Chapter 5: Hollow Memory
Ada double-checked the map. There was a massive forest sprawling out in front of them, filled with towering trees and deep shadows. Somewhere in the midst of the massive trees was the inverted library of Wan Shi Tong. All they had to do was cut a path through the middle of the forest and they would have access to all the information they would ever need. They stopped in the shadow of a massive stone pillar to observe the forest for a moment.
"Alright, stop staring," Sen ordered. "But be on the lookout for landmarks. We're going to need to find our way back here, after all."
"Yeah, I suppose even with the map, navigating the jungle will be hard work."
Sen suddenly looked very confused. He turned around quickly. He had a bruise on the bridge of his nose for some reason. Ada didn't remember him getting that.
"We aren't going through the jungle," Sen said.
"Yes, we are," Ada corrected. "That's where Wan Shi Tong's library is, remember?"
"Of course I remember," Sen said. "But we're not going there until later."
"What're you talking about, that's what we agreed on," Whistler said.
"No it isn't!"
"That's how I remember it," Suda added. He could recall their discussion very clearly.
"Are you all okay?"
Sen looked around at his allies. They were all behaving very strangely. It was like they didn't remember their recent conversations at all. Neither of Sen's extra senses told him anything strange about them, though. They were perfectly normal, physically and spiritually.
"I think we all feel fine," Ada said. "Do you feel okay?"
"Of course I feel fine, you're the ones acting strange," Sen retaliated.
"Well actually, it's kind of three to one here," Whistler explained. "Logically speaking, you're the weird one."
"No, it's all you guys," Sen said. Things were getting stranger. "You don't remember any of what we talked about? Nothing about the Undying Bloom? What about Ta Jide Shui?"
"I've never heard of any of those things," Suda said. "Are you sure you're alright, Sen?"
Sen looked away and shook his head. He couldn't imagine why his friends wouldn't remember something so important. After they'd been told about Ta Jide Shui, an ancient spirit, with a memory that stretched out beyond even the era of Raava, they had all agreed to change their route to visit the immortal spirit. After all, they had personally been recommended by Sen's best friend.
Sen's head snapped up. He walked over to Ada and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"When was the last time you saw Hanjo?"
Ada's face was now locked in an expression of deep concern. Sen wasn't just acting strange now, he was acting crazy.
"Nearly a year ago. At Tunuk Bay, Sen. That was the last time any of us saw him."
Sen released Ada's shoulders and took a step back. Ada inched slightly closer to Suda. Sen was starting to scare her a little bit.
"No, no, that's not right," Sen said. He looked just as worried as Ada. "We saw Hanjo yesterday, he was here! I mean, not here, but he was meditating, you know, from the physical world. He was here, and he told us about a new place we should visit! You don't remember?"
"Sen, that didn't happen," Ada said.
"So, uh, what do we do if the Avatar goes loopy," Whistler asked. "I mean, no offense, but like, this guy is clearly not all together."
"I'm not making this up! He was here! I got so excited that I fell over and bruised my nose!"
Sen pointed to the purplish patch across the bridge of his nose. Now that Ada thought about it, the injury didn't seem to have an explanation. She couldn't remember anything Sen might have done to cause the bruise. It was like there was a piece of her memory was missing. Sen took a few steps backwards, inching out of the shadow of the stone pillar.
"I don't really remember," Suda said. He was squinting like he had a headache. "But I've kind of got déjà vu. Like what you're saying happened, but it was in a dream I had."
"It did happen, in the real world!"
Ada rubbed her temples. The more they talked about it, the more her head hurt.
"I don't have anything," Whistler said with a shrug.
"Of course not, you took a nap while we all talked to Hanjo," Sen said angrily. Whistler rolled her eyes. Suda sat down and grabbed at his aching forehead.
"Okay, okay, tell us everything," Suda said. "Maybe if you fill us in on everything we're supposed to remember, we'll actually start to remember it."
Sen and Ada joined Suda to sit in a circle and talk it out. Whistler took a page from her own book and laid down to take a nap.
It was very difficult to measure time in the Spirit World, since there was no sun or moon, but according to Sen it had been just yesterday that Hanjo had appeared. At first there'd been nothing but excitement, except of course from Whistler who had never met Hanjo before. She'd just called him a fruit and then gone to take a nap. Sen, not realizing that Hanjo was technically immaterial, had tried to hug Hanjo, and then fallen forward, bruising his nose in the process. Gun had been deeply confused by the fact that he could hear Hanjo's voice but not feel his presence through the soil.
"Ah, that reminds me," Sen said. He stomped his foot, and Gun immediately emerged from the ground. Gun had been patrolling in circles around the group, but he paused to answer his master's call. Sen had a theory.
"I'm not sure Gun will be able to help much," Ada said. "Even if he does remember, he still can't talk."
