cyclicality | Carried over from the Test Drive, Open!

[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.))

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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.

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."

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?"

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?"

"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.

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.

Korra's expression immediately drops, and she looks down. Then she exhales and straightens up. Though it's resulted in a lot of different problems that she hadn't expected, she still believes in her decision to leave the portals open and help spirits and humans live together.

"Harmonic Convergence was just a few months ago," she finally says, thinking that might be a good place to start. "After we faced Vaatu, I decided to keep the portals open, so that humans and spirits could learn to live together."

"It was your predecessor who closed the portals." The Mother's lips press together sharply. "The Avatar Wan. Did you consider the reasons that the portals were closed? Did you know?"

"I know." Korra's voice is steady, even though she can tell the spirit isn't pleased with what she's said. "I saw his memories... I saw what happened when Vaatu started affecting the other spirits and made things between spirits and humans worse.

Wan might have thought it was for the best that we were separated, but I think it's time we learned about each other. All of us, not just the Avatar and the people who are interested in spiritual matters."

Her hands clench at her sides. "Wan's story was forgotten in the material world. There's barely anyone who remembers who Vaatu and Raava are! We didn't know about Vaatu's plans to break free of his prison until it was almost too late. If we kept going on as we were, just barely acknowledging that our worlds are connected, then nothing would have changed."

"When the Avatar chose to close the portal, he came to me to persuade me to leave." The Mother's voice retains its sharp note, and the water of the fountain ripples in response. "I chose not to. I remained here, in the human world. Out of . . . what? Perhaps some sense of duty. I remember how it was before the Convergence -- humans in their cities, clinging to the lion turtles like fearful children, lashing out at the spirits whenever they came into contact. I remember what came after -- the spirits slowly being all but forgotten, reduced to figments to frighten children in their beds. Humans spreading throughout the world, claiming it in its entirety. What do you believe happens when human beings discover that their nightmares are reality?"

The water lashes suddenly against the stone, and all voices are speaking again in a trumpet of harmony and rage. "Perhaps more than that, why is it a single human who decides our fates in a whim that cannot be undone for ten thousand more years?"

She understands the spirit's reservations about this. Seeing Wan's memories had given her some insight about the old relationships between the spirits and humans, and Korra only hopes that she can keep things from escalating to that level.

"I never said it would be easy," Korra says quietly. "Yes, people might think badly of spirits, but that's only because they don't have any knowledge of them besides what gets passed around. I'm not going to shirk my duties on this--I might not be the bridge between the two worlds anymore, but can be the bridge between the spirits and humans. At least, until they learn to get along.

The more we let them assume things on their own, the worse it'll probably get."

She sighs. "I'm sorry if you think this causes more trouble for you, but the fact is that the Avatar exists. And if everyone's going to be pushing the responsibility onto me anyway, then I might as well do things the way I think will be best for everyone."

Carried over from the Test Drive, Open!

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