Disclaimer: I do not own the Avatar world, that is all owned by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
—
Chapter 3
Benders of the Circus
Weeks passed while Wikilow, Elsi and Gale proceeded to wander the land alone. Wikilow felt lost. He had disobeyed orders from the Dai Li, and now he no longer did assignments or missions. He couldn't even say he was still in the organization, as he probably wasn't anymore. It felt to the lost young man, as if he had lost his entire life's purpose.
Luckily, he had Elsi with him. The air bender had stepped up to the occasion, taking the lead on their journey forwards. She had also continued to try and find Wikilow's moral compass, continuing her attempts at teaching the Avatar basic morals.
They travelled to Republic City, it coincidentally being Elsi's original destination, though she stayed with Wikilow. The air bender mainly just choosing random landmarks, as to give them some goal in mind as opposed to mindless travelling. The two slowly approached the edge of the vast, iconic City. Though, Wikilow had been in the City before on assignments and such. Elsi however, took the breathtaking sight in, having only seen pictures and videos of the area before.
"Should we enter now?" Wikilow asked his companion, shaking the girl out of her daze, quickly composing herself, she fidgeted before nodding.
"Yeah! Lets." Elsi mumbled with Gale on her shoulder, speed walking.
Wikilow made to follow, before pausing, feeling the rim of his hat. He knew it was logical that he cease wearing his Dai Li uniform. It would most likely cause unnecessary attention from the general populace. However, he felt, comfortable in the uniform. It was his own, odd preference, as described by Elsi when asked. And so he continued to wear it. Besides, only a select few agents knew of the Avatar, it might provide some form of protection. In the end though, Wikilow adjusted the pointed hat. Making it so that the shadows on his face receded, revealing his full face to the light. It would not be much, but it would look a little more auspicious.
Elsi blinked as she took the sudden change in, but quickly moved on when Wikilow caught up. Though she avoided the Avatar's gaze for a few short minutes as they entered Republic City. However, Gale suddenly flew away from the pair. Wikilow made to chase the bird but Elsi stopped him. "They do that sometimes. Gale doesn't really like noisy places so they just fly off for a bit. But they always come back, gave me a scare the first few times though." The air bender explained with a fond sigh, but nonetheless they continued.
The prospect of exploring excited Elsi more then Wikilow. The air bender sometimes stalling to marvel at some of the sights. While wandering through the streets, they struck up a conversation.
"This place is incredible!" Elsi cheered, doing a small little spin while walking. Wikilow only nodded so she continued. "It's too bad that it takes so long to get around though. Every single street is so crowded." The air bender noted, motioning to the streets filled with honking cars, the pathways with busy people.
Eventually, they managed to find an area that was more open, Avatar Korra Park. Which wasn't saying that much in reality, as the park also was crowded. The duo stood in front of the statue of Wikilow's predecessor. It used to be more grandiose, but recent times were not kind to Avatar Korra's memory. The statue being a prime example of that, having much graffiti covering the exterior.
"That's, unfortunate." Elsi stated with pursed lips.
"I've often been told that my predecessor was a disappointment and failure. Is this similar to what you've been told in any way?" Wikilow said afterwards with a blank face.
"Avatar Korra was controversial sometimes. But generally most people liked her. Well, not so much right now." The air bender remarked with a glum face.
Wikilow did not respond, the two just continuing to have a silent moment in front of the statue. The Avatar didn't notice when his companion wandered off. A fair distance away, a glint in a pop up stall attracted Elsi's eye. Curious, the young woman approached the stall to investigate.
"Hello there." The air bender cheerfully greeted with a soft smile.
The thin man running the stall snapped to attention. "Hey there Miss! You interested in my one of a kind antique polar bear teeth?" He enthusiastically asked, thrilled to have a customer.
"…Polar bear teeth?" Elsi hesitantly said back, seeing the glint she saw was just the light on the teeth.
"You know it! So what you want Miss?" The man asked with wild gestures to their small stock.
"Oh… uh… actually I'm not-" Elsi started, not interested in the teeth, or in wasting their limited finances that remained from the Dai Li.
"Oh please Miss! You must want something! Come on just buy a couple! You will not, absolutely will not find these anywhere else in the world I guarantee Miss." The man quickly pleaded, cutting the girl off while grabbing her hand and shaking it frenetically.
