Kyoshi’s dreams smelled of salt water, like she was caught in the middle of a storm, or she had been tossed into the ocean. It was hard to see past her hands, her vision a gray abyss, but her other senses had been assaulted by the sensations that came with her dreams. There was water all around her, in her hair, weighing down her clothes, even in her lungs. All she could hear was the resounding mantra of her name, three syllables uttered like a curse, or a warning.

She nearly fell out of bed when she woke, only just managing to pick herself up and detangle herself from the knot of blankets she had woken up in. After pulling a cotton robe over her bare shoulders and fixing up her short hair, Kyoshi left her guest room to meet up with her friends for the day.

Kyoshi had nearly forgotten where they were- the estate of Governor Hilmi in Aringeru, out on Avatar business with Yun. While the structure of the mansion was similar enough to the one she had lived in the past few years- a single courtyard with an elaborate, almost maze-like structure built around it- it was the little details that stood out to Kyoshi, the wooden walls instead of the stone she was used to, the open windows that would’ve been a waste of heat back in frigid Yokoya, the thatched roof above. In some ways, it was closer to the architecture of her home nation than it was the mainland Earth Kingdom.

From what Kyoshi could tell, Governor Hilmi didn’t have the same taste for art that Jianzhu did. Instead of imported calligraphy and Avatar relics, most wall space was taken up by floral arrangements, showing off the equisist, unique flora of the archipelago. Kyoshi had paused to admire an arrangement of orchids and hibiscus when she spotted Rangi approaching her from the other end of the hallway.

“Good morning, Rangi.” Kyoshi smiled and turned to greet her friend. “How’d you sleep?”

Rangi sighed and leaned back on her heels. “Alright, I guess. I’ve slept better before. I couldn’t stop thinking about that ceremony Jianzhu made us do…”

Kyoshi nodded, recalling the moonlit ritual, and the strange feeling it had caused. “Yeah…” Kyoshi nodded, remembering the voice that spoke her name, as if it was speaking through her mind itself. The others had to have experienced something like it, it couldn’t have just been her. It had to be a normal occurrence, given the circumstance.

Rangi must’ve sensed her tension, because she shifted her stance awkwardly. “So, how’d you sleep last night?”

“I slept alright…” Kyoshi answered. She hesitated to elaborate. “I did have a nightmare, though.”

“Really?” Rangi asked. She started to walk down the hallway, and, despite not knowing where the firebender was going, Kyoshi followed. “What about?”

Kyoshi sighed. “I don’t know… it was weird. Really rainy.” The more she thought about her dream, the more the memory of it faded. “I can’t exactly remember.”

“Oh.” Rangi paused in the middle of the hallway. “Kind of a shame, I would’ve liked to hear about it. Anyways, my mother will be training with Yun all day long, she said we have the day off.”

“Huh.” Kyoshi put her hand to her chin. It wasn’t often she and Rangi got the day off, even though she wasn’t sure what their jobs technically were. “That’ll be nice. It’s like a vacation!”

“Mother just doesn’t want me around to ‘distract the Avatar’, like I’d do that.” Rangi scoffed, but Kyoshi caught a glimpse of her smile. “It might be nice, though. What do you want to do?”

Kyoshi paused and glanced out the closest window. It was nicer here in Aringeru than it had been in Yokoya- back on the peninsula, some of the snow had still been melting, a mess left over from wintertime. She could see the peaks of rooftops just over the trees. “We could go into town, that might be nice.”

Rangi nodded, as if she was affirming the thought to herself. “Yeah, we’ll go into town. It’ll be nice.”

The markets of Aringeru were almost exactly like Kyoshi had remembered it- vibrant, colorful and full of life. She had to hold onto Rangi so the shorter girl wouldn’t get lost in the crowd, maneuvering through vendor’s stands and merchant carts. The Mahina Bazaar- the largest open market in Aringeru and possibly the entire south-eastern Earth Kingdom- stretched over a large portion of the island’s land and onto the wooden city built above the bay. For a city in the Earth Kingdom, Aringeru seemed to dangle precariously close to the ocean.

The market was full this morning. While Kyoshi had gently blown away clouds of morning fog on her and Rangi’s walk to the market, the fog had already been cleared down at the market, thanks to the amount of people present there. Surprisingly, the locals wore coats and robes of not only green, but blue, yellow, and even hints of red. Kyoshi noted an overwhelming amount of cyan robes characteristic of the archipelago’s native population. Her gaze caught on a pair of young children, both no older than seven or eight, dressed in robes of bright cyan. It was hard to tell from such a distance and because of the crowd, but Kyoshi was fairly certain the two were playing a game that involved bending splashes of water at each other.

Rangi tugged at Kyoshi’s sleeve to catch her attention. “What are you watching? Why’d we stop?”

Kyoshi shook her head. She guessed it really didn’t matter whether or not two Earth Kingdom children were waterbending- she had been found in the Earth Kingdom, after all- and turned to the stalls surrounding them. Most sold fruits, buns or some other type of food, but one stood out to her- a jewelry stand. She took Rangi by the hand and pulled her over to it.

