Chapter 4: Spirits Training Must Be Rigorous

Everything leaves behind a memory. An impression.

Yee always hated this. At times, he would touch something he deemed insignificant and would get a view of something he clearly didn't want to see.

Sometimes the memories left behind were sweet, like an old baby pacifier he had picked up at a beach once which had a memory of a man who just lost his wife but managed to find hope in his baby's eyes as he gently put the pacifier in the child's mouth and smiled with determination.

Or another one where he went shopping at a nearby village and saw some adorable shoes for Huno and the memory of an older lady placing the shoes with other clothes and amenities into a sack. The lady smiled at her daughter behind her which had clearly grown out of them and was showing off her newer pairs to her father.

Once, Yee had gotten distracted when he went to buy groceries and had his interest caught by a shop with a weapon display. It had a very particular ornamental knife, rimmed with gold and ornamented with jade stones. His hand had slightly brushed against the knife and he was struck with a memory of a man and woman struggling with the ornamental knife between their hands. The man's eyes were bloodshot but not as crazy looking as the lady he was struggling with. At the end of the struggle, the woman, miraculously and with her way smaller frame, had managed to wrestle out the knife from the combined grip and she stabbed him several times. Yee stopped counting at forty five. He was snapped out of the vision by a person who had placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see that it was the woman who was in the vision but she was slightly older than what was shown to him.

"Aah, that one is very beautiful. I try to sell that one but it always comes back to me. I find it hard to ever let it go," the lady said as she stroked the knife gently as it rested on the display. She appeared to be the owner of the shop. Yee nodded at her, turned around and left. She tried calling him back to look at something else but he paid her no mind and kept on walking to his next destination.

He preferred it when the spirits gave him information rather than witnessing it himself. It was much less personal and he can always detach himself from the experience. When he told Lu Ten about this skill he had, Lu Ten had said he should be careful about who he tells this to. When he told Jazaih about it, Jazaih had told him that it's possible that Yee was more of a medium which was more spiritually attuned than a shaman could possibly be. He said it would be much better for Yee to not tell anyone else, apart from Mayan of course, about these abilities. Although shamans and sages are respected and sometimes revered, a good amount of people only see them as religious symbols and don't really regard their practices in high esteem. However, one who is able to relive memories, house spirits within them easily or even pass memories on, basically a medium, can be used for political agendas and even other shamans or spiritual practitioners with evil intentions may want to get their hands on someone like him. A medium is seen as spirit touched and depending on who you ask, can be seen as a whole asset or a threat to another's way of life. Spirits already know when they meet someone like him though, so there would be no need to bother hiding that fact from them. However, he had to be careful if he ever had dealings with one. Spirits are mostly amoral but some of them can be quite tricky.

Since then, Yee has been careful. If he ever had a vision while touching something mistakenly he shrugged it off like a headache or like he was sleepy. Putting it into practice, people around his village would call him the faint shaman. Or the damsel shaman. As much as he had disliked the nickname, he preferred it to the perceived danger he would be in if anyone malicious was aware of his full capabilities.

He had once opted to wear gloves to reduce the chances of being whacked with a shocking memory but he opted out of it when he realized gloves would get in the way of his bending and also… when he tried once it didn't work at all so he was back to square one, flesh.

He resigned himself to just being careful to not touch things carelessly. It's not like he can avoid touching door handles or walking on places but for unnecessary things, he can just avoid that. That didn't stop him from touching stuff when he buys gifts for Huno. The goods have to be good after all. And since she said his name before anyone else's she deserved all the gifts in the world..

The white flash faded into a view of a little girl and an older girl. They were sitting at the back garden of what Yee assumed to be their house,the smaller girl in the bigger one's lap. Both dressed similarly in dark green robes.

"Po, here's another one to add to your collection," the older girl said to the younger one. Yee could assume that one was Po. She had a blue and green marble in her hand and she put it in Po's hands.

"I don't like the color of this one. It's more blue than green. I want green," Po complained.

"Come on now. You have so many of a similar color. Try changing it up a bit," the older one said and pressed a kiss to Po's temple. Po began to squirm in her hold in protest.

"But Shu Shu. I like green, not blue. Can't you get one that's mostly green?" Po complained. Shu Shu laughed at that. She stared into Po's pleading eyes and hugged her a bit tighter.

"Fine, I will but you have to keep this one in your collection. Think of me whenever you see it, ok?" Shu Shu said. Po nodded enthusiastically. She clearly wasn't happy with the new addition to her collection but she was happy about getting more marbles. She began rolling it in her little palms then held it up to the afternoon sun to view the inside.

