"Hmm, they're a lot different compared to the ones the girls used," Toji muttered with a hum as he slowly moved with Kyoshi's fans, familiarizing himself with their weight.
They were heavier, broader and built for someone of a towering size, which made sense given the Avatar's size compared to most people he knew, but that was not all.
As Toji swung down with an open fan, he frowned at the shockwave unleashed from it, spinning in that same moment before swinging the second fan and narrowing his eyes at the slight rumbling that came from it.
'They're like the Split Soul Katana. There's a curse infused in it,' It wasn't to the point that he could use some form of bending, but whatever curse or soul was woven into it enhanced its strength and durability.
Folding them up before unfolding them again, he lunged for a feint, but grunted in surprise as the fans nearly doubled in weight, making him commit to the blow before the weight vanished.
"What the…? These things really are cursed," He muttered with a frown as he placed one down, snapping the one shut before unfolding it and trying another feint again.
Again, it felt as if the fan doubled in weight, but Toji adjusted his grip as he snapped his wrist and finished with a swift thrust.
"Okay, so if I don't commit to the blow, it doubles in weight. What if…?", Having a thought in mind, he spun and did another feint, continuing with another only for his arm to strain slightly as the weight doubled on top of that.
Continuing on with another feint, he frowned as the weight doubled yet again, finally finishing with a heavy swing down only to blink as it sunk into the ship and cracked the deck.
"…Note to self: These things are very powerful," He murmured, feeling the weight vanish before folding the fan up, letting Wormy eat them both as he took out a map.
At first, he traced his fingers to the familiar waters southwards of the mainland, but quickly shook his head as he remembered that he was on his own journey.
Instead, his finger slid to the northwest, landing on a lonely bit of land that only had a name in faded ink beside it.
The Water Tribe's Sacred Island.
It was the halfway point between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes off the western coast of the Earth Kingdom, having cultural and spiritual significance to both tribes.
According to this map, it was filled with ancient carvings, crumbling temples and, if the stories were to be believed, a shrine built to the latest Avatar from the Water Tribes that spent more time fighting spirits than leading his people.
The sailors he had spoken to on Kyoshi Island over the past year informed him of something else too. They spoke of vengeful spirits roaming on the island, guarding Kuruk's spear and keeping it from anyone who wanted to give the man a peaceful afterlife.
"Spirits, curses and a dead powerful being's toy. Doesn't that remind you of something, Wormy?", Toji asked with a grin, chuckling at Wormy's rumbles that were his form of laughter.
How could they forget the time they ventured into a cursed temple to steal the Inverted Spear of Heaven and barely escaped with their lives?
'Hahaha! Sounds like I might have another party on my hands, but before that,' He thought as he held his hands out, Wormy spitting out both fans right as Toji caught them.
Twirling both fans, he smirked as he shifted into the Kyoshi opening stance before beginning to flow through the motions that he had drilled into himself.
Time to get used to his new weapons.
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'Okay, I guess I'm getting closer 'cause how in the hells did the weather change that quick?!', Toji thought with a frown as he adjusted the sails, catching the tailwind while sailing through the raging storm around him.
It was just sunny a moment ago when he went in for a quick meal, but when he went to sit down, the ship was attacked by a fierce storm that forced him to drop his meal and make sure his ship didn't capsize.
"There are definitely spirits here!", He muttered as he pulled up one of the sails, letting the ship slow down while narrowing his eyes at the hazy landmass he could just barely make out through the pouring rain.
Spinning the wheel and redirecting the ship to the island, he frowned as he heard a melodic hum echo in the air, tapping Wormy's head to wake the spirit up from its slumber.
"Split. Hold it on standby," He whispered, to which the worm gave an affirmative rumble right as the water beside the ship exploded upwards.
Immediately turning towards the explosion, he grimaced at the sight of something large rose from the waters, looking up to see the serpentine spirit lowering its head.
Its reflective blue scales shimmered in the dim light while the rain passed through its translucent body. Yellow, slitted eyes stared down at Toji and the teen smirked as the spirit spoke.
"Who…are you, foreigner?"
"Just a traveller trying to get to his next destination."
"Turn your ship and we'll show you mercy."
"Well, that's going to be a bit hard considering that my destination is right behind you."
"You are a sympathiser of the cursed one?", The spirit asked with a growl, Toji glancing down at the rumbling waters before smiling and shrugging.
"No, but I am an admirer of people who leave behind interesting toys and from what I hear, Kuruk had one of the most interesting toys of them all."
"You dare speak his name?", The spirit snarled, its body coiling slowly as Toji narrowed his eyes.
"He is cursed, forgotten and he shall remain."
"Well, I'm not here to change any history books. I'm just here to borrow something," Toji responded, watching as the waves began to spill over the railings while a dozen more serpentine heads broke the surface of the water.
"Leave. This is your final warning," The lead spirit in front of him rumbled and Toji watched as dozens of spirits rose from the waters, each glaring at him before Wormy spat out the hilt of his favourite sword.
