Greetings, my readers! I love all the love this has been getting, it's so much I might drown in it!
This is a bit of a filler chapter, seeing that not much goes on in "The Beach" that I can work into a two-parter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I thought I should put this here because I think I forgot. But I don't think Bryke or Butch are high school girls, so is it really necessary?
#
Number one rule if you're a fugitive: never stay in one location for long. Personal experience has taught me that. So after the crazy sword master leaves us to our own disposal, we pack up and leave. Toph decides to gloat and bend her meteorite chunk in front me, making sure I remember that she is the one with a space rock souvenir, and not me.
While we're flying in the air, she turns the fragment into the shape of a diamond.
"Betcha wish you could do this, newbie," she says, squashing the shape and turning it into a swirl.
"Yeah, yeah," I dismiss. "I'm not the one with the space rock and I'm not a bender. Laugh it up."
"You get used to it," Sokka tells me. He's observing his new sword, swinging it in the air. "I love this thing! It may even rival my boomerang!"
He swings dangerously close to my face, slicing off the tips of my hair. "Watch it!" I order. "Keep flailing that thing around and you might ki…" I trail off. "Kill" isn't the right word, is it? "Maim me."
He stops and sheaths it. "Might not be an accident," he grumbles.
I stick my tongue out at him.
"Hey," Aang says. "Didn't you say nobody had heard of bending where you're from?"
"I think so," I respond, crossing my arms and leaning back against the saddle. "Why?"
"Well, since you guys didn't practice bending," he reasons, still looking ahead of Appa's head, "who knows if you're actually a bender but don't know it?"
Katara's eyes widen. "That's right! You might actually be able to bend."
"Well," Toph says. "You better not be an earthbender. This is my space rock. And only mine."
"Hold up!" Sokka says, flailing his hands in the air. "We finally have someone in our group that is as normal as I am. Do we have to ruin this beautiful thing?"
"I'm flattered," I joke. "Besides, didn't you say I'm not in the group? And what about the fact that you hate me?"
"I don't hate you," he says. "I just don't trust you. And you've been on more adventures with us than anyone who's tried to get into our group before. Ergo, you're in the group. Unfortunately."
"What an awesome welcome party," I comment sarcastically. "And I honestly don't really care about being a bender. I'm weird enough as it is."
"Still, you should try it out," Katara insists. "Just to make sure."
I roll my eyes. "Do I have to? I honestly don't need another addition to the multiple things that are wrong with me."
"It's not like you're insane," Sokka points out. "Or that you're sick with something. You don't have anything that's wrong with you, physically speaking."
"Just try it," Aang says. "And if nothing happens, then nothing happens. No harm in being curious, right?"
"More than you know," I mutter.
Katara bends away a section of the cloud, peering outside. "It's almost sunset. We should find a place to rest for the night."
"Good idea," I comment in a yawn. "I'm toasted."
Aang analyzes the ground for the next fifteen minutes. I, on the other hand, am slowly dozing off, my senses foggy from need of sleep.
I'm so close to finally falling asleep…why is there so much fire? Wait, no. I'm on Appa's saddle. Fire. Saddle. Fire. Saddle.
Fire is burning everything. Why isn't anybody putting it out?
"Whoa!" Aang yells, snapping me out of my temporary dream. "Guys, check this place out. It's perfect."
We all groggily scoot near Appa's head, peering down. And I have to say, Aang is right. The place is absolutely amazing.
It's a crater, and completely abandoned. No villages or stations or buildings. A small lake is at the bottom, being fueled by a stream of water cascading down the side. On the other side of the crater a waterfall is gushing out gallons.
"Cool," I say, rubbing my eyes. I yawn again. "So can we please go down there? Danny needs sleepy-time."
"You do realize you're talking about yourself in third person, right?" Toph asks.
"Yep," I admit. "That's how tired I am."
#
Rock is, and forever will be, uncomfortable. Even if it's smooth and looks like gray sponge it'll still be hard to sleep on.
It seems, however, that the team has grown accustomed to sleeping on rocks. Especially Toph. She curled up on the gravelly stone like it was a Tempur-Pedic mattress.
