Disclaimer – all original Avatar: The Last Airbender characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property ofBryana Konietzko and Michaela Dante DiMartino.
Chapter 5. Little Secrets – part 3
A few days later – Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, Hama's Inn.
After Hama dealt with Admiral Wei Cho, she left the ship without a trace and returned home without being spotted. At dawn, the guards knocked at the door to the Admiral's quarters but with no response. The doors were locked, so they could only wait for the Admiral to leave his quarters. However, after a much longer time with no response, the guards decided to break the door down and enter the quarters.
They found the Admiral dead on the floor with a dagger in his chest, and they also found the message, which Hama wrote herself and placed in his hand. She had no idea if the message was sent to Fire Lord Azulon or not, but the most important thing was that no one suspected her. Both doors to the Admiral's quarters were locked since when Hama left the way she came, she bloodbent the Admiral's body and used his hands to lock the door behind her.
Even if any of the guards found it strange, none of them was crazy or stupid enough to admit that they allowed someone to snuck aboard and kill an Admiral without even being noticed. The doors were locked, the only window to the quarters was untouched, and there was no sign of battle. As far as they could tell, Admiral Wei Cho really committed suicide to restore his honor for killing General Zen Yuo, according to the message.
The captain, since he was the highest-ranking officer on the cruiser at that moment, ordered the vessel to head straight towards Fire Nation Capital harbor and deliver the Admiral's message to the Fire Lord. There was no reason for the crew to stay and investigate. Since it was over, Huo was safe, and Hama could continue her work without more distractions.
With Yan Zu not capable of giving swordsmanship lessons, for the time being, Hama returned to the inn. Huo assisted his mother with cooking and cleaning. The young boy did the same things at home, so it was nothing new or complex for him. However, meeting new people, who visited their village, was interesting.
While Hama prepared the hot rice and placed it in two bowls, Huo readied the raw duck eggs. The young boy cracked one on top of the steaming rice and garnished it all with some herbs and salt. He repeated the same thing with the second rice bowl and placed the two bowls on the table. Immediately after, a man and a girl came down from the bedroom.
"Good morning!" Huo said to them with a big smile. "Enjoy your breakfast!"
"Thank you," the man replied, and the two sat down at the table. The young girl took the chopsticks and whipped the raw egg vigorously into the rice, which became yellowish and creamy. As the father and daughter began to eat, Huo took the remaining rice from the pot and began to form it into small triangles.
"I must say you have quite the helper, Hama," commented the man as he ate the rice.
"That's true," Hama agreed with a smile. "He's my pride and joy."
"He also has remarkable eyes," noted the man. "Is he a firebender?"
"He didn't begin bending yet," Hama replied, glad that Huo's eye color masked his waterbending. "But I'm sure that someday, he's going to be a powerful bender."
Huo never understood why the people were so surprised and amazed by the color of his eyes. As the time went on, though, he noticed that only he had such vibrant and orange-colored eyes. He realized he was somehow different, and he never asked his parents why.
When the man and his daughter ate breakfast, Huo gave them the rice triangles to go. They said their goodbyes and left the inn. The young boy then decided to ask his mother about his eyes.
"Mom, why are my eyes so orange?" Huo asked curiously.
Hama looked at her son and replied. "When you were born, you were very sick. Our herbalist, Henea, said it was something wrong with your lungs. Since we needed to help you quickly, your father asked the spirits for help and they saved you, but your eyes became orange as a side effect. You have to ask him for more details if you want. Spirits are his field of expertise."
"But aren't spirits bad?" Huo asked, slightly confused. "The villagers talked about a moon spirit that kidnapped villagers during full moon a few years back."
Hama smirked, tempted to reveal her secret to Huo, but she decided that it was too early. "Some spirits punish bad people," she replied. "Especially if those people are from the Fire Nation."
Huo didn't reply, but he was curious to learn more about the spirits. Since there were no more guests staying currently at the inn, Huo went to talk with his father just like his mother suggested.
A few minutes later – Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, Yan Zu's Cottage.
When Huo returned home, Yan Zu slowly paced around the room, checking if he would feel the pain in his soles. He enjoyed some peace and quiet, but the boredom slowly annoyed him. Huo entered the cottage and noticed his father.
"Dad, you should be resting," he pointed out, closing the door behind him and looking at his father's bandaged feet.
"Heh, you talk like your mother," Yan Zu replied with a chuckle and sat down on the sofa. "She needs something? Tell me she does."
