"It looks so realistic and detailed! Ouch! It bit me!" Ty Lee complained, waving her hand constantly and trying to shake off the turtleduck that had bitten her index finger. But the little ice creature clung tightly to her.
"That's what you get for teasing it," Petra commented before quickly catching the animal Shisui had just created and tickling it to make it release Ty Lee.
"It acts like a living creature. This is fascinating," Petra said, still holding the turtleduck in her hand. She lifted it and watched as it waved its small, transparent legs, trying to get her to let go.
"Is it just fake?" Katara asked. She came closer to look at it carefully. If no one had told her, she would have thought it was a real creature, not an elemental construct.
"Could Shisui make other creatures?" Mai asked, taking the turtleduck from Petra. As she looked at it, she felt a strange sensation in her heart before glancing sideways at Zuko. For some reason, he felt a chill.
'What does that look mean? Mai's expressions aren't that simple!' Zuko wondered, unaware that his partner was deciding something important at that moment.
"The cool thing is that we participated in its creation. Isn't it kind of like our collective child?" Sokka's words made the others look at him. Even Shisui, who was exhausted, gave him a languid look. The warrior didn't care too much, though.
'Aang, touch that thing. I find it quite interesting, so I want to feel it.' After becoming the Avatar, Raava had communicated with her host, who was also curious about what Shisui had created.
Aang came closer to take a look at the Ice Turtle-Duck and put his finger on its shell to feel the coldness of the ice. Due to this contact, however, Raava was able to perceive the Turtleduck more clearly.
'As Shisui said, it is not alive. However, I can sense a faint breath of life within it, which allows it to act autonomously. Extensive knowledge of the creature being emulated is required. Does the Sage like turtleducks?' thought Raava, getting to the heart of the matter quickly. After all, it was a primal existence that had been in this world since the beginning.
The little creature passed from hand to hand until it reached Shisui. He held it very carefully, as if it were a baby. With the design he gave it, it could be considered as such.
"I never expected to achieve something like this," Shisui murmured, avoiding the little beak of the turtle duck who had tried to grab his nose while he was talking.
"I must admit, even I am impressed that you were able to achieve this as a normal human," said Yue, causing Shisui to nod.
He had expended a great deal of spiritual energy creating this simulated life and pushed his knowledge of life- and energy-bending to the limit. Creating it gave him answers to many questions he had.
Even his golden eyes emitted a soft glow. He was not close to emitting his spiritual essence outward to form a Susanoo, as he had imagined, but he felt that he had overcome one of his oldest Chi-related problems.
Shisui wanted to train, but he was too exhausted to stand on his own and needed Azula's support. She wrapped her arms around his waist and stayed close to him.
"It's not very useful for fighting, but the elements aren't just that, are they?" Zuko asked with a smile. After all, it was Zuko's actions that had helped Shisui achieve this.
"Oh, who said I can't fight with this? Now, I can create those strange plants from the Spirit World out of ice. Those things are wild and dangerous."
That brings me to another question: Can I create life from nothing? Animals and plants? Maybe even people, although that's a bit disturbing... I don't think I'll get to that, but replicating them with water is feasible. I have proof here." A big smile appeared on Shisui's face. He lifted the Turtleduck high, referencing a certain animated film from his past life. However, Azula touched his cheek, distracting him.
"Will you give it a name?" asked the princess, causing Shisui to pause and hesitate.
Did this thing need a name? It was just a simulation created with everything he had learned and reflected on throughout his life. It was something he could destroy with his hand, a test, a sample of his current ability.
Wasn't it just a block of ice animated by his ability? Did it need a special name that he could replicate as many times as he wanted? Shisui had these questions in his mind, but when he saw the Turtleduck's icy eyes looking back at him with strange innocence, he was moved.
"Owww~" Ty Lee approached Shisui and watched as his aura turned pink when he looked at the creature he had created.
"It deserves a name. After all, it's special. Even if you can make more, this one is irreplaceable," Aang commented, feeling that this being deserved a name beyond being a mere elemental construct.
"So... let's call him Simba." Shisui went all out with the references and gave him that name. At that moment, he felt a strange spiritual connection with Simba.
The connection he already had with the Turtleduck grew stronger. After all, he had created it himself. How could he not be connected to something that came from him? But now, things seemed to have changed a little.
No matter what happened to Simba, whether it was destroyed, transformed, or underwent a special change, he could always bring it back to "life," even though it wasn't technically alive.
