Avatar: Tale of Tae, Book 1: Shock

by alexr416

Following the demise of Avatar Korra; the Earth Nation seeks out the newest successor to the Avatar spirit Raava. A young earth-bender named Tae is thrilled to discover that she would take up the mantle of bringing balance to the world. In order to protect those dear to her, she decides to embark on her journey to discover what it means to be the Avatar to better ensure harmony.

5. Episode 5

Chapter 9: A Grim Parting

The quadruped monstrosity inches towards the cornered humans; his eyes black and empty as a cloudy night sky as he ogles them with predatory hunger. He scrapes his serrated claws along the ground causing an ear-splitting tone to deafen Ling and Tae while they gradually retreat toward where they came from. From afar, the two could see Guaji desperately attempting to break his human friend out of the unbreakable bind. The spirit guide steadfastly bites down on the crystallized containment with the tips of his unimpressively sized chops. His hue was back to being a deep purple broadcasting his worry and nervousness. Kian wriggles and shakes as aggressively as possible yearning to weaken the foundation of his trap, but it hardly alters its initial position. Tae and Ling continuously step backwards as the beast follows closely by edging nearer concurrently. Ultimately, Tae works up as much courage as she could will and ceases her recoil. She boldly puffs out her chest and decides to converse with the spirit instead of taking action.

"Who are you?" Tae eventually questions. "Why have you captured our friend?" The fiend twitches his head once more, looking perceptually fascinated by the girl's questions. His stalk-like limbs spread as he finally introduces himself to the two nervous tourists.

"...The beings around here call me The Collector…" the brute elucidates, moving his gnarly hand to his fur-coated chest. "…If that doesn't sit well with you…then you can call me Zeiru…" The Collector bends his warped mandibles into what could only be described as a squatting position. With a powerful thrust, he lengthens his legs and shoots up into the air. He lands with a cataclysmic tremor along the wall where Tae and Ling previously entered. The earth-shattering stomp tore up chunks of the crystal paneling beneath his feet, spreading a couple fragments of the strange mineral bounding along the ground. With the monster between the Earth Nation residents and the exit, the two were forced to converge inland instead; which naturally was Zeiru's intent.

"…My reason for capturing your friend is a simple one…I'm a collector of lost human spirits that have made their way near my nest…" The explanation causes some minor confusion to Ling and Tae. The former builds up some bravery and chooses to speak up next.

"But…but we aren't lost. We just meditated to the Spirit World from our campsite; our bodies are safe and protected!" The creature pauses for a brief hiatus before bursting into laughter at the children's plight. His previously drawn out and minacious speaking pattern warps into a rowdy confident one.

"Oh…you poor misguided humans…" the beast chuckles derisively. He extends his fingers as he remedies the teens' erroneous understanding. "…Did you really believe that you arrived here though meditation…? No…no…the only reason you're in our realm is because I brought you here through your sleep…" The information catches the pair completely off guard. The news permeates their ears like boiling water leaving them painfully unaware of the immense power the spirit has. Tae recalls the calming ritual the twosome performed around the campfire. They relaxed their bodies and closed their eyes and drifted away into an ocean of nothingness. The realization Tae had next struck hard and true.

"So…you're telling me we actually just fell asleep by the campfire from exhaustion?" Tae asks, utterly sour from the heart-dropping insight. "That we thought we successfully came here on our own accord when really you dragged us here yourself?" The dejected girl thinks back to their arrival at camp and realizes that they probably were extremely fatigued from the occurrences throughout the day. They had no idea how worn out they were until they got themselves all cozy and relaxed and then were simply whisked away into the dream world they're in now. Ling turns to Tae with coursing shock.

"Spirits can do that?" he asks loudly.

"As Kian said, spirits have tons of abilities like that," the Avatar illustrates. "Though, I myself have read about examples of spirits dragging humans into the Spirit World through various means. Aang himself got carried in here by Hei Bai the forest guardian during his time." Ling's head throbs at the report from the literate teen. Zeiru cackles once more at the human's ill-fated folly.

"…Yes indeed…" he murmurs sharply. "…The area near my nest syncs up to a gorge in your realm…given its length and separation from any form of refuge, travelers passing through usually wind up camping out during the late hours…which, of course, allows me to easily rope them into the Spirit World as they slumber…" He contorts his body to the side and directs the human's attention to a cluster of gemstones many meters away. Mounted along the shining polygons was a bunch of other human spirits, likely trapped in the Spirit World by The Collector. Tae and Ling grimace in terror seeing a group of unmoving humans hanging mercilessly by their astral bodies. The marauder cracks his body forwards once more and continues his dialogue with the two new additions to his anthology.

"…The reason I built my nest here is also a pleasing little factoid…" the creature jests, clearing enjoying himself. "…The gorge houses a hoard of nocturnal animals called night prowlers that prey on unsuspecting humans during the late evening. This means that while their spirits are dragged here by yours truly…their bodies are left unprotected for the devilish creatures to come and snack on. With their physical forms out of the picture…the human's destitute spirits are unable to return back to where they came from…leaving them here for me to proudly display as a decorative prize for my dwelling…" The gruesome tale leaves Ling and Tae sick to their stomachs. Their phantom forms tingle with unending trepidation as the monster guffaws to himself incessantly. Tae ponders for a bit before unconsciously voicing a concern in her head.

"But…Banto and Shina are guarding our bodies," she exclaims. The being locks eyes with the timid girl and mutters fiercely.

"…Then they better be prepared to become an appetizer for the night prowlers…" Tae and Ling gaze at each other with uncontrollable worry. Tae keeps her body rigid as she glares back at the fiendish nightmare staring back. Ling tries his hardest to quell his unremitting shaking, but no matter how vigorously he focused, his body continued to quiver. To him, the worst case scenario had come to pass. Every fear and prediction he had about the world was becoming a reality and he had no means of knowing how to get out of it safely.

During the Spirit World voyage, Banto and Shina remained back vigilantly scouting the surrounding area as the other two sit without a stir. The night was still young and the fire still fresh from Banto's most recent addition to the blaze. The only sounds that were heard around were the flirtatious mating calls from unnoticeable insects scurrying throughout the gorge. Banto rests casually on a stone support, diligently gazing at the two cross-legged statues facing each other. He hops up from his lounge and examines the two comrades' faces for any signs of life. He puts his nose up to Tae, waiting for her to open her eyes and get comically startled by the boy's invasive presence. However, neither a single twitch nor restless sound was detectable from either teen. They simply existed like emotionless mannequins. Banto moves away from the bodies and addresses Shina who was staring off into the deeper ravines of the canyon.

"Contrary to my expectations…" Banto begins to articulate all of a sudden. "They appear to have successfully meditated into the Spirit World." He stalls momentarily before granting additional commentary. "That or they somehow perished from concentrating too hard…hopefully the former." Shina does not produce any sort of reaction to the boy's quip. She instead maintains eye contact with the environment around waiting for any sort of fluctuation in the stiff setting. Banto turns to the battle-ready girl and offers some advice. "You know, it may benefit you to relax a little bit. You don't always have to be combat ready."

"The moment I drop my guard, is the moment when the unexpected happens, love," Shina retorts, still refusing to look over at the fire-bender. Banto frowns at the girl's disregard for her own health. If the boy knew one thing about self-care it's that everyone needs downtime to unwind and rejuvenate the body. Working numerous years in the mines taught Banto that a lack of sleep or relaxation can lead to dangerous wear on a person's body. He pinches at the handles of his eyewear before scolding the girl in a mildly serious manner.

"You know you're not a machine right? Even a hardened fighter like you has to take time to unwind and revitalize the body's systems." Shina scoffs and lowers the knife wedged neatly between her fingers. She finally looks over at the lad whose face was dripping with contempt for her stubborn resistance.

"Listen here, I'm just tryin' to protect Tae from whatever fiends are hidin' around here, alright?" Banto gets caught up on one portion of her explanation and quickly inquires about it.

"You mean Tae and Ling…don't you?" he asks. Shina sighs at a detectable volume and answers with annoyance in her throat.

"Yeah…I suppose him too…" a moment of silence befalls the two travel companions, leaving just the crackling timber in their fire pit to do the talking for both of them. Banto noticed that Shina and Ling really did not have much opportunity to talk to one another, and he could tell from Shina's behavior that she has a strong opinion of him that she's withholding. After some careful contemplation, Banto finally addresses the elephant-rhino in the room.

"Hey, by any chance do you have some sort of animosity towards Ling?" Shina refuses to answer right away, choosing to let the hush quietness linger for a little while. Banto was getting restless though, he needed to know what was going on with Team Avatar. "Come on Shina, you can't keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself." Shina finally breaks her code of silence and begins sharpening her blade on a nearby stone. Small sparkles of embers bounce around the blade as it slides along the smooth apparatus.

"Alright love, I'll bite," she states, smiling with a cold disposition. "It's 'cause I don't believe he'll be of use to us. All I've seen of the guy is that he can throw some punches around which is fine for basic defense, but outside of that, what does he got to offer us?" She levitates the tip of the blade towards her pupil, judging the sharpness of the newly sculpted weapon. "He's plenty nice and all; honestly he reminds me of Tae a great deal. But the fact that the girl just dragged him onto the team just because he knows how to sit still and breathe loudly for a couple minutes… well it just seems a tad foolhardy to me, love." Shina grabs the handle of her scimitar backhandedly and swipes it to the side, cleanly slicing through a tiny twig poking its head out of the coarse soil. Banto listens charily to the girl's opinions; somewhat agreeing to the fact that Tae enlisted his help arguably premature. However, Banto trusts Tae with all his heart, he believes in her judgment and adamancy about his greatness in character. Shina does not seem to share the same understanding; they did just meet him after all.

