Part 2 - Order
Claire rested in her quarters, staring out the window as her eyes widened to the familiar sound of fire encroaching on the compound, "I know that sound!"
She shot up from her bed and rushed out of her quarters, then ventured onto the White Lotus compound's metal platform. The masters, Katara and Jinora, stood staring out to the horizon as the Magnificent Turtle Duck slowly came into view. They all moved aside as it hovered over the metal platform and landed safely in front of them.
"My word... What is that thing?" Shu asked.
But as Claire went to answer, the shell fully opened up, the pieces arching outwards as Kang stepped out goggles still glued to his face, hair as ruffled and messy as ever, and his clothing still full of stitches.
He proudly posed before them, "This is The Magnificent Turtle Duck!"
"Kang!" She charged in and tightly hugged him.
He tried to give one back, but her tightened embrace restrained his arms, "Good to see you too, Claire!"
"I hope you're not forgetting about me!" a voice called from inside the Magnificent Turtle Duck.
She released her grip on Kang and looked over to find a pale-faced Khana standing inside the shell, "Khana!"
She rushed over and hugged her too as the Kyoshi Warrior let out a sharp gasp from the sudden friendly restraining, slightly jutting her hips away from her.
The masters approached Kang while he watched the ladies, "So you're Claire's fire-bending friend?" Shu asked.
He turned to face them, "Yes, I am."
Shu curiously hummed as he looked him up and down, "I hear you can generate lightning?"
"Yep."
"Could you... explain how?"
"Nope."
He stood still as a statue while an unnerved Katara, Kya and Tenzin glared at him. In contrast, Ho Tun, Jinora and Shu just curiously observed him.
Tenzin swallowed his nerves and, as he approached the mad inventor, "Shu called you here, hoping you could escort Claire to the Eastern Air Temple."
"I can do that!"
He placed his arm across his abdomen, cupping his elbow and putting a hand to his chin, "... Aang's son, right?"
"Yes, I am." he cautiously replied as he slowly scanned him, "You'll know the temple when you see it... and don't try anything funny!"
Kang raised a bewildered eyebrow, "I... wouldn't think to?"
He softly snapped his fingers before turning back to The Magnificent Turtle Duck whilst the suspicious three monitored him closely.
Kang closed the shell as he entered the interior, "Interesting masters."
He made way to the Cockpit and took his seat in the Pilot's chair. In the past months, Kang had added two more passenger seats and several others inside the shell area. Claire took her seat next to him whilst Khana sat behind them. He fired up The Magnificent Turtle Duck and soared off into the Eastern skies while the masters, Jinora and Katara, watched their departure.
"What do we do now?" Ho Tun asked.
Tenzin turned to him, "I say we take a break!"
"An excellent idea; I still need to beat Fire Lord Zuko at Pai Sho!" Shu grasped a White Lotus tile.
"I think I'll go visit Sifu Toph."
"I'm going to visit the family down in the South Pole," Katara turned to Kya, "Would you like to tag along?"
She thought it over and hummed to herself for a moment, "It would be nice to see everyone again."
"Jinora still has some Air-bending training to complete. In the meantime, we'll explore the air temples."
The masters and Katara all bowed to one another, "It's been a pleasure," Shu said.
"It truly has," Tenzin replied.
Kang kept his eyes on the sky, waiting for the sight of The Temple to come in as they journeyed smoothly across the skies, but a sudden tremor surged over The Magnificent Turtle Duck and distracted the three from their view as it threw them forward in their seats.
"What was that?!" Khana asked as her heart raced.
"I think we're being attacked!" Kang replied, trying to speed up and keep a cool head.
Claire turned to look at the metal door behind them, "Any idea what's attacking us?"
"Not a clue; there shouldn't be anything that can keep up with The Magnificent Turtle Duck, at least nothing man-made."
"Do we have any way to fight back?"
"I never thought to install weapons, but I can open up the shell for Claire to fight back against whatever's out there."
She stood up from her seat, "I'm on it!"
Claire marched around to the metal door and entered the shell's interior as Kang pressed a shell-shaped button on the control panel, making the shell segments open up to reveal several small but hostile Dragon Spirits flying over them, each blasting fire at Claire.
But she swatted their attacks away, "I guess Fire won't be much good..."
She kicked out a crescent of air at the Dragon Spirits, followed by pulling water from a satchel and launching several small ice spikes, but the Dragon Spirits dodged, persisting and striking her directly, the attack scorching her clothes and knocking her back against the metal door.
