So I know this has been extremely delayed, and for that I apologize profusely. I got caught up in my first year of college. And then the final book came out and threw a wrench right into the middle of this, which has complicated things. So because of that and various reviews from you wonderful people I have decided to go back and revamp this story because I'm not happy with the early chapters and you have pointed out some rather gaping holes lying about. The first few chapters will be a bit different, but probably around chapter six they will start to meet up again, because I am actually happy with that one, and that's where I want it to go. Some things will match with the book, and some won't, some things will follow the Avatar series, and some won't, mostly in terms of shipping, so don't freak out when something isn't the way our dear Paolini wrote it or the genius duo of Mike and Bryan created it.
Please remember this is a work of fiction completely separate from either franchise, and is purely for my own entertainment and perhaps yours if I do my job right.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Aang huffed as he collapsed on the bed not even bothering to take off his boots.
For the past five months the Avatar had been chasing Earth Kingdom rebels across the Fire Nation colonies. When he had proposed his plan to unite the colonies as a nation on their own the Earth King and the Fire Lord had readily agreed to the proposal. It was a good solution, and would help establish peace faster than the two countries trying to swindle each other in endless negotiations. The people of the Earth Kingdom, however, had become an… unexpected complication.
Earth Kingdom citizens wanted their land back, and the compromise the Avatar had proposed was, in their eyes, the same as giving the land to the Fire Nation. In order to express their displeasure, disgruntled citizens of the Earth Kingdom had flocked to the colonies to disrupt progress. Citizens of the colonies were happy with the proposal, but with crime rates sky rocketing, they were beginning to worry, and so, had called the Avatar to put down the rebellions.
For the past month Aang and Toph had been working tirelessly in the colony Yu Dao, which Aang hoped to make the Capitol of his United Republic. But when one band was knocked out two more seemed to spring up in its place. Aang was beginning to wonder if it was even worth it anymore.
"Are you kidding?" Toph asked from across the room. Her fingers began pulling the pins out of her hair as she continued, "This is a blast! I have an endless supply of bozoes to beat up!"
Aang propped himself up on his elbow as he looked across the dark room at her. Despite the energy in her voice he could see the tired sag of her shoulders. As she finished brushing her hair she moved to the bed and sat next to him, and he raised a hand to brush his thumb under a raw scrape on her chin. "You don't mean that."
She had been clipped by a stray rock during one of the skirmishes that day and it wasn't her only wound. For the past month she had constantly had at least one knee or elbow scraped raw at any given time, her hands carried a number of tiny scrapes, and her entire body was littered with bruises at various stages of healing.
But such was the lot of an earthbender. They didn't avoid attacks like the other elements; the stopped attacks.
Even so, it bothered the Avatar that his wife's body took such a beating and he had received his first bruise in weeks only two days ago. He knew Toph didn't mind. She thrived on it even, taking immense pleasure in showing off her 'battle scars' to her students at the Metalbending Academy. But he was her husband, blast it all, and he was supposed to protect her! Considering they had only been married a month and a half and he hadn't even found time to take her on a proper honeymoon, he was feeling like a right failure in that respect.
"I know you'd rather stay here and torture you students all day," he said, his fingers running down her arm.
"Or go on that honeymoon you promised me," she teased, as if reading his mind, before leaning in and pressing her lips to his. "But 'what ifs' and 'can't haves' are for airbenders, and we have a job to do." The way she said it told Aang she didn't have a single qualm with the way their life together had turned out so far as she curled into his side and yawned widely.
Deciding sleep was more important than worrying about things that couldn't be changed, the Avatar wrapped his arms around his wife and let his eyes slip shut. Right as someone banged on the front gate of the Academy.
Aang growled loudly and squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance. Toph chuckled and slipped from his arms and out the door. Mustering what little energy he had left, Aang heaved himself to his feet and followed his wife.
Aang shivered as he stepped out into the moonlight. Across the courtyard Toph's three students were already clustered around the gate waiting for their master. Toph bent the metal tumblers in the lock on the gate and dragged the heavy door open just as Aang reached her.
The young airbender was surprised to see Sokka on the other side of the gate. He was panting heavily, leaning on his knees and looking like he had just rolled out of bed. His hair was missing its signature wolf tail, and his clothes looked like they had been thrown on in the dark.
"You guys had better come quickly," he heaved. "Zuko and Katara's ship just docked, and some little moles aren't too happy about it."
