Spirit of Fire
Chapter 5: Fight Club
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender
It had been a peaceful couple of days since incident at the tea house and Zuko was adjusting well enough to being a waiter. He still didn't like tea like his uncle did, but at least Iroh wasn't quoting a tea based proverb every few minutes. Zuko was also pleasant enough with the customers. Sure, it was Iroh and Pao that would normally talk to the customers, but even with only three days under his belt Zuko could see who was a regular. 'Granted, with uncle's brewing skills it seems that the regulars are increasing,' thought Zuko to himself as he looked over at the tables. It was only three in the afternoon and seven of the tea house's ten tables were full.
At that moment, the door opened as a young man with short dark brown hair, a few years older than himself Zuko guessed, walked in and sat at the table to the right of the door; one of the furthest ones from the cash counter. Grabbing the one of the tea house's small menus, Zuko walked over to the man to give him the menu to make his choice as to which type of tea he would prefer to drink.
"Welcome, to Pao's Family Tea House," greeted Zuko to the man. "We have a nice variety of teas to choose from. Please, let me know if you'd like to know more about them."
"Actually, there is something I'd like to know more about, but it's not about tea," began the man. "I'd like to know more about you and that fight you had a couple of nights ago."
"What about it?" Zuko replied evenly.
"Well, I was watching the fight and I couldn't help but notice something," the man said as he turned to lock eyes with Zuko. "You seemed to rather enjoy that fight."
Zuko stared hard at the man, not seeing the stranger's point.
"My name is, Jao. And I am part of a group of people who enjoy a good fight."
"What do you want with me then?" Zuko asked him.
"As I said, you enjoyed that fight. Tell me… does the city life frustrate you? Ever wish you could just pound the shit out of something or better yet, someone?" Jao asked.
Still being weary of the man, Zuko nodded softly.
"That's what we do; we get together and we fight. The fighting relives stress and keeps us from doing something worse. Plus, it's an easy way to make money," explained Jao.
"Why come to me?" Zuko asked.
"To invite you to join," answered Jao. "You can only join by invitation. I can't tell you where it is, until you join."
"Why is that?"
"We follow some strict rules, but thanks to them the Dai Li have yet to find us to shut us down."
Zuko pondered in his head what this group could be doing that would go against the Dai Li. It made it sound like a good time.
"I'll give you sometime to think about it and comeback tonight. I'll be waiting outside the shop if you decide to join." Jao said as he stood up. Then, with a bow of his head the man left the shop.
Zuko stared after the man for a moment; in thought. If this was a trap, he and Iroh were screwed. Correction, he'd be screwed because he'd be the one walking into it. 'But if it's not a trap, this might be a good thing,' Zuko thought as he picked the menu up off the table and walked back to the counter. The exiled prince had to admit to himself, it would feel nice to get into a fight like the one he had with Jet again. The problem was that would end with the city guards or worse the Dai Li. So, maybe this would be a good thing and Jao did say it was a way to make some money and Zuko needed money.
'I guess I could try it,' Zuko decided as he began cleaning the dishes.
"JIN!" yelled out a loud voice.
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Jin stood up from her workstation and made her way to the front of the dress shop for the fifteenth time within the last hour at her boss's call.
"Yes, Ms. Xao?" Jin asked as she walked up to her employer.
"An urgent order just came in. I'll need you to work on them tomorrow. Everything you need to know about the order is on the paper." Ms. Xao said as she handed Jin a slip of paper. "Now, have you finished hymning those dresses for Mr. Lao's daughter?"
"Not yet, I have two more dresses to do; then, I'll be done." Jin replied.
"Well, finish them and then you can leave for the day."
"Yes, Ms. Xao." Jin then turned and made her way back to her workstation. 'I'm probably the strongest Earthbender in the city and yet, I still have to put up with this shit.' Jin thought to herself with a hint of annoyance. 'I'm not asking to be worshiped or even bowed down to, but a little recognition would be nice.'
With a sigh, Jin sat back down and began to once more start on the long tedious task of hymning the formal dress in front of her.
As Zuko cleaned the tea house's cups he thought of what he should say to his uncle to inform him that he would be going out.
"Umm… Uncle?" He called a little hesitantly.
"Yes Lee?" Iroh replied from the stovetop.
"I'll be going out this evening. Will you able to cover the late shift?"
"I should be able to, but where are you going?" Inquired Iroh.
