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Storms is the twelfth chapter of the fanon series Avatar: Legend Of Fire
Synopsis[]
Hit by a raging storm, the two companions seek shelter whilst both of them finally express they long withheld feelings about each others annoyances
Plot[]
The entire time their small vessel was making its way through the windy and considerably dangerous waters, Jin nor Takeo didn't say anything to each other. The soldier had managed to make it through the night without vomiting in the small hut on board the cutter that the two of them shared, however he didn't converse with his Avatar companion either. Maybe Takeo should have said something, but he was feeling quite sick himself, the time he spent sleeping he woke up, remembering the Battle Of Whale Tail Island the images of death and slaughter, fire and screams of agony, it wasn't something as easy to forget as one might think. He rolled on one side and then to another, but no matter how long he kept his eyes closed, he couldn't help but feel scared. A war, a war he'd have to stop, was raging through the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom and he was resting, how could he? It was a strange feeling, a feeling of anxiousness, a feeling of fear and anger, but mostly a feeling of betrayal.
Every time Takeo woke for his shift of watching over the boat, he couldn't help but stare at Jin. He lied to me, was all that he could think about. He knew about the war and said nothing, just like the Firelord had, just as Zhin Tsu had. Takeo felt hurt, he didn't want to say anything to Jin, to ignore him because he knew that if they started taking, Tak would inevitably start shouting at him, he was that angry. And Jin seemed nihilistic as ever, he hadn't said a word besides his suggestion that they should take turns sleeping and steering their cutter. Tak wasn't as experienced in steering a ship as Jin, that is to say- he knew almost nothing about it, but after watching Jin do it he got the hang of it pretty quickly and on the second day, he was steering their small vessel like it was something that took no thought from him at all. Maybe it was because he couldn't sleep, only twist restlessly in his bunk, or maybe it was because he was anxious to get to the air temple, but he learned it incredibly fast, even by his own standards.
And now, it was nearing the end of their third day of sailing, everywhere you turned all you saw was the ocean spanning past the horizon, Whaletail Island had completely vanished and the temples where nowhere in sight, Tak could only hope they were going the right way. He looked at the small map that Jin had left near the tiller. It was dark and he used his left hand to ignite a small flame in his palm to shine some light on the map. It all looked so familiar; he had watched the map so many times yet not in such detail as this one. His mind began to wander and before he even knew it, his eyelids became heavy, and so he leaned back, still resting his hand on the tiller. He looked up to the dark sky that was slowly getting more and more consumed by the thick dark clouds, the wind grew heavier.
Takeo...
The voice came as whisper, but a whisper of a thousand voices, all speaking in chorus so deep in his skull that he was completely sure he imagined it until it came again. His head tilted back and his eyelids closed, it felt so satisfying, so relaxing listening to the waves gently rock the cutter. He saw that man again. He hadn't thought about it, but now that he saw the muscular dark man in his dream again, he recognized he bright blue glow in his eyes and that voice that he heard in his dreams. That was what happened to Takeo when he fought the pirates, but he didn't want to think about it now, his mind was far away and now, it didn't matter...
His eyes opened widely when he realized he had fallen asleep. A great wave of water came over their cutter and splashed onto the deck, showering the hut and Tak in water. He gasped and looked around, it was dark, but he could see the wild and fierce water splashing all around him, the waves growing larger and larger as they threw the small boat to all directions. Tak screamed.
"JIN!" was the only sound he could get out, the cutter tilted and he felt himself grasped tightly onto the tiller and the boat spun. A crash of lightning lit up the sky and for a second Tak could see the horrors around him, waves as big as buildings rising in every direction, the wind was so powerful that Takeo could feel it pushing him, he looked up and their sail was torn to shreds. Another blast of lightning came and this time, what once was their mast was now a log of shattered and splintered wood. "Jin!" Takeo screamed again and he felt the cold water surround him, his arms wrapped around the tiller and the boat went under, water pouring into Takeo's lungs and clothes, he closed his eyes, he couldn't see in the dark ocean regardless.
The Chase[]
"Captain, it'll be a storm." One of the soldiers informed Daisuke, who was standing on their small sloop, looking into the direction the Avatar had sailed through a spyglass. It was a while until the captain responded.
"Then make the necessary preparations and don't bother me." His lips pressed tightly together. He didn't want to show any weakness to his men, if he did it might end badly for him.
"As you wish, sir" the man clad in green armor ran off across the wooden deck and Daisuke didn't turn his head to him even for a second.
