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AvRen RP: First Mission:

Characters & Team Formation RP

The members of the Fire Nation put forth their characters for this story. The story began with the vision. What will our Seer of the Fire Nation do? How will this team come together? Read on!

CHARACTERS:

   Kaji     Conzu     Ozai     Gerzin     Shao     Winnkey

TEAM FORMATION TALE

Name: General Kaji
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Rank: General
Weapon: http://www.karatedepot.com/sites/karatedepot/images/items/wp-sw-78.jpg

Appearance: Spiked red hair, red vest and black jumpsuit

History Summary: Kaji was a lonely child, never having many friends. Instead, he would go outside to practice his firebending with and/or without his sword(s). He also loved working on flying machines, having heard rumors that the Air Nomads were able to fly by manipulating the air around them to keep them up. He went to school studying this, and has worked towards finding a way of getting the fire nation up in the air.

Name: General Conzu
Age: 27
Gender: male
Rank: General of the Royal Guard
Weapon: Kriss Longsword

History Summary
Conzu was raised in a middle class colonial family. His father was a fire nation officer, who left him and his mother at a very young age. His mother re-married with another soldier. After he was promoted to corporal they had to move to one of the fire nation colonies in the “Eastern provinces” (aka earth kingdom), Conzu was only 7 when that happened. Living in the colony wasn’t always that easy for him. Because he had no real father, and most of the other kids came from a more elite household. So Conzu always had to fight for his right, at age 10 he earned the respect of the middle-class kids, by beating up the popular kids (he was practicing his firebending on them). After that they formed his own group, he became their leader, and not long after that the richer kids began to do his bidding. Of course this all wasn’t unseen by the army staff in the colony. Suddenly out of nowhere their colonial village in the forest was washed away by a flooding river. Immediately after that Conzu was taken away by the soldiers. At age 12, he was told that the flood was created by the avatar and that his mother, his younger brother and his stepfather drowned in the flood. He was sent to military camp, where he was one of first recruits that learned to bend Greek Fire. During and after his training he learned to have no fear, no mercy - not even for himself – and to obey orders without hesitating. After many years of training he finally really mastered firebending and lightening.

Due to his endeavor in the army Conzu got promoted, first to corporal, after that to the rank of General of the Air Force. Unfortunately, the air force wasn't that advanced yet, and it got dismantled. Therefore he was transferred to the Imperial royal guard. From then on he was the General of the Royal Guard, the Fire lords personal elite troops. Conzu is known for his patriotism and diligence to train his firebenders to be the best. And to teach them the art of Greek Fire, which he made one of the requirements that a new Royal Guard [firebending] soldier must learn. Every day, without exceptions he trains his royal guard. He not only trains them, but he actually trains himself too. Also he likes to spar with his colleague, General Kaji. Kaji and he served both as generals in the Air Force.

Even though Conzu rose to such a high rank in the army, he still remained the same person as when he joined the army. Of course he was more disciplined and stricter, but he was still the same young (and old at the same time) Conzu with emotions. Sometimes when he's alone, he meditates and thinks back of the good times he had with his mother, step-father and younger brother, before they were killed. Also, Conzu is known for his famous retaliation as a young corporal, after the murder of his first love, Kushi.

He and his Royal Guard are like one family, and are feared among their enemies.

Comes from a long line of Qin Maru (SIlver Circle Guardians) protecting a sacred Library of religious knowledge in the Fire Nation.

Name: Lieutenant Ozai
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Weapon: His body
Rank: Lieutenant

Appearance: Ozai is about 6’2’’. He has short hair in the front and long hair in the back. He has a beard at the tip of his chin and has short side burns. He’s in great physical shape and has black colored eye’s. He also wears a standard Commodore uniform
History Summary: Ozai comes from a long line of powerful fire benders who participated in the war after the avatar’s disappearance. He was born in a mountain village in the Fire Nation where his father often trained him in the art of fire bending. At time’s he can become pig headed due to the pride that he shows in his fire bending and sometimes aggressive if someone challenges him to an Agni Kai. But he cares for his friends and family and will attack anyone who dishonors them. He’s ready for any kind of adventure.

Name: Captain Felc Gerzin
Age: 20
Gender: male
Rank: Captain
Weapon: samurai sword

Appearance: 5'7, brown hair, hazel eyes, 125 pounds
History Summary: Flame was trained at a young age in discipline.
He was trained in not the regular firebending martial arts of northern shaolin, but trained himself . Although he is not gifted with fire, his fighting style has more defense. This advanced amount of defense earned him a spot as captain in the royal guard. He carries a samurai sword and uses it to aid his defense and attack techniques, but rarely cuts his enemy with the sword directly.

Name: Lieutenant Shao Li
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Rank: Lieutenant
Weapon: Katana. Bends white fire.

http://fc04.deviantart.com/images/large/indyart/anime/Ronin_oni.jpg

Appearance:
5"11
History: Born into a village of hate ruled by the rich, where the poor were looked down and spat upon, Shao Li was determined to rise from the gutter and take what was right fully his. Money meant nothing to him, he would slash down anyone who tried to stop him from reaching his goals. Though quiet and where his parents came from is unknown he displayed great skill in combat, finally rising into the ranks of the fire nation army and realizing his dream. Though he shows no specific care for the Fire lord, he will give his life for the Nation and vowing to help anyone in need. Not using his rank for army but as an influential status to use to help.

Armor: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~pat791/pictures/bg_kenshi.jpg

On the sash is a fire nation symbol.

Fighting Style: Shao is a trained blind fighter fighting with a cover on his eyes, he fights to protect and not to kill using both his Katana and his sheath. He is an accomplished firebender but doesn't bend often, only killing when needed.

Name: Admiral Winnkey
Age: 32
Rank: Admiral
Gender: male
Weapon: A Yu Yang bow with all the different types of arrows

Appearance: im an ex- yu yang so i look like this
http://skandranon01.deviantart.com/art/Yu-yan-Archer-30882496

History Summary: Winnkey joined the Yu Yang archers at young age of 14. he was trained under the older Yu Yang's and quickly picked up the skill's of the Yu Yang's. during a intense training session Winnkey discovered that he could fire bend. so during his own personal time Winnkey sort out a master to teach him how to fire bend, with his new skill of firebending he found the he could use it with his Bow with great effectiveness. he may of been able to firebend but it was not at a high level because of his duties as a Yu Yan he was unable to complete his Firebending training.

