Overwhelming Skill (2)

A while ago.

Zuko was training with his men on the deck of their warship, preparing himself for his eventual encounter with the Avatar.

It was his only chance to regain his honor as a prince of the Fire Nation.

It was his only chance to go back to what he was before.

He had to defeat the Avatar and bring him to his father.

Zhooooo!

His feet were boosted by fire as he kicked towards the soldier in front of him, launching the guy to the left.

He then propelled himself a little towards the second one and fought the soldier without using firebending this time.

With a final blow to the chin, Zuko stopped as he gathered his breath.

As he was resting, a flare shot up in the sky, shining brightly. It caught his attention since it was mostly used by the Fire Nation navy in case of emergencies such as calling for reinforcements or if the ship was sinking.

"Is there any fleet close to where we are right now?"

"There's no one, Prince Zuko. As far as I know, the closest fleet to us right now is Captain Zhao's fleet, and they are not stationed here."

Zuko suddenly had an odd feeling.

He quickly ran towards the telescope on the deck and put his eye to it.

He directed it to the position of the flare, and there it was—the person he was trying to hunt all this time, jumping around a warship using his airbending.

The Avatar also had a woman with him, wearing clothes usually worn by people of the Water Tribe.

He broadened his telescope further and looked at where the Avatar was going, and saw a small camp not far from their position.

"Go wake up my uncle! Tell him that I found the Avatar..."

"Understood, Prince."

I knew something like this was gonna happen.

A ship was making its way towards us, and there's no way I wouldn't know which nation this warship came from.

I grabbed a spear made of bone from my side and prepared myself.

Skill: Weapon Mastery Lv. 6

I can guarantee that I could defeat a normal soldier easily but not an experienced bender. There's still a massive gap between a non-bender and a bender, even if the non-bender trains for his whole life.

However, I have to try since I'm the only warrior in this camp, and a warrior doesn't run away from fear, especially when protecting the people you care about.

That's right.

I'm a warrior.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and faced the massive Fire Nation warship.

Its massive metal door was slowly opening, revealing a group of soldiers wearing menacing helmets slowly descending towards us.

I turned to the back and smiled.

"Cover the eyes of the kids, please."

One of the kids who looked scared spoke to me.

"Can you win, Sokka?"

"I will win."

He smiled, feeling reassured. It might be because of the display I've shown before that they trust my words.

"Where are you hiding him?"

The leader walked forward and looked at me directly.

"We are not hiding anyone here, so leave."

He didn't seem convinced by what I said, so he looked around with a mad expression.

"Avatar! Reveal yourself!! Have you not had enough hiding?! Reveal yourself here, or I will destroy this... camp."

My eyes widened when I heard the word "Avatar."

Has that person not died yet? I've heard he was the only person who could make the world peaceful, yet he was nowhere to be found.

The Avatar vanished for 100 years now, and he's certainly not going to appear in our... small... camp...

My face showed a surprised expression once again.

'Could it be Aang?'

There's a 50/50 chance that he is, but I'm willing to bet that he isn't. He doesn't look like the 100-year-old I imagine in my head right now.

"Aha! The Avatar is really here! Reveal yourself, or I will hurt everyone here!"

I frowned as I looked at him.

I extended the spear in my hand towards him and spoke.

"Fight me and promise that you will leave after I defeat you."

"I don't need to fight a non-bender. Show me where the Avatar is!"

His hand started flaming as his expression continued to worsen.

Seeing that he wouldn't take me seriously, I attacked first with speed and precision. I slashed horizontally, fully using the long length of my spear just enough to cut his armor plate, revealing his chest skin.

He was dumbfounded as he touched his chest.

He then looked at me with a hateful expression, as if I took something precious away from him.

"You... What's your name?"

"It's Sokka, what's your name?"

"Zuko. I will fight you. Defeat me, and I shall leave this camp alone."

We then faced each other properly this time. I allowed him to change his armor since I attacked him unguarded a while ago.

We faced each other down, waiting for something to happen.

I didn't wait any longer and attacked. My spear sprang to action as I slashed horizontally again, and this time, Zuko was able to dodge by squatting.

Zuko's fist was engulfed in fire as it made its way towards me. I parried his fist with the back of my spear and kicked him in the head.

At the last second, he was able to block it with his arms, but that wasn't enough, and he was thrown back by the impact.

Zuko stood up quickly and propelled himself towards me using firebending. He kicked with a force supported by his firebending. It's guaranteed that I would be injured if I was hit by that, but that's an 'if' situation.

My improved reflexes sprang to action as my body automatically dodged the kick. I counterattacked by punching him in the chest, and he was sent flying again.

I quickly ran towards him and slammed the shaft of my spear directly to his chest. Zuko coughed as the impact greatly hurt him.

I spun the spear around a little before placing the blade of it on Zuko's neck.

"I win."

Zuko, in rage, slammed his fist on the floor.

I let him stand up, and he walked towards his men with his head low. A fatty was also there, wearing a simple smile despite their leader's defeat.

Zuko didn't leave without saying anything.

He looked back and stared at me directly in the eyes.

"This doesn't mean that our battle ends here. And you too, Avatar! I will leave this camp alone, but that doesn't mean you're safe outside!"

They soon left, and I could finally sigh in relief after they left. Truth to be told, I wasn't sure he would keep his promise, but luckily, he did.

"Sokka, you were able to make them leave! I was worried!"

Katara hugged me while the kids jumped around me, shouting praises.

"I did it, everyone! I was able to protect us... I can finally call myself a real warrior!"

Gran-Gran looked at me with a smile.

"Sokka, you've always been a warrior for us."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That was awesome, Sokka!"

Suddenly, I heard Aang's voice.