"Look, I get your uncertainty since he's new to the team, but don't forget you are as well," Banto explains, holding his hands out in gesturing fashion. Shina turns and looks frigidly at the headband donning teenager. "If I learned one thing from Tae, it's that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Had I gotten my way earlier on the voyage, you wouldn't be here with us journeying around." Shina looks down contemplatively at the boy's reasoning. "I can't expect you to completely accept him as an equal member of our group, but at least give the guy a chance. I can tell he has a good heart and he did help Tae get into the Spirit World, so why don't we get to know him and see what he's all about before giving him the boot, okay?" Shina sighs once more, analyzing the stem tip that she smoothly decapitated off the sprout at her feet. She smacks on a sneaky-looking grin and responds back.

"Fine, you win," she states conceding to his preaching. "Just don't go cryin' to me love if he winds up holdin' everyone back." She shoots him a pompous smile, spinning her blade around her fingers to demonstrate her skillful refinement with the tools of her trade. Banto nods and snickers at the girl's straight-forward attitude. It was charming to see someone completely opposite to the Avatar as an associate. Tae is one to give people the benefit of the doubt and overly trusting in their convictions. Shina, on the other hand, seems to give people minimal chances and expects them to prove themselves before she can openly accept them into her clan as family. It was a fresh dynamic that Banto was not used to since he and Tae were pretty much always together on their own.

As the two teens grinned at each other in the light of the fire, a quiet rattling sound resonates from a great distance away. Shina's keen instincts lock into the noise while Banto hears nothing. Shina holds up a hand before her teammate could get a word out, signaling that she detected a disturbance from somewhere. Banto swiftly clues in to her indicator and rises from his sitting position to form a more battle-ready stance. The two stand gamely at the side of each currently out of commission team member, blocking the space between the sounds and their defenseless bodies.

The incongruent earth beneath their legs begins to rock to and fro, all centered from a coordinate down one of the countless gullies. A patter of hooves draws near from just out of sight of their campsite. The rumbling from the stampede escalates until it arrives just below a cliff surrounding their encampment. The cacophony dies down for only the span of a profound breath before a large screech echoes from below the surface. All of a sudden, a pack of wild night howlers leap up from the lower section of land, spreading out along the peak's rim. The creatures looked like a ferocious amalgamation of a horse, a wolf and a hyena. The drooling teeth of the group protrude outwards from a long, smiling muzzle while the hooves under their feet were combined with painful-looking claws for climbing the rocky terrain. Their tails were long and bushy with their bodies toned with muscle from a life of proactive hunting.

"What the heck are these things?" Shina questions stridently trying to overtake the shrieks from the hounds.

"I haven't a clue," Banto admits, pumping his fists dramatically. "But if they've arrived to try and injure our compatriots, then they are as good as road kill." With the invigorating remark, Banto thrusts his arm forward and blasts a stream of fire at one of the beasts that was closest to their position. The versatile creatures are incredibly agile and fast, much to the pair's dismay. The target leaps up onto a nearby boulder and lets out a harrowing bawl that sounded like a ghost's laughter. Banto flips up onto his hands and swiftly thrusts a vertical streak of flame forwards towards the middle of the crowd. Three of the beasts branch to their left while the remaining four dive to the opposite side. The boy cleverly managed to split them up as perfectly even as he could make it.

"Shina, you take the cluster to our left, I'll handle the remainder to our right!" Shina gives a cooperate nod to the boy, quickly extending her staff as her weapon of choice. She whirls around her body with faultless coordination before dashing towards her soon-to-be victims. The nearest beast hurls itself at Shina with an ear-piercing yell, extending its fingers to scratch the girl. Shina uses the bottom tip of her staff to knock the approaching paws out of her way and swivels on her foot to land a forceful kick into the being's face. It gets pummeled a great deal; stumbling around for a bit before recovering and attacking again. Shina hops up onto a curved rocky outcropping and pushes herself high into the air. With a twirl of her platinum wand, she strikes downward at the second attacker. She hits the target dead on the skull and uses the propulsion from the hit to knock her further into the air. Craftily, the skillful girl pulls out her long chain whip which is nestled quaintly in the belt loops of her trousers. The tiny wire floats through the air until Shina thrusts it at one of her other targets. The coil wraps around the night prowler's torso which Shina then uses to pull herself towards its body. With the force of her heave, she comes in close for a strong kick to its back, once again launching herself into the air. The final creature of her arsenal moves in for a chance to attack. Shina, naturally, is prepared for every slice of conflict. She closes her staff up into its miniature rod form and chucks the heavy bar at the foe's face. It clonks the forehead of the roaring animal and sends it crumpling to the ground. Shina catches the flipping weapon in mid-air as she lands and proudly turns to examine her casualties.

"The lot of ya really needs to step up your game. Gettin' kinda tired of low-leveled threats challengin' us instead of somethin' worth my time." The creatures shake off the blunt bashing to their body parts and crawl to their feet with a slight whimper. They begin running once more at the fatal female, bent on claiming her as dinner. Shina just snickers confidently and extends her weapon once more for a second round.

Banto, in the meantime was handling the other pack of night prowlers which were more focused on going for the vulnerable bodies sitting adjacent the campfire. One beast starts climbing along the high wall behind their temporary shelter, hoping to pounce on the powerless duo. Banto waits for it to get ready for a final strike and quickly lobs a fireball near where it hoped to land. The surprise from the attack sends the animal sliding back down near where Banto and the rest of its horde were prepping for battle. Two of the menaces smartly decide to attack at once from both flanks. Banto watches them carefully as they lunge, almost as if they were moving in slow motion. One of the aggressors jumped quicker meaning it was going to land a hit first on the fire-bender. Banto whips up a quick counterattack however. He uses a burst of embers to shoot himself horizontally towards a sturdy stone. He dodges the attack effortlessly then jumps from the rock toward the other aggressive beast. He uses fire to make himself spin and uses the acceleration to power up his kick. He bludgeons the prowlers on the side of his head midair and knocks it calculatingly into the other attacker who was just recovering from missing his mark. The two beasts tangle together and roll a couple yards backwards. The two other try their hand at taking Banto down but he makes quick work of them as well. He shoots perfectly angled fireballs at the brutish marauders as they encroach on their territory, knocking them around with blinding strength.

As the fearsome twosome batters the creatures out of their campsite, a couple of reinforcements start to crawl up from the openings below. Their screeches meld together into a chorus of vociferous pain, nearly smashing the human's eardrums to smithereens. They turn to the riotous yells and realize that they may have issue with extra animals thrown into the mix. They crawl up from the edge, thirsting for human blood. Out of nowhere, Bentley dashes in from a moderately distant area and meets the creatures head-on. He lifts his front legs and jams them into the gravely terrain, causing a massive earthquake to form beneath the enemy's feet. This fissure causes the earth below to crumble like a sandcastle and drag the support team back down into their cavernous entrance. Bentley initially did not plan to get involved seeing as he isn't very close with either of the humans left outside the Spirit World. However, he was unable to tolerate the reckoning screeching from the monsters and finally settled to take matters into his own claws. With a following roar, he clambers over to instigate his own quarrel with the evening hunters. Banto and Shina smile, but immediately turn back to their foes. They knew that the battle wasn't going to end so easily for them.

"I hope Tae and Ling are handling themselves alright wherever they wound up…" Banto mumbles to himself before reengaging with the night prowlers. The two continue their late-night skirmish, working tirelessly to keep their companions secure.

Back in the Spirit World, the pair of teens clench unknowingly while lifeless eyes stare down at them by the captivatingly cunning trickster. Zeiru eyeballs the cornered keepsakes, bulbous eyes neglecting to blink as they widen with anticipation. Ling cowers significantly at the rear while Tae nervously looks around the unblemished dome. She carefully counts the number of mounted vessels in the den; summing to around 5 people including Kian. She guardedly whispers to her companion.

"Ling, we can't get out of her without Kian and the other prisoners." Ling shoots her a manic stare that vividly expresses the strength of his disagreement with her command.

"Tae, you are actually insane!" he conveys without reserve. "It'll be a massive blessing if WE manage to get out of here! I can't do this…this is so beyond what I can do…" He buries his nose into his sweaty palms in an attempt to wake himself up from the ongoing nightmare. Tae tightens the muscles in her arm, letting the veins in her wrist showcase her feelings. Tae knows how grim the situation is, but she also realizes that the only chance of success they have is through not giving up. No matter what emotions are tugging agonizingly at their motivations, they must persevere for the sake of themselves and everyone involved. Without a word, Tae spins around and smacks Ling cleanly across his face. The burning force causes Ling to touch his cheek delicately, letting out a pained grunt at the attack. Tae digs deep and unleashes a short burst of hushed fury.

"Listen, I know how terrified you are. I'm losing my mind over here as well," she begins strongly. "But I know we can figure a way out of this. I've seen your fighting skills and your ability to focus when you need to, I'm confident we'll get out of this. So just believe in yourself, alright?" The pep talk resonates with the boy; the motivational speech was something he had never heard from his Master as he was always more of a pragmatist. But hearing Tae's unwavering faith and confidence knocked something into place within Ling. He removes his hand from his face and nods positively at the girl's words. She smiles shortly and directs her attention back to the massive spirit monster. With a haughty voice, she lets out a bellowing order.

