Steam

[Surain]

"Deal."


Her terms were simple and fair—although, Hiro made a note to be extremely careful with pity. He already knew that most people disliked pity, at least, from what he'd seen anyway, but just in case...


"Where was I born? In the... upper district, Northern Water Tribe." He answered after a brief pause. The first part was a tad unnecessary here—in the tribe, what district you were born in was a status symbol, in a sense. Only the wealthy could afford the higher district healers (or to live in the higher district at all, for that matter), and he'd been told more than once of how blessed and well-off he seemed because of where he was born. It was utterly stupid, but mentioning it had become a force of habit by this point.


It was his turn to ask a question. "Alright... Can you play music at all? Instruments, singing..?" he asked curiously. It was an innocent question, and a good one as any to start them off. Also, as much as he wanted to know about Ran's past... he couldn't ask her where she was born like she had done him, otherwise this 'game' would get very boring very quickly. Asking the same question is both boring and uncreative. That, and delving into her personal history, as defensive as she seems, doesn't seem like a great idea.


------


He nodded and readied himself as she did the same; to that end, he just placed his ink, paper, and small brush on a nearby rock and set to work outlining a human figure. It didn't take long, but by the time he had done it, Ran was already settling into the water.


It was just a case of stepping in after her and leaving the paper and brush in hand's reach. She, he noticed, was extremely tense as she floated right in front of him; her breaths resembled gasps, and her eyes were shut tight. Was she shivering? The water wasn't that cold. "It won't hurt, I promise. It'll... tingle, maybe." he comforted, or at least tried to. However she took that was completely out of his control.


She seemed to have heard him, judging by her reaction, so he began.


Push... Pull... As Hiro fluidly bent the water over Ran, careful to leave her face dry. Feel the energy... Hiro's hands skimmed the water, the movement getting stronger as they did. He pushed his chi out, reaching for Ran's and trying find a connection. Nothing. Frowning, he reached further, his hands barely a centimeter away from touching her as he focused in on the search. There. It was faint, but her chi was still there. Weak, almost stagnant, but there.


He focused on it, tracing it through her system. Oh... Oh, dear spirits. There's one. There's another. Another. And another.


By this point the water around Ran had begun to shine weakly, it's light reflecting off of Hiro's eyes as he stared intensely at his patient. Three in that arm. Same on the other arm. One in the palm of each hand—tips of the fingers. One on almost every joint... This... one in her core. Her core.


Small blockages, diversions, or adjustments began to total up, even as Hiro removed one of his hands from the water and started recording where they were on paper. It was horrible, even if it was masterfully done; the damage was a masterpiece, every blockage building off of the last in such a way that wasn't fatal and was nigh impossible to detect. It was beautiful, in it's own demented way, and Hiro had to wonder just how much trouble her father had gone through to get this done.


It was over twenty minutes later that the glowing finally stopped and the gently-rocking water settled. "We're finished for now, I think." said Hiro, who had stepped out of the water and was in the process of bending himself dry. He was careful to school his expression—the last thing Ran needed to see was his ashen expression after seeing the full extent of the damage. "I... need some time to figure out where to start treating you. It shouldn't take too long, but I probably won't finish tonight." He carefully took the important paper in his hands, glancing over the carefully marked etches in the figure he had drawn. Several notes off to the side specified what kind of block each was in small, narrow writing that was barely legible.


He hesitated as Ran didn't seem to reply right away. "I won't lie to you," he began, "the damage is... extensive. Someone went through a lot of trouble planning and carefully handicapping you, and they did a really good job of it." He paused, thinking over his words. "But, I think we can fix it. It'll take time, and there'll be some... complications, I think, and I can't know for sure, but we should be able to restore most of your bending." he said quietly, tone neutral. He made sure to use words and phrases like 'should', 'I think', and 'most'—he really couldn't be sure. Promising anything in this situation was betting on probability, and he didn't gamble.

 

[ShalRavenne]

The corner of Ran's mouth twitched in something resembling a smirk, "No instruments, but I used to love singing. I haven't really had cause to do so in a while though. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear me one day." She gave a short chuckle and turned her face up to the sky, in apparent thought to her next question.


"What was your favorite thing to do when you were growing up?"


