The Yu Yan are an elite force within the Fire Nation military. Their extreme discipline, emotional apathy, and skill are renowned throughout the world. Skilled enough that any one of them could pin a man to a tree by his ear, they are a force to be reckoned with. Their missions are executed with a calm detachment.
Earth Kingdom soldiers tell stories that these men take drugs to eliminate their emotions. They say that they cut each other, mixing their blood so that they can communicate without even talking. Other rumors claim that they are either the sons of a dark spirit or possessed by one that require their human soul and take their voice.
Of course those were only – mostly – rumors. Stories told at taverns by old veterans and young soldiers alike. Most could hardly be expected to be true. The Yu Yan, upon hearing them, couldn't believe the ridiculous things people said about them.
Of course they talked.
Five men to a team, three teams were one unit, singularly focused on their target. The Avatar was certainly a greater prize than any they had hunted before.
He ran from them straight off the side of a cliff. The boy was an airbender, not suicidal. No hesitation, their hands went to the rope at their sides, the arrows on their backs, and they were efficiently, expertly tied.
They ran straight for the cliff and leapt off.
For three seconds, they flew. Each archer loosed an arrow, each went into the tree up to the fletching, each swung easily through the air and landed lightly on a branch. They spotted the target, they jumped from tree to tree to ground after him.
The Avatar was an airbender. Legend says, airbenders could run faster than the wind. No one can catch the wind.
The Yu Yan dragged the Avatar back to base, wrapped in a net.
The Yu Yan begged to differ with 'Legend'.
Don't expect regular updates on this. I wonder if there will be an Yu Yan equivalent to the Yu Yan in Korra or if the metalbenders be it. Which won't be bad if they give us more than one episode featuring them and then throw 'em on the bus.