Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA or any of it's characters. The only thing I own is my OC.
The Six Rules:
Rule Number One: Alec won't warn the Gaang about things in advance or solve their problems for them, with a few rare exceptions.
Rule Number Two: Only Alec has the right to tell people his true origins, and he will mostly limit this to group members. He will tell new group members his secret as soon as they join the Gaang.
Rule Number Three: There are some changes Alec wants to make, and he will use his knowledge of the future to make those changes.
Rule Number Four: Sometimes, to make a change, Alec will act in a way that doesn't make sense. If that's necessary, he'll tell the Gaang "I need you to absolutely trust me." After he says that, the Gaang has to either do whatever he asks or leave him to do what he needs to do.
Rule Number Five: After a change happens, Alec will tell the Gaang what happened in the original story, in the interest of transparency.
Rule Number Six: If a major change happens that Alec doesn't expect, the Gaang will have a meeting ASAP. In this meeting, Alec will break Rule One and tell them all relevant information that will help them figure out how to respond to the change.
Chapter 17:
The Avatar State and More Training
Alec POV
After the Siege of the North, we traveled south by ship with Pakku's group, who were on their way to the Southern Water Tribe. I hated it. Don't get me wrong, we had plenty of food, and it was nice not having to hunt and scavenge for once, but there was a problem: they wouldn't let me firebend. The ship was made of wood, and they didn't want it to burn. I tried arguing that we were on a boat full of waterbenders, but Pakku was adamant. I could practice the forms without fire, but I wasn't allowed to make so much as a spark. Aang and Katara got private lessons from Pakku every day during the trip to practice waterbending. At least the weather had turned warmer. Sokka and I changed to wearing sleeveless shirts for the early spring weather.
We'd been traveling for three weeks. Three. Fucking. Weeks! Not firebending for that length of time was irritating. I focused my efforts on learning the next scroll, blazing arc. This was interesting, using arm and leg sweeps to create arcs of fire to hit widely spaced or evasive targets. Zuko's breakdancing move was one of the forms in this particular scroll. That one took a while to learn the movements for, and amused everyone on the ship when I tried to learn it the first time and failed miserably.
I sat in my hammock, below the deck. I read the other scrolls, curious about their contents. The lightning scroll was very interesting, containing more words than pictures. Speaking of lightning, we'd be dealing with Azula before too long.
Azula. What do I do about her? Yes, she was a major threat. Yes, she had more issues than 'Time Magazine'. Still, though, I felt sorry for her. She felt that her mother favored Zuko, and believed that she thought she was a monster. She tried to be daddy's perfect little weapon, hoping that he would give her the love she thought her mother wasn't giving her, and ended up all alone. Maybe it was my lingering guilt about Jet, but I wanted to help her, somehow.
Ursa was the key. She was probably the only one who could get through to her. We needed to find her, first. But how? Questions for later.
My thoughts drifted to Ty Lee. Strangely, they'd been doing that a lot, lately. Our reunion was going to be awkward as hell. I'd probably feel terrible seeing the look on her face when we see each other on the opposite side of a battle.
I heard someone coming down the ladder. Sokka walked up to the hammocks. "We'll be leaving on Appa tomorrow morning." He informed me.
"Finally!" I exclaimed. I was sick of this fucking ship.
He raised an eyebrow. "Is not firebending for three weeks really that bad? You lived without it for your entire life before." He pointed out.
I put down my scroll and looked him in the eye. "True, but it's part of me now. Asking a bender not to bend is like asking you to not use your right arm." I explained.
He raised his eyebrows. "Huh. I didn't know it was that bad." He admitted. He smiled. "Well, good news, you'll be able to bend again, soon. We're flying to General Fong's fortress tomorrow morning."
I nodded, careful not to show the anxiety I was feeling. I knew General Fong was unstable. What kind of desperate idiot would think 'here's the closest thing this world has to a living god, I'm gonna piss him off and hope he attacks my enemy instead of me.'? I had to tread carefully tomorrow.
