"The essence of earthbending is stability, power comes not from the muscles but the posture, a stable foundation becomes a platform from which a bender's might can be directed through the limbs and unleashed into the earth." Zhang explained as he stood next to me. The two of us were currently in the Laundry room rubbing dirty red uniforms against the metal washboard, every prisoner was required to do a certain amount of hours of cleaning per week, we even washed the guard's uniforms.
Zhang had taken very little convincing to become my teacher in all things rock, stone, and earth after he had verified that I could in fact earthbend (chucking a fist sized rock at my face while the guards weren't looking). He seemed almost eager to have someone to pass the knowledge to.
Looking around us, there are only two guards around the exit of the Laundry room, which is up a set of metal stairs, and both seem to be conversing distractedly, not only were the two of us on the opposite corner but the rest of Zhang's crew of earthbender war prisoners were also working around us serving as a cushion for sound the laundry was barely big enough for all of us which meant that there no Fire Nation prisoners
"I have been doing that exercise routine you recommended… It's admittedly frustrating." I admitted with a sigh. I haven't done any actual earthbending but I did feel something from the movements.
"That's the point Tai Lung," Zhang casually said with a chuckle, "When I was your age, my mentor had me maintain the basic stance for hours before ever allowing me to raise one boulder up in the air."
The basic stance he was referring to was what I had been doing for the last two days. Legs slightly bent, arms near the waist, back straightened, and eyes looking forward. I have had an easier time working out since being thrown into this body, exercise routines that would have left me sore and weak instead just leave me slightly sore and not even that tired.
"Patience is the greatest virtue an earthbender can have, the earth is stubborn and so you must be as well if you wish to shape it, doing nothing until you do something is the basis to being a powerful earthbender." Zhang said. I understood most of what he was saying but it did leave me with some questions.
"Somehow I doubt your average earthbender gets taught the philosophy of bending and they seemed to be able to bend just fine." I bluntly pointed out, not as an insult just a mere observation, not that I thought Zhang was thin skinned enough to get angry so easily.
"Oh they definitely can, most of the Earth Kingdom benders are simply taught the motions or are self-taught with the occasional tip from a fellow bender, normally their family. Though these dark times have made that more difficult." Zhang said dismissively, waving away the idea with a soap coated hand.
I nodded to signal that I was listening, wondering what advantage his training method held.
"To put it frankly, just teaching the movements without any real understanding of what bending is about as an art ends up with a weaker bender overall, or at least that's what some bending masters like myself believe," Zhang explained with a shrug, making me nod. Obviously, there was a spiritual element to the whole thing, I remember Aang opening his chakras, and well… this was a world where a 12 year old girl could throw giant, probably incredibly heavy, rocks around moving her hands there was little point to let disbelief affect how I learned but there was something that piqued my curiosity.
"Why not make sure knowledge like this is required? A school or college in which these ideals can be shared, to make stronger benders in the fight against the Fire Nation" I said curiously, I wasn't arrogant enough to think this was a wild and new idea.
"Why are so many high ranking soldiers incompetent or just plain foolish? Why have the siblings and sons of influential nobles found themselves leading their fellow men into battle despite lacking any form of qualifications? Why has the Earth Kingdom refused to adapt to the technological advancements Fire Lord Ozai has pushed for his own nation?" Zhang asked with a tired sigh.
"Stubbornness, pride, economic incentives?" I asked thinking of the most obvious answers possible.
"Yes to all three but the matter is more complex, the lack of transparency in law making and penalties for the nobles playing war also plays a role. An influential or rich noble suffers not but a bruised ego if the army they sponsor loses a battle, their lives aren't forfeit if they aren't sent to Fire Nation prison. The worst they deal with is losing face to other nobles if the defeat is bad enough." Some of the soldiers around us grunted in approval, Scarface chuckling in a way that seemed to indicate that Zhang complaining about the state of the Earth Kingdom was a common occurrence.
"Well, I won't claim to know Earth Kingdom politics so any opinion I spout would come from a place of ignorance." I do know about systems of Government that the men and women here probably couldn't even picture, but I simply didn't feel comfortable talking when I had scant details.
