Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Doppelganger ❯ Training and Bathing ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own avatar. Yea I know, I know… damn

 

Doppelganger

 

Chapter six

 

. . .

 

Kyle's eyes snapped open. Damn, I fell asleep. He cursed to himself and he started to stir when he stopped suddenly. He cocked his head to the side and listened carefully. There was a quite and muffled rustling. Was it an enemy? Kyle quietly shifted to his feet and drew his knife. He wavered for a moment and put his hand to his head. I've gone for a while without blood. He thought and shook the vertigo away. In fact, he hadn't fed since he had met up with Aang and the others, and escaped from the fire nation town. That was… a couple of days ago. I might do well to go find something to eat. He was jarred from his thoughts by the rustling sound again. Shaking his head again, he moved slowly towards the sound. It was coming from the trees.

 

Kyle glanced back towards camp. He saw Aang had kicked off his cover and was lying on his arm. That was going to be uncomfortable when he woke up. Sokka was also sleeping soundly, in his sleeping bag. Lastly he saw Katara, covered completely by her bag. At least they are all right. Kyle turned back towards where he heard the sound. The rustling had stopped, but silence was sometimes more dangerous than noise. Holding his kukri across his chest, the vampire crouched into the bushes. Last night, after story time, Kyle had heard water falling beyond the bushes. Must be a waterfall. He had reasoned. He could now hear the waterfall crash against the rock and water below. He closed his eyes and listened carefully. There was something dispersing the water, making it fall randomly. Somebody was in the waterfall.

 

His companions were still asleep, and there was little light peeking past the horizon. What if it was the fire nation? He stopped at the end of the foliage cover. He could see the top of the waterfall… but a large rock was in the way of the base. He stepped out of the bushes and soundlessly advanced to the rock, pressing his back to the stone carefully. Kyle took a deep, quiet breath and slid around the rock, staying low to the ground. He rounded the large rock and spied a pile of clothing stacked at the shore of the water, folded neatly. Kyle raised an eyebrow. I recognize those… He thought as he crept further around the stone. He froze when he saw the waterfall.

 

At once Kyle knew who it was. Katara was standing in the waterfall letting the waterfall on her body and crash into the shallow pool below. Kyle tried to turn away at once, but couldn't. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the bathing waterbender not ten feet away. Katara was half turned away from the vampire so could see her right side and was facing the rock wall, running her hands through her long hair, which was not held up. Her dark complexion was lighter than usual. He could see her grimace and hiss painfully. That was not warm water. Her body's reaction was proof. As Kyle stared at the girl he heard a cold voice in the back of his head.

 

“You know you want her… ne?” He knew that voice. Kyle's mouth twitched and he tore his gaze away pressing his back against the rock. Shut up! He thought and pressed his hands to his temples. Shut up, shut up! The voice didn't let up. “You know it. I know you do. Don't deny it. You want her… you want her completely, Koibito.” Kyle shuddered involuntarily. He loathed that name. Fuck… you… He screamed mentally. He lowered his eyes to water at his feet. There, in the reflection, was her smirking face.

 

“There, you see? I knew it was true.” She smirked, showing her sparkling canines. “You do want her.” Kyle growled and picked up a rock at his feet. She smiled and blew a kiss at Kyle. He glared at the smiling vamp and dropped the stone in the water. Her face disappeared with ripples in her wake.

 

“You can never get rid of me… Nor can you ever lie to me. You and I are bound by blood.” She whispered in Kyle's skull. He clenched his jaw so tightly, blood dripped down his lip slowly. His thoughts were disturbed by footsteps on wet stone. He edged back over to the edge of the rock and saw Katara bend over, picking up her clothes. “Look at her… so young… healthy… just like `her'… you want her. And rightly so, too.” Katara stepped into her underwear and pulled them up. Kyle felt a sharp pain in his arm and looked down. He had drug his knife along the length of his arm, drawing a steady bright red line down it. The cut was unintentionally deep, but was already healing at a rapid rate. Blood dripped off his arm and into the water, staining it a dark crimson. And yet, he heard her voice no more. Kyle took one last glance at Katara, who had pulled on her wrap, and walked back through the bushes, whipping his knife on his pants. Fuck… you. I will not fall prey to you again.

