Chapter 23: A Lifeless Waste
The white light of the sun burned down from above, baking everything it touched. The fingertips of Sarin's left hand only lightly brushed the helicopters exterior, and yet the hot metal burned painfully. He clenched his one remaining fist tight and limped forward. The landing pad was open to the air –hardly a good place to be in a scalding hot desert.
There was water and a small amount of vegetation around the oasis, but that slight touch of life did nothing to diminish the vastness of the wastes around them. The air was unbearably dry and stagnant. It was only slightly cooler inside. What few people remained in the structure gravitated towards the coolest center rooms, trying to hide from the heat of the burning sun.
Sarin limped through these central chambers, clutching his one hand to a lightning-scarred chest. He moved silently but with purpose, ignoring what few people he saw around him. Some were not so content to be ignored.
"Where's the Harrier?" Someone asked. Sarin shrugged him off, but the impatient soldier persisted.
"You said you'd be coming back with the Harrier," He insisted. He had watched too many failures to let this one pass by unexcused.
"I'll discuss the matter with Sensheng," Sarin said dismissively. "Where is he?"
"Been missing for days," The soldier protested idly. "Either abandoned or captured at this rate."
"He wouldn't abandon my cause," Sarin growled. The soldier shrugged broadly.
"Everyone else did," He fired back. He made sure to take a few steps away before he continued. "Only reason we're still here is because you and Sensheng took the only helicopters."
Sarin turned around sharply, instinctively reaching out with his right hand to strike against the one who had offended him. His phantom limb did nothing, however, and Sarin awkwardly adjusted his position to make the pointless motion seem more natural. His efforts failed, and the soldier watched him stumble aimlessly as he turned around for no reason.
"You're welcome to face the wastes," Sarin roared, trying to regain some semblance of control. The soldier stepped backwards quickly and retreated. Sarin did not try to attempt a pursuit. He continued to stumble forwards, trying to find his private chambers and some semblance of peace.
The subtle whirr of helicopter blades above provided a distraction from that purpose. Sarin tuned unsteadily on his heel and headed the opposite direction. He walked towards the helicopter landing pad, believing he would be welcoming his friend back. His new guest would not be a welcome one –nor would he waste time on a landing.
The spinning blades of the helicopter paused just above the hall where Sarin walked. He thought the delay was strange, but it did not cause him any worry –until the crumbling started.
The shelter in the middle of the desert had been constructed from rough sandstone. It was a serviceable structure for the mild conditions of the desert, but it crumbled easily under slight stress. The stress it was subjected to know was anything but slight.
The fragile stone shattered in an explosive burst of sand and rubble as the ceiling was crushed in a single furious strike. Sarin was struck by the rubble and stumbled backwards, managing to limp forward just fast enough to avoid the full extent of the crushing collapse. He waved his hand to push the choking dust back, clearing the air with a small burst of airbending. With the roof collapsed and the dust cleared, the burning light of the desert sun shone down once again, illuminating the Avatar as he lurched forward.
The helicopter roared overhead still, churning the sandy wastes with its blades. Sen and Miyani had descended from above to strike at Sarin directly –the others would land and pursue whatever scant forces still remained in the base. For now, Miyani stood some distance behind, just barely in sight. Sen took the lead, taking a few slow, hobbling steps towards Sarin.
Sarin froze for a moment as he saw his foe, but his obsessive pursuit of his 'destiny' quickly reasserted itself. Sarin extended his left hand, calling out for the Hssk. Sen simply smiled.
The black shadow of the Hssk crept forth, as it often did, emerging from the shadows of the world and sliding like a serpent across the ground towards Sarin. It slithered through the crags and empty spaces of reality, seeking its vile partner. This time it would not go unopposed.
The beast of shadow was met with a lance of light as it ran. The beam of forceful light split the dusty air and shattered the shadow of the beast. The air was filled with a shrill arcane scream as the Mind-Eater felt pain for the first time in millennia. Miyani stepped forward, following through with another blow as the strange beast howled.