I look upon the kids who are just simply smiling and sleeping away. Their lives aren't this hard, are they? I mean, sure, I only got a couple hours of sleep. But it was on a nice, comfortable bed with rocket sheets. They have grass and stone, and a pile of clothes.
I get up and make my way over to Appa's saddle, settling there after brushing away the hair the beast had shed on top of it.
It's not like I'd have another nightmare. And even if I do, I'm just adjusting to being in a new place, right? After another week, if hopes of returning home are as bleak as they are now, I'll probably be okay.
I grab my t-shirt from one of the side compartments and use it as a pillow. I quickly fall back into the stupor of sleep.
Amity Park has officially turned into Hell.
Fire's everywhere, people dressed in red are taking over. There's screaming. Lots of screaming. And I can't stop it.
I'm paralyzed. A familiar ache is coursing through me. Too familiar, in fact. I've felt it twice in my life, three times now. I hear my whole body sizzling, crackling as the streams of blue fade off into existence, leaving me there.
Pain. So much pain.
And she's smiling. She's got some sort of sadistic pleasure in this. Like a girl version of that barber show Sam had me watch. She's got a look of success, of pride. All because of my pain.
I grit my teeth as I try to move, the feeling erupting all over again.
She looks to somebody I can't see, further up the way. "Did I do well, Father?" she asks. She still sounds vaguely like Sam. I can't stand it.
"Azula, you did wonderfully," that menacing, gritty voice responds. "The boy has succumbed, and this world is ours for the taking."
Azula smiles and looks at me with a smirk. "Yes, he has, hasn't he? So, boy, will you join us or not?"
"Never," I'm able to get out.
Azula sighs. "Then you are of no use to us." She looks back to her father, who is still out of sight. "Should I, Father?"
"There is no hope left for the child," he says. "You have my permission to do so."
She turns to me and inhales, drawing her arms inward and jerking suddenly. There's a flash of blue, aimed straight at me. All the pain returns again.
I sit up, refraining from screaming. But I'm sweating like mad. I run my hands through my hair and take a couple deep breaths.
"I'm alive," I remind myself. "I'm ali—I'm half alive."
I laugh at my own joke, pausing when I hear another noise from down the way. I sit up and crawl to the edge of the saddle, looking to where everybody is sleeping.
Well, almost everyone.
Aang is sitting up, patting himself in confusion. He rests his hands on his face and sighs.
"Just a dream," I hear him say. "It's just a dream."
Funny. And coincidental, now that I think about it.
He looks around and sets his eyes on me. "Bad dream?" he asks.
"You could say that," I tell him. "I guess you had one, too."
He looks down. "I really don't want to talk about it."
"Hey, ditto," I say. "I'm not like everyone around here who likes expressing their feelings and interpreting dreams, believe it or not."
"Why not?"
I shrug. "I'm not a very spiritual, psycho-babble kind of person." Ironically enough. "If you want somebody to interpret dreams and all that hooey, go to my sister Jazz. She even owns a book on that stuff. I like to stick to space."
He frowns. "You're not like a lot of people I've met before."
I roll my eyes. "Tell me something I don't know. I'm like E.T. around here."
"What's an 'E.T.'?" Aang asks.
"I—um…never mind," I say. "It's just an expression some people use. It just means you're out of place, like an alien or something."
"We're all out of place over here," he points out. "Two Water Tribe people, an earthbender, and the Avatar in the Fire Nation? If we told somebody that they'd be pretty shocked."
"Why? They know you're trying to stop OJ or whoever this Fire Lord guy is."
"Yeah," he drawls out, looking guilty. "They did."
"Did?" I repeat, surprised. "I'd ask you if you betrayed them or something, but you seem like too nice of a kid to do that."
"No, I betrayed them," he answers, voice full of remorse. He lies down. "It's getting late, and you need to have your energy if we're going to see if you're a bender or not." He laughs, but it isn't his usual laugh. It's that laugh that says, "Go on with your business. Nothing to see here, sir. No sir, not at all."
Best respect the kid's privacy. I get it. He doesn't want people to know, I understand that completely. "I guess," I sigh, lying back down.
