Despite King Bumi's connections to the White Lotus, he was still deeply off-putting and Lu Ten and Ayeshi wasted no time in getting back on the road. They left the palace with well-wishes from King Bumi and a bag of rock candy.

"I don't remember Omashu being that weird." said Ayeshi as they tramped up the dusty road. "Then again, I didn't meet King Bumi the first time I was there."

"You have to wonder what's in their water supply." Lu Ten muttered. "When I was in the colonies with the army, we saw a village that had water pollution from a nearby weapons factory. It wasn't pretty."

"I think it's just King Bumi that's like that. He's just senile. Hey, let me see the map."

Lu Ten unfolded the map from his pocket and handed it to her. "One of the palace guards told me we can rent a boat somewhere, either at Chin Village or Kyoshi Island. Let's just do Chin Village, it's closer."

"Oh, but we have to stop at Kyoshi Island." said Ayeshi. "We've come all this way, we might as well. Kyoshi's so cool. She's our earth bending avatar!"

"I had no idea you were such a Kyoshi fan."

"There's a lot of things you still don't know about me, hotman. To Kyoshi!"

Lu Ten shrugged. "To Kyoshi, then."

Ayeshi was indeed a dedicated Kyoshi fan, and told Lu Ten everything she knew on the journey there. He wondered how, in their two years together, Kyoshi had never come up. They'd even talked about world history together, trying to assess where the gaps were in Fire Nation school curricula were.

"Did I tell you about the warriors?" Ayeshi's voice jolted him out of his reverie as they tramped down yet another forest path.

"No. I don't think so."

"Right. There's a whole group of warriors on the island that still fight with her unique style. And the thing is, a lot of them aren't even benders. Everyone values bending so much, but those girls show that anyone can fight and protect themselves, bending or no."

"They're all girls?"

"Yup. I know, you don't see female warriors around, but these ones can and do fight."

"Female warriors weren't uncommon in the Fire Nation," Lu Ten mused, "but I certainly don't recall ever seeing all-female units."

"When I was little, the Kyoshi Warriors passed though my village. They were all so cool, I was instantly wowed by them. One of them gave me a flower crown she'd made on the road. For a long time I wanted to run away and join them, but that wasn't really an option for me."

Lu Ten nodded. "Well, now we'll get to see them up close."

They arrived at Kyoshi Island by ferry a few days later, after passing through Chin village. The Island was beautiful, a collection of snow-covered hills surrounding a little village. The air was colder here, and Lu Ten could tell they were getting closer to the south pole. Another indicator was the people dressed in both blue and green, and several Water-Tribe style ships docked at the port.

They made their way to the center of the village where a large statue of Avatar Kyoshi stood, worn and weathered by years of sea wind.

"That's really her." Ayeshi's dark eyes were unreadable as she gazed up at the statue. "An icon." she whispered.

Girls in armor and bold makeup were starting to emerge from buildings in the square, watching Lu Ten and Ayeshi with sharp eyes. The tallest one flipped open her metal war fan and approached. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, we're just travelers passing through." Lu Ten stammered, trying not to go cross-eyed as he stared at the sharp metal fan. "We mean no harm."

"And how do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?" The girl's blue eyes glinted like steel.

"We're just stopping here because we're both fans of Avatar Kyoshi!" Ayeshi piped up. "We're both impressed by how strong and capable a bender she was, especially when she took down Chin the Conqueror and created Kyoshi Island! Oh, and, meeting her warriors is a dream come true for me!"

The warrior stared at them a minute longer, then relaxed and folded her fan. "Stand down, girls!" She turned back to them. "My name is Polna, and I'm the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. It's always nice to meet a fan. If you have time we could show you a few fighting moves."

Ayeshi spluttered in pure surprise and glee.

"That means yes." Lu Ten said. "She'd be honored. I'm Lee, by the way, and this is Ayeshi. Now, do you know if we would be able to rent a boat here?"

"Polna frowned for a moment. "Probably. I'm not sure who has one . . ."

"They should check with Suki's dad." another girl piped up.

"Right!" said Polna. "Suki, can you help these two get themselves a boat?"

One of the smaller Kyoshi warriors came over. "Hi. I'm Suki. I can help you rent a boat."

"Good to meet you, Suki." said Lu Ten. "We need something that can safely take us to the south pole."

"We have lots of those." said Suki as she lead them down toward a boathouse. "We have a lot of tourists come through on their way to Whale Tail Island, and we do a lot of trading with the Southern Water Tribe so all our boats are designed to withstand the elements."

"Suki!" another voice called. "Suki! What are you doing?" A gangly teenage boy was running toward them. "Who are these guys?"

"This is Lee and Ayeshi, and they want to rent a boat. This is my boyfriend, Yun."

"Pleased to meet you." said Yun. "What brings you to Kyoshi Island?"

"We're on a mission." said Lu Ten. "We're looking for someone."

Yun nodded. "Lots of people look for other people. Did you know there's people looking for the avatar, even though he hasn't been seen in a hundred years?"

"Lu Ten nodded. "We're not looking for the avatar though. We're looking for my cousin."

