There was a cool nip in the air as Rei made her way down to the main deck along with Iroh. The two of them talked more about various topics along the way, switching from life on the ship to what kinds of tea they both enjoyed. Apparently Ginseng tea was Iroh's tea of choice. As they strolled down the corridors, Iroh would stop and say hello to the soldiers passing by on their rounds. Each soldier would smile and offer a respectful hello in return. It's become abundantly clear that Iroh was the ship's father figure. Rei was beginning to really like him.
It was also nice of the older man to offer a place to view the training session with Zuko. It gave Rei the ultimate opportunity to study how firebenders fight, and also gave her a loose idea on how to practice her airbending. She couldn't really use the techniques she witnessed her father and brother using since earthbending's hard style didn't flow well with airbending at all. Sure, airbending and firebending were two very different things, but it was better than nothing. The last time she witnessed Zuko practice his firebending, she noted that he would often cry out in anger or frustration as he moved, fanning the flames that would increase in size and heat. Perhaps the key to firebending for him is to be angry. No wonder the teenager was such a hothead. She casually wondered what it would be like to witness Iroh firebending, and if it was in any way similar to Zuko's method. It was strange imagining the old man angry since he was so smiley and calm all the time.
Zuko was already waiting in the middle of the main deck with his arms crossed across his chest and right foot tapping in impatience. His high-ponytail swung in the breeze, whipping to one side as he looked out towards the pair approaching him. The hairstyle still confused Rei. Why shave your head and only keep a small patch for a ponytail? It looked so abnormal. Rei just couldn't understand firenation fashion. He bore his usual red and black plate armor, which gleamed in the sunlight. If you looked past his scowl, Zuko actually looked pretty impressive.
Iroh walked up and sat down cross-legged in front of Zuko with Rei following suit. Rei looked up at Zuko, who gave her a side-eyed glance before bowing in respect to Iroh. There was a small group of fire nation soldiers standing in a row behind Zuko as well, all with their hands behind their back in an at-ease military stance. Rei scanned the row of soldiers and recognized Stitches standing at the far left end of the row, fidgeting in uneasiness. Rei raised a wrapped hand slightly in greeting. Stitches caught wind of this, and gave her a two-fingered salute and a nervous grin in response. Rei snapped back to the training at hand when she heard Iroh's voice call out to Zuko.
"Today we will be reviewing your basics and the techniques introduced to you from the previous day." Iroh began. "We will also introduce some new movements in preparation for our arrival to Kyoshi Island."
"Why must we review the basics every time we practice, Uncle?" Zuko demanded, exasperated. "I've more than mastered them, it's just a waste of time!"
"Because, Prince Zuko, the basics are the first thing benders let slip." Iroh explained firmly. "The firebending basics serves as a foundation of our skills to build upon. If your foundation is cracked and worn-down, it would not matter how much you build upon it because your foundation would collapse completely."
Zuko let out a low groan of acceptance in response. Iroh smiled and announced, "Now, let us begin."
Iroh signaled for the fire nation soldiers standing on the sidelines to move in. Each soldier assumed their offensive stances, and surrounds Zuko in a circle. Zuko let out a fiery yell and kicked his leg back. A long stream of flames shot out of his foot and dead-center into the chest of the soldier advancing behind him, which turned out to be Stitches. Apparently it was true that Stitches was always the first to be attacked in battle. Stitches was knocked backwards and toppled over a couple times before landing firmly onto his front, face-down on the deck. He laid there on the floor for a few moments before raising his arm with his hand in a thumbs-up motion, mumbling a muffled "I'm OK!".
Zuko turned to face his other opponents, who converged on his location. He countered their attacks one at a time, notably favouring his right foot to attack while his left arm blocked his opponent's attack. Rei gazed in awe at the fiery display, eagerly studying each movement as best as she could. She also felt frightened at the sight of the fire, looking back to the roaring flames that burned her beloved village of Terra to the ground. However, this display of firebending held a somewhat hypnotic effect on Rei, being unable to look away. She was jolted out of her trance by the sound of Iroh's voice.
