The Avatar - Fate of Hikari ( Legend of Hikari part 1 ATLA / LOK )

Recurring Pathways

Book 1: Fate of Hikari
- Air -
Chapter 4: Recurring Pathways

There is a cliché that has been said. When my mother used to tell us different bedtime tales and the hero or heroine was about to die, she always mentioned that in their last moments, they could see their whole lives like a flash from birth to death. Of course in most stories, some miracles have always occurred and the protagonists have made it back to victory. It would have been cruel to listen only to sad fables, especially as children. Now, at this very moment of falling to my own end, I had a completely different experience. I saw many many faces one after the other that I was not even able to process with my brain. Faces that I knew, they were familiar yet I could not have the grasp from where. Perhaps they were related to my previous avatarhood. In reality, all happened in just a few seconds, while for me, this moment before my destiny felt like a never ending thread. I heard voices, I saw numerous fragments from numerous moments, but they were flashing back non stop. However, one, the last picture, became so remarkable that it burnt in my memories forever with all the feelings that caused me, or basically caused to one of my previous lives. I wish instead of going through this, I could see the blue sky before my life is over. I saw her. A beautiful woman, with endless hatred in her eyes towards me. She smiled, but her smile was somewhat exultant and malevolent. I felt betrayed and hurt, not understanding why someone who I loved so much, would want to kill me? I could have given my life for her. Well, in a way I did, but not how I ever imagined. For a split of a second the thoughts were not mine, even though I felt like I owned them. At the end I had no chance to analyse this situation, as some sudden event pulled me back to the present. Instead of meeting the ground to die from a broken body, I felt my falling was slowing down about a few meters above the terrain. The gravitation had significantly less effect on me, and at the same time, I noticed a strong air flow surrounding me. I looked around surprised, then I could see Master Sumati and Monk Yonten standing nearby and using air bending to let me descend gently on the floor. For a short moment I have even got mesmerised by their performance. They were moving perfectly synchronized in order to get me down safely. It looked like an interesting dance as their arms and torso moved rhythmically. I arrived on the ground in a sitting position. I was still in shock, and numb. I have got too many different triggers in a very short time. Then when you would think everything is over and finally I can get a breath, suddenly I heard the old man shouting at me.
"Hikari! Stand up fast, the bison is going to attack! Run!" warned me, the air nomad master. When I suddenly looked up, I saw the animal flying towards me blowing out the air loudly, and looking very upset. I tried to compose myself and do as I was told. I jumped up as fast as I could, and while I did, Sumati and Yonten also appeared at my front standing between me and the bison who just arrived down and started to run in my direction. The two teachers formed a different posture and tried to create some storm to be able to keep away the bison. They opened their arms wide, then brought the arms to their body close again, making swirly movements with their hands, then pushed their elbow to the front. This choreography has been repeated many times, until the wind became so strong that the flying bison could not advance ahead. Despite the efforts of my saviours, the animal just did not want to give up, moreover, she became angrier and growled many times trying to get closer. I could not comprehend why she was so furious with me. I thought flying bison were peaceful creatures. At least that is what I learnt about them, and Opame was also very devotionally calm. This air-nomad pet behaved just exactly the opposite way, and it looked like even the masters of Daivika had a hard time managing the issue. We were talking about a huge fully grown individual. I could understand that it took a bit of strength to hold her back. Then unexpectedly the bison stopped, and turned his head towards the garden where I was escaping from before all these happened. From the far I could recognise Mida, or at least I guessed it was him and not just another air bender. With shaved heads, and similar clothing all of them easily looked alike. He had a wide flat staff with him, and something else that turned out to be a wistle. He blew the small object, but I could not hear any sound. Even though, the flying bison reacted to this action and turned her back to us slowly walking towards Mida. Mida opened his staff, which became like a huge triangle shaped kite or glider with many folds, and with a supporting beam in the middle to stand on. He started to run very fast, then as he jumped on the glider, he formed an air ball under the object and himself. At the front of the flying device there was a rope fixed to this wooden stand and by pulling it, he could navigate the directions where ever he wanted go. He floated straight to the bison and settled by the animal's head, not the saddle. The young air bender master seemed to be saying something to that creature, who finally calmed down. After that Mida closed his staff, and air bent himself to the saddle, then finally he asked the bison to walk back to us. Master Sumati, and Yonten stopped long before with my defence, when they noticed Mida's presence  and the air-nomad pet giving up the attack.
