I can feel warmth pool on my cheek as I roll over. My brain throbs relentlessly against the walls of my skull, making me desperate for Tylenol.
"She's been like this for the past hour," a soft female voice says.
It's laced with concern, but it still makes my pulse leap.
My eyes fly open and are assaulted by bright light and snap back closed almost instantly.
My brief moment of vision revealed next to nothing about my current whereabouts. Where am I? I thought I saw a stone wall, but I wasn't completely sure. My heart hammers in my chest and I'm afraid to open my eyes again.
"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"
This voice is male, but it sounds like it belongs to a kid. Like the girl, he sounds kind and concerned, but it doesn't do much to ebb my fear.
"Just leave the girl alone you two," another male voice groans.
This boy sounds older, but I can't put an age on it. All these voices are terrifying me. Last thing I remember is the heat and the explosion of my pendent. Am I in the hospital? These people don't sound old enough to be doctors. Are they neighbors who saw the fire?
I roll onto my side, trying to move away from the voices. But all that happens is there's a lack of anything solid under me and I fall in a tangled mess to the floor. A sharp pain shoots through my knees and elbows as they hit a hard cold stone floor.
I grit my teeth as a stream of curses bubble up in my throat. My limbs feel like jelly and fall out from under me. My body makes an unattractive flopping sound as it hits the floor.
I'm kind of content to lay there for a few minutes, but I feel a hand rest on my shoulder.
"Are you ok?" I hear the female voice ask me.
My eyelids feel heavy as lead, but I manage to open them slowly. Everything is blurry, and all I can see are spots of blue and orange as my vision starts to clear.
"I think so," I manage to choke out, though my voice is weak and raspy.
My muscles ache as I raise my head to see a pretty girl with large blue eyes looking down at me. As soon as we make eye contact her eyes widen and she scrambles back.
"Y-you're-" she stammers, not seeming to be able to form a complete sentence.
I raise my head a little farther, confusion clouding my head along with the screaming of my muscles . Before I can blink a sharp blade is thrust in my face.
Instinct kicks in and I scramble back until I hit the frame of the bed. A boy, who looks much like the girl, glares at me, standing protectively in front of the other two, his blade hovering just under my chin.
"How did you get here?" he asks angrily. "What do you want?"
I stare stupidly at him, not knowing how to respond.
"H-huh?" I stammer stupidly.
"Where are the rest of the Fire Nation troops? There's no way they'd just send a girl like you alone!"
I gulp nervously as his blade inches closer to my neck. Does this boy really plan on killing me? What the hell did I do?!
"What are you talking about?" I ask, trying to flatten myself against the bed as much as I can. "Don't point that thing at me!"
"Don't play innocent!" he snaps at me as his glare intensifies. "We know who you are! No one but fire benders have eyes like those."
What? Fire benders? But...that's...not possible.
"Where am I? And tell me what the hell is going on here," I demand. "Why are you branding me by something as trivial as my eye color?"
My answer seems to confuse them, and I take that opportunity to pull myself to my feet and scramble back onto the bed.
"Just how stupid do you think we are?!" the boy asks as he recovers from his initial shock. "You're from the Fire Nation! Now tell us where they are or you'll be sorry!"
Anger bubbles up inside of me at his pigheadedness. I slam my fist against the wall and a sound that sounds like a mixture of a strangled cry and a growl comes from my throat.
"NO I'M NOT!" I yell, clamping my eyes together.
My voice is reaching hysteria levels, and I can feel tears start snaking down my face. The three of them look at me like I'm crazy and leap into a defensive position.
"I'M JUST A GIRL! AND I'M JUST AS CONFUSED AS YOU ARE!"
I finally open my eyes, and am startled by what I see. Jets of air are flowing around my body in a spherical current, creating a bubble around my body.
My hair whips around me, and my tears float off my face. I let out a scream, scrambling backwards and slam into the wall behind me. The sphere breaks, sending jets of air in all directions, blowing the blankets off the bed.
No...
This isn't real...this can't be. Nothing like this exists outside of grandpa's stories.
I stare at my hands, a mixture of terror and fascination washing over me. But...the Fire Nation... and bending...
"You're an air bender?"
I raise my head, taking my eyes off my trembling hands. The younger boy, a bald kid with large grey eyes and strange blue arrow tattoos takes a tentative step towards me.
"How is that possible?"
I shake my head mutely, my hands falling to my lap and still shaking.
"I think you owe her an apology Sokka," the girl mutters.
"But how is it possible?" the older boy echoes. "She's got the looks of a Fire Nation citizen, but she's an...air bender?"
The girl approaches me cautiously, putting a hand on my shoulder. I freeze, and she removes it, but bends down so our faces are level.
"What's your name?" she asks softly.
