It had been three years since I left that mountain in search of a higher one to climb (metaphorically, of course) and it had been a pretty eventful three years.

At first, I started my journey by challenging any local firebending dojos, and though most of them laughed me away when they learned I didn't have any ability to bend, telling me that I had no right to fight in their hallowed halls, I took the invitations for what they were and attacked them in the streets instead.

Unfortunately, aside from one somewhat skilled master who had managed to give me a small burn scar on my left shoulder before I knocked the wind out of him with a well timed punch, most of the local dojos didn't have any members who had a significant level of skill. Once I got over my initial disappointment and thought a little harder about it, I realized that it made sense. Most of the firebenders in the country were training their art in order to get into the military, and anyone who was good enough to join would probably do so as soon as they could, meaning that the only benders that I could find in the dojos would be the people that weren't good enough for the military.

So my solution for finding stronger fighters was simple. Antagonize the Fire Nation military.

It proved to be fun for a short while. I learned a lot from my fights, and nearly got burned to death on multiple occasions, which was a plus, but after a couple of years of fighting firebenders who learned from the same straightforward techniques that were standard throughout the military, it quickly started to get stale.

So I headed over to the Earth Kingdom, hoping to find anyone who could bring more spice to my life.

I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to find people almost immediately. While earthbenders did fight similarly to each other, their military culture was a lot less prevalent, which meant that their techniques were a lot less homogenized than the firebenders were. It was easy to antagonize them too. For a large majority of them, I could simply tell them I was Fire Nation, and with a few words to taunt their mothers' honours, even if I had no reason to assume they were anything other than nice ladies, I easily goaded many people into fights.

I calmed down a bit when an earthbender managed to clip and break two of my fingers. I took some of his money as compensation and went to a local doctor, where he told me to wear a splint for about eight weeks, and rest it for three months or until it felt back to full strength. It had been a harsh and harrowing lesson to have my hands out of commission for that long, but at the very least it taught me not to neglect my legs and elbows.

Overall, I was having a great time, and after each fight I felt myself evolving to greater heights, but even with the higher variety in fighting styles that the earthbenders offered, even they were getting a little stale. But that was to be expected. Wandering to wherever my whims took me was something that had worked out for me for a short while, but it was clear that I was quickly outgrowing that lifestyle. While I had been fine with using the random benders that I came across in my travels as stepping stones until now, it was clear that I would have to start picking out higher quality stones to pave the road towards my goal of becoming the strongest.

So when I passed by an Earth Kingdom village that often traded with Kyoshi Island, I searched for a fishing boat that could take me there. I had only heard about the Kyoshi Warriors in passing, and even if I didn't know much about them, I knew they were considered to be an order of elite fighters, which was more than enough for me.

It wasn't too difficult to find a fisherman that was willing to give me transport for cheap, and though it was a slow trip, saturated with the smell of fish the entire way, I didn't mind.

Once I got off at the port of Kyoshi island, I thanked the fisherman who took me there with a tip, and he happily gave me a suggestion to visit his favourite restaurant in the village in exchange. With the little money I had left, I decided to try it out, and was surprised to find that the old fisherman had been right. I didn't typically eat much fish, but I would make an exception for this elephant koi sashimi. It was delicious.

"How was the meal, son?" the restaurant owner asked me, as she cleared up my plates.

"It was the best thing I've eaten in a very long time," I admitted. "You're an excellent cook."

"Bah," the owner said, though her mouth widened into a smile. "It was sashimi. The elephant koi should be receiving your compliments, not me."

"Unless you tell me that the elephant koi cut itself up and arranged itself onto that plate, I'm not changing my mind," I said, with a laugh. "Thank you, ma'am. It was delicious."

The owner let out a low chuckle and shook her head. "Save that sort of sweet talk for someone who isn't sixty years your senior, brat," she said.

I laughed as I shook out the entirety of the contents of my coinpurse out, counting it out in my hands. I smiled when I realized that I had just enough money to pay for the meal.

"Lucky," I said, holding out the last of my money towards her. "Just barely enough. You can keep the change, too."

When the owner didn't take my money, I shook it in front of her.

"Excuse me?" I said, a little louder. "Ma'am?"

"I can hear you just fine, damn brat," she said, snapping at me and trying to bat my hand away.

I dodged her hand, not wanting the money to fly away. The owner frowned at me, and gave me a dissatisfied huff.

"I don't want your money," she said. "I'm not gonna leave a kid like you penniless over a simple meal."

"It wasn't a simple meal, it was an excellent one," I said, jingling the coins in my hand at her. "I may be many things, but I'm not a petty dine-and-dasher. Just take my money. I'm not leaving with it either way."

