AMS
VARRICK'S MESSAGE
The next couple days took way too long for Quey's liking to pass. He thanked God that his home has enough food to last him for at least two years. He only needed one year here, then he could leave and live on Air Temple Island. But wait. Why couldn't he just leave now to Air Temple Island?
"If I catch you trying to leave Ba Sing Se before the designated time, then I will assume you are a traitor and put an end to you right then and there," Noatak had threatened him.
Quey knew Noatak would be able to find out given his ability to sense his heart beat. Noatak had told him that the second he feels that connection getting weaker and weaker, he will put a grip on him and kill him just before it gets any weaker.
Little did Noatak know, that a robot, built by Varrick, rolled near Ba Sing Se, used its legs to stretch over the wall and take pictures of what was going on over there. The robot ran back to Varrick with the pictures.
"I knew it!" Varrick yelled.
His wife and daughter came running over to him.
"Really? Water Tribe took over Ba Sing Se?" asked Zhu Li, shocked.
"Not just any water benders. Blood benders. How else did they completely take out the earth benders without losing a few men? We need to get this information to Tenzin immediately. Korra was able to still air bend at Amon when he was trying to blood bend her. The key to taking it back is the Air Nation. If this fails, we better hope for the new Avatar to return soon before they try to take over the world!" exclaimed Varrick.
His teenage daughter gulped.
"How come these men and women are using the gift of blood bending for evil? Don't they see what good it could do instead of bad?" asked his daughter.
"Saika, so far, you are the only blood bender to use the ability for medical purposes. Every other blood bender has used it to control others against their will," explained Zhu Li, smoothing her daughter's hair.
"Then, I want to teach them the good way!" determinedly said Saika.
"Kid, the adults are too far gone. But, maybe, once this all gets taken care of, you can take to teaching the children," suggested Varrick.
Back at Air Temple Island, Pema, Bumi, and Kya were trying to answer phone calls from other nations that were requesting help from the new Air Nation.
"I'm sorry, but we will have to put you on the waiting list. There are no air benders available at this time. But I promise, once we have available air benders, we will send them your way. Uh huh. Yes, good luck Firelord Izumi," said Kya.
"I am an air bender, but I'm just a beginner! I would do more harm than good at this stage. This is the best I can do for you. You'll have to wait like everyone else for air benders. Good bye, Chief Tonraq," said Bumi.
Once they both hung up the phones, Bumi and Kya slumped back in their seats and sighed exasperatedly.
"When is the new Avatar coming to lend a helping hand?" whined Bumi.
Pema hung up her line and swiped her forehead. She sure was thankful that the air acolytes were babysitting Rohan while his older siblings were out helping the world. He has yet to air bend, if he can air bend at all.
"Maybe he will be a nice non bender who won't blast wind in my face every five seconds," hopefully thought Pema., who then frowned at herself. "No that's the wrong attitude to have. At this point, we need more air benders. If Rohan is an air bender, he will one day help out the world with the ability! But, non benders can help the world too. Like Councilman Sokka, his wife Suki, and the Kyoshi Warriors and many other people."
"I know it's been hard you two. But hold on to hope! I heard some people in the Fire Nation talk, and they said they believe the Avatar was born in the Earth Kingdom not too long ago. Plus, next year, we will be getting a new addition to the Air Nation. You both remember Opal and Bolin's son? He's the air bender!" Pema said, clasping her hands together and smiling brightly.
Kya and Bumi's hopes were restored thanks to Pema.
"Not too long ago, eh? That means the Avatar is most likely a baby. Not old enough to help out, but it's a step in the right direction! And Opal and Bolin's son is an air bender? Well that is good news! I can't wait to see the little bugger. I bet he and Rohan will be best friends and help each other learn," predicted Bumi.
Kya smiled at the thought. A phone call broke Kya out of her blissful thought as she reached over and picked up the line.
"Hello? This is Kya, older sister of Master Tenzin, daughter of Avatar Aang," answered Kya.
The first time she answered the phone and said that, the person on the other line scoffed at her saying "If you're Aang's daughter, then you would be an air bender since all air benders breed more air benders." She had a fun time explaining how she got her mother's water bending, and how she is, in fact, Aang's daughter. It took Katara taking over the phone call to tell the person that Kya is Aang and her own daughter before Kya could even get them to talk about what they really called about. Bumi faced some similar issues, but he could get them to believe him now by saying he is an air bender, but a novice. That was all it took. Kya had to roll her eyes at how easy it was for him since Harmonic Convergence gave him air bending. Kya sometimes wished she was an air bender too, just so she could fit in with her brothers and feel like a part of Aang. But she remembered how her dad used to fondly smile at her and call her his little water bending angel. Two tears quickly rolled down her cheek as she happily reminisced those moments she had with her father when he wasn't too busy keeping the city from falling apart. She, out of all the kids, was closest to their mother Katara. Due to being the only one with water bending and being the only one who came back to live with her in Katara's time of need when Aang passed away. Kya still remembers when she had gotten the letter from Katara. She had to leave her girlfriend that she made on her life journey. She was planning on staying with her for a while, but then her father died, and she had to be there for her mother. She asked her girlfriend to come with her, to help out, but her girlfriend said that wasn't what she had wanted to do with most of her life. They had broken up and went on their two ways.
