The ship had already left the coast behind. The wind cut through the air with the smell of salt and engine smoke, and the deck trembled under the constant rhythm of the waves. Ren stood in the center of the ship's widest space, the training area, his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on the horizon. White flames peeked out between his fingers, crackling like dying stars.
Azula turned toward him, awaiting instructions. But Ren spoke without looking at her.
—"Before we move toward any objective… I want to evaluate your skills."
Mai raised an eyebrow. Ty Lee got excited immediately. Suri stiffened into a military posture. Keiko stopped sharpening her dagger. And Azula smiled with the arrogant confidence of one who fears no test.
Ren continued, now turning to observe the five of them.
—"I don't trust a weapon I haven't tested. And I will not work alongside anyone whose strength I cannot precisely measure."
Azula's eyes shone.
—"And how do you plan to evaluate us?" she asked, crossing her arms.
Ren took a step forward.
—"One by one, you will face me. Without limits. Without restraint. Without excuses."
The silence was immediate. Even the sound of the sea seemed to fade. Azula smiled at an almost… dangerous angle.
—"Perfect."
Ren extended a hand toward her.
—"You first."
AZULA VS REN
The prodigy princess versus the white aberration
Azula took a step forward, cracked her neck, and her knuckles popped. Her blue flames danced around her fingers.
—"I won't hold back, Ren."
—"You never do," he replied.
She attacked first: a blue bolt crossed the air with an electric roar. Ren tilted his head and the bolt passed centimeters from him. Azula frowned. Ren didn't counterattack. He just walked toward her… slowly. Analyzing her. Reading her. Mentally counting her breaths, the tension in her shoulders, the speed of her feet.
Azula launched a series of punches and kicks wrapped in blue fire, each faster than the last. Ren dodged them all with the minimum possible movement: a step, a lean, a twist.
—"Your control has improved," Ren commented as he deflected a spinning kick with a flicker of his white flame. "But your emotional balance… not so much."
Azula growled, lunging with a vortex of blue fire straight at Ren's chest. Ren raised a hand. His white flame surged like a heartbeat. The blue fire disintegrated on contact. Azula froze.
—"That's new," she whispered.
Ren raised his closed fist, aiming at her face. Azula swallowed. But Ren didn't strike. He just left it there, threatening, almost touching her skin.
—"Three more moves and I would have defeated you," he concluded. "Good speed. Better power. But your confidence makes you predictable."
Azula stepped back, tense… but at the same time, fascinated.
Ren smiled just a little.
—"Even so, you are superior to your brother."
That comment made Azula's chest swell with dangerous pride.
MAI VS REN
The silent assassin
Mai walked to the front with her usual dead expression. Without a word, she threw three knives directly at Ren's eyes. Ren caught them with his fingers. Without looking.
Mai blinked. It was the first time she'd shown surprise in months. She didn't speak. She just launched herself backward, jumped onto a post, spun in the air, and threw ten more needles from different angles.
Ren advanced… the needles fell to the floor, burned, before they could touch him.
—"Your weapons are good," he said. "But I am better."
Mai clenched her jaw and pulled out hidden blades from her sleeves, aiming at lethal points. Ren snapped his fingers. The blades melted.
Mai lowered her arms.
—"I understand," she said with resigned calm. "Humiliated. Enough."
Ren nodded.
—"You are not as strong as Azula. But you are useful. Precise. Lethal. We will need that."
For an instant, Mai seemed… satisfied?
TY LEE VS REN
The pink lightning without chi
Ty Lee did a giant flip, landing softly on the floor.
—"I'm not going to hit you hard," she warned. "But I will be fast."
—"And I won't hit you," Ren replied. "But I will evaluate you."
She smiled. Then she disappeared. Her movements were so fluid and fast that the air buzzed. Chi-blocking, pressure points, joint attacks: Ren knew this style. He understood it. He respected it.
But Ty Lee discovered something terrible: she couldn't block his chi. Every point she touched… burned. As if she were touching a red-hot sphere of energy.
She leaped back, shaking her aching hands.
—"Your… chi is like liquid fire," she panted. "I can't shut it off."
Ren bowed his head.
—"Your body is efficient. Your control is admirable. But you can't stop what you can't contain."
Ty Lee took a deep breath, then smiled and gave a thumbs-up.
—"I passed… a little bit!"
Ren gave her a small smile.
—"You passed everything you could have passed."
SURI VS REN
The warrior who deserted for honor
Suri advanced with an impeccable martial posture. She drew her lance, spun the tip, and adopted a defensive stance.
—"I don't need to win," Suri said. "I just need you to understand that I am not weak."
Ren nodded with genuine respect.
She attacked with power, technique, and control. Every movement was a mix of warfare and military discipline: thrusts, sweeps, blocks, stabs. Ren blocked everything with a single hand. Without moving.
But he wasn't humiliating her. He was measuring her with a clinical eye. When he finally disarmed the lance with a single touch, he held it in the air… and handed it back.
—"You are strong," Ren said. "Not against me. But against almost anyone else."
Suri smiled faintly.
—"That is enough."
KEIKO VS REN
The shadow assassin
Keiko appeared behind Ren without making a sound. She hadn't announced the start of the match. She simply attacked.
Ren was expecting her.
She struck with black, invisible daggers. Fluid, violent, precise movements. Her style was that of a walking shadow. Ren dodged with elegance.
—"You are dangerous," he commented as he deflected a stab she tried to sink into his neck. "But you are impulsive."
Keiko recoiled, clicking her tongue.
—"I'm an assassin, not a monk," she replied.
Ren pressed a finger into her chest. Keiko flew backward as if hit by a shockwave. When she got up, she took a deep breath.
—"Okay. You beat me."
Ren nodded.
—"Don't sell yourself short. The talent is there. The discipline… can come later."
Keiko gave a half-smile.
🔥
END OF THE EVALUATION
Ren returned to the center of the deck. His white eyes lit up just a little.
—"Each of you has value. All of you will be part of the hunt."
Azula approached, crossing her arms.
—"And me?" she asked. "What is my diagnosis?"
Ren looked her straight in the eye.
—"You are a lightning bolt trapped in a cage," he replied. "Fierce. Powerful. But still a prisoner of your need for approval."
Azula gritted her teeth.
—"And what do you propose?"
Ren smiled with a dangerous edge.
—"Setting you free."
The white flames illuminated his face.
And the ship continued on its course toward the destination where all their worlds would collide.