Chapter 15: Hunters and Hunted

Sen overlooked the enemy base from the hilltop in silence. Colonel's Cujo and Kim stood at his side to assess the situation.

"Looks like they've started getting serious," Cujo said. He was almost impressed by their defenses. The bases they'd struck beforehand had been just gathering points, places where Grey-Face troops could stop to resupply. Here in the Earth Kingdom, they had built proper fortresses to defend themselves.

"It will take a great deal of time to break that barricade," Colonel Kim said. The Grey-Faces had set up a substantial perimeter. Seeing the Coalition on the nearby hill had only caused them to redouble their defenses.

"It won't take much time at all," Cujo scoffed. "Look at the General."

Kim turned to examine his superior officer. The ruined coat he wore shifted slightly in the slight breeze, but the Avatar himself was almost entirely unmoving. Only his eyes, barely hidden behind glass lenses, showed any sign of movement.

Sen had said little since laying eyes on the walls of their enemy. His eyes darted rapidly from point to point, carefully examining every chunk of wall, every fortified tower, and every soldier. Kim nodded quietly. There was a harrowing look in Sen's eyes. The two Colonels waited patiently for the Avatar-General to finish his assessment.

Sen turned his head in a sweeping glare over the length of the wall, and then nodded. His heel tapped slightly against the ground as he turned.

"Follow me once the wall is down," Sen said sternly. Cujo saluted sharply and prepared their soldiers to charge.

Sen walked down the slope of the hill, calmly at first, conserving his energy while he could, and waiting while a few preparations were made. The Grey-Face soldiers on the wall hurried to attention as they saw a lone figure approach. They knew better than to underestimate any lone figure. With titans like Miyani and Sen rallied against them, one man could mean the end of an entire army.

Sen took one last slow step, and then broke into a dead sprint. He was in range of the enemy now. He knew it, and they knew it. It was not long before Sen was dodging a torrent of elemental destruction from the walls above. He ran in sharp, jagged patterns, turning sharply and erratically to avoid the barrage. Though he felt the heat of the fire ran down around him, not one blow landed. The desperate attacks of the enemy only increased in intensity as Sen got closer and closer to the wall.

His elaborate dance between lances of fire and earth and ice continued, Sen always staying one step ahead of whatever attack was coming his way. In truth, Sen was barely paying attention to the attacks raining down around him. He could have reached the wall by now if he had wanted to. His real focus was on the soil underground.

Sen got the signal he was waiting for. He silently thanked Gun for his hard work and paused for a brief second to do the math. The wall was roughly twelve feet high, he was ten feet away, which meant he would be in for a long dive. With a kick to the ground, Sen called up a swift-rising stone beneath his feet, catapulting him through the air.

An aerial approach was a bit of a risk; anyone smart enough would lead their attacks and strike Sen right out of the air. Sen knew very well that anyone smart had defected from the Energybender's service long ago. His jump went unimpeded, and he landed safely atop the wall. Stunned enemy soldiers took a step back from the Avatar. He took a quick look at those around him and scowled.

Sen reached out with both hands and slammed his open palms against the wall. The massive stone structure collapsed downwards, falling into the subterranean void that Gun had tunneled. One by one sections of the wall collapsed downwards into the empty space that had been hollowed out below them. A cloud of dust and screams filled the air as panicked soldiers found themselves dropping downwards.

Colonel Cujo rightly assumed that was their signal to move. The Coalition marched into the chaos and found that the top of the wall was now level with the ground, and the mass of soldiers was still disoriented from the sudden drop. They marched across the fallen wall, capturing the enemy as they went, and prepared to move into the base.

"I see the General didn't deign to wait for us," Kim observed. One look at the base made it obvious that Sen was already on the move. The shattered front door was a first clue, as was the Grey-Face soldier currently flying out of a broken window. The sound of screaming and an earth-shaking blow signified the Avatar's continued onslaught.

Very few were brave enough to stand against the Avatar for more than a second, but their courage was irrelevant in any case. No one who came near Sen was on their feet for more than a few seconds anyway. His blows were targeted, devastating, honing in on weakness and vulnerabilities in seconds.

