Avatar: The Legend of Tummo
Introduction
A full cycle has passed since Avatar Wan. It's been nearly 400 years and the people of the four nations have fought amoung each other to establish the earliest of the four nations founding governments. The great Lion Turtles housed the humans in the physical world and were their protectors giving humans temporary abilities over the elements while they were away from the cities of the Lion Turtles. Yet even still not much is known about the origin or the amount of Lion Turtles that existed. One thing man did know is that the Lion Turtles had first given them thier abilities. With the completion of the first Avatar cycle and the beginning of the first female firebender, much of the world is still not even aware or even convienced of the Avatar's existince. To the humans, the spirit world was a world of legend and the Lion Turtles were their gods. Those with the power to bend the elements quickly rose to power. Benders began to enslave nonbenders and then quickly turned on eachother. Wars plaque the world and the Avatar is their only hope of bringing back balance.
Book 1: Fire
Chapter 1
After the Lion Turtles parted the physical world the humans began to inhabit the wilds. No longer inhabited by spirits, humans began to build civilizations and a religion based on the Lion Turles of old. The Sun Warrior tribe where descendents of the Yang Fire Lion Turtle. Every Lion turle not only held it's own element, but was also either male (yin) or female (yang) energies. The Chi of the Great Turtles held power over how the societies of each civilization formed. Yang represents the female energy, and in the Society of the Sun Warriors, the Dragon High Priestess was the head monarch. She was the only one that could talk with the Great Dragons, Ran and Shaw. The Sun Warriors had been the first civilization to leave their lion turtles before Wan was born, for the Sun people made a pact with the great winged Dragons that if they protected them against spirits, the Sun Warriors would protect the Dragons from humans and so they did. As for everyday government, the Chieftan assumed role of keeping order. Tummo, the newest Avatar, was born to the Chieftan of the Sun Warrior tribe, Chief Garuda, and she was to be his only child. A dark prophecy was told by Ran and Shaw on the day of Tummo's birth.
The great masters, Ran and Shaw, said to the Chief, "Her mother will not live, for she gives birth to a great tremendous power. But, be warned, one day she will be the one to rid the world of the magic of the Lion Turles, forever." The Chieftan was very scared of this prophecy and so were the people of the Sun Warriors. The High Priestess decreed that she must never be harmed, for the prophecy was for Tummo to bear.
Growing up, Tummo was not treated like the other children of the Sun Warriors, and she didn't know why. Nobody was nice to her, but on the other hand, nobody was mean to her either. Nobody, except her best friend, Rakta. Rakta was the youngest daugher to the old highpriestess. Rakta's eldest sister being the current high Dragon Priest. Everybody had always been more or less intimidated by the high stature her family was given in society and like Tummo, had nothing to do with them. Those of the highest order of the Sun Warrior clan were treated like royalty or even 'gods'. Respect was maintained in a very shut way. Classism ruled the Sun Warriors. Gardners, Berry pickers, and crafts man held the lowest in the class, for they where not benders. The Warrior class was the highest, they were the benders and they hunted the meat for their tribe. The highest class of Sun Warriors are Chieftan and Dragon Priestess. Married only by law, they never lay together, they took their own partners to have children with and society saw them in a form of marraige. The monarchy of the Sun Warriors to the people of the sun warriors was first established by the great dragons that deemed a Chieftan or High Priestess worthy of the title.
At the age of twelve every Sun Warrior citizen must be tested to see if they are worthy of being taught the art of fire bending. Each must take the immortal flame the long journey from the Sun Temple to be presented before Ran and Shaw, the Great Dragon Masters. Every Sun Warrior citizen has gone through this tradition. But for Tummo, she will never be tested, and she was purposefully not allowed to attend the ceremonies. Her father, Chief Garuda, made it law that no one would ever teach Tummo how to firebend. After several years, and each day Tummo's best friend being taken away for school while Tummo is taken to private lessons, she begins to question the difference in their teachings.
Tummo's teacher and handler, Upaya, was the old highpriestess before her own eldest daughter assumed the mantle with the passing of the last chief. Upaya bring's Rakta over to the Sun Temple hall where Tummo lives.
