"Don't worry, I won't die. Just blurted some nonsense. In my defense I'll say it hurts ve-e-ery much and I don't know why I'm not passed out yet."
"And I'm not worried about anything," see from stress I get stupid humor and she gets higher tsundere degree. Could probably write a couple studies about it but I'm not up to analysis now. Wants to relieve stress with sarcasm—let her, I know anyway she values me highly.
"Yeah, well gotta kill some more creature—call me, for you—with pleasure!"
"You dragged us into this forest in the first place!"
Exchanging roughly such phrases that apparently helped me stay conscious, which Mei probably understood, we reached the beach. Poured a ton of jokes and sarcastic phrases on each other—I handled the first, little one the second.
"Where next?" Mei asked when we finally hobbled to the beach.
"Home next," I simply answered.
"Don't take me for a fool—you won't make it yourself, where to drag you?" apparently not all sarcasm reserve used.
"Didn't work. Mei, I live close so I'll make it myself. Everything's fine, I assure you—you feel, last few minutes I even almost walked myself," I tried. Very.
"Mm-hmm," don't know how she managed but it was clearly very sarcastic mm-hmm.
"Come on, Mei, don't be stubborn. You're already late home I'm sure," I continued persuading and even moved away from Mei, stood straight and walked around applying all efforts so I wouldn't wobble. "Come on, everything will be fine. Otherwise I'll be offended and think you consider me a weakling!"
Unfair weapon against a girl slightly obsessed with cult of strength but still.
"Hm," expressed all she thought but then apparently accepting arguments just rushed to hug. "Don't even think not to appear at the agreed place at the agreed time."
"I will, where would I go."
She blushed slightly and kissing my cheek said:
"And… thank you."
Turned and ran home. Ha, well unlikely a six-year-old girl even smart can fall in love—more likely just repeating a moment she saw somewhere and read somewhere. And decided now was fitting.
Though it is, if we were older.
Truth as soon as Mei disappeared from sight I immediately lost all emotions on my face. In their place came my favorite light breeze in the head as I called the feeling of indifference. Well I'm an airbender—why not such a name? Though calling myself a bender is too loud, more like… benderling or bendyboy. Far from a bender—like cancer to China.
Together with emotions pain started leaving which could've pleased me.
No of course pain didn't go anywhere and praise Agni—pain is a necessary thing in life, but enduring it became completely easy. It just is, and I don't care about that fact.
All that's left is to hobble home and come up with a working version of what happened to me. Though no need to come up with anything—tell the truth except Mei.
Oh, easy to say.
***
Mda, at home I raised quite a ruckus. How I hobbled home is a separate story worthy of a novel, film adaptation, and fanfics. It was hard and not one bastard offered help.
Parents dragged me to the local hospital where surprisingly advanced they fed me some herbs and even gave a shot… from a glass syringe with a thick blunt needle compared to modern ones.
Probably better to meet the wolf again. Wonder if they reached penicillin? Most likely yes. Because they definitely injected something from that line.
To me the wound by the time they brought me to the hospital already showed signs of infection, but the kind lady-doctor explained accessibly that couldn't be—too little time passed.
Well fine. I'm sure it should've started anyway!
From the size of the beast's mouth that was quite clearly visible on my arm—namely two deep fang wounds and several smaller—I think parents went from anger to shock.
The dog was really seasoned if you think about it. How it didn't bite off the arm. Anyway they deftly bandaged me, decided not to stitch the wounds—don't know why—and sent home.
Under parents' eyes who demanded the full version from already peppy me, even with slight blush on cheeks. What? Injected, bandaged, fed, praised—how not to recover a bit.
Anyway I didn't give up the place of events because I still need to pull the fangs from that wolf's corpse for memory—yeah.
I'll probably continue going to the forest anyway—without Mei I can safely run away at my windy speed. No wolf will catch up.
Actually parents for the first time showed some worry which pleasantly surprised me. Though they quickly set priorities, albeit involuntarily. They were more afraid I'd die, become crippled, or get scars. Damn, am I here to be married off or what? Feels like—yes.
Considering local rules quite possible. Because I'm prettier than my brothers—not by much but their aristocratic features… don't quite harmonize. Can't call them ugly but not handsome either. People like people. I'm not far off either but apparently genetic random played in my favor and my face collected more matching features and overall looks not bad. That conclusion I made looking in the mirror. Yes I know—I won't die from modesty.
So maybe my portrait with dossier is already circulating among ladies slightly over thirty and they can't wait for my fourteen after which marriage is possible. Though of course unlikely marriage age is rising now—if not to my standard eighteen then definitely to sixteen.
Hope so. This conclusion I made by inductive method from other dying and losing strength traditions. Otherwise who knows.
Oh I feel I'll have to run away from home. Some gender-swapped world damn where I have to run so they don't marry me off. Good thing at least no blue colors in the world. Otherwise I'd hang myself hoping for another reincarnation.
Then time flew unnoticed. All I did was the same as before meeting Mei. Read, read, and read again, and sometimes run. Normal running on the beach because until full recovery I won't risk going into the forest. By the way parents from slips of tongue thought I lied through my teeth and that wolf or whatever bit me somehow died itself. Either fell off the cliff itself or a forester came and scared everyone—I didn't exactly understand from their conversation. Don't want to admit my strength.
Apparently even subconsciously. Cult of Strength here is strong no matter what, very strong, and if I brought the head of such a dog even without bending they'd definitely look at me with respect. Or commit me to a psych ward considering I'm a small kid who hunted a wolf without bending. Such ones for safety can be put… farther away.
