Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. I've gotten some complaints as of late and I know a lot of you aren't overly happy with how long it the wait is between chapters. I'd love to get them out sooner believe me, but I do have other things to contend with outside of the site here. As always, I thank you all for your patience and support. Now, I have some more announcements at the end of the chapter, so let's get on with it:
The Northern Air Temple was quite the sight to behold. Korra and I circled it a couple of times on Ashe, taking the time to view it in it's entirety before we landed. During the war, a group of refugees had set up residence in the Temple, adding in various bits of steam power in order to make their lives easier. After the war ended, the refugees had returned to their original home, and Aang had taken several years to renovate and restore the Temple to it's pre war glory.
Out of all the Temples, the Northern one had been host to the knowledge and wisdom that the Air Nomads had acquired over the years. Bending discoveries, advancements, new spiritual techniques, all of it recorded and stored here. It had almost been lost during the war when Sokka had blown the lower half of the mountain to bits in order to fend of a Fire Nation attack. However the residences had made sure to safe guard the library, and after the war the collection was shifted to Air Temple Island for a period of about fifty years before it was sent back here.
We had come here because this was also the last place that had Classical Air Nomad texts, and both Tenzin and Jinora wanted to be absolutely sure in their translations of the Tome. Pema and the three younger kids had been dropped off in Republic City, while Kya and Bumi had elected to stay with the rest of us.
Ashe touched down on a large walkway overlooking the edge of the Temple. The black dragon settled in and folded her wings around her. With the weather being warm and the breeze light, she seemed content to sit in place and sunbathe. Korra and I slid from her back, with me pausing to pat her lightly on the side of the snout, just behind a fang. Like a massive black cat, the dragon let out a rumbling purr.
"And how long have you two been arguing about this?" Korra asked. My eyebrows went to the middle of my forehead in thought.
"Thirty five, forty years, somewhere around in there," I answered.
"And she still believes it."
"If Kya is anything, it's stubborn. She'll probably argue with me about it until one of us is dead," I said.
"And then what? You'll finally realize how fruitless having an argument for that long was and probably regret it," she said.
"Doubt it. She'll have kicked the bucket, and I'll still be alive to say the truth and not have her counter act me."
"She'll be dead."
"Yes, and I'll have my victory. My cheep, petty, shallow, but still sweet victory," I said. Korra rolled her eyes.
"You're such a child sometimes."
"I'm not the one trying to rewrite history to a person who's actually lived history," I countered.
"Does it really matter what sexual orientation Kyoshi was?" Korra asked. I cocked my eyebrow at her.
"Did you forget who you're talking to?"
"Maybe you just didn't know Kyoshi as well as you thought you did," Korra suggested. I glared at her.
"I was married to her. I had a DAUGHTER with her. I'm the one who knew her best and I'm telling you Kyoshi was as straight as an arrow," I said.
"So where is Kya getting her information, then?" Korra asked.
"The City of Chin, mainly. After Kyoshi put an end to their little campaign, Chin's surviving Generals started a smear campaign in an effort to undermine Kyoshi's political authority," I explained. Korra paused and gave me a bewildered look.
"They made up a lie claiming the Avatar was Bi?" she asked, disbelief in her voice.
"Back then, homosexuals were still highly frowned upon. One holding a political position of any kind was virtually unheard of, and those that were outed usually lost their job soon after. By the time they got organized enough to spread the rumor, Kyoshi already had an infant child underfoot, so they went with the next best thing and claimed she swung both ways."
"If it's so obviously false, why does Kya keep using it against you?" she asked.
"Cause it annoys him," Kya said, appearing with a playful grin on her face. I just glared at the waterbender, not amused in the slightest. She evidently didn't care, as she just continued to smile. We continued on into the Temple, where we found both Tenzin and Jinora hovering over the Tome. The father/daughter duo had several notes and other books surrounding the giant black book, and were both so engrossed in their work that they didn't notice our entrance.
"Making any progress?" I asked, causing the two of them to look up briefly.
"This is simply fascinating. Recipes for tonics, incantations, the knowledge this book contains is vast," Tenzin said.
"I could spend an eternity reading this thing," Jinora added.
"Careful, Little One. If what I've heard about this thing is true, there are unfortunate souls whom have suffered that exact fate," I warned. That seemed to sober the young girl some, but she went back to reading regardless.
"Have you found anything on the Hong?" Korra asked.
