Chapter 9
A short while later Daniel, Suki and Sokka walked easily through the forest with Mai resting comfortably on the floating stone chair as it glided along beside the scarred man. No matter how thick the undergrowth in the forest became, Daniel seemed to lead them in an easy, almost direct northerly path through the trees. As they walked Mai and Suki peppered Daniel with questions.
"So what are Hakoda and Maki like in your world?" Suki was asking, "Great warriors and strategists, no doubt? Like their father."
"And their mother." Daniel commented with a smile, "Maki was an great Earthbender, just as good as me or my Dad. Hakoda though was an incredible warrior, he was the Kyoshi warriors first full time male student. Together they were near unstoppable but their true passion was their music."
"Music?" Sokka said incredulously.
"Yeah." Daniel said wistfully, "It was just before Koh, well, just before I left my world. Maki and Hakoda moved to Ba Sing Se and started a band with an older couple there. The, uh, older people of the world weren't very appreciative of their new kind of music but they were almost as world famous with us young ones as you guys are."
"Young ones?" Mai asked Daniel dryly from her floating chair beside him. She looked him up and down pointedly and raised a questioning eyebrow.
Daniel looked down at himself in surprise and then back up at Mai. He gave her a crooked grin and his usual short, barking laugh.
"Yeah, I guess I'd forgotten I'm so much older than you all now." he said to her, "I suppose Aang doesn't get to be the oldest man alive anymore. Not that time means much in the spirit realms. All I remember was that when I first became aware of myself in the spirit world, Avatar Lee Shun was the current Avatar. He was born in the fire nation a little over two thousand years ago. Sometimes it feels like I was in the spirit realms forever and other times, with all the fighting, it all just seems to blur together into one moment."
Daniel lapsed into silence, becoming pensive.
"Daniel?" Suki began hesitantly, "Will you tell me about the Reena you remember. What was she like?"
Daniel looked up at Suki with a genuine smile although she could see pain in his eyes. He looked away quickly and continued walking with the same wistful smile.
"Daniel?" Suki prompted when the silence had dragged on for a few minutes.
"Sorry. I was just thinking how to explain to someone who is essentially the girl's mother, just how wonderful the girl herself was, or rather, will be." Daniel said smiling over at Suki and Sokka, "I guess, if you took her father's keen strategic mind, her mother's grace, all mixed in with a healthy dose of her mother and aunt Katara's loving natures, their sense of what's right and add a rather large amount of that bloody mindedness they get when riled up." Daniel, Sokka, and Mai all grinned at Suki at this and she could only roll her eyes, going slightly red, "Mix it all up and you kind of get an idea of what Reena, the Reena I knew, was like."
"The bloody mindedness sounds about right." Sokka mumbled, then as Suki turned her head sharply and glared at him he hastily added, "Reena I mean. Like when the boys are teasing her. Or like last month when I scolded her for spilling paint in my workshop when it was really the boys. She got so mad she threw a cup at Maki and gave him a black eye."
"That sounds like Reena." Daniel said, smiling again at the memories, "The three of us were known as the 'Troublesome Trio'. Reena, Ku."
Daniel paused and looked askance at Mai and she smiled in return.
"It's ok." Mai told him and then turned to the two warriors walking beside her, "Zuko, Toph and I would have announced it soon enough anyway. I always wanted to name my first son after my grandfather. He died when I was little but I remember he had such a wild, fun loving nature."
"Gee, you take after him so much." Sokka said jokingly, getting frowns from both Mai and Suki.
Mai quickly dropped the frown though as she fell back into her memories.
"I always loved my, Pop Pop and I missed him so much when he died. I decided while I was still a little girl to name my first boy in Pop Pop's memory. Kuzon. It means 'Light of the North'."
"Kuzon." Suki said, rolling the name out over her tongue a few times, "It sounds like a wonderful name, Mai."
"Kuzon?" Sokka asked frowning, "Why does that sound familiar?"
Suki frowned at her husband, expecting him to attempt some of his humor but it was Daniel who suddenly laughed, surprising her.
"He'll figure it out." Daniel said to Suki, still chuckling softly, "The Kuzon I knew was one of the best people I've ever met. He embodied everything that was good in his parents with an infinite wisdom just like Uncle Iroh's. Together, he and Reena were the greatest friends a boy could ask for."
A sudden pained expression crossed Daniel's face and he lapsed into silence again, staring down at the ground.
"Daniel?" Mai asked, looking at the man with concern, "Are you,"
"I'm fine." He said gruffly, then turned a softer expression to the woman in the floating chair beside him, "We need to discuss your future training. You, Mai, have a natural talent for fighting in the moment but right now, it is uncontrolled."
"I've only managed it a few times." Mai said, surprised at the sudden change of subject, "I kind of expected it today, but when you attacked Zuko and Toph this morning it just sort of...happened again."
"A little incentive helps." Daniel said to her, then folding his hands behind his back he marched along addressing the other three. Sokka was reminded of his father's old friend and military advisor, General Bato, "Anyone with the right training and the mental fortitude can learn to fight in the moment. But, honing your senses is the first step. True 'earthsight' for a warrior is about learning to 'see' with all of your senses. Not just sight, but also touch, a little like Toph's Earthbending 'sight'. Your ears can serve you just as well as your eyes and your sense of taste and smell can be just as potent as any shirshu's. To attain true mastery of fighting in the moment you need to be fully aware of your surroundings and combine that with the ability to plan and react at an instants notice.
"Normally learning to hone your skills toward true 'earthsight' can take many months, even years. But I have learned of a…kind of shortcut. One we shall need if I am to prepare you for what is coming." Daniel took a long slow breath before continuing, "It involves the old type of bending. Old shaman magic. Blood Bending."
The three beside Daniel blanched at this, looking fearful and he sighed.
"Hear me out first." Daniel stopped walking. Mai's floating chair stopped and turned to him and Sokka and Suki came to stand beside the woman, facing Daniel, "It has nothing to do with what Katara considers Blood Bending and it doesn't involve any blood on your part. First comes an infusion of herbs to help hone your senses and to help prepare you physically and mentally. That part I know you'll all handle fine. Once you are prepared, I will take you on a hunt."
"Just a hunting trip?" Sokka said and both he and Suki relaxed visibly.
Mai still looked unsure.
"A hunt as our ancestors once hunted." Daniel said, still looking seriously at them, "There is a certain amount of ritual involved and combined with the herbs, it can be a little…unsettling for some. The end result is that the hunters take a little of the spirit of their prey into themselves, permanently enhancing their senses. Probably not quite to the level of true earthsight, but certainly more than you could hope to achieve even with several months training."
As Daniel fell silent, Sokka and Suki exchanged glances and shrugged at each other. Mai though, wrinkled her nose with distaste.
"You would like me to go traipsing through the forest and kill something?" Mai asked in her most regal voice.
Daniel smiled a little at this.
"When you put it like that, yes." Daniel said, then looked seriously at Mai once more, "This is an ancient and powerful ritual. It will help you gain the skills you need to save this world from Koh and his kind. But, more than that, it will help you keep this world a place where your son can grow up with peace and freedom."
Mai lowered her eyes from Daniel's, still feeling unsure about the whole idea and he patted her arm lightly.
"Think about it for tonight. All of you. If you are amiable to the idea we shall go on our hunt tomorrow night." Daniel gave them a small smile and then turned his head and sniffed the air, "Come on. We're almost back to camp and even you guys should be able to smell the sea by now."
And indeed, when the others took a breath of the cool breeze they could detect a hint of salt in the air. They continued walking in silence for awhile (or riding a floating stone chair, secretly eating pieces from the remains of the block of chocolate hidden in her sleeve, as Mai was) and it wasn't long before they could hear the sounds of ocean birds and other things besides.
"Sounds like Katara's got a mood going." Sokka commented as the sounds of shouting drifted to them.
"Not just her." Mai said with a sigh and rolled her eyes.
It wasn't long before the small group, with Daniel leading, stepped out of the trees and into the camp site, from behind the stone huts. They stepped around the central hut to see Katara and Toph standing chest to chest, shouting furiously at one another next to the fire pit. Zuko and Aang were watching anxiously some distance away, obviously not willing to risk their own skins by intervening.
"Toph, you need to take this seriously." Katara was yelling in the smaller Earthbender's face, "You've seen and heard what is coming the same as we have and you know we have to prepare for it."
"I know all that, Sugarqueen." Toph yelled back at her, "But if I was meant to sit on the ground for hours at a time contemplating my own crapulence I'd have as much padding on my ass as you do!"
Katara's eyes went wide and her already tan face went dark with fury as she sputtered, unable for a moment to find the words to vent her anger.
Toph took the opportunity to turn around and storm into her hut (which she'd earlier repaired with a new wall and roof) and a moment later a rectangular slab of stone rose up in the doorway, sealing it with a loud 'bang'.
"Yeah? Well…at least I don't snore!" Katara finally yelled and stormed off herself to the hut she shared with Aang, near tearing the moss curtain from the doorway as she stomped through it.
"Oh, dear." Mai sighed as her chair settled to the ground and she stepped off it, walking over to her hut. She raised a hand as though to knock but the slab sealing the doorway lowered before she could and she quickly disappeared inside.
Zuko and Aang walked over to join Daniel, Suki and Sokka.
