======== 50 - Dirty Business ==========
In the kingdom of fire, power plays a decisive role. Everything depends on it: whether people will fear you, obey you, your political rating, and your relationship with the aristocracy. And this power can be lost very quickly in the eyes of others: Airo's sad fate proved this completely. Feelings of grief, shame, and fear were almost mortal sins for the Fire Nation, which is perhaps why I met an admiral with open chakras — because all the most important people had to open them. That's why what we did to Jiao was worse than the absence of magic, death, or anything else: by bringing out his fears, we basically drove a man insane. The Lord of Fire will simply think that Jiao had been out of his mind for some time, and now, after his defeat, he has finally lost his mind completely.
As for the rest...
"Aang, we finally caught up with you!
"Why did you fly off so suddenly?
Out of breath, Sokka and Katara stopped five metres away from Aang, who was standing on the edge of a cliff with a full view of the battlefield. Afraid of slipping, they approached cautiously. Meanwhile, Ty Lee and I landed nearby on Appa — we had to catch up and calm the beast, who was frightened by the explosions and huge rocks.
"I don't feel right again," Aang said quietly, turning his head away from Katara, who was hugging him. "This war... because of it, all I have left are my belongings, and even they will break over time. Now I regret that I forgot everything I was taught and just had fun. I'm the last one, but what legacy will I leave behind? If only I could go back and fix everything.
Katara glanced at Sokka, who was frowning seriously, pursed her lips, and simply hugged the little Avatar around the shoulders. Here they were, almost a family, hanging out together and closely connected by their emotions. Until now, Tai Lee and I had been outsiders to them, tagging along, with nothing in common except our knowledge of history. But if I did everything right...
"Aang," my voice immediately attracted everyone's attention. They looked at me seriously, as if my words carried weight. "No one can change the past or correct mistakes that have been made, but anyone can predict what misfortunes fate has in store for you in the near future and veer off course in time. And to do that, you need to learn either from your own mistakes or from those of others. My advice to you is to choose the latter.
Shmyg*
Aang rubbed his nose, looked at me intently and nodded quietly. Turning away from the cliff, he returned to Appa, accompanied by his friends. As soon as he sat down, Tai Li approached him and put the wind symbol necklace she had found in the cave around his neck.
"They're made just for you," Ty Lee smiled, showing him two fingers.
This definitely cheered him up, and he immediately hugged Katara and Sokka, with Tyra jumping on top of them. I remained sitting on the sidelines with a quiet smile, like the eldest brother. After thanking us and promising to try to remember everything he had been taught, we finally set off on our way. As a last glance, I glanced back at the battlefield and saw Zhao's drooling body being picked up by his soldiers, who were also seeing off our buffalo.
They were lucky that Aang didn't join the fight. I don't think I'll be able to hold him back next time.
***
After such an emotionally charged day, mud baths were just what we needed to fill our weary souls and lift the heavy burden from our shoulders. We found them in a small settlement not far from the mountain range we had just left. Without Appa, of course, the journey would have taken more than a day, as the altitude differences greatly affected the speed of the two-legged travellers, but upon arrival, we booked rooms at a hotel that offered mud baths. The rooms were quite small, so Katara and Ty Lee took a room together, while Sokka, Aang and I got our own.
"Open-air mud baths, I wonder how many girls there are?" With a sly smile, Sokka took off his clothes, showing off his small muscles and physique, which was impressive for a child from the cold lands.
"Shared? You mean we'll be with Katara? - Aang blushed, pulling off his robe and showing off his thin physique, without a muscle in sight - a model air nomad, the skinniest one there was.
"Well, I've already studied everything..." Taking off my baggy robe, which had been specially designed to hide my shape, I made the boys stare at me with their eyes wide open. Sure, I had dried out after the circus, training with Tai Lee and my diet, but that made my muscles stand out even more. And compared to the guys, who could only be described as dwarfs... "There were only old women here, a sea of old women, and they all smelled like them.
"How could we be so unlucky?!" Sokka opened his eyes wide.
"I'm sorry..." Turning away so as not to look him in the eye, he quickly changed into local swimming trunks, washed himself in the shower and headed for the healing mud baths. As I said, there were only old women here, and when they met us on the way, they all started whistling and throwing meaningful glances in our direction. However, I didn't really care, and Aang didn't care at all. He was embarrassed and could only think about the girl who had supported him. It's amazing how quickly people like him fall in love. But Sokka was genuinely suffering, yes... when he reached the baths — which were actually a natural pool fed by a geothermal spring — and saw that there wasn't a single young beauty there he could hit on, he slumped his shoulders, lost heart, and blended in with the mud. Momo sat on his head and started sniffing the mud.
