Burning Chapter 5: New Horizons

Loading my bag onto Appa’s saddle, I wiped the sweat from my brow and turned to give the island one last look before leaving.

With the Fire Nation warship floating just out of the Unagi’s range, the Island of Kyoshi was on high alert.

Fishing ships had been recalled and were currently docked, civilians were boarding up their homes and the Kyoshi warriors were keeping an eye out for any boarding parties that might try and make their way back to shore after Zuko’s defeat.

It was a little disheartening to see it in such a state, but overall unavoidable. Once we moved on, Zuko would follow, leaving Kyoshi Island to pick up where it left off... Completely undamaged this time around.

“Tell me again why he’s coming with?”

And then there was that.

“Well we can’t leave him here, Zuko might come back,” Aang replied. “Besides, I don’t really see a problem with having Honō tagging along. It’ll be fun.”

“Aang does need a Firebending teacher,” Katara added, tying everything down so they wouldn’t fall off when we left. “And I doubt we’ll ever come across another Firebender that’s willing to help... Unless you want to try your luck and ask Zuko,” She said teasingly.

I let out a surprised cough at that. Yeah... That’d be crazy. It’s not like Zuko would have eventually come around…

Stepping onto Appa’s saddle, I was just about to pull myself up, before I felt something tap me on my back.

“Thought you could leave without saying goodbye?” Suki asked while crossing her arms. “Hm, I’m not sure how I should take that.”

Dropping back down, I turned towards her with an apologetic smile. “Sorry... But with Zuko out there, we all thought it would be best if we left as soon as possible.”

”Well it’s a good thing I caught up to you then,” Suki smirked. “If you’d left earlier, then I wouldn’t have been able to give you this.” Reaching behind her back, she grabbed a bundle of green cloth and handed it to me.

Eyeing it curiously, I unfolded it to find a set of dull green clothes. Looking up, Suki’s lips briefly pressed against my cheek before she suddenly pulled back.

“So you won’t be mistaken as Fire Nation.” Suki gestured towards the clothes. “They won’t help if you’re caught Firebending though, so try and be a little careful. Don’t get yourself killed out there, you got that?”

“...Okay,” I hummed.

“Good,” Suki nodded. “Oh, and I should probably give this back,” She said, holding the Scroll on Chi blocking.

“Keep it,” I waved her off. “It’ll be safer in your hands.”

“If you’re sure...” She slipped it back into her sleeve. “I guess this is goodbye then.”

In a way it was, but, knowing Suki, I’d definitely run into her later on.

“More like see you later,” I said, climbing up Appa’s saddle. “Take care of the Unagi while I’m gone... And try to keep the ships away from it.” The last thing they needed was for the Unagi to get another toothache.

Turning towards the gang, I found them just about done.

“Okay, we’re all set,” Aang hummed, looking over everything. “Thanks for letting us stay here for a few days, even if it led to... Well...” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“No problem,” Suki replied. “I was honestly just surprised that you existed. I thought Honō made you up.”

I couldn’t fault her there… If I’d been in her position, I probably wouldn’t have believed me either.

“Nope... We’re one hundred percent real.” Aang grinned. Hearing a horn in the distance, he winced and turned towards the ocean, where Zuko’s ship floated in the distance. “We really should get going now... Maybe we could visit sometime in the future... When we’re not being chased.”

Shooting him a short look, Suki nodded. “Sure... That would be perfectly fine.”

“Awesome, we’ll see you then.” Gripping Appa’s reins, Aang lightly flicked them. “Appa, yip–yip!”

Groaning loudly, Appa’s tail thumped the ground before we suddenly took off. With each passing moment, the Island grew smaller as we flew further away, until it was only a speck of brown on a background of blue that was briefly blocked when we passed through a cloud.

Although I’d really come to enjoy my time on Kyoshi and would miss it, the feeling of being up here was nothing short of exhilarating.

“First time?” Sokka smirked. Looking in the direction of the island, his expression soured a little. “Can’t say I’ll miss that place.”

“Only because you got your butt kicked by a bunch of girls,” Katara commented.

