Chapter Seven
Training
Jong Jong left Aang on the hilltop. He had told the avatar to focus on his breathing, despite Aang telling him he knew how to breathe already. The firebending master ignored his protestations and left. Now Aang sat breathing, a bit dramatically, completely disgruntled.
Aang sucked in a huge breath, and then exhaled it forcefully. Leaves and small stones scattered from around him and dust billowed up in a great cloud. Aang coughed violently, eyes watering from the dust. He smacked himself on the forehead and continued breathing, if a bit less forcefully. He could see the camp in the near distance and just barely make out the shape of Sokka. He seemed to be talking with one of Jong Jong's men. The man drew a sword and showed Sokka, who took it and started swinging it clumsily, as if swinging a willow switch at a cluster of flies. What were they doing down there?
He scanned around the rest of the camp looking for Katara, when at first he couldn't find her he lost focus on his breathing. Where had she gone? He was considering going to look for her when she emerged from one of the huts carrying something. A woman followed her out and Katara bowed to her, Aang assumed it was in thanks for whatever it was she was carrying, And then Katara turned and walked toward Appa.
Aang shook his head and closed his eyes. He was supposed to be learning firebending, wasn't he? He returned his attention to his breathing. He could feel the gentle warmth of the late winter sun on his face, the morning light giving faint relief from the chill of the season. He breathed, slowly, and tried to focus on the action. Though he tried to focus, his mind kept wandering. What did a firebender know of breathing that an airbender did not? The monks had trained him in the practice since his earliest days at the temple. All airbenders had to master the breath if they were to survive the frigid temperatures in the mountains where they made their homes. An airbender cooled or heated themselves through the power of their own breath. It was why he didn't wear a heavy parka like his friends when he visited the south pole, or use a sleeping bag at night.
Be it in the coldest seas or the hottest desert, no airbender would succumb to temperatures of either extreme. Nonetheless, Jong Jong had told him to breathe and now breathe he would. He took short, shallow breaths. He took long deep breaths. He took measured breaths, holding them for long intervals before letting them out again. He breathed until his back ached from sitting and the sun hung high above him.
After what felt like hours he opened his eyes. This was getting ridiculous. If all that Jong Jong would teach was to breathe then he would be better served going directly to the north pole and finding Jong Jong or someone else after he mastered water and earthbending. He stood up and stretched, before turning on his heel and walking down the path that he had come up. He would go to Jong Jong and demand to learn something else.
As he descended the hill, he thought about Sozin's comet. He had so much to learn and so little time. Sure, he had master airbending incredibly early, but now he had to master water, earth, and fire in less than eight months. Eight months before he had to defeat the man who was probably the most powerful firebender in the world. A grown man, who had spent a lifetime firebending, always honing his skills to retain his throne. And now Aang, at the age of twelve, had to master all of the elements in a matter of months to defeat him.
Aang hopped on the stones crossing the river. He had to learn firebending as quickly as possible. How was going to be able to defeat the firelord otherwise? Even if he mastered the elements, he was afraid that he would still fail. Just as he had failed to protect the air nomads a century ago. How could he possibly defeat Ozai? He was still just a kid.
Aang could see Jong Jong's hut, it wasn't far now. Less than a hundred steps. As he made the final approach, Jong Jong exited the small building. When he saw Aang he scowled. "What are you doing here?! You were to stay on that hill until I told you otherwise." Jong Jong said, walking towards Aang.
"I know how to sit and I know how to breathe! I don't have time to learn it again! I have to master all of the elements in only a few months! You need to teach me real firebending!" Aang said angrily, eyebrows furrowed in defiance.
"You must learn patience before you learn firebending!" Jong Jong growled.
"I learned patience long ago! But now I do not have time for patience, and the world doesn't either. I must defeat the firelord before summer's end!" Aand said, shouting now.
Jong Jong sighed, and then nodded. "Fine. Come with me to the river." And with that he walked past Aang to the flowing water beyond. As they walked, Aang was surprised that Jong Jong had agreed so easily. He figured that Jong Jong would refuse him, and that he would have to leave for the north pole, and find a new teacher later.
