Agni Kai (Hyejoo)

Based on "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and LOONA

Story and Characters by Loo Loo and SMZ

Written by Loo Loo, small part by SMZ

The door to the headmaster’s office creaked as a solemn Hyejoo stepped outside.

She peered at Chaewon; her usual cheerful expressions had changed to worry and dismay. Yerim, Hyunjin, and Chaewon all stood up with anxious eyes. 

"Good news or bad news?" Chaewon asked.

Hyejoo sighed. “Bad.”

Yerim put her hands together. “How bad?"

“I was expel—"

Hyejoo was cut off before her sentence could finish by the sound of two doors banging against the walls. In came a someone that left Hyejoo speechless. Was this real? This couldn't be real...

The infamous, world renowned firebender, Lalisa Manoban was stomping over to her with a sharp glare in her eyes. Her aura was that of a thousand tigers and Hyejoo was sure they’d pounce any second...

Lalisa set her palm ablaze. "Hyejoo Son?"

Hyejoo was a bit weary of the flame in her hand but she nodded as Chaewon held her hand.

The flame grew ever so slightly bigger.  "My name is Lalisa Manoban...I think you know my sister.”

Hyejoo froze upon the realization. One of the girls she had burned was Lalisa's sister... This was surreal. Hyejoo had only ever seen her from afar at tournaments or heard about her in passing. Now she was staring at her with bad intentions. Nonetheless, she stood tall.  “No one talks about Chae. No one talks about my mother."

“That’s quite bold of you to say after you had the nerve to harm my family!”

"Hey..." Yerim stepped in between them and pleaded with Lalisa. "You have all the right in the world to be angry... but please, no one else needs to get hurt. She's going to be punished for what she did. My dad will make sure of that."

"That's not enough. It's not only gonna be me that wants her punished. What about all of the families of the girls she hurt? She needs to be taught a lesson that you can't just go around burning people like that."

"She does... but not with violence. Please."

Lalisa stayed staring at Hyejoo.

Her heart was racing, but Hyejoo remained a statue. "So what now?"

"What now? I'll tell you what now..." Lalisa put her flame out, pushed past Yerim, and grabbed Hyejoo by the her shirt. "Next week. You and me. Agni Kai. I'm going to make an example out of you."

Hyunjin grabbed Lalisa's arm and forced it back to her side. "You look prettier like that."

Lalisa let out a chuckle before giving Hyejoo one last look. "Don't you even think about hiding." She made her way way out of the school.

"Just exactly what was going through your mind?" Hyejoo's father was pacing around the living room with Hyejoo sitting alone. It was about the fifth time he had asked that question and Hyejoo couldn't even look at him.

"They provoked me. They were spreading rumors about Chaewon being airbender. They talked about mom."

Her father sighed and tapped his foot. "That doesn't mean you go burning other people because they hurt your feelings."

"It's not just my feelings. It's—"

"And now you're telling me you were challenged to an Agni Kai by The Lalisa Manoban?!?!"

"I'm not going to—"

"No. You are going to. It's time that you start taking responsibility for your actions."

Hyejoo finally looked up, eyes wide in fear. Was he serious? He couldn't... he couldn't be... "But father, I can't win." She's one of the best firebenders in the world."

"You see? That's the thing about you that I can't stand. You're always doubting yourself. You have no drive, you have no ambition, Hyejoo."

"I'm not doubting myself. I'm being realistic."

"Oh you're being realistic? Well let me give you a little more realism... You got yourself expelled from the academy. You burned those girls, Hyejoo. You burned them... because you couldn't control your emotions. What am I supposed to do with you? Don't you feel any shame?"

Hyejoo did her best to cage those thoughts. They did provoke her. They put Go Won's life in danger by spreading those rumors, they talked about her mother... Hyejoo felt the shame shaking the cage in her heart. What would she be admitting if she let it out? That it was really all her fault? That she was an uncontrollable monster provoked by the smallest insult? She couldn't do that. She couldn't give in to that feeling. Ever.

With teary eyes, Hyejoo found the strength to look at her father. "They shouldn't have done what they did."

The next day:

The sun was shining down with a gentle breeze. Hyejoo and Yerim faced each other on top of a hill with Chaewon and Hyunjin looking on from the side.

After the argument with her father, Hyejoo had agreed to go through with the duel. Even if she knew she was going to lose, the realization of what people would think of her of she refused pushed her to do it. It would be worse than being known as a weak firebender... she would be a coward. The girl who burned the defenseless and refused to fight someone face to face. Hyejoo couldn't allow anyone to think that.