Just his luck, when it seemed like they had a lead on the Avatar he somehow managed to disappear in a large body of water. He looked up into the sky, massive clouds forming above their heads and the wind growing stronger and stronger; it only served to slow down their sloop.
"Find anything, captain?" the commander asked him as he approached from Daisuke's right.
"Water" Daisuke replied smugly as he returned his eye to the hole in the spyglass and continued searching.
"The men are growing anxious, they say it would be best to turn back and head for the nearest port, we only have twenty men with us and with those kinds of numbers we won't take the Avatar." The commander informed him as he leaned onto the rail of the sloop.
"Twenty men are enough to sail a ship and if they're so scared, they can stay on the ship- I'll bring back the Avatar myself, he is only a boy"
The commander seemed amused "As you say, Captain, however I must remind you of some pressing matters."
Daisuke didn't pay much attention; he kept looking through his spyglass.
"You have yet to inform the Council of Five that Whaletail Island is lost to us." His voice was more concerned that anything else. "Should we send a letter to General Lee informing him of the situation?"
Daisuke lowered his spyglass. He bit his lip. Oops, he thought- he forgot. Well, not as much forgot as didn't want to remember. Should have come back to General Lee empty handed, having lost the island and the Avatar, the general would no doubt find a suitable punishment, maybe death, he didn't want to think about it.
"I'll be honest with you, commander, I forgot- regardless, if I send a letter to General Lee detailing my exploits of losing an island and the Avatar, he'll kill me, sooo- no, we are definitely not going to inform General Lee of 'the situation'"
"Is that wise, sir?"
"Are you questioning my intelligence, commander?" Daisuke arched an eyebrow.
"I'm merely saying that it would be easier to track the Avatar if we had the full forces of General Lee behind us."
"Leave the Avatar to me; we'll be done before you know it and you can return to your wife and daughter." Daisuke informed him calmly
"How did you know I have a daughter?" the commander asked, confused.
Daisuke didn't respond at first, but then he lowered the spyglass again and placed it onto a small barrel "Commander, prepare a small boat and three volunteers, I'll be sailing towards that island."
Crashed[]
Takeo didn't dare open his eyes as the water swirled all around him. His mouth was closed, but he could feel the intense rush of water running through his nostrils and he gasped more than once, letting out a stream of bubbles from his mouth, he tried to scream, but to no avail. He held on tightly to the tiller, he couldn't even tell if the cutter was drowning or still sailing, but his eyes didn't open. He thought about Jin for a moment fear took hold of him- What if Jin didn't fell off? He wanted to open his eyes, to look, but he knew that it wouldn't do much good.
Suddenly, his feet landed on to something and shuffled forward. Sand. He took a step forward and another before he released the tiller and felt the water leave his nostrils and fall off of him. He gasped, savoring the return of air to his lungs, his eyes still didn't open, he could feel the powerful push of the wind and the pounding of drops of water on his body, was it another wave, or was it rain? He felt so strange and powerless, he brushed his right hand across his face and opened them to see a shore of sand in front of him, he flailed his arms wildly as he felt the tug of the water pulling him back, he tried swimming but it only served to pull him back further so he planted his feet firmly into the sand under the water and tried to hold on for the waves to stop. Thunder roared through the sky again, but the rain had obscured everything too much for him to see anything else besides the sand of the shore in front of him.
Suddenly, he felt the water rush back onto him as a wave slammed into his back and carried him forward, he went under water again and as he hit the ground his hands grasped as the sand, digging in deep and holding him in place, the tide went back and he emerged from the water again, gasping and coughing. He made it. He turned to his side to see the broken cutter had been thrown to shore and had slammed into the sand so hard it's tip had went under the sand. Jin he wanted to scream but only coughed more water out of his lungs as he opened his mouth. The wind blew powerfully again and another wave came crashing down onto him and he held onto the sand for dear life, when the tide went back the wind picked up once more, scattering the pounding rain and blowing the wet sand from the ground. Tak felt something on his shoulder and turned, it was Jin, he pulled Takeo to his feet and the two of them staggered forward, both of them soaking wet, both of them screaming.
"Let's go!" Jin screamed at the tops of his lungs, stumbling awkwardly forward through the powerful wind and the pounding rain, neither of them saw where they were going. Regardless, Tak followed and a short sprint later, Tak could clearly see a forest sprouting in front of them, they dashed inside, the trees providing some cover from the powerful wind and rain.
"There!" Takeo pointed to a large rock hill in front of them, maybe a hundred meters; there was a gash on it, a cave entrance. The cave itself was rather small, on top of it however grew a large tree, its roots tangling around the rock and going inside it, that's what made it stand out. The two of them broke into a sprint and within seconds they dashed inside of the cave.