“Why are we looking at this?” Rangi huffed as Kyoshi fawned over the intricate necklaces, earring and hairpins. “You don’t even wear jewelry.”

Kyoshi sent her friend a smile. “I just think they look nice.”

Before Rangi could respond, they were interrupted by the appearance of the vendor. “Can I help you two fine ladies?”

Kyoshi gave an awkward wave. “Uh, we’re just looking at this point.”

The vendor moved to where Kyoshi was standing over the display of hairpins and directed her to a box showing jewel-encrusted armbands. “You know, courtship season is coming up. I’m sure a lady such as yourself has someone special in your life? Maybe you’d be interested in getting him a gift?”

Kyoshi forced an awkward smile to comply with the vendor’s sweet talk. She wasn’t going to spend her morning explaining her culture’s traditions, so she just shrugged. “Something like that.”

Rangi rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’m just going to let you buy whatever you’re buying. There’s something I wanted to check out over there.”

The statement took Kyoshi aback, but only for a moment. “Ok, alright.” She waved to Rangi as she turned around. “See you later.”

Once Rangi had disappeared into the crowd, her hand on the hilt of her sword, Kyoshi turned back to the hairpins she had been looking at before. One of them stood out to her- simple in design, at least in comparison to the others with a gentle floral motif and what looked like a ruby at the top. She pointed at it. “How much does this one cost?”

The vendor peered over the table to look at Kyoshi’s choice. “That’s fifteen gold. A nice pick, if I say so myself.”

Kyoshi smiled and took the money from her purse, handing the metallic coins to the vendor. “I’ll take it.”

The vendor smiled and picked up the hairpin, wrapping it in a silk cloth before handing it to Kyoshi. As he did so, he mused, “You know, I never thought you airbender types would be all that into stuff like this.”

Kyoshi shrugged and put the hairpin in her pocket. She couldn’t think of an appropriate response to the man’s comment, so she smiled and waved goodbye before setting off to find her friend. Surprisingly, she found both Rangi and Yun standing next to a bun stand.

“Hey, Kyoshi!” Yun raised one of his hands to greet her, even though it was the one he was holding his food in. “How’s it going?”

Kyoshi stifled a laugh as she approached her friends. “I didn’t know you were here, Yun.”

“It’s a long story.” The Avatar shrugged. “I’ll tell you later, I guess.”

Kyoshi turned to Rangi in absence of a satisfying answer. “Did you get what you wanted?”

Rangi shrugged. “I guess so.” Before Kyoshi could ask, the firebender shoved a paper-wrapped bun to her. “Here, we bought this for you.”

“Aw, thank you!” Kyoshi smiled and took the bun, eating it as she and her friends walked through the market.

“So, Yun.” Rangi asked, stepping forward to make eye contact with him. “Where are we going?”

“Inland.” Yun answered, gesturing forward. He spoke with food in his mouth, but Kyoshi didn’t comment on his improperness. “Jianzhu wants us all to meet near the fields to survey what’s been happening.”

“Huh…” Kyoshi mused as they made the transition from damp boardwalk to sand-covered ground. “Is that what you were doing this morning?”

Yun shook his head, causing his ponytail to bounce. He shot an enthusiastic smile at Kyoshi and Rangi- clearly, whatever he was going to say, he was excited about. “Actually- and you won’t believe this- I was meditating with Master Kelsang! We were trying to commune with my past lives! Yangchen, specifically.”

Kyoshi nearly stepped back in surprise. “Really?” She knew Yun, as the Avatar, was supposed to be able to connect with his past incarnations, but as far as she knew, he had never attempted it before.

“Did it work? Did you talk to her?” Rangi asked.

Yun sh0ok his head. “No. Kelsang says I might have to work in order and speak to Kuruk before I reach Yangchen.” He paused. “I don’t know how I feel about that, Jianzhu says Kuruk was nothing but a lazy, selfish hedonist.”

Kyoshi glanced at Rangi before responding. Her father didn’t speak much of Yun’s past incarnation, giving her less of a frame of reference of who the man was then Rangi and Yun had. The firebender only shrugged.

When Kyoshi returned her gaze to the path in front of her, she realized they had arrived at the fields, though the only thing that could tell her that was the roadside sign and the presence of the rest of their party. The entire field looked as if it had taken from its home, flown them to the Si Wong desert to dry them out, then returned it all to the field.

Kyoshi filed up next to her father to observe the destruction. “What happened? Is this what we were supposed to be investigating.”

Kelsang shook his head and put his finger to his lips. “Wait a moment.”

Within a few seconds, the sound of a million voices rose out of the ground, a chorus of screams that Kyoshi couldn’t decipher- the wayward cry of an invisible force. Even though she couldn’t decipher what was being said, Kyoshi instantly knew what was going on- the spirits were angry with what was happening here. The hairs on the back of her neck stood, and Kyoshi got an odd sense of familiarity, as if she was reuniting with a long-dead foe.