Devil's Advocate
Bartering 1.2
This was the second time I'd awoken to the feeling of a dry, furry mouth and hoarse throat. And in the same day, no less. I groaned as I levered myself to my feet once more, but held back on the hacking coughs. Even if I was in the middle of the forest, I should probably be a lot more cautious. I didn't want a repeat of what happened... Fuck, a few hours ago.
I shook my head and looked up. The sun was beginning to sink, and I estimated it to be about mid-afternoon. So I had some time to find shelter before dusk. But more important than that...
I needed to control my Firebending. That was absolutely paramount. Quite apart from the fact that I could cause some serious damage if I wasn't careful, the fact that it could activate without me even wanting it to meant that I could out my identity by accident. And given the way that old man had reacted to firebending, and the fact that this wasn't an icy tundra... I was fairly sure I was in the Earth Kingdom.
Christ. Firebending. Earth Kingdom. The fuck was I even doing here? 'Scaring' the heroes back on track? Learning Firebending?
Despite myself, I felt a little spark of joy dance in my stomach. I could create fire. I could do motherfucking elemental magic. How could you not be in awe of that?
I shook my head. As joyful as I was, I needed to be careful of my fire. It could hurt me, going by Zuko's face scar, and it could hurt others – as I had discovered personally. So find somewhere relatively safe to practice.
I turned around and... Ah. I had apparently wandered fairly far from the path through the forest, given that I couldn't see it anymore. I 'hmmmed' aloud and turned around once more. There was... a shallow incline in one direction, so the other direction – probably – pointed towards the village I had seen earlier. So I knew the general direction it was in, but before I went there, I needed to try and control my Firebending.
I walked in the vague direction of the village, taking a zigzag pattern to see if I could find any clearings. It didn't take a long – I was only walking for maybe ten minutes before the forest began to think into a strip of land, fairly long. I wasn't too god at distances, but... Yeah, fairly long. There were trees on either side of the clearing, but I couldn't see any signs of a road passing through here.
I stood in the centre of the clearing, still feeling a little weak from my lack of food, rest, or water. No matter. I could finish this up quickly, head down to the village, and see if I could find anything there.
I sucked in a deep breath, then focused. I didn't... Feel any different, I couldn't suddenly feel a source of 'chi' inside me, or whatever it was Firebenders used. I could only think back to what had happened before – I'd gotten very angry, and bent fire. That was all I had to go on. Anger. That was canon, wasn't it? Ozai had taught Firebenders to use their hatred, or something? And when Zuko had lost his, he lost his Firebending.
Okay. So anger. It probably wasn't a great way to get started, but I doubted I would find any dragons to teach me the true way to Firebend.
I closed my eyes and thought back to something that had made me really angry. I thought of my little brother, the annoying brat who had been the source of most of by anger. But the thought of him didn't make me angry, just... Sad. Because I... I might never see him again. All because of that fucking Devil-
My fists tightened by my side and I held them up in front of me, in a vague approximation of a fighting stance. I tightened my focus, picturing that fucking goat-man smirking n a way that was anatomically impossible for a goat head, and jabbed my left hand forward.
A short bust of flame roared from my fist, maybe the size of my head. It dissipated a metre or so from my body. I took a step and jabbed with my other hand, and another jet roared from my fist, this time a little larger, and dissipating a little further from my body.
Step. Punch. Fire. Step. Punch. Fire. Step. Punch. Fire.
I took a final step, drew my hand back, and, in a poor impersonation of what I'd left from my karate classes as a child, twisted my fist as I punched and stepped forward, putting the whole of my body into the punch, and-
A roaring burst of flame, maybe half the size of me, exploded from my palm and roared forward, trailing spark and embers. It shot forward for half the length of the clearing before shedding fire, getting weaker and weaker as it lengthened the distance between us, before finally dissipating.
I stood there panting for a moment. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, though whether from the heat or the exertion I was unsure. I sat down heavily, arms resting on my knees before I fell back to lie down. Man, I was tired. Firebending takes a lot out of a guy.
I looked to the sky. The sun had sunk lower in the sky, and it was beginning to get darker. The sky was being painted in reds and oranges, and I could already tell it would be a beautiful sunset. Although... That reminded me- Sozin's comet. Hell, the whole freaking plot- I didn't even know when the hell I was!
Not to mention that, apparently, there was something going on with the timeline that had fucked it up? So even if I knew when I was – which I didn't – it didn't necessarily mean that it would be all that helpful.
There were impossible numbers of things that could be different, and I didn't even remember the series all that well.
For the first time I began to actually wonder whether I could do this. That-fucking-Devil had said that the last people who'd tried it had failed – implying that there had been others who had tried this and had been unable to scare the heroes straight.
