[IC] Avatar: Trusting your enemy

[pyroman]

As he floated, he continued to look at Jaya with understanding. Sure her fire wouldn't be nearly as effective in the arctic, but she could still produce fire with enough skill. Fire Lord Zuko was able to do so when he was at the Northern Tribe, and again when he was in a prison in the Fire Nation. But if Nikko were in an ashen wasteland or near a volcano, he probably wouldn't be able to draw water from anywhere other than from his own sweat, and that would probably evaporate as well. He cracked a smile at her when she wanted to go to the water tribes. "If you want to head to a Water Tribe, try the swamp people or the southern Tribe first. Wait until more people start growing brains in the North before you go there."

He wanted to say something about fire being only offensive, but he really couldn't With the exception of melting ice, it really couldn't be used defensively. His eyes widened when he saw the burn scar that he had, and Nikko swam over to her. "How did you get that? It looks pretty bad..."

[tsubasa]

Jaya looked over her shoulder at Nikko when he asked about her scar. She rose her hand to it and turned to face him, "It... Well..." She shook her head, "People had been fighting in the street about which Fire Lord they wanted and... I saw this little boy in the middle of it all. So I ran in and grabbed him just in time.. but the fire ended up burning me pretty badly..."

She dropped her hand into the water, "That's why I left.... everyone seemed to forget that fire bending doesn't come from anger..." She looked at Nikko, "People are scared of fire... and if they aren't they forget how destructive it is.... I think that is really our biggest weakness."

[pyroman]

"I, uh... I see..." He wasn't really sure what to say on the matter. He believed that she said that things were pretty bad at the Fire Nation, but he never thought that they wouldn't stop for the safety of children. They didn't seem to care who was caught into the cross fire as long as their point came out on top. He was silent for several minutes as he thought. He hoped that whatever was going on there died down soon, or it could easily get worse. "We should probably get back to walking. Relaxing in the water is nice, but we need to get to the town before nightfall."

[tsubasa]

Jaya nodded and agreed when Nikko suggested they get on the road again. She walked out of the water and with a little small fire, that Senge seemed more curious about now than scared of, she dried all but her hair. Then she grabbed the clothing she had discarded and flicked out whatever sand had got onto them. She pulled the green clothes on quickly before drying off enough space on Senge for her and Nikko to sit without getting soaked. She looked at Senge for a moment before disappearing into the tree line. The armadillo lion looked at her as she went, when she went out of sight, a sound, almost like whining, squeezed out of Senge as he looked at Nikko.

Not to long though, Jaya returned with from sad looking vines in her hand. Senge ran over to her happily, confusing her a little. She laughed and wrapped the vines around the hybrid into a make shift harness. She looked at Senge, "How does that feel?"

Senge placed his flat nose on her shoulder and seemed to purr. Jaya gave him a good neck scratch, "I think that means good," She grabbed her bag and placed it in front of her before she climbed on herself. She looked to Nikko, "I think I want to see if we can't get some proper travel gear for Senge..."

[pyroman]

Nikko swam out of the water and bended all of the excess water off of him and back into the water before walking back to his clothes and putting them on. His hair was still a little wet, but he had found out that properly bending water out of someones hair was much more difficult that he originally believed. It wasn't difficult to get the water out, no. The difficult part was knowing just how much water to take out so that your hair wasn't as dry as the desert. He looked at Jaya curiously as she went into the tree line, and focused on Senge, who was looking back at him.

When Jaya came back, Nikko looked at the fire bender and watched her put the harness of vines the hybrid animal. He nodded at Jaya at the mention of getting proper travel gear. They could probably pool their money together to see what they could get, but he would have to ask her before they did that. "If we're going to be getting supplies, shouldn't we put our money together to see just what we can afford?" He asked her as he climbed onto Senge, behind Jaya.

[tsubasa]

Jaya was a little surprised when Nikko asked if she wanted to pool their money together. She couldn't lie, she had hardly been expecting him to stay with her for this long, let alone having intentions to stay long enough that they could put their money together. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled softly, "I don't see any problem with it if you don't."

She grabbed her makeshift reins and started them at a nice trot. She liked to think that Senge enjoyed the cool water on his fur that she hadn't dried as much as she liked the cool water in her own hair, fighting the heat of the day.

