Ch. 1
Inside the Fire
Avatar the Last Airbender is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me
Sucking in a breathe, a young girl punched the air twice and finished with a front kick causing three yellow fireballs to fly out of her fists and foot and sail towards practice dummies dressed up in Water Confederacy and Earth Imperium uniforms. The insignia for the former bore resemblance to what used to be the old emblem of the Northern Water Tribe, but now had the added features of two spears crossed in an x and the roaring, ferocious maw of a polar bear dog. The emblem for the latter had what used to be the Earth Kingdom's symbol, but it was underneath Chin the Conqueror's boot who was triumphantly holding his fist up in the air with badger moles at either side of him glaring at everything and everyone. Sighing when she saw that her flames had only caused small fires on the practice dummies, the young girl sat down crossed legged and considered what she had done wrong. Her form was perfect, at least that's what her firebending teacher told her, and she released the flames on the exhale like she had been taught, so what was going on? The girl was shaken out of her stupor when her komodo rhino walked up to her and gently knocked her onto the ground making her laugh as the beast of burden stood over her.
"Hi Yang, it's business as usual. I have the technique down, but I just can't seem to muster enough power," the noble girl remarked while gesturing with her head at the practice dummies causing the komodo rhino to trudge over to them and impale one of them on her horns, smack another dummy's head clean off with her tail, and cave the last dummy's head in by rearing up and forcing all of her weight down onto it with her foot.
"Yang, dad can only get so many of these uniforms from the front!" the girl protested to which the beast of burden snorted as she nibbled on same grass while her rider walked over to the shed, grabbed new practice dummies wearing the uniforms of the enemy, and set them up.
"Okay, righteous fury. Righteous fury," the noble girl murmured as she used the anger from her many failings to produce fire...which caused the flames to come out in the same yellow hue as last time.
"Ugh, what's it going to take!?" the girl roared as she swung her fist in a wild haymaker at one of the practice dummies causing an orange burst of fire to fly out of her fist and collide with the dummy, burning it to cinders. Instead of being happy, the young firebender instead sighed heavily, ran a hand over her face, and paced around with her hands on her hips.
"Great, now if only I could do that all the time," the young firebender groaned as she was about to continue with target practice anyway until Yang lumbered in front of the practice dummies, faced her rider, and crouched down as if she were going to charge. Instead of being terrified as any other person would be, the young firebender just pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a soft breathe.
"Yang, for the millionth time, I'm not going to practice my firebending against you! Not now, not ever," the noble girl stated in a tone of finality to the komodo rhino, but all this made the beast of burden do was paw the ground, release a guttural snort, and give her rider a look that all but said "Don't assume you can hurt me with it in the first place." Before the young firebender could tell her komodo rhino to stand aside, Yang charged causing the noble girl to ready herself as she waited for just the right moment before jumping in the air and landing on Yang's middle horn was which was pointed away from her rider. The instant she did this, however, Yang tossed her aside with a quick swing of her head, sending the young firebender flying, and landing on the grass with a rough thud. Grunting, the noble girl got onto all fours and heard thunderous footsteps charging toward her from behind causing her to simultaneously spin out of the way of Yang's charge and kicked out at the komodo rhino's foot like she was going to sweep it. Yang, however, lifted her foot out of the way, causing her rider's limb to hit nothing but empty air, and smacked her rider with a restrained, but firm slap of her tail with a twist of her hips. Wheezing, the noble girl was sent uncontrollably tumbling across the ground like a stone across a pond before coming to a halt on her side where she had to take a moment to gather herself. Seeing Yang crouching down to initiate another charge, the young firebender climbed to her feet and got herself into a ready position.
"Alright, you asked for it!" the young girl shouted as she sent a yellow fireball sailing toward the beast of burden by punching the air...only for Yang to plow right through it as if it were wet paper with nary a flinch or cry of pain. Gasping, the young firebender jumped out of the way while discharging two more streams of fire at the beast of burden by throwing a roundhouse kick and side kick before gracefully landing on the ground. With a contemptuous snort, Yang dissipated both fire blasts with a swipe of her tail and gave her rider a look that said "That's the spirit." before barreling toward the young firebender at breakneck speed. Preparing to dive out of the way of another charge, the young firebender gasped when Yang abruptly stopped in her tracks as if she anticipated such an action and tried to loop her tail around her rider's waist like a serpent.
Jumping out of the way and landing on the beast of burden's saddle, the firebender managed to get out a single fire blast before she was forced to metaphorically abandon ship when the komodo rhino flipped onto her side. Landing on the ground and rolling with the impetus, the noble girl was on her feet in an instant and double punched the air, sending out a forceful stream of fire at Yang while she was lying on her back. Grunting, the beast of burden rolled out of the way of the flames and whipped her tail out, striking the back of her rider's Achilles tendon. Yelping, the young firebender fell backwards and landed on her spine with a thud, making her groan, and saw the komodo rhino charging toward her again. Rolling to her feet, the firebender discharged another fire bolt which Yang plowed through as if it weren't even there before jumping in the air and front flipping with her lead leg extended.
