Ignition

Chapter 13: Flare

Katara and Zuko sat together for quite awhile, exchanging stories as they shared each other's warmth to ward off the night's chill. At one point, Rhyu produced some kindling and managed to generate enough of a spark to where it started to burn. It was small and barely helped to chase off the cold which of course Rhyu knew, but he appreciated the way his new friends tried to convince him that it helped.

"No, it's brilliant, really!" Katara had insisted in a hushed voice as Zuko began to doze against her shoulder. She scooted closer in an attempt to better support him to relieve the stress on his arms and back. If they did manage to come up with a plan, they would undoubtedly need Zuko as able-bodied as possible. Sighing, Katara leaned her head back against the pole to which her friend was tethered, staring up at the gradually lightening sky. "We have to come up with something, soon." she muttered to which Rhyu merely nodded. Both of them glanced down as Zuko seemed to struggle slightly in his sleep, mumbling incoherently against Katara's shoulder before settling into silence once more. "He can't stay here."

Rhyu yawned, stretching upwards and arching his back slightly. "W-we should go Katara." he muttered sleepily, indicating the rapidly growing line of pink along the horizon. As much as he regretted missing a night's sleep after such a trying day, listening to the pair's stories had been fascinating and, in his mind, completely worth it.

Katara rose grudgingly, steadying Zuko's head as she moved out from beneath him. Her hand lingered on the left side of his face, lightly brushing across the angry scar which covered most of that side of his face. Anger seared through her as if she herself had been burned. Glancing down at her healing arms, she sighed. She had been wrong to chastise him when he had burned her accidentally; he had not intentionally inflicted pain. He had even helped her to heal. No one had been there for him when his father, his own father, had harmed him. She shook her head sadly. "I'll come back for you no matter what." she promised, her voice inaudible to even Rhyu. Zuko's breathing hitched before evening out once more. As Rhyu tugged on her sleeve, Katara stepped away quietly. The two began the walk back to the page's tents in silence, hurrying their steps as early risers began to stir around the camp.

Katara and Rhyu quickly blended in with the pages emerging from their tents. "Remember, I'm Koru now." Katara whispered to which Rhyu nodded.

"I'll help you f-find your age mates. You have p-practice in the mornings." Rhyu stammered, searching through the crowd of young faces.

Katara suddenly stopped moving. "We have a problem." she muttered.

"No, it's not that b-bad. Just s-stay away from the Masters and you'll be fine. N-new pages come all the t-time." he replied idly. His gaze found one of the older boys, one of the ones who had not been so cruel to him. He began waving to try to attract his attention. "Jeb!" he called before being silenced by Katara.

The older girl had grasped his arm, clapping her hand over his mouth and spinning him to face her. "I can't firebend!" she hissed frantically. Surely she had mentioned that at some point the previous night? The boy's shocked expression told her otherwise. She released him quickly, drawing her hand over her eyes and kneading her forehead slightly. "I'm a waterbender. There is absolutely no way I can go to that practice. When the master sees someone in a group at that age level who can't even produce smoke, they will come to investigate, no matter the size of the training group. All the master has to do is touch me and sense my chi, and there will be nothing I can do for Zuko."

Rhyu stared up at her in disbelief. "If you are n-not among the p-pages at training, they will know for s-sure. You d-don't miss p-practice. Ever…" he rambled. "It j-just isn't done." he finished, trying to make her see. There was no way around it. If they found her, they would know she was an impostor.

"Hide me?" Katara proposed feebly.

Rhyu shook his head. "They begin breaking c-camp while we train. You'll be d-discovered." he muttered, pacing. Frustration was evident on his face as he continued to walk back and forth, clenching and unclenching his fists. Suddenly, he struck downwards with his fist. "There has to be something we can do!" he snarled as small tongues of flame curled around his fingers. Katara's eyes widened in shock; Rhyu did not seem to notice. Katara called his name suddenly, causing him to stop mid-pace. The flames flickered and died almost instantly as he grew calm once more.

"I thought you couldn't bend!" Katara hissed urgently, grabbing the younger boy by his upper arm and dragging him back between two tents. "How did you do that?" she demanded more calmly.

"I-I don't know K-katara. It just h-happened. I…" Rhyu rambled. "It happens when I get m-mad." he finished with a shrug. "I c-can't control it."

"Rhyu listen to me. I have a plan that just might help get us out of this mess, but I need you to focus. I need you to concentrate on something, anything that makes you mad. Hide somewhere nearby the practice area on the edge of camp, somewhere you could see the whole area without being spotted." Katara began. "Do you know somewhere like that?" she asked quickly, speaking as rapidly as the idea formed and hoping beyond everything that it would work as Rhyu nodded. "Good, good." Katara muttered, turning and pacing. Rhyu watched her in silence as he awaited the next part of the plan.

