Chapter 2: The Straw That Broke the Crococamel's Back
Aang woke bleary eyed and lead-headed to a timid knock on the door. He lay on his back for a moment, staring at nothing. Thoughts chased each other in his mind, scattering if he tried to reach for them. Dust motes floated through sun beams above his head, aimless, free. To be like that, he thought numbly. What I wouldn't give...
The knock sounded again, this time accompanied by a muted, unintelligible voice. Sighing, Aang pushed his sheets off and stood. His head swam for moment and he pressed a hand against his forehead. Responsibility would be a lot easier to handle if it wasn't so painful all the time.
There was a third knock. Aang sighed. "I'm coming."
With a quick gesture of his hand, Aang airbent the sliding door to his room open. The servant girl standing at the threshold jumped and gave a squawk of surprise. The tray of food she carried rattled in her hands.
"Sorry," Aang smiled as he came over to her. "Didn't mean to startle you." He reached for the tray. "Here, let me get this for you."
The girl gasped in shock and clutched the tray to her chest. "I could ne-never allow that, Avatar." She kept her eyes to the ground. "To let a guest such as you serve would shame me forever."
Aang smiled sheepishly and shrugged. He knew her type immediately, he had met them so many times before. "Won't you come in?"
The girl hesitated a moment before stepping in and placing the tray on a low table. She made to leave quickly.
"Wait a minute," Aang called.
The girl stopped in her tracks, eyes down, back stiff. "You require something else, Avatar?"
Aang sat down at the table. He knew her type but maybe he could coax some conversation out of her. "Some company would be nice." He gestured to the other side of the table. "Please, sit."
The girl stood where she was. "I can not, Avatar." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I won't tell," Aang encouraged.
She bowed low then. "I...cannot."
Aang sighed. He propped his head on his hand and began picking at his food. Awkward silence fell on the room. The girl was still bent double, motionless.
"Hey," Aang said. "Doesn't that hurt?"
There was no reply for a moment. "I live to serve, Avatar." She straightened. "Do you require anything else?"
"Other than your company?" Aang responded wryly.
The girl simply bowed again.
"I guess a name would be nice." Aang said. "You are allowed to tell me your name?"
"It is..." she hesitated. "I am Sai Lin," she said finally.
Aang grinned at his success. "It's nice to meet you, Sai Lin. I'm Aang."
There was a quirk to her lips. Aang's grin deepened at the crack in formality. "So," he asked casually. "It's a little hard to tell here. Are you from the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation?"
For a moment flat out anger appeared on her face but it was gone so quickly Aang thought he imagined it. Cold formality descended on Sai Lin's face. Her voice was frigidly stiff. "I am Yamamachi."
Aang stared at her warily. "Of course, I meant no offence-"
Sai Lin cut him off abruptly. "If you have no further need of me, Avatar?"
Aang felt hopelessly lost for words. So much for some conversation. He opened his mouth to dismiss her when there was the sound of an explosion, followed by another.
Sai Lin lost her cold mask and was quickly painted with surprise. "That was from..."
"Outside," Aang finished and he raced to the window. From the tops of the forest he could see smoke rise.
***
For a while Lieutenant Sho had been taking in the beauty of the forest around him. It rained a little too much for his taste and made wearing his armor a chore but the rest was quite magical. He never realised there could be so many shades of green. And the birds that he could see! They flew past in brilliant flashes of pinks, reds and blues. He could see the attraction of living out here.
Something red caught his eye and he stopped his ostrichorse. It couldn't be. He moved his animal closer to the side of the road. Yes, it is. Fire Lilies. But they were native to the Fire Nation. He wondered how they had gotten so far from home. Well obviously it was the colonists, you imbecile. Just something they brought to remind them of home. And Sho did feel a little homesick looking at them. He dismounted and plucked one of the flowers. Twirling the flower in his hand, the red petals flashing in the sunlight, he smiled. A little homesick, yes. But happy too.
Sho tucked the Fire Lily behind his sash and mounted up again. He admired it for a moment. It was a little non-regimented but it would only stay for a little while. Besides, today was a day to feel more than a little happy.
"I'm putting my trust in you, Lieutenant. That means the Fire Nation is putting it's trust in you. Do your country proud."
The Fire Lord's last words to him positively made his skin tingle. He, Sho Qin, of a minor and unimportant house, had the entire Fire Nation riding on his shoulders. And not only that, but to be working with the Avatar too. The honour was too much to contain. He allowed his well disciplined face to break into a grin.
The quiet laughter from the other people sharing the road broke his good mood. He tried for a hard-eyed stare at the Earth Kingdom troop.
