Chapter 5:

Dream Drop Distance

"Nilak" 尼罗河

The door creaked open across the long hall of the council room. For a moment all of the council's eyes shifted to the doorway, cutting their conversation mid sentence. Taige walked through the doors and walked along the middle aisle of the room. By the time she was seen closing the door the rest of the council members had continued their own private discussions. Though Nilak continued to stare at her as she went to the table.

"It's good to see you, Taige!" Annovi exclaimed, bringing a silence to the hall. "I was nervous when I got to the crime scene and heard you already left… How are you feeling?"

"Good, I—I'm good," Taige said. Her voice seemed unnaturally exhausted. It gave off a hoarse, hushed tone which made Nilak feel uneasy. Now that she sat down in her seat next to him, Nilak saw she was noticeably paler. Her eyes were red and puffy as well.

"You can take some time if you want, you know?" Anno said. He too appeared to notice the queer state of Taige.

Nilak knocked on the table softly. Taige looked at him immediately. 'He's right, You look a little… stretched thin. I'll be all right on my own if you need a break.'

"But what about you?" she asked, doubtful. "How are you going do anything in the meeting, then?"

Nilak slipped out a small notepad from his tan trousers and raised it to eye level.

"I thought you hated writing, though…"

'I do… I was talking with Annovi before and he made a fair point to have something on me incase I do need it.' He tried not to make it appear as much of a deal as it truly was. It took a lot of convincing from Anno to swallow his pride and even have just a notepad and a pencil on his person wherever he went. Being asked to use it however…

"Er—all right. Thanks." Taige smiled, faintly before standing up and putting away some books in a long bag she slung over her shoulder. It slouched against her hip once she stood up and walked back out through the double doors.

"So are we ready to start, then?" the head councilman asked moments after the door sank back into the doorway.

A few people nodded, silently as Nilak put the notepad on the table, observing the rest of the council members.

Karcsi looked around the table as he shuffled his papers in a neat pile. Like the last time, he started off the discussion. "I assume we all know the most pressing issue this week. I say it's best that we get it out of the way. Are we committing to a task force for Charisma or not?"

"We've been over this time and time again;" Cecilia argued. "a task force is only useful when we have information: leads, suspects, witnesses. What would organizing a task force accomplish while we still know little to nothing of this Charisma? Twiddling several officers' thumbs for an entire duration of a day's work? No, the economy is already suffering enough during these times of war; we can't afford to burn more tax dollars on useless pursuits."

"So what are we supposed to do, then? Accept these assaults and threats on politicians? Let him continue to break the laws tirelessly?" Anno said desperately. "I think all of us can agree that we need to take action for this. Whatever action that may be…"

"Head Councilman, you want us to take useless actions so we can say we are doing something for the press. It doesn't—in anyway—get us closer to detaining Charisma." Cecilia countered with a strained expression. The crevice of a long, tilted scar was visible now that the sun rose above the east mountains of towering skyscrapers. It ran as high up as her forehead and went through the greater part of her cheek. She moved her silky, straight, black hair with a turn of her head and it blocked most of the scar. "If it didn't hurt us to put on this show then by all means I would not mind. However, that is not the case. We need more collective data on why this man is doing it. It all seems random and sporadic at the moment. We don't know what kind of goal he's set out to achieve."

"Well, perhaps he is not." Anno considered. "It wouldn't be the first time a criminal caused mischief for the sake of it."

"It would be a first for these kinds of crimes," Cecilia said. "Attacking the government, interfering with political gatherings—this is isn't the works of a senseless assailant. It is clear that he does want some form of national change, whatever it may be."

There was a silent pause as the pair of them sat in heavy thought. Annovi cupped his chin in his hand. "What of the reports Karcsi? Does he always work alone? Surely with all the distress he's caused he must have some forms of companionship?"

Karcsi scanned through the papers of the first couple open folders in his long, bony hands. "Nothing on the records. Anyway, I do believe we've deviated long enough. Although this may be productive in its own rights, we need to answer the one question today; are we creating a task force or not?" He emitted with his smooth tone, eying everyone with his cold, black eyes.

"Very well. Let's vote on it, then. Take your time if you are unsure." Anno stated, drawing a piece of paper and a pencil from his stuffed, brown bag under the table.

"Must we waste time by writing down our votes?" Cecilia interjected with the ghost of a scowl on her face.

