Chapter 51 – Falling Skies

(Previously on The Last Avatar. Kuzo's Air Bending training completes and the group receives word that Omashu is under siege. The Avatar, P'Li, Lan, and Nomu make a mad dash to help the city before it falls)

Attacks from the skies had lasted for days.

Mei was sweating heavily as she stood on the roof of town hall. Rings had developed around her eyes. Her throat was cracked from constantly administering orders. But the army needed direction, so the woman pushed on valiantly, while her body gave out.

*Boom*

Beside her landed a giant Subun carrying two passengers.

"Kuzo?"(Mei)

The Avatar leapt off the harness and turned to the rabbit.

"Lan. Can you still fight?"

Lan gave an audible sniff as if to say, "Of course!"

"I understand. Do not push yourself." He turned to the Combustion Bender who was switching from the side harness to the top mount. "P'Li. Go with Lan to assist where needed. Remember, highest—"

"Priority is being safe, I know, I got it. When have I ever done something reckless?" P'Li said with a good natured smile.

The pair leapt to the chaos in the lower levels. Kuzo began speaking to Mei.

"The situation?"(Kuzo)

"Just how it looks. We're holding for now, but our supplies are dwindling and our manpower keeps falling. Hope your mastery of Air Bending can destroy a few Airships and a whole platoon of Air Benders."(Mei)

Kuzo closed his eyes and calmed his breath.

"It will."

The Avatar pulled his sword from its sheathe and unfolded a golden fan in his other hand. The young man began to move the two weapons in tandem as if preparing a dance. Mei was bewildered at the sight. She wanted to question him, but a stagnant atmosphere befell the surrounding environment.

It was as if all the wind in the sky had suddenly disappeared, leaving only clean open space. Even sound seemed to be muted to a certain extent. The Yuyan Archers and citizens of Omashu felt the change in pressure as well. They seemed to pick up on the source by instinct and turned their gazes towards Kuzo. Meanwhile, the person in question focused his thoughts inwardly.

Are you there, Teacher?

….

Always.

Kuzo opened his eyes and light brimmed from his sight. He attuned himself to his past life. A memory of Kyoshi floated to the surface.

The Teacher danced a warrior's dance in the Island's dojo. Drums were being beaten. Hard enough to shake the roof and walls. A flute was carrying an exciting and adventurous tune. It was a song of war. The melody of storms.

Kuzo entered his pseudo Avatar State. It was nowhere near as powerful as the true one that fused with all the past lives. The Avatar's current one, only combined with Kyoshi, but the assisted strength of the strongest Air Bender was more than enough.

The Yuyan Archers' mobility seemed to take a sudden drop. As if the clouds they rid on, had been sapped of their usual propulsion.

Dark swirling clouds gathered above the city, and in the eye of the quickening storm was the Avatar. Moving his body in theatrical fashion to music only he could hear, Kuzo weaved his weapons with both grace and ferocity. The Air Benders felt what he was doing in their bones. It didn't feel real. It felt impossible. Like an animalistic sixth sense had been triggered, warning of an oncoming force of nature.

After learning Air Bending, Kyoshi developed her own style. Thinking that the Nomadic techniques of Bagua Zhang as unfitting for her preferences, she pioneered a different method. A style built on the foundation of the other elemental teachings. Particularly Earth and Fire. With that came the power to control the winds with immeasurable force. A strength that moved continents and summoned storms from pure will.

Kuzo struck the fan straight up, and held the pose for a moment. He inhaled deep and then halted his breath. Upon the exhale, he drew the fan down in a heavy motion, seeming to pull the skies down along with it.

The previously stagnant space was enveloped in a great gust of wind, blowing in the direction of the Avatar's movement. The sky fell and the Archers tumbled through the air, some of them crashing into buildings and the grounds below. The soldiers that were on level surface already, seemed hardly affected by the force of nature.

The surviving Air Benders assessed the primary threat and began speeding towards Kuzo. Though the current had died by then, the Avatar created a new one by bringing his fan across with depthful movement.

But the Yuyan were prepared this time. Though hampered, they were able to navigate towards the storm bringer. Mei adopted a fighting stance in preparation to protect Kuzo, but it was unnecessary.

The Avatar brought his sword forth and made a slashing motion towards the approaching Archers. A sweep more likened to a shockwave than a gale of wind, shot towards the flying enemies and knocked them clean out of the sky.

The battle proceeded with the fight heavily favoring the Avatar Faction. With Kuzo's interference, the Archers' offense grew visibly dull. Their agility had lessened and their projectiles lacked their previous impalement. On the other hand, the Omashu defenders were relatively unaffected by the wild gusts. Their artillery ordinance initially possessed more mass, which allowed little deviation in the surrounding gale. Also, P'Li had impacted the situation greatly.

Atop Lan, the Combustion Bender detonated explosion after explosion throughout the sky. The Subun ran on the highways and darted through the streets, giving her partner the best vantage points on the flying opposition. The large diameter combustions were so imposing that the Air Benders began to retreat from the battle field.

The siege was all but stomped out until P'Li saw it. She couldn't believe the sight for a second.

