Wandering Firebender
Ten: The Firebender
Elio was totally unprepared for the rush and joy that would come from a standing ovation and a cheering audience. However, he was even less prepared for the doubt and insecurities that a silent audience would bring.
Perhaps his first performance had set the bar too high, because after performing on this second night and being given only a small amount of applause, he was beginning to feel down on himself; worried even.
Had his performance been weaker somehow? He tried to do more or less the same thing again. Or was it the fact that he was firebending? He was still in the Earth Kingdom after all; perhaps the audience had been afraid of him, and thus couldn't enjoy his performance…
"Hey, Elio! I didn't say it earlier, but you were great tonight!" Ty Lee said, joining him and sitting next to him.
"Thanks, Ty Lee. So were you." He said. His words were sincere, but his tone was distant. He stared out the window of the caravan towards the night sky, mulling over the same anxious thoughts again and again.
"Thank you… Hey, don't worry too much about the crowd. I'm sure they were just so awestruck by your performance that they just forgot to cheer." Ty Lee tried to be reassuring. He shook his head in disagreement.
"I don't know, Ty Lee… I am still a firebender. Maybe they just couldn't see past that." Elio thought. She sighed and shook her head.
"Maybe. I'm sorry, Elio. I know that you did your best. But hey, I'm sure you'll have plenty more people cheering for you in the next show!" She said optimistically.
"Thanks," He said, smiling a bit. "I'll just have to hope that turns out to be true."
"Yeah…" Ty Lee said, still feeling bad for him. Her head lifted and her eyes lit up. "Oh hey, I know what will make you feel better though!"
"What?"
"I heard we're going to be arriving in town early tomorrow. I know you were asking about my chi blocking techniques yesterday. I can show you a few moves!" She suggested.
"Oh! Yeah! Totally, let's do that." He agreed with a smile.
"Great! It'll be fun! I've never taught anyone before!" She clapped excitedly. "Ooh! I actually have a paper that you could look at to get ready! Wait right there!" Ty Lee quickly hopped to her feet and ran to one of her drawers.
"I'm not going anywhere." Elio chuckled and waited.
"Here," Ty Lee came back and held a paper out to him. "This diagram helped me out a lot when I was first learning. Look it over!"
Elio took the paper and looked down at it. It showed a full body diagram with a front and back view: a series of dots covered both sides of the body. Elio's eyes scanned all the different points and he hummed.
"So all of these spots are potential targets for chi blocking?" He asked.
"Yep! Trust me, it's not as easy as it looks, but with my help, you'll be doing it in no time! Our first lesson begins tomorrow, my pupil." She said, bowing like a master would. Elio laughed.
"Can't wait, Master Lee." He said, spinning his hand around and making a pretense of bowing his head. Ty Lee giggled.
"Goodnight, Elio. Feel better!" She smiled, giving him a quick hug before going back into her own area, out of sight.
"Goodnight, Ty Lee." Elio said with a small smile, watching her go before turning his attention back to the diagram. He began studying it carefully…
Just as Ty Lee had said, when he woke up in the morning, all of the caravans and tents were already parked just outside the next town. All he had to do was get ready, help with getting a few things set up, and then the two of them walked some distance away from town for his lesson.
"Alright. I think this spot is perfect." Ty Lee decided, turning around to face him. Elio nodded.
"This is kinda far out, isn't it, Ty Lee?" He asked.
"Well yeah! Don't want any interruptions, do we?"
"Fair enough. Take it away." He said with a chuckle. She smiled and clapped her hands together, clearing her throat and beginning her lesson.
"Okay! So, did you get the chance to study over the diagram I gave you last night?" She asked.
"Yeah, I looked it over. There's a lot of chi points to hit."
"You're right! And the more you keep in mind, the more of an advantage you'll have in a fight! But the important thing is you need to know how to hit them, not just where to hit. Make two fists for me." She instructed.
"Okay." Elio nodded, raising his fists up. Ty Lee stepped forward.
"What you wanna do is extend your middle finger out liiike this," She explained, showing him how to make the bend of his middle finger jut out. "This little ball here is what's gonna hit the chi points. You got me so far?"
"Mhmm. Yeah." He nodded, his fingers fidgeting as he tried to keep his fists in position. Ty Lee giggled.
"You'll get it. Now, I'll show you a few points on the upper body that you can hit. I've found them to be the easiest to hit, or at least, they're the ones that are the easiest to catch in a fight." Ty Lee continued.
"Alright. That works." He nodded again, listening carefully.
