Chapter 3: The spirit world part 2
I present to you chapter 3, I felt like I had to update soon due to the "massive cliff hanger" (Yes that was sarcasm) in the previous chapter. Thank you very much for the reviews I got and thank you very much for the reviews I might get in the future. I do not really know what to think of this chapter, it was kind of hard to write so review and let me know!
He gazed upon him. A man dressed in blue fur clothes with a white bear hood. Avatar Kuruk. He was standing with his back against Aang, staring down into Koh the face stealer's lair. He knew the story of Avatar Kuruk and Koh the face stealer. How under their wedding Koh pulled his soon to be wife down into the spirit oasis in the northern water tribe where she would be lost forever, she was pulled into the spirit world. Aang had seen her face in Koh's possession during his spirit world journey where his body had lost connection to the Avatar spirit. He cannot remember these events though. He moved towards Kuruk, he just stood there with his spear staring down into the pit. It was quite obvious that Avatar Yangchen led him here to meet with Kuruk, maybe to summon him to the meeting, or maybe it was a more personal reason. Aang was about to say something just before Kuruk said something.
"Hello Avatar Aang, I have been expecting you. I have been summoned to the meeting that will take place in the nearest future." He was emotionless. Show no emotion or Koh will steal your face. Kuruk's face was generally emotionless.
"I always go down into Koh's lair this day. Every year." As time was not actually passing in the spirit world there was no way he could tell which date today was. He could easily imagine which.
"This is the day when you were to be married with your wife?" Aang asked, he of course already knew the answer. "Yes, it is also the day Koh kidnapped my beloved Ummi. If I only had been more active as the avatar..." He couldn't help but to feel really sorry for Kuruk. Every Avatar he knew of lived their life happily in the spirit world with the one they loved for the rest of the eternity, as he hoped he once would with Katara, but as Koh stole Ummi's face her connection to both the mortal and the spirit world was cut off. To Aang's knowledge Kuruk and his love could never spend their lives together.
"I tell you now young Avatar, cherish every second you have with your water tribe girl. You should not have come to this meeting; you should be with your beloved wife. This is not the time for her to be alone." Aang suddenly felt his heart stop. Was something wrong with Katara? Was she in danger?
"Why shouldn't I have come? Is there something wrong, is Katara in any danger?" he started to worry. He immediately looked down at her necklace and stroked the pendant with two fingers. He could already feel his heart ache, he missed her so much and now he was worried too, she could be in danger. "No Avatar Aang, she is not in any danger, but she need's you. Now more than ever." These were the last word's Kuruk said before jumping down into the pit. Into Koh's lair where they would battle till the next day and Kuruk would come back to his lair the next year to finish the job. This would go on forever. An eternal battle.
Aang looked down into the pit with a blank face. He felt bad on the inside for Kuruk but showed no emotion on the outside in case Koh would steal his face. He could not help but to feel sad. Kuruk was his past life and they shared so much in common, they could even feel emotional on behalf of each other. This was the sad tale of Avatar Kuruk and Ummi. If only there was a way to reunite them."
He started to walk again. It felt like he had walked for miles. He looked down at his feet as his surroundings started to shift. The swampy area turned in to stone and he found himself on top of a giant stone pillar. He could see where this was leading. He had already spoken to two of his previous lives and the Avatar after Kuruk was Avatar Kyoshi. Avatar Kyoshi was sitting in a meditative position. She was indeed the tallest and generally largest Avatar he had ever seen or spoken to. Avatar Kyoshi was seated with her face towards him and her eyes closed.
"Greetings Avatar Aang." Kyoshi opened her eyes with a blank look on her face. She was never the person so show any emotion. Aang positioned himself right in front of her, he could not help but feel a little irritated about this, he was summoned for an important meeting wasn't he? He felt like his time was wasted. "Avatar Kyoshi, it is nice to see you again but I cannot help but to wonder. Why am I here and not at the meeting? I have spoken to two of our previous lives and they vanished just after I spoke to them, I thought they would be attending the meeting?" Kyoshi's face expression did not change at all.
"Only Avatar Yangchen and yourself young Avatar will be attending the meeting, me myself Kuruk and everyone you will speak to before the meeting is simply preparing you for the meeting. I am sure you would not like the spirit's reasoning and what they are intending. I will just help you make the right decision."
"Right decision? This meeting was about the future of the air nomad's right? Who am I to decide how a race should reemerge?" He already knew the answer to this, he had Katara and he was the last airbender. They were also married. They could have kids, start a family.
"Aang you might look at yourself as the last airbender, you need to stop thinking that. You are now in a lot of ways the first airbender. I know you have your water tribe girl and you are married, yes you could start a family and have little kids, maybe even airbenders. There is no guarantee that you'll have any air benders. It is just as likely that you'll have waterbenders, if not more. There is also the possibility of non-benders. However if you were to rebuild your race with non-benders, then it is almost guaranteed that you will have air benders." Aang could only watch and listen in horror as Kyoshi was suggesting what never hoped he would hear. Did she just suggest that he should abandon the love of his life to secure the future of the air nomads?
"Are you crazy?! I would never abandon Katara, I love her! I love her with all my heart. You are my past life, I am you and you are me, you should understand my feelings. Wasn't there anyone in your day you loved? Someone that made you feel so good on the inside and on the outside? That made you a better person? Your weakness and your strength?" Aang had stood up in his rant, how dare Avatar Kyoshi suggest this, he was furious.
"Of course not, any love in my life would only slow me down. I was larger than life, I stopped Chin the conqueror. I did many great things in my day. The only mistake I ever did was creating the Dai Li. Without love in my life I even grew to be more than 230 years old." At this her face actually turned into a frown. This was the first time Aang had seen Kyoshi with any emotions. He sat back down in front of her in the standard lotus position.
