.chapter eleven, the open ocean

Dawn came quickly, and soon the horizon was bathed in a picturesque vermillion that brought light into each compartment of the tea house. In that moment, each and every one of its current guests awoke slowly.

Sukai yawned and turned in her semi-consciousness as she was rudely woken up. It took her a good five minutes to muster the required willpower to rise and prepare herself for the day ahead of her- one that promised to be trying.

She threw on her robe, worn from the weeks that it had been the only thing on her back, while taking a look at herself in small, makeshift mirror fashioned out of ice. Satisfied with her appearance for the moment, she slid the door of her alveolus sideways and walked out into the hall, then into the tearoom. She noticed for a split second that the incense, perpetually burning, seemed to have taken on a new, pleasant aroma.

As she entered the aforementioned tearoom she was somewhat surprised to notice that Mizai wasn't knitting as she usually did, and that Suyin was no where to be found either. By now knowing where everything was, she walked over to the small counter that they considered their kitchen and prepared a small meal that would hold her over for a few hours, at least.

Meanwhile, Hayate also shook himself awake. He was a bit less reluctant to move, perhaps even excited, since he'd developed a mild bout of cabin fever during their stay and a trip, no matter how far they would be going, was going to be a welcome change of pace.

He joined Sukai who was now sitting down and scraping the remnants of her repast off of her plate, and sat down himself, looking around quizzically.

"Where're Suyin and Mizai?"

"Dunno. I was wondering the same thing."

Hayate shrugged and was now faced with the unpleasant reality that he would have to prepare his own meal, Suyin being missing in action. Sighing, he got up and tried to prepare an omelette on the small stove that the kitchen had to offer. He was never very good at cooking at more than once had he accidentally started a kitchen fire, but that was a long time ago and he assumed that time, if not experience, would have honed his skills.

Kiro's ear was pressed against the door to the tearoom as he attempted to piece together parts of the conversation between Sukai and Hayate. They were surprisingly quiet, for two usually annoying nonstop talking machines. He, not hungry, elected to enter the hot springs instead and quickly revise all of the techniques he'd learned and, for an important part, perfected during his stay here.

Welcomed with a burst of steam to the face, he quickly ran over to the water and drew some up at eye level, which he quickly compressed into a small sphere. He focused hard and felt his hand getting colder with the sphere still in front of him moving less and less- then, a faint cracking noise could be heard as fragments of ice materialized inside the sphere of water. Eventually, the sphere was only an outer membrane of water filled with several shards of ice, which he quickly filled up and froze as well, creating a perfectly spherical, frozen ball.

He sighed and let it drop, wiping a bit of sweat off of his brow. Definitely far from perfect, but thermokinesis was an incredibly difficult progress, and solidification the toughest of all. In a moment, the ball reverted back to its liquid state and before long, it vanished in an explosion of gas.

He'd also mastered the double helix technique, which he tried a few times for good measure, even without any opponent there. He'd even added his own spin, which consisted of making some of the bars the connected the edges of the helixes solid, to better capture and ensnare an opponent.

And of course a few others as well. One being a water ball, which consisted of creating a handheld sphere of water and propelling it with steam through the air, another, rain in a confined space, which caused droplets of water to fall from a large sphere of liquid looming over the area.

Satisfied with his overall progress, Kiro turned around and re-entered the teahouse, then made his way towards the tea room itself, where he assumed Sukai and Hayate were still being as quiet as ever.

As he slid the door aside he couldn't help but widen his eyes out of surprise and confusion- all that remained of the kitchen was a smouldering pile of ashes, a frustrated-looking Sukai and Hayate crouching in what seemed to be the fetal position not much farther away.

He sighed and walked in, closing the door behind him. He took a seat at a table as though nothing had happened.

"Sukai," he began, "would you give me a menu?"

Sukai's left eye twitched ever so slightly, and she approached Kiro, delivering a painful slap to the back of his head. He tried not to show his pain, and Sukai walked over to enter her own room, passing by the still-traumatized Hayate.

