Warrior (1)
"Hah! Raise your guard!" Sokka exclaimed, waving his club while Nik lay on his sides with a lazy expression.
"Forget it," Nik sighed, "It's not like I'm going to fight anyone."
"You're currently fighting me!" Sokka scowled.
"Why?" Nik groaned. “Isn’t this just an excuse to get back at me for taking away the mango?”
"Ridiculous!” Sokka denied it with a righteous expression. “It’s because you don't know how to fight! A man needs to learn how to be a warrior, too."
Sokka poked the club against Nik's chest, taunting, "Come on, you're more than just a magic freak, right? Even little kids from the village know how to handle a stick."
Nik pursed his lips and swatted Sokka's club away, turning around, "I'm not interested in fighting. You hurt someone else, and then you get hurt in return."
It was already morning. Once again, Nik slept without any atrocious Amazonian mother haunting his dreams. However, at the time, Nik had failed to realize that Sokka would haunt him after the sun rose from the horizon.
"Nik, come help us pack up," Katara called out as she folded the tarp, and Nik finally sat up, "Sure thing."
"Hey! We're not done," Sokka called out, "You have to learn at least the basic moves for self-defense."
"Oh really?" Nik scoffed. He understood well what the other three were planning. Somehow, Aang is supposed to shoulder the weight of the world. One of the missions granted to him by the Transmigration Paradise suggests that Aang's identity, or at least killing the identity, brought him benefits more distinguished than what the so-called 'Phoenix.’ Meanwhile, Katara and Sokka wanted to look for their father, and the former wanted to learn waterbending. According to Sokka, such goals would put them against some very dangerous opponents.
Nik only wanted to hitchhike in the first place. He loved being safe. Safety is awesome.
He would be willing to put himself in riskier situations if there is a benefit only after the initial period of seven days passes and he is eligible to return to his homeworld. It negates most of the risk.
Everything else was honestly a bonus for him. Seeing the statues of Avatar, learning this world's history, and understanding the terrors of war—everything. He will even find Sokka to learn any valuable teachings he wished to impart at that time.
As Nik crouched to help Katara pack up the tents, learning and doing the same things she did, he heard her speak up.
"I overheard what you were talking about," Katara held the two edges of the tarp from her side while Nik held them from his side as they stood up and folded the tarp simultaneously, "What Sokka meant wasn't to hurt anyone. Even in the tribe... in other villages, we have heard a few cases of young chieftains hurting others without cause. It isn't just the war that's left us torn, but also its remnants. However, even you must have noticed that Sokka isn't like that… And I think that he may be right."
Katara kept her tone low and soft to keep Sokka from overhearing her praising him. It would be a nightmare if he heard it!
"About men being warriors?" Nik questioned.
"Oh, not at all. Every person has the choice of who they want to be. Sokka's just an idiot." Katara gave a sly smirk as they walked towards each other, completing the fold of the tarp, "I've seen you hold a spear. You could use some sessions to not look like a complete rookie."
"Says the expert Waterbender," Nik smiled, noting how contradictory her words were.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I am indeed capable, unlike your sarcastic tone may suggest."
Katara narrowed her gaze and packed the tarp away before standing up again, shoving the package onto Nik's arm.
*Huff*
"There you go," Katara patted her robes clean while Nik shrugged and climbed onto Appa. Sokka was already there, but he just snorted and looked away.
"Come on, It was just some basic moves," he grumbled.
"Why do you even care?" Nik inquired.
"Care? Me?" Sokka scoffed, "Get burned by some Fire Nation thug for all I care." He crossed his arms and leaned back.
"It sounds like you do care, Sokka," Aang turned around, smiling while holding the reigns on Appa as Katara climbed up, too.
*Krmm*
Momo flew over, landing in front of Nik before quickly jumping onto Aang's head.
"I don't care!" Sokka shouted.
"You know, I would like to learn how to hold a spear properly," Nik spoke after a moment. “But traveling is exhausting as is.”
“Really?!” Sokka's expression brightened. An excited grin claimed his lips before he coughed and leaned back coolly, "See, Katara, I told you I'll have a proper student one day."
"You're going to be a terrible teacher, huh," Katara sighed and shook her head.
“After we settle somewhere,” Nik reminded Sokka.
---
Aang's next destination was a recreational stop. After the night’s sleep, the boy felt good enough to claim shamelessly he still needed cheering up! Aang led the group to a coastline along the Patola Mountain Range before landing. Appa landed over a spot sparsely covered by snow, and the trees were only a poor excuse for naked branches at the moment.
