Avatar: Dance of Ishii

II: Boys Will Be Boys

"What the-" Hoka is cut off as Ishii started walking away from the crowd surrounding Long. Suddenly his hand wraps around Ishii's arm, forcing the boy to stop. " Where are you going?"

"Well, I was leaving until you stopped me. What do you want?" Ishii asked, avoiding eye contact with the officer. 

"You can't leave...You're the--" But Hoka is cut off by Ishii pulling away from him roughly. 

"Whatever you're gonna say, save it. It's not true..." Ishii shakes his head as if he also can't believe what just happened. "It's-It's because of my dad. Mom told me he was a water bender. That has to be it! There isn't anything special about me." 

"Aren't you an Earthbender though?" Hoka arched an eyebrow at Ishii in a challenge and he felt warmth spread to his cheeks. 

"So what? I can bend both. It...It just makes the most sense! It has too." 

"Usually it's one or the other...And very rarely a combination of the two. But not both." Hoka let out a deep breath and started following after Ishii as he walked away from the town square. "But that wasn't mud...That was waterbending..." 

"Stop it! You're crazy!" Ishii shook his head vigorously--as if trying to shake out the thought that he could ever be the Avatar.

"So you're just gonna let Long take all the credit? You're okay with letting him put himself in dangers he may not walk away from. Just because you're what? Scared?!"

Ishii stopped on his heel, emboldened by the lack of people in this part of town. He turned to face Hoka with defiance in his eyes, "I'm not the Avatar! There is no way that I am! It wouldn't be someone...someone like me..." 

 "What's so wrong with you, Ishii?" Whether it was Hoka's question or the earnestness with which he asked it, Ishii blushed. "I mean...I don't know you, but...from what I've seen so far, you're--"

"There you are!" Long saunters into view with Tao on his back. The younger boy still looked a little shaken up. When Long let him down, Tao rushed to hug Ishii's side, which only confirmed his fears.

"Hey Tao. You were pretty brave out there." Ishii ruffled the kid's hair and from the corner of his eye thought that he saw Hoka smile. "Boulders flying at your face are pretty scary. I should know, I train with your brother."

Tao had been mute for most of his life--he hadn't lost his hearing, he'd just had an injury when he was young making it easier for him to rely on sign language. As Tao started to reply, Long stepped toward Hoka and sized him up--as if seeing him for the first time. "Hey. Who are you? And why are you and Ishii in this alley alone?"

Ishii's cheeks flared up as even Tao had an amused smile on his face. But as Long stepped forward again, eliminating any distance between them, the amusement drained from the atmosphere. Ishii stepped forward, trying to push Long away from Hoka. "Hey, Long! Stop it! Why are you acting like this? You didn't even give Hoka a chance to tell you his name before you puffed out your chest. Would you just--" 

"Calm down, Ish." Long said with absolutely no reassurance in his voice, "He knows I'm just messing around. I'm just making sure I don't have to protect you from him."

"Protect me?" Ishii looked up at Long in disbelief--he knew that Long could be cocky when he believed something true but this was a whole other level. Ishii would be damned to be seen as a damsel in distress. 

Long broke the tension to look at Ishii with his cocky smirk, "Yeah. Since I'm the Avatar, you know?"

Before Ishii could answer, Hoka let out a loud laugh that was jarring against the sight of his uniform. Long's face flushed as he jabbed a finger into Hoka's chest. "Hey! What're you laughing at?"

Hoka risked a glance at Ishii--one only Tao seemed to register--before he answered, "You're not the Avatar."

Ishii felt his breathing become labored as the two guys continued to fight. "Guys? Please don't-"

"Hello?! Did you not just see me do water bending back there? I'm the freaking Avatar!" 

"I know exactly what I saw," Hoka said taking a step away from Long, before gently pressing his palm to Ishii's chest and slowly walking him backward. When Ishii was safely by Tao again, Hoka returned to his position across from Long. "And I know you're not the Avatar. I'm willing to test that theory right now to knock you down a few pegs." 

"What the hell, Hoka!" Ishii breathed out, unsure if his voice was above a whisper or not. The tightening in his chest only quelled a little when Tao clutched his shirt tightly. 

Without even accepting the challenge, Long makes a show of stomping on the ground, digging up rocks to launch at Hoka. 

However, Hoka moves quicker--while Long is showboating--and with deadly precision, manifested a whip of lightning. It catches one of Long's legs, and with a single pull, knocks the Earthbender off balance. The boulders floating in the air fall to the ground at the same time Long does. 

Hoka stepped forward, maintaining his composure before glancing over at Ishii. A sad smile crossed his face before he looked back at a flustered Long. "I told you you weren't the Avatar."

Hoka brings the lightning whip above his head, readying to lash out at Long once more, but Ishii couldn't let that happen. 

"Enough!" Ishii took a single step, thrusting one arm forward and unleashing a gust of wind so strong that it sent Hoka skidding backward, even as he pressed his feet into the ground, and only stopped once he was pressed against the wall of the alley. "You've been kind to me, Hoka, but please don't hurt him..."

As the wind dies down, the alley is left in silence. Ishii felt a sensation, as if coming back to himself, and all of his previous panicking had disappeared. Hoka looked at him for a moment, dematerialized his whip, and nodded once at Ishii. "I wouldn't actually hurt your friend...I just needed to prove to him that he wasn't the Avatar."

"You are..." Long stared at Ishii with a mix of pain, intrigue, and hurt written across his face. But before Ishii could try to explain, the bell in the center of town, warning of danger, rang out.