Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or "Dishonored." They are owned by Nickelodeon and Bethesda Softworks respectively. Parts of this work may also draw influence from Genndy Tartakovsky's "Samurai Jack" and Fox's upcoming Wolverine film, "Logan."

Notes: If there is sufficient interest in this fic, I will continue on; I have tentatively planned a 3-book arc - Exile, Empress Ascendant, and Emily the Wise. As always, reviews, favorites, and follows are greatly appreciated!

Deep in the ocean, dead and cast away
Where innocence is burned, in flames
A million miles from home, I'm walking ahead
I'm frozen to the bones, I am

A tall, black-haired form in a dark-blue pantsuit trudged onwards, unbowed and unrelenting even as the harsh desert sun pounded down upon her.

Ultimately, both a decade of reforms back home and a year's worth of effort in this foreign land against the "Fire Nation" had amounted to nothing. With respect to the latter, she had been swept aside by a single decree, all of the hard-earned respect and aid that she'd garnered scattered in the wind like ashes; regarding the former, mere moments had seen her father turned to stone and herself cast to this accursed land.

A soldier on my own, I don't know the way
I'm riding up the heights, of shame
I'm waiting for the call, the hand on the chest
I'm ready for the fight, and fate

Every night, the whispers grew louder, and she dreamed of strange, fantastic, and terrifying things. Sometimes, she saw herself back in court but with jackals in place of the usual courtiers; ironically, a sense of powerlessness permeated the atmosphere as she knew that she could not slay these creatures without losing something precious in the process. Sometimes, she saw a pyramid of skulls gathered in front of her throne, jackals or otherwise; a sense of vicious satisfaction pervaded this setting, but she had the uneasy intuition that she had become one of the jackals or worse in the process. Sometimes, she saw herself sitting with Corvo right by her side - not on her throne, but on the floor with her subjects themselves; her subjects gazed at her with respect and reverence; to her immense satisfication, in these dreams, the courtiers were relegated to cages in the shadows of the throne room, where they so rightfully belonged.

For the time being though, these were just dreams. Pandyssia (see CODEX: PANDYSSIAN CONTINENT) interposed itself betwixt herself and home, and much as in Dunwall, precious few here had ventured past the mists at the outskirts of the Fire Nation's waters and returned to tell the tale. None of them were still alive today.

Those happy few, though, wrote tales of gleaming towers extending miles and miles into the sky, of giant metal birds taking off into the sky, of mushroom-clouds accompanying the utter obliteration of entire cities in mere seconds. Still others wrote of grotesque, twisty castles resting upon hovering rocks and one-eyed creatures popping out periodically through the castles' windows to glare at the intruders and throw grenades at them.

None of the survivors had ever managed to reach the shores of the continent though, for giant squids, octopi, and numerous other monsters had shoved their tentacles through even the hardiest metal hulls and had practically heaved the ships back out through the mist. Those that persisted in returning were never seen again.

Yeah, tales of Pandyssia were far more fanciful here than they were back home. And no matter what, she was not going to let that blasted continent stop her from getting back home, even if she had to turn into Granny Rags to do so.

The sound of iron shots is stuck in my head
The thunder of the drums, dictates
The rhythm of the falls, the number of deaths
The rising of the horns, ahead

From the dawn of time to the end of days
I will have to run, away
I want to feel the pain and the bitter taste
Of the blood on my lips, again

Like a rat sticking its neck out of the hole whenever the cat was away, the Outsider (see CODEX: THE OUTSIDER) showed up every once in a while whenever she was alone. No matter what state or setting he found her in, he always stared at her impassively and spoke to her in his strange bass tones with little judgement. She couldn't help but feel amused at the thought that for all that he disdained Sokolov, he should at least recognize the vein of the true scientist that ran in both of them. For the Outsider only seemed to care about understanding the rationale behind her current actions; insofar as he cared about the consequences, he only wanted more interesting events to study in the future.

In a weird and slightly worrying way, she could empathize with the Outsider's boredom. It was the same boredom that had her sneaking out at night and flit past the guards via the rooftops. It was the same boredom that she had to mask whenever this courtier or that sniveled about how he could no longer afford golden cutlery, an army of servants, or other extravagances. She supposed that it did not make her a very good Empress, or for that matter, a good human being, but it was what it was.

Had her father not been literally petrified and her kingdom imperiled, she would have actually been thrilled by this sojourn. No expectations, no responsibilities, and many, many opportunities to test and hone her mettle against solid enemies in a new land - she was truly FREE from her gilded cage for the first time in a long, long while.

