Vengeance, thy name is Aang

by Young Napoleon22

After visiting his old home Aang becomes conflicted. As the Avatar it's his job to save the world, as a monk it's his way to seek a peaceful resolution, but as a 12 yr. old boy who's just had everything taken from him it's his duty as the last airbender to avenge their deaths. Aang's going to need a sturdy rock to help keep his restless soul grounded, or risk self-destruction.

10. Chapter 10

Vengeance, thy name is Aang

Ch.10- The Winter Solstice pt.1 (The Spirit World)

xXx

Aang furrowed his brow in concentration as he reached inward for his chi. It took far less searching to find after so many weeks of practice, and once the Avatar managed to get a grip on it, he began to push it down towards the bottoms of his feet.

This took another minute, but once he'd done that Aang began to lift off from the grass-covered forest clearing. It was after the tips of his boots left the ground that the young monk increased the flow of energy to his feet, resulting in a faster ascent. The core of today's practice. Aang wanted to be able to use free flight at the drop of a hat, and once in the air, he wanted his movements to be swift and precise rather than the jerky and unrefined level the bald youth was currently at.

And yet, despite this, Aang was much farther along than when he first began this training on Kyoshi Island, as it only took a few minutes to get off the ground and into the air. It wouldn't be long before the Avatar could fly alongside his sky-bison.

The thought of truly free flight excited Aang. Yes he'd kept his airbending staff, but using it as a glider felt limited; especially since, if it were damaged, Aang would be forced from the air. 'But now,' Aang thought as he surveyed the treetops, 'I'll have better range of motion in the sky and won't have to worry about being hit.'

Anymore thoughts, or flight practice, was put on hold though when the Avatar's rather large ears picked up the sound of his voice being carried by the winds from down below.

Grey eyes turned downward to see, and were quick to spot the small form of Katara on the ground. Her hands were cupped around her mouth, and the waterbending beauty's blue eyes were peered up at Aang, signaling that she was in fact the one to call to him.

"Sokka must be done with his hunt then," Aang muttered quietly to himself as he began to descend from the sky. Once his feet were flat on the ground again, the Avatar looked up at the taller bender and asked, "So Sokka's done with his 'meat hunt' then?"

"Uh...yeah," the blue-eyed water-bender affirmed. "But I don't understand, Bumi gave us plenty of money before we left Omashu, why do we still have to gather our food from the forests?"

Aang knelt down to grab his cloak before coming back to his full height. As he donned the hooded robe, the Avatar explained his reasoning to the older girl beside him. "I just think it's better to save where ever possible, just in case we have an emergency and need the money. Besides, this way we won't have to make as many stops into town and risk being seen by anyone."

Katara looked on as the younger boy began to walk away after his explanation, surprised a child would think so logically. But then she remembered that Aang had been raised by monks; and that they didn't use money, they traded for and grew what they needed.

'Add to that the fact that they didn't really believe in personal possessions, and you've got an Avatar that could wind up becoming the richest person in the world if he keeps this up,' the water tribe teen thought as she followed the master airbender.

It didn't take the pair long to make their way back to camp and back to Appa. Once they stepped back into the grounds, both Aang and Katara saw that Sokka was already set up on the large mammals back. The pony-tailed warrior saw them too, he waved at his sister and the Avatar before shouting about how great of a hall he'd managed to snag.

Aang simply nodded his acknowledgment while he walked up beside Appa. The young airbender used his ability to lift himself off the ground again, but this time, he dropped himself atop Appa's large head and took hold of the reigns. He waited until Katara clambered up onto the saddle before giving the flight command, and then the trio was off.

As they soared through the sky, Aang used the time to enter a meditative state.

The night they'd left Omashu Aang began to feel as if there were a rock in his stomach. It weighed him down, and left the young Avatar restless and unable to sleep; and it only got worse the farther he got from the city. Aang had a good idea of what it was, but forced himself not to face it, as that would mean acknowledging all he'd learned while visiting Bumi. So instead, he meditated, and allowed everything but his plans for vengeance and his duties as the Avatar fill his thoughts.

This lead to Aang throwing himself even more into his training, as well as his studies, in a further attempt to distract himself while still being productive. And it was. The young monk found the scrolls that spoke of the spirit world, and the experience the monks had with it.

While the knowledge wasn't much, mostly spirit's names and their domains, it lit a fire inside of Aang and gave the young airbending master a thirst to learn more.

One spirit in particular that interested him was named Vaatu; the spirit of darkness.

Aang read that Vaatu was one of the very first spirits, and played a part in the creation and shaping of the world. In essence, the powerful spirit could be found in every shadow, every dark corner, that existed in the world around you. Aang went on to read of how Vaatu was also the first spirit to break the barrier between the human and spirit worlds, resulting in the creation of 'dark' spirits, as well as something called Ma-bing. The horsemen being Vaatu's personal generals of destruction and power.

But, as the young Avatar knew, where there was darkness there had to be light. And in this case, that light's name was Raava, who just happened to be the spiritual partner of the Avatar. This story, and its connection to Vaatu, intrigued the young monk. So he read on.

He read what little the monks had on the first Avatar, and how in the beginning the spirits chose one human to at as the bridge that would correct all that Vaatu had broken. He read of the eternal struggle that would go on between Raava and Vaatu, and how the Avatar would re-incarnate as the carrier of Raava's spirit to combat Vaatu's darkness.