"Well, then it's too bad," Grabbing onto the hilt of the Split Soul Katana, he could see the spiri's growing uneasy at the cursed energy radiating from the blade. Trailing a finger along the flat of the blade, Toji looked up at the serpent spirit and spoke.
"I guess we're doing this the hard way," With those words, the first three spirits lunged at the ship, but their heads crashed into the decks in the same moment, the other spirits surprised as the spirit's decapitated bodies fell into the waters.
"Now, now. Let's leave my ship out of this," Toji spoke with a smirk as he stood on the peak of the top mast, Wormy coiled around his waist while he sheathed the Split Soul Katana.
Shifting into an iaido stance, the teenager vanished, flying past a spirit before cleaving it in half with one swift motion. Yet, as he landed on the water, the teenager grinned as he shot forward, the spirits narrowing their eyes when they saw the teenager skating across the surface like it was nothing.
"Waterbender!"
'Waterbender? Oh, no, not at all,' Toji thought with a grin as a spirit dove at him, leaping into the air with a flourish before smirking as six spirits dove at him from all directions.
"Let's dance," Toji whispered as he kicked off the air, surprising the spirit when the boy ricochet rapidly before launching himself at the lead spirit.
Behind him, the six spirit gasped as their bodies slowly fell out of the sky in pieces, the spirits finally realizing the danger they were in when they saw the manic grin on Toji's face.
"Airbending?!", The spirit shouted in surprise, but Toji just grinned as he kicked the air above him, diving downwards and stabbing the Split Soul Katana through the skull of the spirit below him.
"Wormy! Chain!", The Inventory Curse immediately spat out the beginning segment of the chain, Toji spinning it with a flourish before kicking it upwards.
As the end of the chain finally erupted from Wormy's mouth, the teen stepped onto it before shooting forward, leaping from chain to air and back as he rapidly and quickly sliced through all of the spirits before finally stopping in front of the lead spirit.
"You! You're him! The Avatar!"
'He wishes he was me,' Toji thought with a smirk, the storm howling around him, hopping to the side and dodging the tail smack coming down at him.
Grabbing onto the chain, Toji whipped it around, wrapping it around the beast and passing through its body. The spirit quickly flew away as Toji raced up the path of the chain, but the teen hummed as the beast immediately dove back into the water.
'Guess he got scared,' Toji thought with a raised eyebrow as he grabbed the chain, falling back towards the ship before hopping off and slowing down his fall when he got closer.
"Hmm, you all were a lot louder a second ago," He murmured as he let Wormy eat the chain again, keeping the katana out while staring at the spirits roaming above the island.
There were hundreds of them all shapes and sizes, each having an eerie blue tint to their body as well as ominous golden eyes that glared at him as he got closer.
"I'll give you all one chance! Let me pass or find out if there is an afterlife for spirits!", Toji shouted, but he knew their answer as the spirits howled and dove down at him.
Well, he did expect to work for the spear.
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"And there! You're the last," Toji muttered with a frown as he sat on the beach of the island, staring at the hordes of spirit flesh and blood scattered around him.
The rain had eased with the spirits' death, the clouds dissolving and being whisked away as if the storm itself was now retreating lest it be next.
"They were pretty good," He murmured, staring at the bruises from where a few of them had gotten a good hit in. Truthfully, he had not expected them to bruise him as much as they did, but he supposed that spirits liked to target the soul instead of the flesh.
Unfortunately for them, Toji had a blade that cut through both man and spirit like it was nothing.
"You think they were tough?", He asked, looking at Wormy who let out a low rumble from where he was busy chewing on the head of a spirit horse.
"Well, at least I'm now sure that they were most definitely guarding something of value," Toji spoke as he stood up, turning and scanning the tree like behind him.
He could still hear hissing and growls hidden amongst the dense foliage, the scent of salt and wet stone assaulting his nostrils along with something…weird.
'Whatever that is, that's the thing I'm looking for.'
"Wormy, time to go," Toji spoke as he began walking, to which the curse wrapped around his leg and crawled up his body until its head rested on his left shoulder.
Sand and stone crunched under his feet as he pushed through the forest, making sure to keep an eye out of traps before he came across the first signs of the old civilization.
There were eroding buildings with walls swallowed by moss, broken statues of many waterbenders in action as well as spiralling carvings made deep into the obsidian-black stone of the pathways.
As he walked, he could feel the spiritual essence growing thicker and thicker with every step, reminding him of the Disciplinary Pit where he was forced to fight cursed spirits day after day.
"Kuruk really knew how to leave a welcome mat," Toji spoke with a smirk before a wind swept through the ruins, the teen stopping as figures emerged from the shadows of the buildings.
Unlike the animal-like spirits from before, he found himself staring at tall, spectral warriors, the Water Tribe patterns etched into their armour while weapons of ice were held in their hands.
