Warning: Sexual Assault and extreme violence (read at your own risk)
Hiding away amongst the numerous trees overlooking the village below him, a hidden figure frowned deeply as he became annoyed at Azula's failure to conquer this simple village.
"How disappointing. It seems like she might not have the potential to join us after all."
Zhao, unbeknownst to everyone else, had been dispatched by his own master to observe Azula who wanted to see whether or not she had the potential to enter their ranks. Unfortunately, from what Zhao could tell, she had flaws that would seemingly continue to hold her back from entering their domain.
"Such a shame...I was sent out to observe her and instead of putting on a glorious effort and victory for her nation, she got knocked out by the first attack that made contact with her. Despicable," Zhao sneered.
If his master approved, he'd go down there and ravage these bunch of ants to his heart's content, but something in the back of his mind was telling him his master wouldn't approve. Using his marked eye, his master was able to see everything Zhao saw and could communicate with him throughout it, telepathically.
"What do you think of the situation, Master? I know you have such high hopes for this girl to join us eventually."
"Do not fret. I am sure she will eventually be able to overcome her own weaknesses and awaken to her own gifts."
"But Master-" Zhao wasn't even able to finish the thought as ripples of pain tore through his body and brought him to his knees. He could tell attempting to question his master's judgement caused him to become quite livid with him.
"Whom are you speaking to in such a tone?"
"N-no one, sir. I apologize for my arrogance!" Zhao bowed his head even though he was the only one around to see it. "Questioning your judgement is blasphemy and I wouldn't dare dream of myself being above you."
Silence filled the air as Zhao's heart continued to beat at an already exceptional pace seeing as he was literal moments from being killed. Another wrong move and all his hard work up til now would be for nothing. He hoped his master would forgive him and allow him another chance to show his sorrowfulness.
"Zhao, there is no need to question my judgement when I have already acknowledged her potential. I understand that you are concerned about a potential new addition to our ranks, but please do not forget that I am the one who blessed you with this power before you went to the South Pole and got yourself and my soldiers caught up in that mess with that Swordsman."
"If I didn't value you, I would have stripped you of your powers and killed you for your failure back then, but you've grown immensely because of that failure, haven't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well then I don't see why someone with an even stronger flame than most cannot do the same. Raise your head and never forget that respect can be learned and suffering can be the most effective teacher possible."
"I am not mad with you, not at all, but just try to keep your head the next time you speak to me." Zhao felt calmness in his voice, but didn't miss how dark his master could get when threatening someone without actually verbalizing it.
"More importantly, you have another task I assigned to you, correct? Don't tell me watching their fight caused you to forget about it?"
"No sir, I still remember your words clearly," Zhao said.
"Our ranks are still very weak and if the Siege in the North is to be successful, we need allies that can fight alongside us. Aside from observing Azula and her development, I want you to go and find strong allies to fight for us. Out of Ranks 1-6, I trust you the most, Zhao. Only you can make my dream a reality."
"And I swear to you, I will not fail! I will go out and find allies for us to use and the plan will go off without a hitch."
He could feel his master smile on the other side of their link, "Good. I look forward to hearing about your success."
Zhao looked outwards towards the sea and decided it was time to get moving. He didn't have any more time to waste on these people. If he got hungry, he'd just snack on a village or two along his way if it got to that point. Hopefully he wouldn't have a repeat of that last Earth Kingdom town he snacked on. They squirmed and pleaded far too much for his tastes.
To say the discovery of a child's skull being half eaten sent chills down their spines and made them sick to their stomachs wasn't an accurate description of everyone's feeling at all. When Kyojuro came outside and informed them of what he found, no one could quite put into words just how they were feeling about the situation other than the common emotion that reverberated between them was fear. What kind of soldier ate live humans? Was this person even human to begin with? Why did these people have to die like that? So many thoughts ran through everyone's heads, but the ones who seemingly took it the hardest were Kyojuro and Zuko. After boarding Appa and continuing their journey to the North Pole to find Aang and waterbending teacher, neither man said much as far too much was on their minds currently.
"We should get moving," Sokka stated for the tenth time that morning. "My instincts are telling me that this area is dangerous. I can feel something very wrong here," He looked up at the autumn colored leaves surrounding them and knew his decision to leave had to be the correct one.
"Oh really? So we're supposed to trust your instincts over someone like Kyojuro? If he says we should leave then we'll leave, but if he says we should stay a little longer then we'll stay," Katara pushed.
"Kyojuro, what do you think we should do?" She asked.
"Huh?" Kyojuro had completely zoned out and barely caught any of the argument about leaving this forest before they ran into trouble.
"Kyojuro, do we leave now or stay a little longer? The choice is yours, but Sokka is insistent that we leave now. He thinks we'll end up being discovered by some hidden fire nation soldiers."
"Oh…" Kyojuro's demeanor changed drastically and his zoned out, worried expression had now been replaced with his normal energetic one. He stood up and smiled before replying, "I think if my pupil says his instincts are telling him to leave then we should most definitely leave! A warrior must be able to place trust in his instincts whether they are right or wrong!"
He placed a hand on Sokka's soldier and he noticed that Kyojuro's expression let something small slip past it. He wasn't sure, but it felt almost...scared and he didn't know what to make of it, "No matter what, you must always be able to trust your instincts! If not the next battle you partake in could be your last! As your master I'll be sure to train you until they are honed to perfection!"
He released him and walked back over to the same corner of the camp he had been for the past few days, almost as if he was sulking over something. Imagine that. His master, who he'd always seen with a smile on his face, clearly worried over something, but refused to let anyone else in.
Sokka frowned, but figured not much could be done about that. It probably had something to do with that cannibal fire nation soldier that massacred an entire town, but why was Kyojuro that upset? It's not like he could've done something about it.
"Pack your things and prepare to fly out of here!" Kyojuro boomed, now waking up everyone else who was still sleeping.
Aang rolled off of Appa's saddle and fell to the ground while Zuko merely groaned at having been woken up early once again due to nonsense. He sat up and rubbed his hair which was still growing thanks to him not being allowed near any sharp objects in fear that he might attempt to weaponize them. "Just great…" Zuko thought.
