Chapter 13- Actualize
actualize (intransitive verb): to realize in action or make real; to describe or portray realistically
Tao had absolutely no desire to go into the town they land by to resupply. He knew it would end in disaster like all of their stops did, and he would just as soon avoid it for once. He was tired, the incident in the swamp having really thrown him off, and his mistake in Omashu still haunted him. His voice had yet to fully recover, still having a bit of a rough edge to it. When Katara, Aang, and Sokka get their money together to go into town, he elects to stay behind with Appa and Momo, deciding to take the peace and quiet to really sit and think.
Omashu had opened his eyes to a couple things. His firebending as a whole had improved greatly when they had been with the Northern Water Tribe. He had been able to glean a lot of new techniques from observing Master Pakku and his students, and from training with them himself. However, after facing off against the chi blocking girl, he realized that his mobility was still sub-par. Yes, he could be fast when he had to be, but his bending mostly demanded he be rooted in one spot or confined him to quick leaps and dodges. Once the girl had gotten in his face, he hadn't been able to shake her loose. That couldn't happen again.
There was one technique that he knew, but until this point had only used sparsely in single bursts, and that was to use his firebending to propel him up or forward. He could create quick bursts against his heel that could send him vertically several feet, or forward swiftly, so he could cover ten feet in a single stride instead of two. He had also observed Aang's mobility abilities with his airbending that he hoped he could replicate that to a degree. He had a feeling that Princess Azula and her two friends wouldn't be gone forever, and they were clearly formidable foes. He couldn't let himself get cornered and panic like that again, and perhaps this technique was his answer.
Taking Momo out of his lap from where the lemur had curled up in his crossed legs as he sat near Appa to think, Tao stands and pulls his shoes off, rolling his gray pants up to his knees, wanting to minimize potential damage to his clothing. Making sure he wasn't standing on dry leaves after stepping well away from Appa, he closes his eyes and breathes deeply, stoking the warm chi in his belly and focusing it down, feeling his heels warm. Crouching, he concentrates and releases a quick and powerful burst of blue flame at the same time as he leaps upwards. The propulsion catches him off guard as he flies about ten feet in the air. He had put too much into it, and also sent himself backwards several feet. Which saves him from a broken leg as he crashes into the lower bough of a tree, grabbing onto it to break his fall, a little winded. Grimacing, he slowly crawls down from the tree and goes to inspect the burn marks he had left in the grass, hearing Momo chattering at him in protest from Appa's saddle.
He ignores the lemur though, crouching back in the same spot and this time sharpens his focus and precision, making sure to not use quite so much power and to also propel himself forward instead of up and back. It works this time, and he bursts forward with his fire, clearing about ten feet in a single stride, but when he tried to follow it up with a second burst, he ends up stumbling and falling with a curse into the dirt and leaves. Rolling over with a groan, he wipes dust at his face and stares up at the bright spring sky for a few moments, thinking about how he was going to do this.
If there was one thing his father had taught him well, it was to not give up if something wasn't working. He was more than capable of trying the same thing over and over and over until he was bloody, bruised, and exhausted, and he refused to give up until he got this right. So, peeling himself up off the dirt, he falls back into his crouch and tries again. Then when he falls over again, he tries again. It takes him about five tries, but he's able to eventually get the timing of the second stride correct, and clears twenty feet in two strides. He mistimes the third though, and ends up falling half into a bush, which brings up another issue he hadn't thought of immediately. Turning. And stopping without eating dirt. Pushing out of the bush, wiping a couple trickles of blood off his face from scratches from small branches, he looks at his hand and frowns. Extending his arm, he focuses his chi into his palm and lets loose a strong burst of flame like he had been doing with his heels, the force of it pushing his hand down. Maybe that was the answer.
Moving as far back in the clearing as he could, he takes two propelled strides, and when he reaches the edge of the clearing, he extends his arm and uses a burst of concentrated fire to force himself into a turn, making sure he was ready for his body to be thrown to the right. The first try doesn't go very well, and he over estimates the force of the fire burst and overcompensates, falling hard onto his shoulder with a gasp, rolling onto his back and holding it for a moment as he gets his breath back. Momo glides over and lands on his chest, chirping with concern down at him. Reaching up, Tao pets the lemur gently, giving the animal a small smile. "I'm ok. But I've got to get this figured out. Katara isn't going to be happy I beat myself up though." he drawls, sighing a little as he preemptively prepares himself for Katara's lecture about hurting and exhausting himself.
