Avatar Mini-bang
The rain is letting up.
***
Roushan had expected that traveling through the Earth Kingdoms would be eventful. He had not expected to get run over by every passing ostrich-horse rider on what, by all rights, should have been a relatively quiet forest path.
Granted, it had only been one particularly pernicious merchant-cart, but by the sound of crashing branches ahead...
The first rider missed him, as did the various darts had been meant to hit her. The darts' source, however, managed to knock him into the dust.
Perhaps the elders were right, and his years in the Fire Nation had made him a bit too retaliatory. But sending a gust of wind to knock the riders into a tree felt good.
He wandered over to examine his handiwork.
"Hmm. They appear to be unconscious." A groan from- Ah. It was the first rider. He hadn't intended to hit her.
Oops.
"What the hell was that?"
Roushan extended a hand to help the woman up. "You got caught in a sudden gust of wind. I believe there's a storm coming in, actually."
"Sudden gust of-"
"Obviously you're still concussed. Allow me to share some supplies with you and you can inform me of local weather patterns."
***
Sudden gust of wind, my ass.
Feier glared at the traveler over her chopsticks. He was wearing the green overcoat and straw hat common to the region, but she wasn't a fool. Red clothing under the green, and what looked like blue arrows on his hands when he exposed them to start a fire?
Simple traveler. Right.
"So are you Fire Nation or an Air Nomad?"
He looked up at her with surprise and what Feier refused to think was delight.
A twisty hand movement and the smoke twirled against the current direction of the wind.
"A little of both. I'm an Air Nomad, but I spent many years living in the Fire Nation." He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "I don't suppose I get equivalent honesty from you?"
He was an airbender. And he had helped her.
"Yan Feier."
"And the men after you?"
"They were probably sent by Ying Zhen. He's probably worried my survival will make occupation of the kingdom more difficult." It was difficult keep the coldness out of her voice on the last part.
The nomad had stopped smiling.
"Of course. You're the queen. I'd heard rumors you were dead."
Feier smiled grimly. "Not yet."
***
“She’s not dead yet?”
General Kun winced at the Avatar’s question, but didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
The men I sent after her lost the trail. They were knocked out somehow, and she was gone when they woke up.”
“Knocked out?”
“They said something about a gust a wind, but they were concussed.”
Avatar Zhen said nothing. He and his officers, including this one, had reached the main city of Yan. It was a fortress, but stone walls meant nothing to a master earthbender.
With this victory, he had taken what was his. His continent, his kingdom, would now have order. He doubted Yan Feier would be much of an issue, but… a gust of wind. Airbending?
“Where, exactly, did your men lose Yan Feier?”
***
Roushan convinced her to rest long enough to heal, but remained wary. He had seen the flash in her eyes when she talked about his former student, and he knew what it meant.
They shared supplies, stories, and an understanding not to ask certain questions. He didn’t say anything about the future, and she never asked why he was helping her.
Eventually it had to end.
***
“I can’t keep hiding.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”
It is. Waiting for the enemy to make a mistake, yes, but hiding indefinitely was for civilians. And cowards.
“You say that as if it’s not.”
Roushan sighed and watched her saddle the ostrich-horse.
“You plan to kill him.”
Feier hesitated. “Yes.”
You’re an airbender. I’m sorry.
There was a long pause. Roushan spoke.
“He never really managed gliding.”
What.
“What?”
“Zhen. He learned enough airbending to manipulate the winds, but he doesn’t understand it. His feet stay on the ground, and if he were to fall… I doubt he would be able to seize the wind in time for the landing."
Feier considering asking how he knew this, but caught how Roushan wasn’t looking at her and decided against it.
“Thank you.”
She left.
***
Roushan looked up as he felt a rumble of ground. The birds had flown off at the approaching… whatever it was. He had a good theory.
Roushan looked at the man standing on the stopped earth wave and found he was right.
“Why are you here?”
Roushan smiled. “That seems like rather a rude question for an old teacher.”
Zhen was unamused. He wasn’t a fool.
“You don’t approve of what I’m doing.”
“No,”
“You plan to stop me.”
“I did.”
Roushan saw in the narrowed eyes that Zhen had misunderstood the statement. “You have not!”
A proper airbender would have fled, but as Roushan watched the sharp movement and burst of flame, he stood still.
