Chapter 16: Brotherhood

SEVEN YEARS AGO

Kalden oversaw the arena as Sarin dueled his partner.

The young Energybender moved stiffly. Kalden had gone to secretly acquire the teachings of the old airbending masters and pass them on to Sarin, yet none of those lessons had stuck. Sarin had developed his own style. His stiff, direct movements clawed at the air, forcing it to move according to his will. It was unique and it was effective, but something about it nagged Kalden.

He watched and analyzed further, turning his haggard eyes to every movement Sarin made. His style was antithetical to any airbending Kalden had ever seen. Airbending was meant to flow naturally, not in stiff grasping motions. Sarin did not flow naturally with his element. It was a forced obedience, more like master and slave than a productive partnership.

Sarin repeated the routine he had developed for himself. Setting his stance and striking, forcing the air to grasp his target like an invisible hand. His unfortunate sparring partner, inexperienced in facing such wild airbending, was easy prey for Sarin's attacks.

Kalden's eyes narrowed. The punishing cost of Energybending had withered his body, but not his mind. He saw every move and analyzed it. With a stiff gesture of his own hand, Kalden brought Sarin's training to a halt and summoned his brother. Sarin, as always, was swift to obey his brother's call.

"Why is it that you do not heed the teachings I passed on to you?" Kalden asked. "I spent two years apprenticed as an Air Acolyte to gather what knowledge I needed to train you. Why do you not use those teachings? Ah- perhaps that came across accusatory."

Sarin had seemed nervous for a moment. That was not Kalden's intention.

"I am merely curious, brother," Kalden said. "Your airbending is strong. I only want to understand why it is so unique."

Sarin nodded, clearly relieved to not have incurred his brother's anger.

"I cannot say," Sarin said hesitantly. "It simply is the way it is."

An explanation was attempted, but few answers came of it. Sarin did not fully understand the deeper nature of the bending arts. Such things had never been part of his education, focused as he was on one day becoming the Energybender.

"That is enough," Kalden said finally. He was no closer to understanding than before. That bothered him. He was used to having precise details, to having everything under his thumb. Variables did not sit well with Kalden.

"Return to your training," Kalden commanded. Sarin reluctantly obliged. He had been training nearly non-stop for the past three days, and he would continue for several more. Kalden could see the exhaustion and fatigue on Sarin's face, and ignored it.

The black shadow of the Hssk flitted about Kalden's ankles. Soon they would depart for the Undying Bloom, and perform the strange ritual the Hssk had described. It was possible Kalden would not survive the experience. He needed to make sure Sarin was prepared.

"You must understand why you act the way you act, why you fight the way you do," Kalden advised as Sarin sparred. "Understanding is the most powerful weapon one can wield."

Sarin struck again, with surprising effectiveness. Kalden rubbed his whiskered chin thoughtfully.

"Some people think victory is assured if you understand your enemy," Kalden continued. "But you will always have a weakness if you do not understand yourself."

It took a great deal to pull Sen away from the front lines, but Detective Zas had managed. As much as Sen enjoyed crushing his enemies, he also enjoyed learning more about his enemies. It helped him crush them faster. It was therefore always in his interests to learn more about any of his enemies, even, as was the case today, enemies who were no longer alive.

With Ko Rin's mental manipulation no longer holding sway over what information Zas could give to Sen, the Detective had been much more productive in tracking down leads on Sen's enemies. Though the trails leading to Sarin today were well-covered, there had been many trails left behind in the past. Some leading to more information on Sarin's lost predecessor, Kalden.

The esteemed Detective had traced Kalden's footsteps to the Eastern Air Temple. A thorough investigation had revealed that Kalden had spent two years there apprenticed to the Air Acolytes. He had even found a group of residents who had known Kalden and were willing to share what little they knew about him. The information had been gathered and presented to Sen, and now was being presented to Sen's closest allies.

Sen had not supported the idea at first. It seemed a waste of time to him, to gather useful soldiers like Miyani and have them waste their time reading paperwork, but Zas had insisted and Sen had inevitably relented.

"Thank you all for coming," Sen said. "It's been a while since we've all been together."

"Yeah, a merciless blitz into enemy territory will have that effect," Hanjo said.

