The Honeymoon Trips
Chapter 11
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

The list of characters mentioned in this story belong to the various authors that created them. This is a fan-fiction story.

~~~000~~~

In the underground cave within the Northern Water Tribe domain are the two spirits of the water world, Ocean and Moon. They sense new arrivals have come to their world. They enter the spirit realm to confirm with the red and blue dragons.

“Ran, Ocean and I feel a group of new kindred spirits here. Do you know anything about it?”

“We do, Moon. It is the Omega Unicorn Dragon. He and his family are here to learn the element bending techniques.”

“He is a human that the Creator has chosen. He will represent the animals at the Ultimate Last Battle, on their world.”

“What is their spirit connection to us, Shaw?”

“He has within him the power of twelve unicorns. His life was changed on the planet Twainor. He also has a drop of Eingana’s blood, our Great Mother. Our Great Father, Leviathan breathed upon him to complete the dragon aspect within himself.”

“What level is he?”

“He has earned the first of ten black sashes that will lead to the title of Shaolin Dragon Master on his world.”

“We welcomed him when he visited us in the spirit realm two nights ago. He is honorable and trustworthy. He and his family we’ll be arriving at your location tomorrow to learn the water bending technique.”

“That takes several years to get it right. But it is not unheard of if one is gifted to learn it in several months. We know of several leaders in the Northern Water Tribe that will object to his arrival. He will have to prove himself to them.”

“We expect nothing less, Moon.”

“Very well, we trust your judgement. We just hope he never encounters the faceless one, Koh.”

“We hope so, too, Ocean. But, if the Omega Unicorn Dragon becomes strong enough, he might be the one to force him to give up the faces he has stolen.”

“If that happens, then the faceless one will finally be weak enough to be dealt with once and for all. But Kuruk is still on his mind.”

“We can only hope, Ran. We’ll keep this conversation just between us. To think, we have someone whom we can finally speak to, mind to mind. Heh, heh, heh . . . ”

They all look at each other with smiles and nod their heads up and down. Then they all fade from each other’s presence in the spirit realm.

The two glowing koi fish, Tui and La, continue to swim in the Spirit Oasis pool underneath the Northern Water Tribe’s main city.

~~~000~~~

We wake up in the morning underneath the warm covers on our bed.

“I wish we could stay warm like this all day, Richard.”

“You can, Brianna. You can warm up your chi to keep yourself warm.”

“Hmm . . . I like that idea. I will think of you to keep my heart warmed up.”

“I will do the same as well, Brianna. That includes the rest of you, my fairies.”

“Yes, father, mother, Omega!”

“We’ll be traveling farther north today. We are entering their arctic circle region. It will be a lot colder there. I think we’ll be given some bigger and warmer coats to wear.”

“I hope so, Richard.”

We get out from underneath the covers and quickly change into our warmer clothes that we have brought. Then we put the gee clothes on. I can tell already it won’t be enough for up there. We put everything away into the satchels.

“How are you doing with the food I brought for you, my fairies?”

“We’ll definitely need a refill with the nuts and seeds, father.”

“Okay, let me refill the bag before we go.” I take out the bag of nuts and seeds. I hold it in my hand, palm upward. I concentrate on the storage bin in my apartment that is on the counter. I recite the spell to fill up the bag. The bag quickly gets refilled. I place the bag on the floor. I keep my palm upward, I concentrate on the plastic bottle that is filled with honey in the cupboard. I recite the spell and it appears in my hand in a blink of an eye.

“Thank you, father, mother, Omega! You’re the best. Now we can stay fully charged up.”

“You’re welcome, my fairies. All you have to do is warm it up with your chi or ours to make it pour easier.”

“Of course!” They all respond in one voice with big smiles on their faces.

I put their nut bag and honey container within another plastic bag into their satchel. We walk out of the room to the dining hall.

We gather around the table to eat our last meal here for the day. We see the same foods that were served up yesterday for the evening meal. My fairies take the honey container out of the plastic bag and unscrew the little cap on the tip. They squeeze some honey into each cup. Then they add some water to help drink it down. Then Shiri and Levi warm up the cups of honey water carefully and adds the nuts and fruits. They enjoy having a warm meal this morning. Once they get done eating, they put everything back into the satchel.

