Burning Chapter 2: Fishy Business

The royal archives were a treasure trove of knowledge. It was filled to the brim with books and scrolls on numerous subjects, ranging from records of the Fire nations past conflicts which were heavily edited in the last hundred years to various Firebending forms. Sadly, Lightning generation wasn’t among them.

No, that remained a closely guarded secret that was only known to the royal family and those of the highest political standing. It wouldn’t do for a commoner to know such a powerful technique... Regardless of how skilled a person was.

Unfortunately, gate keeping knowledge was a common practice that was spread throughout the Fire nation. Those that weren’t of a noble lineage were barred from the royal academies and even the archives.

That being said, I wasn’t about to let something like being born to the wrong family stop me. Sozin’s comet was a little under three years away with Aang’s return being about one year before. If I’d woken up a few years earlier, I would have been able to take things a little slower, but as it stood, time was the one thing I didn’t have an abundance of.

Luckily, with the way things worked, all I needed to do in order to get in was provide the archives keepers with some papers that said I was a student at the Royal Fire Academy for Boys and was doing a research project... Something that was fairly easy to forge.

It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it did buy me enough time to copy a few scrolls for later use.

“You’re in the wrong place.”

Jumping, I looked up, expecting to find one of the archives overseers, only to find myself face to face with a familiar gloomy looking girl who sat at the table opposite me.

“What?”

Having thought that I’d just been caught by the staff, I took a moment to calm myself. Still... I didn’t think I’d run into Mai here of all places.

“The expression you’re looking for is excuse me,” Mai noted. Leaning across the table, she tapped a point on the picture I’d just been drawing. “And this... Is in the wrong place. The pressure point you’re actually looking for is a little higher. I have a friend that’s well versed in what you’re learning.”

She was talking about Ty Lee no doubt.

Nodding, I made the correction. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” She drawled tiredly. “I’m Mai by the way. And you are?”

“Lee,” I answered... With how many people were named Lee in the Fire nation, there was bound to be one or two at the Royal Fire Academy for Boys.

Humming, she turned back to her own work. “Well, Lee, in the future you might want to try and blend in a little better. You may have these people fooled, but not me.”

Ah crap.

I needed to play this cool or else I could get into some real trouble here. First I needed to know what she knew.

“Excuse me? I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

Sighing, she set her book aside. “Look, I really don’t care who you are and why you’re here. All I want is to sit here for the next hour and do a little reading. Turning you in would cut into that time, especially if they decided that everyone needs to be checked from now on.”

“...Okay,” I hummed, not really sure of what to say. “I guess I’ll just... Leave you be then.”

Not wanting to test her patience, I turned back to my own scroll and continued scribbling down the necessary information for Chi blocking, extremely glad that out of everyone that could have realized I wasn’t who I said I was, it was Mai who couldn’t care less and not someone like Azula who would have had me arrested on sight.

Hearing a chair scrape against the stone floor, I looked up to see Mai shooting me a dull look. Feeling on edge, I began to look around the room, plotting the path I could take to escape.

Standing, Mai made her way around the table, but instead of going to the head desk like I expected, she made her way back around to my side and pulled up a seat next to me.

“This...” She said, pointing to my hastily drawn diagram. “Is horrible. I’ve never seen such a terrible illustration... Even those in the Royal Fire Academy for Toddlers could have done better.”

What?!

Glancing between my drawing and the one illustrated in the scroll, I couldn’t find anything that was wrong. I mean sure, art wasn’t exactly my forte, but I wasn’t that bad at it... Was I?

Grabbing my brush, she slid my scroll in front of herself and began to draw a picture that was infuriatingly superior in only half the time.

“What’re you doing?”

“Fixing your mistakes,” Mai replied, not missing a beat as she slid the brush across the paper with a practiced ease. “Turning you in is too troublesome and watching you make a mockery of art is too distracting. This is the easiest path by far.”

I... Really don’t know what to think of that. On one hand, it was a little insulting, but on the other, I was going to get a far superior illustration of Chi blocking.

