No new characters this chapter. It'll be just Friedrich, Evelyn, and Scout.
WHAT CRAZY SHENANIGANS WILL THESE THREE GET INTO TODAY?!
As always, thank you to MADJesters1 for your support.
Book 1: Pain
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Chapter 3: The Conditions
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Scout had woken up about a day after the attack, his body on fire and his head stinging.
"Ugh... my head's splitting..." he mumbled. Evelyn's face suddenly appeared in his line of sight.
"Medic! He's waking up!" Medic's face joined hers.
"Ah! You are feeling better?" Scout was barely able to shake his head.
"I-, that guy zapped the hell out of me... I ain't doin' too good right now."
"Well, they used a high amount of voltage on you. I'm surprised you are even conscious right now; you should be asleep for a few more days..." Medic frowned in concentration. "Does your Avatar spirit give you protection? Or maybe it's because you are an air-bender...(1)"
"Medic," Evelyn sighed. "We are not here to experiment on the Avatar, you know." Medic chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ah, I'm sorry my dear. Old habits, you know?"
"Wait, what are you guys doing here? I thought you didn't want to help me..."
"Oh, we don't!" Medic answered brightly. "But our... affiliation... with you was given to your hunter; there's no doubt we are no longer going to be safe in society any longer. So, we will... tag along... for the time being." Scout frowned.
"I... I see. Do you mind if I go back to sleep? The pain is starting up again, and I'd rather be unconscious for it..." Medic nodded.
"Of course. Once you are fit to travel again, we'll go."
Scout closed his eyes, and slept.
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Evelyn sighed as she stared at Scout.
"Are you sure we won't train him? He really does need our help..." Medic turned to her, befuddled.
"I thought you were the one who didn't want to train him!" She scoffed at him.
"That was before we were forced into this situation! I didn't want to have to travel with him, but there's nothing we can do to change it now; why don't we just make the best of the situation, and just help him?"
"I won't start training him just to part ways a few days after! He'll find another teacher, and he'll be out of our hair!"
"Don't you get it, Medic?! He will never be 'out of our hair'! Our little display last night proved one thing: we are allied with him. It doesn't matter what the details of the relationship are; once they properly recognize you and your skill, they will do anything to kill us and prevent him from learning water-bending."
"...fine. I will train him..." Evelyn sighed in relief. "...under one condition. He must prove to me that he has already mastered his air-bending."
"But... how would you know something like that? You have never been to the air temples..."
"Oh, I have my ways..."
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Two days later saw Scout running around excitedly, happy to have recovered from the electric batons.
"Jeez, I never thought I'd be so glad to get up in the morning!" he joked. A splash of water hit him in the face, courtesy of Medic.
"FOCUS, Scout; we need to head south, away from Oshibana, so that the soldiers will have a harder time finding us." Scout scoffed.
"You guys worry too much; they won't find us anytime soon!"
"There is nothing wrong with caution, Scout. I'm surprised that you haven't decided the same thing..."
"I don't think it's smart to worry every single day on whether or not they'll find me. I'm not stupid enough to wait for them, I just don't care until they do find me." Medic sighed.
"I don't care what you're doing; Evelyn and I are heading south, so join us when you want." He started walking, Evelyn tagging along behind him.
"I hope you realize you're going right back to Oshibana!" Scout called to them a few seconds after they disappeared from view.
"YOUR SENSE OF DIRECTION SUCKS, MEDIC!" he heard Evelyn scream.
"Then why don't you lead the way, Evelyn?!"
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"How are you guys doing?" Scout asked innocently. His head was quickly frozen in an ice cube by an irate Evelyn.
"Don't. Say. A. Word." she threatened, glaring daggers at the air-bender. Medic was sitting against a tree, exhausted from Evelyn's constant march through the forest, which ended up leading them in a circle right back to Scout.
Scout head-butted a nearby tree, effectively breaking the ice on his head. He sauntered over to Medic, a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
"Do you want my help?" Medic seemed unwilling, but eventually broke.
"Please... get us out of the accursed forest..." he mumbled. Scout held a hand up to his ear.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you~," Scout sang. Medic glared at the boy.
"Do you want a water-bending teacher, or not?"
"LET'S GET A MOVE ON, PEOPLE!" Scout yelled frantically. Medic smirked to himself, which was mirrored by Evelyn.
'Yep, still got it.'
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"So, are you willing to train me, Medic?" Scout asked as they walked through the forest.
"I am, but under conditions." Scout's shoulders slumped.
"What do you want?" he asked dejectedly.
"Proof." Scout's head shot up, confusion written all over his face.
"Proof? What do you want me to prove to you?" Medic smirked.
"I want proof that you've mastered air-bending."
"How the hell am I supposed to prove that to you?!"
"I hope that I'm famous enough that even you have heard of me..."
"Well, yeah! People say you're the second coming of Master Katara!"
"Of course they do; I'm the youngest master water-bender in the past 150 years." Scout's eyes widened.
"So, what you're saying is-"
"Yes, I am challenging you to a bending duel. Defeat me with nothing but your bending skills, and I will train you."
