Kaia had spent the following days breaking herself of any habit she might have picked up traveling with the Fire Nation. Her display at the Earth Kingdom village had quickly opened her eyes to what she was becoming, and no part of her wanted that. She in no way was going back on what she had said she would do. She would fight Ozai, but she would fight him as an Earth Kingdom Rebel, not a Fire Nation soldier.
Kaia had dedicated her time in the cell on wheels to practicing the bending art; the movements alone were enough to help her maintain that which she did not want to lose: the feeling of being an Earthbender. When she had attacked, she no longer used the word 'fought' describing that day, that man in the village she had moved the earth too quickly. She had not used control.
Kaia inhaled, letting the sooty air swirl into her body. She focused, the breath becoming energy, energy that extended to the far reaches of her body. Her fingers tingled. The raw energy begging to be set free; she encased it. The power she felt in her fingers slowly built up through the rest of her body; that power could easily be released in one shot into a small earthquake beneath the Fire Army's feet, but this was an exercise of control. She brought her arms down, exhaling softly, expelling the energy back into her surroundings, back where it had come from. She opened her eyes and began the process again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Sir, you requested my presence?" Keahi stood once again before Captain Sheng in the large war tent.
The captain looked up from where he sat, slowly shifting the papers in his hands out of view, "Yes. Keahi, what is the progress of the Earthbender?" he asked softly, his dark eyes looked sharp beneath his heavy brow.
Keahi looked once over his shoulder, as he always did whenever the subject of the Earthbender was brought up, and then back at Captain Sheng, "She is progressing well. She is a quick study - proficient with unconventional weapons, and becoming that way with the others."
"I had expected as much." he nodded, silently studying the floor, "Will the Earthbender pass as a soldier?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kaia gripped her sword, her bare feet holding tightly to the cold floor as she passed through her stances. Each movement had to be connected. The art of the sword was clearly a Fire Nation art. The smooth connectivity punctuated with sharp bursts of attacks, but always pursuant.
Practicing such an art in an enclosed space was difficult because Kaia did not have the room necessary for the skillful arcs that the other soldiers practiced, but it gave her an advantage, because she did not have to take the time to create those arcs. Her movements were abrupt and powerful.
The light coming through the small window in her cell was beginning to fade even though it was just past noon. Kaia paused in her drills and stepped over to the window, her eyes focusing on the black clouds quietly rushing across the skies, blocking out the sun and the constant grey haze that surrounded the convoy.
A different smell filled the air. A small smile momentarily graced Kaia's lips. The scent was damp, like the coming of rain. It didn't occur to her whether or not the oncoming weather would affect her training or their travel over the next few days, but the smell of wet was a nice change.
Anything to rid her of the horrible stench of smoke.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Absolutely not, Keahi." Ryuji objected, turning away from his friend and leader, "Who does Sheng think he is? We can't let the Earthbender think that it's one of us!"
Keahi sat himself down on a nearby boulder, glaring in exasperation at the clouding sky, "The Earthbender has to pass as a Fire Nation soldier. After what happened in the village it's been twice as hard for us to get anything done. She refuses to wear the armor or the shoes." He sighed as the rain that had begun to fall slowly dripped through the canopy of trees.
Zakai looked up, "It should be no surprise." he said calmly, "Her own people did not recognize her. She does not want to be one of us, and it is clear the feeling is reciprocated."
Ryuji glared, this was why he didn't like the boy talking. "The Earthbender is a tool, and nothing more. We all know that."
Hakan shook his head, "That may be the case, but if Niyati's going to pass as one of us, she should feel more accepted. We only have a few more weeks, and I don't care if she can best all of us at the same time, if she can't fool the palace guards into believing her to be a Fire Nation citizen than it's over."
"Hakan's right." Zakai agreed, "So is the Captain."
Droplets of water slowly began to collect in pools around the soldiers' feet, sliding down their faces and uniforms in strange small rivers. Ryuji growled at the discomfort the water afforded him, he opened his mouth in preparation to scold Zakai.
Hakan sighed, "This rain isn't going to let up. I'll go get Niy…the Earthbender."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Niyati had just placed her sword on the floor of her cell when Hakan opened the door. As usual, she masked her distaste for the Fire Nation in a stoic look of indifference toward the boy. "It's early." She commented dryly, glancing briefly past his head.
Hakan nodded, "Rain." he responded quietly.
