Fanon:Chapter 7: Long Live the King

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Overview[]

Team Avatar finally arrive in Omashu, Jushi is challenged to prove if he's worthy to train the Avatar. While Aloi makes a new friend, the Prince of Omashu, except while she thinks they're friends. Hui places her on a pedestal because he has a crush on her. The royals are thrown into conflict with each other when Hui finds out Aloi has a boyfriend.

Kireama awakens to find Palartok gone, distracted she's approached by Senlin who senses she's lying. He calls her a traitor and she refused to let him know as soon as she found it or the night before when she saw him at his make shift memorial for Tukkutok. Senlin punishes her for her betrayal to the rebellion.

Chapter 7: Long Live the King[]

Book 3: Earth

Chapter 7: Long Live the King

A breezy spring morning filled the skies above the Northern Rebellion compound near the Meng River. Some men relieved the duties of their brothers-in-arms, those that stood vigilant in the watchtowers continued to keep watch of any intruders but found none. Birds sang while they perched in the trees, two men sat out on the grass that loomed over the Meng River itself and fished with their waterbending.

It was a beautiful weekend, to say the least usually on the weekends the men refrained from doing their daily run and training. It had been their rest period, the sun beamed through Palartok's tent the light flashed into Kireama's shut eyes. She groaned and turned her body away from the sun's rays, her arm hit the groundsheet.

She suddenly woke up as soon as her arm connected to the fabric underneath her, she expected Palartok's chest to be the first thing she felt. She rubbed her eyes and thought maybe he had gotten up early to go for a run or even to the bathroom. Kireama scratched her head and untangled parts of her hair that were tangled in her slumber.

She sat up and yawned Kireama scanned the tent to notice that his belongings were no longer in the tent either. What was left however were her belongings from the night before when she decided to join him in his tent. She remembered the evening before was carnal with relevant activities between the two. She crawled over to her things and searched through them when a note fell out.

She opened the letter and covered her mouth as she read through it, "By the time you fund and read this I will be long gone. I've heard the rumors of where the Tribesmen armies will be and have accepted my destiny and will be venturing out to them.

The scroll that Palartok left behind.

Yesterday, was an eye-opener for me I know it makes no sense since I go through a similar experience every year. But this year it's been eating away at me while I've shown no signs of depression. I feel the best way to move on and past this obstacle is to set out and do what my son wanted me to do.

I've known Senlin far longer than you, Inuksuk, or Kimaru, I've been friends with him for over sixty years and not a single time have we aged a day past fifty. When I first met him he was villainous and had similar goals as to mine. I befriended him during the final years of the war, where I learned about the person he disguises himself behind. After he escaped prison I was glad he was back in our lives as an effective figure in the Qiangda-Northern war.

But Senlin's been in that prison for over sixty years plenty of time for a man to be torn asunder by the demons that wage a civil war inside of him. He's not the same anymore at a time he only wished to betray his nation if it meant for the end of the Avatar that cost him so much.

Now he doesn't even want anything to do with the Avatar not yet at least. He's done horrible things in the past four years since his escape. The rumors of him being a metalbender are false, he's an extremely skilled earthbender and a deadly one at that. We've burned down remote villages where he's shown no mercy even to children.

What happens after the rebellion, Kireama? Are you going to go back to Aupaluk or the North Pole and live a decent life even if the government wants you dead? He's leading everyone to their death, he's going to get himself killed when he shows up in the Oma Kingdom capital. We're too far from the ocean to ally ourselves with the Fifth Nation, he won't even make it to the Outer Walls of the city if the army of Pingyao doesn't take him out first. He's gone mad and you know it.

I made a promise to my son and I intend on keeping that promise, it's best I don't tell you where I'm going at least until I'm safe behind walls. I know you might think I'm a traitorous coward and that's okay but know it was hard to write this letter and to not take you with me. This is goodbye, for now, I hope I can see you again soon. It's up to you when we meet again whether you're on his side or the right side.

I have to do everything that I can to assist the Avatar in ending Senlin, even if it ends in my execution. At least then I'll reunite with my boy. I love you, Kireama."

She wiped the tears that produced from her eyes, she was teary-eyed her boyfriend gathered his belongings and ran away. The very least he left her was his final note for the time being she was conflicted with the note. As if he didn't care for her or their rebellion's goals, the Northern Rebellion's founder was Palartok himself as he lived through those sixty years without aging he eventually met Inuksuk and Kireama.

They both shared similar ideas and goals as he did and the offspring of old veterans that have agreed to do the right thing to avenge the deaths of their ancestors who lived during the Thirty-Year War. Things went through her mind if she hid this from Senlin and he found out, he would have her killed on the spot. If she turned the note to Senlin she would live but that meant Palartok would be tracked and killed.

She needed to find out more about the whereabouts of the Tribesmen armies before she decided on her options. If they were close Palartok would be found much earlier but who knew where they could be found. Rumors have suggested they're spread out across the Qiangda Kingdom some in the Hu Xin provinces while others were near Tuo province.

Their clothing rippled in the wind as they soared through the skies atop Shen, Rong Yan, Aloi, Jushi, and Unaraq relaxed inside of Shen's saddle as they ate meals from the sack they were given back in Han Tui. Jushi munched on a komodo rhino's leg when he peeped his head up and peered below the dragon.

There were villages sprawled around the barren desert landscape of the Omashu province. Then there was a huge deep chasm that surrounded a massive city on the peak of a mountain. He swallowed the bite of his food and smiled.

"There it is, the Heart of the Oma Kingdom. The grand city of Omashu," he beamed.

The heart of the Oma Kingdom, Omashu City.

Everyone crawled over to the edges of Shen's saddle and witnessed the beautiful sight of the city underneath and in front of them. The deep chasm below seemed to be bottomless but Jushi assured them there was a bottom to the chasm. The unique thing about the city was the chasm below, the water from the ocean naturally flowed into the chasm that surrounded the city.

This is where the Oma provincial navy stationed their navy warships. On the southern side of the massive gorge was the military harbor of the city. While on the northern, and western sides were the seaside commerce areas of Oma Kingdom's capital. This harbor is where goods were exported to different parts of the world and imported goods arrived. The fishermen were here as well, the chasm was home to its very own district known as the harbor district which was found on the eastern portion of the chasm. Many fishermen and folk who worked in the harbor or even people who felt more comfortable near the water resided here.

There were large tunnels where things were transported inside of the mountains and underneath the city to be brought up to the ground-level of the city itself. Inside the mountains were outposts of military checkpoints, inspectors checked the imported materials here for a second screening before it entered the capital. A sector of the military trained in another cave chamber, while another housed the dead.

A narrow land bridge stretched over to the platform in front of the gargantuan walls of the Omashu Kingdom city. Although the walls didn't compare to that of the Qiangda Kingdom's capital Ba Sing Se, Omashu was hard to conquer because of the chasm that protected the city. When invaders arrived the city guards retracted the narrow land bridge back into the mountain itself until it is safe once more.

"Wait where do you plan on landing?" Unaraq glanced back and asked Rong Yan.

"I don't know near the natural land bridge?" Rong Yan returned an echo question, "Just fly into the city I know where you can land Shen. Fly a bit to the left," Jushi answered.

Shen was steered to the left while he continued to fly above the walls of the city past the chasm below. Jushi pointed from the saddle while Rong Yan steered his flying mount from its neck, Jushi pointed down, "Down there, you see the public stables?"

Rong Yan nodded and then pulled on Shen's reins, the dragon descended near the giant city stable area. Aloi front flipped off of Shen and safely hovered to the ground, Jushi used the earth below to cushion himself. Rong Yan also jumped off and floated down slowly while Unaraq hung from the saddle and wiggled his legs. Jushi and Rong Yan attempted to catch Unaraq but in the end, he fell on top of the two. Aloi facepalmed and shook her head at the three buffoons she dealt with daily.

She headed off to a stablehand who advanced toward them she held money on her to pay for the rented space that the Avatar's dragon would occupy. Unaraq dusted himself off as did Rong Yan and Jushi, the stablehand grabbed Shen's reins and pulled him to the largest empty pen where he would be taken care of.

"You didn't have to pay you could've told them you were summoned by King Gao," Rong Yan mentioned to Aloi.

"You three took too long with your shenanigans that I made an independent decision," Aloi commented, she minced off in a random direction she hoped to find a guard that could lead them to the palace.

"Where is she going?" Unaraq wondered, "I don't know but we should follow her," replied Jushi as he jogged behind the airbender.

She neared a tall fit man in a thick dark green studded brigandine, under the armor was sand-colored long sleeve tunic, both were fastened together with a light brown belt which had the Oma Kingdom insignia adorned on it. His trousers were dark green and matched the brigandine, his shoes were leather and black, and he wore shin guards that protected his lower legs. He also wore a dark green cowl over his head that hid the chainmail coif underneath. His skin was a dark tan color, his eyes were green and while there was no sign of hair the guard's facial hair was black.

Most of the guards in the area wore this attire she assumed that was the uniform of the Omashu city guard. The guard held his arms behind his back as he stoically peered into the streets and watched them like a hawk. He looked down when an Air Nomad girl stood in front, she smiled and raised her hand to greet him.

"What can I assist you with, civilian?" he questioned the airbender.

"I'm with the Avatar and we're looking for an escort to King Gao's palace," she responded.

"I will consult with my superior about this and I will get back to you. For now, enjoy the city square while I send a message to the palace," said the guard and he walked off toward the station behind him.

Several citizens roamed about in front the city square was another post office station, here is where the workers used earthbending to send various parcels up toward other parts of the city while they used bending to stop the incoming mail packages that slid down with gravity.

Aloi scanned the area and saw a wooden shack-like restaurant the sign was unpainted except for a big green cabbage in the center. She gave a vague wave of a farewell to Unaraq, "Where are you going?" he asked her as she pointed toward the restaurant and said nothing.

He sighed, "Well she left for her greens we should go eat something while we wait."

"I'm glad you asked, Unaraq because right here in this very square.." paused Jushi he forced Unaraq's shoulders to face the west where Unaraq's eyes lit up. There was another restaurant an authentic Southern Tribesmen eatery. His mouth watered at the idea of Tribesmen food which he hasn't eaten in quite some time.

Unaraq nipped briskly to the spot like a happy hungry child, the restaurant was built similar to Southern Tribesmen design. The walls were painted blue and it had Tribesmen motifs carved into the wood and painted a snowy white color. The dining area consisted of the inside of the restaurant and an outside patio were several patrons occupied a few of the tables.

