Chapter 10: 10. Negotiations

The entire Village was alive when Aaron and Igi returned from the captain's camp. Lanterns burned high as families scuttled out of their homes, ferrying their belongings in sacks larger themselves. Several times, they had to duck out of the way as wagons hurried past, and people yelled obscenities when they bumped into each other.

"The Old man wasn't kidding when he said they'd be gone by morning," Aaron muttered as he pulled the boy out of the way from yet another grumpy-looking man.

"If they're all leaving tonight. Does that mean our Innkeeper fleeced us?"

Aaron let out a string of curses.

"That little demon. Come on," he commanded, diving into the crowd. He might have bumped into more than a few people, but he didn't care. The spirit towed behind, following the path he cleared.

"I'm not about to be robbed for the second time in a day."  Their Innkeeper had a half-loaded wagon out front with an Ostrich Horse when they came to the Inn. She was small and bent over from age, but that didn't stop her from hauling her loot, which happened to contain everything they'd left behind.

"What do you think you're doing!" Aaron had the mind to Chi punch her in the face.

She jumped, dropping the sack she'd been holding. Sweat pooled on her face when she met eyes with Aaron.  "I-I was just moving your things down for you. With the town leaving and all, I didn't want someone to steal your things."

"Uh uh," Igi said.

"How very kind of you," Aaron said with a hard smile as he riffled through the small mound of stolen property and keepsakes. He passed their knapsacks and new acquisitions to the boy and kept a nice-looking flute for himself. The woman seemed to vibrate at his choice but was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

Taking initiative, the boy opened a nice-looking box and fetched one ear of two pairs of sea-shell earrings.

"Please," she said, reaching out. "It's a priceless family heirloom."

"It's mine now," the boy shrugged, and the woman's face fell.

After safely storing away their valuables in small bags and harnesses, Aaron came to the woman with an open palm. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes, but he had no pity to spare.

"There's still the matter of the 6 silver we paid to spend the night."

—

Aaron and the spirit found the promised Merchant's ship at the very end of the dock. He was a large portly man with a spot of grey in his gelled hair. He wore two Silver Rings in each hand and was swaddled in delicate fabrics, though it was the dry season.

"You must be the two Mu sent." He spoke with his whole mouth, and Aaron could smell the duck he'd had for lunch.

"We are," Aaron said, glancing at the ship. It was an Earth Nation vessel– mostly wood with segmented sails, flowing swirls, and ornamental carvings.  "How much did Ashin manage to beat the price to?" he asked, recalling their previous conversation with the fighter, but he also wished to spare himself the haggle.

Before speaking, the man seemed to work his chubby mouth, side to side. "Fourteen silver per passenger."

Pleased with the price, Aaron counted out the coin and handed it to the man, who made the pieces disappear beneath his robes with a swish of his wrist.

"Welcome aboard," he smiled at them. "Zi will show you to your quarters." A large, brick house of a man on the deck of the ship nodded them along, and soon they were situated. Their payment covered meals, a simple living quarter, access to fresh water and most of the ship.

They left before the noise died down from the town, and soon, they were on the water. After a long nap and a bit of dried meat and water, Aaron found himself on the deck. The seawater swept against the boat's hull in quiet laps, and the deck was vacant, save for two patrolling guards and the spirit, who was working through the Katas Aaron had shown Igi.

The moon lit his bare upper body, sheening in sweat, and Aaron felt his anger boiling over. He was made at himself for forgetting Igi so soon and at the spirit for his pretentiousness.

"I'm surprised you're not resting," Aaron said, joining him near the nose of the vessel. "Or, at the very least, celebrating. You avoided an awkward conversation with the father of the boy you killed, and your first mission went well enough."

The spirit stopped his drill to look back at Aaron, with his face twisted. "Don't say that. You know I didn't kill him. I told you, he's here somewhere inside me." He touched his chest. "Igi–"

"Don't say his name!" Aaron snapped.

"I just–"

"I know, Igi," Aaron said, his voice thick with emotion. "You are not him, and if we're going to be travelling together, you won't insult me my pretending that you are. Give me your true name or we go our separate ways after we reach the north pole."

Igi avoided Aaron's eyes and worked his jaw for a long moment.

"Fair enough," he said finally. "Call me Mark, then. I would offer you a handshake, but from the looks of you, you'd probably lop it off before you took it," he said with an awkward laugh. "I just realised I never said I was sorry for Igi. He really loved you, you know. You were the first person to take him seriously."

