two
Cliffhangers
Western Air Temple, Air Nation
Lucy Heartfilia
Location: Western Air Temple
Occupation: Novice Guru
Synopsis: Though born a nonbender, Lucy has excelled in the arts and culture of the air nomads. She is deeply invested in her spiritual core, and has taken initiative to help lead and teach the younger airbenders. While she cannot airbend herself, her observations of the ancient forms and techniques help with her self defense. As most nomads though, she prefers not to fight. Instead she focuses her efforts on spiritual enlightenment, and cares deeply for the spirits that make home at the temple. Despite her natural setbacks of fitting in with the nomads, her initiative and heart honor her as a true airbender.
Wendy Marvell
Location: Western Air Temple
Occupation: Airbender Student
Synopsis: Born and raised by the western air temple monks, Wendy has always had a love for flight and people. During her studies she's made friends with a girl named Chelia and together they love to go explore the natural world around them. She often finds herself getting into trouble she doesn't mean to find.
Mavis Vermillion
Location: Western Air Temple
Occupation: Elder Monk
Synopsis:Though she does not look it, Mavis has been around for a very long time. With all of the new airbenders spreading across the world and taking up home in the abandoned air temples, Mavis found the western one to be her home. It wasn't too long after that in one of her adventures that she found Lucy, escaping a past she had rather not get into. She brought the girl home and let her stay in exchange for chores and accepting the air nomad life. Since then, she has grown quite fond of the girl and has decided to mentor her.
When it came to the western air temple, everything seemed altered. With the sister monasteries on every corner of the earth, the wind sang and flowed. The forests surrounding were thin and plentiful; the spirits and animals docile and cute. Here the wind howled. Stationed in the underside of a cliff, the western air temple was more peculiar. Tall towers hung down like stalagmites in a cavern, twisted steps and paths carved out of stone that trailed to endless tunnels and sacred rooms that laid beneath the ground, traveling for miles and miles.
The ravine that separated two mountains was dark and deep from the sky above. At a moment's glance, it definitely wasn't somewhere you wanted to look if heights weren't your most favorite. Luckily, airbenders seemed to be born without that fear.
For Lucy on the other hand, it took her a while to get used to it. She remembered the loss of breath, the harsh shove the winds used to push at her, as if begging for her to fall right in and get swept away in the current. She could recall many childhood nightmares where just that happened, she would fall and fall until the darkness swallowed her whole.
Now when Lucy gazed into it, it brought her a sense of peace. A sense of fragility that had her heart racing, her blood rushing and spinning. There was something else she felt, in the pits and corners of herself. It was a restless hum, a shakiness that vibrated along her bones.
It felt how radio interference sounded. A distracted buzz that swept across her insides; unusual and unwelcome.
"You shouldn't try so hard," came a voice.
Lucy snapped back into reality with a gasp. Her eyes stung at the harsh rays of sunlight that replaced the dark, her vision focusing. Dark cliffs met her sight, ragged and sharp and quiet.
When her eyes laid on her mentor, she immediately went to claim she wasn't-then she felt the sweat slip down her cheek. She exhaled a too-weary breath.
In her loose orange robes and long pale hair, Mavis smiled sympathetically. Her feet swayed from her position atop the stone carved railing; she was mighty short for such a powerful woman.
In the instant they connected eyes, Lucy knew it was useless to try and play off her obvious effort. She could never explain it, but the gleam she found in Mavis' eye was something otherworldly. Something knowing. Lying to her was something locals found funny-silly even.
Mavis on the other hand found it quite entertaining.
"I've felt...blocked lately," Lucy admitted.
Mavis let her feet still and a motherly tilt came to her head. "Something on your mind?"
"No," Lucy insisted, straightening herself. Meditation was never an easy thing for her to get a grasp on when she joined the air nomads, but she was improving and Mavis didn't need to know all the technical difficulties she was having. "No, I'll get it."
Mavis dropped to her feet with the quietness of a temple mouse. She was different like that-not entirely here. Of a different place or making. Like she could drift through worlds if she truly wanted. "The children have been asking for you. They miss their teacher."
Lucy couldn't help a smile. She stood and flattened out the wrinkles in her robe. "Well, if they insist."
Typically when children asked to be taught, it was because they loved learning and knowing more about the earth that bore them. They would all be sat in a circle, eagerly awaiting their beloved teacher to come and tell them stories of the past avatars and the spirits that visit.
