| By King Bumis Heir | Genre | Rating | Reviews | Updates |
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Overview[]
A beast wreaks havoc in a town.
Chapter 6: The Beast of Chao Lake[]
Book 2: Water
Chapter 6: The Beast of Chao Lake
Rong Yan sat sighing on Shen's neck while steering him northwest from the city of Tianzhu where they recently recovered the Golden Claw artifact. Lush grasslands were covered in blankets of snow, a few splotches of green appeared here and there where the sun melted the snow in those small areas. The cold air up above at the level of the sky they were flying didn't affect anyone within Shen's saddle except Unaraq who slept soundly inside his sleeping bag. The cold breeze gently nibbling on his jaw while Tanaraq sat nomad style leaning her back against the wall of the saddle looking to her right and left sides each time. Aloi sat in nomad position as well as studying the map of the provinces of Wushan, West and East Jurong and Tong.
She remembered that Rong Yan's training was important to her friend's goals and future. She cupped her hands and used the sound of her voice to deliver a message to Rong Yan who was concentrating on flying everyone safely to their next destination wherever it may be. She noticed on the map nearby was a lake named Chao and decided it was best to rest there and provided it is a good water source for Rong Yan to begin his training with Tanaraq. Rong Yan slightly turned his head back to glance at Aloi and then nodded jerking Shen's reins to the left a bit to indicate to the dragon to fly northwest.
Another twenty minutes passed, she crawled over to left side of the saddle to see a town below covered in a sheet of white snow, the leaves on the trees were gone the only strange thing they noticed was that the lake itself was not frozen. However, even if it wasn't frozen they could tell the temperature of the water would be freezing seeing as how no one was near or inside of the body of water itself.
Chao Lake, Wushan.
Just like the previous town, they visited Aloi noticed that Chao Lake's town was also in a poor state although, to say the least, it was in better shape than Sichuan village. She used her soundbending to tell Rong Yan to stop near the village. Rong Yan punted the left side of Shen's neck to gesture him to descend below. Landing softly on the snow the dragon was unaffected by the cold air surrounding it and its master, Shen's breath was visible and caused more clouds than that of Rong Yan and his friends. Tanaraq awakened her brother Unaraq from his sleep whispering to him, "Hey Unaraq we just landed it's time to get up!"
His groggy eyes slowly opened his eyes were bloodshot from the natural environmental irritants while they flew in the sky. He dragged himself out of his sleeping bag still tired and annoyed that he was bothered from his slumber. Once he was ready he slid off of Shen's back and slowly clumped toward Tanaraq where he rested his forehead on her right shoulder closing his eyes again trying to return to sleep. They stood there while Rong Yan scanned the area for the entrance to the village. Which was about twenty feet to the left from where they landed, the town had walls around it to protect the townspeople from the dangers of the outside.
Tanaraq repeatedly moved her shoulder to abruptly wake her brother up while turning her attention to the lake on her left muttering to herself, "Wow this is a good place to teach him waterbending." Unaraq suddenly woke up, still heavy-eyed, Tanaraq rolled her eyes opening her waterskin and bending a small amount of water out of it and using it to rinse Unaraq's eyes to wake him up. Unaraq rubs his eyes to get the extra water out of his eyelids, his eyelids weren't so heavy anymore although the bags under his eyes were a clear indication that he didn't get much sleep last night. He clumped toward the entrance of the town while everyone followed behind him.
At the same time inside the two men were having a small talk conversation, "Ahahaha did you see the dragon landing near our town? I told you the Avatar would eventually come here!" he told his neighbor. The other man crossed his arms and shook his head, "That could be anybody, besides doesn't Ku Tei ride something else?"
"Have you been living under a rock? Ku Tei has been dead for over nineteen years now," commented his neighbor.
"The new Avatar is from the Fire Nation, don't remember his name I just know it's a man," mentioned the man.
"Great well maybe the Avatar brought the town some food, I mean c'mon look at this place. Everyone's starving, I'm more afraid for my children's health than my own. They'll be running this place long after we're gone," he reminded the man, his neighbor simply agreed with him and nodded the group of four arrived and walked through the western entrance to the town. They fixated a look at the group, two men, and two women. The man in red and crimson colors had to be the Avatar his neighbor mentioned when he looked to the skies to find a dragon approaching their town.
Rong Yan observed the town to see it in a poor state as well he frowned at the sight of it, some of the windows were boarded up. The cobblestoned streets were dirty as if no one even bothered to sweep the streets anymore, men were going to work but no work was available the town's economy survived off of tourism. Even during the winter tourists from around the world stayed in Chao, and it wasn't because of the unnatural state of the lake. They saw everyone in the town were all lean and haggard their faces were gaunt, and the children were in an even worse state. Aloi didn't like this, she teared up when she looked at the children.
The commoners looked terrible while those in the middle class didn't look as bad although they were being affected by the town's stagnant slowdown of money. Taxation day was nearing next month and many were wondering if they had to close up shop when the Minister of Revenue from Tianzhu would visit to collect taxes. They had many town meetings this past month with the mayor of the town to find the best way possible to successfully acquire all the taxes needed for Taxation Day.
The poor state Chao is in.
A woman wearing nicer, intricate and sort of more expensive clothing than the common folk within the town approached Rong Yan and his friends. She was a middle-aged woman, she was pale-skinned, had green eyes, and her black hair was tied up in a bun with stylish bangs on the sides of her forehead. She bowed to Rong Yan and his friends and introduced herself, "Greetings I welcome you to Chao Lake, I am Yule De, I'm the mayor here."
She extended out her palm to shake Rong Yan's hand and the hands of his companions, Rong Yan introduced himself and his friends, "I am Avatar Rong Yan, and these are my friends Unaraq, Tanaraq and Aloi. It truly is a pleasure to meet you."
She gasped and then contained herself realizing that she was in the presence of the Avatar, the citizens of the town around her knelt and bowed before Rong Yan, she knelt before him following everyone else's form of respect for the Avatar.
"I've noticed your town is in a poor state, what's going on here?" Rong Yan casually questions Yule De after observing the town's poverty. She responds with an explanation, "Our town has been facing hauntings by an angry spirit we call Ling Hu. We're not sure as to why the spirit is angry at our town but it has prevented tourists from visiting our town. No tourists means no money, and no money means we cannot buy produce from the farmlands in the north."
"My townspeople are starving over the hauntings, we would just like it to stop is all," Yule De added.
"How often do these events happen? Who is Ling Hu?" Rong Yan inquired.
"The last reported sighting of Ling Hu was from our local potter his name is Bo Te, the owner of the local pottery shop down the road from the western entrance. He reported the occurrence happened about two nights ago if you're interested in learning more about the sighting you can visit him. Ling Hu is a spirit who roams around the grassland area and lake area. I honestly don't know what we have done to anger Ling Hu. We established a curfew to make sure everyone's inside their homes by the evening, we believe something or someone must have angered the spirit and it can't tell the difference between a citizen and random passerby so it continues to take its anger out at us by scaring away citizens and tourists alike," Yule De informed Rong Yan and his friends about the occurrences that have been occurring in Chao Lake.
"Can you describe what Ling Hu may look like?" Rong Yan questioned Yule De, she nodded answering, "Yes he's a tiger lynx with a blue fur coat and white stripes, his paws are white as well. We first thought the tiger lynx was only a local legend that our forefathers told their offsprings to scare them into returning home before sundown. My late husband had a different opinion on Ling Hu and retold stories about how his father would often tell him that Ling Hu was the guardian of our town and lake. We don't dare venture out the walls of our town, not even to the lake that put this place on the map. It is far too dangerous, we do get visitors every once and a while now but I fear they won't be here for too long if Ling Hu will attempt to scare them off."
