Chapter 9: Rogue Master
Sen examined his bandaged arm. The doctor had said he'd taken care of everything, but the bandages had to stay. Sen had the feeling the things he'd seen in his fever dreams would stick with him too. Hanjo saw the grim look on Sen's face and cheered him up.
"Don't worry about it," Hanjo advised. "You'll forget all about it once we get where we're going."
"You know, you still haven't told me where that is," Sen said. He was glad to take his mind off his hallucinations. Ada was glad they weren't talking about how she had caused those problems in the first place. She had apologized to Sen, of course, but they had never really talked about it. It was a conversation she was glad to avoid.
"We told you," Hanjo said. "We're bending the element of surprise on this one. No wait, that was a terrible pun, forget I ever said that."
"Nope," Sen said. "I'm going to remember that forever, and so is every Avatar that ever comes after me."
"Your terrible joke will live on long after the mountains have crumbled to dust," Ada continued.
It felt good to just joke around again. Sen hadn't done that in a while. He hoped nothing would happen any time soon. He needed a little time to just goof around with Hanjo.
He got his wish, and for hours he got to relax in the Avatarmobile, having his back and forth with Hanjo and Ada about whatever he felt like talking about, and only what he felt like talking about. He only got it that way, of course, because the bad things coming had intentionally decided to delay themselves.
"You sure we can keep this chase up, Suda? We can make a roadblock any time."
"I trust you guys," Suda said to his henchmen. "Keep an eye on them. Don't move until they stop."
The bandits were getting more and more upset with Suda. They'd been following this single satomobile for more than a day now. It was a hefty prize to take, but that only made the bandits more impatient, not less.
"I'm surprised you're not letting them go by. You always liked kids."
"I am a kid," Suda said. "I got to make friends my own age someday, you old farts."
"Hey, don't lump as all together," someone objected. "I'm a decade younger than the rest of these guys!"
"And a decade older than me," Suda replied. Twenty was a little young to be the boss of a bandit clan, but he was the only metalbender around, and all the guys liked him. They didn't much like how he picked their targets, though. Many of them were more fond of attacking indiscriminately, not waiting for a rich and vulnerable target like the kids in the fancy satomobile.
The vehicle itself would keep every one of the guys fed for weeks. He would let them keep it, because of course they wanted to, but they'd just tear it up and make it into a junker. It was too nice to be left in the hands of these savages, so Suda would sell it to someone respectable, then steal it back and sell it to someone else respectable. After he got to drive it, of course. He couldn't shake the feeling he was destined for that satomobile.
The Satomobiles driver, the girl, looked to be the only real problem they'd face in the heist. She seemed very aware, very focused, and occasionally Suda got the feeling that she could see his bandits zip lining through the trees. They'd carved out a fairly sheltered little route along the roadside, but the camouflage wasn't perfect. It didn't much matter if they'd been spotted. She'd have to stop eventually, and Suda's bandits outnumbered her retinue ten to one.
Ada stopped at the side of the road, at an area that looked like it had been used as a campsite recently. The earth nation was so massive that roadside campsites like this were common, used so weary drivers wouldn't have to drive through the night to reach the next town. Unfortunately, on well-travelled roads, they often became hotspots of bandit activity. Hanjo and Sen were demanding lunch, though, so she'd been outvoted when the issue of stopping or not came to a vote. Ada had seen hints of motion in the treetops earlier, but her suspicions were unconfirmed for now. It could be wild Hog Monkeys swinging from the branches for all she knew. It was worth checking out in either case. Hog Monkeys could be just as destructive as bandits if they felt like it.
"You two focus on making lunch," Ada said. "I'm going to secure the perimeter."
"If that's code for 'I need to use the ladies room', it's the worst code I've ever heard," Sen said.
"We're all buddy buddy now Ada, you can tell us when you need to go," Hanjo continued.
Ada ignored their jokes and stared up at the treetops. She could swear she heard giggling, followed by a thud. It was far away, though, in the highest branches.
"Keep your eyes open," Ada cautioned.
"If you need to go I think we should be closing our eyes," Hanjo said, covering his face with his hand jokingly.
"I do not need to-"
She thought about continuing, but decided there was no point. In a way it was kind of comforting that they joked with her like that. She had been worried that Hanjo and Sen would think less of her after she'd allowed Sen to get poisoned by the ants. The fact that they still thought of her as a friend put her heart at ease. Still, she was not eager to fail Sen again, so if there was a threat to be found in these woods, she would find it.
Ada proceeded into the bushes surrounding the campsite and drew one of her Dao swords. She could use both just as well as she could use one, but she preferred the single-handed style, mostly because it left a backup if she got disarmed.
Remembering Ko Rin had ever taught her about stealth, Ada crept silently through the undergrowth, watching her steps carefully to avoid anything that might make unnecessary sound. It was an impressive display, but Suda had been watching her since the campsite, so it was all pointless.
He passed a message along to his bandits, using the sound of wind through the trees and far-off birds to disguise the sound of their whispering. Suda would go directly for their satomobile, incapacitating the boys on the way, while the bandit horde distracted the girl. Suda wanted to handle the vehicle personally, to ensure enough supplies were left behind for the teenagers to get to safety. The bandits were right; he had a soft spot for kids.