"Okay. Move your arm out, and I'll tap you in a few spots so you can feel where you need to hit. Now throw a punch, please." She instructed. Elio extended his arm out as though throwing a punch at her face.
Ty Lee stepped forward, gently tapping her fingers on a few spots across Elio's arm: a dip in his elbow, the middle of his forearm, just under his armpit, and the top of his shoulder. With each tap, Elio's arm tingled a bit.
"Oh, yeah, I feel that." He quickly realized.
"Yeah! It's like that for both arms. Now I'm gonna do it, and you try to get those spots." Ty Lee said, stepping back and doing the same punching motion.
"Okay. Let me see…" Elio stepped forward, tapping her in the same way with his balled fist. He looked at her for confirmation on each spot.
"That's right. Yes. A little bit higher on that one. Right there. A little higher on that one. Right there. See? You got it!" Ty Lee smiled.
"Oh! Alright, I'm following!" He said, relaxing now that he was getting things right.
"While you're there, you can also go…here, here, or up here." She took his fist and showed him points to hit between her ribs, on her side, and on a spot in her neck and shoulder area. Elio nodded, looking closely.
"Okay. Some of these spots I'd probably go for in a real fight too." He observed.
"Exactly! But if you know how to hit them, they do way more damage! Isn't that neat?" She giggled.
"It actually is! Thank you, Ty Lee." He said, smiling gratefully at her.
"Oh, we're not done. I've got more to show you." She smirked a bit.
And so their training continued. It was a lot to take in, but Elio did his best to keep up with all of the different places she was showing him to hit. It didn't occur to him immediately, but after awhile, he realized how comfortable he and Ty Lee were becoming with each other.
"Okay!" Ty Lee grinned, "This concludes your first lesson, Elio! How do you feel?" She asked.
"Like I could do some serious damage in a fight now," He laughed. "This is awesome, Ty Lee. Where did you learn this?" He asked curiously.
"A magician never reveals her secrets," She giggled. "But I'm happy to share what I know. You're a great student." She complimented him.
"And you've been a great teacher." He said in response, smiling at her.
"Aww, thanks." Ty Lee giggled and smiled in return.
The two stared at each other with smiles; the silence between them lingered, but it wasn't awkward. If anything, it was full of tension. Elio took a step forward and Ty Lee stepped forward too. They inched closer together…
However, the moment was cut off by the sounds of angry yellng. Ty Lee and Elio looked over to see a crowd gathering and beginning to press in on the circus. Their eyebrows furrowed worriedly. They looked at each other and quickly hurried back to see what was going on.
"The Fire Nation isn't going to sway us into joining them with cheap entertainment!" That was the first thing Elio heard as they approached. A crowd was gathering just outside the vicinity of where the circus troupe was gathered.
"That's ridiculous! We're just here to put on a show; that's all! If you're not interested then don't come, but don't try to stop us!" One of the circus girls argued.
"Go back to the Fire Nation!" Another member of the crowd shouted. The mob yelled in agreement, becoming too loud for anyone to contest what they were saying.
"What is going on here?!" The manager, Mel, demanded.
"What's going on is you and your whole Fire Nation circus need to get out of here! We won't have any firebenders or Fire Nation propaganda in our town."
"Fire Nation propaganda?!" Ty Lee exclaimed, "How exactly is tightrope walking and juggling gonna make you want to join the war?" She argued sarcastically.
"We're not here to make you take sides in the war," Elio spoke up and stepped forward. "We're entertainers. We entertain regardless of what side you're on." He said. One of the men in the mob stepped forward too.
"You're the firebender, aren't you?" He questioned him directly. Elio swallowed, but maintained his ground.
"Yes, I am. And I assure you, I am no threat to you or your town. I've taken no part of the war and I don't intend to."
"And we're supposed to believe the words of a killer?" He spat. Elio took in a deep breath to maintain his composure.
"If you don't want me here, I will gladly step away and not perform if it means that the show can still go on." He tried to find a compromise.
"Absolutely not, Elio," Boris the ringleader shook his head, placing his hands on Elio's shoulders. "You are a part of this family now. Either we all perform or we don't perform at all."
"Good. Then we demand that you leave now. Before things get messy."
"Fine," Boris sighed and turned back to the others. "Pack it up, folks! Let's not waste anymore time in this mudpile." He said, giving the crowd a dirty look before moving on.
"Let's hope the next town pays twice as much as usual." Mel muttered, going back to help with packing everything up.