"Something amusing, gentlemen?" Considering that they were five and he was one, Sho thought he came off rather intimidating.
There was more quiet laughter from all. Except of course from the one they called Sifu Khan. That one hadn't even acknowledged Sho. Which hurt his pride even more than the laughter.
"We like your flower, Lieutenant," one of them said with a smile. "It goes well with your shiny armour."
Sho twitched but said nothing.
"Yeah," another responded. "And it sure smells nice too. Better than us unwashed fellas. Am I right boys?"
There was a chorus of snickers. Sho felt his jaw creak.
"Nah, boys," a third said. "I hardly noticed the flower there. Sho always smells so pretty all the time."
Sho quivered with indignation. A dandy. They thought he was a fop.
"He's shaking!" One of them whispered loudly. "Wait for it..."
"Agni Kai!" Sho roared.
They erupted with laughter.
"I demand Agni Kai!"
"That's ten marks you owe me, Huan," a soldier said to the one riding next to him. The fellow was wheezing with laughter as he handed over the coins.
"I should never have bet," Huan managed to get out. "The lieutenant just makes too easy a target."
Sho couldn't stand it any longer. An easy target, am I? Without another thought he firebent at the two soldiers. The flame was small but unexpected. Their ostrichorses reared and the two soldiers fell out of their stirrups, hitting the ground hard. The coins they were exchanging scattered across the road. The one named Huan fell awkward and there was an audible snap as his arm broke.
The laughter cut off abruptly.
The other three soldiers rushed to dismount and check on their companions. There was shouting and calls of orders. The ostrichorses were screaming and kicking, trying to shake off the fire that was no longer there. Above all the noise was Huan crying out in pain.
To Sho, the sound of his heartbeat seemed just as loud as all the shouting, if not louder. It pounded in his chest and thumped like a drum in his ears. His hands shook as the adrenalin drained rapidly from them.
"Huan..." his voice caught in his throat but the others didn't seem to hear him anyway. They moved quickly and efficiently, not even looking at him.
"Huan, I'm sorry." The apology sounded pathetic, even to his ears.
"Agni Kai?"
The words cut off the noise of the others. Sho's head jerked up and he stared straight at Sifu Khan. The man hadn't moved at all while his soldiers worked but now he dismounted. The kneeling soldiers watched in silence as he made his way towards Sho.
"You wish to...fire duel with me?"
Sho eyed the man warily. He was short, dressed in a robe of green so dark it was almost black. His head was shaved and he wore thin, white moustaches that dangled down below his chin and a goatee that did the same. Sifu Khan had never looked at him before so it was only now that he noticed his eyes, green and shadowed by his brow as if peering out of a cave. They were not pleasant to look at.
"I..." Sho swallowed under Khan's unnerving gaze. "I didn't mean any-"
"You can't take back the words, Lieutenant, or the wounds," Khan interrupted. "Did you or did you not request Agni Kai?"
"Yes but-"
"Then I accept your challenge."
Sho stared at him. Even the soldiers seemed shocked. "Sir, I'll pay any recompense you wish..."
"You're recompense is to fight me, Lieutenant."
This was getting out of hand. The man seemed serious. Sho's eyes flicked quickly to the soldiers. Their faces were grim. One of them shook his head slightly. Sho almost laughed. He needed no warning not to fight Khan. The man had a reputation among the Fire Nation. Sho thought desperately for a way out.
"You can't Agni Kai with me," he said finally. "You...you can't firebend."
Khan smiled and, like most things about his face, it was not pleasant. "So this is the man the Fire Lord sent as a representative of his people." He eyed Sho contemptuously. "A weak, little boy ready to start fights but unable to finish them. The very image of every man who calls himself Fire Nation."
For a moment the flooding rage he felt made Sho unable to speak. "We Agni Kai," he finally managed.
Sho dismounted from his ostrichorse and assumed position, left arm outstretched, right arm bent and pulled back.
Khan sneered at him. "Lieutenant, I would have killed you anyway, if only to have you replaced with a lesser buffoon." He straightened, his shoulders pulled back, his feet wide, arms slightly raised to his side.
Sho's arms shook with fury. "That will be the last time you ever-"
His words were cut off abruptly when a pillar of stone launched him into the air.
Sho screamed for a moment, flying end over end until instinct kicked in. Turning, he firebent hard and fast at the ground, the momentum lurching out of him. He landed in a roll and stood quickly, arms ready, chest heaving.
The Earth Kingdom soldiers were far down the road. He could see them running after him. Khan, however, was nowhere to be seen. The forest around him gained an air of danger it never had before. Maybe if I can lure him out...
"That was an unfair move," Sho shouted.
