The sun had already began setting beyond the horizon.
The cold wind of the evening ruffled Ren's hair, making them messier than usual. He drank his tea with grace, comfortably settled in his seat at the dock back in Shen Guan while watching a fuming Zuko strut towards him.
"Is something the matter?" He asked, settling down his teacup, his feet dangling over the seawater below.
Zuko anwered him with a kick that sent a torrent of flames in his direction.
With raised eyebrows, Ren jumped back and barely avoided the attack. His teacup, however, wasn't so safe—it fell to the water, wasting both the cup and its content. Seeing it, Ren sighed forlornly.
"Your uncle loved that teacup."
Zuko didn't speak, only breathing heavily like an enraged bull.
He followed up with a charge towards the earthbender, with fiery daggers spawning in his hands.
He stepped towards Ren, followed by an upward strike with his right hand.
Ren turned sideways, curiously watching the young man as the flaming dagger slashed where he was a second ago.
Zuko grunted and used his left hand to slash sideways. Ren ducked and the dagger missed by a handful.
With his two attacks missing, Zuko grew even more enraged—face turning red. With a yell, he twisted his body and sent a kick towards the face of the ducking Ren.
As the foot approached him, Ren used the back of his right hand to gently deflect the attack, raising the foot overhead.
Zuko immediately lost balance, about to fall down. Ren used the same hand and grabbed the prince's ankles with an iron grip, before pivoting in his foot and spinning.
Zuko got dragged, flying mid-air, letting out a mad scream.
Ren tensed his hand and let go of his grip, letting Zuko soar towards the water below.
After flying for several seconds, the young man fell into the cold water.
"What's his problem?" Ren muttered to himself.
Zuko thrashed around in the water for a while before stabilizing himself. He sent a blazing glare at Ren, with the word anger practically painted on his face. He immediately swam towards the shore, dripping wet and out in the cold.
Ren watched the young man climb up and run up to him once again. As he was mentally preparing for another flurry of attack, Zuko stopped in his face and—trembling with rage—spoke.
"Our agreement was you will help me capture the Avatar. He was right there, in front of us in Omashu. Yet all you did was stand there and do nothing." The prince practically choked out, each syllable barely containing his rage.
"I did help you." Ren blinked. He fondly remembered that small scuffle with Bumi and Aang. He thought it was cool showing off in front of the king of the second largest city in Omashu and the incarnation of the strongest benders to ever exist.
"YOU DID NO SUCH THING!" Zuko screamed at his face, flames spilling out of his mouth with each word.
"I did. You were just unconscious." Ren sighed. Children are such a pain in the arse. Is it really his fault this guy straight up fell asleep when he walked in?
"You should've done so in the beginning!" Zuko grabbed his collar.
"Prince Zuko, no!" Iroh burst into the scene.
"Uncle, don't meddle in this. This guy needs to learn a less—" Zuko's words got stuck in his throat as he turned his head to the side to face his uncle.
Sharp, gleaming tips from tendrils made of hardened sand extended from the shore and hovered, aimed at him. At least 20 of them were there, and each one is pointed at his head. The nearest one is barely a palm away from piercing the back of his throat.
He turned towards the front, seeing Ren with his right hand extended out in a casual gesture. The earthbender's eyes remained level and calm, awaiting his next move as if he has not considerations with taking the young man's life if he once chose the wrong move.
Zuko was silent for a moment, before letting go of Ren's collar. Ren also smiled, and flicked with his right hand, sending the tendrils back towards the shore.
Then, as if nothing happened, Zuko walked away towards the ship.
Iroh had a deep look in his eyes as he glanced at Ren, before following his nephew and retreating in to the ship.
Ren sat back down, feet dangling off the dock.
***
"We almost died today." Sokka muttered to himself, leaning against a tree. The campfire illuminated his face, revealing a blank expression.
"That was horrifying." Katara supplied from the side, frowning as she stirred the contents of the pot over the fire.
"Did Bumi tell you who that guy is, Aang?" She turned towards the silent airbender.
Aang stared at his hands in silence, the scene from earlier that day replaying in his mind over and over. The giant boulder just hovering above them, their lives under the mercy of a single person. Aang thought the journey will be fun and whismy, but that encounter alone had really cemented just how serious his task is.
At Katara's inquiry, he raised his head and stared at the fire for a moment. Then, recalling Bumi's words, he replied.
"Bumi told me that he's the Rock Devil."
"That fits," Sokka supplied, still with a vacant expression.
"He's the most infamous mercenary in the Earth Kingdom, known for not leaving a single person alive in any of his contracts," Aang continued.
"A mercenary? Then that means..." Katara's face fell.
"He must've gotten a contract to capture you, the Avatar." Sokka's vacant expression gradually got replaced with pure, unadulterated dread.
"Or worse, kill you."
Hearing their words, Aang felt his breathing quicken. As he watched the boulder hover above them, he was sure that he wouldn't survive. With a single gesture, not a single person in Omashu will be alive to see the sunrise tomorrow.
