Wandering Firebender
Fourty Three: 8 Minutes
Elio breathed in slowly through his nose and out from his mouth, doing his best to take in measured breaths as he hung from the ceiling bars of his prison cell. With his hands tightly wrapped around two bars, he pulled his body up again and again.
"Very good, Elio. Focus on your breathing." Iroh instructed. From the other side of the wall, Elio could just barely hear Iroh doing the same exercises.
"Three more, two more, done." Elio said to himself before letting go of the bars. He dropped down onto his feet and landed on the ground. He shook his arms to keep them loose then rotated his shoulders as he stood up straight.
"That should be enough for now. Save the rest of your strength for this afternoon." Iroh advised. Elio swallowed and nodded, resting back against the nearest wall and putting his hands on his knees.
"How sure are you that this is gonna work?" He asked.
"One can never be certain. But we are as ready as we can be." Iroh answered.
"I guess that's kinda reassuring." Elio said.
Before Iroh could say anything else, there was a pounding on his door. Elio's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed his shirt. He hurriedly slid his arms through and put it on, getting into a seated position as the guard outside shouted to him.
"Look alive, prisoner! You got a visitor!" He said before the door was opened.
A nervous pit started to well up in Elio's chest. This was a terrible time to be receiving a visit. There wasn't much time left. But when Elio saw who was coming in, his heart sank.
"Well...look at you..." She said to him with a sad, dejected tone. Elio's eyebrows furrowed and he scooted in front of the prison bars.
"No...Taiga?" He said in surprise.
"Surprised that I'm here, Elio?" She asked sarcastically, "Believe me, I am too..."
"Taiga. I-"
"You're a terrible person, you know that? Leaving us all behind like that, too much of a coward to even look us in the eye when you stab us all in the back." She said, folding her arms.
"I'm sorry, Taiga. I really am. I never wanted to hurt you." He said sincerely, trying not to look too anxious. He needed to get her to leave as soon as possible.
"Yeah? But you did it anyways knowing how it would make me feel! It's always all about you, you, you, Elio! You don't really care about anyone else!" She said spitefully.
"I do care! And y-you're right, I was selfish...but-"
"But what?!" She cut him off, raising her voice at him, "But nothing, Elio. It was slimy and you know it!"
"Taiga...this has become something bigger than you and me. I wish I could tell you in a way you'd understand..." Elio tried to express.
"Oh, I understand plenty! You're on the other side of the war now! You betrayed everyone you know and love for total strangers, you psycho!"
"Taiga..." Elio looked at her sadly. She bitterly turned her gaze away from him, fighting back her urge to get teary-eyed.
"Whatever..." She sighed. "You made your choice and now you gotta deal with it...and we gotta deal with it too, whether you intended that or not." She said sarcastically as she started walking towards the door.
"I know. And I am truly sorry, little sis." He said.
"Don't call me that!" She turned and shouted back at him. "You don't get to talk to me like we're family after what you did!"
Elio swallowed and looked down with a guilty expression. Taiga's lip quivered a little, but she maintained her firm resolve.
"I knew coming to see you was a mistake. I shouldn't even be here. The evacuation's already underway." She said. Elio's head perked a bit.
"Evacuation? What evacuation?" He asked.
"Right, I guess you wouldn't know about it because no one cares about the prisoners and traitors." She said to dig into him.
"What evacuation, Taiga?" Elio asked again with more emphasis.
"The Earth Kingdom plans to invade today. Apparently it's a serious enough threat that we need to vacate the area. Even the royal family is hiding somewhere secret." She explained.
"There's an invasion!" Elio's eyes widened.
"Yeah. Maybe you'll get rescued." She said sarcastically, tapping her foot against one of his prison bars.
"You should go then, Taiga. I don't want you getting hurt in the crossfire." He said.
"I'll be just fine." She said, turning to leave once again.
"Taiga...I lo-" Elio began to say, but he was interrupted by his little sister slamming the door shut on him. He sighed sadly and rubbed his face.
He sat in silence for who knows how long, wondering how he could make things up to her and the rest of his family one day...
"Elio. It's almost time. Do you remember the plan?" Iroh asked.
"Hmm? U-Uh, yes, sir. I know." He answered with a nod.
"I know that you are feeling conflicted after your sister's visit, but you have to focus. If you don't succeed, you will never get the chance to make things right." He advised. Elio nodded and took in a breath.
"Okay...I'm ready."
Elio closed his eyes and waited patiently. He focused on his breathing, remaining calm. From the other side of the wall, he could hear a prison guard entering into Iroh's cell: this particular prison guard had been harassing Iroh since the day they had arrived.
"Oh, great general Iroh, sir! There's an invasion coming in from the water! What are we going to do?" He pretended to act distressed before laughing at him, "How does it feel to be a useless waste of space after all that you once were? Now that there's nothing you can do about anything?"