The inside of it was dark and circular, large tree roots grew from the walls and ground and took up a large portion of the cave, regardless, it was dry and the two of them tried to catch their breath as they looked out into the darkness of the storm outside of their small cave. The rain was pouring down harder and harder, the tide had risen greatly and the violent waves crashed against the shore. The wind was so powerful that the tree's tipped to its will, a few of them fell over but many remained standing, pushed back in the wind along with the typhoon of rain. Takeo caught his breath first and instinctively muttered
"That was close...." He turned to look at Jin, who laid a hand on the wall of the came and doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
"A bit too close, I didn't think the cutter would have gone under so easily."
Guilt rose in Tak, he decided not to mention to Jin about how he had fallen asleep, it would have only angered him more and served no purpose at all. Takeo rubbed his hands together and in a second a burst of flame erupted from his right palm and started dancing above it, illuminating the small cave for them, only then did Takeo notice the two bags strapped onto Jin's back, but before Tak could ask, Jin threw the Avatars bag at his feet and threw his own at his own feet. There was an awkward silence as the two exchanged glances and they turned to separate directions, Jin to the wall while Tak turned to look out through the entrance back into the storm, it ravaged the island they were on, the wind and lightning roared through the darkness and Takeo could feel the chill rising through his back. He heard a noise of steel cutting into something and turned around to see Jin, with his jian drawn, cutting the roots growing out of the walls and throwing them into the middle of their small cave, after a few long and thick roots, he slowly sheathed his blade again and turned to Takeo.
"Start a fire, it looks like we'll be here for a while." He pressed his back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, leaning against the stone; Takeo only nodded silently and sent the dancing flame from his palm into the pile of roots, setting them ablaze.
Right behind[]
The small Earth Kingdom boat danced in the waves, it was thrown about like some sort of leaf in the wind and the threes soldiers hanged on for their life.
"Row!" Daisuke shouted as he clung to the side of their small boat, growing to regret his idea of landing on the island. The three soldiers, clad in the same green cuirass and armor, rowed the boat, without questioning again why the captain himself wasn't rowing, they would have, had the storm not taken them by surprise like this, the rain was pouring down hard and all of them were already soaking wet. As a wave crashed into the small boat, it went underwater for a second, before another wave brought it out into the air and crashed it into the water.
Daisuke quickly brushed the water out of his eyes and looked at the dazed me, who had lost the oars in the water. He squinted, but he could only count two soldiers. One was gone, he realized quite quickly, but did not spare a moment for lament, another wave sent them flying with the wind and they crashed again, this time a piece of the boat flew off and the water started pouring in even stronger than before, one end of he boat went underwater and the soldiers held onto what they could as another wave rose above them.
"JUMP!" Daisuke shouted, right before the wave crashed. That moment had definitely reached one of his top scariest moments of the war list, and the following moments of dragging the soldiers onto the island, recuperating one of them and carrying another to a cave weren't far behind on the same list. They all fell into the small space between some rocks within the forest of the island after a few minutes of running. All of them started breathing heavily and catching their breath. Daisuke released the soldier he was carrying and the armored man tumbled to the ground. He released a sigh of relief and laid a hand onto the stone wall. There was a long moment of silence as all of them tried to catch their breaths.
"Captain, are you alright?" one of them asked Daisuke, who seemed deep in thought and dazed.
The captain shook his head "I'm trying to figure out how to word this story properly when I tell it to women...Survive a storm whilst saving two men and carry them to safety, all the while the Avatar is using his bending powers to keep us at bay..." he slid down against the wall into a sitting position and continued breathing heavily as he looked out through the large crack between the rocks into the roaring wind and lightning over the small island "Either of you carry around a portable Pai Sho table? Looks like we might be here for a while."
Storm
The silence was aggravating; they just sat there on opposite sides of the small cave, starring into the dancing flames, the light illuminating their surroundings and reflecting in their eyes. Tak's tunic and vest had started to dry, but the storm only seemed to have started, the winds grew stronger and the rain faster, the lightning louder and brighter. Takeo gulped. He had to say something. He glanced at Jin, maybe for a hundredth time in that minute alone, thinking about something to say, something to ask.
"So... Jin..." He muttered nervously, but the soldier lifted his gaze from the fireplace and looked at the Avatar. "How long exactly are you going to be travelling with me?"
Jin didn't answer, his gaze returned to the flame and for a long moment, silence lingered. Tak thought Jin had been offended, or maybe he decided to ignore the Avatar, yet the soldier seemed unsure than anything else.
