Avatar: Tales of Mushi

Powerless - White Revelations (Edited)

Nightfall's quick arrival didn't stop Mushi's growing impatience. When he wasn't pacing around the same shop, Mushi scoured for the address on the note. Said note crinkled in his fingers. It took time, especially when he didn't have help.

"Don't you have anything more important to do?" Mushi asked his companion.

"Don't worry. I'm just tagging along. I'll be out of your way, soon enough," said the Air Nomad. The words didn't sway Mushi's suspicions, but part of him thought little of it.

Mushi rolled his shoulders to get the stiffness out, and his steps matched his heartbeat. He swore his feet almost echoed from the warehouses filling up the other end of Chin City. Given how small it all was, Mushi figured the place would turn out to be some old abandoned factory. Abandoned was true, as he stepped out the bare street and past the torn wire gate.

He walked from one warehouse to the next, looking for the right number. His feet stopped, and he tried not smile when he compared the number in front to his slip. This was it. He was here at last.

"Well, are you going in?" the Air Nomad asked.

"I'm going. I'm going." Mushi was about to when he stopped and said, "You better stay here. You might cause some problems if you show up, no offense."

"None taken."

Mushi kept a last glance on the Nomad to make sure he didn't escape to anywhere else. He hadn't as Mushi entered the warehouse. Coughing from the old musty air, he waved it away and called out to the empty and dark warehouse. "Hello? Anybody there?" No response. "Hello–"

Looking around, he stopped coming face-to-face with a familiar earthbending teenager. "About time you got here," he said gruffly.

"Not my fault the handwriting isn't that good." Mushi showed the slip for proof. The other teen took it, muttered about someone "having air in her head," and turned. "So where are your friends?"

"They're waiting. Come on."

The other teen led Mushi further into the warehouse. In a minute, Mushi found three other figures waiting in the center of the warehouse. Mushi recognized the two girls from the alley. Not the tiny, dark cloaked figure approaching him.

Under the hood was the pale face of a girl no older than thirteen. "Is this him?" the girl asked the three nodding teens. She then looked to Mushi. "I have heard of you wish to bend. Is that true?"

"Wait, you're–" Mushi stopped, taken aback by how young the Shroud was. He cleared his throat. "Yes... yes, I am."

The Shroud's emerald eyes pierced into Mushi. "Why?"

"Because..." Mushi paused to swallow some saliva. "Because I need to prove myself. I... I've been trying so long but nothing else has been working. I can't go back a failure."

Mushi almost stepped back from the Shroud's intense gaze. "Many others have felt like you. Remember, you are not alone," she said softly and wisely, so unlike the child she was. "However, the power you will receive is a mighty one. Are you ready to accept this gift and its responsibility?"

Mushi breathed and looked Shroud in the eye. "I have been ready my whole life."

"Then kneel." Mushi did so on knees shaking with anticipation, and the Shroud said, "You must relax. You will feel no pain as long as you let me in."

A couple breaths later, Mushi did so. The Shroud's hands, each small enough to fit into an adult's, touched his forehead and heart. Mushi heard of the technique from old stories of Avatar Aang. He had seen it through Aang's successor. Now, Mushi let go of his defenses to let the Shroud in, and–