1. Chapter 1

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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He sighed as he stared out at the sea. The Southern Raiders had a mission. Two water benders remained in the Southern Water Tribe. A mother and her child. They were to take the child directly to their Fire Lord. This seemed very odd. This wasn't the first odd thing Fire Lord Azulon had done though. The first was letting an air bender that was found live. Namely himself.

He was Dormin, the supposed last air bender. He doubted this, though. There was no Avatar in the water tribes, so "Aang" had to still be alive. That's what his teacher said the Avatar's name was. His teacher was a scholar by the name of Tenzin, who was one hundred and twenty six years old. He was a non bender, but he found several scrolls during his visits to the Air Temples.

Dormin was only four years old, the same as the water bender they were after. He wore a Air Nomad's robes. His were altered, however. Orange was replaced with black, and yellow was replaced with a dark red. His boots were also black. His eyes were red, a shade of red that was eerily similar to blood. His dark hair was very messy and reached shortly passed his ears. He mastered air bending a year ago, after only six months of training, and already had his tattoos. Tenzin had a glider as a keepsake from one of his earliest visits to the air temples, which had been given to Dormin as a gift.

Ice burgs. Or were they glaciers? Either way, they were really close now, and he was glad the metal of the ship seemed to be keeping the heat from the engines, or he'd be very cold right now. Dormin twitched his hand a little, causing his shadow to shake a bit.

Shadow bending. Something that was unique to him alone. He wondered why his teacher didn't know anything about shadow bending, but after learning how the monks were all against killing, he knew they wouldn't have discovered it. Shadow Bending required a true evil in an air bender's soul in order for it to work.

The Air Nomads were all too pro-life for that.

He could do many things. Make others shadows rise from right behind them and assassinate them. Use shadows as extra limbs, or weapons. And the reason why he, a four year old, was here; the ability to sense what type of bender people are. All living things, even non living things, have darkness inside them. It's not as if there's a fire on their insides. That probably wouldn't be healthy.

He twitched as a snowflake landed on his nose. It was covered in soot. The snow would give away their approach. Not that it mattered. There were many fire benders among them, and only two water benders in the village. If you could call it that. He could see it from where they were. Not exactly a citadel.

The boat hit the shore. Time to move. He sank into the shadows, glaring out at the village.

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She was panicking. Black snow was falling. Her father said that the Fire Nation was attacking. The boats were terrifying She ran to where her mother would be. She needed someone to protect her, but her father was going to be busy fighting the invaders, and her brother had run off with the family of one of his friends. Gran Gran was no where to be found, so her mother was the only one she could go to.

She was Katara, one of the last two water benders. Her mother, Kya, was the other. She was to teach her daughter water bending when she turned five. It seemed like that might not happen, if the Fire Nation got their way.

Katara ran inside of their home, to find her mother on the ground, one of the soldiers standing in front of her, with a young child wearing strange clothes standing next to him. "Mommy?" Katara looked at the scene in front of her with fear, shaking slightly. She had barely whispered the word, but the boy seemed to have heard her. Turning quickly, his red eyes narrowed and his shadow stretched out and connected to her own.

"That's her." He said, nudging the leader of the Southern Raiders in the leg. The soldier turned to Katara, eyes glaring and an evil grin on his face. Yon Rha made a subtle gesture with his hands, and Dormin nodded. He made Katara's Shadow rise out from behind her, and wrap around her arms, binding her. She gasped and tried to back away from the two from the Fire Nation, but tripped on some ice that was jutting out of the ground.

Kya looked on in horror as this happened. "Wait, please, take me instead!"

The Southern Raider's commander sneered at her, "We were ordered to take her away specifically, peasant. I suppose it won't matter what we do with you though." Kya's eyes widened even further as a burst of fire left the man's fist and flew towards her, intent on ending her life. Her shadow swung around her and got in the way however.

Dormin growled, "We have the target, let's just go." He looked at Kya with indifference. He picked Katara up off the floor and sank into the shadows, dragging her with him. A moment later, they were both on the ship once more. He saw Yon Rha running towards the soldiers, yelling "retreat!" They were on their way once again.

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Fire Lord Azulon sat with a wall of fire raging in front of him, stretching from one side of the room to the other. He sighed. He knew what his son was going to do. He didn't have much longer to live. He wasn't sure how, and he wasn't sure when, but he was going to be assassinated. He would not let his granddaughter follow in Ozai's footsteps. It was easy to tell that Azula looked up to him. He thought the air bender that they found would be able to turn her to a better path. But he realized too late that air only makes fire grow.

So he decided to kidnap a water bender. The opposite of her element could surely accomplish this. So he had the Southern Raiders go to the Southern Water Tribe. There were rumors of a woman and her child there who could do water bending. He hated to tear a family up, but this war needed to end , and he had a feeling his granddaughter would play a big part in it.

Zuko was fine, as long as he had his mother and his uncle. Azula, though… well. Only time would tell if his plan would work.

Too bad he wouldn't be around to see it's effects in the long run.

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It was night time. Kya had barely stopped crying for more than a few minutes. Kanna did her best to comfort her, as did Hakoda. Sokka was sad, and spent his time just laying down, staring at a wall or the ceiling. They didn't know what was going to happen to Katara. They could only hope she would be alright.

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Azulon was startled when he noticed someone approaching. Three, actually. One was one of the palace guards, one was a Southern Raider, and the last was a young girl who was in chains. The Fire Lord glared at the two and quickly ordered them to unchain her and leave. The two complied quickly. Azulon was kinder than other Fire Lords, but he could still be very cruel.

Katara sniffed, quickly drying any stray tears, trying her best not to do anything to anger the man behind the fire. She stared up at him and fear, and flinched when he stood and made the fire part as he walked towards her. She started shaking and looked down at the ground.

Azulon kneeled before the girl and cleared his throat, causing her to look up at him. He smiled kindly, "I'm sorry for frightening you, young lady. I forgot how imposing I can be, especially when fire is around me. My name is Azulon. What is your name, child?"

She swallowed nervously, but answered without a stutter, "I'm Katara."

"A beautiful name. You must be very frightened, being so far from home." Katara nodded, willing herself not to start crying, and doing a remarkably good job, considering how young she was. "I want to introduce you to someone. Please, follow me."

Azulon walked out of the chamber, with Katara following closely behind. The palace was so different from her home. It wasn't cold, for one. She was glad, as she never did like being so cold, oddly enough. And the people here lived in actual houses instead of tents. The food was also very spicy. She knew that she would be here for a long time, so there would be plenty of time to get used to everything.

They reached outside, where there was a pond. Katara saw that there was a mother with two children, a boy and a girl. The mother saw them approaching and seemed confused.

Azulon smiled and spoke, "Ursa, Zuko, Azula, this is Katara. Katara, why don't you stay here with Zuko and Azula, their mother seems to want to talk to me." Ursa and Azulon went off to the side, while Zuko and Azula just stood there, looking at Katara.

Katara smiled timidly, "Um… hi. I'm Katara."

Zuko just sighed and walked away. Azula, on the other hand, said "Hello. I'm Azula. Are you a water bender?" Katara nodded. "That's cool. I'm a fire bender myself. My dad says I'm a prodigy. Have you learned any water bending?"

Katara became depressed, "No. My mommy was going to start teaching me when I turned five, but… well. I'm here now."

Azula looked a little guilty after making Katara sad, but quickly thought of something. "Well, I think my grandpa has some scrolls that could teach you. Then, when you see your mom again you can learn more from her instead of having to start with the basics later." Katara seemed to feel a little better at the thought of seeing her mother again. Azula smiled and grabbed Katara's hand, "Come on, my friends Ty Lee and Mai should be here soon. We can all play together!" They ran off to wait for Azula's friends, not noticing the glare that Ursa was giving Azulon.

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"You had the Southern Raiders take a helpless little girl from her home and family just so Azula could have another friend?"

Azulon sighed and started rubbing his head, trying to prevent a migraine he felt coming. "Ozai is going to try and turn your daughter into a monster. Dormin can't turn her off that path, he has too much evil in himself. Katara can save Azula. Hopefully, Azula and Zuko will be able to stop this foolish war. I can't, and I'm sure you know why."

Ursa looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed of what her husband was planning. She looked back up into his eyes, glaring at him. "Fine. But this better work, or I'll make sure your body ends up in the body of the sea. I'd imagine, as a fire bender, you wouldn't like that?" Azulon gulped and shook his head quickly. "Good. Now… wait, where did they all go?"

They both looked to find that the children had run off somewhere.

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**Four years later….**

Katara sighed as she gazed at the stars above her. Dormin was to her left, though instead of looking at the night sky he was reading a book. He hadn't changed much, though he was much nicer to her now than he was before. He completely ignored her after he helped the Fire Nation kidnap her. She didn't mind being kidnapped now, though. She made four great friends, and learned water bending from Fire Lord Azulon and Ursa. She only learned from Azulon for a few months, he was assassinated by someone. Ozai became Fire Lord, and Ursa started teaching her instead.

Once the scrolls were all used up, Katara started coming up with her own water bending moves. One of her personal favorites was making a dragon out of water and covering the outside of it with plates of ice, allowing for great movement without extra effort. It was mostly for looks, but it was actually decent in combat. She also discovered how to take water from the environment, either from plants or the air itself. A great skill in case she ever needed more for her bending. She started experimenting with blood, which she discovered she could bend inside of living things.

Four years ago, she probably would be frightened by this ability, disgusted. However, Azula had corrupted her. A lot. Speaking of the pyromaniac, She was asleep to her right. Well. Sort of. Whenever Azula fell asleep near Katara, she always started getting a little… cuddly. She was almost completely on top of Katara in this case. She didn't mind, though. She wasn't sure why, but she liked it when Azula cuddled with her. Even if Dormin liked to tease about it.

Ty Lee and Mai were great. Ty Lee helped Katara become more flexible, though no where near as good as the bubbly acrobat. Mai, on the other hand, taught her how to handle weapons. While Mai preferred throwing weapons, she also knew how to handle several others. Katara took to creating a katana out of ice. She worked best with this, thought her throwing skills with icicles was decent.

They didn't just train and teach each other things. They had a lot of fun doing other things. Like messing with Zuko. She and Azula always called him Zuzu, which annoyed him a lot. They didn't hate him or anything. He was just so cold to them. Probably because Azula was her father's favorite child. Azula knew what her father was trying to do. She acted mean enough to just satisfy him. She was evil, she knew it. But not the same kind of evil as her father. Katara knew Azula, and even Dormin, weren't the only evil ones in their group of friends. She herself had become somewhat villainous herself.

Ozai seemed to want her dead. He thought that she would get in the way of making Azula a perfect little monster. More like his personal weapon of mass destruction. Everyone in the palace knew of how powerful the princess of fire was. She was already moving on to lightning. Her flames had become azure.

Ursa suddenly obscured her vision of the stars. "What are you three doing up here on the roof?"

Azula opened her eyes and Dormin just continued with reading. Katara looked panicked and quickly replied "Uhhh… why are YOU on the roof?"

Ursa smiled and laid down next to Azula. "I'm just here to gaze at the sky. There's no better place for it." Katara relaxed a little, and Azula closed her eyes and fell back asleep quickly. Gazing back up at the stars she was surprised when Ursa said "Katara… thank you."

Katara turned to Ursa. As best as she could, at least, with Azula draped over her. "What do you mean?"

"If it weren't for you, I'm sure my husband would have turned her into a monster."

Katara smiled sheepishly, "I don't think I quite accomplished that…"

Ursa laughed a little, "I know she is still a bad person. But I don't mind that. It was her being in Ozai's grasp that worried me. He would have been the death of her, I'm sure of it."

Katara turned her attention back to the sky. She sighed, before saying "You're probably right. The Fire Lord isn't exactly the father of the year." Ursa smiled. No more words were exchanged that night.

The four of them all ended up asleep on the rood of the palace.

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Iroh was worried. He heard that the Fire Lord was planning on having the water tribe girl killed. Azula would be enraged if that happened. And things never went well when a pyromaniac got angry.

Okay, so she wasn't really a pyromaniac. That was beside the point.

He saw Ursa with the three children at her favorite pond. Namely Katara, Azula, and Zuko. The latter didn't seem to happy the other girls were there. Ursa saw him approaching and smiled at him. That smile quickly vanished when she saw the look on his face. He gestured for her to come over.

"You three behave, I need to talk to Uncle Iroh." The three nodded, although Zuko gulped loudly when he saw the evil looks Katara and Azula got when they looked at him. Ursa hurried over to Iroh, "What's wrong?"

Iroh looked over at Katara, who was helping Azula chase Zuko around. She was using water from the pond. "Fire Lord Ozai has decided to get rid of Katara. For good."

Ursa's eyes widened in shock and horror, "Oh no… Azula would be absolutely crushed… And I don't know how Dormin, Ty Lee, and Mai would react… what are we going to do?"

"The only thing I can think of is to send her back to her home."

"If we do that, Azula will be even worse off then if Katara were murdered."

Iroh nodded, and started thinking. He smiled when he got an idea, "Then we will send Azula with her. That way, Ozai can't start turning her into his perfect weapon."

Ursa smacked his forehead, "You idiot, he'll have half the army searching for her. We can't do that!"

Iroh smiled sheepishly. Then he got another idea. "What if you and Dormin went with them. You could leave a note or something, telling him you were taking them to Ba Sing Se. He knows he can't just barge into there."

"You're kidding right? He's your brother, you should know better than that. He would go there with the entire army himself."

Iroh sighed, muttered something that sounded like "You're probably right…" then went back to thinking.

Ursa just rolled her eyes and said "Why don't we just ask what Katara and Azula think. They may be eight years old, but they could handle this, I'm sure."

Iroh Just raised an eyebrow, "Very well. I doubt it, but I suppose there is only one way to find out."

Zuko had taken to hiding in a tree. Azula just smirked up at him, "You know I can just light this thing on fire, right?" Katara giggled at that. Zuko gulped in fear.

"Katara! Azula! Come over here!" They heard the Fire Lady call them over.

Azula sighed, "I guess we'll just have to continue this later Zuzu. Try not to break your leg on the way down." She kicked the tree and made it wobble slightly. Zuko gripped the tree tighter, muttering several insults. Katara followed Azula over to Ursa and Iroh. 'What's wrong?" It was obvious something was up.

Ursa kneeled down so that she could look at them more easily, "Uncle Iroh found out that your father is planning on hurting Katara, and we wanted to know what you think we should do."

Katara shook her head, "We're eight, not stupid. He wants me dead, doesn't he?" Ursa and Iroh looked away slightly. "I thought so. Azula, what do you think?"

Azula sighed. 'We don't really have a choice. For the time being, I think you'll have to go home." Katara looked like she was about to protest, but Azula wasn't going to have any of that. "I'm sorry Katara. But I can't lose you. We'll figure something out. Besides, you haven't seen your mother in so long. I know you don't miss the South Pole, but I also know that you do miss your mom."

Katara looked at the ground. "Fine… let's do that then." She looked up, crossed her arms, and smirked slightly before saying "But make it happen quick, before I change my mind."

Iroh smiled, "I'll take you there myself. I'll take you close enough to the village so that you can walk there quickly."

Katara sighed. She knew she would have to go home eventually. Didn't mean she would have to like it though.

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**AN: Well, that's it for the first chapter. Not sure if I did any good, but I suppose some readers will tell me if I did or not. Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Alright, before the second chapter starts, I'd figure I would answer reviews. I'm just surprised that there was any at all.**

**Guest- I know what you mean with Azula. I figured I would make her more aggressive after Katara left, since she would have to pretend to be "the perfect little monster" to keep her father from becoming suspicious.**

**King of Perverts- Great name. Anyway, I'm going to try my best to complete this story. I've noticed that just about all of the "Azutara" stories haven't been completed. I'd like to put one complete story with them paired up.**

**Now then, on with the… hmm… show wouldn't quite fit. Saying story is too weak… I'll work on that. In the meantime, onward!**

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Dormin glared at Azula. Then at Ursa. Then back at Azula. They were doing their absolute best to look as innocent as possible. Unfortunately for them, Azula was no good at looking innocent at all. For obvious reasons. "So… what have you two done with Katara?" He hadn't been around for awhile, Tenzin wanted to show him one of the air temples. So when he came back to find that Katara wasn't helping Azula terrorize "Zuzu," he immediately became suspicious. Ursa tried to make it seem like nothing was wrong, but they were doomed as soon as Azula tried that whole "Look at me, I'm the most innocent person in the world" act.

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Katara glared out at the ice. She didn't want to be here. It was so cold! Well, it would be soon, anyway. She warmed the moisture in the air with her water bending to stay warm. Iroh walked up to her and stood, staring at the ice.

"Is something wrong, Katara? You look… angry."

Katara huffed, "I'm going to freeze to death in this place, I'm telling you."

Iroh merely chuckled. "You can just use water bending to make yourself warmer. You are doing it right now, if the temperature over here is any indication."

"How do you think my people will react if I start doing water bending in front of them? I've learned too much to simply play it off as teaching myself. I'm only eight. It my mother twenty years to figure out things on her own. It'll be too suspicious, and I can't go telling everyone how I was taught by the Fire Nation. They won't take that too well."

Iroh blinked. Then smiled sheepishly. "You're right. And, now that you mention that, I should have you dropped off outside of the village's sight…"

It was Katara's turn to blink. "You were going to let them see a Fire Nation ship land anywhere near their village?" Iroh just continued to smile sheepishly. Katara smacked her forehead. "You know, for such a wise old man… you sure are dumb."

"Hey, I'm just an old man trying to enjoy some roast duck." Katara twitched as he pulled a bowl of the stuff seemingly out of thin air and started eating it.

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Lightning struck a target. Azula sighed. There had to be a more effective way to wield lightning than doing some stupid stance and waving your hands around like an idiot first. It was just too impractical for combat.

"Trying to figure out a better way?" Azula turned to see Dormin leaning against a wall. His shadow wasn't by his feet as it should be, but leaning against the wall next to him. Nothing but inky darkness with glowing white eyes. It was weird, seeing his shadow like this. She had seen him do this before, but something seemed different. Almost as if his shadow had a mind of it's own this time. But it was just a shadow. Right?

Dormin cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to him. "With fire bending you punch to let lose your flames. Why not trying shaping your hands differently to see if lightning will come out?" The shadow bender walked away, his shadow following him.

Azula merely raised an eyebrow. She clenched her hand in a fist, the brought her middle and pointer fingers up, as if she were about to use lightning. She jabbed forward. Nothing happened though. Frowning, she stuck all her fingers up, and jabbed again. There was a spark. Smirking, she continued her work.

While doing so, her mind drifted to her favorite water bender. Wondering what she was doing at this very moment…

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Katara was doing her best not to be annoyed. Her village was very far from where she was. It looked like nothing more than a few dots from where she stood, actually. Iroh had already left. She then smiled as she spotted an otter penguin. If there was one good thing about this place, it was those little guys. She snuck up on one and hopped on.

As much as she hated to admit it, this was a lot of fun.

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Kya was watching Sokka and several other children having a snowball war. She ducked as a stray snowball flew over her head. She smiled sadly as Sokka got pelted with snowballs from seven different children. Sokka had gotten her to promise to take him otter penguin sledding later. She just wished her daughter were here to come with them. She could hear her child's laughter as she went down the hill, almost as if it were just yesterday.

Actually, this sounded a bit different… older, somehow. And it was getting louder. What was going on? She turned around, and yelped in surprise as suddenly she was tackled by a child riding an otter penguin.

The children and adults all turned to find a large pile of snow where Kya just was. Hakoda rushed over. "Kya, are you alright?" He could hear one of the other adults asking another how one of the children managed to get to the otter penguins without anyone noticing. Hakoda frowned, knowing that all the children were accounted for here. So who was on the penguin?

Kya pushed herself up, though didn't stand. She was covered in snow, and had a deadpanned expression. Another figure, although it was smaller, rose next to her, giggling. That turned into a yelp of surprise as the penguin stood up and started waddling back to it's friends. The figure got back up and saw Hakoda. "Oh… hi dad."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. The figure had a Fire Nation cloak on, with a hood covering her face. She lowered her hood to reveal that she was Hakoda's, as well as Kya's, daughter.

Kya was the first to get over her shock. She threw her arms around Katara, hugging her while tears of joy poured from her eyes. Hakoda quickly joined in, along with Sokka. Katara was a little annoyed that her father and brother had to join in, but was glad she had her mother back. She noticed something that could be a problem though. Gran Gran was eyeing her with suspicion.

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Dormin sat on the roof, watching as Azula continued to make more lightning with the hand motions she made. Some did better, others did worse, some didn't work at all.

"**I told you it would work."** Dormin turned his head to his shadow, who was looking at him.

"Yes. You did. But it wasn't your idea. Not technically, anyway. We're the same person." Dormin looked back at Azula. She appeared to be thinking about something. Then she went back to trying to throw lightning.

"**You have a point…"** his shadow sighed, then sunk into the ground, becoming a normal shadow once more. Dormin stood up and walked away, thinking of new ways he could use his shadows.

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"How did you escape the Fire Nation?" Sokka was just dying to know. So were a lot of people, apparently. Everyone just stared at Katara, who was currently sitting in her mother's lap. There was a bit of celebrating, and now they were sitting around a fire.

Katara felt like hitting her head against something. She should've come up with a story to tell them before actually getting to her village. Gran Gran was still giving her looks. It was going to be tough to lie… so She would do the next best thing. Half truths. "A kind old man snuck me out of there and brought me here by boat." She mentally groaned when she heard Kanna speak.

"You're not telling us everything, Katara. You're hiding something." Everyone continued to stare at her. She sighed.

Why not tell the truth? As long as she still had her mother, she would be happy. It wasn't like they would drown her for befriending some people while in the Fire Nation. "Alright. It was General Iroh, the Dragon of the West, that brought me here. His brother, the Fire Lord, was planning on having me killed, and this was the solution that was decided upon to avoid having me killed."

Kya turned Katara so that she was looking at her. "Why would he want you dead?"

Katara sighed again. She couldn't help it. "Because he thought I was making his daughter weak by being her friend." People were quiet before. But now there was dead silence. Even the fire seemed to stop making any noise.

Hakoda cleared his throat, "You… befriended the princess of the Fire Nation…?"

"Yes. She wasn't my only friend, though. There was also Ty Le and Mai, who were Azula's friends, as well as an air bender that the Fire Nation found named Dormin. Mom might remember him, he was here when I was kidnapped. I was also friends with Azula's mother Ursa and her uncle Iroh." Most of the people seemed to look disappointed, fearful, or angry with her. Her mother was deep in thought. Her father didn't seem to know what to think, and the same went for her brother. She shook her head and stood up from her mother's lap.

She started walking off, "Since all of you seem to be bust trying to figure out how evil I must be now, I'm just going to go practice my water bending.

Kya watched her daughter leave, some people shrinking away from her as she passed by, or merely glaring at her. Was she going to get her daughter back, only to have her become isolated and emotionally cold because people wouldn't accept her? No, she would be there for her daughter. She stood and went after her daughter. Hakoda and Gran Gran followed.

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Dormin stared at the group from the shadows, blending in with his power. He shook his head at the ignorance of these people. He sunk into the shadows, and shadow walked, as he liked to call it, to where Katara was. She had used water bending to move across the snow faster, so she had put quite a bit of distance between her and her people.

Katara brought water up and formed a katana of ice, and was about to start practicing motions when she sensed something. She turned to find Dormin looking at her. "How did you get here?"

Dormin merely shrugged, "I have my ways. I am a shadow bender, after all." He walked over to her, making a spear rise from the shadows. It got into a stance meant for combat. "Care for a friendly spar?"

Katara smirked and also got into position. They stood there, waiting for the other to make the first move. Katara noticed a tendril of darkness making it's way over to her. Her smirk became a grin. Kya, Gran Gran, and Hakoda right when the shadow leapt from the ground and lunged at her. Slicing it with her katana, she moved to the side and rushed towards Dormin.

Ice met shadow, as Katara's Katana struggled against Dormin's spear. "So, Dormin… how did you find me, anyway?" They started trading blows.

"I've become quite familiar with your shadow over the past four years, Katara. It made finding you very… simple." He leapt over her and tried to strike her back, but she spun around and blocked the spear. Dormin sank into the darkness and rose again, but was a distance away from the water bending eight year old. His eyes flickered over to the adults who were now watching the battle with awe. His attention went back to Katara when he saw said girl's mother gasp.

Katara had made her signature dragon rise from the ground, plates of ice covering the creature. It coiled around her loosely, Allowing her to see Dormin, but still offering plenty of protection. Dormin merely quirked his mouth slightly, smiling at the rather theatrical dragon. She clearly knew they had an audience. Seeing what she was going for, he decided to join in and made his shadow rise from the ground. His shadow quickly turned his inky arm into a blade, and charged at the dragon. The dragon, in turn, flew at the shadow. While the two bending beasts attacked each other, Katara had to block a sudden strike from the ground, as Dormin had risen from her own shadow.

Kya watched the battle rage on, in total awe of her daughters abilities. She thought she would be teaching Katara water bending when she got back, but clearly someone had helped her learn while she was in the Fire Nation.

Hakoda was impressed with his daughter's ability to wiled a sword. Her ferocity was a bit on the frightening side, but he supposed that was a good thing. The dragon she made from water and ice was also spectacular.

Kanna, better known as Gran Gran, didn't like the way Katara was acting. She didn't mind that she was very skilled. She was glad. It was how fierce she was. And, despite her age, she could clearly see the look in the girl's eyes. She was enjoying this. She was fighting to kill, from the looks of things, and this was probably one of the friends she mentioned. If she was willing to fight with the intent to kill when it was a friend, what would she do to an enemy?

Katara panted lightly. The shadow had used air bending to completely freeze her dragon, and used shadows to keep it the way. She wouldn't be able to bend it. Her Katana had been shadowed by Dormin's spear when he accelerated the strike with air bending. Dormin had the spear at her throat.

"Looks like you lost." Dormin said, but he knew Katara has one last trick up her sleeve. He just noticed she was now wearing southern water tribe clothes.

Katara smirked once more. "I don't think so." She brought her hands up and began bending Dormin's blood. Dormin dropped the spear and stood straight up. His limbs shook. He only smirked as he said, "So you've gotten much better with your blood bending, it seems. Too bad for you I can do something similar with shadows."

He didn't even have to move. Katara started behaving in the same way, albeit she shook more violently as she tried to regain control. Dormin just stood casually, examining his hand.

"Listen, I gotta get going. I'll try to visit every once in awhile. You keep coming up with more ideas, and get better with that blood bending in the meantime." He sank into the shadows, letting her go as he vanished.

