Avatar: The Last Airbender
By Frost-Eva-04
Story Name undecided
A/N: Hey guys. I haven't written anything in I-don't-know how long, so bear with me, okay? This is my first Avatar fic and I was hoping to do something new with the series. This one starts at the end of the first episode of Book 3: Fire. Aang has just drifted ashore on the crescent shaped island.
If you guys have any questions just PM me or put them in reviews, I don't care.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its trademarks. I do own Guang though, but more about him soon.
On with the story!!! Yay… lol
I'm sorry I forgot in the original version… I give a lot of thanks to my beta-reader PetertheChameleon.
Aang had just lost all hope in the middle of the sea as he floated for his life. The storm had waves crashing all around him, throwing him around like a rag doll. He felt that the ocean spirit itself was trying to punish him for failing in Ba Sing Se.
A particularly strong wave smashed into him, sending him underwater. Quickly he regained himself and swam back to the surface, grabbing onto the floating debris next to him as he tried to catch his breath. Thinking about his recent failure; Aang felt despair.
"I'm not gonna make it," the young Avatar said to himself. "I've failed."
A bolt of lightning flashed, causing Aang to close his eyes, but as he opened them again, a familiar figure floated above the water in front of him. "Roku?"
"You haven't failed, Aang," Roku said calmly to his younger self.
"But everyone thinks I'm dead again." Aang looked away from his past life. "They think I've abandoned them, and I'm losing this war," he admitted shamefully. "I'm letting the whole world down."
"If anyone is to blame for the state of the world, it is me." Roku gazed down upon Aang. "I should have seen this war coming, and prevented it." His expression changed to one of sorrow. "You inherited my problems, and my mistakes." He looked down in shame. "But I believe you are destined to redeem me, and save the world," he finished with more resolve.
"I don't know," Aang replied.
"You've already saved the world." Aang looked up to see the clouds part around the moon and Yue the moon spirit light the area around him. "And you can save the world again." She slowly floated down to him. "But you can't give up." The rain and the wind around him stopped, letting the sea calm as the moon spirit descended upon him.
Finding new courage and power within him, Aang looked to her. "You're right, I won't give up." He turned from her he bended a wave around him and hopped up on the debris he was holding onto like a surf board. Yue gave his wave an extra boost to help speed his journey. When she was done she slowly floated back to her home.
Aang traveled for a while before spotting an island shaped like a crescent moon with an active volcano. As his wave approached, he used water bending to slow it. When he made it to shore, he promptly fell on the ground and passed out, exhausted.
Sokka, Katara, and Toph were searching every island they could find while they looked for their missing comrade. They had already flown over four islands trying to find him. They were flying over another one when Toph spoke up.
"There he is!" she yelled, pointing toward the water opposite from the island.
"Where?!" the two Water Tribe siblings replied as they searched the waters for Aang. They both slowly turned toward Toph, glaring daggers at her.
"That's what it will sound like when one of you spots him," she replied, waving her hand in front of her face to emphasize her blindness.
Katara and Sokka both looked away as they continued to look for their missing friend.
Aang awoke to find himself in a forest. He looked all around, trying to figure out where he was, but no information was to be found. He slowly stood up and called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?" When he received no reply, he looked around and found a path to his right. "I wonder where this leads to," he said to himself quietly as he started to walk down the trail.
After a few moments he heard some laughing that sounded very familiar. Not being able to place a face or name with the voice, he called out again, this time a little louder. "Hello? Is anybody there?" He heard the laugh one more time from the direction that the trail was taking him, but got no response. He quickened his pace.
As the laughter grew closer he heard a few other voices. They all sounded so familiar but he just couldn't seem to remember who they were. He looked up ahead to see that he was coming up to a clearing.
When he reached the clearing he had to cover his eyes for a moment to let them adjust to the light. When they were properly adjusted he saw four people running around in the clearing. Each was covered in a certain color with a symbol on their forehead. One was blue, another was red, the third was green, but the last one was the strangest. It was half white and half black. The right side of its body was white with its right eye being black, while the left side was the exact opposite.
The colors seemed to be their only features, since no facial features besides their eyes could be seen—only the outline of their bodies. Aang watched as the four colorful people chased and played together as if they were friends.
