Chapter 7

AN: I'm pretty pleased with this chapter, not going to lie.

The gentle light of the morning sun illuminated the mountainous clearing, it's cool, yellow light turning the dull earth from brown to a more golden colour. If you look over our courageous team of heroes, you can see them all sleeping peacefully, bathing it the lights warm embrace.

That is until Aang's eyes snapped open as he jumped out of his sleeping bag, his bending giving him some additional height as he roused to full awareness, uncaring of the cool earth pressed against his bare feet.

"Today's the day!" Aang yelled with excitement as he landed beside the still sleeping Sokka. "Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending. And this place, it's perfect, don't you think Sokka?"

Sokka grumbled as his closed eyes inched open, glaring balefully at the ever excitable Avatar.

"Oh," Aang said in realisation, losing some of his energy, "you're still sleeping, huh?"

Sokka grumbled again as he returned his head to the pillows embrace, seeking for Morpheus' embrace once more.

"Sorry." Aang whispered as he tiptoed away from Sokka, stepping over the still sleeping Feng and Katara as he moved towards the water source of the clearing.

Unfortunately, his new desire to stay quiet was doomed for failure as at that very moment the ground shook, rumbling loudly underneath Aang's feet as he looked around for it's source, finding it to be the earthen tent that Toph always chose to sleep in.

In mere moments, the earthen slaps were sent flying, crashing to the ground as dust filled the clearing, dissapating moments later to reveal the awake form of Toph, her hands raised in the air.

"Gooooood morning, earthbending student!" Toph yelled loudly, placing her hands on her hips as she grinned.

While Sokka didn't otherwise react, this was enough to wake the other two sleeping occupants of the clearing as Katara sat up in her sleeping bag while Feng rubbed at his eyes, rolling along on the ground slightly as he untangled himself from his cloak, doing so after a few moments and a grumble or two before he standing.

"Well, I'm awake now." Feng yawned loudly, still tired and quite sore from two days previously but otherwise okay. Part of that was probably because he had been the first one on watch, so he got to have 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

It was one of the compromises they made for him while he was recovering, but that would likely be over shortly. It was a shame too, as it was one of the two watches that didn't suck. The other was the last watch, where the elected person just had to go to bed a bit earlier and get up a bit earlier.

Today had been Toph's turn for that roll, which she had been quite pleased with when she had won the draw.

"Good morning, Sifu Toph." Anng greeted her, bowing towards her.

"Hey," Katara grumbled tiredly, rubbing her eyes. She'd been on the second watch. "you never called me Sifu Katara."

"Well, if you think I should…" Aang said hesitantly, scratching the back of his head as he looked at his water bending teacher, making her sigh before shaking her head. She would have found it weird, to be honest.

"Just so you know, I'm never going to call you Sifu, Aang." Feng yawned again, reaching up into the sky to stretch as far as possible, groaning slightly as a few pops in his back formed as well as because of how it stretched his bruised muscles.

"That's fine, I'd prefer to be called Aang anyway." The carefree boy said, shaking his head at the thought. A boy four years older than him called him master, the thought was just too strange for his mind.

Suddenly, Sokka shot up from where he was sleeping, grumbling in Aang's general direction. Unknown to the boy, a wicked smile formed on Toph's face.

"Sorry, Snoozles, we'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can." Toph said, whispering the last part with amusement.

Then she slammed her left heel into the ground, creating a crack that travelled towards Sokka who had just laid back down, only to yell in fear as an earth pillar rose from underneath him, catapulting him into the air as he screamed.

"That was probably a little bit too much." Feng replied, not bothering to hide his amusement as the scene. Especially because coming back down would probably hurt Sokka quite a bit. It wouldn't have for him if Toph had chosen a different target, but then again, he was an airbender, so heights weren't really something to be concerned about.

"Eh, he snored quite loudly last night, I feel like he deserved it."

"He did, didn't he?" Katara mumbled, getting to her feet as she stood beside Aang and Toph. To be honest, her brother did a lot of things that annoyed others, but after years of practice she had gotten pretty good at ignoring them.

