Chapter 15

Two glorious hours later, and a shower, Feng was led out of the building with some pep in his step, a wide grin pasted across his face as he waved goodbye to the dour-looking guard who had led him out, the man in question not doing anything more than grunting slightly as he shut the door.

"Well, he seems nice." Feng nodded to himself before looking around the area, scratching his head in thought. "Now, if I was Toph, where would I be?" Turns out that he didn't need to ask that question, as Toph was actually leaning against the wall of the gambling house, looking smug as she waved him over, having detected his presence with her Seismic Sense.

So, with a relaxed step Feng wandered over, not bothering to hide his good mood as he greeted the girl.

"Hey Toph, thanks for waiting. Did you have fun?"

"Yep, a lot of it. Did you?" Toph raised an eyebrow, smirking as she stared at Feng.

"I had a lot of fun, thanks to you Toph, although it does leave me with one or two questions."

"Oh? And these questions are?"

"First," Feng replied, lifting a finger, "you're twelve, how exactly do you know about…that? I didn't actually learn about it until I was 14, and this was after a few years on the road."

"That's valid," Top decided with a nod. "Yeah, a funny thing about stuff like that," she chuckled. "It's a little hard to hide stuff from someone who can sense the area around them for hundreds of meters. Sure, I can't hear anything, but I can see it. So, when I saw the Badger Moles doing something I didn't understand, naturally I was curious. When I saw that my parents doing something similar, I decided to ask about it."

Feng made a face, grossed out at the thought of seeing his parents getting down and dirty.

"Yeah, those were my thoughts exactly when I actually found out what it was." Toph grimaced in agreement upon sensing Feng's face as she looked away, a faint tinge of red crossing her cheeks. "That was not a conversation I wanted to have at 9 years of age. Luckily, I was able to play it off by just wondering the compound, but I couldn't look at them straight for a month without my mind going elsewhere."

That was fair. If Feng had been in the same position, it likely would have been longer.

"I see," Feng replied in a quiet tone as he tilted his head. "So, you found out about stuff like that when you were young, and as you grew up and explored the world, you sensed more stuff like it? Like when you went to the Earth Rumble?"

"Yep." Toph nodded casually as she buffed her nails, still leaning against the wall. "It was actually pretty bad around the arena, especially with the Boulder. After the tournaments, he would always get swarmed by his cheerleaders before I could get out of range. To be honest, I was forced to become used to such things as I grew up, merely learning to not mention them to people. After all, what person would want to know that you're aware of every dark and sordid detail of their private lives? Spirits know I wouldn't if I was in their position."

"Ah." Feng enunciated as an awkward thought came to mind. "So, while I was gone, you were also sensing…what I was doing?"

"If you're talking about you and the ditz doing the tango, yes, yes I did," Toph replied with amusement. "Although the softness of the bed did blur some of the actions, which helped a bit."

Yes, it would be helpful…for the parts he was on the bed for. As if she knew what he was thinking, Toph's smirk increased a little, nodding.

"So, how'd your gambling go after I left? Did you win anything?" Feng forcefully asked, trying to change the topic. He may have less shame than the average person, but even he had his limits, like discussing it with his twelve-year-old friend after she enabled the situation.

"Did I win anything?" Toph echoed before pointing at the ground of her feet, where three separate bags were laying, each of them bulging roundly. "You tell me."

Blinking in surprise, Feng did as she said, leaning down to untie the binding of the central bag, opening it to reveal the golden glint of the top Earthen denomination, one among many of its siblings.

Whistling at the sight, Feng turned his gaze first to the other two equally full bags and then back up to Toph, a question on his lips. "And the other bags are just as full?"

"Yep." Toph nodded, looking especially pleased with herself as she pushed off the wall. "It's why I'm still here actually, I've been finished for about a half-hour, but I don't think I can carry this all by myself. Otherwise, I would have gone back to the house with the other three."

That was fair enough, so with zero complaints, Feng lifted two of the bags himself, almost straining under their heft as he attached them to his, thankfully, sturdy belt, shifting slightly as he got used to the change in balance this caused.

Finally satisfied, Feng followed Toph as she hefted a bag on its own, leading the way towards the station.

