Chapter Three: The Voice of Raava

Introduction:
Four avatars have come and gone: Wan, Ilijaia, Kadaku, and Salen.

Now it is time for the cycle to begin anew with another Fire Avatar.

Morning Meditation:
"Come on, Zuli! Time to wake up!" Yilai tried to shake Zuli awake, to no avail. Zuli stayed slumbering like a sky bison in her bed. Yilai ran and got a bin of cold water.

"Zuli! Wake up!" Zuli didn’t wake up. Yilai dumped the water on her. Finally, when it seemed like Zuli might wake up, she rolled over and fell back asleep. It was 8:30, and time for meditation, and Zuli still hadn’t woken up. Yilai and Kilona had missed breakfast trying to wake her up, and they still had no success. Until Yilai got the bright idea to pretend that there was something special for breakfast.

"Zuli! THERE’S FIRE FLAKES FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yilai shouted directly into her ear. That woke Zuli with a start.

"Where? Where are the fire flakes?" Zuli glanced around, disoriented, and then seemed to register that she was soaking wet and that Yilai was rolling on the ground in front of her with laughter.

In between fits of laughter, Kilona explained, "You *laugh* slept in past breakfast *laugh* and Yilai tried to wake you up. *laugh* By dumping water on you *laugh* which didn’t work. *laugh* So she shouted in your ear that *laugh* there was *laughlaughlaughlaugh* I can’t explain, too funny! *laugh*"

Yilai finished explaining, "fire flakes for breakfast! *laughlaughlaughlaugh*"

"Hmph! I miss fire flakes, okay? So stop being mean!" Zuli pouted, her lip jutted out.

Yilai managed to stop laughing. "You missed breakfast, and if we don’t leave now, then we are going to be late for morning meditation. She tossed some yellow and orange robes at Zuli. "Get dressed into these. Me and Kilona will be on the second level of the meditation building. The one with the giant statue." Kilona was wearing matching robes to Yilai, the same ones that were in Zuli’s hands.

Zuli got dressed, and tucked away her fire nation clothes beneath her bed. She likely would not be wearing them until she returned to the Fire Nation after mastering all four elements. The air nomad clothes consisted of loose yellow pants gathered around the waist and a long yellow tunic that went to the ankles. It was split along the sides of her legs to give room for bending. The tunic had sleeves that ended in a point on the back of her hand. Over that she wore a sleeveless orange robe, open on the front. It was classic Air Nomad clothes, but Zuli still had to miss her red and gold fire nation outfit. The best she could do was wear her hair in it’s top knot with the metal ring around it.

She hopped out of bed, and at a trot, moved along the bridges to the building made for meditation. There were Yilai and Kilona, waiting on the second level. They appeared to be deep in conversation in a way that made Zuli jealous. They were just normal people, hanging out with each other. They didn’t understand the burden she had. She thought of how, before she left, Head Fire Sage Zikon and she had discussed who her bending teachers would be.

''"Abbess Jiyana will be the one to teach you airbending, but the real problem is the Water Tribe. In the water tribe, women aren’t allowed to learn bending of any type, nor even marry who they want. All of the great bending masters are against women learning bending, and we need one of them to teach you waterbending." Zikon had rubbed his forehead. He never remembered how he had acted the first day they had met.''

''"Sifu Zikon, why does it have to be an official master? There has got to be an extremely skilled waterbender that is not a master and that is willing to teach me somewhere. Plus, finding an Earthbending teacher is going to be much harder, so you should work on that!" Zuli had tried to cheer him up, but her mind kept spinning long after that conversation ended. She had known that a lot of people wouldn’t accept her for being female, but it had never really come up until now.''

''Her mind was put to ease when she had arrived at the Western Air Temple. Everyone here was female, and some of them even seemed excited by the prospect of the avatar being female. It felt good, to say the least, to be welcomed with open arms.''

Now back at the present, Kilona saw Zuli’s face, and tried to crack some jokes.

"Do you know what I realized, Zuli? Airbenders don’t eat fire flakes, because if they did they would turn to steam? Get it?"

"Uh...No?" Kilona’s joke made zero sense, but it had at least made Zuli feel better. Yilai, Kilona, and Zuli ascended to the fifth level, where young air nomad’s gathered, ready to begin the morning meditation.

With the sound of a gong, everyone went silent, and relaxed. Zuli got bored within the first minute, and glanced over at her friends. Kilona looked peaceful, and actually seemed to be enjoying herself. One glance at Yilai confirmed what she had said on the ride here. She was sitting with perfect posture, eyes open, and looked completely awake except for the fact that her head was lolling a tiny bit to the left. Most people wouldn’t notice, but Zuli had a knack for noticing tiny details on people. Watching her, Zuli started feeling sleepy….

And then startled, she jumped at the sound of a gong singling the end of meditation. Zuli came to the conclusion that she had slept through the majority of the meditation. Looking around, she noticed that a couple of other children showed signs of just having woken up. Oh well, at least I lasted 5 minutes before I fell asleep. Unlike Yilai.