Excitedly jumping down Appa, Aang hurriedly slipped out from his orange shawl and tunic before removing his breeches and boots, revealing brown underwear as he ran up to the sea.
"You guys! Riding an Elephant Koi is awesome! Come join me!" Aang called out as he jumped into the water with a cheerful—“Whoo-hoo!”
"Aang, be careful!" Katara warned loudly with a worried look as Aang revealed an astonishing swimming speed! He was already tens of meters away!
Just feeling the cold breeze on his face made Nik shiver at the fact that the water would be even icier, however, Aang seemed unfazed.
"Alright, ready for your first lesson?" Sokka inquired as he brought down his spear alongside.
"Right now?" Nik blinks.
"What?"
"I was hoping for a... warmer climate before starting to train," Nik replied with a wry smirk as Sokka pursed his lips.
"Your body will get warmer after you start training!" Sokka expected Nik to resist in futile, but the youth shrugged, “That’s true. Go easy on me, yeah?”
Sokka nodded.
He gripped the spear tightly before stabbing it in the air twice like quick jabs and then stretched his hand out to pass the spear onto Nik.
Seeing everybody already getting down to their businesses, Katara sighed and looked towards Aang in hopes of some entertainment.
Meanwhile, Nik held the spear in his grasp.
"No, a little lower," Sokka remarked as the traveler complied, lowering the spear.
"Great," Sokka nodded and pushed his left leg forward, "Now, every weapon has a particular advantage. Weapons are created in a variety of shapes to bring different advantages. The spear has a longer reach, and the blade makes the front heavier. It is a great tool for self-defense since it keeps you at a safe distance, but you can only benefit from it if you know how to use it." Sokka explained patiently and suddenly moved, easily reaching past the spear's intended range as he took out the curved stone club from his back and held it against Nik's face.
"But with Advantages comes disadvantages, too. Funny thing, life is fair like that. Once the enemy invades the range of the spear, you would need to be an expert to gain an advantage in the fight or even survive the attacks."
"Got it," Nik nodded, "Stab and stay away."
Unexpectedly, Sokka's expressed his appreciation, "Exactly. We're not trying to fight random battles. Stab and stay away. Or, if you are quick, stab and run away. I used to do this with Polar Bear Dogs a little further south from the village."
"Almost got us killed that day," Katara scoffed without looking back.
Sokka shrugged. Katara was right.
"Hmm, now, practice stabbing in the air," Sokka retracted his weapon and instructed while equally fascinated by such a tactic of stabbing and escaping, Nik began stabbing. Sokka corrected his position a few times. For instance, he showed where the toes must face while taking a stance or how the shoulders should move to gain the most significant force.
"Guys!"
Aang's shout broke Sokka and Nik out of their focus as they looked towards the sea. The coastline of this side of the island curved like the crescent moon, and close to the left edge of the coastline, the trio on the ground, plus Momo and Appa, looked at a giant dorsal fin erecting. Dark grey, the dorsal fin interconnected with six spines, completely dwarfing the young avatar.
"Look, this is an elephant koi!" Aang grinned, waving his hands excitedly.
The look of amazement in the trio's eyes slowly grew dim as the water behind Aang grew like a small hill giving way to a gigantic serpentine head with relatively beady but giant eyes coldly staring at Aang.
*Ghhhrrraagggghhhh*
Appa roared, its body crouched with caution while Momo ran and hit behind Appa.
"Get out of there!" Sokka shouted.
"Huh, why are they so afraid—" Aang's voice was stuck in his throat as he looked back. His eyes widened in surprise as the giant maw opened to reveal two sets of jagged teeth like some shredder, and Aang instantly swam. No, he RAN.
'He's running on water...' Nik and the others grew dumbfounded.
"Aaaghhhhhhh!"
Aang screamed without any other purpose aside from angering the aquatic deity as it issued a terrifying screech and fully stretched out of the water. Green eyes menacingly stared at the shouting 'monkey' while the 'fish' revealed itself to be some form of a serpent. Two dark grey barbels hung long and low from the beast's mouth, and aside from the giant dorsal fin contracted on the base of its skull, the dark grey slippery beast had sharp spines growing out of its back.
*Khhhnaaaaannnn*
It screeched and suddenly ejected a forceful jet of water from its mouth, barely missing Aang as he finally reached the ground. But not holding the slightest intention of giving up, the beast followed by diving into the water and created a large wave as it followed him.
