Wandering Firebender

Fourty: The Coward

Elio opened up the front door of his house and walked inside feeling tired and worn out. He set his stuff down by the door and yawned, rubbing his eyes. Sri, who was already in comfortable clothing, came over to see him.

"Hey, Elio. Were you working late or something?" Sri asked curiously. Elio shook his head.

"No. I just got held up with this delivery in the Upper Ring. There was this Kyoshi Warrior who...I guess liked me? Or she was just looking for someone to spend an afternoon with." He briefly explained.

"Oh? What's a Kyoshi Warrior?" Sri asked with an odd expression.

"They're a...uh...well that's not important. Point is she's the reason why I was so late. I didn't worry you, did I?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No not really. I know you can take of yourself and all that...well maybe just a little worried." She said, closing one eye and smiling a little.

"Heheh, well I'm all good. I'm beat though. I had to take some heat from Mr. Fo for being so late. I mean, he did tell me to do whatever I was told when I got there. I just didn't think it would take all day." He chuckled tiredly.

"Right, of course. Well you have the day off tomorrow, right?"

"Yep yep. So I'm gonna sleep in. See you tomorrow?"

"Yep! Hey, are we still gonna check out that mall on the east side?" Sri reminded him.

"Oh yeah! Sure! I have some money saved up." Elio agreed with a smile.

"Great! I think it'll be fun! Maybe we can find you a nice bona fide Earth Kingdom outfit." She teased, tapping his arm with her fist. Elio chuckled and shook his head.

"Maybe. Green might be my color, who knows?" He said lightly as he made his way to his room.

"Guess we'll find out tomorrow! Night!" Sri waved to him.

"Night, Sri." Elio said before closing the door behind him. He took a little time to stretch before showering, laying in bed, and relaxing before going to sleep...

Elio felt a shift in his bed that woke him up. He sat up alert, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He got up out of bed, grabbing a candle and his staff. He pressed his thumb and forefinger over the wick of the candle and made a snapping motion to ignite it.

Holding both items, one in each hand, he stepped out of his bedroom and quietly made his way through the house. Perhaps his concern was just paranoia, but he was certain that the shift he'd felt was bending. He recognized the feeling from his numerous encounters with earthbenders.

He looked around the house but saw nothing. He sighed and turned back towards his bedroom, but then looked at Sri's door. He made his way to the bedroom door and knocked on it lightly.

"Hey, Sri? You awake?" He asked quietly.

Suddenly, he felt something slam into his arm, wrapping around it and pulling him back. Elio shook his arm free with a grunt and turned, crouching down. Something whizzed over his head as he spotted a man in the shadows earthbending at him.

Elio threw his candle at the man and rolled forward, taking hold of his staff with both hands. As the man got ready to earthbend again, Elio swatted his hand with the staff. He spun closer and elbowed him in the back of the head before turning and chi blocking him twice with two quick right jabs.

The man collapsed to the ground with a yell. Elio quickly got on top of the man, pressing his knee down on the man's chest, "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Elio demanded.

"You're under arrest...firebender." The man spat at him. Elio's eyes widened and he got up, looking towards the door.

The front door burst open and two more earthbenders barged in, shooting stones at him. Elio rolled to the side to dodge them, backing up forcefully and bursting through Sri's bedroom door back first. She gasped and sat up in bed as he came crashing in.

"Elio?!"

"We're being attacked, Sri! Grab this!" He shouted to her before throwing his staff at her. She caught it with both hands.

"What about you?!"

Elio rushed back out into the living room, jumping up and throwing a fireball at the earthbenders. It flew between them; his aim was off because he was out of practice. However, the brief flash of light allowed him to get a glimpse of his attackers.

They were Dai Li agents.

Elio's eyes widened and he started shooting more fireballs. The Dai Li agents brought up a wall to block the fire. Elio continued shooting fire at them as he made his way back to Sri. He threw the door shut and turned towards her.

"We gotta go!" He said. However, he froze when he saw that a third Dai Li agent had Sri in a chokehold with a hand on her head.

"Surrender now and I will let her go. We don't want her, we just want you." He made his demand. Elio's eyes narrowed on him. He let two fiery flames come out of his hands.

"Let her go." Elio growled.