"You're thinking and waiting for information before making a judgment that's good, something you should strive to do when possible." Zhan commented having apparently calmed down.
"The reason why more complex theories of earthbending aren't more widespread is related to problems that affect most aspects of Earth Kingdom culture. Despite having the biggest population the Earth Kingdom had the smallest percentage of benders, Ba Sing Se's current King isn't even an earthbender." Zhang said with a calm tone, it felt like History class, it was nice, casual even, and it almost made me forget why I needed to learn this lesson.
"While there's nothing wrong with not being able to bend, the fact of the matter is that most nobles don't care about earthbending since not a lot of them are capable of it, and if the King himself doesn't care then the intricacies of the bending arts will never be given the respect they deserve. This is why your average earthbender doesn't know about the finer details of the earthbending. Most of them have no one to teach them" Zhang had a frustrated frown on his face. I could see his hand tightening around the guard helmet he had been scrubbing veins popping on his hand.
"I was there when the Dragon of the West laid siege to Ba Sing Se" Zhang spat out with a grim look "To this day I'm certain that more progress was made by the Fire Nation due to sheer logistical incompetence on our part than anything else"
"You're obviously very passionate about this, well you're the teacher I will do what you will think is best" Even if I didn't understand how holding the same pose for hours on top of my regular exercise routine could help.
"Bah! I'm just a stubborn old man, there's no one true way of doing something like bending. I'm just willing to give what advice I can from my hard earned victories and frustrating failures" Zhang said making me smile, I really appreciate that he was doing this for me.
"Now then let's return to earthbending, the key are decisive blows picture yourself striking through your opponent and behind them. Show no hesitance, no doubt must cloud your mind"
The weathered old man took a stance, the exact stance he had been insisting I practiced. Putting his left foot forward he didn't even grunt as he let his fist fly through the air.
My fist stopped inches from the walls of my cell, sweat covering my body as I moved into a sweep before returning to my initial stance. The pebble I had been given to train skipped through the metal floor softly, I had turned way too many of them into dust so I made sure to be careful. Clenching my hand once I returned to the initial stance the small grey stone flew towards me before it hit the door of my cell.
With my right hand closed I stared at the rock as it floated in front of me wobbling slightly. Earthbending was…interesting a part of me was still slightly weirded out by something like this being possible but I couldn't deny reality. Practicing my bending was slightly different than doing regular exercise, it was still tiring but bending was soothing in an odd way.
It was weird, I definitely hate the situation I'm in, but being able to do something like this even if it's with a small stone is thrilling. Zhang said that my progress over the last three days has been very good, and that some people take weeks or even months to reach this point. I somehow find that hard to believe but I know he is speaking to experience.
It probably isn't fair to compare a normal person to the Avatar, and even Aang took months to learn new elements despite having done it in past lifetimes hundred of times. I know this is either a lesson on patience or supposed to help me with control.
Spinning once with my hand extended forward firmly the pebble follows me, the firmness was important as Zhang had explained. Unlike waterbending's smooth motions earthbending required sharper movements and a clarity of intention. Rocks don't move by themselves you have to make them move, not like how air flows freely, fire spreads wildly or the ocean's waves smash against the shore. Do you want that boulder to move? Then you better grit your teeth and make it move, no ingenious trick or subtle solution to help you do it.
I wonder what it said about me that I found the whole thing as appealing as it was satisfying. No tricks, earthbending was amazing in how honest it was.
I was certain that I could manage this trick with a much bigger rock at this point but it was hard to do that in any subtle way, and I had seen two dudes get dragged into the 'cooler' yesterday for getting into a fight with fire bending. Seeing a scarred prison inmate create a jet of fire from the palm of his hand was definitely scary, good to see that learning firebending hasn't made me lose my common sense.
Taking a calming breath I spun on my feet to look at my metal 'bed' and pushed the tiny pebble under it with a soft but sharp open palm strike, the tiny stone joining a pile of its brethren, a lot of stones were cracked or split in two. A tiny stone hitting a reinforced metal wall has a very predictable outcome and controlling the speed and strength I moved things on had been surprisingly hard.
