The Story of Fang Kuanhan

by PurpleHaze90

Wrote this story that will coincide with one of the episodes in Book 2

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Story of Fang Kuanhan

In a small village of the Earth Kingdom, near Ba-Sing-Se, there lived a small family who were ready for anything because of the war that has been going on for a long time. The father of the family was often called to help for battles. He was strong and was proficient in hand-to-hand combat. He was also deadly with a sword in his hand. His name was Tian Kuanhan. He had a beautiful wife whom at times, in serious situations, would use their home as a place for soldiers to recover from their wounds. It definitely helped the Earth Kingdom during these troubling times.

Tian and the soldiers kept the Fire Nation at bay, winning battle after battle. It was good because it prevented the Fire Nations route to Ba-Sing-Se. According to the soldiers of the Earth Kingdom, once there was an instance when he was finished with a battle, battered and tired, not even five minutes later he would be fighting again. The Earth Kingdom troops would draw inspiration from that and they would fight even harder to match the courage and dedication that he was demonstrating. Tian never seemed to mind fighting as often as he did. Some people would say that he welcomed the challenge and that the stress of battle never seemed to get to him. He was a master tactician in battle and is probably the reason why they called upon him so much. It got to a point where the Fire Nation tactically retreated from the entire area to try and regroup. This allowed an opportunity for Tian to send a messenger boy home about a day ago to let his wife know that he was ok and was granted leave.

Meanwhile at Tian's Home

"Mother...MOM!"

"What is it Fang?"

"Is there anything you want me to do today around the village?"

"No...Shouldn't you be training?"

"Well yes but..."

"Then why don't you go back to it."

"Fine."

Fang left to resume his training. After a few moments of silence, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"I'm a messenger boy...I have a message from Tian."

"Come in."

"Thank you."

"Well, what is your message?"

"Tian wanted me to tell you that things are going well and that he was granted leave and will be home soon."

"So you know how soon?"

"No."

"That's excellent news. Thank you so much. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you."

After pouring the messenger boy some tea, and after some time of silence.

"Are you going back to see Tian?"

"Yes."

"Do you mind delivering a message for me?"

"Not at all."

"Tell him that I'm glad to hear that he is ok and am happy to hear that he is coming home soon."

"It shall be done. Thank you for the tea."

"You're quite welcome."

After the messenger boy left.

"Fang!"

"What is it Mom?"

"Do you have plans upcoming?"

"No, why?"

"I was just wondering. I have good news for you."

"What is it?"

"Your father is coming home."

"Really!"

"Yes, he will be home soon."

"WOOHOO!"

"Go clean your room and wash your best cloths."

"But how can I do that when..."

"NOW!"

"Alright."

Back to the Earth Kingdom Battlefront

While Tian was sitting in the tent, he was sharpening his sword and his two daggers. He couldn't believe that he was going to get the chance to go home to see his wife and more importantly his son. His son whom he missed so much, he had been gone so long, {I wonder how his footwork is?} he thought. {Well it doesn't matter. I'm sure Min was an adequate teacher while I was away.} He sat in silence for a couple of minutes then continued to sharpen his sword. Nothing much was really happening on the battlefront. After the last battle, the Fire Nation remained relatively quiet.

In the Fire Nation Battlefront

"I can't take it anymore! Loss after loss after loss! I don't understand how we keep losing!" The General shouted.

"Sir?" a soldier chimed in.

"What is it?"

"A message from the Fire Lord."

{Crap.} "Hand it here."

'General, you had better win on this part of the front. This front is very important for our plans in our takeover of Ba-Sing-Se. If you fail, the punishment will be severe.'

"Damn." As he handed the message back.

"Sir?"

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! I NEED TIME TO THINK!"

"Yes sir."

He paced around for a good ten minutes, but he couldn't come up with anything. A Lieutenant walked in.

"Sir."

"WHAT!"

"One of our spies intercepted a messenger boy who was heading back to their front."

"Bring him here!"

"Yes sir."

A couple of minutes pass. The General could hear the messenger coming to the tent.

"Hey why am I here, I don't know anything!"

"Oh, we'll see about that...So what message are you delivering?"

"You think that I'm going to tell you."

"Oh, we have ways of making people talk."

A good two hours passed. When the General saw the messenger boy again, he was in tears. His arms were completely burned, and his legs were burned up to his knees.

"Ok...I'll talk."

"What message were you delivering?"

"It was a message from, Min, to her husband Tian."

{Tian? Why does that name sound familiar?} "Get me a soldier from the last battle here immediately!"

"Yes sir."

Five minutes later.

"Sir?" The soldier proclaimed.

"Private, do you know anything about the enemy soldier named Tian?"

"Yes sir, I have heard of him."

"What do you know?"

"Sir, he is the soldier that single handedly changed the tide of battle in our last engagement. He is really good with a sword, and is not intimidated by firebenders."

"Is he an earthbender?"

"I don't think so sir."

"DON'T THINK...KNOW! IS HE AN EARTHBENDER?"

"N-No sir."

"Would you bet your life on it?"

"Y-Yes sir."

"Alright, we'll ask the messenger boy to see if you're right."

The General steps in front of the messenger boy.

"Is he an earthbender?"

"..."

The General then struck the boy on the arm. A fierce cry of pain came and with tears flowing from his eyes,

"NO! HE'S NOT AN EARTHBENDER!"

"Good. Now what was the purpose of the message?"

"Tian is leaving for home. Min, his wife, was expressing how happy she is."

The General turned around.

{Tian is going home. I think that this could work to our advantage.}

"Sir, what do you want us to do with the messenger boy?" The Lieutenant said.

"Execute him." The General replied.

As they dragged him away, you could hear the faint screaming, from the boy and then silence.

The Next Day

At the Earth Kingdom Battlefront

One of the Earth Kingdom leaders was walking around and happened to run into Tian during his walk,

"Tian, have you seen our messenger boy?"

"Not since I sent him to deliver my message. It could be possible that he is lost?"

"It's possible. He was one of our better ones, but I guess I can send someone else."

"Ok. Well nothing has been happened since the last battle."

"I know. It's surprising. I wonder what the Fire Nation could be up to."

"I think that you're just paranoid my friend."

"Maybe. Are you heading off?"

"Yes, I should be home by sundown if I hurry or sunrise the next day."

"We'll let you know if we need you."

"Sounds good. Take care of yourself."

"You too."

As Tian was leaving the battlefront he was stopped by a couple of the Earth Kingdom soldiers. They all told him how much he inspired them and that they hoped that he wasn't going to be gone long.

Meanwhile at the Fire Nation Battlefront

"Get me my Lieutenant!"

A couple minutes pass.

"Yes sir?"

"You remember the spy that caught the messenger boy?"

"Yes sir."

"I need you to send him on another mission. This is a very important mission. He cannot fail."

"What did you have in mind sir?"

"I need him to lead a small band of soldiers and have them tail Tian to his home. When they get there, destroy it, and as for his family, kill them all."

"It will be done sir."

Along the Journey Home

Tian, traveling pretty fast, was pretty anxious to get home. He packed lightly, so that meant that he could travel faster. He was traveling fast enough to get home at sundown. He was so anxious that his hands were shaking and he was sweating like crazy. He couldn't think; he hardly knew what he was going to say when he saw Min. {It won't be long now until I see them.} On that note he was practically running down the trail in the forest.

Meanwhile.

The soldiers were also packed lightly, but they wore armor which meant that they traveled a little slower but they could still keep up. Soon they would know the location of Tian and soon destroy him and his family.

At Tian's Home

Sundown

"Fang!...Fang come here now!"

"What is it Mom?"

"Wash yourself and then set the table."

"Alright."

Fang left for the wash room, he wanted to look nice for his father. Fang is 14; he has smooth tan skin and has a light shade of brown hair and forest green eyes. Also for someone his age, he was fairly strong. He threw some water over his face and as the cool water he let out a deep sigh. {I can't wait to see you, Dad.} Fang was even shaking in his own anxiety.

Min was cooking. She was a fairly decent cook, in the sense that nobody got sick from her cooking. She wore a slender silk dress in the traditional color of green with a brown trim to it. She was a very pretty woman with brown hair and gorgeous emerald green eyes. However, don't let her looks fool you, she was very deadly with daggers.

Since the war has been going on for so long, Tian thought, at a young age, that they should be prepared for anything. Tian, was very proficient with a sword; Min, who was deadly with daggers, and both being good with hand-to-hand combat. When their son was growing up, their styles of fighting had a real influence on Fang.

Flashback

When Fang was eight years old, he had begun to show his interest in learning combat. Tian and Min were debating, more like fighting, about what he was going to learn. The hand-to-hand combat wasn't a problem since they had both learned the same style. Unfortunately it was a bad time because Tian had to leave.

