Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Fire.

Air.

Water.

Earth.

These four elements encompass the Avatar Cycle. They are the basis for which every Avatar holds their power. But it is not through these powers that Avatars find greatness.

No, it is through our own spirit and strength. Before, the Avatar could speak to past lives to gather wisdom, to learn lessons, and to grow as individuals rather than vessels of a mighty spirit. But this is no longer the case.

I, Avatar Korra, was struck down in my battle against the Dark Avatar Unalaq. My uncle. The connection to the Avatar’s past lives was lost by Unalaq and Vaatu’s cruelty. While I bested them and reclaimed Raava’s spirit, I could never regain the connection to the past Avatars.

No… I became the final Avatar of that cycle. And you, whoever is reading this, will be the first of a new cycle. You will be born without any past lives to rely on, not even myself, but that does not make you weak. You will be the beginning of a new era. You will still hold the power of the Great Light Spirit Raava within you. You will still control all four elements. You will still stand as an ambassador for spirits and humankind.

Most importantly, though, is you will have your own, inner power, for that is what makes any Avatar who they are. Not the title. Not the bending. You.

And I believe in you.

[][][][]

The air is humid as the White Lotus craft glides across the water and into Republic City harbour. The wind is cool, however, and eases the warm discomfort from Aigo’s skin. He had grown up in the Earth Kingdom for most his life, but after staying at the North Pole for the last few weeks he grew accustomed to the cold and dry.

Nonetheless, it was always good to be back.

“We’ll be docking soon, Avatar Aigo,” comes a voice behind him and Aigo pushes off the railing to turn around. A man in White Lotus garb, sans the helmet, stands there. His posture is relaxed, unlike some of the other White Lotus grunts milling around.

Aigo can’t help but grin back at the man. “Thanks, Qiu. I’ll go grab my stuff in a second,” Aigo nods, but Qiu doesn’t walk away. They’re both about the same age, but Aigo had just turned nineteen while Qiu still had two more months to go. 

They had different builds, too. Despite being born an earthbender, Aigo had never bulked up like he’d hoped he would. Instead, he was fit, yes, and tall, but not ripped like Qiu was. They were both pale with dark hair, but where Qiu’s was short, scraggly, and a hint brown, Aigo’s was inky black and long, pulled into a low ponytail. Their eyes were similar, both green, but Aigo’s were paler while Qiu’s were rich.

“What’s got you upset, then?” Qiu questions, crossing his arms and eying Aigo up and down. It makes the Avatar blink owlishly before shaking his head out and properly gawking at the other boy.

“What? I’m not upset! I’m perfectly fine! Not upset at all. Totally calm and collected. Completely at peace with myself and the world and-- How’d you know I was upset?” Aigo’s rambling quickly putters out with Qiu’s constant, judgemental gaze upon him.

The bulkier boy shifts his arms and points at the folded sheet of paper currently in Aigo’s grasp, one of his thick eyebrows arching. “You only ever pull out one of Avatar Korra’s letters when you feel sorry for yourself,” Qiu explains simply and Aigo’s shoulders sag, dejected and found out.

“Am I truly so predictable?” Aigo mumbles, glancing out at the waves as the vessel glides over.

“Pretty much,” Qiu half-shrugs and Aigo sags a bit more.

“Ouch…” the Avatar mumbles, chuckling to himself humorlessly.

“Stop avoiding the question,” Qiu reaches out and punches the shorter boy’s shoulder, familiarity in his actions. “What’s up with you?”

Aigo sighs, his chest puffing up with the slow, procrastinating action, eyes still sideways towards the waves. “Korra’s letters always make me feel… a little more sure of myself. She left so many to try and make up for a lack of past lives - as if that was actually her fault - and all of them are so positive… Reading them makes me feel like a little less of a failure.”

Qiu’s arms have crossed, his head tilted as he listens intently to Aigo’s explanation and his expression pinched. “Is this about the waterbending thing?” the White Lotus agent questions, tone carefully neutral, but it still makes Aigo’s lips thin unhappily.

“I get that every Avatar has an element they struggle with,” Aigo begins slowly, subconsciously pulling his low ponytail across one shoulder and carding his fingers through it, “but there’s a lot more expectations for me, you know? Avatar Aigo of the New Era! Representative of a Period of Light! The Example for All the New Avatars to Come! Blah blah blah blah blah!”

“Plus, you’re taking even longer than most to figure out your problem-element,” Qiu hums, scratching his cheek and the slight stubble there.

“Dude… not helping,” Aigo whines, sagging so far he leans against the railing, his arms crossed and head hanging between his shoulders.

The White Lotus had worked so hard to find him a waterbending master; first in the South Pole, and then most recently in the North. Malik and Tessouat respectively. 

Both had been massive failures.

He had travelled all around the world learning the elements, aided by the White Lotus to find suitable masters and assure Aigo’s travels were safe in his early years.

And Aigo owed the organization so much. 

Certainly, they’d made mistakes. It had been Avatar Korra who had made the White Lotus swear never to lock up another Avatar again like they had her, which had left her worldly views and understandings crippled. Plus the White Lotus used to have a nasty habit of keeping massive secrets to themselves like they could solve them alone, but it was so much better now. They admitted to their mistakes and they strove to be better!

And now Aigo couldn’t even complete his training properly for them. He was failing the organization that had raised him, as well as the world that was waiting for the Avatar to guide them into prosperity.

Thankfully, he hadn’t been needed for any world-ending catastrophes like his predecessors had in their early years. The world wasn’t perfect - during his travels he’d had to help out plenty of struggling people or take down extremist wannabes - but this was a time of peace. This new era was an era of light, just as it was meant to be.

But the Avatar would always be needed, and Aigo needed to show the world that the new cycle was one to be trusted, just as the previous had. 

First, though, he needed to master water, and he didn’t see that happening anytime soon.

The boat was slowing by the time Aigo straightened up again, shaking out the dejected feeling in his bones. He’d had the whole ship ride back to Republic City to feel bad for himself, and now it was time to jump back into his duties.

Qiu patted his back reassuringly, the best he could probably offer, before slipping his White Lotus helmet back on and hurrying off to get back to his duties. The docks were in sight, the long, pristine, stone piers of the higher sector docks reaching out towards them. Along the shore to Aigo’s right were the commercial docks, wooden but more numerous, and Aigo could hear the sound of fisherman boats, merchants, and workers going about the day. They were too far away to catch a waft of the stench of fish - the fishermen were downwind - but Aigo can imagine it.

The Poles always had a slight fishy smell to it.

Aigo takes one more moment to enjoy the feel of the cool wind against his humidity heated face before turning to head back to his cabin and retrieve his things. He doesn’t want to get in anyone’s way once they’ve docked and need to get supplies moved around.

He doesn’t get far, however, when the burst of voices down the docks stops him. The noise is far off, but coming closer from the commercial docks, a deep-voiced man shrieking, “Stop! Stop that thief!” Aigo’s eyes narrow and he hurries to the starboard bow’s railing, leaning forward to get a better view and listen.

There’s definitely a commotion going on and, a moment later, someone is sprinting down the wharf, a cluster of working force men and women behind them, but they are moving far too fast. A cloud of dust is kicked up by the “thief’s” sprinting and it doesn’t take a genius for Aigo to recognize airbending.

Well, small ordeal as it seemed, an Avatar had a duty to the people.

The White Lotus vessel is close enough to the docks by now that Aigo only needs to back up a few steps, and then leap forward. A burst of air beneath his feet has him airborne and rocketing forward, a grin spreading on his face at the feel of weightlessness as he glides.

Another, smaller burst of air cushions his landing and then he’s off, sprinting after the thief. With a boost of earth, Aigo hops over the gates that separate the White Lotus docks, eyes trained on the form of the airbender as they slide, skid, and avoid the workers they’d stolen from. When they’re close enough to one of the harbor stations, their air is lifting them up in a running leap, feet catching on a sign post, then a window sill, and the gutter as they air step up the wall.

Aigo is a few steps ahead of them, however, and he’s taking a single leap with an earthen boost before landing and rolling onto the station’s roof. The thief is scrambling to keep moving, the metal roof slick on their bare feet, but they falter when they see Aigo, grey eyes widening.

They’re young, maybe twelve or thirteen, and they’re tall and lanky. Their skin is dark, but Aigo can still see bruises on their elbows and knees. Their hair is short and scraggly, while their clothes are a basic grey shirt and jeans combo, if a bit more raggedy than usual, and around their hips a jean jacket is tied.

And in one of their hands they hold the tail ends of two, fresh trout.

Aigo raises both his eyebrows at the kid, making it clear he is looking between their face and the fish. He doesn’t quite frown, but it is clear his expression reads, “really?”

Below them Aigo hears the angry screams of the fishermen.

“Now, I’m just going to make a guess here and say you didn’t pay for those,” Aigo says conversationally, hands on his hips and feet braced on the metal roof. “Either that or you tipped way too much and that’s the weirdest ‘thank you’ I’ve ever seen.” The kid doesn’t reply, hardly even moves, but their eyes flick frantically around them, looking for an escape. Aigo doesn’t plan to give them one. It’s pretty clear this kid is in a bad way and needs help, but letting them steal won’t do anyone any good.

“Come on, dude, no need to get all buggy. I’m not going to hurt you, and I won’t let them, either,” Aigo smiles, a bit gentler now, and waves a hand in the general direction of the furious workers still on the ground. The Avatar takes a step forward, careful, like he’s approaching a wounded animal. “Look, I get it, you think this is your only option, the world can be scary, but you’ve got such a life ahead of you. You can’t be doing this kind of stuff.”

As Aigo inches closer the kid does take one step back, but otherwise stays still. They’re low to the ground, too, legs twisted in a way that Aigo doubts gives them much of an airbending advantage. They’re just scared. That’s all.

