Carried over from the Test Drive, Open!

[motheroffaces]

[A pool has formed in the Spirit Wilds. Probably it used to be a fountain, but seems to have been taken over by something else, the center lopped off and away. The water is absolutely clear, but also absolutely deeper than it should be; one can no longer see the bottom of it. For anyone spiritually sensitive, the place is flush with spiritual energy.]

In the center of the pool stands a figure, body almost human, but not quite. Her body is gaunt, too long, wrapped in layer upon layer of vines and roots. Her arms and hands hang far longer than any human's, tipped with claws. And her head . . . a slim neck supports a head that is many-branched like the upended roots of a tree. Between and below each branch, there is a human face, exquisitely formed but blanched of all color.]

[No eyes are visible, hidden behind loops of vines and roots, but if anyone enters the clearing, they will find that immediately she is aware of their presence.]


((ooc: All other conversations that didn't happen on the Test Drive will take place after MoF meets with Aang.))

Comments

[savedtheworld]

Aang has just been kind of drifting around ever since Katara went missing. On one level, he thinks if he keeps moving, he'll eventually find her or some clue to her whereabouts. On the other hand, he also feels like moving will keep his mind off of it.

He eventually glides over towards the Spirit Wilds, wondering if the spirits there would have anything interesting to say to him. But his eyes are quickly drawn towards the large figure towering from the former fountain, and he glides straight towards her, aiming to land nearby.

[motheroffaces]

It's been some time since the girl human left to find the Avatar. The Mother of Faces grows more irritated with each empty minute, the water rippling against the walls of the fountain, then slapping. By the time Aang arrives, the waves are nearly thrashing over the edge, pulsing like a tapping foot.

The Mother twists to face the flying figure. Not a one of her faces looks pleased.

"Avatar. Your timing leaves much to be desired."

[savedtheworld]

"Hi!" he says nervously as he swoops nearby, looking for a spot to land. "Y-you were looking for me?" He already knew there was no use denying his ability to the spirits. Somehow, they just knew.

[motheroffaces]

"The girl was to tell you this." Although she had seemed somewhat flaky, so the Mother might allow for the possibility that the Avatar was not at fault.

Perhaps.

"Land. We have much to discuss."

[savedtheworld]

"A- a girl?" He frowns. "Please don't be mad at her, Miss Spirit! It's a big city and- and it can take a long time to find anyone here..." He wonders who it could be, though. Could that have been where Katara went off to?

All the more reason to meet this creature. He finally comes to a landing yards from the spirit, looking up towards her as he whips his glider back into staff form. Then he takes a moment to give a formal bow, with just a hint of timidness. "Greetings..."

[motheroffaces]

She has truly been displaced in both space and time. That much is obvious. Although the Fire Lord is now a man, nearly full-moon on his time, the Avatar is not. If anything, he could be even younger; there is a possible lack of time in his face that her skills can read. Skin rarely lies.

. . . Anything to make life more difficult, apparently. When she finds who is responsible for her displacement, she will see to their punishment personally.

"Do you know me?" And there is irritation in her voice, because if she has to start this all over again . . . She does not like to repeat herself. "It has been indicated to me that time was awry in this place."

[savedtheworld]

The spirit definitely sounds assertive. He looks up humbly and shakes his head softly. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid that I've never seen a spirit like you before in my life. What you heard is right. I came here from... from a long time ago. If we met before, I'm sorry, but it might not have happened for me yet."

[braavado]

Some time after her conversation with Aang, the Mother of Faces will feel the familiar presence of Raava's energy again, except this time, it lingers around a girl from the Southern Water Tribe, and not a younger monk.

Ever since she and Jinora returned from the South Pole, Korra's picked up her habit of exploring the Spirit Wilds, hoping to understand the spirits more. As she nears the pool, Korra realizes this is an area she's already walked through before--only the pool hadn't been there before, and neither had the spirit.

She stands there, wondering if she should approach or not; some spirits simply like to be left alone, Avatar or not.

[motheroffaces]

The light of Raava stands out like a beacon to the Mother of Faces' senses. She twists towards it like a flower opening to the sun; perhaps this time . . .

No. It is a girl that stares back at her, the face one of the Mother's own creations. A girl with dark skin and bright eyes, an echo of the faces that have come before her -- one more endless reflection of a decision made ten thousand years before.

No more than that.

A flicker of shadow darts over the Mother's features, her head dipping with the weight of a flower on its stem. When she speaks at last, her words carry the weariness of years. "Avatar. You seek me again in another form."