Packing up camp wasn't an issue as that was taken care off almost instantly, but now Sokka was arguing that it'd be better if they walked on foot which was just plan stupid to Zuko.
"Why on earth would we walk all the way out of the forest? Do you have any idea how long it could take us to get out of here without flying?" Katara asked.
"It'll take us a lot longer. I get it, but I've got the feeling that we aren't alone here," Sokka said.
"Sokka, even if we aren't alone, I'm sure we could evade whatever tries to shoot us down. It's not like we don't have experience with that sort of thing," Aang chipped in.
"Don't remind me…" Sokka's mind wandered over to the shitshow that was their entrance into Omashu and his face slightly flashed shades of green in remembrance of the hectic ride that was.
"Even if we have experience, why risk it when we can have a sure thing in regards to being able to judge our surroundings accurately and in case we aren't alone, take out or avoid anyone who might be in our way."
The plan, while tedious, in all honesty didn't sound half bad to Katara and Aang the more they thought about it. Flying through the skies with a giant sky bison in fire nation territory was already dangerous enough and this way they'd at least have a chance to see what they're up against instead of going in blind. Zuko on the other hand could care less about being safe, although the potential of running into fire nation soldiers may be high in his mind, none of them can stand up to someone as powerful as Kyojuro. It'd be a wasted effort on their part.
"I don't care either way," Zuko shrugged. "Do what you want."
"Well I guess that settles it," Sokka smiled. "Once everything is on board, we should be able to start walking and hopeful arrive to the outside of the forest by nightfall-"
"No!" Kyojuro broke.
"No?" Sokka asked.
"If we leave, we leave using Appa. We don't have time to waste walking! Once everything is on board, Aang, prepare for us to take off!"
"Wait? What's wrong with my idea of walking out of here?" Sokka asked, now very confused.
"That method takes too long and we cannot afford to waste anymore time in this place!" He looked toward the skies with a somber expression breaking through his energetic look once more, "It seems like we are on the clock now huh…"
"On the clock?" Katara asked.
"Aang is the Avatar which means he's the only one who can deal with spirit based issues. Unless we figure out anymore of that man eating fire nation soldiers, we need to reach some place that allows him to contact the spirit world and figure out how to deal with it before it gets worse."
In reality, Kyojuro had no idea how to reach Agni and unless a miracle dropped into his lap, Aang was the best bet he had to contact her, but that means eventually telling the boy that he can enter the spirit world too which would open up a whole can of worms that Kyojuro wasn't yet ready to divulge. If he could get some information about what the hell is going on from Agni then eliminate the demon from this world, then everything may still work out. He failed to protect the people of that village, but he wouldn't fail again. He'd make sure this demon would harm not a single person more if he could help it.
"So unless anyone has anything else to say, we are flying out of here!"
Knowing arguing with him would be a losing effort, everyone boarded Appa as Kyojuro watched the area as if to see if someone was watching them. He couldn't see them, but he could feel several eyes locking onto him and the others which sent his nerves into overdrive. "Hmmm, it seems like we have a few unwanted guests peeping at us."
He unsheathed his sword as bright orange flames swirled around it once again. He aimed his stance upwards and decided he'd draw out as many of them as he could with a warning shot, Flame Breathing, Fifth Form…
Flame Tiger!, A giant mass of flames formed in the shape of a tiger and shot upwards as if a comet was launching from the ground itself causing numerous gasps from the ones hidden amongst the trees.
"Come out, there is no use in avoiding me anyway! If I aimed it to the left even just a little, I would've set this entire forest ablaze! Had I truly wanted to harm you, you wouldn't still be hiding amongst the trees now would you?" Kyojuro looked around waiting for these mysterious individuals to show themselves before a small child, most likely around Sokka's age emerged from the trees with makeshift swords drawn in advance. He was chewing on a piece of grass stalk and anger lit up throughout his face.
"A firebender," the boy growled. "And a powerful one at that…"
He motioned for the two that had been slowly moving towards Kyojuro's blindspot to release their attacks hoping to wound the man before he could launch an attack that powerful at them next. Unfortunately for them, Kyojuro had noticed those two moving long before the boy jumped down and moved fast enough that he vanished from their sight altogether causing the boy in front of him to panic.
Before he could move, Kyojuro showed up behind him, holding the boy in a tight bear hug trapping his arms which caused him to drop his swords. Kyojuro had an iron grip so he already knew that no matter how much this child struggled to escape, it would be a useless effort.
"I take it you're the one leading this little watch party?" Kyojuro asked.
"Don't mind me, men! Keep attacking until we bring him down!" The boy cried.
However nobody made a move as they now seemed frozen by the peril that their captured leader found himself in and Kyojuro decided to use this opportunity to talk to them hoping to de-escalate the conflict before it went any further.
"Listen, I do not wish to fight any of you! Just come out from where you are hiding and I promise that no harm will come to you!"
"Kyojuro is telling the truth, just come out and he really won't hurt you," Katara tried.
"Liar!" the boy shouted in anger. "Don't listen to them, they've been brainwashed by the fire nation!"
"Um...Kyojuro, maybe it would be a good idea to let him go. You know, as a show of good faith," Aang said.
Realizing how this may look to the one's watching, he needed to get them to understand that he wasn't their enemy. He released the boy and faster than he could protest and continue to attack, Kyojuro kneeled upon the ground and placed his head along it.
"I hold no such association to that nation of demons, I can assure you that! Whatever we may have done in this forest that has caused you all to target us, please allow me to humbly apologize for the misunderstanding! My pupils and I were only passing through hoping to rest and recharge our weary bodies for our long journey to the Northern Water Tribe."
He raised his head and smiled at the young boy who watched Kyojuro with great confusion and anger covering his face. Katara watched as instead of the conflict becoming de-escalated, she noticed the smaller boy reach for his sword and take a swing at Kyojuro who was still on his knees, completely defenseless.
"Kyojuro, look out!" Katara cried.
Kyojuro could quite easily dodge an attack like this with no issue, but the look covering this child's face was very reminiscent of the one Sanemi used to give demons anytime he came across one. Considering what sort of past Sanemi had to endure, he hoped that this child wasn't similar to him in that regard.