"Look I don't have long to be here."

"Why? The Earth Kingdom call upon you again?"

"Yea."

"But your son needs you too."

"I know. But I can't just simply tell them no. I have to do my part in this blasted war."

"I know that, you're not the only one."

"Look it's so simple...I can't believe I just thought of this now!"

"What?"

"While I'm gone, you can teach him the way of the daggers and I'll teach him the way of the sword when I get back."

"I guess that makes sense, the best of both worlds."

"Sounds deadly." Tian said with a chuckle.

There was a knock on the door.

"I have to go." Tian said.

"Please be safe." She said while beginning to tear up.

"You know me."

"You're right I do."

"I love you."

Now with tears flowing from her eyes, Tian came up and kissed her. Then he walked out the door. He was gone for a long time and while he did get leave to see his family rarely, in his mind, he wasn't home long enough.

Back to Present

Tian, now jogging, barely looked like he was tired. He treaded lightly over hills and creeks. He wanted to be home badly. It was sundown; he knew that he was almost home. He jogged over a hill and then past a valley, then into a small patch of forest. He hiked along a trail, and when he saw an opening, he could see his village and he could also see his house. {I'm just about home guys.} That thought kept running through his mind. At this point he had been running so much that he was a little tired and he started walking. It was the first time that he was walking since he started the trip at the battlefront.

Not Far Behind

"He stopped on the hill sir." a soldier spoke up.

"Wait here." the spy replied.

The spy left for a couple of minutes, when he came back he had an evil grin on his face.

"There is a village past the valley below." he said.

"Is it his?" the Lieutenant interjected.

"Yes, I believe so."

"What shall we do sir." the soldier again spoke up.

"I have an idea." the spy said with a grin.

At Tian's House

"Fang! Dinner time!"

As Fang was walking to the dinner table, he stopped in front of the window. He didn't know why, but for some strange reason, he had a weird gut feeling. He peered out of the window, which looks out to a giant hill. He saw a man walking down. He could barely make out some of the details about the man. The man was wearing a tan outfit with an Earth Kingdom troop helmet.

"Mom. Do you know who that man is?"

"A soldier, possibly?" she shouted from the other room.

"Possibly. Do you want me to go greet him?"

"That would be good. It would show how good our hospitality is."

"Ok. Be back in a few minutes."

Fang walked out the door. He wasn't that far from the man, so he decided to walk briskly. As he walked closer to the man, more details were coming to him. He had british racing green eyes, light brown hair and he had a pretty brown burly beard. At the moment, he still didn't recognize the man, but that feeling in his gut did not seem to go away. He felt like he knew the man. A couple of minutes passed and they finally caught up to one another.

"Hello." Fang spoke first.

"Hello. I'm a weary soldier." Tian replied in a sarcastic voice, "Is there a place for shelter?"

"Yes, do you know where it is you are going?"

"Yes. Will you help me get there?"

"Sure."

"Thank you."

Fang grabbed his stuff and after getting himself set they set off for the village.

"So you are a soldier?" Fang said trying to make small talk.

"Yes."

"Which part of the front are you guarding?"

"The one that is preventing the Fire Nation from getting to Ba-Sing-Se via route through the valley."

"Wow."

"I have been given leave to come home for a while."

"Is your home in this village?"

"Yes."

"Which one is your home?"

Tian thought about pointing at their home but he wanted to have some more fun.

"Well, let's get closer before I tell you."

"Alright."

They walked at a brisk pace because Fang knew that dinner was going to be delicious tonight. He would rather it be hot, and because his mind was focused on food and didn't know where the guy lived, so he became oblivious to his surroundings. He ended up walking by his house. He got a good 150 feet away before he heard the man speak up.

"Hey! You know we passed my house."

Fang turned around to see that the man was standing in the front yard of his house.

"But that's our hou..." After a long pause, "D-Dad?"

"Yes son."

"DADDY!"

Fang ran to him. Tears were flowing from his eyes. He dreamed of this moment for a long time. He hugged him, he didn't want to let go. He screamed,

"MOM! DAD IS HOME! DAD IS HOME!"

Min ran for the door. She opened it to see that Fang and Tian were hugging. She ran to them and she joined in. Tears were flowing from her eyes as well.

"It's great to see you." she said.

"I love you both." Tian replied.

Fang could hardly speak, he was just lost in all of the excitement. After a couple of minutes of silence, Min starts walking to the house.

"You know that your timing is impeccable right?"

"Why's that?"

"I just put dinner on the table."

"You're right. My timing is impeccable. Well then, let go eat."

"Sounds good to me." Fang said.

Fang ran into the house first. Min, who was following behind was suddenly grabbed by Tian.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Into..the..house.?" she confusingly replied.

"What are you forgetting?"

"I don't know. I don't understand."

{I'll make you understand} he said under his breath.

He walked up to her and kissed her. It was a long, wet kiss. It truly showed how much he'd missed her.

"I don't think that you can fathom how much I missed the taste of your lips, the feel of your skin, and the beauty of your eyes."

She had missed him too. The only problem was that she could not express it like he just did. She was lost for words. She was blushing. They kissed again, it wasn't as long as the first one, but it meant all the same to them.

"I've missed you too. Why don't you come in, there's dinner on the table." She was finally able to say.

"Sounds lovely. I'm starved."

Min walked in the house. Tian was standing alone in the front yard. He looked to his right, then to his left. He was just remembering his surroundings. {It's so good to be home.} He grabbed his stuff and then walked into the house.

Meanwhile

"Sir, I just watched him and a woman walk into the house." a Corporal said.

"Were they the only two?" the Lieutenant replied.

"I was passing by and took a look and they are the only two I saw."

"Excellent."

The Lieutenant walked up to the spy. He still had an evil grin on his face.

"Alright, we tracked him to his house. What's the plan?"

"All in good time Lieutenant. I am still trying to come up with all the details. You might want to get comfortable; we are going to be here for a while." the spy said cunningly.

"Is this a joke?" the Lieutenant angrily replied.

"No, this is how spies operate."

"Alright, we'll go along with it so long as it produces results."

"Fine."

The Lieutenant walked away. The spy sat alone,

"Oh yes! It's going to work!" he exclaimed aloud.

His idea! He knew for sure that it would work. It was deviously clever and no one, especially the enemy, would be able to stop him, {I'll tell the Lieutenant in the morning.}

The Next Day

At Tian's House

"Man. Dinner was delicious last night, dear." Tian said.

"Thank you."

He walked up to her and kissed her. Afterwards, Min walked around the kitchen. She was doing an inventory check. She found that she was missing some stuff.

"Fang!"

Fang quickly ran into the kitchen.

"What is it, Mom?"

"What are your plans today?"

"I was hoping to get to train with Dad today."

"Ok that's good but I need you to get me some stuff from the market."

"Today?" Fang said rolling his eyes.

"Yes." She replied with the same sarcasm. "If you want dinner tonight, you'll do it."

"Alright."

As Fang was starting to walk away. Tian finally decided to chime in.

"You could train for a couple of hours, then go get the stuff your mother needs."

"Sounds good." Fang said.

"Fine, I'll go along with it." Min replied.

"It's settled then."

Fang again turned around to leave and he didn't even take one step before he was called again.

"Where are you going?" Tian boomed.

"O-Outside?"

"Um, I don't think so. Training room...five minutes, be there."

"Ok."

Fang walked to his room quickly. He needed to get into his training cloths, fast. He searched all over the room for his cloths. 4 minutes. He looked in his closet. He looked in a pile of cloths for them, no luck. 3 minutes. He looked under the bed, success! He threw off his cloths and changed really quickly. 2 minutes. He found his leather belt that has a two dagger holder in the back, he quickly put it on. The daggers were already in there, lucky. He walked to the closet and grabbed his sword. 1 minute. He quickly threw his sword over his shoulder and he ran across the house. As he was running, he could hear his mom screaming,

"Don't run in the house!"

He made it to the training room. He stepped inside to see that his father was already ready to go. His sword was already drawn and he was in a fighting stance.

"You were almost late." he said with a smile.

Fang smiled back. He finally settled down and drew his sword. They had the stare down for about a minute. Fang made the first move, he charged at Tian. Tian made a quick sidestep to the left. And as Fang rushed by, Tian tapped him on the back with the broad end of his sword. Fang fell down to the ground.

"If this were a real fight, you would be dead already." He scolded.

As Fang regained his footing, he brought his sword and was in a defensive position.

"Good," his father said, "Don't make the first move. Let the fight come to you."

