Book One: The Avatar's Guardian (Water)
Chapter Six: Hei Bai
Xena perched like a strange wingless bird atop a large boulder overlooking their campsite. She had woken early after a restless night and had taken up her position so that she could watch the others as they slept. And as she watched, she thought.
Here they were, four children, an air bison, and a lemur on a journey to save the world. Xena had years of training under her belt and Aang had completely mastered airbending, but the two Water Tribe siblings were a self-taught warrior and waterbender and so far had only survived because of luck.
Sokka was impatient and reckless. He had numerous holes in his defense and his attacks were almost always easy to read. However, his will was strong and he bore a determination that allowed him to pick himself up and keep going after consecutive failures. He was rather creative and resourceful, and Xena was sure that he could become quite the warrior with some training.
As for Katara. The waterbender had much the same strength of will and determination as her brother. She strove to learn waterbending in a way that even managed to impress Xena. She might not have been able to learn any techniques while she was growing up, but she had obviously spent a long time trying to learn how to keep steady control of water and how to quickly change it from water to ice and back again. According to the story of how the two of them found Aang and Xena, Katara was also quite powerful though that power tended to show up more when she was angry. She also had absolutely no knowledge about healing with water it seemed and she lacked physical stamina.
There was one other thing that Xena had noticed about both siblings and that was the fact that they relied too much on their weapons and waterbending.
She stood and jumped down from the boulder. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the coming dawn and she had no regrets when she gently kicked Sokka awake before shaking Katara awake.
"Ow! Xena, what the hell was that for!?" Sokka complained loudly as he glared at her from his sleeping bag.
"Time to get up," She responded as Katara sat up sleepily.
"The sun's not even up yet."
"Up," Xena ordered, sliding her swords on. "Now."
The older boy started to refuse but thought better of it when she narrowed her eyes at him. With much irritable grumbling, he crawled out of his smelly sleeping bag and pulled on his boots.
"Aren't you going to wake Aang?" Katara asked curiously, voice still raspy from sleep.
"No," She answered and then stopped Sokka in the process of putting his club on his back. "No weapons. Katara, I'd like you to leave your water pouch behind as well."
"What? Why not?"
"You aren't going to need them for what we're about to do."
The two siblings exchanged confused glances, realizing that Xena hadn't woken them simply to get an early start on the day. Katara was the first one to stand and approach her.
"Xena, is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine," She answered and then glanced both of them over. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what," Sokka demanded exasperatedly.
"Good, then follow me." She had barely finished speaking before she turned on her heels and strode off into the forest. "And try to keep up."
Irritated, but curious they followed her into the forest. Once Xena was sure that they were following her, she sped up into a jog.
"Wait up, Xena," One of the siblings called after her but she paid them no mind as she steadily increased her pace.
She led them in a wide circle around the camp, avoiding most of the tougher terrain. When the siblings began to flag behind, she gradually decreased her speed until coming to a complete stop. Katara and Sokka staggered to a stop a few feet behind her, both sweating and out of breath - Katara more so than her brother.
"Wha-what's your . . . problem?" Sokka demanded as he put a hand on his sister's shoulder in concern.
"You're slow," Xena answered as she crossed her arms. "And Katara lacks stamina. We'll be running like this every morning from now on until I'm satisfied."
"You're not serious," Sokka gaped at her.
"I am," She replied. "Be grateful, I don't usually offer to train people."
"Train us in what?"
"Waterbending?" Katara asked hopefully, starting to recover her breath.
The older girl shook her head. "Hand-to-hand combat. I've noticed that the two of you have a bad habit of relying solely on just your weapons and bending. Should you lose the ability to use either of those - a likelihood with how inexperienced you are - then you should be able to at least have another way to fight."
"How can someone lose the ability to waterbend?" Sokka asked curiously. "There's not an ability that can do that, is there?"
"There is actually a technique that can be used to temporarily stop a person's ability to bend. However, only a handful of people - myself included - know this technique so it is far more likely that Katara will run into a situation where there is no water around for her to bend."
"I suppose that makes sense," Katara said unsurely.
"So then why hand-to-hand combat and not a weapon?"
"Weapons can be taken, but as long as you're still in possession of your limbs you are never unarmed." She suddenly jabbed the air to demonstrate her point, startling Sokka when her closed fist stopped a few inches from his face. "You two have similar builds to me, so it should be fairly easy for me to adapt my fighting styles to fit you."