"I see you are enjoying the demonstration so far," Iroh mused.
"Oh, yeah." Rei blinked. She turned back toward the firebending. "It's a... much different experience when the fire isn't aimed at you."
"Like any power, bending can be used for both the purposes of good or the purposes of evil. Everything depends on the user." Iroh replied, gesturing towards the combat in front of them. "Take fire for instance. Many only see its purpose for destruction and combat, but fire is also important for warmth in the cold winter months and for providing light like our Sun. Without it, the world would be enveloped in darkness."
"Well, I suppose that's true." Rei sighed.
"I expect you've met some unfriendly earthbenders in you life, have you not?" Iroh asked.
"Well, one time when I was a kid, a bully was earthbending and hit me in the head with a rock. I ran home crying to my brother, who then decided to teach me some non-bending fighting techniques to defend myself." Rei giggled. "Let's just say that the bully didn't bother me after that."
Iroh chuckled. "I assume you've kept up these fighting techniques ever since."
"Oh yeah." Rei nodded. "Being in a village where rocks would fly, you had to learn to defend yourself or else you'd be hit in the head more often than not."
Rei gazed out at the fight before her. Zuko was down to his last three opponent who circled around the young teenager. Zuko paused and looked around at his targets, waiting for the perfect time to strike. The man positioned behind him took his chance and launched a fireball in Zuko's direction, but the Prince was too fast. Zuko whipped around and dodged out of the way in the nick of time. He recuperated and fired a counter-strike fireball at his attacker. However, as his opponent blocks the attack with a firm stance, Zuko knelt down and shot a splash of fire from his foot. His opponent lost his balance and is ultimately taken down by a final fireball punch to the chest. The man positioned at Zuko's left side steps forward and launched another fireball in Zuko's direction. Zuko leaned backwards to avoid the attack and stepped his left foot backwards to stabilize himself. He then hits his opponent's arm in an upwards motion and uses his momentum to rotate himself around and kick his target in the chest, sending the man flying to the ground. The final aggressor crouched in front of Zuko and performed a deadly sweep of fire with his leg. Zuko leaps in the air and lands firmly on his feet, only to be met by another outstretched arm about to unleash fire upon him. Zuko's mastery of timing and fluid flow of bending intrigued Rei, fueling her curiosity for what she could do with her bending in time.
"How does he have such control over the fire?" Rei inquired. "How does he not burn himself on his own flames?"
"Ah, that is one of the first lessons he was taught." Iroh mused. "When a firebender first starts off, it would be a common sight to see burns all over them. The trick to avoiding this is control. Breath gives fire life, so to control the fire, we must first control our breathing. Then with time, we also learn to control our concentration, our movements, our balance. A good trick I've been taught was to imagine your fire beginning in your chest, slowly bending it up and through your arms until it reaches your hands. Then, imagine that you're not forcing a puff of fire through your skin, but leading it out like a breath."
Iroh took a deep breath and demonstrated his analogy by moving his right hand from his chest and arms to his other hand. Gently, brushed his right hand against his left and produced a small flame in his right hand. Rei gazed into the fire, feeling the warmth against her face.
"Woah..." Rei replied. "Firebending takes much more concentration than I thought."
"Yes," Iroh's tone darkened, gazing into his fire. "We must have the utmost control over the fire at all times, for it is the only element that has a life of its own. Water, earth, air, they do not move without an outside force but fire, it can burn relentlessly from only a spark." Iroh finished, extinguished his flame.
"Oh…"
Rei focused her attention back on the training, where Zuko was on his way to victory. His opponent was losing steam, but continued to charge blow after blow in Zuko's direction. Zuko's attacker extended his arm in preparation for another strike, but Zuko blocked the attack by a thrust of his forearm which knocked the man's arm away. Zuko took this opportunity to knock the man down with a crouched leg sweep. The man tripped over Zuko's leg and fell to the ground, where Zuko stood over him with an arm outstretched in the man's direction. Zuko and his opponent stared at one another for a moment before Zuko's fist relaxed into an outstretched hand and helped his opponent up.
