AN :
if we hit 250 power stones, there will be an extra chapter guys ;)
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But I've stolen some of his thunder in finishing early, in being called a prodigy. Not a perfect little one, no, I acted out enough for that not to be attributed to me, but being perfect wasn't enough to step out from my shadow for Hiraku, it seems.
...
I wait a moment to allow him to catch his breath. He's a bit embarrassed to have shouted, I can tell. Looking immature compared to me of all people is an achievement. I'd feel accomplished. Then again, most people make an effort to appear grown-up.
"I wonder whether they'll give up the chance to be part of something that could, if implemented properly, make the difference between the lives and deaths of a few hundred people."
He rears back as if slapped. I did, verbally and if it's not stinging yet, my next words will ensure it. "Now, will you get your act together, or do I need to ask Master Pakku to supervise the men because you can't?"
And that, that cuts deepest. For me to insinuate that his old master had better never let him go, that Pakku needs to fix his mistakes, that's me gouging out a pound of flesh from his pride.
This is my petty little revenge.
He can count himself lucky that I'm not into public humiliation.
His lips press into a white line, his fists clench at his sides and I'm expecting another attack any time soon, half-hoping for his hurt to hold so much sway over him that he gives in and revises his approach.
He does neither. Instead, he surprises me and reigns in his emotions. "I have underestimated you."
I don't smother the amusement that bubbles in my chest. "Everyone does."
He runs a hand over his oiled hair. He seems frustrated, unsteady and suddenly oddly defeated. His fur-wrapped shoulders lower as his head does in a half-bow. "I can see that now. You… have my apologies."
Oh, that must've hurt. He's even using the proper gestures for a semi-official apology.
I nod cordially, even a bit meanly, completing the small ritual. "So," I extend my hand, "Shall we work together from now on?"
He shakes it like it's causing him physical pain. Who knows, it might be.
It might also be causing me joy to believe it does.
...
A day and a half before the night of the full moon, I've managed to get everyone to harmonise dry, but with actual bending, someone always messes up. It's clear why. Someone always struggles with the rhythm, the meshing of desires. I expect it. but some are getting too excited. I am, too, but I'll save my enthusiasm for smug satisfaction once we've accomplished our goal.
Admittedly, it's a steep one – excuse the pun. But we're master waterbenders, and that title stands for something.
It gets better with every try, even manages to be large enough that we move to the wall. Our best run so far has spanned along the entire bay's width and reached the height of our waists as we stand on the city wall. Then someone got excited again.
Emotions can't actually be felt in harmonised bending but that sort of quivering in our bending is unmistakable.
"Alright, lunch break," I tell the benders who are all too happy with my decision. Some are sweating with exertion. That's just poor stamina.
Hiraku silently disagrees with me, but he doesn't know that soon enough it'll be hailing fireballs. At least he's stopped his little gestures and faces that bothered me in the first place. For the sake of our partnership, I even go so far as to share my special Yugoda-brew with him.
His face when he tastes it does something funny, then he looks at me, and eyes his cup suspiciously.
"It's meant to be this bitter," I reassure him, and watch him debate whether he should take another sip.
Overhead, the Avatar's flying bison makes for the palace at break-neck speeds.
Hiraku swallows another mouthful and grimaces.
"An acquired taste," I admit with a quirk of my mouth, "But it helps with staying awake and alert."
He nods silently, expression still slightly pinched. Suddenly, all he seems to be to me is painfully inexperienced. Like a child tasting coffee for the first time and realising it doesn't match their palate, only to keep drinking to seem grown-up. He's lived his entire life in this bubble of a society. The most foreign agent in all of this is me. And I've not been the best first contact.
Ever since we were children, Pakku's students, I've been nothing but an irritant to him.
Inside my head, I laugh at myself. All these realisations because of this meagre substitute for coffee.
I search my basket that I brought the tea in for some of that sweet honey I packed together with the double-layered clay canister that I needed to have specially made, only for it to be sold like, well, the most useful thing since the invention of hot showers. These two things are mostly what convinced the civilians that I'm a genius. We've only installed them in the public bathhouses, though.
"Here," I offer the honey to Hiraku. He stares at it a little, hesitant.
"That's expensive." He doesn't seem the type to worry about what costs what. He's lived his entire life with a silver spoon in his mouth. So why care now? Does he think I'm not as well-off? I get a princess' guard's salary. It more than gets me by.
"I don't want it to go to waste," I say, daring him to tell me that honey doesn't go bad.
He looks both confused and irritated now. Slowly, he reaches out for the small jar. At this rate, the tea will be cold before the sweet stuff has dissolved. Spirits. What's wrong with a little impatience?
I decide to ignore him and his uneducated watertribe poise. Maybe I should get out more, spread my personal brand of enlightenment among the younger generation.
Next to me, Hiraku makes a noise of pleasant surprise.
Spirits, this man-child will be the death of me.
...
It's Pakku who brings us the news. His face and posture are tight. Hiraku and I share a brief look. As his former students, we can read the mood, and it does not bode well for anyone who shows the old master 'impertinence'.
"The Fire Nation is attacking," he speaks quietly, but his voice carries even now. All activity around us halts. On some faces, I see apprehension. Others are already fearful.
When they meet my eyes, though, they straighten up. Good. They'll be needing that pride later. If I, the city's most privileged bender am not afraid, how could they allow themselves to be?
"The fleet is only hours away. Our patrols must have been wiped out before they could strike alarm."
Which is unfortunate. Undoubtedly, there were some friends among them. One could hope that before the actual siege, the Fire Nation still felt charitable enough to take prisoners and that we have the opportunity to free them.
"Well…" I say, more to myself than anyone else, "Shit. There goes my date."
Hiraku smiles, and some of the men chuckle. My date, as it were, would have been the evening shift for Yue, since Arnook's noticed that she's been sneaking out alone. He knows that I'd have just gone and escorted her to her meeting place with Sokka, but someone would have been with her and that's what he cares about. That I wouldn't say anything to Yue about it is why she wouldn't protest.
I pull Pakku aside to suggest a strike team sinking ships from underwater. He both hates and loves the idea. Hates, I have no idea why, but loves because Pakku, no matter how strict he seems, has nothing against sabotaging the enemy.
So he gives me seven rested benders and I lead them into the bowels of the city, where when you open the passage to one particular cellar, you arrive at the entrance to the tunnels that lead you outside the city. The water level rises with the tide, so sometimes the room is entirely flooded, but tonight we get to pick which one to take on dry land.
In some cases, it doesn't matter, because they meet beneath the city. But in this case, we need to be quick to engage, and so choosing the correct one is important.
Thankfully, one of the other benders, Talak, a middle-aged man with a thick beard knows these tunnels well. He's one of the few seal hunters we have. He leads our descent.
...
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