Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, but I do own Jack.
Chapter 1
The Freedom Fighter
Jet's crew really didn't know much about the newcomer. There was Longshot, Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, the Duke, and then...this guy. He just kinda showed up one day, in a Fire Nation camp as a prisoner. They freed him, offered him a place to stay. When they asked for his name, he said he didn't know. All he knew about himself was that he had woken up in the forest with a sword, and had been walking when he was captured. The newcomer accepted their offer, and when they asked for his name, he couldn't give him one. Jet decided to call him Jack, and his crew grew one person larger.
Jack was assumed to be about fourteen years old, as he didn't know his own age. He was approximately six feet tall, and had a lean, muscled figure. His black shaggy hair was just long enough to partially hide his emerald eyes, and his serious features were quite masculine. Jack had proved himself to Jet to be a valuable member of the team when he took out ten men with what seemed like little effort, and then took up a fallen Longshot's bow and fulfilled the mission's objective. But, Jack always broke off from the team on his own, earning him the moniker, "Lone Wolf". He claimed to hate it, but he let everyone keep on calling him it.
So it went for a couple months, when Jack decided to leave. He said, "I want to find out more about the world, and who I am." So, off he went, into the big wide world. After a couple weeks, Jack had heard reports of sightings of the Avatar, although he generally ignored them. And so he traveled, hunting and foraging as he went along, taking up the occasional odd job for some quick cash. He finally found himself stopping at a large swamp, and that, is where our story begins.
It certainly smells like a swamp, was Jack's first thought, as he wrinkled his nose the smell of the moist decay. This had been the only real obstacle in his path, beside the Great Divide. He checked himself over to make sure his gear was intact.
His light, leather armor was secure, along with his slightly curved sword, with it's polished dark red sheath and grip. The quiver and bow Jet had given him upon his departure was still there, though he only had a dozen or so arrows left. Rope, grappling hook, rations, flint and steel, tinder, spare clothes, it was all in the backpack still. Jack grimaced, and took his first step into the dank swamp.
The first twenty or so minutes weren't bad, but he slowly grew weary of the constant slogging through mud. More than once, he came across a stream he had to ford, and twice of those he had slipped and fallen in. Hours passed, and the more he traveled, the more he hated the swamp. He decided to take a rest, and sat on an overturned tree, taking off his boots and rubbing his feet.
He knew he had to have made good progress so far. When he had asked the people in town about the swamp, they said it would take about a day's travel to get across, if you kept at it. I bet most of those people never even walked through it themselves, they probably just heard from other people. Jack thought with venom, and began to retie his boots.
Suddenly, the earth began to rumble like an earthquake, and Jack braced himself against the tree immediately. It went on for a minute, getting only stronger and stronger. But then is stopped, without warning. Jack then heard distant splashes, and after a few moments, screams. He hurried toward them to investigate.
They weren't that far away whoever they were. Who they were, was a good question indeed. Two dark-skinned teenagers, wearing blue, and a bald kid wearing orange. They looked as if they had just ended up here, and were looking around with confusion. Hmm...maybe they can help? Jack thought optimistically, and he hid while listening in.
"...and the tornado just disappeared.", said the kid.
"Either way, we gotta find Appa and Momo," said the male teenager, and he pulled out something metal."C'mon, I'll lead." Jack watched this group slog off toward a veil of thick, green vines. Jack couldn't hear them from here, so he had to make a decision. After some self-argument, he leapt out from behind the tree and shouted, "HEY!"
All three strangers spun around, all of them in some sort of stance. The boy and girl seemed to be some kind of benders, and the guy was a warrior, brandishing his machete. Jack put his hands up, trying to relay some sign of surrender. "Listen, I'm not here to fight, I just noticed you guys show up." Jack said, slowly and choosing his words carefully."I was thinking we could work together, maybe get out of this swamp?"
The strangers started whispering amongst each other, the warrior keeping eye contact with Jack the whole time. After a minute or two, the kid stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Aang, and this Katara and Sokka." The kid greeted, gesturing toward his companions when he spoke their names. "We lost some others that were a part of our group, and are looking for them. If you help us find them, we'll help you get out of the swamp. Sound fair,...ehm, what is your name?"
