Chapter 6: Meeting the Enemy

Jon allowed himself to linger in the hug for a moment before stepping free of it. He felt a rush of shame and embarrassment. For lying to them. For being a bastard. He glanced back at Katara who was looking back at him with her bright, blue eyes.

She took a step closer to him, moving past the basket she had placed on the floor when she hugged him. "Jon, I promise it will be okay." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

You can't be certain of that. He thought. Though Katara, Sokka and Aang may not care about his bastardy others might. The name Snow may mean nothing in this world but that doesn't mean his bastardy would be accepted everywhere. "I'm sorry that I lied to you." He told her solemnly. He'd been stupid to try and hide from who he was.

Katara looked as if she was about to say something else to try and reassure him but she was interrupted before she could.

"Um, are you guys okay?" An uncertain voice asked from behind Katara.

Jon looked to see Aang standing behind the Water tribe girl. Katara turned so she could face the young Avatar, her hand dropping from his shoulder. "We're fine. We were just talking about something." She assured Aang.

Jon moved to stand by Katara's side. Aang looked back and forth between the two of them, still seemingly uncertain. "Well, I was wondering if you both wanted to come with me and the girls. I promised them a ride on Appa. It'll be fun!" He told them both, speaking more cheerfully.

As much as Jon did enjoy flying, at the moment he was in no mood to do so. "No, thank you Aang." Jon reached down and picked up the supplies filled basket. "I'll carry this back to the room, if you wish to go with him." Jon told Katara. Jon found himself hoping that she would. He did not want to continue the discussion of his bastardy any further and though Katara would undoubtedly mean well, her reassurances would not be that reassuring.

Unfortunately Katara did not wish to go either. "Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun." She told Aang, irritated at the very thought of it.

Jon looked towards the statue of Kyoshi, behind Aang. Around its base stood the same group of girls that had been following Aang all day. They were all waiting impatiently for young monk to return.

"Well, what you and Jon have been doing doesn't seem like fun." Aang argued.

"We've been collecting supplies for our trip. I told you, we have to leave Kyoshi soon." Katara replied.

"I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet." Aang said mournfully. "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I really like about this place." He put one hand under his chin in thought as one of his admires called out to him.

"What's taking you so long, Aangy?" The voice belonged to a small girl who stood at the front of the crowd of girls. She stood with her hands on her hips and stomped her foot in annoyance.

"Aangy?" Katara questioned flatly.

Aang was about to turn to answer the girl when Jon spoke up. "Aang, we have what we need. We must leave." He told the younger boy. Jon understood why the Aang would wish to stay on Kyoshi but he was the Avatar and from what Jon had been told of it that meant he had duties.

Aang, however, did not seem to realise this. "We don't have to leave yet." The boy insisted. "Oyagi won't mind if we stay a little longer."

"That's not the point Aang." Katara said sternly. "I thought you promised me that this Avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head."

"It didn't." Again replied, though it was clear to Jon it most certainly had. "You know what I think? You just don't want to come because you're jealous." Aang replied with a smug certainty.

"Jealous? Of what?" Katara asked, angry at the very suggestion.

"Jealous that we're having so much fun without you." Aang stepped back out of Katara's way as she busied herself by snatching up some vegetables from the stall that they were in front of.

"That's ridiculous." Katara said as she shoved the vegetables into the basket Jon was carrying, nearly knocking it out of his hands.

"It is a little ridiculous, but I understand." Aang said sweetly.

Anger flashed across Katara's face as she stared at Aang, she groaned in frustration before turning and walking back to the room.

Jon would have said something to Aang but before he could some of the girls from the group came and dragged him off, having grown tired of waiting. They were gone before he could say anything and he would not chase Aang around while he was still carrying the basket. He won't go far. Jon assured himself as he began his walk back to their room. They did not have to leave at that very moment, they still had to pack everything away and find Sokka. Once Aang returned with Appa Jon would convince him that they must leave or at least that's what he hoped.

When Jon returned to the room he was greeted by an eager Ghost, who jumped up to welcome him back. Katara meanwhile offered no greeting, she simply remained seated on the floor next to the table while she practicing her waterbending with a bowl filled with water. She drew the water up and made it move with small gestures of her hand. He had seen her practice like this before in the short time they had travelled together, yet he found it no less entrancing.

Jon walked to the low table in the middle of the room and placed the basket he was carrying and his new sleeping bag, that he had been carrying slung across his shoulder, down on the table. "I'm going to find Sokka." Jon told Katara as he stood up straight again. Katara said nothing as she continued her practice. "Will you be alright if I leave you?" He asked.