With a final, wordless signal to his men, they put the plan in action. The bandits dropped out of the trees, instantly surrounding Ada, while Suda metalbent his zip-line towards the satomobile. Ada didn't waste any time defending herself. Electrified thrusts with her sword drove the first wave of attackers back; they hadn't counted on her having anything so high-tech. After they accounted for the electric blade, they found themselves still woefully underprepared. Ada was one of the best swordswomen in Zaofu, and these bandits barely knew which end of a blade to hold.
She went through every motion she'd practiced, sweeping her eyes rapidly across the battlefield to analyze her opponents and respond. Their feet were here, so hers went there. One thrust with his right hand, she swept to his left. Someone steps back, she steps forward, gaining ground. She was like a machine, her opponents acted and she responded in perfect, scripted form. She tried not to get caught up in the moment, tried not to enjoy the rush of battle, but she failed. It was fun to test her skills against actual opponents, even ones as incompetent as the bandits.
Sensing one coming up behind her, she drew her second blade and pushed it behind her, activating the electric shocks on both swords as she thrust outwards. Two unlucky bandits caught the full force of the sparking blades and fell to the ground in quivering piles on either side of her. She jumped over the bandit body blockade and continued her fight, smiling all the while.
Suda had quite a bit more luck on his end of the fight. He caught Hanjo unawares, trapping him in metal bonds before he had a chance to react. Sen had more time to see the offensive coming, and he managed to avoid the first strike.
Sen hastily tore open the belt pouch containing the metal orbs he'd received in Zaofu. He'd had very little opportunity to practice with the weighted stones, but he didn't have much choice. Hopefully his attacker would be caught off guard by the seemingly unbendable stones long enough for Sen to get the upper hand.
Suda dropped out of the cover of the trees, giving Sen a clear target. The bandit's clothes were ragged and ill-fitting, but they couldn't hide the rugged physique beneath. Sen had met very few people quite as absolutely massive as Suda; everything about him was big, from his tangled, thick black hair to his heavyset eyebrows.
That just made him a big target, Sen assured himself. Sen launched the first volley of metal-plated rocks to almost no effect. Most of them went off course completely, and Suda dodged the few that almost found their mark. Dodging kept him from attacking, though, and that was progress.
Suda mistakenly believed Sen to be a metalbender, just as Sen had intended, and was pleasantly surprised; this would be more interesting than he thought. Not that Suda looked forward to a fight, ever, but he felt better about stealing things if the owner could fight for them. It felt more like he was winning things than stealing them if they fought back.
He was confident in his own metalbending skill, and when Sen launched the next volley, he didn't bother to dodge. Only one of the spheres made a course for his head. He focused on it, and found he could do absolutely nothing. He had a very brief second to register the confusion before the platinum orb hit him square in the face. Suda felt his nose go pop as he fell to the ground.
Sen took his momentary advantage to try and free Hanjo from his restraints, but the bonds were too tight. The metal band had woven itself into an intricate knot around his arms and legs, holding him in place quite firmly.
"Alright, alright, I don't get it," Suda began. His nose was bleeding, but he was otherwise fine, so he stood up. He examined the metal spheres that Sen had left lying on the ground. "You aren't a metalbender, since you can't get those chains off, but those balls are clearly metal, and you can bend them but I can't. What's the deal?"
He wasn't making much sense, probably due to head trauma. Suda cracked an awkward smile, a strange expression made more strange by the blood dripping across his lips.
"I have got to know how you do this," Suda asked. "What's the secret?"
Sen stared at him blankly. He wasn't attacking now, but he had been earlier, so he was of mixed feelings on the strange bandit. Suda decided it was time to garner some trust. Whatever trick Sen was using, he really wanted to know it.
"We clearly got off on the wrong foot," He began. "Hi, my name's Suda. I am a bandit by trade, but I'm not unreasonable. Remember when you stopped last night to vomit and you didn't get attacked? That was me doing the not attacking. I let you get better."
Hanjo and Sen did not respond. Were they waiting for something? Suda couldn't tell, so he decided to sweeten the pot. He flicked his wrist, and the metal bonds holding Hanjo in place loosened and fell to the ground.
"See? I'm not a bad guy."
Sen had a funny feeling in the pit of his gut about Suda. He couldn't tell if it was a good or a bad idea to trust him. He looked to Hanjo for advice. Hanjo decided that was his cue to take charge of the situation.
"Where's the girl at? Is she okay?"
Suda listened to the background noise of protracted violence. The screams he heard were mostly coming from his own men. These kids were just full of surprises.
"Sounds to me like she's doing alright. Tell me your secret, and I'll call off the attack."
"Call off your men first," Hanjo demanded. Suda supposed that was reasonable. He was, after all, the attacker in this scenario. Suda drew a flare gun from his belt and fired it straight up, briefly illuminating the twilight sky with a flash of bright red.
"That's the signal," Suda said, pointing at the rapidly fading flare. "Deal's a deal."
Sen called the stones back. They wobbled through the air back to his hands, and when they were secure, he tossed one to Suda. Suda examined the oddly weighted piece of metal.
