.chapter fourteen, the colourbenders

"Kumadori Shima, as you've certainly noticed, is not an island quite like the others." He began, speaking slowly and pensively, his eyes fixed on a certain point in the horizon. Sukai grumbled. "Well, we've about noticed that by now, I think." Suyin nudged her with her elbow, which was the only part of her that retained mobility in their chains. Kiro and Hayate were squirming nervously now, but the man continued speaking and ignored their futile attempt at escape nevertheless.

"It's home to the Colourbenders." He yawned and averted his gaze to now focus on the air just ahead of his nose. There, now appeared a small swallow chirping and flapping its wings, flying away. "Colourbending is a most wonderful art…" He seemed astonishingly distant, as though reflecting on something that had happened many moons ago. "I won't bore you with too much history, but back in the days of old, when men in the Fire Nation couldn't firebend, and there weren't many, they would get killed by the government. It was a subtle and clever subterfuge, for every death was conveniently covered up by an accident- but the essential remained that if you couldn't firebend you would die. And that is what infuriated many people. Certain people were so against that rule that they left and found this island, establishing themselves here. Slowly, people with sons who couldn't firebend joined them along with their families, and a whole new, albeit humble, nation was created."

He seemed to reminisce deeply, savouring fond memories. "Eventually, one of those children discovered a power of their own- the ability to colourbend. No one is quite sure how it came about and how this child created it, but the essential remains that it was created. Soon, colourbending was an art taught to every other boy and girl on the island- adults generally couldn't learn it because they could firebend, and a particular trait of colourbending remains that anyone who can bend an element can never learn it, period." He sighed. "And so, as they procreated, firebending genes slowly vanished from our race and no one on this island today has any firebending ability- but they can all colourbend." He stopped for a moment, staring off into space, then breaking out into hysterical laughter that made the four prisoners incredibly nervous. He composed himself slowly and continued:

"Colourbending relies on creating illusions and essentially fooling the opponent's brain. Illusions can be anything from elaborate dragons as you've seen to blow darts and knives, or birds and snakes. Of course, while none of these are real… You noticed the pain when my doubles attacked you? Your body actually processed their attack as a real strike, because of the elaborate nature of the colourbending. Had that dragon collapsed into you, your body would have felt the pain that would have been felt from a dragon's impact- in a way, all it takes is a bit of creativity and colourbending can be a most… devastating art."

He looked down at them for the first time in minutes.

"That rope isn't real, by the way."

They looked surprised, and tried to push against it with all of the force in their bodies, but even the powerful Suyin couldn't make it budge. Their limbs refused to move, their brain believing that they were actually bound.

"That's incredible…" Kiro thought out loud, realizing how real the ropes felt. How would they counteract this if their brain was actually under such a spell? Regardless of what they knew, their mind was convinced of something else, and their body refused to move.

"You'll have a bit more explaining to do, I'm afraid."

Suyin stood face to face with the man, extending Guofan to almost reach his shoulder.

Her eyes were closed.

"Not quite so dangerous now, are we?" Kiro understood immediately and closed his eyes, then stood up, breaking through the nonexistent bind, and taking a few steps forward. He was promptly followed by Sukai, then Hayate, leaving the ropes in a heap on the floor. They all stood forward, holding weapons at the ready, although Suyin and Kiro still sealed their eyes shut.

The man smiled broadly and bowed. "How clever of you! After all, that is the correct method of avoiding many types of colourbending, but don't underestimate us quite that much. However, since I've nothing else to do at the moment-" He turned around and shook his hand. A small shack appeared beside him just as soon. "Feel free to be our guests on Kumadori Shima for as long as you'd like- you're simply bound by our laws, but otherwise, you can do whatever you like."

Suyin and Kiro opened their eyes, surprised. "That's it? You're kidding, right?" She asked. "A second ago you pretty much wanted us dead. Now, you're just welcoming us with open arms? " The man shrugged. "To be perfectly frank… Kumadori Shima can become a dull place when you've been here as long as Il. It was nice to see a few new faces." He extended a palm. "Ohaten Umi, a pleasure to meet you…"

Suyin accepted it with caution, but it soon appeared that the man's motives weren't all that questionable in the slightest. Perhaps he was just bored, as earlier stated. With a flourish and a farewell, Ohaten vanished and left the four to their own devices.

An awkward silence loomed over them- for a first time, none of them had the slightest idea of what to do. Sukai began to whistle, but otherwise the silence could have been deafening. In fact, the only sound at all was that of Suyin's pocket slowly beginning to incinerate from the heat released by the flame trapped inside its glass sphere. Kiro, noticing it, quickly reacted, drawing water from the grass and flinging it towards the woman's clothing. Suyin screamed and adeptly moved out of the way, causing Kiro to drop the liquid in surprise.

"It's… It's just that…" Suyin laughed awkwardly as the others stared at her- why would anyone possibly want their clothes in ashes? "Fire-style training!" She chuckled again. "Got to get used to burns! Burns… Are painful! And they strengthen the soul and body and look!" She pointed behind the other three, who turned around out of curiosity, then began running in a mad sprint, across the grassy meadows and hills. Upon facing her fleeing backside, Kiro cursed in frustration.

