Kole:
I stared up at a meteor shower flying across the nighttime sky.
"Wow, this is amazing to watch," I said, awed by the beauty.
We were all lying on a makeshift roof covering Fanindra and staring up at the sky.
Alana nodded in agreement at my statement. "Kind of makes you realize how insignificant we are."
"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it 1,000 times," Elise said and I felt bad that she couldn't see this.
There was a sparkle in the sky as a large meteorite entered the atmosphere and fell toward the earth. I sat up in alarm, my heart pounding in fright at the unnatural thing.
Alana was just as startled as I was. "Oh, man. You've never not seen anything like this."
Alana, Odette, Fang and I all sat up and stared in amazement at the meteorite, engulfed in blue fire. The meteorite as whistled through the air and passed over our heads. Alana turned around and watched as the meteorite crashed in a huge, blue explosion off in the distance, causing us to shield our eyes. Elise stood up in surprise as we all looked at the smoke rose from an orange glow. Odette, Alana, and I looked to each other nervously.
Alana:
We hurried to a town that was nestled in the mountains. Fanindra flew down towards a large, fire filled crater where the meteorite had landed.
Kole looked around, his eyes wide in alarm. "The fire is gonna destroy that town."
"Not if we can stop it," Odette said fiercely.
Fanindra landed close to the fire. Odette, Elise, and I jumped off while Kole slid onto Fanindra's neck and took her reigns.
"There's a creek over here. I'll bend the water on to the fire." Kole whipped Fanindra's reigns and flew off.
"Elise, let's make a trench to keep the fire from coming any closer," Odette ordered.
I looked at her dejectedly. "What should I do?"
Odette and Elise looked back as Fang came over next to me and barked.
"Keep an eye on Fang," Odette said hurriedly.
"So what, I'm just a wolf-sitter," I snapped petting Fang's head. "There, there. Feel better?"
Odette and Elise ran toward the fire. They both swung their arms down and cut a fissure through the ground in front of the fire. Odette and Elise raised their hands, then flung their arms to both sides, bending the fissure into a trench and pushing the fire back.
Flaming embers fell around Fang and I and I frantically stamped one out with my club while Fang stamped out the rest and jumped back to me. I looked back to see all the other fires put one and gave Fang a sour expression.
The one thing I got to do was already done for me.
Kole and Fanindra flew over the nearby creek. Kole bended a huge orb of water out of the creek and high into the air. He bended the water behind him, stabilizing it and I watched Fanindra fly over the fire while Kole sprayed a shower of water from the orb, putting out most of the flames. Elise moved her hands from side to side, bending a large, rectangular slab of stone to roll over its edges and stomp out more flames.
Fang and I watched the stone slab pass by and I hung my head. Odette took the orb of water from Kole with her waterbending as Fanindra flew past her.
She bended the water around her and looked back at me, her hair swirling about her wildly. "Alana, stand clear."
"Right, stand clear. Got it," I sighed disappointedly.
I stood up, picked up Fang, and began to walk away. Odette bended the water behind her and took a deep breath before pushing her arms forward, throwing the water at the fire and exhaling a gust of wind.
Fang quickly jumped out of my arms as I was caught by surprise by the torrent of water.
A globe of water grew out from the center of the crater and exploded, spreading a light shower of snow all over the area, putting out all the fire. I looked at Odette as Fanindra and Kole landed nearby and Elise walked up to her.
Odette dusted her hands off and smiled widely, snowflakes falling into her hair. "Good work, everybody."
I glowered and emerged from a pile of snow as Fang slid past me on the ice covered ground.
Ira:
In my very dark cell, I sat boredly, waiting for something to happen.
The door opened and light poured in over me. I was leaning against the wall, eyes glazed over and drooling. Warden Poon walked up to the bars of the cell and dropped a bowl of mush on the floor in front of the cell and kicked it over to me, spilling it.
Deciding to give the cruel man a little show, I scrambled at the food, desperate and gasping. I fell face first into the mush and began to slovenly shovel it into my mouth.
Warden Poon descended. "Look at you. You're just a fat, disgusting old man. You do nothing, you say nothing. You just eat and roll around in your own filth like a pig. You're a disgrace."
