I do not own Avatar
Chapter 1
Aang, Sokka, and Katara sat contentedly around their campfire after eating dinner.
"Ahh, it doesn't get much better than this my friends," Sokka sighed, patting his bulging belly.
"I don't know Sokka, the world is at war… and I still have to find an earthbending teacher," Aang reminded him reluctantly. He was still trying to figure out what Bumi had meant by a teacher who waited and listened before striking. Who did that??
"That won't be so hard as long as we do what King Bumi said," Katara immediately wanting to ease Aang's burdens.
Aang was about to reply when Sokka abruptly cut him off.
"Shhh, do you hear that?" Sokka whispered, his eyes growing wider.
The group became quiet and listened to what sounded like a herd of rhinos closing in on them.
"How could they have found us?" exclaimed Sokka exasperatedly, already starting to shove their supplies in a bag.
"Wait," Aang stopped him. "It sounds like they're already chasing someone… or something."
"Well let's not stick around to find out," Sokka yelled and jumped on Appa.
Out of no where something big and furry crashed through their campsite. Despite its size, the creature agilely weaved through their campsite, not stepping on anything. And it was gone. Just as quickly as it came.
Moments later a group of fire nation soldiers, all on rhinos, plowed through their campsite, not even aware of their presence. They were in hot pursuit of whatever they were chasing.
"Well that was random," said Sokka at the same time he lost his balance and tumbled off Appa's back.
"C'mon, we've gotta help it!" said Aang, his glider already open and ready to go. Without waiting for a response, he was gone.
"GAAHH!! Come on! Does he really have to help some animal that will probably have us for dinner if we saved—" Sokka complained, but Katara was already off to help Aang.
"Of course," he grumbled to himself. He yanked his boomerang out of his bag and took off after the other two.
Aang flew high above the chase and tried to get a better look at the animal. It was nothing he had ever seen before and looked to be a wolf of some kind.
"No, it can't be; the thing's as big as a platypus bear…" Aang thought to himself. What ever it was, the Fire Nation was after it and it needed help. Aang looked back at the wolf and saw that it had collapsed and the soldiers were gaining. He flew down lower and dropped between the wolf and the soldiers, sending a large gust of air flying at the soldiers. They flew off their animal and were stopped for the time being. Aang turned to the beast, "Let's get out of here!"
Aang had been right; it was a wolf and a freakishly large wolf at that. It seemed to understand exactly what Aang had said and was immediately on its feet. Wow. The wolf's head was even with his.
The animal turned lightly on its haunches and took off, despite its obvious pain. Aang flew beside it and suddenly a ball of fire whizzed passed his ear, narrowly missing his head. More came and one nailed the wolf in one of its powerful rear legs. It howled in pain and once again dropped to the ground. It seemed to be completely drained of energy and ready to give up, but Aang wasn't.
Aang stood his ground as the herd of rhinos charged towards them. It looked as if they would run Aang right over when, out of no where, came a wave of water, followed by a relieved Katara. She bended some water up to her hands, ready to fight. The two fought off the soldiers, protecting the wolf. They finished the last one together, not realizing the threat that was creeping up behind them. All they heard was a loud thump and turned to see the last soldier lying at their feet next to a boomerang.
Katara worked her palms that were incased in glowing water, over the animal's wounds.
"It's tired, probably running for days dodging those soldiers," she told the others in a concerned voice.
"Is it going to die?" Aang asked her softly.
"No it's going to recover; we were able to help it in time."
"Why would you even want to help it?!? The thing probably has rabies or something and will kill us all if it wakes up!!" Sokka asked them.
"I'm not sure. I kind of just acted on instinct back there. Something drove me to go after it and I just can't put my finger on it, but it's special, I know it." Aang tried to explain it as best he could.
"You just know," Sokka repeated dubiously.
"I know what you mean Aang. There's something strangely human about it," Katara said looking at the creatures face. Katara ran her healing water once more over the wounds.
"There, that should be good for tonight—" She pulled the water back and it seemed to pull the wolf up with it. The three gasped as the wolf began to change.
It was taking the form of a young girl, fourteen years old maybe.
My eyes flew open. I winced, expecting the pain to come immediately, but it didn't. I looked around and realized I was not alone. In one fluid movement I was in a defensive crouch, a hostile snarl escaped my lips. I faced three children, my eyes resting on the oddest looking one. He was bald with arrows running up his arms, legs, and head. The memories flooded back right away. This was the one who had saved me. I relaxed my stance slightly, suddenly realizing something. Horrified, my eyes had fallen on my bare human arms and hands.
"Its Ok," the bald one was telling me in a soothing voice. "We're your friends! My name is Aang, I'm the Avatar, and these are my friends Katara and Sokka."
It took me a couple seconds to realize they were looking at me expectantly like they wanted me to respond.
"My name is Lupin," I stated, a hostile edge still hung in my voice.
"So why were those soldiers so focused on capturing you that they were completely oblivious when they passed the Avatar?" Katara asked me.