Katara sighed, and looked over at her parents and Gran Gran. They were going to wanna know about her blood bending. How troublesome.

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Azula stared at Dormin. "And how exactly did you manage to get to the South Pole and back so quickly?"

"I told you, I can shadow walk. Go from one shadow to another in a flash. Not literally, of course. Wouldn't be very sneaky otherwise." He smiled as she rolled her eyes at him. "So, how did your father take the news?"

Azula looked at him, confused. "What news?" Dormin stared at her, deadpanned. She then smacked her forehead. "Right, Katara's disappearance. Very well, actually. He must think that whoever he hired was successful. Weird, though. I know my father, and he doesn't pay up front. So why would he think this assassin was successful?"

"Think about it. If the Fire Lord thought you were successful and was paying you for doing something you didn't even have to lift a finger for, wouldn't you just say you did and move on?"

"Alright, good point. Those idiot villagers better treat my Katara right, or…" Dormin raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean… oh damn."

"Language, young lady… and aren't you too young to be crushing on someone?"

"I am. But since when have I cared about being too young?"

Between her fire bending, lightning bending, and intelligence, she had a point. "Alright, you got me there. Besides, it's just a crush. A little strange that you like a girl like that, considering you are a girl, but oh well."

Just a crush. Azula blushed a little. Yeah. Just a crush.

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Morning. Well, dawn really. Growing up with fire benders made character behave a bit more like them. So she would rise with the sun. Well, she wanted to rise anyway. However, Katara was being held by her mother, who was still sleeping peacefully. Out of everyone in the village, only her mother, and she supposed her father, seemed to like that she was back.

Hakoda asked her if she wanted to train with him and the other men. She decided to do so, just so she could show how much better she was compared to them.

Kanna, who she refused to call Gran Gran anymore, didn't like the way Katara acted, and said girl couldn't care less what the woman thought of her. Scratch another person who she thought she could tolerate.

Her mother told her that she was very proud of her. When they got back to their… tent, Kya whispered something to Hakoda, who nodded and went to their… bed. Suddenly, Katara missed her room at the Fire Nation. It was big. Fluffy. And, most importantly, not cold. All they had here were sleeping bags. Her mother apparently wanted to use her as a stuffed animal of some sort. Katara didn't mind.

However, the clinginess was in the way of her morning practice. Not to mention she had an idea on how to kill people with her blood bending. However, she would need living things to test that, and she would be a lot less welcome if things started dying around here.

Spirits, she was so twisted.

Her mother looked so peaceful though. So, Katara decided to be nice and let her sleep.

An hour later her patience would be wearing thin.

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**AN: And that's the second chapter. I would've written more, but there's family visiting, and I would've probably forgot what I was doing if I waited. Hope whoever read this enjoyed the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Well, time for a new chapter. Still kinda hard to find time to make a long one. Turns out my cousins shall be staying for a bit longer than expected. Anyway. First… reviews! Including one I missed from the previous chapter. My bad.**

**Guest: I love the pairing too. In fact, it's my favorite. Probably why I chose it… and if it wasn't AU, I don't think it could be fan fiction. Unless it's a monetization of something like a game… I suppose isn't AU then. Anyway…**

**Felur- These are the kinds of reviews I look forward to. Any who… canon Katara was a little on the… "meh"… side. Aang might be in for a beating. Who knows? Me? Maybe. Dormin isn't going to use his shadow walking ability as much as one might think, as I'm using it to… introduce something… in this chapter, in fact.**

**Anyway, on to the story.**

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Dormin was panicking.

It started out with him just lazily floating in shadows… his shadow walking allowed him to stay inside this "alternate world." When he finally decided to surface, he found that he couldn't He didn't know why, as there wasn't a problem before. He had only done it on four occasions, and was done with each trip quickly. When he first did it successfully, shadow walking to Katara, during his battle with her, and when he shadow walked back to the palace. The shadowy air bender just didn't get it.

That's when he realized he had stirred the buzzard wasp's nest.

He heard a growl behind him, so he turned. All he saw was inky blackness, as expected… then two white eyes appeared. Followed by a jagged mouth, kinda like the face of a jack-o-lantern. Outlines followed, and soon there was a dragon before him. A very big dragon.

Well, fuck.

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Azula twitched. She could have sworn she heard Dormin screaming. Shaking her head, she went back to working on her lightning.

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Katara was getting impatient. Very, very, oh so very impatient. Her Mother was still not awake. Apparently, Katara was a very good pillow. But enough was enough. She bended water from outside and splashed it onto her mother, causing her to jump up, sputtering. Katara was dragged with her.

Kya glared down at her daughter, "And what was that for, exactly?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "I've put off my morning routine off long enough for your sake, mom. Even Sokka is up now. And I can tell he's the type who sleeps as much as possible. I would like to get some training in some time today. That, and dad wanted me to train with him later."

"Alright, but first I'm going to make you breakfast." Kya got up and started to get ready to make something.

"As long as it isn't sea prunes, then alright." Her mother tried to subtly put away whatever she had just picked up, which just made Katara smile. Then a frown came over her visage. She still wasn't sure what to do about her blood bending. She doubted the Fire Nation would come here, which would have given her an excuse to test her theory. Perhaps there were some dangerous beasts out in the tundra.

She would have to ask her father about the creatures that roamed around.

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Dormin thought that since it was a shadow dragon, it would shoot shadow flames, which would not be very hot. However, the beast was shooting white flames. Those kinds of flames were very hot. He was moving all over the place, doing his best to dodge and attack the creature. The wings had a few holes, and the tail was now missing, but the beast had not slowed down.

Then another opening came.

He turned the shadows near him into a great sword, and swung the blade at the dragon's neck. The head dissolved into nothing, just as the tail had, with some sort of white substance leaking from it. It did not stop moving though.

That's when he caught a glimpse inside of it. In the core of the creature was something red, that had a beat. It was the heart.

Smirking, Dormin moved back and made a bow in one hand, and an arrow in the other.

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Katara was deep in thought as she when through the motions of her katana techniques. She was great at dodging and blocking, but she wasn't perfect. All it would take was one slip up, and she would be taken out. Permanently. She needed armor.

Armor was a problem though. It required good maintenance. Not to mention that it would need replacing as she grew. She couldn't keep paying for new armor so often, she had no means to gain money at the moment.

The solution was simple though, and she smirked as she let her katana melt and turned the snow around her into water.

Her mother was watching as she did this. She was surprised that Katara was so good at water bending, but she was also happy. She didn't like her blood bending, as that strange bender called it, but she accepted that her daughter was the way she was. As long as she didn't going killing people who annoyed her, it wouldn't be a problem. She was currently wondering what Katara was about to do.

Katara surrounded herself with water, giving it shape. Once she was satisfied with it, she froze it. Her ice armor resembled that of a samurai's.

Katara quickly realized she would need to get stronger before this would be effective. The weight of the ice slowed her movements considerably. The solution was obvious. It would likely be awhile before she got into a real fight again, so she would practice with her katana and water bending while wearing the armor. Perhaps do other things while the armor was equipped.

Katara made another ice katana and went back to practicing. Kya noticed that her movements were much slower, but she knew that in time her daughter would be able to move swiftly with it on.

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It took quite a bit of maneuvering, but he managed to land an arrow on the beast's heart. Dormin watched as the body dissolved into shadows. The shadow dragon had thrashed about when it had no way to see, hoping it would manage to strike it's prey. Dormin looked "down," and saw that more creatures were starting to appear. Many of them creatures that were extinct. Eyes widening, he shadow walked out of Azula's shadow.

"Where the hell have you been all day?" Azula almost screamed at him. She and her mother had been searching for him ever since they had lunch, their worry for him had peaked. Ursa, having heard her, rushed over. Both took notice of the cuts, bruises, and burns that covered Dormin. He was good, but the dragon had the advantage, so he didn't go unscathed.

Dormin inhaled, and exhaled deeply. Fresh air was a wonderful thing. "I've determined that shadow walking should be for emergencies only." Azula looked at him like he was crazy.

"Why's that?" Azula had told Ursa about Dormin's ability, and she was happy that Katara still had a friend who could visit her. If he had to stop, she couldn't help but wonder why.

"Apparently, my trips into the shadows have not gone unnoticed. There are creatures in there, ones that are known to be extinct. I had to find a dragon in order to get out of there. It seems that if one gets to close, I am unable to leave the shadows until I kill it. I'm afraid Katara isn't going to be getting many visits from me."

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Katara was now eating lunch with her mother and brother. Fortunately for her, at least in her opinion, Sokka was doing his best to completely ignore her. Apparently, being friends with people in the Fire Nation was a big deal. At least he wasn't annoying the hell out of her.

She was quite fatigues from her practice. It wasn't the armor that made it so, however. There was one thing she didn't learn from Fire Lord Azulon and Ursa, and that was healing. She didn't know why, but trying to heal was very difficult for her. Must have put too much focus in offense and defense over the years. Her mother told her it was better learning healing earlier, in most cases.

Kya merely sat, looking at her two children. Sokka had taken after Hakoda in pretty much every way. That was to be expected, as he wasn't a water bender, as well as "one of the guys." They really didn't have much in common. Sokka also made bad jokes, just like his father.

Katara was once a sweet little girl who was probably the shyest child in the village. If she were the same as back then, she probably still would be. Her friends in the Fire Nation had changed her though. She was brave, and wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind. She also had a twisted side, if her blood bending was any indication. Probably a bit cruel too. But Kya didn't care. She had her daughter back.

Katara stood up, "I'm going to go find dad. Alright?"

Kya smiled and nodded, "Alright, you have fun. And try and go easy on him and the men, alright sweetheart?" Katara giggled, and was about to leave when her mother added "And I want you to tell me about your friends when you get back!" responding with a quick "okay," Katara started heading off towards where the men trained when Sokka came running out after her.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Something I can help you with, Sokka?"

Sokka merely crossed his arms and continued walking beside her. This time, she did roll her eyes.

The area where the men were training was just outside the village. Kya made dummies out of snow and ice, snow for children in training, and ice for the adults. There were two men sparring when they arrived. Somewhat clumsily, Katara mentally added. Hakoda saw her and Sokka approaching,

"Ah! Sokka, Katara, excellent. I want you two to duel with these," Gesturing towards some wooden swords. Katara and Sokka both took one, and the latter went to the other side of the sparring circle.

Hakoda kneeled down next to Katara, "I know you're vastly more skilled than Sokka, but I'm doing this because he's got a bit of a… sexist thing going." Katara narrowed her eyes at her brother.

"I'm going to be honest with you, dad… I'm really starting to hate the little brat." Hakoda merely chuckled, most likely thinking she was just joking. Shaking her head, she moved into the circle.

Sokka, being infinitely wise, decided to piss of Katara even further. "I don't get why dad is making me face you. I mean, how could you possibly beat me? You're a girl." Some of the men laughed, other s just shook their heads. Katara glared. Hakoda called out "Begin!"

Sokka didn't know what hit him. Katara charged forward, rolled, swept his legs out from under him, stood back up, and pointed the wooden sword at his throat. "Never. Ever. Underestimate anyone. No matter what. Get the through your thick skull and you might survive battling real danger." Turning to her father, she asked "Can't I duel someone with a little more competence? Perhaps one of the adults?"

Apparently that was funny to several men. And not because she called Sokka incompetent. It was because they were men. And that made her twitch a little.

Hakoda rubbed the back of his head, "We use real swords… and wear armor. I don't think we have any armor that can fit you…"

Katara bended snow from the ground and made her ice armor again. After she finished forming her katana, she responded "I'm fine with that. I need to get used to using this armor eventually anyway." She smirked at their surprised expressions. She got back into the circle and got into a stance. She was starting to move a bit faster, though no where near as fast as without the armor. It would take some time, she knew.

Hakoda called over his friend Bato, "Alright, let's see how you against my old friend here."

"Not as old as you." Was hear being muttered from beside Hakoda, causing him to laugh. Bato put on some armor and grabbed a sword. Getting into the sparring circle, he observed Katara's armor, "Very resourceful. And cheap, in terms of cost. Low maintenance too. Very nice."

Katara smirked, "That's very nice, Bato. But I came here to knock you around, not talk." Some snickered, others fell over laughing. Seeing an eight year old say that do Bato was apparently too funny.

Bato playfully glared, a smile threatening to break out on his face. He rushed forward and swung his words. Katara blocked. The battle had begun.

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"Ty Lee seems really unhappy." Azula said to Dormin, who was also looking at their friend with concern. Ty Lee was sitting next to Mai under a tree across from them. They were just playing hide and seek, and were currently resting.

Dormin closed his eyes, laying back against the tree trunk. "She's always had issues with her family. Something about not wanting to be like her sisters. It must be really getting to her right now."

Azula nodded, and did the same as Dormin. "Seems like our group has all had family issues."

"You're including Katara in that statement, aren't you?"

Azula sighed. "Of course. She was taken away from her family, and now she needs to try and form some sort of relationship with each of them. Since they know she was friends with people in the Fir Nation, it's probably going to be difficult for her."

Dormin nodded. Just about everyone seemed to be angry when they learned that. Except for her parents, particularly Kya. "I believe she already has gotten her mother on her side. So, she's not alone there." Azula smiled. "So, how does everyone here have family issues again?"

Azula opened her eyes and sighed. "Well, let's see… Ty Lee doesn't want to be just like her sisters, Mai doesn't like showing emotions because her parents are so concerned about their standing, we don't even know what happened to yours, and my father wants to pretty much destroy the world."

It was Dormin's turn to smile. "Yeah… that sounds about right…"

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Bato was on his back, panting. He had been disarmed, the tripped. His sword was lodged in the ground behind Katara, who standing in front of him, panting more heavily because of her armor. Her katana was pointed towards him.

"Alright, you win… man… and you can move faster without that… insane…" Bato stood up as Katara let the armor and swords turn back to water, then into snow so no one would slip on the water if it completely froze the ground.

Katara smirked. "That was great exercise. I think I'm starting to get used to this armor."

Bato twitched at the exercise comment, but just laughed as he went to sit down and catch his breath. Katara did the same, except she opted to sit next to her father. She wanted to know about the creatures that lived around here, so she could practice blood bending on something. Otter penguins were out of the question, they were too much fun. Same went for polar bear dogs.

Hakoda had called on two men to spar each other. He smiled when his daughter sat down next to him, "You did a great job, Katara. I'm really impressed. Especially since you're eight."

Katara smiled, "Thanks dad. Starting my training when I was four probably helped." He nodded. "Hey dad, what other animals are out here? Other than otter penguins and polar bear dogs, I've never seen any."

Hakoda scratched his beard in thought. "There aren't many out here, to be honest. There's several kinds of fish, but I'm guessing you want land, not marine?" Katara nodded. "Well… there are the walrus lions. Big, fanged creatures with a big mane. And there's also the tundra centipedes. Absolutely massive bugs. As big as our village, in fact."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "And why is it we've never had any of those around here?"

Hakoda shrugged. "I'm not sure. They like to stay as far south as they can get, so they're all gathered up far from here. Not too far, but far enough to remain safe from them. And I'm glad for that, because fighting those off would be rather… difficult."

Katara rolled her eyes, "Gee dad, I wonder why. Such a mystery."

Hakoda chuckled. "As for the walrus lions, They stay next to the ocean so they can get to fish easily. Because of their girth, they can't get around to easily on land, but they need air, so… yeah." Well, she couldn't go blood bending those creatures. He might actually feel bad. Tundra centipedes it was. "Why are you asking anyway? This wouldn't have anything to do with that… what was it, blood bending? Would it?"

She had to give her father some credit. He wasn't as dumb as she had thought. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing though. "Yeah, well… I need to practice somehow. I don't think I'm going to get any volunteers around here… unless there's some sort of masochist around here."

Hakoda stared at her, deadpanned. "You really… just should not know that word."

Katara shrugged. "Sorry, can't unlearn it." Katara stood up and stretched a little. "I'm going to go find mom. She wanted me to tell her about my friends from the Fire Nation."

Hakoda nodded and she ran off. His daughter had grown up a lot, for an eight year old. He looked over at Sokka, who was sulking. He'd have to have a talk with him.

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**AN: That's the end of chapter 3. Again, sorry about how short the chapters are. Once I get more time, I'll try making them longer. Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Chapter four. Reviews first, though.**

**Cappoquin's Calling- It's always great to hear that people like this story.**

**Spikesagitta- Aang exists. And he will appear in the story at some point. I don't think Katara and Aang will get along too well…**

**Alright then. To the fourth chapter!**

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Azula loved her new lightning abilities. It wasn't normal lightning either, just like her fire was abnormal. Instead of a light blue surrounding the lightning, bright red was the color the lightning generated. Dormin was a genius.

Dormin. He had started working on a way to look into the shadows, as he wanted to know if there was a specific time the creatures appeared, or if they were just riled up because of his presence. If there was a safe time to shadow walk, he needed to know.

Dormin had suggested to her that she should learn how to use some sort of weapon. His reasoning for it was good, she supposed. Fire and lightning just might not be enough. The question was, what should she wield? Dormin used a spear, Katara used a katana, an Mai used throwing weapons. Ty Lee didn't use a weapon, but Mai was working on fixing that. Ty Lee couldn't use a heavy or large weapon, as it would mess with her flexibility and speed by getting in the way. So she was teaching her to use daggers.

She flexed her fingers, causing a few sparks to fly. She needed something that would make her look even more fearsome looking that she already did.

A maniacal grin spread across her face. A scythe!

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Dormin raised an eyebrow. He could hear Azula laughing like a maniac. He figured she must have finally killed Zuko. Apparently, so did Ursa, because she ran by him with a very panicked look on her face. Shaking his head, he got back to what he was doing.

He was staring into the shadow of the tree. He put his hand on the ground where the shadow rested. It became black, and resembled ink, much like his own shadow when he brought it up from below him. His shadow had darkness drip off of it like ink, so it much sense to make the comparison. He thought so, at least.

He put his other hand down, right next to the one already on the shadow. This caused it to ripple. He drew in a deep breath, and dug his fingers into the darkness. Narrowing his eyes in determination, he pulled the shadows apart, revealing the dark world that was hidden from reality. Creatures of all shapes and sizes were swarming. Something stood out to him, though.

There was a creature that was just lazily laying about. This particular beast was… human. At least, in appearance. Female, from the looks of things. The only things that could be made out in terms of appearance, were a kimono and long hair. But, like the other creatures, she was made of darkness, with glowing white eyes.

He didn't know if this shadow creature was dangerous, but if anyone could tell him something, it would probably be the most human one that lived in this alternate world. He called to her, trying to get her attention. She looked up, then started drifting towards the opening that Dormin was looking through. He waited.

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Katara stood on top of a pillar of ice. There were several around here. According to her father, the entire area used to be one giant plateau of ice. Back then, the tundra centipedes lived deeper in the ice. Something had caused them to surface. After that, they made the plateau their home. The pillars of ice were like their beds. They carved them out using their pincers and legs. After the pillar were carved out, they would curl around the ice and sleep.

The centipedes were nocturnal, so they were busy roaming around, looking for food and drink, as well as interacting. They hadn't noticed her yet, and she was planning on keeping it that way. She couldn't try blood bending these creatures. Not when they were all together like this.

These tundra centipedes were interesting in looks. Their bodies were light blue, with streaks of white seemingly splashed on in random patterns. Their legs and head were black. Her father wasn't kidding about the size of the insects either. On of them could easily wrap around their village. Not that it was too big in the first place, but that was beside the point.

She smirked as one of the centipedes wandered off on it's own. Now was her chance to try out her exploding blood technique. It worked, she would have one of the deadliest bending move around. If not, she would be chased by a very pissed off giant bug.

Oh, how she hoped it would work.

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"Hakoda, have you seen Katara?" Kya had been waiting for Katara to get back, and the sun had set already. Hakoda had been setting up a schedule for patrols for the night, just in case anything happened.

Hakoda looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He saw his wife waiting outside of the tent, and was wondering what she was up to. This made him concerned, though. "You mean Katara isn't back? She left not too long after noon to find you, at least that's what she said…" A frown came across his face as he realized what this could mean.

"What's wrong?"

"She asked me about the animals around here. She wanted to have a way to practice her blood bending… the only really dangerous ones are the tundra centipedes though. She might have gone to their nest… I hope not, though."

Kya grimaced. She had seen what those overgrown insects could do to people, as she did the healing around the village. "Maybe we should go look for her…"

"No." Hakoda shook his head. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Besides, it looks like a storm is starting up. We won't be able to find her in that." Sure enough, snow was starting to come down. Hard. They went inside, hoping that their daughter would be fine.

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Ursa sighed in relief. Azula hadn't killed her brother, as she thought when she heard Azula laughing. Though, judging from the look on her daughter's face, it wasn't going to be something nice. "Azula, what was that all about?"

Azula smiled sheepishly. She should've figured she'd scare someone with that kind of laughter. It sounded positively evil. And she loved it. "Well, Dormin said I should learn how to use a weapon, but I didn't want to use something one of our group was already using… and I also want something that would help make me more… fearsome."

Ursa sighed. This ought to be good. "And what are you going to use as a weapon, Azula?"

That maniacal grin was back in full force. "The same thing that death itself is said to wield… a scythe!"

Ursa groaned. Her son would have yet another thing to worry about.

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Kya heard the "door" open, and turned to greet her daughter. What she saw… frightened her. Katara had blood all over her. Katara had a deadpanned expression. Hakoda and Sokka just stared. Gran Gran was there too. She looked furious.

The furious one was the one that said something first. "What in the world have you done, you crazy child?"

Katara just shrugged. "I experimented. And the results are partially staining my clothes."

Kya didn't think that would strike her as funny, but she felt her mouth twitch a little. "And what exactly did you do, sweetheart?"

Gran Gran saw that Kya found it amusing, and found herself a little disgusted.

Katara sat down and started bending the blood off of her clothes, face, and out of her hair. While she did this, she said "I thought of a way to kill people with blood bending and needed to try it out. Since killing innocent animals and people was clearly out of the question, I waited near the tundra centipede nesting grounds until one wandered off on it's own." Pausing to put all the blood in a large waterskin, she put it off to the side and continued.

"I started bending the creatures blood, which was quite difficult given it's size. I forced the blood to compact itself inside of the creature as tightly as I could manage… and then made it all explode outward. The results… a mutilated bug corpse with blood everywhere, including on me. Now, it you don't mind, I need to get some sleep. I also need to figure out what to do with this," She held up the waterskin full of blood, "So… goodnight. She walked over to a sleeping bag, put the blood filled pouch off to the side, and quickly fell asleep.

Kanna looked at Hakoda and Kya, "We need to talk."

Hakoda sighed, knowing what this was going to be about. "Fine. But let's wait until tomorrow, when we won't have someone eavesdropping." Looking over at Sokka, who suddenly fell over and started snoring loudly. After that, everyone decided it was time to sleep.

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Dormin's head was spinning. He apparently had caused these creatures… Abominations, as the shadow woman had called her kind, to come out of some sort of slumber. Almost every one of them were blood thirsty and wanted nothing more than to kill all living things. Yuki, which was her name, was one of the few who could control their blood lust. Dormin was glad, because he didn't want to have to fight another creature at the moment. He was still recovering from his last fight.

Yuki said that if he needed her for anything else, she would always be near. She had returned to the shadows. As for Dormin, he was walking to his room in the palace. That is, until one of the guards called to him.

Said guard bowed slightly, "The Fire Lord has asked to see you, Dormin."

Dormin narrowed his eyes, but nodded his head. He started following the guard to the Fire Lord's chamber. What could he possibly want?

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Azula tossed and turned, trying to find some way to sleep. It was proving to be too difficult, so she sat up and tossed a small flame at a candle to provide some light. Something didn't feel right. Like something bad might happen. She hated it when she felt like this. Every other time this happened, Katara had been here to help ease her worries.

Hugs did a great job, surprisingly.

Now that she wasn't here, Azula wasn't sure how she would get herself to fall asleep. She knew her mother had gone to visit Uncle, who had taken to living outside the palace. He wanted to avoid his brother as much as he could. Zuzu was… possible. Maybe annoying the hell out of him would make her feel better. Or perhaps she could go to… Dormin? He was usually a bit on the cold side, but he also knew how to be kind. She would try him.

It would be difficult to find him, but maybe if she stood in one place long enough, he would show up. He pretended to sleep to avoid questions, but she was one of the few who knew of his secret problem. He couldn't sleep. Ever since he started shadow bending, he hadn't slept even for a few minutes. Darkness wouldn't allow him to sleep. So he would always wander around at night. Most people didn't notice him, but she did a few times.

So she set out. She decided to wait at an intersection of two hallways. The Fire Lord's chamber, where her father spent most of his time, wasn't too far from where she was now. She hid in the shadows, to avoid being detected. Not as good as Dormin, who could become a shadow, but it would do.

She didn't have to wait long before Dormin appeared. He wasn't alone though, as a soldier seemed to be leading him. They seemed to be moving in the same direction as where her father likely was at that very moment. Dread immediately overcame her. Was this why she had been feeling so uneasy? Did her father want to see Dormin? What was happening?

Sticking to the shadows, she followed them silently. She saw Dormin look directly at her, and she tensed up a little, but he only shrugged slightly and turned his attention back to where he was going. The guard that was leading him stopped in front of the entrance to the Fire Lord's chamber.

With some subtle hand gestures, he covered Azula with shadows so she could sneak in to see what Ozai wanted. Then they entered.

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"I'm worried, Iroh." Ursa sounded very concerned. And that was because she was. "Ozai has been asking about Dormin a lot lately. About his abilities. And you know I can't lie to him, he's too good at seeing through them. He's realizing that his plan to turn Azula into his perfect weapon is failing, and I'm afraid he might be looking to try and get Dormin on his side. If he could do that…"

Iroh sighed. "Then Azula would either follow or suffer the loss of a friend. And neither of those are good. Especially with the loss of Katara. She knows it's not permanent, but she seems to have taken it very hard…"

Ursa felt a smile play at her lips. "I think I know why that is." Iroh raised an eyebrow. "I believe that Azula might have had a little crush on Katara.

Iroh seemed very surprised. "Azula likes Katara? That's… interesting." Then a frown appeared on his face. "It could also be very problematic. If this were to become something more, it could mean trouble. Girls with other girls is looked down upon as it is… but if my brother were to find out…"

Ursa grimaced. "You're right. But we can't control what happens. Besides… I don't think we'll have to worry about Ozai for too much longer… something is happening. Not quite yet… But I think that by the time Sozin's Comet arrives, we'll have Ozai gone and this war will be over."

Iroh nodded, "So you noticed it too… strange. Must be your connection to Avatar Roku."

