To be Legendary (ATLA Nonbender OC)

[korzark]

My father was the typical nobleman.

A pompous, self-important, arrogant bastard that had been given status, riches, and power, simply by the circumstances of his birth.

He was also the typical idiot, meaning that after his parents died, leaving him with complete control over the entirety of their estate, he was quick to squander it. If I was more forgiving of him, I would also be inclined to note that he could've been worse. He wasn't a gambler who had accidentally lost his house in promises of a big win, nor was he an addict who would pawn off the rooftiles of his ancestral home for a quick fix of opium, but in my opinion, he was somehow worse than both of those.

He was simply a fool. With no factors to blame other than his poor financial decisions, he had somehow lost a large portion of the wealth that had been left to him. While he was still obscenely rich, his generational wealth being vast enough that he literally wouldn't be able to spend all of it in his lifetime even if he tried, he had made himself a joke in the political world where his own parents had once been feared and respected amongst the upper echelons of the Fire Nation.

His name had been smeared in the mud, but he believed that if he salvaged the legacy of our family through the next generation, he would be forgiven by his ancestors.

My mother was a firebender, a powerful one in her own right, even if she used her art for performace rather than war. He had married her in hopes that she would sire him a strong firebending son, even if he had no such talents of his own, and he had been disappointed when I grew up and showed no talents in her art. But no matter. He could always try again if he needed to, but when my mother gave birth to septuplet girls, and refused to sire any more children, my father was stuck with me as his only male heir.

My sisters, though I loved them in concept, I didn't understand them. As septuplets, each of them fought to appear in the spotlight of my father's attention, but I could never understand why. It wasn't something worth fighting for.

My father was still rich enough that, once they were old enough, they were all shipped to a boarding school for obscenely rich young ladies, while I was stuck at home, under his incompetent tutelage.

He intended to teach me the art of military regardless of my lack of firebending ability, hoping to forge me into a respected general that could bring back his family's honour, but he had no talent for war and no talent for teaching. I'm not sure why he insisted that he be the one to tutor me on these things, but I could only assume it was out of stubbornness or fear that he would get no recognition if I succeeded under someone else's guidance. All it really taught me was how to be more defiant. The more I was exposed to him, the more I realized that he was weak, disgustingly so, in every way imaginable. It became clear that rather than teaching me, he was more interested in jumping at the distorted reflections of his own mistakes that he saw in every move I made.

My father was a traditional man, and corporal punishment was one tradition that he was quick to resort to whenever I did something to remind him of his failures, such as breathing, but his limp-wristed beatings were not the reason that I left that household.

I was actually inspired by news of one of my sisters running away from her school, leaving only a note behind that claimed she was off to join the circus. It made me realize that if my baby sister could simply decide to leave the life that our parents set out for her, there was little that actually tied me down to my father, aside from a few very climbable walls.

I refuse to suggest that I ran away from home, implying that there was anything worth running from, but when I left my home at the age of thirteen, with nothing on but my clothes and a small bag of tools, I found myself strangely drawn to the mountain range that surrounded my hometown. One of the few things that my father had taught me that stuck in my mind, were the quotes of scholars that were wiser than him.

"We are not defined by the mountains we face in life, but what we choose to do once we come across them."

While it pained me to take the quote so literally, like my father who had somehow missed the obvious metaphor and went off on a tangent to describe the geographical benefits and challenges of maintaining a city on the mountainside like ours was, with nothing better to do, I climbed it.

Surviving in the mountain wasn't as difficult as I might've assumed, if I had actually been thinking of that when I chose to climb it. I had learned several survival techniques under the tutelage of the vast library in my ancestral home, and was able to identify any berries and shrubs that were safe to eat with minimal preparation, and I was able to fashion a basic trap out of my bag and the drawstring of my pants. While locating sources of water was a challenge at first, I eventually climbed high enough that snow started to gather under the permanent shadows of the cliffsides, which made it trivial. I hadn't packed much clothing, and the cold nights were almost lethal, but I was able to survive once I learned how to make fire with the dry shrubs that littered the rocky mountainside.

It was a luxury to live a life that didn't include the constant eyesore of my father, but it was clear that it wasn't a life I wasn't meant to live. While I could easily become a hermit if I wanted to, the idea didn't sit right with me. It felt too much like I was giving up on living in society, and while the world outside of the mountain held no special place in my heart, it wasn't like the mountain was a significant place for me either. In fact, when I realized that I had just spent about a week on a mountain for no real reason, I couldn't help but feel annoyed at myself for being so aimless.

It was at that moment that I decided to climb back down the mountain. I didn't know what I would do once I got down, but I knew for sure that I would leave my hometown immediately. I didn't know where I would go or why, which made me disappointed in myself, but I knew that whatever my life's purpose was, I wouldn't find it where I could still feel my father's weak presence.

But as I was walking down, I saw something. A large boar goat was standing a large distance away from me, on a steeper section of the rocky mountainside below where I was. It was big enough that it could be a threat if it decided to charge me, but as it stared lazily at me with its rectangular eyes, it let out a disgruntled snort of warning before returning its attention to grazing on the shrubbery that it stood beside. Once I realized that it meant me no harm, I was about to dismiss it as readily as it did me, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

I don't know how I spotted it, maybe it was just instinct or chance, but the snow leopard that pressed its body to the cliffside above me was perfectly camouflaged against the grey of the rocks and snow that surrounded it. I unwittingly locked eyes with it, and though its eyes narrowed and its lips curled into a snarl, it made no move against me, returning its attention to the boar goat that it was stalking.

I stayed still, partially to lower the risk of me provoking it, and partially so I wouldn't accidentally draw the boar goat's attention again and risk the snow leopard's detection.

Thankfully, neither of those things happened, and the snow leopard eventually broke its gaze with me, returning its attention to the boar goat.

I don't know how long it waited, or what triggered it to pounce when it did, but it happened in an instant, launching from its hiding spot and racing down the mountainside at a breakneck speed. The boar goat managed to react quicker that I would have, but it stumbled as it tried to run down the steep mountain face, almost falling before regaining its footing. It was a mistake that took less than a second to recover from, but it was enough to spell out its death. The snow leopard jaws clamped around the boar goat's neck, and in an instant it was dead.

The snow leopard wasted no time in consuming its kill, and it glared at me as it did, as if warning me away with its glare. I ignored its silent warning, but while it was visibly annoyed by my presence, it didn't seem to think that it was worth the effort to try to chase me away. I watched in fascination as it ate, and when it left, I followed.

In this world, there were great beasts that lived in the mortal realm that coasted on the outer edges of divinity. The badger mole, the dragon, the sky bison, the ocean and water spirits that took the form of koi. These were the great beasts that had taught the original benders their arts. It was no exaggeration to suggest that they had been the most influential mortal beings to shape humanity as a whole.

I wasn't under any delusion that this snow leopard was anything like the great beasts. It had intelligence and instinct, but it was not wise. It had no ability to bend and shape the elements like the great beasts could, but then again, neither did I.

I followed it on a whim, not knowing what I was expecting to achieve, even if I was certain that I was doing it for some purpose that was still unknown to me. The beast didn't appreciate my presence, but it didn't chase me off. I watched as it stalked through the mountains, every single movement it made being graceful and deliberate, despite the fact that it wasn't actively hunting. I felt myself trying to mirror the way it walked, even if I didn't understand how or why.

Whether it was deliberately trying to lose me, or it simply felt like going that way, it led me through a more treacherous hike than I was used to. Rocks fell away underneath my footfalls, forcing me to scrabble for purchase more than once, scraping and bruising my skin every time I fell, but the snow leopard held no regard for my slower pace. It continued onwards, only sparing me an occasional glance to make sure that I was not actively attacking it, though I don't know if I imagined the amused glint in its eyes whenever I fell.

Through a combination of the darkening sky, and the growing distance between us, I eventually lost sight of it. I went hungry that night, not having enough time to hunt for food, while searching for a place to sleep without freezing to death.

The next morning, I set a trap to secure a source of meat for my breakfast, and though I caught a medium-sized rabbit almost immediately, a hot wave of embarrassment ran through me for some reason. I did cook and eat the rabbit, but as the memory of the snow leopard's hunt ran through my mind, I resolved to not use a trap to hunt for meat again.

My first attempt at hunting a small boar goat went miserably. I tried to emulate the snow leopard's tactics, but its physiology was suited for racing down the mountainside while mine wasn't. The boar goat barely registered me as a threat, but managed to run away from me before I reached it, not that I was sure I could even kill it if I managed to catch it at that point. Rather than pouncing at my prey like my unwilling teacher had, it would've more apt to describe my hunting style as "falling" or "suicide".

Grateful that I didn't accidentally break my neck on my first attempt at hunting, I ate only berries and grasses that day.

My next attempts weren't successful either. Though I slowly managed to learn how to run down the mountain without killing myself, it was too slow to catch anything, even slower than my first attempts, and after a week of trying and failing to catch anything with my hands, I was really starting to miss the taste of meat.

My salvation came once I found another snow leopard to observe.

I had no idea of knowing whether it was the same one that I had seen earlier, but whether it was or not, it had the same majesty as the one from before. When I watched the snow leopard stalking its prey, I felt a petty sense of jealousy run through me at its natural gifts, of its camouflage, its sharp teeth, and its large paws that let it so effortlessly run down the mountainside.

But as I watched the snow leopard again, glaring angrily with a belly full of nothing but a rabbit's diet, my eyes widened as I noticed the intent behind the snow leopard's eyes.

While I could see the hungry glare behind its eyes, its focus barely hovered over its prey, but roamed over the entirety of the mountainside. At first, I assumed that it was just scanning the area for threats before it dedicated itself to the hunt, but I quickly realized that it was scanning the mountainside itself.

I watched as its gaze focused on seemingly random points in the mountain, but before I could figure out why, the beast launched itself into the hunt.

My eyes widened further when I realized what the snow leopard was doing. While at a glance, it seemed like it was just relying on its natural agility and physiology to run down the mountain, its movements had mirrored the way that it's eyes were moving a moment before.

I didn't fully grasp why it was moving as it did, until it finished hunting and eating its prey. Once it left the area, sparing me an annoyed side-glance as it did, I climbed up to the spot that it had been stalking its prey from. With the movements of the snow leopard fresh in my mind, I ran down the mountainside, matching my memory as best as I could.

My body realized what was going on before my mind did. While I wasn't quite as fast as the snow leopard was, unable to replicate its movements with the differences in our body, I started to realize that the path that the snow leopard had taken was incredibly deliberate, taking a secure path down the mountain that would give it ample purchase to run at full speed without risk of falling, while leading its prey into a more unsteady path.

My celebration at my realization was cut short when I let out a whoop of excitement and forgot to account for the fact that I still needed to slow down eventually. Taking the exact path that the snow leopard did, unfortunately led to me tripping over the carrion of its kill and tumbling down the mountain, but I was too excited to care.

For several more days, I spent my efforts in hunting more boar goats, trying to utilize the same techniques that the snow leopards did, and eventually succeeded in taking one down, driving my hunting knife deep into its neck. It was the most delicious meal that I'd ever had in my life, and once I was done, I skinned the boar and fashioned a rudimentary pelt out of it. It smelt awful and I didn't manage to get the entirety of the gore off of it before I threw it over my shoulders, but I was too giddy to care.

I'm not sure how much longer I stayed on that mountain before I was reminded that an entire society of people lived at the bottom of it.

When I saw a group of people travelling up the mountain, I didn't know what to think. My first instinct was to assume that my father had sent a troupe of hunters to bring me back to him, and after remembering him for the first time in a while, my first instinct was to feel anger, but I quickly shook it off. These hunters seemed equipped for beasts, not people. It was unlikely they were here for me.

I watched them from afar for a couple of hours, stalking them out of curiosity for a while, before I decided that I was curious enough to try and talk to them.

I stood from my hiding spot above them and let them notice me before I waved at them.

The surprise on their faces was obvious, even from so far away, but after a moment of initial shock, they waved back at me.

Taking that as a sign of friendliness, I made my way towards them.

"Hello," I said, grateful that my lack of speech in the recent months or years hadn't taken my sense of language away completely. "I don't usually see any other people on the mountains. What brings you around these parts?"

"Hello, child," the leader of the group said. He seemed a little confused to be having a conversation with someone like me, but not enough to be impolite. "We're in the area because we're hunting for some game. It's a dangerous place up here. Do you live here?"

I nodded. "I do."

"Alone?"

"Yes," I said, pausing when I realized that he was concerned for my sake. "I like it that way too. I was just curious about what you were doing here."

The leader frowned, but seemed to accept what I was saying.

"I was going to offer you safe passage down the mountain once we were done here, but I suppose you've turned that offer down before I could even make it," he says. "I hope your curiosity is satisfied, but I'll be honest, it doesn't sit right leaving a kid like you alone here. How old are you anyways?"

"Either thirteen or fourteen, depending on how long I've been up here," I admitted. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm really fine."

"If you insist," the leader said, though the expression he wore clearly didn't agree with what he was saying. He stared at me for a while, but when he saw no way to sway me, he sighed.

"At least let me give you a bit of clothes," he said. "That pelt you're wearing is filthy."

"I won't take charity," I said. "Besides, I happen to like this pelt. Skinned it off my first hunt."

"I can only assume you skinned it with a particularly sharp rock," he said, shaking his head.

I shrugged. With how dull my only knife was at this point, he was close enough to the truth.

"What if I paid you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It wouldn't be charity if you worked for it, right?" he asked. "You must be familiar with these mountains if you live here, and quite frankly, we're more used to hunting in a forest environment. It would be helpful to have a guide."

I considered the offer for a moment.

"I'll work for sweets or pastries if you have any," I said. "I can get by with what I have here, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss having a snack every now and then."

For the first time since we started talking, the leader smiled.

"Sure thing," he said. "Lang Fen back there always has some sort of snacks on him. Hunting expeditions are the only time his wife won't nag him about his eating habits."

There was a weak protest from one of the men, presumably Li Fang, and a chorus of quiet laughter from the rest of the troupe. I smiled along with them. It was a nice atmosphere.

"So what sort of things would you have me do?" I asked. "I'm familiar enough with the mountains that I have a decent idea of where I'd look for most animals, but I mostly hunt for boar goats."

"Boar goats, huh?" the leader said, raising an eyebrow before he glanced at the pelt that hung over my shoulders realizing what he had criticized just a moment ago. "That's impressive. Those things are notoriously hard to catch."

I grinned at the praise, giving him a shrug. "I've had a lot of practise," I said. "I could probably catch a couple for you if that's what you're looking for."

Though the leader considered the offer, he shook his head.

"While there's always demand for boar goat, I think we'd rather not lose sight of our original goal," he said. "We're hunting for snow leopards. Some nobleman wants a set of furs, even though they went out of fashion a while ago. Good money for us, though."

"Ah," I said.

I didn't know exactly how to react to the reveal. While I wasn't exactly happy about the idea of hunting down the creatures that I had learned so much from, I supposed I didn't have any sort of emotional attachment to them either. And as far as I could tell, these men were just trying to make an honest living. But it didn't help their case that they were hunting on behalf of a nobleman.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't think I can guide you to any snow leopards."

"Oh," the man said. "Well, that's reasonable. Would you still be willing to guide us across the mountains? I assume you would know how to navigate them, even if you don't know of any specific snow leopard resting spots."

I shook my head.

"No, I think you misunderstand," I said. "I know where the snow leopards live. I just refuse to guide you to them. In fact, I forbid it."

When the atmosphere immediately turned hostile, I sighed. It had been a nice conversation too.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, kid?" the leader asked.

"It means that if you want to hunt here, you'll have to get through me first," I said, hoping the message was clear enough.

"And what exactly gives you the power to decide that?" the leader asked. "There's no law against hunting snow leopards, and this isn't private property."

I shrugged, wondering if I was making a grave mistake. None of the hunters looked like they were fighters, but every single one of them had a bow and a knife on them, and they outnumbered me five to one. I'd never been in a fight before, so I wasn't sure why I was so confident in my declaration, but I refused to back down now that I'd made it.

"I like snow leopards," I said simply. "And I guess I owe them enough that I don't want you killing any, especially not for a nobleman."

"You got something against noblemen, then?" the leader asked.

I shrugged. "I guess," I said. "So what's it gonna be?"

The leader frowned, and I could feel the tension that hung in the air over my threat.

"You're making a stupid choice, kid," he said. "You do realize that, don't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "But it's my choice to make."

The leader sighed and turned around. For some reason, I felt a tinge of disappointment at his decision, even though I knew it was probably better for me.

"Not gonna fight?" I asked.

"I don't want to fight a child," he said. "And I'm not willing to risk my men getting injured over a petty scuffle."

"That's fair," I said, even if I didn't quite agree.

The leader didn't say another word, and neither did his men, even if they shot me dirty looks, grumbling under their breaths about having wasted their time.

It was only after they left my sight completely that I started to follow them, stalking them down the mountain until I was sure that they wouldn't simply double back once they thought I wasn't watching. To my surprise, the hunters stuck to their word, making a straight path down the mountainside without noticing my presence.

The disappointment still hung over me, along with my confusion. I still didn't understand why I had threatened the men on behalf of beasts that didn't care for me, but for some reason, I felt like I had been on the cusp of a discovery, similar to when I had hunted down my first boar goat. But it evaded me.

Frustrated, I made my way back up the mountain, trying unsuccessfully to forget the temporary break in my hermitic lifestyle.

It took a week for another break in my hermitic lifestyle to happen, when I discovered a small group of Fire Nation soldiers trudging up the mountainside. They were lightly armored, which might have made them vulnerable to the cold if not for the two firebenders in their group, keeping a steady flame alive in their hands as they walked, distributing its heat to their fellows.

For some reason that I couldn't explain, the sight excited me. I stalked them for a short while before it became obvious that, like the group of hunters that came before them, they were searching for something.

With my heartbeat pounding in my ears, I stood up, but unlike what I did with the hunters, I didn't approach them.

"Hello," I called out, smiling down at the five soldiers. "It seems like these mountains have been rather popular recently. Anything happening around here that I should know about?"

Immediately, the soldiers shifted into fighting stances at the sound of my voice. I lowered my self to the ground in anticipation of an attack, but before they did anything, one of the firebenders held up a fist.

"We've received reports of a young child causing disruptions to hunting activities in the area," he shouted. "I assume that you are the child in question?"

"What would you do if I said I was?" I asked.

Even from this far away, I could see the firebender's eyebrows furrowing.

"You would be arrested and charged with the crime of disrupting the local economy, and will be brought into questioning to determine if you are intentionally attempting to manipulate the furs market. If you are found guilty of this, you will be given a hefty fine and potentially jail time. Any collaborators you have will also suffer the same fate," he said.

"I don't have any collaborators," I said. "But that does sound suspiciously like me."

"Is that an admission of guilt?" the firebender asked.

I still didn't understand why I was so insistent on goading them into a fight, but it somehow felt like the right thing to do. I rolled my eyes, hoping that the firebender could see the action as clearly as I could see his frown.

"Do you really have to ask?" I said, motioning for them to approach me. "Just come on."

Maybe it was the casual way that I said it, but the group seemed to be confused by the clear invitation.

"You're coming with us willingly?" the firebender asked.

I groaned and picked up a small rock beside me, and hurled it at the group. They all flinched back, ducking their heads slightly, even if it wasn't any close to hitting them.

"Obviously not," I said. "If you want to arrest me, you'll have to take me down first."

When the group still didn't move, I picked up a bigger rock and threw it at them with the intent to actually try to hit them with it. Surprisingly, I managed to hit one of the firebenders' legs, and he curled up, howling in pain before he lost his footing and stumbled down the mountain, shrieking the entire way down. A surge of disappointment ran through me at the sight, but before I could say anything, I let out a yelp when a pillar of flame shot towards my face.

Though I was able to dodge it in time, it got close enough to me that it might've singed my eyebrows off if the firebender hadn't been so far away, making his flame weaker by the time it got to me.

When I peeked my head back up, I saw the firebender glaring up at me.

"What are you idiots doing?" he yelled. "Get him!"

The soldiers started to move, and I felt myself smiling at the sight.

"Finally," I said.

As the soldiers stumbled up the rocky mountainside, I watched them for a moment before turned around and started to run, climbing up the mountain at a pace that was just slow enough that it would make them think they could still catch me. It seemed to work, as the soldiers groaned, but didn't slow down in their pace.

Once I was able to get them to a position I wanted, I turned around and sprinted down the mountainside.

Before calling out to them, I had spent a decent time stalking them, observing them to a point where I had made a plan to deal with them. Out of the five soldiers, I knew two of them were firebenders already, but one thing that I'd noticed was that only two of the other soldiers were armed with a bo staff and a bow respectively, with the other three carrying no visible weaponry on them. Two of the unarmed soldiers showed that they could defend themselves with their bending, why wouldn't I assume the same of the last one?

I ran to the right of the group, making sure to position the bo staff wielding soldier in the path of the two benders that both aimed their palms towards me, before realizing that their fellow would be caught in the blast. Bo Staff attempted a charge towards me, but couldn't even get close to me before I ran past him, sprinting down towards the archer, who lagged behind the group to provide cover support.

Unfortunately for him, that also meant that nobody was close enough to defend him from my charge. To his credit, he did try to fire an arrow at me, but due to the combination of surprise at my sudden charge and his uneven footing, the arrow that he loosed went flying too far away from me to even be concerned about.

I wasn't exactly trained in any form of martial art aside from the uncoordinated flailing that my father had taught me, so the only thing I could think to do was to grab the archer's face and push it as violently as I could. Thankfully, my lack of technique didn't seem to matter, and I was able to practically throw him down the mountain.

I ignored the way that he screamed in pain as he bounced off the rocks, darting to the side to avoid a blast of fire that hit the ground a few feet away from where I stood. I ran towards Bo Staff hoping to use him as cover, but he tried to back off, seeming to realize that he was only in the way. I saw him shuffling over on the cliff, trying to swap places with the firebender that had just shot a gout of flame at me, but I quickly bent down to pick up another rock.

Even though I was confident enough in my footing to know that I wouldn't be as inhibited by the terrain as the archer as been, I wasn't as confident in my aim. The rock I had thrown earlier to incapacitate one of the firebenders had been a total fluke, and it hadn't given me enough false confidence to try and hit the firebender that was approaching me now, but thankfully, I had a much bigger target to aim for. Just as the firebender and Bo Staff were crossing each other's paths, I took aim and hurled the rock upwards as hard as I could, hitting a nearly dead shrub that clung desperately to the cliff face above them.

The impact of the rock was enough to shake the shrub loose, and though it wasn't big enough to cause any damage on its own, the spray of dead foliage and loose rocks that shook out of it was enough to confuse the firebender and Bo Staff, right as they crossed paths, making them bump into each other during their moment of temporary blindness, giving me enough time to run over and kick Bo Staff in the back, pushing him down the cliff alongside the firebender.

I leapt backwards, anticipating a blast of fire from the last soldier, the firebender that I had been talking to, but when none came from him, I frowned.

I looked up at him, as he stared down at me higher up on the mountainside. His eyebrows were furrowed in anger, and I could see an orange glow shining out from between his fingers, of the burning flame he clenched in his fists, but he didn't seem to have any intentions of releasing it.

I couldn't help but feel annoyed at the fact that he was looking down at me, but I didn't move from my spot.

"You gonna fight, or what?" I asked.

"This is hardly a fight," he said. "It's a mockery of what a proper fight should be."

"That just sounds like the words of a sore loser," I said, even if I couldn't help but grimace at his words. "Are you upset that I beat up your friends so quickly?"

"You fight like an airbender," he said, spitting the last word out like a slur. "Hopping around like a damn monkey. Are you a mindless animal or are you a man?"

Though the comment didn't hurt me as much as he might have assumed, the sense of superiority that dripped from his every word was admittedly enough to annoy me.

"What do you consider a proper fight to be, then?" I asked. "If ganging up five to one against a kid half your age is acceptable, I'd love to hear your definition of it."

The firebender grimaced, but quickly recovered into a sneer.

"A criminal does not deserve an honourable duel," he said. "But if an honourable duel is what you want, then I will show you one."

It was at that point that I realized that the firebender was a nobleman. The smarmy, overconfident attitude was a familiar one, and I knew for a fact that he truly believed in the bullshit that he spouted. When he turned around to march up the cliff, exposing his back to me, I knew that he only did it because he thought himself invincible, like there was no possible way that I would dare to attack him.

I was almost tempted to do it, to see his confused expression as I pushed him down the mountain, but I held myself back. I didn't want to risk him walking away from this with any semblance of self confidence left in his arrogant body. If I defeated him my way, there was a possibility that he would explain it away as me having cheated somehow, or that I had been scared to fight him in what he considered to be an honourable duel.

So I followed him.

I could only assume that the firebender was searching for some place that was flat enough that it wouldn't give me the advantage. I knew it was a futile attempt, knowing the mountains well enough to know there was nothing like a formal dojo here, but he eventually got frustrated and after ten minutes of walking, he just stopped and decided that this was somehow different from the rest of the mountain that we'd just walked past, even though I knew there was no difference.

"Agni Kai," the firebender said, signalling for me to stop in my place as he walked away. "Have you heard of it?"

I shrugged. "It's a firebending duel," I said. "First to get burned loses. Don't see how that applies here, seeing as I can't firebend."

"Oh, is that so?" he asked, feigning surprise. "Isn't that a shame."

Without warning, a great gout of flame erupted in my direction. I let out a loud laugh.

"So damn predictable!" I shouted as I darted up the mountain. "You noblemen always hiding behind tradition and honour, while you mold the definition to suit your needs. You don't have a drop of honour in that body of yours."

"Shut up!" the firebender shouted back, pausing to ready up his fists before sending another pillar of flame at me. "Don't pretend to know what honour is, you damn savage."

I laughed at his poor deflection, as I sat behind a large rock. I drew my limbs inwards to protect them from the flames that licked around the edges of my shelter.

"You're hilarious, you know that?" I asked. "An absolute riot, so blind to your own hypocrisy that you wouldn't recognize it if it slapped you in the face. Don't worry though. I'll slap you in the face as much times as needed until you get it."

The firebender screamed at me, and I waited until he was done before I launched myself over the rock, ignoring the way that the hot stone burned the bottoms of my feet. Maybe if this was a proper arena, he would've had enough space to recover and send another blast of fire towards me, but the mountain plateau was much smaller than a traditional dojo. As it was, I found myself standing right in front of him, before he could even draw in his next breath.

"Hey," I said, before I punched him in the stomach.

I had never actually punched anyone before, and he was able to scramble backwards after the hit, making enough distance to try and gather up another flame to send my way, but I didn't feel the need to stop him.

I smiled as he shot a pitiful flame in my direction, barely an ember.

"You know, it might be my own rotten nobleman's blood at work there, but I really shouldn't have been so overconfident that that would work, huh?" I asked. "If you could still bend, I would've probably died."

"Wha-" the firebender wheezed, barely able to squeeze out his words. "What did you do to my bending?"

"Nothing fancy," I said. "I just noticed a little something. Every time you firebenders breath, you shoot your attacks out at a very specific rhythm. My father had me learn the stances, even if I wasn't actually a bender, and it always struck me as weird that no matter how big or small the move was, there was always an equally long pause between each move."

When the firebender pushed his fist towards me, panic flooding his eyes, I sighed. I walked over to him, drew my hand back and slapped him in the face as hard as I could.

"Listen when people talk to you," I said. "You could learn something new."

The firebender held his face in shock, staring at me like I had just done something impossible.

I sighed and slapped him again.

"As I was saying, I just thought it was a silly little thing that my father forced upon me. It was ridiculous. A little jab to the head shouldn't take as long as a sweeping roundhouse kick. My father was wrong about a lot of things, and I had always assumed that his little firebending dances was just one of those many examples. But when I saw you and your little friends, I realized that there was a reason for those uniform pauses. It's because a big part of firebending is breath control."

I slapped him again.

"I didn't take away your ability to firebend, idiot," I said. "I just knocked the wind out of you."

When the firebender didn't react, still looking down at his hands in utter shock, as if he couldn't comprehend what I had just told him. I considered kicking him down the mountainside, but I didn't feel like he was worth the effort.

"Now get out of my sight. Tell your superiors to send stronger soldiers if they want to hunt in these mountains again."

I slapped him again for good measure.

Though he flinched at the impact, he didn't get up off the floor. I scoffed in disdain and left him myself, wandering back up the mountain in search of a boar goat to make into my next meal.

When a week passed and no stronger soldiers came by, I thought that maybe I had come on a little too strong. Just like how I'd slowed down for the soldiers to entice them into chasing me, I shouldn't have crushed the nobleman firebender's spirit so harshly. Maybe I should've let him get his licks in before kicking him down the mountain, and he might've ushered on some more soldiers to get revenge on his behalf.

Oh well, it wasn't like I really cared all too much.

One morning, I woke up and the quote that had originally spurred me to make my journey up this mountain echoed in my head.

"We are not defined by the mountains we face in life, but what we choose to do once we come across them."

I looked up the mountain, and chose to climb it.

It took me a few days to reach the peak of the tallest mountain in the range, and when I did, I looked down upon the clouds and I knew that this was where I belonged.

I don't know how long I stayed there for, simply staring off into the distance, when a low growl broke me out of my reverie.

I turned around to see a snow leopard glaring at me, peeking her head out of a small rocky den that I had barely noticed on my way up. Though I couldn't see her cubs, I could hear their quiet mewling echoing quietly behind her. Though the mother leopard had death in her eyes, I could only laugh loudly at the sight.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to intrude."

The beast, having no knowledge of language, obviously had no way to interpret what I was saying, and even though I wasn't trying to threaten her, I doubted that she would perceive me as anything but a threat with her cubs behind her.

I smiled at her.

"You know, I met a snow leopard just like you, not too long ago. Maybe you're even the very same snow leopard, but that's pretty unlikely, in my opinion. She taught me everything she knew, even though I doubt that she meant to. It wasn't much, but it did eventually lead me to realize where I belong in life. At the peak. Metaphorically, of course."

The snow leopard growled at me again in warning, but I didn't move, too caught up in my moment of self reflection to care.

"I'm strong," I said. "And I want to keep getting stronger. This peak might be enough for you, but I want to go higher. I want to climb higher than no mortal has gone before."

She yowled at me, and I laughed before finally standing up.

"You really don't care about what I have to say, huh?" I asked. "Such a cruel beast. Here I am, pouring my heart out to you and you won't even listen. Oh well. Just so you know, I told the humans downstairs that these mountains are off limits, but it was mostly out of selfish reasons so don't bother thanking me. I can only assume that they'll forget about me in a couple of months, but I won't be sticking around to remind them. All I'm saying is to stay safe, okay?"

The snow leopard let out a low grumble as I made my intent to leave clear, making me laugh.

"I probably won't see you ever again, and I doubt you'll remember my name, but I do like you, so let me give you the honour of being the first to hear my legend."

Turning around, I shouted out into the air.

"Hear my name! The strongest man to live amongst men. I am Ty Lung!"

The snow leopard yowled angrily at the loud noise, and I was about to laugh before I heard a quiet chorus of mewls erupting from deeper within the cave that she was guarding.

"Ah shit, sorry," I said. "Didn't mean to wake the little ones."

She grumbled angrily in response.

"Yeah," I said, with a chuckle. "That's fair."

 

[MilitantBird]

My father was the typical nobleman.

A pompous, self-important, arrogant bastard that had been given status, riches, and power, simply by the circumstances of his birth.

He was also the typical idiot, meaning that after his parents died, leaving him with complete control over the entirety of their estate, he was quick to squander it. If I was more forgiving of him, I would also be inclined to note that he could've been worse. He wasn't a gambler who had accidentally lost his house in promises of a big win, nor was he an addict who would pawn off the rooftiles of his ancestral home for a quick fix of opium, but in my opinion, he was somehow worse than both of those.

He was simply a fool. With no factors to blame other than his poor financial decisions, he had somehow lost a large portion of the wealth that had been left to him. While he was still obscenely rich, his generational wealth being vast enough that he literally wouldn't be able to spend all of it in his lifetime even if he tried, he had made himself a joke in the political world where his own parents had once been feared and respected amongst the upper echelons of the Fire Nation.

His name had been smeared in the mud, but he believed that if he salvaged the legacy of our family through the next generation, he would be forgiven by his ancestors.

My mother was a firebender, a powerful one in her own right, even if she used her art for performace rather than war. He had married her in hopes that she would sire him a strong firebending son, even if he had no such talents of his own, and he had been disappointed when I grew up and showed no talents in her art. But no matter. He could always try again if he needed to, but when my mother gave birth to septuplet girls, and refused to sire any more children, my father was stuck with me as his only male heir.

My sisters, though I loved them in concept, I didn't understand them. As septuplets, each of them fought to appear in the spotlight of my father's attention, but I could never understand why. It wasn't something worth fighting for.

My father was still rich enough that, once they were old enough, they were all shipped to a boarding school for obscenely rich young ladies, while I was stuck at home, under his incompetent tutelage.

He intended to teach me the art of military regardless of my lack of firebending ability, hoping to forge me into a respected general that could bring back his family's honour, but he had no talent for war and no talent for teaching. I'm not sure why he insisted that he be the one to tutor me on these things, but I could only assume it was out of stubbornness or fear that he would get no recognition if I succeeded under someone else's guidance. All it really taught me was how to be more defiant. The more I was exposed to him, the more I realized that he was weak, disgustingly so, in every way imaginable. It became clear that rather than teaching me, he was more interested in jumping at the distorted reflections of his own mistakes that he saw in every move I made.

My father was a traditional man, and corporal punishment was one tradition that he was quick to resort to whenever I did something to remind him of his failures, such as breathing, but his limp-wristed beatings were not the reason that I left that household.

I was actually inspired by news of one of my sisters running away from her school, leaving only a note behind that claimed she was off to join the circus. It made me realize that if my baby sister could simply decide to leave the life that our parents set out for her, there was little that actually tied me down to my father, aside from a few very climbable walls.

I refuse to suggest that I ran away from home, implying that there was anything worth running from, but when I left my home at the age of thirteen, with nothing on but my clothes and a small bag of tools, I found myself strangely drawn to the mountain range that surrounded my hometown. One of the few things that my father had taught me that stuck in my mind, were the quotes of scholars that were wiser than him.

"We are not defined by the mountains we face in life, but what we choose to do once we come across them."

While it pained me to take the quote so literally, like my father who had somehow missed the obvious metaphor and went off on a tangent to describe the geographical benefits and challenges of maintaining a city on the mountainside like ours was, with nothing better to do, I climbed it.

Surviving in the mountain wasn't as difficult as I might've assumed, if I had actually been thinking of that when I chose to climb it. I had learned several survival techniques under the tutelage of the vast library in my ancestral home, and was able to identify any berries and shrubs that were safe to eat with minimal preparation, and I was able to fashion a basic trap out of my bag and the drawstring of my pants. While locating sources of water was a challenge at first, I eventually climbed high enough that snow started to gather under the permanent shadows of the cliffsides, which made it trivial. I hadn't packed much clothing, and the cold nights were almost lethal, but I was able to survive once I learned how to make fire with the dry shrubs that littered the rocky mountainside.

It was a luxury to live a life that didn't include the constant eyesore of my father, but it was clear that it wasn't a life I wasn't meant to live. While I could easily become a hermit if I wanted to, the idea didn't sit right with me. It felt too much like I was giving up on living in society, and while the world outside of the mountain held no special place in my heart, it wasn't like the mountain was a significant place for me either. In fact, when I realized that I had just spent about a week on a mountain for no real reason, I couldn't help but feel annoyed at myself for being so aimless.

It was at that moment that I decided to climb back down the mountain. I didn't know what I would do once I got down, but I knew for sure that I would leave my hometown immediately. I didn't know where I would go or why, which made me disappointed in myself, but I knew that whatever my life's purpose was, I wouldn't find it where I could still feel my father's weak presence.

But as I was walking down, I saw something. A large boar goat was standing a large distance away from me, on a steeper section of the rocky mountainside below where I was. It was big enough that it could be a threat if it decided to charge me, but as it stared lazily at me with its rectangular eyes, it let out a disgruntled snort of warning before returning its attention to grazing on the shrubbery that it stood beside. Once I realized that it meant me no harm, I was about to dismiss it as readily as it did me, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

I don't know how I spotted it, maybe it was just instinct or chance, but the snow leopard that pressed its body to the cliffside above me was perfectly camouflaged against the grey of the rocks and snow that surrounded it. I unwittingly locked eyes with it, and though its eyes narrowed and its lips curled into a snarl, it made no move against me, returning its attention to the boar goat that it was stalking.

I stayed still, partially to lower the risk of me provoking it, and partially so I wouldn't accidentally draw the boar goat's attention again and risk the snow leopard's detection.

Thankfully, neither of those things happened, and the snow leopard eventually broke its gaze with me, returning its attention to the boar goat.

I don't know how long it waited, or what triggered it to pounce when it did, but it happened in an instant, launching from its hiding spot and racing down the mountainside at a breakneck speed. The boar goat managed to react quicker that I would have, but it stumbled as it tried to run down the steep mountain face, almost falling before regaining its footing. It was a mistake that took less than a second to recover from, but it was enough to spell out its death. The snow leopard jaws clamped around the boar goat's neck, and in an instant it was dead.

The snow leopard wasted no time in consuming its kill, and it glared at me as it did, as if warning me away with its glare. I ignored its silent warning, but while it was visibly annoyed by my presence, it didn't seem to think that it was worth the effort to try to chase me away. I watched in fascination as it ate, and when it left, I followed.

In this world, there were great beasts that lived in the mortal realm that coasted on the outer edges of divinity. The badger mole, the dragon, the sky bison, the ocean and water spirits that took the form of koi. These were the great beasts that had taught the original benders their arts. It was no exaggeration to suggest that they had been the most influential mortal beings to shape humanity as a whole.

I wasn't under any delusion that this snow leopard was anything like the great beasts. It had intelligence and instinct, but it was not wise. It had no ability to bend and shape the elements like the great beasts could, but then again, neither did I.

I followed it on a whim, not knowing what I was expecting to achieve, even if I was certain that I was doing it for some purpose that was still unknown to me. The beast didn't appreciate my presence, but it didn't chase me off. I watched as it stalked through the mountains, every single movement it made being graceful and deliberate, despite the fact that it wasn't actively hunting. I felt myself trying to mirror the way it walked, even if I didn't understand how or why.

Whether it was deliberately trying to lose me, or it simply felt like going that way, it led me through a more treacherous hike than I was used to. Rocks fell away underneath my footfalls, forcing me to scrabble for purchase more than once, scraping and bruising my skin every time I fell, but the snow leopard held no regard for my slower pace. It continued onwards, only sparing me an occasional glance to make sure that I was not actively attacking it, though I don't know if I imagined the amused glint in its eyes whenever I fell.

Through a combination of the darkening sky, and the growing distance between us, I eventually lost sight of it. I went hungry that night, not having enough time to hunt for food, while searching for a place to sleep without freezing to death.

The next morning, I set a trap to secure a source of meat for my breakfast, and though I caught a medium-sized rabbit almost immediately, a hot wave of embarrassment ran through me for some reason. I did cook and eat the rabbit, but as the memory of the snow leopard's hunt ran through my mind, I resolved to not use a trap to hunt for meat again.

My first attempt at hunting a small boar goat went miserably. I tried to emulate the snow leopard's tactics, but its physiology was suited for racing down the mountainside while mine wasn't. The boar goat barely registered me as a threat, but managed to run away from me before I reached it, not that I was sure I could even kill it if I managed to catch it at that point. Rather than pouncing at my prey like my unwilling teacher had, it would've more apt to describe my hunting style as "falling" or "suicide".

Grateful that I didn't accidentally break my neck on my first attempt at hunting, I ate only berries and grasses that day.

My next attempts weren't successful either. Though I slowly managed to learn how to run down the mountain without killing myself, it was too slow to catch anything, even slower than my first attempts, and after a week of trying and failing to catch anything with my hands, I was really starting to miss the taste of meat.

My salvation came once I found another snow leopard to observe.

I had no idea of knowing whether it was the same one that I had seen earlier, but whether it was or not, it had the same majesty as the one from before. When I watched the snow leopard stalking its prey, I felt a petty sense of jealousy run through me at its natural gifts, of its camouflage, its sharp teeth, and its large paws that let it so effortlessly run down the mountainside.

But as I watched the snow leopard again, glaring angrily with a belly full of nothing but a rabbit's diet, my eyes widened as I noticed the intent behind the snow leopard's eyes.

While I could see the hungry glare behind its eyes, its focus barely hovered over its prey, but roamed over the entirety of the mountainside. At first, I assumed that it was just scanning the area for threats before it dedicated itself to the hunt, but I quickly realized that it was scanning the mountainside itself.

I watched as its gaze focused on seemingly random points in the mountain, but before I could figure out why, the beast launched itself into the hunt.

My eyes widened further when I realized what the snow leopard was doing. While at a glance, it seemed like it was just relying on its natural agility and physiology to run down the mountain, its movements had mirrored the way that it's eyes were moving a moment before.

I didn't fully grasp why it was moving as it did, until it finished hunting and eating its prey. Once it left the area, sparing me an annoyed side-glance as it did, I climbed up to the spot that it had been stalking its prey from. With the movements of the snow leopard fresh in my mind, I ran down the mountainside, matching my memory as best as I could.

My body realized what was going on before my mind did. While I wasn't quite as fast as the snow leopard was, unable to replicate its movements with the differences in our body, I started to realize that the path that the snow leopard had taken was incredibly deliberate, taking a secure path down the mountain that would give it ample purchase to run at full speed without risk of falling, while leading its prey into a more unsteady path.

My celebration at my realization was cut short when I let out a whoop of excitement and forgot to account for the fact that I still needed to slow down eventually. Taking the exact path that the snow leopard did, unfortunately led to me tripping over the carrion of its kill and tumbling down the mountain, but I was too excited to care.

For several more days, I spent my efforts in hunting more boar goats, trying to utilize the same techniques that the snow leopards did, and eventually succeeded in taking one down, driving my hunting knife deep into its neck. It was the most delicious meal that I'd ever had in my life, and once I was done, I skinned the boar and fashioned a rudimentary pelt out of it. It smelt awful and I didn't manage to get the entirety of the gore off of it before I threw it over my shoulders, but I was too giddy to care.

