"I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated."
- Mai.
Ban stumbled for the umpteenth time, tripping over his own stance and his reckless, overly telegraphed kicks and punches. Nothing felt right, most prominently because he could plainly see he wasn't earthbending. The commentary from the sidelines wasn't helping much either, it just continued to make Ban feel self-conscious.
Sighing, he decided it was a good a time as any to take a break, and headed back to rejoin the others. By now, his tea would be cold, but it was better than nothing, and he needed to stay hydrated. He stepped back towards the group...
Tripped over a rocky outcropping he hadn't properly judged the height of...
... and narrowly missed having his head impaled as he stumbled forwards. Just as something fast and metallic whizzed overhead, narrowly missing his ear.
His head snapped around as Ban heard the impact moments later, and saw a metallic spike impaled in the ground mere yards away.
"What the hell?!"
Ban instantly dropped down into a defensive stance, searching for where the weapon had come from, but he had to admit, he had absolutely no idea which way. Somewhere from the ridge along his left, he was sure of that much. But where was...?
Another silver stake shot past his shoulder, forcing him to duck down.
"Get down!" Ryuku shouted, following his own advice and dropping behind a rock, dragging Willow down beside him as Meiling leapt for her own hiding spot nearby.
Ban threw himself behind a rocky outcropping on his belly, wincing as he felt his elbows and knees impact, grimacing at the pain, but grateful he wasn't dead at least.
"Does anybody see the sniper?!" Meiling yelled.
"No! Stay down!" Ryuku commanded, not anxious to have her make a target of herself.
Ban equally kept his head down. It was fairly obvious he was the target, and equally obvious why.
"Nothing is ever easy, is it?" he muttered. But there was no use dwelling on that now. They needed a course of action, and quickly. Fortunately, his friends were coming up with a plan even as his mind raced to find his own solution.
"I think the shots are coming from the east!" Ryuku yelled. "Ban, when I yell, head for the oasis, run fast and don't go in a straight line! Zig-zag, damn it! I'm going to draw their fire!"
"What?! No! That's a terrible idea!"
"DO YOU HAVE BETTER?!"
There was another impact, and a hole in the ground dangerously close to where Ban was. The sniper was trying to either flush him out or get a lucky shot. Either way it was working.
"NOW!"
Ban didn't even look back, he just took off running, scrambling on all fours when his feet failed to find purchase in the dirt and rock and then quickly taking off at a sprint. Almost forgetting to take Ryuku's advice until the last minute, when a stray shot hit just ahead of his shoe, nearly taking off his foot. He made sure to zig-zag after that.
Then suddenly, there was a loud rumble, and Ban skidded to a halt, nearly falling over as his footing became unstable. The ground was shaking like an earthquake, and he glanced up as he felt the worst of the vibrations coming from the east, where the sniper was. Ban braced for another attack, but to his surprise, it wasn't aimed at him. There were two men there, on a hillside overlooking the valley. Earthbending. Fighting. Rocks flew through the air as they bobbed and weaved, dodging or parrying the blows of their counterpart then returning the effort to take them down.
Meiling skidded to a halt beside him, and Willow and Ryuku weren't far behind.
"What the hell is going on up there?"
"Looks like someone came to help," Willow said. "Way cool of them."
Nodding dimly, Ban was forced to agree.
The battle was quickly decided and over, and the foursome tensed as they heard a sickening crack, watching a silhouette vanish under a boulder bigger than it was. The remaining figure dropped down from the ridge and slid down the ground towards them. The earth carried them as they rode it as easily as if it was a slide, until they arrived in front of Ban and the others.
Though tense, Ban was inclined to believe this wasn't the sniper. If it was, they'd still be firing metal spikes at him. Plus, Jiao, while tense at his side, wasn't barking. He didn't see the man as a threat. Ban could trust that.
Up close, features were easier to make out. It was an older man, just barely middle aged, or so it seemed. His features were tanned, weathered, and preserved, and his figure was sturdy beneath the dull gray uniform he was wearing. It bore some similarities to the outfits the guards back in Zaofu wore, though it looked outdated and very worn, if well taken care of. His face was the same way, leathery almost, and sporting a perpetual five o'clock shadow, but otherwise unremarkable, neither handsome or ugly. His hair was trimmed short in a crew cut, and it was sprinkled with gray. But most noticeable of all his features were his eyes. A very intense shade of green. They seemed to look not just at Ban, but right through him.
"You kids have no idea just how lucky you are," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle for someone so intense looking. He jerked his head and then started to take off walking. "Follow me, before someone finds that idiot's corpse."
