Well I am right on time ha ha. And this chapter is for everyone who thinks the story has been going slow and that not much has happened. Well stuff happens in this one. I hope you all like it. :D

Chapter 23

Scouting Mission

I woke up filled with anticipation. This was a huge deal for 14 year-olds - their first mission without an adult. I dressed properly, buckled on my sword, and put on my quiver. I also put on my water pouch even though there was water everywhere here. I reported to Wei and Chen's tent. Taruk and Koluk were already there.

"Good, now, we just need Fai," Wei said.

Luckily, Fai didn't take long to get there. When he did, Wei explained the mission.

"Okay, you four will scout out to the coast. It is an hour and a half march. You will look for animals and anything unusual. Make notes of the ocean currents and how high the water is. Also, note the clouds and weather. Well, that is about it. Oh yes, Taruk will lead this mission. I know you three do not get along with him which is precisely why I did this. You will need to learn how to swallow your pride and take orders, even from someone you may not like. And, Taruk, you will have to learn not to abuse your power. You all will have to be respectful of each other. When you return, we will ask you about the mission individually. Anything to add, Chen?" Wei said.

"Nope, I think you got everything. You all look well prepared, though, Hyriu, you look like you're marching to battle," Chen laughed. "I see a sword, bow and water pouch."

"It is what you didn't see that I am proud of," I said and lifted up my pant leg to reveal my dad's dagger.

"Ha ha, yes indeed, very well prepared. Well, be on your way. Follow the river to the ocean, but keep it at the edge of your view," Chen instructed.

We left the camp. We mostly walked in silence; Taruk kept muttering how he got the worst team ever. We saw some tiger-seal tracks, but they were several days old. By noon, the ocean was in sight. There was a drop off ahead of us where the ocean was. I tripped over an uneven piece of ice.

"Careful, Hyr-o, we wouldn't want you falling and breaking something, now would we?" Taruk sneered.

"Go jump in the river, Tar-yuck," I snarled back as Fai helped me up.

"Hey now, I'm your leader. You need to respect me," Taruk said.

I walked up to him, "Respect is a two-way street."

We glared at each other for a few seconds.

"Hey, guys, calm down. I think I found something," Koluk called.

We walked over. "What is it?" Taruk asked.

"I think this qualifies as 'unusual,'" he said and pointed.

On the ground were several footprints made by many feet.

"Who made these?" Fai asked. "There wasn't a scouting mission any where near here."

"And the foot wear isn't of Water Tribe make," Taruk said.

"Most of these are only a few days old; some are only one day old," Koluk added.

Just then, I heard a twang of a bow and the whoosh of something fly by my head. Koluk cried out in pain. An arrow had struck him in the thigh.

"Koluk!" I cried.

"I'm- I'm alright," he said through gritted teeth.

"Can you walk?" I asked.

He tried to get up but fell down with an expression of pain.

"I can't even stand," he said.

And then a thought entered my mind, 'Who fired the arrow?' I stood up and looked around. I saw a flicker of movement.

"Down!" I shouted and dropped to the ground. Luckily, the others did so as well, and the arrow soared by overhead. I drew an arrow and fired in the direction I thought the archer was hiding. I guessed correctly. He jumped out from his hiding place to avoid my arrow; he was a Fire Nation soldier. He fired a few arrows at me, but I dodged them as I ran up to him. I slammed my body into him. I ripped his bow out of his hands and smacked him on the head. He tried to stand, and I broke the wooden bow over his head knocking him out with his own weapon.

Taruk and Fai had looks of shock on their faces. Before I could say anything, two more soldiers emerged from the hill and charged me, both with drawn swords. I unsheathed my own sword and met them.

"Taruk," I shouted between slashes. "Go back to camp and call for help."

"Why should I go? I can fight. Fai-" he started to say.

"No, you go. You're faster than us; use your water bending and get there as quick as possible. Fai, guard Koluk," I ordered.

"But I'm the leader. I make the decisions," Taruk said weakly.

I disarmed one of the swordsmen and kicked him in the chest, "Then make a decision!" I yelled.

"Uh, right, Fai, do what Hyriu said. I'm going to get help," Taruk said and turned toward camp.