The story, while vague in its telling, left its mark on Aang and filled the youth's head with questions...and a dangerous curiosity about Vaatu and his horsemen.

Aang didn't get the chance to meditate further and think about it though, because after what felt like only a few minutes his concentration was broken by Katara's gasp of horror. The Avatar's big, gray eye opened in response and looked behind towards the saddle. Aang saw that the water-bender held her hand to her mouth in revulsion, but it was the look on Sokka's face that got the monk to follow their gaze. Sokka's eyes had never looked so disgusted.

So, Aang turned his head and looked to where he saw his companions staring...and immediately felt anger rise in his chest.

It was like a scar on the earth. Miles of forest had been turned to blackened, charred soot. Trees were torn down and scorch marks marred the once lush grounds of the forest. It was a disaster. It was hideous. It was an example of pure savagery.

And it further fueled Aang's desire to stamp out Fire Lord Ozai and his regime.

Aang gripped the reigns and motioned for Appa to land. What no one saw, was that the young bender's knuckles were bone-white with how hard he gripped the leather strips.

Once Appa landed, Aang propelled himself off the bison's head and down to the lifeless earth below. His eyes immediately trained themselves on the surrounding area, and Aang let his focus tunnel to the point he didn't feel Momo land on his cloaked shoulder.

"This doesn't look like a natural disaster," Katara muttered quietly after making her way off Appa's back.

"It wasn't," Sokka growled as he knelt down to inspect the earth. "This was no forest fire, firebender's did this. Those sick bastards have no respect for anything outside of there own selfish desires, they make me so sick!"

"They'll get theirs," Aang countered in a hollow, detached tone. "Ozai and his band of mongrels won't be getting away with any of this; I'll make sure of it."

Katara, who looked at the young Avatar in concern, noticed something move out of the corner of her eye. She looked over, and was surprised to find a squirrel inspecting an acorn. Seeing this Katara immediately noticed that, besides that single one, there were acorns littered around on the scorched earth. Blue eyes lit with hope as the female waterbender leaned down to retrieve one, before making her way over to Aang.

"Hey, Aang, look at this. Isn't this great?"

The young monk turned from his thoughts back to the real world and saw Katara smiling gently his way. Aang looked at the coco-colored teen with confusion, as he didn't see any reason to be smiling with all this destruction around.

That's when Katara lifted her hand and showed him the acorn pinched between her fingers.

"The forest will grow back," he voiced. Turning away from the upbeat older girl Aang continued on to say, "That's good, but it doesn't help clear away the guilt I feel Katara. This should have never happened; I shouldn't have let it."

Sokka was the one to counter this. "But Aang this isn't your fault, you were frozen in that iceberg for a hundred years, what were you supposed to do?"

"My job. I'm the Avatar, which means it's my duty to protect the world, but I was too busy being afraid and running away to bother learning how to actually be the Avatar. And now because of me, this forest, and so many people, have suffered."

The water tribe siblings looked to the hooded monk in sorrow, but before either of them could attempt to take the burden from his shoulders Momo made a noise of alarm and drew everyone's attention to what had captured his. It turned out to be an older man.

He walked up to the trio and in an astonished voice said, "When I saw the bison I could hardly believe it, but, now that see you it must be true. Y-You are the Avatar aren't you?"

xXx

As Aang and his companions were being approached by the stranger, a certain banished firebender was busy searching for his uncle.

The scarred teen swiped at the branches that hung in his way as he moved through the forest. His uncle had disappeared from the search party some time ago and now Zuko left to search for the old man. "Uncle," he called out. "Uncle Iroh, where are you!?"

'I don't have time for this,' thought the pony-tailed ex-prince as he pushed aside another set of low hanging branches.

That's when Zuko entered a large forest clearing, and found there, sitting in a natural spring of water, his lost uncle. The older man was lounging along the lip of the earthy tub, eyes closed, and a peaceful smile painted on his face.

"Uncle what are you doing?"

Iroh didn't even open his eyes, instead choosing to sink further into the heated water with a sigh. "Ah, Prince Zuko, could you try not to be so loud? I'm trying to relax. Maybe you should join me and attempt to do the same; it may help to ease some of that tension in your shoulders."

The younger firebender scowled at his easy-going elder and growled about how his troubles couldn't simply be soaked away. "Besides, I've just been given a report on the Avatar's trail, we're closing in on him again and I don't want to lose him."

At this point Iroh decided to open his eyes, and match gazes with those of his nephew as he replied. "But if you're tails have the Avatar in their sights then what's the harm in me taking a short break? I doubt he'll get too far out of reach before I've finished up here; don't you think I deserve it?"

Zuko found himself at a crossroad here. He knew his uncle would follow his command if the teen made one, but, Zuko didn't feel comfortable with ordering around the one person in his life who actually cared about him. Just the thought of it made the scarred youth feel ill. So instead, Zuko told the older firebender that he had thirty minutes before the ship left to follow the Avatar. "Be back by then or we're leaving without you!"

It was with that final word that Zuko turned and began to stalk off back to his ship. While he retraced his steps back through the forest, the scarred teen attempted to push down the anger he felt at being a step behind the Avatar again. In Zuko's mind though, it just felt like every single time the youthful airbender was within his grasp he slipped through the firebender's fingers. It was infuriating!

'But it'll be worth it,' the ex-prince assured himself. 'Because once I have the Avatar, father will return me to my rightful place, and I'll have regained my honor.'

