Chapter 11
Waiting for results is so boring. At this point, there was no challenge left for him.
He trained to stay in shape. Nothing more.
The results from UA should come in a few days... he knew he'd be the best. The only question was how many points he'd score.
Zuko simply lacked motivation.
He could defeat any member of the Wild Wild Pussycats single-handedly. Iroh's glory days were long behind him, so he'd never know what it was like to face the once-great general.
Zuko found himself at a point in his life where he wondered what to do next.
He'd gained power too quickly. He knew he still had much to learn, but... what was the point of constantly improving himself when there was no obstacle ahead of him that was difficult to overcome... where was the motivation?
He felt good after the action at the mall. He just didn't know if he felt that way because of the fight itself... saving people... or Endeavor's humiliation.
Then came the UA exam... fighting robots didn't bring him fulfillment... perhaps because it was a controlled environment, not real combat... at least not for him.
Where was that motivation...
He sank into meditation. His feet sank into the damp earth near the stream. He sensed hundreds... thousands of pieces of information. The true life of the forest could only be felt this way.
He sensed a group of people who had strayed from the hiking trail. The group numbered a dozen or so... it would be wise to check what they were doing.
He felt a strong impulse... far away... underground. He had felt something similar before... when he was a child... but this impulse was much closer... much more powerful...
Earthquake.
.
.
.
It was early March. Nighttime temperatures could still be low, but during the day, the sun's rays pleasantly warmed the travelers' faces.
A group of about a dozen students from the botany department set out on a multi-day camping trip to catalog plants and collect samples for their own research.
The area they were exploring belonged to the Wild Wild Pussycats. Part of their forest was open to tourists. However, they had strayed from the main path.
Nagano University had a good relationship with this group of pro heroes, so the students were allowed to conduct research.
Their assignment today was to prepare a report on the Japanese plum tree known as 'Ume'.
The flowers on this day begin to bloom as early as February, although it happens later in mountainous areas. Therefore, they set out to investigate this phenomenon.
Their professor said that this phenomenon had already been well-documented, but this was about their own experience.
Reading about research in a book is one thing, and conducting their own research in the field is quite another.
To sum it up, they have a few days off from their studies. They can do what they like and spend their evenings by the fire, eating sausages and drinking cheap alcohol.
Then, as if on command, all the birds rose into the sky from every tree at once. The forest came alive, and everything living began to run wild. Squirrels jumped from tree to tree. Deer, foxes, and other diverse species fled.
Then they heard a powerful boom coming from underground.
The ground shook uneasily. The trees creaked dangerously.
Immediately next to them, a crevasse opened, swallowing first one tree...then three...then twenty.
One of the students stumbled as a piece of ground gave way beneath him. He managed to grab onto the branch of a leaning tree.
People screamed in terror.
.
.
.
Zuko raced forward, allowing the earth wave he controlled to crush the trees in his path. He didn't miss them. Every second counted here.
He looked to the right, at the mountain whose slope had just succumbed to the force of the element. Trees tumbled down like toothpicks.
He heard the screams of people. He airbended forward and landed on the uneven ground. He created a rocky surface beneath the student who had almost fallen into the abyss and then pulled him closer.
He began to gather the scattered people around him.
A pair of students instinctively ran to him, seeing their friends gathering.
He felt the earth tremble. The sinkhole had stopped growing, but several thousand tons of earth, mixed with everything it had carried along, was hurtling towards them.
He tried to gather as many people as possible to the spot. Some were injured. Some were coming to him without help... but all were terrified.
Their screams seemed to gain new energy as Zuko created a cocoon of stone around them. Darkness reigned within, and the only perceptible thing was the approaching avalanche.
Zuko created another stone barrier in front of them... then another... and another...
The powerful impact of the wild element nearly brought him to his knees.
He desperately tried to keep their shelter still, but it was impossible.
The first cracks appeared in the stone walls. Students illuminated the empty room with flashlights and phones. Dust from the crumbling boulder fell on all of their heads.
He couldn't... he couldn't hold on in this place... he could still try, but he had to provide shelter for more than just himself...
He didn't dare look back. He didn't want anyone to see the look of desperation, fueled by fear, on his face.
The stone shelter slid several meters lower. For a moment, the vibrations subsided. Zuko realized he'd made a mistake... He felt a wave of mud enveloping them on all sides...
He shouldn't have focused on standing in that one spot. He wasn't Toph. Even as the Avatar, he had his limitations.
The problem was, he was training to be a warrior... not a true elemental bender.
He could only control the elements in a limited way, because he limited himself.
Since... he couldn't defeat an element in combat... then he would use its power.
"Grab onto something!"
.
.
.
He shouted to the people. Several pillars shot up from the floor, intended to reinforce the structure.
Zuko let the earth flow around them... he no longer fought the element... he decided to use its power...
The rock capsule released the ground and floated with the current of the avalanche.
Zuko steered the stone structure higher, allowing them to float on the surface. He didn't want to be buried under tons of earth.