The owner glared at me before sighing. I grinned and dropped my coins into her hand.

"Don't come crying to me for your money back later," she said. "If I find you dying by the side of the street, I'm going to kick you deeper into the dirt."

"That's only fair," I said.

She shook her head and mumbled something about kids getting stupider with every generation, before she glared up at me.

"So what will you do now?" she asked. "I know you're not a local, and you don't look like a trader or a fisherman. You might be able to convince some poor idiot to take you back to the mainland for free, but you're stuck on this little island before you do."

"I was planning to visit the Kyoshi Warriors," I admitted. "Do you know a way to contact them?"

The owner's brow furrowed in confusion, before she shook her head and sighed.

"Are all the mainland children as strange as you are?" she asked.

"I doubt it," I said. "I'm one of a kind."

The owner glared at me again, but when I didn't back down, she sighed.

"One of my granddaughters is a Kyoshi Warrior," she said. "They usually don't interact with mainlanders, but I'll try to convince her to make an exception for you, since you're so interested in meeting them."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise of the unexpected windfall, and after a moment of thought I bowed my head in gratitude.

"I would appreciate that greatly, ma'am," I said. "I owe you a debt of gratitude. Please let me know how I can repay you for this."

When the owner stayed silent for a few long seconds, I looked up to see her looking down at me with a confused expression.

"Ma'am?" I asked. "Did you hear what I just said?"

The owner's expression shifted immediately into a deep glower.

"I've already told you that my hearing is fine, you brat," she said. "I was just surprised is all. Didn't expect you to start talking like a civilized human being all of a sudden."

"That's fair," I said with a grin, standing up and shaking my limbs, as if to shake off the remains of the formality that I'd used a moment ago. "So, what would you have me do?"

The owner continued to glower at me, before she sighed.

"You'll refuse to accept my offer if I don't give you anything to do, won't you?" she asked.

"Of course," I said. "I refuse to take a debt that I can't pay, and I have no idea if you'll still be around for me to pay you back it if I don't do immediately."

I yelped when I felt something jab me painfully in the stomach. Jumping away from the surprise attack, I blinked twice when I realized that the owner had jabbed me with a pair of chopsticks that she had in her hand, without me even seeing her move.

"I'm not old enough that I'll suddenly croak if you look away," she said, raising her chopsticks to strike me on the head. I didn't move, and the chopsticks hit my head gently, with practically no force behind the blow.

"Okay," I said, a little too distracted to give her a proper response.

The owner grumbled something under her breath before lifting her chopsticks from my head.

"My granddaughter comes by to visit every week or so," she said. "It hasn't been too long since her last visit, and she's due to come by in a few days. In the meantime, you'll be helping me with my shop."

I frowned. "That doesn't seem like much of a repayment," I said.

"Don't you worry about that," the owner said. "It's not a difficult task for me to introduce you to my granddaughter, and I plan to exploit you for unpaid labour maliciously during your stay. Does that settle your debt fairly, or are you not satisfied?"

I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. While I had somewhat expected the owner to bring me to the Kyoshi Warriors immediately, it wasn't like I was in any rush. I could afford to kill a few days.

"That sounds fair to me," I said.

"Good," she said, though the disdainful expression she gave me didn't match her words. "Now go out back and wash yourself. I was willing to look it over when you were a customer, but now that you're my slave for a few days, I won't accept you smelling like you've been washing yourself in mud and filth. You'll make the fish taste bad."

I gave her a smile and a lazy salute.

"You got it, boss."

True to her word, my new boss worked me to the bone over, making me haul enough elephant koi to and from the port that I could only assume that she planned to feed the entire village. But when I saw how popular her restaurant truly was, the idea wasn't as far fetched as I might've initially thought. Though the restaurant had been empty when I first ate there, it seems that I'd come at an odd hour, because the amount of people that came in during the peak hours was enough that I could only assume that people outside of the village were traveling over to eat there.

With no other hired hands, I had no idea how the old lady managed to keep the place running on her own, but she somehow managed, moving between the kitchens and the restaurant floor with an amount of speed and grace that shocked me whenever I had the chance to admire it, not that I had too much time between my shipments of the elephant koi.

Though I was grateful that she was using my labour so viciously that there was no doubt in my mind that I was repaying my debt in full, it was still backbreaking work, even with the strength that I had cultivated for myself during my years of travel and fighting. By the end of the first day, I had gotten so tired that I barely had the energy to fight against her offer to have me stay at her house, instead of sleeping outside like I had planned.

The next few days passed by quickly, and though my body was acclimated enough to hard labour that I wasn't sore from the experience, I was still exhausted.

