The Lightning Bender | Book 2: Healing

6: Ready

"Okay, I'll try." Hiko replied to Washi. The spirit charged up, circling his huge wings producing streaks of Lightning. Washi extended his wing producing Yellow Lightning. Hiko closed his eyes.

He opened them again, now he was facing Junko who already threw a Lightning bolt at him. Hiko shrieked and jumped to avoid the Lightning bolt. He opened his eyes again, Washi was standing beside him.

"What happened?"

"You avoided it."

Hiko stood up, rubbing his lower back. "I'm sorry, let's try again." Washi nodded and went back to his position. He threw another bolt but Hiko avoided it again, refusing to redirect it. After five tries Washi gave up.

"What's wrong Hiko? Why aren't you standing your ground?" Washi asked Hiko, who was on the ground.

"Because I keep seeing Junko!" He pounded his fist on the ground, regretting it immediately.

"I see." Washi knelt down beside Hiko and helped him sit up. "That's over Hiko. Junko's gone. You must understand that." The boy nodded. Washi stood up and went back to his position. "Are you ready?" Hiko stretched his back, groaning as he did so.

"Yep." He replied, determined to redirect Washi's Lightning. The spirit threw a bolt at Hiko who closed his eyes again. Let the energy flow through you. He received the Lightning through his fingertips, letting it travel to his stomach, screaming in pain as he did so. Washi watched with wide eyes. The boy extended his arm, Lightning shooting out of it. As soon as he did so, his eyes closed again before he collapsed on his knees.

"You did it Hiko!" Washi shouted in victory as he ran up to the boy.

"I did." Hiko muttered. It had been a long time since he felt like this. He finally experienced that feeling of power again. The feeling that he was finally in control of something. "Thanks Washi." Hiko hugged the bird spirit tightly.

Minoru had been waiting for at least half an hour now. He was asked to wait here in front of a sushi restaurant for Katsumi. The prospect of personally being taught by Katsumi brought excitement to him. He had always admired his teacher but, it also brought a feeling of worry. Katsumi was known for her rather angry demeanor. It wouldn't be rare to see her shouting at a student who made a small mistake. But that was also what Minoru admired about her. She pushed everyone to do better and it was effective.

"Hey." He heard the cold voice from his right. He turned around and was face to face with Katsumi who looked like she had just woken up. Her hair was in a bun but strands protruded out of it. Her eyebags were deep and dark and her back was a little bent. But otherwise she looked normal.

"Good Morning Sifu Katsumi!" Minoru exclaimed as he bowed down.

"Whatever, come with me." Katsumi lazily gestured Minoru to follow her.

He gleefully obliged, prancing beside Katsumi.

"Where are we going?" Minoru asked.

Katsumi groaned, her voice raspy. "You'll see."

"What is this?" Minoru raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the small enclosure. Katsumi had led him out of the village into the forest and eventually to this huge hole in the forest floor.

"Hiko used to take me here. This was where he taught me how to Lightningbend and more importantly this is where we became friends." Katsumi walked to the wooden platform, and tried pulling the lever which was still jammed. She took the rope on the platform and threw it down the hole.

"Go down." She commanded Minoru. The boy held onto the rope and slid down followed by Katsumi who tried very hard not to shriek as she did.

Once she touched the floor, she remembered how Hiko trained her and how he started their training sessions. Minoru looked up, the sunlight entered the enclosure at an angle making half of the enclosure dark, the other full of light.

"What do we do now?" Minoru turned back to Katsumi who was watching the pond's gentle ripples. Sighing with relief she sat down next to the pond and closed her eyes. Minoru sat down next to her and followed suit closing his eyes as well.

"WASHI I DON'T LIKE THIS!" Hiko shouted desperately as his body shivered from the cold. He was in the middle of a storm, hundreds of feet from the ground and Washi had left him there on top of the mountain. After a few days of constant meditation and training, the spirit had told him to redirect any natural Lightning that came his way before flying away, presumably to enhance the strength of the storm. The sky roared as the sound of thunder filled Hiko's ears, making his spine shiver. Hiko was in his battle stance, ready to redirect but he knew it was very much possible something would go wrong. Natural Lightning is much more powerful than the Lightning produced by a bender, and if you take a direct hit from it...

The boy's breathing was unsteady as his heart was jumping in fear. Sora had already taken off with Washi, afraid of getting struck herself. If only Hiko could do that, if only he could still access his wings then he'd fly out of there and find Washi to scold him. Just as he was thinking how he'd scold a ten-foot tall, almighty, spirit; A Lightning Bolt hit so close to him that it made his whole body tingle. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to even open his eyes anymore as the rain poured on him harder. Finally, after what felt like hours Hiko felt it; He knew a Lightning strike was gonna hit him. He waited for it, intent on redirecting it so that Washi would finally get him down from here. And it hit, his fingertips receiving the massive amount of energy. Since being able to redirect Lightning from Washi, he felt stronger this time and he was prepared for it. He let it flow through his body and exit his other arm. Once he did so, he breathed in and went back to a natural stance. The storm calmed down, the heavy rain had become a light drizzle and no more loud sounds of thunder fill Hiko's ears.

"Good Job, Hiko." Washi landed beside Hiko who looked tranquil. The boy's eyes were still closed, and his palms were clasped. "Hiko?"

The boy opened his eyes and turned to Washi with a huge smile.

"I did it! I redirected Natural Lightning!" Hiko punched Washi hard on his wing. "That's for leaving me and actually making the storm stronger and making it harder for me."

"I deserve that. But I think you're ready now Hiko." Washi said with a grin, Sora cawed joyfully.

"Are you sure? I mean, it might blow up in my face, literally." Hiko snickered at his own joke while Washi rolled his eyes.