"Water beats fire! How could I forget that..." - Kazu

"Get back here, Rebel Scum!"

"Who's that?" Kazu stopped sprinting, brow pinched. But then he remembered his predicament. Fire Nation soldiers. Failed to cross the border. And now they were hot on his tail--three in total.

He started running again, his heart pounding. Man, these guys were fast!

Fast enough for one of them to grab the back of his robe. Kazu yelped as he was yanked off his feet, arms flailing. His body meeting the ground knocked the air straight out of his lungs. Even with the mud mushy and soft from three days of raining. The men towered over Kazu with their fists flaming, all scowls and burning gazes and yeesh the pointy shoulder pads! Those freaked Kazu out the worst!

"Wait wait! I'm sorry!" Kazu said while shielding his face. "I didn't mean it when I said your beard looks softer than his! All of your hair looks really nice!" His hands dropped. "Can I touch them?"

The soldiers' faces turned redder than their uniforms. Ah, it seemed that Kazu said the wrong thing--per usual. "Get up here, you little," one soldier growled as he curled his fingers around Kazu's throat. The waterbender gagged, yet fell limp in submission. He was hauled up to his knees, head pounding, a fuzzy pressure building behind his eyes. He couldn't breathe.

The soldier's smirk was nauseating, his fellow men wearing matching expressions. All in sync, five hands were set ablaze, blanketing them in a crimson light. "Time to die," he snarled.

Kazu's eyes widened. Die? As in not living anymore die? He thought it would just be a quick beating! If he died, then who would count his belongings in the tent before sundown? No, worst of all--who would remind Wei to drink her evening calming tea?! She was incredibly crabby without it.

And then it all happened at once.

A jet of fire aimed for Kazu's face. His arms windmilled and water whipped between them in a figure eight. A loud sizzling pierced their ears, the fire reduced to a cloud of steam. Fists pierced the smoke and rammed into the soldier's nose and chest. He coughed and doubled over, releasing the teen's neck. The other two soldiers squinted, trying to spot Kazu's silhouette before unleashing twin balls of fire.

Kazu threw his weight forward into a horizontal spin, the attacks sailing over and under him. As soon as he landed, he punched out his fists. A jet of water rose from the mud and smacked into one soldier's torso, knocking him off his feet.

Aaaand now Kazu saw an opening--to run.

"Bye!" He attempted to sprint around the men in the cloak of steam, his footsteps clumsy and slopping in the mud. Unfortunately, the noise was enough to pin his location and a flaming kick singed his ribs through the layers of his robe. "Oh! Ow, ow, ow, hot! Hot! Gah, that stings!" Kazu hopped about while cradling his wound, seeming like a toddler who desperately needed to use the bathroom.

The trio were suddenly upon him, weaving into his space and raining down kicks and arcs of fire without mercy. Eyes wide like an owl moose, he attempted to shuffle back and block with alternating elbows above the head. If the waterbender didn't gain breathing room soon, they would overwhelm him.

An overhand hammer fist met an upper swing of his palm, knocking the strike aside. However, Kazu couldn't capitalize on the opening when another roundhouse kick forced him back, barely singeing his stomach.

"What would Kena do! What would Kena do!" Kazu's brain scrambled for an answer, but all he could recall in his panic was the memory of Kena smacking him the head every time he got distracted...

Okay.

The waterbender gathered his fingertips into pointed spears and jabbed forward rapidly, disrupting the soldiers' guards and forcing them to lean back. With a snap of movement, he leapt and sweeped in with a ducking crouch before swinging his hind hand up with a solid smack!

A high-pitched squeal.

One Fire Nation soldier crumbled into a tight ball, cradling his groin shakily.

"Oh..." Kazu paused. "Oh!" Then threw his arms up. "I did it!"

A punch nailed him square in the jaw, his head snapping in the same direction of the blow at the last second and halving the force behind it. Reflexes embedded into Kazu's senses like scar tissue. In an instant, he rolled down the soldier's extended strike and cracked an elbow into his chin, then seized his sleeve and yanked him back in for a hip toss.

