Disclaimer – all original Avatar: The Last Airbender characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Bryana Konietzko and Michaela Dante DiMartino.
Chapter 36. A Friend From The Spirit World.
Fire Nation Capital, Hari Bulkan, Weng's Residence.
Huo returned home in the evening, and the moment he entered the residence, a servant girl informed him that his father wanted to see him in his study. The boy expected that Weng would want to learn how everything went. He gave the girl the empty, red-colored box and headed upstairs to see him.
Once he opened the door, Huo spotted Weng sitting at a desk and a male servant who was pouring some wine into his glass. The nobleman turned his head to look at Huo and smiled widely. "Ah, my boy," he said. "Did you play nice with the young prince?"
"Yes, I did, father," Huo answered with a smile. When the male servant left the room and closed the door behind him, Weng dropped the act and beckoned Huo to sit down.
"So, how did it go?" he asked with a serious expression. "Did you meet Prince Ozai?"
"Yes, I did," Huo nodded, taking a seat at the table. "Once I've entered the villa, a servant informed me that Prince Ozai has requested my presence."
"Huh, he doesn't waste any time," Weng noted, arching his black eyebrow.
"I thought the same thing," Huo replied. "It turned out, he heard a lot of rumors about me after my Agni Kai and wanted to check if they were true. He asked me to demonstrate my firebending, so I did. He was impressed."
"Very good," Weng smirked. "Did he ask or say anything else?"
"He asked me why I prolonged the Agni Kai despite the fact that I could've ended it quickly," Huo answered. "I answered that I wanted Genjei to suffer. Prince Ozai seemed pleased with my response and said it was all he wanted for now."
"Excellent," the nobleman grinned and stood up. He approached Huo and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I'm proud of you, my boy."
Huo nodded, thinking about telling Weng what happened between him and Azula, but decided to leave it out. Yes, his priority was to impress Prince Ozai, but Huo was sure that Weng wouldn't be happy that the prince's daughter was now his enemy. If the nobleman learned about it, then Huo would explain what happened, but for now, the boy decided not to ruin the moment. If Weng was pleased, the better for him and his friends.
After supper and a nice, warm bath, Huo sat in front of his desk in his sleeping robes and started to read a book. His dad would surely like to know what he has done so far and if he was alright. The boy figured out that the best time to meditate into the Spirit World was during the night when everybody slept, and the servants wouldn't enter his room.
When Huo decided that he waited long enough, he got up and moved to the bed. He sat down, crossed his legs, and rested his palms on his knees. Taking a deep breath, he closed his orange-colored eyes and began to meditate, not knowing that he was being watched by a pair of yellow-colored, reptilian eyes.
Spirit World, Xai Bau's Grove.
Huo's spirit appeared in the woodland area, and he began to look for his dad. Soon enough, he spotted him sitting near a campfire and tampering with a pipa. "Dad!" Huo called out and began to run towards him.
Yan Zu smiled, seeing his son, and stood up. Huo reached his father and hugged him. "How are you doing, buddy?" Yan Zu asked, hugging his son back. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I'm good," Huo reassured, pulling away. "I decided to visit you."
"Is it safe for you to meditate here?" Yan Zu asked.
Huo quickly nodded. "Yes," he assured. "Weng is asleep and the servants won't enter my room so late without an important reason. I know there's always a small chance they might, but so much has happened since we last talked that I wanted to tell you everything."
Yan Zu smiled and sat down, beckoning his son to do the same. "Go ahead then," he replied with a smile. "I'm all ears."
"So that's about it," Huo exhaled, finishing telling his dad everything he did up to this point. Yan Zu listened carefully the whole time, and the more he listened, the more he disliked Weng. Still, Yan Zu couldn't help but feel proud of his son. Especially when he told them about the Agni Kai.
"Well, I'm not happy that you had to fight your first Agni Kai at the age of ten, but I'm very proud of you nonetheless," Yan Zu stated, causing Huo to smile. "While the duel was part of Weng's plan, I know that you'd defend that girl either way."
"Of course!" Huo confirmed immediately and decisively. "Ty Lee is my friend and I won't stand idly if someone hurts my friends!"
Yan Zu smiled gently, knowing it was true. The man noticed that Huo was really happy when he told him how we played with his new friends, but Yan Zu's expression changed into a more serious one after a few seconds.
"What's wrong?" Huo asked, noticing his father's expression.
"I'm glad you're making new friends, but try not to get too attached to them," Yan Zu said. "Remember, you're not who they think you are. Depending on how this whole scheme will end, their opinion of you may change for the worse when they learn the truth and I don't want you to feel bad if that happens."
"I understand your concern, but-" Huo tried to reply, but suddenly, the flames of the campfire turned white, drawing their attention. Huo's eyes widened since we knew who that was.