Winnkey was drafted to the army out of the Yu Yang's because of his skill's to firebend was needed on the field. after about 3 years they saw his effectiveness and sharp thinking in the field and choose to promote him to the rank of Captain and they also gave him a small 5 man squad of people to command. during a battle his squad was called into help with a battle that they were losing. his team went in there without hesitation. it was a fierce battle that they eventually won. but it was at a cost 3 of him team died and anther was so badly wounded that he had to retire from the war. Winnkey did not take that well he blamed him self for it. the general in charge saw in this battle how well Winnkey could command so Winnkey quickly got promoted to Commodore and was given more men to look after. Winnkey had decided that the reason the other men died was that they were not trained enough. so now Winnkey who is a naturally friendly guy became a strict Commodore having training seasons almost every day.

Even though he was now a strict Commodore he was a good person to talk to and still kept his friendliness when he was out of battle and of cause the training seasons. Winnkey was quickly recruited to the battle of the four nations. his newly formed squad was dispatched and was under a new leader. and he became a Commodore of the war.

Winnkey's fire bending skills increased in battle he was now a high level firebender but still chose to use his bow in battle in stead of his bending. he also kept in touch with his Yu Yan Masters forever increasing his skill with the bow and also his agility.

Doing every command given to him he was quickly seen by the Fire lord by the skills and intelligence that he had so the Fire Lord decided to promote him to one of the highest ranks possible Admiral. Winnkey could not believe that he had made Admiral but he still felt upset over the men he had lost so in battle his men always came first.

TEAM FORMATION

Soon it was over and Shao Li fought to breath, the wind chilling the sweat that rolled down his back and chest. He blinked several times to be sure he was still in the camp and not where he just was. He didn’t understand what happened. For a moment he thought he was dead and somewhere else. And what he saw… he stood, a little shaken and quickly sorted his thoughts and what to do next. Something had to be done. He strode with firm purpose back toward the village.

Kaji relaxed, his dual swords resting in his hands. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and sent flames through his swords, which then decapitated a practice dummy. He had been practicing with his swords for about an hour now, in the scorching heat. Finally, he threw his swords down. "I think I've had enough practice with my swords for now," he said to himself. Looking at a dummy far away, he then started to move his arms around, a blue glow starting to form around him. He put his fingers together, and suddenly shot lightning out at the dummy, nailing it right in the crude bull's-eye on its chest.

The messenger at the general’s tent congratulated him. Conzu nodded and walked straight to his desk. His sword was still warm of his firebending attacks, and the tops of his fingers were a bit itchy because of the lightening he used at the earth kingdom troops officers. He dismissed the soldier and looked at the message, the seal was still unbroken. He sat down in his chair and began thinking “ah yes, it was a good battle. We slaughtered them. The survivors are desperately scared and are shattered.” Conzu starred at his message. “What would it be? What would it say?”

He knew that the victory that day, was one of the first victories of many for the Royal Guard. Pleased with the victory in mind and the sound of happy soldiers outside, Conzu broke the seal and read the message.

Suddenly Conzu heard a noise, he stood up and walked to the center of his tent. A young captain walked up to the General. “Ah Captain Gerzin, I am happy to see you. You fought well today. Well.. we may be moving forward soon. We just received a letter from the council that we may be needed in the area of a certain important village.”

General Kaji got on his ostrich horse, and starts to ride off down the dirt road towards the Fire Nation HQ. He had decided that his short vacation was over, and that he wanted to get back into the action. Besides, there was news that Lieutenant Shao Li had had some sort of vision that needed deciphering. Kaji was eager to finally get back into the action, but he needed to stop to give his horse a rest.

Suddenly, Kaji heard a movement. He stopped, and turned around looking for the source of the noise. *Thiefs* thought Kaji.

Lt. Ozai, like some of the other high ranking officials in the Fire Nation, was training Fire Bending soldiers at the Fire Nation HQ.

"Alright men that is enough for today but we will continue more tomorrow," said Ozai. The soldiers left the training grounds leaving Ozai to grab a cup of tea. He left the grounds and went to his room to gather his thoughts.

*Those soldiers really have the potential to be great Fire Benders but they still have to work on their control.* thought Ozai after taking a sip of his tea. At that moment he remembered that he had to meet up with his fellow soldiers to discuss a vision that Lt. Shao Li had. He finished his tea and went to find them.

General Kaji stopped his ostrich horse outside the feeding troughs. Tying it up to the poles, the General walked into the base just across the yard. "Good morning, gentlemen," said Kaji, walking into the headquarters. Kaji sat down, and the officer to his right informed him of General Conzu's victory in the village. "Good, good. I shall inform General Iroh of this news when he arrives. In the mean time, we must wait for Lieutenant Shao Li to return. I have heard that he had some sort of vision that needed to be deciphered."

Lt. Ozai made his way to the center of the base where the officers were to meet and saw General Kaji. "Good day General Kaji, i'm sure your trip here went well?"

Ozai sat across from Kaji waiting for the remaining officers. *Well since I'm here I might as well have something to eat.* thought Ozai. He grabbed a bowl of noodles along with another cup of tea.

"It was fine, thank you. Ran into some thieves along the way," said Kaji, an evil smile growing across his face. "Didn't think I was the lesser General of the Fire Nation Army. They found out soon enough, though. Anyways, onto business. Does anybody have any news on Lt. Shao Li, and/or his vision?"

One day after the general summoned Cpt. Gerzin the whole battalion had packed their bags. Conzu was very pleased with his soldiers. He was just about to give the order to form a formation when two scouts came back. Conzu’s eyes grew big *What would it be this time* he thought. One of the scouts whispered something in his ears. “Oh my.. I knew it” Conzu said. “Before we leave, we have some things to do first” he said to the officer on his left. “Take care for the soldiers for me till I am back.

Conzu ordered some men to go with him. “Zhang, come here!” he shouted. Private Zhang, who happened to be the soldier that brought Conzu the message some days earlier, appeared before his general. “Ah, there you are. Follow me.” Conzu and his men came at the place of their last battle. The bodies were still laying there on several huge piles. “I knew those EK peasants didn’t have any respect for their death comrades.”

The general looked around and stepped of from his ostrich horse. It was way easier to move with ostrich horses then with rhino’s in those hills. “Zhang, take that lieutenant over there, and nail him to that tree” he pointed at a tree on the left side of the closest pile to them. “After that, burn all piles and we can leave.”

Conzu walked up to captain Gerzin, “yes, captain. Justice is done.” The captain was the only one who knew what the general meant. Everybody in Conzu’s battalion knew about the hatred he had for the Earth Kingdom enemies, but nobody really knew why. Except for a few people of the Royal Guard.

Conzu looked at Zhang while he was ‘working’ on the body. He sighed and thought back of the time when he was just appointed corporal. *Kushi… those beasts* he thought.

After Zhang was ready they went back to the battalion. It was a magnificent to see his battalion, packed to move, already in formation. Even since being a kid Conzu always loved to see such formations, soldiers, firebenders in their red uniforms, their armor, weapons and banners.