Xena tilted her head to the side suddenly. "Aang's awake."
"How do you know?" Sokka asked as he and Katara began to follow the oldest girl back to the game. Xena turned her head back to look at him, eyes flashing silver in response. "Oh, right."
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"Everything hurts," Sokka complained two days later, arms draped limply over the rim of Appa's saddle and head hanging. "Why do you have to punch so hard?"
Xena's answer was stated matter-of-factly as she petted a sleeping Momo. "If you don't like being hit, then don't let me hit you."
She had started training him that morning while Katara completed the morning run alone as he already possessed the stamina and speed that his sister lacked.
"That sounds like something that Temari would say," Aang remarked and Xena nodded her head.
"That's because it is. It's how she motivated me to get better."
Xena had not approved of the training style Temari employed at first as it felt so similar to how her father had trained her. It was only after the two girls had a serious heart to heart that Xena was able to tell the difference between her father's abuse and Temari's valuable lesson. She carried those differences over into her own lessons with Sokka, never striking the boy harder than he could handle and most certainly never hitting him when he was down. The pain of her hits would help teach the boy not only how to keep his guard up, but also teach him that the best offense was a good defense.
There was a moment of silence following her statement before Katara broke it with a change of subject.
"Have you ever wondered what clouds are made?" She asked curiously as she lay with her arms folded over the rim of the saddle. "They look so soft like you could jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap."
"Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka joked.
"You're hilarious," Katara replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"I'll try it," Aang said excitedly, grabbing his glider before diving off Appa.
Xena stretched out her legs, unconcerned by the monk's reckless behavior as she spoke. "Clouds are actually made of condensed water vapor. If you get close enough to one you could actually bend them, Katara."
Aang landed in the saddle, clothes damp from his fall through the clouds. He airbent himself dry as Katara turned her head to look at Xena curiously.
"Are you speaking from experience?"
"Of course not. It's just some knowledge that I picked up at the Air Temple when I sat in on one of the airbenders lessons. If I remember correctly, you fell asleep that day, Aang."
The young boy shrugged and rubbed at his nose. "I couldn't help it. Those lessons were so boring."
"It's a miracle you even earned your tattoos," Xena replied deadpan.
Sokka suddenly decided to join the conversation. "I'd been meaning to ask about that. How did you become a master airbender at such a young age?"
Aang perched on the edge of the saddle as he answered. "Well, I picked up the airbending techniques so fast, that all the lessons became boring for me. So I used to sneak away from them to play with the lemurs."
"You mean to catch the lemurs," Xena corrected, holding up Momo as an example. "Of course, the lemurs were too fast for you."
"Which is why I ended up making my own airbending technique called the air scooter and the monks were so amazed by my awesomeness that they decided I had earned my tattoos then and there."
Xena snorted and smiled affectionately at the airbender. "Actually, he had to petition the council over five times before they would officially recognize the move as a new technique. In the end, they only accepted it because Monk Gyatso helped Aang by giving his technique an actual use outside of catching lemurs."
Aang chuckled sheepishly and opened his mouth to respond only to be cut off by Katara as she looked over the edge of the saddle.
"What is that?"
They all moved to look down at the ground and Xena's jaw clenched. Below them where there should have been bright green foliage of trees all there was, was a swath of burned and scorched ground.
"It's like a scar," Sokka muttered beside her.
Aang tugged on Appa's reins, guiding the sky bison to the ground. Ash puffed up beneath his large feet and stained his white fur almost immediately. They dropped down from Appa's back - Sokka's descent a little slow - and wandered a short distance away as they looked around.
"Listen. . . There's no life anywhere," Katara said quietly.
"Aang, are you okay," Xena asked her charge. She already knew through their bond that he wasn't, but felt the need to ask anyways.
"No."
"Fire Nation!" Sokka's shout nearly drowned out the younger boy's quiet response. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"
Katara shushed her brother and Xena shot him a glare as Aang visibly wilted. He sank down to sit down on the ash covered ground and Xena crouched down beside him to place a hand on his shoulder.
"Why would anyone do this?" Before they could answer his first question, he asked, "How could I have let this happen?"
"Aang, you had nothing to do with this. It has nothing to do with you," Katara insisted in hopes of comforting the distraught boy.
"She's right, Aang. We didn't burn down the forest. The Fire Nation did," Xena backed her up, squeezing his shoulder.
"Yes, it is," He insisted. "The Avatar's job is to protect nature, but I don't even know how to do my job."
