Violent Delights, ATLA

chapter twenty one, the world is a scale

21
THE WORLD IS A SCALE

PICTURE THE WORLD AS A scale.

On one side are the immortal spirits, half brightened with goodness and half tainted evil full of darkness. On the other side are the mortal humans, capable of committing the deadly sins and weighing them beside their pure virtues. For years they have lived separately from one another, interwoven in an era of peace. Balance is the key. Hence the Avatar being the bridge between the two worlds.

Sometimes, the spirits slip through. Mostly the wicked ones who intend to wreak havoc onto humans. Where there exists light there exists dark. In the early eras, they rampaged the lands and obscured the divinities. Coaxing sinful words in the ears of mortals and laughing gleefully as they destroyed each other. Only the Avatar was capable enough to rid of them and restore peace again.

Although spirits weren't the only ones to blame — humans were just as guilty for desiring to tip the scales in their favour. Take the extremists from the Earth Kingdom who yearn to kill the vessel of the sun spirit and therefore, harm the sun spirit himself as an example.

San and Zuko hadn't had a good meal in days but fortunately for them, they passed by a wealthy man in a carriage and from where he departed was a seemingly well-off village.

"We should split up." Zuko decided, pulling the ostrich horse to a halt. "I take the man's riches and you go into the village to see if you can find dinner."

"Sure." She agreed nonchalantly as he lent her the ostrich horse. "But you better not run off with all the money."

"Tempting. Without you, I'd be inclined to have less migraines."

"Without me, you'd be half dead in the middle of the woods." At her playful retort, Zuko shook his head and turned his back, already running off to catch up to the wealthy man and steal his goods. San saw it as her cue to travel to the village.

The journey was short and no one spared her a glance, busy indulging themselves in their personal schedules. The cold breeze bellowed through the streets, the moon high up in the heavens as its soft light illuminated the land below. In spite of the tranquility it radiated, an ominous feeling stirred in her gut. Nonetheless, San dug her hand into the back of her pocket and pulled out a couple of yuans. Just barely enough for two bowls of soup.

'It'll do.'

When she was about to leave, she spotted a kid covered from head-to-toe in cinders being reprimanded harshly by a bulky vendor. It was another futile attempt to take food on the kid's part. San overheard the conversation but pretended not to. She couldn't afford to help people other than herself and Zuko right now. But still- the kid appeared awfully malnourished and the vendor couldn't spare a single ounce of sympathy for his situation?

"Here." A bowl of soup was placed before him as he crouched in the corner of an alleyway. San caved in. She couldn't help it. Hope gleamed in the boy's eyes as he took the soup and feasted on it hungrily, though there still wasn't much to devour as it was merely plain soup.

"Thank you." He croaked out, sniffling in gratitude.

Her heart melted. When the boy's stomach grumbled, she insisted on giving him the other bowl of soup. Now, as she rode out of the village at a slow pace, she mentally reprimanded herself for giving in too easily.