"I got those messenger hawks." Zuko said to Daniel, pointing over at the open sided barn which housed Appa. Three large birds could be seen sitting on the bison's saddle to the side, preening themselves.
"I was beginning to wonder about those." Daniel said distractedly, Aang seemed to be staring at him hard, "So, I guess meditation didn't go so well?"
"It's a skill Toph developed from all those business meetings she has with her trading company's partners. She can sleep with her eyes open and because she's blind no one usually notices." Zuko said grinning, then gave a short snort of laughter, "Unfortunately, Katara's right. Sometimes Toph snores."
"Suki?" Aang suddenly said in an oddly strained voice, "Will you please go see if Katara's alright. I need to have a word with Daniel."
Aang didn't turn his hard stare from Daniel as he spoke but Suki quickly nodded and moved off to the end hut. Then Aang grabbed Daniel by his arm and led the man over to the fire pit. Zuko and Sokka followed but either Aang didn't notice or did not care.
"The King of the northern water tribes sent those birds down as Zuko requested and sent a message with them." Aang's voice still seemed strained and he brandished a piece of paper as he spoke, "Did you kill over forty pirates in a cove on the water tribe's south eastern coast the other night?"
Both Zuko and Sokka blinked in surprise at this bit of news and turned to look between the two, tattooed men. Aang was staring hard at Daniel but he only raised an eyebrow and stared coolly back.
"They had something I needed as well as a woman and two children they were holding prisoner." Daniel said calmly, "It's not as though they would have handed them over if I had asked nicely."
"Did you even try?" Aang insisted, his voice rising, "Yes, you rescued that woman and her family. But she reported that when she got out of the ship not one of the pirates remained alive. Why? Why did you murder them?"
"Murder?" Daniel said incredulously, starting to look confused, "Come on. It's not like they're dead, dead. Half of them are probably learning how to be demons in the spirit world right now and the rest will wander in the dark till they end up in the grey army."
"That's not the point!" Aang suddenly shouted. Daniel, Sokka and Zuko all took a step back from the uncharacteristic anger pouring out from the young monk, "You ended their mortal lives! You took away their choice, their chance to redeem themselves! They can never have that back."
"I. I. But Da. Aang." Daniel stammered, his usual confidence vanishing under the verbal assault he was receiving from the usually mild mannered Airbender, "They were going to kill that woman and,"
"And if there had been no woman and children there? Did you even know the pirates had prisoners when you went there or would you have killed them all anyway to get whatever it is you wanted from them?" Aang snarled.
Sudden fear and pain was evident of Daniel's face.
Then the young monk drew a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. He reached out placing one hand on Daniel's shoulder, then reached over with his other hand to brush the hair away from the green, arrow tattoo on Daniel's forehead.
"I don't doubt your father had good reason to give you these tattoos." Aang said softly, his expression more pained than angry now and yet somehow, this seemed to affect Daniel even more, "And I hope to do the same for my Ana and maybe even Gyatso too one day. I know you are here to help us save the world but I will not stand by and watch you use hatred and murder to do it. Now, I want you to swear. I want you to swear to me like you would have to your father the day you earned those tattoos, that you will never again seek to take a life."
Daniel stood breathing heavily and suddenly a large tear rolled down his face from his green eye. Through his enhanced spiritual sense and the connection he felt to the man, Aang could tell he had stirred up powerfully painful emotions within Daniel. Aang sensed though that the bulk of the painful emotions the man was feeling had little to do with killing the pirates.
Daniel suddenly dropped to his knees before Aang. He place his hands together before him in a prayer position and bowed his head.
"I swear." Daniel's usually deep and powerful voice came out thin and cracked as he spoke, "I swear to uphold the sanctity of all life. I swear to put the lives of others before my own. From the highest to the lowest I will do my utmost to preserve their freedoms. I. I. Please, forgive."
Daniel's voice seemed to fail him and he closed his eyes tightly. He dropped his hands and clenched them at his sides so the knuckles showed whitely.
Aang could feel the emotional turmoil in the other man reaching a crescendo and he reached out with a comforting hand.
But an instant later Daniel vanished from where he knelt, although slower than the Gaang had seen him move before, he streaked away in a blur toward Appa's barn where Katara had strung some rope and hung out some of their clothing. As Daniel streaked by he snatched a pair of Aang's trousers and a large, blue hooded cloak before the man suddenly launched himself up into the air.
Higher and higher and faster and faster Daniel rose until he was a dark speck in the sky and was quickly lost to sight. A low 'boom' rolled back over the campsite as though from distant thunder.
"Was that Airbending?" Zuko asked in an awed voice, still scanning the afternoon sky.
"No." Aang said simply and sadly shook his head.
Aang turned about but was stopped by the sight of Katara and Suki standing in the door of their hut. At the next hut over, Mai and Toph stood in their own doorway. The whole Gaang had seen and heard everything. Toph stepped away from her hut and sauntered over to Aang.
"Wow, Twinkletoes. That was, almost, damn near mean." Toph said to him, punching Aang lightly on the arm and then giving him a double thumbs up, "There's hope for you yet."
"It had to be said." Aang said sadly, then turned to regard his grinning Earthbending friend, "And, Toph? I say this as both your friend and as someone with a good eye for these things, but Katara's ass is so much nicer than yours."
Then leaving a sputtering Toph and the rest open mouthed in shock, Aang walked away toward his smiling wife.
Far away, down in the southern hemisphere of the world, the land masses consisted of both large and small islands. Most of these islands tended to be quite dry and arid but one medium sized island stood out, being beautifully lush and green. Situated several hundred miles south of the earthen kingdoms, this island was densely forested with pines and evergreens more usually found on the mainland to the north.
There was a large crescent shaped cove on the western side of the island and a long stone jetty stuck out with many fishing vessels at dock and plying their trade.
Not too far back from the bright yellow sands of the beach was a large sprawling village with many tilled fields between it and the forested hills. Around the outskirts were the smaller homes of the village's residents and, centered on a large pillar were several larger buildings, including the village school, a warehouse and the village hospice. All were made of intricately carved and decorated pine with rice paper windows and doors, most showing beautifully painted scenes from the village's history. At the village's centre was the tall pillar upon which stood a large, carved wooden statue of Avatar Kyoshi herself. The building closest to the statue was by far the largest and most intricately carved, this place serving as both the village's spiritual centre and as the training hall of the island's very own Kyoshi Warriors.
Many villagers and visitors were bustling about in the late afternoon, finishing their daily activities. A large group of girls in green kimonos and warriors armor came spilling from the doors of the large hall, having finished their days training. One of the last two girls to exit the doors waved to a boy standing over by the statue and her companion, with a mischievous expression, suddenly jabbed the girl hard in her shoulder and elbow. Giving an indignant shout the girl, with her arm flopping uselessly at her side, gave chase to her prankster friend, although both were laughing as they ran and many villagers smiled at the antics of the pair.
Inside the Kyoshi training hall there remained only a few people. One, an elderly, portly man with a flowing grey beard, was busying himself at an alter against the far wall positioned next to a large painting depicting Avatar Kyoshi and villagers celebrating the woman's victory over Chin the Conqueror and her subsequent moving of the island. At the far end of the hall was another painting, this one a large detailed map of the world and standing near to it were three Kyoshi warriors in full battle dress and a shirtless man. Two of the warriors were putting away a few pieces of training equipment into cupboards against the wall while the remaining warrior was helping to wipe lines of blue paint from the bare chest of the trembling man.
"Thanks for helping me with the demonstration again, Gar." The warrior wiping the man said. She shook her head causing her long braid of chestnut brown hair to flick about her back and batted her light grey eyes at the man.
His trembling increased visibly.
"Th. Th. That's, o. o. Kay." He stammered. He was blushing deeply as the woman wiped the paint from his body with a cloth and she smiled patiently at the trembling Gar's obvious speech impediment, "I l. L. Like to h. h. Help you T. T. T. T."
The man screwed up his face in frustration but the woman smiled encouragingly and reached up to brush his dark brown hair from his bright, blue eyes.
"Ty Lee." Gar finished in a rush and the woman smiled up at him sweetly.
"Same time tomorrow?" Ty lee said to him as the other two warriors finished their packing and walked over.
"O, ok. B, b, bye Ty." Gar stammered, smiling to her. Then he turned to the other two warriors, giving them a respectful bow, "C, c, ca, Captain. M, m, m."
"Yeah, yeah, Gar. Whatever." Said one of the warriors with a sneer.
Gar blushed deeply and hurried from the hall, grabbing his shirt from a hook on the way out. The other warrior, while dressed the same as all the other Kyoshi warriors, was wearing the captain's headdress, a large semicircular plate of shinning copper that covered her forehead and at it's centre, a large square with four copper chopsticks projecting out at near horizontal angles. She also bore a striking resemblance to the previous captain of the Kyoshi warriors, Suki.
The captain looked at the warrior who had spoken so scornfully to Gar and frowned.
"There was no need to be mean, Manny." Ty Lee said sadly to the warrior beside her.
"Really, Ty Lee." The warrior woman, Manny, spoke disdainfully, "Why do you always invite him for your demonstrations? There are plenty of other men in this village and Kyoshi knows any of them would be happy to strip down for you. Most of them already have anyway."
"Manny!" The captain barked sharply, causing the other warrior, Ty Lee and the old man at the alter across the large hall to jump in surprise. The captain rounded to face her subordinate.