Before the standoff could drag on, Sri made a sudden move. She dropped down and elbowed the agent in the stomach. Elio quickly shot a fireball at him. Sri crouched down, grabbed the staff that she had dropped, and swung it hard into the guy's head, knocking him out.

"Nice. We need to move. There's more coming." Elio said, taking his staff from her hands. He broke her bedroom window and gestured for her to climb out.

"Who's after us?!"

"It's the Dai Li! They're after me!" Elio said, helping Sri out.

Elio started to climb out after her. As he got about halfway out, the door to Sri's bedroom swung open again. Two Dai Li agents came through and immediately used their earthbending to grab Elio by the leg. He used his staff to bar them from pulling him all the way back inside.

Elio grunted in pain as he resisted their pull. He used his other foot to kick a fire blast at them. This was enough to jar himself loose of their grip. He pulled himself free and stumbled to his feet. Sri grabbed his hand and they started to run.

"Grab onto me, Sri!" Elio said, pulling her closer. She stumbled in surprise and wrapped her arms around him.

Using all of the force he could muster, he jumped into the air and propelled them upwards with his firebending. Sri screamed as they shot upwards and flipped forward. He hadn't done this move in too long; he knew this was a bad idea.

As they came careening down, Elio took in a deep breath and forced fire out of his feet. The force was just enough to slow their descent before they tumbled and crashed into the ground. Elio grunted and pushed himself up, his adrenaline still pumping.

"You okay?" He asked, helping her out. She grabbed onto him, still shaken.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Elio, you firebent. They saw you use your bending!" She realized.

"They already knew. We need a place to hide now." Elio said. Sri swallowed and nodded.

"Alger. Let's go to Alger's house." She suggested.

So Elio and Sri quickly rushed to Alger's home, staying low and remaining hidden in the darkest corners of the streets and alleys of the Middle Ring. The whole way there, Elio was racking his brain trying to figure out how the Dai Li had discovered that he was a firebender...

"Sir, someone's knocking on the door!" Ket, Alger's servant, called to him after hearing frantic knocking at the front door.

"I'll get it myself. I'm closer." Alger called back, coming down the stairs and walking to the front door. He opened it up and was surprised to see Elio and Sri there to see him. They were clearly shaken up, clinging to each other with wide eyes and taking in short, frantic breaths.

"We need a place to hide. Please." Elio said.

"O-Of course. Come in," Alger stepped aside, letting them in. He glanced around and closed the door behind them. "You both look like you've seen a spirit. What happened?" He asked, leading them to his living room and sitting them down on his couch.

"We were attacked by Dai Li agents. I don't know how, but they know that I'm a firebender." Elio revealed.

"They broke into our house in the middle of the night! Do they have that kind of authority?!" Sri questioned.

"Unfortunately they do. Elio, what're you gonna do?" Alger asked. Elio looked down at the ground, his head shaking a little just from adrenaline and fear.

"I...have to get out of Ba Sing Se. It's the only way."

"No! We just got settled! That isn't fair!"

"Take the night to rest, Elio. I'll give you shelter and you can leave tomorrow." Alger advised.

"It's not a good idea to wait," Elio shook his head. "I should just go now while it's still dark." He said, standing up. Alger stood up too and extended his hand out.

"It's not a good idea to leave now either. The Dai Li are out there searching for you. They're scouts, Elio. If you leave now, they will surely catch you. If you wait until the morning, they'll relax. They have other duties to attend to, you know.

"It may not be much, but it'll give you a better chance. Plus, you need to be sharp."

"Yeah...well, I can't say I'll get much rest, but I'll try. Thanks, Alger." Elio said sincerely. Alger nodded.

"Of course. Ket, please show Elio to a guest room."

"Yes, sir. Please follow me." Ket directed Elio and led him to the guest room. Sri watched him go and folded her arms, shaking her head.

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know. I couldn't tell you. Are you alright, Sri? Do you need anything? Something to drink? Eat?" He offered, putting a hand on her arm. She shook her head.

"No. Before Elio goes tomorrow, we should get his things for him. He'll need supplies when he escapes the city." She suggested.

"That might be difficult. The Dai Li will likely be watching the property." He pointed out.

"I don't care. They aren't after me anyways. Will you go with me tomorrow to get his things?" She pleaded. Alger looked at her and nodded.

"Of course. We'll leave early at sunrise." He said.

