PARADOX
Chapter Seven: Crazy King
A/N: I updated my last chapter a little early, I think. So from now on I'll just update when I get the chapters done. I'll try to keep it within two days though, k? Love to all of my reviewers.
Appa landed on a hill just out of sight of Omashu. We walked up a hill and looked down at the magnificent city. There were large walls made of stone and rock.
"Welcome to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu," Aang introduced dramatically.
"I used to come here to visit my friend Bumi." He continued.
We looked down the winding road to the large city in awe.
"Wow, we don't have buildings like this in the South Pole." Katara said stunned.
"They have buildings that don't melt." Sokka added.
"Of course they don't, the weather changes more up here than in the South Pole." I said. "This is nothing compared to what my world had as buildings though." I said fading back into my memories for a while. "In my world the buildings are made of wood, metal, brick, drywall and glass." I said.
"What's dry-wall?" Katara asked fascinated.
"Its a plaster put in between two pieces of paper, its sort of like parchment except easier to make and less expensive." I explained before she could ask what paper was.
"Come on slowpokes." Aang cajoled.
Aang started to airbend himself down the hill but Katara called out and stopped him.
"Wait Aang, someone might recognize you."
"You need a disguise." Sokka agreed.
"What am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" Aang asked obviously sarcastically.
I didn't bother to hide my grin as Katara made Aang a mustache and hair out of Appa's fur.
"Ugh, this is so itchy!" Aang complained scratching his head. "How do you live in this stuff?" He asked turning to Appa. Appa huffed a puff of air out of his nose in response.
"Great now you look just like my grandfather." Sokka said.
"Aang is technically 112 years old." Katara pointed out.
Aang spun his staff around before putting one end against the ground and leaning on it like it was a cane or crutch.
"Let's get going whippersnappers. The city awaits." Aang said forcing his voice to sound like an old man's.
I giggled. I followed him easily down the hill. Katara and Sokka followed behind me.
"Aang, give me your pack." I ordered before we got to the bottom of the hill. "You're acting as an old man, they won't expect you to carry your own stuff." I explained when he looked at me weird.
He shrugged in agreement and handed the empty pack over to me. I slipped the strap over my shoulder and walked slightly ahead of Aang looking back every so often as if to make sure 'my grandfather' didn't fall. I had frequently done the same thing for my own grandmother so it was easy to fall back into the practice. Several steps, look over shoulder, then several more steps when I was sure everything was okay.
"You guys will love Omashu, they have some of the nicest people in the world." Aang said as we approached the gate.
We reached the gate just as the guard earthbended a poor merchants cabbages off of the narrow walk way that lead to the city gates.
"My cabbages!" The man shouted as he looked despairingly at where his cabbages had disappeared over the edge of the path. We followed his gaze.
"Just keep smiling." Aang instructed out of the corner of his mouth as we approached the guard.
"State your business." The guard ordered levitating a boulder over our heads. I looked up at the boulder than at the side of the path trying to decide which death I preferred if something went wrong.
Aang ran right up to the man's face shaking a finger in his face. "My business is my business, young man." Aang said. The man dropped the boulder to the side of the path in shock. "Why I have half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside." Aang threatened.
I bit my lip to stop a giggle.
"Settle down, old timer." The guard tried to 'calm' Aang down. "Just tell me who you are." He said.
"Name's Bonzu Pippenpaddleopsocopulous...the third!" Aang said loudly. "And these are my grandkids." He said pointing to us.
"Hi, June Pippenpaddleopsocopulous. Nice to meet you." Katara said using a fake name as well.
The man rubbed his beard looking between Aang, Katara, Sokka, and myself. "You two look like responsible young ladies." He said pointing to Katara and me. "See that your grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu." He said using earthbending to open the gate.
"We will." Katara answered.
We entered the city with no further problems. We all stared in awe of the city.
I saw carts falling down giant slides.
"That's the Omashu delivery system." Aang said noticing where my attention was at. "Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down. There are miles and miles of tubes and shoots."
"So they get their mail on time, big deal." Sokka said.
"They do." Aang agreed with Sokka. "But my friend Bumi found a better use for the shoots." He smiled deviously. "Come on."