"A guy by the name of Jao came by the shop and we hit it off. He asked if I wanted to 'hang out' with him and some of his friends down at the market this evening," replied Zuko.
Now, despite his age and no longer being a general, Iroh knew a lie when he heard one and Zuko was lying to him so badly that he might have well as just worn a sign confessing as much. The problem was that Zuko expressed such a rare desirer to be social that when he did, Iroh didn't want to squander it.
"Nothing illegal will be going own I take it?" Iroh asked with an arched eyebrow.
"No, nothing like that Uncle," replied Zuko.
"Alright then, have fun."
"Thank you, Uncle." Zuko replied. With his plans for the night made, Zuko went back to washing the cups; preparing them for the coming late shift.
Smiling softly to herself, Jin was thrilled to be off work. She knew her job helped with family expenses and such, but she did enjoy it when she didn't have to work. All she had to do now was stop by her parent's favorite bar and pick up a case of their favorite drink from Virgo.
'All I have to do is get the drinks and then the rest of the night is mine,' Jin thought to herself as she opened the door and walked in.
Upon opening the door and entering the building, Jin walked straight to the bar where Virgo's owner, Kyine, was standing. "Evening, Kyine. How's business?"
"Evening, Jin. Business around here is going great. I was finally able to hire another bouncer a couple of days ago," replied the bar owner.
"Really, where's he at?" Jin asked.
"She is right over there." Kyine answered pointing to a corner behind Jin.
Jin turned her head back to see a girl, roughly her own age, with a light tan standing tall in the corner. She had on the traditional black tunic shirt of the bouncers at Virgo wore. The most captivating things about her were her snow white hair and the oddity of her eyes. The girl's right eye was pale blue, while her left eye was a darker colder shade of blue. 'It almost looks like ice,' Jin thought with a shiver.
"Her name's Kimiko, but we call her Serpent." Kyine continued.
"Why the name Serpent?" Jin asked as she turned back to face Kyine.
"Well, Kimiko is a waterbender and has heard about the sea serpent in Serpent's Lake. So, she picked that name. Plus, she's fast and deadly like a serpent. First night on the job and she took out two guys by herself."
"Impressive."
"Yeah, one of the idiots she took out was Lieu's ex-."
"Is that jerk still coming around? When is he going to get it that Lieu is gay now?"
"I think he'll get it now, after the beating Kimiko gave. Besides, I think Lieu might have found herself a girl."
"Good for her. Any idea who it is?" Jin asked.
"I think it might be Kimiko," replied Kyine.
Jin took a quick glance back at the new bouncer before asking, "Are you sure? She doesn't look the type."
"Well, after ridding my bar of Lieu's ex-, Lieu got a little over affectionate in her thanking Kimiko. However, Kimiko didn't seem to mind one bit."
"I wish Lieu the best of luck then."
"She'll need it too. Cause she isn't the only one with her eyes on Kimiko."
"Don't tell me…"
"Yep, Nu also has her eyes on Kimiko."
"Damn. You know it's going to end badly unless some sort of agreement between them."
"Yeah, but it's not my place to interfere with their lives."
Shrugging her shoulders, Jin asked, "Anyway, about the order?"
"Yeah, I've got it right here," replied Kyine as she bent down a lifted up a crate filled with twenty-five corked bottles. "One crate of Poitin, as ordered by your parents."
"Thanks. You wouldn't happen to have…"
"Your own order?" Kyine asked with a smirk. "Yeah, I've got it," she replied as she bent back down to lift up a smaller crate with only sixteen corked bottles. "One small crate of Ignis Crepito, as you ordered. (A/N: It's a very rough translation, but Ignis Crepito is supposed to be Latin for Fire Cream.) You are the only person I know who drinks this pain in the ass of a drink."
"Thanks, Kyine," replied Jin. "I drink it, because it's great. Sure it may come from a nation of blood thirsty warmongers, but it's still a great drink."
"Whatever you say," replied Kyine as Jin paid for the crates of alcohol.
"I'll see you around, Kyine." Jin said as she picked up the crates and turned to leave.
"See ya kid, tell your parents I said hello." Kyine called back as Jin left through the door.
With his work done for the evening, Zuko hung up his apron and with a quick good bye to his uncle he was out the door. Looking across the street he saw Jao leaning against a building, waiting.
"So, you've decided to join in?" Jao asked as Zuko approached him.