"Leave, mortal. You have trespassed upon the Sacred Island in search of a legacy that is not yours to take."
"Really? The spirits outside said the same thing and they aren't here to complain about it," Toji spoke as Wormy lowered his head, coiling around his waist.
"So, are you going to be the sa-!", Toji quickly ducked under a thrust aimed at his skull, Wormy spitting out the Kyoshi fans and Toji split the skull of the warrior who attacked him in that same moment.
'It was a bit of a gamble considering I don't know if they would work on a spirit or not, but I've always been lucky with gambles that had my life on the line,' Toji thought with a smirk, staring at the remaining ten warriors and their leader.
"Fine, then. Let's get this party started," Toji spoke with a smirk as he spun the fans with a flourish, settling into the Kyoshi opening stance when the warriors attacked as one.
The first threw his ice weapon, but Toji immediately slapped it to the side, grasping the chain Wormy spat out before stabbing both ends of the chains through the fans.
With a twirl and a flick of his wrist, the fans spun around him and sliced through the spears and heads two of the warriors, the teen grasping onto the centre of the chain with both hands.
Swinging his arms out before bringing them back in, the fans whipped out and deep into the necks of two of the warriors, ripping them back out and cutting the hands off of the spirit behind him right as they swung their sword down.
Dodging around the sword and wrapping the chain around the hilt of the blade, whipping it around and throwing it at one of the spirits who parried it.
Just as it did so, the chain wrapped around its arm, Toji whipping his arm back and making one of the fan slice its head off, whilst stabbing the other into the chest of the spirit who had lost his hands.
Watching as both fell to the floor, Toji caught both fans while letting the chain pool at his feet, smirking when he saw the last of the four warriors standing around him with their swords aimed at him.
"You know, you guys get too easily distracted," he spoke with a smirk as he dropped the fans, grasping onto the chains before spinning and swinging them around him frantically.
Letting go of the chains as the spirits ducked under his attack while lunging in, the hilt of the Split Soul Katana flew from the mouth of Wormy as he grabbed onto it.
With a lunge forward and ending with his blade held out to the side, Toji sighed as he stood up, turning around with a frown as the lead spirit held his ice blade in front of him.
"Damn, you blocked that?", Toji asked with a raised eyebrow, letting Wormy drop to the floor and eat up the chain while shifting into his own stance when he saw the spirit doing the same.
With a grunt, the ground under him erupted as he lunged forward, the spirit immediately bringing his blade down for a slash slash.
Parrying it to the left, Toji grunted as he kicked out with his leg, catching the chest of the spirit with a grunt.
The blow sent it skidding backwards as Toji flipped midair, launching himself forward the second he landed. The spirit spun its blade before lunging in as well, but the boy smirked as he swung forward and forced it to clash with him.
Sparks flew as spiritual ice pressed against cursed steel, Toji leaning into the push despite the spirit trying to push him back. It quickly twisted to try and throw him off balance, but Toji rolled his wrist and let the katana slide down the length of the ice blade.
"You swing like you've never fought with a blade in your life," Toji muttered as he grabbed onto the spirit's wrist, ignoring the biting cold digging into his hand before yanking it closer.
His knee rose and smashed into its chest, the armour splintering under it as the spirit staggered backwards. That was not enough though as it quickly recovered, unleashing a flurry of wild slashes that Toji easily weaved in between.
"Wormy, go," Toji murmured as he lunged in, parrying its blade before grabbing onto its sword arm right as the Inventory Curse lunged forward and wrapped around its neck.
The spirit roared as it tried to grab onto it, but Toji grinned as he caught its other wrist, throwing its sword hand out to the side before slashing his blade at its neck.
With little resistance, the Split Soul Katana sliced through its neck and out the other side, Toji catching its ice blade before grumbling as it crumbled to pieces in his hand.
"So, you were a waterbender, but a weaker one who decided to learn how to fight with weapons. Also, spiritually charged weapons can stop the Split Soul Katana and their spiritual attacks cut through my physical defence and hit my soul. Isn't that fun?", Toji murmured to himself as he let Wormy eat the Katana while making his way to the shrine at the far back.
It stood in a clearing on its own, built from a pale stone in contrast to the black stone while the its spires had collapsed long ago, leaving only the outer walls and roof in tact.
Resting in the middle in clear view was an alter made out of black coral and on top of it was what he was looking for. It wasn't an ornate weapon as it was made out of sea-polished wood with a slightly curved, wide blade made out of the bone of a whale.
However, the moment he reached forward and grasped it, he grinned as he heard the entire island rumble, slowly picking it up before twirling and spinning it around his body.
"Second weapon, acquired."
A/N: And we end it off here~! This was going to be the Fire Nation chapter, but then I saw that a little spiritual island was on the path so I decided to make this the haven for Kuruk's weapon.
Also, the spirits are now pissed at Toji for slaughtering their kind, but does he care?…Not in the slightest.
Next chapter: Burning Sensation.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!