An Old Enemy
And so restarts the adventures of Tora and the Gaang… finally together again.
Yay.
And an old enemy of Tora returns! As you could tell by the title of this chapter. It's going to be fun to write. Originally, the title was going to say "Rival" Instead of "Enemy", but Tora has a habit of over exaggerating things just a bit.
Totally didn't take so long to update! Yay!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or any characters thereof. Nickelodeon, and Mike and Bryan the proud owners of the fantastic show, while I am just a High School student and am writing this for my own amusement. I only own my own characters, and/or any plot twists that are caused because of them.
Note: In my story, Jeong Jeong was a part of the White Lotus society after he joined the Fire Nation army, but before he escaped from it. I really don't know if that's how it really goes in the real story, but that's how it works in my story. Got it? Are we all on the same page? Good!
Another note: I know I promised last chapter that the old woman with the stuff would be returning - and I'm sorry, but I couldn't make it fit into the chapter without making it weird. ^^"
"Well, would you take a look at this?"
I picked at the corners of the wanted poster with my nails, pulling a small corner free from the notice board. With the small piece unglued, I pulled on it until the entire paper peeled away - a few torn pieces stuck, but whatever - and it came free. I held the poster up to my eyes, inspecting it carefully.
It was the same - exactly the same. Same face, same white hair pulled into a respectable Fire Nation top knot, same stupid looking mustache, same stupid wispy white beard, same thin scars running vertically along his eye and beside it - same everything.
Jeong Jeong.
The man who had forced my father to send me away.
He was a fugitive now.
He had his own wanted poster.
And I didn't?!
I let out a yell of outrage, and the wanted poster in my hands burst into flames, blackening the paper in a matter of seconds until it turned to ash as I crumpled it into a ball, flung it to the ground, and crushed it under my foot.
How dare that bastard get a wanted poster before me! Whatever he did, it was nothing compared to what I was doing! Betraying my own Nation to help the Avatar - that's pretty much the biggest crime of the century! And then this jerk comes along, commits a crime, and gets his own wanted poster! How dare he! Whatever he had done, it couldn't have been as big as being a traitor against your Nation!
(A/N Ah, irony… we know what he's done, but Tora doesn't.)
"Tora?"
I turned around, acting normal - and subtly putting out the rest of the fire with my foot - as Sokka approached me, one eyebrow raised slightly. "Anything wrong?"
"Everything… is absolutely perfect." I said, lying through my teeth. It wasn't Sokka's problem. It was mine.
"Really?" Sokka's eyebrow went even higher as I nodded. "Because just a moment ago, I heard you scream - and you sounded pretty mad."
"Just some anxieties." I waved my hand. "I'm over it. I'm good."
Sokka opened his mouth to respond, but before he could I turned around and walked to the other side of the notice board, where Aang was. "Let's see what other things are happening!" I said loudly.
"If you're going to be like that, at least find me a menu." Sokka said, following me.
"We'd probably find food if we go here." Aang said, grinning and pointing to a poster. It portrayed a Fire Nation temple, with the Fire Nation emblem in the center, and an angry red and gold dragon running along the border. "The Fire Days Festival. Fire Nation Cul-"
"Seriously?!" I cut Aang off without a second thought, nearly barreling him over as I ran over to the poster. "I haven't been to one of these since I was a kid! We absolutely have to go!"
"I think it's a good idea." Aang said. "I bet it'd be a good place for me to see real firebenders."
"What am I, a lemur?"
"I mean, no offence, Tora, but these guys have probably been trained. By professionals."
"I don't think it's a good idea." Katara voiced her thoughts from the other side of the notice board. "Look at this." We all walked around to Katara, and found what she was looking at. A wanted poster - of a certain bald monk that happened to be standing right next to me. "It's a wanted poster - of you."
"This is bad." Sokka muttered, frowning.
I glanced back to the list of wanted posters - and resisted the urge to let out a squeal when I saw a picture of the mask that I had worn the night Zuko and I had freed Aang from Zhao's prison. My grin grew wider as I read the nickname they had given me - the Mononoke. The Spirit.
