Earth
Fire
Air
Water
Only the Dual Avatars master of all four elements can bring balance to the world.
Book III: Change
Chapter V: The Traitor Within
It's late at night and Wan after a couple of days finally has time to write in his journal. After the fight with Suyin and Lin, Opal ending the fight and telling her mother and father she wanted to join the rest of the airbenders at the northern air temple, and Su and Lin somewhat healing their relationship, Wan has much to talk about, yet little to say. The man lets the bottom of the pen touch his lips as he thinks. Thoughts roam his mind, he isn't quite sure what to say, his face scrunches then quickly relaxes, as the ink graces the paper.
The past couple of weeks have been strange, though I wouldn't say entirely new. Me and Korra learned metal bending thanks to Su, Lin's sister. Training has been fun, though Bolin seems to have a jealous streak; he can't get metal bending. Maybe he has something better than metal bending he hasn't discovered yet? Who knows with him.
Bolin is full of surprises. Crazy how things have advanced so much. I remember a time where bending all four elements was crazy talk. Now somehow being an Avatar is the norm...well...not entirely since I exist again and there's two now. I kinda see why my memories were washed away, I'm used to modern-day tech. If I was to be reborn with all my memories I would have been confused and hyper overwhelmed. I guess that's why the spirits did it? I'm not sure at this point. All I know is I'm here now, and I'm making the best of it.
The First Avatar yawns, stretching his arms, glancing at Korra's sleeping form with a smile. He closes his book and heads to bed, not before sweeping Korra's hair out of her face. He snuggles in the bed falling asleep.
Suddenly he hears a sharp scratch on the window. Instantly he and Korra are awake. The armless waterbender makes a hole in the window. Zaheer and his gang enter, not before a blast of fire meets them and a chunk of earth hits Zaheer's chest throwing him back.
"Do you think we're stupid?" Korra yells as she prepares another attack. Wan's eyes narrow, "We haven't let our guard down. Try again." Wan smirks a bit.
"So much for the element of surprise," Ming-Hua mumbles as she attacks with ice spears as Wan promptly defends himself with earth. The Dual Avatars hold their own quickly, and work completely in sync. The criminals are surprised at their agility and combat. Their attacks wake everyone else up. The darts thrown at them prove useless as they defend each other. P'Li and her combustion bending would throw them off at times, but it proves not to be a problem when they hear Zaheer's shouts. "Retreat!" He yells as he and his gang go into a small area of the space. Sirens and lights are turned on but Wan isn't finished, he breathes in and unleashes the Dragon's Breath. A large burst of fire is unleashed from his mouth and aimed at the criminals. Ghazan tries to attack with lava bending but Korra, defending Wan, cools it down with her airbending, using it as a platform to attack once more with a gust of wind.
The criminals are backed into a corner, surrounded by platforms of metal, placed by the many metal benders.
"It's over!" The guard woman yells. Ghazan smirks as he begins to compress the ground making it heat up into lava. Everyone moves quickly for fear of being burnt. "It's far from over." The four criminals knew this was not a fight to be won. "We failed!" Zaheer angrily airbends a huge cloud of smoke for cover, Wan tries to intervene but when it clears, the lava has cooled and they are gone.
Inside Suyin's office, Lin could be heard yelling at her sister, "How could you let this happen?! You assured me this was one of the most secure places in the world!" Suyin sighs as she rubs her temples, Wan and Korra simply stand to the side crossing their arms.
"It is. I don't know how this happened. Obviously this was a well-planned operation, so don't blame me." Su frowns.
Wan glances down to the floor, as he begins to think of how they could have gotten in. He strokes his goatee now in deep thought as the conversation progresses. Then he strikes gold, his eyes sharply widen. Korra turns to her partner knowing he has figured something out.
"Maybe, someone on the inside gave them our location." Wan starts as he looks at the people in the office, "Someone who knows Zaofu inside and out."
"The Guards." Korra says, as she turns to her partner, "They secure the entire city. They could've done it."
"I agree." Aiwei says.
Wan remains silent but nods. His mind narrows down into three things: the guards, Suyin or Aiwei. One of these people could be the culprit. So far his bets are leaning towards the guards and he highly doubts Suyin but he isn't going to count her out just yet.
Wan, Korra, and Lin watch Aiwei begin his questioning of numerous guards and people. Wan has a good laugh with Varrick's questioning, his ridiculousness is quite amusing. However, over time, Korra glances at Wan with a defeated expression while Wan's hands rest on his chin as he watches. Lin nods to let the next person in.
