Mushi, Lindon, Little Blue, and Dross had been traveling through the spirit forest for some time now. Lindon kept trying to cycle, more out of habit than anything else. It was strange to be in a place devoid of the sacred arts and aura. It enforced the idea they might have ended up outside of Cradle, as outlandish as that sounded. He knew people could ascend, but he didn't believe that is what had happened.

At the same time, he also didn't know for sure what had happened, so nothing was out of the realm of possibility. He looked to Dross, who floated along with the group. It was also strange not being able to communicate through their bond. Little Blue would walk along with the group for a bit, before shooting off to look at a plant or floating light. She would run back to Lindon and tell him her findings.

Mushi's eyes were so big, Lindon thought they might pop out. The older man made sure to get a look at anything and everything. Eventually, the forest opened up to a clearing with a stream. A glowing horse-shaped creature looked up from where it was drinking before running off.

Lindon cleared his throat "I would normally suggest following the water to see if it leads to some form of civilization. I'm not so sure the normal rules apply to this place."

Mushi let out a hum before saying "I have not heard any legend of towns or villages of spirits in the spirit realm, but our worlds are meant to be mirrors of each other. I see no harm in following the river."

Little Blue had already ran into the stream, splashing around in the shallow water. Dross said "Onward, to our unknown doom!"

They took a slower pace while following the river. Little Blue decided she was going to walk through the water as they walked along the side. Mushi was asking about their travels together. Lindon was answering as best he could.

"Little Blue and I have been traveling since I left my village. She is a pure spirit, similar to water, but more cleansing. We met Dross later, he's a mind spirit."

Mushi began to stroke his beard "How strange, I've never heard of either kind. I would have guessed they were water and fire spirits. There's so much for me to learn."

The stream seemed to be getting wider and deeper. Lindon called for Little Blue to join them on land before she got swept away, she complained but got out. The river continued to widen, and the trees also got taller. The canopy filled in more and more until no sunlight made it through. It very quickly went from light to dark, only possible in the spirit realm, or so Lindon believed. In the darkness the water had a shine to it. The mushrooms dotting the tree trunks were glowing blue and pinks as well. Fish-like spirits swam in and out of the water. They were joined by bird-like spirits who had no problem joining them in the water. It was beautiful.

The trees became more densely grouped together, until they stood side by side like a wall. Eventually they blended together, the canopy above closed in until they were in a tunnel of bark. The bark smoothed out into stone, and they were walking in a cave. The river narrowed back down to a small stream. They had been following the river downstream, but the cave changed into an incline. The stream flowed up the incline, not slowing a bit. The spirits didn't swim here and the mushrooms changed to glowing crystal, glowing even brighter. Dross was obsessed with the river flowing upwards, and Lindon had to hold Little Blue back from jumping in. Mushi rubbed his hand against a glowing crystal which caused it to dim slightly.

They walked along the cave as it twisted and turned with the stream. Then, after coming along out of a bend, light could be seen up ahead. They were at the end. Their pace slowed as they got closer, the light was getting close.

Lindon tried to will his eyes to adjust but by the time they made it out he was still blinded. After a few moments, their eyes cleared to find a beautiful landscape laid out before them. The cave had somehow led them to the summit of a mountain. Lush forests ran into dense fields of green grass which ran into deep blue lakes which bled into swampy marshland. They could see for miles at this height. Lindon followed the landscape off to the left and finally noticed that they were not alone.

He let out a very dignified yelp and everyone turned to see what had startled him. An old man held his palms up.

"Don't be alarmed, I'm here to help".

Lindon kept his guard up, Little Blue half hid behind his legs, Dross stayed as still as he could, and Mushi…was bowed and pushing his forehead into the ground.

Mushi called out with reverence "Avatar Roku, is that you?"

The stranger took a few steps and knelt in front of Mushi. He put a hand on the tea maker's back.

"You are correct, I am Avatar Roku. And I believe you are the Dragon of the West" Mushi confirmed it while sending Lindon an apologetic look.

Roku turned to Lindon "Forgive me, I can learn many things from the spirits and my own observations, but I do not know who you are."

Lindon knew the time for keeping information to himself was over, if this Avatar could help him get back home, it would be worth it.

"Forgiveness Honored Avatar. I am Wei Shi Lindon Arelius, Sage of Twin Stars. These are my traveling companions, Little Blue and Dross. I've been told the Avatar is the bridge between worlds. I believe we need your help to get back home."

Dross bobbed one and Little Blue held her hand up and gave a peep in greeting. Avatar Roku tugged at his beard.

"It's nice to meet you Wei Shi Lindon Arelius, Dross, and Little Blue. I am unfamiliar with the title 'Sage of Twin Stars'. Is that what the Earth Nation calls their sages nowadays?"

Lindon scratched at his neck "Pardon, I am not from the Earth Nation. I am from the Blackflame Empire on Iteration 110 Cradle."

Mushi and Roku both stared at Lindon for a few agonizingly long moments before Roku finally spoke.

"That's unexpected. I've never actually met someone outside of this Iteration, how did you get here?"