Anno, however, was not so subtle. He glared at her with brown, solid eyes that unsettled even Nilak. He opened his mouth widely as if to tell her off but was cut off by Karcsi's blunt, dead voice.

"Cecilia." He shifted his dense, chilling eyes to Nilak for a split second before returning them back to the councilwoman. Cecilia faltered and sunk lower into her seat with her face reddening in embarrassment.

The dead silence during the voting was nerve-racking. Nilak could not write the answer he had in mind days before this discussion even took place. Am I being too light with this? This is a council decision that affects the state of Republic City ever so slightly and I am making a decision like a two year old. It's too obvious for me. He felt a pain in his chest as he scribbled his simpleminded answer and folded the paper to cover it before casting a wandering eye at the many brown benches. They glowered sharply back at him with the force of ten thousand people glaring angrily at his back. How unprofessional! Is this the kind of person running our government? He heard an echoing cry in his head. How did Dad make decisions? Did he always get this stressed about it afterwards?

At the thought of Onaruk, he remembered the last few lines of an old letter he once read countless times when he was twelve.

…The room serves a dual-purpose; it is used as a courtroom as well. It's kind of funny that they call it a council room now that I think about it—it is far more frequently used as a courtroom than a council room. It's quite strange how things grow to become how they are, don't you think, Nilak? Anyway I hope you and Rivik are doing well. Write back when you have the time and be easy on your mom!

~Love, Onaruk

"Well…" Anno suddenly, spoke, bringing Nilak back to his senses. "Two for and two against a task force…" He looked put out before he messed his face up in frustration.

"Ugh—this is getting us nowhere…" Cecilia replied, equally irritable.

Karcsi stood up and started to pace near the far wall of the council room in sullen silence.

Why not just keep it on standby? Nilak jerked his body from its slouched position and started scribbling it down on the notepad. [How about a compromise? We keep it off until we feel there is enough evidence to follow up on an ongoing investigation.]

He flicked the glass in front of him to resonate a low, hollow ring. They all glanced at him for a moment before he slid the notepad down to Anno. He pressed it in between the table and his hand to stop its motion before turning it to the right side and reading it.

"Hm…" For a moment, Anno was lost in thought. "Perhaps…" He slid the notepad back towards Nilak before clamping his hands together in an arch under his chin.
"Anno?" Karcsi said with his silky smooth voice. He had stopped his pacing and looked at the head councilman with interest. Nilak felt like those black, dormant eyes could consume his strength if he stared into them long enough. He shivered slightly, feeling each strand of black hair on his arms rise like a porcupine.

"Nilak suggests a compromise," Anno said, finishing his silent thinking. "We withhold any rash task force and wait until we have accumulated enough information to pursue him. Until then, we keep the investigation going, solely. If he continues to do this he'll slip up somewhere and we'll catch it!"

A thin smile carved into Karcsi's lips before he looked away and stared out the window behind him, as stiff as a ghost. Cecilia wore an unsatisfied expression and looked as if she wished to object to the offer, but she just leaned to her right in search of something in her bag. Nilak could tell it was more of a reticent way to drop the argument than to actually grab something because of how long she dug in the limited contents without even taking something out, afterwards.

Anno surveyed the area for several seconds before placing his hands in his laps. "Very well, it's decided then." Karcsi took the silence to be consent, as reluctant as it may be. He slowly crept back into the empty chair on the end before writing something down for a trivial period. It was the rustle of many cluttered papers in his white, skeletal hands that marked the end of most of the council's lethargic behavior.

"I have bad news. Beijia's situation is getting worse." Karcsi explained, indifferently. "They are only angry with us at the present time, but I fear it will soon spread into fear and paranoia. We must find a way to appease them. Their withdrawal from the war would be catastrophic. We cannot hope to beat Adryan alone; even with the huge advantage we've acquired, we would lose within the following year."

Nilak gaped at Karcsi and wildly looked at the others who only reacted with solemn expressions. We're at odds with Beijia? I haven't heard anything of this from the news or in public… Are we hiding it from everyone?!

"Even with all the support the Northern Water Tribe has provided to take control of the sea?" Anno asked, aghast. "Surely Adryan can't be that powerful."

