Jinora sat Kai down in one of the more remote meditation pavilions, towards the back of the temple.
"Spirit projection is easy, Kai! And the spirit world is so beautiful. Are you ready to try?" She asked him. She kneeled down next to a few incense boats and lit the sticks. After they were sufficiently burning, she summoned a gentle breeze, and pushed the smoke around the pavilion, quickly making it smell like Sandalwood and Jasmine. Jinora smiled, but Kai wrinkled his nose.
"This stuff smells funny. Do we have to use it?"
"Well.. I mean, no, but…" she sighed and sat herself down in front of him. "Just roll with it okay? I'm creating an atmosphere." Kai snickered and shook his head, rolling his eyes playfully.
"Okay, okay.. Let's just get on with it now." he said. Jinora sat up, then stared at him, waiting for him to mirror her position. Crossed legs in that painful Lotus position, back straight, and fists and thumbs pressed together. KAi just crossed his legs, and rested her hands against his legs, though he did sit up. It was more comfortable to sit this way, in his opinion.
"Okay, now we're gonna meditate for a little bit. And when you do, I want you to do some visualizing. I want you to feel your body turn into sand. Then, feel a gentle breeze begin to blow by. That breeze will slowly blow away all of the sand, starting from the crown of your head, slowly down your body until your body is all gone. Your spirit will be the only thing left. Once you're just a spirit, you can float around and move. I'll find you when you've done it, okay?" Once she explained it, she didn't give him a chance to respond. She just closed her eyes, and her tattoos seemed to surge with energy. Kai sighed and closed his eyes, then began his controlled breathing.
Is this really gonna work? I mean… really? Sand? Oh well…
He took a deep breath, and imagined his body slowly turning into sand, starting at his toes and slowly going up to his head. Then, he imagined the breeze. Warm and gentle, like the way Jinoras breezes felt. He smiled slightly, and imagined the breeze pulling away the bits of sand, first his hair, then his forehead… and as he did so, he saw that she was right. As the sand blew away, his body began to feel lighter. He began to see a brilliant blue color shine through the sand. My spirit… he though.
The sand around his head was gone. His spirit eyes blinked and opened, and he could move his head from side to side. However, the rest of his body felt like it was encased in cement, though that feeling lifted away with the sand.
He began to feel excited, and he looked quickly around for Jinora. Excitement surged in his stomach, and then-
His eyes were open. He was staring at Jinora, who was staring back at him sadly.
"You got too excited. Sometimes it happens, you get too excited, and you can't project. Don't worry, Kai. We'll get there. Lets try again tomorrow." She said, standing up and stretching.
"Tomorrow? But we just-...started…" He stood up, and his joints ached, like he'd been sitting for hours, not minutes. The sky, which had been bright and blue, was now dusky and pink-purpley.
"Jinora, what-"
"Time passes differently in the spirit world. I've become quite adapt to projecting, so I can lift my spirit quickly. I actually sat and watched you for a while. You did pretty good, but try not to get too excited. You'll get there. But for now, it's dinner time." She said.
Together, they walked to the dining hall where all the other airbenders had already gathered. Ikki ran up and and grabbed Jinora's hand.
"Jinora, come on! Come sit with us!" She said, pulling her away from Kai. She followed Ikki, looking back at Kai and giggling as she waved at him.
"Tomorrow, Kai! Lets try it earlier in the morning. Meet back at the same place just before the sun rise!" She called to him.
Kai groaned and shook his head. The things I do for this girl… he thought, though he smiled.
Kai yawned and laid on the pavilion when Jinora arrived. The sky was turning a dusty grey blue, though the light shined around her as she climbed the steps, casting her in an almost unearthly glow.
"Jin… it's too early…" He whined. Jinora yawned as she sat next to him, rubbing his eyes.
"Some people do this better early in the morning." She said. "Now sit up, we gotta do this." She said, nudging him gently.
