"Rengoku-san...Rengoku-san…Rengoku-san!"
Kyojuro shot up in a hurry before calming down once again upon noticing where he was currently. It was the same location he had spoken with Agni previously and while it brought his heart at ease, he knew he had bigger fish to fry back at the south pole.
"Agni, how long have I been asleep here?"
He saw her hesitate in giving her answer as she knew how shocked he'd be when he realized just how long he's been here.
"You've been asleep in the spirit world for three whole days," Agni answered.
"Three Days!" Kyojuro jumped off the grass with a look of extreme worry, "Why have I been asleep for that long!?"
"Relax, Rengoku-san, time flows differently here so while it's been three whole days since I dragged you here to rest and recover, it's only been about an hour in the physical world."
"The injuries you received from Zhao and his men were grave and even when you used your breathing techniques to try to slow and stop the bleeding, they were far too deep and you would not have survived without my intervention. Normally I wouldn't be able to interfere with fate like this, but you became an exception to the rule once I dragged you here in the first place."
"Is everyone ok? That man did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation and critically injured me so I don't like everyone else's chances," Rengoku asked. The mere sight of Zhao dragging Katara away by her hair infuriated him and he wanted nothing more than to make sure justice would be delivered.
"They are fine, but they were overrun by the fire nation and they are interrogating them as we speak. That man is foolishly searching for something he believes is his destiny and will go through anyone in order to get what he wants. The water tribe are a proud group of people that won't bend and break as easily as he thinks so before things get any worse for them, you have to save them, Rengoku-san. Otherwise he'll kill them one by one until someone starts talking and as that child is a waterbender, he'd kill her first to break their spirits."
Kyojuro felt his blood start to boil, picturing Zhao harming a small child like Katara who only wanted to protect her home. It reminded him too much of the demons back home doing whatever they wanted and facing no consequences for their actions.
"You do not have to tell me twice! I won't let any harm come to her or her people. Even in my pitiful state, covered in cuts and gushing blood, I'll carry out my duties until the end!"
Smiling at him, Agni knew he'd need something that would propel his already stellar combat abilities to even higher heights than before. She only hoped that he could handle it long enough to get a grasp of how it functions.
"In order to fight off this invasion, you're going to need your sword which has been imbued with my blessing. As you aren't a being naturally born from this world, the spirits won't allow you to gain the regular abilities of a bender, but because of your ability to already mimic fire with your flame breathing techniques, as long as you can channel it through your sword, you will be able to draw real flames from now on."
"The downside to this is that it will only work as long as you are using breathing techniques and your sword at the same time. Anything less than that won't even summon a spark."
She handed the sword that had been bestowed to him upon becoming a pillar and he clutched it in his hands feeling an intense burning sensation that filled his very being. It was so strong that he felt that it could become wild and uncontrollable should he lose focus and control over it. He had never felt something so strong before now and yet it felt like something that had laid dormant in him since the day he was born. That flame was unable to be set free in his own world, but here...here he'd be able to truly let this spark ripple into an ocean of flames that will bring justice to all who deserve it.
"This feels...incredible!" he boomed. He swung it around a few times to make sure he retained his skills from his world and the sword, while extremely heavy had this explosive element attached to it that made it feel like he could cut through anything if he set his mind to it.
"What about my haori? You did mention something about it being blessed by you as well."
"Well that's...I'm not at liberty to tell you what it does, but I can assure you that under no circumstances should you use it until you have a better grasp of your flames. And there are three major conditions that are attached to this."
"The first is your abilities being at their peak and honed to perfection. You'll know what that entails the more and more you grow in this world. The second is that you have to be in a life or death situation where you feel like you have no other tricks up your sleeve. The third and most important condition when using this blessing is you have to have something so precious to you that you'd even die to protect it. Whatever that may be is up to you to decide, but if you use it once, you will not be able to use it again."
"Rengoku-san, the reason I'm not telling you how this blessing functions is because of your self sacrificial nature. If I told you what it is and how it works, there is no doubt in my mind that you would try your hardest to use it even if all three conditions aren't met and knowing your willpower, you'd probably even find some sort of loophole I might not be aware of."
"That's fair enough. Even without this other blessing that's attached to my haori, as long as I can use my flames, none of these men will stand a chance against me anymore. Sneak attacks, dirty tricks, using hostages and anything else they might have up their sleeve will be burned and turned to ash in the face of my justice!"
