Avatar:Voices of the Present

"You might want to cover your ears now. I've been told I can scream pretty loud."

— Yangchen to Kavik.

Template:Chapter infobox"Voices of the Present" is the second chapter of The Dawn of Yangchen.

Overview

Kavik witnesses Shang Teiin repress an angry mob through hired goons before breaking into the Blue Manse in order to get information for a broker. He is caught by Avatar Yangchen.

Synopsis

Kavik tries to cross the square in the international district of Bin-Er through a crowd. When he asks what is going on, a man tells him that they have finally pinned down Teiin, a powerful and corrupt shang merchant, by copying Gidu Shrine's schedule of private reservations, unaware Kavik had been paid as an errand runner by their pooled money. The man asks Kavik to stay with them to confront Teiin; however, with a different mission of his own, the waterbender excuses himself, claiming he has to place an order at the apothecary's, and slips into the crowd as soon as the man gets distracted when the merchant emerges from the shrine.

As Kavik fights his way through the mass, the people begin to shout at Teiin and demand him to pay what he owes them. The shang, prepared for it, instructs a group of hired toughs to fight the crowd, and Kavik manages to escape. He tells himself not to concerned about the violence, as capital offenses would invoke Earth Kingdom law, something not even the shangs desired. He walks through the city, passing by closing shipping offices, shops, and auction houses, noting how different just two blocks make, and how everyone else would simply avoid the crowd upon learning of it. Kavik arrives at the Blue Manse, a guest house at the edge of shang territory that requires the regular employ of waterbenders to reshape and refreeze the walls, and that he is meant to break into. Having heard of recent troubles in Ba Sing Se, Kavik is glad that his task is entirely within Bin-Er. Taking cover behind a vacant landscaping shed, he sprints toward one the manse's walls. Putting his parka aside so it stays dry, he steps inside, a coffin of ice forming around him, which he painstakingly waterbends and reshapes in order to form a solid floor underneath to elevate himself inches at a time until reaching the third floor. Kavik takes special care not to get wet with the freezing water as he bends it, which would accelerate the onset of hypothermia. When Kavik realizes there are soldiers in one of the outer hallways patrolling around the second floor, he quietly insults Qiu, an information broker, for not warning him about them. He continues climbing his way up, after having to wait for the patrol to move away, having to double his pace while freezing his body from the ice's runoff in the process, and rushes to avoid an approaching servant, until he gets to the third floor gasping for breath. Looking for some heat, Kavik bends the freezing water off himself and makes his way toward a large oil lamp across the room that was his objective, hoping not to get caught. After a moment, once he has the strength to raise his head, he looks around and finds out he is in the poshest quarters of the Blue Manse. He had been sent by Qiu to look for information and memorize anything in the room that would look important. He spots a desk with a pile of books, scrolls, and stacks of correspondence, and gets up to take a look at a large scroll, but the door opens and a girl about his age walks in with her eyes closed.

Yangchen, wearing several layers of orange and yellow robes, airbending her hair dry, allowing Kavik to notice a small cut along her forehead that stood out on the blue arrow tattooed onto her scalp. Kavik thinks she "nicked herself shaving" and recognizes her as an Air Nomad, which he finds strange to find in the Blue Manse. However, this makes him realize that the girl is the Avatar. Yangchen is surprised to see Kavik and stops drying her hair to kindly ask him not to take the scroll as she has not finished studying it. Shocked, Kavik hands the scroll back. She thanks him and says that he might want to cover his ears, as she has been told she can scream pretty loud.

Production notes

Series continuity

• Kavik finds the lack of animal furs, hides, and skins in Yangchen's otherwise opulent room unusual, considering their prevalence as a Bin-Er commodity. Aang, another Air Nomad, experienced discomfort during his first meeting with Bato over the presence of a Water Tribe pelt.

Character revelations

• Kavik is seventeen years old.