The numerous fire nation ships that were currently surrounding the southern water tribe had a task of absolute annihilation this time around. That illumination of light that broke through the sky two weeks ago never left Zhao's headspace and it was all the man could think about. His destiny would lie here, he knows it to be true, but these pesky water tribe peasants had to be erased first so he had time to scour every last inch of the place for the source of the light that would surely lead him to his destiny.

"They've surely seen us by now. How many people do you see awaiting our arrival?" Zhao ordered.

"Thirty or more, maybe less, but nothing we can't handle sir. Depending on how much resistance they put up, we may be able to have this tribe conquered by sunset," a soldier informed.

"Excellent," Zhao grinned. "Also be sure to keep this as quiet as possible, I'd hate for Lord Ozai to be bothered with trivial matters such as this."

In reality, Zhao feared punishment ranging from imprisonment to death over changing course for a quest such as this. Especially since this would be off the record and he'd have no explanation should things go bad. As he's seen first hand, the current fire lord is not a man to be trifled with.

Nodding to his captain, he resumed his watch before they anchored in and began their assault, but not before noticing a strange man with gold and red hair standing in front of their docking area seemingly awaiting their arrival.

"Sir, you're going to want to see this. There's a man standing in front of our ship and he doesn't look watertribe. Heck, he doesn't look like he's from any tribe from here."

"What are you talking about?" Zhao grabbed the telescope from him and focused in to see this man seemingly staring him down through the telescope. "What the heck is he doing?" he wondered. The man wasn't moving and although Zhao couldn't be sure, he felt like he was actually watching them from all the way back there. There is no way anyone's eyesight can be that good. It's impossible.

And yet the feeling of uneasiness swirled around in his stomach and with how proud he was as a soldier and a commander, he would not rest until this man was kneeling at his feet or dead at it. Either worked for him as this man and these people would be nothing more than stepping stones toward his goal of becoming something greater.

"Hmph, it seems like he has a death wish if he really thinks he can turn us away with a menacing glance," Zhao barked. "Move full steam ahead and once we anchor begin with the attack. Capture them if you can, but if they put up any resistance…"

He turned back to his men with an evil smirk on his face, "Show no mercy."

Kyojuro continued to stare down the ship coming his way and used his enhanced sense to quickly determine there were more ships surrounding them.

"Hakoda take your men and start spreading them out alongside this village. These men didn't come here alone," Kyojuro said. "It's only a rough estimate, but I notice many ripples in the water surrounding this place, so I'd say maybe five to six ships along with the one in front of us are coming."

"Are you serious? How do you even know this?" Hakoda skeptically asked. He had grown to enjoy his company, but couldn't find it in his heart to fully trust a fire bender, even one as nice and kind hearted as him.

"Yeah, if that was really true then wouldn't this mean that you had to have known about this beforehand, Kyojuro?" Bato asked.

"Like I mentioned before, I hold no such association to this nation of demons. Also my senses are hundreds, no, a thousand times stronger than yours! The moment I felt the tides acting unnaturally, I readied myself to come here to deal with these invaders."

Hakoda knew Kyojuro was strong and I mean a lot stronger than originally thought. Whenever he conversed with the villagers and helped out around the village, everyone took note of how physically strong the young man was. His senses being this sharp wasn't completely out of left field either as he correctly predicted when the storm would let up and allow the sun to shine.

"Ok so let's say you're right about this ambush and we need to act from all angles, just what are we going to do when we are outmatched, outgunned and now have to deal with an unknown amount of ruthless firebenders?"

"Just leave it to me! I only need to examine one of these firebenders to determine something for myself and afterwards I'll subdue any of them who tries to put up a fight. It'll be futile since I'm that much stronger than them, but you can never be too sure with demons."

"When you think they are at their most vulnerable, that's when they are at their strongest."

Seeing no other room for debate while short on time, Hakoda ordered his men to spread themselves out covering every inch of their home awaiting for the potentially long and gruelling battle. Once that was done, the ship that they initially reacted to inched closer and closer. Kyojuro felt now was as good a time as any to give them one singular warning before they crossed a line they could no longer step back from.

"If you can hear me then listen up! If you do not stop this foolish endeavor you've set upon yourselves and turn back, things will not end well for any of you!"

Zhao and his crew could hear this strange man shouting and making demands as if he was in any position to decide things. Was he some sort of fool? Did he really think they'd stop the assault from starting because he asked them nicely?

"Pay this man no mind," Zhao commanded. "Full steam ahead until we reach land and afterwards you know your mission is."

