Tai Lung looked up at the giant black owl and asked, "Are you Wan Shi Tong?"
The spirit nodded lightly.
"I managed to cross it through the portal in the South Pole," Tai Lung said. The owl's pupils narrowed. "Impossible," Wan Shi Tong replied. "The portal is closed."
"Indeed," Tai Lung answered, "but I found a way to cross it."
Wan Shi Tong was silent for a moment, considering. "Most intriguing," he finally said.
Tai Lung continued. "After arriving here, I found Vaatu. He told me you are the most knowledgeable spirit in the world, hoarding knowledge from across all eras. I have a question and I was hoping you could help me find the answer."
Wan Shi Tong snapped his beak and stiffened. "I do not answer questions for humans," he said coldly, "especially not for the Fire Nation. Me not getting rid of you already is a mercy." Tai Lung's face betrayed nothing; he glanced at Zei and then back at the great owl with a questioning gaze.
The owl's wings beat once, a powerful gust of wind and dust swept through.
"Years ago," Wan Shi Tong said, "a group of your people visited this place. One of them, named Zhao, went through my library for the sole purpose of war, and burned a section of my stacks."
Tai Lung's eyes widened slightly. "Zhao?" he repeated, "So this is how he came to know about the Ocean and Moon spirits? He was here in this library?"
Wan Shi Tong spread his wings with sudden anger; feathers fanned like a flaring temper. "You are a friend of that vile human!" he hissed.
Tai Lung's composure did not falter. He spoke simply: "No. I was the one who killed him when he harmed the Moon spirit."
The owl's expression shifted, something like an astonished calculation passing over its face. "You killed him? He is dead" Wan Shi Tong said, quieter now. "I see. In that case you may leave in peace from here."
Tai Lung inclined his head. "I will. But can you hear my question first?"
Wan Shi Tong's gaze sharpened. "Make no mistake," he said. "You are still another violent human. I will not share my knowledge with your kind for any reason. You only know how to use my knowledge for war."
"My question has nothing to do with war," Tai Lung replied. He paused, then added with a steadier tone, "And frankly I came here to see if you have an answer, but I doubt even you have it. This is probably something even you cannot answer."
The owl cocked his head, unimpressed. "I know what you are trying to do," Wan Shi Tong said. "You want to bait me into answering."
"Then do not answer it," Tai Lung said. "My question is: how to reach the Spirit Realm? It is a completely different place from the Spirit World and the human world."
Wan Shi Tong studied him. For a long moment there was no response.
"Do you want to irritate me with a fake question?" Wan Shi Tong finally asked.
Tai Lung let out a small, dry sigh. He turned away for a heartbeat and then back. "No," he said. "It is not a fake question. I let my hopes rise too much."
Wan Shi Tong noticed the disappointment carved on Tai Lung's face, that look felt like a blow to its pride. For the first time since the owl had landed, his tone shifted. "Wait, human," he said. "Where did you hear about this Spirit Realm?"
Tai Lung met the giant owl's stare. He chose his words carefully. "This may be hard for you to believe," he said, "but I lived in a different world once, a different life. There were no humans there, no form of bending. In that world, powerful warriors who reached a certain level of chi mastery could move to a place called the Spirit Realm in the afterlife."
He told it plainly. "I was such a warrior. One day I came upon a strange glowing tree in the Spirit Realm, and the next thing I knew I felt like sinking where a being like a giant tree with multiple heads stared at me. Then I found myself born as a human baby. The Spirit Realm had a chi similar to this Spirit World and I thought there might be some connection between them. I hoped you could tell me if there is a way to return to the world I came from."
Wan Shi Tong and Zei stared at him, two very different faces of incredulity.
"It is indeed unbelievable," Wan Shi Tong finally said.
"But if it is true, then we are looking at a discovery greater than anything our world has ever known. Tai Lung, if there were no humans, then what were you?" Zei said with excitement in his voice.
Tai Lung replied "The citizens of my world were all animals and insects, all of us could speak and train, our behavior and actions were not that much different from humans. I was a snow leopard"
"Fascinating," Zei replied.
Tai Lung focused his attention back at Wan Shi Tong and said "I asked Vaatu about this," he said. "He had no idea what the Spirit Realm is and told me to find you. In the end my journey was in vain."
