Chapter 4: Flotsam

Yengchen

The Avatar rushed into her room and closed the door hurriedly behind her. The evening had been dull, but some good had come of it- inspiration!

Another suitor had just dropped her off at her dormitory. She'd already forgotten his name. It didn't matter now.

She sat cross-legged in the middle of the room and attempted to meditate. It only took a few moments when suddenly she was in the spirit world. Her face lit up in a smile.

"Avatar Lawa!" she said, rising quickly.

Her former life stood before her, his robes flowing impressively and his mustache as full as ever.

"Hello, Yengchen," he said, affectionately. "You figured it out, at last, didn't you?"

"Yes!" said Yengchen. "My date tonight… Lee, I think his name was… he said he admired my spirit! And that made me realize- I can look for the Water Tribe settlers in the spirit world!"

"Very good," said Lawa.

Yengchen looked around. They were standing in a meadow at night, and lightning cricket spirits darted around the grass.

"Where to begin…" Yengchen said, pacing through the grass. "Are there any spirits of the southern oceans that you know of?"

"There are three," said Lawa. "The first is the Reigul, a spirit of good fortune."

"I don't think good fortune was with the missing settlers," said Yengchen.

Lawa nodded. "The second, is a malicious spirit named Goas. He appears on ships and demands a sacrifice or else he condemns the entire crew."

"He might know something," said Yengchen. "But no telling if he'd actually help us. Who's the last one?"

"He doesn't have a name," said Lawa, "but we call him The Eye of the Storm. He sees all who face peril on the ocean, but he is powerless to warn them."

"Sounds perfect," said Yengchen. She sat in the meadow and meditated once more. The lightning crickets surged around her and in a flash she was miles away, seemingly floating above raging storm waters, but the sky seemed calm.

"Great spirit," said Yengchen. "I need your help. I know you can't forewarn sailors of their doom, but could you show us the past?"

Storm clouds surged around her and images flashed before her of waterbenders fighting the storms. Waterbenders managing to reach the shore and conceal their boats. Then she saw through the eyes of someone else- an evil man attacking a waterbender with a massive Hyeopdo.

"Who was that?" Yengchen asked. She couldn't get a clear view of his face, but his spirit was swirling with greed and cruelty.

The spirit only rumbled its storm clouds in response.

"Yengchen!"

Her eyes snapped open- she was back in the physical world. Gao and Baojia were in her dormitory, Baojia was shaking her awake.

"Guys!" she said.

"I know what happened to the waterbenders!"

She and Baojia had both said this at the same time. They blinked at each other, confused.

"How do you know?" Yengchen asked.

"Well Baojia and I were talking earlier," Gao said before his husband could say anything. "And we were wondering, how could a group of waterbenders be in danger of a storm when they can literally control the water?"

"Right," said Baojia. "So we went to Khan, the Water Knight, to ask him about some of his findings…"

"And then!" said Gao dramatically, "he got way too defensive way too quickly, said we were meddling in private knighthood business, and we should keep our noses clean if we knew what was good for us."

Yengchen's jaw dropped. "He threatened you?"

"Definitely," said Boajia. "So we did some sleuthing…"

"In Qui's office!" interrupted Gao once again. "And we found that Khan wasn't recruited from the water tribe. He was fired as a catamaran captain years ago."

"What's he been doing since?" asked Yengchen.

"No clue," said Baojia. "But it's probably not legal, if Qui couldn't find any records. But if he was a pirate…"

"He may be behind the attacks," said Yengchen.

"I thought you said you knew?" said Baojia.

Yengchen explained how she went into the spirit world to look for the missing settlers and how the Eye of the Storm showed her a vision of the waterbenders coming under attack.

"Was it Khan?" asked Gao.

"I don't think so," said Yengchen. "I couldn't see his face, but I would've recognized his spiritual energy."

Gao looked at her blankly. "I don't know what that means," he said.

"I do," said Yengchen. "It means we're going to go to the southern ocean and find those missing waterbenders ourselves."

.

