Wandering Firebender

Two: The Boy

Elio rushed out of the ship and dove into the water, cautiously swimming around the ship to stay out of sight. He swam towards a secluded part of the shore, away from the dock. He pulled himself onto dry land where the overhanging trees of the forest kept him hidden.

"Oh this sucks!" He growled to himself, laying on his back and taking some time to catch his breath. He swiped the wet hair matted over his forehead backwards. Swatting away the spiderflies buzzing around, he began to progress forward, following the lead of a small creek.

The crackles of thunder and lightning sounded in the distance behind him. Looking back, he could see storm clouds making their way over through the holes in the canopy over his head. Elio sped up his walking pace; a downpour was coming.

The creek led him to a bridge. Elio stepped off of the slanted hill and onto a paved dirt trail. He crossed over the bridge and began to follow the trail, hoping it would lead him away from the Fire Nation sailors and towards a town where he could find lodging and food.

As he continued on his way, the sound of someone humming caught his attention. He walked around a bend in the trail and found a young boy walking with a stick in his hand. He seemed young: maybe between the ages of 8 to 10.

"Hey, kid!" Elio called out. The boy turned around and tilted his head strangely.

"Who are you? I've never seen you around here before." He asked.

"I'm just…passing through. What are you doing way out here? Don't you hear the storm coming?"

"Huh?" The boy looked up at the sky, "Ah! You're right! I should be getting home!"

"Is there a town down this way? I need a place to wait the storm out." Elio asked.

"Oh yeah! My village is just that way! It ain't much, but I'm sure you could find someone willing to help ya. Follow me!" The boy waved his hand for Elio to follow and began marching down the trail.

"Thank you." Elio said, holding tight to his bag and following behind the boy.

However, before they could reach town, the rain began to pour down on them. They sprinted along as quickly as they could, but when hailstones began to come down along with the pouring rain, they knew that they would need to find a place to take shelter.

"Follow me! I know a place where we can stay dry!" The boy shouted, taking him off of the trail and into the forest.

"I think it's a little too late for staying dry, kid! Where're we going?" He questioned, keeping in step next to him.

"Right there, see?!" The boy pointed forward. Elio looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a hut made entirely of stone. The boy crawled inside, and Elio crawled in afterwards.

"Ugh. That sucked." Elio said with a groan. The boy laughed, seeing that Elio was completely unaccustomed to such harsh weather.

"Yeah, it gets that way here a lot. It's because we're between the ocean and a desert plain. The hot and cold air's always crashing into each other and making nasty storms."

"Huh, interesting," Elio nodded. "Well thanks. What's your name, kid?"

"Tenzin," He introduced himself with a smile. "What's yours, teenager?"

"Elio. Nice to meet you, Tenzin. What is this place?" He asked, looking around. The inside of the hut had a fire pit and a few shelves within it, all completely carved out of stone.

"Oh yeah. One time there was an earthbender traveling near here. He got caught in one of the storms too, so he made this little home with his earthbending! Isn't that crazy? It's been around for a long time!"

"Huh, earthbender tent. That's pretty neat." Elio hummed.

"Yeah, too bad the rocks don't do anything about the cold," Tenzin muttered, shivering from his cold clothes clinging to him. "Good thing I have some spark rocks on me." He said, reaching into his pocket.

"Huh, you come out here often, Tenzin?" Elio asked with a chuckle.

"All the time!" He smiled proudly. He pulled out his spark rocks, but they were soaked with water. He groaned, "Ugh, great!" He started scraping the rocks together forcefully, but since they were covered in water, the sparks they were making weren't enough to start a fire in the fire pit.

Elio watched him silently for a bit. He had forgotten that spark rocks were a thing that people used. Of course, he never needed them since he would always just use…

"Here, let me see the rocks. I can do it." Elio said, reaching forward. Tenzin handed the rocks over.

"Alright, but it's not gonna work." He said.

"It's fine. Could you do me a favor and just…cover your eyes for a second?" He requested.

"What?"

"Just do it, man, alright? And no peeking." Elio insisted. Tenzin gave him an odd look but covered his hands over his eyes.

Elio took a breath, putting both spark rocks in his left hand. He took a moment to focus before pointing three fingers towards the fire pit. He sent a stream of fire out of his fingertips, igniting the kindling that was already there and starting a fire.

"Wah! You're Fire Nation!" Tenzin exclaimed fearfully. Elio flinched.