“Hey! They took me by surprise with that weird fighting style, that’s all,” He argued. “If I’d been ready, then they wouldn’t have had a chance. It was luck, plain and simple.”

Right... He’d spent all his time making sure I wasn’t up to something, that he never learnt anything from Suki or the other Kyoshi warriors.

That’d come back to bite him in the future... Hopefully he got over it by the time we met Toph. If not, I could see her taking it on herself to teach Sokka a very painful lesson.

“Call it luck if you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that they were able to take you down,” I hummed. “A blade won’t care what a person says about it. It just cuts.”

“Yeah, well...” Sokka trailed off. “If it’d been a fair fight, I could have taken them.”

“Maybe... Probably not,” I shrugged. “You might be physically stronger than them, but they’re far more skilled. Even if you had the strength to knock the Unagi out, it wouldn’t really matter unless you’re able to land a hit. The same thing applies here.”

When it came to being strong, strength was only a piece of the puzzle... One that wasn’t entirely necessary, especially when it came to benders. Not to say that it couldn’t be useful, but it wasn’t the end all be all that Sokka seemed to think it was.

Jerking to the side, I grabbed onto the saddle and stared down at the distant waves below. Right, with how smooth we’d been flying, I almost forgot that we were up here.

“Sorry,” Aang apologized. “Just had to make a quick course correction. It’s gonna be a long flight so you might want to get comfortable.”

Well I didn’t need to be told twice.

...Burning...

“To really take advantage of Chi blocking, you need to be fast and agile,” Ty Lee lectured. Ducking under my jab, she tapped several different spots on my arm before moving on. “You also need to be, like, really precise or you won’t hit the right spot... You know what I’m saying?”

“I think so,” I breathed heavily.

It’d been a few weeks since I met Ty Lee and Mai convinced her to help me train, but in that time, I’d made leaps and bounds to learning Chi blocking... Although, applying it in a fight was another thing entirely.

No matter how many times I tried, I wasn’t able to land a single strike on Ty Lee. The girl was ridiculously nimble. It was like I was trying to hit the wind, every time I came close she shifted out of the way, avoiding me entirely.

As I was now, I couldn’t beat her at her own game. She was just too agile. The moment she took this spar seriously, I’d lose.

I did, however, have one attribute that was better than Ty Lee’s.

I was stronger than her.

Watching as she threw a quick jab aimed at my chest. Lashing out, my hand clamped down on her wrist, keeping her from landing her blow.

Letting out a surprised yelp, Ty Lee tried to pull back, only to find herself stuck.

Not giving her any time to react, I brought my free hand up and managed to jab several points before she finally managed to slip out of my grasp.

Retreating a short distance, Ty Lee stared down at her unmoving arm that hung limply at her side with a look of wonder.

“You actually managed to get me that time,” She murmured, before grinning widely. “This is so cool, I’ve never had anyone that I could practice my Chi blocking with. Give me like, ten minutes and I’ll be ready to go again. I won’t be holding back next time”

Well that was horrifying. Ty Lee was dangerous at the best of times, but now she wasn’t going to go back. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that my immediate future was going to be spent face down in the dirt, waiting until I could move again.

“That’s not going to happen, we’re already running late as is,” Mai droned, saving me from being Ty Lee’s punching bag. “We’re going to have to hurry if we don’t want to be late meeting up with Azula.”

“Aw, but things were just getting interesting,” Ty Lee moaned. “All this sneaking around was fun at first, but it’s gotten kinda boring. Can’t we just introduce Lee to Azula and get it over with? Then we can all hang out in public.”

You know, I’d never actually considered actually having Mai and Ty Lee introduce me to Azula. It was marginally better than being caught, but still not worth the risk.

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Mai replied. “She can be a little...”

“She can be a little what?” Azula asked, stepping out from behind a tree. “Please, don’t let my presence distract you. Finish your thought.”

...Burning...

“GAH, IT BURNS!”

“Hey, watch it!” Katara snapped.

