Chapter 17: Frozen Crossroads
The Tree of Time was a welcoming sight. Twin beacons of light soared into the sky, and into infinity, a marker light of safe haven amidst the inhospitable Spirit World. Suda hadn't been so happy in months.
The settlement near the polar portals was spare, but it was civilization. The buildings were on the outskirts of the Tree of Time's crater, as the crater itself was holy ground, but it was close enough to see the tree out the windows. Sen stared at the center of the Spirit World out the window as Ada talked with a Polar Guard. A real one this time, not an imposter like Lokus.
"We've been travelling quite a ways," Ada said. "Do you keep supplies around here for people coming from warmer climates?"
"Oh yeah, there's a store right around here selling cold weather gear."
Ada was relieved to hear that. As much as she detested the overly furry clothing of the poles, it was necessary to stay alive in the frigid polar regions. She had one more question that needed answered before they set out on a shopping trip.
"So how long have we been on the road," She asked. "We left the same day as that announcement the Energybender made."
"Oh yeah, that," The guard said casually. "That was eleven months ago."
Sen's head whipped around so fast he almost hurt his neck.
"Eleven months?"
They had all known they'd be spending a lot of time in the Spirit World, but they had never realized it would be that much. Their time in the Spirit World made up nearly half of Sen's entire journey. It was almost mind-boggling. Sen had been learning the elements for nearly two years.
Ada backed away from the counter. Nearly two years since she'd been home. Almost two years since the last time she had hugged her parents, or kissed Canto. She was suddenly overcome with a wave of homesickness. Suda was quickly at her side with a comforting hand on her shoulder, a reminder that while she was far from home, she was not far from family. Ada felt much better very quickly.
Whistler took a long look at the Tree of Time. While the others moved on to shop for supplies and clothing for the journey to the poles, Whistler moved towards the great tree.
Spirits always clustered around the tree, and they were often defensive of it, but they parted ways as Whistler approached. She climbed upwards, slowly and cautiously, until she was in the center of the Tree of Time. She sat down, crossed her legs, closed her eyes, and focused.
This was the place where Vaatu had been imprisoned for ten-thousand years, and also where Korra had found the strength to seal him away for another ten-thousand. It was the tree whose roots bonded the planes of the material and spiritual worlds. Ancient ones throughout had come here to meditate. What she was doing now was something thousands of the greatest spiritual masters in history had only ever dreamed of doing.
She found it uncomfortable. Whistler stood, and left the Tree of Time behind her. She must have been in there longer than she thought, because Sen was waiting for her.
"Find your enlightenment?"
"Not yet," Whistler said. "Whatever enlightenment is, I don't think I'm going to find it in a tree."
"I don't know, trees seem really important for some reason," Sen mused. "Maybe try the Banyan Grove next."
Whistler leaned on her staff for a while. She seemed uncertain about what to say next. There was a lot to be said, and it was a novel idea for Whistler. She had not spent much time being honest.
"Can I talk to you in private?"
Sen nodded. Whistler led a short but solemn walk to the far side of the Tree of Time. Shimmering auroras illuminated the sky here, and their light bathed Whistler and Sen in strange luminescence as Whistler began to bare her heart.
"A while ago…In that Seventh Kingdom city, I tried to-" Whistler bit her lip for a moment. "I tried to take someone's life. But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to-"
She found it hard to elaborate her point further. Sen was shocked to hear that she would try to do such a thing. He had never anticipated that she would try to go that far. He waited patiently until she was ready to speak again.
"It's why I've been so mixed up lately," Whistler said. "I thought that I was one of the bad guys this whole time, I mean, I'm a thief, I'm a liar, I'm all kinds of bad things…But I can't go that far. And now I'm not sure what I am anymore."
She wasn't sure what category she fit into anymore. She was too arrogant and selfish to be a real hero, but neither was she uncaring or cruel enough to be a monster. She wasn't sure what part she played in the grand scheme of things. Sen had a notion of his own.
"You're a jerk," Sen said. Whistler looked up. Sen elaborated.
"You are rude, selfish, arrogant, and aggressive," Sen continued. He started counting off Whistler's negative character traits on his fingers. "You're also cruel, lazy, needlessly spiteful, and short-tempered."
"This is the worst pep-talk ever," Whistler mumbled sadly.
"I can say a lot of things about you, Whistler," Sen concluded. He'd actually left quite a few things out of his list. "But not one of those things is 'evil'. Despite all evidence to the contrary…I don't think you're a bad person."
Whistler lifted her head and rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment.
"So you think I'm bad…but not actually 'bad'."
She made little air-quotes with her fingers as she spoke. Sen nodded.
"Yep. You're not evil. You're just a jerk."
Her metal staff slammed triumphantly into the ground as Whistler finally realized her true self. She raised her voice and declared it aloud to the whole world.
"I'm a jerk!"
"I could have told you that," Suda shouted back. Whistler shouldered her metal staff and started walking towards him menacingly. Suda backed away by a few steps. Whistler gave chase.
As the two of them began the stupidest game of cat and mouse in history, Ada joined the Avatar alongside the Tree of Time and looked across the landscape at the two portals.
"You made a decision where we're going yet?"
"Not yet," Sen said. His eyes glanced across the Spirit World, examining everything but the portals. Ada sighed.
"I don't think he's going to come back, Sen," Ada said. Hanjo had not made an appearance since Whistler had accused him of aiding the Energybender. Sen shook his head.
"I figured. I just kind of hoped…"
Ada put a firm hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly.
"We'll rescue him," Ada assured him. Sen picked his chin up and nodded. Hanjo was still out there somewhere in the material world, waiting on a rescue. Sen intended to end that wait sooner rather than later. With Sen's resolve regained, Ada continued their discussion of the future.