The images that came to mind were grandiose and hopeful.

Now all Zuko had to do was believe that it was possible.

xXx

Aang and his group found themselves following the man back to his village after he pleaded for the young Avatar's help. Katara had asked what they needed the monk for, and was surprised to hear the stranger tell them that he and his people were being terrorized by an evil spirit.

"Terrorized in what way," the blue-eyed beauty questioned.

"It appears in the night and abducts one of the townspeople; we've lost five people already. We didn't know what to do, but now that the Avatar is here, maybe we have a chance of saving them."

Aang turned a side-glance in the older man's direction and asked, "So the spirit just began attacking your village out of the blue? That seems unusual."

"We thought so too, but it's true, the Black-and-White spirit just appeared one night and stole its first victim. When it returned the following night we tried to fight it off, but all that did was earn us the destruction of a few people's homes." At this point the villager turned to look at Aang as he implored, "We don't know what to do, we've tried leaving offerings, but it does not take them...in fact it just makes the spirit angrier. Please Avatar, we desperately need your help."

By this time, the group had reached the village and Aang was brought to the town meeting hall in the center. Upon entering it was easy to see just how badly these attacks were affecting everyone. There were families huddled together in the corners of the large building, parents clutching their frightened children between them, lovers cuddled together on the floor whispering comforting words and promises to each other. In Aang's mind, it just made him more curious about why this spirit chose this particular village as a target; it didn't make sense.

'They all seem humble enough, and I didn't see anything on my way through that indicated them to be anything more than peace-wanting Earth-Kingdom citizens. So what's going on?'

The young monk's thoughts were cut short when an elderly man hobbled over to him, aided by the same man that had found them in the middle of the burnt down forest. After getting close enough, the aged man asked Aang if it was true, and he really was the Avatar.

"That's correct, I was told that you all were having trouble with a black-and-white spirit?"

"We've called it that because of its appearance, we aren't sure exactly what spirit it really is. I feel that if we did though this problem could be solved without involving you young one, but unfortunately we don't, and require the aid of the Spirit Bridge."

"The what?" Katara wondered.

Aang turned to the waterbender and answered that it was one of the Avatar's titles, as they were the emissary for both the human world as well as the spirit realm, and it was included in the job to keep peace in both plains. "But I've just started learning how to do my job, so I don't have knowledge of all the different spirits yet."

"All we ask is that you try, young Avatar, because I fear that you are our last hope. It will soon be the Winter Solstice, and at that time the line between the Spirit and Human worlds will be so blurred, that we fear the monster's power will be great enough that it can completely destroy us. " The elderly man sulked as he was lead away.

"...Geeze, talk about 'no pressure', huh Aang?" Sokka muttered to the bald youth after the trio were left alone.

"Well can you blame them," Katara cut in. "They're being attacked by an evil spirit who, every night, is going to keep abducting one of their people and doing who knows what with them. Some of these people have already lost a relative, or a friend, so maybe you could try to be a little more understanding Sokka."

The pony-tailed water tribe member opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off when Aang beat him to the punch. "I don't think this is an 'evil' spirit Katara, these attacks can't be random."

"What makes you say that?"

"The fact that nothing the spirits do is ever random. Everything they do is for a reason, whether it's selfish or not is found out later, but their actions always have a purpose. And if I wanna have any hope of fixing these people's problem then I need to find out what this Black-and-White spirit wants."

From there the trio fell into a still sort of silence as they each looked out the window, and towards the setting sun. In just a matter of minutes, they knew that the spirit would appear and Aang would have to attempt to placate the other-worldly being.

"It's time," the airbending master declared as soon as the last of the orange was swept from the sky. And with a wish of good luck, and a plead to be careful, the young monk made his way out of the building and out into the village streets. He walked until he stood a few yards from the entrance and then stopped; he'd left his swords inside, and instead brandished his staff in his right hand. No point in looking threatening until the spirit gave Aang a reason after all.

Aang found himself standing in his spot for what felt like an hour, his gray eyes periodically scanning the edges of the stone wall that surrounded the village, making sure the spirit didn't sneak its way inside, before turning his attention back to the entrance. It was just as the Avatar was about to turn around and go back inside to ask more questions when he caught a glimpse of something out from the corner of his eye.

Something large...something black and white.

It was the spirit, and it did look monstrous. But as the Avatar Aang knew he'd need to be impartial until given reason to be hostile. So, instead of jumping into action, the young monk stood his ground and waited until the ethereally glowing giant got within hearing distance.

Holding up his hand, Aang called out to the spirit. "Halt! I'm sorry but I can't allow you to abduct anyone else. However, if you'd be willing to talk with me, I'm sure we can come to some sort of compromise for whatever this village has done to wrong you."

The spirit stood there during the young monk's proposal, the only sound being the fanged colossus' guttural, animalistic breathing. But then the Black-and-White spirit surprised Aang by swiping it's misshapen paw and knocking him aside.

"ROOOOOWW!" It roared out. The spirit sent one look in the Avatar's direction, before turning back to the village and sending a blast of blue energy towards one of the larger buildings. The result was that the entire structure was turned to timber, as it collapsed under the power of the blast.

On his end, Aang was busy fighting through the stars in his eyes as he pulled himself out from the hole he'd put into one of the village's buildings. Once he managed to get back on his feet though, the young monk narrowed his gray eyes in determination before propelling himself off the ground and back in the gargantuan spirit's path. "Alright, I'll ask nicely one more time, stand down and agree to settle this peacefully or I will be forced to make you."

