Avatar: The Legend of Anzen Hyriu, Book 1: The Legend of Beifen

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Confrontation of Truth

The rest of the week break was not a break for me at all. The next two days for me were spent training, practicing, and sleeping. By the third day when we went back to school, I was almost too exhausted to speak. People noticed this and asked about it. I just told them I had been very busy over the break and didn't get much sleep. Taruk kept a close eye on me and kept asking me things like, "Why are you so tired?" and "What were you doing over the break?" or "Why didn't you get enough sleep?" He was waiting for me to slip up, and as tired as I was, I would slip up if it was just me and him, but Koluk would tell him off, or Mr. Zhen would snap at him.

Hana was also a problem. I was nearly one hundred percent positive she was the person in the library; I just needed to prove it.

I had to have my guard up 24/7 now. I never knew when Taruk, Hana, it someone else could be watching. Tekton took a few days to come out of his shock. At first, he didn't talk to me at practice, and then he became skeptical. Only when he came to Heiwa Valley and saw me practice did he fully believe I was the Anzen.

I saw the Robed Man here and there, always watching me. The woman in my head spoke to me more often, giving me advice. She said she could speak to me more because I was getting more spiritual, and also because the solstice was drawing near. Spiritual energy was always much stronger on the solstice.

As my fourteenth birthday came closer and closer, I got more excited that I was going to be entering my first year of manhood. I would finally be able to participate in the Warrior Games, which was the right of passage every man had to go through. You had to be at least fourteen years old and no older than eighteen to participate. It was how the Water Tribe began shaping its warriors.

We started sword training with Instructor Chen. He now taught two groups of kids. I took sword training with Koluk, Fai, Tekton, and Taruk. I didn't hold back with swordsmanship. I wanted to be good at something, and swordsmanship came naturally to me. Though, it was a bit annoying to always say 'No disrespect intended' every time I unsheathed my sword since I was left-handed.

Lina and I continued out secret training meetings at night. I kept changing the location of where we met because I had a feeling someone was on to us.

One night, we were training in the foothills of the Bei Shui Mountains. The full moon provided plenty of light. My birthday was in two days. She had brought her fans and the scroll she got from the Gambing Palace. We were practicing the moves the scroll showed.

"So, Lina," I said, "You and Fai, huh?

"What? What are you talking about?" Lina asked, blushing so much I could see it in the dim light.

"Come on. I saw you two after the celebration arm in arm. So what's going on between you two?" I asked with a smirk.

"Okay, he asked me out," Lina smiled.

"He asked you out? Whoa, that's great! I'm happy for you," I said, and I meant it. Lina had liked Fai for awhile, so it was about time they went out.

Just then, I heard the sound of crunching snow behind me. I snapped my head around and searched the nearby hills. I saw a flicker of movement disappear behind a mound of snow. In a simple motion, I melted the snow to reveal a crouching figure wearing a hood.

"Hana?" I said confused.

The person looked at me and dashed off.

"Hana!" I cried. "Come back."

She continued running. Since she had already seen my powerful bending, I didn't hold back. I swirled some water at her and wrapped it around her ankle and tried to pull her to me. She moved her hands and took control of my water and shot it at Lina. Lina was knocked to the ground with a yelp.