She tilted her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye. She was studying him and she wasn't hiding the fact she was, either. He's a curious fellow, traveling with him may not be too bad after all.


~~~


She felt heat, that was her first sensation as the water started to move about her, it wasn't painful per se but it was uncomfortable from her usual chi warming. She didn't want to say anything that could break his concentration however so she kept quiet even when the temperature fluctuated and her body felt as if it were going asleep. All tingly and prickly. She was finding herself almost dreading the news he was to give her as the time passed and she noticed small twitches in his facial features.


Ran walked out of the river, steaming. She was nearly dry a few seconds later but seemed tired afterward. She listened to him without saying a word, the hope's fire dwindling. He was stumbling, giving half hearted responses. It must be worse than he let on, he doesn't think I can recover from the damage. Thanks, father. Way to ruin my entire life...


"Uhh, thank you. For having a look and telling me." Again the uncomfortable note in her voice was back and she started pulling her clothing back on. "I'll let you try, I guess, to repair the damage. But thank you for being straight up about it." She shrugged and turned away toward her pack, setting up her bedroll. "I, um. I guess we should get to sleep, you must be tired after today." She built up a small fire, wrapping herself in a blanket and staring into the flickering flames. Her eyes shone with the light, it was just the light. At least that was what she kept telling herself.

 

[Surain]

Hiro blinked at her before the question registered and he looked ahead, thinking. His face would have been amusing to see—First a grin, then a grimace, then a blush, then a smile. Well... no, telling her about that... no... haha, noooo...





Hiro coughed and did his best to cover up his blush. "Well, as a child, I enjoyed reading. My family wasn't... the poorest, you could say, so I could afford to read much more than other children. It didn't exactly make me popular with the other children, though." he paused, "I liked stories with happy endings the most, where everything turned out perfectly in the end... though, they seemed so... repetitive, sometimes." the waterbender shrugged, smiling at the memory before continuing. "As I got older... well, at some point, I began my healer training. It... well, I don't know if you know, but in the Northern Water tribe—I don't know about the Southern tribe, but that doesn't matter I think. The rumours I heard about it... where was I?" Hiro caught himself, realising he was rambling. With a cough, and a deepening of his previously-fading blush, he continued.


"Sorry, er... Yes, well, in my tribe, it's strange for a man—or boy, as it were—to be a healer. Really strange. I'm actually the first male healer since Oran Ant, who died over a hundred years ago. Getting the permission.... but that's a boring story, you don't want to hear it." He caught himself again, fixing his expression and rubbing his face as if to hide himself. "Anyway," he said, speaking through his hands, "because of that, I ended up sleeping with a few girls who were already train—I mean sleeping sleeping! Not, 'sleeping' sleeping!" At this point he stopped entirely, coughing due embarrassment and trying regain his composure. That was... Oh, self, I hate you so much...


After what seemed like days, he looked back at Ran, who returned his glance with what seemed to be an amused expression. He, blushing, tried to continue. "Sorry. Anyway, I was sleeping in the same dorms with a few girls, because only girls were healers, and it would be too much hassle to build another dorm since all of the ones were taken. So, I talked to them most of the time," Good start. Don't screw it up. "I guess, the thing I did most then as I grew up was talk to them about... stuff, or do what they were doing. Insightful, really, but didn't exactly make me 'cool' with the boys my age." he finished, finally regaining his composure. He was sure he had left something out, but he didn't care; the sooner he could turn the conversation away from himself, the better.


"Um..." he trailed off, trying to think of a question. "Did you ever... what's the word? Court anyone?" he asked, saying the first thing that came to mind, and doing his best to pretend that was the best thing to ask.


-


He nodded, his heart hardening. He was a healer; lying to her would only make the pain worse for both of them later, and he knew this. Being sad, or having pity, was something that he couldn't—shouldn't—do. Hope wasn't entirely lost, but it's better for her to be pleasantly surprised than horribly disappointed, later. That being said, her losing all hope of recovery wouldn't help anyone...


"It's best to be straight up about it, but it's not hopeless." he replied as she turned away before he turned to set up his own bedroll. At what she said next, he paused. "That's a good idea. Sleep well... we can start tomorrow morning." he said, his voice quieting as she laid down. He decided not to think about why she was turned away too much, and instead focused on setting up his own bedroll. As soon as he was done, and Hiro saw that Ran was laying still, he bent some water from the river and put out the fire than had been burning faintly through their healing session. It wasn't cold out, and there was less hazard of them burning to death in the night with it put out.


His head hit the pillow, and it only took half an hour for him to fall asleep; a wonder, really, considering who he was sleeping next to.


-


The next morning, he woke up with a start, hearing shuffling around him. Hiro sat up suddenly, blindly waterbending from the nearby stream in front of him, trying to put something in between him and whatever was making noise; it, as he could see through his squinted eyes, was just Ran, who seemed to be staring at him as he, with terrible bedhead, his hands sprayed out in a ridiculous manner, and holding a blob of water in front of himself, squinted at her. It took him five whole seconds to realised the situation.


Bending the water back into the streams sluggishly, he rubbed his eyes. "Oh, morning Ran... sorry about that..." he trailed off sheepishly, feeling more than a little embarrassed. He sincerely hoped she couldn't see her blush.

 

[ShalRavenne]

Ran burst out in laughter when he started tripping over his words and getting flustered. It was endearing, she had to admit. "I used to love to read too, anything I could get my hands on. I liked the adventure stories, with battles, heroes and villains. I liked it when the good guys won, but I didn't like it to be easy for them. Didn't seem as realistic or fun." She smiled recalling a few books she had read before she was exiled. "Next town... I'm going to see about buying another to read when we camp in the evenings."


She listened to him and found that this may not be as bad as she thought, yes, she still was damaged and homeless. Yet, this easy going conversation was very much enjoyable, she was even smiling for a change and it wasn't the least bit forced. She inwardly sighed and wished it could always be so easy and carefree.


She thought for a moment, but decided to tell the truth. "Yeah. One guy in my neighbourhood was a short lived courtship. I really liked him, and I truly believed he liked me, it wasn't anything physical or heavy but our friendship was a good one. He kissed me a few times, we hung out all the time since we were kids. However, my father caught me kissing him one day." She grimaced. "He pretended to be stern but accepting to my face... but I found out later that he had threatened him and his family to stay away from me and I wasn't for him. I met with him in secret to say goodbye, he seemed torn. Wanted to fight it, but I couldn't let my father get to him. I pretended like I wasn't interested in him anymore, it hurt but in the long run I think he may forgive me. I couldn't bare to see him hurt because I was selfish to try and court him further behind my father's back. Since then, I really haven't found anyone that makes me feel genuinely interested in that way for. It will happen, eventually I think. But I am content for now." She realized she had divulged a lot of information about herself and inwardly cursed.


"And if you utter one word about it to anyone I'll have to hurt you." She meant to say it fiercely but it sounded more like a childish threat, even to her.