Kang turned his head to the sound of her thud, "Khana, take control!"
"Are you sure I can fly this?"
"Just keep the stick steady and your foot on the slender pedal!"
He passed her the controls, and the Kyoshi Warrior grasped the steering stick, keeping her foot on the pedal whilst he entered the shell's interior.
"Are you alright?"
"Nothing I can't heal!"
He nodded, "Keep your distance!"
The Mad Inventor stood before the Dragon Spirits, clearing his mind and briefly letting go of all emotion before swiftly swirling his arms at the side of his body, generating electricity on the tips of his fingers and shooting out a Lightning Bolt at the Spirits. The Lightning cascaded onto each of the Spirits, dropping them out of the sky like flies.
Kang deeply breathed as he solemnly stared at the sky until the Magnificent Turtle Duck's Shell closed.
He lowered his head and heavily sighed whilst Claire stared at him, "I have to ask... how are you able to do that?"
He twisted around to the perplexed Avatar, "With a clear mind!"
He let off a brief, saddened smile as Claire curiously watched him walk back into the Cockpit.
"You did a superb job flying, Khana!" he said as he retook control of the Magnificent Turtle Duck.
"It's not as difficult as it looks," she replied, waltzing back to her seat while Claire and Kang stared and shrugged at each other.
After another half an hour of flying, The Eastern Air Temple finally came into view. Three imposing mountains stood side by side with the Temple built atop each peak and bridges linking them together.
"Those Air Nomads were great at architecture!" Kang said while the three stared in wonder.
"No, kidding!" Claire replied.
"I've never seen such a... breath-taking sight!"
"Are you sure about that?" Claire sultry jested.
She softly smirked and briefly looked away as her cheeks flushed red; Kang raised a curious eyebrow before landing on an open area outside the Temple.
The three stared out down the Magnificent Turtle Duck's bill at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, surrounded by an ocean of stars.
"You should probably rest before meeting whoever it is you're supposed to be meeting," Kang said.
"Good idea... I don't know what Mastering the Avatar State will involve."
"Probably many gruelling trials!" Khana jested, making her wince at the mere thought.
The three stepped into the shell's interior and rested for tomorrow.
Khana awoke to see that Claire had already ventured out into the Eastern Air Temple. The Sun ascended over the horizon, peering in through the cockpit doorway as she stretched her arms and gazed over to a seemingly sleeping Kang.
A mischievous idea came to her mind, "I wonder why he wears these goggles all the time..."
She reached for the goggles, staying as quiet as a mouse as her fingers loomed ever closer, only for his hand to swiftly swipe up and smack her's away.
The Kyoshi Warrior jumped back from fright as Kang turned to her, "No, Touchy!"
He lowered his head down whilst she nodded and left him to rest.
Claire ventured through the Eastern Air Temple ruins, sorrow washing over her at the sight of the partially restored ruins, but the sound of a flute caught her attention. She ventured to the sound of its tune, discovering a beefy man about Kang's age clad in chainmail and leather with a red shawl draped around his neck and murky gold armour decorating his shoulder and forearms. His dark hair had been shaven short at the sides, and a long, braided black beard covered his tanned face, and lastly, a giant hammer with runic markings adorning the head hung on his back.
She thought to herself as she hummed and observed him, "I don't think he's the person I'm supposed to be meeting..."
The Avatar ventured further into the Temple, but the man noticed her leave, stopping his music and opening his deep green eyes to get a good look at her, "A white-haired woman? Hmm..."
The man sceptically patted the flute in his hand before resuming his tune.
Claire strode up a monolithic rock to find a meditating old skinny man with an enormous bushy white beard at its peak, "Excuse me!"
The old man opened his eyes, spotting her stood before him, "Are you the Avatar state guy?"
The old man smiled, "Yes, I am Guru Pathik. I've been expecting you for a few days now."
She sat in front of him, "Alright, how do I master the Avatar State?"
"Oh, so quick to business," he chuckled, "you must gain balance within yourself before you can truly bring balance to the world!" he reached behind him to grab a wooden bowl, "And the first step to gaining balance begins; with this!"
He handed her the bowl as the curious Avatar grasped it and peered at the liquid within.
"Must be some kind of... spirit juice..."
She took a mouthful of it, but the taste disgusted her as she held it in her mouth, her body refusing to swallow, but she forced it to do so anyway, making the Avatar's body cringe all over as the liquid slithered down to her stomach, "What was that!?"