Waking up, I jumped to my feet with a small flame burning at my fingertips, ready for a fight, only to find the odd sight of a wet Sokka rubbing his tongue, an annoyed looking Katara who was glaring at him while holding a mostly empty water skin, and Aang, sitting on Appa’s head, laughing in the background.

And here I’d thought we’d come under attack.

“Um, what’s going on?” I asked, extinguishing my flames.

“Genius here,” Katara gestured towards her brother. “Got hungry and came across a small sack and decided to test if it was food by eating it.”

“It smelled delicious,” Sokka moaned. Alternating between rubbing his tongue and attempting to steal Katara’s water satchel. “How was I supposed to know that it’d burn me?!”

Spotting the cause of Sokka’s misery, I blinked. Wait, were those my fire flakes. I could have sworn that I’d lost them back on the ship when I’d first arrived on Kyoshi.

“Well you didn’t need to eat half of them first,” Katara said sarcastically. “You could have also just waited and asked when Honō woke up.”

“That could have been forever… And I was hungry now,” Sokka argued before looking up at me nervously. “It wasn’t anything poisonous, was it?”

“That depends,” I hummed, sitting down once more. “What did they smell like?”

“A little spicy… With a hint of something fruity in it. Why? Is that bad?”

Fruity?

“Well, it’s not exactly good,” I replied. “It sounds like what you ate were expired fire flakes, so, unless you have an iron stomach, you’ll soon find out what it feels like to bend fire with your a–“

“Hey everyone, look,” Aang called out. “We’re finally here… The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. I used to always come here to visit my friend Bumi. Let’s get a closer look.”

Steering Appa down, he landed us on a small hill a short distance away from the city that gave a clear view of it, while not being so close that the Earth Kingdom soldiers would spot a giant flying bison.

The city was really impressive. Stretching up the surrounding mountain peaks, it had massive stone walls surrounding it with a sheer drop off the edge. The only entrance was a single stone pathway that could easily be destroyed if the Fire Nation came knocking on its door, cutting them off from the city.

In short, it was a heavily fortified stronghold that not even the most determined would be able to enter… Unless of course they had something that could fly them over the wall, that’d make all of the fortification nearly completely pointless.

This was the perfect first stop of our trip. Beyond being a place to restock our supplies, it’d also give me access to a certain mad King whose help would be extremely useful.

“C’mon, let’s go, slow pokes,” Aang said, hopping off Appa. “You guys are gonna love Omashu, the people here are some of the friendliest in the world.”

“Wait, Aang, it could be dangerous going into the city dressed like that. People could realize you’re the Avatar…” Katara said, sliding down Appa’s back before following after him.

“He will need a disguise,” Sokka hummed thoughtfully while rubbing his chin, before shaking his head. “More importantly… That thing you mentioned earlier… You were just joking, right?”

Smiling sympathetically, I lightly patted him on his shoulder. “Sorry Sokka. I’ll think of you kindly.” Sliding off Appa, I landed on solid ground for the first time in a full day.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sokka asked nervously, remaining on Appa’s saddle. “Hey, wait up. You’re just saying this to scare me, right?”

“Sure Sokka… Whatever you say.”

Staring down at the spilt fire flakes, Sokka turned his attention towards a small lemur that stared up at him innocently. “This is all your fault, Momo.”

…Burning…

Compared to Kyoshi, Omashu was pretty insane. Everything was in a constant state of movement as street vendors sold food, soldiers patrolled the streets and Earthbenders managed the chute system with perfect timing as to avoid any accidents.

The Fire Nation had a few great cities of its own, but nothing quite like this.

“And there you have it, the great mail system of Omashu,” Aang announced. “At first glance, it might seem like nothing special, but my friend Bumi saw the potential in it… As the world’s greatest super slide.”

Using Omashu’s chutes as a giant slide seemed like a bad idea at the best of times, but I had to admit there was a large part of me that really wanted to give it a try.

“Let’s go, I’ll show you all my favorite spot.”

“Actually, would it be possible if we held off for a little bit?” Katara asked. “The slide seems great and all, but we do need to get some supplies for our trip… We might not get the chance if we get in trouble.”

