Book One: Spirits

Huwei drifted closer, lantern extended toward Karizibi. It burst into flame mere inches from her face, Hwo Long bursting forth, dissolving into a hailstorm of burning arrows. However, this time, something appeared between her and the arrows: a silver raven eagle. The arrows bounced off the symbol.

“Shu!” Kari’s first word as she woke with a start, also waking the young earthbender. “Come with me.” She grabbed the girls arm, dragging her girl out of the caravan. “The symbol was in my dream!”

“Hunh?” Shu rubbed her eyes. “What symbol?”

“The symbol on the hilt of the dagger you showed me. It seemed like Hwo Long and Huwei were trying to attack it, but the symbol deflected their attack...Or like the symbol was trying to protect me. I don’t know. It wasn’t very clear.”

“I don’t know how this is supposed to make me feel better.” Shu grumbled.

“It’s not supposed to make you feel better.” Kari rolled her eyes. “I just figured you might want to know.”

“Well, thanks.” Shu crossed her arms. “I’m more terrified than I was before.” The two returned to the car. Kari wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to sleep, and was thankful that Yoshiro was now awake.

“I think I’d like to try meditating again.” she requested, the fear evident in her eyes. “I need to try again.” she corrected herself. With no questions asked, he seated herself beside her. The dream seemed to give her the motivation necessary to successfully meditate. Unfortunately, nothing seemed any clearer than it had been when she woke.

Kari was so frustrated that she was ready to try again at lunch, dragging Yoshiro off the car with her, but abandoned the idea when she noticed something in the distance.

“Do those prayer flags look familiar to you?” she asked. She and the airbender began to wander off. The rest of the group, somewhat concerned, followed. The tree had a single strand of prayer flags wrapped around it. Additionally, one branch of the tree was broken, possibly recently.

“What’s the big deal?” Pong asked from the back.

“Prayer flags mean spirits.” Kari explained. “Yoshiro and I noticed a set a few stops
back wrapped around a statue. I thought I saw its face move then. I think it’s trying to send us a message.” Following the broken branch, the group noticed a large footprint at the base of the tree. It like a human’s, but much broader. Kari immediately walked off in the direction it was pointing, the rest of her friends trailing closely behind. They eventually reached a small path which they followed to its end - a large column of earth waited for them there.

“Whoever it was can Earth bend.” Kari examined the column. “They launched themselves from here with this column. Pong nodded, confirming her observation and examining the earth as well. Despite looking around, and even erecting columns to survey the land, no one could find any further evidence of the spirit.

“Let us try?” Kari and Rika both requested. Shu and Pong hoisted the two up on two new columns, but neither was able to see anything else. Pong used this as another attempt to impress Rika. He dropping the column quickly, reaching out to catch her, but Rika hit the ground with a fairly solid “thud”. Shu, shaking her head, pushed Rika to her feet with an angled earth column. She seemed visibly shaken.

“I’m so sorry!” Pong attempted to apologize.

“Earthbenders!” she grumbled before storming off.

That evening, they stopped in a small town by a bay. Kari stopped in the post office to check her mail. A reply from “SW” waited there. They agreed that meditation could be a good idea for her, and also suggested searching for a guru.

“Pardon me,” she caught the postmaster’s attention. “Is there, by chance, a religious guru in this town?”

“Old man Souta might be who you’re looking for.” he offered.

“Thanks.” Kari smiled with a small bow before turning to head back toward the caravan. There, she discovered Pong presenting Shu with a tea set.

“Uh,” it was apparent that Shu was both confused and concerned. “Thanks...I guess.” She made a face as she inspected the set closer. “But you really should have cleaned it up.” The added insult didn’t seem to phase Pong at all, who simply grinned, returning to his seat.

“Hey, Shu?” he picked up a scroll sitting there. “Did you see who left this?”

“Not a clue.” She smirked, glancing over to Rikkako. Pong, none the wiser, simply opened
what he discovered to be an earthbending scroll and began to skim through it.

“Who’s taking first watch?” he eventually asked.

“I will.” Kari shrugged, standing and heading outside.

The night seemed as though it would be uneventful, up until Kari noticed someone standing on a nearby ridge. They appeared to be very broad, probably male, with long hair. As she looked closer, she began to notice what appeared to be prayer flags draped around him. Kari knocked on the door behind her softly, hoping someone would answer, refusing to break visual contact with the man. Rika groggily opened the door.

“What’s wrong?” she slurred. Just as Kari grabbed Rika’s shirt to pull her outside, the man disappeared. She sighed in frustration.

“There was a man on that hill.” she expalined. “He looked like he might have been the creator of the the footprint.”

“...Are you sure you’re okay to take first watch?” Rikkako questioned her. “If you’re too
tired...”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” the firebender sighed. She should have figured that no one would believe her. With a shrug, Rika returned to the car.

A short few minutes later, Kari noticed the man had appeared on the ridge once again. She crossed her arms, frustrated. Kari knew it was incredibly foolish to walk off alone at night, chasing a spirit. However, she also knew that, if this was a spirit, it would probably disappear the moment she stopped looking at it. Realizing she wouldn’t be able to alert the others, she began to walk in the man’s direction.

