The Blueprint

Chapter 3

The Dragon Emperor

As I stepped through the burning remains of the school hallway, I glanced around with horror. Ash stuck to my shoes, distant screams assailed my ears, and the smell of it all left me wobbly on my feet. The scents of burning wood, flesh, and charred tile coalesced together into an nauseating cocktail for the senses.

Even so, I had little choice but to trudge forward. At the end of the hallway I saw a figure curled into a ball on the floor. As I closened, his features became clear, even through the smoky haze. The man curled into a ball was none other than myself.

"What do you want?" He asked me in a meek voice.

"I want to leave this place. Don't you?" I replied with concern.

"Of course you do. You want to leave all of this behind. You want to leave me behind." He spat with ire and jealousy.

"There's no reason to leave you behind. Quick, come with me. We can leave here together." I offered him my hand.

"Together!?" He laughed.

"We can't leave here together. It's you or me." He stood up and stepped towards me with a cold expression.

"But you are me!" I screamed in frustration.

"You don't know what you are anymore." I watched as my clone began to melt away into a goo that formed itself into a reflective puddle of goop. I looked into the puddle and in the reflection I saw a face that wasn't my own. Or was it? Was this bearded fellow with a tan and a ponytail me after all? No, that couldn't be right. I didn't look like this. I looked like…

I tried reforming the reflection off memory. My features shifted, they became more familiar but just as they bordered on something that felt correct, they reverted back to the stranger.

"No! That isn't me! That's not who I am! That isn't my face!"

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!

"I'm awake!" I shot out of bed like a mad man, my blanket getting twisted up in my legs. I high kneed out of the blanket's clutches and slapped the alarm clock across the top of its little bell ringing head. In my desperate pursuit of peace and quiet, I ended up slapping it a little too hard and sent it flying from the dresser and onto the floor. I let out a relieved sigh nonetheless.

"I'm up on time! All hail lord Satoru!" I jumped with joy. Satoru was like Republic City's very own Tony Stark. It only took the man a month to invent alarm clocks and all I had to do was vaguely describe the concept to him.

"Good morning councilman."

"Morning Kina! Toast me!" Kina tossed me two slices of toasted bread. I nimbly snatched the slices out of the air with one hand each. As I took a hearty chomp out of one I noticed a surprising new taste flooding into my mouth.

"Woah, Kina, did you put jelly on this!?" I asked through a mouthful of toast.

"Sure did." She said with a nod.

"Dude, you're really stepping up your toast game aren't you!?" As I spoke I took note of the toast remaining in Kina's hand, the one she had made for herself.

"How come yours doesn't have any jelly?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

"I've been trying to cut out any unnecessary calories." She stated firmly. This brought a smile out onto my face as a nefarious idea wandered into my mind..

"Tradesies!" I yelled, stealing the unjellied toast from Kina and leaving a slice of jellied toast in its place.

"Hey! Give that back, councilman Sokka!" Kina's pleas for unjellied toast drifted away as I hauled it to the staircase.

"Good morning, this ain't Vietnam, still, people lose hands, legs, arms, for real!" I sang as I threw open the door to my office.

"Oh sir! You're early!" Lei Fon exclaimed with what might've been the most joy I'd heard from her all week.

"That I am Lei Lei! All thanks to Satoru. Bong, I believe you owe me." I turned to Xi Bong who reluctantly handed me a few Yuan without looking me in the eyes. Lei Fon started frantically glancing between me and Xi Bong as she pieced together what she'd just witnessed.

"Xi Bong! Did you just close a bet with the councilman!? Do you know how unprofessional that is!?" Lei Fon smacked her brother over the back of the head with her clipboard.

"Ow! It sounded like guaranteed money, sis! Councilman Sokka hasn't shown up early once in his entire tenure as councilman." Xi Bong Placed his hands over his head to block the incoming hail of clipboard strikes.