"Nou'Rai!" the boy exclaimed with joy. The female phoenix emerged from the campfire, allowing the white flames to return to their natural color once she stood beside the two in all her glory. Huo stood up and hugged her, happy to see his friend. The Fire Keeper unfolded her right wing, covering Huo's back. "It's good to see you, Huo," she stated.
"Likewise," Huo replied, pulling away with a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to talk with your father and ask him to pass on a message to you, but since you're here, I can speak with you personally," Nou'Rai answered, folding back her wing.
"About what?" Huo arched his eyebrows.
"Not too long ago, a vulture drake spirit appeared near the entrance to our realm and had a brief fight with Sin'Bey," Nou'Rai answered. "Wei'Rai confronted her and learned that she was looking for you."
"She looked for me? Why?" Huo asked, confused.
"Because she's the same vulture drake you shielded from the spikes when Shen'Rai took you to Wuyan Temple four years ago," Nou'Rai answered. "Do you remember?"
"Emmm... yes," Huo narrowed his eyes, recalling that event. "Yuan'Shi trapped us in the corridor and created the spikes with earthbending. I shielded the baby vulture drake while her mother shielded both of us and got injured."
"Yes, and that baby vulture drake is now an adult female," Nou'Rai stated. "For what you did, the vulture drake now considers you a close friend. When Wei'Rai explained everything to her about Yuan'Shi and your current situation, she decided to help you in your mission. For what Yuan'Shi did, she also wants to get back at her."
"But that's dangerous," Huo pointed out. "She can get hurt or worse."
"Heh, look who's talking," Yan Zu commented with a smirk.
"Wei'Rai tried to convince the vulture drake to reconsider, but he knew that they're stubborn as they're prideful," Nou'Rai stated. "There's nothing he could say or do that would change her mind. Since he didn't want her to attract unnecessary attention by searching for you blindly, he took her to the physical world personally and gave her directions. With her sense of smell, you can expect her to arrive soon. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd already be near you once you return."
"That's not gonna end well," Huo stated, shaking his head. "I don't think Weng will simply allow a large, dangerous spirit to live in the residence and even if he does, he'd try to use the vulture drake for his own scheme."
"Don't worry," Nou'Rai reassured. "Vulture drakes are smart, and they're related to dragon bird spirits, meaning they can change back into their smaller, younger forms and move around undetected."
Huo began to pace around. "Okay, but still, how will I keep her hidden all the time from everyone?" he asked. "If Weng or any of the servants will find her, they are going to be asking a lot of questions."
Yan Zu thought for a second and asked. "Would Weng allow you to have a pet?"
"Huh?" Huo stooped and looked at his dad. "A pet? Ummm... I don't know, I would need to ask."
"Because if the vulture drake will remain small, you can pretend you got a rare, exotic animal as a pet," Yan Zu explained. "It's not uncommon for rich nobles to have pets and there are many places in the capital where you can buy one."
"Hmmm..." Huo crossed his arms and nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, but I need to make sure Weng won't see the vulture drake before I ask him. Alright, I better return in case she arrives tonight."
"Take care of yourself, Huo," Nou'Rai nodded.
"And be carefull," Yan Zu said.
"I will," Huo promised and looked at the grass. He smiled and looked back at his father. "You know, I'm certain that even if Ty Lee and Mai learn the truth about me, they will remain my friends. I just know it."
Yan Zu was silent for a moment, looking into his son's eyes. He then smiled and nodded. "If that's true, then you found really good friends," he replied.
Huo nodded back, waved to Nou'Rai, and closed his eyes. His spirit vanished and returned to his body in the physical world.
Fire Nation Capital, Hari Bulkan, Weng's Residence, Huo's Room.
Huo opened his eyes and sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Well, now I need to wait f-" the boy suddenly looked down, noticing a small, violet-colored avian-like creature sitting patiently on the bed in front of him. He immediately realized it was the vulture drake.
"Oh! Hi," he said, looking closely at the small creature, which looked just like when he first saw it four years ago. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew it was an adult female in her younger form, Huo would assume she was still a baby.
The vulture drake could easily fit on his hand, and vibrant, dark-violet feathers covered her body. Just like any other of her kind, she had a pair of wings equipped with three-fingered claws used for when she walked, a long, thick neck, and a long tail. Her short legs ended with feet with four claws, three facing forward and one facing back. Her most distinctive feature was her horns. Four spiral ones, which protruded from the back of her head, and a slightly curved one, which protruded from the tip of her beak.
Huo turned his head and took a glance at the window. Since he always left it slightly open for the night, the small creature used it to enter his room unnoticed.
