The fight didn't start immediately such as the others had; it started with a stare down. His amber eyes never left mine; they seemed to be glowing in the low light of the arena area. I had a feeling the spectators were going to be happy about the fact they were protected. I had yet to see his flames, but the fact Zazu had remarked that they were black struck me as odd. There was an old tale about black flames…
A long time ago, when Avatar Roku was still alive, he had an enemy. An enemy in the form of a dragon, which everyone knew they were the first Firebenders. This dragon was special; most were red or blue in color, to signify regular flames and cold flames, but this dragon was black. The essence of darkness. It used black flames to attack the Fire Nation; its powers came from the darkness and evil within people's hearts. Its flames could be eternal, never dampening though years could pass.
As more villages began to be destroyed by this black dragon, Avatar Roku became desperate to stop the damage. To destroy the evil flames and the black dragon would bring peace between all in the Fire Nation; the rebuilding effort could start again as soon as the threat had been wiped out. One day a solution came to him as he was alone, thinking over the crisis. A dragon, whom was a shade of red he had never seen before, came before him and offered him his power, in exchange for his help in ruling the world.
Avatar Roku was skeptical at first, before he adhered to the red dragon's request for peace. This dragon was the brother dragon to the black dragon, whose went by the name 'The Kuragari.' The day came where the two dragons met in battle, their fight destroyed many places, and caused complete chaos within the Fire Nation; the dragons had the same amount of power, and neither could manage to get a killing blow.
Avatar Roku had gained an idea; not to destroy the dragons but to seal them away within a being with significantly less power. He took two babies; brothers that had been born that day, and summoned all the Priestesses in the land. The fight overhead was still raging; below the Priestesses worked hard on using their chi to drain the power from the dragons temporarily.
The black dragon was sealed inside the older sibling; the red dragon would not go down without a fight. Avatar Roku weakened the dragon to the point it could no longer fight, having been weakened he was easily sealed within the baby. Before he was sealed, however, one last sentence rang through the air; all throughout the Fire Nation it was heard.
'You have betrayed me and when the time comes, I will destroy you all.'
I had told Kim that tale as a bedtime story almost every night when she was younger; she used to whimper in fear and hide underneath the covers. I had always joked around that she would get eaten by the black dragon if she didn't go to bed; she listened to me after that. But why did that legend come to mind now? The black flames were formed when someone who was truly heartless, devoid of personality worries, an empty shell of a person, only then were black flames capable.
But Zazu's heart seemed to be so pure; how had he not defeated the evil black flames this guy could produce? The red masked figure that was standing beside me shifted, leaning close to my ear and whispering another word of advice.
'His flames will leave permanent scars; my flames will leave permanent pain.' I took on a regular firebending stance, my eyes unmoving as my opponent stared forward, no viable emotion on his face. The crowd around us was quiet; everyone was watching in anticipation to see the first move. 'Move to the right.'
Without a moment's hesitation I ducked right; good for me because if I had been just a second later black flames would've burned off my ear. They really were black, devoid of any color; I rolled to the side as black flames shot from his foot and nearly hit me again. I felt them lick the side of my face; a cold chill fell over my body. They were as cold as blue flames, but there was another lasting effect.
I jumped up quickly, palm pressed forward as a swirl of bright orange flames swirled in the air. He quickly avoided them, his fingers snapped and another wall of black flames was sent my way.
'You must use my flames.' The masked figure appeared behind me, grabbing onto my arms and holding them directly in front of me. 'And push.' I did as I was told; messing with another Firebenders fire wasn't easy though. I felt sweat drip down my forehead as orange flames met black; he was pushing with an extreme amount of force. My arms began to throb painfully, I almost fell to my knees, but I willed myself to fight. Zazu's face came to mind; his water bending couldn't douse these flames and he fell victim to its effects.
"This is for you Zazu." I gathered my chi to my hands, I was already feeling the fatigue from using so much energy, and pressed forward. The black flames were forced to jump back and his attack was disrupted. Even though I had stopped his flames, I had used to much power to fight him.
'You fool, you put too much in. You'll never be able to sustain my power if you use too much of it on one measly thing!'