Bringing the heel of her foot crashing down on Yang's forehead when she came down for a landing, the firebender heard her beast of burden grunt before the komodo rhino wrapped her tail around her rider's waist and tossed her to the ground. Righting herself, the young firebender rolled with the momentum, came to a stop on one knee, and discharged a bolt of fire at her komodo rhino by punching the air which Yang dissipated with a headbutt and then made a mock charge at her rider. When the young firebender instinctively backpedaled and shot another fire ball at her, the komodo rhino withered the blow and placed one of her horns in between her rider's legs while hooking the upper two underneath the firebender's armpits. With a quick tug of her head, the firebender was chucked aside with a gasp and landed face first on the grass where she saw stars and lay in a heap on her belly. As her rider lay in a daze, Yang, with a snort, laid down on the young girl while being careful not to force her full weight down on her rider which elicited nothing more than annoyed huff from the young firebender.
"How am I supposed to serve my country against the Earth Imperium and Water Confederacy if I can't even beat you?" the firebender asked to which Yang grunted as she got off of her rider when the young girl patted her side twice. Instead, the komodo rhino sat behind her, letting her rider lay down against her bulk and resting her giant head against the firebender's leg and placing her tail around her rider like a blanket. Patting Yang's head, the young girl looked up at the sky and thumped her fingers against the komodo rhino's tail. With Fire Lord Azulon recently lifting the restriction on women serving on the front lines, her dream of serving in cavalry unit with Yang was in reach. She didn't care if she was deployed to the icy, grueling tundra of the North and South Pole or the hard, unforgiving terrain of the Earth Imperium, so long as she got to serve! That's what they were taught in school, right? To help the Fire Nation anyway they could? And if she was recognized as some sort of hero when she retired, then great, but if not, then oh well; at least she did her part. However, those dreams would be dashed if she couldn't even muster strong enough flames and with that in mind, thumped Yang's forehead and gestured at the practice dummies. Grunting, the komodo rhino got onto her feet and motioned for her rider to get on which the firebender did with a deft jump onto the saddle and secured her feet into the stirrups.
"Okay Yang, let's take this slow," the young girl said causing the komodo rhino to break out into a jogging pace towards the remaining practice dummies.
"A little faster now," the young girl ordered causing the beast of burden to release a puff of air from her nostrils and hastened her pace to near running speeds causing the girl to nervously grit her teeth and take her feet out of the stirrups.
"This is good; keep this pace up," the young girl commanded to which the beast of burden grunted as the firebender stood up on the saddle and took a firebending stance where she sucked in a breathe and jumped toward one of the targets on the exhale. With good form, the young girl twisted in midair, coated her foot in weak, yellow fire, and attempted to kick the target across its face...only for her gut to impact a tree branch she forgot was there. Wheezing, the young girl fell toward the ground, but luckily Yang wrapped her tail around her rider's waist and used her bulk to lessen the fall damage. However, when Yang gently set the young girl on the ground, she promptly laid down on her again while making sure not to force her full weight down on her.
"Yang, get your fat butt off of me!" the young girl groaned to which Yang snorted and laid her head down on top of her rider's face causing the girl to turn her head to the side while not even attempting to free her trapped limbs. Sighing, the young girl closed her eyes and tried to take a nap as she knew Yang would move...eventually.
"Yumi, Yumi! Where are you?" the young girl heard her mother call out causing Yumi to yell that she was with Yang which made the young girl hear a chorus of footsteps rushing toward her.
"Here!" the young firebender hollered causing the distressed parent to run around the backyard in search of her daughter and came to a stop in front of Yang where all she saw was the komodo rhino lazing around.
"Where, I don't see you!" Yumi's mother cried out which made Yumi chuckle softly as she could already imagine what her mother was going to say.
"I'm here," Yumi shouted causing her mother to run in front of the komodo rhino and widened her eyes when she saw her daughter's head poking out from underneath Yang's girth.
"Get off her, you unruly beast!" Yumi's mother shouted at Yang and if the komodo rhino was capable of such a thing, Yang would have rolled her eyes as she got up and sat down next to her rider.
"That settles it; we're selling that monster and getting you an ostrich horse instead," Yumi's mother informed the young girl causing Yumi to fervently shake her head and protectively wrap her arms around Yang's neck prompting the komodo rhino to nuzzle her rider's cheek.
"No, please! I like Yang and she likes me too!" Yumi wailed causing her mother to fold her arms and glance at her daughter before shifting her gaze over to Yang who had wrapped her tail around the young girl's waist.
