The Protectors: A Hero's Heart (Book 1: Growth; An A:TLA Fanfiction)

Chapter 13: The Great Stand!

Bokio turned to Miquah, Yūnato and Shonto. “Miquah! Yūnato! Shonto!”

Miquah, Yūnato and Shonto turned to Bokio in surprise.

“Go back to the village and warn the guards about the situation! Flame-Lady and I will take care of this!” Bokio told them.

It took a few seconds before Miquah, Yūnato and Shonto formed determined expressions on their faces. They nodded. “Right!” they said in unison.

With that, Miquah, Yūnato and Shonto ran back to the Fire Nation Colonial Village to warn the guards. This left Bokio and Flame-Lady going against the elderly man, now known as the thief.

We don't have weapons to fight the thief, and his weapons shop is made of straw and sticks. If I use my firebending, I might burn the whole shop down, Bokio thought. I guess the only thing Flame-Lady and I have to do… He formed his fighting position. …is to fight him with bare hands.

“Careful, Hansukio,” Bokio heard Flame-Lady telling him. He turned to her. “If we use firebending and if we're not careful, we might destroy the shop," Flame-Lady continued.

Bokio nodded. “Of course. We just have to use our bare hands.”

Bokio and Flame-Lady turned to the thief as she replied, “Right.”

With that, Flame-Lady formed her fighting position. The thief did the same. After a few seconds, Bokio and Flame-Lady charged towards the thief and vice versa.

The thief sliced his way to Bokio’s and Flame-Lady’s necks. Fortunately, Bokio and Flame-Lady ducked, evading his attack. Bokio responded quickly by pushing both his feet in the air and kicked the thief's stomach. This sent the thief tumbling backwards. Soon, he landed on his butt.

Flame-Lady witnessed the whole scene. An impressed smile appeared on her face. “Wow, nice move, Hansukio.”

Flame-Lady evaded the blade from the thief’s sword that was about to cut her cheek. She then, kicked the thief’s right thigh. As she did that, Bokio replied with a friendly smile, “Thanks. Gianso taught me that move.”

With that, Bokio continued to focus on evading the thief’s blades and hitting vital points on him. Bokio succeeded in evading the blades, but he struggled to find vital points on the thief’s body due to him moving the dual swords around.

Flame-Lady experienced the same.

Soon enough, Bokio felt a painful kick at the bottom of his stomach. Bokio's hands reached the bottom of his stomach while letting out groans of pain. Then, he felt two cuts on his left back arm, then two more on his whole right arm. Then, he felt a hard kick on the stomach, causing him to fall on his knees.

Pain erupted in his body. Bokio's right hand slowly reached his left back arm while his left hand held the bottom of his stomach. Low grunts of pain escaped from his gritted teeth.

Flame-Lady took notice of this. She cried out in worry, “Hansukio!”

Flame-Lady’s worried expression turned into a determined one as her feet rushed towards the thief. Once she got there, she sent a high roundhouse kick towards the thief’s right temple. This caused the thief to shift his attention from Bokio to Flame-Lady.

Flame-Lady and the elderly man clashed against each other. Evades, slices, kicks and punches were done in the one-on-one battle. Pain erupted in both their bodies, but Flame-Lady’s was more painful than the thief’s.

Soon, both Flame-Lady and the thief were panting in exhaustion, but they refused to give up. Flame-Lady rose on her feet and continued clashing against the thief. Her kicks and punches were successfully launched against the thief’s body. She thought that he would be taken down when he stayed still.