Sitting up, Momo hopping off him, Tao pulls his shirt off so he didn't get it torn up and overly dirty. Putting it by his things near the campfire, he stretches a few times and goes back to the edge of the clearing. It takes seven tries to get the force of the hard turns correct, and ten more to get the less harsh turns and small adjustments correct. Then came the issue of stopping with any amount of grace. That took five tries. Then it was just a matter of practicing over and over and over again until he had it as close to perfect as he could get it.
There were scorch marks all over the camp, mostly around the edges where he had been doing his propelled running, when Katara and Sokka come hurrying back only a couple hours after they had left, distinctly missing Aang. Tao was a sweaty, dirty mess, covered in scrapes and bruises from falling over or into bushes and trees, but he was making good progress. Katara stops only briefly to scold him for it before explaining what had happened in the town with Aang, who was apparently in... jail? Something about Avatar Kyoshi and some conqueror from hundreds of years ago. Katara and Sokka needed Appa to go to Kyoshi Island to try and investigate this ancient 'crime,' and ask that Tao stay near the town to keep an eye on the situation. Tao has no problems agreeing to this, needing the time to continue practicing this new movement technique. He had been just trying to work out how he could use it to move almost in place to more effectively dodge blows, thinking again about how the chi blocker had gotten in his face so easily. If he could put distance between himself and an opponent in half the time and movement of simply bodily dodging, with what by many would be considered an intimidating burst of fire, he could protect himself more effectively.
By the time the sun was fully down, Tao was exhausted, starving, and filthy. However, he was pleased with how much progress he had made. He just had to narrow the precision of the bursts of fire to conserve his energy as much as possible. If he had to use this for extended travel, he couldn't collapse with exhaustion after a few minutes. The camp was just as much of a mess as he was, though with Appa gone for the time being, he had had more room to make full laps in either direction around the camp. Deciding that he had done enough for the night, he cleans up quickly in a small pond nearby, fixes himself and Momo a little dinner, and heads into town to go check on Aang. Overall, the little airbender looked fine, but he was determined to see this nonsensical situation through. Tao didn't see how it was really his problem considering the supposed murder was done by his past life, but there was no convincing Aang to simply hop through the open roof of the cell he was in and be gone.
Once he was sure Aang was, in fact, alright, Tao makes his way to the night market to buy some more supplies, and heads back to camp, arriving at it just in time to green Katara and Sokka as they land Appa and climb out of the saddle.
"Man, you really did a number on this clearing. What on earth have you been doing all day?" Sokka asks, whistling a bit at the scorched clearing and Tao's scraped and bruised face and arms.
"Training a new technique. I'm not happy with my mobility, so I'm doing something to fix that problem."
"Couldn't you have done it in a way that didn't injure you? Sit down and let me take a look at you." Katara huffs, not giving Tao much choice in the matter as she drags him over to the campfire where she could see better, nearly pulling his shirt off for him to take a look at the state of his body. Which was bruised and beaten up. Muttering unhappily under her breath, she pulls her water out of her water skin and starts on his back, the coolness making him jolt a little, but he quickly relaxes as it soothes his aching muscles. She's quiet as she works on his back, and when she moves around to his chest, he can see that she was thinking hard, and he can feel the confusion in the touch of her chi as it knits his damaged skin and sore muscles back together. "What does it feel like when I heal you?" she eventually asks, blue eyes flicking up to meet gold.
Tao hums thoughtfully at this, not quite sure how to answer. "Well... I'm sure it feels different to me and anyone else who's very attuned to their chi but... I can feel the touch of your chi as it heals me. And if I concentrate, I can reach back through the connection and feel the core of you. I felt it when you healed me in the Northern Water Tribe." he says quietly, watching her expression as she takes this in. "I can feel that wound in you... deep. The one that I can guess was left by your mother's death." he murmurs, which makes her gasp and pull her hands and her healing water back abruptly, staring at him wide eyed. He gives her a small smile, tilting his head. "You can feel something in me now too, can't you? Now that you're more sensitive to the flow of your own chi."
