Hey everybody! Soooo sorry about the massive wait, but my comp's hard drive just keeled over and died on me, taking the original versions of this and the next chapter with it. I'm actually having to use a school comp to write this, since mine's still in the shop, so I'm just glad that I'm getting anything done.
In other news, thanks a lot to Zutara21 and Taffy0823 for the great reviews and/or great ideas! Also, congrats to Wren Sharpbeak on her great version of Season 3 (Which is becoming eerily prophetic at times). At any rate, it's good to be posting again, and enjoy the Gaang's appearance!
Chapter IX: Walking and One-Sided Fights
Walking through the alleys between houses, Akira reflected on his search. He had spent all of last night and most of today scouring Gyudon for all the information he could that would help on his mission, and only now was beginning to realize the problem he faced. He had expected to find the subversive activity difficult to come by, but still there, a slow stain underneath the town's outwardly innocent front. He hadn't expected this, however.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing illegal was going on in this town. The local prison was used for drunks and one reviled man who continually abused his family, and the worst that had happened in his entire stay was the destruction of a cabbage merchant's cart by a spooked ostrich-horse. Why? The Fire Lord said that this town was the one spawning the rumors! What's going on? I could be back at the capital, for Agni's sake! Finding only a wall to vent his anger, he slamming his gauntlet into the building and was promptly thrown against it by a short but violent earthquake.
Wait, I didn't do that, did I? What the...Another shock nearly knocked him over again, and this time he caught the muffled rumble coming from the street to his left. Exiting the alley, he was immediately forced onto his stomach to dodge a volley of stone. Raising his head marginally, he glanced back at the stone's seeming targets. Out of the patrol of ten men, only three seemed to be upright, and one only because he was frozen that way. Turning his head, he brought the mysterious attackers into view, revealing three kids dressed in Fire Nation garb, but sporting some decidedly un-Fire Nation techniques.
In the center of the street, a tall, tanned girl was drawing water from barrels at the side of the street and hurling them as ice knives, while on her left a diminuative, dark-haired boy (or was it a girl?) unleashed was appeared to be a small stone hurricane straight at him. Burying his face again, he still felt a jolting impact as a stone connected with the back of his head. Seizing on the pause between attacks, he pushed himself to his feet and took in the scene. They're bunched, close enough to protect each other, but down one, and they all go. I only need one alive anyway. Taking quick aim at the short Earthbender, he pushed his energy along his arms and out, watching the rush of flame advance on the girl (boy?). He watched the tall girl pull water desperately towards the girl, and watched as the girl herself pushed up a rock barrier. I'm not that weak. Watch, a little more power and that water and stone will be steam and lava, with plenty to spare for--
WHAM!
The world lit up around him, and as his vision cleared, he found himself slumped against the slightly cracked wall of a house. What the...Agni, what just happened? Pushing himself back to his feet, he caught the last of the mysterious attackers disappearing into one of the city's alleyways. Gritting his teeth and willing the ground to stop tilting, he raced after them.
Entering the alleys, he heard one of them shout something about Appa. Great, so there's more of them? Well, this is what I've been waiting for, so let's just go along for now. Beginning to catch up with the fleeing group, he sent out a jet of flame. Unfortunately, he still seemed to be having trouble aiming, as the blast crashed into the wall of a building nowhere near the intended target. Just be glad that these are built from fire-resistant brick, not wood. Concentrating, he carefully let loose another stream of fire, sending up a wall of flame directly in front of the tall girl. He heard the third group member, a boy wearing what appeared to be a tattered school uniform with a headband holding back his short black hair, yell out "Katara!" but discarded it as currently unimportant. Turning to face him, the three kids took bending stances. Suddenly, Akira found himself being lifted up and thrown into the air, landing several feet back from his starting point
"Nice one, Toph!" It was the boy again, as the shorter one--Toph, he supposed--grinned like a malevolent spirit given a new toy. As he concentrated on the Earthbender, he failed to notice what the other bender--was her name Katara?--was doing. At least, until he noticed the cracks in the wall to his left As the water began rushing through the brickwork, the only coherent thought to cross his mind was: Bath-house. The universe had to put the bath-house here. Terrific. As the curtain of water rose above him, his brain went from stunned inactivity to something near panic. Surprisingly, the effect on his limbs was identical. Don't panic. Stay calm, remember what Seargent Ling said, don't fight your fear, use it, make it work for you. Forcing his brain to calm itself, he let the fear wash through him and leave his mind calm, and his senses sharper than ever. Feeling the air around him, he could feel where the three fighters stood, their body heat standing out like torches against the darkness of the shadowed buildings. He let the fear go then, shoving it into something far more productive.
Anger.
He felt the heat rise within his core, felt his blessing and his curse combine within him as he placed his arms in front of him. Channeling all the energy his body could create, he released it all into the curtain of water, and the benders beyond. He shut his eyes against the light, and yet it bled through, shining as though he was staring into the sun itself. his ears recoiling from the sheer volume of the noise. As the last of the energy left his arms, he let them fall to his side and slowly opened his eyes. Instead of the blackened street and charred remains, he saw the boy standing in the middle of the street, in front of the two other fighters. His hands had been placed out in front as well, although in a much wider position, almost as though he was pushing the...Akira's eyes flickered across the boy's face, taking in the stormy grey eyes, and noted the headband no longer covered his forehead completely, revealing--the blue tattoos. He's--
"You're--you're the Av--"
With a sickening crumbling sound, he found himself buried up to his shoulders in the street. The short Earthbender walked up beside the young Avatar, "Nice save, Twinkle Toes, but let me handle it from here." Making a complicated series of gestures with her hands, Akira yelped as a barrage of impacts struck him in the legs, chest, arms, and groin. Immediately afterward, he found his neck and and lower jaw frozen in position, while twin ice spikes hung dangerously in front of his eyes. Glancing past the threatening ice, he caught the edge of the tall girl's dress slipping around a corner.
