Chapter 21
Days had passed for Feng, but at the same time, it had felt like no time had passed at all when it came time for the return of Aang and the others. That's why he was so excited as he walked to the landing area the Dai Li had set aside for Appa, Toph walking beside him on this calm, clear-skied morning.
Because unlike the past few times he had been here, he could actually see Appa making his approach toward them.
"Here they come," Feng spoke aloud for Toph's benefit, making the girl nod with a smirk as she crossed her arms.
"Knew it, your posture was too excited for no apparent reason."
"Yes, yes, we're both pretty." Feng drawled sarcastically, patting the girl on the shoulder as he turned his eyes skyward, missing the subtle blush she gave. Feng had always enjoyed watching Appa fly, watching the massive animal soar through the air like he was supported by the winds.
Aang gave the reins one final flick as Appa finished his descent, slowing down as he came to a rest a little above the landing platform, floating for a second before he lowered himself, the ground groaning under his multi-ton weight as Appa ceased flying entirely.
This gave his passengers the opportunity to depart the Flying Bison, both Katara and Sokka walking down his tail as a ramp while Aang just leaped off his head, easily landing on the ground below.
"Feng! Toph!" Aang yelled with excitement, rushing towards the pair in a flying tackle. "It's so good to see you-ooph!"
Yeah, while Feng would have allowed it, Toph wasn't as much for flying tackles as he was, so when she felt Aang leap off the ground like that in the way that she recognized, she didn't hesitate as she rotated on one foot, slamming her other into the ground as a pillar of earth erupted in front of them, the flying boy catching the impact to the face as he slowly slid down it, getting up after a second as he rubbed away the red mark.
"Right, not a big fan of physical contact." Aang sighed in remembrance as he made it to his feet with a helpful hand from Feng. The physical pain quickly faded from the boy's mind however as a massive smile graced his lips.
"That doesn't matter though, 'cause I have so much to tell you two!" Aang cheered, practically bouncing on the earth in his excitement.
"Yeah, he really does," Sokka agreed as he walked over, a nondescript drawstring bag hefted over his shoulder. "And it's mind-blowing."
"I could barely believe it as he was telling us," Katara chimed in as well, further drawing Feng and Toph's interest as their gazes shifted back to Aang, the two Water Tribe siblings letting him explain what all the commotion was about.
Well, Feng had a guess of what it was about.
"So, you've learned to use the Avatar State, I'm assuming?"
"Yep! Mastered it even." Aang chirped, an unrepentant smile on his lips as a small shudder overtook him. "It involved a lot of banana and onion juice and meditation, but I did it, under the guidance of Guru Pathik, I mastered the Avatar state."
"That's amazing Aang!" Toph yelled in excitement, taking a step forward as an eager expression graced her features. "With you able to enter it at will, no one will be able to stop us!"
"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Feng mused, thinking how even the Avatar would be beaten by enough numbers, especially when Sozin's comet came around. "But it is very impressive. Would you mind showing us though? I have to admit I'm curious about what the mastered Avatar state looks like."
"Yeah, what he said Twinkletoes," Toph agreed, gesturing with her head towards Feng. Aang seemed inclined to do so, but it was Sokka and Katara's agreement that settled it as the Water Tribe Boy rubbed his hands together, moving over to stand by Feng and Toph as Feng joined him.
"Me too! I've been waiting the past few hours since he told us. The anticipation has been killing me!"
Shaking his head with amusement, Aang walked over to the free part of the landing area, away from both Appa and the rest of team Avatar as he made a guarded look towards Katara, one that Feng was not able to discern, but the boy seemed to find what he was looking for as a second later he stood quietly with his hands by his side, his eyes closed.
A couple of seconds passed like this, the anticipation palpable in the air as it built with time, the beginnings of wind circling around Aang as in the blink of an eye, his eyes snapped over, his eyes and tattoos glowing as the air pulsed from the boy, blowing back the hair of all four teens.