"How much gold did you win, anyway? And did Jack have any issue with it? We're walking away with a not inconsiderable fortune on our bodies."

"That's part of the reason I was waiting for you, actually," Toph said, gracefully navigating the slightly bumpy pathway. "Jack kept trying to win money off me by raising the stakes, but I kept winning, until eventually, she cut me off, not wanting to lose anymore. We're banned from there, by the way. Apparently, we cost them too much money."

That's a shame, Feng decided. He would have liked to see Angel again, but it made sense. They'd literally made off like bandits, heh, with what Feng estimated to be almost 400 Gold coins, literally doubling their fortune in a span of a couple of hours.

That decided it, if Feng ever went gambling, he would be taking his friend here with him.

"So, are you just unnaturally lucky, or is there some trick to it that I'm not seeing? I always lost money whenever I went to places like this, only having a few minor wins before losing what I'd made and more to the house."

"That's probably because the house cheats," Toph stated matter-of-factly, making Feng stumbled for a second before he regained his balance.

"I'm sorry, did you say that they cheat?"

"Yep."

"Then how in the, forgive my language, hell did you win so much?! You've made a considerable portion of your family's income in a day!"

"Simple," Toph replied with a grin, not caring for the language in the least. "They made have cheated, by I cheated harder. Did you notice how each of those playing cards was quite rigid and somewhat thicker than the ones you had?"

Feng hadn't, but he nodded anyway.

"Well, that's because they have little bits of earth stuck between thin pieces of wood. Not enough to make them any heavier than the wood already does, but enough to notice if you have enough practice with earthbending like I suspect all the dealers there do. Unfortunately for them, I'm a better sensor than they ever will be, so it didn't take me long to figure out their little deception."

"Then if that's the case, why did you lose the first half hour? Or any other time for that matter?"

"Because I had to learn what the symbols meant." Toph shrugged, giving Feng an amused glance. "I could sense the earth straight away, but that didn't mean I knew what each arrangement meant. And after I did learn the pattern, I had to make sure I didn't win every time to make them think I was just lucky. Well, for a while at least, Jack eventually figured it out."

She did?

"Wouldn't she be mad though?"

"You'd think so," Toph gestured with her free hand, tilting it back and forth in a wavering manner, "but she just laughed instead, asking if I was an earthbender after she revealed she was one as well. And I wouldn't be that mad if I was her either, I could sense just how much gold she actually has stored in that little gambling house of hers, and let me tell you, it makes what we have now look like chump change."

Arriving at the station, Toph and Feng only had to wait a few seconds for a monorail to arrive, one that would take them to their stop in only 15 minutes.

"Apparently, when Joo Dee goes looking for a gambling house, she goes all out, because Jack's is the most popular gambling house in all of Ba Sing Se, even the ones in the Upper Ring. Why else do you think one of the five generals was there? Combine their rich clientele and their distracting attendants and Jack's making money hand over fist, as in she literally has tens of thousands of gold coins stored around her property, most of it buried underground. After she discovered me and I was cut off, we chatted for a little, and I found out some interesting things."

With a grin, Toph fetched a single Gold coin out of her back, rolling it between her fingers as she focused intently on it before she bent it first in half, and then molded it to a point, before forcing it to form a rough but shiny gold ring around her finger.

"Apparently, there's enough earth in the gold that it can be bent with enough effort, as Gold isn't actually that hard compared to most metals, so with a little bit of effort and some fine control…"

The Gold coin returned back to its original form, which Toph then flipped with a flick of her thumb before catching it.

"Bending it is possible," Feng breathed out in surprise at her discovery, well Jack's Discovery. "Toph, that's amazing! You're amazing!"

"I am amazing, aren't I?" Toph agreed, placing the coin back in the bag before it could gain the attention of the other inhabitants of the monorail, as few of them as there were. "And if bending gold like this is possible, if tiring, then it makes me wonder if the same is possible for other metals, like the iron that Fire Nation Military uses. Apparently, Jack's never been able to do it when she tried, and actually struggles to even move gold like this."

She shrugged but didn't lose her smile.

"But that doesn't mean that I won't."