We get done eating and drinking in about half an hour. After the giving of the thanks to the Creator, Aang speaks up.

“The next phase this morning is for all of you. Every one of you can transform into another form. You will then use the air bending techniques that you learned yesterday and apply it. I suspect we’ll get some interesting results and a greater show of power.”

We get up from the table and walk back out to the training field.

“The first thing I will show you is two air bending tricks. I want to see if you can do the same.” Aang points to the ground with both of his hands. He spins the hands and arms quickly. All of a sudden a cloud of air appears underneath him and lifts him up several feet. He then quickly moves around the training field.

We have big smiles on our faces as he has some fun. Then he comes back and hovers in front of us.

“This is my air scooter. It allows me to move around quickly without tiring myself out, if I were to run on two feet. Now you try it.”

We do the same thing. All of sudden we all have an air scooter underneath us. We move about the training field quickly. We are giggling and laughing while we move about. We try to play a game of tag with the fairies. They are having a lot of fun as well. They now have a new tactic so they won’t get too tired on long flights. They can see this being used by King Oren’s fairy troop to get around quickly in the forest or when they fly north or south with the seasons.

After our little game of tag, we come back and hover in front of Aang. We then end the air scooter underneath us.

“I thought you would have some great fun with that. Now here is another trick. I am going to run up to that wall with the stone arch. I will use an air trick for my feet. It will allow me to run up the wall and run underneath the bottom part of the arch without falling down. This trick is especially useful if you are in a long hallway and you need to get to the other side if someone is blocking your escape.”

Aang quickly shakes his feet from side to side. Then he quickly runs up the wall and underneath the arch. He then runs up and down several more walls. Then he runs up to us and stop.

“If you didn’t see it. I shook my feet from side to side like this.”

We look down at his feet. We see him shaking his feet from side to side. Then we see some little air currents about his feet. We can tell because the grass is moving near his feet.

“I know you don’t need it, fairies. But it might help you fly closer to the wall if you need to.”

“Okay, Aang.”

We do the same thing that Aang did. Quickly we see little air movements around our feet. We run up to the wall and back down. Once we feel more confident with it, we run up the wall again with the arch. We find it an unusual sensation running upside down and not falling down. We do it several more times to get used to the disorientation. We then run up to Aang to get our breather.

“That was great, everyone. You did very good.”

“Aang, there is one thing you should now about me. Because I am like a unicorn. I can use the combined strength of the twelve unicorns within me to be stronger or faster. I know I can run faster than a normal human.”

“Hmm . . . that would make sense for you. That will be the same for Brianna as well. Okay, change into your alternate forms. Let’s do some air bending that we learned from yesterday.”

Brianna and I produce our feathered wings quickly. My fairies all quickly change into butterflies in little flashes of light.

“Okay, let’s do some wing slashes. You see those paper banners hanging down at the end of the field. See if you can cut small slices into the paper without shredding it up and falling to the ground. This is a lesson in control again.”

Aang turns around, he moves his arm to create a wing slash. It flies down the field and slices a small cut into the paper. “If you happen to shred it, we will hang up another banner.”

“I know you can do it, Richard. You learned it from the crane bird on our world. How am I going to do it?”

“You need to concentrate within yourself and look at your chi again, Brianna. Once you feel the confidence, then let it fly.”

“Okay.” Brianna looks within herself to find her chi. She fans it with her love for me and my love for her. Quickly, the chi builds up quickly within her. She opens her eyes and looks at the target. She swings her right arm in a side motion from right to left. The slice of air flies down the field at a very high rate of speed. The wing slashes slices the banner into two pieces. The lower half falls to the ground.

“You did it, Brianna!”

We all gather around Brianna to congratulate her.

“Thank you, thank you.”

“Okay, now you know what it takes, see if you can control it and make a smaller slice.”

“Okay, Aang.”

