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Chapter Text

In the Southern Air Temple, the current incarnation of the Avatar, an air nomad named Yuan, died from natural causes at the ripe age of 111 years old, surrounded by friends and loved ones.

In the North Pole, a baby boy took a single breath.

And then, in the Earth Kingdom, a baby girl was being rushed somewhere safe.

Fu Tai ran through the trees, holding a heavy cloth bundle to her chest, weeping. I must hurry , she thought, before he comes after me. She told him she had simply gained weight, that she was going to stay with her mother to lose it all and go back to her slim figure. She couldn’t tell him the truth. If he knew they were having another child, he’d get rid of it immediately. She had to lie.

But she was always a terrible liar.

Her mother had run into her room, yelling that Fu Tai’s husband was coming, that he knew about the child. Without thinking, Fu Tai took the baby and ran into the woods, toward the one place she thought her little girl could be safe.

The air took on a deeper, denser texture. Fog seemed to seep straight out of the ground, and the smell of cow-goat flatulence wafted toward her. 

She had entered The Swamp.

She navigated through the vines, only moving them out of the way, never cutting any. Her Nana had instilled within her an intense respect for the spirits and the Swamp, and it was exactly for that reason she thought to leave her little girl with them. Her Nana had told Fu Tai countless stories of those who had come into the Swamp looking for chopping wood and weaves, only to never be seen again. 

Animals scurried above. A few reflective eyes shone in the darkness. Fireflies appeared and disappeared like embers. And far away above, the full moon shone over everything. Now was the time for the spirit world and human world to overlap.

Fu Tai’s eyes followed the dizzying tapestry of vines around her, looking for the right spot to leave her young one. Then, as if the Swamp had heard her thoughts, she saw a small moss covered depression in the roots of a tree, the perfect size for her little one. 

She stared at the spot. The bundle began to rustle. She rocked her and sang it a lullaby before tucking it into the mossy bed. A small hand grabbed her finger as she caressed it. There was a gurgling noise. 

It took all of her will to pull her finger away. She felt cold. Powerless.

Before she left, Fu Tai pulled out a small wooden box. Something she had been working in the few moments of peace she had during her pregnancy. She pulled out a small brass key and stuck it in the back, counting to eight twists.

Slow and soft music sang from the box. A small but painfully detailed dancer spun in the center, fans in her hands, her face white like snow with small feathered dots on her cheeks in the current style of the Earth Kingdom. Fu Tai carefully placed the box by her little one, hoping it would help in the moments of loneliness before the spirits took her in. 

With great effort, Fu Tai turned away, reminding herself that it was for the best. Her husband would murder the little girl the instant he knew about her. It was better to take her chances by leaving her in the Swamp. The spirits would take care of her. Take her into the spirit world where she would forever be happy and young. That was what Fu Tai told herself. 

But she was always a terrible liar.

Immediately, she felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t do this to her child. What kind of mother would? A good mother would protect her little one to her own death. A mother who thought of herself first was no mother at all. She turned back around, readying to do whatever it would take to convince her husband to keep her.  

She froze.

A small spirit the shape of an acorn with seaweed for arms was watching her little girl. The spirit nuzzled the baby, letting it play with her arms. Another spirit phased out of thin air, shaped like a branch with fruits just beginning to bloom. It dangled them over the baby, like a mobile.

It was too late. The spirits had taken her. If she tried to grab her now, her little one would turn to mist in her hands. 

With tears falling from her face, Fu Tai left. At least her baby girl would be taken care of. The spirits would give her a nice, simple life. She followed the path back to Omashu content, but not happy.

Now, it should be known that the spirits can’t take care of human children anymore than a turtle duck could outrun an eel hound. They would try their best of course, especially when the baby they were trying to take care of was the Avatar , but even they would have to admit that they knew little next to nothing about child rearing and in reality didn’t even know what humans ate.

However, spirits did know one thing, and it was how to get the attention of a human who did. 

The Hag, as she had grown to call herself, stood calm in her hollow as she stirred her dinner, a soup of self-foraged mushrooms and a few leaves from her precious store of White dragon bush tea. The smell filled the space, seeping into the dirt. A few spirits cautiously floated nearby, taking in the smell. 

All and all, it was a fine night. One she had had many times before and couldn’t see herself getting tired of anytime soon. 

That is, until a spirit appeared on her mixing stick, frightening her and almost making her spill her dinner. She cursed the spirit and tried to shake it off, but it held on. It looked as if a poorly drawn shrub had been brought to life, its body made of swirls and lines. She cursed it again but it was oddly stubborn, something spirits aren’t known to be. It was clear it wanted her help with something, it kept moving in a rhythm to get her attention, but she would be damned to the South Pole and back if she ever gave into a spirit’s demand. When had they ever helped her?

She thought she could just pretend like it wasn’t there, except three more of the stupid things appeared with it, crowding her vision and squeaking in her ears, fraying her temper. If there was one thing those stupid spirits were good at, it was getting humans to pay attention to them.

“What!” The Hag stomped her foot, sending a trembling wave throughout the Swamp. “What is it? What do you want?” The spirits, unbothered by her outburst, but clearly happy they had gotten her attention, bounced to the exit of her hollow, waiting for her. She glanced at her dinner and back at the spirits. “Fine, but this better not take too long.”

They rolled as if weightless. Even though she had lived with the spirits for decades now, she still didn’t really know how they worked, nor did she care to know. She kept to her own business, only interacting with the Foggy Swamp Tribe when she had no other choice. 

As she walked, it was silent in the Swamp. Then, the Hag heard a noise she thought she’d never hear in the Swamp. Not even the water benders let their new born babies make a sound. Anytime they did, they’d get a frozen pacifier straight in the mouth, and the Hag had to agree with them. When you lived in the Swamp, you had to be as quiet and calm as the thing itself, lest something more violent find you. 

And yet it continued to cry. No cat-gators or eel-snakes came by to snatch the meal. No parrot-snakes beaked at it. It wasn’t until the Hag came closer that she realized why. 

At least a hundred spirits were crowding around the baby, a soft blue glow enveloping the little thing from all sides. And right next to it, a small music box, the gears silent and still.

“What in the name of the Lion-Turtle…” 

The Hag gaped as she moved closer, the spirits vanishing as she walked through them, and then reappearing behind her like mist. The baby slowed its crying as it noticed her. 

The Hag wasn’t exactly surprised the thing was there. Parents expecting sons left their daughters in the Swamp all the time. But most don’t make it past their fourth squeal before some animal chops at it. And this little girl was crying her head off. 

“Alright, what’s going on?” She asked the spirits, “What makes this one so special, huh?” They didn’t respond, only looked at her expectantly. “If you think I’m going to just take this one in for nothing, you’re sorely mistaken.”

One of the spirits squeaked at her, an acorn with seaweed for arms. It squeaked four times and bent its leaves at its side as if it were angry at her. 

“Not gonna happen.” The Had said, turning away from the baby. 

The spirits rebounded their efforts and turned into a wave of spiritual energy, blocking her from leaving. The acorn spirit reappeared, incessantly squeaking at her, followed by the rest of them. It was an assault on both the mind and the spirit. Living in the solitude of the Swamp had lowered her constitution for stimulation on this level.

Their ultimatum was clear. If she didn’t take care of this kid, they’d hound her for the rest of her life.

“Fine! Fine . I’ll take the stupid thing. But only for a week.”

Squeak .

She squinted. “Two weeks.”

Squeak. Squeak .

“ One month , take it or leave it.”

The acorn folded its seaweed arms over itself, seemingly satisfied. It gave a message to its brethren who slowly vanished from this plane of existence, leaving the Hag all alone with her new responsibility. 

“This month better be faster than any other.” She faced the baby. “Alright ya little tyke, let’s get you somewhere warm before your arms and legs fall off.” She heaved the bundle and rocked it, although not as gently as the baby was used to. “Don’t get used to it though. In a month, you’ll be right back in that little mossy bed, don’t forget it.”

***

“Sun!” The Hag yelled. “Come down and get some lunch! It’s your favorite, yellow mushroom soup!”

In the treetops, a small figure dangled from the vines like a spider-monkey. 

“Be right down, Ma.”

Sun could have carefully climbed down the vines, but that would have been boring. Instead, she let go, gracefully falling toward the ground. Then, she earthbended the mud below her into a slide, catching her momentum and sliding her straight in front of Ma. 

The Hag, or ‘Ma’ as she was now called, scoffed. “You know, you don’t have to give me a heart attack every morning. You could just climb down.” 

“But climbing down the vines is so boring .” Before Ma could tell her to sit down and eat, Sun grabbed two bowls, filled them with soup, and capped them with an airtight rock seal. “Sorry Ma, I promised Bo I’d bring him some. He said if he ate another roasted giant fly, he’d run away from the Swamp.”

She clucked her tongue. “You know how I feel about you being with him.”

“He’s not like the other Foggy Swamp tribe, Ma. He’s nice. And anyways, what else am I supposed to do? You want me to grow up without playing with any other kids my age?”

“What about Jaja?” She gestured to their pet Catgator, lousing in a small patch of sunlight, half in the pond. “He’s fun to play with.” Trying to prove her point, Ma earth bended a small column of rock from under a nearby pond, perfectly launching a fish into her hands. She jiggled it above Jaja’s head, but he barely made a pass at it. “Worthless thing.” She mumbled as she dropped the fish in his mouth. There was a crunch and it was gone in one gulp.

“Don’t worry, Ma. Lola and I will be back before sundown. Promise.” 

Sun whistled and a moment later, a parrot-snake no longer than Sun’s arm floated down from the treetops toward her. It gently landed on her shoulders and coiled around her right arm, nuzzling its beak on Sun’s neck. 

“See you later!”

Sun swung her arm in a rigid motion, flinging her mudboard toward her and catching it with one hand. With her arms in perfect ninety degrees angles, just like Ma taught her, Sun bended the mud underneath her into a small wave, riding the crest away. Getting the wave formed was always the hardest part, but once she was moving, it became like breathing for her.

“If you’re not back before sundown, I’ll get you myself!” Ma yelled before she disappeared behind a massive tree trunk.

“Just try!” Sun yelled back.

She kept her arms rotating in a fluid motion. The mud wave underneath her formed around trees and rocks. Lola chirped and glided along her, mimicking whatever noises she heard around them. Sun curved the wave in front of her, creating a ramp to fly over the catgator pond in front of her.

A particularly thick netting of vines was coming up. Sun readied herself. She condensed the wave in on itself, making it denser. When she was close enough, she flung her arms forward, launching her and her board toward a small hole in the center. Sun ducked as she perfectly flew through the vines without breaking a single one. 

When she was little, Sun had ripped a vine with a flower on it to show to Ma, thinking she’d find it cute. But to Ma, it was sacrilege. She gave Sun a serious talking to about respecting the swamp. It always confused Sun. Ma seemed to revere the Swamp, but not the spirits inside it, even though to Sun, they seemed to be one in the same.

And Sun does respect the Swamp, to a degree. She hadn’t damaged a trunk or cut a vine since that day, but she did like to skirt the edge of that respect with her rock carvings. Otherwise she’d get old and boring like Ma. 

She passed by a particularly nice looking boulder that would have made the perfect canvas, but didn’t have enough time before she was supposed to meet Bo. She shook her head and pushed past it. 

When she found a particularly imposing boulder in the Swamp, Sun would do what she called “rockffiti.” Bo had told her about something in Omashu called graffiti, and even though the only people who would see her work were the denizens of the Swamp, she still enjoyed doing it. It was fun to use earth bending for something creative instead of just moving mud and rocks around. It took her a while to get used to carving out rocks with her bending, but she eventually developed her own techniques for it. 