"I'll let you keep her, but I'm hiring someone to help you rear this beast," the young girl's mother informed her which made Yumi pout as her mother beckoned for her to follow her. Raising a brow, Yumi patted Yang on the head and gestured for her to return to her stable causing the komodo rhino to lick her rider's cheek before walking away to do just that as the young firebender caught up to her mother.
"Is something wrong, Mother?" Yumi concernedly inquired and to her relief, her mother shook her head as they entered their home where their servants bowed to them prompting the duo to return the gesture.
"Nothing serious, it's just that Prince Ozai is hosting a party and your father's presence is mandatory which means that by unfortunate proxy, so is ours. He's claiming it's to raise funds to help support our military and to raise awareness about the Earth Imperium and the Water Confederacy, but I think this is just a stunt to curry favor with Fire Lord Azulon," Yumi's mother explained causing the young girl to resist the great, overwhelming urge to groan and instead just sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips.
"I'll go get ready," Yumi reluctantly conceded causing her mother to smile at her and kneel down where she pulled the young girl in for a hug making Yumi grin and return the embrace.
"Thank you for being so patient about this," Yumi's mother said causing the young girl to nod before as she walked upstairs and returned to her quarters where she began rummaging through her closet to find something to wear.
"Okay, I want to look nice, but I also want to be comfortable. Let's see if we can find that happy medium," Yumi muttered as she found a crimson cheongsam causing the young girl to rub her chin and stare at the dress long and hard before beginning to disrobe.
"Mistress, your mother asked me to help you get ready. May I come in?" a servant asked from outside the door causing Yumi to shake her head as she put on her dress.
"It's alright, I'm pretty much done already. Could you please get Tozen to help me with my hair?" Yumi politely requested causing the servant to voice their affirmative and walk away as the young girl put on an ornate, crimson necklace with a shard of obsidian in the center around her neck.
"Mistress, it's Tozen. Is it alright to come in?" the servant asked causing the young girl to say yes prompting Tozen to enter the room and bow to Yumi who returned the gesture before sitting down in front of a mirror.
"So, what would you like me to do?" Tozen inquired causing the young girl to put a hand on her chin and stare up at the ceiling as if it would provide the answer.
"Could you tie my hair into a braid, please?" Yumi requested causing the servant to dutifully nod and go about styling his young mistress's hair who handed him a hair accessory which resembled the Fire Nation insignia.
"So, how's your firebending training going?" Tozen asked causing the young girl to groan as she held her hand out and conjured a small, pathetically weak yellow flame.
"It's going, just not the way I want it to. I've got the forms and motions down, but this is the only kind of fire I've been able to produce," Yumi whined causing the servant to nod as he continued to meticulously style the young girl's hair.
"What's your sifu been teaching you?" Tozen questioned causing Yumi to prop her elbow against her desk and place her chin atop her palm where she scowled at the mirror as if it had wronged her.
"Sifu Zhe made sure I learned proper breathe control before moving onto the forms and motions of firebending, but it's just that he keeps saying to use anger, but I don't really have anything to be mad at," Yumi answered and were it not unprofessional of him, Tozen would have rolled his eyes and spat every curse under the sun at his young mistress's so called sifu.
"Yumi, is it alright if I give you some advice? You don't have to use anger to fuel your firebending; other emotions like joy or hope will suffice," Tozen advised Yumi who raised a brow, but nodded nonetheless.
"Oh...um...okay. That's good to know," Yumi replied as Tozen finished tying the young girl's hair and placed the accessory at the tip causing the young girl to examine her hairstyle and smile jubilantly.
"Thank you, Tozen," Yumi gratefully told her servant while bowing to him prompting Tozen to grin and return the gesture as they both suddenly heard the young girl's mother shouting at her to come along. Leaving her room, Yumi saw her father, a gigantic beast of a man standing 6'7 and weighing 360 pounds, standing in the living room with her mother with his gada resting on his shoulder.
"Ready to go, Little Dragon?" Yumi's father remarked light-heartedly causing the young girl to huff indignantly as she and her family exited the house and got in the fancy carriage waiting for them outside.
"I'm not little," Yumi scoffed as she sat down next to her father where she looked like an ant next to him causing her mother to laugh softly as she sat across from them.
"I only meant it to refer to the size of your flames-"
"Ugh!" Yumi scowled as she folded her arms and turned away from her father where she along with her parents were unaware of the pursuers discreetly following them from the street corners.
"Send a messenger hawk ahead; the targets are in sight and heading towards the blind spot," one of the pursuers ordered causing her cohort to furiously scribble the message down and put it in the cylinder where the hawk took off high into the sky so as to not arouse suspicion.
