Hey everybody! The next chapter of Walking a Wire now complete! I would just like to say...wow, writing this story has been one of the most fun things I've done in years, and whoever set up this site for all us writers deserves a big thank-you! Now then, let's get on with the show! Oh, and by the way, I don't own Avatar.
Chapter XVIII: Dance to the Falling Sun
"Where are we, Kojima?"
"I think Shaodin, but I'm not sure. We might be in Sodai, they sort of bleed into each other. We'll be meeting the Pirates at the port." The group entered a large square ornamented with a great dragon spewing water into the pool below, "Somehow, that just doesn't seem right."
"I hear ya, Kojima! Where's the fire? Come on, what's a dragon doing blasting out water?" Yarin yelled from the back of the column.
"Alright, enough commenting on local architecture. Grab a drink and rest your packs, then we're heading for the RZ." Shrugging off his own pack, Akira dropped onto the edge of the fountain with a groan.
"Alright, Sunshine. Spill." Kojima sat down next to him,"accidentally"ramming shoulder-plates. Akira waved him off, but the other persisted.
"Come on, Pack Leader. You're acting wierd, all flat, like a Gan ball with a hole punched in it." Yarin sat down as well, effectively cornering him between the two.
"I'm fine, guys! I'm just a little stressed at the moment, okay?"
"So which is it? Stressed or fine? You seem pretty stressed to me."
"Yeah, I'm feeling stress here as well. Why don't we talk it out, maybe get in touch with the root of your problem?"
"Will you two just can it? Kojima, tell everyone to take an hour off. The Pirates won't care if we're late a bit." Akira shoved off from the fountain, grabbing his pack as he rose, and hurriedly left the square.
"Well, you heard him. One hour off then we're moving, people!"
"This is bad, man. I've never seen him so...off. Not since--"
"I know, Yarin. I can always get him to laugh, but this time I think I just made it worse. Whatever it is, I hope I'm a few islands over when it snaps."
"I hear ya, man."
"Hear what?" The two jumped as Mina walked up behind them, causing the archer to raise an eyebrow. "I thought firebenders could sense body heat."
"You're a bender, aren't you? Is it easy for you?"
"Well--"
"There ya go, kit." Yarin's grin was obvious even through the helmet as Mina fumed.
"I'm not a kit. I'm a Yu-Yan, and you're going to be a pincushion if you aren't nice to me."
"So, the kit's got claws, does she?"
Ignoring Yarin's prodding, she turned to Kojima, "So what's got the Captain tied in knots?"
"Don't know, but I think it was sometime during that stay on Ember."
"Yeah, he got off the ferry acting all wierd. Trouble with the girl if ya ask me."
"Well, no one asked you, Yarin, and anyway you've never had a girl to have troubles with."
"What are you talking about? I got 'em at the--"
"Those are called call girls, Yarin. Now, I know this is a hard concept for you to grasp, but payment does not equal--"
"Forget I was ever over here." Mina left the two arguing guards to return to the other Yu-Yan. She had been overjoyed when Benkei was one of the two others chosen to join the group, and he had been fixing her bracelet during the two-day trek to Sodai. Why they never met the Red Pirates in the capital was explained away as typical administrational stupidity, but Mina didn't mind--she was just happy to be out of the capital and on her way to the far edges of the Home Islands.
"Don't worry about them, Mina." Benkei rumbled in his deep voice, "Men like them are always under pressure to succeed, and in ways it makes them surpass us mere mortals. In others, they are weaker than the youngest child. I think now we can see that their armor, however imposing, is not perfect."
"Yeah, I guess. How'd you get so philosophical anyway."
"I read, Miss Sakomo. I often get the feeling you have never been one for books." The deep rumble of Benkei's voice was punctuated by his ever-ready laugh.
"Yeah, well my dad thought books were for target practice. I've told you before he wanted a boy." Getting up to leave, she was startled as Benkei grabbed her arm. Looking down, she was surprised by the gentle expression on his face.
"Mina, you're more than just a warrior. We all are, even if some of us," He jerked his head toward the still-arguing Guardsmen, "Fail to quite realize that." Letting go of her arm, he settled once again onto the ground, and soon was poring over some intricate machine he had extracted from his belt. Mina just stood and looked around, watching the small knots of men around the square as the sun slowly sunk behind the rooftops.
"Do you think he saw us?"
"Shhhh! Keep quiet!"
"Uh-oh, he saw us! Run!" The explosion tore across the market as Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka fled from the clanking footsteps of the man who just wouldn't quit. Two days and two islands over, and the man had succeeded in finding them once again, with the depressingly predictable results.
Run away.
Aang ground his teeth as he whipped into an alley, the rest following as another blast ripped up the cobblestone street they had occupied only moments ago. Run away, he hated the word, yet there was no way they could stand up to Combustion Man. I'm the Avatar, and even I can't bend with my mind! What gives with this guy? Concentrating on finding a way out of the alley-maze, he ran headlong into a stranger in the path. Looking up and rubbing his rear, his eyes widened as the uniform of a Fire Nation soldier came into focus. Luckily, Katara's hand closed around his collar and soon he was back on his feet, running faster than before.
"Twinkle-Toes, wait!" Toph's voice brought him to a skidding halt, only to be knocked over by Katara slamming into him from behind.