Surely they wouldn't be these animals running around on air scooters.
"Lucy's here!"
"Lucy!"
"Hey!" Lucy yelled. A gush of wind nearly knocked her sideways. Children giggled as they spun around on their airballs and chased each other.
People always seemed to forget how rambunctious monks were in their early years. The smile Mavis had implied she remembered those years all too well.
"I thought you all wanted a lesson?" Lucy huffed. The airballs dissipated at that, the children gliding to their feet with ease. They came to her with toothless smiles and winded apologies.
Lucy sat them all with crossed legs on the sanded stone of the cliff overlook. She counted the grinning heads and only got up to four. "Where are Wendy and Chelia? They never miss my lessons."
Shrugs were passed around the group, even Mavis offering one herself; Lucy sighed. "Well anyways, Monk Mavis tells me you all want to hear about the spirit world."
Questions erupted from the little monks like a blown geyser. Lucy could barely keep all of them straight. They asked about the spirit world, what it was like, how the spirits found their way here, the rumors of the same spirits being seen from one end of the earth to the other. Someone even mentioned a field trip to Republic City's portal.
Lucy shushed them, "I'm thinking that the common thread you all don't understand is that you think the spirit world is some far away place you'll never see. And it's true, you might not have seen it, but you've felt it. Whenever the wind blows or the rains fall, it's the same in the spirit world. Our world and the spirit world aren't two different places, but an existence where both live within each other. Our worlds are woven together, they interlap. Some of their world touches us and some doesn't. Same for us. It's all connected, like the vines that run the grounds of a great forest."
Big eyes stared up at Lucy in silence. She let her mouth close. Maybe she was off a bit.
"How come you know all this if you're not even a real airbender?" A girl asked.
The sting of those words came and went. Lucy felt Mavis' eyes on her then, a searing, disappointing glance. The girl hadn't said that out of malice, but it hurt all the same. Airbenders were always curious-perhaps that's all Lucy had in common with them, in the end. She couldn't airbend, couldn't fly. Her only connection was with the spirits and what they allowed her to do. She shouldn't even really be teaching, better it be left to the real monks.
"Enlightenment has no nation, Janae," Mavis spoke. "People everywhere are naturally connected to the spirits, bender or not. Lucy is, very much so."
Mavis was out of sight but Lucy wouldn't have look at her either way. Mavis was speaking to Janae but those words were meant for her. Whether Lucy wanted Mavis to know or not, that was a touchy subject for her, and her hesitation was apparent.
"Why don't we all go get some lunch?"
Riotous laughter and pranks seemed to be all the children were hungry for. They threw their pies and played with their lemurs and all Lucy really wanted was a place to be alone and pity herself and then be even more upset for pitying herself. She gave a light slap to her cheeks when those thoughts came and shook them out of her head.
Feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to make you a better person. Just keep working on what you know.
Confident, Lucy escaped the temple and went on her way back to the path that trailed along the cliffside. Her meditation wasn't going so smoothly earlier when Mavis interrupted, but that was just one of the many things she needed to practice on. She'd already done all her chores and errands in exchange for the room she had, so that was another weight off her chest.
By the time Lucy sat, crossed her legs, and drifted into a trance, it was sundown. The rough winds of the ravine clawed at her back, but she grew to like the feeling. The dare of it. She could feel her mind taking flight, the rush, the air-her eyes flew open. That bliss turned to ashes in her mouth when she realized she was no longer sitting.
The ground was gone. Her fingers reached and clawed for a grasp but there was nothing left to cling to. A gash of wind tore at her chest as she shot back into the darkest blacks she had ever seen. Lucy screamed as she plummeted down into the ravine and it shattered against her throat.
Death comes for all. Humans and spirits alike.
Just as the black began to take the form of treetops and soil, a flash of blue soared by. Lucy's hand shot out to grasp it and the air hit her like a punch as her descent stopped short.
"Sorry Lucy!" a voice shouted.
Wendy's grip tightened on Lucy's hand, and the other, Lucy found, secured tightly to her glider. Her wings wobbled back and forth, but with a quick twist and turn of her legs, she managed to balance out.
"Wendy!" Lucy screamed, muffled by wind, "What the f-"
"I need your help!"
