5.Manipulation
The pain was the worse he had ever felt, he couldn't even begin to explain. He was completely aware under the pain, he couldn't feel anything happening to his physical self, but he was consciously aware. He was about to tackle Jinora, his body had collided with hers, knocking her a few inches one way, when, bam. Something had stuck his body, all had went black, the pain was instant and violent. In the moments where the pain seemed to waver before intensifying, he would try and contemplate what was happening to him, comparing it to all the worse pain he could remember.
Being pelted with rocks by the Dai Li, bring it on.
Falling hundreds of feet and hitting multiple branches before having his feet caught in a wedged branch and hanging there for ages, love it.
Being exploded, fantastic.
Being hungover, err, I guess so.
Something must have happened to his body, there wasn't anything around him, he felt like he was floating, drifting in the darkness. Still mentally aware, he tried yelling out for someone, anyone, is this my first spirit world journey? If so, this is super lame. I hope I am not dead. The pain was now going in a pattern, pain, no pain, pain, no pain, alternating. He hoped eventually it would be no pain at all, then again he also hoped for light, something visible.
Ugh, ah, fuck, fuck, fuuuck. The pain was terrible, aching, thumping, snapping, pulsating. It was so severe it created instants of colour, then came a moment of nothing, then it was back, he didn't understand was going on, why it was happening. He tried to remember the series of events, okay, Jinora was being… Well, wonderful… Then I wanted to tackle her… Then, I, don't remember…
Arrgh, for the love of… It was official, Kai hated this spirit world trip, how could Korra and Asami possibly do this for six months?! Gah. He was so bored, he would mentally sigh, grimace and cry against the extraordinary pain, then return to the tedium of not existing. He felt like he had been, wherever he was, for hours when something finally happened. He was confused, what is that smell?
It was strong, strangely pleasant, he recognized it as he regained feeling in his extremities. Light blasted into his eyes as they slowly opened, his body still hurt, he gripped the sheets of medical bed, Kya was the first thing he saw. "Kya?" he mumbled, wanting to make sure she was actually there.
"Hey Kai." She smiled quietly, capping the lid to a small bottle of smelling salts, gifted to her from her Auntie Suki. They had worked a million times before, bring people out of hangovers, unconsciousness, and once, Aang from a spirit world trip. Kya was only ten at the time, not realising that she shouldn't be doing that. "Salts are for sickness, not bringing people back from spirit trips." Katara had smiled, rubbing her shoulder, Aang had kissed her forehead and scowled at Suki, everyone else thought it was hilarious.
"What time is it? How long have I been out?" Kai grumbled, trying to sit up. Kya let him, eyeing him cautious.
"Only an hour." She said, this time loud enough to alert Jinora and Tenzin, they were standing on the opposite side of the room talking to Lin and Suyin. All four turned and rushed towards the bed, Jinora threw herself at Kai, wrapping her arms around her neck and hugging him. He was surprised, returning the embrace and mimicking the surprised blush on her cheeks. "Everyone was worried about you." Kya smiled as Jinora realised him.
"Do you remember anything that happened to you, kid?" Lin said stepping forward as she spoke, wanting to get straight into what happened.
"No, I-I was going to tackle Jinora, you know, for… Training… Purposes…" Kai peeked at Tenzin, he didn't look impressed, "But then something hit me as I knocked into her, she stumbled back and I hit the ground. Then I was floating in some lame, boring, black space and had pain all over very few minutes, for, like, hours. It hurt, and never changed."
Everyone looked between themselves, "Huh?" a few said.
Kai shrugged, "I don't know how else to explain it…"
"Your eyes glowed for a brief moment, it was terrifying." Jinora whispered.
"Maybe I am another Avatar?" Kai shrugged, trying to lighten the tense mood around him.
"Your eyes glowed yellow, not white." Lin said, crossing her arms, heavens forbid that someone like Kai become an Avatar… One is enough.
Suyin looked at Lin before speaking, "Myself and Lin caught two men running in the opposite direction from where you were, err, hit. They had a slingshot in their hand… It look suspicious, so we trapped them on charges of 'trespassing', they were pretty far away from the plateau though... We need you to see if you recognise them, I believ-" Tenzin and Lin cleared their throats in synchronization, "We believe that they could have something to do with it… Maybe hit you with a dart or something?"
"What type of dart would cause a glow?" Lin said impatiently, "And there was nothing found on the mountain top…"
"Maybe a spirit ran into you by accident?" Kya mumbled, "You know, like, accidently bumped into you? If possessing can kill… Maybe bumping can injure?"
"A spirit running into me would be more likely than a dart. Maybe I trode on a spirit..." Kai said, "Why would someone randomly track down the airbenders just to poison one? And not even an important one…"
"You are important." Jinora smiled softly, Kai returned her smile.
