Chapter 107 - Chapter 109

Dragon arrived outside the little hut where Connor resided in. He turned around and bowed to Cassie that had been his guide this time.

"Thank you for taking me here and for the pleasant conversation. I had a great time." Dragon said and knocked on the frail and old looking wooden door that was barely hanging on.

"Come in, Master Dragon." Connors's voice rang out from inside as he was knocking. His tone was completely different than before. And Dragon noticed it before he even saw Connor's face. Just from his tone, he knew this was not a regular meeting.

Dragon walked inside the dimly lit hut. A single candle was carrying the heavy burden of lighting this entire space up. The little flame burned bright and stood tall, despite the burden resting on its fiery shoulders.

"Please sit down, Dragon." Connor used his hands to direct Dragon to the pillow on the ground in front of the water Grand Master himself. It was a simple-looking hut with a candle, two pillows and a tray with two small cups filled with some liquid.

"This looks more like a ceremony than a meeting between friends. What is going on, Connor?" Dragon wasn't nervous or even confused about the setup inside this hut. Connor had an entirely different aura about him.

Connor usually walked around and spoke like a warrior that had lived his life on the battlefield. But he now sat in front of Dragon with an aura of a proper elder. His tone carried weight and heavy responsibility. Something it didn't display before.

"Dragon, ever since you arrived here on the back of Orlando, and delivered my children to safety. I have been testing you. Though I believe you have noticed already." Connor said and patiently waited for a response.

"I did, to a degree notice that you had something other then curiosity driving you to challenge me to a sparring match." He smiled and relaxed a little now that he practically knew what this was about.

"Expected as much. I belong to a society. A secret one, that has existed for many years. One that stretches beyond borders of different nations. And in this society of ours, I have been tasked with finding the next member."

Connor took his hand out of his sleeve and placed something on the ground in front of him. It was a small circular wooden piece, with a symbol on it.

"White Lotus." Dragon closed his eyes and gave a small chuckle at the realization of what was happening.

"I'm glad you're already aware. I have travelled the world for this moment. Finally, I found someone that I believe is the perfect representation of what our order believes in. Before you leave this hut, you will either take this white piece, or you will leave it and never speak of this again."

Connor's tone of voice didn't change, but his eyes shun through with the meaning behind each word he spoke.

"Help break down borders and changing the future for the better. If I can be a part of it when that day comes, then I will have proof that I have become someone I am proud of being." Dragon picked up the piece and did a little sleight of hand for dramatic effect and the piece disappeared in his hand.

"Portgas D Dragon. Welcome to the Order Of The White Lotus." Connor reached behind him and took out a wooden board.

"Now, how about a game of Pai Sho?" He smiled and got a playful nod from Dragon in return.

----------

A few weeks passed inside this peaceful little water tribe village. Dragon was asked if he wanted to stay inside the village. But he declined, saying that he prefered to live outside. What he didn't tell them was that he lived in the air.

His flight technique allowed him to stay in the air for all eternity if he wished it. it wasn't magic, so it didn't drain stamina or his energy supply. His body was just weightless, so he barely even needed to concentrate to fly. He could sleep while floating and not fall down even ones.

Dragon was currently standing on a massive ice block that drifted around in the ocean. He learned air bending by connecting with the wind spiritually. And he would use the same approach to all elements because they all had their roots in the spiritual.

He was standing with a straight back and breathed in and out. He breathed in the cold, which represented the element, and he breathed out part of his spirit to mix it into the cold and become a part of the land.

Each intake of cold air would cause the water around the massive ice block to slam against the side of it. And every time he breathed out, the water that was slamming against the ice block would be shoved outwards in decently sized waves.

He had been doing this breathing exercise for two weeks now and finally, he started feeling himself becoming a part of the ice-cold land around him. He started feeling the emotions of the water, and he started sensing the movements of the fish in the ocean around him.

As he started to gain insight into water bending, he felt a new world open up to him. It was almost like a picture becoming more and more clear. With air bending, he had perfect vision in the sky. And now he started seeing the true world as he liked to call it.

He wasn't using his eyes to see his surroundings when he was flying. When he was intuned with the winds, he could close his eyes and still see further then his eyes had ever been able to. He believed the higher the mastery, the more of the true world would open up for him.

"Break!" Dragon said and slammed his foot on the block of ice he stood upon. And straight down and through the whole ice block a crack appeared and it split it in two. Dragon quickly took to the skies and watched the massive block break apart and create enormous waves that swept away all other smaller blocks in the water.

"Success!" He closed his eyes and tried to feel the water move, but it became increasingly harder to keep the connection with the water element when flying high above the water surface.

He closed his eyes as a smile made its way onto his face. He breathed out and caused an uproar among the winds constantly present around him.

"I'm no master yet, but it won't be long now."

--------------------------------------------------