I nervously stepped back. "I think, I'll go get us supplies." I said nervously backing up.
Aang grabbed my arm before I got more than two feet away and dragged me after the group as they went to the top of the shoots.
I looked down nervously. "Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." I objected.
Aang had already ushered both Sokka and Katara into the back of the large boxes. He pulled me into the box. I was squashed between Aang and Katara. Aang being in the very front, me in the second spot, Katara in the third spot and Sokka in the very back. It was a tight fit.
"I'm starting to have second thoughts." Katara said voicing the very thought that was on my mind.
Aang ignored her and used a blast of air to push us down the shoot.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Katara, Sokka, and I screamed in fear. I clutched the material of Aang's shawl and shirt tightly closing my eyes and burying my face in his back.
I didn't want to see what was happening.
Aang was laughing in delight.
I opened my eyes once I thought we were stable only to see the lane next to ours was carrying a box of pointy spears and worse yet the lane merged into ours just a short way in front of us.
I sobbed in fear burying my face back in Aang's back.
By the time we reached the bottom and crashed into the cabbage man's cart, I was in tears. We were surrounded instantly by guards. The were noticeably more gentle with me than the others. Probably thought I would have an emotional breakdown if they did the slightest thing to push me.
We were lead to the throne room tears drying on my face and I was still whimpering at the fear that still remained. Before we reached the room I finally collapsed in shock. The guard who was leading me was fast enough to catch me before I hit the ground and easily lifted me into his arms bridal style.
He carried me the rest of the way. I was set down gently next to the rest of the Gaang when we were forced to kneel in front of the king.
"Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages." One of the guards stated.
"Off with there heads! One for each head of cabbages!" The cabbage man called from where he stood.
"Silence. Only the king can pass judgement." The one guard said. He turned to the king. "What is your judgement, sire?" He asked.
The king stared down at us intently. He stared at Aang the longest, then stared at the tear stains on my face and then at Katara and Sokka.
"Throw them..." He started. Katara, Sokka and Aang gasped thinking the worst.
"...A feast." He finished.
All the guards as well as the cabbage man stood open mouthed. Katara, Sokka and Aang also looked confused.
I wiped my face free of tears using a sleeve of my newly re-made clothes. I had gotten rid of most of the thicker layers leaving me in a long sleeved tee-shirt type shirt and a pair of slacks with knee high boots made of Carribou-goat leather.
We were led to a large dinning hall. The room had a large table set and loaded with a large amount of food. The king ordered four chairs to be put at the end of the table for our group. Momo was already on the table eating whatever he could get his paws on.
The king stood right behind our chairs. "The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin." He said picking up a piece of chicken from Aang's plate.
"Thanks, but I don't eat meat." Aang said politely.
"How about you, I bet you like meat." The king said stuffing the chicken leg in Sokka's mouth. Sokka nodded as he took a big bite out of the chicken.
The king walked around and sat on the other side of the table.
Katara whispered something about the king's crown being crooked to Aang.
I ignored her and loaded my plate with whatever food was in reach. I ate as the king asked Aang where he came from.
Aang answered with Kangaroo Island. And the king made a lame joke about the place being really hopping.
Sokka actually laughed but he had a weird sense of humor.
The king yawned like he was tired turning slightly only to turn and throw something directly at Aang. Before it reached him I created a whip out of my drinking water grabbing the chicken leg right out of the air and bringing it to my hand.
"You don't want this do you Aang?" I asked politely. When he shook his head no I took a bite out of it.
"Ah, a waterbender. A master if I had to guess." Bumi said. I looked up at his voice. I swallowed the bite I had in my mouth before speaking.
"I wouldn't know. I'm self-taught." I said taking a sip of my water.
Before I could register what was happening two more chicken legs flew through the air, one towards me and one towards Aang. My water leaped to catch the legs at a twitch of my finger but Aang's chicken leg reached him before I could catch it. He ended up catching it with his airbending.
The guards gasped.
"There is an airbender in our presence," The king announced. "And not just any airbender, the Avatar." He stood for a moment before sitting back down. "Now what do you have to say for yourself Mr. Pippenpaddleopsocopulous?" He asked.
