48: Dream.

The lion-shaped spirit was quite cautious as he approached the Southern Water Tribe, even though it was night, he did not use his eyes to perceive certain people.

This was quite helpful, especially since he could sense some rather threatening presence, especially one that had a strong 'light' that naturally held him back. 

'That would be the Avatar, right?' the spirit thought as he compared the natures of this luminous presence, which was essentially the same as the dark force that empowered him, only with an opposite nature. 

'Raava fell pretty low by merging with a human,' the Spirit was a rather 'young' one compared to Raava and Vaatu, but that didn't take away from the fact that he felt Raava's actions were something he didn't agree with. 

But just as he could sense these presences as dangerous to him, the dark energy that empowered him allowed him to sense a rather powerful negative atmosphere that was pulling at his attention. 

So he slowly approached the tent where the human was resting. As he passed through it, he could better sense the human that had drawn him here.

The human was asleep, with a small metal brazier providing the necessary heat to survive the cold environment of the South Pole without suffering too much. But that didn't matter to the Spirit Lion, it was the dark atmosphere around him.

'It is on the verge of condensation, if it waited any longer, it might be noticed by those spiritually sensitive humans. What emotions could cause such darkness in this human?' For the first time, the Lion paid some attention to a human, genuinely intrigued by this event. 

'Let's see what you dream,' as a spiritual being, how could he not see people's dreams? So many stories of revelations in dreams came from somewhere! Many spirits often interact with humans in their dreams, so it was easy for the lion. 

Sure, he wasn't a spirit who had a talent for dreaming like some spirits in the spirit world or like that legendary creature that frightened all spirits, but no matter, he just wanted to see what this man was dreaming. 

The lion approached Zhao and lightly touched his forehead with one of its claws. Then a series of small white clouds emerged from Zhao's head, the last of which grew large enough.

The cloud flickered for a moment before the inside began to change, showing vivid images of some events, but not only that, it was also accompanied by sounds. 

"Why are you doing this, Zhao, you're just ruining what Shisui has accomplished!" a somewhat blurry female figure said.

The whole scene showed a tree covered in flames, gradually being consumed by the flames until it became charcoal and then ashes. The man's laughter could be heard over the exclamations of a few people of no particular appearance. 

"I'm doing this because I will lead the Fire Nation to glory and destroy our enemies," Zhao's laughter stopped, and it was obvious that the images showed his point of view.

The images showed Zhao's exaggerated movements, the distorted and low-detailed scenery of the dream only emphasizing the dreamlike strangeness of the situation. 

"Not only that, no Waterbender should have more fame than me, Zhao, the Admiral, no, if I've accomplished so much, couldn't I be something else, HAHAHAHA! I'll have all of Shisui, all the glory he'll just spoil with his childish and stupid actions" It was obvious that Zhao's dreams had little logic, as his speech soon became more and more strange and confusing. 

Even the burning tree suddenly became a statue made of gold, the blurred figures lost even more detail, and only Zhao was left, admiring a stage filled with his 'achievements'. 

But soon all this began to unravel as if something was shattering the whole dream. Soon, only Zhao was left in a dark void, where only he stood beside a flame. 

"But do you have something?" asked Zhao, his tone unusually sad.

"Why should I follow Shisui's actions? I already have accomplishments that many will not be able to achieve, so why do you want more? Even in the clarity of my dreams, I can see the falseness of it all...

But I cannot ignore this anger! This pain... it's so suffocating, I shouldn't be angry with him, I shouldn't be upset with him, in fact he's a cultured person who would deserve my respect at another time. 

But I have already come to my own conclusion, my own plans, my own ideas," the darkness that covered Zhao lifted, and in front of him was a pond with two strange fish.

He didn't know what they looked like except for a few descriptions, but the lion could make out the characteristic patterns. 

'Tu and La?' the Spirit Lion wondered, realizing that Zhao was using his dreams to represent the Spirits of the Moon and the Ocean. 

"I have been through this before, every day since I met him, all debating the same questions, gnawing at me, coming to the same conclusions, and worrying me.

But as always... I come to the same conclusion," Zhao's hands emitted golden flames that soon fell into the pond, killing the two fish as he burst out laughing. 

'This human is crazy, thought the Lion Spirit, even though he, a dark spirit, felt that Zhao's mind trip was too much for him, but this was the person Vaatu wanted. 

So he pulled his claw away from Zhao's forehead, the dreamlike clouds disappeared, then some of his dark energy fell into the man's chest and disappeared inside him. 

'This will not only hide the corruption that will gradually grow within you, it will also allow me to locate you. It will also build a bridge so that Vaatu can communicate with you when the time is right when you have truly caught his attention, human.

I have put a lot of energy into this, but I feel it will be worth it. I hope you do something as interesting as you dreamed of and bring chaos to this world, Admiral Zhao,' the Spirit Lion mused before leaving the tent. 

