.chapter six, the training
And now Sakuramura definitely had the upper hand. The Earthbenders were falling in dramatic numbers with only the occasional loss of a reckless waterbender. Nevertheless, Hayate remembered the horrified look on the face of every man that slowly tumbled to the ground and he wondered what it must feel like to take a life. He wondered also what death in this case was like; whether it was a proud death of having served your nation, or a resentful one…
All of a sudden, a boulder shattered the block of ice that Hayate was taking refuge behind, completely destroying it. When the smoke cleared, he saw an Earthbender staring at him maliciously. Another was running towards him from behind; he felt faint. He had absolutely no means of defending himself; was he really and truly going to die on these plains, on the streets of the city he grew up in?
The next scene seemed to occur in slow motion; the timeline of Hayate's life was coming to an end. The first Earthbender kicked the ground with force, raising a stone several feet into the air and then rammed into it with his right fist, sending it flying at terminal velocity towards the defenceless boy. The second Earthbender, propelled by either force of will or a technique, Hayate was never sure, ran in front of Hayate as to defend him and stood his ground in an interesting position, with both knees facing inwards. The man looked backwards and showed a smile with bright, sincere but terrified teeth.
He then charged his left foot into the ground, causing a pillar of earth to shoot out of it underneath Hayate, propelling him into the air on his back. He faced the clouds and wondered why someone had just saved his life; the man's face looked so sad when he turned back. He heard a painful scream that tore at his heart for some particular reason (when it was really no different from the hundreds of others he'd heard within the past few minutes), and the pillar crumbled as he fell to the ground. As he crashed painfully into the ice, he waited a moment, heard another yell and pried open his eyes. In front of him he saw only the corpse of the man that had attempted to kill him and a Waterbender looming above. "Watch it." He began. "You'll get killed."
Hayate stood. Unmoving, he watched the battle complete itself as he collected himself from his near-death experience. At this point the winners were blatant, the Waterbenders were to be victorious. The Earth Kingdom no longer had any hope left and-
It happened.
The lead Petal Bender, the Sakurajin family head a class eight water bender and expert Petalbender was killed.
By water.
A Waterbender in casual attire, the one that happened to have saved Hayate's life, slit the man's throat with a sharp water whip. He fell to the ground and all people stared in awe and disbelief at the assailant. He attacked again and now was joined by every Waterbender not clothed traditionally. Turmoil erupted, for it was now three dozen Petal Benders versus over a hundred water and earth benders.
Screams were everywhere. More and more petals dropped out of the sky and fluttered mournfully to the solemn, bloodstained snow below. Bodies fell in a heap on the ground.
Hayate regained his senses. There was no time to think anymore. He was going to die if he didn't move and his primal instincts kicked in albeit a bit late. Turning around, he ran away. He ran as far away as his legs could carry him and he wouldn't stop for a long time. He left behind the sound of stones and death. He knew not where he was going or what he would do when he got there but he really needed to be gone.
As tears poured slowly down his cheeks he charged down the road and he felt a horrible ache in his heart as the last Petalbender closed his eyes and the last flower petal fell to the ground.
Hayate awoke with a jolt, in a cold sweat. Beads of water trickled down the base of his neck, and he panted as he sat up, hands on his legs. The sweet smell of incense crawled up his nostrils as his pupils darted from one end of his eyes to the other, quickly scanning the room. Of course, nothing but the silent slump of a figure lying a few feet away, the shape of Kiro, was discernable or otherwise visible. He had no idea what time it was, but knew that with such a mental image implanted still on his mind he would not be able to get some more sleep for a little while.
Pushing himself up by leaning on his right arm, he shivered and took a few steps, almost tripping on the sleeping bag. Smooth, Hayate. He thought to himself as he made his way to the sliding door which he pushed to the right, revealing the silent hallway. A candle was lit at the end of the hall by the incense burner. He inhaled the smell of incense again, the stench growing old now. Chills ran up his spine as he realized just how cold the wood underneath his feet was.
