Avatar: Clan of the Face Stealer

"Koh, huh?" said Toph.

She had always known Koh must exist, deep down, but up until now the spirit had been little more than a "boogeyman" in children's stories. It was more than a little disconcerting to think he was involved in this mess.

Gen Li, too, was horrified. He had paled considerably. "But is that monster not trapped in... in the Spirit World?" he said.

Sokka groaned. Fighting spirits was not his expertise. He ran on logic and science. Spirits, however, tended to subvert those two categories. He spoke, "Bad enough it was a monster, but an evil spirit? Why can't they just stay where they're supposed to be?"

Kuruk

"He is...for now. There are many ways a Spirit can cross over into this world. And I suspect that the murders of these children play a part into one of those ways. Over the thousands of years, Koh has attempted to cross over here many times. It has been some time since he last tried, but I would not put it past him to try again." Kuruk replied.

"But, how would he be killing people from the Spirit World. Wait, there's that cult! But why would they be trying to free him?" Sokka asked, "Everyone knows the stories about him!"

"Not everybody is as smart as us," said Toph. "If there's a cult, there's a good chance they think they'll be doing the world a favor by helping out Koh. Or maybe they're just crazy. There's that too."

Katara shook her head, "Reguardless of whether they're crazy or not, we still have to stop them. We don't really know how powerful Koh is, and if he ever gets out...there's no telling what he could do."

Katara turned to Gen Li, "Who all went missing and where were they found?" Katara inquired quite sternly. She needed to get a good idea about where these attacks have been focused.

Gen Li shuffled through the various notes on his desk. It looked more absent-minded than anything else, and he did not even look at the papers as he spoke.

"The first victim was a boy. His name was Chang, and he was eight years old. He was taken from his bedroom sometime during the night. His parents did not realize he was missing until morning. We were called in a few hours later, when they could not find him themselves. A few of my men found his body in the woods just behind his house, although that area had been searched only the day before.

"A little girl named Rei was the second victim. She was eleven years old. She went to the market for her mother and did not return. She was not found until the next day; her body was in a drainage ditch in that same market."

The man paled as he continued to list off the children.

"Victim number three... Another girl. Little Song was only six years old. She was playing with her older brother. Hide and seek... She vanished. Like the others, her body was not found until the next day, and in an area that had already been thoroughly searched. This time, it was near a small pond.

"Our fourth victim is the oldest of the lost children. Pao Jen was fourteen. He attended an earthbending academy not far from here. He left early one morning and never arrived for his training. His peers and his master helped his parents search for him. His body was found in an abandoned barn that sits on the road he would have taken to reach the academy.

"The last victim... That is where I was today. It was another girl. She was ten. Mei. That was her name. She was taken from her home, same as young Chang, and her body was found near the family's house."

Toph felt rather sick after hearing the facts. Gen Li acted cool and collected, a professional officer of the Army, but she could hear the waver in his voice, feel the clenching of his heart; this whole mess bothered him more than he let on, and it somehow made everything that much worse.

"Here is a map. We have marked where the bodies were found, as well as their last known locations," said Gen Li, handing over another piece of parchment.

Sokka frowned, not liking to hear about so many kids just being killed and left somewhere to be found a day later. It was sick.

He turned to Toph, preparing for an argument, "Maybe you and Aang should stay here. Both of you are fourteen still and they could do... whatever it is they do to you two."

Toph snorted. "They can try, if they want. They'll find out I'm a bit harder to handle than a few unwary, unsuspecting kids."

Of course, she was technically still a kid, too, but she was not about to admit that.

"I was called in to help," she added. "And I'm going to help. So **** Koh and his little clan, or cult, or whatever these people are. I'm helping taking them down."

Sokka frowned. He knew that this was going to be Toph's reaction. She wasn't one to be coddled and protected. Still, he at least had to try.

"Okay, but... Don't go off alone. I'm not thrilled with either of you being ritually murdered just because they consider 14 'young enough' for... Whatever they're doing," Sokka told her, offering a compromise.

She sighed, shoulders drooping ever so slightly. "I'll be careful, I promise," she said. "Both of us will."

Toph knew Sokka was protective of those he cared for, so of course he acted this way. She understood him, and although stubborn and unwilling to back down, she would never jeer him for it.

"Good," Sokka told her, giving her a nod. This was as much he could get from her. It had been a long time since he lived under that maxim, "women can't fight." Being friends with Toph, having a sister like Katara, and having dated Suki would do that for you.

