Xai Bau felt the first morning rays touch his skin. Dawn was his favorite time for meditation, especially when another of Red Lotus missions awaited him. Not only it sharpened his senses and thinking, it helped to relieve sleep deprivation as well. Few hours ago, night was still hiding his footsteps and he allowed himself only a short time of rest after getting close enough to the town. After years of relentless effort to change the world for the better, nothing he wasn't used to. His concern involved his companion, one of new generation of members, a young man named Zaheer. After several years of his affiliation to the order, Xai Bau finally allowed him to join on his mission.
Zaheer, also meditating, hadn't uttered a word of complaint even after few hours of sleep following their long journey. He appeared unaffected, but that hardly surprised Xai Bau. Ever since he joined, the boy had been stubborn to prove himself.
Under Red Lotus guidance, Zaheer had become a great admirer of Air Nomad philosophy and teachings. He believed the extinct nation achieved true freedom and their ideals needed to be restored.
Xai Bau admired his passion and trained him in martial arts from across all nations, taught him everything he knew to make sure Red Lotus wouldn't die out and disappear unnoticed by history. So far, Zaheer had been a true blessing to decaying lines of elders marked deeply by their previous failures. There were others, but Xai Bau had little hope for their contributions. Unalaq, son of Chief of Northern Water Tribe, with whom Zaheer talked mostly in Spirit World, stood too close to power. Ghazan, a talented lavabender, few years younger than his apprentice, lacked a true conviction to the cause.
"Are you ready?" he got up from Lotus position after he noticed his companion coming back to his senses.
"As always," Zaheer answered and stood up, containing his anticipation well. His green eyes shone with zeal, so characteristic of him.
"It would be helpful to know our destination, though. So far, you haven't said a lot about our objective."
"A little impatient, aren't you?" Xai Bau smiled to himself. Zaheer was trying his best to seem calm and collected, but his excitement was clear as a day to someone who knew him well.
"You're the one who taught me to be ready for anything. If you got killed, how would I continue and finish what we came here for?" he retorted, his tone light, as if he truly couldn't imagine it happening.
"Just look around and you'll understand."
Town was surrounded by grassy hills and mountains of basalt. At some spots, bald glades provided the only memory of vast forests which went down to Fire Nation advance.
Houses, some modest, but upkept and clean, other ones barely holding together and dirty, contrasted sharply with a large mansion in military style, still luxurious enough to look out of place next to poverty of the town. It didn't take a genius to understand.
"Who exactly are we dealing with?" Zaheer asked, immediately caught on.
"The man who lives there," Xai Bau pointed at the ostentatious building, "once was an important Fire Nation noble, with an army of his own and few residences in Earth Kingdom. His actions weren't restricted by anyone, not until the Avatar defeated Ozai. Daigo - that was his name - was ordered to return to Fire Nation and leave his properties and lands in Earth Kingdom behind. He was one the firmest believers of Fire Nation's superiority to command and control the rest of the world. After Ozai failed, he was left alone in his hunger for power. Not capable of any extraordinary bending himself, he dedicated everything to seeking out those with rare powers and persuading them to lend themselves to his goals," Xai Bau's face scrunched up in contemptuous grimace. Zaheer quickly picked up on his implication.
"He forced them?"
"Usually. I don't really know if he succeeded, because he was especially obsessed with combustionbenders."
"But their bloodline has been lost for hundreds of years," Zaheer argued. "At least Zhi said so. And even if some descendants survived, that skill is so stigmatized in society it would be foolish to practice it."
"That's probably true. Combustionbending may lie dormant and undiscovered and such person can live as a regular firebender, never finding out what they are capable of. Daigo, along with dedicated servants and the last ones of his army, keeps searching for any descendants of known combustionbenders. His specialty is kidnapping young children and training them as his own personal killers. If he succeeded, that is another question, but if you just look at the way he exerts his power, there's no doubt someone needs to stop him."
Zaheer nodded, his eyes igniting with righteous anger. Coming from an upper class, Zaheer grew up fairly isolated from injustice and oppression, but once he had broken free, he understood how corrupted it all was. After they disappeared from the world, wounds might start healing.
"When?" he asked, eager to jump into action.
"Patience. Those who rush their actions head to ultimate failures. Always be sure to spend enough time planning every step you make, take into account any difficulty you might face."
Xai Bau had warned him many times that greatest strengths hid the source of most fatal weaknesses. Zaheer, with his unusual dedication and zeal, needed to learn the importance of careful strategy. In his own case, his biggest fault ended up being a refusal to admit he could have been wrong.
"Will you tell me the plan or not?" his student tried his best not to sound too irritated.
He still has a long way to go. I hope he won't find out how heavy of a burden guilt and regret can be... a lesson I was too arrogant to learn while I still could have avoided a catastrophe. So instead, it had marked as an experience, to make sure I wouldn't underestimate it ever again.
Xai Bau steered from those thoughts quickly - nothing could be done to change things - and finally revealed the actual plan.
"Daigo and most of his guards and servants are firebenders, thus we attack at night. None of them possess any remarkable bending or combat skills, with your training you won't have too much trouble to handle them. Daigo is mine, you'll stay behind and look for combustionbenders."
"You don't think I'll find anyone, do you?"
Xai Bau shared Zaheer's doubt. Heritage played one role, there were other factors as well. For the sake of simplicity, he hoped no unfortunate child fit into Daigo's wicked scheme enough for him to try his luck.