Back inside the room, Kiro stared vacantly at the ceiling once more, with his eyes half shut. He'd never really been able to go to sleep; he was spending far too much time pondering. Pondering what was really happening, what had just happened. Such a simple thing tossed his entire life into limbo. There was nothing left for him to return to; no more Academy. He no longer had teachers to impress or friends to defeat in sparring. He no longer had a way to climb through ranks and tower above everyone else, since there was no one left to tower over. Hayate had been talking to himself in his sleep, which Kiro found profoundly disturbing but couldn't shrug off some of the things the boy had said in the midst of unconsciousness.
"No, don't die. No, don't, not you too! Stop dying, all of you! Stop, no one's left! Everyone's going to die! The Petal Benders too, no! No, no no! Stay away from me! No, no, we're going to lose!" Things like that were repeated over and over, and the monotonous whining almost faded into background noise, as he became accustomed to the incense's overpowering aroma, until he shrieked, causing Kiro to sit up and lose his train of thought.
"I'M GOING TO DIE!" Hayate had screamed.
In a fit of frustration Kiro grabbed his pillow and smacked Hayate upside the head, before lying back down. Hayate's constant flow of words was soon replaced by a deep breathing as the boy erected his back in his bed, allowing Kiro to heave a sigh of relief. That said, the horrible truth revealed by Hayate still left him in shock- the Petalbenders were all dead, the city was in ruin and he had no idea what had become of the people that were led away in single file, including Hayate's sister.
After several minutes, the door slid shut again. Hayate had stepped out a few moments ago, but he had no idea where the boy went and, quite frankly, couldn't really care. As he stepped in and let the warm glow of the candle in the hall to enter their cubicle, Kiro managed to smell a minty aroma mixed with that of the incense. Clutched in Hayate's left hand was a cup of what Kiro assumed was tea. He had no idea how the boy got it, but didn't mind either. He never liked mint, anyways.
Hayate, stepping in, wondered who had left such good tea out. He had entered the main room, the one with several tables and sitting cushions, and there were three cups of mint tea simply sitting on a table. Unable to resist the temptation, Hayate went and grabbed one. He sat down on a cushion and took a sip, delighted at the warm, silky taste that soothed his insides as it crept down his throat. After a few sips, he disconnected his greedy lips from the glass and took a deep breath, smiling for the first time in countless hours.
As he got up, he wondered if he should bring the other two glasses to Sukai and Kiro. Either someone forget them, or they were destined for the three. Regardless, he picked one up in his other hand and entered the hallway. Knocking on the door to the left, he slid the door open when he heard a muffled "c'me in…"
Taking a step inside, he saw Sukai lying on her stomach in a slump in her sleeping bag. Her hair was untied and loose, leaving Hayate to notice for once how much of it she had. Otherwise she wore a white bathrobe that was much too large for her. She seemed more or less lifeless, but Hayate chuckled internally when he saw her nostrils perk up at the smell of the mint. Slowly, she pulled herself up. Sukai was quite dishevelled.
"Who… Hayate? That you?" Hayate nodded, but she couldn't see. Assuming it was, she stood up and walked over to the corner, lighting a lantern on the desk. Immediately the room was flooded with light, and Hayate was blinded while his eyes adjusted to the painful lack of darkness. "Oh… hey…" Came the Petalbender's weary voice. "Is that… tea?" She looked hopeful, and Hayate nodded. Slowly rubbing her eyes, she walked over and graciously took the cup, taking a very long sip. "Hey… thanks for that." Hayate mentioned that it was no problem. "Sukai… Do you know what time it is? It's just dark outside, and that doesn't mean much…"
Sukai frowned. "None at all… But my hair's completely dry, so it's probably been a good few hours since we got here at least." She chuckled in a painfully fake manner. Hayate could tell that obviously she had been giving the day's events some thought as well. All of a sudden, he felt the big brother feeling that he often got when being around Kimi, his younger sister. He pat Sukai on her back. "It'll work out, I guess. Don't think about all of this too much, or you'll go crazy. Just try and get some sleep for now. We'll worry about tomorrow when we get there."
She nodded, and Hayate felt a bit guilty knowing that he was asking the impossible from a twelve year old. He knew full well that when he left she would continue thinking about the disaster, and of course, so would he. But the temporary bliss made the both of them feel a bit better, so there was nothing to lose.
