[HEADING=1]Book: The Search
Chapter 1: Sozin's Comet[/HEADING]
Tao awoke to the slamming of a fist beside his bunk. "Get up you scum! You still have a sentence to serve!"
Opening his eyes and standing disorientated, the eyes of his 34 year old commander Kanan gleamed at him. Suddenly his expression changed to a smile, holding out his hand to Tao. "And I plan to make that a life sentence." Relieved, Tao returned the handshake. Kanan came from a similar story to Tao, though his family were poor, and was forced into a young life of petty theft, rather than a rich boy having a bit of fun. The man took Tao under his wing when he first joined the military, almost like a father figure, showing him the ropes.
"So what's the occasion this time? Another bending lap around the city?" Tao sighed to his commander.
"Oh no, something much more important, we're going to meet the general, along with a few hopeful soldiers you know."
At a loss for words, he stumbled in thought, if the general wants to personally meet with a few soldiers, it's either really good, or really bad.
"Sheil!" Kanan yelled across the barracks.
A man of 23 standing at 6'6" with bulging muscles rose from a bunk, standing at attention. Sheil had been in the military for a few years, he wasn't an earth bender, but he could still smash rocks with his head.
"Sir!?" he yelled in respect.
"You're coming with us to meet the general."
Sheil glanced between Kanan and Tao.
"Yes sir!"
"Ajala! Bipin!" He yelled through the barracks once again.
A beautiful earth kingdom girl of 18, and a boy similar to Tao, at 17, if not a bit shorter and a tad bulkier, stood to attention. A smile and slight blush came across Tao's face at the calling of their names. Bipin was also from Gaoling, from another wealthy family, a boy who loved to joke around and play tricks on others. He had joined around the same time as Tao, and was his best friend in the city. Whereas for some time Tao had harbored a crush for Ajala.
"You four and I are going to meet with the general, this is very important." Kanan collected himself, before bending down to point at Bipin.
"So be on your best, you got that soldiers!?"
"Sir!" The four of them stood at attention.
"Well I mean, it can't be that important if we're bringing this spaz along." Bipin commented, pointing at Tao, Ajala giggled at the remark, before quickly recollecting herself as Kanan didn't seem impressed.
"Just please, don't do anything stupid" Kanan said as he slapped his forehead.
The four were following Kanan to the military headquaters. Sheil walking in a proper manner, followed by Ajala, and finally by Biping and Tao fidgeting in the back.
However there was no tomfoolery when they entered general Satish's office.
"Thank you Kanan." He said, gesturing for the five of them to be seated.
"As you all well know, I would not have called you here if the matter was not urgent or dire."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"You may or may not know, that recently the avatar was confirmed. A young airbender of 12 years named Aang, from the Southern Temple."
"But sir. I thought the Avatar was only ever announced at the age of 16?" Bipin interrupted, instantly receiving a slap to the side of the head by Tao in a way to state 'Shut up!'
"Yes..." General Satish collected himself.
"You are correct Bipin, but the air nomad leaders felt it was important to start his training now, due to the recent threats of war from the fire nation, which you all know of too well."
"Bastard fire nation" Sheil muttered under his breath.
"It is not the fire nation, but their leaders you should be angered by." Satish commented.
"Anyway, he was sent to to Eastern Air Temple. But he fled in cowardice."
General Satish stood, arms crossed behind his back, looking over the group.
"The only way to resolve this coming war, is to have a fully fledged avatar, even if we need to force him to co-operate" He clenched his fist, slamming it to the table, before speaking directly to them.
Commander Kanan and the rest of you are going to find this boy, and bring him to the Eastern Air Temple. I have chosen each of you specifically for your unique set of skills."
He began to talk to each of the soldiers directly.
"Commander Kanan, you will lead this group, providing your tactical prowess and master earth bending abilities, there will be no commanding officer, however I will keep in contact, and you will remain under my authority, is that clear?"
Kanan nodded "Of course sir. We'll find him and have him prepared in no time."