"As you requested, so you shall have it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Avatar State." Aang's transcendent voice called out, the wind picking up even as his powerful voice spoke over it, laced with the echoes of over a thousand voices as his feet lifted off the floor, the boy hovering without any visible signs as to how.
"Why don't I give you a demonstration?" he said, sounding bored as he let his gaze roam over the area, scoping it out. Bursting into motion, Aang lifted a hand, rotating through the air as he thrust his closed fist forward, a jet of flame bursting out of it as he waved his arms together, punching in the opposite direction as a gust of air left it, not disturbing his position in the air for even an instant/
Just the fact that he used two elements at once was extremely impressive to the rest of Team Avatar, one of them being an element he hadn't learned to use yet, but Aang didn't let this stop him as he pivoted again, thrusting a hand full of grasping fingers upwards as a boulder lifted out of the platform, the boy finishing the motion my kicking his foot out, the boulder splintering into a thousand pieces as it was sent flying in the distance.
Now Feng, as surprised as he was, had expected the boy to stop there, but much to his surprise, he did not. No, what Aang did was something he hadn't considered before, and was the most impressive of the four displays in Feng's mind, even with the jet of fire that was still burning by the boy's back.
Rotating in a circular motion, Aang cut his hands towards, curling them to the left as Water seemed to appear out of nowhere, being drawn out of the very air itself as it combined into a thin but powerful line of water, one that flailed through the air for a second that produced cracks of sound, the tendril of water whipping back and forth. But Aang, below it all, was a showman. Even in his ascended state, and influenced by the wills of those not his own, he was still a showman, so with all four elements currently under his control, Aang splayed his arms outwards, grasping onto the fabric of the universe as he grunted, slamming his hands together above his head as the four elements shifted direction, the column of air and stream of air bending mid-stream as the reversed direction, while the earth and water just shifted upwards, having not moved as far.
Above his head Aang combined the four elements together in a masterful display, the air wrapping around the fire, almost engulfing it before it was set aflame, burning so hot it was almost white as the earth combined back into one piece, only to be sliced through repeatedly by the highly pressurized water, going from one piece to too many to count. While Feng suspected he could have kept going, this was merely a display of his new state, so with a quiet sigh, Aang released the tension in his body as he let go of his control over the elements, bringing his arms downwards in a relaxed way, the fire disappearing as the earth and water rained down on the ground below.
His display over, Aang turned back towards his friend, his form still shining blue as he lowered himself back to the ground, an impassive look on his face as he stayed there for a second, staring at the four.
Feng almost felt a sense of worry at the action, a grating feeling appearing in his head before it disappeared with Aang's light, the boy blinking slightly as he regained his focus, his face showing expression once more as excitement bloomed on his face, the boy bouncing over to the group.
"So, what did you think? Cool right?"
"Cool?!" Sokka voiced with doubt before his grin turned maniacal. "That wasn't cool, that was amazing! It's the most impressive display of bending I've ever seen!"
"Excuse me?" Toph asked, offended at the remark, an expression joined by Feng and Katara as the boy frantically waved his arms, taking a step back before his face hardened, Sokka taking a step forward as he pointed at their young companion.
"Oh, come on guys, you know it's true. Sure, you guys might be master benders, well not Feng,"
Keep one eye open tonight Sokka.
"but Aang just simultaneously bent the four elements, like a true Avatar!"
This time it was Aang's turn to be offended as he crossed his arms, a frown gracing his lips. "And what, I wasn't before?"
"No!" Sokka retired, but corrected himself on seeing Aang's face, the boy releasing how his words might have been taken. "I mean yes, well…you know what I mean! Seeing you bend four elements is just more impressive, more real I guess, okay?"
"I do know what you mean," Aang nodded, a calm smile replacing the frown as he uncrossed his arms "but I would be more careful with your word choice in the future, someone might have taken what you said the wrong way."
Hearing such wisdom come out of Aang's mouth, Feng couldn't help but take a closer look at the boy, at the way he was standing, the way he was acting. It wasn't like Aang normally did, he was too…sure of himself, Feng supposed. Too confident in his feelings. But at the same time, less…emotive? Feng didn't really know how to describe it, only that the longer Feng watched Aang, the more he began to act like himself.
