Name: Astyanax

Status: Earthbender

Special move: Lifting Big Rocks

Height: 5'9"

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Weight: 140

Eyes: Green

Hair: Blond Spikey Hair

Personality: A Simple Earthbender, unaware that he will do great things in the years to come and turn out to be an earthbending prodigy!

Bai Mao (firebender, pudao)
Arrived in hotel room to find everyone ambushed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I immediately took a fighting stance, facing the pirates. We were just outnumbered, and with only my fists, I knew it would be a hard fight, so I decided to just bluff it out. I challenged in the deepest voice I could muster.

B'ao: Take a single step toward them, and I will drop you where you stand.

This produced raucous laughter from the pirates. One of them accepted my offer and drew a short stiletto. He leveled it at Jasmine.

Pirate: I won't take a single step toward them. A quick toss should do well.

I pointed at him, my face distorted into a menacing glare.

B'ao: Don't even think about it!

As I was still in the doorway, he snickered and threw his arm back for the throw, snapped his arm forward, and released. Before the knife had gone a foot, a loud ping Filled the air, and his arm jerked back and forth as blood spurted from it, He grabbed his useless arm, when his neck seemed to spit up blood, and he fell on his back. Then something stranger happenned. He exploded. I was as surprised as anyone else, but I took advantage of it.

B'ao: Who's next?

The pirates scattered. I ran over to see that everyone was alright while Chase inspected the charred body. The arm and neck were filled with metal four-pointed stars, and black powder was on the floor under him. The stiletto was split in half by another star.

B'ao: I'd know Yonhi's tactics anywhere. He's here He made sure the guy dropped right onto the bomb.

Ariel: But where'd he go?

I scoffed.

B'ao: Should I know? He'll meet with us eventually. anyway, we know where the stuff is. Get to the western gate of the city and wait for us. Chase, Dak, Lu Ten and I will go get the stuff.

****************************************

As we left the cave with our reclaimed weapons and items, We had to walk through a small park with a dense forest. As I was walking, another four-pointed star came close to my face and buried itself in a tree. I looked in the direction it came from, and Saw Yonhi's sillhouette running away. I had the strange notion that I was to follow him. I ended up beside a big hill, while the rest of the group caught up with me. I climbed the hill, and found that it levelled off, but there was more.

B'ao: I've been here before. A year ago. This is the place from my vision. It's the place on the map.

I pulled it out and lit a flame under it to reveal the watermark poem.

Escape was near, but I was Found

I gave old Kar the look-around

My Dagger's treasure is in repose

Beneath the flower that never grows

Flame reveals it to the eyes of man

No need to fear its guardian.

I walked along until I came to a dip in the ground. It was a graveyard. I searched for the grave in my vision. Rieji's grave. With a flame to light my way, I searched. The group had difficulty keeping up with me, and eventually, I heard a moaning sound and turned to find a horrifying figure, looking as if it would try to grab me, but it didn't move. I ignored it, walked around, and found the grave.

On the front were six people carved into the rock. A family. What caught my eye was a woman with long, flowing hair and familiar eyes. Rieji's mother. They were all holding the same rose. An inscription was on the bottom: Here lies the Takero family, lost forever defending the town from a pirate raid. Lives lost, but not forgotten. A tear slipped down my face. The fate of Rieji's family was known to me. The other three had caught up.

Lu Ten: well, that's bullshot.

B'ao: What?

Chase: The Fire Nation controlled the waterways around here for 3 leagues from the coast. If any pirate ships were here, they would have been snuffed out before getting this far inland.

B'ao: Unless they didn't want the pirates to be stopped. This was Rieji's old village! The Fire Nation sent the pirates to wipe it out so that they could colonize the place. Then they fed the people crap about helping to "expunge the pirates" and colonizing the place. Yonhi obviously needed me to know this.

My eyes brightened

B'ao: and more. beneath the flower that never grows...