Jushi and Rong Yan entered the place soon after their friend Unaraq quickly-paced inside. The inside resembled your typical fisherman's hut. The decorations were fossilized skeletons of smaller fish and fish the size of a child. The biggest one belonged to the rare and native bioluminescent lanternfish, a ten-foot-long creature, the size of a flying dolphin fish. The inside wasn't as full either it was likely a normal day for the workers.

There were also nets and hooks strung about, paper lanterns filled with lit candles were above their heads. The counter was made of mahogany wood, the man behind the counter was likely the owner. He dressed in middle caste clothing from the Southern Water Tribe. His clothing indicated that he was well off. His skin was a dark brown color, and so was his curly dark brown hair. He gave them two menus so they could read what the restaurant served.

At the same time, Aloi stood in line behind a woman that had spent the past two minutes as she ordered her food. Once the woman was done it was finally her turn she was handed a menu as well, most of the items on the menu were made from cabbages but they did have other fruit and vegetable menu foods as well.

She skimmed through it to find something delightful to enjoy, "Cabbage-flavored cookies, cabbage tea, a salad made of red cabbage and pointed white cabbage, tofu with a side salad, bean curds, apple cabbage soup," she read then she thought to herself, "Cabbage tea that sounds gross."

"I'll take an apple cabbage soup with bean curds on the side and some chamomile tea," she ordered Aloi then slid the menu back on the counter.

"That'll be a silver and seven copper please," the woman said.

Aloi handed her the appropriate amount of money and they both exchanged smiles, Aloi heard a scream near another door. The door was open and near it was a cabbage slug, the short lanky light tan-skinned individual slammed his foot down and ended the poor creature's life. Aloi witnessed the crime scene and gasped, she let out a squeal when she heard the squish sound as soon as he stomped on the poor critter. She bolted to the murderer and berated him for his murderous intent, "How dare you butcher one of Tiandi's children?"

The man argued back at Aloi, "What are you talking about? These pests can wipe out an entire ecosystem. My cabbages and my business are far more important than the meaningless life of some larva."

The cabbage restaurant owner.

She gasped again at his words, "Your life is more meaningless than that cabbage slug!"

"That didn't make any sense!" he shouted, "Your order is ready!" chimed in the girl at the counter.

Aloi upset at the old man grabbed her food and stormed out of the restaurant. She carried a bag in one of her hands while she used the other to pick at the bean curds. Aloi looked around for Rong Yan, Unaraq, and Jushi but couldn't find them. She asked locals if they've seen the men she described and they pointed her to the Tribesmen restaurant across the street from the cabbage place.

Jushi, Rong Yan, and Unaraq sat in the corner table as they ate their food. Rong Yan ate steamed sea slug which he had no idea that Tribesmen had a variant dish of a Nationalist delicacy. Jushi had a plate of arctic hen, a dish recommended by Unaraq. While Unaraq himself was recognized as the prince of the South and was given his meal for free. On the table, for himself, he was given five-flavored soup and his favorite treat akutaq. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when it was seen on the menu.

They took a gander at a shadow that filled the entrance and saw Aloi, she scanned the room to find them and her eyes lit up with joy when she saw all three. She pranced over to their table an empty seat was pushed over to Unaraq by Jushi who sat next to him. She joined them for their meals.

Meanwhile, Kireama was distracted the entire day, she spent with her students. She was the healing instructor and the men often had to bring her back to earth. She was far too distant today when the men found themselves being ignored one of them walked out of the large tent where the healing classes were held. Another followed, she lowered her head and said, "Class dismissed I need to recollect my thoughts today, I apologize everyone."

She began to leave soon after everyone left and held the note in her hand, Senlin opened the flap of the tent and she silently gasped as he entered. He carried a cold emotionless expression on his face he stared her down and questioned her, "Where's Palartok?"

"I d-don't know I haven't seen him all day..." she lied and then paused.

He inhaled some breath and pounded toward the middle-aged woman. He grabbed her by her left wrist and pulled her closer to him, "I know you're lying to me...I can sense your heart beating faster and your breathing is also quick," she winced a bit her cry of pain was quiet. He revealed to her that he could sense when someone's lying to him. This scared her even more.

"I'll spare your life, now tell me where is he?" he requested to Kireama, she was afraid to answer instead he ripped the note from her hands and he skimmed through it. After he read what he needed to read. He dragged her as she let out a scream, he tilted his head and some dirt slapped her in the face and solidified around her mouth.

Senlin was a very strong man he dragged Kireama from the tent as if she was a sack of potatoes. She was humiliated she started to release some tears from her eyes. The men gathered up some were shocked and others confused as to why Senlin had been dragging her across the compound to the middle where Inuksuk and Palartok trained their soldiers. Inuksuk and another man under Palartok named, Sappak. He was tall and lanky, dark-skinned with indigo-colored eyes, he was a rear admiral.

He stepped forward and demanded Senlin to tell him why she was being dragged, "Senlin! Why are you dragging her out here?!" He called Senlin out in anger.

"Where's Palartok, admiral Sappak?" blurted out the old general. The middle-aged Tribesmen shrugged and responded, "I don't know I haven't seen him all day."

He grabbed the crumpled up note and tossed it to Sappak, read it out loud for the men to hear. Sappak unfolded the crumpled note and read what he felt were the parts everyone wanted to hear, "What happens after the rebellion, Kireama? Are you going to go back to Aupaluk or the North Pole and live a decent life even if the government wants you dead?" he began to read.

"I made a promise to my son and I intend on keeping that promise, it's best I don't tell you where I'm going at least until I'm safe behind walls," he continued.

"Did you hear that boys? The coward runs from our compound to be kept safe behind Tribesmen walls, the very same people he betrayed. He expects them to take him as if nothing happened," cackled Senlin.

He threw braces at Kireama's wrists, the braces shrunk as soon as they clamped on her wrists. Senlin removed the gag from her mouth, Senlin smacked her across the face and clutched her chin and jaw in his right hand. Her cheeks were squeezed and her lips made an 'O' shape.

"I know you might think I'm a traitorous coward and that's okay but know it was hard to write this letter and to not take you with me. This is goodbye, for now, I hope I can see you again soon," read Sappak.

"He IS a traitorous coward!" exclaimed Senlin.

"I have to do everything that I can to assist the Avatar in ending Senlin, even if it ends in my execution. At least then I'll reunite with my boy. I love you, Kireama," Sappak finished reading the note. He folded it and held it in one of his hands.

"If he really loved you he wouldn't leave you for years after he met you in the Qiangda Kingdom. He wouldn't have left to seek enlightenment in the Fire Nation. And he was too stupid to leave you here where you'll die," Senlin affirmed her, he let go of her. Kireama fell on to her rear he grabbed a sword that was sheathed on someone's hilt.

He pulled out the sword and inspected the weapon, "Stand her on her feet, she dies a coward and a traitor today. After this tell Kimaru, I need him to head to Chu Shi in Tuo, he needs to convince the Fifth Nation fleet to join us."

"What about you?" asked Inuksuk.

"I'm leaving you in charge of our forces here, while Yang..." he paused and pointed at an earthbender, "Trains the other earthbenders. I'm going to Omashu in the Oma Kingdom, we need to move fast on our plans if the traitor is going to assist the Avatar," he finished.

Kireama was forced to her feet she flailed about she knew her end was now. She should've given the note to Senlin as soon as she found it. But then she also loved Palartok more than she valued her life. Tears streamed down her face she pouted her face in sadness, her lower lip quivered. Senlin pointed it at her and then stared down everyone he wanted to make sure that everyone watched the execution. He mentioned, "If you betray the rebellion or me, this will happen to you."

With no hesitation he thrust the warrior's blade right into Kireama's gut, she gasped for air as he dug the blade deeper. The other end of it appeared from behind her, she coughed blood out of her mouth as he grinned wickedly. Senlin kicked her mortally wounded body off the sword and stabbed it into the ground.

Kimaru who had just returned from the scouting class he hosted, he and the other scouts approached the crowd. Senlin split the crowd open Kimaru looked into the general's eyes, "What happened?" he inquired.

"Traitors happened, pack your things. I've heard rumors of Fifth Nation pirates in Chu Shi in the Tuo province. Convince their pirate lord to lend us his fleet for the invasion," Senlin commanded him.

"Traitors?" he was confused he saw Inuksuk crouched over a woman.

Kireama was his guess she was the only woman in the compound. "Senlin what did you do?!" shouted Kimaru.

"Palartok ran in fear, he's going toward the Tribesmen to help the Avatar. She needed to die, she hid his letter from me. Where do your loyalties lie, Tribesman?" Senlin questioned Kimaru.

"I dedicated my life to your cause, if I die I'm dying as part of the rebellion," Kimaru assured Senlin. Senlin smiled Kimaru sensed the evil intentions in his eyes, he knew Kimaru wasn't lying to him. Senlin needed loyalty now.

"Do as your told, when you finish send me a letter, I'll let you know where we'll meet," Senlin said.

Kimaru nodded to the plan, "I'll get there quicker on a snow leopard caribou, nothing's faster on land than those things."

"Go ahead I'm sure you can catch up to them, that beast can get you to the northeastern coast of Tuo in a week's time maybe less," Senlin added. Kimaru ran off, Senlin used his bending to raise a pillar to launch him into the air.

Senlin crashed down onto the ground with enough momentum, it shook the ground beneath everyone's feet. He swung his arms up and down in a repeated cycle a wave of land carried him. He went from the compound to several yards in front of him facing southeast in a matter of three seconds. He cackled as he left, the earth continued to shake at lesser magnitude the farther he got.

One of Kireama's students carried a necklace around his neck he untied it and presented Inuksuk and Sappak with a small leather vial which contained water from the Spirit Oasis in Aupaluk.

He whispered, "Commander...I can heal her."

Kireama lived long enough to bleed out while she couldn't speak she instead coughed on her blood. All the men stared at her Inuksuk glanced back, "No, Makik save it for yourself."

"Its mine I think I should be allowed to do whatever I want with it, let me heal her. We can let her go into the wilds so she can survive on her own. Palartok is a brother of the Tribe, and she is our sister, you've said it yourself we don't abandon our brothers," reasoned Makik.

The others agreed, "Let Anguta decide her fate," shouted one of the men in the crowd.

Inuksuk sighed while Kireama coughed out more blood she practically drowned in her blood by now. Sappak ordered two men, "Sit her up!" The healer uncorked the vial and used his fingers to pull out the one-and-half fluid ounce of spirit oasis water. He controlled it in his hand as he concentrated the small bit of special water spun in his right palm.

As it spun faster it glowed a bright blue color he paced over to the dying woman and gently pressed the healing water on her exposed belly. The wound glowed as did the wound on her back and her mouth shined a light. The men dropped her she fell back down to the ground the blood that laid on the ground magically disappeared.