'Platitudes,' Aaron thought, but he still felt so overwhelmed with emotions that he screamed. "Damn it, all."

"I know you're probably keeping me around because you want me to meet your boss, and I'd like to meet him too. You've got all this big stuff set up, and little old me is in the middle of all that, but I don't have to be another obstacle, not when I can be an ally," he said, leaning against the bow of the ship.

Looking at the boy talking with the confidence of a man, Aaron realised this was Mark's true face. His frown grew deeper. He didn't like it very much.

"The mission you helped gave me enough spirit point to get to level 2," Mark said, "which means I'm twice as strong as I used to be, and if I keep going like this, I'll probably end up stronger than any bender you've seen."

Aaron thought about the feats he'd read his grandfather achieve. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Agree to disagree," Mark waved. "And that's not even mentioning the gifts I can provide." He snapped his fingers and seemed to pull a scroll out of the air. "That's the recipe, as promised. So, you see, I am not entirely full of it."

It was a cheap power play, but it still took Aaron by surprise. With a frown, Aaron took the scroll from him and read through the recipe.

At a glance, he recognized more than a few ingredients, but many of them were a complete mystery to him, but then again, he never was much of an apothecary.

But, going by what he read, the potion could provide a soldier with a second wind in battle, filling up his natural Chi reserves faster than he'd otherwise be able to.

"If this works, it could help many people," Aaron muttered.

"And don't forget, I still owe you," Mark grinned "And I am willing to share most of what I got if it gets me more allies and keeps me alive longer."

Aaron flipped over what Igi said in his head and paid attention to the phrase "Most." Mark would no doubt keep things from them and work in his best interest, but so would Aaron.

Even if Aaron wanted to be straight, he didn't think he could fully trust Mark. Lies came too easily to him, and he hadn't hesitated to resort to emotional manipulation back in the town.

"If you're getting rewards, that means the other spirit is as well."

Aaron could only imagine how bad things could get if the Fire Nation had soldiers armed with Chi potions and weapons provided by the spirit.

"The Fire Nation will have far more stuff if the other guy is completing missions faster than I am."

"Then that means we have to move faster than him, don't we," Aaron said with some thought.

"For now, we make sure you're moving at a decent pace, and when the Solstice comes, you meet my Grandfather. He's our leader, and there will be no further cooperation between us if you can't convince him."

Mark's smile dropped.

"What is it?" Aaron asked.

"Well…" he started but trailed off. "It's nothing. I agree to your terms." After an awkward moment, he offered his hand for a handshake, and Aaron took it after some hesitation. There was clearly something there, but he was reluctant to talk about it.

"So, I've been going over my performance in the first mission," he said, pushing off the ship's bow. "And I think the only way I'll survive the next few mission is by ramping up my training and getting me up to fighting shape."

Aaron raised a brow, and Mark further explained.

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"My stats are Mind, Body, and Chi, and have all straightforward improvement paths. Resistance training can help me improve Body and meditation will work wonders for Mind, but Chi is a mystery. I think it's a mix of both, but that's where you come in. That Chi-bending thing I've seen you do—"

"Is not something I can teach you in a few weeks, nor am I allowed to," Aaron cut him off.

"But–" Mark raised a finger, but a look quieted him.

"Fair enough," Mark muttered. "I suppose I'll have to get you and your Grandfather to trust me first."

Aaron resisted the urge to huff. As if Grandfather would ever trust an outsider with their family secret.

"If we can train Chi, how about Body and Mind then? I just got a learning bonus that lasts 48 hours. After each Level up, I have a training window to train up each stat. If I level up before I'm done training, I lose the chance forever.  And since we can't predict how or when my next mission comes…" he trailed off.

"Then get into the Feather fist form," Aaron sighed and started to shrug off the layers of his clothes. "We better get to it then."

Mark grinned. "I love a good old-fashioned training arc."

The hours blurred as they sparred, performed basic callisthenics and meditated under the moonlight. Aaron came up with a basic circuit that yielded decent results.

First, they started with basic callisthenics and stretching to warm up the limbs, then meditation, light-sparring with the Feather Fist, new moves and tricks, and then weapon training.

They were only on their second circuit, and Mark had already gained a point in his body stat when he interrupted them from their weapon basics session to point at a cloud drifting overhead.

It stuck out in the moonlight, and his insistence had even drawn the attention of the guard, who had moved closer to watch them at some point.

Squinting, Aaron finally noticed something peculiar about the cloud.

"Is that a tail?" he mouthed.