~~~


In the morning she woke up and looked at the stream. The sound was peaceful, sitting up she started to put away her bedroll. She thought she was being quiet but she heard Hiro wake up with a start and the tell tale sound of water coming from the stream. "Whoa there water bug." She stared at him for a few moments before hiding a laugh behind her hand. She coughed and stood up.


"I trust you are feeling better after a good night's rest. I apologize for startling you out of it. She rebuilt a fire and took out a pan to cook in. She took some water from the stream and put it in the bottom of the pan before putting salted and dried meat into it to soak up the water and become a good morning meal. "When we have eaten, perhaps you can give healing a little shot? Then after a rest, should you need it, we could be on our way before the sun gets too high."

 

[Surain]

It was only halfway through her explanation did Hiro's face return to a reasonable tint, even though he nodded and listen to the the entire thing. Her father seemed harsh. He thought that his dad had been unreasonable, but this blew him out of the water, so to speak. But who knows? Maybe her father had known something she didn't? Maybe he was protecting her, albeit in the idiotic ways that fathers probably do, and didn't want to seem a bad guy?


But then, there was the chi-blocking. Maybe it had been without his knowing? Or, maybe he had it done to protect Ran from something else?


Hiro didn't presume to judge anyone—he only knew of the boy and her father from this story, and he knew almost as little about the person telling it. Could someone truly be so... evil? It was hard to believe. Even his own father meant well with what happened in his youth. It was circumstance's, or maybe tradition's fault, not his. Father believed he was doing the best he could, perhaps her's had done the same? People were innately good. They had to be... right?


He would just have to take Ran's word for it.


Hiro grinned at Ran as she threatened him. "I wouldn't dare, trust me; I like not being hurt." he replied, stepping over a rock on the trail. It didn't occur to him that it was strange for Ran to divulge so much to him. He was easy to talk to, or so he had been told, and it wasn't uncommon for a quick chat to turn into a heart-to-heart when he and his friends spoke. He knew some of the juiciest secrets of the healer's in the water tribe. Oh, the stories he could tell...


"I agree with you on love," he said thoughtfully, considering what she said. "Everyone has someone, somewhere for them. I think it's only a matter of time..." he trailed off, an odd look passing on his face. "But... eh, love is a lot to think about. It'll happen when it does." Hiro shrugged, failing to appreciate the irony. After a few moments of silence, he added, "I think it's your turn to ask a question, right?"


-


'Water bug'? It's a step up from 'Sealy' at least, he thought mildly, removing his hands from his face and standing up to stretch. As she talked, he went over the stream to wash his face and make himself presentable. "I have to admit, 'water bug' is a new one," he said, pausing from his morning routine. At her lack of response, he finished and turned to look at her, looking acceptable again. "And yeah, I think we can start today,", he strolled back to his back to fetch the paper he had drawn on the other night. "I... well, I should start with either your hands or feet, so pick your favourite extremity." he added in a joking tone, knowing that the furthest point from her core was the safest place to start.


He spent the following meal studying the paper, and making a note on the order on which he would need to heal. Extremities first, then the second arms, then arms and legs, then... It was a process that he should mark down later, but it was simple enough, if not easy. "You know, whatever I heal probably won't show any noticeable difference. You might have more control, but it's not going to be much stronger." he warned, speaking in a lull in the conversation.

