"I must say, kid" spoke the nameless instructor who stood in the corner, watching me. "You're not doing very well of impressing me."
Yes. Because I'm the one who demanded lessons, claiming I was a Fire Bender. Still, I sucked it up, and went back at humiliating myself. I'm sure I was making quite the display for him. Throwing my fists at the air as though I were fighting some invisible opponent. I was losing. Every punch I threw, I felt more and more like an idiot. I even threw some half-assed kicks in there for good measure. Surprisingly, they didn't have much of an effect.
I looked over to where he stood in the corner, just there, watching. He wasn't old, but he wasn't young either. Somewhere in his mid to late 50s I'd wager. His beard and hair were graying. You could tell he didn't care too much to shave every morning. Same went for his hair. It was tied in an effortless bun at the back. Despite the armor he wore, you could see the scars across his body. Those on his face were clear enough. The one that caught my attention was his burn.
"Staring at me won't get you anywhere, recruit. Get back to it!"
To what? Making an ass of myself. I did as I was told. I couldn't tell who wanted me to firebended more. Him or me. I was still doubtful of it. I wanted to tell him as much when he came to my cell, but I had a free ticket out of there and I wasn't about to give it up. Now, though, I wasn't sure if it was worth it. I was waiting to see who broke first. I was surprised when it wasn't me.
"Oh, come on!" he yelled, stepping out of his corner towards me. "They interrupted my day for this?! Some dumb kid who thinks he's a firebender?!"
Then one thing led to another.
"I'm sorry, but I never said I was shit! You're the one who brought me here!"
"Oh, but I bet you just wish you had a reason to be here. I bet you came thinking you were something special. Something more than what you thought. Happy now? Satisfied yet? You've managed to not only waste your day, but mine too."
"Damn it. Let me try. I did it once, didn't I?" Didn't I?
"I don't know what kind of shit you pulled in that dojo. What was it? Firecracker up your sleeve? No. Not powerful enough. Not near powerful enough to almost burn that kid's face off. Probably would have been better for anyone had you taken the beating. A competent student would be alive, and I wouldn't have to be wasting my time here."
Fuck him and fuck off! Let me try, alright? I punched more at the air. I tried charging up my energy, whatever the hell that meant and focusing it. Didn't do shit.
"Bomb in your hand? No, would've blown your arm clean off yet here you stand, all in one piece. Zihe, he was useful. Had the making of a good soldier in him. I'm not surprised coach loved him. He had a future. You. You were a glorified punching bag for his students to practice on."
I turned towards him and somehow evaded the thought to aim my next punch towards him. Wouldn't do any good save piss him right off. I shook the thought out of my head and turned back to the empty air of the decrepit firebending dojo in front of me.
"You know what happens to people in the Fire Nation who lie about being benders? We flog them. Publicly. They see it fit to waste our resources on them even though they're absolutely nothing. Oh, but that's just what you're doing right now, isn't it? Wasting resources, time worst of all."
I couldn't help it this time. He was walking even closer and I couldn't not aim the next one at him. I could've sworn I felt a heat rise in me. I even got my hopes up for a split second there, but odds were, I was overheating or was just plain embarrassed. Damn it! You did it before!
"Oh. Getting a little angry, are you?" He smiled and continued walking closer to the point where he was nearly whispering into my ears. "Maybe I should just put you down right now. It would save us the time and resources of a public flogging, though I'm sure tons of people in the city would love to see a turncoat slum rat get his shit handed to him. Wouldn't they? All those kids in the slums you left behind. I read up on you. You're not a firebender. You're a traitor to your people. You led them into a suicidal march and got every last one of them killed for your safe passage. Well congratulations. Here you are! I have to hand it to you. I always hated those damn gangs in the slums. I wish I could've seen their faces when you betrayed every last one of them and got them all killed so you could be here."
That was when I couldn't take it anymore. I knew right where he was standing beside me and took my shot. Maybe I just planned to punch him across the face or maybe I hoped for more, I couldn't remember, but lucky for him, he was a foot taller than Zihe so my fist wouldn't meet his face, but nonetheless, the fire that I created between him and me would send him back onto his ass, falling from where he had stood just seconds before.
The recoil from the blast had sent me back as well, but I stood there. First still up. This time, I was awake to see what I had done and there was no getting it wrong. I looked down to where the instructor sat on the mat, the look in his eyes. I wanted to smile, to laugh, to cheer. I think I even might of, but when I looked back into the instructor's eyes, it wasn't shock I saw. It was satisfaction. The hell?
"Well then" he said, standing up as he dusted himself off, wiping the newfound ash off his armored chest plate. "I'd call that progress."
"Well then?" I asked, "And that's supposed to mean?"
"That maybe you and everyone else inside this Citadel isn't full of shit. Your real training begins now. Like it or not, you're a firebender now. I guess now's when I teach you what that means."