I'm not sure how much longer I stayed on that mountain before I was reminded that an entire society of people lived at the bottom of it.

When I saw a group of people travelling up the mountain, I didn't know what to think. My first instinct was to assume that my father had sent a troupe of hunters to bring me back to him, and after remembering him for the first time in a while, my first instinct was to feel anger, but I quickly shook it off. These hunters seemed equipped for beasts, not people. It was unlikely they were here for me.

I watched them from afar for a couple of hours, stalking them out of curiosity for a while, before I decided that I was curious enough to try and talk to them.

I stood from my hiding spot above them and let them notice me before I waved at them.

The surprise on their faces was obvious, even from so far away, but after a moment of initial shock, they waved back at me.

Taking that as a sign of friendliness, I made my way towards them.

"Hello," I said, grateful that my lack of speech in the recent months or years hadn't taken my sense of language away completely. "I don't usually see any other people on the mountains. What brings you around these parts?"

"Hello, child," the leader of the group said. He seemed a little confused to be having a conversation with someone like me, but not enough to be impolite. "We're in the area because we're hunting for some game. It's a dangerous place up here. Do you live here?"

I nodded. "I do."

"Alone?"

"Yes," I said, pausing when I realized that he was concerned for my sake. "I like it that way too. I was just curious about what you were doing here."

The leader frowned, but seemed to accept what I was saying.

"I was going to offer you safe passage down the mountain once we were done here, but I suppose you've turned that offer down before I could even make it," he says. "I hope your curiosity is satisfied, but I'll be honest, it doesn't sit right leaving a kid like you alone here. How old are you anyways?"

"Either thirteen or fourteen, depending on how long I've been up here," I admitted. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm really fine."

"If you insist," the leader said, though the expression he wore clearly didn't agree with what he was saying. He stared at me for a while, but when he saw no way to sway me, he sighed.

"At least let me give you a bit of clothes," he said. "That pelt you're wearing is filthy."

"I won't take charity," I said. "Besides, I happen to like this pelt. Skinned it off my first hunt."

"I can only assume you skinned it with a particularly sharp rock," he said, shaking his head.

I shrugged. With how dull my only knife was at this point, he was close enough to the truth.

"What if I paid you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It wouldn't be charity if you worked for it, right?" he asked. "You must be familiar with these mountains if you live here, and quite frankly, we're more used to hunting in a forest environment. It would be helpful to have a guide."

I considered the offer for a moment.

"I'll work for sweets or pastries if you have any," I said. "I can get by with what I have here, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss having a snack every now and then."

For the first time since we started talking, the leader smiled.

"Sure thing," he said. "Lang Fen back there always has some sort of snacks on him. Hunting expeditions are the only time his wife won't nag him about his eating habits."

There was a weak protest from one of the men, presumably Li Fang, and a chorus of quiet laughter from the rest of the troupe. I smiled along with them. It was a nice atmosphere.

"So what sort of things would you have me do?" I asked. "I'm familiar enough with the mountains that I have a decent idea of where I'd look for most animals, but I mostly hunt for boar goats."

"Boar goats, huh?" the leader said, raising an eyebrow before he glanced at the pelt that hung over my shoulders realizing what he had criticized just a moment ago. "That's impressive. Those things are notoriously hard to catch."

I grinned at the praise, giving him a shrug. "I've had a lot of practise," I said. "I could probably catch a couple for you if that's what you're looking for."

Though the leader considered the offer, he shook his head.

"While there's always demand for boar goat, I think we'd rather not lose sight of our original goal," he said. "We're hunting for snow leopards. Some nobleman wants a set of furs, even though they went out of fashion a while ago. Good money for us, though."

"Ah," I said.

I didn't know exactly how to react to the reveal. While I wasn't exactly happy about the idea of hunting down the creatures that I had learned so much from, I supposed I didn't have any sort of emotional attachment to them either. And as far as I could tell, these men were just trying to make an honest living. But it didn't help their case that they were hunting on behalf of a nobleman.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't think I can guide you to any snow leopards."

"Oh," the man said. "Well, that's reasonable. Would you still be willing to guide us across the mountains? I assume you would know how to navigate them, even if you don't know of any specific snow leopard resting spots."

I shook my head.

"No, I think you misunderstand," I said. "I know where the snow leopards live. I just refuse to guide you to them. In fact, I forbid it."

When the atmosphere immediately turned hostile, I sighed. It had been a nice conversation too.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, kid?" the leader asked.

"It means that if you want to hunt here, you'll have to get through me first," I said, hoping the message was clear enough.

"And what exactly gives you the power to decide that?" the leader asked. "There's no law against hunting snow leopards, and this isn't private property."

I shrugged, wondering if I was making a grave mistake. None of the hunters looked like they were fighters, but every single one of them had a bow and a knife on them, and they outnumbered me five to one. I'd never been in a fight before, so I wasn't sure why I was so confident in my declaration, but I refused to back down now that I'd made it.

"I like snow leopards," I said simply. "And I guess I owe them enough that I don't want you killing any, especially not for a nobleman."

"You got something against noblemen, then?" the leader asked.

I shrugged. "I guess," I said. "So what's it gonna be?"

The leader frowned, and I could feel the tension that hung in the air over my threat.

"You're making a stupid choice, kid," he said. "You do realize that, don't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "But it's my choice to make."

The leader sighed and turned around. For some reason, I felt a tinge of disappointment at his decision, even though I knew it was probably better for me.

"Not gonna fight?" I asked.

"I don't want to fight a child," he said. "And I'm not willing to risk my men getting injured over a petty scuffle."

"That's fair," I said, even if I didn't quite agree.

The leader didn't say another word, and neither did his men, even if they shot me dirty looks, grumbling under their breaths about having wasted their time.

It was only after they left my sight completely that I started to follow them, stalking them down the mountain until I was sure that they wouldn't simply double back once they thought I wasn't watching. To my surprise, the hunters stuck to their word, making a straight path down the mountainside without noticing my presence.

The disappointment still hung over me, along with my confusion. I still didn't understand why I had threatened the men on behalf of beasts that didn't care for me, but for some reason, I felt like I had been on the cusp of a discovery, similar to when I had hunted down my first boar goat. But it evaded me.

Frustrated, I made my way back up the mountain, trying unsuccessfully to forget the temporary break in my hermitic lifestyle.

It took a week for another break in my hermitic lifestyle to happen, when I discovered a small group of Fire Nation soldiers trudging up the mountainside. They were lightly armored, which might have made them vulnerable to the cold if not for the two firebenders in their group, keeping a steady flame alive in their hands as they walked, distributing its heat to their fellows.

For some reason that I couldn't explain, the sight excited me. I stalked them for a short while before it became obvious that, like the group of hunters that came before them, they were searching for something.

With my heartbeat pounding in my ears, I stood up, but unlike what I did with the hunters, I didn't approach them.

"Hello," I called out, smiling down at the five soldiers. "It seems like these mountains have been rather popular recently. Anything happening around here that I should know about?"

Immediately, the soldiers shifted into fighting stances at the sound of my voice. I lowered my self to the ground in anticipation of an attack, but before they did anything, one of the firebenders held up a fist.

"We've received reports of a young child causing disruptions to hunting activities in the area," he shouted. "I assume that you are the child in question?"

"What would you do if I said I was?" I asked.

Even from this far away, I could see the firebender's eyebrows furrowing.

"You would be arrested and charged with the crime of disrupting the local economy, and will be brought into questioning to determine if you are intentionally attempting to manipulate the furs market. If you are found guilty of this, you will be given a hefty fine and potentially jail time. Any collaborators you have will also suffer the same fate," he said.

"I don't have any collaborators," I said. "But that does sound suspiciously like me."

"Is that an admission of guilt?" the firebender asked.

I still didn't understand why I was so insistent on goading them into a fight, but it somehow felt like the right thing to do. I rolled my eyes, hoping that the firebender could see the action as clearly as I could see his frown.

"Do you really have to ask?" I said, motioning for them to approach me. "Just come on."

Maybe it was the casual way that I said it, but the group seemed to be confused by the clear invitation.

"You're coming with us willingly?" the firebender asked.

I groaned and picked up a small rock beside me, and hurled it at the group. They all flinched back, ducking their heads slightly, even if it wasn't any close to hitting them.

"Obviously not," I said. "If you want to arrest me, you'll have to take me down first."

When the group still didn't move, I picked up a bigger rock and threw it at them with the intent to actually try to hit them with it. Surprisingly, I managed to hit one of the firebenders' legs, and he curled up, howling in pain before he lost his footing and stumbled down the mountain, shrieking the entire way down. A surge of disappointment ran through me at the sight, but before I could say anything, I let out a yelp when a pillar of flame shot towards my face.

Though I was able to dodge it in time, it got close enough to me that it might've singed my eyebrows off if the firebender hadn't been so far away, making his flame weaker by the time it got to me.

When I peeked my head back up, I saw the firebender glaring up at me.

"What are you idiots doing?" he yelled. "Get him!"

The soldiers started to move, and I felt myself smiling at the sight.

"Finally," I said.

As the soldiers stumbled up the rocky mountainside, I watched them for a moment before turned around and started to run, climbing up the mountain at a pace that was just slow enough that it would make them think they could still catch me. It seemed to work, as the soldiers groaned, but didn't slow down in their pace.

Once I was able to get them to a position I wanted, I turned around and sprinted down the mountainside.

Before calling out to them, I had spent a decent time stalking them, observing them to a point where I had made a plan to deal with them. Out of the five soldiers, I knew two of them were firebenders already, but one thing that I'd noticed was that only two of the other soldiers were armed with a bo staff and a bow respectively, with the other three carrying no visible weaponry on them. Two of the unarmed soldiers showed that they could defend themselves with their bending, why wouldn't I assume the same of the last one?

I ran to the right of the group, making sure to position the bo staff wielding soldier in the path of the two benders that both aimed their palms towards me, before realizing that their fellow would be caught in the blast. Bo Staff attempted a charge towards me, but couldn't even get close to me before I ran past him, sprinting down towards the archer, who lagged behind the group to provide cover support.

Unfortunately for him, that also meant that nobody was close enough to defend him from my charge. To his credit, he did try to fire an arrow at me, but due to the combination of surprise at my sudden charge and his uneven footing, the arrow that he loosed went flying too far away from me to even be concerned about.

I wasn't exactly trained in any form of martial art aside from the uncoordinated flailing that my father had taught me, so the only thing I could think to do was to grab the archer's face and push it as violently as I could. Thankfully, my lack of technique didn't seem to matter, and I was able to practically throw him down the mountain.

I ignored the way that he screamed in pain as he bounced off the rocks, darting to the side to avoid a blast of fire that hit the ground a few feet away from where I stood. I ran towards Bo Staff hoping to use him as cover, but he tried to back off, seeming to realize that he was only in the way. I saw him shuffling over on the cliff, trying to swap places with the firebender that had just shot a gout of flame at me, but I quickly bent down to pick up another rock.

Even though I was confident enough in my footing to know that I wouldn't be as inhibited by the terrain as the archer as been, I wasn't as confident in my aim. The rock I had thrown earlier to incapacitate one of the firebenders had been a total fluke, and it hadn't given me enough false confidence to try and hit the firebender that was approaching me now, but thankfully, I had a much bigger target to aim for. Just as the firebender and Bo Staff were crossing each other's paths, I took aim and hurled the rock upwards as hard as I could, hitting a nearly dead shrub that clung desperately to the cliff face above them.

The impact of the rock was enough to shake the shrub loose, and though it wasn't big enough to cause any damage on its own, the spray of dead foliage and loose rocks that shook out of it was enough to confuse the firebender and Bo Staff, right as they crossed paths, making them bump into each other during their moment of temporary blindness, giving me enough time to run over and kick Bo Staff in the back, pushing him down the cliff alongside the firebender.

I leapt backwards, anticipating a blast of fire from the last soldier, the firebender that I had been talking to, but when none came from him, I frowned.

I looked up at him, as he stared down at me higher up on the mountainside. His eyebrows were furrowed in anger, and I could see an orange glow shining out from between his fingers, of the burning flame he clenched in his fists, but he didn't seem to have any intentions of releasing it.

I couldn't help but feel annoyed at the fact that he was looking down at me, but I didn't move from my spot.

"You gonna fight, or what?" I asked.

"This is hardly a fight," he said. "It's a mockery of what a proper fight should be."

"That just sounds like the words of a sore loser," I said, even if I couldn't help but grimace at his words. "Are you upset that I beat up your friends so quickly?"

"You fight like an airbender," he said, spitting the last word out like a slur. "Hopping around like a damn monkey. Are you a mindless animal or are you a man?"

Though the comment didn't hurt me as much as he might have assumed, the sense of superiority that dripped from his every word was admittedly enough to annoy me.

"What do you consider a proper fight to be, then?" I asked. "If ganging up five to one against a kid half your age is acceptable, I'd love to hear your definition of it."

The firebender grimaced, but quickly recovered into a sneer.

"A criminal does not deserve an honourable duel," he said. "But if an honourable duel is what you want, then I will show you one."

It was at that point that I realized that the firebender was a nobleman. The smarmy, overconfident attitude was a familiar one, and I knew for a fact that he truly believed in the bullshit that he spouted. When he turned around to march up the cliff, exposing his back to me, I knew that he only did it because he thought himself invincible, like there was no possible way that I would dare to attack him.

I was almost tempted to do it, to see his confused expression as I pushed him down the mountain, but I held myself back. I didn't want to risk him walking away from this with any semblance of self confidence left in his arrogant body. If I defeated him my way, there was a possibility that he would explain it away as me having cheated somehow, or that I had been scared to fight him in what he considered to be an honourable duel.

So I followed him.

I could only assume that the firebender was searching for some place that was flat enough that it wouldn't give me the advantage. I knew it was a futile attempt, knowing the mountains well enough to know there was nothing like a formal dojo here, but he eventually got frustrated and after ten minutes of walking, he just stopped and decided that this was somehow different from the rest of the mountain that we'd just walked past, even though I knew there was no difference.

"Agni Kai," the firebender said, signalling for me to stop in my place as he walked away. "Have you heard of it?"

I shrugged. "It's a firebending duel," I said. "First to get burned loses. Don't see how that applies here, seeing as I can't firebend."

"Oh, is that so?" he asked, feigning surprise. "Isn't that a shame."

Without warning, a great gout of flame erupted in my direction. I let out a loud laugh.

"So damn predictable!" I shouted as I darted up the mountain. "You noblemen always hiding behind tradition and honour, while you mold the definition to suit your needs. You don't have a drop of honour in that body of yours."

"Shut up!" the firebender shouted back, pausing to ready up his fists before sending another pillar of flame at me. "Don't pretend to know what honour is, you damn savage."

I laughed at his poor deflection, as I sat behind a large rock. I drew my limbs inwards to protect them from the flames that licked around the edges of my shelter.

"You're hilarious, you know that?" I asked. "An absolute riot, so blind to your own hypocrisy that you wouldn't recognize it if it slapped you in the face. Don't worry though. I'll slap you in the face as much times as needed until you get it."

The firebender screamed at me, and I waited until he was done before I launched myself over the rock, ignoring the way that the hot stone burned the bottoms of my feet. Maybe if this was a proper arena, he would've had enough space to recover and send another blast of fire towards me, but the mountain plateau was much smaller than a traditional dojo. As it was, I found myself standing right in front of him, before he could even draw in his next breath.

"Hey," I said, before I punched him in the stomach.

I had never actually punched anyone before, and he was able to scramble backwards after the hit, making enough distance to try and gather up another flame to send my way, but I didn't feel the need to stop him.

I smiled as he shot a pitiful flame in my direction, barely an ember.

"You know, it might be my own rotten nobleman's blood at work there, but I really shouldn't have been so overconfident that that would work, huh?" I asked. "If you could still bend, I would've probably died."

"Wha-" the firebender wheezed, barely able to squeeze out his words. "What did you do to my bending?"

"Nothing fancy," I said. "I just noticed a little something. Every time you firebenders breath, you shoot your attacks out at a very specific rhythm. My father had me learn the stances, even if I wasn't actually a bender, and it always struck me as weird that no matter how big or small the move was, there was always an equally long pause between each move."

When the firebender pushed his fist towards me, panic flooding his eyes, I sighed. I walked over to him, drew my hand back and slapped him in the face as hard as I could.

"Listen when people talk to you," I said. "You could learn something new."

The firebender held his face in shock, staring at me like I had just done something impossible.

I sighed and slapped him again.

"As I was saying, I just thought it was a silly little thing that my father forced upon me. It was ridiculous. A little jab to the head shouldn't take as long as a sweeping roundhouse kick. My father was wrong about a lot of things, and I had always assumed that his little firebending dances was just one of those many examples. But when I saw you and your little friends, I realized that there was a reason for those uniform pauses. It's because a big part of firebending is breath control."

I slapped him again.

"I didn't take away your ability to firebend, idiot," I said. "I just knocked the wind out of you."

When the firebender didn't react, still looking down at his hands in utter shock, as if he couldn't comprehend what I had just told him. I considered kicking him down the mountainside, but I didn't feel like he was worth the effort.

"Now get out of my sight. Tell your superiors to send stronger soldiers if they want to hunt in these mountains again."

I slapped him again for good measure.

Though he flinched at the impact, he didn't get up off the floor. I scoffed in disdain and left him myself, wandering back up the mountain in search of a boar goat to make into my next meal.

When a week passed and no stronger soldiers came by, I thought that maybe I had come on a little too strong. Just like how I'd slowed down for the soldiers to entice them into chasing me, I shouldn't have crushed the nobleman firebender's spirit so harshly. Maybe I should've let him get his licks in before kicking him down the mountain, and he might've ushered on some more soldiers to get revenge on his behalf.

Oh well, it wasn't like I really cared all too much.

One morning, I woke up and the quote that had originally spurred me to make my journey up this mountain echoed in my head.

"We are not defined by the mountains we face in life, but what we choose to do once we come across them."

I looked up the mountain, and chose to climb it.

It took me a few days to reach the peak of the tallest mountain in the range, and when I did, I looked down upon the clouds and I knew that this was where I belonged.

I don't know how long I stayed there for, simply staring off into the distance, when a low growl broke me out of my reverie.

I turned around to see a snow leopard glaring at me, peeking her head out of a small rocky den that I had barely noticed on my way up. Though I couldn't see her cubs, I could hear their quiet mewling echoing quietly behind her. Though the mother leopard had death in her eyes, I could only laugh loudly at the sight.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to intrude."

The beast, having no knowledge of language, obviously had no way to interpret what I was saying, and even though I wasn't trying to threaten her, I doubted that she would perceive me as anything but a threat with her cubs behind her.

I smiled at her.

"You know, I met a snow leopard just like you, not too long ago. Maybe you're even the very same snow leopard, but that's pretty unlikely, in my opinion. She taught me everything she knew, even though I doubt that she meant to. It wasn't much, but it did eventually lead me to realize where I belong in life. At the peak. Metaphorically, of course."

The snow leopard growled at me again in warning, but I didn't move, too caught up in my moment of self reflection to care.

"I'm strong," I said. "And I want to keep getting stronger. This peak might be enough for you, but I want to go higher. I want to climb higher than no mortal has gone before."

She yowled at me, and I laughed before finally standing up.

"You really don't care about what I have to say, huh?" I asked. "Such a cruel beast. Here I am, pouring my heart out to you and you won't even listen. Oh well. Just so you know, I told the humans downstairs that these mountains are off limits, but it was mostly out of selfish reasons so don't bother thanking me. I can only assume that they'll forget about me in a couple of months, but I won't be sticking around to remind them. All I'm saying is to stay safe, okay?"

The snow leopard let out a low grumble as I made my intent to leave clear, making me laugh.

"I probably won't see you ever again, and I doubt you'll remember my name, but I do like you, so let me give you the honour of being the first to hear my legend."

Turning around, I shouted out into the air.

"Hear my name! The strongest man to live amongst men. I am Ty Lung!"

The snow leopard yowled angrily at the loud noise, and I was about to laugh before I heard a quiet chorus of mewls erupting from deeper within the cave that she was guarding.

"Ah shit, sorry," I said. "Didn't mean to wake the little ones."

She grumbled angrily in response.

"Yeah," I said, with a chuckle. "That's fair."

Click to shrink...

Lemme be the first to say that this stuff is peak. The style of narration really does feel like a legend or tall tale in the making. I'm excited to see more.

 

[korzark]

It had been three years since I left that mountain in search of a higher one to climb (metaphorically, of course) and it had been a pretty eventful three years.

At first, I started my journey by challenging any local firebending dojos, and though most of them laughed me away when they learned I didn't have any ability to bend, telling me that I had no right to fight in their hallowed halls, I took the invitations for what they were and attacked them in the streets instead.

Unfortunately, aside from one somewhat skilled master who had managed to give me a small burn scar on my left shoulder before I knocked the wind out of him with a well timed punch, most of the local dojos didn't have any members who had a significant level of skill. Once I got over my initial disappointment and thought a little harder about it, I realized that it made sense. Most of the firebenders in the country were training their art in order to get into the military, and anyone who was good enough to join would probably do so as soon as they could, meaning that the only benders that I could find in the dojos would be the people that weren't good enough for the military.

So my solution for finding stronger fighters was simple. Antagonize the Fire Nation military.

It proved to be fun for a short while. I learned a lot from my fights, and nearly got burned to death on multiple occasions, which was a plus, but after a couple of years of fighting firebenders who learned from the same straightforward techniques that were standard throughout the military, it quickly started to get stale.

So I headed over to the Earth Kingdom, hoping to find anyone who could bring more spice to my life.

I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to find people almost immediately. While earthbenders did fight similarly to each other, their military culture was a lot less prevalent, which meant that their techniques were a lot less homogenized than the firebenders were. It was easy to antagonize them too. For a large majority of them, I could simply tell them I was Fire Nation, and with a few words to taunt their mothers' honours, even if I had no reason to assume they were anything other than nice ladies, I easily goaded many people into fights.

I calmed down a bit when an earthbender managed to clip and break two of my fingers. I took some of his money as compensation and went to a local doctor, where he told me to wear a splint for about eight weeks, and rest it for three months or until it felt back to full strength. It had been a harsh and harrowing lesson to have my hands out of commission for that long, but at the very least it taught me not to neglect my legs and elbows.

Overall, I was having a great time, and after each fight I felt myself evolving to greater heights, but even with the higher variety in fighting styles that the earthbenders offered, even they were getting a little stale. But that was to be expected. Wandering to wherever my whims took me was something that had worked out for me for a short while, but it was clear that I was quickly outgrowing that lifestyle. While I had been fine with using the random benders that I came across in my travels as stepping stones until now, it was clear that I would have to start picking out higher quality stones to pave the road towards my goal of becoming the strongest.

So when I passed by an Earth Kingdom village that often traded with Kyoshi Island, I searched for a fishing boat that could take me there. I had only heard about the Kyoshi Warriors in passing, and even if I didn't know much about them, I knew they were considered to be an order of elite fighters, which was more than enough for me.

It wasn't too difficult to find a fisherman that was willing to give me transport for cheap, and though it was a slow trip, saturated with the smell of fish the entire way, I didn't mind.

Once I got off at the port of Kyoshi island, I thanked the fisherman who took me there with a tip, and he happily gave me a suggestion to visit his favourite restaurant in the village in exchange. With the little money I had left, I decided to try it out, and was surprised to find that the old fisherman had been right. I didn't typically eat much fish, but I would make an exception for this elephant koi sashimi. It was delicious.

"How was the meal, son?" the restaurant owner asked me, as she cleared up my plates.

"It was the best thing I've eaten in a very long time," I admitted. "You're an excellent cook."

"Bah," the owner said, though her mouth widened into a smile. "It was sashimi. The elephant koi should be receiving your compliments, not me."

"Unless you tell me that the elephant koi cut itself up and arranged itself onto that plate, I'm not changing my mind," I said, with a laugh. "Thank you, ma'am. It was delicious."

The owner let out a low chuckle and shook her head. "Save that sort of sweet talk for someone who isn't sixty years your senior, brat," she said.

I laughed as I shook out the entirety of the contents of my coinpurse out, counting it out in my hands. I smiled when I realized that I had just enough money to pay for the meal.

"Lucky," I said, holding out the last of my money towards her. "Just barely enough. You can keep the change, too."

When the owner didn't take my money, I shook it in front of her.

"Excuse me?" I said, a little louder. "Ma'am?"

"I can hear you just fine, damn brat," she said, snapping at me and trying to bat my hand away.

I dodged her hand, not wanting the money to fly away. The owner frowned at me, and gave me a dissatisfied huff.

"I don't want your money," she said. "I'm not gonna leave a kid like you penniless over a simple meal."

"It wasn't a simple meal, it was an excellent one," I said, jingling the coins in my hand at her. "I may be many things, but I'm not a petty dine-and-dasher. Just take my money. I'm not leaving with it either way."

The owner glared at me before sighing. I grinned and dropped my coins into her hand.

"Don't come crying to me for your money back later," she said. "If I find you dying by the side of the street, I'm going to kick you deeper into the dirt."

"That's only fair," I said.

She shook her head and mumbled something about kids getting stupider with every generation, before she glared up at me.

"So what will you do now?" she asked. "I know you're not a local, and you don't look like a trader or a fisherman. You might be able to convince some poor idiot to take you back to the mainland for free, but you're stuck on this little island before you do."

"I was planning to visit the Kyoshi Warriors," I admitted. "Do you know a way to contact them?"

The owner's brow furrowed in confusion, before she shook her head and sighed.

"Are all the mainland children as strange as you are?" she asked.

"I doubt it," I said. "I'm one of a kind."

The owner glared at me again, but when I didn't back down, she sighed.

"One of my granddaughters is a Kyoshi Warrior," she said. "They usually don't interact with mainlanders, but I'll try to convince her to make an exception for you, since you're so interested in meeting them."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise of the unexpected windfall, and after a moment of thought I bowed my head in gratitude.

"I would appreciate that greatly, ma'am," I said. "I owe you a debt of gratitude. Please let me know how I can repay you for this."

When the owner stayed silent for a few long seconds, I looked up to see her looking down at me with a confused expression.

"Ma'am?" I asked. "Did you hear what I just said?"

The owner's expression shifted immediately into a deep glower.

"I've already told you that my hearing is fine, you brat," she said. "I was just surprised is all. Didn't expect you to start talking like a civilized human being all of a sudden."

"That's fair," I said with a grin, standing up and shaking my limbs, as if to shake off the remains of the formality that I'd used a moment ago. "So, what would you have me do?"

The owner continued to glower at me, before she sighed.

"You'll refuse to accept my offer if I don't give you anything to do, won't you?" she asked.

"Of course," I said. "I refuse to take a debt that I can't pay, and I have no idea if you'll still be around for me to pay you back it if I don't do immediately."

I yelped when I felt something jab me painfully in the stomach. Jumping away from the surprise attack, I blinked twice when I realized that the owner had jabbed me with a pair of chopsticks that she had in her hand, without me even seeing her move.

"I'm not old enough that I'll suddenly croak if you look away," she said, raising her chopsticks to strike me on the head. I didn't move, and the chopsticks hit my head gently, with practically no force behind the blow.

"Okay," I said, a little too distracted to give her a proper response.

The owner grumbled something under her breath before lifting her chopsticks from my head.

"My granddaughter comes by to visit every week or so," she said. "It hasn't been too long since her last visit, and she's due to come by in a few days. In the meantime, you'll be helping me with my shop."

I frowned. "That doesn't seem like much of a repayment," I said.

"Don't you worry about that," the owner said. "It's not a difficult task for me to introduce you to my granddaughter, and I plan to exploit you for unpaid labour maliciously during your stay. Does that settle your debt fairly, or are you not satisfied?"

I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. While I had somewhat expected the owner to bring me to the Kyoshi Warriors immediately, it wasn't like I was in any rush. I could afford to kill a few days.

"That sounds fair to me," I said.

"Good," she said, though the disdainful expression she gave me didn't match her words. "Now go out back and wash yourself. I was willing to look it over when you were a customer, but now that you're my slave for a few days, I won't accept you smelling like you've been washing yourself in mud and filth. You'll make the fish taste bad."

I gave her a smile and a lazy salute.

"You got it, boss."

True to her word, my new boss worked me to the bone over, making me haul enough elephant koi to and from the port that I could only assume that she planned to feed the entire village. But when I saw how popular her restaurant truly was, the idea wasn't as far fetched as I might've initially thought. Though the restaurant had been empty when I first ate there, it seems that I'd come at an odd hour, because the amount of people that came in during the peak hours was enough that I could only assume that people outside of the village were traveling over to eat there.

With no other hired hands, I had no idea how the old lady managed to keep the place running on her own, but she somehow managed, moving between the kitchens and the restaurant floor with an amount of speed and grace that shocked me whenever I had the chance to admire it, not that I had too much time between my shipments of the elephant koi.

Though I was grateful that she was using my labour so viciously that there was no doubt in my mind that I was repaying my debt in full, it was still backbreaking work, even with the strength that I had cultivated for myself during my years of travel and fighting. By the end of the first day, I had gotten so tired that I barely had the energy to fight against her offer to have me stay at her house, instead of sleeping outside like I had planned.

The next few days passed by quickly, and though my body was acclimated enough to hard labour that I wasn't sore from the experience, I was still exhausted.

Three days after I made my initial deal with the boss, I was sitting in the restaurant during one of my rare breaks from hauling elephant koi, eating a bowl of sashimi on rice that the boss insisted was a "failure" in the kitchen that she didn't want to sell to a paying customer, when a young girl around my age walked in.

She glanced at me when she saw me, but quickly dismissed my presence as she headed towards the back of the restaurant. I was content to ignore her as well, but when I saw her approaching the kitchens, I called out to her.

"Hey," I said. "That leads to the kitchens. The old lady doesn't allow anyone in there but family."

The girl raised an eyebrow at me, but quickly smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Good thing I'm family, then," she said, before turning away.

Though it was possible that the old lady had more than one granddaughter, my interest was immediately piqued by the possibility that this was the Kyoshi Warrior that was about to be introduced to me. I watched her walk to the kitchens, both curious and confused by what I saw.

Though I could easily see that she was fit, from how much muscle definition shone through in her bare arms and shoulders, I couldn't quite imagine her body as belonging a supposed elite warrior. I had imagined someone more heavyset in nature, not someone that made me think I could snap her body in half if I got my hands on her. Though I couldn't blame her for looking weaker than me, I still couldn't help but be disappointed at what I saw, and felt myself hoping that I was mistaken in my assumptions that she was the supposed Kyoshi Warrior.

With how long she was back in the kitchens without the old lady screaming at her to get out, I could only assume that she'd been telling the truth when she claimed that she was family. When the old lady and the girl came back out of the kitchens, with the girl giving me a confused look, I could feel my disappointment rise in anticipation.

"As promised, brat. This is my granddaughter," the old lady said.

I frowned, but before I could say anything, the sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed in the room as the girl slapped her face and let out a heavy sigh.

"Grandma," she said, in a chiding tone. "I don't need you introducing me to boys."

I felt a flash of annoyance when the old lady's face twisted into one of abject disgust at the idea, but she spoke before I could.

"Suki," she said, with a deep and dark seriousness embedded in her voice. "If you ever think that I would subject you to any sort of relationship with a ruffian like this one, it means that I have failed you as a grandmother."

"That's hurtful, boss," I interjected, before I could be left out of the conversation any longer.

"What, you think you're too good for my granddaughter, brat?" the old lady asked, a tinge of annoyance entering her voice.

"I do," I said. "But I meant more that you think that you have any say in what I do. I'll do whatever I damn well please."

"Not in my house you won't."

"Is that a challenge?"

Before the old lady could respond, the loud sound of a clap echoed in the restaurant as Suki clapped her hands twice.

"Okay," she said. "It's very clear that I have no idea what's going on here. Grandma. Do you mind explaining?"

The old lady glared at her granddaughter, clearly annoyed that she was being talked down to, but unlike how she did with me, she seemed quick to forgive her.

"This brat," she said. "He told me he wanted to meet with the Kyoshi Warriors and he was penniless when he came here, so I took pity on him and promised to introduce him to you."

"Pity?!" I asked, feeling a sudden flash of genuine annoyance run through me at the suggestion that anyone could be capable of feeling such a thing for me. "That's why you said you'd introduce your daughter to me, you old bitch?"

Suki's expression darkened at the insult, but the old lady just laughed.

"Maybe at first," she said. "But once I got to know you better, I wanted to do it so I could see the look on your face when my granddaughter kicked your sorry ass."

"Grandma?!" Suki shouted, her dark expression falling quickly as she turned to her grandma in shock.

"You know what? That works out fine for me," I said, before giving Suki a quick nod. "I request a duel."

"A duel?" Suki asked, seeming too confused by the pace of the conversation to follow completely. "Wait, do you really want me to fight you?"

"I do," I said.

"Are you serious?" she asked, glancing between me and the old lady, as if expecting either of us to reveal that we'd been pulling a prank on her.

"I am," I said. "I will let you know that if you refuse, I will attack you anyways. I'm just giving you the opportunity to dictate the terms of the fight so you have no excuse for when you lose."

Suki stared at me for what seemed like a full minute before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. Okay," she said, shaking her head. "I still have no idea what's going on, but okay. Let's just do this outside, okay? I don't want to destroy my grandma's shop."

"Those are your only rules of engagement?" I asked.

Suki gave me a confused look, but the old lady spoke on her behalf.

"Don't just attack her the moment you step outside, you ruffian," she said. "Find a designated spot to fight beforehand. As much as I'd love to see you getting humiliated by my granddaughter, you have been working for me for the past few days, and I'd rather my shop not be associated with such an embarrassing performance."

"Grandma," Suki sighed.

"Fine," I said, which made Suki's eyebrows shoot up in alarm. "Any other rules?"

"No," the old lady said.

"Good," I said. "Let's go."

Though the old lady and I started to walk out, Suki stayed where she was.

"Should I be concerned that you were planning to attack me as soon as we left the shop?" she asked.

"You're the one who said we should fight outside," I said.

"He has a point, dear," the old lady said.

Suki's eyes darted between the two of us, before she threw her hands up in exasperation.

With how I knew nothing about the island we were on, I let the old lady lead the way to wherever she intended for us to fight, and with how Suki didn't seem to be curious at all about where we were headed, I assumed that she knew exactly where we were going. In the end, we ended up in a small clearing in a nearby forest, not too far from the village, but surrounded by dense enough forestry that it would be impossible for random villagers to find us unless they knew exactly where to look.

"I assume this is the place?" I asked.

The old lady glanced at me, before walking to the other end of the clearing. Suki and I both stayed where we were, though the old lady waved her over.

"Suki," she said. "Come here."

Though she still hadn't pulled herself out of her confusion during our short walk to the clearing, she listened to her grandmother dutifully. When she got to where her grandmother stood, the old lady reached into the back of her clothes and pulled out what looked like an iron fan, handing it over to her granddaughter.

"Yes, this is the place," the old lady shouted.

Needing no further prompting, I launched myself forwards towards Suki.

Despite her inability to keep up with a conversation, she was quick to react to my charge. I expected her to jump back to try and create distance between us, but instead she ducked down into a low stance and held her fan out towards me, unfolding it and readying it like a sword. I knew not to underestimate an iron fan as a legitimate threat, but my plan remained the same. Hit hard and fast without holding back, giving her no chance to do anything but defend herself. With Kyoshi Island being a tribute to the most famous Earth Avatar in history, I didn't know what sort of earthbending techniques her warriors would use, but I didn't plan to give Suki enough time to demonstrate them.

When I got close enough, I reached out to bat the iron fan away, and with how prepared Suki had been for my attack, I was a little disappointed when I was able to slap it to the side so easily. She was small enough that the force of my hit to her weapon alone was enough to knock her off course, sending her entire body spinning to the side after I overpowered her so quickly.

Except that wasn't true. Though I continued my assault without hesitation, my mind couldn't quite comprehend the completely unperturbed expression that she wore. Time seemed to slow as my hand grew closer and closer to closing around her head and slamming it into the ground, but before my hand fully covered her face, our eyes seemed to meet for a split second.

And she smiled.

Though I got close enough to her that I could feel the air flowing past her as she moved, I felt something hit the bottom of my wrist before I could close my fingers around her. I blinked in surprise when I saw the iron fan that had struck me, not understanding how it had gotten there in the first place, but before I could even think about what to do next, I felt something grabbing my pinky and dragging it backwards. I couldn't decide whether to try and wrench my finger back from Suki's grasp or to simply jump back to avoid losing my balance, but I quickly had the choice taken away from me as I felt something pushing the side of my ankles. I tried to kick my legs away to try and find my balance again, but I was surprised to realize that Suki's leg had already hooked over mine, and I felt myself toppling to the ground as Suki used the entirety of her weight to drag me down to the floor with her.

I laid there for a moment, and looked up at the sky. It was such a nice day, and even with the forest canopy that covered most of the blue sky above me, enough sunbeams shone through to illuminate the world around me. The sight of it filled me with such giddy excitement that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, are you okay?" Suki asked. "I didn't hit your head on the floor, did I?"

Suddenly realizing that I was still in a fight, I turned my head and saw Suki using her entire body to grapple my left arm. She had her legs drawn across my chest in a secure hold on my body, and had both her arms wrapped around my arm and hand, her grip securing my wrists and elbow. I laughed again, before flexing my arm to try and escape.

"Hey!" Suki shouted. "I can break your arm at any time. The fight's over!"

I laughed again, both at how deliriously excited I was and at the absurdity of what she just said. I continued to flex my arm against he entire body, and true to her word, the awkward angle that she was holding it at only made me feel like I would accidentally snap it if I kept going, but I didn't care.

"Break it then!" I shouted back with a laugh. "If that's what it takes for us to continue this bout, then so be it!"

I pulled my arm viciously from her grip, and to my surprise, I didn't feel the pain of my bones breaking like she'd promised. Not giving myself the chance to process the confusion, I quickly flipped over and lunged on top of Suki, mounting her over her stomach, and grabbing her left wrist and her neck, pinning her to the floor. Though her right arm was still free, she quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled it back, but she wasn't nearly strong enough to free her from my grip on her neck.

Once again, I was struck by how thin and physically weak she was compared to me. Even now, it was difficult to think that this girl, who was so much smaller than me, had been able to take me down so easily, but I had learned enough from her that I would never underestimate her again. Though I felt like I could snap her neck if I just put a little bit more pressure on it, the defiant and annoyed look in her eyes told me that she would somehow stop me before I would be able to.

"You didn't break my arm," I commented, surprised by how disappointed I sounded.

Suki opened her mouth, but nothing came out but a choked cough. I pressed against her neck harder, and to my surprise, she let go of my wrist, planting her right hand on the floor beside her instead. Before I could even think about what she was trying to do, I was tumbling over her body. In the next moment, I was lying sideways on the floor, with Suki grappling me from behind, her legs wrapping around my hips and her arms coiled around my neck.

I grabbed her arms in an attempt to pull her away from me, but she had put me in an awkward position, while giving herself the leverage to use her entire strength against me. A strange memory played through my mind of when I had first realized how a snow leopard hunted by pushing its prey towards treacherous areas of the mountain, while leaving secure footholds for itself.

"This is how you properly choke someone out," I heard Suki say, right before I opened my eyes and woke up on the floor.

It took me a while to even realize that I'd lost consciousness in the first place, but when I saw Suki sitting on the floor beside me, still panting with exertion, I figured I must not have been out for more than a few seconds. When Suki noticed my eyes on her, she frowned and jabbed me with her iron fan, square in the stomach. Though it looked like there was practically no force behind the blow, it was surprisingly painful in a familiar way, and I glanced at the old lady, remembering how she had jabbed in the same way with her chopsticks.

"Are you done?" Suki asked. Her words were raspy, and she kept rubbing at her neck with her free hand, but she looked otherwise unhurt by your fight. "I can knock you out again and tie you up if you're not satisfied."

"No," I said, staring up at her. "I'm very satisfied."

"Good," she said.

We both fell into a quick silence as we fought to catch our breaths, but I couldn't help but stare up at her the entire time. I knew that she noticed my gaze, but I didn't care.

Once more, I thought of my time on the mountain, but rather than thinking of the snow leopard, I couldn't help but think of the boar goat that had been killed in front of me. I had never imagined empathising with such a creature, thinking myself as a snow leopard, but maybe even a snow leopard would be considered as prey on a different mountain.

"And what an amazing mountain I have found," I said, still staring up at her.

"Excuse me?!" Suki shouted, scooting backwards and clutching at her chest.

I rolled my eyes at her interpretation of my unintended euphemism, but didn't dignify it with any other response. Instead, I rolled over onto my knees and bowed my head towards her.

"Suki," I said. "I humbly request that you grant me the honour of studying under you. I am on a journey to becoming the strongest being in the mortal realm, and I believe that I will be able to evolve to greater heights under your tutelage."

When Suki stayed silent for a few long seconds, I looked up to see her looking down at me with a confused expression.

"Suki?" I asked. "Did you hear what I just said?"

Suki blinked a few times before furrowing her eyebrows. "I heard you. I was just surprised is all," she says. "I didn't expect you to sound formal all of a sudden."

"So is that a yes or no on the teaching?" I asked. "I'm not in a rush, but I'd prefer if you answered sooner rather than later."

"And there it goes," she sighed, shaking her head.

I looked at her expectantly and she glanced at her grandmother, who simply shrugged back.

"You're the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors," she said. "It's your decision to make."

"I still value your advice, grandma," Suki replied. "Both as my grandmother, and the former leader. Do you trust this man?"

"Not in the slightest," she replied, without hesitation. "But I've seen his type before. If you refuse him, he'll only take it as a sign to try harder. He'll either come knocking at your door to check if you've changed your mind every hour, or in his case he might stalk you and attack you until one of you is dead."

I nodded along with everything the old lady said. I hadn't realized it before, but wisdom truly did come with age.

The old lady glared at me for some reason.

"If you want my advice, kill him," the old lady said. "It'll save you more pain in the long run."