"Onion and Banana juice! I got Aang with that one as well!" Pathik replied as he heartily glugged a bowl himself.
The two ventured down to several pools of water with lumps of moss inside of them, "To master the Avatar State, you must open all seven of your chakras."
"Chakras... I vaguely know about the Light and Sound Chakras, but I don't know the others."
"I'm impressed! Most people don't know the first thing about them!" he chuckled as he knelt next to the pool, "The energy of your body flows much like these pools of water. See how It spirals around before continuing to the next?"
"So, the chakras are just pools of energy inside the body?"
"Precisely! And if we remove the muck blocking the water from the other pools, they will flow properly."
Pathik lifted some muck with a stick, allowing the pools to flow from a murky grey to an almost crystalline blue.
"And by that, I'm guessing I need to remove my 'muck'?"
"Correct!"
They ventured into a Cave within the mountain, a giant, dank hollow with stalagmites hanging above them while sitting across from each other atop a monolith.
"Before we begin, I should warn you. This can be an intense experience, and once we start, you must see it through to the end."
"I'm in no rush; let's open these chakras!"
Pathik smiled, "We shall start with the Earth Chakra, located at the spine's base. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear."
Claire closed her eyes.
"What are you most afraid of?"
She focused, seeing visions of herself with Kang, Khana, Talos, Unalaq and her parents lifelessly draped around her, the radiant white eyes pierced through her as she tried to steel herself against it, "No... no, no, no!"
Her voice echoed and trailed off into the empty void, "Avatar, what you are seeing is not real," Pathik's voice echoed around the red void.
But she stood too petrified to move or speak.
"Remember why you are here; once you are in control, you will no longer need to fear your own power."
Her breathing slowed, "...yeah if I get through this..." she pointed to the looming figure of herself, "you'll be nothing but a memory!"
Her defiant cry echoed into the void as the base of her spine twinged, and her surroundings faded, returning her to reality.
"Very good!"
Her eyebrows flared, "Was that an onion and banana induced hallucination?"
"Maybe..." he chuckled.
They next ventured to behind a waterfall, sitting atop another rock while Claire observed her surroundings before turning her attention to Pathik, "Let me guess... Water Chakra?"
"You're catching on!"
He re-assumed his position, "This Chakra is located in the Sacrum. It deals with Pleasure and is blocked by guilt; what is it you blame yourself for?"
She focused as orange-tinted visions of her and Talos sparring together came into view, and the moment the White Lotus took her away, his expression of despair etched into her mind.
"I stole the one thing Talos dreamed of..."
"Accept the reality that his destiny was never to be the Avatar. That is your destiny. Do not let the thought of 'stealing the Avatar Spirit' poison your energy."
Claire inhaled deeply once more, accepting the reality and exhaling as her Sacrum twinged.
"Excellent!"
The two now ventured to a lower part of the mountain, looking out to the horizon as the Sun hung high in the sky.
"Now, we will deal with the Fire Chakra, located in the stomach. It deals with willpower and is blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of?"
Claire closed her eyes, a yellow-tinted vision of the battle for Republic City coming into focus. Her allies kneeling before Aislinn, and the time she returned, only to fall again.
"I let my friends fall... I ran away, and even when I returned, I still failed."
"If you had not fled from that battle, The world would have lost the Avatar, and in time, the world would have fallen with little to no hope of liberation, and although you still fell, you learnt from the experience!"
She softly smiled and inhaled deeply again, allowing her shame of failure to flow away before exhaling, her stomach twinging as she clutched it softly, "That one felt weird!"
Pathik pulled out another wooden bowl, "Are you hungry?"
She cautiously leered at the Onion and Banana juice, "Not that hungry... yet."
They next ventured to a part of the Eastern Air Temple, sitting upon the Temple's ruins as Claire observed her surroundings once more, "I wonder what this looked like all those years ago."
"It was quite the sight... and those Air Acolytes are doing their best to restore it."
The two-faced each other, "The fourth of the seven is the Air Chakra, located in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief. Lay all your grief out in front of you."
She looked within herself, but a hazy green image clouded her vision, "I... don't think I have anything to grieve..."
But Pathik shook his head, "Think back to the battle between Kang and Aislinn. What did he call him?"
"I was unconscious..."
"Even if the body is unconscious, the mind can still be awake. Go back to that time. And listen."