Locking onto Kyojuro again, he grinned with devilish intentions in mind. "But him...you leave him to me."

The ship finally reached its destination and Zhao walked to the front of the ship with malice in his eyes. Kyojuro could immediately tell this man was the head of the operation today and if he wanted to end things while minimizing casualties he would need to take care of him first.

"Attack!" Zhao shouted and multiple fire nation soldiers launched themselves off of it and dashed towards Kyojuro and co.

"You really didn't heed my warnings…" Kyojuro's proud expression never changed and instead he readied his breaths hoping to finish these men in one go.

"Fine, if it's a fight you're looking for then this is one you'll get!" Kyojuro pushed forward meeting these numerous firebenders racing toward him, they did some strange movement and he saw fire shoot out from their hands. It looked almost magical, but having no time to admire it, he swiftly dodged the incoming flames without much effort.

"So this is firebending…", Another firebender charged hoping to impale him with his spear, but Kyojuro simply dodged it and punched the soldier unconscious leaving the others around him flabbergasted.

"What are you waiting for?" he boasted. "When you people decided to invade this land for a second time, you crossed a line that you could no longer walk back toward. I'll make sure each and every last one of you atones for your crimes!"

Two soldiers moved in conjunction hoping to finish this man off quickly, but again Kyojuro was far too fast and agile for them to land any solid hits and received punches to the head, knocking both of them out. Kyojuro hoped he'd get a glimpse of more firebending, but it seems like these men weren't as skilled as these masters he's heard so much about.

"Is this the best you can do?" he asked, still being surrounded by nearly twenty other soldiers all getting ready to strike him together.

"Hakoda, Bato, go help the others! I've gauged their strength and the conclusion I've come to is that none of them even come close to mine. Once they are dealt with I'll be sure to help out in rounding them all up."

"Are you insane!?" Bato exclaimed. "There's no way you can deal with all these soldiers on your own, you'll die!"

Hakoda wanted to protest as well, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that he'd be ok. From the small amount of time he's known the man, he possessed almost superhuman strength and stamina so unless things really turned sour, Kyojuro would most likely be able to hold his own.

Kyojuro cracked his knuckles and walked forward with his intentions clear in mind. "If I can't manage to beat every last one of them here then they'll overrun the village from the front and back leaving nowhere to run or escape. It'll be a massacre if that were to happen…"

"So here me and here me good! As long as I'm here I won't let you kill even a single person!"

Zhao clicked his teeth in annoyance, but decided to sit back and observe Kyojuro from a distance in order to formulate a plan. "Show me a good show, brat."

"Bato we need to retreat, he can handle things here," Hakoda said.

"Chief, are you sure? There are so many of them…" Bato started.

"Just trust me here. I've got the feeling that we'll only get in the way once Kyojuro really cuts loose."

"We've got to have faith in his ability as this Flame Pillar he likes to call himself. Am I somewhat skeptical, you bet your ass I am, but with everything that's happening and it moving so fast, what choice do we have here?"

Bato found no room for answer with the question his chief shot at him. "Alright, I'll trust your judgement here."

He turned and sprinted back towards the village with Hakoda about to follow behind, "Don't die, Kyojuro. You better live up to that title of yours."

"There's no way I'm going to die here and my mission will not be complete until they are defeated and this crisis is over. I'll be fine, don't worry!" Kyojuro grinned. Hakoda could feel the warmth from his smile even during this time of worry.

Nodding his head, he turned and caught up with Bato and the two of them began making their way back to the center and back of the village knowing they'd have a fight on their hands.

Turning his attention back to the men in front of him, Kyojuro noticed the man standing aboard the docked ship had been watching him like a hawk. The aura he was giving off wasn't menacing, but sinister nonetheless.

"I take it you are the one in charge?" he asked.

"That is none of your concern, peasant," Zhao retorted.

"So it looks like I received my answer," Kyojuro stated. "Once I deal with all of them, you are next." The tone Kyojuro took when saying this sent chills down a majority of their spines, freezing them from attacking.

"Well what are you waiting for? Don't get discouraged, he's only one man," Zhao barked.

"Attack!"

The first wave of soldiers shot multiple fire blasts at Kyojuro, but he anticipated this and had already blitzed over to them, punching all of them unconscious just like the earlier ones. Not to be deterred, the next group of them decided to mix up weapon attacks with their firebending, hoping that they'd at least be able to tag him to slow him down.