I deliberated whether or not I should trust them for a few seconds while studying their faces that were overwhelmed with curiosity. I figured I could trust the Avatar.
"It is a very long story," I warned them.
"We've got plenty of time," said Sokka.
The tree watched the mysterious girl as she began her story.
"I come from a tribe of people whose ancestors can be traced to the Southern Water Tribe. We are the Wolf Spirit Tribe and my people possess one gift that is not like any other human being on this earth. Thousands of years ago, two lovers who were not allowed to be together eloped. They had stumbled upon a large island that was not far from the South Pole. The land seemed uninhabited, so the two settled there. What they did not know was that an angered spirit lived there by the name of Taha Aki. He was angry because hunters from the Southern Water Tribe had killed off all of the mortal wolves living on the island for a sport. The two terrified lovers begged for mercy from the mighty spirit, saying they would do anything to make up for the crime their people had committed. When it seemed as though the spirit would kill them, he over shadowed the man and the woman. Instead of killing them, he gave then each a piece of him that made the two like him. They phased into wolves and roamed the land. They became the first wolf people and eventually made a pack. The wolves didn't know how to control their powers and were very dangerous. Later one of their more civilized children was able to collect himself enough to phase back into a human. He taught the others and they were all able to become human again. But their tempers were short and if they lost it, the fights could be deadly. It was generations before my people became practiced in controlling their powers and became more civilized. Our pack became more like a tribe and it has been for many, many years." Lupin finished her tale and paused for a breath before answering Katara's question.
"A few years ago, that group of Fire Nation soldiers some how found out about our tribe and began trying to capture us as if we were some kind of trophies," she said in a disgusted tone. "And if you think I'm big, you should see our warriors. They protected us and kept them away, but the troops steadily began to grow. The firebenders burned down our village and took the lives of many of our loved ones. Every wolf in our tribe was fighting, including me, but it was becoming too much. My mother made a safe escape for me in a desperate attempt to save her only child." She stopped for a moment when her voice broke, tears streaming down her face.
"When all hope seemed to be lost, we heard a deafening roar, a bright stream of light shown on the site where the battle took place.
"'NEVER AGAIN WILL MY PEOPLE BE WIPED FROM THIS EARTH BY YOU HUMANS,'" The furious roar had come from Taha Aki.
I was far from the battle, but at the sound of his voice I turned in amazement.
"'YOU SAVAGE FOOLS WILL DIE BEFORE EVER HAVING A PRAYER OF FINDING THEM! COME MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!'" his voice boomed, echoing for miles.
"At that, my people, all of my friends and family vanished along with the light. I ran faster than I ever had before. I returned to my abandoned village. It was burned to ashes.
"Taha Aki, you have forgotten one of your sisters!" I howled painfully. When nothing happened I howled again.
"'Sister, I have not forgotten you,'" Taha Aki said to me appearing before me. He was the biggest wolf I have ever seen.
"'The other spirits have kept me from taking you as well because you are to serve a vital purpose in restoring peace to this world at war. I will be with you, where ever you are, help will come'"
"With that Taha Aki vanished and I set off looking for the reason I am still here. During my journey the soldiers found me and began to hunt me. They have been chasing me ever since. I am lucky to be alive. Thank you for healing me," she said turning to Katara.
"You're welcome," the other girl told her warmly.
"Wow you weren't kidding. That was a really long story!" said Sokka.
"So do you know what your purpose is yet?" Aang asked.
"Nope. I just have to trust Taha Aki to guide me," she said simply.
"Oh well, you can come with us if you want to! We travel all around the world!" Aang said excitedly. He was intrigued by the girl who was also a wolf.
"I don't know…" she bit her lip. It would be nice to not have to travel alone and have some help fighting off those soldiers. But did she really want to put them in danger like that after they so kindly helped her?
"You don't have to answer right away," said Aang quickly not wanting to pressure her.
"I think she could be very good for our group," Sokka said. "Wolves are good at hunting right? She could capture us some MEAT!"
"Shut up Sokka, we want her to join so she stays safe," Katara told her brother irritatedly.
"I guess I could see how it goes," Lupin said slowly. Maybe this is what the spirit wanted her to do.
"Alright we should all get some shut eye. It's getting really late," said Katara.
The rest agreed and made themselves comfortable.
"Sorry Lupin, we don't have any more sleeping bags…" Katara said feeling guilty.
"That's ok, I'm more comfortable on the ground," she reassured her.
Lupin took a breath and let the heat travel down her spine. Her body gave her what she wanted right away without thinking about it. She was a wolf again and she sighed contentedly. Being a wolf was what was familiar to her and she preferred it to being human. And it was ten times more comfortable than a sleeping bag.
Ignoring the other three's stares she curled up into a ball and laid her head on her paws.
"Good night," she told them happily.
That's what I got so far. This just kind of came to me so sorry if it's a little sloppy. Please R&R.