Chapter 26: Warrior (2)

"As you said, the last avatar was an Airbender. This boy, Aang, is from his line, looking for the waterbending Avatar," Sokka spoke up quickly. The group of assailants looked at each other when Aang looked at Sokka, confused, "I can't lie about my origins, Sokka... sorry."

Though Aang still held some resentment against the burdens placed over him, Monk Gyatso's letter had greatly eased him. It was a farewell, but at least, Aang felt lucky to get one and it also made him realize that things couldn't be changed at this point.

Picking his staff from the ground, greatly startling the group around him, Aang bowed politely, "I'm Aang, the last Airbender, and the Avatar."

Sokka smacked his forehead, letting out a clearly frustrated groan.

"But... you're young!" one of the women inquired with a doubtful gaze and Aang looked at her, "I don't know what else to say. I'm the Avatar and I woke up after 100 years. We are on our way to find a waterbending master for me."

'Sure... spill it all out,' Sokka fell weakly to his knees.

"You're... the avatar?" The woman inquired again and Aang rolled his eyes, "Yes!" he scoffed, a little impatient.

The unknown assailants looked at each other and the woman standing in front of Nik nodded, "Team, form an orderly line. Help our visitors up... and free the mouse."

"It's a lemur..." Nik mumbled.

"And you, give me my stuff back," the woman pointed at Nik and he shrugged, "They're all gone."

"What?"

The woman frowned. Nik was lying, there was still one gauntlet left but he was planning on absorbing it, too, for points. No need to be sweet towards those trying the slap you with fans, right?

"He's saying the truth," Aang hurriedly spoke, "I saw Nik making an entire vessel disappear."

"Stop spilling the beans already," Sokka scowled, tossing his boomerang towards Aang as it knocked him on his forehead.

"Ow," Aang rubbed his forehead while the group fell in behind the woman. In the next instant, all twelve of them set their arms to their sides and bent their waists, politely returning the bow Aang had given.

"The Kyoshi Warriors welcome Avatar Aang to the Kyoshi Island."

"Kyoshi?" Aang inquired, a little doubtful.

"Yes," the woman nodded, "This Island was Avatar Kyoshi's settlement. We, the Kyoshi Warriors, are also a band of warriors trained under the honor of Avatar Kyoshi to protect our village, just like other bands of Kyoshi Warriors."

"Wait... so there are more of you?" Sokka instantly found himself in a terrible mood. But then again, after meeting Aang, he had hardly felt pleasant.

The group of women looked at Sokka but ignored him completely.

"Avatar Aang, please don't be so quick to leave. At least, let us properly introduce Avatar Kyoshi's settlement to you properly."

---

The villagers of the Kyoshi Island also wore furlined blue tunics with thicker material. However, they also wore brown shawls over their shoulders and some wore deeper blue shawls. Not only that, children had their foreheads covered by headbands knotted in the back. The group was asked to wait at the entrance and soon, the Kyoshi warriors returned with a grey-haired man well-past his primes who scrutinized Aang carefully.

"Are you really the last Airbender?"

Aang smiled. Not out of happiness, but frustration. Looking at the surrounding villagers, Aang coughed and turned to his greatest tool—

"Everyone, I'm the Avatar! Look!" Taking out two small stones from out of his tunic, Aang had them float in his between his palms as he gazed at the space with concentration and suddenly, the two stones began to rotated at a high speed and he looked at the group of villagers collected while wagging his brows.

— comedy.

"Woooh!"

"Wow! That's airbending!"

"Ooooh! Oooh! Aaaghhhhhh!" A man shouted and hooted in excitement, clutching his head like a maniac before collapsing on the ground, foam collecting over his mouth.

Aang stopped and looked at the man, "Uh... is he alright?"

"He'll be fine," the old village chief grunted and frowned, "Suki... please make sure that the information doesn't leave the village."

The Village Chief instantly relayed before taking the group uphill. Appa was made to stay near the entrance by Aang while the group left the residential region of the village. The villagers had cottages built in a neat order that left quite a bit of space in the middle. Those who had businesses would set stalls in front of their homes or had a large front of the cottage fashioned into a store itself. Just by sight, Nik saw many furs and hides on display. The Village Chief's house happened was built on the path uphill. There were two more structures higher than the Village Chief's residence but as the group settled in, the Village Chief shook his head.

"Oh, Avatar Aang, you have committed a grave mistake in this journey of yours. You should not have revealed your identity even to the Kyoshi warriors."

The Village Chief's tone was mournful and Katara frowned, "Sir, didn't you ask Aang to prove his identity, too?"

"No, it was a chance to contain this mistake. I asked— Are you the last Airbender. But Little Avatar, your reply was— I'm the Avatar."

Katara's and Aang's expressions froze while Sokka sighed, "Finally, someone with sense."

"I... don't understand. I thought this place was built by Avatar Kyoshi."

"Avatar Aang, the war has ended. The dust has settled. Your title, at least, to me, did not bring hope but the foresight of another collision. Think. The younger generation hasn't suffered the same losses. They don't care about the outcome. The previous generation has lost, they cannot change anything because they are a spent force. And those left stranded..."