I think I got the basic movements down even if it has been just a few days since I began my formal training but I won't feel truly sure about my skills until a bend an actually significant amount of earth. It's frustrating, I don't want to spend any more time here than I need to, before escaping was a far dream, it was theoretically possible but had a huge chance of going wrong.
With earthbending though, I have some ideas. The first thought I had is somehow getting outside the prison and working with Zhang and whatever other earthbender in his group to make a tunnel to walk under the boiling lake without being noticed but I discarded it quickly. The Boiling Rock has its name because of the geothermal energy of the volcano it's built on, I would be lucky to not get cooked alive trying to move under the lake.
With that idea out of the proverbial window then my next thought was the straightforward idea of just making a bridge of earth over the lake and crossing, but that would be too easy to see even with the steam covering a lot, besides surely bending that much earth would be incredibly loud.
"Do I need the whole bridge?" I whispered to myself in a sudden revelation, earthbenders can make earth levitate obviously, so is levitating a platform up into the air and gliding over the lake that way plausible?
The idea was so simple that it must have had flaws, with Zhang and his crew's help we should be able to muster the power to bend a big enough boulder under our feet and just push it to the other side of the lake. It's the perfect mix of my previous ideas, subtler than a bridge and less dangerous than tunneling under the water.
There is the problem of what to do once we cross the lake, we are on an island in the middle of the ocean far enough from any land that only a Fire Nation ship could get us out. I have no idea how to pilot something like that, so unless Zhang's crew has someone that knows how to do it we would have to force the Fire Nation crewmates to do it, or at least the absolutely necessary ones.
The idea of infiltrating the crew wouldn't work with how many people we are talking about, even if keeping a low profile is probably for the best.
It's the best idea I got so far though, I will just have to wait and see what information I can get, I arrived at this prison on a ship and the whole place obviously needs to be resupplied given that it's completely barren of any source of food as far as I could tell and it's supposed to sustain hundreds of people.
Wiping my sweat with the thin blanket (this place is never cold anyway) I nodded to myself, I was getting off this fucking place the first chance I get.
I had a grin on my face that I couldn't wipe off, it had been almost three weeks since I had been sent here and I finally had an idea forming in my head, and it was all thanks to Zhang's teachings. Be patient, wait, and listen. The number of conversations guards had when they thought no prisoner was hearing them was amazing.
Yesterday I heard the most interesting tidbit while walking back from the Yard after the Warden called for lockdown, two young guards complaining about pain in their backs. The reason? They had to push a metal cart full of coal to the kitchen after the latest shipment arrived.
According to Zhang earthbending went widely beyond what one would first expect. He even told me a story of his time as General, the first time he discovered that bending the coal inside a Fire Nation's ship was possible. Being inside covered with red hot coals while wearing metal armor sounded horrible, at least they could jump into the water, though that run the risk of drowning.
The point is that there's a solution to my training problem which leads me to this idea.
"Now act cool and follow my lead, you don't want to scare the ladies" Ikem said walking in front of me, practically strutting. I knew that there was a high chance that he could get me to the kitchen.
"Technically prisoners shouldn't go near the kitchens but that's one of the few rules that aren't strictly enforced, just don't mess it up all the cooks are firebenders which is the only reason they aren't covered with guards" He explained as we made a turn deeper into the prison, lockdown had ended which meant that we were allowed to roam around within reason.
It was obvious we were near, the smell was amazing and I could already hear the sound of someone frying minced meat in a pot it was enough to get me drooling a little. For more than three weeks, the crackling of meat being fried in its own fat had me twitching.
Finally reaching the kitchen I was confused when the only entrance seemed to be a head-height rectangular cut in the metal wall that allowed someone to look inside. A metal shelf extended from the opening, Ikem didn't hesitate to walk forward resting his left arm on the shelf. It looked surprisingly modern, though that may be the metal, I could see chained garlic nailed to the wall and a multitude of women running back and forth as they cooked, the prisoners had already eaten for the most part so I assumed this was food for the guards.
"Oh not you again" A woman said with a sigh, though I could see a small smile on her face she had been the first to notice us "If you keep coming here you will get into trouble Ikem" She seem to be over her 40's still having plenty of energy but definitely not a young woman but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Muyi! I had been begging the spirits to find it in their hearts to keep you as beautiful as I remembered and damn if they didn't come through for me" Ikem shamelessly flirted getting some giggles from the rest of the kitchen staff.
