Fight03: Escape
Appa was swimming through the ice cold water, with Katara at the reigns and Sokka on his back in the saddle. The ponytailed water tribesman was drearily giving various orders, all with the same basic meaning: go up and fly, while his sister was trying to coax the beast into flying on its own. Everything failed until Sokka remembered what the kid was saying. 'Yip yip'. Appa rumbled again and began to flop his massive beaver tail. He hopped along the surface of the water as he picked up speed. Finally, with a mighty heave, he took off into the sky. Katara was ecstatic, just like her brother (despite all his previous grumbling and skepticism), until he noticed the smug look on her face and acted nonchalant again.
Aang was running down one of the ship's hallway, his hands still bound behind him. He turned and ran right into three Fire Nation soldiers blocking his way, weapons drawn. Panting, he asked if they had seen his staff. But they only closed in on him menacingly. He ran forward and along the walls and ceiling in corkscrew circles, avoiding the guards easily before thanking them anyway. He went into another hallway, this time blocked by a single guard who blasted a fireball at him, but he evaded it by launching himself over the guards head, calculating his jump to cut his wrist bonds by catching them on the horn of the guard's helmet. The bonds broke and the guard was thrown off balance and onto the ground. Aang, his hands now free, tried opening random doors. The last door he opened revealed a snoring Iroh. He whispered a 'sorry' and gently closed the door before going on. He then ran by another open door, stopped and turned back to it. He had seen his staff. He entered and the door shut behind him. Zuko had been hiding in wait for the Avatar.
"Looks like I underestimated you." After a brief pause, the prince blasted fire at Aang, who barely dodged. The terrified child was hyperventilating. After dodging a few more shots, Aang rolled underneath Zuko to get behind him and make him unable to blast him with fire. After a time, they were facing each other again and the boy would dissipate each fireball with a small air ball he would form with his hands. Aang created an air scooter and rode around the walls and ceiling of the room, barely avoiding the flames. The airball vanished and he grabbed a tapestry off the wall and wrapped Zuko up in it as he passed. While the young man struggled against the tapestry, the airbender retrieved his staff. The prince broke free and the fight went on. After a few seconds Aang airbended a mattress up off the floor and slammed it into the firebender. The mattress propelled Zuko into the opposite wall where he was smashed and he fell to the ground, onto the mattress. Aang then airbended the mattress with its passenger up to the ceiling. Both fell back down to the ground. When Zuko looked up in anger, Aang was gone.
The Avatar airbended himself on to the bridge from below and rushed out on to the bridge's observation deck. He opened his glider, threw it into the air and jumped after it, catching it with a happy expression on his face. Unfortunately, behind him, Zuko had jumped after him in pursuit and with a fierce cry of desperation, grabbed Aang's foot. They fell down and got up, ready to fight again. After noticing the wonder on the prince's face, the boy turned around and was reassured to see that Appa, Katara and Sokka had come to his rescue. However, he could not afford a second of inattention and turned just in time to use his staff to block a fire blast from Zuko. With the same method, he escaped other blasts and came back down on the edge of the deck, almost falling overboard. He regained his balance but other fireballs were shot at him, knocking his staff away from him. The airbender dodged a few more blasts before being finally knocked overboard and falling into the sea. Katara cried his name hysterically as he was sinking into the icy waters. Hearing her final cry, Aang's eyes and tattoo's glowed white while his expression grew hard and determined. He turned around in the water and rose toward the surface, a great whirlpool of water taking shape around him. The monstrous, inverted tornado of water propelled toward the surface at amazing speed. He broke the surface in front of the ship, towering high over the bridge. Zuko looked at the Avatar and the great power he was displaying and dismay and fear showed on his scarred and handsome face. Aang landed on the deck, his eyes still aglow, and bended the water from the column around him in circle before releasing and expanding it outward in a shockwave that blasted Zuko and his men overboard. Sokka and Katara looked, incredulous, at the amazing waterbending they had just witnessed. Aang wobbled and fell forward, the white energy fading from his eyes and tattoos. Appa landed and Katara and Sokka rushed to him, extremely worried.