"I need you to bend for me."

Rhyu's mouth dropped open. He had definitely been hoping for something better than that. Before he could gather his thoughts to form an argument, Katara had stepped forward and taken his face in her hands. "Look. I need to get through this damn practice in order to stay long enough to help Zuko out of this mess. Regardless of whatever he made me say, I am not leaving without him. I can't and I won't. Now you can either help me like the good, loyal kid I know that you are or you can be like every other Fire Nation coward that I have ever met." she spat, her piercing gaze now startlingly cold. Rhyu merely nodded, too startled to speak.

"Good." Katara muttered tersely before spinning on her heel and storming off in the direction of the young man Jeb whom Rhyu had previously indicated. Rhyu rubbed his forehead gingerly; he could tell this was going to be a long day. Agni help us…

"Koru! W-wait!" Rhyu called, stumbling after Katara before dragging her to a halt. "You have to c-calm down." he mumbled. Katara merely nodded. She needed to be coherent if she was going to pull this off. "Basics. Now." she muttered as they disappeared between the rows of tents once more.

Rhyu nodded curtly. The basics were, of course, his specialty. After all, they had been the only things he had ever been able to accomplish. Anything more advanced was just embarrassing. First he demonstrated the resting stance, in which his feet were slightly more than a shoulder-width apart, balanced on the balls of his feet. His hands were curled into tight fists just below his ribcage. Katara mirrored his position perfectly. Nodding once again, Rhyu moved easily into the fighting stance Katara would soon be pretending to use. He drew his left foot in front of the other so that the lower portion of his body was at an angle while his hips and torso remained square to the front. He brought his arms up, forming fists quickly, one held under his chin, the other partially extended before him. After several minor adjustments, Katara's form was decent and certainly passable with a class as large as the one she was soon to be joining. "You'll be using quick jabs and k-kicks with a few transitions and s-subtle variations in chi direction. They'll explain what they w-want as they go, but let me see first." Rhyu muttered.

Katara nodded, jabbing outwards with her right fist. Rhyu shook his head as he stepped forward, adjusting the position of her hand and wrist. "You also dropped your f-fighting stance, don't ever do that. You'll attract attention for s-sure." He demonstrated quickly. "Rotate your body for power." he added, once again demonstrating effortlessly. Katara couldn't help but notice as she copied his movements that Rhyu's stutter had faded considerably. As he kindly corrected her, she was aware that he seemed more and more confident. Finally, he seemed to be done explaining the basics to her and they straightened. "You should be ok n-now." Rhyu muttered. "Come on."

They emerged from between the tents and Rhyu began searching for the older boys again. Finally, he spotted Jeb beneath a tree on the outskirts of the camp with a few of his friends. Katara and Rhyu closed the gap quickly. Jeb glanced up as he heard them approaching and raised his hand in greeting. "Who's your new friend Rhyu?" he asked from his seat on the ground, examining Katara with gold eyes filled with curiosity.

"This is Koru. He's n-new." Rhyu explained quickly. Katara shook the young man's extended hand briskly as she examined his face. His face was composed of sharp angles, a thin but masculine nose, and slender lips and he wore his dark mahogany hair in the topknot typical of the Fire Nation. Katara could not help but notice as his amber eyes lingered on her foreign features. He seemed to dismiss the questioning thoughts as soon as they appeared however as a small smile soon crept across his face.

"I'm Jeb. Glad to see some new competition." he replied with a smirk. Katara raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. If only I could show you…

A gong sounded suddenly; Katara barely managed to suppress a startled jump. Jeb and his companions stretched and moved from their various places, shaking the weariness from their limbs. Katara noticed several of them began jabbing and jokingly sparring with each other. Boys…

The meaning of the gong registered quickly and Katara took a calming breath: time for practice. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer that their plan would work. She opened her eyes in time to see Rhyu dart off to what she assumed must have been his planned hiding spot. Suddenly, Jeb's hand closed on her shoulder and she spun.

"Forgive me if I startled you Koru, it's just that you weren't responding. I called your name…" he explained. She kicked herself internally. Getting used to the new name would take some work. "We have training now." Jeb said needlessly. Katara nodded and turned to follow him and the rest. "You dress as a messenger. From where were you sent?" Jeb asked as they walked towards the training area where several other young men and the man Katara assumed was the master had already begun to gather.

"Fire Fountain City." she responded curtly, deepening her voice as she named the first Fire Nation city to find its way into her mind.

The boy smirked. "I've heard about that place. Always seemed a little shady to me, but the messengers from there always seemed to have the wildest stories." he replied, giving Katara a considering glance. "Perhaps you will provide a challenge after all." he added. Katara shrugged with what she hoped seemed like a noncommittal grunt. She almost laughed when she realized she was doing her best imitation of her brother and his friends, until the gravity of her situation and the tasks ahead caused her to sober once again. Jeb simply chuckled, falling silent as they approached the gathered men.

