REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is back! Believe it!
Daziy is SoniQ: Whoops! It's been forever since I posted something here and I forgot to use the Doc Manager to see if my formatting stuck (it didn't). Check it again if you want. I fixed the line breaks. Also, you wouldn't believe how close I was from removing the Sozin's Comet reference, but... something came into mind and... [evil grin ensues].
The Avatar: A New Legend
Chapter 2: The Airbending Master
Ralis's taste buds were having a treat. His mother's cooking was always the greatest, but even then it's not every day when she cooks his favorite meal ever. He was becoming engrossed in the meal, savoring it for all it was worth. Meili looked at his son have at the food. Seeing his face of joy and satisfaction was thanks enough in her eyes.
"I still can't believe you got mom's great cooking skills" Mika said to her sister, right before taking another bite.
"Well, you got dad's earthbending finesse, so it balances out." Meili pointed out.
"Touché." Mika conceded.
"Actually, now that we bring it up, how was today's training, dear?"
Ralis nearly choked on his food. It took him a moment to completely process what his mother had asked. He didn't know what to answer, and really didn't want to worry her. Besides, he and Mika had a certain agreement to keep the day's accident low-key for the sake of both of them.
"Training? Training… of course… the training." Ralis stammered. "It was… great! Learned a new technique and everything! Right, Aunt Mika?"
"Uh? Oh! Yeah!" Mika responded. "Uh… it was a great day! No silly rock-related accidents or anything!"
"Huh?" Howl and Meili questioned in unison.
"I mean, good day! Lots learned! All that stuff!" Mika quickly corrected and stuffed a piece of meat in her mouth to shut herself up.
The family resumed eating after that. For a while, it was an awkward silence between Meili and Mika as they exchanged suspicious and wary looks, while Howl was just merrily eating away. Howl was always bad at noticing these types of subtleties.
Then, a loud knock at the door interrupted the staredown. "Huh, who could that be?" Howl asked no one in particular. "I'll get it." He got up and went to open the door. Outside was a man sharply dressed in a dark blue coat and suit pants, white shirt and light blue tie. On his coat was a white round plaque with a particular design. Some kind of flower, Howl thought. Sadly, his knowledge of flowers extended only to tulips and roses. "Uh… hi? How can I help you?"
"Good evening sir." The man started in a rather formal matter. "Sorry if I've disturbed your dinner. I am Shen, and I am with the White Lotus. I came here to see your son."
Just immediately Howl turned around and gave quite a glare to Ralis. "Boy, what did you do this time?"
"What? No! Nothing! And there were definitely no giant rocks inv…" Ralis caught himself rambling just a few syllables too late. He looked around nervously, hoping neither his mom nor dad caught wind of what he said.
Shen let out an airy laugh and patted Howl in the shoulder. "No need to worry, sir. Your son is not in trouble. But I just wanted to have a word with him if you don't mind."
"Ehh…" Howl struggled with his decision. He turned over to his wife and to Mika, but they both looked as lost as he was. "Uh… sure? Come on in." Howl stepped out of the way and let the man in blue enter. "Name's Howl, by the way."
Shen gave a courteous nod, but proceeded without noise towards the still-wary ten-year-old. Ralis had already forgotten all about his dinner and couldn't stop looking intently at this bulky, thin-bearded man. A lot of things went through his head, like which earthbending technique would be most efficient to knock him senseless or how to respond quickly if he ever tried something funny.
Shen pulled a chair from the table and sat next to Ralis. "Hello, Ralis."
"How do you know my name?" Ralis questioned, never allowing himself to give Shen an inch.
"I suppose this may sound creepy, but I was in the vicinity of your aunt's training grounds when I saw the whole incident with the rocks happened. It should've been fatal, but somehow it wasn't"
Ralis's eyes were as big as dinner plates. His cover had just been blown. He could feel his mother's eyes burning a hole through his skull behind him. "Uh… I don't know what you're talking about. What incident? You must be mistaken!" He quickly said, trying to salvage himself.
"Don't worry, Ralis," Shen continued, oblivious of why was Ralis acting so strange. "There's nothing wrong with you. I saw you are a capable earthbender, but if I'm right, you may be so much more than that. I can definitely feel a special aura around you."
"What special aura?" Meili interjected.
"To be honest, I'm not sure." Shen leveled with the mother. "I only have what I saw and this sensation to go by, but I know one person who could tell you for certain. With your permission, I would like Ralis to meet her tomorrow afternoon."
"Wait… Just Ralis?" Mika questioned. "This is sounding a bit creepy, alright."
"You are all more than welcome to join him." Shen said in order to reassure the family. He then turned back to the focus of the conversation. "But it's important that you are there, Ralis. Think about it. I know you felt it too, when that rock was about to crush you," Ralis could still feel his mother's piercing stare behind him, which made him tense up. "you did something which moved you out of the way. It was something you never felt before. Wouldn't you want to know what that was? You could, tomorrow."
