Bohei looked over the side of the large ship; he could only see one other ship.
ㅤ"There's two other ships besides ours, right?" He asked, turning around and looking at his group of teachers and family.
ㅤ"Yes, they're filled with White Lotus soldiers, in case anything goes wrong." Qiu scratched his thick beard as he answered.
ㅤ"So you think we can't defend ourselves?" Bohei teased the older man, making him flustered and grumbling.
ㅤ"No, there's just certain things that could happen that'd prevent smooth passage.
Bohei nodded. He already understood what the man meant but decided to play dumb. It was something he did to annoy Qiu because, as Qiu puts it, 'he's smarter than the way he's acting, and Qiu doesn't know why he'd choose to act this way!' As strict as Qiu was on Bohei, he genuinely cared for the avatar.
ㅤ"I've never been to the ocean, let alone had this much access to water." Bohei stands on the side of the ship, staring down at the water. "I wonder how much of this I could bend."
ㅤYouta closed his eyes. "You'll be able to test it once we're in the Fire Nation," he answered.
ㅤ"Or..." Bohei started," I can test it now." Bohei fell forward, flipping as his body hit the water.
Jin and Chonglin were the first ones standing; they glared at each other, and Chonglin began flying, jumping off of the side of the boat while Jin looked over the side of it. "Oh my spirits!" Jin yelled, staring at Bohei, keeping himself in the air, and following the ship with his arms crossed. Everyone had rushed over to see if Bohei was actually in any danger, and they stared down at him. Bohei launches the water spout into the air, surpassing anything Chonglin had seen before, and he had seen all of the buildings Republic City had to offer. "Amazing..." He whispered to himself. Bohei giggled to himself as Chonglin floated up to him. Bohei sank in his water spout, beginning to move it with the ship, diving over the ship. The water spout began to wrap around the ship as if it were a snake coiling around its prey. His body finally revealed itself, and he was laughing. "I've never had this much restricted access to water!"
ㅤGenji scratched his chin. "Has Bohei always been this powerful?" He looked at the boy move the spout off of the boat, similar to a snake unraveling itself from prey.
ㅤ"You think he's powerful? You should see Chonglin; they're quite equal to each other in their own respective elements." Meihua affirmed.
ㅤDawa nodded. "Mhm," he hummed, agreeing.
They looked up to see Chonglin grabbing Bohei in a sphere of air and then shooting him out in a makeshift catapult. Bohei went flying; he went into a diving position, causing the water to shoot up and encase him, allowing him to quickly rush back to Chonglin in a large waterspout. They continued this in various directions, with Bohei's waterspouts becoming large enough to rock the ships.
ㅤ"They really are brothers." Qiu glares at the two playing and looks at Meihua. "Didn't you say you adopted Chonglin?" He raised an eyebrow, and she nodded.
ㅤ"I did. Those two are not brothers biologically." Qiu listened as Meihua continued, "They're so deeply connected in a way that surpasses the physical one. It's like their spirits are tied together. They can feel when the other is in danger or where the other is. Chonglin knows he can throw Bohei like this because if Bohei was in any real danger, he'd know."
Chonglin drops onto the water, wrapping around himself, allowing him to skate across the water at speeds similar to a jetski. He quickly passed the ship in speed. "Why didn't they just go themselves?" Youta chuckled, looking over the ledge and watching the two brothers play. Jin crossed his arms and pouted; he was jealous that he didn't have a way to join them in the playing. He then noticed Bohei... running on water? He was confused but wasn't sure how to ask without offending a waterbender.
Jin thought for a bit, "That's a cool trick, Bohei; how do you do it?"
ㅤBohei skipped along the water and said, "Oh, it's really simple, actually. I freeze the water right before I step on it, but only in the shape of my foot, then melt it as I get off of it, so it looks like I'm walking on water. It's like how I duststep. Mom taught it to me." he explained.
ㅤJin looked at the older woman with wide eyes, then he remembered that Meihua was a champion probender for a reason, and he wondered if she could do the same.
ㅤ"Oh, please, I barely fight anymore; I don't fight anymore; I just heal." Meihua waved him off, seeming to know his question before he asked it.
ㅤ"What else has she taught you?" Jin yelled over the ledge.