Rong Yan bowed to his elder as a form of farewell, "We will do what we can to assess the situation. You have my word," Yule De bowed her head at Rong Yan thanking him, "Thank you, young Avatar. Without you being here I don't think what else I could have done."
Team Avatar huddled together discussing their next move Unaraq considered himself the leader and Rong Yan didn't mind it. Unaraq brought up, "So we should investigate the town first and see what clues we could gather up," Aloi nodded, "I'm willing to help you investigate," Tanaraq exchanged looks with her brother before staring at Rong Yan mentioning, "I promised Rong Yan that we would begin his waterbending training. I mean it's the only reason why we planned on stopping here."
As inconsiderate and selfish as that sounded she was right the day before they planned on finding a body of water and skipped the Tianzhu river in favor of Chao Lake at least for now. Unirak promised Rong Yan that in return for escorting Tanaraq to Aupaluk in the North Pole she would teach him the basics of waterbending.
They all agreed to what the plan ahead of time was, Aloi thought to herself that what Tanaraq said was self-centered while she understood that it was their responsibility to help Rong Yan master the elements she felt helping these people was just as important. But she wasn't surprised though, knowing how egotistical Tanaraq was. The group splits up Unaraq and Aloi explore the town further while Tanaraq and Rong Yan venture out to the lake where Rong Yan will be learning more waterbending. Upon reaching the shores of the lake they begin to remove their clothing and match their body temperature to the temperature of the climate. Rong Yan was the first to step in, surprisingly the temperature and climate that surrounded them did not measure the temperature of the water which was quite strange to him, the water itself was very warm.
He now wondered if Chao Lake was heated by a volcano underneath the ground or if it was due to the spirit powers. He was baffled about it, he was only half-naked wearing a traditional Fire Nation underwear for men called a fundoshi. It was a strip of cloth, wound around the hips, secured at the small of the back by knotting or twisting, with the excess brought forward between the legs, and tucked through the cloth belt in front to hang as an apron.
He called over to Tanaraq to test the waters, "You're not going to believe this but the water is warm. Which leads me to believe that we're above a volcano or spiritual properties are involved," Tanaraq removes her parka revealing her undergarments, a one-piece garment that covered her chest area, it was made of thick walrus leopard skin, and her underwear was made of turtle seal skin it was shaped triangular and skin-tight covering the pelvic region of her body.
Mincing into the lake she too was bewildered at the temperature of the water it was the beginning of the winter yet the lake was not even frozen nor was the water cold to match the weather. Tanaraq gestured Rong Yan to back up a bit so that they could have enough space to practice waterbending moves. She begins the lesson by inquiring, "You are aware that both the South and North Poles have different styles of waterbending right?"
"That I do specifically I'm not sure about the differences," Rong Yan replied.
"The Northern style of waterbending is mostly defensive and strategic while the Southern style is more offensive and more aggressive," Tanaraq addressed.
"Water is the element of change, as you may know, Kura-Kura gifted my ancestors with the power to wield waterbending, and they mastered waterbending by watching how the moon pushed and pulled the tides. The Water Tribes are the only people who did not learn how to master bending from an animal, though Tui and La took physical form as koi fish and reside in our world in an eternal dance," began Tanaraq.
The living gods Tui and La of the Water Tribe.
"Our fighting style is mostly fluid and graceful, acting in concert with the environment. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy; they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' forces against them," Tanaraq stated.
"We'll start today with the easiest of all waterbending techniques, water manipulation. Almost all forms of waterbending involve moving and shaping a body of water to your desire by simply levitating a large mass of water. You can move water anywhere you wish even parting it under the surface of a lake or sea, allowing you to walk along the bottom of a basin without the need to swim," Tanaraq continued.
"These large bodies of water can also be used as weapons either by shaping them into gigantic whips, swung repeatedly at a target as a snake-like body, formed momentarily into a razor-sharp edge that can cut through even metal, used to break locks, or simply dropped onto an opponent to smother them or put out a fire," Tanaraq explained further she paused to think how an Avatar can use waterbending further, "Also on the sea or ocean, only an Avatar is known to be able to use waterbending to create giant maelstroms or tsunamis," she finished.
"For now I want you to do a basic exercise and feel the fluidity of water, I'll demonstrate and hope you follow along," Tanaraq added.
Tanaraq took in a deep breath with her left she focused on the water in front of her easily pulling out a small blob of water and levitated it in front of her. Shifting into a gong bu stance which was a universal stance in waterbending she spun the ball into a full circle moving her arms in a wheel motion. Rong Yan switched to the gong bu stance as well putting his right leg forward and bending it at the knee only slightly while extending his left leg out and placing it back, the water began to ripple in front of him.
He focused and remembered how Unaraq's crew Sakana and Kuma taught him about a month ago. The water rippled rapidly he pulled out some water his right hand shaking to control it using his left to assist his right hand further he found the balance he had last time to control the water. He played with the water a little to get the hang of the fluidity of the substance then moved his arms in a full-circle motion to do the exercise.
He stood there for about fifteen to twenty minutes continuing the same motion Tanaraq stood there arms crossed observing Rong Yan making sure every move of the exercise was correct. She allowed Rong Yan to receive a small break before joining him in what Sakana called, 'streaming the water'.
Meanwhile back in Chao town, Unaraq and Aloi were exploring the town further following the main road through the town. They passed by many ill-faced citizens that careened or even floundered about. In the distance, they could see the pottery shop the mayor Yule De mentioned, where they could question Bo Te the potter.
They run into a short, think teenage boy wearing dirty unkempt clothing, he was leaning against a market stand chewing on an apple he found laying about probably stolen from someone's else house a much more fortunate person. He too was affected by the food shortage but looked healthier than the others. The boy also wore glasses, which gave them the impression that he was a scholar's apprentice. Most of the citizens of the Kingdom of Omashu did not commonly wear glasses as most were not able to read and only prolonged reading of texts especially at night deteriorated your eyesight.
Unaraq approached the scholarly apprentice inquiring, "Hey kid, have you ever seen a sighting of the spirit Ling Hu?" "I have a name, guy," the teenager quickly chided Unaraq correcting him that he has a name. Unaraq ignored the mild scold the kid tried to give him, he slightly nodded then introduced himself and Aloi, "Fine I'm Unaraq and this is Aloi."
The teenager slightly bowed his head and responded, "I'm Shudaizi," using his index finger to readjust the wireframe glasses on his face. Unaraq gazed at him waiting on his response, "I've never seen him but according to legend, he's a ferocious, terrifying, dangerous spirit. It is said, that when you hear Ling Hu approaching you will hear his footsteps first. Each step he takes is as loud as lightning hitting the ground, second, you will see a blue luminescent light, eventually seeing his hulking silhouette. I should warn you challenging the bestial wrath of that spirit is not a good idea because he drags the defeated into the Spirit World," reckoned Shudaizi.
"Any form of evidence left behind will lead to nothing because it'll be like you never existed," exclaimed Shudaizi although his attempts to frighten Unaraq failed. Unaraq countered his claim, "Oh well that's okay we have the Avatar, y'know master of the four elements and the bridge between our world and the Spirit World."
