Chapter Five: Contemplation
A figure was sitting inside a circle of candles, cross-legged, meditating.
So far, one of his plans was going without a hitch, his foresight had not failed him, and he was more than able to keep his targets on edge, their mental condition deteriorating as he proceeded. Soon, he will be able to enact the final stage of the plan and finally eliminate the two girls he was sent after. He breathed in slowly, breathing out through his mouth.
This plan, however, was one of two parallel plans, each one depending on the other's failure. One plan, the plan that progressed perfectly so far, was his plan to kill Katara of the Water Tribe and Toph Bei-Fong, otherwise known as the Blind Bandit.
The other however, was a plan to save said individuals, and perhaps even offer his aid in taking the Fire Princess Azula off their backs. He had hoped, in his conversations with Toph, that she would say something, anything, that would demolish his indecision once and for all. This plan was flawed, and his foresight would not be able to assist him in its completion.
He had confronted his Waterbending target briefly, mainly in order to test her reactions, for even despite watching her, he had not yet seen her fight. As brief as the encounter was, it allowed the assassin to learn much about the Waterbender, and the Avatar.
The Waterbender was driven, by what, he did not know. But she was as determined as he had ever seen someone, she had managed to keep a level head even in the face of a lethal situation, and he had no doubt that she was a force to be reckoned with.
The Water Tribe warrior, the bender's brother, he seemed a capable fighter, and a rather intelligent person, other than being a complete fool at times, but as Azula had said, he posed no threat to their missions.
The Avatar… The assassin was excited at the prospect of meeting the last known Airbender, ecstatic even, he could not resist the urge to fight him. While the fight was short, the Avatar had displayed knowledge in the arts of Earth and Air bending, and undoubtly; he had already learned the art of Waterbending. The assassin rather hoped he would have a chance to face the Avatar in battle again, the chance to study him and observe the art of Airbending in full.
Azula, his contractor, a magnificent Firebender - According to hearsay and from what the assassin had learned from his associates in the Fire Nation, who had arranged for his first meeting with her, she was a magnificent leader, calm, precise, and deadly. The meeting with her only increased this impression of her, her choice of assistance might seem to be doubtful, with what seemed to be one rather lacking-in-enthusiasm servant and another lacking-in-intelligence servant, but their skill and loyalty were unmatched, everything about her displayed the future Fire Queen of the Fire Nation.
The boy, the young and apparently fearless child clinging to the Avatar's group… He was an obstacle, serving only to hinder the assassin's plan and make it that much more difficult for him to go through with it. The boy has his uses, serving to confuse his primary target, Toph, but he is now proving to be quite an encumbrance. Howver, he is a crucial part of both of the assassin's plans, and therefore he must not be removed… yet.
Toph Bei-Fong, the blind girl has mastered her own style of Earthbending; it would possibly be a great advantage for her, if she had not been the Blind Bandit. For the assassin had watched her in the ring enough times to learn her style and now, adjust himself to it. She had wisdom in her, and despite her tough demeanor, she had her soft spots, especially when it came to her blindness. When the assassin limited her vision, he could sense that she was in real distress.
All in all his orders would not be difficult to complete, in fact, he should be able to complete them in relative ease. The question was, of course, whether he wanted to or not.
In his mind's eye, the image of Azula swam into focus.
"You've failed, assassin." She declared coldly, "You didn't complete your mission."
"I have not failed," He spoke to her, "I need more time to execute my plan."
"You've failed, and now you must face the consequences." She replied, smiling maliciously and coldly at him.
"I have not failed!" He called, and the circle of candles burned high above his sitting body, flames blazing in the air.
The image of Toph then swam to his mind, looking sternly at him, disappointedly, as though he had done something beneath himself.
"You've failed, call it any way you want to, but you failed. You didn't fail me, Firebender, you failed yourself and you know it."
This time, he had no answer to offer, no defense against these accusations, so he remained silent.
Then, his own image swam to him, standing quietly and staring at some invisible object.
"I'm not sure if my orders are really worth it." He said, yes, he had not yet decided whether his orders were really worth it: The loss of a personal hero, his self respect, and his passion.
