Burn My Dread Complete

By Iain R. Lewis

Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Atlus's Persona 3 and 4.

"Trying to stop the flow, double clicking on the go but it's no use, hey, I'm being consumed."

-- "Pursuing my True Self"

Month 1: The Moon

The Bending Club

School ended quietly. Teo laughed apologetically at Aang, and complained of a headache. He looked like he'd been giving quite a large piece of Toph's mind earlier. "I'm sorry if I got you in trouble," Aang said. "Do you need any help?"

"Nope. My Dad's coming to pick me up, so I'm good. I mean, with all these incidents you can't be too careful, right?"

"Right," Aang said, not sure what he meant.

"Oh, you're new to Ba Sing Se, aren't you? Well, whatever you hear, it's not usually like this. But, a young girl jumped from the tram a couple days ago, and it was in all the news. She went here, too. She was a third year, so didn't know her, but, still..."

Aang shivered, "Glad I don't have to take the tram, then," he answered, with a weak smile. "I should get going. Azula wanted me back at the dorm."

"You live with Azula and Katara, right?" Teo said. "Oh man, you're lucky. Katara's super-popular here. I'd be careful if I was you."

"Why? We just live in the same dorm."

"Yeah, well, you'll see I guess," Teo laughed. "See you tomorrow!"

Aang nodded, and as he stepped out of his class, Sokka and Katara looked up. They stood across the hall, and waved him over. "Hey!"

"Thought we'd all walk back together," Katara said. "We'll get Sokka going home first, to make sure he doesn't try and sneak in, again."

"I didn't sneak in that time, I just, just fell into Azula's room at midnight somehow. It must have been a spooky ghost! Oooh!" He wiggled his fingers and his voice modulated creepily."Katara! Your dorm is haunted!"

"Give it a rest, Sokka," Katara said, tiredly. "Just ignore him, Aang."

"Aang and me are buds, Katara. Right?"

"Right!"

"See?"

Katara sighed. She turned and began to speak again, when she paused, squinting her eyes, "Isn't that...?" She pointed to a beat up old car that sat next to the police blockade. The station was moving on without incident, but the presence of the Ba Sing Se police was still overwhelming.

Sokka cocked his head and nodded. "That's definitely Dad."

"I thought he had a case already. Did the police need to consult him again?"

"He doesn't tell me anything about work, Katara," Sokka complained. "But while we're here, we may as well see if he's okay." As they approached the police line, an officer brought his hand up to wave them along. Sokka stopped right in front of him. "Okay, pal, do you know who we are?"

"Sokka and Katara Floes, right?" the officer said. "You want to talk to your father, huh?" The officer grumbled. "Wait right here. Don't go anywhere."

The three looked around innocently. "So, crime scene, huh?" Aang said. "What happened?"

"Someone jumped, I heard," Katara said. She looked sad, "She was in the same year as me, I think."

"Heard she ran away from home a couple weeks ago. The parents were on the television and everything," Sokka said. "Surprised you didn't hear anything about it before now, Aang."

"I might have," Aang said, "But I don't really watch TV."

"Not watching TV is like, like," Sokka struggled for a simile, "Not eating meat!"

Aang decided to not point out that he didn't eat meat either, but instead smiled nervously. By this time, a man in a ragged old coat, wearing a similar necklace that Sokka wore, approached the three of them. Katara's face lit up when she saw him, and gave him a big hug. "Dad!"

"Hello, Katara," he said, his face weary and worn. "I wish I had more time to visit, but work's pulling me in two directions."

"Don't give them that line, Hakoda," another man said. He seemed similarly weary, but his face seemed to weather it much better. He calmly put a hand on Hakoda's shoulder, "I'll deal with the police. You spend some time with your family."

"Bato!" Katara gave him just as big a hug as she did her father, "You're working this case with Dad?"

"Well, he is my partner," Hakoda said, wryly. "I kind of drag him along most of the time."

"I do most of the work," Bato commented, to Katara. "Do you want me to visit the family, too?"

"No, that's my responsibility," Hakoda said. "I'm sorry, Sokka, Katara. You're already finished with school?"

"It is past three, you know," Sokka said. "And you forgot your watch on the counter again."

Hakoda gave a small chuckle, "And I bet you didn't bring it with you? Oh well. How's the dorm life been treating you, Katara?"

"Fine!" she said. "We just got a new resident to the boy's floor."