She no longer choked on her blood and the wound on her belly was now a scar. She only felt discomfort in her lower abdomen area. She was, however, sweaty from all the stress she was under, she breathed rapidly while she tried to maintain herself. She slowly rose to her feet she was still crying a mixture of sadness, and joy to her student who saved her.

"Makik you're taking her place as the instructor," Inuksuk told the man he turned to face Kireama, "Gather your things and leave, if I see you here I'll kill you myself."

She gritted her teeth but she understood Senlin would kill them all if he discovered that Inuksuk and Sappak ordered for her to be healed. Sappak hugged Kireama as did Makik the others kept to themselves and instead gave the woman a slight nod. She attempted to embrace Inuksuk but he lightly pushed her away and turned away. She clopped back to her tent to gather her things and leave the compound.

Team Avatar finished their meals and walked out of the Tribesmen restaurant with bellies full. A tan-skinned man with dark green eyes, a black mustache, a dark green brigandine, that covered his entire legs and was fastened together by a golden sash, his boots were golden as well and made of iron. On his head, he wore a dark green headwrap with gold accents on it. The brigandine also carried a patch it was the badgermole insignia of the Oma Kingdom with one star on the top of the insignia.

This indicated that this was the captain of the royal guard, he bowed to Rong Yan when he saw the Avatar approach him. He introduced himself, "Avatar Rong Yan, King Gao Zu expects you in his palace effective immediately. I am Akhmad, captain of the king's royal guard I am here to escort up the lift to the palace."

Rong Yan and his friends bowed to the captain of the royal guard and accepted his offer. He walked toward the lift and Rong Yan and his friends followed behind him. Unaraq said, "Finally we get to see the Earth King."

"The Earth King has received the scroll from Governor Geju Diaoyu, he mentioned that you found yourself an earthbending master," mentioned Akhmad.

"I have he's right here," Rong Yan gestured with his hand at Jushi who raised two fingers as a variant of waving.

"The Earth King has provided a master as well he'd want to test yours first to see if he's worthy enough to train you. I hope you don't mind," revealed the captain.

They reached the lift the captain turned to Jushi, "Help me raise the lift to the palace I'll tell you when to stop."

Jushi nodded to the request and stood in a Ding Kiu stance, he stood shoulder-width apart and swung his arms up and down in sync with Akhmad as the platform went up the wall at a relatively quick pace. It took them about twelve minutes to reach the top of the city, the highest peak of Omashu is where the palace was situated. There were other two mountaintops filled with residency in Omashu on the left was the wealthy district of the city and on the right belonged to the government. Also near the palace was a post office that handled packages across the city to government officials while the bottom one was for citizens.

As they approached the royal guards in their uniforms and their green turbans used earthbending to reveal the corridor that led to the palace. They walked several more yards down the corridor before they reached the throne room doors.

"While you're in there be careful what you say around Gao, he's not liked by other nations for his tongue. I shouldn't say anything about my king but take my advice. He will use your own words against you. Do as you are told and you will be fine," advised Akhmad.

They reached the tall doors toward the throne room they too were made of earth. It took four benders on each side to bend open the thick earthen doors. Inside was a throne room, it was gargantuan, the walls and ground were made of earth similar to that of the Qiangdian throne room. This Earth King was a bender too he needed his element around him in case of an attack.

There were banners with the Oma Kingdom insignia, the throne room was also lit with glowing crystals that gave the room a greenish hue. At the far end wall, was the Crystal Throne, this throne has been around for thousands of years. It was crafted out of a rare and valuable crystalline material that refined and harden. A carving of a ferocious ryjaang made of the same crystalline material, a ryjaang is a giant primate-like creature with bovid features. It has large curved horns on its head and its face is half of a bonobo while the bottom half is of a ram. The ryjaang was in the same family as the goat gorilla despite they had different fur colors, size differences, and the ryjaang's fur was coarse and shaggy.

A big, long-legged centenarian man sat on the throne, his arms and hands rested on the armrest of his crystalline throne. His skin was a medium beige color, and it was wrinkled with a few liver spots here and there. The crown of his head was shiny and hairless, the sides of his cranium were full of bushy white hair, he missed a few teeth in the rotten toothy grin he gave when the Avatar and his friends entered the throne room.

His eyes were a dark green color, his goatee and sideburns were also bushy, his long bony fingers carried many expensive rings, the robes he wore were dark green and lavish, and they seemed comfortable. He wore a teal green shawl over his dark green robes, the motifs on the shawl were block-like and a darker shade of the base color of the fabric.

The belt around his waist was similar to the Oma Kingdom soldiers, a golden belt with the Oma Kingdom insignia as the belt buckle. His crown was crafted out of rhodium, it was a silvery-colored metal the rarest in the world. The Oma King's crown was more valuable and precious than that of the Qiangdian King. It was tall, it was six inches in height from his head, the outer band of the crown had three trident-like frames bedazzled with slabs of chrysoprase. An opaque teal gemstone. His crown looked gorgeous Unaraq thought.

On his feet he wore green spider silk slippers, he was comfortable and relaxed on his throne. He eyed the group as they entered his throne room. Unique characters he thought Jushi was the first who knelt before the Earth King. Since he was of the Oma Kingdom, it'd be disrespectful not to kowtow before his king.

Rong Yan, Aloi, and Unaraq copied Jushi's etiquette and kowtowed before the Oma Earth King. The old man watched them amused he lifted a shaking finger. That gestured them to rise before the Earth King, Rong Yan paced forward and said, "Earth King Gao Zu I am here to answer your summons, my friends and I have traveled from Han Tui to see you."

King Gao Zu.

"Typically my subjects wait until I speak to them, Avatar," said Gao. Rong Yan frowned he felt like he offended the Earth King.

"I am fully aware of who you are, Avatar Rong Yan. I've heard of your accomplishments throughout the world and my kingdom. I am King Gao of the Zu Dynasty. And you and your friends are humble guests in my kingdom. I remember when Governor Zhanjian Mucai's troops arrived on the Patollan mountains by messenger bird. The message brought to the governor was to report that the airbenders were victorious in defending their temple against Tribesmen and that general from the north," Gao mentioned he knew who Rong Yan was as he knew of the Avatar's accomplishments across the world.

"I've even heard you saved Sichuan village and Chao village from their problems, I've heard of your victory in Nuo Ju and Huangshan, I've even read Geju's report on your self-appointed master," added Gao. He faced Unaraq and recognized him as from the South Pole, "You, you look like the chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe. I'm guessing you're his boy?" guessed Gao Zu.

Unaraq nodded and bowed his head to the Earth King, "I am humbled that you recognize me, Your Majesty. That I am, I'm Prince Unaraq of the Southern Water Tribe. Son of Chieftain Unirak."

"I've heard rumors that the prince of the South was seen with a young Air Nomad woman, I take this is she?" he inquired as he pointed to Aloi. Aloi bowed to the old king, "You are the Avatar's bending masters correct?" guessed Gao. Aloi and Unaraq faced each other and she answered for him, "Err...no Unaraq isn't a bender. The Avatar's master is an ambassador a former friend and trainer of his predecessor Ku Tei."

"I wasn't even his airbending master, I've only taught him soundbending and train him so that he doesn't lose his edge. His earthbending master is right here," she said as she pointed at Jushi. Jushi walked forward and bowed before his King, "You humble me with your presence, Taizu."

"Ahh, an Oma Kingdom citizen I am grateful you respect the Crown, young one what is your name?" Gao Zu was delighted when the young master called him by his temple name. He was more comfortable speaking to the stranger.

"I am Jushi of Tuxi Cun," Jushi introduced himself.

"I remember that town it was pillaged and burnt down, I do hope you and your family relocated," recalled Gao. Jushi frowned, "My family never made it out I was the only survivor."

"Oh, I hope you know that Tuxi Cun falling apart was Chieftain Daj's fault. You're a Hami," Gao Zu blamed the chieftain who ruled from Huang He. The last time Gao saw the chieftain of the Hami tribe was about three years ago.

"Yes, I'm proud of my culture and my bloodline, I'm a descendant of the Oma Kingdom's very own Avatar Bhudev," commented Jushi.

"You're of Bhudev's bloodline eh? Well, it's been mentioned by your friends here you're the Avatar's master now that Sun Wu kicked the bucket. Prove that you are worthy to teach your ancestor's successor," Gao Zu doubted the man's claim of being related to a previous Avatar. He wanted to see if what the young man said was true. He offered him to prove if he was worthy enough to teach the Avatar.

"He's worthy enough, King Gao," assured Rong Yan.

The crazy old king gave a hearty guffaw, "Sure, sure Avatar but a citizen of the Oma Kingdom will not defy his King. Jushi you will be given three tests each with a challenge that must be completed with a portion of yourself. If you fail I cannot allow you to teach the Avatar, if you defy the order you will be arrested and sent for execution."

Jushi's eyes widened he wished Rong Yan hadn't brought him to Omashu now, the old king was unpredictable. If Jushi failed maybe he'd still execute him, he cleared his throat and slightly nodded in approval, "I accept your challenges, Taizu."

"Jushi you don't have to pro-" Rong Yan let out before he was interrupted by Naoren, "Silence! The King is speaking!"

"We will truly see if your master is worthy enough!" chuckled Gao, Naoren assisted the king as he got off his throne. Gao smacked Naoren's hand away from him as he argued with his adviser, "Stop I'm not that old."

Gao, Naoren, Akhmad, and a few other guards led Jushi, Rong Yan, Unaraq, and Aloi to some of the rooms that held each a challenge for Jushi. The first one was a cave chamber that was filled with stalagmites and stalactites. In the middle, there was what seemed to be a woman in the distance. Unconscious, and her mouth gagged with a thick cloth, her head lowered and she didn't move or respond. Rong Yan freaked out, "Is that a woman?!"

He took a step forward and guard held him back on his shoulder, "Let the earthbender proceed."

"A damsel in distress, young earthbender. This should seem easy for you, you have to save her. But how?" described Gao before he glanced back at Jushi with a grin and implored.

"This is going to get a whole lot more interesting, Dokutsu, do it!" he added then called out to some unseen person. A man entered from another balcony that overlooked the huge room at the bottom of the cave was some sort of lighting fluid. This man was dressed in a forest green attire but he conjured fire out of his fingertips. He was another Nationalist brother Rong Yan thought.

The large fireball engulfed the floor below now Jushi had to find a way to save the girl without getting the girl or himself killed. He stood there in thought, Rong Yan and Aloi freaked out, Unaraq bit his nails as they watched a person trapped with flames surrounding them. They couldn't bear to witness a person burn to death.