My fairies do the same thing. They quickly send down small wing slashes toward the banner. They create little slices of x’s in the paper. They are smiling widely; they can do it as well. Now they know they can help each other and the other fairies from King Oren’s troop. They will teach them how to do the impossible. If they should find any more fairies hidden around the world, they will teach them as well.

Brianna sees me do the same thing as well. Then she tries again with less energy and a smaller swing in the arms. Once she has it in her mind, she lets fly another wing slash from her arm and hand. This time the slice in the paper is a lot smaller. She smiles widely that she can do it.

After about fifteen minutes of that exercise, Aang speaks up again.

“That’s very good. Brianna and Richard now you need to do it with just your wings this time. Obviously, it is a lesson in self control. Even though you can create a wall of wind in front of you, now you need to focus on a smaller object.”

Brianna and I respond together in one voice, “Yes, Aang.”

I turn around and face the open space behind us. I try to flap my wings horizontally. Once I get the motion understood, Brianna tries it as well. She tries to repeat the motions as well. The motion is when the wings are behind us. Then we turn the wings slightly forward and down. Then we let the curvature of the wings swing forward to create an arc. Then the wings are folded and moved behind us. Once we get the motion memorized, we turn to face the targets.

“Croin, are we doing this right way?”

Croin flies out of me and faces us.

“You are, Richard. It is like doing a hovering technique to brake the speed, but the movement is now more forward. There is also a balance with the body as well.”

“Okay, Croin.”

Brianna watches me first to see how I do it. After a couple of practice swings, I look within myself and find that chi. Once I feel confident enough, I look at the target. I swing my right wing in the horizontal position. A slice of air current flies toward the paper banner. It slices a foot long slice in the paper.

“All right! You did it! You saw how he did it Brianna. It’s your turn.”

“Okay, Aang.” Brianna tries this time in not closing her eyes. She looks within herself to find the chi again. Once she finds it, she fills herself up my love for her and from my fairies. Once she feels she is confident, she looks at the target. She does the same wing motion as I did . A slice of air current flies toward the paper banner. A foot long slice appears over mine to form an ‘x’.

“All right! You did it, Brianna! Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Aang.”

“Now you need to try it while hovering and moving in the air. Obviously, you are using your wings to stay in the air. You’ll be using your arms and hands this time. During one of the flights, fly by it and see if you can slice the paper from your wings. I know your fairies can do it really easily.”

Brianna and I use our feathered wings to lift us up in the air. We hover above the ground. We then start to realize what we need to do. We are trying to do two things at once, hovering and fighting at the same time.

While I’m hovering, I concentrate on the paper banner. I do two arm slashes at the target at the same time. I see the air slices fly above the banner. I focus again. I look within myself for that extra energy, my chi, and remembering what I did in using the stars to hit a target while I moved. Once I get it in my mind, I look at the target again. I do another double arm slash at the paper banner. This time, I am on target. An ‘x’ appears on the paper banner.

Now that I have the proper frame of mind, I fly around and hit the paper banner with ease each time. Then I do another fly by and focus in my mind my wings doing the same thing. Once I get set, I flap my wings at the target horizontally for a brief moment. Quickly another ‘x’ appears on the paper banner. I fly back with a smile on my face back to the group. Once I land, I’m greeted by everyone there.

“That was great, Richard. You learned how to fight in the air.”

“You did it, father, mother, Omega!”

Brianna folds her wings back and gives me a hug and quickly breaks apart. She has a big smile on her face.

“Thank you, everyone. It took some concentration and building up my chi to get it right. There is a lot more to it than just concentrating on it. If there is going to be a drawn out fight, you will need every thing working together. It is more complicated in the air than it is on the ground.”

“That’s very true, Richard. When you get back to your world, are there places where you can practice like that?”

“Right now, I know of none. I will have to ask my sensei if he knows of any remote locations that are very secluded and private. I know there are large tracts of land held by private organizations or by very few individuals. Most of the open land is held by the states or federal government as parks and preserves. But, a lot of them border other pieces of property held by individuals.”