The two descended rapidly into the murky wilderness of the ravine. Their sandals brushed by treetops and air heavy with fog. The wind slowed as the cliffs narrowed into a place stagnant of seemingly time and space.
"Me and Chelia were exploring and trying to find some fruit for everyone but something bad happened! She's hurt bad and-and-" Wendy's voice dropped off. Lucy didn't have to look up to know she was crying, or not far from it.
"Everything will be okay," she assured the young girl.
Wendy's flight path began to dive. "There!"
The spike of fear that shifted the air was unwelcome. Amongst the dark trees and slithering vines was a glowing purple mass, throbbing and awful. It let out horrendous shrieks that shook the dirt and clawed its way through whatever lay in its path. Unfortunately, its path ended at Chelia.
Her voice faded in as Lucy and Wendy sank lower in the sky. Cries of pain and frustration that had Wendy practically swan diving straight into the ground. The monster was a tall, four-legged ball of anger and rage. Its claws swept at Chelia and she evaded with inches to spare. The blood covering her left shoulder came into view now; her arm was useless. She slashed with her right arm, a gash of wind the monster dodged with ease.
"Chelia!" Wendy yelled. She hit the ground running. With one twist of her arm the wings to her glider sunk back into place and a howl of air sent the monster to its knees. The trees paid dearly for that, but that attack wouldn't keep him down long.
Wendy went to help Chelia up. The young girl hissed as Wendy touched the wrong shoulder. She was caked in mud and blood but her smile was as grateful as ever as she was pulled into a hug. "I was beginning to think you left me."
Lucy saw the shadow as it grew over them. The monster stood back up, gnawing and shrieking and unhurt. It thrashed like buzzards were clawing at its skin, knocking down great oaks, ripping their roots up.
Wendy's grip on her staff went white. "What is that?"
"A spirit," Lucy answered. She stepped forward, but the monster only shrieked louder. Her feet took her back unwillingly.
"What's wrong with it?"
That was the question. Lucy had seen hundreds of spirits in her day, some small and cute and others big and loud. But they were all friendly, or at least docile. She had never seen something like this-a spirit so...corrupted. Oh, she could feel it. The waves that rolled off of him and weighed the air down. Layers and layers of anger and pain, of such awful sadness and confusion. Her heart twisted looking at him, feeling just a hint of the war inside him.
The overwhelming urge to help him surpassed her fear to stay away. As wild as it was, it was still a spirit. And spirits could be communicated with.
"Lucy," Wendy warned when she took too many steps forward. The monster beat its claws and shrieked. Another step, and the monster lunged. "Lucy!"
Lucy dove from the teeth gnashing at her and threw her hand up to Wendy. "No!" her voice boomed. The forest silenced itself as everyone stopped. The spirit-the jumble of ragged teeth and red eyes and decaying breath-stilled. It loomed over Lucy and she knew that if he decided to kill her, right then and there, Wendy was too far away to do anything about it. She calmed her thoughts and racing heart and let her focus return to the spirit that needed her help. She didn't matter, she was just a girl. But the spirit did. It's been alive for hundreds of years and something happened to upset it.
Saving such a creature was well worth the risk of her life.
Lucy moved the hand that had stilled Wendy and softened it towards the creature. He growled at the movement, but when her fingertips touched his skin-all of that washed away. His eyes closed and so did Lucy's, and before either knew it, parts of him were disappearing. Piece by piece, he floated into the air and sank back into the spirit world. The hum he had was deep and relieving.
Moments passed and he was gone entirely.
Wendy gaped. "What did you do?"
"Spiritbend?" Chelia asked.
"No," Lucy laughed, wearily bringing herself to her feet. She brushed the dirt off her robes and straightened up her hair. "I just talked to him."
The flight back was a messy one, but they all made it in one piece. Lucy left Wendy to bring Chelia to the medical temple and went straight to the Council of Elders with her news. This was not something to be taken lightly, and by the looks on their faces when she had told them, it was not.
"With respect, I don't think this is some random act. I've been having these weird connections during meditation lately, something that feels off. And now spirits are showing up, caught between two worlds, acting all insane? I've never seen a spirit so upset like that before." Lucy insisted.
"It was only a matter of time," Monk Doma scoffed. His beard made it hard to understand him.
"Easy, now," Mavis said. "We don't know anything for sure."
"Know what," Lucy asked. "What do you all know about this?"