There was a squeak by her other shoulder and a small spirit in the shape of an acorn with seaweed arms appeared out of thin air. For some reason, he never appeared around Ma’s hovel. He always showed up when Sun was by herself. He gave a small squeak greeting to Lola as well, who gave a polite hiss back. 

“Hey Little Guy,” Sun said, “what are you up to?”

The acorn spirit, AKA Little Guy, gave a few squeaks as to his goings ons in the spirit world. Sun couldn’t really understand the exact words, but she somehow got the gist of it, and she always loved hearing about the weird world of the spirits. 

According to Little Guy, the spirits were in a bit of a mess due to the coming of the Great Meteor in a few weeks. Its potential spiritual energy was riling them up, Little Guy included. He suggested staying clear of any spirits Sun might come across in the Swamp on the day of the Great Meteor. Sun thanked him for the warning.

They made it to the tall tree where she always met with Bo, letting her mudboard slip out from underneath her and leaning it against the trunk. The bowls of soup were still warm. She moved close to the tree and slammed her foot into the ground. The space underneath her shot her into the tree branches where she gently landed and comfortably sat. 

As they waited for Bo, Little Guy squeaked at a small budding fruit hanging just out of arm’s reach. 

“Sure, I got it for you. Lola? If you wouldn’t mind helping,” Sun said. 

Lola perked up and slithered around Sun’s arm, reaching the fruit and gently coiling around it. It popped off and Little Guy gave a few squeals of excitement as Lola handed it to her, the weight of the fruit almost throwing her off the tree. He munched on it, satisfied. Lola hissed, happy.

In the distance, Bo water bended toward the tree on his own board, hand crafted by Sun herself. It came hand in hand with her rockfitti. Carving a board required small and precise rock bending, something most earth benders never tried to learn. At least, that was what Ma had told her. She was really the only other earth bender Sun knew.

Bo only used water to ride his board. Sun had actually adopted his swamp bending style, opting for mud instead of water since she was an earth bender. Once, Bo tried bending mud, but said it was like trying to bend covered in sap. He was always amazed how easily Sun could mold it to whatever shape she needed. 

“Sun!” He yelled as he slowed and tossed his board toward hers. 

At the sound of another human’s voice, Little Guy jumped and faded away, the fruit falling toward the swamp floor. 

“Is that what I think it is?” Bo looked knowingly at the bowls in her arms.  

“It’s all yours,” she said, “if you can get it.” 

She pretended to carelessly drop one bowl. As it was about to crash to the ground, Sun bended the mud to catch. She slid it around the mud playfully.

Bo stared at the bowl like a Frog Squirrel eyeing a particularly juicy bug just within reach. He swung his arms in circles, accumulating as much water as he could hold, and shot it at the bowl, attempting to lift it from Sun’s mud. 

But Sun was faster. 

She created a divot in the earth, letting the bowl fall into it and away from the water. It resurfaced a few feet away. Sun spun it again, taunting Bo. Except Bo had been learning. He froze the water on top of the mud. The bowl slid right toward him. 

He lunged for it at the same time Sun tried to grab it with some more mud, but it was too late. He got it. 

“Easy,” he said.

“You got lucky.”

Using whips of water, he pulled himself up to the save level as Sun 

“If you wouldn’t mind?” He held the bowl up to her and she broke off the rock lid, along with her own. The smell was intoxicating. Bo took a deep whiff, a huge smile on his face. “I don’t think I can ever eat roasted giant flies again after trying the Hag’s-”

Sun gave him a look. 

“I mean,” he corrected himself, “your Ma’s cooking.” He took a bite and jiggled with glee. “It’s like my spirit is being fed at the same time as my stomach.”

Sun took a sip and had to agree. Even though she’d eaten it more times than she can remember, it almost surprised her how good Ma’s mushroom soup was.

“I wonder how she does it,” Bo said. “She has so little to work with in the Swamp, and yet she makes something this good. Where’d she get the skills?”

Sun shrugged. “She never tells me. She says she will when I’m older, but only the spirits know why.” As Bo raised the bowl to his mouth, Sun noticed a marking on his hand. It looked like a flower. “What’s with the tattoo? Does your dad know?” She said with a smirk.

“Oh, that. Some guys in fancy white coats came to the tribe yesterday. Spoke with our parents about something, but none of us couldn’t hear what.”

Sun’s interest was instantly piqued. People didn’t usually come from outside the Swamp. When they did, it meant something important was happening. 

“Were they criminals?”

“I don’t think so. They had some water benders from the North Pole with them. Practically our cousins, so the chief let them in easy. Anyway, they waved some glowing water around us. Then they inked us with this flower. And anytime we’d ask what they’re looking for, they’d use devious tactics to distract us.”

“Like what? What’d they do?”

“Wave candy in our faces. Saved ya one.”

Bo pulled out some small pieces of hard candy the same color and texture as jade. Sun popped one in her mouth and immediately grimaced. It was more sour than any mango-lemon she’d ever had. Bo laughed, clearly expecting her reaction. 

“Yeah,” he said, “no one wanted those ones except me. Hope you liked it, cause I got five more.” 

Lola gave one a sniff and recoiled, hiding behind Sun. Sun tried to enjoy the foreign flavor, but her taste buds rebelled. She spit it out and watched it fall to the swamp floor. It would be a fun surprise for whatever swamp denizen came by it later

“What do you think they were doing?” Sun asked. The sour taste lingered in her mouth. Not even the soup would get it out.

Bo leaned against the tree, content after having such a good meal. “Honestly, I couldn’t guess. But whatever it was, I don’t think they got what they wanted. When they left, they looked pretty mad.”

“That’s impossible!” said Zhang, the newly elected leader of the White Lotus.

“I’m sorry, sir, but it’s true,” Hinada said. “We’ve checked the North and South tribes twice now, and we just received a fire hawk message from our secondary group in the Foggy Swamp tribe saying the same thing. No Avatar.”

“How?” Zhang whispered. “How could that be?”

Zhang pinched the bridge of nose, wondering what he could possibly have done to deserve such treatment from the spirits. What was he going to tell the other members? First leader of the White Lotus that can’t find the Avatar? He’d be mocked for generations. Finding the Avatar was supposed to be the easy part of his job. 

He stared at the large Pai Sho table in the center of his office. It was decorated simply, although the one in his personal home was much more expensive. His office was the backroom of a bar in the Earth Kingdom, a classic location for any Pai Sho players, whether they be members or not.

“Sir?” Hinada said. “What do you suggest?”

They still had time. Yuan only died fifteen years ago, Zhang said to himself, trying to pretend like that wasn’t that much time. They still had until the Great Comet to find the Avatar. But if they couldn’t find someone to show to the world by then, all kinds of hells would break loose. But where could there be a waterbender besides the North and South Pole?

Everywhere.

“We’ll have to start spreading out our net a bit wider,” Zhang said, trying to sound like he knew what he was doing. “Under certain pretenses, of course.”

Zhang played with a White Lotus piece in one hand, flipping it over his knuckles. He always did that when he was nervous. But it made people think he was more in control of the situation than he really was. 

“Sir?”

“Have all of our waterbenders start combing every town and city in the kingdoms. Say they’re checking for a new illness. Make it sound scary, but not life-threatening.” 

“Like what, sir?”

“I don’t know! Something like ‘Hexa-Pox,’ or, ‘Swamp Fever.’”

“Actually sir, I believe that one is real. Lieutenant Lu had a bad case last summer. He was bedridden for two months.”

“Spirits save me, then call it Desert Fever. I want a team of water benders going through one town a day and I want a report on their efforts every week. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Hinada saluted, crossing her arms with his hands closed, and left the room. 

Once he was sure Hinada was out of earshot, Zhang whispered to himself, “Where are you, Avatar? What important work could you possibly be up to?”

Sun looked at her work and smiled. She was satisfied. Lola gave an impressed nod.

“Ok! I’m done!” She yelled to Bo. “Ready?”

“Born ready!” Bo replied. 

Even though he was far away, she could hear him sucking on his piece of hard candy in anticipation. The obstacle course she made wasn’t something to scoff at. It had more than five components to it and went in a large circle, with Sun in the center. The course was made out of mud, so he wouldn’t hurt himself too much if he messed up, but it was always more of an area of pride for the both of them. 

Sun yelled, “Three-two-one, go!”

Bo bended a small but strong wave behind him, pushing him and his board toward Sun’s first set piece; a hoop ten feet off the ground, just small enough for his board to fit through. He squinted and sucked on his candy, readying himself. While keeping the wave moving and slowly lifting the board with his left hand, he lowered himself until he was lying down. It was an impressive maneuver. The balance and focus required to do it meant that Bo had been practicing in his spare time. He gave a wide grin as he perfectly made it through the hoop. But that was the easy part.

Sun moved her arms in slow rhythms back and forth. At the same time, walls of mud began moving side to side in front of Bo, blocking his path. However, he didn’t seemed phased by the obstacle. He readjusted his stance and swung the wave from side to side to the same beat, staying perfectly balanced on his board. For added points, he ended the piece with a slick board spin. Lola gave an impressed hiss.

“Too easy!” He said.

“Oh really?” Sun yelled back. “Then how about this!”

With serious force, she pulled her fist back and shot it forward, bending will precision and aim. If Bo had been in front of her when she did, he would have been knocked straight to the ground. With each punch, small balls of mud launched out of the ground; large enough to bruise and knock him off his board, but not so large it would break anything. With a flurry of blows from Sun, twenty balls went flying at Bo.

He ducked and weaved around the artillery, finding a pattern through the hurricane of mud. But that was part of Sun’s plan. When she had him right where she wanted him, she gave a strong kick, sending three balls out at once in a line. Bo saw them coming and grimaced, seeming to give in to his loss. But right before they struck him, he bended away a small portion of his wave and froze it in place to block the shots.

Sun gasped. “Cheater!” In a very mature and respectful response, he threw a raspberry at her. “Well, fine. If we're both cheating…” 

The next part of the course was a barrage of spinning mud bars and mud spikes, but if that was gonna be too easy for him, then she might as well make some changes on the fly. She stomped her foot into the ground, gaining as much stability as she could find in the swamp floor, and slammed her arms together in one smooth motion, flattening the spikes and bars. Sensing Sun’s shift in mood, Lola lunged off of her and onto a nearby tree branch. 

“Uh, Sun?” Bo asked. “What are you doing?”

She lifted one of her hands, her entire body shaking under the strain. A bed of mud rose with her, lifting Bo and his board. It curved into a ramp at least twenty feet high. Then she lifted her other hand creating a landing ramp thirty feet away.

“Think you can handle it?” She yelled. Her voice trembled from the weight of all that water and earth. If it wasn’t for all of Ma’s training and mushroom soups, she would have collapsed within five seconds. But this was nothing compared to the stuff she had put Sun through. “If you can make it, you get my dinners for the week! But if you don’t, you’ve gotta help Lola with her sloughing for the year!”

Bo barely hesitated before yelling, “Deal!”

Bo leaned forward and shot like an arrow. The wave became a torrent, accelerating him forward at the cost of getting smaller and smaller. But he wasn’t stupid. He timed it perfectly to leave him with just enough water to give him one final boost as he left the ramp. He thrusted his arms behind him as the last bits of water gave him a final push.

Time seemed to slow as Bo flew through the air with a wicked smile on his face, the hard candy in between his teeth, looking half smug and half amazed at himself. He arced through the air, bending some water out of the mud to catch himself. He laughed as he landed.