"When we're done, Prince Ozai will be robbed of one his best fighters and his forces will be sent into disarray," one of the assassins muttered excitedly causing his comrade to smirk before motioning for his comrade to follow him where they went around a corner jumped onto the roof of a building.
"Provided the plan is properly executed," the leader stated as hopped to the next roof and then to the next one with his comrade in tow all while making sure that they were out of sight as meanwhile, Yumi absentmindedly looked out the window with her elbow propped against the wall. When looking at the concrete jungle, Yumi would sometimes lock eyes with one of their escorts prompting the bodyguard to politely dip their heads causing Yumi to return the gesture before going blankly looking at her surroundings. Just as she was about to nod off, Yumi widened her eyes when she saw a whole group of Water Confederacy warriors with their limbs bound by taut chains being led down the ramp of a ship. Leaning forward, Yumi winced when she saw the foreman whip a lash of flames across the back of a prisoner leaving a gnarly, pitch black burn mark on their back which leaked blood. Glaring at the foreman, Yumi continued to watch this spectacle and grimaced when one of the soldiers launch a fireball at the feet of a particularly unruly prisoner causing the man to scream in pain and collapse on the ground where his feet were burnt to a bloody, blistering crisp.
"Mother, Father, those soldiers are mistreating the prisoners!" Yumi shouted while pointing at the soldiers which brought her parent's animated conversation to an end as her parents looked out the window.
"Fire Lily, listen-"
"To what? You taught me not to abuse my power and that's exactly what those soldiers are doing! Can't you say you work with Prince Ozai to make them stop?" Yumi pleaded as she grit her teeth when saw the Water Confederacy warriors forced to walk while dragging their injured fellow behind them.
"To be honest, Prince Ozai would most likely approve of their actions," Yumi's father pointed out causing the young girl's mother to glare at her father and fold her arms making the man shrug.
"What, I'm just telling the truth," Yumi's father stated causing the young girl's mother to grumble as Yumi's father scratched the back of his head before pulling his daughter in for a hug.
"I know that was hard to see, Little Dragon, and trust me, I along with several others don't approve of their actions, but these things happen even if we don't want them to. The best we can do is try to prevent it from happening and/or punish those who act like that accordingly," Yumi's father told his daughter who nodded slowly before getting up from her chair and grabbing the knob to the door of the carriage.
"What are you doing, Fire Lily?" Yumi's mother asked worriedly causing the young girl to scratch the back of her head and look at the older woman with her head tilted.
"Well, father said the best we can do is to try and prevent something like that from happening and/or punishing those who act like bullies accordingly so I'm going to do the former," Yumi declared while opening the door to the carriage causing her father to immediately close the door and place his daughter back in her seat.
"Okay, I guess I also have to add that it's important to consider the ramifications of your actions. You don't have to do it for every little thing, but it's crucial to look before you leap," Yumi's father advised causing the young girl to stare at him with narrowed eyes before giving a barely noticeable nod in response. Before she was able to look out the window, Yumi along with her parents suddenly lurched forward when the carriage came to an abrupt halt on a strangely empty street causing her father to immediately grab his gada.
"What is it, Zi Quan?" Yumi's father called out to the point man causing the bodyguard to halt his komodo rhino right beside the carriage.
"There's a road block up ahead; don't worry, we'll go on ahead and clear it," Zi Quan assured Yumi's father who nodded as he thumped his fingers against the shaft of his mace before grasping the doorknob.
"You two stay here until we know its safe," Yumi's father ordered her and her mother as he exited the stagecoach and approached the roadblock with his bodyguards while Yumi's mother held her close and took out her butterfly swords.
"Yumi, promise me if something happens, you'll run and not look back, okay?" Yumi's mother requested while warily scanning the area causing the young girl to fervently shake her head.
"No, I won't leave you two behind!" Yumi shouted causing her mother to narrow her eyes before suddenly tackling her to the floor just as a flurry of arrows penetrated the stagecoach up making the young girl widen her eyes. Hearing a whole cacophony of footsteps suddenly flood into the area, Yumi confusedly looked around as the door was suddenly ripped open by a water tentacle controlled by an elderly man wearing a blue tunic. Gnashing her teeth, Yumi felt her mother hold her close as a swarm of hands suddenly grabbed them causing the young girl to cry out while her mother just grit her teeth as she plunged one of her blades into the gut of one of their attackers while simultaneously stabbing the knee of another of their assailants. Shrieking, the assassins tumbled out of the carriage while tightly clutching their wounds as Yumi's mother continued to slash and stab at anyone she could where one of their attackers suffered a slit throat, another was gored through the heart, and by skillfully maneuvering her blades, the next one's hand was chopped right off which made a spray of blood splatter the inside of the carriage.