"I haven't made my decision yet," replied Zuko. "I thought I'd see if this was as you say it is."
"Fair enough. We just ask that you don't tell anyone about us."
"Fine."
The two men walked for nearly an hour around the Lower Ring, sticking to the alleyways and back streets. They ended their journey in front of a small bookstore; that Jao walked into, ushering Zuko to follow him. Inside the store, Jao walked up to the counter and rolled his left shirt sleeve up to his shoulder; revealing a tattoo. The tattoo was the symbol of the Water Tribe, but the ink was orange; the color of the all but existent Air Nomads. "We're here for the league." Jao said to the tall bearded man behind the counter.
"In the back," replied the man in a gruff voice.
Jao nodded his head and pulled his shirt sleeve down as he headed to the backroom of the bookstore.
"So, you're a Water Tribe's men?" Zuko asked Jao.
"No. What in the world gave you that idea?" Jao replied, adding, "I'm Earth Kingdom, through and through."
"But, your tattoo-"
"Oh, that? Everyone here has one of these. You'll learn more about them later," replied Jao as he stopped in front of a large bookcase. Reaching up, he grabbed the top right-most book. The book moved slightly, but didn't leave its spot. Instead, a click was heard and the entire bookcase swung forward. Jao pulled the bookcase out, revealing a small doorway with a revolving staircase going down.
Zuko walked down the staircase first, allowing Jao to close the bookcase behind them. After walking down at least four flights worth of stairs, Zuko arrived at the bottom and was greeted by a door. On the door were the symbols for the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. The design of the symbols was remarkably similar to design Iroh had showed him.
Jao walked up to the door and knocked hard. The small peep window in the door opened. "It's me." Jao said. He then continued saying, "I have a new guy with me."
The door opened to reveal a tall girl in baggy brown pants and a dark brown bikini top. She had short black hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail. "You're just in time. It's about to start."
"Thanks," replied Jao as he walked in; Zuko quickly following behind him.
Walking into the room, Zuko was impressed with the room's size. For it wasn't really a room, but more like a mini-arena. It was at least two stories tall and as wide as a city block. Inside this cavern, thirteen people, including Jao and Zuko, were standing about. Off to the side, by the door, there was a table that the girl who answered the door was standing behind.
An average looking guy with black hair, wearing a light green shirt and dark green pants, walked up to the table and turned to face everyone. "Alright everyone, bring it in." He shouted. The small crowd of people gathered around in front him to listen to what he was going to say. "For those of you who don't know, my name is Tao and this is Melee League. Melee League was started four years ago as a way to vent out frustration, while not getting arrested. Since then, we have become the most popular, well kept underground fighting secret. There is not only this facility here, but three more in this very city. As well as, a dozen spread throughout the Earth Kingdom, one in the Northern Water Tribe, and five in the Fire Nation. Here at Melee League, your background doesn't matter. We just want to fight. Here are the rules of melee league; 1. You don't talk about melee league. 2. You don't talk about melee league. 3. When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he's just faking it, the fight is over. 4. Only two to a fight. 5. One fight at a time. 6. You fight without shirts or shoes. 7. The fights go on as long as they need to. 8. If this is your first night at melee league, you have to fight. 9. No bending allowed. Does everyone understand these rules?"
With a course of agreement ringing out, Tao continued. "You can bet on the fights, if you chose to, at the table behind me. Now, is there anyone new tonight?"
When Tao asked this question, Jao called out, "He's new." While, pointing at Zuko.
"You're new?" Tao asked him.
Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Zuko did the only thing he could and replied saying, "Yeah, I'm new."
"Then you'll be fighting first." Tao told him.
"Is anyone else new?" Tao asked.
When no one came forward, Tao turned to Zuko and said, "Well, looks like you're up first." He then scanned around the room looking for a fighter for Zuko. "Hey, Xiu, you feel like taking on the new guy?"
"Alright." Replied a feminine voice, stepping forward.
Zuko saw that the speaker was a petite female, at least three and a half inches shorter than himself. She had long dark brown hair tied together in a tight braid and was wearing a white bikini top with baggy white shorts. She had dark blue eyes and a dark skin one.
"Either of you care to place a wager on your fight?" Tao asked them. Xiu shook her head no; while Zuko replied, "Yeah."
Zuko walked up to the girl behind the table and took out the last of his money, which happened to be eight gold pieces.