"Ty Lee is the official ambassador of the fire nation for Kyoshi Island. She is a member of this team AND my second in command." The captain stepped forward so she was nose to nose with Manny and poked the woman hard in her chest armor with a finger, "You will show her the respect due her station or you will find yourself Kyoshi Island's official ambassador to the Foggy Swamp. Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly Captain. My apologies, Ty Lee." Manny said with a bow and turned about and marched out from the hall. Although the look she gave Ty Lee showed that she wasn't feeling very sorry at all.
"I'm sorry, Sanna." Ty Lee said to her captain, bowing her head to hide her face, "I guess most of the girls still don't like me."
"Don't you apologize, Ty." Captain Sanna said kindly to her, "It's just Manny. Well, mostly Manny. You know, maybe the other girls would like you more if you weren't so, err, forward with some of their boyfriends."
Ty Lee didn't say anything or raise her head and a moment later a tear, stained white by her face paint, dripped to the floor from the end of her nose. She sniffed loudly and her shoulders hitched as she hiccoughed.
"Oh, Ty. I'm Sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that." Sanna said soothingly, placing an arm around Ty Lee's shoulder, "Besides, if those girls had decent boyfriends they'd be paying attention to their own girls rather than chasing around after you."
"It's ok, Sanna. They're right anyway." Ty Lee said without looking up, "I mean, look at me. I've been here for ten years and I've got hardly any friends. I'm going to be twenty five soon, making me the oldest unmarried warrior in history and every time some guy shows me a little attention, I wind up in bed with him. I'm just an old sl,"
"Ty. Don't. You are not like that." Sanna interrupted, then sighed in frustration as she tried to find the right words to comfort her friend, "You're one of the kindest most caring people I know, Ty. And you're not without friends. You've been my best friend ever since you came here. The other girls just get a little intimidated at how easily you get along with the men in the village. But, sometimes, yes, you can be a little...over affectionate."
Ty Lee looked up at her captain with wide grey eyes and gave a little smile.
"Thanks, Sanna." Ty Lee said and put her arm around the other woman's shoulders, "At least you tried. But I do feel better."
"Is everything alright girls?" Said the old man, walking over to the two women. He was wearing a simple brown robe and as well as his large grey beard, he had a shock of grey hair that was held up by a band similar to the one worn by Kyoshi warriors.
"It's ok, uncle Oyaji." Sanna said to him, "It was just Manny being a bitch again."
"Ah, that time of month." Oyaji said smiling and nodding in understanding and secure in the knowledge that he was the only man on the planet who could say such a thing to a Kyoshi warrior and walk away with all his limbs intact.
Ty Lee and Sanna both laughed and the old man's smile widened.
"Tell you what, girl's. I have half a bottle of rice wine in the back of the alter. Come have a cup with me before you go home."
"Uncle." Sanna said in a scandalized tone, "You know what Aunt Yan said she'd do to you if she caught you drinking again."
"Which is why I keep my wine hidden in the alter where I know she'd never look." Oyaji told the two women with a wink.
Laughing again the three turned to head off toward the other end of the hall. But they hadn't gone far when the doors of the hall slid open once more and the figure of a strange man was silhouette there.
The three stopped to stare at the man as he stepped inside and slid the door shut behind him.
He was an odd looking man, although they got all sorts these days on their Island. He was wearing orange, tan colored, baggy trousers and a long hooded blue cloak with the hood pulled low over his face. Only his hands and bare feet were visible, and the ends of green arrow tattoos similar to the Avatars could be seen there. Something about the man struck Sanna as familiar.
"Greeting stranger." the old man stepped forward and gave a respectful bow, "I am, Oyaji. The chieftain of this village. If you are seeking an audience, I have evening prayers in an hour or so and you are welcome to join us."
The man bowed in return and as he rose he flipped back the hood of his cloak, revealing a stubbly, unshaven face and short, untidy brown hair. His most striking feature was his eyes though, being as they were of different colors, one bright green and the other a dark grey. His face, at first, was impassive and he seemed to glare at them even as a small smile touched his lips.
"Oyaji. Sanna and sweet, sweet Ty Lee." the man said to them in a deep, gravelly voice, "It is good to see you at last."
"Who, who are you?" Ty Lee said hesitantly.
Ty Lee had always had an unusual ability, for as long as she could remember. She could see auras. A shimmering network of overlapping curtains of light that surrounded all living (and even some nonliving) things. It was what made her special brand of chi blocking martial arts so effective - she could actually see the chi points she needed to hit in order to bring down an opponent. She could even judge a person's health and personality by the colors she saw in their auras.
But the man before her had the most potent and unusual aura she had ever seen. Where most auras seemed to drift and shift lazily, this man's seemed to blaze away from his body like roaring flames and there seemed to be far more layers to his aura than most peoples. In fact, when Ty Lee looked closer there seemed to be a second set of ghostly eyes hovering before, and just above the man's real eyes.
"What are you?" Ty Lee breathed as a cold touch of fear entered her heart.
"What's the matter, Ty? You don't need to fear me." The man said, one corner of his mouth rising in a smirk, "Your colors gone all green and tinged with purple."
Ty Lee gave a squeak and stepped back and slightly behind her captain, the shock of realization stealing the breath from her. This man could see her aura.
"He sees me." she whispered to Sanna in a quavering voice.
Sanna looked at Ty Lee from the corner of her eye and, trusting in her friend's unique senses, she casually hooked her thumbs in the belt of her kimono, next to her war fans. She stared hard at the man, trying to get his measure.
"You seem to have the advantage of us, stranger" Oyaji said, he had noticed the change in the warriors near him and he too stared hard at the man, "You seem to know of us but we know nothing of you."
The man turned his eyes and his smirk to Oyaji.
"Oh, I think you might have heard of me, holy man." The strange man said casually, "I've had many names both here and in the spirit realms. But until recently I was mostly known as, Nomad."
The man, Daniel of course, stood straight, his grin dropping from his face as he glared at the old man and warriors before him. Suddenly his eyes flashed brightly with internal fires, one shinning green, the other a bright, blood red.
Oyaji thought for a moment that his heart might stop beating from the terror suddenly suffusing his body. The blood drained from his face till it was almost as white as the warrior's and he suddenly dropped to his knees, holding his hands out before him in supplication.
"The leader of the grey armies. O, angel of death please take mercy upon this village." the old man wailed, his face a sweating mask of fear, "We are but a simple people and we mean you no harm."
Oyaji's reaction to the man's name came as a shock to the two watching warrior women but the man's, this Nomad's response to Oyaji's outburst was almost comical.
Daniel stared incredulously down at the old man prostrating himself on the floor and gave a loud frustrated sigh. He rubbed his face in his hands and then dropped down onto one knee to look at the old man face to face.
"Ok. I should have seen that coming. It seemed like a good idea to announce myself openly when I thought of it. But, I mean no harm to you or yours, far from it actually." Daniel said, though Oyaji's terrified expression did not change, "Maybe I should have tried one of the other names. What was that one the Dragon Demon called me? Oh, yes. The Scourge of the Darkness. Anything? No?"
Daniel sighed again as Oyaji's expression still did not change, although a small amount of confusion was now seeping onto the man's terrified face.
"Whoever or whatever you are, I think it's time you left." Sanna demanded in a strong voice, although she had been deeply disturbed by her uncle's reaction. Even when she had been a novice warrior during the war, her uncle had been one of the strongest people she knew, next to her sister, "The Kyoshi warriors will not stand to have evil walking on our island. Be-gone fiend."
Daniel looked over at Sanna with narrowed eyes and rose to his feet. Oyaji whimpered in fear for his niece.
"Alright, girlie. I've already had someone I could have smeared across the ground tell me how terrible I am today. I am in no mood to hear it again." Ty Lee was confused by Daniel's words. Not just because she didn't know what he was talking about but also because his aura showed he was mostly amused, not angry. Suddenly the man turned his head and looked at the far wall of the hall, "Hey, I remember that."
Daniel walked off toward the end of the hall where the warriors did their training and the map of the world that took up one whole wall there. He seemed to forget about the others as he stood admiring the detail and artwork of the large map.
Sanna took the opportunity to rush over to her uncle and drag the man to his feet. Ty Lee remained where she had been standing, staring at the back of the man in the blue cloak and his strange, flaring aura.
"Uncle. What is this man? How did he make his eyes light up like that?" Sanna demanded.
The old man did not look at his niece but continued staring at Daniel.
"My spirit guides have spoken to me of the being called Nomad." Oyaji said in a trembling voice, "They called him the Demon's Demon. They say he raised an army of the damned in hell and set them against the demons. Then it is said he abandoned his army at the gates of the heavens and during the hundred years of war here, the spirits who speak to me say the rivers in the realms of light ran red with the blood of the blessed."
"That's the name I should have used. The Demon's Demon." Daniel said loudly without turning from the map, "And I didn't abandon my army. I set them the task of releasing the so called 'damned' from the clutches of the so called demons."
"So called?" Oyaji breathed in confusion.
"The spirit world is mostly lies and illusions. I'd have thought you'd know that, Oyaji." Daniel said, still not turning around. He raised a hand to the image of a small island in a chain near the fire nation and tapped it with a finger, "You have always been blessed with a greater spiritual awareness. I'm surprised Aang hasn't been to spend more time with you before now."