Fang stood in his defensive pose. His knees were bent and his legs spread. {Good stance,} Tian thought. This time Tian rushed, Fang held his ground. *Clash* The sound of metal striking metal. Every attack that Tian would throw was met by Fang's sword. {He's doing well. I think that it's time that I checked his footwork.} Tian was thinking. Tian unleashed a flurry of attacks that had Fang moving backwards, but Fang made sure that he was still on his toes. The attacks were still being met by his sword, Fang made a quick sidestep to the right, still in a defensive pose. Tian took a quick breath and charged at Fang again. There were two more quick strikes before Fang made another sidestep to the right. {Wow, his footwork has definitely improved.} Tian thought.

"You've done me proud son."

Fang remained in his pose, ready for anything.

"Alright. I'm going to come at you harder. I want you to do your best."

"I'm ready."

Tian held his sword high. Fang took a sidestep to his right, and planted his feet. He was ready for anything. Tian came harder, he was moving much faster than Fang had ever seen before. *Clash* Tian's attack was barely met by Fang's sword. Fang was moving backwards fast. He was quickly losing the fight. Fang was trying his best but it was hard for him to pick up his father's movement. Fang sidestepped to the right, but his father had already anticipated the move and Tian's strike was hard enough to knock Fang's sword out of his hand. With the look of fear in his eyes, Fang rolled forward and rolled by his father, to get away from him. Tian stood,

"Are you ready to give up?"

No response. Fang stood there catching his breath. {I guess it's time to see if Mom's training is working,} he thought. Fang reached behind with both hands and pulled out two daggers. The daggers were of decent size, so he could at least hold his own against a sword. {Well I know that Dad is saying let the fight come to me. But I think that I'm holding a speed advantage with these daggers. Plus I think that he has to be a little fatigued. I think that it's time to go on the offensive!} Fang rushed at Tian this time, his charge was a little slower than the first time he rushed. He was trying to anticipate where Tian was going to sidestep. Tian sidestepped to his right. {An opening!} Fang thought. Fang rushed in with his own flurry of quick strikes. They were met by Tian's sword. Fang rolled out then jumped back in, Fang did a low sweep kick to try and knock Tian off his feet. Tian jumped and blatantly threw a lackadaisical punch with his sword hand. Tian dodged and Fang used the opportunity and kicked Tian's sword out of his hand. Tian took a couple of steps back,

"Big mistake." Tian said with a smile.

Tian came in with such force and speed that Fang was not fast enough to stop and he struck Fang in the gut. The blow stunned Fang, he staggered backwards. {Wow, where the heck did that come from?} It was more difficult for Fang to pick up his father's movements. Because of the difficulties, during one of Tian's flurries, he knocked Fang's daggers out of his hands. They were now trading blows. That was going to be a problem for him because he knew that his father was going to have the advantage in hand-to-hand. There was another issue now, fatigue. Fang had put so much in his attacks with his daggers that he didn't anticipate the fight going this far. He was slower with his attacks and defenses. Tian came rushing in again. He struck Fang in the jaw. The blow had Fang dazed. While Fang was staggering backwards, Tian performed a low sweep kick that connected and knocked Fang off his feet. Fang, slow to get up, got to one knee before Tian held a sword against his neck.

"Do you give up now?" Tian said.

"Yes, I'm done." Fang was finally able to say. He was out of breath.

Tian removed the sword and helped Fang to his feet.

"You fought well, son."

"Thanks Dad."

"Alright, go clean yourself. You have work to do."

"Ok."

Fang gathered his stuff and left. Tian walked around the training room. {Dang, he has definitely improved} he thought. Tian left the room and he walked around the house. Min came up to him and hugged him.

"You're all sweaty." she laughingly said.

"I know."

"So, how did training go?"

"Better than I thought."

"How did Fang do?"

"Extremely well. He has done pretty well with the sword, he is great with the daggers. His hand-to-hand needs a little work, and his endurance also needs some work. But all in all, he held his own today."

"Meaning he gave you a run for your money."

"Well...yes." Tian chuckled.

"Just like me?" Min said with a serious face. Then it turned into a smile.

They were both laughing.

"Yes, just like you."

Meanwhile

"I can't believe that we're still sitting here!" the Lieutenant boomed.

"Patience Lieutenant, soon he will be dead." the spy calmly said.

"He's not dead fast enough!"

"Soon you'll realize that our patience is going to pay off when our plan goes perfectly."

"Fine!"

Back to Tian's House

About midday

Fang walked into the kitchen. Min was standing looking out the window. She turned around to see Fang standing there looking at her.

"Sounds like your training went well." she said.

"Yea, it was good."

"Alright, here's what I need you to do. I need you to pick me up some spices, some vegetables, some fruit, meat, and some cabbages."

"Sounds like you're making something nice for dinner tonight."

"I am."

"Alright be back in a couple of hours then."

A couple of hours later

"I'm back."

"Did you get everything that I needed?"

"Most of it."

"What weren't you able to get?"

"The vegetables and the cabbages."

"That stinks."

"Yea especially since the cabbage stand was destroyed."

"Destroyed?"

"Yea, a platypus-bear destroyed it."

"Wow."

"Yea, you would have died laughing to see the stand owner pulling his hair out."

"That's funny."

"Where's Dad?

"He's outside meditating, it would be best not to disturb him."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Help me cook."

"Alright."

Night eventually came around. Tian came in from meditation. In the house it was quiet. No one really wanted to talk. Fang was quiet. I guess it was the fact that he has hand-to-hand training tomorrow and he wanted to concentrate. He was trying to control his anxiety. He was very eager to learn ever since Dad has been home. He had been feeling good about himself; today's training had gone better than he'd hoped. Even though he lost, he knew that he was getting better.

Tian stayed quiet. He had a nice meditation in which he cleared his mind of all but one thought. He was having an issue with one pressing matter. {What could the Fire Nation be up to?} When his friend at the Earth Kingdom battlefront asked the same question, he didn't take it seriously. But it's been bothering him ever since he's been home. {Maybe I'm being paranoid this time...But it's still kind of weird that the Fire Nation still hasn't done anything lately.} He was certain something was going to happen, so when it does, he was going to be ready.

Min stayed quiet. She wasn't sure why but she just didn't want to speak. {Today was a good day} she thought. She was proud of the fact that Fang had done really well against Tian in his training. The fact that she heard that he was really good with the daggers made her very prideful. Also since today was a good day, she had cooked a wonderful dinner with the supplies that Fang brought to her. {Eh, if they want to stay silent, let 'em. Far be it from me to say anything.}

The night moved on, still nobody was saying anything. They were preparing for whatever tomorrow was going to bring them.

Elsewhere

"I need a couple of your soldiers Lieutenant." the spy said.

"For what purpose?"

"Lieutenant, have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?"

"Not yet."

"So, bring me a couple of soldiers."

"Fine," he said rolling his eyes, "Bring me two soldiers!"

A minute passed.

"Sir!" they both said.

"Alright, here are your two soldiers!" the Lieutenant boomed at the spy.

"Good," the spy looked at the soldiers, "Walk with me."

"Where do you think you're going?" the Lieutenant interjected.

"For a walk." the spy replied.

"I'm pretty sure anything you're going to say to the soldiers, you can certainly say to me."

"In good time Lieutenant." he looked at the soldiers again, "Walk with me."

"Sir."

The spy and the two soldiers left. The Lieutenant cursed under his breath.

The spy and the two soldiers walked a long way. The two soldiers had a confused look on their face. The spy continued calmingly walked. A couple of minutes passed and the spy finally stopped. The soldiers then stopped.

"Sir?" one of them spoke out.

"What is it?"

"Nothing sir."

"Alright, I think we're a safe distance away."

The spy sat on a stump.

"Have a seat." he said to the soldiers.

The soldiers sat down.

"Is one of you a firebender?"

The soldier to the spy's left pointed to the other soldier.

"He is, sir."

"Good. Could you give us some light then?"

"Yes sir."

The soldier opened the palm of his hand, he took a breath and behold a small flame came out.

"Thank you," said the spy, "Alright, do you have a clue why I brought you two out here?"

"No." one of the soldiers replied.

"Alright, I'll tell you why. I'll also tell you your roll in my master plan."

"Yes sir."

About 45 minutes pass.

"Do you understand?" the spy said.

"Yes sir." they both replied.

"Good. Then let's head back, I'm sure the good Lieutenant is worried sick about us."

"Sir."

A couple of minutes passed. The spy and the two soldiers walked back into camp.

"Where have you been?" the Lieutenant screamed.

"Relax, we just went for a walk." the spy replied.

"For almost an hour?"

"Well it was such a nice night..."

"We are at war here!" the Lieutenant interrupted.

"I know and our battle hasn't started yet." the spy replied calmly.

"..."

The Lieutenant was lost for words, he stormed off. The spy turned to the two soldiers who were still standing behind him.

"You are dismissed."

"Sir!" they both said and walked away.

The spy stood alone at the middle of the camp. He had an evil grin on his face.