"Hey! Rakta!" Tummo shouts down the great steps of the Sun Temple.
"Hey Tummo!" Rakta replies smiling. She then leaps up the steep stairs towards the top leaving her mother Upaya behind as she scales the temple two steps at a time.
Breathless, she reaches the top of the steps.
"..hey...Tummo...", Rakta says to Tummo as she puts her right hand on Tummo's back and the other on her own knee.
"Rakta, let's go, I want to show you a game I made," Tummo said to Rakta.
They both sped off down the main hall of the Sun Temple right past Chief Garuda as he comes up to the end of the Main hall to peer down the steps. By this time Upaya had made it up and the two girls had already made it down the hall way to Tummo's chambers.
"Hello my priestess, " Chief Garuda gestured to Upaya.
"Hi Chief...", Upaya replied with a weary smile, " I'm never going to get use to those steps."
"Haha, I don't suppose any of us ever do, and at our age, it only seems to get worse," the chief chuckled in response.
Upaya laughed, "Yeah I suppose you are right... Well, lets not stand on social etiquette, I guess we have some business to discuss with the council."
"That is correct. Come, the great warriors have already gathered and we will discuss our plans before the highpriestess takes our words before the Masters."
Upaya noded in response and they both headed back down the main hallway to the Great Sun Room.
Chapter 2
" Tummoooo... I don't want to play your made up board game anymore..." Rakta said while lazily tosing a Pai Sho piece across the stone floor.
"Hey! Watch it! I carved these pieces by hand, " Tummo fires back in response as she crossed the room to retrieve the Pai Sho piece. She picked up the piece and began to dust it off. All the while, she kept thinking about the other day when she saw Rakta fire bend.
"Rakta", Tummo asked softly.
"What", Rakta responded.
"Will you show me your fire bending" Tummo questioned.
Rakta sat up and looked at the back of Tummo's head as Tummo still abscent mindely rubed her foot across the stone floor of her chambers.
"Why?" Rakta asked with slight curiosity.
Tummo swiftly turned around, " Cause I love to see it!"
She had responded with such glow and facination in her eyes that Rakta couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha, why do you care so much? Can't you do it?"
"No..., for some reason I can't." Tummo said while loosing all the excitement that had just filled her face. "And I don't undertand why, I'm the chieftan's daughter, I'm the daughter of the Sun Chief and the High Preistess, I should be able to bend!"
"It's okay Tummo, not everyone can bend" Rakta replied tying to calm Tummo.
"Easy for you to say, you can bend, and they try to teach you too! Nobody tries to teach me!" Tummo responded, now getting teary eyed.
Rakta thought for a moment and then she leaped up.
"Come on Tummo, if no one will show you how, then I will!"
"Chief Garuda, Priestess Upaya, we thank you for your prescence in resolving this manner," the head of the High Order of the Sun Council, Counciler Ou, adresses the Chief and Upaya as they enter the Sun Room.
"We love more than to do so Counciler Ou", Upaya replies.
They all took seats at a long stone desk decorated with Sun Warrior Table Clothes and a map of the known world. Five sat on the council including the Counciler. They are joined by the Highpriestess who sits at the head of one end and the current Chieftan who sits at the other end. The Counciler sits in the middle and the past Highpriestest sits at the right hand of the current High Priestest. The Sun Warriors greatest warrior sits at the left hand of the Chief and the other two are the personal protectors of the Counciler, Speaker of the Sun people.
"As you may have heard, fire nations of the South in the Islands are killing dragons at an alarming rate. We were tasked as a people to protect the great dragons. We can not let this go on without intervention." - The Counciler started.
"I understand the need to help the great dragons counciler, but we are already weak and spread thin as it is with the attacks from the Earth generals to the east and the Fire Pirates off the coast of the islands to the south. We can't get close enough to the islands to even talk to the patrons that live there." the chief replied.
"We may be running thin on warriors chief, but let us not forget it was the great dragons that built this city! Let's not forget that they trusted US with the protection of them! Let's not for..."
The chief cuts in "- LET'S NOT FORGET PART OF THAT BARGAIN IS THEY PROTECT US FROM THE SPIRITS!"