Claire meditated once more, the hazy green image appearing once more as she focused on it.
"Where's the Masato that stood by the Yakuza code!? To help the weak and defy the strong!"
"Where's the Masato who stood by his friends in even the most asinine of circumstances!?"
"Where's the Masato who strove for a world of true harmony!?"
"Don't you dare lecture me!"
"There's a little bit of the Masato, I know."
Her eyes shot open, her heart racing and her breathing ragged, "... a little bit of the Masato... Wait!"
Her eyes darted up to Pathik, watching him nod with a sombre frown cloaking his face, "The job of killing Masato, a friend Kang thought dead and buried, fell to him."
"And because I failed to kill Aislinn myself... the task fell to Kang..."
She hung her head and ruffled her hair, muttering and berating herself while Pathik watched.
"But would it have been better if you had killed Aislinn?"
Her head jerked up, "Yes! No one should have to kill their own friend!"
"To Kang, Zu and Li... Aislinn was merely the husk, a walking corpse that needed to be put to rest... they were all close friends. It was only right that one of them put him to rest."
Claire's breath slowed as her muscles relaxed and, "And if I had killed him... a stranger putting Masato to rest; that would've been a disservice to Kang and his friends."
Pathik nodded.
"And despite my failure... he's still my friend, even Khana's still my friend after I led her into what could've been our end."
He nodded once more.
The Avatar recommenced her meditation, allowing the grief of her failures to flow away as her heart twinged, and Pathik smiled.
They moved to the inside of the temple ruins, sitting before a giant Air nomad statue.
"Oh hey, that's Avatar Yangchen!"
"Correct! One of your past lives."
But a bleak curiosity came over the Avatar, "With the Air nomads gone... what's going to happen when the time comes?"
But Pathik just shrugged, "Who's to know? But for now, let us focus on the now rather than what is to come."
"The fifth in the chain is the sound chakra, located in the throat. It deals with truth and is blocked by lies, the ones we tell ourselves."
Claire focused as blue-tinted visions of her time in Republic City appeared.
"If power rules, good to know I'm the one on top!"
She heavily sighed, "Yeah... being the Avatar made me think I was on top of the world... unbeatable, unmatched... still kinda do..."
She smirked with her eyes still closed while Pathik remained silent, "but my time in the City made me realise I'm nowhere near the peak, and that there's always a, 'bigger fish' So to speak."
Her throat twinged as her eyes opened to find a pleased Pathik, "Yeah, I can do motivational speeches too."
He chuckled, "A little self-motivation is never a bad thing."
The two now sat atop a higher part of the Eastern Air Temple, looking out to the Sun descending over the horizon.
"Wow... I've been up here all day."
"The Chakras are something only a few can breeze through quickly."
They took their meditative positions beside each other, "The penultimate Chakra is the light Chakra, located in the centre of the forehead. It deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion in our world is the illusion of separation."
Claire focused, indigo tinted visions of her Mother and Father coming into view, "Like the link my mother has with me?"
"Precisely! No matter how far away you travel, even if you venture to a new world entirely, there will always be an invisible link that binds you and your family."
Claire's forehead twinged as she opened her eyes and faintly smiled to the northern horizon.
They finally sat atop the highest point in the Eastern Air Temple underneath the stars as a chilling wind blew.
"Chakra number seven, this should be good."
"The thought Chakra is at the crown of the head. It deals with Pure Cosmic Energy and is blocked by earthly attachments."
She blankly stared at him, "This escalated quickly..."
He chuckled and took a deep breath as his eyebrows slanted, "Think about what attaches you to the world."
She focused as violet visions of Khana, Kang, her parents, and Talos appeared before her, unconsciously smiling at the sight of them.
"Now let all of those attachments go, let them flow down the river..."
Her eyes popped open, taken aback by his words, "Forget my friends and my family?"
"You must learn to let them go. As the Avatar, your duty is to the world. If you fear for their lives in a time of strife, the cosmic energy will be unable to flow."
Claire silently averted her gaze to the ground.
"Do not repeat Aang's mistake. Death is a natural part of all life, it comes for us all in time, and this is something that you must accept; your enemies, your loved ones, even you yourself will eventually succumb to Death's embrace. And if you choose earthly attachment now, you will lock the Chakra and may never be able to enter the Avatar State again!"
She turned to him with a defeated stare, "I... understand... here goes..."
She focused as violet visions of the cosmos above then flooded her mind.
"Think of your attachments and let them go."