The older woman scoffed but it was obvious that she was happy with the compliment and mainly putting up an act.
"Flirting will get you anywhere you rascal, now who is this new face over here, you normally bring that brute Chit Sang" She said looking me up and down, feeling slightly awkward I gave a friendly wave.
"Oh, this here? Just a new friend that was lured here by my truthful tales of the beautiful women that run the kitchens here" Ikem said sniffing the air like a hound, the food smelled amazing I felt some anger that I was being served glue tasting stew while I was seeing a woman on the background cocking some fish on a pan. Fuck, it was probably a fresh catch too!
"Hello, I'm Tai Lung it's a pleasure to meet you all" I casually introduced myself while looking around the kitchen for what I wanted.
"Well he is better mannered than your usual company, let me guess you want some food?"
I didn't pay much attention to the woman after that, I finally found what I wanted, a woven bag with different sized pieces of coal in it. Ikem said that most of the women were firebenders but there was no way they would maintain an oven with just that, bending was tiring work, and keeping at it for that long sounded impossible.
Subtly changing my stance I moved one hand behind my back and made a grasping motion making one of the pieces shake and move, oh yes it's all coming together.
"Hey stop zoning out, I got Muzai to give us some of the good stuff they made garlic knots!" Ikem pushes me out of my concentration the piece of coal I had been bending going still.
"Ah, sorry was distracted" Found sounded amazing right about now.
"Oh? With what?" Before I could deflect Ikem starts looking at where I had been staring making me feel slightly nervous.
"Tai Lung you dirty dog, I didn't know you liked them young" Ikem teased making me blink, looking where he was bluntly pointing I saw a girl, she looked young, like a teenager young, she was cute with black hair and green eyes and probably would turn into a beautiful woman in a few years. She was probably barely 18 a bit too young for me, I preferred mature women.
This did give me an out from the whole staring at a bag of coal with intense focus thing.
"It's nothing like that, what she was cooking just seemed delicious" I said in a way that I knew would just make him believe it more.
"Oh I'm sure, don't worry I can put a good word for you" Ikem said with a wink, not sure what the point of it was not like I could even start a relationship with the cooks. Well, actually flavourful food may be a great benefit but it couldn't go further than silly flirting.
"Here you go, boys, don't tell any guard I gave you this you hear" The buttery smell almost made my head fuzzy two fist sized garlic knots were put in front of us on one big plate I could see that they had been buttered with garlic and parsley.
Taking one of the offered snacks with a slightly shaking hand I took a bite and slowly chewed. It was so fucking good. After eating tasteless slop for so many weeks in a row eating actual food even something as simple as this had taken shuddering breaths. I had almost gotten used to the grey crap they called food here.
It reminded me of the food my grandma would make on rainy days, some fried dough with sugar sprinkled on top, accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. The perfect combination to enjoy on a cold day.
I felt a spark of anger, had I been so quickly reduced to almost tears from some actually edible food? Fuck! I never truly appreciated food in my previous life and that made me feel shame.
"Dude you okay? You had an intense look on your face" Ikem asked taking big bites from his own garlic knot, I shook my head and smiled at the older woman who had cooked the food.
"Thank you for making such delicious food for us, it gave me a lot to think about" I said sincerely with a grateful nod of my head. Any doubts about what I had to do were gone now, my desire for freedom, my hope for it, had been ignited to full strength by something as silly as a tasty snack.
I knew the risks but if it meant escaping then it would be worth it. To be free and experience all life had to offer me in this strange hostile world.
"It's no problem, just stay out of trouble and we can call it even" The older woman grunted making me chuckle and smile, I did feel a little guilty about searching for information like this but I needed to.
"Must be hard to manage such a big kitchen, with all the people in this prison I'm surprised you haven't run out of food" I said with a joking tone.
"Oh we get close sometimes, mainly due to some guards wanting extra servings and whatnot but thankfully we get resupplied with all we need quite often, perks of the Warden being a noble I suspect" Muyi said with a conspirational tone.
