Chapter 4: Adventure in Omashu

Hey Guys! Here's chapter 4 of Legend of Kai, hope you enjoy! And thanks to everyone who is continuing to read my story and give positive feedback and advice! I appreciate it! –Cleo0412

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but Kai

"Hey, Aang?" I walked up to Aang's side and began to walk next to him. We had been traveling for a couple days on Appa. Aang said that he wanted to take us to see a city that he had visited a lot before his time in the ice berg.

"Yeah Kai?" Aang looked over at me with a smile. I looked down nervously and fiddled with my necklace. I had been trying to bend anything ever since we left Kyoshi, but nothing ever happened. Either I was doing something wrong, or I just wasn't a bender. That would suck. I would be forever categorized with Sokka. I had decided to ask Aang for advice.

"How do you know if you're a bender? I figure that since I have parents from two different nations, I might've gotten one of their elements." I shrugged. Aang looked at me excitedly before answering.

"You're right! You have a good chance of being a bender! Personally I would want you to have air, but we do need a fire bender that's on our side!" He jumped into the air happily. I looked in front of us nervously at where Katara and Sokka were walking.

"Keep it down Aang! I don't want Katara and Sokka to know that yet! They'd just breathe down my neck while I tried to figure it out!" I whispered loudly into his ear as I put my hand over his mouth. He looked at me before nodding. I cautiously took my hand away, but kept it close enough so that I could shove it in his face again just in case.

He looked around thoughtfully. We were walking on a snowing plain filled with rocks. Aang walked over to a large rock and swept the snow off. He sat down on one side and patted the other, signaling for me to sit next to him. I shrugged and walked over, sitting by his side. Aang looked over at Sokka and Katara who had turned to look at us.

"Hey guys! We should break for a while to rest! Kai and I are gonna talk over here! Can you guys get some food going?" He yelled. Katara and Sokka yelled back in affirmation before heading over to Appa to grab some supplies. Aang smiled at me.

"Well now that that's taken care of, time to begin bending 101! Copy me, and close your eyes." He got into a meditation stance by sitting in crisscross applesauce, and putting his fists together. I copied him and closed my eyes.

"Okay, now focus on your surroundings. Try to feel the heat around you, and the wind blowing by. Focus that feeling into your gut, and tell me what you feel." Aang said soothingly as I began to focus. I concentrated on the smallest of sounds around me and the softest of feelings on my skin. I concentrated on my gut and tried to look for any sort of sensation. I gasped.

"I feel…warmth. It's like a giant blanket is surrounding me. It's tickling my insides. But, there's something else there. It's like that feeling you get when you're moving downwards really fast." I explained as best as I could. I vaguely heard Aang's voice in the background.

"Good, now try and force that sensation into your hand." I nodded and began to imagine the warmth running into my chest and through my arm. The warmth reached my hand, and a sensation ran through my fingers that felt desperate for release. I opened my eyes as I released that feeling. I looked at my hand. There in my palms was a tiny flame. I gasped as it flickered in the wind. It felt like a tiny heartbeat.

"You did it! You're a fire bender!" Aang exclaimed excitedly as he tackled me in a hug. I laughed gleefully and hugged him back.

"I'm a fire bender! Aang thank you so much! But, how did you know what to do? You're not a fire bender." I asked him confused. He merely smiled at me.

"Actually, that's how I first air bended. The idea is that your element is sleeping inside of you. You just have to learn how to wake it up. Some people, like Katara, find out their bending through accidents including a powerful emotion. But, this is the more traditional way. Usually you only experience one feeling though, so I don't know what that other thing you felt was. It was probably a fire bender thing though." He shrugged before hugging me again. We jumped up and down in excitement for a minute before running over to Katara and Sokka.

"Hey guys! Look what I can do!" I shouted. Running over to them I stopped by Sokka and concentrated again. This time it came much faster. They gasped as a ball of fire appeared in my hands. I looked at them with a huge smile on my face before remembering that a fire bender killed Kaya. I quickly stopped the flame.

"Uh…sorr-?" I was cut off as Katara tackled me with a hug.

"I'm so happy for you Kai! Now we have a fire bender on our side!" She shouted gleefully. I sighed in relief as I hugged her back. Oh good. They aren't going to murder me. I looked over at Sokka, only to laugh as I saw that he had passed out. Wimp. Katara and Aang talked to me about bending, giving me tips and advice. We talked the whole way to Omashu, and Sokka finally woke up and began to grumble about me being a bender.

Meanwhile, two figures watched from the sky. A woman in a fiery cloak, and a man with blue skin stood together.

"She has discovered my half of her abilities Vayu. We must contact her soon." The woman known as Agni turned towards Vayu. He nodded.