Bohei and Chonglin jumped back onto the ship. Bohei explained that Meihua taught Chonglin how to manipulate the temperature of his airbending, allowing him to cool an area or heat it up if it was needed. Bohei then wanted to show off a trick Meihua taught him. He inhaled, putting his arms down and then beginning to move them, similar to waves. A geyser of steam shot into the air, covering all three ships in fog. The White Lotus members on the other ships began to panic. Bohei bent his arms in a circular motion, causing the water in the fog to clump up and then freeze, surrounding all three ships in small, needle-like ice spikes. The shocked and terrified White Lotus members started attempting to force the ice into water through waterbending and melt it using firebending, but to no avail. The ice liquified, and Bohei coughed.
ㅤ"That took a lot out of me." He cleared his throat, and Jin looked at him starry-eyed.
ㅤ"Can Ms. Meihua do that too?" Jin looked at the older woman again and noticed she wasn't paying attention, sipping tea with Youta.
ㅤ"She could probably do more than me; I'm still getting used to doing that." Bohei waved his arms around. "Remember, first time being near this much water. I've done water spouts before, but something that big, I've never tried."
It had been a few moments; everyone was resting, with Jin and Bohei playing 'Balance', a form of rock paper scissors using the avatar cycle. Jin played fire, and Bohei put his hand up as if he were karate-chopping someone.
ㅤ"What element is that?"
ㅤ"Blood! I win!" Bohei cheered for himself.
ㅤ"That's not fair; blood isn't an element."
ㅤ"I won fair and square!"
ㅤ"Ms. Meihua, tell him that he can't use bloodbending in Balance."
ㅤChonglin stepped in and said, "Don't be a snitch."
ㅤ"No one was talking to you, airhead!" Jin groaned.
ㅤ"Don't be mean to Chonglin." Bohei defended his brother.
ㅤ"Yeah, don't be mean to me, rock head." Chonglin stuck his tongue out at Jin.
ㅤJin gasped, "Oh, you're gonna get it." He rolled his sleeves up.
ㅤ"I'm not gonna let you fight my brother." Bohei stepped between Jin and Chonglin.
Meihua walked over, stared at the group of boys, and they immediately started being friendly once again. Meihua explained that bloodbending is fair, and all of the specialized bending techniques are allowed in Balance.
ㅤ"Fine, I have a new game." Jin digs in his pocket and pulls out a pebble. "Whoever pulls the pebble to them first wins."
ㅤBohei smirked, "Challenge accepted."
ㅤJin flicked the pebble to sit in between them, "I'll count down." Chonglin asserted, "On three."
ㅤ"One." Jin looks into Bohei's eyes and notices he's staring at his chest rather than his eyes.
ㅤ"Two." Both of them start staring at the pebble.
ㅤ"Three!"
The two boys immediately put their hands out, as if they're grabbing something, making the pebble begin to shake and lift, floating in the air as it strained in the grip of the two powerful benders. The difference is obvious: Jin's grip is stronger but more relaxed, while Bohei is putting much more effort into keeping the pebble in his power. Minutes pass of the pebble being stagnant. "Okay, I'll get serious." Jin increases his effort, and the pebble starts moving towards him, forcing Bohei to put his other hand out in an attempt to pull the pebble back to himself. Jin made his hand into a fist that faced upwards, and he began to pull it down so that it was resting at his waist. "Hey Bohei." This made Bohei look up into Jin's eyes, shocking him and weakening his grip enough for Jin to fully pull the pebble to his side.
ㅤ"Yeah! I won; I'm the strongest earthbender on this ship!" The teachers clapped for Jin as he rallied.
ㅤ"That's not fair; I got distracted!" The waterbender protested.
ㅤYouta smirked and looked at Dawa. "Yeah? Distracted by what?"
ㅤThis flustered the avatar, creating a surge of heat that hit Jin and Chonglin. "Nothing... I have to meet Avatar Aden anyway." Bohei turned his head away and 'hmph'd
ㅤ"Avatar Aden?" Dawa interrogated.
ㅤ"Yes, he said he had very important information to tell me." Bohei walks over to the ledge and sits down. "Chonglin, soundproof, please."
Chonglin nods, a sphere of air forming above his hand and moving over to Bohei and expanding, putting Bohei in a sphere of deafness. He watches as Bohei shuts his eyes.