I don't know what it is, but something about her seems motherly, and makes me feel like can talk to her. Kind of like the librarian back home and the waitress at the café.
"R-Rena," I choke out. "Where am I?"
She brushes the hair out of my face, and pulls the blanket off the floor, draping it over my shoulders. I cling to them tightly, just so my hands have something to do so they'll stop shaking.
"You're at the Southern Air Temple," she answers.
"The Southern..." I trail off as my eyes shoot open. "How did I get here?"
"We were hoping you could tell us that."
I look up at the bald kid from before. His eyes are large and innocent, and something about me seems to give him a glimmer of hope in his smoky irises.
"I don't know," I whisper. "The last thing I remember was my pendent-"
Panic washes over me as I fumble with my leather chain. My horror is confirmed when I see the stump of crystal.
"My pendent exploded..." I trail off as I stare at the jagged edges.
The three of them share a confused look. Eventually, the girl spoke.
"You must be freezing Rena," she says.
I shiver involuntarily despite the blanket, confirming her suspicions.
"Y-yeah," I mutter.
The small bald boy stands, walking over to a chest on the other side of the room.
"Katara, why don't you get her cleaned up? There's and indoor hot spring not too far from here, just down the corridor to the left."
The girl nods, offering me a hand. I take it reluctantly, clutching the blanket around my shoulders.
"Try and find her something to wear while we're gone ok?" the girl, Katara, orders. "Also some food from the supplies rations."
The two of them nod and I let Katara lead me out of the room. A heavy silence hangs over us as we walk through the stone walkways. The sky outside is gloomy and grey, and I can see thick blankets of snow smothering the plant life around the open archway.
"How old are you Rena?" my companion finally asks.
"I just turned fourteen," I mutter.
"Same with me," she says happily. "So how are you feeling? You were out for a few hours."
I let this information sink in. I don't really know what I'm feeling at the moment.
"I feel tired, I guess. That's all."
Katara nods and slides open a door and we are greeted with a gush of warm steam. It mists over my skin, causing me to shiver when it evaporates.
"Here," Katara says, handing me some towels from a stand near the door. "You go wash up. I can wash your clothes for you want."
I nod numbly before stepping behind a changing screen. In five minutes I'm neck deep in warm water, twirling my hand around the steam clouds. I still can't believe this is happening. I suck in a lungful of steam, feeling the slight reassuring burn in my chest. This is real. There's no way even I can dream in this much detail.
I submerge myself in the hot water, letting it burn the chill from my bones.
If that is real, then everything is.
Sozin's Comet. The genocide of the Air Benders. Chin the Conqueror. The Cave of the Two Lovers. The Great Library. The extinction of the dragons. Fire Nation raids. The hundred year war.
And that kid, he looked like it was too good to be true that I was an air bender. Does that mean he's the last one? If he is, then he's the…
What am I going to do about all this?
I hold my crystal stump in my hands. Did grandpa know that this pendent had the power to take me here? And did he tell me all those stories to prepare me in case I somehow found myself brought here?
I step out when my fingers start to prune. Katara is waiting for me in the changing area, my clothes resting in her arms.
Feeling better?" she asks with a smile.
"Yeah," I sigh as she gets up, setting my clothes down in her chair.
"Hold still a sec."
I stare in wonder as she goes through some hand movements and every last drop of water is pulled from my hair. She streams it back into the spring before picking up the pile of clothes again.
"That was amazing," I breathe, touching lock of my now perfectly dry hair.
"Thanks," she says as a wide smile crosses her face. "Sorry we couldn't find you any clothes. I guess the people who lived here didn't seem to have much of a need for extra clothes."
"It's ok," I say as I take them and go back behind the changing screen.
A minute later I'm back in my clothes and I'm slipping into worn Uggs, wishing I hadn't taken my jacket off when I had gotten back to the house.
"Are you hungry?" Katara asks as we walk through the halls.
"Yes," I whisper, and my stomach rumbles in agreement.
She leads me into a large courtyard centered around a decorative but dried up fountain. The other two boys are sitting around a small campfire, munching on various fruits and bits of meat.
"Rena!"
I lift my head and the small boy runs at me with unimaginable speed. Within seconds he's in front of me, engulfing me in a hug.
I stand shock still until he lets go. He eventually bounce back, a large smile on his face.
"I'm so happy to meet you! I was starting to believe I really was the last air bender!"
I try to smile for him. So he really is the only one to survive the genocide. To think something like that actually happened makes my stomach churn. But this kid is now alone in the world, and there might just be some way I can help him.
"But, I don't know anything about being an air bender," I reply. "I didn't even know I could bend, much less what to do when I actually want to use it."
A smile spreads over his face.
"Why don't you come with us then? I can teach you everything I know!"