After a minute of chit chat, but mostly awkward silence, Hayate excused himself. Sukai thanked him for the tea again, and in a few seconds he closed the door and opened the one to the first room on the right. Unsurprisingly, Kiro hadn't budged. The oaf was probably lost in gleeful dreams. He didn't seem disturbed by anything that had happened today. In fact, Hayate wouldn't be entirely surprised if it turned out that Kiro was actually one of those traitorous Waterbenders.
Sitting with his legs crossed on his sleeping bag, Hayate took the final sips of his tea and put the cup down beside the mattress, then enclosed himself underneath the blanket as well. Slowly, he fell asleep as well along with Sukai in the next room. Kiro shuffled around in bed for a few more minutes, not quite able to shake all of the things he heard Hayate say, but soon the hypnotic sound of his roommate's rhythmic breathing helped lull him into a trance. Slowly, his eyelids covered his pupils and he drifted off into his own unconscious bliss.
Kiroushi Hironaka woke up first. As he had anticipated, the pitch black, windowless rooms were lit to a ridiculous extent when the Sun rose. Sunlight flooded the main room, which crept through the doors that seemed to be made of a semi transparent papery material. It was far more effective than the two small lanterns that lit up their small quarters at night. Casting a sideways glance, he saw the sleeping form of Hayate and cursed under his breath at the realization that this wasn't just a horrible dream. It was just a horrible reality, he figured, slowly rising.
Pushing the door aside, Kiro left his room and entered the hallway. The incense had burned itself out completely and there was a plain wick where the candle had once flamed brightly. He turned around and opened the door that led into the main room, and frowned at the initial sight.
There was a cup of mint tea left over from last night, sitting on the table. He should have known the Hayate wouldn't have brought it to him, but couldn't say that he minded. Grabbing the glass, he waltzed over to a window and opened it, tossing the liquid out all over the lawn beside the small building. As he turned around, he was caught by surprise by the old woman… What was her name, Mizai? She smiled. "Good morning to you." He bowed awkwardly. "Good morning, ma'am." She chuckled. "No need to be so formal, I've already told you my name… Now, go take a seat. I'm sure you're starving."
As much as Kiro was ready to protest, wanting more than anything to leave this place, he did realize that he was very hungry and a decent meal prepared for free wasn't exactly something he could say no to.
Carefully lowering himself onto a cushion, he heard Mizai's cheerful voice echo through the room. "Would you like a menu?" Curious, Kiro raised an eyebrow. The woman brought over a small slip of paper with words carefully and elegantly printed upon them. The menu's header read "Heart of the South Teahouse". The woman smiled. "I'll take your order as soon as you like."
Kiro examined what was on the list; a good three quarters was many different varieties of tea, many of which he had never even heard of before. Near the end there was food and desserts, and he contented himself with a traditional, simple meal. He chose a hearty soup and a meal of fermented soybeans over rice; something that he grew up with. Most people in the Southern Water tribe had some form of soup with every meal, since it was constantly so cold outside.
When he pushed his menu away, he heard footsteps behind him and a voice utter "Ready to order?" The words took him by surprise since they didn't sound like Mizai's frail, older voice but instead came as younger, feminine and clear as a bell. He turned around and noticed that in fact Mizai wasn't the one taking his order, but in fact a much more attractive young woman took her place.
The woman wore loose fitting white pants and a kimono that resembled Sukai's in colour, but was far inferior in quality. Her eyes shone a dazzling emerald, with her hair tied in a ponytail that reached her elbows. Her skin tone was fair, and Kiro felt a bit guilty noticing that she had quite the chest as well. Shaking his head from the initial shock of seeing someone like her as opposed to the old, wilting woman.
"Uh, hey… Are you okay?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Kiro nodded. "Right… I'll have this, please." The woman nodded, pulling a notebook from her pocket and removing a pen from behind her ear. She began scrawling words down on the notepad, and Kiro managed to get a glimpse of his order, written in the form of
豆. It was refreshing to see words again- he remembered that he had fifty pages of a book to read for class today… He remembered being frustrated at the fact that they had just graduated and yet required such a drawn-out assignment… But remembered that the satisfaction of passing on to class two would undoubtedly be worth it.