"I agree, but we must wait until Avatar Roku reveals the Avatar's role as well. They will need each other. She will know all in time. I just pray that she understands our reasons." They nodded at each other before continuing to watch the scene below them.

"Welcome to the earth kingdom city of Omashu!" Aang waved his hand towards the grand city. We all gasped as we took in the sight.

"Wow! We don't have cities like this in the South Pole." Katara commented as she gaped at the structures. Sokka nodded in agreement.

"They have buildings that don't melt…" I smacked his head for that.

"Most cities have buildings that don't melt Sokka." He glared at me while rubbing his head. Aang looked back at us.

"Well let's go slowpokes! The real fun's inside the city!" He began walking over the hill, but Katara stopped him.

"Wait Aang! It could be dangerous if people find out that you're the Avatar. Actually, Kai you could be in danger too. They could think that you're the enemy because of your fire nation looks." She stated, pointing at my hair. Sokka agreed.

"You two need disguises." Aang and I looked at each other before looking back at them with confused looks.

"What're we supposed to do? Grow mustaches?" Aang pointed at his face. I cringed.

"Yeah…no thanks."

"Ugh this stuff is so itchy! How do you live in this?" Aang complained to Appa. He had a giant wig of hair and a mustache made of Appa's fur. I groaned.

"At least you're not blind!" My hair was pulled up and hidden underneath a bandana that covered over my eyes as well. Aang was supposed to be an old grandpa, while I was supposed to be a blind girl who apparently had scars on her head. I could barely see through the fabric so Sokka and Katara were going to have to lead me around.

"Great! Now you look just like my grandfather. And Kai looks like a self-conscious blind girl." Sokka said. I shot a tiny fireball at Sokka for that. I had been practicing on doing it faster. I grinned in satisfaction as I heard him yelp from the blast. Katara spoke somewhere to my right.

"Technically, Aang is 112 years old." I tried to walk forward, but I tripped on a rock and fell face forward.

"Ow! I hate being blind!" I groaned as Sokka laughed at my predicament. I felt Katara help me up. Aang patted me on the shoulder before grabbing his staff.

"Let's get to skippin' young whippersnappers! The big city awaits!" He said in a very convincing old man voice. I laughed and tried to follow, but fell forward again.

"Dang it!"

We began to walk towards the large city. I had gotten the hang of walking around without falling, but I still had no idea where things were. Katara had been leading me by holding my shoulder. She linked her arm with mine a while later, saying that we were on a road with cliffs on either sides and she didn't want me killing myself. Lovely.

"You guys are going to love Omashu! The people here are the friendliest in the world." Aang said from in front of me. Suddenly I heard a loud voice shout from ahead.

"Rotten cabbages?! What do you think we're running here, a slum?!" Then I heard the sound of the earth cracking and something falling over the cliff.

"No! My cabbages!" A man yelled. I looked over to where I thought Aang was.

"Friendliest in the world huh?" I said sarcastically.

"Just keep smiling." Aang replied, and we continued forward. After taking a few steps I heard some more earth bending happening.

"State your business!" It was that cranky guy again. He sounded like he had no life, other than making other people's lives harder. I heard a whoosh of air.

"My business is my business young man and none of yours! I have half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!" Aang shouted. I laughed out loud. I would love him as my grandfather! Well, maybe not after that paddle comment.

"Settle down old timer. Just tell me who you are." Cranky guy said, in a much nicer way might I add.

"Name's Bonzu Pippinpadalopsicopolis, the third! And these are my grandkids." Aang probably just came up with the worst cover name ever. I felt Katara pull me forward.

"Hi, I'm June Pippinpadalopsicopolis. Nice to meet you." I felt her tug my arm, signaling me to say something.

"I'm…Lena. Nice…city you got here." I shrugged. Katara sighed quietly over to my left. What? No way was I going to repeat that horrible last name. It was silent around me for a second.

"What's wrong with your head girl?" He questioned. I raised my eyebrow.

"Rude much? My head's as straight on as yours is." I put my hand on my hip.

"No no! I didn't mean it like that, I just…never mind." He sighed. I inwardly sighed in relief, glad that I didn't have to try and explain my head scarf.

"You there, June. You seem like a responsible young lady. See to it that your sister and grandpa stay out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu." I heard the gates in front of us open. Seriously? You guys have the worst security in the history of ever! What if I were planning to blow up Omashu, it would've been all your fault. I shook my head at the sad security in play, but hey, who was I to complain? Katara pulled me forward.

"We will!" She called back. We walked forward until I heard the guard say,

"Wait a minute…You're a strong young man. Show some respect for the elderly and carry your grandfather's bag!" I wonder who he was talking to. Surely not Sokka, he wasn't a strong young man.

