BIRTH OF A HUNTRESS
Ziggy's Corner: And this brings my Avatar the Last Airbender Fanfiction total to six stories! I guess I really am an Avatar writer at the moment. Anyway this is a two part story, chronicling how June, the bounty hunter from Episode 15, became what she is. Honestly how could a true fan not write a fiction with either her in it, or about her, she smart, strong, sassy, and HOT! I wouldn't grumble too much about her hunting me down, I can tell you that! Lol. Anyway feel free to review and let me know what you think!
June was only seven years old when the day of the big fire came to her village. A skirmish had broken out just outside of it between Earth Nation rebels, and a large battalion of Fire Nation soldiers. People were running around, screaming and trying to hide in their homes. June felt someone pick her up under the arms as a mount raced by, and she looked up in time to see her father, blood splashed against his normally strong and handsome face, racing ahead, and shouting instructions to his fellow villagers to flee from the carnage that was ravaging their rural life. Many of them listened to him, an equally large amount of people totally ignored him, rushing to what they believed was safety, only to find it a burning inferno of flames.
"June, keep your head down little one," his father said, his voice warm and tender.
"Daddy, what's going on?" her eyes were wide with white hot terror.
"War darling, war," he sighed. "I never thought it would ever come to our village, but even daddies can be wrong I guess." He lowered his head in shame and sighed. "We have to get you out of here."
"But what about mommy, and Kuzu?" she asked, her eyes filled with tears. She looked back, despite her father's warning, hoping to catch a glimpse of her mother with her long black hair, or her favorite doll.
"I'm sorry darling," he said, his voice growing weaker as their mount raced passed the village. "I wish I could say that they're coming behind us, but mommy is gone. She's dead."
That was the first instance of heart break that the girl suffered in her life. She expected her heart to pound, for tears to roll down her cheeks, but for some reason they would not come, it would not make a blimp on radar. True her lips quivered, and she shook her head, but her father was not a liar. Not once had he ever tried to pull the wool over his daughter's eyes. He had wanted her to experience life as it was, not smooth it over. That seemed awful to his neighbors, but her father had seen too much heartache in children's eyes when the reality was covered up by their parents during this time of war.
"No," was the only word she managed to let slip through her lips.
"I wish it weren't so, darling," he said, fighting his tears. "But our house was destroyed by a bolder, the Earth Benders tried to throw at the Fire Nation." His heart was angry, he hated this war, he hated how it had taken everything dear from him, and he wanted to hate the Earth Nation for fighting the Fire Nation this close to such a neutral village, but he could understand why they had done so, the element of surprise. That didn't make it any easier for him to swallow though.
They raced through the village, and passed the outskirts, faster and faster they went, like the wind. June had tried to push passed her father's arms, to look back behind her, but he must have realized what she had planned, and held her all the tighter, blocking her vision of friends and family laying on a green field, drenched in blood. All she could hear was the cries of those who she had known since she was a baby. Soon that was even gone. One brown eye spied smoke coming from the direction, where her home had been, but that was it. Her life of peace was shattered forever that day. And it only got worse, not better.
"Daddy, what is that over there?" she asked, pointing at a new crop of dust growing closer and closer to their steed. He looked over his shoulder, and she heard him gasp.
"June, hold on tight, the Fire Nation must have seen us flee, and figures we're part of the rebellion." He ground his teeth together and pressed his daughter toward his chest, paying no heed to her whimpers of pain as he held her. There would be no stopping now, the Fire Nation wouldn't possible believe his story of being an exile from the village, fleeing the death and destruction. A normal person in their eyes would have stayed and tried to rebuild their life. Except the truth was, which ever side won the battle, would have used the villagers any way they wanted. And he wasn't going to see his only daughter made a slave.
Faster, and faster they rode, but they couldn't seem to outdistance the Fire Nation soldiers riding on their rhinos. Her father turned his steed eastward, and then darted through the woods, hoping its slender frame would make a perfect defense against the bulky bodies of the rhinos wouldn't be able to get through. He was wrong; the wild beasts used their weight and strength to push down the trees, roaring with terrible, guttural voices. He turned and sped through a path and circled around, but the Fire Nation had expected that too, and had left guards waiting for him there.
His mind was on fire now, his thoughts scrambled as he held onto his daughter for dear life. What am I going to do? There was the dock just southwest of here, but at the rate the Fire Nation was manipulating his movements, he would never make it. He swallowed, his throat burning with the heat and the exhaustion. He decided to go for it, for June if no one else. His daughter deserved a life of peace, and he'd see to it, with all his might, that she'd get it.