He had? Feng blinked, thinking back over the previous night. When he was on watch, all he had heard was the gentle sound of nature alongside the quiet breathing of the other sleeping teens, not remembering being awoken at all.

Maybe he had started later? That could happen right? Either way though, he should probably cushion his landing, at least a little bit. Before that though, Feng reached his hands to the ground, bending over at his waist as he stretched out his hamstrings.

It was always important to stretch.

"…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sokka yelled, crashing into the ground about halfway between the Feng and the others.

Maybe he had stretched a bit to long. It was fine though as Sokka immediately got to his feet, still positioned inside his sleeping bag with only his head popping out as he hopped away angrily, grumbling first into Aang's face and then into Toph's smiling face before he hopped away and out of the clearing.

He'd probably be fine.

"So, what move are you going to teach me first?" Aang asked with excitement, holing out his right arm and bringing his clenched fist down like a hammer. "Rock-a-lanche?" He put his left fist against his right elbow, bending it upwards with a slight tremble. "The Trembler? Oh, maybe I could learn how to make a whirlpool out of land!"

Shaking her head, Toph reached out her hand and placed it on Aang's chest. "Let's start with move a rock."

"Sounds good, sounds good." Aang nodded, clapping his hands together.

Meanwhile, while interested in Toph's lesson, Katara saw that she was unneeded, so made her way over to Feng to see how he was going.

Currently he was moving through a series of stretches he used to keep limber, currently lungig forward with his front leg bent and his back leg straight, reaching up to the sky. While it was meant to be a smooth motion, airbending requiring smooth motions and all that, Feng's current movement was a bit jerky.

"Hey Feng, everything all right?"

Feng waited to get out of his stretch before responding, moving back to standing on both feet as he rolled his right shoulder, wincing slightly.

"I'm definitely a lot better than I was before, thanks for that by the way, but I'm still a bit sore in my muscles. It's mostly like I'd just used them a bit too much the day before, so I imagine with your help it should clear up by tomorrow."

"That's good then." Katara smiled, the expression lighting up her face as she reached for her pouch, opening to take a sip before bending out half of it. "Right, you know the drill. Strip."

The matter of fact tone she used for the command almost made Feng burst out in laughter, but he knew better than to do so, not when he was about to be healed by her. After she was done though he would make sure to point it out, if nothing else but for her reaction.

Still, he obeyed the command, taking all but his pant's off as Katara got to work, pushing her hand deeply into his muscle tissue as he waited for it to be over.

Which is was in less than five minutes.

"There, that should be the last of it." Katara declared, negligently tossing the water into the running stream.

"Thanks' again for that, Ka…Katara." Feng yawned, feeling a wave of exhaustion pass over him from the treatment. This was another reason why Katara couldn't heal him fully yesterday, despite having fully replenished chi reserves.

Water-bender healing, while primarily working with the healers chi as a medium, still required the patients body to help with the process. To provide the materials for healing the body. This meant that aside from healing small to moderate cuts and burns and such, larger scale things would tire the patient out.

Which was kind of a bummer for really sick or dangerously injured patients, but life wasn't always fair. At least for Feng, it would pass fairly quickly. Maybe he should take a nap?

"If you don't mind, I want to go see how Aang's doing with Toph." Katara interrupted his thought process, getting a wave from the man as he fought the urge to doze off. He was practically a man, and a young man at that.

Only children and the elderly took naps, and if he had his way, he wouldn't be counted among either's number. But a young man could meditate, couldn't they? Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Meditation happened with your eyes closed and a still body.

Almost like sleeping really, and it's hard to tell the difference between.

Or at least, that was what Feng's mind told him.

…

Unfortunately for Feng's mind, when he tried to slee-meditate, the racket caused by Aang and Toph's earthbending training was too loud to let him drift off. So instead, he ended up actually mediating like had said he would.

He could do that over the noise simply because he could focus on that rather than trying to get some more rest amidst the light and sound. So, after leaping up onto one of the taller mounds of rock and earth, Feng crossed his legs as he closed his eyes, keeping his back straight but loose as he placed his hands in his lap.

Once he was in position, he focused on his breathing. On his inhale and his exhale, how the air passed in and out of hui lungs in a steady rhythm as air entered and left his body. He continued this action for some time, focusing on his breath as he let the world around him fade away.

