Part 2 - Order
The Avatar trained with the elements for the next six months, becoming an expert in her none native elements and a master in Water-bending.
Claire practised her Fire-bending in the Agni Kai arena, her hair as white as ever, slightly poofier than before, but kept in a ponytail. She still adorned herself in her blue and cyan sleeveless shirt, which tightly latched to her toned, slender, form and baggy black pants ruffled around her legs. But she had changed her fluffy lined boots out for navy blue jackboots with a silvery stream swishing up the front of them and unto a cyan gemstone.
She attempted to generate Lightning, mimicking Kang's movements, but to her dismay, either nothing happened, or she triggered an explosion in front of her, throwing her back like a rag doll and hammering her ears.
Whilst she practised, Shu entered the Agni Kai arena, observing her movements with a mystified wonder, "What are you doing, Avatar? I haven't seen a fire-bending form like that before."
Claire stopped and stared at her master, "Oh, Master Shu. I didn't see you approach," she turned her attention back to practising.
Her blatant disregard for his presence took him aback as he marched over, crossed his arms and fixed his gaze on her with his foot tapping.
Claire's arms slowly dropped as she turned to face him, "You wouldn't happen to know how to... Lightning-Bend, would you?"
"The proper term is Lightning Generation. You do not bend Lightning like you bend Fire; you are merely its guide. As for knowing how to perform the art: No, I do not. The only known practitioners are The Fire Lord's sister, his now-deceased father, good riddance, and his Uncle, Iroh."
Claire's eyes widened, "There's no way Kang is a part of the Royal Family. Zuko would have recognised him otherwise."
"Anyway, Avatar. Your final exams begin soon."
She sceptically whiffled her head, "Final exams?"
"Yes. The masters and I have decided it is time for you to prove to us you're ready to properly leave the compound."
He marched away, "Your first test is with Air!"
He left the arena, shortly followed by Claire as she ventured over to the Air temple replica, standing before her masters, all ready for battle, "I'm here for the... Air exam?"
"We know!" Kya sharply replied.
Tenzin stepped forward, "For your Air-bending exam, you must avoid our attacks for five minutes. And you may not fight back."
"That doesn't sound too difficult."
"It's surprising how long five minutes can be, Avatar," Shu wryly smirked.
"Also, no Avatar State," Tenzin readied himself for battle, "Jinora, start the timer."
The daughter grasped an hourglass and let the sand flow down, "Begin!"
All four masters and Katara launched their elements at Claire without hesitation, but the Avatar leapt into the air as Katara bent the falling water droplets into ice then propelled several shards at her; however, the Avatar pushed herself to the side on a gust of wind and landed back on the ground.
Kya mercilessly lashed out with a water whip, forcing Claire to avoid the master's lashings whilst Ho Tun kicked up a boulder, and Shu Kicked out a mighty wave of Fire.
Claire watched their attacks approach out of the corner of her eye, jumping away from the water whip and landing atop the boulder, but the wave of Fire struck and crumbled it.
The Avatar crashed onto the floor as Tenzin unleashed several slashes of air. However, Claire swiftly righted herself and pirouetted away from the slices as Katara formed an arena of water around her and the masters before slowly dragging it in.
"Oh, come on..."
Everyone came closer together while Shu deeply breathed; Claire monitored him, but with the Avatar distracted, Kya froze the ground beneath her, making her slip and slide on it as Katara unleashed waves of razor-sharp water. Needing to think quickly, Claire formed two small air scooters in her hands and dropped them to her feet.
With the ice no longer impeding her movement, she wove between the waves, but as she did, Ho Tun cracked the icy ground under her and sunk the Avatar into the ground, then trapped her.
Shu struck his hands out, formed a Fiery Comet, and then launched it at Claire.
As a last-ditch effort, she jutted her head up and forced the hole out by an inch, then ejected herself into the air as the fire comet barely missed, striking the fissure and launching a plume of smoke into the air, which obscured her from their vision.
But Tenzin quickly blew away the smoke, revealing Claire slowly descending amongst it. Kya raised the remaining ice from the ground, forming a torrent of water to wash her away, but to the Avatar's luck, the last grain of sand dropped from the Hourglass.
"STOP!"
Claire exhaustively descended back to the ground, "Oh, thank goodness!"
"Well done, Claire," Tenzin congratulated her as the masters and Katara approached.
Her body trembled all over as her breath ragged, "Was almost blowing me up with a Fireball necessary?"
"We would've stopped it, but we had confidence in you," Kya replied, making Claire raise a sceptical eyebrow.
"Your next exam will be earth," Tenzin said as he and the masters ventured forth to the mountainous terrain.
Claire rolled onto her side, "Nice, just give me a minute."