"Oh, yes?" He became much stonier in expression on hearing this, and he gave Katara a very clearly protective look. Aang decided to take a step back.

"Sokka's already scared the fear of the water spirits into him, Dad, don't worry!" Katara said, "And you're embarrassing me." Aang decided one step wasn't enough. So he took three more.

"I'm sorry, Katara. Oh, this must be him?" Hakoda said, sizing up Aang. "I could have sworn you were closer a second ago."

"Nossir!" Aang said. "My name's Aang, sir."

Hakoda laughed, "No need to be so formal, Aang, I'm not a police detective. Just a private eye. As you probably guessed, I'd been working to track down the girl who jumped." He looked like he was locking a lot underneath the expression. "The police have my full cooperation in investigating the circumstances, but it's sounding like all signs are pointing to a suicide."

"I guess you'll be late again, Dad, huh?" Sokka said. "I'll make sure the house is locked up."

"Thanks, Sokka. I'll send Bato around later with some dinner," he said. "He's the only reason I got any sleep last night. Needs a break, won't take one."

Katara gave her father another quick hug, "I'm really sorry to hear that Dad. Aang and I need to get back for our meeting," she said, "Azula's being very particular about punctuality because someone almost broke her perfect record."

"It's not my fault!" Aang said, on getting the evil eye from Katara.

"Katara, behave around Ms. Houou. She's the only reason I can afford to send both of you to as good a school as Phoenix High."

"I know, Dad," Katara said patronizingly. "I always do."

"Good," he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Sokka, you're going to miss the tram if you dawdle around the crime scene, and the detective in charge doesn't want you nosing around this one."

"It was only a little nosing around last time."

"That's why there won't be any this time, all right?" he said, sternly.

"Bye Dad, see ya, Sokka," she said, waving. She and Aang walked down the street, and Katara sighed heavily as they walked. "I didn't want to see Dad. I heard the family hired a detective, and Dad started a case around that time. When I heard that girl jumped, I just knew Dad would take it personally."

Aang looked over at her. "If I didn't have to stay in the dorms, I'd be home, helping Sokka take care of it. I mean, I'm glad I don't have to wash his stinky socks, but Sokka and Dad just can't run a house. You saw them," she laughed, "They always play macho."

She looked at the ground. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"It's okay," Aang said, "I've been told I'm an excellent listener."

She laughed, "You sure jumped ten feet when you heard my Dad go into Overprotective mode. Where do you think my brother picked it up? I swear, the two of them," she laughed. "I should call him, tonight, just to make sure everything's okay."

"Yeah!" Aang said, "I'm sure that would make your Dad feel better, too."

"You think?" she said, "All right, I'm going to. Thanks, Aang."

And there it was, that feeling again. Something like a link forming between the two of them. It faded just as soon as it came, but something inside him felt different than before. "Oh, uh, here we are," he said, coughing.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine!" Aang said.

"You don't sound fine," Katara said. "Oh, the Chairman's already here." She pointed to the red sports car parked on the street. "Don't know how he affords it. Probably some dirty Phoenix Group business I'd rather not know about."

Chairman Zhao, he was about to meet the man himself. He imagined him, gaunt, with grasping fingers that wrapped around your shoulder in an unfriendly manner, while perfect for plucking a long gray hair from in front of his skeletal face.

He didn't expect what he saw sitting in the lounge, calmly.

The man wore a muted red business suit, and wore his hair in a very clean-shaven, manageable style. He had strong, defined features and when he saw Aang he smiled. The smile, at least, he was right about. It oozed insincerity. And when he spoke, his authoritive voice seemed to try and hide behind familiarity. "Aang, good to finally meet you."

"Welcome back, the two of you. You're right on time," Azula said. "Sokka isn't with you, I trust?"

"We dropped him off," Katara said. "Dad made sure he got home. He was the private investigator who --"

"Yes, I know." Azula looked to Zhao, "The Chairman has confirmed the reports from the main offices. Aang definitely has the potential of bending."

"That's right. Aang, have you ever noticed that sometimes you can feel like you can move the air around you even without moving your hands? Or feel light as a feather, even while falling?" Zhao smiled, "We believe you have the rarest potential of all: that of an airbender."

"Airbending?" Aang murmured. "I guess I've felt those things."

"Katara is a gifted waterbender, and Azula is a prodigy firebender," he said. "Adding an airbender to our ranks brings us one step closer to our ultimate goal. But I get ahead of myself." He cleared his throat, "Understand, you do not have to join our cause, but let us explain ourselves first."

