Carved In Rock || ATLA

As The World Caves In

City of Walls & Secrets Fin

"And here it is, our final night alive. As the Earth burns to the ground oh boy, it's you that I lie with, as the atom bomb locks in." - Sarah Cothran

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The walk with Long Feng to the hidden library office was tense and quiet. The team had fallen into a well-played trap and the Grand Secretariat was very pleased with himself. In the ornate and elegant room, the others were already waiting before the hearth illuminated with a green flame. Sokka was the first to take notice of the far older man arm in arm with the Akira and his annoyance only grew even larger.

"What the fuck is going on?" He snapped as he pulled Aelita away from the stranger and tucked her safely behind him. "Why won't you let us talk to the king? We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!"

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In the same city but still a thousand worlds away another man was feeling royally pissed off and rather defensive of Aelita Kenshin. In the slums of the Lower Ring Zuko gripped the handles of his borrowed blades tighter as the realization knocked the breath from his lungs. There was only one firebender the Avatar would ever be traveling with.

Jet could only grin as it seemed he might have struck a nerve. 'Lee' kept his composure well and the changes in his body language were subtle, but Jet picked up on them the same way he had the old man's tea.

"I wonder if you've ever heard of her." He sniggered, his assumptions right but for the wrong reason. During his stalking disguised as evidence gathering, he had formed his own storyline in his mind of who he thought 'Lee' and his Uncle were. Based on the way the kid could fight and his own experiences with Bee he was willing to bet the guy was either some soldier's bastard or a military deserter himself. Based on the way his knuckles turned white at the mere implication of the Akira Jet was heavily leaning towards the latter now. With the sheer size of the Fire Nation alone not including the colonies, he would've never guessed the two had ever even crossed paths let alone shared the history they did. "The infamous, long-lost Akira that's turned her back on the very nation she comes from."

Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show. Zuko refused to give himself up for someone that had left him behind. Unfortunately even Jet could tell how hard he was trying to keep it together.

"Did I strike a nerve there?" Jet chuckled as the two boys slowly circled one another with a crowd of people watching anxiously nearby. "Guess it would hurt a little feeling that kind of betrayal. I wouldn't let it get under your skin too much, trust me, you're not missing out on anything. She's kind of a pretentious bitch if you ask me, real self-righteous and scared to get her hands dirty but I guess given her background that makes sense." He had meant for the not-so-subtle dig at the Fire Nation to push 'Lee' over the edge knowing how just prideful every other one of their dogs he took down had been but the kid didn't snap. Pity. "I guess you should be thanking me then for the little bit of payback I gave her. I might not have been able to add her blade to my collection but I'm sure she's still walking around with my mark on that pretty little face of hers today. It's just a shame she didn't bleed more."

If Jet hadn't had such fast reflexes he would've been dead. One of Zuko's blades pierced the side of a building where the bastard's head had just been a moment ago, a single thin cut grazing the Freedom Fighters' cheek where he nearly wasn't quick enough. Blind rage washed over the battle-worn teen as he lunged at the other with damn near every intent to kill.

"You don't know anything," he hissed as he bore down all his weight onto his one blade now locked against the hook swords, "about the Akira."

Jet barely managed to knock 'Lee' back but the firebender grabbed onto his other blade on the way and the two continued to duel again in the blink of an eye giving the challenger no time to think.