The Wandering Warrior Part One

Previously on Avatar

The Yalunit, captured by a mysterious cult, and confronted by more chi-sucking Jiang Shi, was held captive in an underground labyrinth. Relying on each other and their bending elements, they managed to escape, but just barely with their lives. Now they have flown out of the Fire Nation, and into the Earth Kingdom, where they are hoping to find answers about this cult. On their quest, they meet a talented warrior named Raiden...

Yalun wiped off a heavy layer of sweat from his brow. High above, an unrelenting Earth Kingdom sun blazed, casting down sweltering heat upon the Avatar. As far as Yalun could see, tall fields of blue-green grass swayed gently in the meager wind, unable to give anything resembling shade.

It was better than his situation not a few hours ago, he figured. He and his crew had escaped the mad cultists and their undead pets and put an ocean between them, but now there was a new problem.

"Hold still!" Nilak shouted, slowly moving a faintly glowing sphere of water across Amala's side. The bison's thick brown fur bore deep crimson stains from where the cultist's weapons had bitten into her skin, and her massive tail still bore seeping wounds from where the jiang shi had been torn off. Assam stood by Amala's head, doing his best to cradle his companion's gigantic head in his arms. Once Nilak's water reached another wound, Amala winced and gave a low, pained growl. "It's ok, sweetie, it's ok," Assam cooed, squeezing Amala's head as Nilak went about his work.

Yalun was impressed Amala could even reach the Earth Kingdom with her wounds, let alone as far inland as they were: Assam has put at least a half hour between them and the ocean before Amala betrayed her injuries. Now she could barely hover, let alone fly. For the time being, they were stuck.

"So," said Li Chen, fidgeting with a piece of grass as he sat cross legged in the dirt, "As long as we're just lying around..."

"Oh, speak for yourself!" snapped Nilak, still working at Amala's wounds.

"Right, as long as those of us without healing abilities are just lying around, maybe we should think of what we should do next?"

"I agree," said Qin, thoughtfully stroking his beard "it is time we laid out a plan of attack." As if Yalun had ceased attempting to do so after Darkhollow was behind them.

It wasn't as if they could just bring this to the attention of the Four Nations. Even the word of the Avatar has its limits; going up to a national leader spouting stories of magic runes and undead terrors would be practically asking to be taken as a madman.

"We should make haste back to the Fire Nation," Qin continued, "I still have a fair amount of clout within my homeland. I shall speak to Emperor Sung and rally the Fire Nation's forces to root out this threat. Afterwards, the other nations will surely follow..."

"If Sung even believes you." interrupted Yalun. "Lets face it, even with the influence we have, we can't just go up to people and speak of jiang shi with no proof and expect people to believe us. We'll be in madhouses before we get leaders of nations to believe undead walk the Earth."

"But what of your own people, Yalun?" Qin replied, "The Coastal Water Tribe? They still have the bodies of the jiang shi that attacked you and Nilak, do they not? Your Chief Arroq may add validity to our tale."

Yalun took a deep sigh. "Its not that simple. The Coastal Water Tribe has been in decline for years now. The other nations think us a backwater people, and this would probably just look like a stunt to get attention on the world stage."

Qin arched an eyebrow. "A touch pessimistic for you, Yalun," said Qin, "But let us keep contemplating our predicament. Perhaps a more agreeable solution will reveal itself."

Qin began to pace back and forth through the grass, deep in thought, as Li Chen continued to fidget. The firebender's comment took Yalun back a bit. He wasn't being pessimistic, just realistic. They weren't in my shoes, thought Yalun. They don't know how far this goes. This is so much more than just a rogue general or a bandit with a big head.

For a while, nobody spoke, the only sounds being Amala's pained grunts as Nilak patched up the last of her wounds. Yalun tried to go over more possible options in his head, but his thoughts kept going back to the labyrinth beneath Darkhollow, to that first attack on Lilypad Cove. A knot coiled itself into being in his gut as a sense of hopelessness began to pervade his thoughts. Yalun held his head in his hands as every possible path began to seem pointless, every action without point. These people, whatever they were, made him next to useless on two separate occasions, and he only survived those occasions because his friends were there to drag him along or prop him up. Some Avatar he turned out to be.

"Eureka! The Spirit Library!" shouted Qin, his eyes wide with delight.

Yalun felt his spirits lift slightly. The great Spirit Library was renowned for having the greatest collection of knowledge in the known world. Every tome ever written by human hands, thousands of preserved specimens, and endless scrolls on every conceivable topic. If there was ever a place to find a way to effectively combat the cult and their beasts, as well as back up their claims, it would be there. It was also in the middle of an enormous expanse of hostile desert and several thousand miles from where Yalun's party was now, and with a grounded sky bison they were going nowhere fast.

"My nana always used to tell me about that place," Li said excitedly, "she said you could read for half a century and still not get through a quarter of the books stored there."

Yalun shifted in his seat, still unsure. "I suppose... it could be a good place to start for strategy and proof, maybe get some more people on our side..."

"Oh no," interrupted Assam, pointing an accusatory finger at Qin "No no no no no! First off, Amala is in no shape to carry anything a thousand miles to some forsaken desert!" Amala groaned pitifully, as if to vindicate the airbender, "and second, the spirit who runs that library is not one we want to mess around with."

Qin raised an eyebrow and smirked playfully, "Still so suspicious of spirits, Assam. I would have thought the respect of your countrymen would have set in by now."

"I'll give them respect when they give me reason to, firespitter." Assam snapped. "See, I have books too, and I've read in a great many of them that about half the time the spirit who watches over that place..."

"Wan Shi Tong." Yalun interrupted. If Assam were to go on one of his tirades, he may as well get the names right. As long as Yalun had known him, Assam had never had much patience for the spiritual side of the world, especially when Qin's pious nature shone through. Ever the exception, thought Yalun.

"Thanks, so half the time Wan Shi Tong doesn't let people out of his library alive. He's a cold, calculating, callous spirit, and we'd be well rid of him!"

"Do you have another suggestion, then?" replied Qin, with a slight wavering in his voice betraying frustration, maintaining a pleasant smile, well practiced from years at court.

"We take the clandestine approach." said Assam, crossing his arms and squaring his stance. "We go to those other locations in that book Yalun got from that healer, find one with a cultist infestation which shouldn't take long. We sneak in or infiltrate their compound and gather as much information as possible. We certainly don't put our fate in the hands of spirits!"

Yalun knew where this was heading. Assam and Qin always used to have these arguments back when the group first came together, and Yalun wasn't in the mood for a five hour philosophical debate. He also wasn't in the mood for getting anywhere near a cultist stronghold anytime soon. "I think Qin has the better suggestion, at least for now. I don't want to risk anyone's safety when we aren't at our full strength. We need time to recover from our little stay in Darkhollow."

It wasn't his first choice. He would have preferred to just crawl into a cave until he felt like the Avatar again. Deep down, however, he knew he had to keep going forward, he had to keep fighting. He'd seen with his own eyes the threat that lay in front of him, and it wasn't going to go away if he took time to sort out his own problems. He hated having to do it, but he was the Avatar, and combating this sort of thing is what the Avatar is supposed to do.