"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. Thanks for coming." The boy said, completely drained.
"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka justified himself before going to take back the staff at Aang's request. But as he picked it up, he was shocked to see Zuko holding the other end of it. He was hanging out over the deck. The tribesman hit the prince's head three times as a revenge for when Zuko had done it to him earlier. The scarred teenager let go and fell but grabbed the anchor chain in time, hanging by one hand. Katara put Aang on Appa's head, but the guards were recovering and getting ready for combat again. She tried to freeze them with her waterbending, but due to her inexperience and lack of skills, the water lashed far behind, freezing the water on the deck and even her brother's feet. He chipped at the ice encasing his feet with his boomerang while the soldiers moved forward again, spear in hand. She made another attempt, proceeding differently this time though, and succeeded. She told her brother to hurry up. Sokka, freed himself at last after more chipping and a bit of complaining. He ran up Appa's tail, yelling 'yip yip'. Once he was onboard, the monster took off to the sky. Iroh who had just emerged onto the deck after his nap, looked up at the sky to see the flying beast. He rubbed his eyes, probably wondering if he was still dreaming. Appa was rapidly flying away from the ship. Iroh helped his nephew back onto the deck.
"Shoot them down!" The prince bellowed.
As Appa was gaining altitude, Zuko and Iroh launched in unison a massive bolt of fire at Appa. Katara and Sokka looked behind them in horror at the approaching fireball. Aang jumped to the back of the saddle and, using his staff like a baseball bat, airbended a crescent-shaped gale that sent the fireball at a right angle away from Appa and into the ice cliff nearby. The fireball exploded, releasing a huge amount of ice from the cliff wall that fell into the narrow channel and almost buried the bow of Zuko's ship, to the prince's horror. And indeed the entire channel was blocked up under an avalanche of ice.
"Good news for the Fire Lord. The nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." Iroh said.
"That kid, Uncle, just did this." Zuko gestured toward the bow of his heavily damaged ship encased in the ice. "I won't underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" Then he noticed the soldiers using controlled firebending to thaw out their compatriots frozen by Katara. "...As soon as you're done with that."
In the distance, flying on Appa, the three youngsters were laughing. They had escaped from the Fire Nation. Katara was voicing her amazement at Aang's waterbending and asking how he had done that. But the boy did not know. He just sort of... did it. The airbender was sitting cross legged on the bridge of the saddle, a slightly sad and confused expression on his face.
"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" The girl asked again, more seriously.
"Because... I never wanted to be."
"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war."
"And how am I going to do that?" The boy looked down sadly. Katara replied that according to legend, he needed to first master water, then earth, then fire and suggested that they went to the North Pole so he could master waterbending. Aang was delighted that they could learn it together. And Sokka was delighted that he would get to knock some firebender heads on the way.
"Then we're in this together." The girl concluded.
"All right, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to." He airbended himself over to them and opens the scroll he had produced to reveal a map. "Here, here, and here." He pointed to two spots in the Earth Kingdom, and one spot on the southern Air Nomad islands in quick succession. Katara asked what was there. "Here," He pointed to the eastern Earth Kingdom. "We'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here," He pointed at a spot on the southern Air Nomad islands. "We'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!"
"Some serious matter"...was it?
Chenlian immediately left for her family's own vacation house on Ember Island. Staying in the capital would have been too dangerous, but Ember Island should be okay. The 'flight' was still long and difficult because it had been so long since she had last used her limbs. Truth be told, she should not be going there either but that was something she needed to do. If she wanted to move forward, she had to say her goodbyes to the past first. Luckily, since it was not summer, there would not be too many people, but it was still a tropical island, and the temperature was above 18° celsius all year long.