Yerim was going over basic defensive stances, almost like she was choreographing a dance as she moved. "I don't want you attacking her first. Stand your ground, block her fire, move around and use all the space you have if you have to. Wait for the right opportunity."

Hyejoo watched her sister demonstrate how she moved and defended herself; always standing firm or moving backwards and side to side. It was a style that was was very uncommon and probably better suited for and airbender, but Yerim was almost a master at it. Hyejoo had the, "standing firm and blocking," part down for the most part, but she wasn't nearly as fluid with her movements.

"Stop being so stiff!"

"You can do it Hyejoo!"

Hyunjin and Chaewon were both encouraging her in their own ways.

After spending a good amount of time practicing defense, Yerim clapped her hands together and smiled. "Okay. I think its time to really train."

Yerim forbid Hyejoo from firebending and had her practice what they had gone over. Yerim played the role of Lalisa, even mimicking her mannerisms from what they had seen at tournaments. She moved forward, putting constant pressure on Hyejoo, but all of her fire was weak and died quickly, it was never intended to actually hurt anyone.

Hyejoo kept up at first, using what they had practiced, but eventually Yerim found her way through and knocked her onto her back. 

Yerim offered her hand. "Not good enough. Let's do it again."

Hyejoo slammed her fist on the grass. "That's not fair. I can't use my firebending to defend myself."

Yerim's smile faded away. "You think you're the only one with that problem? You should have thought of that before you burned those girls." 

Hyejoo stared at her sister, the sun creating an aura around her face and casting a shadow on it like it had done to her mother in her dreams. Her eyes were holding a controlled flame. Hyejoo saw anger, disappointment, love. It was a side of Yerim she rarely saw.

She took Yerim's hand and stood up.

One week later:

Hyejoo sat in the contestant waiting room with Chaewon and her sisters. She was wearing a red outfit with no sleeves and pants cut above the knee. The chatter of the crowd growing louder and louder.

The Agni Kai between Hyejoo and Lalisa had been turned into a spectacle. As soon as word got around that Lalisa would be participating in a real fight, outside of a tournament, the owners of the Fire Coliseum moved quickly to organize and promote it.

Posters were hung all over the city, all of them portraying the fight as, "Lalisa's Revenge," and how she was going to get even with Hyejoo for what she did to her sister. As much as it got under Hyejoo's skin to see the fight taken advantage of like this, she couldn't help but feel like she deserved it.

Of course, all of this couldn't be possible without Lalisa being okay with it. But not only was she okay with it, she was embracing it. Hyejoo had heard about what she was saying, how she was not going to hold back, how Hyejoo was weak little girl and how she was going to make her pay for what she did.

At first, Hyejoo had only been reluctant and even scared of Lalisa. She still was... but now, with what she had turned all of this into, Hyejoo also felt an intense motivation to prove everyone wrong. She was sick of being called weak and useless.

Chaewon must have notice Hyejoo's shaking hands and held onto them. She didn't say anything and neither did Hyejoo. Chaewon's hands were as soft as clouds and gave her some calm. 

"I'm gonna go check if Heejin is here." Hyunjin got up and gave Hyejoo a hug before making her way out of the room and turning into the hall.

Yerim also gave her a hug. "I love you so much. Remember what we practiced okay?"

Hyejoo nodded and held back the lump in . Yerim looked at Chaewon, then at their hands and smiled before leaving them alone.

They sat there for a while, just listening to the sound of the crowd. It was a tide of emotions for Hyejoo. She would imagine herself getting burned and get scared, then she would find solace in Chaewon's company and her anger and motivation.

Chaewon smiled and looked at Hyejoo with an aura of care that she had never seen before. "I never thanked you for looking out for me."

"Oh." Hyejoo let out a quiet, nervous laugh. "You didn't did you?"

"No..." Chaewon held on tighter to her hands. "You're always protecting me, even over the tiniest thing. All of this happened because of me, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't have gotten mad and—"

"No. Hey..." Hyejoo tilted Chaewon's head up with a finger. "It wasn't your fault. I don't regret what I did. I'd do it again if I had to."

A tear fell from Chaewon's eye and onto Hyejoo's hand. "But why? Why are you so concerned about what happens to me? I'm just a nuisance to you, I'm holding you back. I only get you hurt."

Hyejoo thought back to all of the times she had stepped in to defend Chaewon through their childhood. She had always been an odd girl, reluctant to make any friends. Even with that, she had a bright personality and always stayed positive. That's what had attracted Hyejoo to her all of those years back.

