The Fire Lord's Left-hand Man
Chapter 4: "The Mountain City"
Tesshin was a man who believed in action over words, and this translated into the way he taught Eijun. And by that, it meant that one day soon after Eijun's bending returned to him, Tesshin began randomly bending massive boulders in his direction.
The first time it happened, Eijun let out a yelp and dodged. The rock slammed into the ground instead, sending out shockwaves that split a nearby bush in half.
"The next time you dodge, that's fifty push-ups," said Tesshin.
When it happened again the subsequent day, Eijun didn't dodge. Instead, he thrust out his fist to try and break it. What he didn't foresee was a large piece breaking off and striking him on the face, knocking him out for the count for the rest of the day.
It took Eijun several more days before he began being able to instinctively bend the whole rock away from himself, and by then, his entire body was purplish and sore. Nonetheless, after he'd successfully countered Tesshin's attacks for the fifth time in a row, he had just begun to feel a bit pleased with himself—when Tesshin suddenly made a splitting motion in the air and the earth below his feet opened up and swallowed him.
When the winter months rolled around, Eijun had to learn not just how to deal with Tesshin's grueling training, but also how to weather the natural elements. The inside of the cave remained toasty warm; they had blocked the entrance, making a small hole over the dancing fire for the fumes. The outside on the other hand, was a completely different story, with the mountaintop reaching temperatures well below freezing.
As Eijun soon found out however, that did not stop Tesshin from continuing their training.
Following the first night of snowfall, when Eijun stepped out of the cave in the morning and saw how the world had been covered in white, he let out a squawk of delight and threw himself forward into the snow pile. Several seconds later, he came up shivering, the delight on his face giving way to shock at how cold it was.
"G-General..."
Tesshin was already moving, carving a large path through the snow.
"It's going to be this way for the next three months. Unless you're planning on hibernating?" His gaze could have melted the rest of the snow around them.
That was that. Eijun knew there was nothing he could say that would change anything; watching his breath freezing in midair, he completed their usual training for that day.
But the next morning, Eijun woke up with a raging fever the likes of which he hadn't experienced since he'd waited in the rain outside the cave. It was all he could do to lift his heavy, splitting head up, and the only thing he registered was the disconcerted look on the general's face before everything turned black again.
When the fever finally passed a few days later, Tesshin didn't say anything, but Eijun found a crude cloak made of pelt waiting beside his sleeping spot.
And so, the months flew by. Slowly, the cold winds lost their edge, and then gave way to rain. The trees that had been black and bare were green and flowering once more by the time Eijun realized that once again, spring had arrived on the mountain.
By that point, bending had become something of a second nature to Eijun, to the point that he wondered how he had ever lived without it. He breathed and lived in it; it was a reflex as natural as the beating of his heart. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that it hadn't even been a year since Eijun had met Tesshin. The time he had spent before he met Tesshin might have all felt like a dream if it weren't for the possibility of his mother's survival lighting up his corner of the cave.
It still hurt to think of his grandfather and his friends. But their faces were beginning to blur.
It was a warm spring afternoon when Ōta returned to the cave bearing news. The sun was shining into the cave entrance and birds were twittering in the vicinity; Eijun recognized the rhythm of his footsteps this time, and with a stamp of his foot and a beckon of his hand, he bended a rough stairway up to the cave entrance.
Soon, wearing a grateful expression—his robes and the man himself looked rather on the heavy side—Ōta was hovering inside the cave's entrance. The look transformed into one of surprise when he spotted Eijun.
"You're still here!" he exclaimed. "So you really are General Tesshin's disciple, then? What'd you have to do?"
Eijun frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
A shadow of doubt swam across Ōta's wide-spaced features. "Well you see, General Tesshin once said that he was never going to take on another disciple again after Prince Te - "
"Ōta," rumbled the general, his broad frame filling the entrance. "I've been expecting you. You're late."
Looking slightly abashed, Ōta inclined his head. "My apologies, general." Once Tesshin walked inside and sat down, he respectfully kneeled down by his side. "While it's no excuse, there was some trouble on the way here with bandits on the road… Thankfully, my bodyguard was able to handle them."