The Sun room grew quite as his words echoed through the great halls.
After a short pause, the highpriestess, Nyima responded, "Gentlemen, we must understand you are both right. We need to protect the dragons, but we also must now protect our own people too. Let us seek council with the Masters so we may find the best course of action to over come this delimia." The Highpriestess, Nyima, spoke with such lovely and soft tones, that the men couldn't help to feel childish for getting worked up.
"She's right, we must seek council with the Masters. Tonight is the night of Eternal Flame, after the ritual, the masters may be sought so that they are not disturbed more than they have to." The Counciler says.
"Very well," the chief replies, "we will conveign again tomorrow to discuss the masters' words."
They all noded in agreement.
"Speaking of the Ceremony of Eternal Flame, is this the year your youngest daughter is to be judged Upaya?" asks the Counciler
"It is," response Upaya.
"A marvalous time that is! And how about you Chief, when will Tummo take the test?"
"She won't," the chief said bluntly.
"Oh... that's a shame that the only daughter to the chieftan won't be seen if she is chosen to be worthy by the masters."
The chief cut his eyes at the counciler.
"...TH that's becuase the Chief was already told of her worth at her birth, Counciler." Upaya cut in in order to stop another emotional outbreak by the chief.
"Oh, how could I have forgotten," the counciler sneared, "the Great Prophecy" he said in sarcastic tone. "I guess we will just all see about that some day won't we? Or as most of us think, will never see. And you will have let your daughter and her ablilities waste away.
"Counciler, that isn't for you to decide." highpriestess Nyima intervined.
"Either way,..." the counciler corrected his harsh tone, "until tomorrow evening, May the Sun ever shine on it's people."
"May the Sun ever shine on it's people"
Chapter 3
Tummo and Rakta raced around the Sun Garden in the back courtyard of the Sun Temple kicking a red bouncy ball filled with air. In the back garden there were two walls with hoops at the very top middle part of the walls. The girls attempted to kick the ball through the hoops but always keep getting just a little short of the hole.
"Shoot, when are we gonna get a goal?!" Rakta said defeated.
"I know, that's why I wish I could fire bend! I would shoot it off like a dragon with fire coming from it's butt!" Tummo exclaimed.
The girls burst into laughter and as they fell on the ground together in the middle of the court. They stared at each other as they picked at eachother's garments and hair.
Rakta and Tummo had always thought themselves as sister. What they didn't know is they were half sisters but the way the were always together, most thought they were full blood sisters anyhow. Other than eachother's face paint and height, the two girls looked very similar. Rakta was several inches taller than Tummo and a little thinner too, but they both had long thick black hair. Tummo kept a small pony tail while the rest of her hair fell a little past her shoulders, while Rakta kept all of her hair up in bun. They both wore tunics made of crimson red with gold trimming. The clothing was very light and exposed the girls bellies. Gold bands adorned the upper arms and ankles of the girls and only Tummo had gold braclets at her wrists as well.
"What if you heated up the air in the ball?" Tummo asked Rakta.
"What do you mean?" Rakta questioned back.
"Like when you have a lantern over a candle and it floats." stated Tummo.
"Hmm, do you think would work? Rakta asked.
The girls got back to their feet.
"Try this, I'll kick it to you, and when you kick it, just slightly heat the air in the ball just enough for it to be lighter." Tummo explained.
"Okay, Ill try," responded Rakta.
The girls got in formation, standing a few feet away from eachother. Tummo placed her foot on top of the ball and dragged it downward towards the ground making the ball roll backwards and up on top of her foot. At the same time she popped her toe up causing the ball to fly up waist level. Tummo then juggled the ball up with her knees.
"Get ready", Tummo said to Rakta who was watching, knees bent and eyes fixed on the ball.
As Tummo watched the ball fall towards her feet she kicked it straight towards Rakta. Rakta heard Tummo give the que and she took in a quick breath, clapped her hands and stepped back on her left foot. Tummo kicked it and Rakta whipped her left leg around backwards in a 360 degree motion kicking the ball up towards the hole. The ball sailed towards the hoop at the top of the south wall and hit right in the center.
