"The boat?…" Ikari closed his eyes at the question, recalling for a moment how he had gotten it.
***********
[5 days ago]
Moving between the branches of the trees with the aid of the wind, Ikari sped through the night. He needed a boat to cross the sea, and luckily, he had heard from a local merchant that a small group of pirates operated in the region, terrorizing fishermen with robberies.
According to the information, there were four men, including two earthbenders who used boulders to intimidate their victims, threatening to destroy the hulls of boats to steal money and goods. 'Four pieces of trash…' Ikari thought, leaping from one trunk to another with precision.
Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in the air to his right. Hmm? Looking to the side, he saw Momo emerging from the shadows. Ikari slowed down, letting the lemur land on his shoulder. "Did you find them?" he asked in a whisper.
Momo squeaked and pointed with his paw to the right.
"Good boy." Ikari changed his course, moving even faster between the trees until he reached a small, secluded beach. He stopped on a high branch, carefully analyzing the scene below.
In the shallow water, a small, functional sailboat was anchored. It wasn't made for long voyages, but it would do. His eyes then turned to a campfire a few meters from the sandy shore. Three burly men, with thick beards and muscular arms, sat on logs, roasting fish on skewers while speaking loudly, their voices echoing into the night.
'I can't tell which of them are the earthbenders… and one is missing.' Ikari scanned the area, searching for signs of the fourth man, but found nothing. 'Maybe in the forest? …Better confirm first if these really are the pirates.'
He looked at Momo, still on his shoulder, and murmured, "Hide," while affectionately stroking the lemur's head.
Momo squeaked softly in agreement and flew into the trees, disappearing into the darkness.
Ikari unstrapped his beloved staff from the backpack on his back, leaning it carefully against the tree, but kept the backpack hanging to draw the men's attention. Then, in a silent motion, he leapt from the branch and landed softly on the ground, straightening up with a deliberately clumsy expression before starting to walk toward them.
"Oh, thank the spirits!" Ikari exclaimed, stepping out of the trees with an exaggeratedly relieved tone. "I've been lost for hours in this damned forest! I thought I'd never find anyone!"
The three men immediately turned, their bodies tense, eyes narrowing with suspicion. They dropped their fish skewers and stood up in unison, sizing Ikari up from head to toe. The largest of them, on the left, bald with a scar across his cheek, stepped forward, his hand hovering over a sword at his waist. "Who are you!?"
Ikari scratched the back of his neck, keeping his goofy smile. "Just a lost traveler. You're the first people I've run into in a long time."
"Is that so?" The man in the middle, slimmer than the other two and with shrewd eyes, spoke slowly, his feet shifting almost imperceptibly on the ground.
'He knows who I am,' Ikari noticed the subtle movement and quickly reached two conclusions — the man was an earthbender, and he was preparing to attack.
Without wasting time, Ikari drew the daggers from his waist and spun his body, hurling both blades, propelled by a precise gust of wind, toward the men flanking the bender.
"What—"
"It's him!" the earthbender roared, stomping hard on the ground. Three boulders burst from the earth, rising like shields. One blocked the first dagger, which ricocheted with a crack and fell into the vegetation. The second, however, was too fast, embedding itself in the shoulder of the man to the right.
"Argh!" the man groaned, falling on his butt to the ground, clutching his shoulder as blood streamed between his fingers, confusion written all over his face.
"Xin!" shouted the one with the scar on his cheek to his fallen partner.
"It's him, Lin! HODAD!" the earthbender yelled, hurling the three boulders toward Ikari.
"WHAT!?"
Ikari faced the attack with a cold calmness, completely abandoning his façade of innocence. These people had no reason to fear him unless they were bad.
********
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, images or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.