Chapter 9: Agni Kai

After Soren realized he was back in the dark and vacant temple that housed all the previous Avatar's statues, he noticed that the previously lit up statues had completely gone back to normal. Soren quickly scaled back down from the top of the temple and left the dark eerie room to go find Aang, Katara, and Sokka, and after a brief search Soren found Aang being comforted by Katara as he seemed to be quite depressed due to the loss of his people.

'So he has found out the truth… It was bound to happen at some point': soren

Soren couldn't do anything but try and sympathise with Aang, but without ever experiencing the loss of family, Soren couldn't fully understand how Aang truly felt.

[Come on guys… We should leave, who knows if the Fire Nation soldiers have any bases nearby]: sokka

[I second that… Let's get out of here… Aang, do you know of a place called Kyoshi Island?]: soren

[Kyoshi?... I know her, she is one of my past lives, but… I don't know where the island is, but maybe we can find it on our trip to the Northern Water tribe]: aang

Soren just sighed and hoped that they would come across some kind of information soon as he knew that the missions given by the System were very important for the future of this world. Soon after that, Aang went back to the statue room and tried to find any kind of message from the statue of the previous Avatar known as Avatar Roku, but nothing made any kind of evident appearance for Aang, and he felt he was left to deal with this on his own, but before they left the Southern Air temple Aang picked up a new pet which was the Flying Lemur he called Momo, and with everything packed and ready to go, Soren, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and the newest member of the group Momo left the Southern Air temple on Appa, and began heading towards the next destination Aang set his sights on.

... Fire Nation ...

In what appeared to be an open arena guarded by Fire Nation soldiers, two men stood opposite of each other knelt down with their backs turned. These two people were Commander Zhao, and Prince Zuko, and on Zuko's side his Uncle Iroh was giving him a good luck speech while reminding him not to get lost in the rage and anger that was welling up inside his young nephew.

[Remember your Firebending basics, Prince Zuko… They are your greatest weapons]: iroh

[I refuse to let him win Uncle]: zuko

Zuko then got up and turned to face his opponent who also got up and turned to face him, and when Zhao got up he spoke in a cocky attitude that made Zuko a bit angry.

[This will be over quickly]: zhao

With those words the sound of a metal gong being bashed rang throughout the courtyard-like arena and signified the start of the match letting both Zhao and Zuko engage in combat. With the battle being started Zuko made the first move as he gathered fire around his fists and with a yelling grunt began punching towards Zhao from a distance sending fireballs towards him only for Zhao to dodge each and every single one of them. Zuko began moving around the arena while sending a flurry of attacks towards Zhao, but he continued to make slight movements to dodge the attacks and kept a smirk on his face that told everyone that he already won in his mind. Zuko then sent another attack towards Zhao, and Zhao didn't dodge it as he brought his hands up to block and when the fire struck him, Zhao spread his arms apart making the fire disperse into thin air. Zhao seemed to just be getting warmed up while Zuko was out of breath and sweat began dripping from his forehead as he was surprised to see that Zhao was unaffected by any of his previous attacks that he made with rapid succession, but seeing his failure Zuko made a change to his style as he switched to using his legs and brought down slashes of fire towards Zhao who continued to take them head on while dispersing them with his hands seeming to still be unaffected in the slightest, but Zuko didn't take this as a loss and continued to fight.

Zuko then sent another swipe with his leg as fire shot out towards Zhao before he brought his leg in and kicked outwards sending a speeding bolt of fire towards Zhao making him use his own fire to attack back for the first time as he gathered fire around his hands and clasped them together before crouching and sending an upwards strike of fire into the bolt of fire sent by Zuko effectively splitting the fire and making it disperse off to the sides. As Iroh saw his nephew struggling to fight with Zhao he couldn't help but cheer him on from the side while reminding him to use the basics as they were his greatest weapons and were much stronger than the flashy moves done previously by Zhao who had only gotten a certain level of mastery before moving on to create his own form of attacks.

[Basics Zuko!... Break his root!]: iroh

Zhao sent a strong and fast blast of fire towards Zuko who used his arms to block as he was sent back a little bit and threw his arms down towards his side to disperse the flames before catching himself and studying his balance. Zhao then continued to send the same move towards Zuko as he continued to deflect the fire to the side as he continued to be pushed back just a little, but after the 3rd deflection Zuko was overwhelmed by Zhao's power and was sent back as he crashed into the ground and felt weak due to the exertion of his energy in his previous attacks. Zhao saw this and took this chance to jump towards Zuko and end the fight, Zhao punched towards Zuko's face hoping to give him a scare to match the one given by his father, and as Zuko saw the incoming attack he quickly acted as twisted his body in the air dodging Zhao's attack and using his leg to sweep Zhao off his feet and stumble back towards the ground as he got into a firm stance and was now looming over Zhao's body with his fist aimed towards his exposed body ready to attack at any moment. Zhao was left stumbling back as Zuko continued to press forward as fire came from Zuko's every step and attacked Zhao making him stumble further and further back not letting him regain his balance until Zhao finally gave into the loss of balance and tumbled to the ground as Zuko then took position over Zhao's body and proved that he won the fight.