Having recovered from the Air exam, Claire stood with Ho Tun before the mountain, the masters positioned on the rocky face whilst she observed her surroundings.
"Your final earth-bending exam will be a race up this mountain, and to pass, you must either beat me or make it up there at the same time as me."
Claire glanced over at the masters, "Let me guess, I have to block and parry their attacks as I go up?"
"Yep!"
"And the next thing you're going to tell me is I have to do it blindfolded?"
"Oh, good idea!"
Ho Tun tied a headband around the Avatar's eyes whilst many explicit words ran through her mind.
The other masters and Katara all glanced at one another in united bewilderment until Ho Tun retook his position.
Claire faced the mountain, and Jinora came to stand between them, "On my mark!"
The two assumed a firm stance, "Get set!"
They pumped their fist back, preparing to race, "GO!"
The Avatar and Master launched themselves up the mountain, swinging their arms as they surfed upwards.
Claire came up against Tenzin and his mighty gusts of wind; however, the Avatar rooted herself in her stance, digging her feet in as she scaled the mountain, but in her steadfast ways, Ho Tun took the lead, creating a mountainous gap between them before she could successfully pass Tenzin.
Shu and his merciless flames would be her next opponent, waves of Fire surged at the Avatar, but attuning her ears to their roar, Claire raised walls between her and the attacks, successfully passing him with impeccable speed. But Ho Tun still held the lead, and as the rumbling of earth and clinking of metal pervaded her ears, a realisation hit the Avatar.
"He never said I couldn't knock him off course," a cheeky grin came over her face.
Claire bent an upcoming piece of metal at Ho Tun, knocking the unprepared master off course as he desperately tried to regain control. And in his chaotic stabilisation, The Avatar took the lead, swiftly coming up against Kya and Katara.
Katara pulled the water up from the ocean below whilst Kya pushed it down the mountain, letting it flood down in an attempt to push Claire back or slow her down. However, the resourceful Avatar formed a rocky bow before her, splitting the flood and sailing through it with ease.
The Avatar chuckled to herself, thinking she had assured victory and dropped her guard, only for Ho Tun to push her off course as he caught up.
"Forgetting about me, Avatar!?"
She regained her balance as the two came neck and neck, surfing up the mountain together and relentlessly trying to slow one another down. Earth and metal flew, limbs and bodies flailing about like inflated tube men. All the while, the masters eagerly watched as they reached the top of the mountain.
The two finally landed; Claire stood tall with her chest pumped out and arms flexed to her side, whilst Ho Tun stood firmly with his hands together.
"... Eh, You passed!"
Claire tore off her blindfold and victoriously pumped her arms with a bright smile, "That was fun!"
"I know! We should do that again!"
"Maybe some other time..."
The two trotted over to the edge of the mountain, "Of course! You've got your fire-bending exam next."
Ho Tun called down to the others, telling them she passed the test and applauded her before setting out to the Agni Kai arena.
Katara stared at the scorch marks on the ground and rose a curious eyebrow to their presence, "Did you already do the Fire-bending exam?"
A befuddled Claire turned to her, "Oh, no. I was trying to do something my friend Kang did... with no success..."
She uneasily nodded and followed the masters to the side whilst Shu stood before her.
Claire crossed her arms, "What? No five-on-one this time?"
"An Agni Kai is a one-on-one duel between fire-benders. A traditional Agni Kai would end with the loser being scarred by the victor, but for the sake of preserving our faces. The victor will be whoever forces the other to surrender first."
"Good idea, can't go putting a scar on this pretty face!" she placed the backs of both hands under her jaw.
A smile cracked over Shu's face before he marched to his end of the field, "To start, we both kneel on opposite sides of the arena facing away before turning to each other."
She nodded and did the same as him.
The two knelt on opposite sides, facing away as Jinora stood before them, "Let the Agni Kai begin!"
They stood tall and faced each other. Shu quickly unleashed a raging stream of Fire, but Claire met it with a blast of her own as they collided and exploded into the air, sputtering up into the sky.
Wasting no time, Shu unleashed swift fire jabs whilst remaining nimble as he watched the Avatar duck and leap over his attacks, attempting to close the gap between them.
Claire came close, unleashing a powerful kick of Fire at her master, but as it came close, he formed a fire barrier and nullified her attack; however, the Avatar persisted and swiped her leg across the ground unleashing a low wave of flame.
He leapt over the wave as The Avatar swirled her arms at her side, then lunged and unleashed two coiling Fireballs, each hitting and scorching the defenceless Shu as he slammed onto the ground.
She swiftly leapt in, poised to strike as Shu passively raised his hand to her, "I yield!"
He rose and dusted off his burning robes while pinching his singed beard, "I'm impressed, Avatar. Almost a year ago, all you could put out was a pitiful spark. Now you're beating even me."