Smiling at him once again, Agni saw it was time for him to return back to the physical world with his sword in tow. "Rengoku-san, as much as I enjoy our conversations this will be the last time we meet for a while. Bringing you from your world to my world seemingly has brought some unforeseen consequences that will require my constant monitoring. The last time we spoke you did see a glimpse of your mother behind you, correct?"
"How did you know? I thought that was just an effect of being in the spirit world."
She frowned, knowing that this mistake would have to be corrected before things got out of hand later down the line, "No, the fact that her spirit managed to cross over and attempt to speak with you definitely isn't something I intended to happen. I fear if someone as weak as she was able to cross over then she may not be the only one able to."
"You may not truly be alone here."
"Well my mother should pose no problem as she was the kindest person I've known in my entire life! Although if you're suggesting that enemies of mine are here as well, this could be troubling…"
"Yes that's exactly what I'm thinking and no matter what happens once you return to the south pole, you must stay vigilant and if you suspect one of your enemies managing to break through from your world to this one, do whatever you deem necessary to eradicate the problem down to the root."
"Demons causing havoc in this realm along with the problem that is the fire nation could spell disaster for the world as a whole."
"No problem! I'll keep an eye out for any changes that should occur and protect anyone from the fire nation, demons and anything else that threatens the peace I need to achieve!"
"I think I've spent enough time here resting and recovering so I need to head back and put an end to this already. Zhao and I have unfinished business that we need settled," Kyojuro stated with determination covering his face.
"Alright then," She floated towards him and placed a hand on his chest preparing his transfer back to the physical world. They both smiled at each other with a certain look in their eyes that said everything that could be said about the situation.
"Until we meet again, Agni!" Kyojuro smilied.
The energies rippling through him caused his vision and hearing to become hazy, but he was able to make out something she said to him as clear as day. After all this was his line.
"Set your heart ablaze, Rengoku-san," And with that he disappeared in a flash back to the south pole with new abilities and the same burning desire to see justice done.
"Well that didn't take long now did it?" Zhao grinned while finishing ordering his men to tie up the last of the remaining troops that were still attempting to fight back. With the ambush that they had been preparing for a few weeks, the water tribe soldiers stood no chance at all against the might they possessed and most if not all were about to be interrogated for information about that blinding light.
"So who'll be the first of you to break?"
Hakoda, Bato and his band of warriors were lined up on their knees, beaten and bruised with weapons pointed against them. The effort they fought was a valiant one, but because of the nature of the ambush they weren't able to kill a single soldier. It made not only Hakoda, but all of them sick to their stomachs as these men could do whatever they wanted to them and their people and they could no longer do anything to stop it.
"HA! You bunch of cowards could never get us to break!" Ponru shouted at Zhao. He was bleeding heavily and had numerous guards on him, but out of them all, he was the only one who managed to wound over ten soldiers on his own.
A guard punched him to the ground with a thud rendering him silent, "Watch your mouth, you savage. You are lucky Zhao has deemed this a no kill mission for now because had he not, you and these wastes of space would be dead where you kneel."
"That's enough. Don't waste your time arguing with these mongrels. I shall have what I require from them soon enough," Zhao ordered.
"What the hell do you want?" Hakoda asked.
"That huge beam of light that cut through the sky a few weeks ago, what do you know of it?"
Hakoda thought back on how they found Kyojuro and the questions he still had with everything surrounding him gave him nothing that would sooth this man's curiosity. "I have no idea what you speak of. If that was all you came here for then you've wasted your time."
"Oh really," Zhao had a hunch that this man was withholding something from him and would in time get everything he needed without fail.
"So you mean to tell me that massive beam of light that could be seen from where we were, you know absolutely nothing about? It originated from here and you as the chief of this little village of savages didn't think to investigate it? Call me cynical, but I find that very hard to believe."
"If that is the story you're sticking with, be my guest, but don't blame me when people start paying the price for your dishonesty."
Zhao walked forward and placed a hand to Hakoda's chin and forced the man to look eye to eye with him, "Just tell me what I want to know and things can go as smoothly as they possibly can. If you continue to withhold knowledge from me then I'll have to start forcing information from you."
Hakoda snatched his chin loose with indignation in his eyes, "Screw you, fire nation scum."
"*sigh* So this is how it's going to be huh...don't say I didn't warn you," Zhao began.
"You have a daughter, don't you chief?"
Hakoda's blood ran cold when hearing this, not liking where this was headed.