"THUDDD"
"Ahhh man Tummo... hahahaha, WE GOT THE BALL STUCK!" Rakta proclaimed.
They both then fell down on the ground laughing and crying because the excess heat in the ball had caused the ball to expand and no longer fit through the hole.
"Wow, who would have thought..." Rakta said.
"I know..." Tummo replied, but with a tone that hinted that boredom was setting in agian. "Hey, lets go listen in on the Sun Warrior Council.
"Phhfftt, those old hags sitting around talking about nothing? Why?" Rakta replied picking herself back up off the ground and dusting the dirt from her crimson and gold trimmed robes.
"Mmm I dont know," Tummo fiddled with a small pebble on the ground, "something to do?"
"I guess we can. I want to be there as soon as mom's ready anyhow, I can't wait for the Ceremony of the Eternal Flame tonight." Rakta said.
"Whatever, are you still going to stay with me tonight after the ceremony? I want to go fire fly catching." Tummo said, unenthusastically.
"Duhhh! But I don't know why you aren't going to the ceremony too." Rakta responded.
"...Who cares about that old ceremony... anyways, lets go." Tummo returned with a voice of envy.
The girls went up the curvy stairs of the back of the Sun Temple out of the Court Yard to make their way back to the Interior of the Sun Temple and made their way back to the main hall and continued down towards one of the outer rooms of the main Sun Room.
"I wonder how long they're all gonna talk this time" Rakta said to Tummo.
" I don't know. I gues..." She was cut off by the sound of her father shouting.
"PART OF THAT BARGAIN IS THEY PROTECT US FROM THE SPIRITS!"
Tummo had stopped mid sentence by the sound of her father shouting. It was something she herself had never heard before. Her father had always seemed quite and serious to her and truth be told she was very intimidated by her father. So when she heard her father shout for the first time it sent a chill up her spine.
"Wow, I guess things are getting serious", Rakta said in a way that sounded like she didn't really care.
Rakta speaking brought Tummo back to the real world. She didn't know what Rakta said, but she was glad she said something. Tummo had a bad feeling in her stomach and didn't know why. Rakta had started talking to Tummo again but Tummo didn't really "hear" anything she was saying.
"Shh".
"What?"
"SHH," Tummo motioned with her finger, "I want to hear what they're saying."
Tummo pressed her head against the door between them and the Sun Room.
"" Speaking of the Ceremony of Eternal Flame, is this the year your youngest daughter is to be judged Upaya?"
"It is."
"A marvalous time that is! And how about you Chief, when will Tummo take the test?"
"She won't."
"oh... that's a shame that the only daughter to the chieftan won't be seen if she is chossen to be worthy by the masters."
"...TH that's becuase the Chief was already told of her worthyness at her birth, Counciler
"Oh, how could I have forgotten, the Great Prophecy, I guess we will just all see about that some day won't we? Or as I think it, we will never see and you will have let your daughter waste away. Either way,... until tomorrow evening, May the Sun ever Shine on it's people."
"May the sun ever Shine on it's people" "
Tummo turned to Rakta with a pale white face. "Did you hear that," she asked.
"I did," Rakta said with a surprised expression.
"What...why would the couciler even bring me up?" Tummo asked.
"I don't know... maybe he likes you," Rakta mocked the counciler and made kissy faces towards Tummo.
"Shut up!" Tummo replied and smiled at Rakta, and she planned on dropping the subject. Tummo knew Rakta wasn't really interested, but Rakta always seemed to be distant and uniterested in everything. Tummo envied this about her friend, because Tummo worried all the time about things out of her understanding and she didn't know why.
"Well, I'm gonna go Tummo. You should still come to the ceremony to see me, but if you don't I understand." Rakta interupted.
" I might... I don't know. It just, I don't get why I can't carry the fire and present it to the masters too." Tummo said.
"Either way, Ill see you after the ceremony. I promise I'll come right over to tell you about it." Rakta said standing up.
"Good!" Tummo replied. They both smiled and hugged as Rakta turned to leave the room. Tummo stayed in the room and pondered the counciler's words. They echoed in her mind as the sound of her father's shouting voice comes back in her. She shook her head and the voices left.
