Edited 11/23/18
꧁꧂
In the dark
And I'm right on
The middle mark
I'm just in the tier
Of everything that rides
Below the surface
And I watch from a
Distance seventeen
And I'm short of
The others dreams
Of being golden
And on top
꧁꧂
"Find him," the boy states. I can tell its a boy and not a man by the youthful voice. Strange for a boy to be in charge of a group of Fire Nation soldiers. Weren't they super militaristic?
His men signal their rhinos forward in search of the avatar. As they slowly make their way down the deserted village, my hand inches its way towards my belt and kunai pouch in case they spot me. Hearing a metal shing and near silent foot patter below me, I relax slightly. Perhaps, I can afford to observe a little longer?
I angle myself to see Kyoshi warriors pounce on the henchmen, knocking them off their mounts. I see Suki in the group, signaling silent orders to take out the soldiers. Their fans are an extension of their arms, moving swiftly and precisely.
Suki breaks away from the group, aiming to tackle the leader head on. Dodging fire punches, she quickly and rashly might I add jumps to aim a forward swipe at him. I thought about jumping in to save her from a potentially lethal counterattack, but am surprised by the boy's decision to swipe at her with the rhino's tail.
He seemed almost reluctant to deal any lasting damage. If it was me against a group of unknown soldiers, I wouldn't have thought twice about using my fire to defend myself. Even if it could have killed someone.
He aims another fire punch at Suki only to have it deflected by Sokka with his fans. Still sporting the Kyoshi garb. The boy is knocked off from his mount, which flees from the skirmish. His helmet falls off, revealing a high ponytail.
Seeing himself cornered, ponytail boy windmill kicks sending a flurry of fire. Stunning all of the Kyoshi warriors around him and flinging Suki into a nearby wooden post, he continues with a backsweep of fire which knocks Sokka down too. The boy jumps back into the open streets of the village, ready to attack.
With a defiant attitude, he declares to the village, "nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you." He knows that the avatar is in the village, no doubt planning his next move. That's what I would be doing anyhow.
"Hey! Over here." Hmm. Maybe he's not much of a planner? Or he already has a plan.
"Finally," the teenage boy states, smirking before releasing an onslaught of attacks at the air nomad.
꧁꧂
My hand hovered back over my kunai pouch, ready to jump in the skirmish below. I didn't want to have to pick a side, but it can't be helped.
The avatar no older than twelve seemed to be holding his own in the duel against the scarred teen. A decent feat considering his age. I imagined him to be a little bit older. Imagine my shock when I see that it is a twelve year old boy.
He only seemed to be using his 'bending' to evade, not attack. My eyes narrowed. Does he actually plan on winning? No, he must be buying time. But why would he need to do that? He should be the most powerful being in this world.
On the other hand, the scarred teen delivered blasts of fire in rapid succession at the avatar. Albeit reckless, he 'bended' fire to his will like it was second nature. I suppose it is. Like an extension of himself, he channeled his chi through the element of fire. No hand seals were necessary. Awfully convenient. He seemed to not hold anything back when fighting the avatar as opposed to his earlier fight with the Kyoshi warriors.
Similarly, the avatar used the air like it was also a part of himself. Floating like a leaf in the wind, he dodged and bended in a form that could be used to defend and attack. However, I could tell that he leaned more towards the side of defending, or more like dodging. He picked up a pair of fans and used them to channel his airbending before switching to his staff when it was flung out of his hands. Ponytail head growled and charged, dealing an outside crescent kick, punch, and forward sweep of fire.
The avatar dodged the kick, dispersing the next that followed using his staff. Although both seemed to be on even playing grounds, the teen was beginning to corner the avatar. He gasped when the fire was getting closer and closer to burning him and the village. Making evading the fire harder, the kid's staff flew out of his hand as the firebender gained momentum on the offense.
Ponytail saw this and quickly aimed a heavy fire punch to incapacitate the boy.
