-Avatar: The Last Airbender

--The Stomach Bender

---Chapter 1: Reina of the Kyoshi Warriors

I used to think the Unagi back home was big. The capital of the Earth Kingdom was larger by far. Ba Sing Se was gargantuan. A Kyoshi Warrior was supposed to be aware of her surroundings at all times, but this was ridiculous. Even the so called average marketplace of the middle ring was larger than my village on Kyoshi Island. Rows of stalls ran back and forth as far as I could see selling all kinds of things. Merchants and the people of the city talked and yelled and carried on without giving it a second thought. The only thing that turned their heads was my uniform. Younger children were curious about my face paint while the older ones were only interested in my weapons. A pickpocket on the train tried to steal my war fans and a few merchants kept offering to buy my sword. I practically had to lecture each and every one of them. After awhile it started to make sense. These people had seen Ba Sing Se all their life, but not many had seen a Kyoshi Warrior before. Nearly all of them didn't even know where Kyoshi Island was- or cared. Every conversation turned into a string of questions. I probably would have been overwhelmed if not for Ty Lee, who was doing her best to show me around the city. She knew it fairly well since she had helped Princess Azula conquer it for the Fire Nation during the war. That was a long story, but we were friends now and that knowledge was coming in handy. She knew the right streets, the right trains and the right places so we didn't get lost or end up in the wrong part of town. Ba Sing Se did everything big and I would hate to see the kind of thugs they had around here.

"What do you think, Reina?" Ty Lee asked with a bright smile.

"Didn't we just visit a market?" I asked.

"Oh no, this is way better. They have the best outfits, you gotta see them. The last time I was here I found a great outfit for Mai."

"What? Stealing my uniform wasn't good enough for her?"

She laughed. "Yeah, she really hated wearing it."

Ty Lee was the most positive person I've ever met. The first few weeks she joined the Kyoshi Warriors she seemed incapable of frowning. I thought her perky attitude was a little nauseating at first. Then I got to know her better and it was a great source of motivation. More than I thought it would be. It would take something like the end of the world to get her down, and I'm sure even then she could find something to be optimistic about. She tried to explain it to me one day. It had something to do with auras and the color pink . . . but I didn't really get it. To think only last year we had been enemies and she was able to beat us without breaking a sweat. I'm just glad she's on our side.

"Okay, let's see it. Then we should probably be getting back soon," I said.

We moved from stall to stall. There were a million types of everything. Fruit, vegetables, pots, tea kettles, flowers, bread- even water. By the next row I was sure they were making stuff up. The world was simpler outside the walls but I was trying to adapt the best I could. On Kyoshi Island we had one street. Everything we needed was in walking distance. Here, the choices were paralyzing. The merchants were helpful and answered my questions, most of the time. But while Ty Lee and I looked around a crowd of children started to follow us. Unsurprisingly, they were full of questions.

"What's your name?" A young boy with three teeth asked me.

"Reina," I said. "My name is Reina."

Ty Lee quickly joined in with the usual enthusiasm and introduced herself.

"What'cha doing here?" Another boy asked.

"We're here with the other Kyoshi Warriors to help rebuild the Earth Kingdom starting with Ba Sing Se."

A taller girl who was sucking her thumb pushed forward.

"Are you the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors?"

I smiled. "No, our leader is Suki. Ty Lee and I are just two of them."

One boy with a face smudged in dirt started to talk so fast we could barely understand him.

"I heard that, my mom said, that you're here because the Dai Li were banished and because they were banished that people aren't afraid of breaking the law anymore." He paused to catch his breath. "Your uniforms are pretty."

To be honest Ty Lee and I didn't know everything. Suki told us we had a special mission waiting in Ba Sing Se but couldn't tell us more yet. It could be anything from providing security for the royal palace to patrolling the lower ring. We had become slightly better known thanks to Suki's reputation during the war but there were still plenty of people who thought the Kyoshi Warriors were nothing more than little girls who pretended to be warriors. It was hard to say if we were going to be taken seriously or treated as a joke. As soon as Suki got the letter she was waiting on we would all know for sure. Until then it was a waiting game. A lot was going on in the world since the war had ended. I hated standing around. Luckily Ty Lee was willing to show me around the city. It was all I could do in the meantime.

"How long are you going to be here?" The fast talking boy asked before launching into more questions.

"As long as it takes or until we're needed somewhere else I suppose."