As he watched he noticed that the colors they held corresponded with the symbols on their foreheads. The blue person had the symbol of the Water Tribes: a circle with calm seas and waves crashing above them. The red person had the symbol of the Fire Nation: a flame with a spiral in the middle. The green person held the symbol of the Earth Kingdom: a badgermole with a spiral of energy within it. The fourth person, though, the black and white person, held a symbol unknown to Aang. It was a circle with a crescent on one side. The opposite side had lines leading away as if to show rays of light while the other had stars. Above and below the circle, there were two lines as if to separate the light from the stars.
He watched for a few more moments as the four of them played and roughhoused. The green and the blue people were chasing each other while the other two tried to wrestle each other to the ground. Aang kept getting a feeling that he knew these people. Realization struck him when the blue person spotted him.
Her eyes seemed to laugh as she slowly walked toward him, with the faintest bit of a swing in her hips. He knew at that moment that the blue person was Katara. And with that realization he knew that the green person was Toph. He could recognize that bun anywhere, even if it was only the outline. The two girls soon approached him without the red and black-and-white people noticing.
When they reached him, Katara reached up and cupped his face in her warm blue hand and looked him in the eyes. "It's time to wake up, Aang," was all he heard as his vision blacked out.
He shot up where he lay. Feeling completely lost and confused, he looked around to find a small campfire not too far from his right and a tent on the other side of the fire. He looked down to see that he was lying in a sleeping bag that was definitely not his.
"Hey you're awake," he heard from behind him. Aang quickly turned to see a boy not much older than Katara walking up to him, holding a few branches in his hands. The young man sat the firewood down by his tent and took a seat next to Aang by the fire.
"Umm… where am I?" he asked the older boy, still disoriented from his dream. "And uh… who are you?" Trying not to sound rude.
The boy chuckled as Aang squirmed a bit. "I'm Guang Rong Yu, but you can call me Guang. And honestly I don't know where we are. I just know this is an island near the Fire Nation." He turned to Aang with a smile. "And don't worry, I'm a friend. I'm not gonna turn you in to the Fire Nation," he added quickly.
Aang looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"From those tattoos on your arms, legs, and head, I figure that you're the Avatar, right? I mean, no one else could survive that storm without a boat," Guang replied as he looked out to sea. Aang followed his gaze and saw the storm still raging miles out from the coast.
Aang visibly stiffened. He looked around him, trying to find an exit, but besides the small camp there was just a barren wasteland and the sea. He looked toward the volcano, hoping that maybe there was an escape path there but found none. "I appreciate you not turning me in and all," he said stiffly. "But why?"
"Actually, I've been looking for you." This caught Aang's attention.
"Wait, really? Why?"
"Yeah, I've been looking for you all over the world for a while now. Ever since I heard that you were alive. But don't worry about that now. You need rest. We'll talk in the morning, okay?" the older boy looked toward Aang with kindness.
"Umm… yeah, okay. You go ahead; I need to take care of something," he replied hesitantly. Aang got up and walked away from the camp. When he was sure he was far enough away, he sat in lotus style. He then quickly formed an earth tent over himself, closing all sides.
Guang watched as his hopeful new friend walked away. He figured that the Avatar wouldn't be quick to trust him. 'I mean, come on, I wouldn't trust me either,' he thought. He still hoped he would gain Aang's trust soon, though. He crawled into his tent and also went into a meditative posture, pondering on how to gain the Avatar's trust.
In the rock tent Aang was still hoping to find the answer himself. It then struck him that he wasn't just one person, but many. 'Maybe Roku would have an answer,' he thought as he focused on his inner self. A ghostly bluish energy left his body and quickly formed his friend.
"I understand your plight," Roku said with a concerned look. "I, my friend, was always one to judge on actions, not on words. And so far this boy hasn't done anything to wrong you."
"I know, but I'm in the Fire Nation. I can't just trust him. He could be a spy or something."
"Very true." Roku nodded."What does your heart tell you?"
"I honestly don't get any bad vibes from the guy," Aang replied somberly. "I want to trust him, but I can't risk getting hurt."