There's no coherent plot in my dreams this time. Only the sound of houses burning to the ground.
#
"Wake up, newbie!" Toph orders.
I jump off of the saddle before the jaded piece of earth erupts. The saddle flies into the air.
"You missed me," I point out with a smirk.
The saddle decides to hate my existence and crash on top of me.
"Not exactly," Toph remarks.
I blow my hair out of my face and manage to get the damn thing off of me. I proceed to stretch and yawn. "So what am I going to be put through first?"
"You're not going to be tested just yet," Katara tells me. "First, you've got to know what bending is."
"I know what bending is," I say, exasperated. "It's where you use certain movements or whatever to manipulate these 'elements' that you speak of."
"It's more than that," Katara explains. "It's more of a connection."
"Well, duh, I got that," I say, even though I really didn't. I just don't want to do this, because there's the chance I might actually be one of them. And I don't need another thing added to the list of all the ways I'm abnormal. "I mean, you guys can control all this stuff. You've got to have a connection."
Aang nods. "It's like an extension of yourself, or an extra part of your body. And you're the brain. Send the right signals and you can control it."
He decides to show off and twirl himself into the air, creating a funnel for a brief moment for him to keep above the ground on. He does another motion and tunnel stops, dropping him onto the ground. "See?"
I raise an eyebrow. "I guess…I mean, I understand it. You know, the whole 'controlling another part of you thing'." I think back to duplication. "Just sounds like it would feel weird."
"For a bender it's pretty natural," Toph informs me. "The connection is just there, but you've got to tap into sometimes to get the results you want. You think I was born knowing how to see with my feet?"
Sokka looks at us awkwardly. "I have nothing to say here," he says. "So…I'm going to go slice some bushes with my new sword, okay? Okay." And with that he's gone.
I clap my hands together. "So which element am I going to try out first?"
"I volunteer Sugar Queen!" Toph says, pushing Katara forward with a block of Earth. She stumbles, and glares at Toph.
She turns and sighs. "Okay, Danny," she says with a smile. "Let's see if you're a waterbender."
She takes me over to the lake and positions me ten feet away from her.
"First we have to establish the connection," she explains. "Waterbenders were taught by the moon and ocean, and how the moon pushed and pulled the tides."
"But that's just legend, right?" I ask.
"No," she says, dead serious. "It's not. Go ask Sokka, he knows it more than all of us."
My girlfriend turned into the moon, I remember him saying.
This place gets stranger and stranger by the minute.
"Okaaaayyyyy," I draw out. "As you were saying…"
She nods. "So, the waterbenders learned from the push and pull of the tides. That's what we're going to do." She sets herself directly in front of the lake, putting her arms up and concentrating on the small waves that were rolling onto the gravelly shore. "Move with the tide, not against it."
She starts pushing her arms forward and pulling them back in as each wave rolls in, exhaling when the tide goes out and her arms are extended. Closing her eyes, she does this for a good thirty seconds. "Now you try."
I look at her skeptically. I really don't want to do some tidal dance in front everybody else. I'll just look stupid.
But I've seen Katara when she's mad, and it isn't pretty…
I sigh and close my eyes, getting into a rhythm, trying to match the tide. This is ridiculous. I look ridiculous. If Dash was here…God I don't even want to think about it.
"Good," Katara says, almost breaking me out of the routine. "You've got the connection." She pauses. "You can stop now, you know."
I open my eyes and realize that she's stopped for a while now. I turn red in embarrassment and hear Aang and Toph snickering.
"Oh," I say in response. "Uh…so now what?"
"If you are a waterbender," she tells me, "you should've established a connection. Now, I'm going to guide a stream of water towards you. When I do, I want you to reach for it and do this." She sways herself from side to side, rotating her arms around one another. "Got all of that down?"
I nod unsurely. "I think so. Let's just do it, okay?"
She easily manipulates the water, making it twist in the air. "Ready?" she asks.
"As I'll ever be," I say.
The water stops twirling and dives for me. I reach out, trying to get that connection, but nothing happens.
Next thing I know, I have my arms raised in the air, and I'm soaking wet.
