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ATLA - Soaring - Chapter 2
🕑 Added 2024-03-16 19:33:13 +0000 UTCChapter 2
Sora and the others sat around a camp fire an hour or so before the sun would set. They'd flown for a few hours and landed on an island. According to Aang, they were heading toward Kyoshi Island, while making a few stops along the way. Sora was looking forward to meeting the Kyoshi Warriors, especially Suki. She was pretty awesome from what he could remember of her and he wanted to see her in action. He had no interest in poaching her from Sokka though.
After they set up camp and got a fire going, Aang walked over to Sora, “I think now would be a good time to see what you know about Airbending.”
Sora smiled brightly and nodded in excitement. If there was one thing he loved, it was Airbending. The pair walked off to the side under the curious gazes of Sokka and Katara. After gaining some distance, Aang turned to face Sora, “Show me a few moves so I can get an idea of where you are at.”
“Sure thing!”
Sora started to move. Unlike Aang and other benders, Sora's movement didn't much resemble a martial art. Rather, it resembled some basic movements with added twists to put help with the circular nature of Airbending. The three others watched as Sora seemed to dance while launching blasts, blades, torrents, and swirls of powerful winds blasting out of his hands, feet, and even his mouth.
He finished his little display with a move he created himself, though he had no idea if someone else had made something similar before. He curled his hands into fists while pulling them back. As he did air swirled into small tight balls near his fingers. Once the balls fully formed, he punched out with his hands and launched them at trees nearby. The small orbs slammed into the trees and ground into them viciously ripping the bark away and heavily damaging the trees.
When Sora stopped and turned to look at Aang and the others, he found them all staring at the damaged trees with gaping mouths. Sokka was actually the first to recover and practically screamed, “WHAT WAS THAT?!”
Aang was actually the one to answer, proving he had earned his Mastery in Airbending, “The balls of air he made, rather than just all spinning in the same direction like my Air Scooter, he had the air moving in several directions at once.” He pointed at the ripped up trees, “The air moving in differenct directions caused a lot of damage.”
He turned a concerned look at Sora, “That's a very dangerous and likely deadly move. I don't think you should use it in an actual fight.”
Sora gave a non-committal shrug. Unlike Aang, he wasn't raised by Air Nomads to be peaceful and non-violent. Though he wouldn't go out looking for fights or people to kill, he also wouldn't hold back in a fight where someone was trying to kill him. He had some respect for life, but he wasn't going to go out of his way and risk his own life just to keep from accidentally or purposefully killing someone else. It was not wrong to protect ones own life at the expense of a would-be murderer.
He had no reason to feel bad about it as even Monk Gyatso killed a bunch of Firebenders before they took him out. When he'd gone to bury the bodies, Gyatso had been surrounded by dozens of bodies in Fire Nation armor. It was honestly impressive as hell since those men from the Fire Nation had been buffed by Sozin's Comet. Gyatso was a certifiable bad ass.
He did realize that he probably shouldn't mention that or show Aang the other deadly moves he'd come up with. Some, like drawing the air out of someone's lungs, were inspired by events from the show while others were inspired by science, like giving someone a deadly case of the bends.
With that out of the way, Aang smiled widely, “Still! You are a lot further along then I would have thought! You even made your own move, which is one of the qualifications to become an Airbending Master. Your form could use a lot of work though. While you flow rather nicely, it's not as smooth as the traditional movements. I can teach you those though! Lastly, I'm unsure if a sky bison could teach you how important meditation is to us Airbenders.”
Sora nodded, “Yeah, Sky Bison aren't much for teaching meditation, but I did find my own way to go about it that feels natural to me.”
“Great! Then all I need to teach you a little and you'll be a Master in no time!”
With that said, Aang began showing Sora the way he'd been taught by the monks to Airbend. Sora mimicked Aang's movements and found it to be a little odd compared to the way he'd learned. There was nothing wrong with it, and some of the movements even increased the efficiency of some of his bending. It just didn't feel... right to him. He was powerful and his bending matched that by being a bit more... primal.
Still, it became a habit over the next few days for Aang and Sora to get together and practice some Airbending movements together or meditate. Though Aang did find Sora's moving meditation to be odd, especially when he stripped off his top to better feel the movements of the air around himself. It was a comfortable few days that let the group get more comfortable in each others presence.
-----Line Break-----
Sora sat in Aapa's saddle with the water tribe siblings as Katara worked on sewing a hole Sokka had managed to rip in his pants while hunting last night. It was pretty funny seeing how accident prone Sokka actually was. He'd been chasing a rabbit, tripped, fell, and split his pants. They'd all gotten a good laugh out of it but Katara was kind enough to do the repairs. Though Aang was trying to impress her while distracting her. It was kind of cute. Until...
“Stop bugging her airhead. You need to give girls space when they're going their sewing.”
Sora winced at that. He'd forgotten just how sexist Sokka could be before he learned better. Katara, clearly annoyed by Sokka's comment turned to look at her brother. She asked, in a rather dangerous tone, “What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?”
Sokka, clearly unaware of the dangerous ground he was treading, replied in a tone that just screamed 'duh', “It's simple. Girls are better at sewing and stuff, while guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things.”
Sora, not wanting to be anywhere near the conversation, carefully rolled over the edge of the saddle and off of Aapa. He used his own flight to stick near the side of Aapa and out of sight as he heard Katara reply in a sickly sweet voice, “All done with your pants! And look what a great job I did!”