"There is nothing wrong with judging a man by the legacy that he leaves behind. However, how a man feels about the accomplishments of another will always be subjective. In the end, we have to live with the horrors and realities behind our own stories."
"So he speaks. After all this time in your imprisonment you finally say something – something that makes no sense at all." The guard taunted, disregarding everything Iroh had just said.
"Or perhaps you just haven't accomplished enough to understand." Iroh answered back with a faint chuckle.
The guard growled angrily. Elio heard slamming on the prison bars, followed by the sounds of struggling from the guard. Elio smiled a little bit to himself. He could only imagine the comeuppance that the guard was receiving.
After the sounds of struggling stopped, there was the sound of metal being forcefully moved and bent. Finally, Iroh opened up Elio's door and stepped inside with the keys in his hands. Elio opened his eyes and stood up. His eyes widened.
"Mushi?" He recognized his face. Iroh laughed.
"It's good to actually see you again, Elio," He said as he unlocked his door. "We will have to hurry. In a few minutes, we will not be able to firebend at all. Get your things as soon as possible and meet me at the rendezvous point in 15 minutes." Iroh instructed.
"Got it. Be careful, sir." Elio said, stepping out of his cage. After being held captive for about a month, this taste of freedom had him feeling more motivated than ever to escape.
"Good luck." Iroh said with a nod. Elio nodded in return and hurried out of the room.
Elio turned left and bolted down the hall, speeding past other prison doors that were still closed. Elio saw one guard starting to go down a spiral staircase at the end of the hall. As Elio got close, the guard heard Elio's heavy steps and started to turn around.
Elio jumped up and drove his knee into the guard's head, slamming him against the wall. The man yelped in surprise before crashing into the wall with a heavy thud. Elio's feet landed awkwardly on the steps and he slid down a bit. Two more guards near the bottom of the stairs looked up, hearing the commotion.
"Halt!" One of them yelled, shooting a fireball up at Elio. He took one step down and forcefully blocked the attack, causing the flames to spread out around him. He then shot a fireball forward with his other hand. This knocked the guard back and he tumbled to the ground.
"Sound the alarm! We have an escape attempt!" The other guard shouted, stepping back to avoid Elio's next fireball. Elio hurried down the stairs after him. He found the guard retreating backwards while still facing Elio, intending to hold him off while backup came.
Elio jumped to the bottom of the steps, swatting aside the guard's fireballs. He charged up a blazing fire in his right hand and swatted away a fireball with his left. He spun around in a wide stance and shot the fireball forward.
The guard got in a defensive stance and attempted to block it, but Elio's blast broke right through and knocked him to the ground.
"Dang! He wasn't kidding!" Elio said, referring back to a lesson Iroh had taught him: that physical fitness and powerful firebending go hand in hand with each other. It made Elio think back to Azula, the most powerful firebender he knew.
That probably had a lot to do with why she was so skilled.
Elio continued down the spiral staircase until he got to the ground level. Thanks to a conversation he had overheard from two guards, he knew that all of the inmates' belongings were held on this level. He would just have to find the specific room.
He turned a corner and found a handful of guards lined up down the hall. Elio's eyes widened and he skidded to a stop. However, the guards were quick to notice him and prepared to attack, "Stop him!" A guard shouted.
Before they could attack Elio, however, their attention was suddenly turned around by Iroh, who was coming down from the other end of the hall. Iroh threw a punch that knocked a guard down. Two guards shot fire at him. Iroh created his own wall of fire to block it.
Elio watched in awe as Iroh fought off this entire line of firebenders by himself. Iroh advanced and shot a fireball into another guard, knocking her down. The second guard came to her defense, pulling out a nightstick and swinging it at Iroh.
Iroh caught his arm and punched him in the gut, causing him to fall to the ground. He stepped on top of the guard and swatted aside another fireball. He took in a deep breath and shot fire out of his mouth like a dragon. The fire was so intense that Elio was forced to step back around the corner to avoid getting burnt.
"Elio! This is the room with your things! Hurry!" Iroh urged him. Elio came back around and hopped over the incapacitated guards. He entered into the room Iroh was directing him to. He frantically searched until he found a small shelf marked with his cell number.
It was empty...
"What? My stuff's not here! It's gone!" Elio shouted. Iroh stroked his chin and hummed.
"It was probably taken by one of your visitors." He presumed. Elio thought about it for a moment then groaned.
"Taiga!" He realized.
"It is best that we hurry to the beach. If we are to escape, we need to go now!" Iroh advised.
"I can't leave my stuff behind! You go! I'll catch up!" Elio urged, stepping out and following Iroh out of the front door of the prison.
"Elio, material things can always be replaced!" Iroh tried to argue. However, Elio ran ahead down the paved road leading back towards the capital city.