Katara looks surprised. "Well," she says, obviously trying to suppress a giggle. "At least we know you're not a waterbender."
I scowl as I look over to Aang and Toph, who are literally "rotfl"-ing. Great.
Toph calms herself down and wipes a tear off. "Oh, man. Okay, newbie, it's my turn." She turns to Aang. "Hey, Twinkle Toes, why don't you dry him off? If I'm going to chuck him into the lake I want him to be dry again."
"How thoughtful of you," I mutter sarcastically, and close my eyes when I feel a gust of wind come my way.
"Eh, I try," she says, playing off of my jab. She's pretty good at this witty banter, thing, I realize. Maybe I'll catch a couple of things for my next ghost fight—if I have a next ghost fight. She cracks her knuckles. "Now let's get down to business."
I'm led up the hill to a part of the slope of the crater, only staying up there because of a platform Toph has created and dragged up here.
"It's going to be a bit harder connecting to Earth, if you have any connection at all," she says. "You see, the first earthbenders were taught by badgermoles. And so was I."
I raise an eyebrow. "You guys have weird back stories, you know that?"
"Shut up and let's get bending," she orders. "Now, to get a feel for the Earth, you sort of have to claim it. Stomp your foot down, literally. That's how every stance and movement starts is with the feet." She pauses. "Now that I think about it, that's probably why Twinkle Toes couldn't get a handle on this so fast. He's spent all his time in the air!"
I look at her as she laughs at what is obviously a memory I don't have.
"Uh…" I say, waving my hand in the air. "Hello? Back to me, please?"
She clears her throat. "Right. Okay, so, to get connected, I want you to stomp the ground. Hard, too. No sissy steps or anything."
I pound my foot into the rock, trying not to wince as my ankle begins to sting with shock.
Toph smirks. "Good. I think that if you're an earthbender you'd have the connection by now, seeing that you don't spend half of your time in the air."
How wrong you are, Toph.
"So what do I do now?" I ask. "Another swaying dance?"
"It's good for meditation!" I hear Katara yells from down below.
Toph ignores her, as do I. "Now, you've got to try to feel the ground, like I do. I'm going to send some attacks your way and you're going to try to dodge them and/or send them back to me. You got that?"
I smirk. "You really want to see me fail, don't you?"
She shrugs. "What can I say? Other girls love bows and I love bruises."
Her smile is turned off and she looks down to the ground. Immediately her whole body changes from joking around to battle mode. She stomps the ground again and two large rocks erupt from it, and she punches the boulders to send them my way.
Here's where instinct kicks in.
I've spent a good portion of my current life dodging things. Ectoblasts, harpoons, nets, knives…so rocks aren't that big of a deal. At least they're bigger and less subtle than fifty razors reading your way.
I easily dodge one of them, and remember that I've got to try to actually earthbend my way out of this. As the second rock comes flying forward, I stomp my foot on the ground and hope for a rock to appear, or something like that. But nothing happens. So I jump over the rock (flying abilities helping with that) and land safe on my feet.
"Jesus, I was wrong," she says. "You're just as bad as Twinkle Toes."
"I resent that," I say. "And anyway, I tried doing the stone levitation magic thing, but it didn't work. And I don't feel like breaking my hand because I have to punch a rock, thank you very much."
"At least try one more time," she says. "Establish the connection just try to do something. Earthbending moves are rigid and forceful, so don't go all fluid-Sugar-Queen-water motions okay?"
I raise an eyebrow. "Uh…okay."
I get the "connection" again, and try various little dances and things to get something to work. But it doesn't.
Toph shrugs. "Okay, so you're not an earthbender. I was kind of hoping for somebody to fight with when Aang is off doing something else, but eh. I guess you aren't much of the earthbending type. Maybe you'll have better results with Boy Wonder."
"Possibly," I mutter, even though it's highly unlikely.
She walks over to the edge. "Yo, Twinkle Toes! I'm tossing Danny over to you!"
"Wait, what you mean by toss-" But I've been catapulted into the air before I finish.
