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A/N; I am entirely reader-supported. Here are my special thanks to those of you who enjoy my writing enough to support me with your hard earned money on my pa-atreon page. Not just them though, special thanks to everyone who even just reads this story, reviews it, favourites or follows it. You're the reason I keep going. Thank you. Welcome to this new story, feel free to check out my other work if this is your first.
"Do you know what this means?" Grandfather asked for what felt like the seventeenth time as he stared at me. My display of lightning bending had placed the man in a state of simultaneous shock and amazement as he both tried to figure out what to say and tried to think of a way to express what he felt. I mean, I could understand where he was coming from. Lightning bending was pretty much limited to the royal family almost exclusively.
"When you display this talent, the royal family will be the ones begging you to marry Princess Azula '' or they'd send assassins after my head, I silently added at the end of his sentence. He was right though. If they weren't going to kill me, then the royal family just might actually end up marrying into mine to make me one of them. Grandfather's obsession with a royal match still didn't make complete sense to me, but I knew he was right. Talent like what I had now would open a lot of doors for me. If I didn't get killed, that is. Sure, my name prevented me from just disappearing into the night, but being given an impossible mission that practically assured my death was also a possibility.
Sure, without knowing that the royal family was insane as could be, one would never be able to guess just what they were capable of. Unlike Grandfather, I had a pretty good idea from the series, so I was careful and wary. Wary of what could happen but still willing to go along with Grandfather's plan for the time being.
A closer relationship with Azula might make me able to prevent her descent into madness, and maybe even mould her into something resembling a competent fire lady. "Yes, Grandfather" I said, and he smiled in pride.
"Good, my boy. Keep practising. Never stop. All your firebending training will have to be cut in half to keep you energised and give you time to work on this. How many bolts do you think you can generate in a day?" he asked, sensing my tiredness.
"Right now, three. Maybe four if I push myself."
"Good. Let's see if we can get that up to ten by the end of the break" He said. Even though I knew he knew less about this than I did, something about the way he seemed assured as he created a training plan in front of me made me believe in him and trust his words.
XXXXX
I went through the motions for the fourth time today, and the sky was split asunder again as my lightning tore through the clouds. Fuck. My body. I dropped to my knees, breathing heavily, trying to get what oxygen I could into my body. I'd been training my lightning bending for two weeks now, and it still felt draining to use each and every time. Less draining than it had at the beginning, but still much more taxing than any other form of firebending I could do.
Grandfather applauded from off to the side. "That was faster than usual. Again" He said and I stood up with sheer willpower and took my stance again. This time, when I separated the energies; yin and yang, it was easy. They didn't fight to be with each other as intensely as they used to, and when I lashed them together and guided the lightning, it felt so easy and smooth. It felt normal to me and I stared at my fingers with shock as I left the stance I'd used to generate the energy.
"Do you feel something different?" Grandfather asked, and I was unable to reply as I fell unconscious.
XXXXX
"And you say you were lightning bending?" The crone asked as she laid a hand above my chest. The flames in her hands made me a bit nervous, but Grandfather seemed to trust her.
"Yes I was."
"Yin and Yang. You tore them apart too smoothly. They remain separate even now, that is why your bending feels different."
"How do we fix it?" I asked her, feeling my heart jump to my throat in fear.
"You don't. Give it time. A few days. I advise you to stop pushing the limits of lightning so thoroughly. There is a reason the technique has seen little development since the day it was discovered. The cold blooded fire is dangerous, both to train and to experiment with. It is my advice that you pause your practice with it, especially at your age. To separate ones positive and negative energies could have unforeseen effects for one so young. We do not know enough about the technique or its users to tell, but surely none of them had been as young as eleven years of age" The woman said before standing up and exchanging greetings with Grandfather before leaving.
After that day, firebending training had been difficult to come by. Grandfather limited our sessions to one hour in every two days and scrapped my private practice. The threat of me accidentally permanently crippling my firebending talent with overtraining had been too much for the man to accept, so he did his best to reduce the possibility by making sure overtraining was no longer possible for me. Of course, that gave me more time to focus on training my body.
Hiroshi might have been a bastard, but he was competent. Competent enough to give me a personalised routine that actually had me feeling noticeable faster, stronger, and more energetic in months. Sticking with his routine helped my physical recovery and did have me feeling even stronger in the two months that the break was supposed to last. It was just too bad that I was going to be depriving quite a few people of the man's talents and tutillage. The school would find a replacement, Grandfather had assured, but I knew part of him hoped they didn't. Their reaction to my hospitalisation had been especially disappointing to the man, and he was altogether quite displeased with the place in general.