Chaewon would get bullied for being a non-bender and, they would never admit it, but probably for being much prettier than they were. They were jealous. Chaewon always drew the eyes of the boys in their class, but she never gave them any attention. Instead, she chose to spend time with Hyejoo. 

Eventually, the bullying turned to rumors of Chaewon being an airbender. Hyejoo would sometimes end up in the headmaster's office for getting into altercations with the girls spreading them. This led to even more rumors of them being more than just friends and getting outcasted in their class.

Through all of that, Hyejoo never once felt sorry for herself. She always made sure Chaewon was okay.

"I don't care about getting hurt." This was almost always the truth for Hyejoo, but this was much different.

"What if..." Chaewon held open, like the stubborn words were hanging onto her tongue and refusing to let go. "What if we ran away?"

"What?" Hyejoo was so shocked that she let go of Chaewon's hands. "What did you say?"

"Why do we have to keep living here? We're old enough now. We can make our own decisions... right?" Chaewon's voice was shaking. It was obvious she hadn't thought this through a lot. Maybe it was something that came to her at that moment.

"Don't be stupid Chae. You have school, you have a family. I have my sisters."

"Well maybe my family would be safer without me here... and you— you... I don't want you to keep getting hurt. I don't want you around your dad anymore, okay?"

Hyejoo shook her head. "Chae, stop this nonsense. I can handle it. I'm not a weak little girl, I'm not. And neither are you. We are not running away." She took Chaewon's hands again. "You don't have to worry about anything. I'll always be by your side."

Chaewon managed to smile through her tears. There was a long moment where only their eyes spoke. Hyejoo felt a warmth in the pit of her chest. It was not a warmth spawned from anger. Instead, it was as if Chaewon was hugging and kissing the cheeks of her soul.

Chaewon scooted closer to her, her face painted in rosy red blush. Her eyes were sparkling. "Hyejoo, I—"

"Hyejoo! It is time!"

They both let go of their hands and moved away from each other as a man dressed in fancy clothing walked through the door.

"They are waiting for you."

Dark clouds of gray and deep orange hung over the coliseum, pierced by a bright ray of light. Two shadows were drawn onto the stone surface where they would fight.

Hyejoo stood opposite of Lalisa who was clothed in red and black. She looked over to the side where her dad Chaewon, her sisters, and Avatar Heejin were watching on. She didn't dare look at the crowd.

The fight would only stop when someone got burned.

BOOM.

The powerful sound of the gong vibrated through the coliseum. The crowd roared. Lalisa charged forward.

With her heart practically jumping out of her chest, Hyejoo ran forward a bit and crossed her arms, blocking the first flame that came her way and pushing it to the side. 

She felt the heat on her arms.  Her heart beat with the force of a thousand drums.

"Move from side to side, evade, let her come to you..." The words echoed through her mind and she followed them. They kept repeating the same song and dance over and over. The crowd grew restless.

"What's the matter?" Lalisa stopped bending and put her hands on her hips. "Lose your nerve?"

Hyejoo didn't answer. She knew it was just a trick to get her to make a mistake. Which meant her strategy wad working... and it was making Lalisa angry.

Lalisa waited for a response before turning to the crowd. "Hmph. Just like I thought! Hyejoo is a little scaredy cat! Aw! The poor thing! She goes around burning innocent people and doesn't have the guts to fight!"

The crowd booed. They hurled insults at her. Hyejoo tried to block them out but most got through. Still, she stood her ground.

Lalisa put her hands up, as if begging her to attack her. "You're not getting out of this unless you fight back. Stop hiding... or do you want me to tell everyone about you and your little airbending friend?"

"Leave her out of it..." Hyejoo's voice was low. It took all of her will to not charge directly at her.

Lalisa put a hand to her ear. "What was that?"

"I said leave her out of it!"

"Oh I think it's a little too late for that..." Lalisa turned her back to Hyejoo. "HEY EVERYONE! I HAVE A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET TO—"

Hyejoo finally ran toward her. Fueled by her anger, punched a flame at Lalisa's back... but she lowered herself into a splits, dodging the fire, and hopped back up.

Lalisa let out a grin. "Was that so—"

"Shut your mouth. I'm not gonna let you lie and put her life in danger. You'll have to speak over my dead body!" Hyejoo's flame grew twice as big as her last. 

Lalisa almost looked surprised as she dodged it, but still kept her grin. "You'll have to do better than that if you really care about her!"

Hyejoo dug deep inside herself and unleashed an uncontrolled wave of fire with a burning yell. Lalisa leaped above the flames and redirected some of it toward Hyejoo.

