Chapter 6:

Finales Funkeln

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

The thunderous roar from the crowd above shook the flimsy, wooden walls of the locker room. It was jampacked with all kinds of redeemers of different ages, sizes, and builds. Avani was shocked that all these people lived within the confines of Kotai. Most of them were changing into their gear or sitting on the long, wooden bench that against all of the walls in the large room. Though some of the many figures conversed with one another; normally boasting of their skills or experience. She didn't see the point in all that, considering all their opponents were in the other locker room on the other side of the stadium.

There was a small radio that had an antenna fully extended on the top of the many lockers. It was bent about half way up at a forty-five degree angle, on the live channel of the preliminary challenger bracket. Many who were sitting listened intently on the state of the game above that they would soon be a part of.

Avani maneuvered through the infested crowd, somewhat stiff. Why are you so nervous? Relax, you're going to make a scene. She saw a clipboard nailed to the final post of the locker room before seeing a small, white, plastic table with a man sitting behind it and a woman scurrying about the locker room. They both looked stressed and unorganized.

"Terra! Have you gotten Jasper yet?!" The man shouted over the noisy murmuring of the jocks inside. "I need him ready to go! Second round has started already!"

"Working on it, Lloyd!" An equally loud holler came back to them over the heads of several people. It was clearly a woman's voice.

"How can I help you?" Lloyd turned his attention to Avani as she approached the table. Under his weary, dark-grey bags, and stubby, pointed nose was a five o'clock shadow. Above the verdant, sleep-deprived eyes was a messy mat of black, curly hair that somehow managed to look good on him. He wore a strange, silver headset that had a single speaker that covered his left ear. The mic was placed over his head near the end where a firm butt of the the second side clung onto the other side, over his round glasses.

"I need to sign in." Avani explained, putting a solid hand on the table.

"Okay, let me see." Lloyd shuffled through the papers, looking for the registered list, no doubt. "Ah! So what's your name? TERA! I TOLD YOU WE NEED JASPER OVER HERE NOW! THE SET COULD END AT ANY MINUTE!"

"Er—Avani. It's Avani Yao."

"Avani Yao…" He repeated, going down the first paper. "Avani Yao…Avani Y—Ah! There you are. Rouna is it? Not bad." He edged closer to her, leaning on the table. "Between you and me, some of these redeemers came up with the dullest name I've ever seen." He half whispered with a crack of a smile. He sank back into his seat, noticing someone coming. "Ah! There you are, Terra! And you are the mighty Jasper, I presume?"

Terra was glaring as prominently as the sun at her coworker from the treatment she took from him; however, Lloyd continued to grin at the two of them, apparently oblivious. She had short, spiky, hair with a small face. She had the same, green uniform on as all the workers as well as an identical headset on her head. Pressed against her chest was a brown, thin clipboard that had a single arm sturdily wrapped around it.

"I—uh—yeah. That's me." The tall, muscular man nodded, uncomfortably. He looked very out of place with the whole conversation.
"Fantastic!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Where was I again?" His eyes surfed around until he spotted Avani still standing there. She raised an eyebrow. This guy is a total nut. "Ah! Yes! Right!" Lloyd checked off a name on the list with one of the pens scattered on the table. "You're good to go, Rouna! The schedule is on the post over there." He tilted his head, Avani looked over her shoulder and saw clipboard on the wooden pillar again. "Best of luck!"

Avani left the table and walked over to the papers, searching through the schedule for her name. I'm last?! She fumed inside her head. The last match was likely to be roughly four hours from now and she already signed in. She had to stay in the locker room unless she wanted to forfeit.

Nevertheless, she swarmed through the restless mass of redeemers again, in search of her locker. She pulled out the small note in a zippered pocket of her gigantic bag. It was the locker information she was given upon completing her registration months ago. It feels like forever since then.

Once Avani managed to locate and open it, she dropped her ridiculously heavy bag to the side of her leg, where sat on the bench. She was pretty far away from the radio and could barely make out a few words here and there that came from it.

As much as Avani wanted to hold the grudge of being the last match, she couldn't deny that it would be better in the long run. She'd have the most time to loosen up and mellow down in the environment. She hated to admit it, but she felt sick to her stomach being so near to a crowd, knowing she'd be going up there eventually.

Little by little, the locker room opened up as one-by-one, a redeemer went out through the door for ten to twenty minutes and then came back through the locker room, with either a triumphant expression or a bitter, dismal one. When there was no one else in her small pocket of lockers, she unzipped the bag and placed each individual piece on the bench—side by side.

Deciding to double her normal warm-ups while stretching out her muscles, Avani dropped to the floor, starting off with pushups. After two hundred pushups, a hundred and twenty crunches, three hundred jumping jacks, and twenty minutes of shuffling, she felt her enthusiasm rekindle her spirits. Going back to the basics seemed to put her back into the mindset she dreadfully thought she had lost when she entered the stadium this morning. She began to put her brilliant, metal padding on.

