Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kyo Kara Maoh or Avatar the last air-bender. I'm simply a loyal fan to both.
Note:Sorry for the super belated update but hey, life happens, and writers get writers block; what can you do? Anyway, I diligently worked on this chapter for you and I hope you all enjoy this Chapter 3!
Chapter 3
"Aang's been gone awhile. I wonder if something's wrong?" Katara asked with concern, "Maybe one of us should have gone with him.
"Nah." Sokka said, waving his hand dismissively, "He's the Avatar, he'll be fine. Stop worrying."
"Sokka's right. Aang can take care of himself." Zuko agreed with a quick nod, "Let's just wait a little longer for him then we'll go look."
Just then, Toph's stomach grumbled and she complained, "I'm starving. Can't we check the bags to see if there's ANY food left?"
When Sokka's stomach did the same, he checked the bags but only found a few loafs of bread that belonged to Aang. Sokka frowned, "Darn vegetarian..." he grumbled before tearing the bread apart and handing it out. Setting some aside for Aang.
After they finished eating, the sun had nearly set when Toph shot up, "There's someone coming. At least four people in total."
"It's no big deal; you said there were people nearby. Maybe one of them is Aang who brought some people who know where we are." Sokka reasoned.
Toph shook her head, "No, it's not twinkle-toes, it's someone else."
"Then what do you think we should do? Hide? Or just wait and see if they-"
"Look! It's Aang!" Katara pointed up and they spotted him flying above.
When he landed, Aang sighed, "I'm sorry guys. I still don't know where we are. No one understood a thing I said except for this one guy. He was tall, had brown hair and eyes, and carried some sort of sword. Oh, and I was attacked too."
"Attacked? By who?" Sokka asked in alarm.
"I'm not sure. I was just flying and a bunch of arrows came at me; I dodged most of them," then Aang gestured at the cut on his cheek, "The first one nearly got me though."
"Here," Katara offered, bending some water from her water-skin and caressing his cheek with it. The scratch healed instantly. "There, all done."
"Thanks." Aang smiled.
Toph pushed between them and huffed, "Uh, hello? Didn't I just say that someone was coming? They might be the ones who attacked Aang. We better get ready for a fight."
Even as she said it, they started to hear voices just a few yards away-not that they understood any of it- and they quickly prepared themselves for a battle and faced the direction the voices were coming from. Sokka drew his sword, which they had recovered from the valley it had fallen into after they defeated the war balloons; Katara kept her bending water at the ready; Zuko drew his twin swords and ignited them both; and both Aang and Toph took an Earth-bending stance.
Prepared, they thought, for anything.
"I saw smoke coming from this direction from where the beast landed. Perhaps they've seen it." Gunter offered, pointing out the pillar of smoke slowly rising from just a few yards away.
"I don't see why anyone would camp way out here," Wolfram noted, "This side of the island is usually filled with bandits waiting in the trees. So stay close to me Yuri."
Yuri frowned, "Don't worry about me, I've got Morgif. I just hope the volcano doesn't start going nuts because he's here..." he glanced down at his sleeping sword, "...maybe I should have left him at home after all, but he kept pouting and grumbling so much that I had no choice. He would have moaned the entire time we were gone."
"Shh..." Gwendal hissed, "I can hear swords being drawn. Get ready." even as he said it, Gwendal began to slowly unsheathe his own blade as did Gunter and Wolfram.
"Hold on, we don't know if they're-!" Murata began when suddenly, a jet of flames shot into the sky and they heard a mighty roar that startled all the birds who raced from their perches to escape whatever made that cry.
The earth beneath their feet shook and they heard a loud crack as a stone was rent in two. They heard the clash of steel and strangely enough, the splash of water. Cries of battle could be heard until the beast bellowed again. This time, a blast of wind sent shock waves so large that before they could brace themselves, it knocked them all over, sprawling on the forest floor from the sheer force of it.
Afraid that someone was being attacked by whatever monster had uttered that cry, Yuri leapt to his feet and dashed towards the commotion. Heedless of his earlier promise not to rush into anything dangerous.
"Not again..." Wolfram frowned, "Yuri! Wait!" he shouted and followed after him along with Gunter and Gwendal.
As Yuri came closer to the source of the noise he thought with a wild grin, Could it be a dragon? That could explain the flames. But then why would we hear water? There aren't any rivers near this area. Besides, what would a dragon be doing way out here outside of the safety of the Great Demon Kingdom?
The instant Yuri and the others cleared the trees, what they saw was completely the opposite of what they were expecting. Of course, the first thing they noticed was the large six-legged beast with the face of a bison and the tail of a beaver. It roared at its attackers before flapping its large tail and blasting them with another huge gust of wind. The creature was about the size of an elephant and on its back rested a huge disk-like saddle and reigns tied around its thick dark horns.