The most important thing at the moment was finding the Avatar. Then it was find out what was different, then find out how to fix it.
I sighed shakily. I was way out of my depth.
~/DA\\~
I had made way into the Earth Kingdom town at the base of the mountain shortly after that. I wasn't sure I had total control over my powers, but... As long as I didn't get too angry, I was fairly sure nothing bad would happen.
Unfortunately, I was pretty conspicuous. My clothes weren't exactly traditional Earth Kingdom style, and they were fairly distinctive. So I needed to get some new clothes, some food, and a place to stay.
Which brought me to my second problem – I had no money. None at all, not even a few loose coins in the hidden pockets in my trousers. So I had to find work... Somehow. I could probably do some menial tasks, just to get myself back on my feet, and then I would need to find the Avatar. Plus, working in a shop or something would allow me to pick up on some of the gossip, maybe help me find out when I was.
I entered through what passed for the main gates in short order. The two Earth Kingdom guards gave odd looks as I past, but didn't apprehend me. They were unarmed – which, unfortunately, only made them more dangerous, since they were probably Earthbenders. I pulled my shirt (if it had enough fabric to be called a shirt) tighter across my chest and hurried along, eyes downcast.
My hair was slightly longer, I had noticed. Unfortunately, it kept to the ridiculous growth of my last hair, in that it got progressively thicker and shaggier the longer it got. Plus, I could already feel bristles poking through on my cheeks, chin, and upper lip. I wonder how the hell I was going to shave – I couldn't avoid cutting myself with a regular razor, never mind having to use a knife. I'd probably bleed to death trying to keep control over my sideburns.
Still, I kept my head down, glancing around every now and again to see if there were any 'Help Wanted' signs in shops. So far I hadn't seen any, but that might have been because of the throng of people around.
Despite how late it was, people were still calling out their wares into the night air. Crowds gathered around stalls selling merchandise, and I briefly wondered if there was a festival of some kind going on.
Eventually, I found myself sitting at a stall manned my a young woman. An old lady sat next to me, slowly and meticulously slurping up noodles from a bowl of soup in front of her. I felt a brief stab of guilt, but I quickly turned my head.
"Can I get you anything, sir?" The young woman queried, smiling faintly. She had short, dark bangs framing face and a long, braided ponytail over one shoulder. She looked... Soft.
"Um, just water?" I asked hesitantly, wincing internally. "I... Don't have any money though..."
"Oh no, what happened?" The young woman asked, a frown creasing her brow momentarily.
"Ah..." I began, glancing over at the old woman who... hadn't changed expression. In fact, she seemed deaf to the world. "Well, I was, uh, travelling the Earth Kingdom to meet my grandfather in Omashu, but I was, uh, accosted by bandits. They... Took everything I had. I only have the clothes on my back now."
Great. I'd been in this world less than a day and I was already lying to people who had shown an interest in my life. But what the hell else could I do? Tell them the Devil had snatched me up from the afterlife and told me to go scare the shit out of the Avatar? Oh, and by the way, I'm a Firebender who set an old man's house on fire!
"That's so sad!" The young woman wailed aloud. It seemed she had forgotten my request for water. "And your poor grandpa in Omashu! Oh, those Fire Nation-!"
"Wait, wait," I cut in, latching onto her words. "What happened in Omashu?"
"Haven't you heard?" The young woman gazed at me, pity in her eyes. "The Fire Nation have taken over the city, and imprisoned King Bumi!"
I sat there for a moment, shocked. Okay, that confirmed when I was... The beginning of Book Two, or roundabouts? So that was still the same at least... The Avatar was in the Earth Kingdom, and was probably trying to reach Omashu. Given that news of the Avatar getting there hadn't been reported, I could assume that he was still in that cave, what was it... The Cave of Two Lovers? That's right, Oma and Shu. Thus, Omashu. Right.
"That's... Terrible." I said, lamely, after a pause. "I have to get there as soon as possible, and save my grandfather!"
"Wait," the young woman cut me off and took hold of my arm. "What could you do? Against the Fire Nation? Are you an Earthbender?"
"Ah, no," I replied. Technically true. "But I could-!"
"Please." She said, gazing into my eyes. "Stay. Here, I'll even give you a meal, on the house! You must be hungry after having travelled so far."
"I... Yeah, I am." I said, surprised. This girl was incredibly naïve. I almost felt bad for taking advantage of her like this. "Thank you."
"I'm Mina." She said, even as she set about preparing the broth.
"I'm..." My mind raced as I tried to think of a name. I didn't want to giver her my real name, even though it probably wouldn't have made a difference. I glanced up, to see that stars were beginning to peek out from the veil of daylight. "Orion."
"Nice to meet you, Orion." She smiled, and placed the soup in front of me. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.
~/DA\\~