"I believe these diagrams here contain the information we seek," Tenzin said, turning to a bookmarked page which showed eight interlocking rings. Each ring was a different color; Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink, Purple, Orange, and Black.
"However the translation process has been somewhat difficult here. The author switched dialects when writing this part, I believe as a means of further safeguarding his secrets," Tenzin continued.
"So now what?" Korra asked.
"Now we hold our position and guard these two and that book until we get the information we need," I answered.
"You think someone will try to steal the Tome?" Kya asked.
"This book contains all the secrets of the greatest alchemist and shaman to ever live. For the first time in nearly a hundred years it's back in the physical world. People will do whatever they can to get their hands on it," I said.
"So guard duty," Korra deadpanned.
"Guard duty," I confirmed, "from now on these two are always watched by at least one of us or Bumi. When that thing isn't being worked on, it's locked up. Everyone clear?" It was evident that no one really liked this plan. But they all knew what was at risk, so they weren't going to argue about it.
"I'll take the first watch, I guess," Kya said, finding herself a book and plopping down in a chair in the corner.
"We'll go get settled in," Korra said before we headed out to find our living quarters.
"Do you really think someone will try to make a move against the book?" she asked when we were a good distance from the library and the others.
"I know of one," I answered.
"My uncle's advisor?"
"The very same. Now that you've refused to open the portals, they'll be looking for a new angle. If what he's said is true, he's already out there right now looking for the Tome," I said.
"So we're just going to sit here and hope he doesn't show up."
"Pretty much."
"And do what, exactly?" I gave her rear a quick swat and gave her a mischievous grin. She gave me one of her own as she realized what I was intending.
"Oh, I'm sure we can find something to do."
The week that followed is not something that I could say was boring. Both Tenzin and the Acolytes that maintained the Temple insisted that we have separate rooms. I had to remind Tenzin that Korra was a grown woman and could sleep wherever she wanted. If that meant in my room, who was I to stop her?
Korra's response was a lot less…subtle. When the head Abbot insisted that men and women were not allowed to share a bed, she took me into the room and had me take her so hard that she broke the headboard. That was also the one time she didn't attempt to muffle herself, so the entire dorm heard her moans. Needless to say, neither the Abbot nor Tenzin brought the subject up again after that.
Still, despite our nocturnal activities, we kept our eyes pealed for any and all possible threats. Just like in the days of old, no outsiders came to the Temple. Not that I was complaining. I was enjoying quality alone time with my young and rather active girlfriend. It wasn't until about a week and a half after we had arrived that something finally happened.
I woke up to the gray pre dawn light that was peeking it's way into our room. Korra was laying sprawled out next to me on her stomach, covered in blankets and lightly snoring into her pillow. With a small smile, I slipped out of bed and dressed for the day before leaving the room as quietly as I could. One thing I had learned during our travels together was that it was best to leave Korra to her own devices when it came to waking up. If you had to wake her, it was best to do with a stick from a distance.
It was still early, seeing as how none of the Acolytes seemed to be up and moving yet. I didn't really mind, I preferred being alone at this hour. As I was walking through the halls toward the library, I took notice of a figure moving ahead of me in the morning gloom. The person was wearing black with red highlights and metal armored points on the arms and legs, and their face was covered with a black cowl.
Any sleep that was still clogging my brain was instantly gone, replaced with the hyper focus of an adrenaline rush. I recognized that outfit, I knew what it meant. Drawing my sword hilt, I took off after the figure, determined to run them down and find out what was going on. Sure enough, the figure led back to the library.
There were three others besides the first. One of them had an unconscious Jinora slung over his shoulder, while a second had the Tome. Behind them, the library was wrecked, and Bumi was sprawled out on the floor with blood on his forehead. Once their comrade joined them, the group of four took off again, heading for the exit.
I paused and knelt next to Bumi, checking on my nephew. He was still breathing, and besides the gash on his forehead didn't seem to be hurt that much. They must have taken him by surprise and knocked him out before he could react. Satisfied that he wouldn't die if left unattended, I stood and extended the blade on my sword.
Stepping back out into the main hallway, I found myself facing Yusei at the far end. He was standing between me and the ones that took Jinora, and he had his own sword drawn.
"Kidnapping children now, are we?" I asked.
"I have waited ten thousand years to see my goals achieved. You will not disrupt that," he replied. I ran forward before blinking, covering the distance between us at a much faster speed. But he was ready for this, as he threw his spare hand outward. I was hit head on by an unseen force and sent sprawling backwards.