"Quite the temper she has and just like her father and her people, full of hot bloodedness and not very smart to boot. Little brat tried to use her bending, which I didn't know you people still had, and attacked one of my squads earlier."
"Katara...you were supposed to be with your brother…" His heart started to race and he prayed to whoever was listening that this wasn't going where he thought it was. He couldn't lose her. Kya would never forgive him for letting her sacrifice be in vain.
"Unfortunately for her, her bending wasn't very developed and she stood no chance at all against my men."
"Bring her out!" he barked.
A large soldier brought Katara over whose face had been covered with a small sack and she barely moved within his grasp.
"Let her go! She has nothing to do with this!" Hakoda yelped.
"But chief, this one is the key to the puzzle you refuse to put together for me," he started. "If you will not answer my questions then maybe I'll have to put an insurmountable amount of pressure on you and see just how much you can take."
He removed the mask from her face and every warrior's blood ran extremely cold seeing how badly damaged her face was. Her left eye was almost swollen shut and her lip had been split. Bruises covered her arms and legs too which meant that even as a child these ruthless monsters held nothing back when restraining her.
"Her willpower is quite strong for someone her age as even when being beaten by my men she didn't yield nor break when asked about information regarding that light. Her eyes looked at me with such hatred that if she was a little older maybe I'd have some sort of fear put into me."
"Of course as she was so weak and helpless all she could do was give me that wretched stare as the beating she so desperately wanted continued."
"Stop, don't hurt her anymore! I'll tell you whatever you want! Just let her go, that's all I ask of you," Hakoda pleaded. Tears fell down his cheeks when he saw how much his precious little girl went through and as a father he wanted nothing more than to take her place.
"Dad, he…" Katara tried to speak and her mouth and throat felt extremely dry from the beating she'd received, "I got in his way…" Tears were now falling down her face and the guilt she felt from earlier reared its ugly head once again.
"Kyojuro…*sniff*...I got captured and they killed him…*sob*" By this point, she was full on crying.
"If I wasn't in his way, he would've beaten them. Even after everything I said and did to him, he still fought to protect me."
"You people are sick! You used me as a hostage and forced him to get stabbed over and over otherwise you said you'd kill me on the spot! He should've ended you when he had the ch-"
"Shut your mouth, you insolent brat," Zhao replied while grabbing her by the throat. "I could end your measly existence right here...but it wouldn't get me the answers I need now would I?"
He released her throat from his grasp and instead elected a different approach than just death. One that would force the person it being used on to either watch helplessly or give him what he wants.
"How about we play a little game?" He summoned a small flame from his hand and nodded to the guard holding Katara to force one of her hands out. "Either tell me what I want to know or…"
He put the flame under her hand and she screamed out in agony, "I'll burn every inch of this girl slowly and painfully until she can't take anymore of it."
"Ok, Ok! That light you saw was the man she described from earlier! The man you killed was the one we found after the light vanished from the sky! We don't know anything else about it other than that so please stop burning her!"
He released the flame in his hand and her screams died down as well. The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air, but not much could be done about that. "So you mean to tell me that's all you know about it? Something as grandiose and spectacular as the light that called me was supposedly due to that yellow haired idiot we killed? Preposterous!"
"Continuing to lie will only result in this girl facing an even worse punishment than this. Even you must know that chief."
"But I'm not lying! Kyojuro really was the thing we found after the light disappeared! I'm begging you, don't harm my daughter anymore than you already have," He bowed his head to the ground with tears falling as well, "I'll take whatever punishment you deem necessary in her place, but please just release her."
Zhao took a moment to ponder something to himself before responding.
"No."
"I still feel like you're lying to me, but as the bunch of savages you are, your willingness to throw away your daughter's life to preserve whatever secret you're withholding is almost comical to me."
"You can't be serious...you have to believe me. Why would I lie when my daughter's life is on the line?"
"The reasoning of savages does not concern me. Anyway you couldn't possibly believe I'd allow her to live being a waterbender and attacking my men. Plus killing this brat will raise my status and rank with Firelord Ozai so it's the most profitable option I could choose from."
He ordered the man to release Katara and force her to her knees. He bowed her head downward facing Hakoda and his men while handing Zhao a sword.
"I don't want to do this, but seeing as our mission a few years ago was to eliminate any waterbender living here, I don't think it can really be completed until this girl is dead too."
"Don't you agree, chief?" The savage grin he flashed towards Hakoda sent him into a frenzy.