Spirits, I didn’t think he’d actually be able to do it. Well, whatever, he won. I’ll flatten the rest of the course and-

Except, something was wrong.

Bo’s body started to heave. He kept patting his chest, trying to hack something out. His board headed in a straight line instead of curving with the course, right for a deep pond. 

“Bo!” Sun yelled. 

She ran with her earthbending, but he was moving too fast. As he reached the middle of the pond, his board slipped from under him. He sank into the dark waters. 

A terrible second passed.

Sun slammed her fists into the ground and with a great inhale, lifted up the mud from the bottom of the pond. Her arms became numb, but she pushed through it. The tons of water she was pushing out of the water rolled to the side. Animals and amphibians scattered away.

In the center of the mass of mud was Bo. Sun ran to him.  She listened for breath but didn’t hear anything. She pushed on his chest and tried to breathe into his mouth, but water filled his lungs. The only way she’d be able to get it all out was getting one of the Foggy Swamp tribe people to help. But the tribe had to be at least a mile away. Right now, the closest waterbender was Bo himself.

It wouldn’t work, but she had to try. She held Bo’s limp hands and tried to force him to bend the water out of his lungs. But of course, nothing happened. 

“Please, please, please, please…” 

She let go of his hands and slammed on his chest, over and over, trying to push the water out. She grabbed his hands and tried to remember the same moments Bo made when he was pulling water from a pond.

She knew she had as much a chance of moving any water within him as she did mapping all of the Swamp, but she tried anyway, and would have tried anything , because she didn’t want to leave him without having done everything she could to help him.

It was useless. Useless, useless, useless. She was wasting her time. 

And yet she continued the bending movements she had seen Bo do a hundred times before. She should be running to the tribe to get a real waterbender who could save Bo before-

There was the sound of running water. A small bead of water rose from Bo’s mouth, followed by a few more, until a lung’s worth of water was hovering above him with a piece of hard candy floating inside. 

Bo hacked and coughed out the remaining drops, gasping for air at the same time. He took a calm but shaky breath.   “Sun?” He said, confused. He glanced up and noticed the water above them. “You can waterbend?”

“What?” She looked up at it. “I thought you were doing that?”

“I definitely can’t move that much water.”

“What? It’s barely more than a -” 

Except, Sun hadn’t just bended the water within Bo’s lungs. 

All of the water in the pond around them was hovering just as high as the hard candy. A few fish and bullfrogs swam through the globules, unbothered by the sudden change. One fell through the bottom and croaked at the both of them before hopping away.

“But, I’m not…” Sun tried to say, “It isn’t possible…”

Although she tried to deny it, inside herself, Sun felt that small bit of tension that told her she was the one bending the water. Ma had forced her to meditate for hours at a time to teach her to always be aware of how her chi was moving within her. And right now, it was flowing just as if she were bending. As soon as she let it go, the water around them splashed to the ground.

“I was you!” Bo said. “How did you do that? Do it again!”

“But, that’s impossible. No one can bend more than one element.” She stared at the water, almost afraid of it now. “It had to have been you doing it.” Sun lied. “You just didn’t know it. Like sleep walking, but bending.”

“Sun,” Bo said with a slight parental inflection, “you know it wasn’t me. I was basically halfway to the spirit world. I couldn’t have lifted a dew drop if I wanted to. You brought me back.” His eyes went wide in understanding. “Spirits, I’ve got to tell the tribe. They won’t believe it!”

“No!” Sun grabbed his wrist. 

“Ow, Sun, you’re hurting me.”

A slight blue hue clouded Sun’s vision and Bo’s hand was quickly turning pale. 

Her voice echoed in the swamp. “Nothing happened. Not. A. Thing. No one can know about this.” She let go and took a deep breath to steady herself. The blue hue faded. 

An earth bender who could waterbend would definitely cause problems. Soon, it would spread to Omashu, where it would spread to the rest of the four corners. No, she needed time to process this and talk to Ma about what it means. 

“If you tell anyone in the tribe, you’re never getting Ma’s soup again.”

He gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

They stared at each other until Bo relented.

“Fine, yeah, ok. ‘Nothing’ happened. And no one else will know that. But you will Sun.” He noticed the light was getting low. He backed away toward his board. “I have to head back to the tribe before my dad notices I’m not actually washing the skiffs. See you.” He bended another wave and propelled himself away. 

Once she was sure he was really gone, she glanced at the water around her. Remembering how Bo moved her arms, she copied his movements and tried to lift a small ball of water from the pond. 

A small orb of water the size of her head lifted from the water’s surface. Sun yelped and stopped the motion. It fell back into the pond, rippling the water. 

“It was me. But how?” 

She lazily walked toward her board, too exhausted from what just happened to bend it toward her. 

Sun…

Sun turned around, scanning for the source of the voice. It sounded as if it were coming from everywhere at the same time. 

Sun…

A woman’s voice was coming from the water. Sun crouched low and put her ear to the water’s surface. She could hear hundreds of voices whispering to her through it, as if they were arguing over each other. Except one voice was louder than rest. The woman’s voice. She spoke with a soft edge. And there was something else… Was that a baby crying?

“Spirits? Is that voice you? Little Guy?”

“ Sun .” Now the voices had come together, speaking in unison, with the woman in charge. “ Listen. ” 

She moved away from the water, staring at her reflection. Except, it wasn’t her. As the ripples calmed, Sun saw an older woman with a shaved head and a blue arrow tattooed onto her forehead. An Air Nomad. In her arms, she held a small dark-skinned baby boy who couldn't be more than a few days old. He squirmed in her arms and she lovingly swayed him to sleep. 

Sun rubbed her eyes, but the woman and baby were still there. “What is going on?” 

“Sun,” the woman said, “you must listen. Please.”

Sun backed away from the hallucination, her heartbeat getting quicker. “No, no, no, no… Oh spirits, this is not happening.”

“Sun,” the voices yelled in unison. “You need to know-”

She ran toward her board and used all her remaining strength to get a mud wave going and headed straight for Ma’s hovel. 

As she swung her arms in circles, pushing against the burning soreness that was already in them, more voices assaulted her from all directions, each one saying her name. 

“ Sun… Sun… Sun… LISTEN!”

She shut her ears to them all, focusing on her bending. The light of Ma’s hovel came into view, quickly followed by the smell of her mushroom soup. Sun hopped off her board and ran inside. Ma spotted her and immediately noticed something was bothering her. 

“Sun? What’s wrong dear?”

Sun didn’t answer, instead leaning her head against Ma’s chest, her tears and sobs being absorbed into Ma’s sweater. The voices continued to assault her ears.

“Did something happen to Bo?”

Sun shook her head slowly.

“Did the Swamp do something to you?”

“I don’t know…”

Ma pulled Sun away, her hands clenched on her shoulders like iron. She wiped away the tears and stared directly in Sun’s eyes, looking for something. She gave Sun’s entire body an up and down. With a swish of her hand, a cup flew off the shelves and scooped up some of the tea she had been brewing.

“When you’re ready to talk about it, let your old Ma know.” She held out the cup and sat next to her, her body posed as if she were ready to sit there until sundown.

Sun took a sip and felt all the muscles in her body relax. Some she hadn’t even been aware she’d been clenching. More tears streamed out of her eyes. 

In between sobs she said, “Bo was drowning- I did compressions like you taught me but there was water in his lungs! And there was no one around to help. I- I don’t know how but I bended the water out of his lungs. Then, I started seeing these ghosts. One was holding a baby. They kept saying my name. They kept saying I had to do something but then I ran back home, but I still keep hearing them…”

Ghostly people swayed out of the corner of her eyes, moving before she could make any features out. To Ma, it must have looked like Sun was having a nervous breakdown.

But Ma had seen many of those before and knew this was something different. This was something troubling the girl’s soul, not her mind. And the only way to fix that was by bending. Bending doesn’t change the elements, but the person’s spirit.

Ma pulled Sun into the space outside their hovel.

“Follow my movements,” Ma said.

She started in a low pose. Then she moved through the basic earth bending stances that any beginner learns in their first class. But when Ma did it, it looked like she had learned it as soon as she was born. Slowly, Sun started to copy her. 

She raised her leg in unison with Ma and then slowly brought it down, extending it while extending her arm, keeping her core strong and tough, like rock itself. Her breathing slowed. They moved through the first twenty positions. Going from Badgermole wrestles with the moon to saber-tooth moose lion fights the wind. The light from the treetops dimmed and the glow flies started coming out of their hiding holes. 

Before Sun knew it, the Moon was shining down on them and the voices had stopped. There were no more ghosts in the corner of her eyes. Her body was firm and unified, without a piece out of place. Ma ended the movement with a deep exhale. Sun did the same.  She looked at Sun and smiled. 

“Feeling better?” Ma asked. 

Sun nodded.

“Thought so. Let me do one more check.” Ma checked her chi points, nodding to herself when she was done. “Good. They’re all stabilized, more or less. Sun, listen to me. About what you said with your water bending-”

“I wasn’t lying!”

“I never said you were. I’ve lived a long life and I’ve seen odder things than what you’ve told me. But you have to promise me you’ll only bend earth from now on, ok?”

Sun nodded. “Will that keep the ghosts away?

“Yes. When you earthbend, your spirit hardens. It gets stubborn like rock. Nothing will get in. When you bend water, your spirit flows like water, letting anything in, spirits included. Same with air bending and fire bending.”

“But I didn’t say I could-”

“I know, Sun, I know. Just promise me you will only bend Earth from now on.” 

Sun looked at her. Ma knew something, and there was no way she would tell Sun what. She just had to trust her.

“I promise.” She fell into her arms. “Thanks Ma. Love you.”

“Love you too, little one. Now go inside and get some rest. I’m sure you’re drained beyond belief.”

Zhang stared at the calendar in his office.

At the far end of the month, highlighted in red, was the day of the Great Comet. A time of celestial and spiritual importance. A time of great festivities and cheer. A time where people would want to see the Avatar. 

Which they still could not find. 

In the past year, their reconnaissance teams must have checked every water bender in the world three times over and still, none of them were the Avatar. He had met with every reputable psychic and spiritualist he could, but none of them could track the Avatar’s particular spiritual energy. 

They could all tell the Avatar was somewhere , that he or she was alive and well, but exactly where was impossible to tell. One said it felt like trying to find a needle in a haystack, that some kind of larger spiritual presence was overpowering the Avatar’s. 

It was a small consolation, but at least the Avatar hadn’t truly left them forever. He or she was somewhere, waiting to be found, waiting to have their destiny revealed to them. And then the world would know what the great Zhan- White Lotus would be the ones that found the Avatar and trained them, leading the world into another era of peace, just like with Avatar Yuan. 

There was a knock at his door. 

“Come in.” Zhang said, looking away from the calendar. 

Hinada silently entered the room, politefully bowed, and handed Zhang a scroll.

“Sir, the Great Comet festival is coming up and sages from all over the world are waiting for your say-so.”

“Spirits, don’t remind me.”

He read the scroll with ferocity. It was all comments from different bending sages asking in their best political tone what they should expect from their new waterbending Avatar, and that, if one isn’t available, why exactly that is. Of course, they would never explicitly insinuate that the White Lotus hadn’t found the Avatar yet, but it was there, clear as day to anyone who had worked in politics and bureaucracy. 

Without meaning to, Zhang turned the scroll into ashes. Hinada, sensing his master’s distress, pulled out water from her flask and caught the ashes. She carefully moved it to a small pot of lilies and soaked the dirt.

“Simply tell them the Avatar will be revealed on the day of the Great Comet, as I am sure the Comet itself will fall through the sky.”

