Neutral Jin #2: The Universe's Lesson
Apr. 7th, 2008 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kolTitle: The Universe's Lesson
Fandom: Avatar
Rating: All Ages
Challenge Fic: For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
31_days, Take the long road and walk it.
Aang would have liked to say that the six years in prison had been spent creating the perfect plan. That he had the means to take down the Firelord. That he could have escaped at any time.
But none of that was true.
The first two years of captivity, Aang had tried to escape every day. When they had wised up to his earthbending prowess, they’d stuck him in a wooden cell. When he’d tried burning his way through that cell, he’d landed in a normal cell— this time chained to the wall. Attempts to airbend himself out of the cell, chains and all, had just led the jailers to threaten to kill inmates until he ceased.
So he stopped.
Escape was never far from his mind, but nothing he attempted ever got him outside the prison. Seeking answers, Aang quietly meditated in the corner of his jail cell for hours a day. The Avatar Spirit was still blocked, so escape couldn’t be found with pure power, but he did sense his friends were alive. That gave him strength to continue.
For an entire year, he came up with no answer. But something happened not long after that first anniversary passed that changed everything.
Two guards cautiously entered his cell, and the first of his chains was removed. He watched, slowly blinking his light sensitive eyes, as the guards left, muttering about needing the chains for a dangerous prisoner. And it was only after the guards had slammed the cell door shut that the first hints of understanding lurked at the edge of Aang’s mind.
By sitting and thinking endlessly on how to escape, the first means of escape had been thrust into his eager hands. The days spent ignoring the guards and meditating had fooled everyone into believing he was a less dangerous threat than another inmate.
The universe was setting its own plan for his escape, and Aang simply had to wait for all the pieces to fall into place.
He had no idea how long the universe would take to spring him out of prison.
Aang continued meditating, but ceased the pursuit whenever a guard opened the door, pausing long enough to smile. And within days, the guards smiled back. It was amazing how so little a gesture could improve ones lot in life. The quality of his food improved, and the guards even smuggled him in a new set of clothes.
Pleased with his progress, he began to speak with the guards, simple thanks yous the first week, idle conversations the next. Slowly, the guards began to view him as even less of a threat. He was tamed, there was nothing to fear!
And the chains were removed, one by one, until four years into his captivity, his hands were finally free.
It felt nice to hold a cup of rice with unbound hands.
Aang taught his favorite guards how to meditate, and for hours a day his captors sought enlightenment across from him, the fire nation helmets set firmly between monk from guard. Time passed, and more hints of escape were passed on to the observant Avatar, who smiled and said nothing. It was not time yet, but he would be free soon.
On the fifth anniversary of his captivity, Aang told the guards was his birthday. The universe winked at the Avatar, and most of the final bits of a plan came into place. The guards, lulled into Aang’s passivity, smuggled him to the stables, where he spent a full hour with Appa before being returned to his cell.
It was then that Aang realized just why his efforts, both at escaping the prison and at deposing the Firelord, had failed. He might have been a master of negative jin, by virtue of his status as the world’s only Airbending Master, but he had a flawed understanding of how positive jin worked. Simply striking out didn’t accomplish anything, and was prone to blowing up right in your face.
The Firelord and his daughter did not strike with positive jin. Rather, they were students of neutral jin, waiting for opportunities to present themselves and then acting on them. It was a subtle art, listening to the universe, but Aang was slowly mastering it.
It was humbling to think Toph had mastered the art at age 12, and here he was five years later and still struggling.
Aang continued to meditate, careful to always act the calm and cheerful monk, always inquiring after the guards, always showing them his passive nature. But inside his mind, he was considering his failures, always twisting them in his head until he had only one answer.
You just couldn’t defeat a practitioner of neutral jin with positive or negative jin. It was only by waiting for the other side to make a mistake, and using that against them, that one could win. It might take a careful eye to pick out that mistake, but everyone, Firelord included, always made a mistakes.
Four days after Aang marked his sixth year in prison, his belief was vindicated when the entire prison was in arms as a dangerous inmate attempted to escape. While all eyes were on that section of the prison, the Avatar calmly stood, recognized the Universe was telling him it was time to leave, airbended the door open.
No one noticed the most important prisoner in the Fire Nation walk to the stables and saddle his bison— they were too busy trying to take down the ‘dangerous’ prisoner.
Appa licked his face before Aang climbed upon the well fed bison’s back; it felt odd being free after all this time, and Aang lingered there, the reins loose in his hands. He had made friends in prison, and he would miss the guards. But that part of his life was over— it was time to bring the group together again.
“Yip-yip!” Aang called out, his face bright with joy.