Awesome. Take that, Jeong Jeong! It had only been a few weeks ago, and I already had a wanted poster for it! Zuko, or "The Blue Spirit" had one as well, next to mine. I briefly skimmed what I - I mean, "The Mononoke" was wanted for.
Wanted for: Murder of Fire Nation soldiers, aiding the Avatar, and wreaking havoc on Fire Nation Admiral Zhao.
I couldn't help but wince slightly as I read the part about the murder, but grinned proudly at the other parts. When I glanced back at the others, I saw Aang was looking at me suspiciously. I smiled innocently, but I could see he wasn't going to believe it so quickly. The kid was smarter than he looked.
When Katara said that we should keep moving, it brought me out of my distraction, and I looked at her with a distraught expression. "What? No, we have to go!"
"Why does it matter if we go or not?" Sokka demanded, looking a little annoyed.
"Because - because Aang needs to learn firebending from a better bender than me!" I sputtered, swinging my arm around Aang's neck and looking at the Water Tribe siblings with big eyes as I straight-out lied to them. I hated admitting someone was a better bender than me, but it was true. But that wasn't what I was lying about. The real reason I wanted to go was because the last time I had been to the Fire Days Festival I had been thirteen, and I had gone with my dad - it had been one of the better last moments we had together. Not that I had known at the time that it would be one of our last moments.
"I mean-" I continued. "He has to learn firebending eventually, right? He should see it up close and personal from someone who actually knows how to do it! Right?" I looked at them, seeing if my words were influencing them at all.
Katara squinted at me thoughtfully, before smiling slightly. "I guess we could just go and check it out."
Sokka looked at her in disbelief. "Wait, what? You're agreeing with her? You actually want to walk into a Fire Nation town-"
"Technically it's a colony." I put in.
"-where there are firebenders, and they're all, you know, fired up with their… fire?!" Sokka demanded, ignoring me.
"Calm down, Sokka." Katara sighed. "We'll be wearing disguises, and we'll leave if we see any trouble."
I couldn't help but let out a small squeal of joy as I lept in the air, before taking off running towards Appa.
"What's up with her?" Sokka asked, neither expecting an answer or receiving one.
~~Water~~
I bounced on the heels of my feet, huffing in irritation as I waited for Aang, Katara and Sokka to hurry up and leave so we could go to the festival already!
"Aang, I think Appa and Momo know to lay low." I said, still bouncing. "Can we go now?"
"Calm down, Tora." Sokka said, placing a hand on my head to make me stop bouncing. "What's up with you?"
"I'm just… excited! Can we go now, please?!" I felt like a little kid again.
"Ready our disguises!" Aang yelled dramatically, pointing a finger at us.
With an almost dramatic flair, Sokka pulled the hood of his black cloak over his head. Katara and I did the same. When we looked over at Aang, we saw that he had just pulled the back of his neckline over his head in a terrible attempt to hide both his baldness and his arrow. I chuckled, Katara laughed, and Sokka said, "Wow. You're an entirely different person."
"Okay, let's goooooo!" I yelled, already beginning to walk down to the village. We could see it from up on the hill where we were, and the Festival was already in full swing. Spirits, it looked amazing. Just like the ones back at home.
"Hey, Tora? Can I ask you something?" Aang asked, racing after me.
"Technically you just did, but sure!" I said cheerfully, practically skipping as I walked.
"Are you the Mononoke?"
I skidded to a halt, nearly tripping and falling on my face in the process. I turned to face the airbender with a calm expression. "Maybe. Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does!"
"And explain why it matters to me."
"Because, if you are the Mononoke, then that means you were the one who held that knife up to my throat!" Aang said accusingly, looking hurt.
I paused at this, remembering what Zuko had said that morning. "Oh… right."
"So, are you the Mononoke?" Aang persisted.
"Yeah… I am."
"I knew it!" Aang yelled, punching the air triumphantly. Then he stopped, and frowned. "But… why didn't you tell me before? I could have helped you leave Zuko - that was Zuko, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was."