The spirit didn't like this, as shown by the way it growled heavily at the ultimatum given, and reacted accordingly.

Aang leaped back from the snap-shot paw that reached for him. This was followed by the Avatar having to avoid being obliterated by an energy shot; he did this by slamming his palms to the ground, and letting loose a large force of air to shoot himself into the sky. From there, the cloaked youth reared his head back before letting loose the sonic scream. The airbending attack rippled through the very force used to create it before reaching the large multi-legged monster, who reacted with a high-pitched shriek, showing that the spirit clearly didn't like the feeling of its hearing being shattered.

The Black-and-White spirit threw its head back in agony and cried out in extreme pain. Despite being an other-worldly entity, the ethereal giant was made of energy, and was disrupted by the impact of the chi projected by the Avatar.

To combat this, the howling spirit let loose an energy pulse, which was used to not only break apart Aang's attack but also pushed back the bald young airbender away so as to give the spirit time to recoup.

And, despite Aang's quick recovery, that's exactly what the spirit got; time. Just enough to regain its bearings, and then launch another shot of neon-blue energy.

From his place in falling air Aang saw the blast coming, and with his staff batted the ball away after wrapping the antique in a lace of chi-infused air. And it was with a great huff of breath, coupled with an exhausting strain on his core, that the Avatar managed to redirect the white-hot mass of power back at the spirit that shot it. As he continued his fall Aang looked on then as the ball of energy rocketed back and narrowly missed the Black-and-White entity, who had used an impressive display of speed to avoid the counter-attack.

That's when things started to go wrong.

After dodging the return of its own attack, the spirit lashed out with another burst of incredible speed, getting close to the still air-born nomad and managing a second swipe that knocked him into another building. The spirit let out another roar at the battered Avatar before turning its attention to the numerous hiding spots that could be housing the villagers. It took a few steps, and then felt an annoying tap on its shoulder. The spirit looked to the side...and found a pony-tailed youth standing out in the open.

It found a target.

Sokka had watched from the window of the meeting hall with Katara, and had grown restless during the show. While he knew Aang to be an impressive bender the water tribe warrior felt that the young monk just didn't have the warrior instinct that he'd been given by his father. So when Sokka saw the Avatar get swatted away like a fly for the second time, he decided it was time to step in. It took wrestling his arm from Katara's hold, but it didn't take long before Sokka was free and running out of the hall.

Once he got close enough Sokka pulled out his trusted boomerang and lobbed it at the monstrous spiritual entity who's attention was diverted by searching for a target. That's when the pony-tailed warrior received a shock, because his weapon simply bounced right off the shoulder of the black-and-white giant. And then it turned to look directly at him, and Sokka knew he was in trouble.

"AAAHHH!"

That scream, and the familiarity of the voice, was what got Aang back on his feet quickly. And once he was, the cloaked youth was met with the sight of the Black-and-White spirit making its way out of the village with Sokka clutched in one of its smaller, pitch-black hands.

"Sokka!" Aang cried out before racing after the pair. He tossed his glider into the air, and once it fully opened up the airbending master hopped up and began to soar between trees in an attempt to catch up with the spirit. The tattooed monk wiz-ed through the branches, doing his best to not only keep his speed, but increase it, as he kept his eyes on the swift-moving spirit in front of him.

And it seemed like it might work; Aang was within reach of Sokka's outstretched hand, but then in a flash of light both the water tribe teen and the spirit were gone.

xXx

Zuko lead his men through the wilderness of the Earth-Kingdom, each firebender keeping an eye out for any sight of the ex-prince's captured uncle. The pony-tailed teen had returned to the hot-springs exactly thirty minutes after leaving the elderly man only to find that he was gone. And it didn't take Zuko long before he realized what had happened; Iroh had been captured by earthbenders.

Since then Zuko and a small band of his soldiers had head out in search of the retired general. They had trekked throughout the woods of the Earth-Kingdom province they'd docked in for hours at this point, and the sun had finally set. Something Zuko's men immediately took notice of.

"Excuse me Prince Zuko, but, it's getting late and I don't believe we'll be of any help to your uncle if we run into the earthbenders while suffering from exhaustion. I think it'd be a good idea to take a break-"

"If you want to return to the ship be my guest, but expect to be on bathroom duty for the remainder of the search for the Avatar; and that goes for anyone else that wants to rest." Zuko cut the tired soldier off, it was more than clear how furious the scarred teen was that one of his men even suggested letting his uncle's captors get even farther away.

And it only got worse when Zuko found himself searching alone; his men finding rest to be a fair trade for cleaning toilets.

But Iroh was his uncle, and after everything the older man had done for him, there was nothing that would stop Zuko from getting him back. Even if he had to do it alone.

xXx

Gray eyes shot open as Aang awoke from his unexpected slumber, and when he realized he was on his back the young Avatar sprang to his feet. From there he whipped his bald head left and right with only one thought racing through his mind: Where was Sokka!?

Aang searched for a good few minutes, calling out the captive teen's name for extra range, but soon the tattooed monk realized that it was futile and gave up.

"Rrr...Aah!" Growling first in anger Aang eventually gave in to the negative emotions and went to unleash a powerful swipe of his staff...only to be left speechless when all the trees were still standing.