Ursa said goodnight to Iroh and began making her way back to the palace. The closer she got, however, the more dread she felt. Something was wrong. She began moving more swiftly.

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Azula hid in the darkness, still covered in the shadows that Dormin had wrapped around her. Dormin walked up to the flames that extended in front of the Fire Lord. Kneeling before him, he waited for Ozai to speak. He didn't have to wait long.

"Dormin. It has been a long time since we have had a talk. I trust things are well?"

Dormin stood. "As well as one can expect."

Ozai grunted, as if in agreement, before continuing. "I've been told be my wife that you have found a way to travel anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. Is this true?"

Dormin's eyes widened in shock for no more than a fraction of a second, "Yes. However, it has several downsides. The worst being the creatures that have begun appearing in the dark world. I had to fight and slay a dragon to escape recently. I couldn't leave with it being so close to me. Not to mention, I can only travel so quickly to shadows that I am most familiar with. I couldn't go to a place like Ba Sing Se anywhere near as quick. It's not worth the risk to use unless it's an absolute emergency."

Ozai frowned. "That's too bad. That could have given our nation quite an advantage." He closed his eyes for a few moments. Then continued after reopening them, "I'm going to be honest with you, Dormin. You have become more powerful then any air bender before you, of that I am sure. You're exactly what this nation needs right now. Ba Sing Se remains a stronghold, and so does Omashu, and many towns around it stand just as strong. With you joining on the front lines, we could finally take the Earth Kingdom down. I would be very pleased if you would join my armies in the Earth Kingdom in their endeavors."

Azula was horrified. She already had to deal with Katara not being around, would she have to lose Dormin too?

Dormin sighed. He knew he wouldn't be allowed time to think things over. So he had to give his answer now.

He just hoped the consequences wouldn't be too great.

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**AN: Yeah, shortest chapter yet. Sorry, but I just couldn't resist leaving off on a cliffhanger like that! Will Dormin stay with Azula in the Fire Nation, or will he join the fight in the Earth Kingdom in the name of the Fire Lord? I'm not one hundred percent certain yet, but perhaps reviews can sway me to make a certain decision… Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Chapter five has now … arrived… Sorry about rhyming. My bad. Anyway…. Reviews…**

**Sweetmint101- I'll update as often as I can. Well, sort of. Breaks are good for the mind and fingers, after all.**

**Spikesagitta- We'll see about that… :D**

**Qweenseeker- Maybe… maybe not… only this chapter shall tell…**

**Newbiegod35- Get out of my head! All joke aside, I was thinking something along those lines… question is, will it actually happen, or have I come up with something else? Guess you'll have to scroll down to find out.**

**King of Perverts- I have to agree, Newbie had a great idea… as I mentioned above.**

**Infinite-Bit- Shadow manipulation doesn't have much to do with air bending, but I figured since fire has lightning, something that isn't "evil", and earth has metal, something that's more pure, why not making something to match water bending's "dark" blood bending? Sound would be alright, but it wouldn't be very dark. And you can't get much darker than shadows. Plus, sound manipulation would have been far more likely to exist already, since shadows require a different view of things than the air nomads have had. Sound wouldn't likely require such a thing. Good question though.**

**Alright… time for the show to begin. I use "show" very loosely.**

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"Azula's having a hard time with Katara being gone, so I think it would be best if I stay here." Dormin was prepared to shadow walk, if the Fire Lord lost his temper and attacked. Fighting a demon made of darkness sounded more appealing than facing the wrath of the Fire Lord. Shadow and air bending had it's uses, but he was still in training. Ozai had skill and experience over him.

Ozai narrowed his eyes. Azula gulped, hoping that Dormin wouldn't be hurt. "A weapon that won't do the job is nothing more than scrap…" Ozai stood from where he sat, glaring down at Dormin. "and as such…" The flames died down, allowing Ozai to step down to the floor. Dormin narrowed his eyes. "should be…" The Fire Lord took a deep breath, and tensed up. Then, he screamed out "Eliminated!"

The Dragon of the West was not the only one who could breath fire. Ozai let loose bight orange flames. Azula watched on in horror as her friend was engulfed in flames, incinerated within seconds. He didn't even have a chance to scream. Ozai didn't stop, though. He just kept on breathing fire. Azula felt tears begin to form, but she could not let her grief overcome her quite yet.

Taking advantage of the flames obscuring her father's… no, the Fire Lord's vision, she ran to the exit and quickly fled. She ran down the halls, tears running down her cheeks. As she turned the corner, she ran into someone, knocking them both to the ground. She looked up to find she was in her mother's lap. Ursa was looking at her, confused and shaking by the tears on her daughter's face. Azula could no longer hold back her anguish. The fire bending prodigy threw her arms around her mother an cried. Ursa held her tightly, rocking her daughter back and forth gently. She stood up and carried them to Azula's room.

Whatever had happened, it must have been bad. Very bad.

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Ozai had finally stopped and went back to sit, having the flames rise once again.

Dormin lay still in the dark world. That was just too close. His shadow was a genius, taking his place and making it look like he had been incinerated. Apparently, that hadn't been enough for Ozai, and because of that, Azula was able to escape the room without being seen. He wanted to show her he was alright, but he had things to do. There was no way in hell he was going to let the Fire Lord win the war now, so he had to get going. Ba Sing Se would be his destination. We would shadow walk until he reached the edge of the Earth Kingdom, then walk the rest of the way.

Looking around, Dormin saw no Abominations around. Except for Yuki. She winked at him before wandering off somewhere. Dormin smiled and moved in the direction of the Earth Kingdom's shores. Since he was so unfamiliar with the shadows there, he would have to take the long way.

If he was lucky, he wouldn't run into any Abominations along the way.

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Ty Lee stared at the sea. The stars in the sky had been blocked by clouds. Something didn't seem right. But she couldn't worry about that. She was a little preoccupied. She had run away from home.

She could no longer stand being just another one of the girls born to her mother and father. She was her own person, and she would not allow herself to become a… clone, for lack of better term. She was going to the Earth Kingdom, and from there… well, she wasn't sure, but it would come to her.

Still, this uneasy feeling she was getting was making her worried. Had something happened to Mai? Azula? Dormin? She wouldn't know. She had no way to find out without going back home, and that was out of the question.

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A massive insect was staring down at the carcass of one of it's own kind. The tundra centipede was angry. It screeched, and another centipede crawled over to it. Strange noises were exchanged between the two creatures, before the first one got closer to the carcass. It searched for the scent of the one that did this to it's kind. Once it caught the scent, it along with the centipede it called over began moving in the direction the scent went.

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Katara woke with the sun once again. She felt someone arm draped over her, and turned to see her mother had joined her in the sleeping bag again. She smiled. She had thought her mother was going to be angry about what the blood bender did to the centipede, but she actually seemed to found it amusing and intriguing. It seemed that Kya had a bit of a dark side to her, and Katara was very happy about that.

She felt her mother stir. Kya opened her eyes, and felt very groggy. Still, she smiled when she saw her daughter looking at her. "Good morning, sweetie. Have a nice sleep?"

Katara nodded, "Yep. Now, I would like to do a bit of training, so… if you don't mind…" Katara was going to continue her sentence, but the tent suddenly had an intruder.

One of the sentries that was watching the surrounding area had barged into the tent, "Chief Hakoda! There's two tundra centipedes heading towards the village!"

That got everyone to wake up, and startle them. Except for Katara, who merely raised an eyebrow. Hakoda quickly got over his shock. "Have the men prepare to defend the village," the warrior nodded and ran out to give the order, while Hakoda turned to Katara, "I think you'll have to take them on. Your blood bending can do the trick, right?"

Katara stood and stretched her limbs, "Yeah, I can handle them, but I need you and the warriors to distract one. There's way too much between two of them, so I can only take down one at a time."

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Dormin was leaning against a tree, panting heavily. There were some Fire Nation ships at the port he was going to emerge at, so he had to go a little further. He made great time, but he was exhausted. He ended up fighting several abominations along the way. Not just dragons either. The creatures attacked in the form of sharks, whales, skeletal remains of ancient beasts that had gone extinct long ago, and there was even a very evil looking version of a flying bison.

His shadow emerged from the ground, **"I'm going to look for a cave. You may not be able to sleep, but that doesn't mean you don't need rest, and this is too open for doing that safely."**

Dormin just nodded and his shadow slipped away. It wasn't long before he came back. He said nothing, just beckoned to the shadow bender. Dormin used his glider as a walking stick as they went for the cave that was found for a long rest. After that, he would begin making his way to Ba Sing Se.

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Azula was laying in the grass, looking at the sky. There were nothing but dim, gray clouds as far as the eye could see. Her face showed no emotion. She had cried herself to sleep the night before, and she didn't think she had any tears left in her. Her mother tried her best to get Azula to say something, but the young fire bender just couldn't say anything right now. She didn't know what to say. Her friend was gone, and unlike Katara, Dormin would never be back.

She heard footsteps. They sounded too light to be an adults though. Then she remembered, Ty Lee and Mai were supposed to be visiting today. Perhaps they could help her.

However, when she pushed herself up into sitting position, all she found was a very depressed looking Mai. Ty Lee was no where in sight. "Where's Ty Lee…?"

Mai sighed, "She's run away. No one knows where she is right now."

As it turned out, Azula still had plenty of tears to use up.

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The otter penguins scattered as two massive bugs crawled into their territory. The tundra centipedes lifted the upper half of their bodies so they could get a better look at the village below. The scent of the one who killed their kin was strong here. They shrieked in anger, before starting their way down the slopes that led to the village.

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Katara stood outside of the village, watching the creatures making their way down to the village. One was smaller than the centipede that she killed at the nest, but the other was significantly bigger. The warriors of her tribe stood on the walls of ice that surrounded the village. Kya had led the rest of the villagers to a safe spot near the village, which was on a cliff overlooking the area.

She had to decide which to kill quickly. The larger of the two was definitely more dangerous, but it's size also meant it had a lot more blood, so it would take longer to bend it's blood and kill it. She would have to kill the smaller one first. Hopefully, the warriors would be able to distract the big one long enough.

She looked up at her father, "I'm going to attack the one on the left first, distract the other!" Her father nodded and he gestured to the others to ready their bows. Katara raised an eyebrow, she wasn't aware they had those. Shaking he head, she turned her attention back to the smaller of the two tundra centipedes. She hoped her mother had made sure no children would see what was about to happen, but then again, how would they hide the carcasses after? They wouldn't be able to get rid of them before some of the children would see.

Getting into her stance she raised her arms and started to squeeze her palms shut. The smaller centipede slowed a little, as it felt it's blood begin to painfully compact. The larger of the two didn't stop to find out what was wrong, it continued to make it's way to the village. Katara heard arrows soar over her, and they made their mark. However, the shell of the centipede was think, so it only caused it to flinch a little before moving again.

Katara's hands were now closed into fists. She smirked sadistically before opening her hands, causing blood to tear it's way out of the smaller centipede's body. It screeched in pain, rearing back on it's lower body before slamming into the ground, dead.

The larger tundra beast turned to look at it's fallen kin before screeching in rage as it picked up it's pace in charging at the village.

"Katara, you might wanna hurry up! That things coming in fast!" Katara rolled her eyes when she hear Bato yell that.

She looked up at him and yelled back, "Nah, I think I'll just let it run you all over, how's that sound?" He gulped. She smiled, before turning to the beast heading for them. It seemed to be looking right at her now. It was good to know that they have some intelligence.

She raised her hands and started to bend the beasts blood, but it was definitely going to take a bit longer because of the amount of blood the creature had. She narrowed her eyes in concentration.

The tundra centipede got closer and closer, intent on ending the life of the one the killed two of it's own. Katara's hands came closer to becoming fists as she put all her energy into blood bending. The creature was now close enough to attack… it lunged.

Unfortunately for it, Katara opened her hands. Blood flew everywhere, obscuring everyone's vision of the centipede and Katara. She surely killed the beast, but it had been flying through the air when she had done it. Snow had been tossed into the air when the body crashed, and everyone awaited to see the fate of the beast.

A pillar of ice rose up, with a small figure standing on it. Snow covered Katara. Shaking it off, she was soaked with blood. The blood bender sighed, "Why do I always end up covered in blood?"

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Ursa watched her daughter and Mai sleeping under a tree, while she and Zuko were feeding turtle ducks in the pond. Zuko looked up at his mother, "Where are Dormin and Ty Lee?"

Ursa turned to Zuko, "Dormin… was sent to fight in the war." That's what her husband… the Fire Lord had told her. That he had asked if Dormin if he would like to join the fight, and that the young air bender had been so eager to go that he had left an hour later. "Ty Lee has run away, no one knows where."

Zuko looked over at Azula and Mai sadly. "It must be tough, losing so many friends so fast."

Ursa smiled down at her son, "You know, you seem to care an awful lot for your sister. I would think you might resent her a bit. What with all the times she messed with you."

Zuko rolled his eyes, "It's not like she tries to kill me. I just hope she grows out of attacking me all the time soon. It does get on my nerves…"

"And what about her nickname for you?"

Zuko twitched a little. "That, I don't mind so much…"

Ursa laughed. Zuko couldn't help but laugh too. Unknown to the two of them, Azula and Mai had heard them. Azula felt a little better somehow. She didn't think hearing her brother didn't hate her would do that.

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Dormin stared at the light that tried to reach him from the maw of the cave. He was leaning against a stalagmite, resting after the treacherous journey from the Fire Nation. Once he was rested, he would begin making his way to Ba Sing Se. Normally, the time it would take on foot would be just ridiculous, but since he was an air bender, he would be able to run a lot faster than normal.

Sighing, Dormin stood up. It was time to move. He didn't know if the Fire Nation would have scouts searching the area for enemies, but it was highly likely, so he had to get going. He walked outside of the cave, and looked both ways to make sure there was no one around. Seeing that he was alone, he turned in the direction of Ba Sing Se and used his air bending to accelerate his travel.

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Katara was tired. The village had celebrated once again, though this time it was for a very different reason. Despite how bloody things got, they saw her as a sort of hero. She had to roll her eyes at that. It was funny, how people could change their opinions so easily. Apparently, saving lives did that sort of thing.

The warriors weren't present for the party, they had to clear away the carcasses. Once that was done, Katara was supposed to get rid of the blood left behind. She twitched at that. Where was she going to put it? She could probably open a big hole in the ice, throw it all down there, then reseal it. Yeah, that should do.

She was laying down on top of her sleeping bag. At the moment, she was alone in their home. While everyone was celebrating, she told her mother about her time in the Fire Nation. It was nice, sharing stories about her time with her friends. Her smile became a frown, however. She felt like something was wrong. She wasn't sure what, but it made her uneasy. It was almost as if something really bad had happened. What could have, though? She wouldn't find out for awhile.

Kya said that she needed to talk with Gran Gran and her father. She knew that she meant Kanna wanted to complain about how evil Katara was becoming, but she couldn't care less what the old woman thought of her. She was fine as long as her mother didn't have a bad opinion of her.

Hearing someone enter, she looked up to see that Sokka had come in. Covered in snow. The other kids had a snowball fight. More like an all out war. Some of the adults had gotten in on it. It looked like fun, but Katara wanted to spend that time with her mother.

"Hey Katara… thanks." She heard Sokka say.

Katara only raised an eyebrow, before saying "What for? Saving everyone's life?"

Sokka sat down next to Katara, "Well, yeah, there's that. But also because you knocked some sense into me. Literally."

Katara smirked. "That's fine. If I hadn't done it, your wife surly would have." Sokka laughed, before yawning. "Sounds like it's your bed time. Goodnight Sokka."

Sokka crawled into his sleeping bag, "Goodnight sis…" And snoring followed immediately after. Katara got in her own "bed" and closed her eyes.

Before falling asleep, she heard some arguing going on outside. Apparently, that conversation Kya wanted had started.

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Dormin stared at the wall that surrounded Ba Sing Se. "Well… that went a little quicker than expected…" He was currently standing on top of the outer wall. The guards stationed there had a chat with him, and agreed to let him in. An earth bender was supposed to come shortly, to get him inside the city. He wasn't sure why he couldn't just fly in, but he supposed that maybe the earth bender would show him to his new home or something.

He heard of how difficult it had been for the Fire Nation to try and take over, and now he could see why. It would take a giant drill to get through. That's probably what the Fire Nation would try next, now that he thought about it.

A figure rose from the ground. Dormin was told a member of a group called the Dai Li would be bringing him in. Said bender didn't say anything, just motioned for Dormin to come over. The shadow bender complied, and as soon as he was next to the guy, the sank into the earth, on their way into the city.

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Azula watched the sun setting. It was time to start working on getting her father's guard down, so that she could get revenge on him. She would slowly gain his trust… then, when he least expected it, she would strike. It would likely take several years, but she was willing to wait.

And wait she would.

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**AN: Okay, that's far enough. Sorry I took so long with this, I was busy… actually, I was just playing video games. My bad. Well, until next time! Hope anyone who read this enjoyed! And if you didn't… well, that means you skipped over this and will not see it so I don't need this here at all. Okay then.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Chapter six… sorry it took so long. Then again, I guess it's better than how long people wait for chapters for some stories. As usual… reviews first.**

**iBlockYourChi- Sugar queen… that reminds me, I'm going to have to come up with new nicknames for Toph to use… oh, what fun…**

**Newbiegod35- Didn't I just say get out of my head not too long ago? Let's just say… Azula is known for her temper… Ty Lee and Dormin won't be meeting in Ba Sing Se, at least not without Mai and Azula. And that "Get out of my head" thing applies to that last part, involving Katara and Aang. Mind readers. Geez. ;)**

**Spikesagitta- They say that rage blinds. And Ozai was quite angry. Ozai is also known to underestimate people. And that tends to come back to bite those who underestimate.**

**Ravenxxx007- Thanks! And good luck with yours.**

**Alright, story time. FYI, I'm skipping ahead in time. There wasn't much else to do with Katara and Azula, and there was only so much to do with Ty Lee. Mai's with Azula, so I can't really add on there, which only leaves Dormin, and I don't want to try and write a chapter that solely focuses on him. Anyway, onward!**

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Katara was bored, and annoyed. Gran Gran was scolding her. Sokka was off "training" the younger boys to be warriors, her mother was healing some sick person, and her father along with the rest of the warriors had gone off to join in the war effort. She and Sokka got along well enough now, and Kya was who she spent most of her time with.

She was being scolded because she had killed yet another tundra centipede. After the first three, she decided they were good test subjects. Not to mention formidable opponents. She wouldn't always go for blood bending, She would fight with nothing more than her ice katana, and a trick she taught herself she called ice launch. She would jump from a pillar of ice that she made rise from the ground, which gave her extra momentum to get a lot of height. Landing could be painful if she wasn't accurate, and it would work on going to lower heights. That could result in a broken leg.

Once she had gotten used to her ice armor, she added that to her battles with the overgrown insects, making them significantly more difficult. She had to react really fast to avoid being crushed or eaten, and while she could move well with the armor, it was still not perfect. At least, not until now. She moved as easily as before adding the armor during the most recent battle. She couldn't help but smirk smugly at that.

"Are you paying attention young lady?" Katara returned her attention to Kanna, and frowned. Kanna wasn't mad because of her training. Well, she was, but she had become used to that. It was because one of the centipedes had followed Katara, most likely hoping to kill her. Just like the pair of centipedes from six years ago. It hadn't gotten quite as close, but it was still close enough that she would have to dispose of the blood again. Not to mention the body. But she had already taken care of that, by burying it deep in ice.

"Gran Gran, I know I should've been more careful and all that other stuff, but what's done is done. I really need to get rid of that blood though. Alright?" Katara started walking away, but Kanna wasn't quite done yet.

"And what about that body?"

Katara just kept on walking. "Completely destroyed by the blood that exploded out of it, no need to worry about it." Of course, it was a lie, but what Gran Gran didn't know might not hurt her. She doubted she would stumble upon the carcass with how deep it was in the ice. "Sokka! Get your ass over here!" She yelled at her brother, as she was walking by where he was teaching the kids how to use a boomerang. One of his few talents, she would always tell him, which would get a rise out of him.

"You squashed another bug didn't you?" He had run to catch up with her, and was now walking by her side. She only smirked, causing him to roll his eyes. "I guess were setting up another blood mine, huh?" Blood mines were ice burgs filled with centipede blood. The Fire Nation's ships would cut through the ice to get around the South Pole. There hadn't been any ships since Iroh had dropped her off, but if any came along… Well, she just hoped Azula wasn't on one. She might enjoy the blood too much.

Katara's smirk turned into a faint smile. She often found herself thinking about the fire bending princess. She was very pretty when she was eight, and the water bender could only imagine how beautiful she must have become now. She felt herself blush lightly, and saw Sokka looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She quickened her pace after that.

"So… who are you thinking about? Hmm?" Sokka was looking mischievous, and was waggling his eyebrows. Katara glared and made a stump of ice appear in front of his foot, causing him to trip. After getting back up, he got right back next to her. "Well, I'm waiting. Oh, wait let me guess…" Katara resisted the urge to smack her forehead. "Hmm… let me think… Oh! I know! It's Dormin, isn't it?" Katara shook her head. Sokka frowned, then went back to thinking. Then he snapped his fingers, "I know! It's that Zuko guy, right?" She sent a dozen snowballs at him for that. "Right, right, you hate him, forgot about that…"

"I don't hate him." Katara started, "I just pick on him a lot. It's fun."

"Right… anyway… Well, that's all the guys… I mean, it's not like you're in love with that Azula girl you told us about, right?" Katara felt the blush return, a bit stronger this time. "Oh… oooohhhh…. OH! Aw… isn't that just adorable. My sister likes another woman!" Katara turned a bit of snow into water, and used it to fling Sokka around. She laughed as he screamed. "PUT ME DOWN YOU CRAZY BI-" The water bender let her brother go, and the momentum caused him to hit a pile of snow head first.

"Alright, time to get this over with…" She mad e all the blood rise, and shaped it into a sphere. Sokka got out of the snow and hurried ahead to get a boat ready.

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Azula looked around at her work. The targets that had been set up were all either scorched or incinerated. She wanted to develop an attack that could take out several enemies at the same time. She had surrounded herself with a sphere of fire, and then let it expand outward. The targets that had been set up on the edges of the training room hadn't been reached, but she was satisfied with the results. Unfortunately, the time it took to form the attack, and use it was three seconds, and it took a fourth second for the attack itself to finish. Enemies could easily get away. But, as long as she could get people to scatter, it would be fine.

Mai was off to the side, looking very bored. Over the last six years, Mai had grown colder, more distant, and always seemed like she was nothing but bored. Dormin's murder had hit her a little harder than Azula thought it would. They were friends, sure, but the way Mai had acted after it happened made Azula think she may have liked Dormin as more than just a friend. That was odd, as she thought Mai had always had a thing for her brother. But, when he had been banished, she wasn't affected very much.

Speaking of Zuzu, Azula had to wonder how he was. She still messed with him, but she was also a little nicer to him. At least, up until his banishment. She couldn't help but see him as an idiot after what he did. She resented hi ma bit too, as not only had Uncle Iroh left with him, but so had her mother. She only had Mai now, and she didn't know if she would be around much longer. One by one, all the people who she cared about were being taken away, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Azula hated being helpless. But there was some good news. She did know where to find two of those people. Katara was in the South Pole. The thought of the water bender made Azula blush. She saw Mai show a rare smile off to the side, as the "emotionless" girl knew what had caused Azula to blush. One time, after a particularly strenuous training session, Azula had taken a nap under the tree by the turtle duck pond. Mai was feeding the animals when she heard Azula moan Katara's name a few times. Azula had been woken up by Mai laughing really loudly, as that was something she never thought she would hear Azula say. That was a year ago.

Mai still hadn't let her forget about it. She had no problem with Azula liking Katara in such a way, she just thought the way it was found out was hilarious.

Ty Lee was in a circus. When Azula first found out, she couldn't help but smile. Leave it to Ty Lee to go through with the classic child's threat of running away to the circus.

"Don't fall asleep now, alright? You've already mentally scarred me as it is, I don't need to hear what you want to do to your water bender." Azula growled and threw a small fire ball at Mai, who easily moved out of the way, smirking.

Azula then smiled. "We're about to have a battle, aren't we?" Mai nodded, so Azula ran over to her scythe from the wall she had set it against. Mai readied some throwing knives.

Just another day in the palace.

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Ty Lee was laying in the grass, staring into the sky. It had been six long years. A few months after arriving at the circus, where she fit in really quickly, she bought a courier hawk. Shortly after doing so, she sent a letter to Azula and Mai. The reply she got wasn't what she expected.

She was depressed for awhile after learning that Dormin was dead. He had been a good friend, despite his personality. She knew that Azula and Mai must have been hurt far more by his death. Azula, as she had already lost a friend not too long before that, but because she had seen it happen. And Mai, she suspected, had a crush on him.

"Ty Lee! It's time for practice!" She jumped up and hurried over to the ringmaster. They would be doing a show tomorrow, and everyone needed to make sure they were ready.

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His robe swayed in the light breeze. Six years had passed since his supposed "death." Dormin was standing on the outer wall, staring out at nothing in particular. Back when he first arrived, he was not taken to his new home, but the Dai Li headquarters. Long Feng had heard about the air bender. Said bender was ready to do a hit and run if things didn't go well, but Long Feng wanted to offer him a position in the Dai Li. Dormin figured that a group like this was the perfect way to get information without having to put too much effort in. Trying to learn about things as a commoner, especially in this place, would be excessively difficult, so He had agreed.

Thankfully, it was only the air bending he had heard about. This had given him quite the advantage. Over time, he realized the Dai Li served their own best interests, which meant they followed who they saw as the strongest. With that in mind, he slowly started bringing members of the group to his side. It was a slow process, though. The Dai Li were numerous, for one thing. And he had to be sure that each person he went to were already questioning whether he or Long Feng was the stronger bender. Once Dormin figured that out, he would show the Dai Li agent in question that he could control shadows.

There were about a dozen still loyal to their current leader, and two agents were questioning who was currently the strongest, and by extension, in their best interests for a leader. Dormin then frowned. A leader needed to make sure they had someone to take care of things if their attention was required elsewhere. A second in command. Long Feng had no such person, either because he didn't trust anyone enough, or because he was a fool. But he knew Long Feng was no fool.

He understood why Long Feng wouldn't trust anyone enough to be his second in command. The Dai Li would turn on anyone if there was someone stronger to follow. He needed to find someone new, someone fresh.

One of the Dai Li agents emerged from the ground behind him. Dormin turned his head slightly, to show he knew the member of the group was there.

"Long Feng would like to talk to you about something. Also, there is another agent who is questioning who is strongest."