"Then you must trust your own judgment. Follow your heart and it will never steer you wrong," Roku stated as he slowly faded from view.
Aang watched as the spirit disappeared from view, whispering a "Thanks" under his breath. He pondered on it a little while longer, trying to find a reason not to trust the other person back at camp. Then it dawned on him, he was trying to find the bad—whynot look at the good? Guang had several chances to hurt him, but he never did. Instead he pulled him onshore, and gave him somewhere warm to sleep. If he really wanted to capture the Avatar all he would need to do was tie him up.
Aang decided that this was reason enough to trust Guang for at least a little while. He would give him a chance. Aang tore down his earth tent and walked back over to the small camp site. "Guang?"
"Yeah, Avatar?" Guang replied sticking his head out of his tent.
"Thank you for pulling me ashore, and for the sleeping bag." Aang bowed slightly.
Guang smiled. "Anytime."
Aang slid inside the sleeping bag and made an earth tent around him. He trusted Guang a little, but not completely;that would take time.
Guang watched this and decided it was better than nothing. He couldn't expect Aang to trust him completely. This was definitely a step in the right direction, though. Guang went back into his tent and lay down, sleep soon taking him.
Aang on the other hand was still wide awake. His thoughts were caught on his friends that he had left behind. Dread and guilt gripped his heart when he thought about how they would be searching for him, worrying about him. He wanted to go back to them, beg them to forgive him for running off like he did. He may have had a good reason, but he shouldn't have been so bull-headed about it. He still needed to practice earthbending, and even though he was getting really good at waterbending he was sure that he wasn't good enough to defeat the Fire Lord.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He banged his head up against the side of the earth tent for emphasis. When he lay back down, he decided that in the morning he was going to look for his friends. That he would never again run away from his problems. He would face them like an earthbender: head-on. With a small smile Aang slowly fell into a deep slumber.
As the sun slowly crept over the horizon, a little flying lemur happened to see something on the coast of the island they were flying past. Following his curiosity he jumped from his perch on his big flying friend and glided down to the island shore.
He glided toward the curious display in front of him: a tent, a burnt-out fire, and a person sleeping off to one side. As he approached, a familiar smell registered in his nostrils. One that he had known for several months now and was missing dearly: his owner.
He landed on the source of the familiar scent and happily licked Aang's face; he had crawled out of his tent during his sleep. This caused the young Avatar to rouse from his slumber. He slowly opened his eyes to find two more staring right back at him. Momo chirped and purred happily as he licked Aang again.
Aang quietly chuckled as he reached up to pet his friend. "It's good to see you, too, Momo," he said, stroking the fuzzy little creature. He slowly sat up to take in his surroundings as he remembered the previous night: the talk with Roku, and the help given by the moon spirit. He remembered his arrival at the island, and waking to find himself in a sleeping bag that wasn't his own. And he recalled the chat he had with the person who helped him, and his second chat with Roku.
Aang heard a couple of people running up from his left and looked just in time to see Katara drop to her knees right next him, pulling him into a tight, caring hug. "You're okay," she said in relief, holding him close to her, as if to never let him leave her side again.
A few more sets of feet could be heard behind her as Sokka and Toph joined the hug, Appa and Momo also joining in. Aang felt relieved that his friends found him, hoping to make up for leaving them for his own selfish reasons.
Aang looked up from the hug to gaze into the blue eyes of Katara. He could tell she had been worried sick, but that wasn't what he was seeing in her eyes. He saw nothing but relief as she gazed back at him, those two beautiful eyes slightly watery from her happiness. Aang tightened his hold on all of his friends, reaffirming his promise to never leave them again.
Unknown to the small group, another individual was watching the scene unfold only a few feet away from them. Guang watched with a small smile as he saw his hopeful new companion reunite with his friends. It was truly touching to see how much they all cared for each other, in their makeshift little family.
"I have so much to do," Aang whispered as he pulled away from the hug. He cast his gaze down in sorrow.
Katara looked to him with understanding. "I know, but you'll have our help," she said reassuringly.
"You didn't think you could get out of training, just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?" asked Toph as she looked in Aang's general direction. The young Avatar couldn't help but smile at the comment.