The steed groaned and clicked its tongue in discouragement, as June's father swirled it around in circles, looking for the best exit, the perfect path to take. Myukimi might have been a farmer in the Spring and Summer months, but come Autumn and early Winter, he and the other men in the village were also expert hunters. They had to be, there was nothing they had, or could make, or could skin, that could be taken to market, and the nearest market was weeks travel during the colder months anyway. Until this battle had erupted, they hade been survivors, and Myukimi was determined to continue to be one, and to see that his daughter was also strong.
He spied three openings, or what looked like openings in the enemy chock lines, but he knew better, they were decoys, areas the Fire Nation wanted him to go. With the eye of a hunter, he smiled grimly at a seemingly strong barricaded path and chuckled. "That's where we need to go," he told his daughter, pointing toward the twenty armed men on the ground and three armored rhinos.
"Aren't they the bad men we're running from?" she asked.
Myukimi chuckled and nodded. "Yes, but we're not actually going to go through them." He clicked his tongue, and his mount, a tall skinny looking animal that looked like part ostrich, part two legged lizard whirled and rushed as fast as it could toward the barricade. Myukimi yanked the reins just as the animal neared the foe, just as they had turned in startled expressions as he rode up to them, and clicked his tongue again. The beast squawked and crotched so low to the ground, its beak was pushing into the dirt. Another second the animal leapt forward, talons shining in the sun, and jumped over the obstacle, its claws slashing at one of the rhinos who dared come close to it. When it landed on the ground, Myukimi screeched at the top of his lungs, and the animal kicked it into high gear, rushing off beyond the path before the guards could even try fire bending.
They had made it, just as he had hoped. It took the Fire Nation a while to get reorganized, and send its entire search party after him again, and by the time they caught up, Myukimi and his daughter had bought tickets to a ferry, and were sailing upstream, toward the safety of some other town of village, away from the tyrants. The only prize the Fire Nation could claim was the steed that the brave villager had ridden passed them, and then sold for the money to by the tickets. So for the last of their village, June and her father had pulled of the impossible, they had survived. But not for long.
Myukimi and his daughter spent the next few days on board that ferry, doing odds and ends, to earn their keep. June learned how to cook, as well as how to keep a keen look out for any wild animal that might be a threat to the small craft. Her father cleaned the floors, helped with the cooking and proved useful in reading maps.
The problem started on the eighth day, which was dull and gray. The mists surrounding the river were heavy, and it wasn't easy to sail as the wind was just as strong as the tyrannical army they had been fleeing from was. Myukimi had insisted that they find a port, or they try to make land, and camp near the edge of the river until the conditions improved. But the captain was a stanch old man, and set in his ways. It didn't matter how much the exile and his daughter had paid him, or how useful they had been in the kitchen and other matters. The captain was determined that there wasn't a storm, a flood, or anything of the kind that had ever kept him from going to where he had wanted. And this fog would be no different.
"You must be joking," Myukimi snapped. "You might be a talented water man, but not even the avatar could get by this safely.
"My mind is made up," the old man grumbled, crossing his arms. "My crew wants to see the big city just up this stream, and they're going to see it." He smirked and bit down hard on a stone pipe. "It's been years since we've been there, and we all need some rest and relaxation."
"But it's controlled by the Fire Nation," the younger man said. "My daughter . . .," he looked out the window, and sighed with relief at the shape of his child, doing her best in worse conditions for their cause, "and I fled from them. We didn't get on this ferry only to be handed to them."
"It did belong to the Fire Nation, until the Earth Nation kingdom of Usha hadn't conquered it just recently," the captain corrected. "You're not wanted by them too, are you?" Myukimi shook his head.
"Then there is no problem that I can see?" the captain said with an approving smile.
"The weather is the problem," Myukimi insisted. "Look here," he lead the old man to the table where the maps were kept, and pointed on the thin line where they were. "This branch of the river splits off right here," he pointed at the break off point, "and this part here is known pirates and thieves."
"So what is your point?" the old man shouted.
"With the fog and wind like it is, we could actually go off course, and into their territory?"
"That's ridiculous, and I don't want to hear another word about it," the captain growled. He turned and walked out.
It would turn out; Myukimi's horrors would be realized. The captain indeed turned the ferry in the wrong way, and within twenty minutes of sailing up the wrong branch, the crew began screaming out of shock and terror as missiles from long bows were launched at them at all sides. They scrambled for a defense, and tried their best to forestall the eventual fall of their ship.
