When History Speaks:
Where the southern cliffs meet the sea lies a cave. Within the cave lies a spirit. The opposite of the vampire, it helps to form new life. The Soul Shaper. Constantly at odds with Vehrin, the Soul Shaper dwells alone, providing constant energy and life to both the spirit and mortal worlds. Only one knew of this spirit. Only one could help to stop the evil of Vehrin.
Tunnelling through the earth slowly, the Lion-turtle pondered the great changes in the world. It had felt the warping of the spirit world with the opening of the spirit portals, an event that had not occurred for ten thousand years. It had only been a measly ten years old when this occurred; it had not grown much since then, although it could feel that the Emergence was not far off. This event was the greatest in a lion-turtle's life. Over a period of a few years, it would massively grow in size and gain the ability to grant bending as its ancestors had once done for bending.
This latest upset in the balance of the world was just as prominent as when Vaatu had been released. When the Tree of Time had been opened, a ripple had powered through the spirit world, waking the lion-turtle from a yearlong sleep. The events that had followed had not concerned the lion-turtle; the Avatar had the strength and willpower to fight an even fight and if she had lost, then balance would be restored, albeit balance in a ten thousand era of darkness.
Images of the memories flashed in the lion-turtle's mind as it tunnelled through the dark with webbed feet. Watching the spirits grow dark and attack one another, forms distorted and malign. Witnessing the effects of the human Kuvira as the forests roiled and shook intruders from their embrace, distrustful and injured. Feeling the effects of the Avatar and her female human companion as they wandered the Spirit World. Knowing the passing of the Avatar and the tension building in the Spirit World as the evil gathered strength. Never showing itself, the lion-turtle had remained hidden, a passive observer until it was large enough to bear the burden of the glory of its race.
Were it so easy. The lion-turtle felt a deep connection with the world around it as it constantly travelled and witnessing it in turmoil had not sat well with the great animal. Although there was not much it could do before the Emergence. Lion-turtles did not fight. Fighting was merely a way for humans and spirits to settle differences, to express the true heart without self-corruption. But maybe there was one thing it could do. Find the Soul Shaper.
The human in blue had inspired the lion-turtle in a way that the various spirits could not. They had met in—something hard hit the lion-turtle's head, making it stop burrowing for a moment. Focusing, it noticed a huge root in the earth, one it would not be able to break through. Digging down, it carefully edged around the root and continued on its way.
The waterbender had met the lion-turtle near to the spirit portals. Humans were frequent there, paying their respects to the spirits and sometimes, the lion-turtle liked to sit and watch them doing so. Observing humans and spirits co-operating made it feel warm inside, like its own chi was reacting to its emotions. Submerged beneath the earth, the lion-turtle had become part of the surroundings by the time the waterbender had emerged from the northern portal. It was clear he was not merely visiting and his manner was one of great anger and hurt. He had unknowingly walked towards the lion-turtle and had sat down on its back heavily, sighing angrily before beginning to cry.
This behaviour perplexed the lion-turtle. It had never learnt how to react to humans, as it had never known another of its kind to impart its knowledge upon it. Crying was not a good thing, it knew. Unsure of how to remove the crying human from its back, it had done the one thing it knew would definitely surprise the waterbender. It had surfaced.
The waterbender had definitely been surprised. Falling into the dirt, it had cowered as the lion-turtle reared, shaking the earth from itself. Realisation had crept across the human's face and the lion-turtle had quietly felt smug at the respect it was given, simply for being. "Great Lion-turtle! I did not know any of your kind still existed, let alone were around the portals! Please forgive me for the trespass upon your person," the human had said. The lion-turtle had not responded in words. It understood human speech but had never spoken it. It might be too difficult for it and the lion-turtle did not want to embarrass itself in front of a human. It had lightly tapped the human on the forehead with a sharp claw and had waited for a response. This seemed like the best thing to do, for some inexplicable reason.
The human had relaxed quickly. It spoke quite often and quickly, about varying things which seemed trivial to the lion-turtle. One who had seen all that it had was not concerned about a human arguing with another human over an issue regarding children or the inability to have them because of their gender. Human behaviour was strange. It was also strangely fascinating. Spirits were constantly changing but humans were different, every one of them. All unique, all incredibly full of unknown potential. Studying them up close further would be a good use of time before the Emergence occurred and the lion-turtle shouldered the mantle of the last of its kind.
"You're more than welcome to join me, of course. I plan to see everything this place has to offer," the human had said, eyes sparkling with wonder. The lion-turtle had bowed, sealing the start of their strange partnership.
The human had talked much on their journey. The lion-turtle often travelled below the surface yet still heard him, its hearing considerably stronger than any humans'. On the rare occasion the human required assistance with a spirit or other problem, the lion-turtle would surface and everything gave way to its eminence. The spirit world was unravelled before them, its secrets unfolding as they travelled. The ancient animal and the youthful human, travelling the spirit world as equals.