Bohei's eyes opened, but he wasn't standing in the black ocean void like usual; instead, he was in a grassy plain on a shaking earth. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around, trying to make his way to the source of the tremors and falls. "We're watching a memory of mine." Aden appears beside him, lifting Bohei to his feet. Aden was fighting a firebending humanoid spirit in the avatar state; his eyes were glowing orange. Aden threw a punch of fire at the spirit and jumped in the air, doing a spinning side kick and causing a slice of air to cut through the fireball, cutting him horizontally. The spirit jumped up to avoid all three attacks. Aden did an uppercut, making the top half of the split fireball shoot up, forcing the spirit to get hit. The spirit flew back from the burst of fire and force. It inhaled, breathing fire down at Aden, but Aden took a stance; it was an earthbending one. He bended three walls up around the spirit, trapping it in a U-shaped blockade. He watched the fire get closer and switched to a waterbending stance, bending the fire around him and then pushing it back at the spirit. The spirit jumped up but hit its head on the roof of the shape that had just been made. It was forced to get hit by the fire. The spirit seemed mostly unaffected, but as the explosion settled, Aden was right behind it, flipping and launching a vortex of fire so powerful that it caused all the walls bended up to crack and fall down on the spirit, crushing it.
ㅤ"Is that what you wanted me to see? You beating a spirit?"
ㅤ"Obviously not; I was toying with that thing until the end; the fact that you don't realize it makes me lose faith in you."
ㅤ"I didn't know my past life was a bitch." Bohei rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
ㅤ"Pay attention, Waterbender."
In the flashback, Aden opens his mouth, roaring. The roar was cut off by a purple and dark red tendrill shooting out of Aden's mouth. "I can finally be free of you, Raava!" The tendrils seemed to be releasing a voice. More continued to come out as the thing attempted to crawl out of Aden's mouth. "You will not!" Aden spoke as his eyes switched from orange to white, and white and blue tendrils shot up, wrapping around the red and purple being and pulling it back down.
ㅤ"What the hell is that? Is that an avatar thing? Do I have a fucking octopus in my throat?" Bohei began to panic.
ㅤ"It's more like a kite, and yes." Aden nodded. "You said you recalled the stories of Wan and Raava and Korra and Raava. That means you know that when Vaatu is destroyed, he re-emerges through Raava. Korra destroyed Vaatu, meaning he'd reemerge in the avatar."
ㅤ"Right." Bohei nodded, understanding.
ㅤ"After the avatar before me, Avatar Son, was killed publicly, when I was born, Vaatu started to grow faster. When I first activated the avatar state, he had fully emerged."
ㅤ"So, just by killing the avatars publicly, so much chaos had grown to the point Vaatu grew from what should've taken ten thousand years... to less than sixty?" Bohei looked at his chest and hands, then at Aden.
ㅤ"Well... yes!" Aden answered honestly, "There's something that isn't growing on with the spirit world, which has also influenced this. Within you, Raava and Vaatu are fighting; they're releasing bursts of power that allow you to be substantially more powerful than those around you, but they also weaken you heavily. If you attempted to enter the avatar state, you'd likely die." Aden continued, "Or you'd have the power of both. With me, I was able to stabilize my spirit before it was damaged by their fighting; it allowed me to switch between them, deciding who I'd channel power from. You do not get this option; they've already damaged your chi and spirit."
ㅤBohei groaned, "This stuff always happens to me, so I have to hope that the two angry kites in my body stop fighting so my spirit doesn't just... what? Evaporate?"
ㅤ"They're destined to fight to bring an age of peace or chaos. This doesn't apply to you; you are the perfect balance of chaos and peace. If anyone could balance them out, it'd be you. I mean, look at the people you surround yourself with; your brother embodies peace, and that boy who likes you embodies chaos. But your brother sees peace through aggression, and that boy sees chaos through joy. Everyone around you is predominantly chaotic or peaceful."
ㅤ"Wait, so what if I enter the avatar state?" Bohei quizzed.
ㅤ"Simple, don't until you know that you won't die."
ㅤ"What if it's one of those moments where I can't control it?"
ㅤ"Don't let it be one of those moments." Aden began to fade.
ㅤ"Thanks, that was so helpful, you bald freak!"
