Here is a new chapter of this fanfic. This is a bonus chapter today for the support.
this chapter is shorter, I hope you understand why after reading it. without further ado, I hope you enjoy it and leave your support. (Read to the end)
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As I walked through what would soon become the new Tribe, I noticed something strange.
Ever since I learned Chi control, I had stopped feeling sleepy, as if sleeping or eating were no longer basic needs. I had grown used to it over time, but now, something was wrong. My steady steps began to falter, my vision spun, and a wave of dizziness overwhelmed me.
I collapsed to my knees on the cold snow, fighting the urge to vomit whatever was trying to force its way out of my stomach. But my body betrayed me. A thick sweat coated my skin, and a sharp pain forced me to throw up.
It wasn't food or stomach acid.
It was red. Thick. Blood.
For the first time in two lives, this was happening to me. The blood came out violently, as if being inside me was a mistake. As if my body rejected it. As if I were rotting from the inside out.
I didn't understand why. My body and health should have been perfect. Nothing had changed—not my chi, not my diet, not my training. Everything was the same.
Except for the waterbending.
Against every survival instinct, I closed my eyes. I risked not being able to open them again. I dove into the depths of my chi, body trembling, throat full of blood.
Everything was wrong. Flickering like a dying light. Broken. Overloaded. As if something were tearing my energy channels apart from within.
My mind worked overtime, searching for an explanation. Any explanation.
The only logical possibility was that the waterbending was draining chi I didn't have. Without natural access to that kind of energy, my body had started consuming my own life force as fuel.
The power that had been granted to me as a blessing... was killing me. Literally, it was devouring my life.
The only way to stop it was to give it more chi. External energy. Vitality that wasn't mine.
But I couldn't move. My body was dead weight on the snow. I could feel the warmth escaping. I could feel life fading.
And then... I heard the footsteps.
Soft. Familiar.
"Not them... please."
The leopard-caribou were coming toward me. Their massive shadows stopped in front of my body. I saw their outlines.
With effort, I lifted my head and looked at him. Spat—the oldest, the one I had raised since he was a pup—knelt beside me. His snout hovered inches from my hand, sniffing it with concern.
He was my friend... and he trusted me like only a pure animal can trust its world.
"Please leave."
I coughed up blood. My lips parted with difficulty.
"Spat..." My voice was barely a whimper, choked by the burning in my throat.
He heard me. His tail wagged with joy. He nudged my hand with his nose. He wanted to play. He wanted me to get up. He didn't understand. Or maybe he did... and stayed anyway.
I wanted to tell them to leave, to bring me a live prey, but I couldn't, there was no time.
I felt a hole in my gut. Maybe because I was dying. Maybe from guilt.
I didn't stop.
I focused everything into my hand. Everything I had left. And I placed it gently on his snout. Softly. As I always did. As if it were just another gesture of affection.
I began to absorb his chi. Directed the energy straight to the point that was consuming my life. My body began to stabilize.
And Spat began to tremble.
He tried to pull away. He bit me—gently. But I held him. Immobilized him. Trapped him with the full weight of my desperation.
I wanted to break his neck. I wanted to make it quick. But I couldn't. I had to absorb him... while he was still alive.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered. again. And again.
As I felt his life fade beneath my hands.
His eyes looked into mine. Wide. Full of fear. Of confusion. And something else—something that shattered me.
Understanding.
And just before the end... he wagged his tail.
It wasn't a spasm. It was a gesture. A final "it's okay." A final gift.
Then, he died.
I let go of his body with trembling hands. Pushed him away gently, as if touching him would burn me. I stood up, still unsteady, as the other two caribou approached. They didn't attack. They didn't run. They just sniffed him. Nudged him with their noses. One of them whimpered softly.
I just knelt down and bowed my head.
My hands were shaking. From weakness, from rage, from grief—I couldn't tell anymore.
A laugh escaped my lips. Light at first. Understanding. And then it grew.
My laughter filled the vast, frozen tundra.
At some point, the laughter turned into sobs. Into cries for what I had done.
And my bloodstained fists, buried in the cracked ground.
I analyzed my energy.
It was stable.
The blue point was still there—still consuming—but it was no longer destructive. Its pace was low. Sustainable. As if, through that sacrifice, the power had finally settled.
I understood everything.
By using waterbending for hours, I had overloaded the elemental reserve. I forced it to keep draining, and without a real spring to draw from, it used the only thing it had at hand.
My life.
I had two options. And I chose to live.
I decided my life was worth more than his.
And the worst part...
Is that I know it's true.
That's what hurts the most.
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Once we reach the end of this chapter I would like you to please leave in the comments what you thought of this chapter, how you felt about it and if it generated any feelings in you, this would help me a lot In my writing style, without further ado, thank you.