“Thank you,” I muttered.

As annoyingly blunt as she was, she was still doing me a favour. She was actually pretty ni–

“You can thank me by improving your skills with art.” Finishing her picture, Mai stretched the scroll across the table, allowing it to dry. “Now, were there any other pictures you were planning on desecrating?”

My eye began to twitch. The sad thing was, I did actually have a few more pictures. I wouldn’t mind having her copy for me.

...Burning...

“Hey, there’s two drawings in this scroll,” Suki noted, staring at my poorly drawn illustration that sat a little below Mai’s. “Is there any special reason for that?”

Shifting my weight from one leg to the next, I slowly pivoted my body in one smooth movement, being sure to control my breathing throughout the entire process. “Not really. It’s just something I had help with from a... Well, I suppose I could call her a friend. It’s been about a year since I last saw her.”

“Wait, so the first one is your attempt,” Suki asked. Covering her mouth, she let out a snort of laughter.

“It’s not that bad!” I said, halting my movement for a moment.

Grabbing the scroll I’d rested on the floor, I unfurled it a little more, before placing it on the ground once more, continuing my training routine.

“No, no.” She cleared her throat. “It’s just... Cute. Mister big bad Firebender can’t draw. Maybe I should show this around the village. It’d really help soften your image.”

Yeah, I doubt that would help. It’d take more than some picture I drew years ago to get the people to warm up to me.

It wasn’t that they hated me or anything, but that they were wary that a Firebender randomly washed up on their shores... Worse than that, one that was capable of beating their strongest warriors.

Kyoshi Island had managed to avoid the Fire nation’s war for nearly a hundred years and they wanted to keep it that way.

“By the way, what exactly is it that you’re doing?” Suki asked. “I’ve seen you use Firebending and that’s a little more straightforward and to the point, this seems a bit different from your usual style.”

Oh. She was able to tell all that just by watching me go through a few different forms. That was pretty impressive.

“You’re right, it’s not a Firebending form... It’s a Waterbending one from a scroll I came across back in the Fire nation,” I explained.

Dropping what she was doing, Suki shot me a curious look. “Maybe it’s because I’m not a bender, but wouldn’t learning a different bending style be kind of pointless if you can’t use it?”

“Maybe,” I hummed. “But I can always apply what I learn here to Firebending.”

Iroh was able to create a technique that could redirect lightning by studying Waterbending after all. I, however, felt that there was far more that could be learnt than one simple technique.

Even if redirecting lightning was all I could learn from Waterbending, there was still Airbending and Earthbending to consider. Unfortunately, very few if any Airbending scrolls survived Sozin’s massacre of the Air nomads and I wasn’t lucky enough to come across an Earthbending one.

Glancing outside, Suki sighed and refurled the scroll. Tying it closed, she sat it neatly on a shelf among an assortment of other scrolls that were stored in the training room as per my request due to this being one of the safest areas on Kyoshi island.

“I’ll have to pick this up a little later... It won’t be long before the others arrive,” She mused.

As the leader of the Kyoshi warriors and the main police force on the island, Suki had a lot of duties that she needed to tend to daily.

Patrolling the island, dealing with disputes between the locals, chasing off pirates all the while sticking to a relatively strict training regime, the Kyoshi warriors managed it all and Suki... Being the leader, had to manage everything.

It didn’t exactly leave her with much down time, but from what I was able to see, she was pretty happy with her life.

Nodding, I shifted through the final few forms before stopping for now. I could always continue my training down by the beach.

...Burning...

It was a little later in the day that I found myself walking through the village. While not particularly wealthy, it did have a rather successful fishing hub that managed to keep it afloat, although, with so few people living here, that wasn’t too hard.

Unfortunately, being such a small village, there were few places to visit. There was the main street where everyone lived, Kyoshi’s statue, the docks and the training hall that Suki and her fellow warriors frequented.