 

[ShalRavenne]

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" She grinned and put a finger to her lips. "Hmm, what is your favorite food?"


~~~


She felt pleased to have come up with a nickname no one else had called him so far, score a point for her. She ate her meal quietly, thinking and trying to keep herself from thinking a million different things. Focus. She needed focus.


"I don't expect a difference at all. To be honest. I don't even know if it will actually even work, so I'm trying to not put any heart into this treatment. I'll start with my hands if you do not mind. I don't want stronger, I have only wanted to have control over my power when I do use it. Contrary to many people's thoughts of me, I don't LIKE to hurt people with my bending. I can't use it as an effective weapon and I am dangerous. If I could have some semblance to control I wouldn't have to always use my fighting skills. Most back down from a fight with a bender, and I simply don't like not knowing my own body. I know my limits and stay well beneath that. I detest not being to actually be myself."


She forced herself to stillness, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she was hot and the flames were erratic in their cooking fire. Control, Ran. Stay calm, don't show emotion. Where are your walls, hide behind them. Don't let anyone get past them, least of all him. He is a nice guy but he is dangerous to you in his own way. Hope isn't something you can afford. Even temperament. Control. She opened her eyes and stared at the flames, once again small and contained.

 

[Surain]

“My Favourite food? Oh, a toughie…” he replied, grinning. Tuna-clam stew was up there, certainly, but there were so many others options to choose from! Everything had a flavour—a place; a favourite food in any situation? That one was difficult. Cookies? They were rare back home, sure, but they were always a treat. Especially when he got some from mother...


“Hmm… I think my mom’s Kale cookies are definitely up there. But, I mean, I like all kinds of food.” he answered after a few moments of thought; from what he could tell, ran didn’t seem to mind waiting too much anyway. She seemed content with glancing at him, eyes glinting as she still held a teasing smile. She reminded him of his friends at home, how they made fun of him and each other. Although, different somehow—and he couldn’t tell why.


“What’s your idea of a perfect day?” he asked, recalling one of his heart-to-hearts he had had with a friend earlier that year.


-


Hiro nodded along with her explanation, politely staying silent; she seemed to want some quiet anyway. At least he felt like she did. It was only when she began to meditate, to focus on controlling the fire which, frankly, he hadn’t noticed grow erratic, did he even look up from the paper he had been examining. He could practically feel her chi, however—unstable wasn’t the right word. Fragmented?�—it was come under a semblence of control and extend to the fire. Hiro stared owlishly at her as it happened; she was a completely new person, precise, silent, calm. Any appearance of emotion was replaced with a cold, calculating expression in a way Hiro could never do; it both excited and terrified him at once.


Soon after, she opened her eyes and caught him quickly looking away. It didn’t take long after that for them both to finish and set out to sit by the water. Hiro took one of her hands and enveloped it in the same glowing water as before. Breath in… Breath out… Straighten that… Well, that’s about as… how long has it been?


It took slightly over twenty minutes, but her left hand was as unblocked—as ridiculous as that sounded—as the day she was born. “Well, that took… long. I think it should take less time your other hand, if I may…” he, soon after, grasped her other hand and did the same, this time taking about fifteen minutes.


“And… that should be it! For your hands, anyway.” Hiro concluded, drying his own, wrinkled hands quickly as he stood up to stretch. That took longer than expected. “You… could try to bend, now.” he noted, twisting his back. The realigning had been easy… the problem was in getting the chi to stay on the right path. The waterbender sighed as he turned to look at Ran for her reply.

 

[ShalRavenne]

Ran smiled, "I never tried Kale cookies, or any kind of cookie actually." She looked curious. "I want to try one. We have to get some the next time we see some!" She calmed from her excitement and listened to his question. She took a few moments to answer, thinking about what it is she actually liked to do. She had, for the most part, been dictated what she would and would not do. She had had little freedom to choose her own hobbies, or be introduced to anything to be considered a choice.


It had changed so recently that she had been finding small things a wonder, discovering new things, finding things she liked and didn't like. Being able to live her own life and make her own choices had been such a wonderful change. "Hmm, well a perfect day would be for all this fighting and hatred to stop. But in my own, selfish little world? If I were alone, I would really love to explore the old fire nation temples, learn about the past and then learn about other nations more. Not just what the fire nation tells us, or that the other nations feed us. I want to learn the roots of the world. I've always liked history." Her expression turned a bit sad and sour. "If I had friends, well I would love to go on a big picnic where everyone brings their own dish. Meet in a nice wooded area and have a nice afternoon playing games, hiking, laughing. But yeah, I don't imagine that happening."


She rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Ummm, what is your favorite weapon?"


~~~~


She was silent for the healing, trying to remain calm and not hope for anything. When it was over she shook her hands, "My hands feel... tingly." She made a face, not of discomfort but of curiosity. "It is almost like they are waking up from being asleep but less overwhelming."


She was a little nervous in bending but figured, she was around water, with a waterbender. It SHOULD be safe. "I'll try. Be ready, I'm going for an attack maneuver to test the control and power. I'll try to aim for the water but as I said, control isn't easy for me." She didn't sound too confident yet took a stance anyway. She gave a forward punch, nothing happened. Her brow furrowed as she stepped forward and punched with her more dominant hand, her left. That was when it went a little awry. Flame flew from her thrown punch and hit the water as she had aimed for but it was less a ball of fire and more smattering of random bits of fire.


