AN: I AM SO SORRY! D: I know it's been months maybe even a year since I have updated Cui Bono but now, I HAVE FINALLY ENDED IT. So thank you patient readers
Chapter 11
Karmic Justice.
Tikaani limped upstairs, obviously in pain. He breathed hard as he tried to stay conscious. He fell onto the stairs, whining, his voice aching. Aningan pulled him up roaring at him.
"Get up you retarded piece of shit!" Tikaani swayed his head side to side and made a low hum standing up, ignoring the fiery pain in his leg. Be brave, be brave he chanted to himself, singing the washy rhythm of the ocean.
Reaching the top, Aningan untied Tikaani's hands and made Tikaani kneel in front of a small altar with statue of Amaguq. Aningan looked down below at the skirmish unfolding in the sunset. He undid his hair, took off his parka, and pulled a long knife just as the moon, swollen and blood-red, began to come from the inky east.
"Right on time." He muttered as he began to recite a chant, beseeching the god to come to him.
"Ugh, they're like cockroaches! Kill one, twenty take his place!" said Toph, earthbending left and right. Zuko could barely keep back the onslaught of fire blasts from several men and dodge the arrows flying from the roof at the same time.
"Where is the cavalry when you need them?" he groaned when a loud shout came from behind him.
"Need a little help!" Zuko turned his head to see Katara and Sokka running down the hill with Tulok with an atlatl and darts strapped to his back. Toph sighed in relief as she buried two men up in their necks and took three others with jut of rock.
"Oh thank the gods, help!" Toph exclaimed as she continued to fight the barrage. Tulok mounted a dart on the atlatl and slung it to a sniper on the roof. With a dark look of satisfaction as the man fell, Tulok loaded another one. Sokka grinned and looked at Katara.
"Oh, I so want one! Hey Katara, ca-" She shut him down with glare. He turned to Zuko with concern,
"Where is Aang?" Zuko response was to look up.
Aang reached the top, the cold air whipping at his saffron-colored robes as he watched the scene in front of him. Tikaani was kneeling, his head on the altar and Aningan was chanting, holding the knife above Tikaani's head before turning towards Aang. He stopped chanting, grinning like a mad man. Aningan lifted his hand, with the ever seeing eye of the moon behind him, curling his lips into a smile. He greeted the Avatar,
"Oh good, you came. I see my little riddle didn't stump you. But you came too late. There was a reason that I asked you to come before moonrise. You see, Avatar, I've traveled around a bit and met other water tribesfolk. Including those in the swamp. They have taught me the art of the shamans, and to bend more than just vines." Aang swung his staff only to feel his muscles disobey. Aningan laughed and closed his hand. Aang's heart skipped a beat and he fell to his knees. "You have failed, Avatar." He punched the air and Aang screamed.
Tikaani wanted this to be over. He was still speaking his own prayer in his head, his eyes unfocused as he prepared to die. His closed his eyes, his breath slow as he remembered his aunt and uncles, and the friends he made. Something stirred inside of him as he rocked back and forth, singing the song to La. He looked up at crimson moon as it rose into the sky and turned vermillion. He turned his head just as Aang came into his view. His heart beat began to race. There was hope, the goddess answered his prayer, but not everything was easy as Tikaani wanted to believe. He watched Aang fall and scream in agony.
No...No...I have to stand up. I have to help him. Tikaani got up from the altar as Aningan threw Aang around like a doll. Tikaani staggered in the indigo sky, his breath misting in the cool air. That's when something spoke to him.
Little child, how you crave purpose. Let me use your body, shaman. Just this once... Tikaani blacked out as soon as he uttered "Yes."
Aang wiped the blood from his mouth. His legs were horribly bruised, bordering hematomas from the bloodbending that Aningan was inflicting on Aang. Closing his eyes, he exhaled, ready to call upon the Avatar State when felt a cold air chill him to his very soul. His arrows flashed blue as something resonated with him. Someone inhuman was here… had Aningan called upon a god? Is it here? Aang eyes widened as Tikaani walked up to Aningan with the dagger in his left hand. The resonating feeling echoed again. As Aang gasped, Aningan turned around and his face shifted from sick enjoyment to horror as he knelt in front of the naked boy.
"Amaguq!" He shouted. Aang blinked in confusion. He tried to stand up, only to fall over once more. His equilibrium was unbalanced from Aningan's bending.
"TIKAANI, get away from him!" Aang yelled, his eyes bright as he heard Katara's voice from the stairs.
"We're coming!" She shouted. Aningan prostrated himself in front of Tikaani, not seeing a boy but a massive black wolf.
Aningan offered praise to wolf in front of him. His eyes lifted up in adoration.