A loud gasp and heavy breathing in the hammock above mine woke me up in the middle of the night. Aang jumped down to the floor and climbed up the ladder to the deck. Katara sat up in the hammock next to me. "Aang?" She said, concerned.
I sat up, showing her that I was also awake. "Let's go after him." I suggested. She nodded. We climbed up the ladder to the deck. We found Aang leaning against the ledge on the port side. Katara walked over to him. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked gently.
Aang tried to be dismissive. "Nah, just a nightmare." Katara didn't buy it. Aang took a deep breath and looked down. "I was in the Avatar State, but I was outside my body, watching myself. It was scary. I was scary." He closed his eyes and bowed his head. Katara put her hand on his shoulder. I didn't want to interrupt their moment, so I quietly climbed back down the ladder and went back to sleep.
At dawn, we gathered together on the deck to say our goodbyes to Pakku. Pakku held a small bag in front of him. He picked out a vial strung on a leather cord. "Katara, I want you to have this." He said, handing the vial to her. "This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don't lose it."
The Spirit Water. Our one get-out-of-death free card. Hopefully we wouldn't need it. Katara stepped forward. "Thank you, Master Pakku." She said kindly, giving him a brief hug. She broke the hug and climbed into Appa's saddle.
Pakku took out a box similar to the one Jeong Jeong gave me. "Aang." He said. The airbender stepped forward. "These scrolls will help you master waterbending. But remember, they're no substitute for a real master." He handed Aang the scrolls. Aang looked up at Katara, who looked back. Those two were so cute.
"Alec." He said. I stepped forward. "I have nothing for you, but I'll be telling your grandmother about the little speech you gave to the waterbenders on your first day as their instructor." He smirked.
Oh shit. Gran Gran was gonna kill me if she found out about all that swearing, even if Katara already washed my mouth out for it. I looked at Pakku with horror. "Why would you do that?" I whispered, terrified. "I thought we were friends!" Sokka snickered behind me.
Pakku raised an eyebrow. "Whatever gave you that impression?"
I thought about it for a second. Yeah, he had a point. When we first met, I was argumentative and borderline hostile to him, and all of our future interactions had been me either being polite, or begging to make some fire on the ship. I would call us acquaintances, not friends.
"That's fair." I admitted. "I'll take my punishment when I go back there." I grumbled.
"Still, you helped our waterbenders prepare to fight the Fire Nation, so maybe she will show mercy." He said.
"I doubt it." I replied. I bowed. "It was an honor to meet you, Master Pakku." He returned the bow.
I walked towards Appa as Sokka walked forward eagerly. "Sokka, take care son." Pakku said, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. Now it was my turn to snicker. Sokka and I climbed aboard. It was so good to be back in the saddle again. "Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here." Pakku instructed. "General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There, you will be safe to begin your earthbending training with King Bumi."
I felt a pang of guilt. Aang was not going to be happy the next time he saw Omashu.
Aang cracked the reins. "Appa, yip yip!" He shouted.
As we took off, Katara leaned over the saddle to wave goodbye to her instructor. "Say hi to Gran Gran for me!" She yelled.
Less than an hour after we took off, we saw land. "Thank the spirits!" I gasped. "Land!"
Aang giggled. "You sound like an earthbender."
"You try going without bending for three weeks, and then we'll see who's laughing." I retorted.
"Sorry about that." Aang said sheepishly. "If I knew that would happen, I would've asked La to save one of the metal Fire Navy ships for us to use."
"Speaking of the Fire Navy," Sokka said, "I'm surprised we didn't see any sign of them. We were pretty close to Fire Nation waters for a while there."
"Maybe they pulled back after the Siege." I speculated. "Most of their ships got wrecked, and the ones that didn't got pushed away by a massive wave. They probably want to make sure they don't get spread too thin."
"I'm glad we didn't see them." Katara admitted. She looked down, sad. "I've had enough fighting for a while."
