(A/N) Stuff starts happening! These first few chapters are going to be a little slow, as I need to set up the plot. But we get a little taste of action here, and its only going to lead to more fun. Hope you enjoy!
Firebending always came easy to Kai. Ever since his father died, he had been hesitant to use it, but whenever he did, he loved it. Other people always seemed angry when they firebended, and he felt bad for them. Kai, on the other hand, was always ecstatic when bending. When he was little, his father took him to some old temple near the fire nation. The men there were strange, but they were excellent benders, and they explained to him that fire did not always lead to destruction. They said that fire was light in the darkness, and that fire was the essence of life. For some reason, that really hit Kai deeply.
But firebending always reminded Kai of his father. Despite not being a bender, his dad taught him almost everything he knew. Because of that, Kai style was extremely unique. Kai always asked his father why his firebending looked so different, but his dad never gave him a clear answer. He always said, "One day, you will understand."
Four long years had passed since he watched his father die, and he still felt a melancholy wave every time the image washed through his head.
But none of that mattered right now. Kai was cornered, and Rio was on the ground next to him, unconscious. In front of him, a young man was talking. Kai figured that he should actually listen to him at this point, so he shifted his focus.
"… bender. The Great Leader requires all benders to join his Army. You will not fight us like your friend did," the man said.
Kai looked at him and his cronies, and saw that most of them were terrified. They obviously weren't soldiers, and they didn't really want to be fighting and capturing kids. Realizing this, Kai replied, "Great Leader? You all look like thugs from one of the gangs, not soldiers."
"The Great Leader is uniting all of us. He will bring us to the Promised Land, and He will destroy those who resist."
"Alright, both you and this Leader guy sound crazy." Kai looked over at his fallen friend, "we're not going with you."
The head thug shrugged and prepared for a fight. Kai counted 5 thugs, and although a couple of them looked useless, he still didn't like his odds. Still though, he needed to protect his friend.
The head thug struck first. Taking a wide stance, he pulled a large chuck of earth and launched it toward Kai. Using the forms his father taught him, he moved in a circle while rotating to dodge the rock. Using his momentum, he sent a sweeping, knee height fire blade toward the thugs. While they were busy with that, Kai tried to pick up Rio to make an escape. Instead, he saw that Rio was now frozen to the ground, and he looked up in time to dodge a water whip aimed at his head. Kai jumped up onto the wall of the alleyway and pushed off directly into the waterbender, knocking both of them over. Kai rolled out of it and directly into a huge rock launched by the head thug.
Kai already felt his shoulder swelling from the impact, but he quickly got up. He needed to end this fight right away. No longer feeling bad about hurting the thugs, he launched a massive fireball and knocked all of the thugs out into the street.
"Why didn't you just start with that move?" Kai heard from the back of the alleyway. He looked back and saw Rio struggling to stand up. "You know you could kick every single one their asses whenever you want."
Kai grimaced as the pain in his shoulder began to throb as the adrenaline wore off and said, "I didn't know if any of them were firebenders. Plus, I don't exactly enjoy hurting people like you do."
"Eh you know I don't like hurting people. I just do what has to be done." Rio limped over to his friend. "Let's get out of here before their friends start looking around for them.
Appa let out an annoyed grunt as he began to tire under the strain of the weight he was carrying. Aang wondered whether Appa had ever carried this many people before. He and Katara were sitting up on Appa's neck, working the reigns and catching up with each other. Toph, Zuko, Mai, Sokka, Suki, and Katara's friend Cali were all on the saddle, along with all of their gear. Aang halted his conversation with Katara and told Appa that they would be in Yu Dao soon.
Despite the somewhat harrowing circumstances, it was good to have Team Avatar back together. They hadn't all been in the same place in the same time since the peace negotiations in Ba Sing Se concluded over a year earlier.
About an hour later, Yu Dao finally came into sight. The city was located in a beautiful valley, and bordered a wondrous harbor.
"Wow, its beautiful!" Aang heard Katara mutter. He looked over at her, admiring her joyous face, until she abruptly changed her expression. "What's going on down there?"
Aang looked and saw two boys trying to run away from a horde of men. Sighing, he pulled on Appa's reigns to see what was going on.