He saw a spear coming toward him and grabbed hold of the end of it with the soldier still holding on to the other end and swung it around in a circle, violently knocking over numerous other soldiers in its wake.

Going on the offensive sensing their structural weakness as a unit, he dashed toward the ship hoping to land a blow on their commander which would in theory end this little attack today early and with no casualties. He was met with a wall of firebenders who put up a wall of flame to stop his attack.

He stopped momentarily and looked left and right before increasing his speed to the left, knocking over multiple others in his way until he had gotten around the wall of fire much quicker than they anticipated.

"How is he so fast?" Zhao wondered. Never in his life had he seen someone possess speed such as this and it almost seemed trivial to him, as if he was holding back a speed faster than this one.

"Tch, no matter. As long as I continue to observe him, I'll definetely find some chink in his armor."

Kyojuro dashed over to the group of benders that had formed that firewall and swiftly knocked all of them out with blows to the head in quick succession. He looked down at his hands afterwards as if he was contemplating something.

Zhao wondered what he could possibly be thinking in the middle of a fight before Kyojuro looked up at him, "You and I both know that none of these men here stand any sort of chance against me!"

Zhao hated to agree to that fact, but the numbers of them were dwindling at a rapid pace. If something wasn't done about this man and fast, he'd single handedly eviscerate the entire frontal ambush squad. Hell he didn't even look like was exerting much effort in doing so.

"I don't see what you're getting at. Why waste all this energy talking when you should be worried about the variables you can't see, brat," Zhao retorted. He leaned over and whispered something to a soldier standing beside him and they leapt off the ship headed for the village.

Kyojuro moved to intercept them, but Zhao had already jumped off the ship and intercepted him before he could stop the soldier from moving any further.

"I don't know who you are, but if you think I'll just allow this man to make his way past me, you've got another thing coming!" Kyojuro made another move to catch the man, but a fire whip had been thrown out by Zhao stopping him before he could blitz over toward him and knock him out.

Kyojuro didn't have to be a master bender to know that whoever this man was, he was on another level entirely from the others. "I take it you are one of these master firebenders I've heard so much about."

"My status as a bender doesn't concern you at all. You should be more worried about the fire whip that's currently burning your ankle right now," Zhao smirked.

"Oh you mean this thing," Kyojuro paid this no mind as he yanked his ankle, breaking the grip Zhao held on it and it soon dissipated without much effort. He blitzed all the way over the soldier who turned around only to see a fist collide with his face, throwing him to the ground. He blitzed back over to a stunned Zhao who was flabbergasted with the fact that this man just broke his fire whip like it was nothing.

"That's impossible! How on earth did you do that!?" Zhao was furious, but the mere fact that this man didn't even seem hurt by it.

"Hahaha, did you really think flames of this caliber could burn me? I don't think I've informed you of the title I hold so forgive me for my rudeness."

"I am the Flame Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku! Your flames are good, but they are useless against someone like me!" The proud expression he was giving off was almost enough to send Zhao into a fury.

"Do not worry, once I defeat you people, I'll make sure to educate you on the true meaning of fire and why you have been misusing it for generations. I can't allow you to just walk away from all this death and destruction you've caused, but I will educate you so future generations do not fall into the dark ways that you've sown for yourselves!"

"What the...What the hell are you talking about! Don't lecture ME on the way I use my flames."

"I'm not telling you anything that's wrong. The reason why I broke that fire whip so easily and the reason why you're about to lose is because of the reason you firebend coming from the wrong place. Fire should never be used in malice or with ill intent in mind! Flames are meant to give warmth to all who need it and from what I've seen until you figure that out, you won't be able to beat me."

Zhao fumed hearing this load of babble coming from his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to put this man in his place and one way or another he'd be sure to see him grovel at his feet before the sun sets.

"The time for talking is over." Zhao took his traditional stance and waited for Kyojuro to do the same. When he continued to stand there confused, Zhao wondered was he just plain stupid.

"Well what are you waiting for? Hurry up and take your stance. We'll settle things the way any firebender settles things that have gotten out of hand."

"Oh so we're fighting one on one? Why didn't you say so!" Kyojuro took his stance leaving Zhao confused as to whether or not he had rocks instead of brains.

"Do you not know what an Agni Kai is? You claim to call yourself a firebender and yet you seemingly don't know one of the more crucial things about us," Zhao said.

"I'll burn some sense into that thick skull of yours."

"Hmph I'll be happy to see you try, but don't feel discouraged when I turn your flames back into nothing. You can't hope to beat me!" Kyojuro replied.