Thinking quickly, I channeled my chakra into my feet and intercepted landing in front of the dueling pair.
"What?!" ponytail exclaimed.
Channeling some wind chakra into my akatsuki cloak, I waved the fire off course and into a nearby house. Wincing at setting the house ablaze, I straightened up and readjusted the cloak so it covered my frame once again.
"Whoa…" My eyes drifted from the angry, amber eyes of ponytail to behind me to meet gray eyes filled with wonder. I quickly turned back forward in attack stance, grasping my sword strapped to my waist.
My left foot towards my opponent and the right turned outwards, I await his first move.
꧁꧂
꧁Zuko's POV
"Who're you?!" I questioned the masked figure, standing in my way.
The figure was silent, refusing to answer me. The black cloak bearing red clouds, was able to completely cover the person's figure.
It was a girl, that much I could tell when she lifted her cloak. The bandages covering her arms and legs added to her suspicious appearance. What wound could have caused her to need that many bandages? No. What's more important is- my gaze shifted back to the avatar behind her. Him!
"You should run kid."
"Huh? But what about you!?"
"Go before he sets this whole village afire!"
"Arggggggg! Get out of my way!" This was my chance! Before he runs again, like the coward he is. I ran at her, delivering a tornado kick of fire towards her unmoving figure. She's not moving? What a stupid girl. I smirked.
Before my flames could make contact with her, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. It irritated my lungs, making me cough. I can't lose the avatar here! A piece of wood fell to the ground from where she once stood, but she was nowhere to be seen. Whatever. She's not my main target.
I continued my mission. Right punch, drop sweep, inside crescent kick, left punch. Soon enough, the avatar was sweating from the heat. Almost there! Just a little more...
꧁꧂
A whirl of wind dived down on the fire prince. Sensing the shift in atmosphere, he jumped back nearly avoiding Hotaru who landed with a flourish. Katana blade at the ready, she yelled, "Hurry it up!"
Snapping out of his trance, Aang airbended onto the roof of a nearby hut. "Oh okay. Um thanks!" he replied before gliding to his flying bison.
Zuko growled and went to pursue the avatar on the roof only to be cut off by Hotaru who stood in front of his path. "Get out of my way!" he yelled releasing more and more fire onto the girl. What irked him more was the fact that she seemed to be dodging his moves just like the avatar. He signaled his komodo rhino before mounting it and jumping over her, sending a ring of fire from above.
Eyes widening at the spiral fire that fell atop her, her mind screamed at her to remove her cloak. Hotaru quickly spun on her toes, bending back and kicked her cloak to absorb the fire. Transferring her weight onto her right hand, she flipped into a crouching position. The remaining fire dispersed as a circle around her, her cloak falling to the ground to the side. Seeing no more use for her katana, she sheathed it behind her. Zuko's eyes met hers in a clash of amber and purple before he turned away, signalling for reinforcements. Hotaru's gaze followed the avatar who was diving off of his flying bison into the ocean.
What came next sent shivers down her spine. A giant eel sprang forth from the cold depths, sending a shrill roar that made her ears ring. Shaking her head in disbelief and to regain her bearings, she sprang forth, picked up her cloak, and sprinted to catch up with the prince. It dawned on her what the avatar was trying to do as he pulled on the eel's barbels like the reins of a horse which in turn caused the eel to spray water upon the burning houses.
He was trying to put out the fires. Which also caused everyone to get wet including her. When she caught up with the prince, she let out a chuckle at seeing him soaked along with his rhino and soldiers. What a pretty sight. The avatar left the island on his flying bison after the deed was done.
Growling again, the prince commanded his soldiers to return to the ship and prepare to follow. Noticing her presence, he spun on his heel and walked towards Hotaru.
"You! You're coming with me."
꧁꧂
꧁A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I know I took a long break, but I plan to update more often. More comments = more motivation = more chapters XP
I also did a bit of editing on the earlier chapters, so check them out for more details/slight detail changing, etc.