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping sound from inside the house that caught both the girls' attention.

"Where is Shu Ran!?" could be heard, shouted from inside the house. Yee guessed 'Shu Shu' was the nickname then.

Shu Ran stood up and placed her sister on the ground, on her feet.

"Stay here. Go to the shrine or call for help if I'm not back soon," Shu Ran said and rushed inside the house. Po stood there, twiddling with the marble in her hand. She heard shouting then pleading then a lot of thumping. Then there was silence. A strange woman's voice could be heard from the house.

"There should be one more, search for her!" the voice commanded. Po was frozen in fear. She looked terrified. She tried moving from her spot but once she saw the back door open and a strange woman caught sight of her, she froze again. The lady wore noble earth kingdom robes but her appearance said otherwise.

"There you are," the woman said before stalking towards Po, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her into the house. Yee followed along. It's not like he could be seen in this memory.

There she saw the bodies of her older brother, mother and aunt on the kitchen floor, bleeding and moaning. Yee wasn't sure how he knew that but he didnt question it. Their faces were beaten up so much but Po could still recognize them. She clutched tightly onto her marble as the strength gripping her hair grew stronger. She finally noticed there were two other people in the room. Two other older women. One wore a brown body suit with a green cloth tied around her waist and the other one looked way more gruffer than the former. That one had a scar that ran across her top and bottom lip and wore deep green clothing with knives strapped around her waist on a belt. Shu Ran was nowhere in sight. Yee wondered why and he could see on Po's face that she thought the same.

"So what do we do with this brat?" the lady who gripped Po's head asked one of the other women.

"What do you think? Kill it like the rest. We've got Shu Ran to take us to the shrine. These ones are disposable," the gruffest one said and the lady that gripped Po's hair gripped tighter and slammed Po's head against the kitchen table close by before letting her go. The marble in Po's hand slipped out and landed at the foot of the table as Po stared at it in a daze. She looked up and saw the woman had grabbed a knife nearby. Po didn't scream, it seemed like she was in too much shock to even cry or make a sound.

"Sorry, kid. I'll make it quicker and less painful than the rest, " she said, although she looked all too delighted to do what she was about to do. Yee looked at the woman and an uncomfortable feeling he couldn't describe rose within him. Maybe this was anger? Contempt? Fury? He couldn't tell. He watched as the woman slit Po's delicate throat and as the life left Po's eyes as she was held down by the woman. The blood had sprayed everywhere on the side of the earth made table and some had hit the marble which was still at the foot of the table. Yee felt his blood pressure begin to rise. How could someone do such a thing to a child? If anyone did such a thing to Huno, Yee wasn't sure what he would do. He squeezed his palms tightly. So this is why the little girl, Po, had tried to keep him away from the house. But where was Shu Ran?

"Let's go. Blood Claw has already gotten the girl to take her to the shrine. Hopefully, we get what we need and leave this place as soon as possible," the gruffest woman said. The body suit lady smiled and grabbed the child killer woman away from the child's body.

"Quit smiling. Let's go," she said as she followed the gruff woman out of the house.

"Tsk. Tsk. This one barely even made a sound," child killer woman said before she walked out of the house with the rest.

Ye turned his attention back to the marble which now held the gaze of the newly deceased Po. He frowned a bit more before he felt someone wrap a hand around his waist and he was immediately snapped out of the memory.

He blinked several times and realized it was Bei who was hugging him tightly as the blood stained marble laid squeezed in Yee's palm. Bei was shaking now and Yee decided to stroke his head in an act of consolation. He also saw that the little girl… no, Po, was also hugging him but at his leg. He placed the marble in his pocket then stroked her hair too. The fact that he could touch her ghost was something he couldn't explain but he decided that really didn't need much attention at the moment. She was cool to the touch. Obviously, she's a ghost. Yee sighed and dropped both his hands.

"Let's get out of here Bei," Yee said before the younger boy looked up and stared at him with big green wet eyes. He had been shaking and holding back his tears but his face was also tinged with worry. Yee wondered why.

"I tried calling you several times but you didn't answer. It was like, you were in a trance or something," Bei said. He was sticking out his bottom lip in a pout before he regained his composure and quit the expression.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Sometimes I get lost in my head. Look, we have to meet up with my master and the chief. There's much more to discuss," Yee said as he gently unwrapped Beii from his waist.