He took another deep breath, and released it through his mouth, sighing, and letting the frustration flow from his center, through his breath, outwards.
He imagined himself standing at a parting of the roads, both roads would lead him to a place he had never been in, and from this point down the road, he could not see what that place would be. Both roads demanded a toll, the same amounts, but in different currency.
One of those roads would be right for him, the other would be wrong. Which road however, should he take? Which price should he pay?
He knew that once he started on one of these roads, there might be more junctions from which he could choose, and if he did not like the outcome, he could try and return here, to this junction. But the return trip would be much harder, and twice as lengthy, as picking the right road now. And he might not have the time to make it, should he choose the wrong one.
The candles ceased their blazing, and calmed down as he focused, trying to feel what his heart desired for him. But his heart stayed ambivalent, the decision is up to him.
For the moment, he decided to step off the road, and as he did so, the vision faded.
It was time to get back to work…
000
The sun had just risen past the treetops, and though on any other day, the village would be bustling with activity, today it was silent. Toph didn't seem to like that at all.
"Open up you chicken-hogs!" She yelled, banging her fist on the door of the village's elder. Sokka, who refused to let her go alone, was standing behind her, staring dully at the walls of the house.
"He's not gonna open the door Toph." He said boringly, rubbing one eye with his hand.
"That's good, because I've been dying to smash something all week!" Toph exclaimed, and almost instantly the door opened, to reveal a rather portly elder, wearing a straw hat.
"Please go away, we can't be seen talking to you." He said urgently, looking around nervously.
"What do you mean you can't be seen talking to us?" Sokka interrogated, sending him an angry glare.
"I'm sorry… I can't…" And at that he closed the door, just to have it smashed by Toph.
"Oh yes you can, if you know what's good for you." She threatened, sending him a stare that removed all doubt from his heart that she was bluffing.
"A Firebender was here, he asked us not to come out, or we'll get hurt… He said that if we talk to you or contact you in any way he'll kill us all, you have to leave, please!" The old man pleaded, looking so frightened that even Toph softened up, she and Sokka left without another word, so the villagers were all in on what was going on. And that's why no one helped Aang and Katara when the assassin attacked. It made Toph furious to the point where she considered saving the assassin the trouble of burning the village. She wondered what the Kingdom's Patrols would say if an avalanche appeared on a flat terrain.
On their way back to the rendezvous point they set with Aang and Katara, Toph suddenly asked.
"Sokka, did Li say anything when you came in yesterday, when I slept?"
"Umm, nothing about you, he said he was gonna try to find the assassin again, but nothing about you. Though," Sokka said thoughtfully, and by the vibrations he made on the ground walking, Toph could sense him tapping the side of his chin, "he did look weird, kind of like you've been when you were distracted. Why, something happened?"
"No, I was just wondering, that's all…" Toph answered falsely, Sokka seemed to sense it, but said nothing.
"Whatever it was, it seemed to do wonders for your fevers. If only Aang and Katara weren't so stubborn, we could already be on our way."
"Well Mister Charity, it's our fault these people don't have water anymore, don't you think it's our responsibility to fix that?" Katara's irritable voice sounded, as they were approaching the rendezvous point, the village well. Aang and Katara were transferring what was probably the hundredth blob of water from the nearby river, trying to replenish the village's water supply.
"She's right Sokka, besides; I thought we decided that we're supposed to bring the fight to the assassin?" Aang asked, not looking away from the water he was bending.
"Well, unless that dim-witted kid…" Sokka started, causing Katara, Aang and even Toph to roar in protest.
"Don't call him dim-witted!"
"He's a good kid!"
"He's been more helpful than you have!"
Sokka sighed in frustration, "Regardless to what he is, we can't do anything unless he finds that assassin, if he finds the assassin, for all we know, he is…" But then he was cut off again, this time only by Aang and Katara.
"That's impossible Sokka."
"You said the assassin didn't sound anything like him."
"Wait." Toph suddenly interrupted, then she looked straight at Sokka, "He knew Sokka would be the one to follow him. He planned it all along."
"Huh?" Sokka sounded confused by the last statement, not understanding why it mattered that it was him.
