I am very excited to present to you this chapter- please give me some feedback in the comment section. -Peace. The Evenstar.
The sun was just going down over Air Temple Island. Tenzin and Aang were sitting on the floor of a sitting room, lotus style, meditating- as per usual. Katara was sitting with them, fidgeting slightly, and Lin sitting on a puffy couch brushing out her hair.
"I just can't do it Aang," Katara said exasperatedly, "you and Tenzin can sit here for hours and just be still, but there's just too much to do. We could be doing so many other things…"
Tenzin opened one eye and sighed, "mother- you can go lounge with Lin if it's really that hard."
Aang just smiled to himself keeping his eyes closed.
"Seriously Katara- airbenders are strange, just come over here and have some juice," Lin said, smiling.
Suddenly Toph burst through the door, covered in grime and panting heavily.
"Toph!" Aang exclaimed, running over to help her in, "what on earth is wrong?"
"Get out of here Aang- take Katara and Tenzin, go and stay with Kya maybe. He's too fast- far too fast," she said eyes wild.
Aang couldn't comprehend what could possibly make her run, "Toph what on earth do you mea-"
There was a loud bang and Aang could barely make out two throwing daggers heading straight for him.
"No, Aang!" Toph called out and jumped in front of him barely managing to knock him over, but she did not manage to get herself out of the way in time.
She fell to the floor with a loud cry.
"Toph!" Katara cried and ran over to her, hands already glowing with water.
"Get…out…of…here," she said wearily.
Aang bent his staff over to him and armed the entrance. He could barely make out a very large form or a man bolting towards them. He began to spin it around to create a gust strong enough to fend him off.
"Katara- take Toph and run. Lin you too. Tenzin- I need your help," he said.
That's when they saw him, jumping high above the vortex of air and that was the first time they saw that smile- absolutely terrifying in its calmness, and wide with hysteria.
Katara assessed the situation quickly and sent a surge of energy into her hands speeding the healing process, "Lin take your mother and run-NOW."
Lin nodded, scooped up Toph and ran off towards the interior of the temple.
During this exchange Tenzin corrected his father's oversight and sent a strong gust of air towards the man, flinging him backwards hard against the island terrain.
"Good work Tenzin, we need to lead him away from the temple- the acolytes would never withstand a fight," said Aang quickly.
"The caves on the lower section," said Katara and turned them towards it, "there's water very close, and maybe we can wash him out Aang."
Aang nodded.
They made it quickly to the caves and immediately formed a point, Aang at the center, Tenzin to his left and Katara on his right.
"Tenzin," he began, "don't lose focus. This isn't like the trials that you and I have run through- this is for real. He won't spare you so don't let him get the opportunity."
"I'm focused father," he said in response, widening his stance as proof.
Aang then turned to Katara, her eyes were focused, and he knew that he didn't need to remind her of anything. He simply smiled at her.
By the time he turned his head back, he was there.
In the mists of the cover that Katara had drawn up a huge figure loomed, the young moon shining over his shoulders.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Aang called out. His voice steady, resolute.
Suddenly the man was before him. "You," he said.
In a move so fast Aang was scarcely aware of what was happening the man threw multiple daggers from his hands, pinning Katara and Tenzin to the back of the cave wall. Katara's head was thrown against a jutted edge of the cave wall and hung immediately- her eyes closed. Tenzin was shocked but unharmed save a few scratches.
"Katara!" Aang yelled, turning to get her when the man grabbed his shoulder.
"Oh no, Avatar- I need your attention."
Aang looked back at him- his eyes blazing.
"I'm much faster than even that, Avatar. I have a blade here that could slit your wife's throat in seconds if I wanted to. Or maybe your precious son- the airbender?"
He froze on the spot, unwilling to let the man find any reason to harm them, "What do you want with me? Let them go- you can have it," he said angrily.
"Do you know the meaning of the word leverage, Aang?" he said, "I do. The name's Kurei by the way- and I wouldn't let them go for all the money in the world."
Aang's face hardened, "you don't know who you're messing with Kurei," he said as his eyes and tattoo's flashed.
Suddenly a dagger out of nowhere impailed itself right below his collarbone and shoulder, followed by a second one in exactly the same place, lodging the first one deeper into his flesh.
"Aagghhh," he cried out, falling to his knees, and clutching his right arm.
"I don't think so Avatar- better not jump into the avatar state when I'm around," Kurei said with a sneer.