 

Katara tied clothing across the ends and ran her fingers through her hair again. She shivered and rubbed her arms with her hands. “Oh… that was so cold.” She mumbled and walked around the large rock. Her eyes wandered down to the water that was gathering in a small pool at the base of the rock. Something caught her eye. She knelt down and put her hand in the water. Something was different about it. Katara narrowed her eyes and circled her hand around, gathering the strange water and floating it eye level. She examined it closer and then gasped quietly. It was blood. Blood was in the water. She dropped the water suddenly, causing it to splash in the reservoir. Was she bleeding? She ducked behind the rock and untied her sash, opening her shirt. No blood here… She thought. Katara tied back up her shirt and pulled her pants away, looking down. No… it's not time for that yet… She re-tied her pants and stood bewildered. The blood was not from her.

 

Where did it come from?

 

If the blood wasn't from her, who's was it? Somebody had to be there, recently. Or the blood would have spread and dispersed into the water. She felt cold again. Was somebody watching her? She shook her head and walked back to camp. Probably an animal. She thought hopefully. She passed the bushes and stepping into the camp. Aang and Sokka were still sleeping. She looked around for Kyle, and saw him sitting at the shore, his arm in the running water. She walked up behind him and before she could speak, he spoke first, facing the water.

 

“Nani?” He whispered in a language Katara couldn't understand. She cocked her head.

 

“What?”

 

“Exactly.” He replied.

 

“Huh?” Katara was confused now. Kyle snorted and turned his head to face her.

 

“Nani is `what'.” He explained and pulled his hand out of the water, flexing his fingers. Katara nodded thoughtfully.

 

“Ah, what language?” She asked. He tapped his chin.

 

“Huh… you know what? I never asked her.” He saw Katara's look and continued. “Victoria. She taught me a language and I never knew the name of it. All I know is that it's a language from the east.” Katara nodded again and rolled up her clothing covering her legs, and slipped her legs in the water. She grimaced for a moment then calmed down. She looked at Kyle out of the corner of her eyes. He looked into the water sadly. Katara smiled slightly and leaned back on her hands. She didn't see any blood on him.

 

“Hey, you alright?” She asked. Kyle glanced at her. He wore an odd expression, Katara couldn't read it. He smiled and nodded.

”Yea… I'll be alright.” He sighed and dunked his arm back in the chilling water.

 

“Is your arm alright?” She asked, looking at his arm soak in the water. His eyes flashed to hers then back to his arm.

 

“Yes… just sore.” With that, he stood up and turned around. Katara saw a smear of blood on Kyle's pants. She paled quickly and stared into the water.

 

Was that his blood? Did…did he see me? She thought desperately. He didn't look like he had. Katara looked back at the Vampire. He was throwing dirt onto the ashes in the campfire. There was nobody else around… or awake. He was the only one that could have. She blushed and looked back to the water. I guess it's ok if it was him… She immediately slapped herself mentally. What was she thinking? Was she insane? He's a vampire, for crying out loud!

 

The waterbender stood up, taking her legs out of the water and unrolled her clothes. She brushed the wrinkles out and walked to her sleeping bag. Kyle watched as she opened her bag and pulled out her blanket. Oh… so that's what made her bag look like she was inside it. He realized and picked up his sword. He smiled and drew the sword. Katara whirled around at the metallic sound and watched as the vampire whirled the blade around, slicing the air. Before she could stop herself, she spoke up.

 

“Did you see?” She asked the vampire. He slowed his movements but didn't stop.

 

“See what?”

 

“Me.”

 

“Well, yea. I saw you. When do you mean?” Katara sighed exasperatedly.

 

“I mean did you see me taking a bath a few minutes ago?” Kyle threw the sword spinning into the air, and caught it expertly.

 

“I would hardly call that a bath, but, yes.” He answered neutrally. Katara blushed and gaped at him. He looked at her. “What?”

 

“W-well, why were you watching me?” She demanded quietly enough to not wake the others. Kyle sighed and sheathed his sword.

 

“I wasn't watching you.” He lied very well. “I thought I heard an intruder and went to investigate. When I saw it was you, I left immediately.” He drew his sword again and practiced different motions. Katara covered her chest with her arms by crossing them. She put her weight on one leg and looked crossly at him. He scoffed and twirled the sword in the air. “Don't get your hopes up. It's nothing I haven't seen before.” He caught the sword with the other hand. The waterbender stood shock still. She wanted to yell, to scream, to hit the vampire but couldn't move. She stared at the bender, feeling numb.

 

Katara wheeled around, saying nothing, and walked into the bushes. Kyle sheathed the sword and looked after the waterbender. He stared into the woods for a minute and hung his head. “Fuck.” He whispered and looked at the rising sun. It was peeking over the horizon and started to make his face itch. Kyle brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the light. “I should know better than to say something like that.” He growled to himself and walked after the girl he had insulted.

