Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was a lovely day, so instead of heading back in straight away after her first firebending lesson, Izara stayed outside and stretched, trying to work out some of the tension in her muscles that would surely get worse later. It turned out to be a great decision as the Kyoshi Warriors came outside and began their training session. The one leading must have been Suki, and Izara remembered she would be in her training group. They were terrific to watch and had a great understanding of both hand-to-hand combat and various skills with different weapons. Izara enjoyed watching the fans, which she had never seen before. Although it was amazing to watch, she knew she would never be as graceful as they were.

Hunger overcame her, and she knew she needed to eat after training. She drank the last of her water an hour ago and needed to keep hydrated to be in good shape for training tomorrow. She headed inside, went to the cafeteria, and got something to eat. They had freshly made sandwiches, and she grabbed one and an apple. Once she had finished, she returned her tray, went to the female guards' room, grabbed some fresh clothes from her trunk, and bathed.

She felt much better after washing off the sweat and dirt from the training session with the Fire Lord and enjoying letting the hot water relax her muscles. As she stayed in the bath for longer than she needed to, she took the time to mentally run through everything she had learnt today. The 3 sets they went through were basic, but she had a much better understanding now and how to generate power in her strikes. They hadn't used any fire today, instead just going through the movements and mastering the strikes' breathing, weight transition and efficiency.

The Fire Lord had seemed impressed with how fast she had picked it all up, and she allowed herself a smile, proud of her efforts so far. It was only the first day, so she expected it to get more challenging, but that was okay. She had memorised a few intermediate and advanced sets that her Uncle's men practised, but they would need a lot of fine-tuning. Going off how much correction she had been given today, some of her basic techniques would improve exponentially, which would help many of her higher-level skills.

After her skin began to prune, she hopped out and dried off before she changed into her new clothes. Since Izara had a bit of time before she would need to be back in the Palace, she decided to swing by a bookshop she had noticed on her way into the city. It had been a long time since she could buy a new book. Being with her Uncle in military camps didn't really allow her to enjoy reading as much as she liked. Now that she had a proper job and would have some definite downtime, it was a perfect opportunity to pick up the hobby once more.

It took her about thirty minutes to walk to the bookshop, but she was in no rush. She took the time to memorise some of the restaurants, cafes and shops in the area to become more comfortable and familiar with her surroundings. The Capital was huge, so she didn't stray too far, but she found all the shops that would contain anything she needed, such as clothes, toiletries and other comfort items. She would return after her first paycheck to get them for most of those things.

When she entered the bookshop, she was greeted cheerfully by a man who appeared to be around her age. He was polite and asked her if there was anything particular she was after. It had been so long that she decided to accept his help and ask for some recommendations. Izara had always enjoyed the more fantastical stories, and the staff member pointed out a series that had just had a new book released in the series. It was an author from the Earth Kingdom. Trusting the professional, she purchased the first book in the series, and he gave her the correct change and a free bookmark. It wasn't too expensive, but she would need something to do aside from work and training. Thanking him with a nod and a smile, she left and headed back to the Palace.

She went to the common room and sat down to read, but some of the other guards came up to say hello to her. They were all welcoming and seemed nice, and it put her nerves to rest a little. It had been so long since she had to meet and get to know new people, and it made her relax to see that getting along with everyone wasn't going to be a problem.