Isn't it? he thought to himself.

"See, Assam? The Avatar knows the wisdom of the spirits hold the key to victory." Qin said, flashing a perfectly smug royal smile. "Now let us be off. We can walk to give Amala time to recover, but it is unwise for us to stay in one place for too long. We do not know where the cult is hiding, or where they mean to strike."

Assam glowered at Qin, but he turned to re-equip his bison all the same. "Alright, alright. Just know that when Wan Shi whatever tries to eat us, I'm going to rub it in your face for the rest of your days, and probably in the afterlife as well."

"Finally, we're actually doing something aside from flapping our jaws. To adventure!" Li shouted as he leapt to his feet and bounded to Amala.

Before long, the party was off. Amala was healed enough to carry equipment and her saddle, but Assam insisted no one ride her for at least a day. As they made their way on a long, winding merchants path through the grasslands, patches of oak and beech began to shade the road, before enveloping the group's way in forest. Yalun and Nilak walked ahead, just in front of Amala's massive head, while Assam and Qin flanked the great beast (Yalun thought it best to keep the two separate for now) and Li Chen brought up the rear. The shade of the trees and a slight breeze cooled the party, a welcome reprieve from the scorching prairie heat.

Yalun tried to focus on the plan ahead. For now, they had a solid goal. No more moping and doping. Or less, at the very least. He had to remain strong for his friends, for everyone...

Assam interrupted Yalun's thoughts, "I hear steel clashing against steel ahead. Sounds like battle!"

"I don't hear a thing" replied Li, taking a moment, "Oh, right, soundbending."

"Sounds like there's at least two, maybe three." Assam continued, "Weapons and bendables at the ready, men." The airbender leapt over Amala, grabbed his spade-glider, and vaulted to Amala's other side.

"You think its cultists?" asked Nilak, drawing both his scimitars in a smooth, practiced motion.

"Not sure." said Yalun, drawing his own katana from its sheath. The familiar weight did much to sooth his doubts. "All things considered, I don't know of many ways one can send a message faster than a sky bison can fly. Still, keep on guard, the cultists have strange methods available to them. Assam, keep some of that soundbending handy just in case of jiang shi. Qin and Li to the flank, Nilak with me."

His friends quickly found their assigned spots. Now this thought Yalun, Feels nice and familiar. Like the old days, when I felt every bit the Avatar.

Amala, still tired and worn, elected to hunker down. "Don't worry girl!" Assam shouted, "We'll be right back." Amala responded with a low growl before laying down with an earthshaking thump.

Yalun rushed along the wooded road, his companions just behind him save for Assam who kept to the trees, if the rustling of the leaves above was anything to go by.

It didn't take long before Yalun heard the clashing of steel Assam spoke of, along with the shouting and screaming and grunting that comes with a true fight. Shortly after the sounds reached Yalun's ears, he spied a break in the woods ahead, leading to a downwards slope.

As Yalun reached the slope, he was able to spy the conflict below. There were three fighters in all, two battling one. The two on one side seemed like common folk: garbed in roughly spun woolen tunics and trousers, covering their heads with wide brimmed hats, they hardly seemed like seasoned warriors. Both of them wielded pitted, rusty looking jians that hadn't seen good oil or a good wash in a long time. The third, however, looked every bit a warrior. He wore a suit of layered armor, glinting in the sun from lacquer and polish, though it seemed like it was covered in empty sockets, where embellishments once were. He wielded a long, gently curved blade, much like Yalun's own sword, the point perfectly aimed at the two aggressors. Yalun couldn't see the warrior's face; it was covered in a long mane of matted hair, caked with blood. Whether it was his own or his opponents, he could not tell, for both were bleeding about their arms and torso.

Before Yalun could think to say something, the armored warrior lunged forward. In a blur of flashing steel and scarlet blood, his two foes were on the ground. One collapsed on to his side, a flood of his lifesblood flowing from a wicked gash on his neck. The other, more fortunate, dropped to his knees, clutching at a bleeding stump where his sword hand used to be. He made no sound, no scream or shout of surprise; he simply stared had his bleeding stump as the armored warrior raised his blade above his head for one final strike.

No, thought Yalun, No no no no no! Not today! Too many people have been hurt on my watch already! Yalun focused on the solid earth below him and with both hands swung his own blade upwards. With an ear splitting roar, the ground beneath the warrior lept up and held him in place, his blade still above him.

"What in blazes?!" shouted the warrior as Yalun walked down the hill, his companions close behind. "Release me this instant, you dirt-eating son of a hog-monkey!" he screamed, futilely struggling against his makeshift stone prison. As Yalun got closer, the warrior's face came into better view. Beneath sweat and blood soaked hair was a rough-hewn face, with a strong jaw, a nose that had obviously been broken several times, and about two week's worth of scruff. A bushy pair of eyebrows framed a surprisingly soft pair of jade-green eyes.

"Have a care what you say, butcher" said Qin, "You speak to the Avatar, bridge between worlds, keeper of bala-"

"I can speak for myself, Qin." interrupted Yalun. He appreciated Qin's candor, but he was desperate to feel like the Avatar again, which meant being more bold and not hiding behind a friend's robes. He put on his best Avatar face, grim and serious, hopefully threatening. "What is the meaning of this slaughter?"

"Ah, so you're Avatar Yalun." said the warrior, "Raiden Heihatchi, at your service. Your depictions don't do you justice. Forgive me if I don't grovel at your feet, though I suppose that's your doing." The tone of his voice and his words implied humor, but no smile came over his face.

I'm so not in the mood for this thought Yalun. "Answer me!"

"Just cleaning up the roads" said Raiden, gesturing with his head to his two victims before him. The man with the cut to his throat had quickly expired, while the one who had lost his hand was still on his knees, frantically muttering to himself. Both of them seemed relatively young, with neither looking particularly battle hardened.

"And what crime did these men commit that warrants their murder?" asked Yalun. These men didn't seem the type to carry out anything severe enough to earn them the headsman's block. This guy, on the other hand...

"Robbing already struggling farmers and merchants along these roads, for one," said Raiden, "or twelve, as that's how many were around here when I started. About half of them were earthbenders, as I recall."

"Oh come on," said Nilak, crossing his arms while positioning himself just to Yalun's right. "One guy with a sword-"

"And a bow. And I think I still have that kusarigama laying around here somewhere." interrupted Raiden.

"Whatever," continued Nilak, "one non-bender taking on 12 armed men, half of which were earthbenders does not add up."

"I don't know," said Li Chen as he scratched his head just behind Yalun, "I feel like I've heard this guy's name before..."

"Maybe," mused Raiden, "you've heard it along with a different name. In some circles I'm known as-

"Benders-bane!" shouted someone far down the road. A few seconds later, a familiar lanky figure strode down the path. Assam kept talking as he walked, "Not particularly famous, but I've heard it said before in a few villages around these parts. Not too many warriors can face benders head on, let alone a group of them, but this guy has a reputation for being able to cut through them as surely as if they were just swinging swords."

