Book Two – Chapter Four: The Swamp

Kaiko's P.O.V

My eyes draw open drowsily when soft whimpers pull me from my slumber. The once relaxed arm that secures around my body is now tightening almost to the point of pain. I glance up to see Sokka, who's arm continues to pull me closer, with a very troublesome expression. His closed eyes are squeezing and I can see the frantic flickering behind his eyelids from his dream. But, from the looks of him, it's most likely a nightmare.

"Sokka," I breath out, carefully getting out his death grip and sitting up next to his tensed form.

He lets out a strained noise in the back of his throat when I'm no longer in his arms. My lips twitch downwards when he softly mumbles my name in his sleep, making me wonder. After I glance around to make sure everyone else is asleep on Appa, I rest my hand on his forehead and concentrate.

After a bit of waiting, I am sucked into a new setting. Snow covers the ground in at least three or four inches deep and flakes flutter around me, representing what seems like a light snow storm. An animal pelted tent stands a few feet away but besides that, I'm basically in the middle of nowhere. My eyes dart around for any sign of Sokka but I don't see him; I don't see anyone.

A high pitch scream makes me jump and then I see Sokka, decked in his water tribe winter coat, sprinting in my direction. At first I think he actually sees me, but then he falls to his knees next to a pile of snow a couple inches away from the tent. "No," he chokes out, reaching towards the pile. "No, this can't be happening..." I purse my lips and I walk cautiously over to him but when I see what's in the pile of snow, I stop dead in my tracks with wide eyes.

It's me. Buried in the snow. My skin is unbearably pale with red veins easily showing, my lips are chapped and blue, and my eyes are softly closed. My body doesn't twitch, my chest doesn't heave, I'm just completely non-moving. Yet, the only wound shown on me, is a puncture mark right where my heart is with blood seeping into my shirt around it. I feel sick to my stomach when I realize the truth.

I'm dead.

"Kaiko." Sokka's despair filled voice brings my attention back to him. His shaky hands are running along my dead body, occasionally checking my pulse, until he ends up just taking one of my hands in his grip and resting another on my cheek. Tears drip down on my corpse and I notice that Sokka is now sobbing, causing me to feel my own tears prick in my eyes from watching the scene in front of me. "Please, baby, please," he begs in a whisper between sobs. "You need to wake up. You promised you'd never leave me..."

"I'm right here, Sokka," I say brokenly, kneeling down next to him but when I go to wrap my arms around his shivering form, they just go right through him like a ghost.

He begins to shake is head back and forth disbelievingly before leaning his forehead on my stomach, his cries racking his body as he holds my hands. "No...No..." he mumbles over and over again, my name popping up here and there. As I watch him, I feel my heart breaking. I've never seen him like this. He's completely heartbroken, devastated, miserable.

My eyes keep on switching back from my dead body to him before I sluggishly get to my feet and begin backing away. "Get me out of here," I plead to nothing in particular. "Please, stop this dream. Make him wake up!" But, nothing happens, so I just stand there, my sorrowful gaze fixed on Sokka mourning over my lifeless form.

Thankfully, the world starts to spin around me and I am back on Appa with my hand pressing on his forehead. I withdrawal it away quickly when I notice him beginning to wake up. He struggles against his nightmare until finally he escapes it and he shoots up into a sitting position. His eyes dart around while his breathing heavies but when his gaze lands on me, he visibly relaxes. "Kaiko," he breaths out, placing a hand on one of my cheeks. "You're okay."

"Of coarse I'm okay," I say, smiling at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh..." He takes his hand away and massages his temples with his eyes squeezed shut. "No reason. Just a bad dream."

I internally roll my eyes. That wasn't just a bad dream, that was a full on nightmare. "Wanna talk about it?" I offer.

"No," he answers a bit too fast. "Will you just, lay back down with me?"

I give him a soft look. "Sure."

After he sprawls back down on the saddle, I join him with my back facing him. He circles his arms around my stomach and buries his face into the crook of my neck as he breaths in and out. I scoot back into him as much as I can and I lay my head against his chest cozily. "I love you," he mutters into my ear after a couple moments of silence.

