This fic is my take on what happened after Aang left his temple, and before the Fire Nation attacked.
Brief Spoilers Ahead: The cast of characters are meant to be a little confusing, mostly because I had to create a lot of OC's to fill the story. Due to the fluid nature that I believe the monks would adopt, I didn't want to make it clear which temple each belonged to. The main people to remember will be: Pasang, High Monk of the Southern Air Temple, Ngawang of the Northern Temple, Rabtan of the Western, and Jamyang of the Eastern.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. The breeze was playing in the branches of trees and shrubs, swirling around the tiny leaf buds not yet unfurled. It was a perfect spring day. But the Southern Air Temple was strangely quiet, no young Airbenders delighting in the chilly weather and the bright sunlight, nor any elder monks sunning themselves as they meditated. Even within the stone walls, a somber air pervaded, quieting any conversation or laughter. The only indication that there was activity in the temple was the buzzing confined to one room, where twenty master Airbenders had gathered.
The councils of each of the four Air Temples had not gathered like this, not that any living attendee could remember. And the chatter that accompanied it seemed just as out of place for the dignified monks.
"That is enough." Pasang cut in, his own voice ringing above the din. As the High Monk of the Southern Air Temple, most of those gathered quieted to hear what he had to say. It was his temple, after all. "While it is true that we have lost the Avatar, we cannot assign blame to any one individual. Raising a child is the responsibility of the whole temple, Avatar or not. We have all failed him." Pasang looked to the floor, taking a moment to quietly reflect on his own blunders. The room hummed with energy, but no one interrupted him.
He took a deep breath before speaking, feeling the air of the room as it was influenced by the wills of twenty or so master Airbenders. He was a High Monk for a reason, and he was able to trace each subtle push back to its creator as they all battled for subtle authority. "We must move forward now. If Avatar Roku's fears are realized, then by the time the Great Comet comes, Fire Lord Sozin will launch his first strike."
The clamour rose in the room again. This time, it was Ngawang, High Monk of the Northern Air Temple, that spoke up. He didn't wait for the room to fall silent, merely speaking until his voice overpowered everyone else. "Have his reports been validated? We are panicking over mere conjecture right now. We should be sending envoys to speak with Fire Lord Sozin directly, not sitting here squabbling like lemurs."
Pasang rose to his challenge. "We have indeed tried to open communication between us and the Fire Lord. Each attempt has been met with a polite rebuff. He has closed his capital to all, even the Fire Sages." Pasang could sense the vibrations of the air as several council members prepared to speak, and he quelled any further protests. "The last two scouts sent from the Western Air Temple never came back." He looked to Rabtan, High Monk of the Western Air Temple, for her input.
She did not disappoint him. Standing before speaking, towering over the rest of the seated council, her tone was somber. "We sent two of our master Airbenders to the Fire Nation Capital. Both have made the trip countless times. Both sent sparreons back with their progress. The latest reports last place them at Kirachu Island."
Choden of the Eastern Air Temple added his voice, taking advantage of the brief pause. "They may have been masters, but there have been frequent tropical storms. How do we know they did not overload themselves with delicacies and fall victim to the temperamental weather?"
Rabtan leveled her calm gray eyes at him. "It was Ceba and Temba." A gasp rippled through the council. Their absence from this meeting had been noted, but none had questioned it. Rabtan's gaze challenged Choden to protest further, but he merely bowed his head at her loss.
Satisfied, Rabtan addressed the group again. "They should have returned a month ago, under normal circumstances. We have not even seen their sparreons return. This, coupled with the scattered reports of the Fire Sages claiming they have not seen either of them, leads me to believe that misfortune befell them." The air had grown heavy, and the silver-haired woman seemed to sag under the weight as she settled back onto her cushion, suddenly breathless.
This new information left the council members in silence as they each mulled over what this meant. Monk Gyatso surveyed the faces of each of them, tasting the air around them to get a sense of their emotions. Panic and fear struggled beneath the imprinted calmness each possessed. He looked to Pasang, his gaze giving the High Monk the strength he needed to push his own helplessness aside.
"The purpose of this meeting of the councils was to plan our next movements. With the absence of the Avatar, it is imperative that we are united against this threat."
Rabtan looked up at the High Monk. "What do you propose, Monk Pasang?"
The man looked to the floor, his unibrow squinching in the middle as he deliberated his words. Finally looking up, he was careful to not meet anyone's eyes. "We must be prepared to fight back." He continued speaking, despite the protests coming from the council members. "If Avatar Roku is correct in his predictions, then Fire Lord Sozin will use the comet to further his holdings in the Earth Kingdom." Further clamouring, but Gyatso used another little trick he had created with Roku to still the air, preventing the noise from spreading beyond the confines of their mouths.
Pasang shot him an annoyed glance, being all too familiar with that particular trick, but Gyatso pretended to be preoccupied with smoothing his mustache. It must not have really bothered him, because Pasang continued speaking. "If Avatar Roku's last letters are to be believed, then we must be on our guard. The world must not know we lost the Avatar."
