Pieces in a Pai Sho board

"The spirit world is so beautiful! Let's go explore it Foc." She said to her animal companion.

It smiled and flew upwards while looking around.

They were in a meadow, surrounded by weird plants.

Spirits buzzed around them, stopping to look curiously, then continuing on.

"This place is.. Wow…." Ri Huo said, looking around in amazement just as she did when she first visited it.

There were leaves taller than her and flowers with colors so vibrant, they seemed to glow.

"The flora here is incredible, just like the fauna!" She said, leading her fire bird.

She ran around with it, all kinds of spirits suddenly appearing and watching them.

Her animal guide of a scarlet color whizzed around, making a chirping sound as it met different kinds of spirits.

A wind blew by, but it seemed to stroke its feathers and beak, whispering a hello to it.

Letting out a crow, it matched Ri Huo's pace, catching up to her side.

"Let's see if we can find a forest, or a desert... Or maybe even an island. All places are so unique and beautiful around here." She said.

They came to a stop in a rock garden, a place where the rocks were arranged in symbols.

Ri Huo recognized Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, but there were others she didn't recognize.

"The spirits seem to believe in more than four elements." She pondered. "I once heard from my father that there were many other subtypes of bending. Though he didn't tell what they were, I believe they start with the basics, and become more complicated to master as they fan out."

She inspected each unknown symbol as she spoke about them.

Ri Huo was surprised when a dragon-snake spirit wrapped around her like a scarf, apparently ready to answer her questions.

Or to devour her spirit.

"Um...great spirit, would you mind telling me what's that?" She asked, pointing to one of the symbols branching from the Earth symbol.

Without opening its mouth, the spirit answered her.

Well, it didn't really speak, so much as send her the answer, without words, but still in a language she could understand.

"That is Dust. It stems from sand, which like metal, stems from earth. The masters of Dust focus on the smallest particle of earth and move it at will. Common practice is to bring it into larger shapes before manipulating it. Sadly no regular spirit like me knows how to bend the elements."

The spirit slipped off her shoulder and left leaving a trace of spiritual light that seemed to have a life of its own.

Ri Huo and Foc watched in amazement as it performed tricks, things they'd never seen before disappearing.

After that, both girl and animal wandered through the large grass field as daytime in the spirit world seemed to be everlasting.

At least for the region she had spent the past days, she hadn't witnessed nighttime.

They ran for some time until Ri Huo noticed a barren land of sand right at the edge of the grass field.

"A sand desert! I've never really seen one, only heard in tales about the outside world." Ri Huo stated before venturing forwards.

—————————————————————

"I want to hear about the spirit world, Wan." Zuko said. "I want to hear what the spirit that knows ten thousand things thinks about it. You've mentioned that I'm the only human you've been in contact for the last centuries, but still implied that your library has a reasonable amount of regular users. Which means your collection is bridging both worlds without actually connecting them."

"Oh, so you have noticed it." Wan replied. "Well, ever since the avatar separated our worlds humans and spirits do rarely see each other. My library exists simultaneously in both dimensions."

"But I assume you don't?" Zuko questioned. "Or there are two of you? One speaking to me and another currently aiding the spirits seeking knowledge."

"I can assure you that I'm singular. I simply cross the division whenever I desire to." The spirit stated.

"Is it a skill only possible for a spirit to perform?"

"No, it isn't."

"Is there any sort of rule that prohibits humans from doing so?"

"Not exactly." The owl said. "I believe it is a knowledge that has been long forgotten by your kind. Not that I blame them, crossing the divide from one world to the other requires a massive amount of spiritual energy and control that most humans simply can't afford. Even most spirits have suffered from that problem, ancient spirits like Tui and La had paid a great price to influence this reality."

"You mean the spirits of the moon and ocean?" Zuko remarked. "Didn't they give up their immortality to live among my kin? The original water bender masters."

"Precisely." Wan replied. "I see that your time here has been very productive."

Zuko nodded. "That's the reason I'm seeking your knowledge, there are countless documents and paintings that allude to some humans entering the spiritual world, but no actual mention of through which means they performed it was given."

"I believe your species, air nomads I believe it's the appropriate term, have labeled it as 'spirit projection'. A deceiving title since the actual bound between your spark and the shell you know as body is loosened to a dangerous point where it can be easily broken." Wan said with a tone of unappreciation. "But to its credit, it does allow humans that only possess great control over their spirit to enter the spiritual world. However, not only the bound can be broken, but both soul and body are left much more vulnerable."

"I see." Zuko spoke before asking. "May I ask for your guidance to perform such a feat? The one that you claim to be capable of."

"I'm not sure if I should, human. I know you are a powerful bender, possibly the strongest I have ever known of. Teaching you the way I cross realities might not pose a threat to you, but what about my fellow spirits?"

Zuko made a respectful gesture with both hands and said. "You have my word that I won't abuse this knowledge, just as I won't abuse anything that I will be learning here."

The owl spirit seemed to ponder for a moment before replying. "So be it." But it closed the gap between its head and Zuko's. "I will be trusting in you Zuko… I implore you to not betray my trust."

"I won't." He stated without blinking nor showing any traces of insecurity. The young emperor raised one hand, but instead of manifesting flames, a golden chain of lightning began circling his forearm. "As a sign of trust, I trust you with the knowledge of another fragment of my power."

"You can generate lightning, am I supposed to be impressed?" The owl questioned unimpressed.

"That depends on you." Zuko replied as the chirping golden lightning bursted small blasts into the air and multiple lightning birds began circling all over the place.

Each bird soared in a unique way, chirping and lighting the place far more than the green flames of the owl spirit did.

Wan Shi Tong's obsidian eyes were wide open in shock as it observed the hundreds of small birds flying around. "Mesmerizing!"

"If you say so." Zuko stated nonchalantly as a larger lightning bird perched over his shoulder and stared at the spirit.