"Not these!" He insisted in response before leaving Iroh behind.
Elio breathed in and out rapidly as he sprinted at full speed down the road. He couldn't look up into the sky, but he could sense a shift in the very air around him. He wouldn't have much time to meet back with Iroh. If he took too long, Iroh would have no choice but to leave without him.
He would have to be faster.
Finally, he caught sight of Taiga walking by herself down the road. Sure enough, he could see that she had his staff in her hand as well as his pack strapped around her shoulder. Elio huffed heavily as he pushed himself to keep running.
"Taiga! Stop!" He shouted and slowed to a stop. Taiga flinched and spun around in shock.
"What?! Elio! How did you get free?!"
"Taiga! Give me my stuff back! I need it!" Elio demanded between deep breaths. He held his hand out. Taiga stepped back defensively.
"Are you insane?!"
"There's no time, Taiga! Come on!" Elio shouted, stepping in closer. Taiga quickly threw a fireball at him, catching him by surprise. She dropped his stuff on the ground and got into a fighting stance.
"Make me!" She shouted back.
"Come on, Taiga, don't make me do this." Elio pleaded.
"You brought this on yourself when you abandoned us! Abandoned me! You deserve everything you're about to feel right now!" She growled and threw a fire kick with an arcing blast at him.
Elio twisted his body and swiped his foot upwards to block Taiga's arcing blast with his own. He switched feet and sent a fireball forward with another kick. Taiga easily dodged it, ducking down and moving forward. She closed the distance with him quickly and attacked with a fire punch.
Elio stepped back to dodge the punch. The flames singed a few of his hairs as he bent backwards. He stumbled back as Taiga jumped and threw a spinning fire kick. Elio ducked underneath the flames and grabbed onto her, getting behind her and trying to restrain her arms.
"Taiga, stop! I don't want to hurt you!" He said, trying to get her to stop. He didn't want to seriously fight his sister, but she was leaving him little choice.
"Let go of me!" She yelled, throwing her head back. Her head slammed into his nose and chin. Elio stumbled back in dizzy pain as blood gushed from his nose. Taiga went back to Elio's stuff and pulled out his prized knife, opening it up and lunging at him.
"Traitor!" She yelled as she went for him. Elio, just able to make out her figure, dodged the wild lunge. He tripped her with a low sweeping kick and she fell on her stomach. Elio took a step toward her, but Taiga quickly shot another fireball at him from her foot.
Elio dodged the attack and grabbed her foot, pulling her towards him. He hit her with a few chi-blocking jabs in her leg. She cried out in pain as her left leg went numb from the three hits. Elio then stepped on her wrist to keep her from using the knife again.
"I hate that you're making me do this." He grumbled to her as he twisted the knife out of her hand. Taiga growled in pain, pulling herself away from him.
"What did you do to me?!" She demanded.
"I chi-blocked your leg. You won't be able to use it for a couple hours at most." Elio said, going back to his stuff.
He stuffed the knife back into his bag first. He put on his cloak and the strap for his staff. Once he had both clothing items on, he put on his pack. Lastly, he lifted up his staff and spun it around once. He turned and blocked another stubborn fireball from Taiga with it.
"This fight's over, Taiga! Stop!" He shouted, "What are you even doing out here with the invasion going on?!" He questioned.
"I just came to grab your stuff! The invasion isn't even near here. I told mom and dad it's not a big deal!" She said. Elio gave her a look.
"You came to see me?"
"No! Shut up! I didn't want to see you, but I wanted you to know what you did to our family!" Taiga yelled at him.
"I'm sorry, Taiga. I really am. I don't know what mom and dad have told you...but...I love you. I hope I can come back and make things right." He said sincerely. Taiga glared at him, the anger in her expression starting to waver.
"You're leaving us again, aren't you?! You couldn't face the consequences of your actions like a real man, huh?!" She yelled at the top of her voice. Her voice broke several times as her eyes welled up with tears. Elio teared up too, crouching by her and pulling her head into his chest.
He hugged her tightly and held her for a few seconds. Taiga sniffed, still pulling herself away from him the best she could. Finally, he let her go and stood up. He couldn't think of anything else to say...
Elio turned away from her and looked back towards the trail. He was surprised to see that ten guards had managed to catch up with him. They all got into fighting stances, ready to subdue him. Elio swallowed and gripped his staff tighter.
"Surrender now!" The captain at the front of the group yelled.
"No," Elio responded calmly, holding his staff in both hands. "I'm not going back there!"
"He wants to do this the hard way! Good." The captain smirked sadistically.
The captain stepped forward, balling his fist to throw a fireball at Elio. However, as he was throwing the punch, everything darkened around them. Only a few licks of fire came out of his fist. Everyone's eyes widened in shock and their eyes drifted upwards.
There it was in the sky: a total solar eclipse.