Ralis remained quiet for a moment. He looked around the room for any sign of approval or reproach from their parents. Howl was leaning in the dining room's door frame deep in thought, just taking all of the information in. Meili looked to have reservations about what Shen had just said, but then again, she might still be thinking how to address the 'accident' situation later. Even Mika wasn't giving a clear reading on her thoughts about this. Perhaps it was that she was going back in her mind to the moment of the accident.
That moment. It has replayed mercilessly in his head for the past few hours. Shen was right: Ralis should not be alive right then, but he was. He clearly remembered the big boulder closing in on top of him. But then he also felt something. It was faint, but it was almost as if something told him to push back, so he did. And then he felt the rushing of wind right by him and the unmistakable feeling of being shoved back. He could not explain it, but he could not deny that it happened.
Ralis finally looked over to the man sitting in front of him. "Ok, I'll go. But promise me that my parents will be there. And if this turns out to be a bunch of hooey, you better not stalk us anymore."
"Deal." Shen said, extending his hand towards Ralis. The boy responded by giving a good handshake. "A vehicle will pick you all up around one in the afternoon. Now if you'll excuse me…" And with a few courteous farewells, Shen was out the door.
"Well…" Mika said after a moment of awkward silence. "… That was sudden."
Howl closed in on his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "So, son… are you really sure about this?"
Ralis responded by shaking his head left and right. "But… something weird did happen today. It keeps nagging at me, and if I can at least satisfy that nagging, then why not check it out?"
"Oh, yeah…" Meili suddenly became less quiet and more menacing. "About what happened today…"
Ralis sighed deeply and hung his head in defeat. "I knew this was coming."
The ride was very smooth if a bit long in the tooth. When they found out they were going to Central Omashu, they were all shocked. Mika groaned just remembering the length of the trip and the big traffic that it would entail. Thankfully, there wasn't that much traffic that day, and the wonderful vistas of the city were breathtaking. They finally stopped in front of a large three-story building, where Shen was standing to greet them.
"Welcome to the White Lotus HQ in Omashu." Shen said. Ralis noticed that despite the welcome, the building itself had no sign that it was used by the White Lotus or any other specific organization. It was just a plain boring building from the outside. As Shen escorted them in, the inside looked even weirder to the young boy. Instead of finding some office building lobby, this lobby was filled with round tables that had a sort of tabletop game that he could not recognize, but could notice a few people playing, and they were getting quite into it from the looks of it.
Shen opened a door on the far side of the room and motioned the family to go in. Once inside, the whole scenery changed. They were inside an expansive, intricately designed room, with the symbol of the white lotus etched in the pillars, walls and ceiling. There were tables and monitors everywhere, and people walking back and forth. There was a wall with an enormous map of the world nations with several light blue pins placed in all of the nations. There were a bunch of green pins all over the Earth Republic, most with a tiny note accompanying it. Ralis couldn't help but notice how one of the green pins was right on the street he lived in.
"Has she arrived?" Ralis overheard Shen speaking with another man there.
"Yes. She's in the meditation room, waiting for the child." The second man answered. "Is that him?"
"Hopefully. We'll see what she says." Shen continued walking, and the rest of the family continued behind him. They walked up some stairs, where the hustle and bustle of the people was quieter, and eventually made it to a large double door. Shen then turned to his four guests. "This is as far as I go. Please go inside and meet the master."
Ralis and his family went through the double doors. Inside was a simpler room to the one before it, perfectly cylindrical with only four round pillars around it. On the far side an old silver-haired lady sat meditating. Her yellow and red robes gave the distinct look of an airbender. When the doors closed, the woman looked up to the people inside, revealing blue arrow tattoos in her hands and forehead.
When Mika saw the old woman's face, her mouth went agape and she started tapping Meili's shoulder incessantly. "Is that…? Is that…?"
"Stop that!" Meili complained. "What? Do you know her from somewhere?"
"Not personally. But if the bending world is right, she's one of the biggest airbending masters in the world!"
A hearty elderly laugh filled the room after Mika's comment. "Well, I wouldn't say that." The old lady said as she began to stand up. In full height, she didn't look to be that much taller than Ralis, though he noted that she was hunching a bit. "I'm just a regular old lady. You can just call me Jinora."
"Master Jinora…" Mika said, almost trancelike. "I can't believe I really get to meet a bonafide airbending master!"
"She's not exactly here to pal around with you, you know." Howl reminded his sister-in-law.
"Oh, be quiet and let me bask." Mika responded.