"Toph, what are you talking about? Combustion Man is after us, we nearly--"
"No, pudding-brain, he's not after us, not anymore. If you could feel through the Earth, you'd see something a bit different. We're going back, I've got a plan." With that she had returned to the alley-way, leaving Aang no choice but to rush after her, back towards the one person he should be running from.
"So, you're not hopeless after all." A grunt was all he got in response as he realigned his sword for another deflection. He thought he was getting close to deflecting them straight backwards, but then that might just be optimism talking. Craters dug into the ground at his feet, and the walls around him looked like someone had let an enraged komodo-rhino loose in the alley. He could feel the armor warming, even through the fire-resistant underlayers, and it was getting uncomfortable. Still, better uncomfortable than dead.
"I don't know how you're going to take this, but Sao Ling, you are under arrest for crimes against the Fire Nation, including...blazes, I don't know. What haven't you done, Ling?" Another grunt, "Can't talk, big man? Bet you can't go hand-to-hand either." He was interrupted in his taunting by a fire blast, parried only barely to finish blowing out a wall to his left. He could feel the sweat begin building as he watched Sao Ling prepare for another attack. Suddenly, he didn't see Lao anymore, simply a wave of earthen debris and rock, and he turned to see the diminuitive Earthbender from Gyudon flashing him a smile and a wave.
"Hiya, Fire Dude! Figured you could use the help! You know, help out a fellow bender? Like, I save you from the evil psycho-bender, you help us get some food and a place to stay?" Soon the Earthbender, who's name he thought was Toph, was joined by three others, including...
"Avatar." He saw four pairs of eyes widen as he shifted his stance to face the new group. His eyes flickedered over the stranger, a lanky, tanned boy who wore what appeared to be a combination of street clothing and the underlayers of a soldier's uniform. Suddenly, said stranger was pushing himself to the front of the group, drawing an ebony sword from his back.
"Alright, you guys got to stomp this clown last time, let's see how well I do against Tin Man."
"Sokka, I really don't think--"
"Come on, it's me, how badly could it possibly go?" Akira nearly laughed as the Avatar's skin turned a pale green, and he could have sworn the taller girl's skin paled several degrees. That's right, you know what's going to happen to dear old...what's his name? Sokka? Why do water-tribe names have to be so wierd? Then again, Ty Lee named her cat Aidyn...Ty Lee...great, I still don't know what in blazes went wrong, and why can't I keep it simple and stay mad at her? Blast it, girls are crazy!
"Alright, pal, Aang's gone to get Appa and we're gonna be out of here soon, so let's get this over with quickly." Springing off his feet, Sokka surged forward and surprised Akira with a strong side-armed cut that rang off his shoulder-plate, rudely pulling him back into the battle.
"Lucky shot, water boy. Let's see how good you are when I'm paying attention!" As another side-slash angled towards a weak point between the plates, Akira sidestepped and lowered his stance, sealing off the weak point and setting up a forceful upswing that nearly took his opponent's arm off. Leaping back with a high-pitched yelp, the boy soon had himself back under control.
"You scream like a girl, you know that?" That got a response, Akira thought, as with a yell Sokka rushed him again, only to see his thrust sidestepped and recieve a hard backhand to the back of his head as he passed. Narrowly avoiding running himself into the far wall, he spun with a look of utter confusion as Akira calmly reset his guard.
"How--how'd you move so fast?" A stunned Sokka asked.
Trust me, kid, it wasn't easy. Akira could feel sweat running down his face, threatening to interfere with his vision as the thick High Guard armor became an oven. Further thoughts proved futile as Sokka came at him again, and Akira felt a jarring impact along his left side. Glancing down, he saw a clean line where the paint had been taken off.
"You're good, kid. You might almost be good enough to face me in a fair fight." He beckoned with the blade, and once again onyx flashed against silver.
Only a few good volleys into the fight, Akira was rapidly moving from playful annoyance to bewildered frustration. Sokka was, quite simply, too fast. Everything he sent was swatted away, and another chip of paint fell from his armor. He was baking inside the shell, and sweat was freely running across his face and body. The water-boy, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his life, making lazy yet precise slashes across Akira's guard and, on one occasion, threading the blade neatly across the eye-slits of his helmet.
Finally having enough, Akira bent a wave of heat out at the boy, throwing him back a few feet. "Fine, I'll admit it. You win this round. Now we fight fairly." He watched the water-tribe warrior's jaw drop as he threw off the constricting helmet, followed closely by his chestplate and upper leg plates. Finally, all he wore of his armor was the gauntlets and vambrace plates, and the greaves that strapped into his boots. "Now then, let's see what you can do against someone who isn't weighed down with all that junk."
The first swipe of his blade met the onyx edge, or it would have if he had been restricted by the armor. Instead, the slash became a feint, the boy's guard became useless, and an angry red line was drawn across tan skin. Letting out another high-pitched squeal, Sokka fell back holding his shoulder, as Akira's grin turned hard.
"Round two begins now. Winner take all."
Ooooh boy, here we go... I've been wanting this swordfight for a LONG time now, and I hope I'm doing this justice. As a warning, next chapter will be INTENSE. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for the epic conclusion!