"I… not… don't." She tried to say, though she was overwhelmed by the man's personality, confidence plummeting while stumbling over her words in the process. The man was determined however, and didn't let up. Soon, Elsi almost felt obligated to buy something. "Okay! Okay! I'll buy something." She squeaked, to which the man released her hand. Elsi immediately hesitated in actually purchasing a tooth. The air bender feeling somewhat backed into a corner, shyly standing around, trying to find an exit to her problem. However, she didn't need to as a stranger wandered up to the stand instead.
"Zei! How've you been? Business been going well?" The stranger loudly asked with a bright grin.
The stranger had mismatched eyes, coloured both gold and brown. He looked to be slightly older and taller then Elsi as well, with mostly shaggy black hair with a single white stripe running down the middle and falling over his face.
"Well I was just about to sell this young lady here-" Zei replied with a slight eye twitch at his presumed sale being interrupted.
"That's great, real cool. But my friend here and I are in a real hurry. Real sorry, but I'm sure we'll come back and buy some teeth later." The stranger said, linking an arm with Elsi and pulling her away before Zei could protest. "Don't listen to anything that fraud says. The teeth aren't even real." The stranger quietly muttered, straightening a leather jacket.
"Oh. Well, thank you for the help." Elsi softly responded.
"No problem. It was painfully obvious how uncomfortable you were." He teased, eliciting a small embarrassed chuckle from Elsi. "I'm Arlo, pleasure to make your acquaintance." The stranger introduced, extending his hand.
"Elsi." She returned with a smile, exchanging a brief handshake.
Before they could continue their friendly banter though, Wikilow showed up. At the sight of the young man in the Dai Li's uniform, Arlo tried to motion Elsi to back away. However, the air bender happily greeted Wikilow. "Hey Wikilow!" She said with a small wave.
"I apologize for not noticing your absence." He said back blankly.
"Don't apologize! It was me who wandered off without saying anything." Elsi waved off.
Arlo watched the two interact with a dumbfounded expression, dramatically tilting his head sideways.
"Do you two know each other?" He asked confused, pointing at Elsi then Wikilow.
"This is Wikilow, we're friends." Elsi easily explained while the latter gave a curt nod.
"Friends? Isn't he Dai Li though?" Arlo continued in a slow, disbelieving tone.
"I… am no longer affiliated with the Dai Li." Wikilow hesitatingly stated, slightly ashamed of the fact.
"Oh… Okay then, cool." Arlo accepted without a second thought, surprising the other two. "Arlo, good to meet you, Elsi, Wikilow." He added casually afterwards. However, he stopped himself from further speaking, instead checking the time on his watch."Shoot!" He panicked, dragging the word out. "I would stay and talk more, but I got a show soon so I got to go before Ryko has a nervous breakdown." Arlo said before starting to sprint away.
"Show?" Elsi asked.
"The circus in the outer area! Just look for the insanely big and colourful tent! You can't miss it!" Arlo called from over his shoulder.
"Okay?" Elsi went after a long silence.
—
And that's how they found themselves seated in a large tent in the dark, waiting for a circus show to begin. The 'Benders of the Circus' turned out to be a popular attraction in the city. Wikilow did not think much of the place, having known about it but not paying it much attention. Unfortunately, he and by association Elsi were getting odd looks from the crowd. This was most likely because of his Dai Li uniform, which was a common occurrence he was used to.
Suddenly the crowd quieted down as drums played throughout the tent. Workers ushered people off the earthen floor, the flap entrance closing. In the centre of the ring, a circle of molten lines formed in the ground, before bursting upwards, illuminating the entire space with light. When it dispersed, a tall middle aged man in colourful clothing and an ebony top hat stood in the molten ring.
"Ladies and gentleman! Boys and girls! Welcome to the show!" The man announced, dramatically lifting his arms as the crowd roared. "My name is Ryko! And it is my pleasure to introduce, to you… the Benders of the Circus!" Ryko called out to the loud approval of the people.
As he said this, he quickly and skillfully lava bended the molten circle to spread. The scorching lines sped across the ground and underneath the audience's area until it reached the ornate pillars behind said audience. They then spiralled and filled the pillar's patterns, providing a dim light.
Afterwards, large mammals made of earth rose out of the ground. Most notably, two extremely life like elephants that, in synch raised their trunks. While they did this, two identical earth benders jumped down from a platform above, landing on the elephants. The two then made the elephants circle around the ring's edge, making the crowd cheer. "Starting us off! The twin masters of the earth, Hoko and Huku!" Ryko proudly introduced, spotlights moving to cover the twins as they continued to move their creations around the ring.