Murder, right. Whoever the sniper was, Ban was betting the police finding out would be bad. Faced with few options, he and the others fell into file behind the man who'd just saved them.
"Do you know this guy?" Ryuku asked, noticing the way the older man seemed so keen on helping them.
"... but something about him feels... familiar..." he said, unable to put his finger on just what that was.
"Maybe you met him?" Willow said airily. "Like, in another life?"
Normally he'd scoff at the idea, but given the Avatar was a direct reincarnation of past lives, well, he couldn't very well ignore such a possibility. And there was something about those eyes...
"Maybe," he said uncertainly. Whatever it was, it was enough to follow.
For now.
The strange man, the former soldier (if that's indeed what he was) led them around the oasis to its northern side. Visible in the distance, he was not leading them to it, but further into the hills, then down into a deep crevice in the earth. It winded its way in towards a tunnel that snaked even further under the ground, twisting like a corkscrew into the Earth.
Resting on a stone by the entryway was a lantern, which their guide lit, lighting the way.
"What is this place?" asked Ryuku, eyes following the ceiling. He did not like the look of this stalactites. They looked like teeth, to his eyes, especially the way the light and shadows were playing across them. It stirred up very unpleasant memories with him.
"Some underground... cave..." Meiling replied, then cut herself short as they reached an impasse. A sizable dip in the cave that descended low into the ground, leading to a hollow abyss below. There was another tunnel at the other end of the cavern, just barely visible in the light of the lantern, but well out of reach.
The strange man threw up his arms and kicked sideways, creating a makeshift bridge they then crossed to the far side. Once they were there, he collapsed it, leaving the cavern once again an impasse for anyone without bending or modern climbing equipment. On the other side, deeper down the tunnel, the walls sloped upwards and a steel door was imbedded within the rock. It bore the stamp of the Earth Kingdom on it, and looked otherwise damn near as impenetrable as Ba Sing Se itself. Some modern lighting on the walls nearby flickered on and off, illuminating the cavern and negating the need for the man's lantern.
"What is this place?" Willow breathed out, gazing about in awe.
"It's one of the bunkers," Ban realized. When the others gazed at him in confusion, he elaborated. "We learned about it in history class. During the latter part of the Hundred Years War, when the Earth Kingdom was losing, some prominent nobles and politicians began building these bunkers in various parts of the world. They were designed to be sealed shut, allowing them to wait out the enemy, so to speak, and emerge later once the heat had died down. They were supposed to be livable for decades."
"And, what, this guy just happened to build his own?" Ryuku asked.
"More like he's re-purposing this one," the young Avatar suggested. "I think the bunkers were all de-commissioned following the war. I mean, it's not like they had much use for them after all."
"Or he's stolen it from its rightful owner," suggested the street punk.
Ban pondered that. They didn't really know much about their supposed savior. Perhaps it was time to fix that. He reached out a hand for the man's shoulder to get his attention.
"Excuse me, sir?"
The man whipped around so fast Ban didn't even have time to react, sweeping his legs out from underneath him and throwing up a hand, then drawing it down. A sharp stalactite dropped from the ceiling, the wicked tip piercing the air until it came to a halt... inches from Ban's throat. He froze instantly, having no desire for the strange man to finish his attack.
"Hey!"
In motion almost before the second part of the attack was finished, Ryuku threw out a hand and let water flow from the waterskin concealed in his sleeve, hardening it into an icicile dagger. The strange man blocked his wrist before he could strike, however, and grabbed Ryuku by the front of his hoodie, hip-checking him and throwing him around his body to slam up against the far wall. Before Ryuku could recover from the blow, the man slammed a foot down and threw his hands up and around. Rocks projected from the walls, instantly slapping over the street kid's wrists, pinning them to the wall and preventing him from further bending, struggle though he did.
Not even waiting for the girls to make a move, the strange man thrust a hand down and then rose it up in a swirling motion. The ground, previously solid, turned to mud, and both Meiling and Willow were sucked down with frightening effectiveness. The same thing happened to Jiao, causing the little eel-hound pup top wimper as he sunk up to his neck in the cold ground.
Ban watched all this with a look of horror in his eyes, mouth parted in a silent "I'm sorry..." before he heard the sigh.
The strange man sighed, deeply disappointed.
"I expected better," he grumbled, turning his back and throwing up a hand. His fingers unclenched from a fist, and instantly the earthbending feats he'd enacted re-tracted. The stalactite drawing back into the ceiling, the stone cuffs breaking into so much rubble, and the ground regurgitated the girls, expelling them without even a mark to show for their ordeal.
The point had been made: this man, whoever he was, could kill them all in an instant if he so choose. But he hadn't. The question now was much more complex: why?
