-Inside the Jasmine Dragon-
"And so Lo Pan began his vile sport yet again. With news that the last piece of the Shi Phoenix all but in his grasp he made the trip to the spirit world to hunt the last two avatars...Kyoshi and Roku." explained Iroh "Even being still mortal he felt confident he was powerful he could take just one more. However there were two unexpected obstacles in his way"
"Aang and Xian right?" asked Hui "Surely they could take him right?"
"No" said Iroh "Not at this time, Aang was too weak to mount any sort of effective offense, Kyoshi and Roku knew this all too well"
"And Xian?"asked Tai "Wasn't he powerful enough?"
"While his wound was closed by Hei Bei, Xi'an was still injured and without his bow or bending and just one arrow, he was hardly in any position to protect anyone."
"So they both were too weak to face him?" asked Lan
"In a matter of speaking yes, but not for the reasons you think. Both of them have always persevered in the most dire situations.
"So how was this any different?" asked Kanna
"Yeah, was Lo Pan too powerful?" asked Hahn
"While he was very powerful, ultimately their biggest enemies, were themselves. Aang's pride and Xi'an's anger..."
Chapter 13
-The Revelations pt 1
Xi'an scoffed as Lo Pan descended from the sky of the spirit world landing at the very far end of the "Avatar orchard". Clearly the man had a flair for the dramatic, probably a self important noble that oh so annoyed the young tracker. Yet he held his ground along side Aang, knowing that the heavy fog masked their presence for the moment.
Suddenly, both Aang and Xi'an felt a strong pair of hands grip the back of their tops and drag them into a deep ditch along side the orchard. They both turned around to see Roku bringing a finger to his lips.
"Kyoshi!" Lo Pan called out his voice cutting through the mist "Come out and fight!"
Peering over the side, Xi'an looked on as Lo Pan emerged from the from the heavy mist, the crystals on his chest glowing brightly with stolen power. Xi'an eyes widened as he realized who this man was ...
The painful memories that was etched in his mind, the ones he tried so hard to forget came flooding back. The raid, the screams, the sight of his parents,the evil smile on the gray eyed man, the unbearable pain. No, not him anyone but him...
Xi'an closed his eyes, grabbing his head,trying to rid himself of the memories.
"What are you doing?" whispered Aang with annoyance in his voice "Don't tell me my guardian is afraid?"
Xi'an just glared at the avatar but said nothing "You have no idea what this monster is capable of, kid" thought the young tracker.
"Kyoshi!" taunted Lo Pan again " It's no use to hide! Your just delaying the inevitable!"
"I have no intentions of running from you" said Kyoshi emerging from the mists armed with her fans.
"Such a shame I have to fight a beauty such as you." Lo Pan teased
"Spare me your vain attempts at flattery." Kyoshi growled dropping into a fighting stance "If you wish to fight fine, but I warn you, I will not show you one sliver of mercy"
Lighting crashed overhead as the two ran at each other, their fists meeting in a savage display of power sending out huge shock waves. Kyoshi just hoped she could buy enough time for the other three to escape ...
The trip was silent as Appa flew through the air. Sokka was lost in sea of conflicted emotions, he hated to leave their new friend behind but they all agreed that if anything seemed wrong or out of place, head back and get answers... Even if you have to split heads to do it.
While Sokka might be a bit hasty to jump to ridiculous conclusions, the water tribe boy was far from stupid. The hunt was just a diversion, either to draw out someone or to keep someone away. Sokka chastised himself for not seeing it earlier. That "Sage" had some explaining to do.
After landing Appa on the eastern side of town, the three noticed that the town was eerily quiet and deserted. Sokka slowly unsheathed his sword, as did Suki while Toph covered the rear using her bending to scan the area with each footstep.
"Guys? I'm not feeling anything" said Toph "It's like everyone the whole town just disappeared"
"That doesn't make any sense" said Suki shifting her eyes side to side looking for any threat "We were gone only a few hours"
"Just keep alert guys. Something just isn't right..." said Sokka taking a knee and checking the ground . Noticing foot prints and drag marks littering the ground with a hasty attempt to cover them up. Following the trail, the three came upon the village graveyard.
"Your right Sokka" Toph said sensing the ground "Somethings not right...