Her face betrayed her for a mere fraction of a second before she hid her disappointment behind a mask of indifference and calm. "It was worth a shot. My arm hurts a bit though, so I think I am going to hold off on more efforts to experiment. Maybe we can try more healing later, if we are able to." She shrugged like it was no real issue, but in her head she was scolding herself.


Well getting your hopes up leads to this. What happened to not believing this will help? You're only making all this harder on yourself. You know how to fight without your bending. Use that for now, you can't afford idle fancies of using your fire. You're damaged goods. The voice in her head kept going on, but she went about her normal tasks about the camp, they were making way along to their destination before the sun was barely a quarter way into the sky.

 

[Surain]

Hiro nodded along as she spoke, looking pensive when she finished. Something wasn’t right. “You’ve… You’ve never had a cookie? Like, never? Are you sure?” he asked, his mouth agape with melodramatic shock. “This must be remedied!” He declared, slamming a clenched fist in his other hand. He certainly looked determined, even as he fought a smile. “But we have to do it right… I mean, we can’t just let any cookie be your first!” he declared, waving his hands for emphasis.


Ran seemed to be amused, because Hiro continued. “Why are you laughing? This is serious!” he exclaimed, managing to keep a straight face for about two seconds before breaking into laughter himself.


It took almost a minute for Hiro to calm down after that, conceding that they would discuss this further at a later time. “That sounds nice, for a perfect day. Who knows? You’ve managed to pick up one straggler… all we need is one more, a wooded area, and boom! We’re ready for perfection.” he grinned cheekily at her, before preparing to answer her question.


“Well, I mean, as a healer, my favourite weapon is one that isn’t used,” he said, sombering a bit before getting a mischievous glint in his eye. “But as a teenager… well, I’ve always like the idea of using a staff. Or a bow and arrow. But, uh, I’ve never really used either of those… actually, I think the only weapon I’ve ever held was a cooking knife. And water, I suppose, but I see that as more of a tool.” he added thoughtfully.


After that, it took him a minute to think of another question. “Do you think that it’s right or wrong for men and women to only be allowed to do certain things? Like, there should be some things women shouldn’t do, or men shouldn’t?” he asked after a moment of hesitation. Was it wise to ask that? Who knows. It was in his best interest to find out what she thought about the subject anyway.


-


Hiro remained silent throughout the entire performance, keeping a close eye on both the chi he sensed flowing and the actual, visible fire. It’s… working. I think. Control is good, but ‘umph’ could use a bit more work. That’ll come in time… the closer I get to her core, the more chi she’ll have to work with, the less painful it’ll be, and the more powerful she’ll be. Probably. It’s hard to tell, but it’ll be less painful and more controlled the further I go. That I know for a fact. I’ll need to be careful when I get to her core, though… unblocking all of it at once could easily overwhelm her body. Keeping things slow is the best thing to do now.


“That went well, honestly. It’ll be slow, but things should get better the more we do it…” he said, catching her brief look of disappointment before her face tightened away all emotion. Spirits be damned… she’s really good at that. “Tell me when the tingling stops, if you can.” he added, sensing that trying to convince her to not lose hope would just annoy her further. How did the tone of their relationship—was it a friendship? He… wondered if they were friends already. Were they? People are confusing—shift from the cheerfulness of yesterday to such melancholy.


He decided to get his mind off of this depressing mood and on setting off for the morning; it took all of fifteen minutes for them both get ready and leave.


A few minutes in, another conversation bloomed. “So… you said you were going to teach me how to fight?” he asked, subtlety being lost on him.

 

[ShalRavenne]

I can teach you only a little about the staff, I mostly know the basics and a few defensive actions with that type of weaponry. The bow however, I am pretty good at. I can't teach you past your own capabilities however. Your aim and breathing is something you have to feel and I can't feel it for you. I can guide you in that, show you what to do and how to improve but I give you fair warning. You'll need some strength training... and it won't be fun. You'll be tired, sore, and probably end up hating me at one point." She grinned as this didn't deter her from the actual process of making him end up that way however. "I won't go easy on you, just because you're a boy."


She listened to his next question and her face grew serious, almost angry as she thought how to phrase her answer without sounding like an angry child. She was learning to curb her temper, fancy that. She took a deep, calming breath and tried to put words to her thoughts. "Its wrong. I hate that saying of a wife is only as good as her cooking, childbearing and subservience. It sickens me that either can be put into labeled categories based on our gender. Hells even our nation. I am all for someone doing what they want to, as long as they have the ability or potential to do so or as long as it doesn't hurt another person deliberately. I get sometimes it is necessary to hurt people, to protect or to capture an enemy. Yet I see other people daily trying to get one up in this life by trampling over someone else like they are nothing but an obstacle. At the risk of sounding like an Air Acolyte, I wish for a time that this world becomes one of others helping others, of stopping the selfish thought process and think of anyone but yourself. There are too few who do so, many of those I have seen, were mothers for their children." She fell silent for a few minutes, trying not to think of all the pain she had seen of those abusing their power, whether they were women or men. "So in short, no I don't believe that we should be made to fulfill a role because of our genders dictating it."


