3 Chapter 3: Hard Work, Mockery, Talent - 93 AG

[Six Months Later]

Early in the morning, Sozim found himself standing at the edge of the dock, drenched in sweat. All night, he had dedicated himself to mastering the martial arts taught by the enigmatic twin hags—martial arts encompassing the firebender techniques and those tailored for close combat. For half a year, Sozim had been consumed by his fascination with martial arts in this world. To him, it bore a striking resemblance to the martial arts he had witnessed in his previous life. Although his bending abilities had shown no improvement, he found solace in the relentless practice, momentarily forgetting that he inhabited the body of a nine-year-old boy. It was a sense of freedom he had never known before. The monotony of a nine-to-five job felt like a prison, but engaging in these martial exercises, sweat pouring from his body, was liberating in a way he couldn't explain.

In addition to martial arts, the sisters had entrusted him with scrolls on the subject of chi—the intricate pathways and energy flow within a human body. Lo and Li rarely observed his training, but when they did, they swiftly pointed out his errors, and he diligently rectified them. One thing that perplexed Sozim, however, was the sisters' unwarranted hospitality. He was essentially a stranger, yet they provided him with care and knowledge beyond his understanding. He couldn't discern their true intentions, but given their generosity, he had decided to maintain the status quo of a "servant" and martial arts pupil, choosing to patiently heed their guidance.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps on the dock's planks disrupted Sozim's thoughts, prompting him to turn around. There stood the twin sisters, their luggage by their side.

"You're leaving already this month?" Sozim inquired, his breath labored.

"Prince Ozai and his family plan to take an extended vacation on Ember Island," Lo explained. "We won't return until next year, accompanying them."

"Prince Ozai?" Sozim raised an eyebrow.

"The second prince of the Royal Family, Sozim," Li reminded him.

"Yes, I know who he is. You've drilled me on the Fire Nation hierarchy," Sozim murmured. "But why such a lengthy vacation here?"

"It's not our place, nor yours, to question him. But politics in the capital can be... detrimental to family relations," Lo replied. "Take care, Sozim. The money for food is in the chest. If you misuse it and run out, you'll be hunting turtle crabs for dinner, as we won't send another pouch."

"I understand," Sozim nodded awkwardly. "Could you perhaps give me another scroll to study?"

The sisters fell silent for a moment, contemplating his request, before sighing simultaneously. "We admit, you possess considerable talent in martial arts, Sozim. But you are sometimes too impatient," Lo remarked.

"The path of martial arts is slow and challenging," Li continued. "You must be patient. You haven't even practiced the art for a year yet."

"But..." Sozim was about to say something interrupted as Lo retrieved a scroll from her sleeve and handed it to him. "What's this?"

Sozim took the scroll and unrolled it. It revealed a depiction of the chi pathways within a human body. "Chi in a human's body? You've already given me this."

"Before we return, we want you to create an accurate representation of those chi pathways in a human statue," Li explained. "Use wood, stone, or any suitable material, but it must be finished before our arrival."

"For what purpose?" Sozim inquired.

"It's for your next phase of training," Lo stated. "Don't ask further questions; focus on completing it."

Sozim hummed in agreement. "Yes, Aunties."

"Behave, Sozim. Don't cause any trouble," Li advised.

"I'll do my best."

With that, a Fire Nation boat approached the dock, and Sozim helped the twin sisters with their luggage before bidding them farewell as the boat sailed away.

—

Lying on his makeshift bed inside a small room in the shack, Sozim glanced toward the small window, noticing the full moon shining brightly overhead. He rose from his bed, walked outside, leaped off the porch, and made his way to the dock. Over the past six months, these two places—the shack and the dock—had become his primary haunts, with little reason to venture beyond the twin sisters' territory.

Standing at the dock's edge, he absorbed the moonlight, though it failed to evoke any significant emotions within him. He took a deep breath and began a slow, fluid dance, mimicking the water that surrounded him. While his movements still resembled those of a barely beginner waterbender, he concentrated intently, attempting to control the waves.

After numerous attempts at mimicking a waterbender's movements that he never even sees, nothing happened. There was no connection, no spark, as there had been before. Sozim sighed deeply, realizing that despite his monthly efforts since washing ashore here, nothing had changed. Perhaps it was time to accept that he was a non-bender after all.

Suddenly, a shout from the nearby resort, which had become all too familiar over the past six months, pierced the night air. "Ha!" came the taunting voice. "Look at this, the servant of the two grannies has given up on becoming a firebender and is now trying to bend water!"

Sozim turned his attention to the source of the voice, where a boy of roughly the same age as him leaned against the resort fence. This boy had tormented him for months, hurling insults about being a "filthy peasant" and a "pathetic boy who couldn't even firebend." The twin sisters were renowned in this area as tutors to the princess, but news that they were training an outsider had piqued curiosity. Those who looked at Sozim had found disappointment.

"Go away," Sozim said quietly, not even knowing the boy's name. He tried to ignore the boy and resumed his martial arts practice, this time focusing on firebending techniques.