"I think I heard some guards say something like that" I said trying to make it seem like I'm thinking out loud "Something about hurt backs from pushing carts full of coal" I joked getting a sigh from the woman.
"Poor boys, the older guards have them doing all the moving from the port to here, I always make sure to save some snacks for them, mint tea can do wonders for the body" She explained and I nervously licked my lips as I felt close to what I needed to now.
"Does that happen often? The whole moving around carts thing I mean" I said trying to sound as uninterested as I could.
"Oh not really, we have to deal with resupplies every fortnight, it's a lot of stuff though, whatever is missing in the prison, managing a place this big ain't easy you know" She said sounding almost scolding.
"I will be sure to give my thanks to the Warden if I meet him then" I said while thinking things through, the guards were complaining about back pain yesterday so thirteen days until the next resupply, and my chance to leave this hole.
"Hi!" A high pitched voice called making me turn in her direction, the girl Ikem had thought I was looking at was now much closer and she was blushing "...Some of my friends told me that you wanted to talk to me?" The teenage girl said not looking me in the eyes.
"Mhm, not really" I said bluntly "Though if you had anything to do with these garlic knots then thank you very much."
Weirdly enough that made the girl giggle, fuck if I knew what went on in her mind though. Nor was I really interested, I had more important stuff to deal with.
I giggled like a fool as I levitated multiple pieces of coal in front of me, making sure to occupy the corner of my cells so couldn't see what I was doing. Not like many cared, more than one guard had seen me doing exercise, most didn't comment a few mocked me telling me that there was no point when I would waste away here. None of them had seen me practicing bending I had been very careful.
I had exactly 12 pieces of coal floating in front of me as I concentrated left foot forward, I had visited the kitchens a few more times and I had gotten what I wanted, bending a couple of small coals each time while the cooks had been too distracted and pocketing them.
I could have done the same with the stone floor in the yard but there's a problem, each stone contributes to a design for the Fire Nation emblem and I have no confidence in being able to fix any chunk I take out, besides the number of guards looking down on the prisoner from the towers is crazy and that was without taking snitches into account. The day I learned that some prisoners not only got better cells but also food and uniforms if they were willing to sell the rest of the prisoners out I was not a happy man.
Taking a deep breath I interlocked my fingers and closed my hands making all the individual coals join together I did it as slowly as I could to make it as silent as possible. The coals compressed together grinding together to form one big dark block, it was an actual strain and my hands were shaking as I did so. The end result spoke for itself though.
Moving the head sized coal block around the cell I almost ruined everything smashing it against the wall. Bending something of this size was different I felt an actual pull now like the coal was heavy enough to move me if I wasn't careful. It wasn't that strenuous, certainly more than the pebble but now I was sure I could go even bigger which was great news. I could probably throw a human sized boulder at someone.
Going through the basic earthbending movements with the heavier material took some getting used to but I quickly got the hang of it, of how to compensate for the strain and what working with more material was like.
Feeling bold I stopped the levitating chunk of compressed coal in front of me sharply opening my hands and spreading my fingers the coal separated in an instant more pieces than there were originally upwards of thirty now tiny pieces of coal being bent at the same time.
Sweat coated my body, this was it, the pinnacle of my training until now it was the hardest at a technical level to move each tiny piece in a different way with sharp movements. I couldn't help but believe that a waterbender wouldn't have found this so hard with their own element.
Zhang said that earthbenders often struggle with fine control over raw power. Well, I didn't have much earth to focus on incredible feats of bending so focusing on doing the most with what I had was crucial. I firmly grabbed my shaking left forearm with my right hand my twitching fingers getting tired from the work I had to try something now before I got too tired.
Moving the coal to my blanket I took a deep breath and did my best to force my will onto the rock and shape it into what I needed.
I almost laughed triumphantly as the coal took a rough hand shape, well if the hand belonged to a human that had put said hand in a blender, but it was still my best attempt yet. Pinching the coal fingers I was able to grab one corner of my blanket and raise it up, it worked!
I could probably do this with two coals pressed together but the advantages of an actual hand of rock were too good to pass up and it was incredible training. I felt much more confident about my earthbending than I did before I was certain I could use it now to an actually effective degree.