Warden Poon spat on the floor before turning away and exiting the cell.
I smiled in amusement and flicked away the stray strands of my dirty hair back. I picked up the bowl of mush and assumed a much more dignified, cross legged position and continued eating happily.
Odette:
The next day, we stopped in the small Fire Nation town of Eznany, which was situated in the mountains next to a cliff overlooking a river. Kole, Elise, and I were seated at an outdoor table at a local restaurant, each with trays of food.
"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night," I said, amazed that no one had noticed us or the meteorite.
Elise ate a dumpling. "Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love."
"Boo-hoo, poor heroes," Alana said sarcastically, her face bitter.
She was sitting at the edge of the floor by herself, a tray of steaming smoked sea slug next to her.
Kole frowned. "What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."
Alana sighed sadly, poking at one of her most favorite foods in the world. "It's just...all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around. I can't fly around, okay…I can't do anything."
Kole's face softened in understanding. "That's not true. No one can read a map like you."
Elise smiled encouragingly. "I can't read at all."
"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time I mean, look at Kole's hair, right," I laughed and grabbed a lock of Kole's hair - which had grown out and was a little shaggy but was still in it's wolf-tail style - and gestured to it. "What's up with that?"
Kole looked around, embarrassed. "What? What's wrong with my hair?"
He looked left and right nervously, trying to cover his hair.
I raised my hands apologetically, trying not to laugh. "Nothing, I was just trying to…"
"Look, I appreciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm not. I'm just the girl in our group who's regular," Alana sighed, even more upset.
Kole sat down next to his sister comfortingly.
"I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but I hope you know none of us see you that way." He paused a moment, then placed a hand on Alana's shoulder "I know something that's gonna make you feel better."
She looked up, depressed. "You do?"
Alana:
Odette, Kole, Elise, and I stood in the doorway of a weapons shop.
I clapped my hands excitedly, grinning like a goofball. "Shopping!"
I ran forward and started eagerly examining the various weapons displayed on the tall racks.
"Maybe a little something to reinvigorate my battling," I said and pulled a nunchaku from the rack.
"Hey, how about these," I said and began twirling the nunchaku. "Ho-ya! Smack-a-dacka-doo!"
I accidentally hit myself in the head and fell over, knocking over a few of the poles weapons on the rack and making Elise flinch.
Kole was fitting on a pair of gloves.
"What do you think?" Odette asked him as she walked up, wearing an extremely stylized and complex suit of heavy, shiny armor. "Pretty slick, huh? All I need to complete the outfit is a wind sword."
Kole shielded his eyes from the shine of the armor. "What's a wind sword?"
"It's where I get a sword handle. And then I just swing this around and bend air out like a blade." Odette raised a sword handle a swung it around, making wind noises.
Kole shook his head at her, amused. "Yeah...nice."
The heavy armor creaked and began to fall over. Odette, unable to move anything but her arm, started to panic. Kole tried to stop Odette from falling, but Odette and the armor hit the floor with a loud thud.
She sighed as he laughed hysterically. "I'll just stick to what I got."
I held a pole weapon with a blade the end, a guandao. I swung it to one side, the swung it over my head and twirled it in a circle. The weapon flew up towards the ceiling like a helicopter and I put my hands behind my back innocently.
Still within the same area, I was next dragging an enormous, metal club across the floor. I groaned as I tried to lift it, but lost my grip and fell. Next, I held two swords, marching around and chopping downward with them, making short battle cries in pace as I did so. Then I grabbed a new weapon and spun a chain over my head, but ended up wrapping the chain around myself and I fell over. Then I started running around, carrying a very wobbly spear.
A few minutes later I was examining a sai before using it as a toothpick. Something glinted and I caught it out of the corner of my eye.
I rotated around spotted a sword rack on the wall, and a particular sword framed and positioned above the others. I stared wide-eyed at all the details of the hilt and scabbard. A dragon was depicted on the scabbard.
"Ooo," I said in awe as I walked to the sword, closely examining it and feeling the scabbard. "That's what Alana's talking about."
The shopkeeper watched me in amusement as everyone gathered around me "You have a good eye. That's an original from Dagon, the greatest sword master and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here."