The shadow bender only nodded his head, and the agent disappeared into the rocks yet again. Dormin took his glider out from his robe and opened it up, taking off into the air, heading towards his own entrance into the secret headquarters.

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Katara looked at her surroundings. There were a lot of ice burgs around, but none of them seemed to be big enough for the amount of blood she had gathered from the tundra centipede. She twitched in annoyance as she heard a splash. Sokka was trying to catch a fish. She and her mother were the ones that caught fish for the village, as they could just water bend them out of the water. Sokka just couldn't help himself, though.

She continued her search for the iceberg to store the blood in. To an outside observer, they would probably look very odd. A boy trying to spear a fish, a girl staring at ice, and a giant ball of blood floating above them in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't anyone else around though.

The boat started moving then. Katara sighed, "Sokka, I'm still trying to see if there's any good icebergs around here, do you mind?" She turned to find her brother was still trying to spear a fish. Which could only mean they had just reached some water that was flowing through lots of ice. Sharp and pointy ice that could tear their boat apart. "Sokka, we're in trouble."

Said non bender grabbed a paddle and started maneuvering around the ice, as they picked up speed. Katara would have used water bending, but Sokka was actually really good at this, and she might move some ice right into them accidentally. She thought they were out of danger once the water slowed down, but then she felt a sneeze coming. And when a bender sneezed, bad things could happen.

Whenever Dormin sneezed, he flew several feet into the air, much to the amusement of his friends. When Azula sneezed, fire would spread everywhere, though it would quickly go out, thanks to Katara. She heard that when an earth bender sneezed, rocks around them would shatter, if they were touching the ground. That probably meant they would jump in the air when they were about to sneeze. But she was a water bender. Depending on where she was would change the effect.

If there was snow around, it would fly into the air, covering people. That was fine. If there was water, small waves would move away from the water bender that sneezed. They were far enough from the blocks of ice to not have to worry about the boat. However, there were walls of ice on either side of them. While they were far apart, her sneezing would likely cause a rain of ice spikes to fall on them.

She tried to stop herself, she really did. But it was too late. She sneezed. Sokka and Katara stared up at the walls of ice. At first, nothing happened, causing them to sigh in relief. The they heard the ice start to crack. Katara started bending water around the boat to get them to move. Sokka screamed and tried to hide, but the boat didn't offer anywhere to hide. Katara almost got the boat out of the pass when a large chunk of ice hit the back of the boat, launching Katara and Sokka into the air. The landed on a floating piece of ice.

"Great, Katara. Just perfect. Because of your water bending powered sneeze, we are now stranded in the middle of nowhere. And you know what? I think you also dropped all that blood into the water when I started getting us out of that current." Sure enough, there was no giant blood bubble following them anymore.

Katara just sighed. "Fantastic. And I just found the perfect iceberg to use." She pointed to one that was across from them. Then she frowned. Something isn't right. "I can't find any ice in the middle of it… almost like something is hidden in there. Come on, let's check it out."

"But Katara! We don't; know what it could be! Ah, who am I kidding… wait up!" They started leaping from chunk of ice to chunk of ice, making their way to the strange iceberg,

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Dormin stood before Long Feng, waiting for him to say something. "It has come to my attention…" He began, as he paced around the room, "That there could be an earth bender hiding amongst those who live in the lower ring. I want you to find them, and if they are an earth bender, either get them to join the Dai Li… or eliminate them."

The air bender raised an eyebrow, "I think I'm going to need to know more about this… person, if I'm going to be hunting them down." Long Feng turned to Dormin, and nodded.

He pulled out a file and put it down in front of Dormin. The shadow bender picked it up, and opened it, revealing information about a girl named Jin, as well as a picture of said female.

"As you can see, the one we want you to confront is called Jin. All the information you need to find her is in there. Home, work, frequently visited places. I expect this to be taken care of today."

Dormin only snorted in disbelief, "You think she's just going to tell me if she's an earth bender? I can't force her, and it's not like I can just read her mind or something." Well, he sort of could, since he could detect what kind of benders people were, but since that was a part of his shadow bending, Long Feng didn't know, and he wasn't about to give away his "ace in the hole."

Long Feng sighed in frustration. He was getting angered too easily. Something must have happened earlier. "Then what do you propose we do, exactly?"

Dormin resisted the urge to smile. This would be the perfect opportunity to get his second in command. "What I will do is blend in with the people. I'll become her friend, perhaps something more. She's sure to reveal that's she's an earth bender to me if she trusts me enough."

The leader of the Dai Li nodded his head. "That will take some time, but I suppose it's better than nothing, Alright, you can do that. I expect weekly reports though. And try to get this done quickly… something doesn't seem right, as if everything is about to change…"

Dormin started heading for the door. "I know what you mean. I'll be sure to report in. If I learn anything a value, I'll report it as soon as I can." He stepped out of the office, and looked over the files, already plotting things. Before he left, though, he would confront the three Dai Li agents that were thinking about changing who they were "loyal" to.

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Katara swung her hands around, causing giant sheets of ice to slide off the glacier and into the ocean. Sokka sighed, clearly bored. "Why don't you just break the entire thing so we can get at it quicker?"

Katara didn't turn her head, as she wanted to stay focused on the ice. "So I don't create a massive wave that will knock us into the water. You know, that cold stuff around us that could easily kill us in a short amount of time?" Sokka just sighed again, causing her eye to twitch in annoyance. She could see part of whatever was in the ice poking out now, so she started hastening her strikes at the ice. Soon, the orb that contained who knew what was almost completely revealed, only the bottom was still in ice, so that it wouldn't roll out.

"Weird… it looks like ice, but I can't bend it… Sokka! You're up! Start whacking this thing, will you?" Sokka grumbled, but he did as he was told. After only striking the ice three times, the orb exploded, and a beam of light shot into the air, causing the sky to glow. Katara and Sokka put their arms in front of their eyes, avoiding being blinded. When they were sure it was safe to look again, a child not much younger than Katara and Sokka could be seen.

"An air nomad…" Katara whispered. Dormin always said that he might not be the last one, as the avatar cycle didn't seem to have passed on to the water tribes. Could this really be the avatar? Being frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years would explain a lot. She walked up to him and kneeled beside him. She shoo him lightly, "Hey… wake up. You okay?"

The air bender opened his eyes slightly. "Can I… ask you something?" he muttered. She nodded. "Wanna go penguin sledding with me?"

Katara just stared in disbelief. She heard Sokka snicker. "Uh… sure, I guess?" She stood up as the air nomad pushed himself up using his bending. "You okay there?"

He nodded his head quickly. He seemed like the bubbly type. That made Katara slightly annoyed. "Yeah, I am. I just need to make sure Appa is alright." He jumped into the remains of the strange orb.

"Appa… you mean a flying bison?" Katara asked.

The air bender, who had yet to reveal his identity, poked his head from behind the "ice," "That's right. As a matter of fact, here he comes!"

Appa knocked out a chunk of the orb using his head, and walked out. He sniffed Katara, then nuzzled her. She pet him lightly, before turning to the unnamed child. "So… what's your name?"

He smiled, before he proclaimed "My name's Aang!" Katara twitched. He said that rather loudly. He was going to annoy the hell out of her, and she knew it.

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**AN: End of chapter! Hope you all enjoyed. I'm not sure if Dormin will end up with Mai or Jin. Maybe I'll just leave that up to you readers. Then again, you might choose both for all I know. If that's what you want, though, who am I to say "nein!"? Until next time… seeya!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Chapter seven is here! Yeah… well, review time. Then we'll get to the story.**

**Ravenxxx007- Mai and Ty Lee… not a bad idea. I don't think I've seen many stories with that pairing… if any. I'll think about it.**

**Newbiegod35- It'll just be Katara and Azula. I'm thinking of pairing Aang with Toph, or perhaps On Ji. I can't think of anyone else. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd appreciate it.**

**Spikesagitta- Azula attacking Aang… yeah. Omashu just might be amusing.**

**Guest A- At the moment Mai and Zuko are with no one… it could go either way. For now, though, Jin seems to me the more popular choice for Dormin.**

**Guest B- Azula's new attack actually can be seen as Din's Fire… I didn't even think of that. Yeah, that works.**

**Kit24- Thanks!**

**truefortune- As long as things keep moving forward, it doesn't matter, right? You're the first to say Dormin should get them both. We will see. Probably not soon though. Anyway…**

**Reviews are appreciated. Now then, on with the story!**

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"But… killing is wrong!" While they were riding Appa back to the village, Aang decided to ask about how they found them. Given his background, he didn't like it.

"If I didn't kill the overgrown pest, it would have crushed my village." Katara wanted to smack the kid so badly. She was very glad that Dormin was not like the other air nomads from a long time ago. She might have killed him, if that were the case.

"But… you should never kill a living thing, no matter what…"

"Oh, and what was I supposed to do, try and reason with it? Somehow, I doubt it would understand what I would say to it. It's not a person, it's a tundra centipede."

Aang looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he asked, "What was it doing near your village in the first place?"

Katara sighed, "I was near their nest and fought with one. I killed it, and that other centipede followed me. I didn't notice it until I was almost back. Strange as that is, considering how big those beasts are…" She wondered how such massive creatures could stay out of sight so easily. It didn't seem to make sense.

"So, it wouldn't have tried to attack your village if you didn't kill one of it's own in the first place?" Aang seemed just a tad bit smug, thinking he had her cornered. But then she said something that made his smug look vanish instantly.

"I was training myself to become stronger. I have no problem killing, whether it be a creature or a human being. There's a war going on, and whether anyone likes it or not, people die. I'm trying to become stronger to make sure that the people that will die are our enemies, instead of our own people. If you have a problem with that, too bad, it's just the way I am." She turned to look out at the ice the Appa was swimming by, intent on ignoring Aang.

Seeing this, Aang moved to sit next to Sokka. "I've never known anyone from the water tribe that was quite like her… what happened to your sister?"

Sokka yawned, it had been a long day, and the sun was setting. "When she was four, she was kidnapped by the Fire Nation, who everyone else is at war with right now. She made a few friends while she was there, and they changed her. A lot. I have no problem with the way she is, cause she's right. This war means people are dying, and we should try and make sure we protect our own at all costs. She's no hero, that's for sure, but she isn't evil either. She just follows her own path."

Katara turned to Sokka with a raised eyebrow. "Wow. You didn't say something stupid for once. Nice." She smirked when he glared at her, and went back to thinking about her favorite fire bender. She wondered what she was up to at the moment.

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The battle with Mai had gone in Azula's favor, or so she thought but as she was about to leave the training area to get something to eat, but Mai coughed to get her attention. Azula turned to ask what was wrong, but knives caught her sleeves and pinned her arms to the wall, she was going to kick off the wall to get away, but then her legs were pinned as well. "Mai, what the fuck?"

Mai walked up to her. "Always expect the unexpected, Azula. You never know what could happen." She looked at her for a few more moments, before adding "I bet you would love it if it was Katara who had you pinned to the wall right now, huh?" She smirked as she started walking towards the exit.

"Mai… aren't you going to free me?" She continued walking away. "Mai… get back here." Ignored. "Let me go!" She was out the door. Azula sighed, then muttered "bitch…" Outside the door, Mai was doing her best not to burst out laughing.

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Dormin was currently dressed like a lower ring peasant. One that made enough money to get worn out, but decent clothes, but a peasant none the less. Then again, perhaps peasant was a bit harsh. They did have it pretty rough after all.

He looked in the mirror, to make sure everything was looking alright. He had to pass as one of the people who lived in the lower ring, after all. He hadn't changed too much in the past six years. His hair reached his not too far beyond his shoulders, and had somehow gotten even messier. He was taller, and had some muscles. Other than that, He was the same. He didn't grow a beard, or anything like that. His eyes were still the same blood red. Seeing nothing wrong with his disguise, he headed out.

He had purchased a home in the lower ring, so that he wouldn't have to go far to reach his target. Going to Long Feng once a week for a long distance was far better than going far to see Jin every day. It was after noon now, so she wouldn't be working now, according to the file he was given. Said item also told him the path she took to get home. He'd wait around the halfway point and figure out how to get her attention from there.

When he arrived, though, he found he didn't need to think of anything as he just saw her get pulled into one of the many alleys branching off the main road. Narrowing his eyes, he quickened his pace. A lot of people had clearly seen her get pulled away, but no one seemed to want to do anything. He hurried into the narrow pass, and heard the girl Jin scream. Said scream was cut short, and he ran around a corner he came to and found that she was being held at knifepoint, a hand over her mouth to make sure she wouldn't scream again and the knife held against her throat.

He heard the thug that had her mutter "Better not scream again, or you're dead. Now… get stripping." Dormin moved quickly, yet quietly. He grabbed the hand that held the knife and forced it back, causing the man to stab himself in the throat. He fell to the ground, desperately clawing at his throat. It wasn't long after that that he was dead.

Dormin sighed, and turned to the girl. She was staring off at nothing, most likely shocked at what just happened. This was going rather well. The damsel and distress bit worked nicely, even though he hadn't planned it. Either way, it gave him an opening. "Are you alright?" Physically, she looked fine. Very fine. Mentally, she was most likely damaged in some way.

She turned to him, "Yeah… I… I'm fine…" She closed her eyes, sighing in relief. "Thanks… If you hadn't been there, there's no way I would have been okay…" Dormin knew that was a lie, he could sense she was an earth bender, but she would trust him more if he let her tell him on her own.

"Well, since you're alright, I suppose I'll get going then…" He turned to walk away, but smirked when she called to him.

"Wait!" The shadow bender turned to her, eyebrow raised, smirk no longer on his face. "Could you, maybe… come with me? Just in case someone else tries anything?" She was a good actor, he had to admit, but he could tell she was acting defenseless. She must have thought it would be strange if she just went on her own like that after what just happened, and she was right. The earth bender was walking right into his trap.

Dormin nodded and moved towards her. "Sure, I suppose. Lead the way." She smiled and started walking, the shadow bender standing beside her. "I'm Dormin, by the way. Who are you?"

"I'm Jin. Nice to meet you." She smiled at him, then turned her attention back to where she was walking. That street ahead was a bit crowded. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. When did you arrive in Ba Sing Se?"

"A couple days ago. I only just got settled in and decided to have a look around. Good thing I did, though." He glanced at her, and saw her nod.

"Who did you come with?"

"I didn't come with anyone." He saw her wince.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

But Dormin shook his head, "It's fine. I never knew my family. I did have a few friends, and a sort of mentor… But, my friends are fine where they live right now, and my mentor passed away." Tenzin had come to Ba Sing Se two years before. They caught up, and Tenzin told him about Azula and his other friends. Dormin felt bad that the fire bender was so upset about his supposed death, but it was better this way. It would only be a matter of time before they would reunite, he was sure. A week after arriving, Tenzin's old age had finally got to him, and he died in his sleep. Dormin was grateful for the time he had with Tenzin before his death.

He snapped out of his reverie when he heard Jin responding, "I'm sorry to hear that… I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. My parents, aunt, and uncle are all here. They moved to Ba Sing Se before I was born. I'm sure you can figure out why." Dormin nodded. No one was allowed to talk about the war within the walls of the city. The shadow bender was going to fix that, once Long Feng was out of the picture.

"So, you're an only child then?" She nodded. "I remember one of my friends had a brother. She always tormented him, so you're probably better off…" He smiled, and she laughed.

"You're probably right… oh, there's my house. I guess it's time for me to go. Maybe you can walk me to work tomorrow, huh?" He could tell she was joking when she said that.

But, that didn't matter. "Alright, when will you be going?" She looked at him in surprise. "What? There's safety in numbers, right? Besides, I could use a friend."

Jin smiled, "Alright. I leave for work shortly after dawn."

"I'll see you then. Bye." She waved to him, and walked into her home. Dormin smiled, and started walking away when something caught his attention in his peripheral vision. A shadow moving across the rooftops. It looked like one of the weaker kinds of Abominations he had encountered when he shadow walked from the Fire Nation. How could they have gotten out of the dark world, though? He narrowed his eyes and moved into an alleyway, and after making sure no one was watching, he covered himself in shadows before getting onto the roof above him and gave chase.

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Azula sat at a table, glaring at Mai. Said girl was calmly eating her food, as if nothing was wrong. "I hate you, you know that?" Mai pretended she didn't hear her. Eye twitching in annoyance, the fire bender went back to eating her own meal. She knew that her friend wouldn't be with her much longer. There were plans to take down Omashu once and for all soon, and her parents were going there to keep an eye on things. Mai would have to go with them, which would leave both girls without friends.

There were other plans, too. She heard talk of laying siege to the Northern Water Tribe. Dormin had told her that the moon and ocean spirits lived there. It was the moon spirit she was concerned about, or rather, what the soldiers laying siege would do to it. The moon gave water benders their bending. Kill the moon spirit, and the water benders would lose their abilities. She knew someone would want to kill it, if they knew about the spirit there.

She also knew what would happen if they were successful. Sure, the water tribes would have no real power left, but the oceans would become too dangerous to cross. The ocean spirit would no doubt want revenge, and would destroy any and all Fire Nation vessels in it's waters. Then, there would be no way for them to win the war, as their people would be left isolated on whatever land mass they were on. That would mean death for many, as not all places had a source for food on them. It was one of the real reasons for the war. Supplies that could aid their nation.

She couldn't allow the moon spirit to die. For one, Katara would hate her if she allowed it to happen, and Azula knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if her water bender hated her. For another, she had to protect the people in her nation that were actually good. Not to mention, the balance of the world would be even further broken with the loss of all water benders. Things were bad enough with only two air nomads around.

She would have to wait, though. If they were going through with the plans to invade the north pole, she would ask her father to join them. Hopefully she would be allowed to go, otherwise, she would have to find a way to warn someone.

"Thinking about your water bender again?" Azula started, and looked at Mai, who was smiling lightly. The fire bender smiled back, and nodded her head. As Mai finished her meal, Azula couldn't help but feel bad for the dark girl. Azula was the only person who had been able to get her to smile ever since their group fell apart. Living in Omashu would be tough for her. Hopefully, their group would be back together again soon.

Azula smiled sadly at that thought. It would never be the same without Dormin.

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"So… there's only two air nomads left?" Aang was looking very depressed. Katara had started to tell him about the war.

"Yeah, that's right. Dormin is the other one. He's one of the friends I had while I was in the Fire Nation."

Aang looked at her oddly, "If they killed all the air nomads, then why would they let him live?"

Katara shrugged. "They most likely think he's on their side because they raised him. He isn't, though. Neither is the princess or her friends. If the war isn't over when we are all together again, I'm guessing we'll fight the Fire Nation together. And, you can probably help."

Sokka raised an eyebrow, "Maybe? He's the avatar! Master of all four elements!"

Katara rolled her eyes, "He's twelve. Somehow, I doubt he's mastered anything other than air bending." She turned to Aang, "Have you even started training in water bending?" Aang shook his head, causing her to sigh. "Right then. My mother and I can teach you, but we don't have time to train you until you've mastered it." Sokka and Aang were about to say something, but she held up her hand. "Sozin's comet is coming, and that's going to give fire benders a lot of power. You can't possibly master all four elements before the end of summer arrives. What we need to do is gather some allies and find a good time to invade the Fire Nation… before Sozin's comet."

Everyone was silent after that. Katara was thinking that a good place to start would be the Northern Water Tribe. Mainly for the healers, as there were likely to be many there. Fighters would be nice too, but the healers would be the most important, as none of the other three forms of bending had the ability to heal.

Katara sighed as she closed her eyes, hoping to get some rest before they got back home. Her own healing lessons hadn't gone so well. Her mother had tried her best, but after the first year showing little to no progress, the younger water bender had decided to give up. She could heal small cuts and bruises, but that was it. Maybe, in order to be a healer, you had to be a bit more innocent than she was. She wouldn't deny, she was a bit sadistic, especially when it came to blood bending. It made her a bit evil. Not totally evil, but enough to make it clear that she didn't have very high morals.

Putting her thoughts to rest, she put all her effort into getting some sleep. Apparently, Sokka had already achieved that without any effort, since he was snoring rather loudly. She wasn't sure about Aang, but then again, he just took a nap in a big block of ice for a hundred years, so he was probably good.

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Ursa watched her son stare out at the ocean. She couldn't help but smile. She and Iroh did their best to make sure that Zuko wouldn't become obsessed with finding the Avatar, in order to restore his honor. She frowned at that. Restore his honor. If anything, he became more honorable when he tried to prevent the lives if those soldiers from being wasted on something so stupid.

They had all seen the beam of light that had appeared, reaching for the sky and going beyond it. They also knew it was almost definitely the master of all four elements.

Her smile returned when he answered a crew member who had asked him if he wanted to change course. He refused, and told them to continue to the Southern Water Tribe. He wanted to at least make sure that Katara was okay.

"It should prove to be quite amusing, his encounter with Katara." Ursa started, and looked to her left, seeing Iroh standing there. Eating roast duck. She had to roll her eyes at that.

"I suppose you're right. I'm guessing the first thing she'll say to him is his nickname."

Iroh chuckled, "Oh? I don't know about that."

Ursa smirked. "Well, why don't we make it a bet then? If I'm right, You won't be allowed to drink tea for a week." Iroh stared at her with a look of utter horror. "And if you win… I'll make you all the roast duck you want for a month." Iroh looked deep in thought for a moment, then nodded his head. "It's a bet then."

"Indeed, it is… in the meantime, I'll just finish my roast duck…" That was shortly followed by an 'om nom nom.' Ursa shook her head and looked back at her son. She was proud of him. She also couldn't wait to see Katara.

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**AN: Well, that seems like a good time to stop. Reviews are what keep me going, so please do so. And, just as a reminder, if you do review, include who you should think Dormin should be with; Mai, or Jin? Or, if you want, even both. I know some of you want that. I wouldn't mind. :D (Yes, I am laughing somewhat maniacally, how did you know?) Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Chapter eight. I'm so tired. Need to try sleeping more often. Anywho… reviews.**

**Newbiegod35- Not sure who I'm going to pair Sokka with quite yet. I suppose it depends on the outcome of the Siege of the North… Which also involves Suki. If Sokka and Yue are together, I don't know who Suki will be with… Katara may become a bit more "pure", as you put it, but I'm not so certain about it yet. As for smut… I don't know. I know a lot of stories haven't gotten taken off for that sort of content, but it has happened. Besides, while smut is great to read, it wouldn't really help the story at all. Maybe, though.**

**Ravenxxx007- Depends on the final results. Maybe I should just do a poll… Yeah, that's what I'll do. If Dormin is with Jin only, then it shall be Mai with Ty Lee. So… go put in your vote!**

**Spikesagitta- Ah… my little joke that's coming up… I think you'll like it… muahaha…**

**Guest- It should prove to be an amusing encounter.**

**truefortune- I'm trying to answer all reviews. Zuko shall find himself quite annoyed when he and Katara meet again, methinks… Dormin will not be a super pervert. That would totally ruin him. And I would hate to do that. A world without evil… that would be quite boring. And besides, evil has a name. (If anyone can guess what I just referenced, they get imaginary internet cookies!)**

**meg- It won't be forever. Nothing is forever, except for death… then again, if certain religions are, in fact, correct, than even death isn't forever!**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- That's a good question But only time will tell! Partially because I'm not totally sure yet… cough.**

**Wolf- Thanks!**

**Well, that takes care of reviews. Alright, on with the eighth installment of Our Blood Boils!**

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Katara walked into the tent where Aang was sleeping. She had woken up before dark, when Appa had reached their village. Seeing that neither Sokka or Aang had gotten up, she moved them into tents using her water bending, and explained things to her mother and Gran Gran.

She had put Sokka in heir own tent, while she put Aang in the medical tent. She was going to put Aang in her home as well, but figured her mother would want to make sure the Avatar was alright after being in ice for so long. She was right, as shortly after finishing telling her what happened, Kya had rushed off to take a look at him.

Wouldn't do for the savior of the world to go dying of something like hypothermia.

Speaking of the little brat, he seemed to be having some sort of nightmare. Rolling her eyes, she nudged him awake. His eyes snapped open. "Relax, you're safe here. Well, most likely." She started to walk back out of the tent, as she had done what she came in to do, namely wake Aang up, but he was quick. He was right behind her as they walked out into the daylight.

"What do you mean most likely safe here?" That caught the attention of the people who were near by. Which included her mother and Gran Gran.

Katara turned to Aang, "Well, even though it's unlikely since there haven't been any Fire Nation ships around here since I was kidnapped, That little light show that happened when you got freed from the ice might have attracted some unwanted attention. A hundred years of unsuccessful searching might have made the Fire Nation a little frustrated."

Aang gulped, and everyone else was looking worried. Katara didn't show it, but she would be glad if some Fire Nation soldiers showed up. It was about time for her to start using her abilities on people. She had to suppress the urge to smile sadistically. She really needed to tone down the evil in her.

"So, Aang… you said you wanted to go penguin sledding?" His worried look immediately became a huge grin. She rolled her eyes, but motioned for him to follow.

:::::

Dormin was walking towards Jin's home, a frown on his face. He had chased down the creature that he saw for an hour before it vanished. It leapt into a shadow that seemed larger than it should be, not to mention darker. When he peered into it, the dark world was seen in all it's abysmal glory. He used his shadow to close the opening, but he couldn't be sure if that would do any good. After all, how did it get opened in the first place? It wasn't him. The opening was only big enough for small abominations to get through, but what if a bigger opening was created? To allow a dragon, for instance?

"Something wrong?" He snapped out of his train of thought and noticed that he had reached her home. Jin was looking amused, for some reason. "You know, you scratch your chin a lot when you're deep in thought. A little odd, considering you don't have a beard." She smirked as she started walking to where she worked.

Dormin shook his head, but had a smile on his face. He started walking next to her, "Nothing is wrong. Just got a lot on my mind. Everything here is pretty much new to me." A total lie, but it wasn't like she knew that. "So, where do you work, anyway? You didn't tell me yesterday."

"Well, you didn't ask yesterday." She smirked when he rolled his eyes, "I work as a waitress in a tavern. It's a long walk, but I don't mind that. Well, not until yesterday, anyway…"

Dormin put a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright. No one's getting passed me, right?" Her smile returned. "So, a tavern? Aren't you a little young to be working in a place like that?"

She nodded her head, "Normally that would be true. But I work during the day. Not many people go there to get drunk then. I wouldn't be able to work at night, nor would I really want to. Things get pretty rough in there. You know… drunks do stupid things. Sometimes, things get so bad that the _Dai Li_," Dormin winced at the way she said Dai Li. Jin was not very fond of them, from the sounds of things, "Come in and take them to who knows where."