"That's…" The spirit began but cleared its throat. "Er… I was informed that you will have to leave soon, so I know of a different way to help you with traveling between dimensions. Come closer."

Zuko simply nodded and approached the giant owl as his birds made of electricity went somewhere else while the knowledge seekers followed them.

"I will take you to the spiritual world. There, I will lead you to somewhere that I'm sure will aid you to comprehend both worlds as one." The spirit said before wrapping its wing around Zuko and vanishing on the spot.

—————————————————————

Wan had told Zuko that they would be visiting the Spirit Tree, also known as the Tree of Time.

Zuko noticed that his bending still remained, so instead of climbing onto Wan, he summoned and rode a lightning bird as big as Wan Shi Tong towards the heart of the Earth and the center of the Spirit world.

He could simply jet himself through the sky, but opted for testing his recent advance with his lightning bending.

Flying through the Spirit plane, Wan pointed out several places in which he suggested Zuko to avoid going.

He noticed him pointing out a canyon with a lot of fog, a very dark mountain said to hold a goddess whose son steals faces and a very exasperated group of Spider Scorpions.

'The fog of lost souls, lair of the fog spirit. The mother of faces, and progenitor of Koh the face stealer. And some of the spirits that despised humanity.' Zuko made mental notes.

"In certain places, the landscape of the Spirit World will conform closely to the area of the physical world that functions as its entry point, to the extent that a human crossing over might not immediately notice the difference." Stated the owl spirit. "In other places, the geography of the Spirit World has no relation to the physical world and the two settings will vary considerably from one another."

From afar, Zuko sighted the Hai-Riyo Peak, and wondered if there he could find dragon birds.

And Xai Bau's Grove, before the foundation of the red lotus, located deep in a canyon densely populated by trees. A single stream with red water runs through the hilly woodland and the sky bears a yellow-orange hue right above it.

'Should eventually look for General old iron, Hei Bai, the Kemurikage and the Painted Lady.' Zuko noted to himself. 'Father glowworm as well.'

Wan then continued to guide him towards the big tree that held Vatuu imprisoned.

Zuko climbed off his mount's back to see a big tree whose branches spent hundreds of feet out and whose roots could be seen growing miles away.

The surrounding plain consisted of streams of water and rocky formations and was enclosed by a chain of mountains.

In its center stood the Tree of Time, where Vaatu was imprisoned after his defeat.

The young emperor noticed it had no leaves and appeared to be dead.

However, never had he seen a tree that seemed to be in such bad health while still emanating so much life energy.

Zuko could swear that he felt that as the tree breathed it somehow gave him breath at the same time.

"Go and meditate at its roots and the tree will share with you its secrets." Wan motioned to Zuko. "You should feel no emotion when you connect with the tree. As a spirit can't have physical form to meditate with the tree, also the physical can not have its spiritual form to see from the great tree."

"I don't understand." Zuko replied puzzled at the spirit's nonsensical statement.

"Humans are the opposites of spirits, but they are still spirit just as Spirits are still physical. Emotions are the connection to the Spirit plane. Spirits are not physical but can have a physical form. Senses are their connection to the Physical plane."

"Hmmm... I think I might've understood. So in order for me to physically see the manifestation of the rift between the worlds, I have to stop my emotions so that my senses won't be taken control by the spirit tree? In the spirit world, my emotions become my reality."

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Wan said, impressed that Zuko actually understood that quickly, even if not completely.

Then the young emperor did as the owl spirit said, walking over and climbing up to the top of the roots to sit with his back to the trunk of the tree.

He came to the seated position and closed his eyes.

As he took a deep breath he felt the great tree eshale, and when he exhaled, the tree inhaled and BOOM!

A great flash of light as all of time came flooding into Zuko's metaphysical eye much quicker than he was expecting and he fell into a deep focus.

Golden lightning began sharpening his senses and time came to a halt for him.

He came back almost an hour after he went in and the young emperor looked up at Wan.

"It worked, I can feel the anchor." Zuko said, blinking his eyes. "I can make a bridge."

"Excellent." The owl replied. "I assume you can now feel the divide. This skill you've learned won't allow you to break through it, your physical body can only travel between dimensions through strong spiritual points in the physical world."

"I see." Zuko stated while standing up. "Though since we are in the summer solstice I believe it will be a possibility."

"Reasonable assumption." Wan pointed. "However, I haven't tested it to tell for sure. Never really wished to go anywhere besides my library."

"Truly? Not even once?" Zuko questioned.

"That's why I have my knowledge seekers, they wander the mortal world so that I won't have to." The spirit remarked as it turned to look away.

"You are just like the men of my tale, Wan. Your life is limited to your collection, you perceive the world only through other people's perspective, never really witnessing the wonders of the world." Zuko said to the great spirit. "I consider myself as an ally to the spirits, the new world I'm building will be more open to benevolent beings like you. I hope you see that only experience will make you a wiser spirit."

Wan Shi Tong lowered its head while still facing the horizon. "I thank you for the offer, friend."

And the owl flew away, leaving Zuko alone besides the Tree of Time.

Closing his eyes, the young emperor felt the connection of the tree with both worlds.

He now could slip between realities while carrying his physical body.

From the spirit world, he could only reappear in spirit points spread around the physical world.

Be it the northern or southern portals, or simply spiritual places like Wan Shi Tong's library and the spirit Oasis.

But before Zuko had the chance to choose his destiny, he felt a considerable amount of spiritual energy roaming nearby.

Summoning his lightning flying mount, he climbed over it and went to investigate the source energy.

The pulses led him straight towards the vast spiritual desert, which mirrored the one surrounding the library.

With his lightning bird, Zuko quickly traced the source emitting such quantities of spiritual energy.

Though he was surprised to find a girl roaming the sand dunes as if she was walking around her personal backyard.