"Follow me," he said, not even bothering to help Ban up. He unlocked a series of latches and twisted the handle of the metal door, easing it open. Rusted and old though it was, it remained in working order.
Meiling eased Ban to his feet, and much as they might have wanted to run at this point, the foursome followed the strange man into the bunker. They needed answers.
Inside the bunker was not the typical fallout conditions Ban half-expected, but a rudimentary effort to appear homely. Throw rugs and assorted furniture, all obviously second or third hand acquired, if not straight from the garbage. Ceiling lights flickered overhead, but overall the room seemed warm and comfortably enough. Several doors lead away from the main hall, one marked with bathroom facilities for both men and women, the others seemed to be bedrooms. It was all very utilitarian. Functional, practical. Less a home and more where someone happened to live.
Their host stepped to the far end of the room, past a pair of couches and a trio of varrivisions which were all set to news channels, and made his way into a kitchen set up at the far end of the room. Without bothering to speak to them, he popped open the fridge and drew out a glass bottle, popping the cap with a flick of his hand, not even touching the cylinder. Some alcoholic brand, possibly a Wang brand beer.
He's a metalbender, Ban noted. Not a common talent. Definitely glad he didn't want to kill us.
"Uhm, introductions might be in order," Ban suggested, feeling a need to break the ice. "I'm Ban Beifong, this is..."
"I know who you are," he replied. "Ban Beifong. Meiling Zheng. Willow. Even Jiao." His gaze slid sideways to the fourth member of their party. "This one I don't know, however."
"Ryuku," the boy replied, hands in his hoodie's sleeves. "Ryuku Kuruk, not that it's any of your business."
"I make it my business," he replied. "Especially since he's family."
"Family?" Ban, Meiling, and Willow chorused.
"My name's Baatar," he said. "Baatar Beifong. I'm your uncle."
"Uncle?" asked Willow. She glanced between Ban and Baatar, comparing the two in her mind, and possibly recognized the age gap was a little wider than a conventional nephew and uncle.
He rolled his eyes before clarifying. "Technically great uncle."
"I don't seem to recall you at any family reunions," Ban replied cautiously.
"Your grandparents and mine had a falling out of sorts. Dad... Baatar Junior... kept up the good will for a few years but ultimately I couldn't keep doing it any longer. So I left home."
"I don't remember that," Ban said.
"Before your time, kid..."
Willow tilted her head, thinking deeply, her silver eyes shimmering as thoughts swirled behind them. "So if your grandfather and father both were named Baatar, that makes you..."
"Baatar the Third," he replied, grimacing. "Yes, I know."
"The third..." Ban repeated. Instantly, it clicked. "... that's what Rohan told me before... you're who he meant!"
"Rohan?"
"Are you a member of the White Lotus?" asked Ban, feeling hope well up inside of his chest. This must have been what the aged master had meant. The safe contact they could meet.
But the older man shook his head. "Not a chance... but I was good friends with Master Rohan. We... kept in touch for a few years after the fallout with my folks. I owe him a lot. You said he told you something about me?"
"He told me to find you," Ban explained. "It was his dying request."
"... I see. Why?"
Hesitating for a moment, Ban decided to put his trust in the aged master's isntructions, and by association trust Baatar. "I'm the Avatar. I was on my way to study earthbending in Ba Sing Se when we were attacked... Rohan didn't make it. But before he died he said you were the one I needed to seek out. That you'd help me."
"Me? Help you? Hah!" he snorted, taking a long chug of his drink. "The Avatar's been nothing but a curse on my family."
"That's not true. Avatar Korra was-"
"Avatar Korra had my mother locked up for the rest of her life in a prison that no one ever visited. I never knew my own mother because of her. Why on earth would I help you?"
Ban frowned at that, unable to reconcile what he knew about Avatar Korra with the impassionate way he spoke of such. It was clear he wasn't lying, but there was something more to the story that perhaps Baatar wasn't telling.
"... you're right. I guess you don't have any reason to help. We'll be on our way."
"Good luck with that," Baatar said. "You won't last long out there."
"We'll manage," Ryuku said tersely, already anxious to be gone. The others were following, but Ban lingered. Something felt wrong. Not being here, but leaving. Something was telling him to stay.
Normally, Ban was quite content to let logic overtake any instinct or gut feeling he'd ever had in his life. Reason had done him a lot of good keeping him out of trouble. But now that he was the Avatar, things were different, and perhaps he needed to listen to his instincts. The same ones that had led him out here in the first place.
