Holding Back

Zokai was still sitting on the deck, playing Pai Sho against Iroh. It was impossible to beat the guy! Maybe it was the tea… The ship was in bad condition and they were planning to make a stop for repairs. Zokai had to do some welding to make sure they didn't sink or anything. After a day, they took a stop at a Fire Nation controlled port in the Earth Kingdom. Zokai decided to stretch his limbs and relax. He knew the real action wouldn't start until much later. Once they arrived he followed Zuko and Iroh and finally met Commander Zhao. Once off the new commander welcomed them. He took a glance at their ship. "Mind explaining how that happened." Zuko looked over at Zokai to make some excuse. "We crashed into an iceberg, and it trapped us for a bit and damaged the ship." Zokai thought Zhao was a pretty good bad guy, too bad he'd get trapped in the spirit world forever…

"Join me and tell me of all your exciting adventures over a cup of tea." Zuko clearly didn't want to but Iroh insisted it would be disrespectful to deny the offer. Zokai had no problem with it and wanted to see the fight between Zhao and Zuko in person. They followed Commander Zhao inside for a few cups of ginseng tea. During their little get together, Zhao inquired about the whereabouts of the Avatar. Zokai sat back and watched as Zuko grew progressively angrier at the commander who had just became competition against him to be the first to find and capture Aang. Right as he was about to challenge him to a duel…

"I'd like to challenge the Violet Dragon to an Agni Kai." The commander said, smiling. Zokai hadn't expected that. He never fought against Zhao before and didn't plan to until the Northern Water Tribe. Maybe the commander was just curious at the strength of someone so young with a dragon title. Zuko looked between Zokai and Zhao and stood up. "No! You will fight me. instead" Iroh grabbed Zuko and told him to show more respect. Zokai and Zhao stepped outside to fight. They stood about 10 meters apart from each other and they both removed their tops and got into a fighting stance. They were both well bit, showing their 8 packs with a bit of pride(at least Zokai was), but Zhao was still a little thicker. After a minute of staring each other down Zokai began and punched 3 weak fireballs at Zhao who deflected them with ease. Zhao started his own advances, throwing a string of fireballs and finally a large stream of orange fire. As the flames grew closer, Zokai curved two purple fire comets with the heat to melt rock around the stream to destroy Zhao's fire balls, and they still continued their path. Zokai twisted and with a 540 degree kick, he blasted an arc of yellow fire forward, using Zhao's own fire stream to further fuel it. The fireballs landed a few meters behind the commander and basted him right through the arc of flames. Zhao came to a roll and stood up but Zokai quickly propelled himself forward and grabbed Zhao's arm and judo flipped him back into the floor. Iroh came forward and congratulated Zokai for his techniques and Zuko was angry that he couldn't beat up the commander himself. Zuko patted Zokai on the shoulder and walked past. "We still don't have much time. We need to go now." Zhao stood back up and Zokai almost expected him to attack his back like in the show. But the commander only laughed. "Good, now I know what I'm up against." Zokai smiled as he was still holding back his fire power. Zokai followed Zuko, with Iroh right behind, back to their now fixed ship and they sailed off.

While Zokai was wondering if he should fly back and pick up the shirt he left on the ground, Iroh asked him to do some sparring with Zuko. So that's how they spent their time. Training Zuko to better his firebending skills. Like most firebenders, Zuko used his rage to fuel his flame. He mainly ignored Iroh's advice and Zokai couldn't even try. But, Zuko was still slightly improving. After a few days, a detour for Iroh's Lotus piece for his Pai Sho game, they made a landfall on Earth Kingdom territory.