"What in the..." The mind-boggled airbending master looked between the forest edge and his glider, trying to make sense of what had just happened, before trying to connect with his core and fly. But after five minutes of searching the Avatar couldn't feel anything; and that scared him.

What happened to his bending!?

'Did the Black-and-White spirit take it from me while I was passed out?' Aang wondered, his head lowered in thought. And it's then that the Avatar saw it; his feet were transparent, Aang could see the dirt floor beneath his boots. With this realization came surprise and caused the young pre-teen to examine the rest of his body, which showed that the rest of the Avatar's body had changed as well.

That's when it all clicked; his lack of bending power and the odd new look, Aang was in the Spirit World.

"But how did I cross over?" The bald youth wondered as he took stock of his new situation. "I'm pretty sure I didn't die, since the previous Avatar's aren't here to greet me, so what happened?"

"Did the elderly man not already tell you; the Winter Solstice is fast approaching, and as such, your ability to cross between realms becomes as easy as stepping over National boarders."

This soft voice made the Avatar's heart lurch, but he managed to keep a cool facade as he turned around. And once he did, the bald youth's gaze met the sight of a woman, one that he'd read about during his studies. She was tall...or long, depending on how you looked at it, as the woman's entire lower-body resembled the bottom of a snake. Her raven-black hair was water-falling down her back, stopping at the waist, and framed the woman's beautiful face. But what really drew Aang's attention was the spirit's eyes.

They were those of a serpent; and it was accented by an eerie, green glow.

This was Cuiman-She; the hypnotic-serpent.

"Oh there's no need for such formality young Avatar, especially since you and I used to be so close." Cuiman hissed smoothly as she slank towards the hooded monk. But as she got within five feet, Aang saw how the spirit's face contorted in annoyance. "Or at least we were before that...witch, came between us."

"You mean Oma?" Aang questioned.

Cuiman let out a snort, as if she were insulted, before replying. "Feh, as if. No spirit outside the Shanguan would even think to mess with the Queen of Earth." The half-serpent woman was now wrapped around the young pre-teen's svelte body, her lips graced his large ear as she went on to speak again. "No, the one I speak of is that water tribe woman; Ummi. And so, of course, I had to do something about that. I had to have the little tramp...taken care of."

On his end, Aang went through something similar to what happened at Bumi's palace. His mind was filled with the images of a beautiful, ivory-skinned woman with waist-length hair and a kind smile. But this image didn't last long, and it was soon replaced by that of something horrifying; a dark, devious, vindictive spirit.

'Koh.' The name reverberated through Aang's head as an image of a giant centipede-like spirit flashed in his memory; one with a snarky smirk on its Noh-masked face, like he was superior to all who faced him. Just the thought of the face-stealer made the Avatar's blood boil.

Cuiman noticed this and it made her lips curl back in a slithery smile. Reminiscing about Ummi made the serpentine half-a recall just how she'd gotten rid of the water tribe woman. She'd gone crying to the faceless spirit, claiming that Kuruk, the Avatar at the time, had been two-timing her with Ummi while lying to her face about it. Cuiman used her natural beauty from the time to sway the normally lethargic Koh into action; and while the victory was sweet at first, the punishment that came swiftly after has haunted the woman for the hundreds of years afterwards.

The Spirit Council decided that Cuiman-She, once known as Meinu, would be punished for her jealousy and gave her an appearance that would match her slithering personality. And thinking about that made the spirit angry; turning her smile into a scowl.

A scowl that Aang managed to see out of the corner of his eye.

The bald monk chose to ignore it though, choosing instead to ask about his current predicament. "Putting the past aside, what can you tell me about the Black-and-White spirit, and why or how I managed to cross over into the Spirit World? Because I have something I need to do, it involves that spirit, and I can't get it done sitting around with you."

"The Black-and-White spirit?" Cuiman-She questioned, her smooth voice tinged with intrigue. "You mean the protector of the forest; Hei Bai? What sort of buisness could you possibly have with that giant fur-ball my love?"

"Protector of the forest?" Aang echoed in curiosity. He turned his head to look the taller spirit in the eye. "So then are you trying to tell me that the behemoth I was fighting earlier is supposed to be some sort of tree-hugging teddy bear?"

Cuiman-She giggled behind one of her well-manicured hands before going on to tell the young Avatar that the spirit he'd been battling was indeed a 'teddy bear'. "He's a giant panda dear, but when he's angered Hei Bai becomes a terror the likes of which no man would dare to cross...and he's only a C-rank."

"So then what do I do; how do I calm Hei Bai down?"

"You're the Avatar my love, shouldn't you be telling me about how to do this?"

"I would," Aang replied hotly. "Except I don't know what I'm doing here; I don't know how to be the Avatar Cuiman-She."

"Why not ask that old goat, Roku? Wasn't he your passed life; some firebender I believe."

"I would, in fact Monk Gyatso told me that's what I'm supposed to do, but I have no idea how to contact Avatar Roku so that I can get his help."

Something in her peripheral vision caught the snake-woman's attention, drawing Cuiman's slit-eyed gaze away from Aang and skyward...where she saw a dragon, of all things, flying towards them. "Well, maybe you can ask him."

Confused, Aang eyed the spirit wrapped around him before turning his attention upward towards the night sky like she had done. And once he did the Avatar was also graced with the sight of a large, serpentine dragon gliding down towards the ground. With its large wings it didn't take long for the mythical reptile to touch down in front of the pair.