"Rouna?" Terra looked at the clipboard. "You're up next."

Avani nodded rigidly, too focused to respond, otherwise. She cracked her knuckles outward and loosened up her neck one last time before going over to the open doorway that led straight to the stadium. As the second final match unfolded, she flexed her legs repetitively, one after the other.

I've got this.

After getting the clear, Avani went through the doorway to find a sudden wave of energy hit her. She found blaring lights block her vision for several moments as the deafening cheer of a crowd from all directions. She put a hand over her face to shield her eyes and kept moving, feeling several hundred eyes watching her every move. When her eyes adjusted, she noticed she came out of a doorway level to the bottom of the trench that encircled the arena. There was metal stairs against the wall of the ring where she assumed she needed to go. An announcers, muffled voice echoed through the entire stadium, however, Avani heard none of it. Everything sound that would normally be earsplitting, was somewhat distorted and incomprehensible. She kept her eyes fixated on the peak of the ring that slowly escaped her view as she approached the brass plating exterior.

At the top, there was the most beautiful ring Avani had laid eyes on. The rock in the middle ring had a certain compound in it that that gave it a dark, rich brown color instead of the bright, dull tan. The outside ring was full of a glamorous, red sand. She found her position to be in a thin, steel outline of a square instead of the chalk box she had started in her entire life. A twinkle of reflected light irritated her and she noticed the hundred and fourteen poles all hanging firmly above the ceiling. They looked brand new, polished for this specific match. In fact, everything looked as though no battles had been fought on the ring before despite this being the final fight.

The finale. Avani smirked, now relishing the time slot. She stood in the metal outline and lowered her head to the ground, still as a statue, ready for what came next.

"And the final match for the night: Rouna versus Colossus!" The announcer boomed after the spectators' cries finally diminished to a faint hum of chatter. The voice bounced off the walls two or three times, still perfectly audible. The audience had once again erupted, energetically.

Come on! Do it already! Avani felt jittery in anticipation but her discipline overpowered her instincts and she remained motionless. Though they waited until quiet had returned in the arena, most likely to draw out the excitement as long as possible. Most of the lights went out, only having the most primary ones shining on the ring to emit the only light left in the stadium. The crowd was left in the pitch black. The focus on the arena perfectly mirrored Avani's concentration. This is it. The last ten seconds were the longer than the four hours she had waited in the locker room.
A jagged buzzer blared as the remaining lights suddenly flickered wildly. A split second later, the poles were released and pelted into the thick ground with the most magnificent sound of quality metal colliding with well high grade rock. The sturdy, deep ring of the tubes was of the best music she ever heard as she quickly started to swarm through the pool of dust.

Still nothing. The habitual hum from the poles lasted ages longer than the poles at Kotai Academy, but that was all to be heard at the moment. Where did he go? Avani stopped and bent the metal sole of her dominant, left shoe up against her ankle before planting her barefoot on the the hard, smooth surface of the rock. Time slowed down as she felt herself travel through the vibrations of the a patch of arena. All were the hollow figures of the poles and the ground. There was no sound of footprints or a body in her seismic wave. Though it only covered a patch of the ring. Come on! Focus! Extend your senses… She took a deep breath and tried at it again. To the left there was a figure that was shaped like a body. There you are. She smiled, carefully treading towards the direction.

Avani's advantageous period had been cut short, however—she was too late. The dust cloud had thinned enough to be transparent—only an insignificant layer was still drifting in the air. It may have irritated the eyes of most, but not seasoned redeemers.

Immediately after facing one another, an explosive exchange of pelted rocks had skewered the fresh air with another cloud of debris. Avani sprinted boldly towards Colossus with top speed. He fired several new rocks, to stop the relentless attack in its track; however, Rouna skillfully evaded each one with relative easy. She jumped on the last few and propelled herself onto the peaks of the hollow poles, skipping between each one with astonishing speed. The obscure move had cause Colossus to skip a beat before performing a powerful cut with his arm. A couple dozen of the poles within his vicinity were halved at once. Rouna's running path was collapsing around her so she was forced to jump high into the sky.

She still managed to continue her arcane assault, somehow. Her jump was aimed right into Colossus. He erected a pillar, to offset her once more. Rouna cracked it in two with the brute force of her fall. Her foe had tumbled not a moment too soon to avoid her crescent sweep that ran upwards like a rainbow. A horrendous shriek had cut through the air. He had quickly broke one of the steel poles nearby and was gripping it like a sledgehammer.

For a moment, they both paused, studying each other before Rouna continued her pursuit. Colossus wound up a quick blow that Avani shielded with the metal sheets encasing her forearms. She attempted a quick punch in retaliation, but Colossus managed to duck under the blow. He shifted the earth under Rouna's feet upwards. It was clear he was losing in close combat. Avani jumped once again onto one of the nearby poles and knelt there for a couple seconds.