"Good idea!" Aang said. Then he tossed his bag at Sokka. We hurried through the gates before they closed. After getting through I pulled the fabric up so that I could see, I doubted that anyone would look closely at my eyes now. I gasped as I took in the huge city full of chutes and buildings. I watched all the carts run down the chutes carrying supplies.

"That's Omashu's mail delivery system. Earth bending takes the carts up and gravity brings them down." Aang explained as he saw where I was looking. Sokka shrugged.

"So they get their mail on time."

"They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found an even better use for them. Kai, I think you'll especially enjoy this." I smirked as I saw Aang's devious look.

This ought to be fun.

"One ride, then we're off to the North Pole. Air bender's honor." We sat in a stone cart at the top of a chute. I looked down the slide excitedly. Aang sat at the front, Katara behind him, me behind her, and Sokka at the back.

"This sounded like fun at first, but I'm beginning to get second though-!" Katara screamed as she finished her sentence. Aang had leaned forward and begun the ride.

"YEAH!" I shouted raising my hands in the air. Aang and I were laughing the whole time. I vaguely heard Katara and Sokka hyperventilating around me. Wimps! As we sped down the chute I gasped as I saw spears in the chute next to us. Who orders spears?! As the chutes merged the spears gained speed and began to get way to close for comfort. Sokka yelped and ducked as the weapons went over his head. I yelled as they closed in on my back. I leaned as far into Katara as I could.

"Not cool man! Not cool!" I shouted as I felt the spears begin to poke my back. Katara wrapped her arm around me and pulled me forward.

"Aang!" She shouted. He nodded.

"I'm on it!" He began rocking the crate and tossed us over the edge. Great idea! Let's all commit suicide before the spears get to us, that'll show them! I sarcastically thought as we all screamed. Luckily we landed on a ramp shaped roof and slid off. I saw us headed towards a group of soldiers. We hit the ground with Aang halfway into the air, Katara being kicked in the face by Aang, me grabbing Sokka for dear life, and Sokka nearly flying out the back. We must've looked awesome.

Bouncing off the ground we took off again. We broke through another line of crates, knocking over some on the way, before breaking through the other side and landing in a chute again. Seriously! These people have practically made this city perfect for riding these things!

"Aang do something! Use your air bending!" Katara shouted. Aang looked back excitedly.

"Good idea! That'll make us go even faster!" I don't think that's what Katara meant, but I wasn't complaining. I raised my hands into the air.

"To the max!" I shouted. Aang nodded in agreement and swiped his hands forward, causing us to go super-fast. As we slid down a slope we all screamed as we saw a cart stop ahead of us. The soldier shot it forward, and we all sighed in relief, only to scream again as he lifted another one up. We broke clean through the other cart and fell into the air.

Using air bending Aang swept the cart under us. We landed on more roofs, and broke through a guy's window, breaking his vase.

"Sorry!" Aang shouted back. We slid through another house. Why are there so many open doors?! This place has so many issues. When we came out the other side Momo, who had been riding in Aang's wig, had a new friend. He and the cat fought on Aang's head before Momo managed to kick the cat off the ride. I looked behind us, hoping that Momo hadn't just murdered that poor cat.

We ran into and over the edge of the roof. We screamed as we fell straight down, crashing into a vending cart full of cabbages. I spit out all the lettuce in my mouth and rubbed my head.

"My cabbages! You're gonna pay for this!" I looked behind me and saw a livid cabbage vender. Guards surrounded us as we got up. I just stared at the man.

"Didn't your cabbages get thrown over a cliff?"

We were led into the palace to see the king. In the main chamber I looked around. It's so green in here. I looked to the front of the room and saw an old king sitting on the throne. We all knelt as the guard named off our crimes.

"Your majesty these juveniles have been arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages." The cabbage man shouted again.

"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" I stared at the man.

"Dude, you want to kill us for hurting your poor cabbages? One, we don't have that many heads in the first place. Two, you need help. Three, it wasn't exactly malicious destruction. More like purely accidental and well placed destruction." I shrugged. Katara gave me a look that clearly said, Not helping. The guard put his hand up.

"Silence! Only the king can pass judgement." The king stared at all of us. I stared back and stuck my tongue out. He looked at me before passing judgement.

"Throw them…a feast!" Oh good, he's crazy.

We all sat at a table full of food. I stared at the food wondering if it was poisoned. The king came and stood behind us.

"The people of my city have become fat from too many feasts. So I hope you like your chicken with no skin." He held up a chicken leg in front of Aang

"Thanks, but I don't eat meat." Aang declined. The king went to Sokka next.

"How about you? I bet you like meat." He then proceeded to cram the thing into Sokka's mouth. I waited a few seconds before eating mine as well. Well, doesn't look like Sokka's poisoned. Katara whispered to us.

"Is it just me, or is his crown a little crooked?" She swirled her finger by her forehead. I shrugged.

