The music was too loud, the room was too crowded, and nothing was being accomplished, but none of the partygoers seemed to mind, Tarrlok observed. He found it easier to work people over alone or in small groups, but sometimes grand events like these were necessary. At least he wasn't having to pay for the wretched affair himself, though.

There were simply too many variables present to keep adequate control over any of them. The Earth Kingdom Councilman's young lover kept trying to corner him, which would have been disastrous since the man's wife was right there on his arm, and it fell to Tarrlok to keep steering the girl to meet new, less important people. Then there was The Southern Water Tribe member, who kept coming up to him to pester him about Lin Bei Fong giving him funny looks, which he felt meant that she had found out about his involvement with the Red Monsoons.

That was just stupid, since the Triads hadn't even done anything worth noting since the Triple Threats had been neutralized, and so couldn't possibly have given away the Councilman at the moment. Tarrlok tried to explain that as patiently as he could, but the man was convinced that he would be arrested by midnight, and to top it all off he admitted to having cactus extract in his system. He maneuvered away from the paranoid waterbender only for Councilwoman Radha's husband to grab him by the collar and drunkenly accuse him of sleeping with his wife.

"Don't tell me it's not true," he wept. "She always stays late to those meetings, you bastard, you've been with her!"

Tarrlok disentangled himself and edged away from the old sot. "I assure you-" he began, but then dodged a clumsy swipe.

"Assure me? Assure me? I'll assure you right in your smug face, you evil son of a spider-rat!"

"I assure you," he continued once he had a hold of the sot's wrists, "On my honor as a Council member and my reputation as a man of good taste, I have never been inappropriate with your wife, and nothing in the world could possibly horrify me more." He managed to lead the man back to Radha, who didn't seem very pleased to have him back. He collapsed sobbing on her shoulder, and Tarrlok hissed "Would you please at least try to keep your own house in order? I don't know who you've been with and I don't care, but make sure to keep my name out of it in the future!" He looked around, but for a mercy the reporters hadn't strayed from the little knot by the staircase.

Just then, there was a wave of applause that could only mean the Avatar had finally arrived.

She looked…pretty. Quite pretty, in fact. Her face looked gentler with her hair down, and her dark blue dress made her seem nearly elegant. Tarrlok had to conceal a sigh as he made his way over to her. There were thousands of beautiful girls in Republic City, and quite a lot of them were present tonight. There was only one living goddess at the gala, but for some reason it pleased her to present herself as one of them. He couldn't wrap his head around it. Had he been her mentor instead of Tenzin, he would have had her come dressed as a Southern Wolf Warrior, though perhaps without the face paint. The Avatar was the most powerful bender in the world, and she ought to represent herself as such, he felt. Only shy teenage boys would fear the young woman before him, and unfortunately there weren't many of those in the Equalists.

He paid his respects to the Avatar and steered her gently around the room, not quite touching the small of her back. Her eyes were wide and trusting, which very nearly made him feel guilty as he guided her away from the manager of the Yugoda Memorial Hospital, who would have praised her integrity for refusing to join the task force. Instead, he introduced her to Hiroshi Sato, who had always made a point of staying away from politics. He'd brought his daughter along, and two young men he didn't recognize, he noticed.

Avatar Korra noticed as well. Her voice took on a hard edge and she folded her arms across her chest as they talked, her body oriented to the boy on Ms. Sato's arm and her face wretched. Tarrlok suffered another faint twinge of guilt as he called Lin Bei Fong over, but things would work out better tonight if the Avatar weren't feeling her usual confident self. The Chief was as rude as he'd hoped, making a few caustic remarks and stalking away.

It wouldn't do at all if she got too upset, though, he thought as they made their way to the top of the balcony. She was biting her lip and her head was down, and a grilling from the journalists might be enough to make her do something that he would regret as much as she would.

"So what did you think of the fabulous Asami Sato?" he asked lightly. "I'm not sure she was wearing enough makeup, you could almost see her under it."

Korra smiled weakly. "Almost."

"I've always thought she must have some kind of hideous birthmark underneath it all," he told her as they got into position. "It's going to be a nasty shock for her little pro-bending friend the first time he catches her without her face on. For all anyone knows, she looks like Koh the Face Stealer under there." Tarrlok had no particular feelings about the Sato girl, but it got a laugh out of the Avatar.

"If you don't mind, they just have a couple questions," he said sweetly, with a delicate push to the small of her back. She was as tense as a bowstring, she must have some idea what she was in for.