Katara sighed, "Really, Aang, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"Hear us out, first," Azula said. "Katara, myself, and perhaps you will form a club of sorts. Zhao sponsors it, and we're known, on the official records, as the Bending Club. To the administration, we appear to be a historical club, interested in the ancient mysticisms of our nations. In reality, what we do is something much more exciting."

"As Azula said, I am the sponsor, and as such I was the one who acquired this dorm and funding for our mission."

"Aang," Katara said, pleadingly, looking at him. Her eyes told him one thing: run, run as fast as you can.

"We don't wish to force you into this," Azula said, "But without you, I fear our efforts may be doomed."

"What is this mission?" Aang said, sitting down. Katara looked to the floor, and Zhao smiled, broadly.

"Aang, what we are trying to do is nothing short of saving the world. You of course heard all about the girl who killed herself? It was not exactly a natural suicide. She was attacked by a spirit some time ago."

Azula and Katara looked suddenly very guilt-ridden.

"We tried our best, but unfortunately the spirit escaped back into the spirit world and we weren't able to follow it back. When we entered, we found that bending just doesn't seem to work."

"It was worse than that," Azula said, "The land around us seemed to try and stop us. We couldn't get further than a couple miles in before the twisting terrain became too much."

"I felt like my spirit was being devoured," Katara admitted.

Roku's words from his dream echoed in his head. And then he rose to speak. "Chairman, I'll help you if you think I can. But, I don't know how to bend air," he paused.

"Do you think we were granted teachers to learn?" Azula scoffed, "Learn if for yourself, or you really are no good to us."

"Azula!" Katara hissed, "You don't have to say it so cruelly."

"We can't afford someone who expects everything to be just given to them. If he's not willing to work for his power, then he can just go. So, Aang, tell me, are you willing to fight tooth and nail for every scrap of power to fight these spirits?"

"I, I guess, but why are we fighting spirits. I thought they were benevolent forces."

"Most of them were," Zhao said, "But that's changed. They're little more than shadows of what they once were. If there were a way to fix it, that was lost a long time ago. Now, we have to stop them from stealing the spirit-halves of people on our side." He frowned, "That girl was living without her very spirit, she was less than an empty shell."

Aang frowned. "Okay."

"What's wrong?" Katara said.

"This just feels wrong to me, somehow." He closed his eyes, "Why are the spirits stealing souls? I read stories of a forest spirit claiming people body and spirit both, but not just one."

"Their activity is a mystery to us," Zhao admitted. "Long ago, legends spoke of the Avatar who bridged the gap between our world and the spirit world. But, such things are sometimes just that: legends."

Aang could have laughed, he could have said, 'No, he's right here,' and spoke about his strange dream, but somehow, Zhao's attitude unsettled him, and he decided to remain quiet and let Zhao and Azula talk.

Katara looked at him, as if reading his thoughts. "Katara," Azula said, "Perhaps a demonstration will help Aang understand better. Here," she placed a glass of water on the table. "Bend the water in this glass."

Katara nodded, and moved her hands back and forth, "Push and pull," she said, "That's the basis." The water in the glass seemed to move gently back and forth in small waves. "You have to be careful, though, since the movement of the hands has to be as gentle as the glass allows. Or it'd go everywhere."

She maintained her pace. The waves started gently back and forth, and grew slightly stronger, "Katara, be careful."

"I am," she said, focusing, "I'm not doing that." The waves began to get strong, and stronger, "I'm not!" the water spilled out from the glass, and darted towards Katara like the movement of a whip. She pushed, as strong as she could, away, and the water fell to the ground with a loud splash, and began to crawl like a spring across the ground and towards the door.

"What was that?" Azula asked.

"I don't know, I think something stronger took over," she said. She frowned, and with a quiet voice, she spoke to Azula. "It's about that time, isn't it?"

Azula nodded, "A spirit must be trying to escape the Spirit World. Chairman, I leave Aang in your capable hands, Katara and I have business we must attend to."

"Oh, yes, it is that time of the month, isn't it?" the Chairman said. The girls stopped, and looked at him, blankly. "What? What's the matter? It's that time of the month in the spirit world, or am I wrong?"

"Never mind," Azula said, "I'll just tell father about that slip when it comes time to review your salary."

The Chairman watched them leave, and turned to Aang, "Ignore them. Aang, I think we need to be frank. This situation is delicate. The girls have managed to hold on to things by the barest minimum. Ever since we lost one of our members."