“Hey, come on. Why don’t you give back those fish and I get you in contact with somebody who can help? I know the White Lotus, see, and they have contacts that can--” Aigo hardly has a moment to react when the kid’s eyes widen and they’re swinging around. They pivot on a single foot, air propelling them like a top, while the other leg snaps out fast and hard with the spin.

The streak of air crashes down onto the side of Aigo’s head with so much power it knocks him to his knee.

And then the kid is trying to leap away in the new direction they’re facing, air shooting them forward like a bullet and they leap off the end of the roof…

And then a tentacle of water snaps up from below and nabs the thief out of thin air. The kid shrieks in surprise just before being dragged down and Aigo scrambles to his feet to hurry after them.

When he peers down at the ground he sighs in relief. The kid is unharmed, but detained in a cocoon of ice that is now stuck to the ground. Standing beside the thief is a familiar set of white and blue robes.

“Master Siqiniq!” Aigo says brightly before leaping down, air cushioning his fall as he grins at the White Lotus member. Siqiniq wasn’t a master waterbender, he was more of a strategist, but he was of master rank within the White Lotus’s hierarchy. Aigo had known Siqiniq ever since the White Lotus had found him and told him he was the Avatar. He was far from warm, but he’d helped raise Aigo and teach him about the world. 

Aigo wouldn’t be the man he was today without Siginiq’s guidance.

“What have you gotten yourself into now, Avatar Aigo?” Siqiniq questions with a shake of his head, though it feels a bit fond. The older man is tan like most native Water Tribesmen, face wrinkled with age, and long hair a dull grey under the White Lotus hood he hardly ever removes.

Behind Aigo comes the clatter of heavy footsteps and angry voices.

“Oi! You caught the thief!” cries a bulky man that must be the leader. He smells of ocean and seafood and one of his eyes is glassy. Aigo kind of wants to ask if he’s a pirate, except the man towers over him and looks like he could snap a man in half. Whoever this thief was, they had balls for stealing from a guy like this.

“Thief?” Siqiniq hums, looking back at the captured kid. They look terrified, squirming as best they can in their ice prison, but nothing they do matters. Siqiniq remains calm as he reaches to the ice, pushing in and letting it liquify around his hand. He nabs the fish, unfreezing them just enough to pull them back out but keep the thief stationary. “These are yours, then?”

“Damn straight, they is!” the fisherman bellows, stomping forward and snagging the two trout back. Behind him his crew - at least Aigo guesses they are his crew - deflate a little now that the chase is over. “This welp doesn’t know when to quit, does he?” the fisherman continues, scowling at the thief.

The thief, for his part, glares back, stopping his squirming just long enough to show what he thinks about the fisherman.

“This kid’s been an issue for you before?” Aigo asks, jutting his chin towards the captured boy. It would make sense, in a sad way. Crime was a steep, slippery slope, especially for the youth. Aigo just hoped they could get this kid some proper help before he truly ruined his life.

“You kiddin’?! He’s a Breeze Brat! Those bastards are born with sticky fingers, they is,” the fisherman scoffs, tossing his trout back to a crewmate before crossing his massive arms. “Don’t trust those cynical cretins one bit, and you shouldn’t either. Ain’t an honorable bone in their bodies.”

“Screw you!” the abrupt roar comes with a burst of wind that ruffles Aigo’s hair, but doesn’t do much more than that. The Avatar huffs, trying to right his ponytail and bangs as he looks back at the kid, surprised by the ferocity on his young face. “You don’t know anything about us! You only say that stuff ‘cause it makes you feel better about yourself!”

“Young man, that is quite enough,” Siqiniq snaps with a cold ferocity Aigo had never seen anyone match. It makes the thief’s lips pinch shut and avert his eyes sharply, seething. “I realize your family has likely told you very happy tales about your people to make you feel better, but to deny the Breeze community has no faults is ignorant.”

“That’s not--” the kid begins, but Siqiniq cuts him off.

“If you are old enough to steal, then you are old enough to listen to reality. The Breeze community shunned the Air Nomads and shunned the prosperity of the world, but then complained when that prosperity was not offered to them free of charge.”

The kid scowls deeply, looking older than he probably is, and Aigo tries to take pity on him, offering in a gentler voice, “Master Siqiniq can seem intense, I know, and I get you aren’t in a great place right now, but we should talk about you and your future.”

The kid, thankfully, side eyes Aigo carefully. Definitely suspiciously, but the scowl was gone, so it was a start. “You’re a really good airbender. The Air Nomads are always happy and willing to take in Breezes into their communities.”

At that moment the fisherman spits loudly onto the ground and says, “Like any Breeze would ever go for that. They like being little heathens. Part of their DNF or whatever it’s called.”

“DNA, captain.”

“Ye, whatever. It’s a damn miracle if any Breeze is smart enough to take up the Nomad’s offer.”

Aigo, growing frustrated with the fisherman’s attitude, turns to shoot a forced grin over his shoulder. “Why don’t you head back to your produce? We can handle things from here. Avatar and White Lotus, y’know.”

The fisherman’s eyes narrow, not too pleased to be told off, even passive aggressively, but he only spits to the ground one more time before turning around and storming away, his crew in tow.

Aigo sighs, like a very obnoxious weight has been lifted from his shoulders, and turns back to smile at the kid. This kid, however, doesn’t look as pleased as the Avatar had thought he would.

“I’ll never be a Nomad,” the kid hisses, low and furious, his eyes narrowed and stormy. It's such a surprising expression that Aigo leans back, brows rising as the young thief glares at him. “They abandoned us. They’re the monsters, not us!”

“Projection is one of the many tools in a Breeze’s arsenal,” Siqiniq huffs sharply from the side as he steps forward. He doesn’t look too pleased, but he never actually does. He examines the boy for a long, silent moment, the boy glaring right back at him. Aigo, immediately feeling anxious, steps back to watch between the two, combing his fingers through his ponytail nervously.

Finally, like some great test has been finished, Siqiniq straightens and folds his hands behind his back. “Do you have a name, young man?” he questions. It would be hard to hear from someone who hadn’t known Siqiniq for years, but his tone was softer now. Just a tiny bit.

Clearly, if he can tell, the kid doesn’t care about the tone. “Asha,” he snaps, harsher than Aigo thinks necessary for a name.

Then, however, Aigo watches as Siqiniq’s eyes narrow, clearly suspicious, and now Aigo can’t help but feel suspicious because… what did he miss? Had he even missed something? Or was Siqiniq just trying to scare this kid?

His master sighs, though, and shakes his head, glancing away for a moment as he mumbles, “Very well.” Then, with a rise of his hand upward, the ice melts back into a watery cocoon that he raises into the air. “We’ll get you squared away. Ty. Po. Come retrieve ‘Asha’ for me, will you?” From around a corner two more White Lotus members materialize, the opposite end the fisherman had left from, and they hurry over.

Aigo doesn’t know them, he could hardly keep up with every member in the organization, but he’s a little huffy that they’d been waiting nearby this whole time and couldn’t have come by to help. Namely with those loud fishermen. Whatever…

One of them raises their hands towards the thief, taking control of the watery cocoon and then walking back down the alley. It doesn’t take long, however, for the kid to begin thrashing again, shrieking at the agents and Siqiniq and Aigo. With a snap of their wrist, the second agent throws a strip of metal up to cover Asha’s mouth, silencing his cursing and screaming so they might get him where he needs to go in peace.

“Sad, isn’t it?” Siqiniq says, shaking his head as he turns away and begins to walk out of the alley in the opposite direction.

“P-pardon?” Aigo scrambles to turn around and catch up to his master, head still turning on occasion to look over his shoulder and back where Asha and the two White Lotus agents disappeared from.

“That they are given every opportunity to better themselves, yet never take it,” Siqiniq says without looking over. His eyes are glued forward, stride perfectly even, a drastic contrast to Aigo’s generally twitchy meandering. The Avatar had always been a curious boy, looking around, tripping, and generally adding far more movements than strictly necessary to everything he did.

“Breezes are a pretty proud people,” Aigo nods, looking up towards the rooftops, as if he’d see a random Breeze air hopping along them. There isn’t one.

Siqiniq snorts, sharp and quick, and it makes Aigo look back to him, brows furrowed. “The Breeze community is hardly a ‘people,’ Avatar Aigo. At best they are a hoard of hooligans. At worst they are terrorists, ready to disrupt our way of life. You saw what lies they teach their children, what that young man was spewing before.”

“Are we sure they are blatant lies, though? I mean, Breezes lack the education and growth to be too self aware. You said so before. They may just not fully comprehend what problems surround them,” Aigo offers, looking down to the ground.

The Breeze community was a complicated subject, he knew that. The descendants of airbenders who had refused to become Air Nomads after Harmonic Convergence. Airbenders who now disavowed everything Air Nomad, especially the work the monks did to help support the planet and its people.

Breezes were cynical and selfish, only wanting to take from this new age of light rather than offer anything back.

But perhaps it was out of ignorance? Aigo had never heard the idea posed during his travels. For the most part, people all agreed that the Breezes were bad news. They were remnants of a dark era that had never come to pass. If the new Air Nomads were the airbenders who had embraced the light, then it was the Breezes who had embraced the shadows.

But these were descendants, right? No longer the originals. Sure, Aigo had run into a few outlier groups in the past who had turned vicious and actively threatening, particularly to Nomads trying to offer aid, but every group had those bad apples. 

“You are continuously optimistic, Avatar Aigo, and I applaud you for that,” Siqiniq says and Aigo flinches, already sensing the ‘however’ coming on. “However,” there it is, “the Breezes are more cunning than you wish to believe. Did you hear the name that child gave us?”

“Oh, yeah. You looked kinda funny after he said his name was Asha. Why?” Aigo questions, confused and curious, giving Siqiniq his full attention.

“Asha is an alias. Breezes use it and teach their children to use it to make it more difficult to run them through the system. That young man knew precisely what he was doing,” Siqiniq replies with a sharp downturn of his mouth. He looked more displeased than usual, which had Aigo stiffening anxiously.