Not only that, but her scarlet hair was very atypical in the world of Avatar.

Alongside her, he noticed a small bird that emanated fire.

Despite being a lightning manifestation, his flying mount could be as silent as he wished it to be, thanks to the redhead only noticing him when he was already a few meters away.

"Look Foc, a lightning bird! Perhaps you share some kind of kinship." The girl started pointing at Zuko's mount without noticing him at first.

As the small bird chirped a few flames, Zuko dismissed his mount and landed smoothly right in front of the girl.

"Greetings great spirit, I apologize for troubling you, but your signature energy was so formidable that I wanted to meet you personally." Zuko said as he brought both hands together in a gesture of respect. "Mind telling me what's your name?"

The redhead girl immediately froze in place, her cheeks blushing almost to the point of making her face match her hair. "I-I… actual-ly… my name is Ri Huo."

"What a beautiful name you have. But I'm afraid I've never heard of you." He replied with a charismatic smile.

But after better inspecting the girl, he noticed her unusual attire. "Oh… those clothes! You are a Sun Warrior!"

This time Ri Huo's embarrassment turned into surprise. "You know about us?"

"Of course I do, your people are the precursors of my empire." He gave her a wide smile. "But I have to admit, I never thought your people had knowledge of spiritual projection. Though despite previous thinking it as an air bending feat, I did witness an earth bender accomplishing such a thing."

Ri Huo recollected her thoughts before questioning again. "Wait, empire? I've never heard about such a nation."

"I don't blame you. After all, your civilization did seclude itself from the rest of the world." Zuko chuckled as he approached her. "You know, meeting you here is very fortunate."

"Re-really?" She stuttered as he came closer. "I guess you must be from the fire nation, I've learned a few things about your people. Lately you've been waging war against the entire world."

Zuko sighed. "Sadly, you are correct. My great grandfather's wish to spread our prosperity has been met with considerable opposition from the other nations. It now befalls on me to accomplish his dream."

"You are the ruler of your nation?" Ri Huo asked with clear surprise. "But you are still so young."

"I might be young, but my people's tradition respects power over all else." Zuko admitted without explaining how he became emperor.

"Does that explain how you manifested that lightning bird?" She asked with clear curiosity.

"Heh. Sure." He replied as a lightning golden chain surrounded his body, this time countless birds bursted out of it.

Ri Huo and Foc were mesmerized by the sea of golden birds flying all around them. "That's so beautiful."

"Thanks, from what I know, your people don't possess the knowledge of how to bend lightning." He said before offering. "If you wish, I can teach you."

"I'm very grateful for the generous offer, but unfortunately I won't be capable of performing such a wonderful feat." She stated. "I'm not a bender."

"Really? With all this spiritual energy emanating from you I even thought you were a spirit." Zuko remarked. "I thought all Sun Warriors knew how to fire bends, after all, your people have the privilege of being teached by the original fire bending master."

"You even know about them?" Ri Huo asked, surprised once again. "I thought your people were hunting for them."

"Sadly that is a crime that my ancestors have indeed committed." Zuko admitted. "But since I took rulership such practice has now been forbidden."

"Really! That's… really good to hear." She smiled.

"So miss Ri Huo, I have answered your questions. Mind telling me how you learned to project your spirit?" Zuko questioned in a respectful manner.

"A-actually… I-i haven't learned it… I simply noticed that some of my dreams weren't dreams… ever since I broke my legs…" Ri Huo gave Zuko a quick explanation of her situation.

"Hum. I see." Zuko replied. "If you wish, I can heal your legs."

"Really?!" Ri Huo barely screamed. "But even the best healers said that I would never walk again."

Zuko simply smiled and said. "Of course I can, you will be the second person I make walk again."

Tearing up a little despite being in her spiritual form, Ri Huo nodded.

—————————————————————

There were times when Tata would climb as high as she could through the canopy of the swamp, only to be disappointed with the sight of nothing but tree tops and the hills which surrounded the swamp and kept all the water and the life forms of the swamp captives within.

Never did Tata imagine the day where she would be on top of one of these hills looking across out into her freedom.

Alas, that day would be today.

The climb upon the mountains was a treacherous one, but nothing the young lady could not handle on her own.

So, without further ado, she made the final stretch onto the hills peak and climbed up to meet her fate.

When finally she hit the peak, awaiting her was the most awe striking site she had ever witnessed to that day.

Bewildered, she took a minute to take it all in, and yet another moment realized what she was to do with it.

To the east, lay the coast of which she had planned her journey around.

Taking in the ocean was something particularly difficult, for to bear witness on such a body of water without any obstructions was such a contradiction to what Tata was used too.

Being raised in a swamp, meant water was everywhere, but the only idea she had of water was the one she had been given by the swamp itself.

Directly south lay grasslands.

Rocky and terrain with the occasional small cliff here and there and every now and then lay a tree or some bushes.

In the very distance Tata thought she could see a village.

'That has to be my first destination.' She thought.

Conveniently enough, to the west lay a thin stream that looked like it would go to the village.

Tata assumed it was her best bet to follow the stream, because it did not look like the coast would take her to her newly decided temporary destination.

The southern hill face was smooth, laced with grass rather than mud and sharp rocks like on the other side.

Tata took one of the large swamp leaves from her backpack and smiled as she placed it on the ground, while hopping onto it.

The ride was sensational.

The wind in her hair, the sun coming down on her skin, the rush of the speed accelerating her heart beat.

When Tata hit the bottom, she roared with laughter and joy until she could no longer muster any breath.

A final tear was shed for her friend as she got her swag together and began her way to the stream.

'This is no waterway...' Shethought to herself as she finally made it.

It was now around midday and despite all that walking and not having eaten anything that day, she was still energised.

And she was right too, this indeed was no waterway.

This was a river.

And if the moon could make some of the waterways in the swamp flow, then by the spirits, it could make the rivers flow.

