Avatar: Tales of Mushi

Powerless - Meditations and Departures (Edited)

196 AG...

The last thing Mushi wanted was to be haunted. It was why he left for Kyoshi Island a few months ago. Now, he sat on its grass, attempting to block out the natives passing by with their ticking watches. He felt no peace. Not due to the wind or the distant engine. Because he saw her–

She stood atop the empty ocean as her dark hair blew in the wind–

He squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to shift his focus to anything to block the woman out–

–her Water Tribe outfit, once newly made, was torn in several places–

A frown cracked his calm façade. "Come on," he whispered, pleadingly. "Not again–"

–and she slowly turned to face him with an expressionless face and a dead stare...

At last, he slumped his shoulders. He ran a hand through his short dark hair. His grey gaze went up the great statue of the island's namesake, her green dress glowing in the morning sun. "There has to be a better way than this," he said, almost pleading at Avatar Kyoshi's feet. Her accomplishments, firmly embellished into legend, shrouded him like her shadow. If only she could answer him.

A head of brown hair loomed over to do so. "Meditating again, Mushi?"

Mushi whirled at the stranger. "Sifu Niko, don't do that!" he said, a hand on his thumping heart.

Niko smiled. "I wouldn't have to if you had noticed. Again. You are too tense, sometimes."

"I'm not tense!" Mushi snapped then relaxed his shoulders after realizing the irony himself.

Niko held his hands behind his hunched back. "Mushi, you've been at this statue all morning. I don't know what has gotten in your head but stressing over it will do you no good. You need to relax."

"I told you, I–!"

Mushi stopped after something hit his neck. The built-up tension trailed down his spine and shook his thin body like a leaf in the wind. After it passed did he notice Niko's hand darting away. "Well? Any better?" the older man asked with a smile.

Trying not to frown, Mushi scooped up his jacket followed Niko onto the only paved street. Somehow, his mentor took a personal interest in all his guests. Not hard to since, Kyoshi Island had less than two thousand people. Still, it all surprised Mushi when he arrived. At best, there had been a few rows of modern buildings. Sure, there had been a telephone line and a dozen Satomobiles, but that was it. Not a chute or slide in sight, only the trees and the centuries-old houses.

Niko, the governor of it all, avoided a speeding Satomobile. He mumbled about making "new laws for these junkies." Mushi's previous suggestion for a new road went unnoticed. Niko turned with a flourish of his long green jacket. "So, tell me, why are you at the statue and not with your classmates?"

Mushi met Niko's patient stare with pursed lips. "It's not a big deal. You always said I need to focus more, so I just thought I'd try some techniques you had taught me."

"I know you want to work hard. You have shown that over the past few months, but today is your last day here. You should be with the other students. You may not ever see them again."

Mushi shouldered his jacket to block out Sifu Niko's passing students. Wearing the forest-green gi like Mushi's, each greeted only Sifu Niko. "I doubt they'll ever miss me," Mushi said.

"They will," Niko assured. "You just need to give them a chance to know you first."

Mushi's train of thought stopped, his attention drawn aside. On a nearby cliff stood a girl with soft brown hair tied into a bun. Mushi had seen her at a passing glance over the past few days. Now, he watched the boulder rise from cliff, following the girl's raised arm. His classmates, who had a closer look, were in awe of how she then split the boulder in half. Well, the "oohs" and "aahs" told Mushi as much.