"You underestimated the power of alarm clocks, Bong. You'd be wise to never do so again." I taunted with a maniacal laugh as I slid into my rotating chair.

"Now, what's on today's itinerary?" Before I could gauge the reactions of my advisors, the office door came flying open revealing none other than Toph Beifong herself.

"I'm on the itinerary." She declared, stomping her way into my office.

"We need to talk." She demanded upon arriving at the end of my desk.

"Yes, I kind of gathered that. What exactly is it we need to talk about Toph? And please don't ask me to apologize to Zuko again because it ain't happening bud." Toph scoffed at my response.

"I'm not here to waste my time trying to get you to act like an adult. I'm here about…" Toph trailed off as something seemed to be irking her.

"Can we discuss this in private?" Toph asked in a hushed tone.

"What!? Why would we need to do that? You planning on assassinating me or something?" I threw my hands up in a defensive stance and pushed back in my office chair, the wheels carrying me back until I bumped into the window.

"No you idiot, it's about–" Toph let out a frustrated huff and turned to face the others.

"You three, out of this office or I'm sending the nearest rock through your face." Lei Fon,

Xi Bong, and Chaztok all filed out of the office instantaneously.

"Hey! She's not your boss! Get back he–" Toph cut my call for help short with a slam as she brought her fist down on my desk.

"This is serious Snoozles! Someone's out to get Aang." Toph stood there for a moment, waiting with bated breath for my response.

"Snoozles and serious should never be in the same sentence Toph. And how come you used my nickname but then went for Aang instead of twinkle toes?" My question immediately broke through Toph's hardened expression.

"Well I was going to call him twinkle toes but then after calling you snoozles I realized that it kind of undermined the serious tone of the conversation and–" Toph cut herself off and ruffled her hair in frustration.

"None of this is important! Twinkle toes is in danger!" I considered laughing at the sentence 'Twinkle toes is in danger' but decided to hold it in. This conversation didn't need any further derailing.

"Dude, Aang is the avatar. He beat Ozai during Sozin's comet and he didn't even have to kill him to do it. If he's in danger, we're all in danger." My conclusion felt perfectly logical, so logical in fact that I decided to lean back in my chair with a smug look.

"Have you ever heard of the Dragon Emperor?" Toph asked, finally taking a seat in the chair beside her.

"The Dragon Emperor? Nah, doesn't ring a bell." Toph rolled her eyes at me.

"He's conducted multiple terrorist attacks on the city over the last six months. How have you not heard of him?" Toph asked, clearly annoyed.

"Woah, what kind of terrorist attacks?" I asked, leaning in with curiosity.

"He attacked the white lotus ferry to air temple island a month ago. Apparently he was trying to sneak onto the boat but resorted to violence when he got caught. He killed three white lotus sentries." Toph's face scrunched up with frustration.

"He got away and I've been trying to catch him since but he's elusive. He's made multiple threats on Aang's life since and it's only a matter of time before he attempts another attack." She explained. I let the room fall silent for a moment as I considered Toph's words.

"What kind of threats?"

"Graffiti using firebending to burn messages into buildings. There have been three so far and all of them boil down to 'I'm going to kill the avatar, blah blah blah, beware the final eclipse' or something along those lines. Thanks to that we have a general idea of his motive and we know he's a firebender but that's about it." Toph let out an exhausted sigh. Now that I was looking closer, I noticed dark lines under her eyes. Clearly she wasn't getting enough sleep.

"What about his appearance? Surely the White lotus sentries who survived got a look at him." I inquired curiously.

"Yes, he was wearing a red mask and black clothes that concealed his entire body. It seems like a twist on Sparky's night time vigilante thing from back in the day. Apparently he got the Blue Spirit thing from a play and the Dragon Emperor is another character from that same play. One with a red mask." Toph answered with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Okay so don't get mad at me for asking this but why exactly are you coming to me about this?" I asked with an uneasy tone. I knew this was a situation she was taking seriously but because it was so serious I hardly felt qualified to help.