"Avatar Aang?" Oyaji breathed again.
He looked down at the man's legs, clothed in what he now recognized as a pair of air bender's trousers but when his eyes traveled up the back of the man's blue cloak his eyes went wide an his breath caught in his throat as a fresh wave of fear washed through him. He grabbed his niece's arm in a painful grip and the next words out of his mouth came out in a strangled croak.
"That cloak." was all he said but as Sanna looked closer at the stranger's clothing, sudden realization struck.
Tearing her arm from her uncle's grip, Sanna launched herself across the hall. She drew a shinning bronze blade from it's concealed sheath in her kimono as she sped across the training dojo and in seconds she was swinging her blade at the back of the man's head. Her footsteps had been silent, her breathing perfectly controlled, her padded sheath betrayed not a whisper of sound as she drew her blade. But as she swung her sword at the man's head, he spun impossibly fast, his hand lashing out to strike the flat of her blade with a jolt that sent it flying from her hands and left her fingers numb and tingling.
"Sanna, No." cried Oyaji but the warrior woman was beyond hearing.
Filled with incoherent rage, Sanna pulled her fans from her belt, flicking them open and in the same motion, slashed their razor sharp edges at the man before her in a cross motion that should have left the man's chest laid open. But, backed as he was against the map on the wall, Daniel suddenly exhaled all in one go, collapsing his ribcage and causing Sanna's short brown hair to whip about her face. The woman's fans missed the skin of Daniel's chest by a hairs breadth, slicing neat lines in the blue robe and as she finished the swing, with arms crossed before her, he struck. Faster than a centipede-viper, Daniel's hands came up and struck Sanna at the shoulder, where her arms met her body, digging his fingertips in deep and hitting the nerves there. Sanna felt her fans start to slip from nerveless fingers and before she could react the man's hands raised higher, striking points at the base of her neck and again just below her ears.
Sanna's entire body went limp and Daniel grabbed the woman about the shoulders, lowering her gently down even as her fans clanged onto the floor. When he release the paralyzed warrior he looked up at the fearful Oyaji still standing in the middle of the hall.
"Look." Daniel started but an instant later he leapt backward as Ty Lee dropped from on high.
Ty Lee had scaled a tapestry going high into the rafters of the great hall even as her captain attacked Daniel on the floor. As she had watched her captain and friend fall to the man's nerve attack, Ty Lee launched herself downward, fists leading. But the man had somehow sensed her coming and back flipped away, hitting the map on the wall with his feet he leapt upward, sailing past Ty Lee as she dropped down next to her friend, landing on all fours.
Quickly arching over backward, Ty Lee placed her hands flat on the floor behind herself and flipped over so her feet struck the floor beside Sanna. She snapped out her hands, flingers fluttering quickly over the pressure points alongside her captain's neck and Sanna moaned. Her movements were sluggish though as she was still weakened by the man's chi blocking attack.
Ty Lee turned her head upward and look up into the rafters. High above them, the man was hanging upside down with his legs hooked over a cross beam.
"Now look, Ty." Daniel said quickly, "This is not what you,"
But Ty Lee wasn't listening. With a determined expression fixed on her face, she jumped across her friend and ran flat out for the map on the wall, twisting and jumping at the last moment. Taking a half dozen running steps up the wall at an angle, Ty Lee jumped, rising higher still, hands outstretched toward the man. Daniel gave a frustrated growl, vanishing from where he hung and an instant later Ty Lee felt him impact against her with enough force to knock the breath from her. As they began to twist and tumble through the air, Ty Lee felt his fingers dig into the nerves along her spine and neck and an instant later she felt her body go limp. Still tumbling downward, his arms snaked around her shoulders and under her knees and a heartbeat later, Daniel landed feet first on the floor with Ty Lee cradled in his arms. He lowered her gently down next to the feebly stirring Sanna and quickly massaged the pressure points on Ty Lee's neck to release her paralysis.
"Please. Just listen to me. Yes this is Suki's cloak but I didn't take it from her. Well, I didn't exactly ask but I swear to you, Suki is just fine. She is helping me." Sanna struggled to sit up as Daniel spoke quickly, unsure of the man. He reached down, slipping his arm under Ty Lee's shoulder again and helped the weakened woman to sit up, "And Ty. Yes I can see the living spirit. Auras. Just like you can. I always could. Just like someone else you know. Although she never used the talent did she? She doesn't believe in it."
Ty Lee moaned, still too weak to form words. How could this man know so much about her and secrets about another she had kept her entire life?
"Get your hands off her!" Came a shout from the halls doorway. The three by the map on the wall and the old man turned to this new arrival.
Gar stepped into the hall, an old, tarnished bronze sword in his hand.
"I saw y, you come in here and I s, saw the way Oyaji r, reacted to you. S, so I went for help." Gar raised his old sword to shoulder height, held horizontally and pointed straight at Daniel, "I swear if you have hurt her you will not leave here alive."
Gar, still holding his sword out before him, began charging across the dojo toward Daniel, who gave another frustrated sigh and pushed Ty Lee into the Kyoshi captain's arms. Scooping up Sanna's fans from where they still sat next to the woman, Daniel leapt forward to meet the attack.
At the same moment a green tide flowed through the doors of the great hall. Kyoshi warriors all, ranging in age from pre-pubescence to mid twenties, three dozen green, armor clad angry females, lead by Manny, rushed into the hall fully intent on protecting their captain and vanquishing their foe. But the sight that met them there gave them pause.
One thing that brought the warriors to a screeching halt was Gar.
Poor stuttering Gar. Gar, who for many, many years had been something of the village joke. Gar, who tended to foam at the mouth and fall down when he got over excited. Poor Gar, usually ignored, often bullied but mostly thought of as being quiet and as harmless as a kitten-mouse.
Gar was dancing around the strange, blue robed man, slashing, thrusting and parrying with his sword as though he had been training for this moment his entire life. He moved with speed and a grace many of the older warriors had only seen before in Suki and her younger sister Sanna, two of the greatest swordswomen to be trained on the island.
As the warriors circled the battling pair they helped Sanna and Ty Lee to their feet and the women joined their fellows in staring open mouthed at the two men.
Old Oyaji had wandered over and was watching over the heads of some of the younger warriors. He was just beginning to wonder if his wife had been right about his frequent indulgence in rice wine or perhaps, just maybe old age had finally addled his mind.
The sound of metal chiming off metal was almost continuous as Gar circled the other man. Daniel maintained his position, only moving his feet to keep himself facing his opponent. Gar came in again, slashing diagonally at the man's shoulder but Daniel raised one fan to block the sword, using the momentum of the blow to spin around, snapping closed the fan in his other hand and leaning forward to jab it at Gar's midsection. Gar spun away from the jab and came back with a one handed stab again at the man's shoulder which Daniel blocked by swiftly raising one fan to knock the sword up high. Gar kept going though, his other hand closed into a tight fist, rushing toward Daniel's face. But Daniel raised the closed fan, snapping it open and Gar's fist made the steel ring as it struck and gashed his knuckles. Gar danced back, shaking his bleeding hand, then taking his sword in both hands once more he dropped into a ready stance. But Daniel suddenly stood straight, dropping his hands down by his sides and smiled at the other man.
"More than impressive." Daniel said, offering the surprised Gar a small bow, "I had no idea the Kyoshi warriors were accepting male recruits so soon."
"He is not one of us." Manny said disdainfully from amongst the others, then called out, "Warriors, ready."
The warriors standing around Daniel and Gar drew forth a variety of knives, swords and fans, all except for a few standing near the far wall.
"Wait." Sanna tried calling but her voice was still a little weak to carry too far.
"Warriors," Manny called again, preparing to order the girls to attack.
"Oh, for the love of," Daniel mumbled, dropping the fans he held and reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Then he thrust his arms straight out at his sides, palms out, "ENOUGH!"
The roar from Daniel was like a clap of thunder released in the great hall and a pulse of force spread out from the man knocking everyone in the room backward off their feet.
All except Gar, who'd plunged his sword into the floor, point first. He skidded back several feet, leaving a long gouge in the floor.
"Will everyone please just give me a moment to speak." Daniel said, glaring around, then he dropped his head with another sigh. Noticing his blue cloak, he reached up and fingered the cuts in the thick material and then spun about to face Sanna, "And what the hell am I suppose to say to Suki about this? You know what she'll do as well as I do. She'll give me the 'Look!'. It's all sad and angry and hurt and disappointed all at once."
"So, Suki's alright?" Sanna stepped forward, her body now much recovered from the paralysis.
The other warrior were getting to their feet, staring in silent awe at this strange man with the unnatural powers as he gave their captain an angry look.
"Of course Suki's fine." Daniel said dismissively and plucked at the material of the cloak one last time with a growl, "I said so didn't I? And now she's going to give me the look again."
Sanna turned her head to look at Ty Lee, who nodded to her captain.
"He's telling the truth." Ty Lee said and Sanna nodded her thanks to her friend.
Then Daniel turned about, facing the old man and sat down upon the floor in a meditative pose. He raised a hand and beckoned the older man.
"Oyaji, please. There is much to discuss and less time to do it." Daniel stated simply.