On his part Aang managed to keep his fear to a minimum; instead feeling awe at the sight of such a magnificent creature.

The bald youth stood there, silent and still, waiting to see what the scaly flier wanted with him. And he wasn't made to wait long. Soon after landing the dragon reached out one of its long whiskers and tapped it against the Avatar's arrow-covered forehead. Once that happened, Aang's mind was bombarded with images of Avatar Roku and the man's time spent with the fire-breather.

The dragon was Roku's animal guide during the former Avatar's lifetime, like Appa is to Aang now.

Roku was trying to contact him.

"So does this mean you're going to take me to see him?" Aang asked. When Fang, the dragon, nodded in response Aang turned to look at Cuiman-She. "So will you be alright with this, or do I have to worry about you trying to do-in my former life for taking me away from you?"

Cuiman giggled demurely as she unwound herself from around the young Avatar's lithe body. She finished, and began to slither away, but just as she got to the edge of the treeline Cuiman-She spoke. Her smooth, snake-like voice mixed with her slit amber eyes made for a goose-bump raising scene. "Oh he'll be fine my dear, but just know, that I'll be watching. I won't let you get taken from me again."

And then, like a ghost in the night, Cuiman-She vanished.

Once she was gone, and he no longer felt like he was being watched, Aang turned his attention back to Fang and motioned that he was ready to go. The majestic dragon bent his head to allow the young monk aboard, and once the airbending master was situated, it took off into the sky.

xXx

Zuko stared down the six earthbenders that stood between him and his uncle. The young teen's fellow firebender had been abducted earlier that day by these men, and after turning down a chance to find the Avatar, Zuko finally managed to hunt down the men who'd captured Iroh. And now that he had, Zuko intended to teach them a lesson; no one tried to separate he and his uncle and got away with it.

"Look what we've got here boys, a snot-nosed punk who thinks he's got what it takes to handle all six of us alone." The leader of the earthbending unit laughed. His arrogance saturated his words and spread to his fellow soldiers, who soon followed in his laughter.

Zuko just glared at the men before him, then as he entered into a fighting stance the banished prince looked over at his bound uncle. He saw his uncle give him a smirk, and that's when he knew it was time. "I may be outnumbered, but you're definitely outmatched." Zuko followed this by sending out a fireball barrage out at his enemies.

His plan worked and the six men were forced to either bend a wall of earth to defend themselves, or roll out of the way if they didn't have time to erect one. Zuko zeroed in on a soldier that he noticed out of the corner of his eye was rolling away. He flowed through his last fire-punch and turned it into a roundhouse kick that sent out a lash of flame in the man's direction. The teen didn't get to see what happened to the soldier though, because Zuko had to leap back to avoid a series of earth-spikes that was sent his way, which drew his attention to one of the more centralized men.

The soldier had forged the projectiles out of the wall he'd put up to block Zuko's first attack, and had sent them through the air in hopes of catching the banished prince off-guard.

But Zuko was well trained, and after he managed to avoid it the scarred teen set his sights on the earthbender that tried to do him in, and sent a cross-arm strike his way. The blazing 'x' sailed through the air towards the soldier but Zuko was forced to turn his attention again, this time though, it was because he had to fire off a shot to keep one of the other soldiers from crushing his uncle's hands.

"Why don't you stop fighting like cowards and—argh!" Zuko didn't get to finish his question, instead being knocked off his feet by a blind-sided floor pull that made the pony-tailed warrior fall to his hands and knees.

From his place on the ground Zuko could see the smug smirks on the Earth-Kingdom men's faces, and this angered him, which came out in a series of kicks that sent bursts of orange fire whizzing through the air and towards the soldiers. It was then that Zuko noticed something; one of them was missing. It was the one that he'd sent the 'x' at, he was now a sizzling corpse. The banished prince then rolled back and onto his feet before jumping up, and then coming down with a fist in the earth, which sent streaks of flame slithering across the rocky floor.

With its incredible speed, Zuko's newest attack managed to catch another soldier slipping. And the moment it made contact with the man's foot, an eruption of searing fire exploded out from the tip of the flame streak. Anguished cries followed as the Earth-Kingdom native was engulfed entirely in burning fire, his skin could easily be seen peeling off as he started to attempt putting out the blazing trap.

But those efforts were in vain, and the cries were soon turned to gurgles as the soldier's throat was torn apart by the fire. It wasn't long before the earthbender was laying in a charred heap among his element.

With two down and four to go Zuko went to work cutting down the remainder of the Earth-Kingdom soldiers. Now that their numbers were reduced, the scarred teen found it easier to get inside their guard, which was how Zuko wound up pummeling a third enemy in close-range combat; using his superior speed Zuko managed to move across the field and lay into one of the closer soldiers. Zuko started with a palm strike to the man's sternum, which knocked him off balance so that the firebender could follow up with a fist to the face, and end with a rising punch to the stomach. That last attack forced the earthbender to haunch over, leaving him wide open for Zuko to finish him; the banished prince took hold of the guy's head, and with his other hand, blasted fire in the older man's face.

Dropping his latest dead body to the cold ground Zuko swiftly jumped high in the air upon hearing his uncle cry out in alarm. It turned out to be a good move, because from his place in the air, the scarred teen looked down and saw one of the three men remaining pop up out from the rocky battleground. He had been attempting to surprise the firebender from behind.

