Ru: Hey there reviewers! We're going to update, even though y'all aren't reviewing very much. So, this is only because we'll be going away for two weeks and we don't want to leave y'all hanging.
Bri: Thank you so much to those that did review and still like us!
Tawny: 2wingo, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, CyanIllusions, and bumbleBEE243.
Ru: Yes, thank you very much! So anyways, here is the new chapter!
Chapter 7: Training Begins
The sound of knocking woke Zuko up early the next morning. He got out of bed and angrily rushed to the door. He swung the door open and glared at the young Earth Kingdom solider who was standing there.
"What do you want?" Zuko spat.
"Umm, your highness, sir, um, it's five thirty and I was, um, ordered to, um, wake you and, um, bring you down to the practice fields so your troops can meet you, um, sir." The solider stumbled; he was shaking in his boots. Zuko sighed.
"I'll be right out." He said and he shut the door, the solider looked relieved. Five minutes later, Zuko and his escort were walking down the hall toward the practice fields. It looked like everyone was still asleep. He couldn't blame them it was early. Too early to be doing anything but sleep. Zuko yawned, he wished he could go back to bed; he had been up all night worrying about the whole festival thing. It was in four days, so he didn't have much time to worry about it, if he was going to ask her he had better do it soon, before someone else did.
"Right this way, sir." The solider said, interrupting Zuko's thoughts. They were walking down a corridor with high arches that showed the practice fields below. The solider led Zuko to a balcony that jutted out over the fields where three people were waiting. Two of them Zuko recognized as Ru and King Sujin, but he had no idea who the third one was. As Zuko stepped on to the balcony, they turned around.
"Good morning, your highness, I trust you slept well?" Ru greeted him with a bow.
"Yeah, yeah, what do you want me to do?" Zuko replied.
"Your highness, this is Commander Michiyo Hara. Commander, this is Prince Zuko, he has agreed to lead our army against the Fire Nation." Ru said motioning to the man standing next to her. He bowed to Zuko.
"Your highness, I'm very happy that you have agreed. We were starting to worry that you would not." He said politely.
"Prince Zuko, if you would step over here we will go and meet your troops." King Sujin said and motioned to a set of stairs that lead down to the practice fields. Zuko nodded and followed as the king, Ru, and Commander Hara went down the steps. Zuko noticed that not only were the troops there, but Aang and Toph were there as well. They were practicing like they did every day.
"That girl is quite a talented earthbender!" Commander Hara said surprised.
"Yes, she is training the avatar." Ru said.
"Come on, Twinkle Toes, faster!" They could hear Toph yell at Aang.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Aang fired back at her. Zuko looked around the practice fields, and then he spotted Bri and Tawny. There were a bunch of kids surrounding them. It seemed to him that they were holding a class of some sort.
"Oh, I see you've spotted Bri and Tawny. They're teaching the new arrivals today." Ru said.
"New arrivals?" Zuko asked.
"The kids who have shown talent and will become ninja when they are trained." She answered.
"But they're so young!" He exclaimed.
"You have to start them young, unless they're exceptionally talented, because if you don't they will never learn. My sisters and I started training when we were seven, and became top ninja when we were twelve. But we were exceptionally talented, it will take those children there at least thirteen years to get where my sisters and I are right now." Ru said.
"But they can't be more than six years old!" Zuko argued.
"That's how it works, if we want top ninja we need to start training them young, and some of them will train their entire lives and never reach that spot! It's sad, but that's the way our lives go. We train as hard as we can and fight and hard as we can, so we can secretly defend the ones we care about. And sometimes we can't even do that." Ru looked away, tears in her eyes. Zuko looked at his feet, feeling bad that he had said anything about it. Bri and Tawny looked in their direction, feeling that something was upsetting Ru. They started to run over put stopped when they saw a young man, about eighteen years old, walk over to Ru and Zuko.
"I-" Zuko started, but Ru felt that she couldn't stay any longer without breaking down and ran across the practice fields and into the palace. Now Zuko felt really bad, and started to go after her, to tell her he was sorry and didn't mean to upset her, but then a young man two years older than he was put his hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"No," he said. "I'll talk to her, but right now she needs some time alone."
"Who are you?" Zuko spat.
"I'm Prince Tamotsu, the son of King Sujin." The older boy answered.
"My name is Prince Zuko." Zuko said full of pride at his regained title.