"There are other ways to communicate," Sen assured her.
Sen dragged his heel along the ground. Gun listened to the subtle vibrations of the soil and obeyed the order that only he could understand. Placing a massive paw on the ground, Gun shifted his weight slightly, sending subtle vibrations through the earth.
"He remembers," Sen said.
"How does that mean he remembers?"
"It's, um, it's- Well, it's kind of a between us thing," Sen admitted. "It'd be hard to understand without a seismic sense."
Ada shook her head. It was easy for her to forget about Gun, since he spent most of his time underground, but he and Sen were almost completely inseparable. They could always sense one another through the soil, and they were constantly exchanging subtle clues about the way they were feeling and what they were doing via the vibrations of the soil. It was a kind of communication that nobody else would ever understand.
"Thanks for letting me know I'm not crazy, buddy," Sen said. He brushed a little dirt away from Gun's snout. Gun pressed his striped head against Sen's chest and then returned to the soil. Gun began to tunnel in circles around the shadow the stone pillar cast.
"Alright, after Gun, there was a little fluffy stuff, we were all really happy to see each other, there was some crying. Not naming names."
"You were the one crying, weren't you," Suda said.
"Well a little, because of my nose," Sen admitted. "It was Hanjo, actually."
"Okay, so after the crying."
"After that, we got down to business. I told him all about what we did while he was away, Hayao's island and everything that happened. Ada told him all about Sorikami, and you actually didn't tell him anything, Suda. Ada mentioned Nura and you just clammed up."
"That doesn't sound like me," Suda said with some concern.
Ada knew he wasn't exactly telling the truth. She had noticed that Suda was avoiding talking about his disastrous relationship with Nura. He seemed aggravated by any attempts to discuss her. He was fine talking about Sorikami, or the Harrier, or anything else about Gai Zhu, so it had to be something very specific to her. She had betrayed them, yes, but even with that Suda seemed oddly sensitive about it.
"Okay, anyway, then he told us about Ta Jide Shui and the Undying Bloom. Ada, you remember back on the Stark Road, when I tried to meditate? I saw a really big glowing tree."
"Yes, I remember that much," Ada said. That had been right before they'd met Suda for the first time. She'd almost forgotten about that minor incident in all the commotion that came afterwards.
"Well, that's the Undying Bloom. Hanjo found it while he was exploring the Spirit World, he told us about it, and then we all agreed, even Whistler, that we should check it out first. If I saw it in a vision, it has to be important."
"Well, I agree with that logic," Ada said. "But, I'm still not one-hundred percent sure that any of this happened at all. Sorry."
"Yeah, I mean, this all sounds familiar, but that's it. Familiar. Not certain."
Sen put his hands on his hips. They'd both been very excited to see Hanjo again, and involved in all the conversations that came afterwards. How could they just forget it all? His only theory was that the Spirit World was doing something to mess with their heads, but he couldn't imagine how or why that would happen. Nobody had ever reported memory loss while travelling the Spirit World. Well, now that he thought about it, nobody would remember losing their memory, would they?
"Well I'm not following anybody anywhere until I get an answer to this crap," Whistler mumbled. Her nap had been made quite impossible by Sen's monologue.
"Watch your language," Ada scolded.
"Whatever," Whistler said. "My point is, you guys figure out your business, I'm going to sit on this rock."
Whistler proceeded to sit on the rock. Sen and the others got to business deciding their future course of action.
"Well, with Whistler apparently abstaining from the vote, we're tied on what to do."
"Tied? It's two-to-one," Suda said.
"Gun counts as one."
"The badgermole that only you can talk to doesn't count," Ada said. The ground beneath her feet suddenly raised at a slanted angle, causing her to fall into the dirt. Suda helped her up.
"Okay, Gun counts," Ada grunted. She brushed some dirt off her clothes. Sen could feel Gun tunnel away, quite content with himself. The badgermole resumed his circular patrol around the group once again.
"So, we're at a stalemate. Except I'm the Avatar, so I win. Off to the Bloom!"
Sen turned on his heel and took a few steps in the direction of the Undying Bloom. It did not take him long to realize that nobody but Gun was following him.
"Come on guys, just trust me," Sen said. "When have I led you wrong?"
"You've barely led us at all," Suda objected. Sen placed a hand on his heart. That was a low blow.
"Sen, I do trust you," Ada continued. "But this is a really strange situation. I'd like to know what's going on before I move forward. Find proof of what's happened, you know."
"Okay, yeah, that'll be easy."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Hanjo can meditate into the Spirit World whenever he wants. Shouldn't be long before he shows up again. If he does, it'll prove I'm right."
"Why didn't you lead with that," Whistler asked.
"I wanted to get moving as soon as possible," Sen said. "Sitting around waiting for Hanjo is a waste of time."