"Oh stop, you're making me blush," said Raiden. Still not smiling, and definitely not blushing.

Yalun looked just behind him and back to Assam, confused. "How did you get way over there?"

"You four were taking forever to get up the path, so I did a little scouting while you caught up. Looks like I missed the fun." Assam pointed with his monk's spade at the imprisoned Raiden and the men at his feet.

It unnerved Yalun sometimes how fast Assam could travel on his own, even through the dense forest. "What did you find?"

Assam leaned on his weapon. "Well, lets see... there were about ten bodies, not too different from those poor sods over by you. By the look of the ground around them, a fair number of them were earthbenders. All of them either had sword wounds, likely due to that," Assam pointed at the still raised sword, "or they had arrows sticking out of them. Since I couldn't hear anyone else around here, I can only assume that was you as well."

"Guilty as charged. Arms starting to hurt, by the way."

Assam continued, "I also saw a large number of sacks of goods bearing marks from all over the region. My best guess is these guys were bandits, robbing farmers and merchants coming through here."

Yalun glared skeptically at Raiden. Assam may be sneaky and a less-than-honorable fighter he thought, but I've never known him to lie to me. "All right, Benders-bane, it seems your story checks out."

"Indeed," said Raiden, the faintest crack of a smile on his lips, "It would seem your monk friend has more of a commitment to justice than you do."

Yalun let that go, though he felt his grip on his sword tighten. "But why this brutality? Why not immobilize them and leave them for the authorities?"

Raiden lowered his head and hacked out a rough, raspy laugh. "Oh to be young and naïve. These bandits may be green, but they know how to keep themselves from the headsman's block. They know how to evade the patrols, and they know how to keep people from snooping around. Meanwhile, innocent people have their livelihood wrested from them, or worse."

"He has a point." quipped Assam.

Yalun covered his face with his hand. "Not helping, Assam."

"Odd to get support from a monk, but I'll take it."

Yalun pointed at Raiden. "Also not helping."

Suddenly, Yalun felt something tugging at his shirt. He looked down to find the last living bandit at his feet, holding Yalun's shirt with his remaining hand. His eyes were wide with shock and glazed with tears. "Please, Mr. Avatar sir, I swear you won't see me banditing no more. I got no sword hand now, the hand I used for everything. Please, just let me get away from this here swordsman and I swear you'll find no more upstanding Earth Kingdom citizen than me. Please, I got no more good hand, please..." With that, the man resumed rambling to himself.

"If you have any sort of spine, you'll slit his throat right now," said Raiden, his smile gone. "lowlifes like him always grovel and promise change when they're at the mercy of those more powerful than them. I guarantee the second he gets out of sight, he'll go straight back to his thieving, murderous ways." Raiden spat on the ground. "Besides, loosing a hand is hardly the end of a criminal career. I've heard of many a pirate who've done well enough without one."

"Do you follow up on all the criminals you've maimed?" Yalun asked.

Raiden looked upwards in thought. "Not sure. If someone attacks me with the intent to kill, as these sods did, I rarely leave them just missing a hand. Besides, these thugs would get executed anyway if the law had its way. I'm just making sure their fate catches up to them as soon as possible, so fewer people get hurt or worse."

Yalun shook his head. His teachers and past lives had shown him different philosophies over the years, often conflicting, but one thing had been ground into his head at every turn; if it is possible, it is always better to leave criminals for the local authorities. Slaughter criminals out of hand, and one betrays the infrastructure of the Four Nations. The Avatar may be high on the totem pole, but he is not above the law.

Yalun looked down at the bandit once more. "Get out of here. Make good on your claims. Go in peace, he won't follow you and neither will we."

The presumably former bandit looked up at Yalun, smiling from ear to ear. "Oh thank the spirits! You won't regret this Mr. Avatar!" he shouted as he took off running down the road.

Once the man was well on his way, Yalun lowered Raiden's stone prison with a downward thrust of his arm. His face twisted in disgust, the warrior brushed off the remaining earth from his armor. "More work for me, thanks for that." he muttered sarcastically.

Raiden's cynicism was starting to wear on Yalun. "If I start killing people who surrender to me, I'm no better than the people who attack the innocent." Yalun rubbed his forehead. "Look, I'm not in the mood for debating ethics, I get enough of that from these two." He quickly waved his hands in the direction of Qin and Assam. "Do you know where the nearest village is?"

Raiden sighed as he sheathed his sword. "Fine, fine. The nearest village is along this road," Raiden pointed to the left fork of the road, "Boulder Post its called. I'm heading there myself, as most of the loot the bandits took was from there. They deserve to have their goods back."

He then walked over to the side of the road into the tall grass that flanked the bare dirt path and picked up a large leather pack, complete with well polished recurve bow, a quiver full of arrows, and a black steel kusarigama dangling at the side. After he hoisted it onto his back with a quick grunt, he said "If that's all, Avatar, I'll take my leave" and started down the path to Boulder Post.

As soon as Raiden was out of earshot, Qin muttered "Such crassness. You would think someone dedicated to any sort of justice would have more respect for the Avatar. I should have given him a piece of my mind..."

"And I am glad that you didn't," said Yalun, "the last thing we need right now is more enemies." He sheathed his own blade. "We should be taking off as well."

Assam quickly whistled for his bison, summoning her from her hiding place. Before long, they were off on the road once more. Qin and Li Chen headed up the front while Assam stayed back by his bison, fussing over every pained grunt or brief limp. Yalun and Nilak walked in the middle, talking about the recent encounter.

"I think you handled that really well" said Nilak, briefly putting his hand on Yalun's shoulder. "Too many men in this world would have killed that man and call it justice. I'm glad you're better than that."

"Thanks, Nilak." Yalun replied. It was good to have validation once in a while, especially from his oldest friend.

"Yea, you were acting much more like your old self. Not like how you were this morning."

A knot suddenly developed in Yalun's stomach. He had hoped he hadn't let his own insecurities out, in case they demoralized the rest of his group. Then again, Nilak was always very perceptive. Well that strategy is out the window, he thought. "That obvious, huh?"

"Not too much, actually," said Nilak. "I'm pretty sure everyone else thought you were just tired, and rightfully so. But I know you better than that. You're not just tired; this cult thing has you scared."

Yalun sighed. He's right he thought. He was scared, of the jiang shi, of the cultists, the madmen who commanded them, and most of all the strange powers at their beck and call. It actually felt good to admit it to himself, but it didn't make him any less anxious. "Please don't tell the others." he whispered. He looked at the others; none seemed to hear what Nilak or Yalun had said.

"Not a chance. What you want to disclose is your own business, to do in your own time. Heck, I think we're all scared at this point, and we didn't even go through what you did."

A brief flash of the Mad Priest's horrid face made Yalun cringe.

Nilak either didn't notice or had the grace not to react. "Which is why I think we need to beef up the group a little bit."