A soldier jumped in front of Taruk and slashed at his chest. He fell to the ground. I was still fighting the other soldier and couldn't help him. Just as the soldier was about to impale Taruk, Fai came to his rescue. He snuck up behind the soldier and performed the Swing Kick to near perfection. When the soldier hit the ground, Fai body-slammed him. Taruk got to his feet, not too badly injured, and he ran toward the camp. I used my disarming technique on the soldier. Then, I slammed some water into him, leaving him unconscious.

I sheathed my sword and ran over to Koluk, "How you doing?"

"Oh, you know…pretty good," Koluk said, sweat pouring off him.

"Come on, Fai, let's try and carry him," I said. "Fai?" I looked at him and his face was pale, "Are you alright?"

He didn't answer. I noticed he was looking behind me. I turned and paled also. There were at least thirty soldiers on the hill with us. I stood up and took a stance.

A man who looked like the leader stepped forward, "A child. You would not even be a challenge," he glanced at his fallen men, "or perhaps you will be."

"Who are you, and what do you want?" I asked, trying to sound brave.

"Who are you to address me, child?" the man snarled.

"I am a citizen of the Northern Water Tribe, and I respectfully ask you to leave my home…or I will have to make you leave," I challenged.

"You'll make us. I'd like to see you try," he said.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with," I said to him.

"Hyriu?" Fai questioned behind me, sounding scared.

"I am dealing with an over confident, arrogant child," the man said and shot a blast of fire.

I blocked the blast with a shield of water, "Over confident, huh?" I said and charged.

I watched the younger kid struggle to make a fire. He looked up at me, "Tekton?" he said to me.

"Yes?" I answered him.

"Can you help me?" he asked.

"I'm sorry but you must do this by yourself, just keep trying," I said.

After a few tries, he got some smoke.

"See? If you keep trying you'll get it," I said to him as he continued and got small flames.

Suddenly, a voice cried out, "Master Wei, Instructor Chen! Guys hurry!"

I ran to the voice along with most of the camp. Gen Li was on guard patrol and was the one who had shouted. He pointed. A figure was ridding a sloppy wave toward us; by the look of it, he was injured.

"That was where the scouting mission went," Wei said.

He, Chen, Huan, and I ran out to meet him. It was Taruk, and he had a nasty gash on his chest and was covered in blood.

"What happened? Where are the others?" Wei demanded.

"Attacked…F…Fire…Nation soldiers…came back for help," Taruk stammered, out of breath. "Koluk, injured…Hyriu, fighting."

Chills went down my spine. The Fire Nation was here, and Hyriu was fighting them, and Koluk was injured.

Wei organized a group to go help, while Taruk went to see Meili. Wei, Huan, a few of the most talented benders, and I headed out to help Hyriu, Fai, and Koluk.

"Over confident, huh?" I said and charged.

Two fire benders came at me; I easily knocked them aside with some water. I ran through the group of soldiers, dodging attacks and freezing men. I used very flowing movements, going from defense to offense in an instant.

Before I knew it, I had taken out half of the soldiers. Suddenly, I heard Fai cry out in pain; I turned and saw an arrow in his shoulder. I ran over to him. I blocked all the attacks that came at us. I realized that I couldn't hold back anymore. I had to unleash my water bending skills. Our survival was more important than keeping a secret.

I swirled a ring of water around my friends and myself. Fai got wide eyed. I then expanded the ring at a fast rate, shooting water in all directions, taking out another five soldiers so only ten remained, including the leader. I charged two guys, one archer, the other a fire bender. They both sent attacks at me. I did flips to avoid the fireballs and arrows. I landed on my hands between the men. I spun on my hands and angled my legs down, so I knocked the fire bender's feet out from under him. I kicked the archer square in the face. I jumped and landed on my feet. I ran to a fire bender who punched fire at me. I grabbed his arm and pointed it in another direction. I lifted him up and threw him to the ground with some air bending assistance. I shot two blast of water, taking out two more soldiers. Then, four swordsmen surrounded me, slashing. I quickly grabbed my sword and fought vigorously. They managed to give me a few cuts, but nothing too serious. I spun, slashing in all directions, and by pure luck, I wasn't stabbed. I began to pick them off one by one.

First, I slammed the pommel of my sword into one guy's face. The second fell to the ground in a pool of cold water. The third and fourth I disarmed at the same time and launched them in different directions with water.

