Burning Chapter 4: Playing with Fire

At my request, the group was brought back to the Kyoshi warriors training hall where the trio would be able to wait out there Chi blocked induced paralysis without having to worry about the Unagi making another appearance.

While far from the ideal first meeting, things could have actually gone worse. At least this way I had some time to explain myself without them running off...

“Um,” Aang hummed awkwardly. Sitting up, he’d regained a reasonable amount of control over his body despite having had his Chi blocked a few short minutes ago. Katara and Sokka on the other hand were still splayed out on the floor. “So, just to make sure... Everything you said earlier... Was that a lie, or were you telling the truth about not supporting the Fire nation?”

“Of course it was a lie,” Sokka said. Trying to sit up like Aang, he fell forward, planting his face on the floor next to him. “He’s probably sent for Zuko to come and collect us. Let’s just beat this guy and get out of here.”

You know... If I had been on the Fire Nation's side, that wouldn’t be a bad plan. It might seem like Sokka was overly paranoid, but he was just thinking of the best way to keep Aang and Katara safe. I could respect that.

“Yeah, about that,” Aang chuckled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t exactly feel my Airbending, so we’re kind of... Stuck here.”

“It’s the same for me as well,” Katara muttered worriedly. “It’s like I’ve been cut off from my Waterbending.”

Chi blocking was probably one of the most terrifying things a bender could go through, especially if they didn’t know it was only temporary.

One would think that it was like losing a limb, but the truth was, it was closer to losing a sense. An entire aspect of reality that had been with you since birth, just gone.

“It’ll wear off in a few minutes... An hour at the tops,” I said reassuringly. “And to answer your question... No, I wasn’t lying. I don’t and never will support the Fire nation and their war.”

“That’s a relief,” Aang exhaled. “For a second there, I was starting to get really worried. I don’t think I would have been able to put up much of a fight without my Airbending.”

“Sorry about that,” Suki apologized. “When we saw the Unagi go berserk, we thought the worst... And then we saw him pointing a weapon at Honō’s neck and reacted. We wouldn’t have attacked had we known who you were.”

“It was kinda my fault as well, so I guess we’re both kind of to blame,” Aang hummed, before suddenly perking up. “Oh, by the way, how did you know that stuff about me? How I was trapped in an iceberg.”

“I didn’t.” Suki’s gaze panned over to me. “Honō said he was waiting for you when we first met, but you were probably still frozen… At the start of winter.”

“The start of winter,” Aang murmured. “But... How could you know that? I’ve only been unfrozen for like... Two weeks.”

Well, I guess it was finally time for me to explain a few things. The only question was, what would I say. If I revealed too much, I ran the risk of completely screwing up the timeline, potentially for the worse. The opposite was true as well. If I said too little, they wouldn’t trust me.

This was a bit of a goldilocks situation. I needed to reveal just the right amount.

“Did you know that, back in the Fire Nation, all children under the age of 16 must attend school? One of the subjects they liked to stress was history... Specifically about the war,” I explained, drawing the group in, Suki included. “Fairly early on, all students are taught about Fire lord Sozin and his great strategy of using the now named Sozin’s comet to bolster his army that led to his triumph over the Air Nomads military.”

“That’s a lie!” Aang yelled. His tattoos briefly lit up, before fading back to their regular blue. “The Air Nomads didn’t have a military. We... They were a peaceful people that avoided conflict.”

“Aang,” Katara muttered softly. Pushing herself up, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He was a lot more emotional than I thought he would be, although I probably should have expected this. From Aang’s perspective, he’d only just lost his people. Not the near hundred years since Sozin’s genocide.

To make matters worse, the group's last stop had been to the Southern Air temple where they’d come face to face with the horrifying reality of what had happened. And he had just come from the Southern Air temple.

“I know... Believe me, I know,” I hummed calmly. “It’s propaganda the Fire Nation uses to make themselves look better... And since there’s no one to say otherwise, everyone accepts it as fact. If I hadn’t seen the truth for myself, I probably would have believed it too.”

Calming down, Aang’s glare morphed into a look of confusion. “Wait, what do you mean by seeing the truth?“

“I suppose you could say that I had a vision,” I replied. While not exactly common, that was something that could occasionally happen here. “I saw a few things, your return being one of them..”

“So that’s how you knew we’d be here,” Aang realized. “You saw it happen. That’s so awesome. What else did you see?”

“This and that,” I hummed.

Telling them everything that would happen was a recipe for disaster, but a few things here and there could help them along.

