Heh... yeah, so I uh completely forgot about writing this fanfic. It's been like... 2 months since my last update? idk. I don't really have an excuse for not writing. That Avatar spirit kinda went away when the show went on hiatus and I didn't have the drive to write I guess. There hasn't been new episodes airing in soooo long. It's horrible. T.T
And as I was thinking about Avatar, I remember this. So, I scrambled back to my computer. When I stopped writing, I had only gotten through half of what I wanted to write for Part 2 but since it's been so long, I thought I might as well update it. It's incomplete though. I'll finish it later, hopefully not in another two months. .
Chapter 3 Part 2: The Firebender (INCOMPLETE)
"Wake up, my little star. Wake up now."
Mizu groaned and her eyes fluttered open and closed. Bright light seeped in her eyelids, causing discomfort and forced her to rub her eyes.
"Come on Mizu, you don't want to be late for school," came a motherly voice. Eyes finally opened and focused enough to see somewhat clearly, she saw that it was Trishe, her current foster parent who had woken her up. She was a middle-aged woman, with some white hair sticking out through black but that was one of the few indicators of her age. With unusually soft and smooth skin, she looked about twenty years younger than her actually age. Today, she wore a simple long skirt and blouse, embroidered in red and gold as with all other Fire Nation clothes. Their patriotism to their country was truly strong.
Groaning again more loudly and apparent, Mizu rose up to Trishe's insisting stretching her arms up high. Cloth was forced down upon her head and a muffled cry came from underneath the shirt. Poking her head out again, she ruffled her hair and frowned, saying, "Don't do that again."
"Sorry, sorry. You're going to be late otherwise. Hurry up and come downstairs to eat. We have bacon today," she answered, smiling with a twinkle in her eye before turning to leave the room. Mizu sat on her bed listening to the soft footsteps going down the stairs before getting up. Despicable. She had almost done it again, disrespecting her foster parents with that demand. She was taking advantage of their kindness and it killed her.
Washing up and putting on some clothes, she headed downstairs to meet the aroma of bacon curdling on an iron pan. Going into the kitchen, she saw Trishe firebending on the stove to cook the bacon. A simple two fingers outstretched to produce a steady stream of heat and a small orange flame. Lee, her husband, sat at the table reading a book while enjoying golden eggs. Looking up from his book, he smiled and commentated, "Look who's finally up. Had a good night's sleep?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mizu grumbled, sitting down across the table from him and putting her face in her hands. "Doesn't look like it," came the slightly amused reply. Mizu felt a flash of annoyance at that only for it to be suppressed by guilt. Why couldn't she just get along with them?
"Here you go, star." A plate clattered down onto the table in front of her, containing piping hot strips of bacon with eggs on the side. As good as it was, in the back of Mizu's mind, she couldn't help thinking that the noise created by the plate was too loud, the bacon was slightly too burned, there needed to be more of the eggs, and could Trishe stop calling me star?
The pan dropped and its clatter resounded in the kitchen. Eyes widening, Mizu realized that she had just spoken out her thoughts aloud, yelled even by the end. She bowed down immediately requesting forgiveness. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep doing that, it just happens!" She was nearly bursting in tears. Guilt swam throughout her entire body.
A hand rubbed her back in condolence and brought her up. Mizu kept her eyes down, refusing to meet her foster parent's eyes. Finishing up her breakfast, she stammered a hurried goodbye to Trishe and Lee and quickly stepped out of the house. That was another thing. She could never call them Mother and Father, always by their names. Truly like an ungrateful child.
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School. Another place she held in contempt. Looking around the classroom, she saw idiots; all dressed up and perky, eager to absorb whatever misinformation the teachers gave them. They were all in their own little world, concerned about social status, grades, what they were going to do when they grew out of their little bubbles of innocence. Mizu sneered, completely ignoring the drone of the teacher. And the students would probably just take in whatever this Professor Zhang was saying.
Mizu had stopped listening to the teacher since day one. Fire Nation teachers were bound to be biased. It was their nationality, their patriotism that made them inept to be educators. The lot of them all had too much pride and it was influenced in their teachings. For instance, the other day, Zhang had said that Fire Nation blacksmiths produced the finest works of metal in the entire world. Wrong. Earth Kingdom metalbenders had refined their arts to unsurpassable standards. The blacksmith there was obsolete.
And they had glorified ancient events as well. Did anyone really believe that Avatar Zarich a thousand years ago with all the firebenders of the world had actually moved the sun? It was preposterous. And besides, what would moving the sun actually do?
All this fluff passed by Mizu as she caught exaggeration again after again. The teachers needed to have a more worldly view of things before they spoke of them. All they would talk about with the Earth Kingdom was how they had much more poverty, but they didn't account for the wonders they had achieved. No, there was no glorifying of any other nation besides the Fire Nation. No other country was worth of glory but that. This is what they were trying to teach. Mizu knew the Fire Nation had as much downfalls as the other three countries. She herself was proof.