"Whoa...unreal!" Elio exclaimed in total awe.
"Take him down, men!" The captain shouted. All of the guards attempted to shoot fire at him but only weak embers came out. Elio spun his staff and took in a breath.
"Now it's your turn to surrender." He said with a faint smirk.
"Never!" The captain said, being the first to advance. He tried to kick Elio.
Elio swung his staff into the man's leg, hitting him in the knee. The captain grunted in pain, hopping back on one foot. Elio stepped forward and hit the captain with several rapid hits from the staff before spinning around and knocking him out with a hard swing to the side of his head.
Three guards rushed at him all at the same time. Elio swung his staff to keep them back before throwing his staff into one of them. The man caught it awkwardly and stumbled back. Elio sidestepped the other two guards attempting to attack him at the same time. They tripped over one another.
Elio stepped on the back of one of the guards and pushed himself into a jump. He proceeded to kick the guard holding his staff in the face. The guard fell back hard and the staff clattered to the ground. Elio jumped and rolled to it, picking it back up again.
Two more guards tried to tackle him. Elio spun and tripped them with his staff. Another guard threw a kick at him. Elio ducked under it and threw a few chi-blocking jabs with his left hand, catching him in the side and causing him to collapse.
Two of the guards that he had tripped got back up and grabbed onto his arm and leg. Elio flinched in surprise then elbowed one in the face. With his arm free, he took his staff in both hands and slammed the blunt end of it into the guard holding onto his leg.
As the remaining 7 men tried to surround him, Elio swung his staff in a large circle to keep them all back. One stepped in too close and got hit in the face with the blunt end of Elio's staff, getting knocked out. Another lunged at Elio and received a swift spin kick to the temple.
"Just rush him!" One of the men shouted. All 5 remaining men tried to jump in on Elio and force him down all at once. Elio spun his staff again and jumped on the guard in front of him, knocking him back. Elio landed on his chest with both knees and spun forward.
He turned back around and slid the staff back into its sleeve. As the four men approached him, he took down two more with chi-blocking jabs. He dodged a kick from a third guard and swept his legs, making him fall on his back. He jumped into the air and threw a spinning kick into the last remaining guard.
As he landed on his feet, he pulled his staff out again. He spun around and swung the staff into the third guard as he was getting up, knocking him out. With all 10 men down, Elio calmly slid his staff back into its sleeve once again. He then reached up and wiped the blood dripping from his nose.
Unbeknownst to him, Taiga had watched this entire battle, and her eyes were wide with awe.
Elio took in a breath, his adrenaline still pumping. He started running again. The eclipse was still in effect, and he only had a little time left. He broke into a full sprint once again, making his way towards the nearest beach. His stuff was weighing him down, but he was still going as fast as he could manage.
When he got to the beach, Iroh was still waiting for him with a small boat ready to sail. Iroh greeted him with a nod as he threw his stuff into the boat. They pushed it into the water and rowed out onto the ocean. Elio took another look up at the solar eclipse.
"I've never seen anything like this before...words don't do it justice." Elio said.
"Events like this only happen once in a lifetime. But you should look away before the sun comes back out." Iroh advised.
"Right." Elio said, taking one last look before tearing his eyes away.
"Did you get everything you needed?" Iroh asked.
"I believe so..." Elio answered. He sat down and opened up his pack, sifting through his things.
Everything was still there: his family portrait, his prized knife, his leftover money, et cetera. However, the one thing that he didn't expect to see that was still there was Azula's royal headpiece. Apparently, she returned it to his bag after visiting him.
"Why didn't she...?" Elio started to wonder aloud as he pulled the headpiece out and held it up. "Sir...do you think it's possible that Azula knew about the eclipse?" He asked.
"I wouldn't put it past her. Why?" Iroh asked.
"I'm pretty sure she knew." Elio said, turning and showing him the headpiece. Iroh hummed curiously and stroked his beard.
"I've no doubt that Azula is trying to send you a message. But I wouldn't worry about her following us. She has her own matters to attend to back home." He said.
"Are you sure?" Elio asked doubtfully.
"Mhmm." Iroh answered with a simple nod.
"Okay..." Elio hesitantly agreed, putting the headpiece back in his bag. "So we're heading back to the Earth Kingdom?" He asked.
"Yes. When we arrive there, I will introduce you to some old friends of mine. Once we meet them, we will discuss our next move." Iroh said. Elio nodded, setting his things down again.
"Alright. Can we trust them?" Elio asked.
"Of course! I would trust them with my life." Iroh answered with a chuckle.
"That's reassuring." Elio said with a faint chuckle of his own.
At that moment, the eclipse came to an end. Things became bright again. The sunlight glistened off the surface of the water. Despite the conflicted feelings that came with Elio having to leave his home for a second time, it truly felt good to be free again...