Colossus quickly broke the pole he carried in two and threw one after the other straight at her. Rouna loosened her legs to slip down the pole, fluently spinning around as she sank. The first shard had missed from overhead; the second, though, stuck into the padding of her right arm that was used to block the projectile. A surge of pain shot through her arm. It clearly skewered the surface of her skin. She muttered a curse as she pulled the blade, enraged. I didn't realize they were so sharp!

She planted her feet on the sturdy ground, back at square one. The sharp pain pricked under her armor along with a warm sensation of blood smearing against the wound. She glared ferociously at her opponent.

Colossus struck the ground with his palm, carrying tremendous force. A large dust storm formed obediently traveling towards Rouna. She condensed both of her arms inwards, up against her ribcage. at least fifty of the poles in her surrounding were broken off their hinges immediately and formed a sturdy dome that blocked the worse of the storm. Do it now! With all the dust Colossus had created, Avani had at least a twenty second opening to counter with a powerful attack without fear of taking any punishment.

She took several large steps forward before straightening her hands, stressfully. So—so heavy! She tightened every muscle in her body to support the weight and slowly the dome changed into an enormous wall. Following her hand motions, the wall pummeled forward towards Colossus, uprooting all the rock in its path. He looked at it, aghast, trying to formulate the strongest wall he could in front of him but it crumbled within seconds. He was propelled into the air along with the wreckage of thousands of pieces of rock. A loud bell rang that could only mean he was knocked out the ring. Rouna couldn't tell, from the enormous fog that had formulated from the two immense moves.

Like a switch, Avani's other senses turned on, hearing the cheering of the crowd and the enthusiastic rambling of the announcer. During the fight all the noise of the spectators, all the rumbling of the commentator was completely block out in her focus.

"WHAT. AN. EXPLOSIVE BATTLE! Rouna absolutely decimates Colossus with the move of a lifetime! Absolutely amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!" Despite the announcer's screaming, it still was drowned out by the explosion of the crowd

A wide, gloating smile cracked her face. Avani raised her arms over her head. I did it! she thought, extraordinarily relieved. I won! I'm going to Ekta!

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

Trees became scarce on the road. The patch of vegetation that kept Kotai thriving only extended for a twenty mile radius or so. They were going eastward, reaching the the rocky roads of a baron wasteland by mid-afternoon. After several hours of driving, it seemed that there was no signs of life whatsoever, excluding the occasional cactus sticking out of the. It was mid-afternoon, probably around 14:30. The glaring sun was just low enough to be cooking their backs through the rear window of the car as they headed eastward.

"Where exactly are we going anyway?" Reia asked after several hours of quiet, uncomfortable driving. I can't believe I didn't consider this sooner.

"We're on the way to Omashu," Keito said, taking a hand off the leather steering wheel to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
"Omashu?! That's a terrible idea!" Reia argued, baffled by the idea. "Why would we stay in the city right next door to Kotai?"

"We aren't staying there!" Keito snapped impatiently. "We're stopping there to restock on food and gas—maybe stay the night at an inn or something."

"Oh—okay," Reia said, alleviated. "Well, then where is our destination? Like, long term?"

"I don't know, yet," Keito admitted. "We may've made it out of Kotai but I expect we'll have more difficulties crossing the Adryan borders. Zeke is looking for you now, the opening we had to leave the city is closed. We'll have to come up with a good reason for leaving the country; along with fake IDs, I suppose. Every guard in Adryan will certainly be informed about us."

The expression his brother gave him prompted him to say more. "Hey! I'm just a single person; I can't have everything sorted out in a single day! Feel free to input something at any time, Avatar." He fussed, defensively.

"Right—sorry." Reiatsu turned towards the window again. He's so bitter when he's stressed. Though he did feel guilty from his lack of contribution towards figuring out what to do. It's not out of lack of effort; or, at least, I don't think it is. It's not like I have any progress to show for my efforts.

"What exactly happened in that school, anyway?" Keito asked, curiously. "When I got there it looked like the entire school was flipped upside down; the students were fighting all over the place. I thought the place had gone absolutely mad."

"They figured out I was the Avatar," Reia stated, blankly. "I thought that was pretty obvious."

"That still doesn't explain anything!" Keito exclaimed, irritated. "How did you know you figure this out? How did others? Why is it that I was called about this two hours before I went over to get you and you were fine before that?"

"We—we had this—er—assembly, I guess. It was held in the Redemption Ring in the school," Reia recalled, squinting his eyes to remember the circumstances again. His speech was as fragmented as his thoughts. "There was…this strange chair in the middle of the room, it looked pretty spiritual and whatnot. A bunch of earth sages had come to the school in search of the Avatar. They called everyone of us by name to sit on the chair. Oh yeah! The chair had had all the four elements surrounding it in a great circle. I just remembered that!