"I'll be fine." She replied with a voice of forced calm, still not looking at him. It was clear she was still upset at Aang's words.

Jon wondered if he should say anything to her but decided there was nothing he could say. It was Aang's apology that she would want to hear. He was about to leave on his search when he remembered something else that they would need for their journey. The Kyoshi likely had wooden practice swords for sparing, if he could purchase two from them he would have something for himself and Sokka to practice with. He turned back to Katara. "I need to borrow the money. There is something else that we may need." He asked.

"Sure." She said, her eyes still fixed on the water as she tossed the purse onto the table.

Jon offered Katara a goodbye and gave Ghost another quick scratch behind the ear before leaving in search of Sokka. It did not take too long. The village was small and after asking one of the villagers Jon was directed towards another building that stood away from the rest of the village, which the villager called a Dojo.

Jon crunched his way across the snow covered ground towards the low roofed building. Inside Jon saw that the two of the Kyoshi warriors where already there, practicing their technique. It was only when he grew closer that Jon saw who it was. The one leading the session was the same girl that Jon had briefly fought on the beach. She dressed in the same manner as all the other Kyoshi warriors he had seen, except she wore a small gold head piece that distinguished her as their leader. The student she was training, Jon recognised as well.

"Sokka?" Jon asked in disbelief. Jon now stood in the doorway looking at Sokka. The older boy was dressed in the exact same manner as any other Kyoshi warrior, a dark green dress and white and red make-up.

"Hey, Jon." He said in casual greeting without a hint of shame.

Jon kept staring. "What are you doing?"

"Well, Suki's been teaching me her fighting style, so I had to wear their warrior's uniform." Sokka folded up the fan he had been using as a weapon and tucked it away into his belt. "See, look." He raised his arm to show Jon. "The silk threads symbolizes brave blood and the gold insignia is the honour in a warrior's heart." Sokka spoke with great pride as he pointed out the small details.

Jon looked to the Kyoshi warrior, Suki, who was gazing at them both in amusement. "You commanded him to dress like this, my lady?" Jon asked her.

The Kyoshi warrior gave him a look of slight confusion as her smile broadened. "He wanted me to teach him, so he has to follow are traditions." She chuckled softly. "All of our traditions."

Only this morning Sokka had been bemoaning his defeat by the Kyoshi warriors and now he had humbled himself and become their willing student, even agreeing to dress as they did. Jon doubted that he would be willing to do that himself. He did not doubt that a woman could be as fine a warrior as any man and he had no qualms about being taught by a women but being put in a dress. Jon wouldn't do that.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and remembered the reason he had come here to begin with. "Do you have any sparring swords you could spare, my lady?" Jon said, stepping in to the room from the doorway. The room was well lit with paintings, fans and weapons decorating the walls. "We'll have need to practice while we travel." He showed Suki the coin purse in a wordless offer of payment before suddenly realising that he wasn't sure how much he had. There were no gold dragons or silver stags in this world and he wasn't sure of the coinage either. He might not have enough to buy anything. Jon was quiet certain he was about to look the fool.

Luckily, Jon was saved any embarrassment. "You don't need to pay." Suki said, raising a hand in refusal of the money. "If it's to help friends of the Avatar I'm sure I can spare a couple of wooden swords."

"We only need two." He and Sokka where the only ones that would be using them.

Suki walked to a rack of weapons that hung from one of the walls. She picked up two practice swords and walked back to Jon. The swords appeared a bit smaller than he was used to and lacked a cross guard.

"Looks like you finally got those practice sword you love so much." Sokka remarked as he went back to practicing his movements.

"Here you go." Suki offered the wooden weapons to Jon.

"Thank you, my lady." He took the swords from her and examined them closer. The swords where lighter as well. They were not quite what he was use too but he supposed they would serve.

"The wolf is yours, right?" Suki spoke quiet suddenly. Jon looked up from the swords, meeting her eye. "Ila told me that you spoke to her last night." She said. "She said you came to apologise for what your wolf did."

Jon gave her a nod. "Aye. I did." He had gone to speak with Ila last night, the girl that Ghost had bitten. He'd found her with the healers, her arm and leg wrapped in clean, white bandages. Her make-up had been smeared and had run down her cheeks thanks to her tears. Jon had offered her an apology for her being wounded by Ghost but no matter how sorry he felt for her, he would not condemn the wolf for trying to protect them. She seemed to have accepted that, having told him she held no ill will against Jon himself. Though she had been irritated that she would be unable to return to the Kyoshi warriors for some time and held a clear disliking of Ghost. He wished her a swift recovery and spoke with her a short while before leaving.