Oyaji stepped forward through the press of young girls and approached the seated man apprehensively. He was beginning to realize the man before him was just that. For all his speed, strength and unusual abilities, this man wearing the cloak Oyaji had given his niece on her last birthday was no demon. The old man stopped a few feet from Daniel and sat down in a similar meditative pose.
"Oyaji, all that you've heard about me from your spirit guides is probably true." Daniel said, staring levelly into the older man's eyes, "But ever has my goal been to bring the same peace and balance you have worked so hard for here to the spirit realms. To all the realms. You know as well as I do that the spirits delude themselves in death. They continue trying to live their lives, believing their afterlife to be nothing more than a continuation of their mortal ones and it is those illusions I have been trying to break. You should know also that my grey army, the lost souls, are not evil."
"So it is said." Oyaji said nodding though he frowned at the man seated across from him, "But what the spirits say you did in the realms of light."
"Was a harsh lesson, yes. But also a necessary one." Daniel said, then sighed again, "There is one in the spirit realms who has a hold of the light. One who would hoard it's radiance and wisdom for herself when it could be shinning over all."
"So some spirits say." Oyaji said carefully, "Others say that one is a blessed being of light. That she watches over and cares for all."
"Be careful, Oyaji." Daniel warned, though his voice was saddened, "Be careful you do not fall for the same illusions as those who thought themselves safe in their imaginary heavens. Remember the mantra of the enlightened."
Oyaji's eyes widened as Daniel continued talking and he quickly began to speak as well, the two men speaking in unison.
"There is no light, only the understanding we bring with us. There is no dark, only the ignorance we force upon ourselves. There is no good, only what is right for all. There is no evil, only what one enforces onto another. There is no death, only life."
The two men fell silent and the watching warriors stared in silent awe. Gar moved around the circle to join Sanna and Ty Lee, then turned to listen as Daniel spoke once more.
"One cannot be greater than another without invoking evil of one type or another. I won't deny that much of what I have done in my long struggle has been evil in nature. I can only hope the peoples of the universe can forgive me when my task is complete." Daniel spoke sadly at first but now his face became clouded by anger once more, "But at least I can admit what I am. The so called, enlightened great spirits in their wisdom based on ignorance, have lost control of their most dangerous weapon. The spirit the great ones have used to punish the mortal world in the past. The one who controls the light in the spirit realms intends to send her pet," Daniel spat the word, "here. You know the one of which I speak."
"The face stealer." Oyaji said as the blood drained from his face, "In the last few weeks, many of my spirit guides have stopped visiting me. The few spirits of this world I speak to say Koh is surrounding himself with darkness, surrounding the mortal world with darkness."
"Koh is coming here with an army drawn from the dark realms." Daniel said softly and Oyaji gasped loudly.
Many of the Kyoshi warriors exchanged worried glances at the reaction of their chieftain and mentor.
"It is my task to prevent Koh from raining destruction down upon this world and in doing so I may be able to release the light of the spirit realms from it's bondage." Daniel continued, "If I can succeed, true balance between the mortal and spirit worlds can finally be achieved."
Oyaji stared back at Daniel and a variety of emotions played across his features. Confusion, doubt, uncertainty but finally his face, and indeed, his entire being became determined and resolved. Oyaji crawled forward to sit directly before Daniel and reached up, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Never will it be said the people of Kyoshi will be found wanting when they hear the call." Oyaji said with his usual confident, strong voice, "Tell us what we can do, lad."
Starting with Sanna, Ty Lee and Manny, every Kyoshi warrior surrounding the men held their weapons high in salute.
Daniel smiled fondly at the old man before him.
"In the spirit realms, when I gathered the lost souls into a formidable force, I used your teachings." Daniel said loudly for all to hear, "I trained them using a combination of Kyoshi styles, tactics and a mix of the other bending styles. Those we faced were ever unprepared for such a formidable melding of the various styles. And I wish to recreate here what I achieved there."
"Wait. You used Kyoshi styles?" Oyaji said, looking confused, "But legend tells of you raging across the spirit realms for thousands of years."
"Nevertheless." Daniel said simply. Standing up he turned around, addressing the warriors standing around him, "Ever since their conception, the Kyoshi warriors have been a great force for good on this world. Your main tenet being the defense of the innocent and each other."
"There is a great evil coming to this world. Some say I am the cause of it but I tell you that I am only the catalyst. Koh and his kind were coming whether I was here or not. I am training the Avatar to stand beside me to face Koh, a being of unimaginable power as Oyaji could tell you. As for the hoards Koh will bring with him, it is my hope to forge a band of warriors and benders who can fight together as never before to defeat this foe and face an uncertain future."
Daniel paused, looking at the warriors around him. Fear and determination showed on most of the faces and many of the younger girls held onto their older counterparts, some hiding their faces in the robes of the older girls beside them.
"It is alright to be afraid." Daniel said to them kindly, his expression softening, "Fear of a thing can be healthy if it is not based in ignorance. The spirits, these so called demons that are coming have great power and a strong jealousy and hatred for the living. But you, all of you, have spirit. Combined with your mortality your living spirit is more than a match for any mere spirit, if properly trained. I won't lie to you, some, no, wait. Most likely any of those who chose to join with me in this fight will not return home alive. All I ask is that those amongst you who love this world, who believe in doing what is right for others, stand with me when the time comes. As I shall stand by you."
Silence reined when Daniel had finished speaking. A goodly amount of fear still showed on the faces around the hall but the determination was stronger than ever. Suddenly Sanna stepped over toward the center of the circled warriors, closely followed by Ty Lee. She stopped before Daniel and her Uncle Oyaji stood up from the floor, joining them.
"Do you vouch for this man, Uncle?" Sanna said to Oyaji staring hard at the man.
Oyaji looked to Daniel then back to his niece.
"I do, my child." Oyaji said to Sanna, nodding slowly, "I strongly sense the honor of this man."
Sanna reached for her sword but stopped when she realized it was still laying on the floor somewhere from her earlier fight with the man in her sister's cloak. Ty Lee hastily drew her own rarely used blade and handed it to her captain who smiled her thanks. She proffered the blade pommel first to Daniel.
"I will fight by your side with any of my fellow warriors who will join us." She said and at her side, Ty Lee reached over, placing her hand atop her captain's and nodded to Daniel.
Daniel reached out, placing his hand upon the sword also but suddenly stepped closed to the two warriors and spoke softly.
"I could never doubt your courage, Sanna. Nor yours, Ty. But do not lead them blindly to their deaths. Bring only those that you believe have the potential to be far more than they already are." Daniel spoke seriously but a moment later he smiled as he looked over the woman's shoulder, "Oh, and bring him, too."
Sanna and Ty Lee turned to stare for a moment at the surprised Gar still standing with his tarnished sword amongst the Kyoshi warriors.
"Gar?" They asked in unison. Sanna in disbelief, Ty Lee with a hint of excitement.
"Certainly. May I?" Still smiling, Daniel reached up and plucked one of the copper chopsticks from Sanna's headdress, revealing a sharpened point on it's end.
He flung out the hand and an instant later the chopstick struck the large map on the wall, impaling a point west of the walls of Ba Sing Sa and South of the great northern mountain ranges.
"As I train the Avatar, his family and friends, we will gradually move south until we reach a small village by the name of Podeck. We should arrive there in around two, maybe three weeks." Daniel said to Sanna and the other Kyoshi warriors, "Gather those you will bring with you and be there in three weeks and your training shall begin."
"Three weeks?" Sanna said incredulously, "Podeck's halfway around the world. Even if we left today it'll take a week just to get to,"
Daniel raised a hand to interrupt.
"Zuko mentioned that he gave the island a balloon for your personal use." Daniel said with a small smile. Then he did a strange thing, he raised his head and sniffed deeply of the air, his smile growing wider.
"He did give us a passenger balloon. But General Iroh of the fire nation requested it's use a couple days ago. He didn't say why, but we would never deny the dragon of the west." Sanna said.
"Everyone loves Uncle Iroh." Ty Lee burst out, then looked embarrassed for speaking out.
"Indeed they do, Ty." Daniel only said, still smiling, "And don't worry. Iroh will be back here sometime tonight."
"How do you know?" Sanna asked.
"Because, it wouldn't matter if he was coming from the other side of the world," Daniel said, reaching up to tap the side of his nose, "I'd still be able to smell those unwashed sandals from anywhere."
Ty Lee giggled, well remembering the old man's unhealthy love of keeping a pair of shoes for years at a time, only throwing the things out when they began rotting off his feet.
Daniel's smile though, faded.
"Remember, Sanna. Choose your companions carefully. I will be pleased just to have you and Ty but if there are those amongst your number you feel have true potential, bring them." Sanna nodded to Daniel and he turned to face Oyaji, "Fill them in the best you can on what they will be facing. Iroh can help you when he gets here. Oh, and please give him this for me."
Reaching over his shoulder, Daniel pushed his hand under the fabric of the cloak to his back and for a moment Oyaji thought he saw a flash of silver under the thick blue cloth. Daniel held out his hand and the old man held out his own, accepting a small Pia Sho tile. At the sight of it the breath caught in his throat.
"I. I'll see he gets it." Oyaji said and Daniel nodded his thanks.
Turning back to Sanna and Ty Lee, Daniel offered the two warriors a respectful bow.
