Chapter 103: Avatar Diary— Tested Patience
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Aang had questioned Wan how could the cruel treatment of Mokshi continue with the Avatar as the mediator for humans and spirit. To that came a reply that simply meant looking within and that's what he did, leading Aang to realize the memories of a peculiar Avatar.
"He tried to kill me, this had to be done."
Aang looked at the speaker.
The man looked primitive in the way he dressed and stood barefoot. Aang instantly felt that this man's origin was somehow of great importance to him but at the moment he didn't care even to ask his name and questioned, "Did Mokshi attack you? Or that outsider. Why must Mokshi suffer so much?!"
Unlike Wan who seemed defeated or Kuruk who seemed genuinely disinterested in the conflict, this Avatar had a face that seemed to contain Aang's anger. Sighing softly, the man responded, "Young Avatar, what do you think is the price of freedom?"
"Huh?"
Seeing Aang's confusion, Avatar continued, "Mokshi is a spirit. Spirits are living beings, too, but different from humans or animals. Similar to Vaatu or Raava, Mokshi is not the source of freedom but merely its outlet. Mother of Faces separated one into many and brought Raava and Vaatu into this world but does this mean that light and darkness weren't present? Does that mean opposing forces were not capable of sustaining in our world?"
Indicating the rhetoric to his question, the Avatar answered the next instant, "Wrong! Everything exists. However, Mokshi is a being too complicated to comprehend. Its source and origin are too contradictory to be considered... natural. It craves freedom but it assumes the goal by restraining itself. Mokshi is an offspring of Chaos and Order. It is the spoiled child of freedom, but it chases an illusion that even it realizes to be false.
Still, why do you think Mokshi hasn't given up?"
Aang was at a loss for words. This was his first spiritual rodeo, after all, but the information he had to digest and process was not only philosophically tedious but also mind-numbing.
"The essence of freedom lies in going against a destined path. Young Avatar, in a sense, you are free now. Your friends, too. But this pushes you into the dangers of variables. Mokshi suffers because it is the price of its freedom. It exists, and as long as it does, it will continue to suffer the brunt of fate that has been shifted."
"I... I don't get it. But Mokshi never demanded to exist—"
"But it demands to leave this world, doesn't it?" The man smiled gently, "Aang, cosmic energy of this world doesn't simply fade. It is converted. If something were to happen to you yet because of Mokshi's existence, you didn't experience a certain situation, it causes a shift in nature. The discharged cosmic and karmic energy is then dealt with the root of it all— Mokshi.
Of all Primordial Spirits, some have kept their indifference to the spirit. Some empathized. Some even devoured it and used it as a supplement.
However, there is one spirit who was the most affected yet remains completely in peace with Mokshi.
The Spirit of Fate— Crimson Thread."
Aang grew silent. He was now beginning to understand the underlying concept.
"Then... if Nik is an outsider, will he..." Aang looked sideways to view the corpse of the seventh outsider who attacked the Avatar but the man suddenly waved his hand.
"I'm afraid I can't know the future. The answer always lies within oneself. Besides, your friend is not going to last long so I suggest you make a move to Koh's... former cave." The Avatar smiled.
"What?" Aang frowned, "Now that you mentioned it, how do I reach Koh's residence?"
"In the spirit world, even time and space itself are relative. Look, aren't you here already?"
The man pointed behind Aang and as the boy looked back, he found himself standing on a narrow, rocky path over a swatch of swamp that lead to a ruined Cruiser with an equally giant wolf napping behind the cruiser. From bright blue, the sky had turned dull amber and from one particular opening of the ship, closer to the top of the control tower, Aang could make out flashes of golden light.
"Thank—" Aang turned around to thank the Avatar who led him here but the moment he looked back, he only found a desolate swamp and nothing more. Aang felt strange.
Was the Avatar really there? Or, did Aang already travel to this location while conversing with the man. Now a little experienced in how eccentric the spirit world is, Aang couldn't deny any possibility since as the tribal Avatar remarked, everything, including time and space is relative within the Spirit World.
Nothing is as simple as front and back, or up and down.
Sighing softly, Aang began to hurry towards the damaged cruiser when the eyes of the slumbering wolf opened for the first time.