"Aang, you didn't know that they were going to burn this forest down. No one expects you to be able to stop something that you didn't even know about."
"And as for not knowing how to do your job, that's why we're going to the North Pole, isn't it? So you can find a teacher and learn."
"They can teach me about waterbending, but there's no one around to teach me how to be the Avatar!" The boy protested.
Xena waved Katara off before she could respond, knowing that Aang just needed a few minutes. The other girl nodded in understanding before wandering away, leaving the two time-misplaced teens to themselves. The pacifist monk and warrior sat in near silence for several minutes, plagued by guilt and concern respectively.
"Hey?" Katara said behind them, coming back. "Ready to be cheered up yet."
"No," Aang replied dejectedly without turning to look at her only to jump when Xena let out a startled sound and an acorn landed in his lap.
"What the heck, Katara?" Xena demanded of the girl who had hit her in the shoulder with that acorn.
"Sorry, I was trying to hit Aang, not you."
"How is that supposed to cheer him up?"
"Because these acorns are everywhere," She answered and walked over to them as she looked at Aang. "That means the forest will grow back. It might take awhile, but every one of these will be a strong oak some day, and all the animals that lived here will come back."
Aang picked up the acorn in his lap and stared at it for a few minutes before closing his hand around it. "Thanks, Katara."
Xena dipped her head to Katara in thanks before standing up and brushing ash from her clothes. She offered a hand to pull Aang to his feet only to freeze and spin on her heel, drawing Smoke with a rasp of steel.
"Someone's coming."
Neither questioned her despite the obvious curiosity in Katara's eyes. Sensing Aang through her bond as his Guardian was one thing, but that did not explain how Xena could sense someone else. Sokka quickly moved to their side when he saw Xena's drawn weapon.
A tall slightly hunched figure stepped out of the tree line at the edge of the burnt patch of land and paused for a moment when he saw them before he began shuffling slowly through the ash towards him.
"Halt!" Xena demanded when the man was only a few feet away. "Who are you?"
The old man paused and looked straight at Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings . . . Are you the Avatar, child?"
Xena narrowed her gaze suspiciously as Aang glanced towards her and the siblings before nodding his head.
"My village desperately needs your help."
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As soon as Xena sees the state of the village, her first thought is to check for any scorch marks. Seeing none, she walks over to one of the ruined buildings and frowns.
"What happened here?" Katara asked as the old men went to retrieve the other villagers.
"It's the Fire Nation obviously," Sokka said with a scowl.
"No," Xena corrected. "Nothing here is burnt, but there is something strange about this destruction. This house has obviously been crushed as if by a catapult, but there's nothing in the rubble that's even remotely large enough to be used as a projectile. And there's that building over there." She gestured to a building that had a large hole punched through it. "Look at how perfectly circular that hole is. Nothing in the natural world could do something like that."
"You are quite right," The old man said, returning to them with a mass of skittish looking villagers behind him. "This was done by a spirit."
"For the past few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village," Another villager added.
"He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit of the forest."
"Why is is attacking you?" Sokka asked before Xena could.
"We do not know," He answers and then looks up at the sun as if checking the time. "But each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."
"What happens then?" Katara asked curiously.
"The veil between our world and the spirit world thins, allowing spirits to cross over into our world easier and allowing humans to occasionally wander into the spirit world," Xena answered.
"Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen."
"And I'm guessing you want Aang to speak with the spirit since as the Avatar, he is the bridge between their world and ours?"
"That's right."
Aang who had been unusually quiet shifted nervously behind Xena. The Guardian bowed her head politely to the villagers. "Please excuse us for a minute."
Sokka and Katara followed Xena and Aang a few steps away from the villagers where the huddled together to discuss the situation.
"So what do we do?" Sokka asked.
"These villagers obviously need our help, we should do what we can to help," Katara replied determinedly.
Xena set a comforting hand on Aang's shoulders. "They don't need our help. They need Aang's help. Which means it's up to him if we help or not."
"I-" Aang's voice cracked. "I want to help, but . . . I don't know anything about the spirit world besides what I learned from the monks through stories and legends."
"It's okay, Aang," Xena soothed the anxious boy. "We don't expect you to know everything."
"There's no one around to teach me this stuff! How am I supposed to be the Avatar if I don't know what I'm doing? What if I mess up?"
