Chapter 76
Two days had passed since our arrival on Kyoshi Island. In that time, Aang seemed to have completely forgotten about the impending danger at the North Pole, spending his days carefree, playing with the local children. He clearly enjoyed the attention, especially from the girls who clung to him like little fangirls. It looked strange—and it drove Katara crazy. While he played, she spent the whole time preparing supplies for our journey.
Sokka, meanwhile, had already received a few beatings from the local warrior women. After swallowing his pride, he asked to train with them. Naturally, they couldn't resist a bit of payback and made sure to dress him up in the traditional Kyoshi Warrior outfit. To his credit, he endured it.
"Young lady, at your age you shouldn't be spending all day sleeping," came the aged voice of the village elder's wife, pulling me out of my half-doze. And yes, it was true—these past few days I had mostly been sleeping. Only at night did I venture out to hunt Firebenders, just to lessen the pain. What bothered me the most was that my condition seemed to be slowly reverting to what it had been when I first arrived in this world—unless I hunted constantly. Daily hunts kept the pain at bay, at least for half a day, ever since I had consumed Hama's soul.
"I need sleep to avoid aggravating the wounds," I mumbled, turning onto my other side and lazily swishing my tail toward the old woman, as if to shoo her away.
"You're wounded?! Why didn't you say anything, dear?!" she exclaimed and rushed out of the room. Judging by the sounds of the house being turned upside down, I realized—there would be no more rest for me.
"Damn it, no one bothered me the last few days," I muttered irritably, then rose from the bed and began forming clothes directly onto my body, just like Alucard had taught me. I then teleported to the warm, sun-heated roof of the local dojo—or whatever it was called. It didn't really matter. Settling in the shade of a nearby tree, I lay down, hoping to get a bit more sleep.
Meanwhile, chaos erupted in the village elder's house. A companion of the Avatar was injured, and no one had even offered her medicine! Worse—she had simply vanished.
"Get people out to search for her—now! The poor child's been suffering for two days without help!" the old woman barked, waving a folded fan at her husband like a warrior general. There was no doubt—despite her age, she still had enough fire in her to take down at least one old man.
"Don't worry, dear, I'll find her right away," the elder said quickly, grumbling about the foolish Avatar who hadn't bothered to share such important news.
As is often the case, the best way to hide something is to place it in plain sight. I was right there—just behind the dojo, easily visible to anyone who looked up. But no one thought to check. Even in my half-sleep, I could hear them running around the village, searching for me. It made me smile slightly, giving me a wicked sense of satisfaction.
"I didn't know she was injured," came Aang's confused voice. He could no longer play with the same carefree attitude.
"But she said she was sleeping so the wounds wouldn't worsen," replied the old woman, who had decided to speak with the Avatar herself.
"Well… maybe she really is hurt," Katara admitted hesitantly.
"Of course!" Sokka exclaimed suddenly. Dressed in a Kyoshi Warrior outfit and face paint, he looked ridiculous. "When we found her, she was lying completely naked and covered in blood. Then she blacked out again and coughed up a lot of it onto the floor."
"That wasn't long ago," Katara added with a hint of guilt. "She seemed so confident—especially when she infiltrated that Fire Nation ship—I guess I just forgot..."
"Oh spirits, she probably has internal injuries and still went out fighting?! You kids... sigh," the old woman started, ready to launch into a tirade, but caught herself. Realizing their age, she sighed again. There was no use expecting too much from them.
Listening to all this, I wondered if I should come down and clear things up. But just as I decided to do so, another wave of pain hit me. I couldn't even move. With a loud thud, I rolled off the roof and hit the ground—drawing everyone's attention.
"Something's over there!" shouted Suki, who had apparently joined the search.
Damn it, I really didn't want to show weakness in front of these kids… Yet here I was, curled up on the ground, writhing in pain.
"Seras!" Katara ran to me immediately. Fortunately, the pain subsided before she reached me, and I slowly began to rise.
"What happened to you?" she asked, standing in front of me, looking straight into my inhuman eyes without a hint of fear. The others were already approaching.
"Nothing much, just a little pain," I replied with a smile.
"Don't lie, girl. We saw you writhing on the ground in agony. And by the sound of it, you even fell off a roof!" the old woman scolded. "Wounds need healing, or they'll become a serious problem later."
"Why does everyone forget I'm not human?" I sighed, brushing a hand across my cat ears—subtly reminding them of what they'd conveniently ignored. Especially after they had once mistaken me for a spirit and captured the Avatar's team in fear. Honestly, I was probably more demonic than half the demons in those "boob-dragon" anime. Unlike them—I'm a real soul-eater.
"What does it matter? If you're wounded, you need healing—so you don't collapse at the worst possible moment, like just now," Suki stepped forward.
"Hahaha…" I let out a dark laugh, my red eyes glowing ominously. "Do you think a wound that hasn't healed on someone like me is something that can be cured?"