I smile even though he can't see it. "I love you too."

"You have to promise you'll never leave me," he says, his voice already dripping with fatigue. "I know things are going to be hard, but we'll always be together in the end, right?"

"Yes, Sokka." I crane my neck back to kiss his lips affectionately. "As long as you want me here, I'll be here."

He stares into my eyes for a little before he pulls me closer and I lay my head back down again.

"Good. That's all I needed to hear."

xxxxxx

I lean back against the saddle. The soft wind blows through my hair sligtly and I subconsciously fiddle with my necklaces with my eyes closed. My legs are propped up on Sokka's for comfort and Momo is sprawled out on my lap. Everyone is silent; doing their own thing while we fly straight. I feel at peace, listening to Sokka carving on his machete, Katara's fingers flipping through her scrolls, Appa's feet pushing against the air. The only person I don't hear is Aang, who is controlling the reins noiselessly.

"Hey," Sokka's voice pipes up. "You taking us down for a reason?"

I open my eyes reluctantly and I notice what Sokka is talking about. We're slowly lowering down out of the sky and towards a large swamp below. I raise my eyebrows in confusion and get up along with Sokka, Momo crawling onto my shoulder in the process. I look over to Aang, who is staring intently down at the trees, when he doesn't respond. "Aang, why are we going down?" I ask him, raising my voice so he'll hear us this time.

Aang straitens up. "Huh?" He glances back at us before his gaze lands forward again. "Oh, I didn't even notice..." he admits.

"Are you noticing now?" Sokka retorts as we start to descend even more.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asks worriedly.

"I know this is gonna sound weird," Aang says uneasily. "But, I think the swamp is... calling to me."

"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka questions, holding his grumbling stomach.

"No, I...I think it wants us to land there."

Sokka snorts. "Well, no offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on."

"I don't know," Aang says with a hint of exasperation, keeping his eyes trained on the swamp. "Bumi said to learn earth bending I'd have to wait and listen, and now, I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"

"Yeah, kinda," I answer as we peer down at the dark, spacious swamp. Everything about this place irks me, frightens me, and makes me feel unwelcome. And, usually, when I feel like this about something, it's not good. Especially when I'm not the only one feeling this way too.

"I don't know, there's something ominous about that place," Katara adds.

Momo ducks down in the saddle with a whine and Appa lets out an uncomfortable roar as we near the swamp. "See, Aang?" Sokka says. "Even Appa and Momo don't like it here."

"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this – bye swamp," Aang says finally. "Yip, yip!" He whips Appa's reins once and we begin to steer upwards and forward again.

Suddenly, I hear a strong wind pick up from behind us and I look over my shoulder, my eyes widening in fear at what I see. A tornado. Coming straight at us while it picks up trees and other smaller things it passes by. Where the world did that come from?

"Guys!" I shout in alarm and they whirl around as well.

"We gotta move!" Sokka cries when they spot it.

Appa flies away from it as fast as he can but it quickly catches up with us. Aang tries multiple times to steer and jerk around it but it seems to always come back to us. The strong winds start to effect us just when Sokka is lifted up into the sky with a yell. I jump up and grab his hand before he's taken by the storm. I feel myself start to be brought up but Katara holds onto me while she grips the saddle tightly. I keep on trying to pull Sokka back down, but the wind is too powerful, and I grow horrified when I feel not only my grip on him starts to loosen by Katara's on mine too. Thankfully though, Aang notices and hops over to us. He presses his arms out and creates a large, encased air sphere around us and Appa. Sokka falls down when the wind is out of his reach but I don't let go of his hand for my own selfish reasons. I watch as we enter the tornado, and it gets harder and harder for Aang to keep the air around us. We all scream when he looses the sphere and we are suddenly swirling around in the tornado. Sokka's hands escapes from my grip just when we are thrown out of the storm and down into the trees of the swamp. My eyes stay squeezed the entire time, my body getting occasional sharp pains, before I land in water.