The master raised his hand and the boys sprawling throughout the clearing instantly fell silent. A boy on the man's right wearing a red tunic struck a small hand held gong once and the throng of young men formed what looked like ranks. Katara quickly fell in where she could find a suitable space in the back of the group close to an unremarkable cluster of bushes, the only plausible hiding spot for Rhyu she could think of. Her pulse raced, the sound of it echoing in her head like the beating of a drum. At the second crash of the gong, the group came to attention. Katara followed suit, faltering slightly. She held her breath, waiting for the master to call out, but he did not even turn to face her; she found she could breathe again.

"To attention!" the master called, his voice ringing out clearly in the cool morning air. As one, the group snapped to attention. Katara remembered what she had gone over with Rhyu, placing her feet side by side and straightening her legs and back. Pressing her shoulders back and suddenly glad that she had thought to bind her breasts, she placed her curled fists beneath her ribcage just as the others had done. The master paced along the front line, eyeing each boy individually. Katara forced herself to stare ahead resolutely as his eyes lingered on her briefly. When he continued on, she relaxed a little internally. Maybe this can actually work…

Rhyu raced to his hiding spot, dodging those who had already begun to break down camp. As he ran, he tried not to imagine the trouble he would be in if they were caught. Flogging…definitely a lot of flogging…

"Bow." the master commanded, his narrow eyes surveying the crowd. As one the boys moved, kneeling. With the left fist pressed against the opened palm of the right hand, they bowed. At the master's nod, they rose and returned to attention. So far, so good…

Rhyu slid behind the cluster of bushes he had selected as his hiding spot, panting slightly as he glanced nervously around to be sure he would go unseen. Satisfied, he slipped into the bushes, oblivious to the scratches on his arms as he pushed forward. Finally, he found himself in the slightly clearer center of the bushes where he had previously hidden to watch the older boys practice. "A lot of good that did me…" he muttered to himself as he thought of the numerous times he had attempted their exercises and the abysmal results he had achieved. After a couple seconds of searching, he found the small opening in the branches he had used before from which he could clearly see while remaining nearly invisible. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed Katara standing mere feet from where he remained hidden. He chirped quietly, a perfect imitation of a firefinch, and barely caught Katara's subtle nod- she knew he was there. The young boy rocked back on his heels, awaiting the fast-approaching moment in which his new friend would need him.

A tiny bit of Katara's fear began to ebb as she heard Rhyu give the signal they had discussed. He had found his hiding place, she had managed to place herself properly so he could help her, and so far, she had managed to avoid detection. As of yet, their plan had been working to thoroughly exceed her expectations. She exhaled slowly before refocusing her attention on the master as he demonstrated their first exercise. They were by no means out of this nightmare yet.

The master returned to their resting stance as he finished his demonstration, before nodding curtly to indicate they should begin. Katara began, starting from the resting stance Rhyu had shown her in practice. She bent her knees until the tops of her legs were parallel to the ground, a position they held for approximately a minute. At the sound of the gong, the group opened their right foot, suddenly shifting their weight over their right leg with their left leg extended behind them completely. Katara breathed deeply, trying to focus on preventing her front leg from shaking as they held their position. The gong sounded once more and the group shifted again, bringing their back leg forward and pointing the foot so that the toes barely touched the ground. Katara found herself breaking a sweat as she held the stance, longing for the sound of the gong. Finally, the gong rung out and they switched to the next stance, lifting the left leg as high as they could with the knee bent and the foot pointing towards the ground. As Katara glanced around her, she noticed several of the boys falter, placing their left foot on the ground for a second before lifting it once more. A pang of fear shot through her as the master came to each one, chiding them and repositioning them for better balance. She resolved not to let herself waver, despite the dull ache of fatigue spreading through her limbs. The gong clanged again and they shifted to the final stance, placing the left foot down sideways and twisting their bodies to the left, keeping their hips and chests square to the front. They bent down as one, their right knees almost touching the ground. Katara closed her eyes as her muscles screamed in protest, refusing to cave and attract attention to herself. After what seemed to Katara like an hour, the gong signaled the end of that particular exercise and they returned to their resting stance. When the master did not demonstrate another exercise, Katara found herself confused. As the gong clanged again, she realized they intended to repeat the same sequence to the left. She barely suppressed a groan as she obeyed.