"I think that's been well established for a while now."

The king sat in his chair before asking Aang a question.

"So tell me young bald one, where are you from?" Aang just stared back before answering.

"Uh…I'm from…Kangaroo Island." He said. I almost slapped my forehead. We need to work on his lying skills. I'm a pro, but he's an open book. The king just leaned forward.

"Kangaroo Island huh? I heard that place is really hopping." He stared at us. The only one who laughed was of course Sokka. I sighed and looked at him in disappointment.

"What? It was funny." He rubbed his head. The king looked to me next surprisingly.

"What about you with the head scarf, where are you from?" Oh good, easy answer.

"I'm from the Southern Water tribe." I said truthfully. He stared at me with a contemplative look on his face. I stared back confused. He merely yawned.

"All this talking is making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay!" He reached into his sleeve, and threw a chicken leg at Aang. Aang yelled in surprise and caught the leg with air bending. All the guards around us gasped. The king looked pleased.

"We have an air bender in our presence. And not just any air bender, but the Avatar." He pointed at Aang who quickly stopped air bending.

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself Mr. Pippinpadalopsicopolis?" He asked smugly. Aang stood up.

"Okay you caught me. I'm the Avatar. Doing my Avatar business, and keeping the world safe. Everything checks out! No fire benders here." He glanced at me before continuing.

"So good work everybody! Love each other, respect all life, and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!" He yelled, grabbing us and pulling us backwards. But, as we were about to exit the guards crossed their spears behind us. I rolled my eyes, and slipped between the spears.

"Really? Oh no! You crossed your spears! How am I ever going to get out?" I put my hands up to my face in fake desperation. The guards blushed and pulled me back into the room by my hood, throwing me forward. Katara caught me and gave me a look of exasperation before turning to the king.

"You can't keep us here. Let us leave!" She yelled at him. He merely picked up a lettuce leaf.

"Lettuce leaf?" I stared at him. He's so weird. Sokka looked at us.

"We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts." He whispered. I looked at him with fake shock.

"What? I hadn't noticed." He glared at me.

"Why do you have to be so sarcastic to me?" I shrugged in response.

"You make it too easy." Katara smacked both of our heads. We focused back in on the conversation.

"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges. For now, the guards will show you to your chamber." The king announced. The guard to his left leaned down.

"My liege do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" He asked. The king looked up at him.

"The newly refurbished chamber."

"Wait which one are we talking about?"

"The one that used to be the bad chamber, until it got refurbished that is. Of course we've been calling it the new chamber, but we really need to start numbering them. Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!" He announced. I sighed.

Like I said. This place has issues.

We were led into a nice looking large room with four beds. The guards closed the door behind us as we took in the surroundings.

"This is a prison cell? But it's so nice!" Katara stated. I shrugged and jumped onto one of the beds.

"Eh, I'm not complaining." I sighed as I sunk into the soft bed. Aang shrugged as well.

"He did say that it was newly refurbished."

"Nice or not we're still prisoners!" Sokka complained. Aang looked at the ground worriedly.

"I wonder what these challenges are going to be." He wondered. Katara put her hands onto her hips.

"We're not staying long enough to find out. There's gotta be some way out of here." She said. Aang looked around before pointing at one of the small holes in the walls.

"The air vents!" We all looked at him like he was crazy.

"If you think we're gonna fit in there, you're crazier than that king." Sokka stated. Aang shook his head.

"We can't, but Momo can!" He pointed at the lemur that was now fat off of fruit. He walked over and picked Momo up, carrying him to the hole. He shoved the poor guy into the hole and tried to force him in.

"Go on boy! Get Appa!" Momo got stuck at his belly and wouldn't go through. Sokka sighed.

"Eh, how was Appa supposed to save us anyways?" And he wonders why I call him a pessimist.

"Appa is a ten ton flying bison. I think he could figure something out." Aang insisted.

"Yeah, he probably would've knocked down the walls or something. Like how I used to knock over your snowmen." I agreed with Aang. Sokka pouted as he remembered that.

"You were an evil child. You killed Sir Snowy."

"He probably wanted to die anyways, with that name you gave him." Poor Momo was still stuck in the wall. Taking pity on the poor thing, I got up and pulled him out. He gave me a hug before flying onto the bed and curling up. I giggled and went back to the bed I was on earlier. I opened the covers up and lay down on the bed. Katara walked over to my bed.

"Well, no point in arguing over it now. Get some rest Aang. Looks like you're gonna need it for tomorrow." She said as she pulled the covers over me, tucking me in before heading to her own bed and laying down. We all closed our eyes and quickly fell asleep, wondering how tomorrow would go.

"Mmf!" I shouted into a gloved hand. I had been rudely awakened by someone picking me up and covering my mouth. I tried to bite it, but I could tell that this just annoyed him more than anything. Besides, have you ever tasted earth bender? Not good.