Aang couldn't say he was disappointed by the development, but he was still surprised. Jong Jong led him to a small island in the river, barely more than a few boulders and some dirt really. Aang was told to sit on one of the rocks, and so he sat, lotus style, while he watched the firebender.
Jong Jong plucked a falling leaf from the air. He pinched it between his thumb and forefinger, and a small plume of smoke rose from between them. Jong Jong presented the leaf to Aang. "Keep the fire from reaching the edges of the leaf. I will return in a few hours, and if you have not let the leaf burn or the fire go out, we shall move on."
Aang focused on the leaf as Jong Jong left him. He tried to make the flame stop, but it ignored him. He tried again, this time focusing on his breathing and the fire stopped spreading. It flared in time with his breath, and he managed to keep the flame from moving.
Aang focused on the flame for a while, watching it respond to his breathing. He exhaled sharply and the fire grew larger, expanding outwards towards the edges of the leaf. Aang drew in a hasty breath, letting it out slowly. The fire calmed again, and Aang smiled. He closed his eyes and could feel the fire's energy. He felt it change in time with his breathing. He stayed like that for what could have been minutes or hours, he wasn't sure. When he opened his eyes again he saw that the sun had barely progressed any further in voyage across the azure sky.
Aang sagged, exasperated. He had learned patience from the monks, but that didn't mean that he liked being patient. He exhaled carelessly and the leaf burst into flames. Aang blanched, shocked at how quickly it had gone awry. Now the leaf was destroyed and the fire went out. All that remained was a faint clow on the edges of the blackened and charred husk of the leaf.
Well, Aang thought, he had already failed the exercise. He might as well try and bend real fire right? He drew in a breath and let it out forcefully. The ember flared into fire and Aang scooped it up, watching it hover above his open palm. He tossed it to the other hand and it billowed in the air, stretching and growing as it made its way to the opposite palm.
Aang laughed with delight. He pushed his hand into the air above him, exhaling as he did so. The fire shot into the sky a few feet. Aang stood up and aimed for the river, loosing a punch like he had seen Zuko do countless times before. Fire roared from his fist and hit the river. The water hissed and steamed, creating a cloud of mist that wafted in the winter air.
He jumped into the air and started raining down punches of flame into the river. When he landed he shot a wide sweeping kick out across the water towards the shore opposite the camp. A wide swath of flame swept across the surface, and collided with the opposite bank, setting the forest ablaze.!
Aang cried out in dismay. He had started a forest fire! How could he have been so careless? Jong Jong has said that fire was dangerous and would destroy everything it touches if not controlled! Monkey feathers!
Aang lept to the shore and tried his best to extinguish the flames, blasting them with airbending. Unfortunately that only made things worse. The fire roared and started to spread even faster. Aang tried to quench the flames with water from the river, but he wasn't a skilled enough waterbender to move more than a bucket's worth of water. He remembered how his breathing had dimmed the flame of the leaf, and so he extended his arms and tried to calm the flame with his breathing.
To Aang's astonishment that seemed to work. The fire shrank and then went out. He exhaled and said, "Thank goodness," before he felt the presence of someone behind him. He turned around to see Jong Jong standing on the small island, arms outstretched before him, fingers splayed.
Aang waved and gave a nervous laugh, but Jong Jong only glared at him with fury in his eyes. Aang swallowed and approached the firebender. He knew he had made a mistake, an enormous mistake. If Jong Jong hadn't put out the fire as soon as he did, there was no telling how much worse it could have been. The fire had raged for a few seconds at most, yet it had destroyed dozens of feet of forest, leaving the trees blackened and charred as had the attack on Hei Bai's forest.
"I knew you weren't ready. I foresaw only disaster should I train you now. You lack discipline, just as one of my students before. He did not care for what was burned, he only sought to destroy. And now you have done the same." Jong Jong said, turning his back on Aang.
"Why did you agree to teach me if you thought something like this was going to happen?" Aang asked as Jong Jong walked away. The man stopped at his question, hands clasped behind his back. He was silent for a while and then he spoke. "Your predecessor appeared before me in your stead. He warned me that you must master the elements and defeat the firelord before summer's end, and then you would face an even greater threat. But you are not yet ready to learn firebending, and so you must leave this place come morning."
