Third Eye
Title: Third Eye
Rating: PG
Characters: Combustion Man
Word Count: 498, complete
Summary: The boy sees with his Third Eye.
Notes: Written for avatar_500, prompt 'element.'
Third Eye
His mother worries the boy is feeble-minded. He has not yet started speaking. He shows no interest in playing with the toys his relatives give him or with the other children in the neighborhood. Most of the day, he sits and stares at nothing. When she speaks to him, he is startled, as though he were a scholar interrupted while immersed in studying an ancient text.
She takes him to the town doctor. The man can find nothing wrong with her son's throat or mouth or hearing. The boy proves he understands language when he does simple tasks as the doctor instructs him. The doctor says his mother shouldn't worry, that her son seems intelligent. He explains that some children are slow to talk and says she should encourage him but be patient. If he still hasn't started talking in half a year, she should come back.
She takes him to the Fire Sages in the island capital. They say her son behaves strangely because he sees with his Third Eye. The boy is absorbed in what he sees in the inner realms of existence. The Fire Sages say he has a rare gift, and that if he is trained to control it he will be able to balance the world outside and the world inside. They explain that, depending on how his ability develops, he could be of great importance in the Fire Nation some day, that the Fire Lord himself might want him to serve their country. The Fire Sages convince her to let him stay at the Temple.
The boy does not speak, does not reveal what he sees with his Third Eye. Promises of treats, threats, and punishments do not coax a single word from him. The Sages attempt to communicate with hand signals, but their questions go unanswered. They speculate as to what the boy's visions hold: knowledge of the future, distant places, the Spirit World, or some aspect of reality hidden from human eyes. The lead Sage says they may have to wait until the child learns to write to know the answer.
The youngest Sage, Dochin, is impatient and eager for distinction. He begins teaching the boy to open the fifth chakra, the sound chakra, believing this will get him to speak. The boy sits cross-legged on the floor of his room in the Temple, eyes closed. Dochin stands over him, talking about truth and lies, not knowing whether the boy understands.
Dochin does not know the boy is a fire bender. No one knows. Dochin does not know that attempting to open his chakras out of sequence will disrupt the third chakra, the fire chakra. The fifth chakra does not open, but the sixth--the light chakra, the Third Eye--is already open.
Fire shoots from the boy's Third Eye, striking the ceiling. Stone fragments shower the room. Dochin is struck on the head and killed. The boy sees no more visions and in time forgets he ever did.
--end
Rating: PG
Characters: Combustion Man
Word Count: 498, complete
Summary: The boy sees with his Third Eye.
Notes: Written for avatar_500, prompt 'element.'
Third Eye
His mother worries the boy is feeble-minded. He has not yet started speaking. He shows no interest in playing with the toys his relatives give him or with the other children in the neighborhood. Most of the day, he sits and stares at nothing. When she speaks to him, he is startled, as though he were a scholar interrupted while immersed in studying an ancient text.
She takes him to the town doctor. The man can find nothing wrong with her son's throat or mouth or hearing. The boy proves he understands language when he does simple tasks as the doctor instructs him. The doctor says his mother shouldn't worry, that her son seems intelligent. He explains that some children are slow to talk and says she should encourage him but be patient. If he still hasn't started talking in half a year, she should come back.
She takes him to the Fire Sages in the island capital. They say her son behaves strangely because he sees with his Third Eye. The boy is absorbed in what he sees in the inner realms of existence. The Fire Sages say he has a rare gift, and that if he is trained to control it he will be able to balance the world outside and the world inside. They explain that, depending on how his ability develops, he could be of great importance in the Fire Nation some day, that the Fire Lord himself might want him to serve their country. The Fire Sages convince her to let him stay at the Temple.
The boy does not speak, does not reveal what he sees with his Third Eye. Promises of treats, threats, and punishments do not coax a single word from him. The Sages attempt to communicate with hand signals, but their questions go unanswered. They speculate as to what the boy's visions hold: knowledge of the future, distant places, the Spirit World, or some aspect of reality hidden from human eyes. The lead Sage says they may have to wait until the child learns to write to know the answer.
The youngest Sage, Dochin, is impatient and eager for distinction. He begins teaching the boy to open the fifth chakra, the sound chakra, believing this will get him to speak. The boy sits cross-legged on the floor of his room in the Temple, eyes closed. Dochin stands over him, talking about truth and lies, not knowing whether the boy understands.
Dochin does not know the boy is a fire bender. No one knows. Dochin does not know that attempting to open his chakras out of sequence will disrupt the third chakra, the fire chakra. The fifth chakra does not open, but the sixth--the light chakra, the Third Eye--is already open.
Fire shoots from the boy's Third Eye, striking the ceiling. Stone fragments shower the room. Dochin is struck on the head and killed. The boy sees no more visions and in time forgets he ever did.
--end