"Let me hear it roar!"
Korra raised a 50x50 wall of fire over two hundred metres away. It was four metres thick, and illuminated the island, dusk just having passed. Korra ground her teeth together in concentration and put more and more power into it. She saw it blaze higher than she had ever managed before. She was getting visibly better with each passing day. Korra held it there wordlessly as Azula counted down from two minutes in her head, which could be as long as she felt like, given how she felt how hard Korra had trained. When she finally allowed Korra to drop it, Korra nearly fell down, hands on her knees, panting hard.
According to Azula, Korra had been on the island for just over a month and a half now. Every day, she had trained for more or less six hours, no matter the weather. Korra had reported about a dozen cramps and aches, all genuine, but Azula didn't listen to her once. Unless she was physically incapable of moving her limbs, Korra would train. Korra spent her free time resting, which was all she really could do, to be fair. Her enthusiasm had long been shot, and now she dreaded getting out of bed for training.
She didn't complain though. She felt much fitter than she had in her entire life. Although she had been much stronger physically before she was poisoned, Korra could maintain her fire for a lot, lot longer now. She had spent her second and third week solely on running, swimming and rock climbing. Azula recognised that she wasn't in nearly as good enough shape as required, and put Korra through the mill. She was very smart about it though, as soon as Korra's effort levels began to drop with the cardio, they went straight back to firebending.
Korra reckoned that if she was given a few days to properly let her muscles rest, she could create a wall of fire twice as big as the one she'd just made, but Azula never once considered it.
Why not? Korra had asked. I'm training way harder and more intensely than anyone else on the island, can I just get a break like one of them, please?
No! Azula had repeated. You're the Avatar, someone with god-like potential like yourself doesn't need rest! Quit whining and get back to training! I specifically removed a large number of amenities from this island because people were getting too comfortable, and you're no exception!
Azula was very strict, yes. But she wasn't lying when she told Korra how great a teacher she was. Azula had taught Korra the old forms for firebending, the ones which were much more fluid and precise than what Korra had learnt. Both versions crossed over a lot, of course, but where Korra's close range firebending had relied on short, quick spurts of energy, Azula's medium to long range techniques relied on longer releases of power. Most of the firebenders on this island, even those who couldn't even produce blue flame, were so powerful that a close range fight would be very bad for both fighters, as they'd likely blow each other up with their power.
"You've been progressing at a rapid rate," Azula told Korra. "I corrected your form, and you proved that if you keep it up, you can become a master combustion bender with the right amount of dedication."
Korra had learnt the proper forms for firebending, and then it had all been raising walls of fire from there on out. She didn't look at the fire any more, as it hurt her eyes. She just looked down at the ground, which was much kinder on her pupils. She'd look up for glimpses to see how she was doing, but apart that, not too much. Korra put her hands on the back of her head, and stood up straight.
"Thank you," she said, her breathing more controlled. "Azula, can I ask you a question?"
Over the six weeks, Korra had slowly started to break down the wall that Azula stubbornly kept up. Azula didn't chastise Korra too much now when she forgot to add 'Master' before, which was maybe a sign of her opening up a tiny bit, but Korra didn't dare mention it.
"Go ahead," Azula allowed, sitting down in her chair. "You've shown an exponential rate of improvement every day, so I think you're due one or two."
"When can I move on to creating lightning?" Korra asked, and Azula nearly broke her constant scowl into a smirk. Nearly, though, it was only a twitch.
"I was beginning to wonder when you would ask," she revealed. "How ready do you think you are?"
"I've mastered the wall of fire technique down to the bone," Korra stated. "And I don't think that there's anything left to elaborate on, unless you're hiding something from me." Korra got on one knee and bowed. "So, please, Master Azula, teach me how to create a bolt of lightning. I've mastered everything you've told me to learn so far. I think I'm ready to make the next step."
"Very well," Azula declared, and Korra allowed herself a huge grin, as Azula couldn't see her face. "But I have one test to see if you have truly mastered the wall of fire technique." Korra's heart sank. Azula's 'tests' were' usually miserable, and left her crawling home to bed.
"What is it?" Korra asked, not willing to back down before she had even started.