"Split up!"

Without any additional explanation, the two instantly teenagers separate and sprint off in opposite directions around the edge of the encasement. The sudden movement throws The Collector off and causes him to vacillate for a moment. After weighing his options, he begins clawing after Tae before announcing beckoningly:

"…Don't run little human... I need a girl in my collection, you'll be perfect…" The monsters scurries up one of the rock pillars and then agilely hops to different high points in the terrain keeping watch of Tae's movements. The girl breathes heavily as she runs with all of her might. She keeps herself low and maneuvers through areas with lots of overhanging crystals so that Zeiru can't sneakily ambush her from above. Nonetheless, the predator tails her endlessly.

Eventually, Tae hurries herself into a corner, surrounded by impeding gemstones on all sides. She hastily attempts to clamber up the edged portions of the obstacles; however the sleek surfaces made it impossible for her shoes and hands to latch onto anything. Each leap upwards was followed shortly by her rump meeting the floor again and again. She pants from the failure, and turns her head to see if she at least managed to get away from the hunter. Regrettably, Zeiru was already leaning his head close to snag the girl with his pungent maw. Before he gets the chance, Tae spins around without a second to think and smashes her walking stick across one of his eyes. The behemoth yelps at the sudden counter but quickly recovers. He effortlessly knocks the staff out of the girl's freckles hands, sending it rolling across the glittery flooring. He bends towards her personage and speaks once more to the elementless Avatar.

"…A feisty one you are…" he hisses into her ear. "…You'll be a joy to have pinned up alongside the others…" With the threatening remark, Tae moves to smack him once more across the face. This time, the powerful entity spreads the crystals along his coat to sheathe the rest of his body, encasing himself in armor. The stick hits the crystals and causes a high-pitched ring to reverberate off the surface, causing absolutely no damage. The beast smiles smugly through his golden helmet. He firmly grabs the girl by his lengthy fingers and starts carrying her off towards the other captives.

Nearby, Ling watches from behind a closely placed crystal barricade. He peers at spirit as he distances himself towards the other unfortunate souls with his new trinket. Ling squats down behind the wall and clenches his eyes tightly. Every way he imagined the scenario ended with him getting mounted up like warrior's helm. He cycles through the various lessons and practices he had perfected during his training, hopeful that one would have some semblance of a solution. As fruitless as the endeavor was, one moment lingers in his mind: one during his youth. The boy recalls different instances where Ling took his training too far and almost wound up getting gravely injured. He remembers one painful incident where he twisted his ankle badly on a certain spin-kick technique. He started crying and complained that he didn't want to learn that one because it hurt him. Through his wallowing, Master Fa bent down and spoke to him calmly but with heightened severity.

"Ling Shom, it is unwise to throw in the towel just because something didn't work out on your first attempt," he spoke clear and sincerely. "You must take the risk and try again, because if you don't then you'll pass up on a great opportunity to better yourself. Now stand up. You're training only stops when you've fully given up on yourself. Now think hard and come up with a better way of handling the conflict."

Ling opens his eyes and stares forward; his master's teachings soothing the raging storm in his head. He replays the lesson a few more times in his brain, gaining new meaning and worth from the preaching he once failed to take seriously. He closes his eyes, this time with tender focus and careful cool headedness. He breathes in, and then breathes out. For once in a long while, his mind felt cleared from the hazy insecurities clouding his judgment. He knew precisely what he needed to do; no matter how risky it could prove to be.

With blinding speed and cautious stealth, the boy dashes out of his hiding area. He eyes his target with falcon-like vision; the objective being the long, girthy stick that Tae was previously wielding. He snags it from the ground and then quickly tumbles behind a low crystal positioned next to the weapon. The sound of him picking up the staff causes Zeiru to whip his head around and examine his surroundings. Thanks to his quick movement, Ling managed to evade the gaze of the foe as he ducks behind his protective defense. He then carefully inspects the nearby zone for his next needed tool. He spots a perfect specimen a couple feet away; a hefty fragment of the topaz-like crystal shards. He rolls along the ground and scoops it up and then gets to work.

He lifts up his shirt and exposes a thin yet sturdy manila rope tied around the waist of his shorts. The simple tether acted as a belt to keep his trousers above his knees; a simple solution to not wishing to wage battles wearing uncomfortable leather belts. He removes the rope from his belt loops and puts his crafting skills to the test. He uses the cord to tie the large chunk of jewel to the end of Tae's walking stick. He wraps the twine repeatedly around the base of the wood branch while making sure it lodges nicely in a curved groove along the gem's surface. With a hard pull of the rope's tip, he successfully created a makeshift sledgehammer forged from all natural ingredients. Now he needed to put his homemade weapon to the test.

Zeiru creeps over to a high rising column, dragging the avatar by her hands as she punches the foe's hands yearning to break free. It was to no avail naturally, and the spirit opponent smoothly hoists the girl up to the stiff wall and produces more crystals to bind her in her place. Tae ceases her squirming upon realizing that she was sufficiently captured. She moves her head and notices Kian who was hung up nearby.

"Kian, I'm sorry I got you into this mess…" she states sadly to the small lad. "I seem to be an expert at getting other people into trouble…" Kian gives a faint smile, hoping to cheer Tae up with his lack of solemness on his face. He speaks up with his squeaky prepubescent voice.

"It's not your fault Tae!" he voices soundly. "I was so excited to show you guys around that I went a little too far too. Lots of people say spirits are bad but you seemed to find them super neat and I wanted to keep you feeling that way…" He faces the monstrous beast who was listening just a few feet away from Tae. "I guess I didn't do a very good job at proving that, huh?" Zeiru chuckles once more and sticks his head near Tae's unmoving body.

"….How upsetting… giving up already?" he taunts, pitilessly. "Where did that fiery drive go from before…?" Tae's lifts her face upwards, her hair parting along her girlish face. As she raises her eye level, she notices movement approaching from nearby. Without drawing attention to it, she unleashes a powerful chortle out of nowhere. The beast eyes her curiously, cocking his head once more.

"I wasn't finished just yet…" Tae refines, giggling slightly under her breath. She then angles her eyebrows and produces a more determined smirk. "I was just waiting for the cavalry."

With the timely cue, Ling jumps off the peak of one of the close by crystal pedestals. He raises the geometric war hammer over his head and, with the full extent of his muscles; power, slams the bludgeon downwards directly onto the back of the beast's skull. The blast from the gemstone was durable and piercing enough to crack the armored headdress, dislodging it from his face and neck. The shattered bits fall from the towering height and Zeiru lets out an ear piercing scream at the forceful attack. Ling plants his feet into the back of his neck, and with a forceful kick sends the beast falling until he ceremoniously slams his head into the side of one of the pillars. With the powerfully strong blow to the forehead, The Collector is rendered unconscious, leaving his limp body horizontal on the ground. Tae gapes at the boy's heroic splendor, watching how efficiently he smashed the huge spirit into the ground like a plank of wood on a chopping block. She begins whistling and hollering to the boy who had just landed on a nearby flat surface.

"Heck yeah, Ling!" she screams unrepentantly. "That's the kind of stunt that would slam Master Fa's jaw to the ground!" She wiggles slightly in her trap, attempting to giddily dance in happiness for her companion. Ling watches the girl embarrass herself as he places the hammer comfortably over his shoulder.

"Yeah so now that my panic attacks have finally stopped…" he states, tapping his chest, "…It seems like I'm actually the coolest guy in the Spirit World. Who would have imagined?" Just as he utters the fateful words, his trousers swiftly abandon their position on his waist, dropping serendipitously to his ankles. Tae blankly stares at the boy, at a complete loss for words. Ling frantically pulls them back up and then begins unwrapping his rope from the mallet to fasten his pants once more. Tae holds out a hand to stop him before he gets too far.

"Wait! We need to use that to free the captive people first!" Tae shouts, pointing to the souls hanging casually a few pillars away. Ling turns to them and nods with sudden conviction.

"Ah yes, of course, right away."

He spends the next couple of minutes using his massive sledge hammer to demolish the supports for the captured people. The gemstones shatter with a twinkling tone, causing small particles of crystal to sprinkle down like late-winter hail. The freed humans slide down the supports down to the ground, safely escaping the ensnarement. Eventually, he gets to Kian's pillar and does the same strategy, making careful sure not to bang up Guaji who was hovering close by. With the boy free, he too rides down the side of the structure and meets Tae at the base. Kian runs up once recovering and quickly dashes over to give Tae a hug. She hugs him right back, glad that he's safe.

"I'm glad you're okay!" Tae expresses, embracing the young boy closely. He tenses his arms, tightening his grip and then releases once more.

"Yeah, I'm glad you guys made it out okay too!" Kian responds, turning to Ling as he skates down the crystalline slide, gripping his waistband tightly so his slacks don't descend again. Tae watches him as well, smiling cheerfully as he jogs over to their location.

"Well, it was mostly due to the coolest guy in the spirit world," she compliments, fluttering her eyelashes jokingly towards to boy as he ties his rope to his bottom apparel. He glances up for a brief moment to utter his own flattering praise.