“And you saw how that young man moved and fought. You felt it, too,” Siqiniq continues, for a moment looking at Aigo from the corner of his eye, and the Avatar’s shoulders hitch up. A hand snaps up to rub at the side of his head where “Asha’s” surprise air attack had smacked him.

“You saw that, huh?” he mumbles, pale cheeks pinking with embarrassment.

Thankfully, Siqiniq doesn’t offer any comments further on Aigo’s performance - which is a rare blessing - and instead says, “The form he used. Did you recognize it?”

Aigo tilts his head in thought, considering. “The way he ran and jumped around reminded me of some of the kids I grew up with back on Earth Kingdom streets. Very proficient and impressive!”

“And designed to avoid authorities,” Siqiniq adds, reprimanding, and Aigo clears his throat.

“That too…”

“And the fighting?”

“No… No, I’d never seen that technique before. It was just one kick, though, so can I really make assumptions?” Aigo scratches the back of his neck, brows furrowing as he remembers the way the kid had spun on the ground, keeping everything so low, yet still managed fluidity, agility, and a kick that shot out high and precise.

And that air blast had hurt .

“While a good mentality for battle, the truth is that the Breezes developed their own form of airbending,” Siqiniq says, turning and leading Aigo back towards the White Lotus ship the Avatar had come in on. Standing on the dock, at attention, is Qiu on duty. At his feet sit Aigo’s bags.

“That’s… impressive though! Teaching yourself bending is hard, and developing a new method is pretty amazing, right?” Aigo attempts for positive, but Siqiniq is more like a brick wall than a person. A brick wall on fire. Unwavering and terrifying.

“Impressive? Perhaps. Except their style is far more merciless and dangerous than proper airbending. Their lack of tradition has led to a threatening new style we know little about.”

Aigo glances away, eyes downcast. He wasn’t doing too good with this conversation. He kept gathering the wrong messages and he didn’t know how to discern the right ones.

One more failure in the books.

Siqiniq, finally taking some pity, sighs and stops as they near Qiu. “The world is far more balanced than it ever has been, but that does not mean it is perfect. There will always be people displeased with yours, and the White Lotus’s, work. You have much to learn, but for now…” Siqiniq reaches out and pats Aigo’s shoulder once, twice, three times, then pulls back his hand. “For now your responsibility is finishing your training. Qiu tells me you feel concerned over your most recent shortcomings.”

Aigo’s head snaps up, sharp and surprised, before he’s shooting an annoyed side-glare at Qiu. “Dude…” The White Lotus agent, however, makes no move, completely at attention now that he is on duty and a master is present. Aigo will get him back later…

“Avatar Aigo,” Siqiniq says, drawing Aigo’s attention back to him. “You have many responsibilities as the Avatar. You are the ambassador for human-spirit relations, you are peacekeeper, you are savior, you are messenger,” Aigo looks away and Siqiniq pauses, but only for a second. 

“I also realize you find yourself in an odd predicament for an Avatar, and I have seen how it weighs on your mind. I feel I must remind you - assure you - that while your situation is new to us, it is not entirely unique. Avatar Wan, ten thousand years ago, also fought without any past lives to secure peace. He also had no traditional forms to rely on, his bending raw and new.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t complain because it could be worse?” Aigo mumbles, head dipped down and away.

“I am saying you should be thankfully for the resources the Avatar now possesses, and forgive yourself your struggles. Your challenges, your goals, are that of Avatar Wan’s, but of a new age. You are not alone in experiences.”

Aigo sighs but forces himself to nod his head before going to gather up his possessions.

Right, he was like Wan. He had all the responsibilities and jobs, and he was basically charging in blind.

[][][][]

“Bento!! There’s my best buddy in the world!!” Aigo calls with his arms thrown wide, kicking up dirt as he sprints across the grassy field. Multiple sky bison meander around him but ignore him, while a single, flat head on a long neck pops up from the grass at the voice of the Avatar.

Bento the salamander cat scrambles up the moment she sees her owner, her massive paws sliding on the slick grass as chirps and clicks rapidly escape her mouth in excitement. Aigo is laughing loudly and brightly and doesn’t stop even as his oldest friend comes barreling into him and knocks him on his back.

Salamander cats were a rarity, even in their native Earth Kingdom home, namely due to poachers hunting them for pelts, skins, and claws. They were stalky creatures, a bit smaller than a komodo rhino, big enough to ride for sure, with widespread legs, a long salamander tail, a long neck, flat, triangular, rounded heads, two, long and pointed ears atop that head, and big, round eyes that Aigo could never tell if they were more cat-like or lizard-like.

Fur patterns could differ, mostly slick, short fur covering a salamander cat’s back, along the spine, the front legs and paws, and the neck, but it could spread and thicken in colder months.

Bento’s fur was a pretty, pure brown while her slick, amphibious skin was splotchy greens and blacks, and Aigo is quick to scratch his fingers through the puffy fur on Bento’s neck as the massive creature curls up on top of him and begins purring. The big gal’s heavy, but Aigo hardly cares. He’d missed his best friend.

“Awww, I missed you too, buddy! Yes I did! Yes I did! Did you miss me? I think you did!” Aigo’s baby talk matches the vigor of his scratches, Bento leaning towards his fingers but not getting off from her master. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take you, best girl, yes I am, but you wouldn’t do too good in the tundra! Nooo, it’s too cold there for salamander cats!”

“All the more reason to take her,” Aigo hears Qiu huff from somewhere behind him. The Avatar tilts his head back, the top of his head digging into grass and dirt, so he can look at Qiu upside down. The White Lotus agent has his helmet back off, Aigo’s baggage sent off with some other agents along the way, while Qiu was still required to escort Aigo to pick up his animal companion.

Well, technically Qiu hadn’t been required, but Aigo had insisted.

Because Qiu hated Bento.

Sweet payback.

“Now, now, be nice. Bento has done nothing to you!” Aigo berates, frowning at his friend, but the second Qiu shoots him a displeased glare and folds his beefy arms over his chest, Aigo is grinning like a cat.

“Well, that’s just a flat-out lie,” Qiu grumbles, then turns to glare at the salamander cat. “This beast has torn up more uniforms than I could ever count, knocks over my bookshelf constantly, and throws up hairballs all over the HQ!” Finally, Bento’s head pops up. Even laying down, with how long her neck is, the salamander cat is able to look level into Qiu’s eyes. Purring stopped, salamander cat and White Lotus glare each other down, Aigo still pinned to the ground and watching the two of them with intrigue.

After a few beats Qiu takes one step forward, leans towards Bento, and points at her as he says, “You are a menace.”

Bento pulls back her lips, showing sharp teeth, and hisses. Qiu’s arms pinwheel as he backs away, eyes widening while Aigo can only laugh at his misfortune. “Don’t encourage her!” Qiu snaps, looking between companion and master furiously and Aigo can only grin.

“Don’t insult my best bud,” Aigo hums as Bento curls her head back onto his chest, rubbing her face into his blue, Water Tribe undershirt in content. Aigo had been given a parka while he was at the poles, but it was way too hot and heavy for Republic City in the summer.

Qiu snorts, arms crossed. “Thought I was your best bud,” he huffs, apparently insulted, but Aigo can tell he’s playing it up.

“Oh yeah, totally you were, and then you went and blabbed to Master Siqiniq about what we talked about,” the Avatar manages to push himself up just enough to sit up, arms bracing behind him, and Bento’s head rolls into his lap. He gets a hand up to scratch just behind her ears, getting a louder purr, and the salamander cat’s large paws begin kneading the grass around Aigo.

“It seemed like something he could help with,” Qiu defends, frowning deeply. “I knew you wouldn’t listen to me--”

“Yes I would’ve!” Aigo contradicts, but sags when Qiu gives him a look . Aigo didn’t want Qiu to think he didn’t value his opinion…

“No, you wouldn’t have. You get too up in your head about how you see yourself. Shut up!” he cuts Aigo off just as the Avatar is opening his mouth. Aigo pouts. “You do. You put way too much weight behind these made up, personal issues in your head and you don’t listen when people assure you they aren’t true. Master Siqiniq at least knows how to get you to listen.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Aigo huffs, looking away, “By comparing me to Avatar Wan.”

“You realize that’s a compliment, right?” Qiu huffs, seeming to be getting tired of Aigo’s whining, and Aigo tries to repress a wince. He hadn’t meant to bother his friend, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

He hears Qiu sigh and only feels worse.

“Come on. Take your beast and let’s head back to the HQ. I’m starving,” the bigger boy says, turning as he speaks. Aigo would rather stick around and play with Bento in the open field for a bit longer, maybe go pet the local sky bison herd and sneak them treats, but he doesn’t want to agitate Qiu more than needed.

They could tease back and forth with the best of them, but it could get so tense and difficult between Aigo and Qiu when Aigo started, truly, moping. Qiu could only handle so much negativity.

So Aigo stands, urging Bento up as well, and they lead the salamander cat back towards the main building and the road back to Republic City. When they reach the back porch of the building a tall, thin man comes out to greet them. He’s smiling softly, crinkling his tan face and his grey-blue eyes squint, his head completely shaved and adorned with the vibrant, blue Air Nomad arrow.

“Hey there, Master Yun,” Aigo greets, forcing cheer into his voice. He thinks Yun likely knows he was pouting earlier but the monk doesn’t comment. He only smiles warmer.

“Hello, Avatar Aigo,” Yun bows his head. He’s wearing modest, Air Nation robes but the outer layer is dark blue with the White Lotus symbol on its back. Aigo never really understood Yun’s position in the order. He was a master in airbending, clearly since he had his tattoos, but within the White Lotus… Aigo wasn’t certain. He was one of the only, official airbending members, the rest remaining as Air Nomads entirely while assisting the White Lotus when needed, and he ran the Ranch, a White Lotus establishment that bred sky bison and helped train them for future airbenders.

