I think you guys will like this chapter. Please let me know if you do ;)
Quick reminder, read carefully. I sprinkle foreshadowing in where you may not expect it :0
Chapter 4: The Friendly Duel
King Kuei stood from his throne, "There are only two rules. First, knock your opponent off of the platform to win! And secondly, Aang may only use the same bending as the opponent he faces." He paused, "We will start with the water benders, then earth, and finally fire."
Aang wasn't pleased how King Kuei spoke, it sounded like he was dueling his friends only for Kuei's entertainment. He shrugged it off and faced the pair of water benders. The three took their stances and drew out a large pool of water for each of them from the moat surrounding the arena.
Katara circled the water around her and spread it into her octopus form while Pakku twisted it around himself raising him into the air. Aang stood motionless, spinning the water rapidly around himself as he did when he faced the Phoenix King. King Kuei motioned to start the friendly round of fighting just as they finished forming their water stance.
Master Pakku was the first to move, leaning forward in his water vortex shooting icicles at Aang. He quickly formed a wall of water in front of himself allowing the ice to penetrate it before he melted it and added it to the ring around himself. Katara rolled her water tentacles together and rode a large wave of water around the side of Aang, almost catching him off guard as she shot several streams of water at him.
The first caught Aang off guard hitting him directly in the back sending him reeling several feet towards Pakku. He recovered quickly and blocked the series of water streams Katara shot after him. Pakku moved his water vortex over Aang who subsequently got caught and stuck in the powerful current, temporarily preventing him from bending.
But Aang quicky regained some balance and was able to cut Pakku's control of the vortex, sending all the water crashing to the ground. Pakku quickly saved himself from the fall by bending more water from the moat and catching himself. Katara took advantage of Aang's distraction again and snaked a long rope of water around his leg and quickly pulled him back towards her.
To her disappointment he only took advantage of being pulled closer to her. He overpowered her control of the water and quickly shot a large stream of water at her feet and froze her to the arena floor. He followed up with another shot that froze her arms together, preventing her from bending. She knew what he was doing, he grinned teasingly at her.
Aang turned around again to face Pakku, only to face a giant wall of water barreling at him. He reacted quickly cutting a hole in the wave and pushing the water out of his path. While Aang was distracted with the wall of water Pakku tried to unfreeze Katara, but to no avail. Aangs control of the ice was stronger than Pakku's.
Pakku quickly turned back to Aang, but was too late; a sharp stream of water captured him straight in his chest knocking him back to the edge of the arena. Aang moved quickly puling water from the moat and used it to pull Pakku in. He fell in with a grunt and surfaced quickly laughing, "Good move Avatar."
Aang turned his attention to the disabled Katara once again. He bended the ice she was frozen to ever so gently, and levitated her directly in front of him. "Looks like I win." He teased, then continued to gently levitate her over the water. He melted the ice to let her fall to her defeat.
But Katara expected this of him and as soon as he melted the ice she used it to bend a ramp of water and ice back onto the arena floor, "Not so easily, mister!" she argued against him. He took a step back, slightly surprised. Katara took advantage of his weak stance and bended several jets of water at him. Her accuracy was dead on and hit him in the chest again and again.
The last blast pushed Aang to the opposite edge of the arena where she tried the same tactic Aang used to pull Pakku out of the arena. But the water wouldn't rise; she looked at the grin on his face then down at her feet and arms. Aang had bended a snake of water from the opposite side of the arena all the way up her legs and arms, trapping her.
Aang walked up to her grinning again. "Yeah, I think I won." He gave her a loving kiss and then bended the water back with her inside of the watery straight jacket. But this time he was sure to pull her down to the water this time.
King Kuei stood, "Aang won the water bending battle! That was some fight, Aang." He added on trying to add more to the simplistic statement.
Master Pakku sat cross legged on the edge of the arena floor as Aang helped Katara out of the water. "Do this again and I think things will turn out differently." Katara teased Aang as she bended the moisture from her robes. He snorted in doubt, pulling her in firmly.