If…if Toph could actually do what she said, if she could bend the iron the fire nation uses, the number of options in combat for the group would increase exponentially, at least when they are faced with such things.

Their ships, for instance, one of the reasons the Fire Nation ships were so powerful in comparison to the ships used by the other nations, is that when struck against rock, other ships or ice, more often than not, they didn't break, their thick hulls protecting them.

But if Toph could bend the metal, and create holes in their holes…they would sink, the Fire Nation's Navy would be reduced to a fraction of its power. That's not even including the prisons they use for other Eartbenders. If Toph could metal bend, she could perform a one-woman prison break, freeing up a number of people to help fight the fight against Ozai.

People like those imprisoned in the Boiling Rock, a small part of Feng's mind whispered, the beginning of a plan forming in his mind that wouldn't reach full completion for a while, but when it did, the results would be legendary.

Toph would be legendary, even more so than she already was, and that thought seemed to strike a chord in Feng's heart as a fire began to roar inside of him, one that yelled at him to not be left behind, to search for bigger and brighter things.

To stand alongside the giants that were Aang and Toph as they faced off against the Fire Nation.

That was a goal that Feng wanted to see realized and to do that, there was one thing he had to do, and that's train, and train a lot. Starting with his Air Flow Sense, or at least the beginnings of it.

…

"Hang on a second Feng, I gotta check something," Toph said, stopping Feng from opening the door to the house they had been given.

"Alright?" Feng said, sounding confused but doing as she said anyway. Maybe something felt off to her?

Focusing, Toph slammed her foot into the ground to get a more detailed look of what was around her, tilting her head in thought before a wicked smile crossed her face.

"Follow my lead," Toph said, not giving him any chance to say anything as she marched up to the door, slamming it open as she stepped inside, closely followed by Feng as they made it into the living room, where there were currently three teens located.

Only, two of these teens were drunk and the other was well on his way there.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here?" Toph drawled, smirking as she placed a hand on her hip, the sound of her voice startling Aang from where he was sitting, making him tumble to the ground in a flurry of limbs.

"Gahh!" Aang yelped, lying there as he rubbed his head, looking up at Toph and Feng as he did. "Oh…hey there guys *HIC* how have you been?"

"Oh, I'm wonderful fancy pants, thanks for asking. Made a buttload of money too. What I'm wondering, is just how drunk are you and dumb and dumber? Because the three of you literally reek of alcohol."

Taking a second to sniff, Feng could confirm that he did indeed smell the presence of alcohol on the three teens, its distinct scent filling the room.

"Well…I can't say the same for Sokka and Katara, but I'm not completely drunk *HIC*." Aang replied, pausing to confirm his thoughts before nodding, still lying on the floor. "Yeah, not completely yet, I can still talk…mostly fine."

"I can see that," Feng said, looking between the other two. "What about them? Because if I'm honest, neither of them look good."

For instance, Sokka was laid out over a couch, currently on his side with a slightly green face. His hair, normally tied up neatly, was currently a mess that went almost everywhere, and for some strange reason, he was missing a shoe.

Katara, on the other hand, looked a little better, but only a little, as she was currently leaning back into an armchair with a slightly glazed expression, her cheeks a flushed red and her normally tied back hair going everywhere, even her mouth as she spat it back out when it did.

"I…still speaking," Katara replied, waving a hand before focusing on it for a second, the shape of it somehow catching her attention as she giggled. "Just can't stand *HIC* grounds shaking too much."

"That would be the alcohol." Feng chuckled as he looked over her, glad to see that she was still cognizant. Sokka, well Sokka couldn't do more than groan as sick as he looked, but he would probably be fine.

Probably.

"Man, when I said to relax, you three really went all out," Feng commented.

"Yeah…we kind of did *HIC* didn't we?" Aang blushed slightly, hiccupping slightly mid-sentence as he finally made to get up, only swaying slightly as he did, but still standing strong. "After the pair of them lost about 8 gold to the various games, we decided it would be best to just go somewhere *HIC* else, as they had already gotten to experience *HIC* Gambling. That led to the other thing neither of them had tried."

"Drinking." Toph voiced, earning a nod that made Aang lose balance slightly before he regained it.