Katara swallows thickly, shifting her weight on her knees, and nods. "Yes, I can. I didn't know what it was at first, and it confused me. But there's something... dark twisted up deep inside you. Its edges feel jagged and raw, like torn skin, or a bone that's been chewed on by a polar-bear dog for too long." she nearly whispers, and Tao notes that Sokka seemed to be listening a little closer now from his spot across the fire where he was eating a late supper. Katara swallows hard, slowly looking up to meet Tao's golden eyes, her own blue ones holding his gaze for a moment before traveling to the scar splitting his eyebrow, the small, shiny, nearly invisible scars on his jaw and nose, and most obtrusive of all, the burn scar nearly bisecting his face. Physical representations of a nightmarish childhood and the pain and trauma that made up the dark energy twisted up inside him. Bowing her head, Katara shifts again, voice shaking a little when she speaks. "I'm sorry. I feel like I'm intruding on something private. But I don't know how to not feel it when I have to heal you."
"Don't apologize. Its a part of me, just like the loss of your mother is a part of you. They're scars we'll bear for the rest of our lives. At least you seem a bit better adjusted than I am." he states with dry humor, chuckling a little. "I'm healing, slowly. I don't feel like I'm stuck in the same loop, fighting against myself all the time anymore. I can thank you two and Aang for that, honestly. Though the vision I had in the swamp was a bit of a setback... I haven't been sleeping well again." sighing, he reaches out, taking Katara's small, cool hand in his and giving it a squeeze. "I'll be fine. And so will you. Alright? We just have to take it one day at a time."
The waterbender nods, turning her hand in his and giving it a light squeeze in return before they let go and she takes his arm, setting to work healing the scrapes and scratches there. While she works on him, Sokka goes over what 'he' had deducted at Kyoshi island, which they planned to inform the Mayor of Chin Village of in the morning. Tao still felt this whole situation was a waste of time, and he fully planned to make use of the next day continuing to practice this propulsion technique.
Which once they have breakfast and Katara and Sokka head out, is exactly what he does. Thankfully for him though, now that he had gotten the technique figured out, he wasn't falling over or crashing into the foliage nearly as often. As evening falls, Aang comes flitting out of the forest with Katara and Sokka close behind him, chattering on about the trial and Kyoshi and the rhino riding firebenders who attacked the city, a huge, excited grin on his face. Somehow he convinces Tao to attend some sort of festival with them honoring Aang saving the village, and he can't help but make a face at the bowl of limp, slightly soggy and vaguely Aang shaped dough that was thrust into his hands as the Mayor gives a speech honoring Aang's deeds of the day. When he was sure no one was looking, he tucks the bowl in the crook of his arm and takes one of the pieces of dough in his hand, closing it between his palms and heating it up until it sets and essentially bakes. Cooked properly, it was a perfectly fine, somewhat tasteless treat, and he was happy to snack on it as his friends choke it down raw. He can't help but grin at Sokka when the other teen spots his suddenly cooked dough and scowls at him unhappily, raw dough hanging limply out of his mouth. Being a firebender had its utilities.
oOo
Once they leave Chin Village, they head northeast along the coast until they came across the city of Gao Ling, which Tao remembered learning about from the non-combat based lessons his father would give him. After all, he wasn't being raised up to just be a firebending powerhouse. His father was a merchant with a small fleet at his disposal. Not lavishly wealthy, but with enough wealth and influence to trade internationally. Gao Ling had been a small trading port, sitting near an inlet that fed into the ocean directly. It traded predominantly in precious metals, minerals, and gems from the surrounding mountains. Or it had been small, a hundred years ago. It had grown into a considerably sized city over the last century, with a fair amount of wealth present in it. Which made Tao wonder why Sokka thought they could afford the fancy green bag that he was mulling over. He was fairly sure they were here to see if they could find an earthbending teacher for Aang, not shop.