Elio sighed sadly, turning to do the same. He glanced back towards the crowd. He became uncomfortable as he saw that people in the crowd seemed to be making mental notes of what he looked like. He quickly turned away…
It took the rest of the afternoon to pack up everything they had set up. The troupe went around the small town to get back on the road and start making some headway towards the next town. Elio kept to himself the whole time, even avoiding Ty Lee.
He couldn't shake the feeling that this was all happening because of him. The mob may have renounced anything to do with the Fire Nation, but most likely, if he wasn't a part of the troupe, there wouldn't have been a problem at all.
But because he was a firebender, they were being forced to leave.
"Elio." Mel entered into the caravan. Ty Lee was brushing her hair and Elio was looking over the diagram. Elio looked up at him.
"Yes, sir?"
"We've heard some rumors that some of those mob guys from before might try to attack the troupe when we make camp for the night. Do you think you could keep watch for a few hours?" He requested. Elio's eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes, of course. I'll be out in just a minute," Elio agreed. "I'm really sorry about this."
"It's not your fault, kid. This isn't the first time we've gotten hassled out of town. Just don't worry about it." Mel said, halfheartedly trying to be reassuring before stepping out of the caravan.
"You can't keep blaming yourself, Elio. It's not true." Ty Lee said, looking back at him.
"How could it not be true? If I weren't here, those men likely would have never shown up." Elio pointed out as he slowly got to his feet.
"They don't see things the way that we do. And they don't see you the way that I do," Ty Lee shook her head. "Don't let them convince you that they're in the right when they aren't. At all."
"Yeah," Elio sighed, not really agreeing with her. "I'm gonna go stand guard." He said, grabbing his staff and beginning to exit the caravan.
"I'm coming with you." Ty Lee said, hurrying to finish her hair.
"No, you should stay." He quickly tried to stop her.
"You're not going to make me change my mind, Elio. So let's go keep watch." Ty Lee stood her ground.
Not wanting to fight anymore, he nodded silently and they exited the caravan together. They took their post at the edge of the camp looking towards the hostile town in the distance. They sat together on the ground.
Elio wasn't really in the mood to talk, but he felt reassured to have Ty Lee there with him. Any dialogue between them was brief, but after awhile, she took hold of his hand. That alone was enough to show him that he wasn't alone now...
The sun began to set. As it sank lower and lower, Elio rubbed his eyes and saw some men coming towards them, all gathered together in a crowd. Elio and Ty Lee both quickly stood up. He took a hold of his staff.
"Here they come," Ty Lee said once she saw that they were indeed hostile men from the town coming to attack. "Everyone! We have a code black!" She shouted back to the others. The other troupe members quickly took cover, leaving only a couple people to back Ty Lee and Elio.
"Don't take another step!" Elio said firmly, stepping forward. "If your intentions are harmful, I strongly advise that you turn around right now."
"Don't try and hide behind your circus friends, firebender," One of them said. "You can't expect to take us all on."
"You're making a mistake! This is your last chance to turn back!" Ty Lee threatened, putting up her fists.
"Get him!" The mob shouted, beginning to rush forward.
Elio stepped forward again, creating a line of fire in front of them. He used his right hand to raise up a protective wall of fire. As the stunned members of the mob quickly stepped back, Elio began to spin his staff in a circle.
As he spun the staff around, he began to feel a strange sensation in his hands. His bending was being amplified by the metal. He turned and swung it like a club. A streak of fire shot out from the staff and through the wall, creating a huge flume on the other side.
"Woah!" Ty Lee exclaimed in surprise.
Elio jumped through the firewall and quickly went on the attack. He swung his staff, hitting the man closest to him in the shin. Elio turned and slid his hands down the staff, moving it backwards to smash the end into the face of a second attacker. He then jumped and twisted his body, kicking the first man in the side of the head.
An arrow whizzed past Elio. He stumbled sideways as an archer continued to shoot at him. Elio rolled to dodge another arrow before shooting a fireball back at the archer. As the archer jumped to dodge it, Elio swung his staff again, creating a large curved blast that hit the archer and knocked him back.
Several more men rushed towards Elio to try and grab him and force him to the ground. Elio used his firebending to push himself into a high backflip. As he flew backwards, he created two trails of fire with his hands and slammed the fire downwards into the ground.
Fire began to spread across the trail. Elio took hold of it with his bending and spread it out, hitting multiple men with quick, small fireballs. He growled loudly as he spun around in a half circle, creating a circle of fire and spreading it out to hit anyone nearby.
Elio yelped in pain as he felt something whip him in the back. He turned to see a man with a chain rope swinging it at him. Elio jumped back to dodge the second attack. He used his staff to catch the whip, but the man pulled it out of his hands suddenly.