XXXXXX
In the end, the break went quickly. When we resumed, instead of orientation, we were left to our own devices until dinner time. I hadn't been to the room I shared with Toji yet as Grandfather had taken up residence in the guest wing of the school for the days leading up to the Agni Kai. This night was when I would place my formal challenge, and I adjusted my outfit in the mirror again to make sure I looked the part.
With the baby face I still had and my height, I was everything but imposing in my crimson red robes, but I didn't need to be. I just had to look good. That was one thing I was sure would work out perfectly. Looking good was one thing this body was born to do.
With my black hair even longer than it had previously been and reaching towards my shoulder blades, and my attractive features, I had hopes for a bright future. A very bright one.
When the bell rang for dinner, I waited a bit before making my way to the hall. After Lee, Toji and I had trashed Noaya and his bunch of idiots (along with a good portion of the hall) last time, the teachers had begun taking their meals with the students. Ostensibly to make sure we all complied with the school's dinner policy and rules. A directive that started to prevent me from causing trouble was actually going to end up being the mechanism for the latest bit of trouble I'd end up causing. The irony was real.
I walked in, ignoring the eyes that inevitably turned to me even as they increased as I got closer and closer to the front of the hall. I caught the principal's face as I made my walk, and the man just looked resigned. After he got it, it seemed the crowd only needed a few seconds extra to put together the cues from my attire to my demeanour to my destination. When I arrived in front of Hiroshi, I tossed a scroll on his empty plate. It was brown with a red bow around it to signify its contents. But it wasn't the contents that made the crowd go wild instead. It was how the scroll was delivered.
By tossing the scroll instead of passing it to him, I was making it known that I did not respect my opponent. I was basically saying Hiroshi had no honour and that I had no interest in associating with someone like that even if just to do something as minor as passing a scroll to him. Hiroshi purpled as he also understood what was happening, but before anyone could say anything and ruin the shock value, I was making my way out of the hall. "See you tomorrow, Hiroshi" I called out without even turning around to address him. If there was one thing guaranteed to get him pissed off and off his game, it would be that. Addressing him just with his first name and then speaking to him without even turning around to dignify him with eye contact. Oh, the dragon in his blood would be boiling.
XXXXXXXX
Agni Kai. Agni's sacred combat. The one way firebenders have settled their conflicts since time immemorial. It was so entrenched in our culture that for centuries, to refuse a challenge was to surrender oneself to exile from whatever civilization one had been a member of. Agni Kai's were still, to this day, used as a form of trial by combat in most of the fire courts. The only person immune to a challenge was the fire lord himself, and even he could not lightly turn one down. Only his position as Agni's representative on earth gave him the leeway to even consider it. For the rest of us mortals, it was unavoidable.
That's why I was unsurprised when Hiroshi arrived at the central courtyard just before dawn. The school was already gathered around us. Most of it, at least. Those who had classes this morning had found their classes rescheduled as the lecturers unanimously turned up. Whether it was to support one of their own or get the front row seats to his downfall, I could not tell. That was one of the things I hated most about firebenders. For people who wielded the element of raw passion, we could be shockingly duplicitous and two-faced. We lied so well it was difficult to tell who felt what.
I turned towards the crowd and smiled at the area where I could spot Toji and Lee enthusiastically cheering me on and making signs of encouragement. Within an otherwise dead silent crowd, they were impossible to miss. I just knew this was Lee's idea, and Toji had jumped right on the bandwagon once he saw how likely their antics were to draw the Principal's ire. The man had glared daggers at me since he arrived in the morning. I was sure it was only Grandfather's presence that prevented him from walking forwards and giving me a piece of his mind.
When the sun crested the horizon, Master Shin walked forwards with a sneer on his face that was directed at me. When Hiroshi stepped on the makeshift stage, it became clear that his displeasure was not meant for only me. He glared at his fellow professor with such disdain that it was a wonder that the two of them hadn't already duelled it out. If they had, I was sure Hiroshi could never have survived the experience.
"As customary with Agni kai, the fight shall be until yield or death. If your opponent can no longer yield, and is no longer dead, I will decide on whether I should step in and call the fight. If I do not, assume it will continue until one person is dead. I should not have to remind either of you that this is Agni Kai. Dishonourable tactics are impermissible, and neither is cowardice. Fight with the fire Agni has blessed you, and may the Sun never set on the winner." He said with a bow that we both returned.