It didn't take them too long to reach the city. Already, even outside the city, people who saw them were reacting to their large and potentially dangerous friend. She pursed her lips, maybe Senge would take some of the attention of her. She slid off hybrid and grabbed her bag pulling it over her shoulders. Senge looked at her, curiously. She smiled at him and patted his shoulder before gathering the reins and pulling them over his head, using them as more of a leash. She looked at Nikko, "I'm going to be keeping an eye on Senge... If anyone tries anything... give me some warning?"

[pyroman]

"Alright then." He replied simply, happy that she agreed to pooling their money together. By doing that, he hoped that they wouldn't have to worry about shares of money, who got to spend what, and things like that.

Nikko watched Jaya as she slid off of Senge. He nodded at her, but didn't really see why he would have to give her any sort of warning. It was possible that he was missing something, but he didn't think that it was likely, and instead just processed her words wrong. He still stayed on the hybrid animal's back looked around at the townspeople. They seemed a little on edge because of two wanderers with an armadillo lion and a makeshift harness. They had no idea of knowing whether or not Senge was trained to be calm around people, so their fear and caution was understandable.

[tsubasa]

Jaya held her makeshift reins tightly, her eyes on Senge. She wasn't sure how people were going to react to him, much like herself, people saw him as dangerous. Who knew what someone might do if they didn't think he belonged. But there was also the fear of what Senge might do. This wasn't something he was used to, she was sure. As they came to the centre of the town, people seemed to be skirting them, however, Senge seemed to remain relatively calm. Jaya started to wonder if maybe he had been trained before... Maybe in a circus...

She placed her shoulder against his neck and pet him as she looked around, "Is there anything you need, Nikko?"

[pyroman]

Nikko kept his eyes on the people around him, Jaya, and Senge. he now understood why she wanted him to watch for people, as it seemed that she was putting all of her attention on the armadillo lion. He made sure that nobody tried anything funny with them, but also tried to make himself not seem like he was watching and studying them to possibly attack them. He snapped out of his thoughs upon hearing Jaya's voice, and thought for a brief moment before speaking back to her. "No, I don't need anything. I'm good for the moment." He replied to her, moving his attention back to the people around them.

[tsubasa]

"Mama, mama!" Jaya heard a small child call before running up to them, "Lookie, lookie," the little girl jumped with excitement as she pointed at the lion. Senge didn't seem as comfortable as he had been a moment ago. She placed her hand on his nose and pet down his face, "It's alright," She whispered to him, trying to keep him calm.

It didn't really help any when the mother to the child screamed when she saw where her daughter was. She ran over and snatched her daughter away and looked at Jaya accusingly, "How dare you bring such a beast so close to children?!"

Jaya looked at her calmly, "I see no beast, ma'am."

The woman huffed and walked away quickly. Jaya pulled Senge forward and they continued to walk and she started to look for things that might fit Senge as it seemed as though he wished to stick around.

[pyroman]

With the little girl running up to him, Jaya and Senge, Nikko became a bit more wary of attracting unwanted attention. He looked at the girl nervously as soon as he took notice of Senge being uncomfortable. He didn't seem mad or provoked or anything, just uncomfortable of the small human child right in front of his person. Nikko flinched a little upon hearing someone scream. He looked at the woman quickly making their way to the group and looked back at the armadillo lion once more after the mother snatched her daughter away from them. He instantly assumed the worst and believed that the woman would point out Jaya's amber eyes, bringing more attention to them. Fortunately, his assumption was wrong, and they carried on with their day.

[tsubasa]

Jaya led them to a quieter section of the city quickly out. She had been planning on looking a little more but something began to eat away at her. She walked them far enough away before dropping Senge's reins. The creature looked at her quizzically then over his shoulder at Nikko.

Jaya started to pace back at forth before letting out a short grunt of anger and punching the air, causing a large fire burst from to erupt. She clenched her fists and tried to get a hold of her breathing, however, a moment later, she punched again and more fire, "Gah, I hate people like that. Making assumptions about things you don't really know about," Jaya kept moving every once and a while, fire erupting, "Armadillo lions are vicious. Firebenders are evil. My child is perfectly fine running around in a crowd street by herself."

