Yaosen held his head high as he walked the many steps to the Fire Lord’s palace to stand trial. There were no manacles and nothing so crude as an armed escort or guards. No monk of the Light Temple would be so undignified as to fight their way free in the streets, and no masters of the Light Temple would sully themselves by dignifying such a possibility by acknowledging it.

But despite all that, Yaosen was sure that by the end of the day his life would be forfeit. The monks of the Light Temple may be above prisons and executions, soldiers and brute force, but the Fire Lord was not. And since it was the Fire Lord’s grandson who Yaosen had injured in the accident, it would be the Fire Lord who delivered the verdict.

“Have you nothing to say for yourself, Yaosen of the Light Temple?” the Fire Lord asked once the initial ceremonies and opening arguments had been laid out. This Fire Lord was old, but every bit as imperious as the Fire Lords of old. That modern Fire Lords had been held in check by the Republic, the late avatar, and more recently, the Earth King’s growing ambition, did nothing to bank the flames of the Fire Lord’s power in his own throne room.

Yaosen did not rise from his knees, nor did he lift his bowed head to address the Fire Lord, “Only that I believed the training ground to be empty, my lord. And that I did not expect to fail so… spectacularly.”

“You mean you believed the training ground to be empty of monks!” refuted the Fire Lord, “You failed to spare a thought for the others that live and work within the Temple grounds. You did not think of the servants and nonbenders-”

The scoff left Yaosen’s throat before he could stop it.

His eyes went immediately wide as he realized he had not only interrupted the Fire Lord, but scoffed at his words. He glanced to the side to see that Master Aangatso, Yaosen’s teacher and leader of the Light Temple, was also mortified.

Yaosen quickly bowed lower, head to the floor.

“Forgive me, my lord! I did not know that your son was an acolyte!”

“You miss the mark again!” shouted the Fire Lord, the wall of flame behind him leaping and flickering blue now.

Yaosen flinched, not just at the tone, but at the words themselves.

“Do you teach them nothing within your walls, Aangatso?”

“I am sorry, Fire Lord. Our pupils are powerful, but many lack mental focus.”

“And do you allow your pupils to attempt lightbending without first mastering this focus.”

“Certainly not, Fire Lord. The focus is the most critical component to master, and as such only masters of the Light Temple may attempt it. Without focus, lightbending is just… well, you saw the result, yourself, Fire Lord.”

Out of the corner of Yaosen’s eyes he saw a rustle of red curtain, and behind it, only half visible, was the face of a young boy, barely into his teenage years.

Another shifting step as the boy tried to gain a better view of the proceedings and Yaosen could see the bandages that covered the other half of the boy’s face.

The boy’s gaze found Yaosen, and Yaosen attempted a smile, though he knew it was pained.

The boy attempted the same smile and winced.

So Noro didn’t hate him, at least, but the boy’s face would never fully heal.

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Yaosen had grown fond of Noro since the boy had been taken in as an acolyte, and Noro had practically worshiped the older monk. Yaosen only hoped that the boy would recover from Yaosen’s execution.

He hoped the Fire Lord didn’t make the boy watch, out of some strange sense of noble pride or retribution.

Yaosen hadn’t lied when he said he did not know the Fire Lord’s grandson was nearby while he was attempting to lightbend. Yaosen hadn’t known that Noro was anything other than the typical third son of a minor noble being shipped off to the Temple to be out of the way. And he hadn’t lied when he said he thought the training ground was empty, though Yaosen should have guessed that Noro would be sneaking around to watch.

Yaosen returned his head to the mat as the Fire Lord concluded a scalding line of questioning directed at Aangatso, effectively putting the entire Light Temple on trial.

Yaosen didn’t remember what the Fire Lord’s last question was, but he could tell Aangatso was struggling to answer it.

“I am guilty, your highness!” Yaosen cut in, “I tried to lightbend before my time. I did not think of the innocent ones alongside me: the young, the lowly, and the nonbenders. All I saw was power and I tried to take it. And worst of all I failed. I invoke Agni Kai that I might have an honorable death.”

There was a rustle of metal as one of the famed Meteor Knights, the greatest of nonbenders and the last line of defense for the Fire Lord, stepped forward.

But the Fire Lord held out his hand, staying the knight’s blade.

“You have naught but a drop or royal blood within you,” said the Fire Lord, “And you relinquished any such claims the moment you got accepted into the Light Temple. What right have you to invoke Agni Kai?”

“None, your highness!”

“Leave him, Torun,” said the Fire Lord.

And when the faceless wall of metal made no move, the Fire Lord snapped, “I said leave him, Torun Bo.”

The Meteor Knight stepped back, sheathing his glittering black blade.

The Fire Lord was silent for a long time while he considered. And during that time, Yaosen stole a glance at Noro but could not meet his gaze.

“If I may, Fire Lord,” Aangatsu ventured.

The Fire Lord beckoned for him to continue, though his patience seemed to be wearing thin.

“Yaosen is one of the most powerful pupils I have ever taught. And I have taught many gifted firebenders. But until now I have failed to impart upon him the wisdom required to hone such power. Study, meditation, and the traditions of our school and our nation have failed to impart upon him this wisdom…”

What was Aangatsu doing? His words made an indictment of not only his own temple, but of the entire Fire Nation way of life. If Yaosen sought to focus the blame on only himself, Aangatsu was undoing all of that!

“...Perhaps the wider world can teach Yaosen what study has failed to.”

“Set him loose? Remove the few strictures that have been placed upon him? Are you mad, Aangatsu. You will not stop at one disfigured child, but perhaps you seek the razing of the whole city!”

Yaosen shot a glance at Noro’s hiding place, but the boy shrank back at his grandfather’s callous words. Yaosen’s heart broke for the boy, scarred not once but twice for the simple crime of curiosity.

“If I have learned one thing from my time within the Temple, it is that none of my students learned control by having it forced upon them. The unwilling ox always bucks the yoke. But there is, perhaps, a place out of harm’s way where Yaosen can find his own focus, and perhaps still be of use to his nation. Indeed to all nations.”

The Fire Lord cocked his head, wary but interested. “Go on.”

“Perhaps a quest, not unlike your common ancestor?” said Aangatsu.

“What are you doing?” hissed Yaosen.

“Saving your life,” grumbled Aangatsu, while the Fire Lord considered.

“Hardly,” whispered Yaosen, “You’re just making my execution take longer.”

Aangatsu cocked a smile and regained his dignified air as he awaited the Fire Lord’s verdict.

“Yaosen of the Light Temple,” the Fire Lord’s voice boomed with all the pomp and authority of a formal verdict, “I sentence you to exile in the west, to wander the Farwilds across the sea, and not to return until you have found the missing avatar!” And then he added, under his breath, “May the comet help you if the avatar isn’t there.”

Aangatsu, hearing this, added under his own breath, “May the comet help us all if he isn’t.”