"Still, I have more good news than just that, but before I can get to that, did you know that Fire Nation soldiers have been gathering outside of the walls? Theirs a lot more there since I was last here."
"Yeah, and they all seem to be gathering in one spot," Sokka nodded. "Do you think they're going to try invading again? Could they have something like another drill or something?"
Sighing, Feng reached up to run his hand through his hair, sporting a neutral expression. "Yes, we have noticed the increase of soldiers, Aang, Sokka. They arrived yesterday, and as best as we can, tell number at about 2000 soldiers, bringing them to roughly 2500, with maybe a tenth of them Firebenders. We haven't seen any more machines like the drill though, and after the success of the last one the Earth Kingdom Soldiers are keeping a close eye for such things."
"Oh…ok." Aang nodded, satisfied that the problem was being dealt with.
"Keep in mind now Aang," Feng replied, a wry smile on his lips, "we have the aid of the entire city now, with all of its people. It's good that you're worried, but they've got this. Without a force multiple like the drill, nothing they can do will let them get past the city's defenses, not with so few men, so you can rest easy and relax a little. Now, what was the other news that you wanted to share with us?"
"If you're sure…" Feng nodded. "Okay," Aang replied hesitantly before smiling again as he lifted his hand, a small wisp of flame appearing in it that took most of his concentration.
"It seems like I won't need to find a Firebending teacher after all. What you may not know is that in the Avatar state, I get access to all the memories and abilities of the former Avatars. The more recent they are, the stronger the memories…well, for the most part. Kyoshi's memories are stronger than Roku's, buts she's the only exception. And Roku…"
"Was a master Firebender before becoming the Avatar." Katara breathed out in excitement, her face lighting up as she garbed into Aang's hand, clasping it between both of hers. "That's also great news, you can just learn from your former lives!"
"It'll take some work, but I can," Aang confirmed, holding his hand up in the same position as earlier, only this time nothing happened. "You see, the memories fade pretty quickly, but as long as I practice straight after, over time…" a small spark appeared, "…I will learn."
"Not to mention you'll be able to practice entering and exiting the Avatar state," Feng interjected, having noticed how long it had taken the boy.
"Right." Aang nodded, acknowledging the point.
"That's great and all…but if you can learn this way, why has no one else? It seems like it would be useful knowledge for an Avatar to know." Toph asked the question they had all been thinking.
"Because manually entering the Avatar state is generally the last thing an Avatar learns, I just learned it a bit out of order is all." Aang shrugged, earning understanding sounds from the others as there were informed.
"Well, whatever the reason was," Feng decided, "at least you can learn to Firebend now because I was thinking about it while you were gone, and the pickings are slim.
Thinking about it for a second, Aang had to nod in agreement.
"Yeah, that makes sense. I have one other thing to share, but I'll wait until the others are done before I do."
"You have more, really?" Toph blinked, looking at Aang in surprise before she shifted her gaze over to Sokka and Katara. "Do you guys have any idea what he's talking about?"
Unfortunately, they were just as unsure as she was.
"No, sorry," Sokka shook his head, shooting the cheerful yet silent Airbender a look, "Aang only told us about the Avatar state on the trip back."
"Figures."
"He'll share it when he's ready, Toph," Feng chided the girl, even if he couldn't deny he was curious as well. "For now though, what about the two of you? How was it seeing your Father?"
"It was amazing!" Sokka exclaimed, his face lighting up even as a smaller smile graced Katara's face. "We hadn't seen him in so long that it was kind of weird to actually meet up again. A good kind of weird though."
"Yeah," Katara agreed, her hair loops swaying as she nodded, "it was great seeing Dad again, even if I could have done without all the awful jokes."
Understanding appeared on Feng and Toph's faces, the pair of them nodding as they each placed a hand on her shoulder, an apologetic expression across their faces.
"Then it's genetic?"
