Hi everyone, and thank you so much for continuing reading this! I really appreciate all the new followers and feedback ~ ! Thank you for your support!
I was recovering, but not fast enough. Whenever I bent, my skin burned with the fire I created, and I knew that I wasn't healing properly. I had insisted on starting back into training early, in spite of Etka's reservations, but I was feeling the strain. I never told him how exhausted I felt after every day, I never let on how much it hurt to even move. A new resolve had formed inside of me, from the minute that I stepped foot back in Etka's home. I had to defeat Lucan, at whatever the cost. Etka had saved my life, but I had realized now that my honor was what had been lost that day.
Etka spent more time at home, and I could tell he was worried about me. I knew he was easing up on the rigor of our schedule together, but I continued to push for more. If he wouldn't give it to me, than I had to practice more myself. All throughout the day, I ran laps, practiced stances, and bent fire, moving the flames around my blistered hands until the pain was too much and I had to stop. I was working on projecting fire from my feet, but I was still weak. When Etka was asleep, I would train on my own, blasting fire until the moon was hanging from the top of the night sky. I was near exhaustion, but now, my honor was all that I had. I couldn't face Fire Lord Ozai with a disgraced past.
On one such night, not long after the sun and moon traded places, I was practicing in the courtyard. I was executing flying kicks, making arcs of fire that streaked across the night air like comets in the sky. I leapt into the air, kicking, turning and twisting around before launching a mighty blast from the heel of my foot, when I heard the door to Etka's bedroom open.
My teacher was standing before me, his hair hanging down by the sides of his face. He was dressed in a sleeveless red tunic and trousers, sleeping clothes, I realized.
"I'm sorry to have disturbed you - "
"Anahi," Etka interrupted me, walking into the courtyard towards me. "You've got to stop this."
I looked at him in surprise, and a little bit of alarm. "Stop, sir?" Etka walked over to me and took my hands, raising them up by the moonlight.
"You think that I haven't noticed this?" He asked. "Anahi, you're hurting yourself. You're going to wear yourself out. You can't go on like this."
"I have to," I said firmly, breaking away from Etka and turning my back to him. "I have to be strong enough to defeat Lucan."
"Defeat Lucan?" Etka repeated.
"When you rescued me in the arena," I turned back around, my voice full of passion. "You saved my life, and for that I will forever be in your debt. But my honor was lost. It has to be me who defeats Lucan."
Etka looked shocked, his face plainly giving it away. "Anahi, I don't think - "
"You don't understand!" I cried out in anger. "I came here as a complete foreigner. I know next to nothing of the Fire Nation's traditions, their ways. And within a few months here, I was challenged to an Agni Kai, something that I barely understood, and I lost badly. I was publicly disgraced, humiliated, and I would have been killed if you hadn't intervened." I paused, sighing, the tension in my shoulders dropping. "Captain, your honor is paramount to you. Let me take responsibility for mine."
Etka swallowed, and stared down at the ground. "You think that I disgraced you by stepping into the arena," He said, and we both knew that it wasn't a question.
"Sir, I owe you my life - "
"That isn't what I said," Etka replied firmly, and I bowed my head, suddenly ashamed. "Do you think that I dishonored you when I intervened?"
My answer was quiet, timid. "Yes, sir."
The Captain raised his head, and to my astonishment, he didn't look like the angry I had expected. "I understand," He replied evenly.
"I know that it had to be that way," I said hurriedly. "You had no choice - "
"I know," He said firmly. "Which is why I'm going to help you. You're going to spar me, a mock Agni Kai."
"Sir!" I exclaimed in shock.
"It won't be all out, and it won't be here," Etka explained, moving towards the gate. I quickly followed him, grabbing my shoes. "We'll go into the forest so there won't be any fear of burning down a building."
"But you just said I should rest - "
"I see that you won't listen," Etka smirked, pulling on his boots. "And I think you're beginning to understand our system of honor. You deserve this."
"Captain, you don't have to..." I meekly protested, but I was secretly excited. Etka was the best Firebender I had ever seen, and the fact that he wanted to spar me was an honor within itself.
"You're ready for it," He said, as we quickly strode down the street. I looked up at the mountainous forest behind the city, and realized we had a ways to go. "I've seen you practice."
We reached the forest after walking for what seemed like nearly an hour, and I was weary as we reached a clearing amongst the trees and bushes. I immediately sat down on the ground, my legs exhausted. I didn't really feel like sparring anymore.
I looked up, about to protest, when I saw Etka undoing his tunic, neatly setting it down on a stone. My eyes widened in surprise, and I stared at Etka's bare chest, my face reddening. Lean muscles lined his torso and back, and a black tattoo ran up the curve of his shoulder, bordering his shoulder blades. I stood up, narrowing my eyes to get a closer look, and saw curved lines crawling up his skin mimicking a flame inching up a wall. The insides immensely detailed with intricate swirls and lines and it looked almost tribal. I realized, with a jolt, that he had caught me staring.
"I got it just after I became a lieutenant," He said, looking completely nonchalant about being half-naked in front of me. "It was off of a little Earth Kingdom island, and I remember the pain was something else. A lot of the locals had similar tattoos. I thought it looked original." Etka chuckled, beginning to stride backwards.
"It suits you, sir," I said, adopting a fighting stance. Etka grinned.
"Shall we begin?" He asked, conjuring a flame in his palm. Adrenaline began to flood my veins, and I nodded.
