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Dai Li's account: Code Blue

Summary:

Agent Fang is training some new recruits and telling them about some of the most dangerous criminals to ever roam the streets of Ba Sing Se . . . including the infamous Blue Spirit, the only one who was never caught.

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The muttering of the new recruits echoed through the cavern eerily, making some of them shift uneasily. Many of them had never been on a real mission yet. There ages ranged from eighteen to twenty-five and all of them wore the dark green robes of a Dai Li. The only difference between a normal Dai Li's robe and the new recruits was the small band of black that circled their upper left arm, something that went unnoticed by those not a part of their group. There cloths were only a few shades darker than the glowing crystals that lined the halls of the underground cavern and provided light for them.

A seemingly smooth wall suddenly slid open and a Dai Li agent stepped out and came to a brisk, but silent stop in front of the recruits. The new recruits quickly noticed the new comer and went quiet, gazing at him hopefully. They had been brought down here by another agent who had quickly disappeared soon after and they had been left to the enclosed space for over an hour now.

A frown marred the Dai Li's face as he scrutinized the young men in front of him, throwing the long, pale scar on his cheek into harsh contrast and deepening the shadows around his eyes. For several moments there was silence broken only by the shifting of feet and light breathing. The entirely too still Dai Li finally sighed and turned away, gesturing sharply for them to follow.

"I guess you're the new recruits," He said gruffly, "It figures that they would send me down to do this lesson, your lot looks a little scruffy," he glanced back, his hard eyes daring them to argue.

They came to a smaller hall that led off from the main one. It was darker and the crystals were fewer and far between. No one spoke although a few of the younger men looked like they wanted to say something. The instructor glanced back every once in a wile to make sure that everyone was still there.

It wasn't long before they came upon a waver in the wall to their right. The shadows were darker there, as if there was another tunnel branching off, but as they came closer the recruits could see that this was not the case. It was a small alcove, just large enough to hide the life sized statue that stared back from its depths.

Many of the new recruits shuttered as they saw the feral snarl and long, pointed nails of the statue. The long hair swirled around the wide, half crazed, half genius eyes that stared back at them so intently they looked almost alive although they were carved out of stone. Her wrists were just held back by metal chains bound to the walls that stopped her frozen arms from reaching out to them. It was so realistic that the recruits felt that the statue would come alive at any moment and exact her revenge on those who had imprisoned her.

"Her name was Ashika, one of the most dangerous people that the Dai Li had to face," the instructor's voice broke through their staring and they turned to him. The instructor glanced at them with a razed eyebrow and a bored expression, "Her intelligence mixed with her ruthlessness were a deadly combination. She had also been part of the Dai Li at one point, but her mission drove her crazy and she had to be taken down before she could hurt anyone else."

"Why are you telling us this? Why are these statues here?" One young man in the back of the crowd asked.

The instructor turned his dark eyes to the young man and shook his head in disappointment, "The Dai Li have been around for centuries. That is why the Earth King could not get rid of us when most of out number joined Princess Azula in her takeover of Ba Sing Se," he winced, "Luckily I was not among those that did. Back to the matter at had, the Dai Li have been protecting the city for so long that they have become experts at picking up the dangerous people out there and making them . . . well, not so dangerous anymore."

He gestured toward Ashika in example and some of the recruits winced. They continued on until they came to another alcove, this time holding the statue of a man. This statue did not portray seemingly crazy or particularly violent person, but merely a man sitting in a rocking chair puffing on a pipe. His eyes were closed and a soft smile danced across his lips.

"Do not let his innocence fool you. This is Adarsa, the great deceiver. He was brother to the King of the time, an identical twin, but because he was born just minutes younger he was not considered important. This made him angry and, when the time came, he turned on his brother and took his place. It was not until a year later when one of the servants discovered a hidden letter in his chambers to the warden of a small dungeon about his brother's imprisonment that the truth was found. Even then, it was hard to put the true king on the throne as he had charmed many into thinking that he was the rightful king," the instructor said, his eyes flicking to the statue.

Many more statues came after, along with the names and descriptions of each. As they continued the statues became newer, the criminals themselves having been around in the last one hundred years.

"Avarna the Challenger . . ."

"Capala, the Merciless . . ."

"Chain, the Serpent of Lies . . ."

They came to a stop just short of the last alcove and the instructor turned to the new recruits with serious eyes. The recruits shifted nervously under his gaze. The entire time he had been unattached and unemotional. The instructor had no fear of any of the previous criminals, but now there was a flicker of something in those dark orbs, something like dread.

". . . And then there is the Blue Spirit."

The recruits shifted, muttering. Some of the previous criminals they had at least heard of, but the Blue Spirit was someone who they had not even heard a whisper of. The instructor let his eyes sweep over them, and at the sound of his voice they quieted again.

