— Very well. I think we have an agreement. This is a beneficial and fair deal for both of us. Try not to think about anything…
Raising his wing, Wan Shi Tong overshadowed my sight…
For a moment, I felt something strange, incomprehensible, unusual, indescribable… and then I began to realize that Wan Shi Tong was injecting information and his own knowledge into my mind.
The sensations were unfamiliar, as if tiny centipedes were crawling into my head. I cannot explain how, but I was beginning to remember and know things that I could not possibly have known before! Deciding not to resist, I relaxed, allowing the new knowledge to solidify in my memory. There was a lot of knowledge, but it was all structured, and the gradually received knowledge fit perfectly with what I had already assimilated. It was as if I was learning the history of the world's creation from the very beginning—or rather, the point of origin was the birth of Wan Shi Tong, but he was not much younger than the world and the oldest spirits.
History… first, the spirit began with the history of the world. Sentience arose in the world more than twenty thousand years ago. The first spirits, embodiments of the elements, realized themselves at the dawn of the era, followed by spirits of places, states, and phenomena. Among them was Wan Shi Tong, who did not hesitate to share his memories of those times for better assimilation of the information. His memory carried happy recollections; he considered those times to be among the best. The first and most powerful of the spirits were Rava and Vaatu. Light and Dark, Creation and Destruction, Order and Chaos, peace and movement, male and female. As soon as they appeared, they clashed in eternal struggle… This continued until humans appeared in the world.
About eleven thousand years ago, Lion Turtles appeared right in the middle of the ocean. These were colossal creatures living in the ocean, upon whose backs enormous forests grew. It was they who brought humans to this world on their large shells, where the first human settlements were located. From where and why was unknown even to Wan Shi Tong. Although he suspected that they had crossed the void. After their unexpected appearance, they dispersed throughout the world and coexisted peacefully with nature and the spirits inhabiting the world. The turtles themselves were unreasonably friendly to humans. It was from them that humans learned elemental bending, though the turtles themselves possessed more than just that.
Bending—it was in this world before the elements appeared, and it exists invariably even now. Energybending. This primordial bending allows control over any kind of energy. In essence, this bending is the beginning of all other types of bending. Because it was thanks to Energybending that the Lion Turtles transmitted elemental bending to humans, and it is thanks to it that I am now receiving all this information. Elemental bending itself carries the same essence as Energybending, and it works by the same laws. This bending existed even before the Avatar appeared, before the creation of the four main bendings, and before the formation of the four main nations, and even before the appearance of the first spirits. Wan Shi Tong was absolutely certain of this.
In those days, when humans first appeared, they did not possess any bending. Only what their protectors temporarily granted them. By the way, there were four turtles, and each granted mastery over a separate element. This was the first elemental bending with the first benders. Humans temporarily received bending in order to defend themselves against the aggressive world, full of animals and spirits, not all of whom were benevolent towards the unknown intruders. The area on the turtles' shells was too small for humanity, and to satisfy their needs, the newly formed benders often went hunting in the aggressive world, temporarily armed with bending.
Why temporarily? I do not think the gift of bending was without consequences. Conflicts of energies, unsuitable bodies—all this was familiar to me. Surely, their bodies must have gotten used to the power to minimize harm, and not just gotten used to it! The ability to bend should have been reflected in their genes. Which is precisely what happened eventually. Humans used the granted abilities better and better, generation after generation… and so it continued for hundreds of years until the Avatar appeared.