Next, they saw a small black haired girl taking a fighting stance before a stone wrenched itself from the earth and hurled itself at a group of attackers; crushing one of their legs. Her short hair flew around her face as she twisted and hurled another rock before retreating behind a stone wall that formed from the ground as several of their attackers resorted to shooting balls of magic at the girl.
Besides her, there was another black-haired person who appeared to be a seventeen year old boy. His blades were wreathed in flames as he slashed at his enemies for a while. Soon though, he skillfully sheathed both blades and began a series of complex moves in which fire flared from his feet and fists; burning each of his enemies with their intense heat.
Then came a girl with dark brown hair that lashed out at her own foes with long snake-like tongues of water that whipped at them with strong and sharp snaps like a viper. Though she fought with water, there was an intense fire in her eyes as the young woman defeated enemy after enemy that stood against her. And those whom she had drenched in water then were pinned into place as the water crystallized into shells of thick ice around their limbs. The girl smirked as they fell over before turning to defeat her next opponent.
Following the example of the swordsmanship of his companion, another young man slashed and cut with swift strikes of his black sword. He parried, blocked, and defeated many foes using a style of swordsmanship they had never seen before. Each stroke flowed with his entire body; as if the blade were only an extension of his arm to stab and slice anyone who dared face the deadly limb. Though sometimes, the boy skipped away from an attack so that his opponent would stumble from the momentum of his own attack and fall face first into the dust.
Lastly, Yuri and the others noticed the young boy that the villager had mentioned before. He really was bald, just like some sort of a monk, and had a tattoo of a large blue arrow inked into his scalp; and from what they could tell, the same sort of tattoos extended across his arms as well. Unlike the others fighting, his style varied from attacking with his staff, to mirroring his other companions and using elemental attacks to aid him. Most of his attacks consisted of either blasting them with a gust of wind or shooting rocks at them with break-neck speed like a stone bullet. Sometimes though, he borrowed water from his companion using the water-based attacks and shot ice projectiles as well or shot a jet of flame from the palm of his hand.
Everyone was so shocked by all this that by the time the battle was over, the bandits or whomever they were retreated with their wounded and limped into the forest, out of sight. It all happened so fast that Yuri, Gwendal, Gunter, and Wolfram never had the chance to help them fend off their attackers. However, from the looks of it, they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.
But, just who in the world WERE they?
"Darn it!" Toph exclaimed, "I was so focused on the people nearby that I didn't look out far enough to spot those jerks. UGH!"
Katara put a hand on her shoulder after bending the water back into her water-skin and said, "Don't worry about it Toph. No one got hurt and we're all in one piece." she smiled.
Sokka though yelled, "Fine? How can we be fine! Those people attacked us with some sort of freaky energy that I've never seen before. It wasn't bending! It was like pure energy that hit me. At first I thought they were shooting lighting at us but the energy was too unfocused for it to be that. Just where the heck are we?"
"Calm Sokka, it's not over yet." Zuko said sharply, pointing at Yuri and the others standing at the edge of the clearing, "We've got more company."
Turning sharply, their group faced Yuri's group, preparing to fight again when-out of nowhere-Momo suddenly swooped down and perched on the shoulder of the boy with black hair and cloths and licked his face.
Giggling, Yuri pleaded, "Ah-no-stop! That tickles!"
They blinked in confusion because they couldn't understand what he just said but they relaxed and lowered their hands and weapons. Meanwhile, the other three did the same. Then Appa grunted and walked behind Aang and the others, watching Momo curiously as he continued to lick the strange boy.
"Who are they?" Sokka asked, eying their cloths, "And why are they dressed so funny?"
"I dunno," Aang replied, "But they don't seem to be with those other men, and Momo seems to like them so let's try and ask them." Then, bravely stepping forward towards the odd group, Aang gestured at himself and his friends in turn and listed off their names slowly; hoping that these people would understand him like the one guy from earlier had. "My name is Aang. This is Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Appa, and you've met Momo," he pointed that Momo who was still purring on Yuri's shoulder.
Yuri's eyes widened as he recognized the language Aang was speaking and turned sharply to his own three companions and exclaimed, "You guys, they're speaking in Chinese! A language from Earth!"
Gasping, Gunter asked, "Are you quite sure Your Highness?"
Yuri nodded, "I am." however he sighed heavily and grumbled, "Man...for now of all the times to not have Murata around really sucks. And we don't have any of Lady Anissina's devices with us either-!" then his eyes widened even more and he dared to ask, "Wait a second! Gunter, the last time you used her device didn't you memorize several of those languages by heart? When we got separated that time you ended up in New York you spoke perfect English right? You wouldn't happen to have learned Chinese by any chance have you?"