"That's cool. But it would way cooler if someone actually found the avatar. Why, if we ever got to see the avatar, I think—I think I'd start foaming at the mouth!"

"Very nice." Suki was unimpressed. "Yun, why don't you go see if my dad needs any help with his fishing nets?"

Yun nodded and scrambled out of the room.

"Anyway. This vessel should get you safely to the south pole, plus it's small enough for you two to sail. What are you doing at the south pole anyway?"

"Uh . . . we're looking for my cousin." Lu Ten stammered. "Yes, my dear cousin, uh, Kanji. He was part of the Earth Kingdom military but he was working with the Southern Water Tribe. He went missing somewhere down south recently, so Ayeshi and I are trying to find him."

"So unfortunate, about dear Kanji." Ayeshi added.

Suki nodded. "I hope you find him. Conditions are brutal at the south pole. Now, a boat like this requires both a rental fee and some collateral. Do you have something valuable you can leave here until you return?"

"Will you take an army sword?" Lu Ten removed his old army sword from his pack.

Suki's eyes narrowed. "That's a Fire Nation sword. What are you playing at?"

"Uh . . . I took it from a dead Fire Nation soldier. It's a well-made sword, I figured I might as well put it to use."

Suki raised her eyebrows. "Alright then. I'll take it as collateral."

"Please take good care of it. It may be Fire Nation, but it's a nice sword."

"Ok." Suki tossed the sword into a pile of other weapons. "Well, you're all set with this boat. When are you leaving?"

"Uh . . . tomorrow morning, right?"

Ayeshi nodded. "Tomorrow morning. Polna said I could have some fighting lessons, so we'll do that this afternoon."

Polna was waiting for them in the training room, holding an extra set of their metal war fans. "You ready to get started?"

Ayeshi nodded. "This is a dream come true!"

"We usually don't teach outsiders our ways, but we make exceptions for diehard Kyoshi fans like you. We also make exceptions for women traveling with himbos like him, to make sure he learns his place."

"Wha—my boyfriend is not a himbo!"

"He looks like one."

"I'm not a himbo!" said Lu Ten. "I'm just a guy who likes sword fighting!" And fire bending, but he didn't dare mention that here.

"Why don't you prepare for your journey?" Polna said. "We'll teach Ayeshi some moves in the meantime." She handed the fan to her.

The fan felt heavy and strange in Ayeshi's hands. She flicked her wrist and it snapped open with a metallic clang.

"Think of the fan as an extension of your arm." Said Polna. "Watch your opponent carefully, and when your opportunity comes—strike!"

Ayeshi gripped the fan a little harder. "I've been a fan of the Kyoshi warriors for a while, but I'm not sure I'm a fighter. I mostly cook."

"Everyone has fighting spirit in them somewhere." said Polna. "Think of something that makes you angry, something that you can channel your rage. You use knives when you cook, right?"

Ayeshi paused. The Fire Nation. The Fire Nation made her angry. They'd destroyed her home village, taken her father, and caused so much devastation. But the Fire Nation had dropped her Lu Ten on her doorstep through war, and kept him there to save Ba Sing Se. Ayeshi tried thinking of Fire Lord Ozai and of how he'd hurt Prince Zuko. It could've been Lu Ten, in another lifetime. She growled in frustration and lashed forward with the fan.

"Nice!" Polna blocked the strike. "That's the spirit! What did you think of?"

"People who try to hurt my loved ones."

"Nice. Go again."

Ayehsi struck again, this time grabbing Polna's wrist with her other hand. Polna spun around and came from behind, and Ayeshi swung her leg out just in time to knock Polna off her feet.

"Wow." Polna picked herself up off the floor. "You've got some fighter in you after all."

"I did try to kill a man once, with just a knife."

Polna stared at her for a moment. "I'm not sure how much training you really need, then."

"I couldn't go through with it. I'm glad I didn't go through with it."

"Of course. There's more to being a warrior than senseless violence, and we Kyoshi warriors don't like to kill any more than we have to. Sometimes holding back is a sign of strength."

"I didn't feel strong, in the moment. I felt weak. The strength didn't sink in until later."

Polna nodded quietly. "Strength comes from unusual places sometimes. Do you want to re-visit that kick you tried? If you apply the force correctly, you could probably knock down an opponent twice your size. Try it on Jina."

Ayeshi squared off against Jina, who was very tall and muscular. Jina swung forward with her fan and Ayeshi ducked, trying to flank her.

"Nice job!" Polna shouted. "Way to use your height difference to your advantage!"

Jina tried kick Ayeshi, who jumped back. Jina reached out and grabbed Ayeshi's wrist, flinging her down onto her bottom.

"Good effort, for a newbie." said Jina. "If your relationship with the himbo doesn't work out, you can come back here and join up with us."

"I told you, he's not a himbo. He's sweet, and kind, and so so wonderful . . ."

"It sound like she has enough on her plate." Suki had entered the room. "Apparently her boyfriend's cousin Kanji went missing, and they're gonna try to find him."

"That's right. Dear cousin Kanji. We need to find him, poor soul."

"Poor thing." said Polna. "Being lost in the southern seas is rough. You should get some sleep. You'll need your strength for the journey."