the mighty spirits / tolerate no impudence / and show no mercy

[roc_on]

Beila has been volunteering at the hospital for a week now. About four percent of the population can waterbend, and all benders have to be trained some just to control their powers instead of being plagued by constant accident, but most don't acquire significant skill, and most don't specialize in healing. There is always more demand for waterbenders than there are waterbenders to be had, so Beila's working alongside nonbending and other-element doctors and nurses and techs. They start her in the burn ward, because burns are easiest and Avatar or no she's a novice, and she washes away hurts and refuses to sign autographs and takes her legally required twenty-minute breaks at regular intervals and then heals more.

The school term ends. Beila withdraws from classes. She writes an open letter about that, thanking the teachers and so on for their time and attention, explaining her decision, and she puts it up on the public-facing official Avatar screenserver that the nuns set up for her. She divides her time between classes with Shifu Hayaka, volunteer work at the hospital, intensive meditation, reading, and Dao.

She's with Dao when the earthquake hits, sitting on her roof while he does homework and she reads.

The ground shakes like gelatin, and Beila's been airbending to keep from falling over too long to react with anything other than an instinctive shove of air; but the air is sluggish, reluctant, something is wrong.

The roof has a view of the sea, and the sea is bubbling - no steam, it's not boiling, it's just angry -

And the air is too warm.

Something has the elements spectacularly agitated.

And Beila doesn't know what.

Comments

[roc_on]

"I need you to be - present, and sort of - look after me, because if this works I'm not going to be in my body and something could fall on me if there's another quake and I could die."

[thinklikethis]

"...okay," he repeats. "I guess I'll try not to let anything fall on you, then."

[roc_on]

Beila gives him a quick kiss, and assumes the lotus position on a cushion, and closes her eyes.

Breathe. (Though the air comes too slow, too hot, she's sweating now.)

Feel her heartbeat. (It slows as she calms herself, steadies.)

Reach for spirits.

There's a spirit!

She's never done this before. She doesn't recognize it till she's already reached out and touched it, and then she opens her eyes and this is not her house that she's in.

That they're in.

"...Oops."

[thinklikethis]

"Yeah," says Dao. "Oops is right. Well, I hope the roof doesn't collapse on us."

[roc_on]

"It shouldn't," says Beila uncertainly. "Earthquakes aren't uncommon exactly, just that was an unusually bad one, and the house survived that - I'm sorry. Figuring out how to put you back in your body could take a while, I know how to go back myself, at least in theory, but I don't even know quite how I brought you along for the ride. The spirit could start throwing around more power any moment and I need to find it now."

[thinklikethis]

"So what do I do? Follow you around and try not to get in the way?"

[roc_on]

"Or stay here by our bodies, up to you, but we could run into any number of things I have a better shot at defending against than you do so you might want to stick with me," Beila says uncertainly.

[thinklikethis]

"...I think I'll stick with you," he decides.

[roc_on]

Beila nods once, takes a step, and immediately falls on her face.

"...She told me, she warned me," Beila mutters, picking herself up with difficulty, "no bending in the spirit world, bending doesn't work in the spirit world, I did not think this through -" She gets on her feet, takes three more steps, and trips again and catches herself on a spirit tree only with great difficulty. "I've been using airbending to get around since before I could walk. Cinders, cinders and dust -" She tries again, gets a little farther, trips again. "I am apparently unable to walk without airbending. Do you suppose you can carry me or do I need to go get us out of here and find a way to bring Liqing in?"

[thinklikethis]

"I can probably carry you," says Dao.

He picks her up.

[roc_on]

"Thank you," says Beila. And she looks around, and thinks, and concentrates, and points in a direction.

[thinklikethis]

Dao goes that way.

[roc_on]

Beila is alert, and thoughtful, and tense in his arms. She redirects him a few times, following clues that are not obvious to anyone but the Avatar.

It's a long walk, and on their way, the world shakes - only visually; there is no instability under Dao's feet - and Beila winces.

[thinklikethis]

He has to put her down and rest once or twice, but mostly, he just carries her.

[roc_on]

Eventually, they come to a sort of... pit. While the spirit world looks like wilderness through and through, they are presently in the part of town that corresponds to a neighborhood of refineries.

From the bottom of the pit is a low-pitched rumbling moan that starts up when they approach and dies down a moment later.

"Put me down," Beila murmurs.

[thinklikethis]

Dao puts her down.

[roc_on]

Beila gets down on the ground and creeps forward - sensible of her, given that she can't walk very well and it's a long way down - and peeps into the pit.

"Hello!" she calls.

The moaning starts up again.

[thinklikethis]

Dao hangs back worriedly.

[roc_on]

"I'm the Avatar," Beila calls into the pit. "Are you upset? I want to help."

"Avatar," rumbles the thing in the pit.

[thinklikethis]

Dao worries some more!

[roc_on]

"Yes," says Beila. "I've come to find out what's wrong."

"Tell them to stop," rumbles the spirit.

"I will carry messages for you, but I must know who to carry them to," Beila says.

"They who promised me."

"You've been promised that someone would stop something and they haven't?"

"Yes," growls the voice.

"Who is it? What do they need to stop?"

"Pouring."

"Someone is pouring something somewhere and promised to stop and didn't."

"Yes."

"Is this happening - here? In this corresponding place in the physical world?"

"Yes."

[thinklikethis]

...Where are they? Dao looks around, although he isn't sure that's going to help.

[roc_on]

It's really not. They didn't walk far enough to be out of Republic City, and this is clearly a giant sinkhole in a forest with ludicrously enormous trees.

"What are you?" Beila asks the spirit.

"The pocket," says the spirit.

"A pocket of - something under the ground? Magma, water, air -"

"Yes."

Beila gulps.

"Who promised you?"

"Humans," says the voice. "Lying humans."

"Names. A company, an individual, a group -"

"Humans," repeats the spirit.

[thinklikethis]

Maybe he'll pay attention on the walk back. If direction and distance even mean the same thing here that they do in the material world.

[roc_on]

"Do you manifest?" Beila asks.

"Yes."

"What are you, when you do?"

"I am myself."

"Has anyone named your manifestation?" Beila tries.

"No."

"Do you look like an animal? A human?"

"No."

"I will carry your message. Please calm down while I do it. It is harder to travel in the physical world while a powerful spirit is upset."

"Lying humans."

"I'm the Avatar," Beila reminds it.

"Avatar," it muses. "Yes."

"Will you be calm for - three days?" offers Beila. "And I will spend those days looking for the humans who lied to you so I can pass on your message."

"If you lie I will listen to no more promises," rumbles the spirit.

Beila swallows again.