Chapter 7

Aang immediately tried to deflect the icicles with air but other Waterbenders flung up blocks of ice to block the gusts.

"Use your waterbending!" Gyatso called out.

Aang pulled the snow up in front of him. The icicles passed through but the snow had slowed them down enough that Aang hardly felt them. He wasted no time in retaliating by punching out his fist several times, hard blocks of snow flew at the Chief, who managed to deflect a few but one caught him in the stomach, knocking him down. Aang advanced upon the man and used the snow to stand him up, but he wasn't done as he surrounded the Chief in snow and made a face. The rest of the Tribe hollered with laughter at the sight before them. The snow exploded off the Chief as the man looked humiliated but also humbled.

"Impressive Avatar, there is a bit of Roku in you indeed. He was always a practical joker in his day. I wonder where he learned it from…" The Chief glared jokily in Gyatso's direction, who returned a big grin. Aang was utterly confused and yet felt like he knew what the Chief meant.

Following his test, Aang was shown all around the city. Everything was formed out of the ice and it was amazing. But nothing was quite as impressive as the Royal Palace. It was huge and the design was superb.

"Wow..."

"Admire all you like Avatar. One of your past lives helped build our Palace. It has stood for hundreds of years. It did not even shed a drop during the heat wave we experienced many years ago. Most of our buildings were melting but the Palace stood strong. It became the home for our whole Tribe; once the heat wave ended we rebuilt the city to be better than ever. Legend has it the Avatar built the Palace from the waters out of the Spirit Oasis."

"May I see the Spirit Oasis?"

"But of course. All Avatars visit it sooner or later, some many times. But be warned…while an extremely peaceful place. Do not be caught there in the full moon. Avatar Kuruk lost his bride while wedding her at that very place and time."

"What happened?"

"No mortal really knows, except Kuruk became drunk with anger for a short while. He was quite the laid back person until that event. He spent the rest of his days meditating in the Oasis, many say he spent more time in the Spirit World than the Real World. Then, one day, someone went to get him and he had passed on, still in a meditating stance."

"I never knew that about him."

"Many do not; he did not accomplish much unlike some Avatars. He lived a great era of peace. Now why don't you go visit the Oasis and do not fear the full moon just passed so you have nothing to fear."

Aang nodded and traveled up a small set of stairs that went much beyond the Tribe. The Palace obscured everything from view once Aang reached the top. The entrance was welcoming and the symbol of Ying and Yang stood over the opening. When Aang entered he was shocked that it was as warm as a summer's day. Lush, green grass was neatly trimmed around a medium sized pond. Two koi fish circled each other endlessly, one white and one black. Aang sat at the pond's edge to watch them. They were so graceful, neither missing a beat. It hit Aang that these two were life partners.

But…something was different about these two…

The longer Aang stared at them the more fixated he became…

Tui…

La…

Moon…

Ocean…

The tattoos encircling the young Avatars body suddenly lit up, illuminating the entire Spiritual Oasis.

When Aang opened his eyes he was no longer in the Oasis. He instead was in some murky looking swamp, everything an odd brown color. He rubbed his eyes but the brownish haze was still there.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing for what seemed like miles.

Aang walked around for a short while, trying to figure out where he was. When he looked down he nearly jumped out of his skin. Looking back at him from the murky water was Avatar Roku.

"Yikes! I must be dreaming!"

"No Aang. This is no dream."

Roku rose up out of the water and guided Aang to the nearby shore. A strange looking monkey of some sort was muttering to itself not too far away.

"What brings to you here Aang?"

"I was at the Northern Tribe. They had me visit the Spirit Oasis and I saw these two fish…the next thing I remember is this place."

"Tui and La," Roku said.

"Who?"

"The Ocean and Moon Spirits. They must have transported you here for a reason."

"There are Spirits in our world?"

Roku nodded, "They have their reasons."

"Why did they bring me here? Is something wrong?"

"Hmm. I believe I know why you are here. I have been monitoring the Fire Nation as of late. Fire Lord Sozin has been mass producing new war machines he calls tanks. They are capable of scaling mountainsides and pack quite a punch. The amount of troops he has enlisted has surprised me, even more so that most of them willingly joined."

Aang was horrified, "Do they know where the Temples are?"

"I'm afraid so. It is only a matter of time. I have talked with the other Avatars and we believe it is in your best interest to get a little help Mastering the Elements."

"What? How?"

"Well the Comet is going to arrive much sooner than we thought. At the rate things are going you would only be a novice Earthbender. And learning Firebending is going to be exceptionally difficult at this stage. We cannot help you learn them all at once but we can give you the knowledge to become a Master Waterbender."

Aang stared long and hard at Roku.

"I want to you to find the Order of the White Lotus Aang. There will be Firebenders who can help or so I hope."

"Roku?"

"Yes Aang?"

"I can't accept the knowledge to accelerate my training."

It was Roku's turn to be horrified.

"But why not Aang? The Balance of the World needs you!"

"Exactly…every Avatar has worked hard to Master the Elements. Most of you got a lifetime to Master them. I only have a couple of months at this time but I WILL Master them. We have Mastered the Elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes. I may have no time at all but I will not…cheat! Sozin is using the Comet to become more powerful and what you all want me to do is no different!"

Roku stared at Aang and smiled.

"Very well Aang. But we do need to work on the Avatar State. It will become very useful when you enevitably confront the Fire Nation head on. Return to the Real World for now but return to the Spirit Oasis every night at midnight when the moon is highest and I will train you."

Aang bowed to Roku in response. It was very exciting that his past life was going to train him. He was nervous about the Avatar State as both times he had entered it left him drained of energy. Roku lead Aang back into the murky water.

"Remember Aang, midnight. No full moons."

And with that Roku touched the tip of his forehead arrow. A bright flash of light left Aang blinking in the dim light of the Spirit Oasis. He stood and made directly for Gyatso, he would never believe this