Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim to own any characters or concepts related to Avatar: the Last Airbender. This is a nonprofit work of fanfiction.

This is part of a much longer story I've been plotting off and on for the last three years, a story drawing heavily on the Sumerian myth of Inan(n)a's descent to the netherworld (a translation of which you can read here: www . piney . com / InanasDescNether . html -- minus the spaces, of course). I should probably get around to working on that story. I've certainly put it off long enough.

So, er, keep an eye out for "Katara Descending," coming to an LJ/FFN archive near you at some point in the possibly near future?

Descent

Now she came to the tree of all man's fear, the roots of which are borne in the cave of all man's despair, which is of and not of the world of men. She came with her blessed sword, given to her from the forge of Piandao. She came with the sacred fan of the Avatar Kyoshi, given to her by the disciples of Kyoshi. She came with spirit water, given to her from the oasis of the Northern Water Tribe. She came with the mask of Bu Lian, given to her by the priests of Chi Shan Diantang. All this she brought with her to the tree of all man's fear, which grows from the cave of all man's despair.

Katara descended into the cave. There she found Koh the Face Stealer, who dwells within the roots of the tree of all man's fear. She was not afraid, for she had with her the mask of Bu Lian.

Out of the deep, dark places of the cave of all man's despair, Koh the Face Stealer came to her. His feet clicked as needles against the stone. His beetle's carapace gleamed like a sheet of jet polished beneath a light. He wore the face of a child, a small child who wept as if in pain.

Like a serpent he surrounded her.

"How clever," he said. "A mask: so few think of that."

Katara who descended into the cave said, "I'm looking for my husband."

"And so you've come to me," said the Face Stealer. "A wise decision. I see many things and I forget nothing. I have so little to entertain me here in my humble home."

He twined around her so his shell stroked against her skin.

"Perhaps I ate him," said the Face Stealer. "Perhaps he wasn't quite as clever as you are. Perhaps I took his face and then I ate him. Would you know his face if I showed it to you?" His voice rolled low and sweet, a lullaby whispered into her ear. "Was he dear to you? Do you long to see him? Was he a king? A humble potter?"

Katara who wore the mask of Bu Lian said, "My husband is the Avatar."

"The Avatar!" said the Face Stealer. Now he wore the face of a woman: a sad woman with dark hair. "We've met before, many times. He tried to kill me once, but I've forgiven him this transgression. That was a different life. It's important to know when to let things go. Don't you agree?"

Katara who did not tremble said, "If you know where my husband is, you're going to tell me."

"And why should I tell you?" said the Face Stealer. "How much better for you to stay here with me."

Katara who had descended into the world of all spirits and there walked the desert of all man's burning and swam the river of all man's sorrow and climbed the mountain of all man's regret in search of her husband said, "If you won't tell me where my husband is, then I'll make you."

Now the Face Stealer smiled and laughed behind the guise of a young man, whose teeth flashed so white in the shadows of the cave. "Oh, I doubt that," said the Face Stealer. "This has been entertaining, but see how late it's getting. Perhaps I should just eat you and be done with it."

"You can try," said Katara. From her waist she drew the sacred fan of the Avatar Kyoshi, given to her by the disciples of Kyoshi. This she opened with a flick of wrist. This she held to the Face Stealer's throat.

"You dare," hissed the Face Stealer. "You dare threaten me? I am Koh, who resides in the land of man's darkest dreams. I will gut you. I will bite out your tongue. I will drink your entrails. I will swallow your eyes. I will wear your face as a mask and what I see you will see, and where I go you will go, and you will rot within me always, flesh and spirit alike."

He did not move.

Said Katara who wore the mask of Bu Lian and bore the sacred fan of the Avatar Kyoshi,

"This is the fan of Avatar Kyoshi. You tried to kill her, but you failed, didn't you? You waited too long to take her. She wasn't afraid of you. But you were afraid of her."

As she spoke Katara stepped forward and as she stepped forward the Face Stealer retreated before her. His needlepoint feet skittered across the stone of the cave. His body twisted into loops behind him. He snarled at her: now an oni with crooked tusks, now a man wild and terrible, now a woman whose mouth dripped blood, thick and red, pooling beneath Katara's feet.

Said Katara who did not turn away but persisted,

"She beat you. She did it with this fan. She knew your weakness and she bound her knowledge to this fan. She waited for you all the while you were waiting for her and when you came for her, she was ready."

"Foolish child!" said the Face Stealer. "Arrogant child. Stupid child. You understand nothing."

"You're right," said Katara. "I don't. But I know that Kyoshi beat you. I know that you fear her. And I might not know what it is she bound up in this fan to make you run away and hide, but I know that I can use it to put an end to you."

Coiled now in the roots of the tree of all man's fear, Koh the Face Stealer laughed and it was a low laugh; it was an ugly laugh. Out of the shadows, his eyes gleamed, terrible and red.

"You cannot end me," whispered the Face Stealer. "Even the Avatar cannot do that. But I will tell you what it is you so want to know."

She said, "Tell me where my husband is."

"Why not?" said the Face Stealer as he vanished ever further into the roots, which swallowed him and passed him on into the dark. "After all, we're friends, you and I. We have such respect for one another."

His voice rose from the shadows, sweet as a lullaby, cruel as a curse. He said, "The Avatar is lost in the heart of the world. He walks the old places, where Jiyi and Wangdiao sleep entwined with Chuangzuo and Sijie. He's forgotten the way back, I'm afraid. He's forgotten where he came from. So I've heard. Perhaps he remembers, but he no longer wishes to return.

"I wonder if you'll find him," said the Face Stealer. "I wonder if he will remember you."

Katara remained there in the cave of all man's despair but the Face Stealer did not return. So she ascended from the cave. In payment for the Face Stealer's knowledge she left the mask of Bu Lian at the mouth of the cave of all man's despair, for this is the way of the Spirit World: a price must be paid for that which is given. At every gate, a toll.

Katara replaced the sacred fan of the Avatar Kyoshi at her waist and continued on her way. She went with her blessed sword, given to her from the forge of Piandao. She went with the sacred fan of the Avatar Kyoshi, given to her by the disciples of Kyoshi. She went with spirit water, given to her from the oasis of the Northern Water Tribe. All this she brought with her. All this she bore.

Katara descended into the heart of the world.

This story was originally posted at livejournal on 08/23/2009 in response to the 08/24/2009 prompt for Kataang Week (Summer 2009 Edition), "spirit."