They stopped at a small clearing near a stream just as the sky was darkening with the colors of twilight. "Good spot to rest, I think. We can pick up in the morning."


~~~~~


She cracked a small smile, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "How about we take it a bit slow. Instead of working on my chi block tonight I will show you some of the basics of the staff before we do some strength training. The earlier we get to building your strength the easier it'll be to start training you on the bow. I can start making one in the meantime, providing we can spot a good young branch to work with." She massaged her wrists and winced. About 30 minutes went by in companionable silence, her mood was still disappointed but it wasn't a massive cloud of doubt and pain as it was before. She was thinking too much of her father lately, the bitterness and anger seeping into her soul. She needed to start letting it go, she realized this, but it was harder to do than to say.


"What would you like to talk about today?"

 

[Surain]

Sarcastic or funny things to say flashed across his mind as she finished explaining how his training would go—something to keep the mood buoyant. Too sharp, weird reference, too personal, too mean, too… ahem… I don’t know how she would take that.


The seconds of silence that followed her first answer gave way to her second, which took all of the humour out of the situation. Of course, he agreed with most of what she said; granted, he might have been more liberal with how much violence was right. He was a healer, so shouldn’t he be against violence?


Technically, he was only against murder.


And besides, if no one was ever violent, I’d be out of a job, he joked to himself, before becoming serious again. He wanted to learn how to fight, and only in part to protect himself and those he cares about. No, he wanted to prove his father wrong. He wanted to fight, to be able to hurt people, because maybe then would he'd be able to protect himself.


Hiro didn’t particularly like violence, not really, but there was strength in being able to fight. He wasn’t weak now—he was willful, determined, and even ambitious—but he lacked the physicality to prove it. That couldn’t stand. He needed to learn, because he needed to be strong, because he needed to prove his father wrong, because his father is wrong.


If he isn't, then Hiro really is worth nothing.


Eventually, they arrived at camp and Ran suggested continuing the conversation the next day. “Sure, but one more thing,” he said in reply, settling his own things on the ground. “I agree with you; what parts we were born with means almost nothing, or it shouldn’t, at least.” he commented lightly, about to continue but stopping himself; they were unpacking and needed to rest, so saying is disagreed with her wasn’t the best idea. It didn’t matter that much anyway.


----


He returned her easy question with an equally easy smile, “Oh, I don’t know… boys?” he joked, raising an eyebrow. One of the running jokes between him and the girls back home surely couldn’t fail now? If anything, it would serve to set the tone for the following conversation.


-----


“...My day of reckoning has come…” said Hiro solemnly, holding his hands out in front of him in something that he hoped resembled a defensive stance. They had started all of two minutes ago, and he’d been knocked on his back five times already. FIST!


He managed to duck under her punch and sent an open hand to push her away, blindly swinging. Four seconds of confusion later, and he was on his back again, groaning.


“...You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” He asked, only half-joking as he lifted his head to look at her.

 

[ShalRavenne]

"Boys? Haha, what is it with you and the finding out more about my views on boys. Men are much better a topic. Less irritating," She flashed him a mischievous grin, "most of the time." She rubbed her right hand, frowning a moment before it calmed into a more natural and neutral expression. "What do YOU think of boys."


~~~~~


"Oh I most certainly am. You have some good instincts but you let your head," She flicked his forehead for emphasis, "get in the way. You can know all the stances, the right way to throw a punch and so forth but if you let yourself panic or over visualize things then you lose. All the time. One part brain, three parts intuition. Trust your body more than your brain, you had the right idea with your palm strike, though closing your eyes was a bad idea. Also you gave it away by tensing your arm." She reached down her hand with a soft expression and brushed the dust off his clothes.


She pursed her lips in thought for a moment and then swept back her left leg one foot length, leaned forward very slightly with her right knee at a thirty percent bend which supported both her balance and would allow her to be quick, light and agile when she needed to be fluid. "Adopt this stance." He tried and she corrected his posture and small mistakes. "This may be easier for you, it is a more fluid stance that allows more transitioning than brute force. It is meant for, well, smaller opponents like me to get the advantage to bigger brutes. I figure, since you are used to water bending which is less aggressive in stance than fire it may be a better starting point. Now, right arm crossed slightly over to your left and higher, like this, palm curled and turned outward. Your left arm tucked in more beside your rib cage, your wrist should almost touch your side, palm up and facing out. Like so, as if you were always ready to do a palm strike. This stance will let you move quickly out of the way, turn someone's momentum against them, get you behind your enemy quickly for a nice back or neck strike or to simply create a moment of confusion to trip and escape." She nodded and let out a soft breath.