"I wish I could stay, but there are still things I must see to tonight before I can return to my, I mean, the Avatar and his family." Daniel said. As he spoke Ty Lee noticed his eyes flicked back to the map on the wall, "I shall leave you now with a small example of what a true warrior in touch with their own energy and the energy of the world around them can do."
Still smiling, Daniel suddenly vanished with a loud 'pop'.
"Alright, girls." Oyaji suddenly called out, clapping his hands for attention, "Most of you have only half listened to my spiritual sermons in the past, but right now I want you all to come up to the alter and listen carefully to everything I have to tell you. Oh, and Manny? Please take some girls and let the rest of the village know everything is alright, then bring back some food and tea for us."
Manny looked annoyed at this request but grabbed a few of the other warriors nearest her and they made their way from the hall.
As the bulk of the Kyoshi warriors made their way up to the far end of the hall, Sanna and Ty Lee remained standing where they were. Gar had just walked over to join them, still carrying his tarnished sword, when another loud 'pop' made the three jump. A few small screams of surprise broke out in the hall as the other warriors realized the man had returned.
Daniel was standing before them with a large bunch of red and yellow flowers. He split the bunch in two and proffered a bunch of flowers each to Sanna and Ty Lee.
"Fire lilies." Ty Lee cried out, lifting her flowers to smell the sweet scent. She looked back up to Daniel, "But how? These only bloom in the volcanic soil of the fire nation."
Daniel smiled even wider at them.
"Imagine how safe you could make the world, when you can be anywhere you need to be in an instant." He said to them, "Now go listen to Oyaji. You'll need his wisdom in the months to come."
The two women moved away to show the other warriors their unusual and beautiful flowers and Daniel turned as Gar prepared to move away as well, pinning the man with his stare.
"May I?" Daniel said politely, holding out his hand and Gar hesitantly handed over his sword with trembling hands.
"Are you sure you weren't trained by the warriors?" Daniel asked casually, testing the weight and balance of the sword in his hand.
"I w, w, wa, watch. Th, then I p, p, practice u, up in th, the h, h, h, hills." Daniel nodded, patiently awaiting the other man as he stared along the length of the blade, then gave it a few experimental swings.
"A fine blade you have here, Gar." Daniel held the tarnished blade up and raised an eyebrow to the other man, "You really should take better care of it though."
Gar blushed deeply but looked sad.
"I, it w, w, was m, my m, m, mother's. I k, keep it h, h, h, hidden o, or th, they m, might t, t, take it."
Gar struggled to get the words out but he stood tall and proud as he looked at his blade in Daniel's hand.
"You know, that is the Kyoshi warrior's greatest weakness." Daniel said. He enclosed the blade in his hand and started to slide it along the sword. Gar's eyes went wide as Daniel's hand moved along the blade, wiping away the tarnish and leaving gleaming metal in his wake. In short order he held out the shinning sword and Gar reached out to take it, unable to take his eyes away from it.
"You should never believe that someone is inferior to you just because they're male, or they are short, tall, thin, fat or just because they talk differently. I see great potential in you, Gar." Daniel smiled at the man again then stepped closer and spoke softly, "Do not give up on her, Gar. Ty just has…issues to work through. Her feelings for you are stronger than you might imagine."
Daniel stepped back smiling and gave the blushing, bemused man a pat on the cheek and vanished with another loud 'pop'.
On another, much smaller island, half a world away from Ty Lee and the Kyoshi warriors, another young woman sat cross legged on a wide patch of hardened lava basalt. This island was dominated by a central mountain, an old volcano, dormant for the last one hundred and twenty or so years. This side of the island was covered by large fans of hardened lava, leading from the cone of the volcano to the sea. Here and there strips of lush green vegetation grew up between the old lava flows and in the distance, several miles away, a group of white buildings were just visible in the failing light of the day. On the opposite side of the island the lava had not flowed and it was thick with tropical vegetation. The deeper ocean channels on this side also mean that a large refueling station had been built to accommodate those ships plying the channels that required fresh coal for fuel or the occasional restocking of food and water. There was a long stone docks for the larger ships with attached warehouses and accommodation for the staff and a small military attachment.
Back on the other side of the island though, the young woman was enjoying the cool evening breeze on her sweaty skin as she tried to relax and meditate. She had silken black hair, pulled back in a simple ponytail that flowed down to about halfway down her back. Her, shorter than average height might make someone misjudge her abilities until they noticed her lithe, well muscled frame. Her once fair skin was now quite dark from years of working and training in the tropical sun. Her clothing consisted of simple tank top and pants, suitable for the tropical climes and her feet were bare and dirty.
Few who saw her today would recognize her as the ex-princess of the nation her island was a part of. She had even ruled it, albeit briefly, as Firelord. But these days she worked very hard to keep the memories of those days at bay, yet, as she meditated in her favorite spot after an afternoons hard training, the memories crept back unbidden.
"Ozia, please. What you are teaching her is awful. You are going to make her a monster, like you."
There was a crack of flesh on flesh and a scream. The little girl hidden behind the tapestry in the royal lounge peeked out and saw her mother collapse to the floor and she bit her knuckles to keep from crying out.
"Speak to me like that again, whore, and I will kill you. Azula is mine to do with as I wish." Came her father's commanding and cruel voice.
"Please Ozia." her mother continued pleading from the floor, "I know she is a prodigy but must you instill such cruelty in her."
Her father stared down at her mother laying on her side on the floor and smiled cruelly. Suddenly his foot lashed out and she watched as her mother was lifted and pushed back a couple feet from the impact. Tears poured down the little girl's face as she watched her mother retching in pain and misery.
"I will not repeat myself, Ursa." Her father said with the same cruel smile on his face, "Azula is mine. You can have the worthless boy. Now I will not tell you again, you keep your distance from her. Stop trying to sway her with your insipid weakness."
Her father knelt down, taking a handful of her mothers hair and pulling the woman's head back roughly so she was forced to look him in the eyes. At the sight of her frightened, tear streaked face his smile widened.
"I am going now to see what my little prodigy has learned today and the next time you try to sway her from me I will burn you alive and I will let her watch."
He roughly thrust her mother's head away so that it thudded hard into the wooden floor and the woman's eyes closed as she slipped from consciousness. Then her father rose and, still smiling his cruel smile, he walked calmly from the room.
The little girl desperately wanted to go to her mother but she knew she had to move fast. Moving back to the opening of the secret passage she had found behind the tapestry, she sprinted through the passageway as fast as her small legs could carry her. Tears threatened to spill again from her eyes as she thought about leaving her mother lying unconscious but she roughly wiped her eyes and desperately pushed the emotions down and away. She knew any sign of weakness would be terribly punished.
As she raced her father back to her room she repeated the mantra over and over in her mind.
I am Daddy's perfect girl. I am Daddy's perfect girl. I am Daddy's perfect girl.
Azula had been four years old that day. It was the earliest she could remember using the old mantra. Of making sure she never showed anything her father would view as weakness. It hadn't been to long after that that she had begun to believe it, when she became daddy's perfect girl.
"Azula." A woman's calling voice drifted over to her from nearby and Azula opened her eye.
Her eyes, like her brothers, were a shimmering, shinning gold, slightly turned up at he corners and a lone tear slipped down from her left eye as she took a deep shuddering breath. She wiped furiously at her face, even all these years later, hating herself for showing such weakness.
A thin woman with short dark hair and pale skin and perhaps in her early thirties, crested the rise upon which Azula sat. she was wearing a long flowing white dress of a thin material and her soft shoes. She smiled on seeing Azula and walked over to sit demurely next to the her.
"I knew I'd find you here." The woman said softly, still smiling at the ex-princess.
"This is where I am every day, Meme." Azula said with forced sarcasm, "This is where I always meditate."
"And train." Meme said to her, "I've seen you at it every day. Why do you practice your bending every day, especially since you can't Bend anymore. Then you drag yourself back to the villa exhausted."
"You know very well why." Azula said with a touch of anger as she turned away to stare at the waves breaking over the rocky shore a short distance down the hill.
"Are the dreams getting bad again?" Meme asked, concern all over her face.
Azula glanced sideways at the worried woman beside her.
Where did my brother find you? Azula wondered for the millionth time about the woman, You actually care for me don't you? Probably the only other person on the planet besides Zuzu who does and I still can't open up to you.
"I can handle the dreams fine, Meme." She said aloud in a clipped voice that carried the tiniest hint of a tremor.
"Ok, Azula." Meme said and although she smiled once more it was obvious she was not convinced, "It's getting dark. You know Dr Wattan doesn't like you being out after dark. We should head back or he will write to complain to the Firelord again."
"Oh, please." Azula said with disdain and a small amount of amusement, "I know my brother pays far more attention to your reports and that of the other staff than he does that quack of a doctor."
Meme covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile but couldn't stop a small giggle from escaping. A tiny hint of a smile touched Azula's lips at the sight of Meme's mirth.
"I made spicy fish cakes and hot soup." Meme pressed, "Your favorite kinds."
Azula actually smiled at the woman but then gave a resigned sigh.
"Perhaps later. I have some lines in the water I need to check." Azula said, pointing down toward the ocean, "plus, there's something else that needs my attention."
"What's that?" Meme asked.
By way of answering, Azula turned her head slightly and jerked her head over her shoulder.
When Meme turned her own head and looked to where Azula indicated, she gasped.