"Your bodyguard?"
"These are dangerous times, general. It's been a nightmare up in Ba - oh, thank you." Ōta broke off, accepting the cup of tea Eijun had poured for him. He took a surprisingly dainty sip, and his eyes widened. "Exquisite. Just delightful. And I thought I'd already drank the best this side of the nation had to offer… May I ask what tea this is? Its aroma reminds me of jasmine, but it's creamier and not quite so dry… and what a flavor! I've never had anything quite like this before."
Eijun scratched his chin. "There were flowers growing in the tree shade."
His eyes gleaming, Ōta leaned forward (Eijun leaned back). "I must ask you to share with me where exactly you found them."
"Before you go off on your tea hunt," the general interjected in a dry tone. "I'm interested in hearing the rest of what you had to say."
"Ah, yes," Ōta coughed. "Where was I? …well, my bodyguard is waiting down at the base of the mountain. I had to hire him because it's simply not safe enough anymore to travel between Ba Sing Se and Omashu without one. The bandits have been getting bolder lately around here. They used to stay away from the main roads, but with those pirate slavers wreaking havoc here and there, the infrastructure has started falling apart. That's actually why I'm headed to Omashu next, in fact, general. I've got a message from the prince for King Kumakiri."
"From the prince, then? Not the king," said Tesshin, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.
Ōta looked uncomfortable. "That's right, general."
While Eijun didn't understand what they were talking about, there was one thing Ōta had said that'd caught in his mind. He'd heard it once before, the last time Ōta had come: Slavers. He'd had thoughts about it the first time around, but he'd hardly had time to ponder on it since then.
Things were different now, however. He was different.
Or at least, so he hoped.
Once it seemed that Tesshin and Ōta's conversation had reached a lull, and they were sipping at their tea, Eijun turned towards the portly man.
"I have a question," he began, "about where the slaves go."
"What do you mean by that?" Ōta sounded bemused.
"The last time you were here, you said that slavers sell off people at markets. Well… who buys them?"
Ōta let out a chortle. "Who buys people? Other people of course! That is, those who have need of cheap labor, or require other, ahem, services not normally permitted within the law." At the look on Eijun's face, he added, "You must understand, a slave has no basic rights. A buyer of slaves bids in the auction with that fundamental notion in mind."
All this going over Eijun's head, he asked, "Then, what happens to a slave after they're sold?"
"After…?" Ōta raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me… is there someone you're trying to find?"
Eijun flushed; his eyes flashed to Tesshin, but the general didn't seem to react. Reaching for his armband, he squeezed it for reassurance. He wasn't sure how to proceed. He'd never had to tiptoe around a subject before. He'd always just spoken his mind, and if it earned him a slap on the head, so be it.
"I'm looking for someone," he said at last. He didn't specify who; even if Ōta was a friend of the general, he didn't trust him enough for that. "They were taken by slavers from the other side of the forest."
Though he looked curious, Ōta thankfully didn't press the issue. "Well, if it's on the west coast, the vast majority of the slave trade goes through Omashu at one point or another. They do keep loose records of the trades there, so if you were searching for someone, that's personally where I'd head first."
Omashu...
He'd heard of the great city before. Merchants passing through Eijun's village had always either been on their way there or back, and were full of stories. He could still clearly remember them: They'd talked about all the different foods and wares, the unique network of rock tunnels that'd been built underground to carry away their waste, the gigantic gates that thousands of visitors passed through every day.
They'd never mentioned a market that sold people, however.
It was early enough in the spring that the evenings were still cold, and it was a particularly chilly one that day. Eijun stoked the fire, looking into the bright flames. He thought he could see dark figures dancing in them.
After some time, there was a slight vibration through the earth; he sensed Tesshin's returning to the cave from taking Ōta back down to the base. Without a word, Tesshin sat down in front of the fire, and closing his eyes, he crossed his arms meditatively. Between the intervals of the crackling fire, Eijun could feel the tension in the air. Stealing a glance at the general's impassive face, he took a deep breath. It'd been churning in his stomach the whole time. If he kept it back any longer, he thought he would burst.