"Eh well, once I had the right motivation, I realized I didn't have any reason to sit on my butt like a lump. Good thing someone was here to, quite literally, smack some sense into me." He smirks shortly as he continues wrestling with the twine on his pants. Tae chuckles and then lifts her head at the nearing figures. The small clan of humans waltzes over to them, awkwardly faltering since they had not walked anywhere in a long while. An older gentleman holds out his hand and shakes Tae's, speaking kindly and softly.

"Thank you for saving us," he says with gratitude. After forcing his smile for a brief moment, his happiness quickly peters out and turns into a solemn mourning look. "Unfortunately…we've all been here so long I doubt we have a body to return to anymore…" Tae, Ling and Kian all look at them with empathetic wretchedness. Tae turns to the other melancholy characters and holds her hands together.

"I'm so sorry…" she communicates warmly. The group of humans all share a silent moment to mourn for the life they had to leave behind due to the spirit's interference. Once a spirit is away from its host body for too long, it can no longer bridge back over to it. The soul is essentially severed from its connecting destination. Because of this fact, the unfortunate individuals will not be able to return back to the physical world. Tae ponders for a moment, wishing there was some way she could help these poor people return back home to see the people they likely had to leave behind. With tragic regret, Tae had to accept that it would prove to be impossible. However, Tae offers one other solution to the wayward humans.

"I know it's not the same..." she starts to explain. "…but you all could find yourself a home here. There's a man here named Iroh who left his body in favor of living among the spirits. It won't replace whatever family or life you have back in our plane, but it could at least give you all purpose again." The humans all look at each other, for the first time exhibiting expressions of mild hope and promise. Tae's face composes at the group's opportunity to create a new life, adding an additional sentiment to put them further at ease. "Plus, if you explore around, you may run into some people coming through the spirit world or meditating here from their own bodies. It can be just a new page in your book of life." The man who spoke before nods to the girl with newfound motivation.

"Thank you again, we won't let what happened stop us from moving on with our existence." Tae smiles and bows her head to their incredible resilience in the face of a relentlessly difficult situation. Ling takes a second to admire Tae's ability to help others, even those that appear to be beyond help. It's a quality he had never seen in anyone aside from his master; one that he couldn't help but respect.

The group all have a moment of peace, only to be interrupted by the sound of rumbling beneath their feet. They look around, eventually locking their gaze on the previously unconscious spirit who was beginning to rise to his feet once more. The sight instantly causes the humans to react accordingly.

"We need to get out of here now!" Ling orders, waving his arms to direct them out of the nearest exit. The wayward group of strangers along with Kian, Ling and Tae all make a break for the opening in the concealment chamber. Tae takes up the rear but tales them closely making sure everyone gets out of the prison safely. Before she fully exits the site, Zeiru's voice perks up once more in its recognizably cryptic and terrifying way. Tae stops to listen as the others wholly ditch the nest.

"…To think…that humans would overpower me…" he utters, still disoriented and weak from the blow to his head. He raises himself slightly to his elbows and shakily props himself on his arms. Tae stomps her feet and sternly shouts at the spirit monster.

"I hope you take this little encounter to heart, that you can't mess with us humans like we're your playthings!" The creature chuckles as he rotates onto his backend to get a better look at the plucky gal.

"...Heh, you may have gotten the best of me….but I wonder how you'll fair against the Spirit Union Generals…"

Tae stares at the creature with a look of apparent confusion. The strange title was something she had no knowledge of. Zeiru takes notice of the girl's perplexing cocking of her head. He laughs once more boisterously and explains himself. "…You don't know about the Union Generals…? Well… you will soon. The SUG are a group of powerful spirits looking to wage war on you humans in the physical world…" He closes his eyes and places his hand to his chin in an over the top manner. "…From what I hear, they are planning to travel to the Tree of Time's spirit portals and begin their attack at the North and South Pole…" The creature stops his elaboration and places his hands to his forehead, still feeling the aftermath of Ling's brutal attack. Tae's body begins to tense up with an overflow of emotions. Her breath teeters as harrowing images flash before her of war raging across her home. Though she had no reason to trust the words of the wicked spirit, she didn't sense any sort of deception being at work. She gazes ahead emptily like she had been told that her life would be ending in a matter of days. It felt like every ounce of tranquility that Tae reveled in was slowly being taken from her with each new situation she was thrusted into. She speaks up with a notably nervous twinge in her voice.

"Why would they do that!?" she exclaims in a hoarse voice. "What reason would they have to do such a ridiculous move like that?" The beast just shrugs, cackling slightly under his breath.

"…Who's to say…?" The short message was clearly a lie; the moth monster knew full well what they were plotting and just refused to share with the Avatar. He composes himself once more and explains his own philosophy. "…All I know is that they have some pretty radical ideals. For me, those kinds of righteous causes are way too overblown and unnecessary. Why put so much effort into something so dangerously risky…? I'm content to just live my simple life of playing hunter to you human prey for as long as I exist in this world…" He gives a creepy smirk to the girl who just grimaces at the information he provided. Tae turns around and silently ambles away from the situation, refusing to mutter even a word to the creature's provided insight. She starts to finally exit the habitat, attempting to contain her hesitation as Zeiru shouts one final remark as the Avatar steps foot outside the dome.

"…You better hurry little girl…" he taunts with a menacing quality to his annunciation. "…The Generals will be in your realm before you know it…"

Chapter 10: A Business Proposal

Tae arrives back in the miraculous fantasy yard, her thoughts weighing on her as she regroups with the other visitors. Even though Tae and Ling weren't in the mesmerizing realm for very long, the lasting effects of its other worldly conflicts tuckered them out even more than when they first entered the Spirit World. The previously captured faction converse with one another as Ling takes a necessary moment to stretch and take some controlled breaths; though somewhat strained. Tae smiles slightly at the relief of everyone making it out okay, a small victory to cling to amidst the chaos. Though, she promptly returns to her worried personality upon realizing something amiss. She pilots her gaze around the landscape in front of her before returning to the broad lad.

"Ling…where did Kian go?" she questions, looking around at the various adult figures surrounding them. Her stocky companion relaxes his joints and rockets his head back and forth attempting to locate the young child. Upon failing at the task, Ling submits to the realization that he wasn't there anymore.

"Huh… he was here a moment ago…" Ling assures, peeking through the nearby decorum to see if he was tucked away somewhere. Alas, Kian most certainly was absent from the area. "Maybe he returned back to his body, out of fear of being stuck here like the other guys are." Tae nods at the proposed explanation. Still, she couldn't help but feel nervous about his sudden disappearance. Even so, Tae knew that the duo needed to return to their comrades back at home base. The two teenagers take a second to say their goodbyes to the other adventurers. They wave them off as the small clan of three humans embarks on their own journey through the alternate plane. Once they vanished from sight, Ling rotates his body to face Tae's and valiantly speaks up to the wavy-haired lass.

"So fair maiden," he opens with his arms crossed. Tae turns to him with emotionless eyes tucked in the crevices of her face; her humorless gaze speaking volumes. Even so, Ling continues with extreme lack of awareness. "We have conquered this stretch of the journey by the skin of our teeth, you ready to return home and make up a story for the others in which I don't cower and wine the whole time?" Tae chuckles slightly at the boy's carefree attitude; a quality she wishes she could take advantage of in herself. She nods modestly and barely lifts the edges of her mouth as she answers.

"Yes, let's not keep them waiting any longer." With those words, the two close their eyes and concentrate. Getting into the Spirit World is usually a high hurdle to climb since you are quite literally expelling your inner spirit to another plane of existence. However, returning home is typically a much simpler task since your spirit longs to reconnect with its physical counterpart. The only real complication in fazing back to corporeal reality is when the spirit gets locked in the Spirit World preventing its return. An example of this is with the ill-fated troop that was anchored to the other realm from Zeiru's encasement. Luckily for the younglings, they were free to fully concentrate and will themselves back to their campsite.

The sun was just beginning to rise when the two travelers merge back with their meditating husks. Upon return, they see Banto and Shina with exhausted faces, sitting in anguish near the petering flame. Bentley was also fidgeting in his sleep, an occurrence usually unfounded since he naps through every minute available to him. Tae and Ling take notice of the surroundings. The walls and ground around the site had bits of rubble and cobblestone strewn around the area with scorch marks and slashed gashed along the sidings of the mountain. To breach the silence, Ling casually shatters the interlude with his graceless voice.

"What the heck happened to you guys?" The sudden verbiage snaps the two squatting guards back to their former selves. They quickly hop to their toes and greet their newly arrived friends.

"You guys made it back!" Banto expresses, relief lining his enthusiasm. "We did not know how extensive your journey there was going to be."

"Oh buddy let me tell you…" Ling begins with a hyped-up pitch. "…It was about ten times more 'extensive' than I thought it was going to be…" Banto smiles seeing that the boy's energy was intact. Shina strolls over to the two and immediately begins busting Ling's chops.

"I'm assumin' you were minimal help over in that world, yeah?" Ling leaps to his feet from his cross-legged pose and points his meaty finger at the girl.

"I'll have you know that I was actually quite heroic." He shrinks his body in an exaggeratedly offended manner. He pouts childishly as the black-haired girl rolls her eyes. "I'm insulted that you could think so little of me…" Shina ignores the gesture and nudges him in the arm as she walks by, pushing him slightly to the side. She begins taking down their admittedly underused shelter as she continues the banter.

