Indispensable Disclaimer: Avatar, and anything remotely Avatar-related isn't mine. Really.
I've been tinkering with this idea a while back, before throwing it away. I found it again, and I used it here. I thought I'd break out of my normal one-shots and do this. Eh. In case anyone asks, this picks up during 'The Guru', during the seventh chakra part. The starting conversation is taken from the episode itself. I might fix this up some other time...background and exposition...but...some other time, yeah.
Selling Down the River
"To master the Avatar State, you must open all the chakras. Surrender yourself."
"Okay, I'll try."
"Now, think of your attachments and let them go. Let the pure cosmic energy flow."
At those words, unusually strong winds whipped around the meditating pair, strengthening with every passing moment. The airbending tattoos that covered Aang's body glowed with a powerful intensity that matched that of the winds'. His eyes opened slowly, and they radiated with power and strength. He slowly raised himself to the air, feeling the potent energies of innumerable Avatars run all across his body, just waiting to be released...
"Do not let your power control you Aang!" Guru Pathik shouted into the din. "Focus!"
Aang slowly lowered himself to the ground, visibly trying to contain the raw energy and barely succeeding. But it was still a success. The first step towards complete mastery.
Guru Pathik looked towards the Avatar with a mixture of pride and guilt. He had done it, mastering the Avatar State in record time.
Now it was time to end it all.
He pulled out a small, rusty dagger that had seen better days, holding it lightly in his hands. It gleamed malevolently in the light.
"I'm sorry Aang." He whispered, eyes full of regret.
With a speed unknown to him, the Guru rushed the Avatar, gripping him tightly in one arm and plunging the blade into Aang's stomach with the other. Immediately, the poison went to work, paralyzing the Avatar. Unable to move. Unable to bend.
Aang gasped in pain, trying to struggle against the Guru's tight grip, the wind picked up in force, trying to push the Guru and the dagger away. Still, the Guru held strong, seemingly unaffected by the tempest that began to devastate the mountaintop. The Guru whispered soothing words into the panicking child's ear, as he twisted the blade cruelly inside Aang's body. Aang struggled, if for a moment more, before going limp in the arms of the wise Guru. The powerful winds died away instantly. He pulled the dagger out, and laid it back.
Gently, Guru Pathik laid Aang down to the ground, closing the fearful eyes for the last time.
"Is it done, Afiko?" A cold voice intoned from the distance, slicing through the tenuous silence.
"Don't call me Afiko." Guru Pathik hissed, at nowhere in general. "It's over. I'm going back now."
The Guru raised his hands to the air, and a soft breeze touched the ruined mountaintop. Guru Pathik closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the soothing caress of the breeze, before finally fading away.
A/N: In case you don't know, Afiko is a character in the TCG, the guy who supposedly betrays the Air Nomads. Don't ask, I don't know who the cold voice is, I don't even know how the hell Afiko came into the story.
The 'Guru is a traitor' theory was thrown about in the forums once, so I thought I'd use it here. I might spin a longer (but still short) story out of this general idea (different time, different place), and insert the usual pairing in it.
Feedback much appreciated, but perfectly optional. I did not insert a code in the source that infects your computer with a worm if you didn't review. Honest.
Review! Or at least look at it.