"Thank you for going to apologise. It meant a lot to her." Suki spoke with sincerity. "I'd like to say sorry about yesterday as well. I didn't know that you were friends with the Avatar."

"Thank you but you were only defending your home." Jon answered.

She considered that for a moment. She glanced at the practice swords under his arm. "I was wondering. Yesterday, on the beach. You managed to draw your sword but you hesitated. Why?"

Though the truth might upset her, Jon could think of nothing else to tell her. "I did not expect you to be a woman." Her look turned sour in an instant.

"So you don't think girls can fight either?" She accused. Sokka stopped practicing and seemed ready to come to Jon's aid.

"I believe that a woman can be warrior." He assured Suki. "I was merely surprised to be facing one. It's not common thing to see in the North." Not that it was unheard of. The women of Bear Island where well known as such. There were others as well, Jon knew. Heroes from long ago, Queen Nymeria, Aegon's sister wives and dozens of others that Arya had told him of with great excitement, as she declared how she would be like each of them. He could only recall a few of their names though, which suddenly made him feel a twinge of guilt.

"The north of where?" Suki asked. It was habit that made him say it. He had never had any cause to deny where he was from, nor had he ever been in a situation where the place he was from did not exist. Rather than explain the mad truth, Sokka quickly answered for him.

"He's from Northern Water tribe." He said loudly. "He came south to visit our tribe. It's why he has that funny way of talking." Sokka explained.

Jon didn't understand how the way he spoke was 'funny' but he decided to ignore the slight, as it seemed to appease Suki.

"I was wondering about the accent and all those 'My ladies'." She offered Jon a smile. "Some advice. Even if your opponent is a girl, don't hesitate. As a warrior you must expect the unexpected and be ready to adapt."

He had been taught similar lessons by Ser Rodrick. Now all he had to do was put them into practice. Suki had been the first real opponent he had faced and he had failed. From now on he would have to train harder, be ready for whatever he would encounter on this journey. "Aye, I will. I promise you."

"Good." She stepped back a few paces. "Now I'd like to see how good you are." She drew her own weapons, two metal fans, opening them with a flick of her wrist. "Where you taught anything else or is it just swordsmanship?"

"Sword, shield and bow." He knew a how to work a crossbow and had been taught a little of the axe but he was not practiced enough in either to be worth mentioning them. Jon put one of the wooden swords down and removed his own sword belt. He felt the weight of the practice sword in his hand.

"Hey! What about me?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Keep going through the moves I showed you. If you need help just ask." Suki told him before turning her attentions back to Jon. He held the sword before him.

The two of them began quickly, Suki striking first. He blocked the attack and moved in for his own but she was gone before it landed. She tried again, striking up at his chest but he slipped away and brought his blade back between them. Jon quickly stepped around to her side and swung for her side. She moved to block with her fan but as she did Jon drew his sword back, allowing her move to miss his blade. He had his opening. Quick as a snake he thrust the point of the sword towards her. At the last moment she twisted to the side, dodging the blade while also knocking it away from her. In one swift motion she went to the floor and kicked his legs out from under him. He landed on his side with a thud.

"Not bad." Suki stood over him, offering him a hand up. The sound of soft clapping drew his attention to Sokka who had decided to watch them rather than practice. Jon took her hand and got back up.

"Thank you." Jon answered, rolling the shoulder he had landed on. He was certain it would bruise.

"That was great." Sokka told him. "I think you even managed to do a little better than I did."

"What?" Suki asked incredulously.

"Okay. He did much better than I did." Sokka relented.

Jon stood to the side as the two of them resumed their lesson. He fixed his sword belt back around his waist and carried the two practice swords under his arm. He thought to leave but decided to linger a while. He watched the two of them, how they moved. As Suki herself explained, it was a style meant to turn an opponent's strength against themselves. The idea of it was not that strange to him but her technique was something else. It was clear that the way that people fought was yet another thing that differed from his world.