"I'm afraid so," Katara sighed, slumping slightly as Feng gave her a grim smile.
"Then you have my sympathies. I can't imagine what it would have been like, facing those kinds of jokes over and over again from multiple people, unable to escape it as you can here by shutting Sokka up."
They ignored the "Hey!" Sokka gave at this remark.
"I know!" Katara cried, comical tears appearing in her eyes as she wrapped her hands tightly around the ones on her shoulders. "Don't let me do that again, I'm not sure I could handle it if I did. At least if the two of you were there, you could have buried them in the ground or blown them away. I could do nothing. Nothing. All I could do was endure it, and hope that they weren't infectious."
"Come on, they weren't that bad. I'd like to think that my joke about you and platypus bears was quite tasteful." Sokka complained, instantly earning a glare from his sister as she slid around Feng's back, looking out from beside him as she used his presence to ward him off.
The action made Feng chuckle as he shook his head, but even if he was amused, they still had some stuff to go over, and should probably do so while it was fresh.
"In all seriousness though, did you accomplish what was needed? Will the Southern Water Tribe Raiders be ready in three months' time for the invasion?"
Catching on to the tone change, Sokka's face morphed from comical into resolute, his aura instantly turning serious as he nodded.
"They will be. Dad and Bato said that they'll spend the next month and a half training and preparing supplies, and the other month and a half moving into position with their fleet. They also said that they might be able to bring help, as during their time away they've earned some allies, some that you might remember."
"Really? Who?" Feng voiced in puzzlement.
"The Foggy Swamp Tribe," Katara replied in amusement, still remembering Sokka's reaction to news of them as the last time he'd seen them he'd been so hungry he'd eaten one of the roasted oversized bugs they had.
It had been one of the few times that his stomach hadn't been able to keep the food down, so the reminder had turned his face green.
"Yes, them," Sokka said shortly before moving on, wanting to change the topic. "But they also said that they'll get in touch with the Northern Water Tribe along with anyone else they can find."
"That would be a great help," Feng nodded, sounding pleased as he shifted in place, pondering over the information. He had been going over a lot of it these past few days with Long Feng, and despite his dislike of the man, the two of them had come to an agreement.
It had only needed him sneaking into the Earth King's quarters and leaving a flower there to do so, as he had shown Long Feng that even with all his preparations and manipulations, Feng could still cut him down at his knees, could still dismantle his operations. The man, while furious at the action, had taken the threat seriously, not even bothering to increase the guard rotation on the king as he was fully aware of Feng's reputation, aware of just what it is he could do.
He had been a lot less argumentative since then, more open to discussion on just how they could go about invading the Fire Nation on the day of the Black Sun. And since he had actually started discussing why he wanted to do some things, he had raised a good point about why they should split up their forces.
If they all gathered at General Fong's base, to use it as a staging point, the Fire Nation could perform an alpha strike on them, taking out as many of their enemies as they could before they retreated back behind the Gates of Azulon to wait out the Solar Eclipse. All it would take is a single spy in the upper ranks of anyone who was involved, and the plan, and the opposing forces of the Fire Nation, would be ruined.
But on hearing this opinion, Feng had countered with a simple fact that they had to risk it, discussing Sozin's comet with him and just how devastating the effects of it would be. It took about an hour of talking from that point but the man had eventually acquiesced, bowing to Feng's opinion of concentrating their forces for maximum damage.
That had been the last hard bit, as the rest was just talking about how they would get all their forces to General Fong's base, and how many they should leave behind to defend Ba Sing Se's walls.
"On that front, I have some good news as well," Feng revealed, earning some appreciative glances from the others. "Long Feng and I have discussed it and agreed to use General Fong's Military base as the staging point of our invasion, gathering all of our forces there before we set off in time for the solar eclipse. He has also agreed to take most of the Earth Kingdom Military out of their posts for this, leaving just a token force to defend Ba Sing Se itself, but nowhere else."
