Kyoshi Island Warriors and the Air Bender
I feel the boat lurch as it's docked onto land, my hands gripping the sides of the ship in anticipation. Prince Zuko has gone to prepare long ago, I had barely noticed he was gone. Thoughts race through my mind, finally, some solid ground. "Stay here." I hear the familiar Prince's voice command; he passes by me without so much as even a glance. "What?" I hear anger seep into my voice. "Do not leave this ship." He says again, stopping to adjust his shoulder plate. "I'm going with you." I demand. "No." He says, my hand forms a fist, I feel anger rise to my chest. Iroh comes up behind Zuko, I ignore him. "Then what's the point of me even being here?" I spit out. Zuko's gaze finally lands on me, "Zuko, she has a point." Iroh adds. "What if she tries to escape?" Zuko thinks out loud. Iroh turns his gaze to me, "She won't, and I'll keep an eye on her. And if she does, she simply won't have a fire bending teacher as good as you anymore." He speaks the last part with a chipper tone and smile. I roll my eyes and cross my arms, I don't need a baby sitter, and my fire bending's fine. "She will get away with her crimes." Zuko snorts, "What crimes?" I shoot back. "You stowed away on my ship." Zuko narrows his eyes, "Alright alright, we are wasting time. Let's go." Iroh interferes. Zuko and I stare at each other for a long moment before we turn to exit the ship.
A long bridge is dropped onto shore and we head down into the town. Zuko begins making demands, commanding the town's people to tell him where 'the Avatar' is. I nearly roll my eyes. Right. Suddenly, a home is bursting into flames at Zuko's hands; I take a step back in shock. "What are you doing!?" I nearly shout at him. "What's necessary to find the Avatar." Zuko spits. I spot a woman in green holding two fans, she's charging me quick. There are more of them coming toward us. Everything's happening so quick, more houses go up in flames. My icy blue eyes land on Zuko one last time before I turn on my heels and bolt. "Crazy jerk!" I nearly shout to myself. "Damn it!" I hear Zuko shouting amongst the chaos. I watch Zuko and his soldiers being attacked by the women dressed in green, they must be the legendary Kyoshi warriors. I hide behind a house, debating on my next move.
"Are you with them?" I hear a feminine voice demand an answer. My blue eyes lift to a tan girl with brown hair, dressed in a water tribe outfit. Her hand is drawn out with water floating in front of it, ready to attack. A water bender, huh? "No." My voice almost sounds ragged. She turns on her heels and runs off, whipping a soldier with her water. I smirk at the sight. A Kyoshi warrior lunges at me out of nowhere, I'm tempted to use fire bending, when i decide against it last second. I knock her arm to the side, leaving an opening for her face and chest. I open palm slam my hand against her chest, sending her sliding backwards. She throws a fan; I lean to the side, and spot her already coming at me again. I launch myself off the ground, doing a side flip, landing once more, throwing a large round house kick, my body shifting toward the ground as my foot flies high into the air, catching the back of her head. She stumbles forward. I jump into the air, pull both legs up, and rocket both of my feet into her back, giving me enough momentum to back flip off of her, and land on my feet, brushing the hair out of my face. She falls face down and doesn't attempt to stand again. "Woah…" I hear a male voice. I spin on my heels to face …. A man dressed in drag?
I let out a chuckle, "You want some too then, young lady?" "Hey, this is a Kyoshi Warrior outfit!" He shouts back, he lunges at me, but I easily dodge it and use my hand to shove him by the forehead pretty hard, and he stumbles back onto his ass. What a strange group of people. I dart out again, skidding to a stop when I see a young bald boy, with blue arrows all over him. He's fighting Zuko. He launches into the air, sending a wave of harsh wind toward Zuko. My hair blows all over the place, but I'm too in awe to do anything about it. An…. An air bender. The last one. The Avatar. Zuko is trying to capture this kid? The Avatar makes his get away with the water bender and cross dresser. They're running for a large bison. My heart begins to pound. Zuko is trying to capture the avatar, without him, the world will not stand a chance. Restoring balance will be impossible. The Fire Nation will rule. I look at Zuko, he's pulling himself off the ground. I can see the pain this guy has gone through, what he feels he must do for his father. It's not good enough. I turn to see the young boy leap into the air. I bolt. Running as fast as I can after them. Fire Nation soldiers block their path to the Bison, they're trapped. They're looking around themselves, they're surrounded. I don't stop my sprint. I'm closing the gap between us.