This, this is pretty nice Feng thought with wonder in the back of his head, the majority of it still focused on maintaining his meditative state. Like this, he could literally feel his concerns float away in the wind, leaving atop it's gentle embrace.

That was not a metaphor by the way, their actually was a slight breeze moving back and forth on his body, tickling his skin with it's touched.

His continued this action for a long time, falling deeper and deeper into his trance, time becoming irrelevant as he was left with simply his breath, and the wind.

Inhale. Pause. Exhale. Pause. Inhale. Pause. Exhale. Pause.

This is how it went for Feng, and it was actually one of the best activities he had participated in for a long time. But all good things must come to an end, so it was actually after an hour and a half by the teenagers recking of the sun's position that Feng came back into awareness.

"That was…"

Feng was lost for words, an overwhelming feeling of piece overcoming him more than anything else. Calmly, Feng moved to his feet, feeling only the slightest hint of soreness from the action.

"I don't know why I've avoided doing that for so long." Feng mused to the wind, peering about the surrounding area. "That was…better than I remembered it being, and I already remembered enjoying the experience when I was still back home, even if it was a little boring." Feng smirked.

Pop-pop had not had a fun time teaching a young Feng the skill.

"But now…" Feng lifted a hand, coaxing his hand to an invisible entity as a swirl of air filled his palm, running over his twirling fingers before he let it fly away, dissipating back into the breeze it had been borne from.

"I'm going to have to do this again."

If only because it made him more sensitive to his bending abilities, something he had never felt before. And his senses, although that may just be a placebo Feng admitted.

It still didn't stop him from hearing the sound of Toph stomping around the earth below, moving around the pathway as she made agitated gestures, throwing her hands in the air.

"I wonder what that's about?" Feng muttered, tilting his head. He was too far away for Toph's words to be more then illegible garbles to his ears, but her visual reaction was more than enough to figure out that Aang's earthbending lesson wasn't going well.

He should probably do something about that.

…

"Why is it so difficult for him to understand!? It's not that hard, you just need to stand firm and face the rock!" Toph yelled in frustration, stomping along the ground in an attempt to ease her frustration.

"I could do that from the time I was five! And he's the Avatar, he should have at least some defiance in him!"

Caught up in her tirade as it was, Toph missed the sound of Feng landing behind her as he leant against a rock. What she didn't miss was his spoken words.

"It's not that simple, Toph."

"Gaah!" Toph yelped, jumping away from his direction and landing a distance away in a sought of stumble, barely avoiding falling to the ground as she glared back at Feng.

"Where in the hell did you come from?!"

Feng pointed upwards, making Toph blink in surprise as she tried to sense for anything up there before her mind caught up to her.

"Oh, you can fly, right."

"Indeed." Feng nodded, calmly gesturing a hand to his side, a peaceful smile adorning his face. "Now, why don't you have a seat, and you can tell me what happened."

Toph huffed, but did as he said, falling heavily onto the stone beside him, her palms against the rock as she tilted her head back.

"It's just, my lesson with Aang…it's not going well."

"I see. Why is that?"

"Because twinkle-toes never stood still." Toph growled, scrunching her hands up slightly, her fingers passing through the stone. "No matter what I said, no matter how I tried to change my approach, Aang just…evaded. He never faced it directly."

She then sighed as she released her grip, leaning forward as she clasped her hands together, a pensive expression forming on her face.

"It's…different then I was expecting, to be honest. From the sounds of it, Aang picked up waterbending pretty easily, so I was kind of expecting them same for earthbending." Toph shrugged, waving a hand in the air. "I was wrong."

Ah, Feng could see the issue. To be frank, this had been something he had been expected to rear it's ugly head. Now how could he explain it to her?

After a seconds thought, Feng began.

"Well, you're right on the first thing, Aang did pick up waterbending pretty easily. I wasn't here for most of it, but the few sessions I've seen of them practicing Aang would rapidly improve. But tell me, can you think of why Aang found it so easy? Why he managed to water bend as soon as he tried?"

Posed with the question, Toph did think about it, tapping one of her heels on the ground in thought.

