Burning Souls - Book 2 // Zuko

Chapter 6

When Iroh had recovered from his incident with Azula, Raven hadn't been the least bit upset when he declared that he knew of an old farmhouse up on a cliff nearby where they could stay hidden for a while during which Zuko would continue his training in the fire bending arts. However, when Raven discovered that the existence of trees wasn't a thing on the cliff, then she began to worry. She didn't mind having to sit in the shade of the house or a rock but when it came to trees, the shade was a little more pleasant.

Raven had been watching Iroh teach Zuko how to redirect lightning for hours and Raven had almost fallen asleep under the shade of the front of the hut. That is, until Iroh caught her attention.

"RAVEN!" he called. "Can you come here?"
The girl paused for a moment but saw with relief that a storm was coming, and the clouds had covered the sun, so the place was swallowed in shade. Scurrying over to them, she hopped from one foot to the other, glad to finally be able to stretch her legs.

"Yeah?" she inquired.

"I'm trying to teach Zuko about the fluidness of water bending but since I am not one myself, it's a little difficult. Could you...."
Raven smiled, "Sure thing!"
The girl turned to Zuko who was slightly sweating from the work out. Chuckling, Raven began circling one hand over her other, forming a snowball in her hand. She then blew against it and cold air bounced off the ball of ice, surrounding Zuko and cooling him down.

"First off, you have to relax," Raven explained, tossing the snowball up and down in her hand. "Water is very smart. Unlike most nature, it doesn't wait to eat through something to get its way but goes around it even if it is the longest route. When a river encounters a dam, it begins to swell, and the water rises until it is able to creep over and around the dam."
The girl turned around and placed the snowball in Iroh's hands before turning back to Zuko, her back to Iroh, "Water is quiet, but also loud. In many ways, water is like all the other elements. It is loud and crashing like fire, but quiet and mysterious like air. It can also become solid and firm like earth. You understand the crashing part of water and the firm solid kind. Now, you have to understand its perplexity."
Just as she said this, Iroh threw the snowball but in such silence that Zuko didn't even see it coming. However, Raven did, even with her back turned to Iroh and she gently leant to the side, allowing the snowball to miss her by an inch.

"There are times to crash against the ice burg like the waves of the ocean, but there are also times to find a secret route around the obstacle... like a trickle," Raven said, smiling.

The girl walked past Zuko to a flat part of the area and formed a huge pile of snowballs. "Iroh and I will throw these at you. I want you to avoid them, not take them head on."
"Like run away from them?" Zuko asked. "Retreating?"
Raven chuckled. "Not at all. You will not do any retreating. Zuko, if you were sword fighting someone and both your swords were occupied holding back an attack but an arrow was coming at you and you could move to the side so it wouldn't hit you, would you let it pierce you or pierce the ground behind you?"
Zuko paused, considering the girl's words before he nodded, "Fair enough."
Raven and Iroh took up a stand behind the pile of snowballs, their hands loaded. Zuko took a deep breath before the snowballs came. He was able to avoid the first few but as they increased in number, he began to block them with his hands or let them hit him. Finally, Iroh and Raven stopped when they ran out of balls.

Iroh looked over at Raven who was thinking hard, her brow furrowed. "I know what it is," Raven observed.

She approached Zuko who was taking deep breaths to keep himself from losing his patience. "You are used to fighting against fire blasts which make noise. You aren't used to listening to the noises. This isn't about seeing but about hearing."
The girl untied the bandana around her neck and stood behind Zuko, tying the bandana around his eyes.