"Your name?" the girl asked him.
"Lee," replied Zuko.
The girl wrote the name of both fighters down and then asked, "What's your wager?"
"Eight gold pieces, on me." He replied, handing her is gold.
Nodding her head, the girl took the gold and wrote down the wager. She then handed him a ticket and said, "this is to claim your gold if you win."
As Zuko stepped away from the table, others stepped up to place their own wagers on the fight. Tao turned to face Zuko and said, "Take off your shoes and shirt and go to the center. We'll then start the fight."
Zuko took off his shoes and then slowly took off his shirt. While his arms were relatively fine, Zuko's chest and back bore scars; though none nearly as bad as the one on his face. (A/N: Yes, I gave Zuko more scars. I just think that it's odd that the only scar he has is the one on his face, considering everything he does. After all, Zuko isn't a papered prince; he's spoiled, but not papered. I figure with his training, he's got to have some scars.) Most of the scars were from his time spent training with his Dual Dao Swords. A few were also from injuries he received while exploring the Air Temples. Zuko placed his shirt next to his shoes and walked over to where his opponent was waiting for him.
Once everyone had finished placing their bets, they gathered in a large lose circle around Zuko and Xiu. They were close enough to see the fight, but not so much so that they would have a fighter shoved into them.
As her opponent walked over, Xiu called out, "Hey." The guy looked his gaze with hers. "I want you to hit me as hard as you can," Xiu said to him. "Don't hold back."
"Sure." Was the simple reply that was returned to her.
"FIGHT!" Tao shouted to start the fight between them.
Without waiting for her opponent to get his bearings, Xiu sprang forward, rushing her opponent. She could tell from the guy's scars that he had at least seen some form of combat.
Zuko was momentarily caught off guard by Xiu's rush. However, he was able to gather his wits just in time as her back leg swung forward in a high arc to his head; making a perfect Jodan Mawashi Geri kick. What Zuko hadn't fully counted on, was the amount of force that Xiu was able to release with her kick. He had gotten his arm up in time to block the kick with his left forearm, but the force of the kick was enough to let Zuko know that he'd have a bruise the next morning. 'Damn, I didn't expect a kick that hard,' Zuko thought to himself. 'Felt like getting hit by one of the training swords.'
Thinking quickly, to capitalize on the close proximity of his opponent, Zuko stepped forward and shot his right fist forward as hard as he could into Xiu's toned abdomen. He held back his full strength, as he didn't want to kill her, but Zuko at least wanted to make a small statement to everyone here; that he held no qualms about fighting a member of the opposite sex.
"Mom, I'm home." Jin shouted as she stepped through the front door of her house.
"Welcome home," Xain said as she stepped out of the kitchen.
"Here's your and dad's order." Jin said as she handed her mother the crate of Poitin.
"Thank you, sweetie. Now go wash up for supper."
Nodding her head, Jin turned to make her way up to her room and hide her crate of Ignis Crepito, that she placed in her room before coming in the house, before anyone found it.
"Oh and Jin." Her mother called after her.
"Yeah mom?"
"I better not see so much as one bottle of Ignis Crepito out of your room or in the hands of your siblings or else you will be grounded for a month!" Xain said as she walked back into the kitchen.
Jin stood on the stairs and looked at the kitchen door in shock. 'How the hell did she do that?' Jin asked herself. 'I was sure no one saw me put the drinks in my room.'
With one last glance at the kitchen door, Jin made her way up stairs to her room to hide the bottles of Ignis Crepito from her siblings. The last thing she wanted was to be grounded and not be able to go out. Sure, she didn't have a boyfriend, but it could change.
Despite the pain his body was in, Zuko couldn't help but smile to himself. He really had had a great time at the Melee League; it had been ages since he had done something fun. Plus, he was able to turn his eight gold pieces into a hundred and five gold pieces. In the end, he had decided to join and got his own tattoo. It was on his left shoulder, same place as Jao's, and was of the Fire Nation symbol in Earth Kingdom green. At first, Zuko hadn't been so sure about getting the Fire Nation symbol, but after seeing a few others with it he decided to go with it.
Zuko quietly snuck into the apartment, as to not awaken his uncle, and got ready for bed. As he laid motionlessly on his futon, Zuko began to meditate and within minutes was standing in his mindscape.