I let out a loud grunt as I leap into the air and kick one soldier's helmet right off of his head, and launch him into the soldier beside him. I throw my whole body into the next one, my shoulder going right into his stomach, leaving a gap for the 3 of them to burst through and continue toward the bison. The brown haired water bender looks back momentarily, as if she's concerned for me. The soldiers latch onto my arms, pinning them behind my back, I struggle, but there's too many and I can't break free without fire bending, so I do nothing but watch the three get onto the bison. The water bender is waiting, watching me. Soldiers are closing in on her, "GO!" I yell at her. She climbs onto the Bison and that thing lifts up into the air and literally begins to fly. I have never seen anything like it. Zuko comes sprinting up, "You let them get away!" Zuko shouts, he sounds desperate. "You're supposed to be helping me! Lock her away!" Zuko cries, turning quickly to head back to the ship. The soldiers begin dragging me back to the ship.
As I reach the deck of the ship, I hear a gentle voice, "Let her go." Iroh orders the men. They let me go and begin marching to their spots on deck. I rub my wrists. "You must come have some tea with me." Iroh motions for me to follow, and I do as I'm told, glancing back at the burning village, my heart sinks. Suddenly, the Unagi rises from the water, spraying the whole town with water, and smoke begins replacing flames. A small smile crosses my deep red lips. I turn and head inside to follow Iroh. He leads me to a small room with a small table and little cushions to kneel on. I kneel in front of the pot of tea and allow Iroh to pour me a cup. I hear Zuko's bedroom door slam loudly from down the hall. "I know my nephew's intentions are sometimes questionable. Capturing the avatar for the fire lord. There are some things about my nephew that you should know. "He says before sipping his tea. I take a small drink. "He has been banished by his own father, he feels as though he needs to restore his honor, and by capturing the avatar and bringing him to the fire lord, he feels that his honor will be restored. " Iroh says solemnly. I'm a little surprised, I hadn't been fully aware of the banishment, I knew of something like it, but I guess I hadn't known his own father had banished him. "Why was he banished?" I finally speak. Iroh thinks a moment, "In due time, my nephew will share with you what he's been through, I'm sure of this. I know it will take some time, but I can tell you two will be great friends." He sounds so sure of himself. I refrain from laughing. "He hates me." I say through a smirk. "It may seem so. Time passes, people move. Like a rivers flow, it never ends. A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection." He rambles on, the last part startles me. Must be a saying. He rises and motions me to follow him to the edge of the now moving ship. He looks down to the water. "The clear water's surface reflects growth." He says, a smile creeping onto his face. "What are you saying?" I finally ask. I was starting to become confused. "Things change with time. He will not always feel so angry with you. And you will begin to understand him more. Just as he will begin to understand you more. You will understand his motives, why he is after the avatar, why it is important to him. We all grow and move on. Just as you have grown much from when you were a child." His hand glides in the air, motioning to the water. "Now listen to the serenade of water to reflect upon yourself." He says gently. I lean over the edge and see my wobbly reflection. "You must remind yourself of this every so often." He adds. I'm deep in thought, gazing at myself. I had changed a lot. I'm so lost in thought; I don't notice that Iroh vanishes.
As a child, I was treated as a slave for the royal family. My father had been a fire nation general, and fell in love with a beautiful water bender, my mother. When he had gone to raid the northern water tribe, he found her water bending instead of acting as a healer, which is tradition for the northern water tribe. They fell in love and gave birth to me, which didn't set well in the Fire Nation. My father was stripped of his title, and banished, leaving my mother and I to act as slaves, cleaning, cooking, anything the fire lord or his family could ever want. I was weak. I should have protected my mother. I'm stronger now, I'm braver now, and if I keep growing, I will be unstoppable. I wish I had just known this earlier, for my mother... Perhaps I did need to consider Zuko's side. "So Uncle talked with you too?" Zukos voice cuts the air, severing my thoughts. "Huh?" I'm startled. "He came and talked to me about that growing up stuff too. By the way you're so deep in thought, I thought maybe he talked to you about it too." He explains. "Oh, yeah." I nod slowly.
"There are reasons why I want to catch the avatar. Not only to restore my honor, but it's our duty to the fire nation." He continues. I cross my arms, "My duty lies elsewhere." I announce. "Where?" He questions. I stop. "I… I don't know yet. That's why I left, to find my destiny." I speak thoughtfully. "I know my destiny, it's to find the avatar. I can't have you screwing that up and letting him get away again." He says harshly. I turn away from him, leaning against the side of the ship. I can feel his stare on my back, but I refuse to turn back around. "I need to be able to trust you." His voice is softer. I turn back around after a short moment, my blue eyes resting easily on his face. "I mean, we need to be able to trust you. All of us." He corrects himself. "Okay, Zuko." I say, my voice is melodic, so much so that I think it startles even him slightly, because his face gets a little pink and he looks surprised. He nods, his face returning to normal, and turns to leave. He hesitates. "If you'd like a lesson on controlling your bending, you can stop by my room in the morning." He adds, before he continues walking. I watch him until I can no longer see him, and lift my gaze to the stars and the moon.