"I don't know what you're getting snippy about, I'm having a great time," Whistler said.

"I know you like aimless violence, but some of us have actual goals," Suda said.

"Which we can wrap up that much quicker if we get down to business here," Sen said harshly. "If you could keep your comments to yourself for a moment."

Sen nodded to Detective Zas, and Zas in turn directed their attention to a few sheets of paper that had been placed in front of them. The group briefly perused the contents, Whistler taking by far the longest.

"Thanks to Zas we've collected a great deal of information on Kalden, Sarin's deceased older brother. I've already taken a look at it, but I wanted your perspective, your thoughts."

Sen was a master of analytical thinking, and had garnered a great deal of useful information from Zas' gathered data already, but he lacked perspective. Ariak, Ada, Hanjo –all of his friends possessed unique perspectives on life that might give them an insight into Kalden's mind and, by extension, Sarin.

"I thought we already established this guy was a crazy hoo-ha control freak," Whistler declared as she idly skimmed the papers. "I'm not sure why we're looking into a dead guy. Sarin's the one we should be psychoanalyzing."

"Sarin barely knew his father, Kalden is the man who raised him, trained him, taught him," Sen elaborated. "Understanding Kalden is part of understanding Sarin."

"Like here, it says Sarin and Kalden had different moms," Hanjo said. "Kalden's mom was his dads actual wife, and Sarin's mom was just a random member of the cult."

"They say children born of loveless relationships are fated to unhappiness," Ariak said somberly.

"I'm literally the only person on this team with decent parents and you guys all turned out fine," Ada said. While it was a bit poetic, Ariak's theory didn't really hold water.

"My dad abandoned my mom and I'm doing great," Suda said.

"Stay on topic," Sen demanded. He was here to learn about Kalden, not hear anyone repeat their family issues. They could be here all day talking about parental abandonment and abuse.

"So, just to say something actually useful here," Whistler interjected. "Could we track down Sarin or Kalden's mom?"

"Highly doubtful," Sen said. Even if they could be found, the Hssk likely would have made interrogating them useless. Sen saw very little point in pursuing that lead anyway. The real rise of the Energybender cult had occurred only during Kalden's adulthood, long after a mothers perspective might have mattered.

"Okay, so family perspective isn't that useful then," Ada said. "Do we know anything else about how Kalden was raised or trained?"

"As of today we know where he learned about airbending," Ariak added. "Have we interviewed his master? What he taught Kalden was one day taught to Sarin."

"Sarin learned it, but he sure doesn't use it," Hanjo said. His ill-fated duel at Tunuk Bay had given him first-hand experience with Sarin's airbending. "He's all stiff, forceful, not fluid and graceful like other airbenders. Not even like Whistler."

"I guess it's curious how he ended up that way," Ariak mused. "But it's not exactly something we have a lot of information about that."

"Something to think about, at any rate," Sen asked of them.

Whistler remained quiet for a while. She was the resident expert on airbending. If anyone could analyze the reasons behind Sarin's aberrant style, it was her. Unfortunately the lists and journals they had compiled didn't offer much information. All she could gather was that Sarin was right-handed, which wasn't much help.

Hanjo scanned the documents in front of him. Sen had called for an oddly obsessive level of detail in his investigation. Every possible fact about Kalden was listed. A fondness for apples, his preference for linen over wool robes, a tendency to scratch behind his left ear when he was nervous…His former associates in the Air Acolytes had compiled a rather strange list.

One thing that every Acolyte had shared, though, was the observation that Kalden was a control freak. He managed every aspect of his life with a meticulous obsession to detail. Every moment of every day was planned in the absolute. His obsession with control and planning extended beyond his own life and on to others as well. He was known for becoming irrationally upset when those around him did not enable his plans or disrupted his schedule.

"Okay, this seems like the big thing to me," Hanjo said. "Kalden was an absolute control freak. He had to be in charge of everything."

"And if his journals are any indication, he was rather good at it," Sen said.

"So what happened to Sarin? I'm not being biased when I say the guy's a bit of a dipstick," Suda said. Sarin's fumbling attempts to manage his end of the war were common knowledge at this point. Even Sarin's own followers no longer had faith in his ability to win the war.