"Excellent, Prince Zuko." Iroh began, getting up to a standing position. The older man began walking towards Zuko. "However, you are learning forward too much when you attack."
Iroh crouches into an attacking stance with one arm outstretched with his hand in a fist, while the other hand is also fisted next to his side. Zuko followed suit, reaching his arm next to Iroh's. Rei paid close attention to the demonstration, knowing that it could be very important for her to learn more about attacking stances.
"When you lean forward, it gives your enemy an opportunity to knock you off-balance…" Iroh said before grabbing Zuko's arm and pulling him forward. Zuko tripped closer towards Iroh, who was now a hand-length away from his face.
"If you give them this opportunity, your enemy would not hesitate to knock you on your back and finish you off."
Iroh pushed Zuko off his feet and sent him toppling to the ground. Rei noted that this drew a strange parallel back to the Agni Kai, where Iroh caught Commander Zhao's foot when he tried to catch Zuko off-guard with a surprise attack. Iroh had a surprising amount of strength for an older man, and knew how to use that fact to his advantage. Rei made a mental note to watch herself while she's around him, there could be more to this "old man" that meets the eye. Iroh, in the meantime, helped Zuko up from the ground and continued his explanation.
"Balance is key for the next move I will show you." Iroh continued. "It will be useful when confronting many enemies at once or if you find yourself surrounded. However it is easy to mess up and either swirl out of control, or burn yourself more than your enemies, so pay close attention."
Iroh crouched down low and spread one leg out to the side as he balanced himself on his palms and his other leg. He took a deep breath and slowly started to rotate his outstretched leg in a circular motion. He hops over his leg as it moves around his body, accelerating his speed. Gazing upon the display, Rei wasn't sure what Iroh was trying to do until she started to see sparks emitting from Iroh's loop. The sparks turned into waves of flame as Iroh accelerated further. Pretty soon, the man looked like a flaming spinning top that spun with no end. Rei felt a little motion-sick just looking at the display until Iroh finally flipped himself up onto his feet, bringing his hands up to his head and letting them go palms-down from his head to his midriff. Rei didn't fully understand why Iroh did that last movement, but she decided she would ask about that later on.
"Now, I want you to focus on your balance and going through the movements before attempting any firebending." Iroh warned. "I do not want any unnecessary injuries. Speaking of which…"
Iroh turned towards Stitches, who was being helped up by two of the fire nation soldiers. "How are you feeling today, over there?"
Stitches looked up and gave Iroh a thumbs-up. "Feeling great, General! Nothing a little aloe and some bandages won't fix!"
Stitches linked eyes with Rei and smiled as he gave her a two-fingered salute. Rei smiled and waved back at him with a wrapped hand. Even though he's been fireballed in the chest, the man seemed to be in good spirits.
"Now…" Iroh clapped his hands together. "Let us take a break and resume this training after lunch. I expect the cook should have something delicious in store for us."
The remaining fire nation soldiers lined up in front of Iroh and each bowed respectfully. Iroh bowed back and lead the crowd of people back through the housing section of the ship towards the mess hall. Rei turned to follow, but noticed that Zuko did not join the others. The young prince stayed back to continue running through the drills he had just performed. The teenager threw small fireballs into thin air, this time notably focusing on shifting his balance. Rei gazed curiously at his movements, from his stance to the flow of his arms to the way he held his head up high. He was a good firebender, that's for sure. Fire still sent shivers of fear down her spine, but Rei could see the power that hid behind the flames. That power burned in passion, passion to live, passion to love, passion to survive. Apparently Zuko wasn't satisfied yet with his skills and let out a frustrated cry as he shot fire out of his clenched fists at his side. He stomped over to the far end of the ship and leaned against its edge. He cradled his head in one hand and let out a long sigh. Rei decided to walk over and lean up against the edge of the ship beside Zuko. Zuko gave her a quick side-eyed glance and scoffed as he looked away from her. Rei didn't say a word for a few moments, sliding the two of them into an awkward silence. Rei tapped her finger on the guardrail before mustering something to say.