Minutes later, Zhao woke up abruptly, his body sweating and his hands shaking, but he gradually calmed down. Although he felt strange in this unfamiliar environment, he didn't think much about it. 

"I have to stop thinking about it," Zhao muttered, realizing that he had gotten carried away in his dream again. 

He remembered what had happened that day, including all the questions that Shisui had answered without any hesitation, even helping him to go further in his particular ideas regarding firebending. 

A subtle smile appeared on his face before he put his hands to his hair and tugged at it. He felt deeply desperate, even though he had a path to follow, but in that moment, he felt a deep calm, unlike the times when he inevitably came to the same conclusion with his repetitive thoughts. 

No, this calm was unusual and profound, as if all the nagging, intrusive thoughts had been cleared away. For the first time in a long time, he felt true peace. So Zhao just lay down again, this time feeling like he could enjoy dreaming.

...

"Did you feel a spirit near you?" Shisui asked quietly, looking at Musu in his arms. 

The obviously overweight orange cat touched Shisui's arm in a special pattern, communicating his own answer, causing Shisui to resume his journey, running through the tribe, avoiding surveillance. 

"You say he is an acquaintance? And that you sensed him leaving the tribe as if his camouflage was loosened. Maybe he did something here and we don't know about it," Shisui deduced from Musu's answer to his previous question. 

"Meow~" Musu simply meowed without giving Shisui a clear answer.

To be honest, the action of the spirit lion, a former companion of his, seemed more like an invitation than anything else, as if he was expecting him to come after him, but was he an idiot? Musu wasn't!

Raava might know the purpose of this former companion of his, but Musu did not trust dark spirits, and although he was one, he was no longer one, was he? Besides, mixing with Shisui allowed him to see many things that he could never see, know, or experience as a spirit being.

Musu could see that he was an intelligent spirit! So he awakened Shisui and drew him into his journey, because if the lion-shaped spirit went wild, his friend, the Sage and Enlightened one, could help him. 

Under Musu's guidance, Shisui moved farther and farther away from the Southern Water Tribe until he reached a place with several mountain peaks in the distance. Here, he could feel the deep spiritual darkness, and soon, a being approached him step by step. 

"Traitor! You brought a human to our meeting! Why are you so fat? Why didn't you come back!? And what kind of name is Musu!?" Unlike Musu, who could not speak in the earthly world, this spirit could. 

"Meow!" mewed Musu, and as if expressing many things in a single sound, an insulted face appeared on the spirit lion's face.

"You're the idiot!" the Spirit Lion shouted, and then a roar came from its mouth. 

Its body, covered in dark energy, seemed to ignite with purple flames. The high temperature caused the snow and ice around it to immediately vaporize, letting Shisui know that this spirit's flames were indeed powerful. 

"Musu, why can't you do that in the earthly world?" Shisui asked some questions, knowing that if Musu were a human, he would be an Earthbender. 

"Meow," the cat meowed before jumping off Shisui's body and moving far enough away before sitting down and then, as if feeling dirty, starting to lick his paws and wipe them across his face. 

"We'll talk about this," Shisui said, not understanding the Spirit Cat's meow, and seeing that it just left him with a problem as an angry dark spirit, Shisui just turned his attention back to the lion that was running towards him. 

Shisui quickly began waterbending, not only making the super-compressed water droplets float behind him but also creating a wall of ice that he pushed toward the lion; a move inspired by the many Earthbenders he had fought in Ba Sing Se. 

But instead of slowing down or changing direction, the lion picked up speed, his body covered in flames like a meteorite, allowing him to hit the wall of ice head-on. 

Ignoring the ice spikes that Shisui made appear on the wall, the spirit's large body slammed into the ice wall, smashing through it in a display of its power. Unlike the dark spirits Shisui had encountered, which were mostly wild, this one knew how to use its power very well. 

He used his own corrupted energy to protect his body, avoiding the damage from the spikes, increasing not only his defense, but also his speed and impact, and even his colored flames seemed to be very different from normal fire, so he easily passed through Shisui's attack without taking any damage. 

A smile of excitement appeared on Shisui's face, for he had long wanted to find an intelligent spirit to fight with, and this one came to him at just the right time.

With a crescent moon illuminating the night, Shisui decided to fight more seriously. In his hand, he held a spear made of ice, which he used to stab at the lion, which attacked him with one of its huge, flaming claws. 

Both attacks collided, and Shisui was forced to retreat several steps to release the power that pierced his body, while the Lion's Claw was visibly scratched, even the spirit itself did not expect this result. 

"Introducing the concept of purification into my attack seems to be of some use. Tell me, do spirits bleed?" Shisui asked as he waved his spear, the tip of which glowed with a strong golden hue of ice. 

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AN: I tend to overthink too much, it's not good, sometimes I come to a conclusion, but my train of thought repeats itself over and over again until it bothers me, even giving me nightmares, lol. Talking about nightmares, usually I have a lot of them, but the recent months... are quiet c: