Chapter 13: 12. Kyoshi Island

The night before, Aaron drilled in the importance of remaining invisible whenever they travelled and suggested Earth Nation towns out of their path for practice. If the kids bungled it up, they could escape quickly and avoid being tracked. However, if they succeeded, it would be an exercise in social stealth. The way he saw it, Kyoshi was as good a place as any to start, especially with great rewards on the horizon.

"I hope you all paid attention last night," Aaron yelled to the rest of the gang over the sound of the wind. "Kyoshi Island is a few miles away, and we need new clothes, practice sword for Sokka, and enough food to last us to Omashu."

"Looks like I'll get to see Kyoshi Island after all," Aang said with a wide grin as he pulled on Appa's reigns to redirect them.

"Don't you think it's a bit soon?" Katara asked.

"Aaron is super paranoid, and he thinks it's safe. Besides, Aang wanted to go there for Giant Koi or something," Sokka chimed in.

"Elephant Koi," Aaron corrected, "and the Island is mostly safe…if you keep out of the water and avoid messing with the Kyoshi warriors."

"Kyoshi warriors?" Sokka asked.

"They're a caste of stunning armour-wearing, fan-wielding female warriors that defend the village," Mark said with dreamy eyes. "I wouldn't mind a few of them showing me how to use a fan."

"Sounds like a plan," Sokka said, and Aaron and Katara shared a collective look of worry.

Hours later, they touched down on the Island, and it was everything Aaron heard it would be. Vast rolling hills, crystal blue waters, and scores of Elephant Koi protected by the Unagi, the infamous guardian beast of the Island.

From the collective look of horror on Aang, Mark, and Sokka's faces, he knew he could at least trust them not to go swimming. The only matter that somewhat weighed on Aaron was the Kyoshi warriors.

He could almost feel them slink from shadow to shadow as they watched them, waiting patiently. Mark was yawning when one of them emerged.

"Troublemakers and spies are not welcome on Kyoshi. Which are you?" She demanded with both her fans drawn. "If you're Fire Nation spies, know that only one fate awaits you. The Unagi has not been fed in months."

Aaron raised both hands and flexed his acting skills hard. "I can promise we are not spies," he said. "Don't have the nerves for it. We are on your side. My brother here is an Earthbender," he said, gesturing to Mark, who waved at them. "You know what the Fire Nation does to young benders. We're just here for supplies. We'll be out of your air in a day or two."

The Kyoshi warrior stared at them, her face nearly unreadable underneath the layers of white and red paint.  Her padded armour had seen action, yet the rest of her green uniform was meticulously maintained, as were her bronze fans.

"Show me some bending, Earthbender?" she demanded.

Aaron pushed Mark forward, and the boy raised a stone and punched it towards the open water with two sharp movements. Katara, Sokka, and Aang had gone stiff from the exchange, nervously watching as Aaron lied and bartered.

The warrior stared at them for a long moment before suddenly letting up. "Welcome to Kyoshi," she smiled. More than a few of them blinked at her complete shift, and other warriors popped out of the forest.

A warrior around Aaron's height approached them, and from the berth the rest gave her, Aaron guessed it was their leader.

"Sorry for the cold reception, but with how the war has been going recently, we had to check."

Aaron nodded.

"We'll be shadowing your family for your stay, of course, and we'll make sure to feed your flying Bisen plenty of hay," she said, throwing a curious look at the furry monster who was nuzzling against Aang's back.

"You wouldn't believe how lucky we were to run into it," Aaron said with a shameless smile. "It fell in love with my brother almost instantly. I can't tell you how many times it's saved us from the Fire Nation."

The girl gave him an amused look but did not press them for the truth, probably deciding at least the last part was true. Much like Dragons, flying Bisen were hunted for sport. The Fire lord had wanted to stamp out all sources of refuge and transportation the fleeing Air nomads had.

"My name is Suki." She offered her hand.

"Lee," Aaron said, taking it.

Katara and Sokka introduced themselves as Bo and Be, and Aang said he was Mao while he fussed with Appa. All spoke with a certain hesitation, but not Mark, introducing himself as " Muo Feng, soon to be best Earthbender in the World" and proceeding to ask to show her the world. Suki cooed at the gesture and tugged Mark's cheeks. Mark did not take it well.

"It seems you won't take me seriously until I prove myself," Mark sniffed. "When we reach town, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you agree to be my girlfriend. If you win, you get to use Sokka and me as practice dummies for the afternoon."

Suki raised a brow at the flailing Earth-bending child. "That hardly seemed fair, for you, that is."

"Hold on a minute…." Sokka raised his voice, but his young partner in crime shushed him by raising the nonexistent stakes.

"How about for the whole day."

The other warriors laughed, and Aaron shook his head at the blatant manipulation. He was tempted to end the antics, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Mark was scheming again, and he'd been suspiciously quiet about the nature of his mission, but if it could earn them more potent weapons against the Fire Nation, Aaron didn't care.