“That’s just great. A fortunetelling Firebender,” Sokka moaned. “Now I’ve seen everything. Tell me, if you really can see the future, how exactly would we beat the Fire lord?”

“Well, he’s a pretty powerful Firebender, so you probably wouldn’t want to fight him out in the open,” I replied. “As it happens, Firebenders lose the ability to bend during a solar eclipse, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to attack him then. He and the rest of his higher-ups like to hide in a bunker during the eclipse.”

It was a precaution against assassination. More than that, it was proof that Ozai, while an extremely powerful Firebender, wasn't confident in his non Firebending skills. The eclipse would only last for 8 minutes, but apparently that was enough to warrant hiding inside a bunker hidden with a volcano of all things.

“I was being sarcastic,” Sokka muttered. “Wait, Firebenders can’t bend during an eclipse? How does no one know of this?”

“The Fire Nation knows about it and they like to keep it to themselves,” I replied. “Besides, it’s only for a few minutes at most, nowhere long enough to win a full scale battle and, while the Fire Nation might not be able to fight back as effectively, they’ve got enough precautions in place to stall an attack until they regain their Firebending.”

Getting up, I dusted myself off, before taking a few steps towards the small shelf that was neatly packed with an assortment of scrolls. Grabbing one, I turned and held it towards Katara.

“What’s this?” Katara asked, eyeing the scroll cautiously.

“A copy of a Waterbending scroll,” I answered. “I thought you might like to take a look at it... Although, if you don’t want it, I suppose I could just leave it here instead.”

“NO–” Katara coughed. “That won’t be necessary.” Gingerly taking the scroll, she clutched it to her chest protectively, before giving me a single nod. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I nodded.

Being the last to recover from the Chi blocking incident, Sokka slowly sat up, groaning all the while. “Between that giant sea serpent, a fortunetelling Firebender and getting beaten up by a bunch of girls of all things, I think I’m done with today. I’m going back to sleep, where things make sense.”

Katara offered Suki an apologetic smile. “Sorry about him, he’s an idiot.”

“I’m still right here!” Sokka squawked.

“Yeah, and?” Katara shot back.

Grumbling, he marched off, heading in the direction where the other Kyoshi warriors were housing Appa.

“Is he always like that?” Suki asked.

“Not really,” Katara shook her head. “It’s just been a... Trying day for him, all things considered.” She shot a quick glance my way.

...Burning...

Heading down to the waterfront, I stepped to the side as a clump of snow hit the spot where I’d just been standing. Slowly, but surely, the weather was getting warmer. It’d probably be another month, maybe a month and a half before winter came to an end.

A few days had passed on Kyoshi Island and the newly arrived group was quick to adapt to their new surroundings. Aang had really taken a liking to the Island and spent a lot of his time showing off to the island's residents... The children especially loved to see his Airbending tricks.

The Water tribe siblings on the other hand weren’t so quick to open up. Sokka was still embarrassed about being taken down by a bunch of girls and was highly suspicious of me. It’d gotten to the point where he’d ‘secretly’ follow me around, waiting for the moment that I did something evil... As all Fire benders did, I suppose.

Suki found it pretty funny.

Katara on the other hand had taken to spending most of her time trying to learn from the Waterbending scroll I’d given them. When she wasn’t, she was either with her brother and Aang, or getting food from the village. Unlike her brother, she’d seemingly taken to avoiding me.

Hearing the sound of something heavy crashing into the ground as a fine mist of water sprayed across the leafless forest, I picked up the pace, only stopping when I came to a drenched beach front with Katara standing at the center, desperately waving her hands over the copied Waterbending scroll.

“No, no, no! Don’t smudge,” She muttered, struggling to draw the water out of the scroll without damaging its contents.

Coughing lightly, I stepped out of the forest, causing Katara to freeze. “Is everything alright?”

“What? Yes, everything’s fine,” Katara said, hiding the scroll behind her back. “Why wouldn’t it be fine?” Seeing my expectant look, she sighed and held the scroll soaked scroll out towards me. “I’m sorry... I ruined it.”

Taking the scroll, I looked it over, finding the first few moves were smudged while the rest of them were beginning to seep through the material.

“Unfortunately, since this scroll and ink were made in the Fire Nation, they weren’t made to handle getting wet,” I hummed. Bending a little heat into the scroll, steam began to pour off it as it rapidly dried. “But it can handle heat just fine.”

Within a few moments, the scroll had dried out. Once I was sure it was no longer in any risk of being ruined, I handed it back to Katara.

“You’re just... Giving it back to me?” Katara asked, holding the scroll cautiously, as if it were made of glass. “But I almost ruined it.”

