Chapter 4. The Ember Islands. Part 4

I walked home at a normal pace, steering clear of sin. May Agni prevent me from revealing myself to anyone. It's Airbending. The very kind that's supposedly only left with the damn Avatar. What's it doing with me? Who the hell knows.

No, of course, having Airbending is cool. Now my odd behaviors make sense, too. After all, it turns out - bending somehow influences consciousness. Firebenders are all so emotional, quick-tempered... And Airbenders are indifferent? Sounds like nonsense.

I'll have to carefully observe myself and gather some sort of statistics on maturing firebenders. Maybe I'll manage to understand something. Because I absolutely dislike my fits, even though they've disappeared.

Which, by the way, is unexpected, but throughout my time on the Ember Islands, I haven't been affected anymore. And I feel that the reason for this is Mei. I enjoy talking with her, and I look forward to our meetings. Those are emotions, and clearly, they're not going anywhere. Which is very good because my emotional attachment to my past life is not good. I'm not a psychologist, but there's something abnormal about it.

On the other hand, my attachment to Mei is also inexplicably strong. I have, well, almost a friend at school, but I don't feel such emotional feedback towards him. He wouldn't notice this in his lifetime because I try not to show my indifference outwardly, and for him, I'm a friendly, simple friend. But the fact remains.

I have to fake emotions in front of Yoshi, but not in front of Mei.

It's a pity that there's almost no literature on airbenders. I mean, there's almost none. It either burned or is located in the air temples, which are hard to access if you're not an Airbender.

Wait a minute. I am an Airbender.

All that's left is to learn to control the element. Without a teacher. Without a manual or guidebook, just relying on my own feelings.

Great, give me about fifty years, and everything will be fine. How fucking sad that I only have at most ten years, which need to be spent not only on bending, which shouldn't even be used in front of others, but also on some sort of martial art.

I've basically found a treasure chest without handles in the middle of the forest. What to do with it is unclear. Can't throw it away, can't carry it either.

So here: can't show it to anyone, or they'll brand me as the Avatar and do something, but can't ignore it either - bending isn't a sword, you can't just put it on a shelf - sooner or later, it will come out, like now. I didn't even notice when I started running at such a significant speed. What if I had decided to run with Mei? I trust her, of course, but the Will of Fire in her is too strong, and even faced with a choice between me or the country - I don't want to. And she would likely choose the latter, either way.

And then there's the issue of getting to these temples. Which is not easy at all, considering they're on the Earthbenders' continent, often near the front lines.

The eternal question arises, what to do actually? And even the answer, like, we'll solve problems as they come, doesn't work - here's the problem, it needs some solution.

Hmm, well, I suppose I have to try to develop this bending secretly from everyone. I don't see many other options.

With this thought, I stopped about halfway home. And where's the best place to develop away from prying eyes? Right, in the forest.

So, turning sharply perpendicular from the coast, I went looking for a decent clearing. Or any clearing. One where I could at least try to wave my arms and legs around without hitting a tree in the process.

Such a place was found after just a couple of minutes; the forest isn't that dense, after all. And when I reached the center of the clearing, ready to start my uber-mega-training, I posed myself a reasonable question.

What should I do?

I have neither flexibility nor techniques in reserve to immediately demonstrate something. What should I do now?

I should ask Mei for advice. Though the bending is different, I think I can glean some general principles from her.

With these thoughts, I left the clearing without even starting anything. Heading towards the beach and home. All tasks completed, I'll wait for the evening meeting with Mei, and now I'll read something.

A good plan. Shame it didn't work out. My parents went off the rails, and my father dragged me to his "great training" again. Maybe he's not an idiot, just doesn't know how to train ordinary people?

***

"Hi, Little one!" I waved, falling next to Mei, "Why the long face again?"

"I'm not Little one!" the girl immediately reacted, "I found out why the parents are in such a mood. Prince Lu Ten died - Prince Iroh's son, and although Ba Sing Se is almost fallen, Prince Iroh, apparently, will soon retreat - he has significantly lost positions."

"Oh, you..."

"Yeah," the girl nodded gloomily, "I think we'll soon go home, back to the capital."

I didn't ask why and for what purpose. None of us wanted to reveal our incognito, she already said too much - meaning, her family is probably close to the palace and is returning there for various intrigues. At least, that's how I imagine it.

"That's sad. We'll probably return closer to the end of summer. We need to figure out how to meet there," I suggested.

"Oh, actually we can!" Mei brightened up immediately.

Ah, how little she needs to shift from gloominess to joy. If only it were so simple for me.