Feng was patient, watching her as she thought about it. Hopefully, she would come up with the right conclusion, as it was quite logical if you-

"Nope, I got nothing."

Well, Feng guessed it was only logical to him. Screw it, he'll just tell her.

"It's because waterbending shares a lot of similarities with airbending. Some of the more basic waterbending moves flow in a similar way to the airbending katas, and like air, water travels around any obstacles in it's path. Yes, there are still differences between the two, and past the basic level the similarities aren't that strong, but Aang had already had a foot in the door by that point."

Well, that and hundreds of past lives to help with the process.

"Earthbending, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. Unlike airbending, you have to stand firm to bend the earth. Unyielding. An immovable object. For a master airbending, one of the most talented airbenders in history for that matter, this is not an easy task."

"Really? That's the reason?" Toph asked in surprise as she looked to Feng for confirmation.

"I believe so." Feng nodded, getting to his feet as he brushed off some of the dirt on his pants. "Like you, Aang became a master bender by the young age of twelve. You have at least some idea of how amazing such a feat is, right?"

"Yeah, I do." Toph sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. "It's one of the reasons I hid my bending skills from my family. Xin Fu was sceptical enough when I won the first time, but at least he was just a regular lowlife, one more focused on money than anything else. For people who actually know how rare it was, they would have stopped at nothing to badger me about my abilities."

"And why is that?" Feng asked leadingly, walking back towards the camp with his hands behind his back.

Silence filled the pathway for a second as Toph considered the question before offering her best guess.

"Because I have a natural affinity for the element?"

"Correct." Feng nodded, pleased with her logic, making Toph fist pump with a grin where he couldn't see her. "You have a natural affinity with the element. It's a common attribute in all the youngest bending masters I've seen, even if I'm not sure you've noticed."

Looking back, he saw her curious expression, so Feng elaborated.

"Your naturally stubborn and slow to change your opinion. You stand firm against the world, not letting anything push you aside, not even your blindness. Those all sound like attributes of the earth, correct?"

"Uh-huh." Toph nodded, accepting his description of her. Why wouldn't she? It was true.

"Katara on the other hand is different. Like water, she seeks to diffuse conflict, moving around her own problems and the problems of the people around her. But like water, she also doesn't give up when rejected, continuing to soldier through as she grinds away at any imposed resistance. Sometimes, she can be stubborn, like ice, and other times she is carefree, like steam. Ultimately, she is fluid in nature, just like water, which is one of the reason she mastered waterbedning at the young age of 14."

"Huh, I didn't actually think of it like that. Who knew princess was so skilled? But is this going somewhere?"

Feng chose to ignore her cheek; it wasn't about him anyway.

"Just give me a moment you brat." Alright, maybe he didn't. When she did, he continued.

"As I was going to say, Aang became a master bender at 12, and that is because he too, like yourself and Katara, embodied his element. Like air, he seeks to move around his problems, to look for another way. When faced with any resistance, he never choses to face it head on, instead he moves to another pathway."

In his mind, Feng thought that he was like this about his Avatar duties as well, running away when he was told and even now getting side-tracked. But if he had stayed, what would have happened? He was still an unrealised Avatar when the fire nation came. Like his ancestors, he too would have been slaughtered, restarting the cycle.

Who knows what would have happened with the 100 year war with an Avatar around. Hell, by now they probably would have been back to an earthbender again. Really, if that had happened the girl beside him could have been the avatar. She was certainly skilled enough for it, but that was a thought better left behind, as Feng had more important things to focus on.

"Unfortunately, these are all exactly the traits that are the opposite of what makes a good earthbender, so I'm not surprised that he's having so much trouble with it."

Toph signed, evidently agreeing with Feng's words as she grumbled. "Yeah, well that still doesn't make it any easier to teach him, even if I know what the problem is."

"Ah, but now that you know what the problem is, you can seek out some help from a higher power."

"A higher power? Do you mean a sprit?" Toph asked curiously with some disbelief.

Feng grinned as he shook his head pointing a thumb at his chest.

"Nope, you're looking at him."

