Chapter 30: Hero by Necessity

The methods of information dispersal in this world were… evidently, very antiquated. We were still more than fifty years away from the invention of the radio, if I wasn't mistaken about the time Korra was born; ordinary messengers were agonizingly slow, and it was unlikely that every member of the White Lotus even had one at their disposal. That was why the Lotus members, by their own account, utilized specially trained messenger birds—Dragon-Hawks. These birds, native to the jungles of the Fire Nation, were used for ultra-long distances across the territories of Fire and Earth, and Shu actually owned one. It was a beautiful, proud creature; he sent it off with a letter directed somewhere toward the North… though I couldn't help but notice it moved considerably slower than my Afka. Considering I’d have to wait for it to reach its destination and then return with the necessary information, several days would pass. Consequently, a great deal of free time had opened up for me.

Since night had fallen and the old men were so exhausted from all the talking that they were practically falling over, they decided to retire to their homes. I was assigned a private room in the house, in the furthest corner, where the interior consisted of a single sleeping mat and that was it. But since I was tired, and this was still far better than that underground Hobbit hole I’d lived in for over a month, I didn't ask a single question. I climbed onto the mat, rested my head on the floor since there was no pillow, and stared at the ceiling. There was no light and no windows to offer even a glimmer, but the general cool and the sound of crickets drifting in from outside gave spending the night in the village a special atmosphere.

"I got lucky…" I couldn't believe my own words. The fact that Bumi had directed me to the members of the White Lotus, apparently seeing me as a worthy individual, was winning me over in every possible way. And with this came a new goal, meeting the leader of the Lotus. The old men hadn't mentioned his name, but I knew. Iroh, the best old man in Avatar. One problem: he never stays in one place, and he’s constantly accompanied by his nephew and a whole squad of fire benders. What were the chances I’d manage to meet him without trouble?

And also…

"The goals of the Lotus often intersected with the direct duties of the Avatars," I recalled the old men’s words. Some Avatars worked closely with the Lotus, and they, in turn, trained him. Not that I particularly wanted to train Aang, but I didn't have to; I could simply become the link between the two of them, turning Aang into a wiser bender who wouldn't have to wander aimlessly across the world wasting time searching for teachers. After all, if I helped, the war would end faster.

"Yes, I can use the Lotus to help the world. The sooner the war ends, the easier my life will be. And now… time for sleep." However, the moment I blinked, I saw two bright orange eyes hovering over me. If my fear weren't suppressed, I would have bolted upright and screamed… but common sense told me it was Afka. And for the love of a holy dog, I almost wished it had been a monster.

"Af."

"No, go away. I'll settle up with you for the help later."

"AFF!" She bared her teeth and moved closer to my face. She was… insufferable! The ginger fox-face wasn't going to wait for me to recover my wits to find a useful source of knowledge; she was forcing me to come up with something right now. Realizing fully that there was no hiding from a spirit and no way to shut her up, oh yes, I’d tried, I had to go outside and look up in total frustration at the full moon hanging in the sky.

Among all the sources of information I could pass to the Library, there were only the fairy tales of the Crystal Knight. But since versions of those tales were already in the Library, at least, that’s how Afka explained it, I had to go deeper. I needed to study everything myself and structure the information on Crystalbending.

Moving away from the village, under the satisfied gaze of the whiskered rat-fox, I removed my outer clothes and began to hone one of the few techniques that Crystalbenders had mastered almost to perfection: Levitation. An Earthbender, even a complete novice, could lift a rock from the ground and manipulate it at a distance; this standard move was used to provide momentum to a large chunk of stone, but that was it. No one studied how to hold a stone in one place for long enough, as it drained a lot of energy, just as no one tried to lift and hold a whole cluster of stones that way, because then they would be harder to throw. With crystals, one could devise a bit more.

Hoo…

"So that’s how King Bumi could control rocks at such a great distance from himself," I panted, sweat dripping from my muscles. Seven stones, not particularly large, were levitating around me, moving at roughly the same speed and gradually drifting further from my body. The ability to fight with remote blades, to hurl stones into an enemy’s back, that was the power legends were made of in this village. In truth, levitation could even be applied to flight, but it was too early for me to think about that. I strained, simultaneously thinking of how to optimize the process, planning to record this training on paper later.