They do come across a poster for a 'Master Yu's Earthbending Academy, but it takes less than an hour to determine that that wasn't the place to go. However, Katara is able to... convince a couple of the students of the academy to tell her about where they could find the arena for something called 'Earth Rumble Six.' It was deep under ground in a large complex carved in stone, concessions lining a central hall that had tunnels leading into the stands. Tao is surprised to see fire flakes at one of the concessions, something that he had only seen in the Fire Nation, and the Fire Nation village they where they had met Jeong Jeong. Something twists in the pit of his stomach, but he keeps his mouth closed for the time being. There was no sense in riling up his friends if it turned out to be nothing. After all, he supposed it wouldn't be unusual of the wealthy of this city to pay off the Fire Nation to preserve their peace and wealth. He remembered reading about similar things during his studies before. And it would certainly explain the clear lack of Fire Nation encampments in the immediate area, and why no one in this city seemed too concerned about the war nearly at their doorstep.
Unsurprisingly, Sokka sits down in the stands double fisting komodo chicken skewers, while Tao contented himself with a small basket of stuffed sesame balls that he shared with Katara and Aang. They were alone in the section they were in, though everything higher up was packed, and its quickly clear why that was as the head of the Earth Rumble makes his rather dramatic appearance, a boulder barely not smashing them like bugs. "Ugh... its one of these." Tao groans, rolling his eyes.
"This is just going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara sighs, seeming bored already.
"That's what I paid for." Sokka replies with a large amount of glee.
"At least this is better than the Agni Kai tournaments that the Fire Nation used to have. Earthbenders have a tendency to be more creative with their bending." Tao grumbles, munching on a sesame ball. He had a feeling that he and Katara were going to mostly be bored while Sokka got way too into it. He was immediately proven correct. Sokka does enough screaming, jumping around and cheering for all four of them as one of the benders who went by 'The Boulder' absolutely dominated. Though Fire Nation Man in particular makes Tao cringe incredibly hard.
What caught him off guard was the appearance of the reigning champion, The Blind Bandit. She was absolutely tiny, very petite, and maybe Aang's age at the oldest. It also seemed her stage name wasn't just for dramatic effect. From the way she moved her head, she was clearly actually blind. She makes quick work of the Boulder, making maybe three moves in total. Sokka acts like a member of his family just got killed, while Tao and Katara were left in shock. Aang however seemed delighted, and before he can be stopped, the airbender is making his way up onto the ring to answer Xin Fu's challenge to defeat the Blind Bandit in exchange for a large sack of gold. Gold that could fund their journey probably all the way to the end, given Sokka didn't buy any more expensive bags.
Aang is able to win the gold, but the Blind Bandit refused to stop and speak to him, stomping away and disappearing behind a wall of stone. Once they leave the arena, Tao snatches the heavy sack of gold from Sokka, ignoring his loud protesting. "Let someone who actually knows how to handle large amounts of money hold onto this huh? And I suggest we all pocket a handful of pieces to keep on ourselves, just in case. Walking around with a fat sack of gold is risky." he states, handing about ten gold pieces to each of his friends, swiping Sokka's bag off his shoulder and putting the remainder of the sack at the bottom of it, covering it the various things Sokka had stuffed into it so far to hide it, deciding to hold onto it himself for a while.
In their effort to locate the Blind Bandit, they find themselves back at the academy, questioning the same two boys from before. Tao wasn't listening particularly hard, busy trying to figure out how he was going to hide the big sack of gold among their meager supplies where it wouldn't be a temptation for potential thieves. He's brought out of his musings when something one of the boys says catches his attention. "Well the flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family. They're the richest people in town. Probably the whole world."
"Yeah but they don't have a daughter." the second boy chimes in.
"The Bei Fong family?" Tao echoes, blinking a couple times, drawing his friends' attention. Clearing his throat, he crosses his arms. "I am the son of a merchant, remember? My father dealt with several fairly wealthy families in the Earth Kingdom. The Bei Fongs were one of those families. I'm just surprised they amassed so much wealth in a hundred years." he states. He pauses for a moment, thinking quietly. It wouldn't surprise him if it was the Bei Fongs who were paying off the Fire Nation to protect the town, and therefore their assets as a mercantile family. If that was in fact what was going on in this city.
"And what family are you from?" one of the teen boys asks him. Tao sets his jaw and almost doesn't answer. But something about the challenge in the earthbender teens' eyes irritates him and he huffs.