“Well, you’ll have to take it one step at a time.”

“That’s right, Aang. I do know that I will be very rich one day. That money will have to be invested wisely whether in land or durable goods. It is a step by step process that our family will grow into and get used to it.”

“That’s the right attitude. So, Brianna, are you ready to give it a try?”

“I’ll give it a try, Aang. I probably won’t be comfortable with it until I earn the higher sashes.”

“Just do your best, Brianna.”

Brianna flaps her wings to hover above the ground. Bianca and Lavan quickly hover near her to give her advice if she needs it. Brianna tries to remember what I said earlier about putting it all together. She looks within herself to find her chi again. She feeds it again that will help her gain more confidence. Once, it is filled up, she looks at the target again. She moves both her arms and hands making a crossing slash in front of her.

We see the air slices fly through the air. The air slices cut an ‘x’ on the paper perfectly.

Everyone cheers and congratulates her.

“Yes, I did it!”

“Congratulations, my love. You did it on your first try. Now let’s see you try while flying around.”

“Okay, Richard.”

Brianna flies around the training field while trying to send an air slice at the paper banners with her arms and hands. She misses three times before hitting it five times in a row. Then she tries for a fly by air slice. She is able to do so once she gets the timing down right on the third try. Then she flies back to us and lands near me. We retract our wings within ourselves. We hug each other tightly. I see a tear coming down her face. My fairies quickly gather around us and land on our shoulders and heads. They start to hum a soothing melody.

“I love you so much, Brianna. I want only the best for you.”

“I know, Richard. I want to learn as much as I can. I don’t want to see people getting hurt.”

“It goes with your time at the Rescue Mission. You are still emotionally attached to the place.”

“I know. I must find another way to use my talents when we get back home.”

“We will, Brianna. We will.”

We break apart. The fairies take off from us and hover near us. Brianna tries to wipe the tear away carefully. She knows she will have to touch the makeup before we leave for the north bound flight.

Then my fairies do the same thing like I did. They are amazed they can hit something that far away. Doing the fly by slices proved to be really easy for them.

“Well, I have taught you more than enough about the air bending technique. It is up to your imagination on how to use it differently each time. I look forward to it when we meet again for the other element bending techniques. I hope your stay will be longer the next time you are here. Now we must get ready for the Northern Water Tribe.”

“Are you coming with us?”

“Of course, I am. I need to be there to represent you. They have no idea who you are or where you come from. This will be a big surprise for them that another air bender is from another world. Besides, we need to get some warmer coats for us to wear up there. It is a lot more colder up there.”

We walk back to the stone bench to pick up the satchels. My fairies rest on our heads and shoulders as we walk back. We go into the room we are using and change clothes to look presentable. I put the armor on, then the outer clothing. Then we put on the multi-pocket coats. We enter the dining room to have our last meal. It is a small meal. It is just enough so we won’t be hungry right away up there. My fairies eat some fruit and nuts as well. They did a lot of flying this morning.

Once we get done, some of the earth benders come in carrying three large winter coats with hoods in their arms. Once I get mine on, my fairies quickly fly into the coat pockets to get warm. Then I button the coat up and put the hood over my head.

“How does that feel, my fairies?”

“It is very nice and warm now. I don’t think we want to leave if we wanted to.”

Then all of them begin to giggle and laugh.

Bianca and Lavan fly into Brianna’s coat pocket and get comfortable as well. She buttons up the coat as well and puts the hood on top of her head. Then we carefully put the satchels onto our shoulders.

Then we are handed two face coverings. We put the hoods back down and put the face coverings on to cover our mouth and nose. Then we put the hoods back on one more time and put the gloves on to cover our hands.

“These coats are from their wool bearing animals. Yes, they do kill the animal for the pelt.”

“Sigh . . . we learned how to create very warm clothing without killing an animal.”

“I understand your misgivings, Richard. Sometimes I wished we didn’t. But these are water benders. They use what is available to survive in the harsh environment up there.”