She landed at a beach house of medium size, nestled among a few trees against a promontory. A narrow path was leading down to a small private beach. In the yard, there was a little pond with a fountain shaped like a half-immerged dragon, a willow, and stone benches. There were also a few fruits bearing trees for the shade and the delicious advantages, so they could enjoy persimmons, cherries, apples and plums to their heart's content. Their own mansions were more sober as they were not the type to openly show what they liked, contrary to their dislikes. And further against the promontory was a stone rectangular arena you could access by walking up the few steps of the stone stairs. That was where she would train during holidays. At the centre of this arena was a round fountain that had been dug fifty centimetres, although the water would only reach thirty centimetres. And in the middle of that basin, the water would flow out of the huge carved lotus flower. There was no longer any water in the fountain's pool, only rocks. The liquid had stopped flowing from the now cracked stone flower. The vegetation was overgrown, some stone structures were cracked, the painted walls had lost their colors, and a thick layer of dust covered everything inside.
As the girl walked along the corridors, her expression unreadable, she let her fingers stray nostalgically, remembering every bump, every mark, the grain of each texture, the smell of the food, the time and circumstances in which the pictures were taken, the beauty and ambition of her mother, from whom she had inherited her brownish red hair colour, the loyalty and strictness of her father , the kindness and wits of her grandmother, the strength and iron discipline of her grandfather (during the rare times he was actually there and not at war) – traits she shared with all of them – who would force her to study scrolls about waterbending, earthbending , and even a hundred-years-old treasure: an airbending scroll salvaged during the destruction of the Air Temples by their ancestor who had done what was expected of him as a member of the military but still felt it was a shame to lose such a culture, and had attempted to save something, as little as it was. She had done countless breathing exercises, countless drills, pounding her later famed patience, endurance, and iron control as well as her adaptability into her old, arrogant, over-confident, impulsive, impatient, reckless, and all too direct self.
All that because her grandfather which was a renowned firebending master, genuinely disliked his own art to which he preferred waterbending. And she absolutely wanted to learn from him. He certainly hated fire even more than before now, if he was not dead yet, which was very doubtful, if not plain impossible... She had of course learned the usual firebending forms. But after being forced to learn the other styles, she had naturally integrated them to make her own.
Beginning with a ferocious, direct and powerful punching style, followed by unmatched, powerful and stealth kicking, both low and high, crescent and aerial, that could be used in rapid succession, potent open palm techniques, knifehand chops and blocks, pokes and slapping techniques along with evasion and utilizing the force of the enemy against them, to what she added a useful medium stance swift footwork, facilitating quicker transitions and improving the speed, balance, and agility. She then learned effective throwing and containment techniques.
Her art possessed the equilibrium, balance and elegance of the Crane and featured open palm thrusts, knifehanded strikes and blocks, powerful kicks and the use of the crane's beak. The fingers would be utilized to strike at weak spots while the hard surface of the bent wrist would be utilized to strike with power in odd angles. The beak could also used as a hook to parry incoming attacks.
It could be combined with the strength and power of the Tiger and its claws often aiming for vulnerable targets such as the face. It also made use of devastating and dynamic kicks.
The Leopard was responsible for her lightning speed, agility, muscle structure, and destructive techniques. It made use of the Leopard's claw, basically a half-fist, created by folding each finger at the fist phalanx, using the ridge created thus as a striking surface, also using the palm of the claw as secondary weapon. The leopard aimed at narrow targets with its agility and speed, such as the throat, the ribs, the joints and nerve targets. The joint of the wrist was utilized as a blocking surface. It also employed palm thrusts to the face, powerful elbow and knee techniques, and lightning-fast low kicks.
The goal of the Snake style was to develop superior endurance, flexibility, evasion and strategic combat, allowing its practitioner a greater control of their chi through breathing exercises and evasion of the opponent with its sinuous movements. The snake fist was simply an open, extended palm, with the palm pointing downwards and the straight fingers pointed at the enemy, targeting only the most vulnerable and soft areas like the throat, some joints and nerve clusters. The snake arm was used to parry an attack utilizing circular and sinuous movements.
