I'm also up for ideas for changes in the title. I really just couldn't think of anything else and I'd like any good titles you may suggest.
There will be a lot of pairings in this fan fiction but they're not gonna happen all at once so be patient. Pretty much every character from the show will appear in one form or another eventually.
Also, I will quickly be passing from the realm of TV friendly Avatar on subjects that involve death. I won't be killing too many people though so relax. Character death won't be often at all, but don't be all that surprised when it does.
I'm also spelling Tai-Lee like Tai-Li now.
Disclaimer: No tengo Avatar: El Last Airbendero
Chapter 2 Strange People
Suki awoke in a daze, she couldn't remember anything. There had been some kind of fight, painted warriors falling, and a feeling of vertigo. She tried to move and met with resistance. She was tied to a tree.
The memory of the previous night came flashing back. Her warriors had rushed the old man, and he had taken them all down too fast to comprehend. Before the first girl had hit the ground, they were disabled. He'd sent Suki spinning through the air with a strange throw, and then dropped a kick on her neck.
Now she was tied to a tree. The other Kyoshi Warriors were right beside her. They were all unconscious.
Suki heard a noise and saw the old man rummaging through a pack. Her pack. He suddenly stopped and looked and looked at her. She couldn't believe he had sensed her so fast. "It's about time you woke up," he said, "I was getting kind of bored." He returned to the pack and pulled something out. "Can I have this?" he said, holding up a big green silk shirt.
It was a piece of clothing she had inherited from her father when he had died. She liked to wear it on cold or lonely nights, it made her feel warm inside. "Don't you touch that!" she shouted. He jumped back and dropped it on her pack. "No Fire Nation dog gets to touch my stuff," she said almost to herself.
He sighed and walked over to her, "I'm not Fire Nation, what fire bending I know took many years to attain. Anyone who could teach me was Fire Nation, and they were too busy trying to collect the bounty on my head." He was looming over her now, looking into her eyes. "By the way, what makes you think you're better than them?" She saw flickers of anger on his face. "You think fighting for a better purpose makes you a better person? I'll tell you something," he put his face close to hers; she almost looked away, "the end doesn't justify the means. If the Fire Lord is defeated and his armies crushed, you may become just as misguided. You must learn that all are equal, even those who destroy. Otherwise," the rage passed from his eyes, "this war will just go on and on."
He walked back to her pack quietly. He folded the shirt up and placed it in the bag's confines. "I won't touch your stuff anymore," he said, then walked off.
Suki fought the shame rising inside her. She suddenly realized something and shouted, "Are you leaving us tied to this tree?!"
"I'm coming back after I get some food," he yelled and kept walking.
"Just great," she said to herself, "we're at the mercy of a fire bender and he's making breakfast." Her stomach growled and she frowned. She'd only had a few pieces of fruit yesterday, getting captured had made her miss dinner. She ignored it and started yelling at the girls tied up next to her. They came too quickly, and she explained what had happened. She didn't mention when the old man became angry.
They were distraught about how the man had left them tied up and walked away, but after a few minutes he was back, and he was carrying a huge fish. He was also soaking wet and eating an apple.
Suki watched as he gutted and spitted it. He did it very quickly. Gathering a lot of wood, he finished his apple and started on another. He piled the logs together and held the apple in his teeth. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he rose his hands and the wood burst into flames.
"There's no mistake now," Suki thought, "He's a fire bender, and an enemy." he set the fish over the fire and stared at it while it cooked. She thought she saw the flames move around the fish in unnatural ways. "He's bending it," she thought. He controlled it with his breathing.
Soon the Kyoshi Warriors were almost drooling from the smell of roasting meat. The old man quelled the flames with a loud exhalation of breath. "More bending," Suki thought.
He pulled out a knife and cut the ropes binding them. "Sorry," he said.
"For what?" she asked.
He smiled, "That was your rope." He turned away and said, "Enjoy the fish." He sat a little ways away and started eating some kind of nuts out of a bag.
"Aren't you afraid we'll attack you?" Suki asked as she stretched her back.
He frowned and said, "I had hoped you wouldn't be so eager to lose consciousness that you would skip breakfast."
She blushed and said, "We might beat you."
He looked at her, "We both know that's not true."
She turned away in anger and went over to the other girls. As she ate the fish hungrily, she noticed that the old man wasn't eating it at all. She spat out the fish in her mouth and said, "Stop eating, this food is poisoned." The girls spat the fish out quickly.
"It's not poisoned," the man said.
"Then why aren't you eating any?" Suki said angrily.
"I don't eat meat, and fish is meat" (If you don't get that watch 'The Storm' again)
"I don't believe that for a second," she said, "you don't look like a monk."
"That's because I'm not," he said. "But I went through an awful experience that has made meat a last resort in my mind. I accept that some people have no alternative but to eat meat, but I'll never eat it by choice again."
"What did you go through?" she asked as she resumed her meal.
"Do you really want to know?" They all nodded, interested despite themselves. "Well," he started, "after one particularly trying chase, a bounty hunter caught up to me in the desert. After a bloody fight, I killed him. We were both out of supplies and days away from civilization." He hesitated.
"What happened?" Suyeh asked.
He looked at her grimly, "I ate him."
"That's funny, you don't look like a Lee," Jet said to the teenager he sat across from.
"It doesn't matter what I look like," Zuko said, "My name is Lee. What kind of name is Jet anyways?"
"Not sure," he said, "I'll never know my parent's thoughts, so I don't dwell on it." Jet looked around, "Weren't you sitting with an old man before?"
"Yes," Zuko said, "he's my uncle. He left to complain about the food. Why are you even talking to me?"