“We have several animals that grow very long hair. It is called wool. The people would sheer or cut it off to make warm clothing. Sometimes the animal is kept alive to grow more wool or killed for meat. It is going to take some time to get their attention that it’s wrong.”

“Well, you have about 800 years to get it done. Let’s take a ride on Appa to the Northern Water Tribe.”

Aang quickly puts on his coat and head covering. He puts on his satchel filled with clothes and two scrolls sticking out. We give our farewells to the earth benders and a promise that we’ll be back to learn the other elements.

We walk out of the building and toward the landing area where the air bisons graze. Appa sees Aang walking toward him. He walks toward him as well.

“It is time to visit the Northern Water Tribe.”

He nods his head up and down. He kneels and lets us walk up his tail to the mounted saddle on his back. Once we are secured in the saddle, Appa floats up in the air. He turns around and flies toward the north flapping his tail up and down.

We see a line of clouds at the horizon.

“It is a lot farther than what you see. Once we enter that bank of clouds, it will be another two marks on the sundial before we see the ice wall opening.”

“I’m guessing you are using your Avatar sense to zero in on the location.”

“Not only am I using it, so is Appa. He knows the way to their city.”

“Do they have underground farms to grow food there?”

“No, they don’t. They harvest seaweed for their greens. It is used in soups and bread. They found some plants thriving on the tundra behind the city. They found a hardy plant that produces a delicious fruit called sea prunes. They mostly fish from the ocean for their food. They will hunt the furry animals once in awhile.”

“I hope they don’t over kill the furry animals. If it is like my world, food is very scarce for them too.”

“Yes, that is my hope as well.”

“I know there are places on my world. The people would purchase additional foods to keep a variety available to serve up different types of meals.”

“I will have to ask them if they do that.”

Brianna and I stay seating next to each other with our arms interlocked together. We sense our fairies are fast asleep and conserving their energy for the cold days ahead.

We feel the cold air getting colder and colder as Appa flies further north. We enter the bank of clouds. The wind picks up as Appa slowly descends to get underneath the clouds. We see the cold ocean is very rough with white caps on the waves. I would think this type of weather would be calm for some sailors. We see the occasional fishing boat bobbing up and down on the surface. Some would wave their hands at us. We would wave our hands back at them.

Just about when Brianna and I would fall asleep we get nudged by Aang. We wake up from our drowsiness and see Aang smiling at us.

“We are here. I woke you up in time to see the approach.”

“Thank you, Aang.”

We see a huge white wall of ice before us. My fairies slowly make their way to the top of the coats. They look at the spectacular sight.

“Brrr . . . it’s very cold here.”

“Don’t forget my fairies. You can recite your own spell to keep yourself warm. You can use it to warm up your clothes if you want to.”

“Thank you for the reminder, father, mother, Omega.”

Once they got a good look, they crawl back down to the coat pockets to get comfortable and warm again. Then each one recites a spell or phrase to warm up their clothes. Now they feel a lot more comfortable as they settle down in the coat pockets. I turn my attention back to the ice wall.

“That’s very impressive, Aang.”

“Yes it is, Richard. We are arriving in their summer months. Fortunately it is slightly warmer than the winter seasons.”

Appa continues to fly toward the wall. Then we see the opening in the wall clearly. Once we get through, we see a series of canals and locks. This allows a gradual change in elevation to the tundra level where the city is built. They made sure it is like a fortress here. It is no wonder. The city survived the siege from the Fire Nation.

We see buildings made out of stone that was brought in from another location on the subcontinent. There are canals leading everywhere between the buildings. Then we see the main complex straight ahead. Appa lowers himself down toward a landing area with a large building nearby. Once he is down, he kneels down for us to disembark. Some stable boys come quickly carrying large bundles of seaweed for Appa to eat. As we get ready to leave the landing area, we are greeted by several men.

“Aang, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you again as well, Chief Ratook. Do you stay busy up here?” Aang gives a big smile after asking the question.

Ratook smiles back, “Busy? That’s not the half of it, Aang. I have to make sure our food supplies stay up when we enter the winter months here. You know how harsh the conditions are here.” He looks behind Aang to see two people standing there. He notices the helmet I’m wearing beneath the hood. “Isn’t that man from the Fire Nation?”

