Chapter 105: The Northern Water Tribe (1)
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Nik was left alone in the igloo as he pondered over everything Aang said. The two soon left to take a breath of fresh and chilled air outside while he recalled Aang's words and found it quite reasonable.
'Waterbending, aside from a simple manipulation of water or blood in veins, can be used to heal others... And now Aang has an intuition to suspect that such sub-bending techniques are also true to Firebending and Earthbending but they are much too rare, like Lava Bending. So, the two methods are to research Earthbending and Firebending.
At the moment only Aang, Sokka... and countless spirits after Mokshi know that I can bend multiple elements. But... there is something greater hidden within this fusion. Aang can connect with his past life... he was quite thorough in his explanation of how he understood about Mokshi and Raava...
Spirit of Order Raava and Spirit of Chaos Vaatu, huh...'
Nik had his hands under his head as he silently closed his eyes. He wanted to try meditating again and tap into Mokshi's memories or something like that. There was a selfish wish for his stats to grow once again as he was beginning to feel how great of a boost it was to his 'mental' stat by 0.5 points, bringing it to a total of 2.4 points.
However, it would seem that even with all the boost in the world, no matter how much he focused on Mokshi's words, there needed to be an initiation from his 'other half', too, to have some semblance of communication with it.
Still, Nik didn't just give up. He didn't have anything else to do...
Except...
After some time passed, Nik finally recalled something he had stored temporarily for later inspection.
A dark, wooden mask appeared in Nik's hand as he brought it closer to his face for inspection.
The inner and the outer side was almost too smooth with only slight contours of the face visible and no specific indentions for the eyes, nose, and mouth. The tiny, adventurous side of his wanted to give in to the curiosity and try wearing the mask but as they say— Curiosity killed the cat. With not so great effort, reason managed to trump over the wonders of the unknown. Nik was now painfully made aware of how dangerous the spirits of this world can be.
Aside from the initial inspection, Nik found nothing noteworthy from this mask but Aang said that it was what Koh left before disappearing. Thinking about various things Koh was capable of achieving... Nik was now leaning towards just burying the mask somewhere or setting it on fire but even that didn't feel right in the end...
'My first... lucky victory,' Nik realized the importance that the mask held.
A trophy if nothing else.
Putting away the mask once again, Nik decided to try looking into it only after he had fully recovered and gotten stronger. More so than now. This world already gave him one such opportunity in the form of Mokshi and Nik simply didn't want to miss out on it because of accompanying troubles.
With nothing more to do, Nik closed his eyes and began to rest once again. His thoughts drifted into a welcomed nap as he skipped a better half of the day.
---
"Good to see you up and running, child," Hama was the first to chuckle at her own joke followed by a snicker from Nik as he walked using two ice poles under his pits.
"Your teachings tend to keep people alive," Nik replied as he leaned against the surface of the igloo instead of taking a seat. Seeing this, out of the three other individuals present, Pakku waterbent and formed an icy chair on which Yoki promptly placed a rug and helped Nik sit down as the youth grunted in obvious pain while trying to keep his left leg straight.
Only Hama, Pakku, Yoki, and Nik were present at the moment.
"Aang told us that he only has some idea on how to heal your leg but before that, many things indicate that he first master the other elements," Pakku began, "So, you must have patience, Nik. However, I feel that pinning all our hopes on Aang is just... not the honorable thing to do. We have discussed a few things that we would like you to know."
"First thing," Yoki began as he found Pakku giving him the signal with his eyes, "We would like to regroup with those who are still willing to overthrow Hahn because of his cowardice and traitorous actions during the war. But we can only send a few individuals at best who have varying levels of expertise that stand out compared to the rest.
And the second thing is that even if Aang said that he may be able to heal you, we believe that there may also be hope within the Northern Tribe. Our tribe is a pool of culture and legends. Rena being able to think of the menacing Face Stealer Koh because of her ancestry is one such example. It is only right to try and find a method in the tribe."
Nik nodded. They were right. In reality, Nik never pinned his hopes on Aang. He knew better than that through firsthand experience. And if there is a chance that the water tribe may hold some method to heal his knee, Nik wanted to give it a shot.
"So, am I being moved to the Tribe?" Nik inquired finally as Hama nodded.