The Village Chief's gaze turned slightly murky, "They can only collect whatever pieces of themselves they are left with."

Sokka continued to nod along with every word but despite the chief's cryptic sense of conversation, Aang felt terrible.

"I... I just want to help, Sir. I don't want any battles."

"And you think the Phoenix King Ozai will care?" The chief inquired and Aang fell silent. The warm reception at the village entrance, the cheers, the 'brightness' had dazzled Aang momentarily, but the Chief didn't take a second to smack him with reality.

"These are dire times, Young Avatar. Your intentions may be well, but they might not necessarily be received in the same manner everywhere. The Kyoshi Island indeed welcomes you. The Kyoshi warrior will also try their best to keep the information contained.

But by exposing yourself, you will attract unwanted attention in this journey, this is my warning.

However, it is also the truth that the Kyoshi Island requires your assistance."

Aang blinked. He kept the Chief's words in his mind and then heard the request. But the entire group's expression fell once the chief had placed his request.

---

"What do you think?" Cross-legged, around a large floor table sat Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Nik with a large spread of delicacies presented in Aang's honor. However, aside from Momo, nobody had the stomach to eat anything.

Sokka, Katara, and Aang looked towards Nik.

"I think... it's not my decision," Nik stated calmly. His words stunned the group that stared at him.

"Let's recount things for a moment," Nik rubbed his head, "The war has ended, but your appearance may lead to another conflict. The Chief and Sokka are right about this. I'm still not clear on many details, but one thing I know about royalty is that they do not tolerate threats to their seat.

Now, it is also clear that further exposing your identity would be a mistake. There is even a chance that one of use three might end up unintentionally slip the information related to you... and now, this request of the chief.

How are you supposed to do anything about the Unagi if Kyoshi is the one who tamed its predecessor centuries ago? You're not Kyoshi."

Unagi was none other than the giant sea eel that found Aang a delicacy.

"Still, it's not my responsibility now, is it?" Nik stated the truth, "It's neither Katara's nor Sokka's task either. The Chief asked you... you should be the one to decide."

Nik shrugged.

"Oh, please," Katara rolled her eyes, "You cannot ask Aang to subdue that monster! He is a child."

"All I know is that the ability to make decisions is a luxury that we don't appreciate enough," Nik replied, "In his words, Aang may have decided to leave everything... but he didn't decide to stay in the ice for a hundred years."

"Right. It was the consequence of his decision," Sokka interrupted, "So what will happen if Aang decides to help the Kyoshi Island out with their trading problems? Let me paint you a pretty picture. Aang gets eaten and he turns into an ice sculpture inside the Unagi until he is pooped out!"

The siblings were clearly against Nik's words.

"Look, all I said is that it should be upto Aang to decide even if it ends up being not accepting the task and moving on."

Nik picked up a piece of bread and ate it as the siblings frowned this time.

"Um... Sokka, how old were you when your dad left for war?"

Aang looked at the adult chieftain and the man replied with a gloomy expression, "12..."

"Then Katara... you were?"

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"10," she pursed her lips.

Aang leaned back before standing up. Seeing the three of them look at him, the boy shook his head, "I just need some time to think."

He left quickly.

"What's wrong with you, no, seriously?" Katara finally glared at Nik, "Aang is just a boy."

"I just thought... that Aang needed to hear this," Nik frowned and looked at the large spread of food, "After all, I wanted to hear the same thing some time ago. Anyway, it's not like it's the truth. I said that he has a choice but does he really have one?" Nik's shoulders slumped down, "It's just sometimes sad to think this because... clearly, your thoughts are affected by your experiences, my actions are affected by my past, and Aang's dilemma, too, would be connected to his own past experiences."

Katara grew quiet and Sokka frowned.

"Whatever. You broke my spear, you better buy me a new one."

Nik nodded with a smile and continued eating.

---

While the group ate, Aang walked around the town. He browsed through the items displayed on trade, accepting greetings from others along the way.

The request of the village chief concerned the wellbeing of the village. The Kyoshi Island has always been the nest of Unagi as it would prey on the Elephant Koi Fishes. However, with the entire world entering the command of one ruler and the rallies and rebellions slowly calming down, the trade had started to bolster. The Elephant Koi Fishes, aside from being the Unagi's staple diet, also happened to be Kyoshi Island's main export. Its oils and meat proving to hold a large market in the more advanced Fire Nation.

The Chief wanted Aang to subdue the Unagi as his predecessor, Avatar Kyoshi had done once, stabilizing an export channel for the village to thrive on.

"Hey!" a whisper broke Aang out of his thoughts. Looking sideways, Aang found one of the girls his age waving at him from the corner of the store.

Curious, Aang followed and as he entered the alley, he found a group of girls looking towards him with bright expressions.

"Avatar! Will you show us airbending once again?"

Aang felt dazzled once again. The same emotion that the chief had pulled him out of previously entered his veins once again.

"Uh... look at this!"

He grinned, pulling out the stones once again.