"And then, shrine?" Po asked expectantly. Yee nodded at her in agreement. He saw the questioning look on Bei' face and then said: "The ghost child was asking for something," Bei'said face relaxed as he nodded in understanding. "Come on, both of you. Let's go back to the healing house.

It was utter chaos.

When Jazaih asked Uee to go investigate more on what was going on in the village, he didn't realize he would be signing up for way more work than expected. He had finished up aiding the remaining sick patients and was accosted by the several healers in the healing house who provided him some water, a meal and a shoulder massage. He took them gladly. Who was he to bite the hand that chose to feed him? When Yee and Bei had returned, the younger one in distress, he knew relaxation time was over. At least, he could get away from the incessant questions thrown at him from the head healer. He also noticed that there was a little transparent child attached to Yee's side. Most definitely a ghost. Yee and Bei described what they found and several gasps could be heard from the crowd that had gathered around them.

"So you're saying the Sururu family have all been murdered?" Chief Hana exclaimed.

"From what I gathered, there is still one missing. Shu Ran," Yee replied.

"How do you know?" Lou asked, there was skepticism in her voice. "As far as we know, you don't know all the family members,"

"The child's ghost, Po, told me. She wants me to go to the shrine," Yee replied automatically. Jazaih knew it was probably more than that. Maybe one of his gifts had helped him know who it was so quickly. He doubted the child's ghost could give more accurate information about the details of the would have to ask Yee later for the full details of what he learned.

"That poor child," Hana said. "Is she still here?"

"Yes. She refuses to let go of my leg though. I'm trying my best to console her. She says she can't find her way to the shrine," Yee replied with a little smile. He saw Yee stroke the little girl's head. The fact that he could actually touch her was astonishing and Jazaih would have to study that with Yee on their own time.

"Ah, come here my boy. You look terrible," Chief Hana grabbed a hold of Bei from Yee's side and she started to fuss over him. Jazaih smiled. He missed his little girl. Not that Yee wasn't like a son to him or so but let him be honest, no one can replace Huno. Plus, Yee barely gave one an opportunity to fuss over him.

"We will have to head over to the shrine. I'll ask the spirits for forgiveness if they find it so displeasing. Not like we can get the Sururu family to help us now," Jazaih said. He stared at the little girl, Po, was it?, and waved at her. She gave a little smile then sunk her face into Yee's side. Adorable.

"I understand," Hana replied. "You should do that. We will have to put the village on lockdown and start a search for Shu Ra," she looked behind her and spotted one of the healers. She pointed to him and gestured to Jazaih. "Lead them to the path of the shrine, report back to me when you're done," the healer nodded and he led the two shamans out. Even as they were out the door, Jazaih could hear Hana's voice, booming wing command. Guess that's why she's the chief.

They made their way to the nearby forest then took a path which stretched for a couple of strides. Jazaih was used to walking long distances but Yee wasn't so he looked to his apprentice to see if he was doing okay. Yee looked fine, the ghost still attached to him. Jazaih was glad. Nothing like a child complaining about walking too long. Well, he couldn't expect such things from Yee and the ghost child wasn't human anymore so she won't be tired anytime soon.

"This is where I must depart. Follow this path," the healer said and quickly took his leave.

"Someone's in a hurry," Jazaih said. He looked at the path ahead. They were surrounded by green trees but up ahead the trees were blue. The party walked forward. As they walked along the path up ahead, the colors of the trees changed to a vibrant read. Even the ground went from green to the color of the trees. Jazaih just knew this place was far more spiritual than he could have ever imagined.

"I couldn't tell you in there but I saw what actually happened in that house," Yee said now that they were alone.

"You saw the face of the killer then?" Jazaih asked. He looked at Po who was now hiding her face and shaking her head. Ah, she probably didn't want anyone to see her that way.

"Killers," Yee said. Jazaih raised both eyebrows. He soon figured that this was probably a team effort. Or some type of hut job. "I did not see where Shu Ran went to but one of the intruders said a person named Blood Claw took Shu Ran to the shrine. I think we will have to be ready for combat. That's if they are still there,"

"Ah, yes. It's probably been weeks," Jazaih said and nodded. He adjusted his sword that was strapped around his body and signaled for Yee to follow behind him carefully.

They arrived at a place where the trees looked like glass, bespectacled with rainbow tints. The grass was white but also glittered as light touched it. It was shimmering and the place felt colder than the village. The aura of the surroundings was all over the place. They kept on going and noticed the trees were bending awkwardly towards something.