Ada frowned. Sen had been getting a little impatient lately. It hadn't been a problem yet, but if he kept it up, Ada could see his impatience causing trouble for him.
"Eh, we can make it work for us," Whistler said. "Why don't I run you through the basics of airbending."
Sen agreed. He had been wanting to delay airbending training until after visiting Tong's library, but since he was taking a detour to visit Ta Jide Shui and waiting here anyway, it would be better to start now. Whistler stepped out of the shadow of the stone, and Sen sat down right next to her. Whistler did not take up any traditional meditation stance, but Sen sat cross-legged all the same.
"Stop trying to meditate," Whistler immediately corrected.
"Meditating is important," Sen objected.
"It stops being important if you force yourself to do it," Whistler retaliated. "Air is freedom. Trying to imprison it in forms and stances and rules just makes it something else."
Whistler's hand clenched tight around her staff. Sen could feel a strange kind of anger in Whistler's heart. She took a deep breath, and that anger faded.
"Cross your legs if you want to, not because you think you have to. Take a moment and think about it."
Sen's hips always ached a little after having his legs crossed for so long. Slowly, he uncrossed them and sat normally.
"Good. Maybe this'll go better than I thought."
Whistler had been legitimately worried the personality differences between herself and Sen would make training him impossible. She was still very interested in having Sen beat the Energybender, though she would most certainly ditch the Avatar and go back to her old renegade ways immediately afterwards. Until then, though, Whistler was stuck with Sen.
"Alright, what's next, Master?"
There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice when Sen said "Master", but Whistler decided to ignore it. For now. She would certainly find a way to make him suffer for it at some point.
"Well, like I said. Air is freedom. It's about mobility and reaction. It's not going to be easy for you."
"I'm a quick study," Sen boasted.
"Don't interrupt me," Whistler shot back. "You're an earthbender at your core, Sen, that's obvious. Fire was a complimentary element for you. Air runs a direct opposite to everything you've learned so far."
Sen had to admit that Whistler had a point. Sen had always leaned very heavily on his earthbending techniques to make his firebending easier. He figured he could break himself out of those habits easily regardless. He'd proven he was capable of changing and adapting rapidly during his firebending training. He had no reason to think that would change for air.
"For now, focus on separation."
"Separation?"
"What did I say about interrupting me," Whistler snapped. Sen shut his mouth. "Yes, separation. Air is immaterial, disconnected, and formless. It doesn't have substance like earth or energy like fire. Air is emptiness. Void."
Something about the word 'void' made Sen's skin crawl. He focused on the concept of separation instead. It presented an immediate problem. In both his past lessons, he had been taught to connect to the earth, or to the fire of the sun. Teaching himself to disconnect, as Whistler had expected, ran contrary to everything he'd learned.
"Take me seriously yet?"
Sen frowned. He had no idea how Whistler had picked up on his difficulty so quickly. He was supposed to be the perceptive one, not her.
"Calm down, Avatar. You've had a freaky day. Just try to let all that go."
Sen clenched his jaw and tried his best to take Whistler's advice. He had a feeling this might take a while. The fact that his friends seemed to have completely lost their memories was troubling him greatly. He tried his best to let go of that confusion and focus on developing his airbending skills.
Try as he might, he could not let go of the day's stress. The sudden forgetfulness weighed heavily on his mind. Something about it was suspicious. He remembered what Chief Dormin had said about Sarin's soldiers: whenever they were captured, they claimed they didn't remember anything about their master. They forgot everything. Sen couldn't help but think the forgetfulness of Sarin's soldiers and his friends were connected somehow.
Ada, meanwhile, tried to focus on training of her own. She needed help, though, so it was lucky that Suda was not otherwise occupied.
"Suda, you know a little bit about swordplay, don't you?"
"Just a little bit," Suda admitted. "Used to help the other bandits practice, you know, nothing serious."
"Well, I don't need an expert, just someone to do a little sparring with. I want to practice something."
Suda obliged. Ada handed over one of her swords, and the two began to have a casual practice duel. Suda didn't know much about swordplay, but Ada was slowing herself down enough that the two were evenly matched. The pace was relaxed enough that Suda had some time to ask a few questions.
"Why do you want to spar anyway," He began.
"I need to experiment," Ada said.
She tried to change the angle of her wrist for the next few strikes. When the two blades met, her wrist rolled too much with the force of the impact, dulling the strength of the blow. She shook her head and readjusted.
"When I tried to learn from Sorikami, I realized how much I was holding myself back," Ada elaborated. "I've been too focused on learning her style, or Piandao's or Sokka's. I need to have my own style."
"I got you," Suda said. "As long as you fight less like the gal who stabbed you, I like it."
