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.
********
He waited until the boulders were almost touching him before launching himself upward, propelled by a burst of wind at his feet. In the air, he twisted his body again and kicked at the empty space, sending a wave of air toward the two men standing below.
The earthbender reacted quickly, raising a rock from the ground in front of him to protect himself, while Lin crossed his arms in vain, trying to defend himself. The wave of wind hit him squarely, throwing him back. He rolled along the ground until he reached the sand of the beach, stopping with a groan of pain.
The earthbender who had managed to defend himself punched the rock in front of him, shattering it into dozens of shards that he launched at Ikari, still in the air. Each piece flew like an arrow, cutting through the air in multiple directions.
Ikari, however, was unfazed by the attack. He kicked the air again, this time propelling himself toward the earthbender while simultaneously spinning in rotation, creating a wild whirlwind of wind around him that deflected the shards with ease—some falling to the ground, others colliding with nearby trees.
The earthbender's eyes widened as he saw Ikari approaching at high speed. 'Shit!' He jumped back, raising a tall and thick wall of earth in front of him. He expected to hear some kind of impact, but the sound never came. 'What—'
!
Out of the corner of his eye, the earthbender saw a shadow slipping around the wall. Somehow, Ikari was already at his side, holding the dagger that had ricocheted at the start of the fight.
'He's too fast!' The man spun toward Ikari, desperation taking over, and took a step back. With a sharp flick of his hand, he pulled the stone wall, bringing it down in the path where the airbender was about to pass, hoping to crush him. But Ikari blew a powerful gust of wind from his mouth, the force of the air canceling his charge just in time for the stone to crash to the ground right in front of him.
At the same time, the wind that came from Ikari's mouth pushed the earthbender backward. He rolled once on the ground before steadying himself, panting. But when he looked up, he saw that Ikari was already in front of him. He didn't even have time to think about reacting before the boy drove the dagger into his left shoulder.
"Argh!" The man instantly felt the loss of movement in that arm as a searing pain tore through his body.
In panic, he tried to bend the earth beneath them. Ikari gave him no chance. The boy pulled the dagger from the man's shoulder in one fluid motion and swept his legs with a kick reinforced by a burst of wind.
The world spun for the earthbender, and before he hit the ground, he still felt the dagger's hilt strike his ribs hard.
CRACK!
"ARGH!!!" The scream tore out of him as he collapsed to the ground, pain exploding in his side. Gasping, he cracked one eye open—only to see Ikari's fist descending toward his face.
BAM!
The blow knocked him out instantly, his head falling onto the dirt, unconscious.
Meanwhile, Xin, the first man to fall, watched everything with wide, terror-filled eyes, clutching his injured shoulder, the dagger still embedded in it. Blood ran between his fingers, but he didn't dare remove the blade, much less get up to face the airbender who had just taken down the strongest member of the group in seconds.
Unlike Xin, Lin had recovered and was now running toward Ikari with his sword drawn, his face twisted in fury.
'He was pretty weak…' Ikari turned his gaze away from the earthbender, confirming he was out of the fight, and faced Lin, who was closing in quickly. "Where's the fourth man?" he asked, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
"I'm not telling you anything!" Lin shouted, swinging his sword in a downward arc. Ikari dodged easily, leaning his body to the side.
"The hard way, then," Ikari murmured, sidestepping another sword strike. 'Let's end this quickly.' With a swift movement, he slammed the dagger against the blade, deflecting it, and with his other hand landed a punch reinforced by a burst of air that exploded against Lin's elbow.
CRACK!
Lin screamed in pain, the sword falling to the sand as his arm hung limp, the bone clearly broken. He staggered, his face twisted in agony, but Ikari didn't stop—he kicked the side of Lin's left knee, forcing him down onto one knee.
"Let's try again," Ikari said flatly, grabbing Lin by the neck and forcing him to look at him. "Where's the fourth man?"
Lin panted, his face contorted in pain, but still tried to resist. "Y-You… will… pay for this…" he spat, his eyes blazing with a last flicker of defiance.
Ikari sighed heavily, tucking the dagger into his belt. With his now free hand, he slowly brought it up to Lin's face. "I think you still don't understand the situation."
Lin opened his mouth to snarl, but froze when he found himself unable to speak. It was as if an invisible force had completely sealed his windpipe and lungs.
"As long as you're in my presence—" Ikari spread his fingers in front of Lin's face, making a motion as if grabbing something, and pulled back. Thin, visible strands of air began to escape from Lin's nose and mouth. "—you're only breathing because I want to, and I'm allowing it."