Hinada held her bow as she backed out of the room. She was one of the fastest waterbenders Zhang had ever met. If he was in a better mood, he would have commended her for catching the ashes so quickly. But as things were, his mind could only focus on a single thought: What to do on the day of the Great Comet?

He needed a waterbender, that was a certainty. As for showing them being the Avatar … that could wait. The ends justify the means. He was sure some old Air Nomad guru had said that. 

But it would have to be a waterbender he could trust, someone who could go with the lies just a little farther, someone right next to him…

Hinada knocked, bowed, and apologized as she entered Zhang’s office again.

“So sorry sir, but I forgot to ask, which city did you want to reveal the avatar in?”

Zhang felt as if a fire had ignited within him.

“Hinada,” he asked delicately, “do you have any close family in the poles?”

She solemnly shook her head. “No sir, I lost them to a blizzard when I was a little girl. Just second and third cousins, mostly.” She quickly added, “But I never talk about White Lotus business with them. They think I’m working in the Earth Kingdom, working for a merchant moving goods across Half Moon Bay.”

It’s almost too perfect, Zhang thought. It would have been too suspicious to use a waterbender from the poles. They all know each other. It would cause too many problems. But Hinada, moving around the kingdoms, it's the perfect cover story.

“Tell the Sages we’ll be revealing the Avatar in Omashu.”

“Not a bigger city like Ba Sing Se, sir?”

He shook his head. “Ba Sing Se is too big. The Earth Queen will force us to do it in the inner ring of the city, where only the officials will be present. Sure, the information would spread fast, but only in those cream of the crop channels. None of the average everyday citizens would know about it though. And those are the people who need to believe in the Avatar’s return the most.

“No, Omashu is much better. It’s always been a melting pot for the four elements. Water benders from the Swamp, the ubiquitous Earthbenders, Airbenders moving from temple to temple, and I’ll make sure the important firebenders are there for the announcement. People will send the information to the four corners, practically doing the work for us.”

“Yes, sir. I'll send the message at once.” She bowed and backed out again, but Zhang stopped her.

“Oh, Hinada,” Zhang made his voice silky smooth and an octave lower. “Could I have a quick word with you? Make sure the door is closed and double locked behind you.”

“Of course, sir.” Trying not to show her confusion, Hinada covered the entrance with a wall of ice and moved the respectful distance away from Zhang. “What can I help you with, sir?”

Zhang, in a casual manner he usually never showed in front of subordinates, sat down at his tea table. He boiled water with his bending and steeped his best green tea. In a show of deference, he poured Hinada’s cup first. 

Zhang held out the cup and put on a smile he usually reserved for kings and queens. “Please, sit.” 

Hinada, doubly concerned now, smoothly sat and graciously took the cup.

A week later, Sun and Bo were still playing around the red tree like normal. Sun was trying to catch a bullfrog with her mud bending while Bo was ice sculpting with his bending. 

Then, out of nowhere, Bo said something that surprised her. 

“You want me to come to Omashu with the tribe?”

“Yep, in twelve days for the Great Comet Festival. The city is gonna be flooded with people and my dad thinks the tribe will be able to get some good trading then. Sell some tonics and specialty meats, stuff like that.”

She eyed him. “It isn’t cause of you-know-what?”

Bo rolled his eyes and sighed. “ No, Sun. I told you. I haven’t told anyone what happened. They just think having an Earthbender with the tribe will help with rapport.”

“Rap what?”

“It’s like how we always make Uncle Lu do the trading with the Southern Foggy swamp tribe because he’s the chief's nephew. Omashu wasn’t meant for waterbenders, Sun. My dad thinks having you there will help us get through some hoops, open some doors for us. Literally. When I went with my-” He stopped. “Anyway, I can still remember the looks we got asking an Earthbender to move some crates for us. It’d be a big help if you came with.”

“Why not Ma then?”

“Dad’s already asked her, but she said she can’t.”

“Really? What’s stopping her?”

“Don’t know.”

Later, when Sun returned to the hovel, she asked Ma the same question.

“It’s not that I am not able to, little one. I could walk around Omashu with my eyes closed if I wanted to.” 

To prove her point, she stomped her foot into the ground. Next to her, an almost perfect replica of the city of Omashu sprang up out of the dirt and then dissolved away. “But the hard part would be leaving .” Sun thought the conversation would end there, but then she said, “But I do think you should go with them in my stead.”

“What? You want me to go with the tribe to the city of Omashu on the day of the Great Comet? Where thousands upon thousands of people will be gathering and celebrating? Where is this coming from?”

“I think it would be a good learning opportunity for you. Let you get a feel for the real world.”

“Why do I need to learn about the real world? We’ve never had to leave the swamp. And I have everything I need right here.”

She gestured to her small trove of treasures she had found throughout her days wandering through the Swamp: An otter-bunny doll, a wooden calligraphy brush, a cracked mirror, two sharp knives she could use as scissors, and a compass.

Usually, it would point in only one direction, but normal things didn’t work the way they did in the “real world.” In the Swamp, it just spun on its own accord. Sun had spent many hours watching turn and turn, trying to understand the patterns it made.

And there was one more item in her treasure pile she had almost forgotten about. Sitting in the corner, covered in dust, was a small wooden music box. Sun couldn’t remember finding that one, but Ma was certain she had found it when she was very little. Unfortunately, it had stopped working when Sun turned eight years old. She had almost forgotten the tune it used to sing.

Ma noticed her looking at it and said, “Maybe you could find someone to fix it. Just think on it. Go for a walk, watch the way the trees sway, how the firehoppers move about. Go, go.”

She shooed Sun out of the hovel, closing the door with a quick flick of her wrist, moving at least a hundred pounds of rock with just the small movement of her fingers. It was always Ma’s smallest acts of bending that impressed Sun the most. Anyone could lift a really big rock if they got strong enough. Even Sun was able to do that. But to be able to move it without showing any effort was truly amazing. 

With Lola wrapped around her to keep away the night chill, Sun wandered through the Swamp with the thought of the Great Comet Festival firmly planted in her mind. The moon was in its half phase; a time of choices as Ma would say. And when the Moon was full, or when it had gone away to rest, a choice had to be made. 

Sun counted out the days in her head. The Full Moon was right on the night of the Great Comet. What were the odds? 

Should I stay or should I go? 

Sun kept repeating the question to herself, but she wasn’t really thinking of an answer, more just occupying the space in her head with the question itself so she wouldn’t have to think of an answer. The question turned into a song, then into a line from a play, right when the hero would make the call to save the town they were cast from, then into a riddle. What stays and goes at the same time?  

After a good five minutes thinking, the best answer she could come up with was “flatulence.”

A cool breeze ran by her shoulder and immediately she knew Little Guy was there. It wasn’t exactly a weight she could feel, but more of a presence she could sense. 

Squeak . 

“Really? I was thinking so hard you could feel it from across the Swamp? I doubt that.”

Squeak.

“Well, you think of a better answer.”

Squeak.

“Hm. Fine. That is a pretty good one.”

Enough procrastinating. She thought to herself.

With a heave, Sun gained height, bending the mud underneath to push her towards the first level of branches. She climbed and climbed, her feet and hands moving on their own, until she broke through the canopy and the moonlight shone on her face. A crisp breeze dallied across the tops of the trees. A few parrot-snakes flew on the breeze. Lola chirped at her brothers and sisters. Little Guy watched the moon with the utmost fascination. 

Bo had once told her that the Moon was in itself a spirit and in fact gave waterbenders the ability to bend water, and that without it, they’d be powerless. But that seemed odd to Sun. Then where did earthbenders get their ability to bend? And the air benders. It’s not like there was some big spinning orb of wind that if gone would take with it an airbenders ability to bend air.

Should she go to Omashu with the tribe or stay with Ma?

The crisp breeze turned into a chilling wind. 

She couldn’t imagine what Omashu must be like. A city of thousands and thousands of people, all of them living in a space smaller than the swamp. The thought was impossible for Sun to comprehend. Like trying to imagine what it would be like to bend water- Nevermind, she did know what that was like. 

That many people, in such a crowded space, scared the wits out of her. She had heard stories and descriptions from Bo and the other tribe members who had visited, but she always thought they had been exaggerating. Over ten thousand people? In one city? There couldn’t be more than 5,000 people in the whole world. It would be too complicated otherwise. Too much could go wrong. It wasn’t until Ma corroborated their tales that she actually believed Omashu was truly like that.

She knew the swamp and she liked it that way. She liked mud surfing. She liked the sounds of the animals and birds, and Ma’s mushroom soup. What else could possibly be worth it for her to travel to Omashu?

I could fix my music box. 

The day it broke, she had cried herself to sleep, and then again for the next week. Ma always played it for her when she went to bed, but when it broke, she stayed awake for hours, silently crying to herself until she was too exhausted to even do that. 

“What do you think Lola, should I go? If I do, you’ll come with me, right?” 

Lola tightened her grip around Sun, nuzzling her head to Sun’s cheek. 

“Right. Good.” 

Squeak .

“Yeah, I didn’t think you would, or could, for that matter.” She sighed. “If I don’t go, Bo will hold it over my head for the rest of my life. Any time I beat him, he’ll just say, ‘yeah, but at least I went to Omashu.’” Lola hissed a laugh at Sun’s impersonation. “And then there’s what Ma will think of me. She wants me to go, but if she thinks I’m too scared, I don’t think I could ever look at her again.”

She sighed. “It’s gonna be difficult, but I have to do it. At the very least to see what’s so cool about being in a crowded place like that.”

Ma gave Sun one good look over before she sent her off with the Foggy Swamp tribe. 

“You’ve got your gourd?”

“Yes.”

“Your wool blanket?”

“Yes.”

“The coins I gave you?”

“ Yes.” Although from where, Sun didn’t know. She never thought Ma would be the kind of person to actually have hard currency in her possession.

“Good, good… And the music box?”

“ Yes! Spirits Ma, I thought you wanted me to go, not keep me here and miss the tribe.”

“I do, I do, little one, but it's a bit harder than I thought it would be. Just give me a minute.” Then, something happened that Sun had never seen in her almost sixteen years. Ma’s eyes were twinged red and wet. “Look at you, all grown up…”

“Ma? Are you ok?”

“Yes, yes,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “Just some swamp gas irritating me.” She took a deep breath and just like that, she was back to normal. “Last thing, promise.” 

“ Ma. ”

“It’s important, I swear.” She walked to her bed and tossed off the futon, patting around it as if she were blind and looking for something. “I know it’s here somewhere… Ah-ha.” 

With a firm stomp from Ma, a deep hole appeared about the width of Sun’s leg. Ma slowly lifted one hand as if she were bending earth upwards, but nothing happened.

“Takes a while,” Ma shrugged. “I had to plant it real deep. Never thought I’d need it again.” A blur shot out of the hole and Ma caught with one hand. 

It was a sword in a red-clay scabbard. The sword itself was nothing extravagant, but even Sun with her incredibly limited knowledge of craftsmanship could tell it was well made, especially if it was able to sit deep in the earth for at least a decade and come out without any damage.

Inscribed in the scabbard by the hilt were four characters, Hè lì jī qún , which meant “Standing like a crane in a crowd of chickens.” Except, after Ma waved her hand over it, the characters for “crane” and “chicken” were switched, so now it read, “Standing like a chicken in a crowd of cranes.”

Ma said. “A chicken in a crowd of cranes is safer than a crane in a crowd of chickens. Always remember that, Sun. Don’t try to stand out. It never works well for anyone. Never did for me.” 

With both hands, Ma held out the sword to Sun. 