"Well, when I was walking around I saw you, and I noticed the scar." Zuko's face didn't betray any emotion. "Then I noticed how troubled your face was. It was like a war was going on inside you, but you never let it reach the surface." Jet looked thoughtful, "I used to be like that, except I was always smiling."
Zuko looked at Jet for the first real time, noting the twin swords. "It's hard, isn't it?" he said quietly. "Wanting nothing outwardly, being torn apart inside. My uncle is the only one who ever tried to help me with my inner beast." Zuko looked at the planking, "He's saved me from myself so many times. He was always there to help me."
Jet closed his eyes, "When I lost my parents, there was no one there for me. I grew terribly bitter." He opened his eyes and stared at Zuko, "It was many years before I found my happiness again, and Tai-Li."
"Tai-Li," Zuko thought, "I've heard that name before."
"Lee," Jet interrupted his reminiscing, "are you still listening?"
"Yeah," he said, forgetting the name, "but I don't think that we're as similar as you think. I've been fighting outwardly too, not just with myself. You're probably no novice with those swords, but I doubt you've had to fight as much as I have to survive."
Jet looked at Zuko silently a moment, then asked, "Lee, have you killed a man?"
"What?" he said, caught off-guard.
"Have you ever killed a man? Have you ever watched the life fad from their eyes? Knowing if it hadn't been them, it would have been you?" Jet looked piercingly into his eyes.
Zuko couldn't lie, "No."
"Well I have," Jet said abruptly. "I've seen what happens when a sword connects, it isn't for the kind-hearted. As their blood flows out, and they gasp their last breaths, you can't help getting the feeling it's wrong. That there must have been a different way. But there wasn't," he said darkly, "and until you see that for yourself, you aren't even in the same league as me for combat experience." His face brightened again, "It's nothing to be proud of anyway, let's speak of something else."
There was an awkward silence as thy searched their minds for something, anything to say.
At last Zuko said, "You mentioned someone named Tai-Li. Who is that?"
"She's my future bride," Jet said, "we're going to Ba-Sing-Se to start a life together and get married." He sighed, "We'll have to get jobs and a home first though. We have a lot of work ahead." He seemed very sad for a moment, "Even after all we've been through, there's still so much more to do."
"My uncle and I are starting new lives in Ba-Sing-Se also," said Zuko, "don't fell like you're alone in this. A lot of people are going through the same thing."
"I know," Jet said, "but that doesn't make it any easier." He stood up. "I've got to go now; I have to make sure Tai-Li isn't annoying someone dangerous." He held back a second, "Maybe you'd like to come to the wedding, if I can find you in the city?"
"Sure," Zuko said solemnly, "can I bring my uncle?" Jet shrugged and walked off. He sat in silent contemplation for a while, wondering whether or not to try to make a life in Ba-Sing-Se. He knew that going to this wedding would be the first step on that path.
A few minutes later, Iroh returned. "Can you believe they would not listen to me Lee? They said we were lucky to even have food."
"Forget about that," Zuko said, "we have to talk about our plans once we're in the city. There's a marriage we've been invited to."
"Oh," Iroh's face lit up, "did you make friends with that strange boy I saw you with?"
"I don't know," he said, "maybe."
"Who is this guy?" Toph asked herself as she dropped a slab of rock on top of her strange enemy. He broke it in half with two rising elbows. He wasn't even an earth bender, but he was blocking all her moves. His strength was incredible. "No one can be this strong," she thought, "I've never met anyone with this kind of raw power." The worst part was, she couldn't even make him move from where he stood.
She also couldn't sneak in any attacks through his blind spot. He was more aware of his surroundings than the usual idiots she fought.
After a few minutes of non-stop bending, Toph put her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. "Huff... huff... had enough?" she said between breaths.
She sensed his vibrations as he shook his head no. "That's... huff... just great," she said, "I... huff... could do this... huff... all day."
"What is going on here!" a voice shouted. Toph felt another man approach who had peculiar footsteps. "I finally find you, and you're picking on a little girl?" The big guy she had fought with started walking away.
"Hey," she shouted, standing up, "we're in the middle of a duel, you can't just walk away from me."
The new man chuckled, "He says he didn't start it, so he doesn't have to finish it."
"What do you mean 'he says'," Toph turned to her opponent, "why doesn't he say it himself?"
"Don't you understand?" he said. "He can't talk, he's a mute."
"Oh," Toph said as shame welled up inside her, "now it makes sense why he didn't say anything to stop our fight."
"Don't be embarrassed, he probably would have fought you anyways," the man said, "he likes to beat up powerful benders." He looked around the battle zone. "And from the looks of these torn up buildings and streets, you must be one skilled earth bender."
"Ya got that right!" she shouted loudly. Then she quietly said, "I couldn't even make him move, I'm not that great."
The man walked up to her and said, "Don't be discouraged, this guy is a wall of muscle. A charging bison couldn't make him move." Turning away he said, "Come along Pol, we have to hurry or we'll be late to work."
"Wait!" Toph said, "What's your name, mister?"
He answered, "Kaish, the master."
"Well, Kaish the master. I don't mean to pry, but what's wrong with your body? Your footsteps aren't like any I've sensed before."
"You're quite an astute young girl," he said, "no one has ever figured that out without help. I might tell you later, if we ever meet again Lady...?"
"Toph," she interjected, "of the Beifong family, and we will meet again Kaish. I can tell you're no average man, and great people always meet eventually." She started walking away and said, "By the way, Pol, we'll meet again too." Her voice grew dark, "And we will finish this fight."
Kaish interpreted, "He says, count on it."
End Chapter