...Oh, and the boat that I’d arrived on which was recently found stuck in a tree to the side of the village, balancing precariously. I’d probably need to take care of that before some kid decided to try and climb it only to end up squashed under the metal hull.

“Quick question, how would you feel about me burning a few trees down?” I asked. “Purely out of necessity.”

“I wouldn’t be very happy and neither would the villagers,” Suki deadpanned. “Can I ask why you feel the sudden urge to burn a tree down?”

That sounded about right. I couldn’t go off on my own either because then it would reflect badly on Suki who’d vouched for me.

“To get my boat down before it falls on someone,” I answered.

With all the damage it sustained from the Unagi, it was doubtful that it would ever run again, but there was still a substantial amount of metal on it that could be useful. I might even be able to remove the engine which, while completely useless to me, could sell for a good amount of coin to the right person.

“Oh, then I suppose I could bring it up with the village elders a little later today,” Suki said, sounding a little surprised. “They shouldn’t have a problem cutting down a tree, especially one that could pose a hazard to the village.”

Well... It was a start.

Stepping across the small bridge that led to the statue of Kyoshi, I spotted a few kids standing a little further up the street by the homes, being ushered inside by their worried parents while the other villages fluttered across the street in a panicked manner.

Raising an eyebrow at the villager’s erratic behaviour, the sound of a bell ringing suddenly cut through the air.

“This isn’t because I’m here, is it?” I asked, shooting a glance towards Suki who seemed a little worried.

Suki shook her head. “No... No it isn’t. That bell is only sounded when there’s an emergency.”

That was a little ominous.

I followed Suki as she marched off into the city, heading towards one of her fellow Kyoshi warriors that were helping in the villager’s efforts to secure their homes.

“What’s going on?” Suki commanded.

“It’s the Unagi,” The lone Kyoshi warrior answered. “It’s attacking Koi Harbour. The others and I are securing the village in case it circles around and tries to attack here next.”

“The Unagi? That doesn’t make sense. It’s never been interested in us,” Suki muttered. “Continue securing the village. I’ll see what I can do for Koi Harbour. Honō–”

“I’m coming with,” I said firmly.

Suki was strong, there was no doubt about that, but I couldn’t see her fighting off the Unagi, not alone.

“Okay, just... Don’t kill it, alright,” Suki replied. “The Unagi’s been protecting Kyoshi island for as long as I can remember. Without it, the island will be far more vulnerable.”

“Alright.” It’d be a lot more difficult to deal with, but I could accept that.

Taking a short breath, Suki gazed off into the distance down a path behind the village. “Follow me.”

Breaking into a sprint towards the other side of the island, I followed closely behind, passing by a few of the villagers, many of whom were too busy securing their homes to pay attention to me.

Exiting the village, we both headed up a dirt path that led off towards a point that allowed one to see both sides of the island. On one side was the village where I was staying and on the other was Koi harbour that looked to have seen better days as several buildings had been flooded with a few knocked over.

Panning my view over towards the harbour itself, I was able to make out the Unagi, its form thrashing about violently creating waves that threatened to topple the boats as it sprayed jets of water at the buildings.

“I don’t understand... Generations of Kyoshi warriors have lived here and this has never happened before,” Suki muttered. “Why now?”

That was a good question, one that I unfortunately didn’t have the answer to. As far as I could remember, this wasn’t supposed to happen, meaning that my presence had somehow changed things.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “But we’ll figure it out.”

Heading down the hill towards the harbour, I was able to see just how bad the damage had been with several of the weaker buildings having been destroyed by the Unagi’s rampage while the better constructed ones managed to weather the blows, if only just barely.

Hearing a loud crack as a wave hit, one of the ships crashed against the docks, smashing them in the process as it was pulled free as the tide pulled back.

It shouldn’t have been a problem seeing as it was pretty far away from the buildings, but more than a few fishermen were gathered on the docks securing their ships and had just fallen into the water.