"No, the last two guests just left so I came here to talk with you, mom told me you could tell me more about the spirits and why I have such eyes," Huo said, pointing at his orange-colored eyes.
"Oh, sure," Yan Zu smiled. "I was wondering when you'll start noticing that you're eyes are different." He beckoned Huo to sit down right beside him on the sofa, and Huo did just that.
"My mom told me when I was born, I was sick and a spirit saved me," Huo said.
"Yes," Yan Zu confirmed. "When you were born you weren't crying, and your breathing was hoarse. Doctors at the Fire Nation Capital could've saved you, but there was no time to take you to them. I told your mom that spirits can help you so I've meditated into the Spirit World to ask my friend for help."
"A spirit is your friend?" Huo asked, intrigued.
"Yes, a powerful phoenix with orange-colored eyes," Yan Zu replied. "He agreed to help you so I returned and took you to a cave underneath the forest that surrounds our village. It's a place where we meet once a year during summer so he arrived there as promised. When he touched your forehead with his beak, he gave you a part of his life force. You started crying and your eyes turned orange. You were healed and we named you Huo, for the fire."
"Oh, so when someone is saved by a spirit, they get a different eye color?" Huo asked, making Yan Zu chuckle.
"Hehe, not exactly," Yan Zu shook his head. "You see, when spirits give someone a part of their life force, it can cause slight changes to a human appearance. In your case, your eyes changed color. Some other person could have a different change, like new hair color or a different shade of skin. However, when a spirit possesses or phases through a human, the changes are more drastic. When that happens, the spirit replaces parts of the human body and features with his own. Sometimes, humans can also get unusual abilities. If, for example, an angry bird spirit possesses a human, that human can grow a beak, talons, or feathers. The changes are permanent and irreversible."
"Can I meet the spirit that saved me?" Huo asked. "I would like to thank him."
"Hmmm," Yan Zu thought for a moment. "I haven't seen or talked with him for a long while since he can't leave his home for now, but maybe I could teach you how to meditate and visit him someday in the Spirit World instead. Who knows, maybe you have spiritual awareness. We have to be careful, though. Spirit World is a beautiful and amazing place, but it also can be very scary and dangerous."
"Okay!" Huo nodded and smiled. He was anxious to get started, and Yan Zu was pleased that he could teach his son a thing or two about the Spirit World. "It will be better if we go to the underground cave so that no one would bother us," Yan Zu suggested. "Let's just leave a note for your mother so that she won't be worried."
A few moments later – Fire Nation Central Island, Underground Cave.
Huo looked at the mushrooms and moss that covered the walls and rocks, feeling the coldness in the air. The young boy closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose. There was a lot of water in the air, so just like his mother said, he could pull it out with waterbending.
"Okay, let's sit down here," Yan Zu said, pulling Huo from his thoughts. The man sat down cross-legged on the dry ground and gestured Huo to do the same in front of him. "This is a cross-legged position, and each foot should be placed on the opposite thigh. There are a few variations for your hand placement; you can rest hands on the knees and leave the palms open, face up with fingertips pointing straight out or with palms facing up and bring your index finger to meet your thumb, forming a small circle. You can also bend your arms at the elbows and press both fists together at your body's center. Either is okay."
Huo sat down and crossed his legs, placing his feet on his thighs. He chose to press his fists together and looked at his father, who nodded. "Good, now close your eyes and take a deep breath," he said, doing it himself and continuing to speak with his eyes closed."You have to relax your whole body. During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Thoughts may come during that time, and that is okay. You can't rush it."
The young boy listened closely and tried to focus. He twitched a few times, readjusting his position to a more comfortable one, and rolled his shoulders. He even needed to scratch himself a few times. This was completely different than his waterbending training when he actually did something. Yan Zu opened his eyes and smiled. "Meditating is much different than a physical or combat training, Huo," he stated. "When you train your muscles, you see and feel your progress as they grow, but there is nothing you can do to see progress during meditation. You either meditate into the Spirit World or not. There is no in between results. So avoid looking for particular signs of progress or failure with your meditation because that will make annoyed and discourage you from continuing."
Huo opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He closed them, took a deep breath, and tried again. Even if it would take him hours, he didn't plan on giving up.
A few hours later – Spirit World.
Yan Zu had a hunch that since Huo had a part of Shen'Rai's life force, he would be able to meditate into the Spirit World thanks to his spiritual connection. Still, the man was impressed by how quickly the young boy learned the basics. While their physical bodies remained in the underground cave, their spirits now stood in a middle of a swamp on brown-colored grass.