Aang stood up followed by Katara and Sokka. I grabbed an apple and stood up as well.
Aang tried to BS his way out saying he was doing a check-up to make sure the city was safe. We ended up backing right into a pair of crossed spears.
"You can't keep us here. Let us leave." Katara demanded.
"Lettuce leaf?" The king asked, picking up a piece of said vegetable and taking a bite.
"We're in serious trouble, this guy is nuts." Sokka declared.
I sighed. "He just thinks outside the box." I said loud enough for the whole room to hear.
"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges." The king declared. "But for now the guards will show you to your chambers."
"My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" The guard asked.
"The newly refurbished chamber." He answered.
"Wait, which chamber are we talking about?" The guard asked still confused.
"The chamber that used to be bad until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course we've been calling it the new chamber but we really should number them." He mused.
"Take the Avatar and the two water tribe members to the newly refurbished chamber that was once bad." Three guards led the rest of the group away much to there protest.
"What about this one?" The guard asked as if I wasn't there.
"I want to have a discussion with this young lady. You can take her to the chambers after we're done talking." The king said.
The king went back to his seat at the table and motioned me to sit as well. I politely sat myself down across from him with the long table separating us.
Then he proceeded to question me with a myriad of questions. So many that I lost track.
What was my name? Where did I come from? How did I come to travel with the Avatar? Why was I crying when I was brought in?
He seemed really interested when I told him about our super slide ride.
Finally an hour later he allowed a guard to lead me to the chamber that contained my friends.
"Kiara!" Aang and Katara yelled as soon as I entered the room.
"Are you okay?
"What did the king want?"
"What took so long?"
The questions came on relentlessly.
I held up one hand in a 'stop' motion and took a seat on one of the four beds.
"I'm fine. To talk. We were talking." I answered the questions in order.
"Kiara?" Katara asked looking at me.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"Why were you crying earlier."
I felt my cheeks heat up. "Mmmmmmph" I mumbled inaudibly.
"I didn't hear you." Katara said.
"I'm afraid of heights." I finally blurted out before burying my face in the pillow on my bed.
"How were you able to ride Appa?" Sokka interrupted.
"When we fly on Appa we're surrounded by clouds, which are made of water. We are also usually above the ocean. Both of which I can control with my bending and save myself if necessary." I explained.
"We better get some sleep." Aang said after a long awkward silence.
We all muttered in agreement.
I fell asleep first and knew no more until morning. I was woken by the sound of rock sliding against more rock. I bolted into a sitting position and stared at the place where the guard had made a door appear yesterday. It was open admitting three guards. I opened my mouth to warn the others and my mouth was quickly covered as I was wrestled silently out of the room.
I squirmed uncomfortably pressed against the guard's chest and finally getting tired of being dragged kicked backwards hitting the man in the nuts. He instantly dropped me and held on to his package.
"Ugh." The man groaned. The other guards turned at the sound and noticed the man's condition and winced in sympathy.
They quickly stomped on the ground and a cage of stone rose up around me. I drew water out of the air and tried to cut the stone with water. The guard I had kicked finally gotten back up and grabbed me with one of his hands on my wrists, and another on the back of my neck like a person grabs the scruff of a puppies neck.
I was dragged to a hallway with Sokka and Katara. We stood there in silence. I was once again in a cage made of earth. Apparently the guard didn't trust me.
The wall finally opened revealing an arena with the king and Aang facing off.
"...so I will give your friends special souvenirs." The king finished whatever he had been telling Aang.
My guard reached into the cage and grabbed my hand forcing a red ring onto my pointer finger. I glared at him even after he let my hand go. I was still in a cage.
"Now that's odd," The king said. "I didn't order a cage..." He trailed off as he stared at me.
"Your guard is just a wuss. Can't take a measly little kick to the nuts..." I said with a pout.
Almost every male in the area winced. Sokka was too busy staring at his ring in horror. It had grown an inch.
"Those rings are made of pure gennemite, also known as creeping crystal." the king said.