Relaxing my muscles I spread my fingers making the coal hand separate into a bunch of tiny coal pebbles, I moved the fingertip sized pieces under my bed and finally stopped bending. My breath was heavy and my muscles sore but I was one step closer. My training with Zhang and my own personal practice made me feel ready for my plan, in one week the resupply ship would come and I would strike all I needed was to convince Zhang and his gang to make this much easier.
"No." Zhang said with a tired expression making me blink.
"What?" I asked in disbelief, we were in the yard with the usual people covering us up and making sure no prisoner or guard was overhearing.
"I'm saying no, I won't go with your plan Tai Lung" The old man looked at me and sighed running a hand through his face.
"Why not?" I asked trying to not let the building anger get into my tone and expecting a reasonable answer "Don't you want to get out of here? We can do this together Zhang"
"It's a death sentence, the risk is too high" Zhang said putting a hand up to stall my response.
"The first part is hard but feasible, sneaking upwards of a dozen prisoners onto the lake and crossing it with a platform could be done but the alarms would be raised fairly quickly, even if you start a riot an hour before the resupply ship leaves to the Fire Nation there's still a high chance someone will notice so many prisoners missing and warn the port with a Messenger Hawk" Zhang explained with a sour look.
"But let's say we do manage to get into the ship, there are a few of my men that have some idea how to pilot one but what then? We obviously can't go to its intended destination we would get roasted alive before we even docked in the Fire Capital Port, crossing the sea into the Earth Kingdom would also be complicated we have no clue if the ship even has enough fuel for the journey and even then the chances of meeting another Fire Nation ship on the way and being discovered is extremely high, the Earth Kingdom has no navy to speak of so the coast belongs to them" Zhang said continuing to poke holes in my plan now pointing a glare in my direction.
"The risk is too high, I won't throw my men's life away on such a foolish plan, not again" He said with a sigh, I could guess what kinds of regrets a defeated General has but I didn't feel like digging deeper now.
"Well then help me plan something that works for all of us! You are old but many of your men have their entire lives ahead of them are you going to let them waste away here? The war has been going on for 100 years at this point who knows how long it will last" I felt guilty trying to manipulate the man that had helped so much emotionally, I knew that if things followed what I knew Aang or Zuko would eventually do something about this place, but I also felt desperate.
"Remember your lessons kid, earthbending can be boiled down to the art of waiting, moments of opportunity, chinks in the enemy's armor always appear to an observant eye with time" Zhang said with an almost pleading.
"There's a difference between being patient and being paralyzed by fear" I spat out "There will never be an attempt to escape that doesn't carry a risk, don't you desire freedom? To visit your family. to eat actual food and bask in the sun"
"A little too late for that since my birth family is all dead" Zhang said with a cold emotionless tone that made me stop short and look at the ground.
"These men and women you see around us are my family now, I won't risk their lives on the odd chance your plan goes without a hitch, I'm sorry but I won't help you out this time"
I looked around at the men and women around me I knew most of them had heard me, they could try to convince Zhang to at least try something! Looking at each of them most of them didn't meet my eyes, Scarface just shook his head with closed eyes.
I clenched my hand, I couldn't blame them, Zhang had been leading them so far, he was a kind and wise man, while I had only known them for a few weeks. Even if I knew that Zhang's stance was wrong I could respect them for standing up for him.
"I see… well thanks for what you have done for me so far, but I refuse to remain shackled anymore." I said before walking away feeling sick to my stomach, I would have loved nothing more than to have their help in my escape. It would make it easier and I wanted to return the favor to the man that taught me earthbending.
I can just do it by myself.
(Change in POV)
Zhang
Seeing the young man walk away, he couldn't help but sigh truly feeling his age with all the aches that came with decades of training and fighting. He didn't feel happy saying no to Tai Lung but he had to do what he had to.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder he turned and smiled at the man that was the most experienced after him from the whole group. Che's scarred face wasn't smiling or even particularly happy but it was comforting, Tai Lung reminded him of Che actually both were quite talented though the latter had no bending abilities and just excelled with the Kwan Dao beyond any men Zhang had the pleasure of training.
"He will handle himself." Che said with a shrug "He has a good head on his shoulders, maybe a little too eager."
