Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 49 of Sparks Ignite! We get to meet a new character in this chapter! This character has been talked about in the series but never introduced. I thought it was finally time to throw him into the mix! As always I do not own avatar or its characters. Onto the story!
Fate and Destiny are a funny thing. They are so permanent, but yet can be changed by the smallest thing. It can cause the moon and the sun to collide. Or the most opposite Sparks to Ignite.
Chapter 49: The Fugitive of War
Katara found it hard to sleep that night. She had so much she had to think about. Whether it was her outburst at the lunch or the questions they asked her at the first challenge.
She tossed and turned half the night before deciding that sleep just wasn't going to come to her. She rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes, not wanting to wander in just her night robe. When she walked out of her room, she was surprised to see a guard outside. She had almost forgotten that he was stationed there.
He seemed startled that she was exiting her room so late at night. Katara offered him a smile, "I'm sorry to startle you… I just couldn't seem to sleep. I was going to go for a short walk, care to join me?"
The man nodded and started walking slightly behind her. Katara moved to stand next to him, "What is your name?" she asked him.
He looked at her, confused, but also curious at the water bending girl, "Yohan…" he told her. She smiled at him, "How long have you been working at the castle?"
"My father was a trusted official of Fire Lord Ozai, so I've lived here as long as I could remember. But as soon as I became of age, I was placed in the castle guard…" he told her. She nodded slightly and listened to his story.
"What happened to your father?" she asked him. He sighed, "He refused to follow Fire Lord Zuko… so he was placed in jail…"
Katara's face turned sad, sorry for the boy, "I'm sorry… that must be hard"
But Yohan shook his head, "No… my father deserves what he is gotten… Even after everything I've told him of Fire Lord Ozai, he refuses to back down from his loyalty… which is admirable to some extent… But he just put his loyalty in the wrong person…"
She tried to offer him a gracious smile, "I'm sure Fire Lord Zuko trusts you very much… If you stand by him after all of that…"
"I owe Fire Lord Zuko my life… He protected my family when I wasn't able to… I would still be in the Earth Kingdom prison if it weren't for him…" he told her. Katara watched him curiously, "You were captured?" she asked him.
Yohan nodded, "I was stationed in Omashu by Fire Lord Ozai when he became desperate for troops… But I was captured by the White Lotus and the Earth Kingdom rebels there…"
"I'm so sorry about that… The end of the war was unjust for both sides…" she reasoned, looking down slightly. But he shook his head, "I was treated fairly… Nobody ever tortured me or forced me to give them information like they did in the fire nation… And as soon as Iroh figured out who I was, he helped me get back to the palace. My wife was grateful for that…"
Katara smiled, "Who is your wife? I'm not sure if I know her…"
"Mia… and my son is" but Katara cut him off, "Rohan… They're both lovely. Mia is one of my favorite helpers…"
Yohan gave her a strange look at the word 'helper'. Katara saw his face and clarified, "I'm not a fan of the word servant… It's had such a bad connotation over the years… I prefer helper" she smiled back at him. Yohan smiled back, amazed by the water bender.
"Are you… nervous about this competition? If you don't mind me asking" Yohan spoke, know feeling comfortable with the other girl. He had remembered how Mia had spoken of the potential future Fire Lady, and he realized everything she spoke of was true. She was kind and caring, and wanted to know the people she was working with, more than just her servants.
He also remembered how she spoke of Mai, who had little regard for the people who served her, having grown up with them her whole life. Katara knew what it was like to dress herself. Mai didn't.
Katara paused for a moment thinking about this, "I mean… it would be impossible not to be… Everyone in this palace, except for a fair few, are looking at me to fail… They are looking for reasons to find me ill suit…"
"Well I can say that all the guards and servants… or helpers… are looking at you to succeed. We want you as our Fire Lady" he told her, smiling, hoping to give her some reassurance. She smiled back at him, thanking him for his kind words.
Katara looked to see where they were and saw they had made their way to the training room. She smiled, thinking it might be a good time for some target practice. She went into the room and looked around for water. But she caught herself.
The advisors wouldn't make the mistake of putting water in the room. They want her to fail. So they'll probably just have knives on the table, that she would have never seen before.
But luckily, the fire nation held a great supply of moisture in the sweat stricken air. She pushed the molecules together and created water from nothing, a technique that she was able to do only in places like the fire nation, where it was so humid. She pushed the molecules together again, to create her ice, positioning it in the shape of a knife.
She took it and threw it at the wall, where a target was painted on of a man for sword practice. As it flew through the air, she guided it exactly where she wanted it to go, even though it was out of her reach. It laded exactly in the fake man's center, where his heart would be. She smiled back at her work, knowing she could do that in her sleep.
"Wow…" Yohan said. She had almost forgot he had been watching. "That was…" he told her, not finding the right word to use.
"It's a small technique I've been working on… Gotta keep up to par with the other knife thrower in the palace…" she joked, smiling.
They both laughed, before deciding it may be time to head back to her room. Katara didn't want to get caught practicing her knife throwing skills. And Yohan didn't want to get caught talking so casually to the potential Fire Lady, while Katara was so gracious, others in the palace would not be.
When they reached Katara's door, they said goodnight before she swept inside. She sighed and went to move to her bed. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw sweeping movement across the room. She didn't turn around right away, but every part of her told her that there was someone else in the room. She felt their eyes on her.
And when they made a motion towards her, she made five times quicker. She grabbed a hold of their blood by raising her hand and not even turning around. She heard the clatter of their weapon across the floor.
The door swung open, Yohan hearing the commotion inside. His eyes widened, as he quickly called for backup to apprehend the intruder.
Katara let out a breath and turned around, freezing the man to the wall.
Dun DUN DUUNNN! What do you think? I know it feels a little fillery but I wanted to introduce Yohan into the story before we moved any further. Thanks for reading! Until next time!