Jushi took a deep inhale and crouched into a Jik Kiu stance as he continued to replay the thoughts in his head. From there he found himself in neutral jing the ceiling of the cave rumbled. Jushi held a deep concentration of the ceiling Rong Yan attempted to stop his master but the guards again quieted him down and held him back. Jushi maneuvered his arms in front of him then clenched them and pushed them down and shifted into a Jai Kiu stance. The ceiling of the room caved in on the trapped person.

But instead of solid rock that would've automatically killed the trapped woman. The ceiling's form changed from solid to loose sand. The sand extinguished the flames that surrounded the would-be trapped person. Jushi opened his eyes terrified Rong Yan angry as ever used air to suction the trapped person. When the person was in his arms the melon attached to a sack of potatoes and shedding black fur on top of the melon fell. The king slapped his knee as he cackled when his guests were angered and horrified.

"A worthy master will resolve any situation with the tools available to him, well done young earthbender. On to the next challenge," smiled Gao. Jushi was still a bit disturbed by what had occurred in front of him.

They were escorted into another room this room was mostly empty save for a large metal cell. Gao welcomed Jushi into the room while every watched from a distance he told Jushi his next challenge, "My son Prince Hui is sometimes an idiot and is completely oblivious to things. He has a habit of getting himself trapped into things. But Hui was born a mute and so he can't yell for help."

The cell which Hui was held in.

"So then why not grab the key and unlock the door to the cell?" guessed Jushi.

"It isn't that easy. Hui lost the key too," sighed Gao, Jushi shared the sigh with the old king who seemed calm even though his only son was trapped in a metal cell. If Jushi failed his son would starve and the bloodline would end there or so Jushi thought.

Jushi paced toward the cell he knocked on the cell and from behind the bars popped out a strange young adult in his late teens. The young man was weird and seemed goofy and he seemed to confuse Jushi because he spoke with his hands. While Jushi guessed some of the hand gestures Gao yelled from behind Jushi, "You better not be helping him out, Hui. We spoke about this!"

The prince squinted his eyes at the wrinkled, liver-spotted king and frowned then his eyes moved to his father's right. There he saw the most beautiful woman ever his heartbeat rose, he's never seen an Air Nomad before. He saw a radiant aura of orange and yellow flashed all around her, he daydreamed his life with her. Jushi stared at the distracted prince he used two fingers to point from the prince's eyes toward Aloi's direction.

Jushi chuckled and whispered, "You like her don't you, help me get you out and I'll convince her to go on a date with you." Hui nodded rapidly with his head, it throbbed with discomfort that he stopped and held his head. He made a motion for Jushi, he stomped inside the cell and thrust forward with both arms. Jushi nodded but he wanted to throw off the old king.

He examined the door and noticed a chain he grabbed a bit of rock with earthbending and enveloped the chain. When he used earthbending to break the chain the door didn't budge and Hui facepalmed. Hui frowned again Gao laughed at a distance but Jushi only did it to throw the king off. He stood in Ma Bo and tore a boulder out of the room floor.

Jushi used his artistic skills and formed a fist out of the earth with each fist he thrust the large earth fist forward. It crashed into the door but it caused no damage but as if it was a battering ram he continued. The door finally had dents in it, he continued and produced sweat another final punch at the door and it caved in. Hui peered out of the open doorway and saw that it was safe. The earthbender once again succeeded. Gao clapped at Jushi's mindset but Hui helped him out.

Hui stepped out of the cell and rose his arm and in front of Jushi, who stared at him for a few seconds to understand what the prince had gestured to his subject. Jushi examined his hand and then Hui's and gave him a high five. Hui made noises and clicked his lips as he gave gestures to Jushi who stood there still confused about what Hui attempted to communicate.

He nudged with his head which was directed toward Aloi and then he nodded. Jushi whispered, "Wait until after my challenges."

Hui gave him a large smile that extended from ear to ear and then frolicked out of the entrance past everyone until. Gao tugged him by his tunic and pulled him with both strength and earthbending. Gao scolded his son, "Hui you can't just frolic it makes you look weak now make your guests kowtow at your feet!"

His smile turned upside down into a frown and he looked visibly upset he pointed to the ground. He ordered Rong Yan, Unaraq, Aloi, and Jushi who was behind Hui still. They all lowered slowly at the same time but he grabbed Aloi's wrist and signaled her to stop and shook his head.

Aloi blushed because she believed he didn't want to her to kowtow. After all, Air Nomads are free and are raised to believe they shouldn't bow to kings and queens. He released his grip and then stood tall over the men who kowtowed over him. With his hands on his hips, he felt powerful Gao rolled his eyes, "That's enough you have duties to attend to."

He lowered his head and clopped away as he held the frown from before on the way out he pulled on his right lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue to his father. Rong Yan, Unaraq, and Jushi stood back onto their feet and then Unaraq mentioned, "Wait how come he allowed you to stand?"

"He must know Air Nomad culture," Aloi hypothesized.

Gao and the guards led everyone out of that chamber where Jushi was then brought into another cave chamber. Except this one was an artificial grotto, a shrine to the patron deity of Earth King Gao. The statue in the center of the grassy, and filled with plant life the grotto was that of Shanshen. Shanshen is the god of earthbending and is depicted as a large rock golem.

The chamber had a path of stepping stones that led to the statue and the shrine in front of it. To the left was an ash banana tree, it was a tall brown trunked tree, the ash bananas however didn't grow on branches. They grew all over the trunk of the tree, Rong Yan was surprised because the ash banana tree was native to the Fire Nation.

To the right inside the artificial garden was a big pond filled to the brim with water and small fish that swam about unbothered by the world around them. Gao smiled as he led the young earthbending master into his shrine, Gao always enjoyed the view of his grotto and was never tired of the sight.

"This is where your next challenge will be held, this is my grotto, my shrine to Shanshen. Are you a worshipper of Shanshen like I am?" he questioned Jushi as he turned to face the young man. Jushi nodded and faced the old king, "That I am, Your Majesty."

"Good a devotee of Shanshen, however, is spiritual, I know that sounds ironic earthbending is the least spiritual form. At least that's what the Qiangda Kingdom will teach you," explained Gao he cackled at the thought of the new age style the earthbenders from the Qiangda Kingdom normalized.

"They lost their way, here in the Oma Kingdom we pride ourselves to be spiritually inclined and be connected to the earth," added Gao to his argument that Oma earthbenders are more powerful because they're spiritual.

"Bring the prisoner forward," called out Gao, a pale-skinned bald man with Air Nomad tattoos was bound chains. He wore a ragged and wrinkled light brown tunic and trousers held together by a rope, he was barefooted and as soon as he was seen by Aloi they stared for a few seconds briefly.

She frowned and turned away from the airbender's face she whispered to her boyfriend, "A brother airbender who has lost his way."

Unaraq embraced her and held her close as he tried to keep her calm during the challenge. Gao faced the prisoner then instructed Jushi in his next challenge, "If you truly are a devotee of Shanshen, you will prove it to everyone here. This Air Nomad was arrested in my city after being accused of theft and kidnapping along with other goons that were arrested. Your job here is to decide whether he lives a free man like his gods intended or in prison with the rest of those thugs."

"Lay down, prisoner nice and easy," ordered one of the royal guards. The Air Nomad lowered his head and sighed and he slowly sat on the ground and then laid flat on the ground. He took a deep breath as Jushi paced over toward him and knelt before him.

Jushi took in a deep breath and closed his eyes and placed a few fingers on the truth chakra of the prisoner. He then inquired further about what the Air Nomad did, "What did you do before you were arrested?"

"I'm being discriminated against, I am a witness to this crime. But I've done nothing wrong, the only mistake I made was being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he answered to the Kingsman. Jushi felt the rate of the Nomad's heartbeat. While a seer might believe the man was simply lying Jushi searched further.

Jushi slid his fingers to the middle of the man's chest where he rested his palm, with his eyes still closed Jushi read his heart, "Your heart is revealing that you are afraid, and you are ashamed. You're conflicted with what you have witnessed or committed."

"I can see and feel your aura it's green but it's also sort of muddy I can see dark gray patches in your aura. The green aura indicates that you're a loving, generous, and kind person by nature, but it's being blocked by guilt in your sacral chakra which has severed your chi paths. I feel as if your airbending is weakened," described Jushi. He removed his hand from the nomad's heart and placed two fingers on the monk's crown chakra.

"Your soul is gray, you're conflicted with yourself, may Shanshen allow me to witness through your eyes on that day," whispered Jushi as he slid his fingers on the third-eye chakra finally. Jushi sat there for a minute or two before a rush of memories that didn't belong to him ran through his head.

He found himself in a body that was not his, he examined his hands and noticed they had arrow tattoos on them. He was granted the sight of the monk's past, Jushi peered up at the night sky and saw the stars that twinkled sporadically across it. He stood in an alleyway where he lightly strolled through for an evening walk.

He wasn't being controlled he felt as if he could do what he wanted in this sight but he was attracted to following something that wasn't there as if that was the destiny of the body he was in. He continued onto a street that was empty with no soul. Except for another a woman that minded her own business probably she had just walked out of work he thought.

Two men ran from another direction one carried a sack full of things while the other noticed the beautiful woman as they passed her by. The other one with his hands empty of any loot threw cuffs of earth around the woman's wrists and ankles and slapped her mouth shut with a gag. He didn't have to carry her because he used his bending to drag her body around.

As this happened Jushi in this body felt fear and ashamed that he could've stopped this crime from happening. He continued to watch from a distance when out of nowhere the woman was released from her bonds and the city guards jumped out of nowhere and threw the thugs into their own restraints. A guard jumped behind Jushi in the monk's body and shackled his wrists and forearms too. He screamed for help but a gag was wrapped around his mouth before he was taken into custody.

Another memory flashed into Jushi's mind he found himself bound to a chair made of earth. He attempted to move his limbs but failed he was only able to scream since the gag was no longer wrapped around his head. He shouted for help but no one arrived until he was awoken by the prison interrogators. Their interrogations only went so far and Gao himself was too busy to do it himself, being the Earth King and all.

"Why were you and your friends trying to kidnap the woman?" the interrogator questioned the monk. The nomad shook his head and sighed, "I already told you I had nothing to do with that. I wish I could have defended her but I was too scared!" he declined.

"Lies, those ruffians said you were with them if you don't provide the evidence that proves you weren't involved you're going to rot in here," shouted the interrogation guard.