Remembering how to behave around vulture drakes, Huo bowed his head in respect and waited for her to do the same. The vulture drake perked up and bowed her head as well. She then moved closer to Huo, who still sat with his legs crossed, and jumped on his knee. The boy reached out and allowed her to jump on his hand.
The vulture drake stood up on her legs and touched Huo's nose with her claw. It was the same thing he did when they first met four years ago in the temple's corridor.
Huo's eyes widened. "It really is you," he said with a smile. "It's been a while."
The vulture drake squawked in response and fluttered her wings. "If I remember correctly, vulture drakes can understand human language," Huo stated. "If you do, squawk two times."
The small creature squawked two times, and Huo smiled. "Great, that will make things so much easier," he said. "I was told Wei'Rai explained everything to you, but there's still one problem we need to deal with. Weng cannot learn that you're a spirit and I don't want you to have to hide all the time so my dad gave me an idea. You'd need to pretend that you're my pet, but I still need to work out all the details."
The vulture drake yawned, and the boy smiled, placing her gently on the bed. "For now, lets go to sleep," he suggested. "I can see you're tired from the whole trip here."
The creature quickly moved and hid under his pillow. Huo chuckled and lay down, grabbing the sheets and covering himself with them. "Goodnight," he said and heard a quiet squawk from under the pillow.
The next day – Fire Nation Capital, Hari Bulkan, Weng's Residence.
When Huo woke up, the vulture drake was already walking around his room, sniffing everything curiously. The boy noticed she had no problems climbing the furniture with her claws, and her tail was quite prehensile. Once he got up from the bed and went behind the folding screen to put his clothes, the vulture drake flew over and landed on top of it.
After he clad himself, the boy heard a silent growl and realized it came from her stomach. Because the vulture drake was now a part of the mortal realm, she had a real, physical body that needed sustenance. Luckily, food or water wasn't a problem, though, since Huo had plenty of both, and he planned to bring her some meat.
Suddenly, the vulture drake turned her head towards the door and began to sniff. "Hmmm?" Huo squinted his eyes and heard footsteps. He knew it was Weng the moment he heard the door handle being turned without a knock. The boy instantly jumped and grabbed the vulture drake, pulling her down from the folding screen before the nobleman could spot her.
Weng entered the room and closed the room behind him. "Good morning, my boy," he said with a pleased tone and sat down at the table.
"Good morning," Huo replied from behind the folding screen and placed his finger on his lips so that the vulture drake wouldn't make a sound. He quickly placed her on the floor and continued to put on his clothes. "I'm guessing we're waiting for Prince Ozai's move?" the boy asked.
"That's right," Weng confirmed. "You did your part perfectly, so the only thing we can do is wait. I was thinking you could spend the day however you like. You definitely earned it."
Huo noticed that the nobleman was still in a good mood from yesterday. Not telling him about what happened with Azula was the right call. At first, he wanted to wait, but since one should strike while the iron was still hot, Huo decided to ask out of the blue. "Say, would it be a problem if I would like to have a pet?"
Weng arched his black eyebrows. "Well that was random," he commented. "Any particular reason?"
"I thought it would be cool to have one," Huo replied as he finished putting on his clothes and walked out from behind the folding screen while the vulture drake stayed hidden. "Something exotic, rare, and small, which wouldn't make a lot of mess."
"Ah, I see what you're doing," Weng squinted his brown-colored eyes and smirked. "You're trying to take advantage of my good mood."
"Heh," Huo replied with a smirk of his own and shrugged. "True, but you said yourself that you're proud of me."
"Hmmm... that I did," Weng admitted, stroking his chin. After a moment, he sighed and chuckled. "You know what, fine. You can have one small pet, but just to be sure that you won't bring back an armadillo bear with you, we'll go to the shop together after dinner."
"I understand," Huo nodded. "Thank you."
A few hours later – Fire Nation Capital, Hari Bulkan, Burning Claws.
Just like Weng promised, after they ate dinner, he took the boy to a shop selling animals as pets. As they rode the palanquin, the nobleman had no idea that the vulture drake rode with them. Since she was so small, Huo could easily hide her underneath his red-colored shirt. Not wanting to scratch her friend, the vulture drake clung to the fabric, not his skin.
Huo hatched a plan before they left the residence, and while Weng's presence made it a bit harder, he was confident they could pull it off. After entering the shop and browsing, he'd discreetly release the vulture drake so that she could pretend she was one of the animals for sale. Then, he would simply buy her.
When they finally stopped and left the palanquin, Huo spotted a large shop, which seemed to be protruding from the wall of the crater. Above the entrance, there was a sign featuring a pair of claws covered in flames that gave the shop its name. "Is this the place?" Huo asked.
"Yes," Weng confirmed. "The owner has a large variety of animals to choose from. I'm sure you find a suitable pet."