"You are really good at firebending, you know." Rei commented.
"Not good enough to capture the Avatar." Zuko snapped.
"The Avatar? Master of all the elements?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow. "It would take a very powerful bender to capture him, let alone hold his own in a battle against him. You've done both things before, so that's quite the accomplishment. Shouldn't you be in the fire nation in a palace instead of a boat in the middle of nowhere?"
Rei noticed Zuko's fists clench until she could see the whites of his knuckles. Zuko's face contorted into a mixed expression of anger and…pain. "I don't have to explain myself to you."
"Ok fine, I get the message." Rei looked away, whipping her ponytail to the side.
Rei resumed tapping her fingers on the metallic guardrail to fill the awkward silence. She cupped the side of her neck with her other hand, gently rubbing her burn. The burn on her neck already began to peel, which made it itchy and uncomfortable. Rubbing her burn against the rough wrappings around her palms didn't do much but helped somewhat with the peeling. Zuko slowly side-looked Rei, then back towards the sea.
"How's your burn?" He asked.
"It's fine." She replied, still rubbing her neck. "It doesn't sting anymore, it just itches."
"So Zhao did that to you?"
Rei hesitated and stopped rubbing her burn. "Yeah…It really hurt. But it's getting better, I think. Hopefully it won't scar or...anything."
Rei slowed her speaking when she realized she was talking to someone with a huge burn scar dominating the side of his face.
"...Sorry." Rei mumbled.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"I'm sorry about your burn." Zuko muttered.
"Why? You didn't do it." Rei replied. She sighed and looked out towards the sea. "You know, when I was a kid, my father would tell me not to judge people based on where they came from. He would tell me that there are good and bad people in every nation, so not all those from the fire nation were inherently bad and not all those from the earth nation were inherently good. I couldn't understand why he said that at the time considering the war going on, but now I think I'm beginning to."
Rei paused for a moment. "After I was discovered on your ship, I couldn't believe how different your ship was compared to Zhao's. I was shown unexpected kindness from such an unbelievable source. I mean, your uncle offered me tea when I was found below deck. The crew even welcomed me with open arms. Now..."
Rei turned to face Zuko. "...I just wonder how you'll end up being."
Zuko eyed Rei, with an annoyed look on his face. "What?"
Rei flips around and leans her back against the guardrail. "I don't really know enough about you to form an opinion, but you have the power to decide whether or not to make good or bad choices. I just wonder what kind of life you'll choose."
Zuko didn't respond, and looked back towards the sea. Getting the message, Rei pushed off the side of the ship and started walking towards the mess hall. As she walked away, she turned back slightly and found that Zuko was looking at her. Zuko quickly turned his head away when she caught him sneaking a glance at her. Rei continued stepping away, notably with a small smile on her face. She had high hopes for the young prince, especially since he had as good a mentor as Iroh. Zuko did appear to be angry or frustrated most of the time, but at the mention of his homeland, Rei saw an unspoken sorrow or pain behind his eyes. Maybe his anger acted as a wall, separating himself from others around him. Perhaps someday soon his walls would crumble and let someone in. Whatever the case, Rei looked forward to learning more about the aloof prince in the coming days.
Hello my loves! Hope you guys enjoyed the latest installment of the Legend of Rei. I really wanted to accentuate on the awkwardness of the conversation between Zuko and Rei, and I hope it was satisfactory for you all! If you like what you see, please give me a positive review and follow my story so that you can be notified whenever I update :) Have a great week, my lovelies X
