35.Places, part 2
Back in the era of Rava, when spirits roamed freely on earth, Lady Tienhai met another spirit at the site of the future city – General Old Iron, who was not inferior in size to her. The name, of course, is such a thing, only the pretentious and lengthy names of the techniques of the xianxia genre are worse. Over time, they fell in love with each other and decided to stay in the human world. The man's spirit protected his love from any dangers, which he coped well with, thanks to his ability to control iron.
The happiness did not last long, one day a tribe of people settled on their territory. The general knew firsthand how ungrateful and treacherous people can be, and in order to protect his beloved from their corrupting influence, he decided to destroy this settlement. But Tienhai didn't let him do it. She saw not only the bad in people, but there was also a lot of good there. In the end, the General left his girlfriend, who did not understand his motives, continuing to help this human tribe.
Over several millennia, a small settlement has turned into a large city. Once a year, Tienhai took on the image of a human and went to the people she liked so much. Next comes her meeting with the son of the local king, as if by a template, love began to spin.
In order to be with her lover, Tienhai decided to stay in the image of a human forever, even if it meant giving up immortality. She married a prince and lived her human life with him. Tienhai died, and has already been reborn by someone else. Around the same time, Avatar Yangchen mastered the four elements. That is, all the events took place five hundred years ago, because after sweet Yangchen comes lazy Kuruk, tough Kyoshi, I-couldn't-beat-volcano-Roku, and Steve Rogers frozen in ice... ahem, I mean Aang the tattoed.
Upon learning of Tienhai's death, the General went to take revenge on the residents of the city. There was a notable battle between Yangchen and General Old Iron, who was really furious! For the spirits, a separation of a couple of millennia is like a week–long quarrel between a couple, that is, he really waited for the woman to come to her senses and understand what kind of dough people are made of. And then suddenly he was kind of cuckolded, his beloved was fooled, why did she turn into a bag of bones herself, now she is still looking for her incarnation all over the world! A man can really be understood…
General Iron knew that he was not a rival to the Avatar in the state of... Avatar, but he want to blow off steam, at least in this town. After losing to Avatar, he agreed not to bother people anymore, as long as they stay away from the destroyed city and honor Tienhai's memory every year. As a symbol of the agreement between them, a full-length statue of Lady Teinhai was erected when she was in spirit form. Her statue still stands on a steep rocky ledge near the seashore, gathering people from all over the province around it every year. Before their genocide, the air nomads also came to the festival, as a sign of support for the decision of their Yangchen tribeswoman.
As the mayor told me, sometimes among the clouds people noticed a huge face of a spirit, like a General, who looked at the statue with tenderness and love. And I subscribe to every word he says! Others might not have the sensitivity to feel his presence, but I was like a taut spring all through the festival, ready to run away if anything happened. Only the aura of calmness and kindness that the statue radiated helped calm the nerves. F-word all these festivals related to spirits, when I get up to the same level with them, then I will come!
***
- What are you doing here, honey? Has it been a whole year already? – the senile and unhurried voice of an old woman sounded, who is the only inhabitant of the ruined town of Taku, and the last herbalist of the local herb school. She was the one who advised the Avatar team to suck on an ice-cream frog, which even sounds disgusting...
- No, I'm just going to leave, I'll come back in about a year, – I answered her outwardly calmly, while a whole volcano was boiling inside me. This is the only question I've heard more than ten times today! And this is not the limit! The more you talk, the more you have to repeat it all, and more than once!
For the first time, forgetting about her frequent memory lapses, I tried to explain in detail my interest in herbalism, offering to share our knowledge in this discipline. Some time passed, and I had almost finished explaining, when she would ask me again who am I. I've learned a lot of patience today. My respect to the people who work in institutions with similar cases – the Jedi are not even listed compared to you.
I have achieved my goal... I got the knowledge of the former school, although I had to get it myself, piecing it together from a pile of her records. But now I've become a little more knowledgeable. In these records there was something that, in fact, every inhabitant of the Kingdom of the Earth knows, the same frozen frogs are recommended for the treatment of a number of diseases. And this information has long been known in every family. Such little things show you as one of the locals. Moreover, there is never any superfluous knowledge, they are still recorded not on a physical medium, that is, the brain, but on a deeper level, somewhere closer to the spiritual part. And from there, as far as I understood, once something gets there without my knowledge, it will not disappear in any way.
On the free sheets, I wrote down everything I learned from our metropolitan library and healers. I hope she'll come across them one day.…
While collecting puzzles, or rather, connecting disparate knowledge, I came across messages from different people. For example, on one of the sheets, someone asked to see the roof of the building, repairs are required. The writer himself could not do that and asked other people to help the granny. And everyone left the date and name in the bottom. And there were not that many such inconspicuous messages, but there were enough. Apparently, there are still caring people helping her. And the school grounds look quite well-groomed, well, compared to Taku himself, who looks more like a victim of a carpet bombing.
Most of the tasks left were already done. All I had to do was strengthen the foundation with the magic of the earth, which began to sag and push away the already destroyed houses, which could touch the greenhouse with their collapse. After that, I could leave with a clear conscience. I must not forget to visit her in a year, she asked me to get some seeds of rare plants.