“Ma, where did you get this?” Sun asked. But before she could answer, Sun said it for her, “You’ll tell me when I’m older.”

Ma laughed. “You’re learning! Oh, I almost forgot.” 

With the flick of her arm, a small rock flew into Ma’s hand. She turned so Sun couldn’t see what she was doing. After a bit of cursing, Ma turned back around and held out the sword again. Except now the hilt was locked in place. Ma had intricately molded the rock around the scabbard and the hilt in a way only she could. There was no way Sun would be able to bend it open and put it back the way it was.

“I didn’t actually want you to use this thing, just have it as a deterrent. To look a bit impressive when you’re walking around with the tribe.”

Sun respectfully took the sword with both hands, feeling the weight. She slung it on her side, taking a few steps to get used to the weight. 

“Thanks, Ma.”

“Now you look like a threat,” Ma said. “Alright, you better get on with it.” 

With another impressive flick of the wrist, Sun’s mud board rolled up in front of her. Ma held it with one hand, making it look as if it weighed nothing. 

“See you in three days,” Sun said with a kiss.

As Sun got her mud wave going, she looked back at Ma, who suddenly looked very small in the swamp. 

Chapter Text

Sun met up with the Foggy Swamp Tribe near the Banyan-Grove tree. It was tradition for them to pray underneath its canopy before they went on any journey outside the Swamp. For protection and stuff. 
 Most had finished their prays and were double checking all their inventory. Only Bo’s father, the tribe’s chief, was still sitting on one of the massive roots, his whole body swaying like a tree in a breeze. 
 Everyone was smiling, excited to go to Omashu for the Great Comet Festival. Sun wished she could feel the same, but with each step her mind grew heavier and heavier. Only Lola’s feathers and scales wrapped around her arm kept her moving forward. As long as she had some memory of the Swamp with her, she felt like she could do it.
 Before she grouped up with the tribe, she found a particularly memorable rock. Then she dug out a deep hole in the ground with her bending and dropped her board in it, covering it back up. After all, she couldn’t bring it with her. It would stand out too much.
 She readjusted her unusable sword and walked out of the trees, into the open space under canopy of the Banyan-Grove tree. Every time she was near it, it always felt like the tree was watching her. Not in a  sinister way, but more like a loving grandma who wanted to give you some extra food when the others weren’t looking. It still bothered her.
 Bo spotted her instantly from on top of the roots. He had a somewhat surprised look on his face. He had probably thought Sun wasn’t going to show up. Shows him. 
 He bended some water onto the roots and froze it, creating a thin layer of ice. With the grace of an Elk-cheetah, he slid down the roots, carefully balancing his weight on both feet as the root curved. As soon as he was off the root, the ice melted away.
 “Sun!” He said as he hugged her. “You came!” 
 “What, surprised?”
 Sheepishly, he said, “A little, but hey! I’m just happy you’re finally gonna see what the world outside the Swamp is like.” His eyes quickly landed on the scabbard at her waist. “Woah, I didn’t know you were also gonna be our security! Where’d you get that?”
 “Ma gave it to me, but don’t get too excited. I couldn’t even use it if I wanted to. She put a rock-lock on it.”
 “Spirits, I would have loved to swing it around. But even in the scabbard, it looks impressive, I’ll give you that.” He glanced at her travel unimpressive sack. “Is that all you’re bringing?”
 Sun hefted it, trying to make it seem heavier than it was. “Yep. That and the clothes on my back. Why?”
 “Well, during the festival things get…” He looked like he wanted to say more, but thought better of it. “Well, I’m sure my dad can get you something to wear there as a thanks for coming with us.”
 Sun had never worn anything else besides the clothes that Ma had woven for her. It felt like it would be a kind of betrayal to her. 
 “He doesn’t need to,” Sun started, “I mean, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
 “You don’t need to tell me that, tell him.” Bo turned and cupped his mouth. “Dad! Sun is here!”
 The Foggy Swamp Tribe chief slowly blinked his eyes open. He looked around as if he had forgotten where he was. Calm and poised, he bended water from the river and froze it over the roots of the Banya-Grove tree, just like Bo. Except, the chief’s movements were somehow slothful, while at the same time looking like a master bender. He moved like water, only doing the bare amount of movement needed, but always at the perfect time.
 In an extremely impressive display of balance and skill, the chief slid down and around the roots, creating his own ice-poles to continue on whenever he felt like it. After a few loops, he finally made his way down to Bo and Sun. The trail of ice he made melted away behind him.
  “Thank you for coming, Sun,” he said, “It is a huge help for us.”
 “Oh, its no trouble, Chief,” Sun said.
 “Please, call me Theo,” he said with a bow. “But, no more time to waste. We need to make it to Jin Zhan before the sun goes down. Everything prepped?” He asked Bo.
 “Yes, sir.” 
 “Then let’s get a move on.”
 Sun and Bo sat in the head canoe with Theo as he moved it forward, his arms spinning lazily in the Foggy Swamp tribe style. Six more canoes were behind them, some towing goods they were going to sell during the festival and a few Tribe members to help with moving everything. The Banya-Grove tree shrunk in the distance as they made their way to Jin Zhan, a small town outside of the city of Omashu.
 Eventually, they reached the end of the river and had to move on foot. They tied the canoes to nearby trees, unloaded all the goods, and hid the boats under fallen branches. Then, for good measure, Sun bended a small cove around them to make the branches look even more natural. Before anyone could object, she grabbed a fair amount of bags from her canoe and walked with Bo. 
 They walked through the Swamp for almost an hour until Sun saw something that made her pause. Sun knew every tree and rock in the Swamp, even the ones near the edges of its borders. It was because of that fact that she paused as she approached a particularly large boulder about four times her size. 
 “Sun?” Bo said. “Everything alright?”
 “Yeah,” she said. “It’s just… I’ve never walked passed here. If I do, it’ll really feel like I’ve left the Swamp.”
 “Oh.” Bo said as he gazed upon the boulder. “We actually have a name for it. We call it the Demon Boulder.”
 “What, really? This is the first time I’m ever hearing of it.”
 “It’s not something we like to think about.” Bo shivered. “It scared the wits out of me as a kid. My mom used to tell me stories about it, that a demon spirit was trapped inside a thousand years ago, and it’s screams can be heard only at night on a full moon. And if you’re not good, it’ll pull you inside and trap you with it.”
 That was was one of the first times Sun had heard Bo talk about his mom. 
 He continued, “It used to give me all kinds of nightmares. But then she told me, maybe its just protecting us, ya know? I guess it depends which way its facing inside that rock. Maybe it’s just scaring away outsiders that want to do the Swamp harm. But who knows?”
 Every since she had found it, she had wanted to make something of this giant piece of rock. It was by far the largest one in the Swamp, giving it limitless possibilities for what she could make it into. For hours, she would stare at it, sketching designs in the dirt, and yet she never worked on it. She was scared to. She was scared that if she carved that one, then nothing would stop her from going farther to find more large ones to carve. And then, maybe she would leave and never come back. 
 It didn’t make sense, but Ma had taught her that most things people did didn’t make much sense, herself included. 
 Holding her breath, Sun walked passed the immense boulder, keeping her eyes straight forward. 
 Soon, the willows and mangroves became less and less. At the same time, Sun could feel a presence weakening, something that had enveloped her her entire life but was now gone. It felt like she had lost an extra sense, that she was wearing a thick layer of wool around her body that was deadening her senses, but she forced herself to keep moving and picked up the pace. 
 Then, the mangroves were gone. She was out in the open. Around her, tree stumps were scattered randomly among growing redwoods and oaks, and the smell of floral flowers smacked into her nose with a sickly sweet scent. Tiny, colorful birds flew around her at speeds she didn’t think possible. And the constant sunlight was harsh to her eyes. She already felt like she was in another world. Maybe the spirit world? Did she fall and knock herself out as they were walking through the Swamp?
 But no, Bo and the tribe were still there behind her and she could bend. She knew that was one hard rule of the spirit world, no bending.  They had truly left the Swamp. At least Lola was still there with her.
 The mangroves were huddled together, making a clear line between the outside and the Swamp. And now Sun was in the outside. The ground was oddly level and clean. She could walk with her eyes up and not have to worry about tripping on roots and seaweed. It was as if a river had been turned to dry dirt. An actual man made road.
 The road led away to what Sun thought was Omashu, except didn’t Theo say they were stopping at Jin Zhan first? 
 Bo laughed when she asked, “Did we take a different path and go around Jin Zhan?”
 “That is Jin Zhan, Sun.” Bo pointed to what Sun thought was a mountain in the distance. “That’s Omashu.”