"Are you okay Hikari?" stepped at my front, Monk Yonten. "Have you got injured somewhere?" asked me seemingly worried. At this point I could not hold my feelings back. They just flooded me with all my anger and frustration. The old man tried to touch my arm, but I moved very fast further and looked at him in a repulsive way. He and Master Sumati saved my life and I knew I should have been grateful, I knew what I had just done was extremely irresponsible, and I must have apologised. Yet, all I could do was explode like a bomb. All the tension I stored up in these past days, just surfaced in me. That is why I tried to run away and calm down, hence now I had no choice but to let it out, all on Monk Yonten.
"NO! I am not okay!!! I don't feel well, since this avatar thing turned out!! I didn't want to leave my home, I didn't want to come here to live with the air nomads, especially with you!! I don't want to be the avatar, I want my normal life back! I tried to accept it, but I just can't. I don't want to live the life of the air benders, I don't want these nuns to shave my hair or change my way I look! I miss my parents and I don't want to be separated from them. I don't want someone to teach me, who broke my grandmother's heart and because of that I didn't even have the chance to meet her! I just wanted to be alone, and I thought I could borrow this flying bison. I thought at least these animals are kind, I don't understand why she dropped me off and attacked me! I feel alone and even my brother is not able to understand me! How can he be so attached to you?!" I shouted out everything at once until I almost lost my breath and became exhausted. The air-nomad priest's face could not mask how astonished he was from the scene I made. At the same time, as we spoke of the devil, Kyouya and a young lady approached all of us. I assume they saw what happened, and were worried. This girl was very pretty, and while I did not like how everyone here looked kind of the same, I felt this air bender lifestyle just fitted her perfectly. She must have been around the end of her teen years. Her long dark brown hair reached until the folds of her knees. It was organised in a long braid, but some nice curly locks were loosen around her ears and face. Her eyes were between grey and blue, not as deep as most air nomads' iris. I felt she stepped out from a fairy-tale. I even ended up trying to tidy my mahogany-colored messy hair, because after this adventure I felt like a clown next to someone so charming. I have to confess, her appearance distracted me for a second, but then Mida also walked close to us with the bison and I was startled in fear. I took a few big steps backwards, but the young monk looked at me and started to talk. Thank god I did not fall on my back, I almost tripped on my own legs.
"With due all respect Avatar Hikari. Let me tell you something...I heard you complaining about the flying bison you tried to steal."
"I didn't try to st-..." I had an attempt to demur, but I was not allowed to say more, Mida continued his speech.
"Zaya just had calves and she is very sensitive now. Opame was born here already and she grew up between the air-nomads. She had a good nature due to trusting us from the beginning of her life. Now you learnt that you can not assume the same, about all of them. They all have different backgrounds, past and personality. Until you don't know how to approach them, you shouldn't even try to go near them! You are lucky that Master Sumati and Yonten were around and saved your life. Nevertheless Zaya was a wild bison, she still had different principles and it's better not to play with the anger of an upset mother." Explained it to me, the young monk, and the more he said the more guilty I felt about my action. I was so ashamed that could not stand his gaze anymore and started to watch the ground.
"Now that this is over, more importantly, we have to find and collect the other four bison. As they are wildlings, it's not going to be easy. They must have got scared in this quarrel and escaped. Kyou, you shouldn't be here, but as you were so curious, you can go with Mida and help to find them!" Took the conversation over, Monk Yonten in a strict manner. My brother looked excited about this quest,  Mida on the other hand not so much, he even rolled his eyes. His face only brightened up, when Yara the pretty air-nomad girl also offered to join them, but this little happiness of his stayed very short lived.
"Yara, you are coming with me!" Ordered Master Sumati to her student. "We have a lot to do, your ceremony is tomorrow!"
"Yes, Priestess Sumati." She looked a little bit disappointed, but did not obey her master and followed her.
"Yip, Yip Zaya!" We all heard Mida leaving with his companion as soon as Kyou climbed up next to him to the saddle.
