Sorry for the wait. Had a bit of writer's block and decided to focus on my other works. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
A week later.
I held an ice reinforced spear on my hand, Infront of me was Nova wearing a revealing fire nation army armor with a black sword in her hand. Without a second thought, I dashed towards her, rotating myself and swinging the spear diagonally from the momentum. Nova easily evade by ducking and counter by wielding the sword on one hand and going for my neck.
I dashed backwards with the sword close to slicing my neck, I countered by rotating mid air and giving her a back kick. In instant, Nova rotated her sword and severed my leg. She then held it with two hands and slash me mid air.
The dead fake me fell on the ice ground with it's torso cut in half vertically. Blood poured out with some of my inside also falling off. It's too realistic that I can still find it uncomfortable to look at despite seeing thousands of this already.
"Good job, Haru! Your lasting longer everyday!" For today's training, Nova was wearing a black and gray hoodie with white shortened top, with a very short black shirt. To this day, I still have no idea as to how she can get this clothing ideas. When I asked one time, she just told me it's from homeland and didn't tell me where. Well, I will be able to learn anyways since I planned on leaving the southern water tribe soon.
I can't just stay here and train nonstop, by the time I get out of my training then the fire nation probably already taken all of the world. I heard they're now just focusing on the Earth Kingdom for now but I doubted they will last very long. Katara even told me that the reason there's no warriors in their village is that they are in Earth Kingdom currently to help fought the Fire Nation.
'Thank you,' I told her using my mind. Nova smile instantly shines after hearing what I've said. 'Lets start again.'
We did a few more fights until I think that my stamina is not keeping up anymore. I don't really have any hope of even killing Nova, this training was just to help me experience a true battle. This battle practice was even harder than the one where I use my bending abilities mainly. With close combat battle practice, I have to use my full body to it's extent by attacking and evading as well as my mind to find any gaps or weakpoints which I couldnt find a single one. While on the bending battle practice, I just need minimal and controlled movements which doesn't toll my body too much. I could last atleast a hundred fights with bending battle practice but on ten to twenty for close combat training.
"To this day, I still couldn't understand how your able to train like this... It's like your fighting someone literally." Sokka who's watching for a while now finally came up to me seeing that I was now done. He held a spear on his hand and struck the end of the handle on the ice ground. "It's seems that your finished fighting with your imagination, so can we practice now?"
Sokka have been joining my training for few days now despite his avoidance of me before. He's unable to waterbend so he's only training with me on armed combat. I don't really feel that he's helping my skills improve but a battle experience is still a battle experience, and with him improving, the village who took me in will have another protector once I leave.
Sokka might be still weak for now but I noticed that he have a talent and mind for fighting despite me being also new to it, one time I told him to use everything he had after beating him, he throws a weird weapon at me which I easily avoided, and if not for my luck then that weird weapon would've hit me which could injured me at the back, fortunately it missed. I think he calls it boomerang, it's new to me but I found it amazing how anyone can be caught off guard by it if they don't know that type of weapon.
I nodded at him and didn't bother to reply. I stood up and faced him off. From the lesson I got from Nova about right postures and stance, I could immediately tell that Sokka posture and stance are bad. I already gave him some advice but it will probably took him some time to apply it.
His posture was tense like his expression while mine are just calm, waiting for him to attack first. Without a second thought, he run up to me with spear up and shouting. I slapped the handle of my spear on his arms and that's all it took for me to defeat him.
"Dammit! How are you so strong?!" He complained while sitting on the ice ground.
I don't think I'm that strong, he's just very weak, both in skill and body. He's definitely on par with my physique when I'm starving.
I ignored his complained and turned to Katara, she immediately know what I meant and came up to us with a smile. It's time for bending training now.
Over the week, her improve in waterbending is fast and even more surprising is she can now ice bendend, though it's still very weak and nowhere near my skill, it's still fast and I can already tell that she's a genius. Without a doubt, she will be able to master the waterbending within a few months.
"Do you want her to come with you? I think she will be a great help," Nova said as we watched her breath cold air, forming a small ice on front. She's using a training method that I did though she's still far slower than me.
