encased his feet in ice, thus preventing him from dodging. Alarmed and subdued, the archer could not react in time, she shoulder tackled him, and the impact of her ice-hardened body caused his feet to break free and thus launched him backwards. He collided against the brick wall of the cottage and was instantly rendered unconscious.
Panting, Katara liquified the ice and replaced it within her waterskin. Attempting to calm herself as she took deep breaths, Katara finally set her sights onto the now wide-open door of the cottage and took several steps towards it. 'I heard six voices earlier, but there could still be more of them, so I have to keep my guard up,' she reasoned to herself, cautious as she stepped through the door and entered the rather worn down structure.
Searching for possible other foes, Katara analysed the cottage, the interior seemed worse than the outerior; beside a few barely held together chairs sat a broken wooden table, a destroyed closet and lifeless cupboards, multiple broken vases, dirt glittered around the room, mold sticking to the upper corners, and a broken bed… though, as she glanced over the details again, Katara noticed a few wooden tiles in the distance seemed to be of a different shade of Martin compared to the older, darken browns. Intrigued, she turned back to glance outside - after double checking that all the men she'd defeated were still visiting dreamland, Katara's feet carried her towards the suspicious wooden tiles. Another detail she made note of was every step she took produced a solid thud - when she stepped onto the fresher wood however, it produced a squeak, almost as if it were hollow underneath. Narrowing her eyes, she drew water from the air and formed an icicle as she kneeled. Slowly, the master waterbender pressed the sharp end of the icicle into the gap between the tiles. Her eyes widened with relief and triumph when she tilted the icicle upwards and the wood was lifted. Hastily, she removed each tile to reveal a sealed metal grate. A handle protruded from the circle-shaped metal, and after she twisted it and pulled, the sealed metal was bare to her, thus revealing a ladder leading to the unknown. Smiling to herself, the waterbender descended the stairs, and after cautiously taking a few sharp corners, she was led to another room. The metal encasing of the corridor ended at the edge of the opening, and the room was surrounded by earth - someone had used earthbending and metalbending to construct this secret underground section.
As she entered the earth-surrounded room, Katara's eyes glanced between the few spare chairs, tables holding scrolls, maps and weaponry, and a closed cupboard. Though, in the distance, at the very end off the rather small room, she was met with the sight of a man tied to a chair. He had a darker skin tone, seemed battered, and wore torn Northern Watertribe novelty clothing. 'This must be Quinn Red, the Ibis.'
She approached the man, however, before she could get a word in, Katara found her legs being trapped by earth. As she turned around, her eyes widened when he realised another one of Amon's men hadn't yet been dealt with.
"You shouldn't have come here," the man spoke, his voice slightly muffled through his black face mask.
"I shouldn't have done many other things," the waterbender retorted, waterbending the water out of her waterskin and crashing it down onto the minimal earth encasing her foot with such force that the rock eroded surprisingly quickly. Once freed, she dodged a fist of rock just in time as she leapt to her left. Taking cover behind the cupboard, crouched, Katara panted as she encased her hands in water.
"You're surrounded by earth, waterbender. I have the advantage. Surrender, and I promise not to hurt you," the man offered, wishing he'd had the foresight to take his boots off so he could utilise his most useful weapon more conveniently.
Katara attempted to shoot out of her cover and attack the man, but as soon as she shifted to leap away, he'd thrown a warning boulder in her direction. She immediately halted and tried to formulate a plan. 'He's got unrestricted access to his element, while I can barely use mine within this confined space. I should've been more careful,' the waterbender chastised herself. 'Though, how do I beat him now? Should I feign surrender? No, he'll trap me as soon as I reveal myself. I need to play this smart; he's likely underestimating me, so he won't be paying attention to what's around him.'
Sighing deeply, Katara kneeled lower as she closed her eyes and trained her senses while attempting to ignore the man's voice.
"Just give up. You know you can't win."
Filtering him out, Katara honed her senses as she took deep breaths, sensing the air around her; the confined underground area made it that limited vapour was available for her to utilise, so she ignored that. Instead, after a few seconds, Katara found her opening; due to the meditation techniques Aang had taught her - to help control her temper - she'd mastered a subelement of waterbending similar to Toph's seismic sense. It was due to this honed ability that Katara could pull oceanic amounts of water from the vapour within the atmosphere earlier. It was also why she could notice the droplets of sweat drenching the earthbender's skin and clothes. Due to the inhumane levels of heat and humidity - and because he'd likely been underground while she was dealing with his allies - the man was basically soaked in her element, and once she had a hold on him, he couldn't do much but accept defeat.
Clenching her fists, Katara forced all the sweat the man was drenched in to solidify, thus restraining a majority of his movement capabilities. Even though he stood statue-like for the time being, Katara wasn't satisfied as she knew he could likely summon the earth with his mind if he was powerful enough. So, after stepping away from her cover from behind the cupboard, Katara used all the water she had and launched it at the man; she forced the water to form under him, this lifting him from his feet and his connection to his element. As he hovered horizontally above the ground, a water-hand gripping him by his midsection, Katara stemmed her water to the earth and rooted it. Although the waterbender knew there was a chance he could summon his element with his mind, she was doubtful he was as talented and powerful as the late King Bumi or Toph Beifong - she was right.
The man hurled obscenities at her all while trying to free himself to no avail. Sighing in relief, Katara shifted towards the somewhat unconscious man strapped to a chair at the end of the room. After cutting Quinn Red loose from his restraints, Katara draped his arm over her shoulder and she helped him to his feet and up the ladder as they abandoned the cottage.
During the ongoing meeting...
She'd healed most of his injuries on the way back; the local authorities had agreed transport them back to the Royal Palace once they'd arrived at the cottage, and Katara had alerted them to the fact that Amon's men could still be within the forest in the Black Cliffs - even if they weren't, the authorities could still raid his lair in search of evidence.
While the authorities handled Amon's hideout, Katara tried to pry information out of the Northern Watertribe delegate, but he was either too exhausted or simply too cautious and reluctant to talk. After several attempts, the waterbender retreated and simply attended to his wounds while they were transported back to the Royal Palace in what the people of Republic City described as a van; one of the many shipments of the new innovations from the busy, bustling city.
Katara was aware that Zuko and Aang were likely in a meeting, and as she approached the doors of the war room with Quinn Red in tow, she was prepared to wait until it was over to refrain from creating a scene and putting Aang on the spot. However, once she'd heard about the decision being made inside, she knew she had to interfere:
"Very well Avatar, we agree to offer you complete autono-"
The doors exploded open as she revealed herself, with the Northern Councilman in tow - Katara protested, her eyes trained on the Avatar.
"That won't be necessary gentleman," she stated. "There's no need to fear Amon any longer." Her eyes challenged his dark orbs, daring him to object. "Through the utilisation of our resources and intelligence, I've managed to locate and recapture our Northern delegate: Quinn Red. And soon… very soon…" she narrowed her eyes, penetrating the airbender's icy, dark gaze as Katara spoke menacingly and confidently, "Amon will meet the same fate."
'Checkmate, Aang.'
Author's Note: Hi guys. So, sorry I haven't been actively lately - my health's currently taking a dump and I don't know when I'll be discharged from the hospital. I'm fine though, nothing to worry about. But, it may take a while for me to update this or any other story for a while. Just a reminder - though, I am working on a couple smutty oneshots you guys may like. But either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review and let me know what you think, it helps keep me motivated to continue writing. Until next time.
- SoulBender Out