"Everyone makes mistakes and I'm sorry to say, Aang, but you're going to make a lot of mistakes especially as the Avatar. As long as you learn from those mistakes, everything will be alright, okay?" He nodded. "Now. Do you want to try and help these people?"
"Yes," He said, face setting into a determined expression.
"I think you can do it, Aang," Katara says with a smile.
"Yeah… We're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster," Sokka practically cheered.
Aang hunched his shoulders and Xena shot the older boy a withering glare using their close proximity to elbow him in the ribs.
"Ow! Are you trying to give my bruises, bruises?"
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Xena stood by the window as she watched Aang walk out of the town hall by himself. Aang had asked her to stay back and make sure everyone else was safe despite her misgivings.
"It's not like you'd stand a chance against a spirit anyways," Sokka said from beside her, provoking an irritated huff and grumble from Xena.
"I bet I could take it."
She hadn't thought anyone had heard, but the quiet, amused snort from Katara told her otherwise.
"Hello? Spirit? Can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking. I'm here to try and help stuff!" Aang called out into the silence of the town.
"I don't like this."
"I'm sure he'll be fine. You're worse than my brother," Katara complained weakly without taking her gaze of Aang.
"Well, Spirit. . . I uh . . . I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!" Aang said unsurely and then added to the end, " Thank you."
"This is our Avatar," One of the villagers said behind her.
Xena straightened. "He's only twelve, cut him so slack. Besides, I don't see any of you out there trying to talk to a spirit."
No one said anything else and the ensuing silence was broken by an almighty crash from outside. Xena's clasped the hilts of her swords in a white-knuckled grip. She jumped as something suddenly latched onto her arm. A sideways glance showed that it was Katara.
"He'll be fine," She repeated what Katara had told her as there was another crash followed by a high pitch sound and a brilliant flash of white light.
"Just fine," She says again as she listens intently to the sounds of destruction and Aang's shouts.
"I'm going to go help him," Sokka suddenly declared and rushed towards the door.
"Wait," She shouted and lunged forward in an attempt to grab him before he was out of reach.
Katara's grip on her arm slowed her and the tip of her fingers just barely brushed the back of his shirt before he was out the door.
"Damn it! Katara, let go."
She rushes to the door and stops short seeing the black and white spirit taking off with a screaming Sokka in his grasp and Aang in pursuit on his glider.
"Sokka!"
"Katara, no," The older girl caught the waterbender around the waist and pulled her back before she could go chasing after them. She quickly spun them around and pushed Katara back towards the villagers. "Katara. Katara, listen to me! I need you to stay here with the villagers. I'll go after them, but I need you to promise me that you'll stay here and make sure everyone stays in this building until the sun rises."
The girl doesn't respond until Xena gives her a gentle shake. "I promise."
With that confirmation, Xena doesn't waste any time. Her feet practically fly across the ground as she dashes into the darkened forest. Sensing the heat around her helps give her a better sense of what's around her to avoid running into anything that would slow her down. Her eyes gleam silver, slightly luminous as the energy of the Avatar helps to give her a boost. Suddenly the energy flow flickers and she staggers, foot catching on the root of a tree and bringing her down in a tumble that ends with the impact of her ribs against a sturdy tree.
She picked herself up and continued on her way until she came across a small forest clearing with a tall statue of a giant bear. Aang lies at its paws unconscious with his glider still in hand. Slowly the warrior sinks to her knees beside him and rests her hand against his still chest to confirm what their bond already tells her. His heart beats slowly beneath her palm.
Aang was in the Spirit World.
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The sun had already risen by the time Xena returned to the village with a limp Aang cradled in her arms. Katara was standing next to Appa at the gate and looked up eagerly when she noticed the other girl. Her blue eyes widened in horror when she saw the unconscious monk and she quickly rushed over.
"He's not…" She couldn't even bring herself to finish the sentence.
"He's not dead, his spirit is just in the Spirit World."
"Oh, thank the spirits."
"I'd rather not, seeing as they're the reason we're in this mess in the first place."
"Was that a joke?"
"It was a statement, but I suppose you can take it as a joke if you want."
Villagers paused in their task of sifting through the rubble of last night's destroyed building to stare in shock and horror at the Guardian as she walked through the village. Seeing their concern, she paused.
"Fear not. The Avatar is still doing his duty to bring back home those who were taken from you. He has entered the Spirit World in pursuit of the spirit Hei Bai and rest assured that when his spirit returns, so too shall your people."
