6 Training day with a Beifong (part 1)
(Three days later).
It was still early in the morning and Republic City was already alive. A police car with the logo of the Republic City police plastered on the sides of the car stopped in front of a huge building, that looked like your standard Earth kingdom building, which was compromised with geometric shapes. It had numerous entrances and windows lining the exterior. Domes and steeples adorned the top of the building, supported by huge pillars. It was the headquarters of the Republic City Police.
The door of the police car opened and a woman wearing armor that was gray, and the outlines were a sort of gold color, and a logo of the Republic city police on the right side of her armor appeared out of it. Her pants were a bit baggy and had metal boots that reached up to her shins. She had a very Stoic expression and an aura of discipline and pride. Her hair was a bit gray colored, but she still looked very beautiful for her age. She also had a scar on the left side of her face that she received when she was younger.
She walked up the stairs of the building and glanced at a metal statue of the former Chief of the Police force, Toph Beifong, Lin's mother. It stood on a pedestal high above the main entrance of the building. She had a mixed expression when she looked at the statue of her mother, But she continued walking on.
She was inside the building, and while she was heading towards the detainment cells, where Kai was, the officers greeted her as she walked by.
"Good morning, Chief Beifong!".
"Morning, Chief Beifong!".
"Good morning, Chief!".
She nodded in return, as they greeted her. She went up the stairs and was walking, with two members of the Metalbending police force behind her. She went past the interrogation rooms, where she had met Kai in one of them, and went straight to the area where they held the detainees.
"Three days went by. I wonder how he's holding up", She thought.
While she was on her way, two officers were standing by the entrance to the detainment cells, bored out their minds, playing a game of rock, paper, scissors.
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!", yelled out the officers, while showing their fists toward each other.
"Ha! Paper beats rock!", voiced out one of the officers in a mocking tone.
"Aw, man! How come you always win? Alright, let's do it again!". Complained the other officer, who had lost for the fourth time.
The two placed their fist in position again and looked at each other with sheer focus. They narrowed their eyes and tried to read what the other was going to show. They put their fist in the air and shouted in unison, "Rock, paper, scissor, shoo--".
"What are you two doing?". A voice suddenly snapped them both out of their game and saw two members of the Metalbending police force and the Chief of the police standing in front of them with confused expressions.
"Chief Beifong!", they shouted in unison.
"Uh, we...weren't doing anything, Chief".
They immediately returned to their respective positions and were acting like nothing ever happened. She shook her head lightly and asked them to open the door, which they immediately did. The three then made their way inside the area and walked to the detainment cell, where Kai and an unlucky cellmate were being held.
She arrived at the cell, and she and the other officers were suddenly stumped at what they were witnessing. They saw Kai, who was just lying on the bed, reading a book, while the other was just standing in the corner of the cell, with his back turned. Lin had many thoughts going through her mind and was asking herself what had happened in the last three days. She turned to the two officers behind her for answers, but they were also confused at what they were watching.
Kai, who was silently reading a book, that he got from one of the guards yesterday, noticed three shadows on the floor of the cell. He turned around and saw Lin and two other officers standing in front of the cell. He immediately closed his book and hurriedly hid it under the bed. He then jumped right up and greeted them, "Good morning, Teacher, officers".
They were a bit taken aback at the way Kai was acting. He was greeting them with a happy smile and was totally ignoring the man behind him.
"Morning, kid. You ready?". asked Lin
"Ready as I'll ever be, Teach".
They opened the cell and retrieved Kai and the other, who for some reason was desperately trying to avoid him.
"Hey! Remember what we talked about yesterday, ya got me?", pointed Kai at him. The guy nodding rapidly.
"Alright. Carry on, then".
Seeing the man's reaction, Lin couldn't help, but ask Kai what had happened in those three days, "What happened between you two?".
Kai just looked at Lin, who was curious. He sighed and looked upwards and was reminiscing what happened on the first day.
"Well…".
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"I GOT YOUR ASS NOW! HAHAHA, HAHAHA!!!!", Laughed Kai maniacally, while the other was crying out for help.
"SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!".
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"*Sigh*, we just talked things out", said Kai calmly, while Lin was looking at him, wondering what really happened in those three days, but she let it go after a while.
They walked out of the detainment area, along with several officers, and headed towards the roof of the building, where a huge airship was waiting. They arrived at the roof, where a couple of officers of the Metalbending police force were waiting for them by the airship.
A cable lowered down in front of Kai, which he grabbed onto, while Lin and the other officers used their metal cables to hoist themselves into the airship. Kai watched them as they did so and was smiling like a little kid on christmas eve. He was hoisted up after and mumbled, "That was pretty Badass".
Arriving inside the airship, Kai was exploring every inch of it. He was also admiring Republic City, looking down from the cockpit and was filled with excitement and joy. Lin watched as Kai behaved like a little kid inside the cockpit and was slightly amused at his reactions to every single thing that caught his eye.