If it was any other city, she likely would have had a point, but seeing as Bumi was the king here, there really wasn’t much to worry about. In fact, I was banking on us getting in trouble.

“Aw. Can’t we do my thing first? It’s a ton of fun, I promise you won’t regret it.”

Humming softly, Katara tapped a finger to her chin. “I suppose we could split up. Two of us could go to the market while you could ride on the chutes… Once we’re done, we’ll all go together one last time. That way you get to go twice.”

“Well… I guess we could do that,” Aang said, sounding a little unsure of himself. “But who’ll be the ones that go?”

“I was thinking…”

“Why don’t you and Katara go so long?” Sokka suggested. “Me and Honō here will handle getting supplies.”

Katara eyed her brother suspiciously. “I wouldn’t mind doing the shopping instead, but if you’re sure… Just make sure you don’t buy anything stupid, alright.”

“You got it… And they’re already gone,” Sokka trailed off, watching as Aang excitedly dragged Katara off into the city. “Well… We better get started.”

Heading down a few streets, the market place in Omashu seemed to be spread across different levels, each with their own store. Most were occupied around the mailing system while a few others were spaced out a little further away, but still in the same general area.

Sokka’s attention, however, was drawn straight to the stores with various cuts of meat. Some of them were preserved and packaged while others were in the process of being cooked.

“So,” I hummed lightly, drawing his attention. “Any particular reason why you wanted me to come with you?”

“Maybe I just needed help carrying everything,” Sokka shrugged. Walking over towards one of the local butcher shops, he turned around while crossing his arms. “Look, I’m just gonna be honest. Aang trusts you and Katara seems to be warming up as well, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for now.”

That was all well and good, but it’d probably be for the best if he didn’t stand so close to an open grill.

“Um, Sokka. You might want to–“

“I’m not fin–AGH!”

Leaning against what appeared to be a countertop, it quickly revealed its true nature as a cutting board, sending him tumbling towards the ground while launching a set of butcher’s knives my way.

Catching several of the blades while a few others landed around me, I turned towards Sokka who was lying among a few fish, several of which had been in the process of being gutted.

“I’m okay,” he muttered. Trying to stand up, he ended up slipping and grabbed the end of a hot grill for support, tipping it over. “Why does this keep happening to me?!”

Cursing under my breath, I dropped the knives and rushed over. Pulling the grill back up, I batted a few of the hot coals away from Sokka while he scrambled out of the way, nearly knocking a few more things over.

Whether he was clumsy or simply unlucky, I’d probably never know, but the amount of trouble Sokka had been able to get himself in was pretty impressive.

Standing up as if nothing happened, he dusted himself off, before glancing over the damage. “Phew. That was a close call… Um, Honō… You’re still holding a hot coal.”

So I was. Dropping it into the grill, I brushed the ash off my hand.

“Hey, you kids! What the heck do you think you’re doing to my shop!” A man yelled, marching over angrily.

“Sorry, it was my fault. I slipped and fell,” Sokka apologized.

From the look on the man’s face, he didn’t care for Sokka’s apology.

“Yeah… Actually, would it be alright if we bought some food here?” I asked, holding out two copper coins.

Looking over them, the man nodded slowly, his anger rapidly fading. “I suppose that would be alright… It was just an accident. So, what’ll you be having?”

“Sokka,” I gestured for him to pick.

“Well…” Sokka hummed, eagerly looking over the various cuts of meat. “How about–“

Unfortunately, before he could finish, there was a loud crash as a nearby stall was crushed under a heavy stone box, sending bits of cabbage flying everywhere.

“MY CABBAGES!”

Well, it looks like we were just about out of time.

“Ugh.” Rubbing his head, Aang slowly sat up, only to catch sight of Sokka and myself. “Honō … Sokka.” Blinking, he launched himself up and quickly made his way over. “You’ve got to try the slide, it’s awesome!”

The street rapidly flooded with guards that pointed their spears towards Aang and Katara. Taking one look at the mess Sokka and I’d accidentally made, they decided to detain us as well. The shop keeper wisely stepped back, silently pocketing the two copper coins I’d given him.