"I see?"

"There are some old books of Airbending forms in the office on the fourth floor. If you want to look at them, it may accelerate the process. We don't have time to wait for you to discover your powers, or else we wouldn't have rushed the process. While I'm a man who believes in due process, I also believe in results. Right now, due process isn't giving me results, so we must adapt. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Aang said. "I'll go look at those books now."

"Do that. I'll be down here if you need me." Aang rolled his eyes. He didn't plan to need the Chairman at all. The fourth floor, right above the girl's dorms, was less hallway and more meeting room. And the door to the meeting room was slightly ajar. He felt a cold breeze, and looked for its source. He peered up another flight of stairs. The door, which must lead to the roof, was open at the top of the stairs, and being held open by what looked like a baseball bat.

Aang crept towards the meeting room and quietly opened the door.

He could hear someone, and they seemed preoccupied with, "Ha ha ha! AIrbending slice!" Aang had no words, merely a sense of mortification. "Well, I don't know, you tell me, you stupid animal." He was talking to a lemur, too.

"Sokka," Aang said, quietly, "What are you doing here?"

"Stand back! I've got a lemur!" Sokka held the creature out with both hands, pointing it towards the door. The small creature made a few noises, and tried to scratch his nose. "No, bad lemur, don't be cute now. Be menacing."

The lemur squirmed out of Sokka's hand and walked up his arm, resting on his shoulder. "And great, even the animal doesn't take me seriously. Who's there?"

"It's me, Sokka, Aang. I live here, remember?" Aang said. He walked in and closed the door, "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently looking stupid in front of a lemur," Sokka said. "I had a bad feeling and decided to do some snooping around while no one was around. I saw Katara and Azula run off, and I just sort of forgot you were here."

"The Chairman's downstairs right now, Sokka. You could get in real trouble. You could get expelled!"

"Well, it's worth it if my sister's in danger. I swear, I thought they were heading to the Royal City for a minute there, Haven't you heard the rumors about the ghosts in the old catacombs?"

"Just moved here," Aang said, "And wouldn't it be spirits?"

Sokka stopped, then smiled broadly, "Yeah! I'm glad I thought of that. Spirits in the old catacombs, that makes perfect sense. Anyway, they went a different way, so I guess they were just heard there was a sale at the market and were in a rush."

"Sokka? I don't think --"

"Anyway, these old books are fascinating. I mean, I heard the martial arts were based on some old mumbo-jumbo about elements, but this takes the cake. Says here that by focusing on the air underneath your feet, you can jump at least twice as high, then fall slowly to the ground. Crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, crazy," Aang said, quietly. "Can I have those books now, please?"

"Sure, you interested in all that old bending stuff, too? Katara was all about it for a while. She swore up and down that she could use her magic water. Ha!"

Aang took the books and began looking through them. He sat down on the couch, and Sokka sat beside him. "Still, it would be nice. I mean, Katara's pretty tough, but with those delinquints that hang around the station, I get a bit worried for her. Kind of glad there's a guy here to look after her."

"She can take care of herself, I think," Aang answered.

"I guess, but she's still my little sister." He scratched the little lemur behind the ears. "I don't know why this thing has been following me everywhere, but he's kind of cute."

"Hey," Aang said, reaching out to pet the lemur too, "Yeah, he's really well behaved. I wonder if he was someone's pet. I love lemurs. I did a report about them once back in elementary school and I've been a fan ever since."

The lemur appreciated the attention, and stared with wide eyes at Aang. "Well, he seems to like you, too."

"Let's call you," Aang thought for a second, "Momo."

"Momo, huh? Not very manly, but, eh, it fits." Sokka stretched out, putting his feet on the small table in front of the couch. "Nice digs, could really get settled in a place like this. Can see why Katara never wants to come home."

Aang didn't respond, reading voraciously.

"You seem to be really into that stuff. Hey, you're probably descended from the Air Nomads aren't you? That's pretty cool. So this is like your culture."

Aang nodded.

"This necklace I have is kind of an old relic from the rites of passage the Water Tribe used to have. I guess I'm not really a man by the old ways of the tribe. I'd have to do some ice dodging in a boat with my father, but, Dad's busy and we don't have any ice around here."

Aang looked at Sokka. "I guess so, but, I mean, it's not like all the old ways are best."