Kai sat up and sighed, shaking his head. "This better work, Jin…"
They both sat in similar positions, and began meditating. Kai found the whole "turning to sand and blowing away" thing much easier this time. And being tired like he was made it harder to get too excited. He was weirdly focused and alert.
The sand around his head blew away quickly and easily. Then, the sand all around the rest of his body began to blow away too. He calmly watched it, and soon his body felt free. He smiled and floated up, and looked around. He was in a meadow, surrounded by weird plants. Spirits buzzed around him, stopping to look curiously, then continuing on.
"Kai!" Jinora came running up to him, and she hugged him tight, spinning him around. "You made it!" She said. Kai laughed and hugged her back.
"This place is.. Wow…." He said, looking around in amazement. There were leafs taller than him and flowers with colors so vibrant, they seemed to glow.
"Yeah, the flora here is incredible. Wait until you see the fauna!" She said, grabbing his hand. She ran around with him, all kinds of spirits suddenly appearing and watching them. A bunny-fly of a lavender color whizzed past, making a chirruping sound as it caught up with it's friend. A wind blew by, but it seemed to stroke his face and hair, whispering a hello to him. Letting out a laugh, he matched Jinora's pace, catching up to her side.
"This is amazing! Do you always come here when you go to the spirit world?" He asked, and she slowed a bit, looking over at him.
"Not always here. Sometimes its a forest. Sometimes, a desert. Or maybe an island. All places are unique and beautiful." She said.
They came to a stop in a rock garden, a place where the rocks were arranged in symbols. Kai recognized Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, but there were others he didnt recognize.
"The spirits believe in more than four elements." Jinora said, as if reading his mind. Could she? Because… well, anything could be possible here. "They believe in sound, plants, metal, snow, and many other subtypes of bending. They start with the basics, and become more complicated to master as they fan out." She said. She pointed to each as she spoke about them. She explained a few in detail, but some were just the basics. "If you want to know more, ask the spirits. Go ahead, ask!" She said, nudging his side.
Kai blushed as a dragon-snake spirit wrapped around him like a scarf, ready to answer his questions.
"Um...what's that?" He asked, pointing to one of the symbols branching from the Earth symbol. Without opening it's mouth, the spirit answered him. Well, it didn't really speak, so much as send him the answer, without words, but still in a language he could understand.
"That is Dust. It stems from sand, which stems from metal, which stems rom earth. The Great Bender Toph has attempted it, but never mastered it. One masters Dust by focusing on the smallest particle of earth and sand in the dust, and moving it at will. Common practice is to bring it into larger shapes before manipulating it. Behold."
The spirit sliped off his shoulder and spun in a circle, causing dust to spiral up from the ground. He then stopped and morphed it into a ball, and into a few shapes before dispersing it.
Jinora and Kai watched in amazement as it performed tricks, things they'd never seen. Once he was finished, he rested on a tree branch.
"I would show you more, but much time in your world has passed. They will be waiting." He said. His two long whiskers grew and came towards him, touching them between the eyes.
And suddenly, they were back int heir bodies, the sun fully risen, and people out and about. A child ran past, chasing a lemur. Kai furrowed his brow as he realized the child's movement was less fluid in this world. He was deep in thought about this, so he jumped when Jinora put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, we need to eat. You're probably pretty wiped. But dont worry, we'll go again. Tomorrow, we'll practice getting home on your own. Same time, same place. I promise." She said, smiling at him.
"Yeah… tomorrow."
Hello! My first KaiNora fic, one i am very excited about. I've been meaning to write about Avatar. I'm very well read on the subject, and I seriously cannot get enough of this universe.
As i wrote this, I watched Beginnings, parts 1 and 2. A lot of inspo came from here, and this entire book. I'm very excited for this fic, and I hope you are too!
If you're reading simply meant to be, fear not! It's not over, nor have I stopped writing it. I've just been very low on inspiration for it, and so writing is.. not easy. BUT! I'm almost done with the next chapter so fear not!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Bye, lovlies!