Benders

[the diplomat]

intro chapter

   Early morning was a special time on Air Temple Island. Every nomad, master or no, rose early and sat in isolation from each other. Morning was a time for meditation and planning for the day ahead. Meditations ended when the bell rang at precisely 8:00 AM, when the sun touched the Tower.

     Romin sat on the thick stone lip of a well in the eastern gazebo. She liked it here because it stayed dark the longest, and it was far removed from the rest of the island. Her place was separated from the camp by a long tree-lined walkway, and it overlooked the rocky mountain seashore. The dark waves lapping and the moody light helped the young master slip into her mind almost like lucid dreaming. Meditation was a talent of hers.

      The girl's fingertips met in a pyramid above her crossed legs; her head bowed slightly as she slipped down into the well of her mind. The world was deadened to her but for the lapping and crashing of waves. She suddenly sensed the spirits moving around her, fireworks of color popping in the darkness.

     She wasn't looking for anything today. It was a calm day, a hazy black tea kind of day that she loved. She felt it in her bones that it would storm later.

     She soared through her mind palace, flying over all the places she had been and remembered. The map of the four nations was nearly perfect. Starpoints of light shone here and there, showing her other spirit guides across the nations. One in the Southern Water Tribe, one just outside of Ba Sing Se, and one in the heart of the Fire Nation.

Her attention was suddenly ripped toward the Fire Nation.

     A pinprick of light grew brighter until she almost couldn't look at it. She flew closer, seeing its home on Ember Island.

     She winced and drew back slightly. Her outer body shifted to account, her fingertips pressing into fists as she forced herself closer to the beam of light. She had never seen someone with such spiritual power. Could it be...?

"I don't want to be the Avatar..."

     Her eyes widened and her true eyes flung open. She almost fell into the well. She glanced around, dazed, and saw that the sun was well past the Tower's tip. She must've missed the bell. Romin toppled off of the well, scrambling towards the path as her limbs woke up. She had to find her master immediately. Nothing was more important than the mission she now had.

     When she had received her airbending tattoos, she had discovered her gifts as a spiritual guide, and had been told that she would be the one to teach the Avatar airbending. But then that Avatar went missing.

The same Avatar that she had just found.