"Nicely done," Yan Zu praised his son, placing his hand on his shoulder. "You successfully meditated into the Spirit World."
"Woooahhh," Huo observed everything around him with wide-opened eyes. Between the dark tress walked a big white-furred tiger spirit with large antlers which burned with green flames. Above him, on a tree branch, stood a black crow spirit with two heads and four vibrant, green-colored eyes. "Awesome," the boy said with unconcealed awe.
Yan Zu crouched beside Huo. "Always remember to be respectful towards spirits," he advised. "Most spirits don't like humans, especially if they bother them or meddle in their affairs."
Huo only partially listened to his father as he was enthralled by the new world and its inhabitants. Living in a small village, the young boy desired to see more of the world, and this was like a dream come true. A small light flew past Huo, and the boy immediately looked at it, following it with his orange-colored eyes. "What's that?!" he asked, pointing with his finger at the light.
"A firefly that lives in this world," Yan Zu replied. "They emit a bright white light. If you follow the light, it can lead you to a place or a spirit you're looking for."
"Can I follow it?!" Huo asked.
"And what are you looking for?" Yan Zu asked, and Huo scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to answer, and making Yan Zu chuckle. "It's better to not follow random things in the Spirit World," the man stated. "Now come, I'll show you around, but stick close to me."
Huo followed his father, who guided him through the swamp, showing spirits and mysterious places. As they walked, Huo spotted a large ravine in the distance shrouded in dense mist, which surrounded a large, gnarled tree with roots that extended into the sky rather than into the ground. "What's that?!" Huo asked, feeling a strange urge to go there.
"Oh, that's a dangerous place, which we should avoid," Yan Zu replied, grabbing Huo by the arm and not allowing him to go further. "It's a home of a malevolent entity with the body of an enormous centipede-like creature named Koh, the Face Stealer. He has the ability to literally steal the faces of other beings who express emotion, hence the name, and use them at will."
"He's a bad spirit?" Huo asked, looking at his father.
"I would say he's more amoral than bad," Yan Zu replied. Noticing the confusion on his son's face, Yan Zu explained the word. "An amoral person has no conscience or scruples and he does not care if his actions are right or wrong. Koh is like that. He likes to talk with humans and even help if they want to ask him something, although he would constantly try to goad the slightest bit of emotion out of them in order to steal their faces."
"Why would anyone visit him then?" Huo asked.
"Koh is one of the most ancient and knowledgeable spirits in all of the Spirit World," Yan Zu answered. "There's little he doesn't know and I witnessed that knowledge firsthand."
Huo turned his head towards the gnarled tree. He was tempted to speak or just to take a peek at the spirit. "Trust me, it's better to avoid some spirits," Yan Zu stated, feeling that Huo was curious to meet Koh. "Even the most gifted benders are powerless in the Spirit World."
"Why?" Huo asked, looking back at his father with confusion on his face.
"One needs a physical form in order to bend one of the four elements," Yan Zu explained. "Since we used meditation to get here, we're just spirits now, and our physical bodies are where we left them, in the real world. So even if we would be benders, we cannot use our bending in the Spirit World as our current forms are made from spiritual energy."
Huo's orange-colored eyes widened. He had the urge to try when his father wouldn't be looking, but he believed him actually. That meant even his mother would have no way to bend here. "So, how do you defend yourself against bad spirits?" he asked.
"The best way is to avoid them," Yan Zu answered. "Unless a bender knows energybending, he or she cannot do much." Before Huo could ask what that was, Yan Zu already began to explain. "Energybending it's the oldest bending art that predates the four elements or even the history of mankind and is the only bending art that can be performed by spirits, without them fully manifesting through a medium. As such, it can be used in the Spirit World without the need of a physical body."
"So your friend can use energybending," Huo guessed, and Yan Zu nodded. "That's right, but since he has a physical body of a phoenix, he can also use firebending just like his siblings."
"He has a family?" Huo asked.
"Yes, some spirits have family members like humans," Yan Zu confirmed and gestured towards the gnarled tree. "I mean, even Koh has a mother, a powerful spirit called the Mother of Faces. Unlike her son, she gives new faces to living organisms, and she also can emotionally alter their memory. She can erase current recollections or restore lost ones. They're complete opposites of each other."
"Can't she punish Koh for stealing faces?" Huo shrugged his arms, and Yan Zu laughed. "Hehe, I would love seeing Koh getting time out, and that would be a thing for a normal family, but it's far more complicated than that. Apparently, the Mother of Faces was estranged from Koh, but I didn't ask her questions about that. Like I said earlier, spirits don't like when people meddle in their affairs."