Looking around I saw Katara and Sokka's silhouettes squirming in soldier's holds. We were being taken out of the chamber and into a dark hallway.

Before I could get dragged into the room after Katara and Sokka, I quickly concentrated on my gut. I focused that feeling into my chest and blew roughly into the soldier's hands. Luckily it worked and the man drew his hand back as fire poured out of my mouth. Running away I could hear him yell in the background.

"She's a fire bender! Restrain her!" I ran off down the halls, trying to find where Aang would be. I turned around a sharp corner only to run into the crazy king himself. He smiled down at me.

"Where do you think you're going? I heard an interesting rumor, that you're a fire bender. Is that true?" He leaned close to my face. I backed up quickly, trying to escape, but he grabbed me by the hood and pulled me back. I shot a ball of fire at him.

"Ah, so it's true." He said as he merely dodged the fire. He encased my hands in rock and began to lead me down a hallway.

"You get to join Aang today! How exciting!" I stared at him.

Wait, what?

"Let go of me you crazy king! I don't want to die yet!"

"Kai! Are you okay? Where are Sokka and Katara?" Aang ran up to me as soon as he saw me by the king's side. I held up my encased hands to Aang.

"Oh, I'm just great. Just peachy. I don't know where they are. When the guards tried to put me in the same room as them I escaped by fire bending." I explained. Aang looked alarmed at the fact that I revealed myself. The king put his hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, and that's the reason you will be joining the Avatar in his tests today." He stated. I groaned as Aang looked to him in surprise. The king gestured to his outfit.

"First of all, what do you two think of my new outfit? I want your honest opinion." He held open his arms as I stared at the purple monstrosity. I crinkled my nose in disgust as Aang scratched his head.

"It's fine…I guess." He stated while rubbing his head.

"It sucks." I replied bluntly. The king laughed at me.

"Good! You have passed the first test." We looked at him in excitement.

"Really?" I asked. That was really easy. The king thought about it for a second before responding.

"Well, not one of the deadly challenges. The real challenges will be much more…challenging." Aang ran up to the old guy and began yelling in his face.

"I don't have time for your crazy games! Give me my friends back, we're leaving!" The king looked amused.

"Oh, I thought you might refuse. So I decided to give your friends a little souvenir." He pointed to the wall. It suddenly opened and I gasped as I saw Katara and Sokka being held by guards. The guards grabbed their hands and put rings of crystal on them.

"Those lovely rings are made out of pure Genamite, otherwise known as the creeping crystal. It grows at a fast rate. By nightfall your friends should be covered in it. Terrible fate really. I can stop it, but only if you and the fire bender cooperate." The king explained. I growled.

"You better get those off them right now! Or so help me I'll take your crown and shove it up your-!"

"Kai! We need to just do as he says. That's the only way he'll release them." Aang interrupted my threat. Me and him stared at each other before I sighed.

"Fine. Let's do this. But, you better keep your promise you crazy king." I pointed a finger at him. He merely laughed in response.

Aang and I stood on a flat rock. We were surrounded by stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. In front of us was a large waterfall with a ladder running up it.

"It seems that I've lost my lunch box key and I'm hungry! Oh, there it is! Can you go get it for me?" The king pointed at the waterfall. I stared at it. Great.

Aang used air bending to maneuver himself around the pointy rocks, but I used some fire bending to propel myself forward. I still wasn't very good at holding fire for too long so I had to stop a few times. I saw Aang dive into the bottom of the waterfall and grab the ladder.

"Oh, climbing the ladder! No one's thought of that before." The crazy king commented. I glared at him.

"How about you come down here, and I commentate!" I yelled in irritation. Using fire bending I blasted myself into the air and caught myself between two stalactites. I gasped as Aang was blasted from the waterfall, but luckily he caught himself before he got a stalagmite in a very uncomfortable place.

Once I saw that Aang was safe I got ready for my attempt. I aimed myself at the key from above and launched myself forward with a fire powered kick. I flew at the waterfall. But, as I hit it the pressure immediately overpowered me and pushed me out. I yelped as I hit a stalagmite, but quickly grasped it before I fell.

"Kai be careful!" I heard Katara yell. I rolled my eyes.

"No, I'm purposely trying to skewer myself!" I shouted back. The king decided to interject.

"That's right. Keep diving in headfirst. I'm sure it'll work eventually." I groaned. I really hate this guy! I looked over at Aang. He seemed to have an idea. He broke of the tip of a stalagmite and yelled to me as he threw it at the key.

"Kai! Fire!" I immediately realized what he wanted. I gathered as much fire into my hands as I could handle, and shot it at the rock spear as Aang shot air at it. It quickly sliced through the air and broke the key off its chain. The spear hit above the king's head and the key dangled in front of him.

