The green lady (Patreon)

After two weeks, Jon was able to grow a sprout to a small tree with spirit bending, a feat that he was extremely proud of and left his master quite surprised, master Alanna expressed her congratulations and said that Jon was a prodigy of water bending

However, using spiritual energy to grow plants paled in comparison to what came next

The master's next test, Jon looked suspiciously at the deep cave

It was a fairly large vertical drop, at least two hundred feet, with a powerful waterfall in between, according to Master Alanna's words there was a considerable spiritual imbalance in the depths of it, and that Jon's next task was to enter and use his new abilities to restore balance on the island

Talking about the island also baffled Jon, the master's home was not ordinary, it felt... strangely alive, Jon didn't know how to explain it

Seeing his misgivings, the master spoke

"Don't doubt your abilities boy, this is the first of four caves that you will have to purify, each one will bring you closer to completing your training and being able to return to my granddaughter, who I imagine will be anxious for the return of her husband" When she finished speaking, the old woman laughed, while Jon smiled softly, he missed his princess very much, after all

Jon sighed and spoke

"What is my mission, master Alanna?" the young man's voice was full of determination

The old woman spoke again

"You'll go down there and take care of whatever is causing the problem," Jon looked at the master in disbelief, who simply shrugged and replied

"I haven't gone down there, I'm too old, trust your power and your instincts young wolf, and you'll be victorious" Jon simply nodded, looked back at the imposing cave, took a breath and just jumped

While Jon fell, master Alanna simply laughed to herself, the young people of today are quite impetuous apparently

The old lady started walking towards her hut with the intention of taking a good nap, Jon would be down there for a while, after all

Jon Eddardson, Cave of Strength

The fall was... longer than he would have imagined, Jon used the water from the waterfall to stop his fall without problems, when he reached the bottom, the young wolf was in a huge cave, Jon expected darkness, however, that was not the case

On the ceilings of the cave there were blue crystals that shone brightly, Jon did not know the name or nature of such a mineral, but it would be interesting to take a sample.

Jon followed the flow of the cave water inside, the crystals were shining brighter and brighter, however, there was a feeling... strange, as if something isn't quite right

The problem was that Jon was not able to define exactly what it was, Jon simply concentrated on moving forward, the water had to go somewhere, and the young wolf had the feeling that at the end of the road he would get answers

Sliding down the river, Jon came to a blockage in the cave, however, what cut his way was not rock

It was a... plant...

Jon was confused, but he simply shrugged, took water from the river and used it to cut the plant, which gave way immediately, however, something incredible happened

The roots grew back in just a few seconds, baffling Jon in a great way

He used the control water again to cut the roots, but this time he did it for longer, and to Jon's surprise, the roots grew back, thicker and stronger than before

Jon sighed, this wasn't working, Jon had to try something else, Jon took Longclaw out and tried to cut the plant

The sword pierced the plant without difficulty, the completely strange thing was what happened next

The roots twisted, and from the depths of the cave, a terrifying shriek attacked Jon's ears, who, for a few seconds, could only feel terror

Jon watched suspiciously as all the roots retracted into the depths of the cave, leaving the young wolf free to continue

The boy swallowed hard and, armed himself with courage, and with small steps, continued towards the depths of the cave

After a couple of hours, the cave was getting narrower and narrower, but Jon endure, his pride couldn´t let him give up at this point, after all

Then came a point where Jon could no longer continue, the place was too narrow, so Jon decided to use the water to make a path 

Jon took a good amount of water and manipulated it in a circular shape in front of him, then began to spin it as fast as possible, with enough force to shatter the rock walls in its path

Although the process was quite slow, Jon was pleased to make breakthroughs, the rock was being pulverized by the force of the water, it wasn't as fast as an earth bender, but it was progress after all

However, the process was interrupted when more plants like the ones above were found, however, these had a texture more similar to wood, Jon sensed that it was due to the proximity to the origin of this strange thing

The young man tried to use water bending, but the result was even more disappointing than above, the powerful attack that Jon was using to smash rock, did not even tickle the unfortunate plant

Alas, Jon had the answer to his dilemma

He then pulled Longclaw out and proceeded to cut the roots in question

The plant writhed in pain, and to its surprise and powerful voice it was heard from the depths

“ENOUGH” and then it happened

Jon did not have time to react when several small roots took him by their legs, and proceeded to drag him into the cave without any care, the movement was so sudden that Jon lost his grip on his trusty sword, which was left on the floor of the cave, while its wielder was dragged into the depths of the cave

And in just seconds, silence reigned again in the depths of the cave

Princess Yue, Royal Palace of Agna Qel’a

Yue looked pleased and quite surprised at the progress of her future home, if there was one thing her husband had in abundance, it was ambition, she was sure of that

