Tahni's eyes slowly opened to the sound of fires still going. His head felt awful. He slowly sat up, despite his roaring headache. As he placed a cold-to-the-touch hand on his right temple, his sight came into focus.

Everyone around him was dead.

Tahni realised he had fallen unconcious next to a dead body. The face of the dead Red Lotus member was still starring at him with blank eyes. Tahni shut his eyes to shield himself from the sudden horror.

He made sure to be facing a different direction when he reopened his eyes once he had gathered himself. His legs ached when he forced himself to get on his feet. Try as he may, he couldn't stop leaning to his left. Tahni slowly limped his way down the wreckage-covered street. The roofs of half of the buildings were completely blown off as if a strong storm had passed by. The roof of one house was fifty feet down the street. Tahni eventually made it away from the majority of the corpses, upon which he couldn't bear to look.

It was his fault.

Sure, the Red Lotus were the ones who did the killing, but it was he who led them to this small, innocent village. Just more blood on his hands. Tahni looked down at his hands. There was actual blood on his hands. Tahni went to a snowbank at the right side of the road. He went to his knees and used the snow to wash off the blood. In his weakened and exhausted state, Tahni failed to realize that he was a mess all over. His tunic's right sleeve was completely torn off from the elbow down. Cuts and tears plagued his outfit, but somehow washing the blood off his hands made him feel better.

Tahni rose to feet once more and continued to limp down the abandoned street. The sight of the torn apart village was too much for him to bear after a few minutes, so he just looked down at his feet only to make a startling discovery.

He wasn't wearing any footwear. He was walking in the snow with no socks nor boots. In all the chaos that ensued earlier that day he had forgotten to put his boots back on before he fled Hahtak's house.

Tahni looked to the house on his right. They owners were either gone or dead. It wouldn't hurt for him to take some footwear if any was inside. He walked up the stairs to the wooden hut. It seemed to be similar to Hahtak's house. Tahni opened the door to find the interior in stark contrast to Hahtak's. There was carpets on the floor instead of the wooden floor covered by pelt rugs. The fireplace wasn't going, for obvious reasons, but smoke still rose from the ashes. He found a pair of winter boots waiting for him at the front rug. Seems when the owner of this house ran, he neglected footwear as well. Tahni put them on, to find them a little too small. Tahni wasn't go to argue, as the boots the Red Lotus had given him were too snug as well. Tahni started to look around the hut.

He couldn't stay here, and he needed supplies if he was going to leave. The owner of this house seemed to be richer than Hahtak, as the food was of better quality, and in little boxes and cans. A few bottles of fresh drinking water were hidden away in a little fridge. After searching for half an hour, Tahni finally found a bag to put the food and water in. The bag was similar to the one that Tahni got from his Red Lotus caretakers, but in a blue and grey pattern. It was after Tahni had finally prepared to leave the hut that he realized he was wearing shredded clothing. He looked around for a few minutes until he found some fresh clothing. The pants were surprisingly a good fit. They were a dark grey, but lacked any pockets or zippers. A blue and dark grey coat/robe was also chosen by him. It had brown and grey fur on the inside of it, so it would probably keep Tahni warm. It also had a hood, which had white fur sewn into the creases.

It was then that Tahni finally set out.

Tahni had finally made it to the dock of the small village. It wasn't truly a dock however, just a couple wooden posts half-buried to tie ships to. Conveniently there was a small canoe floating in the calm water. Tahni didn't see any harm in taking the canoe. The villager who owned the boat was either dead or gone.

Tahni wondered if Vanta got out. He hoped she did. But he couldn't bring himself to go back and look to see if she was among the dead. After minutes of contemplating this, he finally reached a conclusion: it didn't matter. If she was alive, Tahni had succeeded in saving someone at least. If she was dead, well, there was nothing he could do about that.

Tahni swung his right leg over the rim of the canoe, and placed it his foot on the wooden frame. The canoe floated away a few inches in the water, due to the force of the step. Tahni could feel his tired muscles stabbing his mind with pain as they stretched. He slowly shifted his balance over the canoe, and lifted his left foot. His right foot screamed with pain as his weight was put solely on it.

Tahni hissed through his teeth at the sharp pain. He slowly sat down in the canoe, his bag preventing him from laying down. Tahni looked to the rope holding the canoe in place. With what little mental energy Tahni had left, he bended a sharp crescent to rise from the water and cut it in a clean swipe.

Despite the grueling nature of his upbringing at the hands of the Red Lotus, they still had given him a fair education. He didn't have the education in mathematics a child normally had, but they had taught him geography, if only for militaristic reasons. Tahni knew the ocean currents well enough to understand that if he got far enough into the South Sea, his canoe would drift into the shores of the islands that hosted the Patola Mountains. But he needed to avoid the Air Nation, they would surely lock him up or something. Would they lock him up? Tahni never really took the time to consider what they might do to him. Surely, they wouldn't kill him, as he would simply be reborn. Maybe they'd try to force him into the avatar state so that his connection to Vaatu could be destroyed permanently. Tahni forced himself to focus on the journey ahead, instead of focusing on such bitter possibilities.

Tahni decided it was best to ride the currents up until he met the islands, then he would have to land and advance on foot. He couldn't drift or sail all the way around the islands, as they reversed half way past them. Another reason is that it was a major commercial trade route, and he wouldn't want to run into any more people.