"Yeah well, glad ya both made it home safe. To give some perspective, we had to fight a buncha mangy animals to keep your bacons safe." Ling nodded inquisitively saying smugly,

"Ah yes… the night prowlers. We figured you might have a tussle with them."

"You knew about those creatures?" Banto inquires, shocked at their knowledge.

"Well… a spirit monster actually told us about them while we were lollygagging about in the Spirit World. It was about the only thing he said that wasn't condescending and annoying." Banto perks up once more, glancing at Shina who took notice of the surprising words but continued to pack up their belongings. Banto's curiosity persisted a bit longer.

"You conversed with a spirit? They didn't hurt you did they? Were you able to gather any insightful information?" he pauses to take a breath and then recalls the initial motivation that led the duo to that realm in the first place. "Did you manage to contact Korra, Tae? Did you find out what that voice you heard was about?"

The girl shakes her head, completely distracted from the plethora of information swirling around her. Tae turns to her friends, knowing full well that she needs to fill them in on the information she was given. But the concern that would befall her cohorts causes her to clam up. All she uncovered from the Spirit World is that a group of murderous beings is out there doing who knows what while she is just barely beginning her Avatar training. There was always a possibility that the phantom beast from the Spirit World was fabricating a brilliant lie, but Tae could not fathom a reason that he would need to do so. Especially a tale as extravagant as the one he provided. Admittedly, she hopes that this so-called SUG are simply the work of fiction; a threat of that caliber was enough to produce beads of sweat along the Avatar's hairline. Tae clears her throat and begins spilling the newfound data from the crystal menace.

"I…I didn't find out anything about Korra or even if the voice was actually her…" she explains, twiddling her fingers a bit as she dishes the dirt. "But I think I know why it was calling for help. I spoke with a spirit named Zeiru, he told me that there's a group of spirits looking to wage war in our realm. A war against humanity…" The news draws the attention of everyone around; they all look at Tae as if she had an extra eye mounted on her forehead. They all neglect to respond on account of their terrified fascination for Tae's words. Tae's heart pounds violently as she fills the silence with information about the SUG. She grips her chest lightly to calm herself down a bit. "So… he called them the Spirit Union Generals. I don't know what they want or why this invasion is happening, but apparently it's going to happen sometime soon…" Tae's mouth hangs open a bit as if she had more news to provide, but regrettably that's all she knew. She clenches her teeth quietly and looks down at the ground. She takes a couple staggered breaths before looking at her companions. None of them had anything to add or counter the story with; they all just let their eyes wander as they contemplated the severity of the mysterious new threat. No one dared permeate the unspeaking soundlessness; everyone was too unsure of themselves to offer any solace. Eventually however, Banto straightens his back and struts over towards Shina to help packing. The other three camp mates watch as he meticulously begins lugging the bags towards Bentley's lounging area. He remains unspoken for sometime before ultimately verbalizing his thoughts on the matter.

"Hm, it's possible that spirit from Chao Li was one of the generals," he enlightens, rubbing his chin with deep concentrative power. Tae glances up at the boy and starts to address him, but Banto swiftly disregards the call and continues. "If so, then it's evident that they may be testing us humans. They're probably equally as unsure about our strength and fortitude as we are of them. Essentially, all we have to do is train hard and show those ghostly apparitions that we aren't going to submit to their attacks." The sudden speech bewitches the rest of the gang; they all peer up at the fire-bender as he paces back and forth. Soon after, Shina provides an apprehensive retort.

"Love…ya can't be serious. This is bigger than just some random thugs lookin' for a fight. This is beyond the scope of our capabilities." Banto turns his head directly at Shina and shoots his eyes unwaveringly into the girl's.

"For now," he states, giving an immensely serious expression to the rest of the group. He promptly returns to his directionless walking, lifting his finger to exemplify his points. The remaining crew mates just sit by and listen to the lad's stratagem. "Now that you guys have made it to the spirit World, we can plot a course for Ba Sing Se. We need to warn the populous that dangerous events are on the horizon. Prior to that, there's a city we can stop at a little ways north from here; it's a massive metropolis that houses someone that may be of great use to us." Shina reacts poorly to the change in plan; she turns away from the boy's ranting and carries on with her cleanup of their temporary lodging. Ling gazes with admiration; the browns of his eyes glistening; he raises his voice to the boy's plan.

"Man, you're really gung ho about this travel plan of yours!" Banto nudges his glasses closer to his nose and persists once more.

"We have a duty to the world as the Avatar's assistants. We can't let some threat impede what needs to be done; it's arguably one of the most important jobs a person could have." He peers over at Tae who is lost in thought about everything spiraling out of control around her. Banto ignores the look and approaches the girl boldly. "Tae, we're not going to let some spirit ruffians corrupt our way of life, are we?" Tae stares up at the boy; she could feel the fiery passion boiling up inside of him. Even though Tae still had much to worry about, she conceded that it would be unwise to linger on the forlorn ideas racing through her mind. She snickers suddenly and then leaps to her feet without a moment of hesitation and resumes her Avatar-like personality.

"Yeah, an Avatar never sits back and lets the goons do as they please! Let's not waste any more time, I've got to bulk up for the eventual encounter!" The spark of motivation resonates with Ling; he pumps his fist and leaps high into the air with exuberant vigor. Banto nods his head in agreement with the rally, turning towards the north as they begin the next leg of their journey.

The band of heroes took no time at all to load all of the cargo onto their animal transporter. With Tae's soothing coos, the beast had become composed and energized for the lengthy travel upwards towards their mysterious destination. Once on the road, the trek was relatively uneventful. There were a couple of waterways that ran perpendicular to their trajectory, but the crew finagled a method across with certain ease. Throughout the voyage, the group chatted about a number of important points such as the overall strategy of attack for when the SUG makes their grand entrance into their plane of existence. Most of the suggestions didn't stick; in total it seemed like their plans were all a little fanatical. Tae also kept prying into Banto's head to get him to relinquish the reasoning they were traveling to this unidentified conurbation, but he cheekily kept his mouth shut for his own purposes. As the others talked, Shina lounged back at the backend of the badger-mole, checking out all of her weapons from the previous skirmish to see if any needed sharpening. Her face did not once bend upwards as she stroked a number of her blades with a whetstone she brought along in her satchel. About midway through the trip however, someone finally directed the flow of conversation her way.

"So what's your story, Shina?" Ling spontaneously solicits, giving her a fascinated expression with a sideways stare. "Flee from an assassin's guild?" Shina pauses her merciless scrubbing and simply provides a straight-forward answer.

"Sorry love, my story isn't nearly as interestin' as that." Ling pouts wholesomely and then waltz over and sits near her cozy corner with supreme lack of regard. Shina scowls at him slightly as he plops himself a couple feet from her workshop.

"Come onnnnn… we hardly know anything about each other. Wouldn't it make sense for us to get a little more personal with one another?" He smiles and winks at the clearly disinterested girl. Shina's annoyance rises moderately with the boy's relentless curiosity in her private affairs. She originally decides to just ignore the tiresome boy, but instead realizes that Ling would probably have no quarrels speaking about himself.

"Well what about you, hon?" she inquires, managing to shed her petulant aura in favor of a more playful and approachable one. "I don't recall hearin' much about your story. Got nothin' to share about yourself, yeah?" Ling takes the bait and acts accordingly to Shina's hopes. He places his massive fist onto his hip in a sassy manner and proudly defends his honor.

"Excuse me miss but I am an open book," the boy chants, holding his head pompously pointed at the clouds above. "I already dished my sob story to Tae in the Spirit World. Pretty much I was abandoned by my parents, Master Fa took me in so I never left home, and then essentially became terrified of the world outside my little combat-oriented bubble." He takes a breather from his abridged autobiography, noticing the girl raise an eyebrow to his backstory. Ling thinks for a second and then raises a hand in sudden realization. "Ah, but here's a little fun fact that none of you know about me. I am incredibly skilled at playing the circle flute!" With the whacky character trait revealed, he accordingly whips out a small ring-shaped woodwind instrument that's clipped openly on the outside of his personal bag. He unsnaps the melodious implement from his parcel and places it comfortably by his lips. With a burst of air from his mouth, he begins to play a beautiful tune. The sound enchants the group onboard the furry vessel, letting the comforting sounds from the device lull them into a consoling state of mind. Bentley makes a couple of low cooing noises showcasing his appreciation for the relaxing tones. Ling stops upon hearing his enjoyment and boasts once more to the crew. "See? Bentley knows a skilled artisan when he…hears one."

"Quick question, love," Shina interjects, holding up her hand to stop his banter with himself. "How exactly is blowin' air into a chunk of wood goin' to be of any use to us?" Ling scoffs at the girl's offensive observation. He attaches the musical instrument to the left-side loop of his trousers and bitterly crosses his arms.

"So unappreciative of the musical arts…" the hurt boy dictates with an upwards turn of his nose. "Not everything has to be combat training and knife throwing ya know…" Shina places her hand to her chin and produces a thoughtful noise depicting her intense consideration of his words.

"I'm gonna have to beg to differ, love." Banto and Tae laugh heartily at the petty argument. The playful dialogue makes the rest of the travel fly by in only a couple of hours. They keep pushing forwards, only pausing occasionally to feast on some river water and packaged snack foods to keep their energy high.