The mood went somber. Everyone was silent for a few seconds, remembering everything we'd seen, heard, and done. I was fairly certain Aang and Katara avoided killing during the fight. Well, Aang avoided killing until he went kaiju, but that was La doing the killing. I didn't know about Sokka, though.
Sokka turned his head towards me. "How did the battle go last time?" He asked.
I thought about it before I spoke. "That's not a simple answer." I confessed. "The three of you were away from the battle for most of it last time, so the story focused on you, and only showed snippets of the battle. I don't know the exact numbers of how many people died last time or this time."
Sokka looked thoughtful. "Did anyone's fate change?"
I nodded. "Yeah. First, Hahn was still engaged to Yue in the story, but he died in the battle, not in a hunting accident beforehand." I swallowed. "Yue died in the original story, too."
Everyone looked at me. "What happened?" Aang whispered.
"Tui died, and Yue sacrificed her life to bring Tui back." I explained.
Sokka cocked and eyebrow. "How did she do that?"
"Tui gave Yue some of her life force when Yue was a baby." I explained. "Yue was very sick when she was born. Her parents dipped her in the Spirit Oasis, and begged the spirits to save her. Tui heard their plea, and made Yue healthy. It also turned her hair white." I looked down sadly. "So, when Tui died, Yue gave that borrowed life force back."
Katara gave me a kind smile. "You saved her life."
I shrugged. "I just did what I thought was right." I said plainly. "I'm trying to avoid making another Jet mistake."
We were silent for a few more seconds, then Sokka perked up. "There it is!" He exclaimed.
We looked where he was facing and saw the fortress. It was almost the size of a small city. It had a massive pagoda-like building in the center of a circular fort, with barracks and other buildings lining the perimeter.
I swallowed nervously. It was time to change the future again.
We landed near the central pagoda, in front of a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers. We got off Appa and stretched. While we were stretching, a man stepped forward from the group. He wore the elaborate uniform of an Earth Kingdom general, cape and all. He had brown hair and a long beard. "Welcome, Avatar Aang!" He announced. He and the other soldiers bowed. "I am General Fong." He lifted his arms up theatrically. "And welcome to all of you, great heroes! Appa, Momo, Brave Sokka," Sokka straightened up with pride. "The Mighty Katara…"
My sister crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked with satisfaction. "Mighty Katara? I like that."
General Fong turned to me and smiled. "And, of course, Alec the Hand Slicer!"
My eyes went wide. What the fuck?! Who came up with that cringey, pretentious nickname?! It's not like I was proud of cutting of Zhao's hand. I just did what I had to do.
Before I could say anything, the soldiers launched a fireworks display using earthbending. General Fong certainly rolled out the welcome wagon for us. Probably buttering us up before asking us to do a suicide mission.
Sokka looked at the fireworks, clearly impressed. "Not bad, not bad."
When the fireworks died down, I walked over to General Fong. "Excuse me, you called me Alec the Hand Slicer. How did you come up with that nickname?" I inquired.
He seemed surprised by the question. "I didn't. The Fire Nation did." He looked at me quizzically. "Haven't you heard?"
The Fire Nation? That wasn't good. "Heard what?" I asked, dread filling my voice.
He reached into his robes and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper and handed it to me. "My spies found these all over the Fire Nation occupied territories." He explained.
I unrolled the piece of paper. It was a wanted poster, with a very familiar face. My face.
"Wanted. The Fire Lord orders the arrest of a rogue firebender. Answers to the name "Alec", also known as "Hand Slicer". Alec is wanted for treason, divulging military secrets to the enemy, and the murder of Admiral Zhao. Alec is a known associate of the Avatar. Permission is granted to kill him on sight. Reward of 1,000 gold pieces for his confirmed death or capture."
This was horrible! The Fire Lord knew I existed, which is exactly what I didn't want! I needed to think. What should I do about this?
Aang and my siblings walked over. "That's not good." Sokka said seriously.
"No shit." I replied. Katara was too shocked by the poster to correct my swearing.
"What are you gonna do?" Aang asked worriedly.