Yun had said this was originally the job of the Eastern Air Temple, but with how often the Temples had been attacked the last two centuries they had decided having multiple breeding spots was a must.

Other than that, though, Aigo had no clue what Yun did. He just kind of… appeared when needed.

He was pretty nice, though, and always made Aigo feel a bit lighter, so it wasn’t a big deal.

“As always, Bento is looking great,” Aigo says, already beginning to feel his mood brighten as the Air Nomad steps down from the porch and comes nearer.

“It is always lovely to have her. She’s a welcome distraction for some of the moodier bison,” Yun nods, smiling over at Bento before holding his hand out patiently. Bento pauses, despite knowing Yun, and stretches her long neck to sniff the offered hand. Then she is rubbing her entire face along the Air Nomad’s blunt nails, purring happily.

Qiu steps towards Aigo then, having retrieved a stack of leather straps and buckles, handing them over to Aigo. “Her saddle. I hate riding that thing but someone told our driver to head out without us,” he grumbles and Aigo clears his throat to cover a chuckle.

“Weird,” the Avatar hums, then moves to saddle the salamander cat. Halfway done his eyes drift up, just for a moment, and he spots a lone sky bison meandering nearby, heading for a trough of water. It’s bigger than the others, fur a bit more unruly, and the arrow and stripes that adorn its head and back are so pale they’re almost white. Even its face and belly are paler than usual. Aigo whistles. “That one’s new,” he comments and Yun glances over.

The Air Nomad chuckles, shaking his head. “That’s Fujin. He keeps to himself and isn’t too friendly around people he doesn’t know. Doesn’t seem like he’ll ever warm up to anyone, I’m afraid.”

“Why’s he so pale?” Qiu questions, Aigo continuing his work righting Bento’s saddle.

“Albinism, I believe. Poor thing’s near-blind, too. Trips over just about everything.” Just as Yun says that, the sky bison reaches the water trough and immediately stumbles into it, overshooting its location, and soaking the bison’s front leg fur. The three men flinch in sympathy, but Fujin just groans impatiently, shifts back, then leans down to lap at the water, uncaring.

Aigo shakes his head but can’t help but smile. Was it mean he kind of thought the big guy was cute?

He finishes up the saddle, Yun stepping away from Bento as the Avatar pats his best buddies flank. “Alright. We gotta head out. I’m ready to change out of these clothes and Qiu’s ready to eat,” Aigo grins, hooking his foot into a hooded stirrup and swinging the other across Bento’s back. He feels Bento rumble beneath him, pleased to be back in business, and Qiu grumbles as he comes over to join them.

Bento and Qiu have something of a stare off as he tries to climb on behind Aigo, while Aigo is faced away towards Yun. “Come by and visit soon. You know the sky bison love the company, and so do I,” Yun says kindly, still all warm smiles.

“Will do,” Aigo nods, completely meaning it, finally feeling Qiu clamber up behind him. “Thanks again for watching after Bento, Master Yun. We’ll see you later!” And with that he grips the handles on the saddle and clicks twice. At the sound command Bento is off and running instantly, rocketing down the dirt road, body swaying left and right with the motions, and then out of sight.

The Air Nomad stands at the back of the house a while longer, waving after them, before turning and trotting back inside. The house, or cabin, really, is modest and roomy, with high ceilings and plenty of natural light. It’s rustic, made of wood, and an ancient looking radio sits on a desk covered in reports and investigations.

Just as Yun is heading towards that desk and ancient radio, a shrill set of beeps in some semblance of a tune fills the air. The monk frowns, never liking the sound or the device it belongs to, and changes course to pick up the plastic device on his counter. It vibrates in his hand as he pulls out an attached antenna, flips it open, then presses a small, green button.

“You know, you still have not taught me how to shut this ringtone off from my flipper-phone,” Yun huffs into the receiver, holding the phone awkwardly by his face. They still had much bulkier versions of these things at the Temples and he was not faring well with these new, personalized versions.

On the other line he doesn’t receive any chuckle or grunt or anything. Instead, the White Lotus agent on the other end immediately goes into business. “We’re moving some delinquents from the local jail to our holding cells - a couple Hot-airs - and we’ll be needing your backup,” the female voice says. Yun thinks it must be Mingmei. It sounds like Mingmei.

He sighs. “Very well. What time shall I meet you at the precinct?” he asks, keeping his voice light, if a bit more serious.

“Tonight at eight. Don’t be late,” and then she’s hanging up without a good-bye, making Yun frown and eye the flipper-phone’s tiny screen, squinting to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.

