War Wolves

Kain waited, going to the barracks and meeting Unaq there. He told Unaq not to worry about what he had been doing. Both of them entered the barracks. Unaq joined some fellow soldiers in playing cards while he simply walked around the barracks.

He listened to some soldiers talking about the increase in price of drinks. Some other soldiers were wondering if the fire nation had truly gave up on trying to defeat them, even if temporarily.

'Ignorance... is bliss. All of these people look so happy and free. But they don't know that all of this might be destroyed in just a few months.' He sighed, 'Well, I have nothing to do before midnight. I might as well train my waterbending.'

Kain left the barracks, heading to a practice ground nearby. It was just like the ones back at Agna Qel'a, a battleground with a few icy rock-like obstructions, with multiple holes in the battleground that were filled with water. He focused his mind and tried to channel the water.

Two streams of water came out of two holes, twisting and combining into one. He stopped draining water from the holes and turned it into a ball of water. He then focused on the ball of water very carefully.

Usually, a waterbender could easily bend water into ice. They would simply have to think about the exact structure of the ice construct they were creating and simply will it into the ice form. However, Kain wasn't trying to turn the water into ice. He was trying to do the exact opposite.

Waterbenders have the ability to manipulate water in the liquid and solid state, as water and ice. However, they can also bend steam, as the gaseous state of water. Steambending would be very useful to him, as he could use it to create cover for himself.

However, that was only a small part of steambending. If he learnt how to use it efficiently, then he should be able to turn evaporated water back into normal water. If he was fighting against a fire bender in a place with little amounts of water this technique would be very useful to him.

Kain watched as the water sphere started boiling, before some of it turned to steam. However, most of the sphere was still completely intact. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to turn massive amounts of water into steam or vice versa anytime soon.

But, this was still good for him. By trying to turn water into steam, he had found a very dangerous weapon in the form of boiling water. While boiling water was harder to control than normal water, it was far more effective in injuring opponents.

He condensed the sphere before shooting the boiling water at a nearby rock with full force. The water melted straight through the rock, continuing for forty meters, before the water dropped to the ground.

It seemed that forty meters were the upper limit of his waterbending range. The water was directly connected to his willpower, and as the water got further, his will could no longer influence it as well as before.

It seemed that twenty meters was when his will starting losing its influence. This meant that his effective battle are was around twenty meters. Any further, and he wouldn't be able to properly bend the water.

He sighed. He knew that master waterbenders were able to bend with much more range, but he also knew that his waterbending range was currently above that of an average waterbender. It seemed that Maroq's training had quite a big effect on his progress.

He looked up at the moon. One of the useful skills he had learned while talking with Tamara was the ability to discern the time by looking at the moon. Having some free time, he had learned and mastered this method.

It was time. The crescent moon was halfway to the middle of the sky, indicating that it was finally midnight. He began walking towards the white wolves bar.

In the middle of the empty, barren streets, the white wolves bar stood out like a sore thumb. Unlike the dark, empty streets, the bar was lit up and filled with noise. He could hear laughter and music coming from the bar.

He walked up and opened the bar door. Inside, the bar was crowded by many people. He could see some men drunk, dancing to the music of a drum. Many friends were laughing with each other.

He took the seat closest to the bar. A brown haired bartender immediately rushed over and so Kain told him awkwardly, "Could you make me a, uh... one and a half shot of sunset moon?"

The bartender was a bit surprised, before the surprise turned into suspicion as he looked more carefully at Kain. He suddenly changed his demeanor and said happily, "Alright then sir, please wait here while I bring the ingredients." before running off to a room to the side.

Suddenly a loud voice shouted from behind him, "Hey, you spilled my drink. You'd better buy me a new one right now."

A voice retorted, "If you weren't you so fat I wouldn't have bumped into you in the first place. Why don't you lay off the food and drinks for a bit, fat boy?"

As the entire bar crowded together to watch the argument, Kain sneakily ran towards where the bartender had just gone. He was sure that this 'argument' was just a distraction created just so that he could follow the bartender.

After he had reached the room the bartender had disappeared into, he saw that it had shelves upon shelves of beer. The bartender was standing to the right of the room, staring at him.

He spoke, "I haven't ever seen you before, so you must be a new member. If you're not, well... I don't think you'll like what's going to happen to you down there." He pushed aside a rug on the floor, revealing a trapdoor.

Kain curiously looked as the bartender opened the trapdoor. Inside was a ladder, that led several meters down. The bartender went down first, and Kain soon followed.

The ladder only went down about 10 meters. When he finally reached the ground, he noticed that he was in a long hallway, about 4 meters wide, and lit by torches. The bartender was standing a few meters ahead of him, walking forward.

Kain caught up with the bartender, walking alongside him. He asked him, "What is this place? Who are you? And what is the group behind you?"

The bartender snorted, "Welcome to the war wolves den. I'm Monara, a member of the war wolves. And the group behind me is the war wolves."

Kain was a bit surprised hearing his answers, "War wolves? Also, you actually trust me enough to tell me all of this?"

Monara replied, "Yes, the war wolves. It's the word used for ancient northern tribe elites. No, we don't trust you enough to tell you all of this."

Monara grinned, "But, that doesn't really matter. If you're a spy, we'll find out quick enough. Here's a word of advice; Don't bother lying, we'll know."

With his words marinating in Kain's head, they finally reached the end of the hallway. There was a door right in front of them. Monara raised his hands and pushed it open.