Aiwei soon finds the mastermind of the attempted kidnapping, Hung Li. A young man, only about eighteen.
They search his room to find lots of evidence and Mako wants to instantly question the young man but Aiwei refuses, only wanting him to sweat it out as he walks away. Wan starts to piece things together in his mind; if he is correct, Zaheer and his gang have been in prison for thirteen years and if Korra is eighteen- The Guard is eighteen.
"That guard is only eighteen years old and has lived in Zaofu his entire life. Zaheer and his gang have been in prison for more than thirteen years." Mako says almost reading Wan's mind bit by bit, Wan nods agreeing with Mako."The evidence, It seems too overwhelming, he wasn't even trying to hide it. Like it was plotted." Everyone turns to Wan. "I had three suspects in my mind, Aiwei, Su and the guard. Su is out of the question now, and the guard seems to be a fallback." Wan starts.
Mako adds on to this, "You're right. All the evidence points to this guard, he is just the fallback. So we need to look at someone else."
"Someone who can keep a secret," Wan starts.
"Without getting caught," Mako finishes.
"Someone who's old enough to have ties with Zaheer," Wan smirks as he glances at Mako.
"Aiwei," The boys say in unison.
Team Dual Avatar makes it to Aiwei's home, Bolin peeks through the window to see the house completely empty.
"He's not home. Or he's hiding in there. Or he's invisible. Probably just not home." Wan opens the door and the Quintet starts their search for evidence. Asami opens a book that is completely blank.
"It's just an empty book."
Wan turns from his part of the search to see Bolin mesmerized by a jar. Wan quickly turns to the earthbender.
"Bolin, put that back! We don't want Aiwei to know we were in here if we can't find anything." Bolin quickly puts the jar back in the wrong place. Wan sighs deeply as he takes the jar and places it a few centimeters away from its original place. Mako glances down near the bookshelf, and sees a few markings, he pushes the bookshelf open and it turns out to be a cellar.
Wan smirks, "Bingo, that's how Zaheer got in and out." Asami gasps and turns to Dual Team Avatar.
"Guys, Aiwei is coming back!" Wan quickly pushes the bookshelf back, and the team rushes back upstairs as Aiwei closes the door of his house, angrily yelling.
"What are you doing in my house? You are trespassing on the property of one of the highest-ranked officials in the city. You'd better have a good explanation!"
Wan glares at the man, "We came here because things weren't adding up, and we thought you might have some answers." The truth seer looks at the first avatar, evenly and unemotional, "Now, what is not adding up exactly? Hong Li was clearly lying and we found evidence in his apartment."
"The guard is a young man, the same age as my partner, Korra. No way he would've known about Zaheer." Wan's deep copper eyes stare into the man's soul, Aiwei looks at the jar and moves it to the right position while going to the bookshelf, to which he notices the smallest flaws.
"Perhaps through a relative, or maybe he was bribed. We will find out those answers in time. But if it wasn't him, who do you think it was?" The truth seer notices the bookshelf has been moved, he remains silent as tension fills the room.
"You think I had something to do with this, don't you?" His back is turned from the group. "The truth always reveals itself," Wan retorts, Aiwei remains completely silent for a moment, he smirks as his head slights to the right.
"You have no idea what's coming for you, Dual Avatars."
Aiwei quickly metal bends the stairs upwards, Mako blasts a gust of fire to try and attack but fails. Korra metal bends the wall but only makes a small hole. Wan joins in with Korra, both metal bending the wall. Once they do break through, Dual Team Avatar rushes down to the cellar. Wan stops in his tracks to see a bomb that has stopped ticking. Wan and Korra airbend a spear to protect themselves and the team from the immediate explosion. Once the fires die down, the dual avatars stop bending.
Mako looks around and grunts, "He's gone!"
"Not exactly." Wan says looking at the small hole that is almost covered by debris, "He must have escaped there. Korra help me out!" The Avatar Duo bends the rubble to reveal a tunnel entrance, Su and Lin rush into the room.
"We heard explosions!" Lin says, Suyin's eyes widen as she glances around for her adviser, "Where's Aiwei?"
"Traitor, as I expected. He plotted the attempted kidnaping for me and Korra." Wan responds. Lin slams her foot on the ground using her seismic sense on the tunnel.
"He escaped through the tunnel. This is where Zaheer got in and out." Wan explains, "He bombed the evidence to try and hide."