"Anyway, once it came to me I did the same. Something about it felt queer. I felt unnaturally comfortable and had this sudden urge to—to uh…" Reia dropped off. How can I possibly describe the sensation I felt? Even as vivid as it still was in his brain, expressing them through words seemed impossible. "Whatever, it doesn't really matter," he dismissed. "Basically I felt a strange sensation and then I passed out. I don't know for how long, but when I woke up I was in the infirmary, alone. After that I tried get out in a crazed panic about Zeke getting to me, but the sages tried to stop me. Their stupidity got me in a heap of trouble and ultimately caused the chaos of the academy. If they let me go, no one would've noticed that I was around and everything would've turned out a lot smoother." He finished bitterly.

"A chair?" Keito said. He looked lost in deep thought now.

"What?" Reia asked anxiously. Was this all some ploy to ruin my life?! His heart suddenly started raising. It couldn't be. What about the markings, the pain, the earth sages?
"I remember reading something a couple years ago about a certain throne that was passed around the Air Nomads for 'the bridge's meditations.' It had to be at least several thousand years old. Did it look old?"

"Yeah!" Reia gasped. "It looked like it would break from a small breeze, but once I sat there it felt like a regular chair: perfectly sturdy." The two of them became silent, both theory-crafting in their own heads.

Several more hours passed as they sat in the car. The sun had thankfully lowered enough behind that they no longer felt as uncomfortable. However, Reia had received some sunburns from his spine to the tips of his shoulders. Every slight movement he did in the seat ended up rubbing the irritated skin against it, burning and itching the area one more. We should've been at Omashu hours ago… Not to mention how dead this road is in the wasteland. I haven't seen a single car all day.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Reia said bluntly, looking out the window. He felt sulky and strangely enough, exhausted, despite sitting through the whole day.

"No we're not," Keito answered still looking ahead on the road.

"…Totally lost," Reiatsu quietly persisted.

"I said I know where we are!" Keito snapped.

"Oh wait, this looks familiar." Reia suddenly shot up.

"Really?" Keito said, his eyes shined with hope. It was a fatal mistake that only proved Reia's suspicions.

"Yeah, I know! We're in the Land of the Lost: Dead and Buried," Reia stated, with mocked enthusiasm.

Keito screwed his face up with his left hand in frustration. "You know, I have half a mind of turning this car around and giving your butt to Dad inside the Ekta throne room. So could you try to be less annoying than usual for today? For the sake of my sanity?"

"I'm just saying, you should probably look for some help and ask for directions," Reia pointed out with a shrug.

"Absolutely not! We are staying out any direct contact, excluding buying supplies—but I'm doing all of that," Keito ushered, soundly.

"Well unless you can teleport us, we may be forced to!" Reia insisted. "I mean we are under a certain time restraint; if we don't make it to Omashu soon we could run out of—"

To his silent dread, the engine suddenly sputtered for several, hushed, drawn out moments. It then wheezed it's last bit of gas out of the internal combustion engine and the car steadily loss momentum. "—gas…" His voice faintly echoed as the car wheeled into a complete stop. Typical—Just typical…

Keito immediately got out of the motor carriage and opened the hood of the car, desperately looking inside it. His brother slowly slumped out of the vehicle as well. pinching the bridge of his nose in silent fury. "Zeke taught you how to drive… How. Can. You. Possibly. FORGET ABOUT GAS?!"

"I'm—I'm sorry," Keito submitted, looking down at the ground. "I've only driven in the city before so I've never really gone through a whole tank in a single drive before. It didn't come to mind. I should've been looking—I just was going automatically."

"Well now you might have your wish!" Reiatsu continued, indignantly. "I don't think we'll come into contact with anyone ever again!"

His brother still said nothing, and only managed to look at Reia's shoes. "GAH!" He kicked the dirt at his feet and a majority of it bounced off the road. "Now what?! Your pride is going to get us killed in this desert!"

"Quiet, Reiatsu!" Keito suddenly urged, hearing a twig snap. "Someone could hear us."

"How can ANYONE hear us?!" Reia roared, outraged. "We're stuck in the middle of nowhere, thanks to someone!" Though his wave of anger stopped abruptly as he took a heavy breath of air. There was a faint hum in the distance behind them. It sounded like an engine. Great! Now my ears are playing tricks on me…

Though he quickly found himself eating his own words when he noticed a far, indeterminable figure escape the horizon and slowly creep up the road. He took a deep breath, relieved. "No way. That's way too lucky," he whispered to himself.

"Wait!" Keito put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to duck behind the car. "What if it's some of Dad's men? We have to be careful."