The Energybender watched with wide eyes as his one source of power writhed in agony as Miyani's fire burned it. The combustion bender moved further forward, pressing the Hssk, forcing it to stay away. He tried to reach out his hand, to pull at the bonds that still united them, but the Hssk would not obey. It was a selfish beast, and the threat Miyani posed was now its first and only priority.
Sarin was alone.
The explosions rang and the howling of the beast continued, but all those sounds fell into the background. What Sarin heard, in the midst of the chaos, were footsteps. Slow, but determined, a hunter moving deliberately but carefully towards its prey.
Sen limped, moving unevenly, weakly towards his goal, but he did not stop. Sarin backed away. They both knew Sarin was powerless without his spirit ally. It was only a matter of how far Sarin could run.
One ran, the other chased. As it had always been. As it would always be, until one of them was defeated.
The two left behind the battle between two monsters. The Hssk, knowing full well it could not escape the burning wrath of Miyani's red eye, had turned its ethereal fangs and claws against her, hoping to best her in raw power. The Hssk stood alone as one of the darkest entities in all of history, its sheer power and malevolence second only to Vaatu –but even it found a worthy adversary in Miyani.
The black beast lunged forward, fanged jaws flaring, twisted limbs reaching out with harsh claws. Miyani caught the beast, keeping its fangs and claws at bay, and struck at its chest, pounding at it with a heavy blow. She was pleasantly surprised to see the spirit had enough form that physical strikes could injure it. Her single punch sent the Hssk reeling, and the two separated in their duel for a moment.
The Hssk sank low to the ground, becoming one with the shadows. Miyani did not let herself lose the trail. She reached out and grabbed the Hssk by its nether-black hide, pulling it out of the shadowy depths and back into the scouring light of the sun. She gripped it only briefly before it slithered from her grip, leaving her fingertips coated in a smoky black ichor. She looked at the strange substance in disgust for a moment before continuing her battle.
The jaws of the devouring beast reached out for Miyani's throat, but she caught it and retaliated, throwing the Hssk aside and blasting it with a lance of explosive light. The Hssk screamed, regained its form, and began to slither around the shadows once more.
It was fast, and despite the speed of her combustive strikes Miyani just barely kept ahead of the beast. It was hunting her now, analyzing her, seeking her weakness. Two dim blue eyes peered out from the void of its body, examining every aspect of Miyani's being, body and soul. Its gaze was violating, and Miyani struck out at it ever more angrily for the invasion.
The power of the Hssk reached out to touch her mind, and was repelled by the searing red mark. It growled quietly. Insight to pierce illusions. The slithering shadow slowed and changed course, racing towards Miyani. She readied itself for its strike.
The Hssk was no fool. It knew its own limitations, and so it knew that it could not touch her mind with illusions, nor make her forget. But the Hssk was the lord of all memory, not just that which was forgotten. If it could not make her forget, then it would make her remember.
The shadow of the Mind-Eater rose, and Miyani lifted her arm to block its strike. The blue eyes of the Hssk glowed white for only a moment.
The light struck her arm like a white hot iron, burning her skin. The faint scars that crossed her body burned red for a moment. Miyani twisted and contorted in agony as she heard screaming ringing in her ears. It was her own voice, but not the one she spoke in today. The scream was frantic, frightened, shifting in tone as a young girl struggled against her restraints.
Far on the other end of the base, Ariak and the others were quickly wrapping up their objective in the base. The small handful of soldiers they did encounter offered very little resistance as they were rounded up and restrained. Some tried to run, but none tried to fight. They knew well they were beaten.
Ariak prodded a soldier eying the door, reminding him that escape was impossible, and then turned towards the sound of conflict in the distance. He was under the impression that Sen and Miyani were fighting Sarin together. That purposeful deception from Sen was the only thing keeping Ariak sated right now. Even then, only barely.
"Why do I feel like Sen only wanted us out of the way?"
"Because he did," Whistler shot back. Even with her arm injured, she was capable of corralling Sarin's meager remnants of an army. "Miyani's tough enough to handle Sarin, the rest of us aren't."