I scream until a feel a puff of air lighten my fall. I look down and realize that I'm on a stream of air being created by Aang's hands. He stops, and I fall to the ground with a thud.
"Oof!" I exclaim. I get up. "So are we going to do airbending or whatever?"
Aang nods. "You see, airbending is kind of a spiritual type of bending. Back at the temple the monks spent hours doing meditation. I know it sounds boring, but it's really peaceful and-"
He continues to speak, but I can't really hear him. I just notice how excited and enthusiastic he is. I can understand. He's been the last one of his people for a century now, and finding another airbender would be a huge thing for him.
I can't do much to help him if I'm not an airbender. Sure, I could fly around, but I can't do all that air ball, vortex things. I get that sinking feeling in my stomach knowing that there's the huge possibility that I'll disappoint this kid.
"Hey, did you hear me?" he asks, snapping me out of swirl of guilt and shame.
"Huh?" I say, as sophisticated as ever.
"I said that airbending originated from sky bison," he explains. "That's how Appa can fly."
"So how am I supposed to connect to air?" I ask. "Hug Appa and hope his airbending powers rub off on me?"
"No," he says. "Back at the temple, to start basic training, we had these spinning gates you had to weave through. Actually…I think they're still there. But I can't exactly bring them over here. But the idea is to be free to change at any moment." He winces. "Now that I think about, you probably wouldn't enjoy them. Usually you get hit in the face a couple times."
"Trust me, I'd be used to it," I grumble.
He perks up. "But connecting to air is really easy. I mean, it's all around you. Just a couple deep breaths is good establishment. Be calm, be relaxed."
I close my eyes and take a couple breaths, relaxing and letting go of all the stress the best I can. Maybe I'll be an airbender. Hell, with what my life is, anything is possible. Maybe I won't disappoint him.
"Okay, now that you're relaxed, I want you to take deep breaths. The biggest you can hold."
I do as I'm told.
"Now open your eyes," he stays. When I do, I see that he's still excited. Kid's got his hopes up really high. "The most basic form of airbending is what I call 'The Thunder Clap'. Of course, the monks had a more official name for it, but I thought 'Thunder Clap' sounded better."
"Why do you call it 'Thunder Clap', then?" I ask.
He gives a look that says, "I'm glad you asked." He takes in a deep breath and holds out his arms. He exhales and brings his arms together, and a loud sound erupts from his hands. A gust of wind hits my face like a train.
My ears still buzz from the loud sound. "Got it," I tell him.
I notice that he's been propelled a couple feet back. "Now you try."
I look at him, trying to silently say, "I can't promise you anything."
I take in a deep breath and spread my hands out, trying my best to look like Jesus. I exhale and bring my hands together, but all that happens is the snap of my hands together, and then silence.
Nothing's happened.
Aang slumps. "Huh. So you're not an airbender."
I shrug. "I guess not," I say.
"But hey!" Katara says. She and Toph have been sitting on the sidelines for some time now. "At least we know for sure that you're not a bender, right?" He shouts over to the other side of the crater. "Hey, Sokka! Danny's not a bender!"
Sokka, who's been playing with his new toy by demolishing some bushes, looks up and smiles. "Woohoo! I'm not alone!"
Wait a minute…
"Hey," I say. "Isn't there four elements? I've only tried out three."
"Well, none of us are firebenders," Toph says. She looks over to Aang. "Officially, of course."
Sokka walks over. "Besides, the Fire Nation are bad people. And as far as we know, you haven't tried to take over the whole world and murdered people."
They obviously haven't met the jerky, douchy version of me, I think. But then again, they really don't know a lot about me. I shrug it off.
"Not all firebenders are bad," Katara tells him. "Remember Jeong Jeong? And even though he was helping Zuko hunt us down, Iroh turned out to be okay back in Ba Sing Se."
A name catches my attention. "Zuko? Did you say Zuko?"
Katara nods. "He's the crown prince of the Fire Nation. He was hunting for Aang because…well, it's a long story." She scowls. "I trusted him, for a little, bit but then he betrayed us." She takes a deep breath, obviously trying to stop herself from freaking out. "However, there are exceptions to people. You are no different."