Or was that really true? Could anyone ever be free from their own story? Was her current predicament not fate's rebuke in its own way?

This deadly burst of snow is burning my hands
I'm frozen to the bones, I am
A million miles from home, I'm walking away
I can't re-mind your eyes, your face

- "Iron" by Woodkid

She flexed her hand to smooth out the tremors. The burning ball of nothingness in the center of chest begged to be released, and she obliged. Squinting against the glare of the sun and forcefully extending her arm outwards, with her hand pointed at the distance, she focused on moving...

Energy rushed from her chest and into her arm; she amplified the flow by throwing in her own desperation to get out of this damned desert as fast as possible, to survive, and TO GET BACK HOME. Initially, she felt the energy coalesce into a single, thick tendril (see CODEX: FAR REACH); she began flexing her fingers furiously, and the tendril quickly dissolved into the air, forming a blue glow around her hand. All of this had occurred at the speed of thought.

Former Empress of the Isles, Emily Kaldwin, disappeared in burst of light and re-appeared a few miles away, that much closer to the edges of the desert. (See CODEX: BLINK)

"WHERE IS APPA?" the Legion boomed down at the terrified Sandbending tribesmen.

"I don't know anything about your bison, I swear!" Ghashiun, the bison's kidnapper, stammered in terror.

"LIAR!" the Legion choked out through gritted teeth; it swept a hand out almost casually, and a gust of air of violently threw many of the Sandbenders out of the camp and sliced their wooden sand-trawlers in half.

"Son, what in Koh's name did you do?" the father bellowed at his cringing son; they were the only two who still remained within the confines of the Sandbender camp.

"Ok, ok, please don't hurt us! We sold him to a group of beetle-headed merchants. I don't know what happened to it after that!"

"HIS NAME IS APPA!" the Legion screamed out.

"Yes, yes, I don't know what happened to Appa," Ghashiun hurriedly placated the enraged Avatar. "You have to understand, I wouldn't have kidnapped him if I had known he was yours, I swear! We just needed the rations so badly, especially since we've been cut off from the city for so long. Please..."

"Avatar Aang, please forgive my son's impetuousness. We will lend you whatever aid you require in your quest to recover Appa. Please...please just let him go."

The Legion was unmoved by the father's request though; its eyebrows remained scrunched in fury and its teeth clenched as though it was undergoing a painful surgery. "YOU DARE ASK ME FOR MERCY AFTER TAKING APPA?"

Till that moment, the ball of air ensconcing the Legion had merely been a defensive measure, but now it began emanating bursts of fire-laden air outwards at the cowering Sandbenders. Several cried out in pain as they were singed by the super-heated air and thrown even further away into the desert.

On the fifth such burst, Ghashiun's father and the tribe's leader finally joined his compatriots, leaving the teary Ghashiun alone with the Legion. "Please have mercy!"

"YOU DON'T DESERVE IT." The Legion could feel the rightness of that statement fill its veins, adding to the wildfire burning within its chest. This...scum dared ask for its mercy after kidnapping Appa, his last true companion? How dare he!

It swept its right hand hand upward, and a wave of sand shot upward; simultaneously, it gestured downward with the left hand, and Ghashiun instantly sank into the desert until only his head remained free.

Making circular motions with the left hand, the Legion watched dispassionately as Ghashiun's mouth was forced wide open, and air was literally ripped out of his lungs. With a downward sweep of its right hand, the hovering wave of sand shot down needle-like towards the asphyxiating man's wide-open mouth.

"No!" Ghashiun's father yelled from the distance, staring helplessly as his son's death approached. Life in the desert was harsh, especially as Ba Sing Se continued to cut off access to trade and supplies; at the end of the day, the one light in many a Sandbender's life was their Tribe. Ghashiun was not only a son but the future leader of the Tribe, whatever his mistakes. Without him, the Tribe would see a leadership struggle within the next few moons itself, leaving them vulnerable to the predations of the beetle-headed merchants and the other tribes, along with the vagaries of the desert itself. The unity would be shattered, the brotherhood and camaraderie poisoned.

Fortunately, fate had other plans.

He blinked in shock as a blue-green tendril shot out of the sandy mists surrounding the camp and yanked his son away from his death. Surprised, the Legion released its control over both the asphyxiation and the wave of sand, which collapsed harmlessly into millions of grains that were swept up in the surrounding tempest.

Two flashes of blue later, a tall, elegantly dressed figure stood in front of the Legion, in the exact same spot where Ghashiun had been just moments before. It held the strangest sort of sword that he'd ever seen in one hand and wore a most curious mark on the other.

