waterbenders can / if they will apply themselves / learn the healing arts

[roc_on]

Beila studies waterbending, and when she has the basics (waves, ice, the water whip, other relatively simple forms) she's permitted to specialize in healing.

Later on she'll be able to volunteer at a hospital and get her practice in that way, but to start, her teacher advocates practicing on oneself - just a few times, to get a feel for what one's healing bending is doing on both ends at the same time. This dojo produces more and better healers than most, so Beila's inclined to agree with the practice. It's only a few minor injuries, the teacher will be right there to patch her up if Beila doesn't manage the trick by the end of the lesson, and - it's not like she minds, in the right mindset.

Beila gets this faster relative to other students than she did the ordinary waterbending forms. The teacher says she has a natural aptitude. Over the course of her three-hour lesson she heals several burns (these are the easiest injuries to handle with waterbending) and then moves on to slicing her palm shallowly and then pressing healing water into the cut.

It's almost meditative, almost hypnotic. The teacher is satisfied she doesn't need immediate oversight and has gone to see to another student; Beila loses track of time. She's sitting in the dojo courtyard with her bowls of water (one bloody, one clear) and slicing her hand open again at the time her boyfriend is supposed to pick her up.

Comments

[thinklikethis]

"I don't really know what a moon spirit looks like, so I'm just imagining something... long and undulatey with big whiskers and a lot of limbs. And very fluffy. But with a scaly underbelly. I might have to carve this," he snorts.

[roc_on]

"That," says Beila, "would be hilarious, and you should totally do it."

[thinklikethis]

He giggles some more.

[roc_on]

"I've never seen a badgermole. I've seen sky bison, and once I saw a dragon, but never a badgermole. Should probably arrange to do that sometime when I get to earthbending."

[thinklikethis]

"I've seen, like, pictures of all those things!"

[roc_on]

"Have you not even seen a sky bison? People fly them to and from the city sometimes. The folks who came to tell me I was the Avatar showed up on one."

[thinklikethis]

"Not up close. I might've caught sight of one off in the distance once or twice."

[roc_on]

"I could take you to the nearest air temple sometime and you could meet a bunch. They might lick you, though."

[thinklikethis]

"I think I'll pass."

[roc_on]

"You don't want a gigantic sky bison to slurp you? I'm astonished."

[thinklikethis]

"Astonishingly, I am not into being slurped by large animals! Actually, make that any size animals!"

[roc_on]

"Not even cute little puppykittens?"

[thinklikethis]

"No!" he says firmly. "No slurping."

[roc_on]

"Awwww, I can't believe you wouldn't let a fluffy little puppykitten lick your hand."

[thinklikethis]

He covers his face with his hands and giggles.

[roc_on]

"Or a goatpuppy, those also lick people," Beila says. "Ranyi sometimes goes through phases of wanting a goatpuppy."

[thinklikethis]

"I have never wanted a goatpuppy in my life."

[roc_on]

"Me either, I'm generally the one to argue her out of it. I don't mind playing with ones that belong to other people but I prefer my nice low-maintenance non-licking-inclined giant bird."

[thinklikethis]

"Rocs are cool," Dao agrees.

[roc_on]

"Especially my roc! I was so thrilled when I got her - I had to be certified glider-safe first or Chali wouldn't hear of it - and I got my own egg and rented an incubator and I checked on her three times a day to see if she'd hatched yet, it was constantly exciting even though nothing was happening."

[thinklikethis]

"Spirits, that's adorable," snorts Dao.

[roc_on]

"It was! I was a very cute nine-year-old. And then she did hatch, and she made this little peeping noise and she was only about as long as my arm - wrist to shoulder - and I had to feed her till she was old enough to fish on her own, but that only took a couple months."

[thinklikethis]

"Awwwwwwwwww," says Dao, and he hugs her.

[roc_on]

Hugs!

[thinklikethis]

Snuggy hugs.