"Master of the elements or not, Ling Hu drags all defeated to the Spirit World. The Avatar is weak compared to the wrath of Ling Hu. Look around you, do you think the Avatar could stop this beast from destroying our town?" he questioned Unaraq. Aloi uttered a single word before being interrupted by the weird kid, "But-"
"No buts, Ling Hu is a very powerful spirit. It's better if you leave before the Avatar is dragged off and reincarnated into the Air Nomads," Shudaizi warned them, Unaraq offended that Shudaizi insulted Rong Yan and even called him weak stomped forward aggressively grabbing the teen by his tunic and whispered in his ear, "Listen you, little twerp, you better watch your mouth and have more respect for the Avatar, he has more power than you or I or anyone in this town combined. The Avatar has incredible power nothing and I mean nothing can or will defeat him. If it weren't for his caring of this place he would've let your town get destroyed by Ling Hu and flown off to the next town. So watch it or you'll regret it." Shudaizi now terrified slipped and fell to the ground before getting himself together and scurrying away from both Unaraq and Aloi.
Once he was out of earshot and eyesight he sniggered and sprinted toward the mayor's home where his friend Mafan son of Yule resided. Rong Yan continued learning waterbending from Tanaraq, who dropped her water and began to explain the next lesson. Rong Yan was finally getting the hang of the basic waterbending moves.
"Alright good it looks like you're finally getting the hang of this, next you'll learn how to use a water whip," Tanaraq commented.
"The water whip is a commonly used move that involves creating a lashing tendril of water to swipe at an opponent. The shape, size, and length are all determined by your control. Skilled waterbenders can create larger whips or ones of greater finesse," Tanaraq explained.
Water whip common to both styles of waterbending.
"The whip can be sharpened into a blade that can slice through metal with relative ease, and in time you will also have the ability to create water whips with your feet," Tanaraq added. She returned to the gong bu stance bending water out of the lake stretching it out in front of her, she formed it into a ball then with her right arm, she flung out the water like a whip, it emitted no sound as it impacted with no one. She dropped the water into the lake and gestured Rong Yan to make an attempt, he nodded switching to the gong bu stance and grabbing water out of the lake as well. Controlling the shape of the water he swung his arms out in the opposite direction. Instead of the water whip going forward and lashing out it struck him in the forehead before falling apart after he lost focus. A red mark appeared on his forehead as he staggered back a bit.
Tanaraq tried her best to hide a chuckle she stared at him with a tear in her eye, she swallowed her pride and laughter and cleared her throat. She realized he was her apprentice and she would get nowhere making fun of a student. He attempted the move again but this time instead of smacking himself in the forehead it formed into a tendril that wrapped around Tanaraq's right leg.
She peered down at her leg to see the predicament they were in she instructed him carefully, "Oh mm..glad you didn't slap me in the face with it. Okay well, you learned how to wrap water tendrils around things, well how about you slowly release my leg from your grip. Just concentrate on slowly unwrapping my leg take all the time you need." He tried to unwrap the tendril around her right leg but instead yanked at her leg almost knocking her off balance he reached out to grab her by the hand quickly preventing Tanaraq from falling into the water.
"Try again I know you can do it," Tanaraq said, Rong Yan took a deep breath and took stance pulling the water out of the lake he did his best to control it. Finally getting the hang of a larger amount of water he formed it into a ball and unrolled the ball into a whip when he flung out his right arm. He dropped the whip into the water before attempting to do this another three times. In the end, Tanaraq smiled and clapped for Rong Yan's success in understanding how to successfully water whip.
She noticed that off in the distance across the lake she could barely make out a shack off in the background she was curious about it as the mayor mentioned that no one lived outside the walls of Chao. She pointed to the shack grabbing Rong Yan's attention, "Look do you remember when the mayor said that no one lived outside the walls of the town?" she questioned him to see if he remembered what the mayor told them.
He nodded, "Oh yeah I see it we should check it out." He ran out of the water then used airbending to blow himself dry, as Tanaraq walked out of the water he used his hands to blast light jets of air to dry his friend as well.
They quickly dressed and wandered around the lakeshore to reach the other side where they discovered the shack in the background. The nearby land was covered in tall grasses, they walked for longer than they expected finally reaching the empty abandoned shack. The small field in front of the shack is what gave them an unnerving feeling. While the shack itself had no life the field was full of fully grown crops in the middle of winter with fruits and vegetables.
The abandoned shack they found in the middle of the eastern grasslands.
Near the porch of the shack were empty linen sacks Rong Yan nudged Tanaraq and pointed over to the sacks. They exchanged looks at Rong Yan ran over to grab the sacks and hand one to Tanaraq. Both of them began to harvest as many fruits and vegetables that could be gathered into the linen sacks, Rong Yan shut the sack as best he could to prevent any fruits from falling out he tied the rope to secure the sack closed.
Tanaraq did the same her clothing stained dirty from the ground. She started to understand what the servants went through while she sat lazily around the palace back at the South Pole. It was at this point that she began to ignore the fact her robes were stained with dirt but she still had a sense of cleanliness and didn't want to have a large stain somewhere visible because it would be embarrassing.
They both headed back with the linen sacks full of fruits and vegetables shouldering the sacks. Unaraq and Aloi approached the pottery shop near the western entrance of the town where they first arrived. An old man his face was wrinkled and gaunt he looked sort of lifeless like the others, he was lanky and tall, although now his old age his back was arched around the upper-portion. He was bald from his crown, his hairline was nonexistent, his hair only grew on the sides at were snow-white, his skin was tan and darker in some areas a clear indication that he worked in the sun a lot, his eyes were brown like the color of the ground.
His tunic was gray and made of linen it had clay stains that couldn't be washed out anymore, his slacks were a light brownish-gold color and he wore no shoes. The man had finished the final step of the process when it came to pottery he just finished glaze firing the vase he made. All that was left was to paint it, he set it down on a table while he looked around for his pigment cups filled with different colors of paint.
Bo Te (Beau Tuh) the old potter who lives in Chao Lake, and is related to the archer later in the chapter.
The shop was mostly outside where he created his work with all the tools needed to do so. The final processes were done a lifted wooden platform with supports a few steps it had only been off the ground maybe two feet but with his old age, he had the steps installed because he couldn't leap off or climb onto the platform like back when he was much younger. The ceiling was supported by two large wooden poles it was more like an overhang and surrounding the shop were wooden shelves that houses his vases, pots, kettles, and cups. Each day he'd bring them out from his home and each night he'd bring them inside to avoid losing them to a thief.
"Are you Bo Te?" inquired Unaraq as he approached the old man he trembled when he heard the voice of a young man. Startled he stomped his left foot a little annoyed that people choose to bother him while he's working.
"Yes, yes what do you want?" he asked a hurried tone hoping that if he answered the young man's question he and his friend would go away. He was a very busy person and everyone knew better than to bother Bo Te.
"Yule De mentioned that you witnessed a sighting of Ling Hu," Unaraq brought up the old man fell silent he stared at Unaraq and Aloi. Aloi feeling a little nervous as he gazed at her he was still silent and a little shook up his body language revealed that he saw something but was too afraid to talk about it.
"It's okay, sir. The tiger lynx spirit can't get you, if you tell us about your experience we can get rid of it," Unaraq assured the old coot.