“No, he isn’t Ratook. We need to have a meeting with the council. I discovered he is a very good air bender.”

“Which tribe is he from?”

Aang gets closer to him and whispers to him, “He is a visitor from another world. He can do things we can only imagine. I was told there are element benders on his world.”

Ratook whispers back, “They have Avatars on their world? I thought we are the only world that has them.”

“That’s what I thought. He said there are no Avatars but element benders on his world. He is an excellent fighter with the weapons. However, his fighting style is based on the animals from their world.”

“He’s an animal fighter? This we have to see.”

“There is more to them than meets the eye. His wife can also air bend as well. But, she is in the early stages of the learning the martial arts.”

“This story is getting better and better. Okay, we’ll meet in the council hall of the central complex. I’ll get the council members to attend for this special meeting.”

“That sounds fine, Ratook. We’ll be there in about a half-mark.”

“That should give me plenty of time to get them there.”

They break apart. Chief Ratook quickly walks away to find the council members of the Northern Water Tribe. Aang motions his hands toward us to follow him through the city.

As we make our way, Aang stops to greet the people along the way.

“Aang, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you as well.”

“Whom are these two people with you?”

“They are air benders. They are here to learn some water bending.”

“I thought you were our Avatar here.”

“I still am, madam. This is to see if they can do it.”

“Okay, Aang.”

On and on it went down the streets and crossing the bridges. At one bridge something new happens. Several koalaotters jump out of the water to greet us.

We heard you are coming here, Omega.

Welcome to the Avatar world. We are called koalaotters.

Thank you, koalaotters. We are here for about five more days before we leave. We are here to learn the water bending technique.

We know you’ll do well. There is one leader here who is still full of ice water in the nose. His name is Hahn. He is still bitter that Princess Yue gave her life to preserve the water spirits.

Thank you for telling me that. I’ll be sure to remind him when I meet him.

Then Brianna kneels down and pats their heads with a smile. You are so cute and cuddly. Don’t lose that charm of yours.

Thank you, Miss Omega. We won’t lose that charm of ours.

Then the koalaotters quickly turn around and dive back into the canal. The people around us are amazed the koalaotters came close to us and allow us to touch them. They wonder who we really are.

Aang walks up to us and whispers, “Did they say anything that I should know about, Richard?”

“They did, Aang. Hahn is still bitter about Princess Yue giving her life to preserve the water spirits. They said his nose is still full of ice water.”

Aang smiles, “They said that? That’s funny. That means he is still full of himself and trying to feel important around here. He is a member of the council here. When you face him during the test, I wouldn’t mind if you knock him down an ice cube or two. Hopefully that will wake him up to see the truth about himself.”

“I have no problem with that, Aang. I have faced people like him before. They are always too over confident in their abilities. That gives me my advantage.”

My fairies try to suppress their giggles beneath the coat.

“That’s good. Let’s continue walking toward the council hall.”

We continue walking down the streets. At another intersection we are greeted by some soldiers. There are several buffalo yaks grouped together. They nod their heads slightly at Brianna and me. We nod our heads up and down slightly as well.

Look out for the soldiers, Omega. Some of their noses are full of ice water.

Then one of the soldiers bumps into me to get my attention.

“Uh, excuse me. I’m sorry. I thought I saw a fire warrior. You’re too small to be one of ours.”

I look up at him. “That’s no problem. However, I never consider size to be a problem. All it takes is the right attitude to be a good soldier. Look at Aang. He’s small for his size. Have you challenged him yet?”

The soldier looks at Aang. He sees Aang smiling back and raising his hand up to get his attention.

“Uh, no. He’s our Avatar. I would never go up against him. He brought peace to our world.”

“That’s right. Now if you don’t mind. I need to have a meeting with your council members. You might see me yet displaying my fighting abilities.”

The soldiers do a double take looking at me.

“What?! Are you a warrior?”

“I am, sir. However, my abilities are different from Aang. I already know how to air bend. I’m here to learn the water bending element.”

