Hey there, Sokka's Fan/Lawyer here! While I know that I haven't updated Dreams or Straw Hats Adventures in Alagesia in forever (due to school and writer's block), this was a story that I had written a year or so ago (and is not nearly finished with), so I decided to put up the first chapter to see what people thought about it. If reception is positive, then I'll put it up after I finish one or two of my stories.
On with the fanfic!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing
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Avatar-Quarantine PILOT CHAPTER
Sokka sighed as he began to pack the last of his bags. It had taken him 2 hours just to lay everything out, then another hour to pack most of it. He quickly made sure that he had packed his jeans, t-shirts, and underwear, then a tooth brush and tooth paste; however, most of the bags were filled with stuff he wanted to bring for entertainment, like his I-Pod for example. He was just about to zip up the last bag when Katara knocked on his open bedroom door. "Come in." He said as he struggled to get the suitcase to close. As she sat down on his bed, he looked up and she asked, "So, how's packing going?" "It's alright, but I may have forgotten a few things, but if I forgot them, then surely they weren't that important." He shrugged. "Like your wallet?" his sister suggested. Her brother just sighed, "Ha! I only forgot that ONE time and you still won't let me live it down! I know for a fact that it's right here…or here…" he began to thoroughly check all the pockets of his carpenter-styled blue jeans. Katara just laughed as he began to unzip his suitcases to check. She glanced at his dresser and saw the item in question. "Is this it?" she asked in an overly sweet voice as she threw it at the back of his head. "Yes, that would be it." Sokka glared at her as he bent down to pick it up. She just sighed, "Are you sure that you should be going?" "Of course! My kendo team made it to a tournament over in Naru, which isn't that far away." He reminded her. "Yeah, but a whole other country? That seems a little far for me." "Relax, it's just apart of this hippie 'let's try and unite other countries' crap that's going around. Plus, if we win, we could possible get to train with the renowned swords master Piandao! You know how long Jet and I have idolized him." She sighed and looked away, still disliking the idea. Sokka rolled his eyes, "Relax, you won't be alone that long, I'll only be gone a month and that's if I win. Dad should be back any day now, so you'll be fine." Their dad was in the fishing business and was away to check on something that happened at one of his outposts. The country of Element was divided into four sections: The Water tribe part of the country focused on just that, water, anything that involved water had to have gone through 'water tribe' Hahn ds; the Earth Kingdom focused on earthquake prevention and other such things. Their capital of Ba Sing Se was famous for its huge wall that surrounded the city that was built by one of the Earth Kingdom's ancient civilizations; The Air Nomads were mainly where all the overly religious went to live and worship, away from society, but the Air Nomads were also famous for their vegetables and fruit pies; and the Fire Nation was where all the technology and metal works was focused. Nobody knows why the country had been set up that way, but nobody really questioned it; it was just the way things were.
Sokka grabbed his wallet, only to see the contents fall out. "Aw, come on!" he grumbled as he got down on his knees to pick the stuff up. He picked up the bills and the gift cards and such and put them back into their rightful place. "So," he tried to make conversation. "Did you have another one of those funky dreams of yours?" She nodded with an excited expression on her face. A little while after their mom had died in a fire a 7 years ago, Katara had begun having these dreams of a fantasy world where she could control water and was friends with this weird bald vegetarian and his flying sack of meat. They had tried to take her to therapy, but she didn't stop. The dreams came to her every once in awhile, but when they did, you'd know it by the way she seemed so lit up in the morning. Apparently, Sokka himself was also included in these dreams, but he never really paid attention to them. "This time we were at the Northern Air Temple where all these people were trying to revive the now extinct Air Nomads' culture when…" Sokka tuned out after that. Sure it was kind of creepy how things from real life had become incorporated into her dreams, but it was still nothing to worry about. After Katara had shut up, there was a brief silence between the two siblings…until they heard a horn honk outside. "And that would be Jet. Katara, could you help me with these…?" He gestured to the bags. "Sure." She responded politely and picked up a few. Sokka nodded in thank ks and grabbed the rest. As they dragged the heavy bags out onto the lawn, Jet was waving from his old, beat up, camouflaged colored car that he had bought only a little while ago. "Hey Katara!...and Sokka." He greeted enthusiastically. "Hey, who do you think is gonna pull us through at the tournament?" Sokka glared at his friend. "That'd be me." Jet smirked. "Yeah, yeah, screw you. Could you help us with these bags?" Sokka rolled his eyes. Jet nodded and walked over to help out. After they loaded bags into the trunk, Sokka looked at Katara. She still didn't look comfortable with the idea. "Don't worry," he grinned. "We'll be fine." Jet picked up on it and chimed in, "Yeah, we'll be back before you know it, but when we return, we'll be champions!" Katara just nodded, but she looked a little more relaxed. Sokka and Jet hopped into the car, Sokka on shotgun. "See ya later!" the two wannabe swordsman called as the car pulled away.
