A Rotation of Voices

In the gentle glow of the moon, a flying bison's shadow swiftly flies over the ocean.

The avatar child sleeps while his two companions are awake watching him as he stirs.

"Aang's dreaming" Katara whispers as she smiles down at the boy. "Look, his eyes are still moving under his eyelids."

"Hehe, probably about taking rides on more crazy wild animals." Sokka laughs.

"Shhh! Don't disturb him!" Katara whispers sharply to her brother.

Little do these two know what an avatar is able to dream of in the deepest state of sleep.

Old memories, long forgotten are suddenly remembered.

Like the bones of ancient creatures that wash on the beach after a rainy day…centuries after they had actually drifted below into the ocean…


- THE RED FEATHER.

Those two little children had been following him all day and would not stop. From the end of the village to the old grove next to the field they kept on going, chirping and tagging along like baby ducks. He finally lost patience and turned around.

"Guys, would you stop bothering me?" The sixteen-year-old boy asks. "I have to train before the sages take me to leave for the temple next week"

"C'mon Roku." eight-year-old Haozen requests to him "Just for old time's sake?"

"Yeah, can you do one last trick for us before you leave? Pretty PLEEEESE?" Haozen's little cousin, Hikari tugs at Roku's red robe.

"Aw, alright. Just this LAST TIME, or I'll never hear the end of it." Roku smiles as he gives in.

"YAYYY! Show us the best bending trick you know." Hikari claps. "Make it good!"

Roku pulls up his sleeves. "Okay, here's something that I hope even the sages will be impressed with."

"Ooh ooh! Are you going to make a tornado of fire like last time? Or punch your most powerful fireball into the air until it reaches the sky?" Haozen asks with anticipation.

"Something a little different."


Roku takes a red feather out of his pocket. He looks and walks over to a nearby thorn bush with sharp and pointed ends. Roku parts the outward prickes, and places the delicate feather deep inside of the tangle of thorns carefully. The young firebender then walks in circles around the bush, as if slowly taking in its form and shape.

What is he doing? The two children wonder.

"Hey, have you two ever thought that fire is something that could not only be bended, but also be listened to? Something primal that could speak in words that only the person bending it could hear?" Roku says as he continues slowly pacing around the thorn bush.

"You sound like my grandpa." Haozen laughs. "What is this about? Aren't you gonna do your trick yet?"

"I mean think about it…" Roku says, still focused on the plant. "If you can listen to the fire and what it says, you can also make it do the most unusual things."

"Huh?" little Hikari cocks her head in confusion.


It is then that Roku steps back, takes a deep breath and sets the bush on fire with a wave of his arm. The twigs begin to heat up, snap and crack. The flame feeding on them so rapidly that they disintegrate. A dead smoky wooden smell begins to fill the air as the thorns shrivel and shrink away, their shadows waving in the fire like sharp black fingers curling.

Haozen and Hikari do not say a word. They look at Roku's stern face and see that his eyes are closed and his lips are moving.

He is chanting to the fire.

It burns itself out after several minutes. There is nothing left but a pile of black ash and bits of burned wood.

"Was that it?" Haozen asked, disappointed. "I'm sorry Roku, but that wasn't very… special."

"That was kind of dumb." Hikari pouts.


Roku simply grins. He bends down to Hikari and whispers in her ear, and points to the pile of ash. Hikari makes a funny face, walks over to the pile and sticks her hand into it. She digs around for a while, then…her eyes widen in disbelief at what she takes out.

The red feather.

"IT DIDN"T GET BURNDED!" Hikari exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

Haozen's jaw drops. "B-But..B-But." He stutters. "How, did you…how could it stil…Is that feather magic or something?"

"I made sure that the feather was completely untouched by the flame." Roku explains. "I told you that if you can listen to what fire says, you can make it do the most unusual things. Here, you and Haozen can keep the feather, to remember me by… since I'll be gone for a long time."

Hikari looks up at him, anxiously.

"Roku…why are you leaving the village to go with the sages?" She asks, in bit of a sad tone.

"I don't know, but they say it's about something very important." He answers, a little bit worried.

"Will you come back?" Haozen's asks him.

"I'll try to. Don't you guys worry about me…" Roku says, patting both of their heads.

The two little children try not to cry as they watch their dearest friend leave them.


Next:

Chapter 2: THE GIRL IN GREEN