The sky dancers (Patreon)

Jon Eddardson, The isle of Mist

When Jon came out of the cave something felt different, that constant pressure that Jon had felt since his first day on the island had diminished considerably, the feeling was so overwhelming that Jon did not notice the arrival of master Alanna

"You surprise me, Jon" spoke the old woman, who had a tone of admiration towards Jon

The young man, surprised, looked at the old woman and immediately made a respectful greeting, the old woman simply made a gesture of irrelevance and spoke

"Well Jon, don't leave this old woman in doubt, what did you see? What happened? I was taking a nap, when the entire island shook, followed by a great concentration of spiritual energy coming from the depths” the old woman's tone was one of curiosity, she desires an answer

Jon smiled slightly, and replied

"The cave was inhabited by an ancestral spirit, with roots and branches so large that they encompassed the entire island, although benevolent in nature, her mere presence in this world meant a spiritual imbalance, after an informative conversation, I sent her to the spirit world." 

At those words, the old lady simply nodded, however, she looked at Jon with suspicious eyes and replied

"Although interesting, that's not all, it doesn't explain the explosion of spiritual energy I was able to feel," the question was implicit in those words, so Jon simply unsheathed Longclaw and showed it to the old woman

Alanna, just gasped and looked with big eyes at the white and shining metal, even without touching it, the sword was a beacon of pure spiritual power, the mere fact of being close filled Alana with courage and happiness

Jon spoke again

“My beloved sword was in spiritual imbalance, forged from hatred, pain and agony, Longclaw broke its mold as a tool of conquest and terror, now it is Longclaw, bearer of the tides, gale of the north and protector of Agna Qel'a, sword of kings” when he finished speaking, Jon gripped his sword firmly, the blade pointing towards the ground,  Before the old woman's incredulous and amazed eyes, the metal of the blade shone brightly, channeling the spirit of its wearer

A powerful and never-before-seen tool, the young wolf surprised her even more, using spiritual power to change the very nature of a weapon, Alanna would be lying if she said she wasn't really impressed

Sure, she'd never tell the boy, there was no need to inflate his ego, after all

Approvingly, Alana looked at Jon and spoke

“Excellent job Jon, now rest, the next test awaits, in two days we will go to the whispering cliffs”

Jon just nodded as he yawned, he was exhausted and needed a good rest

Both water benders slid up the river at high speed bound for the old woman's hut

Avatar Aang, Fire temple, Winter solstice

"I'm so glad to see you Aang," exclaimed Avatar Roku's voice with a small smile

Aang bowed to the old avatar showing his respect, and then spoke

"Avatar Roku, I came as you asked, is this my vision?"  To the young monk's surprise, Roku sighed and began to speak

"I'm afraid so, Aang, what you saw, is Sozin's comet, which gives great power to all fire benders, in the past, the fire lord used it to start the war and strike the first blow at the rest of the nations" Aang looked at the old avatar in surprise and replied

-but... that happened a hundred years ago, what is relevant about it?” asked the confused air bender

Roku simply responded

"The comet will return at the end of the summer, and the fire lord Ozai plans to use it to end the war, you must defeat the fire lord before the summer ends" Aang looked at Roku in disbelief and shouted

“But I haven't begun to master water, much less earth and fire, I'm not ready” Aang was quite agitated, the pressure on his duty had increased considerably

Roku just sighed and spoke

"Mastering the elements takes years of preparation, however, circumstances don't allow you to afford that luxury." Aang simply sighed, nodded to himself, and looked at Roku's spirit with determination

"I will, I'll be ready to face the Fire Lord" Roku simply smiled and spoke again

"A grave danger awaits you when you go out, I can help you, if you are ready," exclaimed the old man, while his eyes shone with a powerful white light

Consequently, Aang's tattoos and eyes began to glow as well and the young air bender replied

"I'm ready" a second later, he disappeared from the spirit world, leaving Roku alone for a moment

However, before the old avatar disappeared, a pair of voices spoke, as powerful and ancient as the world itself

Lady Tui and Lord La, the spirits of the moon and the ocean

"Your game is dangerous, Raava" they exclaimed at the same time

Consequently, Roku's eyes shone brightly, and thousands of voices responded at the same time

"He is capable, he will be ready for the challenge, there was no need to intervene in the way you did," he spoke with certainty the spirit of peace and light with a little reproach in his voice

The voices responded with force and derision “Perhaps, if the avatar had been present when necessary, our intervention would not have been necessary” the tone of mockery was evident

Raava simply replied

“the white wolf is too powerful, son of La, champion of Tui and blessed by Agni, his spirit is strong and indomitable, even in the human world I was able to feel his exploits in the sleeping giant” there was no claim in Raava's voice, just caution

Tui and La responded sharply

“Our champion will raise a new society, one of balance and progress, if your current life is not capable of ending Ozai, believe me that the white wolf will do it without problems”

Raava didn't answer, she understood Tui and La perfectly.