It didn't really came to my mind to recruit her before, I only thinks that I have to strengthen myself to the point that no one could stand in my way to the peak of power. Even when she's a genius and will be a great help to me, there's still a concern for me. 'If she were to leave with me, I don't think the village would stood a chance against fire nation.' Katara is the only protector that had a chance against them, I didn't put too much trust on Sokka in his current skill level. The village have became... close to me, I didn't want any harm to come to them.
Noba smiled. "You worry too much, Haru. There is a reason why they're still alive and surviving till thisnday even when your not here and training the two. Fire Nation was no concentrated to southern water tribe right now as they didn't post any threat anymore, ships that pass and through here are just for intimidation tactics like the elder have said. Besides, even if Katara is here, they still wouldn't stand a chance when you left," she said as she floated around Katara. "And fire nation has already conquering much of the world based on what ive heard, they're merely focusing on Earth Kingdom right now since it's the first line of defense against the invasion and ghe second of which is the nothern water tribe. If you were to get her with you then your journey will be much more easier."
'Is that so... I guess I can asked her today or tomorrow about that, if she refused then so be it,' I said. 'By the way, dod you find the ship?'
Katara talk to me about a fire nation ship wrecked that was frozen in below by the icebenders of her village before to immobile it, I'm thinking of using that ship for transportation since Nova said that she knows how it woll work, how to drive it and what fuels it once she saw the ship.
Nova shook her head, her expression already tells me what I need to know. "It's in a really bad state and beyond repair without advance tools and manpower of fire nation. I suggest that we just wait for any patrol ship of fire nation to approuch this coast then take over that ship as well as it's crew."
'Alright. But how will I do that? I don't think I can solo crew of fire benders yet.'
Nova smiled. "Patrol ships from what I've heard only has 2-3 fire benders, strongest of that is the highest officer of that ship and overall, the ship contains mostly of average soldiers. So you only need to defeat that officer then you'll be good to go. "
'Then please notify me if there is fire nation patrol ship around,' I said before turning to Katara who was done with her training.
"Of course! I will do anything for you, Haru~" She said, her voice is calm and sweet.
"How did I do?" Katara asked as she stand Infront of me with a sheepish smile.
I looked behind her, the ice was about her height when she was finished. "Not good enough," I said. Her expression immediately turned depressed. "But your learning really fast."
Katara smiled brightly again. "Thank you, Haru!"
"And Katara... This will be the last time I can teach you," I said calmly.
"... Why?"
Why is her expression so surprised? I don't think we're that close, except to teacher and student thing. Nova said that Katara liked me but I didn't really care about it enough to bother having the same feeling as her.
"I'm leaving this place for training until I became the strongest and to stop the fire nation as well." I didn't told her all my goals for leaving but this should be enough.
"Is that necessary? I mean you can train here nonstop without Fire Nation bothering you..." She said as her expression becoming more sad.
That thought comes to me many times but there's one problem to it, If I really train here then I'm basically isolating myself from what's happening to the world, when the time I think I'm ready ro fight the fire nation, they've probably already conquer all the earth kingdom and nothern water tribe. I don't really think avatar will come and suddenly show up to stop then since he's not doing that for a hundred years now.
"It is necessary..." I said. I hesitated a bit. "But I can still teach you if you want, however, you will be coming with me. Do you want that?"
"Yes! I would like to!" Katara said before jumping and wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me.
I'm too surprised by her action that I just stood there without doing anything, not even pushing her of me. This is the first time I remember someone hugging me sl I don't know what to feel about this... I think this is what someone does to someone they love.
I could see Nova giving me a thumbs up with a wink.
"What's going on here!" A hand suddenly forced us to be seperated.
"Uh, eh-" Katara face was too red and she seem to unable to muttered any word.
Sokka looked at me with the same look on the first day I was on their village. Suspicion. "What are you doing to my sister, hm? One moment she looks sad then another and she's suddenly hugging you."
I didn't answer him. I can't take this guy seriously even in our training. "Katara, please tell Gran-gran about it, if she allowed us then I will accept you. After that we will talk about it more," I said before turning around and walking away.
