Wandering Firebender

Fifty Two: Dry Runs

Elio woke up slowly with a yawn. As he lifted his head, his eyes were hit with the first rays of the morning sun bouncing off the snow and ice around his lodge. He rubbed his eyes and sat up with a grumble. He went about his morning routine as he always did.

Cleaning his face with water felt painfully different in these naturally freezing temperatures. His face stung and his hands were shaking from the cold. He took a few deep breaths, using his firebending to warm himself. In harsh temperatures like this, even normal activities required some adjusting.

Elio got dressed and was having his breakfast when there was a knock on his door. He went to the front door and opened it up. He found a middle-aged man with long, dark hair and a Water Tribe parka on waiting for him. He was scowling with a serious expression.

"Good morning," Elio gave him a polite greeting as he chewed his food. "You must be...?"

"Hazo. I am the resident waterbending master and instructor to our students. And you must be the firebender that got into our palace." Hazo said in response. Elio could tell right away that this man was not happy that he was here.

"Yes. My name is Elio. It's nice to meet you, Master Hazo." He said respectfully, offering a handshake.

"I wish I could say the same," Hazo said as he returned the handshake. "How long do we have until the Fire Nation gets here?" He asked.

"The summer solstice is a little over a week away. So not long." Elio answered.

"Then we don't have time to waste. My students are waiting for us on the training grounds." Hazo said as he started walking away. Elio quickly ran back inside and grabbed his things, hurrying to catch up with the master.

"Right, okay. I'm ready."

"How is it that you plan on instructing my students?" Hazo questioned him. Elio hummed to himself. He hadn't given this as much thought as he should have.

"Well...I'm going to show them how the average Fire Nation soldier fights, and teach them how to counterattack." Elio summarized simply with a casual shrug.

"Well, I suppose that'll be a good start. I want everyone, especially my students, to be as prepared as possible. After we almost lost last time, I don't want to take any chances. I'm sure the Fire Nation will be even more fortified this time."

"Yeah, yeah, you're definitely right about that. I'll help out however I can." Elio promised.

"I hope so."

Master Hazo and Elio reached the training grounds. All of the students were sitting around and talking, but when they saw their teacher approaching, they quickly stood up and got in line. Elio looked through all of the students hoping to see Cindra, but she wasn't there.

"Good morning, students. I'm sure some of you have already heard rumors of our special guest. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself?" Hazo invited Elio to speak. Elio cleared his throat and took a step forward.

"Hi, everyone," He waved. "I am Elio. I am from the Fire Nation. I've come here to teach you how to fight against firebenders." He said with a pleasant smile. The students all looked at each other and became concerned.

"I guess it hasn't been announced yet, so you will be the first to know," Master Hazo said, stepping forward too. "The Northern Water Tribe is coming under attack again. In about a week, the Fire Nation will be back to try and overtake us again." He revealed.

There was a collective gasp among the students, and many grew fearful.

"Not to worry! That is why I am here! I am going to teach you what you need to know, so you can help! My aim is to help all of you to fully prepare for this fight!" Elio spoke up to reassure them.

"You're...here to help?" One of the students asked slowly.

"I am. I will show you how firebenders fight, what they will do, and how you can respond." Elio answered.

"How do you know how they fight?" Another student asked him.

"From experience." Elio lightly answered, holding a hand out and allowing a flame to burst from it. All of the students eyes widened as they now realized how serious this was.

"I expect all of you to pay very close attention. The Fire Nation aims to attack during the summer solstice. Therefore, we only have about a week to prepare. So every day will consist of practical training until then. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Hazo!" The students all answered.

"Good. Well...I guess the floor is yours." Hazo said to Elio.

Elio made his way around the students, stepping away from the palace. The students all turned around and watched him as he walked into an open area. Elio's mind went back months ago to when he had met Suki on that small island. Maybe he could use that as a basis for his teachings...?

"There is one very important thing that you need to keep in mind when fighting a firebender. I...will give you a brief demonstration, and I want all of you to pay close attention. See if you can spot what all my moves have in common." Elio invited.

"Have a seat, students." Hazo instructed. The students all obeyed, sitting on the floor. Elio took a few cautious steps back just to ensure that his fire wouldn't come anywhere near them.

Elio figured that a demonstration would be in everyone's best interests, including his own. This way, not only could the students see firsthand what firebending techniques look like, but he could also test his limits in this harsh environment. After all, he would be fighting too.