He still couldn't believe they were being forced to take him along- of all the characters. Hayate was thoroughly useless in every aspect of his being. He would prove to only be a hindrance, a nuisance, and the list could and would have continued if the door hadn't spontaneously bust open at that instant.

Mizai charged in, yawning serenely. She wondered just what, exactly, had happened to her kitchen, but didn't make her concern visible. Putting two and two together, she sighed.

"I won't kill you, Hayate, get out of there."

Hayate, relieved, stood up only to be met by a frying pan to the forehead. Mizai spat. "That's my kitchen's vengeance. Hopefully it didn't kill you- I'd hate to break my word." Dazed, Hayate spun around a few times before latching on to a wall and walking back towards his room.

Kiro laughed out loud at the occurrence, and Mizai promptly shushed him with her same cast-iron brand of tough love.

"Crap!" He screamed, getting up and rubbing his aching skull.

"It's what you deserve." Pouted the old woman. "Now , Suyin wanted me to tell you and the others that you should meet outside and be ready to go in an hour sharp. Relay the message for me, alright?"

Not wanting to go against the word of a tyrant with kitchen utensils, Kiro made his way to both rooms to deliver the news while wondering what they would do with their last hour here.

---

The time passed quickly, and in an hour they all made their way out in single file, leaving the teahouse, trailed by Mizai They all smiled with satisfaction at the ship that stood before them, towering royally in the small river in the teahouse's yard. Suyin had made a few minor repairs to mend the damage that they themselves had caused, but otherwise it seemed unchanged, aside from the lack of an Earth Nation flag that was also probably well on its way to an Air Temple.

Suyin herself had been standing on the ship's deck, looking down at the three kids with the largest smile on her face.

"Well, are you coming?"

It took less than a minute to get all of the overeager and anxious youngsters on board, who seemed to be forgetting that this would be a drastic change in their now semi-normal lifestyle. Not wanting to slay their enthusiasm, however, Suyin and Mizai both elected to remain quiet on the subject.

Mizai waved them goodbye and winked at Suyin. Eventually, the anchor was raised and they were well on their way to Haifon, port city of the Earth Nation.

---

Throughout most of the journey, Hayate sat near the bow of the boat with its navigator and captain, Suyin, exchanging stories. At this particular moment, they were discussing wind and what caused it, considering that they were feeling countless gusts at the moment.

"Atmospheric pressure." Said Suyin. "That's basically what wind is- air that moves."

"It must be cool to be an airbender." Hayate concluded, holding out an open palm.

"It would be, but like other types of bending, most of that's determined before you're born, in your genes." She laughed. "It's not like someone like us, from this end of the world, could ever decide to just become an Airbender." Hayate seemed to be more focused on his palm, where a small bit of air seemed to be concentrated in a ball. A second later, though, it was gone, and he just blamed the whole thing on his imagination.

Meanwhile, Sukai and Kiro were practicing certain moves at the stern of the ship, particularly the manipulation of moving water, which they attempted with the liquid that was pushed aside with every foot the ship ploughed ahead.

"Tougher, isn't it?" Sukai snarkily inquired when Kiro seemed to be having particular difficulty with the exercise.

"Shut up." He spat back, focusing again on the matter at hand.

Eventually, night fell, and stars were drawn in the sky, which was now painted ebony.

"Suyin," Hayate began, "Are you going to captain through the night? Isn't that a little bit, well, dangerous?"

Suyin shrugged."I'll be fine. Just go inside and get some rest."

Hayate obediently complied and made his way inside the ship what were probably, not too long ago, sailor's quarters. The large hallway was shrouded in darkness and difficult to see in, perhaps impossible, were it not for the sparse few lamps dimly lit and glowing along the walls. The hall was equally lined with about ten of the aforementioned quarters on either side, and they were quite voluminous, leaving no space unoccupied. Additionally, the wooden walls separated each one and decrepit doors marked each entrance.

Hayate strolled over to one of the doors at random and tried to pry it open, but to no avail- it was locked from the inside. He tried again, but a sharp, sudden voice interrupted his attempt.