"The Isao family." he says through partially gritted teeth, not sure what the reaction to the very Fire Nation name would be. Especially if his family name was more known now than it had been a century ago. It wouldn't have shocked him at all if his father had had more sons after Tao had disappeared with Aang, and if their descendants now ran things as far as the trade ships went. He just wondered how far reaching it was now with the war.
The way the teen boys' eyes go wide and they take a step back tells him though that the family name was at the very least known. Which meant he may as well have just shouted that he was from the Fire Nation from the rooftops. However, rather than run for guards, attack, or start screaming, they bow and hurry away to go back to their training. That was... strange. However, they take that as an opportunity to leave and go to locate the Bei Fong estate.
"That was very strange. I guess your family has gained some power or wealth since we were frozen." Aang says, walking beside Tao, who sets his mouth in a thin line, his burn scar twisting a little.
"Yeah. I'm not sure if that's going to be good for us or not. Especially here in the Earth Kingdom. I don't exactly know anything about the current family members, and asking about my own family would be strange to anyone." he says, troubled by this. "Though, if just some random teenagers in a random academy know about the Isao family, maybe that means they're trade partners with the Bei Fong family, or one of the other larger mercantile families. We did do a lot of trade with Gao Ling a hundred years ago. Usually Fire Nation spices and fruits for Gao Ling jade and jewels, and sometimes gold and silver. There's a lot of money in precious metals and the like during a war, so that the Bei Fongs are now so fabulously wealthy doesn't really shock me."
"Hey if you're a merchant's kid, why can't you ever haggle for better supplies for us? Get us some good deals." Sokka cuts in, trotting to catch up with Tao and Aang, the later of who rolls his eyes.
"We need money or tradeable goods to haggle Sokka. We very rarely have either. In case you've forgotten all the weeks of living off of foraged nuts, fruits, and whatever you or I could get out of a local river or forest." he replies. "So unless you're willing to part with your boomerang, we just need to keep working with what we've got."
"Do you think your family name could get us in to see the Bei Fongs?" Katara asks. Tao pauses at this, brow furrowing, before he shakes his head.
"I don't know. But even if it could, like I said, I don't know any of the current people in my family. It would give the game away if I were asked about the current head of the family, about a fleet or ship or captain of one of the ships, anything like that, and I didn't have an answer. We'd have better luck having Aang play the Avatar card."
Aang groans a little at this. Usually playing that card meant they would be getting chased by the Fire Nation within a day. Then he grins, nudging Tao in the ribs a little. "Or we could just sneak in. That sounds a lot more fun anyway." he says, grinning even in the face of the unsure frown Tao gives him. "I'll take full blame if we get caught, don't worry. And I'll keep the Avatar card in my back pocket just in case as well. But we've gotta talk to that girl. She must be who's supposed to be my earthbending teacher. She fits what Bumi said perfectly, waiting and listening before she strikes." Tao was still a little dubious, but it wasn't like they had many other options.
oOo
Well, dining in the home of the wealthiest family in the world wasn't exactly where Tao expected to find himself after their initial confrontation with the Blind Bandit, who he now knew was named Toph. She was a spicy little slip, who had cunning enough to use her blindness to her advantage once she wanted them to go away. Aang had had to pull out the Avatar card after all, waiting until closer to dinner time before they all approached the gate guards and spoke to the family, under the guise of wanting to meet the head of the family and discuss a few things in regards to the war and ask about connections. After all, as such a wealthy family, they must have connections all over the place.
Aang really wasn't good at being subtle, trying to get something out of Toph, or at least to see if her father was open to her potentially teaching Aang. However, it seemed that her family didn't know about her escapades in Earth Rumble or just how skilled of an earthbender she was. He was convinced that because she was blind, she was fragile and must be coddled and Master Yu kept her to simple exercises only, in private lessons behind closed doors. Lao's question about when Aang thought the war was going to end seemed strange to Tao as well, but he could just as easily chalk that up to his own paranoia. The teen boy's comment from earlier about the Bei Fongs not having a daughter pierced Tao like an arrow, nearly making him inhale his tea. He catches himself though, and luckily Aang's face suddenly slamming into his bowl of soup distracted anyone else from the hitch in his own breathing.
