“Like I said, this is the Countess' private island,” said Iroh, seeing Jack tense up again, “and unless you’ve got an invitation hidden in those rags you’re wearing, the three of us ain’t supposed to be here. And the Countess isn’t what you’d call partial to uninvited guests.”

“Hey! I didn’t exactly ask to be here, it’s not my fault!” exclaimed Jack. “Besides, what’s she going to do? Arrest us for trespassing?”

“Arrest us?” Iroh snorted. “Actually, if you were on your own it might be your lucky day and that’s exactly what she’d do” he mused. “Arrest you, and torture you until whatever value you’d have as a curiousity was exhausted. And then kill you.”

“Well that’s very reassuring, thanks” Jack couldn’t help but be a little bit snarky.

You’re welcome. Now that you’re with us, there won’t be any talk of arrests or torture” Iroh beamed a fake smile.

Well that’s a relief, thought Jack.

“People like us, she’ll simply have us killed and left here as a treat for her pets”, Iroh shrugged. “Doesn't really take kindly to poachers, you see”.

“I see,” said Jack. Very reassuring.

Iroh suddenly stood up and stretched. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business” Iroh winked in an exaggerated manner, “to attend to. I’d strongly suggest you don’t wander off.”

“I won’t,” replied Jack grumpily. “Any dangers I should be aware of around here?”

“Only my niece!” came that far too cheerful reply as Iroh swiftly vanished into the woods.

“Of course,” muttered Jack under his breath. Why couldn’t I get dropped off on a nice sunny beach with an open bar and bikini clad babes?

>>>>

Jack’s stomach growled as he sat in silence, staring at his feet as he came to grips with what Iroh had told him.

“Here,” came the girl's voice as her feet intruded on his vision.

To his credit, he barely started at her unexpected appearance in front of him. “Uhm, thanks” he said politely as he took the offered leather pouch that he’d seen her snacking from earlier.

“I’m Islena. Pleased to meet you,” the girl said as she stuck out her hand.

“Er, Jack. Likewise,” Jack replied, examining her as he took her hand. The girl - Islena - couldn’t have been older than Jack himself. She’s what, 14, 15?

Any thoughts about her lack of maturity or apparent frailty were quickly dispelled as she squeezed his hand, and caused him to stagger a step forward as she gave him a vigorous handshake. Iroh wasn’t kidding, this wisp of a girl would take me down without breaking a sweat. And she’d probably be laughing at me while she did.

“So weak!” Islena exclaimed as she moved to sit where Iroh had been sitting.

“You took me by surprise!” Jack said defensively. “And I’ve had a rough couple of days,” he added, trying to discreetly flex his hand to check if anything was broken.

Islena smirked. “Eat,” she commanded. “Before that stomach of yours tells the whole world we’re here, '' she teased.

“Good Idea,” Jack said as his stomach rumbled again with impeccable timing. He didn’t know what else to say so he loosened the strap of the pouch and checked the contents - a mix of the local berries and mushrooms.

He took out one of the mushrooms and examined it closely before nibbling on it. It tasted exactly like it’s appearance would suggest - a woody, earthy umami flavour. Tastes a bit bland, he thought.

“Oh,”, Jack said involuntarily as he felt a slight stream of warmth flowing down.

Not caring how it looked, Jack stuffed the rest of the mushroom into his mouth as he started to meditate, feeling the energy contained in the mushroom flowing to his Shēnghuó. He didn’t notice the look of surprise on his host's face as she watched him meditate, clearly knowing what was happening.

>>>>

Interesting. There’s more to this Jack than meets the eye - he’s clearly too weak to be an Awakened. Yet he’s getting something out of the trail mix, which even an Awakened wouldn’t waste the effort on. And with such a clumsy technique!

Islena waited patiently for Jack to finish his meditation, which didn’t take long.

“Silly boy, you’re doing it wrong,” she shook her head as she scolded him. It’s like he’s a toddler just learning to walk, through trial and error.

“Sorry?” questioned Jack, who had seemingly forgotten that she was even there. “What are you talking about?”

“Your technique, it’s so clumsy, it’s almost painful to watch!”, said Islena as she stood up. “It’s, it’s…” she spluttered as she thought of a suitable insult. “It’s like watching you drink water by dunking your feet and licking them dry!” she finally settled on something appropriately condescending.

Without waiting for a dumbfounded Jack, she stormed over to him and grabbed a berry from the pouch in his hands. “Like this,” she said, popping the berry into her mouth as she returned to where she’d been sitting a moment before.

Jack watched as she swallowed the berry, and then, still standing, took a deep breath through her nose. As she breathed in, she brought her hands slowly down from her face towards her stomach.

Is she doing Tai Chi? thought Jack as Islena started a series of movements. Each deep breath in through the nose, each slow exhalation through the mouth, all accompanied by a deliberate movement of the body. Like doing Karate in super slow motion.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” she snapped at him.

Jack grabbed a berry and quickly chewed it before swallowing it down. He then mimicked what Islena was doing, starting with the deep breath in and clumsily following her movements.

It was jerky at first, as he found it hard to move at the same flowing pace that Islena displayed.

But soon he could feel it. The trickle of warm energy flowing through him at first became a steady stream, much greater than what he had felt during his own meditations. And instead of it just flowing straight to his Shēnghuó point, it felt like it was washing over him, suffusing his entire body with a strange warmth.

He didn’t even notice that Islena had stopped and was just watching him, lost in his own experience.

What a strange boy you are, Jack.

If she’d known the truth, she’d have fainted from surprise.

>>>>

As lost as Jack was in this new experience, he almost missed it himself.

While he was harvesting far more energy from this Tai Chi like meditation, as the energy he was absorbing subsided he felt it. The same pull that he’d felt back in the desert mine when he’d been trying to sense Earth Element.

This felt different though, cooler, calming him. It was coming from the direction of the stream nearby. Is there something in the stream?

The last of the energy from the berry settled. “Mind if I drink some water? I’m incredibly thirsty” he asked, already heading off towards the stream. “I won’t use my feet, I promise!”

“Sure,” Islena shrugged.

Jack reached the stream and used his hands to scoop up some water to drink. The water was cold, almost icy. Which was a bit strange considering how mild the weather in this place seemed to be.

Not being able to sense anything without meditating, he was frustrated. He was sure he’d felt something coming from the stream.

Fortunately, the mushroom and berry hadn’t quite filled the void in his stomach, and it growled again.

Perfect, he thought as he took another mushroom from the pouch and popped it into his mouth while mumbling “Sorry, still hungry” at Islena as he did so.

It had only been a minute or so since he’d stopped meditating, so he found himself easily recapturing the movement and the feeling of it.

The warmth of energy diffused throughout his body, as he’d expected. But there was something more this time. Although he could feel a much stronger pull from the stream, there was also a coolness flowing through his body that hadn’t been there before.

And while it still felt a little like he’d just passed a large bowl of Mexican food, his throat felt positively frozen. He struggled to remember what he’d learned from Isaac. The Shuǐ chakra, the water chakra, wasn’t it?