Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. It took a lot longer then I wanted to get this chapter out, but a lot of people have showed interest in this story and I hope that despite it's shortness it doesn't disappoint.
Thirteen years later.
Thirteen years. That's how long it's been since I left the Southern Compound. I've walked this Earth for almost five hundred years, and these past thirteen definitely rank up there amongst the longest. I thought that a couple hundred years of combat experience would be enough to let me track down the group that tried to kidnap the Avatar with ease.
I was wrong.
Thirteen years of picking and prodding through every lead I could get left me no closer to finding the leaders then anyone else. So here I was, disembarking from a cargo ship in the Southern Water Tribe over a decade after I had left. Giving up my pursuit wasn't the only reason for my return. I had said that I would train the Avatar when she was of proper age.
Korra was seventeen now, that was old enough.
I reslung my rucksack over my shoulder and set off in the direction of the compound. The few meager possessions I had in the bag, along with the sword I had across my back was all I had in the world. When you wander, it's easier to get around without a lot weighing you down. And when you've done it as long as I have, you find that you really don't need that much.
"Halt! State your name and intent!" came a voice from overhead. A pair of White Lotus guards were glaring down at me from the Compound ramparts. I looked up and placed my hand on my brow, blocking the glare of the sun.
"Go and tell the Grand Lotus and Master Katara that a man named Ryou is at the gate," I replied. For a moment it seemed as if nothing would happen. Then one of the guards vanished over the wall, going to find his superiors and leaving his partner to continue glaring at me. I folded my arms and lightly tapped my foot as we waited. I'd taken a mild interest in scrapping random shapes into the snow with my boot tip by the time the gates swung open.
Both Katara and the Commander were waiting on the other side, each with their own posture. Katara's was that of someone who was happy to see an old friend again, while the Commander's showed that he still thought of me as an annoyance at best. He hadn't aged well over the past thirteen years either. What had once been brown hair was now gray and receding.
"Ryou, it's good to see you," Katara greeted warmly. I gave a small respectful bow.
"You as well, old friend," I replied before embracing her in a hug.
"What do you have to report on the status of your investigation?" the Commander asked as we broke apart. I gave him an annoyed glare.
"You have my reports, Commander," I replied. I had sent regular updates over the years, and had even sent word ahead of my impending arrival. He was trying to get a rise out of me.
"I want a personal report," he said.
"Look, kid. I don't answer to the White Lotus, alright?" I said, a little harsher then intended. Katara's face remained stoic, but her eyes shined with unheard laughter. The Commander's face turned beat red, but rather than retort he turned and marched off while muttering under his breath.
"So how is the little protege doing these days?" I asked as we walked deeper into the Compound.
"Korra completed her final firebending test just today. She's really accelerated with her bending over the years. Now all that's left is airbending," she replied. I smiled. Mastering the four elements was something the Avatar had done so many times now, each new incarnation should be able to do it in their sleep.
"Ryou, I must warn you that Korra is the opposite of how Aang was. She is very stubborn, hot headed, and short tempered," Katara warned.
"So was Kyoshi when I first met her," I said, smiling as I thought back to that day. Kyoshi and I had never married, but we considered ourselves to be husband and wife after so many years together. It also made it easier to transfer things to Koko when Kyoshi died. I had no interest in claiming anything that was hers. I had my memories, and I had my daughter, and that was enough.
"Where is she, anyway?" I asked. Looking around, I found no one who fit the proper age other than a few White Lotus Sentries.
"Korra is out riding her Polar Bear Dog. She'll be back soon. For now, let's get you settled in," Katara replied. I was given a small with humble accommodations. A single bed against the wall, a window, a desk, and a footlocker to store my things in. Simple, just the way I liked it. After putting my things away, I made my way back out to the training yard in order to see what I had to work with.
Most of the equipment there was designed to train with the elements. With a little modification, I could use it to my advantage. I also found a few straw dummies along with a pair of wooden training swords. Taking one of the swords, I began to move through the basic forms, getting a feel for the weapon.
It was just before sundown when Korra finally returned. I had been so immersed in practice that I hadn't even noticed her presence until Katara called her over.
"Korra, come and greet our guest," she said, getting my attention. The young woman in question came over to us, eying me curiously. I did the same to her. She had changed a lot over the past thirteen years. Gone was the small girl playing in the snow. In her place was a strong, beautiful young woman.
"Have we met before? You look familiar," she said. I cast a glance at Katara, and both of us smiled.
"We have, sometime ago," I replied.
"Ryou visited the Compound when you were a little girl," Katara supplied. Korra's eyes went wide with recognition of my name.
"Wait, not The Ryou? The one from your stories?"
"Underwhelmed?" I asked. She gaped at me like a fish out of water.
"No offense, but I was expecting someone older," she said.
