Chapter 3

If there was anything Marcus was terrible at, it was reading a map. He was so used to the GPS that reading a map never occurred to him. Frantically flipping the map over and over, he tried to make heads or tails of where he was going.

A few days had passed since he had left Ming's village and the worst possible thing had happened to him.

He was lost.

At first, Marcus followed the dirt path thinking it could lead him to another village. However, after a day, he almost ran into another group of troops from the fire nation army. Knowing they might be looking for him, he decided to run into the forest and figure out his way from there.

"Why did I ever think that was a good idea," he said to himself. Down in his spirits, Marcus lowered his pack and slumped down next to the nearest tree. He opened his pack and checked what food he had left.

Inside was a pack of some kind of jerky and a loaf of bread. 'I gotta reach a village soon. I can't last more than two days with this.' After putting his pack back on, he put his head into his hands and closed his eyes to think of what to do next. When he opened his eyes, instead of seeing darkness, he saw the ground.

Marcus quickly pulled his hands out front and saw that they were beginning to disappear. He looked down and noticed that his whole body was beginning to do the same.

"What's going on!" he shouted. First he landed in a new world, then he was almost burned to death, and now he was about to disappear to nothing. One moment, he was standing by a tree panicking. The next, he was nowhere to be seen.

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The next thing Marcus felt was a sensation going through his whole body. It only took him a second to realize he was falling. He looked toward the ground and noticed he was very high off the ground. Frantically flapping his arms as though in a cartoon, Marcus could not think of what else to do.

Impact was imminent and all he could do was cover his eyes with his arms. What he did not realize was that when he swung his arms to cover his eyes, a gust of air erupted beneath him and slowed his fall.

Most of it.

He hit the ground with a hard thud and groaned as the pain began to seep into his body. "I am really getting sick of this!" he shouted. As he slowly got up, he could hear his joints crack and feel his muscles rip. The pain was terrible, but he would live.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE FIRE NATION SCUM!!" He turned around and found himself face to face with a group of guards. Unlike the other ones he faced, their attire was green and they were barefoot. "I don't know how you got inside the walls of Omashu, but I will make sure you don't get out of here with any information for the Fire Nation's army."

"Wait! Just wait!" he said as he put his hands up in defense. "I'm not a member from the fire nation. I don't even belong in this world."

"Only a scum from the Fire Nation would dare wear such rags in any other nation." Marcus quickly looked down and remembered that the clothes he borrowed were from the Fire Nation.

"I can explain this. The thing is-"

"ENOUGH!" one guard shouted. The man took a hard step forward and a stone column appeared in front of him. Using his palm, he launched the stone toward Marcus. He dodged it with ease, but decided to make a break for it.

Unfortunately for him, the ground begun to feel like water and he found himself sinking knee-deep into the ground. Marcus pulled on his legs frantically, but he could not free himself. He slammed the ground with his fists and somehow was able to crack the foundation enough to get free. Once out, he continued to run.

"Did you see that?" one guard said.

"Who cares, just don't lose him." Marcus' lungs began to burn as he ran through the streets of his new surroundings. Every single time he ran around a corner, he kept facing a different guard. There was nothing he could really do. He did not want to fight them because the last thing he needed was another country hating him. However, running was not necessarily helping him either, but getting hurt more was not something he looked forward to.

He looked over his shoulder and saw a troop of soldiers closing in fast. The next corner he took would be his last in the chase. Marcus was so focused that he did not realize the turn he took was a dead end. As he turned around, he saw the troops brace for a fight.

Seeing no real way out and knowing that he had no real chance in a fight in his condition, he slowly raised his hands in the air and kneeled down. He felt tight grips around his arms and then everything went black.

"-cus."

He felt nothing, as though he was floating in air. He couldn't feel his body. There was nothing to see and nothing to hear all around him.

"Marcus." Suddenly an elderly man in attire very similar to the Fire Nation appeared before him. He wore a gold ornament in his hair and wore elaborate robes.

"Who are you?" Marcus asked the man.

"You do not belong in this world Marcus," the man said calmly.

"What?"

"Awaken you swine!" a guard said as he hit Marcus in the head. He could feel his ears ringing from the pain, his vision doubled and his arms were bound in some sort of stone. A quick look at his surroundings and Marcus noticed he was not outside anymore. Instead, he was inside a place with stone walls and a type of green lighting.

"My king, we found this spy inside our city wall. We are not sure as of how he got into the city without notice, but believe me when I say we are working on it," said the guard next to Marcus.

Marcus looked toward the direction the man was talking to and spotted a very old man wearing a green robes, and ornate hat, and had a pointy white beard. However, the man's eyes appeared that of a madman's. The hunchback seemed to sell the image of one. So far, his chances were not looking so good.

"We also have his bag. Although there are no weapons in here as far as we can see,"

"Then let me go you jerk!" Marcus interrupted. His response was returned with a punch to the face. "GOD STOP WITH THE FACE!!" The next strike then landed on his stomach. Marcus could do nothing but groan on the ground.

"However, I believe that you, my king, should have a look at the bag. Your wise sight may see something we may miss."

"Now, now. No one likes a brown-noser Li. But I do see your point. My eyes are beyond the average person. AHAHAHAHA!" the king said in a voice that was far from deep or noble-sounding. Marcus could not help but make a face toward this.

The guard casually handed Marcus' bag to the king and the king rummaged through the contents.

"Now let's see what's in here. Uh…loaf of bread. Oh! My favorite type of jerky!" The king took a strip and ate it hungrily. Marcus would've complained, but he would rather avoid another punch to the face.

"What else do you have here. Hmm?" The king felt his fingers grasp a small sack with a circular piece inside it. "What's this here?" The king reached into the sack and pulled out the Pai Sho piece that Ming had given to him.

