Longshot watched the arrow fly true on target, it soared over the street and through the open window. His target's eyes hadn't even opened, but a gloved hand blurred caught the arrow before it could land. Longshot was stunned, how was that possible.
With a jolt, he realized he needed to stop Jet from jumping in. But it was too late, Jet was already flying through the air; one hand gripping the rope and the other holding a warclub. Sokka hadn't even noticed Jet taking it as they left the hideout this morning. The teen gave a warcry before jumping through the window and landing in a roll to stop his momentum. Smellerbee was already climbing back up to go in after Jet.
She didn't see Longshot signaling that something was wrong. Longshot did the only thing he could, he continued taking shots of opportunity on the strange man, when Jet or Smellerbee were out of the line of sight. Every single arrow was deflected or caught, the man never even looked at Longshot.
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Jet saw Longshot draw back the first arrow. It was a blunt tipped,meant to stun rather than seriously injure. The first shot would give him enough time to get into an attack position. The last time, the strange man had taken a cheap shot while he was fighting the teenaged firebender. Now he would have the advantage of the first strike. Then, when he had beaten the stranger into submission, they could send Smellerbee after the Avatar's group.
Longshot took another moment to line up his target, then loosed the arrow. At the same moment, Jet ran towards the side of the rooftop. He jumped over the edge while twisting mid-air so that when the rope caught his weight, it would swing him into the open window. Just as planned, he swung into the room, rolled to lessen the impact and jumped up in one fluid motion. He had ended the acrobatic feat with his borrowed club raised in the air, ready to strike his opponent laying on the ground. Instead his opponent was standing, an arrow clenched in his fist, making a face that might kill lesser fighters.
Jet was not a lesser fighter. He quickly attacked with the club in an overhead strike. The man simply leaned back and it passed harmlessly in front of his face. Jet was left overextended and exposed, he felt an almost physical wave of danger wash over him. Luckily, another arrow whizzed by, it was promptly backhanded out of the air, but it gave Jet a moment to take a step back and defend himself. Smellerbee gave a cry from behind and threw a rock. The rock was caught and dropped immediately.
The old man sucked in air like he had been drowning and began to get up. The younger man turned to look at him. Jet took the opening and struck out with a monstrous side kick. It solidly hit the man in the chest, if you could call it a chest. The stranger didn't budge, and Jet recoiled from what felt like a sprained leg; that had been like kicking a stone wall.
The man hadn't even been looking, but he sidestepped another arrow flying at his head. Smellerbee charged in, jumping up in an attempt to latch onto the man's arm. It was a tactic that was normally very effective; it's hard to fight with a child tying you down on one side. Instead, a hand wove around Smellerbee's back and grabbed the collar of her jacket. She ended up hanging like a cat picked up by their scruff.
Another arrow flew into the room, this time headed for the old man who was still getting to his feet. The old man couldn't dodge it, and the stranger wouldn't be able to deflect it holding Smellerbee. The air in Jet's lungs was forced out as an oppressively heavy pressure filled the room. The stranger commanded "Stop". As if the arrow was alive with a mind of its own, it stopped mid-flight a foot away from the old man; who slowly reached out and plucked it from the air. Jet would have liked to feel surprised, or awed. Unfortunately he only felt fear, the stranger glared at him before asking "Who are you?"
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The Gaang followed behind Zuko, who had rushed ahead to get back to his apartment. He disappeared into the building while Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph tried and failed to funnel through the doorway. By the time they got sorted into the entrance and up the stairs they filed into the only open doorway to find…a tea party. Zuko's uncle was serving tea to the freedom fighters; who were piled on cushions around a squat table. An out of breath Zuko stood just a few steps inside.
"Uncle…you seem…fine. I couldn't wake you up this morning." The old man pulled at his beard.
"Zuko! Ah…this morning. I was sleeping off the effects of the special tea Lindon brought. I see you brought company. Welcome Avatar and friends, I'll brew some more."
Aang walked up and put an arm around Zuko's shoulders, who promptly shrugged it off. "See Zuko, they didn't attack anyone."
The three freedom fighters went stiff and suddenly found their cups of tea very interesting. Iroh gave a belly laugh and rubbed the back of his head
"They certainly tried. I think their swift defeat was punishment enough."