"Did you ever fought a spirit?" Huo asked.
"Yes, he did," a female voice came from behind the two before the man could answer. Yan Zu turned around immediately, and Huo stepped behind his father. He peeked and spotted a very tall woman with dark green eyes and brown hair, clad in a green kimono and a golden headdress. Around her waist, the woman had a dark green sash, and two ornate golden-colored war fans were placed behind it. Her face was covered with chalk-white face paint with bold red eyeshadow streaks.
"Who's she?" Huo asked silently, and Yan Zu replied with a serious expression, crossing his arms over his chest. "Avatar Kyoshi." The man inhaled through his nose and spoke to her. "It's been a while... grandmother."
"Yes it was, Yan Zu," Avatar Kyoshi replied and looked at Huo. "Is that my great-grandson?"
Huo was speechless. He never expected to meet his father's grandmother in such a place. The boy raised his head and looked hesitantly at Yan Zu, who turned his head and met his gaze. He nodded to Huo, and the boy moved forward, coming from behind his father. "Yes, he is," Yan Zu confirmed. "His name is Huo."
"Come closer, child," the Avatar asked. Huo once again looked back at his father, who nodded and began to walk towards her. As he got closer, the woman before him seemed to grow and grow. His father was tall, but Huo felt puny in comparison to her. When he finally reached her, he had to crane up his neck to look at her face.
Avatar Kyoshi crouched before Huo and looked deeply into his eyes. "You were touched by a spirit," she noted, looking at the boy curiously, and Huo nodded, learning about it not too long ago himself.
"What do you want from us?" Yan Zu asked coldly with a frown. "Biological family is suddenly important to you?"
Avatar Kyoshi sighed and stood up. "My family will always be important for me, Yan Zu," she replied with a stoic face. "No matter what they do and no matter how dark their past is."
"Too bad you didn't think about guiding your family during their past!" Yan Zu's frown deepened. "Huo! Let's go!" he raised his voice, and the young boy quickly rushed to his father. "I think we spent more than enough time here for our first visit!"
Huo, although confused, didn't argue with his father and looked at Avatar Kyoshi. Before they returned, he gave her a faint smile, and the tall woman responded with a smile of her own.
Fire Nation Central Island, Underground Cave.
Huo opened his eyes, noticing he was back in the cave and in the same position as before. His father opened his eyes as well and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dad, are you okay?" Huo asked worriedly. "You seemed angry."
"I'm okay, sorry about that," Yan Zu replied. "I just didn't expect her to meet us out of the blue like that."
"You mean Avatar Kyoshi?" Huo asked. He had never heard about the Avatar before. "She's your grandmother. You don't love her?"
Yan Zu shook his head. "It's not like that... ehhh, I don't know how to answer that properly," he replied truthfully. "It's a very complicated situation. Our past is very shaky, to say the least. Listen, for now, don't mention to your mother or anyone else that you meet Avatar Kyoshi and that she's your great-grandmother. Let's just say it would be a bad thing for us if some people would learn that you and I are related to the Avatar."
"Why? Is she a bad person?" Huo asked.
"No, I'll explain to you later who the Avatar is," Yan Zu promised. "For now, let's just say that the Fire Nation is hunting for the Avatar, and they won't be nice if they find him. So it could put our family in danger, and I don't want that. Do you understand?"
Huo nodded. "Good," Yan Zu replied and stood up. "Now let's go home. Your mother is surely waiting for us."
The young boy got up as well, and his stomach growled loudly. He placed his hand on his belly and blushed. Even Yan Zu heard the growl and couldn't contain his chuckle. "Hehe, you feel suddenly hungry, right?" he asked, and Huo replied with a somewhat confused expression. "Yes, why? I wasn't hungry in the Spirit World."
"Spirit forms don't need food or water," Yan Zu pointed out. "When we're in the Spirit World, we don't feel any basic needs, and we don't feel anything that's happening with our physical bodies in the real world. Someone could kick me in the rear, and I wouldn't feel a thing, but when I would return, then I would immediately feel the pain. Long visits to a Spirit World are risky because if you spend too much time there, your physical body may not survive, and you end up stuck in the Spirit World forever."
Silence filled the cave as Huo realized the dangers, but suddenly, Yan Zu's stomach growled as well, and the sound echoed in the cave. Both Huo and Yan Zu chuckled. "Yup! I'm hungry too, come on. Let's go home and eat something."
Please R&R ;)