Rhyu watched from his place of concealment, critiquing Katara's movements in silence. To be fair, the girl was doing very well. Rhyu allowed a small flicker of pride to course through him before refocusing his attention. The stance progression was not what he had worried about. The bending exercises would begin shortly and that would be the most essential and the most dangerous part of training for Katara. He took a deep, calming breath as the gong signaled the end of the stance progression. This would have to work, or Katara would certainly be exposed. His heart began to hammer in his chest as he felt the beginning of panic weaving through his mind. Frowning, he shook his head. No, he had promised Katara he would help her, he could not abandon her now. Anger with himself for even considering it coursed through him. He straightened and shifted easily into a low fighting stance, ready.

At the same time, the lines of boys mirrored the movements of the master, dipping into their fighting stances. Katara couldn't help but notice that a couple of them looked eager. She gulped as she raised her fists, praying that Rhyu was ready. The master demonstrated a quick jab, yelling harshly as his arm extended forward rapidly. Tongues of bright red and orange fire rushed from his extended fist before disappearing as it returned to guard his face. He straightened, crossing his arms behind his back and surveying the crowd of young men. He nodded curtly and they began.

Katara took a deep breath before striking out as forcefully as she could, willing Rhyu to bend. To her surprise, a jet of fire appeared before her, diminishing into nothing as she returned to her fighting stance. Quickly masking her surprise, she continued. The movements seemed odd to her, much more aggressive and powerful than the smooth, fluid motions she had learned in her efforts to master waterbending. Her mind resisted the awkward change at first before becoming more comfortable with the motions. As her body extended forward at the end of each strike, flames curled outward from her outstretched fist. Confidence surged through her. This is going to work…

They executed the strikes in complete synchronization, their accompanying shouts echoing powerfully across the clearing. Several of the men moving in the camp had turned to watch. The master ran his hand through his long hair as he watched each young man strike forward to produce bursts of flame. Remembering the newcomer he had spotted earlier, his cold brown eyes searched the crowd until he found Katara. He walked towards her slowly, occasionally adjusting one of his student's arms to properly align his body or to demand more power, more aggression. Finally, he stood before Katara and watched as she jabbed forward. He noticed the new young man's face, furrowed in concentration and covered in a sheen of sweat. Flames crackled and rolled outward nearly burning him, though the master did not flinch.

Katara stopped abruptly, returning to her resting stance as she had seen the others do when the master corrected or rebuked them. "Forgive me, sir." she muttered fearfully, deepening her voice again and hoping she sounded convincingly male. "You are new." the master replied, his voice and face devoid of emotion. "Yes sir." Katara replied curtly, her heart racing once more. Surely the man had noticed something different, something off about her or her bending. "He knows!" her panicked mind screamed incessantly. She could run, perhaps, but how far would she make it before he caught her? Scenarios chased each other through her mind faster than lightning striking the earth when she was suddenly stopped by the master's speech. "Very good. Carry on." he muttered simply before walking down the line of boys and away from Katara.

Katara's eyes widened in shock and relief, her arms dangling limply by her side as tension left her. Not only had their bending been convincing, but he had not seen through her disguise. Relief coursed through her until a hiss from the bushes to her side jarred her back to reality. Reassuming her fighting stance, she continued the jabs until the sound of the gong indicated the end of the drill. The training session continued on in much the same manner as they were led through a progression of kicks, attacks, and blocks in various positions and directions.

By the time the gong rang three times indicating the end of practice, Katara could barely stand. She breathed heavily, her chest heaving as the sweat poured off of her. She barely managed a bow before stumbling off towards what remained of the camp with the rest of the young men in her age group. Thankfully, many of the others were just as exhausted as they made their way to the carts where water and food had been stored. Disinterested and seriously contemplating never moving again, Katara flopped down to lean against the wheel of the cart, out of the way of the others. Someone chuckled and forced a flagon of water into her limp hand. Glancing upwards, she recognized Jeb. She managed a small smile and thanked him. He merely shrugged before sitting down beside her.

"So Koru, what did you think of our training?" he asked, his tone friendly and inquisitive. Katara shrugged simply, wiping the sweat from her brow on the sleeve of her tunic. "It felt good." she replied, trying to imitate the masculine bravado she had seen in her brother after his exhausting training session with the Kyoshi warriors. Jeb laughed and nodded, tossing her a dry roll from the cart which she took happily. As she bit into the hard crust, something crashed into her side, nearly bowling her over.

Once she had recovered from her shock, she turned to see Rhyu sitting next to her, grinning from ear to ear. "How was practice?" he asked, smirking.

"Brilliant."

Author's Note: I am SO sorry this has taken so long to post, especially to those who I had told it would be up soon. I just moved and the internet company was unable to get to us until yesterday so I couldn't upload anything. Hopefully it was worth the wait, since I had some people message me asking how the training would work out and everything. Satisfied? Dissatisfied? Disgusted by the detail? Let me know.

And if any of you were wondering, I based their training session on my kung fu classes. So hopefully I explained everything well enough that you could picture the stances. If not, I apologize.

Also…LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER. –headache- I die now. –flop-