When Niyati tried to leave her cell, Hakan stopped her, "You'll need your armor tonight."
She looked at him curiously then turned around to climb back in. Hakan followed, "You'll need help."
The armor lay in a heap in what seemed to be a little used corner of the cell, untouched since she had first tried it on the first time. The bulky mass of red and black in the corner was to be Niyati's test that night. She would have to be able to move wearing the armor just as naturally as she did in the burlap she wore back in her village.
She began to dig through it, Hakan observing behind her, growing more and more certain that Niyati had not even attempted to put the uniform on in its entirety. She grimaced distastefully, "I suppose I'll have to wear the boots, won't I?"
Hakan nodded, "Have you even tried it on?" he asked, kneeling down beside her. He pulled out the shin guards, a small piece of a uniform that was possibly twice the size of its new bearer.
"Once." She paused, seeming to consider a question for a moment before slipping back into the same moody silence that she had maintained since their departure of the Earth city.
Hakan smiled inwardly as he stood, preparing to help her into the armor. Over the next half hour, he showed her how to tie on the different pieces of armor, where the pieces should fit and hold against the body, and the better places to stow extra weapons or other stings. It amused him that even though the suit was made to fit a man around her size that some of the pieces were either too large or too small, depending on the area. This would need to be remedied, if the suit was worn properly, it would be much easier to move in than if it was too loose or too tight. One way and the suit would fall off or shift, the other way and the suit would constrict and the wearer would pass out.
He handed her the last bit, allowing Niyati to place the strange helmet onto her head. Niyati obviously was not pleased by this turn of events, but Hakan seemed to approve. At least she was starting to hold herself more like a soldier instead of a citizen.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ryuji scoffed as he saw Zakai and the Earthbender approaching from beyond the clearing. "What is this, some kind of joke?" he laughed.
Keahi raised his eyebrows a bit, "The Earthbender remembered the boots this time."
"It's only because Zakai helped."
Zakai rolled his eyes at the other two, but nodded in agreement. Niyati did seem rather awkward in her uniform, but it was not as though the others had not been there before. It was rather bulky for the first time.
"We should teach her how to walk before we teach her how to fight." He observed cautiously.
"We don't have time." Ryuji glared at the two as they got closer, "We have less than two weeks." He drew his sword, the glint in his eyes mimicked the gleam of the rainwater on the blade.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hakan would have given anything to slow the walk down as Ryuji drew his sword, but the reaction that movement elicited in Niyati was exactly the opposite. Her eyes hardened and her pace quickened, even as she stumbled in the heavy unfamiliar uniform. The original training was not supposed to be an all out fight between the two, but he had no doubt that is what it would be.
He glared across the field at Ryuji, who held an advantage in his own way. He was used to his uniform, having had a much longer time to walk around in it. It was his second skin, just like the rest of them.
He did not understand why the others had not taken his advice and placed Niyati against Zakai in the first place. In her current state of inexperience Ryuji would ultimately be the victor, and they might lose more time in training.
In less time than he had hoped, the reached the center of the field.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I thought you only taught hand to hand." She hissed to Ryuji, completely ignoring the rest of them.
In the past few days, the two of them had sparred only with bare hands only and most certainly without bending. Their fights had been nothing less than spirited, and almost always ended with one or both of them bruised and battered.
"I have many talents." He growled back. They always started with banter. It wasn't tradition, but more of a test to see who would lose their cool first. They could stand there for hours or mere seconds.
"Pity that none of them are worth anything." She had become more hostile over the past few days as a result, "So, what is it tonight? Your rules." She never broke eye contact with him, keeping his eyes locked with her intense gaze.
"You want rules tonight?" the others had backed away from them almost instantly, whatever it was that fueled the hate between them was not something that should be witnessed in close range, "You, me and whatever comes in handy."
Kaia smiled a vicious grin, "Then what are we waiting for?" she shifted in her bulky armor, but managed to mask her discomfort as well as she did anything else.
The rain that had at first dripped from the skies began to sprinkle. The droplets now forming on their motionless suits, the beads that clung to their poised swords began to quiver with built up energy and trickle, leaving crystalline trails in their passing.
Kaia inhaled through her nose, smelling the beginnings of damp soil beneath her booted feet, her eyes never left Ryuji's, she held her ground still - another part of their ritualistic dance, the wait.