Following that, the light transitioned to focus on two wooden platforms on opposite ends of the tent. On one, a single woman emerged, greeting the crowd with a broad smile. On the other, a man with a distinct curly moustache did a comical pose, producing a few laughs. "Here we have our two daring devils!" Ryko announced, as the two metal bended wires above them, leaping off the platforms.
The duo did an abstract dance in the air. "The graceful Kei, and the incredible Kyo!" He enthusiastically swooned. "Next up…" Ryko went before gasps from the crowd interrupted him. Looking up, he saw that Kei and Kyo's wires were snapping under their weight. "Oh no! The wires! They're going to fall! Somebody, anybody! We need help!" Ryko dramatically shouted in fear
Wikilow blinked as the crowd whispered amongst themselves. "Is something going wrong?" He thought to himself, observing as the wires thinned before finally snapping.
However, another wire connected the two wooden platforms, and a gust of wind saved the pair from the perilous fall below. The strong wind boosted the two into the air, where they in turn shot more wires to land back at their original platforms. A girl with an extremely long braid proceeded to make their way across the wire, dancing across while utilizing air bending techniques. "The mesmerizing dancer! Lu!" Ryko went.
As that went down, multiple other performers came into the area. There were dancers, fire breathers, even a water bender who moved the ice on her costume while dancing. Also, contrary to their name, there were also non benders performing their own acts.
While they entertained the crowd with glee, it suddenly got dark again. A single spotlight shone on Ryko, who took one step to the side to reveal another person, Arlo.
"I wonder what he's going to do." Elsi whispered from beside Wikilow.
"The illuminating lizard! Arlo!" Ryko echoed as he disappeared into the shadows.
Arlo in turn, made a few gestures with his hands. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his mismatched eyes and created dozens upon dozens of small flames in the air. The flames were so small they looked more like little lights then sparks. The crowd gasped as they watched the flames, fearing they would hail down on them, but the sparks stood firm.
From the shadows this time a female appeared. Dressed in varying shades of blue and equipped with a detailed pipe. Slowly and dramatically, she brought the pipe to her mouth and blew a storm of bubbles that danced above and throughout the watching people. Who awed at the lights reflecting in the surfaces of the bubbles. "The dazzling mistress of bubbles, Sel Ri." Ryko announced, reemerging as he and the other performers walked to the centre of the ring.
"That brings tonight's show to an end!" He announced to the crowd's disappointment. "We hope to see all of you again!" He finished as the molten ring rose around the performers, when it fell they were gone as the show officially came to a close.
—
"Those were uncommon usages for bending." Wikilow dully noted as he and Elsi left the tent.
"Is that all you have to say about the show?" Elsi asked with a quirked brow. Before the Avatar could respond, he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Arlo pushing his way through the crowds.
"Hey! You guys made it!" The fire bender excitedly said.
"Of course, it was a great show Arlo." Elsi replied with a warm smile.
"Thanks, that's good to hear." Arlo said back with his own grin. "What about you Wikilow? Are you incredible amazed?" He jokingly asked.
Wikilow took a few seconds to formulate his response.
"While the different techniques shown were an unusual concept. I fail to understand the purpose behind undertaking such a thing. It seems to be an inefficient and ultimately pointless usage of time and energy." The Avatar remarked, unintentionally but blatantly cold.
For a few seconds, the three were trapped in one, painfully awkward long silence.
"Eh?" Arlo deadpanned, tilting his head ever so slowly.
"Wikilow!" Elsi shouted in dismay. "Please excuse him. Wikilow has trouble expressing himself. He isn't purposefully trying to be rude or anything!" She stammered, rapidly apologizing for him.
"… Eh?" Arlo went again, tilting his head further.
"What I mean is…" Elsi continued in her defence of the Avatar, but another call disrupted her.
"Arlo! Stop with your flirting and get over here! We got stuff to talk about!" An older woman's voice went, penetrating the noise of the crowd.
"Hold on! I'm not even flirting! Where did you even get that from Kei?" The fire bender indignantly responded, previous incident quickly forgotten.
"Just get over here!" Kei shot back, making Arlo let out an annoyed sigh.