Tahni looked up from his canoe to realize he had already drifted a good fourty feet from the dock. He was making progress without trying. Perhaps it was best to simply rest until he was far enough from shore to see where he was.

Slowly, Tahni removed his backpack and set it behind him. He laid back, using the sack as a makeshift pillow. Tahni soon found his eyelids closed. Perhaps he could just rest for a few minutes...

Tahni awoke to a cloudy night sky.

Crap, Tahni thought to himself.

He quickly sat up, a little too quickly, the boat rocked a little. Tahni grabbed the sides of the canoe and held on, as if it would stop the rocking. After a few moments, the canoe leveled out again. Tahni slowly looked around him. It was pitch black. He couldn't tell if he was next to the shore or about to crash into a glacier.

CRAP. CRAP. CRAP.

Tahni bit his bottom lip. How long was he asleep for? It was so dark he couldn't tell if his eyes were opened or closed.

What was he going to do?

"Calm yourself," a rich voice spoke.

Who was that? Tahni couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there?!" Tahni demanded, frightened but still in control of his voice.

After a moment, the voice replied, "has it been that long since we've spoken? Have you forgotten me?"

Tahni's face turned pale.

Vaatu.

No. Focus. Block him out, Tahni thought to himself.

Try as he may, Tahni couldn't seem to do so. He was simply too exhaused, and badly hurt to block Vaatu out.

"Relax," Vaatu continued. "Who am I going to hurt all the way out here? You? We are bonded, young fool, as such I feel what you feel, for example, pain."

Tahni started to calm down a little, but still didn't let his guard down.

"What do you want?" Tahni asked, with a demanding tone.

After a few moments, Vaatu answered, "for you to calm down before you tip the boat."

Tahni corrected, "it's a canoe."

"Whatever. Call it what you want. You can call it a floating log for all I care."

Tahni was silent after that response.

"If you are so desperate for a light to comfort you, heal youself," Vaatu instructed.

Tahni raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Tahni asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Vaatu gave an annoyed sigh, then explained, "when you heal, the water glows."

Tahni replied, "oh!"

Tahni concentrated on the water outside the canoe. He bended a small fist-sized blob of the icy cold water to rise up from the fluid sea. He bended it into a loose disc, and put it over his left leg. He started to go through the motions of healing. Tahni was used to healing himself-the Red Lotus training sessions were brutal. A soft, cyan glow began to radiate from the water. The water was extremely cold to the touch, but the sensation of the healing water counter-balanced this. After a few moments, part of his left leg was healed.

"Hooligan, heal slower! If you keep doing it as this rate you'll be unable to heal anymore!" Vaatu urged him.

Tahni did as Vaatu instructed.

"Why do you care so much?" Tahni asked, curious.

"I find your panicked breathing unendurably annoying," Vaatu answered with a sigh. "Also, if you die, you're reborn as a screaming infant again."

Tahni's eyes widened.

"That's... understandable," Tahni admitted, nodding in agreement after he overcame the shock installed by Vaatu's brutally honest answer.

Tahni started to try and be more sloppy with his healing. As much as he tried, he couldn't fully keep his sloppiness intact. As his healing started to weaken, the healing sensation no longer counter-balanced the cold touch of the water. The glow also weakened, but not to a serious enough degree for Tahni to loose vision.

"I don't understand why you Humans are afraid of the dark..." Vaatu finally said after a short while.

After a moment of consideration, Tahni replied, "we're mostly afraid of what is in the dark."

Vaatu replied, "you mean what could be in the dark. Fear of the unknown is pointless, in my opinion."

"Why is fear of the unknown pointless?" Tahni asked.

"It is pointless because your fear won't change what is or isn't known to you. Fear of the known, however, can be most useful," Vaatu explained.

"And why is that?" Tahni asked further.

"Aren't you full of questions?" Vaatu commented before answering, "fear of the known can keep you away from danger, away from death. And for me, your death would result in me having to endure another crying infant. You almost died back there before I had to intervene."

Tahni felt shivers run down his spine.

"That's right... You..." Tahni trailed off, unable to speak for some unknown reason.

"-had to force you into the avatar state? Yes. I am not going to deal with another crying child," Vaatu completed.

"You made me kill," Tahni suddenly realized.

"I saved you. Twice, actually," Vaatu corrected.

Tahni felt his breathing quicken. He felt a mixture of fear and anger.

"And to be fair, you killed a few without my help," Vaatu added.

"I had to-"

"And I had to save you. What were you going to do back in that compound? Hm?" Vaatu interrupted. "Were you going to hold them in place and hope they didn't instantly come after you the second you released your grip? What were you going to do as you were forced onto you knees? Let them take you back to that compound and punish you for escaping? Admit it, I protected you."

"I don't want your protection," Tahni replied, anger evident in his voice. "I don't want to hear you, talk to you, or anything at all to do with you!"

"And why is that? Are you afraid of me? Remember, I feel what you feel. Are you afraid that I'll take over you? You're the one who gave me power."

"I didn't-"

"Are you telling me that I'm mistaken? That in those moments of desperation, of anger, you didn't slip over to me a sliver of control?" Vaatu interupted once again.

"I don't want you," Tahni finally stated.

"Are you sure? I'm the only one you have left now," Vaatu replied.

As much as Tahni wanted to deny it, deep down, he knew it was true.