"I want you to create the most powerful, strongest, hottest wall of fire you are capable of erecting," Azula ordered. "We'll move on to creating lightning after that, but if the wall is too weak, I'll hold you back. You'll have to hold it for a lot longer too, about twice as long as usual. I know that you preserved energy on all your previous walls, so this shouldn't be an issue."
Korra desperately wanted to moan, but she bit her tongue. Instead, she just simply turned away and faced the direction erecting her walls from previously, and inhaled deeply through the nose. She planted her feet shoulder-width apart, controlling every breath. She mustered her remaining energy for the next two minutes, and then unleashed it all up towards the sky.
"AGGGHHH!" she shouted as 100 metre wall of fire soared up elegantly. Korra stayed firm, and focused harder on the blaze. The wall went from elegant to ferocious, making Korra sweat even more. She was drenched in her own body liquid, but ignored it. The water-tribe native struggled to keep it up after what felt like two minutes had passed, and felt Raava rising up within her. It was a huge temptation, just to let the Avatar State come out and control this fire with a breeze. Korra refused to, though, and had to shove Raava back down as well keep the wall up.
The seconds trudged by. Korra's knees began to tremble. Her throat was itching to vomit out the pasta she had in her stomach. All the aches and pains which she'd learnt to ignore flared back up. She'd secretly treated them with healing water on numerous occasions before, but they always came back. Dots popped up across her vision. She threatened to buckle over, but she came back to the one source of motivation that had dragged her through the training so far: Kalla.
If I, as the Avatar, can't master firebending to its greatest extent, then how can I hope to protect her against someone who can combustion bend? Korra thought.
It was flawed logic, given that she had three other elements in her arsenal to fight with as well, but it was this flawed logic that kept her burning thighs from giving in. After what felt like an hour, but in reality was only four minutes, Azula finally spoke;
"You can stop now," she told Korra.
Korra collapsed instantly onto the ground. She retched several times for the next few minutes, the pasta she'd had an hour ago begging to escape. She tried to push herself up to look presentable to Azula, but her arms failed her. She face-planted into the hard rock, and stayed there, unable to move. Korra tilted her head sideways to try to start an apology to Azula for falling over, but she only managed to look at her master's feet before she blacked out.
Korra's eyes slowly squirmed open. She looked up at the night sky, but for some reason, couldn't see any stars. She was surprisingly comfortable too, given how jagged the rock on the island generally was. She rolled over to her front.
Korra yelped as she fell down onto hard wood. She groaned, and pushed herself up after a moment of hesitation. The young Avatar lit a bright fire in her palm and looked around.
Korra was in her room, which had been pitch black because the lamp had been extinguished. She stretched, purring in delight at how free her joints felt. She had slept like a log, not having felt this mobile in ages. She rubbed her eyes, and groggily lit the oil lamp. After that was done, Korra racked her mind for her most recent memories.
Korra remembered Azula telling her that she had to try as hard as she could. Korra had gone overboard though, and collapsed after she was done. She'd fainted right there and then on the spot. Korra felt her stomach rumble.
"I'll go get some breakfast," Korra said out loud, then a sudden realisation hit her. She'd passed out during Azula's test. That meant that she wouldn't be able to move on. "No, no, no," Korra mumbled desolately, putting her hands in her face.
Maybe if I go to her immediately, she won't see it as weak, Korra thought. She might give me a free pass.
Korra ran in front of the mirror. She was still dressed in her Fire Nation clothes, which reeked of sweat, since they hadn't been washed, obviously. She felt around the room for the hairpiece she usually wore with metalbending, sensing it under the covers of her bed, and pulled it towards her. Korra grabbed it mid-air without even looking and clumsily inserted it. It took ten seconds longer than usual to do it properly, because of her rushing, but when she did finally manage, she practically jumped down the ladder, landing hard on her feet. She shoved her boots on, which had been left by the door, and flung it open.
It was dawn. It seemed that Korra hadn't missed any training sessions, fortunately. She started sprinting towards the usual rendezvous point, but had to stop due to her stomach growling. She frowned, wondering why she was so hungry this early in the morning. She spat out the saliva gathering in her mouth and continued with a slow jog to the stairs.
When Korra arrived at the base, she stopped, took a breather, and continued her journey. Despite the fact that all the stiffness was gone out of her legs, she still didn't have much energy. When she got to the top, Azula was waiting there calmly.
"Korra," Azula greeted. "How wonderful of you to join me here."
