Jujinta

Jujinta was an expert Fire Nation marksman who took on a self-imposed exile after killing his brother. After ending up in the shang city of Jonduri, Jujinta became entangled with Kavik, an informant working for Avatar Yangchen. Jujinta ended up joining Yangchen's team and played a pivotal role in putting a stop to the Unanimity project in Bin-Er, and ended up being considered one of Yangchen's companions.
== History ==
=== Early life ===
Jujinta was a "Yuyan", who grew up on an island where he and others underwent harsh training in order to learn how to use projectile weapons such as bows, arrows and knives with pinpoint accuracy. In a later conversation in which his past was brought up, he implied that he and his fellow trainees were forced to do morally reprehensible things to survive, and that those of them who failed to compete with the others were discarded.
At some point, Jujinta was involved in an incident in which he murdered his brother, and left his family to seek forgiveness from the spirits. He ended up in Jonduri, where he made a living by working as an errand runner in Zongdu Chaisee's large organization, but held no love for his employers or compatriots. Jujinta had also taken an oath not to use a bow and arrow. Avatar Yangchen later understood the meaning of Jujinta's customs and rituals through her past lives.
=== Unanimity project ===
In year 17 of the era of Yangchen, Jujinta was competing against another young man, Shigoro, in a knife-throwing contest, the winner of which would be selected for the association's next job. After confirming the prize with association manager Tael, Jujinta stabbed Shigoro in the shoulder of his throwing arm and announced that he was forfeiting the competition, before commenting that Shigoro would not be employable for a while. With little other choice, Tael selected Jujinta for the job. Tael then introduced him to Kavik, a runner who was secretly in the employ of Avatar Yangchen, and who sought to infiltrate the association while investigating the Unanimity project.
The rest of the association members refused to talk to Jujinta after they left to take Shigoro away for medical attention, and by extension, they refused to talk to Kavik. Jujinta performed his own personal rituals, before sitting next to Kavik on the bench. Jujinta acted quite coolly around Kavik, aware that the waterbender was trying to pry into him.
The pair were later tasked with disposing of the dead bodies of Qiu and Sidao, Tael explaining that they would keep the new recruits loyal through guilt by association, as the members of the organization would testify that Kavik and Jujinta played a part in their deaths if they came looking. Jujinta was unperturbed, asking what the two men did, and was told that they were merely spies. Jujinta and Kavik got in a boat with the corpses and rowed out to sea, with the marksman instructing Kavik to encase them in a block of sea ice and let the current take them away before it melted and any remains could be found. Jujinta prayed again as the icebergs drifted away, and Tael told them that they did good when they returned, telling them to report for more work next week. Jujinta stared at Kavik as he navigated his way out of the building.
Later, Kavik and Jujinta were assigned to Pang for a raid on a warehouse whose workers had gone on strike, their goal being to deal with everyone inside. In preparation for the job, Jujinta and Kavik drank tea together at a stall that faced the main warehouse row of Jonduri, with Jujinta informing Kavik about his past after the waterbender asked. After paying for the tea, they crossed the street and prepared for the mission. Once they joined up with Pang, they went over the count inside, expecting to face five people with the nine association members they had. After Pang kicked down the door, the group went inside, where they were confronted by a group of powerfully built workers that was five times larger than what they had been anticipating. With the workers having the upper hand, a confrontation broke out, and Jujinta ended up getting trapped by four men wielding long wooden planks. He managed to fend them off with one of his daggers, but was unable to attack any of his opponents without exposing himself to the others. In the end, Kavik - who had managed to avoid getting caught up in the worst of the fighting - made eye contact with Jujinta, distracting him and allowing one of the workers to strike him on the shoulders and knock him to the ground. His four opponents proceeded to lay into him with vicious kicks and stomps, before stopping when Kavik grabbed their attention and directed a powerful waterbending attack right at them.
Kavik brought an unconscious Jujinta to the top of a crate tower, splashing him with water to wake him up, as they were now trapped and outnumbered. The leader of the workers pointed out how they had the upper hand, to which Jujinta responded by using a throwing knife to pin down a worker next to him. Kavik told him to stop knifing people in the moment, and Pang bragged that a member of the association had managed to escape with the logbook of the warehouse's contents, depriving the workers of any leverage over Chaisee. Resigned to facing Chaisee's wrath, the crew leader used firebending to set the crate tower Jujinta and Kavik were trapped upon on fire, before asking the pair if they were really going to burn for Chaisee's sake. Knowing that he had to bend from the water reservoir tank, Kavik asked Jujinta for an opening on the tight seals. Jujinta managed to stick a point in the metal, and knowing he had to hammer it deeper, used his final throwing knife to make his second throw, driving the first blade deeper into the tank and allowing water to pour out of the hole, with Kavik widening the stream and creating an indoor wave.