"okay..." I could hear Katara muttered.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?! Who needs your acceptance and what does Gran-gran have to do with this?!"
--
Katara looked at Gran-gran who was preparing their dinner. She was hesitating for a while now but she managed to get some courage and decided to tell Gran-gran about what she and Haru talked about.
She breath out slowly and walked towards Gran-gran.
It seemed that Gran-gran heard her footsteps as she turned around. "It's you, Katara. Is your training with Haru finished?" She asked with her usually calm and elderly voice.
"Yes, Gran-gran." She approached and helped Gran-gran on putting some of the ingredients on the pot. She did this to help but also to buy some time so she can think about more on how to say it to her grandmother.
Gran-gran knows about her dream of becoming a master waterbender as far as she can remember, she supported her dream but restrained her due to fear of Fire Nation taking her away like they did to many of them. She have already thought of going to Northern water tribe to find a master but with her situation it will be difficulty. One, she doesn't have a means of transportation able to carry her till she reach her destination since those sails were used by their village warriors to sail to earth kingdom. Second, she didn't have know where the nothern water tribe is except it's on the nothern direction and is located on the nothern part of the world.
But with Haru, she knows that he won't asked her about leaving the southern water tribe without a means of transportation so he probably already have one and just waiting for her before leaving.
"Why is your expression like that? Did something happen?" Gran-gran asked with concerned.
"Um... Gran-gran, so Haru is leaving... and..."
Gran-gran smiled fondly at her. "Oh my granddaughter, do you want to go with him?"
Her heart skipped a beat. "How did you knwo, gran-gran?"
"He already told me about it two days ago," she said. "So do you want to to come with him?" There seemed to be no objections to gran-gran face as she just smiled and waited for her answer.
"Yes..." She said.
Gran-gran patted her head and chuckled. "What a silly child, your already big enough to make decisions for your self, though I'm happy that you still asked me about it."
Katara smiled and hugged Gran-gran. "Thank you, grandmother..."
--
The next day. Haru sat and yawned after being woken up by Nova at the right time today. He could swear that she was literally the best person that he could ask for as a companion, and she's doing it for free, at least from his perception. The only thing she asked in return for his help is basically, go make himself the strongest in the world with her help. There is more to it beneath the surface but he doesn't know it yet.
He closed one of his eyes as he said, "Good morning, Nova."
Nova smiled brightly. "Morning, Haru~"
She's beautiful as always, like she never had a problem in all her time in this world, which, if he's being asked, is a world full of problems.
"So... We're not going to have close combat training today..." She said slowly.
He raised his brows. "Why is that?"
Inside, he already had an idea about her decision. And his guess was proven to be true by her next words.
"I found them, Fire Nation patrol ships. They're still away from here but when I went inside, I found a map that said their next destination or patrol point was going to be around here." Nova appeared to put on glasses while explaining it.
Haru closed his eyes, then opened them again and said, "That's good."
Finally, he could start his journey in a real environment this time. He was eager to see and fight Fire Nation soldiers by himself, to test himself to see where he was now compared to the real world.
Sensing Nova was looking at him, Haru looked back. "Ah, thank you, Nova."
"No problem, Haru. I would do anything for you~"
He smiled and nodded.
--
[Training Grounds]
Haru was controlling the water with only one hand, minimizing movements as much as possible for his training. A water bubble was floating in front of him, inside it was a dark-blue fish swimming around, not knowing its fate was within his hand.
"Um... Haru..." Katara said slowly behind him, there was hesitation in her voice.
He cut off his connection to the water bubble, causing it to burst and fall back into the pond. He turned around and looked at Katara. "What is it?"
"Should we tell my brother? About us leaving..."
He didn't find a reason why not. "You can, he will find out about it anyway once we depart."
He turned around again and raised his hand. As he concentrated again, he heard Katara's voice.
"Umm... Can my brother go with us?"
For a moment, he thought about it, but no matter how he thought about the idea, he couldn't come up with a single positive reason to take Sokka with him as well. First, he was very weak and wouldn't help in any of his battles with his current abilities, he might even cause him more trouble than help. Second, he's annoying and loud, something he never liked about the guy. They couldn't agree on some decisions most of the time, and Sokka's humor... is something he disliked as well.