She thought of her friends and family, watching them fade into the distance one by one, and as the last one disappeared, Claire found her spirit balanced atop an ethereal purple bridge.
A massive silhouette of herself hovered before her, its hands outstretched and holding a sphere of cosmic energy.
She nervously approached it as her hair stood on end, "I can do this!"
She swallowed her anxiety, and the silhouette descended as The Avatar stood inside the cosmic energy, closing her eyes and allowing it to flow through her.
As it relentlessly flowed, the eyes of Claire's spirit and body flared open with the glow of the Avatar Spirit coating them. A massive ray of energy shot up into the sky, piercing the very heavens and shaking the mountain as well as the Temple.
Kang and Khana stared up to it, as did the man from earlier, the quaking of the Temple knocking them off balance whilst they stared in awe.
"Whoa..."
"Looks like she did it!"
"Ooh, what gave it away?"
Khana squinted and glared at him as the quaking ceased, and the man began rushing up to the energy ray's source.
Claire descended to where Pathik sat with her eyes still glowing, and with a deep breath, she raised her hands, pushing them down the front of her body as her eyes returned to their usual Emerald green.
"And with that, you have opened all of your chakras."
"Thank you, Guru Pathik!" She gracefully bowed to him.
"I must admit, I didn't think I'd ever get to see what happens when an Avatar unlocks all seven chakras."
Claire smiled and began her descent back to Kang and Khana. However, on her adventure down, she encountered the man she saw before, his hulking size dwarfing her entirely.
"You are the Avatar, correct?"
"Yes... I am."
"And you travel with a Kyoshi Warrior, do you not?"
"Aren't you well informed..."
"Yes. I suppose introductions are in order. I am Ghazi of the Eastern Legion."
"And I'm Claire."
"I know. It took the Aalims months to decipher the proper pronunciation."
She nervously smacked her lips as he loomed over her, "So... you wanted to know about the Kyoshi Warrior I travel with?"
"Yes. I have been sent on a quest to answer a single question. 'What truly is a Kyoshi Warrior?'."
Claire raised an eyebrow to him, "Couldn't you just... I don't know, look it up in a tome or scroll?"
"I see you are inquisitive beyond your years."
She glared as Ghazi rolled his neck, "We know of the Kyoshi Warriors. A Legendary order of female warriors formed by one of your many predecessors... their existence has given pause to the Arkans as to whether we should change our philosophical outlook."
"And when we heard word that the Avatar travelled with a member of their order, I was dispatched to investigate and observe."
"Why doesn't a female Avatar give pause to these... Arkans?"
"You are a being possessing the power of thousands; it would not matter whether you are man or woman or badger-ferret. You hold abilities many can only dream of."
She slowly nodded and hummed, "yeah, good point... well, feel free to tag along!"
The acquainted two made their way back to the Magnificent Turtle Duck, eventually arriving to find Kang and Khana greeting her with open arms.
"Good to see you again! We thought you got lost," Kang said.
Claire chuckled, "Only once... by the way; I met this guy on my way back here; he wants to... well, observe Khana."
He stepped forward as Kang's mouth hung ajar, "Ghazi!?"
"Oh no..."
"My word, what are you doing here?"
"You two know each other?" Khana asked.
"Ghazi's a guy Zu hired when we had a, uh... minor scuffle with Avatar Aang."
"I only took that job so I could return home; I did not think it would take as long as it did."
"Oh, come on, it was only a year or so!"
"I expected a day, a week, not a year! The Arkan contemplated my death because of you and your foolish spat!"
Kang squeamishly scrunched up and chuckled, "Oh... eh, sorry about that."
"Pah," Ghazi turned his gaze to Khana, "This is the Kyoshi Warrior then? Unexpected."
Khana crossed her arms as her eyebrow flinched up, "... Excuse me?"
"I thought you'd be taller."
A brief silence loomed over the four, "Well... let's get going!" Claire said as Kang popped the shell open.
They climbed aboard the Magnificent Turtle Duck and took their seats, the metal creaking as Ghazi sat down.
The three nervously turned to their new cross-armed companion, "I take it you three see me as a pretty painting with those slack-jawed gapes?"
"Oh, no, no... just... the creaking," Kang replied.
"Fly your bird, inventor, and I will pray it does not explode."
Kang huffed and mumbled words about explosions as he took off and set a course for Republic City.
Pathik looked up in wonder as they flew away, "The world has advanced much since I've been here."