masters of the earth / listening and waiting for / the exact moment

[roc_on]

Beila will need to practice more to be truly a master of waterbending, but she knows the technique, now, and the rest is application she can practice on her own time. The nuns find her an earthbending teacher.

She goes to Dao's house after her first earthbending lesson. "Shifu Riko is a strange person," she remarks.

Comments

[roc_on]

"Maybe, but she doesn't have any other students - not right now, anyway - so whether she's a good teacher remains to be seen."

[thinklikethis]

"Well, good luck, I guess."

[roc_on]

"Thanks."

[thinklikethis]

"Maybe you will learn how to listen to the earth."

[roc_on]

"I wonder what it has to say."

[thinklikethis]

"Um... 'quit stepping on me'?" he suggests.

[roc_on]

"Spirits, I hope not. I don't think that would be sustainable."

[thinklikethis]

"Yeah, if the ground wants people to stop walking on it, it's kind of screwed," laughs Dao.

[roc_on]

"Maybe it'll say, 'walk on me more, I have this awful crick in my spine'."

[thinklikethis]

Dao cracks up.

[roc_on]

"Or 'walk over there, I have an itch', I don't know. Maybe Shifu Riko has an idea and will tell me eventually."

[thinklikethis]

He giggles some more.

[roc_on]

"I would like to actually, you know, bend some earth, and I thought I was going to today. I haven't gotten it to work trying it on my own. Perhaps it's ignoring me because I don't listen to it."

[thinklikethis]

"Well, when's your next lesson?"

[roc_on]

"Tomorrow. The lack of other students does make scheduling densely more convenient."

[thinklikethis]

"So you can learn how to listen to the earth really quickly. I guess."

[roc_on]

"Perhaps the earth speaks very slowly, and I need to show up every day to listen to the two syllables it utters at around noon."

[thinklikethis]

Dao giggles helplessly.

[roc_on]

Beila's next lesson lasts longer, and she shows up at Dao's, visibly exhausted, dry of perspiration thanks only to the constant play of wind around her. She flops onto him and groans.

[thinklikethis]

He hugs her.

"How was listening to the earth?"

[roc_on]

"Today the earth was mad at me and it decided to show its displeasure in the form of a tiny madwoman."

[thinklikethis]

"Oh, dear. What'd she do?"

[roc_on]

"She said I wasn't listening to the earth, and if it was so hard, I should see how much harder it would be to get rocks to move by brute force, and I spent most of the day carrying chunks of stone around. As in, in my arms. And you know how I can barely walk without airbending? That does not get easier when I'm carrying something heavy, I fell over a lot. Occasionally under the heavy rocks. This is me after fixing up a lot of bruises as best I could. I don't think this is standard earthbender training."

[thinklikethis]

"...I don't think so either," says Dao. "That is weird. Weird and disquieting."

[roc_on]

"If she tries to get me to do that again I'm signing up with a regular dojo," says Beila, shaking her head.