Yalun cocked his head to the side. "You... you don't mean..."

Nilak pointed ahead of the group. "Assam told you himself! The guy took on 12 men, half of whom were earthbenders! How many other warriors do you know who can do that?"

"Not many I suppose." replied Yalun. Even the great Chief Arroq had issues with dealing with benders, let alone a small army.

"Exactly. Not only would he bring more firepower to the team, thus helping us with stopping this cult down the line and keeping us from being captured like chumps like last time, but I think having more muscle on the team might help with your anxieties."

He had a point. Raiden was a very formidable warrior, and at this point a keen arrow or sharp blade on their side was sorely needed. "I suppose you have a point," admitted Yalun, "but he doesn't exactly seem to respect me. Who's going to tell him of our predicament?"

Nilak grinned a rather crafty grin. "Maybe we should leave it to the only person in our group he seemed to sympathize with."

Yalun looked back at Assam, rubbing his bison's head in an attempt to distract her from her wounds. "You think it might work? Even if Assam does get Raiden to buy our story, I'm not sure Qin would like having such a 'crass' person on our team."

"Don't you worry," said Nilak, "Assam's pretty good at convincing people of outrageous things. He's the one who got us into the Bandit King's stronghold under the assumption we were delivering salted pork, after all. And don't worry about Qin; he has too much respect for you. If you want Raiden in the group, he'll just whine every once in a while like he does with Assam."

Yalun rubbed his chin thoughtfully. This could work. "Alright, lets give this a go. The worst he can say is no, right?" He turned towards Assam, inspecting a wound just behind Amala's right ear. "Hey, Assam!" he shouted, "Come here for a second!"

Assam smoothed some of Amala's unique brown fur over the wound, gave her a quick scratch on her pitch black arrow, and dashed over to Yalun. "Need something, boss?"

Yalun and Nilak laid out their suggestions. A thoughtful crease formed above his eyes as the two spoke. Yalun could already see him going over what he could say to Raiden, what he might convey to get him to believe their cause. What they had might not be able to convince a council of rulers, but maybe it would be enough for this swordsman. Not to mention Raiden seemed to have a sizable respect for Air Nomads like Assam. Then again, most Air Nomads weren't like Assam...

We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, thought Yalun.

"Fair enough, I'll see what I can do. Seems a little unscrupulous, though; the guy thinks I'm a monk. Kind of abusing an assumption, all things considered..."

Nilak crossed his arms and lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "You carry blinding powder and super-concentrated shirshu spit darts in your back pocket, and you think letting this guy think you're a monk is unscrupulous?"

"Hey, I keep those for people who deserve them." retorted Assam. "This guy doesn't seem like the kind of guy who deserves to be lied to. He's ."

"It's not a lie per se," said Nilak, "its just not correcting what he thinks is true."

Assam rubbed his forehead with a pale, slender hand. "Alright, fine. I'm not doing sermons, though."

"I wouldn't worry about it," replied Nilak, "He doesn't exactly seem like the spiritual type."

As the road passed beneath them, the forest slowly gave way to farmland, rich with wheat and soybean. Farmhands clad in rough-spun swarmed over their fields, hacking and digging in the hopes of improving their harvest down the line. Looming over the green and golden brown of the fields were the high earthen walls of Boulder Post. Like many Earth Kingdom villages, it seemed heavily fortified to ward off the all too common bands of marauders that infested the land like flies. Imposing towers and fortifications, all hewn from the surrounding earth, ringed the settlement. As they approached, Yalun could hear the frenzied sounds of the market. A dozen sumptuous smells assaulted his nose, amplified by the fact that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, and the evening was just beginning to set in.

Raiden was already past the village gates, conversing with some of the guards. It wouldn't be long before he would be lost in the crowd. Assam had to get to him as quickly as possible, and Yalun doubted the rest of the group would improve his speed.

"Hey, guys, why don't we hunker down here for a little bit?" Yalun announced. Qin and Li Chen halted and spun to face him. "Why?" asked Li Chen, "The village is right there! I have been dying for some proper Earth Kindom chow since we left from Lilypad Cove!"

Qin turned to Li. "You don't like my dragonsbreath meatballs? Its a recipe handed down from ancestors beyond living memory!"

Li's face twisted in disgust. "I like food that isn't gonna turn my gut into a furnace. Come on, Yalun, I can smell the roast duck, its calling to me!"

"Assam will go get us groceries... and some roast duck" Yalun half-lied. "He can get it done quicker than we can as a group, but I think he would feel better if we were all here to look after Amala. Isn't that right, Assam?"

"Uh, yea, pretty much." said Assam, hurling his monk's spade onto Amala's saddle for safekeeping. "She's already walked more than she should have, and some of her wounds may have opened up. Better look her over again, Nilak."

"Can do." Nilak replied, already drawing out water for another round of healing.

"Very well." said Qin, leaning on one of Amala's unwounded pillar-like legs. "See if you can find some good curry powder. I think your mushroom stew could use a little kick."

"I'll try." said Assam as he bounded to the gates, kicking up massive clouds of dust as his airbending pushed him down the road. As Yalun watched him go, only one thing went through his mind: Spirits above, I hope this works. I don't want to feel weak anymore.

____________________________________________________________________________________

My name is Assam, and I am a heretic.

Not all that many of us, really. I think I might be number four or five in all Air Nomad history. I can't be too sure, since Air Nomads tend to shun and avoid those who point out the holes in their philosophies, even in their history books. Some might call that censorship, but the monks and nuns seem content with "protecting the integrity of Air Nomad culture."

Its censorship, don't let anyone tell you different.

It also means I'm not allowed in the Air Temples anymore. Can't have new ideas being circulated where the children can hear. They might develop critical thinking skills.

So now, here I am, slumming it up with the Avatar. I can't say its a terrible existence; most of the time Yalun knows what he's doing, and he's a good leader. Plus, I get to help do some good in the world, as opposed to covering my ears and eyes to the problems of the common man in the name of enlightenment like my fellows.

Never thought I'd be chasing after a swordsman, even a particularly talented one, in the name of more muscle. No offense to Raiden, but the kind of stuff we've been fighting doesn't seem like the kind of stuff that can be more effectively fought with a sharpened piece of metal.

But, since Yalun is the boss, I chased after Raiden anyway. I gave myself a little airbending boost as I ran, propelling me down the road fast enough to where my feet barely touched the earth. Raiden was just turning away from the guards he was talking to by the time I got to the gate. I didn't want to have to take to the rooftops and look for this guy in the crowd; guards tend to complain about that, and that complaining usually involves spears.

As soon as he began to walk into the village, I threw an arm around his shoulders and, in my friendliest, most Air Nomadic voice, said "Raiden, my friend, walk with me, talk with me!"

The direct method tends to work the best for me, in persuasion at least.

Understandably, he was a mite confused. "You again, monk?" he looked around, presumably for the rest of our merry band of cultist curbstompers. "Where are your companions?"

