The Shadow of Kyoshi (Avatar, The Last Airbender)

Huazo would have known that, as an Earth Kingdom peasant, the odds of Kyoshi having a level of formal education similar to Rangi or Koulin were nil. Her petty dig hurt less than the way Rangi’s face shone for her friend. She couldn’t remember ever being greeted in such a manner.

Seeing she’d scored a hit, Huazo decided to leave on a high note. She made a show of covering her small-mouthed yawn. “Apologies, Avatar; I’m so exhausted from my journey. I should make for my lodgings. I’m sure I’ll see you and your companions during the festivities. Koulin! Come now.”

Rangi and Koulin reluctantly pulled themselves apart. Huazo got back in her palanquin. Kyoshi, with feet planted, watched the laborious, lengthy process of the Saowon contingent reorganizing itself. It turned its head like the slowest serpent in the world, without any spitting this time, and marched back to town.

Sanshur Keohso suddenly appeared by Kyoshi’s side, gazing at the retreating column with her, as if the task of seeing off the Saowon had required the two of them equally. “Fork-tongued fiends, they are. I’m glad the Avatar’s here to keep them in line.”

She glared at him. “It was your side I caught throwing rocks!”

“Huazo and her clan have been biting off chunks of the other islands like lion vultures!” he said, as if that was an excuse for the behavior of his kin. “I’ll be a cremated pile of ashes before I let her have Shuhon! Her and that by-blow son of hers!”

“We’re not rubes!” another man shouted from the fairground crowd. “We know about the dirty tricks Chaejin the Usurper is pulling in court!”

“We support the legitimate Fire Lord Zoryu, long may his flame burn,” Sanshur said. “Are you going to tell us we’re wrong for being loyal to the crown?”

“The Fire Lord doesn’t need you starting violence for him!”

“So we should let them insult us? Like what she did to your companion?”

Kyoshi had no answer for that. She looked to Rangi and Hei-Ran, but they said nothing. There must have been some kind of Fire Nation rule at work where they couldn’t in good conscience tell their own countrymen how to interpret their personal dishonor.

“Don’t worry!” Sanshur declared. “We’ve got your back against the Ma’inka worms! You can count on us!” The fairground workers rattled their tools, shouting praises of the Avatar and the Fire Lord while heaping scorn upon the Saowon.

Hei-Ran stepped closer to Kyoshi. “Let’s just leave,” she whispered. “Remember we have a mission here. If we get caught up in this nonsense, we’ll make it worse.”

“Are you sure? Sanshur’s men seem really riled up.”

“It’s not Sanshur’s men I’m worried about.”

Hei-Ran glanced at her daughter. Rangi stared out to sea, lost somewhere in the churning waves.

Leaving wasn’t easy. They had to wander the tents, looking for Atuat and Jinpa. They found them near the gambling tents offering the highest stakes. The monk appeared to have aged a decade, sweat and furrows marking his brow.

“I had a run of bad luck,” Atuat explained. “But Jinpa here got us back to breakeven.”

The remnants of shock lingered on his face, like he’d witnessed the desecration of a holy relic. “I’ve . . . never seen anyone play Pai Sho quite like the doctor. You’d almost have to be a genius at the game to do what she did.”

At this point Kyoshi was simply glad the two of them hadn’t drowned in the sea or gotten stuck in a hole. They headed back to town. As they walked, Hei-Ran gave Kyoshi another meaningful look. Rangi was storming off ahead of the group.

Kyoshi caught up with her but was at a loss for what to say. “It’s nice to know there’s at least one tolerable Saowon,” she ventured. “Koulin must remind you of the good old academy days.”

“Kyoshi,” Rangi said slowly. “I was miserable at the academy.”

“What?” She nearly stopped in her tracks. “Weren’t you the number one student in your class? Didn’t you graduate from officer’s school early?”

“Those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Rangi said. “I had motivation to get the scores I did. I couldn’t get out of that place fast enough.”

There must have been signs Kyoshi missed along the way. How else could she have misunderstood such an integral part of Rangi’s life so badly? “I’m sorry. I—I didn’t know.”

“It’s not your fault. I’ve only mentioned bits and pieces of those days, never the full story.” Her tone was carefully measured, composed with effort. “You do remember when I told you the other students used to spread rumors and gossip about my mother, right?”

“I do.” It had been a secret shared on an iceberg drifting in the ocean, the two of them lying under the same blanket together. Not circumstances easily forgotten.

Rangi jutted her chin in the direction of the town. Kyoshi knew she was pointing at Koulin, wherever Huazo’s niece was. “It’s a Saowon signature technique. Delivering insults with plausible deniability. There were some vicious little monsters at school, but her, she was the worst.”

“You couldn’t . . . call her out?” Kyoshi wasn’t sure at what age the Fire Nation allowed Agni Kais. And after what she’d personally been through on the lei tai, she had mixed feelings about the practice of duels in general. But she assumed the behavior Rangi was describing would have ended in some kind of challenge.

Rangi shook her head. “She was careful not to say anything to my face that warranted it. S