The big man was more incisive than he looked. Kyoshi knew what it was like, being on the receiving end of disdain.
Her answer was yes. As far as she was concerned, her personal honor and reputation had no value. Trading them for more power was an easy choice. She would do it. For Kelsang and Yun.
She could practically feel Rangi’s disappointment vibrating through the ground. “What are these oaths?” Kyoshi asked.
According to Kirima, the swearing-in ceremony was supposed to take place in a grand hall, with the initiate standing under an arch of swords and spears. They’d have to improvise. Kyoshi took a spot by the riverbank while Wong stood behind her and held a pocketknife over her head.
Kirima had Kyoshi make the same odd salute the gang had used the night before in the teahouse. The flattened left hand represented the square folk, the law-abiding community, while the right fist hammering it down represented followers of the outlaw code. Just in case Kyoshi forgot she was joining the forces of darkness.
Rangi stalked some ways off to the side, making sure to stay within their field of vision so everyone could see how angry and disapproving she was the whole time. Kirima ignored her while conducting the ceremony. According to the Waterbender, there were normally fifty-four oaths that had to be taken, recited from memory by the new member of the gang. She had decided to let Kyoshi off easy with just the most important three.
“O spirits,” Kirima exclaimed, “a lost one comes to us, seeking the embrace of family. But how will we know her heart is true? How will we know that she follows the Code?”
“I shall swear these oaths,” Kyoshi said in response. “I swear to defend my brothers and sisters, and obey the commands of my elders. Their kin will be my kin, their blood my blood. Should I fail to uphold this vow, may I be hacked to death by many knives.”
The words were easy to say. They caused no tugs of conflict on her spirit. Yun and Kelsang had been her lifeblood. She should have defended them with every scrap of her being. They might have lived, had she embraced her power more fully.
“Next,” Kyoshi said, “I swear to follow no ruler and be beholden to no law. Should I become the lackey of any crown or country, may I be ripped apart by thunderbolts.”
As a good citizen of the Earth Kingdom, this line made her a little more nervous. Yun had always said the Avatar had to act independently of the Four Nations. But to disregard law and order entirely felt like an extreme for the sake of extremes. Did her parents walk down the street trying to flaunt every statute and custom they could think of?
“Stop drifting,” Kirima hissed.
Kyoshi coughed and straightened up. “Last, I swear never to make an honest living from those who abide the law. I will take no legitimate wage, and work for no legitimate man. Should I ever accept coin for my labors, may I be sliced to bits by a variety of knives.”
She didn’t see the difference between the first and third punishments. And the last oath was perhaps the one most inimical to her being. Back in Yokoya, a steady job had been the only barrier between her and death.
I’m not that person anymore, Kyoshi reminded herself. That girl is gone and will never come back.
With her third vow, she was done. “I see no stranger before me, but a sister,” Kirima said. “The spirits have borne witness. Let our family prosper in the days to come.” She saluted Kyoshi and stepped back.
A heavy weight slammed down on Kyoshi’s collarbones, and she momentarily panicked, fearing an attack from behind. The sensation was too similar to the rock that Jianzhu had locked around her wrists. But it was just Wong giving her a congratulatory pat on the shoulders.
“Welcome to the other side,” he said, unsmiling. He brushed past her like they’d finished rearranging furniture and joined Kirima in trudging back to the campsite.
Kyoshi blinked. “That’s it? What happens now?”
“What happens is we leave this place on your bison,” Kirima said without looking back at her. “As soon as we can.”
They left her alone with Rangi. Instead of scolding Kyoshi, the Firebender simply gave her a shrug that said, You get what you pay for.
Kirima and Wong were already cleaning up the remnants of camp once they caught up. The big man took special care to cover their footprints, sweeping dust over the signs of their presence with little pivots of earthbending.
“The deal was for lessons,” Kyoshi said.
“And you’ll get them, once we pick up a score,” Kirima said. She checked the level of her water pouch and made a face. “Even little baby vengeance seekers need food and money to survive. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re out of both. I’m not eating elephant rat for two days in a row.”
Kyoshi pulled her lips over her teeth in frustration. They’d touted the seriousness of the oaths so much that she’d thought they’d start treating her like an equal after she took them. Instead they were treating her like Lek.
She had to establish a better position in the hierarchy or else this would go on forever. As Wong reached down to pick up a blanket, she stepped on it, pinning it to the ground.
He stood up and gave her a stare that had probably heralded countless brawls in the past. Kyoshi crossed her arms and met his gaze. He wasn’t more dangerous than Tagaka or Jianzhu.
After trying to deal death through the power of his mind alone, Wong broke the silence. “Keep being a brat, and I’ll never teach you how to use your fans,” he said.
Kyoshi was going to retort out of instinct, but the implication made her pause and step back. She pulled out one of her fans. “You . . . know how to use these?”
They’d been a puzzle so far. Rangi had taken a look at the weapons earlier, tested their balance, and concluded she couldn’t teach Kyoshi much about them, other than using them as short, heavy clubs in their folded state. “They’re not part of the Fire Academy curriculum,” she’d said with a shrug. “Maybe you can sneak them into places you couldn’t take a sword.”