"If you hadn't noticed I'm doing the best I can! Will you shut it; I'm trying to fight here!" I snapped, my subconscious was really getting on my nerves. Sometimes I had to clear my mind and let my body go with the flow; I needed to be as free as a flame with my movements. I have to stay swift and aggressive. I shakily stood; I predicted I wouldn't last much longer. I was basically out of fuel but there was still a driving force behind my actions; I was relying on my body to fight until it gives out.
The black flames surrounded me again; they formed a dome around me and blocked the view of the outside world again. As I was ready to make an opening for myself to exit, my opponent's body was flung through. His appearance shocked me; I was caught off guard as I fell back and was pinned to the ground. His breathing was heavy as his glowing eyes met mine; I raised my fist and got a solid punch to connect with his jaw. It hardly fazed him.
"Who do you think you are?" He hissed into my ear, his hands holding down my wrists. I didn't have the energy to force him back, exerting so much energy on one attack was would be my downfall in the future, if I managed to survive this encounter. All I could do was snarl and grit my teeth; he wasn't intimidated. He licked his lips, a sharp tooth showing as his mouth opened. "You can't compare to me." His hand was wrapped around my throat before I could fire back a retort.
'Fight him off fool.' The red masked figure was kneeling by my side. 'How worthless are you if you can't even push of a measly puppet?'
"I am not WORTHLESS!" The twin streams of flames that formed in my hand twisted and pushed back my opponent, sending him flying back through the dome of black flames he had made. My flames made a break in his flames; the black dissipated and was clearly overcome. I was panting harder than I should've been; I was weaker than I should've been. Nothing could've prepared me for the strain I was putting on my body today.
My muscles tightened as I tried to stand, with each step I could feel another throb of pain in a part of my body. And there he was, over there, completely uninjured, unless you counted his ego. Ever stoic, he remained still, his hair shadowing his eyes as his head was tilted down. His hand shot up so quickly I hadn't had time to predict his movements before flames licked the side of my neck; I hissed at the pain, it felt as if a million hot needles were being pressed into my neck. The scar will never disappear…
Zazu… Zuko… Iroh… My vision was blurring the more I bit my lip and forced back the pain. I had to continue fighting, I had to push myself over my limits or I'd get nowhere. I raised my hand shakily, letting out another exhausted breath of air before running forward. The battle of hand to hand combat continued for a good minute before he placed a hand on my stomach. I gasped as the pain shot through me. He had used my inner body heat as means to help his fire; the burst of flames went through my body and shot out the back, burning the skin on my back, not including the fact it felt as if my insides were on fire.
I couldn't go on… I staggered backwards, one arm slung over my stomach as I fell to my knees. No! No this couldn't be happening! I wasn't losing consciousness; I still had a fight to win! I began to cough; my blood splattered on the ground and I stared at it, horrified. When had I gotten this bad? Why did I feel as if I was knocking on deaths door? My free hand was the only thing keeping me up now and even that began to grow shaky.
It got harder to see and think; the world was turning black before my very eyes. I couldn't go down without showing him… that I meant business… I gathered my remaining energy into a ball in my chest; he had walked forward and was now standing in front of me. He was looking down on me… as if he was better than me.
"You caught me off guard…" I whispered. "But that won't happen again." Firebending comes from the breath… I inhaled sharply before opening my mouth and feeling the flames shoot out. I couldn't say the feeling was comfortable, but the surprised look on his face was enough. He had been nearly emotionless during the whole battle and I had managed to wipe that off his face and make him mad. I've gotta say I certainly went out with a bang. A grin danced on my face at his horrified look; I hope he enjoys the scar from that…
I fell backwards, letting out a cry of pain as I land hard on my back. The ground made the burning scars on my back sting painfully, but it was nothing compared to the fresh pain stinging my heart. I had lost the battle… I lost. I had promised I would win but… but I just couldn't continue on anymore.
'Let your scars be a memory of this battle. Let them be a constant memory of your lost honor.' The masked figure was a real jerk when it came down to it…
'Honor, eh? I guess I know how Zuko feels now…' was the last thought I had before the darkness took over and I lost consciousness.