The truth seemed to fit well here. "They're taking a break outside the city walls, looking after my bison. She got herself in a small bind a day or two ago and ended up with some injuries, preventing her from flying."

Raiden seemed to relax a little, though I noticed his hand was gripping the handle of his sword. And after all we'd been through in the past few hours. If I was made of softer stuff that might have hurt my feelings. "My condolences to your bison. Why are you here?"

Polite, yet direct. I think I might like this guy, I thought to myself. Certainly better company than Qin, the high lord of self-righteousness. "Well, you see, Avatar Yalun and I were talking, and I think you might be just what we need."

"Need me for what" Raiden asked. His grip was loosening on his blade a bit. Good, making progress. "And why did the Avatar not see fit to tell me himself?" And there goes the sword grip again. Touchy touchy.

"He wanted to," I tried to explain, "but he felt the message would come more easily from someone you didn't insult a few hours ago."

Raiden at least had the grace to blush. "Oh, that..." he rubbed his temples with a gauntleted hand. "Look, you got me just after a long fight, my blood was up, I didn't mean to be that callous, especially to the Avatar."

"I'll tell him that" I replied. "As for what we need you for... well... let me tell you a story."

I then proceeded to tell the guy one of the most ridiculous true stories I've ever told as we both walked through a rather crowded market. When things got too loud I used a touch of soundbending to get rid of some of the ambient noises. Not too much though; people tend to freak out a little when all of the sudden people's lips are moving but nothing's coming out.

Anyway, I told him of the events of the past few weeks. Yalun and Nilak's first encounter with the monstrous jiang shi, our close encounter in Darkhollow, our thrilling escape, the whole works. Well, maybe not the whole works; I tended to leave out when Yalun was at the complete mercy of the cult or their pets. Hearing about the Avatar getting hurt or being knocked out tends to make people loose faith in their Avatar, and I figured that might not help with the whole recruiting thing.

When I finished, Raiden looked like he'd just seen a giant purple pentapus crawl out of a lake and start tapdancing. "You really expect me to believe that, monk?"

To be honest, not really.

"I mean, a doomsday cult I can understand." he continued. All right, he at least gets half of the story. "But evil spirits? Possessed corpses? I don't know... that doesn't seem right to me."

To be fair, I didn't think this would sound right to anyone over the age of five, especially with no hard evidence to wave around. I decided to test the waters a little bit, see what he knew. "Look, you know a lot of spirits aren't what you'd call good, right?"

Raiden sighed and moved his head from side to side, weighing something out in his head. Or imitating a pidgeon, one of the two. "Yes... no... I don't know, monk. I was brought up to have respect for the spirits, but then... the war and... its complicated, all right?"

Alright, I thought to myself, better tread a little more carefully. Don't want to trigger any wartime flashbacks. "Ok, fair enough. But you do realize that not all spirits are paragons of perfection, right? Would that be fair to say?"

"I suppose so, monk" he replied. "you would know more on that subject than me. But I... I don't know..."

The jiang shi angle wasn't getting us anywhere. It was time for plan B.

"Ok, ok, lets drop the spirits of hunger. Lets focus on this cult."

Raiden gave me a sideways glance. "Very well, what about the cult?"

Yalun's encounter with the Mad Priest had given the answer to that question. This wasn't the kind of organization that recruited with a catchy message. "Have you noticed an increase in kidnappings lately?"

Raiden stopped in his tracks. "How did you...?"

We were burning daylight, so I filled things in for him. "Look, these guys are brainwashing people. They're slowly infiltrating villages until they completely take them over."

Now he was listening. "How are they doing this?" he asked, a desperate curiosity in his eyes.

Spirit magic, I thought to myself, because that worked the first time. This was where a bit of omission was called for. I put on a painful expression, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. Hey, if I'm gonna lie, I may as well do it well. "Its... best not to say." Hopefully he wasn't too desperately curious.

Evidently not, as he simply nodded and said "I understand."

For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. He was visibly processing all the new information and claims I had laid on him, and I didn't think layering on more would help things. I just let him simmer in his thoughts for a while. I had planted the seed, now I needed to see if it would grow.

After his thoughts had simmered to a golden brown, he finally spoke. "So this doomsday cult... you and your companions are going after them?"

Good answers so far. "Yeah, we're trying to put a stop to them before they cause any more damage. They've already attacked one major settlement, and from what the Avatar heard when facing off against one of their leaders, its not going to stop until the whole world burns."

Raiden closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He then sighed, turned to me and said "Well monk, you indeed make many bold claims, as does the Avatar. However, I'd like to investigate this for myself, and I believe having a larger group behind me might slow me down.

Definitely not the response I was looking for. I thought. Now I'd have to go back to Yalun and keep pretending I don't notice his nervous fidgeting or sudden lack of will when someone brings up the cult.

"I am sorry monk, but I don't think I would be a good fit for..." Raiden began, before suddenly focusing on someone in the crowd before them. "Hey!" he shouted, immediately drawing his sword. I looked for myself, and after a few seconds I saw what he was after: three men in the crowd were each dragging a child behind them, each no more than seven or eight years old. None of the men wore a badge of office or anything that singled them out from the crowd, and by the way the children were thrashing and clawing at their captors, it was clear they weren't parents or relatives.

Their ears must have been burning, I thought to myself.

As Raiden began shouting for the dense market crowd to part, I noticed something else. The village guard, resplendant in head to toe, moss green plate armor (complete with one of those red feathers on their helmets that were all the rage back then), was doing precisely nothing while looking directly at the three children and their kidnappers. Whether they were paid to look the other way or were in on the act, it didn’t matter: dragging kids off is real high on my “earning a beatdown” list.

This was where I began mentally kicking myself for leaving my monk’s spade back with Amala. I can bend just fine without it, but my attacks tend to have less focus and force behind them. With so many people cramped into one space, my normal moves just weren't going to cut it.

Luckily, our party's little stay in Darkhollow encouraged me to always carry around a few special implements I usually keep with Amala for special circumstances. Good to have a plan B, I've always found.

With a blast of air, I lept up onto the roof of the nearest building, a pottery shop, and quickly darted from stall roof to stall roof to catch up with Raiden. Much easier to move on roofs, very little foot traffic and you get a good view of where your quarry is going.

"Hey, get down from there!" about ten voices shouted behind me, soon followed by several whooshes that sounded suspiciously like thrown spears.

Unfortunately, rooftop travel also pisses off the guards something awful, as I've previously said. Kids being dragged off they're fine with, but a guy tries to get a better view and suddenly he's target practice.

There's no justice in the world.

As soon as I caught up to Raiden, I shouted "You take the one on the right, I'll take the other two!" I was the quicker one, so I hoped to spare the encumbered warrior the trouble of chasing after two opponents. If he heard me, he didn't show it, and continued charging through the crowd to the rightmost kidnapper. Not being the most quiet person, the kidnappers soon became aware of the walking armory lumbering towards then, and all three broke into a dead sprint. None had the decency to drop the kids.