Such power presented in the water had never been seen by this young lady.

She walked by the stream as it plowed through itself, causing currents so strong, it looked like it could have swept away everyone in the swamp all at once.

After walking alongside it for sometime with admiration, Tata was struck with an idea.

This idea which was sparked by a lone branch witnessed floating down the river at a high pace.

She continued walking along the river collecting large sticks and carrying them along with her.

After she deemed she had enough she separated them into two piles and tied them up with vines, along with the leaf she used to get down the hill, neatly lined up between the two piles.

She had now constructed herself a little raft.

She grabbed it from either side and held it up in front of her.

Taking a couple of steps back, and then with a run up, she jumped into the roaring river, face first with the raft underneath her.

Tata let out a high pitched shriek as she hit the water and was pulled with the force of an angry parent down the river.

Terrified out of her wits, her heart raced as the tips of her fingers started to ache from latching onto the raft so hard.

She was too scared to keep her eyes open, but too scared to close them, ripping down the river at speeds she never even thought where possible, the world around nothing but a blur.

After what seemed like an eternity of being swept away, her worst nightmare came to play before her eyes.

Rapids.

Large sharp rock sticking their way in the path to try and account for a difference in land height.

There was no time to think, let alone act and yet that didn't stop Tata from letting go of the raft and waving her arms in front of her in the attempt to waterbend the raft to her will.

The raft did in fact turn around, however, it kept its course the same, resulting in it to smash itself directly into one of the rocks ahead.

Tata was thrown as full force at the pile of sticks which bound the raft as it too was thrown onto the rocks.

Large cracking noises could be heard by Tata, but the next thing she knew was total darkness.

It seemed like she was just floating around in the darkness, waiting for her to be transported into whatever came after death.

And it came.

In fact, it started tugging on her legs.

This made Tata uneasy and she struggled against it, but as she did so, she found that she no longer was able to breathe and started to feel pain in her ears and nose.

The pulling succeeded as she was brought out.

The world once again came into focus around her.

Could this be a new life?

No…

The river came into focus and so did the net that was stretched out across it.

As she was dragged across the land she started punching and kicking the air while coughing violently.

"Calm down now… You'll choke." Said a deep male voice from above.

Tata took his advice and started trying to calm down, still coughing out all the river water left in her system.

She sat up and vomited into the ground.

Tata tried to catch a glimpse of the person who saved her, but he was already at the river.

"This raft thing of yours in going to kill the fish!" He said with a hearty chuckle at the end as she retrieved all the tangled bits of sticks and leaf from the net.

"S-So-..." said Tata, but she was cut off.

"Was only fooling around. You just make sure you're alright and get all that water out of ya." Said the man who was big, burly and hairy, looking like he could have been in his late 30s.

He was wearing battered, torn up clothes that were stained with dirt and filth.

His hair was short and as black as the night.

"What's going on here then?" Said another male voice from behind the lady.

She turned around to see another burly man, only taller.

From the front she could see his deep brown eyes and wearing the same kind of clothes and the first man.

His skin was covered in dirt and muck, so it's true shade was hard to determine, although he looked to be around the same age.

Tata mustered the energy to get up on her feet.

As she did so she found that her chest and neck started to ache dearly.

"I'm sorry about any trouble I've caused. I'll just be on my way th-" She started coughing uncontrollably.

Each cough was agony to her now frail neck.

The first man came closer to her.

"You're not going anywhere in your condition." He said firmly looking up at her for he was slightly shorter than she was despite his brawn. "I insist ya come to my house. 'ave a spare bed ya can sleep in."

Tata examined her surroundings for the first time.

It now seemed like she was in the heart of the village, for there were wooden buildings everywhere and people and carts walking along a dirt road parallel to the river.

Houses and shops and markets and wanderers moving around, getting on with their daily routine, but only on the east side of the lake, for that's where the village stopped.

Tata tried to muster a reply but failed and instead collapsed on the ground losing her consciousness.

For the third time on this adventure, the world around Tata came into focus as she woke up.

But this was no world, this was a room.

Softness of such a bed was unknown to Tata as she hurled her blanket onto the other side of the room and leapt out of her bed.

She was feeling quite a bit better now.

She examined her body to assess any damages.

The first thing that came into mind was the scabs left behind on her left forearm from when she fell in the swamp.

They were about healed now.

On the bed Tata noticed some blood stains.

Although her neck suffered the most pain, some of which was still echoing now, no exterior damage was to be found upon it.

On her chest, right above her right breast, lay a whole bunch of bleeding scratches and one really deep cut leaning to her center, and to the young lady's absolute horror, there was a small thin string curling up around her cut.

'Eeeeek!' She shuddered just looking at it.

Tata took her hand and tugged on it to see if it would come out, but it just felt super surreal, like there was a tiny little elbow leach inside of her.

She decided the best thing to do would be to just ignore it.

Blood was stained upon her silly excuse for clothes, most of which became torn and she was pretty revealed.

The door creaked as she opened it.

Tata took a moment to appreciate that someone had built this house while her eyes scanned their surroundings and all the details became apparent.

In Tata's entire experience, such an intricate structure was astonishing and utterly profound.

"This way honey." Came a gruff female voice from the right side of the corridor.

While Tata had no idea why the voice would be called for honey to come, she thought she might go and find out what the deal with that was.

She walked along the narrow corridor of rosewood admiring every door she passed as she made it to a large room with a table, some chairs and the source of the voice.

"Oh dear, that river fucked you up something good." Said the woman.

She looked like she was in her late thirties, with a long narrow face white flushed out eyes.

"You've been out cold for a solid day." She continued. "Please siddown, help yourself."

On the table there was a variety of different meats and vegetables, as well as something which Tata had only ever heard about and always wanted to eat.

Bread.

It was at this point when Tata had realised how truly hungry she was.