The only person really capable of teaching about the world was the Avatar, she presumed. Traveling across the world, learning all four elements, the Avatar was the only one who could establish an unbiased view. Often enough, Mizu wondered what it would be like to have the Avatar as a teacher. Sometimes, she fancied herself as being the Avatar, trying to bend other elements.
And the day passed on, Mizu drifting off while the teachers droned on and on. More likely than not, they wouldn't notice her lack of attention; they were too focused on their speeches. She didn't worry about tests or anything either. Most of it was just common knowledge and you would just have to pick the answer that seemed to support the Fire Nation the most. It was simple.
The class ended finally for lunch and Mizu got up to get her lunch. Today, Trishe had given her a delicious sandwich packed with the finest ham and cheese accompanied with a fizzy drink called Flish. All of it smelled fresh and seemed incredibly delicious. This only made her sadder though. To think that they treated her so well and yet she still couldn't get along with them. Sometimes, she wished they would treat her worse so that she wouldn't feel as guilty.
"Hey Mizu. Something wrong?" Looking up, she saw it was Ruzi, a classmate and probably the closest person to Mizu that she could consider a friend. She was certainly pretty, attracting the glances from a few males but seemed oblivious. A rich girl, she held herself in a noble manner, though slightly arrogantly. Somehow, Mizu felt attracted to such features and at least, could tolerate her better than others.
"Eh… I got a bad lunch again." "And there I go again, unappreciative of others."
"Are you serious? That sandwich looks absolutely heavenly. I'd trade mine for yours any day," she said, taking out a slightly deformed sandwich. "My mother couldn't make a sandwich if her Breath of Fire depended upon it. Our maid usually does it but she's been sick all week."
Taking a big bite out of the sandwich, Mizu said, "It doesn't taste that good."
"Yeah, because Trishe doesn't just happen to own the best restaurant in town." Oh, the sarcasm. She was very good at that, Ruzi. Mizu found that particularly amusing, laughing a little. It was nice, seeing as Ruzi could counter her own bitterness with sarcasm. That was another reason Mizu tolerated Ruzi.
After they both finished their lunches, they headed outside. After lunch came the firebending classes. Of course, not all students could firebend so the classes were split. One would go to firebending while the other specializing in weapons and martial arts. This, to Mizu, was the only part of school she looked forward to. With firebending, Mizu could release all the anger and bitterness she had inside. To firebend, one had to put their emotions into the thrusts they made to produce fire. It was one of the aspects needed to be able to do so. It also helped that she was the best in the school.
Joining a pool of other students, they all crowded around the instructor, Master Morticai. In a loud clear voice, he resonated, "Today, we begin sparring and mock battles." Excitement rippled through the crowd and the students chattered there anticipation. Holding up his hands, he signaled for silence and the crowd quickly simmered down.
"Yes, I've finally decided that you've all improved enough to do so. But remember this is still dangerous. The objective is to find an opening where your opponent is unbalanced and unarmed. Once you find it, you both must freeze. This is not an Agni Kai. Understood? Yes? Okay, split up into pairs then."
Turning around, Mizu looked at Ruzi. She nodded back. If Mizu was best in the school, then Ruzi was definitely second and not too far behind either. Her technique was superior while Mizu was stronger and faster. It was a little embarrassing to the males; the best firebenders happened to be female.
With each group of two at enough distance apart, Morticai signaled the okay for the sparring to start. Maintaining starting positions both waited for the other to strike. Mizu moved first, seeing no point in waiting any longer.
Foot shifting with small flames licking the grass surrounding it, she started with a frontal sweep with her foot, creating a wave a fire shooting at Ruzi at ground level. With the same momentum, she jumped and swung around the heel of the other foot, creating another curve of flames at about head level. Ruzi dodged both by spinning horizontally in between the two while creating fire using the momentum gained by spinning.
Blocking that wasn't easy. Gritting her teeth, Mizu pushed out her two hands open palmed while spewing fire to block out Ruzi's. She then pushed Ruzi over her head and onto the other side while creating a line of fire with two quick thrusts from both hands.
Ruzi coming out of her spin reacted quickly by erupting fire above her, pushing her towards the ground and evading the flamethrower. She landed lightly on her feet. Laughing, she commentated, "You'll have to do better than that, Mizu."
Grinning and feeling a lot better than before, Mizu responded, "I'm just warming up." She began attacking more directly, releasing balls of fire as fast as she could. It was all Ruzi could do to block and redirect the fire, let alone counter. Stepping forward with every thrust, she pumped all her frustration, her guilt, her annoyance into her firebending. With one final thrust, she erupted an enormous ball of fire toward her opponent.
Ruzi held up her palms spurting fire in an effort to block but she knew it was futile. It was to only to prevent herself from being burned. The ball exploded upon impact and Ruzi was knocked back. Mizu maintained her stance for a while, breathing heavily before going to see if Ruzi was alright. She felt so much happier and relaxed, as if a weight had been lifted off her chest. It felt great.