Su glances down, her green eyes show a sense of sadness for a moment, then a flicker of anger and betrayal. The guard woman runs in, "Is everyone okay?" Su turns to the women, "Aiwei is a fugitive. Get all available guards to search the mountainside, and find out where this tunnel exits immediately!"
Zaheer and his gang are hiding in a cave far out, while also recuperating from their injuries from their failed attempt. Zaheer meditates while Ming-Hua begins the conversation. "I was not expecting the Avatars to be that strong, did you see the way they moved…"
"No wonder, that Wan kid is really something." Ghazan sighs as he crosses his arms, Zaheer opens his eyes. "Avatar Wan, the first Avatar reborn into the world. Of course, he'll have experience and it must have rubbed off on Korra." Zaheer sighs as he continues to meditate while listening to the conversation.
"We'll have to change tactics, obviously together they are stronger and we can't attack directly," P'Li adds.
"P'Li is right...and, I think I have a plan…" Zaheer smirks to himself.
A few spirits roam about in a small dusty earth kingdom town, Dual team Avatar with Naga's tracking hopes to find Aiwei and bring him back to Su to face judgment. Wan is on Naga with Korra, while Dual Team Avatar is on Asami's jeep. She pulls over as Naga stops. Korra scratches her Animal guide softly.
"Nice tracking, girl."
"Aiwei has definitely been through here." Wan hops off of the polar bear dog, crossing his arms, "Let's ask around. Maybe someone's seen him."
The team enters a small tavern, as Wan pushes the green dusty curtains aside something catches his eyes, he snatches off the paper and reads it but his face morphs into a one of horror.
"I look like a crazy person!" he shouts, Korra takes the paper and she struggles to hold her laughter at Wan's mugshot. Mako snaches the paper from Korra.
"Would you two cut it ou-" Mako's mouth slightly gapes as he stares at Wan's picture. "What happened to you?"
"I don't know but, it's a bounty for all five of us. 'Wanted by Her Majesty, the Earth Queen, for crimes against the Kingdom.'" Wan recites in a sarcastic tone. Korra glances at hers and becomes increasingly infuriated. "I swear, if I see her pinchy little queen face again, I am going to-"
"Uhh, guys?" Asami starts as the people in the bar begin to stand up and one man pulls out his sword, "We should get out of here..." The team exits quickly, Wan rolls his eyes as he walks out, not before pointing two fingers first at his eyes then back at the people at the bar in an 'I'm watching you' gesture.
The team continues their search for the traitor, leading them to the Misty Palms Oasis, while Bolin and Mako go undercover. Wan, Korra, and Asami, along with Naga, stay behind. Korra sits on a boulder watching over the city, while Asami digs in Aiwei's jeep, which they found. Wan joins Korra.
"You okay?" His hand touches her shoulder softly. The female Avatar sighs. "I'm just frustrated. What does Zaheer want with us? What's his plan?"
"I don't know." Wan looks out, then he smiles at Korra. "But, I do know that we can beat him. Together." Korra blushes for a split second, "Heh, you always know how to make me feel better huh?" Wan blushes as he closes his eyes, "I guess?" he chuckles a bit.
"Guys, I found something!" Asami calls out. The Dual Avatars walk over as Asami pulls out a piece of paper, and hands it to Wan. The first Avatar looks at it for a moment. "Xai Bau's Grove, Sundown." He reads. "This must be where and when Aiwei is going to meet Zaheer!" Korra exclaims. Asami pulls out a map of the earth kingdom as she begins to glance around the map for the name. "All right. Xai Bau's Grove, where are you?" She mumbles to herself. A blue cute little octopus spirit hops on the map and Asami shrieks in alarm.
"Go away!"
"Hold it Asami," Wan says as he takes the octopus spirit into his hands, "They're trying to tell us something." Wan smiles as he holds the little light spirit, "So little guy...Where Is Xai Bau's Grove?" The spirit blinks, and Wan remains in an awkward silence blinking with them. "I don't think the little guy can talk..." Korra points out, Wan's shoulders slump."All spirits can talk Korra, just in their own different way," He chirps up as he continues to try and find a way the little spirit can talk.
"Bobia," They say in a soft tone. Wan's eyes spark with joy, as he turns to Korra who looks at him cross-eyed, while Asami seems impressed. "See!" he yells as he begins to focus back on the light spirit. Mako and Bolin return to the team's hideout, they glance at Wan for a moment as Wan lets the little spirit go. "It was nice talking to you."