His Rhino was already saddled for him, they knew the way and he had sent out scouts to scout the area before them.

“We’re ready to go. First we have to go to the HQ where our colleagues will be waiting for us.”

Cpt. Gerzin strode down the road on his komodo rhino, he and Gen. Conzu were both nervous and keeping a watchful eye out. The scouts had never returned, which was a bad sign if their was any, but the royal guard had it's orders. Cpt. Gerzin was looking at His commanding officer with the same look he always did after the sight of death. It was a look of sadness, though nobody really understood why he always felt sorrow for even those who died of the enemy. His momentary look returned to what it normally was like, an ever vigilant gaze that took in the scenery.

There was about 56 soldiers in all, all walking down the road. the surroundings made them nervous, it was a mountainous region that was on the edge of the fire nation/ earth nation war border. Cpt. Gerzin sensed the anxiousness of the troops. They were all aware of the reason this was the edge of the war border, with its rocky terrain and its constant rains, it made it a good place for an earthbender to attack a firebender. In fact, this place was nicknamed the fire's burial ground.

It's then that they saw it, a group of an estimated 10 earthbenders sliding down the faces of the mountains. Cpt. Gerzin yelled orders to a few of the more powerful soldiers "Get on the outside of the rest of the group and protect the weaker! Shoot at their feet if they are knocked of balance, the rest is easy!" they were quick to obey the commands of their commanding officers, and all of the earthbenders were down in a matter of minutes.

Flame Looked around at the troops for a second "just a couple of scrapes, nothing more, they will heal" he reported to Gen. Conzu.Within a few moments, they were back on course and about to cross into fire nation territory.

Suddenly, Kaji heard the crunching of rock beneath the feet of a rhino. He whipped around, his hair spinning like a carrousel. Rushing out the door, Kaji saw General Conzu, accompanied by Captain Gerzin. "Welcome back, General and Captain," said Kaji, swiftly striding over, the hard ground crunching beneath his feet.

The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze when Conzu’s battalion reached the HQ. Conzu looked at his right to Cpt. Gerzin, *He still haven’t changed a bit* he thought. *Does a soldier who risked his life for his fatherland deserve the death penalty?* seemed to be Gerzin’s thought sometimes.* He turned his head and looked at his soldiers *But…* He said to himself *Gerzin is a fine soldier, and a great captain.*

The gates of the military base were opened for them, and they marched in. General Kaji ran out to greet them.

“Thank you, General Kaji. It’s good to be here.” Conzu and Kaji once served under the same commander and later they both served as generals in the air force.

When they were outside in company of their soldiers they’d always use their ranking titles. But when they were alone they’d just used to call them by each others names.

Another soldier came to General Conzu to tell him where they would encamp. Conzu turned his komodo-rhino and looked at his exhausted soldiers. “Men, you did a great job. I am very proud of you. You proved that you’re worthy of being a part of the Royal Guard. Now follow us. We are going to set our camp, after that you’re free to rest.”

Now, he looked at Kaji; “We've captured many ostrich horses from the Earth Kingdom troops; we could use them for our army or as fresh meat for our meals.” Conzu said to him while smiling upon uttering the word ‘meat.’ Only now he felt how hungry he actually was.

"Excellent work," said Kaji, looking please. "Please, follow me." Kaji led Conzu through the gardens of the headquarters, watching the ostrich horses and rhino's feeding on the plants. Kaji began thinking about Lt. Shao Li, and what his vision was, or would be about. He knew that it would take the most powerful people the Fire Nation had to decipher whatever needed to be deciphered. "As you know, Lt. Shao Li has had a vision that needs deciphering."

"Lead the men to our camp” Conzu said to his captain while following Kaji. Kaji told him about Lt. Li’s vision.

”Yes” Conzu said, “I’ve heard about it. I guess that could be a tricky thing.” Besides a military man and general, Conzu was known as a very learned man. He read a lot and studied all kind things. “I am sure we will figure out what his vision means.” Conzu’s face became serious, “but I’m afraid it won’t be easy.” Suddenly, Conzu heard some strange sounds coming from his stomach. “But first Kaji, is there something to eat here? I’m starving."

Kaji smiled, and led the food-deprived Conzu to the food hall. "Here, we have firebenders taught to use their fire to cook food," said Kaji, picking up a "menu." There were a few items on this piece of paper, including cooked ostrich horse, grilled turtle duck, fire crabs, and flaming fire flakes. Kaji continued to hear Conzu's stomach growling, so he left him to his plates of food now arriving on Kaji's command.

Kaji stepped out of the hall, the wind catching him full in the face. Walking along the grounds, his cape billowing behind him as he strode swiftly, obviously waiting to greet Lt. Shao Li when he returned from his long trip.

Shao stepped from his tent a cool breeze rustling through his hair as he slid his pack over his shoulder. Still thinking of the dream from the other night he knew this was no ordinary thing, the jewel in his forehead pulsed slowly when he awoke the night before. But who, who would know something about this. Shao put the thought out of his mind for the moment for now it was time to return to the Fire Nation, hopefully he could find someone there who would make something of the "Akuma"

"Alright everyone we're moving out!" he yelled to the men, He turned and began to walk down the dusty road towards home.

During his meal some soldiers asked if they were allowed to join him. Of course Conzu didn’t mind about it. He always liked to have company. Apparently the news of his victory was already well known under the people. But Conzu preferred not to talk about it right now. After his meal he excused himself and walked outside. *What would the lieutenant’s vision be?* he asked himself. He kept on walking to his camp; the soldiers told him where his camp was. When he arrived he saw that only a part of the camp was already built, most of his men were still busy with setting up their tents. And some of them had to move their tents in order to place them in the right line.

The general’s tent, Conzu’s tent was already set up, with the officers tents next to him.

Kaji saw Conzu exiting the food hall, but didn't go over. He was still waiting at the entrance to the gates for Lt. Shao Li. Suddenly, he heard the soft crunching of rock beneath the foot of an animal. Always alert, Kaji raised his arms to attack, but noticed that it was Lt. Shao Li.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant," said Kaji. "I trust you're trip was well."

Admiral Winnkey came into the food hall, it was alive with heavy laughter, cheering and chatter. the Food hall was always a noise and lively place and that suited Winnkey. although he was Admiral when they where not on duty that meant almost nothing to his and his men. he was great friends with all his fellow solders no matter what rank or skill because this did not matter when they where all having a drink and playing cards.

Winnkey went over to the kitchen to go get a tray of food. Although he was an admiral he would eat what everyone else would eat because he did not see why he should get more just for being a higher rank.

He sat down at a table that was playing cards. "Deal me in boys," said Winnkey. "So what are we playing?"

