The Face of Tradition

"The Face of Tradition" is the twenty-fourth chapter of The Rise of Kyoshi.
== Overview ==
The Flying Opera Company goes to Mok's camp near Governor Te's palace, where they discuss their plan of attack on the building. Later, as they prepare for battle, Wong puts the group's traditional makeup on Kyoshi's face.
== Synopsis ==
The Flying Opera Company picks its way down a rocky hillside offering a view of the palace as Rangi asks if they know the plan. As they approach Mok's encampment south of the palace, Kyoshi thinks Te Sihung is foolish in neglecting security as none of his guards notice at least five hundred daofei preparing to attack, and that Jianzhu would have ended this uprising. She shakes her head, dismissing any thoughts of the Earth Sage.
They pass by a large group of bare-chested men, deep in horse stance, chatting in unison. Their captain walks among them holding lit incense sticks and sweeps the smoking ends over their torsos, leaving trails of ash on their skin. Kyoshi sees that all of them have the characters for "impervious" inked on their foreheads, and she asks who they are. Kirima says they are members of the Kang Shen sect, a group of nonbenders who believe they can become immune to the elements through secret ceremonies of purification. Kyoshi exclaims that it is madness and that they will be killed if they try to fight earthbenders, seeing those men have neither armor nor shields and many of them are also weaponless. Lao Ge replies that it is amazing what the mind can be led to believe, and Lek says it is rumored that people join the Kang Shen sect after seeing a friend or a loved one be killed by a bender.
They find Mok in the center of the camp, sitting behind a wooden desk set up outdoors, with Wai next to him. Kyoshi notices Lek is in the most dangerous spot from Mok and regrets not standing between them. The daofei leader says he did not have the opportunity to bid the Company farewell in Hujiang and that they missed the excitement, staring pointedly at Rangi and Kyoshi and telling them about the shirshu that killed some of his best men. He asks if they have anything to say about that as Wai draws his knife. Lek replies that the two of them are not to blame for the attack. Wai prepares to slash him with his knife for speaking out of turn, but Kyoshi quickly catches the man's hand and pins it to the desk by the wrist, smashing his fingers with a closed fan and breaking them. Everyone is shocked and Kyoshi apologizes, explaining that she wanted to save their lives from a poisonous insect and that if Wai has anything against her actions, he can challenge her to a fight on the lei tai after they complete their mission.
Mok laughs, impressed by how much Kyoshi has progressed in learning how to behave like a daofei, claiming it is the result of his influence on people, and asks what plans the Flying Opera Company has developed. She tells him that they should be able to overpower the security and rescue their sworn brother, whom they believe to be held below the northeast courtyard. She also states that the plan will only work if they have enough time, since Te's guards could choose to defend the prison and their group would be defeated or, if they show up too soon, the hostage might be killed. Mok concludes that they will need a direct attack coordinated with the Flying Opera Company's clandestine efforts. He takes out two sticks of timing incense and cuts them to the same length with Wai's knife, before giving them to Rangi so she can light them. She hands him back one of them and he orders them to attack in one hour. The Flying Opera Company leaves the camp and, on the way to their position, Kyoshi takes one last look at the Kang Shen acolytes. Lao Ge tells her to remain steady, but that only reminds her that in an hour she will become the killer she is trying to be.
Kyoshi and Rangi are hustled by Lek, Kirima, and Wong back to their camp. Rangi asks them why they are in a hurry and Kirima replies it is their tradition to put on makeup before a job. Lek says he forgot they left in a hurry and does not have any makeup left. Kyoshi tells them she has some in her mother's trunk and Wong takes out the large kit, saying it is a disgrace for an opera troupe to perform barefaced and stupid for thieves not to conceal their identities. Kyoshi recalls the mention of makeup in her mother's journal, which she overlooked, and remembers the headdress. As Wong is about to start painting her face, she shudders at the thought of the oily paste on her skin and observes that the kit is filled only with deep crimson and eggshell-colored white pigments, as well as some black kohl. He says those are their colors as he paints her cheeks, explaining that white symbolizes treachery, a sinister nature, suspicion of others, and the willingness to harm them. Rangi snorts loudly and Wong continues to say that red symbolizes honor, loyalty, and heroism, the face they show their sworn brothers and sisters, the color being buried in a field of white, but always showing through their gaze.
He finishes painting her face by putting black eyeliner on her brow and promises she will feel braver, as he always does while wearing the makeup. Kirima puts Jesa's headdress on Kyoshi, and she rises to her full height, asking how she looks. Wong holds up a tiny mirror for her and Rangi angles the glow of the incense so she can see. Kyoshi thinks that her reflection looks like someone who could pass as an Avatar someday. Rangi says that, while she is not thrilled that she is wearing daofei colors, she looks beautiful, and then Lek adds that she looks terrifying. Kyoshi answers that it is perfect.
== Production notes ==
=== Series continuity ===
* In response to Kyoshi's shock that the Kang Shen believe that performing secret purification ceremonies will make them immune to the elements, Lao Ge comments on the wonder of "what the mind can be led to believe", echoing his remark from the previous chapter, "Questions and Meditations", that Kyoshi would soon discover that "the mind has specters of its own".
* Kyoshi allows Wong to put her mother's makeup on her face despite expressing an aversion to wearing the substance in "Honest Work".
** The colors and placement Wong chooses for Kyoshi's face and the headdress Kirima places on the Avatar's head become part of her signature look, as seen throughout Avatar: The Last Airbender.Throughout Avatar: The Last Airbender.
=== Character revelations ===
* Kyoshi dons her trademark makeup for the first time.
== References ==
Category:A to Z
Category:Kyoshi novels chapters
Category:Real world
Category:The Rise of Kyoshi chapters