"Well Snoozles you sure weren't the first person I had in mind. Like I said, I've been at it a month. I'm just… at a dead end here. I need someone who thinks outside the box to give me a second opinion. Plus, you're the one who's always bragging about being an expert detective." Toph shot me a raised brow, clearly thrown off by my hesitance. Of course, how could I forget? Detective Sokka practically had an entire episode dedicated to himself. The problem was, I suck at detective work. And honestly, so did Sokka but I'm not delusional enough to think otherwise. But this was a problem. Sokka would obviously jump at the opportunity to help Toph with detective work. Toph already seemed wary of my initial hesitancy. If I didn't help out at all she might start thinking something's up with me. I didn't want or need that kind of attention and more importantly, Toph was asking me for help. Whether I could provide it or not, I needed to at least try.

"Alright, fret no further madam. Detective Sokka is on the case!" I stood up triumphantly with my hands at my hips. Toph smiled.

"Now that's more like it Snoozles! Let's get to work!" Toph didn't need to tell me twice. Without hesitation, I sprinted out into the hallway and scanned the area. My eyes fell upon Chaztok and I zipped down the hall without hesitation. Toph wasn't too far behind me, an excited grin across her face.

"Chaz!" I called out. Chaztok turned around with surprise. His surprise turned to fear as he realized that I wasn't slowing down. I grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him an intense look.

"You're from the fire nation aren't you chaz?" It was more of a statement than a question but Chaztok answered nonetheless.

"Uh, yes sir, I am indeed sir."

"You aren't secretly the Dragon Emperor are you?" My question threw Chaztok for a loop as his expression immediately morphed into one of offended confusion.

"Of course not sir!" I turned to Toph with a smile.

"Alright, I think we can safely rule out Chazzaroney here." Toph was no longer smiling.

"Maybe this was a bad idea after all." She said with a regretful look on her face.

"You already spoke with all the surviving white lotus sentries, correct?" I asked before taking a sip of my tea.

"Obviously snoozles, that was the first thing I did." Toph replied, taking a sip of her own tea. She made a disappointed face in reaction to her first sip.

"Not as good as Iroh's." She muttered.

"That's precisely why I've been called here! It seems my reputation for tea has outgrown my reputation for dashing good looks!" Uncle Iroh approached us with a smile, his hands folded into his sleeves.

"Toph, Sokka, it is always good to see two familiar faces." He greeted before pulling up a chair.

"We're just lucky to catch you before you leave, old man! How much longer before you head back to Ba Sing Se?" Toph asked with a smile. Iroh returned her smile immediately, clearly happy to catch up with her. This left me in an awkward position. Not only was this my first time actually meeting Iroh, but me and Zuko were currently at odds with each other. I hardly had the confidence to speak.

"The beauty of Republic City is mine to enjoy for one more week. After that I'll be heading back home. This is the longest I've been away from the Jasmine Dragon. I must say, it's made me a bit anxious." He explained with a chuckle.

"And how have you been councilman Sokka? I've never known you to be so quiet in conversation." Iroh turned his full attention towards me, sending a chill down my spine. The one and only uncle Iroh was talking to me. THE UNCLE IROH!

"Oh I've been quite alright sir! Just trying to get to the bottom of this Dragon Emperor business." I forced the words out with a nervous smile.

"Ah yes, the Dragon Emperor. It's been some time since I saw Love Amongst Dragons. That play was a favorite of my nephews'. I don't suppose that has anything to do with our sudden meeting here today?" Iroh asked with a knowing smile. Toph gave him an embarrassed but apologetic look.

"Sorry Iroh, I didn't want to bother you with this but we've been hitting a dead end recently. We just wanted to know if there were any fire nation extremists you knew of who might be behind this." Iroh waved off her apology mid tea sip.

"Don't apologize. I am always happy to help out some old friends." Iroh put down his tea and leaned in towards the table.