Dormin groaned inwardly. This was going to be more difficult than he originally thought. Her hate for the Dai Li would definitely make it more difficult to get her on his side… Or maybe not. He was trying to change the way of the Dai Li. Perhaps that would make her want to join? Well, he was getting ahead of himself anyway. First, he had to get her to tell him she was an earth bender. And that would surely take time.

"Earth to Dormin? Hello?" She was smiling at her joke. Dormin shook his head in amusement.

"A bad pun, Jin. Very bad." She rolled her eyes. "You seem to have a particular distaste for the Dai Li. I know people here don't like them, but you seem to hate them even more."

She looked at her feet, "They took one of my friends. Since no one knows what happens to people who are taken away…"

She didn't finish what she was saying, but she didn't really need to. Dormin sighed. "Sorry to hear that. Must've been tough on their family."

"It was…" Jin shook her head, "But enough of that, this is getting a little too depressing. It's in the past anyway, nothing can be done now. Have you gotten a job yet?"

"No, I haven't. I shouldn't have to worry for a few months, I have plenty of cash, so I have time before I will absolutely need one. Which will give me time to get used to the layout of the city." Jin nodded her head. "Hey, I have a bit of a story about my journey here… It involves a little trip through the Serpent's Pass…"

For the rest of their walk, he told the tale of his trip into the pass… improvising where he needed to, of course.

:::::

Azula had been looking for Mai for an hour. She had been told that she had arrived earlier, but the fire bender was having no luck finding the girl. At this point, she may as well get on the roof and look for her there.

The roof. That's where Dormin could often be found before… Sighing, she looked for a tree to climb.

After getting up there, she started walking to where Dormin used to most often "sleep." His version of it, anyway, which merely meant closing his eyes. As she expected, Mai was laying in the very spot where he used to be. Azula shook her head, and sat down next to her friend. "You miss him a lot, don't you?"

Mai turned her head towards Azula, "Of course. He was a good friend." Azula stared at her friend, eyebrow raised, causing Mai to sigh and look away. 'And I did have a crush on him…"

Azula smiled sadly, "I know. Just making sure you did too."

"It just isn't fair. There was so much going for him… and, as far as we know, he was the last air bender… And it was all taken away because of that damned bastard of a Fire Lord…"

Azula hugged her friend, not sure of what else she could do. Mai started crying, and the fire bender did her best to comfort her friend.

:::::

Katara couldn't help but yell in excitement as she went sliding down the hill. It didn't matter how bad she was, sledding on the otter penguins was just too much fun. Aang seemed to be having a blast too. He wanted to go down a different route than the one she usually went with, which led to the village. They were going down a hill with several bumps, ramps, and tunnels made out of ice. Aang had gone into one tunnel and spiraled around the inside of it. They finally came to a stop, still laughing. That was, until the otter penguins decided to stand up, causing them to fall over. They started laughing about that.

"Whoa, what is that?" Aang asked, pointing at a giant metal ship that was stuck in the ice.

Katara frowned, "That's one of the Fire Nation ships that were a part of the first invasion of our tribe. They took away almost all of our water benders. Obviously, not everyone, as my mom and I are here. But everyone else was taken."

"Let's check it out!" Aang got up and started moving towards the ship, but Katara grabbed his arm and forced him to turn towards her.

"No. I've already been in there, and there's nothing but traps. Some that could kill you. I don't feel like holding your hand while we skip around some dangerous ship."

Aang frowned. "Come on, it would be fun! You know, like when we were riding those penguins."

"No. Now, come on. Let's get back to the village. We can ride the otter penguins again to get back there."

That put a smile back on Aang's face, causing Katara to roll her eyes.

:::::

Zuko was looking through a telescope, looking for the village, when he spotted a ship that had been a part of their nation's first attack on the Southern Water Tribe. And walking away from that ship were two people. One of them was clearly an Air Nomad. "Uncle, take a look at this…"

Iroh walked over and took the telescope from Zuko, and looked where his nephew just was. "Ah… I see you found Katara. Good eye, nephew. It's hard to recognize people from such a distance… even with this."

Zuko's expression took on a shocked demeanor. "That's Katara? I didn't even realize…" Then he shook his head, "I was talking about the one that's next to her."

"Oh…" Iroh focused his attention on the boy next to her. "Ah… the Avatar has, in fact, returned… looks like he's still young though… strange." He handed the telescope back to the prince, "Not planning on going after him, are you?"

Zuko looked thoughtful. "No. I'll only capture him if he gives himself up. Not sure why he would do that, but…"

Iroh chuckled, "Why don't you go get your mother? We'll be arriving soon, and I'm sure she can't wait to see Katara again." Zuko nodded, and went inside of their ship. Remembering Katara's words from six years ago, he turned to one of the crew members, "Tell the captain to land out of sight of the village. We don't want to scare them into thinking were attacking." They nodded, and ran off to take care of it. "Almost time to settle that bet…"

:::::

"Wow. And you're still alive… that's remarkable." Jin stared at him, clearly in awe. Since he couldn't tell her the truth, his tale about him beating the serpent had to be different. And he was pretending to be a non bender, which must have made it seem quite impressive.

"Yeah… and a bit insane… I'm guessing this is where you work then?" He gestured at the tavern in front of them. She nodded her head. "Well. Tell me when you get off work, and we can talk while we get you back home. Maybe you can tell me a story."

"I don't really have any interesting stories. Well, I suppose there's a secret I could tell you… but not during a walk." Dormin nodded.

"Everyone has there secrets. Even me." She raised an eyebrow at him, and he only smiled. "Tell you what, instead of going home straight away, I found this great spot that no one seems to go to. We can… exchange secrets. That'll help solidify our friendship, right?"

Jin smiled, and nodded. "Alright. Normally, I wouldn't agree… but I feel like I can trust you. I'll see you later." She gave him a peck on the cheek, and then nearly ran inside the building. Dormin put his hand where she had kissed his cheek. Raising an eyebrow he started walking away.

"Well, that was rather… forward."

:::::

Mai twitched in annoyance. Azula saw this, and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Well… I was just bawling, for one…" The fire bender rolled her eyes. "I just… I feel like someone's trying to steal something from me… and I don't like it."

Azula shook her head. Mai was just so weird sometimes.

:::::

Katara and Aang got off of the penguins before they could throw them off, and walked into the village. Everyone seemed uneasy, and she knew why. Earlier, she felt like she was being watched. She couldn't explain it. Maybe someone had seen the beam of light after all. That could mean trouble. And, while she did want to fight, she didn't like the idea of not being able to use blood bending to win. She couldn't move much when doing it, or she lost control of the blood. Killing people using their own blood also took time, even with humans. They may be smaller but the human heart is more complicated than a tundra centipede's. It was an assassination technique, nothing more.

She could use her water bending, though. The ice armor would help a little, as long as any fire benders she faced didn't know how to keep the fire flowing constantly, like when a dragon breathed fire. If they could do that, her armor would become useless quickly. So would her katana.

The just had to be fighting the Fire Nation, didn't they?

Perhaps, if she could learn to maintain the low temperatures of her armor and sword, there wouldn't be such a problem. She would need a fire bender to help with that, though.

Oh, how she wished Azula was here right now. Azula… with her dark, silky hair… smooth, pale skin… feral, yellow eyes… She needed to stop thinking about her before she blushed.

"Who are you thinking about, Katara?" Apparently, she was too late. Her mother was standing not too far away.

Sokka was also there. "Oh, oh, I know! I know! It's-" That was followed by a scream as a large pile of snow crushed him. A muffled "Never mind!" was heard from the pile.

Kya shook her head in amusement, "Now Katara, that wasn't very nice. It can't be that bad. If you've gotten a crush on Aang…"

Katara's eye was twitching madly, and she was shaking in anger. Aang started backing away from her slowly, trying to not make any sudden movements so that he could avoid her wrath.

"Don't even joke about that!" her mother giggled, which caused her to smack her own forehead.

"Alright, I won't joke about that. Seriously, though. Who have you been crushing on? It isn't anyone from here, I know that much." Katara shook her head.

"I'll tell you later. Something isn't right, and I want to know what."

Kya suddenly looked a bit worried. "I'm not sure what's wrong. Everyone's been feeling a bit uneasy today. It's not an illness, I know that at least. The children don't seem to be paying any attention to this though."

All of them were too busy having fun. Playing in the snow was all they seemed to care about right now. Maybe that was a good thing. Katara sighed as she looked around… and that's when she spotted them. The figures heading towards her village were clearly from the Fire Nation, if the way they were dressed was any indication. "I'll be right back." She ran off in the direction they were coming from.

Kya, wondering why her daughter was in such a hurry, looked where she was staring moments ago, and saw the figures as well. Narrowing her eyes, she hurried after her daughter. Sokka and Aang followed shortly after.

It wasn't too long before Katara was close enough to see who was coming. She smiled when she saw Iroh and Ursa. That smile turned sadistic when she saw Zuko. And they were coming down a hill. So, she did what Azula would surely do. She screamed out "ZUZU!"

This caused Zuko to trip over his own feet, which then caused him to start rolling down the hill. Katara burst out laughing as Zuko landed a few feet from them. Kya was trying not to laugh, as was Ursa and Iroh. Sokka and Aang just looked on, unsure of how to react. Then Zuko spoke, his voice slightly muffled by the snow. "Six years… six fucking years… and that's the first thing you say to me?"

He looked up from the snow, only to find Katara acting innocent. He just put his face back in the snow. Perhaps, coming here wasn't such a brilliant plan after all.

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**AN: A bit shorter than usual, sadly, but I'm ending it there. In the mean time, go cast your vote in the poll I put up on my profile! I don't know when I'll close it, but probably not for awhile. Remember to review! Until next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: And here comes chapter nine! As usual, reviews come first.**

**Spikesagitta- Of course. Who indeed.**

**Lebensender- Pairings… so very important. Only time will tell what they all shall be!**

**Ravenxxx007- Well, you can make it official by clicking my username then clicking vote now. It's right at the top of my page, shouldn't be hard to find.**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- Iroh should have known better, that's for sure. And good idea… I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but that's definitely a possibility.**

**blazeice9967- Well thank you.**

**truefortune- Yes. You should have. But oh well, as long as you're enjoying the story…**

**Wolf- Thanks!**

** .94- Well, I doubt it's the best story ever, but thanks for the compliment!**

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**MaddiMastermind- Poor Zuzu indeed. I appreciate the enthusiasm.**

**Now. As I mentioned earlier, and I believe in the last chapter as well, I've posted a poll. Click my username and it's right at the top of my page. I figured it would be easier than trying to tally up the votes from reviews… plus, I might get more votes this way, and therefore better results. On to the chapter!**

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"So, have any of you gotten any ideas on what to do about the Avatar here?" Iroh gestured towards Aang. They were back in the village now, merely walking around. The people they went by looked nervous, which was to be expected as three of the people with them were clearly Fire Nation.

Katara nodded, "I was thinking that we should go to the North Pole. We can teach Aang water bending while we make our way there, and possibly find some allies as well. There's no way Aang can master all four elements before the comet arrives, so were going to have invade with a large number of people."

Iroh looked thoughtful, "Seems like a good idea. Water benders would be great allies against the fire benders…"

Katara shook her head, "It's not fighters I'm looking for there. It's healers. And there's plenty of them in the Northern Water Tribe. Fighters can also be useful, but the healers are more important. Aang should be good enough with water bending that we can find him an earth bending teacher by the time we're ready to leave the north."

"I see. Very sound reasoning. But, I must wonder… what about fire bending?"

The blood bender sighed. She knew where he was going with this. "We can't bring Zuko along, yet. I'm assuming that there are people that check on your progress?"

"Yes… well, it's more like pay us a visit so they can mock us, but they do check on our progress, yes."

"We want to try and keep the Fire Nation in the dark as long as we can. Which means that you and Zuko will have to meet with them. Then, you two, as well as Ursa, should try and make your way to Ba Sing Se. We'll be heading there after we're done in the North Pole to get the Earth King on our side. It won't be too long after that that we'll be ready to invade the Fire Nation. Whatever we can teach Aang by then will have to do."

"You seemed to have really though this out." Katara didn't respond. She just continued to walk. She had six years to think about everything. And a certain someone. It wouldn't be too far from now, that she would finally see Azula again. Not to mention Dormin, Ty Lee, and Mai. All they seemed to be missing from their group was an earth bender. Her thoughts once again focused on her fire bender, and what she might be doing at that very moment.

:::::

"Something wrong, Azula?" When Mai had arrived that morning, she thought the fire bender would be training as usual. Today, however, she was sitting where the weapons specialist was crying not too long ago. Staring out at nothing. It was odd, seeing Azula like this. Almost scary.

Said princess did not move. She didn't even seem to realize Mai was there. She was lost in her thoughts. She had felt something… awaken. It wasn't a bad thing, whatever it was. Why would she feel it though? Because she was a descendent of Roku? If that was the case, it most likely meant that the Avatar had returned. If that happened, though… No. She wanted to have her revenge. She would be the one to kill her father, who tried to destroy her life.

"Azula?"

Hearing her name, she jumped slightly in surprise. "Mai, don't sneak up on me like that."

Said girl rolled her eyes, and sat down next to the fire bender. "Well, you didn't say anything the first time I said your name. You were too deep in your mind, apparently. What were you thinking about? Your future wife?" She added that last part in with a smirk on her face.

It was Azula's turn to roll her eyes, "Don't you ever get tired of teasing me? I get it, I've fallen for Katara. I get it. What do I need to do to get you to stop with that?"

Mai looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she grinned, which looked very scary on her for some reason. "Promise me that the first thing you'll do when you see is run over to her, throw your arms around her, and kiss her. And I don't mean a quick peck, I mean with your tongue."

Azula could only stare at her friend. She tried to say something. But nothing would come out. She felt her eye twitching madly. She also wanted to strangle Mai. Very badly. But her body refused to respond to the commands she was trying to give it. All she could do was stare at Mai in disbelief. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Azula was finally able to respond. "You can't possibly be serious, you crazy bitch."

"I am serious. You've been longing for her forever. The longer you hide how you feel, the worse off you're likely to be."

Azula sighed, and decided to lay down. Mai just kept staring. With a smirk. That oh so very annoying smirk. "What if she doesn't feel the same way though?"

Mai lost the smirk. Sighing, she laid down next to Azula. "Well, somehow, I doubt that. I never told you this, but she told me that she liked you when we were younger." The dark girl didn't know what possessed her to lie like that, it could end up coming back to bite her if somehow Katara was not interested in the princess. She doubted it, but anything could happen.

Apparently, lying was pointless. "Mai, I've been an expert in the art of lying for years. I believe the saying goes 'don't bullshit a bullshitter?'" Mai nervously swallowed. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you… too much." The fire bender flicked her friend's forehead. "You know what? I'll agree to this ludicrous idea of yours. Not like I'll be losing anything if I do it. Except maybe Katara's friendship… well, she would probably just pretend nothing ever happened. Actually, if it's obvious that she doesn't like me that way after the kiss, I could probably just play it off as some sort of joke or something…" Mai opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it. "What?"

Mai smiled lightly, and pretended to be inspecting her nails as she said "Well, I was going to say you might also lose your sanity after something so devastating, but clearly you've already lost that a long time ago…" Then she jumped and tried to run a way as fast as she could.

Azula just watched her retreating form, before laying back. She would pay for that. Oh, how she would pay.

:::::

Dormin was standing outside the tavern, waiting for Jin. She wasn't going to be out for two hours, but at the moment, he had nothing better to do. Well, that was up until he noticed another shadow moving across the rooftops. He got a good look at this one, and it was clearly another abomination, possibly the same one as before. He didn't bother with subtlety this time, He got on the roof with a lot of people watching him. He heard them mutter about how the Dai Li were going to take him away, but they were on his side anyway. All that mattered was chasing the creature in front of him.

It had noticed him and tried to speed up, but the shadow bender would not give up easily. He managed to chase the beast without losing sight of it all the way up to where there was another opening to the dark world. A very large opening. And something had come out of that opening. Two somethings, actually. One looked like a bulky human, with large claws in place of it's hands. So large, they could easily be dragged across the ground. This one had it's claws on the edge of the opening to it's world, indicating that it was the one that opened up the gateway.

It wasn't that one that worried him, though. It was the other one. A shadow dragon. It was a bit smaller than the first one he had faced, but that wouldn't matter. It could fly, breath fire, and had really sharp claws and teeth. He couldn't let the beast get away, it was obvious what it would try to do. But he had to take out the other creature as well, before it made the opening wide enough for something bigger and more dangerous.

He had no choice. It was time to introduce the Dai Li to the abominations.

:::::

They were just about all set to leave. Sokka and Aang were already on Appa, with all the supplies they were given. Katara was saying her last goodbyes to the small group of people in front of her. This group included Iroh, Ursa, Zuko, Kya, and Kanna. "Well… this is it, I guess." Katara sighed. She was a little nervous. Her mother wrapped her arms around her.

"I really wish I could come along…" She felt Katara nod her head.

Then Iroh cleared his throat, "Perhaps you should. You told me her healing lessons hadn't gone so well, and they will likely end up fighting our soldiers along the way."

Kya looked back at Iroh, "But what about the people that get sick here? I can't just leave them…"

Iroh shook his head, "It may be better that way. By healing them every time they so much as get the sniffles, you make their defenses against such things weaker. If they do get sick, they're better off getting over it on their own, at least every now and then, to make sure they can build a resistance to sickness and get sick less often."

Katara smiled, "He has a point. Although, I still say he's a bit stupid for such a wise old man…"

"And how am I stupid?"

"You made a bet about what I would say to Zuko when I first saw him. You should have known better than to think I wouldn't yell his nickname. Isn't that right, Zuzu?" She looked pointedly at Zuko, who very maturely stuck his tongue out at her. She turned back to Kya, "What do you say mom? I could use another girl around with these two idiots already here," She said, jerking a thumb back in the direction of her brother and the Avatar.

Kya wasn't sure what to do. She then felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see that it was Kanna. "I think you should go with them. Someone's going to have to make sure that Katara doesn't do anything too drastic, after all."

Katara rolled her eyes, "I am not that bad." Everyone looked at her in disbelief. "Okay, yeah, that was a pretty bad lie, I know…"

Kya smiled, "Alright. Just let me get a few things and I guess we'll get going…" She hurried off to their home, and Ursa walked over to Katara.

"You be careful out there. As much as I hate to admit it, a lot of the soldiers in our armies have no mercy at all." Katara just raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I know you'd like to think you're even worse, but your brother here is still alive, even though you complained about how annoying he was before you had to leave. Now, there's something I want you to do for me next time you see Azula. I have a feeling I won't be there for it…"

Katara stared at Ursa suspiciously. "What is it you want me to do…?"

The Fire Lady smirked, "I want you to give her a nice and long kiss." Katara's jaw dropped. She tried to respond, but her jaw wanted to stay low. "You were a bit obvious with your crush on her when you were younger." Katara used her water bending to throw a snowball at Sokka, who could clearly be heard snickering from on top of Appa.

"Alright, fine. I'll do that. But if she lights my ass on fire, I'm coming for you." Katara turned around and saw her mother approaching with her own supplies and a waterskin. "I guess that's everything then. Unless you have something you want to add, Zuzu? You've been silent the entire time."

He sighed. "If you do end up meeting with my sister somewhere, make sure she's alright. She's only had Mai for the past six years."

Katara frowned, "What do you mean? What happened to Ty Lee and Dormin?"

Ursa looked at the ground. "Ty Lee ran away from home and joined a circus in the Earth Kingdom…" Katara's mouth twitched into a smile, but it quickly vanished when Ursa continued, "And Dormin was murdered by the Fire Lord."

:::::

"So, we need to destroy it's heart in order to get it to stay down for good, right?" Dormin nodded at the Dai Li agent. There were ten of them around him, and they were looking at the bulky clawed one, as well as the dragon. "And once we kill it, you want us to secure the shadow until you have finished with the dragon and can seal it?"

"That's right. On my signal…" Dormin raised his hand, ready to bring it forward as soon as both creatures could be caught completely unaware. Once they both had their heads turned away, Dormin swung his arm down, and all of them leaped into action. The Dai Li sent rocks at the creature trying to widen the portal, and Dormin leaped onto the dragon, drawing in the shadows in the environment to make a spear and cloak. The spear was obviously his weapon of choice, but the cloak was meant to hide his identity, in case word about this got to Long Feng, as it likely would.

While the Dai Li were busy trying to pierce the heart of the much smaller beast, the dragon that Dormin had hopped onto had decided to take off into the air. That's when Dormin realized just how much more difficult fighting the dragon in the real world would be. No shadow walking meant much more limited movement… for him, anyway.

It was difficult to hold onto the beast as it flew through the air. There wasn't anything like some spikes or bumps jutting from it's back. Dormin needed to get it grounded before it managed to get him to fall off. Apparently, it wasn't smart enough to do a barrel roll. Being careful as to not lose his balance, Dormin slid across the massive creatures back over to one of the wings. He thrust his spear into the wing, causing the dragon to roar in pain, and violently shake. Dormin managed to stay on the beast, and started carving his way through the wing, intent on cutting it off. The dragon started jerking around, trying to knock it's attacker off, but it only helped give Dormin help in cutting through the wing.

The wing Finally fell off and faded into a shadowy mist. Then Dormin realized that he realized he forgot about how high up from the ground he and the abomination was. It was going to be a very rough landing.

:::::

The flying bison soared through the air. Katara hugged her legs, still shocked about what she had been told. Kya held her daughter, not saying anything. Sokka had fallen asleep, and Aang was on Appa's head making sure they stayed on course. He wanted to stop by one of the air temples first.

Katara wasn't sure what to do. She felt rage and depression clashing within her. She wanted to tear something apart. She also wanted to break down into tears. She was leaning towards crying her eyes out, as she didn't want to tear anyone on the flying bison apart… well, she'd probably destroy Aang if he wasn't the Avatar. They apparently needed him.

She didn't want to cry either, though. She just wanted to bottle everything up inside. She knew she couldn't do that though. Bottling things up almost never turned out good, and she didn't want to risk hurting someone she actually cared about if everything broke loose.

Then she heard her mother whisper in her ear, "It's alright if you want to cry. I'm here for you."

She decided to listen to her mother. Kya continued to hold her, comforting her mourning daughter as best as she could.

:::::

Dust and dirt clouded the air. Rubble was scattered in various places. Fortunately, no one was in the area when they had crashed into the ground. Dormin stood shakily, and limped over to the dragon. The abomination was slowly regaining it's senses, so he had to act quickly. People had started gathering around, to see what had landed in their city. Evidently, not many people noticed the dragon flying above their city moments ago.

There was a Dai Li agent standing nearby, but Dormin recognized him as one that was loyal to him, so he motioned for the agent to come over. "I need you to send a rock in to destroy the beast's heart when I decapitate it, alright?" Receiving a nod, he moved over to the neck of the beast. The agent got into position in front of the monster. Like with the last one, Dormin used the shadows around him to make a great sword, and swung it down, though it took much more effort this time as gravity and his injuries were taking their toll.

With the head removed, and dissipating into nothing, the earth bender near him quickly made a particularly sharp rock fly through the open neck of the beast right into the heart. The body shook violently for a few moments, before becoming completely still. The body quickly became a mist, then nothing at all. Dormin sighed in relief. That was, until he noticed two things. Jin was looking at him. It was shortly after noon, apparently. That… and his cloak of shadows had been lost when he crashed landed with the abomination.

Jin had her arms crossed, and was tapping her foot rather impatiently on the ground. And she was glaring at him, though it seemed more like a playful glare.

"I can explain this. Just don't start sending rocks at me, alright?"

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**AN: I think I'll end it there, even though it's a bit on the short side. Sorry for not updating for so long, I decided to take a break from the typing so that I wouldn't drive myself crazy. Then I wouldn't be able to finish this story. Now, I will repeat this once more, click my username and vote in that poll for who Dormin will end up with! Seriously, only three people have actually voted so far, from what I've seen. Jin's winning. Lets get some more votes in! And not in the reviews, I won't be counting those. Until next time! And don't forget to review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: And so, chapter ten has arrived, and my neck is killing me. Don't know what I did, but it's bothersome. I've also done a good job ensuring I'll never camp again, thanks to Slender Man related stuff. Anyway, time to answer reviews.**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- Ha… fireworks… that's a good one. Considering their personalities, as well as behavior so far, they will probably be a little violent when they find out Dormin is alive. Poor guy. :3**

**Ravenxxx007- Well, so far "both" has the most votes, but I suppose only time will tell.**

**Spikesagitta- He does… and hopefully no rocks shall be thrown at him. (Especially since he is technically from the Fire Nation…)**

**Blazeice9967- Jin might go easy on him since he's injured… then again, maybe not.**

**meg- Their reunion should prove to be amusing… though it won't be for awhile, sadly.**

**truefortune- A sibling relationship between them would be good, if the aren't together. However, since the votes seem to be going for both Jin and Mai, it might not come to that.**

**kadajclone100- She does roll her eyes a lot, huh? I suspect that the next reviewer might the right.**

**SansaStark- Yes, she does come off as a bit of a sociopath… oh well. And out of all of the people Katara trusts, only one was actually involved in her kidnapping, namely Dormin. Everyone else she befriended (or tormented) after that. They have more reasons to trust them than to not, at least according to Katara's experiences. That's how I view it, anyway. Of course, I'm probably biased, as it's my story, but that's beside the point. Sort of. Moving on…**

**Chaotic-rouge- Thanks. I think. :3**

**Alright. As I mentioned above, so far it looks like Dormin is going to get both Mai and Jin, though Jin alone isn't far behind. Poor Mai only has one vote for her alone… And yet I'm not surprised. Oh well, onto the chapter! I post who has how many votes so far at the end of the chapter.**

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"You would think there would be more damage to this place…" Katara observed as they walked around the air temple. Her mother was next to her, and Sokka was ahead of them with Aang. The blood bender was expecting the place to be in total ruins after the Fire Nation's attack, but apparently she was wrong. While there was some rubble here and there, it was in good condition otherwise.

Kya seemed worried about something, though. "What happened to all the bodies? I know they would all be decayed at this point, but they should still be around here…" Katara nodded in agreement. There should definitely have been bodies around, all things considered. And it wasn't like the Fire Nation soldiers that had attacked would have bothered to give the dead a proper burial. So where could they have all gone?

"Maybe we'll find some skeletons inside of the temple." Kya sighed, but didn't respond to her daughter said. Something just felt off.

They heard Sokka talking to Aang ahead of them, "Exactly what are we doing here? It's not like we're going to find anyone here."

