Chapter 22

"It's my fault," Katara confessed, having learned about the incident. "Yesterday, I convinced Haru to use his earthbending to save an old man trapped under rubble from a collapsed mine. And that old man told the Fire Nation soldiers about Haru."

I stood at the entrance to the barn, watching this scene unfold, while contemplating what to do.

Ideally, we should just move on, but... I felt sorry for Haru. No, it wasn't that I had grown particularly fond of him, but he reminded me of myself and my brother. He did exactly as we did, trying to train his bending in secret. Our initial circumstances were somewhat different. However, he still reminded me of us, and I couldn't shake off that thought.

"Ah, to hell with it!" I shouted, kicking a stone. Unintentionally using earthbending, I launched it flying at high speed. "Wait here!"

I wasn't sure if they would listen, but I had things to do.

Rushing back to the village, I reached the house where I had tracked the Fire Nation soldiers.

The door was locked, but I didn't need it opened.

Standing a few meters away from the door, I stomped on the ground and tore a boulder from the earth, which I hurled at the door. It was metal, and the stone, not thrown with much force, only left a dent.

I had launched two more stones when the door finally opened, and Fire Nation soldiers and benders came rushing out.

"Give me back my father! You took him! Return him!" I yelled, but Fire Nation soldiers quickly approached me, grabbed my arms, twisted them behind my back, and prevented me from moving.

"Well, well, well! Another earthbender! Perfect, the ship is about to sail; you'll be joining your father very soon."

I hung my head low as they led me away to a building, gave me a brown robe, and then took me to the docks. There, five other people in similar robes were waiting. Without much delay, I, along with the other earthbenders, as I understood them to be, were taken aboard the ship.

The journey was short, and in about an hour and a half, we disembarked onto a sort of barge or platform, where we were met by what seemed like an honor guard led by an officer, distinguishable by his uniform, which was significantly different from the soldiers', and I had met officers before to recognize them on sight.

"Dear earthbenders, you are now prisoners of my prison. But, you know, I prefer to think of you not as prisoners but as honored guests in my house, where I, as a gracious host, welcome you. And naturally, all I require is your respect and honor in return. I do hope we understand each other."

We were led across the metal barge-station to a large metal wall, through gates we passed. Along the way, the warden continued to speak.

"As you might have noticed, this entire place is made of metal, and the nearest land is many miles away, so attempting to escape is futile. Now, make yourselves at home."

With these words, we were taken through the opened passage. On the other side of the wall was a wide open space that led directly into the ocean, where many people were gathered.

Quickly scanning the crowd, I approached a person I recognized.

"Hey, Haru, how's life treating you? Enjoying the resort?" I asked the young man. He turned around sharply and stared at me with wide eyes.

"You?" was all he could ask.

"Yes, me. Sorry I never got around to introducing myself. My name is Freo, and I've come to save you all."

"Seriously?" he asked, skeptical.

"Well, to be honest, I came here just for you, but nothing stops me from helping the other prisoners. For company's sake, you might say."

"I didn't expect this from you."

"Believe me, Haru, this is the first... no, the third time in my life I've done something out of a sense of duty, showing my slight altruism. So, I suggest you take advantage of my current mood and listen to me. Now, introduce me to the leader here if you've already met him. I need to ask him something."

Haru nodded.

"Of course, let's go!"

We approached a small group of prisoners. Among them stood out an old man of large build, with thick gray hair and an even thicker beard.

"Meet Freo, this is my father. He has been here for many years..."

"Pleased to meet you. It seems you hold some authority among the prisoners? That's good because could you ask everyone to gather together?"

"Hello. You must be one of Haru's new friends he mentioned. Yes, people tend to listen to me here, but I have no real power, so I can't give orders."

"I'm not asking you to order anyone around. How you gather everyone in one place is of no concern to me. But it's important for their own safety and well-being. Understand me correctly, I came here as an earthbender, though born a waterbender, to free Haru. However, seeing you all here, I thought I might free you as well. But I won't overly exert myself.

Meet the minimum requirements, and by this evening, you'll be on land, not in the middle of the ocean."

"But will you have enough strength? You are..." the elder began, but I cut him off. I seem to have luck with elders lately.

"I'll have enough strength. This vessel is in the ocean. And I'm a waterbender. Well... there are some complications. But you needn't worry about that."

"Why gather everyone in one place, though? It will upset the warden."

"I want to protect you from a stray spark."

I moved closer to the edge of the metal barge, closer to the water, and waited, watching the unfolding events. Meanwhile, Haru's father went from one prisoner to another, whispering something to them. Haru did the same on his side.

Gradually, people began to move towards me, stopping close by. I glanced at the wall where the firebenders and the warden were. He looked on, frowning slightly but not intervening. In his view, there was no danger here! After all, earthbenders without earth... are helpless, as firebenders believe. And waterbenders without water. Only I had already disproved this notion once, having escaped from a prison that was supposedly perfect for containing a strong and experienced waterbender.

Soon, all the prisoners were roughly in one spot. It would be easier for me this way.