"Thank you for all your help, Alger," Sri said, giving him a quick hug. "I need to make sure Elio gets his rest. Excuse me." She said before going upstairs and finding the room where Elio was staying in.

When she went inside, she found him standing in the middle of the room, still gripping his staff tightly with both hands. He faced the closet door as if almost expecting someone to come out and attack him. Sri closed the door behind her.

"Elio..." She called to him softly. He looked at her with a pained expression.

"I'm sorry, Sri...I'm sorry I brought this on you." He said sadly.

"You didn't," She said, approaching him and hugging him tightly. Elio sighed and dropped his staff, hugging her back. "Try and get some sleep, okay? I'll keep you company." She insisted.

"You don't have to do that." Elio said, trying to keep her out of harm's way. But she shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you alone...I can't be alone right now." She admitted. Elio sighed and rubbed her back.

"Okay." He reluctantly agreed.

So Elio and Sri both laid down and tried to sleep. After what had happened, they were both still on edge. Neither of them could really truly rest, but soon they were able to sleep...

When the early morning came, Alger knocked lightly on their door. They both lifted their heads.

"It's Alger. Are you in there, Sri?" He called through the door.

"Alger. Right," Sri remembered. "I'll be back soon, Elio. Go back to sleep." She said, pressing her hand on his chest so he would lay down again. He nodded and laid his head back, closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep. Sri walked to the door and opened it.

"We'll need to go quickly. Ready to go?" Alger asked.

"Yeah, uh, let's go." She stuttered as she stepped out.

"You don't have any shoes?" Alger noticed.

"N-No...we had to escape barefoot."

"...you can borrow a pair of my sandals." He said.

Sri and Alger left his estate and walked on foot back to her home. With it being so early in the morning now, the streets were relatively empty. They stayed close and kept their eyes out as they walked down the street. Sri kept her arms around herself.

She felt more unsafe now than she ever had in her life.

When they reached the house, they spotted a Dai Li agent walking by it. Alger put his hands on Sri's arms defensively as they approached.

"Can I help you kids?" The Dai Li agent asked.

"Yeah. You can get away from my house." Sri responded bitterly.

"Ah. So you were the other homeowner last night. I apologize for what happened. The office of the Earth King will happily repay you for the damages caused to your home."

"Sri would like to just collect a few things. She'll be staying with me while her home is repaired." Alger said.

"Of course." The Dai Li agent stepped aside, holding his hand out to indicate that they could enter. Alger opened the door for Sri and they stepped inside.

They found the remnants of last night's battle still in the living room: scorch marks on the furniture, the floor, and the ceiling. The center of the living room had been completely torn from the ground up by earthbending. Sri sniffled when she saw this.

"Our home..." She said sadly. Alger rubbed her arms to try and comfort her.

"I'm sorry... Grab some of your things too, Sri. I think you should stay with me for now. It's not good for you to be alone right now."

"Okay...thank you," Sri said shakily. "Right now let's just get Elio's stuff. I can worry about my stuff another time." She said.

"Sure." Alger agreed with a nod.

They went into Elio's room. They found his stuff had been rummaged through. His clothes had been thrown all about sloppily. Sri recognized that some of his personal belongings: namely his pack and his bag, were missing. They must've been taken as evidence.

"They took his stuff. The stuff that matters to him."

"As long as he gets out alive. Let's just worry about that right now." Alger said, scooping up some of his clothes. Sri sighed and did the same. Once they had as much as they could carry, they left the house.

"Do those belong to the other homeowner?" The Dai Li agent asked as they left. Alger and Sri knew that he was referring to Elio, so they needed to answer carefully.

"No, these are mine," Alger answered. "I...lent some of my clothes to him before I learned what he was." He carefully lied. The agent nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with this answer.

"Of course. Be safe out there. And if you see anything-"

"Have a good day." Sri interrupted before they kept walking. Once they were safely away, they both swallowed and sighed in relief.

"That was almost too close." Alger said. Sri said nothing in response...

When Alger and Sri returned to the house, they brought Elio's clothes straight to him. Alger lent a travel bag to him. Elio hastily stuffed everything into the bag and hoisted it over his shoulder.

"Thank you for all of your help, both of you. I don't know how to repay you." Elio said. Alger put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just get out alive. That will be good enough."

"I'm really sorry all of this is happening, Elio. It isn't fair...after everything you've done for me and my family, I wish I could do more for you now." Sri said bitterly.