As he began his journey to master the four elements, he thought that the only enemy he would face is the Fire Nation. He had considered bounty hunters and mercenaries also coming for him, but thought that it was insignificant compared to the threat of an entire country. How wrong he was.
He hugged his knees tighter, his face vacant and tense. Seeing this, Katara and Sokka looked at each other.
"Aang," Katara walked towards him and kneeled down, placing a hand on the silent kid's shoulder. "don't worry. When we encounter him again, we'll be stronger. We won't be as helpless as before."
"Katara, he made a boulder from a third of the entire city." Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"Shut up."
Aang smiled at their interaction. He's the Avatar, he can't just lose hope after meeting someone stronger than him. How can he end the Hundred-Year War if he can't even get over a single earthbender?
He doesn't know how, or when, but he will make sure to be stronger than that person when he meets him again. He won't be as helpless again. He will make sure of it.
"But really, how will you counter a boulder the size of a town?"
"Oh, shut up!"
Sokka's face was promptly hit with a fruit, courtesy of Katara's accurate hands. Momo grabbed the fruit from the fallen young man and feasted on it.
Aang and Katara chuckled to themselves, as Appa yawned on the side.
***
It was a day after the confrontation between Ren and the Avatar. A third of Omashu got turned into a giant boulder in the sky, courtesy of a certain earthbender. The city's still under recovery from what just transpired.
"Well, it could be a tourist attraction." Bumi muttered, looking at the giant boulder just lodged on one side of the gorge where Omashu stood.
The cliff on the west of Omashu was perfectly level, and then a gigantic boulder just unnaturally placed within it.
He closed his eyes and recalled what transpired yesterday. The boulder hung over their heads, threatening the lives of everyone within Omashu.
As they were inwardly in despair, the man responsible for it just laughed at them for a moment, and then dropped the boulder on the cliff outside of Omashu.
Then, without wasting a beat, he grabbed the unconscious Fire Nation prince and left with a confused elderly Fire Nation general. The guards were to terrified to do anything, and Bumi completely understood them for that.
Bumi is just as confused as everyone else on why the man known as the Rock Devil simply spared them, but he's not going to dwell on it. They're alive, and Omashu's still there—that's all that matters for the time being.
Bumi opened his eyes and stared at the missing third of the city.
"Eh, fixable." He took a bite of a jennamite.
***
The sun hung up in the cloudless blue sky.
Inside the Fire Nation's Royal Palace Garden, Princess Kaen enjoyed her tea in silence as she watched the turtle ducks frolick around the pond.
She chuckled lightly as one of the ducks fell on its back and struggle to get back up.
She set her cup down on the table and turned to watch the variety of flowers planted around sway with the wind.
Her smile visibly lowered, and a memory resurfaced in her mind. Before long, she shook it off and drank her remaining tea in one go.
Still, the bitterness in her heart remained.
"How nice it would've been if you were here..." The smile of a young man resurfaced in her mind, leaving a pang of pain in her heart.
It has been a year ever since, yet the pain and bitterness of the event remained in the deepest canals of her heart.
His smile, his eyes, the way he looked at her when she made him tea, the way he held her hand on their very first dance together, his whispers to her, his promise of always being together...
As happy as she was when they were together, the pain of recalling those memories is twice the intensity.
Shaking off the tragic memories of the past, Kaen poured herself another cup of tea. Sipping the beverage and savouring the flavour, she forced herself to move on and walk forward.
Just then, a servant went up to her, holding a scroll.
"I specifically ordered to not be disturbed." Kaen set down her cup and with cold eyes, faced the servant.
"Princess, news came from our spies on Omashu." The servant bowed.
"What does it have to do with me? I'm not participating in the war."
"Princess, I think it's better if you read it yourself." The servant handed the scroll over, face complicated.
Kaen was silent for a moment, but eventually took the scroll herself. She unfurled the report and began reading.
The summary involved the appearance of a suspected airbender together with the King of Omashu. Kaen raised an eyebrow at this news. An airbender? That would be the Avatar, would it not? Curious, she read further.
Zuko and Uncle Iroh?
Well, she's glad that they seem to be doing alright despite the banishment.
She skimped over the details of the encounter between her younger brother and the Avatar. She's just glad that Zuko seemed to have escaped alive without any serious injury.
"I'm glad my younger brother and uncle is doing fine, but this doesn't necessarily concern me at the slighte—"
Kaen's eyes widened as she read the next line.
The Rock Devil is with them.
She stayed still for a while, processing the line. She bit her lip hard enough that blood fell down her chin, but the pain wasn't as strong as the torrent within her chest at this moment.
She set the scroll down the table and stood up, instructing the servant. ""Prepare my guards. We will be heading to the Earth Kingdom. As soon as possible."
The servant bowed and left.
Kaen clenched her fists, sparks of blue lightning flickering around them. She brushed her hair aside, and walked out of the garden in graceful and dignified steps.
"I will pay you back for what you did back then." She muttered as she walked.
"You took the one person I loved the most. This time, I'll make sure we're even."
"I will personally kill you, Ren."