AN:
ML8991: Thank you for reviewing! And, thank you for the advice. I have a hard time trying to build up scenes for what they're supposed to be but I'm hoping to get better as the story progresses.
Fangirl309: Thank you very much for sticking with it!
Guest: Thanks for reading!
Alright, here's the fourth chapter. Updates may come a little slower as we just had a loss in the family recently but I did want to get this out to you guys so I hope you enjoy and please feel free to review and let me know your thoughts so far! Thanks!
The next class period has ended but Aang couldn't get his mind off of what Azula had said earlier. How could he be the only person on the Air team? What sense would it make placing him on a team that only had him on it? Aang's mind wandered so far to where he didn't even notice the boy standing in front of him.
"I'M SPEAKING TO YOU!" A penetrating voice yells.
The loud voice causes Aang to jolt up straight into his seat. He looks up at the person hovering over him only to see that it's the boy he ran into earlier, the one with the scar over his eye. Upon closer inspection Aang sees the boy's eyes are golden but the stare he gives is enough to pierce a hole into someone's heart.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
The boy with the scar slams his hands onto Aang's desk which causes Aang to jump back in fear a little.
"I said, 'What are you doing wearing that shirt?'"? The boy asks, clearly infuriated with Aang.
Aang couldn't help but look at the boy with a puzzled look. Aang notices the boys red shirt which means that he's on the fire team.
"This is just my school shirt!" Aang says in a quavering voice.
The boy with the scar grabs Aangs desk and throws it to the side. The papers and pencil that was on his desk fly across the classroom landing near the teacher's desk. Aang quickly stands up and gets in a Ba Gua Zhang fighting stance, not wanting to fight, Aang tries to plead with the boy to leave him alone. The boy with the red scar refuses and runs up to Aang with his fist cocked back. When he throws his punch Aang slaps the top of the boy's fist, redirecting the punch before tripping him up, causing him to fly into a desk behind them.
The boy with the red scar looks up at Aang, who has his hand extended out to help him up. He slaps Aang's hand away before standing up and letting out a groan of frustration. He gets in a Northern Shaolin fighting style, preparing to strike Aang agai.
"Zuko!" A disembodied, gruff voice yells before seeing a tall man with a pointed beard and shoulder length black hair pushed behind his ears appear in the door way. "Not the time. Not the place." He walks away.
Zuko balls both of his fists up in anger before walking toward the door. Sokka and Katara stands in the doorway.
Zuko stops for a second when he sees the two people from the Water team standing in his way.
"Get out of my way, if you know what's best for you." Zuko says in a rough voice. His pride has taken a bit of a hit but he's not going to let that show.
Katara takes a step up, closer to Zuko, and Sokka soon follows quite unsure about the situation here. Looking around at the ransacked room it can only be speculated that Zuko is trying to bully Aang. They were afraid of something like this happening if and when Aang came into contact with Zuko.
"Or what? You're going to bully us too?" Katara says questioningly.
Katara and Zuko stare at each other for a little under a minute. Zuko breaks eye contact, feeling over whatever game they're trying to play.
"Whatever." Zuko says softly before leaving the room but not before bumping his shoulder into Sokka's shoulder.
Katara and Sokka walks over to Aang , who is cleaning up the mess that him and Zuko made. They decide to pitch in with helping Aang clean up the mess. No words are being said, Aang is a bit frustrated at the situation but Katara couldn't help but feel guilty about keeping what happened, before Aang's arrival, a secret.
"It was August of last year," Katara began, still cleaning and not making eye contact with Aang, "All of the teams used to walk through the schools evenly and united. But, all of that changed when Ozai became the teacher to run the Fire team. Soon after he took control the school competitions seemed to become more and more unfair as time went on. If they weren't winning by intimidation then they were winning by sabotage."
Katara pauses as her and Sokka pushes two of the desks up to Aang's desk before taking a sit down. Katara gestures to Aang to take a seat at the empty desk and he does so. Katara continues her story.
"As the Fire team became more tenacious with their tactics they challenged the Air team to an Agni Kai which roughly translates to 'fire duel'. Agni Kai is where each team chooses a member to participate in a duel. That duel can be a simple game of checkers to something as frightening as a fist fight. All duels are moderated by the proper teams lead teacher."
Sokka groans as he puts his head on the table with his arms lying in front of him landing on Katara's side of her desk.
"Get to the point already." Sokka says with his voice muffled by the desk.
Katara gives Sokka a death glare and Aang chuckles a little bit at the siblings.
Katara clears her throat.
"As I was saying, the Fire team challenged the Air team to a karate match and of course they accepted. The match took place in front of the entire school inside of the gymnasium. Just as fast the bell rang the match was over. With a swift kick across the face the duelist from the Air team was down. The whole school was astonished by what happened. All except for Ozai."
"Wait, so you think Ozai had something to do with his team winning the match? The Air duelist just seemed outmatched." Aang says.
"No, Aang." Sokka began, "I don't think you understand. You didn't see what we saw. The person from the Air team… His spirit to fight, it was gone. Almost as if he was being threatened."
Katara nodded her head before jumping back in, "The Air team lost the battle. Ozai ordered that they disbanded. According to the rules of an Agni Kai the other team doesn't have a choice but to do what the winning team decides for them. Thus, this brought about the end of the Air team."
"But, why would Ozai want to disband the Air team? What could he gain from that?" Aang asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" A soft voice is heard from the door, "He wants territory.
The three friends looked at the door to see a short girl with a green shirt on. Aang jumps out of his seat and ecstatically yells, "Toph!"
Toph smirks and gives him a small wave, "How's it hangin', Twinkletoes?"
She walks over to the friends and grabs an empty chair before plopping down in it. Toph kicks her bare feet up on their desks, Katara and Sokka both scoot over closer to Aang while looking carefully at the hazy eyed girl.
"You know not walking around bare foot is against the school rules" Sokka says, in a slightly inquisitive tone, "as well as unsanitary."
"Well, nobody asked you, Snoozles!" Toph snaps back, getting a good look at the brown skinned boy with the ponytail, although her eyesight might be a tad bit fuzzy she manages to get lost in his deep blue eyes. Toph blushes and looks turns her head away from Sokka.
"Snoozles?" Sokka asked.
Aang and Katara couldn't help but laugh as the next bell rings. Only one more class until the day is over.