Before the attack could reach its intended target, Kyojuro grabbed hold of the blade mid strike which earned gasps from many watching amongst the trees. He pulled the boy close enough that they were face to face before speaking, "I can tell...by the way your eyes look towards me that my mere presence is causing your blood to boil and your heart to race."
He let the boy go and stared him down with not even a hint of anger towards him, "What is your name?"
The boy looked around and upon realizing that none of the soldiers were attacking, he lowered his hook swords and growled in annoyance, "The name's Jet and you need to leave. Now."
"Actually I was just about to do that myself, but...it seems like I may be needed here if that attitude of yours is any indication of things!" Attempting to reach forward and pat the boy on the head earned him a glare as Jet stepped back in anger. He spit at Kyojuro and it landed square on the man's cheek as Jet continued to curse at him.
"Fire nation scum! Don't touch me! I'll kill you!" Threats and insults spilled out of his mouth as Kyojuro could look on in astonishment at the amount of anger that had accumulated within him.
"Just what has this boy gone through that has made him so angry…" Then again, the atrocities of the fire nation knows no bounds, so it shouldn't be surprising that they managed to create someone who has so much anger towards them and their people.
Jet made an attempt to swing one of his hooks swords at Kyojuro, but Aang decided it was time to intervene and play peacemaker between them.
"Stop! There is no reason to fight with him. He's a good guy," Aang jumped in between them and attempted to reason with him hoping he'd be able to convince him that Kyojuro was not his enemy.
"Ha! And you expect me to believe that just because some bald kid vouches for him! He probably has you brainwashed too!" Jet sneered.
"Well I am the Avatar so I doubt I'd be able to be brainwashed," Aang reasoned.
"That's exactly what someone who's brainwashed would say. Men don't listen to anything these people are saying!"
"If we don't drive them from our home then everything we've been preparing for will be for nothing!"
Jet looked around still confused as to what was taking so long to attack. "Longshot should've been in position by now…" he wondered.
Rustling trees and a thud hitting behind them caused everyone to turn their attention behind them as they noticed Sokka on top of a small child with a crossbow. "Gotcha. There's no way I was gonna sit back and let you take a free shot off on Kyojuro," Sokka said.
"How on earth did you even see him all the way up there?!" Jet uttered in disbelief.
Kyojuro had been working with him to try and find his own center so he could perfect his fighting style. For now he could somewhat enter that state standing still, but it was far from perfect. Total Concentration Breathing already enhanced his eyesight far greater than normally, afterwards it was nothing to sneak off and get worked up throughout all the commotion and take down the one who could hurt his friend.
Kyojuro turned his head behind him and smiled, "I also haven't missed the fierce young woman aiming to attack me with that knife she's wielding.
"Smellerbee isn't even near us right now! How can they see so far away?" Jet panicked.
"I promise, I won't harm any of you so please come out so we can talk things out!" He kneeled back down and placed his sword to his side while bowing his head one again.
"On my honor as the Flame Pillar, I will no longer raise my hand to stop any of you!"
Nobody said much as small slivers of children slowly made their way out of the trees and down to Jet's location, clearly confused as to what they were seeing.
"What do we do, Jet?" Smellerbee asked.
Jet didn't want to show it, but was just as lost as they were. They had plenty of numbers, but he could tell that they were severely outmatched by these people. If a fight were to break out, they'd lose and they'd lose badly. He couldn't risk his men getting hurt because of his own hubris.
"We…" He looked around at Longshot still being held by Sokka and the man in front of him still bowing, "Surrender."
Gasps broke out, but the leader had made clear what he wanted. Live to fight another day and these people didn't particularly seem bad. They'd run into far worse soldiers who had to be exterminated.
"I don't trust you. Any of you," He turned and made eye contact with Aang and Sokka, "But a good leader knows when he's outmatched."
"Excellent choice, young man!" Kyojuro responded. He lifted his head and rose to his feet, now towering over them, "I'm glad you're giving us a chance to explain ourselves and how we can potentially rectify our mistake!"
"Not here though. You never know who may be listening," Jet added. "Follow me and we'll take you someplace where we can relax and won't have to worry about fire nation guards ambushing us." He signaled for Pipsqueak and Smellerbee to lead Kyojuro and the rest to their hiding spot which truthfully scared the shit out of Jet.
In actuality he didn't want to risk having such a group of powerful individuals left alone without being watched, especially the firebender. If he wanted he could set the trees on fire which would in turn absolutely destroy their makeshift home hidden amongst the trees. He had to make an all or nothing gamble that these people were being truthful in not wanting to harm them because if he was wrong, then that meant they were dead the moment they stumbled across them.
Stalking through the forest colored in autumn leaves, Zhao's heart grew cold when seeing a small flame shaped tiger shoot upwards into the sky which reminded him of a certain chicken haired swordsman who damn near killed him the last time they met. The moment his eyes saw that flaming tiger he scurried behind the nearest tree as his breathing became shallow.
"Why here? Why now of all the times?" he mumbled. "I only needed to feast upon these people and regain my strength...damn it all…"
He was attempting to make his way to the nearest town down by the dam, but it seems like fate had other things in store for him. His thoughts became erratic and he soon felt bloodlust begin to rise up within himself.
Finally...He finally had an opportunity to make things right and get even with that prick. No longer would he have to look over his shoulder and wonder if he will be behind him waiting to finish him off. As Upper Rank Two, he was fairly confident in his abilities and while he didn't have time to try them out since receiving them, he had a feeling that not many could stand against him besides his master and Upper Moon One. Why she wanted to be named after something as unsightly as the moon always caused him to feel nothing but disgust towards her...
Getting sidetracked, he remembered his mission that was personally assigned to him in preparation for the Siege of the North that would arrive in just a few more months. "I have to find strong allies that can stand beside us...but finding people willing to stand next to demons is next to impossible."
He never questioned his master's wishes nor questioned his judgement. If he believed that Zhao would be able to accomplish a task like this then it's what he'd do, odds be damned. The problem that racked his brain was how to go about such a task. Combine the fact that Kyojuro was in the area where he was hiding away and too many factors came into play for him to make any sudden moves unless he wanted a fight and as of now, fights were off limits unless the master approved of it.