Suki pursed her lips as if to think about it before nodding. "Alright, you got a deal."

"Time out, time out," Sokka said, stepping forward. "I did not agree to any of this, and I am not leaving my fate in the hands of short stack over here," Sokka said, throwing a look at Mark.

"You can fight me yourself if you want," Suki said with a dismissive shrug, "not that it'll make a difference."

Sokka's face turned red like he'd been struck.

"You're on!" Sokka roared. "No way I am losing to a girl."

Aaron resisted the urge to chuckle. At least none of them had given their identity away yet.

Everything came tumbling down when Aang splashed in the water behind and Katara yelped. Appa had sent them into the water with a particularly strong puff from his nose.

"Aang!" Katara ran over to help him while the latter sprang from the water using Air bending, carrying Momo, the lemur they found, in tow. Appa sniffed at the rodent in the Airbender's arms and glared at it, and Aaron palmed his forehead.

The Kyoshi warriors immediately raised their fans. "Who are you, really?"

"I can explain," Aaron said, slowly raising his hands.

—

Aaron and the rest of the gang spent nearly an hour in interrogation after the Kyoshi warriors rounded them up. Aaron had prepared for the eventuality and had them adopt a simple rule.

If they hadn't been compromised, they were to keep up their facades, even if their names were known. Katara had to maintain she was not a Water bender and that Aaron was not an Airbender. Aang was a strange kid with a Bisen they ran into who offered them transportation for protection.

The less they knew about each of them, the less power they potentially held during negotiations.

Aaron had no clue if the children would fare, but he gave nothing away as Suki questioned.

"You are in unoccupied Earth Kingdom territory; you had no reason to lie to us when you arrived. Why did you?"

He shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. I don't trust strangers with my family's identities if I can help it. There are all kinds of bad people out there. Nation hardly matters."

"You know of us, Lee, and you know how well we treat spies and thieves," Suki said, hand steepled in her chair across from him. They'd shoved him into a small claustrophobic cell with a table, two seats, and a small window.

Aaron knew it was to get into his head, but he couldn't help but admire the austerity of it all. Leave anybody in the room long enough, and they'll break. That would've been a problem for him if the entire village wasn't overflowing with Chi and spiritual energy. He felt his body vibrate with energy each time he started accumulating Chi. He was convinced it had something to do with Avatar Kyoshi.

"It would be the easiest thing in the world to keep you and the children locked up until we've wrung every last secret from you," Suki said, "but I won't. Not after they told me everything?" she said with a sharp smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"We released your friends hours ago, and let's just say the Avatar couldn't help himself."

"Of course…" Aaron muttered but did not put her above lying. He closed his eyes and tried to search for the Avatar. It took him a moment, but he found the kid's signature somewhere in town.

"Why am I still here, then?" Aaron asked as he opened his eyes.

Suki leaned back into her chair, looking at Aaron as every inch of her body seemed visibly tense.

"Because I know what you are," she hissed. "I'd like to know what a phantom wants with the Avatar?"

"Is that what the children told you?"

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Suki shook her head. "You did. There was a bit of truth in your terrible cover story. You said you're related to the Avatar." She folded her arms. "It wasn't that hard to figure out. Back to my question, though, what do you want with the Avatar?"

"What everyone else does," Aaron shrugged. "To help him end the war, preferably kill the Fire lord, and bring long-lasting peace."

"You left out reforging the Air Nation," she said, "And possibly taking over the world."

Aaron raised a brow. Suki was glaring at him at this point. So, she knew something of modern Airbenders then.

"How would we even manage that?" he said. "There's a handful of Airbenders, and rebuilding is hard enough. Besides, taking over the world is more of a Fire Nation thing."

"Numbers don't matter, not when you control the most powerful bender in the world. You could unite the world under him, and it wouldn't even be that hard. He's just a child," she said, anger slipping into her voice.

"Sounds like you have it all figured out. And you wouldn't even need the Air nation to pull it off." Aaron laughed.

"I won't let you poison him," she said. "Not like your Uncle poisoned the King during the battle for Ba Sing Se. Thousands died because of General Wang's advice."

"You lost family, didn't you?" Everything started to make a lot more sense. Why she'd kept him back, why she was so sure of herself. She shifted in her seat but did not explain further.

"Look, Suki. I am not my Uncle or Father, and I am sorry about what happened to your family, but I plan to travel the world with the Avatar and my apprentice and finally end this war. Whatever comes after is honestly not up to the Air Nation or me. The Lords, Chiefs, and Kings of the world decide, and to suggest otherwise is giving them too little credit."

Aaron rose to his feet and glared back at her. "Now, you're either going to try to keep me without good reason and force me to fight you, or you're going to admit you have no idea what the hell you're talking about, apologize, and let me go."

"You might be a bender, but you can't take all Kyoshi warriors," Suki said.

"If my people are as devious as you claim, the fight won't go as you expect. Besides, I can't imagine the Avatar would give you the time of day after attacking his friend for what his Uncle did close to a decade ago."