"I am a lot older then I look," I said, giving the Avatar a tired smile.
"Ryou is here to train you in defense arts that do not involve bending," Katara said. Korra's expression changed from one of awe to disappointment.
"Not another one of these self defense instructors," she moaned.
"I don't just focus on self defense," I defended, but Korra was already walking away in a huff. I felt a little insulted. Almost five hundred years of combat experience, just to be degraded to 'self defense instructor'?
"That's what the last guy said. I don't need your training, I can handle anything," she said over her shoulder. Could she now? Let's put the cocky little teenager back in her place. I gave the training sword I was holding a twirl before throwing it like a spear. The wooden weapon sailed past Korra's head and impaled itself in the gut of one of the training dummies. Korra whirled around, startled.
"At arms, Avatar!" I snapped, "Show me what you can do!" Her eyebrow twitched before she grabbed the training sword and yanked it free of the dummy. She charged me head on, a battle cry on her lips as she raised the weapon over her head, intending to bring it down squarely on my forehead like a woodsman splitting a log.
Before she could react, I had side stepped her while simultaneously tripping her and freeing the sword from her grasp. The result was the Avatar lying face down in the snow while I stood over her with the training sword.
"You lack restraint," I said. Her answer was to slash her hand through the air. A stream of ice rocketed from the ground, straight at my head. I ducked and pivoted on the balls of my feet. The sword came around and cracked her upside the head. She fell back to the ground, seeing stars. As she started to try and get up again, I planted my boot firmly in the middle of her gut while pointing the sword tip at the spot between her eyes.
"You can strike at me again and again with the elements but the result with always be the same. Obviously you are skilled at bending, but when it comes to fighting without the elements you are sorely lacking," I said. Korra wouldn't meet my gaze, looking away in shame. I used the tip of the training tool to nudge her cheek so that she was looking at me.
"There are fighting styles out there designed to counter bending, even thrive against it. I can teach you how to counter and win against them. But in order to do that, you must be willing to learn," I said before taking my boot off of her and offering the training sword to her hilt first. Korra took it and got to her feet. She walked off toward the mess hall in silence, her head hung.
I'd embarrassed her, and bruised her ego.
"I see your training methods haven't changed," Katara said.
"We all think we're immortal at that age. It seemed like the best way to get through to her," I replied.
"Not all of us actually are immortal."
"Ageless, not immortal," I corrected her, "there is a difference." There is actually a difference. Immortal, by definition, means that you cannot die no matter what. Ageless simply means that you don't age. I would never grow old, but I can still bleed like anyone else. Sure I'm more resistant to diseases, and all but the strongest poisons will just make me sick. But if you stab me, I'll bleed out like a normal person.
"You are not wearing your normal sword," Katara stated. Even in old age, the woman had eyes like a hawk.
"I returned it to is place at the Shrine on Kyoshi Island," I said.
"I'm surprised. A sword like that, I didn't think you would let it out of your sight. It was what inspired Sokka to forge his own sword out of a meteor after all," she said.
"It's frowned upon to wear weapons in the cities these days. And besides, it was time to return it to its proper place anyway," I said. The sword, my personal katana, had been forged shortly after my fiftieth birthday. As a gift Kyoshi had presented me with some metal that had broken off of Sozin's Comet, although back then it was just known as the Great Comet.
The resulting sword that was forged was one of the strongest ever created. Years later, when Toph invited metalbending, we discovered that she couldn't bend the weapon. In this day and age, when metalbenders are a possible threat, that was a good advantage to have. But I had taken it back to the Shine to Kyoshi. It didn't feel right, keeping the sword separated from Kyoshi's armor. My descendants were all to happy too receive it
See here's the thing about the Kyoshi Warriors, and Kyoshi Island in general. Each village has its own company of warriors, numbers depending on the size of the village, and each village has a Lieutenant that is in charge. But they all answer to one single overall Commander. Tradition has dictated that the Commander of the Kyoshi Warriors be a descendant of Kyoshi herself. The kicker is, Kyoshi only ever had one child.
With me.
Which means that the current Commander of the Kyoshi Warriors is my five times great granddaughter. She's a nice woman by the name of Akira. Proud and strong, just like her mother. You may have heard of her, her name was Suki. Yes, that Suki, the one that was apart of Team Avatar. Suki was one of the greatest Commanders the Warriors had ever seen, on par with Kyoshi herself, and I was incredibly proud of what my granddaughter had accomplished in her life.
It's a closely guarded secret family secret that Grandpa Ryou is still alive, usually reserved for only the one holding the rank of Commander. It's only passed on when the old Commander retires or is killed in battle. So when I returned to Kyoshi Island to return the sword, I was just a generous collector who had stumbled across the weapon and was eager to see it returned to its proper place.