"Sorry guys, troupe meeting. We'll talk more later, maybe, hopefully." Arlo went. "Just get over here." He mocked under his breath while stalking off to where the troupe was meeting in an area besides the tent.
Wikilow and Elsi shrugged it off and made to leave again. Minutes later though, a shout rang through what remained of the crowd.
"WHAT!" A chorus of voices cried out, making multiple people glance at the shouting troupe, their focus on a panicked Ryko, who was in turn trying to calm them down.
"Should we, go see what's up?" Elsi quietly asked unsure.
However, she saw that Wikilow was already moving towards the arguing circus. She in turn quickly raced after the Avatar, catching up. The two went to speak to Arlo, who was less irate then the others and at the back of the group.
"Is there a problem?" The Avatar curtly questioned.
"Yes there's a problem! Ryko, somehow managed to lose the entirety of our next show's props! How does that even happen?" The fire bender fumed, fingers twitching in annoyance.
"I can't control the ocean! How was I supposed to know that the stuff, you lot specially requested would get held back due to bad weather!" Ryko defended, hands in the air.
"Can't you just reuse the props from tonight." Elsi proposed for a solution to the dilemma.
"I wish, but the next show is a really popular one that's going to draw in the bigger crowds. And the stuff was hyper specific too." Arlo bemoaned.
"So you will have to either cancel or change your next show." Wikilow summarized.
"That won't be necessary! This isn't that bad! If we hustle we can make our own substitutes for what we need, it might not be as authentic as the real deal, but it'll work." Ryko explained, regaining a little composure, contrary to the rest of the troupe.
"That'll take all night! We'll be busy all the way until the show starts!" Arlo and many others complained.
"Well it's that or disappointing the people!" Ryko yelled, which silenced the troupe, who grumpily got to work in resignation.
"This sucks…" Arlo mumbled as he got a list of supplies to retrieve in order to recreate the needed props.
"Is there anyway we can help?" Elsi asked, gesturing to both her and Wikilow, who stared at her questioningly.
"Wait what? No, you really shouldn't have to get involved-" Arlo tried to say before the air bender cut him off.
"Nonsense, you guys seem pretty tired already. Besides, think of it as me repaying you for helping me out earlier." Elsi gently persuaded.
"Well… if you really want to help… you guys can grab some of the stuff we need." Arlo relented, though inwardly he was eager for someone else to handle the task. The fire bender handed each of them a separate list of supplies. After that, he wandered off to collect his own quota.
"You do not need to repay Arlo. They will most likely be able to get the task done themselves." Wikilow said to his companion who shrugged.
"I know that. But it's the nice thing to do." She softly said back while going over the various items on her list.
"Nice?" Wikilow asked.
"Yeah, nice. Helping others just because you can." The air bender stated with a smile. "I'll meet you back here once we both got everything." She added before proceeding to leave as well.
"Helping others by doing menial tasks. Would the Avatar do things like this?" He asked himself mentally, then walked off to collect his own items.
—
A couple hours later, Wikilow walked through the busy streets of Republic city with a heavy box in his hands. Other pedestrians were around, but avoided him, giving the Avatar his own personal bubble.
"This should be everyone I need." He thought, reviewing all the items on the list.
While making his way back towards the circus, Wikilow passed by a brick building. Suddenly, the building's door slammed open and a girl with a long black ponytail stumbled out, multiple loaded boxes in her arms. However, she slightly tripped on the doorframe, making the box on the top of the pile fall down and land on Wikilow's. Luckily, he knew that none of the items would be damaged by the impact.
"Ah! I'm sorry about that." The girl apologized, though she didn't pay him any attention, focused on the wobbling pile of boxes she was juggling.
"It is no problem." The Avatar replied, moving to place the box back on her pile. However…
"Oh no." She quickly gasped as the boxes slightly buckled, but she managed to keep them up. "I am, really, really, really sorry about this. But do you mind giving me a hand here. My grandmother's car broke down so I'm getting her stuff before it's too late." The girl bashfully requested, though she was still paying more attention to the boxes then him.
"Logically, there is no reason I should oblige this request." Wikilow thought, placing the girl's box back on his. "But the nice thing would be, helping her?" He added as he instead grabbed a couple more of the girl's boxes, relieving her of some of the load. "Am I still keeping the peace, this way?" Wikilow pondered.