Conzu inspected the formation of the camp and everything looked perfect. His soldiers were still setting it up, but so far it looked great. Before he left the food hall he ordered the chefs to make a delicious meal for Conzu’s soldiers, and his other guest’s of course. Conzu would provide for ostrich-horse meat, the other meat and food would ‘the kitchen’ provide. All of this was on the general’s cost. He walked down to his own tent and saw Cpt. Gerzin talking with some soldiers. “Captain” Conzu said as he looked to the soldier, “men” the men quickly saluted. “Like I already said, I am very proud of you all. So I am offering a three course meal for this evening. The food will be delivered here, at our camp. There will be enough food and drink for everyone, wine, beer and all kinds of drinks.“

“That sound’s great, sir!” one of the soldiers said enthusiastically. Conzu smiled, “There will be musicians, music and if you’re not too tired for it, dancing.” He saw the faces of his soldier lit up, then he nodded at them and walked into his tent. He loved to see his men happy, after all they were the ones who really fought the battles, without them no single victory would have been achieved.

He ordered messengers to come and sent out invitations to all high ranking officers who were at the HQ. “And,” Conzu said to one of his messenger, “If Lt. Shao Li arrives, make sure to invite him as first for our banquet tonight.” Not knowing that the lieutenant just arrived at the headquarters.

At the same time he heard a trumpet just outside his tent, immediately after it he heard a loud voice announcing the banquet that night following by the cheering of his soldiers.

Ozai left the meeting room to find his fellow firebenders. He went passed the Food Hall and saw Admiral Winnkey playing cards and thought to himself *I surely hope Winnkey's fire bender skills are as good as his card playing skills.* He wondered where General Conzu went but realized he was having a banquet for his victory. * I'll stop by there later.* Ozai stopped at the entrance gates and saw the return of Lt. Shao Li along with General Kaiji greeting them. "Good day Lt. Shao Li."

As he stepped into the camp he say Kaji and Ozai standing by the gate, He walked up to them and accepted both their greetings with a nod then continued moving off towards his room, He was tired from the long trip, he wished for nothing more to sleep and contemplate the strange vision, to see if he could make sense of it.

"As you may, or may not know, General Conzu and his Royal Guard took the village they were sent to take," said General Kaji. Walking along side the Lieutenant, he was eager to learn about the vision, but didn't want to rush it, for Shao Li had been on an incredibly long journey, and was obviously tired from his trip. "Here," said Kaji. "Take my tent. It's closer."

"Thanks, but I don't mind walking a little longer" He turned and walked off towards his tent the darkness enveloping him. Once he was out of distance he put his hand to his head, it felt like someone had just punched him in the temple.

After having a great game of cards and also winning a small fortune, Winnkey deiced to give the other people a chance to keep some money so after eating his dinner he got up and left the table. "Sorry boys, but you know the risk if you are going to play me in cards."

Winnkey gave his plate back to the cooks, thanked them for the great meal. Still unsure what he would do after he left the tent, Winnkey deiced just to walk around the camp to make sure everything was fine.

Ozai stood beside General Kaji as Lt. Shao Li walked toward his tent. Ozai turned to Kaji and asked "Didn't it seem that he had a lot on his mind? It could be because of his vision but then again I'm not sure." He pondered this for a awhile.

General Kaji turned to Ozai. "Well, wouldn't you if you just had a life-like vision?" General Kaji bid the Lieutenant good night, and entered his tent. Sitting down at his desk, he pulled out a map of the Earth Kingdom, and marked the spot where General Conzu had won his battle. Kaji was then going over the map, wondering what other small Earth Kingdom villages would provide strong tactical points for them.

After circling around the camp, he saw everything was fine. So Winnkey retreated back to his tent to have a nice lay down before he had to go do the morning shift.

General Conzu stepped out of his bed, he couldn’t rest. His messenger just returned of delivering the invitations for the next day’s banquet to Gen. Kaji, Adm. Winkey and the lieutenants Ozai and Shao Li. “Good work,” Conzu said as he stood before the mirror putting his cape on. “I bet that Lt. Shao Li is tired of his long journey.”

The messenger saluted and walked out of the tent. Not along after him, one of his captains came in with a question about the banquet. “Ah yes, that’s my mistake,” Conzu sighed, “Ofcourse I meant tomorrow night.” He looked outside his tent to the dark sky with it’s stars. He didn’t realized that it was already night. He never used to sleep very long, so Conzu’s days were longer then for the common men.

His captain saluted and left the tent, Conzu left the tent too. He walked in direction of General Kaji’s tent.

Shao sat in his tent unable too sleep even though he felt a strong pull to his bed, he walked from the tent the flap blowing in the wind and scaled the dining hall sitting on the roof, watching the moon. The same word ran through his mind, tearing at his every thought, "Akuma, inner sanctum, Qin Maru."

He looked at the moon eventually drifting off too sleep, the thoughts repeating in his mind.

As Conzu was walking in direction of Kaji’s tent, he saw Lt. Shao Li sitting on the roof of the dining hall. At least he thought it was Lt. Li, because he couldn’t see that good in the dark plus that it was quite far away. He changed his mind and set off to the dining room.

He walked quietly up to the lieutenant who stared at the moon and almost seemed asleep. Conzu heard Shao saying some words in a different language.

”Welcome back, Lieutenant,” he said while standing behind Shao. “Akuma, inner sanctum, Qin Maru?” Conzu repeated him with a surprised and concerned voice. “The Akuma…” as he continued, he sat down next to the lieutenant. “Some people say it’s an evil spirit, a demon. Others say the Akuma are cursed beings, not fully human nor spirit.” He looked at Shao, *he really need to take his rest.* Conzu thought. “But I’m not sure who or what ‘the Akuma’ is.” Conzu stared in the darkness with the wind blowing through his face. They could hear the sound of the wind playing with the fire nation flags.

Shao turned quickly drawing a concealed knife holding it to the throat of Conzu, "Oh, sorry," said Shao apologetically as he held the knife down. "Yeah, Akuma, it's familiar, always followed with the tales of Oni monsters and Demons. But I have never heard of an organization claiming to be such a thing."

~"Come on Kaji, it's not going to hurt anybody!" yelled Kakli. "You said that last time, Kali!" Kaji shouted back at the young, muscular 15 year old boy across the yard. Kakli had an instinct for trouble, and ever since Kaji had met him 5 years ago, he had been nothing short of reckless and defiant, always refusing to answer to anybody. "Kaji, hurry up! Let's go!" Kakli yelled impatiently. "Fine!" Kaji yelled back. With both their fathers stationed in the Earth Kingdom, the both came over together to see them. Now, Kakli was trying to sneak around Earth Kingdom territory. Kaji ran swiftly and silently, partially crouched, across the battlefield. Rocks jutted out in the most peculiar ways, explained only by the fact the challenge for land had passed through his wonderful, once peaceful field. Kakli had persuaded Kaji to follow him along in "scouting out" the battlefield. Finally, Kaji made it to the other side. Kakli then started to lead him into enemy territory. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Kaji. Kakli turned around, in disbelief. "Of course I'm sure, when am I ever wro..." but Kakli never finished that sentence, for it was the last sentence Kakli would ever speak. Ferociously, a huge rock suddenly thrust out of the Earth, hitting Kakli in the gut. ~

"NO!!!!" Suddenly, Kaji flew up out of his bed, and fell to the floor, panting hysterically, drenched in sweat.