Elio removed his parka and gently set it down on the snowy ground. He took a deep breath as he extended his arms downwards with his palms facing the floor. After a few silent moments, he began his demonstration.

He started by stepping sideways and shooting fire out of his fists with all of his force. Even under these conditions, his attacks were still incredibly strong. With each punch and kick, he couldn't help but smirk to himself a little. It had been awhile since he'd gotten a chance to firebend freely.

Once he had finished, he shook his arms out and picked up his parka. He spoke as he put it back on, "Now, can anyone tell me what you observed?" He asked. The students were all silent, their eyes still wide. Finally, one raised her hand.

"Yes, you?" Elio pointed to her.

"Your attacks were really strong?" She guessed.

"Not what I was looking for but that's good! You're right. Firebenders always go for strong attacks, so that's something to keep in mind. Anyone else?" He asked.

None of the students had an answer, so Elio decided to just tell them.

"All of my punches and kicks were in straight lines. I'd say 90-99% of the time when you fight a firebender, all of their attacks will be in straight lines. Only skilled firebenders can curve their shots at all. The average soldier isn't going to worry about doing that.

"This is the North Pole; your home territory. You have several options then on how to counterattack. One, you can bend water from the ground to disrupt their footing and immobilize them. Two, if you can maneuver around them fast enough, you can avoid their attacks and get in close to strike them." He listed.

"You act as though you know quite a bit about our fighting style." Hazo commented, folding his arms.

"I don't know a lot, but I do know some stuff from my time with Cindra. Either way, those two approaches are your best bet." Elio said. The students all looked at each other.

"So what do you propose?" Hazo asked.

"Well, you're the master here. You should teach your students what they can do in response." Elio said. He didn't mean to sound condescending at all, but by Hazo's facial expressions, Elio could tell that he took that the wrong way.

"Very well. Come against me, and I will determine what will work," Hazo decided. Elio nodded in agreement. The two of them stood across from each other and prepared to spar. "Watch closely, students." Hazo instructed.

Elio made the first move by stepping forward and shooting a hard fireball out of his fist. Hazo sidestepped the attack, pulling water out of the ground. He bent it like a snake in a half circle, hitting Elio in the side just before he could attack again. His fireball went up into the air as Elio hit the ground and was quickly frozen in place.

"Is that all? That isn't so hard." Hazo said. Elio shivered a bit.

"Y-Yeah, yep! Nice move there!" Elio gave a thumbs up. Hazo melted the ice trapping Elio, allowing him to get up. His clothes were damp now.

"Alright, students. Let's run through some drills. I'll teach you what to do, and then you will all get a chance to practice on Elio." Hazo decided. Elio nodded and fixed his clothes.

Elio didn't realize it until it was too late, but when Hazo said that they would all get a chance to practice on him, he meant that Elio would have to let every student hit him with their waterbending over and over again, multiple times each.

"Be quick and decisive! Your attacks should be strong enough to knock him down!" Hazo said.

"Yeah...don't forget, they're all wearing armor." Elio reminded them, trying to be helpful.

"You're right, exactly! So that's even less reason to hold back!" Hazo instructed.

"Right...exactly." Elio sighed.

Finally, the training session came to an end. Elio sat down tiredly on the steps. Some of the students said goodbye to him and waved as they left the grounds. Elio smiled and waved back, holding an arm across his stomach. Hazo nodded approvingly and turned towards Elio.

"I think that was a productive first session. The students seemed to respond well to your instruction. I think they're already feeling confident." Hazo gave Elio his observations.

"Well that's good! Glad I could help." Elio said, his tone cheerful despite being made the class punching bag. At least it wasn't in vain.

"Well, let's move on to the next batch of students." Hazo said, turning back around.

"What?" Elio's eyes widened a little. He lifted his head and looked forward. He saw another set of students coming up the stairs – students that appeared to be older and more experienced than the first group.

"File in, students! Class begins immediately!" Hazo said to them as they all came onto the grounds.

"Oh great..." Elio sighed...

Cindra and her brother, Ansel, were among the third group of students to come in. By now, word was already spreading across town about how Elio had volunteered to help teach all waterbenders how to fight firebenders.

As a result, all of their classmates were engaged in lively discussions. They were speculating about what their lessons would be like as they all made their way to the training grounds.

"What an unexpected development. If a firebender is here among us, then something serious must be going on. Why else would they allow him to help with training?" Ansel reasoned with Cindra.