It was enough to put them at ease and Xena marched again towards the Town Hall with Katara in tow. The waterbender quickly opened the doors for Xena before rushing back outside to retrieve a bedroll from Appa's saddle. Once he was settled, his Guardian took up a vigilant pose at his side, to watch over him while he traveled through the Spirit World.
"What now?" Katara asked.
"Now we wait," the older girl answered and then winced as she shifted her weight.
"Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine."
"I didn't ask how you'd be in the future, Xena. I asked if you were alright now." Xena blinked dumbly. "Don't give me that look. There's a difference between 'I'm fine' and "I'll be fine' and I've already figured out that you take full advantage of that distinction, so you don't have to lie."
Xena blinked again and then sighed. "How is it that people figure me out so quickly?"
"Mysterious doesn't suit you. Now answer my question."
A small smile. "Took a bit of a tumble when I was chasing after them. Bruised my ribs and knees pretty good, but it's nothing I can't live with."
"I could probably find some ointment if you want."
"What I want is for you to get some rest. You've been up a full twenty-four hours. You need to sleep."
"What about you? You've been awake for the same amount of time as I have."
Xena shook her head. "I don't need a lot of sleep to function properly and I need to keep an eye on Aang."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure. Get some sleep."
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"Xena, I lost him."
The guardian blinked tiredly at the blanket covered monk lying fast asleep beside for a moment. Another blink and she turned her head to the right. Her violent flinch and startled yelp brought an equally startled scream from the blue semi-transport figure of Aang. Katara groaned in her sleep but didn't wake up.
"By the spirits, Aang. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry."
"It's fine." Xena tilted her head. " Wait, what are you doing back?"
"I- I lost them. I was chasing them and then suddenly Hei Bai went back to the Spirit World. I looked around the forest for a few minutes just in case, but they're both gone."
"You mean to tell me that the entire time that I thought you were in the Spirit World, you were just in the forest." She narrowed her eyes in dawning realization. "Aang, are you even aware that you're a spirit right now?"
The spirit of Aang tilted his head. "What are you talking about? I'm not a spirit."
Xena groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose with a tired sigh before she waved her other hand right through the boy's legs.
"Woah! That felt weird." A pause. "I'm in the Spirit World!"
"Not quite. You've managed to leave your body," here she gestured to said body, "but you haven't actually entered the Spirit World yet."
The boy examined his hands for a moment. "I guess that explains why none of the villagers even looked at me when I came back. What am I supposed to do now?"
"I'd suggest figuring out how to get into the Spirit World so you can find Sokka."
"How do I do that?"
"I don't know."
Aang slumped to the ground beside Xena with a sigh. "I wish I could talk to Avatar Roku."
No sooner had he said that then the nearby window lit up with a bright blue light. Both Xena and spirit Aang jumped to their feet, the later brandishing his glider.
An orb of light flew through the window and took the form. Against all conceivable logic, a spirit of a large dragon curled the entirety of its body against the walls of the small room so that its head hung over the two. Aang let out a strangled cry of fear and swung his staff down to airbend. Xena reached out as if to stop its descent, but it passed straight through her hand without creating even a slight breeze.
"I can't bend."
"You don't need to," Xena answered and held out her hand to hover an inch away from the dragon's snout. "You wanted to talk to Avatar Roku. Well, this would be his dragon, Fang. It's been awhile since I've last seen him."
"Wait, you know Roku's dragon."
"Mhmm. The last time I saw him in a physical body was when I was three I think, but after he died, he used to show up in spirit form from time to time when I was still living in the North."
The dragon snorted softly and Xena's palm tingled. She dropped it back to her side and looked into the dragon's large gentle eyes. "Our friend is missing, Fang. Is there some way that Aang can talk to Roku for advice on how to find him."
The dragon blinked and then lowered its head down beside the two.
"What is he doing?" Aang asked, shuffling closer to his guardian.
"My guess, offering to take you to Roku and if we have any hope of Sokka coming back to us, then you need to accept that offer."
Aang gulped, but nodded his head and stepped forward to mount right behind the dragon's head. "I guess I'll be back later then."
"Go. I'll watch over your body and Katara until you return."
The dragon whipped its body around to go back through the window it had appeared from and Xena couldn't help shuddering as Fang's spirit briefly passed through her.
"Xena, who are you talking to?" Katara mumbled sleepily, barely awake.
"No one. Go back to sleep."