"I'm not sure to be honest." Jin replied slowly "I never thought about it, most likely until you've achieved mastery over an element or two."
"That might take years...." Takeo noted
"Then by that time you'll be lucky if you can even catch the final moments of the Earth King destroying the Fire Nation." Jin snapped, slightly irritated.
Takeo felt nervous again. The war, something they had not discussed since the moment Tak even found out about it. The war he was supposed to stop, the one that relied on him stopping the Earth King in time. "If this damn war of yours so important, why haven't I heard of it before?" Takeo finally snapped himself, standing from the ground and glaring at Jin who simply lifted his eyes again. "Soldiers, merchants, sailors, refugees, for dragon's sake!" he clenched his fists "No rumors, no screams of terror, life carried on, undisturbed!"
"Most of the people in the capital don't know about it, the merchants aren't allowed to talk, they're warned about it when they dock, most of the Fire Nation doesn't know. The Unmarked Islands have held off the attacks for years, aside from a few attacks on the western coast, the Fire Nation that you know has lived undisturbed because it had not been disturbed."
"Then why doesn't the Fire Lord tell anyone?!" why didn't he tell me, was the question that Takeo wanted to ask, but Jin seemed annoyed at him enough already.
"The same reason he had not told you, because it would cause panic, fear and distrust and prejudice!" Jin shouted at him
Takeo was taken aback; he had never considered how others would have reacted, the same way he had reacted
"As long as you dally about, more and more people get killed! Look at us! Instead of being at the temple, we're stuck in a cave- because of you!" Jin pointed his right index finger directly at the Avatar and somehow it made him feel even worse.
"You can't blame me for the storm!" Takeo rebutted. "If anything, this is completely your fault!"
"My fault?!" Jin clenched his fists
"You insisted on staying, on fighting in the battle when I said we should go! Had we left we would have passed the storm!"
"You were free to leave, I did not tell you to say."
Takeo's lips pressed tightly together. It was a good point, yet he would not have made this journey alone, he couldn't even steer a ship without Jin showing him how, without Jin, he would be lost at sea or worse- dead. However, he couldn't say that to Jin.
"It's your duty as the Avatar to end this war, you were required to stay and help!"
"How can I help when I don't even know why the nations are fighting?!" Takeo finally released the thought he had held back so long ago "No one told me about this war, you should have! THE FIRE LORD should have!" Tsu should have. He felt the anger and sadness rising inside of him even more.
"So you could run back and hide in your temple while people continue to die? You want to know why the nations are fighting?! Because the Earth Kingdom is invading, a nation ridden with poverty, disease and famine, their mad king sitting on his throne while his people suffer, people die because the voices in his head tell them they deserve it." Jin seemed to have been saddened himself and a bit of his anger disappeared
Takeo bit his lower lip. He had never heard about the mad Earth King, the Earth Kingdom politics and news were quite isolated and he felt so sad and powerless that he knew it was his job to help, but he couldn't "Then why doesn't the Firelord stop him..." he already knew the answer.
"We have no armies..." Jin trailed off "We are spread too thin with too little men, the Firelord sacrificed military power in exchange for advancement in science and technology, and I wonder if he would have done the same if he knew we faced extinction." Jin shook his head "Regardless, the Firelord wants you to master the elements as soon as possible so you can put an end to the mad king."
"He wants me to be a weapon?! To kill a man I had never even met?!" Tak would not allow himself to be used like that.
"The Firelord wants to solve this war diplomatically; he wants you to talk sense to the Earth King, to tell him to stop... The Firelord wants no bloodshed, but I disagree." Jin shook his head again "Kill the Earth King and be done with it, no good will come if he continues to live."
"He is but one man."
"With a nation of thousands of mindless, dumb and backwater soldiers who follow his every command, if our positions had been switched, I would use my powers to destroy the entire nation and crucify the Earth King on the highest peak so the birds can peck at his eyes and skin."
The sheer hate that Jin was spouting scared Tak, he couldn't help but take a step back "Jin..." he was speechless, he had never seen Jin so angry and sad at the same time. The soldier turned around and turned his gaze back to the flame, refusing to look the Avatar in the eyes.
"Did you know my home village was located in the Unmarked Islands?" and it suddenly all made sense, Tak felt his jaw open slightly
"Jin I-"
"It's gone. My village, my family, everything- gone." Jin's voice was hoarse and Tak could tell he was on the verge of tears; neither of them even paid attention to the raging storm outside of the cave "On the whim of some mad king and his mindless soldiers, everything I had ever know was destroyed."