Shao bounded and landed swiftly beside Kaji, "What was the flare for?" He asked, already knowing the answer looking into the bushes he saws the leaves flicker then the drawing of a blade, He stepped forward and took up a stance.

"Thieves," said Kaji, drawing his dual broadswords, ready to fight. Out came three thieves, their hands up. "This shouldn't be too hard," Kaji whispered to Shao Li. He was gravely mistaken. Suddenly, thieves started emerging from all around them, coming out of the green, leafy bushes. Kaji, clearly seeing that he and Shao Li were outnumbered, began to spin around like a top, spewing fire from his swords.

The noise in the brush turns out to be just a couple of kids playing with some toy carvings of figures. This is a town with homeless and they are in the same situation. They look up frightened by the charge of Military officers. They stand stricken with fear wondering if they will be arrested for playing "Thief and Guard" with their toys in what they thought was a quiet bushy area.

Shao turned back towards the dining hall annoyed, when he arrived he realized he hadn't eaten since the night before so he walked inside and grabbed a tray of food then seated himself beside Conzu so they could resume their previous conversation.

Conzu saw Shao returning with an annoyed face. “Welcome back lieutenant” Conzu smiled. “Just some playing kids, eh? I already thought that. No real treats can infiltrate our headquarters.”

He looked at Shao’s face and could see that he was eager to speak about something. Conzu figured out that he wanted to talk about his vision. Of course Conzu himself wanted to hear more about it. Some years ago Conzu read many books about the ‘akuma’ legend. It always fascinated him. “An organization that calls itself ‘the Akuma’?” Conzu asked as he played with some fire in his hands. “If you want we could talk about this with the other high ranking officers at the banquet.”

"Yes, well it seems they are no friend. I also distinctly remember a spirit fox, the likes of which used to reside in the great library, but, we should save this discussion until we contact the other officers." said Shao helping himself to a bowl of rice.

”A knowledge fox?" Conzu stopped with playing, “I wish I could’ve seen those foxes” he thought out loud. “well, that’s very interesting Shao. But you’re right, we should talk about this with the other officers.” Conzu sips his tea, “I’ll give orders to some of my men to put up an extra tent at the banquet. We can talk about your vision there.”

*And in the meantime I’ll get some of my books over there* Conzu thought to himself.

“and yes, you’re right again. If those legends are true, ‘the Akuma’ are evil beings. I have some ideas about what the organization could be and about the other words. But let me check that first, I’ll tell you and the other officers tomorrow.”

"Alright, well I must be going, I have some information to look over and I am dreadfully tired, Goodnight general, I will see you tomorrow." said Shao as he rose from the table dumping his tray in a bin then walking to the door. He stepped into the cool night air and walked over to his tent.

Ozai left the banquet as Shao left to retire to his tent. *The Akuma and Spirit Fox must be connected somehow otherwise they wouldn't be in Shao's vision,* thought Ozai. *I might as well find out some information on these creatures in the library.*

Ozai made his way to the library and made a few connections of his own about how the Akuma and Spirit Fox are connected. *Since Spirit Foxes, otherwise known as knowledge seekers, bring some form of knowledge to the Great Spirit Library it could be possilbe that the knowledge it held was that of the Akuma.*

He pondered this as he reached the entrance to the library. *Well I think it is about time that I do some research,* thought Ozai as he entered the Fire Nation's Library.

The Akuma. The one name has been making the Fire Lord research through Fire Nation history books for endless hours in his large library. Who or what were the Akuma?

The Fire Lord had heard the name from conversation as he walked along random streets. He didn't bother looking at who was in the conversation, since the name had taken control of his mind ever since he heard the name.

Now Fire Lord Gotag sat, tired, in his royal throne. His emerald eyes were blood shot after reading for what seemed forever. Why had that name seem familiar to him? Maybe the name wasn't only in Fire Nation history, maybe it was World Wide?

The Fire Lord sat up and ordered a nearby servant, who was sweeping the floor, to ask any high ranked officer if they knew anything of the Akuma. The servant gladly accepted and walked out of the throne room.

After sending the order away, Fire Lord Gotag went into deep thoughts. This time he questioned himself about how he didn't know who or what the Akuma was. He knew all about Fire Nation history. But that was just it. History of his nation, he barely knew history of other nation. But he did know a lot of World Wide history, just not all of it.

Ozai entered the library and saw the vastness of its collection of books. "Well I better get started" said Ozai as he begun to research the Akuma first.

He read books which were found in the "A" section because the Akuma would be characterized in that category along with ancient mythology. *This is really tiresome, I haven't found any clues on the Akuma yet. It keeps telling me that they are evil beings with flaming heads, fiery eyes and swords but I already know that,* thought Ozai.

*Maybe I'll have better luck researching the Spirit Foxes but I'll leave that to a later time,* Ozai left the library not knowing any less than when he walked in.

Fire Lord Gotag waited silently on his throne. He watched the walls of fire the rose around him. It seemed it was the only thing to do at the moment. He would be able to do much more if he had information about this 'Akuma' thing.

Even if he did hate watching the walls of fire, he found it very mesmerizing. He was unable to lift his eyes of the sight if the tips on flames raising up and lowering down. But any kind of distraction could easily take his concentrating off his gaze of the flames. Which he hoped would happen. Watching the fire was boring, as was his job.

He sometimes disliked the role of Fire Lord. Since it limited his freedom to venture the world and fight any enemy that crossed his path. But being Fire Lord he was stuck in his palace and was always watched and protected by guards from the Royal Guard team. But being Fire Lord did have it advantages. Like this mystery. He'd probably would of never found it if he hadn't been Fire Lord. Plus he is in control of one fourth of the world's army. Which was a good thing since other Fire Lords were ruthless and idiotic. And since he was in control he was able to use his brains to come up with excellent battle plans and chose the right people for certain jobs. Like his councils. He bet some past Fire Lords chose people who loved to fight and power, but not him. He chose wise, strong, and hard working people for his.

After several minutes of thinking, Fire Lord Gotag noticed that he escaped the flames' trance. His eyes now watched the door that lead into his throne room. He was a bit happy, he bet that most people, who visited here, sometimes would get themselves trapped in the fire's trance.