I sit up, groaning and rubbing my sore head as I check around. Aang is landing gracefully on his feet, of course, but Sokka and Katara are both in the same state that I am. "Damn," I grumble and struggle to my feet. "That hurt."

"Tell me about it," Katara says while both her and Sokka come to stand by my side. Sokka then takes my hand instantly and we look around. But, there honestly isn't much to look at besides the mucky water we're standing in and the trees and plants surrounding us. A typical swamp.

"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang asks when we notice how they are no where to be seen. He glances around a few times before escalating the trees hastily to search for them above.

I sigh and start to brush off any unwanted things from the water. Thankfully, nothing too bad is covering me besides the disgusting liquid. My eyes float over to Katara when she shouts something, "Sokka, you have an elbow leech!"

I cringe and side-step away from him when I see the creature hanging from his elbow. Sokka gasps and starts to lash around. "Where? Where?" he cries, searching his body for the leech.

I cross my arms over my chest, rolling my eyes at his ignorance. "Where do you think?" I remark.

"Why do things keep attaching to me?" He yanks the leech off and chucks it carelessly behind him, almost hitting Katara with it in the process. She dodges it and glares at her older brother, aggravated.

Just then, Aang swings down on a vine and lands next to us. "You couldn't find them?" I ask disappointedly.

"No," he says, his voice dripping with confusion. "And the tornado, it just disappeared."

A shiver travels up my spine and I hug my arms around myself as I feel a very uncomfortable feeling invade me. I honestly just wanted to rewind everything, be back on Appa, feel safe again, and be far away from this place. But that can't happen. We can't leave until we find Appa and Momo, and that could take days because of how huge this swamp is.

We're stuck here.

Sokka huffs in frustration and starts to advance forward. "Well, that doesn't matter. We need to start moving to find Appa and Momo." We follow behind him and I flinch almost every time he slashes the plants and veins away and out of our path with his machete. He does it so brutally, so carelessly, and I feel like every time we harm a part of this place it gets angry with us. No matter how strange that sounds.

Sokka notices how the three of us are walking rather slow than we should and he looks over his shoulder at us. "Come on, guys, we better speed up," he says and cuts another vine.

"Maybe you should be a littlenicerto the swamp," Aang suggests and I note that he must be feeling the same way I am.

"Aang, these are just plants!" Sokka exclaims. "Do you want me to say please and thank you while I swing my machete back and forth?" He continues to chop away the plants in front of him and I purse me lips.

"You should listen to Aang, Sokka," I tell him.

"Yeah," Katara agrees, glancing uneasily around. "Something about this place seems... alive."

Sokka sighs. "I'm sure there are many things alive here," he says. "And if we don't want to end up being eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can."

We reluctantly agree but the lingering, creepy feeling still doesn't go away.

xxxxxx

"Appa! Momo!" Katara calls out, for what seems like the billionth time, and I grumble incoherent curses to myself. It's been hours since we lost them and we've searched all around. It's dark now and since we haven't even spotted a clue of their presence, I highly doubt they can hear her calls or see us from wherever they are. So, her constant hollering is really starting to get on my nerves. Especially since I am already irritated with the fact that we've been walking for so long without any positive results and fatigue is inching on me every time I blink.

"There's no way they can hear us and there's no way we can see them," I say to her once she takes a break. "We'll have to make camp for the night at this rate." She bites her bottom lip and nods sadly. I instantly feel bad for being negative toward her; she's just trying to find them faster. She is probably just as worried and scared as I am and she is just handling it differently. I lend her a soft smile and her expression brightens a bit.

From the swamp water below us, a puff of misty air floats up next to us and startles both Katara and I. "What was that?" Katara asks nervously.

"Nothing, just swamp gas," Sokka assures her. "Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here."