"Kya? Is Tenzin there?" asked an obnoxiously familiar voice.
"Varrick? Uh, Tenzin is around yes, but I'm not sure for how long. What do you need?" asked Kya.
"Tell him to get any air benders he can find immediately! Blood benders have invaded and already taken over Ba Sing Se!" shouted Varrick.
Kya's eyes widened. Blood benders?
"Do you know if they can blood bend without the aid of a full moon?" she asked, drawing Pema and Bumi's attention.
"Not positive, but from the photos, it seems unlikely. I theorize that they ambushed Ba Sing Se during a full moon, given that the very next day, I stopped hearing from my business partner. I think they either killed him, or he is hiding somewhere out of sight," answered Varrick.
Kya nodded, sweating.
"Wait! I got it! My daughter knows how to blood bend, and she can do it without the full moon! She's great. She's been studying on how to use it to heal people. A-anyway, I can have her teach water bender prodigies and we'll have the Air Nation as well as better blood benders take back Ba Sing Se!" shouted Varrick.
"This definitely is of the utmost importance. Okay, we will pull some of our air benders and send them to Ba Sing Se to clean it out while your daughter works on teaching others how to blood bend without the full moon. Whenever she is done teaching, that's when together, we will make our move. Thank you for letting me know, Varrick."
Kya hung up, and pressed fingers to her temples. Bumi and Pema were looking at her, silently waiting for an explanation.
"Blood benders invaded Ba Sing Se, there may not be any earth benders left in that city. We need to wait until Saika Moon teaches other water benders how to blood bend without the full moon. Then, we will pull some of our air benders from their current duties to help take back Ba Sing Se. I suggest we get Tenzin to teach the Air Nation how to do that deadly air bending move that dad warned Tenzin to only use during emergencies. Like, in life or death situations," explained Kya.
Pema recoiled. She knew exactly what Kya was talking about. The air vacuum.
"It definitely would give the Air Nation an advantage against the blood benders if they can bend without the need of a full moon. But what will they do if some of them can blood bend without it? They'll be completely still and possibly dead unless Saika and her students can break free of their grip and take them out before they have a chance to kill off our air benders. It sounds like a job only for master air benders, and right now, that's only Tenzin and Jinora," said Pema worriedly.
Kya nodded and Bumi looked grim.
"This is a big deal alright. No telling what can happen! We need to pull air benders now, and start training them to be masters, or at least train them in the air vacuum technique," added Bumi, getting startled looks from both women.
"What? When I became an air bender, Tenzin told me the same thing dad told him."
Kya looked down, sighing.
"I'm much too old to be fighting alongside the water benders, otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to join in the fight. But these bones and limbs aren't what they used to be," sighed Kya.
Katara came walking into the room, her expression heavy and grim.
"I over heard everything," said Katara, holding up her hand to pause her kids before words came out of their mouths. "Kya, when I was forced to learn blood bending, I was fighting against a woman who was much older than you and I. Go learn from Saika in the ways of blood bending. I have a hunch that at least one blood bender in Ba Sing Se is special, and that your help will be needed. The Avatar has not returned to us yet, so Ba Sing Se is going to need all the help it can get. In fact, I will come along and help Saika teach the technique."
Kya silently cried as she walked up to her mother and hugged her and Katara smiled and hugged her daughter back.
"Mommy, look! An air bender boy, doing tricks!" excitedly jumped a little girl.
If she wasn't one yet, she was going to be a blood bender in the future. To which Quey didn't know how much of a thorn in his side they were going to be. After Kya, Bumi, Pema, and Katara told Tenzin of the blood benders and Varrick's plan, Tenzin immediately called all of his best airbenders, which were only a few, to come back to the temple immediately for some rigorous training. It wasn't going to be an easy task, teaching the new air benders this deadly ability. But he knew that they would need to learn it, only to keep peace and balance in the world in the Avatar's absence.
"Yes, honey. I see. He is doing air bending for money," dully replied the woman in expensive looking blue robes.
"Can I give him some money, mommy?" asked the little girl.
Quey was filled with hope that he would get some money for his hard work. The woman handed her daughter her purse, and the little girl took out half of what was in the wallet, and placed it in Quey's jar. Quey nearly lost his composure after seeing just how much she gave him.
"Come along, Felicity," said the woman after taking back her purse.
Though he was pretty darn happy with the amount he was given, he felt like he could get more if he kept it up. Throughout the next few hours, he only got an extra seven uons. Better than nothing, he shrugged. Picking up his jar, he ran back home, running faster than the wind. He reached in the jar and pulled the money he made out, counting it.