"See, I could have helped you fight him off! I could have brought you back to us! And you killed someone - I saw you! And then you-"
"Aang!" I interrupted. He stopped his ranting. "I know what happened. I know what I did. The reason I didn't tell you it was me was because Zuko and I made a deal - neither of us would tell you who we were. Then, when we got you out of the prison, Zuko and I would fight, and whoever won would get you. If I won, I would get to go free, and if Zuko won, he would take you, and I would be locked in the cell on his ship."
"But couldn't you have just broken the promise?" Aang asked, looking more and more confused.
"No. We said that if either of us broke our agreement, Agni would burn us where we stood."
"But then you - with the knife, you-"
"I know what I did." I said through clenched teeth. "Don't remind me. I didn't do it because I wanted to, believe me. I don't know why, but I don't remember doing any of it. There was fire, and water, and that's all I remember before I woke up in the forest the next morning."
Aang looked at me, frowning. "How come?"
"How should I know?" I absentmindedly traced my fingers over my mothers necklace. "Maybe Umi, or San, or whatever her name is, can help me figure it out."
~~Water~~
"This is so amazing!" I yelled, twirling around where I stood and observing the village. Everything was coloured gold in the light coming from red lanterns hanging all around us. Colourful fireworks were going off in the sky, and children ran around us, giggling and wearing masks. People dressed in beautiful red robes and tunics surrounded us. My eyes lit up as I spotted a vendor selling some sort of sugary pastry. "Look!" I pointed. Sokka looked to where I was pointing, and his eyes lit up when he spotted the food.
"Let's go eat something." I said, smiling dreamily.
"Yeah, let's eat." Sokka agreed, sounding as if he was going to start drooling.
"But we just had dinner." Katara said, with her back to us as she inspected some Fire Nation clothing. When she turned around, Sokka and I had already run over to the vendor.
"I'll take one!" Sokka yelled, waving to get the vendor's attention.
"Yeah, yeah, me too, mister!" I agreed, waving as well.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Katara demanded, walking over to us and flicking her brother in the forehead. The vendor chuckled, and placed the pastry into our hands, and instantly Sokka and I were practically inhaling every bite.
"Katara, lighten up!" Aang grinned, elbowing her gently in the ribs. "It's a festival!"
"Yeah, Katara, lighten up!" I teased her through a mouthful of sugar. Sokka let out a moan of satisfaction as he bit into his treat. Katara rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. "Oh, alright. I'll take one too."
"Me too, please!" Aang exclaimed, raising his hand in excitement. The vendor laughed again, but got the two of them their treats.
As we all finished our treats, I casually brushed some crumbs off my black dress. "Alright, what now?"
Katara glanced at the children running around us, wearing colourful masks. "I think we should get some different disguises."
"Oh, come on, where will we find masks like those?" Sokka demanded, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe over there?" I pointed towards a man selling 'genuine Fire Festival masks'. "That was actually really easy." I commented, following Katara and Aang as they ran over to the man.
As I approached the mask booth, I stopped dead in my tracks as I spotted a particular mask.
It was the exact same one I had worn on That Night - the Mononoke mask.
I blinked for a few moments, before continuing my walk to the booth. Once I had reached it, I took the mask off its hook and inspected it.
Yep. The paint was chipped in the exact same place Zuko said I had been shot. The exact same mask. I glanced up at the vendor. "Where'd you get this?"
The man shrugged. "Some lady just sold it to me before the festival - didn't say who she was, she just said that it came with an old fur coat. Wait - here it is." He held up my wolf fur coat.
I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose and groan. So it seemed that that woman wasn't going to let me forget about her so fast. "I'll take it." I grumbled.
"Here you go." The man handed over the fur coat, and I swung it over one shoulder. With a small smile, I placed the mask over my face and tossed the fur of the mask over my shoulder.
"How do I look?" I asked my friends.
"Like that wanted poster we saw." Sokka said bluntly.
I would hope so. "Oh, really? I didn't see it." I glanced over at Aang, then did a double take - the mask he was wearing was red, and depicted a sobbing face. I looked over at Sokka, and saw his mask was light blue, and a huge grin painted on it.
Weird.