She immediately tossed the still heavily torn pants into Sokka's face, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked away from him. Sora peeked over the edge of the saddle as Sokka was reduced to begging Katara to finish sewing his pants since he had no idea how to do it. While the siblings continued to bicker, Sora scooted closer to Aapa's head so he could talk to Aang, “Please tell me that our next stop has a village of some sort.” He tugged lightly on his ragged self-made top, “I don't think my clothing will last much longer.”
It was true. His clothing was poorly made and he actually hadn't worn it all that much back at the temple, allowing it to last longer. However, the ancient cloth was starting to fray, badly, now that he had to wash it so often to keep it clean. It had already lost half the hair he'd sewn into it and several of the stitches were coming apart. He had been tempted to ask Katara to help him with it once she was done with Sokka's pants, but after Sokka opened his mouth he decided discretion was the better part of valor.
Aang looked over Sora's fraying clothes and grimaced. It was his choice where they would go next and they'd been going to various islands with animals he'd always wanted to see... or rather ride. Their supplies were starting to get low though and Sora really needed clothing that wasn't made from one hundred year old scraps, “Yeah. Kyoshi Island should have several villages on it. I'm sure we can get some cloth there to make you some proper robes.”
Sora grimaced at that, “I'll find something more 'me', if you don't mind.”
Aang gripped his red top and pulled at it a bit while examining it, “What's wrong with robes like mine?”
Aside from the fact they weren't actually robes? Sora had a kinder reason though, “Just not my colors. I prefer darker earthy tones.”
Aang gave him a funny look, “What are you? An Earthbender?”
Sora snickered, “No, but I like their colors and the water tribe colors.”
In all honesty, he remembered how much he'd like the greaves and gauntlets that Katara wore later on as well as the aesthetics of Water Tribe clothing and armor. He'd put his own outfit together that was unique to what he liked, even if it meant taking bits and pieces from all four nations.
Before they could talk much more, Kyoshi Island came into view. Excited, Aang called out, “We're almost there!”
Aang quickly guided Aapa down to a cove where they landed. Despite the comfort of flying on Aapa, everyone was more than happy to disembark from the bison's back. Though, Sora just guided himself down and landed gently on the beach.
Sokka spoke up as he looked around, “We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?”
While Katara and Sokka turned to look at Aang for his answer, Sora turned to look away from the water and at the mountainous region behind him. Aang nodded, “Normally, I suppose. But Aapa's already tired.” Aapa just conitnued to sit stoically until Aang elbowed him, “Right Aapa?” Aapa gave a loud, fake, yawn while Aang grinned in triumph, “Besides, Sora needs some new clothing badly and there should be a few villages on Kyoshi Island.”
Everyone turned to look at Sora. As they did, his top let out a loud ripping sound and collapsed around his waist leaving him topless. As Sokka, Katara, and Aang all tried to hide their giggles at his expense, Sora swore vengeance. He was one hundred percent certain that Aang's comment was what caused his top to give up the ghost!
Everyone's attention was drawn back to the water as a massive koi fish broke the surface like a breaching whale. Sora whistled at the monstrous size of the fish, “No wonder they're called Elephant Koi.”
Aang, grinning a little manically, pointed at the fish, “That's why were here!” As he spoke he stripped off his pants, boots, and shirt, “I'm gunna ride it! Katara you gotta watch me!”
Aang tossed his clothing aside and jumped into the, apparently, very cold water. It wasn't long before Aang managed to wrangle his way onto the back of one of the fish and ride it like a living sailboard. Sora shook his head at the young boys antics. Though a part of himself did think it looked like a lot of fun.
At least it did until an even bigger sea beast started to yank the Elephant Koi under the water to devour them. Sokka's shout had everyone watching, tensly, as two fish were devoured before Aang's was eaten right out from under him. Sora immediately jumped into the air and took off flying toward Aang. As he did, the back fin of the sea creature broke through the water and towered over the significantly smaller Airbender. With a scream, Aang actually put on enough speed to run on the surface of the ocean at rather high speed.
Sora came to a stop and flipped around to fly in the other direction. He flew next to Aang and grinned sarcastically, “Still having fun?”
Aang gave Sora a heated look, but before he could say anything he returned to solid land and plowed right into Sokka at top speed. The pair of boys went tumbling along the sandy beach causing Sora to laugh at their misfortune while Katara looked worried.
Sora and Katara moved closer to where Sokka and Aang were crumpled in a pile together. Aang quickly untangled himself, not looking any worse for wear, while Sokka was covered in sand and his back and head were against a tree.
Aang quickly retrieved his clothing while Katara asked, “What was that thing?”
Sokka managed to push himself to his feet while brushing off sand, “I don't know but we should probably leave.”
Before anyone could reply, a group of women dressed in green seemed to appear from nowhere. Impressive considering all the trees were bare due to the cold weather, something that hadn't bothered Sora a bit since he'd arrived in the Avatar world. It took no time at all for the four women to subdue Sokka, Katara, and Aang. They even managed to snag Momo. In moments the three humans were tied up and blindfolded while Momo was trapped in a sack.
The problem was, the moment the women had appeared, Sora had taken to the sky, firmly out of their reach. The group looked up at Sora while taking martial poses. Some held metal fan in each hand while a few had drawn katanas from their waist. Though they remained armed, they looked a little uncertain. One of the girls leaned toward another and asked, “What do we do Suki?”
Sora focused on Suki and memorized her hair. Due to the elaborate makeup the Kyoshi Warriors wore, it made them very hard to tell apart by their faces. They all had similar hair color as well, being shades of brown. What wasn't the same was their exact haircuts. Sora decided to have a little fun while seeing how he would do against a group of well trained warriors. Sure, they lost to Azula and her two friends, but those three were the cream of the crop. They easily kicked the crap out of Zuko's normal soldiers.