Jushi found himself with his fingers on the prisoner's forehead he exhaled his breath. His blurred vision returned to normal he rose to his feet and extended his palm out to the Air Nomad.

The Air Nomad lifted his head and stared at the hand he grabbed it and was assisted onto his feet. Gao stood slouched and had a smirk on his face, "Well what did you learn?" he asked Jushi.

"He's innocent, he's afraid and ashamed he cowered when the men attempted to kidnap that woman in his past. He's conflicted with himself because he wasn't sure if he should put himself at risk over a stranger or allow the men to kidnap her and do Tiandi knows what to her. He did nothing and the guards arrested him anyway," explained Jushi.

Gao stroked his beard for a bit as he thought it over he could feel the breathing of the young monk and sense his shame. He then commanded the royal guards, "Release the prisoner, he's innocent. The Avatar's earthbending master was correct..." he then paused and turned his attention to Jushi and resumed, "...you have finished and completed all my challenges in my honest judgment you are more worthy of helping the Avatar master earthbending. And if the Avatar seeks your help in mastering the Avatar State he will find no better spiritual teacher."

"I will grant you permission to use my shrine while you remain here in the city and I'm granting you access to my arena," smiled Gao he was surprised that Jushi was prepared enough to complete all his trials.

"You have an arena?" Jushi repeated the question, Gao cackled and nodded, "Does the Qiangdian King not have one?" he returned an echo question.

"Not sure never been to Ba Sing Se," Jushi declined and shook his head.

The old king added, "Go on now teach your pupil our style of earthbending."

A royal guard saluted both men and escorted them elsewhere while Aloi and Unaraq were free to go wherever they please. "Dinner time happens later this afternoon, one of my men will escort the two of you to your private chambers. You will be called upon when dinner's ready," Gao mentioned. Aloi and Unaraq bowed before the old king as she thanked him, "Thank you for your hospitality, Taizu."

A royal guard saluted Unaraq and Aloi and escorted them to their private chambers a big circular room with fancy decorations and nice bedding. The floors and walls were made of limestone, dark green banners with the Oma Kingdom insignia were hung on the walls randomly.

The sheets were dark green with golden accents, the pillows were gold as well. There was furniture crafted from earthbending in the room as well. The chandelier that lit the room was made from gold metalworking and the natural lighting came from the crystals placed within the light fixture.

At the same time, Rong Yan and Jushi were led to a huge arena within the royal palace the stands that surrounded the arena were empty and in the middle was a large rectangular field of mostly flat earth with the occasional boulder placed about.

Jushi used a pillar to launch himself into the arena while Rong Yan air-jetted over the wall to meet his master in the center of the arena floor. It had been a few weeks since the Avatar last earthbended so Jushi felt it was necessary to have him practice his exercises.

First, they began with the stance review, "Ma Bo stance!" Rong Yan widened his legs shoulder-width apart. His fists positioned near his lower ribs while he faced the southern balcony. Jushi walked around the Avatar and observed his stances.

"Immobilize yourself!" he shouted a command at the Avatar, Rong Yan encased his feet and lower legs in solid earth. Jushi gave a good push and failed to move the Avatar he grinned.

During this time, Hui sat in the study room uninterested in his education he rested his head on his right palm. His tutor and translator noticed the young prince's boredom, he called out to him as he signed with his hands, "Hui."

The prince lifted his head off his palm and focused on his translator's rectangular-shaped head and slender face. His translator was a tricenarian man with light tan skin, light brown eyes, and long unbound hair that grew past his mid-back. The lean man carried a thin mustache over his upper lip and wore expensive dark green robes with silver and gold accents that lined the robes. He wore a golden conical hat on his head fastened with a string under his chin. The hat itself had small wings on the tip part of the hat itself.

Hui answered with a mix of hand signals while he clicked his tongue on his lips his face went red when he thought of the Air Nomad girl from earlier. His translator who had currently been helping him with politics said, "Ahh you're stuck on a girl I see. And an Air Nomad at that, where did you meet her?" he inquired further.

Hui replied with further sign language he placed his hand on his chin to recall the events that led up to it. He gave his description face as he shaped a rectangular box with his hands and used two fingers on each hand to signify himself inside the cell and Jushi.

His translator slowly nodded as he read his student's lips and hands, "Hmm why don't you ask her out on a date?" he suggested to the prince.

He thought about it again as he placed his hand under his chin and stared at the ceiling for a brief moment. Then he smiled and nodded he got off the pillow he sat on and turned away toward the door.

The translator cleared his throat loud enough for the prince to hear, Hui glanced back at his tutor who signaled him to return, "Come back here, where are you going?" he questioned him.

Hui frowned and expressed his sadness he spelled his translator's name, 'H-O-U-S-H-E' he flung his arms. His translator shook his head in disapproval, "Don't Houshe, me. Your father tasked me in teaching you more about the Kingdom's politics and I intend on teaching you further."

He waved his arms in front of him and shook his head as he frowned he didn't want to learn any further for today. He felt confident enough to do the task and he intended on taking the girl on a date. All he needed to do was find her. Houshe curled his finger and moved it forward several times and then said, "Hui if you don't sit back down I will tell your father again."

Hui crossed his arms and turned his head away from his tutor as he ignored him when he faced the tutor who now had been standing he pointed down with his index and shifted his stance to a confident pose with his fists on his hips again. His frown changed into a grin and Houshe sighed and complied with the order. He knelt before the prince and kowtowed he looked up at Hui who signed to him 'Get up' .

"Yes Your Highness, I hope my lesson sufficed enough for today I will see you tomorrow morning," nodded Houshe. He bowed to Hui before he backed out of the room never once had he turned his back on the royal. Hui swaggered out of the library and whistled on his way toward one of the guards near the throne room.

Some of the guards inside the palace knew sign language mostly the ones that watched Hui like lion vultures. He signed to the guard and questioned him, 'Do you know where the Air Nomad girl is at?'

"Your Highness I believe she's in her chambers would you like to speak with her?" the guard returned an echo question.

Hui then glimpsed to his left and right he made sure his father was nowhere near earshot he then replied, 'Don't tell dad,' he placed an index finger to his lips and gestured the guard to not tell his father then he tapped his thumb on his forehead. The guard gave a nodded bow and replied, "I can escort you to her if you'd like."

Hui nodded then the guard marched off toward the private chambers where guests slept in. Aloi just happened to exit from the chambers she inquired to the guards there, "Is there a place I could pray at?"

"Yes but it's outside of the palace there's a temple not too far from it that's still within the palace's outer walls. If you'd like I can escort you," offered the royal guard, "That would be nice, thank you," she thanked him.

They paced a couple of steps when the prince and the royal guard that escorted him halted them in the hall. Hui faced the other guard and he pointed at the guard, opened his mouth with a quizzical expression on his face and he opened his palm as if he held a cup from the bottom and pointed toward himself and then extended it out and closed his hand in that position, 'Where are you going?' he questioned the guard.

"Your Highness I'm escorting the guest to the temple," the guard answered. Hui gestured him with one of his hands as a board and the other to slice down and touch his hand which laid flat. Then he crossed his hands on his chest, 'Stay' .

The guard gave a slight nod, "Yes Your Highness," he said then he returned to his post.

He smiled and waved at Aloi who gave a hearty smile and a friendly wave. He and his guard exchanged looks then he cleared his throat, "His Highness says hello, he's willing to escort you there because he's heading in that direction."

"Oh okay! Great, I'm glad to have his company," Aloi said, Hui gave a toothy smile to his guard and gave him a thumbs up when Aloi hadn't paid attention.

The guard padded forward and out of the palace near the bottom of the steps, a carriage awaited for them. The guard reached for the door handle when Hui smacked his hand and was visibly displeased with him. Instead, Hui opened the door something he's never done in his life for Aloi and gestured her to enter the carriage.

Meanwhile, Unaraq exited the bathhouse in a towel he returned to their private chambers and searched the entire room to find out that his girlfriend was nowhere to be found. He peeped his head out of the door and asked the same guard that Hui ordered to stay, "Hey have you seen Aloi?"

"The Air Nomad girl?" he returned a question, Unaraq nodded.

The guard responded, "She left with the prince to the temple."

"Mmm mhm," he understood and made sounds although he didn't approve, the door closed again.

A brief ride in the carriage they finally stopped and the door was opened the guard. Hui's hand was grabbed by the royal guard and he was pulled out of the carriage. Then Hui turned around and extended his palm out to Aloi, she took his hand and he assisted her out of the carriage.

Hui ran toward the temple doors and opened the doors to Aloi and allowed her to walk in first. As he entered the building everyone inside, the priests and earth sage bowed to him. They offered him a private room alone where he could pray in peace.

He cupped his hands together as if he was going to clap and then closed one hand fingers together and motioned an S. With both hands into fists he gently placed them together as his mouth formed an 'o' shape. The earth sage nodded to the prince's request and led them into a private prayer room.

Inside there were statues of Tiandi, and Yun the Mother Goddess, shrines of Yama, Shouhu-gui, Qin, Shanshen, and Ts'ai Shen. Then near Tiandi were portrait paintings of King Gao and Hui, Aloi laid her eyes on the portrait of Hui as a child.

Aloi pointed and said, "That's you!"

Hui nodded, with his hand he pointed above them and then placed his thumb on his forehead as he smiled his index and middle finger were spread out. Aloi thought about his hand signs as she and the prince were the only ones in the chamber together.

She repeated his hand signs slowly and drawled out, "I'm..seen...as a ..god?"

Hui rapidly nodded his head he approved of her guess he then signed his two indexes as they touched each other's tips and he motioned a full-circle with his hands in that position, he cupped his hands again and closed his eyes and then pointed at himself. He chuckled then swiped his left hand over his right palm.

She guessed, "You're saying people pray to you right?"

He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up he then lowered himself onto his knees and gestured for Aloi to join him. She knelt next to him and held onto her prayer beads he noticed and pointed at them, "These are prayer beads, I use them to give a prayer to each of my gods. Each bead represents a god, I have five beads here, the medallion with the nomadic insignia is to pray to all the saints our culture has revered," she explained to the prince. He nodded slowly as he understood what she had just explained to him.

He pointed at himself and then waved with his open hand and shook his head, Hui made a 'y' with his hand and crossed the 'y' hand and open palm hand across each other as he frowned. He signed, 'I don't want to intrude we should start'. He smiled and changed his hands to use to fingers that cross each other and separate from each other.

He began his prayer as he prayed in his head to himself he still used his hands to vaguely sign. It was a habit he had since he was a child this had been during the time where Houshe had shown him how to pray with the Kingsmen sign language. Aloi clutched at her prayer beads and whispered to her pantheon.