"Yeah…Joo Dee led us to a bar about 15 minutes from here, which is where we spent the rest of the money we had. Sorry about that, by the way, *HIC*"

"Eh, it's fine," Feng replied, shaking off the apology. It really was, Toph had made more than enough money for them to have spent 100 gold and still let them come out with a fortune. Searching for a place to sit, Feng settled on pulling out one of the kitchen chairs, an action copied by Toph as the pair of them sat, just observing the trio.

It wasn't as entertaining as Feng had hoped it would be, but that was probably because he got here too late, after they'd already drank too much.

"Did you guys have *HIC* fun?" Aang chose to ask, looking curiously at them as best he could with the red currently in his cheeks.

"We did indeed, Aang. Toph here put on a wonderful show of how to scam the dealer, taking quite a profit. She didn't even need any help after the first half hour," Feng began as Toph continued.

"Which was a good thing, as Feng ditched me halfway through to have some fun with a lady friend of his."

Aang, if he had been drinking, would have spat it out judging by the look of surprise he gave Feng, although there was a second part of it that Geng tried to place. Was that...awe?

"Only because you told me to." Feng grinned, getting one back from Toph who nodded, confirming that she had.

"Don't eat the fish, it can talk!" Katara yelled suddenly, interrupting the group's thought process before they all shared amused glances, letting Katara go back to her daydreaming.

"So, did you really…you know…go off with some lady there?" Aang couldn't help but ask, curiosity shining in his eyes even as his cheeks became red for a reason other than the alcohol in his system, his eyes shining brightly at Feng.

"Yep," Feng grinned, feeling no need to hide his actions. "I had a great time, and from the sounds of it, so did she. Why do you ask? Did you want to complete the trifecta of sins to complete the day?"

"No! No!" Aang waved his hands rapidly as the dynamic duo laughed, becoming more embarrassed by the second. "Nothing like that! I was just…curious, yeah, curious about what that would be like."

A second after Aang said those words, he realized what he had just said as he slapped his hands over his mouth, his face turning crimson as Toph and Feng continued to laugh their heads off.

"Oh Spirits! Twinkletoes is a pervy drunk!" Toph laughed, slapping her knee much to Aang's irritation.

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Feng joined in on the teasing, a twinkle in his eye as he gazed at the other two. "And I'm just going to guess that Katara's a happy drunk as well as somewhat airheaded?"

Aang nodded, glad to be able to change the subject as he confirmed the guess.

"Then what kind of effect does it have on Sokka?"

This question finally earned a different reaction out of the bald-headed boy as he placed his head in his hands, groaning.

"Jokes," Aang mumbled, still loud enough to be heard. "He starts telling really bad jokes that only got worse the more he drank. By the end of it, we just forced him to keep drinking to shut him up before he annoyed the other bat patrons too much. That's why he's currently lying on the sofa, we may have possibly, just possibly, given him too much."

Feng and Toph glanced at the basically comatose form of Sokka.

"Just a bit." Aang felt compelled to add, holding his fingers a smidge apart as Feng couldn't help but smile, shaking his head.

"And Katara can't heal you because she's too out of it. Well, I think I can safely say the three of you are going to have a fun time after the alcohol wears off. Do you remember what comes after?"

"Arrghh, I forgot about that part." Aang groaned, wiping his hands down his face as he rubbed his eyes. "That's going to suck."

"Mm, for Snoozles there more than you, I'm sure," Toph said. "For a first-time drinker, he seems to have had an awful lot."

"Eh, just think of it as a part of the experience. After all, I've experienced a hangover before, as I'm sure Feng has, and now Katara and Sokka will as well. Valuable knowledge for every teen." Aang shrugged, not really caring much, maybe another effect of the alcohol Feng suspected.

But it was also true, your first hangover was also an experience, just like your first time getting drunk. For Feng, he had been 14 like Katara, having scored some booze from a shady-looking merchant on the road that he used to get truly and utterly smashed.

It had been fun at the time, but the pain in his head the morning after had almost made him want to end it all. At least Sokka and Katara would have people to help them.

"Well, I guess I'll just leave the three of you to it if that's alright?"