“Just great, all I wanted was a nice quiet day with maybe a little meat and then this happens,” Sokka muttered softly. “Omashu is turning out to be just as bad as Kyoshi.”

…Burning…

“I take it back,” Sokka said, shoveling food into his mouth. “This place is awesome.”

“Why thank you young man. I’m happy to hear it.” Walking behind the backs of our chairs, he grabbed a piece of chicken, waving it in front of us. “Why don’t you try the chicken next? How about you, young arrow head?”

“No thanks, I don’t eat meat,” Aang declined.

“Yes, of course,” Bumi nodded, moving back to his own seat. “Oh, darn. It appears that my chicken’s gone cold… And the kitchen’s already closed. I don’t suppose one of you four would have anything on you that could heat it for me? Perhaps some spark rocks. I’d even take a set of especially warm hands.”

Katara choked on her water.

I had to admit, Bumi had his act down perfectly. He truly resembled a feeble old man, but behind his mask laid a scarily perceptive mind and a body still well in its prime despite his age.

He already knew that I was a Firebender and Aang was the Avatar. He was just seeing how far he could push us before we tripped up.

“There is someone like that here now that you mention it… Him,” I said, pointing towards Momo who briefly looked up, before he continued to munch on an apple. “Although I wouldn’t recommend having him warm your chicken unless you want it a little… Hairy.”

“That would be a problem… I guess I’ll just have to settle for cold chicken,” Bumi sighed. Flicking it towards Aang a gust of wind enveloped the chicken leg, drawing a series of surprised gasps from the soldiers guarding the room. “Whoops, butterfingers.”

“Um.” Dropping the chicken, Aang looked around nervously. “I can explain…”

“So, a Firebender, Waterbender and the Avatar walk into Omashu…” Bumi stroked his beard thoughtfully. “There’s a joke in there somewhere.”

“Hey, what about me?” Sokka asked, looking a little offended at being excluded.

Looking Sokka over, Bumi silently nodded to himself. “You will have the most important job of figuring out what the joke is,” He announced. Snapping his fingers, the guards moved closer “In the meantime, my guards will escort you to your chamber… Wait, what’s this… Which chamber?” He asked, whispering something to one of his guards.

“You can’t keep us here… We haven’t done anything wrong,” Katara argued.

“A certain cabbage merchant might say otherwise,” Bumi responded. “Tomorrow the Avatar will face three tests that might just earn your freedom, but until then, you’ll be staying in the newly refurbished chamber that was once bad.”

“Do we have to leave right now?” I asked. There were still a lot of things I wanted to talk to him about.

“The feast has concluded… There wouldn’t be any reason to keep you all any longer,” Bumi noted, munching on a piece of lettuce. “There is, however, one thing I’d like to ask you. There’s an old bit of news about a Fire Nation ship that went missing… You wouldn’t perhaps know anything about that, would you?”

“I might have heard something about it,” I hummed knowingly. “But since the feast ended, I guess we’ll just have to go to our chamber. You’re just going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out.” If I had to wait, so did he.

Come to think of it, what time was it? It was about a few hours past midday when we arrived and we’d already spent a few hours here…

“I’ve got it,” Sokka suddenly announced, cutting off my thought. “A Firebender, Waterbender and the Avatar walk into Omashu… They should have used the main gate. You see, they literally walked into the wall sur–“ A loud grumble sounded through the room as Sokka suddenly froze.

Yeah, that would be the fire flakes coming back to haunt him. I guess Sokka didn’t have an iron stomach after all.

“Do you think we could make a stop by the bathroom?” I asked. “Sokka’s going to need it.”

Nodding, Bumi motioned for one of his guards to escort Sokka out of the room. “He’ll be brought to your chamber once he’s done. Until then, I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait.”

With that said, the rest of us were escorted through a narrow stone hallway leading to a large underground room that could only be opened and closed through Earthbending.

“You don’t think they’ll do anything to Sokka… Do you?” Katara asked worriedly.

“Sokka will be fine… Besides the fire flakes, that is. B... The king might seem a little crazy, but he won’t do anything to harm him.”

Well… Probably. This was Bumi after all.