He took another look around, checking out the interior of the bunker where Baatar had made his home. He paused as he saw a picture on the far wall. A man who looked a great deal like Baatar, and a woman. Both in military uniforms. She looked familiar somehow, and he struggled to recall what he remembered. A tiny little nugget of information he'd filed away ages ago, when he'd asked about the family tree. And the one aspect of it they never spoke of. Sure, they had many stories about Toph Beifong, the legendary greatest earthbender who had ever lived. More than a few about her daughter, who'd died bravely while defending Republic City. But the one they never spoke of...
"... you're Kuvira's son."
Baatar nodded, his expression unreadable. "Yeah."
"The tyrant and conquerer?" Meiling asked, then slapped ahand over her mouth as she realied what she was saying.
"The Great Uniter," Ban clarified, covering for her. Hopefully her own title would be less offensive, though it was still told in an unflattering light in the history books.
"To me, she was just a mother," Baatar replied, his voice full of bitterness, sinking into a seat on a nearby couch. Willow scooted aside to give him more room, sitting down on the armrest instead. "I guess it doesn't matter now. She died when I was only fifteen."
Hesitantly, Ban said "... to me... I guess I never knew her. But Avatar Korra never locked her, the history books say she stopped her... saved her... during the Invasion of Republic City. But... yeah, I guess you have every reason be mad still. Beifong's locked her up. And we held the key to her cell until..."
The older man sighed, lowering his head.
"She was my mother," Baatar said. "And they locked her up. But you're not Korra. And I'm not my mom. I'm just a soldier... and I guess now I'm your teacher."
"Since when?" Ban raised an eyebrow. His decision sure had changed quickly.
"Since you need one."
"He's not wrong," Meiling interjected, causing both of them to glance her way. "Ban, you're making progress don't get me wrong but you need someone who really knows what they're doing. Baatar obviously does. You should hear him out."
"Making progress? You must have been pretty pathetic before today," Baatar said unkindly.
He bristled at the tone. "Give me a break, I only just learned I can earthbend a week ago," Ban replied. "Also, the Avatar."
"Life isn't going to give you breaks, kid. If you wait for it to do so, all you're going to do is get broken."
Recognizing that his new teacher was just trying to motivate him didn't make Ban any less irritated by his tone. Still, he took a moment to breathe. "Alright... I guess I don't have much choice," Ban said.
"You sure don't," Baatar replied, making the young Avatar grimace. "And believe me, nephew, this isn't going to be a picnic. But if you trust me... I will help you learn earthbending. And give you a shot at making the world a better place."
"That's all I want to do."
"Then pick a room and get some sleep. We start first thing in the morning."
As Baatar promised, the training wasn't easy.
They started early, before the sun had even risen, and without breakfast. Ban was still half-asleep and lucky to be showered and dressed, given the time in which his teacher had allowed for such. He hadn't even had a chance to properly brush his teeth before Baatar had dragged them outside and into a nearby canyon.
They stood in front of a large rock, nearly half again Ban's height, resting on the ground.
"Follow my motions, kid," his teacher instructed, assuming the stance and making a pointed show of his how his arms, hands, legs and feet all moved. The way his shoulders shifted and his hips turned, and in turn, how he bent the earth to his will. The great boulder rolled easily, moving from its flat side up onto a pointed edge, then rolling flat again on its back, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Nodding, Baatar relaxed. "Now you do it."
Sighing, Ban tried to do as he had before, following Baatar's instructions. He planted his feet, spread his knees, and assumed the stance. He went through the motion, and swung his fists around in what he hoped was a precise imitation of his teachers move. Alas, he was apparently lacking.
"No, no, no... not like that... first off, stance... we're earthbenders, we need to be solid in how we touch the ground... like this..."
Baatar was not a patient teacher, or a kind one. But he knew his craft, having served in the military in his youth before he'd abandoned the city life and gone into seclusion. He knew how to fight, and so he knew how to bend. He would break Ban down, and then build him back up. He corrected Ban's stance, wider and stronger. He made sure his back was straight and his fists were tightly clenched. Ban felt weird, it wasn't the same as a chi-blocking stance and everything he did felt off somehow, like he was moving through water. Or thick mud, maybe. Still, he dutifully complied and did his best to repeat the motion.
"Again."
Again Ban tried, and again he was met with failure. And on it went, minutes building into hours. The sun was high overhead, and he'd already started to work up a sizable sweat. His muscles burned from his efforts to earthbend, but Baatar kept him working.
"Again!"
"Hey, give me a break, Ba Sing Se wasn't built in a day!" Ban complained, stretching out his arms and rotating his shoulders. It only seemed to make his back feel worse.
"You should have greater control over the element by now," declared his teacher sternly. "Go again."
