Avatar: Lingering Tensions

Chapter 13: One Leap Toward Greatness

It is a rainy day, and it is chilly outside. It is 5.5 Celsius (42 Degrees). The sky is turquoise. Ozai stands out in the rain a few feet across Eyre. Ozai: "So what is the drill?"

Eyre answers, "Everything, we are going to go through every aspect of physical fitness. I am going to push you to your breaking point until physical excellence becomes your standard."

Ozai: "My breaking point? You realize when I was in the royal boy's academy I passed the physical tests with flying colors."

Eyre: "You did, but you always did what was required of you. You never put in extra work unless you were competing with your brother."

Ozai: "Because I don't need to. Not even for him." The second statement was an expression of Ozai's insecurity. During his younger days Iroh was the only one who could rival him.

Eyre: "That may be, but if you regularly test your limits, you will be even better mentally than when you faced Aang. You will need every advantage you can get this time to improve your outcome."

Ozai: "Why do you think that? I almost beat Aang while hardly taking him seriously due to his age. Next time, I will demolish him."

Eyre exhales, "Can you please try to be humble?"

Ozai: "Humility is for the weak."

Eyre: "So we're going to start with a run. You will notice there is a trail, it spans about three miles. I want you to run it in 20 minutes."

Ozai scratches his head, "What? The military standard is 30 minutes. And I'm a bender, I don't need to..."

Eyre: "I don't care. This is about mental discipline and it being in shape can make a difference in a fight. In how you manage fatigue and how you do everything."

Ozai: "But I haven't been running."

Eyre: "Nonsense, no excuses. Begin!" Ozai sighs and starts running. When he returns he is heavily huffing and puffing. Eyre looks at his watch, "Oh no that was 32 minutes, do it again!"

Ozai: "Can I get a break for 15 minutes?"

Eyre: "Fine." Ozai strolls around to look for somewhere to sit during his break. Eyre watches him in the distance.

Ozai: "Um, shoo! I will be back in..." Eyre steps a few feet back and still watches Ozai. Ozai: "Seriously can you move a little further." Eyre steps another two feet back and keeps looking at the noble. Ozai: "You got to be..."

Two troopers jogging notice Ozai. Remnant Trooper: "Ozai! Sir!" The soldiers salute as they jog and Ozai does the same while sitting on a tree stump.

Eyre: "See, you have men counting on you. So don't be lazy. Meet the goal." Ozai runs again this time in 27 minutes. Eyre: "Nope, not fast enough. Run again!" Ozai runs again but this time in 29 minutes. Eyre: "Pathetic! Don't waste my time! You claim you're the best prove it, I want results!"

Eyre makes Ozai run again this time he manages 26 minutes. Eyre sarcastically comments, "Well, that's a mild improvement, keep it up and you'll still be running all day." Ozai starts angrily mumbling. Eyre: "Oh that upsets you, good. Use it as fuel to complete your task." Ozai runs again but as he is running he slips in the mud half way through his run. Ozai spits dirt out of his mouth and wipes his face.

A Remnant trooper jogging shouts, "Ozai, get you butt back up! Come on!" Ozai exhales then rises to his feet and continues his run.

Another Remnant soldier watching replies, "Yeah, that's it." Ozai runs again, only managing 25 minutes.

Eyre: "Keep going until you can consistently make 20." Ozai has a massive urge to slap Eyre, fortunately for the General, Ozai knows his bending powers are not restored. So Ozai wouldn't win that fight at the moment. Ozai runs again, this time making 22 minutes. Ozai sits on the floor.