Toph nodded and said, "I'll take you back down. Grab your glider and meet as at the docks, Twinkle Toes." Toph took a step out of the gate before turning to her students and very firmly commanding, "Bed! Now. And if I find out you put even one toe out you'll be doing basic drills and kitchen duty for a week!" And without another word, she walked out the gate, grabbed Sokka by the shirt and earth-surfed down the hill.
When Aang arrived at the docks, the scene was the organized chaos of battle. A ship tied to the dock looked as though a tank had shot it, a mangled hole yawning in its hull. The ship was listing dangerously to the side and it seemed a group of men standing on the dock were bailing water into it.
Touching down on the wooden planks, the Avatar baseball swung his staff at the men, sending water pails and men alike into the air to thud back down on the walkway. Aang called up a wave and froze the side of the ship to keep it from taking on more water before he turned his attention to the skirmish.
The docks were illuminated by the moonlight and the flames from the Fire Nation soldiers trying to protect their ruler. The rebels had an assortment of weapons from hammers to swords to axes and staves that relentlessly pounded the defenders.
Aang ran forward to assist where he could when something at the end of the walkway rolled under his feet. He crashed to the ground, his shoulder taking the brunt of the fall, and looked back to find Katara layed out on the woodwork. Even as he watched, her arm whipped around her head, calling water from the ocean, and sent a whip over Aang's head and dragged a man into the harbor.
Surging to his feet Aang assessed the situation. Katara flew past him to help Sokka against a pair of particularly adamant earthbenders. Zuko was slipping through bending forms without conjuring any flames, intent on disarming if possible rather than harming, always conscious of his hard won delicate peace. Toph danced through her own forms beside Aang, the earth leaping around her like water. She had no mixed feelings like Zuko to hold her back, and it showed as she slammed a rock into a man's gut.
Annoyance and frustration warred in Aang's mind as his fatigue from an already overloaded day weighed down on him. Taking a deep breath he cleared his mind and tapped the barrier of the Avatar State. And then, he wasn't on the docks anymore.
"What just happened?"
Startled, Aang flipped around to find Toph behind him, still in her horse stance.
"Twinkle Toes! What did you do?" She demanded, glaring at him.
Aang gaped at her. "I didn't do anything!" he yelled back, clearly offended. "How do you know this is my fault?"
"Well, you are the Avatar. Whenever crazy things happen it tends to be your fault!" she yelled back.
"I didn't do anything!" he repeated. "I just tapped the Avatar State."
Toph didn't yell, but her glare remained in place. "So, what? The Spirit World?"
"But you're here," he argued.
"We could both be in the Spirit World," Toph suggested.
Quickly, he slipped through an airbending form, a bit disappointed when the air actually responded. That meant he still had no idea where they were. "My bending still works," he said. The conversation pricked at his memory. He had carried on the same conversation with Momo nearly four years ago.
"The Lion Turtle," he mused aloud. Slipping into his horse stance, he stomped a tattooed foot into the ground, and a rock leapt into the air. Groaning, he dropped the rock, fell to the ground and shoved his fists into his tired eyes. "I don't know, anymore!"
Toph knelt next to him, placing her hand on his chest. "What time is it," she asked.
Peeking through his fingers he looked up to unfamiliar stars.
"Middle of the night," he answered, exhausting ringing in his voice.
Aang flinched when earth walls rose around him unexpectedly and formed a tent.
"Let's get some sleep then, and we can figure out where we are in the morning, ok?" Toph proposed, before curling up next to him and laying her head on his chest for the second time that night.
-x-
Consciousness found him slowly. Aang still felt exhausted when he opened his eyes to see stone above him. Although he was a superb earthbender as the Avatar, he had been born an airbender, and spending the night on the ground after a long day was not exactly restful. Yes, he was all about being one with nature, and yes, he had slept on the ground without a bed roll almost every night for nearly three seasons before he had defeated Ozai, but he was laying on solid slate, for Spirit's sake!
Groaning, Aang pulled a rock from under his tailbone that he had been too exhausted to notice the night before. Toph shifted beside him, completely comfortable where she was. He gently moved her head from his chest to the ground and slipped out of the shelter.
The first thing he noticed was that it was already well past midday. The next thing he noticed was the ruins. They were unlike anything he had ever seen! Absolutely colossal, and the design was completely foreign with huge soaring pillars and arches. He stood at one end of what looked like a highway. The crumbling towers rose in straight lines on either side of the cobbled plaza and continued as far as Aang could see before dipping with the land. Cliffs encased the city all around only broken by a few gullies and canyons.
This city must have been built for giants! Aang mused as he gaped at the scene before him. He slipped back into the tent, which now seemed impossibly tiny amongst the vast ruins, and poked Toph in the side.