I fan in front of my face when the foul stench of the gas surrounds us but I immediately forget about it when a piercing screech makes all of us jump and hold on to each other in fear. I cower into Sokka's side when it happens again and I try my best not to scream along with it. "I, uh, think we should build a fire," Sokka suggests and withdrawals away from us to go and find some wood or tree branches. I can tell he's striving to not show that he is frightened too, even if he's not as scared the rest of us. In his eyes, I can see that he's not feeling as brave as he acts.

The sounds of branches being cut in half make my eyes wonder over to Sokka who is, once again, destroying a part of the swamp for our own sakes - large tree roots to be exact. "Sokka, the longer we're here the more I think you shouldn't be doing that," Aang expresses.

"No I asked the swamp, it said this was fine. Right swamp?" He grabs a hold of one of the roots sticking up from the ground and wiggles it around. "No problem, Sokka," he mimics, changing his voice to speak for the plant before chopping it to the ground.

I roll my eyes as Aang narrows his at him. "You're annoying," Katara snaps.

"Why thank you, Sissy!"

I sigh tiredly and go to help carry the cut up branches and root over to our decided place for the night. I get down on my knees, pile up a few pieces of wood, and flick a flame from my fingers to start the fire. I gaze into the flames and when they relax me, I close my eyes and breath in and out slowly. Fire always calms me; it settles me when I am feeling glum, scared, stressed, or any other troubling emotion. The heat, the light, the power of the flame. All of it.

I feel a hand place down on my shoulder and I glance behind me to see Sokka kneeling down, smiling at me. The corners of my mouth twitch upwards and I scoot back to be encased in his arms. Next to fire, Sokka is the other thing that relaxes me. But, when I think about it, he probably brings me more peace.

I move my eyes around to see Aang and Katara gathered around the fire with us. We stay silent since all of us are not in the greatest of moods. I observe as Katara glances around a lot until she finally says, with her legs pulled up to her chest, "Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?"

"Please," Sokka scoffs, absentmindedly fiddling with my left fingers. "We're all alone out here." A bug starts to fly around his head and he bats it away. Surprising all of us, it lights up brightly and when it flies forward, we're able to see all the shining eyes of creatures hidden in the trees around us. I take in a sharp breath and I cuddle closer into Sokka's embrace just as Katara and Aang scramble over to us.

"Except for them," Aang comments shakily.

"Right, except for them..."

We all stay huddled in each other's arms, none of us feeling secure enough to be the least bit separated at this moment. I take both Aang and Katara's hands in mine while Sokka is able to circle is arms around all of us. Not a long time after, I hear their breathing steady with sleep and I soon join them.

After what seems like an hour or so of slumber, I open my eyes groggily when a feel something sneaking up around my body. I scream when I am yanked away from my friends and into the swamp gas that has formed around. Their screams sound off too and I realize the same thing was happening to them but in different directions. I dig my nails into the ground to try and keep me from being pulled but it's no use. I growl out in anger and heat up my skin to burn most off the vines, that I now have discovered were the things taking me, and I hastily jump up from the ground. More vines fly towards me and I use a fire whip to block them away. When I get the chance, I bolt away into the trees and I don't stop until I no longer see the vines coming after me.

I just stand there, breathing heavy and glancing around franticly. I'm alone and in ankle deep water with smoke and trees surrounding me - but Sokka, Katara, and Aang are no where to be seen. I call out to them a few times but I get no response except for the occasional croak of a swamp creature. If they can't hear me, or I if I can't hear them, then I must be way farther away than I thought.

"Crap," I hiss to myself. "Isn't this just perfect."

I take my first cautious step forward and randomly pick a path to take, but I make sure to go the opposite way from where the vines attacked me. The last thing I need is to have that happen again.

xxxxxx

"Sokka!" I yell out, skipping on rocks that float in a pond. "Aang!"

It's been hours since I lost the others. I've been running, walking, sulking, and jogging all around this damn swamp and I honestly was getting completely sick of it. Multiple times I swear I've seen a path of water lilies twice or ran into the same tree or fell into the same puddle. Everything here basically looks the same. How am I supposed to find them when I don't even know if I have been going in a circle this entire time? Not to mention the ache in my empty stomach and the exhaustion from moving for so long without rest is not helping my train of thought at all.