There were a few who tried to avoid Sen's sight, but even they were not spared. Sen could feel their pounding, fearful heartbeats, and he tracked his enemies through walls and across stories of the building. With a flick of his wrist, the roof collapsed, dragging a few soldiers who tried to cower on the second floor down to his level.

Sen continued walking. He limped slightly, a sign of injuries not yet fully healed, but his gait had not been interrupted yet. One soldier who was feeling particularly bold, or particularly desperate, let loose a single bolt of fire from a hallway to Sen's side. Sen held up his hand and waved the fire away, before retaliating in kind. The soldier's reflexes were not so good, and he was blasted backwards, left singed by the blast of fire. Sen never even turned his head.

Footsteps shook the ground ahead. Sen paid them little heed. One of the soldiers was brave enough to take a stand. It mattered little to Sen. The situation got only slightly more intriguing as Sen felt the clash of negative and positive chi that characterized lightning.

The blue sparks seared the air for a brief second as the attack surged towards Sen. He extended two fingertips to catch the lightning, and briefly did the dance-like motion to carry the burning power through his stomach and out the opposite hand. He directed the lightning harmlessly into a nearby wall and turned his attention to its source.

The lightning-wielding soldier was already gearing up for a second attack. He was no Harrier, however, and his lightning came to slow to compete with Sen's blindingly fast motions. He was off his feet in a second as a stone swept across his legs, and then the soldier felt a hand around his throat, keeping him from falling.

"You're better than the rest of them," Sen observed. "You'd be in charge. Talk."

"I know nothing-"

Sen's grip on the lightning-bender's throat got a little tighter, interrupting him. Sen pulled the soldier to his feet and pulled off his grey-marked mask, looking the man in the eye. The Grey-Face leader did not maintain eye contact for long. There was a fire in Sen's eyes like the light of the sun, impossible to look directly at.

"I know, the Hssk takes all your memories of your leaders, your bases," Sen said caustically. "But I'm willing to bet it overlooked something. There has to be some scrap of information in that head of yours worth having."

Sen had been scouring every soldier for any fragment of memory or information, anything that would lead them further on the trail of Sarin. The intelligence Ko Rin had been hiding from them was supremely useful, but it was incomplete. Sarin was still hiding. Sen could not allow that.

Though the Hssk made it nearly impossible for a direct trail to be established, Sen had come up with several ideas to work around it. While the Mind-Eater might understand the importance of erasing memories of leaders and homes, as a spirit it had several misunderstandings of the human experience. For example, the Hssk did not need to eat.

"Your food," Sen demanded. "Where does it come from?"

"What?"

"Answer the question," Sen demanded. Any army had to have supply lines. Tracing the source of their food could lead him to Sarin.

"I don't know! Containers are unmarked, they deliver to us every month," The soldier stammered. "They know where to find us, but we don't know where to find them!"

"Then you're useless," Sen stated flatly. A quiet bell tolled, the usual harmonic tone that rang whenever Sen used Energybending. It was simple enough to knock someone out cold using the ancient art, even if it was a rather mundane use of an exceptionally powerful ability.

Sen left the unconscious body behind and proceeded out of the base as chaos enveloped it. The Coalition swarmed the halls, capturing or disabling what few enemies Sen hadn't already devastated. Sen walked calmly the other way as soldiers rushed past, some pausing to salute sharply to their General, others running by, eyes low. The enemy wasn't the only force that had a healthy fear of Sen. His actions lately had inspired a respectful terror even among his subordinates.

"Keep soldiers waiting here," Sen ordered. Colonels Kim and Cujo quickly stepped forward to listen. "Someone comes here every month for food deliveries. When they do, track them back."

"And when we find the source?"

"Find every base that they deliver to," Sen said. "Then burn it to ash."

"Sir?"

"I'm not wasting time with their bread and vegetables while Sarin is still out there," Sen said. "Find everything, burn everything, and our soldiers will keep marching."

"Classic blitz tactics," Cujo said. "Crush everything in front of you, burn everything behind you. I like it."

"Some might object," Kim said hesitantly.