"You underestimate them. Give a single inch of space for them to breathe and they will have sufficient breath to blow our walls down." Karcsi's eyes suddenly surfaced, as dense as lead. "You may not have heard the tales of their stagnant position in the civil war of the Earthen Empire fifty years ago. They as good as lost that war until Beijia slipped up while in their commanding position. That mistake won Adryan their independence and several hundred thousand dead Beijian soldiers. Need I remind you the how much more powerful Beijia's military is compared to URN's?"

"I'm perfectly aware of that, thank you." Anno grimaced, failing under the black pits of Karcsi's eyes.
"Regardless, we must not take any chances. We need Beijia's support to put an end to this conflict with Adryan. We are growing further and further apart from each other and this fighting will be Adryan's optimal chance for retaliation." Karcsi insisted. "The U.R.N. needs to fix our diplomacy with Beijia before things get out of hand."
"What do you want us to do about it?" Cecilia interrupted, giving a suspicious eye towards Karcsi. "This is a matter for the U.R.N. as a whole to decide. We are merely the council for Republic City. It does not concern us."

"We are the capital of this great land," Anno argued firmly. "If any one city is responsible for the international affairs of the U.R.N. it is Republic City."

"This is—" Karcsi said abruptly as Cecilia was about to retort, "this is merely to inform everyone about the problem so we can contribute ideas as to fixing it. I don't believe the Supreme People's Council will do nothing, but I am weary they will not prioritize the issue. I'm currently trying to talk to the president about the matter; obviously that will take some time, though. Don't expect us to be entirely uninvolved with the issue—if I can convince him, we'll have to make an extraordinary decision that may mean the difference. I ask that you think on the issue so we are ready for such a responsibility.

"Anyway, I digress…" Karcsi's lips curled severely. "There is still one more matter on the agenda to attend to today. There has been a lot of claims lately of…of the return of the Avatar."

Unlike the last, this bit of news seemed to catch every one of the council members off guard. They all gaped at Karcsi with near-identical faces. "
"Is it—is it true?" Cecilia baffled, her eyes luminous with the mention of the word "Avatar". Why is she so interested about the Avatar? Nilak wondered, noticing her change of mood. Every other topic that's been discussed she's responded with cynical skepticism.

"I can't be sure as of yet," Karcsi admitted. "I've sent what resources I could around United Republic of Nations to establish a search party just in case; however, even if a new avatar is here it is highly unlikely I will find them. They could be anywhere in the Earthen Empire."

"These claims aren't what made you start a search." Anno deduced, noticing Karcsi's uncertainty. "You wouldn't just foolishly take the word of everyday citizens."

"Most of all the people claimed that Avatar Aang's statue lit up midday two days ago. Despite the overwhelmingly matching stories, I still found it absurd nonsense or some sort of prank until Ryung came in yesterday morning."

"You spoke with Ryung?" Anno asked, surprised.

Karcsi nodded.

"What did he say?"

"He said he witnessed it himself. His distraught expression was all I needed to see to know he was telling the truth. Needless to say I was abashed and asked him what it meant. He believes it meant exactly what everyone said: the Avatar has returned to this world."

Cecilia looked at him with nothing short of awe. "We—are we going to do anything with this information?"
"Like I said earlier, it is unlikely we would ever find him. He is merely an infant after all—only a couple days old. We should not worry about the Avatar. The war will long pass before he is a capable enough individual to become relevant."

Cecilia stood up, suddenly, and walked out of the council room. Despite her bizarre behavior, the council remained quiet, too dazed by their own thoughts on the subject to notice.

Nilak wiped the sweat from his face that collected during the meeting. An Avatar, huh? Doesn't Republic City have enough on its plate as it is?

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

I can't believe he didn't tell me!

Ryung Jae stormed through the usual streets in Republic City. He was so furious he paid little mind to everything around him. He quickly entered the great, white building of City Hall before heading upstairs.

"Excuse me! Sir! You need to stay in the waiting area! Hey!" She sprang up out of her seat, with hair long and curly. Ryung paid no mind to her and continued on his way, adamantly. The small, stout woman continued to follow him but her path was being blocked a lot more by the people in the hallway.

Ryung tugged at the door for a second but found that it was locked. Enough of this! He broke down the door with a swift but firm motion of his hands.

"Ry—Ryung!" Zander sputtered, with a jolt. The air Ryung had bent pushed into the room and blew several stacks of papers into the air. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh I think you know very well what this is about." He hissed, coldly.