A bit startled himself, Gunter nodded, "Now that you mention it, I understood everything that boy just said to you Your Majesty." grinning he proclaimed, "Very well, I shall try now try my best communicate with them!"
Gunter then puffed his chest up proudly, eager to please his King, and strode over to Aang and the others. His eyes lingered on Aang for a moment, reminiscing his time in the clergy a long time ago in search of Yuri who had gone off with Gretta, Wolfram, and Conrad to Cildecroud's hot springs to heal from a twisted ankle.
After drawing a deep breath and reaching deep within himself for the needed words in the correct language, Gunter said in fluent Chinese, "My name is Lord Von Christ. And you are...Aang correct?"
With clear relief in his voice, Aang replied, "That's right! Wow, I'm so glad you can understand me. Now maybe we can get some answers. I met someone else earlier who sort of understood me but not enough to really communicate properly."
Nodding, Gunter then gestured at his own companions and introduced them to Aang and his friends, "Before we get into that, let me introduce to you King Yuri, the twenty seventh King of the Great Demon Kingdom. And next to His Majesty are Wolfram Von Bielefeld and Gwendal Von Voltaire."
Aang blinked and looked at Yuri curiously, repeating, "Demon King?"
"Indeed," Gunter nodded, "Now, I'm sure you would like to know what is going on as much as we do but first, I think we should find somewhere more private to talk. We have someone waiting for us at the inn and after that last attack, I'm sure you don't want to stay out here."
"What about Appa?" Aang asked seriously, "I think he's too big to go into town with us but I don't want him to get attacked either. Is there a cave or something he can hide in while we talk?"
Thinking back on Yuri's discovery of the Demon Sword, Morgif, Gunter smiled broadly and suggested, "We know of the perfect place for your...um..." however, Gunter was unsure of what to call Appa since he didn't exactly know what he actually was and was at a loss for words.
Realizing this, Aang explained, "He's my Sky Bison. Appa and I grew up together in the Southern Air Temple..." more quietly though, Aang whispered, "But you wouldn't know about that would you? Now I have a feeling that we were brought here by the spirits and they must have a job for me. So we need to know more about where we are and about those people who attacked us."
As the rest of them traveled on foot, Appa flew above with Momo just above the tree line to avoid being seen or shot by more arrows. No one spoke because it became a pain for Gunter to translate everything for them. However, now that they were outside the heat of battle, new details about each of the strangers became more apparent to Yuri, Gwendal, and Wolfram.
One of those things was that the smallest member of their group, Toph, was actually blind. The only thing that betrayed this though was her glazed eyes. Other than that, in some way that they were unaware of, she kept up with everyone just fine and no one in her group treated her any differently than someone with normal eyesight. Also, he feet were completely bare and she walked along the path heedless of the sharp rocks that could potentially cut them open. Toph seemed like the I-can-take-care-of-myself sort so no one in Yuri's group dared to treat her otherwise.
Then there was Sokka and Katara, whom they had learned from Gunter were brother and sister. Katara seemed to have an air of command around her to keep her older brother in check. While Sokka on the other hand, unexpectedly, was the strategist, as well as the comedian of their small band.
Behind them, the oldest member of their group, Zuko, kept a brisk pace from the rear and kept a close eye on Yuri and the rest of them in case this was all a trick. Gwendal could tell by his stature that Zuko had endured his own share of hardship and was used to fighting alone. The huge scar across his left eye was a testament of that struggle. He seemed used to having people betray him and so watched everything they did for signs of betrayal. Which Wolfram, likewise, did the very same.
And finally, there was Aang. Unlike the others, he seemed more aloft yet at the same time seemed to be contemplating why he and his friends were brought to this strange place and how they were going to get back home. He seemed used to bearing huge responsibility despite his youth and walked with confidence. At the same time though, Aang seemed more lighthearted and open with them then the other four were and was the only one who kept talking to Gunter after the others fell into an odd silence.
Yuri was curious about them as individuals but also marveled at their amazing skills that they had seen earlier. None of them had sensed any magic being used nor Esoteric skill other than what their attackers threw at Aang and his friends. And the way they used those elements, as if bending them to their will, was truly amazing.
If only Conrad could have seen them in action! Yuri grinned to himself, I'm sure he would have been just as amazed as we were. Crossing his arms though, Yuri pondered, Gunter said that Aang had met someone who sort of knew his language before. Could it have been Conrad? After all, he DID go to Earth when he was making sure I was born safely. These people can't be from Earth though. No one there can use powers like those either and I for one have never seen or heard of a 'Sky Bison'. So does that mean...they're also from another world?