"It's like an onsen, just not hot yet." Zokai ran over to a few pools of water. Zuko stomped over as Iroh jumped in. "Is this all you guys do, waste time!" Zokai looked at Iroh relaxing in the pool and back at Zuko. "Well we've been sailing for a while so we were just going to-" Zuko blew fire from his mouth. "Fine, 45 minutes and we're leaving." Iroh sighed and began to relax while Zuko walked away. Zokai had suggested they go for the northern water tribe to intercept Aang but Zuko wanted to follow him and capture him as soon as possible. Zokai liked Zuko and the development he had in the story but he had forgotten how annoying he could actually be. Iroh also seemed to give less proverbs than usual. Either the show just happened to show him always saying wise words, but over the course of 3 years, the proverbs came less and less. Maybe Zokai being there made it so that Zuko no longer only had his uncle to rely on for support.

Zokai decided to do some scouting so he flew overhead and looked to the surrounding area to see if the Team Avatar had been here. While flying he began to question his role with Zuko and the story. He mainly followed the prince's orders to keep him from always being angry or even distrusting him and gave advice when necessary. But Zokai wasn't wise like Uncle Iroh. Zokai liked to fight, and an exciting fight was all he needed. Of course he wouldn't just go randomly beating people up. Alas he could only wait and see how his interactions with the rest of the characters go. If he were to join Fire Lord Ozai, the Fire Nation would probably step on the Avatar. But plot armor was pretty strong and going against the protagonist Aang, the boy would either miraculously survive or fuck Zokai up and take away his bending. After flying for an hour, he decided to head back. Flying back at full speed he made it back in just a few minutes to find the old man missing. If he remembered correctly, the wise man had gotten kidnapped. Having prior knowledge of important events was just too useful. Otherwise he would have assumed they went back to the ship.

Zokai flew down the trail and saw Iroh's sandal he was supposed to leave already gone. That meant Zuko was on his way to help as well. Zokai ran further down the road and came to a stop at what looked like a dried up sinkhole. Zuko had just saved Iroh from having his arms crushed by 5 earthbenders. Zokai jumped down and sent out a ring of purple fire. Iroh and Zuko easily hopped over it but the flames exploded in front of the earthbenders, sending them into the walls. Zokai had a reputation for brutality. Like using the air in someone's lungs to ignite a fire and burn them from the inside out, but for now, immobilizing the enemy was just as well.

The earthbenders began their own flurry of attacks by hurlings rocks and boulders. They did well dodging and Iroh even destroyed some attacks with his chained arms. One of the earthbenders lifted a large boulder over his head and seemed to be struggling. Zokai took his chance, and like he was firing a Kamehameha, he blasted the rock with dark purple flames melting it onto the poor earthbender. So much for just immobilizing. Everyone looked in horror at the man writhing in the lava, melting. The earthbenders all shifted their focus on Zokai and began to barrage him with attacks. Iroh began holding Zuko back to let him fight by himself. Zokai dodged their rocks and ran to the captain. He tried to pull up a wall to block the monster's path but the boy just vaulted over it and kicked the captain in the face, knocking him out. Zokai shot fire out of both his fists and mouth and engulfed the last three earthbenders in orange flames. "Zokai!" Iroh yelled, grabbing his hands and stopping the fire. Although the fire wasn't touching them, the earthbenders had passed out from fear and one even pissed himself. Iroh released Zokai's arms and he was definitely angry. "How long have I taught you control over your fire Zokai? With the heat of your flames you can accidentally cause unnecessary damage and now look at what you've done." He gestured to the earthbender covered in molten rock, which was beginning to cool and harden.

Although Zokai felt no real remorse, he did try feel bad for the guy that had to die like that. It also looked like Zuko was a little scared of him. Both Iroh and Zuko walked past him and back towards their ship. Zokai took another look at the dead earthbender. If Zuko and Iroh began comparing him to Ozai and Azula, putting them in the category of bad guys. he would hate himself, and could possibly be hated. How could he join Team Avatar when the one they mistrust distrust him because of his aggression. Zokai knew he'd have to go back and do breathing exercises with Iroh again. He hated the fact he always had to hold back because of the heat of his flames, how could he get through when someone strong was trying to actually kill him. Holding back wasn't going to help him stay alive. He waited a few moments and flew back to the ship.