"General," he began. "I... want to go to Omashu. I want to search for my mother." He winced internally at himself; the hesitation was glaringly evident even to him.
In the short time he'd had to ruminate, he'd thought of a variety of answers Tesshin might return, ranging from indifference to irritation. However, what Tesshin actually said wasn't any of them.
"Do you consider yourself ready?"
While the general didn't specify what he meant, Eijun immediately understood. "Yes." He squared back his shoulders. Though he wasn't anywhere near Tesshin's level of course, he thought he'd be able to handle himself in most situations. The earth was with him after all; the general's teachings were with him.
Tesshin's eyes flashed open. "You are not ready." His tone of steel was absolute.
Eijun's heart jumped to his throat. "I - I can handle myself now. I've done everything as you taught me."
"You fool. Do you think we are the only two earthbenders around? Do you think there is a half-adequate earthbender around who can't do what you can?"
With a sting of déjà vu, Eijun realized it was the same thing Tesshin had said when they first met. He felt a prickle of something hot, like liquid fire, seeping up to his face. "You don't understand!" he burst out, jumping up to his feet. "My mother could be out there dying right now. What's the point of learning how to earthbend if I can't help her when she needs it?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Tesshin thundered. Even sitting on the ground, he somehow towered over him, and Eijun felt his eyes widen. "If you leave, do not expect to find a place here again."
They fell silent. In the lonely cave, the fire crackled on.
That night, looking up at the rocky ceiling, Eijun made up his mind.
He had listened to and followed Tesshin this whole time, with hardly a complaint. Surely, just this one time, it would be fine to do what he felt was right? Tesshin didn't understand, after all, how important this was to Eijun—that the main force driving him right now to try anything at all, was the hope of finding his mother.
He could sense it. The earth was whispering to him: If he didn't start searching for her soon, it would be too late.
Getting up quietly, he gathered his few meager possessions: His knapsack, a leather skin for water, his armband. He didn't need any eggs this time; by now, he had learned how to feed himself in the wild.
It was dark outside the cave. The birds had fallen silent. Only those things that rustled and slithered in secret through the forest were starting to wake. Before Eijun left, he paused by the cave entrance. He looked inside at the space that he had lived in for the past year. He wondered whether Tesshin would make it smaller after he was gone.
"Thank you," he said.
There was no answer, and no change in Tesshin's breathing. Eijun knew by now however; he could tell he was awake, listening to Eijun's retreating footsteps. Tesshin, who had taken in and taught a strange boy who'd appeared out of nowhere. His general, his teacher. And in some ways, his second father.
It seemed, however, that Eijun had been the only one to think of him in that way.
If you leave, do not expect to find a place here again.
The words still stung. He could still hear them ringing in his ears. They may have once devastated him, scared him into submission. But Eijun was different now.
"Goodbye." He turned his back on the place he had come to consider his home.
And then he left. He didn't look back.
Nor did he hear Tesshin say into the empty cave air, "Fool of a boy."
Whereas Eijun had once had to solely rely on the constellations to find his way, it was much simpler for him now: All he had to do was follow Ōta's trail. The prints led down the mountain and then turned into two pairs of ostrich horse prints, presumably belonging to his and his bodyguard's mounts. Eijun followed them as quickly as he could, not wanting them washed away by the next rainfall. He bended the earth below his feet to propel him along the way, and gradually, to Eijun's wonder, the landscape began to shift from woodland forest to rocky terrain and steppes.
Despite having lived out in the wild for the past year, he had never ventured past the base of the mountain in that time. And before that, he had only ever been in the vicinity of his village.
There had been the forest he'd had to get through to reach this mountain, but thinking back on it now, Eijun couldn't remember much of the details. For one, try as he might, he couldn't recall how he had gotten out of there. One second, terrible voices had been howling in his mind, and the next, he was looking into a river full of stars. Something had brought him out of there... what it'd been, he couldn't say.
It took two and a half days of hard traveling to reach Omashu. It had just started pitter pattering with rain, when Eijun suddenly realized that there was something off about a quartet of mountains in the distance. Growing closer, his eyes widened: The ridges were not ridges after all. They were lines upon lines of thousands of rooftops.