After sometime, the gang reaches a sizeable river flowing westward from the eastern coast. Permeating the watery expanse is a wood bridge leading haphazardly across the perilous stream. The traveling teenagers lock onto an impressive sight that was awaiting them opposite the structurally questionable overpass. On the far shore of the bustling brook rests a massive, futuristic looking city. The buildings cast shadows that stretch acres across the surrounding valley with peculiar structural shapes differing between each edifice. The iconic design of the mechanical playground is one exceptionally unique from every other urban pinpoint on the Earth Nation's map. The view of the city is awe inducing to the group of teenagers, all except the Avatar who for some unknown reason leaps from Bentley's back and dashes towards the bridge's gate and gazes open-mouthed at the incredible backdrop.

"Are you actually kidding me, Banto?" the gal stalwartly screeches at her childhood associate. "The place we're going to is Gale City!?" Tae screams the title of the venue like she had just obtained an immeasurable sum of currency. Banto gets slightly taken aback by the ear-splitting announcement. He amends the angle of his glasses before answering.

"Quite," he states, breaking out a slick smirk. "I assumed you would house some amount of excitement for this destination." Tae's smile was so massive that it could compete with an air bison's. Her teeth were pressing dangerously hard together; her pent up volatile liveliness exuding uncontrollably. Ling decides to take a daring chance and clear up his uncertainty.

"So…I'm gonna need someone to fill me in on why this place is important," he prompts, looking around helplessly for a lending hand. Shina provides a somewhat useful explanation for the lost boy.

"Assumin' they're jazzed for the reason I'm thinkin' they are, it's where a lot of big movers are shot nowadays. Meanin' lots of famous folk and influential big leagues roam around the joint like an exotic zoo of noteworthy names." Ling' eyes widen at the prospect of walking among famous people, even if he himself is lacking in knowledge of said significant names. Tae whirls herself around to face the group still idly squatting beyond Bentley's snout.

"Oh my gosh, TELL me that we're going to recruit a famous mover star to join Tae's Fearless Foursome!" Banto shakes his head at the deplorable name change to their miniscule crew of warriors. A groan is also heard from the backend of their badger-mole from a face-palming Shina. Banto opts to disregard her imaginative nickname and instead wags his finger at his multi-bending partner. He speaks to her in his typical ostentatious tone.

"Unfortunately for you, I do not know of any mover stars from my contacts." He pauses dramatically to build unwanted suspense. "However, there is a famous gentleman in this town that you will definitely be star struck over my dear friend." Tae claps her hands wildly and quickly earth-bends herself back on Bentley's back. The creature grunts slightly, making the Avatar feel obligated to provide him a couple of scratches behind his ear as an apology. With all of the team ready to enter the city, they cross the precarious bridge. The beams creak scarily as they inch their way over the splinter infested roadway. Luckily, they touchdown on the adjacent cliff-side without a hitch, and find Bentley a suitable bed of grass that he could relax in for a little while. The bedding was tucked under a small overhang of terrain that allowed him to remain out of sight in case citizens explore the outskirts of the town. After leaving him some food and water, the group quickly sprints into the entryway of Gale City.

The crew of outsiders wanders around the overflowing streets, eyeing all of the extravagant business signs and bold advertisements, fulfilling their roles as tourists perfectly. The inhabitants of the restless city all move with intense purpose, never pausing to rest at any juncture. Tae bursts forwards and absorbs the environment's excessive adornments. The three slower members of Team Avatar hustle to keep up with the infatuated female as she directs the flow of the lineup without even realizing it. She slows down after a while of mindlessly navigating the cross-hatched avenues, allowing time for conversation.

"So four-eyes…" Shina begins with magnificent derision. "…Which way are ya thinkin' about draggin' us?" Banto refuses to play along with the name-calling and alternatively gestures for them all to move to the corner of the sidewalk to allow residents to waltz past them uninterrupted. He thinks for a second, trying painfully hard to recall a piece of information he remembers peering at on his father's desk. He visualizes the business letter in his mind and concentrates on the address printed on the envelope.

"If my memory is correct…" Banto mutters, attempting to validate in his mind's eye if his recollection is accurate. "…Then we should be searching for 20th Street. Somewhere along that stretch of pavement should be an intersection with a roadway called Record Blv. Indeed… it's there that we should locate our infamous ally, if my calculations are exact." Tae does not waste a second. She launches her arm forward and instantly takes charge of her miniature parade.

"You heard the man, let's march soldiers!" She begins stomping along the numbered roads, striding towards the increasing incremental signs posted upright for everyone to see. The squad of teenagers loyally follows her command, even if they are reluctant to encourage her ridiculously goofy behavior.

The locals at Gale City all were drastically different from one another. A handful of people were clear members of high society, donning more expensive and luxurious clothing. Others dressed in more casual simplistic styles, looking more to blend in subtly with the common residents instead of attempting to stick out. The distinctions between parties allow many outsiders to come and go through Gale City without detection of being a foreigner to their mechanical kingdom. Tae and crew watch all the townies stroll by, minding their own business and paying no heed to the small posy of teenagers traversing the city streets. It allows their arrival time at their destination to be enjoyably timely. The foursome stops their peddling and they cock their heads upwards to a large, overwhelming structure with a needlessly gaudy sign.

"Oh my gosh, Banto. Shut up, no way; THIS is where you wanted to bring us!?" the girl panics, exasperating herself with her surging emotions. Banto affirms her question and awaits his companion to fan-girl a little while longer. Said freaking out ensues for a little bit, drawing some attention to the squealing youngling. Ling, once again, feels the need to insert himself into the knowing party.

"Let's stop the shrieking for one sec and fill ol' Ling in on what this eye-sore of a structure actually is," the out-of-place boy desires, gazing at the impressively massive office building. Banto motions to elucidate his comrade on the topic, but Tae butts in to handle the clarification instead.

"This is a mover production company; lots of big-time movers are created and filmed here in the building." She pauses to exemplify her next point; one that was essential to the team's next steps. "The Executive Producer of this specific agency is named Rohan; I imagine you must have heard of him." Ling's ears twitch at the name drop, knowing full well who he is.

"Rohan? Like Avatar Aang's grandson, Rohan?" he repeats, making absolute sure that he was who they were referring to. The smiling faces of Banto and Tae illustrate to him that he indeed was the famed gentleman Ling was referencing. "He owns a mover company? When did that happen?" Shina pops in to the conversation to give her input.

"I hear he ditched his family's ideals on buildin' the air nation in favor of him runnin' off to make movers; seems producin' wound up bein' what he was real passionate about." Ling rounds his mouth in fixation to the intriguing lore. Tae, on the other hand, decides to disregard it and continues to praise him instead.

"Anyways, his movers are awesome, I used to watch them all the time back home," she mentions giddily. The Avatar pauses for a moment and then directs her attention to her crimson clad friend. "Is he the guy you wanted to meet with?" Banto gives one forceful head nod and smartly recoils his face a bit in preparation of Tae's follow-up squeals of joy. He then moves on to explain their purpose for coming here.

"Being the son of the Avatar and a proficient air-bender makes Rohan an imperative asset to you learning air-bending, Tae." The boy makes sure his voice is a light murmur to keep people from hearing about Tae's bending abilities, just in case nosey townsfolk listen in. He then moves on to illuminate to the group how he planned to arrange a meeting with him. "You see, my family has been doing business with Rohan's agency since he first started producing his own movers. We aided in the initial funding for his cinema business and now Rohan continues to sponsor the Juro mining company. Therefore, meeting with me should definitely be in the realm of possibility." The surprising news leaves Tae speechless; she socks Banto in the arm feeling betrayed by her companion.

"I had no idea your family was so influential in the Earth Nation! Like, I knew they were famous but people miles away from our home know who you are!?" Banto cockily puts his hand under his chin in appreciation for the girl's shock.

"Why do you think I took my job so seriously back home? Besides personally enjoying it, I have a wide network of associates and business partners to maintain and keep in good tidings. I suppose now's my first real opportunity to utilize those company allies for an admittedly unprofessional reason." Tae smirks at the boy, loving his enthusiasm for his incredible lifestyle. Shina and Banto stand around feeling dubiously forgotten. Shina eventually decides to enter back into the discussion.

"So… while ya meet with this Rohan fella, what exactly are me and the pied piper here supposed to be doin'?" Banto considers for a moment the proper task for the two of them to partake in. Eventually, he points to them with a look of instructional importance.

"Tae and I shall attempt to make a plea with the businessman to see if he'll assist in being the Avatar's air-bending teacher. Along with that, maybe get some insight on contacting Korra since he did associate with her throughout his youth and young adulthood. While we do that, it would be helpful to replenish our resources for wherever we plan to travel to next. I'm sure this big city will have lots of vendors and street shops to gather some essentials." Shina shrugs with acquiescence at the task, complying with the fact that their food and water were dwindling slightly. Ling thrusts his flat palm to his forehead in a gratuitous salute to the messy haired boy. With the delegations in order, Tae and Banto nod to each other in an unspoken understanding. They immediately dash into one of the alleyways near their location. Ling and Shina follow along, sufficiently unsure about their choice of action. Tae finally announces to them the purpose of their hiding.

