The Storm.

Xiao woke up from his 'dream to the gentle seat of the merchant's ship. Another thing he noticed is that it was much colder than before. Xiao thought for a moment before circulating his energy inside of his body.

He almost immediately warmed up. Touching his skin, Xiao felt much hotter as well. "Well that's cool." He muttered to himself as he got up from his hammock, listening as his joints popped and feeling his muscles stretch. "I must have been out for a while…" Xiao thought as he took note of how hungry and thirsty he was.

He walked into the top deck and looked around. "I thought you died!" Said Panro, the leader of this merchant group and the captain of the ship.

"Yeah, I guess I was quite tired…" Xiao said, trailing off and scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "How long was I out for?" The boy asked curiously as he looked around.

"Well, I'd say we are only around a day away from the Northern Tribe if that's what you're wondering.l Panro said after thinking for a moment.

'I was in the spirit world for almost four weeks?! It felt like only a day!' Xiao though inwardly, shocked at how much time had passed.

Then he remembered something Iroh said when he was originally teaching him about meditation. "One thing to be wary of is that time in the spirit world passes much differently compared to here. In some places, for you a day has passed but in the outside world it has been years. In other places, what seems like a week to you is but a few seconds in the real world. You must be careful." Iroh's voice echoed in Xiao's mind.

"Alright then. Do you have anything to eat?" Xiao asked the man. Panro nodded and went to get some seal jerky while Xiao sat on the railing, gazing at the ice-cold dark water below him.

"It's both beautiful and foreboding..." he mumbled as he gazed at the water.

"Yep! It sure is pretty! But there are some extremely dangerous creatures lurking in these waters." Panro said as he handed Xiao a plate of, frankly, awful smelling meat.

"Like what?" Xiao asked.

"Giant whale krakens, shark turtles, and leviathans can be found in these waters. It's said to be the most dangerous and ancient sea in the world." Panro replied grimly as he stared at the ocean, seemingly trying to pierce it all the way to the bottom with his eyes.

"Wow…" Xiao muttered, looking at the ocean once more. "Do any spirits reside here?" Xiao asked curiously, thinking of Tom and Fu Tang.

"Ah, so you believe in that spiritual shit?" Panro asked, chuckling lightly. "You don't?" Xiao asked. "Of course not! No ones send a spirit in over a century! Anyone that has is just plain crazy!" Panro replied, giving a hearty laugh as he gazed back at sea.

"Anyway! You should probably get back below decks as there seems to be a storm brewing. I'll see ya' tomorrow! Panro said as he walked away.

Xiao looked thoughtful for a moment before he walked back below decks.

Xiao woke to a loud crash. He got up quickly and looked around. "Dammit!" He yelled as he saw that a lamp had fallen and set the bot on fire.

Xiao brought the flames to him, holding them in his hand as he ran above deck. It was chaos.

The ship was rocking so hard that water had started to get in. The bow of the ship was already below water, and the back started to rise up as the front filled with water.

The crew were running around like headless chickens as they tied and untied knots and adjusted the sails constantly. Another group was trying desperately to bucket the ice cold water out of the ship.

There was no water bender on board so this was all they could do. Xiao ran up to Panro and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"I'm going to stop the flooding!" He shouted over the load crashes of the waves and thunder.

Panro nodded fervently.

Xiao ran to the form to of the ship and exhaled a warm breath of air a he dipped his hands into the water, shoving as much energy's s he could into the icy liquid.

"Fucking COLD!" He exclaimed.

The water went from freezing, to cold, to lukewarm, turning warm and then starting to boil as it'a heat continued to rise.

Eventually the water started to turn to steam. Eventually, after around ten minutes of constantly draining his energy, Xiao collapsed on the now dry deck.

The crew switched from shoveling water to keeping the ship from taking in more water, however soon a monstrous wave appeared, eyes glowing a light blue appeared in the wave as it smashed into the ship, completely engulfing it and causing it to sink.

The storm subsided, and the ocean waves claimed until all that was left was a calm sea and the gentle sway of the waves.