Higher up the hill, about fifty feet from them and illuminated by that last rays of the setting sun sat a large shaggy gray animal the likes of which she had never seen. It was almost the same color as the sounding rocks and if Azula hadn't pointed it out she never would have seen it.
"What is that thing?" Meme whispered to Azula with a touch of fear.
"I'm not entirely sure." Azula shrugged and the woman's unconcern seemed to calm Meme, "It bears a slight resemblance to the larger species of wolf-bats in the earth kingdoms but I think it's front half more resembles the old extinct sea-wolfs that used to hunt in the waters of the southern water tribes."
Meme turned an astonished look at her companion.
"How do you always know this stuff?" she asked.
"I have read those zoology books my brother sent for me, you know." Azula said matter-of-factly.
"Yes, well. So have I. There's precious little else to do on this island sometimes." Meme said raising an eyebrow at Azula, "But it's not as though I can identify every animal I see like you can."
Azula had always had a mind that was as agile as she herself was and didn't see the need to point it out to Meme since the other woman knew well enough anyway.
"Do you think it's dangerous?" Meme asked, looking back up at the creature which might have been a statue for the way it remained so still.
"No." Azula said, reassuringly, "It's been there for awhile watching me meditate. I assume it's come from the other side of the island, probably some ship captain's pet that's wandered off."
"Well, I'd better get back." Meme said, getting to her feet, "If you catch any fish on your lines, be sure to bring them back with you. I got some salt the other day from the outpost. I thought maybe I could make some preserves."
Azula nodded absently and settled herself into a more comfortable meditative pose.
Meme smiled at her charge. What few people anywhere knew about Meme was that she was the foremost Psychiatric and Psychological expert on the planet and the Firelord had originally offered her a king's ransom to spend one year on the island with his sister. Her job being to assess and help Azula while working undercover as a mere servant. That had been in the beginning when Azula had first been released from the asylum but Meme had stayed on for a further five years, making a deal with the Firelord that the bulk of her pay go toward improving the country's ailing health system. Since fire nation knowledge of medical practice outside of burns care was rather poor and the fact it was still difficult to get water tribe healers to work in the fire nation, even ten years after the war. She glanced back up the hill at the silent unmoving animal and then back down at the silent, unmoving Azula. She'd grown rather fond of the hard to reach girl before her and who else got to retire to a tropical island before their thirties.
"Well, if you're going to try and catch this animal, try not to be out too late. I will cover for you if the doctor asked where you are." Meme smiled as she noticed a slight relaxing of Azula's shoulders at this, "But, only if you promise not to go to the other side of the island and start picking fights with the soldiers stationed at the outpost again."
Azula smirked. She couldn't deny it hadn't crossed her mind. Slapping the useless soldiers around did give her some relief but her brother had threatened to shut the refueling outpost down and shift it to a neighboring island after the last time. But she did enjoy visiting the outpost when Meme escorted her and although she knew the soldiers there didn't like her, some of the ship captains that came through were almost pleasant.
"I promise, Meme." Azula said, her smirk becoming a smile, "No kicking toy soldiers around tonight."
Meme laughed lightly.
"Oh, you. Don't be out too late. I'll leave some food out for you in the kitchens." Meme said and turned about to head back to the villa where she lived with Azula, the doctor and a few other staff members. She hurried away, before the last of the light vanished, leaving her to pick her way in the dark.
Azula settled herself and tried to continue her meditation. She thought of Meme, hoping that by thinking of the woman (that she could almost say she liked) would keep the memories at bay. She had been sitting quietly for what felt like only a short while when a tiny sound, a scrape on the stones near hear caught her awareness.
Opening her eyes, Azula became aware of the animal from up the hill sitting almost directly beside her. It was so close she could lean against the creature if she chose and she tensed in readiness to spring away.
"Quite the silent hunter, aren't we?" She asked soflty and the creature turned it's head to look at her.
Azula was careful to keep still and sitting on the ground as she was the animal was only slightly taller than her. It was not the largest animal Azula had seen but she had learned, sometimes the hard way, that size did not dictate how dangerous an animal could be.
The creature learned closer to her and sniffed at her neck with it's long muzzle and goose pimples exploded down that side of her body. She fought the impulse to smile at the ticklishness of it.
Unbeknownst to Azula a conversation was going on inside to animal's head.
What are you doing, Wolf? I said I just wanted to look. Make sure she was doing ok.
Smell nice. Sit. Enjoy.
Whatever my friend. Lets just make sure we get back to our pack before dawn.
The wolf turned his head and stared back out to sea as Azula was and the pair watched the first stars come out. After a while, Azula risked turning her head to look directly at the animal. From this close she could smell the beast. A strong musky scent with something like fresh turned earth. Azula was surprised to find she liked it.
Suddenly the animal stood up and wandered away, down to the waters edge. It looked back to Azula and made a growling sound, then started sniffing around the rocks near the water.
She could sense no danger from this creature and Azula slowly rose to her feet and, just as slowly, made her way over to it. Once she was standing beside it she could see it was sniffing around where she had tied off her fishing lines, three of which were taut, with something pulling at their other ends.
"I see." she commented to the animal and slowly knelt down to start pulling in her lines.
In the end she pulled in two large sea salmon, not too unusual in these deep waters and a large sting ray. When the sting ray came ashore it whipped it's barbed tail about and Azula jumped back to avoid the razor sharp appendage. But the shaggy animal suddenly lunged forward, catching the whipping tail in it's jaws and with a loud 'crunch' bit the thing clean off.
"Thanks." Azula said and stood back to survey her catch.
Meme would be please with the fish for her preserves but the ray was far too large for Azula to drag back to the Villa and she hadn't thought to bring a knife with her. Hunting around on the dark ground she picked up a likely stone and raised it high, bringing it down sharply onto the rocky ground. It chipped slightly but didn't break into any usable pieces.
She sighed, wondering if perhaps she should just abandon the ray to the scavengers when the shaggy animal shifted slightly. With a loud crack the stone in her hand broke into pieces and Azula could feel many usable, sharp edges amongst them. She narrowed her eyes at the animal in suspicion.
"So, you're an Earthbender?"
Hesitantly she reached over and placed a hand on the animals head. When it didn't react she slowly stroked her hand across it's fur between it's ears and the creature leaned into the pat. Emboldened, Azula moved closer and scratched the animal more firmly. It gave a low, rumbling moan of pleasure and Azula smiled.
"You know. Ever since the end of the war I feel more at home around animals." She said conversationally to the animal. When she paused the animal nudged her hand with it's head and with a light laugh she continue scratching, "At least your kind doesn't judge me."
It was almost pitch black now that the sun had gone and the moon not yet arisen and even though she now had some sharp stones, Azula didn't like the idea of using them in the dark. She quickly looked around and then leaned over to the animal conspiratorially.
"Can you keep a secret?" She asked the animal and then sat back suddenly in surprise when it nodded.
Azula chided herself. Of course it didn't nod. It was an animal after all and it must have just been moving it's head in a way that seemed like a nod.
Feeling a little foolish Azula held out her empty hand, palm upward and took a deep breath. As she let the breath out slowly a ball of flame appeared in her hand, small at first, but growing quickly till it filled her palm. Burning a bright blue, it lit up her and the animal.
The creature appeared to be staring at her hard and Azula became mesmerized by it's eyes. In the light she could see they were far more intelligent than any other animal's she had ever seen. But it was the color of them that kept her rapt for a moment. One was bright emerald green and the other a dark, stormy grey, flecked with brown motes.
"You have beautiful eyes." she whispered and the creature's head suddenly jerked and it blinked in surprise, ending the moment.
Azula looked down at the little ball of flame she had summoned in her hand and then back up to the animal.
"I'm really not supposed to." Azula said, stepping away from the stingray, she dropped her shards of stone and sat down next to the large shaggy animal. She sat staring into the small, dancing blue flames with a serine expression and spoke to the wolf, "I was a ruler once, you know. I did everything my father said to be the perfect prodigal princess. I had power, I was feared. I tried so hard to be what he wanted that it cost me everything, family, friends, even my mind. I even hated my brother because HE wanted me to. My brother."
Azula lapsed into silence, staring into the flames and again, tears threatened to come again but she pushed them away with practiced ease. She turned to look at the wolf and it sat quietly, listening at her side.
"My brother." Azula said softly before continuing again, "When Zuko and the Avatar's water woman beat me at the end of the war I thought that was it. I was going to die alone in some cell, lost in my own madness. But in those early days Zuzu came to see me every day. No matter that I screamed at him, scratched, punched and kicked him. I think I remember throwing my bedpan at him once. But he never once got mad at me or yelled at me. He fed me, bathed me. Talked to me day in, day out. He pulled me back from the nightmare I was living in. I wish I could tell him just how much that meant to me. Tell him how much I lo."
Azula's breath hitched in her throat and she was forced to pause and push the pain and the tears away once more. The wolf shifted slightly over against her side and Azula leaned over, resting against it's soft warm side. She rested her head on the animal's thickly furred neck and it rubbed it's furred cheek against the top of her head.
"When Zuzu sent me here I didn't get to see him as much and I started to go backward. Withdrawing into myself again. But one day Zuzu brought that water woman of the Avatar's with him. How I hated her back then for beating me and putting me in that madhouse."
The wolf gave a low growl and Azula chuckled softly. She snuggled closer to the creature's thick warm furry side.