As skilled as she was, there were simply too many attackers to account for as both of her butterfly swords were knocked from her hand and a water tendril tightly wrapped itself around Yumi's mother's neck making the woman retch as she was roughly pulled from the stagecoach. Reaching out to her, Yumi grit her teeth as she felt someone grab shirt collar causing her to conjure a fire dagger and stab at her attacker's gut, only to wince as her thrust was batted aside by a stiff strike to her wrist before yelping as a war fan was slammed against her nose. Feeling bone break and tasting blood as her head snapped back, Yumi couldn't help but let tears fall down her face as her arm was painfully wrenched behind her back where she was dragged out of the stagecoach. Summoning another fire dagger, Yumi tried to stab her attacker's thigh only to screech as she felt her arm being painfully yanked upward which made her unconsciously dissipate her fire dagger as she was forced onto her belly. Glaring at her assailants, she saw that she was surrounded by women dressed in green, lamellar plated kimonos, white face paint, and metallic headdresses where the one restraining her sat on her back and put her hand on the back of her head for added leverage.
"Don't do anything rash and you'll get out of this alive, okay?" the warrior restraining Yumi assured her like a kind, older sister, but all the young girl did was snarl like an armadillo lion making the onna bugeisha sigh before gesturing with her head at her partner. Nodding, the kyoshi warrior's partner, a lean, but athletically built dark skinned man wielding hook swords cupped his hands together and whistled like a bird causing the assassins who were fighting Yumi's father and his bodyguards to break off the engagement.
"Alright Lee, it's time for you to give up. We only came here to kill you, but we'll kill your wife and daughter too if that's what it takes," Yumi heard the hook sword wielder call out where she saw through her blurry vision her mother restrained by a swarm of water tendrils with a jawbone knife pressed against her throat.
"How do I know you won't just kill them after you've killed me?" Lee pointed out causing the hook sword wielder to fiddle with the piece of straw in his mouth for a moment before shrugging.
"Well, for one, the Kyoshi Warriors who're making sure your daughter behaves herself don't like seeing women get hurt, even if they are from the Fire Nation, and two, it's like I said, we're only here to kill you," the hook sword wielder responded causing Lee to growl lowly as he saw various nasty bruises marring his wife's limbs and grit his teeth when he saw a bloody gash on her forehead along with a gruesome black eye. Glancing at his daughter, Lee's blood boiled upon seeing Yumi's nose broken with blood pooling around her head like a waterfall and one of her eyes swollen shut making the warrior grip his gada so tightly his knuckles turned white. After a moment, however, Lee relaxed his grip and exhaled heavily as he let his mace fall to the ground with a thud and knelt down on the ground with his hands behind his head.
"Okay, you win. Just let them go," Lee conceded causing his bodyguards to snarl, but begrudgingly put away their weapons and step away from Lee as the hook sword wielder let out a bird like whistle for reasons only he understood. Seeing her father give himself up like a lamb to the slaughter, Yumi tightly gnashed her teeth as an intense, white hot rage over her the likes of which she never felt before. This wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to go to the party, exchange pleasantries with their hosts, go home, and be a happy family! Not having to choose between who gets to live and who gets to die! She wasn't going to let this happen, she refused! Releasing a rough, guttural breathe not unlike that of a dragon, Yumi screamed at the top of her lungs causing a deadly maelstrom of searing hot, orange flames to send her attackers violently tumbling across the ground and badly burn their flesh. Widening his eyes when the arrow flying at his forehead suddenly melted mere inches from his face, Lee could only stare at Yumi in shock for a split second before regaining his composure and picking up his gada.
Letting out a war cry, Lee charged at the assassins where he struck the waterbender who used to be restraining his wife until Yumi's flames evaporated the water he was using across the face with his club. Howling in pain, the waterbender's head violently twisted to the side where he spun around and hit the cold, unforgiving ground completely motionless where Lee then blocked a swipe at his neck from the lead assassin's hook swords. Feeling the young man yank his weapon aside, Lee followed the impetus and stepped back to avoid a swing at his gut where he floored the young man with a swift, vicious headbutt. Howling, the hook sword wielder scrambled to his feet and shook his head to and fro like a mad dog before glaring at Lee who glowered back at him as Yumi's mother picked up the jawbone blade and stepped to the side to avoid a thrust at her heart.
"Yumi, if you can hear me, run! We'll find you later!" Yumi's mother shouted at her as the young girl, who was exhausted after her show of force, to limp down the street while leaning against the wall for support after a few second's of hesitation. Noticing this, the bodyguards, Lee, and Yumi's mother did their best to keep the assassin's attention away from her as whenever one of the assassin's tried to break off the engagement to pursue Yumi, they would redouble their efforts to make sure the assassin's attention was squarely on them. Gasping as she saw an arrow being struck out of the air by a fire flechette, Yumi hobbled faster and turned the corner where she came upon the storm drain carrying the water from one part of the city to another. Feeling herself getting weaker by the moment and not having a lot of options left, Yumi fell forward into water where she coughed and sputtered as she tried to stay afloat while being roughly thrashed around by the unforgiving current. Hissing as she felt her bruised arm break while being carried downstream which allowed some of the water to go down her throat, Yumi fought to stay conscious, as she brutally collided head first against the wall causing her to feel as if a komodo rhino was stepping on her skull before everything went dark.