The lead soldier stood there with a look of shock. He charged me, shooting fire. I blocked, dodged, and shot attacks of my own, which he in turn dodged. It was a ferocious fight. A cloud of smoke and steam enveloped us from all the fire and water. Eventually, I managed to drive him back with a large wave. He charged, and I lifted up a wall of ice in front of me, which he ran into. He jumped on top of the ice wall and kicked me in the face, causing me to stumble and fall. He drew a dagger and threw it at my face. I moved as quick as I could, but even with air bending, the knife still cut a deep gash in my right cheek. I crawled backwards. He jumped from the wall and reached for his dagger. I quickly got my own from my ankle and threw it so he had to move has hand away from his dagger. I then kicked some water, which knocked him back. Enraged, he shot a powerful fire blast that went threw an ice shield I had made and knocked me to the ground. He retrieved his dagger and jumped straight at me. I lifted my arms to some what block the force of his body slamming into mine. I was able to stop his dagger less than an inch from my face. We struggled against each other's strength. If this were a test of strength, I would lose. I moved my head to the left a little and let his dagger go, so it drove into the ground next to my head. I wrapped my hands around his head and slammed his forehead into the pommel of his knife, leaving him dazed. I elbowed him in the face and struggled to my feet. He recovered quickly. He grabbed his knife and slashed at my right thigh. I cried out in pain and fell to the ground. I moved away from him. He picked up a fallen sword and threw it at me. I forced myself to my feet and made an ice wall rise up, and I drew my sword. The blade of the air born sword went through the ice and nearly stabbed me in the gut. A fireball blasted my ice apart. I made a sphere of ice and shot it into the guy's chest and he fell to the ground unconscious.

I stood there, my whole body numb and shaking. I couldn't move. I stood there looking at what I just did. I single handedly took out thirty trained soldiers. I looked back at Fai, even though his face was contorted with pain, I could see the look of shock and wonder in his eyes. I tried to take a step toward him, nothing happened. I looked at my legs, for the first time seeing the damage that had been done. Blood soaked my right leg. I couldn't feel any part of my body. I tired to move again. That time, I managed to take one step with my left foot, which felt like lead. I heard cries and shouts, but they were stifled. I saw a crowd emerge from behind a hill. Taruk had gotten help. I saw Wei with Tekton, Huan, and some of the other trainees. They all had looks of shock.

Suddenly, a great surge of pain raced through me. All at once, I got my feeling back. My sword slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground.

"Hyriu, are you alright?" Wei shouted, but his voice sounded far off and muffled.

My vision went blurry. Then, I felt cold, colder than anything I had felt before. No, I had felt this cold before when I collapsed on stage. Back when Arnook had drawn my name for the tour, when I had heard the Robed Man laugh and speak for the first time.

I saw a dark stream of black smoke descend from the sky. No one else paid it any attention. It crashed into the ground in front of me, enveloping me in a cloud of darkness. It was pitch black; I couldn't even see the light of the sun. Two red eyes starred at me out of the shadows. A deadly calm, cold, venomous voice spoke to me.

"Well, you have seemed to ignore my first warning," the Robed Man said. "I thought that it would have been enough, but apparently you need some motivation."

As soon as he said 'motivation' a great, burning pain filled my body. I cried out.

"So, your skills have improved, huh? You defeated thirty trained soldiers," he said in mock admiration. "Well now, maybe you'll be a prick on the bottom of my boot when I step on you. You'll just be a small, annoying pebble that may throw me off balance for a moment, a brief moment. Nevertheless, I will recover quickly. That is all you have accomplished in all your training. You went from an ant to a pebble.

"I'd say that that is a large step," I said weakly.

"Oh yes, very large which is why you should realize you have no chance against me. In all your training, you have come far, but not far enough. You are still nothing compared to me. Yes, you took out thirty trained soldiers, but can you take out a hundred? A thousand? If you could do that then maybe… you would get my full attention. As it seems though, you might become a problem, and that is the path you are going down. When I gave you your first warning, you were at a crossroads, a crossroads that would determine your fate. I gave you a choice. You made the wrong choice. Now, you can still make the right one. It is not too late to amend your mistake. Do not listen to the spirits in your head. They poison your thoughts. They are in control of you. Now is the time for you to be in control. Seize your mind from them and stray from the barbaric ways of your tribe. Join me, and all your loved ones will be safe. If you don't, I guarantee that they will die. Your brother. Your guardian. Your masters and even the small children of Hydronia...will be dead. A mountain of cold rotting corpses, and in the middle will be you with their blood on your hands. This is my second warning. Make the right choice this time. Believe me. You do not want to receive my third and final warning. By then, it will be too late."

