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Noatak took pride in his ability to wake up all at once. It gave him an edge over Tarrlok, who would stumble out of his room every morning and rest his head on the table while Noatak made breakfast. His little brother was too clever for his own good, so Noatak needed every advantage he could get. So, when he woke up with Sun curled against his side in the morning, it didn’t take long to remember why.
Noatak held his breath, controlling the instinct to jerk away. He couldn’t wake Sun up, not when his friend clearly needed as much sleep as he could get. Besides, how could he explain his embarrassment without making it several times worse. He held still until he was sure he could get up without disturbing Sun.
Moving as quietly as he could, Noatak gathered up clothes at random and headed to the bathroom.
“Get over yourself,” he told his reflection. “You remember how Yakone behaved last time you fell in love. It would be so much worse for Sun. Not to mention what would happen if Yakone found out about what we’ve been doing. Just face it, crushes are a bad idea.”
Sadness clouded his blue eyes in the mirror. Noatak lifted his chin and forced a smile. He’d done it so many times that it came out looking mostly genuine. He couldn’t afford to show weakness, especially today. Yakone was expecting to see him.
Cleaned and dressed, Noatak made breakfast as usual. Tarrlok slumped over the table, life and intelligence slowly flickering back into his eyes. He didn’t actually sit up until Noatak slid a plate in front of him and even then, it was slow going.
“You’ll be studying the political situation in the city with your tutor today, right?” Noatak asked. He knew he had it right, but it never hurt to check.
“Just like I do every week at this time,” Tarrlok confirmed, yawning. “And you’ll be off to the club before long. Good luck.”
“Thanks, Lok. Have a good day, all right?” Noatak deployed his reassuring smile, just to make sure Tarrlok wouldn’t get any suspicions. From the slight shade of bitterness in Tarrlok’s answering smile, he hadn’t quite gotten it right.
He saw Tarrlok to the door, waving until he turned the street corner. As always, a knot of anxiety twisted in his gut. One of these days, the police were going to build a case against Yakone, and Noatak was sure they would have a lot of questions for him and his brother. He didn’t entirely trust Beifong’s people to be gentle with those questions, either.
Sighing, he headed back to his room. Sun hadn’t stirred, which was a relief. Noatak left a note on the bedside table and headed for the club where his father held most of his business.
The doorman recognized Noatak, of course, and let him inside without displaying any reaction. It took a moment for his eyes to make the adjustment from sunlight to indoors, but Noatak would have known his way blindfolded. He walked through several rooms, all of them plush with expensive carpets, furniture, and decorations, to the upper room where Yakone held court.
“Ah, Noatak,” Yakone said as he came in. “Good. You’re just in time to hear the news.”
Still powerfully built, even though his dark hair was now streaked with grey, Yakone gave a sneer and a careless gesture for the man kneeling in front of him to speak. Noatak made his way across the room to stand at his father’s right hand.
“We lost the protection money, sir,” the thug said. His clothes were torn and bruises marked his face. “He came from the shadows. None of us saw his face. The mask kept us from it, but he was a chi-blocker. I’ve never faced one this good before. Took out all my boys, didn’t even take a hit. It was the Blue Spirit.”
“You see, Noatak? This is not good for business. If we can’t make simple transactions, pretty soon no one in the city will respect us anymore. How’s it going to look if I can’t stop some lunatic in a mask from attacking our people?” Yakone steepled his fingers and chuckled mirthlessly.
“That isn’t good, sir,” Noatak said without inflection.
“Lucky for us, Han here has an idea where to start. I want you to go with Han and spread the message. Anyone who knows who this Blue Spirit is should step forward now. If not, well… We’ll have to take matters into our own hands.”
Noatak carefully controlled his expression and breathing, let nothing show of the sick feeling in his gut. Yakone might not be looking, but he would still notice. He couldn’t do anything to betray himself without putting Tarrlok in danger.
Han, a jittery firebender who looked like a buzzard-wasp, stepped out of the shadows. His amber eyes flicked over Noatak once and flashed away the second Noatak lifted his chin arrogantly.
“Let’s get moving,” he said coldly and headed for the door with Han in his wake.
“No, please! You’ve got the wrong man,” the shopkeeper shouted, scrambling away on his backside as Han lifted a hand wreathed in fire.
Noatak leaned on the counter, affecting indifference while his heart pounded and sweat slicked his palms.
“Do you think we’d be here if there was no reason?” he asked in a tone of icy boredom. “Back away, Han. I want to do this myself.”
The skinny firebender obeyed at once. Noatak took his place, looming over the terrified man.
“I’m not the Blue Spirit,” the shopkeeper insisted, huddling against the back wall. “I don’t know who is. I don’t know anything!”
“Don’t test my patience,” Noatak snarled. With a gesture, he half-emptied a fish tank by the door and encased the man in ice. His heart pounded harder, knowing what he had to do next. It made him sick every single time, but there was no denying the heady feeling of power. He’d be horrified the second he was done, but in that moment, he looked forward to it.
Bloodbending wanted to be used.