"Exactly. But not only you. Right now, we have two waterbending masters— Pakku and I. Of the two of us, Pakku is the one with a reputation within the Northern Tribe and he will accompany you. However, his tasks may not allow him to give you the same level of attention I did while teaching you and Katara."
"You will be teaching me?" Nik blinked in surprise. If Hama stood out with her bloodbending, Pakku stood out using his experience in waterbending and sheer focus in the art and supposed spirituality.
"Not only you," Pakku smiled, "Katara, too. Your friend Suki will come along, too, because of your companionship. Of all the waterbenders, only you and Katara were talented enough to learn Hama's true secret technique and I would like to further your foundation. I've heard that you are troubled with healing practice, right? We'll see to it that it's not a problem anymore."
Nik nodded, not minding now at all. After all, he gets to learn from another master's perspective and enjoy more time with Katara and Suki!
"But what about you?" Nik looked at Hama as she cackled, "I will stay here. It would be hard not to attack firebenders if I see one otherwise. Not to mention that I get to teach the Avatar... keke, let's see the things he can pull with my technique!"
A moment of grave concern flashed through Pakku's eyes but he let go at the moment and sighed, "There is someone else who agreed to come along."
"Oh? Is it Sokka?" Nik inquired.
"No, he decided to stay here. There are a lot of waterbenders, not to mention, war-hardened men and women who can help him get stronger. He already has the techniques, now, he just needs to spar constantly. It's someone else. A master of their profession, if I might add."
Nik grew dazed for a moment as he rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on!"
"Don't worry, she didn't stab you when you were unconscious, she probably won't do it now either... but why did she attack you the first time? Did you break the girl's heart for Suki... and ehm—" A sharp glare from Pakku caused Yoki to grow silent while Hama snorted a chuckle, "I was a heartbreaker back in my day, it's only natural that my student will be one, too!"
"A wrinkly bitch like you a heartbreaker?" Yoki crossed his bulky arms and taunted.
"Full moon, boy. I'm going to teach the Avatar with you as the test subject." Hama scoffed as Yoki instantly deflated.
The mighty commander of the waterbender simply didn't try to go against the two masters.
"So? This is our course of action, at least, a rough plan of it. Are you willing to join me and sneak into the Tribe?" Pakku inquired as Nik fell silent for a minute. Considering all his options once again, Nik nodded in agreement.
---
Although it was hard, Nik, Sokka, and Aang did manage to sleep in the same igloo once they were done eating and chatting idly. However, curious about where he came from, Nik had to avoid Sokka's and Aang's inquiries for the most part.
Just because they happened to come across this fact didn't mean that Nik had to unload everything on them. In fact, his life in his homeworld wasn't all too awe-inspiring since Nik wasn't able to know everything about it in a single week not to mention he didn't even have a stable base in his homeworld. Compared to that, right now, he at least had a group where he could belong to.
The next morning, Nik found Sokka and Aang already awake. The two were more than happy to take this time off as rest given that they had gone through a traumatic experience but...
"So, if you could airbend a boomerang, that technique will be simply unbeatable, " Sokka concluded as Aang giggled, "That's so stupid."
"It's not! Think," Sokka poked Aang's forehead, "You throw a boomerang that doesn't hit but airbend it and boom!-erang— it hits!"
"He's got a point," Nik tried sitting up while adding, "If you're up against a senseless grunt." Nik had some other word in his mind but seeing that Aang was well... not used to hearing vulgar words, Nik went for the rhyming word grunt.
"Look who's up," Sokka looked towards Nik, "It's a perfectly viable way to fight, you know. Because it is unexpected."
Nik shrugged, unwilling to enter into a debate why using fans was better than boomerang first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, Aang took out a rolled-up bundle of thick paper from under his training habit and grinned, "Here. These are what I could write and immediately remember about airbending. At least, it has almost all the basic training methods."
"Huh?" Stunned, Nik took the papers from Aang's hand and skimmed through them as he looked up with an obvious question in his mind.
"Didn't I just tell you? What do you think is more dangerous and unexpected to the Phoenix King than one Avatar?" Sokka had a despicable grin on his face as Aang quickly added—
"Two Avatars!"
"But I'm not the Avatar," Nik reminded.
"You can control four elements. That's good enough," Sokka coughed, "I helped Aang write it down but my writing can get a bit iffy. Ask Katara whatever you wouldn't understand, she knows my way of writing the best."