300 years later

Ken

The hot sun beat down on the knights, but it didn't bother Ken. The volcanic islands that made up the fire nation were always warm, even during the winter. He was used to wearing light covers to keep his fair skin safe from the sun. The only difference was that the Shi Wan desert was dry and Ken learned that he and Shan both required excess hydration. The waterbenders shared their supply with all the knights on Piao's instructions, but the water was salty and tasted like contaminants. Ken couldn't be sure that it was doing them much good, and he wasn't stopping to relieve himself as often as he thought was healthy.

"This desert was once home to many spirits, not just Wan Shi Tong," came a voice from behind him, and Ken turned in his saddle to look behind him. It was Rin, the Earth Kingdom warrior with the face paint and fans, riding along behind him. She had abandoned the paint, probably because of the heat, and her face was covered by a thin see-through material. Although she had no personal steed, she had paid a number of silver pieces for a camelephant at a trading outpost on the desert's edge and a blanket to set between its two massive humps.

It was a moment before Ken realized he hadn't heard properly and asked her what she said. She repeated, "There used to be spirits in this desert. But they're all gone now. They used to seek out places where the humans weren't, that's why most of them stay in the spirit world. But when people learned to adapt to the desert, the spirits started searching elsewhere."

"You seem to know a lot about the spirits," said Ken, reigning Shan in so that they could ride alongside each other.

"I know a lot about the Earth Kingdom," said Rin. "I grew up on a tiny island, miles from the rest of the world. I started training at a young age to fight alongside the warriors in my village. I had never been off my island, but I thought things would change when the Fire Nation attacked."

"They didn't?"

Rin shook her head. "The elders on Kyoshi Island believed war would devastate us, so we remain isolated and hidden."

"Wait, Kyoshi Island?" asked Ken. "As in Avatar Kyoshi?"

Rin nodded. "She built our island herself with her earthbending and waterbending. All the women on Kyoshi train to fight like her, although none of us are benders."

"That's amazing," said Ken. He pulled his sleeve back and showed Rin his bracelet. "This belonged to Avatar Roku. He was my father's uncle."

"Impressive," said Rin. "Is that why you wanted to serve the Avatar?"

"In part," said Ken. "But the scary thing is, I initially wanted to serve as a bender in the Fire Nation's Army. I was rejected because my father opposed the war. But it didn't really matter to me- I just wanted a cause to fight for. Never occurred to me to stop and think about which cause was noblest."

Kyoshi nodded. "It's better than doing nothing like the rest of the warriors on my island."

"We're here!" came a voice suddenly. Piao shouted- he and the other airbenders were in a cart being pulled by a team of donkey-bucks. Ken tried to see through the desert haze, and sure enough, he saw the faint outline of a massive building. The nearer they got, the clearer they could see it. The massive structure looked out of place surrounded by dunes of red sand, but the sun's rays illuminated its beautiful craftsmanship like a castle on a beach. It was the most marvelous structure Ken had ever seen, and that included the Fire Lord's palace.

"Alright officers," said Sir Piao. "Let's prepare our offering."

Sir Piao had done his research. To gain entry, the knighthood would have to offer information to add to Wan Shi Tong's collection. They had scoured the Fire Nation's ransacked supplies for scrolls and documents, and they had perused the Earth Kingdom shops they passed any opportunity. Ken was particularly proud of one he found- an original edition collection of Kanto and the Three Spirits as transcribed by Lao Fu Mao.

Each piece of the offering was placed on a stretcher between two poles. The four officers were meant to carry the offering between them in the Avatar cycle- Piao and Ankorr up front with Xin and Ken in the rear.

A small fox sat at the entrance of the library, apparently waiting for them. It waited as the knights tied their steeds to a hitching post, then led the way into the library's foyer.

They followed the fox into a cavernous atrium with stairways and raised paths in every direction and bookshelves as high and as far as the eye could see. Ken felt his jaw drop.

They didn't have long to admire the structure before the spirit arrived in the form of a giant owl.

"Name yourself," the owl spirit said.

"Great spirit," Sir Piao said, and he indicated to lay down the offering so he could bow. The other officers obeyed. "I am Sir Piao of the Southern Air Temple, Air Knight to Avatar Aang, and Commander of the Knights of the Avatar. These are my knights."