"Sheil will assist the team with his great combat skills. Bipin, your knowledge of the avatar and the history surrounding him may come to use, I also trust your earthbending abilities. Ajala, hopefully your skills in disguise, deception, and general guile will get the lot of you out of any sticky situation. And finally Tao, your earth bending skill and... interesting connection to the earth will help you to locate the avatar, remember, air benders tread very lightly, so don't lose concentration when you get down there."
"You are dismissed, and leave in one hour, you have access to any armaments you may need, "
"Sir!" the group stood in attention, before filing out of the general's office.
They gathered the supplies they would need for the trip, and were each on their own Ostrich Horse, heading south from Taku. As they left, Tao looked back, crossing eyes with a young man in an orange tunic, with a monk-like straw hat covering most of his face, a glider on his back. Tao turned back to the group, when he went to double check the young man he saw standing in the outside of the city, he was gone. He shrugged it off, patting Jojo his Ostrich Horse, he felt like this was going to be a great journey, and maybe he could even visit Gaoling on the way there.
Days passed, Tao was becoming more and more emotionally attached to the group, he was thinking of asking Ajala out for a night, but Bipin gave him some good advice, to save it until after they finished the mission. They came to a mining village, north west of Omashu, travelling to the inn they each sat down for a drink.
"We're making great progress." Kanan complemented the group.
"Another week or two we'll be near the Southern Air Temple, then we can begin our search."
"The Avatar probably wouldn't have gone too far." Sheil stated, before getting a quick hushing from Kanan.
A few eyes from a group of men from the side of the inn perked up.
"Don't name it around here, we don't know who could be here, or whom they serve." Kanan scolded him in a silent tone.
"My apologies." Sheil hung his head as he talked. "But I do think we should look between the two temples." His voice was practically a whisper.
"Agreed." Kanan replied, before returning to his mead.
Tao turned his head to the group in the corner, they quickly looked down to avert attention, he could feel their heart rates increase.
When they came to their rooms Tao spoke up. "I don't trust this place, they were clearly interested in our conversation, perhaps we should take turns staying up?" Bipin sighed as he said that "But I need my beauty sleep!". Ajala placed her palm to her face "You could sleep for months and that wouldn't help..." The three of them laughed, before Kanan interrupted.
"You make a good point Tao, we'll do an hour and a half each, then we leave.
The group awoke to Bipin sitting asleep on the chair, Kanan gave him a hard slap on the back of the head. "This is why I gave you last shift, ya lazy git!" The group however had no problems over the night, and continued their journey south. Taking a boat across, they continued, planning to rest when they reach Omashu.
They never would reach Omashu however...
"Okay, the Cave of Two Lovers are a couple hours ahead." Kanan stated to the group.
"Lucky we have Tao here." Bipin laughed before even delivering the joke. "This player has tons of experience navigating that place, am I right?." Bipin gave him a friendly punch to the arm.
"Ugh, yeah I can navigate it, no sweat." Tao replied.
"Are you going to have Ajala help you navigate it?" Sheil spoke up, causing the two to quickly look at eachother blushing, before turning back to him in anger. "No!" They both yelled at him, as he put his hands in the air "Woh, woh, okay guys chill out" He laughed in his deep tone.
They came to a forest pass. Ahead in the distance, there was conversation they couldn't hear.
"Is the blasting jelly prepared?"
"Yes sir."
"On my signal."
The group came to a small clearing in the trees, the land seemed to have been dug up in some sort of way.
"Tao, get off your Ostrich Horse and check the ground around here." Kanan commanded.
Getting off of Jojo, Tao approached the ground in the clearing.
"I can feel something here, it's been... Something's been put into the soil here."
He approached to get a better look before hearing a strange bird call, followed by a disturbance in the ground.
"AMBUSH!" Tao screamed as he pulled the earth in front of him to protect himself from... 'BOOM!' The blasting jelly around the group detonated, Tao protected himself from the initial blast, however, it caused the group to fall from their mounts, giving the assassins a chance to strike the group. Suddenly a large squad jumped out from the trees, all dressed in fire nation gear. A blast of fire came upon the group, disorientating them, they weren't that easy to take down however.