"Like you used to be you mean?" He said drawing a grumble out of the man a good part of having been part of this war for so long is that he had embarrassing stories about even the veteran soldiers.
"Yeah and look where that got me." Che spat out faintly touching the deep scar on the side of his face. The man blamed himself too much in Zhang's opinion he had no way of predicting that his scouting party would meet such resistance, the fault laid on his captain at the time that had sent him forward without truly explaining the danger ahead.
Then again the human mind tended to find things to blame itself for just to find a reason for the misfortunes of fate.
Moving on from the reminiscing that had plagued him as he got older Zhang focused on the now. Tai Lung would probably be fine, even if he got caught trying to escape the worst he would probably get is an extended stay in solitary confinement.
Something did worry him though, the boy had been surprisingly advanced, moving with more confidence than Zhang had been expecting. It wasn't arrogance when he said that he knew the pace someone of Tai Lung's talent would improve. He had simply trained hundreds of earthbenders over the decades to get a feel for things of such nature.
Zhang was happy to train the boy, for admittedly selfish reasons. He almost never took the chance to take an apprentice at least not one directly tied to noble politics, the war had been going on for so long that he had gotten used to just teaching the men under his command what they needed to survive and nothing else due to time constraints…a lot of the time it wasn't enough.
Training a student of Tai Lung's natural talents, one that was clearly a beginner, eager to truly listen and humble enough to accept Zhang's was a great opportunity. The boy was a blank canvas for someone of his experience to try something never seen before, so many years of training in so many places under so many teachers. The Dai Li, as a General, and even under King Bumi himself, Zhang knew he had lots of experiences to share.
The Dai Li were precise unlike any other group of benders, but they were also uninspired, happy to keep to the tried and true techniques, war had taught Zhang the value of being practical with bending and not wasting energy that could be used later, King Bumi had taught him… well, how to think and bend in a way the enemy had no way of predicting.
Absentmindedly rubbing one tattoo on his forearm, a white lotus flower. He didn't put lots of weight on that whole secret society nonsense but when King Bumi himself vouches for it he had no choice but to accept.
Zhang knew he wasn't the strongest bender around… King Bumi could put him down for the count 8 out of 10 times, the other two times being hard earned draws or lucky wins. But he liked to think that his relatively long life had left him with more insight into the nature of earthbending than almost anyone alive
Bending was so much more than just a tool, it had the potential to be something spiritually fulfilling that could help guide you even at the darkest times, it was part of the reason why Zhang respected men like Che so much, he was sure that without earthbending to soothe him he would have gone insane long ago.
He would be happy if Tai Lung learned just that but with him progressing at an unexpected pace…well experience came from mistakes both personal and witnessed and Zhang had seen enough earthbending accidents for multiple lifetimes. The boy had been humble and introspective while learning so Zhang held high hopes.
Part of the reason why he refused to have his men help the boy out was that Tai Lung's plan was much more feasible if done alone. Sure it would be harder but actually possible, infiltrating and sneaking into one cargo shipment would be much easier than trying to take over the whole thing. The kid probably knew it too.
"Ah, General." A familiar deep voice called making him smile Lao Ge wasn't a particularly smart fella but he was loyal to a fault and Zhang valued that extremely.
"The kid is fighting a guard." The giant man said bluntly.
It took a moment for the words to process but the moment they did his eyes widened jumping to his feet he looked around the yard and quickly found a crowd forming around a circle of guards that were leaving an open space in the center.
Focusing he saw Tai Lung, and a short guard that he quickly recognized.
"I-Is that the Warden's godson?" He asked out in disbelief the little brat had been a new addition to the Boiling Rock and not a welcomed one by any means. The brat was awfully young and had something to prove, a horrible combination with the power to abuse inmates.
"Ah…" Che blandly enunciated "Do you think he is going to follow our advice?" He said with an awkward laugh. Zhang winced and paled slightly things weren't going to be pretty.
"You criminal scum, you have been flirting with my Lily!"
I glared at the short boy that was trying to look down on me and failing miserably his head barely reaching my neck, he was wearing guards' armor though and six other guards were standing around me in a circle, the prisoners curiously looking to see what the commotion was about.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, short of patience but not willing to get into a fight just yet, I just had to bump into this little fucker, I was in no mood for this kind of nonsense.
