The Crash

"The Crash" is the ninth chapter of The Shadow of Kyoshi.
== Overview ==
As Yun holds the guests of the palace's party hostage, Kyoshi tries to calm him down. Yun explains his plan for vengeance against those who have wronged him in the past, including Hei-Ran. Rangi and Kyoshi chase after Yun as he attacks the palace and destroys the Avatar side of the portrait gallery.
== Synopsis ==
Kyoshi considers she never thought what she will say to Yun upon finding him which, until now, would have been almost impossible. She tries to find the right words and talk to him, mindful that if she says something wrong she might push him away. Yun tells them he has a standing invitation from Zoryu to attend all Festivals of Szeto and the Fire Lord does not respond. The earthbender sarcastically asks if the invitation was rescinded because he was thought to be dead. Rangi calmly tells him to get down from the dais as she shifts more of her body between him and Zoryu. He salutes her as she says they should talk inside and he replies that he has other plans.
Yun tells a woman from the crowd of guests to greet his "friends" as she shudders and lifts the hem of her skirts, revealing her feet are sunk into the ground up to the ankles. The Avatar notices the guests wear long robes that hide their feet, but that there are inches of bunched-up cloth puddled around them as everyone stepped into quicksand earthbent by Yun. He mocks his hostages, explaining he threatened them once and told them they would regret moving or making any noises and that they were smart and disciplined as they complied. He compares them to Earth Kingdom citizens, saying they would angrily voice their outrage and that sometimes they can be very annoying. The earthbender makes a gesture of frustration as he sinks the woman into the ground up to her waist.
Kyoshi wonders how he can do something like this as she thinks holding people hostage is a difference between them and their enemies. Rangi calls her name, wanting her to take action and attack Yun. The Avatar takes out her fans as her former friend leaps over her head to the ground and runs into the crowd. She chases him, angry with herself for not having been faster, considering Wong would have disowned her from his daofei family if he had seen her. Kyoshi observes the people staring at her, some pleading for help, others being angry and blaming her for Yun's appearance and actions.
He says her name, and she spins around, swinging her fan to hit him. He dodges, using a nearby minister as cover, and she stops right before her strike hits. Yun looks at her in surprise, as it is the first time she tried to hurt him. Kyoshi thrusts her weapon at his chin, but he avoids it. Kyoshi recalls he received unarmed combat training and continues with a series of stabs at his head and body as he evades them, jokingly asking if this is how she thanks him for killing Jianzhu. He grins as he reminds her of the look on his former teacher's face as he died, telling her he would bottle it if he could. She considers he fulfilled her intent in Qinchao as she is unsettled seeing the satisfaction on his face. She feels like she is staring into a mirror and wonders if she had the same expression upon looking at Jianzhu's body. The Avatar notices a Fire Navy officer trying to help her as he prepares to launch fire at Yun, but she shakes her head, thinking it is too dangerous to do that, the best option being to talk her friend down.
She asks him why is he doing all this and what he wants. Yun calms down, enjoying thinking she is trying to meet his needs, as he replies he wants the same gift she has. She ponders whether he is talking about Avatarhood, which she could not give, or the house in Yokoya, which she would gladly let go of. He whispers he wants justice and that everyone who lied to him is going to suffer the consequences. Kyoshi responds that Jianzhu is already dead as he cuts her off, shaking his head and claiming he was "only the biggest name on a long list" and that her mistake was to stop at him, while his was he did not save him for last. Yun kneels and places his palm on the grass, feeling the guards surrounding the party and stating he expected faster reactions from the nation's best. He tells her it is time he paid respects to his old sifu as he dives into the ground. She throws herself after him, but the hole is blocked with loose and crumbly castings.
Seeing the earthbender leave, the nobles start screaming and trying to free themselves as she moves to the edge of the gathering and almost elbows a furious guest in the face while calling Rangi's name. The firebender hustles Zoryu into the arms of an arriving squad and waits for him to be safe inside the formation before she runs toward Kyoshi, inquiring as to where Yun went. The Avatar thinks that another person who told Yun many lies about his identity and would be one of his targets is his firebending master, Hei-Ran. She exclaims he is going to kill the former headmistress. Rangi nearly scorches some bystanders as she uses firebending to propel her quick steps toward the palace. Kyoshi follows her as they tear past the nobles and soon reach the entrance, noticing the exit of Yun's tunnel. They enter the hallway, scraping paint off the walls and leaving smoke trails on the floor. Rangi leads the way to Hei-Ran's room in a section of the guest wing near the portrait gallery.