*Grrr*
*Rumble*
The beast's mouth parted slightly to reveal its deadly maws as a low guttural growl escaped its being. As the wolf stood up, it was almost double the size of the cruiser itself. The pair of cruel eyes instantly bore into the quickly pacing Aang as he was forced to stop out of sheer intimidation.
"Return, Avatar. Interfere with this battle and I would have to make it a fair one by joining in, too."
The wolf's cold warning rumbled as the cruiser shook slightly. Although surprised, Aang gave a quick but respectful bow while cupping his fist, "Great Wolf Spirit, I must intrude no matter what. Let me pass, I request of you."
"Turn back, Avatar. My master's prey and its retaliation is nobody's concern but them alone. Or are you going to interrupt the primal rituals of us spirits to help a human?"
"Not just a human," Aang replied without an ounce of fear in his eyes, "A spirit, too."
"Then I shan't let you pass," the wolf began to move slowly as Aang suddenly rushed forward. But without his physical body in this world, Aang couldn't bend the elements. Well, he felt strangely empowered but the rules of bending dictated importance to the physical and spiritual side. With one absent completely, bending cannot be achieved.
He didn't have any sophisticated plan in mind but just that with the things he faced today, Aang was pretty sure that he wasn't alone. He simply couldn't be alone even if he tried. The life of Avatar, he thought it to be impossible but seeing and starting to barely comprehend multiple perspectives alongside his own adventures made Aang feel confident. Confidence that he seemed to have left in the Air Temple before escaping the place 100 years ago.
'Bending is a physical and spiritual concept. But it simply utilizes the energy generated from both. Spirit has its energy, too. If only I could...' Forced into this situation, Aang had to come up with something to contend with the giant wolf who seemed utterly at ease as the gigantic beast only began to turn even more towering as it walked closer to Aang and loomed over menacingly.
"Don't test my patience, Avatar. Leave." The wolf's growl thundered and the amber sky darkened considerably much to Aang's surprise. Yet, it only made him recall the words, no, the advice the tribal Avatar just gave him.
'Everything is relative in the spirit world!'
Aang's eyes widened. He seemed to have touched on a concept far greater than just the bending of the elements at this point. He recalled the memory of Raava being a spirit... full of energy.
"I'm sorry, I must still test it," Aang whispered in a daze as the wolf spirit found Aang's tattoos and eyes flickering with light as if he wanted to achieve something but subconsciously couldn't.
Aang kept running. He was only a few tens of meters away from the cruiser and the wolf finally opened its mouth and thundered—
"Leave and never come back!"
It wasn't an order or complaint but an attack!
The wind picked up and whipped against Aang as he was shot back against the rocky path. His small body... didn't receive any damage from getting dragged down the rocky path but the boy still felt weird. He looked down with a puzzled expression and found his hands slowly growing greyish fur.
"If you leave the spirit world in time, your spirit won't be corrupted by my essence and you will live. However, if you stay, once your astral projection is completely corrupted, you will die. Of course, the cycle wouldn't end here," the wolf whispered and advised this time, "For yourself, Avatar, leave."
"No," Aang grumbled and stood up.
Yet, he was increasingly nervous now.
The fur grew at a pace visible to the naked eyes and he couldn't help but frown. Thinking for a moment, Aang looked at the flashes of light within the command tower and grew determined.
"Sigh, you people are troublesome," the wolf sighed yet he couldn't speak for a second when Aang's speed grew... noticeable fierce.
'I see... the young one lacks the true form of bending, huh, but is beginning to pick it up just by constantly pushing his spirit. What a monster Raava really is,' the wolf narrowed its eyes, and a strange pressure leaked from its body that caused the surroundings to tremble. The swamp moved erratically, forming high tides as if it had turned into a sea.
Although stunned by the changes, Aang continued forth when he forcefully came to a stop. He had just begun to feel good as if he was able to bend again but that sensation faded once he focused on the tendrils of the swamp that caught him.
"I rule this part of the swamp and it is for me to call upon as I see fit. Goodbye, Avatar. I'm only so much patient."
The wolf gave a low chuckle as Aang hissed, "Wait a—"
"Uwaaahhh!"
His words extended to a strange screech as he was suddenly flung into the swamp with the tendril promptly pulling him inside for his stuffy demise.