"Don't play dumb you fool! I know you have been manipulating her! All she talks about is the dashing prisoner that has been visiting her! She gave your description!"
"Okay officially lost now, what even is your girlfriend's name?" I said with a sigh taking a deep breath that actually helped calmed me down, my heart was still beating faster than normal, and the aggressive stance the kid was taking made me feel twitchy.
"I already told you her name is Lily she works in the kitchens"
Huh, I thought it was some kind of dumb pet name, I still didn't really understand what had this dude so mad.
"Whoever your girlfriend is I'm not interested in her, my interest in the kitchen is purely culinary" I said with a shrug but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"Liar!" The boy shouted, growling as he threw a low kick at me, not expecting it I almost stumbled as I shuffled back.
"Careful with that! Your armor is made out of metal" I pointed out, well the boots were and I wasn't looking forward to getting kicked on the shin by someone with metal boots.
"You admitted to going to the kitchens, that's against the rules" The boy said with a nasty grin "Prison guards are allowed to take disciplinary measures to remedy unruly behavior, I will make you suffer for trying to steal my girlfriend!"
"I don't even know your name!" I shouted in disbelief quickly moving back as he tried to jab my chest. I grunted as I hit something and was pushed forward, I barely had time to look back and see that one of the guards had caught me and pushed before I felt the air being pushed out of me by a kick to the stomach.
That stung but not nearly as much as I would have expected.
"My name is Jazo!" He angrily replied.
"You hit like a little bitch Jazo." I spat out, literally, as the glob of spit hits him on the eye, not a good time to have his vizor up.
It was obvious that he wasn't going to just let this go and I had been advised that fighting back was for the better even if I got my ass beat, it was still going out fighting.
Pushing him back with a hand on his chest, my bigger and more muscular physique meant that he fell on his ass but he got up quickly with an admittedly impressive kip-up.
I looked at him with a frown, the helmet and armor were annoying hitting him on the metal would probably hurt my hand, I had to go smart. I almost went into my earthbending stance but that was a bad idea, better to not get into trouble and reveal that I was a bender.
The prisoners were cheering and shouting now probably happy to see a guard eat dirt, I could see the other guards try to move forward but the kid raised his hand to stop them.
"Don't intervene, I will deal with this scum myself" He shouted punching himself in the chest, I looked at him unimpressed…was this fucker doing this to get the respect of the older guards?
"For the record I think I know which girl you were talking about. She's too young for me." I would take being called scum, I would not go along with being implied to be interested in a girl that was barely an adult.
Getting into a boxing stance I threw a jab followed by my right hand aimed at his chin, the only exposed part of his helmet. My eyes widened as he seemed to flow out of the way, pushing forward to my left in a flash. I hit the ground as he swept me while I was off balance, my nose stinging as it hit the rocky ground.
"Right, everyone in this world is hooked on that Kung Fu shit" I whispered to myself with an eye roll, my bending was basically that to be fair, though the sharp movements of earthbending felt like they would pack a punch. I resisted the urge to bend even as my hand touched the Yard's ground and felt it ready to be moved.
Getting up from the ground I was able to block a punch with my forearm, I took the opportunity to grab his own extended right arm, he tried to pull it back but I was quite a bit physically stronger and heavier.
Well, when you can't beat them with your hands throw them to the ground. He tried to kick me as I lunged for a tackle but I clearly took him by surprise grabbing his extended leg and thigh I picked him up. A hammer fist to the face was barely even felt as picked him up into the air and slammed him down against the stone ground of the yard.
The crowd seemed to almost explode with cheers even more so when I fell down on the kid's prone form with a hammer fist right to the chin, I hit him a few more times before I was roughly pulled back.
I shook my head and realized that I let the adrenaline get the best of me as two guards went to help the probably unconscious kid. I huffed as I was forced against the ground by two guards an arm being bent behind my back.
"Get the Warden! He will want to know what just happened." One of the older guards said with a huff, "As for you, well I'm sure you will find solitary confinement comfortable while you wait"
I glared at nothing but sighed. Nothing to be done now, I at least managed to keep my earthbending secret.