After we finished cleaning up the spilled rice, we all collapsed into bed. Mulan—Ping—and I set up our tents next to each other. The next day, Ping and I raced to join the others for training.
"Every morning, you will assemble swiftly and silently," Shang ordered. "Anyone who acts differently will answer to me."
"Thank you for volunteering, Yao. Retrieve the arrow," Shang ordered.
As we trained, Mulan and I both were nearly forced to leave, but we convinced Shang to let us stay when she retrieved the arrow successfully and I managed to get that fish—no Waterbending.
As we bathed, I whispered, "I kinda miss using my Waterbending."
"Why?" Ping asked.
"It's a huge part of me," I explained. "I spent eight years hiding it. I'm tired of hiding that part of me."
"Why not use it?" she demanded.
"The real Kai-Ling could only—barely—Airbend," I explained.
Ping nodded silently and then asked, "Will you use your Airbending, then?"
I shrugged and said, "I might, but it's still pretty risky. I could end up dead. And then how will we restore the Airbenders?"
Ping nodded in agreement. "So, how are we gonna meet up with your friends?" he asked.
I shrugged.
Then Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po joined us. "What are you two talking about?" Ling demanded.
"Nothing," I responded automatically.
Then Ling asked us to join him, Yao, and Chien-Po in a game of "King of the Rock". I rolled my eyes and hiding behind another rock, created a huge tidal wave, sending Yao flying. Then Mulan and I hurried out of the pond and returned to camp. As we entered camp, we saw Shang leaving Chi Fu's tent. "How did he even end up as the Emperor's councilor?" I asked, Ping as we headed to our tents.
He shrugged. Every night, since our training began, I was haunted by the raid and I got clearer and clearer images of the man. That was when I realized that it was Chi Fu who murdered my family.