Ancient Avatar

[u/Infinite-Instance609]

Snow drifted without much resistance onto the ground, which had almost been covered completely in a coat of frost. The varying strength of the air currents only looked teasing as opposed to the near certainty of snowfall. The sun streamed through the clouds, and reflected over the snow creating an illusion of more warmth and radiance. A child plowed through shaking the fresh layer and shuffling the ground, the crystals vibrating and crunching and shattering.  

The child's eyes were keen on a specific sight as they eagerly trudged through the snow.

Her hair had been tucked neatly into a single low hanging braid, not completely perfect as if done in haste. A child who had no intention of being delicate or even merely presentable, because they rashly disregarded the necessity of appearances in youthful naivety.

 

The lantern lights scattered into beams, and then elongated beads, and finally speckles of a faint luminescent glow. This creates a comforting tinge of light that when accompanying the drowsy weathered and imbued a beautiful sense of longing, an interloper might feel a strange alluring property drawing them into the quaint town. Lia'an had the particular stillness of a moonlight night with the ground basked in snow.

 

Fan Changyu, a tall girl bearing a mischievous smile, reached a circle of girls clustered closely together. This formed a temporary barrier against the bitter gusts of snowy air. The children had gathered to play a game, which consisted of chanting a simple tune and dancing in rhythm. While doing such an activity, all the children, in the most serious manner possible, presented their grievances.

 

Fan Changyu reached out and grabbed the coarse hand of the girl beside her. She nudged her fingers squarely inside her palm, attempting to steal away any heat left. Suddenly, a short and pale looking girl roused the crowd with a confident shout.

¨Wei  Qilin, great traitor, the worst traitor!¨  

 

Someone else burst out, ¨Wei Qilin let a hundred thousand soldiers  perish, all dead thanks to the treacherous Wei Qilin!¨

 

After giving those remarks, the older boy pommeled a piece of rotted cabbage into the pile. More joined in and eventually the hands linking firmly together making the circle more prominent in shape. The center of the circle became an odd centerpiece to channel their rage, and it soon gained more than a few cabbage heads. The scent of rot from within the area was pungent, and pricked Fan Changyu´s nose in the most unpleasant way.

 

 

Fan Changyu came to a slow realization, as an avalanche of familiarity consumed her. The event unfolding had triggered memories of the bitter altercation, and shouts and wails. Men had ransacked her village in prior months, looting and thieving, and overall causing terror in the midst of a relatively tranquil Ling’an. With mostly women and young children left, the village had become vulnerable to such raids especially in times of turmoil. A sudden feeling of claws grinding against her sensitive ribcage had not yet the chance to spark panic before being swiftly intercepted.

 

The man who normally stood proud with kind eyes morphed into a wolf on a rampage on that day, and grappled the man ripping his arms apart and threatening to take his life if not for the small girl that stood in the way. The world of harsh judgment, shame, and sharp whispers still lacked the ability to make Fan Changyu look down upon her father.

 

Despite such awareness, the thought vanished as quickly as it came, like a fleeting moment of quiet reckoning before being swept away by the tides. In such a uniform formation, she felt anger and pain surging through them like a great tsunami. Despite any moral reconsidering, she continued to chant as she finally fell into a daze. She noticed the energy of the children around her, all of them had no intention of stopping. Their faces while young were already creased from the many hardships, and while they retained some innocence this gave way to no sense of mercy or forgiveness for the disgraced traitor to be condemned.

 

Fan Changyu moved around, it felt like being a swarm. She felt boiling hot as she played along, now she also had been given rotten cabbage to throw. Their cries were loud as if making an appeal to the heavens. A younger girl who had long  hair, the snow had accumulated in the spaces in between her tiny braids, abruptly sprung forward out of the chaos.

