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chapter thirty-one
according to Toph and Haru's calculations, Alzitan were meant to reach a deserted valley by midday. Yanmei decided to make this their meeting point. it was secluded and far from civilization.
Yanmei and Sokka rode on Aala from Cranefish to the area while Aang and the others took Appa. Aang and Haru took station on the left mountain while Katara and Toph stayed on the right. they stayed high above so that it would be difficult to spot them, but they could see everything happening below.
Yanmei and Sokka arrived after the others, and only had to wait a few short moments before they could hear the Alzitan group entering the valley.
Yanmei hopped off her shirshu and gave her fiancé a pointed look, "stay on Aala and don't interfere"
he nodded but that didn't stop him from being worried. his worry only grew when he saw the army approaching.
leader of the Alzitan group, Jianjun, marched ahead of his comrades. covered from head to toe in green and brown armor, he looked like a real soldier. sickeningly close to the Dai Lee uniform.
his eyes met with Yanmei's and a cold chill ran down her spine. not out of fear of him, but of fear for her friends. something wasn't right.
he stopped a few feet away from her and his army stopped behind him. no one moved, no one spoke, and no wall caged them in from the two optional exits.
something was definitely wrong.
surprisingly to Yanmei and Sokka, as Jianjun bowed, his hands and knees in the ground, every single other soldier did the same.
what Haru said was true, these people worshipped her...well Xuan Yige.
"it is an honor to be in your presence, Chosen One" Jianjun spoke.
"long live the Chosen One!" the army chanted.
Sokka had his jaw hung open. he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Yanmei turned to him and gave him a pointed look, making sure he wouldn't interfere.
Yanmei looked down at Jianjun, "you knew I would be here"
Jianjun looked up at her and nodded, then stood up, "it's our duty to keep tabs on you, but that's not what we're here for"
Yanmei straightened her back, "I know about your goal, what you want from me"
"my family has kept Xuan Yige's identity secret for hundreds of years, waiting for the moment she would come to the mortal world and save us... you couldn't not save us during the hundred year war, but the world needs you in its recovery"
Yanmei recalled the words Xuan Yige spoke once before, "what do you want from us?"
"Ba Sing Se is in ruins, our King is gone, and the entire Earth Kingdom is being overrun by Fire Nation colonies. I ask that you, Yanmei Lin, call upon the spirit of Xuan Yige to help us take back our country"
"it sounds like you want another war"
"not a war...a cleansing"
another chill ran through her. Jianjun's anger in his voice, his sharp and determined gaze, none of this would go well. he wanted a massacre. or multiple.
"and if I refuse?"
a serge of foreign energy flowed through Yanmei's body. this wasn't the chill, bust something different. it was spiritual, but not her spirit. this was her connection to Aang.
Jianjun, surprisingly, already knew this, "I think you know how we intend to persuade you"
while in Cranefish Yanmei received many gifts for saving Keera, one of them was a sword. she unsheathed said sword immediately following Jianjun's words and pointed it at his chest. the tip of the blade only two feet away from him.
"it seems you don't know how our trades work, though you should if you've been watching me like you say... if you dare to touch or harm a single hair on their heads, yours will be the one cut with this blade"
Jianjun smirked proudly, as if he thought he had her cornered, "the only head we cared to touch is bald"
she flipped her sword and stepped forward, now pointing it directly at his neck, "you must not know what happened to all the people who have defied me. every single one of them is dead, except for two, and they both rot in prison. and so i'll say this loud and clear: you can either back down and you live, or you use force against myself and the Avatar and you die"
"we're prepared to take the risk," Jianjun waves his hand, signaling for someone to come forward, "we know what it takes to awaken Xuan Yige"
multiple people come forward, about four, and each one holds he four friends, all bound by ropes and gags.
her mind flashes to Kerkaw. Folami and Shan. Daria, Raider, and Hira. them being restrained. the fire, the screams. it all flashes in her mind.
this man, Jianjun, knows what happened there.
he whistles lowly and looks up, Yanmei and a horrified Sokka do the same. she tried to stay calm, but Yanmei was at her breaking point.
four giant boulders hung in the air, one each above her friends heads. crushed by rocks...that's how Ken died.
"I don't mind repeating history, Miss Lin... like I said: I know everything about you, including all the ways your loved ones have died"
Yanmei refused to move a muscle, "Sokka, don't move until my signal"
Sokka blinked, "what? what's your signal?!"
Yanmei grasped the sword with both hands, and within a second, swung it around her head and straight across Jianjun's neck. the next second his head toppled to the ground.
everything began to happen so fast that Sokka couldn't keep up.
the rocks began to fall, but Yanmei jumped up and slashed them to pieces with her sword, which was now drenched in black fire. when she landed on her feet she killed the four soldiers that were holding her friends. Aang broke free first and helped the others.
Yanmei turned her attention towards the remaining army, "either leave or die. it is your choice"
