Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legend

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Large raindrops fell on Yui's head, washing away traces of blood and sweat. Cold rivulets ran down her face and top of her head, crawling under her clothes, giving her a nasty feeling. His left arm was completely desensitised, twitching slightly and throbbing against his body. His rock-strengthened legs were buckling, threatening to drop their owner, but the faithful element held them in position with dignity.

The heavy, wheezing breath seemed to echo right through his head. Coughing and feeling the growing pain, the orphan shifted a weary gaze to his body. A broken piece of wood protruded from the right side of his chest. Easily overcoming the tattered clothing, the stake had lodged in his ribs and snapped in the process.

'How come, they look so strong, don't they?' wondering, Yuu led his gaze further, examining his opponent's body. The debris of the spear was lying somewhere nearby, and the young man only had a small piece with a blade on the end in his hands. Clasping it in a reverse grip, he plunged the improvised knife into Rem's heart. Yuu's strength was leaving him and so he only stabbed in half of the knife in his final attempt to kill the old man.

Turning his gaze to the elderly spearman, the young Fire warrior saw only an emotionless mask on his enemy's face. Frozen in one pose, he held the piece of stake in his palm and placed the other on the boy's shoulder.

-Remember my name-.

The old man's last words were drowned in thunder and a furious downpour. Laughing in the surprised boy's face, Rem squeezed the teenager's healthy shoulder with all his might and moved towards him. The teen's stiffened arm didn't want to move, and Yuu watched in horror as the blade slowly penetrated the veteran's body. A second followed a minute and it seemed like an eternity before the old man lost his strength and released the aching shoulder from his grip.

Exhaling heavily and spitting out some blood, Rem grinned evilly. His face was sprinkled with raindrops in the darkness and illuminated by occasional lightning strikes. A gruesome picture that would forever remain in Yui's mind.

-Wake up, Yui.

Rem's voice changed abruptly to a more sonorous and light voice. Instead of stifling drops, there was a pleasant dryness and warmth all around. Sun Ce, who was sitting next to him, jerked back as his bodyguard jumped up and tumbled off the bed and onto the ground.

A painful sensation swept through his entire body. A throbbing in his ribs and aching sensations in all parts of his body. Crouching and making himself worse, the teenager froze in one position, afraid to move.

Tse's head peeked out from behind the bed, expressing tons of scepticism and acceptance of reality.

-And they said you wouldn't be able to move normally.

Shaking his head, their squad leader returned to his seat. Taking a small apple from the bedside table, he took out a camp knife and began cutting the fruit into pieces. While Yui climbed back up and groaned with every movement, Tse managed to eat a couple of these fruits.

-How are you feeling?

-Not good, sir-.

Further questioning merged into a long and tedious conversation, where Tse kept asking for details and his guard kept trying to remember the answers. After a few hours of torture, Tse let the boy go and allowed him to rest. For the first couple of seconds, both of them continued to sit as if nothing had happened, and then the heir silently ignored the embarrassment and left.

Yuu's recovery was easy and painless physically, but spiritually.... There were thousands of questions swarming in the teenager's mind, and there was no one he could ask them to. Perhaps Petty Officer Ping could help, but when their next meeting would take place was uncertain. The messages from Prince Airo's army only came with elite Yuyang couriers. But even these masters were often ambushed by the Baru Forest savages that had been ruling the north for the past six years.

As if waiting for him to recover, a new attack immediately struck the colonies. Outlaws from the Taku Ruins and forest tribes descended upon Lipin and its suburbs. After the last active fighting, most of the peasants had moved to this side of Ten-Ten, counting on the protection of the army or the river fleet. The most stubborn now brought dreadful news of thousands of savages spreading along the river, attacking river caravans or crossing to the other side.

The army of Gongsun Zan, without wasting time on reflection, moved out on the campaign. The troops marched rapidly along the Pona, intending first to kill most of the enemy, and then to invade the forest. The prince's army and the garrison of Lipin were to come to their aid. Both troops were to try to cut off all escape routes and finish off the enemy in one fell swoop.

With this optimistic thought, Iron Fist's troops roared forward, believing that they would not be fighting alone against a horde of bandits and savages.

Sitting on top of the new phlegmatic komodo, Yu happily stroked its withers, enjoying the lizard's confident gait and broad back. Compared to a konestraus that had to be ridden like a circus performer, komodos were pleasant and docile beasts. Right now, Yuu was more certain of that than ever.

Walking a couple of metres away from OWLs, the young man enthusiastically examined the column of soldiers stretching along the shore. The Iron Fist Army, Liping soldiers, and volunteers from other colonies, the entire force together represented an incredible power. Of course, most of them were green cubs, and only the soldiers under Brother Wenling's command could boast of experience and skill.

Putting his face in the sunlight, Yu was excited to imagine how soon they would stand for a break and he would be able to stretch out with the guan dao. His weapons were now securely fastened to his back, and a spare hung at the side of his faithful komodo. The good-natured lizard proved to be a loyal animal, and when Yu went into the stall to choose his transport, the brute showed him close attention.