"Well, yeah, back in the old days women couldn't be warriors. And believe me, my sister gives most of the men from back south a run for their money on fierceness. But," he frowned, "Sometimes I wish I could be a warrior in the old days, defending my village."

Aang fidgeted.

"You'd probably be a monk back in the old days. That's cool, I guess." He frowned, "Hey, did the lights just flicker?" Aang looked up, and the lights in the room began to flicker again, and then, with a great loud crack, the lights turned off as thunder resounded right above them.

"This is bad," Aang said.

"It's just a little lightning. You scared of lightning or something?"

Aang shook his head.

"Aang's afraid of a little lightning, scaredy-Aang!" A loud crack of thunder broke his taunting, and he looked to the little lemur, who was curled up around him, and whispered, "Hold me."

"Stay here, Sokka, I'm going to go see what's going on." He got to his feet and ran down the stairs to the lobby. Azula and Katara were at the door, holding it closed. There was a loud sound, like something hitting it with a battering ram. Azula had one arm held limply, her back laid against the door with all her weight behind it. Katara looked winded.

"We need to get Aang out of here," Azula said, "He's in no shape to face something like this."

"Neither are you, Miss Azula," the Chairman said. He pressed his shoulder against the door and pushed to hold it down. "Katara, take Aang, be ready to use whatever means are necessary." Katara backed away, hesitantly from the door.

"Come on, Aang."

They ran towards the back, when Aang stopped her. "There's a little problem, Katara. Sokka's here. He snuck in through the roof."

Katara stopped and glared icy daggers at Aang, "Where is he."

"The meeting room, upstairs, by the office," he said. "Am I in trouble?"

"If we survive, no. But he sure is." She ran up the stairs. They could hear the door being broke down, and the sound of flames being thrown, searing the air with a harsh crackle. Aang looked back, but Katara grabbed his wrist. "They'll be fine."

"What is it?"

"I don't know," Katara said, "I've never seen one that big before." She rounded up the stairs to the third floor with a stride. "All I know is that when we got there, it was already out and moving. Then this rain storm started and it's been following it."

"So that's why the lights went out."

"Yeah," she said, "If we can get to the roof, maybe we'll be able to find a way down. And then I'm going to take my brother aside, give him the biggest hug in his life, and I will kill him, slowly. Or, I'll give him to Azula and let her do it."

"If she's all right. What happened to her arm?"

"That thing swung her into a wall. She thinks it's broken, but, we'll see." She opened the meeting room door. "Sokka Floes, you are in so much trouble if you survive this."

Sokka and Momo stared at her with wide eyes.

She stopped, and, coughing, said, "Why do you have a lemur on your shoulder?"

Sokka, after a moment of thought, responded, "Why don't you have a lemur on your shoulder?"

"That's not important right now. We have to go, come on, Sokka," Aang said, "Bring Momo, too. There's something coming for us."

"What? Come on, Momo," he said, getting up. "Katara, stay close. We'll protect you."

Katara rolled her eyes. The sounds of the fire seemed to be coming closer. And Sokka looked down the stairs, seeing the blue firelight against the walls, coming in flashes, showing the silhouette of a lone girl with a broken arm.

"The roof's our only option," Katara said. They ran up the stairs, and Sokka picked up his bat as they ran past. He stood in front of the door, bat at the ready in case something came through. Katara looked down at the street below, and looked pale. "That's way too far down to jump."

She drew some rain drops into a water whip. "Aang, I'm sorry you had to come here."

"What are you telling him sorry for, we're not dead yet!" Sokka said. He looked at her, nodded, "You and I can hold them off, Katara, right? Use your magic water and send them back where they came from."

"Sokka," Katara said, smiling slightly. "Okay, we can do this. Aang, just stay back. You're not ready for this." Bubbles of glowing blue water climbed up the side of the building, latching onto the sides with long tendrils, and pulling themselves over the ledge and onto the rooftop.

Sokka charged, and with a swing of his bat he tore one into pieces. Katara's whip shredded another, but for every one they took, another two took their place. Regardless, back to back, the two fought.

Aang watched. He heard the door click, someone opening it, and running through the door. The Chairman and Azula, both out of breath, closed the door quickly behind them. "Curse the luck," Zhao said, "More of them."

"It stopped following us," Azula said, "I think this is why. It found what it wanted had come outside." She looked at Sokka, and seemed taken aback, "Chairman, is that boy fighting them with a baseball bat?"