On airbending again until recovery I scored. Soon the arm will heal, blood will stop, and I'll go to the forest to do something. Just what—I don't know and ideas only dumb.
Meditate and feel the air around I tried till exhaustion. Came to our spot with Mei on the beach and sat almost hours… okay but half an hour for sure sat and listened, listened, tried to make at least a light breeze blow—all useless.
In general all recovery went on trying to produce: "Second method named after Mei" for airbenders. And obviously unsuccessfully damn. Expected result—everything damn through my ass and not according to plan.
This is already becoming my tradition—take up a task, make a plan, fail it to hell, on the go come up with a new one.
Bad tradition! Very bad!
Back to the first test. Firebenders can be said are slowly burned—and how else to call being in the middle of a fire circle, and they must take their most basic firebender instinct under control?
How to extrapolate this to airbending? What is the most basic instinct of an airbender damn. Breathing?
Alright who am I kidding—simple as a crowbar guess: gliding. No-no not vape and such nonsense but in the air. After all not for nothing they live in temples built on mountains? Why do they need safety if even a child falling will just glide down. Another question—are there all airbenders there? Who knows, probably non-benders are filtered quickly—after all temple life with frequent flights from place to place—what non-benders, what to do with them?
M-da, and how to conduct this super training without risk to life? More precisely not so—can it even be conducted without risk to life? Or does the fear element have to be there?
Great, so what do I do? Go jump off a cliff hoping it works?
Hm.
Though-ough, not a bad idea. I definitely have airbending—how else could I run so fast? Nothing much to lose, and bending is desperately needed to awaken or initiate or at least learn how it works.
Well… let's do it.
Another week passed in which I fully recovered, and without much delay and without thinking the decision second time lest I change my mind, I went to the cliff.
No fear or other emotions though you'd think—place of my fight not for life but death. I just approached the edge of the cliff and indifferently looking at the landscape jumped down.
And here as soon as my feet left the surface and I finally looked down, it hit me.
Earlier episodes of "wind in the head" I easily noticed and think if I thought even a bit longer I'd notice this time too but I outsmarted myself.
I'M FUCKING FALLING!
In my head immediately flashed Mei whom I promised to come to the meeting place and the fact that I still learned nothing about previous life.
If skipping the swearing.
If not skipping—there's a three-volume treatise to write because I never knew such words and phrases in life but here they came out.
God just let me remember in the next life not to remember the previous or I'll bash my forehead against a wall from such a stupid death.
Airbender wannabe who tried to fly and smashed against the ground.
All these thoughts raced through me at mad speed, not even fully forming, while I like in slow motion watched tree tops approaching.
The breeze though this time more like strong wind in the head quickly filled the emptiness of thoughts sharply displacing all emotions and leaving dry understanding—most likely I'll crash.
But that very wind in the head didn't stop inside: I felt as if that very lightness of thoughts starts filling my whole body—indescribable feeling. Like I'm some weather vane with strong air flow blowing through and it like a proper weather vane aligns with the wind direction.
Another instant and I feel it going beyond the body and enveloping me completely starting to slow the fall. I felt absolutely no pressure from the quite sharp deceleration. And the process itself caused no feeling of external interference—on the contrary I clearly understood it was me myself slowing my fall. You know comparable to how some people can't wink one eye and after several attempts with difficulty find the needed facial muscle for it to work. Same here—I like "found the needed muscle."
And I started gliding down! Full realization of the situation came a second later when I was already mere meters above the ground and wild joy from this fact overwhelmed me!
And as soon as emotion took control over me—the breeze in the head disappeared. And with it everything else. And the remaining distance down I flew again in free fall—good thing fell on feet and managed to somewhat cushion inertia and not break anything.
But my legs got dried good yes. Swore for a good several minutes though not with the same expressions as before.
And I collapsed right on the ground where I fell earlier. Coming off adrenaline, off my own stupidity, and waiting for the pain in legs to pass.
I already hate this cliff honest word. Twice almost died near it. Screw it—won't take another step here. Some unlucky place—maybe spirits settled here who don't like me? After all here it's not mystification but harsh fact.
Anyway now I'll leave and never return. Screw it—what will fate come up with next time?
Alright back to results? What interesting thing do we have here.
By firebending example trying to do something was a dumb idea—I should've understood. They subdue fire to themselves, make it obey their will.
But with air everything is different. Try subduing damn when tons of this willful element around you. Here on the contrary gotta be like a sail: align with the wind and sail where you want. More precisely do any techniques. Here like with a ship—anyone can direct a sail so the boat goes with the wind, but you direct it against the wind?
Can say bending was raising me all this time how to accept it, and I idiot decided it's either personal quirk or unnecessary side effect. Bending has no last—everything in it is necessary.
Oh and smart thoughts come always post-factum—means I philosophically base bending after the fact, but in reality jump off cliffs like an idiot.
Alright time to get up—probably gotta at least pull teeth from that wolf's corpse. Though probably stinks mommy don't grieve.
Barely standing still wobbling a bit I started scanning the ground with my eyes. Oh lucky I fell exactly on ground—plenty of different stones here, if I fell two meters left definitely wouldn't get off without a fracture.
Truth somehow I don't see the decomposing wolf corpse. Which is actually very very bad. Oh if that creature survived then really time to stop going to the forest—only find problems for myself.
Though my bending is now fully with me I thought grinning and letting a breeze through my whole body.
Truth for now that's all I can do…
But nothing—I'll learn! Probably.