Eternal Entertainment

Month 7 (Continued)

Lee groaned into the dirt, letting himself adjust and actually discover this new pain coursing through his body. At first it was an absolute 10 out of 10, thought he was dying... again. It has gone down to a solid 8.5. An odd mix of a full body cramp and it falling asleep. Invisible pins and needles that dug deeper if he tried to move. "... I've made mistakes." Spooning the ground led to some new revelations. The ground here was pounded flat, makes sense since it's the remains of the bison paddock. Even though it's been a near century, the grass barely encroached on the worn path. Lastly, that Puff can look very smug for a near year old kitten. "Heeeeeeey, buddy. what'cha doin' over there?" 

Internal panic set in and became very external panic as the barely 7 pound cat slowly stepped forward. "Hey... hey c'mon... we can talk about this!" Mental alarms began to blare at the cat deliberately stepped out of his paralyzed view. "No! no no no no!" He gasped as a lance of pain shot up his spine as Puff walked onto his back "WAIT! wait wait wait wait!" Oh, the betrayal, his one companion on this journey. Using him as a flesh piano, seeing what spots made different noises. Puff seemed the most satisfied with his left shoulder, the greatest source of pain. Getting comfortable, she began to knead at the sore muscle. 

"GRaaagh, you fat bitch... now's not the time to make biscuits!" Lee's wails continued to echo for the few hours down from the mountain some even reaching traveler's ears... a new rumor began to spread. Of spirits haunting the valleys, or some mad beast hunting lone and lost travelers. 

Month 8

The following few weeks were a new challenge in pain tolerance. Inflamed muscle and joints made him feel what he imagined a 150 year old would feel like. Training had boiled down to constant low intensity strength training. It did nothing for the pain, but some progress is better than none. Even if the trek down the path to the abandoned weights and back made for a decent if not prolonged divergence from routine. After some finaglery he could plunk 2 bars into his inventory, which quickly triggered the over encumbered status. Getting all the weights back up to camp was a great time waster all around. He had scrounged up his breakfast and decided today would be a day of relaxation. Nothing but hot tub time and some snacks he tucked into his inventory. He pulled upon the curtain he used for a front door, just to be greeted by a bald man with a long white beard. 

"HAH! FUCK! goooh... holy shit... oh you fucker... my hip." The surprise caught him so far off guard that he forgot that he could NOT make fast movements. The jump scare made him twist on the spot, which aggravated his full body injury. 

"My apologies, I am Guru Pathik."

"Cool, coolcoolcoolcool... Why are you here Mr. Guru Pathik? Besides giving children heart attacks?"

"Funnily enough my new friend, I was wondering the same. Some weeks ago I felt a surge of chi. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to look for myself. Imagine my surprise to see that not only has this temple been cleaned, but it's new resident was also the source of this mysterious chi."

"... Let me get this 100% straight. You. Super Guru Dende-"

"Pathik."

"-Right. Felt a wave of invisible energy, and decided to abscond yourself to a remote, mostly forgotten part of the world. Climb up a Spirits damned mountain that supposedly has no truly set path, because you were curious?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so long as we both acknowledge that." 

"Acknowledged. Now. Would you be so kind as to tell me about yourself? My curiosity grows by the minute. Like how is one so vibrant and full of chi, so... lost as to how to use it?"

"Short version? I got no idea that the hell I'm doing. Long version? Come in and have some tea. We'll see if I get to that story.... Oh, I'm Lee by the way. That there is Puff."

"If you say so."

The next few hours were interesting. Lee kept it to surface information. Like what he was doing on the mountain. The whole wanting to clean the temple and put the bodies to rest. He even showed Pathik what he was making to honor the air benders that were killed. Which earned him raised eyebrows and praise. He was told that Pathik didn't plan to stay long, but Lee still showed him to one of the rooms he cleaned and left him with some bedding and a gift basket. Now back in his own room with Puff he enjoyed some instant ramen while Puff got a can of the good wet stuff. Meeting a Guru, hell having a visitor at all, seemed like special enough occasion.

"Ya know, Once you get over the flowery talk and the mysticism. He's a pretty chill guy."

Prmow

"...yeah, I guess enlightenment does that to a person."

Mow?

"Nope, my joints still feel like wet popcorn and my muscles may as well be jello... welp ain't nothing but time to fix that. I'll see you in the morning." The only bright side to this enduring pain is that sleep came quick and easy. No dreams, just an escape from the pain.

/

"Good morning, my friend."

"JESUS WEPT! ...You do that shit on purpose."

"Mayhaps. Puff tells me that you've been experiencing some pain? Drink this." The guru handing the still tucked in fire bender a cup full of ... thick tea? Medicine is medicine. He took it gingerly and sat up in his bed.

Regret. 

It's one thing to have an awful taste, but for this drink to have the audacity to be as thick as honey. Getting past the initial shock, he could finally recognize the taste hidden within. Bananas and onions.

"...New rule. I handle the food AND the drinks."

"I did quite enjoy the, Matcha? I believe you called it? I only wished to return the kindness you showed me yesterday... As for your pain, I have 2 solutions."

"Oh boy, here comes the rub. I'm gonna guess one is slow but more permanent, and the other is quick, painful and will only last until the next time I fuck myself up?"

"Exactly that. I could teach you yoga, or forcefully reinforce your chakras through the chiropractic arts."

