Chapter 49 – Asami Flies
(Previously on The Last Avatar. The Team reunites with Ty Lee, Sokka, and Toph at Kyoshi Island, where Kuzo begins his Air Bending training)
In the Warrior's training dojo, sat the Avatar.
All around him were members of the militia group, including their leader Aki. They were all dressing him in Avatar Kyoshi's old armor, as well as applying make up to his face. They had tried tying up his hair, but it did not have the appropriate length.
As the Kyoshi Warriors were busy at work, Kuzo's friends and mentors looked on with amusement.
"I'm pretty sure I wore it better back in the day."(Sokka)
"He's makes for an attractive girl."(P'Li)
"SO PRETTY!"(Asami)
"He looks just like Azula!"(Toph)
"How can you say that when you can't see him?!"(Lin)
Kuzo sighed at hearing the peanut gallery. After a few more minutes, the transformation was finished. The Avatar had donned the full appearance of his past predecessor.
"Except for the height…."(Lin)
"Enough. Leave me the room."(Kuzo)
Everyone began filtering out, leaving the Avatar alone to meditate.
Kuzo slowed his breathing to a halt, and his heart no longer pulsed with life. Light shone from his eyes as he made contact with his Air Bending Mentor.
"It appears the preparations are in place," a voice echoed from within, but somehow distant. "Avatar Kuzo. This training method is only made possible through your unnaturally strong affinity with your spiritual side. As you may have guessed, it will impose a heavy toll on your mind."
"I am ready, Teacher."
"This will be different from any of your previous education. Rather than taught… It is more accurate to say you will experience what I have to teach."
"My heart is prepared."
"It is not."
"…? Your meaning?"
"You will require effort beyond anything you thought capable. Strength of mind is the key."
"I have that in plenty."
"Had, Avatar Kuzo. Had."
"…You think I have grown soft?"
"I know you have. I was observing your battle with your friends, remember? Your heart wavered, and theirs did not. You should have won."
"I…"
"Turned your back on the world."
"… Briefly… Yes. I failed…"
"You must not do so again. Not you. Not ever. Doubt has no place on the path you walk."
"…"
Kyoshi continued her lecture.
"It took me over a century to master myself. You must do so even faster. Fortunately or unfortunately, your soul has been tempered far beyond your years," her tone possessed a subtle sadness to the last part. "Give yourself to me, Avatar Kuzo. I will show you the strength to move the heavens and earth."
Kuzo thought in silence for a moment. Kyoshi understood his contemplation and did not push the subject.
The point of issue, was allowing a reincarnation to have presence within the young man's form. It would mean the spirit would able to impose vast amounts of influence on the body and mind. The exact thing that Kuzo wanted to prevent from the other past lives. The very same thing that happened when the two previous reincarnations went berserk in their possession.
It came down to whether he trusted Kyoshi or not…
"I understand. I am in your care."
Besides the two infant Avatars, he had communicated with Kyoshi the most. On the trip from the Air Temples to the Islands, they had discussed at long length about their ideals, lives, and personalities. The young man found that he was rather fond of the spirit and she him. They had much in common and many of their core principles aligned.
Kyoshi explained the training regiment, which Kuzo listened attentively to. He was to relive through his past pain to regain his resolve. And then his and his Teacher's spirit would merge, giving him the ability to pseudo live out the past Avatar's life.
It would rip apart his soul, and his mind would go berserk. He would have hallucinations and fight phantoms who were never there. Still, Kuzo agreed.
The Avatar left the dojo to recreate his former prison.
To think I must do that again….
In a mountain on the opposite side of the island, Kuzo, Lin, and Toph were Earth Bending the Avatar a containment chamber for his training.
Toph touched the walls with a somber tense. Her mind drifted to that awful day when her "son" had to enclose himself in a volcano. To keep himself from killing his own mother. And how he spent weeks in constant turmoil….
His presence was never the same after that. He felt so much… thinner after the whole thing. It broke my heart.
"Lin. Metal Bend the chains," Toph said to her daughter, as she couldn't bring herself to do it again.
For a moment, Lin wondered why she didn't do it herself, but stopped upon seeing her mother's expression. She proceeded to Metal Bend heavy chains around Kuzo's limbs and fastened them to the cave's walls.
"That will do. Thank you Lin. Anda—Toph."(Kuzo)
Toph smiled.
"It's fine, Kuzo. Call me whatever you like."(Toph)
Lin and Toph exited the mountain.
As they were about to make their way back to the village, Lin stopped walking. Toph turned around to see what the matter was, but her daughter only stood rooted to the spot. She seemed to be contemplating something.
"I'll stay here."(Lin)
The sentence hardly caught Toph by surprise. She had sensed the bond they had forged. It was deep and it was tested.