Yawning, a 10' tall, human like spirit with razor sharp claws, red eyes that glowed like the sun, long, crimson hair that seemed to be on fire, ornate, blue skin, and white, sturdy roots that covered her naughty bits which resembled a dress tended to the place she called home, a man-made lake of slurry. True, it didn't scream beautiful like a pristine lake, a lush forest, or a colorful field of flowers, but it was vacant and no other spirit wanted it so hey, why not? Concentrating, the spirit conjured thick, wooden vines from her being which began absorbing the polluted gunk where she sent the clean water she separated from the slurry down an isolated stream that wouldn't mix with the slurry for the humans to safely consume. Repeating this process until the sun began to go down, the spirit stopped and released a breathe as she stretched her back and rolled her shoulders.
"Time for step two," the spirit muttered as she closed her eyes and clasped her hands causing her to break down into a myriad of leaves and reform near a cliff that overlooked fishing village situated in between a heavily polluted river and a factory. Shaking her head, the spirit assumed her human visage of a tall, muscular woman with red, flowing hair that seemed to be on fire, piercing crimson eyes that seemed to be like blazing stars, and a simple, haggard, red robe that any Fire Nation peasant woman would wear.
"Dock, you there?" the spirit called out while approaching the cliff and looking down at the water where she indeed saw the renaissance man standing on his rickety raft near the docks.
"Hey there, Samsara! Nice evening were having; want to get a lift into town?" Dock asked causing Samsara to slide down the rock face, ignoring any dust, dirt, or grime that got onto her clothing, and jumped onto the raft, nearly sending the humble paddler flying into the polluted water. Despite this, Dock just laughed it off and began paddling toward the fishing village while Samsara sat down crossed legged and stared blankly into the water, seeing a whole myriad of mutated fish.
"So, is anyone on the mainland buying your...produce?" Samsara asked while plunging her hand into the water, pulling out a, big two-headed fish, and devouring it voraciously as if it were her last meal.
"For the most part, no, unfortunately. Nowadays, the only time we get visitors besides you and that noblewoman is when the folks in the military want to see what's going on with the factory," Dock lamented causing the spirit to slowly nod as she saw, when they got closer to the fishing village, that there were some people catching the purified water she sent down to them in huge pots, making a grin tug at the corner of her lips.
"Noblewoman?" Samsara inquired as she stepped off of the raft and followed Dock through town towards Xu's shop where, upon seeing some of the townsfolk ill, dying in their loved one's arms, or nothing but a bag of skin and bones, swore brutal vengeance on the person who ordered the factory built near this village.
"Yeah, she goes by Kosuke, if I remember correctly. She's got a big belly like a hippo cow and ten times as strong too! There were these kids playing in the cave systems near our village and the roof just came crashing down on them! We all tried to get them out, but the rocks were simply too heavy for us to move. We'd just about lost hope until she lifted these boulders the size of our houses off of the kids like some sort of...circus strongman!" Dock jovially explained as the duo arrived at his shop where Samsara put a hand on her chin, narrowed her eyes, and stared down at the floor as if it could provide the answer to what she was thinking.
"It couldn't be her, and if it is, is she tracking me or trying to let me know she's onto me?" the spirit in human guise wondered as Dock walked to the back of his store, swapped his hat for another one, and happily presented his catches to Samsara. Deciding that she needed to be sure, the spirit decided to broach the subject tactfully while trying to not make it look like she was investigating.
"What's rich snob doing in a dump like this? Oops, sorry," Samsara sheepishly apologized to Xu, but the shopkeeper just chuckled as the spirit paid for two boxes of fish and clams with the money she got off of some brigands who "cornered" her in an alley and said they were going to have some "fun" with her. She had a delightful fill of long pork that day and she got some money out of it too even if she was only going to use it in her human visage.
"I can't say, but I'm not complaining! She always bothers to travel here when she's out shopping for seafood when she could easily find a market in the city! I don't know her reasons, but her patronage is helping keep our village alive," Xu replied while pointing out a line of people standing in front of a few water filters for their drinking water, items they were able to purchase thanks to Kosuke's contribution to their economy. Screaming internally, Samsara forced a smile on her face as she grabbed her boxes of seafood while Xu walked to the back of his store, exchanged hats, and guided the spirit back to the dock.