Katara mutters an agreement and rolls back over, dragging her blanket over her head. Before she can drift back to sleep through, the village elder suddenly runs into the room with an alarmed shout.
"The Fire Nation is on their way here."
Katara jolted into a sitting position as Xena let out a tired sigh. The two girls exchanged a glance and the elder of the two straightened her back and tugged at the straps where they crossed each other.
"Here we go again," She declared and then turned to the elder. "Tell everyone to drop whatever they're doing and come here."
"What's the plan?" Katara asked as the man hurried to do as she ordered.
"The plan is to keep Aang and the villagers safe."
"That's not much of a plan."
Xena shrugged. "I'll figure it out as I go."
She stooped to pick Aang up and with Katara in tow, headed farther into the building to a smaller room. She set the monk down in the corner of the room before directing the rest of the villagers to enter as well. It was a bit packed and more than a few complained about it, but Xena silenced them with a sharp look.
"If we left, we might be able to convince the soldiers to follow us away from the village," Katara suggested quietly.
"That's true, but we can't move Aang from the village until his spirit is back. Not only that but there's no guarantee that the soldiers are even here for us. We could leave, but that would leave all these people defenseless."
Katara glanced at the villagers and kept her voice low. "We can't protect these people by ourselves."
"I can-"
"No, not even you could fight all those soldiers off. You're skilled Xena, but you can't be everywhere at once."
She grit her teeth clenched her hands into fists. Katara was right as skilled as Xena was there was no way she could protect all these people if it came to a fight, even with Katara's help. She could try to convince the villagers to leave, but seeing as they refused to leave when a spirit monster was attacking their village it wasn't likely they'd leave for the Fire Nation. The only feasible option remaining was to try and lead the soldiers away by leaving. Xena looked over at her young charge with a frown. Her eyes flashed and she nodded to herself before turning back to Katara.
"You're right. I can't be everywhere at once, but maybe I just have to be in the right place."
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Amber eyes narrowed as the Avatar's bison flew overhead. Pulling on the reins of his komodo rhino, the Fire Nation Prince redirected his men to follow after the beast. There was a rather painful moment as his men tried to turn their mounts around through the closely packed trees, but as soon as they had they were off.
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Appa circled in the air for a moment before landing in the ash at the farthest edge of the burnt section of the forest with a thump. His passenger shifted atop his head before surveying the opposite treeline diligently. The bison found this slow flight to be a bit dull and meaningless without his young furless human and he didn't like the way the ash stuck to his fur and in between his toes.
After a few minutes when nothing happened, he sat and then slapped his tail on the ground in annoyance at the feel of the ash, raising a cloud of it thoughtlessly. The female human who had shifted to keep her balance when he sat began to sneeze and cough with an irritated call of his name. Appa's own nose began to tickle from the ash in the air and he sneezed hard, raising more ash and the harsh snap of his head knocking the human off balance. She caught one of his horns before she fell and covered her nose and mouth with her free clawless paw as she waited out the bison's sneezing. When the sneezing fit passed, the human moved back into a comfortable position atop Appa's head as he licked his nose.
"I think we're both going to need a bath after this," the human said and even though Appa couldn't understand the words he found the sound of her voice pleasant. It was higher pitched than his human's voice was, but not as higher pitched as the other female's was. There was also a slight rasp to it.
Appa had a fondness for this female human. She loved his human almost as much as he did and the bison knew that she would do whatever it took to keep him safe. For this very reason, she was also prone to injury. She wasn't as loud as his human or most other humans he met and she was a bit cold and prickly, but she was attentive and spoke to him quite frequently when it was just the two of them. If Appa did not already have a human, he would have been tempted to adopt this one. Perhaps he still could. The furless youth could be his primary human and this quiet female could be his secondary.
"Get ready, boy. Here they come."
As his secondary human, he'd have to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Especially, any trouble where that scarred spicy-smelling heat-wielder was involved.
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Xena slid off Appa's head and dusted the soot from her vest as the Fire Nation soldiers led by Prince Zuko appeared from the tree line. Here she could confront the soldiers without worrying about any civilians while Katara, Aang's body, and the villagers remained safe back in the village. She had chosen this spot in particular due to the flat terrain and as this end of the burnt forest was nearly two hours away from the village by foot.
"Where is the Avatar?!" The Prince demanded as soon as he was close enough, his soldiers spreading out in a half circle around Xena and Appa.
