Benders and the Great Secret - Last Survivor

Fixing a Bleeding Soul

Sasuke spent the next 4 days going in and out of the Healing Ward, where the school's head healer, Leyena was studying his condition closely. She determined it to be a Soulbleed.

Soulbleed is a very dangerous "wound in your spirit" which begins from trauma and develops into the inability to control your spirit and eventually the loss of your Bender powers. Very strong Benders or benders with unique abilities might even die. Sasuke had the unique bloodline of the Sanada, not to mention the rare power of Balance which made things seem even worse. Sasuke wouldn't participate in Bending class, but instead whenever it was time, he'd go to the Healing Ward so Leyena could fix him. The process was slow, but effective.

On the fourth day, during the last class of the afternoon, Sasuke was ready to go back to his dorm. But upon leaving the Healing Ward, he came across some of the Benders from the second year group, and the house of Earth.

A big guy who amazingly isn't actually a rock despite looking like one, Keyth, stood in Sasuke's path. Sasuke stopped but didn't look him in the eye.

"What now, Keyth?" he asked in a bored tone. Keyth grumbled something before standing up straighter.

"How's your case of Soulbleed, twerp?" Keyth asked with a growl. He hated not feeling superior in a conversation and Sasuke gave him no breathing room in that respect. Sasuke smiled mischievously. "Oh that? That's all good, I'm on the road to recovery just fine, thanks. Can I go now?"

Liu Kai, a skinny guy a bit shorter than Keyth but still taller than Sasuke, pushed Keyth aside. "No, you oaf. We have a bone to pick with you." Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically.

Liu Kai continued. "See, you call yourself Sanada yet you have shown no sign of being able to use their Soul Gaze or knowledge of their Shadowless Slash style either. And I really admire the Sanada and would hate to find that you're just a fake who's trying to cling to the glory of the name. Also, stay away from Lily Ravens. She's much too good for you."

Lily was one of the girls in the House of Nature, studying to be a healer and who had been allowed to assist in healing Sasuke because of her exceptional aptitude. They had become friends nearly instantly.

"Oh, my. Sounds like someone has a crush on the forest elf. But you, Liu Kai...let me give you a word of advice. You're far beyond yourself if you honestly think she'd be interested in you." Sasuke smiled widely, which obviously sent Liu Kai into a rage. He raised two slabs of rock from the ground and attempt to crush Sasuke between them.

Sasuke called upon his spirit and blood...and something awoke.

Sasuke sent out an outburst of black power so dense that it shattered Liu Kai's rocks and pushed him flat on his back, as well as Keyth. The two that were behind them just fell on their arse.

Sasuke stood there, amazed by the sudden strength. He looked at his hands where he could now see small blue veins, beating and flowing like a silent but very quick river. He realized quickly it was his Spirit that was flowing. He could see spirit within his body and in the air as a residual of Bending. He looked to Liu Kai and Keyth.

"You chose the wrong day to mess with me." He said with a serious face and a small, subtle glare. Liu Kai looked at him in a mix of shock and awe. "So...you really are..." he managed to say before he clearly ran out of words. Keyth seemed to be out cold. "So I really am." Sasuke replied to Liu Kai before his rush faded and he felt normal again.

Later, back in the dorm, once he was alone, he looked into a mirror and recalled how he'd managed to cause that rush of strength before. He once again called on it, and the response came. His normally green eyes went a shade of bloody red, before the whites of his eyes blackened. The pupil in the center became white in contrast. He looked like a hungry beast. This was the Soul Gaze, something that appears in the Sanada bloodline, even the Non-Benders. Though it's never as powerful in them. Sasuke was exceptional since he was a bender of Balance, the energies that even the Soul Gaze relied on. His was much more powerful than average. Also, he was 12 when your average Sanada man awakes it at 17 or 18 years of age. Women normally a year or two later. For the first time in his life he felt like his father's words were true.

His father believed Sasuke would someday restore the clan. And since then, Sasuke felt it for the first time.

He had what it takes.