I rolled up the poster and put it in my bag. "I'll worry about it later. Let's talk to the general for now."
General Fong led us inside to his war room. He sat behind his desk, which was empty, apart from an atlas. The four of us sat on the floor about a dozen feet away from the desk.
General Fong stroked his beard thoughtfully, then he spoke. "Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you singlehandedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole." He stopped stroking his beard. "I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility."
"I try not to think about it too much." Aang replied casually.
Fong looked directly at Aang. "Avatar, you're ready to face the Fire Lord now." He stated.
Aang's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "What?! No, I'm not!" He exclaimed.
Katara spoke up. "Aang still needs to master all four elements." She reasoned.
"Why?" Fong asked. "With the kind of power he possesses," Fong stood up. "Power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes, he could defeat the Fire Lord now!" He slammed his fist down on the table.
Sokka tried his hand at reasoning with him. "But sir, the thing is, Aang can only do those things when he's in the Avatar State."
Aang nodded. "See, it's this special state where-"
"I'm well aware!" Fong interrupted sharply. "Your eyes and tattoos glow and you're able to summon unbelievable power. Fong walked over to a map. "Without you, we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores." He guided his finger on a path from our location to the Fire Nation Capital. "But with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation."
"Right," Aang said doubtfully, "But, I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar State, much less what to do once I'm there."
Fong turned around and faced us. "So, it's decided then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State, and then you'll face your destiny."
The four of us stood up. "No, nothing's decided." Katara refuted angrily. "We already have a plan. Aang's pursuing his destiny his way."
"Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the War goes on." He pointed out the window to his left. "May I show you something?" He lead us over to a window overlooking a building with wounded soldiers walking slowly around. Most were burned. A few even had missing limbs. "That's the infirmary, and those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back. Every day, the Fire Nation takes lives. People are dying, Aang! You could end it, now. Think about it."
Aang looked down, uncertainty covering his face. I stepped forward. "Before we make any decisions, the four of us need to talk." I looked each of them in the eye. "Privately."
Fong nodded. "Very well. I'll have my men show you to your quarters."
Fong's men led us to a room with several plain beds. Once the door shut, I rounded on Aang. "I need you to absolutely trust me." I said, looking him in the eye. Everyone's eyes turned serious. "Everyone sit down, we need to talk."
Everyone sat down in a circle on the floor. Aang sat directly across from me, with Momo resting on his shoulder. "What is it?" He asked with wide eyes.
"General Fong's plan is suicide." I stated bluntly. "I know more about the Avatar State and the Fire Lord than he does. It won't work."
"Why not?" Sokka asked. "He took out the Fire Navy. He was incredible!"
"That was him and La working together." I answered. "This is different."
"What do you know about the Avatar State and the Fire Lord?" Katara questioned.
I took a deep breath. "Well, let's start with the Fire Lord." I began, looking Aang in the eye. "Ozai knows one technique that can definitely kill you, Avatar State or not."
"What technique?" Katara whispered fearfully.
"Lightning." I answered. "I have the scroll for it in my box. Ozai is one of the few firebenders in the world that knows that technique. I don't care how tough you are, if you get hit with a lightning bolt, you're not getting back up without help."
"Spirits, how strong is that guy?!" Sokka exclaimed, exasperated.
"Very." I admitted. "Right now, there's only one person in the world I know of who can beat him, and even he only has a fifty-fifty chance."
"Who?" Aang asked.
"Iroh." I said plainly.
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Iroh? That old guy?"
"Don't let his appearance fool you." I smirked. "He fought with us in the Spirit Oasis. Zhao brought twenty guards. Iroh took on fifteen at once, and he was probably holding back, trying not to kill them."
"Okay, so the Avatar State isn't an automatic win." Sokka admitted. "What else do you know about the Avatar State?"
I took a breath. "Well, there are three ways to enter the Avatar State, outside of spirit intervention like Roku and La did." I looked at Aang and held up a finger. "The first way is through extreme anger, like you did at the Southern Air Temple. When you go into the Avatar State that way, you focus your attacks on the person or thing that made you angry, or you create a storm, devastating everything around you. Someone has to calm you down to bring you out of the Avatar State, because you won't be in control."