"Muhahahahahahaha!"

After catching his breath, he left for his tent for a good night's sleep.

At the Fire Nation Battlefront

"What the devil could be taking them so long?" the General said pacing.

"I know the spy, trust me when I say that he's good." a Captain replied.

"Yea, good at talking a long time." the General replied.

"You don't get it do you?"

"Get what?"

"The reason why he takes his time is so that he can assess the situation, come up with a plan, make sure that there are no flaws, and then execute."

"So, that's what everyone is supposed to do."

"Not like him. Remember that Earth Kingdom messenger boy?"

"Yes, I remember him."

"Ok. He wouldn't have captured him unless he was sure that it would give us a tactical advantage."

"Well we did get good information out of that boy."

"That's because the spy knew that we would."

"Ok, so what are you saying Captain?"

"What I'm trying to say General is give the spy more time. I'm sure that he has thought out a plan and is now waiting for the right time to execute."

"Alright."

"Thank you General."

"However, I'm going to send a messenger hawk to get an update though."

"As you wish sir." the Captain replied.

The Next Day

At Tian's House

Early in the Morning

"Fang! Fang wake up!"

Fang felt groggy, he definitely didn't want to wake up. Min stood at his door.

"Fang! I'm not going to say it again, get up!"

"O-Ok Mom." he was just able to say.

Fang got out of bed. He stood for a second. Scratched his head and looked into a mirror. His hair was wild. He walked to the washroom and splashed an already full bowl of water over his face. It was cold water, so you could imagine his reaction. He refilled the bowl with lukewarm water. He then splashed it over his hair. The water went gushing through his hair and his body. He took a comb, combed his hair to get all of the knots out. Then he shook his head, drops of water were splashing everywhere. He walked to his closet, grabbed a green sleeveless shirt and brown shorts. He walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Min was standing there,

"It's about time you got up."

"Ok, but I'm up now, so what do you need?"

"I don't need anything. Eat something quickly; your father is waiting for you in the training room."

"Ok."

Fang quickly ate.

"Thank you Mom."

"You're welcome. Now hurry."

Fang quickly walked across the house into the training room. As soon as he closed the door,

"It's about time, son." Tian said.

"I know." he replied.

"You know what happens when you are this late?"

"I do."

"Good, now do it until I say stop!" his voiced echoed.

About 30 minutes pass.

"Ok, I think that's enough." Tian said.

Fang let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Alright, today's lesson is hand-to-hand when your opponent has a weapon."

Fang remained silent.

"It won't be easy, but it is vital." Tian continued.

Fang then moved into a defensive stance.

"No son, you are not ready yet. I need to give you something first."

Tian turned around and grabbed an object. Fang couldn't quite make it out, but when Tian faced Fang again, he was holding two metal guards.

"Put these on your wrists."

Fang took a couple of minutes but he slipped it on his wrists and tightened. It was decent in size, it spanned from his wrist to halfway up his forearm. There was one thing that he also noticed, it was surprisingly lightweight.

"Now you're ready."

Fang took a deep breath and went into a southpaw defensive pose. Tian grabbed his sword; he held it low this time.

"This is a read and react drill, you need to do what you think is right."

Tian came rushing in and took a midlevel swing with his sword. It was blocked by Fang's left arm. Then Fang jumped back and sidestepped to the right. Tian rushed in again and unleashed a barrage of attacks, all were blocked.

Two Hours Later

Fang was hunched over with his hands on his knees. He was desperately trying to catch his breath. But every time that he tried, Tian was already coming at him with attack after attack. Still Fang was able to block his attacks. {I don't know how much more I can take} Fang thought. Tian charged again, Fang was sluggish in his movements and Tian struck him with a couple of punches. Fang fell to his back. As he struggled to get up to his feet, Tian pointed his sword at Fang's throat.

"Give up?"

"I'm not done yet!"

Fang knocked at the sword, he got it away from his throat. He rolled back. He was up on his feet, adrenaline going, and ready for anything.

"Fool, you are clearly tired and you still want to fight. You've barely made a move to disarm me!" Tian said taunting him.

No response came from Fang. He was drenched in sweat, he was finally catching his breath. This time Fang charged. {What's he thinking?} Tian thought. Tian swung his sword, Fang ducked and struck Tian in the gut. Tian staggered backwards a couple of steps, sword still firmly gripped in his hand. Fang had finally gotten inside position! He tried to knock the sword out of his hand. No luck, Tian quickly regained his composure and struck Fang in the leg. A fierce cry of pain came from Fang as he dropped to one knee. This time Tian held his sword on Fang's shoulder.

"Give up now?"

"Yes! I'm done!"

Tian helped Fang to his feet.

"Again you have done me proud, my son."

"H-How?"

"Well, on the first day, you showed me how well your development has gone. You knew when to be defensive and when to go on the offensive. Today, you showed me your resiliency. You didn't give up on your strategy. You did what you thought was right."

"What good did it do, I still lost."

"When someone fights, there is one vital thing that he needs. Do you know what that is?"

"No."

"Heart, son. You have to have heart, the means to never give up. When you refused to quit the first time, you showed me that you have heart."

"Thanks." he said with his head down.

Then Tian put his arm on Fang's shoulder. They both walked out of the training room together. Fang was limping, noticeable. They walked into the kitchen, Min was cooking. Fang sat down and put his head on the table.

"Head off the table Fang." she scolded.

"O-Ok."

"How was training?"

"Fine."

"Just fine? Let's ask your father."

Min looked at Tian,

"How did he do?"

"Sensational. With a little more experience, he will be a force to wrecken with when he gets older."

"Excellent." she said with a grin.

She walked up to Fang, put both hands on his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. Then she went on with her daily tasks. Tian and Fang parted to do their daily chores. The day passed on normally, like it used to be.

The Next Day

Early in the Morning about Sunrise

Min was cooking in the kitchen. She was looking at how nice the sunrise was. A couple of minutes later Fang staggered into the kitchen, he was still limping a little. He sat down on a chair,

"Good morning Fang." she said with a smile.

"Ugh." he responded.

"Rough night?"

"Didn't sleep much."

"How come?"

"All I could think of was training. Not to mention how much my leg hurts."

"Sorry to hear."

"It's fine."

"Could you call your father for me?"

"Sure, where is he?"

"I think he's outside."

"Ok."

Fang left.

About 10 minutes passed. Tian walked into the kitchen first, Fang followed behind and sat back down and daydreamed. He became oblivious to his surroundings.

"What is it?" Tian said.

"There are a few medical supplies that we need, and we don't have them here in the village. We need to go to Hunan Village."

"Ok, why don't we send Fang?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But why?"

"I think him ready."

"Does he think he's ready?"

"I don't know, let's ask him."

Min looked over at Fang, who had his head on the table.

"Fang head of the table!" Min scolded.

Fang shot up, now he was standing, breathing heavily.

"What?" he shouted.

"Your father has a question for you." she said with her arms folded.

"What is it?"

Tian walked up to Fang,

"My son...How's your leg?"

"Its feeling a little better, it's just sore now."

"Ok. But you can still walk."

"Yea." Fang replied with confusion in his voice.

Tian took a step closer, put his arms on his shoulders.

"Do you want to go on a journey?"

"What kind of journey?"

"Well, your mother needs some medical supplies, and we don't have them here at this village. So we would like for you to go to Hunan Village to get some. Here's the kicker though, you will be making this journey alone."

"Ok."

"Well it's a three day trip. One to get there, one to get back. So you will have a day to get all that you need."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Do you want to do it?"

"Sure, but do you think me ready for it?"

"Do you think yourself ready for it?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good."

Min stormed out of the kitchen. Fang turned his attention to her, but was quickly brought back by Tian.

"Go pack your things then."

Fang left the kitchen and walked quickly to his room. He grabbed a medium sized bag. He put two sets of cloths in. He also grabbed a small bag on his way out of his room. He was stopped by Tian.

"Here you are going to need this."

He handed Fang three gold coins, five silver coins, and five bronze coins.

"What's this for?"

"Well the silver ones are for the medical supplies, the bronze ones are for new cloths."

"And the gold ones?"

"They are for a new sword, daggers, and other armor you may need."

"You think I need it?"

"Yes! You are a proud warrior now! You are going to need your own sword and other things."

"Ok. But am I not going to take the sword, dagger and guards?"

"No."

"How will I defend myself?"

"You hopefully won't need to?"

"But if I should need to?"

"Use hand to hand."

"What if they have a weapon?"

"Then take the wrist guards."

"But that's yours."

"Well the wrist guards are yours now, as a gift from me to you."

They hugged. And as they walked towards the front door, Min was standing at the door. Min walked up to Fang and hugged him.

"Be safe on your journey." she said.

"I will Mom."

He walked out the door, and they walked to the trail. Tian pointed.

