Disclaimer: I do not have anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon nor have I ever.
A Warrior's Path
Chapter 1
Everyday for as long as she could remember, Suki watched the Kyoshi Warriors practice, it was like an amazing dance. Suki's mother was the current leader, before was her grandmother, and before that her great grandmother. It was a tradition, through their blood-line, all the way back to Avatar Kyoshi. Today was a special day for Suki. Today was her tenth birthday and she was finally old enough to start her training to become a great Kyoshi Warrior herself, and one day follow with tradition and become the next leader. Today was Suki's Initiation Ceremony; this was where she was officially made a warrior, where she got her very own uniform and all. Her mother turned to face her, she wore a proud smile. "Today, we welcome a new member into our ranks! This is your warrior's uniform, wear it proudly! The silk threads symbolizes the brave blood that flow through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart."
"Bravery and Honor." Suki repeated bowing to her mother.
"Bravery and Honor!" All the warriors yelled.
"Welcome, my daughter!" Her mother said as she hugged her daughter. "It almost felt like this day would never arrive."
Suki went into the changing room and put her first uniform on. First she put on her green armored kimono, then her metal head dress and completed the uniform by carefully painting her face. She felt so proud as she looked in the mirror on the table in front of her, the blue-eyed girl that had looked back at her was now a Warrior of Kyoshi. She quickly dabbed away a few tears before they streaked her make-up, she was proud to finally be a warrior, like all the women of her blood line before her. Suki examined her new weapons: the Katana, the golden fans, and the retractable shield.
When Suki came out of the dressing room she was grinning from ear to ear. She lined up with the rest of the Warriors as they started their sets, every movement beautiful but deadly. Suki had no problem staying with them, she had done the sets on the side-line for as long as she could remember, she was born to be a warrior.
"Okay, Warriors, that was great practice, now we will continue our celebration of Suki's induction and tenth birthday!" Suki's mother said as another warrior brought a birthday cake out of a cupboard.
"Happy Birthday Suki!" They all said, then began passing out birthday cake to everyone.
"Daddy! Daddy! I'm officially a Kyoshi Warrior now!" Suki said as she ran, in full uniform, into their house. Her father had been out fishing, so he was unable to attend Suki's ceramony.
"I'm so proud of you Suki!" He said as he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around.
"She did so well today!" Suki's mother said as she, also in full uniform, walked into their home. "She had no problem keeping up with us."
"I told you she wouldn't, Avalon, she spent every minute she could watching you. Then she would come home and practice in her room for hours. She was born a Warrior!"
Suki had her fans out, she was carefully practicing her fan sets. This is the very first time she would practice with real fans, all she had before were some make-shift fans made from folded parchment.
"Mama, may I go show my friends my uniform?" Suki asked.
"Yes, but not the fans, they are weapons not toys." Her mother told her.
"Aaaawwwwww... Okay Mama." Suki said as she closed her golden fans and set them on the table.
Suki's friends were all waiting for her at the bridge; they too awaited the day that they become Kyoshi Warriors. "Look at you! All suited up. Can we see your fans?" Her friends called out as she approached the bridge. Most of them would be turning ten in a couple months.
Suki's smile faded, "Mama said I couldn't bring the fans with me."
"Aaaawwweeee, we wanted to see them." Pika said.
"Well there goes that idea." Suryani pouted.
"Hey lets go swimming!" Rayn suggested to the other six girls. Growing up on Kyoshi Island EVERYONE knew you never swam at the beach, the Unagi lurks in those waters, you swam in the pond at the bottom of the waterfall.
"Oh that's a great idea!" Suki said excitedly."Let me go home and hang up my warrior uniform so it doesn't get dirty or messed up."
"Okay but hurry up!" Meena said to Suki.
Suki ran home as quickly as she could, she couldn't wait to swimin the cold water. Today was the first hot day of spring, and after spending all day in the dojo, the idea of going swimming was magical. Suki burst through the door at full speed, "I'm going swimming with my friends Mama, and Daddy!" She hollered to her parents as she headed straight to her room to change her clothes.
"Be back by dark!" Suki's mother called into Suki's bedroom. "Remember to be a good girl you are a Warrior of Kyoshi now, not just simple Suki anymore. Whether in uniform or not you always act with bravery and honor."
"I will Mama!" Suki called as she finished dressing in her regular clothes and ran back to the bridge where her friends were still waiting for her.
The seven girls had fun playing and splashing each other, they played a little game to see who could stand under the waterfall the longest, of course Suki, won. She always won. Then their fun was disrupted by a bunch of the village boys that came over and started messing with them.
