Avatar:Folk tale of an earthbender{Book One:Earth}

Chapter 16:Jinora

Kaori's face lit up with excitement as Jinora spoke. "Invasion! That sounds so fun!" She said eagerly, clapping her hands together. "It really isn't, but, I like your enthusiasm." Jinora said, smiling. "What are we invading? An enemy base? Ooooh! I read in a book once that-" Jinora cut her off with a smile, laughing at Kaori's eagerness. "You're right! Sort of..follow me!" Jinora said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and leading her down the hallway.

Kaori followed closely behind her, staring up at her face as she walked. Jinora was tall and slender, despite being well into her 50's, she was still very beautiful, with sharp bone structure and spirited eyes, her hair was of shoulder length and it was very well-kept. She walked with such confidence, with her shoulder's back and her chin raised. Kaori tried to emulate this same emergy, but to avail, she stumbled.

She opened the door to a room, it had a long, round table, along with multjple empty chairs surrounding it. "Take a seat. I'll get you up to speed" Kaori raised an eyebrow, sitting down. "Like....a lesson?" She muttered. "Something like that..."

She lifted up a picture, of a large black insignia, pointing at it. "This. Is the symbol if the black lotus." She said, tracing her finger across the paper. "They appeared, seemingly out of nowhere about....17 years or so ago." She cleared her throat, looking off into the distance as she spoke. "Initially. They didn't seem like much of a threat. A tiny group of rebels. But...unfortunately..their message began to resonate. Before I knew it...before we knew it..they were a whole organisation. They were a threat." Jinora's voice grew unsteady, almost as if she was scared. "But that's...aside the point!" She muttered, turning around and clearing her throat. "Their main aim is..."

"To get rid of the avatar"

Kaori's eyes widened, and it felt as if her heart stopped. Just the thought that someone out there wanted her gone was unnerving, let alone a whole group.

"Well. That's not all. Just after Korra died...they siezed control over the Si-wong tribes, and some areas in the southwestern Earth Kingdom...they seem to have some irrational hate for all things Avatar, and all things spirits...they claim to be taking the world into a new industrialized era.." She said, furrowing her brow. "We have reason to believe they're in kahoots with the republic city government." She said.

Kaori was taken aback by all of this information. Just as she was starting to get excited about learning yet another type of bending, a whole new life was thrust upon her. Jinora, noticing the look on her face, sighed, patting her head. "I understand if you feel pressured. But. Meelo and I will be here to help you whenever you need us. He's probably out there preparing a speech for you right now!" Jinora said, with a warm smile. "I'll let you go and mingle with the alcolytes. Don't be out too late." Jinora smiled, and walked away, with the same confident walk she'd entered with.

Kaori stood up, feeling her legs start to shake as she tried to make her way to the door.

"Get rid of the avatar"

Just the thought made her stomach churn, the moment she set foot outside the room, she collapsed, holding her stomach, feeling as if she was about to start falling apart. She closed her eyes, as if the world was crumbling around her. But, they opened, as she felt something touch her cheek.

"Are you okay?"

She heard a voice behind her, opening her eyes to see who it was. Two boys stood next to her, one was short, about Kaori's height, slender with pale skin and black hair which was neatly pinned back to keep it from falling into his face. The other was dark skinned, with blue eyes and messy dark brown hair. They stared down at her with wide eyes. The paler one had his hand on Kaori's cheek. "What're you doing?" Kaori said gingerly. "I read that when peoppe are anxious, they crave human contact. You look anxious." He said. "You really do, are you okay?" The other chimed in, looking down at her. Kaori shook her head, scrambling to her feet. "I'm alright. Just a bit sick" She said, leaning on the wall. The thinner boy kept his hand on her face, staring at her. "I'm Lee." He said bluntly. Kaori stared back at him, with a confused expression. "You can take your hand now." She said, as he removed his hand.

"You look sorta familiar..." The boy with blue eyes said, pressing his finger against his chin. "Are you...." Kaori stood there, feeling her whole body tense up. "Ohh! Did I buy a juice box from you yesterday?" He said with a smile. Kaori sighed, relieved. "Uh. Sure. Yeah. I'm the juicebox girl." She said bluntly. "Oh! Cool! Yeah, that sucked! It was all gross and warm!" He kept smiling gleefully as he looked at her.

"Koda! Maya is looking all over for you-" Tenten walked over to them, stopping as she saw Kaori. "Ooooh! I've been looking all over for you!" She said excitedly. "My dad was so happy with me for finding you! But he scolded me for picking up two strangers....but it was worth it!" She said. Her smile was vibrant and cheerful, probably the most geniune smile Kaori had ever seen, just at the sight of her Kaori couldn't help but smile. "I have to show you everything! Like the airball court! And the dorms! The Avatar Aang statue! The Yang Chem statue! The training room! The meditation pavili-" Koda stopped her, sighing. "I don't think you need to name every room in the temple. It kinda spoils the whole tour." He said. "She's really the avatar people have been talkin' about? I was expecting someone taller!" Lee said, looking down at her short stature, smiling. Tenten frowned. "It's not nice to make fun of people!" She said, crossing her arms.

Tenten was positive, almost too positive, sickly sweet, and she talked way too much. But still, Kaori envied her confidence, she gave off the same confident energy as Jinora, though she seemed a lot more flamboyant. "Dang, I'm already jealous of Tenten for being able to bend air, and you can bend everything? That's so unfair!" Koda said, furrowing his brow. "Let's go! I have an early curfew tonight so we gotta get moving!" Tenten said, pulling the three of them along.

Meanwhile...in republic city
Four people sat at an oval shaped table, with a large map of all of the nations on it. One of them posessed airbending tattoos, and she wore traditional airbender robes, and bore a striking resemblance to Jinora.

"Fire Lord Atsuo could not attend this meeting because he has other things to attend to..I have been sent in his place." A man in a long red cloak said, he had a long white beard, along with a pendant in his hair, with the fire nation's symbol on it. "I understand. I heard about his daughter earlier this month...Please send him my condolences.." The woman in airbemder robes said, before looking back towards a man who sat at the other end of the table.

She cleared her throat, furrowing her brow at him. "As I was saying, Liang. The Black Lotus is a recognised threat. We can't let them go free! They've siezed control over numerous areas in the southwestern earth kingdom! Shut down numerous tribes! They're causing a rebellion amongst young people! We can't let this go unnoticed!" She said, pointing at the map. The man at the other end of the table scowled, slamming is fist onto the table. "Ikki. I refuse to drag my nation into yet another nonsense war. I'm not endangering Republic City just to take out some group of losers."

Ikki was taken aback by this sudden outburst, sighing. "They're much more powerful than we know....the moment they siezed control over the sandbender tribes...I sent a mole in to gather information...their army is bigger than what you think! They have powerful benders on their side! If we don't act soon, we could endanger the lives of all those around us!" She said. A woman, roughly 40 years old stood up. "I agree! I couldn't stop them from taking Si wong. Because it was unforseen! We can't let another travesty like this happen! We must act before it's too late!" She said sternly. "The citizens are starting to worry! People are rioting! For all we know, republic city could be their next target! Or Omashu! Or even Ba Sing Se! We can't let this go!" She said. Liang turned around, furrowing his brow. "You can complain about the Black Lotus when you have all of your ducks in a row. They took the si wong desert because the earth kingdom government was in shambles! I'm not endangering Republic City! Su!" He said. Everyone was taken aback by this statement. Ikki looked out the window, laying her head in her hands. "If only Korra were here....If only.." She whispered.