“You did... But I doubt that was intentional,” I replied. “It was an honest mistake, one that I doubt you’ll make again.”

“I won’t,” She promised. “Thank you... Wow, it feels kinda weird saying that to a Firebender.”

Given all the things she heard and saw about the Fire Nation while growing up, that was understandable. “You know, with the way you’ve been avoiding me, I get the feeling that you don’t like me.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” Katara said. “I’ve just been a little busy, that’s all. With Aang goofing off and Sokka alternating between stalking you and sulking over getting his butt kicked, I haven’t exactly had a lot of time to myself.”

She did have a point, although, somehow I felt that she was just using it as an excuse. Fortunately, I had an easy way to see if she was telling the truth.

“So you spend your free time learning a few new Waterbending techniques,” I nodded. “If you want, I could help you with those.”

“With Waterbending?” Katara asked sceptically. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what would a Firebender know about Waterbending?”

“I might not be able to bend water, but that doesn’t mean I can’t practice the physical moves,” I answered, taking the base stance that was taught in the scroll.

“Well... I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” She muttered a little reluctantly.

“Alright, so I’ve found that the trick with bending is to not over think it. Try to get through the movements without bending. Also, don’t worry too much about making a mistake, if you focus on every little detail, you’ll miss out on the big picture. It’s like the finger… Pointing to the moon…”

...Burning...

Taking a slow, controlled breath, Katara methodically moved through the various forms. Taking a low stance, she waved her hand over the waters, causing it to ripple before pulling back with her other, pulling a single, blade-like stream of water from the ocean.

Shifting her arms in front of herself, she commanded the water to circle around her body, rapidly picking up speed, before she brought her arm down, piercing the loose sand below where it finally lost its form and collapsed in on itself.

Clapping slowly, I stepped forward, glancing at the hole. While Katara still had a long way to go before she mastered even a single technique, she’d made a decent amount of progress in the last hour. If she hit a person with that move, they’d probably find themselves missing a limb.

“Well done, you managed to pull that off pretty nicely,” I hummed. “Now you just need to keep practicing until you can pull it off in a fight.”

“That was amazing, I’ve never been able to bend water with that much precision before,” Katara said, excited over having finally managed to pull off the technique. Smiling brightly, she looked up at me and winced, before turning away. “...Sorry.”

“Sorry?”

Nodding, Katara took a deep breath, before exhaling slowly. “You were right. I have been avoiding you,” she admitted. “It’s just... The Fire Nation has done terrible things to my people. They abducted all the Waterbenders and even killed my mom when I was little.” Clenching her fists she glared at the floor.

“I suppose we’re somewhat similar in that regard,” I said, surprising her. “I had a brother once, his name was Sang... He was a few years older than me, so he was drafted first... As part of the 41st Division. The higher ups in the Fire Nation decided to use them as a distraction, getting the entire Division killed.”

Gasping, Katara covered her mouth. “I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” I asked. “You weren’t the one that made the order. It was a wakeup call for me. I saw the truth and realized that something needed to be done. The Fire Nation is cruel... Even to its own citizens. It needs to change and those in charge must be held accountable for what they’ve done.”

“That’s monstrous. I never once would have thought that the Fire Nation would treat its own people like that,” Katara admitted, disgusted by the Fire Nations actions. Squaring her shoulders, Katara locked eyes with me. “Can we start over? I’m Katara, the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe.”

“Honō, Firebender and deserter of the Fire Nation.” I nodded my own greeting. “Now, enough of this depressing topic. Let’s see if you can learn another Waterbending technique before the day ends.”

Not needing to be asked twice, Katara eagerly looked over the list. “Which one should we try next? This one lets you control a big wave and this one can wrap a wall of water around you.”

“Let’s try an easier one first and move on from there.” I smiled, taking one of the more simple stances.

Nodding, Katara mirrored me and began slowly cycling through the various forms, getting them down first before she attempted to use them to bend the water... Although, judging by the nearby water rippled, she’d be bending it in no time.

It wasn’t until we were over halfway through the set that something happened, forcing us to stop. The faint smell of smoke filled the air as a large metallic warship sailed towards the Island.

“Oh no... Zuko,” Katara muttered. “We have to go warn the villagers, they’re in danger.”

“You go. Tell the Kyoshi Warriors and Aang... Help get the villagers to safety,” I said, watching as the ship grew ever nearer. “I’ll stall them in the meantime.”

“What, no–“

“There’s no time to argue,” I replied, cutting her off. “Trust me, Katara, I can handle something of this scale... And if I can’t, the Unagi will help out.”

