The Introduction

"You are going to give me everything I demand, because you are bound by your outlaw code. You will do as I say because of your idiotic, clownish, make-believe traditions."

— Kyoshi sternly speaks to the daofei group at Madam Qiji's teahouse.

"The Introduction"
Information
Novel	The Rise of Kyoshi
Authors	F. C. Yee Michael Dante DiMartino
Chapter	14/32
Word count	5,857
From page	169
To page	189
Chapter guide
Previous	"Adaptation"
Next	"Escape"

"The Introduction" is the fourteenth chapter of The Rise of Kyoshi.

Overview

Kyoshi and Rangi meet a daofei group at their base in Port Chameleon Bay.

Synopsis

In a dream, while Kyoshi struggles to open a small metal box, she sees her parents there talking to her. After her mother kindly gives her advice on how to open it, the box suddenly turns hot as her father's face shifts into Jianzhu's. Kyoshi angrily tries to charge at him but is unable to move. Her mother is amused by her helplessness and winks at Kyoshi as her eye swells into one giant eyeball, causing the girl to flail in terror. Jianzhu declares that they will never leave her and that they will always be there for her.

Rangi wakes Kyoshi from her nightmare and says that they have made it to Chameleon Bay. They fly over Port Chamelon Bay on Pengpeng, looking for Madam Qiji's teahouse. Kyoshi spots it, allowing Rangi to land Pengpeng in a patch of trees on the town's outskirts. Port Chameleon Bay is a dusty, miserable town filled with sickness and malnutrition. Rangi says that people should not have to live with such a poor quality of life, and Kyoshi explains that "they can and they do". Rangi admits that she knows of Kyoshi's time in the streets of Yokoya and feels awful for what she had to endure; Rangi also reveals that it is the reason that she is always pushing Kyoshi to fight back. Kyoshi, who blames her parents for her suffering, rather than the Yokoyans, laughs bitterly and asks what else she was supposed to do. She also asks Rangi if wealth in the Fire Nation is perfectly shared evenly with every citizen. Rangi denies this and says that she hopes that one day it could be.

The duo makes its way through the town's twisted streets, surrounded by closing shops and deer dogs. They eventually enter the shantytown and eventually reach the teahouse, which is more charming than the neighboring buildings. Kyoshi and Rangi cautiously approach an older man that blocks the teahouse's front door and asks who they are. Noticing his hands shaking, from what she assumes is starvation, Kyoshi takes a few copper pieces from the pockets in her dress and leaves the currency on the porch in front of the man. She tells him to get something to eat, causing him to smile. He is shocked when Rangi adds a silver piece to the pile. Kyoshi glances at her, but Rangi justifies her generosity by stating that they had just been talking about sharing the wealth with those less fortunate.

Rangi and Kyoshi walk into the strangely half-finished teahouse and sit down in the middle of the place, next to a heavily constructed Pai Sho table, which reminds her of Yun and Kelsang. According to her mother's journal, they are in the right spot. After what seems like an eternity, a young man wearing Si Wong headwraps makes his way over to them. He asks for their order and Kyoshi requests a particular type of jasmine tea. He asks what color blossoms she wants. Saying the correct password, Kyoshi asks for red and white blossoms. The frustrated waiter yells at Lao Ge, the older man, for his failure to keep watch at the door. Lao Ge defends his actions, showing off the money that they had given him to buy drinks, causing the waiter from the Si Wong Desert to storm away in resentment.

Rangi scans the room, then whispers to Kyoshi that even though Kyoshi had explained it all to her earlier, she still cannot believe that they are getting access to the daofei through their code. Kyoshi tells her that it is not too late for the firebender to leave with her honor intact, to which Rangi responds that she is not worried about her own honor but Kyoshi's instead.

The Si Wong boy returns to their table and places tea in front of all three of them as he calmly takes a seat across from them. A large man in his thirties acts as a backup for the adolescent boy. A young woman dressed in Earth Kingdom clothing with bright blue Water Tribe eyes gently drops the twelve feet from one of the unusual doors. Kyoshi is surprised to realize that she is not afraid of a "street-level daofei crew" and she explains that they are now obligated to support her and Rangi because they have done the secret daofei code. The Si Wong boy ridicules that they have only done a former code as if they learned how to do it from an instruction manual. He then adds that Rangi looks like a gorgeous "army-brat", which makes him think that they are lawmen. When Kyoshi assures him that they are not law abiders, three random teahouse customers quickly scurry out the door.