Third and lastly, no one will protect the village when he and Katara are gone. Even though he had only been here for about two weeks, he became fond of this village and the people here, especially Gran-gran, who treated him as her own grandson.
He turned. "No, we can't take him. He is needed here."
Katara nodded with a down expression. "Okay..."
"Understand, Katara, that even though the Fire Nation wasn't too rough on the Southern Water Tribe these days, it's still the most brutal nation that ever came to this world," He paused for a bit, taking his time to approach her and grab her shoulders. "I don't want anything to happen to this village, and only Sokka, even with his weak abilities, could make that thought possible."
"I-I understand, Haru."
There was a hint of reddish on Katara's cheeks, and she immediately put her hands to cover her face when their eyes met, forcing him to remove his hand.
Nova chuckled behind Katara. "You're already becoming a bad boy. We're not even out of the Southern Water Tribe yet. I wonder how many girls you will take..."
Haru just ignored her. "By the way, Katara, I already found a ship that we can use to leave..."
Katara slowly removed her hand from her face, though she was still looking at the ground with still reddish cheeks. "What is it?"
"We will hijack a Fire Nation patrol ship..."
Life seemed to be sucked from Katara's face. It took her a few moments to consider if his words were real. "Can you repeat what you said?"
Haru found it weird and somewhat amusing how she reacted to his words. He smiled and said, "We will take control of a Fire Nation patrol ship that is on the way here and use it as our transportation."
"But how can you possibly know this? Is it possible that they're close by now? I'm not ready to leave yet..."
Too many questions. He shook his head with an irritated look. "Don't ask too much. Just prepare yourself, they might arrive here tonight if they don't have any problems, or tomorrow if they do. For now, we will continue the training here so we can at least strengthen ourselves before our fight with them."
Katara seemed hesitant at first, gulped and asked, "We're not going to kill anyone, right?"
Haru tilted his head, looking confused, "We will have to, of course."
--
Soon, they returned to the village with exactly five dark-blue fish varying in size on each of them. He took all the largest ones, of course. The other villagers greeted them with a smile as they did their own thing, guarding the little kids, fixing some tents, and some were already preparing their dinners early.
Haru greeted them back with a weak smile, still finding it new to have other people who accepted him.
Behind but walking closely with him was Katara, who he knew still had a dark expression on her face even without looking at her, probably still thinking about their potential killing of the Fire Nation soldiers. He couldn't understand why she was like that when the people they would kill were enemies, but he didn't question her. She would do her thing, and he would do the same for himself.
Though if she proved to be useless in the upcoming battle, then he would just give her back to the village. Though it would be a little unfortunate if that were to happen, after all, she might become helpful in the future after she became powerful really fast with her learning ability in waterbending.
Finally, they reached the only igloo in the village. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself and walked inside. "We're back, Gran-gran."
Gran-gran was sitting in front of a fire pit, visibly slicing and preparing some ingredients for their dinner. Good thing that they just arrived in time.
Gran-gran looked back at them with her usual bright and old smile. "Oh, you two are here. Come and help me with our dinner."
He nodded, created a massive ice bowl with simple movements using the water in a cup on the side, then put the fish he held inside. Katara also put the fish in her hand above it and walked over to Gran-gran.
Gran-gran's eyes seemed to widen a little, noticing something in the atmosphere between the two, but didn't say anything about it. She's always like that, letting others resolve something by themselves if it can be resolved without her intervention.
Haru walked over to Dakun, who was relaxedly sleeping on the side. The polar bear dog had always been like this, whenever he wasn't on their tent, he would go inside the igloo and sleep inside. Gran-gran also became fond of the dog because they were usually together most of the time, since Haru, Katara, and Sokka usually trained and hunted during the day.
He sat down and leaned against the ice wall, breathing in the warm air inside, then patting the dog's head gently. Dakun exhaled warm air onto his arm, then brushed his head on his waist.
He looked up, relaxing his neck and breathing out, then said, "Gran-gran, we might be leaving early tomorrow..."