"There was one other person in my life. A man from the earth kingdom, we did not have a relationship of love only to satisfy our needs, I left him. He would only keep me grounded. I had no need of any earthly attachments, but that was what he left me with, he left me with my daughter Koko… The only individual person I ever cared about, sadly with my age I outlived her. And a mother should never outlive her child."
"Then you should understand why I would never betray Katara. And I would not have any of my children grow up without her. We will have children, and if we have air benders then great! But I will love them just as much no matter what they bend or even bend at all."
"You must do what is best for the world, not best for yourself. If there is no air nomad for the Avatar to be reincarnated in, the cycle will be broken and the Avatar would simply cease to exist. As I told you before young Avatar I would do whatever necessary to secure the future." He did not like what Kyoshi said, but she was right. The cycle would break if there was no airbender when that time comes. Still he could never bring himself to do anything like that to Katara, himself and even his friends.
They stared at each other in an awkward silence before Kyoshi again closed her eyes. She turned into dust before being taken by the wind as the environment changed. The stone pillar turned into a black rocky field at the roots of a volcano. Magma was streaming down the black mountain forming rivers of lava. He sighed as he started walking. This was the time he had to face Roku. He knew this time would come eventually. All those years ago he cut his connection to his Avatar mentor Roku. Roku's vision on the world was too old fashioned and did not fit the new ways. He wanted to separate the nations not letting the people interact with each other. He could not see what Aang could. A borderless map where anyone from any nation, bender and non-bender's alike could thrive together in peace.
He walked up to the lava rivers, and stared down into the streams. He walked up towards the volcano. He found a flat open area with a small lava pool in the middle. He walked up to it. The magna started to stir and not long after moved. The lava formed into a shape and lunged upwards before turning into the shape of a human. The lava fell down back into the pool and out came Avatar Roku. This was it. The long awaited conversation between the two Avatars. They stared at each other for a minute before Roku began to speak.
"It is good to see you again Aang. Although I hoped you would contact me and not talk to me because you were summoned." He sat himself down on his knees hoping Aang would do the same.
"I think it is time we talked." Aang sat himself down in front of Roku with his legs crossed in the lotus position.
"I am sorry Roku, but I could not let your old fashioned thoughts cloud my judgment as the Avatar. Times had changed; the world has nothing to gain by being separated. I had to find my own way as the Avatar." Roku looked at Aang understanding.
"Yes Aang, I understand this now and have come to accept it, I was foolish. But to be truly honest this is not what I wanted to talk about, what's done is done and is in the past. I wanted to discuss the air nomad's future. And what you will face in the meeting. Some of the most important spirits would want you to restore the air nomads by bedding non bending women from each of the nations, I trust Avatar Kyoshi already mentioned this to you? She's always been very forward." Once again Aang looked down at Katara's necklace before looking back up at Roku.
"Aang, you should refuse. I would never have done this to Ta Min and myself and there is no doubt in my mind that you would do just that to yourself and Katara. I have always believed that destiny will find a way to restore balance and save the cycle through you. It will indeed take time, but if destiny want's the air nomad's back they will indeed reemerge. And I have noticed their culture is far from lost. You did not only restore peace and balance to the world; you have already restored your culture through the air acolytes and the lost pack of sky bison's you found. Even the flying lemurs proved to have survived; I believe everything will work out if given patience. This is my wisdom I give to you Avatar Aang, use it wisely. You should get the meeting over with and return to your wife. She needs you more than ever." Roku said as his body turned to ash and crumbled away. The spirit had indeed obtained a more dramatic way of disappearing Aang thought.
Now he was definitively worried. Both Avatar Kuruk and Avatar Roku had told him that Katara needed him. He wanted to head back to the mortal world. Back to Katara… But there was no way back but there was no way to tell how long he had already been there. He could have been in there for years already.
He got up and waited for any signs of anything in general. And there before appeared Yue, the moon spirit, Sokka's lost love. She floated for a moment before landing near him and started to walk.
"Hello Aang. It is very good to see you outside of your dreams, before I take you to the inner sanctum I have just wanted to ask. How is Sokka?" She blushed and looked quite sad as she walked over to Aang's side.
"Yue, it is very good to see you as well. Sokka is the same as he always have been, you know. Just Sokka, and as I am quite certain you know of his new found love? Suki is her name and she takes very good care of him. They love each other very much, but during the full moon's or nearly full moon's he's always out talking up to you. He hopes you approves of his new found love."
"Of course I approve, Suki is a wonderful person and I would never let anyone else watch over him. I do miss him, but I am happier for his new found happiness, if you are to talk to him about this, just tell him to live a long and happy life with Suki." She stopped in her tracks for a moment, thinking. She then raised her arms as two doors appeared out of thin air. The doors had the insignias of all the four elements. She motioned and the doors opened.
"On to the matter at hand Avatar Aang, I present to you the inner sanctum of the spirit world. I warn you, once you go inside you cannot exit until the meeting is over and the spirits let you return." Aang stopped to think, bearing in mind what Roku and Kuruk had said. Katara needs him. He couldn't just quit and exit either; this was about her as much as it was about him. She is part of the future of the air nomads now. She was not in danger, she just needs him.
"I see you are hesitant, you are worried about Katara. I know you miss her and that you have received word that she needs you, that might be true in some way, but she'll mange. She is not in danger in anyway." She looked at him reassuringly and placed a hand at his shoulder.
Aang hesitated, but started slowly to enter the doors. He was now in the inner sanctum.
Wow, I ended this chapter in the same way I ended the first chapter. How very original right? This chapter was hard to write and I do not know what to think about it, was it good? Was it decent? Was it great? Let me know in the reviews will you ;).