"Zander!" The receptionist called out from a distance, rushing as fast as her squat feet would carry her. "I'm so sorry about this! He just stormed by me! I tried to stop him but I couldn't—"

Zander put a hand up to silence her. "It's all right, Kaya," he said. "You may go—he's a friend." From the look Kaya gave she seemed very doubtful of that. Nevertheless, she bowed to Zander, glaring at Ryung mid bow, before heading back downstairs.

"Did you ever plan on telling me that Rohan was convicted?! Why is it that I learn this news for myself by accident?!" Ryung Jae exclaimed with outrage.

"Of course I did!" Zander shot back, offended. "I've been too busy trying to keep everything under control to visit personally and I wouldn't dream of giving you such terrible news any other way! You think I intentionally withheld the news from you? Come now Ryung!"

"You couldn't pick up the phone?! I thought we agreed that you'd keep me informed with the trial. The outcome isn't by, any means, an exception." Ryung stated, curtly.

"I'm sorry, Ryung. It felt wrong to do that… I guess I dreaded your reaction so much that I kept pushing it back. Rohan's a good man—he doesn't deserve to be convicted of the murder."

"Then free him!" Ryung urged, desperately. "You're the second most powerful person in Republic City! Surely there's something you can do…"

Zander dropped his head to his desk, sheepishly. "I'm sorry." He repeated, softly. "I testified for him in the court, but I couldn't lie, I only saw him several hours before the crime took place. The jury made their decision. I was shocked at how one sided it was. I thought Rohan's lawyer put up a really good defense."

"No…" Ryung Jae said, faintly. "NO!" He slammed his fists on the desk, causing the books and pens to shoot off the desk. His vision was distorted from the tears that swam in his eyes.

"They—they're doing this be-because he's an—an airbender!" He sobbed. "They don't care whether he's innocent or not—they just hate the spirits so much they put those who believe differently behind bars! How is that justice?"

Zander left his seat and put his hand soothingly on Ryung's trembling shoulder. The shining sun that crept over Ryung's back seemed to be mocking his suffering.

After several rigid breaths, he finally got a hold of himself and looked up at Chief Bingwen again. His long wrinkled face looked back at him with a weary sadness. Ryung felt a lurch in his stomach for being so aggressive to him.

"I—ahem—I want to visit him," he suddenly said, still feeling like a mess.

"Ryung…" Zander lightly opposed.

"I need to talk to him… Please, Zander." Ryung pleaded. "He's the only family I have left."

Zander studied him for a few minutes before he sighed. "Oh, all right." He let out, reluctantly. "Just—just promise me you won't try anything stupid."

"I promise." Ryung exhaled, grateful.

He followed him down the hallway and into an empty elevator that closed with a ding. Ryung spread his face in comfort on the wait. I wonder how he's changed.

It felt somewhat strange knowing that he was about to see his uncle again for the first time in almost two years. They used to be so close, too. Outside of Jinora, Ryung had only saw his Aunt Ikki twice before when he was still a child along. Before his mother passed away, Rohan lived with the two of them on Air Temple Island. I wonder if I would've ever met him if he didn't.
When the door opened to greet them into a far more occupied floor of City Hall, Zander went to a solid metal door on the base floor. He fiddled in his black, leather coat pockets until he retrieved a large amount of keys. Ryung suddenly felt confused.

"Wait, Uncle Rohan's here?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Zander said, still distracted with his many assortment of keys. "Ah! Here's the little devil!" He clenched in his two fingers a small, silver key that twinkled with the lights in the building. He stuck it in the small keyhole and gave a few tugs before the door made a loud click. "The trial's still not over, the jury still needs to decide on a punishment."

Ryung ducked his head going through the small doorway. The low chatter in City Hall deadened instantly after Zander shut the door behind him. What greeted the two of them ahead was a long, crooked stairway that dug underground. Aside from the slow drop of what sounded like a leaking pipe, silence surfaced. Ryung Jae felt a sudden solemn seriousness overtake his dim joy at seeing Uncle Rohan again after so long.

Their footsteps echoed down the deep and seemingly endless hall. A chilly breeze took Ryung by surprise and forced a violent shiver. By the time they had hit a bottom floor, he could see his own timid breath.