"The Blue Spirit, the night thief, the only one to ever break into Dai Li headquarters and make it out undetected, the only one who was never caught. He is the most dangerous person in the world."

Several of them gasped in surprise and on of them whispered, "Is that even possible?"

His hard eyes gazed around at all of them, "He was though to be a petty thief, a peasant with an uncannily quick hand that went around in a mask and was a non-bender. It was the perfect disguise. He appeared around the time that the Avatar came into the city and we were to busy distracting him from seeing the king that we completely ignored the 'annoying thief', thinking that we could deal with him at a later time.

"We should not have waited.

"It was the day before the Avatar found his bison when the Blue Spirit attacked. He captured a Dai Li agent from of the streets by luring him into a deserted alleyway in the dark of night. After interrogating the agent he disappeared into the night, leaving the Dai Li still tied and bound atop a quiet rooftop, unable to warn the rest of the Dai Li. That same night, the Avatar broke in, but it was later found out that the Blue Spirit had snuck in undetected just before the boy.

"The chains that had bound the Avatar's bison were cut cleanly, as if done by a blade, but no blade could be sharp enough to cut through iron, or so we thought."

The instructor stepped out of the way to reveal the final statue and they all stepped back in surprise. A grinning blue mask that almost seemed to be laughing at them silently stared at them with two black eyes that had been hollowed out, to portray their emptiness. He had a thin body, which rested lazily against the wall of the alcove yet still managed to look predator-like. Clutched in either hand was a sword, their stone representations so sharp that they gleamed menacingly in the dim light.

"The Dual Dao. These swords are not native to the EarthKingdom, though some can be found along the west coast. They originated in the Fire Nation, where the hottest of fires are used to forge them and only those fires can break them. If enough force is put behind the blades, they can cut through metal like a knife through butter.

"The Blue Spirit was not originally call such in Ba Sing Se. Those who saw him described him as a masked man who could jump from rooftop to rooftop without worry of death, something even the Dai Li would hesitate to do. It was only after the war was ended by the Avatar and his friends that we found out about his reputation outside of our city. To the Fire Nation, he was second only to the Avatar. He was a being so terrifying that he was wanted dead or alive, preferably dead.

"He disappeared after his break in, and for years he was not seen again. Then, in the capital of the Fire Nation, he was spotted, this time protecting the people from a rouge spirit that had come from the sea. He had returned to where his legend had started, and we have no influence there, but the legend he made here, at the headquarters of the Dai Li, will forever be remembered as a warning for the future."

The young man who had spoken before blinked and spoke again, the words slipping from his lips before he could consider the consequences, "Have you ever seen the Blue Spirit?" he asked.

The instructor was silent, his eyes scanning the crowd of new recruits before they rested on the young man. With almost silent footsteps he walked toward the boy, the others parting before him. He stopped, his six foot frame towering above the boy as he looked down his nose at him.

"Seen the Blue Spirit? No one sees the Blue Spirit unless he wants you to," the boy started to shuffle back anxiously, "No, I was captured by him. He spoke, and when he speaks, it makes you fell like you are being watched by death himself. His blades were inches from my neck and I was hung from a building with only rope. For hours I hung, until someone found me and got me down, and by then it was too late to warn the others.

"He is as silent as a ghost and as intangible as a shadow. His eyes are the pits of everlasting despair. His grin is forever mocking. He is a thief, a warrior, a criminal, and some even say that he is an assassin. But, to see him?

"No. No one sees the Blue Spirit. He will let you catch a glimpse of him, but only if it is to his advantage. Even a few seconds is enough to install fear in your heart.

"Beware, boy. No one escapes when they come under the Blue Spirit's notice. All you can do if you he comes near is to hide and hope he hasn't seen you.

"He is the cat and you are the mouse. Do not seek him out, because if you do, he will destroy you."

The new recruit nodded and gulped. A dark cloud seemed to be lifted from the cavern as the instructor turned away and called an end to the lesson. The others breathed in relief. They would live for another day.

And beg that they never had this instructor ever again.

He was scary when he talked about the Blue Spirit.

~0~o~0~o~0~o~0~o~0~

Far, far to the west, in the Fire Lord's palace Zuko suddenly sneezed. He blinked for several moments in confusion but did not sneeze again. Shrugging he waved it off as just another of those odd occurrences that happened around him and went back to his paperwork, glad no one had seen him sneeze.

Avarna – colorless

Ashika – dagger

Adarsa – mirror, image; the ideal

Capala – Swift; lightning

I just had to get this out of my head so that I could continue with my other stories. I hope you readers enjoyed it. If you have any comments about it the review button is just below (Puppy dog eyes).

Thanks for reading!