“Are you an Avatar?”

“I am not, sir. There is only one Avatar here for your world. You’ll have to wait until after the test to hear the rest of my story.”

Aang then walks up to the soldiers. “You better be patient about him. I can sense he can take you all down without breaking a sweat. But like he said, wait until after the test from the council members. Your attitudes might change after that.”

“If you say so, Aang. We’ll keep our mouths shut until then.”

I look at the soldiers one more time, “You also need to pay attention to your mounts. They have a good sense of danger and the weather.” I turn around to join Aang and Brianna walking down the street. We giggle and snicker among ourselves on what I just said.

The soldiers looked perplexed, “Huh?”

They look at their buffalo yaks. They see them nodding their heads up and down and grunting some laughter.

That’s the way to remind them. Heh, heh, heh . . .

“This is creepy if you ask me, Torin. I could have sworn he just talked to our buffalo yaks.”

“Yes, and they understood what he said. Let’s wait and see what happens with the council members. They are some of our strongest water benders. If that visitor beats them all, then we better train harder, Claskon.”

“I hear you, Torin. I hear you.”

“I just got the impression from that visitor he is not from around here.”

“What gave you that idea, Northwood?”

“He said our Avatar is the only one for our world. I think that means he is from another world.”

“He’s from another world? Hmm . . . I see what you are saying. Let’s keep this to ourselves for now. Our questions just might be answered by the end of the day.”

“I hope so, Torin.”

The three of us continue walking down the streets. We see the central complex getting bigger as we walk closer to it. When we make one more turn at the corner, we see it rise up before us. We walk up the many flights of stairs of the central complex. We stop at the third landing and turn right to face a door. Aang opens the door and we walk inside. We feel it is a lot more warmer here than outside. We see a long table set up. There are many torches lit in the room. We see that there is no smoke being emitted from the flames. There are no black spots on the ceiling above.

Behind the long table are the council members sitting down on chairs. In the middle is Tribal Chief Ratook. There are three members on either side of him. That makes a total of seven members for their tribal council. I recognize one of them right away, Hahn.

Aang whispers to us, “Keep your hoods and face wrap on. Wait until they ask you to take them off.”

We whisper back, “Okay.”

Tribal Chief Ratook speaks up, “Welcome, Aang, to the Northern Water Tribe. It is good to see you again.”

“It is good to see everyone here as well. Has it been a good year so far?”

“It has been, Aang. The fishing has been excellent. We get the usual snow storms around here. Who are these two visitors with you? Please take off your coats and face wraps. We need to see who we are meeting for this special occasion.”

Brianna and I take off our coats and face wraps. We drape them on a nearby chair. Once Hahn sees Brianna’s face. He becomes more alert now. Brianna and I see his reaction out of the corner of our eyes.

“What are your names? Where are you from?”

“My name is Richard Moore. This is my wife, Brianna.”

Then Hahn’s face looks crestfallen and his shoulders slump a bit once he heard what I said. Then he straightens up again.

“I am from another world, called Earth. We are here for only one purpose, to learn the water element bending techniques here.”

The council members murmur among themselves.

“What is your personal background? Do you have the training to be a bender?”

“I do, sirs. I have been training for more than ten years. The title that I am seeking is Shaolin Dragon Master. By that time, I will learn how to use and defend against at least 600 weapons. In the Shaolin teaching, the fighting moves are from the animals on our world.”

“So, you’re an animal fighter.”

“That is right, sir.”

“We are told you know how to air bend. You are here seeking to learn how to water bend. According to our tradition that is not allowed. The only person who can do all of the element bending here is the Avatar.”

“Well, there is a progression of teaching in the Shaolin way. We learn the animals in the four different groups of the four elements. However, the fifth one is very different for us. The spirit bending is used as a weapon. It is not used to remove an element bending ability from a person.”

“That is interesting, Richard. What about your wife? We are told she can air bend. Does she intend to learn like you?”

