Avatar: Two Brothers
Chapter 29
Calm Before The Storm
After discovering that the mysterious intruder was none other than Fire Lord Risensa, the four benders began training under her guidance. For weeks, they put their bodies through many difficult exercises, to build up their speed, flexibility, and endurance.
After training for five weeks straight, Fire Lord Risensa decided to give them the day off to rest. Isabelle chose to spend time with Risensa as they took care of the avatar together. Dilraj elected to keep watch at their borders. Da-Wei sat alone along the shore, staring into the open sea but he would not be by himself for long as Chloe made her way towards him.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Oh hey Chloe, sorry I just need space to think on a few things.”
“Really? Master Risensa gave us the day off and you are going to use it to think?”
“Of course you wouldn’t understand. You just rush in head first all the time.”
“Hey I don't do that everytime. Sometimes I lead with my fist and other times I give them a full roundhouse!”
Da-Wei didn’t say anything, all he did was return a blank stare to Chloe.
“I know you are absolutely stunned by my awesomeness! Haha!” After boasting, Chloe joined Da-Wei as they both sat at the shore, staring into the open ocean.
“Hey I have something to ask you but can you answer honestly?” Da-Wei asked.
“Whoa this sounds serious, but alright, shoot.”
“When you were poisoned, were you scared that you might not make it?”
“Scared? HA! I don’t know the meaning of such a word!”
“You also don’t know the meaning of many other words.” After he said that, Chloe bashed him on the head. “Ow cmon, it was just a joke!” He yelled but as he looked back at Chloe, her joking demeanor had changed.
“But I am worried. Worried about Master Ruthar, our families, and everyone else caught up in the war.”
“War comes at a heavy cost. It has taken something away from everyone.”
There was a moment of silence before Chloe spoke up. “On the bright side, I’m glad we managed to stay together.” Da-Wei returned a smile back to Chloe. As they were still in conversation, Da-Wei noticed Dilraj watching the waters very intently all by himself.
“Hey, do you mind speaking with him for a bit?”
“Huh what? Why me?!”
“Well he did save you from the poison and I don’t think you properly thanked him yet.”
“Umm yeah, you see..” She tried to find an excuse but Da-Wei wouldn’t buy it.
“Please Chloe, between the four of us, he has lost the most because of the war.”
Knowing nothing she could say would stop Da-Wei from making her feel guilty, she slowly made her way towards the water bender.
When Chloe arrived near Dilraj, he was careful watching the borders for intruders. She was anxious about initiating the conversation as she wasn’t sure how he would react. But she knew if she just kept standing there, things would have only gotten more awkward.
“Dilraj, my man!”
He turned around and gave Chloe a blank stare as he was weirded out by what she said. “Uh, hi. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Ugh why am I so bad at this!” She said to herself. “Listen Dilraj, I know we got off on the wrong foot and I just wanted to say…” She took a big breath before saying the words, “Thank you. For curing me from the poison.”
Dilraj was thrown off by what she said as he was not expecting it. “You are welcome.” Was all he could muster before he walked away and continued his watch duty.
At the moment, Chloe felt a hint of anger from his response but she reminded herself about what Da-Wei said: “Between the four of us, he has lost the most because of the war.” So she followed him a bit further.
“Hey, you don’t have to work so hard all the time. If you want you can always hang out with me and Da-Wei!”
“Thank you. I appreciate the offer but…?”
Chloe stayed standing near Dilraj, ready to listen attentively. He began to share about Chieftain’s Nacnud’s last words to him: Dilraj you are the hope of the water tribe. “I failed to protect the chieftain and I abandoned my tribe when they needed me most. Ha, some ‘hope’ I’m turning out to be.”
Out of nowhere, Chloe punched Dilraj in the face. “You have got to stop thinking like that! Your chieftain said those words because he believes in you. Right now, things might look bad but there is still hope that we can make things better. So don’t go putting yourself down like that. It's an insult to your chieftain!”
Dilraj was dumbfounded and he burst out laughing. “You are right, I don't know what I was thinking.” His tone and demeanor began to change. “You know, for someone who claims she is low on vocabulary, you have quite a way with words.”
“Well, I might not know a lot of words but the few I know can pack a punch!”
The two exchanged a fist bump as they began to understand one another. “Anyways, I will leave you to your guard duty. Don’t want to be disturbing you any longer.” As Chloe turned around to start heading back to Da-Wei, Dilraj interrupted.
“Hey wait. I think I will take you up on your offer. That is, if the offer still stands.” Chloe nodded and Dilraj was about to make his way towards them. However, just as he was about to leave, he caught a scent in the air that was heavy and dense. It was the smell of burning coal and smoke. He turned to gaze out into the open sea. A fleet of warships were heading their way, led by General Gursehaj.