"Wait a minute…" Zhao grinned savagely to himself when finally understanding what his mission truly entailed. Allies wouldn't just show up to fight for them...they had to be created instead. So for now, until he had a better understanding of the situation around him, he'd wait and observe until an opportunity presented itself and that is when he'd strike.
Gathered around the campfire, Jet and his small group of friends, who had been introduced to Kyojuro and co. as the Freedom Fighters, were retelling stories of their battles and hardships that brought them together as they are now.
Katara was sitting near Jet wide eyed in amazement as he continued to use his natural charisma and charm to draw everyone in. Aang was sitting close to The Duke and Smellerbee who was trying to keep the small child seated while Jet was talking. Sokka and Zuko sat in a small corner away from everyone else, still very weary of Jet. Neither man could explain why they felt so uneasy around him, but something within them just screamed that he was bad news. Sokka tended to trust his instincts so he wasn't going back on his original call, but Zuko…
Zuko always tended to learn the hard way whenever he refused to listen to his instincts. It cost him so much throughout the years, his mother going missing, his scar, not listening to his uncle and the list went on and on. He disliked him, but Kyojuro had a point about listening to your instincts the first time that warning alarm goes off in your head. This dude was bad news and they wanted nothing more than to get out of there ASAP.
Kyojuro sat outside of the circle, but close enough that he could be watched as Jet made it abundantly clear that he still doesn't trust him and made him sit far enough away from them, but still close enough to be watched.
"Cheers!" Jet yelled.
The room erupted in cheers for their leader who had finally finished his speech and decided to call it a night.
"But Jet, you never turn in so early. You tired or somethin'?" Smellerbee asked.
"Jet smiled at her and shook his head, "Nah, I just really wanna hit the hay and get a good night's rest."
Kyojuro could hear his heartbeat speed up tremendously as he spoke and he knew the boy was clearly lying about what he was doing. He wasn't really going to sleep now was he.
"He trusts these people, so what's he lying for?" Kyojuro wondered. From the small time he'd been around these people...no, these children, he slowly became informed that in some shape or form, the fire nation had basically touched and ruined so many of their lives before they found each other it was extremely disheartening to listen too. Agni only knows what sort of hell someone like Jet could've experienced in order to become as angry as he was.
Getting up off his tree branch, Kyojuro decided it may be best to try and talk with the boy away from prying eyes. Jet had a certain pride within him that most likely wouldn't allow him to show weakness around others. Katara was the same way, so it wasn't like he didn't have experience with that sort of thing.
"What the-" Apparently he wasn't the only one with a similar idea because Longshot and Smellerbee all had the same idea. Both followed Jet to a secluded area outside their encampment and his ears perked up as he could clearly hear an argument ensuing between the three.
"This is wrong! We can't do this to them!" Smellerbee shouted.
"What choice do we have?" Jet shrugged.
"Not whatever the hell you're about to do!" She pointed.
Longshot simply frowned at Jet showing he really didn't approve of this plan.
"What makes you think this mystery person can be trusted anyway?" She jabbed her finger in his chest.
"Simple, because he hates the fire nation the same as us. Anyone with goals similar to mine when it comes to eradicating fire nation scum is a good friend in my eyes," Jet argued, while still keeping his cool.
"Mystery person?" Kyojuro wondered who else could've reached this location without arousing their suspicion.
"Listen, who's in charge here? Me! So until I see another change in command, I suggest you fall in line, soldier," Jet now stood face to face with her as Longshot simply watched from the sidelines.
He could pop out of hiding and probably stop this conflict from growing any larger, but something within him screamed to continue watching. There was a chance he was about to see something that may help him gain some insight into the boy.
Jet pulled a stick of dynamite out of his back pocket and smirked. "Once we get rid of all the soldiers at that town below us, it'll be the first real step into taking back our homes. If you can't see the greatness in that then I guess I had you all wrong, Smellerbee."
"Maybe it'd be better if you sat this one out-" He didn't get to finish that sentence before getting jacked up by his collar by Longshot whose facial expression had changed to one of anger.
"Whoa, take it easy. You know I'm not saying she's not a capable fighter," Jet reasoned. "But if she can't put away her conscious then we can't have her get her hands bloody…" He looked downwards as if he was contemplating something.
"We have to do this. What other choice do we have after everything that's happened?"
Longshot released Jet and made eye contact with Smellerbee who didn't say much either.
"So can we agree that sacrifices have to be made if we want to achieve true and unbridled freedom?" He stuck his fist forward hoping they'd meet him halfway. They didn't like it, but Jet hadn't led them wrong nor done anything out of spite. If he felt like this was the only path forward, then they would not abandon their friend who they'd known the longest.
"Fine...but after this, we won't involve any more innocent people in our fights!' Smellerbee threatened.
"Deal," Jet responded and brought them into a huddle. "I won't say this in front of the others, but I cherish you guys a bit more than I should. I'm so happy that you're sticking beside me.
"Of course, you idiot. Who else would look after you if we just up and left you to figure things out on your own."
Longshot nodded in agreement.
"So it's settled. In three days time, we'll break the dam and flood the village down below us. It'll completely liberate the village from fire nation control, but the sacrifices will be costly and it will not be in vain," Jet reassured.
Dismissing them and deciding to take the sticks of dynamite in his pocket towards the dam, Jet mentally prepared himself for the promised day. Kyojuro understood that this senseless act of violence had to be stopped at all cost and figured the best way to prevent this potential tragedy and loss of life would be to tail the young boy back to their hiding spot. Once he could see what was going on, he could then act upon it and stop them before things grew dire.
He just hoped that talking some sense into the boy would hopefully end this twisted desire the boy had with freedom and an unnatural obsession and hatred for the fire nation.
Three days passed without much happening as Katara and Aang were adamant on staying as long as possible as they'd grown attached to the children here. They weren't much older than them, but people like The Duke had grown especially close to Katara who already gave off motherly energies that Smellerbee sorely lacked. Not to say she was bad, but Katara had more or less helped raise Sokka and the other children in the South Pole. She had experience in spades and that energy had been a much welcomed addition.