"You're right. Elio told me that the Fire Nation wants to attack us again." She informed him. Ansel's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?! And you're just telling me this now?!" He exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! Everything happened so fast, I didn't have time to process it!" She quickly apologized. Ansel took a breath and calmed down, showing that he understood with a brief nod.

"It's alright. So I guess I'm right after all...the last attack was really ugly, Cindra. It can only get worse if the Fire Nation has learned anything from last time." Ansel said, looking down at the floor.

"Well hey, that's why Elio's here! He's gonna help us out! Things might not be so bad!" Cindra said to encourage him. Ansel looked at her.

"I hope so. I look forward to meeting your friend. If he's anything like what you've told me, his experiences will be valuable." Ansel said.

Cindra and the other students stepped onto the training grounds. As they all filed in, Cindra immediately saw Elio. He was laying back on the steps leading up to the palace with an arm over his stomach. His head was tilted back and his mouth was hanging open.

"File in, students! Class begins immediately!" Master Hazo instructed them. They all filed in. Cindra looked at Elio worriedly.

"As you've probably already heard, we have a special guest with us today. I'll let him introduce today's important...hey!" Hazo noticed Elio laying back and kicked his foot. Elio jolted in surprise and sat up immediately.

"Yes! Firebending!" He pushed himself to his feet. He rubbed his eyes and realized that a new set of students were standing before him, "Where'd the other guys go?" He asked Hazo.

"That class is over. This is the last one for today." Hazo answered.

"Oh, okay. Great. Well then, we're starting over again, right?"

"Yes. Please, go through the intro again." Hazo rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Great! Okay! Oh hey, Cindra!" Elio noticed her and waved.

"Hi!" Cindra waved back awkwardly, her cheeks going red when she realized all of her classmates were looking at her now.

"Ahem," Elio cleared his throat as he made his way around the students slowly. "Hi everyone, my name is Elio," He covered his mouth and yawned. "And I am here to teach you all how to fight against firebenders because, you know, the Fire Nation is coming in like a week."

There was a collective gasp among the students, except for Cindra who already knew this. Cindra was just worried for Elio. He was acting strangely, and he seemed very tired.

"Oh no, don't worry! I'm gonna show you how to fight back. It's super not hard at all. You know why? Because all firebenders attack in straight lines! Like this!" Elio turned and threw a wild fire fist off to the side. The fire shot out and expanded outwards.

"Whoa!" Cindra's eyes widened. The other students were also watching with wide eyes.

"Punches and kicks, they're all kinda the same," Elio yawned again. "So, like, you can attack with curved waterbending hits or freeze the ground underneath 'em or whatever. There's tons of stuff you can do! Master Hoza can run you through stuff." Elio said, pointing back to the master.

"Thank you, Elio, for that...I will run you through multiple drills. Then you will all go through dry runs against Elio. He will attack you, and you respond." Master Hoza explained to the students.

"I'mma just sit over here on the steps for now. Lemme know when it's time to start!" Elio said, going to the steps leading away from the training grounds and laying down again. Cindra's worries only grew, but she had to focus on the training exercises for now.

Elio got about 10 minutes of rest as Master Hazo led Cindra and the others through new attacks and drills that were specifically designed with fighting Fire Nation soldiers in mind. For Cindra, who had already fought against firebenders a few times, a lot of these moves felt natural to her.

"Excellent! I think you all have practiced these moves enough to test them out now. Remember them well, students. They could mean your life when the Fire Nation arrives," Hazo said seriously. "Now, Elio! It's time for the practical runs!" Hazo called to him from across the training grounds.

Elio, who had fallen asleep again, did not respond. Hazo rolled his eyes again and sent a small amount of water over to Elio. He used his bending to bring the water over Elio's face before letting it go. The cold water splashed over Elio's cold eyes and woke him up.

"Yai!" Elio shrieked in surprise and looked around. "Is it time for the next students?!" He asked before looking behind him.

"It's time for the dry runs, Elio. Please come over so we can get started." Hazo said.

"Yes sir! I'm a-coming!" Elio pushed himself to his feet and made his way over, "Let's do this. Fire, fire." Elio said to himself, shaking his arms out and letting fire shoot out of his fists to get himself warmed up. He got into a fighting position.

"Alright! Who's first?!" Elio said, trying to hype himself up.