And at last, the Dragon represented intelligence, internal power and the ability to flow in combat, and sought the development and improvement of one's chi and spirit. It made ample use of the fist as a striking weapon, but it also featured the Dragon Claw, formed with an open palm, but with the first phalanxes of the finger slightly bent, to strike with the palm, to chop, to claw or to grasp an attacker. It emphasized circular, explosive and long distance attacks, designed for penetrating an opponent's defense. The Dragon, though seeking spiritual development, was neither internal nor external but balanced and complemented the two external styles (Tiger and Leopard), and the two internal styles (Crane and Snake).
This idea relied on the fact that the Avatar was known as the strongest person thanks to his mastery of the four elements. And it was thanks to that that she had been known as a prodigy able to rival the princess. But only ten percents of it was talent. The vast majority came from sheer hard work and hate for losing, which only made her work harder if she failed.
The firebender stumbled upon a certain picture. It represented her family together with the royal family. She gazed at it for a long time, her eyes narrowing, before she started trembling, prey to contradictory emotions, not knowing what expression to make. She was fighting with herself. Then she closed her eyes and opened them again. She still hated him, more than anything, she still despised him from the bottom of her heart, she still resented him, more than ever, and she could never forgive him. Never. Because that man no longer cared about anyone but himself. He did not even care about his own family. That was right. She still hated him, more than anything, she still despised him from the bottom of her heart, she still resented him, more than ever, and she could never forgive him... but...
"Mother, Father, I am alright. I will be alright. I will not cry. I will stay strong and uphold our honor, our principles, and our convictions wherever I may go. And I promise I will regain our family's honour, our nation's honor, and I will help set everything back to the way they should be. Now I'm going. Goodbye." The girl changed into something else, did her hair differently, and then, without a single tear or back look, Chenlian left.
"Are you crying?"
"Like I said, I'm not crying. If I have the time to cry, I should be keeping my promise to them instead..."
She had seen what she wanted to see. She had not come here to cry and be all emotional, but to reinforce her resolve. Not matter how hard things were going to be, she would not cry anymore, she would stand strong and proud, she would not waver, she would not bow down, she would not seek revenge for herself, and she will do anything in her power to help the Avatar and those who would need her. The dead did not need tears, but someone to keep their wills and hopes alive. She would not fight for the dead, but to protect those who were still alive. She would live for her own sake, for everyone's sake and accomplish everything she wants to.
The young woman went to the beach and walked barefoot in the sand and sea. She needed a workout. She would think later about the night's accommodation and what needed to be bought. She put down her luggage and started training, first in hand to hand combat and then with her firebending and her dragon straight sword, her expression lost in thought. When she finished, she heard two people clapping and turned around. It was two guys, two attractive teenagers. They complimented her on her skills, their tone and pose full of vain arrogance, like they thought they were the greatest teenagers in the Fire Nation. Such empty praise to her ears...
"Oh no, not at all. I haven't been practicing for a long time so I'm really out of shape and I don't have any strength..." The red haired girl smiled sweetly before hanging her head dejectedly. That type has always been the easiest one to deceive and manipulate. If she played the cute and weak little girl trying to act strong and tough but who still needed 'real' men, she'd surely get anything she wanted... "Maybe if I had someone to spar with..."
"Someone? What about your friends and family?"
"My family died in the war, and I'm currently travelling to meet friends."
"And your boyfriend?"
"I don't have one."
"You must be kidding, right?"
"Well... I kind of had someone maybe but it's been years since we could last talk. I'm sure he's completely forgotten about me." Chenlian chuckled sadly, a little embarrassed, yet again using the truth for her own plan.