"There! Enjoy your lunch. I want my friends back now!" Aang shouted. The king shook his head.

"Ah, I'm afraid I need help with another matter. It seems that I've lost my pet Flopsy."

"Ugh! You've got to be kidding me." I groaned.

Aang and I ran up to a little bunny like creature. Turning back to the king, Aang yelled.

"We found him!" The king held open his arms.

"Bring him to me! Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy!" He responded. I shivered. There was something seriously wrong with this guy. As we went to grab Flopsy, a giant shadow appeared in front of us. Turning around I yelped as I saw a giant beast looking at us. The bunny got scared too and ran off. We immediately gave chase.

"Flopsy wait! Flopsy!" Aang yelled as he chased the pet. I tried to keep the beast distracted by shooting small balls of fire at it. He got annoyed and chased after me. I jumped over and onto his back and tried to hold on. He immediately tried to get me off by jumping around or reaching onto his back, but I managed to stay on. Then he decided to go after Aang. I gasped.

"Aang look out!" He turned to look at us. The small creature had gotten away. Aang stared at the beast as it ran at him.

"Flopsy?" He asked. The beast stopped right in front of Aang and picked him up, only to give him a big lick. Aang laughed.

"Flopsy!" He hugged him. I sighed in relief as I slid off Flopsy's back. A whistle broke into the air and Flopsy immediately ran over to the king. He rolled onto his back and exposed his belly. The king began to rub his belly.

"Oh that's a good boy! Yes, who has a soft belly?" He said. Aang and I ignored the king and went over to my siblings. Their whole bodies were covered, leaving only their heads and feet out.

"You guys okay?" Aang asked. Katara smiled at us.

"Other than the crystal slowly encasing my body, doing great." She replied. I gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't worry. Aang and I will get you out of there soon." I smiled at her. She smiled back, but frowned.

"Just be careful Kai. I don't trust this king." I nodded. Looking over at Sokka I saw more crystal grow on his left side, unbalancing it. I laughed as it made him fall over. Aang walked over to the king.

"We're ready for the next challenge." He said with his hands on his hips. The king smiled evilly. I wasn't paying attention though because I was currently rolling Sokka on the floor.

We stood in a giant arena made of rock. The king stood in front of us.

"Your final test is a duel! And as a special treat, you may pick your opponent." As he said this, two men appeared at his side. On his right was a skinny guy with makeup on his face and a scar going across it. He held a wicked looking scythe. The guy on his left was really buff. He had a mask on his face and held a giant axe. Neither looked appealing.

"So you're saying that whoever we point to. That's the person we get to fight?" Aang asked. The king looked at us seriously.

"Choose wisely." Aang looked at the men before him, before looking over at me with a sly smile. I could tell what he was thinking, and shrugged. It was his choice. He nodded.

"I choose you." He pointed at the king. Immediately the king laughed.

"Wrong choice." He flexed his whole body and threw off his robe. I stared in horror at the buff old guy in front of me. Ah! Old men should not be shirtless!

He kicked the ground, and Aang and I yelled as we were launched into the air from the earth. We landed in the arena and the king immediately jumped down and joined us. He looked down at us.

"You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful earth bender you'll ever see!" He said. Aang and I slowly stood up. Aang pointed behind the king.

"Can we fight the guy with the axe instead?" The king just smiled at us.

"There are no take-backsies in my kingdom. You might need this." One of the guards threw Aang's staff at him. Once Aang caught his staff the king began to shoot rocks at us. As I dodged around I shouted at the king.

"This isn't cool! I'm not a full bender yet, and I didn't choose you!" He responded by sending a rock wave at me. Unable to dodge in time I merely crossed my arms in front of me as I was hit. I flew across the arena and groaned as I hit the wall. Maybe this was bad for my still healing ribs. Aang looked over at me.

"Kai!" He ran over and stood in front of me protectively. The king laughed as he shot more rocks at us. Since he was protecting me, Aang wasn't able to dodge like he usually does. He had to deflect the hits, and I could tell that this was more taxing for him. I shakily stood.

"Aang! I'm fine; you don't have to protect me." He looked at me conflicted before he nodded his head. He began dodging again as I used my fire bending to destroy rocks sent at me. The king shot another wave of rock at us, but I was able to dodge this time.

Aang went to charge at him, but the king created quicksand below him which made Aang sink into it. Two giant rocks were coming to crush him. I quickly ran over and gathered fire in both my hands. I destroyed the rocks by firing two fire balls at each one.

Aang was able to escape the quicksand and sent a blast of air at the king, making him hit the wall. He stood on a platform of rock as he sent a giant wave of rock at us. Aang tried to jump over it, but it grew and smacked him out of the air. I tried to dodge to the side, but it turned and I flew into the wall again.

