Avatar: The New World

Chapter 12: Art or Suicide

Rorrick

Rorrick was soaring through the air on a cyclone of wind. He raised himself up above the trees, spinning and laughing. He rocketed down towards the ground and just before hitting face first he swooped upwards. Bowie chased him for the split second that he was low enough, then leapt up in the air after him but the bulltiger fell miserably back to the ground.

"Alright, alright." Mae was waiting for him when he broke free of the canopy again. She was the only air bender who could actually fly. Rorrick and the other air benders wore suits with flaps of durable fabric between their limbs in order to ride the wind but Mae was the wind. "Come back down with me."

Rorrick descended more quickly than Mae. Bowie was fast to pounce at him but as always Rorrick dodged the attack. He could feel the miniature currents of air flowing around him whenever anything in his environment shifted, it was amazing the effect that his spirit animal companion seemed to be having on his progress. Mae returned to the ground at a pace that barely ruffled her hair or the many voluminous flaps of her clothing. She came to stand next to Rorrick, a grin pinching her face in a way that made her gray eyes disappear.

"You've improved so much in such a short time. I don't think any student I've ever taught has learned so quickly."

"So what's the next step? Neon bending?"

Mae laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm afraid we don't have time for those sorts of things."

"What? Why not?"

"You have a world to save and not all the elements will come so easily to you. The Avatar has always had at least one element that is difficult to master. You need to focus your education on the practical forms of bending, not the theoretical or artistic ones."

"But maybe I'd rather do something artistic than suicidal."

"Choosing to ignore your true path is the suicidal option."

"Yeah, yeah. How do you know so much anyway?"

"I like to read and I'm one of the few benders with access to the Lotus Library. I've read nearly everything recorded there."

"Tell me a story then."

"What kind of story?"

"Something about one of my past lives."

"You wanna know about Korra."

Rorrick shrugged. He didn't see any need to hide the truth at this point. "Of course I do. I mean, she was the last Avatar right? That's what you guys told me anyway. She should have the answers I need to save the world and she's there in my dreams almost every night but she won't tell me anything new."

"Lotus will help you with that when the time comes. She has been training all her life to find you and to be your spiritual guru."

"She doesn't really strike me as a very spiritual person."

"There is usually more to people than what you see on the outside."

Speaking of Lotus brought another question to mind. He looked over at Bowie and busied himself with scratching his companion's ear. "I was wondering, what does Lotus bend?"
Mae's smile faltered and her expression shifted to a sympathetic one. "She's not a bender, unfortunately, and you'd do well to remember that's not a question she likes to hear."
"Why not?"
"Think about it. Her family line has studied and maintained the library for thousands of generations. When she was born, her mother was sure that she would be the White Lotus who finally saw the Avatar's resurgence. That's a lot of pressure for a child, and now that it's all happening what does she get?" Mae moved to scratch Bowie's other ear and the animal looked quite pleased with the attention. "Nothing, that's what. All the studying, all the training, and she isn't even a bender. It hurts her more than she's willing to admit."