Prologue: Aide's Last Mistake

Author's Notes: This is a story featuring a character from an original story that I plan on writing, and maybe turning into a video game. You know, when I can actually code and make something worth playing. By the by, a meep is a cow/sheep hybrid creature that I will probably post an image of at some point. Probably. I'm taking a break from my other fics, until I can get caught up on them, but I will finish them. I don't want to be that author who never updates, but I'm in a different fandom mood than my other stories, so I need to work on this so I can still write something! But I promise I will update with new chapters for all of my stories, eventually.

Spirit Coloration (this will make sense when you read further):

Aide – black fur w/ white belly, sky blue arrow on forehead, darker sky blue wing edges and lighter sky blue feathers, sky blue tuft of fur on tail, white eyes

Gurande – gray fur w/ darker gray belly, yellow arrow on forehead, gold wing edges and pale yellow feathers, yellow tuft of fur on tail, dark gray eyes

Grandpa (Tim) – dark gray fur w/ sapphire belly, purple arrow on forehead, dark purple wing edges and lavender feathers, purple tuft of fur on tail, sapphire eyes

Jab – white fur w/ black belly, red arrow on forehead, darker red wing edges and pale red feathers, red tuft of fur on tail, black eyes

Pekenio – mint fur w/ brown belly, green arrow on forehead, dark green wing edges and light green feathers (greener hue than fur), green tuft of fur on tail, brown eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. The only things I can claim are my OC's.

Italics – truespeak

Aide's POV

"Aide Lagarian, disciple of Tim Lagarian of Karaka Village, the Council of Spirits has reviewed your history. While you have done much for Master Tim, this sort of mistake cannot be tolerated," the voice of Gurande boomed out above me. I cringed, feeling my ears flatten against my head, and did my best to shrink. Oh, this was really bad. I hadn't meant to bring that pack of monsters with me when I was done in the forest. I certainly hadn't intended for them to attack Fluffle's herd of meeps while she was taking a nap. Now we had a herd of traumatized little bleaters and one very angry rabbit-woman in Karaka Village, and a very doomed spirit in the Spirit World.

"The Council will now decide your fate."

Hours seemed to pass as I waited for the verdict. Would they rescind my guardian spirit powers? ...Come to think of it, could they do that? After I earned them and they became a part of me, was it possible to take them away?

Would they banish me to some unfamiliar locale, where I would have to go through with this entire process again? If so, where would they sent me? I like Karaka Village. It was warm and peaceful, aside from the rare monster attack and wintertime.

Would they simply lock me away somewhere in the Spirit World until I had atoned for my accident?

Would they take me away from Grandpa? Pass my apprenticeship to some other spirit that didn't like me? I didn't have very many friends in the Spirit World, except for Grandpa and Jab. How could I handle being someone else's disciple?

"Aide Lagarian, the Council of Spirits has reached a decision. For your mistake, we are sending you to another realm, one where you will be sealed inside a mortal form until the day you die. Upon that occasion, you will return to the Spirit World and receive the powers you will leave behind," Gurande tolled ominously. I flinched. So this was my punishment? To be forced to be mortal, to lose all of my special powers, to be banished to another realm entirely, where things might be totally different? Harsh.

"Know this. The realm we are sending you to is not like the one you are accustomed to. Some of the inhabitants have strange powers that the populace of this realm do not possess. You, too, will be given powers, though not as strong as the ones you currently have," he warned. There was a pause before he added, "At the insistence of Master Tim."

I sighed in relief. At least Grandpa had given me the help he could. Though I still wondered what sort of powers I would have, I was grateful that the sentence wasn't too bad. They could have stuck me in a human form and made me immortal, so that I would forever be a human. That would have sucked.

"Master Gurande, I thank you and the Council for this lenient sentence," I replied respectfully, spreading my wings wide as I bowed, letting one leg extend out while I tucked the other beneath me. "Please, what sort of powers will I be given?"

Gurande harrumphed and cleared his throat, which was completely unnecessary. He was a spirit. We're always in perfect health – in the Spirit World, anyways.

"Aide Lagarian, the Council has decided to bestow upon you the power to shapeshift. You will be sent to this other realm in your current form, but upon arrival, you will be able to become human at will. In your spirit form, you will still be able to create glyphs, though they will be weaker in strength and last for a shorter amount of time, and you will be able to use your Spirit Mark. In your human form, you will still be able to use your Spirit Mark, but you will not be able to create glyphs. Is this acceptable?" he informed me exasperatedly. I guess he didn't want to be the one to waste time on answering my questions. Well, tough luck. If I was getting banished to some mortal realm, he had to put up with me for a little while longer.

"Yes, Master Gurande. When will I be transported to this other realm?"

"Master Pekenio will transport you at sunset, when the boundaries between the realms becomes weaker. Do not be late, or we shall take away one of these powers we have so graciously bestowed," Gurande warned. I nodded and blinked once. Feh. I was never late. He should know that by now.

"I understand. I shall present myself at the Dusk Gate, then?"

"Yes. Now go. Say your goodbyes; you will not be seeing anyone from here for a long time."

I bowed again, turned, and scampered out of the Hall of Judgment. Jeez, these older spirits were scary, and not just because I was basically a child. So what if I was only 54 years old (which, in human years, is, like, two years)? I had still become a pretty powerful guardian spirit! But the Council... oh, the Council. They're the smartest, the strongest, and the touchiest spirits around, almost as old as the Spirit World itself. The only things older are the High Spirits, and they don't get involved with us. They handle the big things – the moons, the suns, the worlds, the oceans, the skies, you know, immense, very important parts of the universe – not disputes between the younger spirits.