Moving towards the harbour in order to assist, Suki raced past me and kicked off the broken pier, diving into the ocean below where she proceeded to swim towards the fishermen who were quickly being dragged out to sea.

Shaking my head at Suki’s insanity, a cold chill went down my spine as I noticed something. The Unagi had stopped thrashing around as its attention was drawn to Suki’s form. Letting out a hissed growl, it waded through the waters, heading towards her.

Jumping across the shattered pier, I threw my fist forward, launching a few fireballs towards the Unagi, before landing on a ship that’d been severely damaged by the Unagi’s rampage.

With a low growl, the Unagi’s head snapped towards my direction.

Great, I got its attention. Now all I needed to do was avoid dying in a horrifying manner. Making my way to the front most part of the ship, I took a stance, waiting for the Unagi to make its move.

Glancing towards Suki who was in the process of helping a pair of fishermen swim back to land, I turned my attention back toward the Unagi.

Not making me wait too long, the Unagi reared its head back and unleashed a jet of water in my direction, however, unlike last time, I wasn’t exhausted and could see it clearly in the light of day.

Taking a deep breath, I tensed my stomach and thrust my palm forward. Fire sparked in front of me, before a wall of white hot flames poured out, colliding with the jet of water.

Fire and water battled against one another for a few moments, before giving birth to steam that enveloped the harbour.

Pulling my hand back, I took a controlled breath, regarding the Unagi calmly, feeling a hint of excitement at the challenge that lay before me. “It’s not going to be as easy as last time. If you want me dead, you’re going to have to work for it.”

Staring at me with unblinking eyes, the Unagi slowly descended into the ocean, taking an audible gulp of the salty water, before disappearing entirely.

Suddenly, everything became quiet as it seemingly retreated. Feeling that something was very wrong here, I waited for a few moments, before jumping backwards as my instincts screamed at me, narrowly avoiding a jet of water that ripped straight through the deck, exactly where I’d just been standing.

The Unagi’s plan didn’t stop there.

Bursting from the water, its long, eel-like body crashed into the deck as it wrapped itself completely around the ship. It’s head poking out on the other end to glare at me.

Fortunately, it seemed incapable of letting out another jet of water when it was wrapped around the ship like this. Unfortunately, the ship was beginning to break as the wood groaned loudly.

It was smarter than I gave it credit for, having seemingly planned this out. The Unagi knew that it had a massive advantage underwater and that I would be little more than a sitting turtle duck.

Running towards it, a glint of light briefly hit my eyes, before I dived forward, narrowly avoiding being bit. Calming my mind, I brought my hands forward, generating a small amount of lightning that I immediately thrust against its armoured skin.

Letting out a screech, the Unagi pulled back. Unwinding its body, it disentangled itself, lilting the ship in the process.

Grabbing onto the wooden railings as the ship capsized, I pulled myself up and climbed onto the hull, managing to avoid being pulled into the waters below. Unfortunately, it was only a temporary fix as the ship was now actively sinking.

Slinking into the waters, the Unagi watched from just below the surface, waiting for the moment that I’d be submerged.

This... Was far from ideal. I only had a few minutes at most before the ship sank and I was at the Unagi’s mercy. If I couldn’t take care of it before this ship sank then I was going to have to use lethal force.

Looking around for Suki, I found her standing on the docks, organizing the sailors in an attempt to get one of the remaining ships moving. She wouldn’t make it here at the time. Hell, even if she did, there was no guarantee that the Unagi wouldn’t just sink her ship as well.

What I really needed was to get it closer to dry land so that I wouldn’t have to worry so much about my footing. At this rate, I’d even take something like a small boat or even ice.

Ice...

That might just work.

Shifting into the Waterbending stance I’d been using earlier, I breathed steadily, focusing my attention on the waters surrounding the ship.

The only reason why the water surrounding this ship was a fluid and not a solid was due to it being, to some degree or another, warm. Much like fire, it was filled with energy. However, if that energy was to be pulled from the water and used for a different purpose, it’d no longer have anything keeping it fluid.