As Elio stumbled forward, he quickly took another lash to the face. He yelped again and clutched his face, nearly falling over. As the man attacked again, Elio created fire out of his hand and tried to catch it. All he got was a third lash on his hand.
Before the man could do more damage to him, Ty Lee interfered on Elio's behalf. She slid behind the man with the chain rope and took him down with a few swift punches. He doubled over and fell onto the ground.
As Elio reached to pick up his staff, he heard the familiar sound of earthbending again. He grabbed on tight to his staff and turned his body, swinging it into a boulder that was coming right for him. The boulder was smashed into pieces.
"Earthbenders!" Elio shouted. He saw three earthbenders joining the fight. They were clearly the mob's last resort.
Together, the three earthbenders created a 'wave' and sent it forward. Both Elio and Ty Lee jumped over it. Elio swung his staff downwards to attack, but his attack missed. As he landed, one of them caught his hand and foot in the ground.
Ty Lee saw this and quickly singled out the earthbender that had caught Elio. She rushed towards him, ducking under a boulder by sliding forward and bending backwards. She quickly came back up and swept his legs out from under him, immobilizing him with strikes to the arm and chest.
Elio grabbed his staff with his free hand and broke the rock around his other hand and foot. He got free just in time to dodge another boulder being thrown at him. He got to his feet and broke another boulder with a swing of his staff.
He stepped sideways and began spinning his staff, creating fire out of it. As he turned it faster, the wheel of fire that he created got bigger. Elio spun around and swung towards the other two earthbenders, sending a curved streak of fire at a high velocity.
Both of the earthbenders created a protective wall to block Elio's fire attack. Ty Lee, from the other side of the wall, punched the earthbender closest to her. It didn't block any chi points, but it was enough to cause the wall to fall.
Ty Lee ducked under a roundhouse kick and jumped back to avoid being hit in the side by a wall of earth. Elio tried to advance and help her, but he was being kept back by exchanging long-distance attacks with the other remaining earthbender.
The earthbender fighting Ty Lee began sending boulders her way. Rather than try to dodge them, she jumped up over them and landed on the other side of her opponent. However, right when she landed, the earthbender shifted the ground beneath her feet.
"W-Woah! Unh!" She stumbled in shock and turned around just in time to be hit square in the chest by a boulder. She was shot back hard, tumbling and sliding across the grass before laying out on her face.
"Ty Lee!" Elio shouted in shock.
He quickly started acting more urgently, stepping forward and batting away the boulders being shot at him. He jumped up high with his firebending before the other earthbender could shift the ground under his feet too.
Up in the air, Elio began to spin in circles, spinning his staff again and sending waves of fire towards them. The earthbenders blocked them with earth walls again. Elio landed on the ground and rushed forward, sending multiple fireballs ahead of him.
As the earth walls came down, the fireballs all crashed into one of the earthbenders. He shouted and slid back on the trail. Elio quickly jumped up and flipped forward to come down on him with a crushing fire kick.
The other earthbender shifted the ground underneath his partner, pulling him out from under Elio's attack. Elio landed and grabbed onto his staff again, swinging another attack at the other firebender. He ducked under it.
Still drawing on his rage, Elio dropped his staff and started using both hands to shoot a flurry of fireballs. The earthbender still on his feet raised up a wall to weather through them. As the other earthbender began to get up, Elio quickly put him back down.
He turned and got down on one knee, sending out fire with both hands into the earthbender beginning to stand. He screamed as he caught on fire. With one more fireball, Elio sent him sliding across the grass and knocked him unconscious.
Elio created two whips of fire and began lashing at the last earthbender's protective wall. With each hit, it began to crack open. Seeing this, the earthbender began shooting boulders at him, using the wall as ammo. Elio dodged each one and let go of his whips.
As he got in close, he created two knives out of fire. Elio stepped forward, attempting to slice at his chest several times. The earthbender jumped and dodged each attack, but wasn't able to plant his feet to perform any earthbending.
Elio continued to pursue him, throwing a fireball into his chest. As he stumbled back, Elio threw another fireball at his face. The earthbender hopped sideways and got into his stance, lifting up another wall.
As the wall went up, Elio dove forward, barely making it over in time. He rolled to his feet and made another fire whip, lashing him in the side. The earthbender stepped forward to shift the ground again.
Before he could do it, Elio stepped in and punched him in the elbow. He was going for a chi point, but he just punched his elbow out of place. He punched him in several more chi points successfully, and the earthbender folded to the ground.
