"Any update after the protest last night?" The earth kingdom representative asked Lin.At the beginning of that moring's council meeting, Lin was giving them an update of the police activity the past month.
"23 total arrests, half of which have been processed and released." Lin told him.
"It was hardly protests." Tarrlok scoffed. "More like Riots."
Tenzin personally would agree with that. He had listened to the rant Lin had after getting home at 1 in the morning about the bottles that had been thrown at them. They had broken the windows of the royal firebenders academy and hurled bottles and rocks at the police and a few drunk hecklers.
"We need to be stronger with these hooligans." Tarrlok turned to the rest of the council. "Labeling the equalist a terrorist organization would open up some options." Tarrlok said slyly.
"Tarrlok, If you have non bender suppression beliefs you would essentially be a terrorist." Tenzin argued. "That goes against everything this city stands for and was founded on!"
"Well then the police should take a more direct and hands on approach with them." Tarrlok said, switching his gaze to Lin. "You can't be too nice with these people."
"A show of strength from police force is not the answer to our Equalist issues." Lin told Tarrlok firmly, but giving off a bored and relaxed appearance. She was purposely redirecting the conversation back on track.
"And Why not? Chief." there is a concedening tone to his voice but the smirk on his face said that he was hoping Lin would argue this point with him.
"Because we can not change the way we enforce the law." Lin said coldly. "They can protest, yes often protests turn tense at the end but this isn't new. I would have my officer respond any differently than they would in the past."
"Unless we change the law." Tarrlok says purposely. "We need to put some harder punishments for these guys. "We can't let these mad men run our city."
"When they break the law." Lin interrupted. "We will arrest them, but they are just protesters." The clock rings out signifying the new hour. Good, Tenzin thought this meeting was now running over.
"It would be smart if we did something to appease the equalist sympathizers, instead of pushing them away." Tenzin said jumping in trying to take the meeting away from Tarrlok. "If we don't have public support this will fail."
"I'm inclined to agree." The fire nation representative said. "The fire nation doesn't want to see any sort of war or unrest here."
Tarrlok all but held back a growl, but wouldn't let Tenzin get away unscathed. "You want to give in to this mad man. Come on Tenzin, his case is totally false!" Tarrlok argued. "There isn't one law that doesn't give non benders the same rights and protects as benders. We are all equal. That's what the law says, some people are born with bending, some aren't, we can't control that! All non benders have the same rights and opportunities as you and I. What they do with that, is on them." Tarrlok said angrily.
"If that is all I need to get back to work." Lin said as impassive as ever.
"Of course Chief we would never keep you from your very important work of keeping this city safe." There is unbridled sacastim in Tarrlok's words but Lin doesn't care. She turns away from them, catching Tenzin's eye on the way out.
Tarrlok threw his keys on the sideboard as soon as he walked in the door. Today was long and unsuccessful. He and Noatak had talked about creating a rift in Republic city between bender and nonbender and today, Tenzin the ever peace loving monk had won today's council meeting. Tarrlok couldn't stand that man or his wife; both of them had this entitled air to them. They looked down on people like him who wasn't raised with the golden spoon in his mouth. Not for long soon their kind would be out of power. The phone rong.
"Hello, Councilman Tarrlok." Tarrlok said when he picked it up.
"Tomorrow, you need to declare war on the equalist. You need to make the police and council to crack down on the equalist and non benders, hard." His brother said through the phone.
"I've been trying but relative peaceful protests aren't that unpopular." Tarrlok said through gritted teeth at Noatak.
"Tomorrow you will have a reason. They won't be able to ignore us." Noatak's voice was chilling and calm, then there was a click and the line went dead. It irked Tarrlok that he was so unfazed by anything. Fine, Tarrlok thought, he would show his brother. When they were kids Noatak might have had the upper hand but the equalist were right about one thing, bending wasn't everything. In this world you needed to be smart and savvy and he would be the superior brother in that category.
