The ginger was sharp and stung her tongue in a good way. The aroma from the root mingled with the aroma of the congee and cleared her sinuses. Ren took a deep, unhindered breath and smiled. She knew it would only last as long as she was hovered over a steaming bowl of congee and ginger, so she made the most of it. She added some green onions, lime juice, and, after a small guilty pause, added some fish sauce. Surely sauce was okay, right...? Once she started eating, though, the guilt evaporated. It was just too good.

Johar was praising her for her interest in healing herbs. "Well," she murmured between careful bites of her hot meal, "Honestly, you got me thinking earlier." The acolyte spoke carefully, not wanting to spark an impassioned debate again. "The attacks on the Temple are horrific, and the Air Acolytes don't help. We're removed, isolated from the rest of the city. I mean, of course, we can come and go as we please but in following the Air Nomads literally I wonder if we've lost some of their teaching of compassion for all living beings. Most of us are nonbenders as well, so why are we not helping like the Temples of Koh do? Like the Monks do?"

She took a few more bites of congee. "I thought it would be good if I go to the Temple and help where I can. Not just for the attack victims, but just in general — treating cuts and scrapes from brawls, helping at the soup kitchens, changing sheets, stuff like that."

Ren wrinkled her nose as her glasses fogged up from the congee steam. "Air Temple Island could offer so much. We grow our own food, and don't need to be paid for our labour since people are very generous to us for carrying on the Air Nomads' way of life — especially now that we've lost Master Tenzin and his family. I don't understand why we aren't doing more."

The congee was the perfect antidote to the cold of the day. Its warmth coursed through him as he ate, combining with the heat from the kotatsu in a sensation that was almost magical. Not to mention that the food was delicious. Considering how the day had started, he couldn’t have asked for a better way for the situation to resolve. Eating good food with a good friend was the perfect way to spend a day.

He kept eating as Ren spoke, but made sure to keep looking at her so she wouldn’t think he wasn’t paying attention. What she said brought a smile to his face. “It’s good that you want to help. Spirits know they need all the assistance they can get. As to why the Acolytes don’t help…I can’t speak to that, obviously, but I’m sure it’s not out of lack of compassion. After spending a full day at one of the Temples of Koh…the Monks are good people who do great, necessary work, but…well, I won’t deny that they’re a bit off-putting.” He pictured the Monks, the way they seemed to glide without touching the ground, their smooth, almost featureless masks, and repressed a shudder.

“I respect the Monks, and am happy to help them, but I can understand why others might hesitate. Not to mention with the disappearances of benders recently, and the police chief’s death…well, there’s no reason to think that the Monks are connected to that in any way, but I think their presence does serve as an unpleasant reminder of all the tension in the city right now. I’m sure that’s hard to look past for many.”

Ren snorted into her congee. "We're supposed to be above that," she said around her mouthful. "The Air Nomads taught respect for the Spirits, not fear. Avatar Aang himself said so in a lecture, when he recounted his own trip to the Spirit World to speak with the Face Stealer."

She added more fish sauce and stirred the porridge thoughtfully. "Maybe that's what the City needs. I mean. We're almost exclusively nonbenders at the Island, but we represent the Air Nomads, who historically are all airbenders. It would be easier for the other nonbenders of the City to trust us, despite our affiliation, since we can't bend either. Maybe we should be the first to bridge that gap."

“Yes, well…” He couldn’t help grimacing at the thought of the Face Stealer. Of course, he’d never met the spirit in person, and from the artistic depictions he’d seen of Koh, he hoped he never did. The ever-changing face was one thing, but then there were the legs…so many legs! It was hard for him to blame people who were apprehensive about those who would worship such a scary-looking spirit. As much as he believed in not judging others at face value, there was no denying Koh’s disturbing appearance.

What Ren said made sense. He nodded. “It’s certainly worth a try. Even the most suspicious would accept help from any who offered it, I’d think. I don’t even remember the Monks asking me if I was a bender when I offered to help after the attack. Everyone knows the Acolytes, and I’d hope everyone respects them too.”

Ren kept eating, but looked up at Johar from her hunched-over-the-bowl stance sharply. "You've heard the rumours though, right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "That the Monks can tell whether or not someone is a bender? If it's true, they wouldn't have needed to ask, they could've just picked you right off the street."