They walked on a steel grating fence that showed a gap of open space in the holes under him. It was a deep enough trench that Ryung could not see the bottom of the large pit. It was likely the dim, flickering light bulbs were the most responsible for this, however. People called it the Free Runner's Pit. If a prisoner tried to escape it would be used as trap by pressing a button above. The metal fences would retract into the earth and force the prisoner to fall into the pit before the button would it would slide back into place after ten seconds. The fool would be locked in like a dog until the guards recovered from their mistake and were ready to put him back in his cell. It was said that Republic City used to utilize the pit for a reserved cell for some of the worst criminals. They would stay in the dark trench throughout the entire downtime of their trial.

A guard stood in the way of the barred fence and looked like he only noticed Ryung and Zander once they stopped a meter in front of him. The guard gave a Ryung a skeptical look. The cold, grey eyes made Ryung's body heat up. However he managed to condense his rage to a silent glare.

"Is there a problem?" Zander demanded.

"No, sir," the guard replied, stiff as a board. He unlocked the door and stood off to the side, avoiding any more eye contact. It gave a shrill creak from the hinges before a loud, high pitched crash from the metal hitting against the wall of fence sounded.

"He's on the left." Zander muttered, leaning against outside of the cage full of fenced cells.

"Okay." Ryung rigidly went along the dark, narrow fencing, looking intensely at each cell that he passed on the left. His heart beat with tremendous force inside his body. He could feel cold sweat running down his forehead.

"Ryung?" A hoarse voice came from ahead. A figure was lying against the cement wall in the back of his cell. He made a groan as he stood up from his criss-crossed position. "It's been a long time."

Rohan looked like a total mess. He had a bush of white, unkempt hair that freely covered his face. His face was also extremely oily and had a smudge of dirt on the side of his neck.

"Hi, Uncle." Ryung tried his best to return the smile his uncle gave him. It stretched out a large scar on Rohan's face that he once said he got during his time in the military.

"It's been too long…too long…" Rohan said. "How are Yuna and the kids?"

"They're—they're good. We're doing well." Ryung shifted his gaze away for a moment.

"That's great to here." Rohan's yellow eyes twinkled. "I'm so glad you could visit me! I guess you know the outcome of the trial, then?"

"Yeah, I—I'm sorry." Ryung spoke with fragmented thoughts.

"Why are you apologizing?" his uncle wondered, laughing aloud. "You aren't responsible for any of this!"

Ryung waited for his chuckle to die down before he whispered. "I'm going to get you out of here somehow. Just hold on for a little longer."

"No," Rohan firmly muttered. His voice deadened quicker than Ryung would've believed. "You have a family to look after—a life to keep at."

"Uncle Rohan!" Ryung hissed in protest. "You're innocent! Why should you take the fall for some lowlife who murdered the leader of this spirit protest group?! You don't deserve this! I can get you out and—"

"And do what exactly?" Rohan snapped with a hushed voice. "Escaping doesn't make me any more innocent—quite the contrary! What does it matter what I've been falsely accused of if I run like a guilty man would?"

Ryung shifted his eyes to the floor, at a loss of words. "I just assumed you'd want to be free."

"You have a very simple definition of free, Ryung. Free isn't hiding behind a mask for the rest of my life, hoping nobody will ever recognize me again; free isn't running from society, constantly looking over my shoulder in fear of encountering the police—or worse—someone else…"

It seemed like a lifetime of silence followed. The only thing that could be heard was the occasional squeak of a rat and a tiny tap on the steel from its feet. Ryung felt so out of place now. He didn't even consider that his uncle would refuse the offer to escape.

He finally spoke. "Very well. I'm afraid I probably should get going."

"So soon?" Rohan looked at him with slight dismay. "Ryung I didn't mean to hurt you. Things will just be…better for all of us if I remain put."

"I understand." Ryung reassured his uncle. "It's not that—I promised Yuna to be quick with my business today." This was a partial lie. He made no such promises to Yuna, however he needed to leave. The terrible smell of sewage was starting to really cloud his head and caused it to spin a bit too violently to ignore any longer.

"Ryung!" Yuna's voice called once he closed the door of City Hall. Despite it being a grey, cloudy day, Ryung's eyes were still adjusted to the darkness in the underground prison. He tried to walk to the source of the voice, with his eyes still shut from the rapid change of sunlight.

"Yu—Yuna?" He gasped, still squinting narrowly. The silky black hair that he caught in his very limited vision left no room for doubt. "What are you doing here?"