She blasts the door open, nearly breaking its hinges. The force of the impact scatters a tea set across the floor and sends Jinpa's robes flying over his head, who they notice was about to serve Hei-Ran and Atuat tea in the Air Nomad style. The doctor indignantly asks what is wrong with them, stating they could have injured them. Rangi wants to know if they saw him, referring to Yun, and Atuat inquires who she is talking about as she answers that the earthbender is in the palace. The doctor does not know who Yun is, Jinpa is surprised by his presence in the Fire Nation, and Hei-Ran closes her eyes to wait. Kyoshi and Rangi turn to see the smoking doorway as they hear the clamor of bells bouncing through the palace, signaling an intrusion. As the seconds pass by, the Avatar thinks that if Yun did not know the way to the former headmistress's room, he will be able to find it easily by following the scorched, smashed path left by Rangi and her.
They wait for him and, after a while, they hear a prolonged screech from the portrait gallery. Kyoshi slowly goes there to check what happened and sees Yun holding Lu Beifong's limp body by the robes as he just killed him. He mockingly says that the Earth Sage has powerful lungs and he drops him to the floor. Kyoshi shudders at the sound of a head bouncing against a hard surface. The earthbender's face is distorted with anger as he asks her if she can believe she reached Hei-Ran first because he took a wrong turn. He states he has been to the palace before, many more times than her and that he at least got a consolation prize, kicking Lu's body. Yun explains that without the old man's support, Jianzhu would never have been able to declare him the Avatar and that it was partly his fault for what happened to their friendship, saying that killing him was good, but doing the same to Hei-Ran will be even better.
Kyoshi thinks this cannot be the same Yun she knows, but an inhuman spirit wrapped in his skin. She argues that the former headmistress is Rangi's mother and he replies that Rangi is their friend, that there are costs to making justice, but that he thought she knew this, especially after he murdered Jianzhu. She notices she is speaking with concern similar to that felt for the victim of something inevitable like a flood or an earthquake. Yun tells the Avatar she should take Rangi away so she does not have to witness her mother's death as he is planning on finishing his business in the Fire Nation before the end of the festival.
Suddenly, Dairin comes in the gallery with a contingent of guards, blocking the far exit as Kyoshi notices he is more concerned for the safety of the paintings than that of anyone nearby. A soldier is about to launch flames at Yun, but the chancellor stops her as fire could damage the portraits. The squad captain orders the earthbender to stand down, stating he has nowhere to go. Yun disagrees as his expression becomes his trademark public one while he raises his hands. He bends the earth-based pigments in the paintings of the Fire Avatars, turning the colors into clumps of reddish-brown that float into his hands. Dairin and the guards are horrified at the sight, the destruction of the portraits being an assault on something they value more than their lives, as Yun explains the pigment in the paint is made of rocks. The chancellor screams as Avatar Szeto's painting is the last one remaining, but it dissolves as well, adding to the roiling blob above the earthbender's head. He hurls it to the floor and it shatters into hardened pellets and sharp fragments. Kyoshi shields her eyes, but a chunk of paint hits her hard in the midsection and knocks her on her back, shattering a patch of links in her chainmail. She gasps as her mouth is coated with red dust and after her vision clears, she notices Yun is gone.
== Production notes ==
=== Series continuity ===
* Yun no longer has any qualms about holding innocent civilians hostage, a tactic he previously expresses outrage over in "The Boy From Makapu" when he learns the Earth King likely would not do anything to rescue the villagers Tagaka took captive.
* Kyoshi compares Yun's evasion of her blow by using a nearby person as cover to "the way a swordsman fighting a duel in a bamboo grove might use the plants as a check on his opponent's blade", the same strategy Sokka employs during his swordfight with Piandao in "Sokka's Master".
* Yun's destruction of the Fire Avatar portraits in the Royal Gallery remains permanent, as evidenced by their absence in "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" and "Nightmares and Daydreams".
=== Character revelations ===
* Yun received unarmed combat training.
* Yun can bend the pigment in paint.
== References ==
Category:A to Z
Category:Kyoshi novels chapters
Category:Real world
Category:The Shadow of Kyoshi chapters