"Now for the earth battle." Kuei pushed along. Aang glanced at him again, annoyed with his attitude today. Katara grunted in annoyance as well before joining Pakku on the side of the arena.
Aang stood in the center again, facing Toph and the ever laughing King Bumi. A moment before Kuei motioned to begin, however, Aang sat on the ground as if he was going to meditate. They all looked at Aang curiously. Kuei looked at the group in the area wondering if he should start. King Bumi laughed, he knew what Aang was doing, "Yes go ahead Kuei."
The king shrugged and motioned to begin. None of the benders moved. Aang continued to sit in the middle of the area waiting patiently. Toph started taunting him, "Come on twinkle-toes! Awww, did your girlfriend wear you out already?" she sneered at him. King Bumi continued his half crazed snorting and laughing.
"I know what you are doing Aang!" he jeered jokingly.
Aang kept his eyes closed and focused on the vibrations the pair gave off. Toph slouched slightly, blowing her bangs away from her eyes. Aang opened his eyes suddenly, knowing Toph was venerable. He sank himself into the ground instantly and shot a column of rock from beneath Toph. She sidestepped the attack, dodging it by the skin of her foot.
"Nice try Aang, I see that she has taught you well." Bumi mentioned as he scanned the arena floor. Toph however knew exactly where Aang was, but didn't attack. Aang shot himself out of the ground, now behind the two earth benders. Toph lost sight of Aang as he flew through the air and resorted to punching dozens of rocks blindly into the sky.
King Bumi however was able to target Aang after he saw him and launched a pair of boulders directly into Aangs path. He evaded the first with some effort and took hold of the second one. He shot the boulder back down to the ground landing at Toph's feet and sending her flying into the stands nearby Sokka, who laughed hysterically at her. Toph recovered and stomped the ground, sending Sokka a few feet into the air. "Let's see you do better against him, ponytail boy."
Sokka fumed, "It's a wolf's knot!"
"Pff, whatever." Toph ignored him, before storming off back down the stairs.
Aang continued to exchange boulders and earthquakes with Bumi. Bumi trapped Aang in an earthen straight jacket, which he quickly broke apart and jumped away. He threw up a rock wall around Bumi and strafed around the side as he broke down the wall and quickly spotted Aang and resumed his attack.
Aang dodged the boulders, trying to devise a new tactic. He stopped suddenly and raised his hands. The ground rumbled and a cloud of dust exploded from the arena. Everyone was blind to see what was happening inside, at least visually. Aang and Toph still had their seismic senses to feel what's around.
Bumi looked around to no avail. She shrugged, and started jumping up and down, shaking the whole arena. Aang raised himself a small platform in the middle of the arena, avoiding the shaking. He closed his eyes to concentrate through the haze of vibrations. He found where Bumi's raucous was centered, but he was a ways away.
He grinned, an idea coming to his head. He synced himself and the earth platform with the shaking Bumi was causing. He took a quick breath and used his earth platform to launch himself in the air, he flipped at the peak of his jump and plummeted to the ground. He crashed into the ground, bringing his end of the arena with him and launching the other end up, sending Bumi flying out of the cloud of dust and dirt. Aang could hear his laughing all the way through the air until he slammed into the stands with a grunt.
Aang raised his hands and brought them down sharply, the dust cloud quickly falling back to the arena floor. He looked around the arena; Zuko and Iroh were floating in the water, presumably knocked off from Bumi's rocking. Katara and Pakku had bended themselves onto the sides of the stands before Bumi rocked the arena.
"Wow that was an amazing move Aang." King Kuei mentioned, "Aang wins the earth duel." He exclaimed. Zuko and Iroh climbed out of the water, steam rising from them as they used their fire bending to dry off.
Aang walked calmly back to the center, still displeased with Kuei's attitude. He grew very anxious to end the duel and continue with his business and Katara. Zuko and Iroh bowed to Aang, which he returned before they took their stances.