A smile broke over Claire's face, "Six months of training works wonders!"
"Quite... Your last test will be water-bending. Come!"
The masters and Katara, with Jinora in tow, walked over to the Icy terrain while Claire followed shortly.
Kya and Katara stood before the Avatar whilst the others stood to the side.
"For your last test, you will face Kya and me."
The Avatar cautiously gazed at the elderly water-bender, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I may be old, but I can still put an Avatar on their backside. Just ask Aang."
She briefly closed her eyes and connected to Aang.
"She's not joking..."
She opened her eyes and smirked as she faced the two.
"Let the battle begin!"
The three circled one another, waiting to see who would throw the first attack. But an impatient Kya let loose a chilling breath; however, the Avatar quickly raised an icy wall, blocking the breath and reinforcing it before she swiftly melted and weaved it around her body.
She gracefully flicked out bullets of ice at Kya, but to her surprise, she jumped atop her flying ice, hopping along them before forming an icy tipped tendril and mercilessly slashing at her.
Claire dodged Kya's relentless attacks whilst Katara erected a small ice pillar beneath her, knocking her off balance as her daughter took another mighty swing, just barely grazing her hair before pulling the icy tip to her hand and looming over the grounded Avatar.
But Claire pressed her hands to the cool ground and kicked her legs out, spinning and pulling the surrounding ice to her to form a whirlpool and dragged Kya in as she fell. The Whirling water threw the master off to the distance as Claire unleashed a relentless geyser underneath the flying master and launched her high into the air, then smashed her onto her backside.
"I'm out; Mother, show her how it's done!"
As she shuffled away from the battlefield, Katara and Claire stood before one another. The elderly water-bender formed a watery octopus around her and relentlessly lashed the Avatar as she ducked and weaved from her attacks.
She spied an opening among the tentacles and rolled along the floor, swiping her palm at Katara and blasting out a torrent of water, but she effortlessly took control of it, forming the cascade and octopus into two water rings around herself.
She smugly smirked and combined the rings into a water pin-wheel, using it to dash at Claire, but she waited for her to get in range before sweeping her leg along the floor and kicking out a sheen of ice, freezing the pin-wheel in its tracks.
She yelped and tumbled from the Spiralling water, but before she hit the ground, Claire instinctively caught her in her arms, "Are you okay?"
She smiled, "I am."
She helped the elderly water-bender to her feet as Kya and the other masters approached, "You did well Avatar!"
"And with that, you have successfully completed your final exams!" Tenzin said.
Claire smiled and bowed to her masters, "Thank you for your years of help."
They smiled, "You are now free to come and go from this compound as you please."
"But don't forget about those Red Lotus guys; they're still out there!" Ho Tun abruptly said.
"He's right, and with the word out the Avatar saved Republic City, it's likely they've heard about you," Kya lightly jabbed her.
"Either way, with your final exams complete. It's time for you to journey to the eastern air temple and master the Avatar State," Tenzin replied.
The Air Nomad's statement caught the affixed surprise of everyone, "But how will she get there? She'd need a sky bison... or be able to fly," Ho Tun asked.
Claire crossed her arms, "And why the rush? The Four nations and the United Republic are experiencing blissful peace from what we've heard."
"Today may be peaceful. But tomorrow, Chaos could spread out of nowhere."
She hummed and placed a hand to her chin, "I know a guy who can get me to the Eastern Air Temple!" she turned to Shu, "Can you send a Messenger hawk to my friend Kang for me?"
"Certainly! I'll request Hawkington to send an invitation to your friend."
He marched away, but Claire quizzically gazed at him as he left, "He has a Hawk called... Hawkington?"
"He was going to call it Hawky, but Uncle Sokka had already used that name."
She chuckled as a looming shadow was cast over them, catching the attention as the sight of a small Southern Water Tribe Airship came into land.
"Speaking of which, here he is now."
Sokka, still with his grey wolf's tail styled hair and a beard, wearing Southern Water Tribe armour, exited with Bumi, scruffy as ever in his navy blue jacket and white pants And Jing, adorned in a suit of armour akin to his fathers.
Katara stepped forward, "Sokka... what are you doing here?"
"I little birdy told me the Avatar's Final Exams were today, and I, Bumi and Jing are here to put her through her sword swinging paces!"
Claire hesitantly scratched her head, "I... haven't really been keeping up with that."
"Your antics in the Commercial District would say otherwise, Avatar."
She flushed red as Jing smirked, and Sokka and Bumi's eyes darted between them.
"You heard about that?"
"I'm a Republic City Governor. Did you think Lin wouldn't share her reports with us?"
Sokka whiffled his hands at the two, "Hold on, slow down a bit; what happened exactly?"
"Well, as Kang put it... I almost levelled the district trying to catch a Spirit..."