"I'm not going to do that, grandma," Suki sighed, before turning to me.

"Are you going to stalk and attack me if I refuse to train you?" she asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead, but that seems likely," I admitted.

"What if I actually break your arms?" she asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant," I said.

Suki let out another loud sigh before shaking her head.

"Fine," she said. "You win. I'll train you, but it's my day off and I haven't eaten any breakfast yet. We'll talk about this more when I've had some food."

I beamed up at her and bowed my head again.

"I owe you a great debt of gratitude," I said. "I swear on my name, Ty Lung, that I will repay this debt a hundredfold."

"Ty Lung, huh?" the old lady said. "Strong name for such a weakling."

"You didn't even know his name?!"

 

[MilitantBird]

Guy's funny, I like him.

 

[glavius]

Your Choreography is very well done the fights are very smooth

 

[korzark]

After Suki ate a surprising amount of food from her grandma's shop, we set out to go back to her village, which was apparently somewhere much deeper in the island. With no trail that led there, we walked through the dense forest, and I had no doubt that I could get lost for days if I lost track of where Suki was going, but eventually we made it to a village that seemed much smaller than the port town that we had just left.

Though the few villagers that milled around gave me suspicious glances as I walked by, they didn't last long when they noticed who I was walking with.

Suki smiled and nodded at anyone who made eye contact with her, but didn't stop to speak with anyone as we made our way deeper into the village, before we arrived at a large structure that reminded me vaguely of some of the fire nation dojos that I had attacked when I was still in the country.

When Suki paused in her step to give me a look of apprehension and regret, I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" I asked.

Suki sighed and shook her head. "Just," she said, pausing for a second before continuing. "Just try to be normal, okay?"

"I will never be anything but me," I said in reply.

She sighed again before standing up straight, and walking towards the dojo. Pushing the door open like she owned the place, we entered a small lobby area before she walked down the short hallway and opened up another door. Inside, the sounds of rhythmic battle shouts echoed, until Suki clapped twice, causing everyone in the room to snap to attention at the sound.

Walking inside, I was surprised by what I saw. On Suki's face was a confident expression that didn't match how she'd been acting thus far, giving off the impression that this girl was a leader and a warrior, and not a awkward grandma's girl who could barely follow a reasonable conversation. Oh and everyone inside the dojo was wearing thick white makeup and were wearing green dresses with black armor laid over top. That was weird too, I supposed.

"Everyone," Suki said, with a booming voice that showed none of the chronic confusion that I was used to hearing from her. "This is Ty Lung. He has come to our island in search of training under the Kyoshi Warriors, and after consulting with the former leader, Taki, I have agreed to accept him in our group for an undetermined amount of time." She gave me a sideways glance before continuing. "And if he does anything strange, please do not hesitate to put him in his place or let me know and I will do it for you."

While the warning was definitely warranted, I wasn't happy with the suggestion that every single person in this room could take me on on their own, but then again, I had thought that about Suki initially. The Kyoshi Warriors all stared in my direction, glancing between Suki and me, and though they were all too disciplined to say anything out loud, their eyes shone with curiosity and unspoken questions.

Suki gave an amused smirk before continuing.

"You can ask whatever questions you have," she said.

Immediately a torrent of questions flew at me without hesitation. Questions ranging from where I was from, what martial art I used, what I ate to grow so tall, whether or not I was Suki's boyfriend, whether or not I could be one of their boyfriends.

Suki's eyes widened at the last two questions, but she stayed surprisingly calm as she answered the questions for me. No, and absolutely not. But she left the rest for me.

I came from Volcano Basin City, I didn't use any form of formal martial arts, I had a growth spurt when I was around thirteen when I converted to diet of exclusively boar goats, shrubs, and berries so maybe that had something to do with it. There were a few other benign questions that were thrown around, but Suki cut them off before it could get too wild. She called for the group to return to their katas, and motioned for me to follow her back out of the dojo, through a different room than the one that we'd come through.

"You didn't study any martial arts?" Suki asked, once we were far enough from the dojo that we could no longer hear the battle shouts of the other warriors.

"I did," I said.

"You said otherwise back there in the dojo," she replied.

"I said I don't use any form of formal martial arts, not that I didn't study them," I said.

"I see," Suki said, raising her eyebrow curiously before she opened another door to reveal a long hallway, lined with doors. Walking over to a nearby one, she pulled it open to reveal what looked like a storage closet. "What martial arts have you studied then, if you don't mind me asking? It could serve as a good base to understand where I should start teaching you from."

"I doubt you've studied it yourself," I said, watching her sift through a rack of green dresses, presumably searching for one that I could wear. "At least not to the level where you can use the information."

"I've studied a lot of different martial arts," she said, frowning when she took one of the largest dresses she could find off the rack and held it up to me. It was still a few sizes too small, so she returned it to the rack. "Try me."

"Very well," I said with a shrug. "I studied traditional firebending arts."

Suki whirled around and grabbed my wrist before I could even blink, but didn't do anything beyond that. I glanced down at the way she was holding my arm, and in the frozen moment, I couldn't help but notice the incredibly deliberate angle that she was holding my wrist at, which would allow her to direct any force I put into my arm with a minimal amount of strength. I experimented with gently pushing my hand towards her, as if I was trying to grab her collar, but with barely a twitch of her finger, Suki sent a lance of pain shooting up my entire arm.

"That's amazing," I hissed, through my teeth. "Will you be teaching me how to do this soon?"

"You're a firebender?" she asked in a low voice, rudely ignoring my question entirely.

"Obviously not," I said. "Or I would've burned your face off during our duel earlier. Or right now. My father just taught me the art in the hopes that I was a late bloomer or something. I don't actually know what he was thinking, but it probably wasn't very smart."

"You're Fire Nation born, then?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, a little exasperated by the pointless line of questioning. "I don't know why you bother to ask. I would hope that you can draw your own conclusions from what I've been saying."

Suki glared at me for a few more seconds before releasing her grip on my wrist.

"If you're a Fire Nation spy, you're horrible at your job," she said.

"I belong to no nation," I said. "But maybe once I defeat Ozai, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of claiming the throne for myself."

Suki's fist clenched and unclenched by her side before she let out an exasperated huff and closed the closet door.

"Traditionally, the Kyoshi Warriors do not train unless they're wearing the traditional green kimono and the Kyoshi face paint," she said. "But letting a man train with us is breaking enough tradition that I don't care at this point. Will you promise to shut your mouth and keep it that way if I start to train you?"

I grinned.

"It would make it more likely," I said. "But I can't make any promises."

"I'll take it," she said. "Anything to lower the chance of me hearing the utter insanity that comes out every time you open your mouth, the better."

"Insanity is a word that mortals use to describe things that they don't understand," I said.

"Maybe I should've just listened to my grandma and killed you instead."

---

Despite her claims that she didn't mind breaking tradition, Suki still kept a strict set of conditions and rules that I would have to follow if I wanted her continued tutelage.

Firstly, while I could forego the uniform and face paint for now, since she would have to order a newly made one to fit my size from the dedicated local tailor, I technically wasn't allowed to train as a Kyoshi Warrior until I donned the traditional garb. This meant that while Suki could train me, it would have to be while she was outside of her Kyoshi Warrior uniform and it would be outside the dojo.

Second, I was not allowed to sleep in the same building as the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, which was a rule that would still apply even after I got my uniform made and delivered. While I thought that meant I should sleep outside, Suki, just like her grandmother, insisted that I sleep indoors, even when they couldn't give me a proper reason why, other than the supposed fact that "I just should," but like I did with her grandmother, I surrendered without much of a fuss. I did owe them, after all. I was given a space in one of the storage sheds that the Kyoshi Warriors used for their gardening supplies, and though it was much more uncomfortable in comparison to what I would've had outdoors, I didn't complain.

Lastly, I would be given a wide variety of chores in the dojo, as payment for both my training and my room and board. Regardless of the fact that I'd never asked for room and board in the first place, this was the most reasonable rule of the three, so I had no qualms about it.

But regardless of the relative fairness of what Suki had asked of me, I couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it.

Having Suki as a martial arts teacher was an infinitely better experience than I'd had learning under anyone else, but since the only person I had to compare her to was my father, that wasn't saying much. I could only assume that she was a "good" teacher, considering how she led an entire group of elite warriors, and I had obviously experienced her skill firsthand, but her teachings were something else entirely.

Katas. Endless katas.

By the fifth day of doing nothing but katas, I was considering just punching Suki in the face to get her to fight me so I could actually learn something useful, but something happened that changed everything.

My uniform arrived.

At first, I hadn't been too excited about it. Though I hadn't seen the other Warriors during any of their practises, from the rhythmic battle shouts that I heard whenever I was tasked to wipe the floors of the hallways, or clean the dishes in the kitchen, I could only assume they were doing the exact same katas that I was, so I hadn't been excited to join them.

When Suki had delivered me my uniform and put on my face paint for me, I hadn't cared all too much about the "honour" of finally participating in the training of the Kyoshi Warriors in their hallowed halls, especially when the gaggle of Warriors around me seemed more interested in whispering to each other about about how I looked in my hakama, when Suki called for everyone's attention, commanding everyone to enter the flower lily kata, something strange happened.

Though I knew the kata by heart at this point. It was the most basic route of katas that Suki had taught me, with it being intended mostly as a warm up. I was confident that I could do it in my sleep, especially since I had actually dozed off a few times during it, but now that I found myself staring at an entire group going through the same motions that I was, I couldn't help but... notice.

When Suki demonstrated the dance to me, she had only needed to do it once before I memorized it. I had been too distracted with trying to cut down the time that she would be doing the silly dances, thinking it would increase the time that I would spend with training, but now that I was here, surrounded by dozens of Warriors going through the same motions I had only seen another person doing once before, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the sight.

I stayed frozen in place with my jaw hanging down slightly as I watched the Warriors jab their hands forward, thrusting their fingers into their imaginary opponents. I saw the motions of their energy, the intent behind each of the slightly different variations that the Warriors made with their differences in size, and the size of their imaginary opponents. In each of the Warriors, though some of them were clearly more skilled than their fellows, I could see the intent and the reason behind each strike, the way that they flowed past and redirected imaginary limbs, sending larger opponents tumbling to the floor, with little strength but endless precision behind each movement.

I continued to watch until I heard someone stomping behind me insistently, and I turned around in surprise as I realized that I wasn't some formless observer in these halls, but an active participant. A young girl half my size, a warrior in her own right, stared awkwardly up at me, and I realized that in five more steps of the kata she would be lunging forward and I was in her way.

Wordlessly, I fell in line with the katas, and was surprised to discover the difficulty with which I was moving. Though I knew the moves in theory, I felt myself lagging behind as I struggled to decipher the intent behind them, but when Suki shouted from the front of the dojo, calling for another repetition of the flower lily kata, I finally managed to follow along.

Though it was easier to visualize as an observer, I imagined an opponent in front of me to dismantle. We both moved slowly, as if we were fighting in water, but as he came at me with the fury of a beast, I jabbed my hand forward, striking at his left shoulder, sending his body spinning off balance to the side. I lifted my hand, snagging the bottom of his chin and pulled his head down while I kicked his legs out from underneath him. I flowed from one move to the next and after each move, I let my imaginary opponent grow in size and ferocity. But no matter how large and how powerful I imagined him, I couldn't see myself being overwhelmed by him.

Once the kata finished, I stared down at my hands, covered in the blood of imaginary giants. I felt a joyous laugh bubbling out from within my throat, but a commanding shout from Suki broke me out of my blissful reverie. The laughter still threatened to bubble out from within me, but Suki, wearing Avatar Kyoshi's face, stared into my eyes, demanding respect for the tradition. Out of sincere gratitude, I kept my laughter down, letting the happiness simmer through my body instead as I shifted into the next kata that she called.

The kata's lasted for about an hour before Suki called for a ten minute break. Though I wanted to sprint towards her immediately, I allowed myself to walk slowly in respect of the dojo and the traditions that surrounded the wonder of what I had just learned.

"Ty Lung," Suki said, grinning as I approached her. "You don't look like you want to punch me in the face for once. Did the atmosphere in the dojos inspire you?"

I tried my best to be respectful, but I was on the verge of exploding with laughter and glee.

"Suki," I said, raising my hands and grabbing her shoulders.

She flinched at the impact, and a few of the Kyoshi Warriors that still lingered in the dojos glanced in our direction, tensing up in preparation for a potential fight, but I didn't care.

"You are amazing," I said. "Thank you so much for being a part of my journey. I don't know if I can ever repay this debt, and if it comes down to it, I will devote my life to bringing you the same joy that you have given me."

Suki's eyes shot wide open, but I was too distracted by the ecstasy I felt to care enough to figure out why. Ignoring the excited whispers around us, I pulled Suki into my arms and smothered her in a tight bear hug, lifting her off the ground.

When I put her down, I realized that some of her face paint had rubbed off on my hakama, revealing a streak of the heavy red blush of her cheeks that contrasted with the stark white of the facepaint that was still there. She opened her mouth a few times before her eyes darted around the room, at the other Warriors who were currently staring at us. For some reason, I could also hear a cacophany of high pitched squealling in the air, and had to dig around in my ear with my pinky finger, but unfortunately the high pitched squealing remained.

"I..." Suki said, her eyes still darting wildly around the room, landing on everything except for me, for some reason. "I need to redo my face paint."

When she came back, she did so with a glower that was seemingly aimed at anyone who smiled at her, and she quickly barked out her next set of orders. Katas and spars were cancelled for the day. We would apparently be doing intense endurance training today, and anyone who complained would be doing double. Despite the fact that I enjoyed the exercises and didn't say a single word, she singled me out anyways. I didn't mind much, but that only seemed to make Suki angrier for some reason.

Oh well. Even if I didn't enjoy the fact that I had somehow made Suki upset, nothing could ruin the good mood I was having.

It took me two days for me to realize that I had accidentally proposed to Suki. I usually didn't realize things so late like this, because I usually didn't care enough to look back into my past, but for the past few days, Suki had been acting unusually shy around me and I had caught mumblings from the other Warriors speculating about whether I snuck into Suki's room at night, or whether she snuck into mine. Though I knew that being married to me would be an honour above anything else, I also knew that Suki's reputation might fall drastically if such a rumour went unchecked, especially when it became clear that we didn't actually plan to get married.

So whenever I overheard the Warriors muttering to each other, I wasn't shy about correcting them.

"Which one do you think is more dominant in bed?" I heard one Warrior whisper to another, while I was cleaning the dishes in the kitchen one day.

I promptly laid down the dish that I was holding, patted my hands dry on my shirt, and walked over to the Warrior, who froze in her spot.

"Your name was Wanyen, right?" I asked.

She nodded, looking slightly surprised that I remembered her name.

"I will make it clear that your leader Suki and I are not currently sleeping with each other, and I would appreciate it if you would let anyone know if they suggest otherwise," I said. "Also, I find it ridiculous that you would speculate on a thing like who would be more dominant in bed when it's obvious that I would be."

Wanyen gasped, but before I could notice the brown-haired reflection in her eyes, I already felt an arm snaking around my neck, catching me in a naked chokehold.

"Excuse me, ladies," I said, before waking up on the floor.

I frowned up at Suki, who glared down at me.

"That was unfair," I said.

"Stop making people think that we're lovers," she growled.

"I have been doing no such thing," I said. "I have been very clear to people that we are not having sex."

"When you say it so bluntly like that, people are going to think that you're lying!"

"That's on them, not me. Why should I be blamed for telling the truth?"

"It doesn't help when you answer their hypothetical questions on our nonexistent sex life, either."

"In which I also tell the truth."

"You can't tell the truth if it's just a hypothetical scenario."

"Sure I can. Even if we've never had sex, I know with absolute certainty that I would be dominant over you. That makes it the truth."

"You don't know that!"

"I do. Unless I'm hearing a challenge."

Suki glowered at me, and I wasn't certain if the heavy blush on her face was because she was embarrassed or angry. Now that I thought about it, I realized that she had dragged me out of the kitchens and into another room entirely, which wouldn't have been easy for her to do without rage inspired strength, since you couldn't exactly use martial arts to manipulate the flow of movement in an unconscious body.

"You're impossible," she said, crossing her arms and glowering down at me.

"I take that as a compliment," I said, grinning up at her before sitting up. "So why have you dragged me here to this empty room if you didn't want to propagate the rumours then?"

Suki ground her teeth slightly. "I brought you here because I wanted the opposite, actually," she said. "I didn't want anyone to hear this, but I'm going to visit my grandma, and I expect you to join me."

"To ask for her blessing before we get married?" I asked.

"I can't trust you to behave around the other Warriors when I'm not around," she continued, ignoring my joke completely.

"Ah, jealousy," I said. "I can't say I've ever felt the emotion myself. It must be horrible."

Suki smacked me on the top of my head. My eyes lit up in delight, but she killed my excitement before I could even ask my question.

"No, that was not an invitation to fight," she said. "Now shut your mouth and let's go."

"Fine, fine," I said, standing up and following her as she left. "I'm a little surprised to see how messy your room is by the way. Really setting a bad example for the other Warriors."

"I've been busy," she grumbled. "It's not usually like this."

"Of course, of course," I said. "Our little leader can't be anything but perfect. I understand."

"Please. For once in your life, just shut up."

I laughed, and from the groan in her voice, I expected that Suki knew I wouldn't be listening to her request.

Not wanting to betray her expectations, I only stopped talking once we entered the village and noticed the old lady hauling the midsection of an elephant koi in the same modified wheelbarrow that I had used when I was working for her. She had sweat dripping down her wrinkles, and I could see several of the villagers eyeing her nervously, but she glared at each of them before they even dared to try and offer her any help.

"Grandma!" Suki shouted, running over to her when she finally noticed her.

"What do you want, Suki?" the old lady grumbled, not even pausing to greet her. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Why are you hauling this on your own?" Suki asked, before trying to grab the wheelbarrow's handles from her grandmother, only to have her hands slapped away.

"Old Osamu injured his hip," she said. "I thought I might give him a little break from making deliveries to my shop until he recovers."

Suki frowned, glancing between her hand and at her grandmother. "But you're-"

"I'm what, exactly, my dear grandchild?" the old lady asked, giving Suki a dangerous glare.

Though Suki seemed cowed enough by the implied threat to back away, I could only shake my head and sigh.

"You're old, boss," I said, before grabbing the handles of the wheelbarrow and using my shoulder to shove her away. The old lady jumped away and glared at me, but didn't do anything to try to take her wheelbarrow back. "There's no point in rushing to your death when you're so close to it already."

"What a hypocrite. With how you talk, it's more likely that you'll die before I do," the old lady said. "I'd learn to shut that mouth of yours before trying to lecture your betters."

"And with how you talk, it seems like your age is really starting to affect your mind," I replied. "No wonder your granddaughter's worried about you."

"You both remember that you're still in public, right?" Suki said from behind us, holding her face with both of her hands.

"Of course we do, dear," the old lady said.

"Yeah, Suki," I said. "That seems like a really weird thing to forget."

Suki sighed. "Just wanted to make sure you knew."

Though the old lady tried to snatch the wheelbarrow back from me a few more times, she gave up pretty quickly, letting me drag the elephant koi to her shop without too much grumbling. Though it took me a bit of time to properly dump it in the kitchens, she had a quick meal ready for both me and Suki by the time I was finished.

Suki and I thanked the old lady before starting to eat, and though I wasn't usually the type to talk while eating anyways, I still felt a little uncomfortable with how the old lady stared at us while we ate.

"The hell are you looking at, you old bitch?" Suki jabbed me in the side of the stomach, nearly making me cough out my food in pain, but when I glared at her, she ignored me so I continued what I was saying. "You're making the food taste awful."

"Then don't eat it, you ungrateful brat," the old lady replied.

I responded by sticking out my tongue and running it over my food.

"That's disgusting," Suki grumbled.

"That's kind of the point," I said. "I'm securing my food."

"Nobody was going to take your food away from you in the first place."

"To be fair, your grandmother did kind of imply that she might."

"Only because you were annoying her."

"It was only fair. She was staring at me. And at you. You sure you don't want to annoy her too? It's pretty easy, I can give you some tips."

"No thanks. I happen to like my grandma."

"How is that relevant?"

I don't know if Suki was about to respond, or if that flat expression on her face meant that she was about to let out a huff of annoyance and pretend like she could possibly ignore me, but I never found out because the old lady let out a heavy sigh.

Suki glanced at her grandma, who was currently holding her face in her hands in a very Suki-like manner.

"Is something wrong, grandma?" Suki asked.

"No, dear," the old lady replied. "But I suppose I am a little tired from hauling fish for the past few days. Brat. Help me out with a few more deliveries before you head back today."

"I can help too," Suki offered.

"No dear," the old lady said. "You shouldn't abandon your Warriors for too long or they'll get restless. Besides, hard labour is better suited for a brainless barbarian like the brat, over here. Maybe if I work him hard enough, he'll be too tired to speak by the time he gets back to you."

Suki seemed hopeful enough at the suggestion that I might've been offended if I were a lesser man. Still, she shook her head.

"I need to guide him back to the village," she said. "He'll get lost otherwise."

"Hey, don't look down on me," I said. "I lived in the wilderness for about eight months when I was thirteen. I can navigate your forest."

Suki raised her eyebrows at me, but lowered them quickly. "I'm a little disappointed at how little that fact surprises me," she says, shaking her head. "You're sure?"

"Positive," I said. "I can retrace our steps with my eyes closed."

Though Suki seemed slightly skeptical about my claim, she seemed to accept it after a moment of thought.

"I guess you can just shout around if you get lost," she said. "You're definitely loud enough that I'd be able to hear you from anywhere on the island."

Suki didn't stick around for much longer after that. She chatted with her grandma for a while, before asking one last time if I was sure that I could find my way back on my own. When I told her I was fine, I wasn't sure if she believed in me completely, but she left to go back to the village regardless.

Once I was certain that she was out of earshot, I turned to the old lady.

"So," I said. "What's the real reason you had me stay behind?"

"Make the last delivery first," she said. "Then we'll talk."

"I'm not going to do it for free, you know," I said.

"I'm aware," the old lady replied.

When she didn't elaborate further, I gave a shrug and grabbed the wheelbarrow from the kitchens before heading over to the port. Osamu seemed surprised that I had come by to pick up the last batch of elephant koi instead of the old lady, but he didn't need much convincing to hand it over.

"Taki's been a lot more cheerful as of late, you know," he said.

"You should check your eyes, Osamu," I said. "The old bitch is as cranky as ever."

Osamu let out a raspy laugh. "That's how us old farts show our affection," he said. "Taki especially's always been a prickly one. I still have the scars on my heart from when she turned me at the midsummer festival dance. She was a real looker, you know."

I made a face of disgust at the idea of the old lady in her youth. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't imagine her without the frown wrinkles on her forehead.

Osamu just laughed at my reaction and waved me away without another word.

The last shipment was small enough that the old lady probably could've handled it on her own without much effort, but I hauled it without complaint to her kitchens. Once I properly stored it away, I walked out of the kitchens and frowned at the old lady.

"Okay," I said. "Now what did you actually want?"

Rather than telling me immediately, Taki gestured towards the back of the restaurant, where another door led towards the living areas. Not saying anything else, she walked into her home and I followed, but instead of leading me to a room like I might've expected, she stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Brat," she said, lifting her arm and taking a narrow stance with her hips low. My eyes widened when I recognized the stance from my training with the Kyoshi Warriors.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I blinked in surprise when I heard the shiver in my voice, but before I could decide whether it was because of the excitement I felt, or if it was a reaction to the dangerous aura that floated heavy in the room emanating from the old lady, she motioned me closer with her single outstretched hand.

"Join me," she said, motioning with her eyes to the spot in front of her.

I moved quickly, positioning myself in front of her and falling into a similar stance, but for some reason, in the face of the mountain that stood in front of me, my stance somehow felt lacking. But before I could think to try and fix it, the old lady started to move.

She moved at a glacial pace, and though I had become somewhat adept at following through katas with the Kyoshi Warriors at a faster pace, the movements she made baffled me. Her entire body moved like a well crafted piece of machinery, her muscles working like cogs, each of them working in tandem with each other towards a goal that I couldn't quite decipher. I fell behind as I divided my attention between watching her deceptively complicated movements while trying to follow along, before giving up, choosing to simply watch her. The old lady gave me a disappointed look, but didn't say anything else as she continued in her dance.

I had hoped that once she finished her kata and looped around to the beginning, that I would be able to follow along, but I realized that she wasn't moving towards a specific pattern.

"It was said that even on the very first day after Avatar Kyoshi created Kyoshi Island, she intended to create a society that would last long after she passed away," the old lady said suddenly, though she didn't pause in her motions. "She knew that in order to do that, she would have to train pupils that could defend her new home, and teach them to cultivate their own pupils as well. It was said that the idea of the Kyoshi Warriors existed in her mind long before the island did, but it still took her ten years to found the first group of Kyoshi Warriors after creating her island, but not for lack of trying. Avatar Kyoshi was simply too strong. She was the strongest being in the mortal realm, and it was difficult to lower herself to a point where she could interact with anyone who was beneath her, let alone teach them."

The old lady stepped down. Though she wore soft sandals on her feet, there was a loud cracking sound and a large dent appeared in the hardened mud flooring of her hallway.

"She intended to teach women, because she believed them to be strong, as she was. She intended to teach regular women, but Avatar Kyoshi was no regular women. She had control over the elements, the very fabric of the reality of the world, while these women could not bend at all. She was powerful, able to tower over any man, and had the strength to lift a hundred of them, but her students were weak and thin. If she wanted to teach her students, she had to adopt their strengths, not her own. It took her a decade to create the martial arts that the Kyoshi Warriors use today, a martial art for women. But that was not the only martial art she created. Before she learned how to be soft, she first learned how to be hard."

The old lady's face tensed in concentration as she stepped down again. Another crack appeared on her floor, before she looked up at me and fell back into the first stance that she'd adopted.

"This is not something that the Kyoshi Warriors of today would teach you, because it would only make them weaker for using a martial art that is not suitable for them," she said, motioning at me with her hands.

I grinned at her and copied her stance.

It was still difficult to follow along, but now that she had told me the intent behind her movements, I could understand what she was doing and why she was doing it. Though she moved slowly enough that I don't think it would have been possible for her to move any slower, I still lagged behind, putting so much focus into each of my movements that my head started to pound and I began to drip with sweat, but I didn't dare drop my stance at any point. I flowed from one move to the next with the old lady, following no specific kata, but still following her in a rhythmless dance.

When the old lady finally finished, I was tired enough that I collapsed on the floor in a pile of sweat, my arms and legs shaking from exertion and excitement to the point where even though I wanted to hug the old lady in gratitude, I wasn't sure if I would be able to.

I tried anyways, but the slight delay that my aching muscles forced upon me gave me enough time to realize that something was horribly wrong.

When the old lady gave me a malicious grin, I could feel a sinking feeling in my gut.

"You owe me," she said, proudly.

I glared at her, not able to deny it.

"How dare you give me this debt," I growled. "How could I possibly pay it back before you die, you old bitch?"

The old lady's grin only sharpened, and she barked out a loud laugh.

"You can't," she said, cackling out loud. "The leaders of the Kyoshi Warriors all retire their posts when they turn twenty years of age to travel the world and bring back knowledge to teach the future generations. That dance we just did took me close to thirty years to learn, and I can only assume that I won't be surviving for that long."

"I'm more than happy make it so you don't survive for much longer than a few more minutes," I growled, pushing myself up from the ground, before the old lady rushed over to kick my hands out from under me.

I tried to scramble to catch myself and push myself up to my feet, but whether it was because I was exhausted from the lesson that the old lady had just taught me, or if she could've floored me regardless, she easily incapacitated me, jumping on top of me and planting both feet on my chest.

"You owe me, brat," she cackled. "And it's impossible for you to clear it before I die, so you'll just have to clear it afterwards."

"What do you mean by that?" I managed to wheeze out, under her surprising weight.

The grin fell off of her face suddenly, as her expression turned serious. After a moment, she stepped off of my chest and turned away from me.

"The War is getting worse," the old lady said. "Though Kyoshi Island is strong, it is not strong enough to resist the waves of war. It will be swept away, along with everyone who lives here."

I winced in pain and rubbed my chest as I nodded along. "So you want me to stop the war, then?" I asked. "I suppose that's simple enough."

The old lady looked at me strangely before cackling in delight.

"I was only going to ask you to keep Suki safe throughout the war," she said. "But I suppose I should've expected that answer."

"Why would commit to babysitting when I could just cut the problem from the source?" I asked, shaking my head. "Besides, Suki is a Warrior in her own right. I trust her to keep herself safe."

The old lady laughed.

"That she is," she said. "Still, I wouldn't be a very good grandmother if I didn't worry regardless."

"I wouldn't know," I said. "I never had a grandmother."

"Good," she said. "I doubt any woman could survive the shame having to have you as a grandson."

I tried to think of a good comeback, but with how tired I was, it proved to be too difficult so I just laid back down on the ground instead.

"Old bitch," I said.

"Precocious brat," she replied.

 

[korzark]

It took me a few more hours before I could recover enough of my strength that I was confident that I would be able to get back to the village before it got too late. While I did want to go over the old lady's teachings again, I didn't want to tire myself out and give Suki reason to think that I got lost in the woods like she suggested I would.

So after eating a bit more of the old lady's food, I headed back towards the village.

While I knew the exact path that we had taken to get to and from the Kyoshi Warriors' village, Suki hadn't been lying when she suggested that it would be easy to get lost in the forest. It turned out that despite my boasting, the skillset that I'd developed after living on a mountain for a couple of months didn't exactly translate over to navigating a forest, and I was left with walking through the forest, trusting nothing but my memory to lead me back. While I was confident that I would be able to make it without any issue as long as I stayed the course, my ears perked up when I heard a strange roar.

I wasn't familiar enough with the fauna on Kyoshi Island to be startled by an unidentified animal sound, I did have enough general knowledge to know that the roar sounded like it came from a cow, or at the very least a large mammal that was closely related to it. While that alone might not have surprised me, despite me being in the middle of the forest, the direction that I'd heard it from was definitely enough to spark my curiosity.

Why did I hear a cow mooing from the sky?

Though the image of Suki taunting me for getting lost on the way back to the village annoyed me somewhat, I headed towards the sound, unable to resist my curiosity. As I got further and further from the path, I felt myself getting more and more disoriented by the dense foliage I walked through, but while the sounds of the sky cow died down, the loud chatter of a trio of voices directed me better than any path could. I couldn't hear them too clearly, catching only glimpses of a conversation about making too many pitstops, but as I got closer, I heard one voice, a young boy from the sounds of it, yelling at his companions to look at something.

I managed to get to the clearing that they were standing at right just in time to watch a bald kid strip naked and jump into the water, yelping about how cold it was. With it being at the tail end of winter, I believed him, but the kid continued to swim further into the open waters regardless.

There were two older kids standing at the shore, both of them water tribe from the looks of their outfits, the boy turning to the girl to make a circular motion with his fingers next to his head but despite how close I was to them, it seemed like they hadn't noticed me.

I was about to announce my presence to them, but before I could, I heard a deep grunt and turned to the side to see...

I'm not actually sure what it was I was looking at. It was a huge creature with white and brown fur that looked like no animal that I'd ever seen before. If I had to pick something close, I might've described it as a big fluffy six-legged yak with a huge head and a flat tail that was almost as wide as its body. The pattern of its fur made it seem like there was an arrow pointing down on its head, which made me think it seemed somehow familiar for some reason, but when I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head, I gave up on identifying it.

"What are you?" I asked the creature instead. "I'm confident when I say I've never seen anything like you before."

The creature blinked at me and gave me a disinterested grunt. Though I was about to dismiss it in a similar manner and introduce myself to the two people on the shore, but before I turned away, I caught a spark of intelligence in the creature's eyes, and I couldn't help but think that the creature was somehow mocking me.

"You got a problem with me?" I asked. "You must think I'm stupid because I can't identify your ugly mug, huh? Well that seems like a you problem. Maybe if you were something important, I might've recognized you."

The creature blinked slowly, but made a soft noise that sounded like a chuff. My eyes narrowed as I slowly became more and more confident that this thing, whatever it was, was laughing at me.

"While I usually don't condone animal cruelty when it's pointless, I do think it's justified when said animal is acting like a little shit," I said, walking towards the creature with my hand raised threateningly.

I'm not sure if I would've actually punched the creature if I reached it, I wasn't given a choice in the matter. I saw it open its mouth, and in the next moment, a great blast of air hit me square in the chest, sending me flying back into the foliage behind me.

I blinked a few times, more in shock than in pain, before I glanced at the creature. I heard the two people making some sort of commotion in response to the creature's attack, but as the gears in my head turned and finally clicked into place, I found my jaw hanging loosely open.

If the fact that I had been knocked on my ass by a sentient ball of fluff wasn't enough of a clue, I finally realized why the creature's appearance had nagged at me for so long. Though the creature looked nothing like the drawings that had been in my childhood textbooks, I could clearly remember the defined arrow pattern on the head on that retrospectively abysmal attempt at the textbook writers drawing of a Flying Bison.

"Holy shit," I said, feeling a surge of excitement well up within me at the sight. With the genocide of the air nomads almost a hundred years ago, and with the avatar supposedly dead, I had given up on the idea of fighting an airbender a long time ago, but with one of the original airbenders in front of me, I was starting to feel a spark of hope reignite within me.

"Oh man, there's a guy here in the bushes! I think Appa attacked him!"

"Oh no! Is he okay? Bad Appa!"

I glanced up at the water tribe boy that was staring down at me from only a few feet away. I was a little surprised how close he had gotten to me without me noticing, but I supposed I could forgive myself given the circumstances. I quickly stood up and flashed him a smile.

"Oh, I think he's fine," the boy shouted backwards. "You are fine, right?"

"Never been better," I said before patting myself off. "That is a flying bison over there, right?"

"Yeah, it is," the boy said. He seemed a little confused by the sudden shift in topic, but I got everything I needed out of him, so I walked forward, giving him a pat on the shoulder as I passed by. "Thanks."

"You're welcome?" the boy asked. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm perfect," I said, before I entered the clearing once more.

I walked back out to see the Flying Bison being yelled by the water nation girl, and while it did seem somewhat chastised, when it noticed my return is let out a huff of annoyance and pointedly turned away from me.

Though it was tempting to interpret the Flying Bison's reaction towards me as a fussy animal being a fussy animal, I felt my eyebrow twitch in annoyance. In the stories I'd read about the great beasts, originators of bending, they had described them as having the capacity for intelligence and true wisdom. Apparently that also gave them the capacity for casual disrespect as well.

I started to see how I would have to approach this.

"Hey," I said. "Sky cow. Fight me."

Though the sky cow looked away from me, I saw its eyes narrow slightly and I knew I could work with this, but before I could say anything else, the water tribe girl rushed forward towards me.

"I'm so sorry that Appa attacked you," she said. "He's not usually like this. I'll make sure to let his owner know so he can properly scold him."

"Don't worry about that," I said. "I can scold him myself. Fight me, sky cow."

"Umm... you want to fight him?"

"I do," I said.

The girl stared at me, like she couldn't possibly fathom what I was saying. With how unfamiliar she seemed with the concept of a fight, I quickly confirmed my suspicions that my textbooks descriptions of the water tribe's general barbarism and customs of sadistically beating baby seals to death before harvesting their meat had just been fire nation propaganda, but it wasn't a significant revelation so I kept my attention focused on the sky cow.

"I won't accept no for an answer," I told it. "I will have my fight."

The sky cow gave me a skeptical glance, but narrowed its eyes as it seemed to recognize that I was being serious. It opened its mouth wide and I grinned, lowering my stance in preparation for a fight, but I realized it was yawning, I frowned and momentarily let my guard down.

Unfortunately for me, that quick moment of hesitation was enough for the sky cow to do something that would seal its victory against me. Before I could react, the sky cow slapped its tail down against the ground, creating a large explosion of wind, launching it upwards.

I braced myself for the incoming attack, lowering myself even closer to the ground, ready to dive and dodge to the side, but nothing came as it simply floated gently in the air. It was high enough that it seemed almost possible for me to reach it if I gave myself a running start, but the height that it was floating at seemed intentionally designed to give me that exact impression. I just knew that if I tried to reach it, the fat bastard would just barely dodge me to taunt me.

I grimaced up at the sky cow, and it gave me the smuggest grin that I'd ever seen on an animal before, knowing that I wouldn't be able to smack the expression off its face no matter how badly I wanted to.

"You can come down, sky cow," I said. "I won't hit you."

The sky cow mooed in response, understandably skeptical of my intentions.

I sighed and shook my head.

"You may not have beaten me down, but I know when I've been bested," I said. "I promise I will find some way to take you down from the sky, but for now, I will let you claim this victory from me. Be proud, sky cow."

The sky cow gave me another skeptical glare, but let out a chuff before cautiously floating down to the ground. I sat down cross-legged on the ground, to try and give it a sense of security, and when it slowly approached me, sniffing my head cautiously, I didn't move.

When the sky cow licked my face, I winced at the smell and warmth of its breath and spit, but I stayed unmoving.

"Hey man," the water tribe boy said. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head when Appa blew you away?"

I didn't respond immediately, not wanting to get any saliva in my mouth, but when the sky cow lost interest in my face I felt secure enough to answer him back.

"I'm positive," I said.

"You know he's grazing on your hair, right?" he asked.

"Of course, I do," I said, wincing in pain as the sky cow's teeth tugged at my hair, pulling just hard enough that it caused me pain without completely scalping me. "It's my hair."

"And you're okay with it?"

"I'm not happy about it," I said. "But to the victor goes the spoils."

The boy seemed confused by the concept, and turned to the water tribe girl, spinning his finger around his temple as if I wasn't staring directly at him. The girl glared at him in response and turned to me quickly, giving me a polite, if confused smile.

"Well, as long as you're happy, I'm glad that this all turned out fine. Appa seems happy too, at the very least," she said. "It's a little late, but I'm Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka. Believe it or not, this isn't actually the weirdest way that we've met someone before."

"My name is Ty Lung," I said, wincing when the sky cow pulled particularly hard at my hair. "I'm the man who will become the strongest being in the mortal realm."

Katara's smile turned stiff at my proclamation, but she managed to hold it together, despite her obvious disbelief.

"Hey, guys. Why did everyone stop watching me? And why is Appa eating some random guy's hair?"

I glanced at the newcomer, the mostly naked kid that had jumped into the freezing winter waters, jogging over with a bundle of clothes under his arms, looking both hurt and confused.

"Oh, Aang," Sokka said, turning to the younger boy. "Well, you see... I'm actually still trying to figure it out myself."

Sokka turned to me, as if he expected me to give a proper explanation for what was going on, and I might've indulged him if it weren't for how my mind was preoccupied with trying to decipher what exactly I was seeing.

Though I hadn't been able to notice it from far away, I couldn't help but stare at the large blue tattoo on the bald kid's head. Once I got over my initial moment of curiosity on what kind of person would tattoo a child's head in such a way, I felt my eyes widen and my jaw drop when I realized that the kid had a huge arrow tattooed on his head, a mark of the air nomads.

The kid blushed and covered his body as he seemed to realize that he was mostly naked in front of a stranger.

If I had any doubt that I was staring at an airbender, he quickly dispelled it by throwing his clothes up in the air and spinning his hands to create a small vortex of wind that quickly dried his clothes.

But while the realization that I was staring at someone who was from a civilization that was thought to have been wiped out was a shocking one, a small part of my mind screamed at me, yelling at me that this wasn't all I needed to realize. As the gears continued to turn in my mind, it took a few more seconds for me to realize who exactly I was staring at.

"You're the avatar?" I asked, not daring to hope.

The bald kid blinked a few times, before his mouth widened into a proud grin.

"Yep!" he said, pointing his thumb to his chest. "That's me!"

My heart pounded in my chest in excitement. Like a majority of the fire nation, I had been raised in an environment that taught me that the avatar was dead and that he would never return, eradicated by Fire Lord Sozin with such ferocity that the cycle of Avatars had perished in his reign. While I didn't buy the Fire Nation propaganda completely, the matter of the fact was that the avatar had been inactive since the beginning of the hundred year war, and I had always been disappointed by the idea that I would probably never be able to fight a master of bending that could control all four elements.

But now that I was staring at the supposed legend in the face, I knew that there was only one thing that I could do.

I threw my head back and laughed, too elated to care about the way that the motion almost yanked out a mouthful of my hairs, as the sky cow continued to graze on it.

"What a joyous day this is!" I shouted. "To think that I could fight an air nomad, let alone the avatar himself! I had thought you had died by Sozin's hand, but I suppose the fates have chosen to ensure that you could die by mine!"

Aang's eyebrows shot up, and I was pleased to see him sinking into a fighting stance, but he seemed confused when neither Sokka, Katara, or the sky cow seemed to alarmed by my proclamation. I might've been annoyed by their lack of reactions if I weren't so giddy with excitement, but no matter. I would get my fight, and nobody was going to stop me.

"Fight-" I tried to stand up, and found myself being cut off when my head was violently yanked backwards. Using my moment of imbalance, the sky cow lunged forward and engulf my entire head, letting out a low grumble that vibrated my entire body.

I flailed around and punched the sky cow square in the nose, but though it grunted in pain, it refused to let go of me. I tensed my muscles in preparation for the sky cow's teeth to squeeze my body and break my bones, but though it bit down hard enough to stop me from escaping its grasp immediately, it didn't apply any pressure beyond that. I could hear the muffled sounds of panicked screaming coming from outside of the sky cow's mouth, but for some reason the screaming stopped abruptly and a few seconds later, I felt many hands grabbing my legs and trying to pull me away from the sky cow's grip.

Though the people pulling at my legs weren't nearly strong enough to beat the strength of the sky cow, it grumbled and slowly opened its mouth, letting my benefactors drag me out without any resistance.

Once I wiped the slimy saliva from my eyes, I blinked a few times before I started to realize that a group of Kyoshi Warriors had dragged me from the sky cow's mouth.

"Back! Back!" I heard some of the Kyoshi Warriors shouting at the sky cow, brandishing their katanas against it.