Definitely Mingmei…

~~~~

There are footsteps from down the hall, echoing off the barren, stone walls towards the main office near the back. Papers, boxes, files, and reports of all kinds are perfectly stacked and organized around the modest, square office. Shelves have been built into the stone, filled with scrolls and forms. A world map hangs on the back wall, just behind the main desk, perfectly organized pens, quills, and graphite set atop it. Torches line the sides of the entryway, lighting the room, while a lone candle sits on the desk for better, personal light.

Sitting at the desk, going over a report of a power outage in lower Republic City, sits a lone figure dressed in black. Their top is made of thick leather, buckled along the center, with long, tight sleeves and gloves. Metal bracers cover their forearms, exactly like those the police might wear, save these have been carved with abstract designs. Their pants are white and baggy, easy to move in, and are tucked into tight wrappings that circle their ankle up to the mid-calf. Their feet are bare save for a black, triangular cover over their tops that is held in place by a loop on the second toes.

Their hair is thick and black, tied back into a braid down their back, partially covering the wires attachment hanging there, and their face is completely concealed by a blue, fox mask.

The footsteps outside get closer.

The person looks up, expectant, and then there’s a knock at the door. They don’t wait for a reply, whoever they are, and the door opens up to reveal another person in similar dress as the first. The newcomer’s pants are grey, however, and are tucked into sturdy boots, while their hair is short, brown, and messy, and their blue mask depicts a wolf. They also lack the metal on the other’s uniform and instead multiple leathers of water hang on their body.

“Fox, ma’am, we got intel there’s a convoy moving tonight. Eight o’clock from the 8th District precinct. Multiple Breezes are scheduled to be moved into White Lotus custody,” the newcomer says, not standing at any kind of attention but speaking with respect to their authority.

Fox sighs, voice muffled by her mask, and shakes her head. “That’s not something we can let slide,” she says, considering the location of the precinct. “That is quite close to their headquarters. We won’t have much of an opening.”

“That won’t be a concern. The Avatar returned to the city today and has returned to White Lotus HQ. They won’t want him involved,” the wolf-masked boy assures, shaking his head.

“Are we certain? The Avatar left to finish his training. If he is fully realized we do not know what the White Lotus might do,” Fox says evenly and the boy hesitates, masked face tilting down in consideration. “Best not to risk it,” Fox decides, leaning back in her seat, “do we know which masters we’ll need to worry about?”

“Masters Siqiniq, Yun, and Mingmei,” the boy replies, looking up again, and Fox hums.

“Fire, water, and air. Not ideal but not a full cast today. Likely more interested in keeping the prisoners under control rather than an ambush,” Fox considers.

“They’re getting cocky.”

“They’ve always been cocky. Right now they’re being sloppy. I’m not sure why…” Fox trails off, looking sideways in thought.

“A trap?” offers the boy with a half shrug.

“Possibly,” Fox agrees. “Thank you, Wolf. Gather Hawk, ‘Coon, Dragon, and Mantis for the forward team with me. You, Tiger, and Vulture are running backup and reconnaissance.”

Wolf nods sharply, in affirmative and immediately turns around to hurry out the door to do as he’s told. Fox stands, not wasting any time herself, as she picks up a shiny, metallic ball from one of the shelves in the wall. It’s hefty and large and Fox sets both hands on it. Then the ball begins to separate, as if made of putty, Fox grunting with the effort, until she’s holding a newly formed ball in each hand, about the size of a baseball.

She lowers them, forcing the metallic substance to reform into flatter plating, then hovers them over solid, stiff metal plating on the sides of her belt. It takes another moment of concentration for a magnetic pull to develop and each shiny, metal plate snaps to Fox’s hips, ready for future use.

Time to get to business.

[][][][]

Aigo eyes himself in his bedroom mirror. He’s paler than usual, which is impressive, but he supposes it is part of being in the tundra for some time. His long, slick hair is loose and falls around his face like water, strands getting in his face now that they’re free. His eyes are thin and pale green, with a mole right beneath his left one. Qiu once said it was a beauty mark and only made him more of a pretty boy, but Aigo didn’t see it.

He’s dressed in the clothes the White Lotus gave him. A nice, shiny tang suit of emerald green and golden, gleaming embroidery and lining. The buttons that run up the middle shine gold with engraved lotuses in the middle. His pants are white and bland save for a golden qirin engraved at the base of the left leg, and they’re just high enough to show his ankles before his feet vanish into a pair of matching, emerald slippers embroidered with gold.

It’s well made, breathes great, fits perfectly… and Aigo hates it immensely.

The White Lotus had dropped a surprise dinner party on him as he had arrived at the HQ, something about greeting the press and shaking hands with the new President Chai, who had been elected in while Aigo was away, blah blah blah.

“Well, aren’t you just the prettiest belle of the ball?” comes a voice at the door and Aigo glances over his shoulder as Qiu enters without preamble. Aigo’s room is large, really large, with plenty of room for Bento to curl up under the huge window. It isn’t luxurious from what Aigo’s seen, but he’s happy with the space.

At the moment, though, he scowls, looking back at his reflection. He hates having to dress up, it always feels so confining and suffocating. As comfortable and soft as these clothes might be, they always felt like they were strangling Aigo and overheating him at the same time. They weighed on him, a reminder of his duties and requirements, and he was always painfully aware of any sharp object or wet substance that might tear or stain the clothes. His brain was on such high alert it was almost like it had shut off. Like there were so many sounds it became a singular, numbing hum.

Aigo doesn’t say any of this, though, and instead says, “They can’t ever get me clothes from this decade, can they?”

“Don’t be stuck up,” Qiu rolls his eyes, stepping into view of the mirror and placing a heavy hand on Aigo’s shoulder. Aigo thinks it’s supposed to be assuring, but it only burns. “Come on, this is the easy stuff.”

“Making people like you is not easy…”

“Sure it is! Just smile all pretty-like, wave, kiss some babies, and make President Chai feel important. Make him feel special !” Qiu grins and Aigo narrows his eyes at him in the mirror.

“This isn’t a date, Qiu.”

“Kinda has the same principles,” the White Lotus agent shrugs, stepping away. He quickly takes a step in the opposite direction when he spies Bento laying curled up on a mattress on the ground - under the window for optimal sunning and covered in sheets, blankets, and pillows - her eyes open and watching him. Qiu glares back at her.

“Don’t bully Bento,” Aigo mumbles absently.

“ She’s bullying me !” Qiu yelps indignantly and Aigo discreetly rolls his eyes, straightening the tall collar of his suit. He hates how it pokes at the underside of his jaw.

“I guess it won’t be all bad,” Aigo sighs, brushing the hair out of his face then pouting when it flops back. “I’ll at least have you to complain with.” 

The silence that follows his comment is telling and Aigo feels his stomach drop, looking back at Qiu who is looking off at the far wall. “What?! You’re not coming?!”

The White Lotus agent sighs, ducking his head and scrubbing a hand through his hair, mussing it up. “I got called out to work on some mission or other. Just guard duty, but it came from Master Siqiniq. I couldn’t exactly say no,” he explains, sounding apologetic at least. But Aigo only feels more upset.

“A mission? What kind of mission? Why didn’t I get called to help out?” he questions, nerves beginning to fray further.

“It doesn’t sound like a big deal. Something about a convoy. My guess is it’s goods or something and they were hoping to assure safety.”

“What if someone needs help? That’s literally my job!” Aigo squeaks, eyes wide.

“One man can’t help everyone, Avatar or not,” Qiu comments, giving Aigo an arched-brow look. “It’s our job to help people, too. Right now your focus needs to be making sure the higher ups of the world stay on your side. It’ll be fine.”

Qiu steps towards Aigo, reaching out and squeezing the shorter man’s shoulder. Where it had burned with discomfort before, now the action felt cold. Aigo wasn’t sure why he had such a difficult time accepting his friend’s comfort, but he did, and right now wasn’t any different. He felt sick to his stomach and lost. 

There was so much that worried him, weighed on his shoulders, made his gut twist up unpleasantly, when it came to being an Avatar, but helping people always made him feel better. Helping people was his calling, saving villages and workers and families around the world, he was good at that. Sure, being a full-fledged Avatar would help in the long run, but it rarely mattered when he was faced with the grateful expressions of the townspeople he’d just protected. Seeing someone’s smiling face after facing true terrors, hearing their first breath after a near-death experience, listening to families cry in joy as a lost child is returned… That made Aigo feel good. Made him feel important.

Everything else… not so much, and now the White Lotus didn’t want him to come along for something he might actually be good at? Aigo doubts they even wanted him to know about it, but Qiu had let it slip.

Were they… were they upset with him? Was this punishment for failing so miserably at waterbending? Were they going to put him on the sidelines until he figured it out?

Qiu pats his shoulder once more and says something that doesn’t quite reach the Avatar’s mind. Aigo thinks he replies back and then his friend is slipping out of the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Aigo to spiral.

The Avatar breathes deeply, remembering meditation techniques the Air Nomads had shown him when he’d studied airbending. His emotions were swirling and crashing and crushing, but he kept his body firm and under control.

Did the White Lotus not trust him anymore? Did they hate him, now? Were they realizing how much of a failure of an Avatar he was?

No. No no no, he couldn’t handle this. He couldn’t have them seeing him as spare weight. He couldn’t let them believe he was useless. Maybe as an Avatar he fell short, but he could still help people! Like Qiu said, it wasn’t just the Avatar’s job to help people, so maybe Aigo could help as a… surprisingly talented earth-, fire-, and airbending fighter?

“Bento,” Aigo says and the salamander cat’s head comes up, blinking big, round eyes at him. “Change of plans.” Bento’s head tilts sideways as if she’s listening, but likely means she has no clue what Aigo said.

The Avatar doesn’t mind. He moves to begin undoing the stifling suit and pulling out something more comfortable. “We’re helping. If President Chai is worth anything, he’ll understand.”

[][][][]

Aigo never truly had a place to call home, moving around the world so much. Sure, he lived in Ba Sing Se for the first years of his life, but he’d been homeless and orphaned with only his little sister. Nowadays, he supposed, if he had to pick someplace as home he’d pick Republic City.

It’s dark out by now, the sun having just set, and the lights that coat the city look like multicolored stars. Which is good, since no one can see the stars in the sky around here.

The buildings have grown taller, even in Aigo’s lifetime, and look like a mountain range, highest in the center and tapering out towards the bay or the fields. Spirit vines curl amongst the pathways and buildings, the beam of the spirit portal streaking into the sky from the epicenter, intermingling effortlessly and contrasting the solid, geometric forms of the human constructions. Aigo can spy a few of the incorporeal spirits floating about, faintly glowing, and unearthly lights within the vine structures.

People at rest, and others out for the night. Human and spirit alike. The noise at night in the city is so different than anywhere else, shifting rather than quieting. It’s beautiful, in its way.

Aigo looks out on it all, legs gripping tight at Bento’s saddle so he doesn’t slip off as the salamander car clings effortlessly to the side of an apartment building. They’d been waiting there for a while after they’d slipped out of Aigo’s huge bedroom window, Bento slipping down the side of the HQ without a sound then hopping them onto nearby roofs. They’d tracked down White Lotus agents and followed them around town, trying to find something that might be a convoy, until finding a single, military-grade truck that matched the expected mission requirements.