"Katar-" I start to scream, but I shut my mouth and stop dead in my tracks when I think I hear something. What that something is, I have no idea.

It's silent when I strain to hear the suspicious noise again and after a few stiff moments of expecting it but it never coming, I brush it off and begin to hop to the next rock. When I'm almost out of the pond, a dark, deep red figure shoots up from the water in front of me. I shriek and fall back in shock. The figure is floating a couple feet above the pond and once my eyesight adjusts to it, my heart halts.

"Father," I choke out in extensive fear. I feel my body start to shake uncontrollably as he glares down at me. He's wearing a high, golden crown and a formal, fire nation rope. His feet don't hang out of the end of it though, and neither do his hands out of the sleeves. Juiced flames zoom around his form in different directions and I can almost feel the hatred in his gaze.

The instinctive thing do would be to bolt the second I lay eyes on him, but I can't; it's like my body is molded into a statue. A statue with only one emotion running through it's veins.

Horror.

"You're a traitor," he spits, his haunting, cruel voice echoing around me. "A traitor that was meant to be destroyed from the start." Suddenly, he's right in front of my face, his hateful glare boring into my helpless stare. "Just like your mother." And then he's gone. Just like that. But, his words – his harsh, excruciating words – still roam in the think swamp air.

I'm unable to do anything at first, just stare forward where he just was, but when it all processes I break down. Hysteric cries rip through me and I pull my knees up to my chest. I bury my face into my shaking hands and let the uncontrolled sobs relinquish. I continue to shake my head back and forth franticly to try and rid of not only his presence, but his venomous taunts.

xxxxxx

I trudge forward dully on a gigantic tree root until I stop in the middle of it. My eyes drift down to the water below and I sigh deeply before sitting on the edge of the root and letting my feet dangle. The tips of my shoes hit the warm water but I don't bring them back because I honestly couldn't care less. I rub my face sleepily and I want more than anything right now to find the others, or at least one of them, and be able to get back on Appa and fly away from this horrible place.

Only half jokingly, I bring my hands up in front of my chest and press my palms together. Closing my eyes I say to the sky, "Let them find me here, right now, please spirits. I promise to repay you somehow."

I wait, keeping that position, but I let my arms fall to my sides when nothing happens and my wish is discarded. My eyes stay shut as I try to become relaxed but they shoot open when I hear something coming my way. I get to my feet and stand defensive with my gaze darting around. But, I quit when I see three figures sliding down on the root I'm on. A wide grin spreads across my face when I see who they are.

"Finally!" I cheer and they look at me from where they are all positioned on their backs. I secretly thank the spirits for listening to me for once.

Aang grins at me while Katara and Sokka are glowering. "What do you guys think you are doing? I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka shouts.

Katara scoffs, standing up with them. "Well, I have been wandering around looking for you."

"Same," I pipe up.

"I was chasing some girl..." Aang tells us softly.

"What girl?"

"I don't know," he says, puzzled. "I heard laughing and then I saw some girl in a fancy dress."

"Well, then there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations," Sokka jokes sarcastically.

Aang and I give him a look while Katara glances down solemnly. "I thought I saw mom," she admits and my eyes widen. So it wasn't just me who saw someone; so did Aang and Katara.

"Look," Sokka sighs. "We were all just scared, and hungry, and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out there."

"You saw something too?" Katara asks him incredulously.

He casts his eyes away from us. "I-I," he stutters before his gaze lands on me. "I thought I saw you. But, you weren't you... you were... dead." Again, my eyes widen and from what I can tell, so does Katara's and Aang's. I'm instantly reminded of the horrid nightmare he had the night before. "It was terrifying."

I stride over to him and wrap my arms around his torso. He returns the hug without any hesitation and he breaths into my hair. "I'm sorry," I whisper into his neck. He must be thinking of this lately if he's not only had a nightmare about my death, but an allusion as well. I want more than anything right now for him to no longer see these images and just picture me alive and well while always being by his side. I can tell it bothers him and to some extent it bothers me too; it's like someone is trying to tell us something.