Sheil jumped from the group, a large spear in hand, sweeping two of them off of their feet in a surprise attack from the smoke, burns up and down his body.
Taking a couple of flips backward, Ajala stomped the ground, bringing a boulder from the ground, before spin kicking it in one of the assassins faces, knocking him to the ground.
Bipin formed a sort of boulder around himself to protect him from the flames, before finally punching the pieces in separate directions, striking several of the assassins.
Kanan stomped his foot to the ground, blasting three of the benders into the trees.
Tao adjusted his movements, sliding his feet along the ground, submerging two of the assassins legs in earth.
Despite their training, the attack took it's toll on the four, causing them to stumble, and shriek in pain.
The assassins pushed their advantage, increasing their attack.
One of the assassins grabbed Ajala from behind in a choke hold, a distinct snapping sound could be heard as they broke her neck.
A few of the assassins began engulfing Bipin in fire, Tao attempted to assist him by chucking several boulders at the fire benders, however there were too many, and finally one of the assassins jumped from behind the group through the flames, piercing his chest with a spear.
"No!" Tao screamed, continuing his volley of attacks, smashing one of the assassins in the head with a well placed earth spike, knocking him unconscious, and submerging another to the point at which only his head was above the earth, continuing to spout fire from his mouth.
Sheil jumped at two armed assassins, thrusting his spear into one, whilst slamming his fist into the other, he trod toward the other assassin with his spear in hand, before two archers positioned in the trees began to open fire upon him. Two arrows pierced his body, his movement slowed, but he continued toward the assassin, bloody and burnt. Another arrow pierced his thigh, he submerged his spear into the assassin he knocked to the ground, before gathering the strength to throw it at one of the archers, directly hitting him, a loud 'thud' heard as he hit the ground. The next arrow, however, strikes him in the center of his head, causing him to fall.
Kanan placed himself on top of a pillar, continuing to launch a couple of fire benders into the trees, engulfing a few more in earth traps. But even this master earth-bender fell victim to the assassins attacks, the ground rumbled as he cried in rage, Tao was still attempting to take them out, but it was clear they were focusing their assaults on the others. Noticing the archer coming to take another shot, Tao smashed the earth around the base of the tree, causing him to fall to the ground, which at that height caused a crack in his bones. The relentless fire did not stop, Kanan put one knee and a fist to the ground, unable to hold himself up, he was still shaking the earth, but the assassins were well trained, and were able to dodge his further attacks. "Tao..." He called out in pain.
Tao observed the situation, Ajala's body was on the floor, her neck twisted, Bipin was still fidgeting on the ground, the spear lodged in his chest, Sheil had fallen face first into the mud, his body now a bleeding husk of burns, and now Kanan the master earth bender was falling to their attacks.
Tears streamed from his eyes "No!" He yelled before a strange feeling overwhelmed him, his eyes turned black, his body was as if it was being controlled. The assassins finally struck the last blow on Kanan, causing him to fall to his knees, his head looking to the ground.
Pieces of earth flew toward Tao, his body was immersed in it, as if it were his armor. The benders began to open fire upon him, but it did nothing to his state, upon striking him with their spears and swords, they broke on the earth covering him. Stomping to the ground the several remaining assassins were submerged in the earth, by this point they were pleading with him to stop, but remorse was no longer something he knew. He buried a couple of them, with a few movements of his hands. He dragged his feet along the ground, causing large pillars to strike a few more of the assassins, large 'thuds' and 'cracks' could be heard as they strike the surrounding forest with huge force. Moving his hand in an upward direction, a larger hand of earth came from beneath a couple of the assassins, clenching his fist, they were crushed. One assassin remained, their leader, Tao submerged him into a box of earth, the walls of which slowly came to close. "Please, show mercy, I can give you anything, information on our movements, the comet, anything!". His cries fell on deaf ears, as his body was crushed by the earth.
Finally feeling the foes were dispatched, Tao felt a great stress on his body, causing him to fall back onto a nearby rock, falling into a deep sleep. Jojo came from the bushes, nestling himself next to Tao as he slept.