This world was full of things he was unfamiliar with, styles of fighting being only one but he was heading into the mists of a war that had raged for a hundred years and he had no idea what he might face. The Fire Nation army. That's what they told but what that meant he did not know. What style of fighting did they use? What weapons? Something familiar like a swords and spears? Or something stranger like Suki's fans or Sokka's throwing blade? (Jon couldn't recall what the older boy had called it.) He would have to be ready for anything. Jon looked down at the swords under his arm. I'll have to train hard. For a moment Jon thought it was perhaps a good idea to stay on Kyoshi a while longer so that he and Sokka might train under a willing teacher but then thought better of it. We must keeping heading north. He would have to train as they travelled, practicing with Sokka or any others as often as he could. It would be a good idea to spar against Aang and Katara as well, to learn how to fight benders.

Jon was woke from his thought by Sokka, who had won a small victory against Suki, having managed to counter the girl and knock her down. Though Suki herself claimed she had done so on purpose to make him feel better. Regardless, Jon congratulated Sokka on his victory, thanked Suki once more and left.

The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the pale, snow covered ground as Jon made his way back to the room. The village had grown quieter as the sun sunk lower in the sky. Outside the large building Appa was waiting, eating the last few bits of food that had been left for him. The Flying Bison wore his saddle on his back with all their supplies inside of it. Jon climbed up the bison's back leg and added the practice sword to the bundle of tents and sleeping bags.

Jon head back up to the room. Aang was not there, Katara was gone, only Ghost remained in the room. The direwolf leapt up again in greeting. Jon did not even have a moment to wonder where they were when a sudden scream drew him to the window. The few remaining villages that had still been outside where now in a frenzied panic as they rushed into the nearest shelter they could, trying to hide away from a group of riders that had entered the village.

Beneath the statue of Kyoshi, seven men clad in red and black armour sat upon large, horned creatures. Six of them sat two men to a mount, while the seventh had his own. The setting sun and distance left them difficult to see but the seventh man spoke loud enough for the whole village to hear. "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!"

It seemed he would have no time to practice his skills. The war had found them.

"Ghost, with me!" Jon commanded as he bolted from the room. Katara. Aang. Sokka. I need to find them. He took the steps two at a time and rushed outside to see the battle had already begun. The Kyoshi warriors had managed to knock them from their mounts and where fighting them on foot.

Jon drew his sword free of its scabbard and kept moving forward towards the fighting, Ghost following at his side. He saw the attackers clearer now, some of them wielded three pronged spears and wore simple helmets that left that left their faces exposed. The others had their faces covers, the visors of their helmets fashioned into the likeness of a skull. They seemed to have no weapons at all, until he saw one of them create a blast of fire from his hand.

No foe came to face him as he approached, either they were fighting Kyoshi warriors or had broken off to search for the Avatar. A speck against the sunset caught his eye, flying through the air towards the village. Aang. He was heading towards the statue of Avatar Kyoshi where the leader of the attackers was facing three of the Kyoshi warriors alone. Jon was about to run to meet him when a yell came from behind him.

Jon spun quick enough to knock the point of the striking spear away from him. The Fire Nation soldier lunged for him again, this time he dodged the strike and rushed inside the spearman's reach. Jon slashed up at the soldier's unarmoured face. The blow hit with a crunch as it cut its way through, his blade came free and the man fell.

He did not linger, instead he turned from the dead man and raced towards Aang, who was now fighting the leader of the attackers. The Fire Nation attacker had just struck Aang's staff from his hands when Jon swung at him. He saw the attack coming and pivoted out of the way before countering with a blast of fire.

Jon choked down a scream as the fires burnt his arm and sent his sword flying from his grasp. His attacker wore red and black armour similar to the other Fire Nation soldiers but he wore no helmet. Without his helmet Jon was able to see that his head was shaved nearly bald except for a pony tail of black hair. His face was set into a scowl but his most prominent feature was savage scar over his left eye that had consumed a quarter of his face. It was truly terrible but Jon had seen worse. He only got to see it for a moment before a gust of wind as stronger than a storm sent him crashing into one of the houses.

"Jon, are you okay?" Aang threw down the two metal fans he had been using and rushed over to Jon.

He clutched his burnt arm close to his chest. The fire had burnt his hand and half way up his forearm, leaving behind angry red flesh. His arm was trembling from the agony.

Aang stared at the wound in horror before used his airbending to pick up his fallen staff. "We need to find the others."

Jon stumbled to where his sword had landed. Dirt clung to the blood that covered the tip of the blade while the hilt was left scorched and smouldering. He kicked some snow over it to quench the flames. "Then go." He choked out as he clumsily picked his burnt weapon up with his left hand.