"It's occupied." Hayate cringed at the sound of the snarky Kiro, however, not intentionally searching for a brawl, he continued down the perpetual path of ebony until he eventually reached a cell on the far left-hand side. He pulled it open, stepped in, and then shut it gingerly as though he was afraid that it would fall off of its hinges.

The room, for what it was, was moderately furnished with two oil lamps hanging from the ceiling and three cots along different walls. He assumed that it was probably made to accommodate several of the seamen. A few things also seemed to not be part of the ship's traditional decor, probably the previous guests' possessions- a chess board with strange, token-like circular figures on it, and several scrolls, one of which was open. An ink bottle along with its quill had fallen over and leaked all over the floor. Not tired, Hayate unhinged one of the lamps and used it to try and decipher the scroll's contents.

He was puzzled to notice that it was written in a completely foreign language – he could only make out bits and pieces of it and they made no sense whatsoever once taken out of context. Discouraged, he snuffed out the flame and lay down to sleep.

Later in the eve, Sukai felt the boat rock in her sleep, and with a particularly powerful bout of turbulence, she was awakened. To her dismay, her kimono was still wet with the tears she'd poured earlier in the night- but that was the least of her concerns. Feeling the craft shudder again, she took a few weary steps forward to eventually reach the exit door.

Outside, she saw that Hayate's door was barely wedged open and that he was already about to exit the hallway and head up to the deck. She hissed his name.

"Hayate!""

The boy turned around and motioned for Sukai to come forward. The latter began speaking again, while noticing that Hayate was wearing his Kusarigama.

"What's going on?" The Petalbender asked.

"Not sure." Came Hayate's reply. "I just heard a loud noise, then the boat shook. But I'd rather not take my chances." He tapped the two sickles at his waist, and Sukai nodded. "Right. But what about Kiro?"

"He's a heavy sleeper if there ever was one. It'll take nothing short of a hurricane to get him out of bed."

As the boat shook again, they were both silenced voluntarily and continued up towards the deck, their hearts pounding powerfully in their chests. Hayate threw the door open and was immediately pushed back by a powerful torrent of wind as their craft quickly turned around perfectly perpendicularly, and was shot backwards as an acrobat, landing less than elegantly at Sukai's feet, who couldn't help but stifle a chuckle.

"Don't quit your day job-" She began, but was rudely interrupted as Hayate righted himself, ignoring the bruises and scrapes. He jumped and the sound of his feet smashing into the wood beneath them sent vibrations up Sukai's legs, and she saw a certain determination in his eyes.

"Someone's feeling intense." She sneered. "Put a sock in it, Sukai. I can open a door."

This time, when he pulled the slab of wood open, he walked out onto the deck and was followed by the young girl. None of them knew what to expect, but certainly didn't anticipate what was staring them straight in the eyes.

A plethora of lights, not three hundred yards away, was quickly approaching. The lights seemed to belong to another naval craft, but they couldn't tell if it was hostile from this range, in the dark. They stood there, speechless and in awe, for a moment, but seconds later they heard a displeased groaning and turned their heads to see Suyin at the navigating wheel. Deep bags formed beneath her eyes, and her palms were bleeding from having turned the wheel so briskly and so frequently. Hayate cringed at the sight and Sukai only bit her lip mildly. They looked at each other and, nodding, ran over to Suyin.

The latter seemed surprised. "What on Earth are you doing here? Go back to bed!"

Sukai tore Suyin's hands off of the wheel. "You're killing yourself!"

"I can handle this, it's no big-" Hayate cut her off, grabbing her right hand. "You have splinters in your open wounds! How can you be standing?"

Suyin sneered. "It's called determination. Now, if you don't mind," She raised her right leg and side-kicked Hayate in the plexus, sending him flying to the other end of the ship. He grunted and groaned when he landed, and Suyin quickly pivoted, aiming a fist at the bottom of Sukai's chest.

The girl managed to parry the blow, but ever barely. She then raised her own left leg and kicked Suyin in the thigh, but was surprised when the only pain that occurred was on her end- Suyin's legs were like steel and Sukai recoiled in pain, whining.