He just shakes his head slightly, pulls away, and smiles gently. I'm about to smile back but Aang's sudden question turns it into a frown, "Kaiko, did you see anything?"

I keep my back facing them and focus my gaze to the drifting water. But, when my father's face flashes in front of my face, I shut my eyes tightly. "I saw my father," I say. It's quiet and I glance at them to see all of them wearing uneasy and shocked expressions. "He popped up out of the pond I was passing through, said some harsh things, and then he disappeared."

They don't respond because thankfully they figure I don't want to go into any more depth of the topic. Instead, Sokka starts using his logic for the situation at hand. "This doesn't prove anything. I saw Kaiko but I think about her all the time. Katara, you saw mom, someone you miss lot. And Kaiko, you saw your father who has always haunts you. It all makes sense," he explains.

"What about me? I didn't know the girl I saw," Aang says. "And all our visions led us right here."

"Okay..." Katara ponders it for a few seconds before looking around. "But, where's here? The middle of the swamp?"

Aang lifts his head up to study something behind him. "Yeah, the center." I follow his stare and an enormousness tree with veins hanging off each branch and shadows over us is connected to the root we're standing on. "It's the heart of the swamp," he concludes. "It's been calling us here. I knew it!"

Sokka scoffs. "It's just a tree, it can't call anyone," he tells us. "For the last time there's nothing after us and there is nothing magical happening here."

Suddenly, the water besides us rockets up in the air and when it washes it away it reveals a giant creature made up off vines and swamp moss. A wooden mask it placed in the front and a face is carved into it. All of us scream shrilly and once it starts whipping it's vined arms at us, we sprint away in different directions. Sokka grabs my hand as we bolt forward and Aang and Katara go off to the sides. I quit running when Sokka's hand slips from mine and his terror filled scream appears. I whirl around and gasp breathlessly when I see the creature is swinging Sokka around while he's tangled in the vines.

I see Aang send a large gust of wind it's way but it blocks the attack and sends Aang flying backwards. I growl out in anger and work up enough juice to blast the monster with three large fire balls. One hits the arm that was holding Sokka and slashes it in half. While Sokka falls to the shallow water below, I watch in horror as the arm grows quickly back. Realizing it's going to go for Sokka again, who is chopping away at the vines that are still tangled around him, I dash for him. I yelp when one of the arms slam into me and I skid many feet away from them both. The monster once again takes Sokka in its grasp and Sokka yells out, struggling around franticly. It pushes against the water and starts to glide the other direction with incredible speed.

I get up from the ground and start to hurry after them. Right when I arrive, with Aang on my tail, I see Katara fighting the creature off with skilled water bending slashes. But, she gets thrown against a tree right before Aang and I do. I grunt from the impact but I don't pay any attention to it, for my utter worry for Sokka is too high strong. As we all get to our feet, Sokka is being sucked into the middle of the creatures vines and is pushing with all his might so he doesn't end up all the way in.

After numerous attempts of defeating this swamp monster, we finally are able to set Sokka free. But without actually getting rid of the creature. Katara, Aang, and I continue to battle it with our most expertized bending moves when suddenly Sokka shouts out to us, "There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!"

Hearing this, Katara uses a sharp, powerful water whip to slice right where the mask. The creature collapses, the veins spreading out everywhere; I can only slightly see a man in the mesh. I scream when I am captivated with vines and lifted up into the air with them. Sokka and Katara cry out my name and Aang comes sprinting forward, pressing his palms forward and air bending the vines and man backwards. The vines slip away from my body and I start to fall to the ground. I prepare myself for the impact but when it never comes, I realize Sokka had caught me bridal style in his arms. He grins down at me and I smile gratefully, kissing him on the cheek.

He sets me down to my feet gently and we both pay our attention to Aang who is now speaking angrily to the man in a threating bending stance. "Why did you call me here when you just wanted to kill us?" he questions.

