silver soul | avatar, the last air bender

chapter nine

"Lunge right," Master Jun said. Naia did just that, and to her surprise Master Jun swung his sword, knocked her sword out of her hand, and tapped her left side. "Dead."

Naia frowned. "But you said—"

"Doesn't matter. You're dead," Master Jun interrupted her.

"Only because you lied," Naia started to get defensive.

"My mouth said to lunge right. My eyes said something completely different," Master Jun explained. "You want to know the secret of being a great sword fighter? Always watch the eyes. The eyes look to where their target is before the arm strikes. Always predict where your opponent is going to hit next. That way, you have the upper hand.

Master Jun started to strike again, but this time he was a lot more unpredictable. It took Naia a while to realize that she needed to pay just as much attention to his eyes as his sword. She was caught off guard once again and she fell for the third time on her back. Naia let out a groan, starting to feel her muscles aching.

"Every hurt is a lesson," Master Jun said. "Up!" Naia gritted her teeth. Before she could even sit up, Master Jun was already trying to strike her. She blocked his hits and finally was offensive and took a stab at him. This caused him to jump backwards slightly, giving Naia time to spring up and attack once more. Master Jun leaned to his right to avoid her attack, but was shocked to see that Naia didn't fully extend her arm. She quickly retracted it and struck again, this time tapping him on the upper right shoulder.

A smile of amusement appeared on Master Jun's lips. "You're a quick learner, but you still need a lot of work. Now, let's start again."

☽

At the end of the day, Naia's muscles ached. Master Jun made her work hard, something she wasn't used to. As a princess, Naia would never have to subject herself to something as strenuous as sword fighting. However, she liked the change her in lifestyle. Working hard on something made her feel productive. It made her feel that Yue could be looking down on her, feeling proud. That was about the only thing at this time that kept Naia going.

The wounds from Yue's death were still quite fresh, but Naia usually grieved in private. She missed Yue so much, more than anything. The feeling to sadness was quite overwhelming. Naia rarely smiled or felt genuinely happy anymore. She couldn't even remember the last time she genuinely laughed or smiled. Now, Naia's face was constantly flat, almost as if she's forgotten how to be happy. Every time something happened during her day, she wished she could tell Yue like she used to do. It hurt her to know that she would have to wait to see her beautiful face and smile once again, until Naia's time came as well. This pain that she felt is what drove her to train hard, so that Naia would never let another one of her friends or family get hurt.

Seeing places other than the Northern Water Tribe was quite interesting to Naia. Obviously, her large parka was of no use to the climate in the Earth Kingdom. She saw sand for the first time when she landed at her first stop in the northern Earth Kingdom. She's explored places she's never read about. Up until a couple weeks ago, she had not left the Northern Water Tribe. Ever. In a small journal that she took from her room, she wrote entries and notes from each place she's visited. Since she's stayed in Gaoling for quite a while now, she wrote of the lessons Master Jun taught her during their training.

Naia could rarely get a good night of sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, Yue's lifeless face would appear. The way she felt when Naia cradled her dead body would come rushing back like a flood. Naia was utterly traumatized. Most nights she couldn't get her mind to stop racing, so she would stay up and train. Although she felt a dull ache in her arms, she took Master Pakku's scrolls and headed outside to practice. The moon loomed high in the sky, as night fell about four hours earlier. Although it wasn't her most ideal, Naia used the water found in the horse trough and began to do a few warm ups.