Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Shadow Bending Chronicles
Chapter One: Heroes from the Fire
The smell of the salt water was always the best part of flying over the ocean; the scent filled the lungs with air and the mind with memories. It had been a while since a flight like this had been made, or at least for such a long time over the waters. It was a very hot day, as was everyday near the coast of the Fire Nation, and the air had a very warm breeze pushing the clouds back and forth. The Avatar held the reigns of his sky-bison loosely in his hands, as he stared out at the looming mass of land just peeking out of the horizon.
"There it is, Appa" Aang said, rubbing the top of the skybison's head, sitting up higher to look around into the wide base saddle behind him. "Hey, guys, wake up. We're here!"
"It's been three and a half years since the fall of Fire Lord Ozai, or as he called himself; "the Phoenix King" and the reign of the Fire Nation came to an end. The world was then resided; or at least, that's what we hoped. There were many people who were still convinced that the war was never going to end, and didn't believe that Ozai had fallen. There were many groups and clans of the Fire nation who were still loyal to Ozai, but most of them were solved by Aang and the newest to the throne, Fire Lord Zuko. It was then Aang's job, being the present Avatar to bring balance back to the world, and endure all that was thrown his way. Aang is proven his position as Avatar, but now he must face a power that only the he can resolve. But we will always be there for him; Me, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Appa, Momo, and everyone who knows that the Aang will fulfill his destiny as Avatar, and bring balance to the world." –Katara
"Wow…I remember the trip to the Earth Kingdom being long, but this was insane. How long have you been awake, Aang?" Katara spoke up, leaning up against the side of the saddle, hair swaying in the warm morning breeze.
"I didn't sleep at all. I went right on through the night, same as Appa." Aang said, patting the top of Appa's head, who grunted in recognition.
"Geez, twinkle-toes, no sleep at all? You sound like you're not tired at all!" Toph spoke up, also leaning up against the side of Appa's saddle.
"I didn't need to; I took the night time period to meditate before sunrise, it was really reflective."
Sokka snorted and bolted up, still caught between sleep and consciousness. "You know, I always thought of meditating as a type of sleep. Think about it, your eyes are close, you don't move around and you don't even talk. An explosion could go off and you won't even budge." He exclaimed, cleaning out his ear with his pinky finger.
"Shows that you never meditated before, Sokka, you do the opposite of all of those things when an explosion goes off." Toph said, a smirk slightly forming on her face.
"Hey, I've manned up, especially when it comes to short notice." Sokka said, folding his arms in a manner of fact way.
"Oh, really?" Aang asked, and pulled twice on Appa's reigns, and Katara and Toph gripped tightly with one hand to the saddle. Appa dropped suddenly, sending Sokka up into the air, who screamed very loudly, frantically swinging his arms to grab the saddle, still free falling. Aang pulled up slightly on Appa's reigns, and Sokka crashed into the saddle, flatting his face into the flat surface. Katara, Toph, and Aang laughed at this, and Appa grunted in hilarity.
"Oh sure; Ha-ha, very funny; I meant when it came to battle, not laugh-less humor against me."
"Oh, just try to put a smile on your face." Katara said in a mothering, snappy tone, "It's going to be a good day, I can tell." Katara exchanged looks with Aang, who smiled widely. Aang and Katara have been together as a couple ever since the end of the Fire Nation war, which was entitled "The 100 Years of Fire" war; and they still remain a loving pair, not going far without the other unless it was unavoidable.
The reason that Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka were traveling on Appa was due to the fact that today was a day of celebration; a remembrance of the war that lasted for so long, and remembering the heroes who saved the world from Ozai's reign of power. Fire Lord Zuko was now into the depths of controlling the nation that he was assigned to lead and has done a well job as the new fire lord. The only thing, as he has written letter to Aang before, he hates the idea of everyone asking him questions. While Zuko has turned over a new leaf, he still hates being asked to do things that require a lot of 'un-needed' energy. He believed that energy was something that should only be used for the ideal purpose. Many people didn't believe that Zuko had this kind of thoughts, but after befriending the Avatar, his perspective on the world changed.
The crowd waiting at the docks were enormous, all of them cheering for the flying bison to make a commercial landing to intrigue the audience, which Appa ended up doing; he circled over the crowd twice and then made a diving landing onto the platform given, then once on the platform, raised his head and let out a big roar, which sparked a big explosion of applause and cheers. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph hoped down from the saddle and began to make there way to the giant red carpeted line to the steps where a lone figure stood at the top. Aang bowed respectively to the crowd; Katara waved to the applauding people; Toph simply raised a hand, showing that she appreciated the effort; Sokka began to flash muscles at the groups of people, who cheered the show boding on. Aang looked up the stairs at the big warm smile of the fire lord and very close friend, Zuko.
"The all knowing and powerful; Avatar Aang." He said, holding out his arms in praising to the shorter person clad in golden robes and garments of blue and silver.
"The savor, and king of the lands of Fire; Fire Lord Zuko." Aang said, holding out his hands at the taller being, draped in red and crimson robes, and ceremonial head piece. Both Fire Lord and Avatar placed their hands together and bowed low and respectively to one another, and when the rose, they embraced in a friendly hug.
"How are you, Aang? It's been a while." Zuko said, after parting, and sizing up the avatar. "I've only kept in touch through the letters I send."
"I've been fine, and the letters have been very funny to read. How are the Royal guards now? Have they finally stopped declaring random agni-kai against one another yet?" Aang said, a smile appearing on his face.