"Chen told me about Rohan. I wanted to make sure you're all right," Yuna said. "I got scared you might've done something really stupid and—uh—are you all right?" she asked, suddenly startled noticing her husband's face.

Ryung took several moments to compose himself before he could look without any trouble again. "Yeah—I'm fine. It was a bit dark inside is all."

"Why didn't you tell me about your Uncle?!" Yuna asked, concerned.

"I just found out about it and, to put it lightly, I wasn't happy." Ryung explained. "I didn't want to take out my anger out on you so I decided to wait until I calmed down before telling you."

Despite her not saying anything her glamorous, ruby-red eyes still casted a wounded look. "You have a family to look after—a life to keep at." Rohan's voice echoed in his head. What have I done? If I went through with breaking Rohan out what would that've meant for my family? Ryung didn't even consider it until he had looked at Yuna's beautiful, pale face just now.

A tingling sensation warmed his heart as he looked down at his wife, shameful. "I'm so sorry." He wrapped Yuna in a tight embrace. His vision was blurry from his watery eyes but it didn't matter. The only thing that matter to Ryung was the soothing breathing and distant heartbeat that he felt close to his body.

"Ryung!" Yuna cried out, bewildered.

"I did act stupidly!" Ryung admitted, tightening his grip on her smooth back. "I'm so sorry, Yuna!"

"Ryung…" Yuna mumbled, soothingly rubbing his back with her hand.

At that moment, nothing else mattered. Not Rohan's dilemma or Zander's constant disputes. It felt like he was in a utopia, where troubles were so far out of touch they did not appear whatsoever. "I love you." He whispered above Yuna's shoulder.

"I love you, too." His mouth gave a trembling smile.

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

Reiatsu felt the soft wind blow across his face as he stared into the midnight sky. It was filled with an endless darkness that was only broken apart from the hundreds of thousands of twinkling stars that were scowered anywhere the eye could see. Goosebumps grew all across his bare arms as he shivered from another howl of the wind. Every breath he took refreshed the sweet scent of plants and trees. He exhaled again in calm relief as it transformed into a faint vapor above his head and swiftly raised high into the sky before quickly fading in the air.

It's beautiful tonight. Reia always found an indescribable sense of wonder at gazing at the stars. Something about it seemed surreal—the fact no man created this one truly graceful aspect of earth added a uniqueness in the way the scene was pretty. It was ultimately the only creation from nature that Reia could always see living in the cramped city of Kotai.

He closed his eyes for an extended period of time, they felt heavy from all that had happened today. Despite nearly dying twice, the whole day felt somewhat distant now—dreamlike even. After everything, it was the first time he had been able to relax and thoughtlessly enjoy something he always used to have the leisure to admire. It gave him a great comfort to still be able to do that—no matter where he goes.

"Mom? Why are all the stars so bright in the sky?" Reia asked, curiously gazing at the stars while his mother was placing a kettle on the gas burner in the kitchen. Murasaki finished what she was doing before walking out onto the large porch and sitting down to look for herself. "Are they really as bright as they look? Or is the sky just really dark in comparison?"

"Hm, I've never thought of it that way, Reia. I suppose it's a bit of both." she answered after some thought, smiling at her son. She put an arm around Reia's neck and gently stroked his hair.

They silently watched the sky calmly shift away from Dimm Rosè Palace for a while. Reia continued to think hard about it as if it was a puzzle put under his nose to solve. Though the high pitched whistling that resonated from the kitchen interrupted his ideas.

"Let's get inside and have some tea before bed. It's cold out here; and you have school in the morning," she said, sitting back up, abruptly and walking into the kitchen to turn off the stove.

Reia continued to stare at the stars, mystified by their very existent. They stared back at him with the same perplexed expression.

He could feel a much stronger breeze now as he looked into black pits of nothingness. The wind gave him the impression he was moving, somehow. There was a hushed sob that escaped from a girl near his left ear. His head was supported on a shoulder and he could feel hands on his bare back. Everything felt distorted, however. Reia's senses were as weak as his muscles for whatever reason. It made it increasingly difficult to tell where he was or with whom.

When Reia finally mustered the strength to split his eyes open, he met a sudden surge of excruciating pain in the core of his back. The only response he could conduct, however, was a pitiful, feeble moan.