***
Feier had made quick time to the fortress-town once she had figured out where she was. The fort was the heart of Yan’s forces. It was the only place Ying Zhen would go.
Now, she just stared at it. The walls had been torn down. By earthbending.
She trembled. My people. Our walls. What else will you take?
Fool. He had removed the only thing that would make it hard for her to get to him.
***
Smart men knew where dangerous men walked. Thus, some careful listening to the nervous people told Feier where she could find Zhen.
“He’s in the main building, practicin’.”
“Thank the spirits! I’m just glad he ‘int out here!”
***
The true power of the Avatar falls to his understanding of all the elements, for he can call upon all of them at need.
Avatar Zhen remembered the words. They were from Roushan, in fact. Regardless, he could consider them useful. Even so, Zhen had found it the most difficult aspect of bending: to control all the elements at once, rather than just call on them individually. Keep your stance, but stay fluid. Coax the air, but don’t let the fire roam.
Focus.
This was why he had locked himself away. Until he mastered this, he needed quiet so he could focus, rather than worrying about his surroundings.
Focus.
***
Feier had found the door to the main hall locked, but the newcomers hadn’t known about all the doors. She was pleased to find that none of her people here had bothered to inform them, either.
When they had met on the battle field, Feier had been too far away to get a good look at the man who had conquered the rest of the continent. But there was only one man who would be bending all four elements at the same time. She paused.
He’s young. Ying Zhen had the pinched look of someone who didn’t smile often enough, but he was only a few years older than her. She thought of the broken bodies, human and stone, that she had seen before.
It doesn’t matter.
He’s distracted now. She gripped the sword, the stupid, overly ornate thing that she had received after her father’s death. It was ceremonial, but it was still sharp. With an ease that came from years of training for bandit attacks, she drew it and stepped forward.
***
Hold it, don’t let it-
The water splashed to the ground and the fire fizzled out. He felt the feet on the ground behind him (when did they get there?) startle, then lunge. Then, a hand turned him and a woman was holding a sword to his neck.
***
I want to look into his eyes before he dies.
Feier found herself looking into a pair of beetle-black eyes.
He isn’t scared. Why isn’t he scared?
Ying Zhen’s head twitched to the side, and the ground beneath her feet moved and threw her back into the wall.
Oh. That’s why.
Out of the corner of her vision, Feier saw movements. A kata? She dodged most of the fireblast, but got a burnt shoulder.
“His feet stay on the ground…”
There were stairs to the roof nearby. Feier ran to them, hoping the man who had tried to conquer a continent would be foolish and proud enough to follow.
***
This was not Zhen’s first assassin, but this was the first time one had looked so… angry. Or ready to flee.
He followed. This would be over with quickly.
***
As Feier ran out the door leading to the roof, she ducked to the side. Hopefully he would run out after her and be killed by his own momentum.
He walked out. Slowly. It’ll do, just don’t turn around!
He didn’t. Feier stepped forward and gave a solid shove. The building wasn’t tall enough to kill him, but he was distracted enough. And this time I won’t hesitate.
***
General Kun watched in amazement as the man he had been following for the past year and a half was pushed off the roof. He watched in surprise as the Avatar didn’t break his own fall. And he watched in fear as a stranger jumped down after him and stabbed with all the efficiency expected of a warrior.
Someone had taken exception to Avatar Zhen’s final step that had taken him to what he had called “one Earth Kingdom. “ Kun wondered if the result could stand on its own without leadership. He looked at the conqueror’s body, at the woman who had killed him, and decided he didn’t want to find out.
So he knelt, and looked at the ground, and yelled.
“All hail the Earth Queen!”
***
He’s dead.
“All hail the Earth Queen!”
Feier looked up as the gathering crowd quickly followed suite of the man who had yelled.
Earth Queen?
Then the fact that she had just killed the effective ruler of the entire continent hit her.
Monkey-feathers.
***
The official reports (because there had to be reports) would later say that Earth Queen Feier had taken the crown with poise and strength. They would not mention that she had sworn vividly, or tried to convince the fallen Tyrant’s officers that they should take back their kingdoms. The reports would certainly not imply that said officers had decided that taking and ruling a kingdom was more trouble than it was worth, and were more than happy to pass the problems on to someone else.
No, they never said that.