"Really?" I ask, awestruck at his invitation. "You'd let me stay with you?"
"Of course," Katara says, handing me a strip of dried meat and a cup of steaming tea. "We wouldn't just leave you here. Besides, Aang will need a partner to practice his air bending on our way to the North Pole."
I look at the small boy curiously. To think that the weight of this worlds is on his tiny shoulders…
"Are you by any chance...the Avatar?" I ask softly.
"How did you know?" he asks.
I take a sip my tea while I think about how to answer. I don't want to lie to them, but I don't want them thinking I belong in an asylum either. But what else can I say?
"Well, I started freaking out when I woke up because… everything you guys said to me coincide with places in stories my grandfather used to tell me. The genocide was one of them.
I thought they were just stories. Fairy tales, or fables and stuff…
But before he died he gave me a pendent, telling me it would solve all my problems if I felt like I didn't belong in the world I was in. He never got the chance to explain it to me anymore than that. I thought it was just a delirious last profound speech before dying thing.
But last night I got into…some trouble at home and next thing I knew Ponytail here was pointing a knife in my face."
They stare at me with different expressions of shock. I slump my shoulders.
"Now you think I'm a nutcase don't you?"
"Yeah kinda."
"Sokka!" Katara scolds, smacking him upside the head.
"What?" he whines. "Come on Katara, I spouted stuff like that would you think I was sane?"
"Well I didn't see you explode into existence at the top of a mountain range."
I shift uncomfortably in my seat while they argue. I look down at my teacup and swirl the contents around to try and settle my unease. If these people can't help me, how will I survive in this world. Aang scoots closer to me and my eyes flicker back up.
"Don't worry about Sokka," he says with a small smile. "I still want you to come, and so does Katara."
I return the smile, unable to do anything otherwise. His eyes are soft, and remind me of my grandmother's. I glance away in time to see Katara angrily freeze Sokka's feet to the ground, much to my own amusement.
"So will you come with us Rena?" she asks as she turns back to us.
I stare at the people who've saved my life. There's something about these three that practically screams adventure. So what better way to break from my tedious, lame, uneventful life?
"OK," I say. "I'd love to."
Aang and Katara engulf me in a hug, with Aang cheering like a kid on Christmas morning. I stumble a bit under their combined weight, but manage to stay upright.
"Alright, enough of the hug business," Sokka grumbles as he picks the last of the ice off his feet with a boomerang. "We should move out, before any real fire benders show up."
They let go of me and begin picking up camp. I do what I can to help, but I don't know much about how we're traveling. So mainly I sit around draining my second cup of tea and picking up the remains of the food Sokka managed to leave behind.
"Rena!" Aang yells, walking over from what I assume is the way out of the temple.
I look up in time to see him toss me a long stick, which I barely catch. I fumble for it, but at the last second, I can feel a small current of air that pulls it into my waiting hands.
"That's your glider," Aang explains as my fingers curl around the worn wood. "As soon as you learn to control your bending I'll show you how to fly."
A look of disbelief passes over my face before it's replaced with excitement. I can actually use this thing to fly? I've only ever dreamed of being able to do something like that.
"T-thanks Aang!" I stammer.
He then leads me out of the courtyard and round a thin strip of mountain road to a large open field. And there lies the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
"Whoa..." I breathe as I look up at the gigantic furry creature in front of me.
"His name is Appa," Aang says with a smile as he leads me up to the massive creature. "He's my sky bison."
"He's amazing," I whisper, reaching out and running a hand over his thick soft fur.
"Come on," he says holding out his hand. "Everyone's already on. Ready for your first bending demonstration?"
I nod, and he gestures for me to take his hand.
Before I can allow myself to hesitate, I take it. But without warning he jumps, and I feel like my arm is about to be yanked out of its socket and …I'm flying. Well semi-flying.
We land in the saddle and I plop…well stumble down next to Katara.
"That was awesome!" I gush, rolling my arm to lessen the pain.
Aang promises to teach me more in a bit as he climbs onto Appa's head. I lean back in the saddle, and a small furry bundle rockets into my lap, and I recognize it as some sort of lemur species. I smile and scratch his ears, giggling as he purrs in his weird little lemur voice.
"Yip Yip!"
I only get a second of warning to grab onto something before we're soaring. As soon as the feeling settles in, I've never felt more at home. I look over the side of the saddle, watching the landscape blur as we pick up speed. The air temple gets smaller and smaller with each passing minute. Now, this is where my life really begins.
XXx Author's Notes xXX
Whoo! I got really excited for this fic so I was able to get this out pretty fast. Thanks so much for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. let me know what you think of my OC, cuz there's more to come. I'll update as soon as school, and homework, and choir allow...and let's not forget Halloween! That takes up a lot of time for me too! Anyways, till next time!
~Jade