I grabbed the flower and lit a flame in my palm. The six pairs of eyes lit up, and I was falling. I landed on a soft mattress, and began going down the corridor. It was dawning on me. Rieji had been guiding me all along. She drew the map and left the clues.

I ran down the corridor, hearing three thuds behind me. The others were falling down onto the mattress. Cursing told me that they had landed on each other. The end of the corridor came into a chamber. I saw a torch and lit it. I saw seven coffins, each with a picture of one of Rieji's family members. One had a picture of Rieji. I opened it, sliding the earthen cover onto the floor.

*****3rd person point of view*****

Dak, Chase, and Lu ten hurried as they heard rock meet floor. They sped down the corridor, to find Bai Mao on his knees, his body shaking, and tears spilling to the floor They saw the picture of Rieji on the cover of the coffin. They looked among themselves and silently decided that chase should go forth to console his cousin. As Chase walked up and put his hand on the young man's shoulder, Bai Mao turned, leapt up, and hugged him- nay, squeezed him in a vise-likie grip, with a giant smile and tears of joy on his face and his hands clutching a scroll and another small object. His voice shook with laughter.

B'ao: Rieji's alive! Can you believe it? I was wrong! I- this is awesome!

Yonhi earthbended(bent?) himself out of the wall.

Yonhi: Excellent work. I couldn't have done it better myself... well, technically, I did do it better, but that's beside the point. Read the letter.

Bai Mao opened the scroll and read, his smile getting bigger by the second:

I knew you'd find your way here eventually. I knew you were hard to kill. When I escaped form Kar, I ran to my old village, finding the tomb of my family. I realized what had truly happenned, and went back into captivity. I couldn't bring myself to stay here. My fellow prisoner, Gaori helped me leave the clues for you, Bai Mao. In the back of my mind, I knew you wouldn't give up until you found me. I have faith in you. This is the pommel stone from my dagger. Make sure you get it back to me when you find me.

I love you.

Rieji

P.S. The rock "monster" had an empty glass jug in it that made the moaning sound when the wind blew.

*******Back to First Person*******

I walked along, a new spring in my step, holding the sapphire pommel in my left hand, and carrying most of the weight. I realized something that put me in a bad mood once more. What was I going to tell Jasmine?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, that was long as hell.

Next part won't be up until Friday at the earliest. I have to leave town. Also, I had the next part finishing up until my computer erased the entire page.

Shame too, because now I don't have the time(Or care, at what time it is here) to finish it again.

Check back for mine around Friday or Saturday, but I will try and make it A LOT LONGER than my other ones. This one will set up the plot for the upcoming Part II, and some serious(Or what I hope to be serious) shockers and twists will come up.

OK so good news and bad news. Good news is, some things have given me a little bit of time to write a smaller section, but the next two should be very long and detailed.

So here it is:

Khuzo, mercanary

Khuzo's group, Khuzo's home jungle

--

Khuzo was dreaming. He had entered a time where things were much better for him, back before the purging of his tribe. They were in the village outskirts, out where the fields of wheat grew. Khuzo was practicing and finishing up his mastery of the spear. He was also eight years old. He violently twisted the shaft of the spear about as the tip ripped into and disembowled a prop up human. Grain poured out of the gaping burlap sack wound. He panted, and lowered the spear. Above him, amongst the trees and their massive, twisting branches, his older sister dueled his older brother. His older brother's hookswords clanged against her warfans, and the two moved with lightning fast speed and precision. His brother swung down and used the hooks of his swords to swing up behind his sister, and then he put his swords around her neck.

"Gotcha!" he laughed. "Hey Khuzo! I told you I'd win! How are you doing?" he asked playfully.

Khuzo stabbed the end of the spear into the ground and then sat down. His brother lept down, followed by his sister.

"What's wrong, Khuzo?" she asked. They all had equally dark, shining green eyes, the kind that stood out more than any other feature. His sister's were so bright in the dark that she often had to wear a cover over her eyes during stealth missions, or she'd give away her position.