"Then those 'some' can answer to me," Sen said threateningly. Kim shrank back, and Sen continued. "Where's the nearest radio?"

"That way, Avatar-General," Cujo said, pointing over his shoulder. Sen thanked his two subordinates and moved on. He had orders to give. Kim cast a concerned glance to Cujo, but he simply smiled and shook his head. The other Colonel did not share Kim's concerns about Sen's new attitude.

Sen sat down at his makeshift desk and grabbed the radio receiver.

"Lahn, connect me to my team," He demanded. "I want reports."

Lahn affirmed his orders and then went silent for a moment, trying to reach all the Avatar's friends. Sen tapped his fingers impatiently while he waited. Scattered as they were across the Earth Kingdom, it took quite some time to reach everyone Sen knew.

"I can't get Miyani or Ada, seems they're already travelling to their next targets," Lahn said. Sen nodded to himself and crossed off two targets on his map. He had given each of his allies a checklist of objectives to destroy.

"Just put me through to whoever you can reach."

There was another short bout of silence. What followed after was a short burst of static and noise from a person who clearly barely knew how to operate a radio and had no desire to learn.

"Hey Sen, not much to say," Whistler said. "Probably set a record for most guys punched in a day, but found nothing that gets us closer to Sarin."

"Then keep punching and keep looking," Sen commanded. Whistler was happy to agree on both counts. She always kept things short and sweet, eager to get back to the fight. Unlike many people, who were vaguely concerned about Sen's aggressive attitude, Whistler knew full well that it was easily cured. As soon as Sen got his hands on Sarin everything would be back to normal.

Suda was next to be contacted. He had little to say, but Sen had not expected much. Suda was not cut out for the violent hunt Sen was carrying out, despite his imposing physique. Sen had deliberately assigned him to missions that were more focused on defense and resource acquisition. He was probably spending a good chunk of his time with Yoki anyway. She was always conveniently visiting towns close to the front lines. Sen didn't bother objecting to Suda's romantic distractions. They'd had this conversation before.

The next duo was far more important. Ariak and Hanjo were focused on trailing some very important targets. While Sen would have liked to pursue the source of the helicopters more aggressively, the flying machines were small worries compared to Sarin's army of bloodbenders.

"We got some results, but not many," Hanjo said. "Looks like the Bloodbenders are on the move."

Ariak was currently investigating further, with his usual fervor to pursue Kida. All they had found so far was an empty base, and many signs that the bloodbenders were beating a rapid retreat. It wasn't the progress they wanted, but it was better than nothing. If the bloodbenders were on the retreat, they weren't attacking innocent civilians.

"How's Ariak dealing with the hunt?"

Hanjo had been assigned to the same pursuit as Ariak partially because it was important enough to require two sets of eyes, and partially because Sen still didn't fully trust Ariak to handle Kida. The young hunter still felt a great deal of guilt, and that made him ineffective.

"He seems to have his priorities straight," Hanjo said. "No signs of any mission-ruining guilt trips this time."

Hanjo heard a quiet grunt of affirmation from the other end of the radio. Ariak had cast off any ideas of salvation after their last confrontation. He knew now that Kida had to be stopped. The methods of how that would be done, though, still deeply troubled Ariak.

"He's alright with Kida, I think, but the whole bloodbending thing…"

He had yet to use bloodbending to any serious extent, but the knowledge alone was enough to change Ariak's behavior. He counted down the days to a full moon, and every time the silver light shone overhead, he stayed awake all night. He was not the kind of person who could bear such power, or such grim responsibility, easily.

"Ariak can handle it," Sen said. He was prone to self-doubt, but Ariak was strong at his core. If anyone could bear the burden of knowledge that bloodbending presented, it was him.

"What about you, buddy?" Hanjo asked. "How're things going on your end?"

"Another day, another dead end," Sen grunted indignantly. "Sarin's gone completely off the grid."

"We'll get him eventually, Sen, don't you worry."

"Well we're not going to make any progress just talking about it," Sen said. "I'm getting back to work."

There was a certain bitter edge to Sen's voice that made it quite obvious that "work" in this case meant "hurting a lot of people". It was also a goodbye, as far as Sen was concerned, and Hanjo heard no more from his friend. He put down the radio and got back to his own work.