Groaning, I looked over to where Aang was and saw him yell in fright. I looked over at the king and yelped as I saw him lifting an entire chunk of the ground, including the wall, overhead. Aang began running in fast circles creating a tornado in the middle of the room. I grabbed onto some surrounding rocks sticking out of the floor and held on for dear life.

The king threw the earth with a grunt at Aang, but it was merely redirected at him from the tornado. He gasped but was able to split the thing in half. As he did that Aang jumped at the king and stuck him at the end of his staff. I quickly ran over and stayed behind the king. Aang looked smug, but the king just smiled and looked up.

A tiny rock fell onto Aang. As he looked up he gasped as he saw that the king was holding a large boulder above his head. But, the king hadn't noticed me yet. I tapped his shoulder. He looked over at me in surprise as I held him at the end of my fire, smirking. He smiled.

"Well done you two. You fight with much fire in your hearts. For you young lady, that is quite literal." He threw away the giant boulder. He fell backwards and we gasped as he completely fell into the ground. We saw him reappear on the balcony overlooking the arena and went to join him. I looked down the hole, wondering if I could reach the other side without dying. I decided against it. Aang merely air bended us up.

"You have passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question." He said. We glared at him.

"That's not fair! You said that you'd release my friends after I finished your tests!" Aang yelled. I nodded.

"Yeah, so give them back you kook!" I shook my fist at him. He shook his head.

"What's the point in a test if you don't learn anything?" Sokka groaned.

"Oh come on!" We ignored him. The king swept his hand to Sokka and Katara.

"Answer this one question, and I'll set them free. What is my name?" He walked off. I stared after him. You've got to be kidding. I looked over at the others.

"Well, my first guess would be crazy-old-king-who-is-unaware-of-hygiene, but that seems like it's too long." I crossed my arms. Katara giggled at me before nodding in agreement. Aang smiled, but looked down.

"How are we supposed to know his name?" He put his head in his hands. Sokka jumped in.

"Oh! I know! It's Rocky! Cause of all the rocks." I stared at him before pushing him over again. He yelped as he hit the ground. Katara just shook her head at me. I shrugged and asked if she had any better ideas. She thought for a moment.

"Well, what did you learn from the tests?" Aang pondered this.

"Well we got a key, found his pet, and had a duel. Everything was different than what I imagined." Katara urged him on.

"And?" She grimaced as the crystal grew up to her face. Aang grabbed his chin.

"Well to solve each problem I had to think from a different perspective…" He suddenly snapped in realization.

"I know his name." I stared at Aang this time.

"Really? Good, cause I got nothing."

"I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." Aang said to the old geezer. He laughed crazily snorting every now and then. Aang merely smiled at him.

"Bumi, you're a mad genius!" He ran at Bumi and tackled him with a hug. Bumi rubbed Aang's head in affection.

"Oh Aang, it's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit, literally!" I stared at the king in shock. Katara suddenly yelled out.

"Uh, over here!"

"A little help!" Sokka joined in. His mouth was the only thing showing, and Katara only had her face left. Bumi pulled his fist forward and the Genamite exploded off my siblings.

"Genamite is made of rock candy, delicious!" Hearing this I quickly began to gather some up. Hey, what can I say? I have a sweet tooth. Katara walked up to them.

"So this crazy king, is your old friend Bumi?" He looked up at that.

"Hey, who're you calling old?" I crossed my arms.

"Dude, you're like 112 years old." He thought about it before shrugging.

"Okay, I'm old." He admitted. Sokka stared at him.

"But, why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Bumi laughed before getting serious.

"Well for one thing it's fun to mess with people. But, I do have a reason." Turning to Aang he said, "Aang, you have a difficult journey ahead of you. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's up to the Avatar to restore balance to the world. You must master the four elements and confront Fire lord Ozai, and when you do I hope you think like a mad genius." He smiled at Aang. Aang smiled back and gave Bumi a bow, but I was still confused.

"Wait, but why did you have me do all that?" I asked. He turned to me.

"Well I could tell that you needed more practice in fire bending for one, and this gave you a good chance. But, I have another reason. I have been given a message from the spirits about you. You also have a hard journey ahead of yourself. Your destiny will unfold with time, but you and Aang needed to learn to fight together and read each other in battle." He explained.

I was shocked that the spirits had contacted him, and that he seemed to know more about this than I did. I wonder if Agni and Vayu were the ones to contact him. I wanted to know what was going on. He seemed to realize what I was thinking and shook his head.

"I cannot tell you any more than I already have. Don't worry young fire bender. You will understand all soon." I opened my mouth to protest, but I just let out a big sigh instead. I looked at Aang and my siblings. They had shocked looks on their faces. Oh yeah. I didn't tell them about the whole dream with spirits thing did I? I scratched the back of my head.