Silence dawned for a few seconds, the sound of a gentle breeze shifting the loose dirt around them before Tophs' laughter echoed throughout the clearing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

She didn't have to be so mean about it, Feng pouted as he crossed his arms. He hadn't been joking, he actually could help.

…

When the pair made it back to the campsite, they found Aang meditating by the water by himself. Looking around, Feng caught no sight of Katara, so he just assumed she was getting firewood or foraging or something. It was the early afternoon now, and in an hour or two they'd have to prepare the campsite for the night.

"Aang, get over here, we need to talk for a second." Toph said bluntly, making Aang's eyebrow twitch as he peaked one eye open.

Seeing that it was his teacher alongside Feng, he signed but did as requested, returning to his feet as he walked over.

"Alright, what did you want to talk about?" Aang asked curiously, looking between the pair.

Pointing her thumb at him, Toph grinned widely.

"Genius here helped me figure out exactly what you problem is. To put it bluntly…you've got a crap personality for earthbending."

"Gee," Aang muttered, "thanks for the compliment."

"It shouldn't be." Toph replied with a smirk, falling silent once more. Feng took this as his invitation to speak.

"What she means to say is that because of your personality traits, while you mastered airbending very quickly, it will directly inhibit your training as an earthbender. Or at least, inhibit the process of beginning to earthbend."

That didn't make Aang look any happier, but he did direct his attention towards Feng.

"To put it another way, you embody the air in all it's nature, just like Katara embodies water and Toph embodies earth. This helped you all learn your respective elements at a rapid pace, but it also makes it harder to learn an element if you have opposing personality traits, like you do with earth."

Aang slumped with disappointment, so Feng decided to change tacts to cheer him up.

"Luckily, I have a solution for you."

"You do?"

"I do." Feng confirmed, a smirk gracing his lips. "Because I have just the experience to help with your problems. While I possess a primarily care-free nature that helps with airbending, I am also quite stubborn when I want to be, and do not shy away from my problems, all of which are traits of earthbending."

"You…really do…huh." Aang muttered, thinking back on their lessons, how Feng would get fixated and never stop. "Well, if you can help me, that's great."

"I think I can, and it's actually based in an airbending move that I invented when I was younger."

"You did!?" Aang yelled in surprise, his eyes wide open as he leant forward in excitement. "Why didn't you tell me? For that matter, why haven't you shown me either? We've been travelling together for a month now."

That was true, Feng supposed.

"Mostly because I never had an occasion that actually needed it, as it's not exactly the most useful technique in most cases, but it does have a few uses. If you would allow me to demonstrate?"

Aang nodded eagerly, his head bobbing up and down rapidly as excitement overtook him. Not bothering to hide his amusement, Feng addressed Toph.

"Would you mind helping me with this? It'd be more effect with a partner."

"Sure, what do you need?" Toph replied, dusting her hands together. Gesturing to a spot on the ground, Feng walked around 10 paces from her position, turning back around to face her. Still within easy talking distance, but far enough to allow for some bending.

"When your ready, would you mind sending a rock at me?"

"A rock?"

Evidently, she was sceptical.

"A rock," Feng nodded, "whenever you please."

"Alright." Toph shrugged, stomping a foot down as she crouched, causing a beachball sided stone to erupt from the ground in front of her. Rearing an arm back, Toph stepped forward as she thrusted her palm against the rock, sending it flying towards Feng.

It was actually moving at a blistering pace and would hurt quite a bit if it actually made contact, but he had literally asked for the attack.

Instead, as the rock soared towards him, Feng moved into a crouch, his legs spread wide as he held his arms out, palms spread with bent fingers, almost like he was holding onto something.

At the very last second, Feng brought his arms together, the back of his forearms held perpendicular in front of his body with his fists closed. This action had an extreme reaction on the air around him as a slight popping sound was heard due to a sudden void that appeared around him. This void wasn't created from nowhere however, as the air that had previously been in its position was centred in front of Feng, densely packed in a swirling half dome of air.

A dome of air that barely moved when struck with Tophs's attack, the large stone being sent elsewhere as the barrier held strong.

"I like to call this technique the air fortress, for more reasons then one." Feng grunted out; his concentration straining due to the technique as Aang clapped with appreciation.