"Wait," a friendly, matured voice comes form the pile of vines. "I didn't call you here." The vines get spread to the side and the man shows himself. He's a tan, short man who has the skin of a pudgy person, but you can tell he doesn't eat like one. His hair sticks up in random directions and his beard covers half his face. He looks surprisingly very nice, with his warm smile and twinkly eyes, and I can't help but notice how ironic this situation is.

We all share confused glances with each other. "We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land," Aang explains.

"He's the Avatar," Sokka complies. "Stuff like that happens to us a lot."

The man beams. "The Avatar," he states in realization. "Come with me."

As he begins to make his way forward, once again, we all share weary glances. Katara, Sokka, and I end up looking at Aang questioningly and he just shrugs. "Might as well," he says and catches up to the strange man. Katara follows his lead and Sokka pulls me along, his fingers intertwining with mine. I frown when I finally think this over.

"We're really gonna go with the man that just almost killed us?"

xxxxxx

I steadied myself when I almost tripped over a stone, gripping onto Sokka's hand, before trying my best to continue. Everyone else was venturing with ease and it made me feel, like I have many times before, very low and unable of things. My sister and father made me feel like that my whole life, that's why I always have wanted to feel strong. But, the sad truth is, that I am not always as strong as I ought to be.

I push the thoughts aside and focus on the matters at hand. The man was taking us to the giant tree from earlier that is supposedly the center of the whole swamp. The reason I was being so clumsy is because on this tree there are many bumps, holes, cracks, and all sorts of other things that just love to hurt me. Thankfully I have Sokka to keep me from falling most of the time.

"Who are you, anyway?" Katara suddenly asks the man as he leads us further and further around the three.

"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it," the man answers, bending a vine out of the way of our path. "Like this fellow with his big knife." He gestures at Sokka and I smirk, getting a great urge to say 'I told you so' to him.

Sokka ignores his comment as the man directs us up a slightly steep root. "See, guys? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home; nothing mystical about it," Sokka says to us.

"Oh no, the swamp is a mystical place alright. It's sacred," the man tells us before resting in a criss-cross position in a clear spot, right in the middle of the three. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan grove tree. I heard it calling me, just like you did."

"Sure you did," Sokka chuckles out. "It seems real chatty." I slap Sokka on his arm and give him a stern look. He smiles sheepishly, causing me to roll my eyes.

The man just goes on, smiling like Sokka didn't say a rude remark at all. "See this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles; branches spread and sink then take root and spread some more! One, big, living organism, just like the entire world." I glance around at the swamp and a small smile graces my lips, thinking of how beautiful he makes not only the swamp sound, but every other living thing in this world. It makes everything seem like it's in honest harmony.

"I get the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Aang asks.

"Sure," the man replies, shrugging. "You think you're any different from me, or your friends, or this tree? If you listen hard enough you can hear every living thing breathing together, you can feel everything growing. We are living together even if most folks don't act like it; we all have roots and we are all branches of the same tree."

We all take our seats in front of him, listening intently to his intellectual words. "But, what did our visions mean?" Katara questions him in curiosity.

"In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved. Folks we think are gone but the swamp tells us they're not; we're still connected to them. Time is an illusion, and so is death."

"But, in my vision, I saw someone who isn't dead," I say. From the corner of my eye, I see Sokka nod along with my words, obviously confused as to why he saw a lifeless me.

"How did you feel when you saw this person?"

I bit my bottom lip. "Scared..."

He nods in understanding. "The swamp reminds us of our fears, but most commonly our biggest fears. The visions tell us to embrace them and to know that we have absolute power to overcome even the worst circumstances of the terrors. Most of all, the swamp tells us to not let them override our lives," he complies knowledgeably.

I let his words sink in and I smile when they actually help me. I don't look up from my hands when Aang asks something next, "What does it mean when I saw someone I never met in my vision?"

"You're the Avatar so you tell me," the man responds.

"Time is an illusion..." Aang repeats to himself and I glance over to see his face scrunched up in thought. "So... It's someone I will meet." The man smiles warmly and nods.