"I'm going to go in as Rio so that I can keep my identity a secret. Can you guys give me a wall so I can change?" Ling and Shina nod with clarified affirmation, and turn their backs to block the elongated changing room from wandering eyes. Banto makes sure the rear of the passageway was sealed off so no one would peak from the far end. With an impressive costume change, Avatar Rio was ready for her first business proposal. The two pairs give a signaling head jiggle to solidify their brief parting. Shina and Ling turn to mosey on towards a more populated location while Banto and Rio enter the large business center in hopes of succeeding in their task.

The inside to the esteemed cinematography studio was incredibly alien to the two teens who had no knowledge of the inner workings needed to create movers. The main lobby area was a wide open space with countless pieces of modern art depicting different models of mover tech and snapshots from different mover productions. Tae's attention points immediately to a Nuktuk statue mounted on a marble pedestal; an acknowledgement of Bolin's importance in the mover industry being one of the first actors to popularize the art form. A long carbon colored desk stretches across the entire width of the atrium where a couple of pleasant looking receptionists reside. Around the common area, small handfuls of people are loitering about; lifting their heads at the sight of Tae's costumed appearance. Thankfully, this type of artistic medium encourages people to dress up in costumes so people can act as their favorite mover characters; thus the unwanted attention faded quickly. Tae and Banto warily stroll up to the front desk; Banto in particular needed to make sure he plays the situation well. This arrangement he's trying to swindle is not only for helping Tae learn earth-bending, but it may also lead to a beneficial opportunity to share the warnings of the malicious spirits. Either way, Banto holds his head high and approaches the center receptionist with Tae closely tailing behind in her suspicious getup. The delightful woman turns away from her notepad to greet the young visitors.

"Hello, welcome to GC Studios! How can I be of assistance today?" The robotic greeting causes Banto to tense up slightly; he really had no idea how this situation was going to play out. Nonetheless, he smiles politely knowing full well that he has an important job to do today, and he's not one to err in his duties.

"Good afternoon, I was wondering if I could arrange a meeting with Rohan." The sudden request causes the employees to all side-eye each other. One of the clerks at the far corner of the administration desk lets out a muffled snicker; no doubt mocking the skeptically dressed children as they attempt to appear professional. The hub office assistance maintains her professionalism and inquires further.

"What would be the purpose of this meeting?" she probes, dropping the pen from her hand and letting it nestle quaintly aside her notepad. "All direct matters with the executive producer must be scheduled in advanced and through Rohan himself. If he did not request visitation from you two, then I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for you." Tae hides her dejection with her reptilian mask. She faces Banto who's expression did not falter once from its rugged sophistication. He lets the words of the staff member sink in, and then he calmly whips out his trump card.

"Excuse my lack of introduction," Banto pleas, bowing ever so slightly to showcase his formal courtesy. "My name is Banto Juro, the sole heir to Juro Industries. I'm here on behalf of my father Rotoru Juro who has sent me here to discuss matters pertaining to our financial agreement. I would appreciate it greatly if you could contact him and inform him of my arrival." The minute the name Juro was expelled from the boy's mouth, the features on the lady's face altered intensely from their original uninterested appearance. Her eyes widen as she stares carefully at the boy's clothes. In no time flat, she picks out a small silver emblem pinned to Banto's jacket that contains the symbol for his family's business. Banto waits patiently for some sort of response; changing his expression ever so harshly to illustrate that he needed an answer as soon as possible. The lady nods without a word and grabs a nearby phone.

"Sir, you have visitors here to meet with you. One of them is Mr. Juro's son…" The silence following the statement makes Banto and Tae break out in a subtle sweat. Not a single stifled sound crackled through the other end of the phone line. Eventually, an authoritative bellow responds through the compact device.

"Let them up." The tiny command issues an internal sigh of relief from both teenagers. The liberation of wrestling with the uncertainty makes a confident smile curve onto Banto's face. The receptionist places the phone back on its holster and motions towards an elevator door.

"Top floor, final door on the left side of the hallway. He'll be waiting for you in his office."

"Thank you very much," Banto responds with a supplementary head nod. He circles around the desk with perfect posture and casually strolls to the elevator door. Tae puffs her chest and sways her shoulders widely in an attempt to make her presence more intimidating. The two tap the upwards button on the lift panel and self-assuredly enter the rectangular enclosure. The charming dings from the contraption alert the doors to squash back together, sealing them off from the bewildered stares from the foyer dwellers. With the sanctity of separating from the public eye, Tae temporarily reverts back to her normal self as she compliments her associate's incredible persuasion.

"Banto, I had no idea you were such a wordsmith when you needed to be!" she murmurs in a loud rasp. "I'm so used to you babbling and tripping over your words like a fool!" Banto extends a finger and holds it just below Tae's arm. He conjures a tiny flame on its tip, giving Tae an incredibly minor burn. She lets out a cute yelp and recoils her arm immediately with a frazzled pout. The fire-bender glances to his friend to elucidate his previous accomplishment.

"Frequently back home, important associates and business partners would visit our home to discuss different proposals or hammer out the detailing for cooperative projects. My parents had high expectations for me to maintain a professional image when in the company of such prominent connections; even at a young age. It was somewhat tiresome at first but I suppose it did manage to mold me into a polite, upstanding young businessman." He beams a playful grin to his companion who was rubbing her elbow from the preceding sneak attack. Tae smirks right back. She keeps finding more and more ways that her friend could substantially blow her mind. She wondered briefly if one day she would be able to have that kind of influence over others.

The elevator arrives to its destination: the 30th floor of the office section of the building. The two exchange glances as they walk down the empty hallway, thoroughly nervous about the coming conference. Banto speaks quietly to the Avatar as they near the doorway to Rohan's workplace.

"I know you're a big fan of Rohan and his work, but please try to keep the focus of the conversation on important matters, alright?" Tae puffs up her face underneath the hard casing of her facial décor.

"I got it, I got it," she assures in a bothered tone. "I know the importance of staying in character, especially given that he has ties to your family." She ponders for a second and then adds a follow-up question to her own observation. "Do you think being related to your dad will be enough for him to be of assistance?"

"I surely hope," he states plainly. "When Rohan was first setting up the groundwork's for his mover business idea, he didn't have suitable funds to put his plan fully in motion. My dad stepped in to help fund the early developmental phase of his cinematic debut, assisting in paying for the proper equipment and workers. In return, Rohan always advertises my family's business along with uses the profit from his flicks to pay back my father. They've grown very close to one another thanks to their cooperative efforts in boosting their respective career paths." Tae gives a passionate acknowledgement of their fascinating companionship. She then shakes her head and adds an extra comment.

"Well, let's hope he's as cooperative with us as he is with your father." Banto nods silently as they suddenly reach the subject's office. As they arrive, they temporarily examine the needlessly elaborate doorway. The hinges were an illustrious gold color with the name plaque at its center having a beautifully decorated border. The two pause as Banto's fist hovers just in front of the wooden entryway, eventually succumbing to the pressure and knocking firmly against the moveable sheet of wood. A voice responds accordingly to the banging, telling them to come inside. The teens comply with their hearts weighing down their chests.

The inside of Rohan's office was surprisingly barren. The room contained a bunch of nicely trimmed plants with some standard furniture and paintings lining the outer border of the room. The back wall glowed heavenly from the outside sunlight pouring through the quadrilateral glass panes. In the center rests a massive desk that seemed almost too large for a single human being to realistically work at. The counter has surprisingly few personal items planted on its tabletop. Multiple documents and writing utensils are spread chaotically along its base with only a small picture frame standing out at its corner. The contents of the photograph were laborious to analyze from an outsider's perspective, but Tae and Banto could both make out that it was a family photo with Rohan and what it appeared to his wife and two daughters. On the flamboyant carper blanketing the floor stands two cushioned chairs; the landing site for the two companions' tense bodies.

"Please sit down," a deep voice offers with a taut gesture towards the two seats. The man before them was relatively young for such a stiff, business-oriented personality. He wields a pair of glasses on his sharp nose and has more angular facial features in contrast to the two young visitors. He has a small beard beneath his chin with his clothing being a respectable suit and tie combo with a striking pair of black-colored gloves shrouding his open hands. The man was serious in his expressions; which perfectly matched the typical disposition of his father flawlessly. He raises an eyebrow to the bizarre appearance of the masked dame shuffling about nervously but continues his managerial verbiage. "To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with my dearest associate's progeny?"

"Sir, my sincerest apologies for the impromptu conference, but we have an urgent request that we hope you'd assist with," Banto pleads, lowering himself stiffly onto one of the adjacent chairs. Rohan analyzes the boy's exigency and raises his eyebrow once more to the curious words.

"If I may…" he begins, shuffling some papers around on his desk in a calculated movement. "…what could possibly be so important that you would use your family's renown to arrange for this conversation? I'm incredibly appreciative of everything your father has done for me over the years, but a spontaneous greeting like this is hardly reasonable without some form of warning." Banto's insides curl up in a knot at the words; he does not want Rohan to be suspicious of their arrival because it means he may contact Mr. Juro for an explanation. Even so, Banto maintains his calm aura and cuts directly to the chase to keep the topic desirable to the businessman.

"The reason for my unscrupulous entry into your workplace is certainly lacking in merit, but the purpose is of the highest importance; for everyone." The phrasing lifts Rohan's eyes and melds his face with confusion and intrigue. He says nothing however; he simply waits for Banto to detail why exactly the meeting was so imperative. The headbanded lad turns to Tae, who meets his gaze through the gauze of her mask. He inhales strongly and finally unloads the truth into the open. "You see, this is Avatar Rio." The revelation was met with nary a response or shift in expression. Banto keeps prattling on. "She needs your bending expertise and I personally would also appreciate being able to pick your brain about something else as well."