"Dad!" Tenzin yelled. Panic rose within him and he found that he could bend the air in the small places around the daggers holding his robes to the walls. With an extra push he managed to eject them and send them flying to towards Kurei, missing him completely yet catching him off guard.
Tenzin rushed over to his father, grabbing his upper left arm to help him up. Aang stumbled and leaned against him, but managed to pull himself up.
Aang glanced at Katara, out cold against the wall, "Tenzin, help your mother." He waited for Tenzin to get to her limp form and immediately created an earthen barrier to keep them in.
"No!" He could hear Tenzin shouting, banging on the thick walls; feel the disturbance as he sent sharp gusts of air at them. He felt old. Weakly he said, "I don't understand. I-I just don't understand. What do you want? What do you want with me?"
"Want with you?" Kurei said with a laugh. "I don't want anything to do with you. There's no motive here Aang. Nothing for you to fix. There is no happy ending. I just want control- for once I want control. I'm tired of the endless laws you and your peons try and impose on us. We have no freedom anymore, I want Republic City in the hands of my men- and you are the last thing standing in my way. Nothing personal, avatar, it could have been anyone. The fact is I just want you gone. Not away to never return, I want you dead."
Kurei was inches from Aang's face now, his features were set, daring the avatar to make a move, despite the threat Aang's grey eyes were unwavering and a single motive occupied his mind. I can't let him hurt them…
"Then you will leave my family alone? If I give in," he asked slowly.
Kurei's eyes, bright blue, ice cold, narrowed. He thought for a moment, "You have raised a family of warriors...surrounded yourself with such accomplished friends as the Beifongs, I would be a fool to let them live. Let them revenge you as soon as you're gone? How stupid do you think I am Aang?" He stepped forward and placed a finger on the long gash near the avatars shoulder, adding pressure, watching Aang struggle to keep his composure.
"Where are they now Aang? Where is this family that you've created? You've lost your family once already haven't you? Ran away like the coward you are. Well this time you will watch," he produced daggers out of nowhere that pinned Aang to the wall, and Kurei turned on heel towards the earthen box that held Tenzin and Katara.
"Stop this, Kurei," Aang pleaded, "they have nothing to do with this!"
Suddenly the front wall to the box was thrown in two, a young woman's voice called out from the distance,
"Now, Tenzin!"
Tenzin burst forth with the most power Aang had ever seen him create. The air making his robes billow around him furiously, the loose rocks on the dirt floor trembled. He pushed Kurei over to the side of the room.
"You will stop now," he said holding his hand close to Kurei's throat and pushing him further against the wall, "I will end this."
"Tenzin!" Aang cautioned.
"You can't," Kurei said, laughing throatily as he gasped for air, "You're governed by your silly rules, the teachings of infancy that your pacifist father created. You wouldn't let your father down- the man you idolize. Or would you? The only question Tenzin is: what will you do?"
Tenzin's hold weakened when he looked past Kurei and saw his father, holding his arm, blood streaming down. He saw the slightest shake of his head, a reminder.
There was a loud rumble as Lin created an earth slide from her view in the top portion of the cave, slid down and immediately created hand and ankle cuffs from the wall around Kurei's body and holding her hand in a fist threateningly.
"He doesn't have to, Kurei," she said, "I assure you though; I was taught no such restraint. You shouldn't have brought my mother into this, and especially not my boyfriend."
Tenzin moved in front of her, and grabbed her hand, his eyes imploring her to stop.
"Stop, Lin…for me," he said.
"My mother is injured," she yelled, "your mother and father too. How can you not care?"
"I do care, but this is not the right way to handle it," he replied stiffly, "he's held now- you've made sure of that."
Kurei laughed, "Yes Lin, listen to your pacifist boyfriend."
Lin held her glare at Tenzin, and then abruptly ripped her forearm from his hands.
"Fine."
She turned her back to Kurei and began to head towards Katara who was revived and managing to get up to her knees, when she felt a disturbance in the earth. The cuff holding Kurei's right arm to the wall was being worked at…from the inside…
She had only seconds, she turned abruptly and pushed Tenzin out of the way. Kurei's hand, with two daggers in between his fingers missed its mark but managed to clip the side of Lin's face. She received two deep gashes ranging from her cheek to her jawbone. She fell to the ground with a grunt, holding her face in her hands as the blood began to spill forth.
