Chapter Fifteen:
"This is madness!" Yuzin shouted in frustration. "My people are being murdered! The Fire Nation has lost an important general! Innocent pregnant women are being taken into the night to Agni knows where! Why is Tsume doing this?!"
"Don't feel so bad." Kaze comforted.
"I know how you feel." Tetsu added. "To feel that you are unable to defend your people.
"That's why you brought us." I said. "We're going to find Tsume."
"I can't believe he could do something like that." Sela said.
"There's got to be a reason why." Genji said.
"Yeah. Let me think about this." I added. "Arashi wants me in charge of his empire, but Tsume really doesn't care about killing me."
"Maybe Tsume wants a new Avatar." suggested Sela.
"Yeah that sounds right." I said. "He wants to kill me, so one of the women will give birth to that new Avatar."
"So he can use him or her as a puppet to rule." said Yuzin.
"What important is that we stop Tsume." I said. "Me and my friends can help you in anyway we can."
"Thank you Avatar. If only I could repay you if some way." said Yuzin.
"Well." I replied. "I could use some Firebending training".
"I will allow you to practice along with my bodyguards."
I clasped my hands and bowed. "Thank you Lord Yuzin."
"If were going to find Tsume and his men." announced Tetsu. "We need to head to the watchmen's office."
We headed down to the office and the chief let us accompany some of his detectives as they searched for leads. I sat down shotgun in one of the squad cars as we drove down to one of the crime scenes.
"So are you the Avatar?" he asked me.
"The one and only." I replied.
"It's nice to see that you are lending your support. You say this Tsume guy is dangerous?"
"Definitely." I replied. "You ought to stay on top guard around him."
We soon arrived at a house with a few other police cars outside. We stepped into the house and my friends and police officers were waiting there. "The body is of a young man, recently married." said on the police captain. "His wife who was pregnant was kidnapped, and we still don't know where she is."
The body was on the floor with series of puncture wounds on the skull, just like the Republic City President. "This was definitely done by Tsume or one of his men." I said.
"We think he kidnaps pregnant women to birth the new Avatar." added Sela.
"There must be a place where these women are being kept." said the captain.
We visited some more crime scenes and returned to the station. Their we spread out a map and marked down the places where women were taken from. "This should give us a better impression where Tsume's hideout can be found." I said.
Astuko sat in a dingy basement her hands bound with a rope. She had been there for days, at least that was what she guessed. She had no idea when it was day or night. She didn't care. All she wanted was to be back at home and have her husband back.
Astuko was soon not alone. Every so often a new captive was forced into the room. Like her, these women were heavily pregnant. Whenever the captors were gone, Astuko would whisper with them in hushed tones. They exchanges tales of their families, now gone. Husbands, children, parents, and siblings all lost forever. As painful as those stories were, it gave it her comfort that they were those who understood her.