"Hey, wake up, you've gotta see this!" When she rolled away from his prodding finger he earthbent her back. She turned her face to him, eyes still closed and waited. Rolling his eyes, Aang dropped a quick kiss to her lips and then man handled her out of the tent and to her feet.
Toph rolled her shoulders out as she asked, "What's the big deal?"
Aang gaped at her.
"Seriously? Look around! This place is crazy! It's like someone turned the Great Divide into a city!" he exclaimed. "How are you, the one obsessed with architecture, not impressed?"
"Because we have bigger problems than ruined buildings right now, Twinkle Toes. We should start looking around, see if you recognize anything that could tell us where we are!" And with that, Toph turned on her heel and walked through an archway.
Aang shrugged, grabbed his glider, and took to the skies.
For an hour the two explored the island separately. Toph stepped into a magnificent hall with soaring pillars and buttresses. Broken arches yawned over the collapsed floor letting in the afternoon sunlight. Toph stomped and after taking in the vibrations deemed that what was left of the floor would be able to hold her weight, but only just. Stepping carefully she began to edge around the hole to the other side.
"Toph!" Aang came diving out of the sky.
"No! Twinkle Toes, don't land-" she yelled waving her arms at him right as his boots touched the stone, and down they went.
The paving stones dropped from her feet, taking any vibrations with them, and Toph was completely blind as she fell. She rolled against pieces of the floor that had long since collapsed and finally skidded to a halt with a rock digging into her spine.
Aang was only slightly better off. He had managed to bend a cushion of air to soften his landing, but only just. Lifting his face from the dirt he did a cautious inventory of his limbs. His forearm was scrapped, and he would probably have a nasty bruise on his shoulder. His ribs felt tender and one knee felt like it had been scraped against the rough fabric of his trousers.
Toph groaned a few feet away from him as she twisted her arm from behind her back. Aang dragged himself over to her and asked if she was alright.
"When the Spirits deliver me from idiotic Avatars that don't listen, I will be alright," she growled back.
Ignoring her censure Aang asked, "Are you hurt?" then realizing she would complain about every bruise and stubbed toe she had received in the last month just for the sake of being difficult he quickly amended, "Is anything broken?"
"No, I'm fine. I can take care of myself, ya know," she said, pushing herself into a sitting position. She reached behind her and grabbed the rock that had been digging into her back.
Toph had always believed that earth was more than just rock, that it had a life of its own, but this was pushing it even for her. As her small fingers skimmed over the smooth surface a gentle pulse pushed back, teasing her senses.
"What is that?" Aang asked, his natural curiosity surfacing.
"No idea," Toph answered passing the, for lack of a better term, stone to him. "It's not actually earth. I can't bend it."
Aang skimmed his fingers over the stone and then pushed his palm flat against it, willing it to bend, but nothing came of it. Aang held a flame to the object for a minute and then brushed his fingers across it quickly. The area on the stone was no warmer than the rest of it.
"Did you try metalbending?" he asked absently.
"No, Aang, I'm an idiot," Toph answered sarcastically. "Of course I tried metalbending. If I didn't know better, I would say this thing was alive." Reaching forward, Toph put her hand on his and pressed his palm down harder. "Feel that? Those vibrations are just like a heartbeat. It's the closest thing to yours I've ever felt."
Aang concentrated, struggling to pick up the vibrations that came as easily as breathing for his wife, but they were indeed there.
As Toph withdrew her hand ivory spikes suddenly leapt from the stone. Aang dropped it in the dirt and scrambled back a bit.
"Toph!" he exclaimed, his voice rising a bit higher than it had for a few years. "This isn't a time for jokes! You said you couldn't bend it!"
"I didn't do anything, Twinkle Toes," Toph defended distractedly as she moved closer to the stone and ran her finger along the ridge of spikes. The gentle pulsing had picked up speed and was growing in strength. A light tapping noise came from the stone, and a quick succession of vibrations brushed against Toph's toes. "Something's happening."
Aang watched in fascination as the stone began to rock and the tapping continued in an unsteady rhythm. On impulse, Aang reached forward and grabbed Toph's wrist to drag her away from this…thing. She resisted, but Aang had grown in the four years since the war and without her bending, Toph's physical strength was dwarfed by his considerably.
The two waited as the tapping grew louder, and soon they were rewarded when a piece of the stone fell away and a tiny silver…something peeked out. Right in front of them, the, now very obviously, egg continued to fall away and out toppled a tiny silver dragon!
It didn't look the same as the Masters Ran and Sha. It wasn't quite as serpentine as they, but it was unmistakably a dragon. Even as a hatchling it held that certain presence that dragons do.