The three ate lunch, and after lunch, Yilai and Zuli headed over to where they would be practicing (learning in Zuli’s case) airbending with Abbess Jiyana.

The Airbending Gates of Doom and Bruises
Yilai practiced some airbending moves as Abbess Jiyana instructed Zuli. She started off by explaining the basics of airbending.

"Air is peaceful, but it can also be deadly. The air nomads use it passively, and that is how you will be taught. The movements are fluid, and graceful. Unlike fire, which uses more aggressive movements." At this, Abbess Jiyana swirled her hands until a funnel of air was held in them, wrapping around her shoulders. "You may not be able to get it today, but you will get it eventually. Do not get discouraged. Now follow me. I want you to try to make a gust of air, but first you must become the air."

Abbess Jiyana walked up a set of stairs to a circular platform with rectangles of wood mounted on spinning sticks. She shot a gust of air into it which sent the pieces spinning. "Try to move between these without getting hit. Yilai, will you demonstrate?" Yilai walked over, and wove between them. She paused as they were flat against her, and as the pieces started to come closer, she would weave into another pocket of space. She got to the other side without a single close call. She made it seem effortless.

When Zuli strode up to it, she got pushed from one piece to another, constantly being shoved and receiving bruises. She was being batted between the paws of a cat, helpless to its movements. She tried to force her way out, which didn’t work; she tried to bend her way out using waterbending, which didn’t work. She knew that using firebending would destroy it, though water would only get the wood wet. The element she felt most connected to besides fire was water, which everyone seemed to find strange. She got shoved and banged into before finally getting  deposited on the other side of the spinning gates. Frustrated that she had done so horribly, Zuli yelled, sending a burst of flame up into the stone ceiling. Abbess Jiyana walked up to her and laid a hand on Zuli’s shoulder.

"Avatar Azuliona, you will not get it at first. Do not get frustrated by it. Yilai performs it amazingly after years of practicing. It takes time. Remember, to become the air you must be fluid, unable to be caught in its clutches. Imagine this like fire. It is moving, living, and dangerous; you must avoid it, or you will get injured. Though you won’t get injured by this, many airbending techniques can be dangerous to the user if done improperly. Try to be fluid, constantly moving to avoid the fire. Could you try once more?" Abbess Jiyana was patient, which was what Zuli needed. She was used to always being able to master something on the first try, and her teachers had gotten used to that; they sometimes were even disappointed in her if she didn’t master on the first try. The abbess truly embodied air.

Zuli took a deep breath. "I guess I can try one or two more times. But then can we try something else?"

"Yes," Abbess Jiyana knew that it would take time for her to master it, and was willing for it to take time.

This time, Zuli calmly walked up to the gates after Abbes Jiyana shot a burst of air at it. She waited for it to calm down and imagined fire and water. She was the water, liquid and fluid; avoiding the flame as it licked at her heels. She managed to weave through the first half with only a couple of bumps. And then she got wacked so hard that she banged into another, and another, and another. The problem with the gates is if you messed up badly once, it was almost impossible to right yourself. Zuli now encountered this problem until she was thrust out, battered and bruised.

She gave Abbess Jiyana a small smile. "I think that was better than last time. Though my back really hurts now…… Can we practice something else?"

Abbess Jiyana smiled back. "That was great progress, probably some of the fastest I have seen. You did an amazing job for your first time, and definitely better than I had expected. Let’s go try to control some air that you generate." The Abbess and her two students walked over to a wide, empty pavilion.

Taking this as a cue that she could talk, Yilai launched into a detailed explanation of what had happened the first time she had gone through the airbending gates, or as she called them, the gates of doom and bruises. This explanation consisted of lot’s of whacking, banging, and smacking noises. I think you can put together the conclusion of how Yilai’s first match against the gates of doom and bruises went.

Abbess Jiyana showed Zuli how to create gusts of air of different sizes, directions, and force. Zuli caught on fast, and by the end of the training session, she managed to create a funnel,  though she could not sustain it for long. About an hour later, Abbess Jiyana finally announced that it was time for dinner and the evening meditation.

The meal consisted of rice and a vegetable curry. There was some rice accidentally getting stuck on the bottom of shoes and other things of the sort. Yilai introduced Kilona and Zuli to her air nomad friends, who got along well, sharing jokes and stories. The three along with those previously mentioned air nomads walked around the temple a bit before getting to the meditation platform right as the gong wrung. The evening meditation consisted of more sleepy students, and one fully attentive student. This student was doing every aspect of the meditation perfectly, especially in comparison to her two closest friends. Can you guess who it is? Kilona of the fire nation appeared to be a better meditator then some of the Air Nomads which was surprising in the least. Though Yilai seemed to be doing better than in the morning. She was semi-awake. Whereas the Avatar was asleep and snoring.

"Azuliona. Wake up!" Abbess Jiyana shook the Avatar out of her slumber. "Now that you are sufficiently tired, we are going to try getting you into the spirit world. Or at least have you communicate with your past lives."