Now that's not to say she didn't have her own reservations toward Jet as he did openly show hostility toward Kyojuro, but when the two talked, she seemed to make a connection with him and saw hope that maybe he could one day accept Kyojuro as a friend. Of course, Jet being the smooth talker he was had manipulated her into helping prepare for the damn that was inevitably going to be broken by them today.
Zuko had completely hidden the fact that he was a firebender in fear of being ostracized like Kyojuro had been, but still kept to himself anyways. For the past few days he'd noticed Kyojuro leaving whenever Jet, Smellerbee or Longshot left the encampment. He wondered just what they were doing, but as it was none of his business, he ignored that feeling in his gut and left it alone. At least until Kyojuro pulled him and Sokka to the side as the man wanted to talk with them about something.
"They're what!?" Sokka yelled just a little too loud.
"Quiet you idiot! Kyojuro's talking softly for a reason," Zuko argued. And Zuko had never known Kyojuro to talk in a soft manner unless being deathly serious.
"You heard me correctly. They are planning on liberating this town from fire nation control by blowing up the dam which would flood the entire town as well. I don't think I need to explain why that'd be bad for the people living there…"
Zuko's eyes lit up in horror, "If the people can't evacuate faster than the water can reach them, then won't they all-" Sokka and Zuko shivered as the mental image of drowning civilians filled their heads.
"I noticed you watching me follow them for the past few days!" Kyojuro got extremely close to Zuko and smiled. "It seems like my other pupil's instincts aren't that bad either!"
"Kyojuro, we don't have time for this. Where are they hiding the explosives so we can stop this from happening," Sokka pushed.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that anymore!" Kyojuro answered.
"And why would that be?"
"Because I've already taken care of it!"
Zuko and Sokka looked at each other confused before speaking, "What do you mean you already took care of it?" Zuko asked.
"Well upon noticing that they were planning an attack that would've taken out an entire town, last night I simply waited until everyone was asleep and carried all the explosives they were carrying away from the dam!"
"Well...problem solved?" Zuko responded, still confused as to what was going on at this point.
"So what are we supposed to be doing since the problem is resolved?" Sokka wanted to know.
"That's the thing! In about twenty minutes, Jet will discover that all of their explosives are nowhere to be found and most likely brand us as traitors! I believe I can influence this young man's mind, but that can only happen if I'm allowed a chance to talk with him!"
"I want you and Sokka to subdue Longshot and Smellerbee before he has the chance to retaliate. Once he's all alone, I'll be the first one to speak with him and see if I can change his mind!"
Both boys nodded at Kyojuro and moved out to find Longshot and Smellerbee before they could make contact with Jet. Kyojuro then turned his attention to Jet who already had an unhealthy amount of hatred towards firebenders for his age. He wanted to know what was fueling his anger and why it festered to such a degree that he'd involve innocents.
Jet was standing overlooking the village with Katara and Aang who had tagged along not understanding the true horrors he was planning to unleash upon these people. He glanced around and couldn't see Smellerbee and Longshot was nowhere to be found either.
"What's taking them so long?" He wondered. "I still have to go and check the explosives to make sure they're prepped and ready to go."
"So Jet, what did you wanna talk to me and Katara about?" Aang asked.
"I…", The boy took a moment to compose himself and they could see a stark change in his demeanor. "You're the Avatar so you must know that with every conflict, sacrifices are necessary in order to achieve victory, right?"
"I mean...I guess, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with this," Jet pointed at the town as he spoke. "What I really had you and Katara help me with was preparing to liberate this town from fire nation tyranny. I can only hope you understand that what I'm about to do is for the greater good of the world."
"Jet, what are you talking about? Katara asked.
"That," He moved his finger upwards toward the dam, "At my signal, Longshot will fire an arrow that'll set off all the explosives we collected which will blow up the dam. By doing this, the town will flood and that means no fire nation soldiers will survive the attack."
Katara glanced at Aang before looking back at Jet, now worried and somewhat disguised with what she was hearing, "You're joking right? Jet, please tell me this is a joke."
"I'm afraid it's not Katara. Sacrifices must be made during times of war and what's about to happen to this village is no different."
"But what about the families that live there! The children and other innocent lives will be lost and you think that's ok!?"
"I feel sorry for them, but that's not enough to stop me from making my decision."
"Well how about I attempt to change your mind?"
Before Jet could even react, Kyojuro had literally sped over to them and placed a warm hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch away from him in confusion.
"How the heck did you know where we were?" Jet saw the smile plastered across Kyojuro's face and grew sick. It reminded him of that soldier...that damn soldier had the same freaking smile and it pissed him off to no end.
"Hahaha! I overheard your talk with Longshot and Smellerbee a few days ago!"
"You did," Jet paled.
"I did! I also took the liberty of getting rid of all explosives that resided near the dam so you can forget about flooding this town!"
"But that's impossible!" Jet whistled in panic hoping that someone would respond to the call.
"Looking for them?" Sokka arrived through the woods along with Zuko and both boys had knocked out and tied up Smellerbee and Longshot.
"No!" Jet backed away from them as Sokka and Zuko grew closer to him which panicked him even more. His mind started to race a mile a minute when wondering where things went wrong in his planning. He thought everything was perfect and put so much thought into liberating this town and now these people showed up out of the blue and ruined months, literal months of hard work. It didn't make sense to him.
He continued to back away from them and unknowingly walked right into Kyojuro who gripped his shoulders. "Jet I understand that the fire nation is evil and needs to be stopped, but the way you're going about things is completely wrong! If you had simply asked for my help, I'd have gone down to that village and removed the soldiers from these people's homes!"
Jet looked up as Kyojuro looked down upon him and the boy's heart almost left his chest, his nerves were so bad. "You've been hurt by them and you want revenge, I get it. I knew someone who had a very similar passion as you and it ate him alive each and every day I saw him."
"So! If you'll open yourself up to me, I promise I'll do everything in my power to assist you in fighting back against them! You just have to open yourself up to me, even if it's only a little!"