Nik smiled slightly and nodded, "Thanks, but I would only start airbending once I'm sure that I have had enough practice related to waterbending... although, it will be significantly hard to train with others from now on. Here, I've completely read this."
Nik took out a thin booklet from his personal space and handed it to Aang. It was the boy's turn to be surprised.
This was none other than the Firebending Basic Manual that Nik had found during their voyage.
"This..." Aang grew silent for a moment.
"Didn't you say firebending is one of the techniques that have crucial hints in getting myself healed? If I'm being selfish about it... I want to recover. While I'm going to try and find a method in the Northern Tribe, help me out by mastering the elements quicker. That way, I can learn things from you directly," Nik smiled.
"Well... I've never taught anyone..." Aang scratched his head with an embarrassed smile.
"Let this be the start then," Nik waved the papers Aang had prepared with Sokka as the boy nodded with a gleeful smile.
"And do keep this between us three... I don't want to get more hunted than I already am," Nik chuckled.
"You just jinxed yourself," Sokka pursed his lips as Nik rolled his eyes.
"And... our spar will be postponed until you heal, huh," Sokka glanced at Nik's bandaged leg with sadness flashing across his expression only for a second, "Of course, by that time, I would be an even better warrior."
"We'll see." Inspired by Bumi, Nik suddenly waterbent an ice crutch for his left leg. A little relieved, Nik looked at the duo, "Are you two coming out?"
"Yeah, we were just waiting for you to wake up so that Aang could hand you the training methods," Sokka stood up alongside Aang as they walked out.
"Although, I can't believe we will finally be rid of Mai... thank god," Sokka muttered.
"Thank the spirits indeed," Aang sucked in a breath of cold air, "Tom-Tom and I can finally play... all he did was get forced into training with her before."
"I think that's sweet," Nik replied, "At least, Tom will be able to keep up... it's simply better to be prepared than let the situation itself decide the consequences."
"You're only saying this because you don't know her," Sokka scoffed with a dark expression touching his face.
Nik still kept to his opinion. Even if he didn't have any siblings, he had known individuals his age that went through the same thing as him and understood that some people can be a bit odd or even rude while still possessing a rather soft side secretly.
---
"All of these?"
Tom-Tom gaped in shock as Mai continued to move around him. He could feel her hands expertly moving over his wrists as she buckled up the guard and stated, "The cold will cause the notches to jam up so be sure to not force the locks but rub them for a few seconds instead.
She then bent down and strapped all of her knives around Tom's hands and legs while adding, "I will be keeping a count of inventory. Next time we meet, if any needle or blade is lost, I will force you back to Mom."
Tom nodded in a hurry but couldn't help inquire, "What would you use?"
"Anything that I can find. Aren't I traveling with two waterbenders? They can fashion something for me."
"I thought there were three waterbenders. Old Man Pakku, Katara, and Nik." Tom-Tom tilted his head curiously.
"That cowar...— That cripple?" Mai scoffed, changing her opinion of Nik but he wouldn't be sure if it was better should he hear it.
"Well, he can still waterbend, right?" Tom-Tom shrugged.
"Whatever." Brushing past the topic, Mai looked at Tom-Tom intently. Her tawny eyes held indescribable emotions that even Tom-Tom couldn't understand. Seeing his clueless expression, her lips quirked up just by a tiny bit, "Stay safe... and train constantly until you can hit 50 bullseyes in a row."
Not waiting for a reply, Mai turned around but just before she could walk out, her body stiffened momentarily as Tom-Tom was quick to hug her from behind and bury his face in her back, "Mai... you, too."
"I can hit 100 bullseyes without even looking," Mai scoffed and shoved Tom-Tom away as he groaned, "No, that's not what I meant..." Blushing and feeling a little embarrassed, he finally blurted, "You, too... stay safe or I'm telling mom!"
Mai looked at her brother until he began to feel fear once again grip his heart. Expecting a sudden strike in the form of training, he prepared himself but nothing could have prepared him for the scare of his life.
"Go ahead, tell mom. To just let you know... your bottoms will be red when you return."
Tom-Tom: "?!"
Expertly hiding her joy under the mask of indifference as she saw the troubled expression of her brother's and feeling quite gratified by his concern even after what she put him through, Mai readied herself to settle a score she wanted to be done for quite some time now as it strangely made her feel troubled constantly.
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