Wan Shi Tong tilted his head. "Maybe not," the owl replied. "I might know what the many-headed tree being you mentioned is. But before I tell you anything, how do I know you are not lying? Do you have proof of your words?"
A light returned to Tai Lung's eyes. "You know that being?" he asked.
"Yes, give me proof of what you said," Wan Shi Tong said. "and tell me exactly what you went through. Only then I will tell you what I know"
Tai Lung closed his eyes. For a moment the library fell into a hush. Then a faint gold flared beneath his skin and grew. Chi gathered in him until his whole body glowed; the radiance swelled into a torrent of golden light that wrapped him. Wind rose in the great hall, similar to the gale of the owl's earlier anger, and the air itself seemed to move toward Tai Lung. Zei and Wan Shi Tong stepped back as the light intensified and the library filled with the powerful chi.
___________
Some time later, Tai Lung was seated upon the owl's back as Wan Shi Tong flew across the Spirit World. The great bird's wings beat with slow authority while it spoke. "The spirit you encountered when you first crossed into our world is the Mother of Faces," Wan Shi Tong explained. "She is the oldest known spirit here, the one who gives identity to beings."
"The Mother of Faces existed long before most of the ancient spirits, some say she is the oldest spirit" Wan Shi Tong continued as the landscape slid beneath them. "Long before the Moon and Ocean and others moved into the human world. She was there at the beginning of time; she bestowed identity upon the creatures of the two worlds."
Tai Lung absorbed the explanation. "By that description," he said, "it makes sense I was reborn in this world. She gave me the identity of a newborn in the Fire Nation."
"Indeed," Wan Shi Tong answered, but his tone held a note of curiosity. "Usually she bestows identity with a fresh slate. She did not take your memories, how peculiar."
They arrived at a vast lake. Wan Shi Tong descended until the owl's great talons touched shore. Tai Lung dismounted and stood next to Wan Shi Tong. Wan Shi Tong bowed its head low, Tai Lung seeing that did the same.
"Mother of Faces," Wan Shi Tong intoned. "I humbly request your help."
The lake water began to glow. A whirlwind swirled and, from the center, a tree spirit rose, its trunk vast, its branches crowned with many heads. Tai Lung looked up at it and felt something like an entire universe pressing on his chest. The chi rolling off the tree was not merely powerful; it was primal. Respect rose through him.
The Mother of Faces regarded them. "Since I gave you your identity," she said, voice deep as roots and wind, "this is the first time you have found me, Wan Shi Tong. Yet I understand the pull of your intriguing soul."
"Excuse me, great spirit," Tai Lung said, kneeling. "You were the one who made me born as a human when I arrived in this world, correct?"
"Indeed," the Mother of Faces replied. "You were a lost spirit, belonging neither to the Spirit World nor the human world, so I gave you a fitting identity so you might integrate with our world."
Tai Lung bowed his head. "I thank you for your aid. May I ask something else? How did I come here in the first place? Is there a way to go back?"
The Mother of Faces spoke slowly, each word a falling leaf. "There are endless worlds in existence," she said. "Each world is like a leaf upon a vast tree; each has its own laws. Worlds are connected by branches, some near one another, some far apart."
"You stumbled upon an anomaly between worlds," she continued. "Your lost spirit crossed where it should not have, that anomaly is a rare occasion and cannot be used to go back and forth at will. So I gave you a new identity so you could belong here."
Tai Lung thought for a moment then asked again, "Why did you not take my memories when you gave me this new identity?"
"The price of a new identity has always been the old memories," Wan Shi Tong interjected quietly.
The Mother of Faces nodded. "I cannot take memories that belong to another world," she said. "Your memories adhere to different laws."
Tai Lung's voice tightened. "Is there no way to go back to my world even for a short time?"
The Mother of Faces fell silent. Then she spoke: "There are no current anomalies for you to cross and even if they were, you can't control which world they take you. However, I can permit a visitation. I can open a passage, but it will be brief and the crossing will inflict intense pain upon your soul."
Tai Lung did not hesitate. "I will endure any amount of pain necessary," he said.
The spirit's tone cooled and grew grave. "You must understand: this could eradicate your soul. It is a one-time passage. Once you return, you must embrace your new identity as a being of this world."
Tai Lung bowed his head.
"I understand the consequences" he said.