"Give it up, peasant!" the boy continued to jeer, his voice dripping with disdain. "You can't bend. What's the point of practicing over and over again? It's pathetic."

Sozim persevered with his martial arts, struggling to tune out the boy's taunts.

"Oh, playing hard to get now?" the boy sneered. "If my father hears about you, a mere peasant, ignoring me, he'll be furious."

Sozim continued to ignore him, but deep down, he was seething.

The boy's frown deepened. "Hey! Are you deaf?"

Sozim ignored him once again.

"He—"

"SHUT UP!" Sozim snapped at the boy, his hand seeming to reach out towards him.

And then it happened—Sozim watched in shock as the boy, whom he had desperately tried to silence, began to float in the air, seemingly choking.

He could feel it—something coursing through the boy's veins, a crimson liquid that flowed through nearly every living being, blood. Sozim could sense the blood. He could bend blood. His hand tingled with the sensation of the boy's blood, and although faint, he could feel it circulating through the boy's veins, and his unintentional bending obstructing the flow of oxygen to his brain.

"W-What..." Sozim was stunned, but he didn't release his grip on the boy. Instead, his bloodbending power intensified automatically, using the blood to cut off the boy's air supply. He watched as the boy's face turned an alarming shade of blue, tears streaming down his cheeks.

He wanted to stop, but he had witnessed himself bloodbending. He couldn't let the boy live.

He couldn't.

"What am I thinking?" Sozim muttered to himself, his face pale, beads of cold sweat forming. But his hand remained steady, seemingly relishing every second of it. It was a point of no return; the boy was now unconscious, suspended in the air. If Sozim didn't release his hold within the next few seconds, the boy would die.

But he didn't want him to live.

Clenching his other fist, Sozim's face contorted with a tumultuous mix of confusion, disgust, and rage.

Instead of releasing the boy, he bloodbent him closer, placing the now lifeless body on the dock.

As he gazed at the boy's lifeless, blue face, Sozim swallowed hard. "What have I just done..."

—

Next morning, with bagged eyes, he heard a knock from the door of the shack. Slowly, he opened it, and he saw a guard standing on the porch.

"Can I help you?" Sozim said calmly.

"I need a couple of questions that you need to answer." the guard said sternly. "This is Master Lo's and Master Li's residence, correct?"

"Yes." Sozim hummed.

"And who are you?"

"I'm their servant." Sozim answered. "Part-time apprentice too, I guess."

"I see." the guard nodded. "Where were you last night?"

"Here." Sozim answered. "Why? Something happened?"

"A boy was missing. Next door." the guard continued. "Do you know anything about it?"

Sozim shook his head. "I was training outside last night, but I didn't hear anything."

The guard raised his brow. "Nothing? At all? Not even a boy coming out of the resort next door?"

"No."

"Well, if you happened to see the boy around here, you should report it to the nearest guard immediately, so we can close the case, and tell the parents," said the guard. "Then, excuse me."

As the guard went away from the shack, Sozim closed the door, taking a deep breath. Thankfully, it seems they thought that the boy simply went away from the resort, to explore or something.

But for now, Sozim couldn't calm himself, and he changed his clothes, intending to travel outside the twin sister's land.

—

Entering a hidden cave opening at the edge of the island, Sozim walked inside it, standing on wet sand, and as he delved deeper, the light became more and more thin.

He delved deeper and deeper, and finally, he arrived at a specific spot that he found last night as he scrambled for a place to hide. There, the body of the boy laid on the ground, starting to decompose. He couldn't bear the sight, he never actively killed people before, now he has done it, he killed one, a boy no less. He has a badmouth, but… 

He then moved his arms and directed it towards the body. He took a stance that he learned from firebending, and his arms moved as if he was about to generate lightning, with a mix of the waterbending movement that he remembered.

After focusing slightly, from the pores, blood started to seep out of the corpse, Sozim himself struggling to extract the blood from the body. Doing this, he was already sweating like a pig, breathing heavily.

Beforelong, he released his bending, and the blood dropped to the sand.

"God damnit…" Sozim murmured. "What is this? I can Bloodbend, but I can't Waterbend? How is that even possible?"

He… didn't know how to think of this. On one hand, he was happy that he is actually a bender, he could bloodbend no less, one of the strongest. But… on the other hand, Bloodbending is… tricky. He remembered that Bloodbending could actually corrupt the user's mental state. He didn't want to be like Hama, he didn't want to be like the others, and yet, he could only use Bloodbending. He already had felt first hand how corrupting it is, like how he can't stop himself from bending the boy, like how hard it is to release it.

And how does he practice it? This boy's body? As disgusting as it is, it's going to rot, and blood stored is going to rot too.

"What the hell is going on with my life…" He murmured, looking at the dead body, now covered in his own rotting blood.

Deciding to rid the thought for now, he quickly dug a shallow grave in the sand, intending to bury it, and leave no traces at all.