***
I look at the conductor of the Great Divide, and I can't get rid of the thought that he is looking like one of those typical uncles.
- Do you want me to show you the habitat of canyon cockroaches? – he looked at me like I was crazy.
– The card will be enough, – I replied calmly, adjusting the sliding strap of the bag that contained freshly prepared food. I have six more of the same ones on me now, and each one has the most strongly smelling dishes, so as to attract the local giant insects for sure.
- Boy, you're young, everything will get better for you, come on, I'll make you some tea, - he began to calm me down. Hey, I'm not trying to kill myself! It's just that this canyon is the best place to practice earth magic, especially since there are thousands of living opponents here. – If you really want to go for a walk, leave food at my house, and I'll be happy to take you, – he persisted.
No, I need food myself, these cockroaches can smell it from miles away, I won't have to run after them. Eh, it's better to show my capabilities once, anyway, in the Kingdom of Earth I am known as a very strong conqueror.
What should I do? I can do a lot of things, but I need something big and spectacular. There are a lot of rocks here, one can be removed. I stand in a stance that I don't really need at all, but conspiracy…
Hearing a rumble behind him, the conductor turned back. Lifting the rock even higher, I began to divide it a little, then he divided two smaller rocks again, and again. Then they were launched down the canyon, where they made whole craters on the rock. All this time, the guide was staring with round eyes at the manifestation of my magic.
- For a warm-up, I think it will be okay, so what were you talking about? – I've always wanted to say a phrase like this, in the style of the main character of an American blockbuster.
- Let's go already, - the awakened guide called me with a heavy sigh. - It seems that I am completely behind the times, and there are many such strong earth benders roaming our Kingdom? – he asked curiously.
- Not really, I just studied with the badgermole, their standards are different, - I replied calmly, I sometimes like to pretend to be a man not of this world, and people have already forgotten their first teachers. By the way, I really need to look into them, I'll definitely find out something new.
- The King of Bumi is also said to have a roof out of place, maybe all strong magicians have something wrong with their heads? It's like payback, balance, and all stuff like that, – I heard the whisper of the guide in front of me. Then, having stopped fooling around, I asked him carefully about the habitats of everything unnecessary to this canyon.
For the next hour, I perfected my ride on a platform made of earth, rolling in the direction of the nearest cluster of canyon pests. Before reaching them the remaining two kilometers, they already began to meet me. Br-r, well, what a scarecrows, if they bred faster, the people of fire would hardly dominate the mainland, or rather, all people would simply be brought to zero.
- Catch it, - I threw them one of the bags. After waiting until more of these creatures gathered near it, I brought down the nearest rocks on them, burying them under them. Now let's try something else. Manipulating the earth, I began to create a ball around myself, with sharp spikes on the outside. My new original technique is a stone tank, all that remains is to roll towards the opponents.
- You turned out to be weak, - I shook my head in disappointment. They ended too quickly, and they don't have magic either... Hopefully, the next cluster of them will have more creatures.
- It's much better now! Go get my slipper! – actually, that's what happened, a piece of rock I created in the form of a slipper crushed a sluggish creature. The first creatures encountered were from the youngest nest, which is why the number was small and the dimensions were more modest. Now I am destroying the fourth nest in a row, here they are clearly smarter than their past counterparts.
I stopped only at sunset, when I was already sick of the sight of these incomprehensible chimeras, there is no end to them. According to the guide's stories, there should be only seven nests, but I managed to open twelve, and just the last of them went too deep underground. It seems to me that there are still a lot of them there.
These cockroaches have not been touched for more than a hundred years, which they are happy about. As the guide said, their numbers used to be kept at a certain level. Whole campaigns were organized, conducted by the rulers of the nearest cities, where the most distinguished soldiers could get a warm place next to the governors. Now everyone is far from it.
This canyon is a good place to train. I think maybe taking the girls here will feel what it's like to fight real enemies.
One of the ends of the canyon finishes not far from the oldest colony of the fire people, Yu Dao, and that's where I'm heading. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard various stories of merchants about this city. They say the standard of living of this will soon catch up with that of the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, where the prosperous middle class prevails. There is still inequality in the city between the residents of the people of fire who arrived and the indigenous people of these lands, but every year the situation is improving, which is facilitated by the mayor himself, who has a native of the Kingdom of Earth in his wives.
The city has long been one of the most prosperous on the mainland. The technologies of the Fire Nation are well combined with the capabilities of the earth magicians. It is also open to merchants from both sides, which only stimulates the economy. The variety of goods, the mixed architecture, the peaceful coexistence of two seemingly warring peoples all set it apart from the usual cities.
I will be in time for the arrival of the Circus, in which Te Lee will perform in the future. Already, this circus tent is gaining popularity among the colony, where people are unaccustomed to such entertainment. It's a bit insulting, even here the people of fire are ahead of the planet... Circuses, theaters, various kinds of performances have long been commonplace in the archipelagos of the people of fire.
Even from a previous life, I did not like going to circuses, once I looked behind the screen of fun, I immediately wanted to sponsor this kind of entertainment, where animals suffer in cages.
Should I become the founder of stand-up in this world? Harmless entertainment, where only your bellies suffer from laughter, especially since Sokka can already blurt out something like that just by his common behaving. It's worth thinking about it...