“That is up to her. She gets to decide how far she wants to progress. The decision is up to her. She does have a kind heart and wants to help people. Her knowledge is dealing with mothers and their children. Some of them have been hurt by their husbands. She is a counselor for them.”

“Well, it sounds like she is suited for the healing arts here. Only our women learn to do that. They don’t do water bending.”

“I remember a story I heard about there. There is one lady who came here to be a better water bender. Her name is Katara.”

“She is an exception. We relented and allowed her to learn the advance water bending techniques. Has your wife been tested for the four the elements?”

“She was tested by Iroh. Yes, she tested positive for all four elements. Aang can vouch, she knows how to air bend.”

He looks at Aang. Aang nods his head up and down in agreement.

“Very well, but we want still want to test you. We need to know the extent of your abilities.”

“That is fine sir. I am ready to face any one of you.”

“It won’t be one against one, Richard. It will be all seven of us against you.”

“That is fine, sir. I have complete confidence in myself that I can win the match.”

“We doubt that you will, Richard, but you can try.”

“We will have the match right now. Follow us, please.”

All seven members stand up. They walk out of the council hall and walk down the stairs to the main level where the canals are. We follow them.

“Prepare yourself, Richard.”

“That’s fine sir.” I walk over to Brianna. I unbutton my coat. I whisper to Brianna, “Open your coat, Bri. Fairies, please get into her coat pockets. I will reveal this to you later.”

Tiger whispers back, “Thank you, father.”

Brianna unbuttons her coat and opens it. I open my coat. We come close to each other so no one sees what is happening. The fairies quickly fly out of my coat pockets and fly into Brianna’s coat pockets. Then Brianna buttons her winter coat back up. I take off the winter coat and the outer coat that I’m wearing. I also take off my outer clothes by hand and fold them up. Aang takes the clothes and the jackets and places them on a stone railing nearby.

I whisper to Aang. “Don’t worry, I’m going to set a warm spell on the padding underneath the armor.”

Aang whispers back, “That’s a good idea.”

I turn around and walk to the center of their circle. I set a warm spell on the armor padding to keep me warm. I push the buttons on my helmet to close the mouth guard and lower the eye shield down. I leave the sword in the scabbard. I turn around slowly looking at the seven men. I can see them with a grin on their faces. That tells me, they are too over confident. They are not expecting what I can do.

Quickly, all seven of them bring up huge amounts of water from the canals. They have water blobs hovering above them.

“Now!”

They send the water blobs quickly at me. They quickly encase me in the water. They raise me in the air with the water blob. Then they freeze the water blob into one huge ice ball.

“That’s it. There is no way he can get out of that. I am sorry, madam. He is no match for us.”

“He hasn’t done anything yet, sirs. I have complete confidence he will win.”

“Paah!”

I look within myself and talk to Croin. Are you ready Croin?

I’m ready, Richard. Let’s show them what we con do.

I recite the spell to transport out of the ice ball. I disappear in a blink of an eye.

“What?! Where did he go?”

They quickly look around. They can’t find me at all.

“That’s impossible!”

They lose their concentration. The ice ball drops to the ground and shatters into hundreds of pieces.

“Is he dead?”

“Where did he go, madam?”

Brianna smiles, “He used magic, sirs. He transported out of the ice ball.”

“Magic? We have the magic here!”

While I’m invisible to them. I set the freeze spell on the darts. I shoot seven darts and have them assigned to the seven members of the council. I shoot out the darts to be hidden and hovering in several locations where the darts can’t be seen.

Then I move down to the middle of the ice ball rubble. I end the transport spell. I appear in a blink of an eye and stand in the midst of the ice rubble. “Now, it’s my turn!” I quickly point my hands toward the ice rubble. I turn around quickly to create a tornado around me. I gather up the ice pieces into my tornado.

Brianna and Aang are smiling widely. Brianna can hear my fairies giggling with laughter. They know what is going on. They are peeking through the opening of the coat.

The soldiers who are watching, are not surprised by the tactic. They have seen Aang do something like this once before.

Water Master Pakku exclaims out loud. “Look out! He is using the ice we created against us!”