"A good teacher can do nothing for a bad student," Ariak suggested. "Some people just can't be taught."

"I don't buy it," Ada said. "Even the stupidest person would have picked up on some of Kalden's skill after spending so much time with it."

"Miyani, you've been oddly quiet," Ariak said. "You have any ideas?"

Miyani had been thinking about other issues entirely, and she jumped slightly as Ariak's call dragged her down to earth.

"Sorry, I just don't have many ideas about this," Miyani said absentmindedly. "I was thinking about something else."

Sen shot her a cutting glare, which she swiftly withered under. Her thoughts had been more focused on her current friends, not a long-dead enemy.

"Okay, well, I've actually had my eye on the ball, here's a theory," Hanjo said. "Sarin spent too much time learning Kalden's technique, didn't like it, ended up rejecting it out of spite."

"I could have told you that," Sen growled. He clenched his fist tightly. His friends froze for a moment. Sen didn't even realize it, but his anger was enough to make the ground tremble.

"I just don't think we have enough information to make any real conclusions," Ariak said with a resigned sigh. "This isn't going to get us anywhere."

"You're right. Thank you all, but this was clearly a waste of time," Sen continued. "Follow me and I'll get you new assignments."

Hanjo wasn't sure they had really wrapped up any of their business here, but he had already spent too much time being left behind. He grabbed his papers, just in case he wanted to look over them again later, and headed out, with almost everyone else follow suit. Ariak and Detective Zas were the only two left behind.

"You were unusually quiet, Detective," Ariak observed. Zas was one of the world's brightest minds. He should have been more involved in the discussion.

"Ah, at first I hoped Sen would be the one to make connections," Zas said. His voice positively dripped with disappointment. "But then it became quite clear that wouldn't happen."

Zas folded his hands and looked to the floor somewhat sadly.

"When I first met the Avatar, I was impressed by a certain…intellectual spark, that he possessed. He was inquisitive and analytical. He thought his actions through, he was clever."

"You don't see that any more, do you?"

Ariak had noticed the trend as well. Sen was becoming more and more direct, sacrificing elaborate strategy in favor of brute force and direct action. It was still effective, but it wasn't what most expected from Sen.

"I think his anger is blinding him," Zas said sadly. "He's trying to follow Sarin's trail, but he's looking for the footprints of a monster when he should be seeing the footprints of a man."

SEVEN YEARS AGO

Sarin had never had a place to call home, but it was uncomfortable all the same every time they packed up and left. Kalden made sure that they stayed on the move, not leaving a trail behind. After the destruction of the White Lotus, they were wanted men. Fear could only protect them so much. They could not take unnecessary risks.

"Where will our new base be?" Sarin asked.

"We are not travelling to a new base," Kalden said. "You and I must go to the Spirit World. We'll be travelling through Republic City."

"You said we should avoid Republic City," Sarin said.

"And now I say we must go there," Kalden said harshly. "We have very little time to waste."

Kalden staggered as he walked. The self-destructive price of Energybending wore greater on him every day. He knew that any attempt to Energybend now would be his last. Sarin would be doomed to the same fate without the power the Hssk offered.

Sarin did not fully understand the sudden change. He knew of the Hssk, but did not know the full litany of secrets which had been revealed to Kalden.

"What will we be doing in Republic City, Kalden? There's so much in the city we could see-"

"We are not going to waste any time sightseeing, Sarin. You have a destiny, Sarin, which we must pursue at any cost."

Kalden forced Sarin to follow close behind as they set out.

The gathered Team Avatar waited impatiently on the sidelines while Sen radioed into the field, finding any battlefields he could deploy them to. It was a time-consuming effort. They had already devastated any obvious targets. All that remained now were the cornerstones of Sarin's war effort: his helicopter manufactory, his supply lines in Hua-Long province, and of course his central command center. All of these things were well-hidden, leaving the Coalition playing a massive game of hide and seek with their mortal enemy.

While Sen attended to this multinational manhunt for Sarin, Miyani gave him a long, lingering glare from a distance. She waited until he was preoccupied talking on the radio to say anything.

"Hanjo, you're Sen's best friend, right?"