---

With their stomachs full, the group dispersed. Katara didn't mind taking up the villagers on the offer of their discount regarding a few fruits and pelts since the siblings had amassed quite a bit of currency over the years. Sokka walked over to the port, happy to observe the boats and ships while keeping an eye out for information that might be useful to them.

Meanwhile... Nik stood by the corner of the chief's house, once again in a dilemma.

'I just gave a long speech about decisions and whatnot but I'm as stumped as the kid... should I leave or not?'

While Aang may have grown out of his fears again, largely due to his age, the chief had low-key scared Nik straight.

One part of him felt that at this point, he wouldn't be leaving out of caution but cowardice. And the other part of him felt like sticking around. So, overall, his mind was made up to try and not give in to his fears and stand up to his own advice. After all, he didn't actually fear being stuck somewhere. His fears about being imprisoned once again had been greatly relieved once he was able to stand his ground for just a single moment against one of the Kyoshi Warriors.

What Nik truly feared was somehow getting seriously injured based on Aang's or someone else's decision.

"Hey, Vanish Guy," a snicker broke Nik out of his thoughts as he looked up to find a brown-haired woman standing in front of him while holding a straw basket filled with vegetables.

Frowning at the name, Nik found the woman slightly familiar as she set the basket down and took a pose all too familiar, "It's me, the one who kicked your butt."

"If you're looking for your fans, for the last time—" Nik sighed.

"It's not that," the woman laughed and bent to pick the basket again, "We have many spare war fans. Don't worry about it. I was just annoyed by your tricks this morning. Anyway, I'm Suki."

"Nik," he smiled and nodded.

"What are you doing? Your teammates are all exploring the village. Especially Aang. He already has a group chasing after him. I guess that's part of the charm about being the Avatar," Suki spoke up as she entered the chief's house while gesturing for Nik to tag along with the beckon of her head.

"My team? You mean Sokka and Katara?"

"Yeah, you guys are friends, right? Trust me, you don't want to fight with Kyoshi Warriors for strangers."

"I guess," Nik pursed his lips. He never had any good 'friend' experience so he never considered the three of them remotely close to it... until this point.

"By the way, that's a really nice trick. You can disarm any opponent with that strange bending skill. Where are you from? An island nearby?"

"Earth Kingdom," Nik replied.

"Oh? What are you doing in this part of the world?"

"You have a lot of questions," Nik looked at her strangely.

"Sorry... it's just that aside from a few, none of us have left the village, you know. I guess it was the right decision since those who have left never did return. I hope it is only because they settled somewhere safely."

"A relative?" Nik inquired.

"Childhood friend," Suki emptied the basket onto a large container before grunting softly as she closed the lid to the container.

Nik nodded before realizing something, "You're clearly not in duty... so who is looking out to keep Aang's whereabouts contained?"

"Kyoshi Initiates," Suki replied, "We accept girls above the age of twelve who wants to train."

"Only girls?" Nik grew a little curious.

"It's... a sad story," Suki sighed and shook her head, "Anyway, you should get the Kyoshi culture in since you won't be staying for long, right?"

"Depends on Aang," Nik shrugged. Deciding to stick around. Anyway, it wasn't like the other three were clear-cut and asked him to leave out of a sudden.

"The chief... asked you guys to deal with the Unagi, huh," Suki mumbled and Nik looked at her strangely.

"And you find it difficult to bear because?"

"Since Avatar Kyoshi subdued the Unagi back then... the Kyoshi warriors felt that as her students, we should be the one to take care of that creature. But we failed."

"So? Are you going to tell me why you decided to lean against the chief's hut while your teammates are exploring the village?" Suki turned around, the empty basket now between her waist and arms. Like other villagers, she, too, wore a thick blue robe with a thick sky-blue belt wrapped around her hips.

"And while you're on it, add in the story of how you ended up wearing a woman's outfit," she pointed at the edges of Nik's coat reaching past his knees and halfway across his calves.

"These? These are Katara's," Nik looked down, not minding the attire, "And I just didn't have the mind to... get chased by a mob, or buy some fruits... or look at some beautiful ships."

He recalled the sibling's words as they left.

"Then how about learning why you were so easy to toss and defeat? If you're going to be around with the Avatar, the least you can do is learn how to wield a spear... adequately."

Narrowing his eyes, Nik retorted, "I'll have you know that my teacher is quite impressed by my growth."

"Oh? Who's your teacher?"

"Sokka."

"Pfft," Suki giggled, "If only you fight as well as you could humor others. Anyway, that boomerang throwing buffoon isn't too great of a fighter, and seeing that you're half a girl, I might consider teaching you a little something."

Suki took a long stare at Nik's clothing and he found himself unable to understand her intentions.

'Just let a man brood,' Nik rolled his eyes.

"However, I cannot teach you alone. Well, the decision isn't mine alone. So, if you want to try and learn something before you leave, take a chance on my entire band. If they agree, then things might turn out well for you. We practice in the second hut from the top of the hill every evening."

Sukki waved her hands and quite genuinely swaggered away.

'Learning stabbing and running from Sokka... or how to fight like dangerous girls who can subdue the said technique...'

Nik began pondering once again.

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