"Oh, are you done too?" At that moment, Katara and T'Li appeared before us. The girls were wearing black swimsuits, and while T'Li just stood there and smiled at me, Katara covered her body, blushed, and literally caused Aang to freeze in place.
"Wow... Daggoth, you have a lot more scars than I originally thought," she said, seeing me in just shorts, her eyes widening and blinking.
"Shit happens," I shrugged, and seeing Aang trying not to flash, like a child who was about to be sent to bed, I grinned, took him by the shoulder, whispered something in his ear, and nudged him towards Katara.
"Um... um..." Almost bumping into her, stopping just a few inches from her slightly confused face, the Avatar, red as a tomato, began to take a deep breath. "Black suits you. I mean, any colour suits you, even this mess."
"Excuse me?
Well, it could have been worse. Sinking into the warm mud, feeling the heat rising from below, I stretched my lips into a smile. It was just right after a day of flying, and besides, the mud felt very good to my magic — raising my hand, I was able to pull up a small mound of earth. And even though I immediately lost control due to lack of practice, this element could be mine! Once dry, it would turn into clay or something similar, but the funniest thing was that I had to learn to control this very suspension. After all, what is the so-called healing spring made of? Clay, some mineral deposits, different types of rock, and water. Whether it really heals is a moot point and I have never tested it, but it seemed to have a beneficial effect on my mental state, and no one said that it couldn't heal in the hands of a magician.
Vong Katara, using only water and the slightest knowledge of qi, is able to accelerate the process of natural regeneration. I would like to believe that I can do the same, so, gathering my willpower, I began to slightly lift the pieces around me with my mind and play with them. The difficulty arose precisely because of the mixture with water, which made the element completely different from the same metal with just a few specks of earth mixed in. The movements of water mages were ideal for this, and I had to direct my qi as smoothly as if my own source of water was flowing inside me. But there were people who were getting in my way... Aang and the others started throwing mud at each other, and a lump hit me right in the face.
Looking up, I saw Tai Lee covered in mud, who was definitely calling me to play with her.
In any case, I still had a lot to practise, so I tried to relax and rest more. The old women around us just smiled at these games, even though Aang managed to splash them all. And me... well, no one could defeat the earthbender.
After a while, everyone naturally calmed down, and the heaviness disappeared from our bodies, as if we had really been lightly healed.
Finally, we gathered and headed to our rooms. Sokka and Aang washed themselves with difficulty and immediately fell into bed, but I... I just couldn't go to sleep at such an hour. I whispered something in Tai Lee's ear before we parted ways, then headed to my room, where I washed up, changed, and spent some time poring over papers and thinking up new ways to use mud that I could pass on to Afka.
Soon there was a quiet knock at the door, and the gymnast appeared in her red dress and familiar pigtails.
"You asked me to come in before you went to bed," she said with a sweet smile on her face.
"Yes. I've been thinking, it doesn't seem like you need that much moisture to start the healing process, so I can try to recreate the healing techniques even with my poor control... Ahem, what I mean is, would you mind if I got you a little dirty and tested my theory?
"Oh... that'll be fun.
========== 51 - Water or Dirt ==========
Vshuuuh*
A powerful pillar of flame rose into the night sky from the usual braziers, intensifying the crackling of the coals and then subsiding again. The fire swirled around a barely discernible figure in light fabric clothing, resembling a raging fire eager to break free, but each time the flames died down, as if by the will of a powerful being. This made the temperature around the man meditating surrounded by half a dozen braziers even more surprising, as it was hot enough to simply bake in — even he himself, reddening and sweating profusely, could barely stand. This made the scene even more astonishing when a girl, inconspicuous at first glance, entered the circle of stoves, wearing metal armour inserts: the heat did not reach her body in any way and, as if hitting a barrier, scattered to the sides.
"Are you learning to control the heat, General Shu? - The girl... or rather, the very young lady, stopped with her back straight, looking with a certain haughtiness at the very elderly, wise but completely sweaty face. Hearing the notes of arrogance and ingratiation, seeing that gaze reminiscent of a viper, many high-ranking military men would have prescribed her a healing slap on the back of the head, the particularly zealous might even have left a burn... but only if she were an ordinary little girl. The man kneeling on the floor merely nodded respectfully in response.
"Just a little. How is your father, Lady Azula?" The man showed no sign of rejection. Oza's offspring had been like that since childhood, and the image of a fiery beast had become so ingrained in people's minds that General Shu only smiled. The brief friendly conversation made it clear that there was no animosity between them: the adult man treated the girl as if she were his own granddaughter, whom he had never had, but that was exactly how he imagined her to be — as frightening as death itself, listening intently to all his stories of conquests in the Earth Kingdom, interested in strategy. What else could he say, when he had personally taught the young lady how to conquer territory?