"Jack." Jack answered, and nodded in agreement."That sounds like a fair deal. Who exactly are we looking for?" He inquired, nearing the group.
"A flying lemur and a flying bison named Momo and Appa." Aang responded, his face serious. Jack blinked once or twice, and then shrugged.
"Whatever gets us out of this swamp faster, I guess. Any idea where they might be?" Jack asked, and Aang shrugged.
"Nope. We were flying past and a random tornado came out of nowhere. We got caught in it, and now we're here." Aang explained, and Jack nodded. That must of been the rumbling that happened earlier.
"Hey!" Sokka interjected, already starting to hack his way through the foliage ahead."Are you two gonna stand around talking all day, or are we gonna get moving?" With that, Aang and Jack ran over to join the rest of the group. As Sokka cut through more of the jungle, Aang kept saying that maybe Sokka should be nicer to the swamp. Sokka just played it off with sarcasm, and although Jack secretly agreed, he kept quiet. He started to ask Katara and Aang details about their journey.
The two recounted various stories about where the group met up, and where they traveled. Jack blinked in suprise when they mentioned meeting Jet and his crew. "Hey, I used to be with those guys.", Jack said, and the three gave him dark looks.
"Jet wasn't a good person at all.", Aang explained. "It turns out that he was actually planning on wiping out innocent people just for some twisted idea of revenge he wanted to see come true." Aang looked at Jack, and shrugged. "He seemed like a nice guy."
"Aaaaand I was right all along!" Sokka shouted back at them."I told you guys he was bad news, but noooooo, Sokka never knows what's going on."
"To be fair Sokka, we thought you were using your instincts." Katara jeered, and Sokka glared at her. Not understanding the joke, Jack asked them continue their story. They told him of the various places they saw on their way North, meeting various people and seeing amazing sights. They eventually stopped at the Northern Water Tribe, and were even their for the seige. Jack had heard about that battle, and had heard that the Avatar even appeared. When Jack mentioned that detail, Aang and Katara looked nervously at one another, and confirmed the rumor to be true. They quickly ended their story with details about Omashu's takeover, and then stopped. "What about you? What's your story, Jack?" Katara asked, and Jack shrugged.
"Isn't very much to tell. Like I said, I joined Jet's crew a couple months back, after they found me in the woods during one of their patrols. I didn't remember anything but my name, and all I had was this sword." Jack gestured to the sword on his hip. "After a those couple months though, I decided I needed to see the world and find out who I really am. My first destination is the capital, Ba Sing Se. After that, who knows?" Jack finished his explanation, and Aang gasped with excitement.
"We're going to Ba Sing Se too! Maybe we can travel there together when we find Appa and Momo?!" Aang offered, and Jack nodded.
"If it's no trouble, that sounds like a great idea." Jack answered, and Aang grinned widely.
"Not to break up the fun time, but it's getting dark and we should set up camp." Sokka cut in, and began to cut some wood off of a nearby tree. Jack nodded in agreement, and set his things down to help with the campsite.
As night fell, Jack shared his rations with the group, of which they thanked him heartily. Jack watched them slip off into a slumber, and he decided to take watch. The swamp made a melody of animal noises and splashes, a lullaby of nature's origin. It was nice listening as Jack waited for morning, but he unfortunately slipped under sleep's welcoming embrace in the midst of the night.
Jack woke with a start, as he was being dragged away from his post. He managed to grab his sword and unsheathe it, while the vines wrapped around his body picked up speed. The blade flashed, and the vines were severed. Jack jumped to his feet, looking about for the others and slashing at any vines nearby. The others were dragged off into the mist, Jack unable to get near them due to the vines shooting out at random.
The vines had almost a mind of their own, occasionally dodging his strikes and weaving between his stance's openings. A few solid minutes of pure swinging and cutting passed, and the vines finally stopped coming. Jack gathered his belongings, hefting the pack roughly onto his shoulders. Leaving his sword out in his hand, he walked off to find the others. Deciding that Sokka would be better in finding the remaing two, Jack headed in the direction he had been dragged.