She had figured that if her body was trying to signal how hungry she was, the signal may as well have been an earthquake.

Or at least, that's how it felt.

Tata quickly took a plate, and before filling it she said. "Thank you so much for looking after me. If you didn't pull me out of that river I would have died."

"Hush now… Eat."

Tata smiled warmly at the woman as she started to nom on the exotic variety of a meal that was on her plate.

Meats from things that she had never even seen before let alone tasted, and the warm bread which went spectacularly with the meat was a treat of its own.

"You dropped this on your little trip here. It was the only thing in the wreckage that we could recover. This is really good quality with its oil paints… Keep the water right out." She laughed softly and put the world map on the table, still neatly sealed with it's red ribbon.

"My name is On Li and my husband who saved you is Chao." Said the strange woman. "Welcome to our humble town. We are a small fishing village a couple of days away from The conqueror town."

"Fishing?" Said Tata with interest, but then the door opened, and in came Chao.

"Yes, fishing." He said in his deep voice.

How he heard what was being said, Tata would never know.

His skin was now clean so Tata could see the light shade of brown that it was.

He was carrying his equipment, which he put up on a hook next to some other materials.

Through the open door Tata could see more houses and people as they walked on by.

Takip closed the door and sat down.

"My name is Tata." She started with a firm voice. "I am a traveler, but I am out of money right now."

Tata thought it would be a good idea to hide her swamp origins.

"You have a very interesting way of traveling." Said Chao as Tata blushed and compressed herself in her seat.

Takip sat himself down at the table and started filling his own plate.

"And what in the name of spirits are you wearing?" He asked, taking a good look at Tata.

"My clothes did not survive my journey here. I had to improvise on the way."

"I've never seen leaves so big before." Said Chao.

"Where are you headed to, anyway?" Aske Jo Li.

"The Southern Water Tribe." Replied Tata with confidence.

"Well you can't leave here with clothes like that…" Said the woman.

"That's right. You can work with fishing. We pay handsomely for good work, and there happens to be a couple of openings right now." Said Chao.

"Well that sounds great!" said Tata, happy that it was this easy for her to find a job. "Sounds good to me." Said Tata optimistically and smiled.

"Great. You can start when you feel up to it, and stay here until then."

The days went by as Tata worked proficiently, especially since she had a proper understanding of the intricacies of the work.

She lived in the village like a local, always exchanging greetings with the folks and discussing gossip.

She used her money to buy proper clothes which made her look like a true earth kingdom citizen, except for her skin tone, which was otherwise a dead giveaway.

But her eyes helped cover for that.

She bought a compass, and Jo Li had taught her how to use it.

She bought a new backpack, more or less the same size of her own makeshift one, but with more compartments.

Eventually she moved out of Chao and Jo Li's house and started staying in an inn in the center of town, where she would pay her own board.

The men and women of the village loved to spend afternoons in the inn, drinking, singing and discussing gossip.

She even started to learn the names of the caravan traders who stopped by as well as the cartmen who would collect and transport gold for the empire in return for properly fashioned money as well as other goods.

Tata once tried the ale that the villagers drank and decided she never wanted any of that again.

As the nights grew older the men grew more weary but also more lively.

She started to learn the songs and joined in with the songs and the conversations.

She heard all sorts of rumors, such as the one about the appearance of the emperor into an underground earth bender fighting pit and the one about how Gaoling had surrendered in less than a day for the empire and was now renamed as Jinshu.

As well as all that, she also heard news from the empire Capital city, which was apparently a very big city.

Not as big as Ba Sing Se, but still big.

She made friends with many in the fishing village and heard many stories about the world.

People who were soldiers of the empire and those who traveled the world seeking glory.

Just like the villagers in the inn Tata grew weary and lively over the course of her stay at the fishing village.

Finally the social life was hers to cherish.

But not once did she lose sight of her bigger picture.

In fact, she started to form such bonds of the villagers that she did not want to leave, and It was at this point she realised she had to do it now.

And so, she chose to leave without saying goodbye to anyone, thinking that this would be the most efficient way.

It was a sunny afternoon, similar to the one that she had come to the village on.

The villagers were getting along on their day and Tata, who was supposed to turn up to the docks that day had her bags packed and ready to go.

She walked along the village traveling southwest.

Ever since Tata came to the village she had never really stopped crying about anything.

About injuries in her work, about memories of her past and even about sad stories she would hear from the villagers.

But now she vowed to stop crying.

Or at least try harder not to.

—————————————————————

Yue was born in the Northern Water Tribe to Chief Arnook and his wife, the daughter of a tribal chieftain.

She had an unknown illness as an infant, being still and quiet as though asleep, so her parents feared she would die.

As her condition was critical and the tribe's healers, including Yagoda, could not cure her, Arnook prayed to the Moon Spirit in desperation and placed her in the tribe's Spirit Oasis.

The Moon Spirit gifted her with part of its own life force, saving her life and turning her hair white as a side effect.

Doesn't that make her an horcrux?

Regardless…

Thus, her parents named her Yue, in homage to the moon.

'The life of a Princess, from her birth is well defined. She must humbly serve her country, play the part she's been assigned. She guards the hopes of her people, weak or mighty, rich or poor. Who could ever ask for more?'

'I guess this whole story I call life started when I turned 2 and learned I could waterbend.'

'I've been responsible for big tsunamis coming up to the North Pole.'

'But enough about that. In our tribe it was forbidden for girls to learn it for combat, though I never complained about it since I favored the healing arts.'

'I used to build snow penguins alone since I was only allowed to talk to people who were of my 'standards'.'

'Although I was allowed to wear the most beautiful dresses, there weren't many people that I could show them to.'

'The few friends I had, with time began complaining that they weren't as blessed as I and distanced themselves from me.'

'I remember I used to visit the city while being heavily guarded, I watched the common folk and wondered what their lives were. I also spied on the waterbending classes with master Paku, more interested in looking at the boys.'