"That's great!" Sokka exclaimed before frowning, placing a hand on his chin as he tilted his head. "But isn't that dangerous? Couldn't the Fire Nation attack the city in the time it takes for the soldiers to move back and forth from the battlefield?"
As much as Feng didn't want to admit it, that was very much a possibility.
"They could," He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair to alleviate some of the stress he was feeling, "but at this point in the war theirs no room left for contingencies, no room for hesitance, not with the comment coming around this summer. The solar eclipse is the best chance we have at turning things around, so it means focusing all of our forces on it, even with the risks involved. To be honest…we can't afford not to."
Sokka openly scowled at the reminder even as he nodded, not liking, but accepting the truth of Feng's words.
"So, is that it? Is that all we need to do to prepare for the invasion?" Toph asked, tilting her head curiously.
"Not even close," Sokka snorted before nodding, "but it's a start. At this point in time, theirs nothing that can be done with regard to the major forces of the world. We've already alerted them all to it and made sure that they are preparing and will participate in the invasion. Now we have to focus on ourselves."
"I agree," Feng nodded, crossing his arms, "and there's a lot we can do to help with that."
"Like what?" Katara asked curiously, looking at Feng, particularly at his face and his still-healing burn scars. "And how's your face, by the way? Is it still healing?"
Blinking, Feng felt a momentary stab of anguish at the reminder, as one of the reasons he had been keeping busy was to keep his mind off of it.
"Gee, ask a little blunter next time Sugar Queen." Toph snarked gruffly, having sensed the momentary flutter in Feng's heartbeat at the question, making Katara blink before a mortified expression crossed her face.
"Oh no! Feng, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask like that!"
"It's..." Feng let out a heavy breath, two streams of air ruffling his clothes, "it's fine. As for how it is, it's still healing, but for the most part, my face is where it's going to be. The only parts left that will change in the short term are the parts that were most damaged, and I wouldn't mind letting you have a go at them because they're still bothering me, but for the most part, this is what I'm going to look like for the rest of my life."
Both Aang and Katara frowned at the reminder, shooting Feng apologetic looks.
"Yes, it may fade a little, but I've now got a permanent reminder of just why I shouldn't let my guard down in battle. I won't lie guys, it sucks, and it will continue to suck, but I can't let myself dwell on it, not if I want to move past it, so for now, can we just focus on how we will prepare ourselves for the invasion? Please?"
"…if you're sure?" Sokka asked, earning a nod from Feng in return that made the Water Tribe boy sigh even as he acquiesced. "Okay then. Preparing, training, whatever. What's the plan on that front?"
Aang opened his mouth to reply, but a raised hand from Feng made him pause, shooting his fellow Airbender a look before shrugging, stepping back to let him take the lead on this one.
"Thanks," Feng nodded to Aang before focusing on the topic at hand. "In the time you've been gone, I've actually been thinking on this very topic, about how we can best prepare ourselves for the fight to come. So, if you wouldn't mind hearing me out?"
"Go for it man, I'm all ears," Sokka shrugged, a sentiment shared by the others as they gave their own variations of the boy's words.
"Starting from the easiest, we have you Sokka."
"Me?" He blinked, pointing at herself even as Feng nodded.
"Yep, because, and I'm just going to be blunt, you're not a bender, you don't have to learn and practice new moves. What you can train though is your physique, working on building up your stamina and martial prowess. Maybe get some of the Earth Kingdom soldiers to help you polish your weapons skills. Aside from that, if you could help Long Feng iron out the fine details of the invasion, I have nothing else to suggest."
"Well...I guess that would be fine," Sokka shrugged, scratching his cheek even as he nodded. "Alright can do."
"Next up we have Toph," Feng said, earning a surprised look from the girl.
"Yep, you. As far as your Earthbending goes, I'm pretty sure your about as good at it as you're going to be, as I literally have seen you pull off things that boggle my mind." Toph grinned at the compliment. "That being said, before I get to the main part of what I believe you should work on, how's your sand bending?"
"My sand bending?" Toph echoed in surprise. "It's fine, why?"