The sky cow let out a low grumble of annoyance at the weapons, but it let out a low whine and lowered its head in submission.

"I told you you'd get lost," I heard from behind me. When I turned my head, I saw Suki dressed in her uniform, giving me a cheeky grin and an outstretched hand.

I blinked up at her, and though it took me a moment to understand what had just happened, I was able to figure it out when I saw the avatar, as well as his two companions, tied up and blindfolded on the ground, as well as a winged lemur that I hadn't noticed until now, shoved halfway into a canvas bag. I glared up at Suki, who flinched back in surprise at the sudden hostility, but didn't react fast enough to stop me from slapping her hand aside and grabbing the collar of her uniform. I dragged her down until I almost touched foreheads with her.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" I asked.

"Because I wanted to save you?" she asked, seeming to confused to process my reaction entirely. "One of the Warriors noticed a strange looking airship land on the island, and when we came to investigate we saw you being eaten by that... thing. A thank you would be appreciated."

"That thing is a flying bison," I growled. "One of the original airbenders. That kid over there, the bald one that you have tied up and blindfolded on the ground, is an airbender. The last fucking airbender. Do you understand what that means?"

With how sudden the information was, I didn't blame her for taking a few seconds to process it and figure out what I was implying. Though I held her close enough that she could barely turn her head to look at Aang, I saw the gears turning in her head as she stared at him blankly, until an expression that was both hopeful and horrified appeared on her face.

"Is that really the avatar?" she asked, her voice in barely a whisper.

"So he says," I said. "At the very least he's an airbender."

"He's really alive?"

"Yes," I said impatiently. "Do you realize what you did now?"

"Oh shit," Suki said, uttering a rare curse under her breath. "I just attacked the avatar."

When she seemed to end her train of thought there, I gripped her collar tight and pulled her closer. She let out a yelp of surprise as I pulled her off balance and smashed my forehead against hers. Even if I was certain that I'd sustained more damage from that attack than she had, given the fact that the headress she wore was more protective than its decorative surface might've implied, but I was too annoyed to care.

"Who the hell cares about that?" I shouted. "You stole my fight!"

Suki blinked a few times, rubbing her forehead in pain before sighing. She grabbed my collar smashed her forehead into mine again.

"Idiot," she mumbled, low enough that I could only barely hear her despite how close we were. "Why the hell did I even bother worrying about you?"

"That's exactly what I'm asking," I grumbled back.

Suki sighed, her breath tickling my face with how close her mouth was to me, before standing up, dragging me up to my feet in the process.

"Come on and stop pouting," she said. "You can ask for a proper fight after I free the avatar and apologize."

"I'm not pouting," I said, in a very manly way.

"Sure, sure," Suki said, before turning away and shouting. "Warriors. Weapons down and untie our guests. It seems that they are guests of honour, not our enemies."

The Warriors seemed confused by the decision, but were too disciplined to question it. The Warriors moved quickly, lowering their weapons against the sky cow who grunted appreciatively, and undoing the blindfolds of the avatar's party.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sokka asked once his blindfold was off. "What happened to the men that just attacked us?"

"Men?" Suki asked, before shaking her head and bowing towards Aang. "There was no other group involved. We attacked you, and for that, I apologize."

"Wait a second," Sokka said, with a laugh barely contained on the edge of his tongue. "There's no way that a bunch of girls took us down."

Though Suki didn't react to what he said, I couldn't help but notice the edge of her eye twitching in anger. My eyebrow shot up at the realization that I could've probably goaded her into fighting me by just being sexist, but there were more important matters at hand so I filed away the information for later.

"My friend says that you are the Avatar, but while I trust in him, it's hard to believe without seeing it for myself. Would you be able to show us some proof that you are what you claim to be?"

The Kyoshi Warrior that was currently in the middle of untying him froze for a moment as she seemed to finally realize who she was untying, but quickly fumbled against the knots that bound Aang's hands together. The boy in question also seemed to be a little stunned by the question, but after a few seconds, he beamed up at Suki.

"I'd be glad to!" he said, before reaching into his back pocket and grabbing what looked like three small marbles. "Why don't you check this out!"

Using his airbending, Aang created a small circular vortex of wind that spun the three marbles in between his hands, and I knew exactly how disciplined they were, I heard several of the Kyoshi Warriors gasping in shock and muttering at the revelation that we were all staring at the avatar.

But unlike the rest of the spectators, I had seen him use his airbending already, and I wasn't quite as entranced by the little trick as the rest of them. Even as I noticed Suki's eyes widen as she was transfixed by possibly the first public sighting of an airbender in a hundred years, I felt my eyes being drawn to something else.

Though his casual display of skill was probably impressive, I couldn't help but glare at the dopey grin that Aang was wearing on his face. It was an innocent expression, like a puppy drunk off of attention. It wasn't the expression of a warrior, let alone a hundred year old master of the elements.

"Wait," I said, my voice cutting through the excited murmurs. "That doesn't prove that you're the avatar."

"Huh?" Aang said, his expression dropping slightly as he continued to spin his marbles. "What do you mean? Aren't you seeing this amazing airbending trick?"

"I've read that the avatar is the master of all four elements, not just one," I said, crossing my arms and frowning. "Who's to say that you're not just the offspring of some random airbender that survived the genocide?"

The question didn't quite draw out the reaction that I expected. Aang stopped spinning his marbles abruptly, and without the force of the vortex to control them, they ended up spinning out of control, launching themselves away from his hands and clattering lifelessly to the floor. Aang stared down at his hands silently for a few seconds before lifting his head back up with a stiff smile.

"I guess that could be true, couldn't it?" he said with a quiet laugh, rubbing the back of his head before nodding to himself. "Yeah, that's right! A lot more airbenders could still be out there, not just me! You're absolutely right! It really doesn't make sense for anyone to believe that I'm the avatar if they don't show anything else off, doesn't it?"

I wasn't sure if any any of the Kyoshi Warriors noticed how pained he sounded behind his stiff laughter with how awestuck they still seemed, but from the pitying expressions that Sokka and Katara were wearing, I could only assume that there was a story behind it.

"Well no need to worry," Aang said, jogging over to the ocean. "I'll show you that I can do more than just air bending. Watch this!"

I watched with interest as Aang clenched his fists over the ocean and tugged in the air. I wasn't sure if I imagined the small pillar of water that rose from the ocean, quickly falling as Aang released his grip over the elements, but he shook his head and rubbed the back of his head again.

"Wait, that one didn't count," he said. "Let me try again."

My heart started to sink when he strained against the ocean again, and though he was successful in bending the element to his will, making a pillar rise from the ocean that was as tall as he was, lifting it into the air over his head, his control quickly waned and the water fell over his head, drenching him entirely.

"I meant to do that," Aang said quickly, giving a thumbs up despite the shiver in his voice. "Boy, that's refreshing."

This was the avatar? Supposed master of all four elements?

This kid was what I had been so excited to fight?

The sounds of cheering around me from the Kyoshi Warriors did nothing to break me out of the shock I felt. Any and all sense of decorum broke among the Kyoshi Warriors as they all approached Aang, asking him a torrent of questions, with Suki doing nothing to stop them. I watched as Aang blushed and grinned at the female attention like a pubescent boy, which made me realize that that's exactly what he was.

I don't really quite recall what happened after that. I remember falling into something similar to a catatonic state, letting Suki lead me around as the Kyoshi Warriors brought Aang to the village, introducing him to the villagers. Though the reaction that the Warriors had to Aang's reveal could have been described as respectful curiosity and awe, the reaction that the villagers had to the idea that they were in the presence of the avatar was downright rabid, with one guy literally foaming at the mouth when Aang showed off his marble trick.

Though I didn't care about what the faceless masses thought, when it came to matters of strength, Aang certainly did.

More than once, I was forced to reconsider my opinion of him as I debated whether he was simply a master of psychological warfare. With how effectively he was crushing my hopes and dreams of fighting an opponent of legend, I could only imagine that he was simply acting like a pubescent boy, carefully designing this persona with the malicious intent to melt my brain from the inside.

As I battled with this idea that Aang was simply a master of manipulating the fifth element of hopes and dreams, an entire day passed before I was knocked out of my funk.

"Sorry ladies," a familiar voice said as I mindlessly flowed through my katas with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors that were currently training. "I didn't mean to interrupt your little dance lesson. I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout?"

I stopped my kata to stare blearily at Sokka, who was stretching and flexing at the end of the dojo. Though I'd made it a point to not underestimate anyone based on their appearance, after meeting Suki and the old lady, it was difficult for me to not curl my lip in disappointment at Sokka's lack of muscle and substance, especially with his association to Aang.

"Well, you're in the right place," Suki said. "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know that you were friends with the Avatar."

"It's all right," Sokka replied. "I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception."

"I should hope so. A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance."

Even with the other Warriors giggling at Suki's sarcasm, Sokka didn't seem to notice it.

"True. But don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village."

I barely paid attention as Suki goaded Sokka into a fight that he promptly lost in a humiliating manner, with him not even getting a single hit in, while Suki managed to send him to the ground without even touching him.

I don't know if I was more or less disappointed to see that the Avatar's companions were just as incompetent as he seemed, but regardless, I knew I couldn't stay in this funk forever.

Though half of the avatar's companions had already disappointed me heavily, I had to remind myself that not all was lost. Despite my disappointment in the avatar himself, there was at least one mountain in that team that I could work on surpassing.

"I'm leaving," I announced, as Sokka flailed helplessly on the ground. "I'll see you all later."

"Wait, is that Ty Lung?" Sokka asked. "What's he doing here?"

I didn't spare him a single glance as I walked past him. Suki raised her eyebrow at me but didn't do anything to stop me.

"Don't antagonize the avatar," she called out. "He's an important guest."

"Don't worry," I said. "I won't."

A few minutes later, I found myself sitting outside of the Avatar's temporary housing. He had apparently left a while ago, according to a villager who excitedly told me that he was in the main square even though I hadn't asked, but I wasn't there for him. The sky cow was the only member of the Avatar's group that had proven that they could be a formidable challenge to me so far, but as I sat cross legged, watching him lying on his side and groaning in lazy bliss after having a handful of villagers groom and feed him, I couldn't help but be a little annoyed.

"I know that I'm the one who calls you sky cow, but that doesn't mean you have to act like one," I said.

The sky cow grumbled, and I watched as a glob of spit hung from its lips, the viscosity of it making it so it could hang down almost a foot from his mouth without falling to the floor. I stared at it, wondering if it had any sort of hidden importance that I could discover. I knew that there were some species of alpaca in the earth kingdom that used their spit as a deterrent against their natural predators. Maybe there was something similar going on here? I hadn't ever considered using my spit as a part of my offensive arsenal. Maybe there was potential there.

Before I could lie to myself any further I gently placed my face in my hands and let out a heavy sigh.

I could see why Suki did it so often. For a second, I could pretend that I was dreaming, that Suki's constant chokeholds had done too much collective damage to my brain and that the lazy sky cow in front of me and its rider had just been a long-lasting hallucination of some kind.

Giving myself a few more seconds in the safe haven of my own palms, I looked up, only to see the sky cow, still lazing around. It let out a small coughing sound as it choked on its own spit, but I refrained from hiding my face again.

Though I might've been able to figure something out from watching the sky cow, the matter of the fact was that under these circumstances, there wasn't anything to observe. When I had learned from the snow leopards, it had been in the wild, not in a small village where they had their every need catered to them. The snow leopards had hunted and killed to survive, while the sky cow's biggest threat to its survival was muscle atrophy.

I considered goading the sky cow into a fight, but the idea left a sour taste in my mouth. It made me seem like a sore loser, like the fire nation nobles who complained that I only won because I "cheated" somehow. While I knew that fights didn't typically have rules to them, trying to fight the sky cow while it was bloated from food and addled from sleep felt like I was admitting I would lose to it without an advantage.

I frowned as I stayed there, cross legged. While I didn't think I would get anything from the sky cow as it was now, I couldn't exactly think of a better thing to do with my time. I didn't feel like going back to the Kyoshi Warriors after announcing so proudly that I was leaving, and I owed too much from the old lady already to risk incurring a deeper debt by visiting her.

I glared at Appa, hoping that my annoyance would somehow incite him into violence, but the sky cow continued to float between sleep and consciousness peacefully.

"Ty Lung? What are you doing?"

I turned around to see Katara staring at me. She had a basket of vegetables in her hands and a slight furrow in her brow, but her annoyance didn't seem directed towards me.

I eyed Katara skeptically, seeing as she was a part of the same group that contained Aang and Sokka, but even if she was weak by association, I didn't see any reason for me to be unnecessarily rude towards her. If it was a sin to be weaker than me, then this world would be burning with the flames of purgatory.

"I was trying to get the sky cow to fight me," I said. "But it doesn't seem to be working. Do you have any tips on how I can annoy him into wanting to fight me?"

Katara stared blankly at me for a few seconds before giving me that same polite smile that I'd already seen her wear so many times already, like she didn't know how to respond to me but didn't want to be rude.

"I'm not too sure," she said. "I've only known Appa for about a week. Why do you want to fight him, anyways?"

"The sky cow is, without a doubt, the strongest member of your group," I responded.

When Katara stared at me for a couple of long seconds, it felt like she expected me to continue, but I didn't have anything to add beyond that. It took her a while to realize that I was done.

"Appa?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"I see..." she said, trailing off as her eyes darted around, as if searching for an exit from the conversation. I didn't quite understand why, since I wasn't stopping her from leaving, but when I raised my eyebrow at her, she gave me that same polite smile. "You know, Aang's pretty strong too. He fought off a whole team of firebenders when we first met."

"Did he now?" I asked, though quelled the interest that rose within me. Fighting off a team of firebenders wasn't that impressive of a feat, after all. "Then does that mean that he's putting on some sort of act right now?"

"What do you mean?" Katara asked.

I shrugged. "I just can't imagine him fighting off a group of soldiers," I said. "Wasn't the avatar supposed to be the one who brings balance to the world? I never expected a person like that to be such an attention whore."

"Such a what?"

I raised an eyebrow at Katara as she stared down at me in confusion, like she had no idea what I was talking about.

"An attention whore," I clarified, in case she hadn't heard me properly. "He seems more interested in showing off to the ignorant masses than in being the avatar."

"Oh," Katara said, her expression immediately darkening. "Yeah, it sure does seem that way, doesn't it?"

There was a story brewing there, and though I didn't really care for the backstory behind it, I also didn't really care enough to leave.

"You know, we weren't even supposed to land on this stupid island. We were supposed to be on course to reach the North Pole to get Aang a waterbending teacher within a month, but we keep making these random detours, and it's always because he just wanted to ride on random animals. First it was the penguins, then it was some giant pelican gulls, now it's the elephant koi. I mean, I get that he's just a kid and that he wants to have fun, but I would hope that he would have at least some sense of urgency about these things. It's like he doesn't even realize that we're actively being chased by a platoon of elite fire nation soldiers."

If I could control my ears, they would've perked up at that.

"You're being chased by elite fire nation soldiers?" I asked.

"Yeah," Katara said, with a huff. "We haven't seen them since we left the South Pole, but I know they're still following us. If it weren't for Appa, I could only imagine how often we would have to fight them."

"Every day, maybe," I said.

"Maybe," Katara agreed.

"Being pursued by elites, the best of the best," I said. "Bringing the fight to you even if you don't do anything to initiate it."

"Yeah," Katara said. "Can you imagine? Appa's been great, but if we keep stopping like this, it's only a matter of time before we get stuck in an endless loop of fighting."

Katara walked past me to bend down and pat Appa's belly, and he seemed to wake up enough to try and steal the vegetables from her basket with his tongue. Though she managed to pull the basket away quickly, she didn't act fast enough to rescue most of the vegetables from his spit, and surrendered the soiled food to him.

"Dang it, Appa," she said.

"Weren't you just praising him?" I said, standing up with a smile on my face. "I'd say he's earned the snack."

"That was supposed to be our rations for the next few days," Katara said, wiping her hands on her coat. "As nice as the villagers are treating us here, I can't wait to get out of this place. No offence."

"None taken," I said. "I don't even see why I would be offended in the first place."

"Aren't you a local?"

"Not at all. What makes you think that?"

"You wear the same clothes as the villagers around here," Katara said. "That and they seem to treat you like one of their own."

"The old lady I was staying with burned my old clothes. Said it made me look like a homeless vagrant," I said.

Katara seemed surprised by the claim, and furrowed her brow like she was trying to decide if I was joking or not. I didn't care enough to clarify to her that I wasn't. The old lady had been strangely fussy about my appearance, even if I didn't find any problem with it. Homeless vagrant was a pretty accurate description for me, after all.

"I'd say that you don't need to worry about leaving quickly," I said, cutting through the awkward pause. "If the fire nation soldiers catch up to you, I'll gladly take care of them on your behalf."

Katara glanced up at me with a confused look in her eyes.

"Thank you?" she said, obviously a little confused, though I had no idea why. "You shouldn't worry about that too much though. I'm sure Aang will see sense soon and we can leave before they have the chance to show up."

"Unless you leave immediately, I don't see that happening," I admitted. "And with how the avatar is acting, I can only assume he'll want to stick around for a few days."

"Isn't a few days fine?" Katara asked. "I mean it's not like the Fire Nation can track where we are, right?"

I shrugged. "Got nothing to do with the Fire Nation's abilities," I said. "I may not be a local, but I do know how fast the rumour mills turn around here. The news has definitely travelled to the mainland at least, and I wouldn't be surprised if half the Earth Kingdom's already heard about the Avatar's return."

Katara stared at me for a few long seconds before she gently set the basket down where she stood. Appa's tongue snaked out of his mouth to inspect the empty basket for more hidden food and he let out a disappointed groan when it proved to be empty.

"Excuse me for a moment," Katara said, before walking away at a brisk pace.

 

[Lonelywidow777]

More please

 

[korzark]

More please

Click to shrink...

Ok, since you asked nicely

 

[korzark]

I looked down at the sky cow and gave him a shrug before following Katara in her search for Aang. It turned out that it was an incredibly easy task to accomplish. It was a small village, and it seemed like everyone that we passed by had seen Aang passing by at some point within the past ten minutes or so. Even with vague instructions, it wasn't difficult to notice the literal horde of young girls that followed Aang around.

"Aang!" Katara shouted, once we got close enough to see him. He was telling something to the children around him as they hung off his every word, but as soon as he heard Katara, he spun around to look at her with a wide grin on his face.

"Katara!" he shouted happily. "I was just telling these ladies about how-"

"Aang," Katara said, interrupting him and pushing her way through the crowd of children to grab his wrist. "We need to go."

"What, why?" Aang said, nearly falling forward as Katara pulled him along. "I was just about to tell you about the Unagi."

"The Unagi?" Katara repeated. "What are you talking about, Aang?"

In the moment of confusion, Aang managed to pull his wrist away from her, rubbing it for a second before smiling. "Yeah, the Unagi! Koko told me that there's a huge sea monster that lives near the coasts of this place," he said, puffing out his chest and pointing at himself with his thumb. "And I'm going to ride it."

The look of dismay that Katara gave him seemed to fall short, especially since he wasn't actually looking at her.

"What?" she asked. "What are you talking about Aang? Who's Koko?"

"I'm Koko," one of the children surrounding him said, raising her hand.

Katara looked down at her, and opened her mouth as if to say something, but she shook her head.

"We don't have time for that, Aang," she said, ignoring the child completely. "The Fire Nation could be catching up to us in any minute. We need to get out of here soon, before this village gets invaded by soldiers."

A look of shock passed through Aang's features for a split second before the child spoke up again.

"Don't listen to her, Aangy," she said. "She's just trying to get you away from us so she can have you all to herself. She's jealous."

Katara's head whipped down to give the child a death glare that even I found impressive, but the child seemed unintimidated. Either that or she simply hadn't noticed.

Despite the murder that Katara's eyes promised, Aang seemed to be just as oblivious to it as his groupies were, laughing and rubbing the back of his head. "Ladies, ladies," he said. "There's no need to fight. There's enough of me to go around."

Katara's jaw dropped as she stared at Aang, with Aang giving her an awkward smile back.

"C'mon Katara," he said. "It'll be fine. We haven't seen the bad guys in like a week. How would they even know where we are?"

Katara glanced back at me, seeming to remember why she had marched here in the first place. I didn't move to help her, not willing to speak on her behalf especially if it lowered the chances of a fight coming my way.

"Ty Lung told me that the rumour mill in this village is strong," she said. "He says that half the Earth Kingdom probably knows that you're alive by now."

Aang's expression dropped slightly, but Koko was quick to revive it.

"C'mon Aangy," Koko whined, tugging at Aang's sleeve. "Stop paying attention to this old lady. She must be getting delusional in her age."

"Old?!" Katara shouted.

"Even if the Fire Nation does come, we have the Kyoshi Warriors here," Koko continued. "They're the greatest warriors in all of the Earth Kingdom. They'll kick the Fire Nation's butts when they come."

"Aang," Katara said. "Please, you can't seriously be considering actually staying. You'd be risking these people's lives."

Though Aang's expression had been wavering through this entire conversation so far, that final comment from Katara had been the most effective one by far, pulling his lips down into a deep frown. Unfortunately for Katara, Koko still had some tricks up her sleeve.

"Please, Aangy," she said, tugging on his sleeve. "Don't leave yet. We love you!"

As if on cue, the other groupies surrounding him repeated those final words almost in complete sync, like a chorus. The frown on Aang's face was immediately replaced by a dopey grin, and the girls seemed to realize that they'd won, with each of them a part of Aang's clothes and pulling him away from Katara.

"Sorry, Katara," he said, as he let himself be pulled away. "You heard the girls. I can't leave just yet."

Katara stared blankly at him, and I wasn't actually certain if she was conscious or not. I started to wonder if my absurd theory earlier, about Aang being the master of the fifth element of hopes and dreams wasn't simply just a delusion created by my despondent mind, wasn't so crazy after all.

It was only after he was long gone that Katara managed to shake off the aftereffects of his psychological warfare.

"AANG, YOU ABSOLUTE WHORE!"

Though Aang wasn't around to hear it, a good handful of villagers stared at Katara with wide eyes and visible gasps. She didn't seem to notice, as she turned around and stomped away. With how confused she had been with the concept of an attention whore when I brought it up earlier, I wondered if I had accidentally mistaught her what the word meant, but after thinking about how he'd been acting, I could admit that Katara had been intentional in calling out Aang's whorish behaviour.

In either case, it wasn't really my obligation to correct her, so I didn't say anything when I caught up to her.

"I can't believe that actually happened," Katara fumed. "Can you believe it?"

"I'm surprised too," I admitted. "I never realized how formidable Koko was. She always seemed like such a dumb kid to me."

Though I didn't personally like to rely on manipulation or psychological attacks to win fights, I respected it as a form of strength in and of itself. Though I wouldn't go seeking Koko out for tips, I had to acknowledge her as a master of her art.

Katara didn't acknowledge what I said as she continued to rant and ramble to herself about Aang and the stupid island. It seemed like she wouldn't shake herself out of her anger any time soon.

Not seeing any point in sticking around, I left Katara alone to rave in the streets as I picked a random direction to wander towards, until I ended up in the middle of the forests of Kyoshi Island.

In the dense foliage, there wasn't much space to manoeuvre my body in the complex ways that the old lady had demonstrated to me, but it wasn't that much more confined than the hallway that she had taught me in. Recalling the stance that she took, and the intent behind it, I let myself go, letting my body meld with my mind.

I flowed from one form to the next, replicating the exact same series of stances and moves that the old lady had taught me. I didn't understand all of them, nor did I think I could replicate them all perfectly as I was, but I copied them as best as I could, to teach my body the mechanics behind them, despite my mind not being able to keep up.

I stayed in that spot, practising for about an hour, before I got tired enough that I collapsed on the floor. I rested for another hour, but my mind remained active, as it hadn't been as active as my body. I tried to run through the stances and moves, and most of them still eluded me, but one of the moves stood out to me.

The stomp that had sent a spiderweb of cracks appearing in her floor.

If I was being honest with myself, the only reason why that move stood out to me so clearly was because it was flashy. As embarrassing as it was to be so interested in a move just because it looked impressive, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I wasn't closer to understanding it than I was with the rest of the moves that the old lady had shown me, but at the very least, the intention of the move was clearer than the rest.

Destruction.

The old lady had described the unnamed martial art as being one of Avatar Kyoshi's early creations, one that was less detached from the monstrous bending ability and physique than the more refined arts that the modern day Kyoshi Warriors used. A hard art.

Whenever I thought of hard martial arts, I thought of fast and powerful strikes, swinging with enough force to crush bones.

The old lady's stomp matched most of what I imagined when I thought of a hard strike, but the lack of speed and weight behind the blow still puzzled me. Though I wouldn't call the old lady scrawny, with her still being able to haul elephant koi in the kitchen despite her age, I would've guessed she was half my weight.

I stood up and stomped down on the ground as hard as I could, but when I looked down, the only thing I saw was a slight depression in the shrubbery underneath my feet.

My stomp was heavier and faster than the old lady's had been, and yet it didn't even begin to match the destructive force behind it.

I frowned, but not to be deterred, I tried again, over and over until I collapsed from exhaustion once more.

I repeated this a few more times before it got dark, and with shaky legs, I stumbled back out of the forest. Though it was early enough that the Kyoshi Warriors were probably on the tail end of finishing up their communal dinner, I felt too tired to eat and headed toward the storage cabin that I used as my room.

Stumbling inside, I fell into bed without hesitation and was surprised when I heard a feminine yelp from within my blankets.

"We didn't cover surprise attacks yet," a familiar voice shrieked.

I frowned.

"Why are you in my bed, Sokka?" I asked.

"Ty Lung?" Sokka asked.

I rolled my eyes, though he definitely couldn't see it with how dark it was.

"Yes, it's me," I said. "Now what are you doing in my bed?"

"Oh," Sokka said, laughing nervously. "Suki said I could use it to rest for a few minutes after our training session. Apparently guys aren't allowed to sleep in the main building, and this was all they had. I was just gonna lie down for a bit and head back to my place, but I guess I just sort of fell asleep?"

I frowned, and was about to request that he left so I could sleep, but I realized something. If Suki had told him to sleep here, it would be her fault that I couldn't use my bed and she wouldn't be able to complain if I slept outside like I wanted to.

"It's no problem," I said, standing up and walking out of the storage shed. "You can keep the place. I'll sleep outside."

"Huh? What are you talking about, it's the middle of wint-"

I closed the door before he could finish and headed back to my spot in the forest.

Once I returned to the spot where I'd been practising, I pulled a few branches off of the surrounding trees to create a basic shelter for myself, not wanting to try and find a cave like I'd done in the mountains, and went to sleep.

The next day, I barely moved from that small spot in the forest, only occasionally leaving my spot to gather edible plants, and to hunt and cook my game in a spot where I could start a fire without burning the whole forest down. Otherwise, I trained in the same spot, stomping down over and over until I became exhausted, resting until I could gather my strength, and repeating the process.

A whole day passed, and I had nothing to show for it, other than an imprint in the foliage. I frowned, and considered checking up on the village, in case the fire nation had shown up without me somehow hearing it, but if that was the case, I almost didn't care at this point. The obsession with the old lady's move had already overtaken me, and I wasn't sure if I would be satisfied with my next fight without being able to use it.

I slept, and dreamt of stomps.

I woke up the next day with my legs sore. Though my body was trained well enough that it usually never happened, it seemed that the two days of almost non-stop training had been enough to almost cripple me with pain. I understood that training in this state probably wasn't a wise idea and that taking a rest day would leave me in better shape than I had been in before, but while my body complained, my mind still craved.

So I continued to stomp.

The pain and exhaustion had piled up overnight to the point where I could barely move, but I moved anyways. I stomped on the ground continuously, until I couldn't summon any strength in my legs.

But even without strength in my legs, I felt the need to stomp.

So I stomped without my legs.

I blinked in confusion, not quite understanding what had just happened, not quite understanding what I did. If it weren't for the utter clarity I felt and the way that my heart suddenly pounded strong in my chest, I might've thought I had blacked out for a second. I was in a low stance, with my legs planted firmly into the ground, despite my certainty that I didn't have the strength to move them. I tried to lift my foot up to inspect it.

But it was stuck. I looked down, to try and understand why, and when I saw that my foot was stuck in the ground, about a half-inch deep, I felt my heart pounding at the sight.

I tried to pull my foot out, but in my excitement and the weakness that still plagued my legs, I fell over backwards. I was stabbed by several branches on the way down, and felt a few gashes being cut into my skin, but I was too excited to care about the pain.

It took me about an hour of intense focus to process what I had just done, but once I felt like I'd figured it out, I stood up, ignoring the protests of my shaking legs and raised my foot into the air.

I didn't stomp quickly, letting my foot fall with the pull of gravity, and even if I wanted to, my legs were too tired to summon the strength necessary to create that same destructive force that the old lady had shown me.

But the rest of my body, eager to be challenged after days of complete disuse, held an excess amount of energy within them.

So I stomped, not with my legs, but with my entire body.

From the top of my head to the end of my toes, I tensed my muscles, and summoned my strength. I gathered all of the energy I could summon from within me, and I imagined it coursing through my body, like blood rushing through my veins, gathering in my feet. My legs felt dense with power, as my foot fell, and once it hit the ground, I imagined all my energy rushing out at the impact, bursting out like an explosion of power, concentrated on the bottoms of my foot.

My foot became stuck once more, still about half an inch deep into the ground and I grinned to myself, before bursting out with laughter, like I was releasing the excess energy that had gathered within me.

I laughed and laughed, until I felt like I could laugh no more. I laughed until I ran out of breath, passing out and waking up on the floor, before I laughed again.

Though it was nowhere near complete, I had figured something out. Not even the realisation of how severe my debt to the old lady actually was could quell my excitement.

I felt like a child with a new toy, wanting to keep using my new technique to dig my feet deeper into the ground until I was completely submerged, for no other reason than the fact that I knew I could, but I knew that I should temper myself.

Though my exhaustion had been one of the contributing factors to me discovering this technique in the first place, I knew that if I continued to practise under these conditions, it was possible that I might develop bad habits because of it, making me weaker overall.

So I gave my spot in the forest a bow of respect before turning around and heading back towards the village.

The village was still standing, with no burn marks to suggest that the Fire Nation had been around. Though I wasn't too surprised, since I hadn't been far enough that the sounds of battle wouldn't have reached me, I had admittedly been a little worried about the possibility that I might've been too focused to hear anything outside of the sounds of my own heartbeat.

By the time I got to the Kyoshi dojo, it was early enough that breakfast hadn't started, and several of the Warriors simply milled around the dojo, waiting idly for the Warriors on kitchen duty to announce that food was ready.

The Warriors seemed surprised by my presence, but not in a negative way. Most of them waved at me, giving me casual greetings, though some of them seemed to be shyer than usual about it. Though I returned each of their greetings with a wave and a smile, most of my attention was focused on the kitchens as I wondered what was on the menu for today. I vaguely realized that I had accidentally skipped one of my kitchen duty days, and wondered if I might be denied my food for that, but I had given Suki plenty of reasons to starve me before, and she'd never taken away my food for it.

Though I had been eating somewhat properly over the past few days, I wasn't surprised to hear my stomach grumbling in anticipation for a meal with actual seasoning beyond the salt of my own sweat.

When I heard the meal gong ring, I lined up with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors to pick up my food. When I got to the front of the line, I gave a smile to Lan, who was in charge of distributing the food today.

"Good morning, Lan," I said. "Mind giving me a little extra today? I'll keep it a secret from Suki."

Lan gave me a shy smile and her eyes darted up at me in short glances, unable to keep proper eye contact with me for some reason.

"I'm not sure how possible that will be, Ty Lung," she said, with an apologetic smile and a discrete finger point behind me.

I turned around to see Suki staring down at me, which was impressive considering how much shorter she was than me. I gave her a smile and a wave.

"I'm back," I said.

Suki's eyes scanned my body for a second, before she locked eyes with me.

"You look more confident," she said. "I have no idea how you managed that, considering how cocky you already were."

I shrugged. "I figured something out," I said.

Suki seemed to search my eyes for a deeper explanation, but I respected the dojo too much to want to give a demonstration and destroy it, though it was possible that it was reinforced enough to withstand my stomps, given that it had been built to withstand Kyoshi.

Eventually she shrugged and grabbed my wrist to pull me away from Lan.

"My food!" I complained, though I let myself be dutifully dragged away.

"If you're going to eat in the dojo, you'll have to do it with the proper respect," she said. "Your food will still be here after you've washed up and dressed."

"Ah, I knew I was forgetting something," I said, nodding along to what she said.

Suki sighed and shook her head as she pulled me out of the dojo, towards the section of the yards that the Warriors used to wash themselves.

"You leave my sight for three days and you already revert back to being a complete savage," she said, still shaking her head. "What did you even do? Go into the forest to fight the squirrel bears?"

"You have squirrel bears here?" I asked.

"No," Suki said, a little too quickly. "And if there were, they would be an important part of the island's ecosystem and you shouldn't fight them."

I laughed as Suki pushed me into the washing area.

"Fair enough," I said, before I reached down to pull up my shirt and tossed it onto the floor.

Suki stared at my chest for a moment, but flinched when she realized that I had noticed. I grinned at her.

"I'm not ashamed of my body," I said. "You're allowed to stare."

"Shut up," she said, bending over to pick my shirt up off the ground and inspecting it. "Not like there's much of a difference with this off or on anyways. You basically had your entire chest hanging out of these rags. I was joking about the squirrel bears, but what did you fight to make your clothes look like this?"

"Trees, mostly," I said, with a shrug. "I fell a bunch and got scratched up by their branches. I didn't even realize my clothes were so torn up until now, but I guess it makes sense."

"Trees?" Suki asked, clearly amused by the idea. "You got beaten up by trees?"

The way she said it annoyed me, so I quickly reached down and pulled down my pants. Suki's eyes widened before she spun around so fast that it might've made her dizzy.

"Warn me before you do that," she said, through gritted teeth.

"Your fault for sticking around," I said. "Why are you sticking around, anyways?"

"To make sure you washed up properly," she said, though she didn't seem too confident in the answer. She seemed to realize it too, since she started to walk away.

"I'll bring you your uniform," she said before she disappeared out of my sight.

It took me less than a minute for me to finish washing up, and thankfully, Suki didn't take much longer than that to return. She kept her eyes hidden behind her hand and only stopped once she walked behind the divider wall that gave the bathing area a minimal amount of privacy. With the Kyoshi Warriors being all female, and with the dojo being isolated from the village and the non-Warrior villagers too reverent of the Warriors to even dare to peek, I suppose the lack of privacy wasn't usually an issue.

"Here," Suki said, with only her arm sticking out from behind the wall, holding out a towel for me.

"Thanks," I said, taking it and drying myself off. By the time I finished, Suki held out my uniform for me, which I took and quickly donned.

I stepped around the dividing wall, and Suki flinched initially, but relaxed when she saw I was clothed.

"Food," I said.

"Face paint," she replied.

"Fine," I said, with a huff.

I bent down to pick up my discarded pants, not wanting to leave a mess, but paused when I realized my shirt was gone. It took me a moment to remember that Suki had taken it away when she left to get my clothes, so I shrugged to myself, knowing it was taken care of.

I made my way to my cabin, and was surprised to see that it was messier than usual, but didn't bother to fuss about it too much before putting on my face paint and heading back to the mess hall.

When I got there, it seemed like all of the Kyoshi Warriors had been served their food and were already sitting and eating in silence, aside from Lan, who was still waiting by the end of the room at the serving tables. I jogged over to her, and though she looked a little disappointed, she smiled up at me.

"Sorry for the wait, Lan," I said. "You must be hungry too."

"Nah, it's alright," she said. "You're not the last person I need to serve anyways. Water Tribe boy's a pretty talented cook, but he's a bit slow on kitchen duty since he's not used to doing 'girl work.'"

"Girl work?" I asked.

Lan didn't bother to answer my question, just laughing instead. Without another word, she filled up a bowl of soup and a separate bowl of rice and fish for me, pushing it down to pack in as much food as she could without it spilling over the edge.

"Enjoy," she said, before waving me on my way.

"Thanks," I said, before heading to the tables.

I sat down in a free spot at the tables, and started to eat. Though I could feel several stares on me, it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling so I ignored it and focused on my food. It was pretty good, and if Lan was to be believed that it was a result of Sokka's cooking, I was impressed if it really was his first time.

As if summoned by my thoughts, I felt a new set of eyes staring at me and I looked up to see Sokka across the table from me, still standing, like he couldn't decide if he should sit down or not.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he grimaced.

"You're wearing the same uniform as everyone else, right?" he asked.

The question confused me, but I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, through a mouthful of food.

Sokka stared silent for a few long seconds before he spoke up again.

"You're wearing a dress and makeup, just like me," he said. "I mean, I know it's not something to be embarrassed about, honour and tradition and all that, but how do you make it look so... rugged?"

I had no idea how to answer that, so I simply shrugged and returned to my food.

Sokka let out a low groan, but he sat down across from me. The Kyoshi Warrior to his left gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Though I usually finished my food fast, I had a lot to go through thanks to Lan, and by the time I had finished, a majority of the Kyoshi Warriors had already filed out of the dojo. Aside from Sokka, Suki, and Lan, who all started eating after I did, and a small handful of Warriors that stuck around, the dojo was surprisingly empty, given the fact that morning practice was due to begin soon.

But I supposed that didn't matter too much.

After I took my plates and bowls over to the kitchens, thanking the Warrior on duty, I walked up to Suki and sat across from her.

As I approached, I noticed the apprehensive expression that she wore, and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't think the food was that bad," I said.

"I agree," Suki said. "Sokka's actually pretty talented at cooking, if you ignore his constant complaining whenever he steps foot in the kitchen. It's kind of annoying how good he is, actually."

"Then what's got you so bothered?" I asked.

"The possibility that the Fire Nation might attack us," she said. "What else?"

I blinked a few times in surprise, but Suki seemed to be staring too deeply at her food to notice.

"You scared Katara pretty badly into thinking that we'll be attacked for certain, but I can't help but agree with your logic," she continued. "Even if the Avatar's party does leave, there's no guarantee that we'd be left alone regardless, since they could assume that we're harbouring him. We haven't received any warnings from the mainland yet, but everyone here's been anticipating a fight."

"Oh," I said.

Suki paused, with her chopsticks frozen in the air, halfway to her mouth. She put them down before looking up at me.

"What was that?" she asked, her voice flat.

I shrugged. "Nothing," I said. "I was just a little surprised that you knew about the Fire Nation coming already. I guess I didn't consider the possibility that Katara would've told you already. Convenient, though. Saves me the trouble."

Suki stared at me, an expression of disbelief and hurt passing through her eyes before it returned to neutral.

"You thought we didn't know about it?" she asked. "And you didn't think to warn us before going off into the forest for three days?"

"Yeah, I know," I said, with a sigh. "I didn't really think about it, but to be fair, I've been pretty busy. Pretty stupid of me in hindsight."

Suki glowered at me, but for some reason, even though I should've been more than used to her being annoyed at me, given that it was pretty much her constant state around me, I felt a subtle sting in my chest.

"Yeah," Suki said, standing up from the table. "It was pretty stupid of you."

I frowned, not understanding why I felt so upset by Suki's reaction, but before I could try to figure it out further, she stalked away from her spot, her footsteps heavier than usual.

A few of the Warriors seemed to notice their leader's immediate shift in mood, but hadn't been close enough to overhear our conversation. Not that I knew if it would help them understand, since I had been a part of it and I had no idea why she had been so upset.

I wasn't completely out of tune with other people's emotions and needs, but I had always made that clear. Though I owed a debt to the old lady to keep Suki safe, and I would throw myself between her and the firebenders to make sure of it, it wasn't like that debt extended to the rest of the village, and besides, Suki didn't even know about it in the first place.

I hadn't expected Suki to think of me as some sort of altruistic sort, and quite frankly, I was hurt by the idea that she would misjudge me so harshly. I thought we were closer than that.

Or not close... Just familiar.

I wasn't hurt either, just insulted that my trust in Suki's intuition had been broken. I had assumed that she knew me well enough to know that I didn't give a shit about anyone other than myself, just like how I knew her well enough to know that she cared about this stupid island and the people that lived on it.

I frowned and stared in the direction that Suki had retreated towards.

"Fuck," I said to myself, before walking in the same direction.

Though Suki had a head start on me, my longer stride, coupled with the fact that I was jogging while she walked, meant that I caught up to her quickly.

"Suki," I said, grabbing her shoulder.

When she spun around to me, I thought she might hit me, but she stopped herself. With her hands balled up into tight fists by her side, and a slight misty film over her eyes, she glared up at me. I winced as another mysterious pang of pain lanced through my chest, but I filed it away, making a mental note to see a doctor, before I focused my attention on the more important matter at hand.

"What do you want?" she asked.

I had no idea, but I talked anyway.

"I will never apologize for being me," I said. "But I will always apologize for not being me."

"What?" Suki asked, her sadness temporarily being replaced by confusion. The pain in my chest lightened, but it didn't go away completely.

It wasn't enough to satisfy me, for I was Ty Lung, and I would accept nothing if it wasn't everything.

"I didn't warn you about the Fire Nation attack, because I didn't think it was necessary," I said. "That is not an apology. I didn't tell you because to me, it didn't matter. I could've easily warned you about the invasion just as easily as I hadn't, but I had more important matters to attend to at the time. All I care about is becoming the strongest being in the mortal realm, and I do not care about what litters the path behind me. If the Fire Nation came and razed your entire village to the ground, I wouldn't have cared. I would simply leave and never look back, because I am me."

Suki's anger returned stronger than before. I heard the ominous creak of her leather gloves ring in the air between us, and watched as she bit her lip so hard that a bright line of blood mixed in with her lipstick. I didn't know for sure why she hadn't attacked me at this point, but I suspected that she assumed I was picking a fight, and that she didn't want to give me what I wanted.

"If I had any reason to warn you, it would be because I owe a debt to your grandmother for teaching me a martial art on the day that we went back to visit her, but I didn't consider it a good enough reason to warn you because I trust that you are strong enough to survive a fire nation invasion, regardless of what amount of preparation you have. You may not be strong enough to protect your entire village on your own without preparation or help, and while I knew that you would not be happy with that result, I didn't think it mattered to me. And for that I apologize."