"As for you young lady avatar..." - turned finally back to me, the old man. My bad mood immediately returned when I knew we had to deal with each other. "I was wrong this morning. I can see your detest towards me, it's not only your burden to carry." Let out a theatrical sight. "Follow me, I am going to take you to a place..." he started to walk back to the garden of the building where I ran away from. I did not want to follow him, but after all these problems I caused, the least I could do was to listen and try not to get in more trouble. On the other hand, I had to admit, I was a little bit interested, what Master Yonten wanted to tell or show me. As we approached these establishments of the Western air nation, for the first time I could have a proper look at this sacred place. It seemed confusing and breath-taking at the same time. How could they build the temples hanging upside down from the cliffs? These constructions were here centuries if not many millennia. Not long ago I just had a rest in one of them, and from the inside it looked like any other home. The cliffs themselves regarding the whole area were created by nature as a complex system. I guess only flying over and under it could be observed and possible to see it through properly. It was still not the right time to have a tour around, as the old priest walked on the terrace of the accommodation, then went inside the building with me. We passed by the rooms, then the weird corridors of the passages. It made me think what he was doing at the quarter of the females, but I supposed, as part of the Daivika, he could enter wherever he wanted. Soon we were in another section of the temples, then continued again inside the cliff. I had no idea how long it would take for me not to get lost here. I just knew I do not want to stay so long and live with the air-nomads. By the time we left the cave and finally stepped out under the sun, I became completely unaware where exactly we were. Monk Yonten, led me to a patio or garden. It was surrounded with cliffs also, had closed a huge circle, and I could see four other entrances hiding more corridors inside. Actually when I looked up to the sky, I had the sensation that the high rocks wanted to close above our heads. Seemingly we were inside in an ancient caldera. The garden was mesmerising, full of flowers and a small pond in the middle. By the pathways leading to the other tunnels, I could see some statues of priestesses and monks. They could be past avatars or just some great people who became heroes of the Western Air temple. Then as I started to analyse the place, looking for more details, not far from the pond I noticed some nicely organised piles of rocks. They looked perfect in the harmony of this shelter. However I recognised the meaning of them. They were graves. It was only a few, but definitely made to commemorate the ones who are not with us anymore. My curiosity anxiously started to rise as I stepped one by one behind the air-nomad leader. He then stopped by one of these stone compositions. At the front of it I could see a baque of fresh hibiscus placed and there was a bigger stone carved with the next text. "Here rest Lady Nafisa, from the fire nation.." I had to read it many times to believe what I just witnessed was real.
" How is this..." I wanted to ask a proper question, but my voice became faint from the shock. From the moment my grandmother disappeared, nobody ever knew anything about her.
"This place is for all those guests of the Western Air Temple who died here and nobody claimed their bodies." My grandfather said it, while he cleared some stones covered with a few leaves around the grave.
"I don't understand..." I replied, still completely surprised by this news. "How, grandmother died here?"
"She came back to see me after your parents got married."
"But when did she die? What happened to her and why did she never say anything to her daughter? To us?" The more I spinned the questions in my head the more confused I have become. For the first time I looked at my grandfather much longer and observed his expressions. Since I met this person, he looked so neutral, strict and conserved. It just annoyed me knowing what I knew about him until now. Except it seemed like his story and grandma Nafias's pasts were more complicated. A small sad smile appeared on Monk Yonten's face before he began to answer me.
"She made me promise not to tell anything to Chesa, or her husband. At that time you and your brother weren't even born. I guess your mother was expecting you." He paused for a bit as he recalled those memories. "When Nafisa came back to see me after so-so many years, she was very sick. She had a sickness that had no cure. She only had a couple of months to live and she wanted to spend this little time with me. We could not get married in the past, and could not raise Chesa together, but she wanted to stay by my side in her last moments. Those few weeks were the most precious time of my life." I was hanging on each word of the old man, and slowly slowly watching his eyes filled with bittersweet feelings, I felt I wanted to know everything about them. Perhaps, no matter what he says it will not erase the fact that he turned his back to his family. Even though I started to understand that things were more difficult in their tale, than I assumed first.
"Why couldn't you marry with Nafisa granny? What happened between you and her?"
"Well..." the priest let out a sigh. "This is a long story, but I think you have the right to know..." Yonten pointed at a cushion which was placed nearby the grave and asked me to sit down. He sat down on the ground. "I was born in the late era of Avatar Inuksuk..."
"Old man, I want to know your love story, not your entire life..." I rolled my eyes.
"Look at that, I can see your grandmother in you..." he let out a laugh, but I just stared at the air-bender master impatiently. "You need to know my entire life story to understand everything. I was born in the Eastern Air Temple, but as every child, I also was transferred to another place after birth. So I had no chance to know my parents..."
"I heard something about it, but I never thought it could be really true..." I crossed my eyebrows incredulously.