In the chaos that ensued, blades bashing against one another, metal on metal, men screaming in agony, the smell of blood and water mixing together, Myukimi looked for his little girl. His keen ears cut out the sounds of the battle, the pleas of mercy from the victims and the cruel laughter of the offenders. All he cared about was his daughter. He stole a small knife from one of the fallen pirates, and crawled around the deck, listening for her cries of pain or fear.
Eventually he could hear her whimpers, and made his way toward his little girl. Her body was crumpled over in the fetus position, as men fought and fell all around her. It was the village all over again, and he though he couldn't see her properly, he knew her expression. He doubted that she would be innocent or peaceful ever again. Still he owed it to her to make sure she was safe, and with energy surging through his body, the brave father rushed forward, his hands outstretched to grasp his little girl.
A pirate's blade cut it off, just inches from his prize. Another blade was jammed into his stomach and his blood and bodily juices spurted from him, and splashed her screaming face. She called to him, and reached for his body as he fell, yet though her eyes were sad, there were no tears. She shook her head, and narrowed those darkening eyes as the color drained from his face, and finally the tears came.
"June," he wheezed, "run." They were the last two words he ever spoke to her. She wept over his body, refusing to leave him, even though his words meant everything to her. She closed herself off to the world, and held him tight long until the battle had ended.
She never felt two strong hands rip her from the body of her father, or saw the figure kick his body into the river. The figure who had taken her off the boat was the captain of the thieves who had attacked the ship, and made her a personal slave for the next couple of years. The life her father had wished for her would never come to pass, the daughter he had hoped to see died with him on that small ferry on that windy, foggy day.
June was fifteen years old when the time came for her to escape. As she served her new master, her heart grew darker, but there was a bit of intrigue in her life that she had never dared dream would come true. The tiny, fearful girl soon became a gorgeous creature that all of the pirate crew idolized and worshipped. Of all the slaves of Pier Gri owned, she was the only one who was not constantly abused by the crew.
She was able to use this new attractiveness to her advantages, and seduced many of the guards to allow her to slip out of the camp at night. She entered the many towns and villages the pirates visited during their stay on land, and learned many things about her master, that she found useful.
June would also learn how to sneak through the darkness and watch as her master trained with many type of weapons. One of his favorites was a long, thin whip which he excelled at. June would watch for years as Pier used the weapon, watched him use different techniques, different styles of fighting with it, both offensive and defensive. When she was twelve she once asked her master to train her to use the weapon, claiming it would help her defend the man if he ever came under attack from his enemies or a traitorous crew member. She would never forget the look that came over his eyes that day.
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do," he barked at her. His fingers tightened into two small balls, and he leered at her. "How is it that you even know I have a whip?"
"I-I s-saw it in one of your chests," she lied. The truth was the twelve year old girl had seen many weapons in that chest of his, but that's not how she found out about the whip. He growled at her, and landed a strong fist into her stomach, another smacking her across her chin, breaking it for months.
"I should have left you die on that ferry, you know that?" it was only the third time he had ever hit her, and the only time he'd hit her so hard. "Fates know why I took pity on a little snoop like you?" He turned his back and straightened it. "Now get out of my tent and go about your chores," he had roared. "And stop that stupid sniveling. My crew, my servants do not snivel, they do not whimper, they do not cry! They are strong, resilient, and stone!"
She never forgot that speech, for it was one of his favorites whenever something got tough for the crew. Some of the pirates said he had sold his soul to demons, for powers unworldly. His eyes were as black as coal, his skin paler than a sheet of paper, and his body though thin and boney was immensely strong! He seemed just like the demons his peers thought he sold his soul to. However he was the only father figure she could remember, though for some reason she always dreamt about clutching a dead man on the small ferry, but as to whom he was, June could no longer remember.
She put up with the indignation and the intimidation for as long as she could remember, and finally, on her fifteenth birthday, she had decided she had enough. Pier had taught her two things in her young life that she had to be strong in this life, to survive in this world. And the second thing she learned was the love of money. True, she had no money of her own, but she decided that it wouldn't hurt to make some. Or take a certain somebody else's.
June slipped through Pier's tent as he slept that night, and smirked, her eyes gleaming at the large stash of gold and jewels the master thief had taken from a town just the other night. She giggled, almost cackled as she tiptoed past her "master" and picked up a small knife which somehow seemed familiar. The girl narrowed her eyes and searched high and low for the booby trap that had to be there, to alert Pier of the intruder. She frowned and brushed her bangs from her eyes and inched closer to the chest.