"Caution is a luxury we lost once the gas tank had depleted," Reia hissed back. "Besides, I'm not particularly picky at the moment; even if they are looking for me and recognize me I'll have a quicker and kinder death from Zeke than the alternative of starving out here under a blazing sun. I'm not going to gamble the chance of another car coming through the road in time to save our butts."

"No, Reia wait!" But it was too late, Reia had already shot back up and started to walk in plain sight on the side of the road, waving his hands as wildly as he could. Keito pressed his back to the car, still keeping out of sight. He readied his hands, prepared to strike at the drop of a hat as he watched Reia from afar. Reiatsu decided to keep his head away from their car, to avoid suspicion of another person being with him. I suppose some caution can't hurt—even in this desperate situation.

The white automobile gradually lost speed until it stopped dead in the middle of the road, four and a half meters from where Reia stood. It was a colossal semi truck to his bemusement. He felt slightly exposed all of the sudden. He did have a thin long sleeve shirt and pants, but he wasn't sure if his hair was both long and thick enough to completely cover the marks on his forehead. He nervously combed his bangs as the huge doors from both sides of the truck opened.

A middle aged man with grey, hair and patches of bald spots at the top of his head came out from the driver's seat. His companion had short, glistening, hair and flawless skin. She was rather small but was clearly full-grown from the maturity of her face. Reiatsu thought this kind of sight would've brought him relief, yet his heart was still speeding through his body. They're just travelers, pull yourself together!

"Hello there!" the middle aged man called out, amiably, walking towards Reia.

"Er—hi," Reia said, awkwardly. "I ran out of gas and am kinda stranded here—though, I guess you could see that much for yourself."

"Ah—yes. Westplains Freeway can be a bit tricky like that." The man smiled sympathetically.

"You sound like you're coming from experience," Reia stated, quizzically.

"Yup, I've had my fair share of problems in this devil's cross—had to be only a month ago I had a flat tire on the final lap of my trip!" His companion covered her exquisite face in her hand, embarrassed. The old man didn't seem to notice. "Name's Kyong, by the way; I'm a traveling merchant. I often go down this abandoned road for my stock trade between Kotai and Omashu. This here's my daughter, Eria."

"Rei—er—Ruo-jian," Reia corrected, bowing with a reassuring smile. They didn't seem too suspicious from the fumble of words. Eria smiled back, warmly. How is she not sweating from this heat?!

Kyong craned his head, glancing past Reiatsu and studied the car from afar. "Welp, I don't have any spare gas on me or any tools to take out of my own tank, unfortunately. We can take you over to Omashu if you'd like. I know a guy who can get that tolled to the city within a day's time."

"How did you know I was going to Omashu?" Reia asked, slightly anxious.

"No one goes on this road unless they are heading to either Kotai or Omashu. It's literally just a straight highway from both cities; there aren't any other streets it branches into—hence why it's practically abandoned," Eria spoke up with a sweet, angelic voice.

"How would I travel with you?" Reia asked, doubtfully. "There's only two seats and I don't think I would survive in the cargo considering the heat."

"Luckily, we've got a cooler in the back. We're transporting frozen meat so I think you won't have to worry about that." Kyong smiled. "Albeit, it won't be the most comfortable ride of your life but everything's securely in place so it's completely safe. Omashu is only a twenty minute drive from here, give or take."

"Ruo, what's going on?" Keito suddenly called, behind him. Reia completely forgot he was peering in on the conversation.

"There you are, brother!" Reia exclaimed, playing along. "I found some help! This generous man offered us a ride to Omashu! It's only twenty minutes away!"

"This is your brother?" Eria asked, attempting to conceal her surprise.

"My name's Shaozu, it's a pleasure to meet you," Keito responded with a bow as well. I don't like this. It felt bad enough that they were asking for help, but lying about their names made him feel guilty of some crime. They are nice people, they don't deserve to be played a fool with.

Why? Why let the spirits taint your warm heart? "I feel filthy." Reiatsu spoke up after a minute of sitting in the large, crowded cargo of the trailer. The chilly air was a welcomed change when they had first gotten in, but now they were forced to put on heavy coats from the bag they pulled out of their car.

"It was necessary," Keito answered stiffly. They sat facing one another on medium-sized boxes. His foggy breath was easily seen because of the white, walls behind it. He looked solemnly to the ground, wearing his usual, apathetic face. Though it was more of a shielding method than anything else right now. Reia could see it plainly enough.

"Was it, though?" Reia persisted, doubtful. "It's just a traveling merchant with his daughter—not like he's going to give us background checks or something."

"No," Keito said, flatly. "If you tell them who you are because they're innocent, you will make them relevant. They'd no longer be innocent. The less they know, the better off they are. Ignorance is bliss."

"But—"

"Reia!" Keito barked, irritated. "I know it may seem cruel and heartless, but if you could just stomach yourself doing it you would understand that it's making the best of this situation. Nothing is as simple as just good or evil, I don't think you realize that."