"You know, I heard a rumor from one of the guards that there's a combustion bender in the South," Ada said. Sen smiled slightly. "I figure you miss her a lot more than I do. What do you say?"
Sen glanced to the side, at the Spirit Portal that would lead them to the frozen wastes of the South Pole. It had been nearly a year since he'd seen Miyani. A part of him ached to be reunited with her, just as his heart ached for the absent Hanjo. He looked at the faded scar on his wrist, and the bracelet wrapped around it. He pursed his lips and thought quietly for a moment. He tucked his hand in his pocket.
"Let's go North," Sen said. Ada raised her eyebrows. That was not the answer she'd been expecting.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Sen said. It wasn't an easy choice, but he felt quite firmly that it was the right one. "We parted ways for a reason. Miyani can handle herself for now."
Ada nodded in agreement. Sen stood up and shouted for Suda and Whistler's attention, before waving them towards the Northern Portal. Together they crossed the broad roots of the Tree of Time, taking their last few steps in the Spirit World.
Sarin stepped lightly though the makeshift prison. Dei Sensheng followed behind, dragging his feet. Sarin seemed far less bothered by recent developments than he should have been. Tan Lung was waiting for the duo, looking stressed.
"He's been talking about your plans," Tan Lung mumbled. "He figured it out somehow."
"I highly doubt that," Sarin said. Unseen by all others, the black form of the Hssk swam about Sarin's shadow. Only the Avatar could resist the powers of the Mind-Eater. "It had to have been the Avatar."
"The only thing that matters is that we were found out," Sensheng said. He was far more stressed by this situation than anyone else. Their plans had all hinged on finding the Avatar before he mastered all four elements, and they were dangerously close to failing. Their lost time was not nearly as valuable, however, as their lost assets were. First they'd lost the Harrier, and now the Fogbender had been neutralized as well. With the combustion bender cutting through their foot soldiers, they'd soon be out of manpower. Yet the Energybender didn't seem worried.
Sarin ignored Dei Sensheng's stressful demeanor and proceeded onwards to oversee his captive. Hanjo was sitting sullenly in the corner of the room, staring intently at the wall. Sarin watched over him for a while. Sensheng watched his commander carefully.
"Why'd you have to use me," Hanjo grunted. "Why did I have to be the bait?"
Sarin hummed quietly to himself. So they really had figured it out. Hanjo had never developed the ability to meditate into the Spirit World on his own; Sarin had opened the gates of his mind for him using Energybending. From there it was a simple matter for the Hssk to track Hanjo's thoughts, and seed his mind with instructions that would lead the Avatar into traps. The plan had been ingenious, but not, apparently, foolproof.
"Inevitability," Sarin said. "We all have a destiny. It is the Avatar's to die. It is mine to kill him. It is yours to be the bait. This is the order of things."
Behind the Energybender, unseen to Sarin, Dei Sensheng scowled. Sarin often spoke of destiny, as if his victory were guaranteed, but took few steps to ensure it. He would like to meet whatever oracle that Sarin was apparently consulting to be so confident in his future.
Hanjo didn't respond to Sarin's dismal commentary. Sarin glanced at the prisoner for a while longer before returning to business. One plan had failed, but there were others. The battle between the Avatar and the Energybender would not end until one destroyed the other. Sarin was self-assured of his own victory, but for many the future was still uncertain.
"Why is there always a boat," Suda asked. "There was no need for a boat this time."
Suda was getting a little sick of this pattern. Every time they had one of their big climactic moments, a boat ride followed not long afterwards.
Ada did not bother explaining it to him a second time. They were taking a boat because the Energybender would be looking for people travelling from the Spirit Portal to the capitol. By swinging around to one of the outlying ports and taking a boat from there, they avoided a good chunk of surveillance. There probably weren't many spies in the first place, but it always paid to be careful.
They were in the waters of the Northern Arctic now, sailing just a few miles away from the massive ice shelves and glacial cliffs of the polar continent. Occasionally an iceberg drifted by, and they had to swerve to avoid it. Other than that, the frozen North was fairly peaceful.
The safety and security to be found here was part of the reason they had chosen the North over the South as their destination. The Shorewatchers kept the North Pole secure, and they were supremely efficient at rooting out any Energybender intrusions. It would be the safest possible place for Sen to learn waterbending and wrap up his long journey.
It put an odd feeling in Ada's stomach when she thought about their journey ending. They had been at it a long time. She had to wonder how things would change when Sen was finally ready to act as the Avatar. It was going to change the whole world, much less Ada's life.
Suda started complaining, and Ada was dragged back to the present.
"Really, we couldn't have just walked?"
"If you feel like marching through blizzards and tundra, you go right ahead," Ada scolded. Suda was far too glad to be rid of the Spirit World. He wasn't ready to realize that the North had its own share of problems.
"Besides, it's just the boat that's the same," Ada said. "You'll notice there's one major difference this time."
There was a loud thudding sound as Sen was launched bodily into the window of the boat's cabin. He stuck to the glass for a moment before sliding downwards, his coat squeaking along the glass as he slid.
"Come on, Avatar, you can do better than that."
Sen picked himself up and rushed back into his sparring match with Whistler. His airbending lessons were still ongoing, and Whistler was determined to make a master out of him before they reached the Northern capitol.
Despite Suda's best attempts, Whistler had chosen to accompany them for the remainder of their journey. She gave a variety of excuses and justifications, but it was obvious to everyone that she had finally made a friend. She wouldn't leave that behind so easily. As usual, a boat carried them forward to a new journey, but this time, no one was left behind.
END OF BOOK THREE