Two kidnappers broke off to the right, barreling down a narrow side street with Raiden in hot pursuit. The remaining kidnapper fled down the main market road, shoving aside people in his way. No one attempted to bar his way, likely taking their cues from the still inactive guards. Well, inactive aside from the ones chucking spears in my general direction.

I did my best to keep up with the straggler. For a guy barging through a crowd and hauling a kid behind him, he could book. Unfortunately, he did not have a gust of wind usually not found outside hurricanes propelling him forward, and before long I was well ahead.

Now I could properly set up my ambush.

I pulled out a slim, black blowgun from a small pack on my side (I call it my Bag of Dirty Tricks), along with a little black dart. As the kidnapper ran in my direction, still unaware of my presence, I placed the dart in the blowgun and took careful aim (not that careful, as the man had no armor to speak of). With a quick exhale, I directed an air blast into the blowgun, sending the dart within flying towards the kidnapper. Before the man had the time to blink, the dart slammed into his shoulder. Within seconds, his entire body locked up, and he collapsed into the street mid-stride. Highly concentrated shirshu venom does good work.

The kid, whose shirt was still in the paralyzed grasp of his kidnapper, quickly got to his feet, tore off his shirt, and ran like a platypus bear was after him. Hopefully he would come across some non-paid off guards, but I wasn't too hopeful.

With one kidnapper down and the guard well behind me, I leapt across the street to the next row of buildings, trying to catch up with Raiden and the other two men asking for an airbending-propelled dart in the chest.

Three street spanning jumps later, I found the side street Raiden and the kidnappers ran down. I followed the streets, still keeping to the rooftops, and before long I saw one of the kidnappers chained to a wooden column, his hands bound behind him. On closer inspection, the chain seemed to have a kama on one end, its blade buried deep into the column, and a heavy spherical weight on the other dangling from the man's arms.

Raiden's kusarigama I thought. Well, that's two down at least, and two kids freed. Now where's the third?

I followed the street as it wound and twisted upon itself, like a prickle-snake caught in a particularly nasty bramble bush. I tried to single out anything that sounded like Raiden or swordplay, but a busy town is not the easiest place to soundbend something that specific. Soundbending is something of a subtle art, the delicate scalpel to, say, lightning's cudgel. It requires some subtle movements, like all bending does, but like other forms of airbending it also comes from the mind and from the will. Many different factors go into directing minute vibrations through the air, whether amplifying them, redirecting them, or muffling them. You have to keep in mind where sound might travel through the air, where it might bounce off of, where it might get stopped dead.

In other words, it's really blasted difficult while running someone down with hundreds of people talking around you.

So it wasn't till I got to the other end of the street that I actually found who I was looking for, and it wasn't a situation I wanted to see. The kidnapper, a stout guy with a veritable dome of black hair and a broad, lumpy face. If he weren't holding a scimitar to an eight-year-old's throat, he'd look downright comical.

Raiden had his sword out, its point square at the kidnapper. He slowly paced from side so side, looking for weaknesses, but otherwise he made no move against his opponent.

I tried to sneak past the kidnapper as I had his friend, but unfortunately this one was more alert. "Hey!" he shouted, "No funny business! Get down from there, or the kid gets it!" To emphasize his point, he brought the edge of his sword up against the kid's throat, a scrawny looking thing with enormous brown eyes and messy, sandy brown hair. The kid was frozen with fear as streams of tears ran down his face.

I slowly dropped down from the rooftops with a gentle gust to break my fall. In these situations, sudden moves can get people killed. I've been in enough of them to know.

"Drop the pipe!" the kidnapper shouted. I had forgotten I still had my blowgun in my hands. I let it drop to the ground.

"Kick it away!" said the kidnapper.

I was about to; I didn't want to escalate things further. Usually I'm happy to prod people on, as it tends to make them not think clearly, but once innocent lives are on the line, I'm done.

Raiden seemed to have other plans. "Enough of this, Lee! Let the kid go! I won't ask again!"

"I can't do that, Raiden!" Lee shouted back. "I have too much riding on this kid here!"

Wait, what?

"Raiden, do you know this guy?" I asked.

Raiden shot me a sideways glance. "He used to be in the army back during the Sandbender Rebellion. He was dishonorably discharged when he was found to be taking bribes from his soldiers for favors."

Lee didn't seem to appreciate that. "I was looking out for my men! And cause of you and your toadies' meddling, I had to take work where I could! I had to call in favors, and now those favors are calling in their tabs!"

"You betrayed the principles of His Majesty's service!" Raiden shouted back. "You undermined the trust of..."

Great. More shouting I thought as Raiden continued ranting, that'll free the kid...

...

Actually...

I looked to see if Lee was paying attention to me. Thankfully, he seemed completely focused on Raiden. I slowly raised a cupped hand, my palm facing to the right, towards Raiden. I whispered "Keep him talking, I have a plan" into my hand, willing a small amount of power to the sound bouncing off my hand towards Raiden's ears. Not an easy feat, mind you; you almost have to feel the sound as it flies through the air. Its hard to explain, and I get the feeling that if I weren't so dependent on sight I'd be able to outline it better, but here we are.

Going by the confused look on Raiden's face, I think he got the message loud and clear. Going by the unchanged look on Lee's face, I think he didn't. Raiden continued his tyrade, and Lee seemed happy enough to seethe in the warrior's general direction.

Now for the kid.

I lowered my hand, and making sure not to move my lips too much, sent a message to the kid.

"Hey" I whispered, projecting my words right to the kid's ears, "if you can hear me, blink twice."

Though still clearly distressed, the kid blinked twice. Lee still didn't seem like he heard anything. Perfect.

"Alright. My name is Assam, and I'm communicating with you through soundbending, so he big guy with the sword can't hear me. Just you. I'm gonna get you out of this, but you need to do as I say, alright? Blink twice if you understand."

The kid blinked twice.

"Good, good," I continued. "Now listen closely. In a few seconds there's going to be a sound of a dozen swords being drawn from their sheaths to your left. When that happens, I'm going to need you to close your eyes as tight as you can. The second that creep lets go, open your eyes and run as fast as you can. Do you understand?"

The kid blinked twice.

Alright, I thought, showtime.

While making sure Lee was still preoccupied with his fellow ex-soldier, I once more reached into my Bag of Dirty Tricks and grasped a small leather bag bound up in string. I undid the simple knot on the top of the bag and, with a gentle swirling of my fingers, swept up a small amount of the fine white powder within into a spinning ball of air.

I then got a different sort of soundbending ready. Not only can I project sounds where I want, I can also warp them quite a bit. Takes a while, though: I can usually only change sounds, say two men shouting at each other (plenty of sound to go around without either of them noticing), to something I'm very used to hearing. It just so happens, hanging out with the Avatar, I've heard a lot of sounds that might get the attention of a desperate child-napper, one of them being about a dozen swords drawn at once. Alarming enough to get his attention, but not quite alarming enough for him to hurt the kid.