"Hunan village is that way. Be safe."

"I will Dad."

Fang walked in the direction that Tian told him to go. Tian stood there until he could no longer see Fang. When he couldn't see him, he went about the things that he needed to do today.

Meanwhile

"Sir, we have movement on the target." a Private shouted.

"Excellent, what did you see?" the Lieutenant responded.

"He came out with a traveler and told him where he needed to go."

"Did you get eyes on the traveler?"

"Yeah, he went South."

"He is no concern of ours."

"Should we report it to the spy?"

"No. He's not likely coming back. Just keep tabs on the target."

"Sir!"

The Lieutenant went over to the spy who was meditating on a rock.

"We have movement."

"Ok."

"Is there something we are gonna to do?"

"The moment to strike is upcoming."

"Good to hear! When do we strike?"

"Soon."

"How soon is soon?"

"Patience Lieutenant."

"Fine!" he said with disappointment in his voice.

"Bring me the two soldiers I had met before."

"What for!" he shouted.

"Cause I have need for them." he replied calmly.

Now it just so happened that a Corporal was passing by, and was unaware,

"YOU THERE!" the Lieutenant boomed.

The Corporal jumped.

"Y-Y-Yes sir!"

"Bring me the two soldiers who met with the spy earlier!"

"Sir!" he saluted and left.

A couple of minutes later, the two soldiers walked up, saluted to the Lieutenant, and walked up to the spy. The Lieutenant huffed and walked away.

"Thank you for coming."

"Sir." they both replied.

"I guess you are again wondering why you are here, am I not correct?"

"I have a theory." one soldier stated.

"You have a theory?" he said sarcastically, "I would love to hear this."

"We're here about the job you wanted us to do."

"You are absolutely correct." he said with a chuckle.

They remained silent. The silence lasted for about a minute.

"Did you at least do the job?" the spy said.

"Yes sir."

"Excellent. Now my plans are set in motion."

"Sir!" they both said.

"Good work."

"Thank you sir." they both replied.

"Get me the Lieutenant."

"Sir."

About a minute passed by.

"What is it now?"

"Get the troops ready. The moment to strike is just about upon us."

"Finally!"

An evil laugh came from the both of them.

Along the Trail

Much Later in the Day

{So far so good} Fang thought. He felt extremely confident. Why? It was because of what his father said to him. That he thought him ready for a journey like this. He could remember in his younger days that his Mom would go and he would be watched by neighbors. {That was the best, I could get away with a lot.} He started laughing. He had walked a lot, he didn't really stop for anything. He was feeling a little homesick, but he would never admit that. The important thing for him was to remain calm. Hunan Village was close he felt so he stepped up the pace.

Back to the Small Fire Nation Camp

"Lieutenant!" another Private shouted.

"What is it?" he replied.

"A messenger hawk just landed with a message from the General."

"What did it say?"

"He wanted to know our progress."

"Tell him we are ready to strike and to put the troops on standby." the spy joined in.

"Excellent." the Lieutenant chimed.

The soldier quickly jotted down the message and put it in the container on the hawk and sent the hawk away. A group of soldiers gathered.

"Victory shall be ours!" the spy exclaimed.

A fierce war cry came with fists in the air, they were ready to go.

Meanwhile

At Sundown

"There it is." Fang said aloud to himself.

He had finally reached his destination, Hunan Village. He got excited and walked quickly toward the center plaza. {Wow, there are more people here in this village} Fang thought as he walked through an alleyway. He was right, there were more people here and the buildings were a little larger. He was awestruck. When he got to the center plaza, he looked around at the crowd of people walking both ways. They were bumping into one another and passing each other without so much as saying hi. The sun set, the night life was beginning. He walked around a little bit. He found a place to stay. He used a bronze coin to pay for it. He walked up to his room, found the bed and flopped on it. He had walked all day he was tired. {Time to rest, got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow.} He closed his eyes, he fell straight asleep.

Back at Tian's House

Min had been up a long time. She was worried.

"What are you doing still up?" Tian said.

"I'm worried about Fang." she quickly responded.

"What's there to be worried about?"

"He's never really been away from home."

"Yes, I know that."

Silence came from her. Tian put his arms on her shoulders. He started to give her a massage to try to calm her down.

"Look, you know as well as I do," he said calmly, "He has been trained well. He can take care of himself, there really isn't anything to worry about."

She slowed her breathing down. She took a deep breath,

"Ok. Your right, I really shouldn't be worried."

She turned and kissed him and they both laid back down. Tian fell asleep first. Min, with her eyes still awake, {Come home safely son.} Then slowly but surely, she fell asleep as well.

The Next Day

Fang woke up, earlier than usual. He had a smile on his face. Why? Well I'm sure it's because he knew what he was going to do today and he knew what order he was going to do them in. He quickly ate some breakfast and ran out the door. He walked down what he figured was main street. He walked at a slow pace, he was looking at all the different shops that this village has to offer. He found the blacksmith, and he walked into the store.

"Something that I can do for you?" the storekeeper said.

"Yes, I wish to obtain a sword and two daggers." he replied with a smile on his face.

"Enough with the jokes, kid."

"I'm not joking." the smile left his face.

"If you're not joking, how are you going to pay for it?"

"Let me look at your weapons case first. You will be paid in full when the time comes."

"We'll see." the storekeeper grunted.

The storekeeper turned and brought a wood box. He placed it down on the counter. When he opened the box, Fang looked. It was full of daggers. He picked up one dagger. He held it in his hand, the grip felt weird and the blade wasn't that long. He put the dagger back in the box. He kept looking. About the fourth dagger he picked up, he twirled it around, the grip felt great and the blade was a decent size.

"This has a match, yes?"

"Yes."

The storekeeper turned around and grabbed the matching dagger. Fang put the dagger he was holding back on the counter.

"Anything else?" the storekeeper said rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I need a sword."

"What kind of sword?"

"A straight one preferably." he tried to lighten the mood.

A sigh came from the storekeeper and again he turned around and grabbed a small display stand. From what Fang could see was that the swords were too small, like a child's play toy.

"Not to be rude, but I can use actual swords. Can you give me something bigger and better than that?" with disappointment in his voice.

"Come with me." the storekeeper grunted.

Fang followed. They walked across a hallway. The storekeeper turned to his left. Slid open a door and took a step back.

"You'll find more swords in here."

"Thank you."

The room wasn't large. The only source of light was a window. There were a lot of swords in the room. More than Fang gave credit for. Fang did a quick scan of the room. Then he went to his left and worked his way to his right, now doing a more thorough scan. He stopped about halfway through his search, he grabbed a sword. It had a green hilt and a good size blade. He twirled it around. It was a little heavy but it felt comfortable. He slid his finger down the blade, it was sharp.

"I think that I will take this one."

They walked back to the counter. Fang also got a bigger over-the-shoulder sheath to put his new sword in, and he also got new holders for his daggers.

"Now then, here's my favorite part, money." the storekeeper said with a grin.

Fang stayed silent.

"Well are you going to pay for all of this or was this just a waste of my time?"

Fang dropped two gold coins and two silver coins on the counter. The storekeepers jaw dropped, he couldn't believe it.

"Will this do?" Fang said.

The storekeeper couldn't speak; he was still in the state of shock.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

He grabbed his stuff and walked out the door, with the storekeeper still silent, now practically starring at him. Fang turned to his right, and walked about 10 paces, he looked down and there was a bronze coin on the ground. He picked it up, {Today is going to be a good day, I can tell.}

At Tian's Home

About Midday

Tian resumed his civilian life like he had never left. After his morning meditation, he went to see what was needed at the house. They were running low on the food supply. He left, and went to go pick up some food. After some time in the town, he came back home and dropped off the food. Without saying a word to Min, he left the house again to go say hello to some old friends he hadn't seen since he left for the battlefront.

After some time had passed, he came back home. He went in the house expecting Min to be in the kitchen. When he walked in the kitchen, Min was not there. {Where could she be?} Tian thought. He thought about calling out to her, but ultimately decided against it. He walked around the house, his first stop was to their room. She wasn't there. He looked in the back yard, she wasn't there either. He continued his search, he opened another door. There she was! She was in the training room. He leaned on the wall, careful not to make a sound. She didn't notice him, she went on about her business. She was practicing with her daggers. She looked graceful, and her footwork was superb. Never once did her see her on her heels, and her form was amazing. Also on top of all of her amazing qualities, she was quick and has some strength and endurance, things that he has seen Fang demonstrate in his recent training sessions with him. {Wow! Does she ever look beautiful.} That thought kept racing through his mind. He adjusted his position to get a better look, still trying not to make a sound and disturb her. However it definitely did not go as he planned, he took a wrong step. He made the ever so slight noise. She jumped in a defensive position,

"Whose there?" she shouted.