"I'm so, sorry, Master, Azula," Korra said in between pants, "for, passing, out last, night."
"What do you mean?" Azula asked, although there was no hint of curiosity about the way she said it. "You didn't come along last night."
"I didn't come along?" Korra asked, afraid at the game Azula seemed to be playing. "I passed out, remember?"
"That was thirty-six hours ago," Azula revealed. "You slept in. Because of that, I've got a punishment you could never even begin to imagine, and it's all got to be finished today."
Korra shoulders slumped. She was partially shocked at how she had slept thirty-hours without waking up, but the 'punishment' Azula was talking about sounded worse than grim. Korra couldn't remember one time where Azula had exaggerated the difficulty of her training. If anything, she usually made it seem easier than it really was!
"What is it?" Korra asked meekly, looking up. "Do I have to fight ten of your best firebenders?"
"Even worse!" Azula warned, then held out something she'd had hidden behind her back. Korra braced herself for the worst, but her nose twitched at the smell. She looked at what Azula had in her hand. It was… a bowl of porridge.
"Porridge…?" Korra said, then looked at the old woman. Had she gone senile? Korra just got even more confused when Azula started to buckle over laughing at her student.
"Ha ha ha!" the former heir to the Fire Nation crown croaked. "You should've seen the look on your face!" She pointed her finger at Korra, still laughing.
"Aha ha," Korra said unconvincingly. "So… what's my punishment?"
"There is no punishment," Azula revealed, a content grin on her face. "We're starting your new training today. I need to explain the basics before you even attempt to go near it first though. Eat up, you can't be thinking about your stomach while trying to conduct lightning."
"So we're-" Korra started, excitement building up in her as she heard Azula talk.
"Yes!" Azula snapped, her humour rapidly draining now. "Now let's go to the Agni Kai arena. Quickly!" Azula started to strut away, and Korra hurried to keep up with her. She wolfed down her porridge straight from the bowl, no spoon, and walked uncertainly behind her master. These sudden mood change were a regular occurrence from Azula.
"Are you… angry at me?" Korra asked. She didn't want to get herself in trouble, but she couldn't let Azula spring a real punishment on her unexpectedly later when she was recuperating.
"No," Azula admitted, not looking back. "I purposely forced you into overexerting yourself for too long, to gauge your real strength. You couldn't unleash it all at once for the sake of consistently, but I never imagined that you had that inside of you."
"Oh, ok," Korra said. She didn't give too much to her reply because a burning thought had just hit her.
Did Azula just admit that she was impressed with me? Korra thought. "Hey, Master Azula, how many people have equalled the power that wall of fire?"
"Three," Azula revealed, leading to Korra's breath catching in her throat. "Four, if you count me, but two of them are dead. So there's only one man capable still alive. One was your predecessor, Avatar Aang, in the Avatar State, and the other was a woman who I met in an asylum back when I was fifteen. Her name was Nagi. A fearless woman, who always backed me."
"What happened to her?" Korra asked.
"Died young," Azula said nonchalantly. "Blew herself up, but to be honest, we all knew it was inevitable."
"Oh," Korra responded, not sure how to react. "Who's the one who's still then?"
"Tatsuo," Azula revealed. Korra blinked.
"Tatsuo?" Korra repeated. "You mean, your right-hand man?"
"Yes," Azula confirmed, as they reached the Agni arena they always trained on. "He was more than willing to unleash it on you, but he respected my orders. You could probably beat him if you went into the Avatar State and used all four elements, but without that celestial power, you'd be burnt to a crisp. Many Avatars died young, in their twenties or even late teens, so don't get ahead of yourself."
"I didn't plan on it," Korra muttered, making a mental note to be much more respectful around Tatsuo in the future. She'd barely seen him ever since the first day, but she was going to make a special effort anyway now.
"Enough with the chit-chat," Azula declared. "Face me, and listen carefully. No detail is too small. Ready?"
"Ok," Korra said, switching on. She faced Azula, giving her 100% of her attention.
"I'm going to begin with what conducting lightning through firebending is," Azula began. "Lightning has always been the purest form of firebending. Combustion bending requires airbending genes, so it doesn't come nearly as close in terms of purity. A bolt of lightning doesn't wobble or splay out like regular fire, because all of its power is condensed. I've heard some call it the cold-blooded fire, because you can't be conflicted emotionally whatsoever, in order to use it. You gather the energy from around you and you stab with a fierce follow-through." Azula demonstrated as she talked.