Gran-gran's movements paused for a few seconds before they started again. "Do you two already have a boat in mind? The sea around here might be calm but it's still best if you two have a boat strong enough to last..."
Katara smiled weakly and replied, "Yes, Gran-gran..."
One of Gran-gran's eyes was raised. "What is it?"
Before Katara could say it, Haru said it first. "We will take control of a Fire Nation patrol ship, Gran-gran."
Gran-gran's face didn't seem to change. "I've known you for just over a week, Haru, but I know that you wouldn't make that decision without a reason. Tell me, why did you choose a Fire Nation patrol ship?"
Without beating around the bush, Haru started to explain. "It's for our safety, Gran-gran. We're traveling from the southernmost point of the world to the middle, and I wouldn't expect the ocean would be so kind to us when we pass through a dangerous path with just a simple boat. The danger from the ocean is more than mere Fire Nation soldiers..."
In fact, there was more reason to it than just safety. Nova said that fighting and hijacking a Fire Nation ship is a good way to get battle experience against real soldiers from the most powerful military in the world. Even though they were having some sort of realistic fights, it's still not real, he couldn't touch Nova, and the same thing for her as well. And the fights... how can he put this... didn't feel like a real fight at all.
He and Nova can realistically die in a fake simulation, yes, but there was no intent... He wanted to experience something real, like the thing he experienced when he killed the guard back in his village. It's a new thing for him, he doesn't know it yet, but it's a pleasant feeling, and Nova seemed to know what he wanted.
Another reason, not a main one, is to see what Katara can do in a real battle. It's also a good way to let her experience a fight with the Fire Nation, making her used to fighting them as fast as possible.
Gran-gran's eyes then turned serious. "Are you confident in defeating them and at the same time being able to protect Katara?"
"Yes, Gran-gran. I also thought that it's a way for her to have battle experience."
Gran-gran sighed. "Then I guess I can't hold you two here much longer, can I?"
The weak smile still hadn't left Katara's face yet as she said, "Thank you, Gran-gran..."
It seemed that she was still adamant about the killing part.
Noticing that, Gran-gran looked in his direction. "Will you call Sokka here... the dinner wouldn't take too long to make. He should be in the same spot fishing right now."
Haru nodded respectfully, then left. He didn't believe that Gran-gran made him call Sokka just for the sake of calling him, it's also probably because she would talk with Katara alone about her thoughts on the matter at hand.
--
It was easy to find Sokka since he always fished in the same spot every time, even when the spot he was fishing had a small amount of any edible creatures to eat. Surprisingly, today he was holding one small silver fish which wouldn't add anything to any adult stomach.
Sokka was holding up the fish in his face, looking at it with a frown for a while now. "Hmm..."
Haru just ignored him as he was also thinking about many things for tomorrow's battle.
They were always like this, not talking to each other like some sort of friends, though for the most part, it was Haru's indifference towards the other that put them into such a situation. But overall, it was their polar opposite personalities that made it hard for them to get close.
Suddenly, Sokka put the silver fish to the side, straightened himself and said, "By the way, why didn't you two include me in the practice today? It was really boring out here without anyone with me."
Haru would normally ignore him, but the question was somewhat reasonable this time. "Because Waterbending was more important. And it's not my problem if you didn't want to fish on the training grounds together with us."
"Hey! I was being considerate of the two of you! If I was really there then I might become a bother..."
Haru nodded.
"Yes, you will."
Just as Sokka was about to say something in return, he seemed to just give up and sighed. Their talks never went anywhere, that's why Haru didn't particularly like talking to the guy.
They soon reached the Igloo and directly entered inside. The smell of the dishes immediately entered their noses, it smelled the same but it smelled good as always. Gran-gran was a master at cooking, and even though he had tasted them for just over a week of staying here, he loved it and would miss this when he left.
The talk between Gran-gran and Katara seemed to have gone well, the dark mood on Katara was gone as she was preparing their dinner with calmness. Her usual excitement wasn't there, but that's a good development. If she continues to be like that until tomorrow, then she's ready and Haru will take her with him.
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