"I don't accept your apology," Suki hissed through gritted teeth. "Now get out."

I grabbed her shoulders tighter, not willing to let her go before I was done.

"I'm not apologizing to you because I want your forgiveness," I said. "I'm apologizing to myself for not being true to me."

Suki reached up to grab my arms, and pressed her thumbs into my flesh. A horrible pain lanced through my arms, but I held fast.

"I was a fool, Suki!" I shouted, my voice rising involuntarily from the pain. "While it wouldn't hurt me to see the Island sink burning into the ocean that surrounds it, that doesn't mean I have any reason to allow it. I like the dojo, and the village, and the port city, and the delicious elephant koi that the old bitch serves up, and all the Kyoshi Warriors. And why isn't that enough? Why should I let anyone take anything that I like? Am I so weak that I cannot ensure the safety of those who linger on the path behind me? No. I am Ty Lung, strongest in the mortal realm. And for forgetting that fact, I apologize to myself."

The pressure in my arms lessened, but the glare in Suki's eyes didn't.

"Good for you," she hissed.

"It is a good lesson to learn," I agreed. "But I'm not done yet. I need to apologize to you as well."

Suki looked up at me for a second before looking down at her feet. She let go of my arms entirely and let them fall to her side.

"Don't bother," she said.

"I will bother," I said. "I betrayed you Suki, and by doing that, I betrayed the debt between us. Not the debt I made to your grandmother, but the one I made to you. I promised that I would devote my entire life to bringing you the same joy that you have given me, and by betraying you like this, I only place myself further in your debt."

I let go of Suki's shoulders and knelt down so that she could see my face even though she was looking down.

"Suki," I said, taking her hand in mine. "I swear to make you the happiest woman in the world."

There was a long pause before I heard someone clapping behind me, in a very confused rhythm. When nobody joined in on the applause, it slowly faded away.

"You know you just proposed to me again, right?" Suki asked.

"Do you want me to clarify to the other Warriors that I didn't?"

"No, it's okay," Suki said. "There's an easier way to make it clear that we're not a couple."

I smiled up at her, letting my body loosen up as Suki grabbed my shoulders and thrusted her knee into my groin.

I nearly threw up my breakfast, and didn't exactly resist the urge to vomit, thinking it would make Suki feel slightly better if I did, but unfortunately, my constitution was too strong to allow it, even as I writhed in pain on the floor, struggling to breathe.

When Suki squatted down in front of me, I looked up at her. I could barely decipher her expression through my clouded vision, but she didn't look as upset as she had been before, though she didn't seem to be anywhere close to feeling happy.

"Happiest woman in the world, huh?" she said. "Where'd you manage to pull that from? I remember you promising to make me happy, but happiest is a bit of a stretch from that."

I tried to answer her, but all I could manage was a dry wheeze at the moment.

"Hmm? What was that? You're going to have to speak a bit louder."

I tried not to begrudge her for the sly smile that was slowly appearing on her lips, still stained with blood.

"You," I said. "I said I'd give you the same joy that you've given me."

"What, then?" she asked. "You're saying I've made you the happiest man in the world? Do we have a set of toddlers running around that I don't know about?"

"No," I wheezed. "But for some reason, seeing you happy makes me happy. If I keep making you happy, it's only going to increase my debt, so the only way I can fulfil it is if I make you eternally happy."

Suki didn't say anything for a long moment before sighing.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" she asked.

"Of course I am," I said. "Did you not realize that until now?"

"Of course not," she said. "I suppose I always knew."

"You know, I can't actually see anything at this angle, but to everyone else, it probably looks like I'm looking up your skirt right now."

Suki sighed again before standing up.

"You know, it would make me a very happy girl if you shut up every once in a while."

"Don't lie to me," I said. "I know you like it."

Suki sighed again.

It took a couple more minutes for me to regain feeling in my lower body, and I had the strange feeling that I was speaking in a slightly higher pitch than I had been a moment ago, but thankfully I didn't have much of a reason to talk. The Kyoshi Warrior rumour mill was going as strong as ever, and though I think that the rumour started to focus on the fact that I was "officially single" at some point, the Kyoshi Warriors that seemed like they wanted to approach me were all buffeted by the annoyed glares that Suki sent to anyone who got close to us.

I might've been worried about the possibility that she might develop a headache from the constant eye strain, but before the hour turned over, a messenger hawk flew above the dojo and hovered around in circles, until Suki lifted her arm. When it landed on her, she quickly took the note tied to its leg and read it, before jotting down a return message and sending it flying into the sky once more.

"They're coming," she said. "We've got three hours, Warriors. Make them count."

With how quickly the Kyoshi Warriors assembled and dispersed to their assigned posts, I wondered for a moment if the Kyoshi rumour mill was a trained skill for this group, but didn't think too hard on it as I considered where I should go.

 

[Lonelywidow777]

Ok, since you asked nicely

Click to shrink...

Thank you

 

[Lonelywidow777]

Good story.

 

[Cheap Orange Knofe]

I haven't read it yet. But if it was a Tai Lung isekai , I'd be all over this story.

 

[korzark]

I haven't read it yet. But if it was a Tai Lung isekai , I'd be all over this story.

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately, it is not but I hope you enjoy it regardless

 

[korzark]

"I'll go to the port town," I told Suki.

"You shouldn't," she replied, without hesitation. "I know you weren't here when we were planning for this, but there's a reason why most of our fighting force is staying back in this village. Even though we have the Unagi's presence to protect us from on the northern coast of the island, there's no guarantee that they'll approach through the main port. We don't have enough manpower to defend all the towns and villages across the island, but we can't leave anybody unprotected. The Warriors would be there to deter any thoughts of random looting and pillaging, but not to fight them off. If anything, their job is to help the Fire Nation locate the Avatar and by directing them to this village."

"Won't it be a bit obvious that they're leading them into an ambush?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "But according to the Avatar and his companions, the leader of the group is devoted enough to the prospect of catching the Avatar to care. We're hoping that he would charge straight into an ambush in order to get what he wants, without leaving behind wanton destruction. The Avatar and his companions seem confident that he will."

"And what happens if that doesn't turn out to be the case?" I asked. "What will happen to the Kyoshi Warriors that are stationed across the island?"

"They will call for help," Suki said, with a dour frown on her face, the expression magnified by the face paint she wore. "But they will fight if necessary."

I didn't bother to point out what else might happen as a result of that.

"Then I guess I'm going to the port. Even if the Fire Natio doesn't end up landing there, they'll have to land on the coast somewhere close by," I said. "Like I said, I like the Kyoshi Warriors. I won't let anything bad happen to them or to you."

Suki grimaced, despite the smile I gave her.

"It's too dangerous," she said. "You're just one man."

"I'm not just one man," I said, with a grin. "I'm Ty Lung, greatest of all men."

Suki's lips twitched upwards, but she didn't smile, or even sigh.

"I won't stop you," she said. "But you know you can't make me happy if you're dead, right?"

Despite the dour way that she said the joke, I smiled anyways.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll be fine. When I was still living in the Fire Nation, I discovered a secret weakness that all Firebenders have."

"A secret weakness?" Suki repeated, her eyebrow rising in surprise.

I nodded.

"A firebender's strength draws almost entirely from their breathing," I said. "I discovered that if you punch them really hard in the stomach and wind them entirely, they can't fight for a long time."

Suki stared up at me as the information soaked into her mind. After a few seconds, she smiled and walked towards me. When her arms wrapped around my neck, my first instinct was to assume that she was trying to choke me out again, but she let out a heavy sigh next to my ear as she hugged me tight.

"You idiot," she said. "If you wind anyone badly enough, they'll be out of the fight, firebender or not."

I frowned at the amusement in her voice.

"It's more effective against firebenders though," I said. "The earthbenders I tried it against shook it off faster."

"I assume that's because earthbenders tend to be tougher than firebenders," Suki said with a laugh, as she leaned back away from the hug, though she still hung on my neck with both of her arms. She had a twinkle in her eye as she grinned at me.

I scowled at her. "You don't believe me."

"I'll admit you've probably fought a lot more firebenders than me, but don't you think there's a simpler explanation to it?" Suki asked.

"Fine," I said. "Don't believe me. I don't care."

"I'm sure you don't," Suki said. "That's why you want to face a group of Fire Nation soldiers on your own. Because you don't care."

I gave her a deeper scowl, but that only made her grin wider.

Suki continued to stare up at me for a few more seconds before she drew me in for another quick hug and let me go.

"Don't you dare die, Ty Lung," she said.

"I don't plan to," I replied.

Suki nodded at me, her smile fading into a more serious expression as she turned to her Warriors now. It seemed like they mostly knew what they were doing, so there wasn't a need for Suki to bark out orders at them, watching them silently instead, but with nothing more to say, I walked away from Suki, knowing that I had my own matters to tend to.

I headed to the bathing section of the dojo. I didn't want the Fire Nation soldiers to associate the Kyoshi Warrior uniform with hostility and potentially make it more difficult to funnel them to the main village, so I intended to change back into my old clothes, but when I walked over to where I discarded my clothes, I realized that only my pants were there, with Suki having wandered off with my shirt. Though I considered asking her where she had put it, I knew she was busy, so I started to jog to the port town, not seeing any reason to care about my missing shirt.

Suki had mentioned that we had three hours before the Fire Nation soldiers arrived, but not wanting to potentially miss them, I jogged there faster than might've been necessary, arriving at the port town within two.

Though my anticipation was enough to keep me excited and ready for battle for a short while, when five minutes passed without any sort of action, I started to regret arriving on the scene so early. While I wasn't impatient enough that an hour or two of idle waiting would put me to sleep, I was a little worried that my body would cool down by the time the Fire Nation soldiers arrived.

So as I waited, I did some light exercising. I cycled through some basic katas and did a few sets of push-ups, crunches, and squats at the edge of the port. Though the village seemed mostly empty, with all of the civilians already having been ordered to close their windows and stay indoors by the Kyoshi Warriors assigned to the area, I thought I still heard some confused whispers directed towards me.

I paid them no mind as I continued to warm my body up, eager to put it to use. Though my display seemed to inspire a few people to talk louder than they probably should have been, the voices quickly quieted down when clouds of smoke started to coast over the horizon.

Though it might've been smarter to stop and conserve my energy as the enemy approached, a surge of excitement coursed through me at the sight, and with no place for my excess energy to escape to, I continued to exercise as I analysed the approaching ship.

I was a little confused by what I saw.

With this being a team of Fire Nation benders dedicated to pursuing the avatar, I had initially expected a whole platoon of boats to appear over the horizon, but when I saw only a single boat, I assumed it was a scouting boat before I recognized the design of it.

As a part of my studies back with my father, I had studied the makes and designs of Fire Nation most war machines, including their boats. My father had been under the impression that I would pilot a warship of my own once I became a respected general, and had been more interested in teaching me about the designs of each warship and how they acted as status symbols, rather than the functionality behind their make.

While it had been a few years since I had access to information on Fire Nation warships, I still recognized the type of ship that approached the port, but something about it seemed off.

For some reason, there was a clash in the design of the ship and the functionality of it. The regal design and markings that the ship had was usually reserved for high-ranking officers of war, and it was usually reserved for ships that would lead the charge of an entire platoon, being commanded by a high ranking admiral or a member of the royal family that only answered to the Fire Lord himself. While that in and of itself might have been enough to excite me, the design didn't usually belong on a small ship like the one that I was currently looking at.

Too small to be a warship, and too big to be a scout ship, I had no idea what the high-ranking markings were supposed to indicate. While it probably wouldn't look too strange to an outsider, to someone who studied the Fire Nation military like I had, it almost seemed like a mockery of a ship, with how badly its design and functionality clashed against each other.

By the time the ship pulled up to the port, I still hadn't decided what to make of it, and continued to stare up at it while doing squats.

"Lower the ramp," a voice called from inside the ship.

Immediately, the wall of the ship lowered and crashed down on the port, revealing a small squad of Fire Nation soldiers atop komodo rhino mounts. They looked ready to charge onto the island, but the leader, a teenager with a large burn scar on half of his face furrowed his eyebrows at me, either in confusion or anger, though if I had to guess, he seemed like the type to always look angry in the first place.

"Is this all of you?" I asked, a little sceptical that a ship of this calibre would have such a skeleton crew. Komodo rhinos weren't cheap, and the fact that each of the soldiers that stood in front of me had their own mount was a sign that this group was somehow important, there were still only fifteen soldiers. There were thirteen if I included the old man standing at the back of the room, but given how he had his hands folded behind his back and a gentle smile on his face, wearing no armour whatsoever, I was willing to count him out until he showed signs of life.

But whether I counted him as a part of the crew or not, it was still a pitiful amount of soldiers for how the ship was decorated. There was still the possibility that my knowledge was outdated, and this was just a scout ship, but the commanding air that hung around the scarred teenager made me think that he was the leader of the operation, and that he truly did intend to lead the charge with a small group like this.

The momentary shock of seeing me seemed to wear off as scarface's eyes narrowed at me.

"Move," he said, without even bothering to answer my question. "Or be trampled underfoot."

The fact that he would even give me a warning confused me, but I suppose he had answered my unspoken question of whether he wanted to fight.

I gave the group a bow, though I didn't lower my eyes in case of a surprise attack.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," I said. "This island is under my protection. If you want to pass, you'll have to defeat me first in a duel."

Scarface narrowed his eyes at me, and blinked hard a few times, as if I were a spot in his eyes that he was trying to blink away.

When he decided that I was real, he glowered down at me.

"You can't be serious," he said.

"I am," I said. "I'll take all of you on, one-by-one or all at once."

Scarface narrowed his eyes at me once more, before he spoke again.

"Move or be trampled underfoot," he repeated.



I stared at him, giving him a few seconds to reconsider, but when he didn't I just grinned and shrugged.

"One of these days, one of you fire nation soldiers is going to accept a duel," I said. "But hey. Thanks for the warning."

I drew in a deep breath, and felt it travelling through my entire body. I willed myself to feel the sensation of energy coursing within me, circulating throughout my body, searching for a place to escape. Not wanting to deny it any longer, I lifted my foot and brought it down on the port that we stood on.

The sound of my foot hitting the wood panels of the port made a strange sound, like the sound of a mallet hitting a large drum, rather than the sound of flesh against wood. I couldn't tell if I was shivering, or if the vibrations of the sound were reverberating through my body, but an ear splitting crack rang in the air that pulled me out of my brief moment of reverie.

The Fire Nation soldiers all perked up at the sound of the cracking, but on their mounts, they seemed to be too high in the air to see the thin spiderweb cracks that blossomed out from underneath my foot, spreading quickly across the width of the port.

Scarface's eyes narrowed at me, but rather than caution or wariness, the only emotion I saw in his expression was one of anger and annoyance, like he thought that the only purpose of my stomp had been to hurt his ears with the sound.

"Prince Zuko! Watch out!" the old man shouted from inside the ship.

I quirked my eyebrow up at the realization of who I was fighting, but it didn't make me hesitate in lifting my foot up again and stomping down once more.

The drumbeat sound of my stomp echoed within me once more, and my heartbeat answered it, pumping blood, and excitement through my veins in a song of violence as I rushed forward, feeling the wood of the port cracking underfoot with each step.

Energy coursed through my body as I moved, and as I rushed towards the panicking soldiers, I send a surge of power into both of my legs, stomping down and pushing myself into the air.

Though he was somewhat preoccupied with trying to calm his mount, I saw Prince Zuko's eyes widen as I soared up into the sky, at a violent arc towards him.

"Move!" I shouted. "Or be trampled underfoot."

Maybe it was my warning, or maybe he was just a competent enough fighter to act without my help, but Prince Zuko was surprisingly quick to act. Though he gave one final attempt to calm his mount as the port collapsed beneath its feet, instead of stubbornly trying to take control of it, he let go of the reins, rolling out of his saddle and out of the path of my attack.

Though I tried to reduce the power of my attack to give me more control in my landing and conserve my energy, I was still somewhat unused to the feeling of using my energy to empower my attacks, and ended up sinking the heel of my foot into the side of Prince Zuko's mount. Though its tough hide and abnormally thick muscles made me think I hadn't done too much damage, it still let out a roar of pain as it scrambled against the still collapsing port, and fell over onto its side.

Under the influence of my own momentum, and the wild force of my attack, I had to twist my body to stop myself from falling along with it, landing on all fours to help bleed my momentum dry and to stabilise my balance.

When I looked up to see a blazing gout of fire flying towards my face, I grinned and pushed myself to the side with all four limbs.

"Very good, Prince Zuko!" I shouted, even as I leapt to the side to avoid another fireball thrown in my direction. "Most of the firebenders I've defeated would've been caught off guard by that."

I stayed on all fours, anticipating another attack, but none came. The exiled prince glared at me, with his fists raised at me, but without any flames erupting from them.

"You know who I am," he said, his voice low amidst the sound of his men still crying out in panic, as they found to take control of their panicked mounts.

I stood up on my legs and rolled my eyes.

"Don't disappoint me right after I praised you, Prince Zuko," I said. "I'm not one of those stuck-up snobs that think that you shouldn't talk during a fight, but if you're going to talk, it has to be DURING the fight. You can't just pause what you're doing to have a discussion."

And to prove I wasn't a hypocrite, I whipped my arm around and threw the piece of rubble that I had picked up off the ground. Prince Zuko's eyes widened and he leaned back, judging that he couldn't incinerate the large piece of wood fast enough before it hit him in the head. His eyes widened when he realised that the rubble was just a distraction, and that I was already charging towards him, but he reacted quickly planting both of his hands onto the ground, and summoning a wide wall of fire that blocked my path to him.

I laughed in delight as I fell down to the floor, using my low profile to hide behind his fire. I grabbed handfuls of rubble as I stalked around him, tossing them over the wall to annoy him as I searched for a gap in his defence.

The wall of fire around him receded for a moment, but though my first instinct was to try and use the gap in his defense to attack him, I resisted the urge when I noticed that the Prince was drawing in a large breath. Summoning a burst of energy into my legs and hands, I pushed myself out of the way as the prince summoned a large pillar of flame that burnt the entirety of the ground around him.

"Yeesh," I said, as I dodged backwards, away from a pillar of fire sent in my direction. "You sure do like using that move. Mind stopping it? It's making it a little difficult to punch you."

"Let me hit you once and I'll consider," Prince Zuko responded, as he sent another pillar of flame towards me.

"No thanks," I said, as I rushed towards one of the other Fire Nation soldiers that was struggling to get their mount to settle down.

The section of the port that they were on wasn't completely demolished yet, but that made it more difficult for them to find any purchase, as the komodo rhino's massive size and weight meant that every step it took on the seemingly sturdy wood just demolished it, making it skittish and uncertain about where to go. While they were distracted, I jumped on the komodo rhino's back and grabbed the rider's head, jerking him sideways and putting him between me and the prince. While we were nowhere close to him, the prince was forced to redirect his attack upwards in order to avoid hitting his own man.

"You know, you're pretty good at firebending," I commented, as I dangled the soldier off the edge of his mount, making sure to step on his thigh to pin him against his own saddle and prevent him from regaining his balance. "When I saw your scar, I assumed you were a nonbender that had an accident or a really shit firebender. Guess I hadn't considered I'd be fighting the prince himself. Not sure whether I'm glad about that or not."

I let go of the soldier and let him fall off his mount to duck away from a shockingly well placed blast of fire that was aimed directly at my head. Leaning backwards, I let myself fall off the komodo rhino and used it as a meatshield to deter the prince from attacking me, though I had to jump away as the komodo rhino lashed out with its horn, clearly not a fan of the idea. Not confident that I could do enough damage to incapacitate it if I hit it directly with a glancing blow, I stomped the ground next to it, destroying the already damaged wood and sending it toppling down sideways, right onto its rider.

"Like I said, I can see you're a good firebender yourself," I said, as I darted to the next rider. "But I still can't help but be a little disappointed that you're the one they sent to find the avatar. As good as you are, these men of yours? I guess they thought a competent crew would be wasted on you, given how much of a disgrace you are to the Fire Lord's name."

The prince let out a cry of rage and a huge pillar of flame shot towards where I was, despite how close I was to the next rider. Summoning energy to my feet, I used it to launch myself forward with no regard for control. The komodo rhino let out a squeal of terror, either at my sudden charge or at the prince's fire and reared up on its hind legs. Though I knew komodo rhinos to be agile enough that it might've recovered from that under normal circumstances, a section of the port gave away under its left leg and it toppled backwards, crushing its rider.

"Prince Zuko!" the old man shouted from the ship. "Do not forget yourself!"

I laughed as I landed on all fours, scrambling to find purchase after my wild charge.

"Thanks for the assist, prince Zuko!" I shouted, though I'm not sure if he heard me with how angrily he was screaming. "Didn't expect you to help me thin out your numbers, but I'm proud to have inspired you to commit a bit of treason. Not like they can exile you more, am I right?"

The prince screamed again, but with how far I had launched myself forward, I managed to get behind the next komodo rhino almost immediately.

"Hey," I said, waving casually to the rider.

I was a bit insulted with how he didn't even bother to acknowledge me, but I quickly excused him when I heard the prince scream again, and an intense orange glow bloomed out from where the prince was standing.

I squatted down, ready to launch myself to the side again, but a voice stopped me.

"Stop, prince Zuko," I heard the old man say. His voice was quiet, but despite the command not even being directed at me, I couldn't help but be affected by the intense weight that it carried behind it.

Though the prince stopped screaming, the orange glow didn't fade. I looked up as a pillar of flame shot up into the sky, passing by so close to the komodo rider's head that I'm certain that his head must've felt like it was boiling inside his helmet. When the rider fell gently against his mount, in a dead faint at the near death experience, I could barely blame him.

With the rider incapacitated, and the komodo rhino frozen in place in confusion. I walked around it to see the old man standing by the prince's side, gently grabbing the prince's wrist in one hand, and holding his palm up beneath the prince's outstretched arms with the other. I could only assume that the old man had been responsible for redirecting the prince's fire upwards, stopping the prince from incinerating his own soldier to dust.

"I need to kill him," the prince huffed. "He insulted my honour, uncle."

I froze in place as I registered what the prince had just called the old man.

"And can you afford to lose your humanity to defend it?" the Dragon of the West asked, with a gentle smile. "Besides, you have much more important matters to attend to. Do not forget the reason why we are here."

The prince stared at him for a few seconds, his breath ragged as he seemed to think about the question before his eyes lit up.

"The avatar," he said.

"He may already be off the island by now," Iroh said. "You cannot afford to battle with this man if you wish to regain your honour."

The prince opened his mouth, but closed it quickly. His eyes darted between his uncle and me, his emotions alternating between confusion and anger before he eventually settled on me with a mixture of both.

"I don't think he intends to let us pass without a fight," he said.

"Then maybe I can keep him busy while you look for the avatar," Iroh said with a smile, before turning to me. "How about it? Is that offer of a duel still open?"

I wiped my mouth with the back of my wrist, just in case I had started to salivate. Though my instinct told me to accept the offer immediately, screaming death threats at me to not turn down this opportunity, I forced myself to consider the safety of the island.

Thankfully, my consideration for the safety island easily agreed with my instinct. Not only was this a once in a lifetime chance, by accepting the offer of a duel, I was stopping the Dragon of the West in joining the invading force, and though I wouldn't be confident in the Kyoshi Warriors' ability to fight against General Iroh, with how incompetent the rest of the fighting force seemed, I trusted in their ability to keep themselves safe.

"I humbly accept," I said, with a bow, though I kept my eyes up in case the tendency to make sudden attacks ran in the family.

The corner of Iroh's eyes crinkled in a silent laugh before he turned to the prince.

"You see, Prince Zuko?" he said. "Sometimes, all you need to do is ask politely."

The prince's eyes widened in shock, as if he didn't understand what was going on. He glanced between me and his uncle before he threw his hands up in frustration.

"This isn't the time for your life lessons, uncle," he said, though he seemed visibly conflicted by his own words. "Things don't just happen like that in the real world. He must be luring us into a false sense of security."

"Why would I do that?" I asked. "I was already beating your ass."

"I would politely ask that you stop that," Iroh said, before the prince could say anything. "Your fight is with me now, and as frustrating as it may be to see you insulting my nephew's honour, I have already promised you a duel. You do not need to goad me any further."

"Okay," I said. "Go ahead, prince Zuko."

The prince blinked a few more times and rubbed his eyes as he glanced between me and his uncle again. He threw his arms up in frustration, and when that resulted in nothing happening, he did it one more time.

"The world isn't that convenient!" he cried out, though I wasn't sure who he was directing it towards. "Should I expect someone to lead me to the avatar too, if I just ask politely?"

There was a moment of silence before two Kyoshi Warriors appeared from a nearby house.

"We can lead you to the avatar," they said, hunching their shoulders and bowing their heads to look weaker than they actually were. "Kyoshi Island prefers to remain neutral in the war, but he has done nothing but abuse our hospitality. In return, we only ask that you spare our island."

Zuko stared at the two Kyoshi Warriors with his mouth agape. He looked to the sky, back down at the Warriors, and between me and his uncle, then back at the sky, and back at his uncle.

Iroh smiled up at him.

"See? A polite word has the power to shape the very world itself."

The prince looked back up at the sky.

"Why don't you go with these lovely ladies to capture the avatar, Prince Zuko?" Iroh suggested, patting his nephew on the shoulder and subtly pushing him forwards.

The prince slowly walked forward, as if walking through a fog, but he quickly narrowed his eyes and glared at the Kyoshi Warriors. They flinched under his gaze, and though I knew Tian and Shani well enough to know that they wouldn't be cowed by such a thing, their acting was good enough that I doubted anybody else would see through them.

"Have a nice trip, Prince Zuko," Iroh said, waving at his nephew's back. "Oh and ladies? Be sure to guide my nephew properly. There aren't many forests where we're from, and it would be very upsetting if he twisted his ankle on a tree root."

"Uncle," the prince sighed, more tired than frustrated at this point. "I'm not going to injure myself by travelling through a forest. Besides, we'll be taking the komodo rhinos."

Iroh blinked a few times and slapped his own forehead. "Oh silly me," he said. "I just can't help but be a worrisome old man. I simply don't know what I would do if you got hurt."

When the Warriors shivered in fear, I wasn't sure if they were acting or not, but the prince didn't seem to notice the invisible threat that emanated off of Iroh's seemingly friendly words. He blushed slightly and glared at his uncle before turning away.

"I'm not going to waste any more time here," he said. "Come. Guide me to the avatar... please."

"As you wish," the Warriors said, as they followed the prince to his mount. If I had to give any sort of criticism, it was that they showed no signs of fear at the komodo rhinos and expertly mounted them with minimal help from the prince or his men, but the group seemed to be in too much of a rush to notice.

After the prince gathered all of his men that weren't incapacitated and rode off, I turned to face Iroh, but was surprised to see him kneeling down by one of the soldiers that had been crushed by the komodo rhinos.

"Nobody has died," Iroh said. "But it would probably be easier to count the amount of bones that you didn't break."

"Technically, I didn't do any breaking," I said. I was a bit confused about why we weren't fighting, but the threatening aura that hovered over the Dragon of the West still promised violence. "I barely even touched them."

"That is true," Iroh said, though the concern that permeated his expression as he looked down at the broken men contrasted with his amused voice.

"Are you upset?" I asked.

"What would I be upset about?" Iroh asked, seeming genuinely curious rather than challenging.

I shrugged. "That I beat up your soldiers," I suggested. "I can only assume it'll be a pain for you to look after a bunch of cripples now."

"Soldiers break," Iroh said, with a sigh. "That is the sad nature of war. Though I try not to, I'm afraid that I've become somewhat numb to these sorts of things. At the very least, these men are alive. Not every soldier can claim that."

It sounded like there was a story behind his words, but I didn't want to pry. I watched as Iroh frowned down at the soldiers before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," he said, smiling at me. "You must be eager to duel me, and here I am, rambling like an old man. Though I suppose at my age, I should no longer be saying 'like.'"

"It's no problem," I said, not wanting to be too rude. "You can get all of your emotions out now if you want. I don't want you to have any excuses for when I beat you."

Iroh laughed, a loud hearty laugh that showed off how far his chest and stomach expanded with each breath he took.

"I'm sure you won't find me to be that easy," he said, with a twinkle in his eye. "But before we begin, may I ask what sort of duel you're looking for exactly?"

I shrugged. "I offered you the duel," I said. "You can choose any conditions you want."

Iroh smiled and reached into his robes, pulling out a small wooden tile from his sleeve. "I don't suppose you would be willing to play a game of Pai Sho with me? A duel of the mind can be just as stimulating as one of the body."

I stared at the tile for a moment, before shaking my head. "Okay, you can't choose that one," I said.

Iroh sighed wistfully, as he put his tile back in his sleeve.

"I didn't think so," he said. "Nobody ever wants to play Pai Sho with me."

"I'm not completely opposed to it," I said, hopping on the spot as I started to sense the start of the fight approaching. "But first we fight. I'll play you after I beat you."

"That is a tempting offer," Iroh said. "But does that mean that we won't get to play if I defeat you?"

"We can play either way," I said. "But I'm going to win."

"Ah, to be young," he said, with a chuckle. "In that case, I won't keep you waiting for much longer. All I ask is that we fight in a location where these men won't be harmed."

"I can accept that," I said.

After Iroh barked a few orders to the crew still on the ship, to bring the injured men back on to the ship, I led Iroh towards a spot where we could fight. Though I wanted nothing more than to attack Iroh on the streets immediately, I still had to consider the fact that Iroh's flames might hurt the residents of the island if the fight grew too wild. Though I only knew of Iroh's abilities through secondhand retellings, I knew there was a reason that he was called the Dragon of the West. If the stories were to be believed, I had no doubt that he could raze an entire village to the ground in a single roar.

Though I had considered leading him to the spot where Suki and I had first fought, it was too surrounded by easily burnable forest for it to be a viable option, so I led him around the island until I found a suitably empty section by the coast.

"Are you ready?" I asked, barely able to keep my voice from shaking.

"I am," Iroh said, despite the fact that he looked completely relaxed, with his arms hidden up his sleeves. "You may start whenever you wish."

Not needing any more prompting, I sprinted towards him.

As I ran towards him, I kept a low profile to dodge any fireballs that he might send my way, but it proved to be pointless as Iroh kept his hands in his sleeves, not reacting to my charge in any way except to track my movement with his eyes.

When I got close enough, I sent a surge of energy into both of my legs and launched myself forwards. Iroh barely flinched as he stepped to the side, taking his arms out of his sleeves, but before he could retaliate, I kicked off the ground and darted to the side.

I frowned as I made some distance from him.

"Why aren't you using your firebending?" I asked.

"I see no reason to," Iroh said simply. "You haven't even attacked me."

"I was testing your reactions," I said. "I'm not going to attack you head on and get incinerated. I'm not that stupid."

"It would be a lot easier for me to beat you if you were," Iroh admitted. "Though I do have to question your choice of location. You're slower with all this sand underfoot, and there's no cover for you to hide behind. Most would look at this situation and say you have no chance of winning."

From the way he said it, it didn't seem like he believed in his own words, but was simply curious about what my answer would be.

Not wanting to disappoint him, I sent a surge of energy into my feet and stomped down. With no solid ground to step down on, my foot sank down into the sand until I was shin deep, and with another surge of energy, I kicked my foot forward, sending a large burst of sand flying into the air.

Though the sand might not have acted as a physical barricade to Iroh's attack, it was enough to provide a visual cover as I sank to the ground to lower my profile against any blind attacks that he might throw through the sand, and though I was just as blind as he was, I heard him laugh softly behind the cloud of sand.

I launched myself forwards towards the sound.

I charged through the sand, leading with my fist flying towards the spot where I heard Iroh's laugh, but was surprised when I felt a rough hand push against the side of my wrist. I braced myself to feel the pain of my flesh melting off my bones, but when no fire came, I didn't hesitate in pulling my arm back and sinking down to the ground, sweeping my leg around with a low kick aimed to hit Iroh's legs, but I hit nothing but air.

The sand finished its arc through the air and fell to the floor, revealing a smiling Iroh standing less than a foot away from where I had swept with my legs, with his palms facing towards me. He thrusted his hands forward and I quickly darted to the side, kicking up another cloud of sand that glimmered under the heat and light of the fireball that flew past where I had been standing a second before.

"You move well," Iroh said, sending another ball of fire at me. I kicked off the ground again, staying low to the ground as I dived towards him, aiming to hit his legs in his moment of recovery. In response, he grinned and kicked his leg towards me, but instead of fire, he kicked up sand.

I closed my eyes to avoid being blinded for too long and stuck my limbs into the ground, cutting my momentum short and diving to the side. Though I couldn't see it, I could feel the heat of another fireball grazing me.

"Thanks," I grunted, through the layer of wet sand that stuck to my lips. "Though it helps that you're going easy on me."

"What makes you think that I'm going easy on you?" Iroh asked, as he threw another fireball at me. "It's difficult to keep up with your agility in my old age. My vision and my reflexes aren't what they used to be."

"Like I believe that," I scoffed, as I darted to the side. "You saw me coming even through a cloud of sand."

"That is because I did not use my eyes to see you coming," he said, with a laugh.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

He paused in his assault to consider the question. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I rushed towards him, watching him for any signs that he might shoot another fireball towards me.

"It's not too difficult to explain," he said, raising his foot up into the air and slamming it down into the sand in a familiar move. "But I assume you're the type to learn faster by example."

Though I was tempted to give him a reply, I kept my mouth closed, anticipating that he would kick a cloud of sand into the air like I had. Though he had been the one to initiate the blind battle this time, he didn't seem too used to using the same technique that I had used, and the kick seemed to knock him off balance, and not wanting to waste the opportunity, I charged into the sand once more.

Iroh laughed again, as if he could see exactly what I was doing, but the sound only gave me more information on where he was. I struck out, but once again, I hit nothing but air.

I felt Iroh's hand push against my wrist again, but before I could pull it away, this time he managed to grab me, pulling me forward and using my momentum to knock me off balance. I tried to scramble forward to find my footing, but he twisted my arm, and my entire body turned with it, until I found myself lying on my back, staring up at Iroh's face.

"You laughed on purpose," I said, glaring up at him. "You couldn't see me so you gave me a target that you knew I would attack."

"You're a very fast learner," Iroh said, as I rolled my body backwards to try and kick him in the face. I doubt I would've done much damage even if I had hit him, but let go of my wrist and lean back to dodge it anyways.

"Thanks," I said, as I used the opportunity to put a bit of pressure on him, throwing punches and kicks at Iroh as he tried to make some distance between us. Though he seemed relaxed enough that I was certain that he could use his firebending to ward me off with a wall of flame at any time, like his nephew had, he used a minimal amount of firebending and hand-to-hand combat to fend away my attacks.

"It is always a pleasure to see an eager student," Iroh said, as he slapped my wrist to the side and aimed his palm directly at me. I fell to the floor, just in time to dodge a fireball that flew through where my head had just been. "But I'm afraid you didn't give me much time to prepare a proper lesson."

"You sell yourself short," I said, pushing energy into my legs and charging forward in a low tackle. In a surprising feat of agility, Iroh ducked even lower than I was charging, and grabbed my arm, using my own momentum to throw me over his shoulder. "It was a good lesson," I said, even as I sailed over him.

"Alas, I cannot take credit for it," Iroh said, as I landed. "I was simply repeating a lesson that an old friend had taught me. He is not a bender, like yourself, so he had to learn to control the environment around him in a different way."

"He sounds strong," I said.

"He is," Iroh replied. "Though he is only one example of what strength can be. Others non-benders that I have met decided that they did not care about the world around them, and focused on developing the strength within."

Iroh lifted his leg above me, and my eyes widened at the sight. I rolled myself out of the way, before he stomped down at where I had just been, an explosion of sand erupting from the impact.

"Hey!" I shouted angrily. "Don't fucking do that!"

Iroh paused, tilting his head at me in confusion.

"I did not think you would take offence at such a thing," he said, sounding genuinely surprised by my reaction.

"It was fucking disgusting," I said, spitting on the floor beside me as if to cleanse my palette of the utter disgust I felt.

"I apologize," Iroh said, closing his eyes and giving me a short bow. "I did not consider that you would be offended if I tried to strike you while you were down. It will not happen again."

"What?" I asked, with it being my turn to be confused with what he was saying. "No, hitting me on the ground is fine. Just don't raise your leg above me. Or wear some damn pants underneath your robes at the very least."

Iroh stared at me for a few seconds before turning away, coughing into his hand.

"Oh, I see," he said, through an embarrassed chuckle.

There was a long silence between us before Iroh thrusted his palm out towards me. I dove to the side to avoid a fireball.

"Anyways," he said. "Like I was saying, some non-benders have decided to cultivate the natural strength that they hold within them, hoping to match the strength of the world outside of it. I had planned to teach you the basics of manipulating your chi, but it seems like you have already had someone to teach you."

"I have?" I asked.

Though I knew vaguely about what chi was through my textbooks back in Fire Nation, I only knew it to be the supposed lifeforce of all living things. Through context clues, I could only assume that Iroh was talking about the energy that I had been using to empower my kicks.

"Do you mean this?" I asked, right before I empowered my legs to charge at him, kicking up an explosion of sand behind me.

"Exactly," Iroh said, as he kicked up a cloud of sand in response.

I stopped my charge short. "I never actually knew what it was called," I said, before darting to the side.

I watched as a pillar of flame tore through the air where I had been a moment before and quickly charged at the direction of the source before Iroh could move. He laughed as he redirected my punch away from him.

"Considering who I assume your teacher is, I'm not surprised," Iroh said.

Though I filed away the information in the back of my mind, I didn't let myself be distracted by the idea that Iroh probably knew the old lady somehow.

"Regardless of how your teacher may be in some areas," Iroh continued. "I will have to concede to her teachings. I haven't practised my chi manipulation enough to be a useful teacher, and if I'm being honest, my knees can't handle copying your technique many more times. It's always a struggle to be reminded of my old age."

"I see," I said, feeling a little disappointed. "So you have nothing else to teach me?"

"Not from a non-bender's perspective, no," Iroh admitted. "But how would you like a lesson in firebending?"

Before I could answer, Iroh took a wide stance and shot a blast of fire towards me. Though it was wide enough that I couldn't dodge to the side, it moved slowly enough that I could jump back out of its reach.

"I'm not a firebender," I said.

"That is not what I asked," Iroh said, with a smile. "I will show you a demonstration of why they call me the Dragon of the West."

I felt a shiver running down my spine, and my lips splitting into a wide grin. In response, Iroh stomped down into a wide horse stance and closed his eyes.

The sudden drop in his guard confused me, but my eyes narrowed when I felt a dry heat hit me. Waves of heat rolled off of iroh's body with each breath he took, distorting the air around him.

It gave off the illusion that I was looking at him through a pond.

I felt sweat dripping down my brow at the sight, and it wasn't simply because of the intense heat that suddenly filled the winter air. My legs began to shake, and I wasn't ashamed to admit that the threatening aura that Iroh gave off made me want to turn in the other direction and run.

But I knew I would never forgive myself if I did that.

Deciding that I'd already given him enough time to gather his strength, I poured my chi into my legs and charged towards him. I knew that even though he seemed defenceless, he most likely had some sort of plan for dealing with my inevitable attack.

Even with the lessons that he'd just taught me running through my mind, I rushed into the obvious trap, hoping to push through it and break it open with pure force. Rushing forward, I pushed as much chi as I could into my hands before I gave him a solid punch in the gut.

It was like punching a boulder. Though it was a solid enough punch, I was shocked by how hard Iroh's gut was. He let out a quiet grunt of pain, but he was nowhere close to being winded. I looked down at him, and before I could even register the fact that his eyes were open, and his lips were curled up into a wide grin, I felt his hand clamp down on my wrist before I could pull away.

"Good good," Iroh said. "A firebender's strength comes from his breath. Take it away and you take away their power, if only for a moment. Unfortunately, it may not be so easy to do the same to an earthbender, who takes power from their firmness, using their connection to the earth itself to empower their bodies."

With each word that rolled out of his mouth, the waves of heat that emanated from his body grew more and more intense as he kept his breath steady as he talked. Something big was coming. I tried to pull away from Iroh's grip, and though he let go of my wrist easily, instead of letting me go completely, his arms snaked over mine, twisting around my elbows and pulling them into awkward positions.

"Many Fire Nation soldiers are eager to underestimate the strength of a waterbender, because they believe that they can swim," Iroh said, as he kicked my legs out from underneath me, stepping on the hem of my pant leg to keep me trapped in a kneeling position. "But not even the strongest ship can resist being pulled under by a strong enough whirlpool."

Iroh smiled down at me, and suddenly, I felt a sudden chill as the world around me turned cold once more, as if the heat that Iroh had been letting out had suddenly been sucked back into his body all at once.

"But I suppose I didn't mention that this would be a lesson about earthbending or waterbending, did I?" Iroh said. "No, my young friend. This is a lesson about firebending."

Iroh opened his mouth, and the entire world was set ablaze.

I didn't scream, not wanting to cook myself from the inside out if I let any of the fire into my lungs. I kept my eyes open, and though my instincts screamed at me to keep them shut to stop them from boiling out of their sockets, I knew that a thin layer of flesh would make no difference so I kept them open out of respect for the Dragon's fire.

I came to regret it a moment later, as I had to spend several seconds blinking away my temporary blindness after staring at the bright flames, but before I could fall backwards at the dizziness I felt after being engulfed in intense heat, I felt Iroh grabbing my shoulder and pulling me upright.

"Careful there," he said. "It's dangerous."

I blinked a few more times before my vision returned and I looked around to see that we were surrounded in a sea of crystalized quartz. I laughed at the sight.

"I'm not sure if that was a good lesson," I admitted. "All I learned was that firebending can be absolutely terrifying."

"That is a lesson in and of itself," Iroh said, with a gentle smile. "It is important to not forget that power can be terrifying, which is why we must learn to control it and ourselves if we do not wish to hurt the people around us."