"She's going to the ship! She's gonna take it and run, come on, we've got to follow her!" He began chasing after Suyin, but fell flat on his face when small tentacles of water rose from the grass and bound his ankles. He groaned and slowly pushed himself up, his shirt laced with dew. He turned around and spat. "What the Hell was that for, Sukai?" But she just pointed. "Suyin's running away from the harbour. She's not taking the boat, stupid. We should probably make the most of this too, right? We're going to that Haifon place, and if those people are as dangerous as the ones that attacked Sakuramura, then, well, you're screwed with your skills."

"Or lack thereof." Hayate mumbled. Kiro heard him, scowled, and blasted a small whip of water that he quickly froze at Hayate's arm in the likeness of a knife, and they all just watched with a sickening stare as it sliced through flesh and muscle. It wasn't until blood began pouring down that he released a yelp and Sukai spat at Kiro, who just looked stunned. Having lost his focus, Kiro watched as his knife became nothing but a trickle stream of water and ran down Hayate's arm, diluting crimson. It began to drip copiously to the ground, yet the boys both just stared. Sukai eventually took an initiative and punched Kiro between the eyes, making him fall to the ground in shock, then spun around, drawing water to surround Hayate's wound in an aquatic tourniquet. She ran over to it and inspected it through the transparent wrapping and saw that it had actually entirely pierced the muscle and gone from one end of it to the other, although it was narrow enough to avoid bone. Her only knowledge of healing involved pressure points, and that would be of no use now…

She looked down at her already disgraceful kimono and tore off part of its right sleeve, drenching it in the circumference of water, and tying it tightly for a wet bandage. Blood soaked through, and his limb fell limply to his side.

"Well, are you okay?" She inquired frantically. Hayate just smiled slightly. "I'll… I'll be fine. You guys go train or something." He turned around and began walking slowly towards a nearby house.

When he pulled the door open and walked in, Sukai turned around to face Kiro, who seemed less stunned than he did a moment ago. "Loser had it coming." Was all he said, then turned around to head to a small body of water at the foot of the hill. "Is the princess going to come, or should I hold her hand?"

Sukai growled. Despite how nervous she was for Hayate, the only way to teach Kiro a lesson would be by administering a taste of his own medicine. "Fine, let's be that way and see who gets to the bottom first, jerk."

She crouched and extended her hands, weight on her back leg, then brought her palms down abruptly. A path, just wide enough for her but long enough to reach the bottom of the hill, was formed of ice. She inhaled deeply and sat down, beginning to slide at an incredibly rate, passing Kiro in a gust of wind.

"Why you…"

He quickly summoned a barricade of ice to block her way while running down as quickly as he could manage, but in a single swift shake of a wrist she vaporized the obstacle and created a tripwire in front of Kiro's feet, and he began rolling down towards the pond.

Sukai jumped off the ice just in time to land with grace, as Kiro rolled less-than-elegantly into the lake with a splash. He surfaced, spitting water out, when Sukai froze a block of water around him and using the liquid surrounding his sarcophagus, shot him out and onto the land. Kiro squirmed and the girl leaned down for eye contact, squinting and whispering.

"You're annoying."

Hayate limped inside the house, and when he was confident that Sukai and Kiro were gone, he ran out quickly and into the shack that Ohaten had previously materialized for them, slammed the door shut and roared in pain. He then looked down at his blood-soaked arm and the feeling of emptiness, the hole in his flesh. He screamed again, clutching the injury, and didn't notice the other figure in the room.

Slowly footsteps approached and only when he stopped yelling did he hear them. His heart skipped a beat and he slowly turned backwards, only to release a heavy sigh of relief at the sight of a familiar face: Ohaten.

"You seem to be on excellent terms with your comrades, or am I mistaken?" Hayate sighed as the man leaned down to inspect the wound and cringed as the bandage was slowly pulled open. Blood began leaking out and Ohaten closed it again, sighing, then changing the subject. "You're not a bender, unless I'm incorrect, are you?" Hayate shook his head. "Would you be interested in learning to colourbend?"

Hayate's heart skipped a beat. Be able to colourbend? "But… I don't have colourbending ancestors or anything-" "Did you completely forget what I said? Colourbenders don't have Firebending in their blood, do they? I'm willing to assume that as long as you have no bending skill at all, regardless of element, you can become a colourbender."

Hayate grinned from ear to ear, almost forgetting his injury. This could be a perfect opportunity to give Kiro what the frustrating bastard deserved. He extended his good arm to shake hands with Ohaten's. "The name is Hayate Tanryoku, and it's a privilege to learn from you, Ohaten, sir."

A voice came from behind him as the man in front of him dematerialized and disappeared.

"That's very polite, but I'm over here, Hayate."

Suyin sped across the fields, holding the string with the flaming glass sphere at arm's length to avoid any serious burns, but with every step it grew more and more bright. She continued running until, in a painful flash, the light turned a vivid emerald and she stopped as it began soothing her burning hands, sighing deeply.

It was at this moment that she noticed a run-down house near her current location and inhaled deeply, taking a few steps towards it, attaching the glowing glass ball to her hip. She knew that what would be waiting for her behind that door would be dangerous, but it was a risk she was prepared to take.

A risk years in the making.