Darkness surrounded Tahni as he awoke on his third night on the South Sea. The clear cyan sky filled his view. The southern lights were out of view now, below the ever-wide horizon. At first, Tahni shielded his eyes from the blinding light given off by the sun, but after a few moments, his eyes adjusted.

Tahni slowly rose to his feet on the narrow canoe and positioned himself to waterbend. He focused on the push and pull as he started to cause a small wave to rise behind him. Steadily, slowly by surely, the wave grew in size. By the time the wave met the rear of the canoe, it was as high as Tahni himself. Tahni stretched out his arms and felt the wave push his canoe foward. After a few minutes, the wave started to decrease in size, and Tahni had to start all over again.

"If you would embrace me you'd be on the shores by now," Vaatu stated with an annoyed tone.

"If I embraced you, all of the marine life in this sea could die instantly," Tahni replied, half-joking.

"Fair point," Vaatu admited.

Tahni started push the water behind him, then raise it. At this rate, who knows how long it might take him. Sure, the currents are strong, but he wants to escape the currents and hit the shores. Tahni decided the experiment with his technique and pulled the water back harder than he pushed it. The water seemed to be weaker.

"Are you forgeting how to waterbend?" Vaatu asked.

Tahni narrowed his eyes as he pushed back more water.

"No," Tahni insisted. "I'm testing out some new ideas."

"Well, while you're 'testing', don't forget waterbending is focused around push and pull," Vaatu reminded.

Tahni released his grip on the water he had ready to push foward. He decided to push back with more force, then pull it back with an equal but sustained amount of force.

The results were beautiful.

Tahni rose the wave for five times longer than before. He decided to take it another step foward after that. He applied even more force. The wave started to not be as high, but quicker, and more powerful. The wave was now fifteen times more efficient than the initial.

"You're a fast learner, aren't you?" Vaatu commented.

"I know how to waterbend, I was drilled constantly, it's just that I've never been out on open water before," Tahni replied, taking it as sarcasm.

"I was trying to be sincere there, fool," Vaatu sneered.

Tahni ignored Vaatu's foul mood and regained his focus on his waterbending.

Maybe he could cause a current under the water instead of over it.

Tahni started to bend a vertically-inclined ring underneath his canoe. The water started to propell the canoe foward at speeds that Tahni hadn't reached with his wave technique.

At this rate he would reach the shores by day's end.

It was day's end, and he was still on the open water. The sun had setted hours prior, and Tahni couldn't even see if he was still going in a straight line because of it. The moon was full, but hidden behind a thick array of clouds. He was far enough north of the south pole to not need to worry about glaciers, but now he had to worry about comercial shipping. Why did Tahni know about commercial shipping? Because the Red Lotus decided he needed to know about civilian targets as well. Tahni was both grateful and disgusted by that certain training session.

Tahni kept the circuit of water flowing under his canoe, and he continued to glide over the water because of it. The full moon overhead, while hidden behind the clouds, made it easier to bend. Tahni heard only the sound of the wooden bottom of the canoe skid across the water at high speed. He saw nothing but familiar darkness all around him. Tahni was in a trance, bending the water without using as much mental energy as he had been during the day. The smell of salty water filled his nostils.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a mechanical engine. He turned his head to see a boat sailing in his general direction. Tahni immediately bended his boat to the right a little, going a little faster than usual. The water under the canoe started to make a louder sound as Tahni accelerated.

The passengers on the boat noticed the sound, and eventually the boat started to turn towards Tahni.

Crap, Tahni thought to himself.

Tahni decided wait in the darkness, hopefully they would overlook him, and miss him.

They didn't.

A bright light searched in the water. If Tahni waited, the light would find him. If he moved, they would hear. There was no avoiding detection. Tahni started to bend the current under his canoe, alongside another one a fair twenty feet away. With luck, they would focus on the seperate one. They took the bait and looked for the false trail, while Tahni started to glide up alongside the boat. As he glided passed, he notice an insignia, that had a gear in it, was decorating the hull.