The questions stopped as the children eventually lost interest or were pried away by apologetic parents. We were able to get back to exploring the market although I felt like Ty Lee could have gone all day talking with anyone. The circus performer side of her was showing.

"We should be getting back," I said as we passed a stall selling paint supplies.

"Oh c'mon. It's not too late."

"Suki told us to be back before the sun went down. The trains don't exactly run on time around here."

"We could probably make it back faster if we took the rooftops." Ty Lee thought aloud.

"Yeah, unfortunately I'm not a star acrobat. I mean, I'm good but . . ."

"What are you talking about? You're just as good as me."

I crossed my arms and stared at her. She made jumps that would make birds faint. Not many could keep up with her once she got flipping around and sailing through the air. Her moves made the other girls dizzy at times, especially Aoi. Sometimes she got carried away. It didn't help in battle sometimes, but it was impressive to watch.

"Okay, fine. Can I take a quick look at the fabric store before we go?"

"Sure." I smiled. "You've been a great tour guide. I'll wait right here."

"Thanks Reina!"

She ran off while I picked a spot out of the way and watched the crowds go by. The more I looked the more I realized how many thousands of people lived in Ba Sing Se. Probably more than that. I watched a man trying to cross the street when another man ran into him. It was actually a thief in a straw hat with impressively fast hands. He knocked his victim to the ground and picked his pockets at the same time without missing a beat. No one else in the market place seemed to care. The poor man who was robbed sat up and started to yell in anger. The thief in the hat walked away as if nothing had happened.

"Hey!" I yelled.

A merchant behind me laughed as I went after the thief. "Looks like Lefty's back to his old tricks!"

The thief casually looked over his shoulder as if I was yelling at someone else. But when he saw me coming after him the chase was on. His legs were just as fast as his hands. I followed him through crowds of people as he tried to turn them into obstacle courses. He stayed away from open streets and darted through every alleyway we came across. The middle ring turned into a blur. I followed him through odd shortcuts and spontaneous decisions to use stacks of barrels as stairs to jump a supply cart. Every move he made I matched him. He didn't run down steps, he flew. But he didn't have fancy enough footwork to lose me. I had run tougher courses on Kyoshi Island. And the longer the chase dragged on, the more exhausted he became. We darted down a narrow backstreet with houses so close together they nearly blotted out the light. I could hear him wheezing. He tried to use the dark streets as a maze to lose me. I turned a corner to see him disappearing around the next one. The chase finally ended as I followed him to a deserted street that split off three ways. He limped to the middle of the road and doubled over trying to catch his breath.

"Stop!"

Amazingly he listened to me and turned around with sweat pouring from under his hat. I thought he would run until his legs couldn't carry him anymore.

"Are you going to give that man back his money? Or do I need to drag you all the way back to the market?"

A terrible feeling washed over me. I didn't know where I was. Nothing looked familiar. I was lost somewhere in a dark corner of the middle ring. The houses were spacious but considerably more run down. The streets were probably abandoned for a good reason. The thief must have realized this too. He adjusted his hat and smirked before tossing the money at my feet. He whistled loudly and limped off. A crowd moved in to block off the three ends of the street. Men and women in rugged clothing formed a wall of people and moved in. Above me there were a few watching from rooftops probably acting as spotters. Doors and windows began to slam shut from the people who knew what was going on and were determined to stay out of it. In the blink of an eye I was alone and completely surrounded. I put a hand on my sword but didn't draw it. The crowd kept their distance. They weren't armed, not even with crude weapons like rocks or wood. Of course if they were Earthbenders that didn't matter. It was unnerving that none of them said anything, not even a taunt or a whistle. Most of them leered at me and made themselves comfortable as if they were waiting for a show to start. I was the center attraction.

"What do you want?" I asked.

Someone called out ahead of me and the mob parted down the middle. A monstrous man stepped forward and entered the closed off street. I had to look up at him to see his face clearly. He was twice my size and all muscle. He was mostly bald except for a tuft of black hair sticking out from under the fancy green hat on his head. The vest he wore looked small on him and the pants and sandals were well worn. I felt like I was facing down a Platypus Bear instead of a man. And for some reason he had a pair of chains hanging over his shoulder. My bad feeling only got worse when I saw the grin on his face.

"Hey," the giant man said. "I'm Nohi. Some people call me the Knuckleduster."

"Nohi . . . the Knuckleduster?" I repeated.

"Yeah, you got it."

