Chapter 28: A Meeting With Tui And La?
'Okay. Breathe in…' Xiao sat in the center of his private courtyard in a lotus position. He breathed in deeply through his nose and held it. He gathered his energy and spread it through his body, before releasing it in a thin ring.
A cool sensation ran through him as a ring of faint black flames drifted from where he sat in a circle, forming a ring.
'And, breathe out…' he let out his pent up breath and the ring of black flames flared outwards slightly, becoming more wild.
He once again breathed in deeply, and the flames once again converged, this time the ring was slightly thicker.
And then he breathed out, and the ring of fire expanded once more.
Xiao continued this exercise for hours, doing the same thing over and over again. Soon, the whole courtyard would light up faintly and be engulfed in flame, only for it to darken once more as the flames condensed into a ring.
Finally, Xiao stopped and opened his eyes. Looking around, the ground was covered in a layer of ice an inch thick.
'It's about time I head back to Master and Zuko. The time has almost arrived after all. Good thing I was able to master these flames as well as my combustion bending.' Xiao thought to himself.
Bending the frozen flames was actually quite simple once he got used to it. He basically had to use only emotion to fuel them. If Lightning was pure energy, then the black flames were only fuel, yet somehow ignited. Not even Xiao fully understood how it worked.
Anyways, once he figured it out, he could bend them just like normal flames so there wasn't much to master.
"It seems your unnatural flames have grown stronger." Pakku said from the entrance to the courtyard.
"Unnatural?" Xiao asked curiously, turning around and smirking slightly as he gazed at Pakku.
"Yes. A flame is meant to burn and bring heat, not be cold and freeze. The very existence of the flame of yours is unnatural. It shouldn't be possible. The flame seems almost… dead." Pakku a replied, walking up to Xiao with measured steps, his hands hidden inside the sleeves of his robe. The ice beneath his feet melted and steamed as he stepped in it.
"Ah, I see." Xiao replied thoughtfully.
"I think you should visit the Spirit Oasis again." Pakku said suddenly, turning around and beginning to walk out.
"Why?" Xiao asked after him.
"Why what?" Pakku asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Why should I visit the Oasis? And why do you trust me enough to let me in again? Although I am on vacation and have no love for the Fire Nation, I am still a soldier from that country. As an enemy, why trust me?" Xiao asked curiously.
"Before I answer your first question, I should answer the second one. I did not trust you when you first arrived here. In fact, due to the fact that you discovered the Spirit Oasis, our number one secret here in the Northern Water Tribe, I had half a mind to just kill you. But… Princess Yue seemed fond of you and so I didn't. Then, I received a call from a… old friend. He told me to teach you, in exchange he would send me some of his most prized tea. Of course, I just had to except.
And that, Xiao, is why I taught you, and why I am letting you into the Oasis once more. As for why you should go, Ask Yue once you get there." Pakku replied.
Xiao's eyebrow twitched at Pakku'a admission of wanting to kill him, but he smiled a little when he heard about his 'friend.' It was obviously Iroh. Who else would offer tea of all things for Xiao's safety?
"Alright then. Thank you, Master Pakku." Xiao said, bowing a little at the man's receding figure, before turning around and flashing towards the Spirit Oasis.
He arrived, his bare, scarred feet steaming. "Moving that fast never gets old." He muttered to himself with a grin, entering the intricately carved circular wooden door into the warmth of the Oasis.
He strode through the grass and over a wooden bridge, heading towards Yue's figure.
He found her sitting there, her white hair tied up into one braid in the back with various blue beads and ribbons in it.
She wore a blue dress with no sleeves.
"Hey Yue. Trying a new hair style today?" Xiao asked as he approached her.
"Xiao! Uh… No I was just too lazy to do it like normal today. Do you know how long those braids on top take to do? HOURS I tell you! HOURS!" Yue said with an annoyed expression on her face.
Xiao chuckled.
Xiao typically wore his dark brown hair in a messy bun, but today he let it do whatever. It was spiky and messy and hung down to his shoulders.
"Well, my hair's pretty easy to maintain." Xiao said jokingly, running a hand through his hair.
"Well that's because you don't have an image as a princess to maintain!" Yue pouted.
"Oh! I almost forgot you were a princess! My bad!" Xiao snickered as Yue hit him playfully.
"Stop!" She said with a grin.
"So why did you want me to come here?" Xiao asked, still smiling. Yue calmed down a bit.
"They want to see you." She said, gesturing towards the two koi swimming around each other.
"Alright." Xiao said, sitting down next to the pond and staring at them. "Could you pull me in?" He asked gently towards the fish. He felt a tug before the world went dark.
He woke up on a familiar small island in the center of an endless sea, the starry night sky, ever expanding, shone down on him.
He looked into the sea, and saw the two massive pairs of glowing eyes staring back up at him, the faint shadows of two gigantic figures could just barely be seen. No matter how many times he saw it, this sight still freaked Xiao out slightly.
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{A/N}
Another One?
Aren't I great?
I don't know why, but this has just been a good day for me. Might post one tomorrow or might not, probably will.
Anyways, I'm on the fence between Yue and Ty Lee, so let me know which one you'd prefer. Depending on the responses it could go either way.
Anyways,
Bye Bye!
Weekly Power Status
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