"Woah!"

"For instance," Feng smiled grimily as he moved one of his arms out of position, cocking his arm back, "with the dense air I have gathered, I can do…this!"

At the same time he yelled the last word, he thrusted his hand forward, rotating it until it hit the barrier in front of him, sending a swirling stream of air flying out, one the howled at the world around it as it travelled for a distance before dissipating, having been aimed at the sky.

Seeing that his demonstration was over, Feng released some of his control of the technique, letting the wind dissipate gradually as he released more and more of his focus. Finished after 5 seconds, Feng wiped a bead of sweat of his forehead as he breathed heavily and walked back over to Toph and Aang.

"The hell kind of technique was that?" Toph asked in confusion, sharing a glance with the much less confused and far more excited Avatar.

"A technique that I spent number of weeks creating…so that I could imitate my mother."

A sombre silence fell over the clearing at Feng's words, the two listeners feeling the heaviness to them. They both knew the topic was a touchy subject for the elder teen.

"That's right…you said she was an Earthbender, didn't you." Toph muttered softly, earning a nod from Feng. "That's why it looks like an Earthbending technique, right? Because it's literally based off of one. The earth shield, I believe?"

"Yes." Feng agreed, turning to Aang. "That's why I want you to learn it first Aang. Not only because it is a valuable move in case you ever need to shield and counterattack, but because it is a literal bridge between the two bending styles."

Aang nodded rapidly before tilting his head to the side. "Speaking of that…why didn't you use that technique against Azula? It should have protected you from the explosion."

Feng blinked as he froze in place, his mind going blank. Aang was correct, he could have used the Air Fortress to protect himself from the explosion. It wouldn't take I direct blow from the lightning, but it should have protected against the aftereffects that had pained him so much.

"Well…alright, I didn't think about it at the time, okay? I don't normally use the technique, so in my state of fatigue it didn't occur to me." Feng admitted, rubbing his head in embarrassment, something that made the other two grin.

"So," Aang shook his head, "how does the technique work?"

Taking the time to explain it, it took less than an hour of back and forth between the two airbenders before Aang had the beginning of a workable technique. It wasn't nearly as good as Feng's, but Feng had a few years practice with it and a better mindset to apply it.

Signalling Toph, Feng watched as Toph bended a small rock in front of her, sending it flying towards Aang just as he went through one more iteration of the technique, sweating as he crouched with a wide stance, his arms held open.

"Head's up!"

Caught by surprise, Aang did what came naturally to him, focusing solely on the rock flying towards him. Unlike what he would have done an hour previously however, Aang did not dodge out of the way. Instead, he stood his ground as he brought his arms together, his face set as a wall of wind appeared in front of him.

Faced with this wall, the rock didn't stand a chance as it was stopped in it's place before being sent backwards, caught by Toph in one hand as a wide grin appeared on her face.

"Excellent, you're finally getting the attitude down."

But Aang, who had just been attacked with no warning, was not in the mood for such compliments.

"The hell was that for!?"

"To test if you've actually learned the technique Aang." Feng grinned as he interjected, crossing his arms. "You have, by the way, so now I think it's time for you to try moving a rock again."

Aang frowned in irritation, still annoyed but he otherwise complied, turning to a small rock 2 metres to his left. Crouching down in a similar way to the Air Fortress technique, Aang held firm as he punched out an arm, focusing his will on the rock.

Much to his surprise, instead of doing nothing like earlier in the day, the rock was sent hurtling away, crashing against the cliff face in a shower of rock shards. It seems like the attitude had made all the difference, Feng thought with amusement.

"I did it!" Aang cheered, jumping in the air. "I'm an earthbender!"

And he had immediately resorted to his base state as an Airbender Feng sighed. Not unexpected, to be honest, but at least he had earthbended for the first time. He should have a feeling for it now, so the rest would just come down to practice.

"Congratulations, Aang!" Katara said, making Feng blink as he looked behind him, catching sight of the young woman carrying a pile of twigs as she walked towards them. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks, Katara!" Aang replied with exuberance, happy with himself.