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Friedrich stood in his stance, next to a convenient lake they found the day after his challenge to Scout. Scout mirrored him, at a dueling length away from him, except in his air-bending stance. Evelyn was off on the side, sitting against a tree with nice shade so that she could watch over the match.
Friedrich raised a finger.
"I said, nothing but your bending skills." Scout's shoulders slumped.
"So, then..."
"Remove your staves, please." Scout sighed, and placed his staves next to Evelyn. He quickly returned to his place, and got back into his stance.
And they waited...
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Scout struck first, sending out two quick air blasts. Medic simply twisted out of the way with little effort. Somehow, Scout seemed to get slightly pissed off, and rushed forward before leaping into the air and sending another blast of air out from a kick. Medic dodged once more, seemingly refusing to bend water.
Scout saw red, and tried to punch Medic in the face, but his fist was easily grabbed. Scout's anger turned into shock, and Medic finally struck.
Keeping a tight hold on the air-bender's hand, Medic dealt a series of punches using Scout's own fist against him.
"I believe this is the part where someone is supposed to ask..." Medic started calmly, and he continued to beat up Scout. "...'Why are you hitting yourself?'" He punched Scout one last time, sending the boy flying several feet away from the force of the impact. Scout slowly picked himself up, and spat out a tooth.
"That was low, bastard..." Scout growled. Medic simply shrugged.
"I thought I said we were testing your bending skills... why would you try to physically attack me?" Scout snarled, before blasting Medic in the chest with a gust of air. Medic, however, was barely fazed. "Is that all you can do? No wonder you left the Air Temples..."
"SHUT UP!" Scout roared. He continued to assault Medic with wind, but the man barely moved from his position.
"You lied, you know." Scout threw a ball of air at the water-bender, which was only able to slightly scratch the man.
"You knew how to prove your mastery." A column of air shot Medic into the air, but he landed on the ground gracefully.
"You just haven't, yet."
"I said SHUT UP!" Scout screamed. Medic's calm demeanor was suddenly gone, as his glasses suddenly shattered and he clutched his ears in pain. If Evelyn had looked closely, she would have seen a tiny trickle of blood from between his fingers. Scout, unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth, went back on the offensive, blasting Medic in the face and chest. The healer went flying into a tree, and sank to the ground with a groan. As he did, an extremely thin layer of ice cracked apart, and shattered. Scout's anger disappeared instantly, and Evelyn gasped in worry.
"Medic!" Both teenagers cried as they rushed to him.
"What did you do to him?!" Evelyn demanded. Scout held his hands up defensively.
"I swear, I have no idea!" She sighed, knowing that he was being honest, and quickly set to work. After pulling out the spare first-aid kit she kept with her, she went over all of her teacher's injuries.
"It's not that bad. I think the ice took the brunt of the damage..."
"When did he do that, anyways? I never saw him bend anything..." Evelyn kept her smirk down as she answered him.
"Right when you were setting your staves down. Him and I developed this idea a while ago, where the ice would act like an armor of sorts, with the opponent having no idea why their attacks aren't working."
"Is that why I couldn't get him to move?"
"Mostly. Growing up in the Water Tribes means you need to learn how to keep solid footing." Scout nodded, and Medic's eyes snapped open.
"You! What did you do?!" Medic demanded.
"I have no idea what happened..." Scout replied honestly. Medic studied him for a moment, then sighed in defeat.
"You are telling the truth... but you have not passed my test." Scout's face fell.
"What? Why?! I beat you!"
"You cheated. Whatever you did made me vulnerable and weakened. If you hadn't attacked me then, I would've considered it. But now..." Scout didn't want to hear anymore. He quickly grabbed his Glider, and flew off over the treetops. Evelyn watched him go, then sighed.
"That's not the real reason. Why won't you train him?"
"Tell me, what do you know of the Air Monks?" Evelyn thought for a moment.
"Well... they were masters of air-bending. And, people knew they were the monks because-" she gasped in realization, and Medic nodded.
"He hasn't received his tattoos of mastery, yet. I'm afraid I can't train the Avatar with that in mind; balance must be kept." Evelyn nodded sadly, as she looked back to where Scout disappeared.
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Scout was curled up into a ball underneath a large tree, trying desperately not to cry.
'I said I'd be the best Avatar that ever existed... and I haven't even mastered my first element... I'm pathetic... Weak...'
He sighed, as he laid down, spread-eagle, on the forest earth.
"What am I not getting? Master Etsuko told me I haven't discovered the secret, but... I can still bend air! So why should I have to worry about some dumb 'secret'?!"
"You haven't forgiven yourself..." Scout's head snapped up, and he saw a figure in between the trees.
"Who are you?!" he called. The person walked behind a tree, and disappeared.
"You hold your guilt..." Another figure, this time from behind him.
"What do you want with me?!" Scout cried out. They, too, disappeared between the trees.
"You feel hatred..." Scout yelped, a third person standing right in front of him. "Hatred of the man who destroyed your family..."
