The air began to heat up as the sun rose higher into the sky, Ulka's eyes scanned the area vigilantly, looking for any suspicious signs of bandits or rabid dogs. Kai walked with his shoulders slumped over, wiping sweat off his brow with his lanky forearm, "How much longer are we going today?" Kai asked, frowning, he had always taken the electric tram to anywhere he needed to be, it was fast and efficient. Technology had advanced to become cleaner and more common among everyone, many people had ChiWatches, which hovered a screen above a small platform one could strap around their wrists. Kai's was the old version and glitched more than 90% of the time. "We've been walking for like… Hours."
Ulka raised her eyebrows and stopped, "Wowwwww, are you serious?" Her finger flicked the center of Kai's forehead. Ulka had grown up in a home that lived in the way of Avatar Aang's times. She never had electricity, using her bending for virtually everything. "We've been walking for about 20 minutes. Hmph, you really were born an earth bender, rocks-for-brains." She grumbled to herself, giving Kai a mischievous grin.
Kai's cheeks turned red as he looked down, "Well… It felt longer than that… Wait, what do you mean 'born an earth bender'?"
Ulka stopped and sighed, "I guess they really don't teach about the Avatar anymore in school, huh?" Ulka pulled Mooshi to the side of the road and sat on a small log, leaning back, kicking her shoes off while stretching her arms. "So, let me tell you a story, young man!" Ulka mocked, acting like an old man. "Once upon a time, there was an Avatar named Avatar Roku, he was an extremely powerful firebender, since that was his birth-element. He was a very good friend of mine, well, technically the Sun, but whatever. Anyways, after Avatar Roku there was an Avatar named Avatar Aang, he was the last airbender or some shit, but that's not a big deal. The point is he was born an airbender, Korra was born a… Say it with me…"
"Waterbender." They both said.
"Riiiight!" Ulka chimed, caustic sarcasm in her voice, "So, that means you were born an earthbender. See, Kai, The Avatar cycle must go full circle, fire, air, water, earth, then it begins all over again. Once you're fused with Raava, the world won't need me anymore, they'll have an Avatar. This way, I'll die and my soul will go back to the spirit world and once all the Superior Spirits are back to the Spirit World, complete harmony will be solidified." A smile spread across her face, "I'm ready to die for that to happen."
Kai's face went pale, "D-Die?! What the hell are you talking about? You can't just die after I become fused, who will teach me bending?"
Ulka's shoulders shrugged, "I dunno, you'll find masters and what-not." She stood at stretched her arms straight up, letting out a loud yawn, "Alright, that's enough of a break! Let's get a move-on, Rocky!" She slid her feet back into her wooden sandals. Mooshi stretched and continued to walk as well, being followed by Kai. About an hour passed, Ulka and Kai continued to talk about aimless things, like school and bending techniques, "You wanna see something cool?" Ulka asked, letting out a snicker. Kai shrugged with approval as he watched her prance up ahead, she made three different fireballs of different colors before swirling them into the shape of a dragon, "Roooooooooarrrr!" She screamed, "RUN KAI RUNNN! MUAHAHAHAAA!" The dragon flew towards him, Ulka laughing as Kai squealed at her to stop, her little fire dragon followed him in circles around Mooshi who growled and whined with discontent.
Ulka's yellow eyes teared up as she let the fire dragon fizzle out, Kai glaring at her. "I'm tired as it is, Ulka, that's not funny/" He muttered, walking forwards, wiping the sweat off his brow.
Ulka's feet felt a vibration from above them, making her head snap upwards at the small cliff above the path, "Kai…" She said softly.
Kai put his hands on his hips and stared at her skeptically, "What now?" He asked raising his brown eyebrows.
"MOVE, KAI!" Ulka yelled, alarmed. Fire burst out of her feet, sending her flying into him, pushing him away from the men who slid down the cliff, suddenly wrapping Ulka's ankles in metal chains, pulling her back. Her legs scraped on the dirt path, making her grunt. "Metalbenders…' She uttered under her breath.
"What was that?" One of the bandits asked, pulling her body close to his, "Hmmmm, how old are you, girl? Not that it matters, ha!" The man scoffed.
Kai sat up and watched Ulka be grabbed by the two men, her arms being held behind her. "Ulka!" He called, standing up, but being immediately knocked back by a boulder.
"Shaddup kid!" The other grunt squealed, he looked back to Ulka and grinned, revealing crooked teeth, "Now, girl, why don't you come on a walk with us?"
"How about not?" Ulka said, a huge grin spreading from ear to ear, she took a deep breath in, making her chest puff out to twice its size, she opened her mouth wide, releasing an enormous flame none of the likes Kai had ever seen. The men were blown back, hitting the rock wall behind them with a loud, "THWACK". Ulka kicked her shoes off and slammed her heel into the ground, making it crack, she squatted and pulled her arms up, her muscles flexing as lava began to rise from out of the ground like water from a spring, it quickly over flowed making a large wave, taller than both of the men combined. She made a dome around them and began to close it in.