Looking conflicted, Katara glanced between the warship and me before sighing. “Fine, but you better be alright, you hear?”

“I’ll be fine,” I waved her off.

Nodding, Katara offered the warship one last glance before taking off in a sprint, rushing towards the village.

Watching as she left, I turned back towards the approaching warship and began walking towards it. Instead of slowing its approach like I’d expected, it continued on at full speed, sailing through the shallows, before sliding to a stop on the sandy banks.

For a moment, everything was still, before the front of the ship opened up, forming a ramp that allowed a trio of komodo rhinos to descend while three more soldiers wielding spears followed from behind. At the head of it all was Zuko, perched on his own rhino.

“I want the Avatar ali–“

“Hello there,” I called out, slowly approaching the group. “What brings you fine fellows here?”

Catching sight of me, Zuko released his reins and pointed towards me. “You there... You will lead us to your village and tell us where the Avatar is!”

I blinked at that, before smiling. “You think I’m a local?” I asked, before shaking my head. “Unfortunately there’s no Avatar here... He left a few days ago... Went that way. I do, however, know of a fisherman that could be described as an Avatar. The man can catch all four kinds of elephant Koi. His name’s Baelin.”

“I don’t care... Men, take him!” Zuko commanded explosively. “Now listen here, you will take me to your village or I’ll see it reduced to ash.”

“Wait... How would you do that if you can’t find it first?” I asked. “Showing you where it is seems kind of counterproductive, don’t you think?”

Seeing the look of explosive rage on Zuko’s face, I smiled. You know, I kind of got why Azula liked screwing with people so much. It was pretty fun, especially when Zuko made it so easy.

Waiting for the trio of soldiers to approach, I made my move. Bursting forward, I hit the first two soldiers with a flurry of quick jabs aimed at points between their armour, before dodging to the side as a spear passed through the space where my head was.

Grabbing on, I spun around, wrenching the spear from the man’s grasp, before smashing the pole into the back of his helmet, knocking him out. Not stopping there, I flung it at the nearest komodo rhino rider, hitting his armour with enough force to knock him from its back.

Attempting to move onto the final rider outside of Zuko, my attack was halted as a ball of fire flew in front of me, cutting me off.

That was a pity, I’d hoped to take them all out before dealing with Zuko. I guess I was just going to have to be faster next time.

Watching as another fire blast headed my way, I backhanded it out of the way, surprising Zuko.

“You’re a Firebender?!”

“Yep and I have to say that this attack of yours was a little... Well, sad. The Kyoshi Warriors put up a far better fight when I first got here and they had less people than you,” I hummed, further infuriating him. “Your flames could also use a little work... Zuzu.”

“That name,” Zuko muttered, before sending a harsh glare towards me. “Azula put you up to this, didn’t she?” He demanded. “She realizes that if I catch the Avatar, she’ll no longer be next in line for the throne.”

“I’m pretty sure that if she felt that way, she’d stop you herself,” I replied. “Hell, she might even try capturing the Avatar first, that way you’d fail. No, I’m not doing this for anyone... Well, other than the Avatar.”

“Then you’re a traitor to your own people,” Zuko snapped. Sliding off his rhino, he removed his helmet and dropped it on the ground. “I challenge you to an Agni Kai! I presume you have enough honour to see it through... Or are you a traitor to your very core?”

I was impressed. It seemed like Zuko had actually managed to assess the situation and came up with a plan.

He’d seen me take out his soldiers up close and knew that I could do the same to him if I managed to close the gap. So, he chose a path that would force me to use Firebending alone.

“I accept. Where do you want to do this thing?”

“Right here, right now,” Zuko answered, shrugging off his armour.

Ah, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible so he could begin hunting for Aang. It was probably in my best interest to finish this too. Once the Kyoshi warriors finished moving everyone to safety, they’d be here.

I honestly thought Zuko’s soldiers would be more of a threat, but I guess I was wrong. Taking them out quickly seemed to have been the correct choice here.

Nodding, I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it to the side, before heading a little further up the beach, away from the soldiers whose bodies currently littered the ground.

Stopping a short distance away, I turned around, facing Zuko who stood opposite me. Glancing up at the ship, I saw a number of soldiers standing on the deck, watching what was about to happen. Standing among them was Iroh who watched with a confused look on his face.

“Ready to lose?”

“Has anyone ever answered that with a yes?” I asked, focusing back on Zuko who appeared annoyed at my question. “But yeah, let’s get this started.”