"Sorry to ruin the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo," Sokka states as he gets to his feet, ruining the moment like usual. Even though he is right, it's still kinda rude.

"I think I know how to find them," Aang says and he gets on one knee while pressing his palm into the tree root we're sitting on. "Everything is connected..." Closing his eyes, he concentrates and soon enough, the arrow on his hand lights up before a light beam shoots down the tree and into the swamp. He stays like there for a few moments, while we watch anxiously, until the light fades and he stands quickly. "Come on, we gotta hurry!"

"You know where they are?" I ask once we all start to rush toward the swamp and off the tree.

"Yeah, but they're in danger. If we don't get there soon it could turn out badly," he replies. I become concerned for Appa and Momo at this words and I pray we get to them before they're harmed. If we didn't, that would be such a tragedy; I honestly don't know what I would do.

xxxxxx

I scratch Momo behind the ear affectionately as he curls up in my lap and purrs. I lean down and kiss his head in which he chatters in response, making me grin.

We had found Appa and Momo captured by people who preferred to be called 'swamp folk' who happen to be water benders. Apparently, they were planning on cooking and eating them, which also made me want to puke at the thought, but thankfully they're nice people. The man who attacked us, who I discovered is named Hue, knows these men by name and they invited us for dinner at their camp site. I didn't necessarily like it here though; it's dirty, there's lots of strange creatures around, and it's all around not my kind of place. But, they have food, so I can't complain too much.

"How you like the possum chicken?" one of the swamp men ask us.

I stare at the piece of meet shoved onto the stick they handed me which I am still trying to work up the courage to take a bite. It smells foul and doesn't look very appetizing in the slightest. "It tastes just like arctic hen," Sokka says after tasting it. Seeing that he doesn't dislike it, I tear off a piece and place it my mouth. After chewing it for awhile, I conclude that it doesn't taste too bad. Tastes kinda good actually.

"So, why were you guys so interested in eating Appa?" I question them, now noticing how many animals they have around them. "You've got plenty of those big things wandering around." I gesture to the scary alligator-looking thing behind him.

"You want me to eat old slim?" the same guy says in disbelief. "He's like a part of the family!"

Sokka grins and chucks a cooked bug at the creature saying, "Nice slim."

Slim hisses at Sokka, making him flinch back in fear, and the man cracks up. "Slim don't eat no bugs, that's people food," he says in a matter-of-fact tone. I roll my eyes at go back to chewing.

"So, where did you guys say you're from?" another asks Sokka and Katara.

"The south pole," Katara replies.

"Didn't know there was water benders anywhere but here," he says in amusement. "They got a nice swamp there, do they?"

"No, it's all ice and snow."

Their expressions turn repulsed. "Huh, no wonder you left," the same man says. Katara looks a little appalled by this and I laugh, completely entertained by this conversation.

Sokka looks around at us. "Well, I hope you know now that nothing strange was going on around here; just a bunch of crazy people living in a swamp," he says.

"But, what about the visions?" Katara asks.

"I told you, we were hungry. I mean, I am eating a giant bug!" he exclaims, lifting the said bug up and taking a large bite from it. I cringe at him in disgust and swat the bug out of his hand. He sends me a confused look and I just shake my head.

"What about me knowing where Appa and Momo were?" Aang says, finally coming into the conversation.

"That's Avatar stuff that doesn't count," Sokka states before looking to Hue. "The only thing I can't figure out is how you made the tornado that sucked us down."

"I can't do anything like that," Hue tells him. "I just bend the water and the plants."

Katara and I give Sokka pointed looks at this and puts his hands up in defense. "Well, no accounting for weather, there's still absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp," he says finally and I know there is no reason to argue with him.

"Whatever you say, Sokka," I mumble and go back to eating. I hear another shrill bird shriek in the distance and I can't help but feel like that is the way the swamp is trying to disagree with Sokka's theories. Thinking this, I get a creepy feeling travel up my spine.

Yeah, I defiantly don't ever want to come back here.