"Oh, I know she didn't actually put me there. I was already well on my way long before I even met her. She most likely saved me. She definitely saved me from murdering my own brother. I probably would have driven my country into ruin as well. Anyway, I was confined to my room when she came here. I'd been hearing the voices and seeing things again and Zuzu brought her to see what she could do. She did something with her glowing water and it kind of helped although I was still pretty incoherent. But a couple days later the Avatar came. He wasn't the little boy I remembered anymore and he picked me up and carried me all the way out here."
Azula paused, yawning suddenly. The wolf lay down at her side and she lay down next to it, her back pressed against the beast's warm side. A chill breeze blew in off the ocean but the rocks below her were unaccountably warm, as warm as the wolf itself and Azula relaxed, her eyes half closed.
"The Avatar said this place was were my great grandfather, on my mother's side, Avatar Roku once lived. He said Roku and my other great grandfather, Sozin had once been friends but fell out when Sozin first tried to start the great war. Up the hill there, where I meditate, that was where Sozin betrayed his friend and left him to die when the volcano erupted. Just so he could start that stupid war. The Avatar told me he was wrong to take my bending. He said he would give it back to me but I had to keep it secret. The nobles of the fire nation have decreed that I am to be put to death if I ever show signs of regaining my bending and even Zuko couldn't save my if I was caught. The Avatar said I needed to be whole to choose which path I would take. Whether I wanted to be like Sozin or Roku. But I made my choice a long time ago. I want to be me."
Azula's voice had been getting quieter and quieter as she spoke, the flame in her hand becoming smaller and smaller until it vanished. Her breathing evened out as she drifted into sleep. A colder gust of wind blew across the rocks and Azula rolled over, pulling her legs up and burying her face in the thick fur of the wolf's neck.
"Mommy?" she whimpered and shivered, though her trembling had little do with the cold breeze.
The wolf raised it's head and rubbed the underside of it's muzzle against the side of Azula's head until her shivering ceased and she slipped into true sleep.
"Get out of my way." her father's voice growled in a dangerous tone.
"Ozia, please. You promised me this would stop." Her mother's voice was pleading again, as it always was when she spoke to the girl's father.
The young girl, only eight years old, lay on her large bed with the covers pulled over her head. She was shivering almost uncontrollably and she stuffed the corner of her pillow into her mouth, biting down on it to prevent herself from crying out.
"I promised only that your brat would be saved. My father, the old fool, would have had me kill him anyway." Her father's cold voice came again from outside the door to her room, "You have done your task well and so the useless boy may live. But Azula is and always will be, mine."
"Ozia, you can't do this to her." her mother said, still pleading, "I've seen the way you coach her before you let her out to play. She only has two friends still brave enough to come and play with her."
"Friends?" her father laughter was high, cold and cruel, "What use has she for friends? She will rule. She will be feared. She will be perfect."
"I won't let you do this." Her mother's determined voice came, "I will denounce you to the nobles. I will not let you make her any more of a monster."
Azula's stomach clenched in anguish at her mothers words and when she heard her father's cold laughter it was strange, twisted.
"Denounce me? You struck the killing blow not I." His cruel voice suddenly carried an extra chill, "But you have served your purpose well and now I suppose you should be rewarded."
There came a thump against the wall outside Azula's room and a strangled cry that suddenly cut off. Terror washed through the young girl in such a way that her trembling, her breathing and even, so it felt, her heart, stopped. Then she heard the door to her room creak slightly as it opened.
"Azula?" her father's voice was filled with menace.
The young girl took a deep breath and pushed her fear, all of her emotions, deep down to a hard point and, careful to keep her face impassive, she sat up in her bed letting the covers fall from her face. The sight that greeted her almost cracked her careful mask but by sheer will she kept her face expressionless.
Her father stood in her doorway and behind him, on the floor, she could see a pale unmoving hand and part of an arm sticking out into her field of vision. Dark, red blood was spreading out around the hand.
"My lord prince?" came a cry and one of her father's personal guards stepped into view near the doorway, "What,"
"Clean that up." her father said to the guard, pointing at the hand and who it was attached to, "And if word of this gets out I promise you will watch your entire family roast alive before you are fed to the flames."
"Yes, my Lord." The guard said, backing away, "I live to serve, my Lord."
The guard disappeared from view and a moment later the hand slid away. Yet the blood continued to spread, now seeping onto the floorboards of Azula's room.
Her father stuck his head out of the doorway and called out to the guard.
"Return to me tomorrow but I will not be disturbed for the rest of tonight." then her father stepped into her room and slammed the door but Azula could still see the blood slowly creeping into the room.
"Well, Azula. It seems we are finally rid of that weakling woman. Soon I will be Firelord and all that remains is to be rid of that guard and soon enough I will find a way to rid us also of your pathetic brother." her father walked over to stand beside her bed, sneering down at her. Azula was careful to sit perfectly still, betraying no emotion.
Yet still she could not pull her eyes from that slowly creeping pool of blood.
Her father sat down on the bed next to her and stared down at her. Something more than the usual cold hatred in his eyes sent fresh chills of fear down her spine. He reached out to touch her and, unable to control it, she flinched.
Azula never saw the blow coming but suddenly she was laying on her side and one side of her face was burning with pain. She tasted her own blood in her mouth. He grabbed her roughly by the hair and pulled her back into a seated position.
"Now that your weak mother is gone you will have extra duties and you will NOT be as weak as her." Her father said, standing up from the bed.
He started pulling his robes off over his head and again Azula sat straight, her face a careful mask even as it continued to burn from his slap. Across the room the pool of blood seeping under her door had spread almost two feet into the room.
Suddenly he shoved her onto her back and roughly pulled up her nightdress, tearing the fine material and leaving her exposed. Then her naked father climbed into the bed with her.
Azula screamed inside but she kept her face impassive, her eyes open, yet empty. And as her father's sneering face loomed over her all she could see in her mind's eye was the pool of blood seeping into her room, from under her door.
I am Daddy's perfect girl. I am Daddy's perfect girl. I am Daddy's perfect girl.
Azula sat up with a choking scream. Her legs were pulled up and her hands clutched to her stomach as she remembered the pain of that long ago night. Her breathing came in deep, gasping sobs and it took several minutes before she realized where she was. She was still on the rocky shore near the place she came to train and meditate. Glancing around to make sure she was alone, Azula held out her hand and summoned a small flame. Sitting and staring into the dancing blue light helped to calm her and a few minutes later her breathing was slow and steady, her centre becoming calm. Looking down at the flame she noticed something of a darker blue in her lap. She reached down, confusion written across her features and lifted up a large dark blue, hooded cloak.
With a gasp, Azula quashed the flames in her hand and leapt to her feet, the cloak still gripped in her other hand. She scanned to island as far as she could but there was no sign of anyone, anywhere in sight. The moon was low in the western sky illuminating the island with a pearly glow and looking around again in sudden realization she could see no sign the animal she had been speaking to earlier.
Well that explains the nightmare. Serves me right for opening myself up. Even to an animal. Azula Thought, she inspected the cloak in her hands again, I guess the owner came looking for it, found me with his animal and left the cloak on me to keep me warm.
It sounded plausible but Azula knew a person would have to move pretty stealthily to get by her. Then something a few feet away from where she had lain caught her eye.
It was a large, low rectangular box. Confusion again on her face, she walked over to it and prodded the box with her foot. It was stone and when her foot brushed against the top edge, a thin sheet of stone serving as a lid slid slightly aside. Azula crouched down and pushed the lid of the box aside, revealing a white interior. Checking she was alone again, she summoned her flame once more and inspected the contents of the stone box. It was salt. She brushed at the thick granules and dug her fingers into it, exposing the two fish she had caught earlier, already half pickled by the salt.
O. K. Azula thought, So, the owner came to get his animal. Gave me a cloak to keep me warm. Earthbended a box - or possibly the animal did since I know I saw it Earthbend - filled the thing with salt. Cleaned and dressed my fish and put them in the box to preserve them. So, I've been visited by an animal loving good Samaritan? Where's my stingray though?
Looking around Azula could see no sign of the large ray and when she looked back down at the box of salt a blue sparkle to the side caught her eye. Leaning closer for a better look, Azula's breath caught in her throat.
Next to the box there was a clear impression of a paw print pressed deeply into the stone itself. But it was what sat in the heel of the large print that arrested her breathing. A small blue sapphire, no larger than her thumbnail. It was carved exquisitely to resemble a tiny, stylized blue flame.
With trembling fingers, Azula reached out and picked up the sapphire and looked at it in the light of the blue flames in her other hand. The light refracted and shimmered from the gems facets as she turned it this way and that, making it look like a smaller version of her own flames. A night bird called in the distance and Azula instinctively quashed her flames, looking around before chiding herself for being so jumpy. She was about to summon the fire again when she was brought up short. The moonlight itself was reflecting and dancing off the little sapphire so that it again seemed like she held a tiny version of her own flames.
She reached down, running her fingers around the paw print where she had found the gem. Azula had no real explanation for the cloak or the box of salt but she somehow knew instinctively that the tiny sapphire was a gift from the animal that had so patiently sat and listened to her. Tears sprang to her eyes again and this time Azula let them come, twin lines of wetness running down her face. She closed her hand around the sapphire and clutched the precious gem to her chest.
"Thank you." She whispered to the chill night breeze.