***

 Sun was in a daze as they wandered through the town of Jin Zhan. How was this place just a “pit stop” before going to Omashu? Sun had never seen more people in her entire life. So many different faces. Different voices and colors. And buildings that loomed tall like trees.
 Except, people made these things, not nature. And not just out of earth bending, but wood and metal, with time and planning. They cut down trees and reorganized them into their own shapes. And everything was out in the open. She could see from one end of the town to the other. It was total madness. Even Lola couldn’t stop gaping at all the new animals she was seeing.
 But, she couldn’t deny that she liked some things. Smells from foods she had never tried before, incredible pieces of art made from clay blasted with heat, and animals she had never seen before. Lola flinched when an Airbender’s winged lemur tried to say hi.
 Sun thought Bo would be just as excited to look around as she wasn’t, but he looked uncharacteristically glum as they walked through Jin Zhan. She tried asking him about it, but he said, “I’ll feel better once we get out of here and go to Omashu.” 
  But, since Sun had no sense of how much things should cost, she brought Bo with her as her haggler. His father always instilled in him a good sense for cost and service, and he was never willing to back down from his initial price. Thanks to him, Sun got some dried pig-rooster jerky, a colorful marble, and a puzzle with a metal ball inside, and she still had a fair amount of coins left over. 
 “Let’s check out that stall next!” Sun said, eyeing its wares. 
 “Sun, this place is nothing compared to Omashu. Trust me. You should save most of your coin for the festival. And anyway,” he sighed, “I want to go to the inn and get some rest. It’s getting dark and we’ll need to wake up early tomorrow.”
 The sun was getting low in the sky, but there was still plenty of natural light left. Still, Bo was clearly bothered by something. If he wanted to head to the inn, she couldn’t really say no. When they were lying on their mats in their rooms, he finally looked relaxed and back to his normal self. 
 Sun was excited to try her new treasures with Bo, be fell quick asleep, leaving her by herself. Still, she had a puzzle she could solve by herself and she had plenty of time to solve it.
 There was a knock on their door. It was one of the tribe woman. 
 “Hey, Sun,” she whispered once she saw Bo sleeping. “The chief wants to go over the agenda with you for tomorrow.”
 Unfortunate, but it was important for her to know. “Sure,” she said as she put her puzzle away. “Be there in a minute.”
 She put Lola to bed and quietly walked out of her room, down the hall to the chief’s room. She could hear voices on the other side discussing prices and selling tactics. As soon as she knocked, the voices quieted down. 
 “Chief Theo, sir? Can I come in?”
 “Thank you, Sun, please do.”
 Inside the chief’s room were all the people that had come with them. A map of the city of Omashu laid on the table in the center of the room. The city’s circular layouts were colored and named, with vendors around them colored and labeled. They all sat on cushions on the floor, drinking green tea. Candles lined the table and walls. Theo bended some tea into a cup and handed it to Sun.
 “Please,” he said. “Come sit.”
 Initially, Sun was worried they were going to treat her like a child, but in a refreshing twist, they treated her just like anyone else in the room. They quickly went over what they had talked about before Sun arrived and then discussed specifics; what they expected at the festival tomorrow, what problems they feared may pop up, and contingencies for each one. They went over intel they had received about what goods were going to be sold at the festival, the timing of the comet, and even which Earthbenders they should bribe to get a better stall location.
 Now, Sun would never have admitted this out loud, but most of what they were talking about went over her head. She had never talked with Ma about economics or haggling, she had never needed to, but she didn’t want to look like she was an idiot in front of everyone. She would just ask Bo the plan in the morning. For now, she nodded and agreed when it felt appropriate to. 
 And anyway, all she really needed to know was where they were going to be setting up their stall and where she was needed to move stuff. Apparently the entire city ran like one big slide. They used earth bending to send stuff to the top of the mountain in these big tubs with the proper name and permit number, and then they slid down slides to their appropriate spots. Pretty genius, honestly.
 The tribe simply needed her help in moving their goods to the spot where they would be inspected, elevated, and then chuted to their location for the festival. Once she dropped off the tribe’s goods, she was free to move around the city on her own until the festival started.
 Once she had the route memorized, which was much easier than any directions she had to remember for the Swamp, the group disbanded for an early bed time. Sun was about to leave the chief to himself, but there was a question she had wanted to ask him.
 Once the others had left, Sun asked, “Sir, did something happen to Bo the last time he was here?”
 Theo stopped stacking the tea cups. He sighed and bended another cup of hot tea from the pot and handed it to Sun. He poured himself one as well and sat comfortably, staring into the flame under the pot, gathering his thoughts. 
 “Sun, what do you remember about Shiro?” He asked.
 “Bo’s mom?” Sun shook her head. “Not much really, sir. Just that her hair was white like the clouds. She was really pretty.”
 The chief laughed. “True. It was a rare sight in the Swamp. I guess that’s what caught my attention.” He took a deep breath. “Ten years ago, my wife and I brought Bo with us to Omashu to buy some tonics for the cold season. The trip out of the Swamp was fine, but as soon as left the mangroves, all we could see were stumps. All the oaks and redwoods had been cut down as far as I could see. It was a terrible sight. Bo had never seen such destruction of nature before.”
 Sun said, “I saw some stumps when we just leaving the Swamp, but… the entire area? I can’t imagine what that would look like.”
 “We made it to Jin Zhan and got a room. Then in the middle of the night, we heard screams coming from outside.” 
 “Bandits?”
 “No.” He shivered. “It was a spirit.”
 Sun gasped. “But a spirit would never! I mean, why would it even be interested in invading a town?” Sun had never seen an angry spirit before, but it sounded like something that would give Ma nightmares. 
 “It was a spirit of the redwoods and oaks that had been cut down. It was angry at the towns people for not respecting the balance of things. It tore through the town like a hurricane and took people as payment for the town’s misdeeds. It had become a monster deformed by its hate for humans. Shiro and I rushed out to see if we could help, even though we knew only the Avatar could stop a rampaging spirit.” He paused. “Do you know anything about the Avatar?”
 “No, sir. Ma didn’t like to talk about it. She said she had met two personally and they were both cocky little liars.”
 Theo frowned. “Two? But what…” He shook his head. “Ah, who knows what she’s saying half the time. Still, I can understand why she might think that. But I’m sure she would also agree that the Avatar is one serious force of nature. And compared to us, we had no chance stopping the spirit. All we could do was distract it while the townspeople ran to safety, but Bo didn’t know what was going on. He walked out of the inn and the spirit went right for him. Shiro pushed him out of the way and… She got taken instead. We stayed in town for a month, hoping the spirit would calm down and return those it took, but we never saw the spirit or her ever again.”
 Sun swallowed a lump in her throat. “Sir, I didn’t- I’m so sorry, I never knew.”
 “It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s not your fault. Bu ever since that day, Bo has held a, well, let’s say a strong dislike for the spirits. Getting him to sit under the Banyan-Grove tree before we left was a serious effort in itself.”
 “But sir, don’t you feel the same way to the spirits? I mean, they took your wife.”
 Without hesitating, he said, “No. It wouldn’t be right. You don’t simply hate an entire group because of the actions of an individual. You cannot despise all of the fire nation just because one fire bender burned you. And anyways, I may never see her again, but that does’t mean she is gone. 
 “Sometimes I dream about her. I dream that she’s in the spirit world, living her own life. Maybe its true. Or maybe its just what I hope is true. But no point talking about that. All that to say, I’m sure Bo will be back to his old self once we get out of town tomorrow morning.”
 A three pops came from the candle-clock.
 “Spirits, it’s been that long?” Theo stretched and yawned. “Well, you better get to bed too. We’ve gotta get up at dawn and load up the inventory.”
 Sun stood and bowed to Theo. “Good night, sir.”
 He smiled. “Good night, Sun. Sleep well.”
 Sticking to the sides close to the walls, Sun, as quiet as a pigeon-rat, made her way back to her room and her bed. Bo was tossing in his sleep, mumbling about spirits.
 Still, it now made sense why Little Guy didn’t like being around Bo. When she was back in the Swamp, Sun would ask Little Guy if it knew anything about the spirit that went on a rampage in Jin Zhan. Maybe it could tell her how to find Bo’s mom and bring her back. 
 But that would mean going to the Spirit World of all places to save her, and Sun had just left the Swamp for the first time in her life. One thing at a time, she thought. Still, I can’t imagine Omashu being any crazier than the Spirit World.