"What do you mean greater threat? What could be worse than fighting the firelord? Please! You have to tell me!' Aang pleaded with Jong Jong, but the deserter simply walked away, and Aang pleas fell on deaf ears.
Sokka looked at the top of a hill not too far away. A cloud of dust had covered the top of it and he could just barely make out Aang through the dust as he coughed and spluttered. A few weeks ago he might have laughed at the sight of an airbender coughing on a dust cloud he had made himself, but now he didn't feel mirthful. Instead he just watched with a mild indifference. He turned away and approached a man with a sword at his hip.
"Nice sword." He said before introducing himself. "I'm Sokka. My sister Katara and I are traveling with the avatar to help him defeat the fire nation."
"Thanks! I made it myself when I studied under Master Piandao. The name's Shing." The man said, extending a hand towards Sokka. They exchanged grips and Shing drew his sword and showed it to Sokka. Sokka admired the blade for a few moments. Sokka didn't know much about swords, his tribe fought with machetes and spears mostly, but he thought that Shing's blade must be a pretty good one.
"May I?" Sokka asked as he gestured towards the grip. Shing nodded and offered the sword to him. Taking it in hand, Sokka gave it a few practice swings. They were clumsy and graceless but Sokka found that the weapon felt good in his hands.
"It's called Foe Biter." Shing said, as Sokka made an awkward thrust at an invisible enemy. With the sword extended before him Sokka noticed the stylized imprint of a flower, vaguely reminiscent of a lotus tile.
"Good name." Sokka said, offering the sword back to Shing, who took it and replaced it in its scabbard gracefully. Shing looked thoughtfully at Sokka for a moment before speaking again.
"I take it that was the first time you held a sword like this?"
Sokka nodded. Shing rubbed his chin, and then spoke again. "I can show you a thing or two. I'm not much of a sword master, but I think I can teach you some of the basics while the avatar learns from the master."
"Really? I'd like that." Sokka said, thinking it would be good to grow his skill as a warrior, even if it was just the basics of swordplay, it might just save his life, or Katara's. Once more the echo of Koh's word rang in his mind. She will die.
"Sure thing!" Shing said, waving for Sokka to follow him. They walked to the outskirts of the camp where a clearing of packed earth formed a ring. There were three training dummies at one end, and Sokka assumed that this was where the men trained. Shing pulled two wooden swords from a barrel and gave one to Sokka.
"Alright," He said, "Look at how I've placed my feet."
Sokka looked, and tried his best to imitate him. Shing nudged his lead foot with the tip of his sword, and Sokka adjusted accordingly. Shing nodded, before standing beside Sokka and raising his weapon.
"This is a high guard," He said, "From here you can block from a mounted opponent or deliver a powerful strike." he demonstrated, stepping forward quickly and slicing through the air. Sokka replicated the movement, but instead of the graceful swing of the older man, he stumbled clumsy and off balance.
"You've got to keep your other arm extended behind you for balance. Like this," He said, showing Sokka how he kept his free hand out, two fingers extended. "Imagine the sword as an extension of your body, not as a tool."
Sokka nodded, replicating Shings movements, and managing it better than he had before. They practiced a few different forms: High guard, low guard, parries, thruts, a wide swing that was meant to deter anyone from coming too near. A few moves that would hamper the attacks of earth and firebenders. Shing told Sokka to practice the movement and strike the training dummies, and he spent much of the rest of the morning doing just that.
Once Shing was satisfied with Sokka's grasp of rudimental swordplay they faced off against each other. While Sokka's speed and reflexes had been enhanced by his deal with the face stealer, he was still no match for Shing. He was defeated easily, never coming close to landing a blow.
"Pay attention to your footwork, it will save your life in battle. Don't get distracted!" He said, striking Sokka on the top of his head when he looked toward his feet. "On the battlefield there are ten thousand things clamoring for your attention! You must take them all in without losing focus."