They’d followed until the truck came up to the back of the 8th District precinct - right beside the southern ports where shrimp boaters work on their old, wooden docks - and they’d settled on a nearby wall, waiting for something to happen. Qiu could say what he wanted, but if the White Lotus thought guards were needed they likely expected trouble, and Aigo would be there to help.

He’d changed into a much more comfortable, normal ensemble for himself. Brown carpenter pants, black combat boots underneath, a white t-shirt, and a green, khaki bomber jacket with fur-lined hood. The fur was a much more pleasant feeling against his neck than that rough collar, and while the jacket wasn’t a great choice for this time of year, with the sun set it was just cool enough for Aigo to enjoy it.

He’d tied his long hair back again, the low pony-tail dangling towards the ground as he held himself sideways on Bento’s saddle. It had taken a lot of core training and leg days to make sure he could stay on his trusty companion comfortably even when they were stuck to a vertical surface.

He would have liked to also wear some earrings - he liked a little bit of decoration to his outfits - but he’d learned a while back that jewelry in a fight was a bad idea. Just look at his left earlobe… Ah, well, he’d always kind of liked the one earring look.

And now he waited, looking out at the trucks - three in total - and the White Lotus agents that mill about. He can’t recognize Qiu from here, all the lower ranks have their helmets on, but he swears he sees the grey, long hair of Siqiniq. There’s also another, uncovered head. Their hair is black and cropped at their shoulders with a bun on the top of their head. Very traditional and very telling. Master Mingmei.

Master Mingmei terrifies Aigo.

Master Mingmei terrifies everyone.

What he doesn’t understand, however, is why the convoy is stopping at the precinct. He knows this particular one has pretty sizable holding cells, he’d helped bring criminals in before and he’d seen them, but he’s pretty sure that’s all they have. Qiu had said he thought they’d be moving goods, Aigo had assumed that meant to people in need and thieves or gang members might try to steal it, but that’s not what this looked like.

Albeit, Qiu hadn’t actually known, he’d been guessing, but this… something felt off about this. It wouldn’t be foreign to transport prisoners, the White Lotus handled the most dangerous after all, but why wouldn’t they want Aigo to back them up for that? They had in the past.

The dreadful, self-conscious pit in his stomach only grew.

More vehicles soon joined the truck, carrying more guards and ready to move the convoy to its final destination. Aigo had asked, once, why they never used blimps or planes to move the prisoners and they’d told him that vehicles were more inconspicuous. Often, the people the White Lotus handled still had allies waiting to free their friends.

Aigo kept watch, though, despite how awful he felt. Part of him wants to flee and go back to politics and fancy dress, but most of him wants to stay. This is what he’s good at. He needs to be here.

And then Bento begins to rumble with a growling hiss. Aigo looks to her, placing a hand on her fluffy neck in hopes of easing her, and asks, “What is it, girl?” She’s staring at something and when Aigo looks up, trying to follow her gaze, he sees them.

Well, he doesn’t know who “they” are, but he sees shadowy figures moving swiftly over the rooftops a few blocks from the precinct. It isn’t hard to tell they’re heading towards the White Lotus’s convoy, circling around the precinct a few roofs away, keeping their distance, and shifting to be better inline with the back.

Aigo narrows his eyes. They’re dressed dark and definitely not White Lotus. They are definitely, definitely, not supposed to be there.

He grips the handles on Bento’s saddle and growls, “Oh, no you don’t.” He licks his lips, ready to click a command for Bento to move them down there, when a voice above him interrupts.

“Oh, yes we do.”

Aigo startles, twisting to look straight up into a blue, tiger mask staring down from the edge of the roof. Bento twists on the wall, facing up to snarl at the abrupt newcomer, but their mask only tilts to one side.

Aigo tries to take rapid stock. They’re crouched, dressed in black leathers save for baggy, black sweatpants. They’re barefoot - probably a bender - and behind their tiger mask Aigo sees a wild mane of pure white hair.

Nobody moves, Bento snarling and shifting, ready to swipe at the mask-person. Tiger mask? Blue tiger? Aigo would go with Tiger for now.

“They’re with you?” Aigo demands, jabbing a thumb back towards where he saw the figures. Tiger says nothing, just stares, and Aigo gets the feeling he’s being mocked. He scowls. “What’s your game, huh? You might want to talk, too. I’m the Avatar and you really don’t want to be on my bad list.”

He’s bluffing, mostly. He doesn’t pull the Avatar card often, but if it can keep others from getting hurt he’ll use it as much as he can.

Tiger hums, Aigo noting they sound female. More fact to use if he has to find her later.

“Yeah, I’m with ‘em,” Tiger says, answering Aigo’s first question. Then she’s pointing to something behind Aigo and adds, “So are they.”

Aigo twists around just as a swipe of air rams into his face. It’s only by some miracle he keeps his grip on Bento, lurching sideways by the powerful force of the airbending strike, and scrabbling to grab the saddle’s handles. As he’s struggling Bento swivels, screeching down at their attackers before sweeping out with her long tail.

Someone screeches in surprise and Aigo looks down to track his attackers. There’s someone… riding a wooden board? They’re flying, what look like curved sails coming off the sides of the board as the rider airbends down to catch whoever got knocked off the board with them. Aigo has only ever seen Air Nomads fly on gliders, he’s never seen a contraption like this before!

They both have on blue masks.

Aigo has no intention of being distracted by these people, however, needing to hurry and help the convoy out now .

He turns back to Tiger in time to swipe away an incoming boulder, twisting his body and swinging his arms over his head so he can fling it right back. Tiger forces out a slab of earth from the building’s wall, the boulder colliding with it and erupting into a cloud of dirt and debris. Aigo clicks hurriedly at Bento, making her rapidly climb straight up the building, and he splits the cloud for them as they rush up. Bento hisses, striking out her head and snapping her teeth to latch onto Tiger…

But Tiger isn’t there.

Aigo twists, a ball of fire erupting in his hand, ready to strike, when he feels the air shift. Tiger jumped off the roof with a boost of earth, airborne and staring straight back at Aigo, rocks hovering around her.

Aigo flings the fireball, reeling back his other fist to punch out with more. The shots of fire fly through the air but collide and explode with the rocks Tiger expertly throws back. Another cloud of debris stops Aigo’s vision and he blows it away with a gust of wind.

Hovering now where Tiger had once been falling is the airbender on their weird, hoverboard. They have a bird’s mask, Aigo thinks of a Vulture - he’ll call them Vulture - and standing right beside them on the back of the board is Tiger.

Hovering in Tigers hand is a spear of earth. A spear that is very quickly glowing red. A spear whose air quivers as it rapidly heats up.

Aigo’s eyes widen in panic. A lavabender?!

He whistles and clicks at Bento immediately, the salamander cat taking off just as Tiger launches the spear at them. It buries itself halfway into the roof where Aigo’s leg would have been. Bento rockets across the rooftop, Aigo leaning left and right to steer her as more molten spears begin raining down after them.

“Stay out of this, oh great Avatar !” Tiger calls, the last bit in a mocking tone, and Aigo scowls.

“Stop throwing lava at me, then!” he calls back but only gets mad laughter in return.

Hadn’t there been three of them, though? One airbender on the board, the lavabender, and the one that Bento had smacked off the board that had to be saved. Where’d the third one go? Where--

Bento shrieks in surprise when a wall of frozen spikes shoots up between the rooftops they’re trying to get across. Aigo curses, maneuvering Bento sideways to avoid the wall, her claws scraping as she changes direction.

There’s the third one. Looks like they’re a waterbender, too. Crud.

Aigo snarls and twists his body around to fire a barrage of fire at his pursuers. Vulture weaves the hoverboard-thingie out of the way, Tiger flailing her arms to keep from falling off, but the third one - dog mask? - had only just slid up a ramp of ice and hardly has time to block one, two, three bursts of fire. Aigo hears them cry out as they tumble back down their ice.

Poor guy couldn’t catch a break, but Aigo refused to feel bad for… cult members? The masks felt cult-y.

A well aimed lava spear has Bento hopping sideways as she moves, barely missing the attack, but that spare second not touching the ground is enough for Vulture to palm-heel a vortex of air straight at them, throwing Bento off balance. The salamander cat’s claws try to take purchase of the ground as she is tripped up, scrabbling, and Tiger bundles up an extra large spear of lava to launch at them.

Aigo, however, hops his feet up to stand on the saddle, facing back, and throws both fists up in front of him in a block, a wall of earth erupting just behind them to halt the incoming spear. It collides with the wall and sinks through, point of it hovering nearly right at Aigo’s wide eyes. The Avatar gulps, staring at the spear, before hurrying back into the saddle and urging Bento back on.

His companion this time, however, doesn’t hop to the next roof, instead scrambling over the edge and walking down along the wall, back to clinging vertically, then twists around so Aigo can face upward.

The Avatar pulls back his fist and waits. He can’t feel the wind on his bald head, he isn’t bald, but he can feel a minor shift on his face and then he’s punching forward to send a shot of fire out.

Just as the Vulture’s board comes into view, not seeing where Aigo went, the fire bursts against one of the side sails, erupting it in flame. Vulture and Tiger both cry out, trying to put it out as the board spirals out of control. It’s no use and, right before they hit a lower rooftop, Vulture spins a protective cyclone of air beneath them and saves them from serious injury.

They aren’t defeated, but they won’t be able to stop Aigo now.

“Okay, Bento. Lets go help the convoy,” Aigo says, voice only slightly shaky and out of breath. Bento mrrp’s back at him and, when Aigo clicks appropriately, launches off the side of the building to land gracefully on a nearby roof. They don’t waste time rushing towards the precinct, but even from here Aigo can see the figures moving in, ready to strike, just as the vehicles are pulling away.

“Ready for a boost, buddy?” Aigo calls, whistling a low then high tune after, and Bento takes a running leap into the air. Aigo, once they're up, points both his arms back and lets loose streams of propelling flames. They glide over the last few roofs, right over the crouched figures, and then Aigo bends cushioning air beneath Bento as they land on the street below.

The convoy screeches to a halt to keep from colliding with him and Aigo leaps off Bento as doors slam open.

“Avatar Aigo?!” the unmistakable sound of Master Mingmei’s rage hits him first but he puts up his hands placatingly.

“Pull back the convoy!” he yells to all of them as Siqiniq slips out a passenger door of a cruiser, robes billowing, and storms towards Aigo.

“Avatar Aigo, what is the meaning of this?! You are meant to be entertaining President Chai, not here!” the waterbender booms and Aigo flinches back, eyes widening. He’d never heard Siqiniq’s voice raise like that before… It was… not a good feeling. Far, far from it.

“I… I came to help. That’s my… you didn’t bring me along! But I can show you I can still help!” Aigo tries to defend, but shrinks away when Siqiniq’s face grows even stormier with outrage. Along the convoy White Lotus and police are leaning out of doors or standing up on the edge of the car to see what’s going on. Aigo, somehow, manages to find Qiu’s familiar face out of all of them, partially hidden by his mask.

He’s shaking his head in disappointment and Aigo’s throat closes up.

“You should not be here,” Siqiniq says, voices shifting back to something cold and awful and Aigo wants to cry. “You were given your duties for tonight and you have abandoned them. That isn’t acceptable.”