"When I first saw Amon take someone's firebending, they were shooting out lightning," Korra mentioned. "But as their bending got shut off, it started to roam all over the place, until it turned to fire, and then nothing as his bending was taken."
"That's a good example," Azula appreciated, "but don't interrupt me! I'll ask for your opinion if I want it!"
Korra pouted, but didn't retort. She knew by now that she couldn't beat Azula in an argument; it wasn't worth the effort.
"Anyway, when we're doing your training," Azula continued, "you will soon be firing powerful bolts. You are seeking to learn combustion bending, so I won't be placing a high priority on how much you can moderate your voltage. Lightning, although we generate it, is not a power under our leash. We give it a path, a direction, but it's too ferocious to contain.
"While I'm on that, I need to emphasize one huge point. Never, ever, let it travel through your heart! You should know this from learning how to redirect lightning, but again, never let it travel through your heart. Understand?"
"Yes," Korra replied, listening carefully.
"Now I'm going to educate you on the history of lightning," Azula informed Korra. "It may seem strange now, but back in the early days of Avatar Kyoshi, the ability for firebenders to produce lightning from their fingertips was generally regarded as a myth. Only a few in the Fire Nation had actually claimed to have witnessed it, resulting in Avatar Kyoshi nearly dying when she first encountered it."
Kyoshi? Korra thought. There's no way she nearly got killed by a lightning bolt, she was too powerful. Surely, as a waterbender, she would've known how to redirect it. Korra decided to bring this up.
"If you had been paying attention," Azula scolded Korra, "you would know she thought it was a myth too! Besides, she was incredibly powerful, and lived to nearly three hundred years old. If you live that long, you have to be prepared for any situation. Anyone with a bit of common sense jumps away from a bolt of lightning that they can see coming, unless they know for a fact that they can redirect it. I don't know the exact details of the fight, but apparently Kyoshi managed to kill him using the Avatar State.
"Not too long after that," Azula continued, "my ancestor, a man named Jimmu, took over the whole of the Fire Nation from his province. He was an exceptional firebender, the first person to create blue flames, and after studying the technique carefully from a different man who was found to be able to create lightning, perfected it to a tee. After that, he decreed that it was punishable by death for anyone who wasn't of his bloodline to learn this ability of conducting lightning. Over time, this honour expanded to high ranking military officers too."
"How do so many people know it today then?" Korra asked. She was pushing her luck with the questions, but she figured that if no detail was too small, she was inclined to ask a few here and there.
"That was because my brother abolished the law decreeing that only certain individuals could create lightning," Azula answered, with a lot of contempt in the word 'brother'. "It spread to the colonies, and I was forced to keep up with the times, so I taught it to my students here as well. It's a real pity, commoners have nothing to do with it! It was even my cursed uncle that learnt how to redirect lightning, it's-" Azula stopped speaking suddenly, and took a deep breath.
"Is something wrong?" Korra asked.
"No," Azula said after a moment's hesitation, although she still rubbed her temples.
"Do you want to talk about something?" Korra offered, and for a moment, even if only just a moment, Azula looked like she wanted to say something. Something that was straining to be released. But then she resumed her usual stoic expression, reminding Korra of the old Lin Beifong.
"You're not my therapist!" she snapped, getting a little more irritable. "Anyway, I'm going to slightly alter the forms I taught you a few weeks back. Show me how you would pose to create a double flamethrower from both of your hands."
"Ok," Korra obliged, and faced away from Azula. She pushed her right leg forward, putting most of her weight on it, making sure her right foot was firm. She supported her left leg on her toes, and stretched her fists in the same direction her right foot was pointing, then, she turned her torso to face Azula again. Now, her left arm was arching over her head above her right, as opposed to beside each other.
"Why is this stance better for firebending?" Azula quizzed.
"By placing your arms above your head," Korra answered methodically, having had it hammered into her, "you take away their weight that your ribcage was supporting when they're down by your side. That leaves more room for your ribs to expand, and therefore, more room for your lungs to expand when breathing. This will give you more oxygen which you can convert into fire. Also, stretching your body to the side so much will also lengthen your ribcage. All this combined means that you can create a larger or longer-lasting flamethrower, depending on your purpose."