"Stop-"
His world grew distorted and before he knew it, his mind wandered back to the moment his village was burned down and his family stolen from him. That soldier...the one who grinned at him as they were the only ones around caused his body to grow numb. He knew this was nothing more than a panic attack induced flash back and yet everything felt so real.
"You can trust me," The soldier sneered at child Jet in satisfaction. "I only want to help you. Come with me and everything will be alright."
"Stay away from me," Jet cried, still paralzyed by fear.
The man continued to walk up to him and pushed him to the ground before getting on top of him. "St-stop, get away from me!" Jet screamed and shouted, but no one was around to hear nor help. He'd witnessed his parents die trying to protect him from the soldiers and yet he still failed to escape when given the chance.
"Aw, do you want mommy and daddy?" The man teased. "Don't you worry a hair on that pretty little head of yours. I'll take real good care of you. I promise." He started moving his hands across Jet's small body, tearing at his pants trying to remove them.
"Let me go! Get off of me!"
"I always did like it when they struggled. Makes it more thrilling." He continued until almost all of his pants were stripped away leaving the soldier plenty of room to have his way with the boy. He wasn't strong enough to save his home, he wasn't strong enough to save his family, hell he wasn't even strong enough to save his manhood…
But on that day he swore to himself that he'd never be that weak again and would never show mercy to anyone from the fire nation. Their entire bloodline could just dry up and die for all he cared.
"Jet."
"Jet."
"Jet!"
He was brought back to reality after Kyojuro shook him a few times, worried about what he was experiencing. To Jet he was reliving his worst nightmare, but for everyone else, he just...froze. No for a better term, he just stopped. He didn't blink, he didn't move, he barely breathed. The only thing he did was stand there as if his brain had turned off.
"Thought something happened to you for a few seconds! Are you alright?" Kyojuro asked.
"I'm...fine. A little hazy, but my head is...clear. And I know what I've gotta do." He turned towards Kyojuro and dove into his embrace. "When they burned my home and stole...everything from me, I got lost and didn't know what to do. But now...I know what path I've gotta take if I wanna become strong enough to protect the things I wanna protect."
"As weird as it sounds, you, a firebender, helped me realize that."
Kyojuro said nothing as the boy vented within his grasp. Maybe he only really needed a warm hug and someone to vent his frustrations to. Katara was quite similar as a child, although she didn't go as far as he did.
"Well I'm glad you're giving me the opportunity to help you!" He placed a hand atop Jet's head and smiled at the boy who still buried his face in his chest. "As long as you understand why what you were doing was bad, I promise to help you in any way I can!"
"Y-you promise?" Jet asked.
"Absolutely!" Kyojuro beamed.
"Good, that makes this next part so much easier to do."
"What do you me-"
Stab*
Jet pulled out a specialized knife from his front pocket and plugged it deep within Kyojuro's abdomen hoping to kill the man in one go. Kyojuro released the boy while pulling out the knife buried within him and in trying to move, could immediately feel something was wrong. "Focus and close the wound. This is nothing more than a scratch!"
His eyes grew wide as he felt blood continue to pour from his wound and he knew something was wrong. "I can't close the wound! I can barely focus at all!"
Unfortunately the weapon he'd been stabbed with had also been laced with something that Kyojuro had never felt before. He didn't understand it completely as he wobbled about and could faintly hear people screaming his name, but his breathing technique wasn't working for some reason.
He dropped to one knee as his body became heavy and his vision blurred. He heard Sokka tackle Jet and began punching him as Katara and Aang rushed to his side. "Kyojuro! Stop the bleeding with your breathing! Why aren't you using it?"
Aang had never seen Katara so panicked. Tears pricked her eyes as she felt helpless watching someone as strong as Kyojuro struggle to catch his breath from a simple stab wound. She grabbed his face and shook it trying to elicit a response out of him, but he could only manage a few words.
"Can't use...my breath…" He slurred. He could hear more yelling and locked eyes with Zuko who hadn't moved since he got stabbed.
"What should I do?" Zuko looked at the situation before him and internally kicked himself for being so soft. With all the commotion going on and with Kyojuro, his captor, seemingly incapacitated, there was absoultely nothing stopping him from taking off and ditching these fools before he had time to recover. With his bending he'd be able to be out of this forest and back with his freedom in no time at all. So why was he hesitating once again?
He looked at Kyojuro struggling to breathe properly and looked towards the open area where he'd had his freedom and found himself at a crossroads. Leave and gain your freedom or stay and help someone who took it from you. This should've been a no-brainer…
But too many nagging emotions tugged within him and call it softness or stupidity or maybe something even greater than that, but he just didn't have it in him to leave an injured man to die, no matter how annoying he may be. He wasn't a bad person and it'd taken far too long for Zuko to get that.
Rushing over to where everyone else was, he tried to get the man to lie down so they could apply pressure to his growing wound. The blood continued to soak through his clothes and caused them to grow fearful at the growing nightmare before them.
Katara noticed hsi head start to dip to the side and she forced his head back up to look at her, "Eyes on me, Kyojuro. Focus on me ok."
He merely nodded as he tried and failed to complete her commands. He closed his eyes in an attempt to channel his breathing once more, but found himself interrupted again.
KABOOOOOOOM!*
He turned his head in horror as he could watch as the dam burst before his very eyes and mountains upon mountains of water crashed downward and made its way to the unsuspecting village. Screams could be heard coming from there, but not much could be done fast enough as they were swiftly drowned out by water literally barrelled through the village completely undisturbed by the amount of life it was snuffing out.
"I...don't get it...I...removed all the explosives…" Kyojuro could not believe that somehow they hid more right under his nose. He triple checked the area and found nothing, so why and how did the dam just burst?
Unable to fight off whatever was affecting him any longer, he collapsed to the ground as Katara and Aang screamed his name not knowing what was even happening anymore. This was all too much for them to handle.
Sokka had gotten off of Jet as he was watching in horror as an entire town was washed away and the screams of so many flooded his ears. He tried to close them with his hands, then fingers, but with how sensitive they were when under the effects of Total Concentration Breathing, he could hear them all and the fact that he couldn't just turn it off was maddening. He wanted to band his head agaisnt a tree and knock himself out, but decided he'd take his anger out on the one responsible for this tragedy.
