Avatar the Last Airbender: Lake of Still Fire

Chapter 11

Book 1: Prodigy
Chapter 11–Capture

The sound of metal clashing caught her attention, and Mai turned around to assess where the sound was coming from. No, she should be looking for the source, it came from behind her, but it didn't sound all that close. Her guard up and paranoia setting in, she thought about how her parents would react if she died here and never came back. A morbid thought to think, but she was never the type of person to be so normal that she was afraid that she could possibly die here. It'd save her a lifetime or boredom for sure.

The sound of metal clashing ceased, and for a moment, she thought she was safe until she heard the rustle of leaves. Thinking that it may have come from behind her, she turned around and threw one of her knives into the bush. She heard a thunk, probably from her knife hitting something but nothing had jumped out at her like she expected.

The sound of whooshing fire caught her attention, and when she turned to where she thought it was coming from she saw black smoke rising into the air. It wasn't much but soon it would be. That sound... a Firebender? She thought, then heard the noise again. It lasted longer than last time. Now she was positive of what she was hearing. I have to move-

The thought froze in her head when she turned around and saw a man in front of her. He was muscular with hair pulled in a large ponytail, and nothing to cover his body but a pair of baggy pants with Fire Nation colors. Worst of all was his smug smirk he wore as he looked at her.

He looks like a Firebender, but he couldn't have been making that noise back there. There's multiple people here.

"Who are you?" She demanded, taking three steps back.

"Come quietly, dear. There's no need to cause a scene." He made to come closer to her but a knife sailing past his head and a trail of blood from a cut to his cheek stopped him mid-step.

In an instant, another knife replaced the one she'd thrown. "Not another step."

The smirk never left his face as he swiped at the cut with his thumb. "I'm not surprised they're teaching you to fight so early, you are royalty after all. But I know all about you. Your family's a one trick pony." He lowered himself into a stance.

Mai felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of her forehead. She was trying to think back to the styles she had learned about in class, but she was drawing blanks. The stance was familiar, but she couldn't place a name on it. Was it a defensive or offensive style? Light or heavy? Passive or aggressive? Her mind was swirling. Concentrating became a nearly impossible task and he hadn't even moved yet.

Losing herself in her own head, she barely reacted when he threw his fist at her. The sound of the fire as it sliced through the air snapped her out of her thoughts and she leaped away. The fire hit a tree as she threw three knives at the man. As if he had known what she would do, he dropped low to the ground and thrusted another fist at her along with a wave of fire. Her heart thudded in her chest as she turn and ran for cover. She stumbled around and tree as the blast of fire struck it, causing her to fall to her knees from the force. He was not only strong but fast. She didn't have that many knives with her left, and she didn't want to count in case he'd pop up on her, but she hadn't been counting how many she'd thrown and that would surely cost her.

She tried to peak from behind the tree but another blast of fire hit the tree and forced her back into hiding.

"That tree ain't enough to stop me!" He yelled in glee sending waves upon waves of fire that hit the tree hard.

Her cover was giving, she could hear the groans of the wood. She bit her lower lip and waited for the second in between each individual attack before running out from her cover. She leapt behind another tree just in time to avoid a large blast, but wasn't afforded a moment's rest before another wave of fire smashed into the tree.