Chapter 14

-[Aroh]-

He stood in the middle of a clearing in the forest. It was the same clearing where he had apparently absorbed a piece of Vaatu. 'I still have no idea how that happened. Aren't the spirit portals supposed to be closed?'

He had so many unanswered questions but they didn't retract from what he had now accomplished.

The sound of an odd violent chirping rang through the forest. He stared at his palm which was coated in clashing lightning.

[Lightning Generation has leveled up]

Where Iroh and Azula simply separated the energies and let them come crashing back together, he was actively controlling said energies and forcing them to crash and collide with each other.

While the two could only generate lightning, Aroh's method was much more controlled, evidenced by the lightning he was currently maintaining.

'It's not as strong as I expected but I felt the power increase as it leveled up.' He noted, turning his attention to a tree to the side.

He forced more chi into the lightning, increasing his intensity as he dashed towards the tree, thrusting his hand into it.

*CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!*

His hand tore into the bark of the tree, his already abnormal strength aiding him as the tree crashed down to the ground.

He frowned at the light pain he felt in his palm. He had expected the lightning to simply cut through it like butter but it wasn't strong enough to do that on its own, leaving part of the strain on his hand.

Rolling his wrist, he allowed the sparks to die down. "It's still not enough." He muttered.

He had been toying with the skill for a while but with [Lightning Generation] being at level 4, there wasn't much he could do.

He then turned to the skill that he'd had fun with the most. A wisp of flames appeared above his open palm, burning in an almost serenely manner.

He couldn't do much with it without the risk of burning the forest but he couldn't help himself as he used his new favorite skill.

He puffed his cheeks as he raised his head to the sky, exhaling a decent amount of fire into the sky.

•••

Fire Breath Level [4/30]

•••

With him now being able to firebend, he felt slightly more at ease, though not completely. There were still a lot of things he had to worry about. One of them being the presence that he'd been feeling since he got the new title.

He could feel a connection between him and…something. He couldn't tell what it was but it was quite far away. More worrying was the fact that he felt it moving towards them.

'What is this feeling?' He wondered as he made his way back to the hideout.

-[Later]-

"Aroh, I've been thinking." Katara started, catching the boy's attention. "Earlier you mentioned that you had other things to do after we found Aang and my brother. What were those things?"

She'd been avoiding the topic so far. It was a constant reminder that after they find Sokka and Aang, Aroh would be leaving to do his own things.

They were only looking for the avatar because she was the one who needed to find them. She wasn't ready or willing to let Aroh go away, not in the slightest.

"Well, the list has expanded a bit due to recent events but overall it's still the same." He said, confusing her as they walked through the forest.

They'd stayed in the hideout for a little under two weeks and were now resuming their journey.

"I guess the main thing at the top of my list is ending this stupid war." He finished.

"That's what we want to do as well. You could join us. Aang's the avatar so it'll make it a lot easier." Katara said, a bit desperately.

"You'd think that but it's actually the opposite. Sure it would make it easier in some aspects, it would also make it harder in others." He explained.

"What do you mean?"

"From what you've told me of Aang, he's the type to avoid confrontation using any means possible. Adding that to the pacifistic teachings of the air Nomads, it's not hard to guess that we won't exactly be the best of friends." He was a killer bred from war.

Aang was a naive boy who'd prefer to have tea with his enemies rather than solve the matter in a more permanent manner.

"I guess you're right." Katara said, despondently. He knew what she was trying to do but unfortunately, things couldn't always work out perfectly.

If he was being honest, there was only one reason why he'd ally himself with the avatar and that was to find Wan Shi Tong's library in the desert.

The harsh planes of the deserts were perilous on foot and would make finding it extremely difficult. Even then, he could think of other ways to find it without the avatar's bison to carry him but that wasn't the problem.

The problem was time. With the new development with the spirits, he wasn't sure he even had the time to scour the desert on foot.

"If that's the case, then take me with you." That was the last thing he expected to hear from Katara.

"What about meeting your brother and Aang?" He asked with a raised brow.

"I'll still see them but…I just…" she trailed off, a nervous look on his face. "I don't want this to just end like that."

"Are you sure about that? This is a pretty big decision you're making." he asked, getting a thoughtful pause from the girl. "If you come with me, there's no telling when you'll be able to see them again."

While it looked like he was a bit uncaring about the matter, it was far from the truth. He believed in the fact that actions had consequences. He was letting her make her own decision without his own input influencing her.

Though her feelings for him already influenced her decision, that wasn't something that could be controlled. Whatever she decided would determine what would happen between them.

-[Fire Nation Royal Palace]-

In the throne room of the fire nation, Ozai sat on an ornate covered throne on a higher platform surrounded by a wall of fire, an enormous bas-relief image of a dragon breathing fire adorns the wall behind him.

The imposing atmosphere was designed to instill awe and fear in all who entered, intimidating all who faced the Fire Lord.

The low cry of a hawk was heard as a glowing creature seemingly flew through the wall, phasing through it without problem.

Despite the clearly abnormal sight, Ozai didn't look surprised in the least as the ominously glowing messenger hawk flew to land in front of him.

Its red feathers that had odd markings on them as well as its red glowing eyes were obvious signs of spiritual involvement.

Ozai calmly stared into the hawk's beady eyes that seemed to glow even more. After a few moments, a deep hum could be heard from the man.

"News?" A voice asked from the entrance to the chamber as a muscled man in fire nation garb sat cross legged on the floor, his eyes glowing a similar but dulled red.

"Put the search for the Raava's host on hold. There is a new development." Ozai spoke, an ethereal edge to his voice as the other man stood to his feet.

"Take the soldiers and go east. There's a boy I want you to capture there, he will show you the way." Ozai said, gesturing to the hawk who flew over to the man and landed on his shoulder.

"Bring him back, dead or alive."