It was a long-standing rumour, and the source of much discomfort for the benders she had known growing up. Even her small village had a Temple of Koh, and it was a popular game of thrills and bravery among the bending capable children to try and see if the Monks could tell they were benders. The Monks seemed to have endless patience for the games of children, however, and never gave anything away, pretending never to notice their silly antics.

When they were older, they avoided the Temple.

The memory made Ren a little sad. Unlike the Temples of Republic City, the Temple in her village was the only one for miles. She wondered if the Monks got lonely when they had grown up and stopped coming. Being a Monk seemed a lonely life, not like being an Acolyte; though they both lived in temples, the former seemed more isolated and set apart, especially with their patron spirit.

“I’ve heard the rumors,” Johar replied, shaking his head. “But I don’t believe them. The Monks are strange, I won’t argue that, but I don’t think they have magic bender detection powers. And even if they do…beggars can’t be choosers, you know? When something like this happens, I don’t think we can afford to refuse help from anyone, even those tangentially associated with the attackers. Help is help, no matter where it comes from.”

He wasn’t much of a philosopher, but he did have some firmly held beliefs, and one of them was that everyone’s intentions were benevolent until proven otherwise. There were plenty of people in the world who wanted to aid those in need. Creating artificial divisions between those people helped no one. And it was hard to argue that sticking to one’s principles was worth turning away someone who could heal wounds with nothing more than a bucket of water. Waterbending healers were impressive; there was no denying that.

“Maybe we should talk about something else,” he suggested, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It had been a trying day. “How’s your transcription work going?”

"Oh, yes, of course." How inconsiderate — Johar clearly was having a bad time and it was not appropriate to keep badgering on about the city's politics when he came to visit hoping to rest his burden.

She smiled brightly as she stirred her congee, adding a bit more lime and fish sauce. "It's going well, thank you. I recently transcribed a particularly interesting lesson from Avatar Aang regarding the chakras. Apparently, it's necessary to open all the chakras in order for the Avatar to achieve the Avatar State, and a fully realised Avatar only needs to tap into it momentarily to gain the power, skill, and knowledge of their past lives."

Taking another bite, Ren closed her eyes to enjoy the tangy, fishy, gingery taste of the congee before swallowing and resuming her story. "Apparently, when Avatar Aang was younger, he was unable to control much of the Avatar State; he was able to tap into it in times of great danger and eventually by choice by his fight with former Fire Lord Ozai, but he was unable to close himself off once he had acquired the power he needed."

She sighed, the romantic at heart. "Then he said before the fight with Ozai, he had been unable to reopen his chakras after being injured in the Avatar State by Princess Azula; Sifu Katara had healed him with blessed water from the North Pole Spirit Oasis, but he couldn't get back into the Avatar State. He met a Guru — Pathik? Patik? — and was told that he had to let his love for Sifu Katara go. Avatar Aang refused, and went to face the Fire Lord without the ability to go into the Avatar State. That is, until he met the fabled Lion Turtle."

Ren looked at Johar, her eyes misted over. "Isn't that just the sweetest thing?"

Ren’s face brightened at his question, and that was all he needed. Sometimes talking got exhausting. When that happened, he was perfectly content to sit back and let someone else take over. And Ren was obviously passionate about her work, and enjoyed talking about it. As she began her answer, he ate some more of his congee. The flavor of the chicken enhanced the flavor of the porridge, and the whole thing together was great.

He wasn’t all too familiar with the idea of chakras. Some believed that balancing these energy pools in the body was the path to good physical, emotional, and spiritual health, but he’d been taught to be skeptical of such claims. His healing teacher was a much more grounded woman, who preferred to focus on the physical side of things. Belief in chakras was fine if it made a patient think they felt better, she’d told him, but as a healer, his job was to examine the body, focus on the symptoms he could actually observe and try to counteract.

Now, the Avatar…that was another matter entirely. Everyone said the Avatar was connected to all of their past lives, but what that actually meant was a mystery. Just thinking about it made his head hurt. So he didn’t try, just listened to Ren’s story.

“That is sweet,” he agreed with a nod. “I’m just glad it worked out in the end, that he was able to do what needed to be done. I’ve heard stories of how evil Ozai was; it makes me glad the world has the Avatar.”