"It's just me."

"Jeez, I hate it when you do that."

"I know. You should have seen how high you jumped."

"Shut up!"

"No serious, I guess you still have your reflexes."

Tian couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" she said with her arms folded.

"Nothing...it's just, you should have seen the look on your face...priceless."

She stood there looking at him with a serious face, then it quickly changed and she started to laugh as well. Tian walked up to her and kissed her, then he put his arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the room together.

Min then walked in to the bedroom to change and wash herself. Tian walked out into the backyard to meditate. After Min was finished, she walked into the kitchen to cook dinner. She looked into the backyard to see Tian, who was still meditating. She stood there for a second, she was just looking at him. Then she noticed that Tian got up to come in the house. {Well, I guess he's done for the day.} Then Tian walked in.

"What's cooking, good looking."

"Really?"

"What?" he said with a confused look on his face.

"Not like I'm not flattered by what you said, but don't you think that you could do better than that?"

"I guess I could try." Tian said with a chuckle.

"Good cause you have until after dinner to come up with something good."

She loved to try and play mind game, it always had Tian on edge. While he was eating dinner, Tian was furiously trying to think of something clever. {What is she thinking? Do I not tell her that I love her? I just don't know.} As dinner was ending, Min stood up and gathered her dishes. It was go time for Tian.

"Well, did you come up with anything?" she coldly looked at him.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I did. Also I can effectively say that you certainly know how to mess with a man's head. First off, I want to say that dinner was delicious..."

"Thank you."

"Second...ever since the day that I met you, I was sure that our destinies were set. Look at us now, I am happily married to you, and I am a father of a great son that you and I raised. I don't think that I could live without you or Fang."

"W-Wow." she managed to stutter.

She was totally shocked and seduced at the same time. Tian walked up to her and kissed her, passionately. Then, because it was dark, they went to their room to enjoy a wonderful moonlit night, in each others arms.

Meanwhile

In the Village Outskirts

Two soldiers walked up to the spy. They had green cloths in their hands. They handed it to the spy and 10 minutes later, the spy came out dressed like a normal Earth Kingdom villager. The two soldiers were also changed into something green. They walked through the camp and up to the Lieutenant.

"Ok, the two soldiers and I will walk down to the village. When we give the signal that is your cue for you and your men to charge. Got it?"

"Yes." the Lieutenant replied

"Good, cause I want no mistakes!"

"Ok."

The spy turned to the two soldiers.

"Let's go."

"Yes sir."

About 20 minutes pass, the spy and the two soldiers kept walking around the village, taking in the sights on a nice moonlit night. Then they stumbled upon someone.

"Lovely night." the spy said.

"Yes it is." the man replied.

"Hey, can you point me to Tian's house?"

"Yea, its right over there." the man pointed with his right hand.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Have a good night."

"Oh, I intend to." the spy replied as he was walking away.

With an evil grin on his face, he made his way over to Tian's house. He turned to his soldiers that were still behind him.

"This is going to require stealth, I'll go in. You two go around the back."

Not saying a word, the two soldiers left to go around the back. The spy opened the door and infiltrated the premises. He made his way across the kitchen. Then he walked by a small room, he decided to look in it. {Why would they have this room?} Not giving too much thought, he continued. He found the master bedroom. He saw a man and a woman sound asleep. He looked around he saw some weapons. He silently crept over to pick the weapons up. He picked up Tian's sword first, and then he picked up five daggers. {Unbelievable!} He moved to the back door with the weapons, he slowly opened the door to see the two soldiers in the backyard. The spy handed the soldiers the weapons,

"Dispose of them." he whispered.

The soldiers took the weapons, then turned around and walked to the back fence of the yard. Behind was the forest, and the two soldiers threw the weapons away and walked back to the spy.

"Good." he still whispered.

"What now?" one of the soldiers whispered back.

"Come on in." the spy motioned.

The two soldiers walked into the house. They walked across the master bedroom and walked into the kitchen. The spy looked at the two soldiers and whispered over to them,

"Remember the plan. No mistakes or this operation will fail."

"Yes."

The spy walked to the corner of the kitchen, as one of the soldiers walked to the front door. He opened it and slammed it.

"Wounded coming in!" he shouted.

The other soldier laid on the kitchen table, as the spy ran into the master bedroom.

"We need help!" he shouted.

Tian sprang up, he was groggy.

"What is it?" he managed to say.

"We have wounded." the spy replied.

"You couldn't go to the hospital?"

"Didn't have time."

"Well, I don't know how much help we can be."

"Why is that?"

"I don't have a lot of medical supplies."

"Would you at least take a look at him?"

"Ok."

Min, who was already awake at this point, got out of bed. Tian got up a couple of seconds later.

"Ok, where is he?" she said.

"He's in the kitchen, ma'am." the spy responded.

She headed out of the room and into the kitchen, the spy followed closely behind her. Tian took a couple of extra seconds to stretch and compose his thoughts. {Really, they're gonna bother me this late at night!} Then suddenly he heard a scream.

"MIN!"

He ran into the kitchen only to find the spy in the corner. He was standing with a grin on his face.

"What have you done with her!" Tian shouted.

"What do you think I did with her." the spy replied with a chuckle.

He couldn't think; his mind was racing at 100 miles an hour. He walked up to the spy, grabbed him and reared his right hand back for a punch.

"I swear, if you hurt her..."

"You'll do what?" the spy quickly retorted.

Before Tian could get his next words out of his mouth, one of the soldiers walked behind Tian and hit him with a club in the back of the head. The blow knocked Tian out. The spy looked at the soldier,

"Good work."

"Thank you."

"I want you to tie him up. Have him in a sitting position along the trail, think you can do that?"

"Yes."

"Good. Go do it, and be sure to double check your knots. I don't want any chance of escape."

"Yes sir."

The soldier dragged the body out the house. When the soldier was gone, the spy walked out of the house. He found the other soldier. He was standing, holding a knocked out Min in his arms.

"Give her to me." the spy said.

The soldier handed the limp body over.

"Good work." the spy said.

"Thank you."

"Now go set off the signal."

"Yes sir."

The soldier walked to the middle of the street, opened the palm of his hand. Then fire was shooting out of his hand, and went high in the sky. Then about 15 seconds later, Fire Nation soldiers came charging. They were screaming a fierce war cry. One by one, people's houses were becoming lit. Then there were loud screams of fear coming from the villagers. Then you could hear the Lieutenant shout,

"WE GIVE NO QUARTER! BURN THE VILLAGE TO THE GROUND!"

As the spy watched the other soldiers run by, he took the limp body of Min over to the other soldier who was just finishing tying Tian up.

"Tie her up too, and put her next to him."

"Yes sir."

The spy dropped the body, then turned and walked away. {This is a glorious day for the Fire Nation!} The spy walked over to the soldier who had just finished with the signal,

"Alright, you know what the next part of your mission is, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Since you have the best endurance, you should be there in no time."

"Ok."

"Oh yea, NO firebending."

"Yes."

"You should be in and out, so there is no worry."

"Ok."

"Get going!"

The soldier then turned and sprinted along the trail heading north. The spy then turned and walked into the burning village, smoke was already starting to rise. The spy then found the Lieutenant in the melee. The Lieutenant had a man by the hair, the spy tapped the Lieutenant on the shoulder.

"WHAT IS IT?" he boomed.

"When this is all over, get a messenger hawk over to the General and tell him that we are ready!"

"Ok."

The Lieutenant then turned to a soldier, who was hunched over trying to catch his breath,

"You!" the Lieutenant shouted.

"Yes sir?"

"Go back to base camp and send a messenger hawk to the General, immediately!"

"Yes sir!"

The soldier left for base camp, as the Lieutenant put the limp body to the ground. About 30 minutes later, the loud shrieks of the villagers began to grow quiet. The thick black smoke covered up the night sky. The soldiers began to laugh, with their swords held high in the air. Victory was theirs. The spy walked up to the limp bodies of Tian and Min and looked at them with an evil grin. The other soldiers circled around the two bodies. One of them shouted,

"This is the soldier who gave us problems?"

"Yes, this is the great Tian!" the spy shouted.

"Doesn't look so tough."

The soldier then walked up and kicked Tian in the gut. The body rolled as the other soldiers laughed. However the spy didn't find it amusing. He walked up to the soldier, who had his arms up triumphantly, and the spy punched him in the jaw. The soldier fell to the ground,

"What the hell?" he said with his hand pressed to his face.

He wasn't the only one thinking that, all the other soldiers were furious.

"Have some respect!" the spy stated with a booming tone.

"Why? We're gonna kill him anyway." another soldier shouted out.

"True. However, he is a warrior, and even though he is on the losing side, he still deserves a little respect, but not a lot."