He felt the descent stabilize. He opened the top of the capsule. The sun blinded them all for a moment...
Zuko blinked several times, but without losing focus. He regained his vision and looked around... they continued floating, though much slower... but they weren't the only ones swept away by the avalanche.
They were no longer on the land of the Wild Wild Pussycats. The avalanche had carried them several kilometers down the slope. Zuko saw the houses of the surrounding village being swept away and crushed by the force of the force. It was an incredible sight... he scolded himself for not training harder... more...
He didn't know if anyone had died... he didn't want to admit the thought. He looked up, where a pair of helicopters hovered above them. One was a JSDF rescue helicopter. The other was a television helicopter.
Despite the day, the light from a powerful lamp manned by rescuers fell on them. They wanted to show they had been spotted.
A minute later, the ground stopped. The element disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
The rescuers lowered ropes from the helicopter and rappelled down them.
Zuko didn't wait. He jumped out of the stone shelter and dug both feet into the ground. He tried to feel... anything... any signs of life... there were!
He moved in that direction, then pushed the earth aside. Fifty meters underground, he found the remains of a wooden house. He felt three beating hearts. He felt the fear of these people. Someone was shouting something at him, but he couldn't understand the words. He reached the wood and created an entrance with earthbending.
He looked inside. The terrified faces of a family of three looked at him. A father with two children. He offered them his hand.
Immediately next to him appeared another... hand of a rescuer. It was he who had shouted at him. They both pulled out the children, first, whom the man had shaken, and then himself.
They were okay... somehow they had survived.
Another heartbeat... and another... another one.
Zuko closed his eyes and began to do what he had promised. The rescuers were no longer shouting at him. They couldn't stop him.
From the second spot, he pulled out an elderly couple. The husband had a broken arm. He used it to shield his wife from falling furniture, which had, in a way, saved their lives.
From the third spot, he pulled out a terrified boy with a dog. His parents were nowhere to be found....
From the fourth spot, he reached the mangled bodies. The people weren't screaming... they were just... they were in agony... He looked at their twisted bodies... Someone grabbed his arm... Someone pushed him back... A man was looking at him and saying something... but Zuko couldn't hear him... he didn't want to hear him...
...He could hear hearts beating... more hearts... one was nearby...
He broke away from the man and moved on.
Another house. Another family... only half of them were still alive. The parents shielded the children with their own bodies.
The cries of children... a terrifying roar that pierced his mind and said, "You failed. You should have been protecting people, not playing warrior."
Something hit him in the head as he went inside to retrieve the children. He handed them to the paramedic, who placed a hand on his shoulder a moment later. But he kept going.
Heartbeat... slow... Zuko continued digging...
An unconscious elderly woman. Her legs were stuck underground. They were crushed. He didn't know what to do...
Soon another helicopter appeared... and another... but Zuko didn't care...
Heartbeat...
Zuko dug deep... twenty... twenty-five... thirty meters... He reached his destination... but he couldn't feel his heartbeat anymore...
He closed his eyes... another heartbeat...
ninth... eleventh... fifteenth building.
Each one was worse than the last. People buried alive were running out of time...
Heartbeat...
How long can a person survive buried underground? Zuko didn't know. It was his fault he didn't know...and he should have known something like that...he should have known, because that was something a pro hero must know...
But he preferred to fight...he thought he was the strongest...he was a fool.
Even when the heartbeats stopped...he kept digging...he was in a frenzy...
He just kept digging...until he felt someone pulling him back. He heard voices so familiar to him... and yet... they were strange....
"Zuko..."
The woman looked at him... tears welled in her eyes... he knew her somehow...
"Zuko, son..."
The son... yes... he knew her... he looked in her direction... but the earth kept sending him signals... after all, somewhere deep underground... someone else... could be alive...
Just because he couldn't hear the heartbeats meant nothing... maybe they were too weak to feel... or maybe he was too weak...
He blinked... day turned to evening. Suddenly... unexpectedly. He felt his mother embrace him and whisper words in his ear...
He felt shame... shame that he was tired... someone like him... shouldn't be tired. The Avatar couldn't afford something as trivial as a break... he was sure of it... that there were still people underground, crying for help. People who prayed to God for salvation... and he sent them Zuko... a boy who couldn't hear them. He didn't know where to dig anymore.
Someone was touching his head... someone had pulled out the bandage... He felt water... no... it wasn't water... something... something wet on his head.
He just didn't know what it was.
He was tired... so very tired...
"Shame..."
... he said to himself quietly... he was too weak... to control the elements... to save people...
Pixie-Bob looked at him worriedly. He noticed blood on her hand. She glanced at someone behind him... someone else was touching him... his head.
He fought to keep his eyes open... he had to get up... he had to get up... there were so many people still... waiting for help.
Someone held him... no one was looking anymore...
"... okay... okay... okay..."
Someone was whispering something in his ear... he didn't want to close his eyes... but he was... too weak.
And suddenly... all the sounds... feelings... fell silent in an instant.
End of Chapter 11