"Because we will be invading the Fire Nation, and at the very start of the battle most of the earth you will have access to will be from the beach, ergo…sand. So, in the months ahead, I think one of the things you should focus on is working with sand, working with your seismic sense with it, practicing condensing it to form barriers, and just plain controlling it in its granular state, if that makes sense. All of them combined will help you become more well-rounded than you already are."
"That…" Toph trailed off as she considered the matter, chewing her lip before she slowly nodded. "I can do that. It'll take some work, but nothing I can't handle. What's the other thing you have in mind?"
"Oh, I think that should be obvious," Feng smirked, enjoying the puzzled frown of the other four teens, "what precisely does the Fire Nation use in abundance that, up until now, has led them to such great success? Something that a little someone I know invented a counter against?"
"Ah, metal bending," Toph figured, grinning at the nod she received. "Yeah, I can do that. I'm pretty much done with the fine control of smaller pieces, so I'm ready to move onto larger pieces if you can get me some."
"I'll see what we can do, but it shouldn't be difficult," Feng replied as he shifted his gaze to the next person on his mind, the sole Waterbender and designated healer for the group.
"Next up is you Katara. As you know, you're the team's healer, but I kind of doubt you'd be able to improve that any time soon, not without a lot of practice, and while you're still polishing up the harder moves of your element, you'll be able to finish up fairly soon, right?"
"That's right," Katara nodded before shooting Feng a frown. "But then what would I have to work on? At least in comparison to Toph, it doesn't sound like I have a lot to do."
"Ah, but that's where you are wrong my young friend," Feng chuckled, waggling a finger at her with an amused grin. "You see, it's something I've noticed in our travels in the Earth Kingdom. Whenever you're away from a large source of water, your abilities become more limited and harder to use."
"Yeah, they do, but I don't see how you can fix that." Katara frowned, following Feng's train of thought.
"At first, I was just going to suggest making you a specialized piece of equipment that contains more water that you could wear and maybe have the rest of us do the same, and I still might do that" Feng replied, gesturing at the rest of the team before his gaze moved towards Aang, "but Aang's little demonstration there gave me another idea."
"Me?" Aang asked, pointing at himself even as Katara's eyes widened in surprise, realizing just what Feng was talking about.
"He extracted water from the air!"
"Yep," Feng grinned proudly, crossing his arms, "and if he can do it, it proves that you can do it as well. In fact, if anything it will be easier to do during the invasion if you can practice it in a lower moisture environment like Ba Sing Se."
"Because the Fire Nation is basically all coastlines?"
"And humid to boot," Feng confirmed as Katara rubbed her chin, thinking. Coming to a decision, she leaned back on one foot before bringing her arms upwards, pushing them out in a smooth motion as her body swayed back and forth, finishing on the same motion Aang did as she knifed a hand downward, leaning forward.
At the tip of her fingers, a few drops of water gathered. Barely enough to even notice, let alone feel as an attack, but as proof? Feng didn't believe they could ask for more.
"Knew it."
"Of course you did," Katara sighed fondly as she straightened, looking at the tiny wet patch in front of her before nodding. "That could work, although I'll still need to practice my more precise attacks, somehow I doubt even in the humid Fire Nation air I'll be able to gather enough water for something like the water wall."
"Yeah, that would be weird," Feng agreed, "but this is more as a backup for when we get further into the city."
"Right," Katara nodded, a fact that pleased Feng. Somehow, he didn't know when, Feng had taken a position of leadership in the group, even though he was the only non-master bender, even if he was getting there, while the non-bender was the son of the Southern Water Tribe's leader, making him their future leader.
Funny how life worked out like that sometimes he mused even as his gaze shifted toward Aang, who by this point was just smiling with amusement, a twinkle in his eye that wouldn't die.
"Let me guess," Aang spoke, beating Feng out to the punch. "You want me to practice entering and exiting the Avatar State quickly, use the lingering memories to learn Firebending, and all around practice Water and Earth Bending?"
Feng blinked.
"A little more succinct than I was going to put it, but yes, that would be good. I'm sorry to say that you'll be fairly busy these next few months."
