Spirits of Air

A.S. Gyffindor

Author's note: Well, here we are at the first real chapter. A reminder, this story is an AU from the start and as such the cannon characters who may appear may not be entirely in character to the series. Events in their lives have progressed differently in this time line. As a second note the first few chapters will be interductory in nature to fill you all in on what's happened during this time line. Enjoy the story!

Chapter One: Awakening

"Because it was once the Sages duty. It is still our duty" -Fire Sage Shyu- Winter Solstice Part 2

Shyu walked the Air Temple gardens seeking their tranquil peace, barely paying attention to the shimmering wall that had protected the Southern Air Temple for nearly a century. He was a tall, broad shouldered man wearing the traditional Air Nomad robes of yellow and orange but his long brown hair was unshaved. It hung down his back and was held back from his face by a topknot held in place by a length of red cord that bore a flame shaped ornament into which the triple swirl of the Air Nomads rested. These two incongruous things often confused people who did not know him and who did not know the story of his arrival at the Southern Air Temple but he didn't concern himself overmuch with them. The Air Nomads had made him welcome and that was all that mattered to him. The middle aged man stopped in the garden's center where there was a slightly raised platform made of rock, which had the swirling symbol of the Air Nomads etched into the sides of it. Shyu sat down and moved into a meditative position just as a chime sounded from somewhere inside the temple calling the rest of the monks to morning meditation and prayer. He was in dire need of meditation after what he had just witnessed in his latest trip to the outside world.

Shyu felt himself relaxing and once again he thanked the spirits for allowing him to find his way here, among these peaceful people, despite his nationality. Shyu was of the Fire Nation and nearly everyone in the world carried great hatred for anyone of that Nation. This was not without reason for the armies of the Fire Nation had wrecked havoc across the world for the last hundred years in a bid for world domination. Countless people had died on both sides and much of the land lay in ruin. The only two strongholds left, besides the four protected Air Temples, were the great Northern Water Tribe city and Ba Sing Se in the central Earth Kingdom. They held strong only because of the walls around them and the fact that the Water Tribe city was near impossible to attack in secret due to the icy wasteland that surrounded it. Everywhere else was under the iron control of the Fire Nation and it's current Firelord: Ozai. Shyu felt his shoulders tighten and his hands clinch into fists as images of the death and destruction he'd seen flashed across his mind. The world needed the Avatar and yet...

"Let go of worldly concerns for the moment and just relax. When the time is right he will awaken again," the calm voice of his best friend echoed in his mind and he smiled briefly at the memory.

Several moments passed before Shyu was able to release the tension he felt and return to his previous relaxed state. Thinking of his former home and Firelord Ozai made him so angry sometimes that he had to be sure to keep his bending carefully in check so as not to frighten the children who called this temple home, some of whom had seen what Firebenders could do first hand when the Fire Nation had attacked their homes. The Air Nomads had begun taking in orphans of the ongoing war almost from the moment it had began. Often the Air Nomads came across these orphans in their travels to give what aid they could to the war torn areas around their temples though most of the orphans managed to find their way to one of the temples without guidance. A very few were brought to the temples by concerned relatives or parents who wanted to keep their children safe. It had been the wish of the then Elder Monk, Gyatso, that they do so and that they not discriminate against those that might come from the Fire Nation seeking sanctuary despite what they had done to the Air Nomads and the world. They would do this, he said, because it is what Avatar Aang would have done were he still aware of the world around him. Shyu's thoughts strayed to the child Avatar who rested deep within the confines of the temple for a moment. The memory of what had lead him to be at the Avatar's side was still fresh in his mind although decades had passed since he'd began this journey.

Forty years past

He'd been a young Fire Sage in his fifth month of service at the Avatar Temple on Crescent Island, a post his father and grandfather had held before him, when he'd felt drawn to the inner sanctuary where the statue of Avatar Roku was housed. The sun was at it's zenith when he arrived and it flooded the chamber within with a warm, golden light. He shielded his eyes from the brightness, not fully understanding what was happening but also having no fear in his heart of whatever was about to occur. Avatar Roku was honored, at least in his own family, so there was no reason for him to fear being in the Avatar's presence. Briefly he wondered how the other Fire Sages could even look at a mere statue of Avatar Roku with a clear conscious. As he blinked away the tears that were stinging his eyes, he heard a calm, serene voice calling his name.