'I simply loved sitting on my private boat with my guards circling the whole tribe as many times as I was allowed to.'

'When my father found out I could bend, he said it was my duty as a princess to be as proficient as I could. And if I wanted to learn waterbending, I had to use it to heal.'

'I was only 6 then and was fascinated by the art of healing, closing wounds and redirecting the energy paths around the body. I've even heard that masters in healing can even cure poison or lessen the side effects of aging...mean, it is beautiful!'

'The winter I turned 10, the weather was particularly harsh. The temperature was below freezing, threatening to give you frostbite as soon as you exited your home.'

'My mother made sure I never left the house without an extra layer of parkas and furs to wrap around my neck.'

'But there was one day that year I'll never forget.'

'Wrapped up in my extra layers, my mother and I went out to buy food before a storm was about to hit our tribe.'

'We left our house to a crystal clear sky but were soon engulfed in a blanket of white, making it almost impossible to see in front of us.'

'I felt like I had been swept into a cloud made of snow and before I knew it, I felt unseasonably warm.'

'My mother had taken us into the Spirit Oasis, the most sacred area in the north.'

'It was my first time being in the Spirit Oasis, and everything I had heard about it came to life.'

'The air was warm and made me remember the stories of my father and his travels in the Earth Kingdom during the spring.'

'While I had never left the north myself, I imagined how I felt in the Spirit Oasis and that it must be similar to the weather in the Earth Kingdom my father so highly spoke of.'

'I wanted more of it.'

'I felt like a free bird in the sky without all my layers that often felt restrained.'

'The harsh conditions outside forced my mother and I to spend the night in the Spirit Oasis. While she was setting up an area to rest for the night, I found myself prancing over the small bridges that connected the various separated pieces of land while gliding my fingers through the water.'

'My daydreaming came to a halt when I took notice of small patches in the ground that were occupied by small pink flowers.'

'I had never seen plants like this in real life, their petals soft as the fur on a baby polar bear dog and a pink hue similar to a child's cheeks when they've played outside in the snow for too long.'

'My parchments didn't do these flowers justice and I found myself laughing at the idea of anyone thinking they were capable of capturing something so beautiful, on a mere sheet of parchment.'

'Before I knew it, night is upon us and I'm curled up next to my mother as she swipes away stray hairs from my face.'

'That's when something interesting caught my eye.'

'I noticed two shadows in the central pond that is before us and I find myself captivated by their circular movements.'

'When I was 14, my mom died. As my father, Chief Arnook, chief of the North Pole, was grieving, he said I had to be the woman of the house now, and I had to make sure everyone, including my younger brother and my infant sister were fine.'

'It was my duty to take care of them.'

'My mother used to tell me folk-tales about the moon and ocean spirits Tui and La and how their love for one another traversed through many lifetimes.'

'No matter how many times I fell asleep to the sound of my mother's voice telling me these tales, I never grew tired of them once.'

'When I was a little girl I remember yearning for a love as great as Tui and La's, and it only grew when I heard a rumor spreading through our tribe.'

'It had been said that Tui and La crossed over from the spirit world into our own so they could help mankind, but their physical forms were unknown and thus were hidden from the human eye.'

'Hidden.'

'Hidden from anything that threatened to disrupt their balance amongst themselves and the rest of the world.'

'I admired how deep their love was.'

Later in her life, it was arranged that Yue would marry a young, egotistical warrior named Hahn.

He carved a betrothal necklace for her to mark their engagement, but she did not really love him and consented to the marriage only to stay in line with her people's customs.

Yue was a remarkable kind, sweet, and gentle woman with a certain sense of humor.

Prone to offer hope to others in crucial times.

Courageous enough to sacrifice her happiness, and even her life, for the greater good.

With a deep sense of loyalty and duty to her tribe.

Though she did hope for her fate to change, she had never imagined how much it would.

—————————————————————

The fire sizzled and crackled gently as Tata lay by it staring up into the stars.

Yet another thing to add to the countless list of things she could not experience from the swamp.

And slowly, the stars started to vanish under a navy blanket of clouds covering the sky.

The forests were different enough from the swamp.

There were so many different types of plants and animals.

In fact, even the colours were different as the vibrant green from the swamp was replaced with murky flushed out shades of green and brown.

Even in the swamp and the roots and trunks of the banyan were a light cream colour.

The young traveler was glad it didn't rain, for the canopy there does not protect from the rain like the swamp does.

Nightfall came and Tata was hungry.

She had no idea how to take care of herself out here.

At the swamp, no one gets smashed into rocks, or starved.

She remembered, once when she was smaller than she is now, she was out adventuring in the swamp and found a bush.

Still today, Tata has no idea what it was about that particular bush that caught her attention, but it did.

It was fairly large, large enough to hide in.

It was surrounded by shallow water as well.

Tata had spent some nights sleeping in the shallow water under that bush when her family particularly got on her nerves.

She realised that the bush did not belong to the swamp.

It was independent.

Which was strange, because in the swamp all the trees and the plants and roots and trunks were actually one organism, and that was the banyan.

This… Plant... seemed to grow in the swamp all by itself.

It's fate was not tied to banyan.

Tata really identified with that.

Maybe that's what she saw in the bush all those years ago.

But it died over time.

Tata supposed that if other plants were meant to survive in the swamp they would have.

The thought of the fate of this bush made Tata uneasy, but then she thought about the Southern Water Tribe.

This thought alone was enough to drive her onwards, and soothing enough to place her to sleep amongst the softness of the leaves and small bushes around her.

—————————————————————

The entire Sun Warrior civilization emanated so much spiritual energy, or perhaps it was the masters that did, that Zuko was capable of following Ri Huo's spirit back to her body.

There he noticed the peculiar style of the architecture of her room.