Aang gulped. "That doesn't sound good."
"It's not." I said bluntly. I put up a second finger. "The second way to enter the Avatar State is when you're in great danger, like you did when Zuko knocked you off his ship near the South Pole. When you go into the Avatar State that way, you attack whatever put you in danger, and then you exit the Avatar State automatically when the danger has passed."
Katara frowned. "That sounds better, but still not great."
I put up a third and final finger. "The third way to enter the Avatar State is when you've mastered it. Once you do, you can enter and leave the Avatar State at will, and you're in full control of your actions."
Sokka nodded. "That sounds like the best option. Why don't you tell Aang how to control it?"
I shook my head. "I can't."
Aang looked at me, confused. "Why not?"
"It's a multi-step process, and I only remember the last step." I confessed.
Sokka looked confused. "I thought you told us this was your favorite story, and you saw it on that 'tv' thing of yours multiple times."
Explaining cartoons and tv to those three had been a chore and a half. I lost count of how many times I said 'I'm not making this up' that day. "I only saw the part about Aang learning to control the Avatar State once. I skipped over it when I watched the show again because I thought it was a bunch of boring spiritual mumbo-jumbo." I admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head.
Sokka groaned. "Are you serious?"
"It's not like I knew I was gonna end up here!" I said defensively.
I got back into serious mode. "There's one more thing you need to know." I looked Aang in the eye. "If you die in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will break, and the Avatar will cease to exist." Aang's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "You can meditate into the Spirit World and talk to Roku to confirm this. General Fong's plan won't just get you killed, it'll kill the Avatar forever."
Sokka and Katara looked scared. Aang looked conflicted. "I know it's risky, but do we have time to do this the right way?" He asked quietly. "I'm already a hundred years late."
I nodded. "We do have time, Aang. I know we do." I said reassuringly. "If I thought we didn't, I would've made more changes by now. You'll learn how to control the Avatar State when the time is right."
Aang was still for a few seconds, then he nodded. "Okay, what should we tell General Fong tomorrow?"
The next morning, we gathered in the war room in front of General Fong.
"General Fong, we have a proposition for you." I said in the most respectful tone I could muster. "We thought about it, but we must decline your strategy. It's too risky to try right now."
Fong looked crestfallen and slightly angry. "But, don't lose hope." I said before he could interrupt. "Aang is a fast learner."
"He's made amazing progress with waterbending." Katara added, smiling at Aang. "At this rate, he'll be ready to face the Fire Lord before the end of the summer."
"Our proposal is this." I stated. "We will contact you in a few months when Aang is ready to face the Fire Lord. In exchange for your patience, Katara will go to the infirmary and heal your men with waterbending. We also won't ask you for an escort to Omashu. We don't want to take away men from your war efforts here."
General Fong stroked his beard thoughtfully. He looked at Aang. "You will be ready in a few months?" He asked seriously.
Aang met his gaze. "I will." He said with determination.
Fong nodded. "Please heal my men. And thank you."
We all bowed. "Thank you for your service, General Fong." I said sincerely. "This war will be over soon."
Katara spent several hours healing the wounded soldiers, who thanked her profusely. After we finished, we boarded Appa and took off, heading southeast.
We camped out that night near a river. Our plan was to spend most of tomorrow training. Aang and Katara on waterbending, and I would finally get some firebending done. As we sat around the fire, Sokka spoke to me. "What happened in the original story?"
I was afraid he'd ask that. I took a deep breath. "Fong was desperate to end the war now, so he tried a bunch of methods to get Aang into the Avatar State." I said. "They didn't work, so he got desperate enough and ordered his men to attack Aang to put him in danger."
"What?" Aang whispered, horrified.
"It gets worse." I admitted. "Aang was too evasive to hit, so he attacked Katara."