"Shyu..."

"Who calls?"

"Shyu..."

"Who's there?"

The quality of the light around him became more diffuse and dust seemed to swirl around him before it gathered and coalesced into the image of Avatar Roku himself. The spirit was transparent and was glowing a soft, muted blue. Roku was smiling down at him in a kind way and Shyu started to bow to him.

"There is no need for that, Shyu," the voice sounded amused and Shyu was startled out of his formal bow by the amusement in the former Avatar's voice.

"Avatar Roku," Shyu's voice was full of reverence and awe. He never expected to be singled out for a spiritual visitation from the Avatar and he'd never heard of anyone who'd even seen any of the spirits of Avatars past before. He felt humbled by it.

Roku moved forward a few paces until he stood just before Shyu." We need your help, True Fire Sage Shyu. Very few Fire Sages remain loyal solely to the Avatar as you and your family have been. Once the Sages served only the Avatar no matter what Nation that Avatar originated in. That time is long passed and the Sages have been corrupted by power; power that the Firelord granted them over time. They are not what they once were."

Shyu nodded in agreement. Only he and the elderly Sage Kuzon, who was now on his deathbed, had remained devote and loyal in their prayers for the Avatar's return. The rest merely played lip service to their duties as guardians of the Avatar's Temple and the things they had done in the name of the Firelord made Shyu's gut twist with revulsion. He never joined them on their "pilgrimages" or any of the other duties required of the Sages by order of the Firelord. Shyu was a pious man who'd been raised to honor the Avatar in his many incarnations above even the Firelord and he made his own yearly pilgrimages to the other Avatar Temples, except the Air Temple, as a part of his dedication to the Avatar and had done so as part of his training as a Fire Sage under his father. He believed that a Sage's duty was to the Avatar and only to the Avatar.

"You have the power to change this and, in doing so, you will help restore balance to the world," Roku continued as the empty scene around them shifted to one filled with fire and death. "Sixty years ago the current Avatar, Aang of the Air Nomads, fell in battle with the Fire Nation who had attacked his home temple."

Shyu watched as the young Avatar was struck down by Fire Nation arrows and saw him fall from the air only to land on the broad back of a wounded Sky Bison, which landed with a loud groan amid the wreckage of the temple still in flames. The Air monks, some of them gravely wounded themselves, Bended him to the ground and bore him away on a cushion of air to the temple's inner sanctuary. There were tears in their eyes and feelings of sorrow eminated from them. The vision faded and Shyu found himself staring into Roku's eyes again and those eyes were shadowed with sadness and pain.

"He did not die that day but neither does he live. You must go to the Southern Air Temple and there all will be made clear to you."

"How? No one has been able to enter any of the Air Temples since that day."

"Have no fear, Shyu. When you arrive at the Southern Air Temple you will be made welcome." Roku's voice faded and Shyu found himself kneeling on the floor at the statue's base filled with a new purpose. He's slipped away from the Fire Temple later that night.

He spent months crossing the distance between Crescent Island and the Patola Mountain Range, where the Southern Air Temple was located. He moved in secret from safe house to safe house that had all been arranged through his father's connections within the Order of the White Lotus. He was met, in a small town just outside of Air Nomad territory, by an Airbender swathed in a dark cloak to hide his identity from the rest of the village. The Air Nomad, after giving and receiving the correct coded words, agreed to take him the rest of the way to the temple on his bison. The monk, who introduced himself as Aadi, was somewhere around his grandfather's age with a dark mustache streaked with grey and a burn scar that slanted across his face from the crown of his head, down between his eyes to slice across his left cheek. It gave the Air monk a somewhat sinister appearance but the grey eyes that took in Shyu were friendly and open now that they were out of the village and the monk's words were warm with no hint of anger or malice in them. Shyu felt instantly welcome though he felt uncomfortable with that welcome. He was an enemy of these people and Aadi was being nothing but friendly to him as he lead him back to where his bison was hidden. The Air monk then helped the Firebender into the saddle with a bit of Airbending all the while attempting to engage the Fire Sage in conversation. He was somewhat relieved when Aadi's sky bison left the village far below them and headed into the mountains for it meant that the Air Nomad monk would be too busy for conversation.