"Uh…I'll explain it later?" I shrugged. Katara shook herself out of her shock before glaring at me.

"Yeah, you will." She stated with her hands on her hips. I grimaced. Aang just smiled at me sympathetically before turning back to Bumi.

"Well anyways, thank you for your wisdom. But, before we leave I have a challenge for you."

Katara, Sokka, and I watched as Aang and Bumi sled off in a cart. I laughed as a crash could be heard minutes later, and a furious yell of, "My cabbages!" could be heard. But, a sharp pain suddenly shot through my side again. I winced again while grabbing my ribs. Oops, probably shouldn't have done all those challenges.

I looked at the sky. If you guys told Bumi to add me in all this, the least you could do is take responsibility for my injuries. Help me out here! Well, maybe just you Agni. Vayu, you can go try and wash off that blue dye on your skin. That must be annoying. I nodded to myself. I heard laughter in the wind before a female voice responded.

"Alright, I guess it was our faults. I shall assist you. Though, Vayu is not helping because he is annoyed at the whole blue thing." Agni responded with an amused tone. I blinked in surprise. Seriously? I was just kidding.

I quickly lifted my shirt a little. I saw no bruising on my ribs, but just to make sure I poked myself. Nothing. I laughed. Thanks Agni! You're my favorite! I heard a chuckle in the wind before I felt her presence disappear. Katara turned as she heard my laugh.

"Kai? What're you doing? Are your ribs okay?" She walked over and began examining me. I smiled.

"Better than okay! Agni healed them!" I shouted in excitement. Katara looked at me in disbelief before she looked closely. She gasped.

"Wow, they are healed! But that's impossible! How…what?" She looked at me bewildered. I just shrugged with a smile.

"I'll explain later?" I offered. She sighed.

"Why are you so complicated?" She complained, rubbing her temples. Suddenly Sokka ran over.

"Hey Kai! Are your ribs okay?" *Sigh* Here we go again.

"So Kai, want to explain things?" Katara asked. We were flying on Appa again. Katara and Sokka were starting to interrogate me, while Aang sat on Appa's head listening to our conversation.

"Okay, but this might sound weird." I sighed. I began explaining. I told them about my dream, and about Agni and Vayu. I told them about how they called me their Azrita Zura, whatever that was. And, I explained about how I had accidentally prayed to Agni, and she healed my ribs.

They all stared at me by the time I finished. Katara looked at me like I had grown a third head, Sokka was gaping, and Aang had to repeatedly look back at where we were flying after nearly crashing us two times. I shrugged.

"So…yeah. That's it." Katara shook her head and sighed.

"Only you would insult the skin of a spirit."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" I folded my arms indignantly. She smiled at me before continuing.

"Well whatever this is, you don't have to worry. Aang, Sokka, and I will be here to support you." She gave me a hug. I hugged her back with a smile. As we pulled apart Sokka gave me a punch on the shoulder.

"Yeah, we got your back. Even if you're annoying and have weird powers." I glared at Sokka before sharing a look with Aang. He realized what I was going to do and grinned slyly while grabbing his glider. I smiled at Sokka.

"Hey Sokka, do you ever wish that you could fly?" I asked him while smirking. He looked at me suspiciously.

"Sometimes…why-?" I cut him off as I shoved him off of Appa. Katara yelped as he fell into the air. Aang immediately jumped after him. Katara turned to me.

"Kai!" I shrugged.

"Hey, I warned Aang." She shook her head in exasperation just as Aang came back and dropped Sokka back into the saddle. His eyes were wide. He suddenly turned and glared at me.

"I can't believe you did that! It scared the spirits out of me!" I laughed.

"Aang got you didn't he? Don't be a wuss. Besides, you were the one that said that you wanted to fly." I shrugged. Katara and Aang laughed as Sokka tried to argue back, but wilted as he couldn't think of a comeback. I patted his arm.

"Don't worry. I won't ever seriously try to kill you. Probably." I assured. He looked at me while rolling his eyes.

"That makes me feel so much better." He said sarcastically. I smiled at him before giving him a hug. He sighed, but hugged me back. I pulled away before looking at Aang with a smile.

"So…where to next?"

Chapter 4 comes to an end! Sorry that the beginning part about her fire bending is rushed. I might come back later and create a separate chapter about how she got her fire bending if you guys want me to expand on that. For now, I needed her to fire bend for this chapter, and didn't have enough time to write anything major on it.

Oh, and for anyone wondering about the why I chose the names Agni and Vayu. Since Agni is actually used in the show, I wanted to use a spirit from the same religion. Agni is the Hindu god of fire so I found the Hindu god of air which turned out to be Vayu.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter should be out in a few days!