The next day’s training session left Yerin with a much more satisfied feeling. Afterwards, she went to clean up before dinner. As she was walking back towards her room to take care of Jibang, she saw her two masters walking by her in the hallway. She tried waving towards Eunbi but she only got stared at by her and she walked away soon afterwards. Yerin put her hand down and Sojung slightly chuckled.

“Sorry about that, avatar Yerin. Eunbi is…warming up to you.”

“Ah It’s alright! It’s all good master Sojung.”

They faintly heard Jibang’s whine from Yerin’s room and she giggled before getting Jibang’s food from her bag and walking closer to her door.

“Is that your pet companion?”

“Yeah. His name’s Jibang.”

“May I…maybe see him?”

Yerin thought maybe Sojung had never seen an armadillo lion before, it surprised her seeing Sojung ask rather timidly. 

“Of course! Come inside, he wouldn’t hurt anyone. Unless I probably tell him too but eh, he’s too lazy.”

Yerin opened up the door and Sojung gasped when she saw the large animal in the corner of Yerin’s room sat down on a large pet bed.

“I’d usually put him in the stables but he was kinda scared since he’s not used to the stables here. So, he’s in here for now.”

Sojung closed the door behind her as she saw Yerin beginning to put his food in his feeding trough.

“What does he eat?”

“Oh, some feeding pellets mixed with meat and vegetables and stuff like that. Luckily some of the kitchen workers here give me extra cuts of leftover meat so he’s living quite the life right now.”

Jibang finished after a few moments and Yerin gestured him to come closer. He yawned and made his way towards her, resting his head on her knees and looking up at her with puppy eyes.

“He’s really cute..”

“Wanna pet him?”

“YES-I mean…may I?”

“Of course!”

She slowly creeped her hand towards Jibang and he immediately began to her. Sojung giggled and began to scratch behind his ears and the top of his head. Yerin heard him purr and she giggled.

“I’m very sure he likes you, master Sojung.”

They were interrupted by running footsteps going down the hallway and their door was knocked on frantically. Yerin sent Jibang back to his bed and Sojung answered the door the see a palace worker in distress as she spoke.

“Pardon the intrusion! There’s currently a group of terrorists dealing havoc on the town bordering the palace and they’re on their way here! The head of the palace guard has requested your presence to help out and protect the palace.”

“Does Ms. Hwang know?”

“Yes, master Sojung. She’s currently preparing.”

“I’ll be there. Thank you.”

The palace worker bowed and scurried away. Sojung turned back towards Yerin.

“Whatever you do, don’t reveal your identity. It will put you at risk for attacks if the world knows who you are.”

Yerin bit her lip and looked around, looking for a sign to bring herself to prepare. She then looked at Jibang growling at the faint explosions they heard in the distance.

“I’ll keep you safe, sweet boy.”

And so, Yerin used that as motivation to shove her fear aside and began to prepare for battle.

======

“Burn it all down! We must show our strength to the avatar!”

From the village bordering the palace, screams and the sound of roaring fires were all anyone could hear. When the group doing such atrocities finally arrived at the gates of the palace, they were met with a locked gate and guards posted directly behind it. The leader of the group stepped in front and wrapped a hand around one of the metal bars.

“You must not know who we are. I don’t blame you. We’re rather new.”

She gripped the bar tighter and with a hand behind her back, began to gesture the large group around. She grinned and stared right into the eyes of the guard in front of her.

“You’ll soon know all about us.”

She threw her hands up and began to laugh as some group members began to scale the gate, cutting the sharp ends at the top and using whatever manners necessary to get in. A small group got in and quickly got rid of the guards, opening the doors from the inside and letting the rest of them in.

“Make a scene, the avatar will have to react accordingly.”

From the sides of the palace came more and more guards along with Eunbi and Sojung. The two stayed back a bit after seeing that Yerin was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s that girl?!”