In a flash, Kaia's sword moved from it's poised position and lashed out at Ryuji, a direct attack aimed to decapitate. Ryuji countered, and Kaia suddenly felt that this match would be far more difficult than previously imagined.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hakan grimaced as the sound of swords clashing finally sounded across the clearing.
"It's about time." Keahi remarked coolly, the only reason he could find for not liking it when Ryuji and the Earthbender fought was that it took far too long to begin. After that the fights were usually a great learning experience for anyone involved.
He was looking forward to the day when he would get to fight her.
The Earthbender reeled back from Ryuji's blows with the sword, her movements were not as smooth as they usually were, and she was slower – much slower.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The swords slipped in the rain, even though neither weapon was still long enough to gather more than a few passing drops, the water between the steel was just enough to add an element of unpredictability to the match. A few times a sword would slip upwards when anyone could have seen that it clearly should have run down.
Ryuji managed to land a few heavy blows around Niyati's shoulders and upper arms - blows that would have been detrimental had she not been wearing her armor.
Zakai was amazed the neither of them had started bending yet. Each wielded a sufficient advantage in the given situation. Niyati was perfectly capable of hardening the ground beneath her feet and Ryuji could have easily heated his body and sword enough to evaporate the rain. It must have been a side effect of fighting that most people stop thinking and merely go on instinct.
It was not long after that Kaia hit the ground, usually signaling the end of a match, but not tonight. Ryuji ran forward, prepared to deliver what most certainly would have been the final blow dealt that night. Kaia reached out, instinctively delivering what would later be considered as the first show of Earth Bending that night.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The instant Kaia felt her body connect with the wet dirt it was as though she had just found the one weapon she had forgotten. The instant before Ryuji drove his sword downward, she reached out with her free hand, grabbing the soil beneath his feet and ploughed him back more than fifty paces.
Despite the fact that Ryuji had been jettisoned away from his target and covered in mud, he made his recovered and shot his own flame back at where Kaia was having difficulty removing herself from the ground.
To Kaia's great delight, the flame which certainly would have reached her otherwise, had been partially extinguished by the falling rain. Instead of receiving a burn, she merely felt the warmth of the flame.
The armor, despite having been fitted by Hakan, had already begun to shift and constrict in the beginnings of a downpour.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The harder the rain fell, the harder it was to see what was happening in the clearing. The battling forms of the Earthbender and Ryuji could scarcely be made out through the oncoming darkness and thick rainfall.
Every now and then a particularly loud clash of metal broke above the roar of the rain, or a flash of flame would extend beyond one of the parties and illuminate the area for a brief moment. The rain had made it an even match. The armor, made of leather and metal, was constricting on both of them, slowing each of them by the same factor.
Lightning and thunder soon filled the remaining silence in the clearing.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What's the matter, Ryuji?" Kaia challenged, squinting to find his form in the downpour, "Firebender can't handle a little rain?" she stumbled in armor as she tried another failed attempt to block his fist. Swords had been abandoned for the more conventional methods, they had become too unwieldy the harder the rain fell.
Even fighting with fists had become difficult, but neither of them was about to surrender. The constriction of the leather had shortened the lengths of both their arms, and the fighting had become all about close quarters and indeterminate distances.
Ryuji disappeared from her view again, and Kaia took that moment to wipe the hair that had plastered itself to her face away from her eyes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Another burst of flame forced its way through the rain, followed by the distinct sounds of something hard hitting the mud.
"Over there!" Zakai called over the downpour.
The remaining three had been attempting to call halt to this match for quite some time now, but had been unable to determine where the two had taken their battle. Lightning lit the skies again, followed shortly by the sound of thunder.
Keahi let out a loud cry of concentrated energy, and lit the sky with his own flame. Zakai stared in wonder for a moment, the flame arced from the bender's hands and remained in the skies just long enough to create an evaporating shield from the rain.
Hakan could clearly see Ryuji and Niyati locked in the final stages of hand to hand, "HOLD!" he bellowed, just before the flame Keahi had created disappeared.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Kaia returned to her cell, she was bruised, bloody, wet and tired. She barely had time to remove the smelling wet armor before her body gave itself over to the lulling sound of rain and the fatigue inhabiting her mind and body.
Kaia collapsed on the floor of her cell, still wet, and passed out.
A/N - Another apology. I'll make the next chapter worth it.