Ri Huo was exhausted coming back to her physical body.

She had been gone for long enough that fatigue had set into her body long before her spirit.

Right when she came back she felt her brain making her thoughts clouded.

She struggled to remember.

She knew she had to remember.

But after seeing Zuko standing right in front of her she remembered. "Y-you really can cross from one world to another!"

The young emperor simply chuckled. "Heh. Of course I can."

Remembering what he had promised to her, Ri Huo pointed at her legs. "As you can see, I'm only half the person I was in the spirit world."

"Nonsense, you are just as the same as you have always been." Zuko remarked while igniting his palms in flames. "I will simply heal your physical shell."

"I appreciate it nonetheless." Ri Huo smiled as she allowed him to glide his flaming palms over her legs.

Instead of pain she felt relief, instead of unbearable heat she felt comfortable warm, instead of not moving her legs she felt them twitching for the first time since her accident.

Not long after, she was hoping all around with her fire bird chirping in happiness.

Unable to contain her excitement and gratitude, she gave him a squeezing hug as her red hair cascaded over him. "Thank you so much! I'm in your debt!"

"Wow… calm down my sweet girl." Zuko said in a charismatic tone as he hugged her back. "Consider this my gift for resuming our nations' relationship."

"What do you mean by that?" Ri Huo asked curiously.

"I mean that your community won't have to hide under a rock afraid of the outside world any longer." Zuko said as he looked her in the eyes. "My empire will be honored to have such ancient culture joining us on our path to reach a brighter future."

—————————————————————

Tata had been traveling for about 2 weeks ever since she left the fishing village, and was fairly close to her next destination now.

People from the inn at the fishing village told stories about this town.

It was once named after a historical figure named Chin the conqueror, but now the new emperor had renamed it, it was famous for its impressive cliff, open market and vibrant festival.

From what she heard, their judicial system had just recently been altered after the empire had conquered the town.

After about half a day's walk, Tata arrived at the top of a vibrant green hill over the cliff, from which she could see The conqueror town.

If witnessing the fishing village was astonishing, witnessing The Conqueror town was bewildering.

The town was simply massive if compared to the small fishing village.

She walked along the hill and into the bright and lively town.

Even the clouds were cleaning up now.

Everyone seemed to be so happy despite the heavy concentration of imperial guards.

There were street performers juggling and stalls along the streets selling all sorts of exotic goods and foods.

People pointing and laughing, couples and families all gathered around under the bright white clouds that were now hiding the sky.

Posters covered the walls and lamp posts on the streets of events that were being held in the theaters and the tents.

Over the course of her stay, Tata was able to find entertainment through many experiences.

She stayed one more night in a local inn and headed off the next morning after finding a boat that would take her to Zuko's island.

—————————————————————

A large stepped pyramid marked the center of a vast city built from an uniformed tan colored stone.

The architecture showed clear signs of its influence over the fire sages' temples.

This city didn't show its centuries old history since everything seemed to have been just built.

As Zuko roamed through the Sun Warrior city alongside Ri Huo, his Royal attire made him stand out even more than his companion hair or her miraculous recovery.

She guided him through the streets while he watched the regular folk going on with their lives.

To his surprise, dragons seemed to not have been reduced to only ancient masters.

From what Ri Huo told him, each Sun Warrior that proved its worth in fire bending earned the privilege of bounding with a dragon before they even broke out of their eggs.

Foc was really an irregular existence even for these people, but from what Ri Huo explained to him, there were multiple types of animals that bonded with a non bender.

Though Foc was the first of its kind.

Ri Huo took him to see her father to his chamber on top of a pyramid.

As Zuko and Ri Huo reached the top, he noticed multiple wall markings displaying figures standing amongst dragon fire and interacting with the legendary masters.

In a courtyard atop of the same pyramid, they approached an open chamber completely filled by fire.

A man in a red and yellow robe, spiked headdress and face paint noticing their approach. "Ri Huo? You are walking again!" The man beamed with happiness. But his upbeat tone shifted instantly as soon as he noticed how foreign Zuko appeared to be. "Who are you?! Why are you here?!"

A group of similarly clad people surrounded them after hearing their chieftain's serious tone.

"My name is Zuko, emperor of the Blaze empire." The young emperor began introducing himself. "I know my people have distorted the ways of fire bending, to be fueled by anger and rage. Now I've come to seek a reconciliation and reconnection between our people, and bring back the original way that had been forgotten even before the current war. I'm aware that fire is life, not simply destruction." He brought both hands together in a gesture of respect and said. "I'm truly humbled to be in your presence chieftain Taiyang."

"Father! Thanks to him I can walk again!" The young girl reassured her father while hugging Zuko's arm.

The chieftain quickly thought about the situation, he had been made aware of the new ruler of the fire nation and his unnatural power.

Not to mention that the fire nation was no more, now they declared themselves as the Blaze empire.

"If you wish to bring unity between our people, you must first be judged by the masters Ran and Shaw. If they deem you worthy, then we will trust you. If they don't, you'll be destroyed on the spot." He decided to take the path that he had always taken whenever a problem of such scale had presented itself to him.

Zuko simply nodded. "I accept your condition."

The chieftain turned to the chamber hosting a blazing inferno.

"If you are going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the eternal flame. This fire is the very first one. It was given to man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years. You will take a piece to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending." The Chieftain drew a small piece from the eternal flame. "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control." The man stared directly at Zuko's golden eyes as he pointed to a mountain with two peaks. "You will take the fire up there, the cave of the masters is beneath that rock."

Zuko began ascending the slope with his hands full of flames.

The young emperor grasped the fire between his hands and noticed how common and regular it felt compared to his special flames.

And the eternal flames would extinguish themselves if he didn't provide enough heat.

'It seems eternal had a different meaning for these Sun Warriors.' He thought. 'And what about it getting out of control?'