"Welcome, Zuko." Spoke the intangible voice that had been training Zuko in his mindscape. "We will now begin lesson thirteen, bending lightning. Lightning bending has two origins. It was originally developed roughly two and a half thousand years ago by Lato. He made it, not so that they could attack, but redirect lightning from ships that happened to be traveling through a storm. It wasn't until a thousand years later that Lo Mei bent the first lightning as a form of attack. She did this in response to her husband's brutal slaughter by the pirate captain Xan Tu. When Lo Mei found her husband's dead body, she walked to the harbor where Xan Tu's ship was docked and boarded his ship. Without saying anything, she began to mercilessly slaughter his crew; all the while never saying anything. In the end, Xan Tu was the only member of the crew left and instead of killing him with her blades as Lo Mei had done to the rest of the crew; she thrust her hand forward intending to burn him with her fire. However, it wasn't fire that erupted from her hand, but lightning. The lightning for Lo Mei's hand was so powerful that it struck a hole through Xan Tu's chest. Eventually, she was brought before Fire Lord Jing to explain herself. Emotionlessly, Lo Mei recounted everything that had happened and admitted to the Fire Lord, Fire Lady, and the High Court that she had killed Xan Tu and his crew."
Zuko sat in silence as he listened to the origins of lightning bending. He had never thought that origins for one of the greatest forms of firebending to be so bloodly.
"At the surprise of everyone, Fire Lord Jing pardoned Lo Mei and let her go free. When questioned on this decision by his wife, Fire Lady Isis. Fire Lord Jing replied that he would feel the same if anything happened to her. Touched by what her husband had said, Fire Lady Isis named her first daughter Ji Mei. Lo Mei found sanctuary at the Western Air Temple and lived there for the reminder of her days; which were numerous as she was only twenty-three when she arrived. At the temple, she learned that she was with child and when she gave birth she learned that it wasn't child, but children that she was with. Lo Mei, gave birth to five healthy girls all of whom were airbenders, like their father Yan Chia, Lo Mei's husband."
Zuko was floored by this tidbit of information. He had never heard of someone from another nation being allowed to live at the air temples. But, with everything that had happened over the past hundred years, it was possible for it to have been destroyed. Plus, it happened a thousand and a half years ago.
"There are three different colors for lightning benders. Those colors are white, blue and red. Unlike the colors for firebending, there is no difference between the different colored lightning; all three are just as deadly as the next one. Despite current popular beliefs, it is possible to control the lightning to an existent. This is done, by controlling the flow of chi in your body. Bend your chi the way you want it and the lightning will follow. How much chi you use will also determine the strength of your lightning. In order to summon the lightning, the user must separate his energies and be at peace with themselves…"
'At peace with myself?' Zuko thought bitterly to himself. 'There's a laugh. My father is ashamed of me, my sister wants to kill me, and my nation is on the verge of being destroyed unless I kill both my father and sister.' As Zuko thought, he began to recall the last time he had seen his mother.
'Zuko, everything I have done tonight I have done for you. Never forget who you are, my love.'
That had been the last thing she had said to him. Zuko took a moment to think on what she had said to him and how it affected his life now. "I know who I am. I am Prince Zuko, the black prince of the Fire Nation. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, Champion of Aoihi, and the Blue Spirit. My nation needs to be saved from itself. To do this, I will kill my father and sister and begin the difficult task of re-educating my people on the proper way of fire bending. So that we may no longer, be a nation thriving on death and destruction. Spirits above forgive me for what I must do. Everything I do, I do for my people."
With his admission and acceptance of himself, Zuko stood up and with a calming breath separated his energies of yin and yang within himself. As he moved his arms, in the same movements that Iroh had shown him almost two weeks ago, traces of red lightning followed his finger tips. He then thrust his hand forward and was greeted by a welcoming boom as a powerful burst of red lightning erupted from his finger tips and went shooting off into the distance of his mindscape.
Zuko stood frozen in place as his mind absorbed what he had just done. Finally, in a horse voice he whispered, "Fucking A."
Next Chapter: The Tale of Jin
Well, Zuko has now accepted his destiny. You are gonna die Ozai. Everyone get ready for the next chapter, cause it's time for the big date. It will be very similar to the date in Tales of Ba Sing Se, but it will have several bonus scenes; like Iroh getting Zuko ready for the date. Also, I'll be introducing Jin's younger sister, Shi.
Please leave me a review telling what you think of the story so far.