Trapped (8)

            Lin looked back at the large airships gaining speed on her and the family that she was working hard to protect, "They're gaining on us!"
            Tenzin cracked the rains of his air bison, "Faster, Oogi!"  The bison already going faster than he ever did before doubled up his speed.
            Lin heard a popping sound come out of one of the sips.  She turned around and saw a large net go for the family.  She metalbent her cable at the net, shredding it to pieces.  She knew that it would not be enough.  She wrapped one of her cables around the ropes.  She stood on the back of the large Air Bison and looked back at the family that she just a short time ago had felt such destine for and now she love as if they were her own flesh and blood.  "Whatever happens to me, don't turn back!"
            Tenzin looked back at Lin, realization of what she was going to do hit him like a ton of bricks, "Lin what are you doing?!"  He watched in horror as she launched herself off of Oogi and landed on one of the airships.
            The family watched her take off a large chuck of the airship's metal skin.  They heard a large bang as it fell into the harbor below.  They saw her safely land on the second airship and start to take another chunk out of that one to but she was electrocuted, rendering her unconscious.  The family watched the airship turn around and head back to Air Temple Island.  The family was in shock.
            Meelo broke the silence saying what everyone was thinking, "That lady is my hero."
            Tenzin felt his heart sink.  "Yes, she is."  He was worried.  Having Lin would have made this trip easier.
            Tenzin heard his wife's voice from behind him, she sounded calm but he could still hear the fear in it, "Tenzin where are we going to hide?"
            "Lin and I had talked about a possible takeover.  We put some previsions with a family member of hers at the academy."  Tenzin bit his lower lip.  Pema did not know about Airin.  He was holding onto everything for the family.  "Jinora, sweetheart, can you drive Oogi for a moment?  I need to talk to your mother."  Jinora nodded and moved to the head of the bison.
            Tenzin airbent himself to the saddle and pulled his wife aside.  She held onto their new born son, Rohen, close to her body.  He held her in his arms.  He had to tell her something that he had never intended to. "Pema, my love, I have something that I need to tell you."
            Pema could see that her husband was troubled.  She could see that he was worried about her reaction to something.  "You can tell me anything.  What could be worse than losing everything?"
            Tenzin felt his heart sink.  He had known about his son for eight years and never so much as mentioned him to anyone other than the few acolytes that he trusted.  "We er- I mean I have," he felt himself tripping over the words.  He found that if he said it fast it might come out easier. "Lin and I have a son."
            Pema stared at Tenzin.  This was too much.  "What?!  You have a what with Lin?!"  She felt her face turn red.  As quickly as the anger came she could feel it ebb; she could not control what her husband had done in the past.
            Tenzin was startled by the lack of his wife's ager or shock. "Pema?"
            "Tenzin, we are going to talk about this later.  We have a family to protect and we don't' need one-"
            "We are flying to him.  We are going right to him."
            Pema looked over at Tenzin, "We will work on this later.  I can't do this right now.  I want to hold my children, go steer."
            Tenzin moved back to Oogi's head, telling Jinora to move back to the saddle with her siblings.  Hours passed in quiet, each family member rapped within their own thoughts.  Pema wondered how she was going to tell the children about their older brother.  She had always thought of her children being the only ones that Tenzin had.
            Tenzin looked across the horizon and saw the Bei Fong Mettlebending Academy.  He watched a young man gliding over the tallest tower.  He hoped that Airin would have is wits about him and not land on Oogi.  He was proven wrong in seconds.
            Airin landed on the saddle of Oogi.  "Tenzin why are you—"
            "You're an Air Bender! Did Grandpa Aang find your family?  Did he hide you from everyone?  Why do you look like Daddy?  Why are you wearing earth kingdom cloths?"  Ikki bombarded the young man with the questions so fast he did not know how to answer.
            Airin looked at the inquiring child.  Tenzin had never ever brought any of the family with him when he came to visit him.  "Umm no.  I'm Tenzin's son Airin."
            "Daddy?"  Jinora looked at her father. She had some pride in being his oldest child.  She had felt special to be the first airbender to be born after her father.
            "Airin!"  Tenzin felt his face tern red.  He quickly landed Oogi in the clearing of the academy.
            "Master Tenzin, we did not expect to see you here for another…" the acolyte's voice trialed off seeing that Tenzin had the entire family with him, "What happened?"
            "Where's my mother?" Airin looked at Tenzin.  Lin said that if the family was ever to come she would be with them.
            "Your mother is the only reason that we made it here alive.  She was taken away by one of the airships."  Tenzin looked at his son.  Airin had a look of fear on his face.  "I don't' know what happened to her, but we owe her our lives."
            "Your mother is my hero?"  Meelo looked up at the tall young man in awe.