Chapter 4
As night fall approches so do the children chosen by the Sun Warriors to carry the Eternal Flame to the temple of the Masters. The villages of the Sun Warriors had already gathered at the lower platform to play the sacred song. As the young students approached the lower platform, the drums started up. Deep and beating hard, the Warriors would jump high in the air and come down to hit the big drums. The Villigers danced around the great fire that the Greatest of the Sun Warriors had started from the Eternal flame. The Sun Warriors took turns doing the motions of the Dance of the Dragons around the fire. The Young Students started their ascent to the cross walk to be judged by the Masters. Tummo was hidden high on a ledge of the rock face of the cavern in which the masters' temple is built. Staying hidden in the ledge of a jut of rocks, she eyed her father, Upaya, and Rakta, the first in line up the stairs. Once all the young ones had reached the top of the ledge, they all bowed and held out their offering of the sacred Eternal flame. At once, the drums hit in unison and stopped. The drums could be heard ringing off the walls of the canyon for several seconds.
Counciler Ou came to the base of the steps and held his arms up high above his head. All of the earth seemed to have fallen silent.
"GREAT MASTERS, COME FORTH AND MAKE YOUR JUDGEMENT UPON YOUR PEOPLE!"
Silence again as the Counciler's words rang out in the canyon depths. Then, the ground everywhere started to shake, tremble, and then quake. Rocks started to fall from the sides of the Canyon and the drums started to play again. This time twice as fast as they played before, and even faster and faster as the ground seemed to shake more and more. Then all of a sudden out of the tops of the peaks on each side of the long platform and on each side of the canyon walls a Giant Red Dragon and a Giant Blue Dragon flew. As they flew up they breathed their fire, great, wonderful, terrible, bright and blinding. Tummo stayed frozen in spot out of both fear and awe. She dare not moved for she could feel that the great masters already knew she was there but the dragons continued flying inbetween the young students, spewing their fire as they flew. The students then started to do the Dance of the Dragons form. At the very end of the sequence, they were all in a circle facing outward as the Great Masters landed on the sides they had come out of. They stared at the students. They stared with cool, firey eyes. Eyes that seemed to judge them through their entire past lives. Eyes that had seen all of time and could never be surprised by it's secrets. Both of the dragons mouths open and fire started to build in their jaws. Tummo saw and was terrified that they had been judged harshly. Tummo screamed out right as the dragon's fire surrounded the young students. Tummo lost her footing in the rock and had lost all sense that she had been hiding in the wall the whole time. She had lost where she was, then... she lost conscienceness.
"You're lucky to be alive."
Tummo recognized her father's voice as she started to wake up. Her eyes where blurry as she started to feel around where she was.
"Don't move.", her dad said, "you fell from the canyon wall and broke both legs and your back."
Tears started to flood Tummos eyes as she began to remember the ceremony and the thought that her bestfriend had been consumed in a firey death.
"Is Rakta okay?" Tummo asked.
"Rakta?! Of course she's okay, why wouldn't she be?"
"I saw..."
"You saw the ceremony and you had no idea what was happening. I told you not to come and you didn't listen. Now you see what has happened when you don't listen to your father and your chieftan. If any other villager had disobeyed my orders, you know what the result would be."
Tummo slumped back down, "I'm sorry.."
"No, You could have died! You will be guarded at all times. Don't disobey me again." Cheif Garuda stomped out of Tummo's bed chamber as two gaurds followed in behind him and stood watch. Tummo fell back to sleep.
Chapter 5
"Tummo, it's been two years since your accident, when are you gonna walk again?" Rakta questioned.
"I don't know, the Shamans say I might never walk again."
"What do those old dirty hags know." Rakta jested, " anyways, how's your training going?"
"Oh great... yeah, I sit and meditate, or I move my hands and think about breathing... It's super interesting let me tell ya." Tummo replied.
"Sorry, I wish I could come over more, but you know... with firebending training they don't let us have much of a break at first."
"Yeah, I know, it's alright." Tummo sat cross legged on a pillow that she was put on 5 hours before. She couldn't feel anything from the waist down so it didn't hurt to stay seated for that long. But for the first time in awhile she felt like getting up and walking.