"What the…?" I gasped as I started to sit up, trying to get air back into my lungs. I suddenly felt myself bound by the same invisible force as was lifted off the floor to the point that not even my feet were touching it. Yuesi walked forward with his hand raised and his sword at his side. I noticed a faint amber colored glow surrounding his hand.
"Did you think you were the only one with gifts from the Spirits? Young fool, you still have so much to learn," he said. Turning, he swung his hand as if he were throwing an invisible ball. I was thrown through the air and straight through a window, out over a thousand foot drop straight to the foot of the mountain.
My mind raced as I fell, the wind rushing past my ears as I went. Feeling the invisible force vanish, I reached out my left hand toward the Temple. I blinked, and suddenly found myself hanging from a handhold on the cliff under the Temple. My arm screamed in pain as the sudden stop nearly ripped it from it's socket. Sucking in a pained breath, I collapsed my sword blade and returned the hilt to my belt before looking at my situation.
Realizing that I was effectively trapped on the side of the mountain now, I pressed my teeth into my lip and blew. A high pitched whistle echoed out over the valley below, and for several heartbeats I hung there in silence. Then a roar answered the whistle, and a black shadow passed over me. I let go of my hold and sprung off of the wall of stone, leaping out over the void like person swan diving into the sea.
I didn't fall far, as I suddenly found myself on the back of a mass of black leather and scales. If Ashe had any trouble suddenly catching my weight out of free fall, she didn't show it. Rather she let out a rumble, as if to chastise me on my stunt work before angling upward back toward the Temple. We landed on the wide walkway we had first landed on, only to be greeted by Tenzin, Korra, and Kya.
"Ryou, you're alive. Thank goodness. Where's Jinora?" Tenzin asked.
"They took her. I tried to stop them but…" I trailed off as I leaned forward over Ashe's neck, panting.
"Who's they?" Kya asked.
"Yusei. Unalaq's advisor. Him and four others," I answered.
"We have to stop them," Tenzin said.
"Tenzin, they're long gone," I said.
"They have my daughter, Ryou! We can't just sit here!"
"Tenzin, you don't understand. Yusei…he has some kind of ability I've never seen before. If you go charging after him now, Jinora won't have a father to come back to!" I snapped.
"So what do we do?" Korra asked. I leaned forward and rested my head against Ashe's neck.
"Bumi…?"
"It'll take more then a whack to the head to get through that thick skull of his," Kya said. I gave a small tired smile before I sat up fully and looked at my girlfriend.
"You still have that medallion we got in Iola?" I asked. She pulled said metal from around her neck and held it up, allowing it to shine in the morning light. Kya took the medallion and looked it over.
"Oh, a medallion of Laozi! I haven't seen one of these in years," she said.
"Where did you get that?" Tenzin asked.
"Not the time. Right now, we need find someone who can put that to good use," I answered.
"And who exactly would that be?"
"Priests and Priestess of Laozi are well known for their Clear Sight. One might be able to tell us where they're taking Jinora," Kya said with realization.
"We're entrusting my daughter and quite possibly the fate of the world to a soothsayer?" Tenzin asked with disbelief in his voice.
"You got a better idea that doesn't involve all of us getting killed?" I asked. Everyone remained silent at that.
"That's what I thought."
The nearby village we went to didn't have a name, or one that anyone remembered anyway. It wasn't on the map, and the fact that people were even living here at all was an astounding one. So imagine the locals' surprise when a black dragon suddenly touched down in the village square. Only Korra had accompanied me on this trip, seeing as how Tenzin and Kya had stayed behind at the Temple in order to wait on Bumi to recover.
The Abbot had remembered that a Priestess had lived in this village for many years. She had helped the Acolytes when they had begun renovations on the Temple, and if we were lucky she was still alive and hadn't run off. So once the locals realized that we weren't there to burn them all to ash, they happily pointed us in the right direction.
Unlike the last Priestess we had encountered, this one was middle aged, or at least appeared to be anyway. I only needed to look in a mirror to be reminded that someone was not always the age that they appeared. She was also much less friendly, at least until we showed her the medallion and told her who Korra was.
"My apologies, Avatar, I would be happy to help in any way I can," she said. Korra and I just shared a look before following her into her tiny hut. I say hut with an extreme stretch of the definition of the word, because the abode was little more then a pile of sticks semi arranged around the base of a tree on the very edge of the village.
In fact, it was so small that I was forced to wait outside and listen to what the two had to say though a window. Korra briefly explained the situation to her, telling her of Jinora and the men who had kidnapped her while at the same time neglecting to mention the Tome. When she was finished, the Priestess sat in silence for a long time before finally speaking.
