Time for another chapter! Ready to meet our good friend King Bumi's like great great great grandson? Or something like that? I know our favorite trio is! Enjoy :) Also, sorry for the confusion! I can't believe I forgot and actually put Bumi in this chapter! Well have no fear, it is edited and all fixed up!
Chapter 10.
The little group stayed at the same campsite for a few more days before continuing their journey to the North Pole. Aang and Katara practiced waterbending nearly the whole time. Aang was improving quickly, and he was already at an intermediate level. Currently he was stuck an octopus stance, it was defiantly harder then the previous stances he had mastered. Mostly because it was the least like airbending, making him actually think like a waterbender.
Sokka was curious on what went on during Aang and Katara's early morning walk. When they came back they still were blushing like mad, and they were slightly avoiding each other. Of course the avoiding only lasted for a few hours. Soon they were back to their usual flirting selves. Sokka instantly knew something was up. As much as it disturbed him, it really made his day to see the to lovers in so much discomfort.
Aang was the one who declared that they needed to start up their travels again. Although it was nice to stay lazy for a few days, they still were running on a tight schedule.
They decided to head towards the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. It was a few days away, and it was toward a general northern position. Sokka wasn't to thrilled to stop at another city. He knew that every populated area they stopped to rest was a risk from being attacked by the Fire Nation.
Aang convinced him that he used to go to Omashu a lot when he was younger to visit his friend Bumi. Sokka did hold up the argument that Bumi is dead by now, but Aang still managed to make him go.
They had been flying for several days now, and finally they reached the city. The water tribe siblings stared at it in awe, it was massive. The whole city was in a pyramid shape with houses and building spiraling up it. It had large chutes that circled around the entire city, although they weren't sure what they were for.
"Welcome to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" Aang announced with a big grin on his face. He laughed at their awestruck faces.
"They have buildings that don't melt!" Sokka commented, wishing he had heard of things like this before he insisted on continuously rebuilding the igloos, not like they had much choice.
"Erm, yeah. They kind of don't have a choice." Aang looked over at Sokka with a 'way to go brainiac' expression.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it was magnificent." Katara noted, sending him a small glance.
"I don't lie about things like this," Aang said, landing Appa a little ways from the city, not wanting to draw to much attention to them.
The trio dismounted the bison, and while the water tribe siblings headed off towards the entrance of the city, Aang gave Appa a quick goodbye, promising his friend that they will return soon.
As they walked along the narrow strip of earth, they watched the guards that they will have to go through. Taking mental notes on what not to do when they saw the guards kick some of the people in front of them out.
"Aang, maybe we should hide your arrow incase, well, you know." Katara's concerned voice whispered towards the monk. Well, according to her memories of him a few days ago, he wasn't much of a monk.
"Nah, we'll be fine. What can two earthbenders do against the Avatar, a waterbending master, and a warrior?" Aang asked her, knowing that she couldn't deject that statement.
"I guess your right…" Her voice held a air of uncertainty, hoping they won't regret that decision.
"Who are you, and what is your business here?" One of the tall, burly guards demanded. The other one bended a large boulder out of the ground and held it over their heads, trying to intimidate them. Of course it worked, to a certain extent.
"I am Avatar Aang, this is my waterbending master, Katara, my-" He thought for a moment, what would he call Sokka without offending him? You're the idea guy! Think of something! Katara's voice echoed in his head. "And he is my strategist." Aang smiled proudly, he was doing a good job at this. Or so he thought. "We come to speak with the earth king on matters about the war." Okay, so that was partly a lie.
The guards stared at the trio of teenagers in front of them. Sure, the kid who said he was the Avatar had arrow tattoos of a master airbender, but so did every Avatar impersonator. They burst out laughing, and it died quickly when they saw the still serious expressions of the kids in front of them. Suddenly the rock dropped lower, threateningly.
"We don't have time for your trickery, Kid. We meet a hundred Avatars a day. You are going to need a better costume then that to make us believe you. Now leave, you are wasting our time." The guard who held the rock over their head spoke. His voice was low and held authority within it.