At least he could conduct the ceremony properly. I took my stance when I turned to him. Centre of gravity lowered, fists clenched and raised in front of my head with my right side turned towards him. His own stance was the second step of the Fire Nation Military style. Textbook, but perfectly executed. Grandfather had pounded the strategies into my head for this particular fight. Once Shin's hand dropped, signifying the start of the fight, I was a blur of motion. My first movement, an instant backflip helped me dodge the lance of fire that had been sent screaming at my head.
At my legs crested in the flip, I breathed in, and unleashed my flames from my feet in an arc that followed my backflip. Hiroshi was forced to block both arcs of fire and I took advantage of that second or two where his vision was blocked almost instantly. The explosive nature of firebending built within me and flowed from my feet as I propelled myself in one explosive burst. Grandfather had explained to me that I was the only one who saw fire as two distinct components; heat and explosiveness, but I knew he was wrong. Sparky sparky boom man, Azula, and Zuko were proof that others knew this trick or could somehow separate the natures of fire on their own.
Still, it was rare, and I took advantage of Hiroshi's surprise at seeing me firing at him like a bolt from a cannon to get my first attack in. A roundhouse kick to the head powered by explosive flames. He took the attack right in the noggin and was sent reeling. I pounced on the weakness and brought my second leg around again to repeat the hit. This time, a strong hand reached up and clenched my shin. I felt bone creak as he whipped me around like a toy and tossed me straight in the air.
I was tossed ass over teakettle and my lightheadedness was amplified as I flew further and further into the air. Stretching out my palms behind me, towards the sky was the only way I could bring myself to a stop as twin blasts of flames stabilised my ascent and left me in a sort of float as I stared at the massive lance of fire heading right at me. I watched it come with a smile. At least this wasn't going to be boring. I straightened in the sky and began to fall back towards the ground, boosting myself with a blast of flames on my feet. I stretched both hands in front of me in a wedge and forced Hiroshi's lance to part around me as I dove right through.
I was proven right in my hunch when the bastard was less than ready to see come out of the tail end of the attack unhurt and unburned. I flipped over as I got closer to the ground and him, landing with a powerful axe kick that captured all the momentum from my downwards force. It was only the fact that just being in this world gave me a body that was nigh superhuman by old earth standards that allowed me to survive the manoeuvre without breaking a bone or a 100. On the other hand, it was also that fact that allowed Hiroshi to get away with blocking the attack by lifting only a single arm over his head. The momentum seemed to flow through his body like a conductor as the ground around us shattered.
His body was solid and unyielding against my foot so I used it as a springboard to move into another backflip that had me dodging the blast of flames from his other hand by the skin of my teeth. I landed and dropped into a split instantly to dodge another lance aimed at my head. A lower position allowed me to aim several fire blasts at him that he had to spend time dealing with. His fighting style was very much the standard fire nation army style. Strong base and quick attacks. It was a hybrid between the old fire nation nobility style favoured by Iroh in the show and the more modern styles used by both Zuko and Azula in the show.
Me? I had a style almost designed to counter it. I rose to my feet in one practised movement and sent even more blasts at him that he had to spend more time blocking. As he did so, I stretched a single hand and formed a fire whip in its grip that I used to lash at his position. He backpedalled with smooth footwork to dodge the first go around, and on the second, he caught the whip right in his grip. Interesting. Deactivating the attack, I fire skate across the ground to a new position as several lances of flames destroy the ground behind me. Hiroshi is persistent but always a second too slow as I dodge all his attacks and when there's a break in his firing, I capitalise. My legs sweep out across the floor and force him to jump up to avoid the arc of flames sent at him. More fire blasts sent out rapidly do their job of delaying him, and I begin.
Two index fingers stretched out on each arm, I take a deep breath and stretch the both of them forwards before winding them back, using the circular backward movement to build up the separation of negative and positive energies before inverting the movement and turning on my feet to face him with only my right side. The shock on his face is replaced by alarm, as before he can react, my left arm whips up right in his direction and the reconnected positive and negative energies follow the path I'd drawn for them. Lightning flashes and the duel is over. All in all, it had taken four seconds.
When my vision clears to my target, I almost choke at seeing the impact of lightning on a human target. Hiroshi was much taller than me so I'd aimed the lightning bolt upwards at an angle, and it had followed the path to a tee, spearing through his chest and into the sky. Where the lightning passed, nothing remained. There was just a gaping hole in his midsection.
A/N; That's the chapter, I guess. How was the duel? Also don't hesitate to check my profile to read my other works. We've got the next three chapters of this story, along with the first Eight chapters of another fic that I uploaded at the exact same time as this one (an insert is into a version of Kal El, who gets tossed into the MCU) all available on pa-atreon, and you can read all of that right now just by heading to the link on my profile or searching for my username up there. Feel free to have a look.