Khuzo, mercanay

Khuzo's group, the island

(First of two parts of the Part I ending)

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The Elite Guard marched up the stairs with their tridents pointed out, ready to skewer everything infront of them.

Devan grabbed his sword and looked at Scarecrow.

"How many of those big cannon rounds do you have left?"

Scarecrow held up two fingers, and pulled out a grenade in each hand.

"Smaller explosives? Fine by me. That just mean's MORE FOR ME!" he yelled excitedly.

A soldier upfront shouted an order.

"COMPANY! ADVANCE!"

"It'll be the last thing you ever do!" Devan yelled and swept his sword at an incoming trident. It was sliced in half in an instant. Scarecrow lit the grenades. Down at the bottom of the temple, Sorrow dodged swords and arrows, but exhaustion was catching up. She breathed heavily and backed toward the woodline, but stayed her ground. She held up her hands and water jetted out of the nearby plantlife. With a larger amount she stood a better chance.

"Foolish girl!" Yui yelled, and he ran at her again. Masquerade jumped above him and they continued their assault.

Meanwhile, Ridge loaded an arrow while Reika drew up some water from the bag on her waist. Death raised his hands and water swirled a nearby well. It began to grow cold in the room. The water gave off a noticeable frost that crawled over the ground it circled over.

Ridge bit down on the arrows in his mouth. The arrow he had loaded had a very potent poison.

"I really hate this guy," he said to Reika.

"You hate him? He controlled my body and forced me back into capture."

"He destroyed the Dark Pits with me and Khuzo on them and then washed us to see for several days."

"I'm still shocked you're alive," Death chimed in.

"Well you know the stories about Khuzo...he's nearly impossible to kill," Ridge replied.

"Hmm...well he's not here, now is he?"

"Shut your mouth! He's still alive!" Reika shouted.

Outside, an explosion went off and smoke entered the room.

"Reika, we don't have much time...let's take this guy out so we can wipe out the defenseless ones."

She looked back and saw another explosion go off. Then Ridge fired his arrow and Death shot a blast of ice at it, breaking it apart in midflight.

Ridge growled and jumped up into the air, and, while upside down, fired three arrows with precise accuracy. Death brought up an ice shield, but Reika knocked it down with her own waterbending.

"What?!" he yelled, and he jumped back, but an arrow caught him in the leg.

"Argh! You'll pay for that, boy!" he yelled, and he sent a massive wave of freezing water at Ridge. Just as Ridge landed, he jumped again, dodging the crushing water. Death sent the wave back around but Ridge looked back, ducked, and then slid out of the way. While sliding on the ground, he fired one of the arrows he was holding in his mouth. It exploded, and poisonous gas leaked out over the area.

"Agh! ENOUGH OF YOUR TRICKS!" Death yelled, and he brought up water from another well behind him. Reika brought up the water from the two behind her. Ridge slid across the ground and got up by Reika.

"What's the plan?" Reika asked.

"I figured you'd keep his waterbending screwed up, and I'd attack his weakspots."

"We tried that last time."

"Last time, I was still getting over spending five years in a tiny cell. I was rusty. Even that weak arena firebender was a challenge for me. And you were a lot less powerful. And he had a whole ocean to call upon on the full moon. Left me at a disadvantage. We're a lot better now. Trust me."

"Are you sure?"

"I think we can take this guy together."

Reika jumped forward and unleashed a massive torrent of water. Ridge jumped above and closed on eye. Death was still coughing, and the poisonous gas had rendered half the arena useless. Ridge fired his poison arrow with perfect accuracy, but Death still managed to block both attacks from Ridge and Reika.

"You foolish children! Do you honestly think that thoset tactics will work against me?!"

Ridge landed, and ducked down just in time to avoid a massive waterwhip. Death had summoned the water around him into the octopus form, and the tendrils of water writhed about him, dripping ice cold water everywhere. Even at her distance, Reika could feel the temperature dropping from the cold water.

Outside a large group of soldiers screamed, and Devan shouted. Then the side of the wall exploded, and Shungo jumped in.

"Hey everybody, what's...oh, it's him," he said as he saw Death.

"Aren't...aren't you supposed to be watching Rain?" Ridge asked.

"She came along too. She started to feel better and we got here just in time for the fun."

"Where is she?"

"Helping Sorrow. Do you know that blind kid?"

"THAT'S not a topic I want to get-"

"Enough talk!" Death shouted, and he raised the water up and slammed it down towards Ridge. He jumped back and then did several backflips, constantly weaving around the water.

"Shungo! Help!"

Shungo kicked the ground and a massive wave of earth went at Death. Reika followed through by imitating Rain's ice move, sending a massive wave of water over Death. Ridge waited for a shot. He had an arrow pulled back and his hands shook from the amount of force behind it. He steadied his aim and closed one eye.