So it never happened. Right?
***
Roushan had expected that traveling through the Earth Kingdoms would be eventful. He had not expected to get run over by every passing ostrich-horse rider on what, by all rights, should have been a relatively quiet forest path.
Granted, it had only been one particularly pernicious merchant-cart, but by the sound of crashing branches ahead...
The first rider missed him, as did the various darts had been meant to hit her. The darts' source, however, managed to knock him into the dust.
Perhaps the elders were right, and his years in the Fire Nation had made him a bit too retaliatory. But sending a gust of wind to knock the riders into a tree felt good.
He wandered over to examine his handiwork.
"Hmm. They appear to be unconscious." A groan from- Ah. It was the first rider. He hadn't intended to hit her.
Oops.
"What the hell was that?"
Roushan extended a hand to help the woman up. "You got caught in a sudden gust of wind. I believe there's a storm coming in, actually."
"Sudden gust of-"
"Obviously you're still concussed. Allow me to share some supplies with you and you can inform me of local weather patterns."
***
Sudden gust of wind, my ass.
Feier glared at the traveler over her chopsticks. He was wearing the green overcoat and straw hat common to the region, but she wasn't a fool. Red clothing under the green, and what looked like blue arrows on his hands when he exposed them to start a fire?
Simple traveler. Right.
"So are you Fire Nation or an Air Nomad?"
He looked up at her with surprise and what Feier refused to think was delight.
A twisty hand movement and the smoke twirled against the current direction of the wind.
"A little of both. I'm an Air Nomad, but I spent many years living in the Fire Nation." He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "I don't suppose I get equivalent honesty from you?"
He was an airbender. And he had helped her.
"Yan Feier."
"And the men after you?"
"They were probably sent by Ying Zhen. He's probably worried my survival will make occupation of the kingdom more difficult." It was difficult keep the coldness out of her voice on the last part.
The nomad had stopped smiling.
"Of course. You're the queen. I'd heard rumors you were dead."
Feier smiled grimly. "Not yet."
***
“She’s not dead yet?”
General Kun winced at the Avatar’s question, but didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
The men I sent after her lost the trail. They were knocked out somehow, and she was gone when they woke up.”
“Knocked out?”
“They said something about a gust a wind, but they were concussed.”
Avatar Zhen said nothing. He and his officers, including this one, had reached the main city of Yan. It was a fortress, but stone walls meant nothing to a master earthbender.
With this victory, he had taken what was his. His continent, his kingdom, would now have order. He doubted Yan Feier would be much of an issue, but… a gust of wind. Airbending?
“Where, exactly, did your men lose Yan Feier?”
***
Roushan convinced her to rest long enough to heal, but remained wary. He had seen the flash in her eyes when she talked about his former student, and he knew what it meant.
They shared supplies, stories, and an understanding not to ask certain questions. He didn’t say anything about the future, and she never asked why he was helping her.
Eventually it had to end.
***
“I can’t keep hiding.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”
It is. Waiting for the enemy to make a mistake, yes, but hiding indefinitely was for civilians. And cowards.
“You say that as if it’s not.”
Roushan sighed and watched her saddle the ostrich-horse.
“You plan to kill him.”
Feier hesitated. “Yes.”
You’re an airbender. I’m sorry.
There was a long pause. Roushan spoke.
“He never really managed gliding.”
What.
“What?”
“Zhen. He learned enough airbending to manipulate the winds, but he doesn’t understand it. His feet stay on the ground, and if he were to fall… I doubt he would be able to seize the wind in time for the landing."
Feier considering asking how he knew this, but caught how Roushan wasn’t looking at her and decided against it.
“Thank you.”
She left.
***
Roushan looked up as he felt a rumble of ground. The birds had flown off at the approaching… whatever it was. He had a good theory.
Roushan looked at the man standing on the stopped earth wave and found he was right.
“Why are you here?”
Roushan smiled. “That seems like rather a rude question for an old teacher.”
Zhen was unamused. He wasn’t a fool.
“You don’t approve of what I’m doing.”
“No,”
“You plan to stop me.”
“I did.”
Roushan saw in the narrowed eyes that Zhen had misunderstood the statement. “You have not!”
A proper airbender would have fled, but as Roushan watched the sharp movement and burst of flame, he stood still.