"What is it you are not telling me, Avatar?" she asked.
"I've told you everything."
"Oh, don't be coy. It's all there in your story. Men, such as you have described, would not take this girl for no reason, even if she is one of the last airbenders," the woman said. I heard Korra let out a sigh of defeat.
"They're after some artifacts left behind by some guy named Xian. I don't know much more than that," she confessed. I heard some shuffling as the woman rearranged herself in the cramped confines of her living quarters.
"It cannot be coincidence then. Tell me, Avatar, have you heard the Prophecy of the Harbingers?" she asked. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"No, I haven't," Korra said.
"We came here for a point in the right direction, not a lesson in ancient end of the world nonsense," I said. I could practically feel the glare that was sent at me from the other side of the wall.
"What is the Prophecy?" Korra asked, ignoring my outburst.
"What your disrespectful companion failed to note is that it is not a prophecy about the end of the world, but rather the end of the current age. The Prophecy of the Harbingers was the last prophecy laid down by Laozi himself before he ascended. It foretells the events of the end of this age," she explained.
"And how does this help us?" Korra asked. I could tell she was getting impatient by her tone.
"The Prophecy speaks of great artifacts of power being brought together and fought over by four Harbingers, four Champions of the Great Ancient Spirits; Raava, Vaatu, Shijian and Kongxu. Whomever claims victory will decide the fate of the world in the next age," she answered.
"You think that this battle is soon to happen?"
"The coincidences cannot be ignored. Harmonic Convergence is approaching. In ancient times, this was when the four Spirits would clash in their great contests. Raava against Vaatu, and Shijian against Kongxu. The fact that these men move now, when the Convergence is so close, it cannot be anything else but the Prophecy."
"I've heard of Raava and Vaatu, but not these other two. Who are they?" Korra asked.
"Shijian, the Spirit of Time, and Kongxu, the Spirit of the Void, are said to have rose soon after the first two Great Spirits. They are a brother and sister pair, and their battle during the Convergence is said to be a game of Pai Sho. They don't take the outcome of their game as seriously as Raava and Vaatu, and thus they are not as well known."
"Why not?"
"It could be argued that their duties are far more important then that of their elders. Time and existence. Without these two, nothing could exist, and as such they maintain the balance," the woman explained.
"We're getting off topic. Got a girl to find," I reminded the two of them.
"There is a monastery high in the mountains near the United Republic border where a large mass of spiritual energy has been building. Go there, and you shall find what you seek," the woman said. Korra said her thanks, while I debated on if it would be bad taste to burn her hut to the ground for taking up so much time. Deciding that it would be in bad taste, we climbed onto Ashe and made the short flight back to the Temple.
Tenzin and Kya were waiting for us when we got back. Judging by the looks on their faces, they didn't have any good news.
"What is it?" I asked after Ashe touched down and we dismounted.
"A messenger hawk arrived shortly after you two left," Kya said.
"And?"
"They want a trade. Jinora, for the Orb," Tenzin said. Korra and I shared a look. The Orb was the only piece of the Hong we had, and the only one's location we knew about. If they got their hands on it and the Tome, there was no telling how bad things could get.
"The trade is suppose to take place at Scavenger's Outpost, in Frost Pass, two days from now," Tenzin continued.
"Frost Pass. Hm, that's just below the Monastery where I got my eyes fixed," I said, cupping my chin as I thought out loud.
"The Priestess told us they took Jinora to a Monastery near the Border," Korra explained, "you think it could be the same one you visited?"
"She did say the coincidences were getting hard to ignore," I said.
"So what's the plan then?"
"Get Jinora back, recapture or burn the Tome, kick your Uncle's ass all the way back to the North Pole," I answered.
"Ah, the old rescue the girl and save the world routine, eh?" Bumi asked as he appeared next to his siblings with a bandage wrapped around his head, "sounds like my kind of adventure."
And cut. Next chapter comes a big showdown. Now, I've been debating on what I want to do with Ageless. Overall, the story has been growing rather long and I've been on the fence if I wanted to either keep it all under one title as was my original plan, or split it into two halves. So, I decided to leave the choice up to you, dear reader. Should the story be split between two titles, or be kept under a single one? Be sure to cast your vote, and don't forget to tell me what you liked or didn't like about this chapter by dropping a review or leaving a PM. With that, I've spoken enough, and will see you all next time.