It raised the hand with the mark towards the enraged Avatar; even though Ghashiun could barely see the figure in the ensuing storm, he could clearly hear its - no, her - next words.

"You done sulking yet?"

The Legion did not get a chance to respond as another figure suddenly appeared in mid-air (see CODEX: DOPPLEGANGER, DOMINO), right above the legion; as it passed the floating boy on the way down, it flicked its fingers at the floating boy almost casually, and a thin blue tendril, invisible to everyone else rose into existence. It then closed its eyes and braced for impact.

"WHUMP!"

The crashing figure dissolved into wasps of smoke; the Legion barely had time to widen its eyes in surprise as it was ripped out of its bubble and sent crashing downwards much like the figure from a few moments ago. What remained of Aang within the Legion winced as the ground approached.

"WHUMP!"

As soon as the Legion's body crashed to the ground, the primary figure that had been standing right in front of it didn't waste time; with a flick of her hand, a thin rod popped out of her sleeve, and the crossbow's wings retracted. She fired twice into the body.

The sleeping darts took effect gradually as the unearthly blue light began to flicker and die, and Aang's tattoos became a regular shade of light blue once more.

As the gales died down, the Sandbenders hobbled back to camp cautiously. Ghashiun warily approached the Avatar's prone body and was about to prod it with his foot when the female figure turned her crossbow to his face with a furious glare.

Hands raised placatingly, Ghashiun stepped back and decided to thank the Spirits for his good fortune instead. Although given the curious mix of fury and relief on his father's face - he winced. At least, he was still alive.

Moments later, father and son had reunited, and the other Sandbenders worked on putting the camp back to rights. The father turned to the female to express his gratitude, but before he could do so, she had crossed over to his son and ripped off his necklace (see CODEX: BONE CHARMS).

"Hey, that's mine!" Ghashiun protested.

Brown eyes flashed, and her lip curved upwards mockingly. She tilted her head in the sleeping Avatar's direction and said, "I could always wake him up."

With that parting comment, she walked back to the Avatar, swept him up over her shoulders with seemingly little effort, and began marching off into the distance.

"Wait, to whom do we owe our thanks, brave stranger?" Ghashiun's father yelled after her retreating figure.

Gesturing in Ghashiun's direction without once turning back, she responded, her soft voice somehow still carrying clearly over the wind, "Definitely not him."

INEXORABLE

BOOK 1 - EXILE

CODEX
(Courtesy of Dishonored Wiki)

Pandyssian Continent
Also known as the "Far Continent" and more simply as Pandyssia, it is the largest known landmass in the world of Dishonored. It remains unpopulated by the people of the Isles and the citizens of the Empire believe that there is no civilization on the continent.
In the Avatar's world of Four Nations, it is obscured by thick mists at the outskirts of the Fire Nation's waters, and no explorers have ever managed to actually land on its shores.

The Outsider
A mysterious supernatural being said to be part-devil, part-angel, neither good nor evil. He usually appears to people of interest as a plain-looking young man with short brown hair and black eyes, wearing a brown coat, blue pants and black boots.

Far Reach
Supernatural ability granted to Emily Kaldwin by the Outsider. Allows her to shoot a long tendril from her hand, permitting access to high and difficult to reach areas.

Blink
Supernatural ability based on Far Reach. Initially, allows traversal of mid-sized distances instantaneously. With upgrades, can travel several miles at a time.

Doppelgänger
Supernatural ability granted to Emily Kaldwin by the the Outsider that allows her to summon a duplicate of herself.

Domino
Another one of Emily Kaldwin's supernatural abilities. It allows her to link several human targets so they will die or fall unconscious together.

Bone charms (or bonecharms)
Mystical objects created from the bones of whales, humans and other animals, each with a unique effect on the user's constitution and abilities. They can be used to augment one's abilities and complement mission strategies.

History
In the days before the Empire, ownership of bone charms (including those made from the tusks of walruses in Tyvia) was tolerated, as their effects were said to improve the lives of lowly serfs and prevent pregnancies. However, with the coming of the industrial revolution arising from Esmond Roseburrow's research on whale oil, the Abbey of the Everyman banned the use of bone charms, dubbing them witchery. Retaining bone charms is now considered a criminal offense, and there is a workshop at the Office of the High Overseer dedicated solely to the destruction of bone charms.

Function
When they are equipped, bone charms provide a variety of enhancements, such as improving the effects of elixirs and remedies, swimming speed, jumping ability, equipment, and strengthening the protagonist's supernatural powers.