"Not here and if you think I'm going to tell you where he is you'd be sadly mistaken." She made no move to draw her swords and instead brushed her bangs aside to reveal the crescent moon on her brow before folding her arms across her chest.
"Where is he?"
Xena narrowed her eyes at him. "I just told you that I wasn't going to tell you."
"If you tell won't tell me, then we'll have to do this hard way."
"We could or…" She uncrossed her arms and held her hands to the side with her palms up. "We could play a game."
The soldiers all exchange glances as their prince blinks at the girl dumbfounded before repeating, "a game?"
"That's right, a game." She turned and paced in front of Appa, meeting the gaze of every single one of his soldiers as she did. "See I've beaten most of your soldiers before, most of them at the same time. Fighting them would be too easy. So I propose we play a game of twenty questions. Rules would be that neither of us can lie when answering and you can't ask me where my friends are."
Xena can see the unease in his eyes, but she can see the gears turning as he considers the information he could get from her while wondering what information he would have to part with. "What would you get out of this game?"
Xena smiled. Got him. "I've been trapped in an iceberg for the past century. I've missed quite a lot as you can imagine and lack information about the world I now live in. This game would fill in the blanks for me. That was your first question, by the way, so now it's my turn."
"I haven't even agreed to play yet."
"You agreed to play as soon as you asked your first question instead of ordering your men to attack. Now, my first question." She paused a moment as if to consider. "Why is the Prince of the Fire Nation sailing the waters of the Earth Kingdom in pursuit of the Avatar?"
The way his scowl deepens and his eyes darken inform Xena that her first question hit upon a touchy subject. "I was banished and the only way to return and regain my honor is by capturing the Avatar."
Banished? Why? Should that be my next question? No. He might end the game prematurely if I do. Xena dipped her head in acknowledgment of his answer while waiting for his return question.
He took a moment to think of his next question as well. "What's the Avatar's greatest weakness?"
"I'd have to say the fact that he cares too much about what other people think of him and that he doesn't take criticism well," Xena answered and tried not to smile as she saw the look of irritation pass across the prince's face. "I've already met your uncle, but who else is in your family?"
"My father Ozai and my younger sister Azula. What's the weakness of your other two traveling companions?"
"They're self-taught and lack skill. Where's your uncle?"
"He remained back with my ship. . ." There begins a volley of questions and answers back and forth. While Zuko asks questions about Xena and her friends to find out their weaknesses, she just mainly asks questions about the Fire Nation and how it had changed. When Zuko only has five more questions left and Xena has six, she suddenly changes topics.
"Is it worth it?"
"What?
"The war, is it really worth all this destruction?" She elaborated and spread her arms out wide to bring attention to their surroundings. "Where we're standing used to be full of life. It will grow back in time, but whatever trees will grow here again will never reach the same height as their predecessors in either of our lifetimes. But this is nothing in comparison to what has been done all around the world. Nothing in comparison to the lives lost. An entire nation has been wiped out because of this war."
She doesn't spare him a single second to come up with a response. "When we went back to the Southern Air Temple, I found the skeletons of children murdered in their own beds not even given the chance to even run. Some our age, but most even younger than Aang. I think the youngest was six. I had to bury him and all the other kids by myself because I didn't want Aang to have to see them like that. So tell me, Prince Zuko. . . is this worth it?"
There's a moment of complete silence after that. Xena doesn't move to wipe away the tears running down her face, wanting the prince and his men to see her grief. Most of these men were probably new recruit when the left the Fire Nation and serving under the prince had saved them from viewing the harsher side of the war. Xena refuses to let them hide behind the belief that this war is a just or honorable and she can see the way the waiver. Her truthfulness and her emotions have begun to sow the seeds of doubt in their minds.
"Allow me to answer questions you haven't asked," She finally said, drawing closer to Appa. "I am the Avatar's Guardian, but I am also a sixteen-year-old girl by the name of Xenia. The Avatar is twelve years old and his name is Aang. The two that travel with us are seventeen and fifteen. We're just kids. Try to keep that in mind the next time you hunt us."