Chapter 1: Sozin's Comet[/HEADING]
Tao awoke to the slamming of a fist beside his bunk. "Get up you scum! You still have a sentence to serve!"
Opening his eyes and standing disorientated, the eyes of his 34 year old commander Kanan gleamed at him. Suddenly his expression changed to a smile, holding out his hand to Tao. "And I plan to make that a life sentence." Relieved, Tao returned the handshake. Kanan came from a similar story to Tao, though his family were poor, and was forced into a young life of petty theft, rather than a rich boy having a bit of fun. The man took Tao under his wing when he first joined the military, almost like a father figure, showing him the ropes.
"So what's the occasion this time? Another bending lap around the city?" Tao sighed to his commander.
"Oh no, something much more important, we're going to meet the general, along with a few hopeful soldiers you know."
At a loss for words, he stumbled in thought, if the general wants to personally meet with a few soldiers, it's either really good, or really bad.
"Sheil!" Kanan yelled across the barracks.
A man of 23 standing at 6'6" with bulging muscles rose from a bunk, standing at attention. Sheil had been in the military for a few years, he wasn't an earth bender, but he could still smash rocks with his head.
"Sir!?" he yelled in respect.
"You're coming with us to meet the general."
Sheil glanced between Kanan and Tao.
"Yes sir!"
"Ajala! Bipin!" He yelled through the barracks once again.
A beautiful earth kingdom girl of 18, and a boy similar to Tao, at 17, if not a bit shorter and a tad bulkier, stood to attention. A smile and slight blush came across Tao's face at the calling of their names. Bipin was also from Gaoling, from another wealthy family, a boy who loved to joke around and play tricks on others. He had joined around the same time as Tao, and was his best friend in the city. Whereas for some time Tao had harbored a crush for Ajala.
"You four and I are going to meet with the general, this is very important." Kanan collected himself, before bending down to point at Bipin.
"So be on your best, you got that soldiers!?"
"Sir!" The four of them stood at attention.
"Well I mean, it can't be that important if we're bringing this spaz along." Bipin commented, pointing at Tao, Ajala giggled at the remark, before quickly recollecting herself as Kanan didn't seem impressed.
"Just please, don't do anything stupid" Kanan said as he slapped his forehead.
The four were following Kanan to the military headquaters. Sheil walking in a proper manner, followed by Ajala, and finally by Biping and Tao fidgeting in the back.
However there was no tomfoolery when they entered general Satish's office.
"Thank you Kanan." He said, gesturing for the five of them to be seated.
"As you all well know, I would not have called you here if the matter was not urgent or dire."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"You may or may not know, that recently the avatar was confirmed. A young airbender of 12 years named Aang, from the Southern Temple."
"But sir. I thought the Avatar was only ever announced at the age of 16?" Bipin interrupted, instantly receiving a slap to the side of the head by Tao in a way to state 'Shut up!'
"Yes..." General Satish collected himself.
"You are correct Bipin, but the air nomad leaders felt it was important to start his training now, due to the recent threats of war from the fire nation, which you all know of too well."
"Bastard fire nation" Sheil muttered under his breath.
"It is not the fire nation, but their leaders you should be angered by." Satish commented.
"Anyway, he was sent to to Eastern Air Temple. But he fled in cowardice."
General Satish stood, arms crossed behind his back, looking over the group.
"The only way to resolve this coming war, is to have a fully fledged avatar, even if we need to force him to co-operate" He clenched his fist, slamming it to the table, before speaking directly to them.
Commander Kanan and the rest of you are going to find this boy, and bring him to the Eastern Air Temple. I have chosen each of you specifically for your unique set of skills."
He began to talk to each of the soldiers directly.
"Commander Kanan, you will lead this group, providing your tactical prowess and master earth bending abilities, there will be no commanding officer, however I will keep in contact, and you will remain under my authority, is that clear?"
Kanan nodded "Of course sir. We'll find him and have him prepared in no time."