The king's eyes had widened twice its size. He examined the piece closely and gently strokes every groove of the piece.

"Leave us!" he ordered his men.

"I'm sorry? But sir he is from the Fire Nation!" the guard pleaded.

"I said, 'leave!' That was an order!" the king said. The guards gave a slight bow and left the room. When the doors closed, Marcus saw the king flick his wrists. In an instant, the stone he was bound to broke off. He shot a confused look to the king.

"Young man, approach," the king said softly. Cautiously, he got to his feet and walked toward the king. Marcus could feel as though the man's eyes were piercing right through him.

"Now, I need to ask you. Where did you receive this piece?" he said as he held up the Pai Sho piece.

Marcus licked his lips and took a deep breath. "I received it from a woman named Ming. From the Fire Nation. She told me that if I showed that to the right people, I may receive some help." The truth really couldn't hurt at this point could it?

"Tell me your story and I shall see if I can trust you or not. If I believe even for a second you may become a threat, I will have you locked up for the rest of your days," the king said to him in a serious tone.

For the next half an hour, Marcus told his story. Of how he went into the forest and wound up in this world. Of how he met Ming and ran into trouble with members of the Fire Nation Army. And especially he told him of his ability to bend more than one element. As he told his story, the king simply looked at him.

"And that is really about it." He saw the king just look at him with a curious stare.

"Okay I believe you," the king replied in a very cheery tone.

"What?!?!" Marcus shouted. "Just like that?"

"I have lived for many many years. Over time, my good eye," he said as he pointed the one that looked as though it was about to pop out of his eye, "has developed a way to notice a lie or not. And as far as I can see, you are telling the truth."

"Really?"

"No, but it sure does make me sound so great doesn't it!?! Ahahahah!" Marcus could not handle anymore of this guy.

"Look, I know this may be bad for me to ask of you, but I would like to have someone teach me earth bending," said Marcus.

The king stopped laughing and simply stared at him. "Why would you need to learn that?"

"Because I can bend the earth but have no clue how exactly. Like I said in my story."

"Oh right, right, right." Marcus growled at the king's response. Talking to this man was really frustrating. "Well, let me be your teacher! Master Bumi at your service!"

Marcus simply stared at Bumi as though he was crazy; matter of speaking.

"No offense, your highness-"

"You can call me Master Bumi," quipped Bumi.

"Master…Bumi. Uh, I think you may be a bit too old to teach me." The king shot him an angry glare. He got up from his seat, and as he did, Marcus could hear the man's bones start to crack.

'Man how old is this dude?" he thought. What he did not notice was that Bumi's hunch back had begun to disappear and instead he stood a full head taller. In one swift movement, he grabbed his robes and threw them aside, which revealed a physique that resembled more that of an Olympic athlete.

"YOU"RE SO JACKED!!" Marcus shouted.

"Well, I don't know what you mean by 'jacked', but I am a lot fitter than you think. So, are you willing to learn from me now?" Bumi's nose practically grew a full inch from his pride in his ability. Marcus couldn't help but just stare at what he saw.

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For the second time today, Marcus found himself falling through the air. Although this time, Marcus was aware of what caused his current air trip.

Bumi began Marcus' training with what he called the 'basics.' However this ended up being Bumi using Earth Bending on him and Marcus had to somehow negate the attack. Being a complete novice, Marcus ended up taking all the attacks full brunt. Although Bumi manipulate the ground to soften Marcus' landings, he still hurt himself enough on impact.

Rubbing his sore neck, Marcus picked himself up and looked at Bumi furiously.

"You know! Training me does not mean to use me as a personal training dummy!!" he screamed. "How is getting my butt beaten repeatedly supposed to help me at all?"

"Well first of all, you can try dodging the attacks!" Bumi yelled back.

"I would if you would do one freaking attack at a time," Marcus retorted. "You do one, then launch another one exactly where I dodge."

"That's true," Bumi mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Shut up you whippersnapper! In battle, it won't be that easy will it? Now I will attack again. This time, think crazy!!!" Bumi simply turned around and took a few steps away from Marcus. He took a stance and unleashed a powerful wave of earth toward Marcus.

Everything started to move slower in the world. Marcus was in deep focus and found himself thinking faster than anyone could comprehend.

'Okay, I gotta attack back with some Earth Bending,' he thought, 'but I don't know anything. Think crazy. Think crazy.' In his mind, he replayed the movements Bumi had done to perform his attack. Looking at each step of the movement, Marcus had an epiphany.

"It's Hung Gar!" he shouted out loud.

"Huh?" said Bumi.

Putting both fists on his waist, Marcus slightly jumped and landed hard in a horse riding stance. The moment he landed, a ripple passed through the ground and negated most of the ground wave. Marcus took another step forward, swung his fist upward and punched hard at the remaining wave. The once fluid wave solidified and shot its way back to Bumi.

Not losing a moment of his cool, Bumi simply raises his arms and pushed the wave into the ground. The wave simply disappeared into the ground. Shaking off the excess dirt off his shoulders, Bumi slowly approached Marcus.

"I see you've learned something," Bumi said gently. Marcus simply gave him a very insightful sort of look.

"Yeah. The movements for Earth Bending are practically the same for this one martial art back in my world."

"Interesting. So where does that leave you now at this point."

"Well, I know all the movements in that style," Marcus began, "but I'm not sure exactly what each movement can do.'

"That probably means I still have to teach you the basics," Bumi replied.

"You're right."

"However, you still have a base to work with so I do believe this may be a lot easier for you to learn. LET"S GET CRACKING! AHAHAHA" boomed Bumi

'Somehow I still don't feel all that better," thought Marcus.