Even as she spoke the explosions of the battle paused briefly. Ariak looked into the distance worriedly. After the sudden halt in the explosions came the first scream. It was strange, but still recognizable. It was clearly Miyani's voice, but in all the time they had known her, nothing had ever hurt her enough to make her scream like that.
Ariak spared just one glance at his friends before running off towards the source of the scream.
Miyani clutched at her face, trying to pull against chains she no longer wore, as her mind was pulled in two directions. She struggled to keep focus, to remember the battles of the present, as the Hssk pulled her back into the torture of the past.
"More," a phantom voice commanded. Another scar on Miyani's body flared, glowing with an echo of past agony. She could her herself screaming twice-over now, once in the past and once in the present. She stumbled backwards, tripping over rubble and falling to the ground. The Hssk pursued her, pushing forward with relentless memories of pain and suffering.
Fire burned and blades cut as darkness surrounded her on all sides. Cold metal chains kept her locked away in the dark, hopeless dungeons of the Seventh Kingdom. Every moment of agony she had forgotten came rushing back to her one by one. The monsters of the Seventh Kingdom forged her like one would any weapon, burning her in fire, tempering her in cold, pounding her into shape with violent blows. Her skin tore and her bones cracked as she screamed and pleaded with them to stop.
Miyani forced herself to her knees. She could feel the light of the desert sun burning her bare arms. She forced herself to remember that she had escaped the dungeon years ago, that the torture had stopped. No matter how hard she focused, the memories lingered, impressing themselves upon her mind and body. She crawled forward, trying to escape her own memories.
In the ancient past a hammer blow struck her arm, and in the present she collapsed as the pain wracked her once again. She fell face first into the sand, her tears staining the dry dust, before she pulled herself up again.
"We're going to kill her at this rate, Lokus," A phantom voice declared. It was no mercy, only pragmatism. It wouldn't do to break a weapon. She was a possession, not a person, to these people.
"We're almost there," The quiet voice of Lokus said. "Just a bit more."
Miyani kept moving. She could feel dry desert grass between her fingers now, a reminder of where she was. The desert oasis stood before her. Perhaps she meant to find some salvation there.
Her forward crawl came to a sudden halt as the Hssk slithered forward, pressing upon her mind once again. His black limbs hovered around her, claws scraping but never truly cutting her skin. His blue eyes glowed, and Miyani screamed aloud as her forehead burned.
The needle tore across her skin like the fang of a serpent, injecting the venomous ink into her skin. Her mind and body burned and warped. Of all the torture this had been the most agonizing. The pain was insignificant compared to the fire and blades she had endured earlier –but those had left wounds that could be healed. What happened now was the point of no return.
Miyani reached the still pool of water at the center of the oasis. The Hssk wrapped its claws tight around her, holding her in place as she saw her reflection in the water. In her memories she could feel chains around her arms, holding her in place as Lokus took hold of her, forcing herself to look into the mirror, into the red eye that now and forever marked her.
"Look at yourself," His voice echoed. "Look at what you are."
The red eye stared back, its eye widening, growing, consuming everything. The Hssk's blue eyes shifted to a deep purple.
After the pain there came the isolation. She was marked now. That red eye stood upon her forever, making a child into a monster.
She could remember the hate. Rahm's blade racing towards her throat, a layer of cold ice the only thing between her and a death she had done nothing to deserve. But even the man who had saved her from that blade and done nothing to help her further. He had run away, abandoning her, leaving her alone again.
The Sun Warriors had taken her in, but never truly welcomed her. They locked her away in a cold, lonesome chamber, keeping her just as much of a prisoner as the Seventh Kingdom ever had. Out of fear they attempted to placate her, throwing her toys as a distraction, leaving her dolls and blocks for company.
Miyani looked at her reflection in the water as her own image came slowly back in to focus.
She could remember the night that the Sun Warriors hatred had overcome their fear. Someone snuck into her chamber in the night, held her down, wrapped his hands around her throat. She had struggled, kicked, tore apart the room, knocked over blocks that had fallen apart all too easily.