 

. . .

 

Katara sat on the rock she had her clothes on earlier. She was staring blankly in the water. I know I'm nothing special… but you didn't have to say it like that… She thought bitterly. What was wrong with her? Normally… she would have just thrown his insult right back at him. She didn't need to take crap from anybody. But what Kyle had said hurt her badly. She picked up a stone and tossed it in the water, watching the ripples spread outwards.

 

“I shouldn't take him seriously…” She whispered to herself. She could feel the water around her. The water seemed to calm her, make her more compliant. Standing up, she pulled herself into a waterbending stance. She felt the water move around her. Exhaling gently, she circled her arms around, manipulating the water around her to circle the young waterbender. Katara sighed and dropped her hands. She stood still for a minute then realized that the water she had been manipulating hadn't fallen yet. She cocked her head to the side and the water constricted around her. The circle of water had her restrained. She jerked her head around, looking for somebody else, and saw Kyle standing behind her.

 

He stood in a practiced stance and smirked. “Hmm… interesting. Caught off guard were we?” He remarked and with a flick of his wrist, the water around Katara froze, pinning her arms to he sides tightly. Kyle relaxed his form and nodded his head at her. “Lesson one: Never let yourself be caught off guard.” Katara glared softly at him. “Lesson two: Learn to use as little movements as possible to bend.” The water bender looked questioningly at him. “Use your hands, not your arms, to bend the water to escape. Go on, try it.” He gestured with his hand for her to attempt to escape.

 

Learn to use as little movements as possible to bend. The words ran through her head slowly. She saw him bend the water to ice with his hand, not his arm. She had to move like he did, with little movement. Katara moved her wrist, but the ice did not yield. Kyle sighed and shook his head.

 

“No, no, no. You have to feel the water in the ice. You know water is harder to bend frozen. The water in ice is expanded, to you have to concentrate as if you are bending much more water than there actually is in the ice.” Katara nodded and tried again. She could feel the water, yes, but it was difficult. She could bend snow and ice. And it was indeed harder and required more concentration. She could feel Kyle's expectant stare on her. It made her nervous. She couldn't mess up. She wanted to prove that she was different. That she was worth training. Katara closed her eyes and concentrated on the hard, cold ice around her. Ice is expanded water. All she had to do was compact it. Compact! She screamed to herself and clenched her fist. The ice melted and fell to the rest of the water at her feet.

 

She flexed her arms out and rubbed the numb flesh with her hands. She heard Kyle's soft clapping from a few feet away.

 

“Good job.” She heard him say. Katara's anger peaked up and she pulled into her stance at his advancing form. Kyle stopped and raised an eyebrow at the waterbender. “What?” She glared at him.

 

“I'll show you I'm nothing you've seen before…” She whispered and raised an arm, willing water around her to rise. Kyle frowned and held his arms up, ready to defend.

 

“Alright, I've seen what Aang can do, now lets try your skill.” With that Katara threw her arms forward, and the water around her crash where Kyle had been a second ago. He dodged to the side and dash to beside Katara, who was still recovering. “Too slow.” He remarked. Putting his leg behind her's and his arm under her chin, Kyle threw Katara to the ground and jumped backwards. He landed on the wet ground with a quiet splash. Katara coughed and pushed herself up, shaking the dizziness from her head. He would always win at close combat, so she had to keep him at a distance. She gritted her teeth together and moved her arms in slow, practiced motions. Water around her moved and rippled. Kyle twitched his mouth and raised his arm behind him. All the water from behind him rose up and combined into a sphere.

 

“Take this!” Katara yelled and thrust both her arms forward, extending her fingers at the last second. The water shot out from under her, in a flat plane, and froze in midair. The sheet of ice flew at the vampire quickly. Kyle smirked and thrust his front arm forward. Small tendrils of water shot out from the orb and stabbed through the sheet, shattering is and sending shards of ice everywhere. Katara brought her arms forward, protecting her face. Ice reached her and melted on contact, leaving no wounds. Kyle didn't move, and received a number of cuts on his face and arms. Katara stared at Kyle as he healed in seconds.