But did the world still have the Avatar? Avatar Korra was dead, and they’d heard no word of the next Avatar being born. If he had the cycle right, the next Avatar should be born an Earthbender…but the Earth Kingdom was a vast territory, and when he factored in the United Republic, which was home to benders of all four elements…maybe the Avatar had already reincarnated, and the news just hadn’t spread yet. That was definitely possible.

“Hey Ren,” he said as he swallowed a bite of his congee. “I’ve been meaning to ask you…do the Acolytes have much literature on the Spirit World? More specifically, accounts of what it’s like to actually go there? I’ve always been curious, but the City’s main library doesn’t have much, and what they do have is mostly conjecture.”

The congee was almost finished, but Ren found herself wishing she had more. It was one of her favourite dishes as a whole, but it was also — in her opinion, at any rate — the best remedy for a cold. She tried to eat a little more slowly, and savour the remnants of her meal.

"Hmm." Ren scrunched her nose as she tried to recall the library's inventory. "We have... some. Avatar Aang was able to recount his experiences in this life, and was able to tap into the Avatar State to recall the experiences of Avatar Roku and Avatar Yangchen."

Of course, she was, unfortunately, unable to have witnessed such an event and the notes had been scribed long before she had become an acolyte. Each of the Avatars' memories of the Spirit World were housed in their own, individual tomes; Avatar Yangchen had the most to recall, having lived the longest of the last few Avatar incarnations, but Avatar Aang had some of the most interesting encounters.

"I don't think we have much more than that, however. Is there something in particular you're looking for?"

Johar sighed as polished off the last of his congee. “So good,” he pouted at his empty bowl. “I’ll miss it.” He made a mental note to search for congee places in the city when he had the time. Maybe that was something the two of them could do together, as an adventure of sorts. He’d have to suggest that at some point.

It took Ren a moment to answer his question. While her answer was not exactly what he’d hoped it would be, it was still helpful, and he smiled to show his appreciation. “I don’t know that I’m looking for anything specific,” he told her. “It’s just always interested me, and I’d rather not wait until I die to know what it’s like, you know? Reading accounts from Avatars who’ve actually been there and have come back would be fascinating.”

Skeptical though he was about matters of spirituality, everything he’d heard about the spirit world made it sound like a magical place well worth exploring. Without the Avatar’s ability to go back and forth, though, all he could do was read others’ stories and live vicariously through them. For now, that would have to be enough.

ooc: I'm not sure how much further I can push this, thoughts?

—

Ren nodded, trying to think. "Avatar Aang's personal accounts would likely be the most useful to you. The Air Nomads were great story tellers, judging what we've recovered, and Avatar Aang is no exception. Avatar Yangchen is also good, but her personality is a little less... flamboyant than Avatar Aang's. She's methodical in her descriptions, but it reads more like a dry technical book rather than an account of a fascinating place. Avatar Roku has... surprisingly very little to say about the Spirit World."

She leaned back on her palms and patted her belly. "That was so good." She sniffed, already feeling the effects of the steam and ginger starting to wear off.

OOC: Think we can wrap it up here, yeah.

Ren was a veritable fount of knowledge, and he was lucky to know her. Johar smiled as he made a mental note to visit Air Temple Island more often. There was so much he wanted to know, and the City’s libraries just weren’t cutting it. Plus, if he visited the island more, that just increased his chances of running into Ren. That was only a good thing.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll make sure to look at Avatar Aang’s writings.” Leaning back, he stretched, and as he did so, he glanced outside. His eyes widened as he saw that the sun was beginning to set. “Oh wow, have I really been here all day?” He blushed as he looked back at Ren. “I’m sorry, Ren, I didn’t mean to take up your whole day. I should go before the trains stop running.” Regretfully, he slunk out from under the warmth of the kotatsu and stood. “Thank you, Ren. For the food, but more importantly, for listening. I don’t know that I’m back to normal—or that I’ll ever be, to be honest—but I definitely feel a lot better than I did this morning. You’re a great friend.”

He was in no hurry to go back out into the cold, but he wouldn’t dream of imposing on Ren’s hospitality by asking to stay the night. So, he worked up the necessary courage and stepped out into the cold, perhaps with a bit more spring in his step than had been there that morning.