***
Feier had made quick time to the fortress-town once she had figured out where she was. The fort was the heart of Yan’s forces. It was the only place Ying Zhen would go.
Now, she just stared at it. The walls had been torn down. By earthbending.
She trembled. My people. Our walls. What else will you take?
Fool. He had removed the only thing that would make it hard for her to get to him.
***
Smart men knew where dangerous men walked. Thus, some careful listening to the nervous people told Feier where she could find Zhen.
“He’s in the main building, practicin’.”
“Thank the spirits! I’m just glad he ‘int out here!”
***
The true power of the Avatar falls to his understanding of all the elements, for he can call upon all of them at need.
Avatar Zhen remembered the words. They were from Roushan, in fact. Regardless, he could consider them useful. Even so, Zhen had found it the most difficult aspect of bending: to control all the elements at once, rather than just call on them individually. Keep your stance, but stay fluid. Coax the air, but don’t let the fire roam.
Focus.
This was why he had locked himself away. Until he mastered this, he needed quiet so he could focus, rather than worrying about his surroundings.
Focus.
***
Feier had found the door to the main hall locked, but the newcomers hadn’t known about all the doors. She was pleased to find that none of her people here had bothered to inform them, either.
When they had met on the battle field, Feier had been too far away to get a good look at the man who had conquered the rest of the continent. But there was only one man who would be bending all four elements at the same time. She paused.
He’s young. Ying Zhen had the pinched look of someone who didn’t smile often enough, but he was only a few years older than her. She thought of the broken bodies, human and stone, that she had seen before.
It doesn’t matter.
He’s distracted now. She gripped the sword, the stupid, overly ornate thing that she had received after her father’s death. It was ceremonial, but it was still sharp. With an ease that came from years of training for bandit attacks, she drew it and stepped forward.
***
Hold it, don’t let it-
The water splashed to the ground and the fire fizzled out. He felt the feet on the ground behind him (when did they get there?) startle, then lunge. Then, a hand turned him and a woman was holding a sword to his neck.
***
I want to look into his eyes before he dies.
Feier found herself looking into a pair of beetle-black eyes.
He isn’t scared. Why isn’t he scared?
Ying Zhen’s head twitched to the side, and the ground beneath her feet moved and threw her back into the wall.
Oh. That’s why.
Out of the corner of her vision, Feier saw movements. A kata? She dodged most of the fireblast, but got a burnt shoulder.
“His feet stay on the ground…”
There were stairs to the roof nearby. Feier ran to them, hoping the man who had tried to conquer a continent would be foolish and proud enough to follow.
***
This was not Zhen’s first assassin, but this was the first time one had looked so… angry. Or ready to flee.
He followed. This would be over with quickly.
***
As Feier ran out the door leading to the roof, she ducked to the side. Hopefully he would run out after her and be killed by his own momentum.
He walked out. Slowly. It’ll do, just don’t turn around!
He didn’t. Feier stepped forward and gave a solid shove. The building wasn’t tall enough to kill him, but he was distracted enough. And this time I won’t hesitate.
***
General Kun watched in amazement as the man he had been following for the past year and a half was pushed off the roof. He watched in surprise as the Avatar didn’t break his own fall. And he watched in fear as a stranger jumped down after him and stabbed with all the efficiency expected of a warrior.
Someone had taken exception to Avatar Zhen’s final step that had taken him to what he had called “one Earth Kingdom. “ Kun wondered if the result could stand on its own without leadership. He looked at the conqueror’s body, at the woman who had killed him, and decided he didn’t want to find out.
So he knelt, and looked at the ground, and yelled.
“All hail the Earth Queen!”
***
He’s dead.
“All hail the Earth Queen!”
Feier looked up as the gathering crowd quickly followed suite of the man who had yelled.
Earth Queen?
Then the fact that she had just killed the effective ruler of the entire continent hit her.
Monkey-feathers.
***
The official reports (because there had to be reports) would later say that Earth Queen Feier had taken the crown with poise and strength. They would not mention that she had sworn vividly, or tried to convince the fallen Tyrant’s officers that they should take back their kingdoms. The reports would certainly not imply that said officers had decided that taking and ruling a kingdom was more trouble than it was worth, and were more than happy to pass the problems on to someone else.
No, they never said that.
So it never happened. Right?