"What in the name of Prithvi is that?" Toph asked quietly. She had never met the Masters and, being blind, had never seen pictures of dragons. She had no reference for the strange little creature in front of her.
"It's a dragon." Aang's voice held a certain amount of awe and he slowly stepped forward, raising his hands for the little hatchling to see. He didn't want to startle it. Bright silver eyes watched him intently as he advanced and when he was within arm's reach, he stopped. Slowly putting his hand out he paused over the little creatures head, and it lunged forward to butt its head against his palm.
Pain erupted in his right arm. Lightning and ice raced up his arm to his shoulder and, somewhere in the shock, Aang registered that he wasn't trying to redirect that lightning. He curled around his hand as his body convulsed and he vaguely wondered if this was what it felt like when Zuko had been shot by Azula during the comet.
When the pain finally subsided and his mind had cleared enough to really think Aang noticed first that the hatchling had curled into his side. The second was that Toph was on his other side, unable to help him but glaring at the little beast. Four years ago she would have earthbent the little thing into dust, but after spending four years as the best friend to the Avatar that had refused to kill Ozai she had a compassion for life that was often more annoying that it was worth. But she didn't feel right attacking a baby that was only minutes old. And the little thing was humming as it pushed into Aang's side as if trying to comfort him.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Well I'm not dead," he answered, only half joking. He looked at his hand as the last tingles of energy stabbed at his nerves. His palm shimmered and caught the light of the low afternoon sun. His eyes shifted to the little dragon nestled at his hip. Pushing himself to his feet, Aang grabbed Toph's hand and pulled her back from the dragon.
In return the little beast clambered to its feet and tried to follow them. Its coordination was atrocious. It seemed to dance in place, lilting to the side a bit as oversized leathery wings opened unevenly. It lost its balance and toppled onto its side, but again pulled itself onto its feet and with slow progress began advancing toward them.
When it reached them it reared on its hind legs and butted against Aang shin, reminding him strikingly of Appa. The little creature looked up at him expectantly and Aang had no idea what he was supposed to do.
"It's probably hungry," Toph said. "You can keep exploring and I'll find it some food."
Aang agreed and flicked his glider open, startling the hatchling, which scurried behind Toph's leg to peek out at the strange contraption.
Toph stomped a foot and raised a pillar so they could climb out of the collapsed section of floor and the dragon panicked. It pressed itself against Toph's calf and buried its face in the rumbling earth. Once level with the floor above them Toph stepped away and began walking out of the hall with little sympathy for the dragon. She may not feel right attacking the thing, but she still wasn't sure how she felt about it. She was sure that it was the cause of Aang's, for lack of a better term, seizure and she knew that they now had to care for the creature because of his thrice accursed compassion, and Spirits knew Toph didn't like anything forced on her.
Aang hesitated taking to the sky. He felt a strange reluctance to leave the little hatchling behind, a sentiment Toph obviously didn't share, and Aang wondered where this protective streak had come from. Toph noticed his hesitation and turned to him with one dark eyebrow raised in question.
"I… I don't feel like leaving the dragon," he explained quietly.
"I'm going hunting, Aang." Toph's voice held a slight warning. She knew his morals and values well. "It's not going to eat grass," she reasoned.
"I know," Aang replied, still reluctant to leave.
"I won't let anything happen to it." The promise eased Aang's mind a bit. Deciding he trusted her, Aang took to the sky.
As his steady heart beat disappeared Toph set off in search of food. The little dragon clambered after, stumbling often but quickly getting the hang of walking. Unfortunately, the newborn had no sense of silence and seemed to step and roll across every dead leaf, twig, and pine cone they passed.
Toph growled in frustration and spun around, once again, startling the little hatchling. It yowled and tried to back pedal with very little success and ended up toppling onto its face before Toph scooped it up and tucked it under her arm.
It hung limp against her hip, its head and tail bumping her leg with each step. She guessed it was trying to play dead out of some natural instinct and she chuckled once in amusement. When her diaphragm pushed her abdomen out with the laugh the dragon took notice, and with the attention span of Momo forgot to play dead and instead prodded her stomach with its snout. Toph brushed it away, not ungently, and focused on the vibrations.
She could feel strange creatures scurrying through the trees and focused on a small animal that felt like a miniature rabaroo nearly two hundred yards away from her. With her earthbending she sent a pebble sailing into the animal's temple, killing it quickly. Once she reached the mini rabaroo she set the dragon down in front of it and sat down in the dirt to wait.