"There's a slight chance you will find children taken from their families, but I dearly hope that won't be the case."
Their ambush worked surprisingly well. For a while, Zaheer had thought he'd spend the rest of his life repeating pointless parts of the plan. He had to memorize even the map of this place. How exactly his teacher had obtained it remained a mystery to him.
"Why can't I just take it with me?"
"I won't risk you accidentally burning or dropping it. You never know what could happen in a fight."
So typical of him. Like he didn't even take me seriously.
Right now, it really did come in handy to know exactly where to go. Countless corridors and rooms would confuse anyone.
He heard Xai Bau's and his own voice constantly repeating directions in his head - right, right, at the statue to the left, then straight until the third door and you'll see a painting in front of you. That's a hidden elevator.
Zaheer's heart jumped in relief when he spotted it, exactly as his master had told him. The picture showed an elderly man in Fire Nation armor, his expression unreadable, yet unnerving. Right after pressing at especially worn-out part of garish golden frame, one side of the painting withdrew from the wall and revealed a tiny room.
Zaheer stepped in. Thankfully, he was used to confined spaces. Creaky noises as the elevator descended, drop in his stomach and chilly air reminded him of people being like buried alive in prison cells. He used to struggle with it, but learning special breathing techniques helped him overcome it completely. Light of his torch reflected on dark metal.
Finally, the sinking came to a halt. The entrance was guarded by grating requiring a key to unlock. Zaheer pulled out a pack of universal keys and tried one after another until he found a perfect fit. Now he had a view on a long, dark tunnel, with cells on each side. There had to be at least twelve of them. His breath condensed into puffs as he passed around each one and peeked inside. To his relief, after going through several of them he still found no one.
It's horrible to think he'd put someone in here, little children actually. How many cells are left? I should just return, there's no one-
After looking through another metal door, he was greeted with the sight of a figure curled on the bed, shivering. The person was turned away from him and unaware of his presence.
"Hey," Zaheer spoke up, clear enough for them to hear, but not too loud, to avoid startling them. The person sat up and turned around, revealing a face of emaciated features and eyes wide with fright.
"W-who are you?" her voice was shaking so badly because of cold, or was it fear, actually?
"My name is Zaheer. I'm here to get you out," he even offered a soft smile to reassure her.
"Is this another one of Daigo's tricks?" she didn't move from her place on bed, only glared.
"It isn't. All of that is over, I promise." Zaheer stepped even closer, his torch lighting up more of her face. Her forehead was covered by a metal headband, blue and purple mixing on her cheek. Her eyes burned as she jumped back.
"Get away from me! I don't know what he ordered you to do, but I'm done with it, you hear me?!" her voice hung by a thread on a frantic edge, as if she were on the verge of breaking down.
I can't even imagine what she's been through. How can I show her that I mean no harm?
He remained in his place, not attempting to get closer again.
"I know it's hard for you to trust a stranger like me, but we have to leave. The longer we wait, the more guards will come to stop us."
"Is this the best he could come up with? Letting me believe I am free, to appear later and torment m-me again? Is h-he running out of i-ideas?" her teeth were chattering and her gaze wandered everywhere else but onto him.
Poor child. I hope Xai Bau will stray from his usual ways of ending things quickly to let that monster taste his own treatment.
Zaheer handed her the torch. Not enough to actually warm her up, but it was her element, after all. Who knew for how long had she been robbed off its glow?
"He won't hurt you ever again. In fact, he's probably dead by now. I came here with my master to stop him for good."
She didn't say anything, just stared him in the eyes. Slowly, fear left her crimson irises. Zaheer could almost see the decision building there.
"When we get out… what will happen to me?" she asked, suspicious.
"You'll be free. You can return home." She flinched and shifted her look away, then nodded hesitantly.
"Seems like it's my only choice. But first," her hands reached to her forehead and took off the metal, uncovering a striking third eye tattoo in the place of her sixth chakra. Zaheer recognized it immediately, only seeing a vague depiction in ancient illustrations. Until now.
So she really has the ability to combustionbend, he had to restrain himself from staring too long, realizing whose decision it had been to mark her like this. She had enough reasons to be bitter, and if he angered her, she might be tempted use it against him, even. For now, though, she hardly paid him any attention as she stepped out of her cell, Zaheer following behind her.
When they were out, he asked: "Do you know about any other prisoners?"
"There once had been… another girl. But she's gone. And he mentioned others he'll have soon… so he won't need me anymore. No one else," her fatigued tone indicated she had no desire to discuss it further and only was providing him the simplest facts.
The matter was obviously still fresh in her memory. Together, they entered the elevator again. Now, with her standing right next to him, he noticed how tall she was. The top of his head reached her nostrils.
"What's your name, by the way?" he asked. Zaheer couldn't help it but feel fascinated, even though he felt bad for it. Too much attention from worst kind of person must have got her in this situation. At least he'd a name to keep in his memory when their paths split…
"P'Li..." she said, as if she actually struggled to remember. "My name is P'Li," she repeated, more to assure herself than to him.
"Do you know the way out?" she looked at him when they stepped out, and a labyrinth of corridors awaited them once again.
"Luckily, I have a map of this place memorized in my head," he half-joked and offered her his hand.
"Let's go, P'Li." To his own surprise, she caught his palm in hers and let him lead the way out, to freedom.