"WHAT!?" Aang shouted, his eyes flashing white briefly. Momo jumped out of Aang's lap, knocking over my bag and spilling its contents.
"Easy!" I warned, putting my hands up placatingly. "It didn't happen this time."
Katara grabbed Aang's arm. "It's okay." She said gently. Aang's eyes went back to normal and he sat back down. Katara kept hold of Aang's arm. "What happened next?" She asked.
"Aang went into the Avatar State, and did some damage to the fort." I explained. "Avatar Roku dragged him into the Spirit World and explained the Avatar State's weakness, then Aang calmed down. Sokka knocked out Fong, and then you all left for Omashu."
"Why did you make that change?" Sokka wondered.
I gave him a look. "Well, this way, we still have an ally in General Fong, and nobody got hurt." I started gathering up the contents of my spilled bag. I stopped when I reached a rolled up piece of paper. The wanted poster. I needed to figure out what to do about this.
"We have another problem." I said grimly, unraveling the poster. "Now the Fire Nation isn't just looking for Aang, they're looking for me, too."
"So? What's the difference?" Sokka inquired.
"1,000 gold pieces is a lot of money." I explained. "People in the Earth Kingdom might not sell out the Avatar, but they might sell me out for a quick profit."
Aang got a sad look on his face. "Do you really think some people would do that?" He asked quietly. Aang liked to see the good in people.
"Yes." I said bluntly. "Some people are greedy enough to do unspeakable things for money." My mind flashed to a certain group of sandbenders.
"So, what are you gonna do?" Katara asked, worried.
I shrugged. "I guess I'll just wear my hooded cloak and cover my face with a scarf or something when we go into a village."
Aang raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"Worse disguises have worked." I pointed out.
"It could work." Sokka said. "Besides, it could be worse. It's not like any of our friends are gonna see that poster and think you're evil."
I stared into the fire. "I hope not." I said softly.
Ty Lee POV
The circus had just finished it's tour of the northern Earth Kingdom colonies, and we were making our way south. We'd stopped in a village near the ruins of Taku. We passed a very familiar road on the way there. The road where I met him.
Alec. Ever since I met him, I thought about him at least once a week. He was good-looking, sure, but it was more than that. He was nice, and easy to talk to. He actually listened when I spoke, unlike most boys who just stared at my body. I was disappointed that we hadn't seen each other, since he told me he and his family were traveling north. I hoped I would see him again someday.
I got out of my tent after dinner and did my stretches. I had to work hard to keep myself limber. I was in the middle of a handstand when I heard snippets of a conversation from two passing villagers.
"1,000 gold pieces!"
"I can't believe a firebender would turn traitor."
"What was his name? It was weird. Ajac?"
"No, the wanted poster said Alec."
I nearly fell over. It couldn't be. I ran over to the village noticeboard as fast as my legs would carry me. I looked over the wanted posters, hoping I heard wrong.
I saw his face and my heart nearly stopped.
"Wanted. The Fire Lord orders the arrest of a rogue firebender. Answers to the name "Alec", also known as "Hand Slicer". Alec is wanted for treason, divulging military secrets to the enemy, and the murder of Admiral Zhao. Alec is a known associate of the Avatar. Permission is granted to kill him on sight. Reward of 1,000 gold pieces for his confirmed death or capture."
Treason?! Murder?! The Avatar?! What was going on?! I didn't want to believe it. Alec told me he'd killed someone, but that was self-defense. My mind was a whirlwind of emotion. I took the poster and ran over to my tent. I was so confused.
I took a deep breath. Alec said he was traveling north with a friend and his family. Was that friend the Avatar? Why did Alec betray the Fire Nation? Why did he kill that Admiral? I couldn't make any sense of it. I wanted to ask him for answers, but it was unlikely I would ever find him.
I got in my sleeping bag and cried myself to sleep.
Alec POV
I didn't sleep very well last night. Part of me wanted to believe I was just anxious to firebend, but I had a weird guilty feeling, too. Strange. I shook it off. As soon as dawn broke, I started fixing breakfast. Sokka woke up when he smelled the cooking fish.