"Yep, that's her. Always finds the time to help those who can't help themselves," Samsara mused as she sat the raft and patiently waited as Dock paddled towards land. When they finally got onto dry land, the spirit bowed to Dock before walking away and after she was sure she was out of sight, teleported back to her domain, devoured the boxes containing the seafood she had purchased, and changed back to her true form.
"Alright, time to get something to eat," the spirit muttered as she teleported herself onto the catwalks of the factory polluting the village's river and propped her forearms against the railing while watching the workers go on with their duties.
"Hmm...slim pickings," Samsara remarked as she noted that at one time, the factory used to be filled to the brim with workers from all corners of the Fire Nation, but now the factory was reduced to a skeleton crew. The spirit knew about the human war that was raging on for the last century, but to think things had gotten this bad? She certainly felt bad for those who lost their loved ones, but also because how was she supposed to get her power high if her main sources of chi were being killed off!? It was infuriating, but for the time being the spirit pushed these thoughts aside as she focused on the strongest chi signatures among the lot where she resisted the urge to groan. The strongest felt like any of the countless rank and file soldiers who had yet to be shipped overseas, but beggars couldn't be choosers she supposed. Conjuring a swarm of thick, wooden vines around her, the spirit instantly appeared in front of a stout man carrying a stack of boxes across the factory floor where she clamped a tendril around his mouth before he could scream.
Using her other vines to hold him down so he couldn't escape, the spirit began absorbing his life essence where his wildly thrashing eventually turned into weak, ineffective struggling causing the spirit to gently set him down; she didn't want to kill anyone after all. Feeling the euphoric rush of life energy flowing through her, the spirit sighed in relief before moving onto her next target which was a security guard doing her rounds on the outskirts of the factory. Widening her eyes as the spirit appeared in front of her, the guard jumped back while simultaneously jabbing the air causing a sphere of hot fire to sail toward the spirit who blocked the blast with one of her vines while using another one to grasp the guard's face. Letting out a muffled scream, the guard fiercely pounded the vine before her grip slackened causing the spirit to set the woman down as if she were a parent putting their child to bed. Releasing a quiet, cathartic sigh as the new flood of chi flowed throughout her body, the spirit immediately moved onto her next target which was one of the many blacksmiths fine tuning the weaponry meant to be shipped overseas. Seeing the spirit suddenly pop right in front of him, the blacksmith recoiled and widened his eyes as he scrambled away from his workstation while the other blacksmiths seemed to be frozen to the spot.
"N-not you again!" the blacksmith shouted as he continued to scoot away from the spirit until his back hit the wall causing him to instinctively put his hands in front of his face while the spirit just smiled and nodded.
"Yep, here I am!" the spirit jubilantly replied as she grasped his shoulder with her vines while casually blocking any fire blasts hurtling toward her from the security guards as she began draining the blacksmith's life energy.
"Why are you doing this?" the blacksmith asked as he felt himself getting weaker by the second as the spirit continued to block any orbs of flames hurtling toward her and gently smacked an overzealous security guard aside when she dared to get close.
"I just like the feeling of euphoria I get whenever I do this," the spirit explained with a simple shrug as she released the blacksmith once she saw his legs beginning to wobble where he crumpled to the floor completely exhausted.
"Thank you as always for the chi; I promise this will be the last time you see me," the spirit told the gathered humans before disappearing in a plume of leaves leaving the workers simultaneously on edge that they weren't able to stop her, but relieved that spirit's victims were just exhausted, not dead. Sighing as she reappeared in her lake of slurry, the spirit brushed back some of her hair and put a hand on her chin as she contemplated her next move. True to her word, she didn't intend to go the factory any longer given that she only got the bare minimum of chi this week and the weeks before this one along with the fact that one of her enemies undoubtedly figured out her general location, but where could she go? Trying to etch out a living in the lands of the Water Confederacy and was a no go as she didn't want to face a horde of shamans that could disrupt the energies withing her being and it stood to reason that the Earth Imperium had developed something similar thanks to their alliance.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up like the stars in the night sky as she dematerialized in a spray of leaves and reformed in her human visage in an alley of a town on the docks. Scanning left and right, the spirit smiled as she saw her human friend, a stocky, dark skinned young woman with sharp, amber eyes and black hair exiting the belly dancing club she worked at where another woman suddenly approached her, military or domestic forces Samsara assumed. Holding back until their conversation was finished, the spirit approached them when her friend and the woman bowed to each other while ignoring the jaw dropping stares people were giving toward her shining, crimson hair. When she was mere inches from her friend, Samsara smiled mischievously, crept up to her companion, and reached her hand out to her shoulder.
"Felt you coming from a mile away, Samsara," the spirit's friend calmly stated while grabbing her wrist without even turning around causing the apparition to shrug nonchalantly as, after her friend let her go, sat on the guardrail with her hands behind her head.