[braavado]

Korra doesn't jump, but it's definitely a close thing. How the spirits always manage to figure out it's her, Korra has no idea. Is there some kind of invisible, spirity-sign attached to her back or something?

She steps closer, expression cautious and curious.

"In another form... you mean you've met one of my past lives before?"

[motheroffaces]

There is, essentially, yes -- even if Korra doesn't realize it.

"I've met several of your lives." The Mother's voice retains its weary note. "When they have deigned to visit me. I've made the face of your every reincarnation -- and the first as well. I am the Mother of Faces; I have been responsible for the making of all faces since time began -- before the thought of the Avatar was even conceived."

As haughty as the words have the potential to sound, however, the tone is merely weighted, worn, the words themselves an expression of fact. The subject of Aang or Wan remains untouched.

One hand, gnarled by vines and impossibly large, lifts, dripping water. "Are you the one responsible for this time, or do I have yet more Avatars to meet?"

[braavado]

"Wow," Korra says, the word slipping out before she can stop it. Aside from Raava and Vaatu, that makes the Mother the oldest spirit that Korra's ever met. It's sort of scary and humbling all at once, knowing the Mother has seen thousands and thousands of years.

"No--I'm the Avatar for this time, but things have been kind of hectic around here lately. Two of my past lives are here now, too."

Though she'd debated leaving the part about Wan and Aang out, Korra decides there's no point if the spirits can tell who they are somehow.

[motheroffaces]

Under normal conditions, the Mother would be pleased that the Avatar recognizes her status, even in just such a word as "wow."

But these are not normal circumstances today. It's not normal anything.

"They have come here before you." If Korra already knows of her previous two lives in existence here, there is no reason to hide it. "But they could not explain to me some of the things that I would most like to know." Her tone sharpens, darkens. "For example, what you have done in this place and this time, allowing the world of spirits and humans to collide as they have not in ten thousand years."

The Mother of Faces gets right to the point.

[mercuryadept]

[OOC: As discussed, our Test-drive Meme does not count. That said, time this however you deem it necessary w/r to Aang!]

[As one of the protectors of the Moon and Ocean Spirits, one of the things Mia wished to do was to investigate the Spirit Wilds. Though not able to protect the Water Tribe's sacred spirits at present due to her departure, she does feel a strong personal connection to the spirits, and the news of the spirits cohabitation with Republic City certainly had spread like wildfire in the North after Unalaq had betrayed the tribe.

[Mia is for the most part a little happy-go-lucky even if she's been somewhat serious. Off in the distance, she sees one rather shy spirit ahead, and she carefully approaches it. The spirit slowly backs away uncertainly, however, though Mia replies to it calmly and coolly.]

Don't be afraid, [she says as she approaches it slowly, stooping down and offering an open hand to it.] I won't hurt you. I just want to find out more about you.

[By the time she is within sight of the edge of a pool of water, she's on a knee, remaining still to see if the spirit will approach. But that's when Mia looks up suddenly to see a much larger spirit looming overhead. She gasps, putting a hand over her mouth, surprised to see it.]

[motheroffaces]

[The girl's careful movements and cautious approach catch the attention of the Mother of Faces long before Mia is aware of her. The Mother observes, watching to see how Mia proceeds and what exactly she will do. Her fingers, long and claw-like, comb absently through the coat of her wolf -- who is also watching, ears pricked.]

[As Mia startles, the Mother extends a hand to the smaller spirit, who comes darting to join her, popping up on the edge of the fountain.]

If you were to catch him, what would you do?

[mercuryadept]

[Mia's eyes gaze nervously upon the Mother of Faces. She's never quite seen a spirit like her before; then again, she hasn't ever seen all that many spirits before at all, but then again that was why she was trying to learn about them whilst conveniently here in Republic City.]

Catch him? I'd hardly say I was trying to catch him. It just wouldn't seem proper to hold him against his will. [She twists her mouth a bit as she tries to find the word she wants; ultimately, she doesn't find it but instead chooses to simply explain it a different way.] I know a little bit about the spirits, but there is so much about them I don't even understand, and I was hoping that he—or really any of the spirits—might teach me a bit more about them, if only so I can fulfil my oath.

[motheroffaces]

[The girl's response is pleasing -- pleasing enough to bother asking more, though the Mother's only other response is a brief nod.]

Oath?