The young earth bender walked over to the largest headstone and with just a flick of her wrist, ripped it out of the ground, sending it sailing into the sky over the treetops.
"Toph! Have you no sense of resp..."said Suki trailing off "HUH?"
The false headstone revealed a large flight of stairs leading down to underground lair. Shivering slightly, Sokka made the first tentative steps downward.
"I probably don't need to say this but what we don't know what to expect down there so just be on guard" said Sokka
The others nodded in agreement as they made their way downstairs...
Kyoshi struggled to her feet as Lo pan unleashed a barrage of punches to to her ribs. While a spirit could not get injured like a mortal could, thanks to the power of the Shi crystal, Lo Pan could indeed inflict a great deal of pain. The new fire lord sneered in great pleasure as he continued his assault.
"Kyoshi, you disappoint me..." taunted Lo Pan kicking the earth avatar hard into the ribs "I expected more a challenge"
"Didn't you use that same speech on Kuruk?" said Kyoshi breathing hard. Looking up, a small grim smile appeared on her face "By the way nice scar..."
Lo Pan eyes widened in anger as he lifted Kyoshi of the ground by the throat. "How dare she mock me !" thought Lo Pan as he slowly drained Kyoshi's essence
Back at the Western air temple, Kang and Pathik looked on in concern as Aang face contorted in pain as the Kyoshi statute's eyes started to dim.
Waves of pain racked both Roku and Aang as they felt Kyoshi slowly fading away. Struggling through the intense pain, with a great force of will, Aang got to his feet and raced to the rescue of Kyoshi.
"Aang, no!" yelled Roku but Aang ignored him
"Xi'an, he must not get Aang." said Roku " If he does, the avatar cycle will end, do you understand?"
"Yeah" said Xi'an "Get your dragon ready and I'll get Kyoshi and Aang"
Roku nodded and the two split up, with Xi'an running after Aang...
Sokka choked down his fear as he lead Toph and Suki down the dark stairs. Echoing through the hollow walls of underground cavern were the sounds of crying women and children. Reaching the bottom, the ducked into a small dark corner out of sight.
Peering over the side, Sokka and Suki looked in horror at sight before them. Many cages filled with the frightened villagers surrounded by the the same black armored soldiers that had relentlessly stalked attacked the group..'Howlers' as Sokka called them. Though most seemed lifeless at the moment.
"Sage! Why are you doing this to us?" asked a caged mother cradling her frighted child
"Why for the glory of the fire lord Lo Pan!" the sage smiled evilly, his eyes glowing red with "It wasn't hard to swear fealty to a man as great as he. Bestowing me with power beyond my dreams and all he asked in return was to find him loyal soldiers"
"We will never fight for this.. Lo Pan!" spat Tao the elder
"Oh you misunderstand me, Tao, I'm not asking" said the Sage " ... consider it a draft of sorts, Hei Bai threw a small kink in my plans by taking most of the better stock, but I'll manage"
Two "howler soldiers" brought in a weakened young man and chained him up on a nearby wall next to a primitive machine built of wood and crystal with a huge bladed claw on it. The poor man shook in pure fear as the Sage ranted on
"This is a arcane contraption is the key to Lo Pans unbeatable army, which all of you will soon a part of." the sage said madly "We started with spirits from the spirit wold but we found that younger more innocent spirits make more powerful soldiers"
"You are insane!" yelled the Inn keeper
"Insane?" yelled the Sage switching on the machine "One man's madness is another genius. Feast your eyes on this!"
The Sage laughed manically as the evil machine blasted out a beam of blue energy into the young mans chest. The young man howled in unspeakable and unbearable pain as his spirit was ripped from his mortal shell. His body went limp as the last of his spirit was drawn out, leaving it nothing more than an empty husk. The machine then pointed at one of the empty suits of black armor starting to infuse it with unnatural life. A small guttural moan escaped the from the helmet as its eyes started to glow, the sound slowly getting louder and louder in a great howl of relentless and torturous pain.
-CLANG-
A metal boomerang shattered the crystal, interrupting the transfer process, sending the young boys spirit slamming back into his body. Sokka didn't even give the Sage a chance to react, slamming the man into the machine while rescuing the poor traumatized boy. Suki and Toph proceeded release the the rest of the villagers from their cages leading them up the stairs.
