Chapter 6: The festival

Remember how I said that most birthdays are not special enough to warrant a celebration? But some have their significance.

One of them is today. Princess Yue's fifth birthday is today. In the evening, there will be a party at the palace, and of course, I was invited, as a member of Pakku's family.

But that's not all. The entire capital is hosting a festival to celebrate the occasion.

This is why I am currently in this situation.

"Come on..., hurry up." Asahi groaned while tapping her foot on the floor.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Your grumbling would not make it any faster." I replied while putting on a fur coat.

"Even my mom takes less time than you at getting ready." She complained while looking around my room.

"All right. let's go." I relented, motioning her to exit the room.

"I do not understand why we need to hurry up. The festival will go on for the whole day."

"Yeah, but we might not be able to enjoy all of it if we do not hurry."

I smirked, "I sometimes forget that you are still a child."

"I wish I could say the same thing about you," Grandpa sighed.

"Now go out and enjoy yourself. LIKE. A. KID." He took a sip of his tea.

"See you later, grandpa."

"See ya~, Master Pakku."

.....

"Oh, I'm so excited right now. It's not every day that I get to roam the city unsupervised. I still can't believe it's happening to me." As we walked towards the city center, Asahi laughed.

"Well, sorry to turn your mood into cold but we aren't without supervision. My grandfather might not care about me but he sure as hell, does not want anything happening to you lest your doting father comes breathing on his neck." She punched me in the ribs. Not that it hurt much.

Her father isn't the only one with a complex in their family. It was worth teasing her once in a while.

"You think he is following us?" She tried to look behind but I stopped her.

"What are you doing? Did you not see any detective movies? When you are being trailed, you don't look around." I whispered into her ears and watched as her eyes widened. And then it hit her.

"HUH, de... detec..tiive, what?" She whispered back.

"Focus on the important part. And I don't think it is grandpa. He probably sent a servant to follow us from afar just in case. There are not many evil people in the water tribe. At least in the commoners." I shrugged.

"Now come on, follow me. We need to pick up someone familiar with the city, unlike us, who never went out of the wealthy district except for school." We increased our pace a bit.

...

"Please go." The teenager heaved twice before continuing, "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want this." Her body trembled as they walked up to the gate.

"Keep it, look. No one will bother you in this street if you have this around your neck." The man in his early 20s forced the necklace into the teenage girl's hands once again.

His fierce eyes met the girl's desperate and afraid eyes.

"I...I.." The girl stuttered, but nothing concrete came out.

"Why can't you comprehend something so basic, whale head? She is not interested in marrying you. Stop showing us your ugly face all the time." Enyo grumbled in an irritated voice while looking at the man with dead eyes.

"ENYO!!!" The girl screamed, "Go inside now."

"Do as she said, little demon. This is none of your business." The man warned, and the girl's eyes turned begging as she looked at Enyo.

He lowered his head, teeth gritting and fists held tight as he unwillingly turned around.

"*Cough* *cough* Are we interrupting something?"

All three turned to where the voice came from to find a boy and girl looking at them. The girl looked a bit nervous as she hid behind the boy.

"Great, now there's three of them." The man cursed before noticing the clothes that the kids were wearing.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked warily.

"Why do we need to tell you that?" Arisu asked back.

"Because I am the guard Captain on the wall. Now tell me, what are you two doing here? You don't belong here. If you are lost, go to the east. You will find some guards patrolling there, they will bring you to your parents. This area is not safe for you." He once again turned to the teenage girl once he was done speaking.

"We are not lost. In fact, we are right on time too." Arisu smiled, relieved that they did not end up delaying.

"Can you tell me, what are you doing here, Mr. Guard captain?" Arisu glanced at the teenage girl and noticed the necklace in her hands and also her current state.

…. Arisu P.O.V.

"I don't think this is the right way to court someone." I clicked my tongue, causing a vein to rise in his forehead.

The custom states that if a guy likes a girl and they are both older than 16, he can declare his love for her by giving her a handmade necklace. If the girl accepts it, they are both engaged from that moment.

Pretty unusual that the northern tribe has such a tradition, given their record on sexism.

"None of your business, now shoo~" He rubbed his temples.

I laughed.

"Do you know who my grandfather is?" I smugly asked. At times like these, things become easier with the privilege.

"I don't care. The military doesn't take orders from any of the aristocrats." 

True. Given that this is a time of war, the military is given a lot of privileges so it would be easy to recruit new members.

"Exactly. But who said that he is highborn? I'm sure you must have heard of him, given your military background. He goes by the name of Pakku."

"Now tell me what will happen if he learns that one of his subordinates is making a mockery out of the tradition that he so holds dearly." His face turned pale.

