A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've been struggling with where I want the story to go, and now that I've figured it out, things will move much faster. In coming chapters, there will be much more involving the other students (Shoji, Onji, Hide, etc.) and some Gaang cameos as well. Enjoy!
Songbai Wei was a reserved and pensive man. He had grown up as the only non bender amidst the hustle and bustle of five brothers in the poorer section of the Imperial City. His parents used what little extra money they had to better their firebending sons' educations in hopes of landing them in the military. Unlike the civilian societal system, any man who worked diligently and showed promise could advance up the ranks of the military hierarchy. It was one of the best and only ways for a working class family to escape poverty in the next generation.
Despite there being just as many non benders as benders in the Fire Nation Army, an inherent societal prejudice shunted non bender military roles and triumphs to the background and glorified the legacies of the flame wielding generals. As such, Songbai's parents saw little potential in their 'ordinary' son. He was often left to his own devices, and so it was on the city streets that Songbai received his real education. Back during Azulon's reign, the focus of the nation was the painstaking invasion of the Earth Kingdom, town by town and militia by militia. Domestic life was regulated tightly in the upper classes, but the seedier areas were neglected by any kind of law enforcement at all. Naturally, the power vacuum was filled by hot blooded poor boys, embittered against what life had handed them and determined to improve the quality of their dismal existences in any way possible.
Songbai saw his first fight when he was seven years old. His eldest brother had gotten into some sort of argument with a school yard rival, and then someone threw a burst of fire. Since both boys were relatively young, their firebending was rather basic and limited. Their instincts on how to fist fight however, were not. The result was a cacophony of scorching blows that left both combatants badly burned. Songbai learned his first lesson that day; never go looking for a fight. Unfortunately, one day a fight came to him. By the time he was ten years old, Songbai was accustomed to scouring the streets for food since his parents always gave most of the sustenance available to his 'promising brothers'. He found a hidey hole in an alley where someone had stashed away fresh komodo chicken, cabbage, and a whole bag of fire flakes. Just as he was about to make off with his prize, a group of boys a few years older than him entered the alleyway. They saw the food in his hands and began shouting, running furiously towards him.
Before Songbai could even react, one boy sent a small fireball in his direction. He instinctually side stepped, avoiding the following attacks with a surprising adeptness. As soon as his attackers paused to catch their breaths, he dropped the food and pushed through their ranks, fleeing home as fast as he possibly could. It was only later that he realized the brilliance in what he'd done.
Fire Nation culture and society conditioned all citizens to respond to any issue directly and aggressively, never stepping away from a challenge. But as a young non bender on the increasingly violent Imperial streets, Songbai had to find another way to deal with conflict if he wanted to avoid serious burns, or worse. Running away wouldn't always work, but finding a way to use an assailant's power against him in passive aggressive manipulation would better his safety and give him a purpose in life.
Throughout his adolescence, Songbai honed his disciplined form of hand to hand combat through real life tussles with gangs. By the time he was fifteen, he had earned the nickname "Shadow Hands" and a reputation of being the most successful thief around. He rarely spoke, wore dull clothing, and let his hair droop over his eyes. But if confronted, his limbs moved like lightening and not a single blow could be dealt to him. Even the roguish firebenders left him alone most of the time. It was in high school that he decided to pursue the civilian track and become a teacher.
Despite the fact that he was exceptional at non-bending combat, Songbai did not want to become a soldier. All of his brothers had joined the forces as soon as they could. Two of them died. Growing up poor and neglected on the streets had left him with very little patriotism for his homeland or tolerance for conformity. Songbai was a loner, and had grown calm and passive in his formative years. By teaching the one skill he had, he believed that he could mentor and guide the youth of the Fire Nation in a way he had never received as a child. As soon as he had finished secondary school, he set out for a small coastal town where he'd heard of a recent job opening, and never looked back. For ten years he had devoted himself to training the preteen non-benders treated as second class citizens by the fire wielding elite. Yes, Songbai Wei was a reserved and pensive man. But his new student was about to stir up memories and ideologies long stifled in the martial arts educator.
