Chapter 8

- [A Few Days Later] -

Aroh could be seen standing on the deck of the ship, his eyes closed and no form of expression on his face. If one of the so called 'enlightened individuals' could sense his Chi at the moment, they would be shocked at the ease at which it coursed through his body.

'Find the Yin and Yang energy within yourself…' he thought as he let out a deliberate breath. 'Feel the balance between those two energies…'

He could consciously feel the heat of energy pooling around his stomach area. With his progress in [Meditation], he was able to feel the energies in his body and all around him. With [Chi Manipulation], he was able to directly make contact with said energy.

'Take a hold of each energy…and force an imbalance.' The energy in his body began to move chaotically as he forcefully disrupted its natural balance.

'The energy wants to restore balance and in that moment, the Yin and Yang energy comes crashing back together, creating lightning…' he recited as he ignored the uncomfortable feeling in his body.

Rather than actual discomfort, it was more of the fact that he had never felt anything like it. It didn't feel bad, neither did it feel good.

'Intentionally control both energies and force them to collide. Create a balance in imbalance…' he held up his palm as he moved that chaotic energy towards his palm.

For a moment, sparks of lightning lit up in his palm, a grin surfacing on Aroh's face only for it to be replaced by a pained look as an explosion occurred on his palm.

[*Ding!*]

[You have gained Lightning Generation!]

[*Ding!*]

[Due to abnormal movement of energy, hosts chi paths have been temporarily damaged!]

[*Ding!*]

[Begining Chi path recovery!]

[Beginning Adaptation to acclimate to new flow of Chi!]

[Days: 25, Hours: 4, Minute: 30]

He couldn't help but frown as he read the barrage of notifications. 'That seems…ominous.' The timer had already begun ticking down.

Though he was happy to finally achieve what he had been trying to achieve for weeks, the situations that came with it were less than pleasant.

Trying to move his chi around, he grit his teeth as pain immediately flared around his body. 'What the hell?' He thought in slight anger has he clutched his palm.

"Aroh, are you okay?! I heard an explosion." Katara exclaimed as she rushed to where he was, seeing him holding his palm in pain.

"I'm fine. It's nothing." He answered only for her to grab the arm towards her, seeing bruises and reddened skin, causing her to let out a gasp.

"You're obviously not fine. What happened?" She said as she bent the water from outside the ship into a small blob of water above her palm.

"I was trying something out. It didn't go quite as planned. This is the result of that." He explained simply as the blob of water covered his arm before it began glowing softly.

His eyes widened a bit at what she was doing. "You can heal…" his voice trailed off for a moment as the girl nodded.

"Yeah, I discovered it a while ago but there wasn't really any need to use it until now." She explained sheepishly.

She misunderstood. Aroh was aware that she had the talent to learn it. What he didn't know was that she was already capable of doing it. It certainly came as a surprise, a pleasant one.

The water felt cool and comforting as the pain slowly subsided. "Don't try and change the subject. What were you even trying to do?" She questioned as a small smile emerged on Aroh's face, giving a short bit explanatory answer.

"Lightning." He said, causing the girl to have a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Is that even possible?" She wondered out loud, prompting a nod from Aroh.

"It's very possible. If you look at it one way, I actually succeeded but I damaged my chi pathways in the process." He said nonchalantly as a look of horror appeared on her face.

"That's terrible! Who knows what kind of side effects that could cause?! You could be dying! You cou-"

"Calm down." He said calmly, interrupting her rants. "It's only temporary. It's only a matter of time before it heals."

Katara showed an uncertain frown. "I'm not sure it works that way." From the way she spoke, she really wasn't sure.

Seeing the worried look that appeared on her face, he showed a small smile as his other hand pulled her closer, capturing her lips with his own.

She was visibly surprised before leaning into the kiss. His hands explored her body, causing her to moan softly into his mouth. A few moments later, they parted as a look of disappointment appeared on the girl's face along with a small blush.

'How are you a freak in bed but here you are blushing from a simple kiss?' He couldn't help but wonder as he shook his head.

"You worry too much." He reassured as the girl then leaned into his chest, his arm still around her.

- [Azula] -

Reading the report from one of the spies she had on Zhao's ship, she had a thoughtful look on her face.

Zhao had the chance to take the avatar but instead took a girl as hostage. That only came back to bite him in the ass when one of the soldiers from the division he tried to take over betrayed him.

She couldn't call it betrayal seeing as how Zhao had absolutely no command over the ship in the first place. She wasn't surprised at all. The man had first encountered them a few years back only to pass them by seeing as how they were only new recruits…weak recruits at that.

It was only after they had begun getting recognized that Zhao wanted to swoop in and take that glory for himself. It was how he got the role of commander in the first place.

She was more interested in the soldier who betrayed them. 'The demon blade? What a cliche name.' She thought dryly upon seeing the moniker.

There were rumors that he was young, very young. He earned that moniker when he, despite not being a fire bender, turned the tides of one of their earlier battles.

A man or boy with excellent skills and smart enough to plot a way to escape while successfully damaging Zhao's reputation at the same time.

She was impressed. Using the waterbender to escape was ingenious but sadly, now that he had escaped, there was no way to get anything more about him.

'This just keeps getting more and more interesting.' She had her own reasons why she was drawn to this identity and only she would be able to find the answers she was looking for.