He sighed. The homework was probably cancelled.
He looked over to the door, and noticed that it slid open and Sukai and Hayate emerged at once. He made brief eye contact before returning to stare straight at the wall, waiting for his meal to arrive. Hayate reluctantly sat down beside Kiro, with Sukai sitting across him.
"So." She began. "What's done is done." Hayate was impressed with her resolve and that she managed to get over the incident so easily. "Hayate…" The boy's attention was piqued; he had been reading the menu that Kiro left on the table but raised his head with interest. "Yeah?" "Last night you told me a bit about what you were doing during out fight. If you were really in the middle of the city… Can you please tell us both everything that happened? I figure we have the right to know the truth." His stomach clenched, and Kiro's fists closed themselves firmly. How was Hayate to describe everything that happened?
"Well…" He started. "There was a huge cannon blast and everyone sort of dove for cover. Then like a hundred tanks and a bunch of Earthbenders came out of nowhere and started knocking down buildings. I was hiding so I didn't see a lot, but the Petalbenders and Waterbenders came to save the day and destroyed the tanks and took out a lot of Earthbenders in a few seconds. It looked like everything was going to work out for the better when some of the Waterbenders betrayed the others and started killing off the Petalbenders and loyal Waterbenders. With the help of the Earthbenders, we didn't stand a chance. I almost died like… twice, and then I ran away."
"So the Petalbenders are dead, then." Her strong tone frightened the two of them to an extent, but Hayate nodded mournfully. She shrugged. "I… figured as much." While it was obvious she was trying to suppress tears, Hayate and Kiro were astounded at how tough she was being.
A few moments later, the woman brought over Kiro's breakfast. He smiled as he allowed the rancid stench of soybeans to encompass him, staring at the vegetables placed upon a bed of rice. Sukai and Hayate twitched, revolted at the sight. "Are you supposed… To eat that?" Sukai asked no one in particular. The waitress chuckled and Kiro fumed. "Of course! Natto is the breakfast of champions, I'll have you know! I've been eating this every morning of my life, and that's why I'm so much better than you!"
Ah, so the soybeans made him a total asshat. Note to self: Stay away from that Natto crap. Came Hayate's mind.
"Don't worry." Spoke the waitress. "I don't like it either. Apparently it's an acquired taste… I guess I just never acquired it." Hayate and Sukai laughed, before ordering soup, more mint tea and a giant omelette to be shared between the two of them.
As the waitress left, Sukai yawned. "Alright, let's face it. Sakura's gone. We can't go back there, there's nothing left. It could be a bit exciting, you know, starting our life from scratch?" Hayate thought it over, and as he realized that it could in fact be interesting, he was still possessed by the fear of being completely alone… You know, besides these two.
Kiro shrugged. "It's my future a few years early. I was planning on getting out of Sakuramura as soon as I hit class four anyways, which would happen by the time I was nineteen at the latest." Sukai sneered. "You know that most adults can't go higher than class two? Class four is seen as highly skilled. Class three as skilled, class two as average and class one as novice. Above class four, you've got five, highly talented, six, extremely talented, and so on. I've never even heard of anyone that could ever pass ten though, and I don't think it'll ever happen." Hayate wasn't paying much attention; he was never interested in bending.
"Oh, come on Sukai. You saw me fight out there, I took out one of those tanks and that guard practically by myself. That's got to be better than your every day class two. It's not IF I'd hit class four, it's just WHEN." She shrugged. She couldn't deny that he was talented, but they were in completely different leagues.
"Tell you what," she began, "we're not doing anything today anyways, so I can teach you some new moves, or at least help you master some ones you already know!" This made Hayate groan, but interested Kiro. "Hm… You know, I was really looking forward to leaving this place today but I suppose it couldn't hurt. After all, I was supposed to have a sparring class today and I'll get rusty if I don't work at it."
Noticing Hayate's less than enthusiastic demeanour, Sukai couldn't help but ponder. "Why don't you at least try to learn Waterbending, Hayate? They say that at least nine tenths of the population has SOME hidden affinity for it, so I'm sure you do too." He shrugged. It beat having nothing to do all day.