None of the humans at the time wondered how this happened, how it worked, or why the turtles did what they did. Only the spirit of knowledge, after talking with all the turtles, learned about the existence of Energybending, recording this knowledge in his library. And many, many years later, lucky humans reached Wan Shi Tong's library and discovered this knowledge for themselves. However, even he could not find out what goals these mysterious creatures pursued. Learning all this, I began to suspect the existence of some unknown, god-like force that relocated humans from one planet to another in this manner. But my reflections on the possibility of this were interrupted by the next package of information on Energybending…
Funnily enough, I noticed that some of the Energybending training was very similar to the training Ty Lee underwent. I was on very good terms with the acrobat, so I knew a few things about her past, including some highly secret information. She must be a descendant of those people who acquired this knowledge from the owl. In any case, all the accumulated knowledge, both on Energybending and other types of bending, including rarer subspecies such as lava, blood, or sand, appeared in my mind. The names, the last practitioners, and the stories of how these types of bending were forgotten by the peoples. Due to wars, time, distrust, and an era not particularly conducive to the exchange and preservation of knowledge, much was forgotten, recreated, and forgotten again by humanity. However, Wan Shi Tong perfectly remembered every such discovery, as did I now.
But let us return to human history. After several hundred years, when many generations had passed, and bending was becoming better and better for humans, the era of the Avatar began. A series of coincidences followed one after another, and in the end, thanks to simple luck, a confluence of circumstances, and the intervention of a foolish man in the struggle between Rava and Vaatu, the Avatar appeared. And his story, the story of how he gained strength, is quite interesting. The process of learning the four elements, Energybending, and merging with the spirit—all this was very engaging and informative.
Wan Shi Tong was also interested in this case, and he found the answer to the question of why all humans cannot learn other bending arts. The answer was quite simple: genes, time, and the colossal difficulty of restructuring the energy structure without the help of a powerful spirit. Humans simply do not have enough lifespan to learn all of this, and they did not need it. The easier bending with which they gained affinity simply made the more difficult Energybending unpopular, and without it, mastering other elements was impossible. And even with Energybending itself, one had to try very hard to amount to anything in a combat sense. Elemental bending could be learned in a much shorter time and become a formidable force, which was more beneficial for the short life of a human.
The best example I have seen with my own eyes is Ty Lee and Azula. The former is utterly defeated by the latter in terms of destructive power. For these reasons, Energybending simply could not become popular. If there was a choice between elemental and more complex bending, the choice was in favor of the easier bending option. Also, few people knew about it, and that also played a role. Most of the knowledgeable people were among the Air Nomads, and they mastered it to the required level, but over time, due to lack of necessity, almost all humans forgot about the existence of Energybending. Almost… Fire healing was precisely a mixture of Energybending and firebending, as was water healing, the nomads' special sensitivity to air movements, or the ability to see through the earth among earthbenders.
But I have been thinking too much about bending.
Avatar Wan is the first mortal embodiment of the primordial spirit. It is funny that the first Avatar was a firebender. With his appearance, everything changed, and a new era began. The era of the Avatar… and it began with the sealing of Vaatu, the separation of the physical and spiritual worlds, as well as the settlement of humans on the continents and the disappearance of the Lion Turtles. No, they were still in the world, but they interacted less and less with humans until they completely vanished from human history. At first, humans simply settled in the new lands, which they did very quickly, since there were no more spirits protecting nature, and they dealt with animals using bending. After a hundred or two years, the first major nations formed, the elemental countries, and with their appearance, the first wars for territory and resources began.
And here, the already aging Avatar played a role again, pursuing his goals, intervening in wars and reconciling both sides in his own way, usually giving both a good thrashing. And so it continued until one of the armies finally overcame the old Wan. He lived, of course, much longer than he was supposed to, several hundred years. The first Avatar himself was somewhat inadequate; his actions and decisions were at least controversial, and if judged impartially, downright stupid and short-sighted. Surely, the merger with Rava somehow affected his sanity. And even before becoming the Avatar, he was an ordinary criminal sentenced to exile and execution.
In general, he was not the person worthy of the great power of the primordial spirit. He did stupid things, had colossal self-conceit, appointed himself the guardian of both worlds and the bridge between them, acted impulsively, did not think about the consequences, and ultimately committed many not-so-good deeds in his life, considering himself almost a god. The subsequent Avatars after him were more adequate, but they also acted according to their upbringing and their sense of justice. The world entered a new era that continues to this day.
