Flames clash aboard a giant metal ship as it cruises through icy waters.
"Is that all you have princess?I'm not even at 50% of my power." Arrogantly jokes a masked fire nation soldier.
"Rahh" Enraged the scar faced prince lunged at the soldier while yelling.
Smirking behind the mask the soldier expertly dodges each attack of the prince. Poised for a devastating blow Kirito paused mid punch.
"That's enough you two." An elderly pot bellied man says.
"Yes master", "Yes uncle" the two respond before the soldier bows and heads to the mess hall.
-Iroh pov-
"I don't know how he can walk so easily I'm having trouble just standing."
The prince remarks watching the back of his greatest ally, the man who pushed him harder than his father ,while showing more love than his mother.
"Before you two met, Kirito was waking with the sun and wouldn't sleep until midnight. Using every waking moment to better himself." Iroh started, bringing a cup of tea for his nephew as well as hisself. "Here." He said handing him a cup. "tea heals the body, mind, and spirit"
"His natural talent combined with his unholy work ethic, would make the perfect ally." Iroh said. 'Or a terrible enemy' though he left that part unsaid.
"But he's not an ally, he's a soldier.
Regardless of his talent or work ethic as prince he has to respect me." Zuko said somewhat mad, though, after knowing the prodigy on par with his sister half his life, and being forced to train with him in order to train under his uncle, not even banishment could keep him away, he's learning to deal with it.
"Hahahah." His uncle laughed heartily.
"The boy respects power and wisdom." He finally managed to choke out in between laughs causing his nephew to frown
-Kirito pov-
'Baldy hurry up and wake up I can't stand too much more of this cold air, and the more zuko and I spar the more likely we all die'
He though as he walked away from zuko to get his meal.
skipping the entire line you could cut the tension in the air
A massive soldier who seemed to have a perpetual scowl deepened into an outright frown as he approached Kirito
"What the huk-" he was struck unconscious before finishing his thoughts.
The room stilled further, an abrupt silence save the waves and cooking. As if swatting a fly this ,5'10, kid knocked out this, 6'3, seasoned soldier in his prime.
Removing his helmet his wild black locs covered his face his golden eyes glaring in between the gaps. Kirito took a moment to tie his hair up in a tight ponytail with the back hanging free exposing his dark ebony skin a calm expression rolled down his face as he cast his gaze first to the unconscious man then to the rest of the men in line.
"Anyone else care?" He asked in an even detached manner.
Still no one moved, no one spoke, they hardly breathed ,until one other brave soul another child soldier just a number in the masses.
"What gives you the right to skip in line?" He squeaked somewhat loudly.
"To break it down to one word…power." He faked thinking about it.
"Same reason the prince get his food delivered to him." He finished before turning grabbing the plate of food from the chef 'too bad neither the prince nor I can use our power to get better food than the grunts' he thought walking back to the deck of the ship
Setting his food on irohs table, opting instead for a cup of tea for the moment. He took a sip licking his lips, he savored the flavor before blowing pure heat into the cup.
Fireless fire bending, dubbed heat bending by the fire sages ,it's actually something far more complex ,as well as simple, energy bending! A trick Kirito invented himself, this being the reason for his casual behavior with the prince and arrogant nature towards the foot soldiers. Such a move as sending pure heat without it catching fire is both mentally taxing as well as energy inefficient, the amount of energy he used would leave a firebending master winded and a novice utterly unconscious. That is if he wasn't Kirito, a prodigy since he could walk, and a genius since he could talk.
Thanks to this his orphanage received many donations ,and favors, from notable figures, and eventually a mentorship under retired general Iroh. With the stipulation being he had learn Pai Sho as well. By the time he was four he had studied enough to begin building the "perfect" body. Diet, exercise, flexibility training, the works. By the time he was ten he had the strength of an untrained adult man, by 12 a trained soldier, and now at fifteen only an earth bender could withstand an actual punch from him that's not to say the earth bender would win even without bending. The martial prowess of Kirito, while not great, when paired with his insane reflexes, speed, strength, and stamina he could be considered one of the world's greatest non-bending fighters, although not many non-benders dedicate thier self to combat.
-back to Kirito-
With an empty plate and cup having removed his armor wearing a black long sleeve shirt thick enough to provide warmth but flexible enough to fight in having similarly styled pants wearing the standard fire bender elite boots though having a custom fire emblem on the heel of the soul.
Standing up stretching Kirito picks up his plate and cup looking down at his armor then to the prince who had yet to speak after his return "why do you want to capture the avatar?" Kirito asked surprising both the prince and Iroh.
Though the prince quickly regained his composure before rage fell across his face "I must capture the avatar to regain my honor." He yelled .
Though being from a different world Kirito already knew this so he followed up his question with."The Avatar has been gone one hundred years. How did he take your honor?"
"He didn't…"he started loosing his aggression seeing Kirito uncharacteristically inquisitive the know it all Kirito he knows could probably tell his story better than he can. It's not like it's some big secret, everyone knows. "why are you asking if you know the answer?" He countered
"What color is the ocean?" Kirito deflected.
"Why do-"before he could finish he was interrupted.
"Just answer the question" Kirito rushed
Zuko exhaled before responding "blue"
"Now how about at night?" He continued.
"Still blue right?" He half answered half asked.
"I don't know actually" he said "When you look at it it's black, even shining a light just reflects the light. So you might say it's still blue because it's the same water but someone else might say it's black." He continued. At some point he got rid of his dishes and reequipped his armor. "Another example, some might say capturing the avatar is the only way to restore your honor, others might say return the favors done to you good and bad." He said gesturing to his scar.
Furrowing his brows barely understanding the hidden meaning of the words." That's treason." He barely muttered as the realization hit him.
Kiritos expression slowly mirrored zukos previous one of slight confusion before he spoke again, he exhaled sounding exhausted "Do you know what it's like out there?" He gestured to no where in particular "One hundred years of war!" He exclaimed.
"I didn't have a big castle and servants and Guards. I learned pretty young that if you weren't good at something, to get good at something, I came out lucky but that's not enough, power is the only thing that matters. You've had a leg up on nearly everyone your age and younger and you've managed to be competent enough to be called skilled but compared to actual prodigy's like azula and myself you fall short."
Zuko stood silently, mirroring Kiritos murderous glare, the only difference between them a couple inches in height and a couple pounds of muscle. Despite their relatively close proximity neither dared attack first.
What started as a battle of power, quickly delved into a competition of skill, which fell further into a contest of wills.
The prince scrunched his face in disgust shaking his head before heading to his personal quarters. Sparing one last glance at Kirito, only to find him still glaring, flinching this time Zuko felt as if he was staring at a Dragon, ready to kill.