"There was something I was supposed to see here, but I never got to. Since, you know… I ran away…" Aang looked at the ground sadly, ashamed of what he did.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Aang, if you hadn't run away you would have been killed too. More than likely while you were in the avatar state, since being in extreme danger would likely have forced it to activate. That would leave us without an avatar, which would be a huge blow to morale. You're the last air bender now." She was saddened that Dormin was gone, but there was nothing that could be done now. "If you were gone, the avatar cycle would end anyway, and the balance of our world would be greatly shifted if you had been with them during the attack."

Aang nodded, "You're right. I can't let their deaths be in vain." They reached a large door which had two tubes on it.

"I'm guessing you need air bending to open this up…?" Aang nodded at Katara, and proceeded to open the door.

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Dormin winced as Jin wrapped up a cut that he had on his leg. A rather large cut. On the way down, the dragon must have clawed him. Fortunately, his shadow had acted as a cushion when he hit the ground, which prevented him from breaking any bones. He wasn't sure if the earth bender in front of him was going to do just that, though. If not her, then perhaps her mother, who was sitting not too far away. They had gone to her home after the Dai Li cleaned things up and worked on damage control. If word of the event reached Long Feng, he would have to accelerate his plans.

Her mother's name was Yin. The resemblance to her daughter was almost scary, as they looked almost exactly like each other. Jin's mother, however, was taller, had longer hair, and her eyes were a very bright green. Yin's hair was also free of anything to give it style, merely cascading down her back. Dormin suppose that maybe she just didn't have her hair up today.

He was also nervous. The woman had yet to say anything, she just got their medical supplies when she saw her daughter bring him in and let Jin get to work. When the earth bender was finally finished, Yin finally spoke.

"What happened?"

It was a simple question. But it also scared him. How do you explain killing a dragon and then not getting hauled off by the Dai Li? He had to tell the whole truth, or a lot of it anyway. He could probably get away with not saying anything about his life in the Fire Nation. He hoped.

"I'd also like to know. You did say that you could explain. I'm assuming this is a part of your own secret?" Jin. This was troublesome. But he had to tell her.

"Well, here's the thing… first off, I'm not new here. I arrived six years ago. Given that I was an air bender, Long Feng wanted me to join the Dai Li, as I had unique skills. More than he thought, though, as you saw. I have a very rare talent for shadow bending. I never told him about it, as I had a plan. Whatever happened, I knew I would have to get rid of him. And after seeing all the things he has done as the leader of the Dai Li, I have plenty of reasons to do so. I've been getting all the agents on my side. Almost all of them are loyal to me now, with the exception of about half a dozen."

Jin raised an eyebrow, "That's nice and all… but where do I fit into all of this?" Her mother looked surprised, but Dormin was amused.

"Smart… very smart. I like that." Dormin adjusted himself to make his injured limbs more comfortable. "Long Feng got information that made it seem like you were potentially an earth bender. I was to find out if you were, and either recruit or kill you afterwards, if you were in fact a bender. I had other plans though." Jin narrowed her eyes at him. "Hey, no need for that. I wanted you to help me overthrow the bastard. And I need someone to help lead the Dai Li. This war isn't going to remain secret much longer, and I have a feeling I'm going to have to get directly involved soon. And I want to be." He said the last part with a bit of anger, thinking about the Fire Lord always filled him with some rage.

Both Jin and Yin couldn't help but wonder what made Dormin angry. A lot had happened in the war, but there must have been something that happened to him personally. The former spoke first. "Joining the Dai Li with you in charge does sound very tempting…" Dormin had a small smile on his face, and Yin seemed impassive. "But I want to know what happened to you that made you hate the Fire Nation so much first." Yin voiced her agreement.

Dormin knew that this might ruin everything. But he didn't have a choice. First, though, he had one other thing to take care of. "Alright, I'll tell you. But, I need to get back to the agents guarding the area that dragon emerged from first. I need to close up the opening it used." The two women nodded and Dormin stood up. Feeling that he no longer needed to limp around, he hurried out of the door. "I'll be right back!"

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"It's been too long, Iroh." Commander Zhao was up to something, that much was obvious. He must have found the damage to their ship suspicious, but it wasn't like they said anything to suggest it. In fact, they hadn't explained the damage to it at all. They had left the Southern Water Tribe before the Avatar had. Partially because Appa wasn't up to flying at the time. However, when they were moving through a narrow pass, Appa flew over them. They heard Katara laugh maniacally for some reason, and that's when several giant chunks of ice fell from above and impacted the ship. So, they had to stop by one of the Fire Nation bases to get repairs.

"You are right, Zhao. Thank you for inviting us in for tea." Ursa and Zuko sat on either side of Iroh, not saying anything.

"How has your search for the avatar gone?" His voice lacked the usual mocking tone, which only served to confirm Iroh's suspicions.

Sighing, he finished his tea and set it down, "Well, since you are no doubt interrogating our crew at this moment, there isn't any point in lying. We did find him." Zhao looked at him expectantly. "We were not able to capture, however. He and his friends got onto his flying bison and took off. We pursued, but their water bender hit our ship with several pieces of ice, which is why our ship is damaged."

"I see… Why is it that the water bender had to do it? I would have thought this avatar could do it himself."

"We aren't sure why, but the air nomad is very young, about the same age he would be when we started this war. Considering we found him in the South Pole, he was likely frozen in an ice burg. It's clear that he only knows air bending, as since he doesn't know water bending, he can't possibly know earth or fire."

Zhao nodded and stood. "Well, I'll be informing the Fire Lord that the avatar has returned. In the meantime, you must continue to pursue them. I'd like to help, but I'm supposed to meet with several others about invading the Northern Water Tribe. Don't hesitate to ask for help from any of our own." Iroh raised an eyebrow. This was unexpected. But, shrugging it off as dumb luck, he also stood and shook Zhao's hand.

"We'll do that. Good luck in your endeavors."

"Yours as well." Zhao watched the three of them leave. Then he scowled. He really wanted to pursue the avatar himself, but the invasion of the north was more important at the moment.

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Dormin arrived to find some dead Dai Li agents amongst the multitude of living ones. "What happened here?'

"These were the last of the agents that were still loyal to Long Feng. He heard about the incident and sent them to check things out. He's all that remains now."

Dormin nodded his head. "Alright, get into position. It's just about time to take him down. I need to close that, " he pointed to the opening to the dark world, "first. Then we'll go." The agents nodded, and the air bender walked over to the gaping hole in the ground. It was very large, so it was going to be difficult to close it. He kneeled down, and grasped the edge of the shadows, then started pushing them to the other side. It took several minutes, but he finally managed to shut the opening. There were some small holes left off to the sides, but they were quickly taken care of.

"Alright… first, I need to go pick someone up. All of you head to the palace… except for you, "He motioned for one of them to come over, "I need to go see Jin first. You know where her home is?" The agent nodded and they all vanished into the earth.

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Jin, Yin, and a someone new were startled as a Dai Li agent rose out of the ground, with Dormin beside him. "Hey Jin… oh, hi. I don't believe we have met before."

"I'm Jin's father… Qingtong. You're Dormin, right?" It was obvious that Jin got her eyes from her father. His hair was a light shade of brown and was clearly shaved off recently. He was the same height as his wife, and looked like a no nonsense sort of person. And he was eyeing the shadow bender suspiciously.

"That's right. I'm assuming they've told you what's happened so far?" Qingtong nodded. "Alright, well then. Jin, I was wondering if you would like to join me in taking down Long Feng?"

Jin blinked. "Wait… right now?" Dormin smiled and nodded. "What makes you think I can take him?"

"I can sense that you're an earth bender… comes with the territory of being a shadow bender."

"Oh… alright, fine. Let's do it then. You owe me that explanation later, though. And my parents."

"Jin," Yin started, "Be careful. I know you're good but… Long Feng has experience on his side." Qingtong nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything.

"Don't worry… I've got all of the Dai Li and this guy here," She poked Dormin in the side, "I'll be fine. Things about to take a turn for the better." She stood next to Dormin and the Dai Li agent, and they sank into the ground, on their way to the palace to put an end to Long Feng's rule.

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"So… not only do we have to worry about the Fire Lord, but there's also these monsters called abominations?" Sokka seemed mostly curious, but also a bit scared.

Aang nodded, "Yeah. Avatar Roku said that they have been getting restless recently, and that we need to find someone who can enter their world."

Katara put her face in her hands. "Fantastic. The only person who could do that was Dormin." She sighed and leaned back in Appa's saddle. "And he's conveniently dead." Dormin seemed like the only one who could do what Avatar Roku mentioned. There was only Aang left, and he was about as evil as Azula was innocent. No other air benders meant no more shadow benders, and who else could possibly gain entry to this dark world?

"Maybe he isn't dead." Katara glared at Aang. "Just listen… you told us that he could make his shadow come out of the ground right?" She nodded. "Well, if the Fire Lord was burning him, he would only look like a silhouette within the fire."

Katara caught on to what Aang was talking about, "And since he could shadow walk… he could have easily faked his death…" Aang smiled and nodded at her. "It's not guaranteed, but it's definitely possible. Did Roku mention where we might find this person?"

Aang shook his head, "Sorry. All he said was that we would encounter them in our travels. He might be at the Northern Water Tribe, or even in Ba Sing Se. But we won't find out for awhile, I'm sure."

Kya smiled, "Well. If we do find Dormin, I'm sure Azula and your other friends will be really happy." She looked at the sun, "It's getting late and it's been a long day. How about we get back onto the ground and I'll make us dinner?" The teens happily agreed, and Appa made his way down.

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"You seem anxious." Mai observed. Azula had been pacing, clearly deep in thought. There were on the roof once again, watching the sun set.

"I've tried not to think about it, but I can't help it. There's supposed to b a meeting about the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe." She didn't stop pacing back and forth, she just kept moving.

Mai sighed, "So what? What's so important about the Northern Water Tribe that has gotten you to be so panicked?"

Azula stopped, and turned to her friend. "Well, there are several things. For one, the last time we invaded a place full of water benders, just about all of them ended up dead. We can't have all water benders being killed."

"Especially since one of them is Katara."

"Exactly. And the moon spirit is there. If someone kills it during the invasion, everyone loses. Especially water benders and the fire nation. Obviously, water benders need the moon spirit to bend… but the ocean spirit would know that it was us who killed it."

"Which would result in the permanent end to our navy." Azula had resumed her pacing after Mai had mentioned Katara, and the dark girl was getting tired of it, so she grabbed the fire bender's sleeve and pulled her down. "I think I have an idea on what to do, which could benefit us both."

Azula looked at Mai suspiciously, "What idea would that be?"

"Let's see if your father will let us go join the war. You and I won't have to be separated, we can probably go get Ty Lee, and we can make sure nothing happens to the spirit when the time comes. Not to mention, Katara has probably gotten sick of just sitting around in the South Pole, so she's probably starting getting involved in the war herself." Azula nodded her head. It was a good opportunity to finally leave this place.

"Alright… let's do it then." The two friends got up and started to make their way to the Fire Lord's chamber.

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"Who's there?" The Fire Lord didn't want to be disturbed at the moment. He had gotten word that the avatar had returned, from two sources. It could be a problem. The door opened, revealing his daughter and her friend. They both kneeled before him. "What is it I can do for you both?"

Azula spoke, "We would like to join in the war effort." It was a simple request. And the timing couldn't be better. With the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe coming, as well as the avatar's return, things were about to really heat up.

Ozai nodded, which had almost gone unnoticed due to the flames in front of him, "Very well. I want you to go and help with the northern invasion. Taking those water tribe fools down is crucial." Azula nodded, and she as well as Mai stood to leave, "However…" Both turned to the Fire Lord. "I also want you to keep an eye out for the avatar. Commander Zhao has informed me that the air bender has returned. He is traveling with three people from the water tribe, one of which is definitely a water bender. He shouldn't be too much trouble, since he has only mastered air bending, but we are not sure about the other three's abilities."

The two girls were shocked, though happy at the same time, as it was likely that the water bender was Katara. They bowed and left the room. It was finally time to leave the palace behind.

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**AN: So, Mai doesn't get left behind after all! Anyway, that's the end of this chapter. As I said way up at the top, I am not going to post the current results for the poll. So far, it looks like Dormin is going to get both Mai and Jin as "Both" has six votes. Jin alone is right behind that though with five votes. And, poor Mai only has one. Let's get some more votes in! And I also appreciate reviews, though if I start getting more than I get now, I'll have to stop answering the ones that don't really need an answer. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Here is chapter eleven. Sorry about not updating as often, but I've been feeling really tired lately, not sure why. As usual, reviews come before the chapter.**

**truefortune- Jin still has a chance to win, as I don't plan on closing the poll for the moment… Azula and Katara are most likely going to reunite in the North Pole. Not sure if it will be before, during, or after the invasion though.**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- Heh heh… thanks. :3**

**Spikesagitta- Yep, looks like Dormin's probably gonna get both… of course, if more votes come in before the poll is closed, that could change. Time alone will tell…**

**GoddessAthena01- Thanks. :D**

**Less reviews than normal, but oh well. On with the chapter.**

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Dormin stood in the shadows next to Jin, using them to hide. There were several Dai Li agents in the room with them, but only Dormin and Jin were going to make themselves known. Long Feng was talking to the Earth king, no doubt manipulating him into doing something stupid. The shadow bender had been waiting a long time for this moment. He whispered to his newfound friend, "Are you ready?" She nodded, and they stepped into the light.

The Earth King was the first to notice them. "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" Straight to the point.

"My name is Dormin. I'm a member of the Dai Li, the only air bender in their ranks… in fact, I'm the only one among them that isn't an earth bender." Long Feng could tell something was wrong, but didn't seem to know how to react. "Your advisor there, along with whomever his predecessors have been, have kept the truth from you and the Earth Kings of the past."

"What secrets?"

Jin cleared her throat, getting their attention. "There's been a war for the past one hundred years. The Fire Nation used Sozin's comet to wipe out almost all the air nomads, hoping to kill the avatar in the process. They failed then, but the avatar disappeared. Ever since then, the Fire Nation has been slowly taking over the Earth Kingdom. They almost completely wiped out the water benders in the Southern Water Tribe. Long Feng has been keeping it a secret from you with the help of the Dai Li."

Said earth bender was angry, but he managed to keep his cool. "This is nonsense. Dai Li, arrest these two." The Agents came out of hiding, but none of them made a move for Dormin or Jin. "What is this?"

The air bender smirked, "Their loyalties are with me now, Long Feng. You should know better than anyone, the Dai Li serve the Dai Li, or more accurately, their best interests. That means they let the strongest person lead."

"Your air bending couldn't possibly win them over." The Earth King observed the situation, clearly nervous but also very intrigued.

"You're right… but I never showed you where my true talents lie… You see, I'm a shadow bender… all the darkness around us is under my control." As a show of his power, he caused the shadows of the Dai Li and Jin to rise from the ground. When he raised his own, it was noticeably more monstrous than before.

As the six years went by, it had grown along with Dormin, though at a much faster rate. He had grown very tall, nearly fifteen feet, and had a very slender figure. The legs and arms were large, the arms being long enough to be dragged across the ground, with massive claws. Dormin had also traveled out of the city a few times, and stumbled across the remains of a dragon. As they were all bone, they seemed almost useless, but his shadow had taken to wearing it. The bones jutted out from it's body, held in place by the inky blackness that was it's shadowy body.

It Had also thought of a name for itself. Deimos. It said that it had something to do with fear, but Dormin didn't quite remember everything about it that Deimos had told him.

"Now… I was going to kill you myself, but Jin here has decided to get revenge for all the people in this city who have suffered because of you. That is, if you don't mind, your Highness?"

He appeared to be considering it. "Dai Li… is this true?" The agents around them nodded, and Kuei sighed in disbelief. "Very well. You may proceed."

Long Feng's shock only lasted a second, as he quickly had to turn to a boulder that Jin had sent flying towards him.

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"Will you get off of that fucking fish?!" Katara was getting very frustrated with Aang. As soon as they had gotten onto the ground, he went into the water and started riding some rather large fish. She was going to just ignore him, but that was a much bigger one in the water, that looked like it was looking for a meal.

They couldn't be losing an avatar to a fish. Just couldn't. Growling in frustration, she decided to just make a massive wave of water to carry him in. Aang crashed into the sand on the beach.

"Katara, that wasn't very nice." Kya said while she was preparing them something to eat. Katara just crossed her arms and walked away. Her mother just shook her head in amusement. "Don't go wandering too far, I'm almost done."

"Alright…" The blood bender continued walking along the beach. It had been a long time she was at a beach. The last time was while she was in the Fire Nation. She had gone to Ember Island with Azula, Ursa, and Zuko. Ozai had an important war meeting, and wanted them out of the palace. She doubted that there was actually a war meeting, but there was no way to prove otherwise now.

It was early in the morning, Appa had flown all night. Said bison was currently resting under a tree not too far off, with their new friend Momo. The little lemur didn't seem to like Katara very much, probably because she had reacted rather violently when it tried to sneak up on them. Momo was also wary of Sokka, who had made it clear that he wanted to eat Momo when they first met.

The blood bender suddenly stopped. A twig, or maybe a tree branch had just snapped nearby. Something or someone was watching. Unfortunately for them, there was a rather large source of water right next to Katara. Smirking almost sadistically, she swung her hands towards the trees and bushes, causing water whips to lash out from the water and enter them. Katara managed to contain her smirk, and had an impassive look replace it. Hearing a yell of surprise, she quickly had the water whips wrap around the person spying on her, and yanked them out. She made sure that they hit several branches along the way.

"Can I help you in some way?" The blood bender's voice was laced with sarcasm. She didn't get an immediate answer from the currently incoherent stranger, so she took their appearance in. Green armor, some weapons, make up. In fact, this girl she pulled out of the bushes reminded her of Avatar Kyoshi. "What's with the getup? Are you some fan girl or something?"

That comment seemed to snap the girl out of it. "I'm one of the Kyoshi Warriors. Who are you?"

"Usually one introduces themselves first before asking for another's name." She could feel her smirk returning.

The girl growled in frustration. "My name is Kirai."

"That's more like it. I'm Katara. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I'm guessing you were keeping an eye out for any enemies from the Fire Nation?" Kirai nodded. "Well, there's no need to worry about that right now. I don't think there's anyone from there near the island. Is there anyone else keeping an eye out?" Kirai just looked over Katara's shoulder, causing Katara to turn and see that some other Kyoshi Warriors had already subdued Aang, Sokka, and her mother. The blood bender rolled her eyes and dropped the girl, "Let's get over there before your friends do something stupid…"

The other warriors had noticed that Kirai had been unable to subdue Katara, but only got into defensive stances. At least they weren't totally stupid. "I didn't think you were Fire nation, since there's an air nomad with you, who I'm guessing is the Avatar…" Katara nodded, "But Suki insisted. She's our leader."

"She attacks first, and asks questions later…" The blood bender's sadistic smirk returned in full force, "I like her already." She heard Kirai swallow nervously, most likely frightened by Katara's look. Said water bender silently chuckled. Azula had taught her a lot of things, and that evil smirk of hers was one of them. Spirits, how she missed her. The two girls stood in front of the Kyoshi Warriors. "So… which one of you is Suki?"

"That would be me," the girl who said this stepped forward, "And you are?"

"As I told this one here, I'm Katara. And I would appreciate it if you would untie my mother… you can leave the other two alone if you want." She smiled mischievously at that.

"Very funny, Katara. We'd appreciate it if you could free all of us…" Sokka said.

"Kirai, they aren't enemies, are they?" Said warrior shook her head, and the other girls untied their 'prisoners.' "Sorry about that. We've been trying our best to stay out of this war, but the Fire Nation seems to just keep getting closer and closer to us."

Katara shrugged, "It's fine. Just try not to attack the Avatar again, we kind of need him."

Suki's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… this shrimp right her," She jabbed her finger at Aang, "Is the Avatar?" Katara nodded. "We almost did something very… very stupid." Another nod.

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Azula looked out at the vast expanse of water. They were just about ready to set out, and she was feeling very nervous. The only time she had ever left her home was to go to Ember Island, she had never been anywhere else. At least she had Mai.

"So…" Azula nearly jumped in surprised. She hated how her friend would do that. "Do you think we'll run into Katara somewhere along the way?"

Azula looked behind them, and saw a lot of people around. Too many people that could hear them talking. She grabbed Mai's hand and led them to her room, making sure to lock the door when they got inside. "I'm not sure if we will. But, if we do, we're ditching these fools and joining her and the Avatar."

Mai smiled. "Oh, I can't wait to see the reunion…" She tried to stop herself from laughing when Azula muttered what sounded like "pervert."

"I can't wait either. Problem is, we have no idea when it will happen."

"We do know when it will be at the latest." Azula looked at her questioningly. "Katara knows how to strategize. So, she'll be going to the Northern Water Tribe to get allies."

The fire bender felt a smile on her face. "You're right…" a frown quickly replaced the smile, though. "We're going to have to find a way to get to the North Pole before the invasion begins…"

"Aren't you supposed to be the brilliant military mind here?" Azula glared at her. "We wait until were with the fleet going to the tribe. Then we tell them were going to go ahead and try to capture the Avatar so he can't aid the water benders, and that we need maybe… three days?"

"That might work… And I really should have been able to think of that myself."

"Yes. Yes you should have. But… you didn't." Mai added that last part with a smirk. The smirk quickly disappeared when blue flames ignited in Azula's hands.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear you."

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Kuei sighed. "So much has been hidden from me. I should have found it odd that I was never allowed to leave the palace…"

Dormin shook his head, "Even if you had known, there would be nothing you could have done. As long as Long Feng had the Dai Li, he had too much power. It's a good thing I came here six years ago. Who knows what could have happened, otherwise." Dormin looked over at Jin, who was looking at nothing in particular, deep in thought. "I've sent a message to the generals. They'll bring you up to speed on what's going on. In the meantime, I think someone else could use a friend." Kuei nodded, and Dormin got up and walked over to Jin.

Said earth bender was trying to get over her first kill. She didn't think taking a life could affect her like this, but she now realized how wrong that was. "What's wrong?" She looked up at Dormin, who was looking at her with a worried expression.

"How did you feel? After your first kill?" The shadow bender sighed, and sat down next to her. "Were you upset at all? Maybe… angry?"

"No. I enjoyed my first kill. It was a tough fight, but victory just felt so good…" He chuckled. "Of course, my first kill was a dragon made of shadows. So, by the time I killed my first human… well, I was already used to killing monsters so… not really much of an effect. I'm also a bit sadistic in nature, so maybe if my first kill was a human, it wouldn't have mattered much to me anyway." He put his hand on her shoulder, "It'll be alright though. It's not like he didn't deserve what he got, right?" Jin sighed, but nodded. "You were impressive, last night. Tell you what… after we get you trained up by the Dai Li, we'll head to the Si Wong desert to see if any of the sand benders can teach you."

Jin looked at him oddly. "Why should I learn sand bending?"

"You never know what can be useful. Right?" She shrugged.

"You still owe me your life's story." She suddenly spoke. They had been sitting in silence for five minutes.

Dormin rolled his eyes in response. "Yes, and I also promised that I would tell your parents as well. So let's get back to them first, right?" She nodded and they stood up, beginning their long walk from the palace back to Jin's home.

They didn't seem to notice that they were holding hands.

:::::

"And this is where you two will be staying." Suki said as she opened the door and motioned for them to step inside. Now that it was known that they were not only friends, but that the Avatar was with them, they were being treated almost like royalty. Well, royalty according to their standards. Katara had lived with Azula, after all. Nothing seemed to compare to that. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors was showing her and Kya to their room for the time they would spend on the island. Aang and Sokka got their own.

Katara frowned as she thought of Aang. There was now a pack of wild fan girls following him around, and a lot of people were giving him all kinds of attention. He was only twelve, so it would probably make him get a bit full of himself. She just hoped he didn't try to do something stupid to be a showoff.

Then again, if he did something like get eaten by the Unagi, as the people here called it, then she could do her oh so very sadistic blood bending. It had been awhile since she did any blood bending, so she was feeling slightly on edge. Maybe she could start making Sokka hit himself several times while saying 'quit hitting yourself, your going to cause even more brain damage you already have.' Then, Katara noticed something. A sword that Suki was carrying.

"I'm assuming you girls train everyday?"

Suki didn't seem to have expected the question, but answered nonetheless. "Yeah, every morning at dawn. Why?"

Katara glanced at her mother, who raised an eyebrow in response. "Well, I need to keep up with my exercises with my katana and armor… and I think my mom should learn how to use a weapon, since her offensive water bending is… well, abysmal."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to tear everything in sight apart like a certain someone I know." Kya crossed her arms and looked away, trying to look angry. She was failing to do so, however, as she was smirking slightly.

Suki seemed to be considering it for a moment, "Alright, you can join. But you better arrive on time."

Katara nodded while Kya s=responded, "We'll be there."

"Good. If either of you need anything, there's plenty of people around that would be more than happy to help. I'll see you both later!" She waved goodbye and walked out.

"My offensive water bending is abysmal, huh?" Katara gulped, and looked at her mother. Up until now, she had never seen the kind woman ever look sadistic at all.

She supposed that there was a first time for everything.

She didn't realize it until it was too late, however , that the threat wasn't really in front of her, but behind her, as their water skins were set on the table behind her. One minute, she was staring at her mother, watching for any sudden moves. The next, she was trying to swim out of a ball of water that moved wherever she swam, thanks to Kya. Finally, her arms were frozen together and her feet were frozen to the ground.

"You know all I have to do to get out of this is yell for help, right? Suki just said-" She was cut off by water freezing over her mouth.

"I'll come back and check on you in a few hours, alright sweetheart?" Kya walked out of the room giggling madly. Katara just stood, shocked. She didn't know her mother could be so… evil. It was amazing.

She just wish Azula had been here to take advantage of her predicament.

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"Wow…" Jin couldn't believe what they were just told. Born in the Fire Nation, raised in the Royal Palace as well as whoever his teacher traveled. Friends with the princess of the Fire Nation, her two friends, a kidnapped water bender, and his own shadow. And nearly killed by the Fire Lord of all people, which had led him to Ba Sing Se. "So… what happens now?"

Yin and Qingtong hadn't said anything. Dormin wasn't surprised by that, his story was a lot to take in. Here cleared his throat, before answering "Well, I think that things have been set into motion. As I've told you, I'm familiar with the shadows of my friends due to how long I was around them, and Katara as well as Azula are now on the move. And I've felt an air nomad awaken, most likely the Avatar. So, we'll train until we can all meet up. From there… we take down Ozai and the rest of those who are corrupt in the Fire Nation."

"Sounds like a plan."

Everyone was now on the move. Even Ty Lee, as she was traveling with the circus.