He shook his head in disagreement and jerked his head north, east, south and west to take a quick gander at his surroundings making sure Ling Hu wasn't around he lowered his voice almost whispering to them, "Don't insult the beast he's around 'ere somewhere he can hear everything we're saying, you best get on outta 'ere. I was comin' back from outside the walls where my shipment of kaolin was left by my source. I grabbed my cart and headed out to haul my shipment inside the walls when I heard the thunderous booms in the nearby grasslands."
Kaolin was a soft white clay, potters in the Earth Kingdom use to make porcelain with, he paused before continuing trying to remember the experience. He blocked it out of his mind because it terrified him and he used his work to get his mind off of it.
"I looked to the skies and did not see any clouds normally if I remember correctly clouds have to form for the skies to rain down water or even for a thunderstorm to attack from above. The skies were clear, and in the distance, I saw a glowing blue silhouette, I could see through the beast, it was big. My peepers aren't too good now in my old age but I saw the foul creature. I abandoned my cart and darted into my house securing the door bar to lock myself inside. No one believed me, not until I reported it to our mayor," Bo Te remembered.
"W-we had her communicate with the local earth sage who spoke with the spirit within our temple but received no word from it," Bo Te claimed.
"The beast is so infuriated with us over somethin' but I can't place my finger on it. Might be from our town makin' money off the legend. We warn the tourists of the creature but he isn't real, just a story my pa used to threaten me with to get me and the other kids to behave," reckoned the old potter.
"When I witnessed the foul beast, I believed it turned pale white I did. Always thought the stories my pa told me were just folklore but he was right the beast is real," Bo Te concluded further supporting his experience and submitting to the fact Ling Hu exists.
"So then why don't you stop using the spirit as a way to get money?" Aloi questioned him, he responded, "Thing is little lady, we gotta make money somehow. We don't dare disrespect the spirit that's not our intentions at all, we just say he's what guards the town to warn potential wrongdoers from acting."
She nodded understanding the purpose Ling Hu serves the town. Aloi bowed to the old man thanking him, "Thank you for your time we hope you can finish your work in peace now."
Unaraq and Aloi turn around and padded back to the town square where they were hoping to meet up with Rong Yan and Tanaraq to grab themselves a room or two in the inn for the night. The skies were darkening and the sun was finally going down and the curfew was now active. The streets were empty they were the only two strolling around the town like it was old and abandoned not a soul in sight. Through the gates entered Rong Yan and Tanaraq with linen sacks full of vegetation. Aloi quickly minced toward Rong Yan asking him, "Where did you get all this food?"
"Tanaraq saw a shack in the distance across the lake while she trained me, we got curious cut training short and went for a walk to find the shack," Rong Yan replied.
"So then you stole the food?" she questioned him a bit concerned about his moral standards.
He shook his head, "No the shack was empty and abandoned we only found fully grown fruits and vegetables on trees, and bushes that seem like they're carefully watched over by something or someone and refuses to socialize with the citizens."
Aloi put her right-handed fingers to her chin thinking about this discovery, "Do you know what this means?" she asked Rong Yan.
He and Tanaraq shook their heads, "This means we have an ample supply of food for the townspeople of Chao Lake."
Rong Yan grabbed his sack before announcing his departure, "I'll go ahead and report this to Yule De, she would be delighted in knowing this. What we found could keep the townspeople fed for a few days if not an entire week."
Aloi nodded at his plan Tanaraq and Unaraq sat nomad style eating the fruits his sister and Rong Yan gathered. Rong Yan jogged toward the mayor's home hoping to find her in time before she went to bed. He noticed there were some folks still walking about maybe just returning home a few merchants were putting away their supplies for the night.
He reached the mayor's home knocking on the wooden door in front of him after a few seconds she answered the door. Surprised to find Rong Yan outside even though the town had a curfew she brought up to him when they first met, "Avatar Rong Yan what are you doing roaming around town during the wee hours of the evening?" she questioned the young man.
"I wanted to present something to you," he replied showing her the sack full of fruits, she can't remember the last time she saw a sack full of produce. Shocked she gasped releasing a tear from one of her eyes, "Where did you? How did you even obtain all this produce?"
Yule De teared up when Rong Yan brought her a full sack of produce from the field.
"My waterbending master and I wandered off into the grasslands and discovered an abandoned shack in front of it was a strange field of grown fruits and vegetables that is carefully managed by something or someone," Rong Yan reported.
Yule De smiled and nodded bowing her head to Rong Yan, "I will gather up some men in the morning to help you gather the food from the garden you found. I was worried I'd have to cancel tomorrow's community feast. For now, I suggest you get some rest."
Rong Yan bowed his head at the woman he offered, "Here this is for you," she gladly took the sack of fruits from Rong Yan before he turned around and returned to his friends by the western entrance, who were eating what they found.
"C'mon we should get rooms for the night, she wants me to help a group of hunters secure the field of food for tomorrow," Rong Yan mentioned.
"What's tomorrow?" wondered Tanaraq.
"A community feast from what she told me," Rong Yan answered.
Unaraq finished his mangoes, and Aloi her leechee nuts, Tanaraq was consuming a banana but grabbed her sack before tossing Rong Yan an apple so he could snack on. When Unaraq opened the door to the inn for his friends to walk in he casually mentioned to Rong Yan, "Well I can gather the same hunters to hunt some animals out in the grasslands for their feast. Won't be much of a feast without meat." Aloi brought up her own opinion telling Unaraq, "No you can't kill those innocent creatures!"
"You need to understand that if these people don't eat meat anytime soon they'll starve and die off. The produce Rong Yan and my sister found won't sustain them for long let's not forget they have to grow the food too and that takes a few months," reasoned Unaraq.
"It's just the natural order of things," Unaraq added.
"It's fine and dandy that you want to help these people but you're forgetting your waterbending training is just as important Rong Yan," Tanaraq interrupted.
Rong Yan nodded, "Good point," she reminded him, "Let's not forget Unaraq's a good hunter let him handle the gathering of the produce and the hunt for game."
Aloi gathered the money from the coin pouch she carried on her waist handing ten silver to the innkeeper who allowed them to occupy two rooms for the evening. Aloi went to bed upset that Unaraq and the town's men would go kill the grassland creatures for their meat tomorrow. She shared a room with Rong Yan as usual since her relationship with Tanaraq is too rocky and a bit unfriendly at times.
Tanaraq covered herself with her sleeping bag atop the bed that probably was dusty while her brother sat down in the corner looking through his sack for his grinding stone. He planned on sharpening his machete for tomorrow's hunt. The evening was a little cold and breezy the window to the Water Tribe royals was kept open they enjoyed the cold winds it reminded them of home. Unaraq sat down on a chair near the window sharpening his machete from the lower part of the blade working his way upward.
Meanwhile, outside in the far distance beyond the walls hiding in the grasslands were two teenagers. One of the boys called out to the one approaching him, the very same teen Unaraq and Aloi spoke to earlier in the morning.
"Shudaizi! Where's Mafan?" called the teen.
"I'm not sure, Xiaohua I didn't see him on the way here," Shudaizi answered, suddenly the small boulders beside them began to slowly levitate near them scaring them as they trembled the small-sized boulders hit the ground and from behind the tall grass hidden was the other teenager Xiaohua asked Shudaizi for.
He cackled from the back of the tall grass he appeared laughing at them. Shudaizi shaking a bit after being scared half to death by his earthbender friend, Xiaohua rolled his eyes at the leader of the circle remaining serious.
"Mafan! You almost scared me half to death I thought it was the real Ling Hu!" he barked at his friend.
"Shudaizi settle down Ling Hu isn't real, remember?" Mafan coaxed his friend.