Aang nodded, so with his permission, Feng moved to his feet, first looking in the kitchen to find it almost empty.

"Hey, Toph!" Feng yelled.

"What?!" She yelled back from the other room

"Do you want to go out for lunch?! There isn't much to eat here!"

"I'd love to!"

Chuckling, Feng moved back to the living room, joining Toph as she stepped out the door and paused on the cusp of it as a thought came to mind, making him backtrack slightly to the living room.

"Hey Aang, make sure to drink plenty of water, alright? It'll help with the aftereffects."

Aang gave a thumbs up in reply as Feng nodded, satisfied that he had done his duty to the group.

"Katara and Sokka too, if you can!" Feng tossed over his shoulder just as he left, closing the door behind him and beginning to walk away from the house with Toph, the only difference from earlier being that they had dropped off the three bags of gold they'd won from Jack's.

"You ever try deep fried food?" Feng asked as made conversation, remembering passing by a place with some delectable-looking fried chicken on the way from the station.

"No," Toph shook her head with a grin. "But I'm more than willing to."

Feng was sure she'd love it. Unhealthy food and children seemed to go together wonderfully. As did teenagers and unhealthy food for that matter, as he was looking forward to it after having worked up an appetite since his late breakfast.

…

Right, Feng thought as the dawn of the next day caused him to awaken, time to go to work. Tossing his sheets away, Feng stood quietly as he went about stretching slightly, working out a few kinks that had formed as he slept before breathing in deeply and then out, making his cloak flutter under the stream of wind this created.

"Training first, I think," Feng said, looking at the position of the sun. It had barely crested the horizon, and while he could sneak around in search of information, a lot of what he would want to find would be talked about later in the day, or it would require him to steal something which would be better done in the darkness.

"Some meditation to start with, but there's no real good place to do it in the city, there's not enough wind down here."

Normally, Feng would solve this problem by going onto some hilltop or something, or if that failed a pillar he would have Toph create. However, it was so early right now that he doubted she would be awake, and that's if they should do it anyway.

He kind of felt like creating a random pillar in the middle of the Upper Ring wouldn't send the right message, so he should probably avoid doing that.

"But I think I do know somewhere that will work." Feng smiled as he pulled his shoes on, the only thing he had not been wearing before he opened the window of his room, closing it behind him as he snuck through.

After all, if the wind wasn't down here, he had to go to a place where it would be. Like, for example, the top of one of Ba Sing Se's Walls. They were so tall that there was sure to be some wind up there.

…

"I wonder if I'm allowed up here?" Feng asked himself as he reached the top of the staircase he had found, a thin pathway of almost 1000 stairs that he only felt comfortable using because if he fell, he'd just be able to glide down.

Which was good, because he'd almost lost his balance on three separate occasions and was actually forced to use his bending to push himself back on the path the one time he did. It had been worth it though, as the views from the top of the wall that divided the middle and upper rings were spectacular, letting him see the city of Ba Sing Se stretch out in front of him no matter what direction he looked at.

While the upper ring was mostly widespread buildings and parks, it was the middle ring that was far more interesting, at least in Feng's opinion, as while half of it was farmland, filled with the food and animals the people of Ba Sing Se naturally ate, the rest was filled with buildings. With people.

It really drove it home to Feng just how many people lived in the capital of the Earth Kingdom, the millions of people seeking to avoid being taken over by the Fire Nation, all protected behind the city's mighty walls.

It was humbling, in a way, to see all these people, as it was more than Feng would ever be able to personally talk to, and that…that was weird to think about. Hell, it was weird enough just looking at them all.

"But that's not why I'm here, is it?" Feng said to himself softly, closing his eyes to take in a deep breath before letting it out as he took a closer look at the section of the wall he was currently on. Letting his gaze stretch over the vast structure, only seeing a slight curve due to its size, Feng had only one thought about it.

It was boring. Like, seriously, aside from slight sections of higher earth, almost acting as dividers at about 1 km intervals, the wall was just one flat section with no rails or anything, just emptiness.

But it was also the perfect place to get some large-scale training, especially if he could get Toph up here to create some obstacles.