I met Grandpa and Jab near the Dusk Gate, where Master Pekenio was waiting for sunset to come. The two of them looked at me with concern.

"Aide, are you okay? The Council wasn't too harsh, were they?" Jab asked. He knew from experience how bad the punishments could be; he had accidentally burned down his master's shrine once, which made the Council force him to rebuild it all on his own, including getting the materials and constructing it himself. But that's what happens when you're a fire-based spirit like Jab. Things have a tendency to catch on fire. Myself, I was lucky enough to be an emotion-based spirit. All I had to do was pay attention to how I was feeling and make sure it didn't get too intense. Emotions are all well and good, but when they escalate in a spirit like me, bad things happen.

"I'm fine, Jab. I'm just banished to another realm until I die there, and then I can come back. Who knows? Maybe the time differences between our realm and that one are big enough that I can live out a mortal life and come back, and only five minutes will have passed," I replied offhandedly. He didn't seem convinced – as proven by the constant flicking of his tail – but he had to accept this. It was the only way he could avoid getting in trouble as well.

Once Jab had gotten his touching piece of concern in, it was Grandpa's turn. Now, I admit that I hadn't been the best of granddaughters, or disciples, but I had done what he asked of me. I had taken care of the village as his personal assistant and go-between for the inhabitants of Karaka Village, I had boosted my own spiritual power in the process, and the only reason I wasn't being promoted to an actual guardian spirit was because of one little mistake. One teeny accident that resulted in a very unhappy rabbit-woman.

It must have really hurt Grandpa's pride in his family to know that I was being banished.

"Aide, promise me you won't start any wars or anger any spirits. The realm that you're being sent to has its own region of the Spirit World, with its own spirits. I just... Promise me you'll be careful. Promise me," he begged wearily. Cleaning up after my mess had really taken a lot out of him. The stab of guilt and shame in my heart was almost enough to make me want to ask for something else, something that would allow me to make it up to Grandpa, anything! As long as I could help him, I'd do it.

"I promise, Grandpa. I won't start any wars, anger any spirits, or go mucking around in other people's business without their permission. It'll be just like training," I said lightheartedly, trying to cheer him up. He grunted and rested his chin on top of my head.

"Somehow I doubt that, but you're the one who's traveling to another realm. I guess I have to trust your judgment on this," he deadpanned. I giggled and butted my head against him, making him back up to give me a kind glare of disapproval.

Before he could start a scolding on how I should treat my elders with respect, Master Pekenio cleared his throat. Sunset had come.

"Aide Lagarian, please step closer to the Dusk Gate so that I may begin your transfer," he said imperiously. I brushed the fur of my tail over the wings of my grandfather and friend then hurried over. Keeping my ride waiting would be just plain rude.

"Are you ready for the transferal process? You will experience some minor discomfort and a slight ache in the heart, but it will pass once you have exited the dimension vortex," he explained, clearly not caring if I got cold feet because of his little talk. I spared a glance back at the spirits who would miss me, sighed, and turned back to give him one nod in answer.

"Then step underneath the Dusk Gate. I need to activate the proper realm orbs, and I do not know how long that will take."

I took up a seat underneath the gleaming obsidian of the Dusk Gate and waited, watching as the earth-based spirit used his Spirit Mark to make the green, spherical gems wrapped with two bands of gold spin and glow.

"Master Gurande probably didn't tell you this earlier, but there are a few other things you need to know. When you pass through the Dusk Gate and enter this new realm, you will not be able to speak the human tongue. All you can use is the truespeak," Pekenio said conversationally. I cocked my head to the side and blinked.

"What else? I assume there's more," I replied curiously. He nodded, confirming that my assumptions were correct. "You will still have your spirit eyes, but they will not be much use, since this is a realm with foreign spirits, and they might have different signatures. Be careful when dealing with them. Also, when you turn human, you gain another power besides the ability to switch forms. However, we are not sure what it is, so you will simply have to discover it for yourself. Is that alright?"

"I think I can handle not knowing an ability of mine. Thanks for asking, though," came my dry remark. He chuckled, and with a quick brush of his green arrow, the last orb turned on. Warm, purple and red light appeared around me, lifting me into the air with no help from my wings and raising me to the center of the Dusk Gate.

"Aide Lagarian, know this. We cannot help you while you are in this other realm. You will have to rely on foreign spirits and powers to survive. Try not to die too soon. It would be a shame if you came back before we could finish getting your welcome home party together," Pekenio said with the most serious expression I have ever seen on anyone except Grandpa when he's talking about the duties spirits have towards their mortal charges. The twinkle in his brown eyes, of course, showed me he was making a funny, and I giggled.

"There better be cake and balloons when I get back. Shiny silver ones, with red strings, and it will be red velvet or there will be Underworld to pay," I said grimly, just before the dimension vortex sucked me inside. I was on my way to a new life. And like it or not, I was going to stay there until the day I died. Only then would I see my family and friends again.

Author's Notes: For those of you wondering, truespeak is basically telepathy, and according to what I have planned out for Aide's homeworld, is the original language of all beings. Humans simply lost the ability to use it as they lost touch with nature and became more "civilized" and technological. Aide will use it to talk to basically everyone, and she has control over who hears it. Unfortunately, she can't read minds, so the others have to talk out loud, which will probably make for some weird conversations, at least from the perspective of the people not involved in it.

Reviews are welcome, as always! Ask any questions you have, and I will answer them. That is, if answering won't be giving away any big spoilers. I don't mind them, but I'm pretty sure most of you do, and I don't want to do that to my readers.

Wild Cat 214, out! *flies off into the dimension vortex*