The Si Wong boy places a smooth oblong stone on the table and then continues to accuse them of being undercover officers. He threatens their life but Kyoshi tries to convince him that they are not detectives. The boy angrily flips the table with his knee, and Kyoshi impulsively makes the entire foundation of the teahouse bounce up by half an inch, causing everyone to wobble. She condemns the daofei, claiming to despise their kind, which makes Rangi worry about her approach. However, Kyoshi finishes her remarks by asserting that it does not matter what she thinks of the daofei, because she did their code and they are bound by tradition to accept her and give her everything she demands. As the Avatar reaches to her belt, the daofei prepare to attack, and Rangi leaves her seat. When Kyoshi slams a war fan from her mother's chest onto the table, the waterbender and the large guy stopped in their tracks, while the boy shows complete shock. Lao Ge, seemingly coming out of nowhere, exclaims that it belonged to "Jesa", and manages to move closer to the object to examine its details. The boy asks Kyoshi from where she got the weapon, to which the she admits that she inherited it from her parents. The Water Tribe girl looks at Kyoshi and inquires about whether Hark and Jesa were her parents, which the Avatar confirms, and then claims that they founded their daofei group. Lao Ge shouts that they should drink to Kyoshi's return, but the Si Wong boy says that their group needs a moment to talk privately and suggest Kyoshi to get her story straight in the meantime. Rangi, who is upset at her, agrees that her friend has a lot of explaining to do.

The daofei group heads to the kitchen to chat privately, leaving Lao Ge in the corner of the teashop with his booze. Under Rangi's judging stare, Kyoshi explains that everything has gone according to plan and that this is the first step to gain access to this world. She adds that she had told Rangi about her parents being daofei beforehand and that she had knowingly agreed to come along. The firebender responds that Kyoshi's family is not the issue but rather the aggression she had acted with toward the daofei. Kyoshi justifies her behavior by explaining that it was how she had to earn respect among these people. Unconvinced, Rangi says that Kyoshi looked more like she was begging for them to kill her. She places her hand on Kyoshi's knee to still it from shaking and asks her to be more careful, to which the Avatar apologizes, prompting Rangi to let the issue go.

The three daofei members come back to the table and formally introduce themselves as "Flitting Sparrowkeet Wong", Kirima, and "Bullet Lek". Kyoshi introduces herself and Rangi as her associate. Kirima, the Water Tribe woman, asks Kyoshi how she managed to find them. Kyoshi explains to the group what little she remembers about her parents and that they had abandoned her in Yokoya when she was five or six. Lek argues that Hark and Jesa were loyal leaders who would never do that to family, but Kirima snaps and tells the boy to shut up and let Kyoshi finish. Her anger rising, the Avatar briefly explains that she ended up in Chameleon Bay because she needs her parents' resources in order to get revenge for those she has lost. Lek solemnly reveals that they have passed away, and Kyoshi lies by saying that she does not care about what has happened to her parents, causing Lek to rage at her. Kyoshi says that she is not here to confront her parents, but to seek what is owed to her by blood ties, and once again asks for her parents' vast resources, emphasizing her desire for bending training, to help her get revenge on her "enemy", though she never mentions Jianzu's name. There is an awkward silence until Kirima laughs that the teahouse is now the group's only base and network.

Kyoshi thinks back to how tired she was as an abandoned child, dragging around the trunk that her mother had left her; she feels a similar level of weariness as she listens to the daofei explain that their group has fallen on difficult times and no longer has real influence or territory. Lek guesses that Kyoshi's journal is at least a decade old, with entries going back further. When Rangi tries to get Kyoshi to move on, get back to Pengpeng, and fly someplace else, the group suddenly becomes interested in what Rangi means by "fly" and asks if she has a sky bison. Kirima says that, being Jesa and Hark's kid, the group is obliged to keep Kyoshi safe from harm, but that does not mean they will follow her orders or help her in a personal quest for vengeance; if she wants that level of commitment, Kyoshi needs to make them an offer. Rangi, believing that the gang wants the bison, refuses to make any sort of deal, but the Water Tribe girl explains that she is merely suggesting a partnership and that, if Kyoshi flies them to a more fortunate town, they will teach her earthbending along the way. Rangi opposes the suggestion and says that it is too risky. As Lek argues with Rangi about the validity of their operation, Kyoshi buries her face in her hands. Lao Ge interrupts Kyoshi to warn her that they should not take too long, as the police are on their way.

Production notes

Series continuity

• From her bird's-eye view on Pengpeng, Kyoshi has trouble distinguishing the mass of buildings on Chameleon Bay, describing it as a "curving scab around the bay", a depiction consistent with the aerial shot of the location seen in "The Guru", from which no settlements are discernable from the landscape except for the Southern Water Tribe fleet camping on the beach.
• Rangi suggests that the Fire Nation may eventually be perfect enough to share its prosperity with all of its citizens, a sentiment Sozin uses as justification to expand their territory into the other nations, arguing similarly that it is a means of sharing the Fire Nation's prosperity with the rest of the world.

Character revelations

• Lek hails from the Si Wong tribes.
• Kirima hails from the Water Tribes.
• Kyoshi's parents are revealed to be Jesa and Hark, daofei smugglers who never stayed in one place too long and eventually left Kyoshi in Yokoya.
• Jesa and Hark died of fever three years before the events of this chapter.