[What's wrong!... Do it!]: zhao

Zuko gave into the anger and shot a blast of fire towards Zhao, but as Zhao closed his eyes waiting for the impending pain of scorched skin, he was surprised to open his eyes and see Zuko missed his shot and the fire contacted the ground next to his head.

[That's it?... Your father raised a coward]: zhao

[Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back]: zuko

Zuko turned to walk away sparing Zhao's pathetic life, but as Zuko was leaving Zhao's anger got the better of him and he decided to attack Zuko while his back was turned, but before the attack could reach Zuko, Iroh stepped in and dispersed all of Zhao's fire and grabbed hold of his extended foot aimed towards Zuko's departing back. Zuko turned to see this and Iroh threw Zhao away with a bit of force as he was thrown back and landed on the ground again, and as Zuko ran back to finish what he started Iroh stopped him from continuing what he was about to do.

[No, Prince Zuko… Do not taint your victory]: iroh

Zuko then eased off as Iroh then turned to face Zhao and began speaking again.

[So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in the face of defeat?... Disgraceful… Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you… Thanks again for the tea, it was delicious]: iroh

Iroh then turned to leave followed by Zuko, leaving Zhao to reflect on his actions as his anger just grew even more for the exiled prince, and as Zuko and Iroh left the arena Zuko asked Iroh if he really meant what he said to Zhao.

[Did you really mean that, Uncle?]: zuko

[Of course… I told you Ginseng tea is my favorite]: iroh

Zuko and Iroh then went back to the docks just in time to see the men of Zuko's ship preparing to depart with their belongings, but before they could leave Zuko informed them that they would be staying with him and that they would be leaving immediately. Sounds of sighs could be barely audible to the young prince as they didn't want to be heard and then have Zuko kill them for such actions, and they all quickly moved to start the ship and leave the docks of the Fire Nation as they sailed out to begin the hunt for the Avatar. A few days later Iroh came into Zuko's room as he was in meditation with some candles lit before him, and when Zuko saw him enter he began to speak.

[The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar]: zuko

[Well, there is news, Prince Zuko… But you might not like it… Don't get too upset now]: iroh

[Uncle… you taught me that keeping a level head is the sign of a great leader… Now, whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it]: zuko

[Ok, then… We have no idea where he is]: iroh

As Iroh told Zuko the bad news the candles in front of Zuko exploded with flames as they melted at a faster pace showing how angry Zuko was, but Iroh calmed him down shortly after.

[What!?... Give me the map!]: zuko

[You really should open up a window in here, Prince Zuko… There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down]: iroh

Looking at the map Zuko saw the locations where people informed the Fire Nation soldiers of a flying bison being spotted in the sky, and looking at the pattern of the sightings make it look like erratic evasion.

[How am I going to find him, Uncle?... He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering]: zuko

... On Appa's back ...

[You got no idea where you're going… Do you?]: sokka

[Well… I know it's near water, if that helps]: aang

Both Sokka and Soren looked over the sides of Appa and saw nothing but water as they were flying over the vast sea, and Sokka seemed a bit annoyed as he spoke.

[I guess we're getting close then]: sokka

Soren decided to look into his system while they were flying since he had nothing better to do while Sokka was having his pants repaired by Katara after he ripped them earlier trying to get off Appa to use the bathroom.

'Hey Nina… Can you show me my status please': soren

{Sure thing Soren!...

Name: Soren Huang - Age: 15 - Elements: Fire, Earth

Chi: 17,000

Blessings: Earth Lion Turtle, ######, Raava's Blessing

Skills: Firebending (Master), Earthbending (Master), Jeet Kune Do (Advanced), Metalbending (Beginner)}(A/N: I forgot to update the status to the right one in the last couple chapters so I will be updating it soon)

'Nina, what does Raava's blessing do?... It's something new to my status': soren

{Raava's Blessing is a Blessing that places you on the path to bring World Peace just like the Avatar, but you don't have access to the Avatar state like Aang does… If you want, you could take over for Aang as the Avatar in a way as you both were meant to bring peace and balance to the 4 Nations, but Aang was meant to bring peace and balance to not only the 4 Nations, but also to the Spirit world}

'I see… So I am basically an Avatar without access to the Spirit world or past lives to help guide me like the actual Avatar?': soren

{Precisely… But because you have me you don't need to have a connection to any past lives as I am all knowing, so in a way I am your past life, but if and when you die you won't be reincarnated with me, and I will return back to my creator}

'But you can't leave me… For the past 3 years you were the only person I was able to talk to, if you ever left me I would feel like I'm losing a close friend': soren

{That's sweet Soren… Thank you, but don't worry, you will live a relatively long life and will have many years to create new ties before you would die and I would be returned back to my creator}

'... I don't wanna talk about this anymore': soren

Soren felt down as he knew that one day he would indeed die, and the fact that he would be separated from his first friend that was something besides some old people in a small village was quite damaging to his emotions, and just as he broke off the conversation with Nina, Aang spoke up.

[Don't worry Sokka, where we're going you won't need any pants!]: aang

[Huh?... Pants?]: soren

Aang then brought Appa down and they landed on a small island with a crescent shaped cove as Aang began searching the sea while standing on the shore, while Sokka, Katara, and Soren wanted to move along for their own reasons.

[But Appa's tired, and he needs a rest… Aren't ya boy?]: aang