Aang closed his eyes in utter concentration. He planted his feet firmly into the ground and concentrated on the mass of earth above him, trying to see control of it. A minute passed of him doing this, and once he finally got the feel of the levitating rock, he struck out and the rock shot out from the guard's control, and it flung out, falling to the dark abyss below.
"You calling me a liar?" Aang was suddenly right in their face, he moved from being ten feet away from them, to right in their personal space in the blink of an eye. Obviously he moved with speed enhanced by airbending.
The two guards huddled together, slightly scared of the powerful kid in front of them. Of course, he didn't do much to exert the look of pure power, but the way he looked at them, the way he spoke, it made it clear that he was not a force to reckon with.
"No! No, we uh, uh, how can we be sure you are the Avatar?" One of the guards timidly asked, looking over to his buddy to see if he was in the same condition he was. He was.
"I just earthbended, then airbended over to you. What more proof do you need?" Aang spluttered, irritated. How thick were their skulls?
"Well it is hard to be sure if you used airbending, or if you are just a really fast kid." The second guard replied, trying not to piss off the teen in front of him anymore than he had to.
Aang sighed, and moved his hands in a circular motion, soon a spiral of wind was copy his arm's movements, and within a split second he stuck his arms out foreword, and out shot the wind. It knocked the helmets off of the guards.
"It is true. You really are the Avatar. Please, forgive us for our rude behavior." They spoke, bowing towards him.
"You are forgiven." Aang replied, smiling at the cocky pitch to his voice. Katara sent him a glare as if saying he was overdoing it, but he just pointed to the spot on her neck that held the very, very faint red mark from the hickey he gave her days ago. It had nearly vanished now, but he still used it against her. Her hands quickly shot up to the spot, covering it again, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
By the end of this exchange of looks, the giant earthen walls had opened, allowing them access to the city. They bowed gratefully to the guards, and walked in happily. Sokka decided that they really should go visit the earth king to discuss the war, maybe he could help them, besides, Aang needs an earthbending teacher. Shouldn't the king be an earthbender?
"Hellooo…" A girly voice giggled out. Aang snapped his head up to see where the voice came from. He saw a young girl in her early teens walking towards him 'flirtatiously'. He forced himself to not roll his eyes.
"Erm, hi," he said uncomfortably. The girl was all over him. Didn't her parents teach her personal space?
"I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?" She asked in a annoyingly high-pitched voice.
Typical. Looking at fresh meat always thrilled most boy crazy teens. He just wondered how many other men were victims of her tactics.
"Yes, we are." A new voice chimed in, one that sounded territorial, and pissed. This was a voice that he was all too familiar with. A voice that was owned by a angel, Katara.
"Oh, yeah. Well it was nice meeting, you?" The girl shifted uncomfortably under Katara's stern glare. She also noticed Katara's extra emphasis on the 'we'.
"Well, we must get going." Aang interrupted the two girl's meeting. He knew that when somebody set Katara off, you just need to get her out of there as quick as possible before something bad happened.
Once they were a good distance away, Sokka began to question the couple. The look Katara sent the girl was a look of 'back off, this is my property.' Not a look of 'will you just leave my friend alone?' No, this was the look a girlfriend would give to any girl who looked at her boyfriend in intimate way. A look that could kill… Well, knowing Katara, any look could kill.
"So… What exactly happened between you guys when you went on that walk days ago?" Sokka asked the question that had been burning on the back of his mind for such a long time.
Aang stumbled slightly, mostly from the shock of the question. He quickly regained himself. "N-nothing! Why would you think that something happened between us?"
Sokka looked at him slyly. Now he was convinced something happened. He risked a glance over at Katara to see her sending him a glare.
"Sokka." She threatened in her sibling argument voice. He hated to sound like a sissy, but whenever Katara used that voice with him, it always sent some kind of chill up his spine.