Humans fought among themselves, for everything possible and just because. Quite often, charismatic and powerful benders created full-fledged empires from the feudal-fragmented structure, which were quickly destroyed by the Avatar. The main keeper of order often killed emperors who encroached on the lands and resources of other nations. And after the king's death, his descendants and close associates again drove their subjects into an era of feudal fragmentation, illiteracy, and chaos, with a war of all against all. All Avatars had strange concepts of justice and harmony among nations, some more, some less.
When wars occurred between one nation, in most cases, the keeper of the worlds simply ignored them. But as soon as the united Earth Nation, Fire Nation, or Water Nation wanted to seize foreign territories, he always intervened. With an ending already familiar to me. Thus, ten thousand years passed; empires periodically arose and perished, knowledge was lost and created anew, and a new social order of a unified nation could not last long. The structure of feudal fragmentation lingered unnecessarily. It is still present among the Earth and Water Nations. Internal competition for a place under the sun is beneficial, because in this case, the overpopulation of humans is reduced by frequent diseases and wars among themselves for pieces of power and resources.
The Air Nomads stood apart from everyone else; they did not develop materially but developed spiritually, not laying claim to anything and not conflicting with anyone. With the current level of technology and knowledge, no one needed their mountains and temples. And it was they who benefited most from such events. Therefore, they helped every Avatar in every possible way, guiding the keeper of balance onto the true path. By the way, everyone among the Air Nomads was a bender. This was due to the correct upbringing and the monks' particularly "spiritual" lifestyle. At least that is what the nomads themselves believed, and Wan Shi Tong also believed this.
But to me, as someone who grew up in a very technological world, all this seemed like pure madness. The same events repeated again and again with the same ending, dozens and hundreds of times; years, calendars, names, dynasties, clans changed… the result was the same for everyone. Everything was so predictable that I did not pay attention to most of the names of the rulers and Avatars who succeeded each other. All this continued for a very long time, millennia.
A vicious circle of violence, stagnation, and destruction, but everything changed! No, not from the moment the Fire Nation started the war. Earlier, from the moment the first Fire Lord rose as ruler, a very distant ancestor of Azula.
Feudal fragmentation and various empires also existed in the Fire Nation. In those days, most of the power belonged to the Fire Sages and constantly warring feudal lords. At that time, the Fire Lord was only the leader of the Sages. But about six hundred years ago, a war took place, as a result of which all power passed into the hands of one person.
This was a standard story of the formation of a standard empire. However, that ruler was smart; instead of conquering foreign territories, new wars, and so on… he established a cult of strength and showed and proved in every possible way that he was for harmony with the world. People continued to compete within their own nation but did not pose a threat to other nations. The Avatar accepted such changes in the structure of power and did not intervene. And the first Fire Lord, as the leader of the entire nation, began to strengthen his power and the power of his family; his descendants also took up this task. Unification into one large country, even if not immediately, gave a strong impetus to progress in mechanics, medicine, science… Many reforms and changes took place; compulsory schools were introduced for the entire population. People still had many difficulties—lack of food, resources, territory… but thanks to the cult of strength, they only became better and stronger, gradually building up their superiority over other nations. People learned about lightningbending again, invented mechanical ships, tanks, factories…
Hundreds of years later, the descendant of the first Fire Lord, Sozin, saw a moment, a chance, an opportunity for himself and his people. In his desire to bring progress to all other humans, driven by the idea of a unified humanity, he betrayed his childhood friend, Avatar Roku. Soon after, the Fire Nation started the war…
I knew the rest well thanks to Azula's memory; she diligently studied at school and knew the history of the world and the history of her country in particular. Wan Shi Tong simply gave me several alternative points of view, filling in all the blank spots in history. At this point, the historical references ended, and the present time began.
Having finished recalling this, I smoothly began to realize the presence in my memory of techniques, stances, and methods of training for other types and subspecies of bending. Fire, earth, water, air, sand, blood, plants, explosions… The benders who created them, their strengths and weaknesses, techniques, peculiarities, secret moves—in other words, everything the great spirit of knowledge knew about it. Over ten thousand years, humans invented many things and forgot many things in the heat of countless wars and conflicts, but Wan Shi Tong possessed everything that humanity had ever invented. And now, I also possess this knowledge.