Three days after I made my initial deal with the boss, I was sitting in the restaurant during one of my rare breaks from hauling elephant koi, eating a bowl of sashimi on rice that the boss insisted was a "failure" in the kitchen that she didn't want to sell to a paying customer, when a young girl around my age walked in.

She glanced at me when she saw me, but quickly dismissed my presence as she headed towards the back of the restaurant. I was content to ignore her as well, but when I saw her approaching the kitchens, I called out to her.

"Hey," I said. "That leads to the kitchens. The old lady doesn't allow anyone in there but family."

The girl raised an eyebrow at me, but quickly smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Good thing I'm family, then," she said, before turning away.

Though it was possible that the old lady had more than one granddaughter, my interest was immediately piqued by the possibility that this was the Kyoshi Warrior that was about to be introduced to me. I watched her walk to the kitchens, both curious and confused by what I saw.

Though I could easily see that she was fit, from how much muscle definition shone through in her bare arms and shoulders, I couldn't quite imagine her body as belonging a supposed elite warrior. I had imagined someone more heavyset in nature, not someone that made me think I could snap her body in half if I got my hands on her. Though I couldn't blame her for looking weaker than me, I still couldn't help but be disappointed at what I saw, and felt myself hoping that I was mistaken in my assumptions that she was the supposed Kyoshi Warrior.

With how long she was back in the kitchens without the old lady screaming at her to get out, I could only assume that she'd been telling the truth when she claimed that she was family. When the old lady and the girl came back out of the kitchens, with the girl giving me a confused look, I could feel my disappointment rise in anticipation.

"As promised, brat. This is my granddaughter," the old lady said.

I frowned, but before I could say anything, the sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed in the room as the girl slapped her face and let out a heavy sigh.

"Grandma," she said, in a chiding tone. "I don't need you introducing me to boys."

I felt a flash of annoyance when the old lady's face twisted into one of abject disgust at the idea, but she spoke before I could.

"Suki," she said, with a deep and dark seriousness embedded in her voice. "If you ever think that I would subject you to any sort of relationship with a ruffian like this one, it means that I have failed you as a grandmother."

"That's hurtful, boss," I interjected, before I could be left out of the conversation any longer.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What, you think you're too good for my granddaughter, brat?" the old lady asked, a tinge of annoyance entering her voice.

"I do," I said. "But I meant more that you think that you have any say in what I do. I'll do whatever I damn well please."

"Not in my house you won't."

"Is that a challenge?"

Before the old lady could respond, the loud sound of a clap echoed in the restaurant as Suki clapped her hands twice.

"Okay," she said. "It's very clear that I have no idea what's going on here. Grandma. Do you mind explaining?"

The old lady glared at her granddaughter, clearly annoyed that she was being talked down to, but unlike how she did with me, she seemed quick to forgive her.

"This brat," she said. "He told me he wanted to meet with the Kyoshi Warriors and he was penniless when he came here, so I took pity on him and promised to introduce him to you."

"Pity?!" I asked, feeling a sudden flash of genuine annoyance run through me at the suggestion that anyone could be capable of feeling such a thing for me. "That's why you said you'd introduce your daughter to me, you old bitch?"

Suki's expression darkened at the insult, but the old lady just laughed.

"Maybe at first," she said. "But once I got to know you better, I wanted to do it so I could see the look on your face when my granddaughter kicked your sorry ass."

"Grandma?!" Suki shouted, her dark expression falling quickly as she turned to her grandma in shock.

"You know what? That works out fine for me," I said, before giving Suki a quick nod. "I request a duel."

"A duel?" Suki asked, seeming too confused by the pace of the conversation to follow completely. "Wait, do you really want me to fight you?"

"I do," I said.

"Are you serious?" she asked, glancing between me and the old lady, as if expecting either of us to reveal that we'd been pulling a prank on her.

"I am," I said. "I will let you know that if you refuse, I will attack you anyways. I'm just giving you the opportunity to dictate the terms of the fight so you have no excuse for when you lose."

Suki stared at me for what seemed like a full minute before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. Okay," she said, shaking her head. "I still have no idea what's going on, but okay. Let's just do this outside, okay? I don't want to destroy my grandma's shop."

"Those are your only rules of engagement?" I asked.

Suki gave me a confused look, but the old lady spoke on her behalf.

"Don't just attack her the moment you step outside, you ruffian," she said. "Find a designated spot to fight beforehand. As much as I'd love to see you getting humiliated by my granddaughter, you have been working for me for the past few days, and I'd rather my shop not be associated with such an embarrassing performance."

"Grandma," Suki sighed.

"Fine," I said, which made Suki's eyebrows shoot up in alarm. "Any other rules?"