He walked away, humming to his self happily.
Odette smiled and gave me a light shove. "That's it. That's what you needed all along, Alana."
I frowned. "A sword?"
"Not the sword...a master." She said as I pulled the sword off the rack. "We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Dagon."
Kole nodded in agreement. "That's a great idea. I could've never gotten to where I am without Master Sorren. Everyone needs a teacher."
"I learned from badger moles. They don't talk, but they're still good teachers," Elise said.
I pulled out the sword and examined the blade. "It would be nice to be a master swordfighter. All right, I'll talk to him."
Ira:
A ray of sunlight shone down through a small window, filtering through the bars on the top of my cell. I was lying on my back on straw mat in the corner, hands behind my head. When the entire prison became quiet, I jumped up and began to do a series of sit ups, grunting as I did so as my muscles burned and screamed in protest.
Alana:
I easily found Dagon's castle which was located on top of a large bluff. At the front gates, I grabbed a knocker and tapped it against the large door a few times. I waited a moment and looked around, but there was no answer. I knocked the door and waited again. Still receiving no answer, I became frustrated and grabbed both knockers, banging them loudly and frantically. The right door was opened by the butler, who's name I had been told was Grimms, frightening me.
"Can I help you?" he said, apathetic.
Jeez…no wonder they called him Grimms.
Still frightened, I quickly composed myself and assumed a more mannered persona.
"I've come to train with The Master," I said.
"You should know The Master turns almost everyone away." He held his hand out. "What did you bring me to prove your worth?"
"Well, uh…" I felt around my clothes for something to offer.
"Right." He shook his head sadly. "Let's get this over with."
Grimms gestured for me to enter and I stepped through the gate as he closed the door. Grimms and I walked through the castle's courtyard towards the main structure of the castle and then to the tallest tower.
He took me to a large room with a red carpet and tall windows, giving a view of the valley. Rows of lit candles were placed on both sides of the windows. Dagon sat at a small table in front of the windows, his back me. He had dark skin and wore a black cheongsam. Dagon's hand was holding a calligraphy brush and dipping it into a tray of ink, carefully holding his sleeve with the other hand.
With a nudge from Grimms, I hesitantly took a step forward.
"Master, my name is Alana, and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword," I said politely.
Dagon didn't move, his back still towards me. His sword was placed next to the table.
"Alana. That's an unusual name."
I blinked nervously. "Oh, uh, really? Uh, where I come from, The Fire Nation colonies, it's a pretty normal name, for Fire Nation colonials."
Dagon wrote calligraphy on a piece of parchment. "Let me guess. You've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town. And you think you deserve to learn from The Master."
"Well, actually, I've been all over the world," I said.
Dagon nodded knowingly. "Yep, here we go."
"And I know one thing for sure," I said, ignoring his comment. I got down on my knees and hung my head. "I have a lot to learn."
Dagon glanced back, surprised. "You're not doing a very good job of selling yourself."
"I know. Your butler told me that when I met you, I would have to prove my worth. But the truth is...I don't know if I am worthy," I said sadly, disgusted with my own patheticness.
"Hm, I see. Well, then," Dagon said, smiled, and picked up his sword. "Let's find out together how worthy you are."
I blinked as Dagon's shadow passed over me. I looked at the red carpet as the end of Dagon's sword's scabbard struck the floor. He was now standing before me, sword firmly planted before him.
"I will train you."
A huge smile spread across my face as I looked up at him, shocked.
He put me right to work.
After I got changed into my new training uniform, Dagon and I were standing in a sword fighting ring in front of the building we were in earlier. I was wearing an almost identical outfit to Dagon's.
"The first thing you must learn is that your weapon is an extension of yourself," he said and unsheathed his word and began performing a sword form. "You must think of it as another part of your own body."
"Like a second head," I stated.
"Well, more like an extra-long, really sharp arm. The sword is a simple tool, but in the hands of a master it becomes the most versatile of weapons," he said and sheathed his sword and assumed a stance. "And just as the imagination is limitless so too are the possibilities of the sword."
I smile excitedly and nodded my head in understanding.