Running his palm over the hard hide once more, the teenager leaned back in his seat, trying to doze off. When sleep almost caught up with him, Yuu opened his eyes abruptly and jumped off the back of the dresser. Drawing the attention of everyone around him, he unfurled the halberd in front of him and stuck it into the ground.

Bewilderment was quickly replaced by screams and panic. Fractured bodies flew out from the ground. The blood and bones made it hard to see who it was, but the very presence of the unknown underfoot gave everyone a good scare.

Interrupting the enemy's first strike, Yu started a chain reaction. Iron Fist and Sun Ce had yet to say a word when enemy soldiers began to pop out from all sides. The earthbenders flew out in groups of five to ten and created huge gaps. The hollow earth opened easily under their efforts, revealing deep pits where the bastards dumped animals and men. Clad in skins and furs, the tribes of the Baru Forest descended upon the Fire Nation's army from all sides.

In some places, earthen stakes began to appear that impaled rhinos and their riders. Grim, bloody statues froze motionless, bringing even more panic and fear into the hearts of the soldiers. Tunnels opened up in the ground, from where dozens of ordinary enemy soldiers ran out. Bursting into the scattered formation, they managed to send several people towards Agni before they were killed.

Deflecting the enemy's blows, Yu twirled his glaive in all directions, barely in time to protect his superiors from a foolish death. The savage mages were remarkably good, many times better than any opponent the young man had ever faced. Even Rem's skill was in the background against a couple of hundred excellent conquerors of the earth.

The death cries and roars of the animals were heard everywhere. Zan's personal guard was being pressed from all sides, trying to ignore the rest of the army. The enemy's plan was simple and clear: without Iron Fist and his best warriors, the army would falter and flee. But Yu cared little about that right now. With Ce at his back, he was using his glaive to pound away at the rubble and boulders that his enemies were aiming at his comrade. Lipin's heir raged like a caged tiger, rushing from one mage to another. Burning them to the ground, leaving no space on their bodies.

Setting the shaft into the ground, Yuu pushed off the ground and spun in the air. The short run-up didn't allow him to get high, but he was able to leap over a small hail of rocks and slash the blade over the head of a savage he wasn't expecting. Slashing the bastard from face to groin, Yuu tore towards the next one, trying to keep Ce within sight.

All around, the battle was beginning to take on a more orderly appearance. The recovered warriors of the Fire Nation were presenting a united front, overwhelming their opponents in numbers. The few tanks were climbing out of the ground, carrying survivors on their backs but leaving the wounded at the bottom. The guard patrols returned to the troops, instantly engaging and dropping the shrews with a slender cavalry onslaught.

Yu got into a clinch with a particularly large mage. He held two perfectly round stone maces in his hands. After pushing the weaker opponent away, the savage waved his weapon in all directions, forcing Yu to change tactics and break the distance first, but the cunning big man was just waiting for that. Clasping his hands to his chest, he leapt away from Yui, each landing causing a new stone pillar to attempt to send the teenager flying.

While dodging the pillars, the orphan had to defend himself against a frisky girl who charged at him from the ground with two straight swords. Using a mixed style of magic and swordsmanship, the girl quickly began to crowd Yu together with the big guy.

As the fight progressed, the teenager was lucky enough to put the enemies in a single line. Using magic, he spun round on his axis and was about to kill them both with a single blow, but the girl was impaled on a spear by a passing rider. Screaming in pain and clutching at the shaft, her body was carried away. The big man watched his mate with shock before Yuu impaled him on the stake. Turning his surprised gaze to the small mage, the savage opened his mouth resentfully, but could say nothing.

Approaching the next enemy, Yu was forced to dodge the rocks and flames that flew overhead, and one of the classmates running nearby fell to the ground. A huge rock fired by a random mage crushed the poor guy's skull.

Spitting in frustration, Yu wanted to continue hunting the enemies, but realised that he had strayed too far from his commander. Returning to the clearing, the young man saw an incredible scene. Iron Fist and his men were impaling fleeing shrews on their spears. The trembling savages tried to escape underground or in the field, but the returning cavalry on horse-steppers quickly stopped these attempts.

Smiling happily at his first serious victory, Yu nearly bit his tongue when the ground beneath his feet shook. Huge pits containing dozens of wounded soldiers collapsed, burying all those who had not managed to escape.

Not far from the teenager, Sun Ce was cauterising the wrists of one of the enemy soldiers. Instead of screaming and moaning, the savage endured the torture steadfastly, not even writhing. Ritual burns were visible on his face, and real madness sparkled in his eyes.

Laughing at his opponent's efforts, the shrew, lying on his back, drew the heir with his mutilated hands and struck the ground with his heel. A huge stake pierced the back of the savage's head and was threatening to stick in Ce's eye when Yu, who had come close, clipped the ground in front of his friend's face with his glaive.

Falling on his back, the Fire Giant's son was breathing rapidly, terrified at the prospect of imminent death. Nodding to his bodyguard, Tse struggled to his feet as the remnants of his retinue roamed the battlefield, tending to the wounded.