Separately after this, I began to recall the documented life of Avatar Kyoshi. From her birth and rise to her death, the ups, downs, trials, and famous events involving this tall woman, such as the creation of a new island with her name, or the special squad of earthbenders, the Dai Li. The woman was one of the strongest Avatars of all time; strength, speed, mastery, wisdom—she had it all. She mastered many things during her long life and was extremely wise, but that was not what interested me. The secret of youth and immortality—yes, Wan Shi Tong knew it. Everything turned out to be simpler than I thought. Energybending and a special meditation based on it, that is all. These two factors allowed one to live eternally young and not age. Useful knowledge, but for me, the next package of information from the spirit was of paramount importance.
Stories about how spirits became human and humans became spirits. One of the most romantic and one that still remained in humanity's ears was the case of Lady Tienhai. The spirit began to live among humans, transforming into a human and dying as a human out of love for the prince of one of the earth kingdoms. Of course, there were other similar cases; love is an extremely dangerous feeling. Even for immortal beings. But I was not very interested in romantic stories. The way for a spirit to become human, that is what I needed! And I learned it…
I thought I would be happy, that I would feel at least something positive, but when I realized that I could not just take and make myself human again, I experienced something strange. It was as if I was roughly thrown into harsh reality, snatched from the wet dreams I had convinced myself of. An unpleasant feeling.
The fact was that I possessed a terribly small amount of spiritual power, had difficulty replenishing it, and was only slightly stronger than the weakest earth spirits. Like the pupsenyi (the smallest earth spirits, which look like little clay humanoids with leaves on their heads). Such a miracle would simply be beyond my power. And that was not the only problem. When I become human, and the Mother of Faces will not have any problems with this, I will lose many of my spiritual abilities, well, to hell with them, if I gain bending. The problem was different. Even if I manage to snatch a second life for myself, it is not certain that during its time I will be able to achieve the power to become a spirit on my own. After all, a human can suddenly turn out to be mortal, and bargaining for my third life…
— How interesting… So much knowledge… Amazing… Prophecies or coincidence? These cartoons, anime, it is all so interesting… — the calm voice of Wan Shi Tong pulled me out of my thoughts. Lost in my thoughts, I somehow did not notice that he had already finished the knowledge transfer, and was now apparently assimilating the information he took from me.
— How much time has passed? — I address Ari, while Wan Shi Tong continued to mutter quietly to himself, still under the impression. The fox was sitting in the same pose I remembered, giving me the false feeling that only a few moments had passed.
— An hour, I think. For more accurate information, it is best to refer to the stars.
— I see… — I reply to Ari, stretching my neck.
The owl was right; I felt unpleasant sensations. A headache, how long it has been since I felt you. And Wan Shi Tong himself has become suspiciously silent; has he really already figured out all the knowledge? Amazing. But, I think I should hurry back to my princess. I have already received everything I need. My next goal is the Mother of Faces; I have nothing more to do here, and I should not abuse the great spirit's hospitality.
— In that case, I think our deal is partially concluded. May I ask you a small favor? — I address the owl, who was standing like a statue and looking straight ahead, clearly pondering something.
— A favor? — the spirit replied with slight interest, focusing his black eyes on me again.
— Yes, it will be somewhat difficult for me to get back to… let's say, the place I came to you from. I would like to ask you to allow Ari to escort me.
— No, — followed the immediate answer from the spirit.
— No?! Why? — such a sharp answer somewhat stunned me.
— I cannot allow you to leave my domain. Your knowledge… is too dangerous for the world and the creatures inhabiting it. I am afraid to imagine what humans would do to the planet if they acquired the knowledge you possess. I know about your plans, and I cannot allow it. You will remain here, forever, — with every word the spirit spoke in a calm voice, sentencing me to death, I felt my soul sink into my heels.
«Fuck!» — the thought flashed through my mind.
A moment later, hearing a strange sound above, I realized there was no exit; it had simply disappeared.
«I am in deep shit!»