"It's okay, Sri. Thank you for sticking by me through this mess. I couldn't have done it without you... Take care, both of you." Elio said, hugging both of them. They both hugged him in return and sighed sadly.

"Go quickly, Elio. You only get one shot at this." Alger said.

"Okay...goodbye." Elio said, taking in a breath before leaving Alger's home. As he stepped out, he put on his hood and pulled it down to cover his face.

As Elio walked with his staff in hand, his mind went back over the peaceful time he was able to experience here in Ba Sing Se. For a brief period, he was able to feel what it was like to lead a normal life. Now that he was forced to go on the run again, he was certainly going to miss it.

As he approached the train station and started to go up the stairs, he knew that policemen were coming up behind him. He made his way through as quickly as he could, but there wasn't a train ready to go, so he had nowhere to go.

"Excuse me, sir. Can we see your identification?" One of the two men requested. Elio kept his head down as he turned to face the two men.

"I'm afraid I don't have it on me right now. Is there a problem, officers?" He asked.

"Take the hood off, kid." The other officer ordered.

Elio removed the hood slowly, looking the two men in the eyes. As his face was revealed, the officer to his left reacted first. As the officer's hand drifted down to his nightstick, Elio realized that he was going to have to make the first move.

Elio stepped forward and chi-blocked the officer to his left with a jab to the neck. He hacked in pain and fell to the ground. Elio spun and pulled his staff out as the other officer pulled his nightstick out. Elio spun his staff to block it before twisting his body to strike the officer in the back of the head, knocking him out.

As both officers went down, shouts of terror ensued in the station. Elio turned towards the train station and ran out onto the tracks. He heard other officers hurrying over and ordering him to stop. Elio broke into a sprint towards the Lower Ring.

As Elio ran out onto the open track, he felt a rumble beneath his feet. Using his firebending to jump again, he twirled into the air and turned around in midair. He narrowly avoided being knocked over by two earthbenders shaking the tracks.

"How am I gonna get out of this? I haven't used any firebending in a month. There's no way I'm in top form right now." He thought to himself as he landed on the ground again.

Elio pulled out his staff and spun it, using it to bat away rocks that were being thrown towards him. He spun around and swung the staff, shooting a large arc of fire towards the two earthbenders attacking him. He continued to back away, using firebending blasts to keep them back.

As he put more distance between himself and them, they stopped trying to apprehend him. It was starting to look like he was in the clear. Elio breathed a sigh of relief and turned to run again, getting closer now to the wall between the Middle Ring and the Lower Ring.

Suddenly, he felt a stone hit him in the shoulder. He yelped out in shock, stumbling in a circle. As he stepped closer to the wall, he got hit again. Another stone hit him in the leg, making him fall to one knee. He dropped down and heard another stone fly over his head.

He had no idea where these attacks were coming from.

Suddenly, a Dai Li agent landed on the tracks behind him. Immediately, he fired two stone fists at Elio. Elio panicked and stepped sideways awkwardly to avoid them. He turned and threw a low sweeping kick, sending an arc of fire towards the agent.

The agent jumped over the arc to avoid it, but his robes still caught on fire. He wasn't expecting this, so Elio was able to capitalize by shooting another fireball at him. This knocked the agent down. Elio quickly stood over him, slamming the blunt end of his staff down to knock him out.

However, the victory was short-lived. As soon as he knocked one agent out, two more jumped onto the tracks and hit him with a few stones. Elio's body shook in violent shock as he was hit with several attacks all at once. Right away, he realized he wasn't gonna be able to keep this up.

In a last-ditch effort to get away, Elio jumped into the air, boosting himself with firebending to fly forward and upwards. However, as soon as he went airborne, he could hear more stones flying past him. He was hit several more times in the body and legs.

Elio yelled out in pain, starting to fall. He tried to catch himself as he started plummeting towards the tracks. But before he could even hit the ground, he was caught by the two Dai Li agents and restrained in stone. Elio tried to struggle against it, but it was no use.

"Target acquired. Let's get him to the palace." One of them said to the other. Two more Dai Li agents joined them, ready to assist in transporting him. One of them pulled out a sack to put over Elio's head.

"The palace?! What?!" Elio exclaimed.

"You're under arrest under the authority of the Dai Li." They said before covering his face with the sack and carrying him away.