Shyu's first sight of the Southern Air Temple caused his mouth to open in awe. The temple itself was a blurry image inside a dome of light that seemed to shift as if it was a living thing. Shyu could see patterns within it's surface as what he now recognized were the four element moved over the surface of the dome. Aadi, who'd been busy concentrating on the correct air currents needed to reach the landing area, did not react right away to Shyu's swift intact of breath, though he'd heard it. After finding the appropriate current that would allow for a smooth entry and landing he turned to his wide-eyed companion with a smile hovering around his mouth.

"That is our protective shield put in place sixty years ago by Avatar Aang," Aadi's voice held a quiet reverence in it.

"How?" was all that Shyu could manage to say as he watched the dome of energy undulate in front of him.

"No one knows exactly. It is believed that Avatars past interceded on our behalf through Avatar Aang that day and aided him in completing the creation of the shield even though he was close to death. I was merely a child then, new to the temple and had not yet begun my training. The Firebenders gifted me with this scar and left me for dead near the eastern courtyard as I was making my way to safety. I awoke several weeks later still in pain," Aadi said this in a serene and almost detached tone that belied the terror he must have felt as a young child. "When I was able to leave the sickroom the first thing I saw was the shield and my mentor, who'd been defending the sanctuary, told me what happened. He also scolded me for not being where I should have been."

Shyu continued to watch the dome as they came in for a landing but his eyes were drawn away from it a moment later by a scorched and melted section of stone railing that ringed the area they had landed in.

"Dragon fire," he said softly, the reverence he held for the original benders of fire clear in his voice. He'd never seen a dragon due to the fact that all the dragons had vanished after Firelord Sozin had ordered them killed for fleeing the Air Temples during their assault on them but he knew this was the cause of such damage.

"Yes," the Air monk's voice seemed far away and Shyu took a closer look around.

The area there were in was a vast circular platform surrounded on all sides by a low stone railing that was melted in places and falling to ruin in others. The smooth stone surface of it was pitted with craters, covered in scorch marks and had great cracks that zig zagged across it's surface, marring the swirling blue and white insignia of the Air Nomads that once decorated the center of it. Weeds were growing up between lose stones and the entire place seemed to have an abandoned aire to it.

"We leave it this way as a reminder of what could have been lost were it not for the Avatar's presence at our temple," the monk said solemnly as he watched the Fire Sage's reaction to the wanton destruction his own people had wrought. "Many of my brothers fell here, ambushed by Fire Nation soldiers before they could defend themselves or give warning to us."

Shyu bowed his head a moment and offered a silent prayer to those who had fallen while Aadi watched the Firebender closely. When he looked up again, Aadi had already started to walk up a nearby path that was divided by the shield. Shyu quickly followed him up the path, through the shield and upwards along a winding way that lead to the temple proper. Shyu caught his first true view of it as they rounded a corner and the Southern Air Temple seemed to appear before them like magic.

It took his breath away. Shyu had always been told that the Southern Air Temple was one of the most beautiful temples in the world. His own grandfather had once visited it in the days when all the Nations lived in peace and Shyu had loved to hear his grandfather's stories of that time when he was a child. It was easily the most beautiful structure Shyu had ever seen in his life. The pure white stone of the Air Temple walls glimmered in the late afternoon sun making it appear to the eye as if it were glowing. The blue tiled roofs complimented the white of the walls and drew the eye to them while at the same time drawing attention to the temple's many levels, the highest of which seemed lost among the low hanging clouds high above where they now stood. The next thing to register with Shyu was the peace and tranquility of the place. His grandfather had said it was one of the most peaceful and spiritual temples he'd ever visited and he was right. Shyu could feel the peacefulness settle into his soul and he felt like crying. The air was clear and carried with it the scent of flowering fruit trees back to them. Shyu felt at once welcome and guilty. Welcome because it felt very like the other Avatar Temples he'd visited and guilty because of all the wrongs his people had committed against the Air Nomads. He hung his head, wondering how Aadi could be so accepting of him when his own people had plotted the Air Nomads' destruction and when one of their own had left then young boy for dead.