"Yes, I heard that you had accepted my father's offer. We're very happy to have you here to help us better our knowledge of the Fire Nation and to fight with us." Tamotsu said gratefully.
"Yeah, whatever. What's up with Ru? Why did she runoff like that?" Zuko asked. Tamotsu sighed.
"First, you have to understand that Ru and her sisters are very complicated and special individuals. Everyone else around here knows their story and you'll be working with them, so I guess it would be important for you to hear it." he motioned for Bri and Tawny to come and join them, they did and they brought their class with them as well. Tamotsu explained to them what he wanted and they all sat down on the ground. Wanting to see what was going on, Aang, followed by Toph, came and sat down with them. Sokka and Katara came outside at just the right moment and saw everyone sitting on the ground in the middle of one of the practice fields, and joined the small audience that the others had attracted.
"What's going on? Why is everyone sitting on the ground?" Katara asked.
"Bri sensei, Tawny sensei, and Prince Tamotsu were going to tell us a story." One of the kids said.
"Oh a story!" Katara said. "That'll be fun, right, kids?"
"Yeah, but you need to be quiet, lady, for the story to begin!" Another kid said. Katara looked annoyed.
"I should have warned you, Katara, these aren't regular kids, their in training to become ninja, so they won't warm up to that little kid stuff." Bri said.
"Thanks so much for the warning, Bri." Katara said sarcastically.
"Your welcome!" Bri said cheerfully. Tawny rolled her eyes.
"Okay, Tawny, would you like to start? It's not my story to tell." Prince Tamotsu said.
"Yeah. Sixteen years ago, in this city, Ru, Bri, and I were born. Our parents lived on the edge of the city near the wall and were farmers, who lived a peaceful life. When we came along they knew that we were special and were overjoyed when they found out we had special powers. When we were seven, the Fire Nation laid siege to Ba Sing Se and our parents started to worry. They were afraid that the Fire Nation might break through the wall and overrun the city. So, they made preparations, in case that dreadful day came, our father built an under ground room under our house so we could hide. Then the day came and the Fire Nation broke through the wall. When our parents heard the news they quickly packed some provisions, grabbed the three of us and took us into the secret room. We stayed there for what seemed like days, then we heard the door crash down and soldiers filled our house. They tore through every room looking for us, and then when we thought that they had gone, they tore open the secret door and yanked the five of us out." Tawny said.
"Ooooh." The little ninjas chimed in unison.
"I'll tell the rest." Bri offered. "The soldiers pushed us outside and took away our mother and father. They said that we had to learn how to live without anyone to look after us and that death was a part of life. They took our parents and tied them to two trees outside of our house and intended to make us watch while they killed them. Then, I still don't know how she did it, Ru got free from one of the soldier's grasp and ran inside the house. Before they could run after her she came out of the house with a kunai knife and, like she had fought her whole life, started taking down Fire Nation soldiers. Tawny and I were amazed at her skills, and wondered if we could do the same. So, in the confusion, we escaped and ran to go get two more kunai knives. When we came outside again we went to Ru and started fighting along side her. We all fought for our lives and our parents, but it was useless. We were unarmed and held back while our parents were killed in front of our eyes." Bri looked away; she couldn't bare the thought any more. Tamotsu put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll take it from here." He said kindly, Bri nodded her thanks. Tamotsu continued the story. "Just as the girls were going to be taken away, an Earth Kingdom battalion found and rescued them. After hearing their story the leader took the girls to the palace and showed them to the king. They were given into the care of the ninja program and trained. Here, they honed their skills and mastered the ninja art at only twelve. They were true prodigies, and soon rose to the top of the ninja officials. Bri, Tawny, and Ru are the top three ninja in the Earth Kingdom and probably even the world. Ru is the leader and all information her sisters have; they report to her. She controls all the ninja activity for the Earth Kingdom and is my father's top ninja advisor. Bri controls all new ninja and runs the exams for them to become second level and top level ninja, and she is also one of my father's advisors. And Tawny controls all recon and spy ninja activities, she handles all the top secret information collected by these ninja and decides which is important and which isn't, she, like her sisters is an advisor to my father. They are very important to the king and are only sent out on missions when they are top secret or very advanced and dangerous missions." Tamotsu finished. "Now, I think I better go and talk to Ru." He said and left. The students were silent, thinking on what they had just been told. Katara, Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Zuko looked at Tawny and Bri. They were looking at the ground as if deep in thought.