Kuei nodded and without hesitation Aang ignited a massive wall of his new fire bending skills. The wall stretched from end to end with a deep, rich azure blue. Many of the spectators awed at the display, not because of the size but from the color. Most had not seen Azula's fire bending and thought that a different color could not be maintained normally, and even for those who have they were surprised that Aang now bended such a magnificent blue.
Aang quickly took advantage of the distraction and cover he made and fire skated around to the back of Zuko and Iroh. He quickly caught Zuko off guard and punched several quick jabs of blue flame at him. Zuko turned to block the attacks only to be knocked off his feet and thrown down to the ground several feet behind where he used to stand.
Iroh however was quick to react and sidestepped Aangs attacks, shooting fireballs back at Aang. Aang quickly fire skated away from the counterattack. Zuko quickly jumped back up to his feat and launched several ferocious attacks in front of Aang, cutting off his escape route from Iroh. Aang responded quickly once again, jumping backwards into the air aided by a jet of fire from his limbs.
Iroh and Zuko turned to face him in the center of the arena once again, "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname, The Dragon of the West?" Iroh asked Aang smoothly.
Aang grinned, "No you haven't, but I know how you did." Anticipating Iroh's next move he quickly spat a small ball of fire from his mouth at Iroh. Iroh, who did not see Aangs move in time, took a deep breath of air and blew out a massive orange stream of fire from his own mouth.
A moment passed at the flames streaked towards one another. Aang's small blue fireball cut through Iroh's stream momentarily before exploding, causing a massive ball of smoke to envelop between the two of them. Zuko prevented Aang from taking any advantage of the chaos by raising a column of flame next to him and pressed it towards him.
Aang dove out of the way avoiding the advancing column of fire. The smoke soon cleared as Iroh coughed, recovering his breath and his stance. Some soot powered his face, which he gently brushed off before resuming. Zuko went on the offensive, charging at Aang on his own fire skis. But to his disappointment he soon fell flat on his face as Aang reached out and extinguished the flame, then punching several streaks of fire at the Fire Lord.
Zuko couldn't recover in time to avoid the attacks and only narrowly blocked the attacks, but still taking much of the force, sending him skidding over to the edge of the arena with his head over the edge nearly in the water. Iroh rushed up to Aang trying to lock him in a box of fire.
Aang quickly broke out of the box and shot his own series of fireballs at Iroh, locking him in a box of flames. He stopped quickly and dropped to the ground, spinning around several times bending out a blue circle of flame. Aang sat down still encircled by the flame and pushed the fire outwards, knocking Iroh into Zuko and the two of them into the water.
The arena spectators clapped lightly as Kuei announced Aang as the winner, "And that's how it should be, the Avatar trumping the best of each nation."
Aang shot Kuei a look, whom didn't notice, but much of the arena onlookers did. He really started to get annoyed with Kuei today. But his thought diminished faintly as Katara walked up to him, "Well that was pretty amazing." Sokka and several other friends followed behind her.
"Since when do you bend like Azula?" Sokka shot out.
"Oh please, that's nothing like Azula. She is fueled by rage and hate, and her bending is blue." Katara defended.
Sokka's face drooped, "What do you mean her bending is blue? So is his! And what do you mean by fuel? Don't you just bend and wa-la! Fire?"
Aang chuckled, "Uh, no? Zuko and I already told you this, fire is life. Not hate and rage. And besides, my fire is more of an azure than a plain blue. Thank you!"
"Wait so how do you make it blue then? It's not like Azula hated and raged against herself to get it." Sokka argued.
"No you dope! Don't you see that he uses Katara as the source of his fire bending?" Toph interjected, knocking Sokka upside the head with a few small rocks.
Sokka turned around to argue with Toph, but Katara noticed a guard sprinting across the stands towards Kuei, "What's going on?" she asked, loudly enough only for the group to hear.
Aang turned around to look with several others of the group as the guard whispered to King Kuei. Kuei stood suddenly and yelled down to the group, "The Dai Li agents are escaping!"
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