Katara looked like she was going to give her two cents to Jet anyway, but Sokka cut in "I can't help but notice you seem to be short one person, you know…the person we've been looking for."
Iroh had just put the kettle back on the stove, but spun around at what Sokka had said. "The person you've been looking for…Lindon?"
He looked to the Freedom Fighters "You said you were just looking for a rematch."
Jet coughed into his hand "I was looking for a rematch. The Avatar's group was looking for Lindon."
Katara looked between Iroh and Jet "So where is he now? Did we miss him?"
Iroh turned back to his kettle "He went downstairs to wash up, he'll be back soon enough. I'll leave it to him to explain his situation to you. But know this, Avatar Aang, he needs your help"
Aang's eyes widened "My help?" he asked.
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The apartments all shared an area for bathing and washing clothes. Lindon made sure he was alone before activating his void key, the door zipped open in mid air. He tossed the box of tea inside. He was sure Mushi would ask about it before long, but they could cross that bridge when they got to it. Little Blue pulled herself out of his outer robe, babbling about how much she missed her regular body while also missing being bigger and more agile in the spirit world. Dross was settled firmly in his spot at the base of Lindon's skull. He didn't say it in words, but Lindon got the impression that Dross was unsettled being separated from Lindon.
[Who would have guessed we were in another iteration entirely]
Lindon could only nod in agreement. Now that he was winding down from the "attack", Lindon could process everything that had happened. They were stuck a long way from home. Their options were slim, Suriel's marble weighed heavy in his pocket. Should he try to contact her for help? Lindon remembered the Li Patriarch being pulled away for returning to Sacred Valley after ascending; would he be allowed back?
Dross made a contemplative hrmmm noise [We haven't really ascended though, have we? This place doesn't even have sacred arts, it's more like a step backwards really]
Dross was making light of the situation, likely to cope, but this was far beyond what their collective knowledge held. Lindon needed to get back home, there was so much left to do. They planned to eventually ascend, but they were going to ascend together, years in the future. They had to get back to Yerin, Eithan, Orthos, Mercy, his parents and sister.
[At least we have a good lead] Dross commented. That was true, Avatar Roku had said the current Avatar was in the city, they just had to find him.
[That might take longer than you think. My calculations put the population of Ba Sing Se upwards of 2 million people with more refugees coming in every day.]
Lindon mulled over their options. Surely this Avatar would not be in the lower ring, or even in the middle ring.
"It may be time to force our way into the upper ring. It'll turn into a fight, but it's our best chance of finding Avatar Aang." Little Blue chimed in agreement.
Dross grunted [If the fight is big enough, it may even attract the Avatar.] Lindon agreed with him and stood, ready to run to the upper ring right then, but paused.
"We should probably say goodbye to Mushi, and ask him a few more questions."
Both Dross and Little Blue agreed. Since they planned to get in a fight anyway, Lindon put his regular robes and badge back on. They would make him stick out more in a crowd, but were better suited for fighting. And he missed the familiar weight of his badge around his neck. With his preparations complete, Lindon went to close the void space, but paused. He thought for a moment before tugging his gloves off, tossing them in the void space, and shutting it.
He gestured for Little Blue to hop in his outer robe, but she crawled up his back and settled onto his shoulder. She argued that if he didn't care about sticking out, she didn't need to either. Lindon chewed it over for a moment and found he had no reason to object. Little Blue had developed a taste for sparring, she knew how to stay safe in a fight. Not to mention Mushi already knew about Little Blue and Dross. Even if the "Freedom Fighters" had stuck around, he doubted they would care. It's not like they could do anything with the information anyway.
So, the three of them made their way back upstairs, ready to part ways and start their journey to the upper circle of Ba Sing Se. Despite Dross' best effort to distract Lindon from Mushi's apartment, Lindon could clearly detect that a new group of people were in the room. Pushing through the oppressive aura with his copper sight, Lindon was shocked by the cores of one of the people inside. Their seven cores were lit up with a soft blue glow, they were all connected by a faint blue line running between them all.
Dross spoke up [You don't think…?] He let the question hang in the air. Lindon could think of no other possibility.
"It has to be the avatar." Lindon concluded.
Little Blue chirped and bopped Lindon on the top of his head, as if to say 'what are you waiting for', which sprung him into action. He cycled to calm himself, opened the door, and stepped in.