Ruzi was sitting on the floor, dusting herself off. Looking up at Mizu, she said wryly, "You big brute, knocking down a defenseless girl like me." Mizu smiled and outstretched a hand to lift her up. Looking around, she said, "Looks like we gathered a crowd." It was true. People around them were cheering and mouths slightly agape. Mizu guessed most must have finished soon or been too scared to even try with the fear of hurting their opponent. Their sparring must have put on quite a show for them to be so riled up.
"This is how it should be." Mizu eyes widened. "Where did that thought come from? That was purely arrogant and conceited!" Shaking her head, she smiled again in order to conceal her confusion and both Mizu and Ruzi were showered with compliments from there fellow classmates and Master Morticai.
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A raindrop splashed on Mizu's forehead and woke her up. Rubbing the spot that had gotten wet, she yawned and looked up at the sky. It was morning but puffy, black clouds covered the sky. It was going to rain. Mizu saw that she had slept outside of her little hut that night and flamed herself for it. Not only was she prone to the rain had not that raindrop woke her up but now, her back felt strained from sleeping on such a flat surface.
She moved onto her bed of leaves under the bamboo roof and began to reminiscent about her dream. It had been an actual memory of when she was ten. Trishe and Lee had been her third pair of foster parents and one of the kindest; therefore for her, the ones most ridden with guilt. That was before the proclamation had existed, where peace was still implicated and firebenders could choose whether to be in the military or not.
That day had started off very well. Luckily, she had woken up before the nightmare began. Mizu began to think back to that night, the night she left Trishe and Lee as she stared out into a pouring rain.
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Mizu ran into the house and quickly closed slammed the door behind her shivering. It had started raining as soon as the firebending class ended and the house wasn't exactly close either. Her clothes had gotten soaking wet and water ran down her entire body, cooling her to the point that she thought her entire figure had gone numb.
"Trishe? Lee?" she called out in the house. There was no immediate answer. After waiting a few seconds, she concluded that they weren't home. "Just like them, to be gone when I need-" she bit off that thought bitterly, condemning her thoughts. Did she always have to act ungrateful, even when her foster parents weren't around? Was it really her nature to be so unappreciative? In any case, she had to find something to dry herself fast, otherwise she would catch hypothermia.
Looking around the house for a towel, she became bitterer with every passing second as her search became futile. The fact was, she didn't know where anything was stored. Mizu had always been either in her room or out of the house with the exceptions for meals and bathroom breaks. Everything had been handed to her. "Useless, they're alwa-" she stopped another decretory thought, only to store the hatred and bitterness within.
Finally, she concluded that she would have to warm herself without drying off. Running to the living room, she stood in front of the fireplace. It was an antique fireplace, rarely used due to the warm weather the Ring of Fire received year round. Ancient bricks covered with dust rounded the interior, shaped liked a dragon breathing fire. Dragon's feet decorated the corners of the opening, each holding onto a golden orb. Above it, a white lotus had been carved and colored, giving an imperial look to the entire setting.
"This is no time to admire decoration," she thought, gritting her teeth. She was getting extremely cold, making herself feel even more terrible. Going to the side, she moved a couple of logs into the fireplace, making her hands feel uncomfortable at the sawdust left behind. Every little thing began to irritate her; the wet clothes on her back, the coldness, how Trishe and Lee weren't home, why there were no towels. Anger, bitterness, annoyance… negative emotions built up inside her and she needed a release.
Putting her hands on her head and screaming at the top of her lungs, she exploded in a rage of firebending. Superheating the air around her, Mizu created a fireball around her as each and every emotion piled and was released through her bending. Flames exploded in every direction and all she could see was a bright white flash, almost knocking her unconscious at the amount of energy she was outputting.
When she came to, the interior of the house was burning, and the entire wall behind her had been obliterated, revealing the rain outside. Collapsing down on her knees, she started to cry. Looking around, all the furniture had been destroyed, chairs blown apart everywhere and rubble scattered around, still burning. The white paint of the lotus atop the fireplace curled as if a plant truly were dying. Sobbing, she sat there for a good five minutes, mind blank with the sole thought she could never stay, not after this.
After another minute sitting helpless, Mizu ran upstairs. She had to get out of the house before Trishe and Lee got home. She couldn't face them after what she had done. Quickly getting what little possessions she had and getting some food and an umbrella – which made her feel even more guilty, raiding a house she had practically destroyed - , she headed out onto the road again as she had done two times before. Mizu looked back only once to see that the fire had died from the rain, leaving half the house in tact. However, the other had a large gaping hole and looking inside she could see the amorphous ash produced as a result of fire. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she left the town not knowing where she was headed next, only that she could not go back to this one.
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Clearing up her face, Mizu breathed in deeply. That incident had been by far, the worst reason she had left a pair of foster parents.
meh... I'll have to read it all over again to remember what I was going to write next... reviews would help a lot.