Kole:
Odette, Elise, Fanindra, Fang and I were lounging about in the countryside. The three of us were lying on our backs in a circle while Fang ran up to us and lied down next to me. Fanindra was sleeping under the makeshift roof.
Odette sighed. "What should we do today?"
Elise shrugged. "I'm tapped out. I already picked my toes, twice."
"Twice?" Odette asked, wrinkling her nose.
"The first time was for cleaning, but the second time's just for the sweet picking sensation," Elise replied, wiggling her toes happily.
I thought for a moment. "Alana's been in charge of the schedule. I'm not sure what we should be doing."
Elise picked her nose and I tried not to gag. "Plus, it's so hot today."
Odette sat up jokingly. "How hot is it?"
"I don't know. Real hot?"
I caught onto what Odette was getting at.
"It's so hot, it's so hot... Fang is shedding like Fanindra." I petted Fang and flicked tufts of fur from my fingers, looking at them expectantly. "Huh, huh?"
Odette scratched her head and my joke received no laughs.
"I guess the jokes don't run in the family," Odette said.
I rolled my eyes at her and threw a handful of grass in her face. "Oh, everyone's a critic."
Fanindra grunted in response.
Ira:
I was hanging upside down and doing crunches, panting with effort. My feet were lopped through the bars in my cage as worked, listening intently and hoping no guards would come by as I did the upside down crunches in my cell.
Alana:
Later on in the day, Dagon and I stood in front of a table inside the building. On the table was a calligraphy stationery.
"The warrior practices a variety of arts to keep his mind sharp and fluid," my master said and flattened out a piece of paper on the table. "The first you will learn is calligraphy. Write your name."
Dagon delicately handed a brush to me and I took it, messing the bristles up with my thumb.
I looked at him, skeptical. "Writing my name will make me a better swordsman?"
Dagon took the brush and positioned it correctly in my hand. "When you write your name, you stamp the paper with your identity. You must learn to use your sword to stamp your identity on a battlefield."
Holding my sleeve, I dipped the brush into the ink and prepared to write my name.
"Remember, you cannot take back a stroke of the brush, or a stroke of the sword," Dagon said before I put the brush to the paper.
My hand quivered and I sweated nervously, the brush barely an inch above the paper. I scratched my head and placed the tip of the brush on my chin, thinking hard about what to do.
Dagon smirked, amused. "You are getting ink on your face."
"I am?" I looked at the brush and got an idea. "I am. So this is about putting my identity on the page, right?"
Dagon nodded.
I smiled as I proceeded to brush the ink over my face. I then pressed my face onto the paper and rolled his head around. I picked up the paper when I was done and showed it to Dagon, smiling cheerfully. On the paper was a large inkblot which vaguely resembled a face. Dagon simply closed his eyes in response.
When that lesson was over, he led my to the main building. Grimms and I faced off in the sword fighting ring, both wearing training equipment and holding wooden swords. Dagon sat at the top of the steps leading to the building, watching. Grimms wiped his nose as he waited for me to make a move.
I lunged at Grimms and thrust my sword. He effortlessly parried the attack and knocked the sword from my hands. Startled, I ran away in fright and Grimms chased after, whacking me in the rear with the wooden sword.
After that, I was blindfolded and was being guided through the countryside by Dagon.
"Landscape painting teaches a warrior to hold the lay of the land in his mind," he said.
Dagon stopped and turned me to face left and pulled off the blindfold.
"In battle, you only have an instant to take everything in."
Blinded momentarily, I rubbing my eyes. When I could see again, my eyes grew wide and I smiled with excitement and amazement. Dagon and I were standing before a majestic view of a mighty river flowing into a series of waterfalls that dropped into a canyon. Dagon grabbed my head suddenly and turned me away, making me sit in front of a table with a piece of paper, paint, and paint brushes.
"Now, paint it."
I gaped in disbelief. I turned to look at the waterfall again, but Dagon turned his head back.
"And no peeking."
Dagon walked away as I took a brush and began to paint the intricate view. I spent forever on it, trying to make it as perfect as I could.
"I'm finished," I said after almost an hour.