Outputting a fraction of his usual heat, the small flame bursted upwards, but Zuko was clearly in control.

No nearby tree nor himself got burned.

He knew that regular fire couldn't harm him, but he had to admit being disappointed knowing that neither could dragon fire.

Eventually, he reached a circular courtyard between the two peaks, the Chieftain and the other Sun Warriors had arrived a few instants after him.

In front of them, a staircase leads to a bridge extending to caves from the side of each peak.

"Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you. Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragon's disappearance. The masters might not be so happy to see you." The Chieftain stated, worry plastered all over his face.

It seems having healed his daughter had made the chieftain favor Zuko enough to not desire his doom.

"Not to mention that through my mother's side, my other great grandfather, the avatar, was in a way responsible for the decline of the dragons." Zuko openly admitted.

"Your honesty is notable, but I fear that won't be enough to compensate for your lineages' sins." The man remarked while cringing a little.

Zuko simply shrugged his shoulders.

The chieftain then proceeds to take some of Zuko's flames, dividing and passing it to a pair of Sun Warriors at his sides.

Some Sun Warriors created rings of flames while some kneeled.

The chieftain approached the stairs as some of the remaining Sun Warriors began beating their drums.

The chief and others stepped aside as Zuko proceeded to ascend the staircase.

When he reached the top, he divided his flame to each hand and pointed it towards both caves at either ends of the bridge.

"The one that wishes to meet the masters Ran and Shaw will now present his fire." Shouted a Sun Warrior.

"Sound the call!" Orders the chieftain before a loud horn was blown.

After the ground shook as if an earthquake was taking place, Zuko kept his cool.

A red dragon emerged from one of the caves, and swirled around the young emperor.

Then, a blue dragon emerged from the other cave and joined its counterpart.

Below the bridge between both caves, the Sun Warriors dropped to their knees and bowed.

Above, the dragons continue to surround Zuko.

As the young emperor watched their progress, he began performing the poses of the dancing dragon form.

The dragons moved in time with his poses.

As Zuko reached the last pose, the dragons stopped circling and stared at him from both sides.

"Judgment time." States the chieftain with anticipation and worry, still remembering his daughter accident.

Despite both dragons fierce stares, Zuko kept his calm and brought both hands upwards.

"Why have you come, great-grandson of Sozin?" Asked the red dragon.

"Why do you disrespect us with your presence, great-grandson of Avatar Roku?" Asked the blue dragon.

"Great Fire Bender Masters." Zuko began stating his case. "I've come to correct the past mistakes of my ancestors. I've come to offer safety for the Sun Warriors to open up again for the world. I've come to personally inform you that dragon-hunting will be prohibited with great punishment for those that disobey."

"Why should we believe in your words?" Spat both dragons.

"You don't need to." Zuko stated before smirking. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't need your approval. There are plenty of dragons, enough to ensure the repopulation of your species."

"You dare threaten us, human? After stating that you have come with pacific intentions?" Roared the red dragon.

"Aren't you afraid to perish right here? We would be avenging all of our fallen brothers and sisters." Grunted the blue dragon.

"As I said, I've come in peace." Zuko smirked as he left the eternal flame extinguished from his palms. "But if I'm provoked, I won't hesitate to destroy both of you."

"How dare you?" The shouted and fire began accumulating in their throats with clear intent on killing him.

Zuko simply pointed both palms towards each dragons' mouths and blasted a considerable charged blast of his combustion beams.

Each large dragon shrieked in pain as their fire blast were interrupted right before it left their mouth and a cloud of smoke appeared alongside burned marks.

Before the Sun Warriors had the chance to intervene in any way, Zuko acted quickly.

Zuko performed multicolored flames in a spiral around him, as the Dragons backed away in surprise, the vortex of rainbow flames turned black and white, and raw energy was released everywhere.

Never had the Sun Warriors nor the Masters witnessed such intense heat and cold.

The blinding light threatened to burn their retina while his abyssal black flames remembered them staring at an abyss.

After bowing in either respect or fear, both dragons twirled through the air and returned to their caves.

Not satisfied with his showcase of power, Zuko brought a massive pillar of golden lightning down right behind him.

Metaphorically piercing the sun in the horizon and shaping itself as a Phoenix that had just spread its wings.

Below, every Sun Warrior gaped in utter shock to what they had just witnessed.

Zuko descended the staircase unable to hide his grin.

"Un-unimaginable! I-im-possible!" Stated the chieftain.

"So, it seems your great masters have acknowledged me as worthy." Zuko remarked.

"De-def-definitely!" The chieftain kneeled and bowed. "It would be our pleasure to join your empire, Emperor dragon."

"Please, my real title is Phoenix Emperor." Zuko corrected him.

"As you wish, Phoenix Emperor." The man quickly accepted Zuko's comment. "Please, accept my thanks and my eternal gratitude for healing my daughter."

Tha made Zuko smirk. "I welcome it." He turned to face the crowd of fire benders. "The Blaze empire proudly announces a stable union with the Sun Warriors. May the sun ever shine on it's people."

Everyone cheered, including a very impressed red haired girl.

—————————————————————

(31/12/2020)

*Hope this chapter is of your liking. Anything you wish to ask, feel free to do so.

Thanks as always for your attention and please be safe.

Any problems with my writing, just point them out and I will correct them as soon as possible.

** Please don't hesitate to tell me if the quality is dropping. I really wish to continue trying to update fast, but I don't want to make it reflect badly on my writing.

*** Did you like the OC characters that I've been introducing? I wanted to flesh out the world of Avatar, and I noticed that some groups haven't been explored beyond a superficial appearance. But they won't in any way undermine the original character's importance... at least I don't plan to make it so.

**** 🥳 Happy New Year 🎆 Thanks for continuing to read my work, I'm very grateful and humbled for the privilege.

May the next year be excellent to each and every single one of us. 😁👍