"... I can't believe I'm saying this, but fuck me up coach."

Regret number two.

Pathik reduced him to a sniveling child in less time that his own mothers death glare. Popping his joints like so much bubble wrap. His howls continuing to fuel the rumors that had begun to spread down in the valleys as travelers caught the echo. Once the guru was done with his bones, muscle proved to be an equally painful affair. He could only hope that his cursing had at least expanded the not-a-doctors vocabulary.

"That should do. Take this time and rest."

"Wait... Do you know what I did to get this bad in the first place?"

"What do you know of chakras?"

"Oh, I know tons, there's Chakra classic, Diet chakra, cherry chakra."

"..." Pathik offered little more than a tilt of his head.

"...I know the word chakra."

"Fair enough. I want you to imagine pools of water, each joined by a small stream. The pools themselves are but swirling chi. By moving ones body, they move the chi. Chi to fuel ones bending or to simply walk, it is all the same. What I assume you did, is move your chi too quickly. Causing it to splash out of the pool. It's not your fault, you simply did not know how to move your chi safely."

"Well. That's kind of a problem. How am I supposed to develop my own style if my own style breaks me down?"

"... I recommend balance. Sure, I could guide you through unlocking your chakras but then we'd have the same problem on a grander scale. A stop-gap, a longer time before your pools over flow."

"Balance? How- what? huh? How does balance help my issue?"

"Balance is the always the answer. If you were to balance your style, mayhap it could evolve. I'll admit, this is the first time I've seen someone's chi flow so fiercely to damage their own body... Outside of the avatar. Even then, their connection to their past lives prevents them from hurting themselves."

"Oh, okay, I'll just ask the being that's been missing for a hundred years. Everything will be just peachy." His sarcasm began to slip out due to frustration. HE knew that Aang would resurface in little more than 3 years but he can't just go telling everyone, can he? Nope. That leads to questions.

"Well, why not just do as the avatar does?"

"Save the world? or go missing?"

"Learn all the elements."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Learn all the elements. You may only be able to bend one, but perhaps taking from all the elements will help you find that missing piece."

"...More of a game plan than I got, sure. I'll ask around, I'm sure I can find a water bending koi fish... Maybe the lemurs can teach me air bending." Joking to himself, but still earning a small smile from Pathik. "... Wait a minute you said Puff told you I was hurt?"

"It's been several hours, you just noticed now?"

97 AG, 8th month. (A Year Later)

Guru Pathik's short stay was a bit longer than either of them expected it to be. It may have been lee just giving more praise to his cooking than earned, or Guru Pathik was more than happy to teach the art of self-improvement that is Yoga. Turns out that was part of the long term solution the old wise man offered before. It wouldn't stopping from 'spilling', 'Splashing' or 'Bursting'. They still hadn't settled on a term by the time the guru left. 

He decided that 4 months was probably long enough, which let him see Lee put up the monument. In the hanging gardens now hung over a dozen sets of bamboo windchimes, patterns carved and burnt into each one carefully. The largest chime used the necklace of Monk Gyatso as the 'sail'. Did it sound like a hundred drunk taiko drummers during a rain storm? Sure. Was it a cool addition to the temple? Hell yeah.

The 8 months after was dedicated to much of the same. Training, inventing and hanging out with Puff. Honestly, he would have gone crazy if not for the prankster cat and his routine. Weighted yoga, to keep him flexible and slowly build strength. Breakfast. Tend to the gardens. Fire bending training, It helped to have a firm set of movements even if he had to stop anytime Flamey Ink triggered. Lunch. Then the rest of the day was spent of making... well anything he wanted really. Self-isolation and access to How It's Made gives a man a hell of a lot of time... to make a hell of a lot of bullshit.

It took over 10 tries, but an acoustic guitar. Something he could use to busk when he leaves this damned mountain. A tea mill... What? Matcha was popular with Pathik. Maybe he could sell packets of it. Something he called a stiff-wing glider. It didn't collapse fully like Aang's, but it had a larger wingspan. Meant for long distance flight, harness and all so he wasn't stuck using pure arm strength to cling to it. It even had a rail for boxes, more so for looks than anything else but they could hold some small boxes. Wine. Was he physically 14? Yes. Did he have too much time to think about what to sell to people? Also yes. He remembered an expression from his first life. "Where there is war, Strife there is. Where there is strife, Depression there is. Where there is depression, Alcoholics there are." It may have been Yoda... or someone doing a Yoda impression while drunk.

Wine would only be the beginning, he was working on a distillery... It had only blown up 3 times. He'll get it eventually... Probably. "Really should have bought a survival guide or something." Then there was the restoration of the various training stations of the Temple... As much as he hated slap alley, learning to move like a leaf through the spinning boards probably helped his evasion just as much as it bruised his pride and body.

"Uncle, I thought this temple was supposed be empty." 

Lee spun around from his musings to look at the source of the voice. Threat assessment clicking into gear. 5 People, 1 child, 1 elder, 3 soldiers.

"It is, er, was."

2 soldiers held spears, the other was open handed. Fire-Bender. One of the spearmen leaned to the fire-bender. "Looks like a water tribesman." Oh cool they do threat assessment too. Even in this moment, Lee could only say one thing. 

"How many FUCKING people are gonna climb this mountain!?"