"Thankfully, yes. They had to work out by talking to Uncle, which is never a brief process. After the talk, they seemed to resolve their problems but having tea during their break." Zuko said, a contented expression breaking into laughter. Katara, Sokka, and Toph had made there way up the stairs, and where greeted with a bow and a hug by Zuko. The group now followed the long red carpet to the fire nation palace, which seemed to glow and shine in the morning sunlight.
"So, you've all been traveling too?" Zuko asked, walking next to Aang in a slow, mannerly walk. "How hard is the convincing of people that the world's balance is now upon reaching?"
"Actually, the people and groups we have run into have been good, but then there are the extremely bad. While there are a good amount of people who grasp the idea that the war is finally over; but there are some who still remain loyal to your father. They have tried to take us down by force, but none of them have succeeded." Aang said, looking off into the silhouette cast by the palace ahead.
"What did they expect? It was the Avatar how over through Ozai, how far did they think they could possibly get?" Sokka said in amongst and elaborate combination of hand gestures toward Aang.
"Hey, it wasn't just Aang doing all of the work; we all had our honorable fight within the last two years away from the Fire Nation." Katara said, folding her arms in a cross manner.
"Yeah, I liked telling those men in the tanks outside of Omashu whose boss, they were easier to take then playing tag with a turtle-seal; Piece of cake!" Toph said, balling a fist and smacking it into the other hand.
"I remember when Sokka and I single handedly took out the rouge bandits, inside of Ba Sing Se, those guys knew what they were getting themselves into, and they still went forward." Katara said, nudging Sokka in remembrance.
"But none the less, we rose up as the victors, and they were taken into custody. Man that was oh so sweet." Sokka said, placing his hands behind his head, smirking heavily.
"Well, a lot of my confrontations where not far from here," Zuko said, looking back at Katara, Sokka and Toph. "Apart from reoccurring messages from other nations, there was one event that I just can't for get. There was a raid of a village just over the mountains to the east. I sent fifteen squads that way, but all of them found nothing left, the remains were all but ashes, in which case the raid turned to a critical matter of dealing with a massacre upon those who did nothing wrong. I, myself went to go see the sight for myself, and was then ambushed by a hundred or more men, all saying that my father was the greatest leader in fire nation history. I had no choice but to take the offensive, and single handedly brought all of those men down. After the fight, I had them shipped of to the Boiling Rock prison, where they will take the time to sweat out their decisions."
"Wow, I guess you've been rather busy also." Aang noted, patting Zuko on the shoulder, a slight smile behind his words.
"What about you? Do you have any battles that deserve recognition?" Zuko asked, as they grew nearer to the palace's wide doors.
"I have one, but I will wait before telling. This is something I would like to share publicly. I want everyone to hear this tale." Aang said, looking back at Katara, Sokka and Toph, who seemed to respond to his words by nodding slightly.
The festivity hall was packed from the wall to wall with people sitting at tables label with mass amounts of food. The crowds applauded at the arrival of Aang, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, people standing up in respect, most were cheering. They made there way to the long table laid with a strip of red silk from end to end. The each took there seat from the center seat of honor at the table. There were familiar faces of people who were seated at the table and the seating arrangement was ceremonial: In the center, Zuko placed his hands on the table when he took his seat in the regal chair; to his left, Aang seated gallantly in his seat, looking out amongst the crowds of people; and to the left of him, Katara sat in a mannerly fashion, placing her hands in her lap a smile on her face; and at the end of the table to the left, was Iroh, Zuko's uncle who was very deep into a conversation with a person at the table holding the other heroes of the war. On Zuko's right, was his girlfriend Mai, who greeted with Zuko with a kiss, and a light smile; to Mai's left, was Sokka, who for the most part was mesmerized by the food and to the person sitting to his right: Suki, the head of the Kyoshi Warriors, who was holding hands, talking quietly to Sokka, pointing out certain people in the crowd; at the end of the table, Toph sat tapping the table noticing that the table was made of stone, so the vibrations she made by tapping her finger, she can feel everything that was in front of her plus the worthy aroma. She also brought up her left foot up and brought it forcefully down, that way she could sense who was sitting were, and noticed that at the other table to her right was another table, filled with others she knew, and began a conversation with the one at the end of that table.
After everyone was acquainted, Zuko then stood up and raised a hand to silence the room of people. The room quieted down to nothing, and everyone took a seat, if not seated already.
"My friends, to all of you, welcome to this day in which we will remember the day in which the longest war in history came to an end, thanks to all of the people who are here today, the Heroes of the Fire!" Zuko said, using his hands to express how he talked to the crowd. The crowds of people sitting at the table cheered in acknowledgment, some standing in great emotion.
"Now," Zuko continued as the crowd settled down, "Let us take this time to dine on a lunch to last us until our dinner tonight, in which we will take the time to honor our victorious with us today, and those who have fallen with their pride. After we eat, there are festivities happening in the palace square, which is sure to last you well on into the night. Well then, let us eat!" He finished by sitting to the loud applause of people who began to gladly help themselves and help others to the large amounts of food laid on the table, and all of the conversations were resumed.
"You've really improved at your social skills." Aang said, patting Zuko on the shoulder lightly.
Zuko placed his hand on Aang's shoulder, "I've grown with my sociable skills, as much as you've grown in size, you are very tall now, and it's spooky."
"Well, a growth spurt was just one of the things that crossed my path. There are events that I too would like to share, but for now, I'd like to just have as much fun as possible." Aang said, beginning to take food from the plates.
Zuko simply smiled, and said, "That still sound strange coming from the Avatar; someone who should look at the world with a devoted eye."
"Oh, I'm devoted to the world," Aang said, raising his eyebrows, "I just don't see the point in keeping the world as balanced as possible without having a good time in doing so."
"That is true wisdom, Aang, true wisdom." Zuko said, now beginning to dine.