"Thank you so much, it's a short walk away so just follow me. Really, thank you so much." The girl went as she slowly made her way in a different direction, Wikilow calmly following. "I can really see why we needed a car for all of this… Stupid Tonraq and his stupid bets." Were common things she muttered along the way.
Eventually, the two reached a small night time cafe where an elderly woman wearing a large hat and shades was seated at a table. Besides the old woman, was a boy that greatly resembled the girl, only younger.
When they approached, both tensed up at his appearance, but the old woman's expression morphed into something he couldn't quite recognize. "Over here, load the boxes in the trunk." The girl instructed, dumping her own load in the wide space which he followed.
"Thew! Thanks for that." She went, letting out a tired breath, before noticing the other two's faces. "Something wrong grandmother? Tonraq?" The girl asked while straightening her plain T-shirt.
The boy simply gestured to Wikilow, still beside the girl. Turning, she finally, saw what Wikilow looked like. The girl proceeded to also freeze, not saying anything.
"Do you require any more assistance?" The Avatar plainly asked, ignoring the three's obvious shift in demeanours.
"Uhh… no… no, we're good. Thank you though." The girl denied, voice confidant with only a slight stutter.
"I will be on my way then." Wikilow said back, turning to head back to the circus and meet the others. However, the old woman called out to him before he could leave.
"Young man, have we met before?" The elder asked, removing her hat and shades, revealing long black and grey hair, and stunning green eyes even at such an age.
Turning, Wikilow gave the old woman a long stare. The mysterious whispers rose up again, slightly surprising him though he didn't show up. But, he ignored them as usual.
"I do not believe so." He said before finally leaving the three in silence.
"Grandmother, what was that about?" The girl curiously prodded, taking a seat next to the boy and elder.
"Well Mako, that young man just seemed… familiar." The elder explained with an uncertain look, saying no more.
—
Back in the earth states, all the way in Ba Sing Se, a young woman kneeled before a fancily dressed man. Rin kneeled before the Director of the Dai Li. The Director had the appearance of a snake, with beady dark eyes and a long, long brown beard that reached his stomach. He wore traditional earth kingdom robes of high status, though he could still fight if need be. On his head sat a heavily ornate pointed hat, decorated with fine green jewels and gold.
This was the man who brought the Dai Li to power after their initial fall.
"I see." The Director spoke, in a charming, collected voice that echoed throughout the room. "Can you please explain how this could've happened?" He prompted with a cold yet wondrous tone that sent shivers down the former water bender's spine.
"I…" Rin tried to say but stuttered, in fear. "I… did not foresee the air bender's influence on him before it was too late. He left willingly with her, where I do not know." She stated, trying to keep her voice clear.
"I see." The Director said in a neutral tone. "So this is your fault then?" He accused, tone morphing into a rougher, angrier one that made Rin have to bite back a wince.
"Director Zhou… I… I couldn't have-" The Dai Li agent tried to defend before the Director cut her off.
"This could not have just simply, occurred out of thin air. Surely there were signs." He stated, regaining a cool, menacing composure. "Surely you were keeping an eye on the Avatar and the air bender. Surely you saw, something." The Director continued, turning towards her.
Rin stayed silent, eyes dark.
"I suppose… we will simply have to, eliminate the problem before it gets out of hand then." The Director stated, making Rin raise her head in surprise.
"You don't mean-" She began before being interrupted.
"Lower your head!" The Director harshly ordered which she obeyed at once. "If the Avatar has truly abandoned the Dai Li. Then we have no choice but to make sure that no one else can take advantage of him. We have eyes in every corner and shadow. I doubt he and the air bender have gone far." The Director snapped coldly and without care.
He then glanced down at the former water bender. The rims of his hat hiding any expressions he held. The Director raised his hand, signalling to the two other agents that guarded the door.
"And you…" He said in an annoyed and irritated tone. "Have failed your one task." The Director dryly stated. "Rin." He spoke, the atmosphere tightening around said person like chains. "Raise, your, head." They went, slow and articulate.
Rin slowly and hesitantly did as she was ordered. But, her eyes widened as spikes of earth shot out towards her.
Outside in the hall, Rin's screams echoed off the walls.
—
Authors Note: Tried to make a cool name for the Director, but nothing I came up with sounded right. Anyways, this is probably the longest it has ever taken me to write a chapter. Was mainly adjusting the plot of the whole thing. But, I think it turned out pretty good.