The next morning Conzu woke up very early, washed and began training. He woke his men. “I know it’s early," he told his captain, "but it’s necessary. I don’t have a lot of time today.” Conzu looked at the sky, the sun had not even begun to rise, but the birds were already singing. Some 15 minutes later his sleepy soldiers were standing before him, “Role call!” he yelled.

He walked down to one of his soldiers, Conzu thought he had the ability to bend. He shot at him, the soldier fell on his back. “Come one, defend yourself,” he said, as he looked in the direction of his other soldiers. “All of you, spar with your partner.” It only took 2 minutes before people didn’t needed the sun anymore to see. The fire provided enough light for Conzu’s whole camp. The sound of fire and clashing swords could be heard from a distance.

After one hour of sparring, Conzu gave them a break. Many of his soldiers panted and fell on the ground, tired. After 15 minutes Conzu resumed the training. This time he divided the training in two. He would teach the firebenders in the art of bending Greek fire, a very powerful ability. It was fire that even burned on water. And his captain would train the non-bending soldiers. After some hours of training, Conzu called a hault.

It was 10 AM when he sat down at his desk. *I know I have some books about it, but where could they be?* he thought. Conzu stood up and walked to his locker in the officers' building. Actually, it wasn’t just a ‘locker,’ but a whole room. It was used for army offices when the Earth Kingdom was still in possession of the village. Conzu pushed the key in it and opened the door. The smell of old books greeted him, he welcomed it. He walked over to some windows and opened them as far as they could open. He closed the door and walked to the huge table in the middle of the room, with a desk on the end of it. But then changed his mind, walked back and put the door on a rack.

He walked over to his desk and looked at the paintings on the walls, there was a painting of him and Kushi; and one of  his mother, stepfather and smaller brother. Then he turned around and saw a huge painting of the Fire Lord next to a painting of his real father who he never knew. The only thing he knew about his father was that he was an officer in the Fire Nation navy and was an educated man. He stared at the painting, his father was dressed in uniform, and stood before a huge bookcase. Conzu sighed, “If I only could’ve known him better.”

Then Conzu reminded himself why he came here and began searching his own personal small library. “I knew it!” Conzu said after a while, “Ah yes, yes… this one,” Conzu coughed because of the dust, *and this one, this, this, and this one,* he thought as he grabbed the books.

“Hmm... this is enough for now,” Conzu said while putting the books on the huge table. He looked at the titles again; The Akuma; myth and legends; Akuma, real or legend?; Stories about the Akuma; Temple of [the] Akuma; Spirit Worship; Ancient Knowledge of the Spirit World, etc, etc.

Ozai awoke that morning in a daze after doing his research in the library. He did his daily routine in the morning and walked around Fire Nation HQ. *At this point I can assume that the other high ranking officials are doing there research to,* thought Ozai as he passed the library he was at last night.

He went to the food hall to get breakfast but noticed that it was only him and the low ranking Fire Nation soldiers. He thought to himself again as he ate his rice, "I should probably go see how the other officials are doing with there research after my meal."

Conzu took a little break after some hours of researching. He read a lot, and he remembered that he had read some things before. He sat in the big chair behind his desk and looked at the painting above the door, the painting of his family. Suddenly he thought of something, *Worshipping of the Akuma in the inner chamber of their holy place.* “Of course," Conzu said. “There must be a connection between those two things.” He grabbed a book called The Worshipping of [the] Akuma and began reading again.

Conzu couldn’t wait for the banquet that night, to discuss this topic with the other high ranking officers.

Ozai finished his breakfast and continued to do research in the library. This time he was there to research the Spirit Foxes otherwise known as the "Knowledge Seekers." He picked the same book that he used to research the Akuma which was about mythical creatures.

*Interesting, it seems that these foxes are able to pass into the Spirit World as well as our world,* thought Ozai. *Not mention that the Akuma are spirits as well just like the Spirit Foxes.*

Ozai figured that this was a connection and would be able to present this to the officials tonight at the banquet.

Suddenly an idea approached Fire Lord Gotag's mind. *Why not bring all his high ranked soldiers here to discuss this Akuma thing?*

So the Fire Lord wrote several letters to every officer that was high ranked. He then sent several Fire Nation hawks out to search for each person and delivery their letter.

He now watched the messenger hawks fly out of his eye sight. Some went a different directions than the others and some landed close to others. This must mean some might be discussing this matter already.

Ozai left the library with his new found information about the Akuma and Spirit Foxes when suddenly a messenger hawk appeared before him. The hawk had a message attached to his leg and when Ozai took it he realized it was from the Fire Lord.

"Well well, it seems Fore Lord Gotag couldn't wait till the banquet to discuss this which means this must be important," said Ozai. He continued on his way and wished to figure out the Akume vision like the other officials.

Conzu looked up from the pages of his book and saw that it was already noon. He took another short break, Conzu didn’t ate the whole day. So, Conzu set off to the dining room to eat lunch. He locked the door, walked through the garden, and passed the public library. *I should take a look in there too,* he thought. *But for now…. It’s lunch time.*

Just when he was about to into the dining room some of his soldiers came out of, they saluted. Conzu smiled at them, “Don’t forget the party tonight, you’ll get more than you get here,” Conzu said jokingly.

“No, we definitely won’t sir,” one of his soldiers replied. Conzu smiled again and walked in.

The Fire Lord slowly walked outside, hoping that no Royal Guard would find him and follow him to the place where he had told everyone to meet. This was a secret meeting and even if he did tell that to a guard sometimes they would still insist on coming with. This annoyed him because he always had to tell them to go guard someone else or lie to them, which he hated to do. He almost never lied.

Conzu sat down at a table with a bowl of noodle soup, when a messenger ran into the dining room. Conzu didn’t mention the messenger and just wanted to take a sip of his soup… “General, I have an urgent message,” he heard behind him.

*Ah man, NO...*  he turned around and saw Zhang walking in his direction, “Why now...” Conzu whispered. “What is it Zhang? It seems to me, that you know exactly  how to pick the right moments, eh?” Conzu said sarcastically while looking really annoyed.

“Here’s the message, sir.”

Conzu took the message and dismissed Zhang. “Hmm..” *Apparently the Fire Lord doesn’t want to wait for tonight.* Then he looked at the message paper itself, he could see that the message was attached to a dragonhawk. *I can’t believe how lazy he is, we’re all in the same place and still he sends out hawks,* Conzu laughed. “Ah well, I’d better be going then. I’ll eat this on my way there.” Conzu stood up and left the dining room eating his soup.