After Hayate and Sukai devoured their omelettes and inhaled their tea, and Kiro was done with his soup and Natto, the three walked over to the Hot Springs. Sukai opened the door first and was greeted by a face full of steam, which clouded up the hallway and stuck to the papery material the doors were made out of. Hoping she didn't damage anything, Sukai took off her sandals and walked outside.
The two boys quickly inspected their surroundings- the hot springs were quite nice. Sukai preferred them at night, personally, but they didn't lack any charm at this time of day either.
"Alright, so. Hayate, why don't you give this a shot first?" He stared at his feet. "Come on, it can't be that bad. Look, just… Do what I do, alright?"
Sukai leaned forward on her right knee and slowly demonstrated a movement, the flowing of one's dominant arm, in her case, the right, upwards to make the water from a source rise. Hayate felt embarrassed, but attempted the position and did exactly the same thing as Sukai. She corrected his form a few times, but unfortunately no water rose. He tried again, and again, but the boiling water remained stagnant. Sukai smiled innocently and Kiro burst out laughing. Humiliated, Hayate stopped and turned around. Sukai regained her composure. "Oh, Hayate, hold on! C'mon, don't leave-" But she spoke to a door as the boy stepped back inside a hallway. Kiro continued his laughing, and Sukai glared at him. He stopped eventually.
"Oh, come on Sukai, that was hilarious. That was completely and utterly sad. The water didn't even budge. I've seen better Waterbenders made of stone." Sukai made a thin slip of water slap Kiro across the face, but didn't say anything otherwise. Hayate was truly quite horrible at Waterbending and she began to wonder if there really were people that just couldn't do it.
"Forget it- let's just learn a new move, alright? Do exactly as I do…"
Sighing, Hayate took a seat at another table. Mizai was sitting down at one across the room knitting, and her employee, the waitress, came over to Hayate. "You want something else?" Hayate thought about it. "Yeah, actually… Could I have some more mint tea?" She nodded. "'course."
In a few minutes she returned with the tea in hand, smoke billowing from the top. Just as she was a few feet from Hayate's table, she accidentally tripped and fell, dropping the glass. Hayate cringed as he anticipated the loud shattering, but as he opened his eyes was astounded at the sight.
Somehow, the waitress had managed to catch the cup, and as for the tea, it was floating ten centimetres above the floor.
The waitress had to be a contortionist- the way she fell, she would have needed to stabilize herself with an arm as she landed and toss out the other one to grab the cup before gravity defeated her. As for the tea, Hayate noticed that Mizai seemed to be knitting with one hand now, and her left hand was outstretched with the palm facing the ceiling. Slowly, as the waitress stood up and held the cup normally, Mizai moved her hand to guide the liquid back into the glass without spilling a drop. When all was good and well, she returned to her knitting and the waitress gave Hayate his tea. He thanked her and she sat down in front of him. He felt a bit uncomfortable with this stranger, but didn't really mind.
"Sorry about that," she began. "I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes. Good thing my reflexes are good and the old lady's a Teabender." Hayate stopped taking a sip and inquired. "Teabender? I never heard of that before…" "It's really just Waterbending, but she hates bending normal water. Says it's difficult. Only does it with boiling tea now, although I hear she used to be a class three Waterbender or something. Not that I would know…"
Hayate frowned again at the thought of not being able to Waterbend, like Sukai and Kiro and how he made a fool of himself. "My name's Suyin." Said the waitress, smiling. "Yours?" "Hayate." He said, returning the grin.
Kiro took a deep breath as he collapsed to the floor. Sukai yawned. "What are you trying to do, kill me?!" Kiro asked, panting heavily. "I'm trying to train you so you don't get walked over if you ever have to fight an ant." This frustrated Kiro, as he loathed being patronized.
"You completely asked for it…"
Standing up and taking a breath, he conjured water from the hot springs and fashioned it into a whip.
"I challenge you, Mitsukai Sakurajin. I'll win, know that I was only holding back before."
And without leaving her a second, he whisked the water straight at her.