"We'll just see about that," Zhao shot a small gust of fire at Kyojuro trying to gauge just where his level really was when it came to dealing with flames. He dodged it and made no attempt to throw his own fire back at him which confused him.

Kicking it up a notch he threw multiple small fire blasts at Kyojuro who swiftly dodged them all while never taking his eyes of Zhao who could feel the man analyzing him. "So he's a defensive type huh…"

Growing closer to him, Zhao picked up the pace once again and threw even more fire his way and insead of dodging, he saw Kyojuro attempt to mimic his stance for some reason. Before any of the flames could get close, he dodged all of them in quick succession and dashed into Zhao's space who couldn't even react to it in time.

Using his flames to push himself back did nothing as Kyojuro had already taken a form that would surely injure Zhao in some way should his flames be on a similar caliber to his.

"This is bad," he panicked. "I didn't anticipate his ability to get on the inside to be this good and even with his speed, I should've been able to put up a wall of my own…"

Zhao closed his eyes and braced himself for the blast of fire that would surely burn him, but it never came. Instead he opened them to see a confused Kyojuro standing in front of him looking down at his hands as if he didn't understand what happened either.

Not missing his opportunity, Zhao jumped back and shot a massive blast of fire at Rengoku who dodged it once again and got on the inside in the same stance as before. Flames never shot out of his hands and both men continued to be lost as to what was going on.

"Is something wrong with him? Why isn't he shooting fire at me?" Zhao wondered. Kyojuro's expression soon became one of understanding and Zhao didn't know what to think other than the fact that he was getting pissed off at this man's shenanigans.

"Are you even taking this seriously!?" He began throwing numerous punches and kicks infused with firebending in anger while Kyojuro continuously dodged and parried any that came into his vicinity.

"This is a sacred duel between firebenders and you're making a mockery of it!"

Kyojuro intercepted a punch that he threw in the flurry of his attack and swung the man around extremely fast, disorienting him and tossing him into the ship where he bounced off hard. He tried to cushion some of the blow with his fire and even still he could barely breathe with how hard he got thrown into it.

"That would've knocked me unconscious had I not smothered some of the blow with my flames,"

Zhao struggled to stand, but saw Kyojuro calmly walk up to him in a manner that annoyed him even more. "Is this man looking down on me?"

"This fight is over. Your skill level is far below mine so it would be wise for you to stand down and surrender!"

"That's not for you to decide!" Zhao threw another fire blast that he aimed for his head and instead of dodging it, Kyojuro used his arm and pushed through it causing it to dissipate leaving Zhao stunned.

"You can't be serious," he mumbled, still dazed from earlier.

"Give up and surrender! I'll even let you call an end to this injustice you've attempted to cause today and you'll have my word no other harm will befall you or your men until you face punishment for your crimes."

Zhao growled internally at the fact that as much as he hated to admit it, this man was head and shoulders above him and he was no slouch as a firebender. Being a general meant his combat experience was always above average and here he was being outclassed by a man who hadn't even used their flames yet. There was no way he'd be able to let things end like this. His pride as a firebender wouldn't allow it.

"Use your flames, coward! I won't allow my dignity to be sullied by your insistence on showing pity!" He stood up and readied his stance as best he could even though he was still clearly delirious from the earlier impact.

"Well about that…" Kyojuro looked directly at Zhao who was most likely going to end up very confused as to what he'd be insinuating, but nonetheless a discovery had finally been made about his own firebending.

"It seems like I cannot use firebending!" Kyojuro stated.

"What..are you talking about? You're a firebender, right? You should have no problem using flames especially since you've proven to be somewhat fire resistant compared to non firebenders. Stop messing with me and use them already!" Zhao was now livid and confused with the bunch of nonsense falling out of Kyojuro's mouth.

"Sorry I should've explained it in greater detail. When you first arrived, I decided to observe a few of your bending styles to see if I could replicate the use and expulsion of fire like you people did. Unfortunately this seems to not be the case as I am unable to do the same as you…

"But! This only means that my way to use fire comes from a different source altogether and until "it" is ready then I'll have to make due with my normal breathing techniques!"

"So you can't use firebending? This doesn't even make sense," Zhao argued.

"No, I can definitely use my flames, but I'll have to hold off on it until a certain someone gives "it" back to me."

What on earth could he even be talking about? Maybe this man did have a few screws loose after all. Zhao slowly noticed another one of his soldiers come creeping back toward them with a prize in hand and it did bring a smile to his face.