"Did you bring the blue rug from your house like I asked you to?" Mafan questioned Shudaizi, the boy nodded, "Yup," he pulled out from behind him showing his friend the rug, "It's right here," he said.
"Excellent," Mafan answered.
Mafan focused on the ground just below them using his arms to shape a small piece of the ground into a rectangle he stomped with his left foot and the rectangularly shaped portion of earth rose from the ground up to their waists. Shudaizi gently placed the light blue rug on top of the table of earth to cover it entirely.
He focused smashing the two small-sized boulders together to create an even bigger boulder, this is what he was going to use to produce the thunderous booms that the others who've witnessed what they thought was Ling Hu sounded like.
He lifted the medium-sized boulder before dropping it the sound echoed, Unaraq looked out the window toward where he heard the sound but saw nothing. He returned to sharping his weapon and then heard the booming steps of Ling Hu three more times. Two people, a young couple ran into the entrance terrified, "Help! Help it's Ling Hu!" they screamed but no one came out to help not a soul.
And even if they wanted to help the strangers out they were too afraid to make a move. Unaraq stood up staring at the outside but still could not see a thing. The thundering footsteps stopped it's like Ling Hu came to attack two people and then vanished into thin air instead of attacking the town. He found it strange but he continued to sharpen his blade for another half hour before going to bed.
Morning came, the sun's rays hit Unaraq's eyes he closed them shut turning his head to the side trying to avoid positioning his head a specific way so the sun couldn't bother his eyes. He was the first to awake his sister was still asleep and so were Rong Yan and Aloi in the room next to them, he chewed on a mango to freshen up his breath before heading out of the inn to meet with the hunters.
He walked down the stairs of the inn to see a couple, a man and woman having a conversation with the old lady who owns the inn. The man rested his elbows on the counter while the woman was chattering to the innkeeper about their experience of the Ling Hu sighting that occurred last night.
"I'm sorry but we're no longer coming here for our yearly vacation until the town's men get rid of that beast! My wife and I went out for a stroll in the night only to be almost attacked by a giant ethereal tiger lynx!" exclaimed the man, the old innkeeper nodded to the claim the man-made believing every word. The old woman bowed her head to the couple apologizing to them, "I am truly sorry for the inconvenience but we have been unsuccessful in the hunt for the creature."
The man tugged at his wife's wrist gesturing for her that they were leaving for good, they left the door open rudely allowing the cold breeze to invade the heat of the fire a bit. Unaraq avoided conversation with the innkeeper she remained unaffected by the attitude the customer and his wife gave her. She's been used to the attitude recently but has no way of helping these people out. Unaraq closed the door to the inn behind him the man was atop his ostrich horse extending his arm out to his wife so she could mount the beast behind him.
Off in the distance near the western entrance, he could see Bo Te the potter that Aloi and he met the night before arguing with a younger man. The younger man shared several distinct similarities to Bo Te, Unaraq assumed they were related. There was a group of three men standing idly by waiting for Unaraq to lead them.
The young man who argued with Bo Te might have been his son or grandson, he was older than Unaraq could've been in his late twenties or early 30s, he wore a straw conical hat, and his clothing from his tunic to his slacks were an olive green hue likely to camouflage with the grassland environment. A quiver was strapped to the side of his waist instead of his upper back, and a bow rested on his back.
The archer, son of Bo Te who joined the group of hunters led by Unaraq.
"No I don't care what the mayor says you're staying here!" argued Bo Te.
"Dad I'll be fine I'm going to be gathering food nearby is all, nothing dangerous about it," countered his son.
"Ling Hu is out there, boy! Don't put your life on the line!" maintained his father.
"Ling Hu is only known to come out at night, father. We'll be fine, I promise I'll return before sunset arrives," reasoned the man.
"I forbid you from going!" yelled Bo Te, the man who ignored his father joining the group as soon as Unaraq approaches, one of the warriors sizes up Unaraq, "You're the Water Tribe warrior, the mayor mentioned I hope." Unaraq nodded, "That I am, okay men I hope you're ready to hunt some animals for this community feast."
He carried a map on him of the southern Oma Kingdom, last night before hitting the hay he marked the location where Tanaraq and Rong Yan described the garden to be located in, "To the east side of the grasslands just over yonder deep in is a hidden patch of land where an abandoned shack sits with a fully grown field of fruits and vegetables. My sister and the Avatar only have gathered enough to fill two sacks full," Unaraq claimed, he paused then continued, "We can pick that field clean of its produce and return it here to the town or we could go hunt a few beasts first to provide the town with something to eat for the coming weeks."
They weren't sure if it was a rhetorical question the oldest stepped forward a short, chubby, man raising his hand in the air to grab Unaraq's attention, "We're not gatherers, our talents lie in hunting animals."
Unaraq nodded, "Point taken we should go on ahead and find us a beast then, I'm assuming they can still be found in the western part outside of the town?" he questioned to the oldest member of the group he replied, "Yes well they can be found anywhere but if you'd like to go hunting on the west side we'll follow your orders until you try to get us killed."
Thirty minutes after Unaraq left the inn, Tanaraq and Rong Yan were next to awaken from slumber. Tanaraq had ordered a cup of mint tea from the innkeeper she sat at the counter resting her elbow on the counter and her head on the palm of her hand.
She gurgled the tea in her throat before swallowing it allowing the mint tea to give her a minty breath for heading out. Rong Yan carried a bit of animal fats left in a small container, he brushed his teeth with his toothbrush before heading downstairs. Where he met with Tanaraq who just finished her cup of tea, "Are you ready?" she asked, he kept light clothing on, and she only wore light clothing leaving her parka upstairs.
Rong Yan nodded, "Sure am." Tanaraq left the innkeeper fifteen copper pieces and a silver coin tip.
They arrived at the lake ten minutes later, Rong Yan and Tanaraq removed their clothing stripping down to undergarments. Tanaraq ordered him to begin doing his exercises and stretches before waterbending training.
Meanwhile, Aloi was the last to wake up she rinsed her mouth with some berry tea before heading out to explore the town further than last night with Unaraq. She ventured out eventually reaching the northeastern corner of the town where the environment was more rundown and dirty, the huts were beaten up and shanty, the air filled with the stench of body odor, and bodily fluids similar to the reeking stink back in Sichuan. She wondered what made the governor not give a damn about the towns and villages within his province.
She wanted to march into his or her estate and give them a piece of her mind, nobles wouldn't listen to her if anything she'd have to go directly to the King of Omashu but even he poorly runs his kingdom compared to how the King of Ba Sing Se runs his lands. Fortunately, these thoughts stayed only in her head publicly speaking against either kingdom in their lands is an act of treason or at least it is in the Oma kingdom. The Qiangda kingdom as it is known gives its citizens free speech but it also has its limitations, any word against the Crown is treason.
What got to Aloi more than the sufferage of the adults was the suffering of the children, many of the children in the poorer section of the town fell ill and are starving to death. Surely a few of them would die tonight if they hadn't been fed. A lot of adults with children had split their meals up taking smaller portions while allowing their children to take the bigger portions of the meal. There was one family that sat in between homes huddled together sharing a warm blanket. This event was affecting the entire town, to the point where Wushan's Minister of Revenue had to do his job and immediately force families to vacate their homes. Without any money flowing in, people could not pay their taxes she felt it was cruel to allow people to build homes with their two hands and then charge them extra money every once and while to allow them to remain on the land.