Only Dormin seemed to be aware of the other danger which, quite literally, lurked in the shadows. Oh, others had seen it. But only Dormin truly understood it, thanks to his power.

It was the beginning of the end.

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**AN: I took way too long wit this chapter! Every single time I got to starting it, something came up. That, along with so much fatigue… man. Oh well. I've been thinking that instead of Aang and Toph, Aang and On Ji might be a better idea… I don't know though. Leave a review! The current poll results are;**

**Both- 7**

**Jin- 6**

**Mai-1**

**Poor Mai. Hope you all enjoyed his chapter. Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Is it chapter twelve? I believe it is. Time for reviews!**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- Katara just has so much evil in her. Let's hope she doesn't snap.**

**Guest- A lot of people are looking forward to that meeting. And I can't blame them. :D**

**MaddiMastermind- Well, usually when one says no pun intended, that means it was… that's what I've noticed anyway. Anyway… they might meet at the North Pole… maybe before… who knows?**

**Spikesagitta- I have a hunch that not all of them are heroes, but that's beside the point. :3**

**Blazeice9967- I know. Poor Mai is so lonely. Maybe that's why they want her to be with both Dormin and Mai?**

**Ravenxxx007- Thanks. : )**

**charis-chan- Thank you.**

**truefortune- As scary as that thought is…**

**shorty6636- Thanks! I'll try.**

**Dbananad- A lot of people can't wait for the reunion… that's good, though. Means they wanna keep reading. Thanks!**

**For those of you who are curious, It still looks like Dormin is getting both girls. Still not taking the poll down though, so if you still haven't voted, I would recommend doing so! On with the story.**

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"So… what am I learning first?" Today was Jin's first day of training, and she was nervous. It didn't matter that the Dai Li were on her side now, they still seemed a bit… frightening.

The agent, who chose to remain nameless like the others, seemed to be contemplating something. "The Best thing to do right now is see what you've learned so far. While we saw some of what you can do when you fought Long Feng, there's probably other things you can do, yes?" She nodded. "After that, we'll teach you what you still need to learn. We've sent a message to our agent in Gaoling, and they will teach you seismic sense."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's seismic sense?"

"The ability to see through the earth, or more accurately, vibrations within the earth. We would teach you ourselves, but those who were able to grasp the concept don't really know how to teach it. So, our Gaoling agent will have to be the one to teach you."

Jin nodded. "Oh… one other question. Where's Dormin? I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"He went to find a friend at the circus." She looked at the Dai Li agent strangely. "I know, it sounds really weird, but that's what he said he would be doing. Now, let's get to work…"

:::::

Katara and her mother stood in front of the building where the Kyoshi Warriors trained. It was a bit on the small side, but it should be big enough. And if it wasn't, then that would mean they'd be down one building for training.

"I still don't see why I need to learn how to use a weapon." Katara sighed when she heard her mother say that. After finally freeing Katara, not too long before everyone was heading to bed for sleep, she tried to convince her daughter that learning how to wield a weapon wasn't necessary for her.

"Mom, you need to be able to defend yourself If there's no water around to use. So suck it up and deal with it!" Katara went inside, and was reluctantly followed by Kya.

Suki and the rest of the warriors were already training when they got inside. "There you two are, I was starting to wonder if you were going to actually come."

"Someone wasn't so sure about this so getting here was a bit slow." The blood bender looked rather pointedly at her mother, who smiled sheepishly.

"It's fine. Kirai well help her get some armor on, as well as the traditional make up… and I believe you said you have your own armor? I don't see it with you." Suki had a confused expression on her face. Then Katara used her water bending to make her armor and blade. "That's impressive. Alright… as soon as Kya is ready, we'll begin."

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Shadow walking was a very dangerous thing to do. That was why Dormin decided to try something new. After getting a good idea of where Ty Lee was via her shadow, Dormin covered himself in shadows and started sliding across the ground. At a very high speed. He was slightly inside of the dark world, but made sure he was able to get to the surface. If a monster came along, he should, in theory, be able to get out without any problems.

He was able to move even faster than when he used running in combination with air bending. A good thing, as the circus was quite a distance from Ba Sing Se. He didn't know why he was going to retrieve Ty Lee. He just felt like he should.

Not too long after he left Ba Sing Se, he arrived at his destination. Dormin couldn't help but chuckle. The circus. A place only Ty Lee would go to when running away. He'd have to wait until nightfall, and when he could catch Ty Lee alone. He could see her from where he was. Showing off how flexible she was to some of the other performers.

Time was moving too slow.

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"I hate this. There's nothing to do. I'm bored."

"Don't you start acting like that again, I get enough of that attitude as it is." Azula growled at Mai. Usually, Mai was the one who was bored, but she was playing Pai Sho. What annoyed Azula more about this was Mai was playing against herself. How that worked? The princess had no clue at all.

The game was ruined as the tiles suddenly got knocked off the board. The whole ship had rocked from something impacting against it. Azula wasted no time in running out of the room to see what was going on, and Mai wasn't far behind. They moved against the wall of the interior as the ship started to shake, though it didn't for long. A feral screech rang through the air. Something big must have been attacking them. They started hearing the shouts of the soldiers and crew members, something about a giant squid.

"A squid? That shouldn't be a problem, even if it is large…" Azula didn't respond, but Mai was right. Even the big ones could easily be killed by fire benders. What made this one so special?

She got her answer as they made it to the deck. This was no ordinary squid; It looked like it was covered in ink, and it had several dozen eyes glowing white surrounding it's head. The creature's tentacles had harpoons jammed in them, but backwards, allowing it to spear whatever unlucky humans happened to be in it's path.

"This looks like those creatures Dormin told us about… what were they called? Abominations?"

"Yes Mai, but I think we should focus more on killing it." She then shouted for all the people trying to attack it to hear, "We need to expose it's heart! Concentrate your attacks on one spot! Anyone who isn't a fire bender, back off!" Many of the crewman and soldiers retreated, leaving only a dozen fire benders, including herself. "Where the hell are all the others?!"

One of the soldiers ducked under one of the beast's tentacles before yelling "The rest are dead, princess!"

"Spectacular…" Azula muttered. She glanced behind her to see Mai still there. "What are you doing?" The princess started jabbing her hands forward, sending lightning at the spot where the other benders were concentrating their fire.

"I've got something to confess…"

Azula's eye twitched in annoyance, "Is now really the right time for this?"

She heard Mai huff behind her. "It could really help out here, I think…"

"Then why not just show me instead of tell me? That will save time and lives…" She was going to say more, but was cut off by a knife flying by her towards the Abomination. However, this knife was moving a lot faster than Mai had ever thrown one before. And it was covered in green flames. The throwing weapon tore through the beast, causing it to shriek in pain. Azula turned to her friend, "You're a fire bender?"

"Yeah… Dormin was going to tell you, but I asked him to keep it a secret…" Azula briefly wondered why he knew, but remembered he could sense those sorts of things. "So… I think the heart might not be in that things body."

"Why not?" Mai pointed at the creature's eyes, and the fire princess noticed that a stray fire ball had hit one. It was bleeding far more than it should have. She noticed the remains of some sort of organ, most likely the heart. But it was still alive. "Everyone, concentrate on the eyes!" That order turned out to be unnecessary, as Mai was already throwing her flame covered knives at the eyes in rapid succession, each making their mark easily. Most if the hearts were destroyed, and those that weren't soon burned up from the flames. The squid like beast fumbled around the deck, desperately trying to kill someone else before fading into nothing.

Azula turned to Mai, hands on her hips. "I'm really sorry for not telling you…"

The fire princess raised her hand, signaling her friend to stop talking. "It's fine. I just want you to tell me everything now."

Mai seemed nervous about that, but nodded, and gestured for Azula to follow her back to her room.

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"You look tired, mom." Katara looked very amused. At the end of the training, which Kya got used to remarkably quick, Suki wanted her to have a friendly duel with Katara. Fans with blades against an icy katana. It was an easy battle for Katara, having been training with the katana half her life and with the armor for quite some time as well. Kya, on the other hand, wasn't used to wearing armor or fighting… so she was on the floor panting heavily. " I haven't seen you like this since when I was three and caught you and dad-"

"Ah! No, don't even finish that sentence!" Sokka was standing in the doorway, fingers plugging his ears to prevent himself from hearing anything else.

"Right… what brings you here, Sokka? Hasn't Suki kicked your ass enough times already." Sokka growled at that. He and the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors hadn't gotten off to a good start. His pride was hurt when she snuck up on him and took him down so easily.

"I was wondering if… maybe… you could teach me?" Everyone looked surprised. Until Katara got an evil looking smirk on her face, and whispered something to Suki.

Suki's face quickly got the same smirk and responded, "Alright. But you're going to have to follow our traditions. Which includes dressing like us."

Sokka's eyes widened. "Oh no…"

Katara's smirk turned into a grin. "Oh yes…"

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"Alright. Now, what's the story? How are you a fire bender?" Azula sat down on her bed, and Mai sat next to her.

"I'm not sure. I guess someone in my family must have been a fire bender at some point. I've known I could fire bend for a long time. I'm not sure why I decided to hide it from people… but that's what I chose to do. Over time, I learned how to combine it with weapons… it makes strikes faster, and more deadly. Not to mention it can cut through steel with ease…"

"You're going to have to teach me how to do that."

Mai nodded, then continued, "Dormin found out when he first met me. It's why he was looking at me oddly. He could tell my parents weren't fire benders. When he asked me about it, I told him it was my secret, and I wanted to keep it that way. When he asked if he could tell either you or Ty Lee, I said no. He took that secret to the grave…"

Mai wrapped her arms around her knees and shut her eyes tightly, trying to stop herself from crying. "There's something you're not telling me."

"He used to train with me. When all of us would play hide and seek, we'd go to one of his hiding spots, and he'd always bring fire bending scrolls so I could learn. He also gave me the idea of using fire bending with my knives to make it more effective. We became really close, though we didn't show it…" Mai didn't say anything after that, but Azula could tell she had more than just a crush on Dormin.

"I'm really sorry… I didn't know you cared about him that much…"

"Yeah… well, no more hiding." She stood up from the bed, "It's time to move on. We'll avenge his death, or die trying, right?" Azula smiled and nodded. "Think we'll have time to get Ty Lee?"

Azula frowned, "Sadly, no. The invasion will happen soon, and she's too far our of the way. We can get her after." Mai sighed, but nodded. She missed the chi blocker. A lot.

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"Do you really have to leave so soon?" Katara felt like slamming her head against something. Ever since training, Suki and Sokka had gotten a bit closer. Annoyingly so.

"Sadly, we have to. The sooner we get to the North, the sooner we get to Ba Sing Se. And the sooner we get there, the sooner the war ends. You could help…"

"… by making our way to Ba Sing Se?" Suki finished for the blood bender, much to her amusement and annoyance. "We'll see you there. Question… is that the only reason why you're leaving?"

Katara looked over at Aang, who was sitting on Appa's head, pouting. "No. The Avatar over there has been getting a swelled head, and that could get him killed. Better off leaving before his fame gets to him too much." She then surprised everyone by hugging Suki. "Be careful, alright?" She let go of the girl who shocked, smirking.

Suki got an annoyed look on her face. "You just did that to mess with everyone, didn't you?" Katara didn't confirm it… not did she deny it. She just walked over to Appa, whistling. Suki rolled her eyes, and turned to Kya. "You did really good today. Keep up your training, I expect to see a lot of improvement when we meet again."

Katara's mother smiled, "I'll try. You girls take care of yourselves. Especially you, Kirai. You got a nasty temper." Kirai just stuck her tongue out at her. Shaking her head, Kya moved to Appa and grabbed Katara's hand when she was offered it, being pulled up into the saddle.

Katara glared at her brother, who was staring at Suki. "You coming or what?"

Sokka snapped out of his thoughts, and quickly waved goodbye to the Kyoshi Warriors, as well as the villagers, as he hurried onto Appa.

With a "yip yip" from Aang, they were on the move again.

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Night had fallen, and Ty Lee had decided to go for a walk in the woods by herself. The forest here had strange but beautiful flowers that bloomed only at night. She was going to gather some, when she heard a voice behind her. "It's been a long time, Ty Lee."

The chi blocker stiffened in fear, and turned around quickly with a knife drawn, only to find her supposed to be dead friend. "Dormin? No… that's not…"

"Possible? You can't believe someone as pathetic as Ozai could kill me so easily?" The shadow bender smirked. "If you need proof, then…" He swept his hand over his shadow, causing Deimos to rise up.

"Dormin… it is you." Ty Lee relaxed and put the knife away. Then she put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "Explain. Now."

The air bender raised his hands in mock surrender. "Easy, Ty… no need to get violent. Deimos, my shadow, made it look like it was me who was fried in Ozai's flames, and I shadow walked from the Fire Nation to the shores of the Earth Kingdom. I went to Ba Sing Se from there. I'd tell you more, but we should be heading back there now… I can tell you along the way."

"I can't just leave… I like it here."

Dormin sighed, he figured this could be a problem. "The beginning of the end is upon us, Ty Lee. Are you really just going to hide out in the circus, when you could be helping me and our friends, not to mention the rest of the world?"

The chi blocker looked at him oddly, "The others are in Ba Sing Se?"

"No. They don't even know I'm alive. They will soon, though. I felt everyone shadows begin moving. They're going to come to Ba Sing Se for help from the Earth King in the attack on the Fire Nation."

She sighed, "I guess that makes sense…" She looked at him, and he stared back showing no expression. "Alright… we'll go to Ba Sing Se. But you owe me."

"Yes, your highness. Now, let's go!"

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**AN: Sooo sorry this took so long… and that it's a bit short. I've been lazing out and playing Dead Nation. Not a good excuse, but that's what happened. Does it help if I was also playing Shadow of the Colossus? Anyway… I'm going to try and stop being so lazy, and update a bit more often. Now… poll. Jin and Both are tied at nine votes, and Mai had four. I don't know if I'll leave it open much longer.**

**Why did I make Mai a fire bender? Cause I felt like it. And you gotta deal with it! Or… you know… read something else. :3**


	13. Chapter 13

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Here comes chapter thirteen! Hopefully, I'll get this chapter out sooner. I need some lazy-be-gone. Anyway, reviews…**

**blazeice9967- Me Gusta… just when I thought I had escaped it. Heh. Anyway, glad Mai being a fire bender doesn't ruin things. And they will be meeting soon… :D**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- I figured if Mai was going to be a fire bender, her flames should be green. Made the most sense, in my opinion. Poor Dormin is going to have bigger problems than the Abominations.**

**Spikesagitta- Heh… yeah sure. And Ty Lee is going to secretly be Ozai's girlfriend. :3**

**IBlockYourChi- Mai needs some love, she does. However, it was up to whoever broke the tie between Both and Jin… and that has happened. Let's just say… "Two Girls For Every Boy" comes to mind…**

**truefortune- update… yes. Good advise. Need to beat back the lazy!**

**ladygoddess8- Hmm… which one would that be again? Lots of potential reunions could happen… in fact, there's one in this chapter.**

**Dbananad- Azula is everyone's favorite fire bender, and for good reason. And how did you figure out I played that game? I don't remember mentioning it in an AN… I guess you're just that smart… or I'm just that forgetful. Either is very possible.**

**Raina Death- MaiLee would have been nice, but your vote would have just caused another tie anyway. I was getting impatient. That not knowing thing can get to ya, so I just waited until the tie between the choices were broken.**

**Alright, on with the chapter…**

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Dormin and Ty Lee walked between the trees, sticking to the forest to avoid being seen by anyone. Dormin was a little miffed, as Ty Lee had been quite far from Ba Sing Se, so the walk was going to be long. At least, he thought it was, until he felt a presence reach the shores of the Earth Kingdom that he hadn't felt for a long time. He stopped and turned in the direction of said presence.

"Something wrong?"

"Azula has just reached a shore far from here… probably here to restock on supplies. Odd…" He looked over at Ty Lee, seemingly contemplating something.

"You want to try shadow walking with me, don't you?" Ty Lee didn't like the idea, as he had told her about his interactions with the Abominations. But, if it meant getting to Azula, then she was willing to go.

"Yeah… hold on, let me check the dark world… if it's clear here, I should be able to instantly take us right to Azula's shadow with no trouble at all." He bent down to the ground and shoved his hands into the shadows of the trees. The turned an inky black, and he started to tear open a hole to peak inside. The area was lacking any beasts, so they would be able to get to the fire princess easily. "Alright… looks like you're not going to Ba Sing Se after all."

The chi blocker raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you going to come with us?"

Dormin shook his head in response, "Can't have the Fire Lord knowing I'm alive yet… plus, I need to help keep Ba Sing Se running, as I run the Dai Li now. Enough of that, though…" He held his hand out to her, "Grab my hand. We're going shadow walking."

She complied, though she didn't like that Dormin wouldn't be able to come with her and Azula. And Mai, most likely, which was the main reason why she wanted the shadow bender to come. It was obvious, to her anyway, that Mai had a huge crush on the boy. Her thoughts were interrupted by feeling all warmth leave the air, and nothing but darkness was around here. It only lasted for a second, as they appeared in Azula's room, much to the two fire bender's surprise, but it felt horrible. How did Dormin stand it?

"What the hell? Ty Lee, how… D-Dormin?" Azula could only stare in disbelief. It was definitely Dormin, even if he dressed differently, The eyes were the same and he just did shadow bending. But, she had seen him get burned to death… right? Rage replaced disbelief quickly. The fire princesses blue flames surrounded her arms, "Explain. Now."

Dormin sighed, and told his story, starting from the meeting with Ozai up to finding out they were in the Earth Kingdom. As he told his story, he watched the three girls for any sign of violent reactions. Azula's flames were slowly dimming, which he took as a good sign. Ty Lee already knew the story. And Mai… She was leaning against the wall, eyes obscured by her hair. She was shaking, though he couldn't tell whether it was from rage or sorrow, which was saying something. His shadow bending usually made it easy to tell emotions. He always seemed to have trouble telling with females, though… a strange coincidence, in his opinion.

After finishing, he waited. Azula seemed to have calmed down, and Ty Lee was looking at Mai. The air bender stiffened when Mai moved away from the wall. She said nothing. She just walked up to him slowly. He braced himself for whatever she was about to do, prepared to sink into the shadows if she decided to start stabbing. For a moment, after reaching him, she just stood there, still looking at the ground. What she did, though, wasn't as painful, though a bit more insulting. She slapped him. Hard.

"Ah… shit… that hurt…" Dormin rubbed his before gasping for air suddenly. She had thrown her arms around him, hugging the shadow bender tightly. Dormin wasn't really sure what to do, especially when she started bawling. He saw Azula mouth 'hug her' to him, so he did just that.

Dormin's eye twitched in annoyance when he heard Ty Lee whisper to Azula "So much for him being all knowing, huh? doesn't even know how to comfort a girl."

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"Why. The fuck. Are you in that… oh, that's not even a disguise." Katara glared at the young air bender, who shrunk back in fear. They were about to enter Omashu, which was part of the Earth Kingdom. Why would they need to hide who they were? No sense. At all.

Sokka was the one that responded. "Well… we figured, he should probably… you know… hide his identity… for… safety." The blood bender shifted her glare onto him, and it intensified with every word he spoke, causing him to shrink back in fear as well. Kya just sat on a rock nearby, looking on with an amused expression.

"They are on our side. And even if we are attacked, I'm here to control and potentially blow up anyone who comes near us. Got it?" Sokka nodded furiously, but Aang, feeling some courage return, said something in response to her violent words.

"But… killing is-"

"IT'S PERFECTLY FINE!" Katara screamed at him. Aang eeped and did his best to hide under the ridiculous 'disguise' he and Sokka had made. Sighing in frustration, she began walking to Omashu. They were stopping here because they needed to restock on some supplies. The rest followed, until she suddenly stopped. She turned back to everyone else, "Why aren't when flying in on Appa?"

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"Alright, hurry up before they leave without you. NEXT!"

Iroh walked over to Ursa and Zuko, who were now dressed as refugees. The fire prince decided to voice his opinion about the lady that Iroh just got their tickets from. "She was a bit of a bitch…"

Normally, Ursa would reprimand him, but she couldn't help but agree. "We're all set then?"

"That's correct, though we should hurry, or we'll have to wait for the next boat."

After making it on the boat, although just barely, Zuko decided that there was nothing better to do than to stare out at the sea. He had gone from prince to banished to peasant in just a few years.

He knew he brought it upon himself. His mother, uncle, and even his sister would always tell him to keep his head down, and to do his best to not attract Ozai's attention. That's exactly what he did, though. During the Agni Kai, he saw how his family and Mai were reacting. His mother was shaking, both from fury and crying. Iroh kept looking away every time a flame was sent Zuko's way. Mai just stared, looking sad, but showing no other emotion. Azula… well, she looked very annoyed with him. Not that he could blame her.

"Are you alright, Lee?" His new name for while he was in Ba Sing Se. He would prefer his old name, but people would make the connection between the name and his looks. Iroh was now Mushi, and Ursa would go by Kirin.

"Just thinking about the past…"

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After Mai had finally calmed down, Dormin inwardly sighed in relief. He hoped he wouldn't have to do that again, but knew that he would have to again for one reason or another some day. That annoyed him to no end.

"Well… now that that is taken care of… All of us have things to do. We're probably ready to set out, and Dormin needs to get back to Ba Sing Se. You're coming with us, Ty Lee?" The chi blocker nodded. She was looking forward to being with her friends again. Especially since Mai could teach her more about weapons. The princess smiled, and turned to Mai. "Are you staying with us, or going with Dormin?"

Mai seriously thought about this. She could finally have her chance with the shadow bender. However, if she did go with him, she would not only miss the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, but Katara and Azula's first kiss when they reunite. It was a very difficult decision. Sighing, she finally answered, "I'll be staying with you and Ty Lee. As much as a want to go with Dormin, there is no way I'm going to miss you and Katara having your first kiss."

The air bender stifled a chuckle, while the chi blocker giggled as Azula blushed. Shaking his head, Dormin spoke. "Then I will see all of you when you arrive in Ba Sing Se." He was about to shadow walk out of the room, but Mai grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to her. His eyes widened in surprise as he felt her lips on his. Azula could be seen smirking at him, while Ty Lee was excitedly clapping and hopping at the same time, a big grin on her face.

Pulling back, Mai whispered "We'll get there as fast as we can." Before letting him go and walking out of the room. Dormin opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Then he tried to say something again. Shaking his head, he just shadow walked away. Right into a giant snake looking Abomination

Azula turned to Ty Lee, "I've never seen him quite that speechless before. Granted, he was always the silent type, but when he did have something to say, he actually managed to get it out…"

Her friend nodded in agreement, before asking, "So… what's this about a first kiss with Katara?"

Azula blushed again, causing Ty Lee to giggle. "Mai made me promise to kiss Katara next time I see her in exchange for no longer being teased about liking her."

"Ah… Everyone's getting lucky except for me. This sucks." Azula shook her head in amusement, but gestured for Ty Lee to follow her. She needed to check and see if they were all set to go.

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The sun had risen, and Aang went to meet the crazy king. He had some tests for him. To make sure he would take them, everyone else was taken hostage. He was glad he convinced Katara to leave Appa and Momo back at their camp. When he walked into the room, he found the king of Omashu, as well as Kya and Sokka with strange rocks on their arms. As for Katara… she was eating it.

"You're late." Aang shifted his focus from Katara to the king. "Your friends are already starting to get covered by the creeping crystals."

Katara to another bite of it after it grew again. "Also known as rock candy."

Aang looked at her strangely, "If you can eat your way out of this, why haven't Kya and Sokka done that?"

Sokka seemed a little irritated, "Apparently, this king and Katara have teeth made of steel. We tried, but it's.. .well. Rock hard. And wipe that stupid smirk off your face!" Sokka growled at Katara, who had giggled every time he said "rock hard." Which had been several times already.

The strange old man also chuckled, before getting totally serious. Katara did the same. She knew something. "Alright. Now, for your first test…" What followed was a series of the strangest tests that Aang had ever taken. He didn't expect anything that happened would ever happen to anyone, let alone him. What was also odd, was how Katara was behaving throughout the entire thing. She just calmly ate the rock, and burst out laughing when Sokka had fallen over. Everything that happened was… unexpected. Except for Sokka falling over. He didn't doubt that everyone saw that coming.

Unexpected. That brought him back to the present. The king's name. "I think I've got it. I didn't think you would be the king of Omashu though, Bumi."

The king cackled madly, "I always told you, keep your mind open to the possibilities. Katara did just that, as annoying as that was…" He stared deadpanned at the girl who had just taken the last bite of the jennamite. "Apparently, your story about me had made it more than obvious to her. However, I don't know what possessed her to eat that rock. She's even crazier than I am, I think."

Katara only grinned in response.

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Dormin emerged from the shadows in a clearing in the middle of a forest. After killing the abomination, as well as several others that had caused him to lose a lot of time, the creatures seemed to be avoiding him. Either, they were giving up, or they figured he would be an easier target on the surface world. Knowing of their nature, the latter was far more likely. He was at a sort of crossroads. Now that Azula knew he was alive, he should probably also tell Katara. However, Jin was waiting for him back in Ba Sing Se. He hated to keep her waiting, though he wasn't quite sure why.

Sighing, he turned in the direction of Katara's shadow, and began shadow walking once again.

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"Something wrong, Mai?" Ty Lee sat next to the now brooding girl. Said girl was laying on her bed, pretending to examine one of her stilettos. She had started going back to being an emotionless shell of a girl, like she had been on and off because of her parents, except this time it was about Dormin. What about him, the chi blocker wasn't sure.

"What if he falls for that earth bender girl?" Ty Lee's eyes widened in surprise. Usually, it took a bit of coaxing to get her to say anything when in one of her broody moods, but Mai was being rather open. "We won't see him for awhile… what if she takes him away from me?"

Ty Lee smiled gently, "Then you'll fight for him. Not in an all out battle, of course, he wouldn't really like either of you trying to kill each other just for him… And, if all else fails…" Mai looked at her acrobatic friend, only to find a very perverse grin on her face, "You can always share him." The gloomy girl just stared in shock, eye twitching slightly. Ty Lee quickly ran out of the room, giggling loudly.

The nerve of some people.

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The sky was covered by clouds, so no light was provided by the moon. Only their fire did. Sokka and Aang had already gone to sleep, leaving Katara and Kya awake. The blood bender was laying down, her head in her mother's lap. Kya ran her hand through her daughters hair, causing her to slowly drift to sleep. That was, until a shadow suddenly emerged from the ground. Both were quick in reacting; Katara had her armor, katana, and dragon ready in seconds, and Kya had the fans that the Kyoshi Warriors had given to her out. They both relaxed slightly when they saw that it was the supposedly deceased Dormin, though they didn't let their guard down.