"Morning." I greeted.
He smirked. "Morning, Hand Slicer."
I frowned and groaned. "I hate that nickname. It's so cringey. I just want to find whoever came up with it and-"
"Cut their hands off?" Sokka interrupted with a teasing grin.
I rolled my eyes. "Fuck you." I said lightly.
"Language." I heard Katara's voice say groggily from her sleeping bag. She sat up and yawned. "You ready to learn more firebending?"
I nodded and grinned eagerly. "I've been ready for three weeks."
After we ate and I warmed up, I set up with Aang and Katara beside the river. "Okay, I know the moves by heart, so what do I need to do?" I asked Aang.
Aang looked down at the scroll. "You need to create an arc that hits three targets in an arc in front of you." He read.
I nodded. "Katara, can I get some targets?" I requested.
She waved her arms and created three human-sized ice spikes in the river about ten feet in front of me. I got in my stance, and swept my right arm. An arc of fire shot from my hand, hitting all three spikes and cracking them. I grinned. Looks like all that time practicing the movements on the boat hadn't been for nothing. I did a leg sweep, which created a similar arc, hitting the lower part of the ice spikes. Success!
I got out of my stance. "All right." I said. "Now for the hard move."
Katara nodded. The 'hard move' was Zuko's breakdancing move. Plus side, 360 arc of fire. Downside, breakdancing was hard. This was what I spent most of my time on the ship learning, much to the amusement of the other passengers.
Katara created a small ice platform in the river for me to stand on, and created ten ice spikes in a circle around it. I got on the platform and got ready. This was the moment of truth.
I did the breakdancing move. A ring of fire expanded around me and broke every single ice spike. I jumped up, triumphant. "I did it!" I shouted.
"Nice work!" Katara praised.
I stepped off the platform and waded back to shore. "What's the next scroll?" I asked Aang.
Aang rifled through the box of scrolls. Then he started to laugh. I raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"The next one is fire bomb." He got out between chortles.
Katara and I started laughing, too. "Well, we might as well look at it." I said after the laughter died down.
The fire bomb scroll did have something useful in it after all. It taught me how to stabilize the bombs with one hand, instead of needing two hands. Even so, that took me less than an hour to learn. It wasn't even lunch and I'd gotten through two scrolls. I was on a roll!
After I blew up the last ice spike, I turned to Aang and Katara. They were whispering about something. Interesting. "What's next?" I inquired.
They looked at me. "We wanted to ask you something." Katara said gently.
I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what is it?"
Aang looked a bit nervous. "Well, you see, I want to get more experience fighting firebenders, so I was hoping…"
"That I would spar against you when you're learning the other elements." I finished. I looked him in the eye. "Are you sure that's what you want?" I questioned seriously.
Aang nodded firmly. "Yes. I need to be ready to fight the Fire Lord."
"Alright." I said. "We can start that at our next stop. I want to get through another scroll, first. What's next?"
Aang looked in the box and picked out a scroll. "Fire blade." He said.
Two Days Later
We traveled southeast for another day, and camped out at another river. We were avoiding going to villages as much as possible, considering two of us were wanted men. I was in the middle of practicing the fire blade. This was a cool move. It was a hyper-focused fire beam that could cut through just about anything like a hot knife through butter. It took me a while to get. Eventually, I swiped my arm and a blade made contact with the three giant icicles Katara made. It looked like it failed to cut them.
"I don't think it worked." Aang said doubtfully.
I smirked. "Give it a second."
"Maybe you should try again." Aang suggested.
"No, no. Hold on." I insisted.
Suddenly, the three icicles fell apart. Each of them had been cut cleanly in half. I turned to Aang and Katara. "You were saying?"
Aang looked impressed. Katara, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. "Showoff." She muttered.
I gave Aang a look. "Okay. I promised I would help with your lessons." I said. "I won't go easy on you, Aang."
AN: Alec will now be Aang's training partner. That means that he'll just be shooting fireballs at Aang on a regular basis.