Elio wriggled and struggled against them, grunting in pain and discomfort. But he had nothing to say in protest this time. No, this time he knew there was no getting away.

He let his desperation get the best of him and gotten himself caught.

It was hard to judge how much time Elio spent being carried by these four Dai Li agents. Soon he stopped struggling altogether and just allowed his body to go numb from being suspended in the air, parallel to the ground.

Eventually, the sack was finally removed from his head.

When he was allowed to take in his surroundings again, he found himself inside the palace. He was placed on his knees in front of the Earth King's throne. He didn't know why he was being brought before the throne, but when he looked up at it, he quickly realized the reason.

There was someone else sitting on the throne. Someone he knew...

"No way...this can't be happening." Elio said in disbelief, his eyes widening. He watched as none other than the princess of the Fire Nation herself, Azula, uncrossed her legs and stood up from the throne with a smirk.

She made her way down the stairs, walking towards him.

"Who were you expecting? The Earth King? Some other high ranking official? Or maybe you were hoping Su would bail you out?" She taunted with a chuckle. Elio's eyes narrowed on her.

"What did you do?" Elio questioned.

"Think about it. Don't you recognize me? Or do I need to put the makeup back on to spell it out for you?" She continued to tease him. Elio studied her face, and suddenly he realized why the events of the past day and a half had happened.

She had tricked him.

"You were Su...?" He realized.

"Now you figure it out. Dai Li, remove Elio's restraints. I want to handle him myself." Azula ordered the agents.

The Dai Li agents nodded wordlessly. Elio's wrist and ankle cuffs were pulled away, allowing him to stand. A ring of stone rose around Azula and him, rising and creating a circular wall that left them in a small, enclosed arena. Elio slowly stood up.

"What is this?" Elio asked, looking around nervously.

"A rematch." Azula answered before shooting a wild blue fire blast at him.

Elio yelped in shock and created a small shield of fire. He bounced back against the wall before awkwardly shooting a fireball back. Azula dodged it and held her position, standing up slowly. She smirked again and relaxed her body.

"I don't understand. What happened to the Kyoshi Warriors?!"

"They were never here. It was just me and my team the whole time." Azula chuckled. They began to walk in a circle around the ring, keeping their hands up. Elio's eyebrows furrowed and he took in a deep breath.

"You could've taken me down when you saw me at the train station. Why didn't you? Why go through the trouble of treating me to dinner? Pretending to be nice?" He asked.

"Simple: I wanted to learn more about you; see who I was really dealing with. And now I know," She smirked, her eyes narrowing in on him. "You're a coward – a coward who only stands up for his beliefs when he's backed up against a wall. Otherwise you lie and you run away to stay alive."

Elio gritted his teeth, upset by these words. He made the first move this time, putting all he could behind his next onslaught of fire blasts. Azula used her own flames to bat his attacks away, advancing closer with each move. Elio jumped forward and attempted to chi-block her.

Azula deflected his punches, throwing several kicks at his side. Elio blocked the kicks and ducked under her leg, attempting to sweep her feet out. Azula hopped over the attack, using her firebending to flip forward. She brought her foot down onto Elio's head in a downward kick, causing him to crumple on the ground.

Elio groaned sluggishly, but his adrenaline allowed him to push away and crawl back. He desperately threw some fire blasts at her, but Azula continued to block them effortlessly. She kicked him across the face and then again in the stomach.

"Gah! Ahh! Okay, alright, alright, I yield!" He yelled, holding his hand up and getting to his hands and knees. Azula tilted her head and looked down at him.

"You're asking me for mercy?" She raised an eyebrow, smiling in disbelief.

"I can't win this fight. I already know it...so I surrender." Elio sighed and looked down. Never in his life had he felt this pathetic. Azula clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"What a shame. I was hoping for more. But that's what happens when you let yourself go in a place like this. You lose what makes you strong. You forgot what made you Fire Nation," She hissed at him, pulling his hair and making him lift his head up.

"A traitor like you deserves to be put to death...but all the shame you'll get from being a prisoner, my prisoner, will do just fine. It serves you right too, since you're a traitor and a murderer, after all," She taunted.

"Too bad your little friend Cassian wasn't the one here to take you down. Maybe you could've actually escaped."

That was the last thing she said to him before pushing his head forcefully and kicking him as hard as she could in the face, knocking him out...