"Correct," Azula said. "It seems I taught you well."
Korra rolled her eyes. Her alternative to learning them had been another three laps around the island for every form not memorised perfectly in every aspect.
"But I'm going to change something," Azula repeated. "Point your index and middle fingers out, on both hands. I want you to create the double flamethrower through your fingers. From now on, that is the only way I will allow you to firebend with your hands. It will be frustrating at first, and very tempting to revert back to your whole hands, but with lightning especially, you need to use two fingers."
Korra took in what Azula said, and pointed out two fingers on each hand. She closed her eyes and focused on channelling her chi through them, which was much easier said than done. The chi in her arms when she used firebending normally rushed through and burst out her knuckles, but when it got to her extended fingers, Korra just felt her temperature rising instead. She buckled down on her effort and squeezed out the fire.
Two medium sized flamethrowers, much smaller than the large ones she'd intended, erupted and blazed out of her fingertips. Korra was disappointed, although she noticed that they were nearly hot enough to cut through rock, even though she didn't intend on that.
"Most people switching experience what you're doing right now," Azula came in, even though Korra hadn't said anything. "You're wasting your energy at the minute, but it's a very common mistake."
"Really?" Korra asked, relieved.
"Yes," Azula said. "If you imagine your arm as a hose, your hand is the adjustor. Your fist is a wide spray, and would water the plants no problem, but it wouldn't hurt someone. Your fingers, however, are the opposite. They are directed. They will concentrate on a point and blast the dirt off. This relates to firebending, although on a much harsher scale."
"I think I get you," Korra said, standing up normally. "But what was that about me wasting energy?"
"When you were channelling your chi just there," Azula explained, tracing her fingers along her arm to demonstrate, "it all fit perfectly until the very end. But then," she said, pointing to her two outstretched fingers, "it all got rammed in together at the end. Not all your power was exerted with the minimum amount of effort necessary. It's like thirty people in a room are all rushing out of a door. If they all run single file, the room will be emptied as quickly as possible. However, if everyone at the front squirms to get out, the room will not be emptied as quickly as possible. Switch in your fingers with the door and your chi with people, and that's what happened just there. Does that make sense?"
Korra thought about what Azula had said. "Yes, it does." Azula was about to continue speaking, but Korra got her question in first. "How much energy would I be wasting, in that case?"
"Too much," Azula replied, not bothered to go deeper into it, but Korra got the message. "If you take this into account, what do you think will happen if you try to shoot lightning with a closed fist?"
"It'll… be weaker but bigger?" Korra guessed.
"No, there are two possibilities" Azula informed her. "The first is that the lightning will splay out in all directions, divided up too many times to count. The energy that you hit someone with will barely faze them, unless it's an incredibly powerful amount gathered in the first place. The second alternative is it blowing up in front of you, as what happened during your first training session. We don't want that, now do we?"
"No," Korra agreed.
"Good," Azula said. "Now, put aside the stances I have already taught you. I want you to just blast fire out of your fingertips for the next half an hour, to get you used to channelling the chi through a smaller funnel. Again, don't bother with stances, just focus on getting your body accustomed to it."
Korra obliged, and for the next thirty-three minutes, she just put all her concentration into equalling out her input of chi and output of fire, until she got the feel for it down. It definitely wasn't practical for normal fighting, and wouldn't be for another while until she would be able to do it without thinking, but when she was satisfied that she wasn't wasting any chi, Korra turned back to Azula. Azula didn't say anything bad, meaning that she was happy with Korra's progress for the time being, and rolled back her shoulders with a sigh. Her old age was definitely catching up to her, despite her liveliness in belittling Korra with every mistake the young Avatar made.
"I want you to pay attention to every motion my body makes when I tell you to do so," Azula ordered Korra. Korra nodded in agreement, and Azula continued;
"The greater the voltage in proportion to your power, the more you must be absolute in your resolve to use lightning. As I said earlier, it is called by some the cold-blooded fire, there can be no conflicting views in your head. You must separate the positive and negative energies in your body, and use only one to fuel your conviction. You must impale your will into the action, otherwise, you'll lose control and wreak havoc on your own body while gathering lightning. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Korra responded.
