𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐒

#.. FIFTEEN

"so, you gotta breathe in" gunil instructed, putting his hand on jiseok's chest, feeling the younger boy take a deep breath. "and out."
jiseok did what he was told, yet furrowed his brows. "how is this going to help?"

the six of them have moved further away from the fire palace, resting somewhere near a cliff, deep inside a forrest.

gunil has found out a way to allow jiseok to navigate in the world, even though he was still blind. "it helps you to concentrate on the air that surrounds you."

it wasn't the first time gunil taught an airbender how to see in another way, so he knew exactly what he was doing. despite being just an 18-year-old, he experienced quite a lot.

jiseok took another deep breath, feeling the humid air hitting his skin, making it harder to breathe and form beads of sweat on his forehead.

"you have to feel the air molecules move. that's how you can detect moving objects. lets try it easy at first."

the elder grabbed a stick and waved it just a few inches away from jiseok's face, the latter backed away immediately. "don't startle me like that!"

gunil grinned triumphant, he knew that jiseok was a fast learner. after all, every single skill jiseok possessed was taught to him by his elder brother.

"good, you felt it. lets try something else. i'll blow a little wind and you'll look towards the direction where it was. okay?"

jiseok nodded, taking a few deep breaths before this exercise started. he was so glad that he was able to learn fast, he quickly detected the directions of the wind.

it was just a little weird, as jiseok had to get accustomed to it first. he has never tried to use his airbending skills like that.

someone stepped closer to jiseok, sneaking up from behind. at first, jiseok thought it was gunil, who was testing his ability, so he giggled and sent a gust of wind towards the person.

"dude, hey!"

jiseok froze - it was jooyeon. ashamed, the elder lowered his head and scratched his neck, gunil was heard laughing in the back.

"lets go down to the village, we need some food."

[...]

"is gunil's training helpful?" jooyeon asked as the two walked down the messy alley of the market.

desperate sellers were trying to advertise their goods. the village lived in clear poverty, the irresistible heat being the reason why only a small amount of ground was partly fertile.

it was a sad sight, jooyeon felt sad just by seeing all this. he would give them more of his money for the products if it they weren't in their current situation.

"oh look!" jooyeon then called out, motioning towards a rather crowded stand. jiseok rolled his eyes. "it's alright. make fun of me."

jooyeon then realised, his jaw dropping as he started panicking. "oh my god, i completely forgot! i'm sorry!"

this made the elder chuckle. "anyways! it's a competition. the winner gets a turkey. this would be enough to feed us for today and tomorrow. what do you think?"

jiseok didn't even need time to think, grabbing jooyeon's hand and pulling him towards it. "you're still thinking? we either lose nothing or win a turkey, c'mon!"

they had to sign up before finding out what type of competition it was to avoid people abusing their power because they're skilled in said thing.

there was a risk and one should be able to take it. jiseok and jooyeon stood in front of the lady that was writing down the contestants.

"who of you two will compete?" she asked, looking up at the two after writing down their names.

before jooyeon could already answer, jiseok spoke out his name. "kwak jiseok."

the waterbender looked at him as if he turned crazy, jiseok just smiled back as he pulled jooyeon towards the arena where the competition was about to start.

as soon as they found 16 contestants, the competition started. and jooyeon's smile dropped.

"today's competition: sword fight."

[...]

"jiseok, no" jooyeon hissed as the elder selected the sword he would be fighting with - a dao.

running his finger along the dull side of the blade, the airbender just smiled at jooyeon. "relax, joo" he chuckled.

"i'm a skilled sword fighter, it's not a big deal" "yeah, that's what they always say but end up dying.

jiseok straightened his arm with the dao, the blade just a few centimetres in front of jooyeon's face. "don't forget, i had gunil as my tutor."

was this supposed to be calming him down? jooyeon shook his head, holding onto jiseok's wrist. "yeah, you had him as your tutor when you were able to see normally."

the young airbender groaned, turning his head away from jooyeon, which actually made no difference to him.

"all contestants come up and take a look at the chart! search for your opponent!"

jiseok looked back at jooyeon, smiling encouragingly. "i'll be fine. if not, don't forget that you can heal me. you're a lee after all, don't forget it."

then he walked away, up to the stage. he was first, having to fight against a tall and buff guy. people were also starting to place bets, everyone betted on the buff guy to win.

yet seeing jiseok's confident grin, jooyeon also placed his bet for his friend. he put five coins on the tablet, looking at the lady with a small unsure smile. "for kwak jiseok"

she furrowed her brows, clearly biased, which was totally acceptable. if jiseok was a normal sixteen year old, he wouldn't be able to beat him. yet luckily jiseok wasn't a normal teen.

the sudden loud bell signalised the start of the fight. jooyeon sat at the front row, biting his lip nervously.

jiseok, on the other hand, was totally calm. he remembered gunil's words about having to fully concentrate.

so that's what he did. taking a few deep breaths, he tried to locate the man. it didn't work at first, making jiseok furrow his brows.

then he felt it. it was a longsword, the man was standing a little bit further away, swinging it towards jiseok left side. the moment felt like it happened in slow motion, giving jiseok time to react.

he managed to dodge the attack, jumping back as he felt the blade of the man's sword pass by just a few inches away from him.

using the man's shock about jiseok, the blind small boy, having dodged this attack, the elder quickly lunged forward and brought the dao down on his hands, making him let go of his sword.

jiseok used the dull side, after all, he didn't want to hurt anyone for "just" a turkey. with a few nimble kicks the man didn't await, he fell down to the floor.

triumphantly, jiseok sat down on the man's chest, smiling at him before turning around to face the crowd.

no one was applauding, pissed that they lost their money. only jooyeon was happy, who had the pleasure of taking 70 coins in one go.

and that's how the competition went by. returning back with the meat in jiseok's hands and a bag with more than 200 coins in jooyeon's hands, they surprised everyone.

"well, i suppose we're rich now" jungsu chuckled as hyeongjun used fire to cook the meat.

their whole evening was spent with celebrating their profit.