Sora clapped his hands together, using Airbending to send out a larger burst of wind than normally possible. As it hit the beach and stirred up the sand, he dove from his position in the air and flew towards the warriors. Airbending was awesome, but it was also much more effective is closer ranges.
As he got close, he dropped his flight and hit the ground with a roll to get into the center of all the warriors. He spun in a circle while throwing his hands out causing a massive blast of air to fly out in every direction slamming into all of the warriors and sending them tumbling away.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, the girls all recovered quickly and turned to face the 'theat' before them. Sora, still smiling happily, stood tall with one hand behind his back and the other out to make a 'come at me' gesture to Suki.
The attack didn't come from the front, but from the sides. Two of the other girls closed in and attacked with their metal fans. Their moves were elegant and dangerous, but Sora flowed through the attacks without even really trying. He might not be bald to feel the air around him with his head, but he was currently shirtless and that exposed far more skin than was available on his head.
As the two girls passed him, another attack came from behind, one of the girls with a katana. It would have been fortunate for him that she turned it around to use the dull side, if he didn't dodge her just as easily as the first two. As his body twisted around her, he gently swung his right hand out and connected a simple air blast to her stomach. The blast sent her flying for a couple of feet before she hit the ground and rolled to bleed of the momentum.
He didn't have time to watch her though as another pair of attacks came at him from the sides followed by Suki from the front. Sora flowed through the three attacks, counter attacking with relatively gentle blasts of wind to send the first two rolling away in the sand. For Suki, he stuck his foot out and caught her ankle with it sending her crashing to the ground.
He wasn't trying to humiliate the girls, though with the ease he was handling them it certainly felt that way to the Kyoshi Warriors. Rather, he was slowly building up to see where he stood in comparison to them. He did not expect that he would be fighting them with, essentially, kid gloves. It didn't help that he didn't want to actually hurt them at all, which meant holding back on the strength of his Airbending.
He continued to dodge and counter attack, sending the girls rolling multiple times each. Unbeknownst to all of them, Momo had gotten free of his sack and proceeded to release Aang, who released Katara and Sokka. Though he held Sokka back from joining the fight. The three of them were quickly left speechless as they watched the fight unfolding.
After getting tossed away from the intruder for the third time, Suki recovered and stood back to watch and plan. The first few people had been easily captured, but this last one... She watched as another of her sisters were tossed away by an invisible force. What the hell was the man doing to make her and her sisters fly through the air like that? For that matter, how the hell had he been flying when they first attacked? She'd never heard of anything like that in her life.
Now, Suki didn't consider herself to be a genius or anything and she knew her temper could be rather short. Especially toward intruders on the island near her village. So she'd attacked first and planned to ask questions later with the village chief. But now...
She watched closely as another sister was sent through the air. The attacks he was hitting them with didn't hurt. They just pushed them away, a weakness? Or was he holding back just because they were girls? She hated not being taken seriously! She was preparing to run in for another attack when she noticed it. As the intruder waved his hand, the sand beneath him moved like a heavy wind was moving across it.
Seeing that, he eyes widened in shock. Weren't they only legends? Hadn't the Fire Nation killed all of them and forever destroyed the balance of the four elements? Airbender!
As soon as she thought that, the intruder's sky blue eyes focused intently on her. Oh god, had she said that out loud? She watched as he gave her a bright smile as his whole body tensed. The next moment he flexed... something, and there was another powerful blast of pressure out of him that sent all of her nearby sisters sprawling on the ground.
Sora crossed his arms over his chest while the Kyoshi warriors gathered themselves from their latest spill. They were all panting heavily while Sora himself felt warmed up. It was time to end things though. He didn't want the situation to escalate until it became deadly. He focused on Suki, though he didn't drop his guard, “Not bad. You flow through your attacks like a Waterbender, strike fiercely like Firebenders, weave through attacks like an Airbender, and yet maintain a firm stance like an Earthbender. Avatar Kyoshi taught your ancestors well.”
Suki and the others stared at Sora with narrowed eyes. The way he spoke... Suki gave voice to their question, “Are you the Avatar?”
It wasn't such a stupid question. The last Avatar was supposed to be an Airbender and the way he fought them was impressive. Though that did leave the question of his aparent age. If he was the avatar shouldn't he be over a hundred years old? He looked around her age, a year or two older at most.
“Naw.” Sora pointed to Aang who was sitting comfortably off to the side with Katara and Sokka, “the bald one with tattoos is the Avatar.”
Suki looked at Aang, then back to Sora. He gaze went back and for a few times before she focused on Sora, “That doesn't seem likely, he's even younger than you.”
“HEY! Aang is too the Avatar!” Came Katara's voice from the side.
All the Kyoshi warriors looked at Aang questioningly. The poor boy was blushing heavily under the scrutiny. Though he, remarkably, pulled himself together quickly and nodded, “That's right. I'm Aang, the Avatar.”
None of the girls looked convinced. One of them called out, “Prove it!”
Aang grew excited and pulled out a small marble, “Check this out!”
He used some simple Airbending to get the marble to fly around in a small tight circle with an impressive amount of speed while it hovered between the palms of his hands. He Kyoshi Warriors looked distinctly unimpressed. One of the girls looked at Sora as she voiced their doubt, “Are you sure you're not the Avatar?”
There was almost a pleading tone in her voice as she asked that made Sora feel a little guilty when he shook his head, “Sorry.”