"I'm sorry..." Tak laid a hand on his shoulder "I didn't know." The Avatar opened his mouth to speak and closed it again, considering carefully what he should say "And you? How did you survive?"
Jin jerked back "I was not there, the one time my parents and family needed me- I left when I was a kid, slightly younger than you." Those words made Tak clench his teeth, but he didn't say anything "I joined the army searching for adventure and a different life, when I returned a few years later, only to find it all destroyed I vowed I kill them all." Jin spat "The Earth King, his generals, commanders, everything bloody soldier I can find- I'll kill them all."
"You should have said something..."
"It's not a topic you bring up naturally."
"I'm sorry, had I known I-"
"You know now, so stop complaining about your life and how bad you've got it, yeah, you were lied to in an attempt to protect you from fear." Jin seemed even angrier now "You were born lucky, destined for greatness and power, so I'm sorry if not everyone can relate to you."
"I was born without a family, raised to become something I had no interest in becoming, but now? Now I'll spend my days training and fighting, I never wanted that either."
Jin sighed, he seemed to be sorry for what he said and he patted Tak on the shoulder.
"Is that why you resented me so much?" Tak finally asked.
Jin was quiet for a long moment before sighing and slowly replying "My whole life I had to struggle and work to become who I am today, nobody gave me anything, I wasn't born special, I worked to become who I am, but you? You were born the Avatar, no matter how your childhood would have gone; you would still have been the Avatar that was your destiny."
"And maybe it was your destiny to become a great swordsman all along?"
"Well, that's just arguing semantics now." Jin sat against the wall once more and laid his head against it. "I'm tired." He muttered quietly "Get some rest as well, we sure as day aren't going anywhere with this storm raging across the island." And for once, Jin was making sense.
Wake up[]
When Tak opened his eyes he was nearly blinded by the sudden rush of light to the cave. His head came up from the ground to see the same dimly lit cave, but the fire in its center had gone out and a new light source had presented itself- the sun that beamed through the dark passing clouds. Takeo pushed himself up from the hard ground into a sitting position and looked around; Jin was still asleep, lying unconscious on the ground, his head lying on his travel bag. The Avatar released a heavy yawn from his mouth as he pushed himself up to his feet, resting his hand against the wall for balance as he stood.
"Jin." Takeo muttered once as he looked out to the forest outside of the cave. The cave was on a hilltop, providing a great view of the small forest and the shore from which they cave, their cutter however, seemed to have been dragged out to see as Tak couldn't see it anymore. It was a beautiful island, but it didn't help to overshadow the fact that it was uninhabited, and they had just lost their ship "Jin!" Takeo screamed at the top of his lungs when he realized their fate.
Jin's eyes opened immediately and his breath of snoring was cut off with a rush of hair "w-what, I'm awake." The soldier lifted his head from the travel bag, his eyes half closed and his expression tired.
"Our ship, it's gone." Takeo felt the words fall like a boulder on his heart. They were stranded.
"Oh." Jin muttered as he laid his head back down on the travel back "Wait," Jin's eyes opened again, this time widely and his expression immediately changed as he jumped to his feet. "Gone?!" Jin roared "What do you mean gone?!" he rushed to the entrance and looked out the shore. "Oh for a lion turtle's sake, bugger me with a damn comet. Oh this is bad." Jin bit his lower lip as he ran to his bad and grabbed it, throwing it over his shoulder after placing his jian over his back "Get your bag, lets go, maybe the cutter is somewhere near."
Takeo did as instructed and the two of them moved towards the entrance "Is there no other way off this island?"
"The only port is on the western side of the island, on foot it's almost a week's walk."
More wasted time; Tak thought to himself and bit his lower lip. If this kept up, he'd spend a month simply traveling to the air temples. "Well, that's no so bad..." he tried to lighten up the mood but Jin shot him an angry glare
"Oh and how do you expect to pay for transportation to the Air temple?!" He shouted "Or do you think people will simply take your damn word because you're the Avatar?" he asked as they stepped out of the cave into the sunlight.
"Well ma-" before Takeo could even finish his sentence, someone shouted from above.
"Spirits bless me, you two imbeciles just keep popping up." both of the boys turned to the source of the voice, only to see three men clad in green armor, the one in the middle with a katana strapped to his left side- Daisuke.
The three men stood on top of the large cave, looking down on the two men. Three against two, they were outnumbered and Takeo couldn't even speak- he was paralyzed by fear.