"We found Aiwei hiding in an inn," Mako announces to the team. Wan smirks a bit- the man was awful at covering his tracks, Wan honestly expected better. "We found something too. A letter, it looks like he's gonna meet Zaheer at sundown at a place called Xai Bau's Grove. But I can't find it anywhere on the map." Asami says, giving the letter to Mako.
"Because It's not in the Physical World," Wan states, "That little spirit, with some help from Raava, told me exactly where it is...The spirit world."
"Wan, that makes perfect sense!" Korra smiles at her partner, "Follow Aiwei, and when he enters the spirit world..."
"We find Zaheer." Wan finishes, the duo fistbump each other.
At sundown, while the Dual team Avatar watches over their bodies in a motel, the Avatar duo enters the spirit world at Xai Bau's grove, Wan and Korra watch behind a large tree trunk as Aiwei waits nearby on a hill in front of another tree. Zaheer materializes across from him, his face twisted in anger for the man."What happened back in Zaofu? You told me we wouldn't have any problems getting the Dual Avatars. Because of you, we've all been compromised!"
"Any evidence was destroyed when my library burned." Aiwei tries to reassure the man. Zaheer's eyebrows arch as he senses something, he glares at the man. "You left a loose end." Aiwei's green eyes widen. "What- No I didn-"
"You are the loose end!" Zaheer grabs Aiwei by force, as Wan and Korra come out of their hiding place. "Zaheer!" The dual Avatars yell in unison, ready to fight. Zaheer vanishes for a split second. Once he comes back, Aiwei is nowhere to be seen.
"It seems Aiwei was mistaken. He was followed…"
"Not exactly the smartest person to leave a letter out in his car," Wan sasses as Korra steps up. "Yeah, we followed him, now what did you do to him?" Korra questions. Zaheer smirks.
"He'll be spending eternity in the Fog of Lost Souls, which just leaves the three of us." As he takes a step forward, the dual Avatars quickly take their stance. "Don't move, Zaheer. You're going to give us some answers." Korra glares. Zaheer stops for a moment and sits down.
"There's no need for aggression. Neither of us has our bending, and I'm not going anywhere. I'll answer whatever questions you have. You both deserve that much. What would you two like to know?" The dual Avatars glance at each other, surprised at this. They nod and glance back at Zaheer, sitting down next to each other. Korra asks her question first.
"First off, who are you people, and why do you keep trying to take me and Wan?"
"We are part of a secret society, dedicated to restoring freedom to the world. We are the Red Lotus." Zaheer answers.
"The Red Lotus? Are you related to the White Lotus?" Wan questions, tilting his head slightly.
"We are what the White Lotus was meant to be. But after the Hundred Year War, the White Lotus lost its true purpose. Its members came out of hiding and openly served the Avatar. They became nothing but glorified bodyguards who served corrupt nations. So a great man named Xai Bau broke from the White Lotus and began his own society."
"A split faction. Huh," Wan mumbles to himself, now he is getting interested but his gut is telling him this is a game, a game to capture them. "That's a great story, but it doesn't explain why you tried to take me when I was a kid." Korra mentions. Zaheer answers, "That was Unalaq's idea."
"Why am I not surprised, all Unalaq ever wanted was to control Korra. Let me guess, he was a part of the red lotus and when It came to taking Korra, he washed his hands clean of the entire incident." Wan pulls up his hands, Zaheer simply nods,"Yes. I met Unalaq when I was a teenager after we had both joined the Red Lotus. We learned about Raava and Vaatu, and how you, Wan, foolishly severed them, disrupting the balance of the world forever."
"Wan wasn't foolish! He was trying to restore balance!" Korra retorts as she defends her partner.
"He closed the portals, severing humans from spirits. Even you and him realize the error in his ways after he was reborn," Zaheer mentions. Wan leans forward. "But. You're forgetting a fact- humans, and spirits, we're at war. Yes, I did split Vaatu and Raava. Yes, I did change the world forever. But, do not say what I did by closing the portals was foolish. I did that because humans and spirits, we're at each other's necks! You never lived in that time period. I did. It was madness, humans were being killed left and right! I did what I did to protect both kinds! And if you want to talk about foolishness? Let's talk about you, kidnaper. You tried to kidnap Korra. Which was already discovered at a young age. Now that's foolish! The only reason why I reopened the portals was that I realized that spirits and humans changed. The world has changed." Wan finishes.
Zaheer smirks at this small speech, "My point exactly, change is upon us."