"Nothing. Just tired. Where's Itami?"

"Probably out chasing some poor, defenseless animal around like the little psychpath he is," his brother interrupted. Khuzo laughed.

In the distance, the farm animals from a nearby villager squalled about noisily, then several loud bangs were heard. It was Itami, alright.

"Khuzo. Wake up. We're at the end of the road," a voice spoke to him. He immediately snapped out of his dreamworld and looked around.

"What...how long have I been out?"

"Since we left," Rain said. She stopped shaking him. "You OK?"

"Fine...just...just uh, dreaming."

Scarecrow and Devan were already off the boat. It had been anchored down, and it was at where the river became too shallow to continue one.

"We'll come back to it after we have the rest of your party."

"Don't worry about. They'll come to us."

"What? How?"

Khuzo got off the boat and lit a small red stick's fuse and then tossed it into the air. It exploded into a red, blinding light.

"That's how. Ridge, a guy I met in the Dark Pits, will meet up with us here, and bring the other two."

"So what's our team now?"

"Three waterbenders counting you, another and Reika, an earthbender, A Yu Yan archer, Scarecrow, whose our demolitionist, Devan, and myself."

"That going to be enough?" Devan asked.

"Should be. Two members are already dead and several more will be out of comission when we strike, so we have superior numbers and hopefully superior skill. Also, their leader should be gone, further reducing their numbers by one."

"Excellent, so a simple clean and sweep?" Rain asked.

"Precisely, but other factors may be present, so we need to stay sharp."

"As always," Devan said.

Scarecrow nodded. He sat down next to Devan, who had made himself a seat already. He pulled off the massive, thick broadsword from his back and sliced down an entire tree in one strike. It collapsed onto the others surrounding it and he sat down on the stump. Scarecrow sat down on the ground.

Khuzo made sure he had all of his equipment. As he picked up his father's swords, he couldn't help but think about what the old man had said. That he needed his own pair. He agreed with him, he just didn't have the time right now. Maybe after this was over.

He sat down by the river and Rain joined him.

"You know, Khuzo. When I first met you, you were ten. I wasn't any older, of course, but we've seen each other grow for years. It's hard to believe that all the things that have happened since then have happened in just nine years. And we're both much more skilled than before."

"What's your point?"

"My point is, when do you think we'll reach our peaks? When we look forward and see only diminishing ability. Age, injury, how far can we go? How far can you go?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not saying I have it easy, but look at you. You are nineteen years old, and you have more injuries and scars than most of the most battle hardened veterans I've ever met."

"And?"

"How long, just how long do you believe you can honestly punish your body to this extent? When will your legs start to hurt the second you get up in the morning? When will you start to get...well...old?"

"My father was twice what I am, and he was twice my age."

"I know that, I SAW the man fight. To this day thinking about it makes me cringe. After that traitor in your group was found out, I thought I'd never get the blood off my shoes. I saw that man engaged dozens of men, and conquer them all. But he knew when enough was enough. He knew how to take time to heal, and how to not only dress a wound, but how to give it time. Time to heal completely."

"And?"

"And when will you have enough?"

"...Never."

"How many times, though, Khuzo, can waterbending, or any kind of healing, fix those crushed bones? How many times can your arms and legs break and be repaired? When will they start getting weaker from such things, instead of getting stronger from them? How many times will you have your body crushed or cut open before it just quits?"

"I'll find out, won't I?"

"Yeah, I guess you will."

They sat in silence for some time, until finally Ridge popped out of the thick brush.

"Well I'd hate to be late but-HELLO!" he yelled when he saw Rain. She looked at him confused.

"How are YOU today? Is the weather fine? Is it too humid? I like all this rain but I'm interested in hearing your opinion."

"I...I uh..."

"Can it, Ridge. Come one everybody, let's go," Khuzo barked, and everyone got up, brushed themselves off, and got onto the boat. Ridge jumped in right after helping Rain in, taking extra time do so, and then Devan and Scarecrow got on, too. Reika and Shungo hopped on without a problem, but Sorrow seemed hesitant.