Haru and his father approached me under the gaze of everyone else.

"Freo, what now?"

"And now..." I closed my eyes, concentrated, and spread my arms with palms up. Though I train in gesture-free bending, these "parasitic movements" sometimes help with concentration, making the task easier. "Wait here!"

With those words, a huge column of water rose from the ocean, arched over us twenty meters high, and flew straight towards us. But instead of crashing down on people and metal, it hit an invisible dome that quickly enveloped everyone, then rapidly turned into ice. The ice's thickness grew from the still-coming ocean water, stopping only after reaching a two-meter-thick dome.

Without another word, I walked towards one side of the dome and passed through the ice effortlessly, which instantly turned to water around me and then refroze behind me. I emerged from the ice to find the firebenders and soldiers, led by the warden, ready for battle.

"So, you're not an earthbender... planning an escape? And what now? There are thirty benders here and over a hundred soldiers. Think you can handle that?" the warden asked with a smug smile.

"Once, a far greater number of benders and soldiers were sent after me, but, as far as I know, barely fifteen people survived out of the two hundred and fifty who came. Why do you think you'll succeed where a much larger force failed?"

The warden's face lost its smugness, his hands dropped slightly, and now he looked at me with fear in his eyes.

"Ch-ch-chimamim Monsuta?" he asked with a trembling voice.

"Oh! So that's how I'm known to you. The Blood Monster. Well, not bad. I like it. But enough talk."

I raised my hand, and the warden was lifted into the air, standing at attention, before his arms were twisted at unnatural angles.

A slight movement of my fingers, and the sound of multiple bones breaking echoed through the warden's body.

"You know, a human body contains about two hundred and six bones. Just now, your chief felt what it's like to break a hundred and twenty of them in an instant. Heh-heh-heh. It's quite strange from the outside looking in that you're not even trying to attack. But I understand. This happens sometimes when people witness extreme cruelty towards someone close to them, a good friend, or a leader. You involuntarily project all the pain they're experiencing onto yourself, and it paralyzes you. His pain was more than enough for me, as you see, to explain all this and only after a few seconds will the first of you start to attack me."

As I finished my sentence, the first firebender launched a fireball at me, followed by several more in quick succession.

This acted as a trigger, and the other firebenders began to hurl their fireballs at me continuously. However, a bit of ice flowed towards me and shielded me, and in the next second, I charged at maximum speed towards the nearest firebenders. The fireballs flew past me, and those meant to hit were either deflected or met with ice.

Reaching my first victim, I swung my hand and, within a second, the bender was cleaved in two, bleeding profusely.

The warden's body, still under my control, was thrown at the nearest firebenders, knocking them down unexpectedly.

I reached the second bender. He extended his fist and unleashed a continuous stream of fire at me, but water encased me in a cocoon, shielding me from the fire. I fell and slid on the metal right to the bender's feet. A heel strike and the sound of a breaking kneecap.

Rising to my feet, I sent a couple of dozen ice spikes at the soldiers with a kick, thinning their ranks by another handful.

A control heel strike to the nose of the fallen bender drove his nasal bones into his brain, killing him.

The soldiers gathered more tightly, understanding they were easy prey alone, with benders stepping forward to protect them, but...

"I'm still not great at this, but I couldn't pass up such an opportunity!"

Encased in ice armor, I ran straight at the defending firebenders, ignoring the flames, constantly using bending to maintain the ice's low temperature. Reaching them, all the ice on me turned to water and surged towards a bender, encasing him and providing me a foothold.

With one step, I climbed onto the ice, with another I stepped on the bender's head, pushed off, and heard the crunch of his neck breaking as I soared high above the soldiers. Smiling, I concentrated, and flames ignited in my hands. Another moment in the air, and a massive wave of fire engulfed the closely gathered soldiers. Landing among the soldiers, I continued to unleash fire in all directions. Guided by my blood sense, I grabbed people and pulled them into the fire, where they began to scream in agony, and the deck echoed with the cries of those burning alive.

The fire dispersed, not without the help of the surviving firebenders, and I could see the current situation. Only thirteen benders remained, and about twenty soldiers, no more, the rest either dead or now burning and suffering in the flames.

"Well, guys, things don't look so rosy now, do they?" I asked the survivors. I could literally feel their fear of me. "Don't worry, you'll soon follow them!"

I gathered all the blood spilled on the deck and extracted from the dead bodies, forming it into a sphere above me. With a forward flick of my hand, the blood turned into several tendrils, spiraling at high speed towards the firebenders and soldiers.

But all my plans were disrupted by the sudden arrival of Aang from above, who, with a swing of his staff, created a powerful air wave that knocked down and swept away the bloody tendrils.

"Freo! Stop! There's no need to kill anyone!" Aang shouted, with Appa landing somewhat behind him.

From there, overlooking the battlefield, Katara appeared to be on the verge of sickness, and Sokka looked visibly disturbed.

"Aang! Stay out of this! This isn't your concern!" I yelled back at him.