Lindon let out the breath he had been holding, for a moment, he thought Roku wouldn't understand what he was talking about.

Mushi asked "What is an Iteration?"

Roku turned to Mushi "An Iteration is a universe in its entirety. The human world and the spirit realm are part of our Iteration. I know from the collective memories of the past Avatars that the Lion Turtles who first taught humans to bend have ascended beyond this Iteration long ago. Well…most of them anyway."

Mushi looked over to Lindon, shocked "Then you are from another universe entirely?"

Lindon tried not to look guilty "I know it sounds beyond ridiculous. But yes…my home is located in Cradle."

Mushi looked between Roku, Lindon, Little Blue, and Dross.

"So then…what is our universe called?"

Dross bobbed up and down, which was probably a shrug. Little Blue had come out behind Lindon's leg, but was too busy examining Roku to answer. Lindon shook his head and looked to Roku.

Roku looked embarrassed "I am ashamed to tell you I do not know what Iteration we're in." He went back to stroking his beard "However, I think I may know where you could find more information. I first heard the whispers of the Iterations from my waterbending teacher in the Northern Water Tribe, Taqukaq. He had studied the moon and ocean spirit his whole life. He used to say the moon spirit had many brothers and sisters beyond this world ." Roku turned to Lindon "You seem to be able to communicate with spirits easily. You may be able to speak with the moon spirit and find out more."

Lindon felt worry worm into his gut "Apologies, as much as I enjoy discovering hidden knowledge, we had been hoping you would be able to help us get back home now. We had heard the Avatar was the bridge between worlds…"

He let the sentence die on his tongue. Roku and Mushi had shared a look when Lindon mentioned the Avatar.

Dross spoke up "You are the Avatar right? That's how you introduced yourself, the Avatar would know lying is wrong."

Roku clasped his hands behind his back "I am Avatar Roku, the Firebender Avatar in a cycle of Avatars going back thousands of years. The current Avatar is an Airbender named Aang. Only the current Avatar could possibly do what you suggest; but…no Avatar before him has even attempted such a thing"

Silence fell over the group as everyone chewed over the information. Mushi was the first to break it, he turned to Lindon.

"What about the tea? It was able to bring us into the spirit realm. Maybe we could use it to get you home? Do you have any different kinds of tea? Maybe we could…"

Mushi cut off suddenly and it looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head

"Tea! I'm probably the only person who has had tea from another world! What an honor, I need to write about it in my diary tonight!"

Little Blue tinkled in agreement, she thought Lindon should be writing about the tea they had in Mushi's shop. Lindon actually agreed. They were in a new world, he should be recording his interactions. Of course, Dross allowed him to have perfect recall for most things. He could write it down later, or put it into a dream tablet.

Lindon looked between Mushi and Roku "I don't think we should rule anything out for now, but it sounds like the first thing we should focus on is finding Avatar Aang. Are you still…connected to him? Do you know where we would be able to find him?"

Roku nodded "He is in Ba Sing Se, I am connected with him, but I'm more connected with his thoughts and emotions than with his physical body. I don't know exactly where he is." That was better than nothing. Ba Sing Se was large, but not impossibly large. It shouldn't be too hard to find Aang.

Lindon was about to ask Mushi if he knew what Aang looked like when he felt a spike of dread shoot up his spine. He turned to Dross, who looked shocked as well.

"Did you just feel that?"

Dross furiously bobbed up and down.

Lindon turned to Roku "Something is wrong, are there dangerous spirits in this realm?"

Roku looked disturbed "There are some you might call dangerous, they are nowhere near us. I led you here because I knew it would be safe."

Lindon felt another jolt of warning, Dross spoke up "When we came over to the spirit realm, what happens to our bodies in the other world"

Mushi looked alarmed now "Your bodies stay where they are, we are just spiritual projections, why?"

Little Blue was trying to crawl back into Lindon's robes, but she was too big in this body.

Lindon held her to his side and asked "We need to get back now…how do we do that?"

Roku walked to the edge of the cliff they were perched on, he pointed to the forest below. "There was another reason I brought you to this place. If you jump from here, when you reach the bottom it will send your spirits back into your bodies. I know that may seem scary, but…"

Lindon didn't let the old Avatar finish, he grabbed onto Dross and threw himself over the side. Little Blue and Dross screamed the whole way down.

Roku turned to Iroh. "This was all very interesting, I'm glad I was able to meet you all."

Iroh bowed to the Avatar "Maybe Lindon will let me drink some of that special tea again and we can have a longer talk, I have so many questions."

Roku nodded "I would very much like that, the spirits are my friends, but they aren't the best for conversation."

Iroh nodded as he stepped up to the edge. He turned around, spread his arms, closed his eyes, and slowly tipped back until he fell over the side. He kept his eyes closed and kept expecting to feel leaves and branches on the way down. But it felt more like falling through a cloud, until he snapped up and all at once, he was back in his own body. He was groggy. It felt like he was trying to wake up from sleeping 100 years. He abruptly realized there was a fight happening in the same room. He pushed his body to get up, he needed to help.