"For an example," Azula went on, "I think I can use that hag Katara as evidence." Korra released a deep breath to prevent her from getting angry at Azula. "When we were teenagers, I was emotionally unstable when she and my brother challenged me for the title of Fire Lord. I was a wreck mentally, if I do say so myself. But when I tried to shoot her down with lightning, I was absolute in my conviction to kill her. In fact, I tried numerous times with lightning."
Korra's blood really boiled at that last statement, but she forced herself to keep perspective by looking at the tattoo on Azula's forehead. I'm not here to prove to Azula that she's morally wrong, Korra thought. "I understand," she told Azula, swallowing an insult.
"Good," Azula said. "Now, I'm going to show you the beginner's form for learning how to conduct lightning. Forget anything you might have learnt outside Crescent Island, because a student has never failed to learn under me. Not once."
"Really?" Korra asked, then bit her tongue, realising how Azula would respond a second too late.
"No," Azula said sarcastically. "I just said it to impress the Avatar."
"Sorry," Korra apologised quietly.
"Make it up for me with good form," Azula ordered. "Copy me." She stood up straight, and held her arms out horizontally, posing like the letter 'T'. Korra followed suit. Azula then bent her left elbow and pointed her two fingers straight down at the ground, but keeping her elbow in line with her shoulders. She did the same with her right arm, except instead of pointing at the ground, she pointed her two fingers straight up at the sky. Korra copied it exactly.
"Stay like that," Azula told her, and then dropped her stance. She took ten steps back to make sure that Korra would have to purposely go for her to hit her, then sat down on the ground, even though her chair wasn't too far away.
"What do you want me to do now?" Korra asked.
"This next part is very easy to mess up, because people are complacent with it," Azula informed Korra. "I want you to nail the motion of creating electricity first of all, so don't put any of your chi into it yet. Keep your upper arms in the same position, but rotate your one of your forearms clockwise, the other anti-clockwise. Keep your fingers rigid. I will repeat myself, do not gather any electricity right now."
"Okay," Korra agreed. She started turning her left forearm anti clockwise and her right forearm clockwise, for the next ten minutes. It was actually a lot more confusing than Korra had thought it would be, but after few attempts of getting it wrong, she perfected the motion. When she hadn't made a mistake in over three minutes, Azula clapped her hands once to get Korra's attention. Korra dropped her arms, as they were beginning to ache a fair bit.
"You should have that down now," Azula told her. "We'll start with a tiny voltage. I want you to burn the chi at the tip of your fingers as if you were trying to erase the space where the electricity will be generated. Rotate your arms three times like you have been for the last few minutes, this time gathering electricity, then touch all four of them together at stomach height. Then, jab." Azula demonstrated by stabbing her two fingers at the sea.
"Doesn't seem too hard!" Korra commented, getting jittery. She got into position, but Azula just walked up and poked Korra in the forehead.
"DON'T GET EXCITED!" she barked. "Hold your emotions back!"
Not giving me a great example, Korra thought, but kept the assessment to herself. She just closed her eyes, and took five deep breaths through her nose, calming her heartrate.
Korra raised her arms into a 'T' pose, then started rotating her forearms three times like Azula had told her to. She kept her index and middle fingers straight as she imagined the hottest fire she'd ever created sizzling there, albeit on a tiny scale. It rubbed and sparked in its own attempt to incinerate itself. When Korra opened her eyes, she had to devote all her effort into staying calm as the three rotations were completed.
Electricity was sparkling at the end of her fingers. The voltage was tiny, but it was still the most she'd ever managed. Korra took one deep breath as she touched the tips of her fingers together in line with her belly button. She felt the energy surge on contact.
Now! she realised.
Korra shot her hands out in opposite directions as she felt it course through her arm pointing at the sea. She exhaled sharply as a small zap, barely enough to give someone a static shock, bolted out of her fingers.
"I did it!" Korra exclaimed giddily after a moment. "I did it! I can conduct lightning from my fingertips!" Azula gave out to Korra for getting ahead of herself but she didn't care. She punched the air in glee.
"There's one more thing I should mention," Azula said, still annoyed, and Korra turned around. "Having lightning course around your body for more than a few seconds is very dangerous, even if you can direct and redirect it. Your body isn't built to withstand what type of power for any more than a short period of time, so just keep that in mind. Now get back into it."
"I will, thanks," Korra responded, and got into the stance once again.