18 Chapter 18: Jeong Jeong’s Training Pt.3

[W-What in the world!?... Hey! He's Firebending!]: fire nation soldier

Upon seeing the flames coil around Soren's arms, as he prepared to fight his enemies with the same abilities they had, they were shocked, because seconds earlier, they witnessed him controlling the Earth around him, while intell on Soren says he's an Earthbender with the ability to bend metal.

[He's a Firebender!?... Impossible!... I witnessed for myself his Earthbending prowess]: zhao (A/N: I don't remember if I ever had Zhao see Soren fight, but I'll say he did)

Zhao was confused, but his soldier demeanor held strong, as he commanded his troops to advance, as a new command was given.

[All soldiers! Change of plans!... Capture both the Avatar, and the- Dual bender!]: zhao

Zhao felt proud that he came up with a new term for Soren, as it was never a thing for someone to bend more than one element, but now that someone who could bend two elements appeared, a new term needed to be developed, and while people who wield more than one weapon are considered Dual wielders, Soren would be known as a Dual bender.

[Sir, yes sir!]: fire nation soldiers

Once the command was given, all the soldiers began conjuring fire as it flowed around their beings, as they began to close in on Aang, Soren, and Katara.

[I think your plan for peaceful negotiation has been thrown away, Aang]: soren

[Yeah, I can see that… I guess the only way out is a fight]: aang

The Fire Nation soldiers began throwing fire towards Aang, while he continued to either dodge or disperse the fire with his Airbending, while Katara used her limited knowledge in Waterbending to attack and freeze the soldiers in place, while Soren used a mixture of both Fire and Earthbending to attack and repel the enemy soldiers.

[Woah!... I didn't know you could use both at the same time!]: aang

[Yeah, it was something I picked up during my journey to the Southern Water Tribe… You should be able to do the same, using Water and Airbending]: soren

Aang then had an idea upon listening to Soren's words, as he used the knowledge he gained from training with Katara, as he created small ice boulders about the size of baseballs, and used Airbending to increase the speed in which these balls of ice were shot towards the soldiers, as upon impact, the soldiers that were hit were taken off their feet.

[Wow!... It really worked!]: aang

Soren only smiled as he continued to shoot rocks that had been superheated by his flames towards the remaining Firebenders that happened to have their attention pulled towards their companions that had been knocked unconscious due to Aang's previous attack.

[R-Retreat!]: soldier

[What!?]: zhao

Upon hearing one of his men give the order for retreat due to the fear he felt towards both Soren and Aang, Zhao became angered, as he decided to fight personally.

[Looks like you can't trust a bunch of cowards to get a job done]: zhao

Zhao then joined the fight as he continued to shoot waves of fire towards Aang, Soren, and Katara, while Soren stood before Katara to disperse and defuse any of the attacks that came their way, leaving Aang to dodge and defuse the fire as he led Zhao's attacks away from Soren and Katara, but upon seeing the damage done to the surroundings, it clicked in his mind what Jeong Jeong was talking about all along.

[No self-control… That's what he meant]: aang

Aang then looked towards the ships that Zhao and his men came in on, and upon having an idea on how to escape the situation with little violence, Zhao shouted.

[Stand and fight, Avatar!... Or are you just a coward like the rest of them?]: zhao

[Oh... Were we fighting?... I thought you were just getting warmed up]: aang

[I was…]: zhao

Zhao then continued shooting flames towards Aang, while Aang continued to tease and anger Zhao with words, while Aang began leading Zhao's attacks towards the ships, while Zhao's anger had already blinded him to Aang's true objective. After a few minutes of cat and mouse, Aang stood on the bow of one of the ships, while Zhao stood before him, as he prepared to throw another attack towards Aang, but stopped upon hearing Aang's next set of words.

[You've lost this battle, Zhao]: aang

[What!?... But you have yet to throw a single blow!]: zhao

[No, but you have]: aang

Aang then gestured towards the other ships that were sinking due to the damage taken by the fire, making him even more enraged than before, giving Aang time to leave, but not before taking one last jab at Zhao's pride as a Firebender.

[Jeong Jeong said you have no restraint]: aang

[RRRRAAHHHHH!... AVATAR!!!]: zhao

[Have a nice "walk" home!]: aang

Aang then got on Appa, as Sokka was at the reins, while Soren and Katara were accounting for all their belongings, but just before they could completely take off, Zhao appeared from the fire, as his face was red with anger.

[You… You'll never escape alive!]: zhao

Aang turned to see Zhao standing about 20 meters behind him, but he wasn't standing there in anger, he was performing a move that Soren had witnessed many times in his training with Jeong Jeong, causing Soren to shout.