Ken bowed in respect, as did each of the other knights.

"We wish to use your library, and in return, we offer you these gifts."

The owl studied the stack of scrolls and documents before sweeping a wing over them and they vanished.

"You are welcome to my library and the knowledge it contains," he said, "but be warned. I know of the Knights of the Avatar, and I can tell you, you will find no allies in the spirits. The responsibilities of the Avatar were not meant to be delegated."

"Avatar Aang carries a heavy burden," said Sir Piao, defensively. "We were only children when our temple was attacked."

"That is all I will say on the matter," said the owl, and with another flap of its wings, it vanished down a distant corridor.

Sir Piao heaved a sigh of relief. "Let's split up. The Fire Nation is looking for this library, probably to gain insight into the Earth Kingdom's defenses. We need to find it."

"And then what?" asked Sir Xin.

Sir Piao did not answer, but he and the airbenders used their gliders to soar to the upper levels, vanishing from sight. The rest dispersed down the different aisles.

Ken wasn't sure where to start, but he noticed the fox that had admitted them watching him intently.

Ken approached slowly and the fox allowed him to walk right up to it. "Wan Shi Tong doesn't think the knighthood is honorable either, huh?" asked Ken, tickling the fox's chin. "Wonder what he knows that I don't."

The fox raised its head as if to offer help. "Lead the way," said Ken, and it bounded down a staircase leading to a subterranean level. Ken followed, taking the steps as quickly as his feet would carry him. The fox led him to a room with no light no other exit except the ceiling above seemed to have fallen in at some point.

"How am I supposed to get up there?" asked Ken. In one rapid motion, the fox jumped against one wall, rebounded to another, then leapt through the collapsed ceiling above him.

"You've gotta be kidding me," said Ken, but he had to try. He replicated the fox's movements as best he could, using the martial arts abilities of a gifted firebender. He hit the rubble chest first and felt all the breath leave his lungs. Then he pulled himself up. The area above the room only had a narrow walkway with a drop on either side into darkness.

"Why is this so hidden?" asked Ken. The fox stayed silent. It led the way through the darkness, until the walkway curved to the right. Ken followed it until he was once more in the massive atrium, edging along a bookshelf. The other knights had vanished down the aisles, but the ground floor was about twentyfive feet below him. How had that happened?

Having gone this far, Ken continued to follow the fox until it stopped in the middle of the ledge. Ken did his best to stay balanced. A fall from this height wouldn't kill him, but the last thing he needed was a sprained ankle or a broken wrist. The fox didn't seem to notice that Ken was anxious, but was busy nosing through a gap in the books.

Ken heard it before he felt it.

"Wait!" he shouted, but it was too late. The bookshelf spun around, nearly knocking Ken into open air, but he managed to hang on to the shelf until the spinning stopped.

He was on the other side in total darkness. Ken lit a fire in the palm of his hand and lifted it above his head. He was in a small circular room, apparently hidden from the rest of the library. The books all seemed to be accounts of air nomads. And in the center, there was a podium with characters on it- Yeng Chen Geren Huiyilu, Personal Memoirs of Yeng Chen.

On the podium was a handwritten book. Ken flipped it open. Yeng Chen apparently was one of the past Avatars, an air nomad like Aang. Each page detailed a different accomplishment, things like Vanquished the Sek Spirit and Dueled We Qwan in the naval battle of River Koom. Reading, Ken eventually sat with his back to the wall and the book propped on his knees. They were written by Avatar Yengchen herself, but they were not descriptive. Mostly she wrote about how her experiences affected her personally. Multiple times, she described a "righteous fury" that absolved any guilt she had over the use of force.

"For a pacifist monk, she sure fought a lot," said Ken to the fox, who was curled against Ken's feet as he read. "So what about her knights?"

He skimmed through the pages, looking for the character for knight, until he found one, a single excerpt scribbled at the bottom of a page.

Trusting my knights was the greatest mistake any Avatar has made. Disbanding them was the only way to maintain balance in the world, and as the Avatar, I will do whatever it takes, even sacrificing my own spiritual needs.