Dagon opened his eyes and looked at me. I presented a very childish and colorful drawing of the landscape, which bore little resemblance, including a rainbow and a sun with a smiling face.
Dagon quirked an eyebrow. "You added a rainbow."
I looked at him, worried. "Is that ok?"
Dagon sighed and shook his head.
Back at the main building, Grimms and I were once again in the sword fighting ring with the training gear. I thrust forward and Grimms and I began our practice fight. I fared much better than before. I grunted as I parried a strike and attempted to swing my wooden sword down, but was distracted.
"Alana."
I looked over to Dagon, giving Grimms the opportunity to circle behind me and kick me in the back, causing a slightly painful fall to the ground.
Dagon sighed. "Concentrate on what you're doing."
I frowned and dropped my head, giving Dagon a half hearted thumbs up.
The next day, Dagon and I walked to the top of a stairway leading down to an empty, tiled area. A small statue of a lion turtle came into view.
"Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and use them to his advantage, Dagon said and I placed a hand on my chin, thinking carefully.
"Hm, manipulate them to my advantage. Oh!"
Dagon watched as I ran down the steps. A look of worry came over him as I rolled a huge stone across the ground. I groaned at the strain of it.
Next I spotted a sheet of moss lying on a rock. I went over and examined its texture before taking it and running back to the other side of the area. I threw the moss on the huge stone and then laid down on it, sighing in relaxation on the easy chair I made from rocks and moss.
Grimms walked up from behind Dagon and suddenly gasped in shock as he looked at the stones scattered all over the tiled floor, creating a mess. I waved at Grimms happily.
"Hey, would you mind grabbing a cold drink for me?" I asked cheekily.
Grimms gasped and turned to Dagon.
Dagon smiled. "I'll take a slice of lemon in mine, please."
Grimms groaned in resignation, hung his head, and walked off to fetch the drinks.
After a short broke, Grimms and I dueled in the sword fighting ring again, Dagon sitting and watching again.
My opponent and I thrust and parried a few strikes. I swung my sword in a circle and tried to hit Grimms's leg, but Grimms pulled his leg up and he avoided the attack. He swung his sword and he parried it. I returned the strike and also parried. I continued my offense with four quick thrusts and Grimms blocked all the attacks and tried to attack me. He missed, and I used this opportunity to slip the blade of my wooden sword under Grimms's hand and flung the sword from it.
Grimms was shocked and raised his hands in defeat as I thrust my sword forward and placed the blade on the side of Grimms's neck, ending the duel. I stepped away from Grimms, put my hands together and bowed to Dagon, while Grimms frowned angrily at me. Dagon sipped a drink from a cup with a slice of lemon stuck on it, nodding his head in approval.
Ira:
In my cell, I was doing push ups on my knuckles, clapping my hands together at the apex of each push. I heard Warden Poon walk towards the door to the cell and I quickly sat up against the wall, clapping my hands. By the time he looked inside the cell through the barred window in the door, I was sitting against the wall and lazily clapping my hands side to side with a delirious expression.
"What's going on in there?" he snapped. He watched me for a moment before shaking his head in disgust. "Crazy old man."
Warden Poon left me alone. I clapped a few more times and smiled when I was sure the warden was gone, ceasing my clapping and pushing back the stray hair hanging over my face.
Odette:
We set up our next campsite near a river. Kole and I were sitting around a map of the Fire Nation, trying to figure out what we needed to do.
"So where are we going next?" he asked and pointed to the map. "We're starting from here."
I pointed at a different spot. "No, we're over on this island."
Elise was lying down not too far away from us. "You noodle-brains don't know what you're doing. I miss Alana."
"Ooh, I got one. If you miss her so much, why don't you marry her?" Kole said.
Kole grinned at his joke.
Elise groaned and rolled over on her side, away from Kole. A winged insect buzzed in front of me, and I simply blew it away with a quick blast of wind from my breath.
Alana:
Dagon and I were sitting on the ground in the sword fighting ring in front of the main building at his castle.
Dagon looked at me approvingly. "You've had a good first few days of training."
"I have? But I thought I messed up every single thing we worked on," I said.
"You messed things up in a very special way. You are ready for a real sword," he said.