"You're coming with us, wether you like it or not. You know the way, and I would like you there for navigating their temple. I can get to the island with our map, but you're coming anyway."

She resisted for a few moments, but finally, she hopped on board as well. Everyone sat down and Khuzo brought up the anchor.

"Everyone ready?" he asked halfheartedly. If they weren't, they soon would be regardless.

--

At the bottom of a twisting stairwell, adorned with Fire Nation banners and bright, glowing blue torches, was a door with a large Fire Nation emblem on it. A heavy patter of footsteps echoing off the walls from the metal stairs could be heard. A man walked down the staircase and to the door. There, he pressed his hand against it and it slowly, and loudly, creaked open. Down a long, well adorned hall, sat an ancient man on a throne.

"Master, the Yu Yan archers have been sent to the temple to protect it, along with the elite guards your assistant, Masquerade, ordered. Is he here to finalize the order?"

The old man suddenly breathed new life and awakened.

"Masquerade...this pathetic excuse for a human is here to insure our defenses are ready," it spoke.

A young boy with a thick cloak and tabard on walked out of the shadows. On his back, was a very large, ornate wooden bow, and a large quiver packed full of arrows. The boy's eyes were covered by cloth, and it was clear that there was nothing but scar tissue behind them. Scars ran deep and long over the boy's face, but were mostly covered. A strange mask was tipped up over his hair.

"The preparations are almost complete, master. The mercanary will most assuredly attack in order to wipe out the rest of us."

"And you are sure that the girl betrayed us?"

"She was very timid, and very weak, master. I am absolutely positive that she was captured, and sucessfully interrogated."

"What of Itami?"

"He is most certainly alive, master. Itami is too hard to kill for one pathetic jungle spirit. He most certainly escaped, but his current whereabouts are unknown. I can only guess that he is currently returning, but wether or not he he will be here to help our defenses is unknown. He is, however, this time, not a necessity, so please, do yourself the favor of putting him out of your mind for now, master."

"He is a hateful little monster...but he is a son of mine, in the same fashion you are Masquerade. But I will put his condition in the back of my head for now. Now, what of Forge?"

"Dead, I know for sure. He was weak, one of the weakest of our order. Granted, still very powerful, but the jungle spirit, or the mercanary, or both, killed him. Tojo, is as you already know, gone as well. Why are you incapable of feeling this as usual, master?"

"Masquerade, it seems that my time here may be coming to a true, full end...Every day I feel myself grow older than the day before. I never felt this way before very recently. I can no longer tell where it is that my men are. You, however, have no reason to fear. When the comet comes, I will be rejuvenated once again. It will sustain me for at least a time longer. After that, however, I do not know what will become of me."

"I am sure that your end will never truly come, master."

"I hope that you are right, boy. Perhaps it is merely the approacing eclipse that clouds my vision. Perhaps, after it passes, I will be strong once again."

"I hope so, master."

"I do, as well. Now, Masquerade, I have one final preparation for you to attend to."

"Your transport to meet the mercanary, in person, has been prepared alreay, master."

"You knew?"

"My blind eyes can see what others can not. When my commanding officer fled from the Fire Nation many years ago, he blinded me during our pursuit. Well, soon the Trickster and I will meet once again. But this time, I shall take more than his eyes..."

Masquerade then, without warning, fired an arrow deep into the man's chest. He fell to the ground, and Masquerade put his bow back into place.

"Please...Masquerade...refrain from doing that again in my chamber...it is such a mess..."

Meanwhile, Khuzo's group sailed on it's small boat, across the ocean, towards that cursed island...

Name: Arnarion
Status: Firebending Master
Special move: Lightning
Height: 5'8
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Weight: 129
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark Brown
Personality: Very powerful firebender he has killed every dragon in the avatar world and he helped azula kill aang and his friends he eventually through the world into chaos after killing the moon spirit and the knowledge spirit.