Was this a cargo ship of some kind? The build of the ship seemed to contrast that idea. The boat didn't have crates on it, but instead a couple decks with brightly lit rooms. There were four lifeboats, two on the starboard and two on the port side.

The crew of the ship noticed the closer sound that was Tahni's vessel and turned the light to him.

He had been spotted.

"Hey!" one of them yelled, clearly a male.

Tahni grimaced, and by instint, bended the water from the current into a spear of ice. He flung the spear into the spotlight. Tahni could hear the glass shatter, alongside a female yelling in anger.

A whip of water impacted the rear of Tahni's canoe. Tahni was thrown into the air by the sheer force of the attack. Tahni was able to perform a backflip, and almost by instinct, freeze some water around his feet. He began to glide on the water as if he were ice-skating. Tahni glided in a counter-clockwise circle to avoid a fire blast the came from the boat's deck.

A firebender and a waterbender? Tahni wondered.

He reached into the water and threw a body-sized blast of water at the hull of the boat. Tahni hoped that he could rock the boat and get the crew off-balance. He didn't have time to see if it had worked, as he had to escape. He started to glide as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"Get back here!" a female yelled.

Tahni didn't look back, he turned to his right once far enough away, hoping to lose them. After he glided ahead for a short distance, he spun around to see if the boat had followed.

It had.

It raced through the water, suprisingly fast for its size.

Tahni heard the thunderous roar of water racing toward him. Tahni dodged to his left, barely avoiding a collision with the female. The lights from the boat lit up some of the airborne water, and allowed Tahni to see her. She was wearing blue, and had her dark hair cut short.

The female got a look at Tahni as well. He could tell she was shocked at his age.

She sent a blast of fire at him. Tahni, for a split second, froze.

She's the Avatar?! Tahni screamed in his head. No. No. No. No.

Tahni panicked, forgetting about sublelty, and formed a water sprout beneath him. He raced away as fast he could. A tendril of water grapped him as he fled, and solidified into ice. The Avatar whipped him back, and Tahni collided with the sea's cold surface. The collision with the surface of the water knocked the air out of him and stunned him momentarily. It was enough time for him to start to sink down into the ocean. Tahni saw the dark figure of the Avatar dive in after him. Was she trying to save him? Or finish the job? Tahni didn't know. Darkness started to cloud his vision as Tahni started sink. Was he even trying to breath? Part of Tahni just wanted to keep sinking. Another part wanted the oppositie.

"Embrace me," Vaatu's voice called.

Tahni, with no other choice, did so.

Tahni suddenly felt empowered. The water around him glowed lime and violet. He rose on a renewed water sprout. His eyes glowed a bright crimson color. He was facing away from the Avatar, but spun around to face her as she rose. The Avatar stared up at Tahni, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Tahni stared down at the Avatar. Both of them were frozen in what seemed like eternity. Both unsure of what they should do.

Should he use this moment to flee? Or swat at her like a bug and be done with it?

Tahni never got to decide, as a small pebble collided with the back of his head and rendered him unconscious.

Tahni's eyes slowly opened to find himself in a room with burgundy-colored walls. The walls seemed to be plastic. The floor was wooden, a darker shade than the walls. The ceiling was a clean and soft light blue. Also plastic-looking. As Tahni's vision began to refocus, he noticed the figure standing in front of him.

The Avatar.

She seemed taller than usual...

Tahni realized that was because he was tied up in a wooden chair, set up against the wall. The Avatar just stared at him, as if she were unsure of what to do. Tahni studied her face. She looked like she was a mixture of frightened, confused, and angry.

She slowly took a breath and finally asked, "who are you?"

Tahni didn't answer. He didn't have an answer.

Oh yeah, I'm Tahni and I'm the Dark Avatar. I'm your mortal enemy! Tahni thought to himself. That'll go down well.