A large bump shook the crate and cause a raucous crash as some metal objects in the far back were lifted in the far corner out of Reia's sight. It put an immediate end to their debate. He felt a sickening feeling shuffle in his stomach at his brother's words.

Perhaps I never will.

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

Ryung Jae went out into the still air of Air Temple Island. The breeze picked up after a few steps and then suddenly stopped once more. He looked above at the clouded skies to see a nasty grey field that was steadily engulfing Republic City. "There's a storm coming." He sighed, still taking in the unsettling sight. "A big one." A second sprout of wind brushed against his skin as if to convince him otherwise. A shiver ran down his uneasy spine, convincing him to keep moving.

A low, bellowed whimper came from the outside dens. The sound would've easily been mistaken for a wrathful roar to anyone not accustomed to being around a flying bison. He half-jogged, half walked towards the wooden fencing and opened the gates before walking inside.

"What's the matter Ecko?" Ryung asked, seeing the anxious movements of his life companion. "Are you hungry?" He rubbed a soothing hand on the soft, white fur that rustled with the draft. Ecko stirred before levitating a meter or two off the ground, spiraling in a wide circle. She was about four meters long and two meters high covered entirely in white fur excluding the brown stripe that ran down her back from head to tail. The stripe ended with an arrowhead. The same markings that were engraved across an Airbender's entire body. Her two grey horns were crooked inwards with the left one being ever so slightly longer than the right.

After her little flight, Ecko looked over at the base of an entrance to a cave that was only three meters away. Her brown eyes filled with pleading excitement. Hung on a nail was one of the dustiest reigns Ryung had ever laid eyes on. He walked over to the rock wall and rubbed his hand against the leather. They felt as if they were as brittle as glass from the years of idle behavior. A sturdy nudge from his back made him stumble a bit. He smiled, sadly. "I know you want to fly out into the sky, like the old days—but you know why it can't happen.

"Times have changed, my dearest friend. We can't fly as freely as we used to be able to back in the day, it's too dangerous now. Republic City has adopted a misdirected rage at people like us." The Airbender sighed.

"Slow down, Ryung!" Jinora laughed, trailing his son with Nitnem, her own sky bison. Her son pretended not to hear, to engrossed by the wind that filled his body up with an energy he'd never felt before. 'I'm flying! Aha!'

However, his new companion did not ignore her and slowed down until he was treading in the air, gradually descending before his six monstrous feet planted firmly on the green grass. "Hey! You buzzkill!" He exclaimed, still smiling uncontrollably. Every ounce of his body felt weightless at that very moment as he jumped down from what would become his longest living friend. Being up in the skies, even for only five minutes, felt exhilarating, like he could do anything—nothing was beyond of his control.

"Wow! She likes you a lot! It took Nitnem almost a whole month to start showing affection towards me…" his mother said, landing next to the young bison with her elderly one. "What're you going to name her?" Her dark eyes lit up with excited curiosity. The rustling of a thousand faraway trees sounded moments before wind blew a several strands of brown hair into her warm, carefree face.

"I'm sorry, Ryung Jae," a low, grim voice said, moments before a tentative arm rubbed the back of his shoulder. He was sitting at the one of many wooden pews in the large room. Sunlight had started to peak out of the edge of the windows and hit his thighs. They remained as cold as ice, however. "Jinora was like a sister to me." He glanced up at the shiny, mahogany coffin that was placed at the front of the council room. It was near empty now as the funeral had been over for well over two hours. He could still hear the muffled chatter outside. He felt his blood heat up from the friendly laughter that occurred during the discussion. 'How can there be happiness now that she is gone?' He felt his blood heat up from the friendly laughter that occurred during the discussion.

"Who are you?!" Ryung demanded, sounding like a child in a tantrum. "She was the only person in my life and she never spoke a word of you!" His tone was venomous with anger. 'As if he knows the pain I'm going through.' I was only fifteen at the time…

"My name is Zander," the man with an ebony, bushy mustache said. "I'm the Chief of Police." He didn't seem to upset with Ryung's harsh words, in fact, he seemed to have expected such treatment. "If you ever want to talk about it. I'm here for you."

"You weren't here for her when she needed you," he sneered maliciously. To his satisfaction, it seemed to have struck a nerve that Zander hadn't protected well enough. He got up from his kneeling position and started to walk away without another word.

A sudden burst of air that blew his hair out of his eyes, bringing him back to see that Ecko had flopped down onto the dirt in front of him. The bison spread out her six, stubby legs before rolling over on her back. Ryung instinctively walked over to to the black, bulky stomachs and rubbed Ecko's usual sweet spot. "Hang in there, girl." He sniffled after turning away from the flying bison. When did I start crying?