The walls of their new home had been finished, designed with thick, tall walls, capable of withstanding even the most powerful of attacks from the Fire Nation ships, the earth benders were building the central hall and towers that Jon had commissioned

Her beloved husband's vision was... peculiar, to say the least, the architecture was unlike anything they were used to, robust designs favoring mortar and rock, with circular towers and sloping and circular roofs all linked to the central hall, seven stories high and three stories deep, "The Moon Palace" as Jon said the place would be called, it was the most important and ambitious work that his people had ever done

Much of the castle was completed, the central hall was in the last stages of construction, while old Lee focused on the construction of the royal tower, as everyone involved called it, since it was the place where Jon and Yue would live, where in a short time they would begin to form their family, the young woman thought with extreme happiness

However, Yue was still quite busy, with the development of the Wave district and fish farms, the city was busier than ever

Yue was distracted by the voice of old Lee and Dao, who were still arguing about the shape of the stairs to Jon and Yue's quarters

Dao spoke “We must place the stairs on the walls of the tower, that way the space will be used for other things” Lee simply snorted and answered

“It is important that the structure is solid, the stairs must be attached to a central pillar that works as a guide for the entire tower, remember that we will place the library and the healing floor, as well as several rooms, if the spirits are good, they will bless the little girl with at least ten children HAHAHAHA”

At the old man's words, Yue blushed greatly, completely overwhelmed by such discussion, however, Dao did not give up

"I understand, but we can do better than just a pillar of rock," the fire bender's frustration was evident, his passion for architecture made him have discussions with old Lee, who was an earth bender to the core

While fire benders were looking for beauty and elegance, earth benders were looking for functionality, Yue still remembered the headache of building the inner garden, a small private corner for her, Jon and their future family, Dao wanted snowy cherry trees, white poppies with a small pond, while Lee just wanted a tree in the center with rocks around...

So Yue, knew he had to step in and proposed a solution

"I'm sure we can reach some agreement, Lee is right that the support is important, so the pillar is a priority, but it doesn't mean that they have to be limited, I was thinking that they would make them square, with jets of water that fall throughout the structure through the corners, I feel that the moving water will give even more life to the palace" at that idea,  Lee and Dao began to think, old Lee spoke

"Interesting, I can adapt that idea to the whole castle, that there are internal channels through which the water flows from the mountain to a central fountain in the Great Hall and then be sent to the city, it will be incredible" The old man was excited by the idea of the princess

On the other hand, Dao began to nod and spoke “it can be complemented, I'm thinking of rock braziers with Ghost figures in metal, illuminating the corridors of the palace, since they started mining the mountain, we have enough steel for a few decorations” both men were lost in their own worlds, but Yue looked pleased that they were no longer arguing and were starting to plan, so the princess left the place to begin the most satisfactory of her activities

The decoration of her new home, thought the princess, with a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes 

Jon had commissioned some furniture from the coalition, however, Yue knew that decoration was not her beloved husband's strong suit, so she took on the task of modifying the commission, changing some specifications and some colors

The princess would greatly enjoy the decoration of her new home, and would make sure that the bed Jon commissioned was ready for the return of her wolf

I was sure they would get a lot of use for it after all

///

Jon Eddardson, Unknown Place 

"By the spirits, my whole body hurts," said Jon heavily, who was beginning to wake up, completely disoriented

Slowly the memories came back to him, he remembered the cave, the strange plants, Longclaw and the strange voice

He stood up suddenly and instinctively channeled water from the air and formed a protective ring around him, however, nothing happened, seeing that there was no danger at the moment, Jon began to walk through the strange cave, until he saw something that left him speechless

There was a huge pond, with a large waterfall with white water, however, the waterfall did not fall, but went up feeding a monstrous plant, with a huge stem and white leaves, to the surprise of Jon, the voice of a moment ago returned

"I see that you woke up human, I expected more cordiality from Lord La's chosen one" there was reproach in the voice, that made Jon hesitate for a moment, so he simply replied

"Thank you for not killing me" to his surprise, the voice laughed softly and spoke

"Well, you have manners, I was starting to worry" Then, Jon watched in disbelief as the plant began to move, turning on itself, until Jon could see the origin of the voice

It was the body of a naked woman, with green skin, where the arms and legs should go. Jon only saw roots and branches, her face was covered with white leaves, leaving only her mouth exposed

Jon knew what it was about, she was a spirit, a powerful one it seemed

And Jon had made her angry

Shit, the young man thought, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation

The desperation must have been visible on her face, because the woman just laughed and talked

"Don't worry, human, if I had wanted you dead, I would have killed you by now, however, we have a lot to talk about." Immediately after, the plants formed a kind of chair, the request was clear

Jon hesitated for a moment, but he was trapped, so he cautiously approached the spirit and took a seat

Something told him that the conversation would be quite awkward

Jon was not wrong