She stopped and held her hands out to the sides of her and yelled again, her hands erupting blue fire. Once it extinguished, she dropped her hands and looked at Senge, who had moved himself and Nikko away from her, then Nikko. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and sighed, "Sorry.... I... get carried away sometimes..." She rubbed her shoulder and tried to calm herself down.

[pyroman]

With Jaya dropping Senge's reins and creating fire in the air, Nikko knew that she was agitated by the woman who pulled the child away from Senge. He listened to what she had to say and pet the armadillo lion he was sitting on. His eyes widened at the sight of blue fire. He heard that Azula was able to bend blue fire, and he wondered if took a certain amount of skill to bend fire a different color, or if it was something that one was born with. With a small sigh, Nikko hopped off of Senge and walked over to Jaya, putting a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her. "They didn't know. And after one hundred years of war with a rather sudden end, I can't blame them. They're only clinging onto what they know and what they're comfortable with. Sure, not every armadillo lion is hostile towards just about every other species, but not everyone knows that. Some might know that they aren't all violent, but they'll be cautious around them because they don't know."

[tsubasa]

Jaya dropped her eyes when Nikko placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke to her. She was embarrassed. She felt childish... Like she was a small child who had just had a tantrum, which there was no denying that she had. She took a few deep breath, trying to calm herself, before looking up at him, "I know... And I know there are still Firebenders out there who are still dangerous to people... it's just...." She leaned back against the tree and blinked a few times, finding in her rage she was on the verge of tears, "They aren't just being cautious... They are being cruel and cold and... horrible...."

She had far to many memories of people's cruelty to her, because she had been born in the wrong country, since she had arrived here. None of them had any reason to think ill of her beyond appearance and ability to bend fire. But she had been thrown out, beaten, cussed at, and treated like dirt since the moment she got here. She wiped under her eyes to prevent any tears from falling, "Sorry..." She whispered.

[pyroman]

Nikko believed that he understood. Yes, there were fire benders and fire nation citizens that were still dangerous; but for one hundred years, all people have seen were fire nation people who were evil, and wanted the word under their feet. That was what the Fire Nation had set themselves up as for one hundred years, and now that the war is over and there is peace, people just can't see them as anything else at the moment. He wanted to tell Jaya something to comfort her, but he felt that if he said anything wrong to her it would only make things worse.

He moved his hand off of her when she began to lean against a tree, and simply stood in front of her. He stood quiet for a moment before taking a small step towards her and putting his hand back on her shoulder. He looked right at her and gave her a calm smile. "Fight me." He said simply.

[tsubasa]

Jaya's eyes snapped to him when Nikko told her to fight him. Her eyes widened as she looked at him in disbelief, "What?" She laughed a little and shook her head, "I... I couldn't.... I've never fought a water bender and..." She looked at her hands, thinking back to the fire she had bent in her anger. She had more or less mastered her element but that didn't make her anymore comfortable with it, "I could hurt you..."

Her gaze drifted back up to him, "Besides.... You don't even have any water...."

[pyroman]

Nikko shook his head at his friend. "I'll make due." He told her in the same calm voice. "You seem to have some pent up anger, and you need to let it out." He told her, hoping that she would understand why he wanted for her to fight him. He knew that he could get hurt, but it would probably get worse if she dint vent out her anger everyone once and a while. "Fight me." He repeated.

[pyroman]

Jaya took a deep breath and shook her head before looking at Nikko, "You know you're crazy, right?"

All the same, she walked a short ways from him and took a fighting stance.

Nikko simply nodded at her and did the same, taking a few steps away from her and getting into a different fighting style than when he had water.

Jaya looked at him, before she moved toward him, she started to fight without her fire, worried still that she might burn him. Her movements were fast but calculated as she went on the attack.

He stayed on the defensive, making sure to block as many hits as he could. He wanted to stay defensive for the time being, and only attack if he needed to.

Jaya laughed as they fought, it had been a while she had actually had the chance to fight. She managed to snatch Nikko's wrist and push him against a tree, his arm trapped behind his back. She laughed, "I am victorious," She lit her hand in flames before letting them die out. Before she had the chance to release him, someone grabbed her shoulder. She yelped in surprise at the large man who stood over her, "Rotten Firebender."