"He knew that only Sokka and I would suspect him, and when he left to get his pig rat, he led Sokka on a wild chase, to a place he knew Sokka would be able to hear his conversation with Azula, but also a place where he wouldn't be able to see them." She theorized, standing solidly and thinking hard.
"It was important to him that Sokka would hear him, so he could fake his voice, but if I was there, I'd recognize his voice anyway, because my hearing is much more sharp."
"Toph that's crazy, you don't know that." Katara said, but Toph shushed her with a look.
"Think, Katara. If he was just going to get his pig-rat, then why did he make it seem as though he wanted Sokka to lose him? When the assassin attacked us, he made that fire wall to ensure that we couldn't see if Li was standing there or not, but we could hear him!"
"But Toph, the assassin attacked from a whole different direction, and he would never have had time to change his clothes and get to where he was fast enough so me and Aang won't see him.
Toph knew it was the only obstacle on her path, it frustrated her, the whole thing about him being so fast, but then it came to her, clear as day, and enlightenment lit her face like the sun.
"He stole Aang's Airbending! Of course! That's how he got there so fast! While Aang was unconscious, the Firebender stalled by talking to you, and when he bended the energy out of Aang, he took off! It's got to be it!"
Katara hesitated, and it was apparent in her movements and voice, she never truly believed this whole, bending thief thing when Toph told her about it, it seemed too weird.
"I… maybe…." She said unsurely.
"Toph, you should really let it go, Li isn't the assassin, if he was, he could've killed you in your sleep yesterday, or many times before that." Aang stated.
"No… he's not an assassin… he's a killer, he always gives his targets a fair fight. He wouldn't kill me in my sleep, nor would he kill me when I was in fever, blinded, or in any way not at my full strength. Ugh! It's so frustrating! I feel like I'm this close to cracking this, but I can't figure out how it all pieces together, how a twelve years old kid from the fire nation would be their best assassin, and why, if he is an assassin, he would have morality problems. It doesn't make sense!" She let out angrily.
"Toph, maybe you should take your mind off it? It'll only make you more confused." Aang suggested, and suddenly looked crestfallen.
"And I was just starting to think that I've gotten that little bit of trust I was hoping for." Li said, leaning on a building behind Toph. She was so distracted, she couldn't feel him.
No, he just knows how to get past my sight.
The thought unnerved her, but it sounded just right.
"Do you even know why I hang out with you guys? So I could get to know you. Not the avatar, not the Waterbender, you. That's all I ever wanted, but what do I get? A rock to the chest, countless insults, and now you're talking about me behind my back." His voice was shaking with anger and frustration, "And you know what? I don't care if that Firebender gets you!" He yelled, fleeing the scene.
Even Toph's blindness couldn't halve the impact of Katara's deadly stare. Aang was silent, and Toph could just imagine him looking at her sadly. Sokka was constantly shifting his weight from leg to leg, seeming quite abashed himself.
He finally spoke, very quietly and carefully, "I don't think that was acting…"
If it was acting, then it was on a level Toph has never seen before, she couldn't think of what to say, everything almost made sense, but he sounded so heartbroken. How could it be? Unless he really believes he's not the assassin.
But he's not. He's a killer, not an assassin.
The thought made her spine prickle and her hair to stand on end. He seemed too sincere to be lying, but Toph's intuition screamed at her that she was, how could she trust anything now? The assassin kept doing that to her, driving her out of her mind, making her think like everything fits, just to smash it up again. Like someone holding a string tied to a coin, and whenever she tries to pick it up, they pull it away.
That assassin was a genius, and he was going to bring her to the point of breaking before killing her. Just to that point, because if he brought her past it, then it wouldn't be a fair fight… he wasn't trying to break her fighting spirit, he was trying to make her err, and he'd be there waiting when she did.
She closed her eyes tightly and wished, no prayed that it will be over soon, one way or the other…
Author Note:
Hey everyone! Cursor here, just wanting to say I'm delighted that you're all enjoying the story! From the reviews I received it seems that you really are. Though, if I could ask those of you who enjoy this story to also leave a comment or two, on an aspect that can be improved, some mistake you've noticed, or any constructive criticism, I'd be delighted to receive it. This is Cursor, signing off for now. (Whoo mental torture!)