A sudden gasp came from the voice combined with backwards movement of Reia's limp body. He was met face to face with the girl that held him in her arms. He weakly stared into the appeased, crystal-blue eyes of a young water tribe girl. She looked about twelve if she didn't have a shadow of weariness behind her amazement. Her black, shoulder length hair blew as elegantly as the wind that carried it. Reia felt a warmth enter his body at seeing her for some reason. He gave her a faint, reassuring smile.

The hair blocked the rest of his vision as she pulled him into a tight embrace. It didn't matter, though. No visible thing could compare to the affection he felt with her arms wrapped around him, hearing the steady and relieved breathing just behind his ear.

"Those who try may not fail, but those who fail will not try."

Reistu's eyes opened at once. He shot up and wildly looked to the side of his small sleeping bag; there was nothing but the ground there. He then stuck his hand under his shirt and felt around the center of his back to only find his smooth skin and straight, stiff spine covered in a thin layer of cold sweat. Up till now, his nerves had completely distracted him from noticing the state of his body. The rapid pounding of his heart and heavy, rough breaths that escaped his mouth combined in making his whole body tremble, uncontrollably.

"Gah!" He let out in frustration, screwing his hair up. I can't take this! It's been only a day as this "avatar" and I've been through more than my whole life! I feel like I'm going mad! He looked up at the stars imploringly. After several moments of no change it turned into a glare in his anger and impatience. "What do you want from me?!" Reia shouted, scornfully. "You took away my home, my mother….….Avani…"

He sank down to his knees before completely flopping back onto the cushioned sleeping bag, morose. And this is just the beginning… Tears swelled into his and he began to sniffle, uncontrollably. He cupped his knees in his arms and dully looked at the surrounding forest in a fetal position. Maybe Avani was right—maybe the spirits are just sadistic demons.

A firm hand planted on his upper arm. He made a negligible spasm at the sudden, unexpected sensation. Keito must've woken up from his yelling. For some reason, Reia had completely forgotten about his brother when he woke.

"We're going to get through this, Reia." Keito spoke to his back, resolute. "Everything's gonna be all right. I promise."

Reia remained still, however. He watched as a tear slowly left the tip of his nose and fell out of sight.

It took quite a while for Reiatsu's resentful breakdown to lapse, however Keito did not pry him. Dawn was barely on the horizon when Reia had waken, so there was little need to rush. He went to cleaning up and packing all the supplies they had taken out of the car for the previous night.

I could've sworn that wasn't a dream. Reiatsu thought, feeling a lot calmer from the passage of time. He remembered vividly feeling everything in the instance. It was unlike any dream he ever experienced before. That was the dream I kept forgetting. It was too familiar for there to be any other explanation. Who—who was that girl? He wondered, reviewing the entire scene in his head as best as he could replicate.

"Reiatsu? You almost ready? We should get moving." Keito called out from the door of the car just on the edge of the road.
"Yeah." Reia called back, finally getting up and packing his own sleeping bag. He stopped as he heard a distant crunch of leaves behind him. Why is Keito over there? He was just beside the car two seconds ago… The car was parked in the opposite direction.

"Keito?" he said, looking at the direction of the sound. It wasn't long before the bushes he stared at rustled with a low, menacing growl.

Reiatsu felt his breath get caught in his throat as the beast steadily walked through the plants and stared immediately at him. What on earth is that?! Reia had originally thought it was a wolf from the look of it but it was clear that was inaccurate. The strange animal had a black, slick coat of fur with orange stripes from the base of its snout, to the abrupt point of his bushy tail. As it continued on forward, the stripes moved in a way that felt hypnotizing to Reia. The brown, glossy eyes that sank into Reia's skin were casting a look of intimidation and skepticism. Reia slowly backed away from it, trying to avoid it at all costs but something about him was luring the panther/wolf thing towards him.

If I run he will catch up and pounce on me in half a second. Though it was clear backing away was not working. Despite how little the creature seemed to be moving its four legs, it was still gaining on Reia.

It was only three meters away when Reia noticed just how large it was. The hybrid was roughly two to three meters long and one to one and a half meters high. It's back was as high as Reia's stomach—which was currently compressed in Reia's silent terror. It stretched out its jaw while looking upward as if in a yawn. The long, sharp fangs that it bore almost cause Reia to faint, he was so light-headed.

"REIA?!" A voice bellowed far behind the creature. It turned its head for a fraction of a second at the sudden noise before fixing its attention back on its prey. Those brilliant eyes narrowed, daring Reia to call out for help.