Death appeared for less than a second over the wave of earth. Between dodging the other attacks and trying to waterbend, he had left a small opening. He turned to see Ridge but couldn't do anything about it.

Ridge released the arrow and it struck Death in the shoulder. There, it burst into flames, and Death fell down and screamed. Ridge fired another arrow and hit Death again, and he scrambled about on the floor. He raised a hand and water flew over him, putting out the fire, but Ridge fired another shot into his abdomen. Reika sent the water remaining above Death back towards her.

"AGH! ARRGHH!" Death screamed and shifted around, scrambling pathetically about on the ground.

Ridge lowered his bow. Everyone took a deep breath, and Ridge walked over to Death.

"This is for what you did back at the Dark-ARGH!" Ridge shouted as he blasted back by a massive explosion of air. He slammed into the wall over forty feet behind him, and then slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Death, you sorry excuse for an assassin," Wrath spoke from underneath his black cloak.

Death only gurgled something completely inaudible.

"I mean, two kids who aren't even bending masters, and a womanizing drunk slob of a mercanary are what did this to you?"

Death gurgled again, but Wrath only slammed his giant foot down ontop of his outstreched hand. Death shouted out, and then Wrath lifted his foot. There was nothing left of Death's burnt, destroyed hand.

"It looks as if I get to take credit for retrieving the children, I get Death's higher rank, finally, and I get the money for turning in that traitor mercanary. It's too bad I couldn't complete the package by murdering that other one with the swords. Where is he?"

"He...he couldn't come," Reika said uneasily.

"Oh, so something managed to get him, huh? Oh, what's wrong? Did you grow...attached...to that little boy? He never seemed like he'd be popular with women. What as it about him that made you care so much?"

"Shut up!" Reika yelled, and Shungo shot a massive boulder at him. Wrath jumped forward, shot a disc of air, and it went straight through the boulder. It kept going. Then, he shot a massive, crushing blast of air at Shungo. It hit him before he knew what had happened, and Shungo flew back in the hole that he had made.

"NO!" Reika screamed, but Wrath only laughed. She sent the water at him in massive blasts of ice, but he knocked it aside with his bare hands. Then he held up his hands and shot an airblast at Reika. She created an ice shield, but it slammed through it. The second she tried to raise another one, he was already next to her. He grabbed her by the neck and held her up, while she squirmed desperately against his inescapable iron grip.

"What was it about him? What makes him so special, huh? Was it the scars? He had a lot of those, sure, but I do too. Was it the detached, uncaring persona that he tried so desperately to keep up in defense of what he really was? You know just as well as I do that he's just hiding what he really is."

"What...what are you talking about?!" she said, as she struggled against Wrath.

"He's just a little boy swinging some swords around, angry because his little brother got the best of him."

"Shut...shut up!" Reika said.

"Haha! Why should I?"

"Because you have bigger things to focus on other than torturing a teenaged girl," a voice spoke behind him. Then a sword jetted out of his chest, and blood spurted out everywhere over Reika.

"Hark!" Wrath gurgled out, and then the sword lift his massive body up into the air, and it slid upwards through his chest. More blood spurted out, and Wrath dropped Reika. She fell to the ground hard and grabbed onto her throat as she looked up. The figure behind the sword swung Wrath to the side, and he went tumbling down onto the ground.

Behind him, stood Khuzo blood dripping off his sword and covering the entire front of his body. His dark, almost glowing green eyes were standing out against his blood soaked body.

Reika looked up in disbelief. Only hours ago, he had been pulled underneath the surface of the ocean by a giant kraken. Now he was standing directly before her. He held out his left hand for her to grab.

"Need a hand?" he asked cooly.

She massaged her throat as she accepted his offer. He pulled her up, and then turned to look at the rest of building. Just then, Scarecrow emerged from a thick cloud of smoke alongside Devan and they huddled away from the entrance. Scarecrow was holding onto Devan, who was gripping his side. In Scarecrow's other arm was Shungo, still unconscious. Blood trickled down Devan's side. The two looked up and saw Khuzo.

"How on earth..." Devan said, but then one last soldier came out carrying a long trident. He rushed at Reika, screaming, but Khuzo suddenly grabbed the shuriken and threw it at him. It went through the man completely, and then reared back and Khuzo grabbed it. The man, nearly cut in half, dropped down as blood poored out of his midsection.

Khuzo looked down at his new weapon.

"I think I'm going to call this thing...the Shurkraken..."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later."

"That's really nice, Khuzo, but I'm kind of dyin' here, Ridge isn't in good shape, and Shungo is out for the count. We don't know where Rain or Sorrow is or how they're doin', and last, but not least, I'M KIND OF DYIN'," Devan spurted out.