"I'm just saying, I saw that look you gave that girl. It was a lot different then a normal look of someone trying to get someone else to back away from a friend. It was rather, territorial." Sokka said, hoping this conversation would end up to his benefit.
"I think you over analyze things." Katara said, irritated.
"Does your walk have anything to do with that suspicious red mark?" Sokka's eyes shifted to the faded area of skin that held, what he believed to be a hickey.
"NO!" Katara and Aang both shouted, and instantly they looked away and blushed. Confirming Sokka's theory.
"I knew it!" The wannabe warrior exclaimed happily. Then the realization of what that mark meant hit him.
"You are so dead." Sokka's happy dance turned into a vicious scowl, now he wished more than ever that he were taller than Aang.
"Heh… It was a accident?" Aang said questionably, knowing it wouldn't work.
"Like that is going to work."
"I tried!"
"Not hard enough!" Sokka half growled, but by now their little argument went from its former serious air, to a joke.
"You guys are so immature." Katara grumbled at their useless bickering. At least they weren't constantly at each other's throats like they were when they first met. Now she could at least enjoy some time of peace.
They walked on, going up the spiraling city. The higher they went, the higher the class of people they saw. It started out at smaller houses, and now the houses where large and spacious. Clearly they were meant for the upper ring men.
It didn't take to long to reach the palace. The time passed quicker with their conversations. Sokka rambled on about random topics, while young single women constantly attacked Aang. Katara was clearly busy shooing them all away from him.
The palace was beautiful, but it paled in comparison to the Southern Air Temple. Then again, just about everything paled in comparison to the glorious temple. Really, the only thing that could give the temple a run for its money would be the other air temples.
The palace was decorated heavily with green, and large earth kingdom symbols were at nearly every wall. They expected that, so it wasn't really a big 'wow' when they saw it. Aang had experience with this palace. His old dear friend Bumi lived here, and Aang often visited him a lot. The two friends knew the palace inside and out. They even discovered many secret caverns and escape roots.
One of Aang's favorite memories with Bumi was when they used the delivery system as a large slide. Aang, of course, used airbending to enhance their speed. Bumi used earthbending to send them from one chute to another, and the two caused some pretty big damage.
Although the punishment was horrible, they still loved to do it again and again. Aang probably would of gone done the mail system again, but he knew the matters of war were much more important. Course, he had no idea what they would talk about, but guess it never hurt to plan ahead.
Aang was excited to meet the King of Omashu, since he must be Bumi's son. But maybe, by some chance, Bumi was still alive. Aang shook his head and laughed quietly. No, impossible.
"We wish to speak with the King," Sokka's voice awakened Aang from his thoughts. In front of them was another set of guards, guarding the entrance to the throne room.
After explanation of who they were, and some laughing fits from the guards, they finally got them to believe them. Both of the guards stomped their foot on the ground, and both of the large doors creaked open. In walked the small trio, watching their surrounding area cautiously, as if something was about to jump out at them.
"Why hello! Who might you be?" A old, happy voice called out in warm welcome.
In the giant green chair sat one of the oldest, crinkliest people they had ever saw. Nah, he wasn't that old. But it was close enough to boost their imagination of him being older.
"I'm Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. This is my sister, Katara. Our friend over here is the Avatar." Sokka introduced them as he bowed in respect to the King of Omashu.
When the king set his eyes on the trio, he didn't find anything to unusual. Just two water tribe siblings coming in to speak with him about something. He didn't even take notice of the presence of the third person until the boy Sokka had said his name, or, rather, his title.
When he heard the word Avatar, was when he noticed the presence of the third person. It was rather exciting, really. He would of never thought that he would see the Avatar in his life time. Didn't the Avatar used to be friends with the former King Bumi, like 500 years ago? Psh... Like they would ever meet again! (A/N: Glances around the room nervously. What? It isn't my fault I forgot the timeline for this chapter...)
"We wish to speak to you about the war," Aang voiced, stepping up, in front of Sokka.