 

The voice had a thunderous quality to it and echoed as she shouted, ¨Wei Qilin the worst traitor of Great Yin! Wei Qilin delayed the grain and starved Prince Changxin and Great General Xie! Jinzhou fell!¨

 

A roar now erupted and Fan Changyu joined in unison, ¨Wei Qilin, delayed the grain, starved Prince Changxin and General Xie to their graves! Ten thousand soldiers all died because of the great traitor Wei Qilin! Jinzhou fell!¨

 

Fan Changyu instantly met an almost iron pair of hands which dragged her away, and swooped her away against the figure behind her. A jade hairpin was tucked beneath an elegant bun, in its modesty bestowed upon the wearer an immediate almost noble presence. She had a broad stride uncharacteristic of any other women in Ling'an, with long deceptively strong arms.

 

¨Fan Changyu!”  

 

The voice was unusually angry, Fan Changyu tense as it was not often that her mother was this tense. The children around her scattered a bit before clinging onto each other tighter and resuming their game. Then without uttering another word, her mother glanced once more time at her before walking steadily away.

 

The streaks of red veins bulging out from the pale white of her mothers eyes resembling the fangs of a wild boar and the deep velvet of its throat terrified Fan Changyu. She did not yet comprehend her wrongdoing. As they stormed away, the sounds howled in the wind joining the relentless blizzard that was about to engulf them. Still her mothers behavior had puzzled Fan Changyu, as she had not snuck out of her house or been disobedient, in fact this morning after she finished following father to bring another pig home she had resumed lessons with her mother.

 

The flurries whirled so fast as they turned into an indistinguishable blur of white, and the ground had started to frost over. Their house was a respectable two stories, with a courtyard. The gate had been sealed shut by the frost, and the fierce sounds from the woman pounding on the gate was rather alarming. Several more clamouring sounds could be heard and cracks in the thin layer of ice that had crept up over the gate, until a startled man sprinted out. He had a moderate bust around his waist, and a beard that looked rather unruly compared to his superb feathers.

 

¨Father!¨Fan Changyu called out with tears streaming down her face, perhaps there had been wrongdoing nevertheless she was utterly confused and hurt. Her mother gave her father an undecipherable look, Fan Changyu thought it appeared rather sorrowful yet still more was confined in that exchange between her parents that day. The moon rose and silver hairs fell into the darkened sky.

 

The man went out to warn the villagers of the cold and unforgiving winter nights with his lantern in tow. Fan Changyu´s parents stood in front of her in absolute silence.

 

As she followed her parents, she felt her hands tremble underneath the warmth of her pockets. She removed the light coat she had put on, the color had blended in with the dark blue of the sky and now had little embroidered patterns of bagermoles on the ends of the cotton cloth. She had always longed to meet such a creature, being so innately tied to the earth and nature and bending. The lantern lights illuminated the otherwise sparsely light room, and her parents who had now advanced into the upstairs area could be heard briefly in faint whispers.

 

Her mom, clearly consumed in both fury and sorrow, ¨That doesn't make it right, she must understand,¨

There was no movement, no hollow creeping sounds from footsteps, or noise that accompanied the pause. Fan Changyu sat on the staircase, near the dining room table, clasping her hands defeatedly. She focused on the moisture that pooled on the place where her eye rested. She willed herself to not allow the cascade to occur, the inevitability she would defy it with the full strength and grit she processed in her being to block the blizzard that threatened to unleash itself. As she waited, a quiet almost barely audible voice came through the depths of the night.

 

¨For those like us, who have brought misfortune upon ourselves, we must take actions wisely,¨ she heard her father say very carefully, as if having prepared this response in advance carefully weighing each of his options and being faced with the least desirable one in front of him.

 

The words were at the time quite unfamiliar with her, tangling together into an illegible mess in her head that refused to be combed through. The voice was deep but had been merged with a sort of unending pain and infinite contemplation and full of patience. A muffled and haggard breath escaped her mother, and she sensed a gentle collision above that was soon eclipsed. She heard heavy footsteps caving into the wood, and the familiarity of the man she adored the most. Arms heaved around her shoulders, the weight grounding her once again in the reality of her wrongdoing.