[mercuryadept]

[The spirit doesn't really show all that much in the way of expressions, does she? Or at least she doesn't reveal all that much easily; then again, neither do Tui or La; it's not like she's had in depth interactions with the spirit koi.]

The oath I swore to my people... and to Tui and La. I'm one of the priestesses of the Northern Water Tribe charged with protecting them in the Spirit Oasis near the North Pole.

[Granted, she's not at the North Pole now, and perhaps that's worth questioning, but that's the answer to the question the Mother of Faces asked.]

[motheroffaces]

[The fact of Mia's presence in the city is not something that the Mother of Faces questions. They are all stuck here now, apparently, pulled from their duties.]

[And in spite of her work of making faces -- arguably the most expressive part of the body -- she yields rarely to expression. That is more of a human need than a spirit one; humans seem so undone when they can't see reaction reflected in the features of another.]

[She considers this, fingers continuing to wind through her wolf's fur.]

Tui and La would provide little insight. They have been grounded in their physical forms since long ago.

[Swimming everlastingly in that small, cramped pool . . . She cannot say that she understands.]

And if the spirits do not wish to be known?

[restoredhonour]

(ooc: continued from here!)

[Zuko considers her words. She's just as bitter towards most of humankind as he remembers.] You're right, to some extent. He did find other ways to do harm, even without his bending.

But I still think Aang made the right choice. He wanted to bring the war to an end through peaceful means, not through the same methods of hatred and destruction the Fire Nation had used to enforce its will. His act of mercy set a precedent the rest of the world would follow for many years after.

[motheroffaces]

[Bitterness, perhaps . . . or something akin to it. Yes, in this case, one could easily call her pessimistic. But it does not mean that she does not speak without insight or intelligence.]

Perhaps. [But in truth, she doubts it. To the Mother of Faces, choices are pebbles tossed into a pond. The pattern of ripples only emerge when they clash. What the Avatar has done will cause its own problems down the line, for its own reasons. Aang's mercy will have effects that will be felt for years to come, and not all of them will be good.]

[She became tired of watching the ripples so long ago.]

[She is silent for a moment, studying him.]

You have forgiven him.

[But whether this is a statement or a question is unknown.]

[restoredhonour]

...Yes. It was not forgiveness I gave easily, and it made little difference to my father, when he never believed he'd wronged me in the first place. But, eventually, I forgave him.

[Zuko pauses, watching the pool as if recalling long distant memories. It feels long ago now, even if to a spirit like the Mother of Faces, it would have been like the blink of an eye. Somehow, her timelessness makes this easier to discuss with her, compared to anyone else.]

I asked the world to forgive the Fire Nation for its crimes, so we could all begin to heal and move on from the war. Later, I realised I had to do the same for my family. So long as I clung to old hatreds, I would never find peace.

[motheroffaces]

[She considers him again for a long moment . . . and for the briefest of instants, if it can be believed, he might even catch her smile. She may not still agree with the choice, but . . . it's also not every human who can reach such a conclusion. It pleases her -- this peace in his face.]

Tell me of this family you have created with your peace.

[restoredhonour]

[He's flattered such an ageless spirit would approve, or would even take an interest in his family to this extent. He begins:]

I have a daughter now, Izumi. She is strong and unshakeable in her convictions, and though she has only been Fire Lord for four years, she has risen to the task admirably in my place.

She in turn has a son, Iroh. He is General of the United Forces, which means he commands the military of this city, and the United Republic beyond.

[And now, through a bizarre twist of fate, Zuko has become his grandson's commander-in-chief as the President of the Republic. What a strange situation they found themselves in.]

...Unfortunately, both are amongst those who have disappeared, owing to the same spiritual activity that brought you here. I can only hope that wherever they are, both of them are safe and well...

[motheroffaces]

[While the Mother would prefer to linger on the children, what Zuko drifts into next is concerning. There have been disappearances as well as appearances in this place?]

[Take enough supporting structures from a tower, and it will collapse. Humans and spirits plainly are living together in this city, each affected by the other. If one side collapses, the other side will likely follow.]

With all hope, the family you have built will return to you.

[She frowns.] From all that I can see in my brief time here, this world is sorely out of balance. Spirits living amongst people as has not occurred in ten thousand years, acting irrationally and without apparent cause.

I have spoken to the Avatar, but it seems it will take time before answers are known and sorted. Meanwhile, there are two fragile populations in this place, unaccustomed to one another. Such a situation breeds misunderstanding, fear, and often conflict. Both populations must be protected, or I am wary of what will result.

I will do what I can to assist the situation.