"So he might be one of those flame-wielding psychos?" Sokka asks. He turns to me. "I always knew there was something off about you."
"Didn't you say you were glad to have someone like you on the team?" I ask.
"Yeah, but that was before I found out you could be Fire Nation!"
I wave my hands in the air. "Whoa, wait. There's still the possibility that I'm not, right? Let's just try it out and we can put all of our suspicions to rest." I pause. "Wait, do any of you know firebending?"
"Aang knows a little bit," Sokka admits.
The kid glares. "No I don't!"
"Yeah, you do," he says. "Jeong Jeong taught you a couple things, right?"
He looks down. "Well…yeah…"
"Then show Danny some of that stuff," Toph orders him.
"But the last time-"
"So go out into the rock fields or somewhere," Katara interjects. "That way, you two can't hurt anybody but yourselves. And even if it happens I can patch you up, okay?"
He looks over to me. "Okay." He sounds defeated. "Let's go."
We walk up the crater and into the open rock fields, which to me look oddly shaped. I try not to laugh as I continue to see them over and over again.
"What's so funny?" Aang asks.
"The rocks, they look like-" I stop myself. "Uh…never mind. I'm sure you wouldn't find it particularly interesting."
We stop in the middle of the curiously shaped tone columns.
"I'm sorry if I can't produce any fire for you," Aang starts. "It's just that the last time I did firebending I burnt Katara really bad. I don't want to hurt anybody again."
I nod. "It's okay, dude, I get it. Just tell me what you know and show me a few tricks and we can get this whole 'am I a bender' thing out of the way."
He sits down on the ground. "From what I know, firebenders were taught by dragons."
"Dragons? Are you serious?"
"They went extinct around the time I ran away," he tells me, avoiding the whole 'frozen in an iceberg' part of that phrase. "All of the firebenders I know are driven by determination and bitter feelings. Almost every time I've seen a firebender lash out he's been angry. I don't know if it's true for everybody, but it's the best we've got."
"So what are we going to do with that pleasant piece of information?" I ask.
"We're going to use it to bring out any firebender in you," he explains. "I know a couple moves after being chased down by the Fire Nation so many times."
He shows me the movements, which kind of look like me when I'm in battle. Huh.
"You think you got those down?" Aang asks.
"I'm pretty sure I'm familiar with them," I say.
"Good. Now I'm going to try to get you mad, and maybe the firebender will just explode out of you."
"Oh joy," I mutter.
Next thing I know, I'm being shoved into the ground by a large boulder.
"Hey, what was that for?" I shout. I've been knocked back twenty feet.
"I'm trying to get you angry, remember?"
"Well, you're succeeding."
He smiles at his accomplishment. He then proceeds to swipe his arm down, sending a lash of air to whip across my face.
I've kept myself restrained for too long. Everything in me is telling me to fight back.
I get back and notice my senses sharpen immediately. I keep only two thoughts in my head:
1.) Stop him from pissing you off.
2.) Don't go ghost. Don't use ghost powers at all, actually.
He kicks off the top of one of the columns and send the boulder my way, intentionally missing my whole self but managing to make its impact on the ground enough to knock me off my feet.
I growl and get up, charging towards him. He sees my rage and dodges me, sending another air blast and lifting me off of the ground. I land with a thud.
I get up and charge towards him again. My mind is blurring. The thought of not using ghost powers is slowly fading. Some intangibility would work, right? And he wouldn't see anything.
Except I don't use intangibility. He lands in front of me and sticks his tongue out, enjoying this childish game. I open my palm and let the energy flow out of me.
Aang ducks and the ectoblast hits a rock column, leaving a sizable dent in the stone.
In my hand the source of the ectoblast, a fire fall of energy smoking with green flames. I look up.
Aang is staring, wide-eyed.
Crap on a stick.
#
Oh yes, a cliffhanger! Next chapter tomorrow or Tuesday, I don't know. My updates might get inconsistent due to the fact that summer's ending and reality is returning.
Until then, I'm going to go back to writing and listening to the Broadway production of Sweeney Todd's soundtrack. Want some priest? Mwahahaha
-ZG