Toph nodded too. "We should probably think out our next move," she said.

"I'll leave you to that, then," said the captain. "I have some work to do. You may use this office. If you need anything, just ask any of the soldiers here. They will help."

He bowed and left the group.

"Well then, I think it's safe to say that none of us should be alone then." looking over to Toph and Aang, "Right, so I suppose it would do well to set up our groups now. Toph, I'd like you to stay with me for the time being. Aang, stay with Sokka. Any questions?" Before anyone could say anything, "Good, now lets see that map,"

She grabbed the map as one of the guards handed it to her and the spread it across the parchment covered table. Hopefully, no one would ask why she didn't want to go with Aang, spirits know Aang wouldn't broach that topic...

"Ok, so all of the murders seem to be concentrated in the Tang Province..." looking around the map, there seemed to be an almost circular pattern, "Hey, guys? Take a look at this." Taking Toph's hand, her heart nearly skipping a beat at the gentle contact, she helped trace out the province, "That's the Tang Province," then pointed out the points where the the bodies were found, "And the missing children turned up in these areas."

Toph's brow furrowed as she concentrated. Katara helped her trace out the information, but she still had to make sense of it herself. "It's like a circle..." she said, at last. "Where the attacks have been." To Katara, she said, "You're thinking there's a pattern?"

"Exactly. If there is a pattern, we may be able to catch them in the act." Still holding Toph's hand, she looked to the others, "So all we need to do is figure out where the next place is going to be in this pattern, and intervene."

"Well, then, where was Mei found?" said Toph. That had been the last victim's name, right? "Find the towns closest to her murder. Those would be the best places the start."

Katara traced Toph's hand back to the last marker, "The last murder was here. Splitting up into two groups, you and I can go here," tracing her hand to a nearby town that followed the pattern, "While Aang and Sokka can search here," and traced her hand to the middle of the circle pattern.

"Ideally, there must be a reason for the circular pattern, and if the center is anything significant, they may find something." Toph had caught on quick to her plan of action.

"Okay. We'd definitely cover more ground that way."

And in this situation, where the entire province was afraid and five children had already been murdered, that could make all the difference. They did not have time to lolly-gag, after all.

A thought came to her.

"We should probably have somebody check out that area where Sokka found his mask." She set the mask on the table. "The soldiers arrested him because they thought he was one of these cult people, because of the mask. The symbol on it, I guess?" She touched the symbol on the forehead: it was the same as the one on the parchment Gen Li had given them. "Some freak that is with the cult must've dropped it."

"Well, we could ask some of the soldiers go back and investigate the area. Or we could have Sokka go with the soldiers to search while Aang goes with another group of soldiers to check out the center." Katara thought for a moment, "The children seemed to have disappeared when they were alone, so this way, neither of them will be alone...but I still don't feel comfortable with it."

Katara was conflicted; Aang and Sokka together could surely handle themselves, but both with a group of soldiers they barely knew? And what if these attacker were bold enough to attack and something happened? "Hm, perhaps we should go ahead and have the soldiers search the area where the mask was found."

"I'm sure they won't mind. They're pretty frantic to find something to stop the killers," said Toph. "They might've called us in, but they'll still want to do what they can to help. And this way, we all stay together. More or less, I mean."

Taking a sharp breath, Katara looked over at Sokka and Aang, "Well? It sounds pretty solid to me, and Toph seems to be in agreement...any thoughts?" she asked nervously, holding Toph's hand a little tighter.

"Yeah... Shouldn't you tell me why you're avoiding Aang?" Sokka asked her, crossing his arms with a frown.

Toph was wondering that, too. She had thought Katara and Aang would leap at the chance to be partners. She was becoming more and more suspicious and confused by the moment. Still, was this really the time to be asking questions?

Then again, if it had to do with teamwork, she supposed it would be best to clear the air and make sure things were good to go.

Dang it. She really was hoping that this wouldn't come up, and at the most, she was hoping that, when it did, it would be one person at a time, instead of the whole group. Maybe she could stall this or find a way around it.

Her heart rate increased as she spoke, "Sokka, I'm not avoiding anyone. I just think that you and Aang would work together. Aang has the mastery of all the elements and you have your swordsmanship as well as tactical mind. You two would make a great team." If she was lucky, no one would ask any more questions, but her luck didn't seem to be faring too well. If they pressed this...she'd have to tell them.