One of the other girls clapped her hands together, “Oh! I get it! He's a decoy! … Right?”
Aang shrank a little at the unintentional bashing. Katara, incensed on Aang's behalf practically shouted, “Aang is too the Avatar! Sora's just an Airbender raised by a sky bison!”
Suki eyed Katara and Aang, “Prove it. Bend another element.”
Katara looked a little taken aback while Aang blushed and stammered, “W-well... I haven't actually learned any other elements yet.”
That statement just made the Kyoshi Warriors more assured of their belief that Sora was more likely to be the Avatar given the skill he'd displayed compared to Aang's little marble trick. Suki looked at her sisters and gave them a significant look. Getting what she meant, one girl chimed in, “Oh, well if you haven't learned any others there's nothing for it... Avatar Aang.”
Everyone could tell from the pause that she very clearly didn't believe that Aang was the Avatar. In fact, none of the Kyoshi Warriors did. They were all one hundred percent convinced that Sora was the Avatar using Aang as a decoy. While many others would have considered such a scheme to be underhanded, the Kyoshi Warriors were trained to use whatever advantage they could. This included stealth and subterfuge to get the results they wanted. They approved of the scheme and were willing to go along with it.
Suki stood at attention and looked between all the intruders on their land, “Come. We need to speak to the village chief.”
Sora smiled brightly, “Awesome! A village! Finally I can get some new clothing!”
His traveling companions chuckled at that while Suki spoke for the warriors, “That is not your usual garb?”
Sora chuckled, “Nah. My usual garb is to go completely sky clad.”
Everyone, except for Aang, looked confused at the statement. Though one of the Kyoshi Warriors seemed to get it and got excited, “As expected of the Av... I mean a strong Airbender, wearing the sky itself as your clothing! Impressive!”
Her comment got the other warriors excited while simultaneously confusing Sokka and Katara and annoying Aang at the near slip of calling Sora 'Avatar' again. Sora, meanwhile, laughed, “No, that's not it. Sky clad means naked. I was just trying to be polite in mixed company.”
The only girl that could be seen blushing was Katara as the makeup hid the Kyoshi Warriors embarrassment rather nicely. The rest of the walk to the outskirts of the village was taken in silence. It was only as they approached a statue of Kyoshi that they met other people. A small gathering stood at the entrance of the village near the statue with a singular older man standing at the front.
His dark eyes looked over the intruders, noting they weren't tied up as he'd expected them to be. Had the Warriors failed? Perhaps, but perhaps not. The warriors looked a little scuffed up but weren't heavily injured or captured themselves. Clearly something happened and he wasn't going to find out through speculation, “Kyoshi Warriors, report.”
Suki stepped forward and explained the situation. Though, when she pointed at Aang and introduced him as the Avatar, he eyes flicked in Sora's direction. She and the other warriors were still certain it was subterfuge and were willing to play along, but she wanted at least her village chief to understand there was more to the story that she would explain in private.
From there, Sora watched as Aang put on a bit of a show. Even if Aang never wanted to be the Avatar, he seemed to like the attention that it brought. It wasn't long before he was doing tricks and showing off. Sora was actually shocked when he witnessed one man work himself up so much he actually, literally, frothed at the mouth and fainted from excitement.
After seeing that horrific sight, Sora quickly left the area and made his way into the village proper. He really wanted some new clothing. He might not enjoy wearing it all that much after years of practically living naked, but he knew it was required for interacting with other people.
As he tried to find a spot that either sold clothing, cloth, or was a tailor, he was stopped by one of the Kyoshi Warriors, “What are you doing?”
Sora looked at the girl, not Suki, she looked similar though her hair was much longer and placed in a loose ponytail tied near her shoulders. He made a show of looking down at his bare chest, ragged kilt-like bottom, and bare feet. When he looked up from examining himself and into the girls soft brown eyes, he arched an eyebrow.
The warrior cleared her throat and looked away slightly abashed, “I see. Follow me.”
Sora fell in step with the girl as she led him to a small building near the opposite edge of the village. She opened the door to the building to reveal an interior filled to the brim with cloth. Though most of it was in various shades of green and blue, there were a few other colors sprinkled around.
Thankfully, there was nothing as bright as what Aang wore. As they moved inside, an old women bent with age, covered in wrinkles, and topped off with gray hair. The old ladies gave the girl a bright smile, “Aria, come to have your bust let out some more?”
Sora wasn't certain, but he thought the warrior, Aria apparently, was blushing so hard that he could actually see a hint of it through the thick white paint covering her face. Aria quickly began giving out denials, much to the amusement of the old lady, “No! We're here for him Leena!”
The old lady let out a cackle that made Aria huff in displeasure, “I hate your teasing.”
Leena waved a hand dismissively, “Let an old lady have her fun.” She looked Sora up and down with a critical professional eye, “Yes, I can see. You, young man, are in serious need of new clothing.” Her gaze moved back to Aria, “He with the Avatar then?”
Sora blinked, “Man. News really does travel fast in a small village, doesn't it?”
Leena cackled, “Us old folks have to be entertained somehow and heard rumors of a strapping young Avatar come to visit with his companions.”
Sora smiled brightly, “I'm Sora, Airbender.”
Leena looked him over, sizing him up expertly, “Sorry to say, but we don't carry much in the way of red and orange cloth. Some bad connotations to those colors these days, especially red.”
Sora nodded in understanding. Red and Orange were the colors most commonly associated with flames. It really made him wonder why the Airbenders wore such colors even before the war. They didn't fit them like the Water Nation's blue, the Earth Nation's green, or the Fire Nation's red. He would've expected the Air Nomads to wear a lighter color like sky blue or even white.