"Is he one of your 'men'?" Huo asked, and Weng shook his head. "Nah, but we know each other. The man made a fortune selling all sorts of exotic animals. Even the ones you don't find in the Fire Nation."
Once they entered the shop, Huo's nose was hit with a distinctive scent. Huo assumed that because of that scent, nobles sent their servants instead of coming here personally. The boy began to hear screeches and squawks from all directions, and he noticed all sorts of animals in cages. Messenger hawks, raven eagles, toucan puffins, and many others. Immediately after, he spotted a bald, obese man in his forties behind the wooden counter.
"Well I'll be, it's my old pal, Weng," the bald man spread his arms wide and grinned upon noticing his two new clients. "I was starting to think you forgot about me."
"It has been a long time, Jun," Weng replied with a smile. "But you know, the life of a noble is not an easy one."
"Hahaha, ain't that the truth," Jun laughed and leaned forward. "So what brings you to my humble shop? Don't tell me you decided to buy something."
Weng placed a hand on Huo's shoulder. "Actually, its my son who wants to have a pet," the nobleman replied.
"Ha! Then you came to the right place, boy," Jun stated, looking at Huo. "What kind of pet do you want? Even if I don't have anything right now, for the right amount, I can get you any kind of animal you desire. No matter how rare. Once a noble even ordered a canyon crawler for himself. Poor fool didn't survive, but hey, at least he paid good money."
"I would like a small, rare, and exotic animal," Huo replied, ignoring the comment. "A flying hybrid would be cool. Mind if I browse your shop?"
"Not at all," Jun replied and gestured towards the cages. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."
Huo nodded and turned around, moving towards the animals while Weng stayed with the shopkeeper. The boy noticed there were actually a lot of exotic options. He spotted an iguana parrot with green-red feathers, a dark viper bat, and even a massive buzzard wasp. "Who would even buy such a thing," he commented.
As he walked, he spotted a cage filled with straw. On that straw, he noticed eggs and a bunch of eggshells. That gave him an idea of how to improve his plan.
Making sure that the men weren't seeing him, he unbuttoned his shirt, allowing the vulture drake to fly out from underneath it and land on top of the cage with the eggs.
"Okay, we're going to pretend you hatched from one of these eggs," Huo said, buttoning back his shirt, and the vulture drake fluttered her wings. She squizzed through the bars and landed on the straw, rolling in it.
Huo took a deep breath and exhaled. "Dad! I want this one!" he exclaimed. After a few seconds, Weng approached the boy with Jun.
The nobleman squinted his eyes upon looking at the strange creature. He looked at the shopkeeper, but the man had the same confused expression.
"It just hatched from one of the eggs!" Huo said with an excited tone.
"But those are raven eagle eggs," Jun stated, squinting his eyes and moving closer to the cage. "Or at least that's what the seller told me. Unless he gave me something different by accident."
"I don't care, I like it," Huo said, and the vulture drake squeezed out of the cage, jumping on the boy's shoulder.
"Careful, Huo," Weng warned, but the creature moved closer to the boy's face and licked his cheek, making him chuckle.
"Jun, what kind of a creature is that?" Weng asked.
"I think it's some sort of hybrid, but that's the first time I see such a species," the shopkeeper replied, extending his hands toward the vulture drake. "Let me just grab it and put it back in the cage for now."
Before he could, though, the creature growled and, to everyone's shock, breathed a small orange fire from its beak, burning the shopkeeper's sleeve.
"Woah!" Jun quickly smothered the fire with his hand. "It breathes fire?!"
"So cool," Huo said in genuine awe. He didn't expect the vulture drake to breathe fire. "Dad, I want it," he said. "It's very rare, it's exotic, and it's small like we agreed."
"Can't argue with the first two, but since it's clearly a baby, it will probably get older and bigger," Weng pointed out. "What then?"
"We don't know how big it will get," Huo argued. "It may grow big, but it may just as well grow to the size of a hawk. My friends will be thrilled when they see what pet I have. You know what I mean."
Weng crossed his arms and looked at the vulture drake, thinking about all the pros and cons. He exhaled through his nose and replied. "Fine, but you'll be responsible for caring for that animal and keeping it under control. If it gets too big or attacks anyone, I will return it to this shop."
"Okay!" Huo agreed.
Weng looked at Jun. "Come one, let's talk about the price," he said, and both men returned to the counter.
Huo looked at his friend and grinned. "We did it," he said, and the vulture drake squawked in response.
When Huo and Weng returned to the palanquin, the nobleman looked at the vulture drake, who remained on the boy's shoulder and asked. "Since it is now your pet, what do you wanna call it?"
Huo didn't think of naming the vulture drake and didn't even know if they had names. He looked at the vulture drake, who looked back at him, and after a while, he said. "Nurei."
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