The Hssk's fanged mandibles clicked in excitement. It pressed upon her mind further and further, forcing her through her terrible memories. After that she had been taken away from the Sun Warriors, dragged to a mist-shrouded island.
Miyani's back straightened. She looked away from her reflection in the water and stared blankly into the clear blue sky.
She could remember drowning now, the water filling her lungs and choking her as she struggled to stay afloat, to survive. She remembered clinging to a sandbar, lying motionless and despondent. In the present she looked blindly forward, blinking slowly.
She felt the pain, felt the water fill her lungs and the salt sting her skin, but she could not focus on that pain. All she could remember was fishing. She'd been fishing alone at the time. But she thought of fishing now and she didn't think of doing it alone. Just as she could not remember that violent night, those hands around her throat, and not remember the blocks that had too easily fallen apart.
The Hssk reared its head like a viper seeking to strike, its many fangs aimed at Miyani's neck. Miyani ignored the shadow of the beast behind her and looked at her hands. She could feel the bandages wrapped tight around them now. But she just as easily remembered the feeling of tearing those bandages away. Miyani clenched her fists and closed her eyes.
She sat motionless, immersed in memory, and the Hssk reared back to strike, its fangs bared and racing towards her throat.
Faster than the viper the Hssk emulated, Miyani turned and struck back. Her fist struck the beast and ended its snakelike blow, knocking it backwards. Miyani stood, fists tightly balled, all three of her eyes blazing with inner fire.
"Keep going," She demanded. "Make me remember!"
The Hssk roared in anger and confusion. Miyani lunged at it, striking it with a blast of combustive power before moving in to beat it with her bare hands. The Hssk had ceased its efforts to push through her mind. It didn't matter to Miyani. She could remember just fine on her own.
She remembered the blocks, and how easily they fell apart, and she remembered talking about how much better they could be. She remembered fishing alone, falling in the sea, and then she remembered fishing in good company. All her suffering was laid bare in her mind, all the pain freshly burning her skin –but she ignored it.
She remembered, remembered all the years of torture and the years of loneliness, and then she remembered the day a young boy had knelt on the ground before her, and asked for her help.
Miyani's fists fell upon the Hssk like hammer blows, pounding against its oily black skin. The beast screamed in pain, writhed in confusion, and could do nothing more. Miyani's blows were relentless, inescapable, unceasing. The Hssk desperately clawed at her, but she felt no pain. The torture had made her resilient. The Hssk was resilient as well, but it still felt the crushing weight of her blows. Struggling against hatred had made her strong. The beast attempted to escape, but she pursued, unwilling to let her escape. She had promised a friend she would defeat this monster. Years of isolation had taught her the true value of friends.
The Hssk roared at her, opening its jaws in a show of rage. Miyani seized an opportunity and it's jaws, holding onto two of the six mandibles that made up the Hssk's every-hungering maw. She pulled its jaws open, exposing the bottomless pit of its throat, the inky blackness that swallowed up secrets, thoughts, and minds.
Miyani's mind was just a little different.
A single spark of flame roared outwards, becoming a piercing beam of fury. The heat of the desert sun empowered her as she drove combustive force into the abyssal gullet of the Hssk. The white light choked the beast, sending it into frantic spasms of pain. Miyani released the twisted limbs of the creature and stepped backwards.
In a chaotic burst of light and shadow, the blast detonated in the heart of the Hssk, splitting its ethereal body in an explosive blast. Its gut tore open as fire and fury consumed it from within, and Miyani and all the surrounding area was showered in smoky black gore. The screams of the Hssk rang louder than the shockwaves of the explosion as its spirit form was torn to shreds.
The dust and sand cast up by the blast filled the air, and then faded. Miyani shook off the dust and looked at her prey. What was left of the Hssk was ragged and torn, its belly hanging open, leaking black ichor onto the ground. Its blue eyes stared dimly into the horizon.