Kai quickly pushed himself up and stumbled towards Ulka, "W-Wait! Ulka! You can't just… just... "
"Kill them? Of course I can, watch." She closed the dome in around them.
"Ulka! Wait, we'll just call the police! Just wait a second!"
"Should we call the police when the only hope of continuing the line of Avatars is killed?" Kai stood silently and shook nervously, "I didn't think so." Her hand squeezed into a fist, the ball of lava compressing. "Let's go." She said, turning and beginning to walk again.
Kai felt sweat drip down both sides of his face, "Ulka… Why didn't you think first?! What is wrong with you?! God, they barely did anything!" He cried out to her, his body trembling and his stomach churning. I feel like I'm gonna be sick. Holy shit, what have I gotten myself into… I should've just let those thugs beat me up, I should've never gone into the spirit wilds. Spirits are crazy… He thought to himself as he felt his breakfast coming back up.
Ulka continued to walk, "They would've tried to kill you and rape me. I am the Sun, spirit of wrath and raw truth, if you want clemency and white lies, go find the Wind Spirit."
Shang flew above, the sweat from his brow rolling back into his hairline, his hair was pulled into a small ponytail, the purple streak in his hair flowing into a mess with his light-brown locks. "Kai… Where are you?" He whispered to himself, a knot forming in his throat. Why would he have just left without saying goodbye? I can't believe him… Shang shook his head, Ugh, whatever it's not likes he's my girlfriend or something… It's whatever. He reassured himself, the knot in his throat remained, causing his eyes to tear up. Pursing his lips and furrowing his brow, a tear fell from his one brown and green eye. He decided to land in order to pull himself together, it was hard to concentrate on airbending a glider while your emotions are spazzing out. A puff of dust from the path swirled around his feet as he landed with grace. He shoved his glider between his school bag and his bag, keeping it out of the way for now. As he began his journey on foot, something caught his eye that seemed extremely abnormal, a perfect sphere of rock in front of a crevice that, with further inspection, seemed to go down forever. Shang stood in front of the weird rock and raised his eyebrows, pulling his staff out, smacking the rock. It made a hollow thunk followed by some shuffling then frantic knocking. "Wh-What the hell?!" Shang screamed in horror, stumbling back a bit.
"Help! Help us!" Two separate voices screamed from inside.
Shang's eyes widened, "Oh.. Okay! Hold on! I'll get you out!" Judging by the size of the sphere, the two men must have been squeezed inside somehow. Shang thought, rubbing his chin. "Hmmm… Okay, here goes nothin'!" He exclaimed, stepping back. He reeled back his staff swinging it around like a bat, when it hit the sphere shock waves went up Shang's arms making his bones tingle. "Heheheh." He giggled at the sensation, "Okay, uhhh… I could try and air-slice it. I've only done that to my sandwiches though, so I dunno about rock."
"Hey! Are you still there?! Hurry up!" A voice called, making Shang snap out of it.
"Right! Take two; AIRBENDING SLICE!" He formed his hands into tight fists around his staff and sent a strong blade of wind into the rock, creating a large gash in the side, "WOOOOO!" He cheered, running up to the rock and kicking it with both of his feet, his feet breaking through with ease, kicking one of the men in the face. The man groaned before pushing Shang off of him and onto the ground.
Both of the men were dark gray with soot, they crawled out, coughing and wheezing, "Thanks, kid." The older one said. He stood and pulled up his comrade, "We were trapped in there by this crazy gold-haired chick, I've never seen anybody with that color of hair, she was one loony girl."
Shang's eyes widened, "Ohhhhh shoot!" He screamed in their faces, a huge smile on his face, "Was there a guy with her, really skinny, kinda sad looking with shaggy hair to like here… Or about here.. Maybe here.. I dunno, but kinda like that, ya' feel?"
The men looked at each other and shrugged, the younger one replying, "Yeah I guess."
"Sweet! Where'd they go?" Shang asked, his wide, white-toothed grin making his eyes crinkle.
The men looked at each other again, the older one replying, "Down the path this way, watch yourself, kid." The man said, they began to walk the opposite way, Shang taking his path towards his friend. "Hold on, hold on!" The man said, catching back up to Shang, "You forgot this!" The man handed him his glider, grabbing his wrist and setting it in his hand, "It seems important." He said, winking and running back off to his partner.
Shang smiled kindly and waved, "Yes it is! Thank you!" He ran off down the path around a bend, straining his eyes to see as far ahead as possible, he sped over a hill skidding to a stop to look out ahead of him, the path winding through an open valley. Two small specks in the distance walked the path with a creature, making Shang's heart jump, "Kai." He said to himself, unable to hold back his pure euphoria, "Kai!" He called out, laughter shaking his voice. He opened his glider and soared over the field, grass whizzing by beneath him. Kai's skinny figure became more and more defined as he approached, "Kai!" Shang called again, landing behind him and sprinting at full speed towards him, "Hey! Heyyyyy!" He waved his hand frantically.