However, Kazu had forgotten to actually release the man's sleeve during the toss and could only blink as the armor tore free, dangling in his grasp.

"Sorry!" he said with a cringe.

The downed soldier groaned before sweeping out into a cyclone kick. A ring of fire bit at Kazu's calves and feet, forcing him to suck his diaphragm in and jump back for a retreat. He held his defensive position and watched them with strangely skittish yet calm composure.

Fire and Water didn't dare move a muscle.

Kazu hadn't noticed the drizzle until now; a light shower made his robes weigh heavily upon his body, yet his stance remained firm and coiled. Water dripped past his eyelashes...and he blinked--

Fire Nation launched into another attack.

A stiff series of strikes assaulted Kazu's torso, followed up by a sweep kick throwing him onto his back. He quickly rolled back and aside to avoid a stomp, but didn't have time to recuperate. Another stomp, another roll. Another stomp, a third roll. More and more mud and water caked his clothes, a minor case of vertigo setting in.

One soldier predicted his next roll and drove a backwards heel kick into his skull. The contact was seering. Regardless, the waterbender capitalized on the opportunity and carried the momentum with him to roll a good distance away, coming to a stop on one knee.

He cradled his cheek, only to immediately retract with a hiss. He sure hoped Soren could help him heal that tomorrow.

The soldiers advanced and closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Kazu barely had enough of his wits about him to react in time. A hot front kick skimmed his chin, only for it to suddenly angle down and slam into his temple. He caught himself before he collapsed completely and pushed off his hands to roll away from flames. By this point, Kazu knew that he was trapped in a game of meer-cat and otter mouse, trying to survive in a battle of long range.

Which was the opposite of what his style thrived in. And yet, with every attempt he made to physically close the gap, his efforts were crushed--

The loud splash of combat boots slamming down with hammer kicks.

Head checks. Splash! Back to back dragon roundhouses. Splish, splash! Roaring flames.

This perpetual loop of dodging was quickly eating away at the young man's stamina. He came to rest in the defensive stance again, breathing shallow and labored as sweat intermingled with rain. His opponents seemed to have grown cocky, as one bounced a ball of fire in his palm while the other stomped into his offensive stance with a hearty cry, water splashing everywhere.

And extinguishing his partner's fire.

He received a sideways glare.

All the while, Kazu could feel the cogs in his head, clogged with tar and cobwebs and defeat, slowly turning...

"Oh hey!" he chirped in mini-epiphany before smashing his fist into his hand against his chest, then exploding out into a Drawing Bow strike. A thick current rocketed at the Fire Nation soldiers, thoroughly dousing them and snuffing out their element. "Water beats fire! How could I forget that..."

His enemies growled and scrambled to their feets, jerking their fists back to their waists and igniting them... only to be rewarded with faint sparks and steam. Realizing their predicament, they settled into the defensive while warming their bodies, attempting to dry themselves. Unperturbed, Kazu suddenly crouched down with a powerful breath, left leg leading while his right slid to the back, and arched a tight uppercut skywards. Scooping Fists.

Suddenly, the collection of puddles beneath the soldiers rippled, then ruptured up to congeal together and form raging geysers. They were carried up with the rainwater and rolled forward with a new geyser springing to life ahead of them, bringing them closer and closer to Kazu. As soon as they were in reach of Kazu, they were ejected forth and took sternum-flattening heel palm strikes to the chest. As soon as they crashed into the mud, the waterbender jumped up and dropped into the Thousand Pound Hammer. His fists cracked through their helmets like an eggshell.

Stillness.

"...Huh? Is it over?" Kazu straightened himself before peering down at the fallen soldiers curiously. He took the liberty of gently prodding them with his foot. No reaction. He even snapped his fingers in front of their bleeding faces for extra measure. Still nothing. Heaving a massive sigh of relief, he turned to escape...

Then came back to touch their beards to his heart's content.

There, now he could leave.