She walked up and picked up a long branch, throwing it to him which he barely caught in time. "Remain in this stance and hold this makeshift staff, middle of the staff should be held in your right hand, and your left should hold it about two hands from the bottom. This is a good stance to adopt with slight movement and feet maneuvering to turn and get a good hit and reach on an opponent. Go ahead, attack."

 

[Surain]

“What do I think of boys? I don’t know… I mean, the most I’ve ever spoken with boys my age was for two minutes, and that was mostly badly-hidden threats and insults. I’d much prefer talking to girls,” he paused, thinking for a moment. “Although, I don’t think all boys—or men—are bad. I mean, I’m one, and I’m perfect,” he joked, gesturing to himself with his hands for emphasis.


A part of him complained that it was too damn early to be this boyish. He ignored it.


“But, jokes aside, boys and girls are okay… at least the pretty ones like ourselves.” he added, in a tone of voice which was both entirely serious and completely joking. The fact that he just complimented Ran was lost on him, even as he looked at her with both eyebrows raised, expecting a reaction.


A few seconds later and it was Hiro’s turn to ask a question again. “Hmm… What do YOU think of girls?” he asked, mimicking her tone from earlier.


----


He took her hand and was pulled up, noticing her soft expression as she dusted his clothes. This is going to be… interesting. Or, more accurately, painful.


He obediently shifted to the new stance and was near-instantly corrected by a flurry of hands. Hips back, turn more to the right, angle your foot this way (no, your other foot), shoulders back, bend that elbow…


“I… see. It reminds me of some of the waterbending stances I used to know. “ he commented lightly after she finished adjusting and explaining his stance. He tried moving away and stepping back. It was easier to adjust, just as she said, and he felt that, in a fight, dodging and slipping aw-


Hiro barely managed to bring his hands up in time to catch the makeshift staff, which shook when he did. After following instructions, right up until she told him to attack, he paused.


“Just… attack?” he asked hesitantly, unsure if that was a good idea. She didn’t seem to be in a combat stance, and by the spirits, he didn’t want to hurt her on accident.


He blinked. The chances of him hurting her were slim, if that.


He moved suddenly and swung his staff quickly, albeit, clumsily at her right side, tensing with the movement. If she blocked, then he would take a step back and guard. If she didn’t block, then—


With a graceless twirl and a small thud, he was on the ground again. Thinking is no way to fight, as Ran had taken the half-second of hesitation to dodge and counter, tripping him.


This is going to… ow… take a while.


-


What felt like hours later, and Hiro was sat by a small creek, shirtless while healing himself with one hand, and eating some dried meat in the other. Ran had referred to this as a ‘break’, which means they weren’t finished, which meant that crying was a completely acceptable thing to do at the moment. Not that he would, anyway; he didn’t cry infront of strangers, and especially not for things like this.


He felt terrible. He already was tired, and they hadn’t even started on the strenght training yet! Not to mention the bruises, which, thankfully, weren’t very severe. This reminded him of healer training in some ways; exhaustion, tiredness—chi was a muscle, and manipulating too much was painful. Even then, memorising methods and staying hours—sometimes days—with patients, even for small things, were exhausting. He remembers the pain as his eyes strained, his head pounded, and his body protested against the intensive studies in theory and practice.


But this was already showing to be more painful. More physically painful—a pain he wasn’t used to. This wasn't spiritual, mental, or emotional; a punch to the face would break his nose, enveloping him in blinding pain—breaking an arm, or a leg, or a foot would be semi-permanent and excruciating. As opposed to having a friend betray him, or memorizing seven chapters of fungus theory in two nights, this was new, sharp, and left a bitter taste.


Should he stop?


The mere suggestion caused him to angrily bend the water he was healing with back into the creek. No, damn it, I can do this. It was just a different kind of pain, and he would beat it. Probably.


And that was that. For now. He started healing again, and once he stopped, he heard footsteps behind him. Ran, probably, come to fetch him for 'strength training'. Spirits help me.

 

[ShalRavenne]

She raised her one brow in disbelief at his compliment, shrugged and shook her head. "Oh and by the way, you are so not perfect. I'll prove that later." She smirked with a knowing and dark glint in her eyes.


"Girls? They are alright, boring mostly and they carry too much drama to ever find myself wanting more. They are fun to tease. Especially the ones that have to be so prim and proper like their looks are the only good thing about them, and they make that true with how ugly inside they can be. I had an easier time getting along with my one female fighting teacher, she was easier to understand and didn't expect me to be all looks and no brains. Quite the opposite in fact. I had very few female friends though, and I never had much interest in changing who I am to fit in with them." She shrugged, "Boys are easier to get along with anyhow."