No one noticed bison and man leave the prison.
Fandom: Avatar
Rating: All Ages
Challenge Fic: For
31_days, Take the long road and walk it.Aang would have liked to say that the six years in prison had been spent creating the perfect plan. That he had the means to take down the Firelord. That he could have escaped at any time.
But none of that was true.
The first two years of captivity, Aang had tried to escape every day. When they had wised up to his earthbending prowess, they’d stuck him in a wooden cell. When he’d tried burning his way through that cell, he’d landed in a normal cell— this time chained to the wall. Attempts to airbend himself out of the cell, chains and all, had just led the jailers to threaten to kill inmates until he ceased.
So he stopped.
Escape was never far from his mind, but nothing he attempted ever got him outside the prison. Seeking answers, Aang quietly meditated in the corner of his jail cell for hours a day. The Avatar Spirit was still blocked, so escape couldn’t be found with pure power, but he did sense his friends were alive. That gave him strength to continue.
For an entire year, he came up with no answer. But something happened not long after that first anniversary passed that changed everything.
Two guards cautiously entered his cell, and the first of his chains was removed. He watched, slowly blinking his light sensitive eyes, as the guards left, muttering about needing the chains for a dangerous prisoner. And it was only after the guards had slammed the cell door shut that the first hints of understanding lurked at the edge of Aang’s mind.
By sitting and thinking endlessly on how to escape, the first means of escape had been thrust into his eager hands. The days spent ignoring the guards and meditating had fooled everyone into believing he was a less dangerous threat than another inmate.
The universe was setting its own plan for his escape, and Aang simply had to wait for all the pieces to fall into place.
He had no idea how long the universe would take to spring him out of prison.
Aang continued meditating, but ceased the pursuit whenever a guard opened the door, pausing long enough to smile. And within days, the guards smiled back. It was amazing how so little a gesture could improve ones lot in life. The quality of his food improved, and the guards even smuggled him in a new set of clothes.
Pleased with his progress, he began to speak with the guards, simple thanks yous the first week, idle conversations the next. Slowly, the guards began to view him as even less of a threat. He was tamed, there was nothing to fear!
And the chains were removed, one by one, until four years into his captivity, his hands were finally free.
It felt nice to hold a cup of rice with unbound hands.
Aang taught his favorite guards how to meditate, and for hours a day his captors sought enlightenment across from him, the fire nation helmets set firmly between monk from guard. Time passed, and more hints of escape were passed on to the observant Avatar, who smiled and said nothing. It was not time yet, but he would be free soon.
On the fifth anniversary of his captivity, Aang told the guards was his birthday. The universe winked at the Avatar, and most of the final bits of a plan came into place. The guards, lulled into Aang’s passivity, smuggled him to the stables, where he spent a full hour with Appa before being returned to his cell.
It was then that Aang realized just why his efforts, both at escaping the prison and at deposing the Firelord, had failed. He might have been a master of negative jin, by virtue of his status as the world’s only Airbending Master, but he had a flawed understanding of how positive jin worked. Simply striking out didn’t accomplish anything, and was prone to blowing up right in your face.
The Firelord and his daughter did not strike with positive jin. Rather, they were students of neutral jin, waiting for opportunities to present themselves and then acting on them. It was a subtle art, listening to the universe, but Aang was slowly mastering it.
It was humbling to think Toph had mastered the art at age 12, and here he was five years later and still struggling.
Aang continued to meditate, careful to always act the calm and cheerful monk, always inquiring after the guards, always showing them his passive nature. But inside his mind, he was considering his failures, always twisting them in his head until he had only one answer.
You just couldn’t defeat a practitioner of neutral jin with positive or negative jin. It was only by waiting for the other side to make a mistake, and using that against them, that one could win. It might take a careful eye to pick out that mistake, but everyone, Firelord included, always made a mistakes.
Four days after Aang marked his sixth year in prison, his belief was vindicated when the entire prison was in arms as a dangerous inmate attempted to escape. While all eyes were on that section of the prison, the Avatar calmly stood, recognized the Universe was telling him it was time to leave, airbended the door open.
No one noticed the most important prisoner in the Fire Nation walk to the stables and saddle his bison— they were too busy trying to take down the ‘dangerous’ prisoner.
Appa licked his face before Aang climbed upon the well fed bison’s back; it felt odd being free after all this time, and Aang lingered there, the reins loose in his hands. He had made friends in prison, and he would miss the guards. But that part of his life was over— it was time to bring the group together again.
“Yip-yip!” Aang called out, his face bright with joy.
No one noticed bison and man leave the prison.