Letting out a yell, Zuko threw his fist forward, unleashing a stream of fire and I stepped to the side, letting it sail past me.

Flicking my fingers toward him, I released a thin stream of fire that cut through his next attack, before colliding with the floor. Not relinquishing my control just yet, I increased the heat, causing the wall of flames to grow, preventing Zuko from being able to retreat in that direction.

Swatting a fireball out of the air, I began to attack from the other side, forcing him to move closer to my flames in order to dodge.

Stepping forward, Zuko stomped the ground, releasing a small amount of flame that was meant to unbalance me.

“You know, I think I’ve seen enough,” I muttered.

Sending a quick succession of fireballs Zuko’s way, some of which came dangerously close to burning him, he stumbled backwards, nearly stepping into my flames, only to move out of the way at the last moment.

Watching as he unleashed a stream of fire in a desperate attempt to overwhelm me, I pressed forward. Powering through the attack with my own flames, I latched onto his fist, appearing directly in front of him with a small stream of fire burning at my finger tips.

Feeling him trying to tug free, I hooked my foot under his leg and released him, sending him tumbling to the sandy ground below.

“And we’re done here,” I said, allowing the flames on the beach to die down.

Glaring up at me, Zuko’s gaze briefly flickered to the flames at the tip of my fingers. “This only ends one way.”

“The only time I’ll ever strike a downed opponent is if I intend for them to never get up again,” I replied, extinguishing the fire burning at my fingertips. “And, unfortunately for you, I know there’s still a good person inside there somewhere... Deep down.”

“What?” Zuko muttered under his breath.

“You have my respect for what you tried to do for the 41st Division,” I continued. “That being said, if I catch you burning houses down and destroying lives in your quest to capture Aang...” Moving my arm in a circular motion, lightning buzzed around my forearm.

I think I got my point across.

Unfortunately, from an outside perspective, it must have looked like I was planning on killing Zuko right then and there as Iroh unleashed a concentrated blast of fire in my direction.

Releasing the lightning harmlessly into the ground at my side, I took a slow breath, ready to block Iroh’s flames with my own, only for Aang to drop down in front of me and swat it to the side with his staff.

“Hey there, it looked like you could use some help.” Aang grinned. “Although, it looks like you’ve had things handled pretty well on your own.”

“I suppose you could say that,” I murmured. Noticing Zuko planning a surprise attack, I hit him with a flurry of light strikes that would ensure he wouldn’t be moving for the next hour, let alone bending. “Since there was outside interference, I suppose we could call this a draw,” I noted, staring down at Zuko’s enraged form. “No honour lost... Let’s go Aang, we’re done here.”

“But what about the rest of them?” Aang asked, looking at the soldiers that were gathering on the beach with Iroh leading them.

He did have a point... And they were standing where my shirt was. Looking down at Zuko, I picked him up and flung him over my shoulder.

“Hey!” Zuko yelled, finding his voice once more. “What’s the big idea?!”

Ignoring his outburst, I slowly made my way over to Iroh with Aang following a little behind.

“I think this belongs to you,” I said, heaving the defeated prince into one of the soldier’s arms. “He’ll recover in an hour. If I could suggest, you might want to work on his temper.”

Staring at his nephew, Iroh nodded. “You have my thanks. Although, it is curious. It’s rare that someone of your age would have such mastery of Firebending, let alone have enough skill to generate lightning. If I could ask your name.”

“Honō,” I replied. Picking my shirt up, I shook the sand from it, before slipping it back on. “And you must be Iroh. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things I hope.” Iroh laughed good-naturedly. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to continue this conversation another time as we need to leave. There is a hungry looking sea serpent that’s been circling the bay and I would rather not have to deal with it.”

“Uncle, no,” Zuko snapped. “The Avatar is right there, we can’t leave now!”

“Who, this?” I asked, placing a hand on Aang’s shoulder. “This is just my kid brother. We’re only here for a short while… In fact, we’ll probably be leaving pretty soon.”

“We will?” Aang asked, before perking up. “Right, we will. Kyoshi’s been great and all, but there’s a lot more sights out there to see.”

“I see.” Iroh stroked his beard. “Well it was nice meeting the two of you, but we really must be leaving. Helmsman, if you could prepare the ship for departure.”

At Iroh’s command the helmsman nodded and began ordering the rest of the soldiers back onto the ship, having those that couldn’t move carried onboard by others.

Iroh obviously knew that I was lying about Aang being my brother, but that didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that I was capable of using lightning and didn’t mind using it around Zuko who currently couldn’t defend himself.