The White Jasmine's Howl
Part 1: Introspection
Chapter 2: Interaction
"So, Fu Fen, how is that new roommate of yours working out?" A fifteen year old girl, Ru, sitting on the floor at a long table in a sparsely packed, large dining hall, asked the slightly older teen beside her.
Fu Fen, an abnormally tall a young woman of seventeen, with most of her scalp exposed to reveal a light blue arrow tattoo, its pointed end rested on her forehead but the long arm ran along her skull and the center of her neck until they vanished beneath her yellow collar. In front of either ear a thin, brown braid extended down to her collar bones. She leaned back with her hands grasping the table and looked up to the high ceiling of the dining hall with brown eyes, "Well… It's only been a week since she moved here from the eastern temple but she's really quite."
"I noticed that much about her, but what kind of quite?" Ru asked, poking Fu Fen's head arrow tattoo. "The usual, better than us," Ru stuck her nails forward, raised her nose upward and took a formal accent, "'I'm from the eastern air temple, this place isn't spiritual enough for me. All these air bison leave a horrible aroma in the air, how can anyone bend such a putrid sent?" she wafted her hand in front of her nose to chase an imaginary sent away.
"I never said putrid!" a middle aged woman with the same accent the teen had just faked yelled three tables away.
The teen and Fu Fen ignored the uproar, "No, I just don't really know. She doesn't have Chin Wi's superiority complex, but—"
"I do not have a superiority complex!" the accented middle aged woman yelled.
"It's as though if she just vanished and never had to speak to anyone ever again it couldn't be soon enough for her." Fu Fen Finished
"Why are you saying I should 'just vanish?'"Chin Wi shouted and stood.
"We weren't talking about you, Chin Wi!"Ru shouted back.
Chin Wi's right eye twitched multiple times before she sat down and faced her personal table that seated a grand total of six middle aged, tattooed air benders.
Outside the dining hall, two levels higher, a very short teenage girl sat, her feet dangling off the upside down roof. She ate an apple as she stared to the opposite cliff. On clearly sunny days, like this day, the opposing cliff was visible and the start of fall foliage danced in a waves of warm colors. The girl's eyes were the color of spring leaf buds and her pure black hair was pulled back into a large bun with two strands exiting the bottom of the bun brushed against the back of her neck.
A yellow dragonfly bunny spirit with a green, four pointed star across its face as a substitute for a nose nuzzled the short girl's neck. She smiled and with her free hand she gently rubbed it's head.
"Liling? What are you doing?"
Liling chocked on her apple at the sudden call of an elderly woman. After several violent coughs she finally answered, "Eating?"
"An apple? That wasn't what the acolytes prepared for us today. In fact I'm certain that it was a cabbage dish…" The heavily robbed woman stepped out from a window onto the upside down roof, her gray hair was shaved down the line of her arrow tattoo and pulled into a low bun hidden within a yellow cloth on either side. "Did you steal an apple from the kitchen?" she smiled.
Liling looked down to the cavern below obscured by mist and took another bite of her apple.
"Do you mind if I join you?" The older woman asked, Liling shrugged. "Do have any plan on socializing with any of the other air benders?"
Liling slowly finished chewing her apple, "Monk Ikki, I… talking to people… It's… um…" she scratched her forehead and did not complete her sentence.
There was a long pause as the elder waiting fruitlessly for Liling to finish. "Monk Jinora once told me you were her pride, The only person beside herself and the previous avatar to be able to enter the spirit world. She felt it was part for your closed off nature that enabled you to journey beyond, however by closing yourself off form people you have created a great unbalance within yourself."
Liling started nibbling close to the apple core, staring off into space.
"You were sent here to practice your bending with the aid of the ever present winds within this caverns, here we study as groups of peers, have you been asking questions?"
Liling closed her eyes and shock her head.
"Do you have any questions you want to ask me?"
Several moments of silence passed before Liling whispered, "Why should I... strive to be an air master?"
Monk Ikki adjusted her wooden necklace carved with the symbol of the air nation, "I can see the potential to be one of the world's greatest air benders radiating off of you, for you not fall short of what you are capable is one of the most disheartening things I can imagine. However, at the end of the day, it will be your choice and your effort in what you achieve. But if that is not what you want for your life, then you should strive to learn what you can from every experience grow as a person until you find a place where you feel at place…"Ikki trailed off.
Liling threw her apple core below and watched it vanish into the mist, "I should probably…" Liling mumbled, grasping the roof to lift herself off, "be-" Liling pushed slightly and the stone beneath her hand crumbled, she lost her balance and started free falling.
Time seemed to slow for Liling, she heard Monk Ikki scream her name and noticed her get to her feet. Her heart got caught in her throat as she fell, her throat felt choked. Liling looked down at the approaching stone roof, her hands quickly started to circle on instinct. A ball of air formed with in her hands and moments before impact her forced the ball before her to cushion her fall. It mostly worked, she still fell hard on her hands and knees, but with only as much force as if she had fallen walking.
Ikki soon landed beside her in a much more controlled manner, "Are you okay?" Ikki grasped Liling's yellow sleeved arm and pulled her to her feet.
Liling's face turned bright red, and she looked from Ikki to the gathering crowd within the dining hall. "Heh.. heh…. Yeah…." Liling took a deep swallow, "Excuse me," she bowed respectfully to Ikki and took off running.
"Fu Fen, you have one high maintenance roommate," Ru sighed and crossed her arms watching Liling's retreating figure turn around the corner of the building.
Fu Fen returned to their table and collected her dishes and handed them an acolyte towards the exit of the room, she briefly spoke to the acolytes who walked into the kitchen for a brief moment and returned with a red object. Fu Fen then headed into the stone labyrinth, navigating both up and down hundreds of stairs eventually she reached a door which she gently knocked three times.
"I'm okay…." A small voice whimpered.
Fu Fen opened the door, "Are you sure? That didn't sound too 'okay'."
Liling sat on her bed with her head cradled between her arms, knees to her chest and her back was covered in a yellow and orange blanket, the Dragonfly bunny spirit was curled ina ball beside her feet. Her face was red and tear streaked, "Yeah…. I'm fine."
Fu Fen sat down on her own hard bed, cushioned only slightly by the comforter, "What happened?"
"I fell…" Liling mumbled.
Fu fen starred at Liling and watched her hands tremble, "You're shaking, was the fall that scary?"
"Just… embarrassing…"
"Okay, well… here," Fu Fen gently grasped Liling's small hand and placed a red apple. "I didn't see you in the dining hall. Being hungry leads to accidents. Once you've calmed down enough you can eat it. Would you like me to leave now?"
Liling nodded.
"Okay then. We're having an air scooter race once everyone's stomachs settle. The others are eager to try and talk to you," Fu Fen stated, walking towards the door.
"Um…" Liling mumbled, causing Fu Fen turned around, "Thank you."
"Sure thing," Fu Fen smiled and exited the stone room.
Once the door had securely shut Liling examined her apple free hand, "Hey Kino?"
The yellow spirit beside her squeaked.
"Why does strange things involving rocks keep happening to me? Am I cursed or something?" Liling's hand was covered in the residue from the stone roof. "Do you think they would laugh at me if I told them I didn't know how to make an air scooter…?" Kino nuzzled her shoulder.
Liling dusted her hand off and ate her second apple of the day in silence.
A/N: Thank you for reading, I am not above begging for reviews so please review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a wonderful day.