"But I can't leave you alone!" Aang insisted. The airbender rushed to Jon's side and opening his gliders wings. "Hold on."

With his sword arm injured Jon knew he had little hope of defending himself. Relenting he struggled to put his sword back into its scabbard before putting his left arm around Aang's shoulder. "Ghost, follow." He called as a sudden rush of wind carried the two of them into the air.

Jon looked back to see that the direwolf was indeed following them from the ground. The glider flew through the air swiftly, only somewhat slowed by his extra weight. Below them the fighting continued. Fires had broken out across many of the building leaving them as crumbling ruins. Jon looked up to see that Aang was also looking down at the misery below, a look of grief on his face. Jon gave a sharp hiss as the cold wind cut into his fresh wounds. Aang looked back at him, his sadness deepened as he stared at his burned arm.

They landed near Katara as she ushered a group of young girls into a building. "Get inside." She told gently. She turned and gasped in shock at the sight of Jon's arm. "Jon, your hand!" She moved to examine the wound but dared not touch it.

"This is all my fault." Aang said sorrowfully

"It's not your fault." Katara assured Aang, looking away from the injured arm.

"Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed, Jon got his arm burned, trying to protect me!"

"Then let's get out of here." Katara suggested.

"No!" He yelled sharply. Jon wouldn't run and abandon these people, he was no craven. "We can't just leave! We have to fight! We have to help them!" The pain from his arm made him angrier than he should have been.

"You're hurt. You can't fight." Katara told softly but sternly, like a mother to a child. "I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way." She explained to both of them. "If we leave Kyoshi, Zuko will follow us."

Aang was not happy about this plan either but was sad rather than angry. "I'll call Appa." He said while hanging his head.

Ghost arrived just before Appa did, having made his way through the fighting and fire without a scratch. Katara and Aang helped both him and Ghost climb quickly into Appa's saddle. They made a quick stop to pick up Sokka and Momo before flying out over the bay.

Jon looked back at the burning village. It seemed that Katara was correct as he could see the soldiers leaving the village to give chase to the fleeing Avatar with their ship. At least some of the village will be saved. Fires where still burning but at least no new ones where being started.

Katara began tending to his wounded arm. Sokka, still wearing the Kyoshi uniform but his face now clear of make-up, winced at the sight of it.

Aang sat holding the bison's reigns, his head hanging down, clearly upset. Katara tried to reassure him. "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang."

Without a word, Aang suddenly dived off Appa's head down towards the bay.

"What are you doing?!" Katara called out in sudden panic.

"Aang?!" Jon threw himself against the side of the saddle to try and grab the falling boy with his good hand, ignoring the screaming agony from his right hand as he did so. It was a futile gesture. Aang had already fallen way beyond his reach.

The three of them all watched in horror as Aang disappeared below the surface of the water. A stillness lasted for a few seconds before a huge beast erupted from the water. Dread gripped his heart. The Unagi.

The creature was huge, rivalling the dragons of Valyria in size. It looked like an eel with its long serpentine body, coloured black and grey. A large, spiny fin sat at the back of its head. Aang clung to the Unagi's two whiskers before landing atop its head and pulling back, forcing the creature to fire a huge stream of water into the air which came back down as a heavy rain. The rain covered the village, extinguishing the fires. Jon had seen a few things in this new world he couldn't even have imagined, this one left him utterly speechless.

Appa circled around to catch Aang between his feet as the airbender leapt from the Unagi's head. He climbed back into the saddle. "I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous."

"Yes, it was." Katara said before wrapping the younger boy in a hug.

Despite the pain Jon found himself smiling as the relief washed over him. He put his good hand on Aang's shoulder. The boy looked at him. "Never do that again." He told Aang warmly.

As you can clearly see, Jon is not fire proof.

Sorry for taking so long. Had trouble writing this one, I went back and fourth on a lot of the details.

Anyway for the next chapter I plan to skip ahead a few episode but I will give brief summaries of what happened in the episodes I skip.

I'm still think about pairings for Jon. As I have said before his concept of dating is going to be different because he comes from a very different world. If I was to pair him with someone it wouldn't be Katara or Toph because I agree with Rainsfere and IrishKatana that Jon would be like a brother to them.

I've said in the past that this Jon is a mix between book and show, so I do plan to introduce warging later on.

Your own opinions and ideas for the story are welcome. Let me know what you think. Anything that needs improving and if everybody seems in character. Leave a review or use private messaging.

Thanks for reading.