Lin was deep in thought, while she was observing Kai, who was still preoccupied. She was always described as a bitter loner and 'challenging', because of her past personal relationships going awry, which caused her to put up barriers to shield herself from the pain. But then she came across this kid, Kai.
Seeing him reminded her of someone when she was a teenager, who had also a lot of potential and talent but wasted it. She was afraid that he would make the same mistakes. So she made a decision that would quite possibly change her and maybe break down the barriers she put up her whole life.
While she was deep in her thoughts, a voice then suddenly brought Lin out of it and looked at Kai, who was standing in front of her.
"Hey, Teach!", called out Kai
"What is it?", she asked very straightforwardly.
"Are you good? You were a bit out of it".
"I'm fine, kid. We're almost there".
It didn't take long when they finally arrived at a huge training establishment, which was located on a small mountain, a little outside of Republic City. The facility had a typical Earth kingdom architecture, mixed with a little modern design. The field in the middle was very large and open, with a few small trees in the corner.
The airship stopped in front of the gate, and they repelled down. He and Lin walked toward the large gates that were opened up by the guards. Upon entering, there were a few guards walking around the place, the huge walls that surrounded them, which was also accompanied by guards, and a large traditional Earth kingdom house all the way to the back.
Kai and Lin were walking side by side to the center of the field. Lin stopped and Kai was standing in front.
"Alright, so, what will we do today?", Asked Kai enthusiastically.
Ignoring his excitement, she explained with a serious expression, "We will start from the beginning. Starting with standard Earthbending techniques, exercises, and complete mastery over neutral Jing. Do you know what that means?".
Kai could still recall the episode with King Bumi when he explained, Neutral Jing, to Aang, and responded, "Neutral Jing is, uh, the key to Earthbending. It involves listening and waiting, before striking. I'm I, right?".
"That's right. Listening to the Earth allows an Earthbender to calculate their surroundings and attack your enemies with precision", Lin added.
After walking for a few moments, they stopped in the middle of the field. Lin turned towards Kai, who eagerly waited for the training to begin. She put her hands behind her back and spoke, "Alright, before we start, I want you to warm up first".
"Ok!", answered Kai.
Lin nodded, and she stomped on the ground, creating a small crater under her feet. A medium-sized boulder sprang from the ground and floated over to Kai. The boulder then dropped into Kai's arms almost knocking him over. It took him a moment to balance himself.
"I want you to run 5 laps around the whole field with it", she ordered Kai.
"You want me to what?!", called out Kai, as he stuck his head to the side of the boulder.
"Did I stutter? I said, run around the field in 5 laps!", she repeated, but in a firmer tone.
"B-but--", Kai stammered.
"NOW!!".
(30 minutes later).
*Pant* *pant* *pant*
Kai was on the ground, practically dying to catch his breath. His entire body was drenched in sweat, while Lin was standing there with her usual Stoic expression and her hands behind her back, looking down on him.
"Alright, kid, get up! Let's get on with the training".
She took a bucket of cold water that was beside her and splashed it over Kai, who immediately got back up, and wiped his face. She then walked out into the field and created two earth walls. She called out one of the guards and ordered him to cover his body with rocks. The guard nodded and brought his arms to his chest and pieces of rock came to him, and stuck to his body like a magnet.
Lin turned to Kai and explained, "This is called rock armor. Now what I want you to do is to push him to the boundary that I've drawn, ok?".
Seeing the training, he was suddenly reminded of something, and asked, "Wait, uh, Teach? Question? Is this the same training that--".
"Yes", Lin interjected.
"This is the same training my mother used to help the late Avatar Aang to do Earthbending. She told me about it when I was very young, so I'm gonna use the same training that she did, to train you",
Kai listened as Lin explained the reason, and was basically dying of happiness inside. This made him even more pumped up.
"Now, begin!".
Kai was suddenly snapped back from his happy thoughts and a statue was flying toward him with great speed.
"Oh, fu--".
*BAM!*.
(The next morning).
The sun shone beautifully over the horizon. Republic City was shining like a diamond, and you could see the sea stretching, as far as the eye can see. Up on a small mountain, outside of republic city, in a beautiful house. A boy was sleeping soundly on his warm, fluffy bed. The birds sang a beautiful melody, that satisfied the boy's ears. He felt like he could sleep forever…
When suddenly…
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
"Aaahhh! What in the--".
Kai, who was sleeping like a baby after the harsh training that he received yesterday from his teacher, Lin Beifong, was suddenly woken up by a loud banging next to his bed. He jumped up from his bed in fright and landed face first on the ground.
He opened his eyes, looked up, and saw a tough-looking woman standing over him with a large metal bucket and a ladle.
"Get up, kid! No oversleeping on my watch!".
She walked out the room, leaving kai still on the ground.
"Ugh, I hate Mondays".