"Has he just become something like my familiar? It seems I still don't understand these concepts very well. I have to explore them more thoroughly." This result made Shisui feel energized because he liked developing and exploring his abilities the most.
...
Shisui stood watching Simba, the turtleduck he had created a while ago, swim comfortably in a small fish tank.
It was late at night. After meeting up with Aang and the others, they joined the celebration in the city until dawn. Now, he was in the hotel room with Azula, who was watching the animal next to him.
"Do you think I could create something like that with fire?" the princess asked, with a hint of envy in her voice. After all, who wouldn't want to create things with their element? Those who had known Shisui for many years certainly did.
The group was no stranger to building figures with their elements. It was a way to improve the power of their attacks, strange as it may seem. Azula made her fire take the form of a hawk, Shisui made his take the form of a dragon, and Zuko...well, the prince was a fan of swords and barely ventured into that aspect.
However, when faced with particularly difficult battles, even he would solidify his fire into the shape of a three-legged crow. Added to the fact that he had recently ventured into solar flames, this could be seen as an omen.
Petra made snakes out of earth, rock, and various minerals. However, upon hearing Toph's story about learning directly from the Badgermoles, Petra began creating these beings with her element. She wanted to learn and understand more about them.
Shisui's group wasn't the only one doing this; it had become a trend, as had everything the Sage did. Benders realized that they could increase the strength of their attacks or defenses by representing certain creatures they were familiar with using the element they possessed.
Why was this the case? Shisui was investigating it, and he sensed that the creatures embodied some kind of concept. After all, hadn't humans learned a great deal from animals?
This ranged from the kinds of fruits that could be eaten and the places to avoid to more complex things, such as bending, martial arts, and various inventions, the theory of which would not have been possible without inspiration from some animal or creature.
Shisui himself had some moves inspired by other benders, animals, and spirits he had encountered, which didn't bother him.
After all, he believed it was necessary to learn from nature because it held all the answers one could ever need. One just had to learn how to look for them.
"If I could do it, why can't you? I'm best at summarizing knowledge and making it accessible. I have to keep trying, but don't be surprised if one day I teach you to replicate my feats.
What good is a skill if you can't teach it? There are some things I can't pass on to you directly, like my special vision or my elemental abilities, but I can pass on the applications, techniques, and knowledge. Those I can!" Shisui embraced Azula's waist, feeling the duality of her body's firmness and softness.
After all, Azula was a trained warrior with quite a bit of muscle, but who was Shisui? A waterbender and a potion master. Certain special Waterbending techniques and special potion recipes that allowed his partner to maintain a 'beautiful' figure without being all muscle.
Of course, she had them. Shisui liked strong girls. Who doesn't? But the Sage soon realized that his thoughts were wandering, so he shook his head.
"Then I'll wait for the day when I can understand some of the things going on in your head." Seeing Shisui's expression, Azula figured her fiancé's mind was surely racing, so she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
"By the way, what element do you think our daughter will inherit?" Azula asked.
Shisui touched his chin with one hand, looking curious.
"Technically, it's impossible for her to inherit both. Only the Avatar can do something like that. But it doesn't matter. Even if she doesn't have any elements, I'll make her powerful. That reminds me... Azula." Shisui stopped talking and called his fiancée by name. She looked up silently.
Two pairs of golden eyes gazed at each other in absolute stillness for several seconds, until Shisui smiled and kissed Azula on the lips. She simply closed her eyes and let herself be carried away.
She didn't need to hear any words. That look was all she needed at that moment. Thus, amid the sound of fireworks launched in the middle of the night, the couple immersed themselves in the warmth they generated by being together.
"Quack!" The little turtle duck made its characteristic sound, closing the curtain on not only this night but also an era for not only the North Pole but also the whole world.
That same morning, the peace treaty between the Fire Nation and the Northern Water Tribe was announced, spreading rapidly around the world along with the treaty that had already been formalized with the Southern Water Tribe. This declaration profoundly affected everyone.
The 100-year war between Fire and Water had come to an end. Now, only the conflict with the Earth Kingdom remained. It seemed that a certain force was lurking there, gathering strength for its purposes.
The recent announcement of peace served as a warning, prompting them to point their weapons toward Agna Qel'a, where some of their targets were located. It was finally time to begin.
A true hunt against the Avatar, the Sage, and the Moon had begun.
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AN: Oh! The next chapter is the 100th! Wanna something special?
There's an animation about the main characters of my original novel 'Witch's Adventure', in this paragraph