I let out a growl from my throat. Any sound would do, but I didn't want Lee catching on to anything by moving my lips more than absolutely necessary. I held the sound before me, an invisible, infinitesimal disturbance of air bound and fed by my will and a few subtle movements of my fingers. I immediately began molding the sound, stretching and contorting the tiny waves of pressure until they resembled the result I desired. It didn't take too long; this was an old ruse, the kind I used to use to scare the daylights out of the elder monks. I don't even quite remember where I first heard these swords being drawn. I did know at that point that I had been pulling this trick long enough that it was a convincing trick.

Once the sound was perfectly crafted, I willed it far to the right, into an adjacent alley. Then, I let it loose. And let me tell you, the look on someone's face when they hear a dozen swords being drawn at once when they're doing something they shouldn't:

It's priceless.

Immediately, two things happened. One, the kid closed his eyes as tight as he could, just like I asked. Two, Lee whipped his head to his left. Which gave me just enough time to lob an air blast engorged with blinding powder at his big dumb face.

As soon as Lee brought his head back around, my little air bubble full of powder hit him square in the eyes. Instantly, a scream erupted from a horrified face, as his eyes smoked in their sockets. Funny thing about my blinding powder: it turns highly acidic when it comes into contact with a wet surface like, say, the eyes. The chemists in Ba Sing Se cook it up for metalworking, but the apothecaries are more than happy to sell it for more... practical uses.

Extreme? Probably. Effective? It’s acid to the eyes, what do you think?

As I’d hoped, Lee immediately dropped his sword and furiously began rubbing at his eyes. As soon as his scimitar landed on the ground with a loud clang, the kid opened his eyes, took one look at the man behind him screaming like a newborn babe, and bolted down the side alley where I had projected my sonic illusion.

“What in the blazes did you do?!”

Oh, right. The guy who I was supposed to let think I was a monk. Monk’s don’t throw acidic powder into people’s eyes, do they?

Raiden walked over to me, and he did not seem terribly happy that I had saved the kid. The guy already had hard features, but they looked downright savage when his anger showed through.

“Answer me, damn you!” he shouted, “What did you do?!”

From where I was standing, there was no good way to answer that. What sort of “ancient Air Nomad trick” could I pull out of my arse to explain why the guy in front of us was currently feeling his eyeballs dissolve?

Not much else to do except come clean. “That, Raiden,” I said, “is Ba Sing Se University certified salicylic acid powder. Or blinding powder, if you ask the apothecaries down the street from the university.”

"Blinding powder?!" Raiden shouted. Those jade eyes of his began to study me, as if I had suddenly poofed out of nowhere. In a slightly calmer voice, he asked "What sort of a monk uses such dishonorable tactics?"

"Well that's just it," I admitted, "I'm not a monk." Felt good to get that off my chest. I hate being deceptive to people who don't deserve it, even if it's just a lie of omission.

Raiden cocked his head to the side, the hard lines on his face twisted in confusion. "Not a monk? How? I thought all Air Nomads were monks by definition? You even have the robes, tattered as they are."

I really need to get a new outfit. Something with sleeves I can hide fun stuff in...

"Most are," I corrected, "but not all. I'm what's known as a heretic. I don't follow all the rules my... former countrymen do." The words former countrymen left a bitter taste in my mouth. Being forced out of your home, away from any friends or family you may have known will do that.

"Well... still..." said Raiden. He slowly backed off and turned his head towards Lee, who was still clutching at his now disfigured face. "Why not say something, or correct me?

"Yalun didn't want me to."

"What?"

Crap, I shouldn't have said that. Curse my policy of honesty!

"Why did the Avatar insist you lie to me?!" he demanded.

I probably could have lied then, but why stop the honesty caravan? "He believed you would listen to a monk, not a heretical pauper."

"I'll have words with him about that." Raiden grimaced as he kept his gaze at Lee. "By the spirits, who uses acid?"

"The kind of guy who has no other option." I rebutted. "Any of my other options would have either taken too much time, which could have risked the kids life if Lee there caught on too quickly, or they wouldn't have been effective enough to get him to let go of the kid. We do what we have to in order to keep people safe down the line, right Mr. I-wanna-slice-up-a-guy-begging-for-mercy-at-my-feet."

Raiden whipped his head back around towards me. "That was completely-"

"Different, of course." I interrupted. I'd been fighting the way I do since I was 13 years old. If I had done so honorably, a great many people, including myself, would be missing about eight pounds from their shoulders, yet people always say the same thing when they see me fight firsthand. I'd heard it all by this point. "You wanted to kill someone because, in your experience, he would simply pick up his bloody trade as soon as he was out of sight. Would that be accurate"

Raiden nodded slightly. "Aye, that's fair."

I took a step towards Raiden. May as well keep up the offense. "Have you ever known a man who has resorted to kidnapping children to do any good down the line?"

Raiden lowered his head, and looked once more at his former comrade. "Not once" he said harshly. "Nor have I known a man to continue criminal acts without functioning eyes."

Acutal sense. All the more reason to get him in the group. "There we are."

Raiden seemed no happier at his little revelation. He turned towards the wimpering man before us, and gripped the hilt of his sword so tightly I could practically hear his knuckles getting white.

For a minute, neither of us spoke. We simply watched Lee grope about his surroundings, trying desperately to get a sense of his surroundings. His eyes, only partially covered by one hand, had been reduced to useless white lumps, surrounded by harshly burned skin, where the acid had been rubbed when he tried to expel my little trick from his face.

I broke the silence first. "What should we do with him?" The man was completely blind. Being thrown in a jail cell seemed like overkill.

Raiden straightened himself up, once more the lawman. "We take him before the sheriff and pray he hasn't been paid off like the guards, along with his accomplices. Where is the one you were chasing, anyway?"

"Laying in the middle of the street a few blocks over."

Raiden frowned a bit. "Did you secure him at all?"

"Other than the highly concentrated shirshu spit that will leave him rigid as a boulder for the next two weeks, no. I think he'll be fine."

Raiden covered his face with his palm. "Any more dishonorable tactics I should know about?"

"Depends, are you free through the next four days?" I replied.

Raiden pressed his palm in harder. "Never mind, lets just get this man into custody be on our way." He walked over to Lee, who seemed to be working his way up a fruit stand. "Come on, Lee, its over. We're taking you to the magistrate."

"No!" he shouted, his entire face twisted and contorted in fear. "They'll do things to me if I don't return!" Lee tried to stand, but ended up tripping over himself and landed heavily on his shoulder.

"Enough, Lee." said Raiden, clearly annoyed.

"No!" Lee said again. "I can't go back without an offering! I can't!"

Raiden seemed done talking. With his blade in one hand, he reached down with the other and grabbed at the collar of Lee's shirt.

Before Raiden could even lift the man, I saw Lee's hand dart behind him, and he thrust something at Raiden. I couldn't see quite what it was, but if this scumbag was pointing it at someone trying to do justice, it couldn't have been good.