Hanjo and Ariak's group had thankfully encountered very little resistance on their march. The bloodbenders were not a resource Sarin was willing to risk. Their retreat was swift and orderly, and every stopping point the Coalition found had been abandoned several days prior. All they ever found were a few hints to the bloodbenders next destination, and leftover scraps of life.

The much-easier hunt for Ariak culminated in Hanjo finding him, quite predictably, in Kida's quarters. He was pacing back and forth, flipping through the pages of a book. Hanjo leaned against the wall casually.

"Found Kida's diary? Tell me, how many ways can she phrase 'I want to kill Ariak'?"

"It's not a diary, it's a novel," Ariak said. He sounded somewhat frustrated. "One of a series. The fourth of five."

Hanjo nodded. He had been expecting something of this nature to happen. Ariak put the book down.

"And the food, you know what kind of food I found?"

"Mochi and green tea," Hanjo said with a sigh. "Same kind you've found at the last couple places."

"Her favorite meal, by all appearances," Ariak said. "Nobody else in the base eats it."

"So do you plan on using her love of mochi and serial novels to track down this murderous psychopath?"

"She is not-"

Ariak began to object, but stopped himself halfway through. He looked at the ground and shook his head.

"I try so hard to see her as a monster, to lose all faith in her, I even became a bloodbender to stop her," Ariak said. "But I keep finding humanity in her. Something to believe in."

Hanjo let a long, slow sigh and nodded to himself. He crossed his arms across his chest.

"It's good that you have compassion, Ariak, that's a good thing to have," Hanjo said. "But you're going for the wrong person. Try having some compassion for all the people Kida's hurt. For all the people she's going to hurt."

The book Kida had been reading laid open on the table. Ariak had to wonder if she had finished it. If she planned on finishing the series, and if she ever would.

"You are right."

Ariak said that, but he knew deep down, what was right was not always easy.

"Our retreat is going fairly orderly, Sarin," Sensheng said.

"Good to hear. The Coalition presence in the Earth Kingdom seemed overwhelming at first."

Sarin looked at the map and shook his head. They were running out of options. Most of the UEK had turned against them after Raisu's death. Only Hua-Long province still offered shelter. The corpulent Minister Hua-Long had far too much money tied up in Sarin to betray them so easily.

"Our retreat is greatly assisted by the fact that half our remaining army has gone missing altogether," Sensheng declared dryly. "This is our biggest wave of desertion since the formation of the Coalition."

"They are unnecessary," Sarin said. "If their loyalty falls apart so easily, then they were worthless anyway."

"I would not say it fell apart easily," Sensheng stated. He watched nervously as the black shadow of the Hssk crept around the room. "For the past few months we've suffered nothing but devastating defeats. We need some kind of progress, Sarin, a real victory to boost morale."

"Surely some easy target prevents itself," Sarin mused.

"Easy, yes, relevant, no. Anything more important than a latrine is guarded or otherwise inaccessible to our forces. We're outnumbered fifty to one, Sarin, and most of our best-trained soldiers have been lost. We have our bloodbenders, the Metal Men, and…you."

Sarin looked at his right hand. His fingertips twitched slightly. Sensheng allowed a moment of contemplative silence to pass.

"It may be time for us to make a last-ditch maneuver," Sensheng suggested. "Something bold, desperate, like our attack on Zaofu."

"That did not end well for us," Sarin corrected.

"A failed risk would at least provide us with a quick end," Sensheng suggested. "The alternative is a slow burn into nothingness."

"We will find a way, Sensheng," Sarin said confidently. "Even a loss in this world is meaningless. Given the…appropriate circumstances, I can complete my mission exclusively in the Spirit World."

"Then why are we even here?' Sensheng questioned. "You could go to this Undying Bloom, wait there, force the Avatar to come to you."

"There are intricacies to this situation you do not understand."

Sarin waved his hand dismissively and turned his back on Sensheng. He did not leave quite yet.

"You could try explaining them to me," Sensheng pleaded.

"Leave," Sarin commanded, and Sensheng reluctantly obeyed.