-Inside the Jasmine Dragon-
Quite a few of Iroh's lovely young tea servers made their rounds in the now very full tea shop. However there was none of the loud boisterous chatter that was common in such a crowded environment. In fact, the atmosphere was quite serene as nobody wanted to miss a word of what Iroh was saying. While many have heard of the Hero Xi'an, nobody in the tea shop ever heard this version.
"As soon as you ladies are done making your rounds, please take a break" said Iroh kindly to his hard working staff
"Would it be alright if we could stay here and listen to the story?" asked one lovely 17 year old as she poured the kids some peppermint tea and gave each a freshly baked cookie. The boys blushed as she did so while the girls whispered to each other about how pretty the server was causing the girl to smile sweetly
"Of course" smiled Iroh
"So now Xi'an would defeat Lo Pan, right?" Asked Hui
"Actually Xi'an would find himself a slave to his own emotions " said Iroh " As I told you before Xi'an's anger would ultimately be his undoing as would Aang's pride"
"Even with all his power?" asked Tai "It always seemed that Xi'an got the upper hand when he got angry"
"Yes he did. One can draw great strength from all emotions even anger " explained Iroh "But when anger is clouded with hatred, pain and guilt, it will only lead to one's failure...
Chapter 14
The Revelations pt 2
The thunder rumbled and lightning flashed in angry sky above as Xi'an stared down the the "Firelord".
An intense hatred flowed through his entire being as murderous thoughts of vengeance played in his mind. Lo pan only smiled in amusement. To think this peasant...child could be any threat to him, Ha, what a preposterous thought.
"You have something that belongs to me" Lo pan challenged "Hand it over and I might show you mercy"
"You mean this?" Xi'an said holding up his warriors necklace " I've seen up close examples of your mercy. You want this? You'll have to kill me for it"
"I hoped you'd say that" said Lo Pan with an evil smile
Using the power of the his crystal pieces, Lo Pan shot across the the ground with incredible speed landing a powerful punch to Xi'an's face knocking him hard into a large boulder. Lo pan then started throwing vicious hits to the ribs of the the young tracker
Shaking off the pain Xi'an answered with one of his own catching Lo pan in the jaw sending him skidding across the ground. Clearing the gap Xi'an leaped on top of the "Firelord" raining down furious punches to his face.
"HOW DARE HE!" thought the Firelord angerly "HOW DARE THAT LITTLE PEASENT STRIKE ME!"
Catching one of one of Xi'an fists, Lo Pan squeezed down hard. Getting to his feet while dropping Xi'an to his knees causing the tracker to grimace in pain. Grabbing Xi'an by the throat, he lifted the boy off his feet and slammed him hard in to ground of the spirit world
"Oh yes I remember you now. The little brat that challenged me" Lo pan taunted "It was such a shame how fast your father died. Hardly a challenge, really"
Xi'an got to his feet quickly, mad with grief and anger. Breathing heavily, he gritted his teeth trying to think clearly.
"And your mother?" Lo pan continued "She put up no resistance at all. She died on her knees, begging me to spare you. It was quite pathetic, really"
Xi'an eyes widened as they flashed with Blue white energy. With a loud roar he rushed Lo Pan thinking of only destroying the Firelord. Lo pan could only smile as the young man ran toward him...
To describe the scene at the village graveyard as chaos would be an understatement. The freed villagers screamed and ran in terror leaving only the inn keeper and the village elder to help out Sokka ,Suki and Toph. With a chorus of guttural howls, the "howlers' attacked. Toph, the innkeeper and the elder being benders the three held off the black soldiers the best they could.
The sage attacked Sokka directly with a primitive sword made of sharp black rock.
"Did you actually think you'd get rid of me that easily?" Asked the sage slashing his sword wildly
"Yeah" said Sokka smiled evading the slashes easily "To be honest I did."
Their swords clashed together, in a twisted test of strength. Rolling his sword, the sage disarmed both the water tribe boy and himself sending both their swords flying to the side. Grabbing Sokka by the shirt the sage lifted Sokka off the ground with unnatural strength.
"This is for meddling in my affairs" the Sage growled pulling him close
Sokka's eyes widened as he felt a sharp ripping piercing pain in his stomach as he realized what happened. Looking down the saw the handle of a primitive rock knife sticking out of his stomach. Tossing Sokka to the ground, the Sage retrieved his sword. Enjoying the sight of the young man curled up in a ball in pain, the sage kicked him over.
"If you were a better swordsman, maybe this wouldn't happen" mocked the Sage
Sokka just closed his eyes as the sage raised his sword high then bringing it down...
