"Move your legs! I want to see the progress this time."
"I-I'm trying," a young voice squeaked out.
"Try harder then!"
A stern man barked at a nine-year-old Kintsugi. She was trying. Trying to be faster, stronger, smarter about her moves in the hope her air master would be pleased.
"Tuck your legs in Ki, tuck your legs."
It had already been four hours since she had a bite to eat and Raashan had her practicing in a replica of the wind temples arena avoiding the moving walls.
So far, she had only managed to go halfway before being promptly hit in the back, legs, arms, stomach, or any other body part you could imagine every time she would try to go through. Tired legs would not move, but she wanted to prove she could do it, even if that meant cheating.
You could hear the whooshing of air as she lunged into the arena again and propelled herself midway through to the other side in a ball of air. She landed perfectly as the air dissipated.
"I did it!" Kintsugi said in a smile.
Rashaan was not.
"I don't know what you were trying to pull in there. But the Avatar shouldn't have to pull a stunt like that to win. It won't always work. You can do better. You will do better."
She could see he was trying to hold in his anger. She didn't understand why he expected so much from her.
"B-but Master Rashan..."
"Leave," he said. And with that, he walked away from her. They all did eventually.
-------
PRESENT
It wasn't long after the pain subsided that she realized she was still alive.
A chill breeze and hard ground greeted her.
"Oh, good I'm alive," she muttered sarcastically.
Being thrown into whatever this place was didn't sit well with her or her hungry stomach as the faint fog over her mind began to clear.
The good thing was that she still had her seismic sense. Yes, she couldn't see, but she could 'see'. Colors escaped her, but she had learned over time that shapes and forms were there to be discovered right beneath her thinly covered feet.
"Typical. Stuck on the very top of a mountain. Let them mess with the spirit world and next thing you know, they abandon you on the top of a giant rock."
She needed to find food and as she began to sense out the area, she slowly made her way down noticing the faint shape of a village 10 miles out, her stomach growling in delight.
A good while later and finally reaching the bottom, her feet stretched out flat against the cold, moist ground, each nerve end at the bottom of her foot spreading in different directions greedily feeling and absorbing what was around.
Trees.
Small deer in the distance.
And then...there it was.
Shapes of buildings, children at play, villagers running around, and then some. It was the flitting figures that made her cautious. There one moment and gone the next, as if they were teleporting around town.
She tried focusing on one of the figures the next time it happened. It was hard keeping track but she eventually managed to follow one to what seemed to be their central gathering.
There were several people inside.
Two figures in a central room in the uppermost part. A man and a woman were cleaning what looked to be a large empty office. The rest of the rooms held documents and more people. Too many people for her liking.
I'm 60% sure I won't be killed. Don't want a repeat of last time, she thought.
Walking away from her position and headed in the opposite direction. She needed to find shelter for the night. Minimal people, minimal contact, and plenty of delicious food.
-----
She had ended up in a valley of sorts, going through a clearing as brush and twigs dragged across her cloak in one last embrace.
A yelp from a small boy who she had sensed before confirmed she was heading in the right direction.
She neared their property noticing it was only him and what seemed to be an older woman a bit further ahead, possibly his grandmother.
He had tripped and fallen due to a small hidden burrow. What a knack.
The crunch of her footsteps against the littered ground announced her presence as she walked slowly, making sure he would be able to see her from where he lay down.
He was probably three years old by his short height and pudgy face. But what did she know? It wasn't like there had been many children around her growing up.
Sadly, he didn't have any broken bones. A pity really. A broken bone and helping hand from her would have brought about a complimentary meal. A sprained ankle perhaps a piece of bread.
It appeared it was the latter.
"Kintsugi." She held her rough hand out.
The small boy was sniffling and in pain, but he looked up at the strange cloaked figure with cautious curiosity.
Usually, it was either the shinobi from the Leaf who came around their property or wandering tradesmen, but even then it was only ever in passing.
This stranger was neither of those things. No headband, no luggage, nothing.
"What?" He whimpered out confused.
"That's my name. Kintsugi. I'm taking you to that woman up ahead. I'm hungry."
"Oh", he said as his brain tried to catch up with what was going on.
A few moments later and she nimbly picked him up by the torso, propping him on her shoulder and walking towards the house with the hopeful, yet unlikely, promise of a hearty meal.
She could smell the food.
It was sometimes easier this way than having to check every now and then for the shapes around her. She would follow her nose towards the smell of the warm meal being prepared and then her feet.
"Please put me down, it's just a sprained ankle," he cried out.
"Is your grandma a good cook kid?"
"Why are you here? Who are you?
"Spicy chicken feet sounds good about now, you have those here right?"
"We don't eat chicken."
With that, she stopped.
That revelation was a disappointment. No chicken meant possibly no meat, no meat meant these people might be vegetarians. At worst for her, vegans.
It did however bring to light that this world was perhaps more similar to her own than she had originally thought. At least he knew what a chicken was.
She looked up at the sky with thoughts on how to get back to the Earth Kingdom to teach some Avatar zealous villagers a few water bending lessons.
"We do have vegetable soup, though," the small boy said quietly.
He quite liked being carried and he had noticed his comment earlier had upset her. If anything, the stranger could finish his nana's disgusting artichoke soup.
Kintsugi sighed.
"That'll have to do I guess."
And with that problem solved, for now, she kept walking with the boy now in hand. One hungry for some delicious meat, the other hoping to get rid of whatever was left of some horrid "good for you" soup.
----
In order of appearance [Picture Credit:]:
VAGABOND by TAKEHIKO INOUE
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296393219235121380/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296393219232689457/
http://itadakimasu-anime.tumblr.com/post/73254510760/chickpea-soup-arcana-famiglia-episode-5
06/03/2021 A/N: I started writing this 09/11/2020. At the time, I was trying to get a story across but today I updated this to include more dialogue. I wasn't satisfied with what I had. What I added is in no way altering the plot but is made in an effort to make the story flow better.
09/21/2021 A/N: I'll be revising/editing some of the future chapters. Not much will change but hopefully, the pace gets better.