The dragon poked around the animal, sniffing and trying to identify whatever this thing was before it. It tentatively bit into it and then began to tear it apart with vigor. When it had finished its meal it trotted back to Toph and curled up at her feet. Its heart rate was already slowing down and Toph knew it was about to drop off to sleep so she scooped it back up and tucked it under her arm again to head back to the ruins.
Upon arriving at the 'camp' from the night before Toph set the dragon back on the dirt to let it wander as she went about making their arrangements slightly more permanent. She built a better tent, and dug a fire pit, and then went about constructing bowls and utensils out of the slate. The dragon watched her work for a moment, and then began exploring on its own. When it wandered farther than Toph liked she dragged it back with earthbending. Again, the dragon panicked, although, perhaps not so badly, and watched her warily before beginning again.
Toph was in the middle of collecting firewood when Aang dropped out of the sky. The hatchling immediately scampered over to him, and again reared on its hind legs and bumped against his shin. Aang hesitated a second before cautiously bending to rub a finger on the dragons forehead. It opened its mouth wide and let out a meow of approval, exactly as Appa used to do. Aang felt a dull pang in his chest for his animal guide. Appa had passed away almost six months ago. It seemed being frozen in an iceberg was harder on a sky bison than the Avatar.
He had a fleeting thought and went to sit beside Toph near the fire pit.
"Hey Toph, remember when you asked me if I thought friendships could transcend lifetimes?"
Toph turned to him as she nodded. The dragon had followed Aang over and now crawled across Toph's lap and curled up to sleep. Toph barely paid it any attention, but began running her fingers down its back, much like she always did with Momo.
"Would you think I was crazy… if I told you this little guy might be Appa?"
Toph's brow crinkled as she considered the possibility, her fingers continuing to stroke the dragon's spikes. "I suppose it's a definite possibility," she admitted. "After all, you are the Avatar, and you've been without an animal guide for nearly half a year. Maybe this is why you never felt right about picking a new bison from that herd you found."
Aang smiled, liking the thought of having Appa back, in at least some way, very much.
"Well, Twinkle Toes? Possum-chicken here needs a name. You got any ideas?" Toph asked, leaning back on her hands.
"Possum-chicken?" Aang asked, a wry chuckle passing his lips as he skeptically raised an eyebrow at his wife.
"He was playing dead earlier," she said, in way of an explanation. Again, Aang chuckled and reached out a finger to rub the little dragon's head.
"I don't have a clue what to name him… it. I don't even know if it's a boy or girl," Aang said. He still didn't have the slightest idea what was going on, and as of yet, he had no idea how to find out. Aang's right palm, the one that now shimmered, rested against the dragon's side as he retreated into his thoughts, when an awareness came to him.
It felt very much like when Roku's dragon had spoken to him, and Aang knew the dragon was a boy. He opened his mind, much like when he meditated, and allowed the dragon's awareness, for he was sure that was what it was, to brush against his. He had been right in thinking that they were connected, but it was a slightly different connection than he had previously had. With Appa, it was the inseparable connection of the Avatar and his animal guide. That connection was present now, but there was more to it, like another responsibility.
"I know what I'm going to name him," Aang announced, pulling back into his own mind.
Toph raised an eyebrow at him and teased, "Him?"
"I'm the Avatar, just go with it," he answered, reaching out and tweaking her nose playfully. Said nose crinkled up adorably and Toph jerked her head back and batted his hand away. Sobering a bit, Aang looked back down at the hatchling curled up on his wife's lap and said, "Rowan." Diamond silver eyes snapped open and the little triangular head shot off Toph's knee to stare at Aang.
"I've never heard that before. Is it an airbender name?" Toph asked curiously.
Aang nodded, his eyes still on the dragon. "Yeah. Gyotso told me it was my father's name."
Toph nodded and grabbed one of the larger spikes on Rowan's head, wiggling it a bit and said, "Well there ya go, Possum-chicken."
Yes, I changed Orion's name to Rowan. I felt like Orion didn't really fit in the Avatar universe, like at all, and then based on a Legend of Korra episode I kind of kifed the name from Tenzin's adorable little boy. However, when they named him, I wasn't sure if they had said Rowan or Rohan, which it actually is, but Rohan reminded me to much of Lord of the Rings, so I changed it to Rowan. Deal with it. When I talked about that second connection between Aang and Rowan, I'm implying the Rider connection, which will be explained to Aang in later chapters for those of you that haven't read Eragon.
As always, please process and reply, and you can have a cookie, because they are still good. For those of you that read the original, if you are still around, I would love to get your feedback! Do you think this is better or worse? What do you like or hate about it, and do you see any other holes I may have missed, and I know there are a few.
