“The villagers? Not really.” Kyoshi found she meant it. “Not as much as the people who left me with them.”
Lek threw the remnants of his meal into the fire and walked off, fuming silently. He disappeared behind the other side of Pengpeng, the only member of the party who seemed to make him happy.
“All right, what’s his problem?” Kyoshi snapped. “Every time I state a fact or an opinion about my parents he has a fit.”
“That’s because he idolized them,” Kirima said. “We picked him up in a town outside the Misty Palms Oasis. He’d just lost his brother, his last remaining family. Hark and Jesa took him in for a few days, and he proved useful on a job, so they taught him more and more of the trade until he grew into a stricter follower of the outlaw code than the rest of us. He worshiped the ground they walked on.”
Perhaps Kirima had meant to soothe the beast inside Kyoshi, but instead she’d smeared its nose with fresh blood.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kyoshi said, a lifetime’s worth of unused irony pouring forth. “I’ll remember to be nicer to the boy my mother and father decided to raise instead of me.”
Kirima made a gesture with her thumbs to indicate how little she cared about the issue. “What about you?” she said to Rangi. “What’s a sparky young noble like you doing with an Earth peasant?”
The mere reminder of her duty caused Rangi to sit up straighter. “I’m honor bound to follow and protect Kyoshi—”
“Nope!” Kirima said, regretting she’d asked. “Gonna cut you off right there. The last time I listened to a Firebender talk about ‘honor’ my ears nearly rotted off my skull. Had to kick him out of my bed with both feet.”
She and Wong got up. The two older daofei didn’t feel the need to reciprocate with their life stories. Wong pointed two fingers at the campfire and sunk it a few feet into the ground before covering it up. His size belied the dexterity of his earthbending. In fact, she’d confirmed last night that every member of her parents’ gang had finesse to spare. The exact quality she was lacking.
“We need to talk,” Kyoshi said, getting up as well. “Last night we were interrupted before I agreed to anything.”
“Oh, come on, really?” Kirima said. “After what we’ve been through, you want to take your bison and ditch us in the middle of nowhere?”
“We shared a meal,” Wong said, looking genuinely hurt. “We beat up lawmen together.”
“My demands haven’t changed,” Kyoshi said. “I want bending training, and the only benders around are you lot. You’ll teach me. Personally.”
“What are you lumping me in for, Earth girl?” Kirima said. “You want to learn waterbending forms to relax and improve your circulation?”
Kyoshi had prepared an answer overnight for this purpose. “‘Wisdom can be gleaned from every nation,’” she said, using a quote of Kelsang’s. “If learning about the other elements can make me stronger, then I’ll do it.”
“That desperate for revenge, huh?” Kirima said. “Who is this powerful man who’s wronged you? You never told us his name.”
“That’s because you don’t need to know.” Kyoshi didn’t want to talk about Jianzhu. He was too renowned throughout the Earth Kingdom. The same went for her identity as the Avatar. Information about their link could spread, giving him a trail to hunt her down before she was ready to fight him.
Every edge would count in this battle. Kyoshi recalled the way her parents’ gang had flown over the rooftops last night, unimpeded. They’d practically reached the same heights Jianzhu had with his stone bridges.
“I want to learn how to run across the sky,” she said. “Like you did in town.”
“Dust-stepping?” Wong said. His usually impassive face took on an edge of seriousness.
“It’s our group’s signature technique,” Kirima said. “Though for me it’s ‘mist-stepping.’ And it’s not something you get for free.”
The atmosphere had changed. Previously the daofei had treated Kyoshi’s demands as amusing, the barking of a puppy trying to look fierce. This was the first time they’d gotten truly cautious and guarded, as if they might be swindled in the trade.
Rangi noticed their reservations. “You’re acting pretty serious about a technique
I cribbed after seeing it once,” she said.
Kirima fixed her with a stare. “Other groups probably would have killed you for that,” she said without a hint of jest. “You don’t last long in our world by letting everyone see your advantages. Secrets are how we survive.”
She turned back to Kyoshi. “We teach you, that means you’re in. For real, and for life. You’d have to swear our oaths and follow our codes. In the eyes of those who abide by the law, you’d be a daofei.”
I’d be like Tagaka, Kyoshi thought. I’d be like my parents. She stilled the revulsion inside her and nodded. “I understand.”
“Kyoshi, think about what you’re doing!” Rangi yelled.
“Topknot’s right, for once,” Wong said. “You don’t take these vows lightly. It means accepting us as your brothers and sisters.” He raised his brows, showing the whites of his eyes. “Since we’ve met you’ve been looking down your nose at us. Can your honor take the hit, associating with such unclean folk?”