Tenzin had gone to bed knowing Korra and Jinora were out and Lin was still at work. He had no idea where Korra had gone off to but Jinora had said something but seeing her friends today. Lin had told him not to expect her until late when he had brought lunch over for her. The equalist were apparently up to something and the police were trying to figure out what. But when he woke up that morning and rolled over reaching for his wife the other side of the bed was empty and cold. At breakfast neither Jinora nor Korra had joined him. He tried not to worry after all Jinora had lived on her own for the better part of two years now and Korra was nearly an adult. His day was surprisingly productive as he didn't have Korra to train or to attempt to train. The girl still struggled with airbending although she was starting to nail down the basic forms. It wasn't until that night that he began to worry none of them had come home for dinner. He debated about calling Lin, he knew she hated being bothered at work and they were adults, but by 9 he decided to call.
"Chief Biefong." Lin snapped into the phone.
Tenzin winced at the edge in her voice. "It's me, love."
"Hey Ten" She sighed tiredly. "What's up?"
He knew the last few weeks had been more and more trying and it made him feel worse about bothering her with his concerns but, "Korra and Jinora aren't here and haven't been since yesterday afternoon." He said.
"Well, Korra hasn't gotten arrested." Lin said sardonically. Tenzin hummed unconvinced that that was a good thing.
"I'll ask Azari if she's talked to them." Lin offered.
"Thank you. When are you coming home?" Tenzin asked, hopeful that it was soon.
"Lonely?" He could practically see her grinning at the light teasing.
"Yes I would like to see my wife at least every two days." He told her rolling his eyes. He was also lonely. It was weird having the house so quiet and he didn't like it.
"Look, I got an hour here, before I can head home." Lin said she sounded tired.
"Okay, I love you." He told her.
"You too." Lin said before she hung up.
Amon surveyed the crowd before the rally started. Tonight was the night, when it would all start. The start of a new world order. This would be the first, but it would be nowhere near the end. When they were done they were going to make the world unrecognizable to people, to bring it back into balance, back into its rightful place. He could hear the crowd above him in the warehouse. In all his life he never thought he would have this many people following him, following the righteous call.
"My quest for equality began many years ago," He began. It didn't matter what was true or not. Most of the broad strokes were true, the details were made up to pander to the crowd. But that didn't take away the message and the truth behind it. It was time to end this age and bring about a new one. "I know you have all been wondering 'what is the revelation', you will get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the spirits have been the guardians of our world. They have blessed me with a great gift. The ability to take away a person's bending permanently." He waited allowing the crowd to take in the news, some didn't believe him no matter that would change. His men brought out the triad leaders.
"In the interest of fairness I will fight them all before taking their bending." he told everyone. He wanted to prove something tonight, that he was not just some idealist spotting his message. No he was a man of action and one that would not be easily defeated. The firebender came at him with lighting, but it didn't matter. He had learned long ago from one of the best chi blockers and non benders there was how to fight and he easily best him.
"What, what did you do to me?" the man asked weakly.
"Your firebending is gone, forever. The era of bending is gone. A new era of equality has begun!" He shouted and the crowd cheered and he smiled. The rest of the triads were just as easily bested weak pathetic men like his father had been. They did not deserve the clothes on their back never mind bending. Nothing ever goes to plan however as steam fills the room. Ah well, the mission was accomplished this would be no matter. He stepped back into the shadows. He followed the fighting outside to see the avatar escaping on a polar bear dog.
"Let her go, she is a perfect messenger for the city." He told his men. There was no need the goal of tonight was to come out of the shadows not fight the avatar that would come later.
Tenzin continued to worry but figured he should wait until Lin got home to send out a search party. But as 10 turned to 11 with no sign of any of them he went to find the white lotus leader. The two of them were talking when Korra and Jiora walked towards them. "We were just thinking about sending out a search party. Are you two all right?" Tenzin said relieved they were okay, but he got no reply from either girl.
"Korra," Tenzin coaxed in a soothing tone. "What happened? Did you find your friend?"
"Yes, but…" Korra started when Lin appeared just then Azari was with her surprisingly. Lin's face was dark and Azari trail behind her mother but her face too was serious.
"Lin" Tenzin greeted them. "Azari, how are you?"
Azari only glanced at her mother instead of responding. "Do you have any idea where they were?" Lin growled, her anger wasn't directed towards him as it was to the kids.
