It was ten minutes into their exploration that the first sign of trouble found them, not the lethal kind, but irritating was just as concerning as lethal.

"You have no idea where you're headed, do you, Zuko?" Before he could even answer, Lwazikazi spoke over him, "And why aren't you two saying anything?"

"Exploration doesn't have a destination Lwazi," Asive quipped, "you just go until you bump into something. Right?" She turned questioning eyes to Lukho, letting him pick up on the intelligence steering the conversation.

"Sure. Besides, my brother is not lost," he said as he slapped one hand on Zuko's shoulder, jostling him for a second, "he's following the wind."

"Precious Sky, save me. I'm surrounded by idiots."

Asive laughed a bit at the interaction, enjoying the lazy attitude running through the boys. There would be time to be wound up soon enough, but it was important to get joy in your system while you could. And while Lwazikazi was worried Zuko had no idea where they were going, she knew better, Zuko had been traipsing through the night with Lukho on many occasions. That little pond they fought over wasn't the only reason they roamed around while others slept. Not to mention, every time Zuko was unsure whether to go left or right, Lukho was giving him subtle signals from behind. They were having a laugh at Lwazi's expense, but it wasn't malicious, Lukho knew how to treat his friends. She did punch him in the arm and give him a side eye, however. They were dragging this out and their enchanter got wired up too easily. The man with the offended arm looked at her, received the unspoken words and then looked over at Lwazi, fine, his eyes seemed to say, then he moved to the front and took point. He had a destination in mind, secluded, and one their enchanter would absolutely love.

***

Lukho had kept them on a north north easterly direction for thirty minutes, having picked up the pace to cover more ground quickly, now he slowed down to a comfortable walk as they began to round a steep hill. The other two, Zuko and Asive, had fallen back, letting Lwazi take the lead. She had noticed the odd behaviour but her curiosity commanded her to shut up, some wicked fear telling her if she let her excitement show she'd be disappointed. She became even more exasperated when Lukho came to walk beside her, a playful smile on his lips and walking with hands behind his back. Now they were just being cruel, Lwazi thought, it is never fun to be the one left out of the joke.

Lukho kept his eyes forward as they went, seeming without a care in the world as they finally rounded the hill, veered to the right a few metres, pushed back grasping leaves and came across a sprawling sight before them.

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Lwazikazi's jaw was on the ground, lips quivering every few seconds as she tried to put what she was seeing into words. Before them was a field drenched in chi! It was so suffused into the environment it almost felt tangible; there was a thickness in the air akin to a humid day, an immediate feeling of fullness that was both satisfying and tiring. The chi across the field was so concentrated into individual things that they affected the area around them. There was an area pooling from a river that had a blinding mist around it, shadowed from the sun by a dense canopy that hugged it from the sky like a mother protecting her children. Where the sun managed to shine through was a vibrant foliage of plants that had grown well past any commonly referred size.

"H-how did you find this?" Lwazikazi finally managed to croak out after managing to wrench her gaze from the eyeful splendor.

Lukho had a glimmer in his eye as he answered her, not pulling his gaze from the scene before him, "There's a natural formation with this field as the focal point, it channels from three different directions," he pointed as if giving an enrapturing lesson to captivated students. "It's my first time seeing it like this, when I moved through here before all I could feel was the concentration of chi in this area. Now I see why."

"Where do we even begin?" Lwazi asked no one in particular as her greed wanted to grasp everything in sight but did not have enough hands for it. She was practically salivating at this point, her mind thinking back to every book she has ever read on the subject of enchanting. The possibilities brought on by this gift were staggering. She could choose a project that specifically needed one of the elements around her and she would not be short of resources, even if she may not find the specific ingredient she's looking for it would be trivial to find something to substitute with.

Caught in her reverie however, she found herself unprepared for the bucket of cold water thrown down her back, "Whatever you decide do it quickly. Lukho said there are three channels flowing into this area so we won't be the only ones here for long."

Lwazikazi looked at Zuko for five glacial seconds, drawing the others' attention, wondering when the constant liar had developed the thinking ability to say anything mildly intelligent. Even worse, he was right. It was time to get to work before they had to fight for everything around this place. As she took a step, she stopped and turned around to look at Lukho, thinking of a way to say thank you that would equal this gift she was given. This priceless start to her ascension that she would not have been able to acquire by herself. she thought and came up empty, but a honest heart is a weighty thing, and she settled for that, "Thank you, lukho. Truly. This is - just ... thank you brother."

"You're welcome, sister. Though I would remind you that it was not me who took us on this path," he looked at Zuko as he said this, who, at hearing his name spoken puffed up like a young lion with his first pride. Prideful and thinking he's doing it with regality but instead the nervousness of youth was showing below the gilded mane.

"Oh, yes, Zuko. Yes, you too," and she wondered off.

"I think that's the best I'm gonna get. Oh well." He moved off to a different direction, exploring the magic around him.