Hyejoo gasped and barely had enough time to get her arms up to block the fire. She screamed in pain as it burned her arms and knocked her onto her back.

Lalisa sprinted over. Hyejoo gather all the energy she had into a ball of fire, ready to launch it, but Lalisa grasped her wrist and SLAMMED her foot against the side of Hyejoo's face.

Everything became foggy. Sounds were distant. Hyejoo looked around, trying to find Chaewon but she couldn't see straight. There was a ringing on the side of her head that had hit the pavement.

She could hear Lalisa yelling something at her, but it took a little while before she could discern it.

"Look over to my sister and apologize to her!"

Hyejoo's face was pinned to the ground. She looked in the direction she was being forced to. There was an elderly man with a scowl on his face standing next to a girl wearing bandages on her face.

Those girls had done their best to make Chaewon's life miserable. Hyejoo couldn't even remember the amount of times she had to console her. It had gone past the point  of childish name calling, this was Chaewon's life they were messing with. She was not going to apologize.

She shifted her eyes to Lalisa. "She shouldn't have been playing with fire."

Lalisa stepped down harder on her face. "Apologize!"

"Enough!"

Hyejoo looked around for where the voice had come from. She quickly found the man standing next to the bandaged girl again. It was him.

He yelled again. "There's only one way this girl will learn her lesson!"

Hyejoo felt Lalisa's foot and grip on her wrist loosen. It was obvious what the, "only way," was. Hyejoo swallowed hard. Fear spread through her body... but she didn't scream and she was too dizzy to put up any fight. She accepted what was going to happen.

She heard screams from the opposite side. They sounded like they were coming from Chaewon and her sisters. 

The crowd cheered for it.

Hyejoo shut her eyes and imagined her mother's face. "It'll all be over soon. Stay strong..."

"Oof!"

Hyejoo felt a sharp gust of wind and Lalisa was sent flying. Hyejoo looked up and saw Chaewon's terrified face help her to her feet.

Chaewon caressed the sides of Hyejoo's face. "Are you okay? I was so scared I—"

"Chae... what did you..."

Heejin, Yerim, Hyunjin, and their dad ran over to them as everything went quiet.

Then... "She's an airbender!" It was the same man standing on Lalisa's side of the arena. "She ruined our sacred tradition!"

Chaewon wrapped herself around Hyejoo's arm. Yerim, Hyunjin, Heejin, and Hyejoo's father stood in front of them as the man walked over to them. The crowd grew louder again. Hyejoo held her aching head, still trying to see clearly.

Lalisa dusted herself off as the man, her master, put a hand on her shoulder. 

He looked at Hyejoo's dad and grinned. "Manshik... Are you actually going to defend this girl?"

Hyejoo's dad stepped forward. "The fight is over Hyunsuk! Lalisa won, just let it be."

Hyunsuk scoffed. "I always knew you were soft..." He shifted his focus to Heejin. "I don't want to hurt you again Avatar. I don't want to hurt any of you... I only want to give the airbender who interrupted our tradition what she deserves. She took away Lalisa's vengeance, now she must pay it back herself. Please make this easy on yourselves and step aside."

None of them moved. Lalisa went to Hyunsuk and softly spoke to him. It seemed like she was trying to convince him to walk away.

Heejin spoke up. "What do you mean again?"

"Don't listen to him," Hyunjin said.

"Oh you poor thing..." Hyunsuk shook his head. "You really don't know, do you? How is it possible for you to have lived this long and still not know?"

"Shut up!" Hyunjin lit a flame in her hand but didn't look like she was going to do anything.

Hyunsuk looked down at it, then at Hyunjin. "Put that thing away, girl. You're in over your head." He looked down the line at everyone who was in front of Hyejoo and Chaewon with an intense glare. "I'm going to give you to the count of three to step aside. One..."

Suddenly, Yerim jumped in front of Manshik and shot a bright, purple pillar of fire at Hyunsuk. It managed to catch him off guard and knock him back.

"Everyone run!" Hyejoo's dad grabbed Yerim by the shirt and yanked her back. She took Hyejoo's arm and everyone ran toward the tunnel on the opposite side of the coliseum. Hyejoo looked back and saw her dad standing between them and Hyunsuk as he stood up. Lalisa stared at them but didn't chase. Hyejoo's legs were moving by themselves. Holding tight onto Yerim and Chaewon, they ran under the shadow of the tunnel and maneuvered their way toward the exit.

The entire crowd was cheering for the next Agni Kai that had begun.

A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone! Promise it won't happen again :). Next week will be the first Heejin POV chapter, then....

Haseul.