It's just how the game is played, he assured himself as the wave of criticism washed over Korra. There were any number of ways to dance out of the verbal traps the reporters laid for her, and when she looked back on this later she would see where she went wrong. She would learn to speak over them, rephrase their questions to suit herself, and lead them off a tricky subject with glib retorts and grand, meaningless declarations. It was for her own good, really. If Tarrlok didn't teach her these things, then other people without his good intentions would just manipulate her. She'll thank me someday.

It occurred to Chiang that he might be a little out of his depth when he stood before the leader of the Equalists in a badly lit underground office, and it occurred to him that this was probably the worst time to come to that realization. He could have said no, I don't want to do my part to liberate my fellow non-benders, thanks. He could have asked if he could stick to helping out at the secret factories and running messages. He could even have tried his luck at taking his turf by the train station back from Skoochy, since he knew a little chi-blocking now and even an earthbender can't do much about it if you shank him from behind, anyway. But a special task from Amon himself had actually sounded like a good thing when he got the offer, and so here he was, being told he had to rat out a bunch of not-even-Equalists and it was supposed to help the revolution?

Amon was waiting for his answer in silence, but the only answer Chiang had ready at the moment was to say "Oh," and pick at a loose thread in his sleeve. He stared at the floor for guidance. It was not forthcoming.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and flinched. "Your hesitation is understandable, and does you credit," the man said. "We could never have entrusted this mission to someone who would accept it eagerly."

Chiang squirmed. "I, uh, thanks, but I mean, it doesn't make, you know, a whole lot of sense. To me, I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I just don't, well, I'm not a genius or anything but it doesn't seem like, you know, a great idea but that's just me," he stammered. He was probably going to turn up dead in the harbor.

Amon released his shoulder and took a step back, and Chiang found he could breathe properly again. "You deserve an explanation, of course," he said. "The interesting thing about the Dragon Flats Bookstore chapter is that, with the exception of two guards, none of the chi-blocking students are members of the revolution. They do not wear uniforms, they do not carry out missions, and they do not proselytize our cause." Chiang nodded, and wondered if Amon actually expected him to know what 'proselytize' meant.

"Nor do any of them have a previous criminal record," he continued. "One is pursuing her degree in agricultural science at Republic City University, another repairs Satomobiles for a living. The oldest member is almost sixty, and the youngest is seventeen. All are perfectly innocent, ordinary citizens.

"Tell me this, Chiang." The masked man folded his arms behind his back and fixed the boy with a stare. "What crime could they possibly be arrested for, when you inform the anti-Equalist task force of their existence?"

"Chi blocking," he said immediately. He didn't want to look stupid in front of Amon and his honor guard.

"Chi blocking is a respectable art practiced by the Kyoshi Warriors for nearly a century. Try again."

He flushed. "Being Equalists," he ventured.

"Even if all the Dragon Flats students were full members, which they are not, there is no law forbidding citizens from joining us. Try again."

Chiang pulled at the loose string again, feeling lost. "I don't know, sir," he admitted. "They'll think of something, though."

"We cannot know this for sure, Chiang, and it is always a mistake to plan an attack before you are sure of how your opponent will react. You must know how to win before you begin to fight." He turned away from the street urchin. "It may be that the Councilman will surprise us. It's possible he will follow his better instincts and speak with the Dragon Flats chi-blockers before attacking them. He might even try to understand our cause, to work with us to achieve a better future for his own constituents. Even if he does not come to such wisdom himself, the Avatar could very well inspire him to a more moderate approach than he has taken so far. She is our Avatar too, after all."

He giggled, he couldn't help it. "Yeah," he tittered. "She'll punch the wisdom right into him."

Amon sighed, and he realized he hadn't actually been joking. "You may be right, Chiang, but I rather hope you are not," he said. "Even so, the fact remains is that we cannot strike down the bending elite before they have proved themselves tyrants to the masses. If they rise above the bait we have set for them, then we will have discovered a potential ally in Councilman Tarrlok. Whichever path they choose, we cannot act until they have chosen it. Now that you know what is as stake, what is your answer, young friend?"

Chiang grinned. He was more than happy to help set a trap, since that was what it really was, under all the fancy talk about paths and 'proselytize'.

She had been pretty at the gala, but tonight she was beautiful.

The Avatar knelt, stone-faced and armor clad, waiting for his orders. She was lithe and young and oh, she was dangerous, an avenging spirit made flesh. Tarrlok would have liked nothing more than to lead her off into the shadows and venerate her as she deserved, in a tangle of steel and leather and stinging ice, but that would hardly be appropriate before the raid had even begun.

