Chapter three The Blind Bandit

His eyes hurt. They hurt a lot. He tried to open them but he realized that they were already open, he was blind. Nazca, the Kyoshi warrior that never was now can't see. His life was over, now he would not even be able to walk without the help of something or someone, it was pitiful.

He heard a movement in the corner and someone whispering, "He's awake."

He felt someone move towards him and then he heard Suki whisper, "Hey, are you okay."

"No, how do I look. What happened?"

"There was an archer hidden in the trees. He saw you and tried to kill you, luckily for you he wasn't the best of shots and it only skimmed you. However it did pass right through the bridge of your nose cutting your eyes. As for how you look, you have a scar passing right through your eyes and the bridge of your nose."

"What the hell am I going to do if I can't see?"

"Well, you know they say that if you lose one sense another sense gets excelled."

"What sense could excel to actually help me be a warrior?"

"I don't know. Hearing might help."

"What could hearing do to help me be a fighter? Sure I might be able to hear people moving but that doesn't give me exact targets now does it."

Suki sat there thinking. It seemed like there was nothing that he could do. He was blind; he wouldn't be able to live to the full potential of the soldier she had believed she was training. Here he was helpless; she started crying in discomfort, she had failed him. Nazca put an arm around her trying to comfort her. They sat like that for a couple moments and then Suki realized something, "Wait, how did you know that I was crying?!"

"I don't know. I guess just heard you.'

"No," she exclaimed, "you felt me with your water bending, I didn't make a sound when I was crying."

"Okay so…" Nazca asked uncertain what she was getting at.

"You can see with your water bending!"

"How"

"There is water in the air right, so you can sense them too," she said eagerly

"Or I can feel the blood moving through bodies!" Nazca realized. He then tried to concentrate, he tried to feel the moisture in the air but it was so hard to find something you couldn't see, besides he had never really practiced his water bending he wasn't really good at it. The only reason he was able to defeat the fire bender with it was because he had been in a moment of desperation and he had just found this new power. He tried harder and harder to sense his surrounding and then he felt it. At first he felt a couple of particles floating nearby his body and then his range of view began to expand. It was cloudy because he had to picture everything in his mind but he slowly made out the shape of his body and the blood moving through it. He concentrated on his body trying to find the exact shape of his body. He passed over his wounds and found the shape of his sores. It was a strange feeling, seeing with his mind but he gradually grew accustomed to it. He then decided to reach out with his consciousness to feel Suki. He traced her with his mind; scouring every inch of surface he felt the slight layer of sweat, the moisture from her exhaling breath and the beat of her heart. He smiled to himself and began to expand his area of sight. He began to feel the other people in the tent and then he felt the tent itself. He moved on to the trees and the people outside the tent. He felt an empty space where particles kept disappearing that he guessed was a fire. He also felt the movements of different objects as they broke apart nearby water particles. He even felt the swords down at the training grounds slicing through the water particles as they raced towards their targets.

"I am ready," Nazca said confidently as he stood up, "Now let's go to the training grounds."

"What!" Suki exclaimed worried, "You just went blind and now you want to fight, sure waterbending might help you but I only wanted to boost your morale, I didn't think you would take it so literally!"

"I know that, but I am ready now," he walked over to his sword and picked it up, "Let's go"

"How," Suki whispered amazed that the blind boy casually picked up a sword as if he knew exact where it was.

They walked over to the training grounds and got into their stances.

"Come at me slowly at first but as I get better pick up speed," Nazca told her.

Nazca then began to expand his mind. He felt more things that the average person could see. He saw the entire training grounds and everything around it. Then the fan started moving at him. It was extremely slow; a sloth could have dodged it. He laughed as he raised his sword blocking it, "C'mon I know you're better than that."

Suki couldn't believe it, how did he know. She then tried striking slowly again which he easily parried. She started to pick up speed but she couldn't touch him, frustrated she took on her battle stance and the fight began. They exchanged blows all of them blocked but Nazca saw everything coming at him and blocked it all easily; soon Suki was out of breath.

"More" Nazca smiled ready to take on an entire army, "I need more!" sex?

A group of ten girls walked over, ready to defeat this blind boy. They all stepped into fighting stances and waited to strike. Then Suki made the first move. Nazca moved with incredible speed as he saw each strike coming long before the average fighter. He dodged and parried every single move. He quickly took them all down, tripping them and knocking away their weapons. It wasn't long before the fight was over and all the girls where down. They all stared at him, amazed at what a blind kid could do. "I'm ready to become a true Kyoshi warrior."

It was a complex ceremony of strange rituals and honors. They talked about the beginning and the reincarnation of the Avatar in order to preserve harmony in all of the elements. They talked about unity and power, there were stories and poems and dances all to inundate a new fighter. They told him that he must serve the good of the world and he must be informed on the truth behind all things so that he is able to discern evil from good and so he does not fight for personal gain and he is willing to sacrifice for the good of all. They made him swear to vows of this sort and when it was over the celebration began. They danced and ate and were happy. Nazca danced with Suki and during this time all of his problems seemed to float away. He forgot about the war and why he was here and he enjoyed himself, not wanting this happiness to end. During the commotion that followed the celebration, Suki hurried him away from the others. She like him was happy about the ongoing events.

"So where are we going?" Nazca asked her as she pulled him through the woods.

"Somewhere private." For sex.

They continued moving until Suki seemed sure that there was no one around.

"So what's up?" Nazca asked.

She stared at him, wondering what to say, "When you came here you where a helpless kid trying to be someone. The other girls didn't want to help you. They thought that you would be like all boys and be sexist, that you would believe you where superior but I persuaded them to give you a chance. But you have come so far, you have trained pressingly not daring to question anything you said and now you are a true warrior and a better fighter than any of us."

"Where are you going with this?" Nazca asked confused.

She smiled at him and then leaned forward and kissed him. She kissed him and she poured her heart out in that single kiss. She gave him her love on a silver platter. Nazca kissed her back. He realized that he loved her. That after all of those times of training together he actually had feelings for her.

He pulled apart from the kiss smiling. "I love you," he said.

She smiled then said, "I love you too but I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Nazca said frowning.

"I forced you into this into a relationship even though I knew you couldn't stay. I knew that you had to leave and for some reason I tied myself to you like this."

Nazca realized this was true. In all the commotion he had forgotten why he had really come here. It had almost been three years since he left home and he had grown so much.

"How about one last dance?" he asked

They raced by to the party and took the front and center. Suki smiled at Nazca then told her, "Let's Fight."

The music was a perfect beat, Nazca realized as he took a wide fighting stance then with a smile the fight began. Nazca came in with a light kick which Suki blocked returning with a wide swipe with her fist. Nazca ducked spinning around her then jumped and came down lightly with a kick. Suki rolled on the ground then threw herself into a standing position. She cart wheeled back at Nazca and this time Nazca caught her. He twirled her around him and then dipped her right as the music ended. He looked at her smiling, kissed her and then left.