I grinned, excited. "Are you giving me one of yours?"
"No."
I groaned disappointedly and slumped down.
"Your sword must be an extension of yourself. So tomorrow, you will make your own sword."
I immediately perked up and grinned, bursting with excitement.
The next morning I was staring at an impressive rack of swords all made by Dagon. Weapons were hung all about the room. Dagon and I were standing at a table. On the table were several bricks of steel.
"Choosing the correct material is the most important step in crafting a sword. You must trust your steel with your life. Choose carefully," he said
I took two bricks and weighed them in each hand. I set them down and took another brick. I sniffed it and then bit the brick to test its quality. After a moment I put the brick down and put a hand to my chin thoughtfully. An idea came to my mind and I turned to Dagon.
"Master, would it be possible for me to leave and bring back a special material for my sword?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled at me.
Odette:
Elise, Kole, Fanindra, and I were all asleep and sitting around the map as we were before. Elise suddenly sat up, waking me up.
"Alana's coming!" she gasped as I fell on the ground, bumping into Kole.
We both shot up, gasping and smiling excitedly as Alana walked up to the top of the hill.
"Hey, guys. What are you doing?" she asked.
Kole, Elise, and I all jumped at her and gave her a group hug like she was the last surviving person on the planet.
"Alana!" I cried.
Elise shoved me over. "You're back."
"We missed you so much," Kole said.
"Say something funny," I begged her.
Alana frowned. "Funny how?"
Kole and I both laughed heartily.
Alana gave us weird looked and turned to Elise. "What's their deal?"
"I don't know. They missed you or something. I didn't care," she said and turned away, blushing and smiling.
"Thanks. That warms my heart. Anyway, I need some help," she said.
She told us what she needed and we all quickly ran over to the edge of the crater created the night before.
Ira:
Sitting in my cell, I looked through the bars in the ceiling. I leaned forward and put my head on the floor, legs rose into the air and tilting down as I stood on my hands. Sweating heavily, I began to perform hand-stand push ups.
Kole:
Alana, Odette, and I pushed the meteorite up the slope to Dagon's castle. Elise was behind the meteorite, pushing it forward with her earthbending. When we finally reached the large doors Alana ran up and banged both knockers frantically. A man what must have been Dagon opened one of the doors almost immediately and stepped out.
"Who's this?" he asked, looking at the rest of us curiously.
Alana looked behind her at us and then smiled. "Oh, these are my friends. Just other good Fire Nation folks."
The man bowed to us before returning his attention to Alana.
"Do you think we can make a sword out of a meteorite?"
Dagon laid a hand on the meteorite and examined it.
He looked back and smiled. "We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world."
Alana:
As I slaved over a fiery forge and shoveled coal into it, Dagon and Grimms carried over a large sledge hammer. I held a chisel against the meteorite while Grimms hammered it, Dagon watching in the back. I tapped the chisel with a smaller hammer and a piece of the meteorite broke off and fell to the floor. I took a moment to wipe the sweat from my brow, pleased.
Next I filled a wooden bucket with the meteorite fragments. Grimms took the bucket and I followed him as he brought it over to the forge. After that was done, I worked over the bellows diligently.
As I worked through the night, Kole and Odette peered in at me from around the corner, checking up on me continuously.
At some point, I fell asleep with my legs to my chest. I woke up suddenly and looked behind me at the forge. I stood up and resumed shoveling in coal. In the morning Dagon observed me from outside. After the sun had rose, the bucket was pulled from the forge by iron tongs by me. I carefully positioned the liquid space metal over a mold of a blade and poured it in. When it was ready, I hammered the red hot metal against a stone.
Dagon rose the hot blade and looked carefully at it as I stood behind him excitedly. Dagon dipped the blade into a trough of water. The blade made the water bubble and boil as it hissed and cooled, turning black.
My sword was complete…
…By afternoon, I was seated in front of Dagon on the outside of the main building. Odette, Kole, and Elise sat behind me while Grimms stood behind Dagon, holding my sword.
"Alana, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me," my master said and Grimms kneeled to Dagon and gave me the sword. "No, it certainly wasn't your skills."