A Few Days Later….
They were in a gymnasium of some high school that had plenty of bleachers and a mat for the fighters in the middle of the basketball court. A chalkboard was set up for the teams to check their current status, but only 2 teams remained now. The crowd was cheering as a fight was going on. Sokka cheered his friend on as Jet fought the other team's final member in the last round of the Kenshin Royal. Jet blocked a quick swipe for his side with the hilt of his shinai, then he quickly switched his shinai from his right Hahn d to his left (Sokka reminded himself that his friend was ambidextrous) and quickly executed his difficult finishing move, the reverse do. The other guy didn't stand a chance; as he fell to the ground, his helmet came off and landed a few feet away from him. Jet took his helmet off as well, "Good match." He panted as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. The other guy just glared at him, got up, and sulked off with the rest of his team. The announcer then showed up out of nowhere and said, "Well, it looks like we have a winner! Team Freedom Fighters is officially the champion of this year's Kenshin Royal! Not only are they going to walk away with $10,000 worth of price money, but they will also get a month long training session with-" "Me." Piandao finished as he walked onto the stage. "I-it's Piandao himself!" The announcer exclaimed. The middle aged swordsman looked at the winning team, whose leaders Sokka and Jet were awestruck by the man before them. He glanced the team over, then nodded. "I see potential in them." He finally said. "What hotel are you staying at?" Sokka and Jet looked at each other excitedly. "The Ember Island, sir." Jet responded. Piandao nodded. "Fine, I'll meet you boys in the lobby tomorrow morning at 6 AM sharp." With that, the swordsmaster walked out the way he had come, through the entrance. The Team just looked at each other for a brief moment, then the weight of the win set in. They cheered in victory and were on cloud 9 for the rest of the night as they partied and ate pizza until 2 in the morning. It seemed as though nothing bad could happen to them now…; they were wrong.
A Month Later………….
The wide screen TV in Piandao's dojo was on to the news channel TWW. The story was everywhere: newspapers, magazines, the internet, everywhere that new information could be found. Sokka and the rest of the team just sat in awe as the news lady filled them in: "Earlier today, the country of Element has gone into a complete lock down. A steel wall has erected itself around the country's borders at precisely 12:01 AM. Any attempt to make contact with the inhabitants has been met with failure. Via plane, there were traces of smoke and hints of explosions as well as a mysterious gas that was released by an unknown source that has covered the country. Any attempt of aerial penetration has failed due to a seemingly invisible shield that creates a dome-so to speak- above the top of the wall, but that fails to explain how the gas managed to get in. A suggested cause of the gas is the satellite Azulon that had been above the country at the time of lock down. Azulon was launched in 2005 by the famous electronics domino Ozai Corp.. What this all means has yet to be answered. We will give you more details as soon as we get them." Piandao turned off the TV. "It's safe to say that you aren't going home anytime soon." He announced to the stunned group. The rest of the group began to panic and worry, but Sokka and Jet walked up to Piandao and glared at him. "We ARE leaving. Now." Jet growled as Sokka nodded with agreement. "How? They've tried everything yet the wall that is isolating your home from the rest of the world has remain impenetrable." "We'll think of something!" Sokka snapped as Jet began to walk off to pack. "Come on guys!" He called over to the others. They just looked at him with worried expressions on their faces. Sokka gestured impatiently to the door. "We're going home, so let's GO!" He insisted. "I don't think we should. I mean, Piandao sensei himself said that the wall is impenetrable, if the authorities couldn't do it, how would we?" a new member spoke up-what was his name? Aizen? Sokka was speechless. "But it's your home…what about your families?" The groups looked down ashamed, but it was still clear enough on where they stood on the matter. "Cowards." Sokka hissed beneath his breath and he stomped off to help Jet. In 5 minutes, they had the car packed and ready to go. "The rest aren't coming?" Jet asked after awhile. Sokka shook his head. "I see." Jet sighed in disappointment. "Fine, let's go." Jet said as he started towards the driver's side. Before they got in, Piandao came out through the entrance of his dojo. The rectangular shaped white building with Chinese styled shingles covering its roof as it faced the parking lot where Sokka and Jet stood. "So you are determined to go?" The old man asked, his breathe being visible due to the cold night air. "Yeah." Jet replied curtly. Piandao nodded, "Very well, then you might need these." He gestured to Fat, his butler, who came out carrying two bundles. "These are two swords from my personal collection." He told the two stunned students. They both quickly unwrapped them, Sokka getting a beautiful black sword with a leather handle and hilt and Jet holding pair of steel hook swords. "I don't know what good they'll do, but it couldn't hurt." The swordsman smiled. "Why?" Sokka asked in awe. "You two have the drive and dedication to your home to risk the unknown to help it. I happen to respect that sort of thing." The two teenagers nodded, bowed respectfully, and got in the car. Jet slammed on the accelerator and the duo was off. "Good luck." Piandao said quietly to himself as he went back inside.