Actually, it was the perfect moment for the firebenders to attack the Avatar, but none of them even considered it.

"No! This is our concern too! Stop, Freo! You've already killed so many. Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"Me? Bothered by killing? Aang, over the years, killing has become as natural to me as using airbending is for you. I don't kill without reason! These firebenders held the earthbenders prisoner here, on these metal plates! Do you think they deserve to live? Don't interfere, for your own good!"

"Freo, please, calm down!" Katara cried out to me.

"I am calm! Completely! But I don't understand why Aang fails to see that we're at war, after all! Those benders and soldiers behind you are enemies. And it's customary to kill enemies in war!"

"We're not going to kill anyone!" Aang aimed his staff at me.

"Is that so?" I asked, looking at the others.

Sokka drew his boomerang, ready to throw it at me.

"Looks like we won't come to a peaceful agreement... then I'll end this quickly."

Raising my hand, I concentrated. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then I clenched my fist and all the benders simultaneously clutched their chests, feeling immense pain as their hearts burst.

I directed my hand towards the remaining soldiers, focusing on their blood, but got distracted.

"Freo! No!" Aang ran towards me.

With a bit of concentration, Aang was also lifted into the air. I didn't plan to kill him, so I simply took control of his blood, which was much easier and faster than rupturing the heart. The Fire Nation soldiers scattered, but within the confines of the wall and a bit beyond, they couldn't hide from me!

Again, I was forced to divert my attention, creating an ice wall to protect myself from Sokka's thrown boomerang.

I focused on one of the soldiers and clenched my fist. Another corpse.

Suddenly, my strength started to drain at an alarming rate. Looking at the only one I was constantly expending energy on, namely Aang, I saw him in a new form.

Aang, suspended in the air, now radiated immense power; his eyes, wide open at this moment, shone with a white light, and along with them, his arrow tattoos also glowed with the same light. And from him, I felt an overwhelming force that literally suppressed everything!

"Damn it..."

The blood control slipped away. I simply couldn't maintain control over his blood.

Realization that I was in trouble came instantly, and now I focused on Aang. Doubtful he still considered me a friend at this moment.

A powerful air blast aimed at me, which I barely dodged, but saw the aftermath. The blast stripped the metal sheets from the barge and carried them far into the ocean.

Stabilizing my stance, I controlled water and sent icy needles towards Aang, which he immediately controlled and sent back at me. I took control of them again, steering them behind me, and followed with a powerful fire stream, immediately sending a small, two-centimeter steam ball behind it. Aang dispersed the fire, but the steam ball successfully hit his face and exploded on impact.

 This time, the attack was successful, and Aang was forcefully blown away by the explosion, clearly against his will.

But he didn't land. He was surrounded by a sphere of rapidly spinning air that kept him aloft.

Aang looked at me with his glowing eyes, directing his left palm towards me, and with his other hand, he made a circular motion and smoothly ran it along his extended arm.

Instantly, a stream of air flew towards me, sweeping away everything in its path: bodies, blood, water, weapons. EVERYTHING!

Quickly adapting, I created ice mantis-like blades from water, which I used to pierce the metal plates and anchor myself, feeling almost immediately the force nearly ripping my arm off due to the sudden pull.

This ice, the only thing keeping me from being blown into the ocean, as the rest of my body flailed in the direction of the powerful wind.

However, this didn't last long. Ignoring the hurricane wind he himself had created, Aang appeared beside me, his face twisted in anger, and created fire in his hand, which he immediately hurled at me.

The first hit targeted the icy anchorage, shattering it instantly, and then a second blow struck my chest.

I was swept away by both the impact and the wind, enduring severe strain and pain from the hit, and my arm was severely affected. After such a rapid and brief battle with the Avatar, I simply had no strength left. My head spun, and my vision was filled with colorful circles, indicating several broken ribs, a severe and extensive burn...

...I couldn't think further. The ocean's surface approached. I didn't even have the strength to soften my landing.

The impact, and then darkness...

******

The young man's body, with a huge burn and blood flowing from his mouth, slowly sank under the water. He was drowning, unconscious. His face submerged under water, and air from his mouth and nose began to escape upward in bubbles.

Subsequent searches by the revived Avatar and his friends yielded nothing. They couldn't dive under the water to continue the search.

Meanwhile, the body they were looking for hung suspended underwater. It was very deep here, deep enough that nothing could be seen. Light didn't reach this depth.

Time passed, and nothing happened. This could have been the end of the story of Freo, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that the burn was gone, and if someone could conduct a full examination of the body, they would notice that all the cells were in a state of complete hibernation, yet the broken ribs were healed, not even a scar remained! And in the complete darkness of the deep and cold ocean, a faint glow emanated from the body.

Suddenly, in the deep ocean waters, a sound of impact was heard, followed by another. The impacts repeated over and over, and then Freo opened his eyes, with bubbles of air quickly rising from his mouth. Bubbles kept emerging from Freo's mouth and nose, but the air in his lungs never ended, completely displacing the water.

He began to ascend...