As she came closer, she slowly realized that this wasn’t the figure of a man, but more like an ape. In addition to the prayer flags wrapped around him, he also wore some sort of headdress. She felt confident she could name the spirit: Kong Ran Shan. He turned to walk away, but continually glanced back, watching to make sure she was still following. He led her to a hut draped in prayer flags. A soft light glowed from within. She approached the door tentatively, and as she glanced back to the spirit for reassurance, she realized he had already vanished. Mustering courage, she knocked. There was no answer. After knocking a second time, the door creaked open.

“Hello?” Kari peered in.

“Hello!” A small, frail man appeared at the door. He wore green robes and was mostly bald, but had a strange combination of a long white moustache and short beard. He seemed happy to see her.

“Uh...” Kari felt unsure of what to do next. Was any of this even real? “I believe I was brought here by Kong Ran Shan. I think he wanted me to talk to you.”

“Ah, yes!” The man ushered her inside. “A very good friend of mine! Very peculiar, very old. Of course, I’m nearly just as old as he is. How long ago was it that I met him?” the man appeared to be lost in thought, giving Kari time to take in her surroundings. The inside of the hut was also covered in faded prayer flags. An elaborate scene was carved into one of the walsl: a badgermole in a headdress lifting a boulder and handing it to Kong Ran Shan. There was also a small table and two chairs set up. A freshly made pot of tea sat in the center of the table, as well as a partially finished game of pi sho. Suddenly realizing his surroundings, the man gestured her to sit, pouring them both some tea.

“So, why do you believe you were brought here?” The man asked her.

“Well,” Karizibi waited until he took a sip of his tea to take a sip of hers, not quite trusting him. “I imagine it has something to do with the quest I’ve been sent on by the Avatar. You see, he’s been trapped in the spirit world.”

“I am well aware of the Avatar’s condition.” the man’s smile was cryptic. Kari shrugged this off.

“He told me that I was the key to balance.” Once again, she launched herself into her life story of her involvement with Hwo Long and Huwei. The man sat silently listening, absorbing all this information.

“Well, that’s all very interesting.” he nodded. “But, what do you intend to do about it?”

“Well, I was sent by the Avatar’s wife to visit a scholar in Ba Sing Se University.”

“Scholars are indeed very scholarly.” he smiled.

“Right, but they aren’t necessarily connected to the spirit world. I decided to start learning to meditate.”

“Mediation is good for a lot of things.” He agreed, nodding. “High blood pressure, for example.”

Growing frustrated, Kari placed her face in her hands. She was exhausted from her her guard duties, but also from countless nights of restless sleep. She wanted desperately to know why this was happening to her and felt that her best chance was crumbling before her.

“And I-I don’t know what else to do.” she felt a few tears prickling her eyes. “I know nothing about spirits, but they seem to know everything about me. I’m trying to learn, but I barely even know where to start. My latest idea was to seek a guru, and I was directed to you. I thought you were supposed to have all the answers.”

“And who says I don’t?” he responded with a comforting smile. “What do you know about Huwei?” he changed the subject.

“Just that she comes to collect the dead.” Kari sniffled, wiping a tear away. “She appears as a demon to those who have upset the balance and takes them to eternal torment.”

“Do you know anything else about her?”

“That’s all I could gather from my reading.”

“You are correct. However, you are missing an important detail: she also ferries people to the afterlife who have led good and balanced lives.” Kari sat in silence. “Have you ever considered that these spirits might be connected in some way?”

“Just that they’re opposites?” The confusion was clear on her face. Souta wasn’t talking, and she wasn’t sure where this was leading. “Does this mean I have to die?”

“Not unless you want to!” the man chuckled. Kari wasn’t so sure she believed him.

Meanwhile, back at the caravan, Rika stepped out of their car to find an area to relieve herself. “Hey Kari.” she mumbled as she stumbled into the darkness. She came back a short time later, still clearly half asleep.

“Night Kari”. She mumbled, opening the door to their car and stepping back in.. After a pause, she stepped right back outside. “Kari?” Now recognizing that the firebender had vanished, she planted herself outside, furious, waiting for their missing guard to return.

“I think I’m going to sleep on it.” Kari told Sauto, her lids heavy with exhaustion. “Is any of this even real? On that matter, are YOU real?”

“The last time I checked.” the old man smiled.

“Right.” Kari yawned, emphasizing just how tired she was. “I’m going to bring my friends back in the morning, if that’s okay with you. Hopefully I’ll have some more intelligent questions to ask then.” He smiled, escorting her to the door and bidding her farewell. After walking for a few feet, however, she felt eyes on her. Karizibi glanced back to find Kong Ran Shan looming over her. He didn’t seem to be threatening her, but his appearance alone was enough to set her on edge. Slowly, she backed away, bowing slightly before turning to walk back to the caravan again. After another glance, she realized he had vanished.

“You left us unguarded.” were the harsh words she was greeted with when she returned to the caravan.

“I know.” Kari met the waterbender’s gaze evenly.

“You’re taking watch for the rest of the night.”

“Fine.” Kari shrugged, taking a seat outside the door. They would understand why she did it when she took them back to the hut in the morning.

The night was uneventful, but every so often, she found her gaze shifting to the hill crest, certain she noticed a figure of a man just moments before. Perhaps this spirit business was wearing on Kari more than she thought...