I patted myself down, checking my body for any burns. I wasn't surprised to find nothing, with even my hair being unsinged, even if it was curling heavily from the heat.

"And why didn't you want to hurt me?" I asked.

"Why would I?" Iroh asked.

"We were fighting," I said.

"There are more ways to win a fight than by hurting your opponent," Iroh said.

I shrugged. "That's fair."

"Also, I wanted your help in getting me to safety," Iroh said, pointing at the sea of crystalized sand around us. "It seems that in my clumsiness, I forgot to leave a path for me to leave, and I would prefer it if I didn't have to ruin my shoes. Would you be so kind as to escort me back to safe ground?"

"Of course," I said, offering my back to Iroh. "Hop on."

Once Iroh climbed onto my back, it wasn't difficult for me to jump out of the small island of sand that we were on, back to solid ground. I let Iroh down, and he looked up at me with a smile.

"So," he said. "What will you do now?"

"I did promise you a game of Pai Sho, didn't I?" I asked.

Though there was a quiet gleam in Iroh's eyes, he kept his lips in a neutral frown.

"You do not wish to assist your friends against my nephew?" he asked.

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged.

"I have complete faith in the Kyoshi Warriors," I said. "And it's hard to imagine that the prince would cause much harm even if I let him run loose."

"Prince Zuko is quite a powerful firebender you know," Iroh said, his frown becoming slightly less neutral. "You should not underestimate him."

"I meant more to praise you than to insult him," I said, with a shrug. "Regardless of how skilled he is, I doubt you would let him go off on his own if you thought he would hurt people."

Iroh blinked in surprise and coughed into his hand. I wasn't sure if I imagined the slight blush on his face.

"Prince Zuko is his own person, and the leader of this expedition," Iroh said. "I cannot control what he does."

"He listens to you, at the very least," I said. "He clearly cares about and respects your opinion."

There was a short silence before Iroh let out a loud, almost thunderous laugh that threatened to burst my eardrums. I rubbed at my ears in pain, but Iroh didn't seem to notice as he slapped my back.

"You are a very amusing one, my young friend," he said. "Very well. Let's go play some Pai Sho, shall we?"

Iroh led me back to his ship, and though the crewmates that stayed on board looked extremely confused as to why I was there, when I had beaten a few of their crewmates not too long ago, they didn't speak up. Leading me to the deck of the ship, he had me wait as he brought up a Pai Sho board for us. He set it down and immediately set all of the pieces down and arranged them in their proper positions before I could even offer to help.

What followed afterwards was a complete massacre. It seemed like he had exhausted the last bits of his mercy during our duel, and was gleefully destroying my board with a ruthlessness that surprised me. Though I hadn't had that much experience with Pai Sho, I was familiar enough with the game to know that I had no chance of beating him.

After a few quick wins, Iroh seemed to calm down from his initial high and started to play a more instructional game, taking his time with explaining his moves and the thought process behind them. Even though I knew exactly what his gameplan was, he still utterly destroyed me, though I felt like I did get better by the end of the game.

We played for a few hours without break until we heard the sounds of heavy footsteps and the grunts of komodo rhinos approaching the ship. Iroh let out a disappointed sigh, but we continued our game until we heard a set of frustrated footsteps stomping up towards the deck.

"Unc-," the prince said, cutting himself off. "What is HE doing on the ship?!"

I didn't turn around to greet him, staring intently down at the board, trying to figure out what my next move should be. It took me a few more seconds to decide on what to do, before I placed my Red Dragon tile down on a place where it could threaten Iroh's White Lotus.

"A bold choice, my young friend," Iroh said. "But too far too aggressive for how open your board is. You need to achieve balance before you go searching for victory."

"Uncle!" the prince shouted before I could give Iroh my response. I turned around to see what the prince was so angry about, before I burst out laughing at the sight.

The prince, and his entire retinue of soldiers stood on the deck of the ship with a series of thick ropes snaking around their bodies, leaving their legs untied but having their arms curled up awkwardly, bent like chicken wings, and their hands buried in their armpits so they couldn't possibly grab anything to try and undo their knots or cut through the ropes unless they tried to use anything but their teeth.

I almost fell backwards onto the board, clutching my stomach in laughter as most of the soldiers turned away in embarrassed shame.

"Ah, Prince Zuko," Iroh said, as if he had just noticed his nephew's arrival. "Did you have a nice visit to Kyoshi village?"

I watched as a vein pulsed in Zuko's forehead, the sight of it more obvious now that he wasn't wearing his helmet. I wondered if the Kyoshi Warriors had taken it as a trophy or just so the prince and his soldiers wouldn't be able to attempt to cut their ropes against the sharp points.

I decided not to comment on his haircut out of respect for Iroh, since I knew the shaved head was a sign of humility in the defeat of an Agni Kai duel, but I filed it away as a tool to use later, if we fought again.

"Does it look like I had fun?" the prince hissed.

"A little bit," I said. "Some people pay to be tied up like that. That guy seems to be enjoying it at least."

Though I had been joking, one of the Fire Nation soldiers' eyes widened for a split second before he pretended like he had no idea what I was talking about. I grinned at him, but didn't get the chance to push the joke further when the prince turned towards me with a glare so intense that it made me believe for a split second that firebenders could shoot flames from their eyeballs.

"Again," he said. "What is he doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Iroh asked. "We're playing Pai Sho! It's been a while since I've had someone to play with, but even though he's too weak to have fun playing against, it is nice to teach beginners from time to time."

"Weak?" I asked, turning back to glare at Iroh.

Iroh gave me a smug grin, and his eyes darted down towards the board. I looked down to see that he had played his move already, immediately placing my board in a terrible position that I had no idea how to recover from. I shot him a glare, and focused my attention back on the board.

"He attacked us!" the prince shouted. "He's an enemy!"

"And we are currently locked in a deadly battle," Iroh said solemnly. "But in a fun way! See what a polite word can do for you, Prince Zuko?"

"A polite word got us ambushed, Uncle," the prince hissed. "I am not in the mood to hear any more of your 'advice.'"

"Hey," I said. "Don't be such an ass. Your uncle's advice is great. You're just too blind to see it."

"Stay out of this, you mongrel!" the prince shouted.

Iroh sighed and reached forward to pat me on the shoulder before standing up.

"It was fun," he said. "But I suppose we should be parting ways."

"It was," I said. "We should do this again sometime."

"Perhaps," Iroh said. "If our paths cross again."

 

[Artsy Fartsy]

This is great, I like it

 

[Lonelywidow777]

I love it

 

[korzark]

As Iroh stood up to help free his nephew from his bindings, I walked over to the side of the deck and hopped off.

I made my way back to Kyoshi village, jogging the entire way along a path of trampled shrubbery. Though I planned to make my way to the Kyoshi dojo to try and find Suki and make sure she was okay, a large crowd in the centre of the village drew my attention.

Making my way over, I noticed that a large section of Avatar Kyoshi's statue had been incinerated, and that a part of her headdress had fallen to the floor. A small part of the crowd looked solemnly up at the statue, but more of them were focused on something that I couldn't quite see. As I approached closer, I was able to look over the crowd and see that they were staring at Aang, who was bowing deeply at them.

"Well, all of that was to say that I'm sorry," he said, apparently reaching the end of a speech of some sort. "Even if I am the Avatar, I haven't been acting like it. I just wanted to enjoy the benefits without thinking about how dangerous it could be for the people around me. If it hadn't been for the Warriors, I probably would've hurt a lot of people by leading the Fire Nation here. I'll make sure to tell Avatar Kyoshi how awesome you guys were the next time I talk to her. I'm sure she'll be proud. But I think we really should be going now."

There was a quiet murmur that travelled across the crowd, seeming to be mostly neutral in tone as the villagers still seemed to generally like Aang's presence in the village, especially since it didn't seem like they hadn't come across any actual harm from the Fire Nation's attack outside of the loss of their statue, but they didn't seem to be eager to experience another attack if he stayed either.

"I also wanted to make another public apology to someone who's been telling me the exact same thing I've been telling you this whole time," Aang said, turning to Katara who stood a few feet behind him. "Katara, you were right. I should've listened to you from the beginning. I've been acting like an absolute whore."

The murmurs immediately stopped, though it was replaced by a few hacking coughs. Oblivious to the reaction, Katara smiled.

"Apology accepted," she said. "Now help me pack a few of our things so we can get out of here."

"Sure thing!" Aang said, with a wide smile as he practically skipped forward to follow her back to their lodgings, leaving behind a stunned and confused crowd behind them.

Though I wanted to follow them, I spotted Suki standing at the edge of the crowd with Sokka, both of them wearing the same dumbstruck expression on their painted faces. Though she seemed fine from this distance, I approached her so I could make sure of it.

She didn't seem to notice me as I got closer, still staring at the place that Aang and Katara had been standing.

"What did he mean by that?" Suki asked. "He's just a kid. Has he even hit puberty yet? Does he have a sex drive?"

"I'll be honest, I have no clue," Sokka said. "I think I'm just gonna ignore it for now. I'm still not sure if I just imagined him saying that. I did get kicked by that Zuko guy while you were tying him up."

"I didn't get kicked and I heard it," Suki said.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that either," Sokka said. "I don't want to deal with any sort of unnecessary drama if I don't have to. I can only imagine how awkward it would be to be stuck on an air bison for hours if I falsely accused him of... Well, I'm not really sure of what exactly I'd be accusing him of, but I'm not gonna do it. We're already running out of ways to pass the time while we travel. There's only so many hours of 'I spy' you can play before it gets stale, especially when the only answers are water and clouds."

"I don't envy you," Suki said.

"It's not all that bad," Sokka said, with a cough. "Appa's actually really comfortable to ride on as long as you're not afraid of heights."

"Well, I don't mean that," Suki said. "I guess I just can't imagine the idea of travelling long hours to be fun, though I guess that's because I haven't left the island at all."

"Actually about that," Sokka said as he turned around to face her, but he jumped back when he saw how close I was.

"Holy shit, Ty Lung," he said.

"Hey," I said, giving him a casual wave, before I looked down at Suki.

She looked up to stare at me.

"You're safe," she said. "I'm glad."

I scanned her body in response. "You are too, though I never really doubted you wouldn't be," I said. "I'm frankly insulted that you were worried about me."

"Well, I do know how much of an idiot you are," Suki said. "Tian and Shani told me you fought the invading force, before challenging a powerful firebender to a one-on-one duel."

"That I did," I said.

"I assume you beat him, then?" she asked.

"Not at all," I said, with a wide smile.

Suki gave me a confused look, before she sighed and shook her head and looked back at Sokka, apparently deciding that she couldn't be bothered to try and understand what I meant.

"Anyways," she said, ignoring my presence completely. "You were about to say something, Sokka?"

Sokka glanced up at me, as if he was wondering if I would be offended if he intruded in the conversation, but I gave him a simple shrug. Taking it as permission, he hesitated a moment before giving Suki a short bow.

"Suki," he said. "Like Aang said, if it hadn't been for you, I'm sure we would've been caught totally unprepared for a Fire Nation attack, no matter how much time we had to plan for it. I can only assume that we'll be getting into more fights, and if I've learned anything during my training with you, it's that I'm weak. We need to help Aang master the elements to end the war, but I'm afraid that Katara and I aren't strong enough to support him. I haven't asked Aang or Katara yet, but I wanted to ask you first if you could come with us when we leave."

Suki stared at Sokka with a completely neutral expression on her face, that might've looked like she was calm to an outsider's perspective, but it was clear to me that she had been completely caught off guard by the question.

She stared at him in silence for a few more seconds, before turning to me, as if to silently ask for help.

Though I had no intention of speaking on her behalf, whether she wanted me to or not, I was more than willing to give her a moment to think. Besides, what Sokka had said was somewhat related to something I had been thinking of as well.

"What about me?" I asked.

"Huh?" Sokka asked, raising his head to stare at me. "What do you mean?"

"I'll go with you," I said, trying to be as clear as possible. "I'll come with you to protect the Avatar."

Suki seemed to be even more stunned than she had been a moment ago, and Sokka still seemed too confused despite my efforts. I sighed in annoyance as I shook my head.

"Okay, what is it you're not getting?" I asked. "Lay it out. I'll answer whatever questions you might have."

"Huh?" Sokka asked.

"That's not exactly a proper question," I said, sighing as I tried to think of what issues he might have with me, to pre-emptively answer any questions he might have before he asked them. "I guess you haven't actually seen me fight, but I am strong. You need me to prove it to you?"

"No, no," Sokka said, shaking his head. "I believe you. Suki talks about you all the time."

"No I don't," Suki said quickly.

"You do," Sokka said, apparently oblivious of how annoyed Suki seemed. "You kept mentioning him while you were training me. Ty Lung learned this move ten times faster than you did. Ty Lung can train for eight hours straight without getting tired. Ty Lung-"

"Okay," I said, not seeing the point in letting him continue. "So you know I'm strong. What's the problem, then?"

"Well," Sokka said, hesitating for a moment. "We don't exactly know you very well."

"Ah," I said. "So it's a character reference you want. Well, you trust Suki, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Sokka said.

"She can vouch for me," I said, turning to her. "I can be trusted to protect the Avatar, right Suki?"

From the expression on her face, I could only imagine that her skin had just turned pale enough that she didn't actually need her face paint.

I quickly stepped in front of her to hide her from view.

"I can be trusted," I said.

Sokka's eyes darted between me and where Suki was standing behind me, before his lips twisted upwards into a strained smile.

"I mean, I'd totally be fine with having you tag along with us," Sokka said, averting his eyes from me. "But you know, I'm also travelling with Aang and Katara, and I can only assume they wouldn't be happy if I just invited someone along without telling them."

"Like you just did with Suki?" I asked.

Sokka winced. "Well, it's not like I was just going to bring her along without their permission," he said. "I would've had to ask them first. Majority vote, and all."

I frowned, not liking the obvious "no" vote that Sokka would put in for me, but he had brought up a solid point. Even if he seemed to oppose the idea of me tagging along with them, for some reason, I didn't actually need to convince him to join the Avatar's travelling group.

"Suki," I said. "Do you plan to go with them?"

I felt Suki shifting behind me, probably surprised that I had called on her. There was a moment of palpable hesitation, before she stepped around me to give Sokka a slight bow.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm honoured that you would trust me enough to ask for my help in escorting the Avatar, but I have too much here that I can't leave behind so easily."

Damn. If Suki was in the Avatar's group, I could've counted on her to vote in my favour, but it seemed like I wouldn't be so lucky.

"Oh," Sokka said, his awkward smile quickly falling as he looked towards her. "That's a shame, but I guess it makes sense. Sorry for dropping this on you so suddenly."

I ignored the two of them while they exchanged polite apologies, as I mentally calculated the odds of convincing each of the members of the Avatar's team.

Katara had been polite enough when we talked, and I could see the possibility that she wouldn't want to decline my offer simply so she wouldn't be rude, but she also had a surprising amount of fire hidden behind her polite exterior, as made evident by her outbursts at Aang.

Aang, I hadn't actually interacted with at all, but he seemed aloof and it didn't seem too difficult to get on his good side. He seemed to respond easily to praise, and though I wasn't about to give it away for free, with how his companions constantly commented on how good of an airbender he was, maybe there actually was something worthwhile hidden behind that pre-teen outer shell of his. While I had dismissed him initially based on his attitude and his lack of water-bending ability, maybe I had judged him too quickly. I could challenge him to a fight, and praise him based on his performance there.

The sky cow was an enigma to me, and though he seemed to understand and tolerate me, I wasn't actually sure if he would want me riding on his back.

And I had barely even seen the fifth member of the Avatar's group. I didn't even know the flying lemur's name, so I had no idea how its vote would swing.

I frowned as I tallied my mental results.

One vote for no from Sokka, and four votes uncertain from the rest.

I grumbled and shook my head, annoyed at the waste of time.

Not any more prepared than I had been a moment ago, I headed over to Aang's lodgings to let them know that I intended to tag along.

I was surprised by the crowd that was gathered around Aang's lodgings, not because it was unusual for the Avatar to be surrounded by a curious crowd, but because this particular crowd was made up entirely of the Kyoshi Warriors. It became clear in a moment, that the Kyoshi Warriors were actively helping the Aang and Katara pack their supplies instead of simply fawning over the Avatar, but the brief pause in my step let Suki and Sokka catch up to me, though the latter seemed to be a little more out of breath than the other.

"Why did you suddenly run off, Ty Lung?" Suki asked hesitantly, as if she were afraid of my answer.

"I didn't run off. I walked," I said, a little distracted as I stared at Aang and Katara, trying to figure out a strategy to get both of them on my side. "My legs are just longer than yours."

"Why do you even want to go with them in the first place?" Suki asked, jogging up and turning around to face me as she walked backwards. "I can't imagine you're actually invested in the idea of protecting the Avatar."

"I'm not," I agreed. "That's just what I'm offering in exchange for them taking me along. I can't imagine they'd give me a free ride for no reason."

"Why do you even want to go?" Suki asked.

"I'm not done with the Dragon of the West," I said simply. "And the Avatar is the perfect bait for him."

Suki stopped in her tracks, her expression of confusion slipping quickly into a blank look of exasperation. I considered stepping around her to continue walking towards Aang, but something told me that it was a bad idea.

"That's the whole reason you want to go with them?" Suki asked, in a deadpan voice. "That's the whole reason why you want to leave?"

"Well, not entirely. It's not just the Dragon of the West," I admitted, slowly realizing that even if the Avatar hadn't arrived, I probably wouldn't have stayed much longer on the island anyways.

I looked down to see a sad frown on Suki's face, hidden behind an angry glare.

The sight of it summoned a mysterious chest pain once more, and I increased the importance of the mental note that I'd made before to see a healer at the first opportunity I got, but with more important matters at hand, I filed it away.

"This Island is too small for me," I said, looking away, unable to hold my gaze against Suki's for some reason. "I was never going to stay long. Even if the Avatar doesn't agree to take me along, I'm probably going to leave today to follow them."

"They have a sky bison," Suki said.

"I'll find a way," I said.

Suki stared at me for a few long seconds before sighing and hanging her head down. She was close enough to me that her forehead bumped lightly against my chest.

"I guess I can't stop you, huh?" she asked.

"No," I answered.

"Very well, then," she said, lifting her head and giving me an exasperated smile before she scanned my body. "Are you planning on leaving without a shirt?" she asked.

I looked down to look at my own bare chest. "I suppose I could wear one," I said. "But my clothes are at the dojo."

"I'll get them for you," Suki said. "Don't you dare leave without saying goodbye first, okay?"

Before I could give a response, she jogged past me and didn't turn back. I silently watched her go, feeling the increasing need to see a doctor for my chest pains, before I noticed Sokka glancing awkwardly between the two of us.

"So are you and her..." Sokka said, before trailing off.

I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Given that he was still wearing the uniform, I couldn't help but wonder if he had been privy to the Kyoshi Warriors' rumour mill.

"We're not married, if that's what you're wondering," I said.

"Married?" Sokka asked. He stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nevermind."

I waited for him, in case he wanted to change his mind, but he turned around and started to walk towards the place where the Kyoshi Warriors were milling around Aang and Katara, packing Appa with enough supplies that they could fit on him without over encumbering him.

Katara noticed Sokka more than she did me, and waved him over.

"Oh good. You're here," Katara said. "We're almost ready to leave. Are you done with everything you need to deal with here?"

"Yeah, more or less," Sokka said, scratching the back of his head. Though he was standing in front of me, so I couldn't see where his eyes were pointed, he must've looked in my direction since Katara spontaneously seemed to notice my presence.

"Oh, Ty Lung," she said. "Are you here to see us off too?"

"Well..." Sokka said on my behalf. "Not exactly..."

Katara glanced between me and her brother, and when it became clear that Sokka wouldn't answer her, I spoke up.

"If you take me with you on your journey, I'll protect the Avatar," I said.

Katara's smile didn't fall from her face, but her eyes glazed over in confusion. She continued to smile at me, as if she were waiting for me to continue, but since I had no idea how I could be any clearer, I stayed silent. Giving up on me, she turned to Sokka, who only shrugged.

"What he said," he said.

Katara didn't seem satisfied in the slightest by her brother's lack of explanation, but she did seem to snap out of the stunned state that she was in.

"Excuse us for a second," she said, before grabbing Sokka and pulling him into a quick huddle.

I don't know if she meant for me to hear, but if she was trying to make it so I wouldn't be able to listen in on their conversation, she was doing an incredibly poor job of it. Though their voices were low enough that I couldn't make out the exact wording of the conversation, I heard enough that I could understand the general gist of what they were talking about.

Katara was confused, suspicious, and sceptical of both my ability to protect Aang and my reasons for doing so. Though Sokka was quick to suggest that I was probably capable of fighting, given how Suki had vouched for my skills, and how I had held back "that short old guy, who's apparently some big shot firebender by the way", Katara didn't seem satisfied by his explanation of why I wanted to tag along in the first place.

I frowned at her reaction, and conceded that it would probably be difficult to convince her to take me on board given that I didn't have much time. The Kyoshi Warriors seemed to be nearly done packing. It seemed that with two out of the five votes being clearly in the negatives, my fate would come down to my ability to convince Aang, the sky cow, and the flying lemur to take me along.

With the sky cow clearly being busy, I searched around the clearing for any signs of Aang. It wasn't a difficult search, since he was walking towards Sokka and Katara with a curious expression on his face.

"Hey guys," he said. "What's going on? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, Aang!" Katara said, raising her head from the huddle, giving me an awkward smile before she turned to face him. "We were just talking about Ty Lung."

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Who?" he asked. He glanced at me, probably since I was the only person standing around, but didn't seem confident enough in my identity to assume that they were talking about me.

Katara's eyes followed Aang's and she nodded. "You remember Ty Lung, right?" she asked. "He was the first person we met on the island."

Aang squinted at me, before he widened his eyes in realization, smiling and snapping his fingers.

"You're the tall guy that Appa tried to eat," he said, before he frowned. "Why don't you have a shirt on?"

"Is that a problem?" I asked. Though I didn't know enough about air nomads to assume they had anything against nudity, given the fact that the first time I had seen Aang was after he had stripped down to his underwear to take a swim, I would've been surprised by the hypocrisy.

"I mean, I guess not," he said. "But aren't you cold?"

"A little," I said. "But I'm used to it. I used to live in the mountains."

"I see..." Aang said, falling into an awkward pause before he sidled up to Katara and whispered into her ear at a volume that I could easily hear from where I stood.

"Katara, this guy's weird," he said. "What does he want?"

Katara winced at the volume of Aang's whisper, and given that she obviously knew that I could hear him, I didn't see any reason to keep up a pretense that they were having a private conversation.

"I want to leave the island with you," I said. "I'll provide you with protection and I expect no payment outside of the opportunity to fight your pursuers. If there is anything that I can do to convince you that taking me along will be worthwhile, I will do anything I can to prove myself to you."

From the pained expression on Katara's face, and the confused one on Aang's, I wasn't sure if I my plan to tag along with them would be successful, but before I could start to brainstorm on ways that I could pursue a sky bison on foot, I heard a dull thud. I glanced up at the source of the noise to see that one of the Kyoshi Warriors had dropped a small sack of potatoes on the ground, but instead of moving to pick it up, all of the Kyoshi Warriors were staring directly at me.

Though they didn't seem like they had even noticed the sound of the potatoes dropping, the trio seemed to notice the dead silence that spontaneously appeared. Following the direction of my eyes, they turned to look at the Kyoshi Warriors.

It was a strange scene to behold, and with a mysterious tension hanging in the air as our two groups stared intently at each other, it almost felt like we were squaring up for a fight. Me and the avatar's group, versus the entirety of the Kyoshi Warriors. The thought was an interesting one, and it would certainly help me prove my worth if the Kyoshi Warriors spontaneously decided to attack us, but I doubted that that was what was going on here.

Which I was grateful for. As much of a challenge it would be, the thought of beating down the entirety of the Kyoshi Warriors didn't excite me as much as I might've expected it to.

But putting my strange lack of excitement aside, I raised an eyebrow at the Kyoshi Warriors, still not understanding why they were staring at me so intensely.

"What?" I asked.

The simple question pierced the veil of silence that hung over us, but it took a few seconds before I heard a reply.

"You're leaving, Ty Lung?" a quiet voice squeaked out. Though the Kyoshi Warriors were too far for me to identify which one of them had spoken, from the wave of murmurs that travelled across the entirety of their group, it seemed like every one of them had wanted to ask the same question.

"Yeah," I said.

The effect of the single word was instantaneous, as the Kyoshi Warriors all dropped what they were doing and rushed towards me as the avatar trio moved out of the way to avoid being stampeded over. Though there were too many of them to understand what they were saying, it seemed that a majority of them didn't want me to leave, or were understanding but still sad to see me go.

I raised my hands, in a silent request for an opportunity to speak, and eventually the noise died down enough that I could talk.

"I'm leaving the island," I said, speaking loudly to be heard over the few grumbles that came out of the warriors. "I've never planned to stay here for long, and though I'm flattered that you enjoyed my presence here so much, you can't do anything to stop me. You've all been great, but it's time for me to go."

"Will you come back to visit us?" a voice shouted out.

"I'm not sure," I said, with a shrug. "Can't say either way."

"Can we at least say goodbye?" one of the Kyoshi Warriors asked from the front of the group.

I smiled at the Warrior that had spoken up. "Of course you can, Lan," I said. "You've always been good to me. Thanks for sneaking me extra food whenever you were on kitchen duty."

Lan smiled at me, nodding at me for a moment before she seemed to hesitate. I said nothing for a moment to give her the opportunity to speak, but was surprised when she walked up and gave me a quick hug.

"Don't hurt yourself too badly," she said.

"You know I can't promise that," I said with a laugh. She laughed in response and stepped to the side, surrendering her position to the next Warrior.

Saying goodbye to each of them individually was a tiring process, but I felt like I would regret it if I didn't do it, so I made sure to give each of them the thanks that they deserved for the hospitality that they provided me during my time on the Island.

Throughout the individual goodbyes I gave out, I did make sure to keep an eye on the avatar's group, to make sure that they didn't use the opportunity to run off without me, not wanting to give them too big of a head start if they managed to sneak away without me being able to note which direction they flew off at the very least. Thankfully, they seemed to be content with staying until I was done, watching me say goodbye to all of the Kyoshi Warriors, each of them holding varied reactions to the sight.

Katara stared at the scene with a warm look in her eyes and a melancholic smile, while Sokka seemed both amused and annoyed by the sight. Aang stared at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, for some reason, and his shock only seemed to grow when I felt something soft touching my cheek.

I blinked in confusion and looked down at Nana, who looked to the side with a bashful expression on her face, trying to ignore the scandalized expressions that the other Kyoshi Warriors were giving her.

"It's very rude to look at other people while you're talking to a girl, you know," Nana muttered as she touched her lips with her fingers.

I blinked a few more times, before I chuckled and shook my head in amusement once I realized what she had done.

"I'm sorry for that," I said. "Be well, Nana."

I made sure to pay attention to each goodbye after that, trusting that the avatar group wouldn't leave during my moment of distraction, but some of the Warriors still felt the need to give me a quick peck on the cheek, emboldened by Nana's actions. I didn't mind it at all, but as I reached the last person in the queue, I stared down at Suki, who gave me a flat unamused look.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked, her voice deadpan.

"I am," I said.

Suki glared at me, and sent a glare to the Kyoshi Warriors around me, before the harsh expression fell from her face with a sigh.

She reached up and pushed my Kyoshi Warrior uniform against my chest.

"Here," she said. "Put on a damn shirt."

"Where'd my other shirt go?" I asked.

"It's a literal pile of rags," Suki replied. "Hopefully you'll treat this uniform with a little more respect. Unless you've got a problem with wearing it?"

Suki quirked an eyebrow up at me, as if to challenge me. Though it might've been funny to accept the challenge, I recognized that it wasn't the time for that.

"Of course not," I said. "I'm proud to wear this uniform, just as I am proud to say that I was once a member of the Kyoshi Warriors."

I took a few steps backwards and gave her a deep bow once I was sure I was far enough that I wouldn't headbutt her.

Suki sighed in response.

"You idiot," she said. "There is no 'once was'. Don't think that just because you leave the island, you're no longer a Warrior. You're ours forever."

A few of the Kyoshi Warriors laughed at that, and even more let out short cheers of agreement. I lifted my head and laughed along with them.

"I suppose you're right," I said. "I'm honoured to have been taught by you, Suki. Thank you for everything you've done for me so far. I'll promise to pay you back one day."

Suki smiled up at me, but her expression twitched as she seemed to notice something out of the corner of her eye. With how close the other Kyoshi Warriors were surrounding us, I didn't have to even follow her eyes to notice how the Warriors were looking at Suki almost expectantly, with their eyes darting from her lips to my cheek.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the expression of calm annoyance that fell over Suki's face, and wondered if anyone else had realized that this was just her default reaction to moments of panic, to preserve her dignity as a leader. I doubted it though. The other Warriors respected her too much to want to poke holes in the ironclad persona that their leader kept up.

But even though I respected her as my teacher, she had never been my leader. She had always just been Suki to me.

I leaned in close, and though she pretended to look up at me with an unamused look of annoyance, I could see the utter panic that flashed behind her eyes. I heard a few groans of disappointment when I just leaned down to hug her, but when I chuckled into her ear I felt her shiver in my arms.

I felt Suki tense up as I put my mouth closer to her ear and whispered into it with a quiet laugh.

"Coward."

Immediately, I felt Suki's body go lax. Though I had her arms pinned to her side, she used the small space that she had made by relaxing her body to snake her arms upwards and strike me right in my armpits. As I withdrew my arms reflexively, Suki shifted her hands inwards to grab the back of my neck and pull me in to bash her forehead into mine.

"You're the most frustrating person I have ever met in my entire life," she growled, before she kissed me on the lips.

Before I could even recover from her headbutt, she pulled her lips away from me and yanked my neck down further while kicking my ankles and throwing me to the ground.

I let out a loud laugh as I stared up at the sky, still reeling from my impact with the ground, before Suki threw my clothes at my face. By the time I got up, she had already stormed off.

The Kyoshi Warriors followed the path of their leader, but once she was gone from sight, the majority of them chuckled to themselves before they returned to packing supplies onto the sky cow's back, as if nothing had happened. Once I stopped reeling from Suki's attack, I hopped up to my feet and walked over to the avatar's group, who all seemed like they had no idea what was going on.

"Anyways," I said. "Like I was saying, before our conversation was interrupted, I'm willing to do anything to prove that taking me along will be worthwhile."

"Umm," Katara said, her eyes darting between me and the direction that Suki had just stormed off towards. "Are you just not going to acknowledge that?"

"Acknowledge what exactly?" I asked, the question being too vague for me to answer immediately.

Katara stared at me for a few seconds, before she looked to the side at her brother, who gave her a slight but very obvious shake of the head.

"Well," Katara said hesitantly, slowly turning her head back towards me, but doing her best to avoid meeting my eyes. "I mean, you seem like such a nice guy, but-"

"We'll take you!" Aang shouted suddenly, interrupting Katara before she could decline me.

"What?!" Katara and Sokka said simultaneously.

Though my reaction wasn't so severe, I couldn't help but be surprised by Aang's sudden change of heart as well. I quirked my eyebrow up at the small pre-teen, who smiled wide at me.

"Really?" I asked, a little hesitant to take the sudden change of heart at face value.

"Yeah!" Aang said excitedly. "You seem like a nice guy."

"I do?" I asked, my confusion too strong to accept his acceptance so easily.

"Yeah! All those girls seemed to like you a lot. No way you wouldn't be that popular if you weren't nice, right?"

"Aang," Katara said, keeping an eye on me even though she was talking to him. "Our journey is going to be dangerous. We shouldn't take someone along with us just because they seem... nice."

"I mean he's strong too, isn't he?" Aang asked. "I mean he took that attack like it was nothing."

"I fought off a bunch of the firebenders too," I said, a little hesitantly. "And the Dragon of the West."

"Yeah, the Dragon of the West," Aang parrotted, in a way that made it obvious that he had no idea what I was talking about.

"Aang, this guy's clearly a lunatic," Sokka said, giving up the pretence of subtlety completely, not that I disagreed with him in particular. "Why in the world would you want him to tag along with us when he looks like he'll probably kill us in our sleep."

"That's a pretty rude thing to say, Sokka," Aang said, with a frown, though it lightened up somewhat when Katara slapped Sokka in the back of the head. "You're not crazy, right Ty Lung?"

"I don't think I'm crazy," I replied, still too confused to do anything but follow along with the conversation.

"There you have it," Aang said. "He's a nice guy, he's strong, and I think he could teach me a lot of things!"

Sokka paused in his complaints as Katara continued to slap the back of his head to narrow his eyes at Aang.

"And what would he teach you, exactly?" he asked suspiciously.

Aang flinched, and though he tried to act nonchalant, he was horrible at it. I followed his eyes as it darted around between my cheek, the Kyoshi Warriors, and Katara.

"Just life things," he said, a little too quickly. "Life's not all about bending, you know, and Ty Lung's old. He's probably got a lot of experience in life."

My lips flattened into an unamused line, not knowing how I should react in the realization of why Aang wanted me around, but at the same time, I wasn't about to turn down a gift-wrapped opportunity like this.

"I do have a lot of life experience," I said, with a deep bow. "I'll admit that I've never actually tried to be a teacher before, but I'll try my best."

"See? Earnest too. This guy just keeps getting better and better. What do you say? Can we take him? Please?"

Katara glanced sideways at Sokka, as if to seek his opinion, but Sokka just gave Aang an exasperated stare.

"You and I are going to have to have a man-to-man talk one day," he said, before shaking his head and turning around, climbing on top of the sky cow and sitting at the reins with a deep frown.

"I think that means he's okay with it," Aang said. "How about it Katara? Can he come with us?"

Katara raised an eyebrow and glanced between me, Aang, and her brother with a confused expression on her face before her shoulders sagged down in defeat.

"I mean, I would be outvoted either way," she said. "And I guess it would be reassuring to have another fighter on the team. Watching how skilled the Kyoshi Warriors were at taking down the firebenders did make me realize that we're a little underprepared for any fights we might get into."

"Yes!" Aang said, hopping several feet into the air in excitement. "You're coming with us, Ty Lung. Hurry and grab your stuff! We're leaving soon."

"I'm already packed," I said. "This is all I own."

"How nomadic of you," Aang said, giving me a thumbs up. "I like it."

"Thanks," I said.

"I do have one request though," I said. "I want to say goodbye to one more person on the island."

Immediately, Aang gave me a sly smile. "Oh really? Is it another lady?" he asked, gently prodding me with his elbow.

"Technically yes," I said. "She lives about an hour's walk away, and a lot less than that if I run."

"That's fine, that's fine," Aang said. "We've already stayed on the island for a couple days. What's a few more hours?"

"Aang," Katara said, cutting into the conversation. "Do I need to remind you that we just got attacked less than half an hour ago? The Fire Nation soldiers could still be on the island."

"It'll be fine," Aang said, casually waving away Katara's worries. "With how much that Zuko guy was crying about his honor and pride while the Kyoshi Warriors tied him up, I'd be surprised if he didn't just leave because of how embarrassed he was."

"Wait," I said, feeling a grin rise on my lips. "You're telling me that the prince was actually crying?"

"Well, not exactly," Aang said. "But it was close."

"Ah," I said, laughing at the mental image that popped up in my head.

Katara frowned, apparently not satisfied with Aang's response.

"Don't you think that might have just made him angrier?" she asked. "What if he comes back while we're unprepared and we're not ready for him this time around?"

"I can only assume that the Kyoshi Warriors have a few scouts that are keeping an eye on him until they leave," I said. "It would be pretty strange for them to let a small militia of hostile forces go unchecked in their territory. If they were coming back to attack us again, we would know."

Katara's eyes widened slightly, though Aang's smile only grew wider.

"Wow, I didn't even think of that," he said. "See, Katara? This is why we need someone like Ty Lung on our team. You saw the Kyoshi Warriors. If he knows how to do stuff like that, then we'll be much safer while we travel to the North Pole."

"I guess," Katara finally conceded. "Well, if you really think it's fine, then I guess we can wait for a bit longer."

"Yes!" Aang shouted, before I could confirm that it really was fine. "Come on then, Ty Lung. We've got no time to waste!"

I raised an eyebrow when he sped off, not realizing that he had intended to come with me in the first place. I glanced at Katara, who only offered me a shrug, but I quickly decided that I didn't care either way.

"Wrong way, Aang," I called out, before jogging in the direction of the old lady's house.

It didn't take long for Aang to catch up to me despite my head start, and with the strong gust of wind that was hitting my back, I wondered how much of his speed was due to his airbending, and how much was due to natural athleticism.

Before I could figure it out, Aang gave me a sheepish smile.

"I hope you don't mind me tagging along," he said, without a hint of exertion in his voice. "I just thought we could use the opportunity to get to know each other a bit before we took off. You know, get a little time to talk away from the ladies."

"I don't mind," I said. "And by ladies, I can only assume you mean Katara."

Aang stumbled in his step, nearly tripping and having to take a moment to catch himself so he wouldn't tumble to the ground. When he recovered, he was quick to catch up to me again.

"Yeah," he said, not quite looking in my direction.

"What did you want to talk about that you don't want to say in front of her?" I asked.

There was a moment of quiet as Aang took his time to respond, filled with nothing but the sound of my heavy footfalls as I realized that Aang's footsteps were nearly silent.

"I want to know how to get Katara to like me," he said.

"And you thought I could teach you how," I said.

"The Kyoshi Warriors all seemed to really like you," Aang muttered, his voice quiet enough that it was difficult to hear. "Especially that one girl, Suki."

"That is true," I mused. "Well, like I already said. I've never actually tried to teach anyone anything before, but I'm willing to try my best."

"I've been told that I'm a great student," Aang said, though his smile quickly dropped as his eyes furrowed in concentration. "Actually, I'm not sure if anyone's ever told me that. Monk Gyatzo did have to make up a bunch of games to get me to focus on airbending training."

I shrugged. "As someone who only realized a few years ago how fun learning could be, a good or bad teacher can make or break your whole experience," I said. "Sounds like this Monk Gyatzo guy was a good one."

Aang's smile turned soft, as he stared forwards at something I couldn't see.

"Yeah," he said. "He really was."

I let him have his moment of reminiscence before I spoke again.

"So," I said. "What exactly do you want me to teach you?"

"What do you mean?" Aang asked. "I already said I wanted to get Katara to like me, didn't I?"

"That's too vague," I said, shaking my head. "I can't help you if you don't tell me exactly what you want. Do you want to fuck her?"

"Fuck?" Aang asked, furrowing his eyebrows as if struggling to recall the word. "Do you mean sex?"

"Yeah," I said, quickly realizing that I might've made the wrong assumption. I suddenly realized how young he was, and had to wonder if I was still subconsciously thinking of him as the old wizened airbender that the Fire Nation propaganda liked to paint him as. "You know what that is?"

"The monks teach all the younger kids about it," Aang said. "But I don't see how that's relevant. I'm too young to have kids, and Katara and I aren't even married yet."

"Got it," I said, quickly recalibrating my teaching goals. "I noticed that you said that you weren't married, yet. Is that your endgoal?"

"No," Aang said, a little too quickly. He winced as he seemed to struggle to think about it. "Maybe? Yes. I'm not sure. I mean I like her, and she's really pretty and nice, but maybe I'm a little too young to think about marriage."

"Lots of people get engaged at your age," I said. "Don't use it as an excuse."

"Then what?" Aang asked. "Should I want to marry Katara? Is that what you're saying?"

"How the hell should I know?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "That's your decision, not mine."

"You just said a lot of people get engaged at my age," Aang said.

"That wasn't me telling you that you should be okay with it," I said. "You're not most people. You're you. Only you can decide what's good for you. So decide."

"Now?" Aang asked.

"Why not?" I asked back.

"Are you always so direct?"

"Usually."

"Is that why so many girls like you?"

"That's probably a part of the reason."

"What's the rest of the reason, then?"

"The rest of the reason is everything else."

"Everything else of what?"

"Everything else that makes me me."

Aang groaned.

"You're a lousy teacher," he said. "You're just saying what everyone else is always saying about talking to girls. Just be yourself. Well, what if girls don't usually like who I am?"

"Then lie about who you are," I said, with a shrug.

"See? Now that's a life lesson!" Aang said, giving me a wide grin. "How exactly should I lie, then? What can I tell Katara to get her to like me?"

"Well, if you just want Katara to like you, you can just tell her anything she wants to hear," I said, with a shrug. "Of course, her liking you would just be temporary, but if you're not looking for a long term thing, then it might suit your goals just fine. Not that I know what your goals are."

"Temporary?" Aang asked, frowning. "What if I don't want it to just be temporary?"

"Then don't lie," I said, a little confused by Aang's confusion. "Be yourself."

"But I already told you," he whined. "That might work for you, but it doesn't work for me. I've been myself this whole time and Katara barely pays any attention to me!"

"Then be a better version of yourself," I said, getting a little frustrated by the cyclical nature of the conversation. "I can tell this is getting nowhere, so I'll have to put a stop to our first lesson and assign you some homework. Figure out what the hell you want to ask me for. I'm not going to try and teach you about something you're not even sure you want. Got it?"

Aang frowned, though his intense gaze didn't seem to be directed at me, so much as it was directed inwards.

"I guess," he said.

The rest of the run towards the old lady's place passed by in relative silence, as Aang didn't seem to have any other questions for me, too deep in his own thoughts to give them voice.

As we got closer to the old lady's house, I noticed a plume of distant smoke in the horizon, trailing shamefully away from the island. I made the mental note to say goodbye to the four Kyoshi Warriors that I hadn't already seen off in the village if I had the chance, but I didn't want to waste time looking for them in the port town. Pushing my way into the old lady's shop, I was surprised to see that the shop was busy during lunch hours, though I quickly remembered that the entire island had just been in lockdown.

"What do you want, brat?" the old lady asked, making Aang jump behind me in surprise.

"I'm leaving the island," I said. "Just thought I'd let you know before I left."

"Who am I, your mother?" the old lady scoffed. "You don't need to let me know every time you wipe your ass."