"Reika, take care of him, I'll help Ridge," Khuzo said, and he walked by Scarecrow, who only nodded.

"Those dang soldiers...they were a lot tougher than usual..." Devan muttered. Khuzo picked up the trident the soldier had dropped and slung it over his shoulder. Then he kicked Ridge's leg and he began to move.

"Ugh...need a drink..." he muttered, and then he looked up. "Khuzo?! Ah, man! You're OK!"

"Better than ever."

"Alright, NOW I feel like getting up," Ridge said, and then picked himself up off the ground.

Reika healed Devan and then checked Shungo. He was fine, aside from a big bruise surfacing on his chest.

"Thank goodness for that..." Reika said with relief.

Khuzo and Ridge walked back with the rest of the group.

"Reika, you and Ridge go help the others. Scarecrow and I will take care of the others hiding in the caves," Khuzo said.

Scarecrow nodded and set Devan down against a pillar. He pulled out his crossbow.

"Can't we all go together?"

"We don't have time, Reika."

"What's the sudden rush? All we have left is shoot or stab a bunch of defenseless benders," Ridge asked.

"Because, The End is coming," Khuzo said.

Hey,haven't posted in forever...

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Samei-Assassin and water bender,Location-Earth Kingdom Village Tavern

Scarlet Rose-Part 1

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The tavern smelled of beer and men that haven't bathed in months.Samei started walking to the counter when she suddenly got stopped by drunken man."Hey,lady,this taverns for tough guys only,why don't you run along before you get hurt".Samei smiled,"So,do I just have to be tough,or tough and a guy?" she than punched the guy so hard he fell to the floor.She bent over and looked at his pained face "Well,I guess I am tough enough to be in here"

She walked the rest of the way to the counter "I was told to talk to you for the key to the back-room,I have a meeting to attend."The guy didn't object because of how the last objection went and handed her the key."Thank you"."The Back" was just a darkened,dusty corridor with 2 doors on each side.She was told to goto the second one on the left,which happened to be the farthest away.
I better get a really good pay for this she mumbled.

She had traveled 15 miles by foot,gotten into 3 fights,and had 2 different destination.She unlocked the door to a well lit room.The room had a bed in the back,a chest for belongings,and a large table with 5 chairs around it in the middle.4 people were already there."Welcome Samei,these 3 people are your rivals,the first one to kill my sister,Rose,gets 2,000 dollars."

Samei looked at the other 3,they were all male."Wow,one of my rivals is a girl,this should be easy".Samei turned to see the speaker,he had spikey brown hair,hazel eyes,and brown colored ninja outfit."You are...?" she asked."I am Dirk,the earth bending assassin.".She looked at the other two,one of them was a sword master and the other knew martial arts,she turned back to Dirk "So,you think because I am a girl,you are better than me?".He laughed and said "Yeah".She pulled her sword and was behind Dirk with her sword to his throat before he could react.

"Stop playing around!"The costumer was standing up with his hands on the table."Now that I have your attention,I should tell you about my sister,her alias is Scarlet Rose,because her main weapons are sharpened roses,and,they usually end up scarlet".

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Thats all I got for now..

Once again thanks dafoose for your assistance...

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Siam- airbender

Just woken up from a dream

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It was not long before Siam had switched into a fresh change of clothes and
with staff in hand joined the others outside the temple. She got her grip on
it and twirled it around, to get a feel for it. Holding it up to the sun,
the wood polish glistened, and reflected the orange light. The sun was
setting and a brilliant sunset filtered through the western air-temple
causing everything to be bathed in red and purple. Even though no one
officially knew what was going on she could feel a sense of tension flowing
through the air. It gave her a shiver.

"Ms. Nakamura." Somebody said sharply.

Siam jumped, startled. Surprised to hear her father's name Siam paused, but turned quickly back,
coming face to face with the little girl holding the clipboard.

"Um, Tam right?"

Even though the little girl looked a little surprised she remained in a
professional stance. She reminded Siam of a box of tin soldiers she had
received for her first birthday. For some reason her relatives were very
surprised to find out that she was a girl.

"Um, Ms. Nakamura, Master Makani told me to ask you to meet him in the temple. "

"Yes, of course," Siam replied hastily.

As Siam entered the temple she saw multiple monks kneeling before the statue. The light shone inside the deep temple, through windows and such, and it made it look hazy and bright. Some of them were meditating while others were praying. She started to walk toward the door on the foot of the statue, until someone tugged at her pant leg. She looked down to see Tam staring up at her.

"Please wait here," Tam said in a quiet voice.

The little girl made her way to a woman who was standing by the entrance. When Tam finally got the woman's attention through various means the woman walked back with Tam to where Siam stood.

"You're here to see Master Makani right," said the woman, "He'll he here in a moment. Meanwhile please meditate or pray if your heart needs it. Just be take care not to stub your big toe."