Etka lunged forward, sending a volley of fireballs that I brushed out of the sky, circling around and lashing out with a whip of fire that he easily dodged. "Remember," He said, sinking into a stance and springing up into a kick, striking blows of fire out at me. "This is just to spar. If you ever feel the need to stop - "
I silenced him, hitting with a gust of flame that rocked the ground. "I'll decide that, sir," I replied evenly, and Etka narrowed his eyes.
"Have it your way," He furrowed his brows, and then lunged forward, sending flaming blades arcing towards me in an incessant volley. I darted left and right, narrowly avoiding being burnt.
I leapt into the air, and with a loud cry, sent a wave of fire crashing down onto the ground. Etka brushed it away with a part of his hands, but I saw he was breathing harder. He clenched his hands into fists and at the ends, lit up two short bursts of flame, like tiny daggers. I paused, staring in surprise; I had never seen this before.
Etka rushed towards me, and began to slice and cut with his daggers of flame, and I realized he was putting me in a position where I couldn't use my bending to protect myself. I stepped back into a stance, striking his wrists and using my elbows to fend him off. I caught Etka in the chin, and when he stepped back, startled, I kicked him full on in the chest, knocking him backwards.
The Captain took sharp breaths in, and I could tell that I had taken him off guard. "Don't stop!" He cried, and I rushed at him again, but this time, he was ready. Etka caught me by the arms and used my momentum to spin me in a half-circle, before throwing me against the hard ground. My eyes widened with shock, and then pain, and I struggled to catch my breath. The wind had been knocked right out of me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of light, and I rolled out of the way just as a fireball hit the ground beside me. Heaving breaths, I scrambled to a low stance close to the ground, and swept my leg around in a sickle motion, sending a whip of fire along the ground, chasing towards Etka. I jumped to my feet and stamped the ground forcefully, propelling a sphere of flame from the earth. Pulling and pushing on the flame, I bent it around me, turning in a circle as the fire arced and looped around me. I saw Etka ready himself to strike, and I shot the flame at him with a loud cry.
The Captain caught the fire, spinning it around and smacking the lash of flame against the ground, so that it rapidly rippled up in a wave and knocked me off my feet, sending me landing painfully on my side. "Get up!" He shouted at me, and I groaned resentfully, drawing myself to my feet. I drew my arm back and shot a launch of fire forward with a punch, which he easily deflected.
"Is that all, Anahi?" Etka taunted, and I grit my teeth, striking again. "I've taught you better than to do children's maneuvers!"
"I am not a child!" I snarled, fury building inside me. With a backhand fist, I sent a wave flying at him, and with the other hand, shot fire upwards, attacking him in two places at once. I thought of my anger when I firebent, and how much more power I had. Closing my eyes for a moment, and inhaling deeply, I pictured Lucan's snarl, Etka's taunting face, how hard it was to strike him. My fury wasn't hard to tap into, and my eyes snapped open.
Etka pivoted on his side and kicked a jet of flame at me, which I ducked low to avoid, and caught. Slowly, I brought my hands down and brought the flame behind me. With a push, I shoved Etka's fire back at him like a massive tidal wave. Before either of us could recover, I struck again before the fire barely had time to subside, throwing punches of fire at him in a rapid-fire session.
"You're getting emotional, Anahi!" Etka cried, skirting around my bursts of flame as he spoke. "I know you're angry; let your anger feed your bending, but don't let it control it. You'll get exhausted too quickly that way."
I remembered collapsing in the arena after my sudden burst of power, and sat back in my stance, striking with support this time. Etka returned my shot with an arc of flame, and began to shoot short bursts of flame at me in rapid succession. His fire rained down at me like comets falling from the sky, and I blocked them with streams of flame from my fingertips. My gaze was on the sky, and I realized too late that I had let my guard down. Etka hit me full on in the chest without time to block and I went soaring backwards, landing painfully on my back. "Focus!" He shouted, and I laid a hand on my aching ribs. Etka began to strike, and I picked myself up yet again, blocking and blocking. I had no time to strike on my own, and waves of fire to combat his own weren't enough. I couldn't hold this up forever.
A jet of flame went searing too close to my face, and I rapidly raised my arms up in defense, a massive wall of fire rapidly forming up to protect me. I stared in shock, my shoulders heaving with my heavy breathing. A glowing orange wall surrounded me, radiating heat and shielding me from Etka.
I had created that. I was able to defend myself. I drew my arms back and drew the fire close to me, then sent it soaring towards Etka, throwing him backwards in a strike to end them all.
I stood before him, my chest rapidly rising up and down. My veins were flooded with adrenaline, and I didn't even feel the pain and aches of my body. The Captain slowly began to pick himself up, and raised his hands above his head in surrender.
"I have seen that move done once before," Etka said breathlessly. "And it was by a sixty-three year old general."
I relaxed my stance, exhaling in relief. Etka approached me, and suddenly bowed, clasping a closed fist against a flattened hand. I had seen the gesture many times; it meant reverence and respect. I copied him, bowing low before my teacher. "Thank you, Captain," I said somberly, and we both stood. Etka clasped my shoulder with a soot covered hand, and looked me squarely in the eye.
"You're ready to defeat Lucan, Anahi," He said seriously. "And we shall find him, and you can avenge your honor. But there is a place where you first must go, and we need to leave the Capital."
"Where, sir?" I asked, as Etka released his hold, and walked over to our things. I followed.
"We're going to Crescent Island," Etka replied. "It's important for you to meet the Fire Sages and learn what you can from them before you fight Lucan. We'll get some rest tonight, and leave tomorrow morning."
I laced up my boots and stood after him, following him down the mountain. The Captain turned to me, and his face was now soft. "I'm proud of you, Anahi," He said gently. "You have brought great honor upon yourself and your family."