Exhaling slowly, I breathed in and pulled my arm up, grabbing onto the energy that was in the water and felt something pulling on my own Chi in a way that resembled a rubber duck that’d just been pulled underwater only to bounce back up... With me being said rubber duck.

Trying again, this time a little smaller, I raised my arm, siphoning the heat from a significantly smaller area, succeeding in cooling the water enough to begin forming ice.

With sweat dripping down my forehead, I continued moving through various modified Waterbending forms that were slowly but surely forming a platform for me to stand on.

Feeling the cool ocean water engulf my feet, I made my move. Jumping off the nearly fully sunk ship, I landed on a large sheet of ice that, if nothing else, bought myself a little more time.

Looking for the Unagi, my ice raft shifted as a shadow appeared beneath it.

“SHIT!”

Jumping to the side as the Unagi bit down on my raft, shattering it, I took a deep breath and grabbed onto one of its whiskers before hitting the water, only to suddenly be jerked into the air as the Unagi thrashed about.

Tightening my grip, I shifted my body in the air, avoiding being smashed against its face, only to be hit with another glint of light. Struggling to find its source while I was being flung around, my eyes landed on its mouth where something shiny was shimmering between its teeth.

“You’ve... Got to... Be... kidding me,” I muttered, struggling to hold on.

There, sitting between the Unagi’s teeth was a piece of metal that was stabbed into its gum. The whole reason why it was throwing such a fit was because it tried to eat something that it shouldn’t have and got a toothache for its troubles.

Gripping the whisker tightly with one arm, I threw a punch towards the Unagi, sending a small arc of flame towards its face in an attempt to get it to stop moving.

Ducking underneath it, the Unagi dove underneath the waters, moving in a jerking motion in an attempt to dislodge me.

Gritting my teeth, I slowly made my way up the whisker. Reaching the end, I grabbed onto the lip of its mouth and carefully climbed down, my lungs screaming for air the entire time.

Slipping a little further down, I grabbed onto one of its teeth, before letting go with my other hand, reaching towards the cause of the Unagi’s pain. Stretching as far as I could, my fingers just barely brushed against it.

This’d be a lot easier if the damn overgrown eel stopped trying to drown me.

Realizing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere like this, I pulled my legs up, wrapping them around one of the Unagi’s teeth, before stretching across. Grabbing a hold of the scrap metal, the Unagi’s body shuddered in pain.

Pulling with all the strength I could muster, the Unagi’s thrashing intensified. Breaking through the water's surface, it let out a roar, releasing all of the water it had stored up in its body in one large burst.

Taking a gasped breath, I placed my feet on the teeth next to the metal scrap and heaved, tearing it free, only to suddenly be hit with a feeling of weightlessness as I removed the only thing that was keeping me from falling.

Twisting my body mid air, I lashed out with a kick, letting off a blast of fire in an attempt to slow my descent, only to smash into the water’s surface a moment later, slipping below its surface.

Wincing, I began to kick my legs in an attempt to get to the surface, only to freeze when I felt the water shift behind me.

Slowly turning around, I came face to face with the Unagi in its own territory. Its bright green eyes fixed me in place.

I raised my arms defensively, not willing to give up even though it seemed impossible, only for the massive serpent to swim towards me slower than before, seeming far more docile.

Nudging me with its nose, it ducked its head a little lower, before swimming forward, scooping me up in the process.

This was new. I never would have thought the Unagi could be so... Friendly. I guess I was wrong about it... It was actually pretty nice.

Breaking through the water’s surface, the massive sea serpent snaked towards the docks, passing by a ship that Suki had just gotten ready to sail.

Giving her a small wave, all I got in return was an incredulous stare... And it wasn’t just her either as sailors and villagers alike watched the Unagi set me down on dry land.

Part of me felt that this might serve to make the villagers even more wary of me, but a larger, more vocal part couldn’t care less about what they thought now that I’d just befriended a giant sea serpent.