***

 So this was a real crowd of people. 
 Being surrounded on all sides, being trapped by bodies. Not even in her dreams had Sun seen so many people in one place, all pushing and talking over each other. Not to mention the echo from the deep valleys around them. It was all overwhelming her senses. How does a place like Omashu keep track of this many people?
 Sun had heard numerous stories about the incredibly complicated bureaucracy the Earth kingdom employed, but for a place like this, it made sense. Bureaucracy keeps things slow, but constant and smooth.
 And even though Sun and the tribe had woken early to beat the traffic on the one road to get into Omashu, there were still hundreds of others in front of them. They clogged up the one road in and out of Omashu. They were a mile from the entry gate and even from so far, she could hear the massive gates opening and closing for each group. 
 It seemed odd to Sun to have only one entrance into your city. (And not to not have any fencing on other side. Sun had finally gained a fear of heights.) She understood it was to bottleneck people from invading, but if the road was taken over, how would the city get anything in?
 And still, with that one road, they had built that.
 It was mountains of city. Literally. From Sun’s perspective, they looked like four massive ant hills, with people swarming all over it. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from it. 
 “If you think Omashu is impressive,” Theo said as he triple checked his paperwork, “Ba Sing Se will really tickle your brain. I’ve heard it takes a man three days to walk from one side of Ba Sing Se to the other.”
 That sounded impossible to Sun. But then again, she would have thought the same about Omashu. 
 Lola was flying around them, catching the updraft around them. A few merchants tried to sell them stuff as they waited in line, mostly meat on a stick and refreshments. One even tried to sell them cabbages. But Sun kept her eyes on Omashu as they got closer and it got bigger. 
 After three hours, they finally made it to the main gate. The wall around the city was so tall it blocked out the sun. Behind them, the line had gotten even longer, stretching to the horizon. Above them, air nomads flew in on their sky bison. Sun was jealous they got to just fly in, but she couldn’t help himself from being in awe at such a massive thing being able to fly so elegantly. 
 Theo held out their papers to the earth bender guards. Even though the tribe had triple checked that they had every single document they needed, they still looked nervous as the guards inspected them. Just one missed line, one miswritten character, could lock them out of the city and out of the festival. And getting new blank documents would take at least a month. 
 A guard noticed Sun’s sword. He whispered something to his partner, who also glanced at it, his face unreadable. 
 Sun heard one say, “… couldn’t have killed one to get it…”
 One of the guards asked Sun, “How old are you?”
 “Sixteen,” she said. “Sir.”
 “And is that your flying parrot-snake?”
 Sun whistled and Lola flew back to her, wrapping around her arm. 
 “Yes, sir.”
 “You need a permit to allow any reptilian animals into Omashu.” 
 Bo started, but Theo held his hand.
 Sun said, “She won’t hurt anyone. I promise.”
 “Doesn’t matter. You need a permit.” 
 There was a terrible pause. 
 “However,” he continued, “I’m willing to let it pass if you can hit that tree down there with your bending.”
 He pointed to a large fern below them in the valley, about a hundred meters away. Nothing impossible for her to do. Ma had forced her to hit things much farther and much, much smaller.
 “A person of your caliber should be able to, right?” The guard asked.
 My caliber? What does he mean? Sun glanced at Theo, who could only shrug. She went into her basic stance, feeling firm and strong. She stomped the ground and lifted a boulder the size of a sweet melon the same way Ma taught her. She spun and kicked it with her leg fully extended. The boulder flew off into the valley. Flying, flying, falling, and… 
 The boulder nailed the tip of the tree. Sparrows-Robins disperse from its branches.
 The guard mumbled, “Youngest one I’ve ever seen.” He shook his head and stamped the papers, handing them back to Theo. “Go on in.”
  The massive walls slid open just wide enough for one person to go in at a time. The sound shook Sun’s chest. A cloud of dust rose and was sucked into the city like it was taking a breath. The chief went first, followed by Bo, and then Sun.
 Behind them, the guard yelled, “Next!” 
 More darkness enveloped them as they walked through the walls, with only a thin line of blue sky above them. As the first gate closed, the second one opened, closing off all sound around them and leaving just their steps.
 Then the third gate opened and Sun gasped.
 Her eyes followed the cityscape to the top of Omashu and her knees went wobbly. She felt off balance. That’s never happened before. And then there were the people! Even more than than there were on the road. And all around them were miles and miles of tubes and chutes. Mail carts slid by, moving at speeds that almost scared Sun. 
 She had to ride one. 
 It would be just like mud-surfing, but even faster! And with none of the bending! First, she had to help get the tribe’s stuff moved to the proper location, but then, she was going postal. 
 “This way,” Theo said, walking through the city without checking the map. He said it made him look like he knew what he was doing, that he had a sense of purpose and shouldn’t be messed with. 
 The group stayed close as they followed the chief. Even though Sun wanted nothing more than to look at everything the vendors had, she did what she was told and stayed near the front. But if she were by herself, how was she supposed to walk through a crowd? Does a person just push their way through, or keep asking each person if they can pass? That sounded like it would get exhausting fairly quickly.
 And yet there were people doing it right now, walking against or perpendicular to the crowd without tripping or falling. It was like a magic trick. What was their secret? Was it just a sixth sense a person developed growing up in a city like Omashu?
 “Here we are,” Theo said as they came to an area stacked with carts. Next to it, Earth benders were moving filled carts to their proper places, lifting them up a level or sending them to another mailing node. “Sun, if you wouldn’t mind getting a cart for us.”
 Sun popped the top cart off the top and gently brought it down. The tribe filled it with their goods and Sun carefully carried it to the mailing post. Theo gave them more papers, the postmen carved the appropriate characters and guiding mechanism on the cart, and off it went. If that was all Sun had to do, she wasn’t sure why Theo wanted her Ma to come. 
 “Well, that’s it for now,” Theo said. “Sun, Bo, you’re free until you hear fourteen gongs, then come to out forum spot we talked about.”
 “Gongs?” Sun asked.
 As if one cue, a loud ringing sound echoed throughout the city. It happened ten times. And no one seemed bothered by it.
 “It’s like the candle crackers, but bigger,” Theo said. 
 Sun and Bo both promised to be there and they ran off to explore the massive city. Because it was still fairly early in the day, some of the bigger decorations were just being put up on display.
 There were incredible statues made of rock and ice that Sun could tell were painstakingly carved into large animals. Hand-stitched streamers and flags were hung throughout the streets, and rainbow colored lanterns floated around the city, illuminating it in a wash of colors. Air benders were flying throughout the city keeping the floating lanterns moving in an orderly fashion.
 Bo was right. Compared to Omashu, Jin Zhan was nothing. People were selling things she had never imagined. Fruits pickled in spiced vinegar, fermented shark-tuna belly, roasted chestnuts, and everything was served on a stick. Sun couldn’t understand why, but it felt right for the festival.
 She had eyed a few places on their way to the postal node, but so had Bo. They argued for a moment on which to go to first, and decided on a game of air, earth, water, best out of three. 
 Sun won the first round, 
 Bo won the second. 
 Then they tied the next three rounds, until…
 Bo won.
 And his first forum of choice was the medical forum, which surprised Sun. She didn’t know he was into medicines. Bo was a water healer, he could redirect a body’s chi to accelerate its healing, so why would he need medicinal herbs?
 Sun asked him.
 Bo said, “Water bending can’t heal everything, Sun. If one of the tribe was bitten by a venomous spider-fly or ate a poisonous mushroom, there wasn’t much any of us could do about it. It has to be something the body could naturally fight off on its own. So I like to keep some knowledge on basic balms and anti-venoms, just in case.”
 The medical forum was in a more secluded section of the lower city. Sun noticed a few couples walking through, asking pointed questions. Bo didn’t have much coin to barter with, but as he was more interested in learning about the powders and balms rather than buying them.
 In fact, once the apothecaries learned Bo was actually knowledgable on some of the herbs and medical practices, they became quite friendly and even gave him free samples. He got tonics to help with bad breath, creams for better skin, and roots for stomaches. Although, he looked somewhat skeptical about most of them. 
 “They mean well,” he said, “but most of this stuff is as useful as boiled swamp leaves. The real fun stuff comes from mixing them all and seeing what happens.”
 As Bo conversed with an apothecary about mushrooms, Sun couldn’t find anything in the area that she could both afford and find interesting. Most of the vendors tried to sell her love potions or medallions to find true love, but Ma had taught her that anyone trying to sell you something out of a fairytale was telling one themselves. 
 Then, off to the side of the forum, she did found a small sign in front of a large theater that said, “Fun kids’ show! Old tales and new stories! Only one copper coin!” 
 A woman stood outside the theater wearing a princess inspired dress like she herself was out of a fairytale. “Come see a tale of justice and sorrow! You won’t be disappointed!”
 Sun glanced at her handful of coins. It seemed like a bargain, and there wasn’t much else for her to do. Bo was still talking with the apothecaries and it looked like he would keeping talking with them until the sun went down. She might as well pass the time with some entertainment.
 “Hey, Bo,” she said, “I’m gonna watch a show, so take your time.”
 “Yeah, sure,” Bo said, not really paying her any attention. He asked the apothecary, “Now, about the Singer root, I’ve tried it, but the taste…”
 Sun paid tried to pay the copper coin to the princess, but she shook her head. 
 “Free entrance for fellow members,” she said with a knowing smile. 
 But Sun had no idea what she was talking about. Still, a copper coin was a copper coin. Sun thanked her and went inside.
 The “theater” was simply a few walls put up with earth bending, with no ceiling and six rows of benches none longer than six feet. It wasn’t large, but it was big enough. And anyway, Sun didn’t have any frame of reference for theaters besides the small stages the tribe put up for holidays. To her, this one felt about right for Omashu.
 Except, this one didn’t have a stage. It had a booth with detailed wallpaper behind it. It was a puppet show, that’s why it was so cheap. But it was still entertainment, and a puppet show for Sun was on par with what she had seen from the Foggy Swamp Tribe. She grabbed a seat in the back and waited for the show to start. 
 Slowly, the theater filled with children, and Sun found another thing about cities that confused her. The kids were all incredibly well mannered. They gave considerate space for each others and all spoke softly. Not to mean that they were timid. They all spoke with a healthy childish energy, it was simply their good-manners that astonished her. 
 Foggy Swamp tribe children were polite as well, but it made sense to Sun. When you grow up in an environment like the Swamp, you had to be strict with your kids and teach good teamwork, otherwise the Swamp would swallow them up. But in a big city like Omashu, what were the odds they’d ever see each other again?  What dangers were there for bad manners in a big city? Why weren’t the kids all rough with each other?
 A sledge of earth rolled over the top of the theater, darkening the room. Only bits of light came through the cracks in the walls. Then, two spotlights appeared on the puppet booth. Behind Sun, the princess, a fire bender, was bending a flame so intensely it burned bright white. She held it behind a think glass lens to create the spotlights. 
 The children clapped as four puppets came into the booth’s frame. They weren’t stringed puppets, however, they were incredibly articulated hand puppets, with bodies and arms too thin for any normal human hand to fit into. 
 Once her eyes adjusted to the lighting, Sun saw a water bender in the wings using octopus-style bending to control and move each puppet separately. Sun was impressed. She could tell from her time with the tribe that water manipulation like that was incredibly high level, almost master worthy.
 Then, a voice came through as if a person were speaking right next to her. “Last time, our heroes walked through the portal into the spirit world, looking for a cure to save the village from Vaatu’s evil curse.”
 The voice sounded like it was coming from every direction at once. It was coming from an air bender sitting underneath the booth. She was using her bending to project her voice to everyone equally. I didn’t know they could do that. 
 The air bender’s voice changed into a heroic, masculine voice as the leader of the puppets said, “Come on guys, we must save the village!” 
 “But,” the air bender went back to her narrator voice, “right before they entered, the water bender, Kierra, was given a box made of wood from the great banyan-grove tree from the Swamp.” 
 Sun could see on the back of one of the hand puppets was a small vase-like box, carved out of wood. Like anyone would be able to get some, she thought. The Swamp would kick them out a mile away.
 “Remember Kierra,” the air bender said, switching back to her heroic voice. “The sage told us to keep the box closed for until our fight with Vaatu. Only it can seal Vaatu’s darkness away.”
 “It was true,” she switched back to her narrator voice, “only the box could hold Vat’s evil. But every night, Kierra would stay up, staring at the box, wanting to see what’s inside.”
 There was a polite gasp from the audience. 
 “First, however, the group of heroes had to contender with the natural dangers of the Spirit World; Constant earthquakes,” the earth actually rumbled as she said it, “thunder as loud as an elephant-seal,” a defining BOOM shook through the theater, “and blinding sandstorms,” followed by dust flowing down from the ceiling. 
 On the opposite side of the water bender, there was an earth bender making the noises and effects. Around him were rocks, a few buckets filled with a variety of sands, and myriad of metal tools for making sounds. 
 Incredible. The small troupe was comprised of four benders from each nation and their production value was ten times better than anything the Foggy Swamp tribe could put on as an entire group. And all just for a kids’ puppet show. 
 “On their way to mount Hai-Riyo Peak, a dormant but burning hot volcano, they encountered some of Vaatu’s dark spirits.” Three hand puppets slowly came into view, but they looked more like evil salamanders than dark spirits. Still, it did the job. “The heroes fought with all their might, using each of their talents to defeat the monsters.”
 The sound of steel swords slashing and animalistic growls echoed in the theater as the puppets fought each other. Small squirts of water, fire, and rock came out from behind the puppets, nailing each dark spirit. When all the dark spirits were defeated, the children cheered.
 “As the group of heroes walked up to the tip of the volcano, a blistering heat surrounded them on all sides, stifling their breath. Sweat covered their brows and sizzled on the waters below.” A gentle, warm heat began to build in the room from the princess. The air bender was making the sound of oozing hot magma with her throat. Never seen someone do that before.
 “They searched for hours and hours, but couldn’t find the Crescent Moon flower that would cure the village. When the sun started to set,” the lights dimmed and became warmer, “the heroes decided to rest for the night at the bottom of the mountain and try again the next day.”
 The puppets trudged down the mountain. The wallpaper scrolled by, going from day to night. A small fireplace popped up and a full moon floated into the sky. 
 “But, that night, again, Kierra couldn’t sleep. She stayed awake staring at the box, her willpower becoming weaker and weaker. And then, she opened it.”
 As soon as the hand puppet opened the box, a gust of wind blew through through the theater. Little shreds of purple paper streamers flew out of the box. 
 The Airbender said, “Because there was no evil for the box to suck in, instead, all of the evils of the world that had been trapped inside spurred out. Death, disease, and all kinds of wickedness escaped the box and flourished in the Spirit World.” The Kierra hand puppet, with very well acted effort, closed the box. “Every malady escaped, and became a new spirit, except for one; hope. Kierra was able to close the box before hope could escape. That is why human beings can still dream for a better tomorrow.”
 Sun flinched as the roof was pulled away, letting in sunlight and temporarily blinding her.
 “Come back next time to see if the hero’s will be able to fix Kierra’s blunder!” The children groaned at the cliffhanger ending. The show was over. But, as a consolation, the princess was giving out rock puppets of each hero. Sun declined one, but it was cute for the kids.
 While she wandered through the medical forum, a thought occurred to her. If the box was supposed to hold all the wickedness and bad stuff, then why was hope in there? And if it was still trapped, shouldn’t that mean it was inaccessible? 
 But, it was just a kids’ show. It wasn’t really meant to be thought of that much. She spotted Bo in the crowd, still talking to some apothecary. It was impressive really that he could talk about something like that for so long, but the sun was getting low and their time was running out. Sun pulled him away.
 “No, wait! Please just one more minute, Sun, I promise. He was just about to tell me about where to find Wood Frogs!”
 “Don’t care, it’s my turn,” Sun said, pulling him harder. “Let’s go."
 They walked to the artistic forum, picking up some candied apples on their way. When they turned a corner, larger than life statues towered over them, taller than the Demon Boulder. Demons and monsters made from stone and marble that came right out of her nightmares. It was incredible.
 Sun spent most of her time simply looking at the amazing things people made, with and without bending. By the end, she had bought a scroll painting of the ocean, something she had yet to see but had hear incredible stories of from Ma, an extremely fine pick for carving, and a set of tiles for a game called Pai Sho. One of the vendors showed her how to play and she was immediately hooked, even though she lost to him. And she hated losing.
 She had heard Ma and the tribe talk about the game, but they always called it over-complicated. To Sun though, it was the perfect amount of complicated. Like a well balanced obstacle course. It had flow. There was a rhythm of fast action and slow thought.
 Normally, she would have made her own tile pieces out of colored rocks she’d find in the Swamp, but there were too many for her to memorize. Plus, the vendor said he’d throw in a scroll with the rules and a little pouch for her tiles. It seemed fair. 
 Sun was down to her final copper coin. She wandered to the edge of the forum, looking for something cheap to spend it on. 
 Then she saw something that sickened her. 
 Off to the side, sitting in a dark alley with hunger and despair clear on her face, was a small girl no older than ten years old, begging for money and food. 
 And no one was paying attention to her. 
 They were they just pretending like she wasn’t there! The girl looked on the verge of death, and it was like no one cared. It wasn’t an act either, she really was malnourished. But how could there be people covered in grime, with their bones almost ripping through their skin, in an amazing city like Omashu? 
 “Bo,” She whispered, “what’s wrong with that girl? Why doesn’t anyone help her?”
 A pained expression crossed his face. “I know, it’s sad.”
 “What do you mean it’s ‘sad?’ Why isn’t anyone helping her?”
 It clearly made him uncomfortable, but his eyes glossed over the girl just like the city people. “It’s hard to explain, Sun. Cities like Omashu, they’re really big. Not everyone can be fed. And anyway, she might not back as helpless as you think. There’s is a reason people don’t slow down by her.”
 “But there’s so much stuff!” She gestured to the stockpiles of, well, everything around them, especially the things being thrown out. Half eaten snacks on sticks or an apple that had fallen on the ground and was then thrown in the garbage. “Why can’t they have those things if they’re just gonna be thrown away?”
 Bo sighed. “I don’t know, Sun. My dad says its a consequence of civilization. You can’t have all this good without having some of that bad. It’s like push and pull, yin and tang, la and… Never mind, just stay away from her, alright? You just don’t understand how a city works yet.”
 Sun was stunned. How could people enjoy all the goods of a city if people were dying on the streets right in front of them? It was a madness she couldn’t believe existed. But she also felt justified. She was right. The world outside the Swamp was too complicated. It couldn’t handle all the people.
 Once the festival was over, Sun was never leaving the Swamp ever again.
 When Bo wasn’t looking, she walked to the poor girl.
 When the girl noticed her, she asked in a voice that absolutely devastated Sun's heart,, “Any spare coin, ma’am?”
 “I’m so sorry, all I have this one copper coin, but I hope it gets you a warm meal.” Sun gently placed it in her open hands.
 The young girls eyes flickered behind Sun for a moment before focusing back on her. “Thank you, ma’am,” she said as she closed her fragile looking fingers around the coin. “May the spirits guide you to prosperity.”
 “If I can,” Sun said as she moved away, “I’ll come back with more. I promise.”
 For the first time, the girl smiled. “You are a blessing, ma’am.”
 Sun, feeling somewhat better about the situation, casually said to Bo, “Well, at least she’ll be able to eat tonight,
 “Uh-huh, and what happened to those tiles you just bought?”
 “What do you mean, they’re right-” 
 Her stuff was gone. A hole had been cut in her bag. Her sword was still there, but everything else she had bought that day was gone.
 “How did that…?” She looked around but the tiles weren’t on the floor anywhere. “I must have dropped them somewhere.”
 “No, Sun. That ‘helpless little girl’ stole it from you.”
 “What? Don’t be ridiculous, I was looking at her the entire time.”
 “Yeah, she was the distraction. I told you not to get near her.  While you were feeling all bad for her, her accomplice went behind you and nicked all your stuff.”
 “What?” Sun scanned the street for the girl, but she had left her alley and was nowhere to be seen. 
 “Sorry, Sun,” Bo patted her back. “But you’ve been conned.”
 