Katara - who was now wearing a mask that resembled the face of a lady - seemed to think so too, and took off both their masks. In the process, she revealed Sokka's depressed expression and Aang's huge grin, placed the sobbing mask over Sokka's face, put the grinning mask over Aang's, and planted her hands on her hips, satisfied. With that, we walked back into the middle of the town, and Aang pointed to another vendor selling food.
"More food!" Sokka yelled, racing over to the vendor, with us following him. "What do you got?"
"Flaming Fire Flakes!" The vendor said cheerfully. My eyes lit up - how long had it been since I had last had some?
"I'll take it!" Sokka said, snatching the steaming pouch from the vendor's hand.
"Sokka, wait-" I was about to stop him from eating them all too fast - but I was too late. I couldn't help but laugh as he stuffed them all into his mouth and began screaming as the hot treats burned his mouth.
"They're hot!"
"Gee, what do you know?" Katara remarked dryly, crossing her arms. "With a name like 'flaming fire flakes', you'd never suspect they were hot."
I rolled my eyes. "I'll take some too." I requested. The vendor grinned, handing the bag over to me. I pushed my mask out of the way, before I carefully selected two flakes and placed them in my mouth. I smiled, tasting the familiar spicy hotness. "They aren't as good as the ones back home, but they're still good." I commented as we walked away.
"How are you able to eat those?" Sokka demanded, looking at me like I was insane.
"Besides the fact that you're supposed to eat them slowly-" I flicked him in the forehead as I said 'slowly'. "I'm Fire Nation. I have fire in my blood - a little spiced snack isn't going to bother me."
After seeing a rather disturbing puppet show, in which a puppet of Fire Lord Ozai burned an Earth Kingdom soldier puppet to ashes - we quickly and quietly walked away from that disturbing image - we approached a large crowd of people who were acting excited about something. Sokka muttered that it must have been an execution, knowing the Fire Nation. Then he tripped and fell on his face - not that I had anything to do with it. No, nothing at all. I had just accidentally put my foot out at the wrong moment, and he walked right into it.
Well, Sokka had been wrong. It wasn't an execution - it was a magic show. Sort of. The performer was a firebender doing magic tricks with his bending. The first trick we saw him doing was him making the fire he was manipulating disappear, and make a flock of white birds appear instead. It was actually… kinda cool to see, so I couldn't help but clap along with the rest of the audience.
"For my next trick, I shall borrow a volunteer from the audience!" He called, beaming proudly. Instantly, Aang had his hand in the air, practically screaming for the performer to pick him. The rest of us agreed instantly that it would be a bad idea for Aang to draw attention to us - which then promptly led to Katara being selected by the magician and shoved onto the stage by a member of the audience. I raised an eyebrow as the performer called Katara his "captured princess".
My eyes narrowed as he proceeded to tie Katara to a chair in the middle of the stage, before taking control of the fire in the fire pits on the side of the stage. With the fire, he created both a long rope, and a comet that vaguely resembled the shape of a dragon. The magician began to manipulate the "dragon" using the fire rope, and started to move it gracefully around the stage through the air. I had to admit, it was sort of impressive. Sort of.
"It's too strong!" The performer gasped in horror, seeming to struggle with the fire rope. "I can't control it!"
"We have to help!" Aang hissed to Sokka and I.
"No, we can't make a scene!" Sokka whispered back.
"The rope is breaking!" The performer yelled. I let out a scream as the fire rope snapped, sending the "dragon" straight towards Katara, still tied up on the chair.
Then, suddenly a figure in orange and yellow was standing on the stage, blue mask flying off as he airbended a tunnel towards the approaching danger. The force of the wind made the fire dissipate and become a shower of confetti.
I blinked. It took me a moment to realize what had just happened. When it finally sunk in, I slapped my masked face in disbelief. Aang, in less than five seconds, had exposed his identity not only to a few Fire Nation colony citizens, but also several Fire Nation soldiers who were no doubt standing by. Sokka and I both crawled onto the stage, both of us fuming silently, and untied Katara. I glanced over at Aang, and saw he was doing a random dance to distract the crowd as they began to yell at him for ruining the performance.