Suyin took advantage of the situation and punched Sukai in the shoulder, blasting the girl into the ground. She whined and Suyin seemed a bit dismayed, but turned around and resumed her navigational work. The woman looked up and her heart skipped a bit with the imminent terror- the ship was closing in on them and she'd lost precious time; she could now see many of the details on the boat.

It was massive- three huge red sails each embroidered with golden flames. A Fire Navy vessel, whose sailors, unfortunately, were probably not going to take kindly to the discovery of a hijacked Earth Nation craft which was destined to the Fire Nation in the first place. She cursed and spun the wheel around violently to change the ship's course, and attempt to distract the approaching foes.

She was taken by surprise, of course, when Hayate leapt up and fell down on her with his Kusarigama outstretched, the scythes aiming for her shoulders. Recognizing the technique she taught him, Suyin leapt backwards and Hayate landed harmlessly. He did, however, proceed to immediately swing both of his scythes. Now, though, he disconnected the chain from the right one and whipped it at the captain, who was somewhat taken aback. She reached for a sheathed weapon at her hip, and in a flash of lighting withdrew and wielded a sword made entirely out of wood that defended her against the incoming metal menace.

Afterwards, Hayate pierced forwards with the weapon in his right arm and aimed for the clavicle. Suyin sneered and lowered her sword, using it to block the attack perfectly. They stood in perfect silence for a moment, then Suyin shattered the unspoken oath.

"When did you learn to do that?"

"I've had some spare time." Hayate grinned childishly, trying to force forward with his right scythe, wanting to cut through the wooden sword, but to no avail.

"Don't waste your time. My sword, Guofan, can't be destroyed that easily."

Hayate spat. "Why are you attacking us?"

"Because I don't want you two in my way right now!" Suyin shrieked. The shrill tone of her voice startled Hayate, who loosened up his grip. Taking advantage of the situation, Suyin pulled down Guofan in the chains, dragging Hayate to the ground, then pulled the weapon out of the snake's grip. With a well-placed blow to the temple, Hayate was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground. Suyin quickly returned her dull blade to its abode and clutched the wheel again, spinning it once more to throw their pursuers off their trail, even though they were now so close it would take nothing short of a miracle to not be boarded and stopped.

Suddenly, a small light in Suyin's left pocket went off. Her eyes widened and she reached in, completely forgetting the task at hand. She pulled out a pendant with a glass sphere attached to the bottom, in which a small flame was burning ever barely. A second later, the kindle was gone.

Cursing, Suyin turned the ship around to face the enemies. On-board the other ship, a middle-aged man seemed surprised, and a younger crew member ran up to him.

"Captain Lai! They're facing us, but no one's detected any firearms or weapons on board. On another note, it's been successfully identified as the Zhanxian, although we can't see Captain Biao or Commander Guai onboard. In fact, we can't identify the person piloting the vessel. She seems to be a woman, but no one can place a name to the face."

The captain emitted a low hum, smiling. "Then wait. Position Firebenders on the rail, ready to strike at a moment's notice. I don't think wasting any ammunition will be necessary, so feel free to tell the sharpshooters and cannoneers that they can take the evening off. This really shouldn't take long at all."

The man nodded enthusiastically and ran off.

Back on Suyin's craft, apparently baptised the Zhanxian, the pendant that the woman now wore around her neck was the home of a larger flame. While it was still quite small, it was more than the miniscule spark that appeared previously. She continued straight towards the other boat, charging straight at it.

In a quick move, the Zhanxian manoeuvred stealthily around the enemy ship, barely avoiding it. As both ships eventually became parallel, Suyin managed to see the captain of the other vessel and made eye contact for a very brief second. She cringed.

Captain Lai sneered and shouted.

"It's her. Let's go- all Firebenders to strategically damage the ship without sinking it or injuring the captain. The others' lives can be thrown away, no one minds. But whatever you do, don't kill the girl."

He laughed heartily. "We're taking her alive."