"You could cut off my arm or leg…" I made a small slice on my arm with a claw. It healed instantly. "And they'd grow right back."
"You could burn me to ash, grind me into meat, or…" I paused, teleported behind her, and whispered into her ear, "cut off my head…" My fingers traced her slender neck, sending a primal shiver of fear down her spine.
"And I'd still be alive—still full of strength," I said, stepping away. Suki instinctively swung at me, but I dodged. I tried to mimic the presence-pressure technique my master used, but all I managed was a faint, dark, ominous aura.
"So tell me—what kind of wound could I possibly not recover from?"
"Then those… your insides…" Katara stammered.
"Yes, that day you saw my inner world in all its bloody glory," I chuckled as she paled, remembering what she had witnessed.
"A dark spirit…" the old woman whispered.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sokka asked, confused.
"She's clearly a dark spirit. That aura… those eyes… she can't be anything else," the old woman said more confidently.
"Hm? For someone who thinks I'm a dark spirit, you don't seem very scared," I said curiously.
"I've lived my life. Death doesn't scare me anymore."
"Fair enough," I grunted. On one hand, that kind of bravery is admirable. On the other—it's exactly the kind of mindset that sparks witch hunts.
"Don't fight!" Aang suddenly stepped between me and the old woman. Sokka stood beside her, eyeing me suspiciously. "I believe Seras doesn't mean us any harm. Don't forget—we were trying to help her."
"That's right! We wanted to help, not start an argument," Katara quickly joined him.
"Oh, come on, guys. There's no fight here," I smirked. "She's right—I could be called a dark spirit. But…"
"AHA! So you admit it!" Sokka cried triumphantly, cutting me off. "I knew there was something off about you!"
"And I had hoped you'd matured at least a little in the past few days…" I sighed in disappointment. Then I looked at the boy trying to mediate. "But Aang surprised me—in a good way—despite his recent behavior."
"Hey! What's wrong with my behavior?!" he exclaimed.
"I'm sure Katara has a few things to say about that," I smirked, shifting the focus.
"Katara?" he looked at her, confused.
She shot me a glare before saying, "All the praise as Avatar has gone to your head! You completely forgot we need to prepare for departure—and dumped all the work on me!"
Her voice was controlled at first, but by the end, her frustration began to leak through. Understandably so—she was only 14, and yet she had to act like a babysitter: cooking, cleaning, sewing, training in waterbending—all while Aang played with the local girls. It hurt.
"But I invited you to come play!" Aang protested.
"And refused to help with the supplies!" she snapped.
"Lady Suyin, she's nowhere to be found!" one of the Kyoshi Warriors reported—then spotted me and realized the search was over. "Oh… you already found her. I'll tell the others."
"No need. We'll go together," the old woman said, shaking her head in disappointment. She looked like she'd aged years in a moment—clearly done with the chaos.
"Let's go, Sokka. You still have much to learn before you leave," Suki said, grabbing his arm and leading him to the dojo. She didn't want to stay either—but she intended to keep her promise to train him.
And so, while the others argued, they all dispersed—leaving me alone with Aang and Katara. Tired of their bickering, I did what I thought was the only logical thing: I slapped the bald boy on the head.
"What was that for?!" he cried, rubbing the spot.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to rest. But as the leader of this group, you shouldn't dump everything on Katara. First comes preparation—then rest."
"I just don't want to leave…" he admitted sadly.
"But we can't just—" Katara started.
"I know! But…"
"You're afraid," I said calmly, looking into his eyes. He flinched.
"Fear is normal. Only madmen feel nothing. But I have an idea," I smiled slyly and lit a small blue flame on my fingertip. "I can pretend to be the Avatar and defend the North Pole in your place. You can stay here and keep playing. But there's one catch."
"You can really do that?" Aang asked, eyes full of hope—completely missing the catch. Katara looked at him, worried.
"I can. But you didn't let me finish," I said, extinguishing the flame. "I'll take on the role of the Avatar and destroy the Fire Nation fleet attacking the North. Without you. Then I'll go home. And you'll lose the chance to master waterbending."
"Maybe you'll get lucky and the Firebenders won't find you. But while you play, Omashu—your friend King Bumi's city—will fall. Then Ba Sing Se. Thousands will die. The Fire Nation will meet no resistance. They'll send another fleet north, and with no strategic value left, the Water Tribe will likely be wiped out—just like the Air Nomads. Or, if they're lucky, they'll end up like the Southern Tribe. But I think Katara can better explain how hard their life is."
I paused and studied him.
"So tell me, boy—are you really ready to run away again, like you did a hundred years ago? Ready to repeat that tragedy?"
"No…" he whispered.
"No?" I asked again.
"No! I won't run away!" he said firmly, clenching his fists.
"Good," I nodded.
"Katara, what else do we need to prepare? We're leaving tomorrow," he said with newfound resolve.