The group of soldiers were shaking their heads in disbelief, to think that the spy would have done that. The group, who were still buzzed began to quiet down. Tian started twitching and was blinking rapidly. {It's about time he decided to wake up} the spy thought. The spy motioned to one of the soldiers to sit him up. The first thing that Tian saw was the spy.

"WHERE'S MY WIFE!" he shouted.

"Right next to you." the spy coolly replied.

Tian looked furiously, until he saw her lying next to him, still unconscious,

"You didn't dare..." in a deep tone.

"No." the spy interrupted.

"When I get free..."

"I very much doubt that." the spy interrupted again.

Tian stopped a moment. He took a deep breath. All he could smell was ash. Tian tried to look beyond the soldiers, two soldiers noticed and moved out of the way. Tian had to look real hard, but after a couple of seconds, he could see the smoke rise. His jaw dropped as tears were coming to his eyes. The spy had a smile on his face.

"Look at the remains of your village!" he shouted.

Tian couldn't speak. Then suddenly, Min started to move, the spy motioned to one of the soldiers to sit her up. As soon as she got a hold of herself and got a grasp of things around her, she looked at Tian, tied up. Then tears came flowing from her eyes and she let out a giant scream. One soldier, cringing from all the noise, walked over to her and forced a rag in her mouth to shut her up. Then there was silence for a couple of moments.

"You monster!" Tian screamed.

"Guilty as charged." the spy replied with a bow.

"You burned down my village, I'll get you for this."

"You keep saying that like you mean it."

"It's gonna happen."

"I don't think so."

"So what's your next move?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Meanwhile Late at Night

Unaware of What's Transpiring

Fang walked back to the hotel with two full hands of new stuff. {Successful day I think} Fang thought proudly. He had gotten all of the medical supplies that his mother needed, some new cloths for him, and new weapons. And because he managed his budget well, he a couple of bronze coins remaining. Now it was time for some much needed sleep. {Probably gonna wake up early tomorrow so I can be back home by sundown} he thought. Then he yawned and flopped on the bed. He closed his eyes and whispered to himself,

"I can't wait to be home."

Then he let himself slip into peaceful sleep.

The Next Day

Early in the Morning as the Sun is Coming Up

Fang woke up early. He gathered his stuff and went to put on some of his new cloths. They were an earthy tone, nothing special, brown with green. Then he strapped his weapons and then placed the medical supplies in his bag and threw the bag over his back. He walked of the room and walked out of the hotel, he turned left and walked around the village for a little bit. With a bronze coin, he bought himself breakfast, to get the energy he needed for the trail. Along the trail, he looked up and saw smoke, it was very high in the air. He didn't think too much of it, and concluded that it was a campfire. He continued walking, anxious to be home.

At Serpent's Pass

Later in the Morning

Aang and the gang had just woke up and was getting ready for the days hike, when Katara looked up and saw black smoke,

"What is that?"

"I don't know, maybe some Fire Nation camp." Sokka replied.

"Not necessarily."

"Well, I don't think we should worry about it."

"I think that it deserves at least a look."

"I don't think..."

"Aang, maybe you should check it out." Katara blurted interrupting Sokka.

Aang who wasn't listening, kept looking out at the sea,

"Aang!" Katara said with a stern voice.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"No."

"I said, did you want to check out the smoke?"

"What smoke?"

Katara rolled her eyes and turned Aang around and pointed,

"That smoke." she said.

"Why? It's probably some Fire Nation camp."

"Exactly what I said." Sokka chimed in.

"Hush you." Katara scolded.

"I think that Sokka's right." Toph finally spoke up.

"I am?"

"Yea, with the luck that we have been having lately, we shouldn't try anything out of the ordinary. Let's just stick to the task at hand, we cannot risk Aang getting captured, we need to get to Ba-Sing-Se, and get this information to the Earth King!"

"I guess you're right." she said under her breath.

She dipped her head and never again looked at the smoke throughout the pass.

At the Earth Kingdom Battlefront

"Messenger coming!" one of the guards on post shouted.

"Let him in!" a supervisor shouted back.

They let the messenger jog by. He stopped jogging when he got into the center of the camp and started walking briskly. He talked to the first person he saw,

"Who is the leader of this outpost?"

The soldier pointed to the big tent,

"Thank you." the messenger replied.

He ran over to the tent and walked in.

"Who are you?" one of the leaders said.

"Messenger." he coolly responded.

"I don't know you."

"Newly recruited."

"Ok. What's your message."

"Tian's village has been destroyed."

"I-I-I don't believe you."

"It has. I was on my way to deliver a message, and I saw the smoke and I went to investigate. I saw the village burning. It was being overrun by a small contingent group of Fire Nation soldiers."

"I-I can't believe it."

"I'm sorry but it unfortunately is true."

"Any status on Tian?" the leader reluctantly asked.

"I would say that it is unknown at this point."

"Ok, carry on with your other duties."

The messenger ran outside.

"What do we do now?" one of the other leaders spoke up after a period of silence.

"I don't know."

"I think we should go save the village."

"Save the village?" another leader spoke up, "Are you nuts? He already said it was destroyed."

"Ok, but the Fire Nation soldiers are still there. We need to destroy them."

"We can't leave the front!"

The constant bickering went on for a while.

At the Fire Nation Battlefront

"Messenger hawk coming in!"

The soldier stuck his arm out and the hawk flapped its big wings a couple of times then rested on his arm. He took the message from the hawk and took the letter over to the General.

"It's from the Lieutenant." the soldier said.

'The mission was a success. Soon a messenger, wearing green, will be coming. Let him through, he is a Fire Nation soldier who just got finished with an undercover mission. It is time we overran the Earth Kingdom!'

Just as the General finished reading the message, one of the soldiers shouted,

"Messenger incoming!"

"Is he wearing green?" the General shouted back.

"Yes!"

"Let him through."

The messenger ran in. Quickly grabbed a sword and walked up to the General.

"Get the troops ready, we overrun them today."

"You don't give orders to me boy!" the General shouted.

"You don't understand, they are confused and disorganized. We need to go now!"

The General thought to himself for a moment,

"Ok, Ok. ASSEMBLE THE TROOPS! WE ATTACK TODAY!"

A fierce war cry came from the soldiers as the General walked into the tent. He turned to his advisor,

"Get two soldiers in here now!"

"Yes sir."

The advisor left and a couple of minutes later, two soldiers walked in.

"Sir!"

"You two are in-charge of getting a group and manning the weapon."

"Yes sir."

"Be on you're A game today, there can't be any mistakes."

"No, there certainly can't." a mysterious voice chimed in.

"Who the hell..."

Three mysterious figures walked into the tent.

"Hey! I don't know who you think you are but..."

Then in a split second, the General wished he could take those words back as the three mysterious figures were none other than Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee.

"P-Princess A-Azula!" he said as he bowed in shame.

"I'm sorry General. I couldn't hear what you were saying."

"I didn't mean...forgive me."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today."

"Thank..."

"Go to the front lines and lead the charge."

The look of horror came on the General's face. He was speechless, and there was just no way he would talk back to Princess Azula. He sighed, and picked up his sword and armor and walked out of the tent. Azula turned and looked at the two soldiers, who were still standing at attention.

"There was only one thing he was right about. Failure is not an option!"

The two soldiers, without saying a word, walked out of the tent to do the job that they were asked. So everyone was out of the tent except Mai and Ty Lee, who walked up to Azula.

"What fun are we going to do?" Ty Lee said cheerfully.

"We are going to supervise the men who are running the weapon."

"Okey Dokey!"

Mai stayed silent.

At the Fire Nation Front Line

The soldiers were lined up. They were ready to go. The General then walked up in-front of them.

"Today we overrun them! CHARGE!"

The General turned and ran. He was followed closely behind by his soldiers.

Back to the Earth Kingdom Battlefront

The earth started to rumble. One of the outpost guards on lookout, checked his surroundings and seconds later he saw Fire Nation soldiers running with their arms in the air.

"Alert the leaders!"

Another soldier took off running and ran to the HQ tent. As the sound of horns for an imminent attack were going off.

"There's a charge incoming!" the soldier quickly said.

The leaders in the tent were silent.

"There's a charge incoming!" the soldier repeated.

The leaders scrambled out of the tent and a couple of them went to go grab their swords. The main leader put his hand on the shoulder of the soldier.

"Get back to your post, defend it. For the Earth Kingdom!"

"Yes sir."

The soldier ran back, sword in hand, to his outpost. About 30 seconds later was the first sounds of the clang of metal on metal. The battle had begun.