"You two make an awful lot of noise" Daisuke noted "thanks for waking us up, we might have missed you." His right hand gripped the green hilt of his Katana and ripped it out of its scabbard with a sound of metal grazing against metal. "Who dies first?"
Jin drew his jian from his back immediately, wielding it with his right hand and jumped back and screamed "Run!" and Takeo did as commanded, without a seconds thought he turned and ran, his boots sinking through the sand that covered the area from the shore to the cave, even the forest. No matter how hard it was, he still ran. Daisuke leaped forward from the cave, his two men followed, and they landed just a few steps behind Jin and Tak.
The soldier slashed downward with his katana, but Jin brushed it aside with his jian and sent a thrust. Daisuke spun his katana vertically, knocking the trust aside and spinning forward, slamming his back into Jin's and pushing him towards the two soldiers that stood behind them. Takeo stopped and turned to rush to Jin's assistance, but as he did, Daisuke slashed at him and Takeo had no choice but to jump backward to avoid the captains violent attack. Jin on the other hand, fell directly into the soldiers, slashing at them, making them move aside and rolling on the sand back to his feet, he turned to the two men with incredible speed attack at the one at his right while the one at his left started bending, making the rocks from the cave fly towards them.
Jin sidestepped and avoided a large rock, which flew past him like an arrow only to be hit in the side by a smaller rock; he grimaced as he took a few more steps back and turned, rushing towards Daisuke again. His blade hissed through the air as he sent a one handed slice at the captains head, the two soldiers rushing from behind them to their leaders defense, however they would be too late. Daisuke however simply ducked, without even turning around and let the blade pass over his head and then, still in a ducked position, he turned quickly, sending a slashed at Jin's feet, which Jin jumped over and once the blade went under him, his feet once again planted themselves firmly on the sand, then- he rushed forward, pushing Takeo forward as well and the two of them staggered in the direction of the shore for a moment before regaining their balance and running forward in full speed.
"Get them!" Daisuke roared loudly as the two soldiers ran past him, charging the two men, he stood and ran after them.
Takeo turned for a moment, to see the soldiers coming closer and closer he turned and sent a few rapid punches of fire, the soldiers dodged them, but had to lower their speed to do so and the two young men ran out into the open shore, the tide of the ocean rising just a few feet in front of them.
"Any idea about what we do now?" Takeo asked, nervously, an audible sense of sarcasm in his words.
"We stop with the smart talk before we get punched in the face!" Jin shouted back, but before the two of them could get into another argument, the three soldiers rushed out of the forest, running directly towards them. "Charge!" Jin ordered and pushed Tak to the side a bit as he ran towards the soldiers. Daisuke made a gesture towards his men, gesturing towards the Avatar and they moved to the side to follow the boy, while Daisuke charged forward, directly into Jin
The sound of steel clashing against steel roared across the shore as the two words met, Jin staggering backward from the captains force, he slashed to the right and Daisuke parried the attack over his head and slammed his shoulder into Jin, who staggered backwards again but managed to return his sword just in time to block a vicious slice, saving his life.
Takeo came to a stop as the two soldiers rushed towards him. He took a few quick deep breaths as the image of the Battle Of Whale Tail Island flashed before his eyes. How miserably he faired in the fight, how the prince saved his life- and how it was his duty to end all of this fighting. I can do this he told himself I'm the Avatar, I can do this! He took a final deep breath as the adrenaline rushed through is body. The soldiers both took bending stances and Takeo did the same, but instead of waiting for them to attack, the Avatar jumped forward, sending a few very quick punches into the air, from which erupted fireballs. The soldiers had to move aside to dodge the blasts, but one slammed his foot in the sand and Takeo felt one of his feet sink in deep onto the ground as if the sand had just swallowed it, tripping him and nearly making him fall. His palm slammed into the sand, stopping him from falling, but it too began to sink downwards and as the soldiers regained themselves and rushed at him, Takeo used his other hand to send a stream of fire directly towards them. In unison, the made the same mirror movements and slammed their feet into the sand, lifting their hands into the air and making the sand rise up as a wall to shield them from the flames, but the flames slammed into the wall of sand so viciously that instead of being stopped, it extinguished itself but the force from the blast sand the wall of sand crashing into the two soldiers. As the men struggled to regain themselves, Takeo ripped his other hand from out of the sand and pushed himself to his feet; ripping his foot from the sand he turned to Daisuke and Jin, just in time to see Jin block the vicious attack from the captain.