"Stop! I'll give you whatever you want! Take my life instead, but please don't do this! She's my little girl!"
His men also joined in with attempts to sacrifice themselves but their pleas would fall on deaf ears.
Fire nation soldiers soon started beating them until their cries died back down. "Silence you dogs. This girl's fate is sealed and there isn't anything you can do about it."
He walked over to Katara and raised his sword over her head ready to decapitate her in front of Hakoda in his men signifying his victory.
"If only this child wasn't born as a bender. Maybe her life could've turned out differently."
"Oh well, nothing more can be done about this I suppose," The tone Zhao was using told Hakoda that he meant none of the sincere words he was spewing and was enjoying toying with their lives.
"Goodbye, brat." He brought the sword down finally ready to end her existence and move on to bigger and better things. His time had been wasted enough on these savages.
Katara closed her eyes awaiting the end of her life at the hands of this monster and didn't want to see the anguish on her dad's face being the last thing she saw before dying. She waited and waited and waited for the end to come, but slowly realized the sword never made contact with her neck.
She slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she wasn't in the same position as before and instead was being gently cradled by someone.
"Sorry about my inability to protect you earlier. It was inexcusable for me to be caught off guard like that and because of me, you received numerous injuries."
The person cupped her face with gentleness she hasn't felt since her mother died and her blurry vision covered in tears slowly focused on who was speaking to her.
"Kyo...juro?" Her eyes widened when she saw the man who she thought she got killed.
"Alive and kicking! I made you a promise did I not? I said I wouldn't let any of you die and I am ashamed of myself when I look at your face and it is covered with things no child should have to endure."
"I failed to keep any harm from reaching you, but I'll make you a fresh promise I will uphold until my body breaks down and dies! These monsters will not harm a single person more," He unhooked his haori from his clothing and wrapped it around Katara.
He gave her one of the warmest smiles she'd ever seen before leaving her on the sidelines.
"How on earth is he still-" That soldier couldn't finish that sentence as Kyojuro blitzed over to the men surrounding Hakoda and knocked each of them out with vicious blows to the head.
Zhao was still in disbelief in what had just happened. One moment he was about to cement his glory and deal a fatal blow to the true last waterbender of the south pole and instead now he's seeing a man who was supposed to be dead at his feet, alive and kicking. It made his blood boil.
"You can't be alive! I killed you and left you full of stab wounds!" He barked while staring down Kyojuro.
"HaHaHa! Did you really think wounds like these would keep me down for long? I told you your reign of terror would end today and I'm here to make good on my promise!"
In actuality other than his sword, Agni did little other than give him the blood he'd lost from earlier so he could move once again. The wounds were still there so he was using his breathing techniques to stop the bleeding from continuing. "Even now I can still feel my numerous wounds hindering me. I should wrap this up as quickly as possible."
Before Zhao could even think to retaliate first, Kyojuro burst forward and tried to punch him, but Zhao used his bending and Kyojuro's own weakened state to shoot backwards and make a break for it.
"He took down my men in less than an instant. This doesn't even make any sense!" He looked back to see Kyojuro staring him down unmoving. He didn't know why this man wasn't giving chase and quite frankly didn't have much room to care. He only needed to get back to the rest of his men and the ships they brought.
"This land of savages always surprises every time I visit," he groaned.
Watching him run away like a coward brought fury to Kyojuro's heart, but knew that he had bigger priorities at the moment. He walked over and started untying Hakoda and his men. They were as flabbergasted as Zhao and Katara had been when they noticed him covered in blood and wounds yet never losing that same proud and warm expression they had come to see on him constantly.
"I'm so sorry you all had to experience that. My inexperience when dealing with the fire nation caused me to foolishly try and reason with them thinking I'd be able to take them all in without fail. Because of my actions, so many of you are hurt and Katara had to go through an unimaginable hell."
"However! I want all of you to worry about chasing the remaining forces off and tending to the wounded. Zhao and his army of ships are all mine. I won't let even a single one of them escape my flames!"
"How are you even able to move with those wounds?" Bato asked, still unable to move much as they'd broken his leg in the shuffle from earlier.
"Ha! A Pillar such as myself cannot be slowed down by such minor inconveniences such as these. I've experienced much worse and still managed to complete my duties until the end. Today will be no different!"
"Minor inconveniences...is he even human?" Hakoda wondered while looking at him covered in blood and wounds.
