Roku, Kyoshi, and I continued our silent standoff while Korra stood off to the side, quietly observing with a troubled expression; eventually, the silence was broken as Kyoshi furrowed her brows. "Is that truly how you think, Aang?" "Yes." Nodding, Kyoshi narrowed her eyes before suddenly stomping on the ground, causing a cone of earth to surround me, pinning me in place with only my head still visible.
"If so, stay here, protect Jathr, the three of us will deal with Father Glowworm." Glancing at Kyoshi, who was approaching me, Roku following beside her, I stared at her as she drew closer. "Is this how you want to play it, Kyoshi? Through force?" "You pushed me to it. Blame no one but yourself, Aang… Come, Korra."
She hardly paid me any attention as she walked past me, heading to Jathr with Roku in tow, leaving Korra to awkwardly stand in place while looking between the three of us. Scoffing, I commanded a gust of wind to strike the pyramid-like coffin containing me, shattering it in a single strike; standing up, I pushed the debris away and extended my hand, creating a vortex around Kyoshi and Roku, forcing them to stop.
"Please don't do this, Aang." I ignored Roku and continued to stare at Kyoshi, who stomped on the ground, causing walls to erupt from the ground, interrupting the vortex around them as she slowly turned around, eyeing me. "Do you genuinely wish to do this, Aang?" "I'm not giving up, Korra."
There was a brief moment of silence between the three of us before Kyoshi attacked, stomping several boulders that jumped out from the ground and hovered there as she repeatedly kicked them at me, launching them at me with incredible force. As they came towards me, I thrust my palm at Korra, sending a gentle wave of wind to push her away while I calmly moved my arms, directing the boulders to flow past.
However, even though I missed them, Kyoshi continued to control them, creating heat-seeking boulders as they curved and lunged back at me from every direction, causing me to stare at her as I stood in place while flowing the boulders around me; slowly, I whittled the boulders down by destroying them with a compressed blast of wind from my palm.
Of course, this was just child's play for Kyoshi as she grabbed her fans, taking this seriously. With her fans in hand, she pointed them at the ground and swung them upwards, sending a tsunami of earth my way; stomping on the ground, a small vortex exploded underneath my feet, launching me into the air.
As I soared through the sky, I did the same move at the peak of the earth-tsunami, launching me further into the sky while I repeatedly thrust my palms at Kyoshi, mixing in a few kicks as I launched a volley of compressed gusts of wind, though she blocked every one.
Stomping, she made the ground in the whole area mimic liquid, so when I landed, I was immediately disoriented, which she took advantage of, forcing me onto the defensive while I quickly got accustomed to the new environment.
As I dodged her attacks that would suddenly shoot out from the ground, seeking to pin me in place, I would meet her other attacks head-on, preventing her from leading me into a trap. Every boulder she threw, I'd either destroy or flow it around me, every pebble I'd block with a quick, spherical vortex, every wide-area attack, I'd simply get out of the way.
Even though I was mainly on the defensive, throwing attacks every now and then, I was controlling the battlefield; I flowed through the fight unimpeded, using only the least amount of energy for each movement. If this continued, Kyoshi would tire herself out before she managed to even see an opening to catch me.
"This is why I hate fighting Air Nomads, they're so slippery. Roku, do you intend just to watch?" Hearing Kyoshi, I land gracefully atop one of the boulders she was controlling as she glanced at Roku, who softly sighed before leaping forward and thrusting his fist, firing a massive flame my way.
"Two vs one, how fair." Muttering under my breath, I jumped off the boulder, dodging the flame breath before hitting the air below, pushing me just a few inches higher as I narrowly dodged another boulder. Pushing off against the boulder I'd just dodged, I evaded another flame from Roku before landing on my hands, though the instant I did so, I pushed off with a small burst of air, as I just barely stopped the earth from hooking me to the ground.
With Roku joining Kyoshi, I wasn't given any respite between attacks; the moment I dodged or deflected one of their attacks, I'd immediately need to deal with the other. But even so, once I got used to it, I was even able to retaliate whenever I found even the slightest gap, which wasn't easy; the two of them were akin to a well-oiled machine.
Though I was able to make use of Roku's attacks to hide my figure, giving me a chance to hide my figure within the air, and while I wouldn't evade Roku's senses, Kyoshi would be momentarily blind, and I'd use those chances to attack her, interrupting her own attacks.
As I soared through the sky, I clasped my palm, manifesting a spherical vortex that protected me as I was enveloped within a large flame. Within the flame, I thrust my palms outwards, causing the vortex to burst and spread the fire in all directions. Using the brief moment when I was hidden from Kyoshi, I kicked towards the ground, sending a gust of wind that tricked her seismic sense. She immediately attacked them while I launched another attack from above through the flames.
Unsurprisingly, Kyoshi blocked the attack, but I seized the opportunity when she was unable to attack and performed a spinning kick, shooting a blade of wind towards them. With their cooperation disrupted, I went on the offensive, constantly attacking one of them to prevent them from continuing to work together.
Whenever Roku attacked, I'd evade his flames and attack Kyoshi, stopping her from helping him, and whenever she broke through, I'd switch my target to Roku. However, this only managed to last for so long. While attacking Roku, leaving minor cuts on his body, I saw him point two fingers at me, causing my eyes to narrow; quickly, I hid behind a flying boulder just as he fired a lightning bolt.
Feeling the impact through the boulder, I jumped off it while glaring at Roku, though I was forced to leap out of the way as a dusty dark object flew through the air, prompting me to click my tongue. "Metal and lightning." Kyoshi must've gotten metal from deep within the ground, but now this was a problem; metal and lightning are one hell of a good combination.
Just as I knew, so did Kyoshi and Roku, with their combined tactics, Kyoshi would embed small rocks of iron into the boulders, allowing Roku's lightning to bounce off them and continue to head to me, forcing me purely on the defense. The roles had been switched. I've been more wary of Kyoshi, but now, it was the opposite; lightning was so fast that I would have no chance to dodge after he attacked. I was merely anticipating his moves.
As I barely dodged another lightning strike from Roku, I glanced at my singed clothing, causing me to take a deep breath while I leaped out from behind the boulder. As I did so, Roku was already in the process of firing another lightning bolt, causing me to open my mouth, using sound bending to release a scream so loud that the boulders nearby cracked.
"AHHHHHH!!" As my thunderous voice tore through the world, heading towards the two, Kyoshi acted immediately and erected a massive wall, protecting them from the intense shockwaves of my voice. Landing on the ground, I dashed towards them, dodging the pillars that erupted from the ground. I kicked at the massive wall, aiming directly at the significant dent and deepening it as I sent a powerful gust of wind.
Following up, I unleashed relentless attacks while dodging Kyoshi's own; once I finally broke through the wall, I dodged to the side, evading a bolt of lightning that shot through the hole. Thrusting my palm into the hole, I blasted the other side with wind before following up with a kick, cutting through the wall, letting me see Kyoshi and Roku.
"Lightning, are you trying to kill me?" Shooting Roku a glare, I lunged at the duo, engaging in close-quarters combat where minimal bending was used. "I held back; it would only knock you out, though it would hurt like hell." Catching Kyoshi's fist, I yanked it back and kicked at Roku, who crossed his arms, blocking it while the former brought her elbow down, causing me to spin on my heel, dodging her before kicking her stomach, forcing her backward.
"Sure, Roku."