"I believe he is," he said. "The boys at the lab will want to hear about this."

"Azula!" Katara yelled, "There's no end to them. We need to retreat."

"Working on that, Katara," Azula said. "She kicked a blast of flame into an incoming slime's arc, and looked over at Aang, "A little airbending would be appreciated right around now, if you think you can manage it."

Aang looked at everyone fighting, and tried to move the air around him. Nothing moved. He tried, as hard as he could, to emulate the positions the old bending books showed. The oozes, slowed, and then, they began to move back.

"Aang," Azula growled.

"He didn't have long to study those books, Miss Azula. Give him time. He may surprise us yet," Chairman Zhao said. "Anyway, I think they're retreating."

"That's no excuse," Azula said, "We would have been dead if they didn't suddenly run away."

Aang shook his head, "I don't think they're running," he said, "The storm's still here. And," there was a loud sound, like something massive attaching itself to the building. "That, too."

They all turned to look as the massive spirit climbed up to the roof, its tendril-like whiskers waving wildly in the air. It looked as though it were a massive catfish, glowing a pale moon blue beneath a large bubble. Its maw, an endless black hole, opened between the tendrils, and it roared, shaking the building around them.

"Aang, run!" Sokka said, throwing himself at the beast. The water spirit just threw him aside with a whisker, the other then smashed down at Katara. The blasts of flame Azula threw couldn't even penetrate the slimy surface around its skin. It turned at her and roared, a blast of water smashing her against the wall.

The creature moved.

His friends were prone, unable to move, and the creature slid slowly towards them. It seemed to glow a deeper cerulean, and then focused on Katara. It raised a whisker and something stirred inside Aang. "I am you, and you are me," Roku had said. The winds around Aang started to pick up. The voice of the old man echoed in his head and he could feel his consciousness fade into a collective. The last thing he saw was Katara staring at him, mystified.

The storm was pierced by the winds, and underneath the full moon, the creature reared back, the bubble around it falling to the ground below. It started at Aang, like a cornered animal. It brought a whisker-tendril down at the ground but Aang raised his hand and the air cut through the tendril like it was nothing.

"Aang!" Katara breathed, mystified.

Aang raised into the air, the winds carrying him upwards as his hands brought the water on the rooftop rising into the air. Then, with his fists clenching into fists, the water turned to ice, and crossing his arms, plummeting to the ground, the ice pinned the creature in place.

Like a feral animal, its cry shook the building, but Aang didn't seem fazed. The monster heaved and water spouted from its mouth. The rooftop rose up, forming a barrier. Aang, behind it, punched forward, the wall shattering and a wave of fire seared the creature. It reared back, tearing itself out of the ground with a painful cry and with its tendril tried to strike.

It stopped. The wind cut it straight through, and Aang's face, devoid of emotion, watched as the body of the creature cut in half. It roared one final time, a painful, lonesome cry, and faced the moonlight. Then, like a massive tear, it feel slowly to the ground below, and splashed against the pavement.

Zhao stared at Aang, and his face twisted into a cruel, arrogant smile, "The Avatar."

"Aang!"

The Spirit World spread out beneath him, as wild and untamed as it was the last time he saw it. Aang looked around, and felt himself being watched. Roku's smile seemed out of place above the feral landscape beneath him.

"Aang, this will be the last time we meet like this."

"Er, I'm asleep again?"

"Quite," Roku answered. "You had to call upon the Avatar State, and now you are recovering. It seems things have grown further out of control than I first believed."

"That thing! What happened to it."

"Tui, the Ocean Spirit, was once a noble, peaceful creature, but for now, it has retreated back into the Spirit World. Whatever it sought in your world, it was thwarted. The ravages to the Spirit World have changed the spirits, Aang, but remember, they were once noble and may one day be noble again."

"I don't know," Aang said, "That thing seemed pretty monstrous."

"I will leave that judgment up to you," Roku deferred. "Anyhow, now you are about to begin your journey, and you'll be beset by many hardships. But, remember, you will find strength in your allies."

"Yeah, I," he paused, "I know."

"Good luck, Aang," he said. "The next time we speak, you will come of your own accord."

"But, but how?"

"You'll find a way."

And he opened his eyes. The hospital room was sterile, quite, and clean. And he looked to his right, then his left. "Katara?" he murmured. The Water Tribe girl raised her head from her reading and looked surprised.

"Aang! You're awake!"

"Yeah. Good morning. What hit me?"

To be continued