"Sokka we gotta get out of here!" yelled Toph grabbing the boy from Sokka
From behind the Sage drew his sword slowly, inching his way toward the young water tribe boy with murderous intent in his eyes.
"Look out!" yelled Suki
Sokka spun around blocking the sword strike in just the nick of time.
"Make sure everyone is safe, you two!" yelled Sokka "I''ll deal with him"
"Ah yes. The dramatic 'save the village and sacrifice yourself to buy your friends time to escape' heroism bit?" the Sage taunted striking his blade down as hard as he could "A tad bit redundant, don't you think?
"Perhaps" said Sokka expertly parrying the Sage's attacks "but I'd prefer the 'defeat the crazy villain, escape with my life and kiss my girl'. Its a bit more appealing"
Slicing the sage's sword in half, Sokka kicked the madman into his arcane contraption, snapping the fragile controls. .The man scrambled in terror to turn it off as the energy contained in started to crackle uncontrollably. Knowing machines as he did, Sokka raced up the stairs as fast as his legs would take him. As he reached the top, a huge explosion rocked the cavern causing a huge cave in, destroying everything. Diving out at the last minute Sokka collapsed in his girlfriends arms in exhaustion.
"Sokka don't ever do that again" said Suki kissing her dust covered boyfriend
"Don't worry I wont" smiled Sokka weakly "At least its over..."
Suddenly the ground shook violently as the Sage's arm ripped through the earth. Rising from the graveyard, like zombies in those awful ember island plays, the Sage pulled himself from the earth with a small squad of 'howlers'
"Way to go Sokka" said Toph " Don't you know you're never supposed to say 'It's Over..."
Aang kicked Lo Pan's hand free from Kyoshi's neck. Weak or not, Aang vowed not to let another avatar to fall to to this man.
"My My My," Lo Pan smiled evilly "Fate must have smiled on me"
"Run Aang" Kyoshi said weakly "Your in no shape to face him now. Where is your guardian?"
"I'm not running" Aang said "AND I DONT NEED HIM!"
Aang went on the offensive swinging and kicking wildly at Lo Pan who dodged and parried each blow with expert precision.
"This is the child that Ozai had such trouble defeating? I was right to end his life" Lo Pan taunted
"You killed Ozai?" asked Aang fighting harder "You had no right! He could have been redeemed!"
"Typical of a pacifistic air bender, no wonder you are the last of your kind." taunted Lo Pan "Redeemed indeed... Did you know he plotted this whole ordeal or that ordered the death of his own son and daughter?"
Aang only fought harder but his anger clouded his mind and caused him to make mistakes. A wild kick was all the opening Lo pan needed. Side stepping the kick, he grabbed both Aang and Kyoshi by the throats. A sinister smile appeared on his face as he savored his victory, draining both avatar spirits.
The celebration was premature as a well placed kick to the face caused him to drop the avatars and go flying back skidding across the ground.
"Are you two alright?" asked Xi'an holding out his hands to the fallen avatars
"I"M FINE!" snapped Aang slapping Xi'an's hand away "I said I didn't need you!"
"Oh yeah" yelled Xi'an "Didn't look that way to me!"
While the two were arguing, Lo pan got back to his feet annoyed that this new one robbed him of his victory. Leaping to his feet the Fire lord kicked Aang into a nearby ditch and sent Xi'an flying into a tree with a vicious and loud backhand.
"I don't know who you are" Lo Pan said darkly " but I'll make you pay for meddling in my affairs"
"I know who you are, Captain" Xi'an spat back "You're the monster that murdered my parents"
"Ah... You'll have to be a bit more specific" sighed Lo Pan "I killed many during my captain days.
"The town of Hong specific enough for you?" seethed Xian
"Hong...Hong..." said dramatically scratching his head "Oh yes, the Earth kingdom port town, my finest work"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" yelled Xi'an his eyes flickering with anger
"Not a single survivor " Lo Pan taunted "I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it"
"You're not as through as you think you are" growled Xi'an "You left one alive"
"Impossible!" said the Fire Lord incredulously
Gnashing his teeth and breathing heavily, pure rage flowed as Xi'an's eyes glowed an ethereal blue as did the the crystal around his neck Lo Pan eyes lit up in realization as he saw that this boy had the one thing he wanted most...