"Lemme go! I won't let you evil people keep having your way in my home!" a voice yelled, thrashing about.

Kyojuro turned around to see a fire nation soldier holding Katara in a vice-like hug with a sword to her neck as if he would slice it at any moment.

"Captain Zhao, I found this child hiding away trying to ambush us when all of a sudden, she waterbended at us. She was too weak to do anything so we captured her and brought her back to you."

"Katara, why weren't you hiding with everyone else!" Kyojuro exclaimed, clearly worried about whether or not he could reach him in time before she was gravely injured. His speed should be no problem as he was faster than everyone else, but if were to mistime his movements even by a moment then it'd spell disaster for her.

"Shut up, this is all your fault!" she yelled back. "Had you not shown up, the fire nation wouldn't have known to come back here and we wouldn't be in danger. I knew you were no good."

"My fault?" His mind raced back to his talks with Hakoda and Kishna and hearing about a bright flash of light cutting through the sky. The entire reason these people were here most likely was due to their attraction to that light. He didn't think it was that large, but apparently others had seen it as well.

Zhao sensing his opportunity to strike, picked up a sword on the ground and stabbed Kyojuro through the back with it. He made sure to push it in as far as he could before removing it and standing over him as Kyojuro took a knee due to the surprise attack.

"You let your guard down, fool. Never underestimate what a man such as me can accomplish given enough opportunities. You should've finished me when you had the chance."

"I said I'd have you groveling at my feet and now look at- Ack!"

Kyojuro stood back up and quickly grabbed him by the throat with veins showing alongside his forehead and arms signifying how angry he truly was now, "Let her go! This is a fight between us and she has nothing to do with it! Either you release her or I'll finish this…" The grip on Zhao's neck grew tighter and tighter until he heard Katara scream out once again causing him to lighten his grip and turn around.

"As long as we have this child hostage you won't do a thing to me or anyone else here," Zhao grinned. "That's your weakness...your desire to protect the weak causes you to make little mistakes and because of that you won't be fighting back anymore."

"I mean you can, but unless you want to see this child's life end before your very eyes then you'll heed my warning and continue to stand where you are."

Kyojuro looked at Katara who's eyes pleaded to him in anger and fear. While this girl hated his very being, he genuinely enjoyed her spirit and determination to protect what she held dear and he'd make sure no harm came to her no matter what.

"Fine, it seems like you have me at a crossroads. If I move to attack any of you, there's a chance I could get this girl killed and that's not a chance I'm willing to take."

"Excellent, I knew you'd see it my way," Zhao answered before stabbing him again through the stomach. "Men don't just stand there, attack!"

Numerous other soldiers ran toward Kyojuro with weapons in hand, but he could do nothing to defend himself. Slashes and stab wounds rained down as Katara could only watch in horror as they continued to attack him over and over until blood was pouring down from all over him.

"Stop it! Please!" She begged to no avail as they kept attacking and attacking until Kyojuro was on the ground bleeding heavily and unmoving.

"Well now that that's taken care off, we can finally deal with this annoying brat here," Zhao started to head over to Katara with knife in hand ready to end the waterbender and he was abruptly stopped in his tracks by Kyojuro who had gripped his ankle with such force that it seemed like it would snap at any moment.

"I promised...that I...would protect them all…"

"No matter what…"

Zhao plunged the sword in his hand through Kyojuro's back one last time before feeling the grip loosen and yanking his ankle free before leaving it there. "This'll be the last time we meet."

"Farewell, fool." And with that Zhao left him there on the cold ice below as his sight slowly failed him and the last thing he saw before drifting off into unconsciousness was him grabbing Katara by the hair and dragging her to the village. He desperately tried to move, but he'd lost so much blood that none of his body responded like he wanted it to and he fell still afterwards, closing his eyes for good.

Fortunately for him, Agni wouldn't be his spirit guide if she didn't foresee something like this. She'd never let things end like this for someone destined to help save the world and even if he had to endure hardships far beyond that of what most people could handle, as her chosen savior, she'd expect nothing less from a man who had a drive rivaling the Avatar's themselves.

Man Zhao was such a snake in canon I hoped that I managed to capture some of that essence when writing a fight between him and Kyojuro. Obviously he'd be outmatched by someone who by other's acknowledgments could've become one of the strongest pillars had he not died early, so of course he'd use under handed tactics to achieve his goals. Kyojuro and Agni won't be taking this laying down though and the next chapter will be an even bigger rollercoaster that I hope you enjoy.