            Airin looked at the little boy.  "My mother is Lin Bei Fong.  I'm Airin Bei Fong and you must be my little brother Meelo."
           Airin saw Tenzin talking to the acolyte.  He could hear Tenzin say "He's ready?" the acolyte nodded.  "Airin, Ajuda tells me that you are ready for your test."
            Airin shrugged.  He was a good bender and knows all the forms but he did know if he wanted to test yet.  " You're here.  We can do it if you want."
            "You're going to do be the first airbender seance Daddy to become a master!"  Jinora's eyes grew wide.  She felt herself be sad at the same time.  She had to get use to the idea that she was not the oldest any more.
            Airin smiled at Jinora.  She was a pretty little girl and seamed to be a sweet and quiet.  "I know I will be."
            Pema looked at the young man.  She saw how much he looked like Aang.  He was within an inch of Tenzin's height, black hair and gray green eyes.  "So, Airin, how old are you?"
            Airin seemingly ignored the question and started to walk to the main building.  "Come on guys I will show you around.  And I'm eighteen."  Airnin walked into the main hall.  "The academy is temperately closed.  Mom said that they needed every available mettle bender.  So no one's here."
            "You live here all on your own?" Pema looked around the great hall and saw long mettle tables and chairs were the students would have normally eaten.
            "For now,"  Airin tried not to sound hostile to Pema but she was the reason that his mother and father were not togeather.
            Airin lead the family around to the dormitories.  "The children can sleep in this room," Airin opened a door and reviled a small room with bunk beds and a table.  It was cozy enough.  "You and Tenzin will sleep here," Airin led Pema and Tenzin to a larger room with a dubble bed and crib in it.  "Mom didn't know if you were going to have the baby or not so we decided that you would need a crib either way."  Airin walked past her and looked at his father as he passed.
            Tenzin helped his wife get settled into the room.  She looked exhausted.  He took Rohen and placed him in the crib and laid down next to his wife.  The days events had drained him.  He had lost everthing, or so he felt.
            The next morning, Airin woke up to find Pema in the kitchen making breakfast.  She turned around when she heard someone enter the kitchen.  She smiled saying, "Good morning, Airin how did you sleep?"
            Airin sneered at Pema.  "Fine."
            Pema heard the distaste in his voice.  "Airin, I'm-"
            "Save your breath.  I don't want to hear it and I don't care.  You're my father's wife end of story"  Airin looked at Pema.  She had a look of shock on her face.  "What?  You don't think my mother didn't tell me what happened the night that Aang died?  Well she did.  I know how you took my father and what happened.  I have no love for you.  I care about my siblings.  They are Tenzin's children and my fellow benders.  But you are just a woman married to my father."
            Airin looked at Pema and saw that she had tears in her eyes.  He found that he cared less now then he did before.  He grabbed a mango and walked out to the clearing were he would be taking his bending test in just an hour.  He walked past the statue of his grandmother.  He put his hand on it.  "You always had the answers Grandma."  Toph had died when he was thirteen and he missed her more than he could say.
            He looked out over the orchard.  The cranapples were ready for picking.  Airin heard foot steps come up behind him.  A low voice spoke:  "Are you almost ready?"
            "Yes, Tenzin."
            "Are you going to get your tattoos?"  Tenzin looked over at his eldest child.  They had many arguments about this before.  Airin saw himself as a citizen of the Earthkingdom.
            "No.  I'm-"
            "A citizan of the-"
            "Earthkingdom.  I know I would just hope that you would fallow in my foot steps and teach others the way of our people"
            "My people are earthbenders.  I was just born an airbender," Airin said.  The first time that he and his father had spent any time alone was when he was ten.  The conversation had been forced and uncomfortable.
            Tenzin sighed, "After you finish your test I want to tell you something.  My father told me it the day that I passed my examination and I think that it will be good for you to hear."
            Airin looked at his father confused.  Tenzin walked away to the examination aria.  There were three stages to the exam.  First: agility, second: speed, and third: defense  Airbending had different components so therefore had different parts to the test.
            Airin walked into the center of the testing aria and saw his four siblings and Pema on the side line waiting eagerly.  "You will start with Agility.  An airbender has to be able to move form one formation to another without a second thought."
            Airin started his test with a simple wind tunnel and lifted himself high into the air.  He passed his first ten form effortlessly.  He showed that he had the agility and movement of a true master.  The second part of the exam was speed.  He created a wind wheel and moved quickly in between wooden poles set in intervals in the clearing.
            Tenzin had a large smile across his face as he looked at his son doing the different formations of airbending.  "Now, the last and most intense part of airbending, defense.  Air is speedy and graceful but is also an effective weapon when used properly."  He looked over at his younger children.  Jinora had only just started to learn some of the more advance weaponized variations of air.  Airin knew them all.