For some strange reason, Miyani felt pity. She stared at the Mind-Eater in silence as it let out a low, pained groan, and crept away into the crevasses of the world. She did not attempt to pursue it or to strike a final blow. It seemed now like a wounded beast, confused and hurt, only wanting to creep back to its lair and lick its wounds. Miyani felt a darkness lift from the world as it crept out of this reality and back into the Spirit World, never again to return to the physical plane.
Miyani turned away and looked to a trembling sky. She had worn her battles, against the Hssk and against herself. It was time for Sen to win his. Miyani fell to her knees in the sand again and breathed a heavy sigh.
Arriving a few moments too late, Ariak found his way through the craters of Miyani's battleground, and found her kneeling by the side of the oasis. Ariak stepped up to grab her by the shoulder and examine her while the others followed in his footsteps.
"We heard screaming," He explained. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Miyani insisted. The pain of the Hssk's strange attacks had faded swiftly once the black beast departed from the physical world. By all appearances she was fine, so Ariak quickly shifted priorities. He took a look around at the battlefield.
"I thought you were helping Sen," He said. "Where's the Avatar?"
"I was looking after…something else," Miyani said. Ariak turned to her sharply, a scowl on his face.
"You left him alone with Sarin?"
The Avatar and the Energybender ran through the empty halls of the abandoned structure. They could both feel the shift in the world as the Hssk abandoned the physical plane. It made their footsteps that much faster. Sarin ran, and Sen pursued.
Sarin returned to his waiting helicopter, its black metal hull burning in the light of the sun. He grabbed a confused and frightened pilot and pushed him towards the airship.
"Move, now," Sarin commanded. "Fly!"
The confused pilot attempted to ask for clarification, but quickly stopped himself when he saw the nearby wall crumble. Sen was not distracting himself with halls and doors. The crude sandstone wall tore itself to pieces as he forced his way through. The pilot immediately jumped into his seat and started the engines. Sarin held tight to the seat with one hand and hoped they would make it in time.
The takeoff began, and Sen's footsteps, oddly enough, slowed. The Avatar's pace grew slower and slower until he came to a halt, merely watching as Sarin took off. His eyes looked past the helicopter and to the sandy desert around them. A sandstone quarry, the source of the material that had made this very building, was nearby. Sen looked at it, and his eyes narrowed. He gave a satisfied smile.
Sarin's helicopter rose and rose, and for a brief moment the Energybender thought he might actually escape. Sen would soon prove him wrong.
The Avatar cast his hands into the air and spun them slightly, slowly at first, and then in faster and faster motions. He focused everything on the Energybender's helicopter as it rose. For some time it seemed like nothing was happening.
Sen slammed his hands down, and the sky fell with them. The air shrieked like a banshee as it fell, hammering down on Sarin's helicopter to pull it out of the sky. The whirring metal blades stopped, reversed, then spun wildly out of control as the machine plummeted. Sarin struggled to keep his grip as the world tore itself to pieces around him.
The helicopter slammed into the ground, its engine igniting in a small fireball as it made impact. Sen bared his teeth in satisfaction and began to walk towards the crash.
In a pained lunge, Sarin pulled himself through the broken cockpit of the helicopter. He had to claw his way past flaming metal, and his hand caught on a jagged piece of glass, but he pulled forward all the same. His pilot was already long gone, leaving Sarin alone. He clutched the broken piece of glass and pulled himself away from the fiery wreckage, managing to clamber to his feet desperately.
He was standing in the midst of the sandstone quarry now. Loose dust had been kicked up by the helicopters crash. Sarin flailed his one arm wildly, kicking up as much of the dust as he could. He created his own miniature sandstorm, and airborne shroud to cover his retreat. He stood in the midst of the darkened cloud, blocking out the light of the desert sun, hiding from the Avatar.
"No!"
In an instant the dust was cast aside and the burning light returned. Sen stepped forward into the burning sun, still pursuing Sarin.
"No more hiding!" He declared, his voice causing the sand and stone to tremble.