At Shing's words an idea began to take shape in Sokka's mind. While he parried a blow from the older man, he reached for the void. This time he found it waiting for him. He entered the void and felt more of himself fall away than it had before, leaving a sharp and cold clarity in its wake.
When he faced Shing again, he noticed a slight tension in the man's neck before he struck. Shings sword stabbed towards Sokka's chest and he managed to parry, before stepping to one side and swinging his sword towards his opponent. Shing leaned back and avoided the blow deftly, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. Sokka's stabbed forward, aiming for Shing's stomach and shing turned aside, but not with getting struck on the arm.
"That is much better!" Shing exclaimed, "Now let's work on that footwork!"
They spent the rest of the day sparring and working on other factors of being a proficient swordsman. Sokka had managed to get a few more blows in, but Shing was by far the more skilled with a blade. Sokka made an astounding amount of progress in a single day, and Shing said as much. The two of them returned their training weapons to the barrel, and Sokka left the void. As soon as he did, the dozens of bumps and bruises he had received through the day roared to the forefront of his mind. He had felt them, the sting of getting them and the dull ache that had formed slowly afterwards, but while in the trance he hadn't cared. Now that he had returned to himself all he could do was say, "Ow. That stuff hurt a lot."
Shing laughed, and then spoke. "It's good you were able to ignore it for so long. I'm impressed. If only you could have trained with my master, he could have taken you further than I ever will."
"Oh yeah, you mentioned him. Master Piano right?" Sokka said, massaging his arm.
"Piandao, actually." Shing said, pulling a rag from his pocket and whipping his face. "He's the best sword master in fire nation history, probably in the whole world."
"Well, if he's fire nation, I probably won't get the opportunity to train with him. I doubt he'd want to train somebody from the southern water tribe." Sokka said, slightly disappointed.
"You might be surprised. My master once told me that the way of the sword doesn't belong to one nation, but to all."
"He sounds pretty wise." Sokka said.
"Yeah, he is." Shing said in return. With that they bowed to each other and Sokka returned to where he and the others slept. When he got there he sat on a tree stump, exhausted, he had learned much about combat that day. And he had managed to reach the void easily. He wondered if he could do so again now.
He reached for the void, and he found it. He thought that must come easier the more often he reached for it. As he let the vast emptiness fill his mind, he remembered the light from the lanterns when he faced Zuko. He had done… whatever it was that had happened. He wasn't really sure what to call it. He hadn't so much affected the light… it was more like he had pulled the shadows. He thought about the sensation, the tugging in his mind.
He picked up a stick from the ground next to him and drove it into the dirt. The piece of wood stood maybe three feet high. The sun was beginning to fall towards the horizon and the world was bathed in a soft orange glow. The stick that Sokka had placed cast a long and thin shadow across the ground, stretching away from him to one side.
Sokka, still engulfed by the void, focused on the shadow and tried to replicate the tugging sensation. He found in the back of his mind a sort of connection that hadn't always been there, like a handle of some kind. He pulled on it and the shadow moved towards him, stretching out towards his feet. It passed across open ground, where it should not have been able to go, until it joined with his own. When the two shadows met they grew darker, harder to see into. Sokka heard someone approaching, and released the shadows and the void. When he returned to himself, he felt the tugging turn to pain. It wasn't as intense as it had been after he had faced Zuko. He thought it was because head done less this time.
Sokka looked up to see Katara walking towards him. She held up a rolled scroll, bound with a piece of string.
"I finished it! I finished the letter!" She said with a smile, and Sokka nodded. He took the letter and stowed it on his belt satchel, making sure that it was closed securely within.
Katara looked him up and down before frowning. "Why are you so beat up?"
"I was learning to sword fight with Shing, one of Jong Jong's men. He's quite a bit better than I am though," Sokka said with a smile. "What have you been up to?"
"I was trying to write that letter," Katara said, "It took a while to decide on what I wanted to say, but I got it eventually. After that I just refilled our supplies."
"That's good. I was worried we'd have to stop again. The food we got from those bandits was running out. We still have most of their money though," Sokka said. He got up and started fishing through their bags. "I'm kind of hungry, so let's eat now. I don't know when Aang is going to get back so there's not much point waiting for him."