"You two don't seem too surprised to see me." He looked between the two of them, and then at Sokka and Aang. And then at Momo, who was sleeping on Aang's head. And lastly, to Appa. The first flying bison he ever got to see. He walked up to it, and started rubbing the creature's head, as he waited for the two water benders to respond.

Katara was the one that responded. "Avatar Roku told Aang that we would need the help of one who could control shadows to deal with the threat of the Abominations. We figured you might not have really died."

"I see… I guess I can't be surprised… they've already launched an attack on our world, even if it was small scale…" Seeing the two women's questioning looks, he explained, "A few Abominations were in Ba Sing Se, which is where I've been living… one opened an opening in a shadow. A dragon Abomination came out, and with the help of the Dai Li, all the threats were eliminated… but they will try again, I'm sure. I only came to tell you two things. One, that I'm alive…"

Dormin paused, his fascination with the flying bison distracting him. "Because…?" Kya asked.

"Because, Azula and the other two are going to be joining you by the time your visit to the North is done."

Katara blushed at the thought of her Fire Princess. "Why's that…?"

"The Fire Nation shall launch an attack on the tribe soon. You'll already have arrived by then. If you find Azula before the North Pole, then she'll join you earlier. If not… then she will join up with you before the attack begins. Be ready." Nothing else was said, as Dormin quickly shadow walked away.

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**AN: Alright, too tired to move on… so, I'm ending it here. Dormin shall be getting both Mai and Jin, though I was kind of hoping for just Jin so I could do MaiLee… but oh well. Maybe in another story. In the mean time, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Chapter fourteen. Let's not dilly, nor dally! Onto reviews.**

**iBlockYourChi- I'm looking forward to writing that. It just feels like it's so far away.**

**truefortune- That's a good question. Only Suki, Toph, and Zuko are left, unless I'm forgetting someone, so I'm not sure. If anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears.**

**BloodAuthor- Oh, Toph is definitely going to be there. Not sure if it will be her or Jin who teaches Aang, though. Not sure if June will show up now that Zuko isn't going to be around to hire her. Only time will tell, I suppose.**

**Spikesagitta- Poor Ty Lee still has no one… I'll figure something out, though. I hope.**

**Alright, let's get this done!**

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"I think we should help them." Aang nodded in agreement. Sokka had been trying to convince her that they should break some imprisoned earth benders out. While more allies would be nice, they had to make sure that they would reach the Northern Water Tribe quick enough that Aang would get to learn a lot of water bending before the invasion began. Not to mention, the sooner they got there, the more time the North would have to prepare.

Kya wanted to help them as well. And she had an idea on just how to get her daughter to free them. "Katara, think about how much blood you'll get to spill if you do this." The evil grin that appeared on the blood bender's face assured them that the earth benders would be free very soon. Aang didn't like her methods, but wisely chose not to say anything.

"Alright. But I'm doing this by myself then. Well, actually… mom, you should come with me." Receiving a questioning look, she explained. "You need some real combat experience. Fighting me and Sokka… well, Sokka needs experience too."

Said male got a little angry. "Hey, you need experience too!"

"You're right. However, I have several years of training already, which will give me a big advantage over you two. Besides, I need you and Aang here. You're going to make sure the fire benders don't try anything incase word of the attack gets out. We'll try our best to keep everything quiet, but there are no guarantees."

Sokka crossed his arms and pouted, upset about not getting to go. Aang shook his head at him, then turned to Katara. "Do you need Appa?"

Katara thought it over for a moment, "No. I'll use water bending to swim through the water to get to the prison. You can do that to, right mom?" Receiving a nod from Kya, she continued, "Then we'll try and take out the soldiers quietly for as long as we can, but the bodies will probably be noticed before we can wrap things up." The plan now ready, everyone set out to their destinations.

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Being out at sea was a very boring experience if you were a crew member. Spin that wheel, polish that surface, check that trinket. But they at least had things to do. If you were just a passenger, boredom was much easier to come by.

"You look bored, Azula. I'm surprised." Azula didn't show any sign that Mai was heard. She had, but the endless expanse of water she had been staring at for the past two hours just seemed so interesting.

"Am I supposed to be having fun? What is there to do? We've been banned from practicing because of how destructive we get, and Katara isn't here for me to…" She blushed as she realized what she was about to say.

"Ravage until she completely incoherent?" She smirked as the fire princess's blush grew even redder. "You could always try being a bit more social."

That caused Azula to scoff, "What, with the crew? The soldiers? I don't think so."

"I meant with me and Ty Lee. Ever since Dormin left, you've been talking to us less over the past few days. IS something wrong?"

"… You could say that." Azula muttered. Sighing, she turned to her friend. "Let's go somewhere a little more private first. Don't want anyone to overhear us." The two girls walked to what was now their favorite chi blocker's room. It had been empty prior to her arrival, as it was reserved for 'important' people. While the crew were curious about when she arrived, as they had not seen her get on, they didn't question it, as the only one who had questioned it was set on fire, by both blue and green flames. No one wanted to invoke the wrath of either fire bender.

Entering the chi blockers room, Azula and Mai were met with a hug. Not surprising, considering who it was. "You act like you haven't seen us in years." Mai smirked at Azula's words.

"Well, I gotta make up for all the hugs I couldn't give you both while I was away, right?" The other two just stared at her. "Fine, be that way. So, what brings you two here?"

Azula sat on the bed, as did Ty Lee, while Mai chose to sit in the only chair in the room. "It's about what's been bothering me." Azula started, "That Abomination that attacked the ship… I feel like I should have told Dormin. Especially after he told us what happened in Ba Sing Se. It looks like those creatures are starting to find more ways to get out of their own world and into ours. And that's probably worse news than Sozin's Comet…"

Mai nodded, "They likely are, especially if they can find a way to get out with massive numbers… but we can't tell Dormin until we can get to Ba Sing Se. Sending a messenger hawk is just far too risky."

Ty lee looked at them oddly, "How is it too risky?"

Azula answered, "A few years ago, some earth benders had gotten their hands on a messenger hawk and was using it to send bogus orders to soldiers, sending them to locations where they would be surrounded and taken out. Or, to get them away from what they were protecting so they could go after it. Messenger hawks are checked often now, to make sure that everything's official. So, they would find the message to Dormin, and we would be in huge trouble, while Ozai would find out that the shadow bender he thought he had killed was still alive. It would cause a lot of problems."

"Oh… that makes sense. Those earth benders had a good thing going, huh?"

"They did. They're all imprisoned or dead now, though… I think it was some mining town that they were found in. Not completely sure about that. However, that's beside the point."

"Azula, there's nothing we can do right now. So, let's just try to focus on other things."

Ty Lee nodded, "Yeah… like, what's the first thing you're going to do when you see Katara? I know you're going to kiss her, but how far are you going to take things?"

It wasn't hard to figure out what the chi blocker was getting at, and that's why Azula's face became so red.

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She smiled as she felt the familiar walls of Ba Sing Se near. It had been quite some time since she had been here, and it was nice to finally get back. Gaoling was really starting to get to her. Over protective parents were just so annoying, especially when they tried to hide you from the world.

Toph began the final approach to the city. She remembered the first time she had encountered the Dai Li. Five years ago, when a group of them was on a mission to get an update on the towns and cities around the Earth Kingdom. An air bender was among them, oddly enough. He had introduced himself as Dormin.

She was training when they met. He found it interesting that she could see things through the earth, using her seismic sense, and made a deal with her. She would teach some of the agents how to do seismic sense, and he would get her out of her parent's clutches when the perfect opportunity came.

Five years later, as annoying as that was, said opportunity finally came. Dai Li agents came and told her of a plan to have her "kidnapped," and when they were halfway to Ba Sing Se, they would go in a different direction to make sure their pursuers would go the wrong way while Toph made the rest of the journey by herself.

It all went off without a hitch. And now, she would finally be free. She smirked as she thought about her new student. A girl named Jin, according to Dormin. She loved teaching people. She was ruthless about it, but that got results. Most of the time. Sometimes, whoever she was teaching would end up breaking down. Jin was going to get it even worse, though, as she had discovered metal bending, and was going to be teaching her that. First, however, had to be seismic sense, or she would never learn metal bending.

"It's good to see you again, miss Beifong." Toph nodded at the Dai Li agent standing near the entrance through the outer wall. She never bothered to learn their names. She wasn't even sure if they had names, as there was a rumor that all the agents forfeited their names upon becoming part of the Dai Li. A bit odd, but it wasn't her problem.

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Dormin rose from the shadows in what was Long Feng's office prior to his downfall. The lack of abominations on his way back to Ba Sing Se was causing him to become worried. Were they gathering somewhere? Planning on sending an army out of an opening where he wouldn't be able to stop them? He shook his head, he wouldn't be able to do anything until everyone was gathered in the city. That wouldn't be for months. The best thing to do would be to send out some Dai Li agents to look around the Earth Kingdom for any signs of the beasts.

In the meantime, he had to go see the Earth King, then Jin. The walk to King Kuei was short, as the throne room wasn't far. Fortunately for the shadow bender, no one else was meeting with him at the moment.

"Ah… Dormin, you're back. The agent that told me you left wasn't aware of why… if you don't mind me asking, where were you?"

Continuing his approach to the Earth King, Dormin answered "I was originally planning on bringing an old friend by the name of Ty Lee here, but I decided to take her to her friends instead. My shadow bending allows me to know where my friends are. We'll be getting some more allies here soon, after the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe has been repelled."

Kuei raised an eyebrow at him, "And who are these allies?"

Dormin had reached the throne at this point, so he was no longer moving forward. "As I said, there is Ty Lee, who is a chi blocker, which is someone who can temporarily disable limbs and bending. She, along with Mai, who is a weapons expert, though she mainly uses throwing weapons, and Azula, who is a fire bender, are from the Fire Nation. Actually, Azula is their princess, though I doubt that will be true much longer, as the Fire Lord is probably going to be very angry after he finds out about his own daughter betraying him…"

Kuei seemed rather amused by the irony that would be her betrayal, or at lest, that's what Dormin thought he was amused by… he then continued, "There will also be the Avatar and his friends, one of which is my own friend Katara, a water and blood bender. Her brother is also with her, I believe his name was Sokka, and then there is her mother, Kya, who the only other water bender from the Southern Water Tribe, the first being Katara. As for the Avatar, his name is Aang, the second to last air bender. He's mastered air bending and begun training in water bending with Kya."

"So he isn't a fully realized Avatar… that could be a problem."

"As long as be gather the right allies and find a good time to attack, we should be fine. The Avatar is heading to the North not only to prevent the Fire Nation from gaining the Northern Water Tribe, but also to learn a lot in terms of water bending. When he arrives here, he will begin training in Earth Bending, and by the time we are ready to invade the Fire Nation, Mai and Azula should have taught him enough about fire bending to be ready."

"If you think so… if that is all, I'm supposed to be getting to a meeting with the generals very shortly."

Dormin bowed, and left the room. Now, he had to find Jin.

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After pulling herself up onto the dock and checked to see if any guards were around, Katara signaled her mother. Kya was next to her in seconds. "Alright. We have to kill as many of them without getting caught as we can. You ready?" Receiving a nod, Katara started down a hallway, while her mother went down another. Instead of making a katana, Katara decided on a knife, which would be much better for assassination. Kya would be using her fans, as they were particularly sharp.

The area that the prisoners were kept in was at the center of the facility, and was all outdoors. However, the soldiers had rooms inside the walls of the prison, as well as dining areas. The dock was at the center of one hallway, and that had two hallways on either end. At the end of those hallways were stairs that led up. There were three floors, The first was rooms for the soldiers and the docks, the second was also rooms for the soldiers, but there was also a dining area located just above the docks. The third floor was where the warden and other higher ups stayed. Of course, there was also the roof, where some soldiers were found, keeping an eye on the prisoners.

As Katara made her way through the halls and went room by room, slitting the throats of all the unsuspecting enemies, she realized where their problem truly was. When they were sweeping through the second and third floors, anyone could come from the higher floors and see the dead bodies in the rooms. They were making sure to have all the bodies in the rooms, leaving the halls empty, but that didn't guarantee that they wouldn't be found out. All it would take is one soldier checking up on his friend…

There wasn't any time for that, though. She had to focus on the task. As she moved up the first set of stairs, she quickly reflected on her kills. Katara thought she would feel something when she killed the guards, but she didn't. And that brought a vicious smirk to her face. Azula had turned her into quite the monster.

There were less people on the second floor than she had originally anticipated. There might have been a fight going on with the prisoners, or perhaps there weren't enough soldiers to fill all the rooms. Whatever the reason, it could mean trouble. When they reached the top of the facility, they wouldn't be able to do any more silent killing. It would be an all out battle from that point on.

Katara reached the entrance to the dining area, but did not head in yet. She needed to wait for her mother. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long, As she saw Kya come out of one of the rooms nearby. Katara put her hand on one door, and Kya put her own on the other. Nodding to each other, they burst into the room. No one appeared to be eating at the moment. The place was empty.

"You go check the kitchen. I'm going to keep an eye out for any enemies." Receiving a nod, Katara went over to the door and peeked out into the halls. She cursed silently when she heard footsteps. She got back inside and waited next to the doors. Not too long after, two soldiers walked in, chatting about the fight they just saw down where the prisoners were kept. Katara silently muttered 'shit' in her head, as this meant what was keeping the rest of the guards away was no longer there, so they were likely to be caught now. The blood bender formed a katana and decapitated the two quickly, and used her blood bending to move the bodies out of sight.

Her mother came out of the kitchen just in time to see this, "Having fun, sweetheart?" Katara raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're taking this rather well."

Only getting a shrug in response, Katara rolled her eyes and left the room. Kya was going to head the other way, but both froze when they heard a voice on the loud speaker.

"All guards, get back up top, another fight has broken out!" Letting out sighs of relief, they went their own ways to the next set of stairs. The third floor was just about empty, so they met in the middle rather quickly.

"Alright," Katara checked behind her quick, she was getting a little excited about the impending fight, "It's all out killing from this point on. Don't hesitate, I probably wont be able to blood bend until I can make sure the enemies are far enough from me to have time to do that."

"Okay… be careful." Kya looked at her daughter worriedly.

"Since when am I not?" The blood bender smirked at the deadpanned expression on her mother's face.

"Two words. Tundra. Centipede."

Katara smiled sheepishly, "Alright, so I have my moments… we all do. Let's just get this done."

Her mother nodded, and moved back down the hallway she came from, and Katara did the same. It wasn't long that she reached the stairs to the top of the building, and inhaled deeply, mentally preparing herself. She formed her armor, katana, and water dragon, before exhaling and rushing out of the door in front of her. The first few soldiers were completely unaware that she was an enemy, so killing them had been simple. A few more dropped, as they were still caught off guard, but the guards were finally realizing just what was happening.

Out of the corner of her eye, Katara noticed Kya emerge from the door on the other side and start taking out the soldiers over there. Grinning evilly, she stared down the soldiers who were now drawing their weapons, before charging forward with a battle cry.

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Dormin opened the to find Jin introducing herself to Toph, who returned the favor, before turning to him. "Toph Beifong, it's been too long."

The blind girl grinned. "It has. I'm glad you're here, I was wondering if you could answer a question."

Dormin didn't show any sign that he had heard her at first, and had sat down in one of the chairs in the training hall. "Alright."

"Why is it whenever your name is mentioned, Jin's heartbeat seems to speed up… a lot?"

Dormin noticed Jin blush, and sighed. "This is troublesome…"

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**AN: I took too long with this. I'm just glad I got this out before my cousins arrived. They'll definitely serve as quite the distraction. So… hope you enjoyed the chapter. As I must have mentioned already, Dormin is definitely going to be with both Jin and Mai, which leaves Ty Lee, Toph, Suki, and Zuko, as I'm already planning on pairing Sokka with Yue. I'm also on planning a time skip after chapter fifteen, though I'm not totally sold on that yet… Guess I'll do what I usually do; make it up as I go. Stay tuned!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Our Blood Boils**

Death-n-Decay

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA.

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**AN: Ho geez, I have waited far too long! And that's because I do so much writing in school, by the time I get home, I'm like… "Gah… uhh… game!" I need to relax, and doing more writing would just annoy me. And that would effect how I write. So. Anyway. Onto the reviews I go!**

**Hell7Born7Terra7- I'm thinking of doing a time skip after this chapter, so that I don't have to put in all the not so important chapters in book one… And so that we can get to the reunion faster. Gotta finish up the prison thing first. Of course, if I do a time skip, I'll have to summarize what happened between this and then, but that's better than writing all the unimportant stuff…**

**truefortune- it is my choice… and that's why I say Dormin only gets one girl and Ty Lee gets Mai now. :3**

**MaddiMastermind- That would be… interesting. And slightly scary.**

**Spikesagitta- Poor Zuko… *cough* not *cough***

**Ravenxxx007- Yes, Mai and Ty Lee… now, anyway.**

**Guest- I try to avoid such relationships in stories… those just get too messy sometimes. And not just in "that" way either. I'll try and finish this story, as the incomplete ones irk me. Of course, stories that update once every few months are worse… especially if the chapters are short.**

**Amber Annabeth Blue- More like this twisted Katara. :3**

**Alkate- I'll try to keep up the good work, and thanks.**

**GypsyWolfKK- I love the pairing as well, too bad there isn't enough stories with them. I'll try and update when I can.**

**The Blue Phoenix- Short, sweet, and to the point. Nice.**

**Shy Light Akemi- Well, I wouldn't say I'm a great writer, but thanks.**

**Lord Jace- First of all, thank you for being mature about your criticism, I got another one just like yours but totally… well, for lack of better term, bitchy. Anyway, They are overpowered, I'll admit, but that will be necessary for when the Abominations become a bigger part of the story. As for shadow bending, I see it as the opposite of air, as air is gentle, and very free, while shadows are dark, dangerous, and limited to where there is a lack of light. Dormin is the opposite of his ancestors, and Aang, as he is violent, dark, and raised very differently in general. Doesn't make too much sense, probably, but it's fan fiction anyway. Thanks for the honesty!**

**Mr. Never Smiles x- I know what you mean, that problem is particularly noticeable in stories that are written in first person… and thanks!**

**Anyway, I'm in a good mood, so I'm gonna start this chapter fifteen right now, rather than wait three more weeks.**

**I guess I'm just nice like that.**

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It was an interesting experience. The soldiers weren't very skilled fighters for the most part, so they were easy enough to take care of. Especially when they backed off, looking for an opening, as that allowed time for Katara to start blood bending them. At first, she just made some of them kill their comrades, but then they started to figure out what was going on, so she decided to end them with a very bloody bang.

Making them explode was a lot more difficult then she thought it would be. The Tundra Centipedes had massive bodies, but that also had very simple circulatory systems. Apparently, the human body had a far more complex system, as it took a bit longer to get all the soldiers she had been blood bending, and there were only eight of them. When she glanced over at her mother, she noticed many more soldiers had been going to her, including the warden. Who was apparently a very skilled fighter.

Testing a new theory, she started exploding the soldiers one by one, rather than in groups. She killed fifteen soldiers individually in the same time that it took to kill eight all together, so she continued with the individual strikes. It wasn't long before the last of the soldiers were fleeing, knowing they had lost the battle. Katara hadn't been done with them, though, so she chased them down before they could get away and finished the last of them off.

When she got down to where the prisoners were, many seemed frightened of her. The satisfied smirk on her face in combination with the blood she was covered in probably didn't help. The only reason she was covered in blood was because she melted her armor when chasing down the other soldiers, so that she could move faster.

The blood bender suddenly snapped back to reality when Kya spoke her name. "Yes?" She responded.

"Everyone's gotten onto the boats and are heading back for the mainland… are you going to continue basking in the blood, or do you wanna get back to Aang and Sokka?" She added the last part with a grin.

"Well… I would rather enjoy the blood some more, but we have to get going…" Suddenly, the entire prison shook. Not expecting it, Katara's mother lost her balance and fell to the ground, while Katara was able to keep her balance. "What was-" A large something jumped out of the water and landed on the platform. Katara's eyes widened at the large crab. A large crab that was black as night with glowing eyes.

An Abomination.

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Dormin Sat in the chair in his room, leaning his head on his hand, thinking about the situation he was currently in. Mai had made it quite clear that she liked him, but Jin's blushes and subtle attempts to get as close to him as she could without arousing his suspicion showed that she also was interested.

On one hand, he had known Mai for a far longer time, and knew her most closely kept secret… that was, until said girl revealed that she was, in fact, a fire bender to Azula and the soldiers on the ship. How had that situation come up, though? The girls seemed to avoid why she was fire bending in the first place. That was unrelated to the situation, though.

There were a few thing that mattered to Dormin when choosing friends. Behavior and talents. No one too annoying or stupid, and certainly not someone who was clueless and couldn't fight back if needed. Mai was a bit on the dark side, and was usually quite negative. But, she was hard working when she wanted to be, and was quite talented with weapons, especially when combined with fire bending. There was a third thing that was important when it came to girlfriends, in his opinion, though. While a person didn't need to be the most gorgeous thing in existence, they had to at least be good looking so that the mere sight of them wouldn't be revolting.

That wasn't really a problem though. Mai was definitely beautiful. And so was Jin.

Jin, he had really only just met. He didn't really have a history with her. She was proving to be a great friend, however. She was also a much warmer person, especially when compared to Mai. Her talent was solely with earth bending, and was being improved even while he sat there thinking. She was a quick learner, and adapted quite well to Toph's teachings. He could easily teach her to use a weapon, as his own talents weren't solely with his spear and great sword. Given that shadows were so light and easy to bend for him, he could use several weapons. Given her earth bending, a ball and chain would be a great weapon for her, if she learned how to use it properly.

The question was, what kind of girl would be better for Dormin? Dark, cold, and ruthless? Or Warm, affectionate, and… at least, to an extent, merciful?

The choice was difficult. And it would be hard to break the heart of either of them… This would take some time.

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Gravestones were scattered around. Cemeteries were always such eerie places, and were often hidden away from the village, wherever would be safe from natural disasters. That way, the bodies would be left untouched.

Gaoling's cemetery was hidden inside of a mountain. This helped avoid rain and such… but it also left it out of sight. Grave robbers weren't exactly common though, so why would an eye need to be kept on this place?

The man in the white cloak, with a skull stitched into the hood, grinned and he started using his special earth bending technique. He was the reason they should have had guards or something around. He was also responsible for many other capers involving the dead and buried… and not buried, in the case of a few battle fields, as well as the air temples.

Many hands started to burst out of the ground around him, some with flesh still hanging on. Skeletons and flesh covered carcasses emerged from the ground slowly. The cloaked figure smirked at his technique. It was simple; merge the earth with the bones of the dead… and you could bend the bodies. Makeshift necromancy. Back at his home, piles of bodies were already stacked up.

He almost had enough to put to use. The world would be his, Fire Nation and dark beasts be damned.

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"Just our luck! A giant crab has to jump out of the water right when we were about to call it a day!" Katara slid under the creature's claw as it swiped at her, trying to find a weakness of some sort. "And, of course, it had to be an Abomination… Shit!" The crab had tried to spin around and knock the blood bender down with the back of it's claw, but Katara's quick reflexes proved too much for it's speed as she dove over the top of the claw. She had to slide once again as the claw snapped at her from behind.

Kya was watching from further away, also trying to determine where the spot for an attack would be. Originally, they had thought blinding it would be a good idea, but the eyes were like super heated flames; ice and water only melted and evaporated when it got close to them.

Katara had tried blood bending already, but that also proved useless as the creature didn't seem to have blood. This had only served to infuriate the girl even more, leading to how pissed off she was at the moment.

Kya frowned as she got an idea. When animals got angry, they generally made some noise. The larger ones generally roared in fury, so if they could infuriate the creature to make that happen, they would have an opening for a successful attack. There were two problems though; The opening would be very small, and crabs don't usually roar. It was worth a shot, however, so she started sending snowballs via water bending at the beast.

Katara saw what her mother was doing and couldn't help but stare in disbelief for a moment. What could she possibly be thinking? Well, that was what she thought until the creature could clearly be shaking in rage. Then she understood. Her mother was trying to make an opening for them to exploit.

Abominations are surprisingly proud creatures, at least the larger and more dangerous ones are. And when they feel insulted, for whatever reason, they get absolutely pissed. That was the main reason why so many Abomination leaders, which was whoever or whatever the most powerful abomination was, were destroyed in the past. Angry creatures generally leave their guard down.

While the two women didn't know such things about the vile race of beasts, they did know how angry people and animals behaved. Katara grinned viciously when the creature finally had enough a screeched in rage, which actually showed that the shell was it's only real defense, as it was a clear shot straight to the heart. Katara quickly formed a thin spike of ice and thrust her arms forward, sending it flying into the beast's mouth.

The giant crab had seen the ice coming to impale it's heart, and tried to shut it's trap before it was too late, but the effort was in vain. It gurgled on whatever it was that the creature ran on, since it had no blood, and swayed back and forth a bit, before becoming limp. Shortly after, it faded from existence.

Katara moved over to where her mother stood, who looked very proud of their work. "That was a pain in the ass… let's get back to the others… and get some seafood, while we're at it.

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"These abominable fish are starting to really piss me off." Azula muttered as the shark ceased to exist. It was becoming obvious that the dark beasts had quite the hold on the oceans, as that was the fifth Abomination that had attacked since the first.

"You have to admit, though…" Started Mai, "It's better than sitting around bored with nothing else to do on this hunk of tin. We actually get to spill blood."

Ty Lee looked at the substance that had flown from the creature when Azula had sliced it with her scythe. It looked a lot like blood, but there was something off about it. Reaching down to touch it, she couldn't help but think it looked almost like… "Paint?!"

The other two turned swiftly to the acrobat, and hurried over. Azula was the first to speak, "What do you mean, paint?"

"Their blood… it's paint." The three girls stared in disbelief at the liquid. Two of them just smirked, while the third started laughing madly. Surprisingly, and somewhat scarily, the latter was Mai.

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**AN: Sorry about the short chapter, but I've been putting this off long enough, and It isn't likely that I'll get another good time to work on this because of the upcoming two weeks. So… yeah.**

**Now. Here's the thing, about the whole Dormin/Mai/Jin thing… I'm thinking it's best that I don't go with that… It just seems a bit unbelievable for Dormin to have more than one girl. Just isn't in his character.**

**Now, as for reviews… if you're going to be negative, don't be an asshole about it. It'll just get removed and it won't be taken seriously by me.**

**Alright, sorry for the short chapter, but I dunno how I will get anything good out otherwise, so… Yeah. Thanks for reading.**


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