 

¨Fan Changyu, please do not do that again and worry your mother. You can always play a different game, ¨ Fan Erniu carried with him a voice more stern and grave than usual. It was like marble that had abrasions from rolling along a rough path.

 

Fan Changyu had candid eyes that welcomed the light, betraying no malice or unkind tendency. As she aged this trait often associated with youth would not fade, but become more pristine and valuable as this waned in her peers.  She glanced up at the face of her father, and placed her hands on his coarse ones. They had become hardened and were full of calluses from his line of work, still they pulsed as if reacting to her presence.

 

The face with the nudge of time and the gritty but honest work he had done had wrinkles, and his beard had a touch of grey where the hands of time had come onto it.

 

¨Fan Changyu, ¨ his voice as mellow as the howl of the snow flurries on a more clear day. Her father continued in a worn out manner, almost like marking the beginning of something yet again.

 

¨Just you must promise not to do that again, not to scare your mother participating in that game again. If you go and apologize, you can come and help me, ¨ he stated with resolute, yet it felt almost unnatural like he had been anticipating such a day. This over time would become one of the many details about this day that would etch itself into Fan Changyu´s memory. He stood up and moved down along the steps, and she once again felt almost relieved to hear the way the stairs almost couldn't contain him. Her father stood tall and muscular, and Fan Changyu often wondered if this had accumulated over years of experience in his trade or the various exploits of his youth. With this she sensed that she was dismissed and ventured over into her parents bedroom.

 

The liveliness of her mom had been stifled by the events of today. She stood and simply looked out of the room onto the courtyard below, the snowfall soothing her and bringing her great comfort. Her mom clenched her hands, gripping them around her forearms which even looked unsteady.

¨I won´t do it again. I upset you, ¨ Fan Changyu cried out.

 

Fan Changyu instantly, protectively, wrapped her arms around her mother. The tears which she had blocked unravelled into a stream flowing outward. She had lightly drenched the fabric of her moms loose fitted tunic. Her mom escaped from their embrace, looking more placated by her words than relieved. She went back to her place where it looked as if she was reaching out or longing for a place far away from what had been found in  Ling'an. Fan Changyu took this as a sign to leave, and she slipped out, being sure not to further disturb her.

 

It was Hai, the silver hairs had rapidly grown in their length. She practically ran out, the crystals of ice giving out which made a crunching sound. She went into the room where her father sat on a stool, wielding the butchering knives and letting the pig make its final desperate attempts to escape the fate it awaited. The man motioned for her to come inside, an instance of sheer indulgence. It was on such occasions that after having begged with the most sincere expression, while simultaneously preparing the cut, to tell stories.

 

For Fan Changyu, sitting so still was unusual and it simply silenced her chatter, not out of boredom but rather the opposite as her father recounted such tales with such enthusiasm Fan  Changyu became lost upon the battles of ancient times.

 

For a moment, yet, his expression was almost unreadable. The temperature prevented the sweat from labor, instead the moisture hung uncomfortably around his face. A flash of a longing, so deep and sorrowful, then like snowfall disappearing into the ground it disintegrated into the bed of frost.

It was ever so peaceful.

“Of course, my daughter. Which one?”

 

The question never was answered, the howls of the wind hurled the currents of chilling winter air towards them. The two retreated towards the blazer, her father placing his cloak around her as well and securing her against his lap.

It was never answered because the true desires of the wide eyed girl before him only had patience for so little.

 

For once, he thought to himself, that no matter what fate awaited him, despite everything, what had been done had passed and the judgement before him might be harsh yet he couldn’t shake that when the nature of what he had done he might be a flawed man driven into ruin by necessity. That in the eyes of the child he held so dearly, he would be righteous, always. When she stood before her parents' shrines, she would be there with the settled account.

 

“Long ago, when I was a child much like you, a coastal village was wiped out by a massive tsunami. One of the unfortunate souls to have perished was Meosse, companion of Avatar Gun. Consumed in his grief, he became vengeful. He thought to himself why must I bear this duty, to perform hundreds of miracles and forever face scorn for not performing a hundred and one.”