"Truthfully, I'd been giving the matter some thought myself. I don't know who exactly is behind this but I might have a general idea." Iroh whispered. Toph leaned in with excitement and I couldn't help myself from doing the same.

"Aang and his son Bumi are the only remnants of the air nation left today. But it wasn't always like that. After Sozin's initial attack on the air nomads the surviving airbenders scattered across the world in hiding. Although they'd lost most of their civilization, they were far from extinct. Back then it was not uncommon to come across a former air nomad in hiding. Sozin tried to flush them out but the airbenders were nomadic at heart, they were very good at staying on the run. Eventually Sozin formed a secret unit of firebenders who he trained to hunt down and extinguish the last of the airbenders. This group was trained to understand airbending just as well as the airbenders themselves. They took in air nomads alive and tortured them until they revealed the inner workings of their craft. The results were extreme. These firebenders drove the air nomads to the ends of the world, and even then they were not safe. By the time my brother became firelord, they were hardly even needed anymore. The air nomads had been wiped out entirely. My brother downsized the group as they became obsolete, but out of respect for tradition, he never did away with them in their entirety. This group was known as Crimson Eclipse." Iroh explained, capping off his history lesson with a sip of tea.

"Beware the final eclipse…" Toph recited, seemingly piecing things together.

"I saw one of the Dragon Emperor's graffiti warnings the other day. That was when I made the connection. Whoever this person is, I'm certain they are a former member of Crimson Eclipse." Iroh warned.

"That's why they want to kill Aang so bad. Not just because he's the Avatar but because he and his family are the final airbenders. As long as they live the Crimson Eclipse remains a group of failures who couldn't finish the job." I deduced aloud.

"Well this guy's gonna be an imprisoned failure by the time I'm done with him." Toph brought her fist into her palm with a riled up look in her eyes. Iroh broke the tension with a hearty chuckle as he leaned back into his chair.

"Republic City is in good hands. Now, I should get back to helping my friend Taizun. The longer I spend away, the more afraid I become that he will forget all that I've taught him about the art of tea!" Iroh stood up from his chair and was about to walk away when he suddenly paused and turned back to give me a smile.

"Oh and Sokka, I know things between you and my nephew have become complicated… but know that in spite of all that's happened, he will hold love in his heart for you and all of his friends till the day he dies. That's just the man he is. Although he may struggle to show it." Iroh gave me a warm look that melted away any anxiety I'd had about the situation. And then, without another word, he strolled off. I could only assume he was on his way to casually impart another bit of life altering wisdom upon the next person he came into contact with.

"Still feel like you shouldn't apologize?" Toph asked with a teasing grin on her face.

"Oh shut up Toph!"

"So what are you thinking?" I asked as Toph and I strolled through the bustling midday streets of Republic City.

"I'll need to relay this information to grand lotus Bae Li. He's been in charge of maintaining the security of air temple island. I'm sure twinkle toes will throw a fit but we need to restrict him and his family to that island for the time being. Him and Sugar queen can take care of themselves but Bumi is a different matter. If this Dragon Emperor gets a hold of him…" Toph trailed off as her mind played out a number of different horrific scenarios.

"Well it's a good thing we aren't gonna let that happen, right?" I asked, giving her a light punch in the arm. Toph's face quickly lit back up.

"You're darn right we aren't!" She laughed for a moment, a laugh she probably needed more than she was willing to admit.

"I'm also gonna head over to the police station and fill everyone in on this Crimson Eclipse business. If this guy is as highly trained as Iroh made him out to be then we'll need to be a lot more cautious going forward." Toph said thoughtfully, a hand to her chin.

"Do you think there's any chance this guy is working with other former Crimson Eclipse members?" I asked, the thought suddenly crossing my mind.

"We can't rule out the possibility but eye witness reports have only described one masked individual. We'll need to look into some of the fire nation extremist groups in the city though. If any show a connection to this Eclipse group then we need to look into it. Either way, I'll keep you posted on any developments." Toph assured me.