"Tawny, Bri, I'm sorry for what happened." Katara said softly.
"You don't need to be sorry; it's not your fault, besides that's in the past. We shouldn't dwell on the past." Bri said solemnly.
"Bri's right, it happened, and now it's over, nothing we can do." Tawny said to them, and then she turned to her students. "Now I think we should get back to our lesson."
"Awwwwww!" They moaned in unison.
"You should go and get to know your troops, Prince Zuko." Bri said to Zuko, reminding him why he was here.
"Okay, Twinkle Toes, story time's over, time to continue your training!" Toph yelled at Aang.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Aang said, sad that he had to get back to work. Katara and Sokka followed them over to another practice field and watched their two friends. Zuko went over to the king and Commander Hara, who were talking to some officers.
"Ah, Prince Zuko, come, you need to train with your troops so you can get a feel of what it will be like to command them!" The king said. Zuko nodded and walked over to his troops.
"Who's first?" He asked. A soldier stepped forward.
"I'll be first, sir!" the soldier replied. Zuko smirked. This might be fun. Zuko and the soldier walked over to a practice field and, since it was hot and almost noon, took off their shirts. They sunk into their battle stances and began. The fight didn't last long and Zuko came out the victor. He sparred with a few other soldiers and by the time he won the last match the sun was setting.
Katara was healing Aang's training wounds and watching Zuko's sparring match with one of the soldiers. He doesn't have his shirt on! Man, he's hot! Look at how the sun reflects off of his perfectly toned body! Katara felt weak just by looking at him. But she was right, the sun did catch he's features quite stunningly, like the way the sun glistened on his chest. She wondered if he was going to ask her to the festival, she really wanted him to. He still had some time; he would probably ask her one or two days before. She just hoped no one else asked her first.
Ru was sitting alone in her room crying. She had taken her hair down and was sitting on her bed. Through her sobs she heard a knock on the door.
"Can I come in?" Someone said as they opened the door.
"No, go away!" She replied sounding and feeling very much like a child.
"Oh come on, I know that you'll want to see me!" He said.
"No, whoever you are go away!" She turned around as she spat the words out at her intruder. She immediately regretted those words.
"Well, if that's how you feel than I guess I'll go." He said. Ru scrambled off of her bed on to her feet and rushed to the door.
"No, wait, don't go!" She called after him. He stopped.
"Tamotsu," she said. "I didn't know it was you!" He turned around and looked at her with his big, beautiful dark green eyes. Moments later she was in his arms.
"I was so worried about you while you were gone, Ru." He said into her hair.
"I know, but it's my job and I have to do it." She replied. For a while they just stood there content with each other's company. Then he let her go and took her hand. He started walking down the corridor, taking her along with him. He lead her to the gardens and brought her to a table that was all set up next to the wall that over looked all of Ba Sing Se. She gasped at the beauty of the setting sun against the city. She looked at the table; dinner had been set up for just the two of them.
"So, what do you think?" He asked.
"I think it's beautiful." She said.
"Not as beautiful as you." He told her softly. She turned to face him; that was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to her. Tamotsu didn't miss his chance and caught her lips with his. He could feel her melt and made sure that she didn't fall by placing a firm hand around her waist. When he released her he looked down into those blue/green eyes.
"Will you go to the festival with me, Ru?" He asked.
"Of course, I will, Tamotsu."
…
Tawny: Hey where's Ru?
Bri: She on a date with Tamotsu.
Tawny: Ha! I knew they were an item!
Zuko: Did y'all have to describe me without a shirt?
Bri: Yes now be quiet and look pretty!
Katara: Don't talk to him like that!
Zuko: You're sticking up for me?
Katara: Yes, now be quite and look pretty!
Tawny: Ha! You do it too!
Katara: Well, that's because I'm Katara and I can, so there! (sticks tongue out)
Zuko: Uh oh. (Tawny, Bri, & Katara start attacking each other)
Eriko: O do I get to say that thing again! Ahem, reviewers please review! (Tawny, Bri, & Katara are in to big of a fight to notice) (Ru and Tamotsu walk in)
Ru: Hey guys! Oh no, not again! (Ru & Tamotsu sigh) Anyways, remember that we will be gone for two weeks! So we'll probably update then! Lots of love!
-Directorchic16