"So the newspapers say," Hanjo said with a sigh. Sen hadn't been very friendly to anyone lately.

"So when was the last time he acted like it?" Miyani asked. "When was the last time he cracked a joke, pulled a prank, helped you out, did anything to show that he was your friend?"

Hanjo actually had to stop and think about that one. It had been at least two weeks since they'd last seen each other, and that had just been for a mission assignment. Before that it had been a full week, before that three days…

"I…We've been busy, alright? I doubt any of you have had much time for your friends."

"Had a lovely conversation with Ada just the other day, actually," Suda corrected.

"He's thinking about proposing to Yoki after the war is over, wanted my advice on how to do it."

Suda's face turned slightly red. Ada smiled slyly at him. Suda and Yoki's relationship was common knowledge, and Suda's friends all approved of it, but he was still slightly bashful talking about her.

"Me and Whistler have a standing competition to see who can beat the most people," Ariak said.

"Stickler's winning, but only because he keeps getting all the good assignments from Sen," Whistler said indignantly.

"The point is we're managing to make time for our friends, in spite of everything," Miyani said. "And Sen isn't."

"Have you considered that maybe it's because he's running a massive war effort on his own? We're all just taking orders, not giving them. Sen's in charge of a few thousand people."

"Yeah, I think you're worried too much," Whistler said. "Sen doesn't even have time to see a doctor, much less waste time cracking jokes."

Sen's skin was still burnt and scarred by the explosion in Raisu province, as well as a few smaller injuries he had sustained in the meantime. Sen worked to heal his injuries himself whenever he had spare time, but he still refused to rest, or to see a real doctor.

"He should still try and take a break now and then," Ariak said. "To focus so much on war and battle can only have negative effects."

"I'm sure he still has his sense of humor, he just ain't using it," Hanjo said unconvincingly. He shared many of Miyani's doubts.

"I think I know a good way to find out," Miyani said. Sen was wrapping up with the radio and approaching them. Miyani had a slight smirk on her face as she approached.

"This ought to be good," Whistler said, leaning back to enjoy the show.

It didn't take long for Sen to notice the smirk on Miyani's face. He approached slowly, casting a suspicious glare in her direction. Miyani's smile only broadened as Sen got closer.

"Hey Sen, remember back after we all got together, before the whole Coalition thing started? You wanted to do an experiment?"

Sen's eyes narrowed immediately.

"Don't you dare," he said threateningly.

"Please dare," Whistler said, goading her on. This was going to be good. She gripped her staff in anticipation.

"Well, he thought that being so powerful and all, and also such a good study-"

"Miyani, you made a promise," Sen said sternly. He stepped forward, coming closer and closer to Miyani.

"You see, Sen thought that he could mimic-"

"Is this completely necessary, Miyani?" Sen asked. He still had a stern expression on his face, but it had cracked slightly under an uncommon stress.

"Yes," Miyani said. "Now, as I was saying. Sen tried to do a little experiment with Combustion Bending."

Sen sighed and hung his head low, waiting for Miyani to finish. Whistler leaned forward in anticipation.

"It went a little like this," Miynai said.

In a slight puff of fire and a noise that sounded suspiciously like a fart, a comically small burst came from Miyani's forehead, dissipating into the air in a whiff of smoke. She then fell to the ground in a deliberately absurd motion, laughing to herself as she fell.

"And then I had to carry him inside and he stayed unconscious for a whole hour."

Whistler chuckled to herself while the rest stared at Miyani lying on the ground. She got up and collected herself, coughing awkwardly. Sen shook his head and tried to move them all forward.

"Now, if Miyani is finished-"

Miyani nodded with a smile on her face. She seemed satisfied, at least.

"-We have work to do."

Sen gestured for them to follow, and then turned his back. His friends lingered for a while. Hanjo looked to Miyani, who was still brushing dirt off her back.

"So, did that little comedy routine get you the answers you wanted?"

"Yep," Miyani said happily. "He's embarrassed."

"What a productive day," Ada said.

"He's embarrassed because he cares what we think of him," Miyani said, taking on a more serious tone. "I know he's been different lately…but he still cares. That's all I needed to know."

Miyani crossed her arms and moved on, following Sen. Slowly, the rest chose to follow.