Meanwhile, the fox was licking her chops mischievously. Given the late hour she’d dragged me out and what she was making me do… it seemed she wasn't even concerned about knowledge. Just me.

"Nymphomaniac."

"…R-r-r."

******

Rising in the early morning, the village began its lazy, flowing life once more. Children went off to play, the elders came out to their courtyards, and Shu and Yo, like men possessed, set up the Pai Sho board and began searching for where Dagoth had disappeared to. The young man wasn't in the room where they’d left him; the mat looked as though it hadn't even been slept on.

However, they didn't search for long. Just a couple of minutes later, entering the backyard, the knowledge-hungry elders saw a panting, sweat-drenched young man performing one-armed pull-ups. His biceps, large as heads, were flushed red from overexertion, and his face was contorted from the effort. But the elders froze in amazement at the object he was pulling himself up on. In the air, ten feet off the ground, hung a large crystal bar, completely unattached to anything.

The old men silently walked around it, verifying that it truly hung in mid-air, and scratched their heads.

"Whew," Dagoth finally descended, grabbed a nearby basin, and doused himself with water. Seeing their utterly bewildered, questioning looks, he gestured toward the floating bar. "Got stuck, the damn thing."

******

A few days in this village felt like an eternity. In the time free from conversation, I simply trained and structured the bending from local tales, recording it all into a coherent manual. But every day still began with me sitting on the porch with the elders, learning about this world through conversation with them. And since Pai Sho is for two, I watched from the side to avoid lying further. One could easily call the discussions old-man ramblings and a waste of time, but every member of the Lotus called it something else: the search for truth.

"Remember what you told us yourself. Long ago, all people were one; there was no division into nations and bending styles. We were all humans trying to gather together and live in peace. We don't try to reject things that are different; we accept and study them. Take the crystal, for example, it isn't earth in the literal sense, yet wise people found a way to master it, realizing that for the mind, there is no difference."

The topic somehow drifted toward the illusions every person creates in their head.

"It's easy to say there are no boundaries, but there are people, powerful ones at that, who want to settle the definition of 'different nations' in their own way. They force even more people into boxes," I said, following the thread.

"You mean the Fire Lord," Shu nodded, looking saddened. "In the past, harmony was maintained by the Avatar. Those who mistakenly thought power could only be achieved through conquest, he would direct into the channel of their own failures, dispelling their illusions. Although many Avatars previously only participated in the lives of the nations without understanding the boundaries they lived in, our Order began trying to break these preconceptions. We took it upon ourselves to train them, hoping he would unite the nations… but so far, no one has achieved this, and likely no one will in the future."

"We tried with many previous Avatars, it didn't work. That means we need a person who can break the illusions of others," Yo, the kind old man, looked grimmer than ever before. "Even if the Avatar were alive… I would advise the Order to try and handle it ourselves. We would all help the brave soul who decides to do it. But so far, no one has enough courage…"

They gave me so much food for thought that I didn't want to ask anything else. Over a week passed in this manner. When the messenger bird finally returned and I received the exact location of the circus, along with details of its future travel route, I had no choice but to pack my things and move on.

The circus, along with the Chi master I needed, was far to the north and was gradually moving down the coast of the Earth Kingdom toward the south. Toward me. I had time to visit all the places I wanted.

I said my goodbyes to the old men and set off. But a question still nagged at my thoughts.

"Afka…" I began, looking at a mark on the map. "Do you think if Bumi had dedicated his entire life to Bending, he would have been able to surpass his current status as the strongest? Could he have defeated the Fire Lord? He put his eccentricity into helping people instead of losing his mind to his power, which could very well have happened on the grounds of madness."

"Af."

"Didn't understand a word…" I chuckled sadly. Looking at Afka, I realized more and more that I wanted to learn how to talk to her. "Anyway, in the city of Gaoling, according to Bumi, I’ll learn how to fight and have fun. The place of underground fights and the home of the Beifong family…"

I wasn't about to start making grand proclamations, rush into battle against the Fire Lord, or become the leader of an entire army. But I will slowly strive toward stopping Ozai personally. And for that, at the very least, I need…

"Afka, shall we play Pai Sho at the next camp?"

"Af?"

"I begged a board off them. I want to learn how to read my opponents," I smiled.

Perhaps it was also a way to understand Afka. If not her words, then at least to learn to understand her desires.