Once untied he jumped up and rushed over to Katara who still looked very weak and tired from earlier. He hugged his daughter as if letting go of her meant she'd leave and disappear forever. Tears fell from his face as he thanked whoever reigned over them that she was safe from anymore of the mess she had to endure thanks to the fire nation.
"Dad?" she asked, still unable to see clearly.
"Yes, Katara, it's me. I won't let anyone else hurt you again, you hear me?" He felt hot droplets hit his arm and knew she was crying again. She snuggled up into his embrace and both felt relief just being near each other.
Kyojuro looked upon the scene between Katara and Hakoda with panged guilt knowing that something like this should've never happened to someone as kind as these people. They should be enjoying the cold air, playing with each other peacefully without worry and instead today ended up as yet another disaster in their history of heartbreak.
His body burned hot with a need to see everyone's safety secured and he would not rest until these people could sleep at night without fear or worry of an incident like this happening again.
Maybe it was time to test out his new skills.
Zhao made it back to the edge of the village where all his ships coordinated awaiting his conquest of this village.
"Finally, I can get away from that yellow haired maniac! How on earth is he even still moving with injuries like that."
Unable to find an answer to his question, he decided to just forget about that problem and move on to the next best option available to him.
"Since these savages don't want to go down quietly then they won't have to worry about me being nice anymore." Zhao planned on using his small army of ships to bomb this little village in its entirety. The cannonballs attached to each ship were more than enough to raze this place to the ground.
"Once I get off this god forsaken piece of ice, I'll use my ships to erase this useless waste of space off the map altogether. I will not allow any more nuisances to get in my path to glory!" He barked to himself completely unaware that someone was listening to his rant.
"So, this is what you plan to do with these people?" a voice asked him.
He turned around to see Kyojuro awaiting his answer with an unreadable expression covering his face.
"You can't just leave well enough alone, can you!? You have been a constant thorn in my side since I arrived here and even as a deadman you come back and cause me more grief. It was my destiny to come here and conquer these people just like that girl's life should've been ended because of who she was. These are indisputable facts in life and I won't allow you or any of these people to keep standing in my way!"
He readied his fighting stance while shouting, "I will end you!"
"Agni, forgive me, but I don't think I can change any of these people's minds as of now. They are too far gone.." He knew that if push came to shove, he would end up taking these people's lives in order to secure the peace here, but deep down he still hoped they could be reasoned with. However if this man standing in front of him was any indication, these people were far too deep into the dark path Sozin placed them on a hundred years ago.
He turned his attention to the ships and grabbed hold of his sword. He unsheathed it and the air around them grew extremely hot and Zhao was confused as to what was going on.
"So you have a new toy. Big deal, It still won't be enough to beat-"
Flame Breathing, Fifth Form…He lifted his sword into the air and flames began to summon themselves around the blade leaving Zhao even more confused as to what he was seeing.
"What kind of firebending is this supposed to be?"
Flame Tiger! A gigantic mass of flames shot out as he brought the blade downward and shot past Zhao and instead headed for the ships behind him. The attack crashed into one of his ships leaving it ablaze and Zhao didn't even have time to ponder what the heck that attack was before feeling more flames come his way.
Flame Breathing, Fifth Form: Flame Tiger!
The attack was repeated again and again leaving each ship on fire and Zhao unable to do much of anything to stop it. The attack looked like a giant tiger covered in flames engulfing the ships whole as if they were nothing more than food for it.
"What the-What the hell are you!?" Zhao asked in anger and confusion. "No firebender save for Sozin's comet can use repeated attacks like that, but you just ravaged all my ships like it was nothing!"
Kyojuro could see his mind begin to spiral in on itself, but made no attempts to interrupt him.
"This is my destiny! Stop getting in my way! You think I need those ships to beat you and conquer this place...HA! Not a chance, I'll eviscerate you and then head back to that little girl and her family! I'll give her a slow and painful death for you even standing against me and I'll force her father to watch and there's nothing you can do about-"
Flame Breathing, First Form… Kyojuro angled his sword and readied his stance as he had become extremely pissed off with what this man was saying.
Unknowing Fire!
He shot forward with fire engulfing his sword and Zhao using his intuition had the mind to propel himself backward just barely dodging the blade as it clearly tried to take his head off, unfortunately for him he wasn't fast enough to avoid it entirely and he caught the tip of the attack across his face instead.