"And then he has the audacity to say, 'Just hope it doesn't' How the hell do I just hope that the avatar state doesn't turn on?" The air around Bohei rippled with the intensity of the heat he was emitting. He started pacing in front of the table everyone, excluding Qiu, was sitting at, leaving scorch marks on the ground.
ㅤ"That's very interesting, Bohei." Dawa states, looking at Meihua and talking to her while Youta makes tea.
ㅤ"So, you're all just glazing over the fact that there's a war going on in my spirit? Chest? Whatever, and I could die if I activate the avatar state?" There was silence, and Bohei released a burst of heat with a huff.
ㅤYouta walked back over to Bohei, "Hold your hands out." Bohei did as instructed, and Youta placed the kettle in his hands, using him as a stove.
ㅤ"Really?"
ㅤ"How else was I going to heat the kettle?" Youta defended himself.
ㅤ"The stove... or yourself."
ㅤ"Both take too much energy; you're already using energy."
This upset Bohei more, causing the heat he was giving off to increase, forcing those around him, even the airbenders, to sweat.
ㅤ"I think what Avatar Aden says is the truth." Jin commented, placing his chin on the table.
ㅤThe heat Bohei emitted calmed slightly as someone finally acknowledged him. Chonglin noticed and glared at Jin. "What would you know? Have you even meditated into the spirit world?"
ㅤ"Why would me meditating in the spirit world matter?"
ㅤ"Opinions from a person who hasn't entered the spirit world about spiritual matters are unneeded."
ㅤ"Oh, because you've meditated into the spirit world? Because you're the avatar, and you know what's going on?" Jin argued
ㅤ"No, but I am the avatar's brother; I think I'd know what was best for my brother."
ㅤ"I'll let you win; we agreed not to argue in front of Bohei."
ㅤ"Let me win. I was alread-"
ㅤBohei cut Chonglin off. "What do you mean you agreed to not argue in front of me? Have you two been arguing in secret?" This caused a burst of heat, hotter than previously, to release from Bohei's body.
Youta grabs the kettle from Bohei's hands, pouring him a cup of tea and instructing him to drink it. He does as told, and the heat in the room vanishes. Everyone sighed in relief, allowing them to question what the tea was. Youta explains that the tea was made from chamomile and haxelberries, a type of berry that calms chi and soothes the mind.
The sun had set long ago; it had been hours since the group drank their tea, and everyone was preparing for bed. Everyone except Bohei. Bohei looked over the ledge. He knew that the faster they got to the Fire Nation, the faster he could fight the Fire Princess. He trailed his hand along the ledge as he walked to the stern. He looked over the ledge of the stern, staring into the ocean and the nearly full moon. He felt a tingle in the air currents, the heat around him, and the vibrations in the ground. He made his hand into a fist, and a rainbow fire appeared over his hand. He turned, prepared to attack.
ㅤ"Oh!" Bohei exclaimed. It was Qiu walking down from the control room. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
ㅤ"I can say the same about you, Avatar." Qiu had a slight tone in his voice that Bohei couldn't pick out.
ㅤ"What were you doing with the captain?" Bohei interrogated and scowled at the man suspiciously.
ㅤ"Oh, the captain and I heard some noise on the radio and were trying to hear it better. We thought it was an SOS, but it wasn't." Qiu chuckled; it was dark—nothing unusual for him, though. "What about you?"
ㅤ"I'm just looking at the ocean and moon, taking in the first time I've been on the ocean."
ㅤQiu nodded. "I get it. Just don't stay up too late now."
ㅤBohei nodded. "I won't; I'll sleep soon." Qiu nodded to him in response to his nod and walked off.
Bohei used his seismic sense to make sure that Qiu was actually gone. He decided he'd take the traveling into his own hands. Bohei inhales, lifting his arms slowly. A wave began to form in the distance, slowly rising. Bohei pushed his hands out and then pulled them back. He remembered the basics of waterbending, pushing, and pulling with the tides. He repeated pushing and pulling, making the wave grow in size. He lifted his left hand, turning, similar to an arabesque in ballet. He lifted his other arm and slowly pulled them down, pushing them forward and causing the wave to begin to move forward. The wave was powerful and fast enough to push all three ships forward. Satisfied, he walked downstairs and entered his room. Going to sleep.