"First thing's first though." Feng cautioned, sitting down on a spot by the edge of the wall that faced the middle ring, letting the breeze his height gave him wash over his body, causing his clothes to move slightly as Feng centered himself.

Taking in a deep breath, Feng let it out slowly, letting the air in his lungs diffuse at a slow rate with the air around him, seeking to ensure a steady transference of the medium. He repeated the action, sucking in another large breath of air. Feng's bending caused him to take in far more air than a man with his lungs should, but he showed almost no sign of it, simply possessing a slightly larger abdomen than normal, Feng's lungs compressing the excess air.

Not consciously either, like when he did the same with the air outside of his body, but more something his body just did naturally, his bending enhancing the compressive force lungs already kind of had when at full capacity.

In, and out, Feng continued, repeating his breathing exercise over and over again as he let all thought escape his mind, leaving just his lungs and the air rushing through them. In…and out. When his subconscious believed him to be ready, as his active mind was currently shut down, Feng began to increase the amount of air he was breathing, ever so slowly, increasing the length of time he would inhale and exhale.

30 minutes passed as Feng kept at it, slowly increasing the length of his breathing, until by the end he was only taking a breath once a minute, bringing a truly obscene amount of air into his lungs, almost 10 times what he could do without his bending if he had to estimate.

He would have gone further, but this was already the limit Feng could maintain, his lungs beginning to feel the strain due to the quantity of air involved, even though Aang could actively work up to this within a second, and go further beyond with ease.

Feng was not Aang however, so with a final exhale that was faster than the others, an almost visible stream of air traveling out of his nostrils, he opened his eyes, letting his mind reactivate as he blinked in the morning light, the sun having truly risen in the time he'd been meditating.

Calmly, Feng rose to his feet as he stretched out the muscles that had tightened up from sitting still for so long, going through a well-practiced routine that finished with him folding over in half at the waist to wrap his arms around the back of his thighs, still keeping his legs completely straight.

"Now for part two," Feng commented as he righted himself up, ending the display of flexibility that would be impressive to anyone who wasn't an experienced Airbender or contortionist. Moving back to the edge of the wall again, Feng took another stance, this time standing.

Spreading his legs apart, Feng let his arms rise from his sides, held loosely outstretched at a 90-degree angle with open palms, his limbs loosely bent in a somewhat starfish-shaped pose as Feng began to move, letting himself sway and move with the wind hitting his body as he began to go through the airbending kata for the air blast, putting only the smallest amount of chi into the process as air loosely clung to his limbs, following the process of his movement.

Feng swayed to the right, letting his left arm swing around in a way that created a small breeze, one that followed the path of his motion before moving on, gently moving away from his body as he then did the same with his leg, letting it lift from the surface of the wall as he kicked it out at a gentle pace, a soft blasts of air leaving the sole of his foot before Feng righted himself.

Over and over, Feng did these motions, trying to get a feel for a less forceful style of bending than he was used to, one that, while still directed by his own actions, was also affected by the air around him, his own enhanced air following the eddies and pathways of the more natural wind flowing through the area.

What he was doing right now was working on his airflow technique, on sensing his surroundings, but as he's thought previously, he needed to be able to manipulate wind on a large scale, feeling as it was moved by his surroundings.

This was what he was doing now, using the familiar bending kata that he could actively sense, but in a way that was still affected by the wind. His ultimate goal for this exercise was to spread out how far the wind he was controlling went, letting it diffuse into a wider and wider area while still keeping track of it.

Feng wouldn't lie, the process was hard, as the more diluted his own air became, the harder it was to keep track of what it was doing, the controlled air losing its proverbial glow when it either went too far from Feng or was spread out too much.

Compared to when he first started, however, when he couldn't even sense the air he was manipulating? It was far better and was a sign that he was making progress. Slow, but steady progress, but unfortunately only when he was in windy areas like this.

Yes, he had tried to do the same when at ground level, as that would be where he would almost always use his Air Flow Sense Technique. Because there was less wind down below, his own air wouldn't get so diluted, but there was a different issue that led him to continue his practice in places like his current one. With a lack of wind to propel his own air, he couldn't progress nearly as fast as he could when it was being moved around.