'Oof,' Aang groaned. He didn't have any trouble 'physically' even now... however, he could feel the fur reaching his chest and thighs alongside the nape of his neck. His hands had turned into a wolf's paws. And as the Wolf Spirit warned, Aang was beginning to feel faint as if he was being devoured.
"I always thought that the spirits bent elements like us..." Aang muttered to himself as he was getting dragged further and further into the swamp as if it was unending.
"What do spirits bend to achieve such effect? I felt it for a second. I was doing something, or at the cusp of achieving something when I was suddenly stopped by the wolf spirit... just what is that feeling?"
Aang's brows knit tightly. While floating in the endless swamp, he was beginning to grasp something strange. Something he felt unimaginable but had witnessed numerous times today alone or heard of it.
From Koh's curse-like ability to steal faces to watching the sky change color at the wolf spirit's anger.
"So that's..."
---
"Katara, I know it's hard so I brought you something. I used to eat this with your grand—" Hama's words came to a stop as she saw the igloo empty except for a Sokka with a piece of clothing covering his face sitting silently. The old woman's eyes twitched as she stormed out of the residence and instantly pushed open Pakku's door where he was holding a short meeting with Yoki and other few benders to discuss the situation.
"She's not here. The Kyoshi girl and the gloomy one, too!" Hama's sharp opening statement made the group frown.
"They couldn't possibly be thinking of searching for Nik at such a time, right? Did they not hear what Rena said about the legend of the Face Stealer? It is said that even Avatar Kuruk couldn't defeat the vile spirit!" Yoki groaned and stood up while Rena lowered her head slightly, feeling out of the sort.
Who wouldn't?
You sleep with someone and the next day they lost their face?
It's enough to shock any compassionate soul.
Another individual barged in at this point in more hysteria than Hama.
Gasping for his breath, Tom-Tom shrieked, "Aang's getting covered in fur! Quick, old man, what should we do?"
Pakku blinked as he stood up and rubbed his forehead.
"Fur, you say?" The old bender grumbled, completely clueless himself while Hama frowned, "And what should we do about Katara and others?"
"I'll see to Aang... Yoki, bring some benders to search for them. And when you find them, bring them in even if they resist," Pakku scoffed while Hama looked at Yoki, "I'm coming, too. That girl... can be trouble."
'You mean those girls, right?' Yoki caught onto the lack of specification from Hama's side and sighed deeply as Pakku walked out and followed Tom-Tom. Still, the old mam refrained from making the boy panic further by revealing that his sister had suddenly escaped alongside Katara... or something more concerning— was taken away by a dark presence.
As Pakku walked into the igloo isolated for Aang, the old man's eyes widened in shock. Aang's tattoos were still glowing, or at least, the part that wasn't covered by greyish blue fur. His hands turned into dog-like paws while one side of his face, too, was completely covered, making him look like a nightmarish wolf-like creature with a single furry little dog ear.
"What... is happening?" Pakku felt his vision swim for a second as he promptly knelt down to evade the fate of falling unconscious.
There was a stifling pressure emanating from Aang and a foreign presence that could only be sensed by the enlightened as Tom-Tom quickly helped Pakku up, even more worried at this point.
However, under his diminishing presence, Pakku heard soft whispers.
It was from Aang as he mumbled.
His tattoos suddenly glowed even more fiercely than before and the fur began to shed at a pace quicker than they grew.
"So that's... spirit."
His eyes snapped open. A small swirl of snow instantly grew around Aang as his eyes revealed glowing eyes of pure strength as Pakku and Tom-Tom were instantly pushed away.
---
Aang felt something snap. Something that seemed to leash his current self suddenly... broke apart when he realized what was going on.
His tattoos glowed fiercely.
The swamp bubbled... in fear.
His eyes opened... with impatience far greater than the Wolf could have estimated as the swamp began to form a whirlpool as Aang began to float. Soon, he flew out of the swamp with his body no longer covered by fur.
"Avatar!" The wolf spirit howled, "Do not break the balance out of selfishness!"
"Wolf spirit," Aang's voice seemed to be layered at this point, rage, advise, love, terror, hope— it seemed to be filled with emotions as the boy continued, "Don't test my patience and generosity."
Aang extended his hand as his body suddenly gave a burst of blue light!