"Eh, what else is new," Aang shrugged.
Fair point.
Finally, there was Feng himself to deal with.
"As for me…what do you think I should do Aang? You are my teacher after all."
This question caused Aang to blink, surprised at finally being passed the baton, but after a second to think he started talking.
"Well, the last time we trained together, you'd pretty much mastered all the basic Air bending moves and had made pretty good progress on incorporating your fans into your bending style," Aang summarised, thinking back to the day before the drill had breached Ba Sing Se's wall.
"Getting better at the two of them is just a matter of practice, which can be done just by yourself and sparring with others, whether that's Katara, Toph, or myself. As for the master-level techniques…you would know better than I would."
Sighing, Feng nodded. Unfortunately, Aang was correct on that matter, as for the most part, he kept his practice on those techniques to himself, choosing to isolate himself to focus on his learning process.
"Well, you know the three moves I'm working on to achieve mastery, so I guess I'll start with Air Blades. I'm basically finished with them," Feng informed the others, withdrawing his Fan before unfurling it as he concentrated, turning around so he wasn't facing the others.
"Hey, could I get a target?"
He heard two stomps behind him as two pillars of earth erupted around 5 meters from Feng's position. The one on the left was both thicker and taller than the one on the right, which made him assume that was the one Toph had made.
"Thanks."
Seeing as there were two targets, however, Feng brought out his other fan as he took his air-bending stance, his feet close together and in a single line that despite its unstable-looking nature, as it would allow him to quickly move in any direction.
Taking in a deep breath, Feng let his lungs inflate as he drew upon the wind's power, throwing his arms out as he rotated through a few motions, ending his motion with the kata for the Air Blades, which was effectively just slicing his fans at the targets, an action he performed in unison as he slashed both fans from shoulder height to his waist, two white blades of air emitting from the edges of his fans that looked like a squashed x for a second before they separated, each traveling towards their own target.
In mere moments, the blades struck the target pillars, each inflicting massive damage. For the one on the right, Feng's attack almost made it all the way through, slicing through roughly 80% of it before the wind lost form, moving harmlessly to the side of the pillar.
But if that was disappointing, the attack he had performed on Toph's pillar was even worse, as he'd only cut through about half before the wind blade has lost form. Shaking his head with a sigh, Feng closed his fans before putting them away, turning back to face his companions as Aang and Sokka performed some small claps.
"Thanks," Feng acknowledged before pointing a thumb over his shoulder, "but as you can see, it still needs some work, I can't quite keep the wind packed together long enough to cut for as long as I want to. I'm getting there though, so some practice against some pillars will let me master the technique pretty easily."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Aang agreed, thinking back over his own time learning the technique. "It was the same for me, and the only advice Monk Gyatso had at the time was to do, that there is no try."
Feng gave a deadpan, an expression Aang mirrored.
"Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me either. Just keep working on it, it took me about two weeks of solid practice against the mountain tops to progress from where you are now to finish the technique. Don't worry though, you'll get it soon enough."
"I know I will, but thanks," Feng said heartfeltly, grateful for the boy's support.
"As for my other two techniques…I had been pretty far along with my Air Fortress before I was shown its…weaknesses."
"You mean before it was blown up with you in the middle of it," Toph said bluntly, earning a scowl from Feng even as he nodded.
"Yeah, that. But in the past week, I've had some thoughts about that. Before my shield was overwhelmed, in the initial barrage of attacks, it managed to block the streams of ten different Firebenders at the same time, exploding away from me in a way that pushed their attacks back."
"And you think you can harness this?" Sokka asked, his mind turning analytical even as he asked the question. "Actually, if you can do this on purpose, maybe send out beams of concentrated air at approaching attacks, you'll be able to prevent the Fire Nation attacks from getting too close to our forces, acting as a counterattack of sorts."
Blinking, Feng had to say he was surprised at just how quickly Sokka had come up with the same answer he had. He was the one who had experienced the blowback firsthand and had much more investment in getting the technique to work. Not to mention a week to think about it, and yet Sokka here had done so in less than a minute.