 

“Interesting.” Kyle thought aloud. Katara glared and rushed forward. The vampire sighed and threw his back arm at the waterbender. The sphere above him rushed at Katara and exploded before it hit, sending ice shards everywhere. Katara jumped through the hail of shards, melting those in her way, and jumped strait at the Vampire. Kyle brought up an arm to block. Katara thrust her hand at Kyle's head, and water came from behind her, rushing at her opponent. Kyle brought water up, absorbing Katara's attack, and shot out a punch at the waterbender, who had just touched the ground. Katara felt Kyle punch her side, but whirled around, sticking both her hands out, and brought water up attempting to knock Kyle off balance. The vampire crouched and brought his arms up, re-directing the Katara's assault strait into the sky. The girl didn't miss a beat, she continued spinning, and crouched, sticking her leg out for a sweep. She caught Kyle's legs as he was rising and he fell forward. The Vampire hit the ground with his hands and pushed himself into the air, grunting with exertion. He caught Katara as she was rising to her feet with his legs, and used his forward inertia to throw her over him and she collided with the rock wall behind the waterfall. Kyle spun on the ground, and waved his outstretched hand toward Katara as she fell with the water.

 

The waterfall froze with Katara in the middle of it. Her face stuck out she tried to struggle. But she was stuck tightly. Kyle stood back up and walked over to the waterfall. Water was already dripping down the frozen wall from above.

 

“That was pretty good, if I do say so myself.” He remarked, giving the girl a thumbs up. She was gasping heavily. “Oh yea… the breathing thing.” He mumbled and clenched his fist. The ice melted, carrying Katara down into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. A few seconds later, she exploded at the top of the water, gasping for breath. Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “Humans and their `breathing'…” Katara looked at him, still breathing heavily.

 

“You… you… don't… need to... breathe?” Kyle shook his head.

 

“We can… but don't have to. Kind of like sleeping. We don't need to sleep as often as humans. Our bodies don't get tired, but our minds do. So we need to sleep every once in a while to rest our minds. “ Katara gulped in another breath of air and sat back in the cold water. Kyle laughed slightly.

 

“Taking another bath, are we?” She stood up, blushing heavily.

 

“We will never take a bath, you and I! And I still have to pay you back for seeing me!” Kyle laughed loudly and gripped his ribs.

 

“Geez, if that's what's bothering you, fine. What can I do to apologize?” Katara breathed in her last heavy breath and squeezed her shirtsleeve.

 

“Train me.” She stated.

 

“I am.”

 

Katara opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. Kyle sighed.

 

“I already I'm teaching you.”

 

“So you're going to teach Aang and I bending?” She asked hopefully. He was quiet for a minute.

 

“You have great talent for waterbending. I think I can improve your ability.” He pointed a finger at the soaking girl. “But I'll have you know that I'm no teacher!” She smiled widely and jumped out of the water, then composed herself and crossed her arms, facing away from him.

 

She cleared her throat. “Then… since your going to teach me bending…” She started, hiding her light blush. “You owe me.” She turned her head, gauging the vampire's reaction. There was none.

 

“Yea, I know I do. Owe you what?” Katara turned her head around again.

 

“You were peeping at me.” Kyle sighed.

 

“I told you,” He half-lied. “I wasn't p-“ He was cut off.

 

“-Never the less… you saw me.” Katara didn't look at the bender. “So, you owe me.” Kyle raised an eyebrow. He smirked and fell into his stance.

 

“Ne, what me to show you a cool trick?” He caught Katara's attention. She turned around, still wearing a light brush.

 

“What?” The vampire put his hand in the water and drew out a line of water. He extended his fingers and blew on the freezing water. The ice took shape and was formed into a blade made of ice. The blade looked similar to the sword he already had.

 

“There we go, try it.” He nodded for her to go ahead. Katara looked over the blade and thought about the technique. It is shaped ice. So if I make water into ice, I can bend it into shape as it's freezing. She nodded and placed her hand in the water. Exhaling slowly, she withdrew water using both her hands and manipulated it in the air. She desperately tried to form the water into a blade as she froze it, but couldn't get it quite right. She succeeded in freezing the water, but the shape resembled that of a piece of bark. Kyle suppressed an amused snort and walked over to the waterbender.

 

“Don't worry, it took me a while to get that trick down. Keep practicing.” He finished and patted Katara on the back. He started to walk back to camp. “Oh, by the way,” He stopped and turned around. “You are fourteen… there wasn't much to `peep' at. Gomen.” He walked past a tree into camp. Katara stared after the vampire, blood rushing to her face. Her alleged `blade' in her hand shattered and fell to the ground in pieces.

 

“You still owe me, pervert!” She screamed after him and stomped into camp to wake her brother and Aang.

 

. . .

 

R & R