Mikoto
Monk Shorān gave her extra scrolls when his class ended that day. It wasn’t more homework. Thank the spirits it wasn’t. She might be the best in taijutsu and bokken training, she wasn’t the one to take on extra work. That was more for the boy in the front. She didn’t remember his name. Only reason she remembered him was because of his crooked finger and the pink scar on his left eyebrow, the two distinct features about him.
It’s good practise for achieving the state of zen, but she didn’t have the patience. To do something simply for the sake of doing it. Do extra work just to do extra work. Sonam’s six for spirit’s sake! Mature, but not that mature. She’s supposed to train, run around and annoy the teachers and priests and priestesses. Zen practise was for the older students.
She’d pouted up at him when she noticed the extra scrolls, but he was quick to reassure her in his calm way.
“No, no,” he shook his hands in front of his face. “It’s not what you think it is.”
She’s still not convinced. “Then why is it there then? More scrolls usually mean more homework. I got a hundred on the last test!” His smile oozed calmness, and it’s working. She’s calming down. “I know. I was the one to grade your test. You’ve been doing good, so I thought of giving those.” he gestured to the extra scrolls. “To you for all your good work. I think you’ll like them.”
And he was right, of course. He’s always right. They were a set of more advanced bending forms, one he created if she remembered correctly.
(Advanced as in a grade over the bending forms she was practising now. But Sonam, at her mature age, would still brag to anyone who asked that they were ‘advanced bending forms’ and she got to learn them while they had to wait a year.)
She got to the training grounds behind the main prayer hall and- someone was already there. Hmph. Sonam deflated a bit at the thought of sharing the training grounds. She looked over at the person, a girl, going through bending forms.
Ashina mentioned a new girl coming to study here from Enryaku-ji. Was this her?
Sonam had seen some of the features on the new girl before. The pale skin, round dark eyes-she wondered if they actually were black- silky dark hair, sharp nose and round face. Both soft and sharp.
Some might say they’re normal features that everyone can have, and that’s true. Sonam knew that. But those features around Mt. Hiei usually meant you were someone in between. Not quite one or the other.
She… wasn’t really good at the bending forms, though. It was all wrong and stiff. It’s supposed to be all flowy and windy.
Maybe she could help her? It’s good practise to help. And many of the people with the new girl’s features were good with kunai and shuriken. Not Sonam’s strong suit.
The girl stopped mid form, deflated and brushed at her gray kimono.
“Do you need help?” The girl turned as she approached her. “I can help.” She said. “I’m good at it,” and to prove her point, Sonam held her scrolls up. “I get to practise advanced bending forms.”
The girl stared at her for a long couple of seconds- her eyes were black-and Sonam wondered if she said something wrong.
“Are you an airbender?”
“… yeah?” She tilted her head. What did that have to do with anything? Was she an airbender? “How do you get the flow when going through forms? I can’t get it right.”
Sonam looked at her. Flow and wind were natural for airbenders. “Are you an airbender or,” did her sharp features win? Enryaku-ji housed the most firebenders out of all the temples here. “A firebender?” The answer surprised her.
“Both,” she said and immediately her brows wrinkled. “Well, sort of.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not good at it. I can’t control it well either.”
“What do you mean?”
The girl looked down. “My fires can get really big sometimes because airbending seeps in and I can’t control the fire. Sometimes embers and flames sneak in when I try to airbend. I can’t separate the two.”
Sonam didn’t have the ability to help her separate them. The most she could do was snap her fingers a couple of times and maybe get a small fire on her finger. Monk Shorān said everyone around Mt. Hiei had some potential regarding a second element, but to use a secondary element and to master it were two different things. She’d never met someone like her before who could use both. She only heard about them, but she could help with the forms. Maybe getting an airbender personality could help her with separating them?
“I’ve never actually met someone like you before, so I can’t help you with separating firebending and airbending. I can help with the forms, though. It’s a place to start.” The girl seemed to agree with her and looked hopeful as she went to put her scrolls down outside of the training grounds.
“My name is Mikoto.”
“Mine is Maya Sonam, but I go by Sonam.” She turned to her. “You wouldn’t happen to be good with kunai and shuriken, would you?”
“I’m good with kunai, shuriken and senbon. Why?” Sonam breathed a sigh of relief and scratched at her neck. “Can we exchange? I’m not good at it.” Her aim was horrible.
The corners of her mouth quirked up. A tiny movement, and a very firebendery thing. Old Priest Seigyo said that meant they were belly laughing.
“There’s something you’re bad at?” She teased and dodged her quick air punch. “Can we exchange or not?”
“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “I’ll get you to second best.”
“Why second?”
“Because I,” Mikoto pointed to herself. “Will be the best at it.”
Her new friend had high hopes. Sonam never saw herself getting to second best to someone who also was good with senbon.
Did she challenge Mikoto to contests every day that week and lose everysingle time? Absolutely.
Sonam made her right hand into a fist, turned it sideways and put her open palmed left hand slightly over her it and bowed. It was supposed to look like a flame from what she heard. “It’s like this, right?” She’d seen visiting firebenders do this when showing respect to someone. Mikoto mirrored her movement. “Yes, you’re doing it correctly.”
She had fun, though. Losing wasn’t so bad when she was having fun.