"I have to say, you've impressed me more than what most of my actual crew ever have," Pier's harsh voice snapped from behind her.
She turned toward him, and just managed to block his arm as he whacked her. It only managed to half strike her, and sent her flat on her back, where he pinned her to the ground. She bit her lips as she looked up at him, glaring at her like a beast. It wasn't the look that many of the men gave her, staring at her body, but like an animal ready to devour her.
"It is such a shame that you've decided to turn on me," he hissed. "If I had known this is the type of life you had wanted, I might have freed you and made you a member of my crew," he shrugged and smiled. "Too bad."
June screeched and grabbed the blade she held and slashed at her master's wrists. He howled like a wolf, and the girl ripped her way to freedom, tearing a bit of his clothing as she darted past him. She looked for the nearest weapon she could find. Her eyes feel on his wipe, and a smile spread across her lips. June darted toward the weapon, snatched it from his wall, and began twirling it in a defensive position.
"Somebody's been staying out long passed their curfew," he snarled.
"How did you guess," she said with a mocking tone.
Pier growled and narrowed his eyes. "You will die for this, girl, slowly, and with a great amount of agony." He turned and called out for his crew to arrive, but by the time he turned back, June had already hacked her way out of the backside of the tent, as was rushing off in the darkness.
She could hear him screech to the heavens, and soon many torches from her former camp site were ablaze in the dark. June swallowed, and thought quickly. There was something familiar about this too, but she couldn't put a finger on that either. All she knew was that her popularity was done at that camp. Pier would have opened all sorts of doors for his men toward her. If she was caught, she wouldn't suffer for a day or two, but for years before she was laid to rest.
Escape was the only option available to her, to get to the closest village or town and ask for sanctuary. Her eyes scanned the paths available to her, her body able to spy things in the darkness that any normal human could. She ran through the bushes and trees, shutting out, half heartily the cries of the men who were heading toward her way, who were branching out in all directions to try and cut the girl off.
An idea popped into her mind, and she smiled thickly. Using the whip she snatched a tree branch and swung upwards, until she was at the top of the tree. Further and further she rushed from the camp, further and further from civilization. Soon she was at a canyon's edge, and was out of options.
It was then she heard a low growl and spun around to see a medium sized animal with large pink nose and no eyes, sniffing the air as it looked in her direction. Its upper paw was stuck in a rock, and it growled at her as she approached. She swallowed, and thought of running, but something seemed strangely calming about this animal. Slowly she edged toward it, and in a soothing voice, "Easy, I only want to help."
The animal growled and lashed out with its tongue, which she dodged as she realized what kind of animal it was. It was a xierxu, and she knew its tongue was paralyzing. One touch and she was dead, not at the beast's paws, but at her former comrades hands. She crept near it, and tried pulling the rock off, dodging the beast's tongue and tail, while she worked. Within time she freed the injured animal, and tossed some small healing berries she always cared in her pouch, and leapt back into a tree, watching as the animal sniffed the food, and then ate it. It sniffed around until it caught her scent and looked at her, purring almost, as if it too had sensed some kind of connection to the girl.
It sat there, despite her urging it to run off, purring. Her heart pounded against her chest as she could hear the men come up the path and walked toward the tree she was in. Life seemed to speed passed her eyes, and she held in a scream. She had to be strong, even if torture and death were just moments away. She could fight with a whip, but hand to hand combat was out of the question. They'd over power her as soon as she grew tired of swinging it.
The xierxu seemed to sense her desperation and howled in raged, leaping at the men and lashing out with tongue, tooth, claw, and tail. It – he, she decided it was a male xierxu, surprised them, but soon enough those not paralyzed were surrounding the animal, blades ready to carve it into a feast.
"No!" was the only word that she allowed slip through her lips. June twirled her weapon and lashed downward at one of the fatter of the bandits. She caught him by the neck, and with strength and speed she hadn't known she had, tossed him up and over the branch, breaking his shoulder, and injuring his neck in the process.
"It's the slave wench," she could hear Pier snarl. "Get her!"
June leapt to the ground, and then onto the back of the animal, both acting as one to cause as much confusion as they possibly could. Tongue and whip, claw and foot stroke pirate after pirate. It was still a losing battle, but June had an idea that might help them escape. She pulled out the piece of clothing that she had torn from her master, and held it to her new friend's nose. "Go for the man with this smell," she whispered.