"Tenzin and his family are due within a few days," Katara said. I smiled at the thought of my adoptive nephew. He'd been a scrawny, no nonsense kid when he was younger. Not as brash as his older brother, Bumi, or as carefree as his sister Kya, and he'd grown into a respectable man and leader, as well as a father.
"How many kids does he have now?" I asked. Out of the three, Tenzin was the only one who'd had children.
"Three, two girls and a boy, with a fourth on the way," Katara reported proudly. I smiled at that, proud of what had become of him. There was also a twinge of sadness in my heart. I'd seen generations come and generations go, all the while I'd been forced to go on. It got tiring to say the least.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to skip supper tonight," I said, deciding to change the topic. My old friend frowned at the sudden change.
"Are you feeling well?" she asked. I nodded and gave a reassuring smile.
"Yes. It's been a long time since I've had a chance to meditate," I explained. She smiled and I was excused. With that I made my way back to my room. Once inside, I lit a few candles and sat with my legs folded, my eyes closed, and the lights off. The only illumination in the room came from the candles themselves. Passage of time could only be measured as the small towers of wax got shorter and shorter.
Here's the thing, I've been in more battles then I care to think about. I saw action all throughout the Hundred Year War. And to this day I'm still haunted by it. I close my eyes and I can still see images of battles long past as if they had just happened. The Fall of Taku, the Six Hundred Day Siege of Ba Sing Se just to name a couple. Meditating has helped me maintain my composure over the years.
A soft knock came from the door. I almost didn't notice it, and I almost ignored it in an effort to maintain my privacy. But, I was a guest here, and it would be rude if I stayed shut in all by myself.
"Come in," I said. The door opened and Korra slipped into the room. I had to admit, after what had happened in the training yard, I was surprised to see her here.
"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for my behavior earlier," she said, grasping her right arm with her left hand like she was nervous. By her posture, I could tell she didn't apologize very often.
"I guess you could say that I was a little taken aback by how young you are, given everything I've heard about you," she explained. I gave her a small smile at that.
"And just how young do you think I am?" I asked. Now it was her turn to frown as she looked me over.
"Your appearance says that you're not much older then me. About nineteen or twenty," she said.
"And the stories?"
"The stories have you being old, like in your eighties or nineties. When I saw you this afternoon and learned your name, I thought that Ryou was a surname or maybe just a name past on from father to son," Korra said. I stood up from the bed and went into my footlocker. Korra watched with interest as I dug out a small old shovel. It was only about two feet in length, with a simple blade and wooden handle. The age was showing as the blade was beginning to rust and the wood had lost it luster.
"Do you know what this is?" I asked, holding the shovel up.
"Um, an old shovel?" she asked, confused.
"This, is a standard issue E-Tool that was used by the Earth Kingdom army during the Hundred Year War."
"E-Tool?"
"An Entrenchment Tool. Non Earthbender units were issued them. We used them quite extensively during the Siege of Ba Sing Se," I said.
"You make it sound like you were there," Korra said with a small laugh.
"I was." The Avatar went rigid as she began to grasp what I was saying. I could tell from that look on her face that she was divided. Half of her was in awe, and the other half didn't believe me.
"That's...impossible," she finally uttered out.
"I've seen many things that are impossible," I replied. Korra reached out and took the shovel from me. She looked over the aged wood with a sense of reverence, gently tracing her fingers over it.
"Say I did believe you," she started, "did you know my past lives?"
"You know I was good friends with Aang," I deadpanned.
"Yeah, I know. What I mean is was Aang the only one you knew? Or are you not that old?"
"Roku was a very wise man. His favorite past time was Pai Sho," I said with a smirk. Korra could only gape at me. Maybe it was the outlandishness of what my statement implied, or maybe it was how smug and confident I was about it.
"How old are you?" she asked.
"Now, now, it's not polite to ask someone their age," I teased. The Avatar glared at me, and for a moment I was afraid she'd brain me with my own shovel.
"Four hundred and sixty six." She blinked in surprise before her eyes went to the middle of her forehead as she did the math in her head.
"So...if you're telling the truth, then you knew Kyoshi," she said. I smiled at the memory of Kyoshi.
"You could say that."
"You were good friends?" I took the shovel from her and placed it back into the footlocker.
"She was my wife."
"Your...your wife?"
"Look, Korra I've been this Earth for a very long time. I've found that the best way to handle all of that is to focus on the present, so if you please, I'd rather not talk about it."
"Okay. Um, goodnight, I guess," she said as she went to the door.
"Goodnight, Korra."
And there we have it. I've been having some computer trouble that delayed this and other projects. But now that this has been resolved, more chapters should be produced much more quickly. Please, don't hesitate to review, leave a PM, state what you like or didn't like or even ask a question or two, and I'll see you all next time.