The Voice of Raava
The Abbess and her student walked up a narrow winding set of stairs to a small circular platform that stuck out from the other buildings. It was only connected to the other buildings with a thin bridge, and only connected to the cliff with two skinny columns. It was thinly enough supported that Zuli didn’t proceed on to it until the Abbess was on it. The Abbess showed Zuli another way to meditate; while balanced on one foot, you crossed the other over until that ankle was resting on your thigh. Zuli toppled over the first couple of times trying it, but when she finally got the hang of it, Abbess Jiyana matched her positioning and held out her hands. Zuli clasped them in her own.

"Breathe. Follow the rhythm of your breaths and heartbeat to find the path. You may also want to think about your past lives. Think about Avatar Salen, imagine him inside of you. Imagine Raava, and focus on the light that is at the core of your being. And breathe. Imagine your energy pooling in seven spots throughout your body. These are your Chakra’s, and I want you to imagine yourself flowing between them." Abbess Jiyana instructed the Avatar.

Azuliona ignored her surroundings, and focused within herself. Zuli closed her eyes. She did not know much about her past lives, but she knew plenty about Raava. She looked into her heart, her brain, and all of her other Chakra’s. She imagined herself as pure light, the embodiment of Raava. She focused on the energy she felt knotted up inside of her core, and then something happened. She does not know what is happening, but if she were outside of her own body she would see something most people only see once in their lifetime. An Avatar in the Avatar State. Her eyes shot open and began to glow with pure white light that shot forth in columns reaching towards the sky. Her body shook, and a white wisp seemed to come out of her mouth. This wisp became more and more solid until it was the form of the most powerful spirit to exist other than it’s arch nemesis. It took the form of Raava, the spirit of light. Raava floated in front of her, blinding to look at.

When Raava spoke, their voice was only audible to the Avatar, but their voice was powerful. Raava’s voice was pure power, thousands of voices speaking through him. The Avatar heard his voice and noticed four human voices mixed in with the cry of the spirits.

"My name is Raava, Wan, Illajaia, Kadaku, Salen." These names were said at once, a melody and a harmony combined into one.

"We are your past lives. You must master the elements and gain control of the Avatar state to  become a fully realized avatar.  But remember, we live inside of you, and if you are ever in need, we are here for you." The voice of Raava slowly melted away until the Avatar was sitting in front of a silent Raava. Raava stopped glowing; The Avatar’s eyes closed, no longer glowing. Raava seemed to get sucked back through the Avatar’s mouth, and resettled inside of her core. Zuli slumped over right into Abbess Jiyana’s waiting arms. She had expected Zuli to fall over at one point or another. Abbess Jiyana carried her back to the dormitories and put her down on her bed.

Zuli opened her eyes weakly, "Where am I? What happened?"

Abbess Jiyana smiled kindly at her. "You went into the avatar state and communicated with Raava. It took a big toll on you, so you should get some rest." Like that was going to happen. Kilona and Yilai popped their heads out from behind Abbess Jiyana.

"We saw what happened! You looked so cool! Your eyes started glowing and then this spirit came out of you-" Yilai got cut off by Kilona.

"Raava."

"Raava, and then he was talking to you." Yilai looked over at Kilona, "How do you know what the spirit is called, Kilona?"

"What do you think I do all day when you guys are doing your bending?! I don’t have your powers, and I’m just a normal person, but that doesn’t mean I’m helpless! I was reading in the library, and studying Wan and the other avatar’s; I was thinking that maybe I could learn something that could help Zuli!" Kilona, seeing Zuli and Yilai’s pitiful expressions turned on her heel and stormed out of the dormitory. "And I don’t need your pity, either!"

Zuli knew that the only thing that would calm her down was talking to her, so she got out of bed. This caused her to feel her aches about tenfold, but she pushed past the pain and hurried after her friend.

"Kilona! Kilona, wait up! I didn’t mean that you can’t take care of yourself! I know that you can take care of yourself better than I can, because I’m always throwing myself into a fight, and you keep me calm!"

"Oh, so I’m just there to keep you calm? That really made me feel better, Zuli!" Kilona ran faster, and Zuli couldn’t keep up with her because of all of her bruises and aches. She suspected that Kilona had hid in the Bison stables, but she couldn’t be sure. The one thing she could do was send her a note.

Dear Kilona,

''       I hope you understand that no matter what it seems like, I am your friend, and I know that you are who you are. I am your friend because I love who you are, not just because you are helpful, and go with me even to my training sessions. I hope that you can forgive me and Yilai.''

                                    Your Friend,

                                               Zuli

Zuli tied this letter to the horn of one of the sky bison, and hoped that Kilona would forgive them. She walked over to a balcony and stared at the sky, absorbed in her thoughts, until Yilai came to tell her to come to the dormitory and sleep. ''Goodnight, Kilona. I hope you will be here tomorrow and don’t decide to return to the Fire Nation.''