"State your name, point of origin, and purpose of visit," grunted a bored guard outside the gates.
It may have taken Eijun off-guard had he not just listened to him ask the exact same question of the ten people who'd been standing on line before him.
"Eijun, Akagi Village. I'm here to join my father in the farmer's market." Given what the others had said, it sounded like the safest answer. Lo and behold, the guard jerked his head and Eijun was waved in.
"State your name, point of origin, and purpose of visit," droned the guard behind him.
Stepping inside the bustling city of Omashu for the first time in his life, Eijun felt his breath catch. He had never seen anything quite like this before: Buildings made of stone that reached high into the air, and this many of them all in the same area, pressing against each other like a crowd. It wasn't just aboveground either; he could sense tunnels of solid rock running deep underground.
There were more people than he'd ever seen in his life streaming around the gate entrance. Most of them were dressed in familiar earthy greens and browns, but there were those dressed in bright tones of red and black, and even a few in what looked like orange robes. It was all very strange to Eijun.
Just then, one of them bumped hard into him, and without a single word of apology, swept off in a hurry. Rubbing his shoulder, but nonplussed, Eijun returned his attention to the city, and as though in a trance, began to walk around. He passed something that looked like a collection of colorful tents with wares presented outside and merchants calling out their prices. This, it dawned upon him, was a true market.
Suddenly, he froze. At one of the busier stalls, there was a dark-skinned man yelling out, "Freshest fish this side of the mountain!" But what had caught Eijun's attention was his clothes: He was wearing light blue robes with a white animal pelt draped on his head—the traditional clothes of the Water Tribes.
Before Eijun had realized it, he was walking toward the man. His whole body was shaking. His vision was turning oddly fragmented and focused.
"How much is this?" he asked, pointing randomly. Miraculously, his voice came out calm.
"That'll be two copper pieces, kid," said the man cheerily, his voice coming through like jagged pieces of glass.
Eijun didn't have any money; his pants didn't even have any pockets. Wordlessly, he looked away and the man switched his attention to another customer.
He was being stupid. There were tons of people from the Water Tribes. From what he'd heard, they were even split between the Northern and Southern tribes. And most of them were normal people; it'd just so happened that the slavers who'd attacked his village had been Water Tribe...
Dazed, Eijun bumped into someone who'd been walking by. He grimaced, waiting for the inevitable admonishing.
Instead, a male voice asked, "Are you okay?"
Eijun looked up to see a man in a well-worn traveler's cloak. "I'm...fine. Sorry."
"Alright," said the man, not in an unkind voice. "Watch your step." He turned away. There was another boy with him who stared curiously at Eijun through a pair of glasses, before following the man.
"That kid's not wearing any shoes," he heard the boy say.
Slipping away from the crowd and into a secluded crack between two stalls, Eijun crouched down. Clenching and unclenching his hands, he closed his eyes and began to take deep breaths, moving the air in and out of his lungs. His breathing adjusted to the subtly moving currents of breeze filtering through the alleyway, and then faded, leaving only the sounds of dozens conversations fading in and out around him.
He hadn't meant to listen, and most of them were meaningless. But one caught his attention:
"We got a shipment in last night… Most of them were brats, even though I specifically asked for teenagers…"
"Damn water savages can't do a single thing right…"
Eijun's eyes flew open, returning him to the lone space he was currently in. His heart had stopped pounding, and his body was perfectly still. Knowing with sudden clarity what he had to do, he rose to his feet.
The duo who had been talking were two alleys away. He could sense their footsteps rapidly getting farther and farther away. Jumping up the walls, Eijun landed on the tiled roof of the building. He looked around—and even in the midst of the crowd, spotted them immediately: They were dressed in rich green and gold clothes, with wide-brim hats covering most of their faces. Taking care to make as little sound as possible, Eijun followed them as they weaved through alley after alley. Wherever they were headed, it was a long distance away from the city's main gates; the number of people walking around had substantially decreased.