Takeo quickly spun and came to a stop just a few inches to the right, throwing his hands violently into the directly of the captain and sending a massive stream of flames from both of his palms to engulf him in fire. The captain turned and his face was filled with fear and horror as the spiral of flames approached him and just as it was about to hit him a wall of sand erupted between him and the flames, creating another avalanche of sand onto Jin and the captain. Tak turned to the two soldiers again, but just as his gaze set upon them, a powerful jet of sand slammed into his body and flung him backwards onto his back against the wet sand of the shore. He heard the clashing of steel again, as Jin and Daisuke were back on their feet and parrying each other blows once more. Tak felt the sand gather under his back and it pressed his arms against his body, holding him in place it slowly began to pull him towards the soldiers, both of whom were making synchronized stances that bent the sand to their will. Takeo gathered the flames in his fists before sending them out as powerful jets that blew away the sand from his body, only if a bit of it for him to free his right hand and send a powerful blast of flame into one of the soldiers who now were but a few steps away from him. the flames slammed into him and the soldier began to flail and stagger backward as he screamed, the other soldier turned to help, but before he could do anything, Takeo slammed into him, bringing them both into the ground, knocking his helmet off, and pressed him down into the sand, sending repeated punches into the soldiers head. However before he could deliver his fourth punch, the solders arm came free and he delivered a vicious elbow blow to the Avatar's head, knocking him back a bit and giving the soldier just enough room to move his hands to bend the sand to his will again. He created an arc of sand that swept over him, pushing the young boy off of him and onto the sand again.
Jin knocked another thrust aside and slammed the pommel of his sword into the captain's temple; the captain staggered backwards, and regained his balance just in time to lean back, narrowly avoiding the slash of the jian that came after his head. He leaned forward again, only to lean to the right to avoid the return of the blade and quickly spin under Jin's arm as it was in the air and get some distance between them. As Daisuke turned back to face the younger fighter he smirked at him and extended his blade, both of his hands gripping the green hilt. Jin's knees bent a bit and his left hand extended as his right hand which held the blade hovered above his head and pointed the tip at the soldier. Daisuke charged at him, kicking away the sand as his feet ran across the shore. Their blades clashed in front of them, locking together as Daisuke smirked and looked into the angry face of his opponent.
Takeo felt the sand engulfing him again, tying him like ropes, gripping at his hands and his feet. He threw a fireball, but the soldier raised a small wall of sand and the fireball was extinguished as it collided with the sand. Takeo threw his hand back and then forward, this time sending a stream of flames, powerful and intense, towards the soldier, who slammed his feet into the ground and spun his arms over his head, bending the sand around him to engulf him. As the flames hit, the soldier was completely protected by a sphere of sand that the had created around himself. Takeo felt the strength of the sand weaken and the soldier closed himself away from sight and he took the opportunity to kick it away and get back on his feet. He looked behind the small sphere to see Jin and Daisuke clashing still, the captain forcing Jin further and further back towards the waves. He wanted to charge, but just as he took a step forward, tentacles grew from the sphere of sand in front of him and came directly towards him with incredible speed and force. Takeo dodged one, which fired past him like an arrow shot from the bow of a Yu Yan. He leaped backwards to dodge another one, as the fell to the ground, dispersing back to sand and more came from the sphere itself. Takeo landed firmly on his feet and punched, sending a fireball directly at the sphere, it collided, but nothing happened. A tentacle slammed into his chest and Takeo grunted loudly before slamming a fiery punch into the sand and dispersing it back to the ground. He want to send a stream of fire and his right hand extended forward, but just as it did, a tentacle slammed into his palm and extinguished the flames, it quickly curled around his arm and more and more sand formed around it, swallowing his arm.
Takeo clenched his teeth as he felt the fear being shot through his body. His left foot came up to kick the sand away, but a tentacle collided with it as well and swallowed it just as it had with his right arm. His left arm came into motion as he tried to create a stream of flames again, but yet another tentacle grabbed his left and swallowed it. And so he stood on one leg, his right, holding his balance and the sand squeezed around his arm sand his left leg, then suddenly- he felt a powerful tug as the sand began pulling him closer into the sphere. He gulped, his right foot skidding across the sand as he tried to stop himself from being completely engulfed by the sphere, but as he got closer, his arms submerged into the sphere and so did his foot. He groaned in fear and pain as he tried to pull himself back. He head the clashing of steel behind there sphere and the waves washing the shore, he couldn't concentrate. Then, it came to him. He set his arms and leg on fire, though he couldn't create a blast without any motion, he could create intense flames, and in this distance, the heat would be quite bothering, not only that- the flames burned out the oxygen in the small sphere and in a matter of seconds, the life left he sand and it dispersed, releasing the Avatar's limbs and falling back to the ground, allowing with the soldier, who gasped for air just as Takeo gasped in fear. He looked down at the struggling soldier and delivered a final powerful stomp to the head, knocking him out.