"What about the invasion?" Aang asked, looking to Sokka.
He just smiled and replied, "We'll join up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse."
Toph felt something come ashore. "Hey, what's that?" she asked pointing behind her. The group all looked to where she was pointing and their faces showed the same thing: sadness. Toph walked to the shore and returned with the broken and useless glider. She handed it to her pupil. "It's your glider."
Guang's interest perked as he watched the scene unfold in front of him; no one had even noticed he was there till then. "Who are you?" asked the earthbender, just now noticing his vibrations to her left. Toph dropped into her horse stance prepared for a fight. Katara and Sokka also both shot up at Toph's question and dropped into their fighting stances, water leaping to Katara's side while Sokka pulled out his boomerang.
Aang jumped up in front of his comrades. "It's okay," he said while waving his arms trying to get their attention. "He's okay; he's not going to hurt anyone." Aang turned to Guang. "Right?"
Guang shook his head and bowed. "I'm Guang Rong Yu," he said with a worried look toward Aang.
"Hello," Katara replied slowly, a little wary of the new person, standing up.
Aang explained, turning to his friends. "He pulled me off the shore and gave me a warm sleeping bag to sleep in last night."
"It was nothing, Avatar," Guang replied with a hesitant smile.
Sokka looked over the newcomer very carefully. Guang was wearing a cream tunic with a jade colored vest over it. His baggy brown pants cut off at mid-calf. He was also wearing a necklace with a pendant of the yin-yang. "How can we be sure to trust him?"
"He had every chance to hurt me or kidnap me last night." Aang motioned to Guang. "If he wanted something from me he wouldn't have given Katara, you, and Toph a chance to find me."
"He's got a point," Toph tossed in.
Guang watched the whole scene before him, hoping they would accept him. 'I can't afford to travel clear across the Earth Kingdom just to get shut down by the people I've been looking for,' he thought to himself. "Listen, I've been looking for the Avatar for almost six moons now. I'll do whatever it takes to join you on your journey."
Aang turned toward Guang as the rest of them stared at him. He was on his hands and knees, bowing before all of them. "You're really serious about this," Sokka spoke up after a moment.
Without raising his head, Guang spoke. "I left my village six moons ago to find the Avatar and help him end this war. During that time I've seen what this wretched war has done to the world. I want to do everything I can to help put an end to all of the suffering that the Fire Nation has caused."
"He's not lying, I can tell ya that much," Toph stated as she picked her ear. "I say we go ahead and let him join us. The more people we get to fight the Fire Nation, the better."
"I agree," Aang replied, looking from Guang to Sokka. "We all know what it's like to leave home."
Katara looked over Guang again; his head still hadn't left the ground. "I can't see what harm it would do," she relented, looking toward Sokka. Now everyone's eyes were on him as he tried to make up his mind.
"Okay, okay, but just because everyone else trusts him doesn't mean I do. We are in Fire Nation territory after all. He can join us." Guang's head finally rose from the ground, gleaming at Sokka. "But," he continued, pointing at Guang. "One step out of line and you're out. Got it?"
Guang stood and again he bowed to them. "I understand, I won't let you down," he said with a smile.
"Well now that that's out of the way maybe we should introduce ourselves," Katara said, looking from Aang to Sokka; they both nodded. "I'm Katara, and this is my older brother, Sokka." She motioned toward him.
"We like to call him 'Meathead,'" Toph stated with a grin. Aang and Katara laughed quietly as Sokka glared at her. "I'm Toph," she said coolly.
"Yo," Guang returned equally as cool, causing Toph to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh, and I didn't introduce myself last night," Aang spoke up. "My name's Aang," he finished, bowing slightly.
"Well it's nice to meet you all, but I didn't mean to interrupt your reunion," Guang stated, looking to Aang's destroyed glider.
"It's okay." His grip on his useless weapon tightened. "I need to get rid of it, anyway. If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive," he explained,taking the glider in both hands. He gazed upon it one last time before airbending himself onto a hill a ways away from the group.
The hill was surrounded on all sides by the lava flow that was streaming from the volcano. He quickly spun the glider above his head and then stabbed it into the top of the hill, sinking it into the volcanic soil. He then turned and airbended himself to rejoin the group. As he floated away from the hill, the glider caught on fire from the intense heat of the ground, burning for only a few moments before turning to ashes.