He nodded at her, then signaled to his team. The waterbenders got a nice five gallons or so ready for everyone, and the earthbenders took their positions just a step behind them. There weren't any firebenders on the task force; they would just have left a bunch of nasty scars and bad public opinion. He took a brief pause to savor the moment: A cadre of skilled warriors awaited his command, the only person whose opinion really mattered at his side, ready to pounce. This is what we were born to do. He heard Korra took a deep breath, and it was like coming home.

Tarrlok brought his hand down, and the walls came down with it.

The ones closest to the windows had time to scream, but only half a second. The earthbenders leapt in after the flood and sent rocks flying into the ones who had been too far away, and one of them managed a lovely shot that slammed a woman into the wall. Tarrlok froze one of the instructors' heads, but another threw a pair of gas canisters at them and made off with his partner. Fortunately Korra caught the canisters in ice before they were all blind and choking, and then she was tearing off after her prey.

Tarrlok cast a short glance over the room. There was an enormous poster of the Equalist leader hanging against the far wall, but none of the assembled chi-blockers were wearing the notorious green-and-goggles. The woman in purple was crying raggedly, and a girl in pigtails stared at him through the ice in mute appeal. He resisted the impulse to spit and followed Korra down the hall.

"Remember what I told you and everything will be fine," Noatak murmured as they trudged together against the snarling white wind. Their father was next to invisible despite being less than twenty feet ahead of them, so they followed the tracks he left in the snow. He laughed softly. "I guess dad wasn't lying after all, Tarrlok. We're hunting him."

Tarrlok chose not to reply to that. He squinted his eyes shut against the biting cold and leaned against his brother. He wasn't any warmer for it, but Noatak would make sure he didn't fall into a crevasse or wander off into the storm.

Noatak hooked his arm around Tarrlok's for the latter part of the trek, but made sure to disentangle himself from the smaller boy before their father turned around during a lull in the blizzard. His fangs had been drawn long ago, but he took a bender's stance unconsciously as he surveyed his children. The elder met his gaze expressionlessly, the younger fiddled nervously with his pack. The silence went on interminably, until Tarrlok thought he was going to scream. This is all wrong, there aren't any animals here, we're not even close to the hunting trails.

"Fifteen paces, face each other," the old man growled after an eternity. They did as he bid them, and Tarrlok clenched his fists to stop them from shaking. It doesn't matter what he says, Noatak's not going to do it. He's not afraid of dad, he won't do that to me even if he yells at him. His palms began to sweat.

"Noatak, go."

He heard Noatak take a deep breath, and it was like drowning.

Tarrlok had always wondered why the animals struggled so hard when that clearly made it hurt worse, but he understood then. His brain had nothing to do with it, every fiber of his body strained against the merciless power that forced him to his knees. His back arched cruelly and he wished he could silence the pathetic little moans that escaped him but all he could do was face the sky and try to focus on the snow, fluttering down like stars dropping out of the night. He caught a glimpse of Noatak's face, stern and aloof and beautiful. He tried to catch his eye. Please stop, don't do this, you're hurting me.

He did not stop. He held Tarrlok there and watched him shake until Yakone gave him the word. Only then did Noatak release him, exhale and bow. Tarrlok gasped for breath and stared at the two of them. The scorn on both their faces made him want to curl up on the ice and die.

"Tarrlok! Your turn."

He climbed unsteadily to his feet. Noatak gave him a discreet nod.

"No," he said, hardly aware that he said it. "I won't do it."

"Bloodbend your brother, Tarrlok!"

"That felt awful," he protested, fighting down a sob. "I don't want to do that to anyone. I never want to bloodbend again!" Maybe Yakone would just take out his club and kill him.

Yakone seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "You're a disgrace, a weakling," he spat, pacing forward. "I'll teach you, a lesson, you insubordinate-"

"Stay away from him." Noatak stepped between them, but somehow Tarrlok didn't feel any safer. He watched his brother fight with their father, although it wasn't really much of a fight at all. It felt strange, to see someone who had loomed so large over his life held so utterly captive, though he couldn't help but notice that Noatak left him on his feet.

Noatak turned to face him. "Let's go, we can run away from him, forever," he said.

"Run away?" If Noatak had suggested that this morning, Tarrlok would have spent the day packing. Now, the idea of the two of them roaming the world alone but for each other seemed even worse than staying at home with Yakone. Besides…."But what about mom? We can't just leave her."

Noatak looked neither surprised nor upset by his rejection. "He was right about you," he observed. "You are a weakling." And with that, he ran out of Tarrlok's life, never even looking back.