"Oh yeah," Ada said confidently. "The next time she and I meet, I'm going to make her wish she was fighting someone as weak as General Rahm."
For some reason, Suda didn't like the sound of that.
The two lessons continued on and on, as everyone involved honed their skills. The only two spectators to all this contemplated what was going on.
"Oh, already on airbending," Hanjo mumbled.
Gun huffed in acknowledgement. He wasn't a fan of the idea that Sen was learning another non-earthbending skill.
"Well, might as well make my introduction," Hanjo said to himself. He wasn't really aware that Gun was listening, buried under the soil as the badgermole was.
As he was meditating into the Spirit World, Hanjo could traverse great distances instantly, and he popped right over to the group of his friends and one complete stranger. He was met with significantly less fanfare than he expected.
"Ha! I told you so," Sen said.
"Well I missed you too," Hanjo replied indignantly. He had sort of been expecting Sen to try and hug him. He might have fallen right through him and hit his face on the ground. It would've been funny.
"I saw you yesterday!"
"Enough," Ada interrupted. She explained the situation to Hanjo, after welcoming him back to the group politely. Suda gave him a warm welcome as well.
"Huh. So I've been here before," Hanjo said. That certainly explained why nobody was throwing him a party. He was quite offended, but on the bright side, he probably would've ended up crying anyway. He was a sensitive soul.
"Maybe," Whistler stressed. "Nobody here remembers."
Sen sighed. He had been hoping that Hanjo, at least, would remember, but it seemed as if all the events of his last appearance had vanished from the world completely.
"Okay, but if we really had talked before, then you'd remember-"
"That Sarin is an airbender. Yeah, you told me that. Also that you've been exploring the Spirit World, and you found the Undying Bloom, which is a large forest of trees with luminescent flowers, and at the center there's a big dead tree without any leaves, and this whole place is home to Ta Jide Shui, a spirit that never forgets anything, so you said we should got here next because he'll remember the Lionturtles and the era of Energybending."
"That is…everything I was going to say," Hanjo said. "That's very specific."
"Yeah, because it is what you said," Sen snapped back. "To me! Why does nobody remember this?"
"Well, maybe it's not that nobody remembers," Hanjo suggested. "Maybe you just…saw the future."
"But this isn't what I remember," Sen objected. "It was somewhere else, and everyone was saying different things."
"Time's a funny thing, Sen," Hanjo continued. "Maybe you talking about the future changed it."
"If it was the future, then how did I get this bruise on my nose?"
Sen pointed out the purplish mark on his nose that he'd gotten during Hanjo's first appearance. As happy as Hanjo was to think Sen had actually fallen over and hurt himself in an amusing manner, it wasn't necessarily true.
"Maybe you got it some different way, and you're trying to connect it to your so-called 'memory'."
They discussed the conflicting theories. Sen stuck to his theory that everyone else had just forgotten, and he could feel that Gun agreed, but all the others seemed to support the prophetic vision theory. Such visions weren't unheard of for the Avatar, although not in such great detail. They all assumed that the Spirit World was enhancing his spiritual abilities, leading to him having more powerful visions. Sen shook his head. He could feel that they were confused. The prophecy theory was easier for them to justify. It had to be scary for them, thinking that they'd lost their memories. Sen decided to leave it alone. Hopefully they would find some kind of proof in the future.
"Whatever the case," Sen interrupted. "I've proven my point about Ta Jide Shui. We should go to see him."
"Right," Hanjo agreed. "I can lead the way. But I can't go with you all the time-"
"Because you can only meditate for a few hours at a time before you get a killer headache right behind your left eye," Sen said. "It's not healthy to meditate across the planes for too long."
Hanjo seemed surprised to hear it repeated in such detail.
"I've heard this before," Sen grunted.
Hanjo's specter took up a strange expression. Sen sighed. He was letting all this confusion get to his head.
"Sorry," He said. Sen cracked a smile. "I'm really glad to have you back, Hanjo. It's just a little confusing right now."
"Ah, I get it, no worries," Hanjo said. It was confusing for him as well, but beneath it all, Hanjo was just happy to be back with his friends. "So, well, I know you remember everything I was going to tell you…But did you have anything to tell me?"
"It's a long story," Sen said. He had told it once before already, but he didn't mind repeating it.
Sen walked side by side with Hanjo towards the Undying Bloom, once again describing everything that they had done while Hanjo had been absent from the group. Hanjo listened with rapt excitement as Sen once again unfolded the story of the Fire Nation, of Gai Zhu, the mysterious Hayao, and the powerful combustion bender Miyani.
Soon the entire group had left the stone pillar behind. Only Gun remained behind to linger for just one moment. He briefly emerged from the soil, sniffing at the ground and growling lowly at the shadow of the stone.
At the sound of Gun's ferocious growl, the shadow retreated.