"I said no peeking!" He shouted. Tenzin quickly scrambled to his feet and started to crawl out from the hut to get away from Elio, "Don't go out there yet! The storm is still raging!" He insisted.

Tenzin rushed out from the hut and started to make a run for it. However, as he started to run, lightning struck nearby, scaring him more. That and the constant pelting he was receiving from the hail forced him to retreat back into the hut with Elio.

"You can't go out there yet. Not until this storm lets up." Elio repeated.

"I know… Just please don't hurt me." Tenzin pleaded. He was clearly scared. Elio understood this and was sad to see it, but all he could do was try to reassure him that he meant no harm.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I just need a place to stay before I move on," He explained. He reached into his pack and pulled out two oranges; a small amount of food that he had taken from the ship he'd stowed away on.

"Here." He offered. Tenzin gave Elio another strange look, but he hesitantly accepted the orange from him and sat down by the fire to warm himself.

"So who are you?" Tenzin asked, "Are you a deserter? Did you run away?"

"I did run away…so I guess I am. I ran away from the Fire Nation to avoid becoming a soldier."

"Really? Well, that's good! The Fire Nation is bad and they're bad people! Uh…no offense." Tenzin quickly added, realizing again who he was talking to.

"It's alright. The Fire Nation does a lot of bad things," Elio agreed. "They're not all bad people, they're just…misguided."

"And you ran away because you're not." Tenzin presumed. Elio chuckled.

"Yeah, exactly. Uh… My father wanted me to be a soldier. But I'm not that kind of fighter. I actually love performance tricks."

"Performance tricks?" Tenzin raised his eyebrow at him, "You can perform tricks with firebending?" He asked. Elio nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. I can't show you any because this space is too small, but one of my favorite tricks is called Taming The Dragon. Basically, you make the shape of a dragon out of fire and have it fly around. Then, you make a lasso out of fire and use it to 'herd' the dragon." Elio explained.

"Wow. That sounds really cool! Do you know how to do it?"

"No. Uh, well, I kinda do, but I'm not very good at it yet. I might practice it when I'm somewhere far away and no one can see me."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Everyone hates the Fire Nation around here."

"Yeah…"

Tenzin led Elio to his small village. As they started to approach, Tenzin's nervousness started to build. Elio noticed this and decided it was best to address it now.

"If you're nervous, I can promise you that I'm not here to do anything bad."

"I just don't want to get in trouble for bringing a firebender into town." Tenzin admitted. Elio hummed and stopped walking with him.

"Then you go on ahead. I'll wait a few minutes before coming into town. That way no one thinks I came with you." He decided.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go ahead." Elio said with a smile. Tenzin nodded and ran forward into town. Elio watched him go and sat down by a tree.

A few minutes passed in silence, and he decided it was time to go in. He stood up once again and entered the small town, keeping his things close to him and saying nothing. A few people seemed to notice him, but only as an outsider and a stranger.

"Excuse me, is there a place where I can stay for awhile?" Elio asked a shopkeeper.

"Look around ya, kid. Unless someone here's willing to let you bunk up, you're out of luck. If you're willing to work, I'm sure someone will give you food and shelter in exchange," The man suggested.

Elio nodded and thought about this. However, before Elio could say anything else, the man held up his hand.

"Not me though."

"Right. Thanks, anyway." Elio walked off.

Elio made his way around town asking if anyone would be willing to open their doors to him. However, again and again, he was turned away. When it seemed that he was just going to have to move on, Tenzin suddenly ran to him again.

"Hey, Elio, right? Come with me!" He waved for him to follow. Elio looked around and walked behind him.

"What's up?"

"So, uh, I told my mom about how you helped me out during the storm. Don't worry, I didn't say anything about your…bending. But she said you could stay in the guest room!"

"Really? But, what about…?"

"Hey, you helped me out, so now I'm gonna help you out! Then we'll be fair and square!" Tenzin grinned. Elio couldn't help but chuckle and smile.

Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad after all…

"So, Elio, where are you coming to us from?" Tenzin's mother, Fei, asked as the three of them ate a modest meal at her dinner table. Elio sipped his tea, quickly trying to put together the best answer.

"Uh…long way from here. A small island." He answered.

"Oh, I see. So what brings you to the Earth Kingdom?" Fei asked.

"I…ran away from the Fire Nation. I'm just trying to steer clear of them." He answered honestly. Fei nodded sadly, but she understood.