Lin ignored them, urg, young love, "Well, it beats me, kid. But all we know, is that when Su and I went on our walk, they ran right past us and looked guilty as hell when we stopped them."
"Well, whatever keeps everyone happy, Chief." Kai said, gripping the sheets as pain stirred softly in his chest.
…
The excited murmurs travelled through the crowd of people, all eager to see the results of the two individual's mission. The master stood tall, everyone become visibly uncomfortable when the spirit, Bú Yi, hovered next to him. They knew the abilities Bú Yi had when it came to possessing and controlling a fellow spirit or human's body, this made many worried that it might try it on them. The master held the pendent high in the air, he addressed the congregation, "My friends, our time has finally come. Youi and Naiwa have succeeded in bonding the spirit to the young master. Our ally here has felt the surge of power that comes with possession, and now, we are on the inside." They clapped politely, all feeling the exhilaration of this first of many successes. "Let us test our insight." The man smiled at Bú Yi, an image appeared on the pendant, this time, all could see.
…
"These are the men we caught, Kai." Suyin said, leading them in with her sister. They were chained, Kai studied their features, he glanced at Jinora habitually.
"Do you recognise them?" Tenzin asked.
Kai was about to answer with a 'no', but suddenly pain struck through his chest and head, he couldn't react to it, trapped inside his own body. What the fuc- "Yeeu! Neena! Of course I know these guys, lady!"
…
The master's face crinkled in fury when, through the eyes of the possessed, he saw the intended target. "Who is Kai?!" the master growled, hearing one of the women speak his name, "We were after the girl! The master!"
Bú Yi rolled its eyes, "Your imbeciles must have struck the wrong subject."
The tall man with the arrows, the other master, Master Tenzin from memory, was addressing the subject, Kai. "Do you recognise them?" he said, the eyes of Kai moved across to Youi and Neiwa, the master scowled. He only had a few seconds to react, they would notice if he took too long to reply.
"Give me the control." The master snarled, Bú Yi floated forward and instructed the master to place his thumb in the centre of the pendant, giving him control over Kai's physical self. He thought about what he wanted Kai to do, and how to act, Kai's voice repeated as it played out in the master's mind, "Yeeu! Neena! Of course I know these guys, lady!"
…
Youi and Naiwa looked confused, it didn't take long for them to realise that the master was speaking for Kai. They were relieved, responding to the random teenager as if they were old friends, "Kai!" Youi smiled, remembering the name from when the police woman's apparent sister had spoken it, "Long time no see, friend."
"Must've been a few years." Naiwa said, he had a lot less confidence than his partner.
"How are the wife and kids? Is your eldest still as pretty as ever?" Kai said, his entire physical self was in pain, there was no control, his mental self was screaming and trying to fight against the intrusion, what is happening?! What is in me?! He could feel Jinora look at him when he mentioned a pretty girl, her eyebrows furrowing. What he didn't know, was that Jinora was more confused about the strange spiritual energy. Lin was scowling from being called 'lady', he felt his body lean back against the head of the bed, it was against his conscious will, he tried again to cry out, nothing.
"She misses you, Kai. Anui talks about you all the time." Youi smiled, at this, Jinora raised an eyebrow in irritation. Naiwa scowled lightly, Youi had used his wife's name for his pretend daughter, "See, ladies? This is just a big misunderstanding, we recognised him and we were about to go see him, then realised that sneaking was not the best approach."
"Then why did you run?" Suyin asked, "And a slingshot was in your hand?" she questioned while crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well, two fine, fit woman are chasing us?" he smiled smoothly, "What can I say, I didn't know you were both 'friendly'."
There was a pause, "The slingshot?" Lin prompted.
"Hunting, you know, for… Animals." Naiwa said nervously, trying his hardest to be smooth, impromptu was not his thing.
"So, you do know these two guys, Kai?" Lin asked, looking straight at Kai. Both Lin and Suyin knew they were lying, but Kai was responding to them, perhaps nervous about being caught? They both thought to themselves.
No! No, I don't know who they are! Lin, HELP ME! PLEASE?! "Yes, of course I do!" his body smiled against his will, it was terrible, crushing.
He tried to hold Lin's eyes, praying that she could somehow see the pain in his. She just huffed and turned away, impatient with, what she suspected, was a slight charade, "They seem like the type of people you would mingle with in your past…" She unclasped the cuffs from the men and placing them back on her belt, stepping back beside Tenzin.
"Well, we would love to stay, Kai, another day perhaps? Maybe when you feel better?" Naiwa said, eager to get out of there, knowing that the master would cover them.
"Yeah, I actually am feeling pretty weak. If you remember seeing anyone else suspicious, make sure to tell this lovely police lady." A cheeky Kai smirked, Lin raised an eyebrow.