At long last, they stopped and entered what appeared to be a small storage house. After a few minutes of inactivity, Eijun dropped down to the ground. As soon as he did so, he realized there was a level underground, below the house—holding several dozens of bodies. Suddenly, he froze. He hadn't realized it while he was on the roof, but there was another pair of feet swiftly approaching him from behi –
With a quick, explosive blow to the back of his head, Eijun felt his eyes roll back. He could see blinding, dizzying stars fill his sight. He would have fallen over, had his feet not been planted solidly on the ground. As it was, he unsteadily teetered on the balls of his feet, trying to back away and bring up a defensive wall. However, his head was spinning uncontrollably, and to his frustration, he couldn't seem to concentrate enough to do so. There was someone extremely large, like a tree, walking over to him, and for a second he thought it was Tesshin—but no, the man was too thin for that.
Bile rising up his throat, just as Eijun had opened his mouth to shout for help, the man raised his trunk-like leg and kicked, crushing him in the stomach. Pain shooting through every system of his body, Eijun fought frantically against the seeping darkness. And yet it was futile, as everything turned black.
When Eijun came to, it was to the sounds of hushed voices in the dark that abruptly stopped at his stirring.
Where was he…?
In a rush of mental images, reality crashed around him as he recalled the tall man knocking him out. Eijun shot upright, ignoring the sounds of other feet backing away from him. However, at the sudden movement, his head spun and his stomach churned. Doubling over, he retched.
Once he had emptied everything in his stomach, Eijun felt his head clear. Straightening up, he stretched out his senses, taking stock of his surroundings: The earth below his feet was solid rock. The air was stale and stifling; he was hundreds of feet below ground, in what appeared to be a small underground storage space connected to the surface by a stairway. Nor, as he'd already managed to gather, was he alone. There must've been at least twenty other bodies with him.
Eijun felt his stomach churn again; he'd barely lasted five minutes in Omashu before being tossed around like a rag doll and then thrown into this underground prison. So much, he thought angrily, for being different now.
"You okay, kid?" said a boy cautiously.
Eijun couldn't see his face, but judging from the voice, he couldn't have been much older than him. "Where are we?"
"You've been taken by the Giant's gang."
"The Giant?" Eijun shifted his position and began to scan the area. "What's that?"
"You mean who. Don't tell me you don't know Maki the Giant?" His tone was incredulous.
"I just came to Omashu for the first time." Eijun exhaled. Despite his less than ideal circumstance, judging from the structure of the prison, it seemed the person who'd knocked him out hadn't taken him to be an earthbender.
"Oh… Tough luck. Really. But it's too late now. You're all gonna be sold over the next week or so."
Eijun stopped short. "Sold? Why don't you run away?"
The boy, and several others around them, tittered. "You can't escape this place. The Giant'll go after you if you do, and kill you."
"Yeah?" Eijun muttered. "Watch me." Raising his hands, he split the air in front of him, and with a screeching sound, the ceiling wrenched back. Sunlight poured into the dark space, illuminating the faces of what he now realized were all children. At the sudden brightness, they cried out in surprise and covered their faces.
"What're you doing?!" The boy who'd been talking to him looked his age, with short-cropped hair and outraged eyes that were now watering from the light.
Eijun didn't bother answering. Stomping down on the ground, he pushed up in the air, and the earth rose up below them with a rumble, lifting them up out of the hole. They emerged into an open square populated by merchants and their customers, who gaped at them as Eijun clambered out.
He turned back and to his incredulity, saw the other children who, for some reason, weren't moving. "Run! Get away from here!"
Too late, he realized that their eyes were fixed on something behind him.
"Well, well," said a voice, calm and low. "An earthbender. You'll sell for a higher price than I expected."
Eijun spun around to see a large man who could only be the who had attacked him—the one the boy had called the Giant. The name was appropriate in a way, as the man's only remarkable attribute appeared to be his height; his face was long and bland in feature.
The Giant turned to the boy, who flinched under his calculating gaze. "Shinji… I told you to keep the other children under guard, didn't I? Then how can you explain this?"
"I was trying, sir," said the boy named Shinji, his face a deathly white. "But he just...bended us out of there."