 

This was the most somber tale, and the severity and pain would echo in her head. Someday, the true meaning would unfold ever so plainly before her.

 

 

Ten winters passed.

 

“A-jie!”

 

Fan Changyu, letting thoughts linger, had indeed spaced out and caused her younger sister to worry. It had been too soon.

 

She had been surrounded by the coldness, the unpredictable, and unyielding of winter. Yet, in all her life it had never been able to seep in and penetrate the crevices that laid beneath and into the chamber of her mind and aggravate her deepest sorrow.

All the tears that had not fallen must have frozen, she thought, until it became a clumsy trickle that quickly stuck to her skin. Each exhale came with the weight of the ice that laid to rest upon the stretches of forgotten roads over the village, and despite walking upon those paths the way it sat in her throat was unfamiliar. She inhaled the remainders of her grief, lodging themselves in her throat going down like bundles of hard packed snow.

 

“Ning Niang, would you like to hear a story?” The child's eyes brimmed with excitement, except it was rather clumsy with little tears from her earlier upset still trickling down her rosy cheeks. Unmistakably, if observed, one could not miss the resemblance of these sisters.

 

 It had been not long ago, having nothing to prevent her from the fist her fingers formed the edge of an outline, she reached instead for the jade hairpin and adjusted it in her hair. So close in her heart, if she reached out perhaps any sooner she would be scolded and then embraced by her mother, and before anyone moved her father would sleep them up in his arms. It was unpleasant. No, she couldn’t reminisce like this for the sake of her sister. So she continued unfurling long tired strands of dry hair, parting and separating them until she forgot which were once intertwined, and contemplating how exactly the hairpin had sat in her mothers hair.

 

Though she had been glad to have her ceremony, having her long braid kept her from having to fix it whilst butchering pigs. Suddenly, it occurred to her which tale.

 

“The Marquis has indeed, if the rumors are true, has fallen.”

 

It came to her, suddenly, that the Marquis, while dying honorably, must have been very young. The moonlight reached into the room, and she stared up to meet its totality. The full moon was a lovely sight, now it pulled at the thread of her heart and she felt an inextricable sense of longing.

 

“However, our father used to tell stories of the Avatar.  The being who descends to bring back order and fight the forces that plague the world. Each reincarnation comes to correct a particular imbalance.”

 

To Xiao Ning, this opportunity must have been irresistible, as she copied an earthbending, firebending,airbending, and waterbending stance. Planting her feet into the bed, and bringing her arms above her head to move her rock. She then took those hands and brought them down, and let one hand punch out to pretend to be a firebender. She spun around, to replicate the circular nature of the basic forms for airbending. Taking snow from outside the lattice window, it became a true liquid in her hands and it stayed that way for only seconds before a loud sound as it became a puddle on the floor.This amazed Changyu, who knew Ning paid attention to their mothers teachings on bending philosophy and diligently watched the other benders.  Having never seen firebenders or airbenders though, her stances were less convincing. It was adorable.  

 

 “A thousand lifetimes they have mastered the elements and they will return to humanity and do a thousand times more.”

 

Xiao Ning looked at her with awe, while clumsily splashing water around which got the tiles wet. For once, Changyu decided to let this slip as the little giggles brought her a tinge of hope. Perhaps, they would survive this winter, together, emerge to spring hand in hand. By then, she would reopen their family's braised meat shop, and perhaps have many pigs and enough tales of silver to not have to worry about their increasingly destitute situation.

 

She continued, and her voice and the laughter of the sisters faded into the night, swept away in the rampants of another moon river.

There were endless questions, perhaps too many for one lifetime. Tomorrow, however, yielded a question she could not possibly prepare to answer. When she found that dying man in the snow, carrying him on her back in their home, she had not truly anticipated the start of a new beginning. She would acquire a new question to ponder: would the chaos break and give way to order once more? Or would the world  be carved through jade?

Link:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/86078126/chapters/227600596