"Then why don't you forget about him too? If you don't have a place to stay tonight, you can come over if you want. There's no one but us." The 'leader' looked at her invitingly with a confident smile and put a hand on her shoulder, close to her neck. The two teens introduced themselves as Chan, who was the son of an admiral, and his friend Ruon-jian. They asked if it was her first time here, but she would come often when she was a kid. They also questioned her about her cooking abilities, which surprised her, but nonetheless answered that she was proficient enough. She naturally kept quiet about the real reason behind her proficiency. If she did not want to starve she had to make her own food. And if she did not know about some plants, she had to test them herself, sometimes with disastrous consequences... although there has been people kind enough to teach her many things about the healing or culinary properties of plants, as long as they did not know she was a firebender...
They then proceeded to explain that they had come here to leave the cage and spread their wings a bit. Although from the looks of it, it seemed more like they had caused a bit of trouble and had been sent here to cool their heads and they were taking advantage of it to get away from their authoritative parents. She praised their desire for independence with a sweet and charming little smile. The young red haired girl took a step and tripped in the sand, half because that training session had exhausted her more than anticipated, half because for macho like them, being a little weak and looking in awe before how strong and manly they were was the best course of action. Of course Chan caught her by the waist as expected (even though she could have caught herself). She had never been one for shallow and stupid conduct or to change her ways to fit what people wanted or expected of her, and that was no matter what person they were. However she had had to learn to tone down and dampen that self-centredness in order to survive. Well, it should be alright since she was not planning on staying long.
She accepted Chan's offer because she had nowhere else to go but in her mind thought about the rotten idle wasteful and completely brainwashed youth of the Fire Nation's high class who wallowed in self-importance, those fangless dogs, sheltered babies who knew nothing of the reality of the world, what it was to lose everything you had, your family, you honor, your marks, everything you believed in, people's consideration... They obviously did not know what it felt like to be hated and despised by everyone from each and every nation including your own. They had obviously never gone hungry or been betrayed times and times again, when they were the most in need. They had never been hunted like an animal. They had never known the deep crushing darkness of despair that is born from loneliness, especially at night, or the feeling of being devoured alive by the sheer intensity of their hatred and desire for revenge... but what use resenting them? She would just use them and play along for now and leave as soon as possible, once she had recuperated enough.
Although she understood the necessity, she had always loathed deceiving people no matter what she would go through as it went against her honor code and always made a point to be as honest and truthful as possible. But for some reason with these guys she felt no qualms in mercilessly and contemptuously manipulating them and lying to them. Well, she was not cruel enough to tell them a few home truths when they were kindly letting her say for free. It was not like she was such a hothead that she'd let go of a free lodging just because she couldn't keep her mouth shut. All she had to do was cook for those guys who could not even cook for themselves as the attendants had been sent away too. It was not that she particularly disliked them. But their vanity and superficiality bothered her a bit.
They literally took Chenlian by the hand to their house of quite reasonable size built right at the edge of the cliff side with a balcony supported by long stilts. They gave her a tour, and in one of the rooms, she stopped before the instruments on display, all of high quality and very expensive, with beautiful inlaid patterns.
"Those are my mother's."
"May I try the pipa?" The girl inquired politely.
"Sorry I can't. I'm dead if something happens to it."
"Do not worry. I have absolute confidence in my skills." Chenlian told him reassuringly with a cute engaging smile. Smirking back, the young man gave in and without a word went to look for the key. Ruon-jian took advantage of the momentary absence of his friend to strike a conversation, occasionally flipping his hair, his left knee slightly bent forward, his right hand on his hip, closer to her than she usually allowed guys to be. Chan came back with the key to the case, passed in between the two, giving a look to the other male, and opened the case before carefully taking the pear-shaped instrument and giving to the girl. They sat down, she started playing, and the melody sprang alive, her virtuosity allowed complete manipulation over the timber and tone, the pitch and vibrations, making the bright and strong sound of the pipa, sometimes striking the board for a percussive sound, sometimes twisting the strings for a cymbal-like effect, while her left hand gave the music a violin or guitar-like quality. She could make the bold strings rattle like a sudden rain and the fine strings hum like a lover's whispers for an overall very expressive play, sensual and intimate, joyful and mischievous, elegant and refined.