"Feels strange," He noted. "Is this some kind of new alloy? Or did you just figure out how to bend platinum?"
"It's ordinary platinum," Sen explained. "But there's a rock sealed inside. If you know the rocks there, and where it is inside the ball, you can bend it if you're practiced enough. Anyone else won't be able to."
"Clever clever," Suda chanted under his breath. He rolled the stone in his hand, getting a feel for where the stone was inside the platinum. Once he was confident, he sent the stone whizzing through the air, shattering a tree branch into splinters. The strange feeling Sen had only intensified. Suda had mastered the trick stones in only a few seconds. He was obviously a very talented bender.
Maybe even talented enough to be a Master, Sen thought.
"That's marvelous," he said. "I love it. I'll have to get myself some. Unless of course you feel like selling yours."
"Not for sale," Sen replied. This was the moment where things went wrong or right. The bandit would either back down like he was supposed to, or betray their deal, like bandits usually did. Sen got the feeling Suda would keep his end of the bargain. Something in the pit of his gut told him Suda was not a bad person, despite his career as a bandit.
"Well, I'm not a poor man, I'll find some other way to buy them," Suda said. He returned the metal orb to Sen. Sen and Hanjo relaxed. Suda was keeping his word. The sounds of battle in the distance had stopped, being replaced by the sounds of panicked retreat, signifying that his men had already stopped attacking Ada. He'd follow them eventually, but he had more questions first.
"That really is a lovely trick," he repeated. "Did you come up with it on your own?"
"No, it was a…friend of ours."
"Well your friend is a downright genius," Suda said. He heard crashing footsteps in the bushes behind them. Probably the girl, exhausted from her battle, desperate to return to camp. Much to Suda's surprise, it was his own men crashing through the undergrowth.
Sen panicked, expecting the worst, and stomped his foot heavily. By the time Suda held up his hands to stop the advance of his men, Gun was already tunneling his way to the surface.
"What are you doing here, I called for a retreat!"
"The girl won't let us! We tried backing off and she chased us down, waving those blasted swords of hers like a madman! She's probably still hunting down Kozu's group!"
Gun emerged from the ground, sending earthy debris flying through the air. The already tense group of bandits panicked and covered their heads. Only Suda seemed unfazed. He watched the snarling badgermole with a look of admiration and surprise on his face.
"You've got a badgermole too," Suda said, astonished. He deflected the falling rocks away from his head and examined the exotic creature. "You are just full of surprises, aren't-"
Suda froze suddenly, and his jaw dropped. Sen could see the look in his eyes, and he knew exactly what it meant. Suda had figured it out. His eyes were, surprisingly, full of guilt.
"Spirits," he mumbled. "Everyone, this is all a terrible misunderstanding! We should apologize to-"
"Apologize," One of his bandits shouted incredulously. "I've been zapped more times than a lightning rod tonight, I'm not leaving until I get some money for my trouble!"
"You imbecile, do you have any idea who that is," Suda asked. "This is the Avatar! We are not going to hurt the Avatar!"
In a case of monumentally bad timing only comparable with Sozin's Comet and a Lunar Eclipse arriving on the same day, Ada closed on the bandits just in time to hear Suda shout "hurt the Avatar". Her mission was to not let that happen, so she acted quickly. She flicked the switch on her blade and dove at Suda, slashing the sword across his chest.
Suda's reflexes were good, but Ada was a professional, and the electrified Dao cut through his shirt and the skin beneath, singing both with its crackling energy. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was a painful one. Suda panicked and ran way hastily, and his bandits followed him into the distant forest, vanishing into the trees without a trace. Ada, satisfied in her defense of the Avatar, sheathed her swords and looked to Sen, expecting to see approval. All she got was an angry glare.
"Ada! He wasn't a threat."
"But I heard him-"
"He was trying to call off his men," Sen shouted. "What is wrong with you?"
Sen stepped forward, but Hanjo pushed him back into place, away from Ada.
"It was a misunderstanding, Sen," He said. "Ada was just trying to keep us safe. He wasn't even hurt that bad."
There was a moment of tense silence. Sen stared angrily at Ada. Her eyes darted guiltily between Sen's judgmental gaze and the forest path that Suda had fled on. Hanjo placed himself between the two, ready to intervene if the silence broke out into an argument.
This was exactly the kind of behavior that Sen had been afraid of. Ada had been too eager to fight, and she'd hurt someone that she hadn't needed to. Luckily she had restrained herself enough to not mortally wound Suda. The bandit would probably be fine, given enough time to recover. That alone kept Sen from sending her home right here and now.
Sen eventually shattered the quiet tension with a heavy sigh.
"Just don't do it again," He commanded. "Look before you leap."
Hopefully she could learn from this. Ada had been in very few fights before, apparently, so it was understandable that she didn't know her limits. If she kept acting like this, though, something would have to be done.
"I promise," Ada said hastily. "It'll never happen again."
Sen nodded and walked away from the staredown. Ada sighed in relief. Hanjo gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder before joining Sen back at the campsite. This had been a far too tiring day, and they were all eager to rest.