But, because nothing ever goes very smoothly for our little group, someone in the crowd noticed that Aang was, in fact, the Avatar. The four of us stood awkwardly on stage, until Sokka noticed three Fire Nation soldiers making their way through the crowd towards us - and they didn't look too friendly.
"It looks like it's time for us to go." Sokka said to us as we all slipped off our masks. I kept a grip on mine, despite the fact that Sokka and Katara both dropped theirs.
A sudden, scratchy sounding voice came from behind us. "Follow me!" We all turned around, and saw a man wearing black robes, with a cloth mask covering the lower part of his face, standing half hidden behind a broken wall. "I can get you out of here!"
"We don't have any better ideas…" I mumbled to myself, before chasing after him. Glancing over my shoulder, I was relieved to see my friends following me - unfortunately, so were the soldiers. The masked man pulled out a small silver orb, and chucked it at the soldiers.
It wasn't until it let loose an explosion of thick smoke that I realized the orb was a smoke bomb. I let out a loud laugh. "Explosives! Great idea!" I yelled to the man as the four, now five, of us began running away from the soldiers, darting through alleys and into one of the town's square's. We ran through crowds of people, red blurring past me - past all of us as we sprinted through.
"I'm gonna call Appa!" Aang yelled, pulling his bison-shaped whistle out of his shirt and blowing into it.
"This way!" The masked man yelled, turning to the left - only to come face to face with a dead end. "Or not."
We spun around to head in the other direction, only to see a group of soldiers blocking the path. The masked man pulled out another smoke bomb, threw it, and as it exploded at the guards feet, we ran past them.
Another dead end.
Great.
Just over the wall - we all noticed a supply of fireworks on the other side - Appa was flying through the sky, making his way towards us. Aang called to him, and the Sky Bison landed right in front of his, making the earth shake as he made contact with the ground. He slammed his tail - which was facing the soldiers - against the ground, creating a gale that sent the soldiers flying backwards.
"Get on, get on, get on, get on, get on…" I chanted to myself as I pulled myself onto the saddle.
"YIP YIP!" Aang yelled, not even bothering to grab the reins. Sokka and I both noticed the masked man having a little bit of a struggle to get onto Appa's back, so we grabbed his hands and pulled him up. Instantly, we were airborne, flying away from the festival. The masked man pulled out one last bomb, lighting up the fuse, and tossed it into the fireworks. Instantly, they all went off, shooting up into the night sky and exploded into dazzling colours. I clapped loudly, smiling to myself. This… has been a great night. I decided, slipping my mask off and setting it down next to me. It wasn't the best festival I've been too… but I loved it all the same.
"Nice job on the fireworks." Aang said, smiling at the masked man, who had taken his hood off.
"You really know your explosives." Sokka commented, smirking slightly.
The man turned towards us, smiling softly. His face was tanned, darker than most Fire Nation citizen's I've seen, and looking rougher as well. A head of wild brown hair nearly hid his eyes. If it weren't for his eyes, I would have assumed he was just another Earth Kingdom citizen rebelling against the Fire Nation. But his eyes were a shade of golden-brown, just a few shades from my own gold, that you could only find in one place.
"You're Fire Nation." I stated the obvious.
"And so are you, it appears." The man smiled at me. "That means we're kin. Nice to meet you."
"Wait -" Sokka interrupted, his eyes narrowing. "You- you're a soldier!"
"I was." The man said, smiling again. "My name's Chey."
"Well, so glad to know your name." Sokka said dryly. "Why did you help us?"
"I've been following you since I saw you land - I saw the Flying Bison, and I knew instantly who you were." Chey said.
In less than five seconds, I had grabbed my sword, unsheathed it, and had it pointed at him. Sokka had pulled out his machete and boomerang, Katara pulled out her water pouch, and Aang had an air sphere in his hands.
"I would suggest wording that a little bit better." Katara growled, her normally kind blue eyes narrowed in a glare.
"What I mean is-" Chey said quickly, raising his hands in defence. "I think I can help you. I know a person who can help the Avatar learn firebending."
Aang's eyes widened, and he slowly lowered his hands. "Really? You do?"
Chey nodded. "I'll tell you all about him."