The forest responded only with the buzz of insects and the sway of branches in the wind. Sho turned slowly in a circle, eyes searching.
"But then again," he called out. "You're an Earthbender. It's in your nature to be low."
There was a whistling noise and Sho turned in time to knock a flying rock away. The second landed in his chest. Sho fell backwards, unable to breathe. His breastplate had caved in, pushing against his chest. His fingers frantically grabbed at the shoulder straps. There was a rumble through the ground and he quickly rolled over. The ground beneath where he had been lying erupted.
His chest was burning now, screaming for air. His stupid fingers fumbled at the straps, panic crippling them. Another rumble sounded. Sho looked down between his legs and saw a jagged line of torn earth rushing down at him. As it descended he pulled at his straps, felt them snap and scrambled out the way. He stood, sucking in air, his chest piece falling away from him.
Khan stood casually across from him, eyes impassive. "You were saying something, Lieutenant."
Sho struggled to get control of himself. Khan was playing with him, didn't even think he was a threat. It was time for him to show what the Fire Nation infantry was best at; offence.
He ran towards the older man, jumped and roundhouse kicked, launching two fireballs larger than a man's head. Khan responded with one rock barricade, then another. Both exploded into shards of debris as the fireballs crashed into them. Sho didn't slow his assault. He landed from his jump and went straight into a low sweep with his legs, a wave of fire racing before him. It fizzled out as Khan softened the ground in front of him. Sho spun his leg around and pumped his fists, sending assault after assault at Khan. The man countered every hit, his movement hardly slowing at all.
Sho launched himself into the air, spinning his arms out, and a huge twisting funnel of fire charged at Khan. Khan hunched and encased himself in a hollow of stone. The fire funnel hit and Khan's cocoon of rock exploded. Thick layers of dust clung to the damp air, making that much harder to breathe. Khan was coughing and just regaining his balance when Sho burst through the debris, his fists trailing fire.
Khan Pulled and the dirt and rock from the air melded to his hands and forearms. Then he and Sho began to dance.
At least, that was how the Earth Kingdom soldiers would later tell it; a dance of rock and fire. They ducked and weaved around each other, Sho trying to press his advantage, Khan stubbornly holding his defence. They tore the forest apart around them, trees falling or bursting into flames, yet they hardly noticed. And when their arms would hit one another sparks would light the air.
Sho finally brought his arm down in a fury of flames as Khan brought his up with unflinching force. Both their blows landed and both were sent hurling backwards.
Sho lay on the ground for a moment, dazed, teeth clenched and drawing ragged breath. There was dirt in his mouth and sweat in his eyes. His muscles felt like water. Distantly he could hear the Earth Kingdom soldiers shouting something; encouragement for their master probably or something like it. But he wasn't going to lose. Not to Khan. Not to those soldiers. And he would lose to himself. He was representing the Fire Lord here. And that meant entire Fire Nation. Honour demanded him not to lose. And he wouldn't.
Slowly he pushed himself off the ground. It was painful, especially when seeing Khan already on his feet. But he could push through pain. His honour would see that he would. He drew a deep breath as he straightened, pulling the last reserves of chi remaining in him. He stretched his arms out behind him and fire bloomed in his palms, growing, building.
Khan watched him and sighed in seeming exasperation. "Give over, Lieutenant," he called. "You can't win. You can barely stand."
The fire in Sho's palms flared and he took an involuntary step forward.
Khan grimaced. "Very well, Lieutenant. Have it your way." He bent his arms to his side, fists closed and Pushed at the ground beneath. The earth erupted and Khan lurched forward at speed. The fire in Sho's palms exploded with released fury and he rocketed toward Khan. He shouted in battle cry as both men rushed towards an inevitable collision.
Sho was so focused on Khan that it took him a moment to realise he was suddenly underwater.
He watched in numb shock as those trees remaining around them burst, the liquid Pulled out of them. The sinuous flows wrapped around Khan and firmly smacked him a tree. The water coiled around the trunk and the aged Earthbender found himself thoroughly tied up.
Sho could do nothing but stare. Both of them had only moments ago been about to kill each other. And now they had just been incapacitated in a matter of seconds. Who could have done this? His thoughts raced with panic. What could have done this?
And then he appeared, riding on the back of a giant six-legged animal. He was tall and young but with the eyes of an older man, a man who had seen many things. Those eyes were grim now as he turned to look at both Sho and Khan over his raised arms.
It's him! Sho floundered in his watery prison, bubbles escaping from his mouth. Oh Agni, it's actually him!
"Gentlemen," the Avatar said gravely. "I think you have some explaining to do."
Whether it was from excitement, exhaustion or from a lack of air, he would never know, but whatever it was, Sho promptly fainted.