Lin's eyes widened as he felt the air being drawn out of his body against his will. He tried to breathe and scream, but nothing happened—only the sensation of suffocation growing stronger. His chest began to rise and fall frantically while his stomach contracted, his body desperately fighting for air.
Ikari watched Lin's face grow pale, almost bluish, without showing a trace of emotion. Then he moved his hand forward, pushing the air back into Lin, who gasped, coughing violently as his lungs filled. Before Lin could recover, Ikari repeated the process, pulling the air out again, leaving him on the verge of passing out. "So, be a good man and answer my question honestly, alright? My kindness has limits."
Lin, feeling a visceral fear he had never experienced in his life, weakly nodded, eyes brimming with tears.
"Good, good. This makes things much easier, doesn't it?" Ikari asked cheerfully, with a small smile. "Where's the fourth man?"
"H-he went to a village up north to meet his girlfriend. He s-should be back tomorrow," Lin stammered.
"A village up north, huh?" Ikari narrowed his eyes, tilting his head. "You're sure about that? I'll find out if you're lying~"
"I-I swear—" Lin couldn't finish speaking, for Ikari's knee slammed into his face, knocking him out instantly.
Letting go of the man's neck, letting him drop to the ground, Ikari closed his eyes, lifted his head, and took a deep breath, filling his lungs to the limit. Then, he opened his mouth, releasing a series of sharp, rhythmic sounds: "SZZZZZ… SZZZZZZ… SZZZZZZ… SZZZZZZ…"
The sounds traveled through the area, reverberating off everything. This was a technique of his own creation, which basically allowed him to map the environment around him through the vibrations in the air caused by sound.
Ikari kept his eyes closed, focusing on the patterns of the air, feeling the currents bouncing off the trees, the sand, the rocks, and the boat. There were no humans nearby, no disturbances in the air besides leaves carried by the wind, birds, Momo lying on a branch, and insects flying around.
The fourth man really wasn't there.
'He told the truth,' Ikari thought, relaxing his shoulders. He opened his eyes and turned to Xin, who was still crouched in the same spot where he had fallen, clutching his injured shoulder with the dagger still lodged in it. The man trembled, his eyes heavy with fear, unable to look away from the airbender.
Ikari walked up to him with slow steps and crouched in front of him. "You have something that's mine." Without ceremony, Ikari reached out and yanked the dagger from Xin's shoulder.
"ARGH!" Xin cried out in pain, his body curling as he pressed his hand against the open wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
"You know, I hate people like you," Ikari began, bringing the dagger to Xin's pants and slowly wiping the blood off. "You're strong and healthy men. You could be fighting in the war for your people, or at least doing something good out there. But no. You choose to steal—taking the little that honest people fight to earn. Don't you feel guilty? Stealing what could feed a child? An elder? A pregnant woman? A man who works all day under the sun?"
Xin didn't answer, fear etched into every line of his face.
"No answer? I figured. You're not worth the saliva I spit. But don't worry, I'm not going to kill any of you. Because despite all the harm you've caused, you've never killed anyone. So, I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourselves." He moved closer, his face now just inches from Xin's, his black eyes gleaming with an intensity that seemed to pierce the man's very soul. "The four of you will join the Omashu army and fight for the people you've wronged."
Xin swallowed hard.
"Of course, you might think about just running and hiding. Or finding somewhere else to go back to stealing. But…" Ikari paused. "Tell me, what's your name?"
"X-Xin," the man replied, his voice almost inaudible.
"Xin, like the Fire Nation army calls me?"
"H-Hodad."
"Do you know what it means?"
Xin nodded.
"Tell me," Ikari ordered.
"H-Hands of Death a-and Destruction," Xin stammered, the words coming out broken.
"Exactly," Ikari said, a faint smile curling his lips, but without a trace of warmth. "There's a reason they call me that, Xin. I have hands that crush the lives of those I deem my enemies. And now, I know who you are. I know your faces, your scents, the way your bodies tremble when you're trying to hide your fear. If even one of you disobeys me, Xin, I will consider all of you my enemies. There will be no dark corner in the world deep enough to hide you from me. I will find you. And when that happens, I'll tear away every shred of hope you've ever had, until you beg for an end I will not grant you. Understood?"
"Y-yes," Xin replied, tears in his eyes.
"Good~" Ikari stood up and began walking toward the tree where he had left his staff, but stopped after two steps. "Ah!" He turned to Xin as if he had just remembered something. "Are there stolen goods on the boat?"
"Y-yes."
"You're going to return them before heading to Omashu, understood?"
"Y-yes..."
********
[Present]
Opening his eyes, Ikari refocused on the sea after remembering how he got the boat. "Yes, the boat is mine. I bought it from some kind men before coming," he said, answering Katara's question.
********
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.