Tears began to stream from her face the sight of how these people lived and suffered had gotten to her worse than Sichuan. Sichuan was made up of adults while Chao had children living amongst the adults, she didn't care less for the adults but she loved children dearly. Children were cherished and celebrated by the Air Nomads and by the goddess Rati. They were pure souls of innocence.
She felt a light tug on the lower area of her tunic that while the front was folded and held by her sash, it was let loose on the back. She peered down after the tears cleared from her eyes to see a small boy with a gaunt face, his brown hair was oily, and his green eyes radiated in the sunlight, his tan skin was dry and flaky although the lake was not too far from the town itself most of the poor did not own their tubs like those in the middle class. They were too afraid to set foot outside the town where Ling Hu would be prowling.
Qiji, the boy who was starving due to Mafan, Xiaohua, and Shudaizi's prolonged prank on the town.
The boy must've been about five or six years old he was lanky and very thin, his ribs were visibly protruding from his body. While it is known most people live up to a month without eating, they can only survive three days without water before dying of thirst. Surprisingly, the only thing that kept them quenched and not thirsty was the well they had in the middle of their part of the town, it went down to the natural watering hole in the area. A small bucket and rope is where they went to gather up some drinking water. That didn't make a difference though, the water was still dirty and most if not all the people living in the slums of Chao were non-benders. There might have been earthbenders in the bunch but it was doubtful any of them were skilled enough to remove dirt particles from their water to filter it into drinkable water.
The poor child was malnourished and it made her even more sad. The boy noticed that the Air Nomad woman was crying his curiosity struck him to approach her and ask what was wrong. "Don't cry pretty lady, what's wrong?" he questioned her with his innocent curiosity, she wiped the tears from her eyes crouching down to meet the child's level and answered, "Nothing, but you know what? I'm going to find you some food to eat," she said she gave him a smile shedding more tears.
"Food? That'd be great I could use some I'm starving.." he paused glancing back to hear his mother calling him, turning his attention back to Aloi he gave her a farewell, "I have to go, mommy thinks I'm bothering you."
She tapped her staff extending the glider out so she could try to find the field from the air, she looked down the boy stayed extending out his small, thin and bony arm, "I forget about good manners sometimes, I'm Qiji," he smiled. Aloi wiped her tears again shaking his hand, "I'm Aloi." Aloi jumped into the air giving herself a much-needed boost and ascended into the skies with her glider on the lookout for the field that Rong Yan and Tanaraq talked about.
At the same time on Chao Lake, Rong Yan finished his first try at a waterbending move Tanaraq gave him a high five for his success on his first few tries on the move. She instructed him further, "This next move is a high-pressure jet, which can be used to force opponents back or even blast clean through if focused enough. Water jets are primarily used if the user has the intent of severely hurting their opponents. Which by the way might prove useful to you later on."
"This one requires you to be in Ma Bu stance so pay close attention because this one might prove to be harder for you to do," Tanaraq advised before she could start Rong Yan interrupted her, "Wait what's the Ma Bu stance?"
"It's often called, the 'sea horse' stance, they're semi-aquatic creatures with four legs and scaly skin. It's a wide stance, you have to have your thighs parallel to the ground. Weight has to be equally distributed in plain ma bu, but the stance may be staggered left or right. It can also be easily shifted into a left or right che bu stance if the need arises," she replied.
Her feet were planted shoulder-width apart with one arm that was extended she lowered it to pull a massive amount of water and then cocked the arm closer to her body punching it forward the water jumped out of the lake and sped past Tanaraq before dropping into the water. Rong Yan clapped at the demonstration witnessing the speed of such a maneuver.
She points at him gesturing to him it was his turn. He stood in the ma bu stance copying the same steps as Tanaraq in a hog monkey see, hog monkey do kind of way. He stood there concentrating on pulling a big glob of water out of the lake, the water rippled before tremendously trembling he swiftly cocked his arm before punching it with great strength. The jet pressurized before shooting out further than Tanaraq's, she stared in awe at the length that it propelled out to.
Tanaraq marveled, "Wow you're getting good at this, I thought since water is your opposite you'd be having trouble."
"Well you could I've mastered the element hundreds of times," Rong Yan laughed, Tanaraq ordered Rong Yan, "Okay now let's drill what you've learned yesterday and today," Rong Yan groaned slouching before she started shouting the different moves he learned so that he could perform them.
Bo Te's son.
Meanwhile, the archer crouched on a tree waiting for their targeted prey to be distracted, the other warriors crouched prowling around the grasslands. One second the beast they encountered was grazing, the next second it was gone. Unaraq pulled out his machete and lodged the blade into the tree trunk.
The archer held onto the tree to maintain his balance, he was a little annoyed that the stranger sent by the mayor would be doing idiotic things. He peered down from the thick branch he stayed on, he grumbled, "What are you doing down there?"
Unaraq shushed Bo Te's son, "Shhh its an old trick my dad taught me, you put your ear to the pommel of your sword and you can feel the vibrations of anything near us," the archer found it strange that the Water Tribesman would do such a thing because even lodging his weapon into the tree would cause a sound and sounds scare off game.
Unaraq felt his machete vibrating, he looked around to see the men still stealthily crouching nearby the ground itself began to tremble he put his ear back on his pommel and detected something is moving. He whistled up at the tree where the archer waited he pulled back the string of his bow and notched an arrow waiting for the beast to reveal itself. Unaraq pulled his machete out of the tree and waited behind it.
One of the earthbenders rolled to his right before standing in the middle the other waited on left crouched. Suddenly, four fox antelopes burst through the tall grass scurried away. One of the earthbenders sunk the ground and quickly coned one of the fox antelopes' three legs, the creature screamed in fear it fell over before one of the men with an ax could dispatch the creature more rumbling of the earth occurred, the archer whistled to the earthbender on the left the whistle was a signal for a stampede but instead a saber-tooth moose lion emerged from the tall grass, it emitted a terrifying roar that scared one of the men because the creature was a rare sight in his region.
Saber-tooth moose lion.
The warrior dodged the moose lion's antlers preventing his death, it rammed into the trapped fox antelope killing it instantly. The two earthbenders quickly used their earthbending to form slab shackles around the hooves of the moose lion trapping all four limbs. It swung its head back and forth trying to break free, the archer shot the beast in the round area of the body, the beast roared and now even more infuriated began to break loose from its shackles, the earthbenders strengthened the animal's bonds.
Another arrow struck the beast on its ribs visible bleeding was seen. One of the warriors attempted to bury his ax to cave in the skull of the beast but failed. The beast knocked him aside, the older earthbender grabbed a small rock and propelled it through the skull of the foul beast, it fell silently only a slump was heard.
It died right next to the fox antelope it killed, too bad they couldn't successfully kill the other three that escaped before the saber-tooth moose lion emerged. One of the earthbenders cut the branch the archer once stood on, the other softened the ground allowing the archer to fall to safety.
The other warrior much younger than the group and Unaraq, waited for the men to roll the beast onto its back tying its hooves to the large branch. The strongest being Bo Te's son and the other warrior who was knocked down by the saber-tooth moose lion grabbed a hold of the branch on each end lifting it, Unaraq helped them out as well. The boy tied up the fox antelope's legs to the branch and carried it along with the leader of the group the short stocky man.