It just went to show that you couldn't always judge a book by its cover, as under Sokka's clumsiness and corny jokes, he possessed one of the most tactically inclined minds Feng had ever seen, far more than his own. The main reason he had been so successful when he was younger was that he'd gotten lucky the first couple of times, and then his experience had carried him forwards.
"Ah…right, that's exactly it. Right now, my idea is to create a roving bastion of air around myself, and whenever I detected a stream or blast of fire coming my way, I send out a small portion of my technique to collide with it, stopping it in its path. I wouldn't be able to keep the technique up forever, but with Aang's help I think we'd be able to hold off at least a garrison's worth of Firebenders."
Ignoring the way Sokka gasped in delight, a happy gleam appeared in Aang's eyes.
"It's worth a shot, although you're going to have a hard time sensing all those attacks as they come at you." The youngest boy of the group said.
"If it was just myself, I would," Feng acknowledged, "but that's where my other technique comes in, my Air Flow Sense. So far, it's just increased the size of my Airbending Techniques, along with letting me feel my controlled air in smaller quantities, but if I can get it working, I won't need my eyes to know when an attack coming. I'd just have to move into my range, disturbing the air in my control, and I'd be able to counter."
"That…" Aang fell silent at the proclamation, stunned at such an idea. So were the others for that matter as they considered Feng's words.
If he could combine those two techniques, in a way that they covered each other's weaknesses, well Feng would become a menace on the battlefield, letting him retaliate in a way that would seem almost prophetic.
"Yeah." Sokka almost squeaked before clearing his throat. "All of that should be more than enough for you to cover over the next few months."
"I thought so too." Feng agreed with a pleased smile as he turned his gaze back to Aang. "Then that's settled then? We all know what we are going to do before the invasion?"
"I believe so," Aang nodded, earning a nod in return from Feng.
"Sound's good. We'll also want to make sure to take some time to rest here and there, as we all know the consequences of working too hard and too long."
Everyone nodded.
"Then I guess that just leaves whatever it is that Aang wanted to share. If you would be so kind?"
"Right," Aang nodded as a massive smile graced his lips reaching into his pouch to fetch out a small bit of parchment. "So, do you guys remember what Guru Pathik said in his note aside from teaching me how to harness the Avatar state? How he said he had other news to share with me that he didn't want to do through the message?"
Feng nodded, as did Toph and Katara while Sokka shrugged.
"Vaguely."
"Well, as it turns out Feng, the two of us aren't the only Airbenders out there. When the Fire Nation attacked our people, while many were…killed, some retreated from the temple, and while they were pursued and hunted down, others managed to find ways of hiding themselves deeper in the mountains, practicing our culture in secret."
Feng sucked in a breath sharply.
"Until now, they have been hiding, secretly waiting for a reason to remerge into the light. As it turns out, the news of my return is enough of a reason, and Guru Pathik is one of the ones that know about them. It's why he gave me this note," Aang explained, holding the paper up, "It gives me the details of one of their supporters that we can contact them through."
"You don't mean…"
"I do." Aang nodded with finality as a serene smile appeared on his face. "We have a nation to return to, Feng. Sure, compared to the others it's small, and I can't say I'm very fond of their new name as Air Gypsies, but they exist. And much to my surprise…they are willing to fight."
Silence overcame the clearing as they digested Aang's words, trying to come to grips with the news of the not-as-gone as they though Air Nation coming back into the world
"Well, isn't that interesting?" Feng asked, his lips twitching as a smirk began to appear, thinking of just what kind of possibilities more Airbenders would bring.
Very interesting indeed.
AN: Another bridging chapter, I've done a few of those recently, but I hope you can understand why, as there was a lot I needed to introduce here. I think it's safe to say that the next few chapters will follow a pretty obvious path, but I'm also going to be introducing more of Azula and the girls, along with Zuko, and the Air Gypsies. All in all, I'm excited about where this is going.
Ervin.