"Sheil will assist the team with his great combat skills. Bipin, your knowledge of the avatar and the history surrounding him may come to use, I also trust your earthbending abilities. Ajala, hopefully your skills in disguise, deception, and general guile will get the lot of you out of any sticky situation. And finally Tao, your earth bending skill and... interesting connection to the earth will help you to locate the avatar, remember, air benders tread very lightly, so don't lose concentration when you get down there."
"You are dismissed, and leave in one hour, you have access to any armaments you may need, "
"Sir!" the group stood in attention, before filing out of the general's office.
They gathered the supplies they would need for the trip, and were each on their own Ostrich Horse, heading south from Taku. As they left, Tao looked back, crossing eyes with a young man in an orange tunic, with a monk-like straw hat covering most of his face, a glider on his back. Tao turned back to the group, when he went to double check the young man he saw standing in the outside of the city, he was gone. He shrugged it off, patting Jojo his Ostrich Horse, he felt like this was going to be a great journey, and maybe he could even visit Gaoling on the way there.
Days passed, Tao was becoming more and more emotionally attached to the group, he was thinking of asking Ajala out for a night, but Bipin gave him some good advice, to save it until after they finished the mission. They came to a mining village, north west of Omashu, travelling to the inn they each sat down for a drink.
"We're making great progress." Kanan complemented the group.
"Another week or two we'll be near the Southern Air Temple, then we can begin our search."
"The Avatar probably wouldn't have gone too far." Sheil stated, before getting a quick hushing from Kanan.
A few eyes from a group of men from the side of the inn perked up.
"Don't name it around here, we don't know who could be here, or whom they serve." Kanan scolded him in a silent tone.
"My apologies." Sheil hung his head as he talked. "But I do think we should look between the two temples." His voice was practically a whisper.
"Agreed." Kanan replied, before returning to his mead.
Tao turned his head to the group in the corner, they quickly looked down to avert attention, he could feel their heart rates increase.
When they came to their rooms Tao spoke up. "I don't trust this place, they were clearly interested in our conversation, perhaps we should take turns staying up?" Bipin sighed as he said that "But I need my beauty sleep!". Ajala placed her palm to her face "You could sleep for months and that wouldn't help..." The three of them laughed, before Kanan interrupted.
"You make a good point Tao, we'll do an hour and a half each, then we leave.
The group awoke to Bipin sitting asleep on the chair, Kanan gave him a hard slap on the back of the head. "This is why I gave you last shift, ya lazy git!" The group however had no problems over the night, and continued their journey south. Taking a boat across, they continued, planning to rest when they reach Omashu.
They never would reach Omashu however...
"Okay, the Cave of Two Lovers are a couple hours ahead." Kanan stated to the group.
"Lucky we have Tao here." Bipin laughed before even delivering the joke. "This player has tons of experience navigating that place, am I right?." Bipin gave him a friendly punch to the arm.
"Ugh, yeah I can navigate it, no sweat." Tao replied.
"Are you going to have Ajala help you navigate it?" Sheil spoke up, causing the two to quickly look at eachother blushing, before turning back to him in anger. "No!" They both yelled at him, as he put his hands in the air "Woh, woh, okay guys chill out" He laughed in his deep tone.
They came to a forest pass. Ahead in the distance, there was conversation they couldn't hear.
"Is the blasting jelly prepared?"
"Yes sir."
"On my signal."
The group came to a small clearing in the trees, the land seemed to have been dug up in some sort of way.
"Tao, get off your Ostrich Horse and check the ground around here." Kanan commanded.
Getting off of Jojo, Tao approached the ground in the clearing.
"I can feel something here, it's been... Something's been put into the soil here."
He approached to get a better look before hearing a strange bird call, followed by a disturbance in the ground.
"AMBUSH!" Tao screamed as he pulled the earth in front of him to protect himself from... 'BOOM!' The blasting jelly around the group detonated, Tao protected himself from the initial blast, however, it caused the group to fall from their mounts, giving the assassins a chance to strike the group. Suddenly a large squad jumped out from the trees, all dressed in fire nation gear. A blast of fire came upon the group, disorientating them, they weren't that easy to take down however.