The dull amber sky shifted its color and turned lively blue-green.
Swamp dried and solidified as vegetation began to sprout around Aang while the giant wolf spirit began to... lose its stature.
The once giant wolf slowly turned smaller and smaller until it could only look up to the Avatar figuratively and literally as Aang walked past the 'dog' and entered the cruiser. It was a mere jump and he passed through the physical confinement of the metal being an astral projection himself.
There, Aang, or whoever he was at this point, saw Nik barely standing. The bloodied man leaned against a seat alongside a rock stick in his hand while holding up a mirror with a shivering hand that refused to let down and faces after faces peeled off of the eery and horrifying creature.
"I see... Ummi, my love, you would really be free now..." Aang's voice turned soft. His tone gentle and loving and deep within, Aang found himself watching Kuruk... bowing to Nik. No, Aang observed something else. Kuruk was blowing to a purple orb within Nik, too.
"Aang, I'm going to tell you something. When it comes to healing, the quality of water is also an important aspect of the profession. If the spirit oasis still exists in the North Pole, then healing your friend completely except for the knee is a child's play... as for his knee, ask Kyoshi about it. For now, I can't break the concentration of the youth so... use blood to heal wounds.
Once it's over, just take him back using the route discovered by Koh's watchdog."
Kuruk smiled and Aang, in the spirit world, suddenly raised his hand as the pool of blood around Nik suddenly coiled around Nik, and under Aang's control, provided an emergency treatment. Yet, the Avatar didn't leave. Not only Aang, but every spirit connected to him watched with an intent gaze as face after face was... stolen back from Koh.
---
"He should be here! He should be! Sokka was here, too!" Katara huffed as she continuously dug deeper and deeper into the ice. Suki and Mai were looking around, too, not far from this location.
Although things seemed hopeless, it was simply too quick to give up.
Although the situation was strange and honestly out of their league due to how mysterious everything felt, Katara couldn't help recall her experience in the fog of lost souls.
'If you feel helpless... just ask for help? How hard can it be?' Nik's chuckle seemed to give Katara courage as she quickly looked back. However, seeing the blank scape of ice and snow, Katara fell gravely disappointed.
Suki had a terrible expression, too. Nik saved her life. He... brought joy to her more than just that.
'Even if he claimed not knowing of honor... he's only ever tried to help. It was easy to see that at some moments, he wasn't even genuinely interested but he still did help. And now he needs our help but...' she bit her lips.
"Avatar Kyoshi... please look after him," Suki whispered.
Meanwhile, not too far away from Suki, Mai moved around idly.
'I do feel bad for Katara... but the snow is too white... it's hurting my eyes,' Mai walked aimlessly and after a few seconds, she stopped completely while walking up a small snowy mound.
'A great contrast...' Mai hummed thoughtfully as she saw a patch of blood-red over the wide expanse of white. If she were a poet, she would be inspired but she wasn't, and seeing Nik lying in the middle of the bloody patch with his entire being soaked with blood and a suspiciously familiar golden framed mirror in his hand, Mai silently looked back and seeing that no focus fell over him, she discreetly walked down the mound and soon towered over Nik.
'Too easy...' Mai muttered internally and took out a small blade from within her sleeve and knelt down with an apathetic expression.
Just a few seconds later Suki walked closer and yelped in shock—
"Mai! What the hell are you doing?!"
Mai looked back, blood covering her hands as she remarked offhandedly, "What do you think I'm doing? Look at these deep claw marks. I'm providing an emergency bandage."
Without another word, Mai tore her other sleeve, revealing a set of needles belted around her wrist as she knelt down and covered Nik's neck suspiciously tighter than other parts just out of pettiness while Suki stood to witness it in a daze.
"Katara! Mai found Nik!"
***
A/N: Energybending is all about having firmer willpower. When Aang entered the Avatar state temporarily, he defeated the wolf and now lost in strength, the wolf instantly fell into a weaker state and turned weak itself. As stated, everything is relative in spirit world and so is the wolf's stature. If it's strong, it's big. If weak then small.
This marks the end of the very first deep dive into the spirit lore of avatar. I know the chapters are inconsistent but it's only because I'm currently pushing one chap a day on patron and accumulating it there before posting public. Really sorry about that but this had to be done.
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