~~Water~~
We ended up landing and making a campfire in the forest by the town. We all sat cross-legged around the fire and listened to Chey begin to tell the story of the man who could help Aang.
"I serve… a man." He began dramatically. "No, not a man. He's much, much more than a simple man like you or me." He gestured to Sokka, then back to himself. "Some say he's just a legend, and he is - a living legend! Other people say he's crazy, but he isn't. I know he isn't. He's the most enlightened man you will ever meet, a genius." I listened intently, leaning forward slightly as I took in his every word. "He was a general for the Fire Nation - no, an admiral - no, I think he was a general…" Chey frowned, looking deep in thought.
"He was very high up in the army." Sokka said dryly.
"Yeah, he was!" Chey said excitedly, causing Sokka to blink. "He was one of the best soldiers around. But, he couldn't take the madness anymore."
"Madness…" I repeated, frowning. What madness? The soldiers just doing what they're told.
"So, he escaped."
"He escaped?" I repeated, my eyes widening. "How?"
"No one knows…" Chey said mysteriously. "But they do know that he's the only one who's ever left the Fire Nation army and lived to tell the tale. You know, I was the second," he shrugged. "But you don't become a legend for that. But I'm alright with that. Just knowing him is enough for me."
"Wait-" Aang interrupted, standing up. "So, you're saying is that there's a firebending master who isn't with the Fire Lord?" Chey nodded. "Do you think he would teach me?"
"Uh, Aang." I said, looking up at him. "I hate to be a downer, but you haven't learned water or earth yet. That's part why I won't teach you any firebending." If the guy was so "enlightened", then why would he teach Aang firebending if he hadn't mastered the other elements yet?
"And, anyway, we're not going to have you learn from some crazy old guy." Sokka agreed.
"Hey, he isn't crazy!" Chey protested. "He is a genius! The best person in this world to train the Avatar! I followed you to the festival so I could get a chance to tell you about him!"
"Excuse me," I started. "But if Aang wants to learn from this guy so much, I think we should at least learn his name first."
Chey grinned at this. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you before! They call him 'The Deserter' - but his real name is Jeong Jeong."
"WHAT?"
The campfire, which only seconds before had been a nice, normal size, suddenly became a column of fire as it shot up into the sky, nearly clearing the tree tops as I exploded in rage. Everyone jumped, staring at me in shock as I suddenly leapt to my feet and faced Chey, my face basked in firelight, hair blowing around, eyes wild with fury. Cinders flew everywhere, but hopefully none of them would start a forest fire - not that I cared too much about that at that moment, though.
"JEONG JEONG? HIM? HE'S THE GENIUS - THE DESERTER? HE'S WHO YOU'VE BEEN RAVING ABOUT THIS ENTIRE TIME?!"
"Well, uh - yes." Chey said, looking a little startled at my outburst. They were all looking startled, actually. Katara's eyes were huge, and she had scrambled away from the fire. Sokka had nearly fallen over, and was holding a stick up, almost like he was trying to protect himself with it. Aang had actually fallen over, and had created a small wind shield to protect himself from the cinders.
"NO."
"Uh, "no" what, Tora?" Katara asked, still staring.
"NO, AANG IS NOT LEARNING FIREBENDING FROM THAT BASTARD! NO WAY! NOT A CHANCE IN HELL! I - I FORBID YOU FROM EVEN TRYING TO SEE HIM!" I yelled, pointing my finger directly at Aang's face.
Surprisingly, it was Katara who spoke up for him. "Tora, don't yell at Aang like that! Calm down! What do you have against this… Jeong Jeong?" She paused for a moment before saying the name, frowning slightly,
"EVERYTHING! I HATE HIM! I HA-" I was interrupted, mid-yell, as the tip of a spear was suddenly digging into my side. I realized that we had been entirely surrounded by men, all of them holding spears and hostility in their eyes.
"Don't. Move."
Tora's main flaw - she's unable to let go of the past, and therefore cannot move forward with her life until she does. She's unwilling to let go of a grudge she's been holding for years.
Whether or not she overcomes this flaw is another matter.
So, I think I am going to write the