"Nothing-"
"There's been," Mavis interjected, "some talk about the spirit world. It doesn't seem to be doing so good right now."
"We shouldn't be spreading this information, it'll cause a panic." Monk Lio warned. "Whatever is said in this room will not be repeated outside of it, is that understood?"
Lucy nodded to the elders, and knelt before them.
Mavis sighed. "We've received letters from our connections around the other air temples and Republic City. The spirit world is in disarray. Just chaos. So much of our world and theirs is unbalanced, spirits from all over are turning dark. We've managed to keep them at bay, but things seem to be spilling out of our hands."
Lucy felt a lurch in her stomach. There had been other attacks? "What about the avatar?"
Monk Doma waved a gnarled hand, "He's just as bad."
"Bad?" Lucy echoed, "What did he do?"
"What hasn't he done," Monk Lio scoffed. "That fool. He's the reason for all of this mess. He disgraced the great spirit and has abandoned us all."
Lucy hadn't heard a word of this before. A bad avatar? Could there be such a thing? It seemed impossible, not with Raava in his heart. "What has he done to the great spirit?" she dared ask.
"He expelled her." Mavis said. The room stilled. "She...she's gone. He pulled her from his soul and left her somewhere, out there in the spirit world."
Lucy's throat clenched. "Vaatu got him?"
"No," Monk Lio assured. "My sources say he only rejected Raava. He did not accept Vaatu either. It seems neither of the spirits suited him."
"It's why the spirit world is so unruly. The avatar's soul is left unbalanced and that is how chaos is born." Mavis stopped short of herself, as if preparing to say the words she dared never say. "The avatar isn't the answer to our problems anymore. He is the problem."
By the time the meeting was dismissed, Lucy had no words left to say. What could be said? What would help? There was nothing, not anymore. The one person left to help save the world had turned against it. Thought himself better than the spirits that birthed him.
And who could tell him wrong? Raava or no, he was still born the avatar. He still had mastery over all four elements and what living soul could stand up to that?
Too many questions. Lucy buried her face in her hands. She wanted more answers, she wanted to give her elders some sort of solution, but she was beginning to think there might never be one.
"Well are you going to cry about it or do something?" Wendy's voice startled her.
The girl looked near to tears despite her tone. She looked like too many emotions were rustling around inside her, forcing her skin to shake. Too many emotions like that monster earlier.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I heard everything," Wendy said. By the look Lucy gave her, she shrugged. "I might've been eavesdropping...accidentally."
Lucy sighed wearily, "Wendy-"
"Everything's going wrong, Lucy," she pleaded, "The world is spirling. Don't you want to save it? Let me help you."
Lucy came to crouch to the young girl. She took her hands in hers and felt the fear shake her fingers. "You're right. There is a lot going on now. And there's also a lot we don't know. I get that you're scared and you want to help, but we just don't know all the facts yet. And diving headfirst into danger like we did today is not the way to save the world. Just...be patient for me. We'll figure something out, I'm sure."
Wendy looked like she had a million counterreplies waiting to burst, but she swallowed them. Reluctantly, she nodded her head. A tear slipped from her eye and Lucy wiped it away.
"Go be with Chelia. She needs a friend right now."
Wendy let their hands fall apart and started her departure. Lucy felt uncomfortable watching her go, knowing how much the girl would brood over what she had just heard. It was too much for her. Knowing her world could come falling in on her at any moment. And Lucy didn't have a damn worth of comfort to give her.
"And Wendy, don't tell anyone, okay?" she reminded. Wendy gave another bleak nod and traveled the steps away from her. Lucy turned back to the cliffside, to the ravine that hummed energy and bubbled with darkness.
It had always seemed so scary, not knowing what was down there. What could be slithering around in the deep corners of the earth. It was always the not knowing that was the scariest part. But, she had to admit, knowing all of the awful things that were happening in the world, in the parts she couldn't see, it wasn't that much better. Sometimes they were worse. It was a striking kind of fear to realize that the world could be worse than whatever she imagined. And Lucy's imagination was not one to lack on the subject. She had seen enough of the worlds evil-it's why she found herself where she was. A place she thought was safe from the bad decisions of men too obsessed with power.
Perhaps there was never really a safe place. Perhaps there never will be.
"Just sit tight," she promised. "I'll find a way to fix this."