He hadn't expected for her to get him so quickly, and grunted in slight pain when she pushed him up against the tree. He turned his head to look behind him when he heard her yelp, and was barely able to see the large man with a hand on her shoulder. He continued to try to look at him as he spoke. "It's all in good fun. We're just having a friendly fight." He hoped that the larger man would walk away, but in the back of his mind he was sure that wasn't going to happen.

Jaya released Nikko as the man pushed her backwards, "You aren't old enough to understand this, kid." He moved quickly to attack her but Jaya's hand rose up instinctively, blasting him with blue fire. As he screamed, she looked at her hand in horror, "Oh no..."

When released, Nikko turned around fully to look at the man, but by the time that he did, all he saw was a blast of blue fire. His eyes widened in surprise ad slight fear of the fire as he looked around, seeing that people's attention had been brought to them because of the screaming.

Jaya stared at her hand, the fire gone but the heat still in the air, as the man feel to the ground, cussing, clutching his face.

Her breathing quickened as people started to gather, surrounding them. She felt like an animal in a cage. Without thinking, she stood and ran, she ran as fast as she could. Hoping to leave everything behind her.

Nikko looked around at the people around them. Most of them were frightened, shocked and horrified by the display of fire bending. He attempted to calm everybody down, but it didn't work and Jaya ran. He wanted to go after her, but he also needed to make sure that the man was okay. "Can somebody get me some water?" He called out. He wasn't a healer, and it was quite a long shot, but it was still a possibility that he had yet to try.

Senge roared as people tried to grab him before running over to Nikko, cowering next to him. He kept looking off in the direction Jaya run but didn't dare follow. He pressed himself up against Nikko, his wet body, soaking his back.

Nikko look at Senge as he came into view, and decided to use the water that covered the armadillo lion. Making swift but graceful motions, he bended the water off if Senge and pushed any dirt and anything else out of it. He then brought it all together and put it over the mans face. It began to slightly glow, but only stayed that way for a small moment before going back to normal water. He smiled slightly as he tried again, getting the water to glow a little more. He wasn't good at healing, but it did seen that he had a small talent for healing, he wasn't able to fully heal the man, but he did make it so that he would properly heal with little to no problems.

Senge lay down behind Nikko as he healed the man. The hybrid was tense, not exactly happy with the man attacking Jaya but he seemed too timid, with all the people around to attack upon it. He looked at Nikko as he seemed to finish and whimpered.

Hearing Senge's whimpering, Nikko turned to the hybrid animal and put a hand on his nose. He then ran to his side and jumped up onto him, pulling himself up and holding onto the fur on his neck. "Let's go find her!" He called out.

Senge looked at Nikko when he climbed onto him. The moment that he sat on his back, the creature took off at a sprint, racing in the direction Jaya had gone.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Jaya kept whispering over and over again as she drowned her hands in a small puddle she found, trying to get the feeling of heat away. She could still hear the man screaming. She rose a wrist to her face and wiped away her tears as she sat there.

With Senge going as fast as he could, it didn't take long for them to get to Jaya. When they did, Nikko jumped off of the hybrid and slowed down to a stop, stopping just a bit before Jaya. Slowly, he walked toward her and kneeled down next to her. He didn't know what to tell her, and stayed quiet for a moment. "He'll be okay. I did what I could to make sure his face wouldn't scar or mark up."

Jaya kept her hands in the water, not daring to take them out now that Nikko was close by. At least this way, she couldn't hurt him. She shook her head, "I burned him...." She said, her voice barely audible, "I didn't mean to...." Her fingers dug into the mud below the water, "They're right...... I am a monster."

Nikko shook his head. "You're not a monster. It was an accident Jaya." He set a hand on her shoulder and looked at the water. "It was his fault for trying to hit you. You acted on instinct and accidentally used your fire."

Jaya stared at the water, "No.... I should have known.... I've mastered it... I can fight without it.... I didn't need it..." She looked at him, "There are so many other ways I could have stopped it..... But I didn't...."

"It was an accident." He repeated. "You might have unconsciously called upon your fire." He said to her. He remembered how one time when he was traveling with the nomads, an animal popped out at him, and he made an ice shield without realizing it.

Jaya looked at him and took a few deep breath trying to calm herself. That was a thing she always noticed about her people, they all got swept away by emotions. She wiped her eyes and leaned into Nikko, tired... She sniffled, "Thank you...."