 Sun sulked as they made their way to the tribe’s stall. She still couldn’t believe what had happened to her, but at least now she had a better understanding for the dangers of the city. There weren’t vicious animals, swarms of elephant flies, or twenty foot tall Venus fly traps that would slowly digest her. There were worse things. Dangers hidden in plain sight. 
 Other people. And Bo had told her that even regular looking people could be con-men, lying just for a single copper coin. Every person she passed could be someone trying to scam her for her money. Any old lady or innocent looking child. How did anyone trust each other in a place like this? It made a city like Omashu somehow at the same time more impressive and more depressing.
 There was a loud yell from around the corner.
 “Go back to those damned woods you came from, you backward savages!”
 When they turned the corner, they saw the tribe and a few Omashu natives fighting, water against rock. It was evenly matched, but it was clear the tribe were worried about causing collateral damage while the Omashuans were not. The tribe’s stall was decimated. Nothing was still standing.
 Bo yelled, “Dad!” 
 One of the Omashuans noticed them and yelled to his compatriots. Because Sun’s mind was elsewhere, she didn’t notice their movements until it was too late. Earth came up all around her, trapping her in place. But thankfully, Lola jumped off her before she was caught too. She lazily flew above the commotion, not sure what to do to help.
 Bo, being as nimble as a chipmunk-squirrel, dodged out of the way. He ran toward them, bending some water out of a nearby trough and turning it into an ice surfing board, freezing his own feet to it. Not something a person could do for so long without losing at least one appendage. Then, he bended a wave, keeping himself moving.
 He surfed how Lola flew, making his movements unpredictable. He added more mass to his wave as he passed any sources of water he could find. Once he was close enough, he jumped off his board and shot it like a missile, forming another ice board from his remaining reservoirs. The board struck some of Omashuans, injuring but not killing them. 
 As the other earth benders refocused them efforts on Bo, the tribe was able to get better footing and fight back. It was fairly back and forth, until one of the earth benders created a sand storm as a smoke screen and shot a sizable chunk of rock right at Bo, sending him to the ground. 
 “Stop!” Sun yelled.
 This whole spirits forsaken city was too much for her. Everyone was just full of hate. There was no balance, no respect. The wonders they made would never be able to balance such awful things like what she had seen.
 Anger clouded her vision, except instead of seeing red, she was seeing blue. With a single turn of her head, she broke away from her restraints. The rock around her crumbled away into dust. 
 She took a deep breath and slammed her foot into the ground.
 “Enough!”
 The road shook. A rumble echoed throughout the lower ring of the city. The ground turned to dust, and they all sank into the floor. The stalls on the side were completely untouched. Sun’s whole leg went numb from the effort. It felt like needles were jamming into her skin from all sides.
  One of the earth benders, still stuck in the ground and somehow unaware of what Sun had just done, or possibly incapable of realizing it, pointed at her. “You stupid, little girl!” He said, “Who do you think you are coming here and-” His eyes went to the sword around Sun’s waist. “Oh, you’re um, part of the White…” He swallowed. “I thought I saw their symbol around the middle ring, but, I never would have guessed someone so young… I mean, no wonder you were able to bend such earth and, um…” He bowed his head. “Please forgive us.” 
 “Captain?” One of the other Omashuan’s asked, “What are you doing?”
 “Shut up, you fool!” The “captain” put on a smile. “Allow us to fix the road, please.” He hurried his men out of the sand and put it back together into solid rock. They ran back to their stalls and stayed there. 
 Bo watched it all happen in complete chock. “Sun, how did you do that?”
 “I have no idea. I’ve never done anything like that before…” 
 Theo came up to Sun with a knowing look, but he shook his head just as surprised. “I’ve heard benders are capable of incredible feats of bending under incredible situations. Bo, remember when Uncle Kylo stopped the flood from swiping away your cousin Jo?”
 Bo let out a low whistle. “That was pretty impressive. But what about the sword? It was like they saw a nest of hornet-vipers.”
 Theo looked at it, but no recognition crossed his eyes. “Whatever it is, Sun’s Ma would know. But, as long as they don’t bother us for now, I’m fine with it. Sun, can you keep an eye out for us? Just until we fix up the stall?”
 “But it’s completely destroyed!” Sun said.
 But Theo just smiled. “Don’t worry about that. We can handle it.” He whistled by cupping his hands over his mouth and the entire tribe came into perfect formation. “Koko, you get started with the foundation. Bo, you work on the decorations. June, start fixing up the goods. I’ll reconnect the broken splints.”
 The tribe went to action, working like a unit. One person put up the broken splints while Theo froze them together. Koko dug into the dirt and bended a bed of water underneath the stall lot, creating a stable foundation. At the same time, Bo was delicately crafting ornate leaves and vines to go around the poles. It was highly impressive teamwork. 
 As Theo worked, he said to Sun, “Foggy Swamp bending style is all about holding energy and releasing it at its peak. And that’s how we do things. Pulling together potential energy and saving it for the perfect, last moment.”
 Theo gestured to a large group of festival goers who were coming up the street. A few festival goers pointed at the new and improved stall. It seems the fighting had attracted the large crowd. Theo had actually planned this. 
 A long line formed in front of their stall and everything was flying off the shelves; from the crackle candles to their swamp-smell incense. Kids bought sweet potato pudding, rice pudding, mushroom pudding, Taro pudding, banana pudding… Wow, I never noticed how much pudding the tribe made. A few brave souls even bought a few roasted elephant flies on a stick.
 Sun continued to walk back and forth, squinting at any vendors looking their way. She kept her hand on her hilt, trying to pretend like she knew what she was doing. And apparently it was working. As soon as Sun would make eye contact, they’d look away in terror. 
 In less than thirty minutes, the shelves were empty and the tribe was already dismantling the stall. 
 Theo said, “And now we can enjoy the festival ourselves. Thank you, Sun. If it weren’t for you, this whole trip would have been a bust.” He spoke in a lower voice, “You know, I heard some big show is happening by the third rahd of the middle ring when the comet comes. Its gonna have fireworks and everything. It’s bit of an expensive area, so for all your hard work, how about a little bonus.” He handed her three whole silver coins, enough to buy more than thirty Pai Sho tiles. “After all, good deeds should be rewarded.”

 Sun and Bo ran as fast as they could, with Lola flying just as fast above them. The comet could come at any minute and they didn’t want to miss the show, whatever it was supposed to be. They ducked through alleys and ran on top of roofs, using their bending to maneuver around the crowd. For a few moments, it felt like Sun was back in the Swamp, surfing through the trees, racing against Bo. 
 They found the place fairly easily. A large enough crowd had already started to form around the only stage in the middle ring. An odd symbol was drawn on the backstage. It looked so familiar to Sun…
  Someone in the crowd pointed at the sky. “Look! The comet!”
 A small, twinkling star had appeared in the sky by the North Star, and was slowly getting brighter. At the same time, the beat of large drums came from the stage. A squad of soldiers wearing the same odd symbol walked onto the stage in time to the music, moving in perfect unison.
 A man, old but strong, with long, salt and pepper hair, walked through the soldiers toward center stage. As soon as he stopped, everything went still and quiet.
 “Citizens of the four elements,” the man said, “ever since the passing of Avatar Yuan, the world has missed her wisdom and kindness. I’m sure most of you have wondered if the next Avatar could live up to someone with such dignity and respect…”
 Sun slowly tuned out the speech. She was here for displays of serious bending, not words.  Even Lola wasn’t paying attention. Her gaze lazily made their way to the soldiers.
 Sun had never seen soldiers before. Guards and police made sense, but an army of people made just for war was a terrifying thought. They looked more like game pieces than people… And one of the soldiers looked incredibly familiar…
 “We’d like to introduce you to your newly reincarnated protector from the North Pole…”
 The comet entered the atmosphere and lit up the sky with a fiery blaze. There were a fair amount of “Ooh’s” and “aah’s.”
 “… Avatar Hinada!”
 Four fire benders soldiers who let out a flame larger than any she had ever seen in her life. Not even when she saw a tree catch fire from lightning. Her skin felt like it was going to melt off. Some girl around Sun’s age came onto the stage using some flashy water bending. It was fairly impressive, but nothing Sun hadn’t see Bo do a hundred times.
 The fires grew and came together, forming into the character for “water.” Highly impressive bending, even with the comet. But one of them was clearly tiers about the rest. She was calm as she controlled the fire, like it was nothing to her. 
 There was a click in her mind and Sun recognized her. The princess from the show!
 But before Sun could look for the other benders from the show, she heard a scream tear through the crowd. Everyone’s eyes quickly jumped to the sky like a school of fish, including Sun’s.
 A fragment had broken off of the comet. And it was getting bigger. 
 There were gasps as it seemed to be falling straight down to the city. The crowd dispersed, all of them running in directions. Zhang was yelling orders. Bo tried to pull Sun away, but she stayed in place, staring at the fragment.
 It wasn’t falling towards the city. It was off. From her years bending and shooting rock, she knew it was. It was actually going to land in the-
 “Ma…”
 Sun launched herself high up, higher than the wall around Omashu, and ran to the Swamp, her eyes glowing bright blue.