The Legend of Arin

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: STRENGTH

"UNCLE, YOU WERE UNCONSCIOUS," Zuko spoke to Iroh who was just waking up. "Azula did this to you. It was a surprise attack." He explained as the man struggled to sit up.

"Somehow that's not so surprising." He slid up against the wall.

"I hope I made it the way you like it." Zuko handed Iroh a cup of tea, only for the man to widen his eyes in shock of the taste.

"Good." He deadpanned. He tried to sip it once more only to gag. "That was very, um, bracing."

"I told you I should've made the tea." Arin walked into the broken-down house they had laid Iroh in. She watched as Zuko rolled his eyes, handing Iroh a refill.

"So, Uncle," Arin watched Iroh sneakily throw out his tea through a hold in the wall as she laid down the herbs she found. "I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced fire bending if I'm going to stand a chance against her. I know what you're gonna say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

"Get along with that crazy witch?" Arin raised an eyebrow at his mind-boggling thought.

"Precisely. She's crazy, and she needs to go down." Zuko looked from Arin to Iroh and nodded in agreement. Iroh struggled to stand up to his feet, Arin helping him stand.

"It's time to resume your training." Arin smiled reassuringly at Zuko who nodded once more.

"LIGHTNING IS A PURE expression of fire bending- without aggression," Iroh explained to Zuko as he held a cup of tea made by Arin. "It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other fire bending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, like Azula." Arin poured Zuko a cup of tea as well, the boy taking it and nodded graciously. "To perform the technique requires peace of mind."

"I see. That's why we're drinking tea- to calm the mind." Zuko figured and Arin raised a brow at his comment.

"Oh, yeah, good point!" Iroh smiled and Arin shook her head. "I mean, yes." She smiled in amusement.

"Let's move to a wider plain for practice, shall we?" The two males sipped the rest of their tea, Arin helping Iroh stand and walk outside to a rocky plain away from their broken-down house.

"There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang- a positive energy and a negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance. And in the moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning." Iroh explained to Zuko who listened. Iroh held a hand out, telling Zuko and Arin to stand back as he began to run through the motions, only to groan in pain.

"Iroh-" Arin ran to him quickly. "Your body is still weak. Let me." Zuko furrowed his brows in confusion as he watched Iroh nod and move to his side. Zuko stared at Arin as she took a deep breath in before closing her eyes for a moment. She snapped them open as she ran through the lightning-bending motions, and to his shock, lightning shot out her fingertips.

"How- How did she do that?" Zuko said to his Uncle who smiled. Zuko kept his eyes on Arin who calmed her breathing, turning to the males.

"Our friend, Arin, is a storm bender. The last remaining descendant of an eradicated species of man." Arin smiled nervously at Zuko and took in a deep breath, his eyes batting at the girl in front of him.

"How long have you known to do that?" He asked breathily and Arin shrugged.

"Uh... always? Iroh taught me how to do it less than a few weeks ago." Zuko said nothing as it dawned on him that while he was away "finding himself," Arin was with his Uncle learning how to bend and generate lightning.