The first thing they noticed was a body laid face down, close to a big whitish rock which was at a height of right above Jazaih's knees. Blood was splattered a bit on the rock and the white glittering glass. The rock was wide and it held a miniature shed made out of earth. Inside the small shed was a stone which was exuding so much spiritual energy from it. It looked like a mineral rock with specks of green and blue-green on it.

Jazaih took a chance to examine the body. He flipped it over and it was a middle aged woman with blood coming from her nostrils. She had a gauntlet with sharp claws on them. She was wearing a reddish brown body suit and wore a green amulet around her neck. Her brown eyes were open, staring into the void and glazed. The body looked fresh but Jazaih could tell it was probably due to the spiritual energy in this place. Maybe the body was kept fresh for a reason.

"This must be Blood Claw. No Shu Ran in sight," Yee said from behind. Jazaih looked at him and he could see he was carrying Po in his arms. Her face was pressed into his shoulder. Jazaih swallowed his feelings of being impressed and looked at the shed on the rock. This was most definitely the shrine and that mineral rock in it was a spirit stone. He noticed there was a bit of blood on both the little shed and the spirit stone.

"They were after this," Jazaih said as he pointed at the spirit stone. Yee squinted at it.

"It has so much spiritual energy in it. It would fetch quite the price," Yee said. Jazaih chuckled.

"Yes. It is a spirit stone. These can be used in many ways but most seek them out to increase one's bending proficiency. Noble parents would love to get their hands on it to boost their children's bending prowess and thereby, their social standing," Jazaih explained. Yee nodded in understanding and Po peeked to see what Jazaih was talking about. Her eyes landed on the dead body and she quickly hid her face back in Yee's neck again. Jazaih chuckled.

"Wait, I can recall Mayan telling me about this. This one is an earthstone right?" Yee asked expectantly. Jazaih nodded then looked around.

"Hmm. I wonder what we should do next. We don't know where Shu Ran is now. One of the intruders is here and dead. The earthstone remains untouched too. If only we had a friendly spirit to aid us," Jazaih said loudly. His aim was to gather the attention of the guardian spirit or spirits of the shrine and it worked.

There was a slight rumbling and then stillness. Jazaih noticed the usual sounds of insects in the forest were gone and the sound of silence prevailed.

"You called," a multi-faceted voice said.

"Yes. I did. I require your aid. Great spirit," Jazaih said. He gave a slight bow towards the shrine and imagined that Yee, behind him, followed suit.

"We understand. We are called Kun," the voice said.

"Oh great Kun. Forgive me for trespassing and thank you for answering my call," Jazaih said.

"It is fine. We usually try to keep things limited to the Sururu family due to the oath they made to us a long time ago. Know they are gone. Things can not be helped. I know you and I know the boy behind you. You two are always welcome. If not, I wouldn't have let you set foot in here," the voice replied.

"Thank you. Can you tell us what happened here? Also please aid us in finding Shu Ran," Jazaih requested.

"Ah. Yes, Shu Ran. She is one with the earth now,"

"You mean… she is dead too?" Jazaih asked. He was hoping that at least one member of the Sururu family would remain but that hope was now crushed.

"Yes and no. That interloper came here with Shu Ran in order to steal our earthstone. She couldn't get here without Shu Ran guiding her inside this forest. We are usually asleep but our passive power dictates no one can enter here without the permission from me or the new keeper of the shrine. Somehow they found out about this shrine and got Shu Ran to do this. We do not know but because Shu Ran is the new keeper of this shrine, we had to allow entry.

From what we can tell, Shu Ran was coerced into bringing in the interloper here or her family would be killed. Once the interloper found the stone, she stabbed Shu Ran and left her on the ground to die. Shu Ran, dying and angry, called for us and we answered. We absorbed her body and her body into the earth to be one with us, however, part of her spirit could not be absorbed. We think it was the part of her anger left behind. That part split from Shu Ran and attacked the interloper. Poisoning the body's soul and thereby leading to her death,"

"So, part of Shu Ran is now a part of you," Jazaih nodded in understanding.

'Poisoning the body's soul'

Jazaih had an epiphany and quickly voiced his thoughts.

"So, the vengeful part of Shu Ran's spirit is the cause of the spiritual problem in the village,"

"Yes,"

Jazaih hummed. Maybe if they were to appease that spirit, they could save the village from their problem. Jazaih still felt a bit uneasy about something though. He couldn't tell what.