A dim, red glow shifted from its brown eyes. Reia panicked; his body had repulsed backwards, getting his ankle caught on a tree root in the ground. He collapsed, flat on his back, not thinking properly. His fear froze him solid to the ground instead of recoiling and leaving the blasted creature.

In a second, the nimble wolf-like animal had pounced right on top of Reia with shocking dexterity and locked him down its body. To Reia's surprise, it did not draw it's claws or else it's likely he would've been toast.

The dreadful face that now was less than a meter away glowered at him with all the skin on its snout tightened back. Reiatsu resorted to mercy, covering his face with his hands, feeling every inch of his body erupt in terror. It frightened him even more to see that his red tattoos were glowing as if in response to the animal's.

His own glistening red eyes met with the monster's gruesome, harrowing red eyes. It seemed like time had drastically slowed around him until, eventually, it came to a complete stop. Then all the many shades of green, the brown, rich dirt, and the clear, blue sky started to lose its color. Once it dimmed completely to grey, the very details of the plants, the trees, and the sky smeared away. In a way, the process reminded Reia of a polaroid picture, only in reverse.
The only thing he had wished to fade away was the giant, wolf that was the cause of all this horror. However it was the only thing that did not lose color or figure in Reia's sight. In fact, it had seemed like it was even clearer than before. The eyes had settled down from the shining red light and back to its natural, brown eyes. It's not a wolf, it's a tigerwolf.

Reia did not understand how he figured this out or how he was so certain of this. He hadn't even heard of a tigerwolf until it entered his mind. With learning this, he somehow felt tranquil and relaxed the stiff muscles that he subconsciously was tensing. It was then, now that Reia was calm, that the tigerwolf had treaded away from him and sat patiently on his four legs, never taking her eyes off of Reia.

"You're—you're name is Irya." It wasn't really a question as much of a statement. She simply continued to study him with a mellow interest. "You're the one telling me these things, aren't you?" It felt crazy to admit, but not as crazy as someone who magically learned about tigerwolves just by coming across one. Irya tilted her head, inquisitively; still not taking her eyes away from him, even to blink.

"Why are you—" Reia was cut off by what felt like being kicked in the stomach.

He resurfaced, feeling the wind knocked out of him as he rolled to the side of the long grass, grimacing in pain. What? He looked as far up as his head would go for a moment, perplexed.

He was back in the forest that they had camped in—back in the physical world. Irya was up against a nearby trunk of a tree, six meters away, whimpering softly as she also attempted to recuperate. Reia noticed that Keito was on the far right side. He had his hands raised to his pale, anxious face, ready to usher another blow.

"No…. Ke-Keito! DON'T!" Reia hollered, still recovering from the severed bond. The stress he put on his throat made it numb in pain, but he didn't care. Keito was about to make a terrible mistake. Reia tried to get up, but his knees were still convalescing from the mixed pain of Irya's and Reia's.

Irya was back on her feet, long before Reia had realized, and snarled, venomously as she paced around his brother. I'm no longer in control. Reiatsu's eyes widened with fear.

The tigerwolf suddenly sprinted with baffling speed at her target. Keito tightened his fists, ready to meet her. "STOP!" Reia bellowed, in a crouched position, with one hand covering his aching stomach and the other outstretched towards the pair of them. Irya had left her feet for a bite, however, Keito had managed to get out of the way just in time. The sleeve of his short ripped with a crisp and deformed sound of tearing.

Irya had continued in the air for a meter past Keito from the sheer force of her potent legs. After clawing deep into the ground to stop her motion, she fixed her eyes back on Keito, lowering her back for another strike.

"STOP!" Reia bawled again, desperately. "Irya, please…" The tigerwolf maintained her prowling as she scowled at Keito. However, she did not leap again; it gave the impression that she was hesitating. After what seemed like an hour of this standoff, Irya stopped her low growl and no longer bent low. She turned her head towards Reia and made a loud bark in Keito's direction before dashing off into the trees in the blink of an eye.
"What was that thing?" Keito asked, bemused.

"Why did you have to aggravate her?!" Reia barked, ignoring his brother's foolish question. He knew Keito meant well and was ignorant of what was going on, but he couldn't help but feel enraged at what he had done. Now she's gone. I'm on my own again…