My hands were moving before the thought to strike reached my brain. I struck at the air in front of me with an open palmed blow, sending another blast of air, this time without powder, rocketing at Lee. Instead of his face, the blast of air hit the object in Lee's hand, ripping it out and bouncing it off the wall behind him, ricocheting into the alley his former hostage ran down. Raiden instinctively lashed out with his sword, cutting upwards through the chest. I'm not sure if he hit the heart, but by the amount of blood that came out of the man, I didn't think it mattered.

As the last of his lifeblood poured into the streets, Lee croaked out his last words, his eyes fixed on Raiden: "They.. will come... for you..." With that, the light was gone from his eyes.

For a moment, all was quiet. I lowered my arm and strode towards the corpse that was Lee. Raiden let his sword hang by his side for a moment, staring at the deep cut he'd made in the man's side. He then pulled out a clean, white cloth and began cleaning the blade, confident that Lee wasn't getting up anytime soon, I suppose.

"I suppose dragging him to the magistrate's office is out of the question, then?" I asked. Hey, its a legitimate question here.

Raiden solemnly shook his head. "I am no coroner. I'll notify the undertaker, he and his underlings can come get the body. Considering what he did, I'm of half a mind to let him rot here in the alley."

I found it hard to disagree with that sentiment. "Did you see what he pulled on you?"

Raiden shook his head again, sheathing his now clean sword and stuffing the soiled cloth into a bag on his belt. "It all happened too quickly, I didn't get a chance to see. See if you can find whatever it was, it may be a clue as to who hired these thugs. Crime lords often outfit the men they hire with new weapons and armor." He picked up Lee's scimitar and inspected it closely.

While he did that, I walked over to the alley to try and find whatever it was I knocked away. If the blasted cult was behind this, I wanted to have a direct line. If it was just a crime lord who wanted to send a message, I'd like to know that too. I have worse poisons than shirshu spit, after all...

It wasn't exactly the cleanest alley. Layers of filth coated the walls and the streets, the decrepit remains of stalls strewn about as if a windstorm had come through. This is why I stick to the roofs, I thought to myself, all I have to worry about there is bird droppings. I walked down the alley, careful to avoid the more substantial piles of muck and junk. After about a minute of searching, a glint of metal caught my eye from a pile of what I hoped was rotten fruit. I strode over to the fetid pile, crouched down, and wiped the muck away from the freshly embedded object.

Then I realized it wasn't a shiny surface that caught my eye.

"Blast it!" Raiden shouted far behind be, right before a loud clang rang through the alley.

I quickly shook off the remaining filth from the object, slipped it into my Bag of Dirty Tricks, and made my way back to where Raiden was. The warrior had his armored arms crossed as he paced back and forth along the length of the now earthbound scimitar. "It's Earth Kingdom army standard issue. These kinds of weapons are produced in bulk, and higher ups want uniformity, so they don't use smith marks." He rubbed the side of his face with a gauntleted hand. "There's nothing on his blade that could be a clue, and there's nothing else on him. I'll bet whatever you knocked away didn't show anything either..."

"Well, that's not quite..." I started. Raiden turned his back and started down another alley like he didn't hear me. Reminded me of Yalun when he got all melancholic: way to focused on negativity to listen to all that much positivity.

As he rounded a corner, I ran after him, with a little airbending boost to put a spring in my step. "Where are you going?" I asked as I fell into stride beside him.

"I need a drink." Raiden said flatly.

I very nearly whipped out the object I found when I realized the opportunity before me. Warm sake is very good at loosening tongues and opening minds. Perhaps this was the chance I needed to earn Raiden's trust. Or at least repair it after my little reveal of being an airbending scoundrel.

As we walked, Raiden said nothing. He simply kept his eyes on the road and his hand on his sword. Down near the end of the market, Raiden found the local undertaker, a pale man with far too much black clothing to be sensible.

After the man sent some scrawny servants to pick up Lee's corpse, Raiden and I rounded a corner and found ourselves at what seemed like the local watering hole, The Gravel Pit. It was a squat, unassuming building, built of earthbending-raised rock with a few bits of wood holding it all together. It's only adornment seemed to be a sign hung above the door bearing the name of the establishment and an image of two crossed pickaxes laid over a crudely drawn mountain.Where there had once been a door, only a few hinges with bits of wood clinging to them remained. With a grunt, Raiden walked in, handing his sword and other weapons to someone just inside.

If only you could do that with benders, I thought as I followed him inside. Just before I slipped in the entrance after him, however, I caught a glimpse of a wonderful sight: a regiment of guards leading another regiment of guards, bound in chains. Some of the faces of those in chains I recognized as those I saw simply standing around while Lee and his cronies were dragging off children. I guess there is justice in the world.

The tavern was dimly lit, with only a few glowstone torches and the sunlight streaming in from the entrance to illuminate the place. The air was heavy with the smell of sheepig stew, sweaty workmen, and a faint whiff of vomit. Animal skins and other trophies hung on the walls, as well as worn mining equipment. The place was suprisingly packed, its many circular tables and booths crowded with miners, merchants, farmers, and guardsmen drinking away the stresses of the day.

Raiden had already taken up a seat at the far right end of the main bar, which seemed to stretch across the entire width of the building. I wove through the sea of sweaty, drunken workmen, slowly working my way towards Raiden. I think a few of them thought I was a bar maid, because I got a lot of shouts for ale or stew thrown in my direction.

One of the many drawbacks of not being terribly muscular and having long hair, I suppose.

The seats next to Raiden were occupied, but the man to his right, a corpulent man that had drunk himself into unconsciousness, was easily dislodged with a slight push. I think all the cups in the tavern jumped a little when he hit the ground.

Raiden gave me a sideways glance. "Won't take no for an answer, will you?"

I shrugged has I searched my pockets for a few copper pieces. "Technically you never said no."

Raiden grunted and gulped down the rest of his drink. The woman working the bar, a well muscled lady with black hair that more or less resembled a baby boar-q-pine, quickly grabbed a kettle from behind the bar and poured some of its contents into his cup. He didn't produce any coin, so I assumed he had paid in advance. Good. He'll need more than one drink at this point. Heck, I may need more than one drink.

03:31, July 26, 2014 (UTC)

I braced myself for another ethics lesson. "What is it?"

Raiden sighed. "I come through this village about twice a month. Every time I'm here, I look at every bounty board, fish for every rumor, slink through every filthy back alley in order to track down those like him" he said as he emphasized his point with a kick to the man's ribs. "I do the same thing in 20 other villages across the countryside, more if I can help it. But today, three men dragged off three innocent children as the guards simply stood by and watched, and I have no idea why."

I had a hunch why, but it didn't seem like a good time to interrupt.

"I bleed, and I scrape, and I throw myself into danger every single day to help people around me." Raiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But its never enough. There's always something else, someone getting away with murder just under my nose, someone reminding me I'm not good enough to save another life."

A mental flash of crimson blood and a woman's screams reminded me that I knew how he felt. An old friend that I was too late and too weak to save.

"Believe it or not" I replied, lacking my usual snark, "I know how that feels. I've lost... friends along the line, because I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough."

Raiden looked at me for a moment. I could see his jade green eyes studying my face. "Yes... you have."