Even though Conzu and his Royal Guard were like one big family. He still wanted to be extra cautious. Especially with state-secrets, like this. That’s why Conzu sent out a message to the guards of the Fire lord:

Dear guards,

By these I give you permission to take a day off, after the Fire lord told you so.
I’ll be with the Fire lord for the whole day.

Do not insist of guarding him, it is very noble, but don’t.
Also, do not follow him secretly, since that would be a disgraceful act, and Agni Kai would be its answer.

Enjoy your free day, and don’t forget the banquet in honor of the victory your brothers achieved the other day.

Yours,
General Conzu

He also sent a message to the Fire lord where he explained how and why he could easily send his guards away that day. *I'll be there as your private guard. And so will a bunch of other ranking officers.*

Kaji was in his tent, his heart still racing from the bad memory of his friend. *Kakli, why where you so stupid?* he thought. Just then, a hawk soared into his tent. Getting up, Kaji went over, and picked up the scroll. It was a message from the Fire Lord, asking all the high-ranked officials to meet him to discuss the Akuma from Lt. Shao Li's vision. *The Akuma,* thought Kaji. *Why does that sound extremely familiar.* Kaji was lost in thought about the Akuma, pondering the specific meaning of such an ancient and clearly mythological word. Kaji then gave up, put on his black jumpsuit and red vest, and headed outside, walking swiftly towards the Fire Nation HQ.

However, before he reached the door, out stepped Lt. Ozai. "Lieutenant! Glad I caught you," said Kaji with relief. Holding up the message, he asked, "Do you have any idea where Fire Lord Gotag wants us to meet?"

As each of the officers look more closely at their messages from Fire Lord Gotag, they realize that the meeting place is clearly indicated in a code they all know. They are to meet in a discreet location. A large posh inn not far from HQ where there is a designated room just for such occasions. Everyone is greeted pleasantly by very trusted personnel and shown to the smaller banquet room. Tea is brought and served to all. Everyone sits, including Fire Lord Gotag and all look to Shao. They have been wondering about the whispered rumor of his vision.

Winnkey still held the letter that was sent to him in his hands. He was still unsure what help he would be because he did not know much about the foxes and all he knew about akuma is that it means demon in the Old Language and he did not know if that would be much help. He went to the meeting not to so much inform but to be informed so he could help out later on instead of being in the way.

He had not told his men where he was going but they knew that it must be important for him to go by himself because he always took a solider or two. But not this time, becauseit was a direct ordered by the Fire Lord.

Winnkey would be there soon. Still walking by himself, he started to see flickering of a small fire in between the trees. Winnkey said to himself ,"This must be it, let's hope that I'm not lost." He then started walking to the fire that he hoped was the place for there meeting. He arrived at the inn and was guided to his seat in the back room.

Shao stepped into the bright room. He stood facing all the other officers and spoke in a loud voice, "A couple nights ago, as almost all of you know, I had a dream, a sort of vision, of something that I know is real, and is going to happen. This is what I saw:

After moving through the sky coming to rest in a jungle near what seemed to be healing hot springs much like those of the fire sages, as of location, I only know that this place lies south of the Serpents Pass. Through the jungle there is a waterfall. Next I fell, down through to what seemed an underground tomb where there is a hall and at the end through a large door there is a fountain though it is quite broken.

It seemed this was all from the view of another for I am rendered unconscious and even feel the pain awaking in a room filled with many paintings and tapestries of the four nations. Nine horrid gateways are painted on the walls. There is a large well in the middle, it was quite high, reaching just above my waist and about double that in width. In the well is what appears to be a black reflective water. On the wall there lies a painting of Avatar Roku's teacher, though this painting seems to have been cared for unlike the one in the destroyed temple.

Then turning there is a man leaning on the pool writing a message. Seeming not to notice me, iIapproached him and read the message, this is what it said:

I have found it. I found the inner sanctum. The most sacred place in the world. Its beauty is incredible. The pool is intact. The paintings tell the history of the world. The changing phases, the coming and goings of peoples and creatures. But a darkness has also crept in here. An assassin has followed me. He called himself a priest, an Akuma. I have hidden here in the inner sanctum of the buried temple. I must get news out to the people. This sacred place is in great peril, if it hasn’t already fallen pray. There are no locks on the painting of the nine gates as I have read there should be. There are no Qin Maru holy guards protecting this place as legends says there should be. I know not what has happened, though I am ecstatic to know it exists.

After I finished reading there was a large man clad in a black cloak. His abilities are something I have never witnessed and are not recorded in any Fire Nation data. This man bent the very shadows in the room killing the man. The last thing I saw was a small spirit fox taking the note.

Also, it seems that lava runs close to the surface in this place or at least not far underground."

After hearing the details of the vision Ozai interpreted his meaning of the vision in his head. He stood up facing Lt. Shao Li and said "The temple you speak of in your vision holds the history of the world. It's possible that this "Akuma" may use this to it's advantage somehow. Don't you think so to Shao?" Asked Ozai.

"I do not know what there true goal is, but it seems they are not out friends. You could very well be right, I have managed to determine this mountains location here on this map." Shao rolled out a map for everyone to see.

"Now remember, this place has lava near the surface, there is a large mountain to the north, the lake on the south side of the serpents pass. And then a jungle, this underground tomb/area could be like the library in the desert, as we know there was a spirit fox present. I also distinctly remember blue glowing hands, the only record we have of something like this is the Avatar, meaning there must be a strong spiritual presence or aura in that place. Plus the jungle is on the west side of the mountain." He ran his finger around the area deep in neutral lands not controlled by any nation.

"The nine gates due the images in them most likely refer to the nine gates to hell." The silence was briefly ominous after his last words.

Ozai broke the silence. "So this place has borders which makes it hard to get to and if that is the case then the things found in the temple are of high importance. Could it be that the strong spiritual presence or aura in that place is a connection to the spirit world? I've read in many books that these Spirit Foxes are able to pass into the spirit world and maybe this temple has that ability to pass into the spirit world as well."

After hearing the vision in detail, Winnkey was taken back by all the information. He started to think, after a while he began to speak. "After hearing that, the main thing that I can deduct from this is that we have to find this place because it looks like it is in trouble and if it holds the worlds history, then that is valuable information for anyone. We of the Fire Nation can not sit back and wait for something to happen. We should follow our only lead and that is the Serpents Pass. Also if there is a waterfall, the water must flow somewhere so I suggest that we go to the Serpents Pass go south on a boat and look for all little or large streams of water that leads into it from the south. We might not find anything but we must follow it because that's the only lead we have."

He paused to let that sink in and be considered before he continued, "The room itself sounds more like a temple of some kind but I'm still very unsure about it. The nine gates may be representative of the nine gates of hell in myth but that could just mean nothing. Also we should try and find more information on the shadow bending person, and if it is the shadows that he is bending."

