Early morning was a special time at the Eastern Air Temple. Every nomad, master or no, rose early and sat in isolation from each other. Morning was a time for meditation and planning for the day ahead. Meditations ended when the sun touched the tip of the easternmost tower.
Romin sat on the thick stone lip of a well in the western wing of the temple. She liked it here because it stayed dark the longest, and most of the other nomads stayed closer to the sunrise. Her corner was a small courtyard bridging two entryways, its unprotected outer rim overlooking the rocky mountain seashore. The dark waves lapping and the moody light helped the young master slip into her mind almost like lucid dreaming. Meditation was a talent of hers.
The girl's fingertips met in a pyramid above her crossed legs; her head bowed slightly as she slipped down into the well of her mind. The world was deadened to her but for the lapping and crashing of waves. She suddenly sensed the spirits moving around her, fireworks of color popping in the darkness.
She wasn't looking for anything today. It was a calm day, a hazy black tea kind of day that she loved. She felt it in her bones that it would storm later.
She soared through her mind palace, flying over all the places she had been and remembered. The map of the four nations was nearly perfect. Starpoints of light shone here and there, showing her other spirit guides across the nations. Two in the Southern Water Tribe, one just outside of Ba Sing Se.
Her attention was suddenly ripped toward the Fire Nation.
A pinprick of light grew brighter until she almost couldn't look at it. She flew closer, seeing its home on Ember Island.
She winced and drew back slightly. Her outer body shifted to account, her fingertips pressing into fists as she forced herself closer to the beam of light. She had never seen someone with such spiritual power. Could it be...?
"I don't want to be the Avatar..."
Her eyes widened and her true eyes flung open. She almost fell into the well. She glanced around, dazed, and saw that the sun was well past the easternmost tower. Romin toppled off of the well, crawling towards the entryway as her limbs woke up. She had to find her master immediately. Nothing was more important than the mission she now had.
When she had received her airbending tattoos, she had discovered her gifts as a spiritual guide, and had been told that she would be the one to teach the Avatar airbending. But then that Avatar went missing.
The same Avatar that she had just found.