"Tenzin's father was an earthbender. He left several years ago to fight in the war. We receive letters from him on occasion, but we haven't seen him since the day he left." Fei explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that… It seems these days that the Fire Nation has affected everyone in the world in one way or another."

"That seems to be the case. But we try to hold out hope, especially now hearing the news that the Avatar has returned to the world." Fei said hopefully. Elio nodded.

"I hope that's true," He said before standing up. "I'm going to retire for the night. Thank you for your hospitality." He said with a smile before respectfully taking his leave.

Elio retreated into his room and shut the door behind him with a sigh. He hated not being completely honest with people who were going through the trouble to help him despite their limited means, but he didn't have a choice.

It was just like Tenzin said: no one likes the Fire Nation.

Elio laid in bed in silence, thinking seriously about his decision to leave. Despite the hatred everyone held towards the Fire Nation, he found himself missing it terribly. It was his home after all, the place he had grown up all his life.

He went to sleep that night dreaming about the home he had left behind…but his rest didn't last very long.

"Tenzin! Grab my pitchfork! There's a goat gorilla outside!" Fei shouted to her son, waking Elio up. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it was still nighttime. He heard the front door of the house open, and soon after Tenzin threw his bedroom door open.

"Hey! Can you help us, please?! There's a goat gorilla running through town! We could use your help driving it off!" Tenzin pleaded. Elio was about to refuse, but seeing the look on Tenzin's face broke down his resolve.

"Yeah! I'll be right there!" He said. Tenzin rushed off. Elio took a moment to gather all of his things together; if something went wrong, he would need to have them on hand.

Elio rushed out of the house. Tenzin passed a hoe to him and they both ran out, joining the townsfolk in trying to drive out the wild goat gorilla. Everyone had farming tools, sharp weapons, and torches in their hands to try and scare it away.

The goat gorilla was something that Elio had never seen before. It looked like a giant monster of an ape with horns on its head like a goat. It swung its arms and thrashed at anything that got too close. The townsfolk poked and prodded at it, but all they were doing was aggravating the creature.

"Stay back, Tenzin! This one's too ferocious!" Fei advised her son, pushing him behind her. Elio looked back at Tenzin, who gave him a look. Elio sighed, knowing what he would have to do.

"Everyone back away from it!" Elio shouted, making his way forward. He dropped his hoe behind him, stepping closer. The villagers all stepped back in confusion.

"Don't get too close, kid!" One of the villagers warned.

"Hey! Over here!" Elio shouted to get the beast's attention.

Elio took in a breath to focus. He raised his hands and created fire out of his palms. The beast quickly caught sight of it and focused on him. Elio spun his hands around, creating quick bursts of fire to force the creature back. The villagers gasped.

"He's Fire Nation! Get away!" Some of them shouted in fear.

"Hurry and run home, Tenzin! Quickly!" Fei shouted to her son, holding her pitchfork up in a protective stance. Tenzin watched with a conflicted expression before running home.

Elio continued shooting quick, popping streams of fire. The loud noises and bright bursts of light caused the goat gorilla to turn and flee. Elio continued after it until it disappeared in the trees. Elio, now on the edge of the village, caught his breath and turned around.

"Get out of here, firebender! We won't have the Fire Nation in this village! Not now, not ever!" The villagers yelled at him, ready to attack. As Elio predicted, having his belongings on hand was a wise choice.

"Very well." Elio agreed, turning and walking away into the night. The villagers continued to yell at him as he walked away. Elio blocked their words out and started to make his way back towards the hut that Tenzin had shown him.

As he approached the hut, he heard low growling. Creating flames in his hands again, he saw the goat gorilla had come back for him. Elio quickly slid his items into the hut before stepping out to face it.

"You just had to step in, didn't you? Force me out of hiding! You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?!" Elio shouted, although he wasn't really directing his words to the goat gorilla. It snarled at him and began to charge.

Elio dove out of the way and quickly spun, swiping his hand and creating a ring of fire that burnt the creature's legs. It roared and turned towards Elio, angrier than ever. Elio sent forth a large blast of fire that knocked the creature back and forced it to flee once again.

"And don't come back!" Elio shouted, throwing more flames towards it as it scampered away. His flames set fire to the grass around him, creating a chain of brush fires.

Elio fell to his knees, catching his breath and trying to calm down from his anger. He sighed and swiped his hair back. In that moment, he made a decision: if he was going to survive, he would have to do his best to keep to himself…

"Only help yourself. Trust no one."