"Jealous that I'm not so old that I can't wipe my ass myself?" I asked.

"I'll kill myself before I become that infirm," she said.

"You old bitch," I said. "I already said I'd fulfil my promise to you. You don't need to rush me."

"Umm," Aang said, as he seemed to realize that my goodbye to the old lady wasn't what he might've been expecting. "I'll just wait outside, if that's okay with you."

"You don't need my permission," I grunted. "Wait outside if you want."

"Okay, cool," Aang said, waving awkwardly towards the old lady. "Well it was nice to meet you. You've got a lovely shop. Don't be too long, Ty Lung."

Before I could respond, Aang darted out of the shop, quick as the wind.

There was a moment of silence before the old lady grunted.

"That was the avatar?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Looks like a wimp," she said.

"He's a kid."

"That's no excuse."

"I wasn't disagreeing with you," I said, with a shrug. "But still harsh. Are you comparing him to the last avatar or something?"

"How old do you think I am, you little shit?" she said, with a scowl.

"Old enough that I wouldn't have been surprised if you said yes," I said casually, though I kept an eye out for anything she might start to throw my way.

Fortunately, the only thing she threw at me was a harsh glare. I grinned back in response.

"I haven't forgotten my promise," I said.

"You already mentioned that," she replied. "Are you following the avatar around like a dog in hopes that he'll kill the fire lord for you?"

"No," I said. "You really think that kid is capable of killing someone?"

"Some people say that it's the Avatar's duty to bring peace to the world," the old lady said.

"Well, people are stupid," I said. "There are tons of people that are much stronger than him. Maybe he could toughen up to the point where he could kill the fire lord, given enough time, but by the time that happens, I'll have already killed him."

"Then why follow the avatar around if you don't intend him to do your job for you?" the old lady asked.

"Because I'm not putting my whole life on pause just because you taught me one thing?" I said, a little offended by the idea. "I mean, killing the fire lord is on my list of things to do, but don't think you're so damn important that I'll just drop all my shit to cater to your every need."

The old lady let out a rough bark of laughter.

"I should've seen that answer coming," she said. "You really are a selfish brat, you know that?"

"Of course I do," I said.

"Get out of my fucking sight, you brat," she said.

"Yes, yes," I said, rolling my eyes before getting on my knees and giving her a deep bow.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?" the old lady asked.

"Showing my appreciation, you senile hag," I said. "You've treated me well during my entire stay. I'm not stupid enough that I can't appreciate that."

"Could've fooled me," the old lady said, with a scoff. "Damn freeloader wasting my money and time. The next time you come back here, I expect you to bring cash and pay for your food like a functioning member of human society."

"Asking a lot of me there, Taki," I said, with a laugh, standing up.

I laughed again at the way that the old lady's face twisted up in a grimace.

"Get the fuck out of my sight," she said.

"Fine, fine," I said. "I'm leaving, you old bitch. I'll see you around."

"Don't drop dead before I have the chance to kill you, brat," the old lady said, as she shooed me away.

I waved behind me as I left.

Outside, I saw Aang leaning against the wall of the shop, staring blankly up at the sky. I waited for him to notice me on his own, but when a few seconds passed in silence, I patted his shoulder.

"Let's go," I said.

"You're done already?" Aang asked.

"I didn't have much to say," I said, with a shrug.

The run back to Kyoshi village wasn't nearly as silent as the run had been away from it, with Aang seeming to have found his voice again. Though he didn't bring up the topic of Katara or anything else I could teach him about again, he filled the silence by telling me about his own life, about how he'd been frozen in an iceberg for the past hundred years along with the sky cow, how Katara and Sokka had found him buried in the South Pole, and how they fought off the prince before leaving.

He also briefly mentioned visiting the Southern Air Temple and adopting Momo there, which I assumed was the name of the sky lemur, but didn't have much to say about it further than that, before launching into a list of rankings on what sort of animals that he'd ridden on, and what sort of animals he planned to ride on during his future journeys.

Though I didn't have much input on his list, he didn't seem to mind dominating the conversation, especially since he seemed to have a lot to say. By the time we got back to Kyoshi Village, I had a comprehensive knowledge on how to ride otter penguins, elephant koi, and catgators, though he heavily advised against trying to ride the last one.

He was in the middle of telling me about the last time he'd snuck out to the swamplands to try and find a catgator to ride on with his Earth Kingdom friend, as we arrived at Kyoshi Village. It seemed that the Kyoshi Warriors had finished packing the last of the supplies onto the sky cow's back, and were waiting in single file, with their hands folded behind their backs, though a few of them broke their posture to smile and wave in our direction.

I waved back, and laughed when Suki barked at them in annoyance, but even though the Kyoshi Warriors went back to their positions, they did so with a smile on their faces.

"I blame you for this," Suki said, once I got close enough. "They were more disciplined before you came to this island."

"I won't apologize for being me," I said with a shrug.

Suki sighed, but stepped forward to give me a quick hug, though I grabbed her before she could make it too quick. Sighing and accepting her fate, she let me squeeze her tight as she hugged me back in return.

"I can't breathe," she said, her words muffled by my chest.

"Not my fault you're so small," I said, as I let her go.

"Are you going to define anyone that's shorter than you as 'small'?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'll see you around, Suki. Stay safe."

"Don't die," she said, in response.

I nodded and turned to follow Aang onto the sky cow's back, though the sky cow turned to me in disdained offence when I tried to step up onto his back. Though he eventually let me climb on, after a few calming words and promises of bribes from Aang, he did so begrudgingly, shifting his body to make my climb more difficult, only stopping when Sokka poked him in the forehead. The sky cow gave me exasperated glare, but with two other people who couldn't fly if he decided to do a barrel roll mid-air, I didn't think I would be thrown off of his back any time soon.

Sokka looked between me and Aang a few times, as if to silently ask Aang if he wanted to change his mind about me, but when Aang either ignored or failed to pick up on Sokka's silent signals, he sighed and took his place at the reins.

"Yip, yip," Sokka said.

As the sky cow took off, the Kyoshi Warriors simultaneously broke formation to wave us goodbye, but despite the annoyance that was clear on Suki's face, she joined in with them.

I waved them goodbye, along with the rest of the Avatar's group, as we headed to our next destination, wherever that was.

 

[korzark]

Shocking confession time, since I've caught up on my backlog for this story (kind of).

This story is actually a quest.

If you're unfamiliar with the term, quests are kind of like CYOA (choose your own adventure) where at specific times, I give my audience the chance to suggest and vote on how the story might go. While my audience hasn't made any crazy decisions yet, voting to request anyone and everyone to duel Ty Lung at every opportunity, they were responsible for voting to start the story on Kyoshi Island in the first place, instead of at the Underground Earth Bending wrestling ring like I had anticipated. Usually, I shy away from meta-choices like that, but I'm glad that it turned out that way, even if I did spend 50k+ words on what's essentially a prologue.

This also means that I have no backlog for this story, and that this story is actually written LIVE for an active audience. While I do plan to update this story regularly here, I often don't end my writing sessions on a spot that could be a reasonable "chapter break" so my main site is usually somewhat ahead on content as well. For example, I'm about 70% through writing the next complete "chapter" already, but I won't post it here until I'm finished with it.

If you wanted to check it out, whether it be for the audience participation or the regular stream of content, you can find the story here: Fiction.live

THAT BEING SAID, I also have to warn you that while this link is SFW, the rest of the website is very much not. As much as I love fiction.live (aka akun), it's a very imperfect site with little to no moderation, meaning it can be a pit of degeneracy. Navigate it at your own risk.

In either case, whether you want to try out the live experience or not, that's up to you. Even though I choose not to be in complete control of what directions the story flows in, I do try my best to make it seem like I am, and hopefully that makes it a good reading experience even if you pretend it's just a regular fanfic.

Again, I do plan to update this story regularly here, so there's no need to convert to a different site if you don't want, but just wanted to make it known in case you were interested.

 

[Elmoslayer5]

THAT BEING SAID, I also have to warn you that while this link is SFW, the rest of the website is very much not. As much as I love fiction.live (aka akun), it's a very imperfect site with little to no moderation, meaning it can be a pit of degeneracy. Navigate it at your own risk.

Click to shrink...

You aren't wrong first thing I found on fiction.live was literally a transformers NSFW story about bot bangin.

Also might wanna put that in index or whatever instead of thread mark I don't know what it's called on this site.

Edit: I didn't read the title of it god I'm dumb as hell

 

[Thunder999]

This is great, the main character is clearly insane, but in a fun way.

 

[Ozzie_Cheddar]

Can't believe just how little attention this story has gotten, it's amazing.

 

[korzark]

Author's note: Okay, I know this is very weird, since Ty Lung only just left in literally the last update, but I was commissioned (kind of) to write this "what if" snippet of what might have happened if Ty Lung stayed on Kyoshi Island. So here you go.

My name was Yun, son of Kenzo, the fishmonger, and grandson of Osamu, the fishmonger. It didn't need to be said that I was a fishmonger too, though most people knew me more as 'the fishmonger's son' on Kyoshi Island. Though I wasn't particularly excited to hold that title, I wasn't very upset by it either. I didn't mind the idea of inheriting my familial role, especially since I didn't have much ambition outside of it. My father liked to call me lazy for it when I was younger, but he stopped long before I was old enough to fully understand whether he was just joking around or if he was being hypocritical.

Of course, it wasn't like being a fishmonger was my entire life. I was still young, and though Kyoshi Island was beautiful, it was often a little too quiet for my liking, and with two days a week off from my usual duties, I often spent my free time on the mainland whenever I had the chance.

It was a nice and peaceful life. While my friends on the mainland were rowdy enough that I was glad that they had never asked me to bring them to Kyoshi Island and introduce them to the locals, we didn't do anything illegal, and though we had annoyed a few barkeepers into kicking us out after we'd had a little too much to drink, I usually kept my drinking light, since I didn't like staying on the mainland overnight and I wasn't stupid enough to go out to open waters alone while I was still drunk.

With me coming and going from the island so often, it wasn't too rare for me to get the odd person asking if they could hitch a free or cheap ride with me to the island. I would take their money if they offered, but usually didn't ask for anything if they didn't. In theory, I toyed with the idea of asking for an exorbitant price if I felt like the customer would be too much hassle for me to take along, but with most of my "customers" being old or religious folks who wanted to pay respects to Avatar Kyoshi, I never had an opportunity to try that tactic out.

Avatar Aang's sudden appearance at our island a bit more than a year ago, caused a brief surge of tourists who had come over initially, but once people started to realise that he actually hadn't done much there and that there wasn't actually much to see the interest quickly petered out to the point where I would often go several months without seeing anyone who wanted a ferry.

But today I had been lucky. Or unlucky. I wasn't too sure.

Sitting across from me in a boat that felt way too small at the moment, was quite possibly the prettiest girl I had ever seen in my life. When she had asked me for a ferry to Kyoshi Island, I had almost wanted to turn her down out of sheer nervousness, but as terrifying as the thought was to be stuck in my boat with her for a little more than half an hour, the more primal part of me simply wanted to give the pretty girl what she wanted without considering the consequences of my actions.

If it wasn't clear, I wasn't used to girls. Kyoshi Island was an old community, and most of the girls my age that lived there were Kyoshi Warriors, whose abilities to kick my ass only added to the intimidation I felt at the thought of talking to them. I couldn't remember the last time I had been so close to a girl around my age before, and it didn't help that this girl was staring so openly at me, her eyes glistening as she focused her attention on me.

I kept telling myself that she wasn't actually interested in me, that there was simply nothing else to look at with how much fog was surrounding us, but when she spoke up, it became a little more difficult to lie to myself.

"Hey!" she said, with a wide smile on her face, as if she were calling out to an old friend. "What's your name, again?"

"Yun!" I replied immediately, grateful that I managed not to stammer, but wincing at how loud I was.

The girl grinned and giggled into her hand. I wasn't sure whether that meant I should feel relieved or not, but I blushed and turned away from her regardless.

"How much longer until we get to the island, Yun?" the girl asked.

"About thirty minutes," I replied, wincing again at the flat look of disappointment that the girl gave me, even if she did immediately cover it up with a friendly smile afterwards.

"Oh, boo," she said. "You can't go any faster?"

"It's a long trip, Miss," I said. "This is the fastest I can go without tiring myself out to the point where we start losing time."

The girl sighed and leaned back in her seat, putting her arms behind her head and straining and stretching her body in a way that did very interesting things to her chest.

"I guess you would know best," she said. "But it'll be boring to just sit around for thirty minutes."

"I'm sorry," I said, even if I wasn't sure what I had to be sorry about.

The girl opened one eye to look at me, and when she grinned, I realised suddenly that I had been staring. Turning away from her, and trying my best not to look like the pervert I was, I tried to focus my attention on literally anything else.

Sure was an interesting fog we had going on, huh?

"Well, it's not like we have to spend the entire thirty minutes in complete silence," the girl said. "Can you think of any way to pass the time, Yun?"

"No," I said, a little too quickly.

The girl gave me a grin, but seemed to kind enough to ignore my internal turmoils despite being clearly amused by them.

"What about a story, then?" she asked, surprising me.

"I've never really told many stories before," I said.

"Oh, come on, Yun," she said, leaning forwards in her seat. "You've got a pretty little lady in your boat. The least you could do is at least try to entertain her."

The girl fluttered her eyelashes, as if I needed reminding of who exactly the pretty little lady was.

"I don't really know any good stories," I said, even as my mind ran through the folk tales that my mother used to tell me before I went to bed. "What about tale of the Crane and the Sparrow?"

The girl laughed, and I immediately smiled at the sound, even if I didn't know what I said to get that reaction from her.

"Oh, Yun," she said. "I'm a little too old for children's bed time stories, aren't I?"

"I guess so," I said, blushing and looking down at my feet. "But I can't think of anything else, I'm afraid."

"You don't need to be scared of me," the girl said, with a giggle. "And I'm sure you have tons of stories to tell, you probably just don't realise it. You do live on Kyoshi Island, right?"

I nodded, not trusting in my mouth not to betray me if I tried to speak.

"Then you must know at least a couple of stories about what happens there," the girl said. "The new Avatar arrived there about a year ago, didn't he?"

"Yeah," I said, wincing as I prepared myself to disappoint her. "But he didn't actually do much there. At least not in the port town, where I live. He mostly stayed in Kyoshi Village during his stay, with the Warriors."

"Even when the Fire Nation came to track him down?"

I looked up at her in mild surprise. "You know about that?" I asked.

"I like listening to stories," the girl said, tilting her head to give me a lopsided grin. "And people usually like telling them to me."

Though it wasn't much of an explanation, I didn't have the willpower to argue otherwise.

"Well," I said. "Everyone knows that the Fire Nation came to the island, but not everyone knows its because they managed to track Avatar Aang there. I think it's because Avatar Aang didn't actually do much to fight them off, so people just assume he wasn't involved in the first place."

"Who was involved in it then?" the girl asked, leaning closer to me, making me want to stand up and dive into the water to cool my head. "I can't imagine that the Fire Nation soldiers would just leave him alone for no reason, especially if they went out of their way to track the Avatar down in the first place."

"Oh," I said, suddenly realising that I did have a story to tell. "Actually, you're absolutely right. The Fire Nation soldiers did try to hunt down Avatar Aang, but someone did stop him. A single man, in fact."

"Oh, really? What was his name?"

I blinked a few times as I stared at the girl, wondering if I had imagined the intense flash of emotion that had passed over her eyes, but when she looked up at me with an excited smile, I quickly decided it must have been my imagination.

"Ty Lung," I said. "The first male Warrior of Kyoshi."

"Tell me more," the girl said.

And so I did. I told her everything I knew about Ty Lung, which was enough that I didn't have to struggle to think of anything. I told the girl about his first arrival on the island, and being hired as a simple fish carter by the old head of the Kyoshi Warriors, to his recruitment into the Warriors, and his fierce battle with the exiled Prince Zuko and his uncle, the ferocious Dragon of the West.

"Isn't the Dragon of the West really powerful?" the girl asked with a gasp. "I'm surprised Ty Lung managed to beat him."

"Oh, Ty Lung beat him, alright," I said. "After beating the Dragon within an inch of his life, he felt pity for the old man due to his old age, and offered to challenge him a game of Pai Sho. They played on the nearby beach, and when Ty Lung humiliated him by proving that he could destroy him in a game of wits and not just combat, the Dragon threw a temper tantrum and turned the entire beach to glass with his firebending. It's been eroded away by now, but I swear to you that I saw it with my own eyes."

"Ty Lung really beat General Iroh in a game of Pai Sho?" the girl asked, with an eyebrow raised.

I didn't know why she chose to fixate on that part of the story over everything else, but I would never claim to understand girls.

"He did," I said. "Trounced him, in fact, and before he sent the Dragon and the Prince off the island, he offered the Dragon a rematch at any time. Seeing as how the Dragon's never come back since, he really is too afraid to be humiliated again."

The girl let out a loud laugh, clutching at her stomach and leaning back far enough that she fell backwards with a startled yelp.

"Owie," she said, in between giggles.

"Are you okay?" I asked, standing up as quickly as I could manage without rocking the boat.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, giggling again. "Help me up?"

Without thinking, I reached forward to grab her hand, and before I could marvel at how soft her skin felt, she had used my arm to pull herself up back onto her seat.

"I want to hear more about Ty Lung," she said.

Once I managed to regain my composure, I continued, and luckily, the girl seemed to be even more intrigued about my stories about what happened to Ty Lung after he fought off the Fire Nation soldiers and sent Avatar Aang on his way to the North Pole. I told her about the stories about how Ty Lung continued to train with the Warriors, and under the tutelage of their old leader. I told her about the time that Ty Lung went into the wilds for several months to train, and how he had challenged the entire dojo of Warriors to a fight on his return, defeating every single one of them in a kumite, except for Suki, the current leader, who managed to fight him to a draw.

For several weeks, Ty Lung fought with Suki, claiming that she was the final challenge he needed to surpass in order to "graduate" from the Warriors, that once he managed to defeat her, he would have no further reason to stay on the island.

I froze midway through my next sentence, once I remembered where the story was going, and who exactly I was telling the story to.

"So?" the girl asked. "Did he beat her? Did he leave the island?"

"Well..." I said, turning away with a cough. "I'm not sure if it's appropriate for me to say."

There was a short silence between us, before the girl suddenly let out a loud and frustrated groan, burying her face in her hands.

"He knocked the bitch up?!" the girl screamed, though the sound was heavily muffled by her hands.

I stayed silent, being too surprised by the girl's sudden anger and profanity to respond.

The girl breathed heavily into her hands for a few more seconds, before she suddenly stopped, raising lowering her hands and looking straight up at me with another smile on her face, like her outburst simply hadn't happened, and I'd imagined the whole thing.

"How much longer did we have until we get to Kyoshi Island, again?"

She asked the question in a sweet voice, but I suddenly found myself trying to calculate the chance of making it to the island without drowning if I chose to jump off my boat right now and swim the rest of the way.

"Yun? I asked you a question," the girl said, in a sing-songy voice that managed to send a shiver down my spine.

"About ten minutes, I think," I stammered, even if I wasn't sure why.

"Really?" the girl asked. "Are you sure?"

I hesitated, not wanting to disappoint her, but not wanting to lie to her either.

"Yes, ma'am. I think so," I said.

"Ma'am?" the girl asked, laughing a little. "I'm a little too young for that, don't you think?"

"Sorry, miss" I said.

"No, don't be," she replied, standing up suddenly. "People usually don't call me ma'am, but I like it."

I couldn't help but notice that even with how fast she moved, the boat barely rocked at all.

"Yes ma'am," I said.

The girl giggled again, and jumped suddenly. Though a small part of me hoped that she would jump off my boat and leave me, she landed gingerly on the very edge of my boat and walked along it confidently, treating the inch-wide strip of wood like it was a stable ground.

"Tell me, Yun," she said, as she casually flipped forwards into a handstand, all without rocking the boat. "Have you been lying to me?"

I suddenly thought of the stories that my dad had told me at night when I was a kid, about the spirit demons that would steal the souls of bad children, until my mom scolded him and blamed him for my various bed-wetting accidents.

"No, ma'am," I said, even if I had no idea what she was talking about. "Not at all."

"Oh really?" she asked, flipping forwards into a tumble, somehow landing right on my lap and splaying her body over mine. "So you haven't been rowing slowly on purpose, just to spend a little bit more time with little ole me?"

I suddenly felt my body growing hot with confusion, as my overwhelming fear was suddenly assaulted with the sweet scent of what was undoubtedly a woman flooding my senses. But still, my fear held a slight edge.

"No, ma'am," I stammered. "I swear I haven't been lying to you at all, ma'am."

The girl sighed, and poked my nose gently with her finger, before standing up suddenly.

"Boop," she said, about a second too late.

I wanted to clutch at my heart, but I didn't want to stop rowing either, both to avoid getting accused of lying again, and because I wanted to get to the island as soon as possible, so I could run the hell away from whoever or whatever was on my boat.

"Well," the girl said, with a sigh. "That's a shame."

I wanted to know what she was talking about, but I didn't want to speak up and draw her attention back to me either.

"You know, I thought that getting an early start would mean that I would get to the island first," the girl said, with a childlike pout on her face as she looked into the distance, as if she could see something through the fog that surrounded us. "Azula didn't believe me, but I really thought that if I woke up an hour early, I'd get there an hour faster. I guess she was right though. She usually is."

I wanted to nod along, but as I followed along with her gaze, I suddenly realised that she was actually looking at something. A bright ball of light, floating through the fog like an ethereal spectre, shining its rays directly towards us.

I immediately paled at the sight of the spirit orb and dropped my oars to get on my knees. There was a loud splashing sound as my oars fell into the water, sinking to the depths of the sea, but I didn't care.

"Please don't eat me," I begged, with my forehead pressed against the floor of my boat. "I am but a humble son of a fishmonger with no ambition. My soul would not be very filling and I guarantee myself to be tasteless. It would not be worth your time or effort to even digest me. I beg of you, spirit. Please spare my life."

There was a short silence, before the spirit burst out laughing, falling flat on her back as she flailed around, almost looking like she was in pain as she clutched her stomach. Before I could dare to dream that I had somehow killed her by accident, she wiped the tears from her eyes and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"I like you, Yun," she said. "You're funny."

I said nothing, placing my forehead back down on the floor.

A few seconds passed, before I heard the spirit giggle and the sound of footsteps echoed out on the water, sounding too far away and too hollow to be a result of the spirit stepping on my boat.

Daring to hope, I raised my head to find myself alone on my boat.

Before I could celebrate, however, my eyes widened when I saw a wall of stone approaching my boat quickly, as a speed that would surely kill me.

I wasn't proud of the loud shriek I made as I covered my face, to at least shield me from the horror of my approaching death, even if I knew I could not protect myself from death itself, but my scream was cut off suddenly when a sudden force yanked me into the air from my stomach, knocking the wind out of me temporarily.

There was a horrifying sound of splintering wood, as the wall of stone crashed into my boat, and though I had no idea what was going on, I couldn't help but feel grateful at the fact that I was still alive. I wasn't sure if that sentiment survived when, with another yank from my stomach, I was pulled violently up into the air, and thrown onto a hard metal surface.

As I struggled to catch my breath, I could barely pay attention to what was being said around me.

"Why is there a random earth kingdom boy on my ship, Ty Lee?" a new voice asked.

"Oh, he's Yun," the spirit replied. "He's a fishmonger."

"I don't care who he is," the other voice sighed, clearly annoyed. "I'm asking you why he's on my ship."

"Oh," the spirit said, sounding a little sheepish. "Well, I liked the stories he told me and thought it would be a shame if he died. Don't kill him. Please?"

I still hadn't caught my breath fully, and my vision was still blurry from pain, but I managed to curl my body and push myself into a kneeling position, bowing down towards the general direction of the new voice.

"Please don't eat me," I repeated, as I pressed my forehead against what felt like cold stone. "I am but a humble son of a fishmonger with no ambition. My soul would not be very filling and I guarantee myself to be tasteless. It would not be worth your time or effort to even digest me. I beg of you, spirit. Please spare my life."

There was a short pause before the new spirit let out a single bark of a laugh.

"How pitiful," she said. "Very well. We can keep your pet alive as long as he doesn't make a mess of himself."

"Yay!"

A wave of relief washed over me, as no matter how demeaning the spirit's insults were, it seemed like she had no interest in wanting me dead.

"Thank you, noble spirit," I said. "Thank you so much."

The new spirit made a noise that sounded like more of a scoff than a laugh.

"Okay, I get it," she said. "Just shut up and don't be annoying, or I might change my mind."

I nodded, banging my head lightly with how I still had it pressed against the floor.

It made a hollow sound, like I was striking a sheet of metal.

Perhaps the sudden surge of relief I felt was enough to give me a false sense of courage, or maybe my curiosity was simply strong enough to overpower my fear momentarily, but I raised my head.

I felt my face pale once I realised that I was in no spirit's court, but rather on a warship surrounded by a horde of fire nation soldiers.

"Oh shit," I said, as my eyes darted around, finally landing on the girl from my boat, who waved at me.

"Don't worry too much about all this, Yun," Ty Lee said. "We'll drop you off on the island once we're finished with our business there."

Maybe if I was a braver man, I might've challenged her on what exactly that business was, but since I was definitely not, I simply nodded and looked back down at the floor, trying my best to stay silent and not give anyone a reason to change their minds. It took no time at all for the fire nation ship to approach the docks, with it going much faster than I had been rowing, having the means and the confidence to navigate through the water at a breakneck pace, its massive floodlight that I had mistaken for a spirit orb, cutting through the fog and illuminating the path in front of us.

When we arrived at the island docks, though I wasn't brave enough to move from my spot to peer over the edge, I let out a shaky sigh of relief when I heard an angry bark of a voice speak up. Though I didn't recognise the voice specifically, the confident and refined tone that the feminine voice spoke in made me assume that it was a Kyoshi Warrior.

"Kyoshi Island remains neutral in the war between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation," she said. "Turn your ship around. We have no quarrel with you."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't come here for a 'quarrel' then, isn't it?" the scary girl, Ty Lee's superior said, with a sneer that I could hear without even having to lift my head to see it. "I assure you, I have no intention of staying in this isolated nunnery for any longer than I need to. Once we finish what we came here to do, I'll take my ship and we'll be out of your proverbial hair."

"And why exactly have you come to this island?" the Kyoshi Warrior responded, clearly skeptical of the scary girl's claim. "And why would it require you to bring a warship, if you don't plan to fight?"

"Because it's my warship, and just because I don't expect to fight, doesn't mean I go anywhere without being prepared for one," the scary girl answered casually, as if answering a question about who had made the clothing she wore. "And I'm here because I'm doing a favour for my friend here. We've heard her brother lives here, and we're here to pick him up."

Bouncing over to the scary girl's side, Ty Lee leaned over the edge of the warship to give the Kyoshi Warrior a friendly wave.

"Hello!" she said.

Though I couldn't see the Kyoshi Warrior's expression from where I sat, I could imagine the look of confusion she might've had on her face.

"Hello," the Warrior said. "And who is your brother?"

"His name's Ty Lung!" Ty Lee said. "Do you know him?"

There was a long silence before the Kyoshi Warrior responded.

"I have," she said, stiffly.

"Great!" Ty Lee responded. "Do you know where he is? I haven't talked to him in a while and I'd really like to catch up."

"He's likely at the Kyoshi Village," the Warrior responded.

"Oh, where's that? Could you lead me there?" Ty Lee asked.

"That won't be necessary. He'll be here in a few minutes."

"You guys work fast," Ty Lee said, a sense of genuine admiration clear in her voice. "I didn't even see you sending a message to him that I was here."

"Thank you," the Kyoshi Warrior said, accepting the compliment even if it was clear from her tone of voice that she still had her guard up. "But to be honest, I sent my message before I approached your ship."

"Then why did you call for Ty Lung, specifically?"

"I didn't know you wanted him," the Warrior admitted. "But your brother's a very predictable man. There is no chance he wouldn't be the one leading the charge to fight a group of Fire Nation soldiers attacking the island."

"But we're not attacking the island," Ty Lee said.

"Pardon me if I don't trust the word of Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and her friend, who arrived unannounced on a Fire Nation warship."

"Okay, that's fair," Ty Lee responded. "Do you know my brother well?"

"We are comrades in arms. Friends, I suppose."

"Did he talk about me?"

"I apologize. He did not."

"But you seem be accepting that he's my brother pretty quickly. Why's that?"

"Most of the Warriors have accepted that when it comes to living around Ty Lung, you simply need to accept his strangeness without thinking too hard on it, or you may go insane trying to figure him out. I had already known he was born in the Fire Nation, so the fact that he comes from Fire Nation royalty isn't too big of a stretch."

"Well that makes sense, I guess. You're a very polite person, you know that?"

"Thank you."

"What's your name?"

"Lan."

"That's a nice name. My name's Ty Lee."

"It's very nice to meet you, Ty Lee. I only wish it might have been under different circumstances."

"Why?" Ty Lee asked. "It's not like we're actually attacking you or anything."

"That remains to be seen," Lan replied. "But I do hope the day ends with no bloodshed."

And as if Lan had summoned it with her words of peace, a sharp crack echoed in the sky like a wardrum of irony. I looked up instinctively, wondering if I had somehow missed the flash of lightning as it bolted through the sky, but the only thing I saw was a vaguely human-shaped shadow flying towards the ship.

With a loud warcry, Ty Lung flew through the air like a vengeful spirit, landing on the deck of the ship with a heavy thud, though it was lighter than the force of his jump might've implied. In a panic at the sudden attack, a majority of the soldiers on the ship raised their hands, and fell down into low stances, but before anything could happen, Azula, the Fire Nation Princess, raised her hand.

Ty Lung, the Kyoshi Warrior, looked around, still in the low stance that he'd landed in, his shoulders tensed in anticipation and a wild grin on his face, but both the tension and the grin faded immediately once the soldiers around him lowered their hands.

"Hey," he said, glaring at Azula. "What gives. You want a fight or not?"

Azula said nothing, glancing sideways at the girl beside her instead.

"Ty Lung!" Ty Lee shouted, beaming at her brother and running at him with her arms wide open as she lunged forward towards him, with the clear intention of giving him a hug and nothing else.

Still, Ty Lung responded by grabbing his sister's face and using it as a fulcrum to flip her entire body over him.

Though Ty Lee squawked out in shock, once Ty Lung let her go to throw her over his shoulder, she managed to flip in the air, just barely landing on her feet.

Though Ty Lung blinked in surprise, only to grin ferally as he perceived what might be a good fight, the girl spun around and glared at him.

"Hey!" she shouted, placing both of her hands on her hips. "What's your problem?"

"Sorry, whoever you are," Ty Lung said. "The wife might get jealous if she gets word that I let some random woman hug me out of the blue. Though if you want to get physical in a different way, I'm always game."

Ty Lee blinked, and off on the side, Azula winced a second before Ty Lee's expression twisted into one of horror.

"Ty Lung!" she shouted, as her face seemed to struggling with deciding whether to turn white, red, or green. "That's disgusting!"

Ty Lung stared blankly at his sister, his fighting stance going slack as he narrowed his eyes at her, before he quirked up an eyebrow.

"Ty Lee?" he asked.

Ty Lee scowled at him. "Took you long enough."

Ty Lung's eyebrow rose even higher, before he scanned his sister quickly.

"You've grown," he said casually.

Ty Lee's face finally seemed to decide on a light shade of green, as she tried her best to cover up her body with her hands.

"I meant you got taller, idiot," Ty Lung said, rolling his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself."

Whether she believed him or not, the disgusted expression remained on her face, though the green hue in her cheeks did fade slightly.

"Oh, and to be clear, by 'getting physical' I meant in a duel. You really do have to read the context."

"You said it right after you mentioned your wife getting jealous," Ty Lee growled.

Ty Lung blinked a few times, before frowning. "Oh, I guess the context was a little dubious, huh?" he said. "That being said, you really shouldn't be thinking about your elder brother like that, Ty Lee."

"Shut up!" Ty Lee shouted, snarling angrily at him. "What kind of elder brother runs away from home and never even lets his family know that he's alive. The first time I hear about you in years, it's from a wanted poster!"

"Hey!" Ty Lung shouted. "I didn't run away. I left."

"What's the difference?!"

"When people run, it's usually because there's something they want to leave behind. I left because there was nothing for me in that old life of mine."

As disciplined as they were, even the fire nation solders simultaneously flinched, obviously wincing behind their masks at the distraught expression that appeared on Ty Lee's face, right before her entire face flushed with an angry red.

"What about me?!" she screamed.

Ty Lung blinked a few times before scratching his head. "Oh yeah. My bad."

Though it was clear that Ty Lee still had much more to say, Azula clapped her hands loudly.

"As entertaining as this family drama is, I have an appointment to keep in Ba Sing Se," she said, once she was confident that she had everyone's attention. "And while the impenetrable city isn't going anywhere any time soon, my time is more important than whatever familial issues than the two of you clearly and desperately need to work out."

Ty Lee's eyebrow quirked up at the comment, her anger almost being dispelled entirely by the comment, though she very clearly had to bite her own comment back. Ty Lung, on the other hand, wasn't ever one to stop himself from saying what was on his mind.

"Our familial issues?" he asked. "How's Prince Zuko doing?"

"Still a disgrace," Azula said, without batting an eye. "I'll have you know you don't matter enough to me for any insult you might fling my way to have any effect."

"It was worth a shot," Ty Lung said, with a shrug. "So is there any other way I can goad you into a fight? It's been a long time since I've faced a competent fire bender, and I'm eager to find out if there are any competent ones around."

"Maybe later," Azula said. "I'm sure we'll have many opportunities to kill each other while we're out at sea."

"And what exactly might you mean by that?" Ty Lung asked.

"It means you're leaving this island and travelling with us," Azula said, rolling her eyes. "Obviously. You know, I expected someone smarter when Ty Lee described you, but I suppose that was my mistake."

"It was a rhetorical question, Princess," Ty Lung replied. "I was giving you an opportunity to provide an explanation."

"I'm aware of what a rhetorical question is," Azula said. "I simply feel like it would be a waste of my breath to give you one."

"What Azula means," Ty Lee said. "Is that I asked her for her help to come find you, once I heard that you were here, in exchange for me leaving the circus to help her win the war. Though I'm starting to think it was a horrible deal for me."

"Which is something I already told you, Ty Lee," Azula said. "Honestly, I can't possibly fathom why you would want your brother back after he left. I know I wouldn't."

A heavy silence filled the air, to which Azula scoffed.

"What?" she said. "Like that's a surprise to any of you."

"Well, I hate to follow your lead," Ty Lung said. "But I don't think why either of you thought that I would leave my home to help a sister that I didn't care enough about to not leave her, just because you asked nicely. No offense."

"I hate you," Ty Lee responded.

"Oh, well I can see now that you're misunderstanding something, Ty Lung," Azula said, ignoring Ty Lee's comment completely. "We're not exactly asking nicely."

Immediately Ty Lung grinned, and raised his hands in a fighting stance. "Finally. What are your terms of engagement?"

"None," Azula said. "We won't be fighting."

Ty Lung frowned for a moment, but his smile reappeared quickly.

"That's what you think," he said. "If you don't want to play by your own rules, I suppose we'll just have to play by mine."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Azula said with a grin.

Ty Lung frowned, lowering his fists to his side.

"Explain," he said.

Azula shrugged, before putting her hands behind her back and walking slowly towards Ty Lung, seemingly defenseless but not looking worried at all despite it.

"I'll be honest," she said, walking up to Ty Lung until they were almost chest to chest, tilting her head backwards to look him in the eyes but somehow giving off the feeling that she was still looking down at him. "Usually I enjoy toying with my food, but I'll skip the coy act out of respect for the fact that you're my friend's older brother, and because you seem like the sort of man who wouldn't care for it in the first place. If you don't come with us, I'm going to use my influence to send wave after wave of Fire Nation soldiers to burn this entire island to the ground. Yes, I'm aware that it's a waste of resources that could otherwise go towards advancing the war effort. No, I don't care."

"And if I kill you where you stand?" Ty Lung asked.

"I've already made the order," Azula said. "It's just up to you whether I take it back or not."

"Bullshit," he replied.

"It's possible," Azula admitted, and didn't elaborate any further.

Ty Lung's eyes narrowed as he stared her down, but when her expression refused to change, he let out a small grunt of annoyance.

"Why devote so much effort into getting me on your ship?" he asked.

"I take it you wouldn't accept the idea that I'm simply doing this out of a desire to see my best friend reunited with her long lost brother?"

"Not a chance."

Though Ty Lee pouted at the sidelines, she didn't speak up.

"I didn't think so," Azula said. "Well, consider it a curiosity. Not many people have the gall to proclaim that they will become the strongest mortal being in the world, let alone one without the ability to bend. Contrary to my appearance, I have always been a fan of the more comedic plays."

"Well, get ready to laugh your ass off. You plan to have me join the war effort as well? You do know that I plan to end it by killing your father. I've made that bit of info very public."

"You have, and I'm sure he would be just as amused by your attempts as I would be. We don't give the cleaners enough work to do around the palace for how much they're paid anyways. Having to scrub your ashes from the floor might have them earn their keep for once."

"Sounds scary. But if I'm not ready to kill the Fire Lord, maybe I'll practise by killing his daughter first."

"You're welcome to try at any time," Azula said, with a shrug. "May I take that as a sign that you'll come along without a fuss?"

"I'll have you know that greater people have tried to keep me fuss-free," Ty Lung said. "But yeah, I'll tag along. Not like I have much of a choice, anyways."

"You always have a choice," Azula said, grinning and stepping back. "Though I'll warn you now that you made the only correct one."

"Ominous," Ty Lung said, before turning back and shouting off the boat. "Lan! I assume you heard all that?"

"Suki isn't going to be happy about this, Ty Lung," the Warrior shouted back from the docks.

"Well, she'll be alive, so she can suck it up," Ty Lung yelled back. "Tell her I'll be back before Ty Lung Jr. is born."

"She's pregnant again?!" both the Warrior and Ty Lee shouted simultaneously.

"Yup," Ty Lung yelled. "I'm not sure if she realises it herself, but I'm pretty sure."

"And we're getting back into familial drama once more," Azula said, shaking her head before clapping her hands twice. "Soldiers, set a course for Ba Sing Se. As fast as you can."

"She's going to be really pissed, Ty Lung!" the Warrior yelled once more, over the sound of the warship's engines firing up.

"I'm sure you girls are more than capable enough to deal with it!" Ty Lung shouted back as he waved.

"You're a bastard, Ty Lung!" the Warrior screamed.

"Oh, how I wish that were true," Ty Lung said, with a sigh.

"Oh, come on," Ty Lee said. "Dad's not that bad."

Ty Lung gave her a flat stare, and seemed to decide that the comment wasn't worth a response.

As Ty Lung got his bearings around the ship, having a quick tour given to him by a very confused Fire Nation captain, it took about ten minutes for him to stop in place, narrow his eyes and frown directly at me.

"Yun?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

I blinked a few times, suddenly realising that that was a very valid question. I don't know whether I had been too scared to speak up and was simply scared into a semi-conscious state, or if I had gotten too engrossed in the drama of the situation that I had forgotten that I wasn't just a passive audience member to a play, but Ty Lung's question made me realise the fact that I was still on the warship, despite it having left the island already.

"You know," I said blankly. "I'm not sure."

"Yun?" Ty Lee said, blinking a few times at me before giving me a sheepish smile. "I totally forgot to ask if we could drop you off! Why didn't you say anything?"

I stared at her, unable to give her an answer.

Ty Lung stared down at me for a few seconds, before sighing and turning to Azula.

"Hey Azula!" he shouted. "We have to turn back to the island!"

"Not five minutes on my ship and you're already giving orders?" she shouted back.

"We've got a stowaway," Ty Lung responded.

"Throw him overboard," Azula suggested.

"I'm not going to do that," Ty Lung said, to my relief.

"Well, we're certainly not turning back," Azula said, though she shrugged to herself after a moment of thought. "We'll drop by the mainland for a brief supply restock. He can leave there."

"I don't have a boat, though," I mumbled.

"He doesn't have a boat," Ty Lung repeated, somehow having caught what I had said, despite how quietly I had said it.

"Do I look like I ca-"

Before Azula could finish her sentence, the bloodcurdling scream of a banshee pierced the air. Though I wasn't sure if everyone felt the same shiver down their spines as I did, I couldn't help but every single person on the ship had turned to look back in the direction of Kyoshi Island, where the scream had come from.

"Oh yeah," Ty Lung said. "Shame we didn't have enough time for me to introduce you to her, but that's your sister-in-law. I'm sure the two of you would get along well."

Ty Lee gave no response, simply staring wide-eyed at the island as she visually struggled with comprehending how we were able to hear someone that was on an island so far away from us.

"Actually, mainland's fine," I said, not wanting to be anywhere near the bloodbath that might be taking place on Kyoshi Island at that moment. Maybe I'd go back home in a week or so. I'm sure dad and gramps would do fine at the shop without me for a little while.

 

[korzark]

Riding on the back of a sky cow, though comfortable, was incredibly boring. Once I got over the initial excitement of being so high in the sky, boredom set in pretty quickly once I realized that I wouldn't be able to go through my katas or train my chi manipulation without pissing off the sky cow, and while I wasn't too opposed to that idea, it felt cheap to annoy him when he was in a position where he couldn't fight back.

Thankfully, it only took me a few hours for me to think of a way that I could train without being obnoxious, and although it started to get stale after our first day of travelling, it still beat just sitting around and listening to Aang and Sokka playing I spy.

"You still hanging in there, Ty Lung?"

"Hah," Sokka said. "Nice one."

There was a brief moment of silence, where I could imagine Katara giving her brother a flat stare before I heard her talking again.

"You can come back up if you ever get tired," she said, ignoring her brother's comment entirely.

"I'm aware," I said. "I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure," I said.

"Come on, Katara," Sokka said. "The guy said that he's fine, so why bother him about it?"

"Yeah," Aang chimed in. "Besides, it's not like Appa would let anything bad happen to him."

The sky cow grumbled, as if to deny the claim.

