Kapitel 11: Chapter 11 - Spirit
"Ah!" Haji woke up to feel a searing pain in his arms, blood sipping out relentlessly at the wound, painting his left arm red, the wound seemed to be caused by the collision with the wooden debris of their boat when a huge wave toppled them over. He then looked around and saw no flora nor fauna around him, the ground looked lifeless with steam coming out from cracks, but there was no time to worry about the place he's currently in right now, treating the wound first was the top foremost priority he needed to do.
His soaked tattered clothes, even when wrapped multiple times will not be able to prevent the loss of blood from the severe wound he had sustained. It was a long narrow cut stemming from his left shoulder until the arms, lucky enough that the wound wasn't too deep that the bones would be visible. His face paled every second passed, and the pain ate his sanity away bit by bit, a method came unto his mind at the moment of sudden clarity. He used his last bit of chi to light a small flame on his fingertips, and with his will to live, burned the long wound with the fire. With clenched teeth and teary eyes, Haji managed to cauterize the wound but his consciousness faded after enduring the immense pain that came along with it.
Where am I? Why can't I feel the pain from the wound earlier, Haji thought. Land consisting of large, towering trees, with bright flowers all around. There were animals, with an appearance that were foreign to Haji, moving in packs, from the large ones whom Haji assumed as the parents to the little ones. The serene sound of flowing water entered his ears, attracting his body to move on its own towards the source. Haji, in shock, wanted to exclaim but no words came out of his mouth, and his face unchanging. He was awake, but not in control, an uncomfortable feeling seeping into his soul. Haji observed as his body walked to a road, made of cobble to be exact, it looked mismatched with the natural look of the area, disrupting the old feeling the place exhibits.
After reaching the end of the forest, he was welcomed by a valley in between two mountains, and the long cobble road continues upward to the left mountain. The valley, however, was empty unlike the flower-filled forest, only the sea of grass was in sight. With only his eyes that could be moved, he observed the valley with no restraints, even if it was empty, staring at the picturesque mountains and the tall swaying grass seemed to exclude a mood that he could appreciate. If only there was such a place like this in the nation, he thought. An amusing thing too was how the breeze when passing through his ears, seem to whisper "A newcomer!" and some barely audible words.
"A human? It's been a long time…" Suddenly, an old, weary voice came in front of him when he reached the middle of the road. His eyes saw none in his path, but the voice grew clearer. "I see, you were pulled into this side by her, huh. That little girl finally grew interested in a human."
This unexpected encounter shook Haji's soul, his body stopped in front of nothing, he was like a puppet with the string pulled by that voice. After a few seconds, the voice spoke once more. "Forgive me, I forgot a human cannot see me in this form." Then the ground moved and formed into a golem, its head was circular and the body, large like a bear. It stared at Haji with its lifeless eyes and spoke. "Your soul... Let this old man help you, in return please tell me what the outside world is like now." The golem extended its long thick arms, and it pointed its finger on Haji's forehead.
A yellow-colored, string-like substance appeared on its finger, it entered through his forehead, and he could feel a warm sensation, slowly, that feeling seeped throughout his body. With that, Haji regained control over his own body. "Thank you…" He spoke, his tone slightly disheveled from accustoming himself to his body.
"No need for gratitude, it is my duty to fix the disturbances brought upon by my kin. Still, I will not prevent you from meeting the little girl."
Confused, Haji said. "What are you?"
"For the humans to even forget about our existence... I wonder how long I've slept," Said the golem, its face warped into one in thought. "I'm a spirit, and this world is where we reside that no living could enter," It said.
"Then why am I he—"
"— A spirit, one who is supreme, could bring forth a person into this world without restriction. This, however, rarely happens, strange isn't it? For a human to attract the interest of a strong spirit," The golem interrupted.
"Who are you referring to?" Haji asked.
"I shall speak no more words. You still owe me a story about the current era, hence, you shall repay your debt after your meeting with her," The golem moved on to the side of the road, and sat unmoving on the ground, the light in its eyes disappeared. "Continue on the road, and at the end, you shall meet the one who brought you here." It spoke before Haji felt its presence inside the golem vanished.
"What the hell is really going on..." Haji sighed as he continued along the path, this encounter has been too bizarre and the world he was in felt too surreal. He looked at his left arm and saw no wound nor blood on it, even a scar was nowhere in sight. "Either that golem was speaking the truth or I'm experiencing near-death hallucinations." Haji pondered. There were no more encounters with anything weird after the golem, hence the way to the mountain was peaceful, except for the still childish voices along with the breeze.
The road on the mountain could be described as rough since it has changed from the start of the mountain and turned into one made of dirt, and there were small and large rocks scattered everywhere, to which poked his feet from time to time whenever he missteps on them, making it annoying to traverse. Different from the valley, the wind seems to have weakened and the voices disappeared thoroughly in the mountain. Trees with thick trunks but small in height compared to the ones earlier, surrounded the road, its leaves, strangely painted with the color, blue. Haji, though have already walked far, could not even feel a tinge of fatigue. He found it weird but did not think much of it since the experience so far had been strange, thereby he deemed going with the flow as the best course of action.
Meanwhile, Bujing stood at a ten-meter defensive wall surrounding a military base at the center of Umji island, the designated destination of their travel. He watched as ten frigates on the horizon depart from a harbor.
Umji Island, an island that is also called the first frontier during the early years of the war against the earth kingdom. It spans around 1520 to 1580 acres, while the military base at the center occupied 260 acres, it is considered to be one of the fortified bases in the whole nation due to having twenty ballistae on each side of the wall, and guard towers where a small, elite group of firebenders resides, alongside the group was a garrison of war veterans that numbered three hundred.
Outside the base, a lush bamboo forest encompassed its surroundings, looking very tranquil in contrast to the dark, intimidating walls. There are four roads that intersect at the middle of the base that each connects to small bases in all directions around the island, one of them is the harbor that resides at the easternmost part of the island. The harbor acts as the docking area of reserved cruisers, ready to be deployed anytime, therefore due to its importance, it is surrounded by a four-meter wall with a tower gate at the center, with a strong unit of firebenders manning the walls. The navy, although of a different branch, could still be under the authority of a high general, especially Bujing who held most of the power in the island. The frigates that departed from the harbor were under his orders to conduct a rescue mission of his grandson, tasking them to recover him, dead or alive. "Do not come back here until you've brought him back." He sternly ordered the commander of the operation during their meeting.
"I'm sorry, my lord. I should not have placed him in that lifeboat," Zhen walked over behind Bujing, he had a sullen expression, blaming himself for the tragedy that occurred.
"That is under my orders, Zhen." Bujing coldly said, his expression hardly changing. "No one is to blame, and you being downcast does not help at all." He turned to Zhen. "Rally your men, I've prepared five ships for you to join the frigates."
Zhen bowed and promised. "Understood, my lord. I shall bring back the young master alive."
Bujing did not want his promising aide to lose his morale due to the incident, he knew no words of comfort nor punishment will be sufficient to appease Zhen unless he was to be sent with his men to accompany the search party. An opportunity to redeem himself was the only way for his pride.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Mooncloud
Mooncloud I'm sorry if I wasn't able to update frequently. Online classes have been really tough with all the works assigned, and I've started to think of an outline for an original novel to submit in the contest. Thank you so much for reading.
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