"Actually Admiral," Shao corrected, "we have a few more things to go on. One, we know it is south of the eastern lake; two, it is a large mountain with visible hot springs; and three, there is a large jungle to the west of said mountain, as well as a close source of lava. Indeed I believe there are representations of the nine gates of hell, leading more to the spiritual plane."

"So if we do decide to make this trek to the temple, it's not going to be an easy one is it?" asked Ozai. "Not to mention that this 'Shadow Bender' and the Akuma will be at the temple as well. But then again it doesn't really tell us if it is a vision of the past, present, or future... so for all we know the temple may already be destroyed."

"Arhh you are right!" Exclaimed Winnkey. "Iin my travels, I have not traveled that region so I badly just ignored that information. What you are saying sounds very plausible and I think that you are on to something that we should not ignore. I also think that we should look for more meaning of the well. It seems to have great importance to be placed in the center of the room."

"Well I have heard of a saying that a brain is a well of knowledge, so it's possible that the well itself could provide a person with knowledge much like a brain?" Ozai proffered the notion. "But the black reflective water in the well is something that puzzles me. Let us not forget the picture of Avatar Roku's teacher on the wall."

The men sat around the tea table with the map in the middle. There was plenty of tea and small items to nibble that they would not be disturbed through this meeting and the interesting and controversial topic that rose in their discussion.

Sao took a moment to look at each person in the room before speaking. "Though I have marked the location on the map, I have an idea to help find a closer location. These are indeed healing springs that lay near the mountain. I believe we need to pay a visit to the fire sages. If we can do so, then we will be able to cover a smaller ground in our search, We could take some of those balloons to do an over the forest search but the trees seem to be too dense."

General Kaji leaned back in his chair, putting his fingertips together. Looking at Lt. Shao Li, he said, "This sounds like some sort of religious war. Holy guards, priest assassins, buried temples, legends, etc. Sounds to me like we're in the middle of an ageless war between holy and evil spirits." Getting up, he began pacing. "You say you felt a spiritual presence, like the Avatar?" he asked looking at Lt. Shao Li.

Conzu listened very carefully to what his fellow officers were saying, then he leaned forward staring at the map. He looked with a serious face as he leaned back in his seat, began talking. ”Interesting, very interesting Shao, as you may know visions aren’t that common. You’re in a privileged position Lieutenant, though I don’t envy you. It must be very hard.” Conzu looked at Shoa’s face.

“Did you see anything beneath you when you was flying through the sky? Maybe some forest, desert, water or things like that? We know that there is a huge waterfall near the serpents pass and that there are hot water springs to the south of the Serpents pass. It is actually very close to it, we know that Avatar Aang took a break there after his sky bison was stolen by earthbenders.”

“Like you said before these nine gates represent the nine gates of hell. As we know hell is a part of the spirit world, it is a part that connects this world with the evil parts of the spirit world. BUT, above that all, they are gates to get connected to the spirit world. Maybe this is how the famous general Iroh, brother of Fire Lord Ozai menaged to enter the spirit world…” Conzu stopped to take a breath, and continued. “And like the note said in your vision, the paintings and the tapestries represent the history of the world, but it could also indicate that this is not something only for us. But this ‘akuma thing’ is concerning the whole world, all nations could be in trouble. We know that the Akuma in general are known to be demons, evil spirits. Or at least, beings that are half human and half spirit/demon. These creatures could be able to enter the spirit world and our world. Also I find it interesting that this whole thing is happening in the area of the Serpents pass. As we know, the serpents pass is a bridge between two giant lakes, just like the nine gates are bridges between two worlds.” Conzu looked at Admiral Winnkey, “And Admiral, I believe you are right. This place looks like a sort of temple, a shrine or at least some holy place. Though you,” Conzu looked at the lieutenant, "said it looked more like a tomb, did you mean a tomb like on graveyards or could it be a tomb within a shrine or temple? Anyway, I really think, that not only this place is in danger.” He stopped and looked at the doors… “We all are.” Conzu sighed, “The painting of Avatar Roku’s teacher… I’m sure that must mean something. We know that he helped Roku to enter the spirit world, and that he freed the avatar from the spirit world. Also he always strived for peace between the four nations. He and later his grandson were the ones that were against our glorious war. They were peace loving. I hate too say it, but maybe… maybe this also has to do with our wars in this world. We did not care for our peace loving priests, nor did we care for Avatar Roku’s temple, which is a ruin still today. This painting however is cared for.” Conzu looked away as he said these last sentences, he hated it to say them.

“As far as I know – coming from a religious family and people – ‘the inner sanctum’ means an inner chamber, the holiest of holies of a shrine or temple. Now, this man has found it, we only need to know where it is. If it is in this world it’s probably deep under the ground, otherwise we would have records of it. This Akuma that followed the man, bothers me. Not because of the legends, but because he calls himself ‘a priest.’ We know that the legends say they are some demon kind of things. If he is a priest, he must serve something. And especially the fact that the gates are not locked anymore and the holy guards are gone…” Conzu thought for a while. “gone..” he repeated, “defeated?” he asked himself out loud. Again he looked at the men at the table but did not wait for an answer. He continued, “This man may be overjoyed that he knew the ‘inner sanctum’ existed, but he paid for it with his life. We should be very careful in what we are going to do gentlemen. This man was killed, probably only because of finding it. He was killed by this ‘shadow bender'. Could it be that this shadow bender and the akuma are one and the same person? Because the man wrote in his note, that an assassin had followed him, a priest, an akuma.

As a kid, my teacher – of blessed memory – once told me that dreams and visions could always have several meanings. I see two in the scene about the lava. One, is the simple interpretation of what is said before, that it must be close to some volcanic mountain – or it’s so far under the ground that it lays close to the earth’s centre. But my second explanation is, that this just like the paintings of the four nations. Could refer to the significance of this vision for the whole world. The lava is rising, which means that we should act fast. We don’t have that much time, if we are too late then... who knows what’ll happen. But I can tell you, that won’t be a good thing.

The last thing I wonder is, if this vision is in the present time – but I think it is – why is there a spirit fox in it? We all know that they are most likely, gone. They probably disappeared together with the library.” Conzu stopped talking and looked at the men around the table. “Also, what did those blue glowing hands do, Shao?” he asked.

Shoa thought back to the memory of the vision to answer  both the admiral and the general. "Well is seems, they saved me....4 swords came down upon me then these hands seized me and pulled me away. For the description of the land, I believe we can determine an exact area without difficulty, as I've said we know it is south of the eastern  lake. It is a large mountain with visible hot springs. There is a large jungle to the west side of  mountain, as well as a close source of lava. We can question the fire sages as they would know the location of the hot springs helping us more, this location on the map is also quite precise." He was sure, so sure of its location that he felt he could find it with his blindfold tied in place.