"Holy shit!" Mark said. "That's the Avatar right above us. It's fricking Appa."

Aaron threw him a confused look. He'd heard that the Avatar had a flying Bisen when he disappeared, but it was unlikely it was still alive after a hundred years. In fact, he did not know what to expect from this Avatar. His grandfather had told him he'd still be a child when he emerged, but he knew very little else.

"Don't just freeze, Aaron. He's right there!" Mark said. "System just confirmed it. Another mission. We need to get to him somehow."

Mark's annoying voice had him second-guessing, but his mystical system seconding it got his mind working. His eyes wandered up the watch tower, and he tracked the distance to the Bisen.

"Mark, get our things. We're cutting our trip short," Aaron said.

"Roger!" Mark saluted as he rushed past the guard onto the lower deck.

The man spun around in surprise. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You got a bag of salt on board?" Aaron asked the dazed man.

He blinked once, but he answered with a nod.

"I'll pay you one whole silver if you get it for me."

"I can't leave my post!" he protested, "and you should check with the captain before attempting whatever it is you're thinking."

"Get me that bag of Salt, and I'll watch your post." Aaron flashed four more silver pieces. "It's all yours, and I won't tell if you don't."

The man alternated between the Silver and Aaron's face before he suddenly handed Aaron his spear and disappeared below the deck. Surprisingly, the guard returned before Mark, so Aaron paid the man, and he handed over the bag of salt.

Mark showed up a second later, and Aaron grabbed a bit of plank he spied in the corner and strapped it with some rope he cut from the mast.  Mark was in a daze as he watched him work. Aaron squirrelled up the mast the moment he was done, with Mark trailing behind him.

"I don't mind following blind orders, Teach, but eh, what are we doing?" he asked as they settled into the basket. There was nothing but water for miles. Aaron looked up into the sky and saw the Avatar was to the west of their ship. A few more minutes, and he'd be too far to reach with his plan.

"We're going to get the Avatar's attention," Aaron said as he tossed his weird contraption to Mark. "I want you to hold this up with your Earth bending as high as you can manage. And keep it straight."

Marki eyed the bag, slightly confused, before it dawned on him. "You–You're going to be launching yourself off using the weird salt plank, aren't you?"

Aaron nodded. "Now, how far up do you think you can hold it?'"

"Not that I doubt your air-bending skills," Mark started, measuring the distance himself. "But reaching the Bisen from here is impossible."

"You got a better idea?" Aaron asked. The manoeuvre was certainly not Aaron's best idea, but they were short on time. Mark offered no response, which drew a small smile from Aaron's lips.

"Have you seen your master fail yet?"

The worry never left Mark's face, but he got into his basic stance and raised the bag of salt, angling it in the direction of the Bisen, and Aaron took that as an answer.

Drawing in a deep breath, Aaron pulled Chi from the well within him, mixing it with everything that flowed around him until he felt his senses vibrate.

Empowered by Chi-breathing, Aaron leapt off the platform with a single step, and a second brought him onto the plank Igi held mid-air. With all of the power and air he'd gathered, he shot off.

The ground fell away as Aaron rocketed up, and the elusive Bisen grew closer and closer, but he could feel himself slowly bleeding speed even after pulling deeper into his chi well to part the air currents as he rose.

At the very height of his rise, Aaron gathered every ounce of chi and strength and shot a focused Air blast. It ripped through the sky and hit the underside of the Bisen that was still a fair distance away from him, shaking the beast.

If he had the energy, Aaron would've smiled. The entire manoeuvre had been a gamble.

Before he had the chance to celebrate further, Aaron's entire body seized up, and once again, he was struck by a bone-deep fatigue that made even thinking a chore.

Aaron's eyes grew heavy, and just before they closed shut, he saw a bald monk covered in tattoos stir and look his way with no small surprise.

He was about Igi's age, and Aaron felt an unfathomable joy and pride swell up within him.

He'd found him, despite the odds and delays, after waiting for so long.

Aaron drifted out of consciousness as the shadow of the beast twisted and banked.

They were coming for him. He only hoped they caught him before he hit the water.

-----

Late Wednesday chappy

I did some writing today. Over 3000 words, which is crazy volume for me. Of course, I'll have to edit it, but it's great progress.

I'll be launching a Ko-fi on Saturday, with 10 advanced chapters if you want to read ahead and support an author.

I am also an artist, and in the coming weeks, I'll be adding art to all platforms to give each new chapter more life.

Comment down below which character you want me to illustrate first.

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