Jinora walked a bit closer to the family of four and addressed them. "Ralis, is it? Would you mind pulling a chair from the corner over here?" Ralis was quick to act and brought a chair from a set, then tried to set it so the airbending master could sit. "Oh, no, no. The chair is not for me, but for you. As for your family, please sit in the other chairs."
"Really?" Ralis wondered, taking into consideration Jinora's apparent frail figure.
"I may not look it, but I am very strong." Jinora explained. "Please sit. I don't want to hear you complaining you have to sit down in the middle of the session."
"The middle of what?"
"Don't worry. It's just a harmless meditation ceremony. All I need you to do is sit still."
Ralis decided to obey in order to speed things along. Jinora began by lighting up a couple of incense sticks and placing them around Ralis and her, and then she walked over behind the boy and put her hands on his shoulders. Ralis could hear the slow, rhythmic breathing near his head, and wondered what she was doing back there. Then, he felt something. It felt distant, but he could recognize it was the same sensation he had yesterday at his aunt's training grounds. He was clearly in no danger, but somehow the airbending master was able to tap into that sensation again, and keep it there constantly.
After two minutes of awkwardly sitting still, Jinora took her hands off Ralis's shoulders, and motioned his family members to come closer. "My dear, you are something else. The light of Raava surrounds you in a most intense manner."
"Light of… Raava?" Mika asked, though her face looked like that she already knew where this was going. "H… How?"
"I've always had a deep connection with the spiritual world." Jinora answered, and then turned to Ralis. "And though you may not realize it, you have a great potential to have that connection as well. After all, you are the great bridge between humans and spirits."
"The great br…" Meili stopped mid-question, and looked in shock at his husband, who looked just as shocked as she was.
Ralis was getting quite ticked of seeing so many shocked faces and no explanation. "Spiritual connection? Great bridge? Can you tell me what it all means so I can be shocked as well? A straight answer would be great."
"Oh, I apologize." Jinora said. "I should be more direct, Avatar Ralis."
"Wait, 'Avatar' is not my name, it's just Ralis, so you were sa…" Ralis's words died right in his mouth. His head was trying to process what he had just heard. "Wait… did… did you just… just say…"
"Yes."
"… Avatar?"
"That's right, young Avatar."
Ralis's face of shock was even greater than that of his parents or his aunt. Was this old woman implying what he thought she was implying? "I've always heard stories of the Avatars in the past, but I thought that was ancient history. A… and now you're telling me that I'm the… no, it can't be."
"My dear boy, cast your mind to that time with the boulder incident." Jinora suggested. 'Again with the boulder incident', thought Ralis. "Did you not feel a power different from your own, yet still strangely familiar? I am sure you did, as you did just a few moments ago. I felt it too."
Ralis made a pouty face at this. He could feel that this thing could change his whole lifestyle in one instant; though how far it could reach he could hardly comprehend. On the other side, he knew Jinora was right, and he could not deny it. "Ohhhh… ok. You're right. But… why this? Why now?"
"To be honest, we thought it would take longer to find you. The Earth Republic's population boomed in the last thirty years. It was a blessing to find you now." Jinora placed her hand in Ralis's shoulder and looked at him straight in the eye. "Now, more than ever, the world needs its Avatar. There are invisible forces at work that seek to throw the very existence of humanity into chaos. This may seem like a lot to take in, but we need you to take your mantle as the Avatar as soon as possible."
"Way to lay it on thick there, Master Jinora." Mika commented from the sidelines.
"Of course, he will not be doing all this alone." Jinora clarified. "Ralis, with the bad, so will the good rise. Masters of each bending trade will teach you everything you need to know. Friends and family will support you. And as your spiritual connection grows stronger, you'll be able to access abilities only the Avatar can."
"Eh… thanks." Ralis said, his voice trailing off. "That's reassuring." He dropped his gaze to the floor as the weight of his new calling began to weigh in on him. Could he do it? He was only ten years old and didn't have a single clue how the world worked. These White Lotus guys must be crazy to dump all this on a child, he thought. He would be way in over his head if he even tried to show himself to anybody proclaiming he was the Avatar.
Noticing his son's mental predicament, Howl decided to step forward. "Ralis, remember when your mother asked you to clean your room and didn't give you any help? She didn't expect you to get it right the first time, she just wanted to see you do it, so you could do it better next time. And your Aunt Mika certainly didn't expect you to pull off complicated earthbending moves right the first time. It all comes with practice, with giving it your all, and taking it one step at a time. You're still ten; you have enough time to get the hang of it."
Ralis turned his gaze upwards to his father. He was a simple man, but he knew a good deal of simple truths that he said helped him through his life so far and was not afraid to share them. This one, however, hit the nail in the head. With a smile and a nod, Ralis let his father know that was just what he needed. Ralis then turned to Jinora and met her gaze.
"Alright, I'll do it. I accept my new life as the Avatar."
-To be continued-
