(Grampa!)
(Heh heh, hello there, Wan. How are you today?)
(I'm good, Grampa! Daddy took me to the Glacier Spirits festival and got me this sky bison!)
(Did he now?)
(Yeah see, look!)
(Oohh! I thought Daddy had got you a REAL sky bison.)
(*giggle.* Silly Grampa! He's not real, he's a toy! And he looks just like Lefty!)
(Heh. So he does. Anyway, do you remember the story I told you last night?)
(Yeah! It was that one about Raava creating the world!)
(That's right Wan. Now hop in your bed and I'll continue the story. Come on in get! Don't forget your new toy.)
So last night I told you about how Raava came into being in the Void, and created the Material World, and also the Spirit World, and how the two came to be connected.
Now after the creation of a better world, most of the spirits left the material plane, emigrating to the spirit world. The guardian spirits were one of the only groups of spirits left here.
Raava found that the material world had become very empty, so naturally she attempted to create more spirits to fill it. But these spirits also left. The material plane was not the place for spirits.
She tell tried to create places of great spirituality, by bringing the planes closer in places, in the hope that spirits would hang around, but most did not. These places became Spirit Oases, great places of spiritual energy.
Raava refused to abandon this world, even though it was her failed first try. She knew that our world protected the spirit world from the Void.
She asked her guardian spirits to attempt to create material life. Life made from the material plane would make its home in the material plane, was her logic.
Baihu created denizens of earth, hulking figures of rock and dirt. Agni created a bird made of fire, named the phoenix. Ashai created cloud spirits, woven from water vapour in the air. Tui and La teamed up, and created a being of ice.
And while these were impressive creations, they all had flaws. For example, Baihu's creations were tough, but they weren't very graceful or very smart. Ashai's creations were, but they were often easily dispersed. Agni's phoenix was beautiful, intelligent and passionate, but it quickly burnt itself out. Tui and La's creation was versatile, able to remould itself to suit any conditions. It by far was the most successful.
It was so successful that Agni became jealous, and shined down upon it, melting it. Raava became angry at this, and decreed that Agni would not be welcome in Tui or La's domains during winter.
Consequently, Agni spent the year alternating between the domains, spending the summer in the north, during South's winter and vice versa. He still does to this day!
Raava reflected on the creations her guardian spirits had provided her.
She came to the conclusion that there was not one material that could be used to create the best life. Instead, she concluded that she should use ALL the materials.
She created a shell of earth, filled it with water, puffed in some air, then applied a spark to the chest of the being.
And thus life was created.
But this life form had no soul. It didn't do anything at all. Raava was confused, and re-examined the original creations. She discovered that the guardian spirits had invested some of their power into the creations, and that the power had taken a mind of its own, becoming a spirit itself.
She returned to her creation. She created a new creature, but before she applied the spark of life, she reached into the Void, using it to fashion a new spirit. She bound the spirit to the body, and applied the spark of life.
Success! The first life form now walked the material plane. It was just a basic creature, but now Raava knew how to do it.
She created a lot of new creatures, scattering them through the world. None of them showed themselves to be as intelligent as the spirits were, (And I'm sure the spirits still think that) but Raava didn't care.
But soon Raava was confronted by a problem. A lot of creatures' bodies were damaged so much; their spirits were freed from them. Raava could not keep creating new creatures at the rate they were dying.
Raava thought up a solution. She created two new creatures. They were similar, but she made certain differences to them.
(uuuuummmm… Wan, has your father had the 'penguins and polar-bear-dogs' talk with you yet?)
(What?)
(Has he told you where babies come from?)
(No)
(Ok then)
(Granpa.)
(Yes Wan,)
(Where do babies come from?)
(*sigh* Your father will explain that when your old enough)
(But but but…)
(Wan, if you want me to finish the story before you go to bed, you need to be quiet)
So Raava did something extraordinary. She wrote down most of the instructions to create life on the inside of the belly of one of them, and wrote the rest on the inside of the other. Her idea was that when they were… together, they could put both sets of instructions together and create new life.
But creatures of the material plane could not create spirits, so Raava faced the same problem.
She decided to take a break to the spirit world. The spirit world was getting kind of crowded as the spirits of the dead creatures had also come here.
If only there was a way out, Raava thought to herself, and inspiration struck her. Bending the spirit world, she created a portal of light, one that would take a spirit and bind it to a new-born creature, until its death.
This was the cycle of reincarnation.
Raava went to work, returning to the material plane and recreating the different creatures, so they would be like the pair she created first.
By the end of it, she had the material plane full of life. She allowed her guardian spirits to bless certain animals with their power. Ashai chose the sky bison, granting them flight, and the ability to air-bend. Agni chose dragons, giving them the breath of fire, and fire-bending. Baihu chose the badgermoles, granting the sense of the earth and the ability to bend earth.
Tui and La abstained, not seeing another creature worthy enough.
Raava decided to add two last creatures. The first was an enormous lion-turtle. To the lion-turtles, Raava granted long, almost infinite life, and a portion of her power. She created four, one to represent each element.
The second was man. She created man to be more intelligent than the other creatures she had created (except the lion turtle). She created a group of humans near each lion-turtle, instructing the lion turtle to protect mankind.
Meanwhile, Vaatu travelled the spirit world gathering spirits behind him as they were affected by his chaotic aura.
I WILL DESTROY THIS WORLD, RAAVA! AND THEN I WILL DESTROY YOU!
(All right, time for bed, Wan.)
(But Grampa! You just got to the good bit!)
(Don't worry, Wan. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you what happens. Unless, *gives Wan a look* you are naughty.)
(Awwww…)
(Goodnight, Wan)
(Goodnight, Grampa)