Raava Academy

Beautiful Morning [Kyoshi, part 1]

Three hundred and sixty-six years ago - the outskirts of Chin Village

It's the crack of dawn, and I watch with a proud, wide smile whilst the girls spar relentlessly within the spacious training area of the mansion. I had the grounds built especially for this, once I'd found my true calling in life - to help these women obliterate their fears, and to transform weak and frightened girls into ferocious fighters, thus bringing my own kind of balance to a world rife with sexism and injustice.

They're doing well, each and every one of them, benders and non-benders alike. They grunt and gasp with their exertions, knocking the straw out of their assigned training dummies with loud punches and kicks, earning sore knuckles and sorer muscles from their ministrations. Some are stronger than others, as is always the way of things, but I feel sure that each and every one of them can defend themselves. At least, from the advances of human predators. The undead, the monsters and the horrors of the world which seem to grow worse every day - I'm unsure if the warriors are ready for that yet.

I am sure that given time they will be, this is all still quite new after all. They have the potential - there's fire in their eyes, and their punches are fuelled with ferocity. It's a far cry from those frightened women I found a year ago, nothing but cattle to the men here, raped and beaten constantly, forced into childbirth again and again. Of those who unwillingly fell pregnant, some raise their children here, whilst others leave them in Gaoling, to be cared for in foster homes. I do not judge in either case, for they did not ask for this fate. The men, the rapists... did not fare so well. They rot beneath us, chunks of flesh in the ground, right where they belong. I can't help but crunch my heel into the gravel beneath, just thinking about them.

"Eleanor," I walk over to her and adjust the position of her forearm, straightening her wrist, "Like this, unless you want a broken wrist, remember? Hit with these two." I tap her first two knuckles.

"Sorry, Ma'am," she grins, nervously. Eleanor is our newest and youngest recruit, only nineteen years old, bringing the current total to thirty seven. 'Kyoshi warriors', that's what I affectionately call them, and though I never dared dream they'd live up to the name, it's clear just by watching them that they soon will. It's a fierce sight, a sight that our foes will soon learn to be afraid of. We paint our faces, white to show our pure determination, and then above our eyes, red to signify the pain we've endured, and black, meaning no mercy for our enemies, only the blackness of death.

I idly flap one of my fans open, then closed again, then open. It's always been a habit of mine, and it keeps my fingers limber, or so I like to think.

"Renya, swing your hip more, I want to see some power in those punches!" I shout, and she nods vigorously, then redoubles her efforts.

It's strange how many of these women thought themselves incapable of combat before I came to them. We are all human, capable of growth, of strength. I have proven to them that their body is like a fortress, no matter its size or shape, and their fist is like steel.

"Mau," I stand behind the next woman, resting my chin on her shoulder, "You have good form this morning, I'm impressed," I purr the words against the bronze skin of her neck, inhaling her salty aroma, and resting my palms on her waist.

"Kyoshi..." she growls my name with a wide smile on her lips, tilts her head to face me, and allows herself to be drawn in for a soft, delicious kiss, "I could do with a break," she whispers, lightly clasping my lower lip between her teeth.

"Mmm." I mumble, smirking against her lips, then pulling away, "Carry on, ladies! We'll be back in an hour," I yell, grabbing Mau by the hand, turning away from the training grounds, and grinning when I hear several of the girls giggle behind us.