However, she rarely came to chat. And General Shu didn't like that about her: if the girl wasn't coming for new knowledge, then with her characteristic toxicity, she would bring bad news:
"By the way, do you remember your student, Zhao? He proved the existence of the Avatar and pinpointed his location." Shu's face froze, his lips curving slightly into a smile. Zhao was one of the few soldiers who had served loyally in the past and then begun to rise through the ranks himself. It was difficult to underestimate him. Intelligent, loving to kill, and with enormous ambition, what more could a future commander want? And he had fulfilled the task of finding the Avatar? Pride instantly rose up, and the man stood up with his arms wide open. "So, he has gone mad and lost all signs of nobility. He has fallen as low as possible in the eyes of the aristocrats!
The next moment, the smile faded from the General's face. Shu was sure that if they were in the capital, the news would have been delivered in an even more cruel manner. It was terrifying to imagine how the old subordinate's family would have been humiliated and how these hawks would have torn his legacy to pieces.
Taking a deep breath, the man lowered his shoulders, quickly regaining control of his emotions.
"But he fulfilled his father's last wish and tracked down the Avatar, so you could say he went into well-deserved retirement. His family is in no danger," she said with a certain disappointment, putting her hands behind her head. "Nevertheless, now I am the one who wants to capture the Avatar alive and bring him to my Father — he has already done so much that he looks like dangerous prey. Unfortunately, since he can fight even the Admirals on equal terms, I will have to resort to some tricks...
"Zhao came up with some exceptional tricks, but he still lost...," the man said with a delay.
"He is a historian who relies on the experience of the past... I am a genius who invents everything new," - in the end, all modesty disappeared from the words of the noble person. And she did not exaggerate in the slightest. "So, could you help me and weaken our target a little?
After which she stretched out a devilish smile.
***
I can definitely say that the few days spent at the mud springs were not a waste of time. The whole group rested well and relieved the pressure that had been building up for a long time. Katara and Sokka were in such a place for the first time, and after the cold South Pole, they saw a completely new world that filled them with energy and inspiration for new heroic deeds.
Aang was able to relax and meditate to remember his heritage and, incidentally, he was quite good at restoring his memory. I don't know what kind of wonderful meditation technique this is, or maybe it's just that nomads are all able to structure information in their heads, but he was gaining knowledge of air magic that he hadn't used before and remembering various teachings. At first, I even thought he was lying to make himself look better in my eyes, but no — without doing anything, just remembering some things, he started to play Pai Sho better. That is, he literally remembered the rules, some moves and techniques that had been passed down among nomads for centuries. Either that, or he was communicating with his previous lives.
At least I had faith that he would remember something about the works of Laghima.
In addition to resting, of course, we also trained: Sokka, for example, did physical exercises every day and constantly asked me how I had built up such muscles. He tried to pretend that we were the only "real men" here, who had a lot in common - well, I didn't mind sharing some advice. Every time he saw someone else's magic, or was alone, he was filled with sadness that he was so weak and not a mage. The desire to become stronger filled his head, so I made him fight levitating swords and demanded that he be Ty Lee's sparring partner.
Most importantly, Katara finally began to show Aang the basics of her water magic, and I could even legally spy on all of this. In fact, it was the first time I had ever seen the water's surface obey, and the process was, it must be said, peaceful. Lifting a small bundle of water the size of a human head, Katara slowly poured it in different directions, spinning it around herself and mimicking the ebb and flow of the tide. As for Aang...
"Is that how it's done?
After a little practice and learning some basics, he was able to lift a lump of water of the same size and begin to manipulate it a little clumsily. I wasn't surprised that he could control all the elements, that was already a familiar fact, but how quickly he adapted and learned was shocking. His jerky and abrupt movements, after just a couple of tips from Katara, took on the right tone, and he got used to the stance very quickly.
"Well done, Aang.
Katara talked to him like a child, smiling and praising him for everything, and the bald boy was delighted. But she also felt a little envy, because this wasn't even his tenth training session, and he had already learned to control such volumes. It was unpleasant to realise this, as her own achievements seemed greatly diminished after such a display.
"Hey, Katara," he called her quietly, waving his hand. "He'll always be faster than us at everything," he said. I was literally standing next to them, copying their movements, only instead of water, I was controlling a slightly smaller lump of mud. It also flowed smoothly, stretching into streams and bubbling... only it looked extremely unpleasant and not at all aesthetic. But my movements were more refined than Katara's, and I could do crazier tricks.