I looked down in shame at that.
"You showed something beyond that," he continued and unsheathed the sword, showing its black blade. "Creativity, versatility, intelligence... these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you."
He sheathed the sword, kneeled and gave it to me. "You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."
I stared blankly at the sword in my hands. After a moment, I lowered my head in shame.
"I'm sorry, Master. You're wrong. I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe," I said guiltily and Odette, Kole, and Elise all gawked at me with shock and disbelief. "I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry."
I held my sword up for Dagon to take. Dagon frowned and turned away.
"I'm sorry, too."
Dagon quickly turned back around and swung his sword at me. I stood and avoided the attack, using my sheathed sword to block a thrust from Dagon. Odette, Kole, and Elise got up and went to help me, but I raised my hand to stop them.
"No, this is my fight, alone."
Ira:
Warden Poon entered the cell, carrying a tray of food.
"You used to be the pride of The Fire Nation. Our top general. The Dragon of the West. Now, look at you." He dropped the food to the floor and I grabbed a green fruit from behind the bars. "Look what you've become."
I watched the warden leave and stood up. I put the fruit to my mouth and held it in my teeth as I began to untie my belt. My shirt came off and a thick, folded sheet that had been covering my belly fell to the floor, revealing my knew incredibly buff physique. I took the fruit from my mouth and bit into it.
I jumped up and grabbed a bar above with one hand. I took another bite of the fruit and began doing one handed pulled ups.
I was nearly ready.
Alana:
Dagon and I squared off in the sword fighting ring. Odette, Kole, Elise, and Grimms watched from the upper part of the main building.
I readied myself with my black sword while Dagon's sword pointed at the ground, his other hand raised and pointed. The others watched nervously as we stared each other down.
There was a moment of utter silence before Dagon lunged forward and began his attack, striking four times. I deflected the blows and stabbed at him.
Dagon moved his head out of the way and stabbed at me and I swayed back and avoids the attack; Dagon swept his sword at my legs, but I jumped over it and lunged at him, thrusting my sword forward. He deflected my blade and hit me with the butt of his sword's hilt. I was knocked back several feet and slid over the floor. I flipped myself backward and grabbed a post of a small bridge to regain my balance. I quickly climbed onto the post and leapt to the other one just as Dagon thrust his sword at me.
Dagon spun around and tried to slice my foot, but I jumped away to the other rail of the bridge. He stabbed at me again, but I jumped off the rail and rolled to the side. He struck again, but I rolled under the blade. I blocked Dagon's next strikes as I gained distance and hopped back on the railing. I leaped away to the end of the bridge as Dagon swung his sword at me.
"Excellent! Using your superior agility against an older opponent...smart," the master commented.
He charged at me again, striking at me and pushing me up a large stone stairway. I blocked all of the attacks, but the force pushed me against the wall of the stairway. I deflected a thrust from Dagon upward, then ducked as the blade sliced through the part of the wall above my shoulder. He swung his sword around his head and body in two large circles. I barely dodged his blade, cartwheeling to the right. I spun back around, hopped a foot off the ground and pushed off the wall with my legs, propelling myself forward, sword extended. Dagon deflected the attack and I rolled across the stair to the other wall, climbing to the top.
"Good use of terrain...fighting from the high ground," he said.
I swung at Dagon below me, who parried and swung at me. Dagon thrust his sword at me and I pinned the blade under my own, weighted down under my feet. Dagon tried to wrench his sword free, but couldn't. He leaned forward and pushed his sword upward, throwing me off. I grunted as I stumbled back into a tall stalk of bamboo.
Elise, Odette, and Kole all winced at the sight.
I looked up fearfully, strands of hair falling over my face. Dagon raised his sword and charged at me.
I ducked as he sliced the bamboo just above my head. I ran off into the bamboo thicket, slicing through as many surrounding stalks of bamboo that I could. As Dagon chased after, the stalks all began to fall. He skillfully cut through the bamboo as I desperately ran through the bamboo and turned, grabbing a stalk and pulling it.
I let it go just as Dagon caught up, causing the bamboo to whip back at Dagon. He cut through the stalk and began to strike at me and I deflected and ran off again, grabbing two bamboo stalks.
