Embers

Ch 5 – Maiko

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You'll do exactly as I tell you if you don't want the Fire Lord to end up like that villager. Just lure him in, but don't look at him or answer him. Pretend he doesn't exist, after all, I'm sure he is living like you never existed. You'll do this, Mai, like his life depended on it, because you know what? It does.

(Nighttime)

Gaoling was a fairly nice town. Sketchy in some parts, and too fancy in other, but still a nice place. There was this tavern, the Five Legged Pig, where I could sit and wait for news about Mai. Her talent's weren't exactly the most common, not to mention dangerous. She couldn't keep a low profile even if she wanted to.

After an hour of no news, I decided to order a drink to pass the time. The alcohol here was fairly potent, putting even Uncle to sleep sometimes, although that wasn't quite a hard feat. My head began to buzz with half the glass, and things started to blur over. I had finished the mug when my first lead appeared in front of me.

"Looking for a girl, stranger?"

Already intoxicated, I could barely make out what to say. "Y-yes. *hic* Do you know a girl? *hic*"

"Oh I can give you a girl alright. Come, follow me." The beautiful girl removed her cloak, winking at me. She pulled me by my shirt towards the back of the tavern and pushed me against the wall.

"Hey hunky, am I the girl you're looking for?" I blinked. My mind was fuzzed up from the drink, and all I could remember was her heavy perfumed scent. She pushed herself up against me, pinning me to the wall. Placing my hands around her hips, she leaned in to kiss me when the sound of flying objects erupted out of nowhere. In a blur, the girl was pinned to the wall by eight razor sharp daggers, their owner standing not twenty feet away from me.

"Muh… Ma… Mai." I slurred. It was Mai. It had to be, only she could throw knives with that accuracy. I staggered toward her, almost falling several times. Her back was turned towards me, and I couldn't see her face, but I was sure it was her.

"Mai… Tuhlie sees huller… *hic* Oorr no gray, purple!" I could barely speak. The damned drink was much stronger than I thought.

She walked down an alley way, and I dragged myself to follow. Every time I got close to her, she moved another few yards away from me. Had I not been drunk, I would have known she was leading me somewhere.

"Wurr yuh go? Wayduh, Icuncatch youmay!" I felt an anger rise in me. I wasn't a jolly drunk like Uncle, and I didn't understand why she wouldn't turn around and talk to me.

"Mai… lissemai. You turnnow… Turnnoud!" I tried to firebend, but my stomach lurched and I collapsed. Mai didn't even turn around, and continued to stand there. She stood there for almost an hour as I slowly recalled my senses. I stood up, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, but at least I could speak.

"Mai, please?"

She walked on. I followed her to a large open square, where she walked into the shadow of a large building. It started to rain, and I squinted through the drizzle to try and make out her shape. However, It wasn't Mai's shape that emerged from the building, rather, the shape of a teenage boy around my height. He walked with a sort of air that made me irritated. He walked as if he was the Fire Lord and I was just a peasant.

"Finally, Zuko, I have you where I want you. Your uncle isn't here to save you now with his fancy firebending. You're lucky your chi is the only thing missing."

The boy spat. He didn't like me, and I anticipated a fight. Still intoxicated a bit, I couldn't take him head on without my bending, but I figured Mai would help if things got a bit tricky. She must be furious with me for almost kissing that seductress in the tavern, but she wouldn't let me die, right?

What happened next was too much for my fuzzy mind to comprehend. The boy started to glow, extending an arm pointed at me. Then, he charged. I dodged his first strike, and parried the second, but my reflexes were too hindered to catch his counter, which knocked me on the floor. Placing his hand on his heart and my heart, he began to chant. However, he wasn't ten seconds into it when a huge rumble shook the ground. A spear of rock launched the boy off of me and into the building. Blinding lights shot from the boy and were intercepted by large walls of rock. Toph was hiding behind one of them, and yelled for me to run.

I ran back down the alleyway, trying to get away from whatever that was. Toph was fine, she can handle situations like this. However, the explosions became louder and louder, and more colorful lights lit up the square. A building crumbled nearby, and Toph was sent flying out of the rubble. She got up and bulleted towards me, a frantic look in her eye.

"Zuko we gotta get out of here! That kid's crazy; I don't even know what I'm fighting!"

She was bending earth like it was a pair of giant skis, grabbing me when she passed.

"Oh, and nice to see you by the way. It's been awhile since anyone from Team Avatar visited."

Were already out of the village when I turned back to look. Nobody was following us, and as soon as we were a safe distance away, Toph stopped and let me down. She looked hurt though, but I didn't see any visible wounds on her.

"Toph, what was that? That kid was so powerful, bending lighting that fast…"

"It's not lightning, Zuko. It was more like pure energy… I've never even seen that- Well, you know what I mean. It wasn't as chaotic as lightning, more refined like water. Scary thing is, my bending got weaker with each blast. I had to get out of there before I lost it all. What about you? Why didn't you fight back, huh?"

"I can't, something took away my bending too, and I'm beginning to think that the kid is the reason for it. He even said that I was lucky my chi was the only thing missing. I think… I think he can bend and manipulate chi. Like an energybender or something, I think."

"Hmph. All I know is that we got our butt kicked, and that that kid is still out there... Hey wasn't Aang an energybender too? I mean, that thing he did with your dad was kind of like what happened to you."

She was right. I didn't even consider that the Avatar could fix this. Maybe… If there was a way to take it away, there had to be a way he could put it back.

"Yeah… Where is he now?"

"Who? Your dad? I dunno…"

"No, the Avatar."

"You mean Aang? He's probably somewhere in the air temples meditating or whatever."

"Air temples, huh? Well that's no good, the four of them are scattered all over the world. Don't you know which one he's at?"

"Hey im sorry he didn't give me his vacation plans. But if you ask me, he's rebuilding the Western one that we kinda demolished a few months ago."

Western Air Temple… Damn, that was too far away from here. There was only one energybender I knew had the power to put things right.

"I'm going back. I have some business with that freak."

"WHAT? Are you stupid? He almost turned us into colored vapor, and I'm not so sure that's on my list of things to do before I die."

"I have to. He took my bending away, and I'm gonna take it back."

"What about Aang? He's probably more suitable for this kind of stuff."

"Last time I checked, chi bending wasn't one of the elements the Avatar had to master."

"Fine then. Go ahead, be my guest. But when you get creamed, don't come crying to me."

I knew she would follow soon, rather than be stuck out here with nothing to do. I was banking on her return though, because if things got ugly… I wouldn't have my bending to save me now.

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Hi guys, thanks for reading so far. Action gets hot next chapter. I hope you're enjoying it, and please please please review :)
Oh and if you have any questions coming up, feel free to message me.