“But… But, this is more important than some fancy dinner!” Aigo tries to argue, growing frantic as the breaths in his gut begin to speed up. Control. Control them. Control the in and out. Don’t lose yourself.

“Do not pretend to understand anything!” Master Mingmei booms, storming over, her golden eyes seeming to be on fire themselves. “You are a child and you act like it! This is unacceptable! Unacceptable!”

“Now, now,” comes a much calmer voice as Yun walks calmly along the line of vehicles. He must have been stationed in the back and was only now catching up. “There is no need for that kind of response. The young Avatar’s intentions are admirable.”

Aigo can’t smile but he’s grateful. He’s so grateful. Yun’s probably completely wrong and will be ignored, but it helps Aigo take a moment to gather himself again.

“This is not about intentions, Master Yun,” Siqiniq says coldly back to the Nomad, who peers down at the waterbender calmly. “This is about actions and responsibility, both of which Avatar Aigo has inordinately disregarded!”

“No, but,” Aigo flinches when the attention is back on him, but forces himself to keep going. “You’re under attack! The convoy needs to wait to move later because these people on the roofs, in blue masks--”

Siqiniq and Master Mingmei’s eyes immediately widen and the firebender snaps, “Blue masks?!”

Nothing more can be said, however, as a rolling stream of upended earth emerges from a side alley towards an empty cruiser. Vertical pillars of earth then burst upward beneath the vehicle, sending the cruiser flying, alarm blaring.

The whole street is quick to fall into chaos. With a pointed motion of Aigo’s hand he tells Bento to hide, not wanting her hurt with all this bending, and then leaps into the fray. A figure with a blue racoon mask leaps from the alley, sending three officers flying when they land and rocket the earth underneath them. Three more figures descend from the roof. One with a dragon mask rides down on a wave of water, knocking aside a White Lotus and an officer before Siqiniq is stepping in to confront them. One boosts with small fire jets under their feet wearing a bug mask of some kind, but doesn’t get a chance to take anyone out before they have to break a stream of incoming fire from Mingmei.

The final one swings in on metal cords, exactly like those the police metalbenders use, and begins incapacitating other metalbenders. They’re wearing a fox mask and they weave around incoming metal, earth, fire, and ice like an airbender, but then strike out with the ferocity of fire. Metal cords are stopped midair and then spiral back around, attacking at their owners like angered snakes.

It’s a crowd against four… and the four are somehow winning. Or, they haven’t been taken down.

Yun is attempting to get to the fox one, but Raccoon is keeping him at bay with small, precision earthbending. Yun seems to be faring well, but whenever he tries to shift targets the other takes the opportunity to deal haymakers and boulders.

So Aigo narrows his gaze on Fox.

He leaps, air taking him over other’s heads and straight at the metalbender. His fist is pulled back for fire, the enemy not even looking at him, and he lets loose a stream of fire.

And then Fox twists, spinning clockwise, and in two steps they avoid the fire, slip under Aigo’s feet, and then slide their left foot hard along the ground with a twist like a sweep. The pillar of earth that comes from the ground is diagonal and it rams into Aigo’s left side, knocking the air out of him and sending him flying. He slams into the side of a vehicle, air only managing to cushion him a little, and he groans. The world sways around him as a ringing fills his ears, head listing back and forth. The sounds around him are muffled but he can tell it’s chaos, bouncing around in his head unforgivingly.

That had been… super fast. Fox was, surprise surprise, apparently clever. And fast. And vicious .

Oh, sweet spirits everything hurt. But he can’t give up now. He has a job to do, protecting the innocent, his allies, and the people in that truck. Whoever they were transporting was clearly bad news, but that didn’t mean they should get hurt, but they also couldn’t be freed. So… maybe Aigo should use the chaos as an opportunity to move the prisoners? He probably wouldn’t be able to fight while his head is still ringing and his vision is bursting with lights.

He groans as he somehow manages to pull himself from the vehicle’s crumpled door, back screaming at him, glass clinking as it falls off his back to the ground. The jacket had at least kept him from getting cut up.

His knees nearly give out from under him when he takes a step. Spirits, how hard had he been hit? He’d been in plenty of fights before but that one had been something else. Who were these people?!

He manages to get his feet under him after a moment and moves around the busted cruiser. He slips along the outside of the convoy line towards the truck, out of sight from the fight, and then slips around to the back. The back doors open with a screech, but at that very moment a White Lotus goes screaming by, thrown through the air by someone, so Aigo guesses no one notices.

He throws both doors open and holds an ember in his palm, lighting up the interior.

Both sides of the truck have a long bench and they are filled with people. “Alright, I’m getting you back to the precinct. No one make any funny moves,” he says, hoping they fall for his bluff. He still feels really dizzy from the blow, but he’ll stop them with all he’s got if he has to.

Then he actually takes in the people inside. They’re all sitting with hands cuffed behind their backs, clothes simple if a bit raggedy, and cloth wrapped around their mouths, gagging them. They range in age, but… But all of them look pretty young. And their eyes…

Their eyes are terrified and mostly grey. One girl who looks no older than ten has tears rolling down her face. Another is curled up on the floor and shaking. Another is staring off vacantly. Another--

Aigo’s eyes widen and he reaches forward. “Asha?!” he yelps.

Sitting near him is a familiar young boy from just that morning. He’s cuffed and terrified like the rest of the passengers and Aigo can’t understand why he’s here. Why most of these people are here… 

Aigo grabs hold of the cloth around Asha’s mouth and tries to pull it off, having to fight with it a little, and he asks, “Why are you here?” What good would the White Lotus have with a young fish thief? Breeze hooligan or not, this didn’t make sense.

Asha doesn’t answer though. He shakes his head, spitting now that his mouth is free, then turns urgent eyes on Aigo. “Bomb! They put a bomb on the bottom of the truck! I heard them say so!”

Aigo’s eyes widen even further, his heart hammering in his chest and most of the dizziness in his head abruptly dissipating. He swallows, eyes flicking down, before crouching down. His knees hit the pavement and he tilts his head low to get a look under the truck, zeroing in on the bulky form that shouldn’t be there. There’s a blinking red light and a steady green one and… Aigo had dealt with a few bombs on his missions in the past. He knew what they looked like.

“Bomb…” he whispers to himself, shocked and horrified. His initial, furious belief is that these blue-masked attackers did this. That these people in the truck are their enemies, not their friends. But they wouldn’t have had any chance to get something like that installed. They’d only just appeared now.

Aigo looks back into the truck, terrified faces looking back at him, and he repeats, “Bomb!”

“ What?! ”

Aigo is on his feet and spinning around in a second, fiery daggers leaping from his fists. The fight is still going on, the White Lotus masters the main enemies to these attackers, agents and officers having mostly been taken out, but at some point the metalbender had slipped away.

“Don’t even think--” Aigo begins, ready to fight and definitely not planning on letting this… woman, he thinks, get the better of him again. But Fox cuts him off before he can finish.

“Did you say bomb?” Fox snaps, urgent, and Aigo’s brows rise, flame sputtering out. He nods, but it’s Asha who answers.

“It's on the underside of the truck! They wanted to use it on you!”

Aigo whips around to stare at Asha in disbelief. They clearly are talking about the White Lotus, but that would mean they’ve known about these blue mask people before all this. That would mean they’d had issues with them and never told Aigo. That would mean they were getting so desperate they were willing to put multiple people in mortal danger.

But… no. No, Aigo had to be missing something. He had to be.

He has no chance to think over this when Fox shoves past him and sets into a low stance. She holds out her fists, arms steady and firm, then throws them sideways like ripping something off a wall. The sound of shrieking metal comes from beneath the truck as part of the bottom is torn off, bomb still attached. The hunk of metal hovers where Fox holds it, reshifting her weight.

“Mantis!” she calls, a loud, authoritative voice cutting through the battle, and then she steps forward, turns, and with the momentum of a spin she hurls the bomb high into the air and down the road.

Aigo doesn’t see the build up, or even how “Mantis'' gets away from Master Mingmei, but as the bomb hits its apex a bolt of lightning arches off the bug-masked’s fingers. The second it hits the bomb it erupts, a fiery ball of destruction booming out and shaking the street. Street lamps shatter and Aigo is quick to brace himself at the truck’s door, ready to keep shrapnel from hurting the prisoners.

The others on the street are quick to duck and cover, getting low or hiding behind earthen, protective walls. The passengers cry out, muffled by their gags, and Aigo can only watch in horror at the billowing ball of flame. It lights up his face with violent oranges and halos Fox’s body as she stands, rooted, staring at the explosion. The only thing that moves on the woman is her thick braid, violently blowing in the shockwave.

As the explosion fades, glowing embers tumbling to the ground like morbid rain, Fox turns her body around to face Aigo again. Aigo… Aigo is still pretty shaken.

“Move,” she commands, voice cold, and it’s enough to shake Aigo out of his state, shaking his head and focusing on the person before him. He reminds himself that this is his enemy, but the ominous cloud of smoke that sets the background makes everything in him twist with discomfort.

“No,” he says, voice not-quite steady. He still adjusts into a firebending stance, palm and fist raised. “You’re not getting any further. These prisoners--”

“Prisoners?” Fox spits and throws a hand out towards the truck. There’s no bending to accompany the motion, it’s just emphasis. “These look like prisoners to you? Bunch of children and defenseless women? Your precious White Lotus was prepared to sacrifice them to get to us. They planned to use our care for our friends and loved ones against us!”

Fox’s shoulders lower, looking like a predator as their whole body zeroes in on Aigo. Her hands clench at her hips and shiny plates that hang on her belt abruptly begin to melt and collect on her fingers. When she straightens then flexes her fingers again, the gathered liquid metal condenses and solidifies, forming gleaming, metal claws.

“And you are used just as much, aren’t you? Their perfect, pet Avatar,” Fox mocks cooly, before bursting into motion. 

The first swipe of her claws narrowly misses, Aigo ducking under her arm at the last second and the metal shearing a few strands of hair. He steps around her, swift and light like he’d done with the Air Nomads, avoiding the striking claws, but Fox is fast and nimble, turning to meet Aigo’s turn with a sharp elbow to the temple. It reawakens the ringing in his ears, but only for a split second, and he retaliates with a double palm strike that sends a current of air into Fox’s back.

Except Fox doesn’t budge, her feet encased in rock to keep steady, stance low, and Aigo sees his chance.

He slides his foot along the ground, forcing the earth of one of Fox’s feet to pull sideways, undoing her stance. She fumbles, arms flailing, but still lashes backwards to counter somehow, Aigo halting it with a quick jab of air, knocking away the limb. With the girl off kilter Aigo spins swiftly on one foot, a trail of fire following the other in a hook kick at Fox’s head.

Fox manages to bend at her hip, holding her torso and head low as the kick and fire trails over her head.

The second his toes touch the ground he lifts the foot up again, avoiding the stream of earth that is kicked over by Fox’s heel, her stance righted, and instead front kicks a fireball straight at her. She’ll have to move for this one, freeing her feet and side stepping out of the way of the fire. The transition in her footwork is where Aigo hopes to trip her up for good, stepping his own feet into a horse stance towards Fox and punching from his side.