"No way! I made over eight hundred uons! Yippee!" danced Quey.
He suddenly looked around, trying to find a spot where he can hide the money at. Then, the idea came to his mind. He dashed up the stairs, and nearly threw up from the horrid stench coming from his parent's room. He had the urge to look inside, but remembered the blood bender had warned him not to go in there.
"It's not a sight you want to see."
"Well, maybe I shouldn't. But, it's smelling so bad now! Maybe I can hire one of them to clean it?" he thought to himself.
Sighing, he went back down the stairs and went outside. He knew from watching his dad handle money to never let anyone else know exactly how much money you have. In fact, the trick is to make them think you barely have enough. He looked around, and finally saw a few blood benders sitting by a fire, talking to each other. He walked up to them, feeling slightly shy. Then they looked over at him, and nodded at him.
"Um, I don't know who it was, but a couple blood benders killed my parents a couple days ago, and they told me I shouldn't look in their room. But, the whole upstairs smells bad now, so I was wondering if any of you know who I can possibly pay to clean their room for me," explained Quey.
The blood benders looked at each other, then they all stood up.
"We can take care of it for you. How much you willing to pay?" asked one of the men.
Quey counted on his fingers to make it look like he was really trying to think of how to split the money he has.
"I don't have much, but I can pay each of you at least...ten uons each," lied Quey.
He could easily pay one hundred each and still have a lot left over, but he wasn't going to do that. The blood benders murmured to each other, and eventually they all turned to Quey and asked him to lead the way. Smiling and saying his thanks, he led them to his house and showed them to his parents' room.
All of them recoiled and gagged in reflex.
"Kid, this isn't going to be pretty. Why don't you go outside and relax by the fire until we come to you for our payment," suggested one of the women, holding her nose.
Quey quickly nodded and ran out the house to sit by the fire while the group of blood benders got to work cleaning the mess the other blood benders had made with his parents' bodies. The smell only got ten times worse when they opened the door.
Tarnok and his family were sitting in the living room, listening to the latest story on their radio when their phone suddenly rang. His adopted father got up and picked up the phone as his adopted mother turned down the radio a little bit, but not too much.
"Hello? Varrick? It's good to hear from you, bud! Huh? You need to speak with my son? What for? I see."
Tarnok had already made his way over near him, ready to take over the phone call.
"It's Varrick. Says he needs to talk to you about your rare blood bending ability."
Nodding, Tarnok grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Hi Tarnok! Listen, blood benders took over Ba Sing Se, I have pictures from my robot to prove it. Anyway, I need you to help my daughter and Master Katara teach other water benders to blood bend without the need of the full moon so we can help the Air Nation take Ba Sing Se back from those nasty blood benders. Can you come over asap? You're gonna need to pack most of your belongings. You'll be staying with us for a while," instructed Varrick.
"Oh, uh, okay. Yeah, I'll start packing and be on my way over to your estate," responded Tarnok before hanging up.
"What? Where are you going?" asked his adopted mom.
"No time to explain, but I'll be living with Varrick, Zhu Li, and Saika for a while. Talk to Varrick for more details. Love you both, bye!" hurriedly responded Tarnok as he flew around the house, packing his belongings in a suitcase.
He left out the door, and used his master water bending skills to bend him all the way to the end of the North Pole until he finally made it to Kyoshi Bridge that lead to Republic City.
"Wow. It's all covered in vines. Hmmm... that must be the building there," Tarnok marveled and pointed out to himself.
Without another moment of hesitation, Tarnok bended the water from beneath the bridge up to him to carry him to the building faster. It was a trick he had taught himself. He stood on top of an icy platform while he bended four little water wheels underneath him to move him from place to place rather quickly. People inside of Sato mobiles stared at him in awe as he fled past them all in a hurry. Tarnok frowned. So many people were leaving the city to live elsewhere.
Quey looked in his parents room. It looked and smelled clean. He handed each of the people he hired ten uons each, then he bowed to the group and they bowed back and left his home, stuffing the money in their pockets. He was about to leave the room until he saw something that caught his eye. It was a plain old newspaper, but the picture on it is what caught his eye. He looked at it. The man on the cover looked scared as he was using his water bending to propel him in the air. Then he read the title. Amon Exposed!
"Amon? Where have I heard that name before?" he muttered to himself as he studied the face. "Something about him looks familiar too. He kinda looks like that Noatak guy, except Noatak has scars on his face, and their names don't match."
He read it more, and his eyes widened as he read on down to the next picture of a giant friendly mushroom out in the water.
"No. Noatak and Amon...are the same people? A-a-and Noatak survived a boat explosion?!" he thought to himself, keeping a hand over his mouth.
Noatak felt Quey's heart rate spike, but thought nothing of it. He assumed he finally saw what had happened to his parents and slightly frowned, but quickly regained his composure.