After the fight was over, Jujinta waited by the exit, with the group expecting Kavik to catch the blame for much of the cargo being destroyed by water. After Pang was killed by Tael for talking openly about Chaisee when he was told that he would also take part of the blame, Jujinta stepped between the manager and Kavik when the waterbender was to be taken to the "boss-boss", ready to defend his partner. Tael told Jujinta to back down or he would be "disposed of" in the same manner as Pang, and Kavik told the marksman that he would be fine. However, Kavik later turned up unharmed at the association hall. They spent some time together in the mostly empty warehouse for a few days, with Kavik coming to a much better understanding of his partner's intense spiritual concerns. He told Kavik that there were crimes that could not be lived down, with certain acts not being able to be forgiven. He pondered that perhaps the right person could forgive, but stated that the person who could have forgiven him was gone. The day after they talked, Kavik departed Jonduri, though left behind the bison whistle in his possession, giving him instructions to use it when he meditated alone or made offerings to the spirits. Kavik would later think that he had manipulated Jujinta by taking advantage of his troubles in order to deliver a message to the Avatar without tipping off Chaisee's association.
While meditating in a meadow, Jujinta was blowing on the bison whistle with every exhalation. This alerted Yangchen's flying bison, Nujian, upon their return from Port Tuugaq. Yangchen and Jujinta were both greatly surprised to see one another. She decided to take him along with her to stop the Unanimity project in Bin-Er, for his own protection and the extra help. Before they left, Jujinta declared his undying loyalty to the Avatar. After arriving in Bin-Er, Jujinta came to the Water Tribe Quarter, and went to Ujurak and Tapeesa's house. When Kavik answered the door, Jujinta told him that he was right, and that the answer had come to him. He then instructed Kavik to come along, as everyone was waiting for him. They returned to Boma's inn together, and met up with Tayagum, Akuudan, and Yangchen.
After taking down Xiaoyun and Thapa, Yangchen's allies still had to stop Yingsu, the sole remember of the Unanimity project. Jujinta saw Yangchen panicking once Kavik was in the combustionbender's line of sight, telling her that it would be all right, and that the men who served her would return. Tayagum brought a bow to Jujinta, and Yangchen realized that he was violating his oath, which would be a taboo. Jujinta stated that his mission in Bin-Er was more important, and asked for the arrows. He said he could make the shot and target Yingsu, but that the problem was that there were too many places she could be in. Before anyone could react, the Avatar took off her cloak and sped toward Yingsu, her voice booming as she dared the combustionbender to challenge her. Yingsu sent a blast in her direction, and Yangchen sped forward to get out of the way. This gave an opening for Jujinta to make the shot, and his arrow landed just under Yingsu's collarbone. Yangchen apprehended the last member of Unanimity, healing her where Jujinta's arrow had struck. After the crisis was over, Yangchen supposed that she had gained a new companion in Jujinta.
=== Serving the Avatar ===
Unbeknownst to Jujinta, Kavik had betrayed Yangchen and her group in Jonduri in favor of his brother Kalyaan - the head of Chaisee's association - by distracting her with false information regarding Unanimity in order to allow Kalyaan to smuggle Thapa, Xiaoyun and Yingsu to Bin-Er. Owing to the fallout generated by Kavik's betrayal and the resulting events, Jujinta, Tayagum and Akuudan were relocated to a village near the Northern Air Temple by Yangchen, with the latter two setting up a teahouse there.
About six months after the conflict in Bin-Er, Jujinta, Tayagum and Akuudan were all gathered in the teahouse when Kavik unexpectedly entered. Jujinta attempted to kill his former partner almost immediately upon seeing him, and the two of them ended up struggling on the floor together before the former Yuyan was pulled away by Akuudan, who reasoned that Kavik must have been brought here by Yangchen, and that they should hold off on killing him until they got an explanation from the Avatar.
== Personality ==
Jujinta was an unusually quiet individual. After winning anything, he performed a post-victory ritual, starting with a deep, fervent prayer to some unknown spirit, often whispering to himself about condemnations of unforgivable crimes from his past. Jujinta was greatly changed by his experience of meeting an Avatar. Before, his eyes had been vacant and dull, as if part of him were trapped in another time and place. But after meeting up with Yangchen, he was fully present, and shone with inner purpose.
== Appearances ==
=== Chronicles of the Avatar ===
==== The Dawn of Yangchen ====
== Notes ==
== References ==
Category:A to Z
Category:Characters
Category:Fire Nation characters
Category:Major characters (Yangchen novels)
Category:Yangchen novels characters
Category:Yangchen's network