"I don't understand why I can't make my legs just MOVE." Tummo said poking at one of her legs. "Do you like having a dragon of your own now?
"Yeah, it's not too bad." Rakta had recieved at the ceremony a dragon egg in which the Masters choose her flame to be the flame to heat and hatch the egg. Each generation gets on dragon egg to be raised with the Sun Warrior the Masters choose and they will be bond by soul and life. When the masters Ran and Shaw choose a warrior to be given an egg, that warrior get's the honorary title of "Dragon". Much like the bond of the Avatar, the spiritual bond of the Dragons and the Sun Warriors has been as long as time. And if the master of a dragon dies, so does their dragon.
"How about you? How do you like your Fire Rooster?"
"Oh Chabo?," Tummo replied, "Chabo is awesome. I mean, how can you not like a little chicken that crows fire?"
"Haha, Good point! And he is very handsome," Rakta commented stroking his breast feathers. Chabo gives a small crow that lets out a tiny flame.
"How CUTE?!", Rakta expresed. "Tummo, I'm sorry, I have to go. I have to get back to the fire fields for practice."
"It's alright, Ill see you soon" The two hugged and Rakta left.
Tummo stared at the ground where Rakta was once standing for a little while and then pet Chabo.
"Alright Chabo, time to go to the Spirit World."
Tummo moved her legs back to Lotus Position and put her hands together at the finger tips with her palms up. She focused on her breathing and relaxed her body. Her vision went into a vortexal spin and when she shut and opened her eyes. She was in the Spirit World.
Tummo stood up in the spirit world. Here the rules that governed her body in the material world did not apply and she could walk. Tummo started going to the Spirit world when she thought she had dreamed about being there when she had been knocked unconciense from falling from the canyon wall. For a long time Tummo didn't realize that the world that she played in was not her dreams, but a bigger real world filled with spirits that have lived all time. She went there and shared tales and had long conversations with an owl she had made friends with. The owl said his name was Wan Shi Tong, and that he knew Ten Thousand things. He and Tummo would play Pah Sho in the spirit world for days on end. Tummo liked the Owl, for he had really good stories. He would tell her stories he heard from the Immortals and stories from the Gurus of man. He told of one story of a man in a cave in which he said was his favorite. Wan Shi Tong was just a spirit until one of the Eight immortals came to him in the spirit world and shared with him the story of the man in the cave, after the story, Wan Shi Tong's lust of knowledge and wisdom was flamed.
"Tummo"
"Yes Wan?"
"I want to tell you my favorite story."
"Go ahead Wan, I love your stories." Tummo started to lay out the Pah Sho pieces as Wan poured more tea for the two.
"There once were three men in a cave. They are all bond by their hands and feet to a rock in which all they can see is a wall. Behind them is a fire that is casting shadows on the wall. All of their life these men have been bonde here, never to move, staring at the same wall. To them, the wall was their whole life and they knew nothing outside of this wall. One day a great earthquake shook the land and one of the men became free from his bindings. After he was free he began to look behind him and noticed he was in a cave and the shadows that he saw only came from the fire that blazed behind them. He then stood up and walked out of the cave to see this great big world living and going on all around him. Excited he rushed back to the other men still bond. He told them of all the great things he had seen, but they didn't believe him."
"That's a great story Wan"
"It's my favorite, and it made me realize my calling too."
"What's that?" Tummo questioned.
"I want to build a center for knowledge, a place where all the spirits can come and share what they know and catalouge the knowledge so that generations from now can always learn from the mistakes of the past, so they don't have to make them in the future," Wan replied.
"Wow, that is a very noble idea! You should totally do it."
"Great! I just might, and when I do, I shall put your game in the knowledge too! I have never played a better game."
The two continued to play. Wan, having a very keen mind could see all his moves as soon as the other person played and was able to move immediatly after Tummo, but Tummo on the other hand was still only human and had to think about her move lomger than Wan Sha Tong did.
"I want to hear a story Wan," Tummo said, " I want to hear how you came to know ten thousand things."
"OOhhh, that's a good story too," Wan replied, "Well, it all starts with the Spirit Tree. "
"What is the spirit tree?"