I humphed and stuck my finger in my mouth chomping on the ring hardly. It cracked loudly a piece breaking off into my mouth. I took my finger out of my mouth and worked on finishing the piece I already had.
Sokka and Katara meanwhile was trying to pry his ring off with pure force.
"The crystal grows remarkably fast, by nightfall your friends will be covered in it." The king said "Terrible fate, I can stop it... but only if you cooperate."
Aang agreed easily with our lives at stake.
The first task he had to retrieve a lunch box key that was in the middle of a waterfall. I was trying to eat my ring before it covered me. It was only half working. Sokka and Katara's whole arms up to their shoulders were covered. Mine only covered up to my forearm.
The second task Aang had to retrieve the kings pet Floppsy. Which turned out to be a giant rabbit, goat, gorilla, creature, thing. The crystal covered Sokka and Katara all the way across the torso and down to their knees. Mine had managed to creep its way over across my shoulders and down my other arm.
The third task, Aang had to choose a person to battle. He picked the king who turned out to be super buff and strong. Which just goes to show looks can be deceiving. Sokka and Katara barely had their face showing and my crystal was acting as a totally uncomfortable dress.
The king let Aang get him in a stalemate then fell backwards into a hole that looked just like his outline. He reappeared next to us like a ninja.
"You've passed all my tests, now you must answer one last question. What...is my name?" the king said.
"You said you'd let my friends go if I completed your tests." Aang protested.
"Aww. But what's the point of test if you don't learn anything from it?" He asked.
"By the looks of your friends you only have a few minutes." He said glancing at Sokka and Katara, stopping his gaze on me in surprise.
"How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang asked.
"Think about the tests, maybe its some kind of riddle." Katara suggested.
"I got it!" Sokka yelled.
Katara and Aang looked at him expectantly.
"He's an earthbender right? Rocky, because of all the rocks." Sokka said.
He is such an idiot.
"We're going to keep trying but that's a good back up." Katara said.
If I had a hand free I would slap myself in the forehead.
"Okay so back to the challenges," Aang said. "I got a key from a waterfall, I saved his pet, and I had a duel."
"But what did you learn?" Katara asked.
"Well, everything was different then I expected." he said. "Nothing was straight forward, to solve the test I had to thing differently than I normally would." Aang trailed off.
He looked up with a smile on his face. "I know his name."
We were back in the room we first met the king. He was sitting on his throne but he stood as Aang approached.
"I solve the question the same way I solved the challenges." Aang proclaimed. "As you said a long time ago, I had to open my mind to the possibilities."
The king laughed crazily a snort coming out every other laugh.
"Bumi, you're a mad genius." Aang declared as he raced to give his old friend a hug.
"Oh, Aang, it's good to see you." Bumi said. "You haven't changed a bit, literally."
"Uh, over here?" Katara called.
"Little help?" Sokka added.
Bumi raised his hand and yanked it back toward him.
The crystals that had been encasing us shattered. Bumi caught a piece of Katara's gennemite and took a big bite.
"Gennemite made of rock candy. Delicious." He said.
"So this crazy old king is your old friend Bumi?" Katara asked
"Who you calling old?" Bumi said before thinking about it. "Okay, I'm old."
"Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you are?" Sokka asked.
"First of all, its pretty fun messing with people." Bumi laughed.
"But I do have a second reason. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. You're gonna need your friends to help you. Even Momo." Bumi added as he saw Momo pick up a piece of gennemite.
I bent down and grabbed an armload of the red gennemite I had been covered with gaining an odd look from Sokka, Katara, and Aang.
"Who knows when we're going to get this much free candy again." I told them. "Plus, sucking on a piece of candy will stave off hunger for a while." I added when the didn't look convinced.
Aang turned back to Bumi. "Thank you for your wisdom, but before we go I have a challenge for you." Aang told his old friend.
Katara, Sokka, and I watched from a safe distance as Bumi and Aang went down the mail delivery system.
A scream of "MY CABBAGES!" followed a cloud of dust as Aang and Bumi crashed into the same cabbage man's cart.
I shook my head in exasperation. Aang was still a kid no matter what his destiny.