"Favorite animal?"


~~~


She approached him slowly at the edge of the river. "I am sorry if I am hard on you. I know it hurts now but the hard training will help you learn faster and smarter, soon you won't be getting as beat up and you'll be on your way. If you are ready we'll move onto building strength."


She waited until he stood and was fully ready and then lead him to where she had set up a little area with some rocks, a few logs in different widths and a bucket of water. "We will start you off with pushups. I hope you know how to do one."

 

[Surain]

Hiro snorted, "Some of the girls I knew from the Northern Water tribe are exactly like that. I remember one girl... Kasumi, I think—didn't talk to me for five months because I accidentally... well, I accidentally threw a pie at her." he added, adopting a strange face. "She spent days combing bits of coconut out of her hair, or so I've heard."


Images of himself, terrified and half-naked, running out of the dorm rooms during a snow storm flashed to the forefront of his mind. "...she got her revenge, though, so we made up eventually."


"My favourite animal? Ah, we're doing deep and personal questions now..." he replied contemplatively, seeming to stroke his non-existent beard in thought. "Have you ever heard of a eagle dove? They're like raven eagles, but less common," he said briefly, "The descriptions of them make them seem beautiful, and I really like birds." he added cheerfully.


"There's also a whole bunch of legends about them, but they're probably not true..." Hiro trailed off, apparently debating whether or not to explain further.


He decided quickly. "Favourite colour?"


-----


"You don't need to worry about me," Hiro gave her the best grin he could muster at the time, having turned around at her voice, "I may be squishy on the outside, but I'm hard on the inside." What does that even mean? he thought in the back of his head, not quite sure himself.


Yeah, he was hurt, but does that mean he's going to cry and stomp his foot like a child? No... at least not in front of Ran. The very small amount of self-respect he had, coupled with the fact that he hated the look Ran was giving him at the moment, stopped him from doing so.


He got up to follow her, "I'm ready to go onto strenght training," he said, answering her, causing them both to head off the the area that she had prepared.


Arriving, he took to answering her question while looking around. "Yes, I know how to push up." he remarked absent-mindedly, before looking Ran in the eye. "What do you want me to push?" he asked innocently. What, she wanted him to lift something above his head? Or maybe push something up a slope? Ran really shouldn't be so vague.

 

[ShalRavenne]

(Gah sorry. I forgot I hadn't actually copied and pasted my reply onto here!)


She grinned, "You should always expect payback from a girl." She laughed and thought for a while. "I don't really have a favorite over all the others though I tend to like darker shades more. Purple, Green and Red seem to be the ones I lean toward most often."


She pursed her lips in thought, "An incident in your past that you would have liked to change the way it was handled." She asked after a moment's hesitation. It could be a very personal question or it could be a simple one.


~~~~~


She punched him in the shoulder, "Smartass. Get into the pushup position and do five then stay in the down rest position." Once he had done as she asked she put a few of the smaller rocks on his back. "Do as many as you can, then when you aren't able to feel your arms let me know."


She sat down on the ground and started to do some sit ups, just so he didn't feel as if she were watching, judging or making fun of his very real and painful situation he had put himself in when he asked to be trained.

 

[Surain]

(That explains it! You're fine, it's no big deal.)


"An incident in your past that you would have liked to change the way it was handled."





Hiro didn't reply right away, adopting a thoughtful expression. The obvious answer would be his own departure from the North, and how his father had essentially kicked him out of his home, or might as well have. Maybe he could mention his entire relationship with his father for the last half-dozen or so years?


But with her father, who was he to complain? Besides, he called himself a new name to detach himself from that whole situation, so wasn't too keen on mentioning it in detail. Not to mention he had known Ran all of 30 some hours, and wasn't about to tell her his life story. Not the whole thing, anyway.


"Oh... hmm... Well, there's the pie incident—although I don't know if Kami and I would have become friends if not that particular cream of coconut." he paused, chewing his lip.


"I don't know," he lied eventually, "I mean, our pasts make us who we are, right? Who's to say that if I changed something, I would be the same person? No, I don't think I'd change anything." Hiro finished quietly. I mean, I'm not wrong exactly. It's not a complete lie.





He thought for a few seconds before asking his question. "If you had to choose anywhere to have been born, where would it be? You know, and be raised there with the culture and everything..."


-


After the first five, Hiro had tried his best.


He managed six more before he felt himself fall on the ground, arms starting to burn as some of the rocks rolled off of his back. There were no thoughts, only amazement that his arms had hurt that much so quickly. That was ridiculous.


Hiro vaguely felt some sort of indignation as he laid there for a few moments. His armed burned, but that was pitiful. Pitiful.


After a few moments, his face set in a scowl and he reached back to put the rocks on his back. He could still feel his arms, so he wasn't done. With a shaky push, he extended his arms and barely stopped himself from locking his elbows. Breath. He let himself down, barely stopping himself from flopping, and pushed up again. Repeat.


The ground in front of him was almost set on fire with the glare he was giving it.


Five more, and his arms began to ignore him.


Ten more, and he tried to raise himself again. He managed about two inches before they gave out entirely and he—rather ungracefully—flopped onto the ground.


His arms didn't bother to move from under his body as he focused on breathing, and he stayed like that until Ran got his attention again.