Later in the Day

All you could hear was the sound of metal on metal. The crash of large boulders and the crackling sounds of fire. The battle had raged on for hours. The Fire Nation had caught the Earth Kingdom by surprise. However the Earth Kingdom was doing a fair job of standing their ground. But without Tian to get their inspiration from, it would only be a matter of time before they were overrun. One of the Earth Kingdom leaders was already cut down by a fire bender, and before you know it, the battle was quickly becoming a massacre. The main Earth Kingdom leader, who managed to survive thus far, deflected a few blows and when he got the chance shouted,

"FALL BACK!"

His voice was booming, it distracted some of his warriors, he shouted again,

"RETREAT! RETREAT! GET BACK TO BA-SING-SE ANY WAY YOU CAN!"

After shouting, he deflected a couple of more blows and he disappeared in the forest. Most of the soldiers escaped but a large number of soldiers were captured.

The Fire Nation General, who had also managed to make it through the battle walked around the field till he came up to the group of the captured Earth Kingdom soldiers, surrounded by his soldiers. One of the Fire Nation soldiers spoke up,

"Are we gonna execute them?" he said with a smile on his face.

"No." the General softly replied.

"Really sir?" the soldier had disappointment in his voice.

"Yes, I think there has been enough bloodshed today."

"What shall we do with them?" another soldier spoke up.

"Send them to the Boiling Rock!"

"Yes sir!"

Elsewhere

"I think that we need to conclude our business here." the spy spoke up.

"Why is that?" the Lieutenant said with confusion in his voice.

"We need to go, that's all."

"I don't see why we need to go."

"The General told me about a plan that WE need to attend to."

"How come he didn't tell me about it?"

"I don't know, you can ask him when we see him. I'm just telling you we need to leave."

"Ok. Ok."

The Lieutenant paced around; then started to walk away. He stopped and turned around. Facing the spy,

"Then, what are we gonna do with the prisoners?"

"I'll take care of it."

"I want someone to make sure that you get the job done."

"Ok." the spy rolled his eyes.

"I'll make sure that he does it!" one soldier spoke up.

"Feel better now?" the spy sarcastically motioned to the Lieutenant.

"Loads." the Lieutenant threw the sarcasm back.

The Lieutenant turned around and left. The soldier that spoke up walked up to the spy, and without saying a word, stood next to him. The other soldiers were just standing there unsure of what to do.

"What are you gawking at?" the spy yelled, "Don't you have better things to do?"

The soldiers were reluctant to move, they stood there for a couple of seconds. The spy didn't even respond to the lack of movement. He just turned and left, followed closely behind by the soldier. After the spy left, the other soldiers began to talk amongst themselves.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"None whatsoever."

"I thought this was going to be an easy job."

"It was pretty simple. It was actually rather easy."

"But haven't you noticed how much tension there is lately?"

"Oh yea! Especially between the spy and the Lieutenant."

"You could pretty much cut it with a dagger."

"Someone like the spy is not good for the corps."

"But he has led us this far without a hitch."

"True that."

Meanwhile

The spy and the soldier walked around the remains of the village. The spy stayed quiet, while the soldier was a little more flamboyant. They walked around for a couple of minutes. Then the spy walked over to Tian. He was still thrashing around trying to break free, to no avail.

"Have you been thrashing around this whole time?" the spy mocked.

Tian stopped thrashing. He looked at the spy and remained quiet.

"We are leaving soon." the spy spoke up again.

"Good riddance, I hope you..."

"Now now, there is no need for that."

The soldier, with a rag in his hand, stepped behind Tian and put the rag in Tian's mouth. And for added measure, the soldier drove his knee in Tian's back. Then the spy took out his dagger and held it in his hand. Tian started to thrash around again. The soldier started to struggle holding on to Tian, until he was finally able to drive an elbow. Then Tian stopped struggling. The spy walked up to Tian and knelt in front of him.

"You can stop struggling, you have been soundly beaten."

Then slowly the spy leaned forward and whispered in Tian's ear.

"I think you have been a thorn in the Fire Nation's side for long enough."

An Hour Later

The spy and the soldier walked up to the group, who were already ready to go.

"Where have you been?" the Lieutenant shouted.

"I know where I've been. Where have you been?" the spy replied.

"Stop messing with me!" Did you at least get the job done?"

"Yes!" the soldier chimed in.

"Who asked you?" the Lieutenant snapped.

After a couple of minutes of silence, the Lieutenant spoke up again,

"Let's move out! Apparently we cannot miss our rendezvous."

"Yes sir!" the group replied.

The soldiers moved out into the forest. The spy was the only one remaining in the village. He started to walk away, and he turned his head, which had an evil smile on it. He wanted to see the accomplishments of his work. When he was thoroughly satisfied with what he had seen, he ran to catch up with the soldiers.

Evening Time

Fang, still walking, was still in a good mood over the progress that he made over the past few days. He started to feel anxiety come over him cause while he was happy with what he did, he was still rather homesick. He started to sprint. He got to the last part of the trail, which was a fairly large hill that overlooks the village. He got to the top of the hill and looked out at what he could see. And what he saw, he almost could not comprehend. He dropped to his knees and began to weep.

He always, growing up, had a keen ability to keep his emotions in check. But at this moment, he was an emotional train wreck. There was no way he could control himself. He stood up and sprinted down the hill. He got to the remains of the village plaza and started to look around. He drew his sword, just in case. He walked around until he came to the remains of his home and stopped. He walked towards what would be the front door and he begun to survey the remains.

After looking around for a couple of minutes in his home, he found nothing that he could salvage. Instinct started to kick in along with anxiety. He walked over to the trail that leads into the village. He looked to the ground and saw large tracks that lead in one direction. He also saw a pair of tracks that walked in another. {I wonder where those two went.} He curiously thought. And so he followed the tracks till it lead him to a small secluded area. He took a gander, and found two objects in the shadows. He stepped closer and saw that there was red liquid underneath them. He dropped his sword and walked up to one of the bodies. He rolled it over and got a good look at his face. {Father?} Tears were now flowing steadily as he rolled over the second body {No, not mother too!} He kneeled between them and with his face firmly planted to the ground; he let out a huge scream.

"NOOOOO!"

After he let his emotions go. He looked up to the sky, hands shaking began to talk aloud.

"Please! This can't be happening!"

Then he was silent. Still kneeling, he looked at his hands,

"Was there something that I could have done?"

He closed his eyes, and planted his head firmly to the ground.

Elsewhere

The Fire Nation General and his soldiers marched briskly around the forest in an attempt to catch any more Earth Kingdom soldiers. The General had a smile on his face. He had somehow been able to manage surviving the battle and was able to keep his dignity after Princess Azula embarrassed him. After walking around for a little bit, and not finding a soldier, he heard rustling in the bushes. He drew his sword and took a defensive posture. The Lieutenant jumped out,

"Boo!"

The General jumped,

"Don't do that!"

"High strung are we?" the Lieutenant joked.

Before the General knew it, he was surrounded by the small band of soldiers.

"Good job on the mission men. You have made the Fire Nation proud." the General spoke up

"Thank you sir!" they collectively responded.

"Now join the rest of the men and join the march to Ba-Sing-Se!"

"Yes sir!" they replied.

After the soldiers left, the spy walked up to the General.

"Good work." the General spoke first.

"It was a piece of cake really." the spy replied with cockiness in his voice.

"Your part really helped us out. We finally overran them and are now firmly on our way to Ba-Sing-Se."

"Excellent."

The spy turned around and started to walk away,

"Where are you going?" the General said with concern in his voice.

"Got some other things that I need to do."

The General then stayed quiet as he watched the spy walk away.

The Next Day

Early in the Morning

Dawn. The sun was slowly creeping over the mountains. Fang was sleeping between the limp bodies of his mother and father. He rolled over trying anyway to get some sleep. Then suddenly, he felt the ground rumble. He jumped up, sword in hand, looked around. He couldn't see anything. But he couldn't help but have a strange feeling about something. He definitely wasn't able to explain the rumbling. He walked along the trail, and came to the point where he first noticed the large amount of tracks. He sheathed his sword, and followed them to find out where the people had gone off to. The tracks lead through the forest and dumped off into a valley. The rumbling got more intense. He looked around some more and still he saw nothing. He decided to walk in the valley. He peered up the hill. The rumbling under his feet was so intense; he was having a hard time standing up. An object was moving close to him. He saw silhouettes of people marching towards him. He darted out of the valley and into the other side of the forest, with the hope that he had not been seen.

The object was moving closer, and Fang was starting to try to gather info about what he was up against. The object was enormous and surrounded by soldiers. Fang slowly crawled backward towards a thicker part of the forest. And when he thought that he was out of sight, he started to bushwhack to try and get ahead of the object. There was another opening point ahead. He decided to climb a tree to try and gain an elevated view of the object. When the object started to pass him again, he saw soldiers sitting on top of it. There was only one thing racing through his mind, and he said it aloud,

"What the hell is that thing?"

END PART 1