The Edge

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"KYOSHI. THIS ISN'T WHO YOU ARE."

— Kuruk to Kyoshi when she threatens to kill Huazo and Chaejin.

"The Edge"
Information
Novel	The Shadow of Kyoshi
Authors	F. C. Yee Michael Dante DiMartino
Chapter	20/27
Word count	2,119
From page	241
To page	249
Chapter guide
Previous	"The Companion"
Next	"Shapes of Life and Death"

"The Edge" is the twentieth chapter of The Shadow of Kyoshi.

Overview

After Chaejin willingly complies with his kidnapping by Zoryu's agents, Kyoshi and Jinpa fly with him to the hut where they took Huazo earlier. They deny having conspired with Yun and Kyoshi threatens to kill them, but, in their terror to see the other die and in their familial love, she realizes that they are telling the truth and lets them go. The thought of having taken two lives without a reason takes a heavy toll on Kyoshi's body and spirit as she and Jinpa fly back to the royal palace.

Synopsis

After Zoryu dismisses everyone in the war room, he is shocked as Kyoshi tells him she kidnapped Huazo, saying that this will cause a war. She explains that the Saowon clan has been conspiring with Yun and that if the treachery is revealed, they will lose the other noble families' support. The Avatar says that if he brings Chaejin, she can get a confession out of his mother and him.

Zoryu stares at her, open-mouthed, as she realizes he does not have the strength to make his move, even when his own destruction is upon him. She is angry to see a weakness in him that will prove fatal to everyone since he reminds her of her former self, so she grabs him by the shoulders. Kyoshi encourages the Fire Lord to be brave as his opponents are willing to break rules and kill others, telling him that they will have to break some rules as well. He replies that if the plan fails, he will have accelerated his end. The Avatar replies that the destitute from the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se would take a copper piece to the gambling dens as it would not make a difference in their survival, saying that he either accepts the necessary risks in order to win, or he embraces failure.

She again asks Zoryu if he can bring Chaejin to her and, after further hesitation, he agrees to do this but warns her that she will not have much time to make Huazo and him confess. As she is about to leave, Zoryu tells her that, even though he is not the strongest ruler, he would do anything for the Fire Nation. Kyoshi notices a great amount of determination and purpose in his eyes, thinking that this moment would be good for his depiction in the Royal Gallery, before she walks out of the throne room.

Kyoshi, Jinpa, and Chaejin travel on Yingyong's back to the small hut located in the cliffs blocking the view of First Lord's Harbor, the High Temple liaison having willingly complied with his abduction by Zoryu's agents. He arrogantly tells Kyoshi that by kidnapping him she has made him a legend as the population will see him as a hero struggling with the injustice of others while being blessed by the spirits. He asks what the foul stench he is smelling is and Kyoshi replies that it is the odor of seabird droppings while she removes the bag covering his face, which he had chose to keep on as he wished to embrace the role of a captive.

Chaejin notices the small house and inquires whether it is Kyoshi's private residence in the Fire Nation. She answers that it belonged to Jianzhu before it became hers and that Huazo is waiting inside. The young sage laughs as he considers she is joking, before the Avatar breaks the foundations of the building with earthbending, revealing a surprised Huazo.

Chaejin is shocked to see his mother and tries to reach for her, but Yingyong is too far away. The Saowon leader is outraged to see that her son has been kidnapped and insists that she does not know where Yun is. Kyoshi notes that she remembers his name now and earthbends cracks in the rock Huazo is standing on, almost severing the platform from the rest of the cliffside.

Chaejin asks her to stop and Jinpa is surprised as well since he expected she was only going to scare them a little. The Avatar is unsure how far she will go to make the two Saowon members confess and inquires to Yun's location again. The stone Huazo is standing on drops even farther as the Air Nomad is about to turn the bison around, saying that this is enough. Kyoshi warns that if Yingyong moves, she might lose her hold on the rocks.

The sage assures her they are not aware of Yun's current whereabouts and that they have never dealt with him. The Avatar grabs him by the neck, holding him over the saddle. Huazo yells at her to let him go, and Kyoshi replies that she will ask where Yun is one more time, determined to let them fall if they do not tell her the truth.

Right then, Kyoshi hears Kuruk's voice as he calls out her name, saying that this is not who she is. Both Huazo and Chaejin cry as they are terrified to see the other die before their eyes. In the love between mother and son, she sees that they are telling the truth, not having worked with Yun. She throws Chaejin next to his mother, feeling as if Jianzhu is laughing in her ear or as if Kelsang is sobbing upon seeing what was about to happen. Using her fans, Kyoshi raises the platform to the top of the cliff, covered by a field of coarse grasses. She yells at them to go as they crawl at first and then start running, something she notices they are not used to.

Kyoshi muses that this makes them seem vanquished and small as she suffers thinking she has almost killed them. Her intense pain becomes almost unbearable as she falls to her knees and dry heaves over the saddle's edge. Jinpa grabs her by the shoulders, telling her to get a hold of herself. She feels terrible and wants to apologize for almost ending two lives for nothing, for being mistaken about the conspiracy and for almost making the monk complicit in her crime.

She gasps as Jinpa flies them back to the capital. Kyoshi thinks that when Huazo and Chaejin reach the rest of the Saowon clan, they will tell the others how she terrified and humiliated them and that they will use this as a just cause for war against Zoryu. She also muses how Hei-Ran predicted and accepted Yun's victory in their game of Pai Sho and her subsequent death, wishing she could also foresee the future. The Avatar considers that it was a mistake to try to settle the dispute between the Keohso and the Saowon clans.

Production notes

Series continuity

• Chaejin's tearful wail as Kyoshi threatens to drop him and his mother reminds her of the little girl from Loongkau sobbing for her parents when Captain Li's peace officers harass them, as described in "Unfinished Business", and Kyoshi's cries for her own parents when they abandon her near Yokoya, as revealed in "The Introduction".