He continued to walk onwards to the shallow beach of the island where a long, wooden dock was outstretched with only three small boats in the port.

"You ready?" Chen called, noticing Ryung approaching his own boat.

It wasn't long until they silently made the near-daily trip across Yue Bay again. There was very little to think about as he sat in Chen's motorboat, occasionally feeling a prick of a few droplets of water hitting either his arm or face. He kept his grim eyes at the towering buildings of Republic City with a thin sense of malice.

There was no other place he'd rather not be in and yet here he found himself, going to City Hall. Rohan's first appeal was scheduled today, immediately after the punishment was agreed to be twenty years in prison. Zander had kept frequent updates since Ryung's last, dramatic visit. It was hard to believe that such a gentle, innocent, old man could be treated so coldly.

When he had finally arrived in City Hall's council room, he saw that it was filled to the brim with people. Most of them were already seated as well as the judge, however Ryung had only missed a big chunk of the tedious intro from what he gathered.

"…Rohan versus Republic City.' Now then, On March 21st, 246 ASC the defendant was convicted of first degree murder." He read aloud, keeping his eyes on his desk. "The defendant is guilty of all charges and is sentence to 'twenty years of prison with chance for parole'. Is that correct?"

"It is indeed, Your Honor." Rohan's lawyer nodded, sitting next to Ryung's Uncle with a collective expression to match his neat and orderly paperwork.

"Very good," the judge continued. "The charges were for the murder of Ying Wei, the head of an anti-spiritual movement. This was a peaceful protest, correct? Your client neither was nor claims to be provoked or assaulted? He doesn't wish for the charges to be adjusted to second degree murder?" Ryung sidestepped past several people and found an opening on the wall that he leaned on.

"No, my client will continue to plead innocence," the lawyer said, adjusting the glasses on his crooked nose. A few snickers came out of the surrounding crowd. Ryung tried his best to ignore them and kept his thoughts focused on the appeal.

"Mister—Rohan." The judge hesitated, uncertainly. "There are no less than nine witnesses who have insisted—under oath mind you—that Ryung was fully responsible for the death of Mr. Wei. Do you really think that pleading innocence in the appeal will free you if, in the trial, it did not? Unless there is a newfound argument you wish to present, then by all means, I surrender the floor."

"I think you misunderstand me, Your Honor," Rohan started, standing up. He interrupted his lawyer's unprofessional retort, thankfully, who stood with his mouth opened wide in outrage. "I do not plead innocence because it is the smartest thing to do in my position, but because it is the truth…and I always stand by the truth. Only when I forsake the truth so that I can achieve freedom—only then, do I become truly guilty."

The court erupted with many retorts that made only a few words distinguishably comprehensible. It felt like Ryung, Rohan, and his lawyer were the only ones who remained quiet during the deafening chaos.

"ORDER IN THE COURT! I SAID ORDER!" The judge's bellows finally surfaced. It looked like he was trying to break his desk with the amount of force he put behind banging his gavel.

"Now then," he breathed, finally regaining control of the court. "the defendant maintains his plea of innocence. During the trial—During the trial," he picked up as a few individuals had raised their voices again, "every witness testified against you. I have with me the exact transcription of said testimonies as well as the entire month-long trial. You had no alibis, no better defence than that the witnesses were framing you because of your nationality—you even have a clear motive for wanting Mr. Wei dead; so how is it, that you expect me as well as everyone else in this courtroom to believe that you did not kill this man?"

"How can I expect you to believe me? I can't, Your Honor," Rohan admitted, with a sharp look. "However when all nine witnesses come from the same cult that despises Airbenders as well as their practices—when all nine witnesses are on record for being personally acquainted with one another and could've easily collaborated some fictitious story to prosecute me of a crime that might as well have my name stamped on it. It is my wish that—ladies and gentlemen, please—" he said, as the jury once again got out of hand. "It is my wish that you and every person that sits here today considers just how high the evidence is stacked against me. Doesn't that seem a little suspiciously convenient for the prosecution? In my experience, when something covers every nook and cranny of the investigation, it loses its credibility."

At this, the court had completely lost it. Everything was in complete disarray as many people were arguing from across the room, but most were spitting insults in Uncle Rohan's direction. It's like they expect him not to defend his liberty… How do people call this justice?

It was too much to handle. Ryung slipped through the back row of the crowd, unnoticed with their attention so prominently focused on arguing.

He open the door, soundlessly, and walked out into the main lobby of City Hall. He was surprised that it had started to rain heavily now. The courtroom must've drowned out the noise whenever it started.

Ryung felt a sadness on his journey back to Air Temple Island. In any other situation, he would've been livid and demanded something to be done about it. Though Rohan's words just made him discouraged. Will they ever learn?