The xierxu took a long breath of the cloth, and snarled, looking at the captain's direction. With the agility and muscle strength that her old father's mount had, the xierxu leapt over the crowd of pirates, and made a direct hit on Pier's shoulder. The captain went down like a broken statue, and June was quick to hold her blade to his neck.
"Call them off, or you will die," she snarled.
"Bite me, witch," he howled.
"Don't tempt my friend here, he's only had a few berries, and I'm sure he'd love a bit of meat in his belly. Even if it's just the little bit you have on your bones." She smiled as she looked at his terrified face, full of frustration and confusion. "It shouldn't be that hard of a decision if you really think about it," she purred in his ear. The crew was beginning to gather around the three of them now, and it was starting to make the girl nervous.
"You don't have what it takes to do me in, girl," he chuckled. "You're not a cold blooded murderer. And I think I can wait until you're overtaken, or until the paralysis wears off."
June frowned and pressed the blade to his neck harder, "Back off or he's dead!" she roared at them.
"Don't listen to her," he growled. "She won't do it."
A new idea filled her head, and she almost giggled in spite of herself. "Why do you need him anyway? He's paralyzed, beaten. He wouldn't be able to stop you from taking his loot. How much does he really pay any of you?"
"They're loyal," he growled. "They won't listen to treason from the likes of a slave like you, girl."
"My name is June," she hissed. "Not once have you ever felt free to calm me by my name. It was always, 'Come here girl this' or 'Wrench do that'. Now you will have to respect me."
He smirked, or tried to; the paralyzed man could only manage to really twitch his lips. "If you have the guts to do the deed, then I will, girl."
The xierxu was getting nervous, and looked at June, as to ask, "What now?" She decided one last chance to negotiate.
"I could kill him, if I wanted to," she shouted, causing the men to laugh and push in closer. "Or I could leave him here, and not look back, and you could take the treasure, and leave, with him not knowing where any of you have gone. Either which way, the position to be the new captain is there, yes? Or each of you could take a piece of treasure and captain new various groups. If he came after you, sooner or later he'd fall. He's just one man, there's no way he could beat so many of you."
That did it! It presented a look of interest and greed in the men's eyes she had not seen yet. Smiling she continued. "Just think of the humiliation you'd hand him. The great and feared Captain Pier Gri, beaten and embarrassed by a crew he swore to the heavens would never abandon him; left alone, his treasure gone by his own crew's hands, his ship taken. Nothing left but the broken shell of the man he once was."
The captain looked at his men intently, and fear soon began to flush over his eyes. "I'll strip the flesh off any man who tries it," he snarled.
"What will it be?" she taunted, "a dead captain and treasure, or a broken man making idle threats and treasure?"
"Girl, I've never made an idle threat before in my life, and they know it!" His voice betrayed the words. It was quivering, and shaking, as was his eyes. And in that moment of weakness, it was the great pirate Captain Pier Gri who did himself in. His men looked at one another and rushed off, howling like mad men as they went to split up an enormous fortune in loot.
"Just one thing," the girl snapped, grabbing one of the men by the arms. He was one of the more descent men, and she knew he'd honor her request. "You free the rest of his slaves." The man looked at her for a moment and nodded solemnly.
June smiled as the last of them rushed off and then turned to Pier, who howled with despair, anger, and pain, as the xierxu lashed out at him with his tongue again, to keep the paralysis in effect. "Now it looks like you're going to have to respect me," she giggled.
"I'll see you dead for this, girl," he mumbled under numb lips. "Mark my words."
"We'll see," she chuckled. The fifteen year old girl leapt up aboard her new friend, and looked of into the distance. She didn't know what the future held, and in truth she didn't care; just so long as it was exciting and away from here. An old proverb from a village she dreamed about; came racing back to her mind. Remember the past, and keep your heart in the present. Do not fear the future, for the future never comes. She smiled again. Whatever lay ahead, she was ready for it.
Okay, how did I do with this chapter? Was it good, or was it a lame duck? Anyway I don't own the majority of Avatar the Last AirBender, save for June's father, her village, and the pirates. I also do not own the above proverb; I borrowed it from Christopher Paolini's book, Eldest. I really love that proverb, and I've been dying to use it, and finally found a use for it. So Thank you Mr. Paolini for inspiring me. I'm not sure if I phrased it right, but for you fellow Inheritance Trilogy fans, you should recognize it. Anyway the next and final chapter of this story tells you why decides to become a bounty hunter. I hope everyone who reads this enjoyed it. Review, review, review! By the way, the second and last chapter will come sometime in November/December, as I've said before in my other stories; I don't have direct internet access, and have to rely on my sister's. Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this!