Fire | Distorted Reality [ 1 ] | ATLA

10

"The academy"

Red flames shot from Azula's fingertips, just missing her opponent, who was moving all around the battlefield. She fired small, quick bursts at him, but they were all dodged and returned. He had superior agility, able to jump great lengths to safety. She was only able to sidestep his blows and keep him on the move, but he attacked from all directions. She bent and slid to the side, avoiding his latest fire blast, but the rocky terrain around him yet again served to his advantage. Her lungs were on fire as she attacked rapidly, releasing short, ragged breaths as her blaze was released into the air. Her opponent landed on one of the jagged rocks that served as the edge of their battlefield, grinning.

"Looks like you can't keep up, Azula," said Aang, rubbing the back of his head. The girl pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"This is getting boring. We've already mastered everything on that scroll and none of it's as good as the fire funnel," she replied. "We need a firebending master. And I want one now."

"We can't," the Avatar said, jumping down from his ledge to land in a sitting position on a cushion of air. "We're still far away from the Golden City. It'll take us weeks to get there." Earlier, Zuko discovered from a nearby villager that the Water Nation had claimed the ancient ruins of the Fire Nation capitol, and they were setting up their stronghold there. "We'll have to avoid the Water Nation and go all the way around, through the Outer Islands."

"That'll take too long. I don't like to wait," she said, looking away from him with her arms folded.

"You're going to have to deal with it," Zuko told her, looking up from sharpening his swords. "Aang is the one who has to master firebending before the end of winter, anyway."

Aang didn't mind, though. He enjoyed training with Azula, competing to see who was the best. Azula truly was a firebending prodigy. And with his foreknowledge, he was able to keep up with her. Training with her was exhilarating. He never knew about her deep passion for firebending before. It let him forget about some things, if only for a little while.

"There have got to be more firebenders somewhere in the Fire Nation," Azula said impatiently.

"Go ahead," said Aang.

"Look all you want," said Zuko. Both of them grinned and put their arms behind their heads. It was nice to be anything better than Azula. Being more patient was one of them.

"You're both buffoons." Azula sighed and grasped her forehead. "Fine, where's the nearest village?" Aang and Zuko's eyes widened when they realized she was serious. Aang looked to Zuko.

"Well, there are plenty of towns in the Outer Islands, with fewer peasants. You might be able to find a firebender somewhere," the boy said. "I guess we could check it out. We're sort of running low on supplies." He scratched his head of black hair. "I should come, too."