"Watch over him, Lin. There's no one more qualified than you."(Toph)
"…"
"It's a Beifong tradition after all. Hahaha!"
Lin didn't understand the meaning.
*Sigh*
She blushed slightly when she did.
"Azula, huh? It's not like that…. If it was, I'd stop him from becoming a monster, like you did for her."
"Heh. Only time will tell."
"This isn't some romance fairy tale, mom. Things won't end happily."
Toph patted her daughter's head…. And then punched it with a little power.
"Only time will tell."
As Toph returned to the village, she came upon a very strange situation. The woman thought her Vibration Tuning was off because of the sand.
"Ready, Asami?"(P'Li)
"YEAH!"(Asami)
On the beach, P'Li and Asami seemed to be playing harmlessly in the water. That is until the young woman grabbed the little girl by her left leg and arm. With the Combustion Bender's incredible strength, she began spinning, gaining momentum with every revolution. The whole time, the child squealed in delight.
"She's not going to…"(Toph)
P'Li released her grasp and Asami flew chaotically through the air. She flipped and rotated whichever way, losing all sense of direction… but she seemed really happy. With the power of the young woman's physique, the child flew a frighteningly long distance before smacking into the water.
"I think I just doubled your distance, Ty Lee."(P'Li)
*Sigh* "I guess the difference in muscles is just that big…"(Ty Lee)
They both stared into the distance and saw Asami paddling back with a giddy expression.
Kind of like a cute dog…. they both guiltily thought.
On the beach, Toph approached Sokka, who was also taking note of the competition from afar.
"We should make sure she doesn't tell her dad about this."(Toph)
"Agreed."(Sokka)
"Looks fun. Maybe I should try too. How far did you get?"(Toph)
"Not as far as P'Li… Sparky sparky boom girl has her granddad's strength."(Sokka)
"Have you told her we fought him?"
"Yeah."
"Her response?"
"She just shrugged."
"Seriously?"
"She said she never knew him. And according to her, 'Why should I care about someone I never knew?'"
*Sigh* "Despite how she acts, she might be the most mature out of all of them…"
"Who knows…" Sokka said as he stared up to the sky.
"You looking for rain?"
"There's been no word from Mei for a while now. I sent a bunch of hawks but none of them have come back at all."
"There's one!"
"Where?!...Stop! I'm being serious here. I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Hmmm… Now that you mention it, none of my spies have sent anything either, but I just assumed the birds couldn't find me and were all at Omashu."
*Sigh* "I just hope everything's fine…"
(Back in Omashu where everything was not fine)
Mei is bellowing orders at the siege defenses.
All throughout the sky were Yuyan Archers flying by and raining down arrows at the city's defenses. In retaliation, the Omashu army were operating various types of launchers to counteract the airborne threat. Some were catapults, while others were rapid firing ballistas.
They lined the walls and wheeled out on the supply highways that weaved through the city. As deadly as the Yuyan Archers were, they did not expect to meet such resistance. The Anti-Air weapons roller coastered through the roads at a speed that made them difficult to target from afar. When the Air Benders tried to close the distance, they left themselves vulnerable to being unable to dodge quickly enough, and brought them within range of the army's Earth Bending. Some even resorted to their normal methods of agility and began leaping through the buildings, trying to find an opening in their opponents.
Bumi moved through his soldiers, doing what he could, leading his band of Earth Benders in their duty. The non-Benders were assigned to manning the machinery, and relied heavily on the supply highways for mobility. The King's responsibility was protecting them, fixing the roads, or even creating new roads when necessary. It fell onto the Metal Benders to run around repairing the weapons whenever they got too damaged, or needed reloading.
Hiroshi Sato and his team of engineers were working furiously in the factories and out in the fields. They had initially prepared many of the artillery to target large slower moving warships. With the blurring speeds of the Yuyan Archers, they had to modify the machines almost on the spot. They had even resorted to producing fireworks and lighter forms of projectiles in response.
Though extremely chaotic, the city of Omashu was holding its own. Under the great leadership of Mei, the tenacity of Bumi, and the quick thinking of Hiroshi, they were able to adapt to the situation as well as they possibly could have. The downside was that they were burning through their resources too quickly. The stronghold only had enough supplies to last a week. Even less if enemy reinforcements arrived.
Requests for their own allies' aides were constantly being interrupted by the Air Benders' harassment. Mei tried sending out hawks, but they were quickly shot down by arrows. She had instructed a messenger to travel well out of range of the city and release a hawk there, but she had no idea if the agent had actually made it. Neither did she know how wide the air containment was.
All she could do was pray that the message would find its way to Kyoshi Island….