"I gave you a gift Father Wolf, he is yours to ensure my role as chief." Aningan simpered to the hallucination. The wolf growled and bared his long white teeth. Aningan's heart thundered his chest, excited that he had finally called and summoned the god to his aid. He couldn't believe the sight in front of him. Amaguq, the messenger of La and brother to Tui, was here.
The Avatar was calling the name of the idiot he was going to sacrifice to the god. He looked around to see where he was, but all he saw was the god, and the Avatar's consort that came to help the Avatar was going to ask Amaguq where the boy was when the wolf opened his mouth and lunged at Aningan's throat.
Aang was baffled at was going on. Tikaani was standing over Aningan with the dagger in the air. Aang's heart felt like it was going to rupture. Katara screamed at Tikaani,
"NO TIKAANI, STOP!"
Aang stood up, his head was killing him. He felt the Avatar State take over him, the deities flooding through his body. As he exhaled, he felt the overriding wave of power and the embrace of all of his past lives. Aang grabbed Tikaani's hand and tried hold the boy back. He did not feel the presence of Tikaani's soul but something dark and imposing. Tikaani spoke, not his voice, but the voice of the god that possessed him.
This is not your matter in which to intercede. He summoned me, and I will punish him as I see fit. Step aside, Mediator.
Aang continued to hold back Tikaani's hand, not feeling Tikaani's hand, but the heavy jaws of a great wolf. Tikaani was no longer in his grasp; in the boy's place was a massive black wolf, growling and snapping its jaws.
"No, stop it! You can't do this, Amaguq! Tikaani is not the vehicle for your discipline! Don't burden him with this sin." Aang commanded. The dagger dropped from Tikanni's hand as Aang fought against the possessed boy.
NO! This is what the boy wanted. He wanted purpose, meaning… Don't take that away from him! He wanted to be useful! Give him that chance...
Aang couldn't believe that.
"I know. I will give him that chance. I promise you, great god. He doesn't need to be a murderer to have a purpose. He will be at my side. I will give him the chance to have his place in this world when others only wanted to throw him away." He retorted back, his voice strong and firm.
The wolf's golden eyes stared him down before fading away. Then you must protect him, and give him a reason to be alive.
Aang felt the Avatar State fall away from him and Tikaani collapsing into his arms, awake and unstable. But he had only a second to react, when Katara suddenly screamed.
"AANG! BEHIND YOU!"
Aningian blinked, no longer under Amaguq's spell. He watched Tikaani struggle against Aang, glowing with the energy of all of the previous Avatars. He grabbed the fallen dagger and rushed towards Aang with the weapon held high. Katara snapped up to use her own bloodbending to stop him, when Aningan suddenly stilled, body trembling, and his face twisted in terror as he screamed.
"GET THEM OFF ME! GET THE WOLVES OFF OF ME!" He shrieked, swinging the dagger at his hallucinations. Katara and Aang watched as Aningan ran off the roof, screaming over and over.
"THE WOLVES ARE EATING ME!"
Aang groaned with effort as he tried to bend the earth to catch Aningan, but he was too late. Aang didn't look down at the sound of bone crunching. He felt a cold wind pass him and heard something like a laugh.
I guess Amaguq punished him anyway.
Tikaani finally lost consciousness as Aang picked him up off of the roof. Katara gasped at the spattering bruises all over his limbs and torso. Aang carried him downstairs and was greeted by Zuko and Iroh, of all people.
"When did Iroh show up?" asked Aang as Iroh took Tikaani. Iroh's gaze swept over Tikaani's injuries, his voiced hushed.
"The poor child, he is freezing. We need to get medical attention to him now."
Toph and Sokka suddenly appeared, panting.
"What happened up there?" Sokka asked as Toph ran to Iroh.
"SPUNKY! Is he going to be okay? Toph asked, stroking Tikaani's cheek. Iroh carried him outside where Tulok was waiting along with several guards from Ba Sing Se. Tulok's eyes were dark and full of regret as he surveyed the area. He approached Aningan's… his son's… body and knelt over him, closing his eyes.
"You will find no peace, as the wolves of your hatred and cruelty will chase you for eternity." Tulok muttered a prayer for protection and left the body. "Now we must find where your brother has gone."
Everyone was silent as Katara healed Tikaani on the way back to the tea house. Night was unkind and oppressive as she labored, repairing the bruises and broken leg. She healed the open wounds and wrapped Tikaani snugly in a fleece blanket. The worst of his problems wasn't his injuries, but the cold. He had been unclothed for hours and was suffering from frostbite. She warmed his extremities and kept the blood circulating. It would be a while before Tikaani was fully healed.