Sokka continued rummaging through the bags looking for some of the older supplies so that they wouldn't go to waste, when he felt something sharp against his thumb. He stopped digging and brought out the object so that he wouldn't cut himself. He examined it, and found it was a black bladed knife. He stared at it for a second before he realized that it was the one that the bandit had stuck his arm with. Had the blade always been that color?
His thoughts were interrupted when Aang sat down loudly next to Katara. Sokka turned his attention onto the avatar, and was surprised to see an ashamed expression on his face. He exchanged a look with Katara.
"Uh, how was your first day of firebender training?" Katara asked apprehensively. Aang sagged and shook his head.
"Bad."
Zuko breathed out and unleashed a whip of fire at his training partner, a firebender named Tahno. Tahno ducked under the whip, and punched two gouts of flame at Zuko, who dissipated them each in turn by swinging his forearms vertically in front of him. The two stood facing each other, and Tahn stuck first. He leaped into the air and launched a spinning kick, unleashing a wave of fire at the prince. Zuko brought his hands together and divided the wave to either side of him, before pushing his fists back and using his bending to speed his approach towards Tahno.
Tahno took a defensive stance and moved to shoot another fireball at Zuko, who hooked rolled to his back beneath the attack and swung his legs around, knocking Tahn off balance. Tahn stumbled and fell to his stomach, rolling to his back to find Zuko's fist inches from his face.
"That's two out of three victories, Prince Zuko." Iroh said, sipping his tea calmly. "You have improved greatly since the south pole."
"Thank you, uncle." Zuko said, before bowing to Tahno. The firebender returned his bow before departing. Zuko walked to the ship's gunnel, looking out over the sea. Waves rose and fell, cresting gently before collapsing into themselves. The light of the midday sun shone onto the ocean, illuminating the spray like hundreds of molten diamonds.
Zuko thought of his sister. Azula, a prodigious firebender, had always been more skilled than him. She had mastered the basics of the art when she was only seven years old, and their father had taken to her then like a moth to a flame. Zuko was the first born, he was the heir, but his father hardly cared. No, Oza only saw Azula. He had left Zuko by the wayside and trained Azula personally. When he had taken her under his direct tutelage in firebending, Azula began to treat Zuko harshly. No more did she follow him around the palace as she had in her earliest years. In their early childhood Azula had always been at Zuko's heels. She would ask him what he was doing, she would try and join in his games, she would try and get him to read aloud his books and scrolls. Zuko had always brushed her off, pushing her away. Looking back, it wasn't such a shock that his sister had developed such animosity towards him, especially after their mother disappeared and she was left with just their father to look up to. Their mother, Ursa, had been a soothing influence on their relationship.
Zuko reached up to touch the tip of his nose absently. He could almost feel his mother pinching it between her knuckles. She would do that to both him and Azula, pinching gently before saying that she loved them. It was a game they would play, the children would try to escape and their mother would catch them, pinching their noses and telling them of her love.
"But is it enough, I wonder." His uncle spoke, bringing Zuko out of the past and into the present. He had been lost in thought. Now that the day's training had concluded, the memories stirred up by Azula traveling with Zhao had bubbled to the fore of his mind. Why he was remembering his early childhood, the sweet girl who had acted as his shadow around the palace, rather than the antagonizing young woman she had become before his banishment, he couldn't say.
"Azula has mastered firebending by now," Zuko said, turning to his uncle. "I don't have the shadow of doubt in my mind. If she decides to fight me she will bring forth fire and lightning, I'm certain of it."
Iroh stroked the beard on his chin, looking thoughtful for a moment. He stood up and spoke, "If you are to face Azula, then you must master lightning as well."
The older man began pacing in front of Zuko, stroking his beard all the while. "It is not for nothing that lightning is called the cold blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, much like Azula and my brother. When you generate lightning you must separate the positive and negative energy within you and bring them together at the precise moment, otherwise the energy will backfire and explode. Observe."
Iroh stopped pacing and began to cycle his arms, in short precise motions with two fingers extended on each hand. As he moved, electricity began to coalesce around him, and the air snapped and popped around him. He extended his hands, one behind and the other before. Lightning shot into the sky with a roar of thunder.