"That is Chief to you, kid." Lin snarled, watching the two men leave, something isn't right.
…
Kai was alone in his medic bed, Kya had gone to get some food for herself, thinking he was sleeping. Really, he was just waiting for the severe pain again, preparing for it, wanting to know what set it off. Maybe I was dreaming? How else could I be staying something without wanting to? It doesn't make sense. He opened his eyes when he was sure Kya was gone, he clicked his tongue, the sound echoed. No pain… Is kinda gain. He thought carefully, he opened his mouth, "Jin-or-a. Jinora," maybe speaking doesn't have anything to do with it… It took him a moment to realise that of all the words he could have chosen, it was her name. He smiled softly, momentarily forgetting that something was seriously wrong with him.
He thought he would try again, taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth, "Jin-or-arrrrggghhhhh!" the pain was sudden, he groaned as he was forced into a sitting position, "What the fu-arghh!" he tried to yell for Kya, Jinora, Tenzin, Lin, Korra, somebody. Anybody. His mouth was now closed, he couldn't even groan or hum, his hand reached for the piece of paper and one of Kya's special sharpened charcoal pieces beside his bed, he tried to stop.
His hand wrote slowly, he grunted against it as he watched his arm work against him, scrawling the words in handwriting that looked nothing like his own. He read the words back to himself, horror creeping into his mind, he had never felt this way. Physically sickened, yet with no control, the calligraphy began to form full sentences, he read, reacting internally to it all.
If he could have widened his eyes, he would have.
If he could have gasped, he would have.
If he could have cried, he would have.
"To keep this to the point, you are now a vessel, our vessel. We will be watching, we control you until we complete what we aim to complete. If you tell anyone, we will take their lives, using your own hands. We will meet."
At first he tried to calm himself, thinking of a million different ways to blurt it out, shout it to the whole population of the temple. Could his will power alone stop them from taking over his body to such an extent that he would take a life, or he could just be able to tell them to run away as soon as he finished saying what he had to. He tried again to calm himself as he reread the script over and over, I can do this. He kept his hand firmly on the page, Kya will return soon… She will see and she will help. She would kick my ass from here to Republic City if I tried to fight her… The pain returned quickly, shooting through his chest and down his arm, his head turned involuntarily towards the candle beside his bed. His fingers gripped the paper from his lap, lifting it.
No… He knew what was about to happen, he groaned loudly inside his own mind, almost yelling with the amount of effort.
The pain intensified, it was like he wasn't even trying, useless, persist.
NO! NO! NO! The hand hovered above the candle, the paper rippling softly from the heat currents rising from the flame as Kai's hand lowered it. It began to burn him slightly, it was like he had no will power at all, the pain crushed through his being. He wished that something would end it all for him, he didn't want to live like this forever. He groaned once more, a final feeble attempt to save the only evidence that would even begin to physically explain what is happening to him. Nothing, he felt something break inside his mind, as the paper caught alight.
If he could speak, he wouldn't dare.
…
"I initially viewed your screw up of the simple task as a failure…" the master said, rumbling softly. Youi and Naiwa glanced at each other, equally nervous and terrified at what might become of them, their only solace being that the master had used the word 'initially'. "But I think we have been gifted with an extraordinary opportunity here, gentlemen." Bú Yi smirked as he spun his body into a larger version of the pendant, allowing all in the small room to see it clearly, Kai sat in the infirmary bed, his hand being forced to burn the letter they had made him write to himself. It began to burn his own hand, as the letter was nothing but a charred corner, they decided to give him a break. They could hear him sobbing quietly as they returned to him momentary control over his physical being, he brought his hands to his face, wiping the tears from his eyes and stopping his nose from dripping.
Bú Yi screwed up its face, "Humans are disgusting, always dripping with some form of liquid…"
"Master," Youi said softly, watching as the teenager's body convulsed gently while he sniffed, "What is the opportunity?"
The master looked annoyed, as though Youi had missed something important and painfully obvious, "He may not be a master yet, but he has something that not even we could conjure, that something gives him such a level of control over our original target…" he trailed off in amazement, "That master, that little woman, Jinora will do anything for that boy, I doubt even he knows the level of power he as over her. True, it could have worked the other way, but," he turns and watches through Kai's eyes, as he stares sadly at his own hands, hands that the master controls, "We can take them all out with our new weapon, and this seems more likely, the master seemed too perfect… No one would believe it if she slaughtered anyone, while this boy, he seems to have a past..."
Someone asked quietly, "How are you sure we have this advantage?"
He smiled in a way that is so astute, so cruel, that Youi and Naiwa are terrified for what they have done. "Because they are in love…"
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