“It's alright ma'm. I'm not a big fan of orange and red myself. But...” He lifted the makeshift sack containing the bison hair off of his shoulder and set it on the ground, “Whatever you decide to make me, I'd like to request that any jackets have this fur in the collar and cuffs.”
Leena walked up to the bag and opened it to peer inside, “I don't believe I've seen fur like this before.”
“Sky bison.” Sora provided.
Leena and Aria both looked at the fur with a little more interest after hearing that. Much like Airbenders, sky bison hadn't been seen in nearly a hundred years. Leena took the sack and set it to the side. From within her clothing she produced a long thin string with knots tied at even intervals, “Now we need to get you measured young man.”
Sora did not like the look on the old woman's face.
-----Line Break-----
Thirty minutes later Sora left the tailor with Aria at his side and feeling rather violated. The old woman had measured almost every last inch of his body before throwing him out. Aria looked distinctly amused by Sora's disgruntled face. On the bright side, Leena had promised some basic clothes would be ready the next morning, but more durable and nicer looking clothing would take a little longer.
As they walked, Aria was in charge of where they were going. Sora had done all he intended to do. They quickly arrived at a small building, “Your friends should be here.”
Sora looked at the door and then back to Aria, “Thanks.”
She nodded and turned to leave, but stopped after a few steps, “If you get the chance come to our dojo. I'm sure the other girls would like another chance to spar with you. No one had fought an Airbender in a hundred years, so no one knows how to do so effectively anymore. We could use the practice.”
Sora studied her for a bit before nodding. He didn't have anything to do and he could use the practice himself. His fight with the Kyoshi Warriors had been his first fight and he was sure there were things he could do better. Letting them get better at fighting him and countering his moves would be a great way to increase his own skill. They could sharpen each other.
After the exchange, he stepped into the house they would be using for their stay. He was happy to discover a large table covered in food. Everyone else, except for Sokka, sat around the table eating. Sora glanced over at Sokka, who was pouting in the corner, and asked, “What's up with you?”
Sokka didn't say anything, turning to look away from them all. Sora sat down and looked to Katara for an explination. She obliged, “He's pouting because he got his butt kicked by a girl, twice.”
“Twice?”
Katara smirked, “He refused to believe that the Kyoshi Warriors captured all of us. Their leader didn't take kindly to that and took him down right then and there. She threatened to feed him to the Unagi, the big thing that ate those Elephant Koi.”
Sokka, clearly angry and embarrassed, shot to his feet and left the building in a huff. Sora sat down across from Katara and plucked up some food to eat. He smiled brightly as he picked up some meat. He had to call it meat simply because he had zero idea what animal it might have been from. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had meat. Sokka's supply had run out before they met and all of his subsequent attempts at hunting had met with failure.
Sora excitedly carved off a small piece and popped it into his mouth. He absolutely failed to hide his moan of pleasure as she chewed on the food. Katara gave him a bland look while Aang looked almost offended while he asked, “Are you eating meat?!”
Sora let out another groan of pleasure just before he swallowed his first bite of meat, ever, in his new life, “I am.”
“But... But, what about respecting all living things? All life is sacred!”
Sora's eyes moved over to look at Katara. Aang's eyes followed Sora's pointed look and spotted some of the same meat on her plate. Getting Sora's point Aang spoke again, “That's different! She's not an Airbender!”
Sora arched an eyebrow at Aang, “I am, but that doesn't make me an Air Nomad, nor was I raised to be one. I don't ascribe to the same beliefs as you Aang.”
“But!”
Sora leveled a glare at Aang, “But nothing. I need you to understand this Aang. There is a difference between an Airbender and an Air Nomad. I am an Airbender, and while I respect your beliefs, I need you to understand and remember that I don't necessarily share them all. I like meat. I will eat meat. It doesn't make me any less of an Airbender to do so.”
Aang looked conflicted an annoyed, but didn't push the issue. Sora nodded and returned to eating.
-----Line Break-----
Sora groaned in agony on the floor of the house a few hours later. Aang stood smugly as the medicine woman of the village pronounced her verdict, “Your body simply isn't used to eating meat anymore. Your indulgence in it is causing your body to reject it.”
Sora groaned again as he felt a pang of agony in his stomach. He was smart enough to know not to over indulge. He'd only eaten a single serving of the meat along with plenty of vegetables and some fruit for desert. He'd known that over eating meat would be a bad idea. How was he to know a single serving was too much! He also didn't appreciate Aang being so smug about it.
Little prick.
The woman turned back to Sora, “Sorry kid, but the only thing you can do is ride it out. I got an herbal tea that might help settle your stomach some, but it wont do much for the pain.”
Sora nodded his head, “Thanks.”
As she left, a smirking Aang looked at Sora curled up on the ground, “Karmic justice.”
Sora glared at Aang but didn't reply. He had no intention of giving in! He'd just have to get used to eating meat once again is all. He'd just eat small amounts and gradually increase it until it didn't bother him anymore. No matter what vicious treasonous things it was making his stomach do to him, he wouldn't give up! And once he could eat meat normally... ohhhhh he was going to eat SO much meat in front of Aang.
It wasn't too long before the medicine woman walked back into the room with a pot of steaming water and a tea cup. After filling the cup she held it out to Sora, “Drink. It'll help at least a little.”
Sora forced himself to sit up and take a sip from the cup. The tea had a weird earthy flavor to it. Not exactly bad tasting, but not good tasting either. The medicine woman left once he'd drank a full cup. She left Katara, the most responsible one in the house, with instructions on how to make more if Sora wanted it.
