Chapter 3: Matter Bending

I always thought that bending was by manipulating one single element, until now. I've made a deduction that every form of bending has a sub-bending form. The way Fire can generate lightning gave me an idea.

It was how I learned and created my own sub-bending form. I use the chaos force to simulate a near perfectly identical form of bending for any element. But the chaos force is energy, and energy can be transformed. That's when it hit me that I could use the chaos force to create anything I desired.

A few weeks prior...

I took refuge in the mountain range far from the scene of my most recent failure. I was alone yet again and my guilt had now all but consumed me at the time. I knew without a purpose, what could I do with myself if all I was bringing was pain to myself? I walked alone by myself until I stopped to notice that I felt something.

Something other that guilt or pain. A simpler feeling, pouring rain on my head. I just realized that a storm was on the horizon and already the rain swept on me like a mop. I only bothered to stop walking because my legs were tired from the non-stop walking. I honestly didn't notice because I was so distraught. But if I didn't stop, I'd have died right there and let the mud bury me. I sat on a rock letting the rain wash away some of the guilt but only just barley.

It wasn't until I heard an animal crossing the path beside the one I was taking that I took my mind off of the guilt that was drowning me. A young girl on a mixed breed of two animals no doubt. I would have turned my back away if it wasn't the landslide coming her way, her animal was stuck in the mud and it looked like she couldn't do anything.

I don't remember why I bothered to save her but I guess I had nothing to lose by doing it. I ran down hoping to try and reach her before the landslide hit her but I was so exhausted that I was too late. But it didn't mean I quite right then and there. I got down there as fast as I could and began digging her our with my bare hands.

Nearly two minutes passed I believe until I managed to grab hold of her arm and pull her out. She had a ponytail and was close to suffocating. I then pressed my hands against her chest to try and save her hoping it would expel the dirt out of her body. To my relief she coughed up the dirt and began breathing heavily. I took her to a cave where I made a makeshift camp and waited out the storm.

Later...

The girl finally awoke with Itsuki keeping the fire from going out. To his surprise she was recovering rather quickly it seemed. "You ok?", Itsuki asked.

"Uuuu...I feel like I ate a mud pie. And this dirt isn't good for my skin either! There is just way to much!", she replied.

"I take it your recovering just fine then?"

"I'll be coughing up dirt for a while but I feel fine. Thank you for saving me. I would have gotten out myself except I was trying to save that poor eel-lizard."

"That's what it was called?"

"You know? I have no idea. You would assume after working with exotic animals I'd know, but I forgot.", she replied.

"A shame I couldn't dig it out. If I had something more useful I may have been able to save it. But I was using only hands and I barley got you out of there."

"Again thanks. I bet my friends are worried sick."

"Soon as it looks like we can travel in the storm I'll take you to them."

"Oh don't worry I may not look like it but I can take care of myself. Besides I doubt you would want to meet them."

"Why?"

"Let's just say that one of them is super scary. Beautiful, smart, and strong...but scary."

"Fair enough. If it's what you want I'll let you go on your way. I won't force you here if you feel like your up to it. But right now it's getting worse."

"Sure. Hey, you know you actually are kinda cute in that lone warrior sort of way."

"The last time I ever was being flirted by someone was by someone I don't want to be reminded of."

"Oh sorry. I just thought it would help your aura."

"My what?"

"It's your life force. I learned a few tricks and how to defend myself."

"How do you defend yourself exactly?"

"Well if say an earth bender was threatening me, I'd hit him in his pressure points and he'd never be able to bend. Well...it would come back after a while. It's called Chi-blocking. Hey I can teach you a move or two? It's really easy."

"I wouldn't need it. I learned how to use my...ugh swords. Ugh they were destroyed a while back and it would take me ages to find a pair like mine. Let alone the kind right for me."

"Well I hope it works out for you. Oh what's your name? Mine is Ty Lee."

"...Itsuki. My name is Itsuki."

"Where would you get a name like that?"

"Home...", he answered softly.