"Today we are going to partner off and spar. Try to put yourself with someone of relatively equal size and ability. The goal is to incapacitate your opponent so that they must 'tap out' and surrender the point. Excessively violent blows are prohibited. I will walk amongst the pairs and observe your progress. Proceed." Most of the students had usual partners for these frequent sparring exercises, and paired off accordingly. Kuzon shuffled around somewhat awkwardly, hoping to catch someone's eye. "Hey, Kuzon. Do you need a partner? I usually work with Chan-Li, but he's sick today." Kuzon's smile was a grateful one. "Sure. Thanks, Shoji." Every pair began circling each other, waiting for a moment to strike. Normally, Mr. Wei tried not to pay uneven amounts of attention to certain students, but right now his curiosity was peaked by the colonial boy who'd shown such incredible physical aptitude during the warm ups. He took up a post against a pillar and discreetly watched.
Shoji was a reasonably good combatant, but he was naturally hesitant and timid in temperament. Especially around unknown factors such as his new sparring partner. Shoji was used to Chan Li's fighting style and ability, but he had no idea what to expect from the boy in front of him. He'd seen how fast Kuzon could run. A base instinct told him that Kuzon would be a much more formidable opponent than he'd ever faced. Well, he had to try.
Kuzon was in a lazy fighting stance, eyeing him with a smirk. Shoji surged forward, intending to grab Kuzon's collar, slip his foot behind and knock him to the ground. Next thing he knew, he was tasting dirt. Kuzon had leapt several feet into the air and back flipped over his body, landing gracefully and lightly on his toes. With nothing to stop his momentum, Shoji had fallen down without Kuzon throwing a single strike. As Shoji looked up, Kuzon's stance changed. His movements became more fluid as opposed to flighty and he advanced with precision towards his adversary. Shoji used his position on the ground to try and trip Kuzon with a side kick, but Kuzon's reflexes were sharp and he caught Shoji's foot and let the energy from the kick pass through him like a wave, shifting him to the right and painfully twisting Shoji's body. Shoji groaned and tried to move, but Kuzon grabbed his arms and pinned him to the ground, using his whole body as an anvil. Shoji struggled to break free, but Kuzon tightened his muscles and made his whole frame like a rock; absolutely unyielding. With that smirk still plastered on his face Kuzon pressed his lead like torso down onto Shoji's rib cage until he could barely breathe. With a wheeze Shoji tapped his foot three times, and Kuzon immediately stood up and extended his hand. "Hey, are you all right?"
By this point several other pairs had stopped their own matches to watch Shoji and Kuzon. Mr. Wei was so mesmerized that he did not reprimand any of them. Without any truly aggressive actions whatsoever, Kuzon had managed to overcome Shoji effortlessly. The techniques of evasion, turning an attack on itself, and making oneself immovable- all of these methods were familiar to Mr. Wei from his years as 'Shadow Hands', but he'd never seen another person with similar capabilities. Fire Nation fighting was aggressive at all times- that was essential nature of fire. It had taken Mr. Wei years of experience on the streets to develop his countercultural combat style. But Kuzon already had a unique- and well honed technique that defied all conventions. And yet, the boy was scarcely thirteen. Not one exercise the entire class had caused him any difficulty. What was he truly capable of?
As Mr. Wei pondered his new pupil's success. Shoji eyed Kuzon as he caught his breath with admiration and wonder. Despite the continually mysterious aura that surrounded Kuzon, one thing was certain. The kid from the colonies was special. He challenged authority and he did everything his own way, whether it was dancing or fighting. Come to think of it, Kuzon's fighting had almost looked like a dance of some kind. Shoji didn't know what to make of any of this, but he knew that he wanted to learn as much as he could about the most interesting kid he'd ever met. Kuzon was so getting an invitation to play Hide and Explode after school.
Just then, Mr. Wei finally spoke. "Kuzon. It seems your skills in hand to hand combat far exceed your peers. Just how skilled you are is something I would like to evaluate. You will spar again… against me." The entire class gasped. Nothing like this had ever happened before. A student seriously sparring against a teacher? A shadow briefly crossed Kuzon's face. But he folded his hands and bowed respectfully. "It would be an honor, sir."
Both pupil and teacher took fighting stances ten feet apart, with the rest of the class gathered around a safe distance away. When Kuzon looked up into Songbai Wei's eyes, all ease had gone from his face. His jaw was set, his spine was straight, and his eyes blazed fiercely, just as they had in music class earlier that day. The change in demeanor shocked everyone, none more so than Mr. Wei. For the first time in over a decade, he felt like that scared little boy in an alley way, unsure if he would be able to hold his own against an intimidating and unpredictable foe.