Meanwhile, Rong Yan had risen a column of pillars out of the ground for his teacher Jushi who examined the pillars and smiled, "Good job, third times the charm."

The pillars shot out in a straight line.

"More advanced earthbenders can forcibly sink their opponents into the ground, imprisoning them or even suffocating them in the earth, today you're going to try that with the earth mannequin from earlier," Jushi said.

Jushi smashed his heel into the dirt and the mannequin emerged out of the ground again new and improved without cracks. The mannequin was formed to look like a typical Qiangdian soldier. Jushi shifted into the shizi gui stance a wider stance than Ma Bo, past shoulder-width, he was bent slightly forward in a quarter-circle angle with his arms bent and balled fists that faced down. He pushed down and the earth mannequin was forced to sink at the waist.

From there while he remained in the stance he leaned back to a neutral position and extended his hand which he closed as if he had crushed something. The earth dummy sank further neck-deep, he squeezed his hand again and the dummy returned to the earth.

Rong Yan slammed his heel into the ground and the mannequin burst out of the ground once more. He took the shizi gui or lion turtle stance as his master did. The dummy shook before it sank waist-deep, Rong Yan squeezed his hand and it sunk neck-deep, again and it was completely underground.

Jushi applauded the Avatar's quick success it normally took some benders awhile to master that move. He continued with the next move, "Earthbenders can easily destroy rocks and boulders with punches and kicks. Even if they have a small amount of muscle mass. This technique is useful when facing other earthbenders, as it allows the earthbender to destroy any earthen projectiles sent at them and break out of imprisoning techniques. However, it does not seem to affect objects not made of earth," explained his master.

"I'm going to throw rocks and boulders at you it's your job to take them head-on and destroy them. And if you're feeling up for it you can smash them with your head," added Jushi.

Jushi stood in a long she stance or the dragon stance as he knew it as Jushi took what Rong Yan recognized as a firebending stance but used for earthbending. It was similar to Linglu stance, the stance of the dragon who leads the way. He stomped down to rip chunks of earth out of the ground that floated in front of him.

Jushi punched with his left and then his right followed by a flying spin kick to send the last one at his pupil. Rong Yan stood anxious about the idea of it all, as the first one came he smashed it. He used his elbow for the second rock that came his way and for the third which was a bit larger he dove at it. Jushi chuckled, "I've never seen someone dive at head-sized boulder before and stick the landing."

"Alright, earthbenders can turn certain surfaces to quicksand to immobilize an enemy, or create a soft landing for themselves should they fall from a height. Sandbenders can also do the reverse of this, compacting sand together to create harder projectiles or a firmer grip on the ground," continued Jushi.

"How exactly is this done?" Rong Yan inquired curiously, "I was getting to that," answered Jushi.

"We're going to start with what is known as a wending stance or a stabilizing stance. There are two different forms of the stance the first one can be used for defense. Shoulder-width apart with your hands out in front of you," instructed Jushi as he demonstrated.

"The second form of this is a wide stance, with your forward leg's knee bent and your arms extended out in front of you. To change the form of the hard earth you're going to thrust forward with added momentum to turn the solid ground into grainy loose sand" described Jushi.

"Just watch and I'll help you along the way," Jushi added he took a few steps back as he demonstrated the first few steps he said, "One, two three..." he paused as he slowly thrust his hands forward after he landed in the side stance.

Rong Yan stood next to his master and they both did it slowly for a few times, Jushi then took three steps forward and landed in the wending stance and thrust his hands forward with strength. The piece of land in front of him possibly about one-tenth of a mile in front of him went from solid earth that loosened up into grainy sand.

Rong Yan paced and knelt over the large patch of sand and ran his fingers through a small portion of it. He clutched some with his hand before he allowed it to steadily slip out of his grasp back down below. Rong Yan was shocked at the ability, "That was amazing."

He jogged back to where his master stood and took three steps forward and thrust his hands out in another's direction. Jushi stood there as he observed his apprentice's work he felt the grains of the sand before he gave his judgment.

"Incredible work, there are other alternative ways of doing this that are much quicker. I just felt this seemed easier to teach you, soon I'll show you some shortcuts," Jushi commented.

Aloi finished her prayers while Hui was quiet as an elephant rat as usual. He sat there while he held thoughts in his head about random things. When he noticed she had finished he turned to face her and they both smiled at each other. He stood on his feet soon after and he crouched down and extended his arm. He believed being friendly toward her would win her over.

He opened the door out of the prayer room along with Aloi everyone including the Earth Sage of Omashu kowtowed before Hui. Aloi trodded on his heels out of the temple with the royal guard behind them. The royal guard opened the carriage door and first went Aloi only because Hui needed to speak with the guard.

Hui pointed at the guard and gave a thumbs-up as he gave a slight frown the guard looked down at his the prince and said, "Yes, Your Highness?"

His left was open and faced above while his right was in a clenched fist he moved them left to right once. He then crossed them and did it again he pointed at himself and then pointed at the stairs, he slightly curled both indexes and touched them together before he broke them apart and used his left index and middle finger as the H letter which indicated the word 'city'.

The royal guard cleared his throat and responded, "Your Highness, your father specifically told us not to take you into the city today. He's holding a special feast for the Avatar tonight."

Hui now visibly upset his slight frown changed into a deep frown, his eyebrows angled inward he was annoyed that he stomped his right foot down. A small earthquake shook the ground they stood in, he signed quicker as he continued to click his tongue on his teeth more rapidly. He pointed at himself and snapped his fingers near his chin three times before he dusted away at his tunic three times.

Hui pointed at himself then used that index and placed it on his right hand that had the middle, ring, and pinky finger extended while the index and thumb of his right hand formed an 'o' shape. From there he separated them his left pinky went up along with his left index while his right hand only held the index up. The royal guard sighed, "Your Highness please I know you're the prince but your father is the Earth King and unfortunately his orders override yours."

Hui placed his left hand in between his torso and right armpit and gave a disapproved expression of his face. He then shook himself of the hateful feeling toward his guard and gave a toothy smile and waltzed back inside the carriage.

"What took you so long?" asked the airbender curiously.

Hui cupped his hand and the back of it touched his forehead before he only held a pinky up which he rested on his heart. His right hand held an index finger up while his left had the index and middle finger up and close together he tapped his right with his left and then both indexes touched. He waved a cupped hand in a clockwise motion as he expressed himself in an irritated manner. His hands were both open he motioned them in a clockwise way.

"...you're upset..." she guessed, he nodded and then pointed outside, the apertures in the door showed the guard's black beard.

"...at him? Why?" she questioned him.

He slid his finger near his right hand's fingers and then like a writing utensil with his left index and middle he motioned clockwise. He slightly curled both indexes and touched them together before he broke them apart and used his left index and middle finger as a writing utensil once more and frowned.

"Not sure what that means but I understand why you're upset I heard what he told you. It's okay we can hang out tomorrow," she smiled it seemed to turn his frown upside down.

He gave a toothy smile and gave an over joyous expression. The carriage came to a full stop the door swung open, the royal guard extended his arm to Hui. Then to Aloi which this time Hui allowed him to do so.

Hui noticed a sort of tall figure at the top of the palace steps he squinted his eyes and peered closer. He realized it was the prince of the South. He honestly thought nothing of it because he knew nothing about his relationship with Aloi. His facial expression could not be read from afar but he saw that he crossed his arms and stared down at them.

Aloi and Hui walked up the stairs when Hui tugged on Aloi's sleeve and pointed at Unaraq, she gave a slight titter when she came eye to eye contact with her boyfriend. He was upset with her he brought it up, "Where in Torngark's name did you go?"

"I went with my new friend Hui to the temple to pray that's all. I didn't think I needed to tell you where I'm going while we're in the palace," she replied.

"I was worried about you I just didn't want anything to happen to you," he frowned.

"I'm okay," she finished she gave a smile and gave him a peck on the lips and held his hand. Both of their fingers interlocked with each other Hui witnessed the atrocity she committed by holding hands with someone that wasn't him.

His eye twitched the same royal guard noticed the twitch in the prince's eye he snapped his fingers and a few guards ran over to calm the prince down. If they didn't they'd face an angry Gao Zu like last time when he destroyed the courtyard. It wasn't blamed on him however, the angry king blamed the guards.

About twelve of them were fired over the problem and their month's pay went into the repairs. While another bolted to the Crystal Throne to notify the Earth King about the situation. They, unfortunately, needed to cuff the prince in earth cuffs and drag him to his father or else face destruction or mini earthquakes. Something that Hui had been learning was to manage his anger.

The guard arrived and then tongue twisted his own words in the intense moment he threw himself to the ground and knelt before Gao Zu. The old king cackled at the ridiculousness of the royal guard, the guard was frantic he shouted, "It's Prince Hui he's angry again!"

Gao facepalmed and sighed he got up and off his throne and clopped out of the palace where he ran into Unaraq and Aloi who held hands as they headed back toward their chamber. The guard behind the king, "Hurry before Hui destroys something!"

"Hold your ostrich horses I'm going as fast as I can!" yelled Gao, Aloi overheard what the guard said and she broke her hand from Unaraq and ran off toward the exit with the old king. Hui had broken free from the bonds of the royal guards. He ran forward on the courtyard and stomped down as he conjured an earthquake that was only felt by the peak of the mountain of Omashu. Aloi and Gao Zu ran down the steps as they observed four royal guards attempt to calm the quake.

But the young prince continued he caught a glimpse of Aloi in anger he slammed his fist down on the earth and sent a tremor toward her and his father. Gao Zu redirected the tremor as soon as it made contact with his heel. The tremor crawled and formed a big earth fist that enveloped the prince and sank him waist-deep into the ground.

In defeat, he faced away from his father and the woman who broke his heart, he lowered his head in shame and crossed his arms uninterested. Gao Zu clopped over to the mute prince and grabbed him by his top knot and dragged him out of the earth.

He laid flat on the floor face down he returned onto his feet and frowned ever so greater than usual. Aloi attempted to use words of calm and care but Hui lightly pushed her away and he swept his hand away from his chest and angrily pointed beyond the city's walls. He used that same finger to point at her and crossed an 'X' with it before he stomped off.

Gao Zu followed behind his son and said nothing Aloi stood there with her head lowered. She thought she made friends with Hui but it seemed like now he hated her and she wasn't sure why. She recalled his signs and tried to interpret his signs with her words, tears fell from her eyes. When Unaraq finally caught up after the entire disaster that occurred before his arrival.

She faced him with tears in her eyes as her lips quivered with emotion. She ran off down the stairs from the courtyard to the upper district of the city.