By now, Noatak didn’t need any gestures. He sucked in a breath, drove forward with his thoughts, and convulsed the shopkeeper on the floor. Ice shattered, covering the sounds of joints and muscles being stretched to their limits.
Noatak’s skin tingled with a rush of phantom heat, something that always happened when he reached into another person’s blood. He released his grasp and let the man slump to the floor. Stepping forward, he hauled on his hair, forcing his eyes upward.
“Anyone who knows about the Blue Spirit should come forward. Yakone only has so much patience. What happens to little people like you will be merciful compared to what’s waiting for the Spirit,” he said in measured tones. “Pass the message along.”
He stood and strode out of the shop, leaving the man huddled on the floor gasping with terror. Behind him, Noatak could hear glass breaking as Han spitefully kicked panes out of the door.
Once they were back on the street, Han lit a cigar with his fingertip. “Sorry about the dead-end, boss. I thought for sure these slum sharpsters would know something. After all, there’s been stories about chi-blockers in this neighborhood for months. You’ll tell the old man it worked out, right?”
“As far as he’s concerned, it has,” Noatak replied. “Word will spread without us having to put much effort in. We’ve made enough examples that the Blue Spirit will hear about it.”
When Han wasn’t looking, Noatak slipped a mint leaf into his mouth to quell the churning in his stomach. He hated bloodbending and everything to do with it. No matter how much he fixed in his head that it was evil, using it gave him a nauseating rush of power. Once before, it had almost consumed him. Noatak still had nightmares about what might happen next time he lost himself in the madness.
Yakone’s example was bad enough.
With another shameful pang, Noatak remembered that word was going to spread about what he’d done. It was only a matter of time before Sun heard about it. He couldn’t even explain himself without revealing the worse truth about his bloodbending powers. Their friendship would be shattered and all the good they were doing as the Blue Spirit undone.
To make things worse, Noatak knew for certain that Sun would keep going without him, probably until Yakone hunted him down and killed him.
Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Noatak had made it clear to Sun from the beginning that he had to obey Yakone or face the consequences. Not only would he be punished, but Tarrlok would be forced to do what Noatak was doing now. There was no way his sensitive, optimistic little brother could survive as heir to the underworld. Yakone’s plan for him at the moment was burden enough.
Noatak left Han outside the club and headed for the dining room. His father would be there, having lunch and awaiting his report.
“Just in time, son,” Yakone said, waving Noatak into a seat with the sardonic smile he used for every interaction. “I expected you back and ordered you a meal. How did it go?”
From his casual tone, he might have been asking if Noatak had been out buying flowers.
“I spread our message,” Noatak replied mechanically. “The Blue Spirit will hear about it before long.” Ruthlessly, he kept his emotions from showing themselves. Yakone’s bloodbending would tell him if anything was amiss; he was better than an earthbender for catching lies sometimes.
“Good, good. Now, I want you to keep a close eye on your brother. With the Blue Spirit running around loose, Tarrlok might become a target. I’d hate for anything to happen to him.”
“Yes, sir.” Noatak fought to keep from grinding his teeth. From all the emotion Yakone displayed, he might have been talking about a stranger rather than his own son. Of course, that was his way. Yakone demanded absolute loyalty from his sons simply because he was their father but offered no affection in return. Noatak longed to snap that he was already looking out for his brother, out of common decency and genuine affection, but Yakone would never understand. Noatak had accepted that a long time ago, the day Yakone had demanded he turn the bloodbending on Tarrlok.
Poor Tarrlok had taken longer. Generous to a fault thanks to their mother, Tarrlok had held out a hope that Yakone would ease up when they were bloodbending masters. Noatak still remembered how hard Tarrlok had cried when he finally figured out their father would never love them.
Lunch arrived and Noatak ate, because Yakone expected him to. He had no appetite and the food tasted like ashes in his mouth. It was expensive stuff, but Noatak felt cold and empty inside anyway. He’d had better meals among the city’s poor. They frequently had nothing but a scanty meal to offer him as payment for healing their injuries and ailments. He always accepted, even though he was glad to help them for free, knowing that pride was the only thing the poor had left to them.
The moment Yakone waved him away, Noatak fled the club. Tangled in dark thoughts and darker emotions, he hurried straight home. After how this day had gone, he desperately needed familiar walls around him.
Inside the darkened front hall, tension began slipping out of his shoulders. Noatak knew the illusion of safety wouldn’t actually do anything to stop Yakone from reaching him here, but at this point, illusions were the only thing he had.
It was early afternoon and there was no sign of Sun in his room, other than a quick scribble on the back of the note Noatak had left that morning. He read it with a pang of worry. He had no idea what Sun did when they weren’t together, but it wasn’t likely to be particularly safe. At the same time, he was grateful Sun was gone. In his emotional state, Noatak knew he would never be able to hold himself together and he could never explain the truth.
He crawled into his bed, unwilling to do anything else at least for a few hours. A faint scent of Sun clung to the sheets and Noatak buried his nose in them, resolving to shut everything else out. It was a temporary measure, but he would grasp at anything to prop up his sanity.