"Alrighty, guess I have to go back to boring councilman duties…" I lamented. This had been one of the more eventful starts to a day I'd had since I started here.

"Thank you for all the help today, Snoozles. I really appreciate you coming along." Toph said, stopping in the middle of the street to look me in the eye as she said it. Well not 'look' exactly, but you get the idea.

"I'm not sure I really contributed anything but sure. Any time bud." Toph grinned at my assessment of my own value to this little operation.

"It wasn't really about you helping out with the investigation. Truth is, I'd just been a little worried about you. You haven't really spoken to any one the last few months and with all that stuff between you and Zuko I was scared you were gonna drift apart from everyone. I figured seeing uncle Iroh would help out with that a bit." She admitted, visibly satisfied with the outcome might I add. I let out an annoyed groan.

"Ugh. Of course that was your plan. Whatever, seeing Iroh was actually pretty nice so… thanks."

"Any time Bud." She said in a mocking tone before heading off in a separate direction down the street.

"That is not how I sound…" I grumbled to myself.

"Yo Bong! You guys didn't miss me did you?" I asked jokingly as I strode back into the office.

"Hardly, although I think you may be missing the comfort of your bed tonight. Quite a stack of papers has formed on your desk in your absence." Xi Bong's warning prompted my eyes to dart straight to my desk, and sure enough, there were three equally imposing piles of paperwork consuming all the space my desk had to offer.

"Oh my god… All this because some dude wants to 9/11 Aang." Xi Bong took my comment in stride without so much as a change in expression. He'd gotten especially good at ignoring my nonsensical ramblings over the last few months. Of course they were only nonsensical to him because the closest thing to Osama Bin Laden in this world was Mark Hamill.

"I need to head over to Air Temple Island to deliver legal documents to Avatar Aang now that he's holing up there. Can I borrow your Pai Sho tile?" Xi Bong asked. I gave Xi Bong a curious look.

"My Pai Sho tile?" I wondered aloud. Xi Bong sighed at my confusion.

"The White Lotus are requiring Lotus Tiles for any transport to Air Temple Island. They've upped the security after these recent Dragon Emperor attacks. Do you not remember where your lotus tile is?" Xi Bong asked impatiently. I gave him an awkward smile.

"Ah yes, my lotus tile, I'm sure I left it somewhere around here." I answered with an awkward smile. Xi Bong let out a very, very annoyed groan.

"Okay then Sokka, Let's start by searching your desk."

"Hey Councilman, me and Chaztok were about to head out for the evening and we were just wondering if…" Lei Fon trailed off as her and Chaztok stared in bewilderment at the inside of my office. My desk drawers had been removed from the desk entirely, the belongings of which were strewn about the place. My closet was turned over on its side and had been similarly disemboweled. Me and Xi Bong were on our hands and knees picking through the remains of my filing cabinet which had been placed down on its back with all of the drawers removed and spread across the room.

"Sokka, you don't think you hid it in the floorboards did you?" Xi Bong asked me with a crazed look in his eyes.

"It's worth a shot." I answered immediately.

"Just what is going on here!?" Lei Fon asked, outraged.

"Oh dear, this is quite a mess sir…" Chaztok added meekly.

"You two, head down to maintenance and see if you can find a hammer or a crowbar. Anything we can use to start pulling up these floorboards." I commanded. Xi Bong nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

"I will NOT be heading down to maintenance to get tools for you idiots just so you can vandalize our own workspace! Xi Bong! What's gotten into you, you should know far better than to do something like this!" Lei Fon ridiculed.

"What are you guys even looking for?" Chaztok asked, still trying to take in the state of the office.

"We need my lotus tile!" I replied urgently.

"I thought you said you always kept that at home?" Chaztok inquired curiously. Me and Xi Bong exchanged a mad look. It was a wordless interaction but we both knew what had to be done.