Meanwhile, Aloi found the patch of land and field the same one Rong Yan and Tanaraq found the day before. She explored the area no footsteps or sounds were heard not even signs of the fruit being harvested by her friends. She felt a warm and loving presence but nothing of it she noticed there were a few sacks of linen and pieces of rope beside the empty, abandoned shack she grabbed many of the sacks and filled them with fruits and vegetables from the field. It wasn't that big it was pretty small but she gathered enough and had about four sacks of produce, tying them to her staff with the rope she found near the sacks. Opening the glider manually she tried to balance her staff finding the center of mass to which she could control the winds without falling to her death.
But then she had a better idea and chose not to risk it she put her staff over her shoulder, taking in a deep breath then bolted through the grasslands toward the town at the speed of sound. A large cloud of dust formed behind her as she continued speeding past Unaraq and the group of hunters. The men saw a large cloud of dust zoom past them, the grass shook and remained disturbed by whatever darted past them.
Unaraq quickly examined the footprints and recognized them to be human. The short man inquired curiously, "What was that thing?"
"Airbender," he uttered, the hunters had a perplexed look on their faces wondering if Unaraq made a guess or was just joking around, "Did you say airbender?" one of the earthbenders asked, the boy questioned it, "There's no way a human can run that fast, can they?" Unaraq laughed, "They sure can, it must be my Air Nomad friend. They use airbending to give them enhanced reflexes or speed."
"Hmm that's interesting," the older earthbender commented they continued back to the town, the dust cloud even darted around the lake before coming to a complete stop where Rong Yan and Tanaraq were. It was Aloi, Rong Yan looked to the skies seeing they were transitioning colors from blue to orange and pink then back at Aloi who carried sacks full of produce, "Woah who those for?" he questioned her.
"These are for the people in slums I thought I could get their bellies full," Aloi answered, Rong Yan, stepped out of the water and began dressing himself. Tanaraq followed soon after and Aloi continued running at a normal pace before speeding up as soon as she's far from Tanaraq and Rong Yan. Tanaraq finished dressing up when she looked up to see Unaraq and the hunters haul in the moose lion.
"I'm going to help them haul in that moose lion I'll see you later on in the evening at the feast," Rong Yan said to Tanaraq she nodded, "Okay see you then." He jogged toward the hunters to help the front side of the branch that carried the beast relieving the archer and helping him converse energy, "Thanks," he thanked Rong Yan.
"No problem," Rong Yan smiled.
They carried the carcasses of the animals down the market street of the town to where one of the biggest restaurants in town was tasked to prepare the community meal. The butcher beamed at the sight of the saber-tooth moose lion the hunters brought in. He licked his lips and knew Chao would be eating good tonight, and even for a few nights. Aloi finally arrived at the slums of Chao. The poorer people were getting up now several getting up from their spots to stand in line for free food.
Qiji saw Aloi again and ran over to her, she stooped down to open one of the sacks tied to her staff, untying the rope from the staff. She handed Qiji some fruit that he immediately sunk his teeth into. It made her smile and tear up because the boy was so hungry, Qiji's mother noticed the great deed that the stranger did for her and her son, she minced over, throwing her arms around Aloi shedding a tear alongside the airbender she thanked Aloi, "Thank you airbender, you've saved the fate of my husband and children." Aloi wiped her tears and handed the woman the sack of produce responding, "Its the least I could do, I couldn't exist knowing there are people here starving."
Qiji held his mother's hand they padded back to the makeshift hovel they built in the dirt. The woman's husband smiled and felt over joyous at the sight of the linen sack of produce grabbing a mango from the sack and then a banana the younger sibling of Qiji could munch on. She smiled untying the other sacks from her staff handing the full bags of linen to others around the slums, men hugging Aloi as a form of thank you made her feel warm inside. She whispered to herself, "Thank you, Sasya for the produce."
Two hours of waiting pass by, the community of Chao is enjoying the feast on the longest feast tables Rong Yan has ever seen. From the poorest to the wealthiest of the citizens munched on food laughing and sharing stories. Yule De sat at one end of the table another seat by her was empty the seat was reserved for her son who hasn't shown up to the feast.
In his left ear he heard whispers, he turned to look to his left and saw nothing usually this was an Avatar calling him he stood up and excused himself and wandered off out of town. Toward the lake where he followed the whispers he thought nothing of it and continued ignoring his clothes from being wet he swam to the middle of the lake where a small piece of land sat. Strangely it was never before but what with spirits the magic and mystery no longer surprised him.
At the same time, out near the shores of the lake in another area were the two of the three troublemakers Mafan, and Shudaizi, Xiaohua was nowhere to be seen. Mafan had just arrived he questioned his friend, "Where's Xiaohua?"
"He went behind the tree to whizz he'll be out in a bit," Shudaizi answered, Xiaohua came out from behind the tree not being able to visibly see the tree branch that protruded from the ground he ignored it and ran clean through by the branch.
Gripping his right arm he winced in pain the scratches weren't so deep to the least but it was enough to break the skin and allow blood to flow out. A minimal amount of blood dripped from the scratches on his right arm, Shudaizi being the first to notice this mentioned it to Mafan, "Woah Xiaohua you're bleeding! Mafan look! Doesn't it look like the scratches could've been from Ling Hu?" he insisted.
"You're right, Xiaohua run into town screaming that Ling Hu attacked you. Shudaizi and I will stay here to make the sounds. So the people can think he's here," he ordered his friend.
Xiaohua nodded and sprinted into town screaming with distress. Meanwhile, once Rong Yan set foot on the island it's surroundings suddenly changed the island expanded even bigger than what it looked like when he swam toward it. The island was empty save for some reeds a large tree and a large statue of a tiger lynx. He looked at it and thought this had to be the Ling Hu that was attacking the town.
A distressing cry for help was heard, "HELP!" cried Xiaohua.
Bo Te was the first to notice that the boy's arm was bleeding. "The boy escaped the clutches of Ling Hu! He's going to die!" another woman screaming, Tanaraq jerked her head to see the boy's tunic stained with blood she grabbed her waterskin and jumped out of her seat running over to heal him.
"He's not going to die they're just scratches but I'm going to heal him," Tanaraq said trying to calm the old potter down. She bent water out of her waterskin and wrapped it around the boy's arm. Her hands hovered above his arm she focused on healing him, the water around his arm glowed. She pulled it back into her waterbag capping it, she inquired to the teen, "What happened?"
"You see Yule we have to do something about this creature, poor boy's arm was nearly torn off his body and barely made it out alive. We're its next meal!" the man shouted at her trying to criticize the mayor for not wanting to hunt it down.
"I was coming back to the town for the feast when it came and attacked me!" he cried out, suddenly a thunderous boom was heard just outside the walls before it was heard another two times.
People bolted out of their seats and to their homes the mayor Yule ordered the warriors to stand ready to fight the beast. "Stand your ground, warriors!" They ran to the western entrance with their weapons ready.
"Where's the Avatar?" another yelled.
"By the gods, Ling Hu devoured the Avatar!" a woman cried.
On the statue's platform for which it stood on was writing it said, "Island of Ling Hu", Rong Yan placed his hand on the statue a translucent blue ethereal aura filled the area behind Rong Yan, it formed into a large man sitting nomad style.
All the citizens scurried into their homes or other buildings nearby, Tanaraq, Aloi, and Unaraq went to the lake where they hoped to find Rong Yan fighting Ling Hu but saw nothing utter silence. The thunderous boom was heard once more but they saw nothing. They noticed footprints leading into the lake but they came to an end, the strange thing about the lake itself the waters stood still. Unaraq tapped the waters with his foot hoping it would ripple but nothing happened.