So the cycle started once again. One by one, students were brought up before Elio. Elio would shoot fire blasts at them, and they would counterattack and knock him down. After he had done this with a few students, Cindra was beginning to realize what had been happening.

"Doesn't this seem...unfair?" Cindra said aside to Ansel.

"I find it admirable that he is completely throwing himself into helping us." Ansel responded.

"Yeah, but how many times do you think he's gotten knocked down today? The master is running him ragged." Cindra pointed out.

"Cindra! Since you are feeling chatty, why don't you go up next?" Hazo suggested, noticing the idle conversation. Cindra swallowed and stood up.

"Yes, Master Hazo!"

Cindra made her way onto the training grounds. Elio slowly got back to his feet and held his fists up weakly. Realizing that Cindra was up next, he managed a sideways smile.

"Hey, Cindra. It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too, Elio." Cindra said, unsure of how to feel about this.

"Begin!" Hazo exclaimed.

"Eh." Elio muttered as he threw a weak fire punch. Cindra didn't even move, knowing that the attempt wouldn't be enough for the flames to even reach her.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Elio." Hazo growled.

"Sorry, sorry. That was just a fluke. Doing it for real now." Elio said before forcing himself to throw a real wild fire punch.

Cindra's eyes widened in surprise. She raised up a wall of ice in front of her before bending a large stream of water in a half-circle. It hit Elio in the side and and knocked him to the floor, sending him sliding on his right side.

"Hmm. That was an interesting tweak on the technique. It isn't what I instructed, but I suppose it works too," Hazo commented. "Now let's try it again the right way, Cindra!" He said.

All eyes went over to Elio, who was still laying on his side. He let out a shallow huff and put his hands flat on the floor, trying to push himself to stand again. His arms wobbled and gave out on him. He lowered back down to his side.

"Elio, are you alright?!" Cindra asked.

"We aren't finished, Elio!" Hazo said.

"Yeah...yeah..." Elio sighed. Cindra quickly ran towards him.

"What're you doing?" Hazo protested. Cindra ignored him and knelt down by Elio.

"Elio?" She called to him softly.

"Hey...I think I'm spent." Elio said tiredly, laying his head back.

"Training isn't finished, Elio. Stand up!" Hazo walked over. Cindra stood between him and Elio.

"Training ends now, Master Hazo! Elio can't continue!" She protested boldly.

"You do not dismiss the classes here, Cindra. I do! If Elio is feeling tired, then heal him up so we can continue!" Hazo suggested.

"He needs to rest properly! If he can't even stand, how is he supposed to help? How is he supposed to fight?!" Cindra argued with him.

"She's right, master," Ansel interjected, walking over. "It is clear that Elio has been pushed past his limits. At this rate, he likely will not be able to continue for at least another day." He observed.

Hazo was clearly not happy with Ansel and Cindra stepping out of line, but he did take into consideration what they were saying. All of the other students were watching, and he knew that whatever decision he made here would affect their view of him.

"Very well. Elio, you can go home. But you two," Hazo pointed at Cindra and Ansel. "Will be running through intensive training."

"You do what you want to us, but we're helping Elio get home first." Cindra said before leaning down and helping Elio get to his feet. Ansel wordlessly stepped over to the other side of Elio and helped him too.

"Go." Hazo gestured with a tilt of his head. Elio, under the assistance of Cindra and Ansel, slowly limped off the training grounds.

"Sorry about this." Elio said quietly to Cindra.

"It's fine, Elio. I don't like what the master is doing to you." Cindra said.

"I've never seen him act like this before." Ansel commented.

"Well, thank you both for stepping in...who are you?" Elio asked, curiously turning to look at Ansel.

"My name is Ansel. I'm Cindra's brother." He introduced himself.

"Oh! Nice to meet you." Elio said, doing his best to sound pleasant in spite of how tired he was...

Cindra and Ansel took Elio all the way back to his lodge on the palace grounds. When the guards questioned why they were there, Cindra told them everything that happened. They brought Elio inside and he laid down in his bed.

"Is there anything we can do for you, Elio?" Cindra asked, wringing her hands together; she was still worried about him.

"No no, it's alright. I just need to sleep." Elio answered with a yawn, turning onto his side and closing his eyes.

"Okay...we should be getting back. I'm sure the master is already coming up with creative punishments for us." Ansel said with a sigh.

"Right...I'll check on you tomorrow, Elio, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Cindra." Elio waved his hand and drifted to his sleep. Cindra and Ansel glanced at each other and left him there to rest...