"Aloi wait!" called out Unaraq but she ignored him.

Gao Zu barked an order at all the guards, "Find Houshe I want to know what happened with my son!" Four of them scrambled around the room like headless pig chickens before one ran toward the library where usually Houshe lived near in his chambers.

Rong Yan and Jushi ran at each other and high fived at another successful day of training they sweated from the training. Before they headed out they finished with stretching exercises and headed off toward the bathhouse. The palace was sort of in disarray from the event that transpired out in the courtyard with the prince, they were unaware of everything. They continued toward the bathhouse which was another cave chamber inside the palace. It had an immense-sized natural pool of water, it also had a waterfall in the back similar to the artificial grotto in another chamber.

The water flowed out of the chamber through a small unnatural stream created by the original architects of Oma's palace. The tremendously-sized chamber was filled with candle and torchlight sporadically placed around the cave chamber. Slabs of wood covered the once grassy parts outside of the pool with tables, where even the royal guards dried themselves after a nice relaxing bath.

Rong Yan stripped himself of his clothing and was only in his fundoshi while Jushi was magically in the water. Rong Yan confused said, "How? I didn't even see you get in."

"You were too busy admiring the cavern I just slipped in while you weren't looking," Jushi laughed. Rong Yan jumped into the pool and spat out water that entered his mouth after he plunged in. The water was tepid at best he did himself and Jushi a favor. He pressed his indexes and thumbs together positioned just below his nose where he exhaled air into steam.

The water itself transitioned from a tepid temperature to a toasty temperature in just seconds. The water bubbled near them and then Jushi let out a sigh of relief as he rested his head on the wooden floor above the pool. One of the royal guards noticed the sudden temperature change.

"The firebender changed the temperature of the water!" he shouted.

A ton of men cheered and rushed themselves toward the pool in a mixture of half-naked and naked bodies. Rong Yan's left bottom eyelid twitched several nude and half-nude men jumped into the water to enjoy the nice toasted bath.

"Ren get the net and that boulder!" shouted one of the royal guards. While another yelled out, "Hey Po we're winning this time!"

Jushi commented, "I don't know if I can relax while several naked men play water polo together. As they brush up against each other in the nude."

"Just don't look at them," Rong Yan said.

"Nope I'm out," finished Jushi he crawled out of the heated pool, Rong Yan took a gander at his friend and noticed he too was butt naked. Jushi swaggered from the pool toward where he laid one of the towels he chose to use. He wrapped himself in the towel before he turned around at the same time Rong Yan faced the wall.

"I know you gawked at me as I got out of the pool," asserted Jushi he placed his hands on his hips while his lower body was wrapped in the light green towel.

"I'll be in my room we have dinner with the king in an hour," mentioned Jushi he strutted away because he knew Rong Yan and some of the royal guards might have seen his circumference.

Rong Yan tittered nervously because Jushi knew he was lying. He stared at the royal guards in horror and heated the pool once more before he leaped out of the pool himself.

Rong Yan changed his body temperature the droplets of water evaporated off his figure. He dressed and headed toward his chambers.

Meanwhile, Houshe walked out of the hallway where the bathhouse and library were held with one of the royal guards. Houshe entered the throne room and kowtowed before Gao Zu and gasped when he saw Hui bound to his throne that was bent out of the ground. He frowned but Houshe kowtowed to him as well.

"Is there something you need, Your Majesty?" inquired Houshe curiously.

"Yes Houshe, Hui had another rage-induced fit and I called you forth to get him to speak. Maybe you know something?" answered Gao Zu, he requested Hui's translator for an answer especially if he knew something that Hui refused to tell him.

Houshe turned to face the prince then he began to communicate with the mute. He began with the letters of Hui's name as he signed them to call out to him at the same time. He calmly called out, "Hui talk to me. What's wrong?"

Hui with his big frown turned away from his father and his translator, the old king faced his son, "You will tell him what you know, boy. That's an order from the Earth King, your heavenly father!" he argued.

Hui argued in return, he pointed at his father as he gritted his teeth and then opened and closed his index and middle fingers on his right hand over his mouth. Houshe screamed inside himself because he knew the Earth Prince of Omashu just called his father a phony.

Gao Zu turned his attention to Houshe and glared at him, "What did he say?" he asked Hui's translator.

"He says he hates you," replied Houshe he felt nervous now because he lied to the Earth King for the benefit and of not having the prince punished for the insult that crossed his mind and signed. Gao shook his head, "That's not the sign for hate!"

"I assure you, my liege it's an alternative sign for it," coaxed Houshe he realized now he was in a whole lot of hot water.

He swallowed his fear and calmed himself before he faced Hui again and signed, he spun his indexes counterclockwise and then made a motion as if he grabbed things rapidly.

He mouthed, "Explain."

Hui sighed then it clicked in Houshe's mind, "Is this about the girl you told me about?"

Houshe touched his ear lobe and then pointed down with a quizzical expression on his face, Hui sighed again and nodded. Gao tilted his head to understand his boy, "What girl?"

"Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Hui has a crush on an Air Nomad girl. I believe the one that arrived with the Avatar," Houshe explained with a handful of signs as he explained Hui's expressions.

"The Avatar's soun...soundbending master if I recall correctly," mentioned Gao as he recalled the girl's words. He didn't know what soundbending was he remembered the girl mentioned it to him as if he knew what it was.

"Houshe what's soundbending?" he asked the translator he shrugged at the question, "I'm not sure Your Majesty I don't know what that has to do with this."

"It has to do with the girl!" he exclaimed to Hui's tutor.

Hui felt it was time to open up he waved at Houshe. From the corner of his eye Houshe turned to face the prince that's when he began to sign and explain, he pointed at himself then he made crush motions. He cupped his left and twirled it in a small space above his mouth where he also blew air at his left hand. He finished his sentence with both hands cupped and pointed downward he made a walking motion with both hands.

"I have a crush on the Air Nomad," translated Houshe.

Hui continued, he pointed at himself again and then put one balled fist on top of the other. Two indexes curled one hand above his head the other below the waist he shaped his mouth in an 'o'. He extended open palms out as he gave a slight smirk then he touched his ear lobe once more then pointed down again.

"He says he did things for her that he normally wouldn't have done," said Houshe. Gao now furious he shouted at both Houshe and Hui, "HE DID WHAT?!"

"Hui you are the prince of the Oma Kingdom, you do not grovel at the feet of a woman. She grovels at your feet hoping that you give her a chance! You're a disgrace get out of my sight!" he barked at his son.

The binds around Hui's wrists and ankles released him Gao squeezed his fist, the seat that the prince once sat in sank and Hui fell to the ground in humiliation. He jumped onto his feet and faced his father and rapidly signed an argument with anger.

He pointed at Gao angrily and cupped his hand behind his ear, Gao rested his arms on his arms rests and leaned forward, "Be very careful what you say, or I'll punish you right here in front of everyone!" he shouted at Hui.

He pointed at himself and then marked an X in the air, then he kicked the air furiously, he pointed at himself and then gave a thumb's up with a smile. He pointed away from everyone as he indicated Aloi and broke the air in motion before he made another motion like he equipped a glove on his left hand. He pointed at his heart as he felt displeased about the whole situation.

He pointed away from everyone again and signed two rings interlocked with each other. Hui finalized the explanation with a wave of water and he rubbed two fists together than separated them and pointed down. He touched his finger on his hand with three open fingers before he changed his right to one finger and his left to his index and pinky raised.

"I banned her and kicked her out of my city. I was being nice to her and she broke my heart! She's in a relationship with that Water Tribe prince!" interpreted Houshe.

"You what?!" shouted Gao.

Hui pointed at the king then cupped his left ear and pointed back at himself, "You heard me" responded Houshe.

"You IDIOT you ruined everything!" he yelled at Hui.

"Don't you know we could use the Avatar to our advantage against Qiang Zhen?!" he blurted out at Hui he aggressively pointed toward the residence wing of the palace.

"Take the prince to his quarters, he's grounded for the next month. He's losing his privileges of inheritance, for the time being, so treat him like my grandfather treated Hundun and Dinggou!" commanded Gao Zu.

Hundun, and Dinggou were mentioned by Gao. They were his conjoined uncles that were hidden away from the kingdom. The deformity caused them to lose their inheritance.

Hui dropped to his knees as he begged Gao to think over the punishment, Houshe shook his head at the immaturity of the prince the royal guards dragged Hui away as he clawed at the throne room floor.

"Find the Air Nomad girl I want to apologize personally to her, we must not ruin any relationship we have with the Avatar!" ordered Gao two guards ran out of the throne room and searched of the Air Nomad nun.

Aloi ran off into the lower Upper district of the middle mountain of the city it was mostly governmental buildings. She ran toward a corner where she was able to sit and cry her eyes out. That's one of the few times where she tried to be caring and polite to someone who needed it and they threw it back at her face. She might have felt this way after added stress of not being near Phala and being homesick.

"Aloi" called out Unaraq as he followed her after she ran from him.

"Aloi!" he shouted again as he searched the area until he noticed her. She sat in a dark corner, the steps of a building. The sign read "Omashu Postal Office".

He knelt near her as he slid the back of his fingers across her soft and angled jaw while she continued to release tears and sniffle. Her eyes were red from crying and watery as well he used his other hand to wipe to tears gently with his thumb.

Unaraq sighed and sat down beside her, he brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them to find his comfortable position. He whispered to her in a gentle tone, "What's wrong, my love?" he questioned her.

She wiped a tear from her eye, she sniffled and cleared her throat and carried on her explanation without stopping, "It's the Earth Prince, he just seemed like such a nice guy I thought we became friends. I did my best to understand the kid even if I can't sign, he seemed like he didn't have very many friends, he looked gentle and shy and I wanted to be a good person and be his friend while we spend our time here. It's important to Rong Yan that he has a place to learn earthbending with Jushi in peace."

She resumed, "We went to the temple and prayed together as friends would. He opened the carriage door for me and he's the prince he shouldn't be doing that. I know he shouldn't but he didn't care, he would smack his guardian's hand away if he tried to grab mine to lift me in the carriage."

She continued as she wiped her tears emotionally, "We got to the base of the stairs and when he saw that you were a bit bothered that I left he pointed at you. But not in the bad way he just signaled me to warn me about you being there. But when he broke down and had his tantrum like an elephant mandrill I tried to calm him down but he pushed me away from him and he looked extremely angry. You don't need...to know sign to know what he meant when he pointed toward the city walls and marked an X over me!"

"He WHAT?!" gasped Unaraq now he was angry.