Aadi noticed the look of mingled longing and guilt in Shyu's eyes and took him gently by the arm. "No one here harbors any ill will against you, Brother Shyu. You are welcome among us as a brother monk."

"But..." the Fire Sage began.

"Be at peace. Avatar Roku himself has sent you to us and Avatar Aang has spoken of your coming in his meditative 'sleep'," Aadi stopped Shyu's next words with a look. "You are welcome here."

Shyu raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing the Air monk, but he nevertheless followed his new found friend up a winding staircase that lead to a wide stone pathway. Ahead of them, Shyu could see the temple rising into the clouds. They encountered no one on the path though the Fire Sage saw several Airbenders in the skies above them either on Sky Bison or gliding on the air currents overhead on their gliders. They looked as if they hadn't a care in the world. They were free of the world concerns that plagued most people's lives. This thought brought Shyu's attention back to the reason he'd traveled thousands of miles to come here.

"Tell me of the Avatar," Shyu said after a long silence. "Avatar Roku said he was alive still and yet also not so.

Aadi had lead the Fire Sage to one of the inner temple gardens by this point wanting a bit of privacy before taking Shyu to see Aang and then to meet with the Air Monk Elders. He bowed his head a moment to gather his thoughts, his eyes coming to rest on a scorched bit of rock that was the lone remaining sign of the great battle that had been fought there decades past. After a few moments he motioned for the Firebending priest to sit down, which he did gladly the long walk having tired out legs that were not accostumed to such exercise.

"No one really understands what happened," he began and again his eyes took on a faraway look. "We were fighting for our lives. Everyone thought if we could just hold on until the comet passed maybe we could withstand the assault. We are not warriors by nature, preferring to live in peace, though that does not mean we won't fight when called to or defend ourselves if necessary. In the end our attackers were just too powerful to wait out. The Firelord's army broke through our defensive rings one by one, scattering or killing our defenders until only the double defensive line around the temple's inner sanctuary remained unbroken."

Aadi shivered a little as vague memories of the battle rose to the surface of his mind. They were fuzzy but he remembered the screams of the dying monks, the heat of the fire all around him, the smell of burnt flesh and the fact that he couldn't seem to feel his body except for the burning pain that arced across his face. It had been years since he'd thought about that day and he found he still couldn't repeat the story it without seeming to relive it. Shyu, for his part, remained silent until the Elder monk got his emotions back under control, noting that Aadi was speaking as if he'd been there too even though, by his own account, he'd been nearly unconscious at the time and several feet from the sanctuary.

"We were losing and we knew it but we refused to surrender and be slaughtered. We had the children in our care to consider and they were in the Air Temple Sanctuary, as was the young Avatar, being guarded by our strongest Airbender. We knew we had to defend it to the last Airbender, even if we all perished in the attempt," he paused a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, his hand straying to the prayer beads around his neck from which the Air Nation symbol hung. "Then Aang dropped out of the sky to face the Firebenders who'd broken through our final defense ring. No one is sure how he found a way out of the sealed sanctuary or how he even knew of our plight but with his arrival the tide of battle suddenly turned and we were confident of our chances of survival in that moment."

Shyu nodded. With the arrival of the Avatar, even one that was not yet fully realised, the tide of many battles in the past had been turned. Shyu, in addition to being a Fire Sage, was also an amateur historian, a trait that his father had encouraged from a young age. He'd read the histories of all the Nations as well as accounts of Avatars past throughout his growing up and had spent time in the world's greatest libraries during his travels.

"Not long after his arrival Aang's Avatar Spirit took control forcing the Fire Nation to retreat and creating the protective shield we passed through."

"And then the Avatar ...Aang fell," Aadi nodded. "But then how can he still be alive?"

"We not entirely sure what happened. All anyone knows for sure is that although Aang is most defiantly alive, he's also not," seeing Shyu's look of confusion Aadi continued. "I think it will be easier to explain if I took you to see him now."

They rose and headed toward the temple's inner recesses, passing several Air monks and a gaggle of young boys who were making their way to Airbending training.