"Yes, use your surroundings. Make them fight for you!" he cheered.
I let go of the stalks and they whipped around at Dagon, who sliced through them.
I ran out of the bamboo and back towards the sword fighting ring, screaming in terror and Dagon not far behind. I was very frightened and took a look behind, but Dagon has run off to the side and out of sight. By the time I looked ahead, he was already in front of me and pokes his sword out in front of me, trying to make me run into it. However, I leaned back, sliding under the blade.
I stood back up and stumbled forward, stabbing my sword into the ground to stop my fall. Using my momentum, I swung my sword back around, flinging dirt and dust at Dagon. The dirt hit him right in the face, blinding him. Dagon spun around and positioned his sword behind his back to defend any sneak attacks. He tried to blink the dirt out of his eyes but was unsuccessful.
"Very resourceful," he complimented.
He turned his head and listened for any sounds. I nervously raised my sword defensively. I then slowly tried to sneak away, careful not to make any noises that would give away my location. Unfortunately, I stepped on a lone twig on the ground, snapping it.
Dagon turned his head towards me when he heard it. He twirled his sword around into an offensive position and charged forward. I took a step back as Dagon closed in and stabbed at me. I parried the attack, but Dagon caught my blade with his own. He pushed my sword around in two circles and flung my sword out of my hands.
I watched as the sword stabbed into the ground several feet away.
I turned back and everything seemed to go by in slow motion as Dagon swung his sword in large, horizontal arc at me. I was not cut by the base, but was instead hit in the chest by Dagon's arms, knocking me on my back.
I looked up fearfully as Dagon turned and pointed his sword at my head. Odette, Kole, and Elise all jumped from the building to the ground and ran towards me and Dagon. He suddenly swung his sword away from me, halting Odette, Kole, and Elise.
"Excellent work, Alana."
I squinted up at him curiously. He raised his hand as he signaled to Grimms. Grimms flung the scabbard of Dagon's sword towards him. Still blinded, Dagon turned and pointed his sword upward, letting the scabbard fly right onto the blade.
"I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar," he said casually.
Odette, Kole, and Elise were all in their bending stances. They came out of their stances and looked at each other in surprise.
"How did you know?" Odette asked, not giving him the kindest of her looked.
I stood back up as Grimms walked over, carrying a drink and a white cloth.
"Oh, I've been around a while. You pick things up," the master said and wiped the dirt off his face with the cloth. "Of course, I knew from the beginning that Alana was Water Tribe. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try "Lee." There's a million 'Lees'…"
He sipped his drink thoughtfully.
Kole balked. "But why would you agree to train someone from the Water Tribe?"
"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all," he replied and gave his sword to Grimms. He pulled my sword out of the ground and gave it back to me. "Alana, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am."
Odette, Kole, and I all smiled warmly.
At the front gates, Dagon and I bowed to each other as I prepared to depart. I gave him a hug and before he could respond I took off and the gates closed behind us. We were halfway down the path when I heard he sound of running feet. I turned to see Grimms running up to us from behind.
"Wait. The Master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by," he said.
Grimms gave me a small, brown bag. We all bowed a final farewell and Grimms walked back to the castle. I opened the bag and pulled out a white lotus Pai Sho tile.
"It's a Pai Sho tile," I told the others.
Odette looked at it thoughtfully. "The white lotus. Hm."
Kole looked up. "What does it mean?"
"I have no idea," I said, looking back at Grimms as he closed the doors. Odette and I looked back at the doors, taking notice in the lotus design on them surrounding the Fire Nation symbol. "Ooh, that reminds me. Elise, I thought you might like this since you've probably never had a chance to bend space earth before."
I pulled from my pocket a chunk of the meteorite used to make my sword. I held the black space earth out as Elise took it.
"Sweet. Check this out." She shaped it into a swirl, a star, and then a splatter shaped object.
"You know, I don't think there's such a thing as "space earth." If it's from space, then it's not really earth," Kole said as we continued walking down the dirt road toward the setting sun.
I groaned. "Must you ruin everything?"
Kole huffed, annoyed. "I can't believe I missed you."