"You're copying my style, even though you're an earth mage!
But for some reason, she was even more shocked than me, and she envied me even more. Oh, poor me, I'm the ugliest duckling there is.
"Maybe you should see whose magic is stronger? Water or dirt?" At that moment, Sokka, who was nearby, quickly drew our attention with his statement: "Well, Katara has stronger techniques but less refined movements, while Dagoth, in a way that is completely incomprehensible to me, has more experience but weaker techniques. No, seriously, Dagoth, HOW?!
"Well, I'm a sand mage," he said as if it were obvious. "Our movements are similar to those of mages from all nations, and I've learned a lot on my travels. But as for sparring... I'm not against it.
Focusing on Katara, he made her think seriously. Definitely, if it were a matter of me using only earth, she would have refused immediately: she's not stupid, she can see the difference. But if we're roughly on the same level, and we can learn a lot about water magic from the fight itself... Katara agreed quickly enough. And our companions immediately got excited: Sokka rubbed his hands together and immediately started taking bets, Aang excitedly bet his portion of dinner on Katara, and Ty Lee calmly bet her salad on me.
Needless to say, I wasn't controlling the mud in the mud springs, there was plenty of it right under our feet, in the river - so I surrounded myself with a couple of mud balls and looked closely at Katara, who was in a fighting stance.
"You know, it's a very stupid idea to fight a water mage while standing in water!" She raised her hands sharply, and the river immediately swelled, striking upwards in a fountain. The water shock was extremely unpleasant, the stun from it was extremely painful, but you had to really mess up your movements to create it. While she was raising her hands, transferring energy through her body, I was already using the mud under my feet as a source of acceleration. She simply pushed me forward, allowing me to avoid contact with the geyser, and then immediately threw a couple of mud spheres at her target.
Crack*
A wall of water quickly sprang up in front of the girl, freezing into extremely hard ice. My lumps just plopped and spread out, but the girl jumped out from behind the wall and, stamping her foot, began to freeze the surface of the river, encasing everything in it.
Clever, and most importantly, powerful — she clearly didn't expend much energy to change the aggregate state; it had become second nature to her. Sorry to disappoint:
Gathering a lump of dirt into a peculiar, rapidly spinning wheel that was easy to throw, he launched it parallel to the river, hitting the girl, who was not expecting such speed, and pinning her to the icy wall. As a result, the mud spread all over her body, getting everywhere it could.
"Ugh...," she began to spit and wipe her eyes. And I, having managed to get closer, poked her in the forehead. "Huh?"
Looking up at me hovering over her head, she blinked innocently.
"Magic can be given simple but powerful forms that will often outplay slow attacks. A wheel or a disc is a deadly classic. Remember, always beware of fast attacks, they are the main scourge of all mages.
"...I admit defeat," Katarocha nodded, exhaling. I couldn't help but admit that I was soaked through — if she had frozen me with that ice, I would have been in big trouble. But either she lacked experience or strength, while I needed more control over the mud. After all, if a disc is all I'm capable of, that's very bad. Returning to the shore and seeing Sokka calculating the bets, I touched the ground with my hand out of habit. "By the way, Dagoth... why do you always touch the ground? Is it some kind of special ritual for earth mages?
"Hm?" Turning around and realising that everyone was looking at my movement with some curiosity, I just smiled. "I'm just looking around."
Having provoked a whole series of questions with this answer, I could only come to terms with the fact that my senses were no longer working constantly. Only by touching something with a single point of chi could I use my seismic sensitivity normally, so I now had a new habit. And it was very good that it had developed so timely, because, holding my hand in one place, I suddenly felt something.
Movement. From the nearest forest.
"Someone's coming. A large group of soldiers," I glanced sharply at the trees and lowered the oppressive atmosphere. Sokka grabbed her boomerang in the blink of an eye, and the rest huddled together in one spot. Powerful vibrations made it clear that at least thirty people were moving towards us, trampling all the plants in their path with heavy footsteps.
A few seconds later, the trees in front of us began to shake. The bushes blocking our view rustled, and a whole squad of panting and extremely sweaty soldiers in green clothing and distinctive symbols of the earth mages poured out onto the clearing where we were resting.
"Hmm," they blinked at the sight of us. A few of them opened their eyes wide.
"I remember you!" The young man pointed at me and smiled. It was the guy who had let me escape and avoid the floating prison. "Hello!"
It was an old acquaintance of mine, a crystal mage, accompanied by the people I had rescued from the floating prison. What were they doing here? But most importantly... I had forgotten this guy's name again. Rakotan? Ricardo? Rick, I think... Ah, right!
"You again, Rak?
"I'm Roach! Have you forgotten me?