Ryung Jae peered out from the dock, seeing Chen's small, crooked hut lit up in the distance of a grassy hill. He decided not to trouble Chen with a ride back onto the island. It was night, after all; no one would see him. He reached underneath the edge of the dock and felt his hand around a circular, wooden pole. It was his old staff that he kept if he was in an instance like this. The wood was damp and soggy from the months of tides crashing in under the dock, but it was perfectly usable.

After taking one last, cautious look around the area, he took three steps back before sprinting off the dock and flying one and a half meters above the crashing waves. The storm that had started was putting as much hostility in the waves as the court was on Rohan. Though the rain continued to dampen his hair and face, Ryung felt a rush of liberation. There was no one there to see him, to judge him, or put him down. All the world he left behind at the dock. It wasn't like the energetic kid he had been, though, but a calm, soothing sensation from the wind blowed away the weariness in his face.

Using his glider, Ryung noticed he made excellent time across the Yue Bay and could land right at the main doors of main building. As he walked in, the heavy drops of the rain had distorted to their light, comfortable counterparts.

All the candles were extinguished and an uncanny silence was about. "Dear?" Ryung called in the empty hallway. He slowly walked forward still uneasy. "I'm home!" The wooden floorboards creaked at each step his damp boots made. Even at midnight it was unlike Yuna to leave the house completely dark. And it's only nine…

"Yuna?" he called, feeling uneasy at the lack of response. "Aerika? Lavanya? Where are you knuckleheads?" Still nothing came back to him but a faint echo. Maybe they're in the dining hall? It didn't make much sense considering how late it was, but then again neither did the current scenario.

He looked around the kitchen for a note or something, but his wife did not leave anything.

A high pitched shriek resonated from above, that turned his stomach to steel. That's Aerika! Ryung rushed up the stairs as quickly as he could manage, knocking over a flower pot in his haste. "Aerika?!" He shouted, filled with dread.

When he got to the door upstairs, he blasted it down immediately with all the energy he could muster. The remaining force of the air blew through the bookroom. Ryung stopped in the doorway, breathing deeply with anxiety.

Aerika was scrunched up against the far corner near a shattered window. The curtains were cut from the broken glass and flowed freely with the wind that entered the room, like a flag.

In between Aerika and Ryung was a figure cloaked with a black trenchcoat and a silver purim mask with a strange array of grey glitter that went along the cheeks. They sprouted like flowers in several organized spirals. Together they looked like a spiritual branch that was decoratively woven around the outskirts of the mask. An ornate, grey brocade laced the perimeter of the strange visor. It covered what ever bit the hood did not.

She looked at Ryung with blue, piercing eyes, for what felt like days on end. Is that—is that Charisma?! Ryung considered, sporadically. He lifted his arms, expecting her to fight. A strike of lightning lit up the entire room. Charisma had immediately jumped out of the window with unfathomable agility. The crack of thunder sounded several seconds after she had already disappeared. How did she do that? Even being an airbender, Ryung couldn't hope to be so nimble.

"Aerika!" Ryung yelled over the howling wind as he approached her in the corner. Aerika was hiding under her legs until she heard her father's voice and looked up. Tears were streaming down her face and she was trembling violently, however, she only had a small cut below her right eye. "Are you all right?!" Ryung Jae asked, anxiously.

Aerika nodded vigorously. All the color had drained out of her face. "Is—is muh—mommy okay?" she asked, stuttering.

Ryung turned around to face something taken straight out of a nightmare. Yuna was laying on the ground, motionless on the far side of the room. It can't be… "Go—go find your sister. Both of you pack anything you need, we're leaving," Ryung Jae said hollowly. Aerika ran out of the room, tripping under her own feet as she went.

Ryung ran up to Yuna and saw there was a considerable amount of blood near her abdomen. He locked his eyes up at her face, unable to glance down at the worst of the wounds.

"Yu—Yuna?" he quivered, looking at her shining, golden eyes that stared blankly at the ceiling. The remnants of her dried up tears glistened as another strike of lightning illuminated behind Ryung's shivering back. His vision quickly became obscured from the tears that watered in his eyes. "No…" He denied with a whisper.

He lifted Yuna's torso to his lap. It was as light as air. His entire body chilled as it slowly sunk into his abnormally sluggish thoughts. He planted his face on her cold chest, feeling all the strength escape from his shivering limbs. Whether it was for five seconds, five hours, or five years, he didn't care. He stayed in that position, weeping with anguish. Ryung took several onerous gasps in between his melancholy shudders of breath.

A final strike of lightning came down and lit the room at once. The afterlight lasted several seconds longer than the first two and lit up Yuna's corpse again. She seemed more beautiful than ever. It was surreal, like every other thing in this world was grey, two-dimensional. Though the light eventually did die out and the darkness reclaimed Air Temple Island. The weather seemed to finalize everything. It was Yuna's finales funkeln.

The light has gone out of my life.