The king looked at the Avatar, he smiled a old, wrinkled up kind of smile. Well, for someone of his age, it was the only kind of smile. He was almost a hundred years old. Long life spans lived in the family. Psh... Not like anyone could live for 500 hundred years. (A/N: Notice how I keep making fun of my, extremely moronic mistake?)
"Of course! Come; let's discuss this over a feast. It's not everyday the Avatar drops bye." King Bumi looked over at his guard expectantly, and watched him scurry off to prepare the feast.
With some small entertainment to pass the time, the feast was in motion, and everyone was seated accordingly at the table. Sokka stuffed his face, zoning out the world while he ate. Katara took girl like bites of food, trying to look somewhat dignified. Aang just stared at the King, he couldn't help by find that something was familiar about him.
"May I ask, do you know anything about King Bumi?" Aang asked the question that had been haunting him ever since they stepped foot into this city.
The old king smiled, King Bumi was a well known king. His rule was filled with prosperity to the city, well as much prosperity as possible with the Fire Nation beginning the war. In his teachings he remembered how the old, former king used to come up with all kinds of mischief with the Avatar.
"Avatar, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet. Don't you see the resemblance? Haha! Of course not. He was a successful ruler, and loved by his people. I'm sure you will be glad to hear that." The king laughed, loud snorts coming and going at random intervals.
"Oh! So they still have the same traditions of the first born son of the king, becomes king after his father?" It wasn't much of a question, since it was already answered. But Aang smiled fondly, apparently the new king still had some of King Bumi's former traits, such as the crazy snorting and upbeat attitude.
"I never expected to ever see the Avatar in my presence. I thought the world was doomed. You gave me hope again." Bumi looked fondly at Aang, smiling.
"Heh, I get that a lot." Aang laughed and stepped back to his spot across from Katara.
Aang went on to talk about his adventures with Bumi, and all of their plots and plans against some of the noble men. They talked, and laughed, catching up on what they missed. Bumi was fascinated by how Aang was rescued from his icy prison. Aang was fascinated on how Bumi became king, and how he was still alive.
"So you and the water tribe girl, eh?" The King asked, winking at the Avatar. Over their conversation, he already felt a budding friendship with the Avatar.
Katara choked on her water. Now that was something. You never heard of a master waterbender, choking on water. Aang nearly dropped his fork, but caught it before it clattered to the ground. The two glanced at each other and blushed, looking away quickly.
"What? Noo… We're just friends." Aang said quickly, looking at Bumi with a 'are you crazy!' expression.
"BULLSHIT!" Sokka shouted, slamming his fists on the table dejectedly. "My sister has a fricken hickey on her neck from you! I know what you guys did on your little 'walk' with each other!" Sokka blamed, still laughing.
He watched the teens amusedly, he remembered when times where like that with him. He never really was interested in girls. He had many of them as friends, and he preferred it stay that way. He never felt like complicated his good friendships with romantic feelings. So he just grew old, but never alone.
"I told you it was a accident!" Aang sighed, knowing he would never live this down.
"Yeah, sure…" Sokka sighed, finally getting a hold of his laughter.
"Okay! Okay! Fine, Aang gave me a hickey. Big deal. Let's just forget about it. Do you remember why we came here? We came to discuss the war, now let's start discussing it." Katara said frustrated at her brother's immaturity.
The room settled quickly, and together they talked about the war. They decided that Aang was just going to have to master all the elements, just like their original plan. The king gave them all assurance that he will be supporting them all the way, and if they ever needed help, he will be there.
Aang decided that this was a productive day. He gained an alliance to help him, and managed to get several hugs from Katara. They weren't even forced!
Yeah, things were looking up.
Okay, so those of you who didn't read the un-editted chapter, I accidentally forgot my timeline and put the hundred year time span in here, and even had Aang re meet Bumi. Guess thats why you aren't supposed to type up a chapter way past midnight, huh? Got confused between some other short story I'm working on :/ But, please forgive me! As you can see, I corrected most of my errors through my quick scan over the chapter. Again, I'm sorry!