As he landed near his friends Sokka asked, "So what do we do now?"
"Actually, I want to ask Guang about something. He said he would explain something he told me last night," Aang replied, signaling Guang.
"You mean about why I was looking for you?" Guang asked.
"Yep."
"Well, didn't I already explain that?" Guang asked.
"Yeah, but there has to be something else other than just wanting to help us. You just said that you traveled for six moons looking for us; there's gotta be something else," Aang explained.
"Well there is one thing. I do have one skill I could offer to you to help you in the war." Guang looked out to the sea and back to the rest of the group.
Katara was watching Guang closely. He seemed to be no older than she, but stood a few inches taller. His hair was brown and slightly shaggy, while his eyes caught her attention the most: one was blue, the other green.
"What's this 'skill' you could offer to Aang?" Toph asked as she 'looked' over his vibrations. He didn't weigh quite as much as Sokka, but held himself firmly. He seemed to be ready for anything. She felt inside of the tent to find two objects that felt a lot like swords. There were a few other items, but from what she could tell, this person was a seasoned warrior like they were.
"Actually, I could teach him a new element to bend," Guang replied matter-of-factly.
"The only element I still need to learn is fire," Aang said cautiously, wondering where Guang was going with this.
"Well, what if I told you there was another element for you to learn?" he asked, crossing his arms and smiling knowingly.
This caught everyone's attention. "What do you mean?" Sokka asked, confused beyond all else.
Guang's smile widened. "Let me show you."
He turned away from the group, dropping into a fighting stance, a look of concentration on his face as he did so. Guang slowly opened his hands and as he did so they started to glow faintly. He started moving his hands through the air, and slowly the glow intensified. He made a few more movements and struck his hands outward, releasing the energy in his hands outward. A very bright light extended from his hands and flew from him, fading as it moved farther away from him.
The group wasn't all that impressed with the display. "Is that all?" Sokka asked, confused.
Guang looked at him like he was insane. "What do you mean 'Is that all'? I just shot light out from my hands!" he almost yelled.
"That's great, but how does that help Aang?" Katara asked, as confused as Sokka.
Guang deadpanned. "You're kidding me!" He brought his hands up to his face. "Here, maybe this will help," he continued dropping back into his fighting pose. No one noticed that Aang's eyes were the size of plates behind them.
This time he slowly shut his hands and the air around them started to darken. As he went through the motions again, instead of his hands getting brighter, they became darker, till they were two balls of black. When he shot his hands out, the darkness shot from his hands, extending much farther than the light had.
The rest of the group was a little more surprised with this display than the last. "You can bend two elements?" Katara asked. Aang's eyes, if possible, had become bigger.
"Yes and no," Guang answered. "I'm a lightbender, which means I can bend light, and the absence of it."
"Oh," was the only reply. There was an awkward pause as Guang waited for them to comment or even say anything about his lightbending.
"Well, if that's not enough for you guys I'm pretty good with swords too," he added, slightly peeved.
It was then that Guang had looked toward Aang, wondering why he had been silent the entire time. "Umm… Aang?"
"Wow…" Aang exhaled. His eyes lit up. "That was so awesome!"
"Umm… Thanks." He looked at the others. "Well at least someone likes it," he said under his breath.
"Don't get us wrong, I mean lightbending looks awesome, but does Aang really need it?" Katara asked, looking toward Guang apologetically. "He still has to learn firebending, and he's yet to completely master water and earthbending, so I don't know if we have the time for Aang to learn lightbending too."
"I see what you mean," Guang replied thoughtfully. "How about this? I'll teach you lightbending," he said turning to Aang, "in your spare time, when you're not practicing water and earthbending. And if either of them," he said pointing to the girls, "wants to train you while you're with me, you can go with them."
"Another element is another element, Twinkle Toes. I'd say learn as many as you can, even if they aren't the ones you already set out to learn," Toph added, Katara and Sokka nodding their heads in agreement.
Aang thought it over for a moment before looking to the rest of them and nodding. "Sounds like a plan."