"Run!" Never losing his caution about this world, Nik moved first. Half-naked, the Avatar and the small group ran. Capable of jumping high and covering longer distances, Appa moved quickly and was more focused on outrunning the group. After all, that's what truly mattered, right?
The screeches of the aquatic threat turned low as the group covered more ground before stopping, huffing, and puffing, except for Aang.
"That wasn't an Elephant Koi after all, huh... I wonder what else has changed over the years…"
He blushed and looked away, quickly wearing his clothes after drying his underwear with a hot gust before whistling and collecting his hands behind his back. Feeling the glares from his acquaintances, Aang coughed and suddenly pointed in the distance, "Look! A village."
Looking towards the pointed direction, the group truly saw an entrance leading to a settlement. The island was quite small, so the group had already covered quite a bit of distance and could reach the other end of the island towards the village if they had kept the same pace.
Despite their lack of leaves, the tree grew in number around this region. Seeing the village, Sokka controlled his frustration and raised his hand, gesturing everyone to turn silent and then looked around.
"We've coincidentally walked into a recent trail..." he commented softly as he looked at the minimum amount of snow and ice in the form of a thin road.
"Alright, we need to leave—now," Sokka turned around, and Aang lowered his head, "But we only came here... come on, we can find food there."
However, this time, the sound of food failed to sway the young chieftain, "No, Aang. We discussed this before. You cannot reveal yourself without reason. And remember, we first solve the problem and then reveal our identity. Considering the small size and the lack of fire nation’s mark, I'm assuming that this village's problem is none other than that giant... I want to say, Eel. We cannot help them, that's all. So, we cannot reveal you."
Crestfallen, Aang nodded, but everyone heard a soft but crisp sound.
Alert, Sokka eyed Katara as the two nodded. Glancing at Nik and seeing the spear in his hands, Sokka looked thoughtful momentarily and whispered, "Nik, stab and stay away."
Without any indication, Sokka hurriedly clutched the sheathed boomerang belted to his back and threw it while turning his body. With his other hand, he pulled out his club.
"Wha—"
Aang and Nik were stunned, but dark green 'curtains' fell in the form of strange warriors with white face paint. They moved quickly and efficiently, revealing the meaning of the term silent and deadly.
Prepared with an adequate warning from Sokka, Katara moved her arms. She had ungloved her hands as the snow and ice instantly rose and stopped one of the assailants in their tracks. Aang deflected an entire person with a whip of his staff as a massive gust assailed his target before they landed against a tree, and Appa growled, making the warrior squeak in surprise. Taking this chance, Momo jumped on the said warrior, finally issuing a scream of surprise.
"Who are you?" Sokka scowled. His boomerang missed the target temporarily as he waved his club, only to have his blow dodged while two metal war fans struck him on his sides. The others weren't faring extremely well. The number of assailants was more than their group of six.
Nik, too, employed a stab-and-run tactic. He stabbed, which the shorter opponent evaded easily. He ran, and the opponent instantly caught up with a swift dash and stuck their leg out to make Nik roll down before sitting on him and holding his hands behind his back with one arm and the other hand keeping his face against the ground.
Katara was immobilized instantly. She could waterbend the ice and snow but happened to be slow in a battle, a valuable weakness exploited quite well. Three such warriors took down Aang the second he saw Momo getting caught in a small bag.
"Wait!" Aang called out, "We'll go with you. Appa, don't hurt them!"
His words quickly calmed Appa down, who almost crushed a warrior down.
"No way!" Sokka smirked as he saw his boomerang returning. However, to his surprise, his opponent threw their fan behind, intercepting the blow.
On the other hand, tasting the dirt and feeling the weight on his back did wonders for Nik. His breathing turned rough as his heartbeat skyrockets. His unwillingness to fight never meant his inability to do so, and he would never take a beating lying down, not after paying the ultimate price for his new life!
"I'm... sorry," Nik scowled and grunted. His relatively thin frame shudders under the woman’s weight as his arms snap away the assailant’s surprisingly weak hold—or maybe he’s just stronger after the infusion of Bloodline. He turned over, throwing the woman off, and reached for her metal fans as she came to be from the surprise.
"Woah!" The opponent called out in surprise, but as she turned to pick her fans, she realized they were gone!
Holding the spear to the woman’s neck, he glared at the other women. His pitch-black pupils look as intense as a cornered animal as she growls, "Let them go!"
"Whoo! I taught him that move!" Sokka chuckled.
"No, you didn't," Katara caught the lie as her opponent cornered her to a tree.