Sarin turned to flee, running as fast as his injured legs would carry him. Sen swept his hand and a chunk of sandstone rose up and sailed fast as lightning, striking Sarin in the leg. He felt his bones snap under the force of the blow. He fell forward, stumbling unevenly on his broken leg until he hit a small pillar of sandstone, leaning on it for support, facing away from the Avatar.
"No more running!"
The Avatar was still after him. Sarin caught his crippled adversary and grabbed him by the back of the neck, meaning to turn him around and face him.
"No more-"
He was interrupted as Sarin turned sharply and swung his one arm in a panic. The blade of glass he still clung to swept upwards, towards Sen's face. Had the Avatar still been wearing his glasses the bladed chunk of window might have simply bounced off the lenses, but as it was the shard of glass dug into his skin and tore through his face, cutting a large gash across his temple and eyebrow. Sen recoiled in pain, clutching at his eye with one hand and striking Sarin with the other. The Energybender fell to the ground, still clutching his shard of glass.
Sen took a deep breath and pulled his hand away from his face. He barely registered the pain of the cut, but he could see the red blood on his palm. He clenched his fist, staining his entire hand deep red.
"You just had to," He growled lowly. "You just had to make one more cut, because it's all you've ever done, is cut, and hurt, and destroy!"
Sen's voice rose from a quiet roar into a loud scream as his rage grew. He stepped forward and slammed his foot down on Sarin's left hand. The glass was crushed, as were Sarin's bones, under the weight of the stomp. He contorted in pain as the glass shards dug into his skin, but he never forgot his purpose.
"Yes," Sarin roared through the pain. "It is all I have ever done, and all I will ever do!"
Sarin managed to set himself almost upright and glared up at the Avatar with hateful eyes.
"It's my destiny to end you, Avatar, and I will," Sarin screamed. "Break my body, lock me in your darkest prison, I will find a way!"
Sen's anger shifted. The fire of rage became a cold fury as blood dripped down his face. He stared down at Sarin in wrathful judgment.
"Do you think after everything you've done," He began. "I'd leave even the slightest chance you'd hurt me, or anyone, ever again?"
Sen stepped forward and pressed his foot down on Sarin's broken knee, breaking it ever further. He needed to make sure Sarin wouldn't run.
"I'm not going to capture you."
He kicked at Sarin's hand, casting the shards of glass away. No prison would ever be dark enough or isolated enough. He could bury Sarin at the core of the world and it still wouldn't be enough.
"I'm not going to cripple you."
Though the pain he inflicted was satisfying, no amount of torture would ever pay back the agony Sarin had inflicted upon the world. No broken bones would ever repair what had been destroyed, no bleeding cuts would bring back the dead. There was only one act that would avenge all the horrors Sarin had caused.
Finally Sen knelt on the ground by Sarin's side. He leaned over Sarin and looked deep into his eyes, warm blood still dripping from his cut onto Sarin's face. When he spoke again it was quietly, calmly, his words not a threat but a solemn, sincere promise.
"I'm going to kill you."
Sen's hands reached out and took hold of Sarin's throat. They found their grip and closed down, clamping tighter and tighter, choking out air and life itself. Sen's grip tightened until it could go no further, and Sarin's world was consumed, and all he could feel was the relentless pressure of Sen's hands around his throat.
Red blood covered his face and dripped into his eye, but despite this Sarin could still look up, see the hateful glare of the Avatar's eyes looking down upon him. There was no hesitation. There was no guilt. No remorse. Only cold, grim determination. Only death.
Sarin kicked out, struggling with broken limbs, gasping for air. Sen did not flinch. He shifted slightly to maintain his grip, to make sure Sarin did not escape, and nothing more. He did not blink. Not until Sarin's panicked struggling slowed did Sen allow himself to feel any satisfaction. His face slowly parted into a bloodstained smile.
"I…win," Sen choked out slowly.
Sarin's frantic gaze suddenly calmed, and looked up at Sen with clear eyes. There was a sound of discordant howling. Sen's grip tightened in a panic.
"Only in this world," A voice said, echoing inside Sen's skull.