Their altercation with the new Avatar was not even the most exciting thing that had occurred. It was, however, probably the event that held the most importance. The new Avatar had emerged from the latest Spirit Portal in the Avatar State but had collapsed instantly. The lion-turtle had felt its power even whilst underground, actually alarmed at the sheer amount of spiritual energy radiating from that one human body. Raava was finally at full strength since Harmonic Convergence. The waterbender had needed to rest and so the lion-turtle had rested.
Upon waking, it had discovered that the humans had gone. The portal was still closed and the spirits were confused as to why they could not enter the mortal world. The lion-turtle had become slightly peeved; the waterbender had been good company but had decided to leave just when he found more humans? Surely not. It would have to find the waterbender and the Avatar, along with the Air Nomad human. If the Avatar was awake, locating him would be easy from the sheer power exuding from his emotionally wracked body.
It did not take long. When the lion-turtle needed to travel fast, it could cover huge distances rapidly. Its front legs drove it through the ground with ease, its eyes accustomed to the gloom below the surface. The lion-turtle heard the humans before it even reached them and slowed so that the ground would not shake with its entrance. The waterbender was with the other two humans and appeared worried. The lion-turtle did not surface but listened to their conversation intently. The spirit Vehrin was wreaking destruction in both worlds and the Avatar and his human allies were planning on stopping it. But to do so, they would need Raava's power, which the Avatar could clearly not control. Although, if the Avatar was of both true mind and heart, he could potentially whether the storm that was yet to come.
It was this realisation that set the lion-turtle on its path. To defeat Vehrin, the Avatar must seek the help of its polar opposite. But such a powerful spirit might not even listen to the Avatar and so the last remaining lion-turtle would seek it out first, so that it could ponder its decision before it was too late. If it lent its power to the Avatar, then the human would be unstoppable and balance could be restored. Only if the human was not corrupted, however. Humans enjoyed power far too much to give it back so willingly.
Not far to travel now. The ground was crisscrossed with roots and water, making the lion-turtle dive deeper to avoid them. This was proof that, even if the world is damaged and out of balance, it still continues to spawn new life, to persevere even in the darkest of times. Even if the humans destroyed their world, it would still exist in the form of the tiniest seed. If Vehrin continued, however, all living things would eventually succumb.
The lion-turtle considered what it had to lose if the spirit was allowed to continue. Other than its own soul, the waterbender would surely die too. Other than that, there was not much else specifically that the lion-turtle was emotionally connected to. That was good. Distance was preferable for one such as itself. Although it would be sad if the human died. Even if he did continue to name it 'Whiri'. The lion-turtle did not yet have a name. That was the right of their kind that had finished the Emergence.
The ground suddenly gave way, prompting the lion-turtle to stop quickly. Its head and front paws were hanging through a hole into a wide, grey cave made of stone. Backing up slightly, the lion-turtle observed the inside of the cave, which it had not expected to come upon so soon. It was dark, lit only by a faint glow further below. Resigning itself to a heavy landing, the lion-turtle threw itself from the hole and crashed into the earth below, sending dust billowing into the air. The light pulsed quickly as if in alarm, sending shadows flying across the walls of the cave.
The lion-turtle clambered to its feet carefully. No damage was done except to its dignity; it was a creature of the earth, not of the air. It did not fly and would never do so again.
"Ancient One. Why are you here?" a voice asked cautiously. It was high pitched and feminine, pure sounding and made the lion-turtle automatically feel more relaxed. A spirit floated round a corner of the cave slowly, feet brushing the floor barely, glowing intensely. A human would not be able to distinguish its form but the lion-turtle saw through the guise.
The lion-turtle gazed upon the Soul Shaper with huge eyes and realised that an explanation was in order for the rather rude trespass.
"…..Vehrin," it said, uttering its first word in a low, subsonic grumbling tone. Speaking was not easy for it; its mouth was not exactly made for human speech.
The Soul Shaper elegantly placed four hands together in a peaceful manner. Her pointed ears twitched ever so slightly as she considered her foe.
"Vehrin is released. He has been collecting strength but I have not felt him. This is news. Thank you, Ancient One. I will see him imprisoned once more," she said, turning and floating away.
The lion-turtle growled lowly. One more attempt at a word. A creature as ancient as itself should be living history, not speaking about it.
The spirit turned as the lion-turtle uttered another word to explain the entire situation occurred outside of the isolated Cave, "…..Avatar."
The Soul Shaper cocked its head to one side in curiosity. "Ah. The Avatar is returned and comes seeking my assistance. I do not like the Avatar, Ancient One. Not after what a past life of his once tried to force me to do. But to stop Vehrin, I shall listen to what the human has to say. And after, Ancient One, I shall deal no more with the Avatar."
((This was a fun chapter to write, despite being a short one, as it looks into the mind of a younger lion-turtle, one not quite so wise and prideful but already starting to find its way. They're such mysterious creatures and so trying to write the character of one was a good challenge so hope you enjoy!))