The tea helped a little, but not nearly as much as Sora had hoped. He groaned as his stomach cramped badly again. He closed his eyes and tried to relax as his stomach rebelled against the foreign proteins filling it. Sora was now pretty certain that the body he had was created the day he awoke. Which meant it had never eaten meat of any sort before.
Joy.
-----Line Break-----
Sora sighed as he woke up the following morning. He was feeling significantly better now that his stomach wasn't trying to punish him for his transgression.
Unfortunately, a smell coming from the table of food the locals had provided was making his mouth water. His eyes zeroed in on a plate holding thin strips of meat fried crispy.
BACON.
He swallowed heavily, but resisted the urge to snag a fistful of the bacon and shove it down his gullet. His stomach muscles still hurt from the cramps, giving him a cogent reminder of why he shouldn't give in to his desire. Still...
He sat down at the table joining the others. Katara and Aang were eating a light breakfast of fruits while Sokka had his plate filled with different kinds of meat. Katara kept trying to sneak at least some fruit onto his plate and he kept fighting her off. Sora smiled at the sight as he took a seat.
Unlike anyone else at the table, he collected some fruits and eggs. He did grab a few slices of bacon, regretting that he couldn't grab more. After eating in silence for a few moments he asked aloud, “So what are everyone's plans for today?”
Katara was the first to reply, “I'm going to get some supplies. I don't think we should stay anywhere for too long so I want to be prepared to leave.”
Sokka just stuffed some food into his mouth instead of answering. Aang smiled and glanced at the doorway where Sora could hear excited chattering, “I was thinking of exploring the village some more.”
Sora glanced at Katara and noted a hint of annoyance on her face before it smoothed out. Yeah, that would come to a head, eventually.
Once breakfast was finished, Sora made his way out with Aang. He grimaced at the sound of the cheering from a bunch of girls hanging out. They swarmed Aang and practically carried him off. Sora snicked and wondered how long it would take for Aang to realized the terror of Fangirls. Or the fickle nature of being a celebrity. Well, it was a lesson Aang needed to learn sooner rather than later.
As he made is way through the village a woman stepped up to walk next to him. He glanced at her, and though she was out of her uniform and without her makeup, he greeted her, “Aria.”
She gave him a curious glance that clearly asked how he knew it was her, “Your hair gave you away.”
She sighed and nodded, “On your way to Leena's?”
“Yup. I really can't wait to be wearing some new clothing.”
He knew he was taking advantage of the village being willing to help Aang out. Unfortunately, he had little choice in the matter since he had no money of any kind. At least helping the girls train would be a good way to pay them back.
“I heard you had some issues last night.”
Sora sighed. The downfall of small villages. Everyone knew about everything pretty quickly. He nodded and explained, “It's been years since I've had anything but raw fruits and vegetables. I didn't overindulge, but eating meat still disagreed with me.” He rubbed his stomach, “But I refuse to be defeated by the deliciousness that is bacon!”
Aria giggled, “I see. Good luck in your coming battles. Fight with honor.”
Sora shook his head in bemusement and continued the walk in silence. He didn't mind talking, but he hadn't had any people to talk to for years until recently. It was nice to talk to people, but he also enjoyed the silence. Aria didn't seem to mind walking in silence as she accompanied him. He wondered if she was there to keep an eye on him. He quickly decided she was.
When he arrived at the tailor, Leena was sitting in a comfortable chair with cloth on her lap and a needle in her hand as she sewed. She glanced up at the new arrivals and pointed to a small pile of cloth nearby with her needle, “Over there.”
Sora walked over and quickly picked the clothing up and held it to his chest, “Is there somewhere I can change?”
Leena waved over her shoulder, “There's an empty room back there you can use.”
Sora quickly took off and found the room. He unfolded the clothing and admired them. The pants were loose fit and made from dark green cloth similar to the Kyoshi Warrior kimonos. They only went down to the middle of his shins and ended in a tight cuff. They were matched with a white belt that had a golden buckle. Putting them on was rather strange, but he felt he could get used to them.
The top was a fairly tight short sleeved shirt with a few buttons at the collar to make it easy to put on and take off in a lighter green color and white buttons. The back of the shirt had the symbol for Airbending a closed, counter-clockwise, inverted triple spiral triskele. Sora couldn't stop himself from smiling at the image. While he might not feel much of a connection to the Air Nomads, the same couldn't be said about Airbending and this was the visual symbol of it.
He pulled the shirt over his head and tucked it into the pants. He moved around and was happy to note that his movement wasn't hard at all. It definitely wouldn't get in the way of his Airbending movements. With those pieces on, he was left with two long strips of cloth that he wasn't sure what to do with an a nice pair of sandals. He slipped his feet into the sandals and walked back into the main room. He lifted the strips of cloth, “What are these for?”
Leena looked at him, “Those are ankle wraps to keep your pants from moving and your sandals on your feet. Aria can show you how to use them if you don't know how to.”
Sora looked over at Aria curiously. She nodded and walked over to him. She explained how to to the wrapping properly, even showing him how to on one leg. He did the second himself. With both done, the wraps started at the tight cuff of his pants, keeping them tight to his leg and incapable of moving, all the way down to his feet. The wraps went around the sandal straps to keep them affixed to his feet and left only his toes exposed.
It. Felt. Amazing!
Aria and Leena looked him over with critical eyes. Finally, both women nodded, though Leena spoke up, “Not bad young man. Those clothes suit you, the colors as well.”