A large battalion of Earth Benders were marching on Omashu. In long rectangular formations, they stalked through one of the canyon valleys leading towards the city. The soldiers bore the insignia of Ba Sing Se.

Ozai must have ordered them as reinforcements!

P'Li motioned Lan forward and eventually met with Bumi.

"We need to take out that ground force!"(P'Li)

"Agreed. Finally some hands on fighting!"(Bumi)

They decided that the Anti-Air no longer needed as much support as they had in the previous days. Kuzo had created an advantageous enough stage for the defending forces to work almost alone. The majority of the Earth Benders and Metal Benders went towards counteracting the new threat from Ba Sing Se. With the soldiers organized, Bumi and P'Li prepared to lead the charge.

"Ahahaha… and here I was saying I wouldn't do anything reckless…" She turned to her partner. "Lan. You sure you're up for this?"(P'Li)

The Subun was tired, but still sniffed as if saying she was good to go.

P'Li sighed wearily. She was feeling fatigued too. They all were. Despite having slightly superior numbers, the Avatar Faction was at a disadvantage. The constant siege had worn away at the soldiers' Qi reserves and mentality. P'Li had spent a large amount of her energies in turning the tide. They would barely be able to fight as is. Morale was low…

She looked up at Kuzo who was sending titanic wind blades at the enemy archers, and felt fire burn in her gut. The sight of her friend woke her out of her lethargy.

I can't be losing heart here!

"RAAAHHHHH!"

The Combustion Bender roared fiercely and sent a grand explosion into the sky. The heat and shockwave shook the soldiers of Omashu. Bumi picked up on the rally.

"We are the people of ROCK! OF STONE! OF METAL! WE DO NOT TIRE AND WE DO NOT BREAK!"

The King's words resounded through the ranks and the soldiers began responding with their own war cries.

"WE ARE THE WARRIORS OF OMASHU! THAT IS OUR NAME! THAT IS OUR HOME'S NAME AND IT WILL NEVER CHANGE AGAIN!"

Even the soldiers manning the Anti-Air arms heard the words and shouted. The whole city erupted in chorus, raising each other's morale. With pride and determination, they steeled themselves for the next battle.

""FORWARD!"" Bumi and P'Li cried.

The Omashu forces filtered out of the city and down the adjacent cliffs. As they neared the soldiers of Ba Sing Se at the base of the slope, P'Li readied her offensive. She had recovered as much Qi as she could, but she still worried if it would be enough.

"No guts, no glory, right, Lan?"(P'Li)

Lan sniffed fiercely.

P'Li turned to Bumi.

"I'll create an opening. Take advantage of the disorder and follow through."(P'Li)

The King nodded and relayed commands to his troops.

Lan produced a seismic tremor upon dashing down towards the enemy formation. P'Li punched her fist into her palm and readied her hammer for mounted melee. She inhaled deeply in readiness for a combustion shot.

Before the collision, Ba Sing Se troops began Earth Bending an earthen wall. P'Li grinned at the maneuver and detonated an explosion to blow away the sedimentary defense. The battle formation loosened upon the impact.

And then P'Li and Lan dove into the midst of them.

After hours of fruitless fighting, the Yuyan Archers began to retreat. Air Benders began returning to their airships like insects returning to their nests. Many also flew back to the floating Lion Turtles, finding resting ground on their shells.

Kuzo looked at the sight with disdain. With one last act, he concentrated on the sword in hand. His eyes momentarily glowed with the Light of Raava. The Avatar brought the blade down with the strength to cleave a god. A flying line of wind flew towards a retreating airship like a giant bird.

The Avatar inhaled deeply and blew fire at the attack. The giant bird of wind turned into a phoenix that looked to smolder its prey. Unlike Kuzo's previous orange or blue colored flames, this one was a deep shade of red. It had a shine likened to the light of a dying star. Intense, aged, and piercing.

The red flamed slash engulfed the airship in violent conflagration. The passengers ditched the transport and flew to another. Remnants of the blimp crashed into the canyon below.

"Wow… That was impressive."(Mei)

Before Kuzo could respond, he dropped to his knee. The constant use of the overpowering Bending had worn him out. He would never admit it, but he was not fully recovered from his time in the mountain prison.

"The ground forces… I must go—!" (Kuzo)

Kuzo and Mei looked down to the valley in horror.

An unmoving P'Li and Lan could be seen lying on the battle field.

…..

….

The Avatar launched himself hard from the roof. His Air Bending shot him above the buildings and towards an adjacent cliff.

Kuzo put away his weapons and gathered strength into his arms. All the way down, he free fell towards the canyon wall. He was going to land in a space between the two opposing armies.

With knuckles whitened and fully tensed shoulders, the Avatar prepared his attack. Upon making contact with the wall, the energy he had built up was loosed. Two hammer fists struck the cliff side with a deafening hum.

Lava burst from the impact like a broken dam, pouring down towards the Ba Sing Se forces, making them retreat from the Omashu Army. The molten hot liquid cut a great gash into the earth, creating a mote of liquid fire. The attacking battalion decided to fall back for the day.

Omashu was saved…. But

"P'Li! Lan!"