"I knew it!" said Piao. He couldn't be sure what Yengchen's knights had done, but she had known not to trust them. Ken tucked the book into his robes. It was clear what he had to do, now more than ever.

He looked up above him and saw for the first time an etching of Avatar Yengchen on the ceiling. She was a beautiful but fierce looking woman.

He felt the bracelet on his wrist.

"I will go to Avatar Aang myself and show him this book," he said. "I can persuade him to take up arms himself and end this war."

…

300 years earlier

Yengchen

"This feels wrong," said Gao, picking at the skins he was wearing. "Don't waterbenders have any clothes that aren't made of dead animals?"

"Kinda difficult to breed spider-silkworms in the snow," said Yengchen. She was admiring her reflection in a tide pool. She was used to flowing but rough fabric of orange kasayas. For her disguise, she was wearing a fur skirt and wool shawl, exposing far more of her arms, legs, and midriff than she was used to. "How do their women wear these and not freeze?"

"I think that's just underwear," said Baojia. He was also wearing sealskin.

The three of them had left the Western Air Temple two weeks ago on foot. Qui and Ling were under the impression that Yengchen was going to meet one of her suitor's families and Gao and Baojia were going on vacation. They'd traveled as quickly as they could, bartering passage on boats and flying on their gliders whenever they dared. Finally, they reached the shores of the southern ocean.

"Ok, now listen," said Yengchen. "We're stranded waterbenders, so no airbending!"

"Can we blow gusts at any water we see to make it look convincing?" asked Gao.

"Not if you don't have to," said Yengchen, with a serious tone. "Remember, we want to know what happened to them. If they were taken, then we want to be taken too."

"And if they were killed?" asked Baojia, darkly.

Yengchen didn't have an answer to that. "Let's go," she said.

They walked along the beach for a while, trying to look as if they were lost.

"Maybe we should try going inland?" suggested Baojia after about an hour of wandering. "There's gotta be a town somewhere."

"Why didn't we bring a map?" asked Gao.

"Because we're trying to get lost," said Yengchen.

"Right…" said Gao. "But couldn't we just… act lost?"

"Shh," said Yengchen, hushing him and crouching suddenly. "I think I heard something."

She pointed toward the dunes they were walking by. Gao and Baojia crouched down beside her and together they started walking toward the dunes.

Lying on their bellies, they peaked over. Two men were walking through the grasses. They were sunburned and carrying fishnets and traps. And a Hyeopdo!

"Fishermen?" asked Gao, gulping. "Heavily armed fishermen?"

"Pirates," said Baojia. "Look at their jewelry. Gold from the east coast, hippocow tusk ivory? Not exactly functional or affordable for mere fishermen."

Yengchen nodded her agreement. "There must be a pirate port nearby."

"Uh, guys?" said Gao. They both looked over at him. He was turned around, a look of fear on his expression.

Turning, Yengchen came face to face with a three-pronged Hyeopdo. The steel glinted so threateningly, Yengchen couldn't even look past it to see the man wielding it. But she could make out three figures beyond its tip.

"Found some more," came a voice.

"Bind them," growled another.

The Hyeopdo dipped and Yengchen caught a glimpse at the man. She didn't recognize him, but the aura was familiar. It was the same man the Eye of the Storm had shown her.

"Where are you taking us?" she demanded.

"Shut up, if you know what's good for you," said the pirate. He was tying her hands behind her back with a thick rope.

"Seriously, who talks like that?" Gao asked Baojia before his head was covered in a filthy bag.

"Stay calm," was all Yengchen had time to say before her face was covered too.

The bag smelled strongly of sweat and sea, almost bad enough to make Yengchen barf. Her own breath was already filling the bag with an uncomfortable warmth and a weeks worth of halitosis.

She was forced to her feet and roughly pushed down the beach. She could feel the sand beneath her bare feet and occasionally stepped on something rough that made her wince.

After a while, they stopped and she heard the pirate say, "More merchandise for the human traders."

Yengchen's heart nearly stopped. Human traders.

These men were worse than pirates- they were slavers.

"Tie 'em up. We'll get them to the Nu Li Market tomorrow."