Since it seemed like nobody was interested in talking directly to me anymore, I tensed my arms and started doing pull ups again, hanging from the sky cow's fingers a few hundred feet up in the air.

"I'm just worried," Katara said. "Maybe we should go closer to the water, just so he doesn't get too hurt if he falls."

"We need to stick to the clouds, Katara," Sokka said. "We're not sure if we've lost the Fire Nation's trail yet. Besides, you heard him. He knows he can just climb up whenever he wants."

"We're close to our next stop anyways," Aang said. "The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. I used to always go there with my friend Bumi."

The name tickled my memory, but being in the middle of a pull-up, I didn't want to lose focus and accidentally prove Katara's fears right. I tried my best to ignore Aang's description of the Earth Kingdom city, and focused on my exercises.

I wondered if there was anything in the city that I could buy to augment my exercise in any way. Though pull-ups were nice, I needed some variety, and though I entertained the idea of doing hanging crunches, I wasn't confident that the sky cow would want to keep a firm grip on my legs. Maybe I could buy some rope to tie myself to his legs, but while the Kyoshi Warriors had left us with an adequate amount of money for us to support ourselves on, I personally didn't have a single coin to my name and refused to mooch off another's coffers.

Though I immediately started to think of strategies to goad the local earthbender population into fighting me so I could take their money once I beat them, I grimaced when I realized that for once in my life, I was travelling with a group. While I didn't mind any sort of trouble that would come from a result of my own actions, I doubted that the rest of the group would be okay with it, and if I wanted to continue to tag along with them, I would have to play along.

Though I suppose they had never implicitly stated that I wasn't allowed to fight and rob anyone. I filed away the mental note to ask them, along with the older mental note I had to find a healer about my chest condition, but the new note took priority, since I needed money to visit a healer in the first place.

I wondered for a moment, whether it was okay for me to be doing such intense exercise when I was apparently prone to random chest pains, but I felt in top shape. I was in the middle of a set of leg raises, before I felt the sky cow start to descend.

"Ty Lung, we're going to land now," Katara called from over the side. "Can you climb up so Appa can land without crushing you?"

I grunted in affirmation, too tired to care about forming proper words, and pulled myself up. The sky cow let out grunts of annoyance as I yanked at his fur to climb onto his back, but I knew he could handle it.

"Geez, you're soaked," Sokka said.

"I'm aware," I panted out, before using my hands to wipe the sweat off my face as best as I could. Katara held out a small rag for me, and I mumbled a thanks before using it to wipe the rest of my body down as best as I could.

Katara blushed and averted her eyes from me, hiding them behind her hand, while Sokka gave me an unimpressed stare. Aang didn't seem to notice, as he guided Appa through the sky, searching for somewhere that we could land without being seen.

"So are you planning to put on your clothes anytime soon, or do you just plan to walk into a city completely naked?" Sokka asked.

I was still wearing a loincloth, but I didn't feel the need to be unnecessarily pedantic.

"I think I'd be turned away at the gates if I tried," I said, with a shrug. "I'll put on my clothes once I dry off a bit. I don't want them to get any dirtier than I need to. Actually washing my clothes is a pretty novel experience for me, and I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it."

"You've never washed your clothes before?" Sokka asked, his face curling into an expression of shock.

From his reaction, I could only assume that he thought I meant that I'd never worn clean clothes before.

"The servants always washed my clothes for me when I was younger," I said, with a shrug. "And in recent years, I never bothered to wash my clothes properly. I just dunked them in the river whenever I had the opportunity to wash myself, but didn't actually put any care into maintaining them."

"Servants?" Sokka asked, dumbfounded as if he'd never heard the word before.

"Paid help," I clarified.

"I know what servants are," Sokka said, he opened his mouth, as if to continue, but he turned away with a huff.

I don't know why he didn't ask the obvious question but I didn't have any burning desire to share my history, so I let it remain unasked.

"I usually do the laundry for Sokka and Aang," Katara said, still keeping her eyes respectfully averted from me. "I don't mind if you want me to do yours too, if you don't mind."

"I don't," I said, even if I was surprised by the offer. "That would be very helpful. Thanks, Katara."

"Don't mention it," Katara said, glancing towards me to give me a smile, but looking away again when she saw that I was still wiping my abs of sweat. "It helps me practise my waterbending anyways."

"I didn't know you were a waterbender," I said.

"Really?" Katara asked. "I could've sworn I mentioned it at some point."

"Nah," I said. "I would've remembered if you did."

Katara didn't seem too confident in my claim, but didn't seem to be invested enough to argue against it. "Well, now you know," she said. "Part of the reason why we're heading to the North Pole is actually because I want a waterbending teacher too, it's not just for Aang."

"I see," I said, curious about how strong Katara might be with this new information, though I wasn't too hopeful about the possibility of getting a good fight from her. Even though she was apparently a waterbender, she didn't seem too confident in her abilities, and after a quick scan of her thin body, I grew more confident in my assumptions. While I had underestimated Suki in a similar fashion, Suki's body had been muscular and tight at the very least, while Katara looked much too soft to be someone that was used to combat.

"Hey," Sokka said, breaking me out of my analysis. "You see something interesting there, pal?"

I turned to Sokka and was surprised to see him scowling at me, but before I answered him, I couldn't help but wonder if he was hiding any surprises as well. He certainly had the confidence of someone who thought they could fight, and just because he had been manhandled by Suki, didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't a decent fighter.

When I scanned his body, I was surprised to see that he sported more muscle definition than I had expected. While he didn't look overly muscular, he looked like he had spent a decent part of his life with a consistent training schedule. His body type was closer to Suki's than it was to mine, and though Suki's body had been more "tight" with clearer muscle definition that wasn't hidden behind extraneous fat, Sokka looked slightly bulkier than she had been, though I wasn't sure if that was due to his training, or simply because he was a man.

"Maybe," I said, answering Sokka's question after a short pause. "Do you have any hidden talents that you haven't revealed to me too?"

Sokka seemed flustered for some reason, but scowled at me when he finally processed my question.

"No," he grumbled, and turned away to stare out into the distance.

I waited for him to say anything, but when he didn't, I shrugged and finished wiping the sweat from my body. With the rag being soaked completely, I walked over to the edge of the saddle and wrung it out, leaning far enough over the edge that it wouldn't hit the sky cow.

It took a few more minutes for Aang to find a suitable spot to land that wasn't too far away from the city, but far enough that we wouldn't be spotted as we flew down. After I put on my clothes, and Katara gave me some string to tie my hair up in a ponytail so I wouldn't immediately be kicked out for looking like a bum, and fashioned a fake beard for Aang made of Appa's fur so he wouldn't be recognized as the avatar, we didn't have too much trouble making it past the gates of Omashu.

Though I had initially wanted to use the opportunity to try and find someone to diagnose my strange chest pains since we were in a big city, Aang's comment about how he wanted to ride the Omashu mail delivery systems one time, swearing that we would leave right after, made me assume that I wouldn't have the time to consult a healer, especially since I didn't have any money.

So I tagged along as Aang dragged us to a secluded spot near the top of the city, taking two delivery carts, since I was too big to fit comfortably in the same cart as the rest of the three, and raced down the city of Omashu.

I had to admit, it was a lot more fun than I expected. Though the ride had been smooth for the first three seconds, I quickly had to destroy the bottom of my cart so I could kick off the rails to hop over a shipment of poorly packaged spears that nearly impaled me, with Aang having to manipulate his cart with his airbending in similar fashion to avoid them. The four of us nearly died a couple more times as we flew down the rail system, and as I failed the last jump, sending my cart crashing into the side of a building, and me flying onto the ground in a bruise and battered heap, I couldn't help but understand Aang's obsession for riding things a little more.

Though Aang's cart had crashed in a similar manner to mine, they managed to break their fall with a cart of cabbages rather than the stone wall of an Earthbender-made building, and were able to hobble over to me to check if I was okay.

When I sat up to reassure them that I hadn't broken anything, my eyes narrowed when I noticed a large group of guards surrounding us.

To my disappointment, my travel companions were quick to surrender, and not wanting to create a rift between us so early, I dutifully let myself be escorted along with them.

We were eventually led to the King of Omashu, and when I saw King Bumi narrowing his eyes at Aang a sudden bolt of clarity hit me. Though Bumi wasn't an entirely uncommon Earthbender name, I hadn't made the connection between the Bumi in Aang's stories, and King Bumi of Omashu until now. As if he read my thoughts, King Bumi's eyes suddenly darted to mine, widening for some reason before he coughed violently into his fist.

"Umm, are you okay, sir?" Katara asked.

"Oh, I assure you I'm quite fine, young lady," Bumi said, pounding his chest and clearing his throat, though he kept his eyes locked on mine. "Anyways, what were you saying again, Captain Oro?" he asked, as he picked at his ear.

I didn't understand why Bumi insisted on acting like an infirm old man when he was one of the most feared men in the Fire Nation's military, and from the confused expression on the guards' faces, they didn't seem to understand what their king was doing either, but they seemed to roll with it pretty easily.

"Your majesty," one of the guards said. "These juveniles were arrested for vandalism, travelling under false pretences, and malicious destruction of cabbages."

"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage they destroyed!"

Even if Aang's cart had destroyed a cabbage cart, I didn't quite understand why this cabbage merchant was here, and from the way that the guards barked at him to shut up, I don't think they knew either. Regardless, he was quickly ignored as Bumi continued to glare at me.

"Throw them," he said, pausing for dramatic effect. "A feast!"

Though Sokka immediately seemed enthused by the idea, Aang and Katara reacted to the idea with a little more suspicion.

"I'm confused," Aang whispered.

"Yeah, me too," Katara said. "I thought we'd get in trouble for sure. Why do you think he's treating us to a feast?"

"I'm not sure," Aang said. "Maybe he's crazy? He seems a little crazy."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I might be assuming wrong, but isn't King B-"

Bumi let out another loud hacking cough, sending out a spray of spittle so violent that it almost reached where we were standing. Aang and Katara recoiled in disgust, completely forgetting that I was about to say something, but I paid no attention to them, raising an eyebrow towards Bumi instead. He glared at me for a split second, before his eyes softened as he gave me a genial smile.

"Excuse me, young man," he said to me. "You look like you have a good sense of fashion. Would you be able to give me an opinion on my outfit?"

As Aang and Katara recoiled further, muttering something about insane ramblings. I stared at Bumi for a moment before shrugging.

"Well-"

"Oh no, not so publicly," Bumi said, quickly interrupting me. "I'm rather shy, you see. Why don't you come whisper it into my ear?"

I shrugged and walked up towards him, but rather than waiting for me on his throne, he stood up and wandered away, muttering something under his breath as he motioned for me to follow him through a small door to the side of the throne room.

Once I closed the door behind me, Bumi quickly stomped down and raised his fist, summoning a thick slab of stone to block the door.

"Ah, there," he said, with a wide smile. "Can't risk my old friend overhearing us and ruining the surprise."

"So you are Aang's friend," I said.

"I am," Bumi said, nodding excitedly. "And so are you, it seems. A strange one, too. I've never met a male Kyoshi Warrior before. Aren't you too young to leave your island?"

"Honorary Kyoshi Warrior," I said, patting my robes.

"Stranger, yet," Bumi said, with a hacking laugh. "So, what'll it be, Kyoshi-boy? Will you keep my little prank under wraps until I can punish my old friend for leaving me for a hundred years without even a goodbye?"

While I didn't really care either way, I narrowed my eyes and smiled, not willing to let go of the opportunity to have the strongest earthbender in the world owe me something.

"What's in it for me?"

Bumi grinned, exposing his crooked teeth. "The opportunity for the act of charity to warm up your cold little warrior heart?" he asked.

"Not likely, old timer," I said, grinning back. "If you're going to ask me to let you pull off a prank a hundred years in the making, you'll have to offer something better than that."

"Well what do you want, then?" Bumi asked, tilting his head and cackling. "I am the King of Omashu, you know. There isn't much I can't offer."

"I want you to teach me something," I said immediately, before I could even think about the question.

Bumi's eyebrows arched upwards, as his grin fell into a look of surprise.

"Really?" he asked. "I expected you to ask for a fight."

"Yeah, me too," I said, with some surprise in my own voice.

"So what about it, then?" Bumi asked. "I was hoping to get a warm-up before I beat the crap out of my old friend. Offer still stands if you want me to beat you up too."

"As exciting as that sounds, I'll still have to say no," I said, not entirely sure of what was coming out of my mouth before I said it. "I'm on a journey to becoming the strongest being in the mortal realm. Maybe if I'd met you a few weeks ago, I might've thought that fighting you would help me achieve that, but recently I've met a few good teachers that helped me grow more in a few days of training than I did in a few years of constant fighting. I thought that maybe you could help me do the same."

Though I hadn't been confident in my answer when I first spoke, I slowly started to realise that everything I said had been true. Suki, the old lady, and Iroh had all taught me to be stronger, and though Suki and Iroh had definitely destroyed me in my fights with them, that hadn't been the main reason for my growth.

I looked up at Bumi to see him giving me a gentle smile, but I almost flinched back at how quickly it morphed into a malicious grin.

"So you want me to teach you something, eh?" he asked.

"Maybe," I said, suddenly feeling a lot less confident about my answer. "Can I change my mind?"

"Nope!" Bumi said, with a cackle. "I already gave you one chance. No take-backsies."

"Yes take-backsies," I said, raising my fist with the obvious intent to start a fight whether he wanted one or not.

Bumi raised an eyebrow at the sight and cackled.

"No," Bumi said, clapping his hands together.

My eyes widened and I leaned back to dodge the pillar of stone that shot directly towards my head. Spinning to the side, I regained my footing and focused a burst of chi into my feet to lunge towards Bumi, but he simply grinned at me, waving before he stomped his feet and a wall of stone rose in front of me, blocking me off completely. I tried to back up, to give me enough space to try to kick the stone wall down, but the wall behind me closed in quickly. With no way to dodge in the narrow hallway, I found myself enclosed in a tomb of stone, engulfing me in complete darkness. Though I had no way to see it, I felt gravity take hold and the stone tomb I was encased in plunged deep into the earth as Bumi's laughter echoed around me.

"Lesson one!" he cackled. "Old people can be absolute bastards!"

I screamed incoherently in rage as I plunged deeper into the earth, but before I could tell Bumi about how I intended to tear off his head and shit on his corpse, I found myself being spit out of the earth, landing hard on my back.

Once I took a moment to wheeze out in pain and catch my breath, I sat up and shouted at the ceiling.

"I changed my mind, you old fuck!" I shouted. "I'll fucking kill you!"

I heard Bumi's cackle echo around the caves, so I knew the old bastard could hear me somehow, but I didn't shout any further, knowing that it would just waste any energy that I could put toward killing him instead. I looked around, at where Bumi had deposited me.

I was in a large cavern, and though the entirety of it was lit up with the dull glow of glowing purple rocks that lined the floors, it wasn't bright enough for me to see where the cavern started and ended, or how tall it was. I scanned the area, looking for any hint of how I could leave this place, when I saw a spot of green light, shining out against the purple glow that covered the rest of the room.

My rage dropped for a moment as it was quickly replaced with confusion at what I saw. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes, before I glared at the words that were written out with glowing green crystals that were embedded in the walls.

"I'm sorry about your pudding. I figure this will give me enough of a headstart before you come and rip my head off."

Below that message, there was a large hole in the wall, and below it, a bunch of shattered crystals that had been ground down so fine that it was almost dust. From the few crystals that were still attached to the wall, I assumed that whoever Bumi had trapped down here had been annoyed enough at him that they felt the need to crush his signature to dust. With a few remnants of his name still visible, I decided to finish the job that my predecessor had started, and kicked at the remainder of Bumi's name that was still attached to the wall. It took several solid chi-empowered kicks to erase any hint of Bumi's name, but without the old man himself to strangle, it filled the void in my heart at least temporarily.

The only thing that I learned from Bumi's old message, was that he expected his previous prisoner to be able to escape this place eventually, if his mention of a head start was to be believed and the air tasted too fresh to be completely cut off from the outside world. I looked around for any hint of an exit, and narrowed my eyes when I saw the barest hint of pale white light coming out from the ceiling.

There was a slight pinprick of light, and I couldn't tell if the opening that it came from was small, or if it was just far away. With there being too little information about whether that was the actual exit or not, I wandered around the cavern looking for any more hints of where I should go.

It only took me about ten minutes of wandering for me to find my next hint. Though I had missed it on my first walk around the edges of the cavern, there was a spot on the wall that had a series of small holes leading up towards the ceiling like a series of hand and footholds. They seemed entirely too rough to be intentionally designed, and the similarity to the hole that had been punched out of Bumi's name made me think my predecessor had been the one to make them, but I pushed the idea aside, not finding the small detail too important for my escape.

With no other leads to follow, I put my hands inside the holes and used them to climb.

It didn't take me long to reach a height where I had gotten high enough to see that the hole in the ceiling more clearly, and recognize that it was big enough that I would be able to climb through it if I got to it. There was still the problem that the hole was located in the centre of the ceiling, while I was climbing on the walls, far away from it, but as I climbed higher, I quickly realised that the entire cavern was shaped like a dome. I reached a point where the holes in the wall weren't deep enough for me to find purchase at the steeper angles that I started to climb at, and I lost my grip.

I managed to land on my feet, rolling to reduce the impact against the stone floor, and went back to attempt a second climb.

After trying and failing to climb three more times, I wondered if my failures had been due to the fact that I was using my predecessor's climbing holes. While they were useful for the initial climb, it seemed that my predecessor had been a smaller person than I was, and the relatively short distance between each foothold made it awkward for me to climb on them, especially when the cavern started to slope inwards.

Standing at the base of my predecessor's climbing holds, I kicked a few footholds for myself, with a few chi-empowered kicks, but quickly realized that I would need to use my fists to make more handholds for myself, unless I intended to climb the entire wall while I was upside down.

Rather than punching the wall immediately, I took some time to try and empower my punches with chi, punching the air experimentally as I let my chi flow through me, trying to get comfortable with the way it flowed through my body, and focused it in my hands as I thrusted them forwards. I don't know how long I repeated the motions in my own improvised kata, but when I felt confident enough, I moved on to the wall.

My first punches against the wall didn't do enough damage to crack them, but I had empowered them with enough chi that I didn't immediately break my bones upon impact. I tried a few more times, and once I gained enough confidence in my punches to know that even if I cut my skin and bruised my flesh, that my bones wouldn't break, I punched harder and harder until finally, I punched a hole in the wall, with a sharp cracking sound that echoed throughout the entire cavern.

I grinned at my success, but didn't waste any time in making more climbing holds for myself. It was slow work, but I eventually got to the point where I'd been consistently falling, but with more secure climbing holds for myself, I managed to stay on, even if I had to strain my entire body to stay hanging.

It didn't take long after that for my path up the wall to go flat, until I was hanging upside down completely. I lost my grip a few times as I punched more handholds into the ceiling, breaking them at a slant so I could afford more purchase for myself. I fell a few more times during the process, but persisted in my attempts to create a path towards the hole in the ceiling.

I had managed to create a series of climbing holds that led me towards the hole, and was only a few more feet away from being able to reach it, but as I climbed up from the bottom of the wall once more, I noticed something strange.

After learning that I could simply forge my own set of climbing holds, I had mostly ignored the path that my predecessor had carved out of the rock wall before me, but I managed to notice out of the corner of my eye, that after I got past a certain point in the wall my predecessor's path simply stopped short.

I frowned at the strange sight and stopped in my climb to inspect it further. As I hung down, I gauged the distance between the last of my predecessor's climbing holds and the hole in the ceiling, wondering if they had simply jumped across the remainder of the distance, but I quickly dismissed the idea. It was too far, and the jump would need to be made at an awkward angle.

I toyed with the idea that maybe my predecessor hadn't actually made it out of this hole on their own power, and either had to wait to be rescued by someone else, or they had simply died down here, but I had trouble believing my own theory. I couldn't help but think that they had found some other method of climbing out of this cavern, either out of necessity or because they had discovered a better method than punching holes in the wall at some point.

I stared at the last of my footholds, and acknowledged that if they had used some other method out of necessity, the same requirement probably didn't apply to me. I knew for certain that I could just punch about eight more footholds and climb out of the cavern.

I frowned and I hopped down. Though I knew that it was possible for me to just leave and beat Bumi's decrepit ass for what he did to me, I had a new foe now, in the shape of a mystery that had been left behind by an unknown predecesor of mine. I didn't want to leave now and give up the fight with my conceptual foe without even trying to solve it, so I sat on the floor and stared up at the wall.

After a moment of thought, I stood up and started to walk around, wondering if the sudden stop on my predecessor's path had just been a red herring, that maybe they discovered an entirely different way to escape, or if they simply restarted for some unknown reason, and that there was another set of completed climbing holds somewhere else along the wall. I stood up, and aside from a few spots on the floor where it seemed like my predecessor had stomped against the floor in frustration, creating small spiderwebs of cracks around the area that they had been climbing in, I didn't find any hints that my predecessor had even explored the rest of the cavern at all.

I frowned, but didn't give up on the idea that the climbing holds were a red herring of sorts. I smacked my legs and wondered if the solution to this whole puzzle was just an application of my chi manipulation that I'd been using ever since I learned about it.

Smacking my legs to wake them up, I summoned as much power as I could, before launching myself into the air with a chi-empowered jump.

Though I had already used my chi to maneuver around the battlefield during my fights with Iroh, Zuko, and the fire nation soldiers, I had never used it to jump vertically during those fights, and was surprised by how high I managed to launch myself into the air, but regardless of how impressive my jump had been, I was still nowhere close to reaching the top of the cavern, barely reaching a third of the way to the top. I frowned as I landed, wondering how much chi I could pour into my legs before my body couldn't take it, but I couldn't help but think that this wasn't the way that my predecessor had done it. Looking down, I noticed that I had created a tiny crack in the ground with my jump, and could only imagine that a chi-empowered jump powerful enough to reach the top of the cavern would leave a gaping hole in the ground that would be impossible to miss.

So I thought some more. I still couldn't abandon the idea that the climbing holds were a red herring though, so I inspected the wall, wondering if there was any possibility that my predecessor had used speed to run up the wall. I'd seen Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors running up small trees before, so the idea wasn't too ridiculous, but this cavern was much higher than the trees on Kyoshi Island, and was sloped inwards.

Still, I didn't want to discard the idea without at least trying it.

Walking away from the wall, I waited until I managed to get a respectable distance to build up speed and sprinted full force at the wall.

Though my run up the wall wasn't as graceful as Suki's had been, I managed to get a similar distance that she might have, before my feet started to leave the wall, but again, it wasn't nearly enough. I frowned as I kicked off the wall and flipped around so I wouldn't land directly on my back, and when I landed, I decided I couldn't have made it much higher than I had gotten with my jump.

I looked up at the wall, as if it would tell me what I was missing, but it stayed silent no matter how long I stared at it.

I ended up trying a few more things, like trying my previously dismissed ideas of launching myself from the same height that the last of my predecessor's climbing holds ended at, and even climbing up the wall backwards, using my feet to kick out new climbing holds instead of my hands.

Nothing seemed to work as I launched myself at the wall over and over, and eventually, after one particularly bad fall where I had been to tired to right myself, I ended up falling on the floor from a significant height, directly on my back.

I coughed violently as I landed, feeling the wind getting knocked out of me, and realized that I had tired myself out to the point where I wasn't sure if I could escape the hole even if I wanted to use my method, not knowing if I actually had the strength left to punch any more holes in the walls.

I stared up at the hole in the ceiling as it taunted me with its light, but even though I was panting with exertion, I was surprised by how little frustration I felt. While I might have been more upset to lose to another mortal being, it felt a lot less damaging to my ego to lose to a cavern, as strange as it was. As I laid down on the smooth stone floor, I wondered if it wouldn't be so bad to simply stay there and accept that I had been defeated by the earth itself, swallowed up to be slowly digested in its inanimate stomach. How could I win against the earth, after all?

I frowned and shook my head, trying to shake myself free of the exhaustion that had come over me, but I failed to summon the strength to sit up. I stayed there laying on the floor, detesting my previous thoughts.

How could I win against the earth?

I asked myself the same question once more, but this time I tried to think of an actual answer, instead of accepting my defeat to easily. My thoughts were muddled from exhaustion, and I wasn't sure how long it took me to even begin trying to think of an answer, but I wasn't very happy when I eventually did think of an answer.

Earthbend.

I scowled at the idea, hating the idea that I could covet an ability that I didn't have. Even if it was an impossibility for me to earthbend in the first place, I felt a wave of distaste at the very idea that I would use the ability even if I spontaneously developed it. Even if I recognised how strong earthbending was as an ability, an easy feat since the cavern I was lying in was something that an earthbender had created in the first place, I couldn't imagine myself using it, and when I did, the image of an earthbending Ty Lung felt wrong, and somehow weaker than who I was now.

No. I would never covet an earthbender's ability.

But no matter how much I tried to ignore the thought, I simply couldn't shake it from my mind.

How did earthbending even work? How did earthbenders, mere mortal beings, shape the earth that formed the world itself. Every living being was born on the earth, fueled by the earth, and died in the earth, and yet, a handful of the humans that inhabited it were so arrogant as to suggest that they could control it?

I frowned, wondering if that was really the case. I wondered for a moment, whether earthbenders were simply a superior breed of humanity before I dismissed the thought. Ultimately, it didn't matter whether earthbenders were superior or not, since I knew I stood above them on the peak regardless, but I still had to wonder how they could possibly claim to control the earth.

But they didn't actually claim that, did they? They were earthbenders, not earthcontrollers.

A small part of me told me that the minor difference was negligible, that they meant the same thing, but the thought buried itself deep into my head, refusing to let me go. I had to wonder why, and for a long time, I came up with nothing until I thought of the badger moles, the original earthbenders.

Theirs was the purest form of earthbending, and yet, it was difficult to think that they had complete mastery over the earth that they lived in. If anything, it could be said that the earth controlled them, rather than the other way around. They lived deep in the depths of the earth, and it was questionable as to whether they needed to come to the surface at all. They ate, drank, slept, and bred deep underground, apparently traveling through the earth so fast that it would be more accurate to say that the swam through the earth, rather than dug.

Earth was a backdrop to life, not just for the badger moles, but for every living thing in the mortal realm. In that case, wouldn't living be considered earthbending, in a sense?

I felt my entire body relaxing as I stared up at the cavern that I was in, wondering how much of my thoughts were being influenced by exhaustive delirium or if I was actually crazy like so many people believed I was, and considering whether the answer to that question actually mattered or not.

"I am Ty Lung," I said.

My voice echoed back, as if the cavern itself was speaking to me.

"I am Ty Lung," it said.

And I couldn't help but wonder if it actually was. I let my chi, my life force flow through me, and whether it was due to my exhaustion or something else, I found it suddenly difficult to control where it went. My chi flowed loosely, expanding out from my bones, to my muscles, to my skin, to the stone that I rested on, flowing like blood through my body and outside of it. I had trouble deciding where my sense of self started and ended. I knew for sure that my body was a part of me, but I couldn't help but think of the earth as being a part of me too.

I don't know how long I stayed there for, letting my chi circulate between me and the ground, but I didn't find myself wanting to rush. The earth wasn't going anywhere, and neither was I.

I stood up when I was ready, and walked towards the wall. I placed my foot on it, and felt my chi circulating through the smooth surface of the wall. I stepped up onto the wall, and walked up it because why would I fall from it? It was a part of me.

I walked up the wall, ignoring the climbing holds I'd made previously and casually climbed up out of the hole. I found myself crawling out of what looked suspiciously like a repurposed latrine. I tried not to think about it as I glanced at the crystal writing on the wall.

"It took you long enough that I managed to buy some replacement pudding for you. Hope this makes us even!"

I glanced down to see a fresh pudding cup placed on the floor, but from how the floor below it was completely pulverized, I had to assume that my predecessor hadn't accepted the their peace offering so easily when they had climbed out of the hole.

Glancing to the side, I saw another message written on a different wall.

"Lesson #2. Don't steal food."

The sight of food made me realize how long it had been since I'd last eaten, and though pudding was hardly a meal, I wasn't about to turn down the offering of a sugary snack to replenish at least some of my energy. I upended the pudding into my mouth, and threw the hopefully expensive cup into the not-latrine, savouring the sound of it shattering against the stone, before stomping off to find Bumi.

Though the palace layout was confusing, it took me a surprisingly short time for me to locate Bumi once I heard his obnoxiously loud cackling.

"Your final test is a duel!" Bumi shouted as I pushed open a door. "And as a special treat, you may choose your opponent."

"You bastard!" I shouted, as I burst into the room. "You throw me in a fucking toilet, but offer duels to other people like they're fucking candy?!"

"Ty Lung!"

The sound of my name, being shouted by three familiar voices drew my attention towards my travel companions, two of whom were encased in shells of green crystal.

I stared at Katara and Sokka, who seemed as surprised by my arrival as I was of the situation that I had found them in. For some reason, whether it was tired delirium born from my lack of sleep and food or simply because I really hadn't expected either of the siblings to be encased in green crystal, I couldn't figure out what was going on until a gust of wind drew my attention to the boy standing in the center of the room.

"You said you didn't hurt him," Aang said, his voice straining as he struggled to hold back a shout.

Bumi glanced in my direction, and winced when he saw me, though it took me a bit of time to figure out why. Looking down to glance quickly at my hands, I remembered how badly I had bloodied them by punching holes into the walls, and had to wonder what the rest of me looked like. I was caked in a layer of dust, and my ponytail had come loose sometime during my struggle, and I scowled when I realized that I might've torn up my uniform in my failed attempts to climb the hole, but at the very least, I had an easy outlet to dump my anger into.

"Well, to be fair," Bumi said, giving Aang a nervous grin. "He pretty much did all that to himself."

"Don't lie to me!" Aang shouted.

While I might've been more interested in why Aang's tattoo was starting to glow with a dim blue light on a regular day, if I was being honest with myself, I couldn't find it in myself to care too much about the kid at the moment. With my vision growing red as I glared death towards my future victim of elder abuse, the wind that whipped around the room only served to blow sand into my open wounds.

"Stop it, Aang," I said. "He's telling the truth."

"What? Seriously?" Sokka asked from across the room.

I didn't bother to answer him.

"I choose you!" I said, pointing my finger towards Bumi. "Duel me!"

"Well," Bumi said, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "The offer wasn't really for you, I'm afraid."

"Then in that case, I choose you," Aang said, as he landed beside me. "And I choose Ty Lung to help me beat you up."

Bumi narrowed his eyes at Aang.

"I didn't say you could have someone help you," Bumi said, even if he didn't seem too upset by it.

"You didn't say I couldn't have someone to help me either," Aang said, wearing only half of the smug smile that I expected from him, apparently still in the process of staving off the anger that he'd felt on my behalf.

I glared down at the Avatar as he brandished his staff towards his old friend, and though the concept of fighting alongside someone else was a foreign one to me, one glance at Bumi's smug face was all it took to remind me that I was willing to go through any means necessary to cave his face in. But before we started, some things needed to be changed.

"Alright," I said, taking a low stance myself. "You wanted me to teach you life things, right Aang?"

"Yeah?" Aang said, taking his eyes off of Bumi way too easily for how dangerous I knew the old man was despite his hunched and wizened appearance. "Is this really the time for that, though?"

I didn't take my eyes off Bumi, knowing that the old man was the exact sort of bastard who would launch a sneak attack given the opportunity, not because he needed the advantage to win, but because he would think it was funny. Even so, in the corner of my vision, I could see Aang panicking, frantically glancing back at Katara as he made a discreet chopping motion over his neck.

I tried not to sigh at the kid's infatuation.

"Aang," I said, ignoring his panic as I kept my eyes locked on Bumi. "You asked me to teach you about life lessons, so let me tell you this one. Old people can be absolutely unfair bastards."

I couldn't help but smirk as I watched Bumi's own smug grin turn downwards, his brow furrowing as he seemed to struggle to remember why that sounded so familiar.

"Hey!" he shouted, throwing off his robe to reveal an impossibly muscular figure that he had been somehow hiding underneath it. "That was my lesson, you thief!"

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked.

With Aang still being too confused about the quick sequence of events that occurred, I felt the need to grab his collar and tug him along with me as I dodged to the side to avoid the massive pillar of earth that Bumi shot directly towards us. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he barely needed any dragging beyond the initial tug, and was quick to catch his footing to run alongside me.

"So he wasn't just some weak old man, I guess," Aang said with a nervous chuckle, as he just barely ducked under a rock aimed at his head. "How do we beat him?"

"Easy," I said confidently, regardless of how true it was or was not. "We kick his ass."

Aang immediately frowned. "That's not a plan, Ty Lung," he said.

"What do you need a plan for?" I asked, almost getting knocked out by a flying rock in my moment of confusion. "It's a fight."

Aang stared at me for a moment, an emotion looking something like regret flitting through his eyes, but with my relative unfamiliarity with the concept, it was difficult to tell for sure. But regardless, we didn't have much time for me to try and decipher it, with how Bumi was backing us into a corner with his flying rocks.

"You can't run forever, you little mosquitos!" Bumi cackled, as he tore a flat slab of rock from the floor beneath him, and sent it flying towards us.

Turning around, running towards the flying object instead of away, I hopped over it, kicking over the slab to clear it before I hit the ground in a dead sprint.

"Just follow my lead!" I shouted back to Aang, as I ran towards Bumi, weaving from side to side to dodge his attacks.

"What lead?" Aang shouted back, from somewhere high in the air it seemed, not that I had the time or leisure to check.

I had made too much distance for me to reach Bumi in a single burst, but even as I ducked and weaved through the barrage of rocks that Bumi sent towards me, I had the sense that he wasn't trying very hard to keep me away from him. Yawning into his hand, while he lazily sent a few rocks flying in my direction with another, he sighed and shook his head.

"You close-combat fighters are always so predictable," he said. "You know it's very easy to deal with someone who does that, if you can just keep them from combatting you close."

And with that, he reached down, sinking his fingers into the earth below him, with an ease that made it look like he was dipping his fingers into a pond, and heaved with a grunt of exertion, flipping an entire wall of earth up.

I couldn't help but think it felt a little similar to my fight with Prince Zuko, but unlike the Prince's wall of fire, there wasn't anything stopping me from just breaking through this one.

"Oh yeah?!" I shouted, barely hesitating in my step, as I empowered my legs with chi. Leaping up into the air, I kicked forward with both legs, crashing through the wall with a loud crash and landing right next to Bumi, who looked down at me with a look of mock concern on his face.

"Oh dearie me," he said. "It looks like you've made it past my wall, Kyoshi-boy. So what'll it be next?"

I answered him with a chi-empowered punch, aimed directly at his head.

Bumi grinned, and when he caught my punch in his palm, the impact was tougher than I expected. I heard the loud crack of what I assumed to be bones at first, and from the dull pain in my hand, my first assumption was that they were mine, but when I looked again through the small cloud of debris that had erupted from where my fist hit Bumi's palm, I saw that he had coated his entire arm in a gauntlet of earth while he had been hidden by his wall.

Despite the slight wince on Bumi's face, I hadn't caused nearly enough damage as I'd hoped. I tried to pull my fist away, but despite the spiderweb of cracks that bloomed out from the spot where he had caught my fist, I felt the stone shards of Bumi's gauntlet compressing around me, as Bumi's wince slowly turned into a grin.

"I caught you," he sang. "Didn't even need a flyswatter."

I responded by sending another chi-empowered punch towards his smug face with my free hand.

Another crack echoed in the air, as he caught my fist again.

"I would suggest-"

I didn't let him finish his sentence, as I sent another chi-empowered kick directly between his legs. Bumi's eyes widened, but though I could see him wincing slightly, when I didn't see nearly enough pain as I had wanted, I looked down to see my leg trapped in what looked vaguely like a jockstrap made of earth.

"I'm impressed you had the foresight for that," I said.

"I'm not!" Bumi shouted. "What's wrong with you, boy?!"

I shrugged in response, not wanting to dedicate the time that might be necessary to answer that question in full.

"Heads up!"

I looked up to see Aang diving down towards us from the air, and Bumi's eyes widened before letting me go and jumping back as Aang swung his staff down in the spot where the king had just been in.

"Hey! Watch it with that, Aang!" Bumi shouted, with a bit too much familiarity for someone who was trying to keep his identity a secret.

"Huh?" Aang said, lowering his staff slightly. "We're in the middle of a fight, aren't we?"

I didn't give Bumi the chance to respond, as I dashed forward to make up the slight distance he'd made. With his eyes widening, he dug his fingers into the floor, flipping up the entire floor that Aang and I were standing on. Though Aang let out a yelp of surprise and launched himself backwards to avoid being crushed underneath the stone slab, I continued onwards, running up the surface of the now vertical stone until I climbed over the lip and ran down the other side, empowering my body with chi to stick to the wall and run faster than gravity could take me.

Lifting his hands into the air, Bumi grabbed chunks of rock with his earthbending and wrapped them around his limbs and his crotch haphazardly, just in time for me to land in front of him again.

"Please don't try it again," Bumi asked.

"If I feel like it," I said, right before lunging at him with both hands.

Bumi caught both my hands, like he had before, but despite how warily he watched my feet, I had no intention of kicking him this time. Digging my feet into the earth, I pushed my palms deeper into Bumi's, grabbing his hands and tried to wrench them downwards, to send him to the floor.

"A contest of strength?" Bumi asked, once he realised what I was trying to do.

"Something like that," I said, right before I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Closing my eyes was not something I usually did in the middle of a fight, assuming I wanted to win it, which I always did. Even if it was only for an instant, I knew that giving an opportunity like this to a seasoned fighter like Bumi would lead to my immediate loss, but I could tell that, like with Iroh, Bumi wasn't interested in besting me in combat.

We weren't even fighting in the first place. I had asked him to teach me something, and he was just obliging.

In most cases, I would call this a lose-lose situation. Bumi wanted to teach me something and I knew that he would consider it his win if I came out of our engagement as a stronger person, but unfortunately, while I might achieve a petty "victory" either by simply refusing to learn anything, I knew that in my heart I would consider it a loss as well.

But I wasn't about to give up my victory so easily. Every single time I requested a duel with someone, it was on their terms, and that wasn't because I wanted to give myself an excuse to fall back on if I lost, but because I wanted to give myself a challenge to surmount.

Thankfully, the solution to this particular problem wasn't particularly difficult. If both of us would lose by failing to learn anything, and Bumi would win if I successfully learned what he wanted to teach, my win condition was obvious.

I would surpass his lessons, and learn something that he hadn't intended to teach.

Taking another deep breath, I let my chi circulate within me, letting it circulate through my bones, my muscles, to the floor beneath my feet and the earth in my hands, for they were a part of me. Unlike my chi-empowered strikes, where I had learned to expel it in large bursts, I kept my chi contained, rising, but refusing to let it boil over, keeping the fire within my body, hot and fierce.

Strengthening myself with my chi-empowered body, with my eyes still closed, I pressed down on Bumi's hands, pushing him down with the very strength of the world. He may have been an earthbender, but once more, I was the earth.

Bumi strained against me, just as I strained against him, but despite the power in my newfound technique, the old man proved to be resilient in the strength that he had cultivated over a century. He may have been holding back, in both his strength and technique, and I knew that if we were in a straight combat, he would likely best me, but when I opened my eyes to see his level with mine, wide in shock, I knew I had won this bout as the student to his teachings.

"Aang!" I shouted.

From the gust of ambient wind pushing against my back, I realised that I hadn't needed to call for him in the first place, with him already in motion. Landing beside us, with Bumi to incapacitated to react, Aang stuck his staff directly underneath Bumi's chin.

"Nice job, Ty Lung," Aang said. "You really are strong, huh?"

"The strongest in the mortal realm," I grunted, as Bumi continued to strain against me. "But the fight's not over Aang. Kick him in the dick."

Bumi's eyes widened, and before Aang had the time to decide if he wanted to follow my advice or not, I felt my grip around Bumi's hands grow slack as the old king sunk into the floor and reemerged halfway across the stadium.

"He got away!" Aang said, raising his staff, but lowering it once Bumi raised his hands in surrender.

"Well done, Avatar," Bumi said, though he still kept his distance and stood with his thighs squeezed awkwardly close together in anticipation of a sudden attack. "You do well to remember that while it is your destiny to bring balance to this world, you always have allies to aid you on your way. You've passed all my tests, and now you must answer one final question."

"That's not fair! You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests," Aang shouted.

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?" Bumi asked.

"Oh come on!" Sokka screamed from across the room.

Aang frowned as he looked back to see his friends almost completely encased in the green crystal that had been growing around them, but I could only sigh at Bumi's empty threat.

"Aang, there's an easy solution to all of this," I said, shaking my head. "Just threaten to kick him in the dick if he's annoying you."

"Do NOT," Bumi shouted, still a fair distance away from us. "There's no need for that now. It's just one simple question, really. What's my name?"

Though Bumi eyed me carefully, as if afraid that I would spoil the answer for Aang, but I wasn't petty nor cruel enough to stop Bumi from teaching something to Aang right after I had gotten my own lesson. I rolled my eyes and let myself fall to the floor, laying down with my hands behind my head.

"I'm taking a break while you figure this out," I said. "That took a lot out of me."

"Are you being serious?!" Sokka shouted. "We're about to be buried alive at any moment here!"

"Eh, you'll be fine," I said. "Aang's got this."

I shrugged, not wanting to give away any more clues than necessary.

Quicker than I expected, Aang realised the truth, that the old man who had been tormenting all day was none other than his old friend Bumi, and after they shared a hug and Bumi released Sokka and Katara from their tombs with a quick application of earthbending, Bumi put a gentle hand on Aang's shoulder.

"Aang," he said. "While I hope you've learned today that nothing is truly as it seems, and sometimes you need to think outside the box, there is such a thing as taking things too far."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Just… don't listen to the Kyoshi boy too much," Bumi said, shuddering as he looked in my direction. "A man's stones are sacred, and even in the most dire circumstances, they are to be left alone."

I let out a loud laugh, and though Aang didn't seem to fully understand what his old friend was talking about, I saw Sokka and all the guards surrounding us nod their heads solemnly.

 

[DrCheeze]

No such thing as a fair fight. Always go for critical hits.