Breathing out heavily, Ban could only oblige, going through the motions. He assumed the stance, digging in his feet and thrusting out with his palms. To an outside observer, he was doing it all right, but the ground barely reacted to him. He'd had more luck moving the boulder if he just punched on the damned thing.
He wasn't feeling the element. And as long as he didn't do that, he'd never be able to properly earthbend. Baatar sighed, shaking his head then casting his gaze skywards. Why me? he silently asked the universe.
Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks.
Having the worst of it, Ban suffered through his training, trying valiantly to learn the ways of the earth bending that were a necessary first step in his Avatar journey. Meanwhile, the rest of his friends quickly settled into routines that suited them, finding their respective niches.
Willow did not enjoy the underground bunker, but had taken to the countryside and all of its quaint charm like a turtle-duck to water. She went wandering the desert, following the currents of air as they drifted through the wilderness, then floating back home before the sun set. Most days, at least. Some nights they even found her dancing with the spirits amongst the star light. They positively flocked about her.
Meanwhile, Ryuku was taking the situation with a grain of salt. He didn't care for his present circumstances, though he kept promising himself it was better than being dead or back in prison. And he'd endured worse living conditions on the streets. So he kept busy with his own waterbending practice and training. His style wasn't exactly traditional, but it worked, and he had to keep up with it.
Of them all, Meiling was the one taking their present the hardest. Not entirely because she was a bit spoiled to modern conveniences, but because she had no immediate outlet for her boundless energy. She spent whole days bouncing about the interior of the bunker, until some days when Baatar had to kick her out just to get some peace and quiet. And he refused to let her near Ban during their training, giving her one less person to talk to. She watched the VV's, flickering from news story to news story, but they were the only channels available, and she quickly got bored with that as well. Plus, without regular application of her hair dye, the darker roots of her blonde hair were starting to show. Although she wouldn't admit it, Meiling's patience was starting to fray.
She'd even started to play Pai Sho with Willow just to keep her mind occupied. Ban returned late one day after a grueling earthbending session to find the girls playing in the living room.
Barely paying him any mind, Meiling skipped one of her pieces across the Pai Sho board. It was a rookie move, and one she'd made in many a previous game, but she did it precisely because it divided enemy forces the way she wanted to. Sacrificing one pieces for the sake of capturing many later on.
Willow smiled knowingly. "I see what you did there," she said airily. "You won't fool me with that move again."
Picking up a piece, she rolled it along her fingers before placing it back on the board. It was indeed avoiding one trap Meiling had set, and a familiar one, but she'd still moved exactly where Meiling had anticipated she would. She could be so predictable. The firebender girl selected her next piece and was about to end the game when she spotted Ban stumbling in.
"Hey Ban," Meiling said amicably. "How's training going?"
"Rrffgl," he replied, exhausted. He stumbled past the girls to his room.
Meiling nodded. "He says he's doing just fine," she translated, going back to her game with Willow. Sliding a piece across the board, she claimed victory. "Hah, I win again! Best out of nineteen?"
Blinking great silvery eyes, Willow nodded serenely. "Okay."
One day, it just clicked.
Ban threw his arm around and swung up his fist. At first, he didn't feel anything, and he sighed, about to repeat the motion, already aware that Baatar was going to instruct him to do it again. But then, opening his eyes, he saw the boulder had rolled up onto its fat end. Finishing the move, watching all the while, Ban Beifong consciously rolled the rock over.
He sighed, his body relaxing, but his hands were trembling. It was as if he'd lived his whole life in the dark, and suddenly someone had thrown a light switch. It wasn't just that he'd managed to do it, he could see... feel... everything now. The rocky walls of the canyon, the heavy boulder, the dust in the air. All of it. It was speaking to him. A dull murmur he could barely hear on the peripherary, but he could just make it out.
He could earthbend. Stunned, he looked over his shoulder, finding his mentor watching him.
"Again?" he asked, hesitantly.
The Third Baatar gave an approving nod, sending him right back to it.
Maybe the kid could learn.
Authors Notes:
Please review if you've enjoyed.
And so we're introduced to the mysterious Third: Baatar Beifong III, son of Kuvira. After Junior, I had to continue the naming scheme, and it further ties the story in with the previous Legend. I picture him voiced by the same actor as his dear ol' dad and granddad (who shared one in Korra's show).
I also must apologize for a short hiatus the story is going on. Working TWO Avatar stories at the same time is draining me, so I'm resolving to complete one first so I can give them both the attention they need. I'll end Ruby's Legend, then focus on Ban. So please be patient with me, if you would.
Next Time: Book One, Chapter Eight, Downtime.