After Driving 6 Days…
The teens could finally see the wall. After driving for 2 days straight, stopping only for necessities, they could see the beginnings of the steel wall. It was huge, much taller then Ba Sing Se's wall by a good 900 feet. It was about 2,000 feet tall, made of pure steel. You couldn't make out where the plates overlapped, if there were plates that made up the barrier before them. The ground around it was covered by people trying various things to make a dent into the wall. Jet pulled over to the side of the road, onto the dry field that surrounded them. Sokka and Jet got out, grabbing their swords as they went. They had agreed to abandon the car and its contents until they got back. A friend of Jet's was supposed of come around soon and pick it up anyway-the guy went by Longshot for some reason, but he practically never speaks for some reason. The two stealthily snuck towards a man hole nearby. It practically blended in, so nobody would find it unless they already knew where it was. Sokka looked at his friend who nodded and they entered the sewers. It was dark, but they both had brought flashlights and together, they began to press forward into the dark unknown.
A Few Hours Later…
It seemed like forever when they finally came to a ladder that they were sure would bring them up inside of the wall. Sokka took a deep breath…then took it back due to the smelly air. Jet nodded and Sokka began the climb up. When they got to the top, it took them a few seconds to push the manhole off, but they did manage. They took a few seconds to adjust to their new surroundings, but when they saw it, they couldn't believe it. It was night, but there were cars in the street; most of which had collided with each other. There were broken shop windows and remains of bus stops and such lying in the street. The only light source was from the small fires that were at various areas on some of the car crashes, but they didn't seem out of control for some reason. The most eerie thing about the whole scene was the fact that there weren't any people in sight. At all. There was no sign of live anywhere. "Wha-what the hell happened here?" Jet asked, breaking the silence. "I don't know, I-I just don't know." The two frightened teens stood in silence for a while. "Do you even have any idea where the hell we are?" Sokka demanded, since it had been Jet's idea to use the manhole. "Yeah, I think…"he pulled out a map. "We're somewhere in the fire nation, probably in Roku." Suddenly, they were aware of the sound of metal moving behind them. The periodic thud of a heavy metal foot made them turn around slowly, where they heard a snort, then a huge blast of light erupted from seemingly nowhere. Sokka and Jet yelped and leaped out of the way, getting a glimpse of their attacker due to the light from the blast. He was at least 6'9 with a metal foot that went up to his knee and a metal arm that covered his Hahn d and wrist. He had a shaved head with a black goatee, but what was most noticeable was the odd eye-shaped tattoo in the middle of his forehead. "Wha-what the hell is this guy?" "I don't know, but I don't wanna find out!" Jet answered as he drew his hook swords and began to try and find cover. Sokka quickly followed suit. The man (if he was even human) did his freaky snort thing, sending forth another blast. Jet threw himself behind an empty car; Sokka dodged, but then he began to run at the man (whom he was affectionally deeming 'Sparky Sparky Boom Man'), picking up a few pieces off metal remains from a former lamb post. Sparky Sparky Boom Man snorted again and tried to blast Sokka, who threw himself out of the way, then threw the metal pieces he had gathered. With one swipe from his metal arm, Sparky Sparky Boom Man knocked them out of the way, but one of the pieces was weaker then the rest and shattered when he hit it, sending little pieces everywhere, one of which hit the tattoo eye on his forehead. His eyes widened with pain and it was then Sokka threw himself at him. What Sokka didn't see was that because of getting hit in the tattoo, Sparky Sparky Boom Man's rather unique ability was becoming rather unstable. Random blasts began to fire and one even exploded right in front of him, sending the metal man flying into a crashed car. Sokka quickly ran to him and drew his black sword, ready to take him out of the fight, when Sparky Sparky Boom Man eyes opened rapidly, he saw Sokka standing there, and he lashed out with his metal arm, grapping the now barely conscious teen after he punched him. "Sokka!" Jet called after seeing him in the metal man's grasp. Jet quickly ran at him, hurling everything he could get his Hahn ds at him, including one of his hook swords. The man just snorted and sent a blast that swallowed the projectiles whole as well as Jet. Sokka didn't even notice as he was too dazed to, his eyes glazed over. He heard a brief sudden intake of breath through a nostril (aka a snort), he saw a great flash of light and felt a searing heat, and then he was gone.
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And so there you have it! Please let me know what you think and if I should start uploading at some point! Thanks for reading!