"The spirit tree is where all of life both physical and spiritual began. Even after the portals to the spirit world were closed to man, the tree of life still trancends those boundaries, just like the Avatar.
"The Avatar?"
"The Avatar is the bridge between the physical world and the spiritual world. Being both human and a spirit, the Avatar protects all."
"Wow... I wish I could meet the Avatar, I bet they are really powerful"
"The Avatar IS powerful, but above that, the Avatar is compasionate."
"So about this tree.."
"Oh yes, the tree. The Spirit tree is what let me see ten thousand things. It is at the roots that the tree holds all the secrets of life. Things that have been and things that are, the tree knows. As I meditated I saw all the lives that came before me and all the lives after until the time I had sat. I felt every lifes loves and pains. The tree's roots grow to the heart of the earth and into the hearts of every livingbeing."
"Could I see the tree?" Tummo asked Wan.
"Of course, anybody can see the tree, you and I are the tree. Everything is."
"No I mean, can I also meditate at the tree?"
"Oh, yes I don't see why you couldn't"
"OOOOO, Can we go now?" Tummo asked excitedly
"Well... can we finish the tea and our Pai Sho game first?" Wan pleaded.
"Haha, Yeah, but you are going to win anyhow." Tummo stated.
"I know." Wan said with a slight smile.
Chapter 6
Wan and Tummo decided to visit the Spirit Tree, or the Tree of Life. Tummo climbed onto Wan and Wan took them to the heart of the Earth and the center of the Spirit world. Flying through the Spirit plane, Wan pointed out several places in which he warned Tummo to never go. She remembered him pointing out a canyon with allot of fog, a very dark mountain said to hold a goddess whose son steals faces, a big tree by that held Vatuu imprisoned and a very exasperated Spider Scorpian. Tummo made mental notes to avoid these locations in the future. Wan then showed her were he planned on building his great Library. After he showed her the tree of his birth and the future home of the Library he then took her to the spirit tree.
Tummo climbed off Wan's back to see a big tree whose branches spand hundreds of feet out and whose roots can be seen growing miles away. She noticed the leaves where a perfect green. She had never seen a tree that seemed to be in such good health. She even swore she could feel the tree breathing and giving her breath at the same time.
"Go and meditate at the roots and the tree will share with you her secrets." Wan motioned to Tummo.
Tummo did as Wan said and walked over and climbed up to the top of the roots to sit with her back to the trunk of the tree. She came to sitted position and closed her eyes. As she took a deep breath she felt the great tree eshale, and when she exhaled, the tree inhaled and BOOM! A great flash of light as all of time came flooding into Tummo's minds eye much quicker than she could process and she became excited. She came back almost as fast as she went in and she looked up at Wan.
"It worked for a second but then I got kicked out." Tummo said blinking her eyes.
"You can have emotion when you connect with the tree. As a spirit can't have physical form to meditate with the tree, also the physical can not have it's spiritual form to see from the great tree."
"I don't understand," Tummo replied puzzled.
"Humans are the opposites of spirits, but they are still spirit just as Spirits are still physical. Emotions are the connection to the Spirit plane. Spirits are not physical but can have a physical form. Senses are their connection to the Physical plane."
"OH I think I understand. So in order for me to physically see the manifestations of the past, I have to stop my emotions so that the senses can be taken control by the spirit tree."
"Exactly" Wan said, impressed Tummo actually undertood that quickly.
"Okay, Ill try again." Tummo closed her eyes again. She breathed in and out with the tree again.
Flash.
Tummo exhales.
"Tummo, are you okay? You were gone for three days?", Rakta said sitting in front of Tummo.
"Yeah," Tummo breathed again, focusing hard on her breath and her memory.
"What were.."
"Wait..." Tummo interupted Rakta.
Tummo was exhausted coming back to her physical body. She had been gone for so long that fatigue had set in to her body long before her spirit. Right when she came back she felt her brain making her thoughts clouded. She struggled to remember. She knew she had to remember.
"I have to tell you something right now before I forget Rakta." Tummo said wearily.
"Okay...what's up?" Rakta looked at her questioningly.
Tummo paused a moment,"...I am the Avatar."