If she stops, and focuses on the earth... Can she?

There's Eliko's steady tread, and then deeper... a steady, rhythmic thumping. Earthbending on a scale beyond what she's yet seen.

"Something big. Just - this massive, beautiful earthbending, like Appa's flight..."

"That's them." She bends down and slaps the ground, tha-thunk, tha-thunk.

The big vibration changes, starts approaching.

Mara bounces excitedly, then remembers she's meeting earthbenders and tries to ground herself.

After a bit, the wall to their side breaks apart, and an enormous furry snout pokes out, snuffling. It swings over to Eliko and out comes the tongue.

She pats the badgermole. "Hello to you too."

"Hello!" she chirps.

It noses Eliko up and down a bit more, then swings over to Mara's direction.

Snuffle. Snuffle snuffle.

Lick.

She laughs and pats the snout. "You're friendly, I see!" This is someone thoroughly used to being licked by very large furry creatures.

"To people they like," Eliko says. "Those claws can eviscerate a wolfbat."

Said claws scrape against the rock as the badgermole pulls itself out into the main tunnel and cuddles up closer to Eliko.

"Of course! Wouldn't be a soft friend without proper claws!"

The badgermole chuffs, perhaps in agreement.

It licks Eliko again, then starts off down the tunnel.

"Time to go meet the rest of the family."

"That sounds fun!"

She follows.

The badgermole leads the way down the tunnel until they come to blank dead end. There, it starts burrowing into the wall with earthbending. Its motions are reminiscent of Eliko's style, and similar to some of the basic exercises she's been having Mara do.

Mara watches with interest, feeling with her earth sense at the same time, to see if she can learn anything. And it's a pleasure, to watch a true master at their craft.

There is much she can learn from the badgermole. Economy of motion, a firm stance, the way it works around the natural grain of the rock...

They break into a large chamber. A double handful of baby badgermoles come snuffling up to Eliko, their eagerness betrayed in their bouncing. She sits down to distribute pets.

!!! Baby fluff friends!!!

Can Mara pat too?

After an appropriate period of snuffling around, yes! Also tiny licks.

Eeeeee!

She heartily approves! And starts chattering a bit about the baby sky bison from the air temple. 

...Eliko learned earthbending with baby badgermoles. Not these ones, another clan up north where she was born.

She was technically supposed to be learning from the monks, but, yeah, she mostly learned directly from the sky bisons. They're more sensible.