"Well...the air nomads are full of monks and priestesses, and for the air nation, it is very important to live a life with the least attachment to material things and earthly tether. This starts with birth. We all have to raise the children together like a big community without growing a deeper attachment to each other. It may seem like a life full of limits, but in these strict rules, there is also freedom that other non-air-nomad people never can experience. The more you can achieve to be free from the tempting ties of the physical world, the more air-bending skills you can gain." I heard the explanation from my grandfather.
"Okay, but let's just focus on your story with Nafisa..."
"So my outstanding air-bender skills were showing up at a very early age, hence I was destined to become the part of Daivika in the future, and the protector of the avatars in need. As time passed I reached the master level, and not long after I met Nafisa. Monk Michewa was my master and he was my father figure if you can say. He was one of the eldest at the time in Daivika. Master Michewa was good friends with Fire Lord Kai and his family. Firelord Kai was the grandson of King Agni..."
"I know King Agni, he was our first king since Avatar Jigmet founded the fire kingdom.." interrupted the story, which now I started to find very catchy.
"That's correct, and Firelord Kai was the cousin of King Akihiko, who was the leader of the fire nation at that time. Kai left the royal palace because he fell in love with a wealthy Lady Iskra, and their daughter was Nafisa..."
"Wait a second...you want to say that my mother and I are part of the royal family tree because of grandmother Nafisa?!" I heard one surprise after the other, how am I going to digest everything? My mother, nor my father never ever talked about this. About the biggest nail hiding in the bag I had not even the idea, and Master Yonten was only at the beginning of his story. He just nodded as a reply, then continued on.
"Due to the good relationship between my teacher Michewa and Nafisa's family, they often visited the Western Air Temple. Firelord Kai admired the air-nomad culture, so Lady Iskra. Sometimes they invited us to visit their home too and that's how I started to get very close to your grandmother. We didn't have many chances to meet, but we were both waiting for the opportunity and tried to spend the maximum time together we could. We were both very young and deathly in love with each other. Then one day, Nafisa turned out that she was expecting our child. This caused a huge scandal both in Nafisa's family and between the members of Daivika. Your great-grandfather said the only way for us to stay together is if I leave behind my air-nomad life, and marry his daughter. That could have caused me to lose my air-bending skills almost completely. While the Daivika decided that we can stay as a couple if Nafisa devotes herself to the air-nomad's life and moves into the Western Air-temple. Of course that would mean that after our child is born, we have to give up on her and let her be sent to one of the other air temples. I could not expect this from her, and Master Michewa knew this very well. He wanted me to focus on staying on my path of fate, what I was destined for. He wanted me to let Nafisa go. I was not ready for that and actually after a long dilemma, I decided to give up being an air-nomad. Only it was too late. Master Michewa after the incident of knowing about your grandmother's pregnancy, never again let me go with him to visit Lord Kai. Then one day he returned with the news that Nafisa had gotten engaged to someone. Lord Kai did not want his grandchild born out of law, and maybe he didn't even want me as her husband. After all, the man who she married was also wealthy. Master Michewa also told me that it was Nafisa's decision and she is happy. I couldn't believe that, but I was too weak to fight against it. After Nafisa returned, I learnt that Master Michewa spoke with her too, and lied to her, that I wasn't planning to give up my path of being part of the Daivika. We were both deceived, but I never forgave myself that I didn't go after your grandmother..." Master Yonten finished his tale and I stayed silent for a while to think through everything. I have to confess, but I guess I could understand our grandfather a little bit better.
"But tell me, was it worth it at least?.." - I looked into Monk Yonten's eyes and asked him.
"What do you mean by it?"
"Were you able to leave behind your earthly tethers after giving up on granny? Can you fly around like Master Nali? Are you proud of being in Daivika?" detailed to him what I wanted to know. The old air-bender master replied to me with a smile.
"I was only able to evolve after Nafisa's death. Master Michewa may have reached his goal to hold me here, but I was never able to let go of the love for your grandmother. Not until we have met again."
"I still can't understand why my brother and I didn't know about so many things...example about my great-grandfather. My mother must have known this story."
"I guess mother and daughter like to keep secrets." My grandfather made this comment pensively.
"What do you mean by it?"
"Maybe I am exposing an other secret, but Chesa, your and brother's mother has got the air-bender's ability."
...
To be continued

Chapter 5: The secret

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Hello! The author is here! How did you like the fourth chapter? I would really appreciate your opinion/feedback. Please share it with me in the comment section. Any kind of thoughts about the concept. Also you can ask anything you like to know about the story :) Thank you <3 

Ps: I really need support, to get through. If I know just one person who is following Hikari's tale it makes me very motivated and happy.