The Return of the Avatar - Book one: Body

Chapter Eleven - Red Lotus Rises

For the following weeks, Chou trained firebending with both Akai and Kokoro. The dragon was staying at the Temple, with the other large animals, like the flying bisons. He knew how to feed himself and once every three days he flew away to hunt some wild animal on the Western Air Islands.

The Avatar was learning fast how to control fire and how to firebend. Akai was teaching her not only the classic firebending moves, but also modern style firebending sports, such as Pro-bending combat, Fire Archery and Flame Fencing. Akai said that those sports would teach her basics on close range combat and defense, precision and aiming, and control and coordination, respectively. Flame Fencing was particularly challenging, seeing that not only would she control fire, but also learn how to use a Jian sword handle and firebend a constant flame blade. Producing flame arrows were easier, though.

Chou spent most of her time with Akai, even though Buniq, Bansi and Ling often came to see they train and practice. Sometimes her friends even helped her practice, bending water and air to make the training more challenging. The Avatar was training so much that she hardly had time for her regular classes. But, by now, even though she would gain from studying about the spirit world, history, and the bending arts, her main focus now was to control firebending before she could learn how to bend the other elements. By the end of the second month of training, she was a very decent firebender, but nowhere as good as she needed to be.

Professor Kaito even decided to privately teach Chou in the subjects she needed help, especially about history and the Spirit World, while Bansi helped Chou understand the basics of Spiritbending. Chou thought that since the Avatar was supposed to master all elements, she could also master that art. Since she would also bend air and water, she would be able to spiritbend without the use of a terminal, once she mastered that bending skill. But in order to do so, she would need to know more about it.

Perhaps it was the absence of the medication or maybe Chou realized the urgency of becoming the Avatar, but she was learning fast. She was even starting to learn the basics of airbending with Ling, specially some basic soundbending. With this skill, Chou's listening ability has increased significantly and she's able to hear sounds from a greater distance.

The end of the first term arrived and most of the students at the Temple decided to go home. Since Chou arrived as a regular non-bending Fire Nation girl and now she was leaving as the Avatar, her friends decided she needed to meet the Fire Nation with her. Akai managed to charter a private airship for them, one that would carrie Kokoro with them. And fortunately enough, Daisuke managed to accept Kokoro and the two seemed now as close friends.

Chou left with Ling, Buniq, Bansi and Akai for the Fire Nation Capital. She really missed her father and was planning to go visit him in Iroh Town the following day. But that wasn't necessary. Akai also managed to have Chou's father waiting for them at the Royal Palace air port and when the two met, the hug lasted for some time, until Mr. Kasai saw the dragon walking out of the airship.

"Wha... what is that?!" asked Chou's father, as he stumbled back.

"Dad, this is Kokoro, my dragon who taught me firebending!" said Chou, gladly.

"Kokoro is a real dragon?! I thought when you said you learned firebending from a dragon that you meant an experient human firebender, like a master, not a lizard!" Mr. Kasai was genuinely scared.

Chou walked towards her dragon and hugged him. Her father could see the size of the animal: his head was almost as big as her torso. And his eyes were gentle at first, but all of a sudden they changed. Kokoro became startled.

"What is it, boy?" and barely Chou finished her question, they all heard a loud explosion and the floor tremble.

They didn't have time to react when the airport building exploded and fire and debris rained all over them. Ling had Daisuke on her shoulders and was close to Buniq and Bansi. She managed to airbend an air bubble around them. The explosion casted them far away, but the air cushion managed to protect them. Akai managed to firebend most of the fire from the blast close to him away, but was hit by some debris. Unfortunately, Chou, her father and Kokoro were closer to the blast and Chou wasn't fast enough to save them. Chou's eyes lit bright as she entered the Avatar State when she sensed danger, but that wasn't enough. The three got hit by the fire and debris and blacked out almost instantaneously.

The next day, Chou woke up at the hospital, covered in bandages and could barely move. Daisuke was allowed to be there on her, seeing that he was the Avatar's personal fox cat. The first words out of her mouth were,

"My father... where is he?"

General Akemi was there, watching her and answered, "He's in intensive care. He had surgery and now he's resting. The doctors said he'll recover in time."

Chou tried to get up but she was too weak to move. Not even Daisuke felt her move. "What happened to everyone else?"

"Ling, Buniq and Bansi are at the palace, with minor bruises. Apparently Ling sensed the blast using her soundbending and managed to airbend them to safety. Buniq's mother arrived this morning to be with them. Akai was also severely hit and is also in intensive care."

"And what about Kokoro? Is he okay?"

"He's also being treated. The blast didn't hit you and your father so hard because he managed to protect you two. He's tough and he'll survive."

"And what happened? Was there a gas leak?"

"No. Unfortunately it was a bomb attack. A spirit vine bomb."

"But isn't that forbidden?"

"Yes, but it is also very easy to conceal. That's why they were forbidden after the Great Earth Wars and have only been used by the Red Lotus."

"What? The Red Lotus?" asked the Avatar, trying to understand. "Was this what happened nineteen years ago as well?"

"Yes. Durring the Great Earth War, the Red Lotus rose again after decades of silence, with equalist ideals. Instead of just wanting a new world order without nations and without the Avatar, they started to focus at benders as well. Bending, they said, was the source of the separation of nations, and the rise of government. They sided with the non-benders and vowed to protect them durring the war. They took no sides and were seen by the non benders as their protectors. After the war ended, they were on of the responsible forces to provoke the Local Earth Wars, increasing the animosity between benders and non-benders. But, thanks to the rise of the corporations - specially the Big Five around the world - the wars ended and peace was established. The technology distributed by them helped to decrease the distance between benders and non-benders. And some later attacks made by the Red Lotus were specifically aimed at bending sites, like the Northen Air Temple and the Fire Nation Capital, where my grandfather died. After that, they were not seen again for nineteen years. But  what all those attacks had in common, ever since the Great Earth War, was that they used dirty spirit vine bombs. They just harness small, untraceable amounts of spirit vine inside a simple explosive device but the combination was enough to make a big damage. It was a similar bomb now, I'm almost certain that the Red Lotus has come back."