Korra once again asks her questions, "You and my uncle planned to use me to open the portals and release Vaatu? That's why you tried to take me when I was a kid?"
"Yes, and with members of the Red Lotus as your elemental masters, we could've taught you so much." Zaheer seems slightly saddened by this. Wan scoffs at the man. "Doubtful, I admit your skills are impressive. But Vaatu would have killed us all. The world would be in darkness."
"You think of Vaatu in the wrong light Wan, he's the one who can bring true order."
"I'm sorry, I need to clean my ears because I didn't hear you right. Did you say Vaatu could bring order?" Wan sasses as he blinks, looking at the man with a completely baffled look.
Zaheer smiles at this, "Yes, the natural order is disorder."
"Wow, we have reached new levels of contradiction," Wan says completely bewildered at this concept, instantly rejecting it. "So, how do you plan to make this new order?" Wan asks with a very sarcastic undertone which Zaheer ignores, continuing to tell his philosophy.
"The idea of having nations and governments is as foolish as keeping the human and spirit realms separate. You've both had to deal with a moronic president and a tyrannical queen. Wan, you were ruled under a classist family that wouldn't feed its own people. Don't you think the world would be better off if leaders like them were eliminated?"
"What, No!" They both say in unison. "They are bad leaders, yes, but killing them is just...wrong," Korra says. Wan looks down, remembering his encounter with the younger Chou- how he spared his life in the heat of the moment."If you do kill them, you'll be just as bad as them!" Wan argues as he gestures out signaling the awful world leaders.
"It wasn't too long ago that the airbenders were nearly all wiped out, thanks to the Fire Lord's desire for world dominance. True freedom can only be achieved when oppressive governments are torn down. Do you know who once said, 'New growth cannot exist without first the destruction of the old'?" Zaheer asks.
"Yes, Guru Laghima," Wan answers to Zaheer's pleasure, but it is short-lived as Wan continues. "An Airbender master who didn't touch the ground for the last years of his life. And why are you using his words for your own gain?"
"His words have the truth, that applies to our cause," Zaheer starts, but he is cut off by Wan, who is now infuriated.
"Wrong, first of all, the man was a peaceful anarchist. A monk, a poet. He didn't believe in taking down governments by force, but rather by natural progression. A society working together for the betterment of the people. I study, Zaheer, so don't try and use quotes to make yourself look smart and philosophical because just now you contradicted yourself more times than I can count. So the real question is... What do you plan to do with us if you capture us?" Zaheer remains silent then speaks.
"You know, being locked away for so many years, I was beginning to lose hope. But when I awoke with airbending, I knew I would be the one to destroy the old world and plant seeds for a new world to flourish."
"Answer me!" Wan yells, Korra then looks at Zaheer, pleading. "Zaheer, please, as an Airbender, you could help make a positive difference in the world, instead of destroying it." Wan turns to Korra.
"Korra, he is stuck in his ways. He isn't going to change by a pep talk. Zaheer, you heard what I said, what are you doing to do to us!?"
"You both must realize that once change begins, it cannot be stopped, even by the Dual Avatars."
Korra and Wan quickly stand up in their defensive stances. "Enough with your philosophical mumbo-jumbo!" Korra shouts as Wan steps up to Zaheer. "What are you going to do to us, Zaheer, if you capture us!?" Wan yells in his face. Zaheer smiles menacingly. "You'll have that answer soon enough, First Avatar. The Red Lotus should have you both by now. See you in the physical world." With that he vanishes, Wan's eyes widen as he turns to Korra.
"This was a trap!" Wan yells.
The Duo swiftly go back into their bodies, they awaken to find themselves tied up by a straitjacket and muzzled with Asami. "That son of a-" Wan rages as he struggles in his restraints, "Where is he! Where's the Red Lotus!" Wan yells, Asami looks at Wan, confused. "What's the Red Lotus? And Zaheer didn't capture us, the Earth Queen's forces did."
"Great." Wan grunts in a low voice, Korra sighs as she closes her eyes, "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure. Some camp by the desert. They're taking us back to Ba Sing Se." Asami answers Korra.
Ghazan and Ming-Hua come back to their hideout dragging Bolin and Mako, who is tied up.
"The Earth Queen's army snatched up the Dual Avatars before I could," The duo throws the bending brothers on the ground, both physically beaten up by the attack they made. "But we figured you could find a use for these two." The armless waterbender adds, Zaheer looks at them, then back at his group, "Load them in the truck. We're taking a trip to Ba Sing Se."