She quickly jumped onto Appa's back and urged him skyward with a confident 'yip yip,' leaving the men below to consider everything that she just told them. Once Appa's set on a course back to the village, she wipes her tears away and takes deep breaths to calm herself. Her mission was successful and Aang was now back from the Spirit World. With sunset just an hour away, they would soon be able to get Sokka back and be on their way before the soldiers every made it to the village.
lxxxXXXxxxl
Xena stands slightly behind Aang as they face the forest waiting for the sun to fall completely behind the horizon. She can feel Katara's concerned gaze fixed on her back as well as the stares from the villagers hiding in the town hall behind them. Aang glances back at his stoic guardian for support and a building to their right abruptly exploded in a bright flash of light. Xena knocks aside a chunk of wood with her forearm while putting her body between Aang and the rest of the debris. The spirit stalks out of the forest angrily as the dust begins to settle. Aang runs towards it and despite knowing this is the plan, Xena's heart still skips a beat in concern. The boy uses an airbending enhanced jump to lightly touch Hei Bai on the forehead. The spirit's form flickers and takes on its true form of a panda for a moment before Aang lands back on his feet.
"You're the spirit of this forest, of all forest," Aang says in understanding." Now I understand. You're upset and angry because part of the forest was burned down. When I first saw it, I was sad and upset too, but my friend gave me hope that forest would grow back."
He held an acorn out to the spirit and didn't flinch as it slowly reached down to pluck it from his palm. Hei Bai turned to leave and its form shimmered and changed once more to that of a giant panda. As he walked through the city gate, bamboo shoots sprouted from the ground. A few seconds afterward, Sokka and the missing villagers walk out of the bamboo, pushing the stalks to the side. As far as Xena's concerned, the entire thing is a bit anticlimactic, but there's nothing wrong with that. A day without any fights is something she wishes they could have every day.
"Sokka!" Katara shouted her brother's name and ran to greet him with a hug as the villagers held their own reunion.
"What happened?" The oldest boy asked in confusion, looking towards Xena.
"You were trapped in the spirit world for twenty-four hours," She answered and set a hand on a smiling Aang's shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" Katara asked as she pulled back to hold him at arm's length.
"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom," He answers before running off.
It's only when he returns that the villagers gather in front of them, the elder acting as their spokesman as per usual. "Thank you, Avatar. If there only was a way to repay you for what you and your Guardian have done for us."
Xena blinked, somehow surprised that the villagers would include her in their thanks. Sure she'd let Zuko and his men away, but it wasn't really something she needed thanks for when it was the four teens fault they were in the forest in the first place.
"You could give us some supplies and some money," Sokka suggested, not unwilling to take advantage of the situation.
"Sokka!"
"What? We need stuff."
The elder smiled and bowed. "It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey."
As Sokka started to list off supplies Katara turned to Aang. "I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out how to stop Hei Bai all by yourself."
"Actually, I did have a little help," He said and glanced at Xena. "And there's something else I need to talk to you guys about?"
"What is it, Aang?" Xena asked, already sensing from the boy's emotions that she wasn't going to like it.
"I need to contact Roku and I think I've finally found a way I can contact his spirit."
"That's great!" Katara exclaimed before the boy had finished.
"Creepy, but great," Sokka felt the need to add.
"But…" Xena pressed.
"There's a temple on a crescent shaped island, and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak to Avatar Roku," He paused again. "But there's one problem. That island . . . it's in the Fire Nation."
Momochan77: Glad you liked the last chapter. Xena's past plays a big part in who she is, so it'll show up quite frequently.
Brookie Twiling: You'll just have to stick around and find out if she has any relatives alive. (Or read my original version of this story, but where's the fun in that.)
Krystallin: Thank you for pointing out those mistakes, I'll go back and fix them when I can. I would like to say though that the harshness of your review was quite off-putting and I didn't think it to be very constructive. In the future - whether it be a review on my story or someone else's - may I suggest that you try a less harsh approach by leaving out words like "elementary". I sincerely apologize if my tell instead of show made you feel like a stupid reader as that was not my intention. Showing instead of telling is something I've been trying to work on as I recently noticed that I was doing the later. That all being said I found this to be a valuable review as I don't often get constructive criticism, so thank you.
I may have a Beta reader now. He's one of my friends in real life and if he doesn't own a fanfiction account, if he did it would probably be known as Fuzzy Fire'chu so that's what we'll call him. This chapter was supposed to be a test run to see if he wanted to Beta for me, but unfortunately, he hasn't had the time to look at it and it's already been nearly two weeks. I didn't want to wait any longer to post this, but I'll be sure to update this author's note once he has taken a look at. Also as you've probably noticed, I always respond to reviews in the author notes of the following chapter, so if you want a quicker or private response send me a PM instead.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Keep on being awesome and I'll see you next chapter.