The History of Renko: Book 2 Voyager (Avatar, BoyxBoy)

Chapter 13: What is to be Revealed

Ahmad lay in his underwear on the bed looking up at the garishly purple ceiling. He had just gotten out the shower and it was far too hot to go back outside. Laying down, he was able to think about some things. It was lucky that he was stationed at the Western Air Temple when the Avatar arrived and lucky that Baoshi allowed him to go with the Avatar on this mission. Speaking of which, Renko had been gone awhile. It was now late afternoon and he hadn't heard from him since they separated. Also, they hadn't heard anything from the chief of police. It was all very strange. At least he was able to get Lhasa out of the pool. The sky bison took up the entire pool and he had to tempt her with honey to get her out. He also got a ticket from the local police for the whole ordeal.

As he put his pants on, he heard a knock on the door. Finally, he thought, someone was coming to talk to them about their mission. But, when he placed his hand on the doorknob, his hair stood on end. Immediately he jumped back as the door exploded open in a shower of splinters. Time slowed as he jumped and leaped into the air to avoid spinning projectiles tingling with electricity. As he landed he saw his assailants. Two people in black masks stood menacingly. The shorter of the two whipped water out of seemingly nowhere and struck the ground where Ahmad was. He leaped out of the way but it splashed the ground with a force strong enough to split the floor. Ahmad pushed out with all of his might and blew the attackers back out into the hall. He spun and swept the floor and air bended their legs out from under them.

The two attackers tried to stand but were blown down the hall by another blast of wind. Ahmad poked his head through the door and saw Pāru and Tiulo running down to meet him.

"What is happening?" she shouted.

"These guys just showed up and attacked me," Ahmad replied.

"It's the Dark Hand," Tiulo said. He pulled water from a pouch around his shoulder and molded it around his arm like a whip.

"Hey, guys!" Renko rounded the corner to find Pāru and Tiulo ready to fight, Ahmad half naked, and two complete strangers apparently unconscious down the hall. "What, happened?"

"These guys just attacked me out of nowhere," Ahmad repeated. "I think they were aiming for you."

"Sounds about right," Renko replied. "Listen, I just found out that the Chief of Police has been gone for weeks. Also, there is no ivory smuggling done here. We were lied to."

"No," Pāru said in disbelief. "I can't believe my mom would lie to us."

"I don't think she's the one who lied," Renko said. "I think she was lied to."

The two assailants tried to stand. They leaned on each other to get their footing. Ahmad pushed his hand out and knocked them back down with a blast of air. They rolled over and sprinted down the hall and around a corner.

"We need to..." Renko started to say but he fell to his knee. His vision faded and memories flashed through his mind.

"Renko!" Ahmad knelt down to check on him.

"Go..." Renko struggled to say.

"I'll watch him," Ahmad said. "You guys go and catch them."

Pāru and Tiulo nodded and ran off. Meanwhile, Renko continued to have memories flash through his mind, only, he knew they weren't his.

"Renko, what's wrong?"

"I think," Renko said. "Maybe Korra is trying to tell me something."

"Avatar Korra?"

"Yes. But, I can't seem to concentrate on anything."

"Maybe I can help," Ahmad said. He gulped. He spun his hands and collected a ball of air in the palm of his hand. It grew into a ball the size of Renko's head. Ahmad placed it over Renko's head like a helmet and gently held his face in his hands. He tilted his forehead so that it was touching Renko's.