"Come on girls, let's go for a walk." Kerian said as the boys jumped into the pond sending water splashing all over them.
"Yeah, lets go for a walk." Suki agreed, giving all the boys dirty looks as the girls picked up their clothes and walked back over the bridge. They walked along the little river that ran around the island and through a beautiful peach orchard.
Once the girl's underclothes were dry they stopped to put their clothes back on. "I hate boys! They are such jerks. I'm going to concentrate on becoming the best Warrior I can be." Suki said as she pulled her dress over her head.
"But some of them are so cute." Rayn said.
"All boys are stupid jerks... they act like they are better than us. I will never get married." Suki told them.
The group of girls continued walking along the small river and into the peach orchard. They could tell when they got close, the scent of ripe juicy peaches was heavy in the air. This was one of Suki's favorite things about her home on the island.
Suki felt her stomach growl and knew that Mama would be cooking dinner right about now. "Hey guys, we should go back home, I'm getting hungry."
"Suki, we are in a huge orchard with thousands upon thousands of peaches. Just take a few, nobody is going to get hurt... nobody is going to even notice a few peaches gone, the birds eat more then we could anyways." Pika told Suki.
"I know... but I will know... I'm a Kyoshi Warrior now and Mama said I need to act like one." Suki told the.
"Oh, come on Suki... You aren't even in uniform right now." Meena told her.
"Mama said whether in uniform or not you always act with bravery and honor. Taking peaches isn't very honorable."
"Oh, so Miss Suki is better than us because she's a 'Warrior' now." Pika said to the other girls. "Yeeeaaahhh." the five other girls said at the same time.
Suki's heart hurt. She didn't think she was any better, and she wanted her friends to like her. "Okay, I'll take one." Suki told them. She spotted a huge yellow and pink peach, she reached up and plucked it from the tree. Inside she knew that this was very wrong but she worried too much about what her friends thought. She held the peach up to her nose, it smelled wonderfully juicy, she put it to her mouth and took a great big bite.
"Peach thieves!" Mr. Ler, the orchard ownet's voice rang all around them, startling them all "PEACH THEIVES!" he yelled again. Suki was getting ready to bolt when a hand came down on her shoulder causing her to scream. All her friends had gotten away but he had her so she couldn't go anywhere.
"I'm taking you to your mother Suki, I don't take kindly to peach theives." The old man said as he took hold of her wrist and began walking her to her house.
The entire time it took to get to her house her mother's voice kept ringing in her head "A Kyoshi Warrior always acts with bravery and honor." Suki felt so bad, not for stealing... for letting Mama down. She knew she shouldn't have touched that peach, moreover she knew she shouldn't have let her friends talk her into doing something she knew was very wrong. Stealing was neither brave nor honorable, she felt sick to her stomach from the guilt, she was crying when the old man knocked on the front door. His other hand tightened around her wrist.
Suki began to cry harder when she saw it was her mother who had answered the door. "Good evening Mr. Lee. What can I do for you today?" Mama's smile faded when she saw Mr. Lee's hand around her daughter's wrist.
"I caught a Peach Thief!" The old man said.
Mama's eyes looked sadly at her daughter. "How much will you sell the peach to me for?"
"I don't want money... I want her to come to my Orchard and help me every day for the next month. She needs to see what goes into growing the fruit. She will never learn to not steal them if you just buy them from me." He told Avalon.
"Okay we can work that out. When would you like her to be there tomorrow? She has Warrior training everyday but she can work for you after." Suki's mother told him.
"Warrior training... Ok well I want her in the grove by the time the sun comes up, I will dismiss her for training, but right after training is over she will return and work until sunset." The old man said as he released Suki's wrist.
"Okay, I will make sure she is there on time every day." Mama said to him. "Come on Suki, We need to talk."
Suki and her mother went into the kitchen, Mama looked so sad and disappointed. "I'm sorry Mama. I didn't want to... The girls talked me into it... they acted like they aren't going to be my friend if I didn't." Tears poured from her eyes. "Stealing is neither brave nor honorable. I made a bad choice... and now have to accept the consequences of my actions... but most of all, Mama, I let you down... I'm so sorry Mama. I'm so so sorry, I will never steal again. I'll go to my room until you call me for dinner." Suki said then went to her room.
Suki's Mother knew Suki was racked with guilt, and that Suki knew what she did was wrong and accepted the consequences. A small smile came to her lips, one day Suki would be a great leader for the Kyoshi Warriors.
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