"No, we were just getting to that." Tenzin made sure to keep his tone carefully neutral. "Korra, Jinora?" He prompted.
Neither had reacted much to Lin's anger if anything Jinora seemed relieved to see her mother and sister. Tenzin's concern over that was pushed to the side over what Korra said next. "We…were at an Equalist rally. We saw Amon." Korra admitted rubbing her arm.
"What?" Tenzin squawked, completely shocked.
"Oh, yes they were." Lin said glaring at both of them. "They also got into a fight with them."
"What were you doing there?" Tenzin asked, still digesting the information.
"Bolin got captured by them and we had to save him and…" Korra paused heistanting. "Amon, um, he can take people's bending away, For good."
"Th – that, that's impossible," Tenzin stammered. "Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability."
"But I saw him do it," Korra said.
"It's true, Tenzin." Lin sighed. "My officers told me the same thing."
"I believe you." Tenzin said still a little shocked about all of this although Lin's anger and Korra and Jinora's skittishness made sense now.
"Did Amon see you?" Lin asked, running her hand through her hair. She sounded more tired now than angry. "Did he know it was you two that stopped him?"
"I don't think so," Korra answered.
Lin nodded, seeming satisfied before turning her gaze to him. She was asking him a question silently. They needed to talk privately, he told her back. "I don't know how Amon has achieved this power," Tenzin said, stroking his bread. "This revolution is more dangerous than we could have imagined. No bender is safe," Tenzin finished.
"Do not start any type of trouble with them. I want you two to stay as far away from this as you can for as long as you can." Lin told them.
Korra nodded and Jinora said. "Yes mom."
"Go to bed, it's late." He told them.
Azari was the first to move. "Goodnight Mom, Dad." She said. Tenzin stopped her and kissed her forehead and told her he loved her softly. Jinora meanwhile had thrown her arms around her mother's neck. Lin was saying something to her after she let her go but Tenzin couldn't make it out. Jinora hugged him as well. "Love you dad."
"Love you too, sweetheart." He told her. They went into the kitchen, where Tenzin pulled out a bag of cookies and poured Lin a drink and water for himself. They waited for several minutes to make sure the kids were in bed before heading back down to the docks. They sat on the dock pressed against each other. Tenzin was more than happy to let Lin snack on cookies and just be with her for a minute.
"My officers were there too, they told me exactly what Korra and Jinora did about Amon." Lin said grimly.
"Did they spot them?" Tenzin asked.
"Well no but they spotted Naga." Lin said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Amon knows now but he wasn't aware they were there." She leans more heavily against him. "Have you ever heard of anything like that? A spirit with that kinda power or something?" Lin asked him after a minute.
"No, never. I'll go back through the text and look but I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a forgotten thing before my dad." He told her.
Lin hummed back at him. "I wish we could just leave." She said after a long while. Tenzin had just been about to suggest going to bed.
"This is our home, we should fight for it. You and both know this city is better than the equalist." Tenzin told her kissing her hair, trying to reassure her.
"What if we can't keep Korra safe or the kids? What if I can't keep you safe?" She said almost to herself.
"Hey" Tenzin said, tipping her chin up to him. "You don't need to worry about us, you know. We can all take care of ourselves and if anything it's us who should worry about you." He told her. She nodded at him but he doubted she believed him. Truth be told he was also worried about the kids and her, she was directly in the line of fire all day everyday. At least he hoped she'd keep Azari off equalist assignments.
"Is it bad I made Azari stay here tonight?" Lin asked.
"Of course not, dear. Selfishly, I'm glad you did." Tenzin admitted.
"Something bad is coming, Tenzin I can feel it." Lin said, chewing on the side of her cheek. Tenzin could feel it too but he desperately wanted to believe he was wrong.
"Everything will be fine." Tenzin said, tugging her up with him. "Come on let's go to bed," Kissing her briefly before heading to the house, but that night laying in bed wrapped around his wife he was too worried to sleep. He was normally the worrier, Lin's fear about the equalist told him all he needed to know and he too was scared for all of them. It might be more directly her job to protect them but he'd be damned if he let anything happen to her too.