Deciding that defense wasn't for him, Zuko went on to move his body into another attack. This time he went for a flame-wheel. Zuko flipped his body in rapid spins, before lashing out with an ax-kick, which sent the ring of fire hurtling down to earth. Unfortunately, the attack missed its mark, as its target saw the slow-moving scorcher in time and managed to avoid it.

From his place in the air the scarred teen was able to see the entire field, and this gave him the ability to twist out of the path of a series of large boulders that were thrown his way. Letting himself fall back to the ground, Zuko barley let his boots taste the earth before he pushed off and rolled to the side, so as to avoid being skewered by erupting stalagmites. From there, Zuko pushed off the ground and sent a flying roundhouse flame in the direction of one of the soldiers, before landing and letting loose a series of fire punches and finishing with a shooting a fire-ball from his cupped hands. Two of the men managed to avoid being hit, but Zuko's ears caught the cry of pain from the third soldier and watched a moment as the guy dropped down clutching his chest in agony.

Zuko smirked; this was it.

Rushing on his feet, Ozai's son quickly closed the gap between him and his last two opponents. Once he got there Zuko went low and swept the mens' feet out from under them. But the crimson warrior didn't stop there, he followed up his first attack by burying his fist into one of the soldier's stomachs and then with a spartan-kick send him away. With just one guy close by, Zuko created a dagger with his fire-bending and proceeded to impale the man still on the ground; the sizzling of burning flesh, mixed with the grunt of pain further fueled Zuko's adrenalin. So it was with the smokey scent of burning skin that the scarred teen propelled himself over to finish off his final opponent.

xXx

It didn't take Aang long to realize that Fang was taking him into Fire nation territory, and considering that Roku himself started as a firebender, the young Avatar wasn't too surprised by the fact that this was where he'd need to go to speak with the former Spirit Bridge.

He watched as Roku's dragon flew them over the sea and towards a crescent-shaped island. And as they got closer, Aang could clearly begin to see a temple mounted at the peak of the mountain strip. It was done in customary Fire Nation colors of black, red, and gold with several floors stacked atop one another. It was a beautiful construction, and Aang was a bit surprised something like this still existed among the harsh new reality that the Fire Nation lived in.

It just seemed...out of place.

Never the less, Aang allowed the ghostly dragon to bring him closer and closer to the temple until finally the passed right through one of the walls and entered inside. But that wasn't the end. No, Fang then went on to do a sharp turn up into the air and rocket upwards. He flew until they reached what appeared to be the ceiling, and this confused the young monk on his back, but then after phasing through it Aang realized that there was one more floor. One that housed a golden statue of Roku.

Fang settled on the floor and allowed Aang to dismount him. From there the young pre-teen stepped over towards the statue and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, with a sigh, the young monk turned away from his past life and asked the dragon behind him what was wrong. Fang let out a noise before touching Aang's tattooed forehead again; this time to show him an image of a flaming comet. "So he wants to talk to me about Sozin's Comet?"

The dragon nodded in response, prompting the arrow-covered youth to ask how he was supposed to speak with Roku. Fang just motioned to the floor, and so Aang looked down at it, only to realize just what it was he stood upon. A calender. And as an added hint Fang lowered his head away from the roof and revealed a bright, red light. It shone directly to the right of Roku's head, indicating that tomorrow would be when it would touch down on the statue.

"During the Solstice," Aang concluded. It made sense though, as that was the time when the Human and Spirit worlds were closest to each other. "Okay, so I have to come back here by tomorrow to talk with Roku about a hundred year old comet, but how does that help me with my situation now. I still don't know how to stop the Black-and-White spirit."

This seemed to be where Fang's guidance stopped because all the once mighty dragon did was lower his head down for Aang to climb aboard again. Figuring this was a test of some sort for being the Avatar Aang decided, begrudgingly, to follow the dragon's lead and settled back atop his head. From there Fang went on to fly them back to the forest where he'd found Aang.

It was in a flash of light that Aang opened his eyes again. Only this time, when he looked at himself, the young boy realized that he was back inside his body. His trip into the Spirit World was over.

As he took stock of his return to the Human world Aang noticed something in the corner of his eye. It was brown, with a texture much like the trees, but was surrounded by charred remains of forest that had been burnt away. Upon closer inspection as he hauled himself to his feet Aang realized that what he was looking at was a statue.

One carved from wood, and it was done in the likeness of a bear.

Aang stared at the totem for a moment, taking in its oddly untouched image, before he found his gaze drawn to the eyes...and that's when it hit him. The spirit he'd been fighting was the protector of the forest that had been destroyed, and it now blamed the village nearby for the horrors inflicted upon its home.

'Okay, so I've got the who down, now I just need a way to calm them down,' the young Avatar thought to himself as he let his eyes wander around the blackened forest floor.

The entirety of the earth, for as far as Aang could see, was baron and desolate, its scarred surface only dotted every once and a while by destroyed tree limbs or one of the many acorns that littered the ground. All-in-all, it looked like something out of an old war story, and helped the master airbender understand just why it was that the spirit was so enraged.

It was also what made Aang think to recall his studies, and the different spiritual entities he'd managed to read about. One of which stood out in his mind; Hei Bai. A spirit of the forest who, while normally a peaceful being, had the power to become a dangerous monster when threatened or insulted. And while no one ever wrote down what this Hei Bai looked like, as all who ever came in contact with the spirit was someone who'd angered it, it felt too circumstantial considering the situation Aang was going through.