"Or else?" The brown-haired woman, possibly the group’s leader, stepped up and inquired coolly.
Nik fell silent and then spoke again.
"Please let them go."
The woman blinked and noticed Nik's stance, "You're no warrior. Lower the... joke of a spear before you poke yourself in the eye accidentally."
"Hey, that's an authentic water tribe spear!" Sokka grunted, offended, but the woman ahead pressed a sharp fan against his neck.
"Last chance," Nik frowned.
"Or what?" The woman still looked calm, unthreatened.
Nik fell into a dilemma. At first, he thought of running. He can enter the world imbued in the scar on his arm and return to his homeworld after the seven-day period ends. But he felt sick at the thought of running away and giving up on the siblings and the Avatar, who saved his life before he was frozen naked. So, he counted the number of attackers, wracking his brain to find a solution. There were twelve of them. And Nik knew they would drown him with their numbers and superior combat skills.
"Or you will be sorry," Nik maintained his stance. His expression doesn’t betray his dilemma.
Without saying anything else, the woman rushed towards Nik. This time, Nik didn't try to stab the woman but confirmed her words regarding the low quality of the spear. Breaking it in two unequal halves with his hands, Nik equipped himself with two small sticks and attacked with a slashing move. One of the woman's metallic fans unfolded, deflecting the tip of the spear, and the folded fan was smacked against Nik's other wrist, making him groan in pain as he subconsciously let go of the butt of the spear. Much to the woman's surprise, Nik held the folded fan.
Meanwhile, the woman held by the tip of Nik’s spear crawled away quickly before standing up and regaining her composure.
The opponent’s leader was ready to enter a contest of strength to subdue to man in front of her, but she was shocked as the fan disappeared and his hands moved, catching her wrist. Once again, her gauntlet, too, disappeared.
Feeling a chill run down her scalp, the auburn-haired woman quickly retreated.
"If you keep pointing that fan at me, even I will make it disappear," Sokka took this chance, finally threatening the woman in front of her with an optimistic lie as she stepped back slightly uncomfortably. Everyone saw what Nik did.
"Stay back, or I will make your clothes disappear!" Nik finally looked threatening in the eyes of his opponent. His tone grew calmer as he regained his bearings. He was physically stronger, had a way to escape, and his skills were ungodly to the enemy—he could take this round!
Nay, he WILL win!
Seeing everyone's attention focused on Nik, Katara snarled and raised her hands forcefully. She instantly created a short wave out of the ice and froze it again, temporarily freezing the front of the women around her.
"Hey!" Another warrior shouted, but Aang moved at this moment, jumping high in the air as he sucked in a large volume of air before blowing it down, letting snow cover everybody, ally, and enemies.
"Look, we aren't bad guys," Aang shouted, "And we don't need to fight without a cause. Just let us be on our way."
The leader finally registered Aang's move, and her eyes widened in surprise. Snow covered her head as she quickly dusted it off and looked at Aang, her face paint already smudging because of the snow.
"You're... an Airbender. The Last Airbender... a survivor... you must know the previous Avatar then!"
"Warriors, stand down. Let this group explain themselves! And you, don't move. I want my stuff back!" The woman pointed at Nik.
'Well... the fans turned into points. Good thing I didn't destroy the gauntlet. But here I planned not to get into risky situations. But I forgot that what I want means little compared to nature’s forces. We didn’t pick a fight, but we had to fight regardless.'
Nik mused internally, not liking her tone as he dismissed her concerns, “They are mine now.”
They already fought—what’s the worst they can try later?
***
Alternate Title: The Most Efficient Strategy Since Ancient Times; Stab and Run; Tactics Master Sokka!; Katara Likes ‘Em Capable; The Swim; Elephant Koi?; Appa Using His Big Brain; The Giant Eel; Aang Channels the Speed Force and Gets the Fuck Out!; The New Settlement; Attack!; Masked Warriors; Nik Rising to the Event; Strongman; Threat; Nik Becomes a Menace to Everyone But Closeted Exhibitionist; Cornered Animal; Aang Must Know the Avatar, Right?; The Leader: Stay Your Hand!... Nik: No.; Nik Is Not a Warrior, He’s the Prophecised Smooth Operator!
***
A/N: At first, I had planned for Sokka to win against the Kyoshi Warriors since he is now an adult and a great warrior, but then I realized that the Kyoshi Warriors would have grown, too, and would be better warriors. Not only that, the number of Kyoshi warriors this time around will be greater than the show because it is six years later, and more initiates would have been accepted.