"Chazatronious, princess Leia, you two are with us now. We're gonna go dismantle my apartment." Lei Fon shook her head with baffled bemusement while Chaztok seemed to be at a loss for words. I shot up and grabbed Chaztok by the arm, pulling him towards the staircase. Behind me, Xi Bong did the same to his sister.

Kina's day had been long and arduous. Work was full of diligent planning and careful thinking, something that often left her mentally exhausted by the time she made it back home. For this reason in particular, she was almost entirely convinced that her mind had to have been playing tricks on her.

"Councilman Sokka?" I turned around at the sound of Kina's voice. She was standing in the doorway to my apartment, a door we had carelessly left open on our way in. Kina eyed my room suspiciously as Xi Bong, Chaztok, Lei Fon, and I rummaged through the scattered contents of my room. The floor had become littered with random possessions of mine. Chaztok had even managed to dig up Sokka's boomerang, an item that's whereabouts I'd long been curious of.

"Don't just stand there Kina, come in and help!" I urged, motioning her inside.

"Truly dear, we need all the help we can get. This may very well be the single most difficult assignment I've ever been tasked with." Lei Fon pleaded in her overly complex manner of speech.

"What exactly am I supposed to be helping with?" Kina asked, stepping into my room.

"We're looking for a Pai Sho tile with a white lotus flower on it. It'll be about the size of your palm and it's carved out of wood. So far we've searched the–"

"Is this it?" Kina cut Chaztok's explanation short as she reached up and grabbed something off the top of my wardrobe. Dusting it off, she revealed it to us and sure enough it was the white lotus tile. Everyone's faces went pale with shock and amazement, save for Kina's of course.

"How!? How is that possible!?" Xi Bong demanded.

"That wardrobe is taller than anyone here, how did you even spot that thing from all the way up there?" Chaztok questioned.

"Truly woman, just what exactly are your senses comprised of to locate such an object in such a place and in such a timely manner!?" Lei Fon inquired, frustration written across her face. I, for one, didn't say a word. I simply slumped back into the floor and let out a relieved sigh.

"Well here you are, Councilman. I'm off to take care of chores." She handed me the lotus tile and then quickly scampered off to her room.

"Just who is that woman!?" Lei Fon asked, still perturbed.

"A being whose power knows no limits. And a fantastic maker of toast." I explained simply.

"Well Xi Bong, maybe if you head out immediately you'll still be able to make it to Aang at a reasonable time." I joked, handing him the lotus.

"No time to lose!" Xi Bong exclaimed, sprinting out my door and down the hall.

"Bong! The staircase is the other way!" I called out after him.

By the time I made it back to the office, it was nearly dark outside. I stared down the mountain of papers on my desk. I groaned and began to clean up the mess we'd left sifting through the place earlier. This was going to be a long night.

When I'd finally finished up with the paperwork and cleaning, City hall had become a ghost town. This was the first, and hopefully, only time I'd ever seen it empty like this. As I groggily sauntered out into the streets I began to wonder what time it was. It had to be three, maybe even four in the morning. The streets were deserted too, save for the occasional sap sorry enough to be in the same position as me. The city was quite peaceful at this hour. It was a harsh contrast to the sometimes abrasive and always rowdy atmosphere of the city at day.

As I continued my walk, a familiar scent found its way to my nose. I stopped for a second and tried to recall where I'd smelled this before but that thought became secondary to the realization of what it was. Something was burning.

I shot into a sprint and pursued the smell. I turned corner after corner until eventually I could see smoke billowing out of a building down the street. I rounded on the building in question and immediately recognized it as the Air Acolyte culture center. A building dedicated to the preservation of the air nomads that served as a pseudo school for educating any willing participants in the history and ways of the air nation. The building was almost entirely engulfed in flames and the fire only seemed to be spreading further by the second. I dashed in through the still in tact front door and was met with a blazing fury of flames so intense that I could hardly bear to keep my eyes open. I heard what sounded like someone crying out for help and decided against my better judgement to force myself forward. The main lobby was nearly impossible to navigate with the ceiling having collapsed in on itself partially. A large wooden beam easily three times my size laid burning in the center of the room. I ducked past the side that was still holding and scrambled into the main hallway in search of the voice I'd heard.