            He started by terning air into bullets and launched them into a tree.  Loud pops sounded as each on hit and made a mark into the tree's thick bark.  Next was a wind gust that would knock over any enemy.  The same tree that he had been shooting at he knocked over with such ferocity that Rohen started to cry.  Airin stood panting sweat falling fast down his brow.  He had done all of the form countless times before but never all at once and never with all his might as he had done at that moment.
            When Airin had finished he looked over at his father and smiled.  He could tell by the look on Tenzin's face that he had passed with flying colors.
            "You did it!"  Ikki jumped onto Airin hugging him making him fall over.  He was so exhausted.  "I have never seen anyone but Daddy bend like that!"
            "Well done," Tenzin smiled and offered Airin a hand up from the ground.  "Ikki, can you give me a moment alone with Airin?"  Ikki nodded and ran over to Pema.
            The two men walked way from the clearing.  Airin looked over the mountains thinking about what he had just accomplished.  He could call himself a bending master.
            "So, what did you want to tell me?"
            "Why Air Benders get tattoos."  Tenzin looked over at his son beaming.  He could not help himself.  He was so proud.  "The legend goes that the first Air Bender was also the first Avatar.  He had learned Water Bending, Earth Bending, and Fire Bending.  One day, he was meditating and found himself watching the Air Bison fly high above the skies and longed to join them.  He already had a spiritual connection to the animals, so using the connection he talked to them.  They agreed to teach him how to bend the air to his will.  In honor of their gift he tattooed himself with their markings to show is gratitude.  When his son was born and become a master he tattooed him as well.  The tattoos remind us how Bending came to be.  What and who we are."
            Airin looked at his father.  He had never really known why Air Benders got their tattoos, but hearing the story made him understand why they were so important.  He was an Air Bender, like the first Avatar, but not born into the nation but was apart of it.  He felt a smile go across his face and hugged his father.
            Tenzin was taken aback by this.  Airin had always been short of hostile to him until this moment.  "I want them, Father."
            Tenzin had to fight back tears.  He held his son out at arms length.  "Do you really mean that?"  Airin smiled and nodded.
            Before another word could be said they heard a loud nose in the distance.  Airin and Tenzin both had their gliders with them and took flight.  They saw a large airship in the distance.  Airin had not seen the marking of the Equalist in person before.  He looked over and Tenzin and saw fear in the middle aged man's face.  They had barely escaped the first time; how could they do it a second?
            The ship was moving at full speed to the academy.  Tenzin and Airin know that they could not take it out in the air.  It was to close to the academy and would put their family at risk.
            Airin landed on the ground first and looked over at his brothers and sisters.  "Pema hide!  Take everyone to the great hall there is a hidden room under one of-"
            Ping!  Ping!  Ping!  Cables latched onto the ground and building of the academy.  Several Chi Blockers zip-corded down and surrounded the tiny family.  Airin looked behind himself and saw his, his, family looking frightened.  He looked back at the chi blockers and made a large gust pushing them all over onto their backs.  He saw his father battling six at once.  Concentration etching the lines of his face.
            Airin looked up and saw a masked figure being elevated down.  He recognized him as Amon.  He wanted to take him down but he could not leave Pema and the baby unprotected.
            "So it seams that their is another Air Bender after all,"  The cool even voice of the man sent chills down Airin's spine.  He had never heard someone with such calm in the face of chaos and disrepair.
            "What does it matter to you?!  I'm not afraid of you, or your Chi Blockers!"  Airin could feel his voice quiver.  It was a down right lie.  His mother had told him about the problems in the city and what Amon had to do with it.
            "You might not be so brave if I kill your family, boy."  Amon said this evenly.  The fighting stopped.  This was news to everyone.  Even his Chi Blockers.
            "N-no."  Airin whispered this.
            "Yes.  I will start with the youngest one shall I?"  Amon started to Pema and Rohen.  Tenzin quickly took action firing airbults at Amon.  Amon dodged them with ease and the chi blockers moved in and halted Tenzin mid formation.
            "I will make you a deal!"  Airin did not know what he was saying but he would say anything to keep him from Rohen.
            "And what deal is that, boy?"  Amon's cold eyes looked into Airin's.
            "You- don-don't kill them.  You can take my bending instead."
            "Airin!  What?!"  Pema's voice quivered as she looked at the back of the young man.
            "Done."  Airin knelt down and closed his eyes.  He knew what was going to come next.  He felt a cold hand on his forehead and pain coarse though his body.  I was more intense than anything than he had ever felt in his entire life.
            He blacked out.  When he arose the airship was gone and so was his family.  He felt hot tears fall down his face.  He hoped that Amon would keep up his end of the bargain.