"Oh great spirit. What about the remainder of this body's group?" Yee asked from behind. Jazaih looked behind and gave Yee a nod of approval. That was exactly what was bothering him. Had they left? Did they just leave this Blood Claw person behind once they noticed she wasn't coming back? Or did they leave and promise to meet at a set rendezvous point later on?

"To my knowledge, they are still in the village but in hiding. It seems they were cursed to never leave. It is the Sururu family's curse. There's a reason why you have to be invited to their house before you can enter. I can not do much. I only provide prosperity and advice for the people of this village. However, I believe that Shu Ran's spirit is also looking for them and this problem will not be resolved until they are found. Or else, her spirit will continue to attack any unsuspecting person she can find to quell her anger daily. It seems they also have some sort of spiritual knowledge. They've somehow manipulated their energies to not be tracked properly. We and Shu Ran only know if they've left the village or not,"

"Thank you. I do have another question, how come Po's ghost wasn't able to enter this place before?" Yee asked cooly.

"Ah. I did not want her coming here and finding out about her sister like this. Once we realized that her family was gone, We had to give her a little hope that her sister was alive somewhere. You know some of us can see ahead. We know that without proper support or guidance, even a child ghost like Po can become a vengeful and powerful spirit. Her other family members seemed to have passed on. We knew you two would be coming so we awaited your arrival,"

"I understand," Yee replied. Jazaih looked at Po who was now rubbing away her tears. She looked so small and delicate. He could see why the Kun had locked her out of here. She clung to Yee for a bit then released her grasp on him.

"You can put me down now," she said quietly. Yee did so. She walked all the way to the shrine, knelt down and bowed to it. "I will stay here with you Kun and await my sister's return,"

"As you wish, child. I will protect your spirit here,"

"Thank you, Kun. We promise to appease Shu Ran's spirit and reunite her here with her sister, at this place," Jazaih promised.

"Go now. Remember, the spirits are more active at night. Shu Ran's vengeful spirit will most definitely show up then. Be prepared and do not be afraid. I will be with you to boost your luck,"

Jazaih and Yee bowed and turned to leave the shrine. Before they left, Jazaih looked back and saw that Po was now sitting, facing the shrine and her aura was a bit brighter than before. Maybe the promise of seeing her sister again lightened her mood. Brave child. It was still surprising that she didn't move on with the rest of her family.

They left the forest behind and were back in the village with its warmer atmosphere. Jazaih had quickly missed the sparkling show of the forest. As they continued on their way to the healing house, Yee stopped in his path and hummed to himself. Jazaih knew that look. Yee had figured something out.

"I think I know where the remaining killers are," Yee said to Jazaih's surprise. He was smiling more than Jazaih normally saw. Well, at least, not more than when Huno looks at Yee in awe as he gave her presents.

"Well, do tell. My blade is always ready," Jazaih replied.

Yee smiled just a bit more.

Azula was bored.

It was the second year anniversary of her weak and helpless brother's disappearance. Scratch that, his "death". She wasn't sure what exactly happened that night but she knew there were no "Earth nation" spies that had infiltrated the palace. What she did know is that grandfather wanted Zuko dead, after she told mother, mother was distraught and had confronted father, Zuko was alone in his room and right after she left for only eight minutes, he disappeared.

She also remembered when she left the room, after her daily and compulsory teasing, she remembered the strange smell of burning flowers (of course she knows how those smell) coming from his room. She tried opening the door and when she couldn't, she called over a servant and from there all hell broke loose.

Honestly, just like Zuzu to be dramatic over anything, even "dying" too. At least, from the fiasco, she could thank him for bumping her up the succession line. Whatever happened to grandfather, she could care less. One less person to impress now that her father is the Firelord. Her uncle had finally come back to the palace permanently and learnt his place. The only thing she wasn't happy about was the increased security to her personnel. It was a small thing that can be fixed once she proves herself and takes the throne.

She was with her guards as she took a stroll through the palace. Her eyes landed on the turtle duck pond. She could still see Zuko play with them, talking to them like they could understand him and he understood them in turn. She felt something tug on her on her lip and chose to ignore it. She remembered a time where mom and her had snuck behind Zuko. They were trying to…

She frowned and banished the memory. She would not be thinking of a woman who disappeared without saying goodbye. Not that she needed it though but she knew if Zuko was there, she'd have given one to him regardless.

The urge to go and turn the little turtle ducks into ashes had been strong but the memory of her brother laughing with them was stronger and cut her off the urge. She frowned then relaxed her face.

Whatever. They'll live to fight another day then and Azula was always ready to fight.