Wandering Firebender

Sixty Nine: An Intense Test

Koda was not too thrilled about being woken up at sunrise.

As a matter of fact, she wasn't even planning on being up so early in the morning. She was woken up by an attendant knocking on her door. Koda didn't wake up until, after several repeated attempts at gently waking her, the female attendant firmly knocked on her door.

"Koda! Please, wake up!" She called through the door.

"Huh?!" Koda lifted her head up suddenly, her hair falling over her face, "Wh-What? Who is it?!" She called out in confusion.

"The Fire Lord has requested your presence on the training grounds!" The attendant said.

"Me? O-Okay, yeah, I'm coming." Koda said sleepily before laying her head back on her pillow. She grunted sleepily and rubbed her face, trying to muster up the urge to get out of bed. She sighed and closed her eyes, and this was already enough to start lulling her back to sleep.

"Right now!" The attendant urged her, banging on the door again. Koda flinched in surprise and threw her covers off.

"Ugh! Alright alright, I'm coming!" She grunted irritably, getting out of bed and rushing to get ready. Once she was freshened up enough, she opened the door and found the attendant still there waiting for her.

"Are you all set?" The attendant asked.

"Yeah, kinda. What does the Fire Lord want with me so early in the morning?" Koda asked, still rubbing some sleepiness out of her eyes.

"I don't know. He just asked me to fetch you right away and escort you to the training grounds." She explained.

"Alright. Well lead the way then, I guess." Koda shrugged.

So the attendant led Koda through the palace to the training grounds. The light patter of Koda's feet hitting the floor every time she took a step echoed lightly through the halls, reminding her of just how small she felt inside the palace.

The attendant opened a door for her. Koda walked through and found herself stepping outside, out onto a paved walkway underneath an awning. She followed its path until she reached a sidewalk that led to the flat arena in the center of the pavilion.

4 other people were standing in the arena already: Elio, Marx, Nezu, and Fire Lord Zuko. Marx, Nezu, and Elio looked just about as tired as she felt. Zuko, however, didn't look sleepy at all, meaning he probably planned this in advance.

"Good morning. I hope you're well rested." Zuko said.

"Not as well rested as I could have been, but all things considered, I'm doing alright." Koda said in response.

"I'm right there with you, Koda." Elio said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry I had to wake you up so early without warning, but it had to be done in order to test you properly. We spoke about training before, but this isn't just training - it's a test of your ability to work together, adapt, and overcome." Zuko explained.

"What do you mean?" Marx asked.

"The test begins now. Elio, are you ready?" Zuko asked him.

"Yep. I'm ready when they are." Elio nodded and shook his arms out.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Nezu asked.

"Your challenge," Elio answered, walking to the other side of the arena. "You three are going to fight me."

"What?!" They all exclaimed.

"Elio will evaluate each of your skills. One by one, I want each of you to fight him; don't hold anything back. The challenge ends when one of you takes him down." Zuko explained.