As I shambled forward in a disorderly mess, Ash stuck to my shoes, distant screams assailed my ears, and the smell of it all left me wobbly on my feet. The scents of burning wood, flesh, and charred tile coalesced together into an nauseating cocktail for the senses.

Even so, I had little choice but to trudge forward. At the end of the hallway I saw a figure curled into a ball on the floor. As I got closer her features became clear to me. She was an air acolyte, and presumably an instructor at this school. I kneeled down to her and grabbed her by the shoulder. She looked up at me with fear.

"It's okay, I'm going to get us out of here. Do you know if anyone else is still in the building?" She gently shook her head.

"There were others but… I think… I think they're all gone now. That person, he attacked us before we could even say a word. I ran. I'm sorry I ran away…" She started crying into her sleeve. I hardly knew what to do to calm her, but I did know that the main concern right now was getting out of this building. I draped her arm over my shoulder and started carrying her back towards the front door. As we approached, the wooden beam in the main lobby finally gave out and collapsed, sending a wave of embers our way. I angled her body away from the fire and clenched my teeth as the heat scorched my shoulder.

"Damn it… Is there a back exit?" I asked, hoping to god the answer was yes.

"There isn't but we might be able to get out through one of the windows." She replied through choked back sobs. That would have to be good enough. I set off back down the hallway, this time following her lead as she directed me into what looked like some sort of kitchen area. Sure enough, there was a window over the sink. I carried us over and let her rest for a moment. I hopped up onto the sink and lowered my shoulder into the window repeatedly until eventually, my elbow poked through the glass. I winced as the glass pierced through my skin. Reluctantly, I pulled my arm back and was met with a sharp dosage of pain. The window was still too intact to climb through, so I got right back to it. This time I had a little extra pain induced motivation.

After a few slams, the window caved and I nearly fell out into the back alley. I caught myself on the side of the window, cutting my palm on the bits of glass still attached to the window frame. I pulled myself back inside and returned to the woman. As gently as I could manage, I carried her out into the alley and placed her down on solid ground. Just as I did I heard the cries of a much younger voice from within the building. I turned around with shock and a strike of fear coursed through my body.

"Who is that!?" I questioned, a crack in my voice. The woman gave me a horrified look as she too heard the sounds of crying.

"Aisha! She's one of the students. She's an orphan so sometimes we let her stay with us overnight. How could I forget!?" Tears poured from her eyes with even more ferocity than before.

"Please, you must go back for her! That child… she means the world to us!" I'd heard about as much as I needed to. I dove back through the window and ran back into the hallway in search of the kid. The smoke had thickened and I had no choice but to hold my sleeve up to my mouth to shield it from the smoke. It was a futile effort but one that I instinctively had to follow. My lungs were aching with a burning sensation that I couldn't stand.

"Aisha!" I called out between coughs.

"Where are you!?"

"I'm here! I'm upstairs!" I heard the voice once again, this time with clarity. She was on the second floor and the stairs up were in the main lobby, the place where the fire was at its worst. I approached the lobby and gave it an uneasy scan. Nearly every part of it was on fire. The only consolation was that the flames hadn't reached too high, but that wasn't going to last. Luckily, the stairs were directly beside the doorway. If I jumped up I could try and grab onto the base of the stairs and then pull myself up until I could climb over the railing. The only problem was that, depending on how long it took me to climb, I would have to be right in the middle of the flames. If I did it in a timely fashion I could probably get by with just a few first or second degree burns, but if something went wrong I could end up dying in one of the most horrific ways imaginable.