The boys were impressed. Martial arts, firebending and swordsmanship were not her only skills. She gave the instrument back to Chan who then led her to her room where she put down her luggage. She was allowed to bath before going to the kitchen where she prepared a feast as much for her own sake as for theirs. However it took longer than expected because of a certain admiral's son who would keep clinging to her, sometimes enclosing her in his strong arms, his chin right above her right shoulder, enjoying her fresh, feminine, sensual scent of dewy roses with a tiny hint of bittersweet orange and the gourmand note of crushed sun-ripened raspberries. She would listen to his sweet talk, and without leading him on, would not completely turn him down either, until his lips closed in on her in an attempt to kiss her, she put a piece of meat in his mouth and let her index finger on his lips.
"That is all you will get from me." Chenlian told him with a charming playful smile. "Now be a good boy and go sit down and wait." She added; her tone still playful but more motherly now. And he had given in again. After the meal they talked again, and she played a few more pieces before excusing herself. She was tired. Chan jumped on the occasion to escort her back. Once more, the young girl thanked him for his invitation and wished him good night but just as she was going to open the door, two hands were placed on the painted wood on either side of her face. She waited.
"And now, is it possible?"
She slowly turned around and their eyes met. They stayed like this for a time, and he leaned in, but just before their lips touched she put her index on his and gently but firmly pushed his head away.
"Sorry, I can't allow more." She smiled a sweet apologetic smile. He took her hand.
"Is it because of him?" - Him – the guy she did not forget after all these years. She kept smiling without a word. "I can make you forget about him."
"Yes, it would be nice if you could." Her smile was then tinted with sadness. Even if he had forgotten about her she would not forget about him, she – could – not forget about him, and had no intention to. It was true that everything might have been simpler were it not for those feelings. But she was going to see him again, and talk with him, and save him and help him remember his real self and walk down the right path again. It might be difficult, he might have changed, but he was the one she had chosen, she believed in him, in his kindness –even if it was now buried inside – and more than anything, she believed in her own judgement. "But I'm sorry, I can't allow more. Goodnight, Chan. Ah, if anyone tries anything during my sleep, they're dead. Please pass the message to your friend who's waiting over there." The smile and tone had become cheerful but there was something kind of intensely cold and scary about her. It had only lasted one second but he felt he better obey.
The next morning, while the guys were still sleeping, Chenlian trained a little by running a few laps and doing some other stretching and strengthening exercises and this time even tried some somersaults. It was still not quite perfect, but she was slowly getting the hang of it again. Then made breakfast and Chan offered to train her so they did some drills after she asked him to go easy on her: if a strong guy like him hit her full force, she would not escape unscathed. She worked on her evasion skills and how to use the opponent's force against them but also tested her brute strength and speed with direct hits. She still needed work, but she was slowly getting better. They ate the leftovers for lunch, rested a little, and went shopping in the market. Of course the guys carried their own food. She lost them for a time to buy what she needed for her travel: fruits, some vegetables and buns and some filling snacks like meat jerky. She was focused on picking the best aliments when she was hailed again. Some guys had offered to carry her basket and help her but she turned them down. They did not really seem like thieves or bad people, just too persistent guys. They were starting to get annoying when Chan and Ruon-jian found her again. They possessively pulled her toward them saying she was with them. Ruon-jian then placed his hands on her shoulders while Chan scared the pests away thanks to his status. She was gently admonished for having not been careful enough to what she apologised in a cute depressed way. They went back home, trained some more, chatted, played, bathed, and after dinner she played the pipa for them again.
Then she woke up during the night and when she was sure they were still fast asleep, she took some leftovers and once more quietly slipped away in the middle of the night. She walked to a secluded spot and took flight.