Sora's smile was blindingly bright, “Do you happen to have a mirror?”
Leena turned to Aria, “You mind fetching it for me dear?”
Aria acquiesced and left the room leaving Leena to comment, “She likes you, you know.”
She cackled loudly when Sora immediately blushed. Her mission accomplished, she returned to her work on his more durable clothing. He hoped it was in a similar style. Aria returned quickly and held up the mirror so Sora could study his appearance.
To say it was a revelation to the young man would be an understatement. He'd never seen himself so clearly before and he was enjoying knowing what he looked like.
He knew his hair was dark, but now he could see that not only was it dark, but the light glinting off of it seemed to be dark purple. It also seemed to form into a natural wavy mess, probably from all the time he spent moving through the air. More importantly, he got his first clear look at his eyes. They were a sky blue that bordered on gray. They were also a lot sharper than he imagined they would be giving him a rather penetrating gaze.
As for his face, he had sharp cheekbones that gave him an aristocratic air and a rather sharp chin to match. All in all, he'd rate himself as fairly handsome, but it was clear he was still young and had some growing to do. He gave himself a smile and handed the mirror back, “Thank you.”
Aria tentatively took the mirror while looking confused, “Why are you crying?”
Sora reached up and touched his cheek with his hand. Sure enough, he could feel moisture, “Huh. I didn't realize I was.” He wiped his face clean, “I apologize for that, it's just... that was the first time I've seen myself.”
Naturally this shocked both women into silence for a brief moment. That moment was broken when Aria asked in an incredulous voice, “How could you have never seen yourself before?!”
Sora sighed but explained his situation, the lack of memory, living with a Sky bison as his only company for years, and how he met Aang and the others. When he finished, Leena sighed and went back to her sewing while shaking her head. Aria clearly didn't know what to say. The silence dragged on until it started to get uncomfortable.
Unable to take it anymore, Sora cleared his throat, “Didn't you and the other girls want to spar me today Aria?”
Taking the lifeline, Aria nodded excitedly, “Yes! Come, let's head to the dojo!”
After the pair left, Leena cackled to herself, “Kids.”
-----Line Break-----
Over the next two days, Sora spent a lot of time at the dojo training with the Kyoshi Warriors. It didn't come as much of a surprise to him when Sokka ended up joining in on the training. Though Suki forced him to wear all the regalia of the Kyoshi Warriors. Frankly, Sora wouldn't have had a problem with any of the clothes, it was the makeup that was a bit much to him.
During those days he'd gotten his more durable outfits. Leena had gone above and beyond in making his clothing. All of it was in variations of the style the first outfit she'd made was. Only made with stronger stitching and other details to make the clothing last longer. More importantly, she'd made him several coats in various colors, each with the fur at the collar and cuffs as he'd requested.
The design of the coat was something to behold. It was a long coat, going down to his knees but loose with a split in the back going to the waist. The chest could be closed with three buttons. Most interesting though was that Leena, after seeing Aang's glider, had sewn cloth wings onto a couple of the jackets that stretched from the arms to the body of the jacket, like a glider suit almost.
Not that Sora needed the wings, but they were a nice aesthetic touch and he could use them to hide the true source of his ability to fly.
Sora stood in the dojo with Suki, Aria, and Sokka. Sokka was working with Suki, while he was working with Aria. She'd spent almost all of the time he'd been there at his side. Sora felt a little bad about it, honestly. It was clear Aria was interested in him. He'd caught her sending him glances and blushing. She was beautiful, strong, and fun to talk to. He just didn't feel that spark. Which was shocking considering he was still definitely in the throes of puberty.
Sokka, Sora, and Aria were all in full regalia while they sparred. Though Sokka and Suki seemed to have forgotten that Sora and Aria were even there given they only seemed to have eyes for each other. Aria glanced at Sora and smirked while wiggling her eyebrows and gesturing at the pair with her head. Sora fought not to snicker but had a smirk to match Aria's.
“Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls! Come quickly!”
All four people currently in the dojo looked up in surprise as the village leader ran to the door of the building to make that announcement. He didn't stick around for long and quickly left after his announcement. Suki, Aria, and Sora were quick to follow.
Sokka, on the other hand, tried to interject with, “Hey! I'm not a...”
Only everyone was gone before he could finish. Sora followed closely behind Aria while Sokka quickly caught up and followed behind Suki. As they got to the main area of the village, Sora got his first look at Zuko, though it was from pretty far away and he was riding on a rhino in full armor. There were four rhino's in total, each carrying two men except for Zuko's, which he rode alone.
As they neared, hiding behind buildings and sneaking closer to their quarry, Zuko started making his demands.
“Come out Avatar! You can't hide forever!”
Zuko was met with silence. As he impatiently waited for Aang to come out, Sora and the others got into different positions ready to ambush the Firebenders if they dared enter the main road of the village. It wasn't long at all before Zuko ordered his men, “Find him!”
The three rhinos carrying two men apiece entered the village. As soon as they passed a certain point, all the Kyoshi Warriors acted as one and came out of their hiding places. They very quickly ambushed and unhorsed the regular men. Fighting broke out and Firebending started setting fires to the buildings along the street. Suki, Sokka, and Aria ignored the rabble and made directly for Zuko.
It took some effort, Suki got knocked down by the Rhino's tail while Sokka protected her. Aria managed to unseat Zuko and all three surrounded him. Zuko wasn't quite such an easy opponent for the three though. His Firebending ended up putting all three of them down. Zuko made his way into the middle of the street. It looked like he was about to speak, but before he could, Sora landed in front of him.