Wan Shi Tong's library had rested in this desert once. Where it had once been, where Tong had torn it away, there was a weak spot between the worlds. Sen could feel it –just as he felt Sarin begin to release his grip on his body, and fall through that gap into another plane.
"No," He screamed. He would not let Sarin run away again. Sen abandoned his physical grip. Sarin's body no longer mattered. Sen threw out his hands and tried to grip Sarin's very essence, his soul, holding it in this world by force.
Sen reached out with an ethereal hand, grasping at the inky blackness of Sarin's soul, and found no purchase. He struggled again, finding nothing to hold on to. With desperate energy he tried once more, and still found no hold on Sarin's void-like spirit. He dug further and further into the vast emptiness that laid before him, and found no purchase.
With an angry cry, Sen looked long into the black abyss –and saw only the abyss staring back.
Sen froze, motionless in body and soul. The discordant howling stopped as Sarin slipped away. Sen did not react. The infamous howling of the Energybender settled, and the world shifted with his passing from it. Somehow, they all knew he was gone. The physical world shifted as the cold void of the Energybender left it, his black, hollow soul shifting into another plance.
The Avatar stood and turned away from the motionless body, and found himself facing the fiery wreckage of the helicopter Sarin had crawled out of. He turned further, and saw the dust-filled ruins of the base he had torn to pieces in his ceaseless hunt for Sarin. He turned further, not caring in which direction he was going, so long as he was moving away from what he had done.
He stumbled forward with an uneven gait, every step lopsided and slow. His eyes stared blankly onto a flat horizon as the burning sun glared down on his back. Sen managed a few more lopsided steps, ignorant of all the world around him. The blood flowing from his cut trickled down his cheek, a single droplet splashing onto the burnt sands below.
In an instant every injury that Sen had been ignoring fell upon him at once. Broken bones, bruises and cuts all seared his skin. He fell to his knees, overwhelmed by pain. He clawed at his face, acutely aware of the stinging cut over his eye. He clutched at his eye, then at his entire head, and then his heart, and then he looked up at the white, burning sun above him.
Then he screamed.
It was a long, lingering shout, echoing throughout the sky. More than mere noise, it rang with pain, with regret, guilt, suffering, anger –all these and more. Every ounce of pain and rage he had ever felt escaped at once in a thundering burst of noise. Sen screamed until he could scream no more, and then fell forward, planting his palms flat on the dusty ground. He felt like collapsing –and yet he felt as if a ten ton weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He stayed there, buried by guilt and yet liberated, until he heard movement nearby. He could feel shuffling footsteps through the sane, heartbeats he well recognized. He looked away, unwilling to look them in the eyes.
The battle had ended swiftly at Sarin's defeat, freeing up Sen's allies to catch up with him. They paused briefly to take in the battlefield and the flaming wreckage. Ariak was the first to see the motionless body lying on the sandstone. The hunter looked at the broken, lifeless body of the Energybender in disbelief, and then he slowly turned to Sen.
"What did you do?" He demanded.
Ariak stepped forward and grabbed Sen by the shirt, pulling him forward, off of the ground, to face Ariak's judgment.
"What did you do?" He screamed again.
His anger died suddenly as he saw the look on Sen's face, the regret in his eyes. Ariak released his violent grip, and without that tension, Sen stumbled and fell backwards. The Avatar landed limp in the sand, struggling to prop himself up on wounded limbs, not daring to look his friends in the eye. Ariak took a few deep breaths, looked over at Sarin's body, back to Sen, and extended a hand.
"What happened?" He asked calmly.
Sen reached out and took Ariak's hand. The hunter pulled him to his feet. Sen wobbled unsteadily, and nearly fell before Suda reached out to catch him. Sen gratefully leaned on Suda's shoulder for support, though he never looked Suda or any of his friends in the eye. He stammered and hesitated, but eventually began to speak.