And it was with that belief, that Hei Bai was who he was dealing with, which gave Aang his idea on how to stop all the kidnappings and maybe even rescue all those that had already been abducted.

'I just have to hope this works,' he thought before taking flight with his glider.

When Aang returned to the village he was immediately met by Katara, who had sat by the entrance with Appa and Momo. She asked about Sokka, and why Aang had been gone so long.

"I wasn't able to get to Sokka before the spirit disappeared, but I think I know how to not only get him back, but also how to stop all this. Now I just need to wait for the sun to go down."

"But what are you going to do?" Katara questioned.

Aang reached into his cloak, pulled out an acorn, and replied that he was going to try and use a little gentle understanding. "As the bridge between the worlds I need to try and do this without offending Hei Bai, but also without damaging the peoples views on the Spirit World. So I'm hoping to show the spirit of the forest that there's still hope for its home."

"With an acorn?"

"Just watch," was Aang's response. And then he stopped speaking, putting a hand up to keep Katara from questioning him further, as he watched the sun descend from its place in the sky.

Once the orange and purple of evening darkened to the starry blackness of night Aang wasn't made to wait long for Hei Bai to make another appearance. The distorted forest spirit stalked its way out from the treeline and over the wall to get inside the village; obviously forgetting about its encounter with Aang the night before.

But Aang hadn't forgotten, and this time he had a new attack strategy.

The young Avatar made sure to stand in Hei Bai's way, and once the spirit stopped its stride he began to speak. "Wait, I'm not going to fight you, I know about why you're so upset Hei Bai but I'm going to have to ask you to calm down and return all those that you've abducted." As he spoke, the young monk held out his hand, and showed the enraged spirit the same acorn he'd shown to Katara. "See, the forest isn't lost, there are thousands of these laying in the dirt meaning that one day your home will grow back."

Aang watched as Hei Bai's body stopped shuddering, a clear sign that the spirit was beginning to calm down, but the black-and-white monster had yet to return to its original state. Meaning Aang had to push a little harder.

"Look, I understand the brutality of the Fire Nation better than most so I know exactly what you're going through, but abducting the people of this village and destroying their homes isn't going to make you feel any better." This is where Aang had to take a breath; he sent a small prayer to the Spirit world, and then continued to speak. "Which is why I'm asking you to help me in making those who did this to you pay. I want your help in taking vengeance on the Fire Nation."

Hei Bai made a noise that sounded like a question and Aang answered. "As the Avatar, I have the ability to summon spirits from their realm to aid me in battle, so once I've mastered that power I promise you that I'll let you have your shot at the monsters who burned down your home. I just need you to trust me."

The protector of the forest stared down at the cloaked airbender that stood before it, as if judging whether or not to believe him,before in a flash of light Hei Bai went on to change from a monstrous animal to a gentle panda that resembled the wooden statue from the charred forest.

It leaned down and placed the acorn in Aang's hand between its teeth; a sign that the Avatar's deal was accepted. And then, Hei Bai turned around and exited the village through a thicket of bamboo that it created...one that soon was rustling, and revealed a handful of people. Including Sokka.

"Sokka!" Katara called out in relief and excitement as she rushed up to hug him. "Oh thank the spirits, you're okay. I thought something terrible was going to happen to you."

"Uhg," Sokka groaned. "What happened?"

Katara pulled away from her brother and told him that he'd been in the Spirit World for twenty-four hours, and then asked how he felt.

"Like I really have to go to the bathroom," Sokka groaned before rushing off to do just as he said.

It was later on, after all those that had been abducted were reunited with their loved ones, that Aang and his crew decided it was time to head out.

"I don't know how we could ever thank you Avatar Aang, you've saved us all from who knows what and I can't imagine a great enough reward." The head of the village explained.

Aang shook his head in the negative, saying that he didn't need a reward for doing his job. "All I ask is that you be ready to take up arms against the Fire Nation when the time comes. I will get our world back, the question is whether I do it alone or not."

The revolutionary trio saw the different looks that were spread out among the crowd; some looked ready now, while others were terrified of the idea, and some just looked unsure. Katara saw these faces and questioned if such a request was really necessary. "These people don't have any bending ability, or even warrior training." She whispered.

"That's true, but after what I've just seen I'll need all the help I can get," Aang replied. "While I was in the Spirit World I was shown a vision of Sozin's Comet, and if it means what I think it does, then we've got a big problem."

"But what if you're wrong?" Sokka asked.

"Well that's just it," the Avatar continued. "I have a way to find out, but there's a bit of a problem with where I'll be getting the information. It's in the Fire Nation."

xXx

A/N: And there's the first part of Winter Solstice. I hope you guys thought it was interesting, especially my expansion with the whole Ko story. Just so everyone knows, I'll be doing a lot more with the Spirit World than the original series did; it always bothered me how they just dropped that aspect after season 1.

Also, I was thinking over where I'm going to take this story while I walked my dogs this morning, and all I can say is that I hope you all enjoy my plan. I've got some interesting ideas, some of which I've never seen done before and I hope you guys like them.

Next chapter is part 2, and that one will end on an important note. There's also the meeting Aang is gonna have with Roku, which is going to be important for Aang's development.

Um...I think that's all I can think of to say about this, so make sure to PM and/or review with any questions, comments, or whatever.