Elio kicked him in the face as he was doubling over, laying him out flat. He walked over and stomped on his head two more times. Growling in animalistic anger, he turned around and saw that there were more men with weapons coming, but they were watching with fear.
Elio took several steps towards them. With a few quick movements of his hands, he forcefully sent out roaring blasts of fire towards them. The last of mob quickly turned and ran back towards town. The fight was over.
"Ty Lee!" Elio remembered. He quickly rushed over to where she was laying. She had turned onto her back. He quickly slid down on his knees and turned to help her sit up, "Ty Lee, are you alright?!"
"I-I'm okay. I'm not injured. J-Just shaken up." Ty Lee shuddered, holding onto her rib area. Elio ran his hand across that area.
"Are you sure you're not injured?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Are you okay?" She looked up at him worriedly. Elio swallowed and nodded silently, helping her stand up.
As Elio helped Ty Lee walk back towards the camp, they looked and saw what had happened. The other men who had fought with them all looked pretty beaten up. Some of the caravans and cages had been broken by the projectile boulders. The damage of the battle was evident.
"Thank you for protecting us." One of the circus girls said to them as they made their way back to her caravan.
"This is gonna suck to rebuild. Costly too," Mel grumbed. "But I'm glad you all are alright."
"Do either of you need medical attention? I can call one of our medics." Boris offered.
"I think we're okay. Thank you," Ty Lee answered. "I just need to lie down."
"I knew that bringing a firebender into our show would turn out badly." One of the jugglers commented.
"Don't you dare say anything bad about him! Not after he just risked his life to save you!" Ty Lee yelled in his general direction.
"Shh shh, Ty Lee, don't push yourself. Come on." He said, urging her to relax before they entered into her caravan. He walked her to her bed and she sat back, propped up against her pillows.
"How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?" He quickly asked.
"I'm okay, Elio. It mostly just knocked the air out of me. I'll be okay by tomorrow." She said. She was doing her best to be reassuring and firm, but she was shaking a bit. Elio saw this and took her hand.
"You took a hard hit, Ty Lee. I was really scared." He said. She nodded and sniffed. Even though the hit hadn't hurt her as bad as they'd expected, the thought of how badit could have been was disturbing enough.
"Yeah… I was too. B-But I'll be okay. What about you? You look worse than me."
"I took some bad hits, but it's not as bad as it looks. I'll see the medic in a few." He said quickly.
"I'm glad you were here, Elio. Things would've been way worse if you weren't here."
"If I wasn't here, this wouldn't have happened." Elio pointed out.
"Elio…"
"No, Ty Lee, it's true. As long as I'm here, you and the entire troupe is in danger… I have to leave the circus." He decided.
"No. No, Elio, you can't! This is your dream!" She tried to get him to stay.
"This will just keep happening again and again. I can't put you all in danger like that; I don't care how well you can take care of yourself. What if you take a hit that you can't shake off? It'd be my fault." He argued.
"Please, Elio… I really like you. I don't want you to go."
"I really like you too, Ty Lee… I'm sorry. It's the only way to make sure everyone is safe." He said regretfully.
"I'm sorry too… I guess you're right… Those stupid earthbenders ruined everything." She shook her head bitterly.
"Yeah… I should go now so they don't come back."
"Yeah… Please stay safe, Elio." She pleaded.
"I'll try…" Elio said sadly. He really didn't want to go either, but it was the right thing to do for the sake of everyone else.
Ty Lee grabbed onto him and pulled him closer, kissing him. This caught him by surprise, but he kissed back without hesitation. He held onto her for a few moments longer before letting her go and standing up.
"Goodbye, Ty Lee. I hope I can see you again." He said sincerely.
"Me too." She said, looking down sadly. Elio swallowed and exited her caravan with his things.
Elio made his way towards the trail, back towards the town. As he walked towards the edge, the other troupe members watched him. As he stepped towards the edge, Boris caught up with him.
"You're leaving us, aren't you, kid?" He asked.
"Yes… I'm sorry for the damage I brought on everyone. It was foolish of me to ever think that this could work out."
"It's never foolish to go after what you want in life, bud, but I get it… Be safe out there, Elio. I hope one day you can come back." Boris said sincerely.
"I hope so too." Elio said, highly doubting it would ever happen. It hurt to give up the one thing he'd always wanted; he had already convinced himself that he would never get this chance again.
Elio left the camp without another word to anyone else. He stepped out onto the trail and looked over the town ahead. He was angry at them to the point that he was considering going back there and taking revenge.
But he couldn't bring himself to be that person. So he picked up his staff, looked towards his right, and went hiking up into the mountains…