"We can set a meeting day for now... let it be the seventh day of the week. But where?"

"Hmm, let's meet for the first time behind the weapon store on the main street? Do you know it?"

"I'll find out," I nodded, not a problem to find a store on the main street, likely a matter of minutes, "we'll meet there for the first time. I just don't know exactly when we'll return home, so you'll have to watch out for me there almost every seventh day by the end of summer."

"Okay," the girl nodded, then confessed, "I was afraid that our meetings would end until next summer."

"Be happy, Little one, that you have such a smart friend," I chuckled.

"Yes, you can be proud of yourself, you've said something smart for the first time since I've known you."

"Hmm, maybe change 'Little one' to 'Sore' ? 'Tiny Sore', exactly!" I threatened her. Look at her, already laying traps.

"Hey!" the girl protested.

"Okay-okay, don't be mad, I'm just joking... 'Little one' is a good name as it is."

"That's not my name!"

"Everyone has flaws," I shrugged, "okay, I wanted to discuss another question. Tell me, how were you taught bending? Of course, nothing secret, just the most basic stuff. You had to get acquainted with it before starting to throw fire, right?"

"Ha, do you really think that if the test didn't work, there are still some chances?" Mei raised an eyebrow significantly but then, seeing my slightly saddened face, added, "Although, history has shown that sometimes people do something wrong. Maybe your case is the same. Actually, they placed me in the center, surrounded by a lot of fire, and I sat trying not to let the fire scorch me. While defending against fire is a natural ability for any Firebender, the essence of this training is to find that ability and subsequently control it. Thanks to this, you can later use fire without fearing to burn at least your clothes. Then, on the contrary, they sat me in front of a single candle, and I had to control it, making the flame almost extinguish or flare up intensely. As soon as I passed these two tests, I was admitted to regular Firebending training. They only sound complicated, but in reality, it takes just a few days.

Yeah, a few days for a genius like her. For ordinary benders, I'm sure it's a matter of weeks, if not months. Nonetheless, how do I translate this to Airbending? Now that I've asked, I have more questions than answers. And what's the "natural" ability of Airbenders that needs to be developed?

"Does the first trial harm many?" I asked just to say something, so I wouldn't drift into my thoughts.

"Usually, accidents happen to almost every bender. Although instructors controlled the process and didn't allow serious injuries, the subject must feel danger, if not for life, then at least for health," Mei explained nonchalantly.

Geez, the customs here are harsh. And before you start training with a sword, do you have to accidentally swallow it? Or balance on it? Or fight a teacher who definitely won't hold back?

Well, wild people.

Meanwhile, Little One caught on.

"Just don't think about starting something like that on your own! Better try with a candle right away, Firebenders must somehow control it from the start!" she almost blurted out, probably thinking I was about to set myself on fire right now.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to commit suicide by fire," I reassured her, but not myself. Unpleasant thoughts appeared on how to initiate myself as an Airbender, oh, not good ones, and apparently, she read something like that on my face, "I'll be careful, slowly."

"That's good," Mei said, still looking at me suspiciously.

"Shall we go for a walk in the forest?" I suddenly suggested, "all we see is the ocean. I still have the whole summer to stare at this ocean, by myself."

"Well... let's go," Little One said uncertainly, "just there are wild animals, my mom told me."

Hmm? That turned out poorly. I could have guessed that the terrain here is not at all friendly. So, was I incredibly lucky that I didn't meet anyone during my journey? Or did I initially scare everyone off with my magic? These thoughts, except for the magic, I shared with Mei. In response, I received a look that's become typical for our relationship. Something between "Are you an idiot?" and "Damn, that's cool!"

"Let's hope it's because of their small population," Mei said importantly.

It's sometimes so amusing to hear her use such serious, complex words. How many times have I said it, I'm lucky she's a smart girl. Though, I think, otherwise, we wouldn't even talk because I would simply find it uninteresting.

Continuing to exchange inconsequential phrases, we headed into the forest. This time, I think we won't go too deep, but I'll show Mei at least a couple of beautiful spots I noticed on my way here.

Let her remember more pleasant things from this vacation because if Lu Ten is dead, as far as I remember, it means the canon will soon start spinning, gradually picking up pace.

If only I knew, or rather remembered, how. Unfortunately, only after Mei's words did I think of a slightly sad, chubby old man trying to appear harmless and funny. It's so at odds with the image of the Rock Man that's currently popular about Prince Iroh that it's just astonishing.

Well, we'll see how it goes, we have a forest hike ahead of us now. Too bad we didn't bring any food with us.

Don't forget every 300 power stones and there will be an extra chapter.