"What have you done!? Do you know how many people you just killed!" Sokka wanted to strangle him, but needed to get answers from him.
"He said someone like Kyojuro might stand in the way of freedom. When...he gave me that weapon, he said it would weaken him." Jet grinned at Sokka knowing he'd won the battle, "He mentioned it was tailor made to deal with him."
"He? Who's he?" Sokka asked. Whoever this mystery man was, he just earned the wrath of a very angry water tribe soldier who wouldn't let any of them walk away from a tragedy this senseless.
"I believe he's talking about me." A man all too familiar stepped out of the trees and made himself known to everyone. Katara just about had a heart attack from seeing his face again.
Zhao stood before them with a grin covering his face and upon seeing Kyojuro laying on the ground incapacitated, he knew Jet was able to complete the task given to him. "It seems like you weren't as useless as I first thought."
"No, it can't be," she paled. "He killed you!"
"I guess he wasn't as thorough as he thought," Zhao responded uncaringly. "I guess his inability to kill me caused yet another tragedy to befall people he's supposed to protect."
"More importantly, you lot should scurry along while you have the chance. Everyone in the village below you is dead and that chicken haired fool is unable to fight at the moment. If not for my master's orders, I'd have slaughtered all of you by now."
He walked over to where Katara was and leaned down to her level, "Unless you want to stay and play with me again."
"Get away from her!" Sokka roared. Zhao didn't even give him a second thought as he blitzed over to him and literally punched him into the ground, rendering him unconscious.
"This isn't up for debate and my patience is wearing thin. Leave within the next thirty seconds or I'll kill you now and accept whatever punishment he gives me."
Aang didn't need to be told twice as he began to use his airbending to manipulate the currents to load Kyojuro and Sokka onto Appa who he'd called the moment Kyojuro had gotten stabbed. They loaded onto Appa and were about to take off before Zhao called to them, forcing them to stop in their tracks.
"Oh and when he wakes up, do tell Kyojuro that I cannot wait until we meet again. I do not understand why my master wants him alive, but he's apparently a key part in our victory in a few months time."
"And I want him to keep one thing in mind."
"Everything that's happened up until now, is completely his fault," Zhao sneered and turned back to watch the destruction that he'd caused below. He didn't need mere explosives to eradicate a dam that size, his blood demon art did the job quite nicely if he did say so himself.
Sensing the man was done talking and wanting to get the hell out of there, Aang gave the command and Appa flew off the edge and headed away from Zhao, Jet and the Freedom Fighters. Katara was in tears and she and Zuko were trying to stop the bleeding from spreading any further and while successful, still needed to get him some help and fast. Sokka was still knocked out next to Kyojuro, but he'd wake up from that eventually, she hoped. As he was guiding them away from there, Aang had no choice, but to watch as he flew over what looked like hundreds of floating bodies that perished in the attack and the one that really ate at him, was a small girl who could be seen clutching a doll. Most likely the last thing she was near before she perished.
Unable to do anything about the situation, they fled the scene and continued like that until Zhao could no longer see them. He grabbed the blade up off the ground as it was still covered in blood and licked it clean, savoring the taste of something so hot blooded.
"Spicy," he thought as he continued until there was nothing left. He turned his eyes over to a very confused Jet and figured now was the time to convert the boy over to their side. If he had discovered that he was a fire nation general, he'd have never gone along with the plan, but the fool had been so blinded by rage and his obsession he couldn't even see what was right in front of him.
"What are you doing?" Jet asked. This mystery man who helped him was licking the blood off the sword as if it was food. Was he insane?
"I suppose it's no use in hiding it anymore," He walked up to Jet as he looked absolutely confused, "I'm about to bless you with an ability very few people in this world know about."
"You wish to become strong right? Stronger than your enemies?"
Jet's eyes lit up at the question, "More than anything."
"The power I'm about to give to you doesn't come without its own drawbacks and you must be above all else, willing to sacrifice everything you hold dear in order to properly use it to its fullest potential."
"Is that something you're capable of doing?" Zhao asked.
Jet looked back at Longshot and Smellerbee who were still unconscious from being ambushed earlier. If he was strong enough, he could protect them without fail. He couldn't imagine that same soldier getting his hands on any of his family. He'd never forgive himself if something like that happened and he couldn't do anything to stop it. If it meant temporarily discarding them so in the future he could come back to them and protect them then so be it.
"Yes, I can do it," Jet answered with seriousness in his voice.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," Zhao used the same knife that Kyojuro had been stabbed with and sliced open his palm, "Hold out your hands boy."
Blood spilled down as it dripped down into Jet's hands and when sufficiently filled, Zhao allowed his wound to close. "Drink that and you'll be gifted with unimaginable power, but if you spill even a single drop…"
His eyes turned dark as his Rank Two marking came out, "I'll kill you where you stand."
Gulping at the threat, but still undeterred, Jet raised his hands and swallowed Zhao's blood as quickly as he possibly could. It was warm, but not the most unpleasant thing he'd ever tried. After he was finished, he looked over to his friends once again and smiled, "Soon I'll be strong enough to protect you both. Just you wait, I'll never let anything bad happen to you guys-"
"Ack!" He dropped to the ground as his body grew hot. "What's going-" Unable to finish the thought, his body continued to grow in temperature as he thrashed around on the ground with tears streaming down his face. The pain...the pain he was feeling was otherworldly.
"Oh did I forget to mention that the process of joining our ranks is quite painful," Zhao joked. "But don't worry, soon all of your pain will be gone and a deep and never ending hunger will replace it," He looked over at Longshot and Smellerbee before turning to leave and smiled to himself.
"When the process is complete and you've become strong enough, my master will contact you before the Siege in the North starts. I've got the feeling you'll become a powerful tool for the master to use. Don't let me down." Zhao vanished from the area leaving Jet still searing in pain as his blood, organs and skin continued boiling and searing.
"Arrrgggggghhhhhh!" He screamed out to someone, anyone who could help him. This was absolutely unbearable. Why on earth did he agree to this?