"I- I tried to," He began nervously. "I had him, I couldn't let him get away again, I couldn't, I thought I had to-"
He tried to put a hand against his face, but that only made him see the red on his palm. He recoiled, unwilling to look at it. Sen paused his speech and took a deep breath, steadying his stance and standing upright, stepping away from Suda, though he still did not look towards his friends.
"Sarin got away," Sen explained. "He…let go, of his body, slipped into the Spirit World somehow."
Whistler buried her face in her hands and let out a groan of frustration before looking up pleadingly.
"How long can he keep running?" She begged.
Sen looked at the sand below his feet, and then finally he looked up, scanning across the small crowd of his friends. The absence of Hanjo made him feel sick to his stomach.
"No more," Sen said. "He'll be waiting for me now."
It would end the way Sarin had always thought it would. The Avatar and the Energybender, Raava and Vaatu against the Hssk and Ta Jide Shui, a battle of diametrically opposed forces under the lights of the Undying Bloom. There was only one way it could end.
Sen's attention shifted, and his eyes slowly lost focus as he looked into the distance. There was a vast expanse between him and Sarin now, thousands of miles to be crossed. Sen took a lurching step forward and almost immediately toppled off his feet. He was quickly caught by Suda again and set upright, standing unsteadily on the burning sand.
"Sen, you should try to rest," Ada suggested. They had been telling him that for weeks now, but now it seemed like he might actually listen. The tension and the rage inside him had vanished almost instantly. Ada might have thought it a good thing, if not for the clear fatigue, pain, and guilt that filled the void where that anger had been.
"No," He protested weakly. He tried to take another step forward, and Suda held him back. "I have to- this has to end, he can't keep…"
Sen trailed off distantly as he realized how he sounded. Faint concern was visible on the faces of his friends. He looked down and explained further.
"I know I was wrong," He admitted. "I was angry, and stupid, and dangerous, and I know you have no reason to trust me."
His voice trembled as he spoke. Suda released his grip, and Sen managed to stand firm, though she shook slightly as he stood. He grabbed at the cut on his face. The sweat of the hot desert dripped down his face and into his open wound, stinging it with bitter salt.
"But I need you to. I need to end this. I need to do the right thing."
Silence rained as the white eye of the sun stared down. The five gathered there with him exchanged awkward glances between themselves. They knew they needed to say something, but they weren't sure what. Sen's rapid change of attitude was not unwelcome, but it was surprising. Nobody knew what had changed, and so they couldn't quite understand how to deal with Sen.
The first person to step forward was perhaps the closest to understanding how Sen felt. Miyani stepped forward and reached out, grabbing his shoulder with one hand and pressing her other against the side of Sen's head. He winced slightly as a rough pressure brushed against the wound on his eye.
"You're hurt, Sen," Miyani said firmly. She understood how he felt, but she didn't agree. She gently brushed the blood and dirt away from the cut on his face, cleaning it with a small scrap of cloth. Once his wound had been cleaned to the best of her ability, she bent over slightly, matching her amber eyes with his shining green ones. Sen averted his gaze, looking away from her.
"Let us help you," She pleaded.
The cloth brushed against his cut a few more times, and Sen quivered slightly. Miyani began to slow, and then stop, but Sen's subtle shaking did not. She abandoned any attempts to clean or bandage his injuries. The most severe pain he felt was not on the outside.
In a slow, gentle, motion, Miyani stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, pressing his face into her shoulder. He remained limp and tired in her grasp, finding no comfort in her embrace. His eyes still stared blankly at an empty horizon.
Nothing had changed. For all his screams, for all his anger, for all his violence, nothing had changed. The horizon was still empty. Nothing broken had been repaired. Nothing lost had been returned. All of the destruction, from Shen's Post to Fort Ganhwa, was unchanged. All the lives lost were still lost. Raisu, Kim, Moldun, Yakkul, Goto, so many others- they were still gone. Nothing had changed.
Sen tried to say he was sorry, to beg for forgiveness he didn't deserve. The words caught in his throat and emerged only as a choking sob, and Sen finally broke down. The dry and lifeless wastes of the Si Wong were stained by falling tears.