"You keep telling us to be on our guard, and implying there is a threat. What is this threat?" Choden demanded, finally manipulating the air out of Gyatso's control so he could speak.
Jamyang, High Monk of the Eastern Air Temple, addressed his councilmember with his flutey voice. "The Fire Nation, empowered by this comet. They know the Avatar was reborn into our nation. He is the only one who can stop their advancements into the Earth Kingdom. Avatar Roku himself asked us to teach the new Avatar how to do what he could not. Fire Lord Sozin must be smart enough to anticipate what his old friend would do."
Choden looked meekely at the floor. Gyatso could not blame him for his anger. His mustache had only just started growing in. He could not anticipate the ways of the world.
Ngawang snorted, his tendrils of beard sprouting from the tip of his chin fluttering. "Are you meaning to imply that the Fire Lord would come to our temples, and try to defeat the Avatar with the power of the Great Comet? He would not be so bold."
Pasang sighed, each minute this meeting dragged on seemed to add another year to his life. This was the part he truly dreaded. "We do not think that he would stop at the Avatar."
The air went out of the room. Rabtan, being master of the Wester Air Temple and second only to Pasang in her knowledge of what the Fire Nation was intending to do, choked out, her voice strangled. "Do you mean to say that he would wipe us all out?"
The rest of the council members waited with bated breath. Gyatso did not believe he had seen so many Airbenders breathless all at once before. Even including the time him and Roku had set off a stink bomb in the Avatar Legacy Chamber during a history lesson that managed to permeate the rest of the temple.
Pasang gave a slight nod of the head, unable to bring himself to say the words aloud.
Pandemonium. That's what it was. The Northern Air Temple's council had all shot up to their feet, protesting loudly that they were a quiet, peaceful people that gave no one a reason to attack them. The Western Air Temple's council had clustered around Rabtan, all the females whispering furiously within a vicious bubble of air so as to avoid being heard. Their panic was the most reasonable, being the closest to the Fire Nation. The Eastern and Southern Air Temple councils were split, with Tashi and Iio arguing the loudest about whether they needed to fight or not. The rest where protesting that, if there were such a great threat, then the Air Nomads needed to abandon the temples and go into hiding around the worlds. This drew the ire of the Northerners, who started protesting at abandoning the painted murals of their history they were tasked with protecting.
Ngawang's voice roared above the din. "Enough! We are not warriors. And it is not our duty to get involved in the matters of the world. Have you all forgotten what we stand for?" He shook his head in disgust. "We will not abandon the history of our people for some silly rumors. We will not involve ourselves in political squabbles. There will be no reason for them to attack us at the Northern Air Temple." His speech finished, Ngawang used one of his favorite tricks of having the air whirl him around, and he pushed his way out of the council room, the rest of the Northern Council following shortly after.
With five less people in the room, the rest of the council members seemed a little deflated. Rabtan looked to Pasang, looking a few years aged herself.
"Do you really believe it will come to that?"
Pasang wanted desperately to rub his unibrow, but resisted the urge to show such weakness. "I do." The rest of the Air Nomads remained silent, their faces pleading for him to say otherwise. "I believe that Fire Lord Sozin does not intend to discover who the next Avatar is. With the limited time that they will be empowered by the comet, it does not make sense to search our temples for one individual."
"You are talking about mass genocide." Choden spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
Pasang nearly broke then. He knew what was awaiting them, he had had visions of the fire and the blood. Trying to get them all to understand, with only a week to do so…
Sensing his weakness, Gyatso spoke up. "It is not the first, nor will it be the last. The question is if we lay down and wait for it, or if we try to preserve some portion of our way of life for future generations."
Rabtan did break. "No. This… It cannot be." She looked to the members of the Southern Council, her eyes wide as she got to her feet. "You've all let your vision be clouded by the boy. You wish to protect him from his destiny by making us fight for him." She shook her head, her loose ponytail swishing against her robes. The other members of the Western Council stood, their arms folded in their sleeves. "We will not have it." She started leading the way out of the room.
"Rabtan." Pasang pleaded, his eyes drilling into his sister's back. "Please. You know as much as I do."
She merely turned to regard him over her shoulder. "I see with unclouded eyes, Pasang. The Fire Nation will not be able to find us in our temples beneath the earth."
The room was silent as the Western Council left. Gyatso looked at the ten that remained. Jamyang, High Monk of the Western Temple, met his eyes. The gravity of the situation weighing heavily in the wrinkles on his face.
"What of those who do not wish to fight?"
Gyatso looked to Pasang, but he was not fit to answer yet. "Everyone is free to do as they choose. If they wish to seek shelter in other temples, or go into hiding. It is not our place to stop them." Jamyang gave a single nod, before meeting the gaze of the other members of his council.
"I will let my people know their options. But when we get back, we will begin training." He stood and bowed, the rest of his nervous council members repeating the gesture.
"And so we will fight." Pasang intoned quietly as the Westeners swept out, leaving the Southern Council alone in the chamber.
Gyatso shared a long look with Pasang. "And so we will fight." He repeated.
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think, I have a few ideas about how to continue this but am leaving it as a oneshot for the moment.
Reviews are cool!