And just creating his own wind would defeat the purpose of the exercise, so he kept training in areas with more airflow like the top of the wall, as it let him get a feel for the process far quicker and let him learn how to do a more difficult version of what he wanted to accomplish. After all, if he could sense the air around him in a place like the top of Ba Sing Se's wall, he would be able to do so with ease at ground level.

As he was doing this, however, Feng began to feel some frustration at the tediousness of the exercise, so in a burst of motion, Feng stopped his slow, graceful movement, crouching slightly to gain purchase before leaning forward in a quick motion, snapping his leg backward as he punched forwards to cause two giant streams of air to leave his limbs, blowing vast clouds of dust up from the wall as the pillars of wind continued for over one-hundred meters before they finally ended, swirling upwards as they collided with the cross-stream coming over the wall when they lost too much power.

This was another benefit of training with his element like this, it was giving him far better control over it with far less effort. Combine it with his practice in harnessing vast amounts of air quickly due to his Air Fortress Technique, and Feng had noticeably increased the strength of his airbending.

Hell, by the time he was done he might actually be stronger at airbending than Aang was, or at least when he wasn't using the Avatar state. Then again, maybe not, but it was a goal to strive for, and that was valuable in its own right.

Losing the tension in his limbs, Feng languidly stood up straight as he folded his arms across his chest, enjoying the feel of the breeze as he took in the view.

"But I'm still going to become a bender than him."

Did Feng ever mention he was competitive? Because if not, he was. Very much so, in case you couldn't tell.

…

Days passed like this for Feng, the boy spending them equally between training on top of the wall, sometimes joined by the others, skulking around the place at night in search of secrets, and just using it as a chance to relax.

It was a nice time for the gang, the built-up fatigue and worry from their travel slowly reducing as the days went by.

Unfortunately for them, it would not last, as soon enough, the Fire Nation would come knocking again, in a way that would once more upset the careful balance of the world, tipping it in their favor.

…

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city. The Earth Kingdom will finally fall, and you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of your father. Nothing can stop us." War Minister Qin proclaimed, standing proudly in front of the princess and her friends as they observed the control center of his proudest creation.

As he said this, Princess Azula stood silently, seemingly unimpressed as she looked around the machine's control center with disdain.

The same could not be said for Ty Lee, who was happily looking through the periscope that peered upon the outside world.

"Hmmm, what about those muscle-y guys down there?" She asked, refereeing to the several Earth Kingdom troops that she could see creating large Earth trenches, Fire Nation forces in close pursuit.

"Please." Minister Qin said, striking the periscope in a way that frightened Ty Lee into stepping back, only to pout when she realized what had happened. "The drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack."

"Oh, I'm sure it is, War Minister Qin," Azula stated, only sounding somewhat sarcastic, which was actually playing nice for her, "but just to be on the safe side…" Azula trailed off, whipping her head to her two friends.

"Mai and Ty Lee, take the earthbenders out!"

"Finally, something to do," Mai stated in a monotone as she swung a knife around her finger, looking a hint relieved as she headed for the ladder that would lead them topside, closely followed by the bubbly Ty Lee who was already prattling on about the Earth Kingdom Soldiers' muscles.

As for Azula, she chose to do nothing, content to merely observe as her friends went about defeating the Terra Team, doing so with an ease that surprised the War Minister, but she paid it no mind.

Instead, her mind turned towards her actual prey, the reason she was actually coming to Ba Sing Se.

The Avatar and his team.

"Just you wait you bald-headed annoyance, as soon as I find you, I'll burn you to cinders and drag your smoldering corpse to my father, just like the rest of your blasted race. You, and your water tribe friends and blind girl. The other Airbender though," Azula trailed off, chuckled darkly in a way that unsettled the War Minister and other soldiers stationed in the command module of the drill.

"You will not be so lucky."

AN: And that's another chapter down, where we got the aftermath of the previous chapter and the setup for the next. I'm sure you can guess what's going to happen, but I'm still excited about it. I've been building toward it since the start of the story really, where small changes can have large effects down the line.

After all, a lot of events that happened during ATLA relied on careful timing, and with Feng existing to throw a wrench in the mix, well things will surely be affected.

Once Again, thank you for reading.

Peace, Ervin