"Of course I do! Who wouldn't hate a person like that?!" The woman (he was sure it was a woman... she also looked like a water-bender...) smiled a sad smile.
"Even now, you are blind to the truth..."
"What truth?! Why won't you just tell me?!"
"You still have much to learn, young Avatar, and no one ever learned anything worthwhile that wasn't discovered on their own." With that, the woman faded away into nothingness, leaving a very confused and distraught Scout behind.
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"Evelyn... I think something has gone wrong with my hearing..." Medic stated casually to his apprentice.
"How so?"
"Well... for example, you just said either 'How so?', or 'Down low.' I'm assuming it's the first one..." Evelyn grabbed his head and pulled him down so she could look in his ear.
"Your ears seem to have been bleeding... Was it something to do with Scout's attack?"
"I believe so... Or, no I left the house locked up before we left." Evelyn sighed.
"Well, I'm not completely sure what to do here... You never taught me about how to care for damaged hearing."
"Of course I didn't; you haven't learned how to heal with water yet. I'd rather keep both my ears, thank you!" A pause. "Or, were you explaining the difference between Water Tribe clothing, and Air Nation clothing?" Evelyn gave him a look. "Ah, yes. I'll shut up now."
"All I can tell you is to wait. Try to reprieve your eardrums, however. It should help somewhat..." Medic nodded.
"Quite right. Hand me my pair of earmuffs, would you?"
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Scout landed in the makeshift campsite Evelyn and Medic had set up. He snapped his glider shut, and attached it onto his back once more.
"Ah, Scout! I was wondering when you were going to come back!" Medic exclaimed. Scout stared at him, emotionless.
"Are we still travelling together?" Medic's head tilted in confusion.
"Hmmm? Do you not want to?" Scout shrugged.
"You're still my best shot at learning water-bending... but you still won't train me." Medic nodded.
"Again, you must prove your mastery of air-bending to me first. There is a balance that must be kept, which includes mastering each element in order."
"I know that! I'm the freaking Avatar; I'm supposed to know that!" Scout yelled.
"Yet you still attempted to skip mastering your first element."
"Not my fault, my Master had me practice the basics of water-bending. She believed it was best for me to have somewhat of a head-start once I had mastered air-bending." Medic raised an eyebrow.
"So, you have practiced the 'Tide Flow'?" Scout nodded. "'Whirlpools'?" Scout shook his head. "I see... There is something still preventing you from mastering air-bending, no?" Scout seemed taken aback, slightly, but recovered quickly.
"U-ummm... yes. My Master told me that I hadn't discovered the 'secret of air-bending', whatever that means..."
"Well... I cannot help you there, unfortunately. You must be willing to find the answer on your own."
"That's the problem though! Every time I try figuring it out, I keep coming to this... block. Like something is preventing me from reaching the answer(2)." Medic hummed in thought, wondering what the problem could be.
"...have you tried meditating?" Scout scoffed.
"Don't make me laugh; it's boring, useless, and a waste of my time."
"You mean, you haven't meditated properly."
"Don't twist my words!"
"Why twist something when you practically say it yourself?" Medic stood up and beckoned Scout to follow him. "Come; I may not teach you water-bending, but I will teach you proper meditation."
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"...Medic?"
"What do you want?"
"...is meditation always this boring?"
"You aren't doing it properly if you are bored. You must remain calm and quiet, focus on nothing, think about nothing, and simply... be."
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"...what if I can't stop thinking?"
"With you, that wouldn't surprise me..."
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"I expect you ready for an hour's worth of meditation tomorrow, Scout." Medic, Scout, and Evelyn were sitting around a campfire, eating a stew Evelyn had graciously prepared while the two had spent their time meditating.
"Ugh! Why are you making me do it everyday?"
"Practice. You won't become better if you do not regularly practice."
"Practice what? Sitting in the same position for an hour?"
"Do you even understand the values of meditation?" Scout shook his head. "A true master of meditation does not react to the slightest disturbance. If he so wanted, he could have flaming coals dumped on him, and he would not react to it. All previous Avatars have to learn this skill, because it is the key in which they visit the Spirit World."
"And the Avatar has to be the bridge between both worlds."
"Exactly."
"So, meditating is the doorway, then?"
"Yes." Scout sighed, and dropped his head into his hands.
"This isn't going to be easy..."
"You are, quite literally, the peacekeeper of the world; whoever said something like that was easy?"
Ugh, jeez... I'm not delivering much, am I?
Put it on hold for over a month (or two) and I give you only 3,000 words?
I must apologize.
Anyways... what do you guys think of the battle scene? I didn't have much reference, since no one ever made a battle between an air-bender and a water-bender. There wasn't much to work with, so I took some liberties.
A.N. Time!:
(1): Reference to 'Naruto', in which Wind style is superior to Lightning style
(2): This will make sense at a later date
Any ideas what Scout did to Medic? Will he ever learn to meditate and water-bend? Will I stop procrastinating on my paper?!
SO MANY QUESTIONS, SO LITTLE TIME!
Until next time!
~Kage Musha