Jin slashed, but Daisuke spun to the side, they were so close to each other that Jin tried moving his blade to follow Daisuke, but his hand extended too far and that was his mistake. Daisuke came in closer to Jin and his left hand gripped Jin's wrists tightly, he slammed his shoulder into the Fire Nation soldiers side and pressed the edge of his blade tightly against his calve and pulled back as he pressed down. Jin felt agonizing pain fire through his body from his right calve as the blood erupted from the deep cut, Jin screamed in agony. Daisuke pushed forward and the pain and shock was so great that Jin couldn't help but tumble to the ground with great force, his back slamming into the sand and his blade flying from his grip to the sand a few steps away. Blood rushed from his calve onto the sand as he. He gripped his leg and looked up to see Daisuke lift his katana over his head, getting ready to slash down.
"It's over!" Daisuke shouted as he brought his sword down to kill. But just as he did, Takeo slammed into him, making him stagger forward, forcing him to extend his right foot forward to regain his balance. He turned around to face the Avatar and as he did, he slashed violently. Takeo ducked under the slashed, but Daisuke brought the blade back over his head, getting ready to slash down. Jin clenched his teeth and summoned all of his strength, ignoring the pain- he grabbed the hilt of his sword and pull it back to him, thrusting it forward blindly and it pierced Daisuke's left thigh. The soldier winced and was thrown of balance, even more so when Jin twisted the blade and pulled it back, ripping it out of his leg. The soldier screamed and lowered his blade, just in time for Takeo to send a violent hook across the soldier's face; however Daisuke intervened the hook, blocking it with his elbow and smashing his forehead into the Avatar's face, sending him tumbling backwards onto his back on the sand. His left foot came up from the sand and slammed into Jin's face, pushing him back to the ground again as the soldier turned and knocked the jian out from his grip. A fireball slammed into his back and he could feel the heat creeping up his armor as a fire erupted on his armor. Another fireball hit him and he moved to the side and fell to the sand, he rolled several times over his back towards the water, as fast as he could, put the flames out and stood again. As he turned to face the two again and slashed down at Jin, who rolled to the side, despite the massive pain in his right calve and as he got to his feet, the slashed at the sand with his jian, bringing up a splash of sand that collided with the soldiers face.
Daisuke screamed as the sand fell to his eyes, but slashed again, slicing the air in front of him repeatedly as he took a few steps backward, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes. Takeo rushed to Jin's side and quickly threw the soldiers left arm around his shoulder and pulled him up to feet, they both exchanged glances and looked at Daisuke, he was blinded, he was injured and he was alone- this was the perfect opportunity to end his life.
"I'll kill you both!" He screamed so loud that the entire forest echoed "No mater how far you brats run, I'll always find you, I swear by all the damned spirits I will kill you both!" he kept flailing with his sword and just as Jin was about to step forward and try to kill him, a sloop appeared in the corner of their eyes. It was considerably small and damaged, a few small holes in the wooden hull of the whip, it's green sails had been torn, but still flapped in the wind as the ship steadily approached the island, swaying and creaking, on its mast, the Earth Kingdom flag fluttered proudly. Daisuke finally felt the water at his feet and bent down, splashing some of it onto his face and wiping the dirt from his eyes, though still much of it remained on his face.
He looked at the shocked duo before looking at the ship and smirking to himself. "It's over!" he declared, but before he could even take a step forward, Takeo threw a powerful fireball that made the captain sidestep to dodge, he stepped to the left and his injured leg gave in, he fell to his knees in the tide as the two boys turned and ran.
"You hear me Avatar?!" Daisuke roared "You'll never make it off this deserted rock alive!"
But Takeo didn't turn back, he held Jin's arm around his neck and they both stumbled towards the forest as quickly as they could, both gasping, they heard the continuous screams and threats that Daisuke roared from the shore, but he disappeared behind the trees of the forest they past, but they kept walking, leaving a trail of blood behind them as they went deeper and deeper into the forest.
Trivia[]
- This island is the other large island just south of Whale Tail Island, due to its lush and massive jungles and swamplands, it is largely uninhabited.
- This chapter took way too long to write for some reason...
- This Island also belongs partly to the Southern Air Temple and because of that, it acts like a nature reserve, as the monks forbid any sort of agricultural work on the Island that would damage it's ecosystem.
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