Aang was slow without the use of one arm but managed to create an earthen coffin and reclaim Kurei to the side of the cave wall. He quickly opened the area around his nose to let him breathe, making sure to keep his mouth covered, listening to his ramblings was not on his list of things to do at that moment.
"It's over, Kurei," he said, exhausted.
Tenzin was tending to Lin, attempting to staunch the blood and applying pressure with bits of his robes that he had torn off.
Aang turned and found Katara, holding herself up against the wall and attempting to heal herself with the water from her flask.
He quickly made his way to her, "Let me help you," he said. Pain in his arm forgotten, he used both hands and expertly moved the water to the hard-to-reach bump on the back of her head, "you'll be fine, sweetie. It's already almost gone. Does it feel better?"
She nodded and noticed his blood soaked upper body, "Oh, Aang- your shoulder," she immediately began to try and stop the worst of it, but he grabbed her hand.
"Lin needs more immediate attention," he said pointedly, "I'll just sit for a minute and rest." He bent up a stump to sit on and leaned against the wall.
Katara's eyes filled with water but she managed to blink it back. She kissed his head and quickly turned on heel to tend to Lin.
"Good work Tenzin," she smiled at her young son, "Lin, this will be better in no time, I can't guarantee there won't be a scar though, and these cuts are very deep."
Lin scoffed quietly, wincing at the pain, "I wasn't going to enter any beauty pageants this year anyway. "
Katara sighed and turned to Tenzin, "help her up to the temple and find an acolyte to tend to her. Lin you're to go directly to lie down. The force of the trauma will cause some headaches. ..No buts!" she added as she saw her open her mouth to protest, "Tenzin you have to find Toph- bring her there too. I expect she'll need more attention. You know what to do until I get there."
"But- father…" he said solemnly glancing over at the other wall, "and are you sure you're alright mother? You took quite a hit."
"Don't worry- we'll call Appa after I help your dad- now go so I can start," she didn't wait for protests, rather turned on her heel and quickly ran over to Aang to begin work on his shoulder.
Tenzin scooped Lin up gingerly.
"I can walk on my own you know," she said grumpily.
"I know," he said seriously, "but we'll move faster if you don't."
They made their way out and Tenzin stopped, resting a hand on his father's good shoulder.
"I'll send word to the police to collect Kurei, and a message to Uncle Sokka to return immediately. Is there anything else you want me to do?" he asked.
"That's fine Tenzin, thank you," Aang said through gritted teeth.
Tenzin looked up at his mother, who seemed to be so wrapped up in what she was doing that she didn't notice the conversation at hand. He wanted to say more in that moment, how glad he was that they were alive, how scared he was of losing his family…but he pressed on and left them alone.
When Aang was sure that he was out of earshot he said, "Exactly how bad is it?"
"I'm not sure how you managed to move at all. It was completely out of socket and there were bits of blade left in, it seems to have poisoned the tissues inside, as if it was toxic," she glanced up at the earthen form that was Kurei, "I could end him right now."
"Katara…" he said exasperated.
"I didn't say I will, Aang, but I damn well could," she responded, "I just want him to hear that."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes as Aang gritted his teeth and she worked the toxins out of his arm.
"Where are the police? We need to get back- I'm sure Toph and Lin will need me. Toph especially if she was hit with the same type of blade that you were," she mused, "there- I think that has it. Can you move it for me Aang?"
He was able to- although stiffly.
"It might take some time to regain full movement," she said, "but that's good."
He gingerly lowered his arm and rolled it backwards a few times.
"Thanks sweetie," he said, kissing her lightly, "you had me scared there, but the damage seems to have healed up mostly. Headache?"
"Pounding…but I'm not the one that got hit with a poisoned blade. You sit here. I'll find them."
"But I-"
"I said SIT, Aang," she interjected sternly and walked towards the cave entrance.
Aang pouted and waited for her return.
Eventually he lifted his eyes to the encapsulated form of Kurei, who had been oddly quiet.
"I hope you find peace, Kurei," he said, "I can't guarantee your life and I certainly don't see any form of power for you for that matter. Just know that it is one thing to threaten me, I'm used to it, but if you ever consider hurting my family again you will be very surprised at just how much fight an old monk still has in him."
He stood walked slowly over to him, moving the earth away from Kurei's eyes.
He stared into them intensely, "I hope you understand me. Very. Surprised."
To be continued...