"Wanna play Airball after training?" said one boy to another.

"Sure. Let's just hope Master Lu doesn't keep us after again..."

Aadi passed through the group, who all made sketchy bows to him and eyed Shyu with open curiosity as they passed. Shyu felt his spirits lift a little at the children's reaction to him as just another person new to the temple and followed the elderly Air monk deeper into the temple with a somewhat lighter heart. Maybe he would be welcome here after all.

They passed through several courtyards and a few open aired buildings before reaching a vast wooden door that was closed. Shyu studied the door noting the strength and age of the wood and the spiraling mechanism that could only be an elemental lock designed to open by Airbending. He studied the swirling structure of pipes with interest being only familiar with the Firebending version of such locks himself. The wood of the door was dark with age and the Firebending priest saw a darker mark that slashed across the door's surface just below the lock. A burn mark. Shyu frowned a little at the evidence of the attack but Aadi merely unlocked the door with a simple Airbending move and waved him through.

The sound of silence filled his ears and the darkness of the room before him seemed deeper for the brightness outside of it. They passed through the door and into the cool darkness. As his eyes adjusted to the semi darkness, Shyu had a sense of the vastness of the room by the echoing quality of his footsteps and he noticed several statues lined up in rows as they passed but he had no time to stop and take a closer look as Aadi lead him through another open door and into a second smaller room that was clearly not original to the structure given the relative newness of the stone it was made from.

Shyu paused, trying to take in what he was seeing. The room was lit by candles that gave the room a surreal aspect. There were several rings of candles surrounding a soft bed on which a young boy of perhaps twelve lay in repose, the saffron and yellow of his monk's attire standing out in the candles glow. Shyu noticed that the boy's robes were different then the others he'd seen being that they were more yellow than the others. He seemed to be asleep and the boy's hands lay across his chest. As they moved closer he could see the rise and fall of the boy's chest though the child made no other movement and didn't seem aware of their presence. Aadi bowed reverently to the sleeping child.

"The Avatar..." Shyu dropped to the floor in a formal Fire Nation bow.

"Yes," Aadi's voice was full of reverence again and Shyu stood up to look into the peaceful face of the Avatar, confused by what he was seeing.

The boy, for the Avatar was still somehow a child despite the fact that he should have been over 70 years old, was defiantly no more than twelve and Shyu noticed the Airbending tattoos the boy wore, the blue arrows standing out from his pale skin. He was already a full master at such a young age. He looked over at Aadi who was also staring into the Avatar's still, serene face a sad and contemplative look on his face.

"He was an Airbending prodigy, the youngest ever to have been made a full master," he said confirming Shyu's thoughts. "We believe that it was a natural talent for him not related to his status as the Avatar."

"What happened to him?" Shyu had just noticed the muted glow that was coming from Aang's tattoos, which had been impossible to see in the candle light until they had gotten closer to the boy.

"Not one of the healers we've had here over the years has been able to explain it. When the Air monks brought him from the battle outside the inner sanctuary they believed him to be dead but he wasn't. They worked for hours trying to save him, clearing the poison from his system and tending to his other wounds." Shyu noticed for the first time that a burn scar covered the lower portion of Aang's right arm. "No one is certain if it was something in the poison or a reaction between the poison and bending or if it was the fact that Aang was in the Avatar State at the time but he has only awakened briefly on the day of the attack and he has never wakened in all the time since then. All we know for sure is although his body remains alive, sustained by the Avatar Spirit, his spiritual essence was lost that day. Because of that the Avatar Cycle could not be continued into the Water Tribes. He's somewhere between this world and the next, trapped until he can find his way out."

Shyu continued to walk down the road of his memories, losing himself in the images of happier times to help drive away his dark thoughts of death and destruction. He only returned to reality when he heard a strange noise behind him and he turned to find the shield that had protected the Air Temple was glowing brightly. For a moment the glow receded and Shyu noticed minute cracks in the surface of the shield. His eyes widened as he watched the shield vanish in a shower of sparks blown away on a strong gust of wind. Bells sounded frantically around him and he ran toward the Avatar's chamber wondering what was happening.