Smellerbee was the first to awaken as the screams became too loud for her to ignore. Seeing her leader literally twitching and jerking on the ground in front of her caused her to become scared. She'd never seen something like this before so instead of rushing over to him, she rushed over to Longshot and yanked him back and forth until he awoke.
"He's in pain! We have to help him!" Smellerbee panicked. They rushed over to him and tried to sit him up off the ground so they could ask him what was happening to him. It just made his head even more clouded however.
"Why am I going through this? What's the purpose of me taking all this pain?" He saw two people shouting at him with a fearful expression covering their faces and remembered why this was happening to him.
"Oh right...I wanted to get stronger to protect Longshot, Smellerbee and everyone else." His mind spun around itself in confusion, "Who the heck is Smellerbee and Longshot?"
He tried to remember, but the only thing that was vivid enough in his mind he could remember was the soldier that burned down his town and hurt him. Wasn't that the reason he wanted to get stronger? "No, it wasn't just that right? I'm missing something…" Well whatever he was missing, it did very little to stop the pain and his head remained as clouded as ever.
The Hunger.
Why was he so damn hungry and what was happening to his body? His hair grew more ragged as it turned from brown to an autumn colored red, the same as the trees surrounding them. Strange markings took hold of his body and his skin turned from the pale color it had been since his birth, to a sickening gray the same as Zhao. His eyes changed color from black to dark yellow as they slanted very similar to a feline.
"What's-what's happening to him?" Smellerbee asked.
For the first time in forever, Longshot didn't have an answer to give her, "I don't know."
Eventually the pain subsided and the thrashing stopped altogether. He just laid there still trying to figure out what was going on and what was it that he needed to do. He knew it had something to do with the people calling out to him, but what was their relationship to each other. He didn't think he knew them, but then again he could barely even remember his own name.
"Jet, are you ok?" The woman asked him as she reached out to touch him.
Longshot didn't miss how he tensed up aggressively, "Smellerbee! Get away from him!" he shouted.
"Why? He needs us!" She argued back.
"Stop shouting…" Jet forced out. Damn he was hungry and instinctively he understood that if he wanted to get stronger he had to feed on people weaker than him. He got up off the ground and stood up straight as if he wasn't just at death's door a few moments ago and picked up the knife from earlier. He examined it as if he was looking at something extremely valuable, completely ignoring his friends calling out to him.
Longshot had a bad feeling about what he was looking at, but even if he looked different, this was still his friend and leader. "Smellerbee you stay back and I'll go talk to him." He made his way over to Jet who was still in a trance of sorts looking at this weapon.
Longshot placed a hand on his leader's shoulder hoping to finally snap him out of it. He wanted to make sure his friend was ok after whatever the hell just happened to him.
Slice*
Without warning, Jet sliced Longshot's hand clean off and remained stationary as his friend dropped to the ground in agony.
"Longshot!" Smellerbee tried to run towards him, but she stopped when noticing what Jet did next.
He picked the severed hand off the ground and leaned his head back as he dropped it into his mouth. The flavor tasted so good to him and he began to feel rejuvenated after going through whatever the hell had happened to him. "Who gave you permission to touch me?" Jet asked.
Longshot was no fool. Whoever this was currently, was not their friend and he needed to get Smellerbee away from him. She was in tears as her brain was being worked into overdrive trying to rationalize why her leader would do something like that out of the blue.
"You need to get away from us! He's not the Jet we knew anymore!" Longshot shouted. It only served to make Jet even more annoyed.
Who were these people and why were they so loud? He needed to make the noise stop.
"I said keep your voice down," Jet stated once more before pulling the knife that had cut off Longshot's arm back and yanking it forward, completely decapitating him, killing him instantly.
Smellerbee dropped to the ground and shrieked as her mind began to close in on herself. "What's going on? This is a dream! This has to be a dream!" She was full on sobbing at this point as Jet put his sight on her.
"Another annoying insect," Why did animals make so much noise anyway? They should know their place in the food chain and die with dignity. His head was becoming clearer and clearer as he made his way over to Smellerbee who tried to run away as she'd given up on trying to understand what was going on anymore. The only thing she understood was that if she didn't leave, this man would kill her the same way he did Longshot.
Scurrying through the trees did very little as Jet simply watched with an unreadable expression. She ran and ran and ran as fast as she could, but failed to understand the forces she was dealing with were much faster than her. In an instant, Jet had caught up to her and slammed her face first into the ground while retaining an iron grip on the back of her head.
"Please, stop this!" She cried. "I don't know what's going on, but please don't kill me! I don't wanna die-"
*Thwack*
*Thwack*
*Thwack*
*Thwack*, He'd grown tired of her pleas and decided to make her stop by repeatedly smashing her head face first into the ground. He continued until there were bits of her brain matter scattered across the ground and when he felt sure she was dead, he released what was left of her head and began feasting on her remains.
Tears.
He felt tears rush down his face and didn't understand why he was crying. Sadness filled his entire being, but he did not stop feasting upon this girl as it was the only thing that made him feel whole.
He didn't know who those people were so why was simply eating them causing him so much pain? Maybe the feeling would pass after he went back and ate what was left of that marksman. Then again there was an entire camp where he would be able to feast to his heart's content.
"How do I know that?" He said aloud. It didn't make sense how he knew where to find food nor did it make sense why something internally was screaming for him to stop and don't go after them.
But alas, the hunger would always win out as it's the only thing he'd ever known. After he devours them, maybe he'd head down to that village that was flooded and eat the corpses since he had nothing better to do. He'd bide his time and gain strength until he was summoned by his master. Speaking of strength…
"Why did I wanna get stronger in the first place?" He wondered. There was a distinct reason why this was all happening, but nothing was coming to him.
"Oh well."
If he couldn't remember the reason why he wanted strength then it probably wasn't that important to begin with. Eating satisfied him and what more of a reason did he need than that?
Well...I don't really have much to add here other than I hope I managed to make you as uncomfortable as I possibly could've. Jet crossed a line he can longer walk back from, but then again if he doesn't remember it, was it ever really there to begin with?