"You are lying?" Denial kicked in.

You are reading story Avatar:Abstract entity at novel35.com

"Of course, you can figure it out for yourself. Keep bugging the girl, and I can assure you that you'll hear from him the next day." I shrugged my shoulders.

"You see, in life, I have a rule of thumb. You don't mess with one of my own, and if you do, you won't get away with it." pointing at Enyo, "and that brat is one of my own." 

"So, as he said, you better not show your ugly face here again."I smirked. 

His emotions, were practically written all over his face. Anger and malice showed as he debated on whether to attack us, but in the end, rationality won, and he turned to walk away.

"It was good meeting you, Mr. Guard Captain," I spoke aloud at his retreating back.

.....

"Hey, what's that?" Asahi asked, pointing at a stall around the corner.

Since then, several hours have passed, and three of us are now strolling along the main path. Enyo is given the responsibility of showing us around because he is most familiar with these routes.

"That's melon bread. An earth nation product." Enyo explained as I purchased one and divided it into three parts, and shared it.

"Hmm, how can I never ate something this good?" She asked enjoying the bread.

"That's because it's a commoners food, wealthy people don't eat this. They get to eat different kinds of meat all the time." He elaborated.

"Now while I love to try a few more things, why don't we take a break from eating and try that?" Both followed my finger to the center where a lot of people are gathered around and cheering.

"You want to try the test of strength?" Enyo asked back.

"Is that what it is called?" I asked back as we walked near.

"Yeah, anyone above 5 to below 16 can participate. All you have to do is make your boat reach the endpoint. You can use anything in your arsenal. Smaller kids are allowed to form teams too." He explained the rules. It was a boat race.

"Won't it be advantageous for the benders?" Asahi asked confused.

"Only smaller kids are allowed to use bending as older ones have a physical advantage." Enyo shook his head.

"What do you think? Wanna give it a try?" I turned to Asahi who energetically nodded.

...

"And now, master Pakku and his students will perform for us."

I looked at the front when the chief said, grandfather and 2 of his best students started a water bending show for all the guests.

"I wish I could learn to do things like that too." Asahi remarked beside me.

"Maybe one day you would be able to." I encouraged her not to lose hope. Once Aang arrives, things would change for the better.

I wish I could help her but right now I do not possess that much say in the matter.

"Maybe, or maybe I would just run away from this city once I grow up. It feels stifling living among these people. I heard that there was a woman that did flee from here and went to live in the south."

"Yes, I am aware of that but times have changed since then. It was before the war. When both sister tribes can communicate with one another."

"But things are much different now. Don't you read in our recent history class? It's been more than a decade since we heard from our sister tribe. We have enclosed ourselves here and stopped caring about the outside since ages ago." I sighed.

"Hmmm, Can I sit here?"

A childish voice halted our exchange as we looked behind to find princess Yue standing behind us. Her eyes were teary and big looking at us with expectations.

"Mhm, sure. It would be our honor, your highness."

Asahi made some space between the two of us and the little princess quickly made herself comfortable.  

"This is my first time meeting so many people at once. Usually, it's either the guards and my mother or father that accompany me."

She stated," It's very umm... Uncomfortable."

"Awww... Poor thing," Asahi couldn't help but hug her and rub her cheeks with her own.

"Ahh, Uhm... You don't feel that with us?"

"Don't mind him, you came to the right place. This big sis will take care of you from now on."

"No, my friends always talk about you." Yue shook her head and told me this with a gentle smile.

"Your friends?" Didn't she just say that only adults accompany her?

"Mhm,.., they live behind the palace. Always circling one another without stopping." She explained while eating food that Asahi give her.

"And how do you know that I'm that person that they always talk about?" The only thing behind the palace was the spirit pond.

"Because you also glow like them." She said it like it was no big deal.

I glow? I looked at myself but couldn't find any glowing part in the body. Maybe it's something only she could see as a part-spirit?  

Maybe Iroh too since he could see spirits too.

"What else do they talk about?" I ask her with interest.

"Mmm, like how they want to meet you but they can't leave the pond or something." She put her finger on her cheek and thought deeply.

"Is that so."

"Ahh, I know" She clapped.

"Do you want to see them too? I can take you to them. It will be fun, I promise."

I looked around and noticed that everyone was focused on grandfather and I probably never get an opportunity like this any time soon.

"Okay."

(ED: this feels like a filler, maybe something big is coming)

You can find story with these keywords: Avatar:Abstract entity, Read Avatar:Abstract entity, Avatar:Abstract entity novel, Avatar:Abstract entity book, Avatar:Abstract entity story, Avatar:Abstract entity full, Avatar:Abstract entity Latest Chapter