"It's not a problem." He replied. He had once heard that emotions sometimes fueled a fire bender's power, but he wasn't all that sure when he had first heard it.

Jaya clenched her fists, as if it would contain the fire in her. She closed her eyes, trying to breath normally, "He's.... going to be okay?"

Nikko nodded. "He won't have any scarring, and he should heal normally. I can't do much about what he's feeling now though." He sighed softly, wrapping his arms around her slowly in an attempt to keep her calm.

Jaya sat there, Nikko's arms were strong and seemed to make her feel safe from the outside world. Her breathing slowed and she rested her head against his shoulder, "I want to apologize to him.... That's exactly what he expects of the Fire Nation.... I... don't want to help feed his hate..."

Nikko smiled at Jaya and nodded slightly. He was glad to see that she wanted to go back, and let go of her with the sake pace be used to put her in his arms. "Let's head back then, hopefully he'll still he there."

Jaya nodded and stood once he released her. She walked over to Senge and placed her hand on his nose, "I'm sorry if I scared you..." She pet his shoulder before she climbed onto him. She took a deep breath. She didn't know how anyone was going to react to her but she wanted to make things right. She looked at her bag and grabbed it, slipping of Senge, "Hold on," she disappeared behind a bush for a moment before coming back out in her tradition Fire Nation garb. No reason to try and hide who she was....

Nikko waited patiently for her to return. He didn't know why she disappeared into the bushes, but didn't ask anything. He was surprised to see her in fire nation garb, and simply smiled at her upon her return. She wasn't going to hide who she was from these people, as they already knew what she could do. "Let's get going then." He said to her, hopping onto Senge and patting the space in front of him.

Jaya nodded to Nikko when he padded the space in front of him and climbed onto Senge. She urged him forward and they ran back to where they came from.

Luckily, a few people were still hanging around. Before Senge even had the chance to stop, she hopped off, "Wait!"

She called to them. Everyone turned and looked at him, she could see fear in their eyes. She bowed her head, "I wish to apologize," She looked up at them all, "I was scared and acted out... Fire can be dangerous... I know that... You know that.... We all know that a little too well, I think," She reached up an touched her shoulder lightly, "But fire can be beautiful.... And... I would like to show you... If you'd let me..."

When Jaya hopped off, Nikko took control and had Senge slow down to a halt. He young water bender waited patiently on the hybrid. The people around them were deathly silent, and Nikko was starting to unravel. He jumped off of Senge and stood in front of Jaya. "What if it were me who hit that guy instead of her? What if I were to have launched some ice at him? Would you guys all be as startled and scared as you are now? Would you turn the other cheek and pass it off as an accident? Jaya didn't mean to hurt him, but he startled her while we were having a friendly spar and she accidentally let out some fire at him. Please, forgive her for what she did."

[tsubasa]

Jaya was thankful for Nikko, it was nice having someone else on her side. It had been a while since that had happened. When no one replied to his plea, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Her other hand rose slowly, fire drifting off of it. She moved out from behind him and started to dance with her fire. She made sure not to get too close to anyone. She didn't want to frighten anyone. Her movements drifted between regular fire bending and dancing, the motions flicking between fast and slow. People's face started to melt from their hard stone masks to looks of awe. She smiled, she supposed this wasn't the kind of firebending they knew of.

A little boy came to her, immediately stopped fire bending and just danced. She bent over and took his hands, dancing with him. He giggled as she turned him around in circles. No one was screaming about her touching the boy. No one was trying to hit her, they were laughing and enjoying themselves.

[pyroman]

Nikko grew tense at the silence of the people around him. as he had no way of knowing what was going through their minds as the stood still. He flinched slightly at Jaya's sudden contact, and turned his head to face her, watching her create the fire in her other hand. He watched as she moved from behind him and danced around with her fire. He was somewhat entranced by the movement, and only snapped out of it when she stopped after the little boy walked up to her. He smiled at the sight of her dancing with the boy, and laughed along with the others. He would have danced along with them if he was any good. in the North, people did celebrate and have music, but dancing wasn't all that common. He had learned how to dance a little with his travels with the nomads, but he was still horrible. Instead, he began to hum the tune to the song 'Two Lovers', hoping to add onto what was going on.