A thick fog had risen overnight, causing Jack to stumble through the swamp. He still walked cautiously, listening intently and keeping the grip on his sword tight. Something was in the swamp, and it really didn't like people being here.
Jack came upon a large pool of water, that surface coming up to his knees. He strode through it, looking about for any signs of the others. Finding none, he started to leave, when he heard a whisper off in the fog. "Jack...", it said, it's tone wheezy and light. Jack froze, and readied his sword.
"Who's there?", Jack shouted, spinning around to try and catch a glimpse of the whisperer.
"...come home...Jack...", the voice said, and Jack saw nothing but fog. The voice seemed to come from all around, rather than a specific direction. Home? I don't have a home. Jack responded silently, and heard a splash behind him. He spun, sword pulled back for a slash. There stood a silvery figure, but he couldn't make out details. It appeared to be some kind of man.
"Who are you?", Jack demanded of the figure, but there was no answer. The figure just stared. Suddenly, there were more splashes, and Jack turned to see more figures. Men, women, children...surrounding the pool's edge.
"...Jack...", they all whispered unison, and began moving in on Jack, slowly. Jack gritted his teeth. I hope swords are good against ghosts... But then, Jack heard quick, light splashes, which sounded like someone running. The figures disappeared, and in their place stood Katara, whose pant legs were wet.
"Jack?", she asked with a bit of suprise, and saw his raised sword."What's going on, are you being attacked?" Katara began to look around, sinking into a combat stance, when Jack put his sword away.
"No, not attacked. I thought I saw something, but it must've just been you." Jack explained, and Katara nodded, standing up straight. "Any idea where Aang or Sokka is?"
"Nope, I was hoping that you had found one of them." She answered, and as if on cue, Sokka burst through the fog and crashed into Katara, knocking them both down into the water. After a few minutes of squabbling, they both stood, dripping."Hey Sokka." Katara spat out, and Sokka shrugged.
"Sorry, I thought something was chasing me.", Sokka said, and Jack shrugged.
"This swamp seems to do that to people. C'mon, let's go find Aang so we can try and get out of here." Jack said, and started to march off. But then, Aang flew past overhead, screaming, "Swamp monster!"
Before anyone could ask, a large, green, giant blob burst through the fog, causing Jack to fall backwards. Upon closer inspection, the thing was made of thick vines! Jack scrambled away, knowing this thing was beyond him. Sokka began to charge it machete raised, when Jack stopped him.
"Lemme go! We gotta stop this thing!" Sokka cried, and Jack shook his head furiously.
"Look at that thing, it's too big, there's no way we can take it out!" Jack reasoned, and Sokka looked at Jack as if he was stupid.
"Aang's the Avatar, trust me, this is nothing for us!", Sokka reassured, and Jack looked over at Aang. That kid is the Avatar? The guy that disappeared for over a hundred years? How is he still young? Jack's questions were going to have to wait, as the swamp monster began to swing wildly with it's vines. Taking cover behind a large tree, Jack waited for the sounds of battle to cease.
After several minutes, the sounds stopped, and Jack poked his head out to investigate. There stood a old hermit looking fellow, amongst the fallen vines. Jack rejoined with the rest of the group, and followed in suit.
After traveling to the tree and learning about the swamp's abnormal properties, the group sat down with the swamp people who tried to capture and eat Appa and Momo. After all was forgiven, Jack got his first look at Appa. He touched his fluffy white fur, as if to make sure he wasn't imagining the thing being there. It was quite a sight.
After dinner and pleasantries were had, Jack approached Aang. "So, you're the Avatar?" Jack began, and Aang scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Um, yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you at first. Most people kind of freak out when they first meet me." Aang explained, and Jack nodded."To clear up some questions you probably have, I've been frozen in the South Pole for a hundred years. Now, I have to go learn all three bending styles in order to defeat the Fire Lord and return balance to the world. I just learned waterbending, so all that is left is earth and firebending. So, there you have it."
Jack thanked Aang for his honesty, and then joined them as they left the swamp on Appa. They dropped Jack off at the edge of the swamp, and said farewell and perhaps they will meet again. As Jack watched them fly off, he had a really strong feeling that they would.
End of Chapter 1