Aang felt the wet tongue slobbering all over his face. Opening his eyes he saw that it was that annoying boy's dog. The small puppy whimpered and barked pointing toward the high ground where Lo Pan and Xi'an were fighting. Patting the pup, Aang started to race toward the fight only to be stopped by Avatar Roku and Kyoshi
"Aang you cannot fight him as you are" said Roku "That is why your guardian is there"
"I don't need his help!" said Aang "I can handle it myself"
Aang shrugged off Roku and raced back up the hill where Xi'an and Lo Pan were fighting. Kyoshi looked on in worry as Roku spoke to Hei Bai and Fang.
Lo Pan grabbed Xi'an's head and proceeded to slam it repeatedly into a nearby boulder. Xi'an felt extremely weak and on the verge of unconsciousness. The fight was for the most part was very one sided with Lo Pan dominating with mind games and strong strikes. Picking the boy up, he grabbed Xi'an's warriors necklace ripping it off his neck. His eyes gleamed in delight, as it glowed just like the ones embedded in his chest.
"You have no idea the power you had did you, boy?" gloated Lo Pan " Take stock in knowing that you'll lost it to the now Immortal Black Phoenix!"
"Your nothing but a common thug" said Xi'an weakly "A killer of a whole town of innocents"
"Oh are we still on that trite subject?" said Lo Pan "Well since your going to die anyway, It wouldn't hurt for you to know that is wasn't my idea to attack your pathetic little port town. Oh no, I was just the sharp sword to carry it out. A young princess Azula made the order"
"Your lying!"
"She was quite the sadistic child. Her father gave her the choice to spare it or destroy it. Well, I guess you know which one she picked. Now that you know, its time for you to die"
Before he could act ,Aang hopped over the boulder knocking Lo Pan down with a fierce kick knocking Xi'an's warrior necklace out of his hands. Kip followed behind quickly snatched it up in his mouth. Racing back to the downed Xi'an, Kip dropped the necklace near by.
Aang tried to take on Lo Pan head on with a fury of punches and kicks. But he too was just getting exhausted as the fire lord blocked and returned Aang's attacks 10 times over. Grabbing Aang by the throat he tried once again to drain the young avatar's essence. As he did Aang looked on in horror as his legs slowly formed into roots as he started to become another tree in the 'orchard'
Suddenly Aang felt himself drop to the ground a he slowly felt his legs return to normal. Looking up he saw Xi'an hold the Fire lord in a full nelson. Both of their crystals glowed brightly as Lo Pan fought to break the hold. Xi'an slammed Lo pan in to a nearby tree shattering it . Aang's eyes widened as he saw Kuruk fall out moaning in pain but otherwise okay. Xian then slammed Lo pan into another tree shattering it as well releasing Yangchen. Aang felt a great deal of strength return upon their release.
Lo Pan slammed his arms down violently,finally breaking the hold. He then spun around punching Xi'an in the face sending him landing at Aang's feet. Xi'an smiled weakly as he held up his warriors necklace. Lo pan snarled with anger at the boys impudence
"I will make you suffer for your disrespect" the Fire Lord thought angerly
However before he could do anything else, a large black and white beast with 6 arms appeared. The beast opened his mouth, releasing a brilliant white flash of light. When Lo Pan eyes readjusted, The beast, the boy, the Avatars and more importantly the third piece of the Shi phoenix were gone.
Realizing he had not only lost his chance to eliminate the avatar but also his chance at immortality, the he let out a LOUD yell of frustration.
A loud clang sound was heard as the stone sword made contact with a steel sword. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sokka smiled weakly as Suki blocked the attack with her sword. Suki saw her boyfriend go down and was by his side in a flash when she saw the Sage try to finish him. Suki blocked and parried his attacks shoving him back.
"Ha" the Sage mocked " You'd let a woman fight for you?"
"When I got a knife sticking out of my stomach...Yeah" Sokka groaned "But dont worry, I'm gonna stop your little reign of terror right now"
"Humph, you must be delirious. I have the upper hand and you are dying" snorted the Sage
"Yeah but I have this" said Sokka holding up the medallion he took when he was stabbed
The sage's eyes widened in fear as Sokka slammed the clay medallion into the ground, shattering it
Like the leaders before him the Sage felt his body consume itself with white hot fire from the inside out. He screamed in pain as the "howlers" armor collapsed as their bound spirits dispersed into the sky above. Soon the sages body just turned into small pile of ash.
Suki dropped her sword and raced to Sokka's side, cradling his head. Simultaneously yelling for a healer and begging for Sokka not to close his eyes as tears streamed from hers. Sokka felt so tired, fighting in vain to keep awake but he just couldn't. He just needed to rest his eyes for just a little bit... Just a little bit...