"The footprints end here and look the water it's remaining still," Unaraq mentioned.
"So he goes out for a night of swimming while everyone's enjoying the feast and the tiger lynx is attacking?" Tanaraq hypothesized. "Maybe he was kidnapped by Ling Hu?" guessed Aloi, Unaraq shook his head, "No there's no signs of any struggle."
"Ahh the Avatar I was finally able to contact you, young one," greeted the large man.
"Who are you? Are you a past life?" he questioned the spirit, the man chuckled and responded, "No, Avatar I am Ling Hu."
"I'll look for him in the lake," suggested Tanaraq. She formed a disc of ice and jumped on it using her waterbending to cruise around the lake. It was at least another mile of water she saw nothing in the water it was just the lake all around her. Even as far as she could was plain water.
Physical form of the Spirit Tiger Lynx, Ling Hu.
"I've been meaning to contact you, I want to know why you're attacking the town?" Rong Yan asked Ling Hu.
"Me? No, I'm not attacking the town. I'm the guardian spirit of the lake and grasslands, when the humans built their settlement on my lands I became their protector as well," Ling Hu commented.
"You're lying, you've been scaring everyone to death to point where some have lost their homes, are starving to death and the town itself is falling apart," Rong Yan disagreed.
"I swear it I've done nothing wrong, why do you think I've called you here? I watch over these people, three so-called humans are fooling you and everyone in that town. They're at best mimicking me and scaring the townspeople. Their stupidity is killing innocent people, I've guided four to the Spirit World already," recalled Ling Hu.
"You must oust them from hiding before I kill them myself, they're a danger to this town and you know it," Ling Hu stated.
"Their hands are stained with the blood of four innocents you must do the right thing, Avatar. Allow the town authorities to punish them, all you have to do is reveal their identities," Ling Hu suggested.
"Who are they?" he inquired sighing.
"Their leader is the son of the mayor, another one is the son of the butcher, and the other his parents are clothiers if you find the son of the mayor you will find the other two," Ling Hu responded.
"Come closer I will show you what they look like," Ling Hu offered, he stood up and transformed into Mafan De, then shapeshifting into Xiaohua, then finally into Shudaizi.
In the dark of night, Tanaraq returned to shore empty-handed, "There was a thick fog in the center of the lake but I saw nothing," she reported. The fog began to dissipate from the middle of the lake, Rong Yan returned to shore as well, Tanaraq, Aloi, and Unaraq jerked their heads behind them after hearing the sounds of water splashing seeing Rong Yan swim back to shore.
"Guys I know what's going on, Ling Hu isn't haunting nor attacking the town," Rong Yan proclaimed.
"Well you need to be more convincing, one of the town's boys was attacked by Ling Hu earlier," Unaraq stated.
Rong Yan shook his head in disagreement, "It had to be something else I was communicating with the spirit, he's the protector of the lake and grasslands. He shapeshifted into the boys who are pulling an elaborate sick prank and revealed to me their identities," explained Rong Yan.
"No, he must've been cut by something else. Ling Hu is the protector of the town, lake, and forest here. He has told me the names of the boys and he showed me what they look like." Rong Yan replied.
"Hey, Unaraq remember that kid who said the Avatar was weak and Ling Hu would easily kill him?" Aloi reminded Unaraq of the strange kid from earlier. He remembered the kid now, "Yeah I remember him now, you don't think he was one of the teens involved do you?" he asked.
She shrugged responding, "It's worth a shot."
"This calls for a town meeting," Rong Yan declared, after thirty minutes they returned to the town and knocked on Yule's door. She answered it taking in a deep inhale before yawning, "We know something that we're ready to reveal, someone's pulling your tail. I think we should do a town meeting," Rong Yan said.
Yule De nodded, she woke up her son to come ring the bell for the town meeting. Rong Yan recognized him as one of the boys Ling Hu shapeshifted into but ignored it waiting to gather the three boys during the town meeting to reveal them. Mafan rang the bell rapidly waking up the citizens within fifteen minutes everyone stood crowding around Yule's home irritated and tired.
Rong Yan stepped up onto a crate nearby to speak to the entire community, "Sorry for the inconvenience everyone but I wanted to make sure you were all awake for this meeting. The recent attacks from Ling Hu were falsified by three individuals, I've spoken to Ling Hu and he is your guardian spirit. He's told me about the three boys they are Mafan De, Xiaohua and Shudaizi," he announced.
"The thundering footsteps of Ling Hu were the boulder Mafan levitated and then dropped, the luminescent blue of Ling Hu's coat belonged to Shudaizi, the scratches on Xiaohua's arm were a result of him running through brush and a branch breaking his skin.
"MAFAN! How could you?! You've put the townspeople's lives in danger!" Yule yelled at her son so high it was at the top of her lungs.
She grabbed his wrist angrily, "Xiaohua you are no longer able to hang out with these boys!" Xiaohua's mother shouted.
"Shudaizi, you're in BIG trouble, young man. You will work without compensation until your misdeeds are paid off! Mark my words!" Shudaizi's mother boomed.
Rong Yan heard a whisper once more, "Avatar come to the shores with your companions I must present you something." Rong Yan signaled to his friends to follow him, they ran out of town and to the shores of the lake.
The spirit tiger lynx appeared before them roaring ever so loudly before shapeshifting into the form of a man, Ling Hu snapped his fingers and in front of him were sacks full of fruits, vegetables and grains, meat, and pastries.
Unaraq was shocked at the sight of the creature along with Aloi, and Tanaraq took a step back and cowered at the sight of the spirit beast. Aloi stooped over to grab a sack of produce after the tiger lynx changed into a human.
"Here give these to the townspeople of Chao, each of you can carry two sacks. Inside are fruits, vegetables and grains from my garden, meats from recently dead animals that died naturally in my grasslands, and pastries that were found," Ling Hu offered them.
Each one of them grabbed two sacks, Aloi, Unaraq, and Tanaraq hiked back to the town Rong Yan stayed bowing to Ling Hu for his kindness to the townspeople. The crowd hadn't dispersed yet Bo Te's son noticed them running in with the sacks he questioned Unaraq, "Where did you find all this food?"
"Take a guess," Unaraq replied.
"Ling Hu blessed us?" he guessed, Unaraq nodded. "Everyone this food came from Ling Hu! It's a miracle!" he shouted everyone noticed the sacks they began eating some of the food.
"Yule, I have an idea. We should have the boys run some of the merchant stands and perform tour guide duties without pay for the next eight months," Xiaohua's father suggested.
"That's a wonderful idea, Moku. They can start tomorrow!" she smiled.
The guardian of Chao Lake appeared to the boys after their prank caused much suffering. Except this time no one believed them when he actually appeared.
The twilight later arrived, the Avatar and his friends left on the back of their dragon two hours ago, the boys spent their last night hanging out together when suddenly they heard growls in the distance. They thought nothing of it until the blue aura emanated in the distance Xiaohua nudged Mafan and pointed in the south direction from where they sat. Ling Hu decided to punish the boys, he roared at them and they squeal running away.
"Shut it you otter weasels! Some of us are trying to catch some rest, we know you're trying to prank us and it's not working!" shouted one of the citizens. They screamed louder as the roar of a tiger lynx echoed throughout the town.
"Its the real Ling Hu!" cried all three of them.
"Yeah and my grandmother's the Earth Queen! Oh wait she's not!" the man retorted.
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