Iroh waved his hands to clear away the smoke that trickled from them before turning to Zuko. "You must follow my motions, forcing the energy apart and bring them together at the exact moment of release."
Zuko stood and copied his uncle, moving his arms in the same fashion iroh did. No electricity formed around him, and when he tried to release the energy an explosion blossomed before him, throwing him back across the deck.
Iroh frowned. He hadn't expected his nephew to succeed, but this failure was a little… more than he anticipated. He wasn't sure what the reason was, but he was beginning to suspect that he was conflicted. The avatar had saved him from near certain death, Zhao had betrayed him by treating him like a criminal. And now Ozai had sent Azula…
Zuko got up and returned to his earlier position. He tried again, to the same effect. He tried again, and he kept trying. He continued on for hours, his uncle correcting his form. He tried and tried until Iroh stopped him.
"Your form is perfect, Prince Zuko. Further practice will do little to help you master lightning. Whatever it is that prevents you from mastering lightning is inside. You must master yourself, your emotions and inner conflict are keeping you from separating the energies properly."
Zuko sagged. Inner conflict? He wasn't sure what his uncle meant, he didn't feel conflicted. Well, maybe a little. As he pondered his uncle's words, he spotted something towards the eastern horizon, a faint pillar of smoke. He wondered what it was when his uncle drew his attention away from it.
"But in the meantime, I can teach you something that even Azula doesn't know, because I made it up myself." Iroh said with a grin, jabbing a thumb towards his belly.
"Let me sum it up," Katara said, "You started a forest fire, Jong Jong has stopped teaching you, and now there's a bigger threat than the fire nation?"
She counted each point by raising a finger. Aang frowned, nodding.
"And Jong Jong wouldn't tell me what it is, only that Roku appeared before him saying he must teach me and that I have an even greater threat ahead of me." Aang said, looking as anxious as Katara had ever seen him.
Katara tapped a finger to her chin, thinking. Roku hadn't told Aang about this second problem during the solstice, but they hadn't had much time together. Maybe he had limited their conversation to the fire nation because it had to be dealt with first?
"It sounds like you need to talk with Roku again," She said, "Maybe you should try crossing into the spirit world tonight. If we have to leave in the morning then this might be our last chance for a while. It's safer to do it here than in the woods somewhere anyone might find us."
"That's probably a good idea," Aang said. "I don't want to wait until we get to the north pole or for the summer solstice."
"And Sokka can go with you." Katara said, looking over to her brother who didn't react at all.
"Why would Sokka come into the spirit world with me?" Aang said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Sokka was the one to answer his question.
"I want to look for our mom. Katara and I figured that if Kuruk and Laghima are there then she might be too."
"Uh, I don't know Sokka," Aang said, scratching his head awkwardly. "Kuruk was the avatar and Laghima was a guru, she might not be there."
Katara's face fell at that, but Sokka just shrugged. "It's worth a shot. My instincts tell me she is."
Aang nodded and beckoned Sokka to sit across from him. They sat in lotus style and waited, Aang focusing on his breathing, feeling the life energy around him. Sokka, for his part, opened his third eye, and then reached for the void. He found it, but his hold on it was tenuous. He let go and looked at Aang. With his third sight opened, he could see the energy flowing through the Avatar. Watching the energy calmed Sokka , and he reached again for the void. He grasped it and pulled himself into the vast emptiness, as wide and barren as the clear sky.
They sat like that for a time, and then Aang tattoos began to glow. Sokka saw his friend leave his body and shoot upwards into the sky. He closed his eyes and moments later he felt as though he was falling downwards into nothingness, and endless dark abyss.
Zhao read the scroll again. The avatar had been seen in the Ilah colony, only a few dozen miles up river.. Only a few hours from where he was now. He would have to inform the princess of course, or he would be cast into suspicion and his accusation against Zuko may be discredited. He had to play this carefully, otherwise his and his allies' plans would fall to nothing.
He thought for a moment before deciding on a course of action. He turned to one of his guards. "Take this to the princess, and ready the riverboats. We're going fishing ."