Zuko narrowed his eyes at Sora, “And who're you supposed to be?”
“Me? I'm the guy that's going to make you wish you'd never come here.”
Zuko, already angrier than he usually was, lashed out immediately. He punched forward and sent a fireball careening toward Sora. Sora had never encountered Firebending before and was quite surprised at the fact he could feel the heat from the attack from so far away. Still, he wasn't afraid of the flames traveling toward him with the intent to at least hurt him, if not outright maim or kill.
Zuko watched, pleased with himself, as the attack he launched flew toward the impertinent peasant seemed to freeze the boy in place. Nevermind that they boy looked like they could be similar in age. It was clear the boy before him was younger by virtue of him being to ignorant to stay out of his way. His internal gloating was broken as he watched, shocked, when the boy simply brought his arm up and backhanded the powerful fireball into the air with casual ease. Only someone like his uncle should be able to do something like that so easily! He practically growled as he demanded, “Who are you?!”
Sora waited for just the right moment. He wanted to make an impression, to give Zuko the wrong impression. So, he let the fireball get far closer than he was comfortable with. His whole body was tense and he was prepared to leap out of the way the moment he failed what he had planned. When the fireball had nearly reached him, he fought to keep himself from panicking and flailing his arm around. Instead he made a smooth, if fast, movement that let him bend air in such a way it appeared as if he had backhanded to fireball into the sky. Sora's focus was brought back to Zuko as he practically screamed, “Who are you?!”
Sora focused on Zuko and smiled brightly, though he didn't answer. Instead he blasted air out behind himself launching him through the space separating himself and Zuko. Zuko's reaction was quick, his fists punching out and launching blasts of fire rapidly at Sora. The air around Sora began swirling violently redirecting the fire blasts around his body safely. Zuko's eyes widened in shock as he witnessed something that shouldn't be possible, “That's impossible! You can't be!”
Sora, still smiling and unphased, landed in front of Zuko and lashed out with both of his hands. Two wide and powerful blasts of air slammed into the surprised prince and sent him flying through the air. He landed hard on the ground and rolled to bleed off momentum until he arrived back at the entrance of the village.
Zuko quickly leaped back to his feet and faced Sora, who was camly walking toward him with his hand behind his back. Zuko immediately took a fighting stance and prepared to continue when Sora calmly spoke, “My name is Sora, the beginning of the New Airbenders.”
Zuko scoffed, but before he could say anything, Sora swirled his hands in a circular motion. Zuko's eyes widened in shock as the very air he was going to berate Sora with was pulled from his lungs. Zuko collapsed to his knees and grasped at his throat, trying desperately to get air back into them. Sora, still smiling, approached closer to Zuko. He had no fear of Zuko being able to do anything to him. After all, a Firebender's power came from their breath.
When Zuko looked up at Sora in desperation, Sora saw what he was looking for in Zuko's eyes. Fear. With his goal accomplished, he released his bending. Zuko took in a deep breath the instant he could. The sudden influx of air had him collapse to the ground coughing as he tried to catch his breath. Sora knelt next to the gasping prince and spoke clearly, “I will not kill you, this time. But remember this in the future. If I hear of you ever attacking civilians again, then the next time we meet you will die.”
He locked eyes with Zuko, Sora's sky blue eyes darkened as he glared at Zuko, “Snuffing out your life is as easy as breathing to me. Be glad you didn't do more than structural damage here or you would already be dead at my feet. Remember my words prince and test them at your own peril.”
Sora's gaze immediately softened and his eyes seemed to lighten in color once again while he smiled brightly, “Be sure to apologize for the damage you and your idiots did here!”
With that said, Sora clapped Zuko on the back and turned to make his way back into the center of the village. When he did, he spotted Sokka, Katara, and Aang all staring at him in shock. Suki, Aria, the other Kyoshi Warriors, and the village folk all looked either impressed or vindicated. Katara was the first to speak, calling out loudly, “Come on, we need to leave before more Firebenders are sent.”
The four companions quickly climbed onto the back of Aapa who quickly took off. They all heard Zuko calling the retreat as they flew overhead. As they flew, everyone on Appa's back could see the damage that was being done to the village by the fires that had been set.
Sora watched, rather impressed, as Aang dove off of Aapa and into the water to use the Unagi to put out the fires. When he arrived back on Aapa, he looked at Sora with a serious expression, “We need to talk.”
-----Line Break-----
AN
So, I meant to get more than one episode covered in this chapter, but it didn't work out that way. Still, I think it turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself.
Sora did get a tad dark at the end, but otherwise I hope the chapter was light and fun. Let me know what you all thought.
Comments
Jimmy Golden
I can’t wait to see how this continues!
Troy Malloy
YES
Ehren Morris
Really great chapter another weird thing that an Airbender could do it pop all your joints because all popping your joint is is forcing the air bubbles out of your joints it would be a pretty funny non lethal takedown if you just pop all the air out of your spine to give you a chiropractic adjustment it's like boom just collapse on the floor in agony but hey now your back pain is gone for a few days.
Cody S.
Yup, but I already wrote it and the whole thing is pretty short so it wont be dragging down half the chapter.
Evening Star
Oh boy here comes the air bender/avatar speech on the sanctity of life and how airbending should not be used for that. I get aang's beliefs but being decisive with dealing with enemies would be more practical. I'd imagine aang feels thst the way Sora used airbending on Zuko disrespects it. It don't imo, there are always exceptions to the norm. Good chapter though, fun read. Been checking patreon daily this week hoping for the next one :D