[Aang!... Watch out!]: soren

Just as Aang turned to look at Soren, Zhao had shot a bolt of lightning towards Aang's back, leaving Soren just enough time to jump in front of the attack, as his pointer and middle finger were pointed towards the incoming lightning, as he began absorbing the lightning, before his other hand began tracing up his arm towards his shoulder, before going down towards his stomach, making the lightning miss his heart by an inch, before redirecting the lightning back up and out his tracing hand with the hand that absorbed the lightning, back towards Zhao. (A/N: I did my best to describe the move)

[What!?... Impossi- AAAHHRRGGG!]: zhao

Zhao was shocked, both mentally and physically, as he didn't get the chance to protect himself from the redirected lightning in time due to the shocking scene of Soren redirecting his lightning in the first place.

[Aang! Soren!... It's time to go!]: sokka

Both Aang and Soren quickly got back on Appa before Sokka yelled the magic words.

[Yipp yipp!]: sokka

Appa then took off with a low groan, as Aang looked onto the once burning forest caused by Zhao and his men, only to see the flames had died down, leaving room for Katara to speak.

[After you led Zhao towards his ships, Soren took control over the fire and made it disperse]: katara

[I see… That's good… Thank you Soren-]: aang

Upon turning to thank Soren, Aang noticed his sweaty forehead, while his face was as pale as a sheet, causing Aang and the others to worry as they shouted.

[Soren!... Are you okay!?]: aang, katara, sokka

[I-I… I'm… I'm fine… J-Just a little tired]: soren

Soren then began to close his eyes, while Katara used some of her drinking water to cool off Soren's body, while Aang began pacing back and forth. Soon, 4 days had passed, and on the morning of the 4th day, Soren had finally shown signs of waking up, and upon opening his eyes, he was met with Katara and Aang looking over him, while a warm yet cold sensation was felt over his body, and upon looking down, he noticed the glowing color of the water being administered by Katara.

[Good, you're awake… Here… Here's some food… You must be extremely hungry]: katara

Katara handed Soren some warm soup, as Soren had sat up, and the glowing water had dissipated as Katara stopped healing him. Soren then looked at the soup, but just before he got the chance to eat it, the sound of a grumbling stomach was heard, as his attention was brought towards a dejected Sokka.

[What's wrong with him?]: soren

[Well… That was going to be his food, but you had woken up, so he valiantly gave it up for you]: katara

Upon hearing this, Soren couldn't help but chuckle, before he spoke.

[Sokka?... Giving up his food?... I don't believe it!]: soren

Upon hearing Soren's words, both Aang and Katara began laughing, while Sokka was upset, as he truly didn't offer to give up his food, he was threatened into doing so.

[Anyway… We should be coming up to the Northern Air Temple, and we'll arrive by nightfall… Then after a short visit we'll be heading straight towards the Northern Water Tribe!]: aang

Soon, nightfall came, and Aang landed Appa before having him wait a little ways away from the town, before they all entered and began looking for supplies for restocking.

[Hey, look!... A story teller… Let's see if he's got any interesting stories]: aang

[So, travellers… The next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look, as it might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man!... A member of a secret group of airwalkers who laugh at gravity, and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!]: story teller

Aang then began reminiscing on Airbender stories, as they weren't fictional, but fact for him, and Katara was infatuated with such amazing wonders. After everyone began to leave, Aang tried talking to the story teller, who only wanted money, but sadly Aang was broke.

[It really means a lot to hear Airbender stories… It must have been over a hundred years since your great grandpa met them]: aang

[What are you prattling about, child?... Great Grandpappy saw the airwalkers last week]: story teller

Upon hearing this, Aang's mind began racing, as the thought of having survivors to his people made him have a bit of hope.

[Guys!... We're going to the temple earlier than anticipated!]: aang

After loading all the supplies bought from town, Aang got onto Appa and began flying towards the Northern Air Temple, as his excitement went through the clouds. Upon closing in on the Northern Air Temple, Sokka, Katara, and Soren could see people flying through the skies, or what appeared to be flying, and from a distance, Aang also thought they were Airbenders, but upon closer look, his hopes all vanished.

[Look!... Airbenders!]: katara

[No, no they're not]: aang

[What do you mean, they're not Airbenders!?... Look, those guys are flying!]: sokka

[Gliding, maybe… But not flying!... You could tell by their movements, they're not Airbending… They have no spirit]: aang

Upon finishing his sentence, the sound of laughter came over head, as Katara, Sokka, and Soren quickly ducked as one of the gliders came flying over their heads.

[I don't know about that, Aang… That kid seems to have some spirit]: soren

Aang saw the kid looking at him with a bright smile on his face, causing Aang to take up such a challenge, as he took his glider in hand and started flying through the skies, racing the laughing boy, while Soren took over for Aang as he flew Appa down to the temple floor, as they watched the race between Aang and the boy in a chair like glider.