The pillar of rock that bursts by Fox’s side, rocketing towards her head, is only a little bit fueled by personal retribution.

But it doesn’t collide as, faster than Aigo can react, Fox spins around the pillar, swinging out her hand like a blade at the pillar, and slices off the top. With the same spin she takes control of the severed rock, pulls her body back as she twists, then hurls it right back into Aigo’s face.

Aigo reacts with a quick outside block, right arm coming in then swinging out, body shifting into a front stance to match his movements, and the rock swings to the side and out of harm's way.

Before he can settle into the new stance, however, almost exactly as he propels the rock away, something wraps around his forward ankle. He recognizes the end of a metal whip, the same the police use.

The one Fox apparently uses, too.

He has no time to react as he’s yanked off his feet and forward, flying by his ankle as his opponent pulls him in an arch over her head, then crashing into the street. Aigo bounces as he crashes, earth splintering as he instinctively tries to lessen the impact, but it rattles the bones through his body.

He feels the whip release his leg and return to its owner as he groans, getting his hands underneath him. It takes a lot of effort to push up, swaying once before he can look around. He’s been thrown into the heart of the fight. Or, what used to be the fight.

Siqiniq is some paces away, out cold, and Yun is struggling to break free of a cone of earth holding his body in place. Master Mingmei is the only one left standing, fighting hard and vicious against Mantis, Raccoon, and Dragon, but even she can’t last for long. Aigo thinks she might be able to down the Raccoon one after a mistake on their part, but a streak of silver rockets by and catches her hand.

The silver looks like a metallic hand, but then it is liquifying and reforming a ball around Master Mingmei’s hand, encompassing it, then dragging her viciously into a light pole.

Aigo forces himself further up, struggling to get his feet under him, looking around as the masked attackers rush towards the truck. Raccoon climbs into the driver’s seat while Dragon and Mantis hurry into the back, shutting the doors behind them.

The truck is put into gear as quickly as possible, wheels screeching as they hit the gas.

Aigo scowls, puts his fingers to the ground, and swings towards the fleeing vehicle. The rock he sends after it hardly gets any far before Fox kicks it right out of the air like it’s nothing, standing tall amongst the carnage she was leaving behind. Her mask slowly turns, surveying, then pauses to look at the masters still conscious. 

“Leave my people alone!” she says, voice booming and threatening, and then her arm is reaching out and the metal whips are flying from her bracers, latching onto a flag pole and yanking her into the air to go after her friends.

Aigo snarls, furious and frustrated, and forces his shaking legs to just work already. Every muscle screamed at him as he moved but he forced himself to ignore it. Ignore the pain, ignore the struggle, just move forward.

Air rockets him after the fleeing attackers, Aigo ignoring the panicked call from Yun as he goes, “Avatar, wait!” Whoever these people were they were dangerous. They’d taken out a squad of trained fighters alongside three masters. One of them had handled the Avatar like it was nothing. They couldn’t be left alone to do what they wanted.

He isn’t far behind, sees the truck just as Fox catches up and lands on top of it. He scowls at her and, using that boiling frustration, he lets loose a massive bolt of fire. It collides with the ground right by the truck, swerving it, and getting Fox to look back at him.

Aigo is high, hopping off roofs, walls, lamps, poles, wires, anything he can use to keep up with the truck.

For a moment Fox stares up at him, unmoving, before she’s lashing out with her arm. The metal whip comes streaking at Aigo from his left between his jumps. It’s well timed, but Aigo manages to tuck his body, twist, and push out a sphere of air around him, disrupting the whip. It messes up his jump, sending him back to the ground, but as he lands he rolls into it. With one knee down, the other up, he rolls both fists forward, dragging the earth with the motion.

The stream of upturned earth barrels straight at the truck, certain to catch a tire at the least, but Fox is jumping off the back of the vehicle and lands, forcing her fists in the way of Aigo’s attack, halting it with an explosion of dirt.

Aigo slides to a halt, breathing heavy, staring down Fox as she stands back up, staring back behind her mask. The truck swerves behind a corner, out of sight, and Aigo scowls. Fox tilts her head.

“You’re coming back with me,” the Avatar growls, fists tightening so hard his knuckles turn white.

“No,” Fox replies, calm as can be, “I’m not.” The whip she hurls at him drags sharp over the ground, kicking up dirt as it rockets at Aigo. He barely needs to dodge, but coughs as the dirt obscures his vision. When he blows the cloud away Fox is already airborne, whips dragging her up and swinging her between buildings.

“Show off,” Aigo huffs before taking chase. Fox is fast but she’s more limited with her metal. Aigo has the advantage of mobility with his airbending. It doesn’t take long before Aigo is above her, ready to drop down, when he flings her fist back at him. A whip almost appears out of nowhere, snapping loudly as it catches his shoulder. He grinds his teeth at the sharp pain, leap and attack subdued, and he tumbles into a rough landing on a nearby rooftop.

He hurries to stand, leaping back after Fox as she scales higher into the air thanks to a powerline. She’s high, in a similar state that Aigo had been just a second before, and Aigo doesn’t hesitate to lash out, fire leaping from his fist. He isn’t going to let her have another opportunity to knock him around. He’s been humiliated enough and he can’t let Fox get away.

The woman must not be expecting Aigo’s attack, glancing over her shoulder to likely see how far he’s trailing, just as Aigo’s fire crashes right into the side of her face.

He hears the woman cry out, surprised and hurt, her entire momentum thrown for a loop as she’s thrown sideways before plummeting. Aigo hurries to go after her as she crashes into a roof, rolling and sliding off its curved surface. She scrambles to grab onto the edge, but her hands slip as the red shingles come loose and she keeps tumbling.

Aigo stops at the edge of the rooftops, looking down as Fox manages to lessen her fall as she catches onto a series of clothing lines that hangs between the buildings. From his vantage point Aigo can see the 8th District's wooden port easily as well as the alleys of the shorter buildings leading to it and it gives him an idea.

“Well?! What happened? You were so much more powerful before!” he calls down at Fox, throwing down fire and blocking off the way back towards the city.

Fox shakes herself out and looks up at him and…

Aigo’s eyes widen.

The mask… the mask is gone. The fire had struck her face and now… It was gone and he could see her face and…

Well, if looks could kill, that glare would definitely burn Aigo to a crisp, her silver eyes staring up at him. She’s frowning, black bangs pushed back from the mask, skin dark…

And sitting there, on her forehead, is a vibrant, red, Air Nomad arrow.

“I don’t need power to keep you away from my people,” Fox snarls up at him, venom in her voice, and then she’s running, shaking Aigo out of his surprise. He scrambles to keep up, shooting fire after the woman, keeping her moving but also blocking off pathways.

“The fuck are you doing with tattoos like that, huh?!” he yells down at her, fury beginning to boil in his chest as he truly takes in what he’d seen. “Those markings are sacred to the Air Nation! Have you really no respect for them that you would shame them like this?!”

“The Air Nomads have no shame! That is the problem!” Fox yells back, weaving through the fire. She’s moving funky, likely from her fall, and Aigo resolutely ignores the sour feeling that gives him.

“So you think you can just… STEAL their culture? Because you think they DESERVE it?!” Aigo’s voice rises further, growing more angry with his incredulity.

“You don’t know ANYTHING !” Fox roars and, with a twist, launches her shiny, metallic, glove-thing up at Aigo. It snaps over his foot just as it nears the edge of the roof, melting and solidifying rapidly to stick him to the stone. Aigo curses and blasts fire after Fox’s retreating figure, then looks down. Hands still hot with his anger he reaches down to try and break off the metallic substance.

But as the heat of his hands touches the metal… it begins to melt. It liquifies under Aigo’s grasp, dripping off the roof like water, and when Aigo raises his hands to look at them they’ve been stained grey.

What the hell was this stuff?!

But he doesn’t have time to concern himself with that, shaking the remainder of the liquid metal from his boot and leaping after Fox. Even after losing her, they’d still been close to Aigo’s intended destination and he’s grateful she’d ended up heading straight for it.

Fox skids to a halt as she exits the alleys, seeing the wooden docks before her, and is turning, ready to find a different route, when Aigo lands heavily right behind her. He straightens, movements sluggish but unhindered, and Fox turns to face him. There’s a nasty scowl on her face, expression pinched in rage as she’s forced to take a few steps back, her earth and metal options immediately diminished.

The wood creaks under Aigo’s boots as he slowly approaches the girl. She looks like she might be his age, if a few years older. Early to mid twenties, he guesses, but her eyes are different. He wouldn’t even say her eyes looked older, they hardly even looked human. The fury that was bundled up in them didn’t feel possible for one person to contain.

“There’s nowhere else to go,” Aigo says, but he doesn’t rush her. She wasn’t defenseless and the last time he’d tried to rush her, fists blazing, she’d hurled him into a car. He’d rather not add boat to that list.

Fox’s eyes flick back and forth, assessing that she is truly trapped, yet she still continues to back up down one of the docks. The boats rock with the waves, filling the air with ominous clunking and rattling, water sloshing against the hulls.

Aigo narrows his eyes as he walks after Fox, his hands raised to defend himself if she lashes out with her whips. Her weird, liquid metal things are gone from her gloved hands, used up in throwing off Master Mingmei and then slowing down Aigo.

She’s limited. Aigo refuses to believe she’s defenseless. A cornered animal is always worse, after all.

“Look, just stand down now, it will make things easier for both of us,” Aigo continues, still inching down the dock. The wood creaks and groans and Fox sneers at him.

“Naive and arrogant at the same time,” Fox growls, finally coming to a stop at the end of the dock. Aigo shifts closer and also stops, feet steady and hands still up. “That’s a dangerous combination,” the hiss is all the warning gets before a whip of metal snaps out, cracking beside Aigo’s head as he ducks and retaliates with a stream of fire.

Except no fire comes. He tightens his muscles, ready to strike, zeroes in on his target, then freezes.

Because Fox’s hands are above her head, wrists loose, and all around her seawater has risen at her command. The wall of water hovers, holding still just as its master does, and Aigo can’t move. Can’t attack. Can’t do anything. Because… Because…

“You’re… you’re the Dark Avatar …” he whispers and Fox’s eyes only narrow further.

“Leave my people alone,” is her final response before she pushes her palms forward, the water surging around her and pummeling into Aigo. The dock shatters with the attack and Aigo is thrown back, everything going muffled as he falls into the bay, water all around. He scrambles to right himself, not sure which way is up, then claws his way up to the surface.

He gasps as his head breaches the water, coughing the salty taste out of his mouth and sucking in air. The water churns from the attack, remnants of the wooden dock floating everywhere, and Aigo tries to wipe the wet hair out of his face so he can see.

Further out on the bay, far past any docks, a figure stands on the surface of the water, staring back at him. Fox’s braid blows in the wind and for one, single moment their eyes meet. Cold silver and frightened green.

Then Fox turns, spinning on a board of ice she’d formed, and pushes herself forward over the water, leaving Aigo alone with his aching body and broken mind.