"I'll deal with you later," said the Giant dismissively. He took a slow, measured step toward him; Eijun tensed, and the Giant's lips reared back in an indulgent smile. "It'll be easier on you to just quietly come along." And then, with another heavy step forward, he clapped his hands together. In response, two slabs of rock around Eijun erupted out to capture him in a tomb.
But this time, Eijun was ready. Leaping out of the way, he swiftly countered with a punch that sent broken pieces of rock hurtling towards the Giant. The Giant swung his foot back to swat them away—when Eijun thrust his hands out and jerked up in a pulling motion. Spears of rock rose out from the ground behind the Giant, knocking him off balance. Looking more surprised than hurt, he staggered, and in that moment, Eijun seized the chance to bend a slab of rock directly below the man, slamming up into his chin.
The Giant was unconscious on the spot before he'd even hit the ground, collapsing in a heap of long limbs and muscle.
The silence that filled the open area was stifling. Refusing to lower his guard, Eijun's gaze darted from face to face, daring anyone else to challenge him. But collectively, the bystanders averted their gaze and began to drop away.
The children who had been rooted to the spot were still blinking owlishly away from the sunlight. Some of them looked as though they hadn't seen the light of day in weeks, and belatedly, Eijun realized that the sudden light must have disabled them. The boy called Shinji stood still in their midst, gawking at the unmoving figure of the Giant.
Eijun stalked over and positioned himself in front of the boy. "You worked for the Giant, didn't you?"
His face still a pale white, Shinji jerked back. "He threatened me. He was going to kill me, you have to understand - "
"I'm looking for someone," Eijun interrupted. "A woman. She was about this tall, with brown hair. Have you seen anyone like that?"
Shinji scoffed. "There's got to be thousands of..." Seemingly thinking better of it at the look on Eijun's face, he asked, "I-I mean, well, how old was she?"
Eijun had to stop and think as with a pang, he realized that he didn't know his mother's exact age. "Maybe 30 or so."
But Shinji was already shaking his head. "The Giant only ever dealt with kids. I'm sorry." He looked past Eijun, and swallowed deeply. "Is...is he dead?"
Through his disappointment, Eijun could feel the slight tremor of the earth around the Giant. "No, he's still breathing."
The boy paused for a second, and then turning on the heel of his feet, he fled. Perhaps taking it as a signal, the other children too began to disappear into the crowd. Stony faced, Eijun watched their retreating backs.
"This person you're searching for...was it a relative of yours?" a mild voice asked.
Eijun spun to see an overweight elderly man dressed in somber earth tones, the lines of his face creased in his age. His eyes looked almost closed, as though his lids were weighed down in contemplation.
"Why do you want to know?" Eijun asked suspiciously.
The older man rubbed his chin. "I remember seeing a woman with eyes your color a few months back. You don't see them often in Earth Kingdom folks, so I considered bidding on her myself, but..." He turned away and began wandering away, muttering something intangible.
"Who bought her then?" Eijun demanded.
The man didn't respond; instead, he raised a hammy hand and motioned to follow him. Eijun hesitated—and then joined him down a narrow path that led away from the area.
His reward was a frank statement: "She was won by a merchant who I know largely operates in Ba Sing Se."
"Ba Sing Se?" Eijun repeated, the pit of his stomach dropping. He didn't know much about the city, but he'd heard of it many times before in stories. It was incredibly far away, he knew; the journey could take months on foot.
The man smiled. It was congenial, and yet somehow it sent a chill running down Eijun's back.
"As it so happens, I'll soon be leaving for Ba Sing Se myself. I wouldn't mind taking you along...for a price, that is."
Eijun paused. "What is it?"
"I've been looking for a bodyguard of sorts, for my merchandise."
"You want me to be your bodyguard?"
"It's hard to come by a decent earthbender these days. And while you may be a child, I saw the way you handled the Giant. You'd be a welcome addition to my caravan." One of the man's eyes opened, and Eijun caught a glimpse of a cold, dark pupil. "Besides, without me, I hardly think you'll be able to find any other passage to Ba Sing Se. I'm your best shot at getting there." Saying that, without looking back, the man began to shuffle away.
Thinking of the children who'd been trapped below ground, this time, Eijun didn't hesitate. Picking up his feet, he followed the man down the dark road.