The rain began to pass and Ty Lee felt ready to leave. "Thank you for saving me and sheltering me from the storm. I hope we see each other again."

"Hope things turn out for you."

Ty Lee waved goodbye as she cartwheeled away and went to regroup with her friends. Itsuki watched her go off on her own wishing he had people to go to who would welcome him. His time away from having a place to rest began to weigh him down as he missed his old home, in the Uchiha clan. He could almost no longer remember what his old life was but the surroundings of his room and his family waiting for him in the main room.

I stayed in that cave almost the entire day. I thought for a while that if I went back out there, what I would do, if I was going to go back I had to know where I was going. Otherwise I'd end up killing myself wandering aimlessly until I got too careless. But then something about what Ty Lee said gave me inspiration to an idea. I then remembered something Iroh ounce confined to me.

"I'm not sure if it's possible but perhaps you could be able to generate lightning."

"Fire benders can generate lightning?"

"Yes. But I'm not entirely sure if you could."

"I need only fire bending for now. If I need it, you'll be the first I'll go to."

He told me that around the time I had been training with Zuko back on the ship. Funny they were the closest thing to a family I had in decades. But I wasn't interested in lightning, I was interested in how fire bending had a different method of bending. Since my 'bending' is derived from the chaos force I thought maybe I could do the same, but with matter itself.

Matter can be used for anything if molded with accuracy. I had a perfect picture in my head, the perfect tool for myself, my preferred weapon in combat. A sword crafted from the strongest materials but as light as a feather. Impossible to do, but I believed it could be possible if I allowed myself to believe it could be.

It was then that I went to gather materials for my new swords. If I could do it, then I'd be nearly unbeatable. But I'd be, to coin a phrase, "Samurai without a master." I'd had nothing to gain or lose so why make something if I wasn't going to give it any purpose? The only plan that came to mind was vengeance. Revenge on Azula was the only thing that gave me purpose back then.

But I wasn't blindly fixed on her this time. I set my sights on a more broader scope, I would hunt down Azula but I would look for a new purpose as I went after her. It wouldn't be much but all I had.

(Music Plays here - Guide My Sword)

It took a few hours but I laid out all the materials necessary for my swords. Pieces of metal and cloth were easy enough to obtain. But in order for them tow work I had to envelope them in both fire and wind. Forge the metal in a steel so hot it would make it unbreakable. But light enough to where it could become weightless as the wind.

I sat in a meditative state where I tried to enter in a deeply induced trance so that I could create my swords using this ability. Hours passed and I couldn't feel like I had control over matter. I thought focus was all it took, but that was when I remembered these words.

The servers are the seven chaos, chaos is power, power enriched by the heart, the controller is the one that unifies the chaos...

It was then I figured out that the chaos force isn't just simply energy, but life. And matter can't be created nor destroyed. So how can I forge anything? I wondered how powerful can I become? I then recalled the time when I saw the Avatar, and his eyes glowed and controlled the elements like a god. And a master of the chaos force who used the 7 stones to become nearly invincible.

It was there I knew how to re-create my swords. By making something an extension of myself I must give a bit of myself into it. I Would have to sacrifice my power for a certain amount of time until I could use my bending again. It could be years, but I never needed it before.

I went into my meditative state again but this time I knew what to do...

Then Itsuki's eyes glowed like the Avatar's and levitated all the materials into a sphere and it turned into a ball of hot metal. Itsuki burned it to a hot enough temperature and surrounded it a ball of air simultaneously cooling it down. Then with the chaos force he shaped it into two twin swords that were longer than his old ones and thinner.

They were laid gently on the ground and Itsuki's eyes returned to normal but the exhaustion caused him to pass out from it all.

I awoke again possible several hours later after I had just successfully crafted my blades. I could feel in myself that my connection to the chaos force was drastically weakened. But given time I believed it would return to full strength. But now I had a new purpose and a new path carved for myself.

I wasn't lost anymore. I was free, and the path in front of me was straight ahead...

In the present...

Itsuki's cell door opened revealing Long Feng yet again. "It's time we had another little chat, Itsuki."