fervenza | a crossover fanfic

one

Relax. Feel the wind against your skin. Shift your weight through the movements.

Allura took a step forward, her vibrant eyes closed tight in concentration. Stay calm, she told herself, fighting to steady her rapid heartbeat. Slowly, she moved her arms to the side, leaning into her carefully timed body movement. Focus on your source, she thought. Stay calm and centered.

The airbender took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly in an attempt to relax. She stood still for a heartbeat longer, then whipped around, palms flat as she aimed a blast of air directly at the surface of a nearby boulder. She opened her eyes, expecting to see it rolling away, but the rock stayed solidly rooted in place.

What is going on? Allura frowned, staring at the rock with an expression of bewilderment. This was... strange, to say the least. Why was it not moving? It usually didn't take much effort to move something with her bending, even if it happened to be a huge boulder. She stepped closer to the rock, trying to push the wind forward harder, but it remained cold and unmoving. Do not get angry, she thought, gritting her teeth as she suppressed a flare of irritation. There must be a logical explanation to this. Use your head, Allura.

Pushing away her thoughts of resentment, she cocked her head to the side and peered closely at the base of the boulder. It didn't look like any of the rocks surrounding it were preventing it from moving, and the ground it lay upon was relatively flat. It had to be something else, something she couldn't see... But what? She couldn't think of anything that would be holding the boulder down.

A sudden flash of movement on the boulder's left side made her whip her head around, eyes opening wide in alarm. Had she... seen that correctly? She thought she'd caught a glimpse of an arm lashing out from behind the rock, but... that didn't seem very likely. Who would be stupid enough to stand behind the boulder she was clearly trying to move? If they couldn't defend themself, they'd be blown away by her bending, and probably end up impaled on a rock at the base of a cliff somewhere.

Unless the other person happened to be an airbender as well... but that still left the question of who, and why?

The realization hit her like a lightning bolt. The village children! They'd been known to follow the lead of a young airbender named Oboro, who ran around the eastern air temple causing as much trouble as she possibly could. It was highly likely that some of them were working together to counter Allura's bending and hold the rock in place just to mess with her. With an amused smile on her face, the princess stood back, releasing her grip on the wind and letting her hands drop back to her sides. She shook her head in mock disapproval. "Come on out, you sneaky little airbender," she purred. "I can see you over there."

For a long, silent moment, the person behind the boulder didn't move. There was a soft, nearly inaudible sound of something shifting their weight; and then with a sudden blast of hot air, something dashed out from the safety of the rock, barreling straight towards Allura. Before she could think to move, the person threw their shoulder against hers, sending her crashing to the ground with a startled shout. Her amusement quickly turned to confusion as she glanced frantically around the training area, a million questions whirling through her head. Who was this person? What did they think they were doing, attacking the princess of their own tribe?

Panic flared through Allura as the wind around her suddenly began to blow faster, picking up the thin layer of sand that lined the floor of the training room. A sandstorm? she thought, a flicker of hope lighting inside her. Evasive maneuvers, you know this, she thought, forcing herself to steady her breathing. Father does it all the time, thinks it makes him look clever.