An Echo of Legends: An ATLA Mystery Story (on hiatus)

Chapter 11: Bumi

"So the spirit water didn't do anything," Azula said incredulously. They were flying away from Bhanti Island, and as far as Bumi knew, they had accomplished nothing. Still, fighting the fire sages had been way more fun than he'd thought. 

"So that means that there's nothing spiritual that's blocking my firebending," Izumi finished. Disappointment was clear on her face, and it was plain to see that the trip had changed her. The sun had tanned her skin, her glasses were askew, and she hadn't put on her ornamental hairpiece, so her black hair loosely framed her face. But besides that, there was a look in her eyes that hadn't been there before, a kind of... desperation.   

"So that's it?" Bumi asked. Azula scoffed.

"Of course not. It just means that there is nothing spiritual about Izumi's lack of firebending prowess. There are other things we could try."

"How do you know all of this?" Bumi asked, slightly flabbergasted. Azula frowned.

"After I... lost, in an agni kai to my brother, well, a lot happened. I was in an asylum for awhile, then I helped your parents find our mother. I disguised myself as a Kemurikage, a spirit, along with some associates, I kidnapped some children, and... I tried to prove a point about my brother's authoritarianism. And then..." She paused, and seemed to notice Bumi and Izumi gaping at her, "Right, back to the point, my cohorts eventually split from the Kemikurage. I have my suspicions of where some of them went, but regardless, I was on my own again. I decided to go back to the root of my failure, the agni kai. I decided that I needed to get better at firebending." 

"So... did you become better at firebending?" Izumi asked hopefully. Azula was quiet for a moment. 

"I know another way," she said, "To help you. On an island south of here. Are you certain-"

"I'll do whatever it takes," Izumi said. Azula nodded, and Oogie flew South.

~~~

"Izumi?" It was night. Bumi had offered to fly Oogie while Azula slept. Well, she wasn't exactly sleeping. When Bumi went to grab some food from the saddle, her eyes were wide open. 

"Yeah?" Izumi seemed to be trying to read her criminal law book, and failing in the darkness. 

Bumi paused before saying, "Are you sure about this? I mean, I get that firebending is important to you, but is it worth it to go through all this trouble?"

"Of course," Izumi said, "Like I said before, there's something wrong with me. I have to fix it-"

"And of course it never crossed your mind about how all this talk about 'fixing' your bending, might make me feel," Bumi retorted, surprised at the resentment in his voice. 

"Well, you didn't have to come along," Izumi replied angrily, slamming her book shut, "And you know we're in very different situations. You've never complained about being a nonbender before, you joke about it all the time."   

Well, just because I joke about it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, seeing all the praise go to my brother, knowing that I was a disappointment. 

"Well excuse me for not crying about my problems like you do!" Bumi said, as something inside him exploded, "Have you ever thought that maybe you just aren't that gifted of a firebender?"

"Pipe down," came Azula's voice from the saddle. They both froze, "You're waking me up."

"Y-you were never asleep in the first place," Izumi said glumly. There was silence on the other end, as if to prove a point. 

"And what does it even matter?" Bumi continued, quieter this time, the anger receding,"You're smart and you're thoughtful and determined. You're everything I'm not, but you're always fixated on this one thing that's supposed to define you, but it doesn't, not really."

 Izumi was silent for a moment. Then she said softly, planning out every word, "This is what I want, Bumi. You don't understand the complexities of Fire Nation government, and you don't understand me. If all you want to do is complain, then you can go home."

"Wonderful," Bumi gestured to the miles of open ocean surrounding them, "I'll get right on that."

~~~

"So what are we looking for, exactly?" Izumi asked. They had arrived on a small island, with water so clear and blue that they could see all that was beneath it. Azula had explained that the dark, speckled shapes were whale sharks. 

"On this island is the species of the Karafuru Viper," she replied, "This is the only place it lives." 

"Wait, so you want us to find a snake?" Bumi questioned. 

"Yes," Azula sighed, "A snake. Its venom is very potent, and there are records of it enhancing the bending abilities of-"

"You purposely want a snake to bite her?!"

"It's not poisonous to benders," Azula said with a well placed eye roll, "It's not even lethal to nonbenders."

"I'm not so sure about this," Izumi said, uncertainty on her face. Bumi, relieved that she felt the same way, grinned at her, "Actually never mind, let's find the snake." Right, she was still mad at him. 

"Great," Azula said with a grimace, "Let's start searching."

It took about an hour for them to make their way through the trees and dense undergrowth, and to the inner part of the island. Azula was simply burning away the vines, while Bumi tried to saw at them with his paring knife, to no avail. Izumi wasn't talking to him, looking away whenever he glanced in her direction. Was it because he had said she could've been a bad fire bender. That was probably it. Just then, a flicker of movement and color caught his eye, something climbing up the tree. He walked slowly towards it, his paring knife out. Whatever was on the tree was fast. It slithered up, and then stopped for a moment, and Bumi could see wicked yellow eyes and vibrant scales. 

"I think I found it!" he shouted, turning his head towards Izumi and Azula a few paces ahead. When he looked back, the snake was at his foot. Bumi dropped his knife in shock, too terrified to move or scream. Then it was slithering up his leg, up his torso. In a frantic bid to get rid of it, Bumi reached into his shirt sleeve and pulled out the wooden flute. Without any idea of what he was doing, he beat the snake over the head with it. He felt a small pinch in his hand, and then the viper fell to the ground.

"Bumi!" Izumi ran up to him. 

"I got the snake!" he exclaimed, but he was feeling a bit dizzy. The viper lay on the ground, presumably dead. Then he heard Izumi gasp.

"Bumi," she said, panic setting in her voice, "Your hand." Bumi looked at his hand. His vision was beginning to cloud, but through the fog he could see two perfect puncture wounds on his hand. That was all he saw before his vision faded completely, and Izumi's terrified voice disappeared. 

~~~

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