Dinner devolves from there, Aang and Toph needling at each other until there's finally an explosion. Lao and Poppy handle it gracefully though, and are kind enough to set them up in an upper room for the night. Tao's mind goes back to the teen boy's comments again as he looks out the window and over the dark gardens. Lao seemed content to make sure the world never knew that he had a daughter. Was it a compulsion to keep her safe, shame, or a combination of the two? He doesn't have time to chew on that thought long, not that doing so would do him any good. A yelp from Aang makes him turn, and he sees Toph in much more casual night wear leaning against the door frame.
"Relax." she states, her cloudy eyes focused on nothing behind her thick bangs. "Look I'm sorry about dinner. Truce?" she continues, tilting her head a little. Aang is only too happy to agree, glad to not be in an extended conflict with the girl, who was even smaller than he was. "So, who are all your friends?" Toph asks after a pause.
"Oh- this is Katara and Sokka, they're from the Southern Water Tribe, and Katara is my waterbending teacher. And this is Tao-" Aang pauses, not really sure what the best way to introduce his Fire Nation born, firebending friend was. "he's been my friend for a long time." he eventually settles, deciding to go for something a little more neutral. Something in his tone seems to catch Toph's attention though, because her expression scrunches a little. Before she can make a comment, Aang hurries on. "Oh! And this is Momo, he's a flying lemur. And outside is Appa, my flying bison."
"Quite the little crew you have, twinkle-toes." Toph drawls only mildly sarcastic. "How about the two of us go outside and have a private talk, down in the gardens."
"Sure!" Aang chirps, grinning, flitting away from the window to join Toph, turning back to his friends for a moment. "We won't be long. You guys can get the room set up to get to sleep." he says before they're gone. However, 'not being long' turns into a kidnapping and a ransom note, and Tao was so tired. He had almost let himself believe that this stop would be relatively peaceful.
However, watching Toph fight when they reach the arena with the sack of gold, which Tao had padded with small stones at the bottom to make the weight the same so they could still hold onto the gold they had already taken out of it, was absolutely magnificent. They hadn't had many encounters with earthbenders to this point, but Toph fought unlike any of them, having utter confidence, with no wasted movement or energy, only striking when she had an absolute opening. It was nothing for her to take on all these brawny men all at once, tossing them left and right out of the ring. Even Xin Fu was no match for her.
Her father wasn't convinced, however. When they get back to the estate, Toph confesses everything to him, hoping that he would see her differently. He doesn't. In fact, he places more firm restrictions on her, and dismisses Aang and his friends from the property. They set down in the hills not far from the estate, and the mood is very down as they work on properly packing their things. They were just about to take off when soft panting and footfalls get their attention, and to everyone's shock, Toph comes running over the crest of the hill, a bag slung over her shoulder, stuffed with supplies and clothes, telling a clear lie about her father changing his mind about her restrictions.
Once she throws Aang into a tree and nearly gets knocked out when Sokka tosses her heavy champion belt down to her, there was one thing they needed to address. And luckily, Aang beats Tao to the punch on it once he sits up from where he had landed when he had fallen out of the tree. "There is one thing that we need to make sure you're ok with. Uh... Tao is a firebender. But don't worry! He's not with the Fire Nation. At all. He was actually frozen with me in a block of ice for a hundred years, so, um..."
"You want to make sure that I'm ok with it." Toph drawls, one hand on her hip, the other rubbing the bump on her head. She pauses for a long moment before shrugging casually. "Doesn't bother me. At least I know we'll always have a campfire when its cold." the almost dismissive comment makes everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Toph didn't seem bothered by very much, which was a good thing, considering all the chaos they were always surrounded by. Tao gets up from his spot in the saddle and hops down from Appa's back, using a small burst of flame to cushion his descent a little, showing Toph around to Appa's tail and showing her how to get on and off him the easiest if she didn't want to use bending, letting her feel her way around the border of the saddle before getting settled. She's a little startled with the take off, being truly blind for the first time since she had learned how to see with her earthbending, and it clearly unsettled her. But soon she relaxed, looping her arm through one of the holes in the border of the saddle and holding onto it for security, closing her eyes and just relaxing into the cool breeze that wreathed around them, enjoying her first taste of real freedom.