Sheil jumped from the group, a large spear in hand, sweeping two of them off of their feet in a surprise attack from the smoke, burns up and down his body.
Taking a couple of flips backward, Ajala stomped the ground, bringing a boulder from the ground, before spin kicking it in one of the assassins faces, knocking him to the ground.
Bipin formed a sort of boulder around himself to protect him from the flames, before finally punching the pieces in separate directions, striking several of the assassins.
Kanan stomped his foot to the ground, blasting three of the benders into the trees.
Tao adjusted his movements, sliding his feet along the ground, submerging two of the assassins legs in earth.
Despite their training, the attack took it's toll on the four, causing them to stumble, and shriek in pain.
The assassins pushed their advantage, increasing their attack.
One of the assassins grabbed Ajala from behind in a choke hold, a distinct snapping sound could be heard as they broke her neck.
A few of the assassins began engulfing Bipin in fire, Tao attempted to assist him by chucking several boulders at the fire benders, however there were too many, and finally one of the assassins jumped from behind the group through the flames, piercing his chest with a spear.
"No!" Tao screamed, continuing his volley of attacks, smashing one of the assassins in the head with a well placed earth spike, knocking him unconscious, and submerging another to the point at which only his head was above the earth, continuing to spout fire from his mouth.
Sheil jumped at two armed assassins, thrusting his spear into one, whilst slamming his fist into the other, he trod toward the other assassin with his spear in hand, before two archers positioned in the trees began to open fire upon him. Two arrows pierced his body, his movement slowed, but he continued toward the assassin, bloody and burnt. Another arrow pierced his thigh, he submerged his spear into the assassin he knocked to the ground, before gathering the strength to throw it at one of the archers, directly hitting him, a loud 'thud' heard as he hit the ground. The next arrow, however, strikes him in the center of his head, causing him to fall.
Kanan placed himself on top of a pillar, continuing to launch a couple of fire benders into the trees, engulfing a few more in earth traps. But even this master earth-bender fell victim to the assassins attacks, the ground rumbled as he cried in rage, Tao was still attempting to take them out, but it was clear they were focusing their assaults on the others. Noticing the archer coming to take another shot, Tao smashed the earth around the base of the tree, causing him to fall to the ground, which at that height caused a crack in his bones. The relentless fire did not stop, Kanan put one knee and a fist to the ground, unable to hold himself up, he was still shaking the earth, but the assassins were well trained, and were able to dodge his further attacks. "Tao..." He called out in pain.
Tao observed the situation, Ajala's body was on the floor, her neck twisted, Bipin was still fidgeting on the ground, the spear lodged in his chest, Sheil had fallen face first into the mud, his body now a bleeding husk of burns, and now Kanan the master earth bender was falling to their attacks.
Tears streamed from his eyes "No!" He yelled before a strange feeling overwhelmed him, his eyes turned black, his body was as if it was being controlled. The assassins finally struck the last blow on Kanan, causing him to fall to his knees, his head looking to the ground.
Pieces of earth flew toward Tao, his body was immersed in it, as if it were his armor. The benders began to open fire upon him, but it did nothing to his state, upon striking him with their spears and swords, they broke on the earth covering him. Stomping to the ground the several remaining assassins were submerged in the earth, by this point they were pleading with him to stop, but remorse was no longer something he knew. He buried a couple of them, with a few movements of his hands. He dragged his feet along the ground, causing large pillars to strike a few more of the assassins, large 'thuds' and 'cracks' could be heard as they strike the surrounding forest with huge force. Moving his hand in an upward direction, a larger hand of earth came from beneath a couple of the assassins, clenching his fist, they were crushed. One assassin remained, their leader, Tao submerged him into a box of earth, the walls of which slowly came to close. "Please, show mercy, I can give you anything, information on our movements, the comet, anything!". His cries fell on deaf ears, as his body was crushed by the earth.
Finally feeling the foes were dispatched, Tao felt a great stress on his body, causing him to fall back onto a nearby rock, falling into a deep sleep. Jojo came from the bushes, nestling himself next to Tao as he slept.