Eunbi desperately called out in a rage. But the two were surprised to see her sprinting from the second floor balcony, jumping down to the middle of the group, and punching down a large fireball. Knocking down a large group of the men. Sojung chuckled and punched Eunbi’s shoulder.

“What a show off..”

Sojung and Eunbi ran into the battle, using their skills to the best of their ability. Eunbi was very fast, using many jumping and spinning attacks to get rid of as many of the men as possible. Sojung went for a calmer yet more precise approach and always had the upper hand, she was a full master who had trained for several years after all. 

As Yerin fought, she couldn’t help but feel more adrenaline than she’s ever felt before. She saw the other two joining in and quickly mowing down the Scarlet Dragons. But once she reached a certain part of the battlefield, she met eyes with a certain figure with sharp navy blue eyes. Before she knew it, they were rushing towards her and Yerin had no chance to react as she was grabbed by the throat and knocked to the ground.

“I know those eyes, small girl..”

“Get off of me!”

Yerin kicked her chest and shot a large flame at her. Only for her to deflect it with water. She grinned and ran off. Yerin groaned and kept fighting, trying to brush that encounter off.

Sojung was quickly done with her section of the battlefield, going in deeper to help Eunbi. The two were quick and precise in their attacks. Eunbi saw Yerin on the other side of the battlefield and rolled her eyes as Yerin was having a hard time using just fire.

“Eunbi, focus!!”

Eunbi was punched square in the jaw and fell back. Sojung came closer and kept trying to keep her safe, only for her to knocked down. When she tried to return, more guys kept swarming her and Eunbi to keep them apart. Yerin saw her friends being swarmed and gasped as she charged towards them.

“Where are you going?”

She heard a calm voice under all the sounds of battle. There was that woman again. Yerin was annoyed and so she went up to fight her, only for her to dodge her attacks calmly.

“Do you happen to be the avatar?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“That’s exactly the answer I was looking for.”

She grinned and sprinted towards Eunbi and Sojung. Yerin silently cursed and tried to catch her before she could get closer but it was too late, she was right up to Eunbi’s face and knocked her to the ground, pulling out a dagger from her holster and making her men hold her down. More guys swarming around them keeping the guards from stopping them. Yerin looked towards where Sojung was to see she was also in trouble. 

With only fire, her attacks were limited. She needed to make a choice now or else her friends would be in even more trouble.

“STOP!!”

Yerin yelled out and with both hands, punched the ground, the earth shaking and cracking underneath the attackers feet. It then went up and shot them in different directions, freeing the two girls.

The woman laughed aloud as she saw Yerin earthbending in an act of desperation. She put the dagger away and spoke out to Yerin as the battlefield was much more quiet now.

“Avatar…my name is Haseul. We are the Scarlet Dragons. Remember us. We’ll be a pain in the for you from now on.”

She gestured the men to retreat and they did just that. They began to flow out of the palace walls quickly and the guards shut the gates quickly. Yerin panted as she looked towards Eunbi and Sojung. The older was helping Eunbi back onto her feet as she was hurt from Haseul.

Yerin walked up quickly to the two of them and Eunbi immediately began to speak to her.

“Why did you reveal yourself?”

“I remember you telling me I have to make choices to protect those I care about…so I did just that..”

Eunbi held her breath as she heard Yerin say that. Sojung’s eyes widened and she smiled as she saw Eunbi get surprised.

Some palace helpers came along with a gurney to get Eunbi to the medical bay for her wounds. Before Eunbi had a chance to respond, she was taken away. Sojung stayed back with Yerin and patted her shoulder.

“Thank you for saving Eunbi. Even if it came at the cost of you revealing your identity.”

“She was in danger, I had to save her. You too, master Sojung.”

Sojung smiled and ruffled her sweaty bangs. Yerin giggled and smiled brightly at her teacher. Sojung wrapped an arm around Yerin and they began to walk towards the medical bay.

“Come on. Let’s get patched up.”