"What do you mean he pushed you?! Why would he push you what happened before he pushed you?!" exclaimed Unaraq he was exasperated and furious when his girlfriend explained to him that the disabled prince shoved her at least that's how he read it.

"He sent an earth tremor near me and his father, but I don't think he directed it at me. It was definitely toward the king," she recalled.

He got up angry he stormed away and she amplified her voice, "Unaraq! Stop! Don't jeopardize this for Rong Yan!"

He returned, "Screw Rong Yan! No one pushes you and gets away with this!"

She jumped and floated onto her feet still in tears, "We're in freaking Omashu! What happens if you say something to him?! You're not in the South Pole you can't use your authority here!"

She ran into his arms and embraced him, he rested his head on her shoulders and sighed, "You're right, I apologize. Look I'll talk to Rong Yan maybe he'll speak to the King about what happened."

Two royal guards ran toward them, "The Earth King has summoned you, Master Aloi, he wishes to speak with you."

"There you go, Tiandi answered your pleas!" chuckled Unaraq.

She wiped her eyes and swallowed her emotions before she attempted to calm herself for the king. Unaraq followed alongside her he gestured that he wanted to hold her hand but she lightly pushed his hand away and rejected it. He gave a nod because he understood what she meant by it.

At the same time, Rong Yan was in his fundoshi while one of the Royal Tailors was in the room with him as he measured the Avatar's body. The height, the width, and depth of Rong Yan's torso, and arms, he had an orange robe for the Avatar with the Oma Kingdom insignia. All he needed to do is assist the Avatar dress in the robe so that he could fix it to Rong Yan's measurements.

The robe was woven from spider-snake silk it was orange, the Oma Kingdom insignia was embroidered and it was red, the accents around the robes and the cuffs were a gold color. It was perfect he believed this is what the Earth King wanted to wear so he wore it in hopes it'd make the old king happy. The Royal Tailor held different sashes draped over his right arm, gold, orange, red, and white. He pointed at each one while he glanced back at Rong Yan's robe. He grabbed the golden one while he placed the others on the bed.

He wrapped his arms around Rong Yan's waist while he squeezed the robe appropriately before he tied it together. He then handed the Avatar orange or gold slippers to which Rong Yan pointed at the golden ones. The Royal Tailor removed Rong Yan's hat and grabbed a small box that held a sangtuwan hairpiece. It was an orange and gold band. Rong Yan removed his and then used the one given for the occasion.

While Jushi stared at the shoes available for him to wear dark green or forest green he squinted his eyes and stared for a bit longer. Meanwhile, in the throne room, Gao waited for the Air Nomad girl to arrive soon it'd be time for the feast. Aloi took a deep breath before the earthbenders opened the doors to the throne room. Alongside her was Unaraq and they both paced toward the throne only did they stop about several paces between themselves and the Crystal Throne.

Unaraq knelt on his knees first while Aloi lowered herself, the Earth King extended his palm and shook his head, "Kowtowing before I, is unnecessary I was made aware of what transpired today. From what my son and his interpreter explained is that my son did things for you on good terms because he is fond of you. I then learned of what happened afterward, I apologize on behalf of the prince."

Gao Zu himself acted out of character because he wanted to do everything necessary to convince the Avatar to join his side. Aloi exhaled a sigh of relief before she brushed her hair from her face. She nodded, "Thank you for the apology on behalf of his Royal Highness, I wasn't aware that he liked me. Had I known I would've let him down easily, I have a boyfriend."

She thanked the king for it all she then added, "I didn't say anything however because I didn't want to jeopardize this opportunity for my friend, Avatar Rong Yan. I believe it's best he's not made aware of the situation."

"Taizu, the cooks and the servants have set up the dining table for the feast. I along with a few others will be escorting you and your guests to the dining hall at once. The Avatar and his earthbending master await for your arrival," announced a royal guard.

"Great, let's eat shall we?" he chuckled at the young Nomadic woman and the Tribesman.

Unaraq then thought of food and his mouth watered. He nodded his head and was ready. Aloi felt bad even if Hui was too afraid to say he liked her. She inquired about the prince, "Where is Prince Hui? Will he be joining us for dinner?"

Gao Zu snorted and laughed, "Tiandi no! He's being punished for his misdeeds! That's no way a prince should act not while I'm king! He's getting the Hundun-Dinggou treatment." The mad king cackled at the disturbed thought of the conjoined twin uncles in his family's ancestry.

They continued down the corridor toward the dining hall when they finally reached the chamber. The table was lengthy and wide. Several dishes native to the Oma Kingdom were placed all around the table. While there was also what King Gao called a 'salad bar' where leafy greens and other vegetables were placed on plates and wooden bowls. Everyone sat down while King Gao was seated at the end of the table on the wooden throne carved to mimic the Crystal Throne.

He rose his hands to his sides as he gestured to present the feast to them. He smiled a big toothy smile and showed his brown-tinted yellow rotten teeth off to his guests. Rong Yan a bit disgusted tried his best not to make a shuddering face. The meat was placed in front of the Avatar and his friends while Aloi was seated near the salad bar.

"I hope you all like my seating chart, I placed the airbender by the salad bar," smiled Gao Zu.

"The what?" Rong Yan asked.

"The salad bar, an area where one can grab green items to consume," replied Gao.

"Where's the alcohol?" Unaraq inquired, "There is none...well none in the spot," Gao commented.

"It shouldn't be a bar then," he gave a hearty laugh the old king sighed then murmured, "I'm a man ahead of my time."

The old king placed his elbows on the table and extended them out each guest grabbed each hand. From there Jushi and Unaraq extended their lefts to Rong Yan and Aloi, they lowered their heads for prayer which was led by Gao. Jushi felt it to be an honor to pray alongside the Earth King of the Oma Kingdom. After a minute or two, their prayers were over and they began their feast with each person interested in what they knew was their favorite food.

An hour after they had their meals the boys and the King were madly intoxicated after the King provided the feast with imported cactus juice from the Alxa territory of the Si Wong province. The cactus juice from the region is filtered by the Alxa tribe's brewers in the city of Ala Shan and then a special ingredient is added that intensifies the side effects of filtered cactus juice.

Aloi grabbed an empty clean porcelain plate and grabbed vegetables with pig chicken drum sticks and a ginseng teacup. She placed it on a platter while the men were busy they sang to an old Oma Kingdom ballad about some general while a bard played in the corner.

She steadily snuck out of the dining hall she remained sober because she refused to drink outside of Nomadic holidays. She left and ran into the royal guard that normally supervised the prince she bumped into him.

"Where are you going with that?" he questioned her he was concerned he saw another guard turn the corner. He continued his patrol he glimpsed back and grabbed her by the shoulders and hid her in a corner.

He whispered, "Where are you going with that, I asked!"

"I need to speak with Hui," she demanded.

"Oh no you're not going to his chambers for all I know that's poisoned food," he declined as he shook his head.

"I'm glad you brought up the topic," smiled Aloi she grabbed the pig chicken leg and shoved it in the guard's mouth.

"If it was poisoned you'd taste it, now take me to him!" she repeated. He spat out the drum stick and escorted her to Hui's chambers.

He sighed, "Fine."

Two guards stood at the door, he lied to them, "By order of Lord Gao and Captain Akhmad we're to bring the prince food."

Both men nodded and opened the door for Aloi to enter while the guard waited outside with the others. She held the platter in her hands the Prince sat on the edge of his head with his head lowered. He didn't bother to look to see who it was. But he somehow expected Aloi to show up he dreamt she would, but what would happen next only happened in his head, not in reality.

She minced further into his green crystal lit room with the platter she placed it down on a counter near the door. She began, "I brought you food."

Hui pointed at Aloi then at his head, he opened his palm forward then one fist was on top of the other finally he shook his left index at her. Aloi commented, "I don't know what that means, Hui. You're going to need you to work with me," Hui rose to his feet with his head lowered he bent the ground beneath him written in Kingsmen it read, 'What do you want?'

"I just wanted to talk to you I don't agree with the punishment your father gave you. I just wish you told me you liked me," she mentioned.

He slid his foot it erased the writing on the floor and then he carved words into the floor again which read, 'Why does it matter? I could never be with someone. No one wants a mute, if only I could talk would I have a better chance with someone and express myself.'

"Of course it matters, I mean if you told me I would appreciate the nice gesture and I would let you down easy. Don't say that you're a royal what girl wouldn't want you? I'm not talking about fame and fortune, to be with the Earth Prince is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Being the woman that continues the royal bloodline, the honor belongs to a Kingswoman," responded Aloi.

"I'm sure there's a wonderful girl in the city, or in the kingdom that is dying to meet you!" beamed Aloi. Hui gave two thumbs up and moved the tips up and down as he smiled.

Aloi smiled, "You're welcome. You're a funny guy and you shouldn't put them on a pedestal you're the prince for crying out loud!"

He bent into the ground as he smiled and tittered nervously of shyness. On the ground was scribbled words, 'I'm sorry for what I did and you're right I've learned my lesson. Can I hug you?'

Aloi nodded, "Sure," she smiled and opened her arms.

Hui ran into her arms and he hugged her after this he grabbed the platter and dug into his meal and his tepid ginseng tea. She waved farewell to Hui for the evening and exited the room.

"How'd it go?" the guard asked.

"I don't kiss and tell just know it went well," she commented and pranced away happily.

Two Weeks Later

Nanjing, Huangpu, Oma Kingdom

It was an early morning one of the seismologists burst into the estate of the governor of Huangpu. He kowtowed before the woman who sat comfortably on her ta. She had sipped her honey tea as she looked up from her teacup.

"Governor Huangse you must come, the seismograph is going crazy!" announced the seismologist.

The noblewoman placed her tea to the side and jumped off her ta and followed the scientist. She was led out of her estate to his study where he and other scientists studied things further. There in the middle of the courtyard sat an ancient bronze urn that shook a bit. All the golden balls fell into the mouths of all the toads.

She shrieked, "Oh my! Get Earth Sage Tu Ren to immediately pray to Shanshen we must beg the god of the earth to have mercy on us!"

One of the men bolted out of the building and headed toward the temple. At the same time, Senlin shifted the earth his arms swung faster up and down rapidly. He kept himself in focus as he zoomed past a military outpost with great force.

Senlin zoomed past Huangpu's borders on a massive earth wave, which caused the seismograph in Nanjing to go wild.

He crashed through the checkpoint and disoriented multiple soldiers. A flare went off as soon as he passed through. A nearby village would see an invader has arrived. He knew the capital of Huangpu, Nanjing was southeast of where he surfed on the wave of seismic energy. He wanted to make sure he'd steer clear of the area because if he passed through or near the city he'd be met with immediate action.

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