Kai turned around to see what the ruckus was, but he could already tell by the raspy voice. "Shang…" He whispered, his eyes wide with shock and his cheeks pink with blush as he felt Ulka's searing stare on him. "You found me- UGH!" He felt the wind knocked out of him and Shang's tight embrace sent him straight onto his back. "Shang, c'mon, get up." He squeaked.
Shang held onto him tightly and sat up, straddling the teen's skinny stomach, "You left me and didn't say goodbye!" He accused, shoving his finger into Kai's face, which was now beet red.
"I-I'm sorry." He said softly, looking away shyly, he didn't like human contact, whereas his best friend always insisted on hugging and playing around, the two were truly opposites, like air and earth.
"Hmph… Apology accepted I guess," Shang said and he stood up, brushing himself off. He grabbed Kai by the hand and pulled him to his feet with ease, Shang was a year older than Kai and considerably taller and stronger than him, standing at 5'8 where Kai only stood at 5'4. Shang was very lean and fit, making him light yet able. Kai, on the other hand, was skinny and weak, not much muscle mass to show for, which always made him self-conscious around Shang, who the girls always seemed to like more.
Ulka stood with her arms crossed and her eyes burning with anger, "Who are you?" She asked, looking him up and down, her arms were thin and muscular like the rest of her tanned body.
Shang smiled and held out his hand, "I'm Shang, Kai's best friend… Or so I thought." He said, staring at Kai seriously until Kai shifted with discomfort. "Haha! Just kidding, I am, in fact, his best friend."
Ulka stared, unamused, "I'm Ulka, the Sun." She clasped her boiling hot hand into Shang's, making him yelp and pull back, roughly shaking it out, "Nice to meet you, Shang," She stepped forward and rolled up her sleeves, "But you have to leave, we are on a very important mission that is important for the future of this universe."
Shang shrugged, "Cool! I'll help!"
Ulka's eyes widened at the word 'help', "No, actually, you won't, I'm all the help he needs, you will only be a hindrance, a weakling like you can do nothing but hold us back." She spat.
Shang's eyebrow twitched, "Yo, what's your issue?" He asked, stepping forwards as well.
Kai twiddled his thumbs nervously and picked at his thumbnail, "W-Wait! Ulka, can I talk to you for a second? Please?" He said, pulling her off to the side as Shang stayed back with Mooshi who stood defensively between him and Ulka. "Ulka, please let him come with us, he knows how to fight and he can help me emotionally-."
Ulka scoffed, "Help you emotionally?"
"Y-Yes! I have nervous issues and he helps me… Plus he's an airbender, a strong one at that. He has skills and can help. I promise, he won't be a hindrance, if anything he'll add to our group, please, Ulka." He said, his voice shaking and his breath quickening. "I-I won't go without him!"
Ulka rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Whatever, as long as he's a good bender that's all that matters to me." She turned and walked up to Shang, a grin on her face, "Welcome to Team Avatar, Shang!" She said patting his back, sending him stumbling, "Hopefully you don't screw this up for us!"
Shang laughed and tousled Ulka's hair causing her blonde curls to ruffle up, "Sure thing!" He exclaimed, giggling.
Ulka stared at him with disbelief as she fixed her hair, her face morphing into what seemed like one of slight amusement, she let out a huff of laughter and began to walk, "Maybe he won't be so bad after all." She said, winking at Kai, beginning to walk ahead as the sun set over the valley. The three settled down on the edge of the woods, sleeping beneath the canopy of a large oak tree.
Once Ulka was fast asleep, Kai began to explain everything to Shang from Riishi actually being Raava to his father being an asshole, which coincidentally, both of them already knew. "So that little dog you've had forever is the spirit of all that's good? Holy shit, dude." Shang sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Where is she anyways?"
Kai opened his bag and peeked inside, "In here, she's been very calm ever since we went to the spirit wilds and found Rohan, Liuka, and Ulka." He felt his chin begin to quiver, "I have a lot of responsibility now." He whispered, looking affectionately at his dog.
Shang wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder, "Listen, you've been through so much. You beat anxiety, you beat the orphanage, you overcame your crazy parents! This? Ugh, this is nothing, man. Everything is going to be in your favor from now on, it won't be easy, but people will finally respect you for how strong you are. Now, I've always known you're strong, you're the strongest guy I know!" He exclaimed, sliding his arm off of Kai's shoulder, "You're going to be the greatest Avatar yet, Kai, I can just tell." He said softly, "Now, go to sleep, Avatar Kai! I need my beauty rest." He said as he sprawled out beneath the tree, closing his eyes.
Kai laid out as well, holding his small dog against his chest, feeling her gentle breathing going along with his. He took in a deep breath, "I'm going to be okay."