"No," the old lady said.

"Good," I said. "Let's go."

Though the old lady and I started to walk out, Suki stayed where she was.

"Should I be concerned that you were planning to attack me as soon as we left the shop?" she asked.

"You're the one who said we should fight outside," I said.

"He has a point, dear," the old lady said.

Suki's eyes darted between the two of us, before she threw her hands up in exasperation.

With how I knew nothing about the island we were on, I let the old lady lead the way to wherever she intended for us to fight, and with how Suki didn't seem to be curious at all about where we were headed, I assumed that she knew exactly where we were going. In the end, we ended up in a small clearing in a nearby forest, not too far from the village, but surrounded by dense enough forestry that it would be impossible for random villagers to find us unless they knew exactly where to look.

"I assume this is the place?" I asked.

The old lady glanced at me, before walking to the other end of the clearing. Suki and I both stayed where we were, though the old lady waved her over.

"Suki," she said. "Come here."

Though she still hadn't pulled herself out of her confusion during our short walk to the clearing, she listened to her grandmother dutifully. When she got to where her grandmother stood, the old lady reached into the back of her clothes and pulled out what looked like an iron fan, handing it over to her granddaughter.

"Yes, this is the place," the old lady shouted.

Needing no further prompting, I launched myself forwards towards Suki.

Despite her inability to keep up with a conversation, she was quick to react to my charge. I expected her to jump back to try and create distance between us, but instead she ducked down into a low stance and held her fan out towards me, unfolding it and readying it like a sword. I knew not to underestimate an iron fan as a legitimate threat, but my plan remained the same. Hit hard and fast without holding back, giving her no chance to do anything but defend herself. With Kyoshi Island being a tribute to the most famous Earth Avatar in history, I didn't know what sort of earthbending techniques her warriors would use, but I didn't plan to give Suki enough time to demonstrate them.

When I got close enough, I reached out to bat the iron fan away, and with how prepared Suki had been for my attack, I was a little disappointed when I was able to slap it to the side so easily. She was small enough that the force of my hit to her weapon alone was enough to knock her off course, sending her entire body spinning to the side after I overpowered her so quickly.

Except that wasn't true. Though I continued my assault without hesitation, my mind couldn't quite comprehend the completely unperturbed expression that she wore. Time seemed to slow as my hand grew closer and closer to closing around her head and slamming it into the ground, but before my hand fully covered her face, our eyes seemed to meet for a split second.

And she smiled.

Though I got close enough to her that I could feel the air flowing past her as she moved, I felt something hit the bottom of my wrist before I could close my fingers around her. I blinked in surprise when I saw the iron fan that had struck me, not understanding how it had gotten there in the first place, but before I could even think about what to do next, I felt something grabbing my pinky and dragging it backwards. I couldn't decide whether to try and wrench my finger back from Suki's grasp or to simply jump back to avoid losing my balance, but I quickly had the choice taken away from me as I felt something pushing the side of my ankles. I tried to kick my legs away to try and find my balance again, but I was surprised to realize that Suki's leg had already hooked over mine, and I felt myself toppling to the ground as Suki used the entirety of her weight to drag me down to the floor with her.

I laid there for a moment, and looked up at the sky. It was such a nice day, and even with the forest canopy that covered most of the blue sky above me, enough sunbeams shone through to illuminate the world around me. The sight of it filled me with such giddy excitement that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, are you okay?" Suki asked. "I didn't hit your head on the floor, did I?"

Suddenly realizing that I was still in a fight, I turned my head and saw Suki using her entire body to grapple my left arm. She had her legs drawn across my chest in a secure hold on my body, and had both her arms wrapped around my arm and hand, her grip securing my wrists and elbow. I laughed again, before flexing my arm to try and escape.

"Hey!" Suki shouted. "I can break your arm at any time. The fight's over!"

I laughed again, both at how deliriously excited I was and at the absurdity of what she just said. I continued to flex my arm against he entire body, and true to her word, the awkward angle that she was holding it at only made me feel like I would accidentally snap it if I kept going, but I didn't care.

"Break it then!" I shouted back with a laugh. "If that's what it takes for us to continue this bout, then so be it!"

I pulled my arm viciously from her grip, and to my surprise, I didn't feel the pain of my bones breaking like she'd promised. Not giving myself the chance to process the confusion, I quickly flipped over and lunged on top of Suki, mounting her over her stomach, and grabbing her left wrist and her neck, pinning her to the floor. Though her right arm was still free, she quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled it back, but she wasn't nearly strong enough to free her from my grip on her neck.