As the woman left Siam walked through and around the monks until she came to the statue. Siam sat down in front of Avatar Zephyr's big toe on his right foot. Crossing her legs and cupping one hand over the other Siam began to meditate. As Siam meditated another woman wearing a hood walked up and sat down beside her. The women began to pray in a high pitched voice as she bowed toward the statue. It was then that Siam noticed that the woman next to her wasn't a female at all. Not knowing who it was Siam decided to make a deduction.

"Clans-Member Makani?"

She heard the person chuckle quietly, "Who knocks at the garden gate?"

Siam shook her head in bewilderment, "One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries..."

Makani took off his hood revealing his bald head that reflected with the light that shone through the temple windows. The sight almost blinded Siam with sheer illumination.

"Thank you for coming so quickly to my summons," said Makani, "I hope I didn't call you at a bad moment. By the way, how did you know which foot to meet me at?"

"My parents once told me that Avatar Zephyr only had four toes on his left foot because of a birth defect. And I seriously don't understand why the creators who built the statue wouldn't want make a anatomically correct replica?"

Makani looked at the statue and then chuckled again, "The master masons who designed the statue was very stubborn. When he looked at the initial design he decided to give the statue five toes on each foot. His argument was that when people looked at the statue they would think that the toe broke off somehow and think the statue imperfect. This anatomical correct flaw in the
statue would tarnish his reputation for perfection... or so the story goes."

Siam started to scratch her head with a puzzled look then began to laugh as well.

"But getting to the subject, I take it that you have heard of our neighbors coming to visit us."

Siam nodded, "But how can you say 'neighbors' when you already know of their wicked plan."

Makani lowered his head and sighed.

"Siam, I know you were hurt and that something precious was taken away from you. But you must forgive them and most of all you must not let these feelings obscure your judgment."

"I do hate them. I detest them for their cowardliness and I won't forgive them for taking my parents away from me," Siam seethed.

Makani almost looked shocked but relaxed, "Siam, you must listen and take to heart what I am about to say... This unrest, this hatred will only destroy you if you continue to ignore it."

The words shocked Siam's core as she realized the precision of his words.
How can I, how would I ever truly forgive them and be free of this hate,
thought Siam.

Makani breathed deeply then slowly got up and put his hood up, "Siam, please follow me."

She got up and followed him out of the temple. As they walked outside they made their way to the edge of the platform that overlooked the chasm. Even with the Sun shining down on Siam she still felt cold. More than cold she felt alone and started to cry a little.

Makani took off his hood, then turned to her and griped her by the shoulders. "Look at me Siam."

She started to hiccup as she looked up with her wet, red eyes.

"Siam Nakamura, if anybody missed your parents more than you it would be me. Their friendship is one of the few things I will ever treasure in this lifetime. And you have been like the niece I never had. I would hate to lose you in death or to yourself with the anger you harbor. And you must remember, death is only an illusion," said Makani chuckling as he held out
his dress, "like clothes."

Down to only the sniffles, Siam decided she was feeling better.

"Um, Uncle Makani," she said hugging a surprised Makani, "Thank you.... But what are we going to approach the fire nation troops?"

Makani paused for a second and pondered as to their next course of action. "Since they are searching for you I will go and greet them and see what their intentions are..."

Siam started to protest but Makani stopped her.

"I know you are curious and want to go but if I let you go you must promise me that you will stay hidden while I negotiate with them."

Siam started to pout but nodded her head.

"Good, well with that settled I should probably get into some 'respectable clothes' before we greet our new guests," chuckled Makani as he head back.

"Oh and one more thing," said Makani turning around, "Put on your traveling clothes and then be back here in an hour. But don't tell your little friend about this. I don't trust him..."

Even though she was a little confused Siam nodded again and Makani resumed his pace back to his quarters while she made her way to the nursery.

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

"Makani... Makani," Someone shouted.

Makani turned and searched for the person calling his name, "Ah, Clans-member Lynne. I thought you would already be back in the earth kingdom by now.."

Lynne noticed the dress but tried to keep it to herself as she talked, "I met a old friend and decided to spend a little time with her. She's been having trouble lately... But anyway I heard that you got visitors. Anything I can do to help?"

"No, No I'll be fine. I'm pretty sure it's just some misunderstanding that needs to be figured out," replied Makani, "You can be on your way and have a safe journey."

"Thank you," she replied, "I intend to. By the way, the food your monks served was very good. I am a bit envious. I was informed that you made the desert... boysenberry pie I think. I am a bit peeved though. I never got to try any since it went like hotcakes."
Makani started to laugh, "Actually it was prune pie with a few laxative herbs."

Lynne started to chuckle herself, "No wonder the restroom facilities were backed up."

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What do you think... A wee bit off the top, eh?