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Han Jin Ben . . . where are you? "The Avatar is missing," said Taiyou, stepping into the main lobby of the Gong Jen HQ. His clothes were tattered, his face covered in mud, his eyes tired and his body bruised. The other Gong Jen immediately became alerted, first and foremost Taka, who immediately said in reaction: "How did that happen?" He didn't yell, mostly because he was already used to this. Han had been abducted countless times since the Gong Jen formed. The ridiculous thing was that the primary abductor was always himself. Indeed, Han had continuously cycled from lost to found, to lost again, all at his own behest. It wasn't that he was a fugues child or something like that, but instead, he would randomly enter the Avatar State and disappear for an extended period of time. Often, if you tried to restrain him and prevent him from running away, he would attack you; beat you into submission. That was what happened with Taiyou just now, and why he was in so much pain.
"You know how it happened, Taka," he said. The other man sighed, and quickly came forward to heal Taiyou's wounds. The rest of the Gong Jen all equally engaged in a moment of frustration, feeling more and more like they were losing a hold of Han. He was such a sweet guy, with such a strong desire to save the world. And yet . . . there was something inside of him, other than Raava, desperately trying to prevent it. What could they do?
"Zen, do you think that Han is going dark . . . ? He's gotten less violent from when he first started having his episodes, but he's also been awakening his Avatar State more and more often. What can we really do at this point?" The Earth Queen, Layna, had been following this group for some time now. She taught Han earthbending when they had just uncovered who he was, and had kept watch over him for some time now. After Suihara, she was the closest to him, before the group split up and the Chen Rai formed. However, at this point, almost no one could really consider themselves very close to him. As a person, yes, but as an entity . . . he had become far too detached from them. That only continued to plant the seeds of dissent within the Gong Jen. Even now, rogue members of this organization were joining the Chen Rai, or simply leaving to make change on their own.
"Han is not losing himself. I can't pinpoint it exactly, but I feel as if he has been adapting. I noticed a while ago, even without him telling me, that he'd started cutting his link to previous Avatars; removing them from his system. First Aang, then Roku, Kyoshi . . . I think he's trying to cleanse Raava's spirit. As a result, Raava has grown more autonomous. Maybe she is actively taking an initiative to lead Han down a better path. Her decision to not attack people unless they directly inhibit her may be a sign that these spirit take-overs are growing more benevolent. That is all that I can surmise." The young man stirred his coffee, scooting aside as Taiyou moved to sit next to him on the sofa.
Everyone was tense. They always were, every time Han went AWOL. However, they knew that they had to remain vigilant, strong, and loyal. Otherwise, the situation would only grow more dire. Not many of them really knew if the Avatar was the key to ending this crisis anymore. That was true. But - they also knew that the Chen Rai wasn't the key. They were simply betting on the wealthiest stock. "So, who'd like to play Pai Sho?" Liana asked. No one replied at first, but eventually, Layna raised her hand.
"I'm gonna look for Han. If I can't directly stop him, at least I can monitor him to see what he's doing. Maybe. Later," he stood up, taking Zen's coffee with him. The Spirit Bender rolled his eyes, watching Taiyou leave the room, his clothes still tattered, though Taka had washed off the mud.
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