On Justice and Peace

Chapter 1

"Avatar, news from Yokoya. There's been another attack."

Kyoshi repressed the urge to stamp her foot in frustration, not trusting herself not to send the stone edge table in front of her shooting up into the air. Normally, Kyoshi wouldn't have given a table a second thought. However, Jinpa currently had the table lined with letters, neatly stacked in some sort of order lost to Kyoshi. Correspondence for the Avatar, a never ending stream of requests from some of the most important people in the four nations- usually making only the pettiest of requests. Most asked for Kyoshi to back them over their political opponents. The Earth King sages begged for her to attend their elaborate parties, having the Avatar show up would go a long way in their neverending battle of politics and improving face.

Kyoshi nodded at Jinpa, signaling for him to continue. "The group of Daofei that call themselves the Xin De Tuanti have struck again." They have been targeting villages in the northwestern part of the nation and did they move fast. The Xin De Tuanti seemed to move with a quickness and elusiveness usually associated with the Air Nomads. Unlike other roving bands of Daofei who often waited for the cover of night for their jobs, these Daofei attacked unpredictably without regard for day or night, leaving these Earth Kingdom citizens to live in a constant state of fear and uneasiness.

"This time," Jinpa continued, "they manage to hit every house of status and wealth near the Mo Ce Sea within less than a day's time." Normally, Kyoshi wouldn't take huge offense to minor to moderate acts of humbling the Earth Kingdom's richest class. She had seen first hand how the greed of a few like Te, could result in the near starvation of hundreds- even thousands. Sometimes men like Te and Firelord Zoryu needed to be reminded that they were mortals like everyone else.

But Kyosihi couldn't get behind what came next, "How many casualties?"

Jinpa bowed his head, "Not a single estate guard survived, their bodies were strewn about the courtyards, their bones broken like dolls."

Kyoshi could feel her throat tighten, "And the families in the estates?"

"They're gone. Every member- every single person of the seven households on the shoreline." Jinpa paused. "There's more."

Kyoshi fought back tears of frustration. She was the Avatar, her job was to protect the world from this kind of evil. She was no more use than the Earth Sages who sat on gilded chairs in luxurious planning rooms if she couldn't stop it, if she kept hearing about the terror that was happening after the fact. "What more could there possibly be?" Kyoshi reminded herself to keep her tone polite despite her frustration; the Air Nomad had to be just as upset- if not more so than herself given the general airbender belief in the sanctity of life.

"None of their bodies could be recovered, so authorities were unable to confirm if these people are alive or dead."

"There is another possibility," Kyoshi said, voice void of all emotion. "They could have been taken prisoner." She thought of Togaka, the Pirate Queen and her predilection for taking prisoners. "I need to go there, I know we have been putting off going to the northwestern part of the Earth Kingdom because we couldn't pinpoint their location but we have to try, people are dying and disappearing."

Jinpa nodded. "I'll go tell Rangi of the plans and get YingYong ready for travel. We will in the morning." Kyoshi opened her mouth to argue but Jinpa raised a hand. "I know you want to leave right away but you need to rest. You have been working nonstop and I have the faintest inklings that we will find quite the mess when we get to the Mo Ce Coast. The reports mentioned that the walls of every estate that had been hit had been left in ruins and the doors to the buildings usually protected were torn off their hinges, leading many of the less fortunate in the area to loot the property. This has angered the Sages and the wealthy throughout the Earth Kingdom who are now starting to believe that the townspeople are working with these Daofei." Kyoshi signed, of course it could never be as easy as There was a band of Daofei killing and potentially kidnapping people, someone always had to bring class politics into it.