"...With a sword?"
"And elements..."
Sokka and Bumi blankly stared at her, whilst the other three masters and Katara quizzically stared with them.
"Huh... my time as a Governor was never that exciting... either way! I had planned to duel you myself for your Final Exam, but seeing as you might be a bit rusty, Jing and Bumi are gonna warm you up!"
"Claire sceptically hummed, "...Now that I think about it, why is Governor Jing here?"
"He's my son. Personally trained in the ways of Swordsmanship by me, and the ways of a Kyoshi Warrior by Suki."
She jerked back as her eyes darted between the two, slowing to a halt as she hummed, "...I'm not quite seeing it."
"What are you implying, Avatar?."
"You... probably have more Suki in you than Sokka?"
A brief silence loomed until Bumi marched forward with his chest of weapons, "Alright enough Chit-chat, Let's get to chopping'!"
Claire stood between Bumi and Jing with a sheathed Dao Sword in hand whilst Sokka stood on the side-lines atop the metal platform. Bumi held his Jian sword akin to a rapier, whilst Jing had his to the side with a fan in his other hand poised before him.
The Southern Chief raised his hand, "Let's go!"
The Nephew and Son circled the Avatar as she sized them up, her eyes slowly darting between them until they both rushed in at once; however, as they did, Claire gripped her sheathed blade and swiftly withdrew and sheathed it, making the water in her pouch slash out around her and force them to jerk back.
"Hey, Uncle... any rules against bending for this fight?"
"The only rule is no killing!"
Bumi shrugged as the two went back in on her, keeping her on her toes as their merciless strikes lashed out at her, the metal of their blades clinking reverberated across the White Lotus compound. The pair lunged and thrust in together as Claire formed an air sphere around her handle and tossed her blade away, making it spiral like a boomerang as she fell to her back and kicked their blades from their hands.
She snatched the falling swords as hers came back around and jammed into the metal platform. But the fight wasn't done yet. Bumi pulled a decorated dagger as Jing pulled out a second fan. The three duelled, Claire now with their two swords, but Jing parried her attacks, effortlessly using her own force against her and creating openings for Bumi to slash and jab at her.
However, she eventually broke away from them and glared at the swords, "Alright, this isn't working."
She laid down the blades, then flipped and soared over to her Dao Sword, sheathing it as she dashed in and swiftly slashed out. Still, Jing dodged and jabbed her wrist with a closed fan, forcing her sword to drop from her hand as Bumi kicked out and tripped her up and down onto the metal platform.
"All warmed up yet, Avatar?" Sokka asked.
Bumi and Jing winced at each other, "I forgot this was supposed to be a warm-up..."
"Likewise..."
Sokka smacked his forehead as Claire peeled herself up off the cold steel, "I think I'm as warm as I'm gonna get."
The Southern Chief smirked as his Nephew and Son waltzed off to the side, letting Claire and Sokka commence the Final Exam.
Sokka withdrew his space sword, the black blade ringing as it slowly slid out of its sheath, making Claire's eyes hesitantly widen.
"No holding back, Avatar!"
He pulled his Boomerang from behind him and slung it out at her as she rolled away from it, but Sokka had already charged in, slashing out at her as she shot up to deflect his attack, but the Space Sword cleanly sliced right through it and almost through her.
Claire stared at her blade with a slack-jawed gape while Sokka confidently bounced the edge on his shoulder, "Got any bright ideas, Avatar?"
She stared at her blade a while longer until two words were whispered in her mind.
"Wind Sword..."
Her eyes pinged as she chuckled and whistled. Claire bent the metal of the blade out, leaving her with nothing but the handle. Bumi and Jing sceptically stared at each other as she twirled the bladeless weapon at Sokka.
"Wind Sword..."
He raised a bemused eyebrow as Claire took a spinning slash at him, letting loose a razor gust of air, but the Southern Chief avoided the relentless breeze.
"...So that's what Aang meant."
Claire slashed out with the air whilst Sokka dodged and evaded, trying to close the gap between the two, but as he lunged in, she drifted away and let loose another slash of air; however, he ducked under it and lashed out at her, nearly cleaving her throat as she stumbled back and fell to the floor. And as she went to shoot back up, she found nought but the tip of Sokka's blade a hair's breadth from her nose.
But the Southern Chief pulled it back and sheathed his blade, "Your Swordsmanship could still use some work, but for the most part. Great work, Claire!"
He held his hand out, to which she accepted wholeheartedly as he pulled her off the ground.
"Thank you, Chief Sokka!" She bowed to him.
He stretched and twisted his waist as Bumi and Jing strolled up, "Anyway, let's go get something to eat! I hope they haven't run out of meat."
The four marched for the gigantic building, "Y'know, I don't think this place ever runs out of food."