The water Spirit - E

Michael made his way through the already hated jungle for a week and a half. He knew that before the Avatar arrived at the North Pole, he had about two months, so Michael decided to hurry. His wounds hurt less every day, but given that his condition required bed rest, he was still unwell.

Passing through the forest, sleeping under the starry sky and eating berries, veggies and literly almost nothing else, Michael was able to get to the edge of the forest and come out to-

"ДА БЛЯТЬ!" ("FUCK'S SAKE!") "It's a fucking sea! Why is it the sea?!"

Michael stepped out to face the sandy seashore. There was not even a hint of the existence of people on the sand, so the landscape was truly virgin. The waves gently caressed the shore, as if calming the Earth itself from the fury of universal proportions.

But even despite all this beauty, Michael was furious. He couldn't use Waterbending in the Spirit World and couldn't swim with a broken arm. He could build himself a raft in time, but that would be too slow. He took a deep breath, knowing that his anger wouldn't lead him anywhere, Michael decided to take a break.

First of all, he threw his bag and staff on the ground - the latter was half in the sand from the force of the throw - and went to the sea. He dipped his finger into the cold water and tasted it, to his surprise, the water was fresh. Deciding not to look the gift horse in the mouth, Michael filled his leather bag with water and hung it on his belt. His iron flask might be lost forever, but that didn't mean he didn't have a replacement.

He took off his clothes with difficulty - more like peeled them off, he couldn't wash properly in the forest all this time - and washed them in the sea as best he could. It was quite difficult to do, considering that he only had one working arm.

He hung his clothes to dry on a branch of a tree and, remaining completely naked, plunged into the sea himself. The cold water lashed his body, but he got used to the sensation pretty quickly. Dirt and dried blood gradually left his skin and dissolved into the water, leaving only a clean teenager in the sea. His hair lay gently on the water, surrounding his head like a black halo.

Ever so slowly, Michael was finally able to relax. There were no hidden knives on his body - apart from the smallest one that he hid in his hair - there was no blood on him and no one was following him.

"Haa~ I didn't even know I needed it. The beach, the sea, and the weird-ass humanoid octopus..."

Michael continued drifting in the water for a couple more minutes, completely ignoring his mind's cries about the fucking octopus. He felt the octopus lay on the surface of the water next to him, but simply refused to acknowledge the existence of this Spirit.

"You shouldn't be here."

An unfamiliar voice sounded not far from his head. Michael was ready to cry, he was tired of meeting the Spirits and just wanted to rest, but apparently the universe was against it.

'Great, the Spirit has spoken, now I can't ignore it.'

Michael forced his body to relax and sighed heavily.

"So I've been told. I'm trying to fix this."

From his side came a wet splash, sounding suspiciously like a laugh.

"No, I'm not talking about the fact that the world is screaming at me to get rid of you. It's just that you shouldn't be here. The Spirit World is accessible to few, for those who wholeheartedly strive for unity with nature. You're not striving, that I can tell."

Michael frowned. He never wondered if he could get into the Spirit world, he knew that this world exists, which means he can get there. That he needed to have a certain mindset never even crossed his thoughts. He made a mental note not to make such stupid mistakes again, but he knew full well that it was impossible.

The teenager opened his eyes and looked at the humanoid octopus. The Spirit's head was a strange mix between Davy Jones from "Pirates of the Caribean" and Cthulhu, with his grey-green body it looked quite exotic. Instead of hands and fingers, the Spirit had long and thin tentacles tied into the shape of a hand. Legs... Michael couldn't see the Spirit's legs, but he suspected that there were also tentacles there.

"And I don't?"

The octopus smiled and shook his head, which looked strange while lying on the water.

"You strive for something else, rarely stopping to even see nature. Yes, you enjoy the landscapes, you cry for the destroyed lands, but you do not see nature."

He blinked. How did that Spirit know so much about him?

"Huh. I guess you're right."

Michael knew what he was aiming for. He just wanted to get home, find a place where he wouldn't have to look over his shoulder every minute for fear of attack, where the world isn't trying to kill him. He just didn't have time to SEE nature.

"Hey, why are you resisting the urge to get rid of me?" He suddenly asked.

"And why shouldn't I? You will leave sooner or later, just like the morning surf. I chose the path of least resistance, the one where you leave of your own accord."

"The path of least resistance... But it's electricity, not water..."

Michael fell into thought and did not notice how the Spirit dissolved under the water. His thoughts were all over the place, but each of his brain cells was thinking about Iroh's Lightning redirection technique.

Lightning redirection is a sub-skill of Firebending that allows Firebenders to absorb lightning into their body as energy and release it in a more desirable direction. The technique was developed by Iroh after he studied master Waterbenders, who redirect an opponent's energy rather than oppose it head-on. Lightning redirection works well for both natural and Bender-generated lightning, and electricity conducted through metal.

Knowing this, he began to think about traditional Bender techniques. He was neglecting these techniques, as they were too slow and useless for him. He took only the best and left everything unnecessary, as he was taught from his birth.

Iroh did the same. He took only the best and created a new technique, but he stopped after one. Michael almost did the same. The Razenshuriken was stolen, collecting water from the atmosphere was inspired by other similar techniques. But Michael did not create anything of his own, not really.

The words of the Spirit gave him an unexpected push. A push to the creative path.

This sudden inspiration hit him like a truck. He was ready to jump on his feet and explore the possibilities of Bending, but he immediately ran into a problem.

He couldn't use Bending in the Spirit World.

"... That inspiring Octo-bitch."

---

Michael was lying on a makeshift hammock he had made from a blanket and rope. He looked at the setting sun with some irritation on his face. His thoughts were full of ideas and he couldn't bring them to life. But this situation prompted him to another thought.

"Why humans can't use Bending in the Spirit World?"

When a person enters the Spirit World through meditation, they lose their ability to Bend elements. The problem was that Michael entered the Spirit World through a portal, so he must still have access to his Chi. The World of Spirits is tangible and consists of the same elements as the world of people, so those who entered through the portal can still use Bending.

For Michael, his situation made no sense. He raised his hand in front of him and tried to collect water from the atmosphere to no avail. Humming to himself, Michael thought deeply back to the basics.

His use of water was based on the idea that it was just a tool. Yes, water has a temper, but Michael knows how to work with complex tools. He didn't try to force the water to flow, he only directed the flow of water. That thought made him pause, could that be the problem?

Michael got up from the hammock and went to the sea. His feet sank into the cooling sand, but he didn't get distracted by such mundane things. He stopped when he felt the water touch his feet, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Moist air filled his lungs and he smiled. His arms hung lifeless at his sides, but he didn't need to move to control the water anyway.

He did not direct the water or forced the water to move. He was in the world of Spirits, a place where mythical creatures live. So he just invited the water in to him, invited it to climb up his body as if it was a living being.

He wasn't surprised when the water started to rise on his legs and slowly covered his body like a second layer of skin. Michael wasn't sure exactly how he could breathe through the layer of water, but he decided not to think about it right now. He felt the water drip through the sling on his left arm and release the pressure from his body.

Even though his closed eyes, he could see the light that covered his wounds. Slowly but surely, he felt the pain leave his body, leaving only bliss. Opening his eyes, Michael barely managed not to fall into the sea from pure shock.

The water did not cover his skin.

His skin became water.