With nothing else to add, Raava left the spirit world, with the purpose of helping Aang

Jon Eddardson, Whispering Cliffs

 Jon was really surprised by the size of the cliffs

They were huge, at least three hundred feet high, the U-shaped rock facing the ocean resulting in a constant whisper thanks to the sea breeze

It was really impressive, but not as impressive as its destination

At the highest point of the cliff, nestled between two large rocks was a huge cave, from which exhaled a constant pink smoke

The nature of such a substance, Jon did not know, but the young man supposed it to be of a spiritual nature

Master Alanna spoke

“That's your destiny, the cave of empathy”

Jon simply nodded and replied

"I'll be back soon" then, Jon called a large amount of water from the ocean and incorporated it into his arms, forming a pair of water whips, Jon concentrated a little more and transformed the tips into claws made of ice, then, Jon threw himself into the cliff and with his water bending, he quickly climbed towards the cave in question

At the demonstration of control and mastery with the water, the master simply sighed and muttered

"Smug boy" then, the old woman sat on a rock overlooking the ocean, this time, she would wait for the brat right here, the last thing she wanted was to miss another great spiritual feat

///

A few minutes later, Jon arrived at the cave in question, it was much bigger being so close, enough for at least four Ghosts to enter and leave without any problem

Upon entering, Jon observed that the cave was much deeper than he expected, going into the heart of the mountain of the island, the smoke was dense, and Jon feared for a second that it would be harmful, however, he did not feel any danger, so, firmly and cautiously, Jon entered the cave

The same crystals as the previous cave were also present, providing light to the young wolf, as he went deeper into the cave, Jon began to see strange things

There were some rocks with large scratches, apparently made by claws or horns, remains of white and brown fur were also abundant, as were bite marks on some of the rocks          

As he walked, these things became more and more common, and the fog became denser, Jon began to get nervous, feeling that something was not right in this place

To Jon's surprise, he reached a point where the cave became much larger, with vegetation and trees inside the cave, protected from the inclemency of the outside world, the smoke was all over the place, making it difficult to see

Jon continued to explore the wonderful place, until he found something wonderful

A whole herd of animals, they were large in size, with white and brown fur, some had large horns and some did not, Jon guessed that they were the males and females, Jon had only read about these beautiful creatures

Sky bisons, a complete pack, more than a hundred to be sure, watched the young wolf with amazement and quite a bit of curiosity

They were supposed to be extinct, hunted by the fire nation a century ago, however, something was wrong...

Everyone was completely asleep, and this is where most of the smoke was concentrated, Jon didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like it, who would have such beautiful creatures as prisoners?

Jon's thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him

"You shouldn't be here," someone or something talked behind Jon

For a moment, Jon felt afraid, however, his mind was serene, whatever it was, it didn't want to hurt him, at least for the moment, so, slowly, Jon turned around and looked at the origin of the voice

Jon observed the body of a woman, quite similar to the green lady, however, she had white skin and her body was surrounded by pink clouds and a gentle breeze that calmed Jon in a great way, her lips had a pinkish hue, while her face was covered by a veil made of clouds, her slender, feminine arms were crossed over her breasts, as she cast her stern gaze toward Jon

“well? What are you doing in my cave?” asked the spirit with a tone of annoyance, as if Jon's presence made her very uncomfortable

Jon replied

"My master and I feel a spiritual imbalance from this place" at those words, the woman flew towards Jon and placed herself very close to his face, the movement was so fast that Jon did not have time to react, then the woman spoke

"Nothing happens here, everything is perfect in this place, everyone is safe and sound," the tone of the spirit was... Hard to decipher, it's as if I really believed there was nothing wrong with the cave

Jon replied

"I have to disagree, I found a herd of Sky Bisons, who should be in the heavens dancing to their heart's content, hidden and sedated inside a cave."

Maybe it wasn't the smartest move, but Jon needed answers

Apparently the issue was sensitive, since the clouds on the woman's body changed to a black color with small lightning bolts, simulating a storm and she proceeded to shout at Jon

"They are not my prisoners, if that is what you are implying, they are my children, I will protect them from the deep one, I will not allow anything to happen to them" The body language told Jon that the woman was quite upset at the insinuation that she would harm the bison

Jon simply raised his hands in defense and responded

"Then tell me, what's going on?" Why are they here and not dancing in the heavens where their place is” Jon used a respectful tone

The woman's clouds returned to their original color, and then the spirit gave a big sigh, then simply replied

"It's a long story," thinking Jon wouldn't be interested in hearing it

To his surprise, Jon simply sat on the floor and replied

“I have time”

The spirit hesitated for a moment, until, nodding to itself, it prepared itself and spoke

They had a lot to talk about, after all