Once again, I was struck by how thin and physically weak she was compared to me. Even now, it was difficult to think that this girl, who was so much smaller than me, had been able to take me down so easily, but I had learned enough from her that I would never underestimate her again. Though I felt like I could snap her neck if I just put a little bit more pressure on it, the defiant and annoyed look in her eyes told me that she would somehow stop me before I would be able to.

"You didn't break my arm," I commented, surprised by how disappointed I sounded.

Suki opened her mouth, but nothing came out but a choked cough. I pressed against her neck harder, and to my surprise, she let go of my wrist, planting her right hand on the floor beside her instead. Before I could even think about what she was trying to do, I was tumbling over her body. In the next moment, I was lying sideways on the floor, with Suki grappling me from behind, her legs wrapping around my hips and her arms coiled around my neck.

I grabbed her arms in an attempt to pull her away from me, but she had put me in an awkward position, while giving herself the leverage to use her entire strength against me. A strange memory played through my mind of when I had first realized how a snow leopard hunted by pushing its prey towards treacherous areas of the mountain, while leaving secure footholds for itself.

"This is how you properly choke someone out," I heard Suki say, right before I opened my eyes and woke up on the floor.

It took me a while to even realize that I'd lost consciousness in the first place, but when I saw Suki sitting on the floor beside me, still panting with exertion, I figured I must not have been out for more than a few seconds. When Suki noticed my eyes on her, she frowned and jabbed me with her iron fan, square in the stomach. Though it looked like there was practically no force behind the blow, it was surprisingly painful in a familiar way, and I glanced at the old lady, remembering how she had jabbed in the same way with her chopsticks.

"Are you done?" Suki asked. Her words were raspy, and she kept rubbing at her neck with her free hand, but she looked otherwise unhurt by your fight. "I can knock you out again and tie you up if you're not satisfied."

"No," I said, staring up at her. "I'm very satisfied."

"Good," she said.

We both fell into a quick silence as we fought to catch our breaths, but I couldn't help but stare up at her the entire time. I knew that she noticed my gaze, but I didn't care.

Once more, I thought of my time on the mountain, but rather than thinking of the snow leopard, I couldn't help but think of the boar goat that had been killed in front of me. I had never imagined empathising with such a creature, thinking myself as a snow leopard, but maybe even a snow leopard would be considered as prey on a different mountain.

"And what an amazing mountain I have found," I said, still staring up at her.

"Excuse me?!" Suki shouted, scooting backwards and clutching at her chest.

I rolled my eyes at her interpretation of my unintended euphemism, but didn't dignify it with any other response. Instead, I rolled over onto my knees and bowed my head towards her.

"Suki," I said. "I humbly request that you grant me the honour of studying under you. I am on a journey to becoming the strongest being in the mortal realm, and I believe that I will be able to evolve to greater heights under your tutelage."

When Suki stayed silent for a few long seconds, I looked up to see her looking down at me with a confused expression.

"Suki?" I asked. "Did you hear what I just said?"

Suki blinked a few times before furrowing her eyebrows. "I heard you. I was just surprised is all," she says. "I didn't expect you to sound formal all of a sudden."

"So is that a yes or no on the teaching?" I asked. "I'm not in a rush, but I'd prefer if you answered sooner rather than later."

"And there it goes," she sighed, shaking her head.

I looked at her expectantly and she glanced at her grandmother, who simply shrugged back.

"You're the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors," she said. "It's your decision to make."

"I still value your advice, grandma," Suki replied. "Both as my grandmother, and the former leader. Do you trust this man?"

"Not in the slightest," she replied, without hesitation. "But I've seen his type before. If you refuse him, he'll only take it as a sign to try harder. He'll either come knocking at your door to check if you've changed your mind every hour, or in his case he might stalk you and attack you until one of you is dead."

I nodded along with everything the old lady said. I hadn't realized it before, but wisdom truly did come with age.

The old lady glared at me for some reason.

"If you want my advice, kill him," the old lady said. "It'll save you more pain in the long run."

"I'm not going to do that, grandma," Suki sighed, before turning to me.

"Are you going to stalk and attack me if I refuse to train you?" she asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead, but that seems likely," I admitted.

"What if I actually break your arms?" she asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant," I said.

Suki let out another loud sigh before shaking her head.

"Fine," she said. "You win. I'll train you, but it's my day off and I haven't eaten any breakfast yet. We'll talk about this more when I've had some food."

I beamed up at her and bowed my head again.

"I owe you a great debt of gratitude," I said. "I swear on my name, Ty Lung, that I will repay this debt a hundredfold."

"Ty Lung, huh?" the old lady said. "Strong name for such a weakling."

"You didn't even know his name?!"