I closed my eyes and snapped them open. I was in a bed, and there was a woman standing over me. It was Meili. I groaned and tried to sit up.

"Oh, good morning, Hyriu," she said and pushed me back down. "Or should I say good evening? Anyway, you are still very weak."

"How long have I been out?" I asked, my voice was scratchy.

"Well, you passed out yesterday a bit after noon, and it is about two hours before sunset right now," she said and swirled some water around my head.

"Wait, should we be on our way back to Hydronia?" I asked.

"We didn't want to risk moving you or the others just yet," she explained.

"How are they?" I asked quickly.

"Oh, they're fine. Taruk recovered quickly, since his injury was not severe. Koluk can stand and walk short distances without help. Fai can't use his right arm, but it should be fine in about two weeks. Though he hasn't said a word since Wei found you guys yesterday. We think he just needs to recover mentally from the battle. He seemed very traumatized," she said. "Here is some soup. I'll go get Wei. He'll be happy to know you woke up."

I sat there for a moment, sipping my soup. Wei burst into the tent. When he saw me, there were tears in his eyes, and he hugged me. He sat down next to my bed.

"I was so worried," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess," I murmured.

"Now, Koluk was out of it during the fight, and Fai isn't speaking. I can probably guess what happened though. Taruk came into camp with his injury and said Koluk was already down and that you had started to fend off the soldiers. So when we got there and I saw Fai injured and the unconscious soldiers, I knew what had happened." He had a slight look of disapproval.

"What else was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to let anyone die just to keep my secret," I said.

"I know. I just wish it didn't happen. Well, at least we know your training hasn't been for nothing. Thirty soldiers- that is impressive, Hyriu," he stated.

"Yeah, well, Fai got a few, also," I added.

"Did he now? That is good to hear. Also, in your sleep, you kept muttering about a robed man with red eyes. You want to tell me about that?" Wei asked.

I told him about my vision. When I finished, Wei sat there quietly.

"Well, we will discuss this more when we get back to Hydronia. We will leave in the morning." He started to walk out.

"Wait, what happened to the fire nation men? Surely they had a camp." I asked.

"Yes, they did. Huan, Tekton, and I paid them a visit," he said.

I gave him a questioning look.

"Well, after you displayed your skills, I simply had to add a little fuel to the fire, and they were sailing away in their ship faster than an eel-hound," he laughed and left.

Meili came in and said, "You are recovering remarkably quick. I am glad, though I think you will have a faint scar on your cheek for the rest of your life. Oh yes, I wanted to ask you where you got that large scar on your right leg?"

"Oh, um I am one of the survivors of the Tragedy of the Lok Wa Isles," I muttered quietly.

"Really? Oh, that's awful. I knew Wei was your guardian, but I never thought about what might have happened to your parents. So is Hiko also...?"

"Yes, he has a scar on his right arm," I answered.

"Oh wow, that is incredible…you know, I remember hearing about you, but I didn't know it was you at the time. I remember hearing that two siblings had survived, a five-year-old boy and his infant brother. That was you and Hiko…," she said somewhat wistfully.

I nodded grimly. She cared for me the rest of the day; people visited me and said how cool it was that I fought in a real battle. I just smiled and nodded. What I didn't tell them was it wasn't cool at all. The whole time it was happening, I was terrified, and when it was over, I wasn't happy. I didn't cheer or celebrate. I was scared of how powerful I had become.

So how is that for stuff happening, huh? And if you still don't think that was enough or that we will go back to a slow story line with not much happening, you are mistaken. It definitely picks up. The last two chapters of the Warrior Games are great with some nice character moments if I do say so myself. Then after that whoo it really gets going with some nice training sequences and well after that ha ha s*** happens to say the least. I am currently on Chapter 34 in rough drafts and it is tense and emotional, so tense and emotional I stopped writing and just said "Whoa, what did I just write," out loud. So stay tuned and please read on, follow, favorite, and review. Next Sunday Chapter 24: Dreams of Doubt.