"Oh trust me, you won't feel me coming if I don't want you too. So, who was that just now?" Samsara asked causing her friend to look at her with blank, grayed out eyes, grab her shoulder, and pull the spirit towards her.
"She's a guard on leave from the Boiling Rock; wanted to have some one on one time with me so I invited her to my house a few days from now," the blind woman quietly elaborated causing Samsara to raise a brow and nod slowly.
"Uh...okay...but I thought the Fire Nation-"
"If she gets caught, I told her to tell the military tribunal that she knows she did wrong, never mean to disrespect our country's traditions, and was just experimenting against her better judgment. It's what I said when I got caught and they still allowed me to serve since I was deemed salvageable," the blind woman lightly interrupted causing the spirit to purse her lips, admiring her friend's cleverness, and stared at the vast expanse of ocean where she saw some ships coming into port with bands of rowdy sailors coming ashore.
"Cheating the system? I'm proud of you; so, are you going to provide any...extras during your session?" Samsara asked causing the blind woman to glare daggers the spirit who held up her hands in a placating gesture.
"Never on the clock, but if we strike up a rapport, I might be inclined to invite her to my bedroom once I'm off the job," the spirit's friend replied calmly, but firmly causing her friend to grunt as the blind woman released her and continued to stare out towards the sea in spite knowing full well she couldn't see.
"You know, I can ask around the spirit world if they know any good surgeons if you want," the spirit offered causing her friend to grin, laugh softly, and shake her head.
"I appreciate that, but it's alright. I haven't been able to see for a while now so trying to adjust this late in my life would be too much of a hassle," Samsara's friend politely rejected causing the spirit to grunt, but nod nevertheless as her friend leaned her back against the railing and folded her arms.
"So, what brings you here?" Samsara's companion inquired while raising a brow prompting the spirit to grin and put a hand on her hip.
"The thing is, the place where I usually get my chi isn't giving me enough to satisfy me anymore so I was wondering-"
"My only conditions are that you help around the house and be discreet about your soul sucking," the spirit's companion interrupted causing Samsara to immediately nod and bow gratefully prompting her friend to return the gesture. Suddenly, the blind woman's eyes widened as she stared down and to Samsara's befuddlement, leaped into the storm drain causing the spirit to recoil and try to process what just happened.
"Hey, why'd you-"
"A little kid fell in here and from what I can feel out, they're pretty banged up," the blind woman cut off as she held the child close to her while forming claws of ice and embedding them into the wall to prevent herself and the kid from being carried downstream. Fortunately, this feat of waterbending went unnoticed to any bystanders thanks to the blind woman's arm being underwater and the relative subtly of the move as Samsara hooked her feet on the railing and reached down. Thanks to the spirit to still being a giant even in her human visage, Samsara was able to place her hands underneath her friend's armpits and pull her up while her companion melted the ice claws back to water so no one would be even more suspicious of her. Releasing a breathe, Samsara's friend stood up where the spirit's eyes widened when she saw that the child, a young girl, had a nasty gash on her forehead, a vicious bruise that swelled her eye shut, a bloody, broken nose, and a broken arm that hung limply like a rope dangling off a cliff.
"Come on, let's take her back to my place and get her fixed up," Samsara's friend stated causing the spirit to nod as she followed her comrade to her home, but perked her ears up when she heard the bystanders being to whisper among themselves.
"There wasn't even anything for her to grab onto so how'd she do that?" one passerby mused causing the spirit to silently scoff before snapping her head in the other direction as another bystander began to mutter.
"I bet she's a waterbender, there's no other explanation for it. Well, it's either that or her fat kept in her place like a rock. Maybe we should tie a boulder around her ankle and see if she stays in place," the passerby muttered to his cohort where they both laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world causing Samsara to grit her teeth, but continued walking.
"If she is a waterbender, then she's probably a spy for the Water Confederacy! She deserves to get thrown into a internment camp with the rest of the snow savages so she won't be able to hurt anyone," another bystander murmured causing Samsara to growl lowly, but the instant she took a baby step toward the passerby her friend had already gripped her arm and shook her head.
"Tell me about it and you want to know something? An old married couple use to live in that house she's in; I didn't see them that much but they were nice enough from what I saw. I bet she killed them so she could go undercover," the bystander's cohort silently replied while glaring at the blind woman and to Samsara's surprise, her friend immediately stopped in her tracks with her eyes tightly shut, her teeth grit, and her arms trembling like an earthquake.
"Zhen Liu, you okay?" Samsara carefully inquired while placing a hand on Zhen Liu's shoulder which the blind woman didn't register as she continued seething with her chest rising and falling at a rapid rate. After what seemed like an eternity, Zhen Liu let out soft breathe before silently motioning for Samsara to follow her causing the spirit to do so, but not before turning to all the bystanders who insulted her friend and holding up both middle fingers.