The man darts his eyes back and forth between the talkative boy and his silent companion. He shifts his eyes along Tae's costume, seeing if she was going to become involved in the discussion, but figured she was going to prolong her mystery. Rohan tightens his lips and shrugs his arms widely, conveying something akin to 'is that it?'

"This is a joke, right?" he finally verbalizes, waiting for the punch line to eventually land. "The Avatar has gone unidentified for years since Avatar Korra's unfortunate demise. Now you're informing me that this masked charlatan is the true wielder of the Avatar spirit?" Tae and Banto had prepared for such complete disbelief to their narrative. Without turning his head, he mutters a straightforward instruction to his companion.

"Rio, if you would be so kind…" With the signal smoothly escaping Banto's tongue, Rio lifts her hands towards the contents on Rohan's desk. She scrunches up her hand causing the metallic pen holder near the man's wrists to crumple together with a screeching bark. Rohan watches the mesh container squish together in a dastardly unflattering shape and then lifts his eyes awaiting the next move. With a simple flick of Tae's wrist, a small ember of fire radiates of the roof of her palm, rising slowly upwards towards the ceiling. With clear control of two elements being manipulated, Rohan opens his mouth widely with shock and utters quietly under his breath.

"Oh my stars…" Tae snaps her hand close to extinguish the tiny pocket fire before it makes the room too smoky. She follows up by flexing her fingers in order to reformat the shape of the crudely disfigured container. Rohan adjusts his glasses and leans his head in closer to get a better look at the unidentifiable heroine. "Remarkable…you really are the Avatar." Tae nods her head exaggeratedly to exemplify his correctness. The bearded man smiles hesitantly; he likely lost hope of ever locating the lost successor of Raava's spirit a long time ago. His emotions revert back into their more strict and unfeeling variety upon understanding the severity of their meeting with him. "What exactly did you hope to discuss today, Banto?"

"A bunch of topics, actually," he reveals with an apologetic tone in his voice. He stops speaking briefly and gives Tae a subtle motion to indicate that the floor was hers if she wanted it. Tae accepts the offer and prepares her vocal chords for her complete shift in voice production. There was one question whose answer has eluded the general public for a long time; Tae included. She leans forward to display to Rohan that she was taking the lead of the conversation.

"What happened to Avatar Korra?" The deep, raspy quality of the girl's voice surprises Rohan along with the jump towards such a tender subject. He remains stunned briefly before drooping his head low and giving a non-answer.

"I don't know…nobody does," Rohan replies in a manner much less authoritative than how he had been speaking for the past couple of minutes. "Her body was found 18 years ago in the Spirit World. Nothing around indicated what transpired that led to her downfall, much to everyone's solemn aggravation." The answer causes Tae to pause and reflect about her predecessor. She had read similar reports in documentation lining her bookshelf back home. The time and date of her death were well known, but the fact that no one out there knows specifically what occurred her final night leaves Tae sick to her stomach. Nonetheless, Tae presses onwards with the interrogation.

"What about Korra's companions? Mako was a detective and even he couldn't deduce what happened? I can't imagine your parents or siblings would be satisfied with that either." The comment about Rohan's family leads the dignified man to drop his guard once more. He takes a brief recess in thought before eventually illuminating the duo on the subject.

"No one knows what happened," he repeats even more distraughtly than before. "It seemed like she just eventually succumbed to great exhaustion. My family of course was heartbroken; it took them a long time to fully grieve. Eventually, they managed to turn it around and use those strong emotions to motivate them to find the new Avatar."

"What about you?"

"I…" Rohan pauses once more, thinking of a suitable way to phrase his next sentence in the shrouded face of the Avatar. "I helped early on but…eventually I noticed that the possibility of there not being an Avatar after Korra began to consume my family. All they would spend their time doing was scouring the Earth Nation and getting more and more addicted to the search even when it was clearly tearing them apart on the inside. Eventually…things happened and I drifted away from them. I began forging my own path in life; one not obsessively driven by anything involving the Avatar or world affairs. I haven't spoken to my family since then…" The disclosure of information showcases to Tae and Banto that this had clearly been weighing on him for a while. The pair knows what it's like to run from their family's expectations and formulate their own future; the feelings Rohan were experiencing radiated strongly with the twosome. They decide to shift the conversation a little bit to put the topic at rest.

"Sir, one of the purposes for our appearance here today was to ask if you would be willing to train Rio in the art of air-bending." The shift in conversation smacks Rohan focus back into the situation and he listens intently to the wishes of the young adults. "She's still a fledgling Avatar; we've been regularly honing her skills with fire-bending so we thought it'd be worthwhile to start directing our attention on a new element." Rohan cocks his head at the interesting development with his old friend's kin. He chuckles slightly at the boy's words.

"You're telling me that you have been personally training the Avatar in fire-bending, Banto?" The teenage engineer bites his lip at the realization that he's been rambling on about him and Avatar Rio a little too much. He accidentally revealed a bit of their relationship which could potentially transfer into fully putting the puzzle pieces together and concluding that they're longtime friends. Banto and Tae both did not want that connection to be made. However, Rohan just shakes his head passively and reluctantly accepts the information. "Huh…I guess you're path in life was much different than what your father had in mind, huh?" The well-intentioned message plunged Banto's heart deep in his chest. Considering the state of his relationship with his father, Banto would not disagree with the notion that things developed quite differently between him and his guardian. Nonetheless, Banto just nods with a sheepish smile and replies.

"Yes, quite."

"Well…I'm sorry to disappoint you both…" Rohan starts, speaking sadly once more. "…However, I'm definitely not the man you should train from. My air-bending, to put it bluntly, is very underdeveloped and unpolished. I never had the knack with the bending art like my siblings did; it was strenuous for me to simply produce powerful gusts from my hands. I know how vital it is for the Avatar to master the elements so I'd suggest you find a more suitable teacher to guide you on your journey, Rio." Tae drops her neck with a melancholy pose. She really hoped that coming here would provide more answers or at least push her further along her path as a guiding light for the world. But, she understands that she can't afford to mope, for her own sake and for those around her as well. She lifts her head boldly and in turn bends her spine in a formal bow.

"It's alright," she assures in her adjusted voice. "Thank you for being generous enough with your time to speak with us today." Rohan smiles warmly; the nuanced and heartfelt appearance being one that had not yet been captured on his face throughout the entire visit. He responds accordingly.

"It's been my pleasure. Is there anything else I can assist with while you're here?" Tae and Banto turn to one another. There was one last piece of news that was begging to be mentioned, especially considering how forthcoming the gentleman has been with his information. The pony-tailed lad gives Tae a worried look, but one that also dictates that it's up to her to decide if it should be brought up. The girl ponders for a couple considerate seconds before drawing her conclusion. She needed to inform someone of what's to come.

"There's one piece of news we need to share," Rio explains, lowering her voice to heighten the severity of her incoming tale. "We recently had a run-in with a spirit who informed us of something big on the horizon. Apparently, a group of spirits called the Spirit Union Generals is planning an attack in the near future. Their first strike may be at the North and South poles." The abrupt dump of information leaves Rohan slightly dazed and confused. He blinks a couple of times to reinforce that he's not dreaming. The man leans back in his chair, trying to collect some reasonable comprehension of the supposed threat.

"And you trust this report to be truthful?"

"I cannot imagine a reason why the spirit would make up such a specific and unnecessary lie, especially considering at the time he had no idea I was the Avatar." The man once again resumes ruminating on the material. He scratches the underside of his chin with his knuckles as he compiles his wealth of knowledge into a singularity in hopes of coming up with some accurate advice as to the next move. Unfortunately, it seems like the cryptic kismet has confounded everyone in the know. But as an adult, Rohan felt responsible for leading the two teenagers in some sort of direction; whatever he could do to help for being so inactive with avatar affairs.

"Sadly, I don't think anyone is going to actively believe such an indiscriminate threat like that without some tangible evidence…" the guiding director explains with a mellow tone. "It's especially tough now with the introduction of democratically elected officials into our nation's government because it means the central power controlling the actions of the citizens has substantially weakened. It won't be easy to rally people like the kings and queens used to be able to, it has to go through a longer process to be fair for everyone. Not that I'm complaining, it's an excellent change that this nation desperately needed. However, if you're looking for help, I truly think your best course of action is to travel to Ba Sing Se and meet with the high officials there. With the immense population and the added muscle of the Dai Li still around they might be able to offer some type of support as long as they heed your warnings." Tae and Banto lock eyes and shrug at the man's wise words. It may be tough to convince everyone of the prophesized war on their neighboring nation, but it's something they need to try anyway. Banto dignifies the long string of words with a comparable retort.

"It's worth a shot if it means potentially keeping the Water Tribe safe," Banto reassures, proudly displaying his conviction like a badge of honor on his lapel. Tae agrees and for once it seems like their path is as clear as a fogless night. They have an important goal now, one that extends beyond the typical trials of a newly realized Avatar. It was strange and confusing for Tae to experience just how much bigger her story was going to become; how much more she had to uncover about the world and herself. She thinks back on the ghostly voice that beckoned to her what feels like months ago. The girl wishes with all her might that eventually she'll be able to speak directly with Korra and figure out why all of this craziness has come to be.