My mouth hung open. He took a step closer and took the chains off his shoulder.

"What do you want?"

The man the size of a mountain wrapped the chains around his fists. He punched the air a few times before pounding his steel wrapped knuckles together to make a metallic clinking sound. I drew my sword and backed away, keeping in mind the mob surrounding me. I had nowhere to run. I would have to climb out or escape through someone's house. Both seemed really unlikely.

"I want to fight," Nohi said with a smile.

" . . . fight?"

"Yeah, you got it."

It was a terrible thought. Usually size didn't intimidate me. It was the skill the ultimately proved how tough someone was. The day I fought Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai made that clearer than ever. They appeared to be three girls from the Fire Nation. But they were good enough to beat us, the Kyoshi Warriors, without so much as batting an eye. The problem with Nohi was something I couldn't put my finger on. The chains around his fists didn't help and his grin . . . his big dumb grin. He was asking to get hit in the face. I would have to launch from a running jump or catapult off something to get a good swing in.

"I'm not here to put on a show." I told him.

"You don't get it. I'm not asking you."

"No," I said firmly.

Everyone but Nohi laughed. He dropped his hands at his side and started to pace around me. I moved with him and soon we were circling each other. I kept looking for escape routes. Maybe if I used someone in the crowd as a springboard to safety. That's what Suki or Ty Lee would do. I just had to hope I wouldn't miss a step when it counted.

"Why me?" I asked, trying to buy time.

"It's nothing personal. I hear the Kyoshi Warriors are in town. A bunch of girls who fight like a Shirshu, fast and mean." He pounded his fists together. "Some say you're here to clean up the streets. I want to know what I'm up against."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You've heard wrong."

"I know! I don't really know anything. That's why I'm here to find out. Some things you gotta see for yourself," he said.

My body tensed up. Nothing good was going to come out of this.

"You gonna show me what you really are?" He pointed at me.

"What's that?"

"You a girl or a warrior?"

"I've heard that one before. It's not very original." I told him.

"Humph. That's what I get for borrowing other people's material."

Time was up. Nohi leapt forward with the kind of speed that shouldn't be possible for a man his size and pounded the ground with both of his fists. I rolled away and unfolded my shield. The chains wrapped around his knuckles made sense now. They turned his fists into face grinding punching weapons. His nickname, the Knuckleduster, was suddenly very clear. He moved in close and swung away. I tried to block with my shield and deflect with my sword but that was a bad idea. Each punch was like a landslide coming down on me. I blocked three of his punches and my arms ached. He cocked back for a straight punch and I attacked with my sword. Sparks flew as he blocked with his chains. It had to hurt punching with those things on. Every impact put metal mashing up against his skin. I thought he couldn't keep it up, but he did. Before I realized absorbing his blows was useless, I was on my knees as he hammered away at me. He went back for a wide swing and I dove forward under him to safety. My shield was useless so I folded it back up. I had to stay out of his way or else. He had way too much strength to go toe to toe with him. He didn't have a fighting style, he had crazy.

He kept his feet moving as he stepped into a straight punch aimed right at my head. I felt his fist brush up against my hair as I ducked and moved in with my sword. I slashed a part of his vest as he jumped away. The sound of fabric ripping only made him smile and he countered by kicking up a cloud of dust and charging through it with his shoulder out. I tried to dodge to the side and met one of his arms lashing out wildly. I took the hit and lost my sword in the process. It slid to the edge of the mob where it was snatched up and tossed away. They took my sword! I stared in shock and Nohi almost kicked me. Somehow I rolled and jumped up before he smashed the ground again with both his fists.

"What's wrong?" he said.

"My sword," I could help but say.

I brought out my war fans. He tried to fake me out and bobbed his head. Every time I flinched he laughed at me. Then he bobbed once too many. I threw one of my fans and hit him right in the face. His head snapped backwards and he recoiled with a groan. I jumped in to strike only to realize that he was faking it. As soon as I got close he spun around and swatted me. If felt like a boulder hit me. I sailed across the street and almost slid head first into the side of a house. I stood up with my back against the wall and he was already looming over me. He started pounding away at the wall, punching as hard as he could. I moved my head out of the way as his fist left a huge dent. His other fist came in low and almost hit me in the side. I struck back hitting him in the arms and legs. Nothing happened. He didn't react. I rolled to safety before he could smash me and struck him in the back. Again, nothing. We moved away from the house as panic and despair started to cloud my thoughts. I couldn't hurt him. Even without my sword, fighting the crowd started to look better and better.