Suki set her jaw but eventually let out a long breath. "I want you out of here at first light. Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Aaron said and waltzed to the door. "I won't hold this against you so long as you don't hold what my family might've done against me."

He waited for an answer, but none came from Suki, so he looked out the window to the team. Hopefully, they could get out of Kyoshi before the ladies changed their minds about keeping him or something else went wrong.

Aaron was not ready to see the team and the villagers gathered around a small octagonal elevation with the other Kyoshi warriors standing alongside them.

When he spotted Sokka and Mark in the ring arguing, Aaron turned to Suki.

"You're still going to fight them?"

"I have to see what the Avatar's companions are capable of, and besides, it's been a while since my Kyoshi warriors have had fresh sparring partners."

"If you're looking to test the Avatar's companions, perhaps you should fight me instead? I've by far the most capable," Aaron said.

"I think you give the children too little credit," she said with a mischievous smile. "I've heard the precocious boy is your student. Testing him should be good enough, no?"

With that, she exited the room, leaving the room open for Aaron. He found a at the viewing stand beside Katara, grumbling to himself as he eyed Suki.

'Never underestimate a woman's vindictiveness.'

It wasn't until the fight was about to begin that he noticed Aang was missing.

"Where is Aang?" he whispered to Katara.

"He's finishing the shopping with the silver you gave us," she said.

"And you trusted him to go alone?"

Katara shifted a bit in her seat. "Aang can take care of himself. All of us can. Besides, it's just the markets."

'No they couldn't'

Aaron had more than a few things to say, but a child in the corner rang the bell, and the fight began.

Sokka went on the offensive with his practice sword, screaming his lungs off as he charged, while Mark stayed behind the biggest wall he'd seen the kid erect.

Sokka's swing was so bad Aaron could've dodged it blindfolded, and so could Suki. She caught his blade with her fan, guided it away, and thwacked him on the shoulder with the other fan.

Sokka grunted, but he wasn't dissuaded. He let out a flurry of attacks, each more vicious and wilder than the previous, yet Suki parried and dodged them all while leading further away from Mark.

She went on the offensive when they were near the edge of the Arena, striking with her fan. The blows had barely any weight behind them, but Sokka was flinching and sweating.

Bored of playing around, she unarmed Sokka and drew him close for what Aaron assumed was a throw off the octagon, but a small pillar of earth pushed out against her left leg, sending Suki and Sokka tumbling to the ground in a heap.

"Come on, Sokka," Katara cheered beside Aaron, who was surprised to see Sokka emerge on top of their tussle.

He was straddling her with his fist raised. "Give up," he said, barely hiding the smugness in his voice.

"You wouldn't hit a defenceless girl, would you?" Suki asked, staring up at him with her big vulnerable brown eyes. Sokka coughed and sputtered, and her hands shot forward, clapping him hard in the ears. Sokka yelped, and Suki pushed with her waist, coiled herself around his limbs, and tugged hard on his ear.

"I give, I give," he cried. She released her hold and let him lick his wounds and turned to Mark. Some Kyoshi warriors carried a bruised Sokka back to his seat beside Aaron, who patted him on his shoulder.

"Ow," he winced.

"Stop being a baby," Aaron smiled. "She didn't hit you too hard."

"She cheated," Sokka said, folding his arms.

"I can't believe you fell for that," Katara teased.

Aaron laughed. "The big brown doe eyes had been the death of many a smug warrior men. You're just lucky she wanted to give the town a show." Aaron rubbed his bare chin, thinking about the first time he fought his older cousin at the training camp. Suki reminded him so much of her.

"What do you mean?" Katara and Sokka asked, and he gave both an amused look.

"She was obviously drumming up the fight. She could've thrown you out off the stage in seconds."

Sokka looked back at the stage in awe and embarrassment.

"I did tell you the Kyoshi warriors were ferocious," Aaron smirked. "Let this be a lesson to you kids. Never challenge someone without gathering information, or fight somebody your master inadvertently pissed off.  It's one of the surest ways to die."

Sokka blinked, "What was that last part."

"Shush," Aaron said. "Mark is fighting."

On the stage, Mark was holding up better than he thought. He kept his distance, breaking up the floor of the octagon into ditches and bumps to keep his opponent at bay, and firing rock chunks whenever she was in motion.

If he was older or more skilled, he might've won, but the change of terrain didn't seem to inconvenience Suki past the first few seconds or so. She skipped over to him, dancing and flipping past the small rock chunk, and threw her collapsed fan at him when he least expected it.

It took him right in the gut, and she took his leg out from under him before he could react. He hit the ground hard and wore a defiant grin even as she stood over him. "Not even going to buy me dinner first."

Suki raised a brow at his words. "You're something else."

Before either side could make another move, a large moustachioed man burst into the centre of the Octagon, wheezing. "The Fire Nation. They're here. Girls, we need you."

---

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