"How was it?"
"It was alright. But I kept wondering why we were there," Ren said, his chin resting on his hand. Hira tilted her head gray eyes sparkling.
"You really met Iroh?" she asked, leaning forwards on the arms propped on her crisscrossed legs.
"It was him," Ren nodded.
Hira laughed and sat back on her hands. "All I've met is the public representative for art and museums. They come by here sometimes."
"Really?" Ren said. "I would have thought with your ancestry—"
Hira's hair billowed in the wind as she shook her head. "Aunt doesn't let most people onto the island. It's supposed to be sort of cut off from the city."
"Why is there a bridge, then?"
"Well, it's easier to get here by bridge than by ferry. That's probably why."
"Hira!" They both turned their heads.
"Who was that?" he asked raising his brows.
"My sister," she said, cupping her hand to her mouth. "Coming!"
She turned back to Ren. "I'll bring lunch."
"I wonder how long she's going to be out," Tetsu said, flipping through the blue book he had been reading last time.
Ren shrugged. "I asked Hira, but she didn't know either."
Tetsu peered up from the book. "Oh."
There was a moment of silence. "We should contact grandma," Ren said.
"I don't know how we would," Tetsu replied signing and rolling over on the bed.
"By sending a pin?"
"There isn't a generator in the house," Tetsu said, looking up at the ceiling, rubbing his forehead.
Ren stretched, looking outside the window as light streamed down hitting his feet. "Not unless she hid it from us."
"We could send a message by bird."
"I'll ask Hira."
Tetsu got up from the bed and put his book down. "Do you want to practice?"
Ren looked away from the window his brows drawing together. "But you said our bending cancels each other out. You didn't seem interested."
Tetsu crossed his arms. "Do you want to or not?"
"Of course I do."
"I've been reading some scrolls," Tetsu said as he exited through the door.
They stood facing one another in the open space of the building as light streamed through the ceiling.
Tetsu strapped the flask to his hip as Ren stretched.
"What did you think of that man, Amaruq?"
Ren bent one way his arm pulled by his other. "I don't know."
"I don't quite understand what he meant by spirits," Tetsu said.
"Neither do I."
"Ready?"
Ren shifted. "Yeah," he said as he started moving his arms. Tetsu watched carefully.
"Ready?" Ren asked, grinning.
Tetsu nodded as Ren send the blast toward his brother blowing his hair back.
"Not bad," Tetsu said to himself. Tetsu pulled out a small amount of water from the flask and created a thin, slightly uneven disk in front of him, and lashed out with the water. Ren leaned out of the way sending a gust of wind at Tetsu who stumbled backward. Tetsu called the water back to him to reform and send it straight for Ren's ankle. Ren sent a blast of air at the water. The liquid scattered in every direction, but Tetsu clamped his hands closed. His eyes screwed shut.
"Wow," Ren breathed. Tetsu opened his eyes. A smattering of minuscule water drops sat suspended in the air.
As soon as Tetsu opened his eyes and looked around, the drops pattered the ground. A bird call emanated from the entrance of the courtyard and Kiran walked up to them pausing to push a thin bough to the side.
"Hey," he said, "I was told to check up on you guys since Aunt is out—sorry did I interrupt?"
Ren let his arms drop. "It's fine. We need a break anyway."
The bird landed on Kiran's shoulder. Tetsu's eyes rested on its gray feathers.
"Do you think we could send a message by bird?" Tetsu asked.
Kiran quirked his head. "You could, but it's slower."
"That's fine."
"Dear grandma, we are doing alright," Ren said aloud as he wrote.
"Are we?" Tetsu said quietly.
Ren looked at Tetsu and smiled. "Yes."
Tetsu looked over Ren's shoulder. "Will she be able to read that?"
"Of course," Ren said as he wrote, "she was able to read it when I was younger."
Tetsu grunted.
"Tell her that if she wants to send us something back we don't know how long we will be here," Tetsu said.
"You can write that. I'm writing something else," Ren said.
Once Tetsu finished out the letter, they folded it.
Kiran peered at them across the small table as he fed his bird thimbles of dried fruit. "We have one hawk who I trained for occasionally delivering into the city, but Tira hasn't flown much farther than that. There are shops in town that guarantee long distance if you need it."
"Could you take us there?" Ren asked.
Kiran shook his head. "I'm not allowed off the island."
"You aren't?" Tetsu said, "Why?"
"It's an age thing," Kiran answered.
"How old are you?" Ren asked.
"Twenty-two,"
"Why can't you leave?"
"It's a tradition that was done years ago," he answered. "But soon I'll be traveling. My grandfather didn't follow the tradition partly due to circumstances, but my aunt took the practice back up."
"Why did she decide to when her father didn't?"
The bird looked at him when he didn't feed it another piece of fruit right away. He shushed it with a finger. "Technology and farming grew rapidly starting about ninety years ago. She says that even though these things are great it's also a good idea to preserve the reasons we were able to arrive in these times in the first place."
"You know a lot about history," Ren said.
The bird on Kiran's shoulder pecked at his hair. "It was the first subject taught to my siblings and me. It's hard not to," he said sighing.
Myla, the eldest, stepped out to join them.
She smiled. "Kiran said you needed to deliver a letter."
"Yes please," they said in unison.
"I have some things to take care of in the city so I'll drop you off, she said, getting into an emerald Kantocar.
They stepped off in front of the small building set back from the street. Behind the row of shops, the greens of a park peeked through.
"I'll be back in an hour," Myla said, smiling from the front seat.
As they opened the door an overhead bell rang. A bearded man wearing an apron and an arm guard stood behind the counter, glasses pushed up onto his nose.
"Welcome, where do you need to send it?" the man said in a gravelly voice.
"Baiyan," Ren answered as Tetsu followed him in.
The man pulled out a small box. "Alright, that's going to be thirty-one yuan."
Ren and Tetsu blanched, pulling out most of the money Myla had given them. The man took their note and went to the side where they could see several bird cages, nearest to them perched a blonde-headed hawk its eyes large and sharp. The bird cocked its head towards them and screeched.
"I'll send it out in a few minutes once I feed the pigeons," he said.
"Thank you."
They strolled toward the park, which had a small entrance guarded by shrubs and looming bushes. Several long limbs hung just inside the entrance. Under the shade, a patch of white flowers with broad leaves lulled. The surrounding verdure dampened the sound of the city. As they walked further the city was drowned out completely. Down the curled path lapped a lily pond. Nearby stood a rectangular building set low to the ground, constructed of steel and glass. One side faced out toward the water while the other faced an out-of-season plum grove. They walked on and came to a carved lantern that stood like a small tree. Along it curved a circular path that branched off into four directions. Weeping branches hanging over each. Ren meandered to the one on the right, diagonal from where they had come and they stepped into an sea of shade. They came to an area with benches and sat down. A plain-looking bird hopped over ruffling its gray wings.
"I see you like my garden," a male voice spoke up. They looked up.
A man stood in front of them with shaggy hair under a hat and a trench coat. Under the brim of his hat, black eyes pinned them to the bench.
"I'll have to take your eyes for seeing me," he said, exposing sharp teeth.