I gulped back my trepidation and braced myself for the heat. There was a chance this could end in an extremely painful death, but if I did nothing there was a one hundred percent guarantee that this Aisha kid would suffer a death just as excruciating.

I stepped out into the lobby and planted my foot down hard, turning for the stairs immediately. I could already feel the heat consuming my shoes and pant legs. It was nothing like the sensation of grabbing a hot pan by accident. This was indescribably worse. Every instinct in my body was telling me to get as far away from the fire as possible. I just needed a few more seconds. I jumped towards the stairs and grabbed at the base of one of the railing posts. I caught it well enough but my lower body went straight through the charred base of the stairs. The support beams began to crumple and I felt the stairs lurching towards me ever so slightly, threatening to dump me back into the fire.

The flames licked at my feet as I scrambled to pull myself up. I wrapped both hands around the railing post firmly and began to pull. I kicked my outside leg up onto one of the lower steps and used it to get my other leg up. Once I had enough leverage, I hauled myself over the railing. The second I landed, I felt part of the staircase support snap and that one fault gradually began to snowball into a full on collapse. I scampered up the steps and dove onto the second floor just as the staircase fell out from under me.

"Aisha!" I called out again, forcing myself back onto my feet.

"I'm over here, the door is stuck!" I searched the hall and sure enough there was a door blocked by a chunk of ceiling that had fallen in. I ran over and pried the chunk away from the door until it came apart in my hands. I stomped out what was left of it and kicked it aside until the door finally came open. Inside was a little girl wearing an air bender get up of some sort. She had tears in her eyes and ash in her hair, but she was safe. Swiftly, I scooped her up onto my shoulder and flew into the room in search of a window. Thankfully, there was one, the only problem would be getting down once I was outside.

I approached the window and kicked it with as much force as I could still muster. Admittedly, that amount was rapidly diminishing. With each kick I felt the child cling to me with more fervor. She must've been terrified. The window gave and I wasted no time in stepping through. It was a smaller window so I had to be careful to keep the girl from any glass. I was able to do that much, but somehow still managed to cut my back on some glass on the way out. I was getting real good at that all of a sudden.

I took a deep breath of the much cleaner air outside. There was still plenty of smoke but nowhere near as much as there was inside. The drop was dubious looking. It wasn't that high up, probably about sixteen or so feet. The real issue was the concrete I'd be falling on and the little girl in my arms. I couldn't afford to drop her by accident. The fire grew more intense behind me and I felt the building beginning to give. It was now or never.

I abandoned the idea of landing on my feet entirely. I was too scared to look down to check my feet, but I knew they were messed up from the fire. If I landed on my feet I would crumple in an instant and risk injuring the kid. Instead, I shifted the kid around in my arms and dove out shoulder first towards the street. The girl was positioned to my outside shoulder, meaning she would be on top of me when I landed, cushioning her from the fall. The impact was much harsher than I expected, my shoulder absorbed almost all of the fall and immediately popped out of place with a snap. It was far from a pleasant feeling. I bit back my urge to scream and instead opted to let out a very pained and angry exhale. I turned to look at the kid and felt an immediate sense of relief. She was fine, aside from some soot and tears, she seemed to be all the way intact, although she almost certainly inhaled her fair share of smoke in there.

Speaking of, I'd done the same myself. My lungs sent me into a coughing fit that wracked my entire body. The girl climbed off of me and I could barely register her calling for help. I saw the instructor from earlier running over along with an assortment of what I assumed were neighbors and bystanders. I glanced down at my legs for only a moment and the sight sent a wave of deep anxiety through my soul. I was no doctor, but it looked bad. I looked away and rolled my head to the side, staring at the culture center as it burned away into ash. As I felt my consciousness begin to fade, I caught glimpse of what looked like a masked figure standing on one of the nearby rooftops. He was far off from where we were, so much so that no one else seemed to notice him. But as I looked closer I saw just a hint of red on his mask. The Dragon Emperor.