But right before I lost my nerve I saw it.

He grimaced as he moved his arms around. It was so slight I thought he was grinning, but his eye twitched and I knew it was pain. He was trying to hide it. The man was built like a Fire Nation tank, but even those things fell apart if you hit them enough in the right spots. Confidence returned and I could think clearly again. I just had to stay out of his way. Stay clear of his chain wrapped fists and attack until he couldn't take anymore.

"Is this good enough? Are you satisfied?" I asked.

He banged his fists together and gnashed his teeth. I tossed both my fans as his head and he managed to duck both of them. Again, the crowd stole my weapons and grabbed my fans as they started to fly back around. I wanted to scream. No! Not now! I scrambled to think up a new plan. Before I could do anything Nohi put his shoulder down and charged again. Against my better instincts I froze. A man the size of a mountain rushed right toward me and I did nothing. He crashed into me at full force and sent me flying. The world spun around and around until I landed on my side and rolled a few times. I tried to get up and kept falling onto my back. At any moment I expected two giant fists to come crashing down to finish me off. But as everything came back into focus, Nohi was circling me, waiting for me to get back up.

"C'mon. Back on your feet," he said, raising his fists.

Even before the fight started, I knew Nohi was the last person I wanted to fight without any weapons. But even unarmed, I wasn't defenseless. There was one last thing I could fall back on. Ty Lee's Chi Blocking attacks. Usually things were going badly if I had to rely on it. As much as I practiced I still couldn't do the stupid move. Sometimes it worked, but most of the time it didn't. Ty Lee was a master at it. She had used it against me when we were enemies. When she joined the Kyoshi Warriors she wanted to teach all of us. The idea was to move in quick and disable the opponent with a few expertly placed strikes. Even after all the training I was still rusty. She said I needed to be faster and more accurate, but I had all the power necessary to pull it off. Now I needed it more than ever. If I didn't stop Nohi he was going to crush me. I couldn't keep this up.

"Please, let this work." I muttered.

I went into the stance Ty Lee had shown me a million times. Nohi stepped in to pulverize me and I quickly dodged to the side striking his arm. He threw an uppercut with his left arm and missed. I jabbed away at his other arm and we jumped away. I missed, I could feel it. But against all odds Nohi tried to move his right arm and found it limp. He could still move his left but that was all I needed. With one arm he lost some of his ability to jump around like he did before. I stepped in to get his other arm, which he found hard to throw around with his other one blocked. This time I really did something wrong and he was still able to use it. I was almost clobbered in the face as I dodged to the side. A moment of panic set in. I fought it away and concentrated on taking out his other arm. But he had a surprise for me. When I was in front of him he came down on me with a vicious head butt. Like when my dad brought his hammer down on a nail with a full swing.

The pain was so horrible that tears welled up in my eyes.

The street was going away, noise bled into silence, and I fell forward. I was face first on the gravel street but I felt weightless. The world flashed from day to night. There was so much pain, I could hardly stand it . . . and the world came screaming back. The feeling in my legs returned as I stood up. Everything had changed. Nohi turned into a shape shifting mound of jelly. His blurry shadow split into doubles, then triples, and then fused back together to form one again. The world rippled like a pond. My head hurt more than I could explain. No matter how hard I shook it nothing cleared up. Everything turned into colorful shapes. I wanted to collapse but Nohi was still coming after me. I wasn't sure if I should attack. I wasn't sure if I could even hit anything. While I couldn't make him out, his steps shook the ground and his massive shadow came right at me.

Then everything stopped.

Nohi's gang erupted into shouting and started to scatter. One of them on the roof was yelling at the top of his lungs. It was a warning.

"Soldiers! Soldiers are on their way. Everyone scatter! Soldiers!"

I struggled to keep my focus on Nohi who was still in front of me. He turned to run but stopped and looked back at me. His fists pounded together with an awful metallic sound that made my spine shiver. He shook his head over and over and finally . . . he left. A relief swept over me that made my body tingly inside. The street cleared out as the soldiers ran in. I started to calm down and fell to my knees. My body hurt. I could hardly move. It only got worse when I tried to fight it and stand up. Finally I closed my eyes and gave in. And somewhere far away Ty Lee was calling my name as I fell down face first in the streets of Ba Sing Se . . .

-Next Chapter: The Jasmine Dragon