"Just in time too." Feng noted, looking at the position of the lowering sun. It would be dark soon, which meant that they would have had to stop for the night.

"I know." Toph relied with satisfaction, her hands on her hip. "I'd hoped to have covered more than just this, but getting him to actually earthbend is also an accomplishment. We can cover more tomorrow. Still, thanks for your help Feng."

"Your welcome, Toph."

Together, the four teens watched as the sun continued it's descent, almost touching the mountainous mounds of rock on the horizon as the sun set.

"…why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?" Katara wondered aloud, not taking her eyes away from the sight.

"If you forgot about it, it probably wasn't that important to begin with." Feng pointed out as Katara sighed in agreement.

"I suppose you're right."

…

"Hey, guys?!" Sokka yelled from his place trapped in the crevice, a viscous itch centred on his nose. "Hello?! Can somebody get me out of here?!"

The shadows deepened as more and more of the light left the area, replaced by the evening darkness.

"It's getting cold...and I need to pee!"

…

"Finally!" Azula spat as the guard managed to pry off the last bit of earth around her mouth with care, freeing her ability to talk and drink. They both ignored the red marks on her cheeks and mouth, clear sighs of irritation from the rock.

"I swear, when I get my hands on that blasted blind girl, I'm going to wring her little neck!"

"Or, you could, not?" Ty Lee offered, sitting in one of the chairs as she rubbed her feet. "It's not like they hurt us or anything. To be honest, they probably let us off a bit easy."

"Of course you would say that." Mai sighed, twirling a knife between her fingers. "Especially after that treatment you got from the tall one."

Just mentioning him caused Ty Lee to blush as she looked away.

"You're right Ty Lee." Azula said after some though, consideration pasted across her face.

"I am?" Ty Lee blinked in surprised, not used to hearing those words.

"You are." Azula nodded, reaffirming her statement as a viscous grin split her face. "Just winging her neck is too good for her. No, first I'm going to start with her hands, and then her feet. Take her bending away from her, and thus her sight. Then, after she's forced to live like that for a while, only then will she have my permission to die."

Both Ty Lee and Mai grimaced as the vitriol spewing out of the princesses mouth. Apparently, she had been more irritated with the trek through the forest and the gag then they'd thought. Still, they wisely did not comment, fully aware of how spiteful Azula could be sometimes.

"And how are you going to do that when she doesn't leave the group she's travelling with?" Mai said, the braver of the two. "There is still the Avatar and the waterbender to take into consideration."

"The Avatar is just some boy in way over his head." Azula growled, tossing the metal cup in her hand she had been using to quench her thirst against the wall as the remaining water in it spilled out. "By himself, he is no match for me, nor is that earthbender. The two of them together could barely keep up with me."

Ty Lee and Mai exchanged a glance at the statement. From what they had seen, that was not quite true.

"I would have dealt with them too if it wasn't for their friends interference."

"Ooh, the airbender? He was cute."

"Yes, the…airbender." Azula frowned as her thoughts turned towards his general existence. "I had though that, with exception to the Avatar, all of the airbenders had been wiped out by my grandfather."

A bruise on the princess' side flared in reminder as she grimaced.

"Evidently, he was not as thorough as we once believed."

Both Ty Lee and Mai nodded. Feng's presence had clearly shown that there was at least one airbender in the world besides the Avatar.

"And if he exists, there is nothing to stop others from as well." Azula said as she shook her head. "Not that it matters much, airbenders were always the weakest of the benders, and with the Avatar's reveal it doesn't really matter if more of them exist."

Mai pursed her lips but didn't do anything apart from nod. In her lessons, Airbenders were always said to be viscous, to be plotting against the fire nation. That was why they were wiped out in the first place. When she was younger, she had believed it, but the older she got, and the more she saw of the world…

Well, it left some doubt in her mind. It didn't stop her from being annoyed at his casual dismissal of her blades, even if his interrogation technique was inspired.

"Regardless, I'll still bring it to father's attention as it is something he will want to know. Maybe he'll send some soldiers out looking for other airbenders, but that doesn't really concern me," Azula said carelessly, displaying a clear lack of empathy as she growled, "just as long as I can deal with this one personally."