"My eyes! Aghhh!" Rolling around on the cold barren ice did nothing to help as the agony he was experiencing was otherworldly. This yellow haired bastard just tried to kill him and he took his eye sight instead.
"I can't see...I can't see a thing!" He tried to focus his vision, but the more he tried the scarier things became for him as he no longer saw anything else, but darkness.
"Sorry, I didn't mean for you to have to suffer like this. I tried to finish you in one go, but I didn't take into account my wounds hampering my movements. Allow me one more try to put you out of your misery."
He took another stance and noticed how despite not being able to see, this man refused to show any weakness and instead took his fighting stance as well.
"I will not be dying here, you hear me!? My destiny cannot end on some barren chunk of ice with no one around to witness it. My glory will be vast and I will be the one to eliminate this place off the map!"
"What is your name?" Kyojuro asked. He wouldn't end this man's life until he heard it. As spiteful and evil as he is, he at least deserved someone to remember his resolve after he dies.
"My name is Zhao! After I kill you and finish off the rest of these pieces of garbage you've been protecting, my name will be etched into the walls of history! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Fire Demon! Zhao ... the Invincible!"
"Farewell, Zhao. May you be reborn much nicer in your next life," Kyojuro replied.
Flame Breathing, Third Form… He dashed forward with flames surrounding his blade again and Zhao could feel the flame getting closer and closer yet unable to react thanks to his lost sight.
"No matter what happens to me, I will not rest until you die a death so painful that even your spirit is unable to rest! This isn't over!-"
Blazing Universe! He slashed Zhao in one swift motion burning through his armor and causing him to cry out in pain from being burned with the attack. Kyojuro calmly backed away and watched as he fell backwards in agony and because of the heat surrounding his attack, the ice had grown weaker and the moment he fell backwards onto the ice, it collapsed.
Zhao fell into the freezing water unable to do anything other than float downward. Even as everything was falling apart, Kyojuro couldn't help but notice how he looked as if he was still trying to curse him and fight back not even realizing he'd met his end. It looked pitiful, but Kyojuro would always show respect to an opponent no matter who that person may be.
He sheathed his sword and the flames soon disappeared alongside it. Turning away from the flaming ships that were beginning to sink and the now dispatched Admiral Zhao, he made his way back to the village that looked like a tornado had swept through it.
"Kyojuro! You're ok!" Kishna had run up to the man and hugged him as tight as she possibly could've.
"Of course I'm ok! My duty wouldn't be fulfilled until I vanquished those people from your home!" He grinned at her once again and tears filled her eyes, seeing a glimpse of her husband and son once again in him.
"Thank you, Kyojuro. You avenged my family and protected us from them. I-no, We will forever be in your debt."
"Think nothing of it, Kishna! I only did what any strong person would do when seeing injustices unfold. I gave them chance after chance, but the darkness in their hearts was great and the only thing I could use to drive them back was to turn it to cinder and ash."
"A tide is turning in this hundred year war and I will be sure to do my part to make sure it comes to pass!"
He placed a hand on the woman's head and flashed another warm smile, "You can count on it!"
First and foremost though, the rebuilding of the village took priority in his mind as people would need places to sleep and heal after surely coming close to death today. He released Kishna and began walking over to the numerous igloo's that had been destroyed and wondered how to go about rebuilding it.
"Hey, so you're alive after all," Ponru said. "I don't understand how you're alive or how you managed to save our asses, but if you're thinking about helping us rebuild...I can help out with that."
"It looks like we are in the same place of mind, Ponru!" Kyojuro shot his hand out hoping the man who had continuously kept him at arm's length would finally reach out and take it.
"Don't get me wrong, brat. I still dislike that super cheery attitude of yours, but the resolve and dedication you showed here, made my respect for you grow. I'll accept you as an honorary water tribe warrior from this day forward."
He clasped the hand Kyojuro had extended and mutual respect filled the air between the two. They slowly released each other and started talking about how to go about rebuilding the long steps that would need to be taken to assure people and their families had somewhere to sleep until full repairs could be given.
I hope you enjoyed this arc with Zhao and Kyojuro being the focus point. I also want to thank everyone who has commented and bookmarked my story. It really means a lot and I hope you continue to stick around for when things get really crazy down the line.
PS: In case people are confused, Kyojuro can now use actual flames with his flame breathing, but they can only be used in conjunction with his sword. If he was able to use regular firebending along with his sword techniques, he'd probably be a God here. I had to nerf him somehow lol.