The Legend of Arin

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO: IROH

IROH AND ARIN HAD BEEN traveling together for about three days, secretly following Zuko loosely. It turns out, Iroh had some kind of superpower for keeping track of the boy.

You'd think that a 16-year-old girl would be uncomfortable and shy hanging around a man well over 60 years old, not having anything real to talk about because of the age difference, but it was the opposite.

Iroh was such a friendly man who could make conversation with anyone, Arin being the same, given that she trusted him. They talked about their families, Arin told him about her childhood and what it was like living a hundred years ago, and Iroh told her of his tales of being a General in the Fire Nation.

They also bonded over teas, Iroh finding it amazing that they were both fanatics of the leaf drink.

It was day 4 traveling together and Arin was gathering sticks for a fire as they tired down for the day, settling for rest. Suddenly, a thought struck her mind and she cringed back at the fact that she remembered it now of all times.

Iroh knew how to bend lightning.

It made her remember the possibility of her being a storm bender, an extinct species of man, and practice for thousands of years. She smiled to herself and pushed it to the back of her mind, it was nothing but delusion.

She carried the sticks back to their makeshift camp and settled on the ground as she fed small sticks to the kindling fire.

"You have something on your mind," Iroh spoke and Arin glanced up quickly. How did he know?

"What-"

"I know when someone is hiding something, Arin. You can't get past me." He smiled and Arin bit her lip as they moved to the side in nervousness.

"Iroh... have you ever heard of storm benders?" She looked at the man nervously as he curled his lips in thought, caressing his beard.

"I have read about their legend. How powerful they were, ruling the world with their strength. Their control of lightning far exceeded that of a fire bender." Arin listened intently, crossing her legs as she urged him to continue.

"Do you know anything else?"

"I know that storm bending was a sub-form of energy bending, allowing the people who learned it to achieve immortality. They can affect the weather to intense extents by manipulating their energy. Their strength and raw power were one of the reasons they were eradicated by the Avatar. They allowed the power to get to their heads and take control of them." He paused. "Arin, why do you ask about them all of a sudden?"

"Iroh... Katara had made a comment during a storm a while ago that it looked like I was able to bend it. Ever since then, I can't tell if it's delusion or fact that I might be a storm bender. I saw a fortune teller and she told me that I had strengths beneath the surface and I had to let them flow through." Arin stood up, beginning to pace as her mind raced.

"I don't understand what that could mean... I forget about it every week or so because maybe I'm just slowly going insane- but then another part of me wants to believe the possibility. I was captured by Zhao... I created my own lightning- I can't have been crazy. I even have the burn marks to prove it..." Arin looked at her hands before they gripped her head as she truly thought she might have been descending into madness.

"Arin- If you truly think that you might be a storm bender, there is no harm in trying to find the answers you seek. Tomorrow, I will show you how to create and bend lightning. If it works, you will have your answer." He stood up, putting a gentle hand on her arm as a smile graced his lips.