He didn't know if what he was feeling was humiliation, helplessness, or the blow to the groin, but he put it down to all three as he quickly melted the ice, moving on to the more difficult problem of melting the stone without including himself in the process. He sighed, So much for not finding anything.
"Umm, Mina, I was wondering..."
"What?" Mina glanced up from her bracelet, which she had been worrying for the past half-hour. The sun had long sunk below the mountains sorrounding the capital as the two friends walked along the nearly deserted streets. Aidyn was currently riding in Ty Lee's arms, the willing victim of her never-ending attention that currently included a belly rub.
"Well, earlier, back in the market, you kept talking about battlefield stuff, but then you said you'd never left the Fire Nation, so I was, um, wondering, you know--"
"Where I picked up all my great and useful wisdom?" The archer grinned, "Well, most of it was from the other Yu Yan. Seriously, those guys do not shut up in the barracks. Ever. At least I don't have to deal with any of them hitting on me or anything--I probably would have broken someone's nose by now otherwise." She smirked over at the acrobat, "Although, you gotta admit, the job is a pretty good channel for any frustration at home." Both girls began laughing, remembering the experience from the warehouse. Ty Lee noticed gratefully that her side no longer ached with each movement.
"So, being a girl in the barracks, is it, umm, well, you know, with you being--"
Mina just burst out laughing, "Spit it out, Pink! What, is it awkward or anything being the only girl in a building full of guys? Trust me, you have to get used to a lot of wierd stuff, but hey, what's life without a little wierdness, huh?" She ran ahead of the acrobat, vaulting herself onto the top of a light pole and balancing there, gently adjusting her balance with an ease that impressed Ty Lee. "Speaking of wierdness, you still remember that guy with the green fire?"
Ty Lee snorted, "How could I forget? I don't know what he was drinking, but I'm glad that he didn't set the roof on fire with his breath." Inwardly she cringed as she relived the trip to the club. At least it went better than Azula's first date, although not by much. The momory still brought a smile to her face, of the young suitor running from the Princess's room with his hair on fire and his clothes shredded by what would later be found to be Zuko's ivory knife, stolen of course.
"Yeah, still, blasted wierd having all those guys just...staring like that. I don't see how you stand it, Pink."
"Well, I don't know, maybe you just have to grow up, umm, a certain way?"
"Whatever that way was, I'm glad I never grew up like that. I don't want to be some shallow tease just hanging on to any boy that'll have me, I mean, come on, that's just kinda pathetic, you know what I mean, Pink?"
"Umm...uh, yeah, sure! Of course I do!" Ty Lee grinned broadly, wondering if the archer would see through the forced smile, "Yeah, you're right, boys are a definite pain sometimes, but--" Her words were cut off by a loud yell, followed by a solid-sounding whump, a high-pitched scream, and a clattering collision with the road, followed by a low moaning.
It was the boy, the one who had been breathing fire to "impress" them, curled on the ground in a fetal position, seemingly holding his groin area. Mina stood over him, fury written all over her face.
"You twice-blasted piece of Agni-burned rhino manure! What in Agni's Throne were you thinking, you complete moron! That I wouldn't do a blasted thing? Stay down there if you ever want to have a family, got it?" Mina practically ran up the street, pausing only to give the boy a vicious kick to his leg, the only part of him now left unprotected.
"Hey, what just happened?" Ty Lee asked, catching up to her friend.
"That complete idiot just tried to...oh, dear Agni, out of all the boys at that place, I get the drunk stalker who can't keep his hands to himself!"
"Oh, umm, okaaaay, well, umm..." They walked along in uncomfortable silence for a moment, "At least you know the bracelet works!"
"Huh?"
"The bracelet I bought you! It was supposed to make you irresistable to boys, remember? So, maybe it's working?"
Mina's expression was one approaching shock as she looked down at her wrist, "If this is going to keep doing that, I don't know if I want the thing."
Ty Lee just laughed, "Come on, I'm sure it was just him. Keep wearing it and see if I'm wrong."
"Fine, but if you are wrong, you're the one wearing it. Well, here's my place, see ya, Pink!" Not waiting for a good-bye, she rushed off into the collection of buildings that formed the capital's garrison.
"Well, looking back, I think today went pretty well, wouldn't you say Aidyn?" She smiled down at the armadillo-kitten in her arms. Uncurling itself from a ball, Aidyn stuck her head out with half-open eyes before retreating once again, wrapping herself into a ball of calico fur.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that."
Oh, for the love of Agni himself, Toph could have probably written a better chapter. After the greatness of the original this just doesn't seem to come close. And yes, I know it's inhumanly long, but the Ty Lee/Mina section just didn't want to end and I really wanted to do some justice to the Gaang, not just stuff them in as a bit part. The next Akira/Gaang meeting won't go so smoothly for either party...cue evil laughter... Well, on that note, until next time, faithful readers, and thanks for your time!
And I promise it won't take a month to post again!