The Winter Solstice Part 1
Sorry for the long wait. First I didn't have time (stupid homework) then I didn't have any ideas (damn writers block) and then my family went on a road trip to somewhere without wi-fi.
OH, and just to remind you all, in case you forgot, Tora is a firebender and a waterbender. But it seems she hasn't been using her waterbending since the South Pole, right? Because now they're travelling around the Earth Kingdom, people assume that because she's Fire Nation, she's a firebender. So she can't use her waterbending as much. But she still can bend both fire and water!
Just reminding people, in case they forgot.
Disclaimer:
Tora: Lady of the Spirit doesn't own Avatar. (No matter how much she wants to.)
Aang: Why would she want to own me?
Me: No, I want to own Avatar, not THE Avatar.
Aang: Oooh… I still don't get it.
Tora: I didn't expect you to.
Done, now on with the story!
Edit: New version! Changes in the chapter. Watch out for them. Some of them are kinda subtle, but they're there.
"Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" Katara asked dreamily, staring at the fluffy white clouds over the edge of the saddle. "Like you could jump over the saddle and land in a big cottony heap." Not two seconds after she said that, Sokka spoke up, and gave a witty remark about how she should try it, and his sister responded with a "You're hilarious".
"I'll try it!" Aang offered, then promptly grabbed his staff and jumped off the saddle, plunging into the clouds below us.
"Let's see how this turns out." I said, looking over the saddle and staring at where he had disappeared.
A few seconds later, Aang shot out from the clouds on the other side and landed in front of us, soaking wet. "Did you know clouds are made of water?" He asked cheerfully, then he airbended himself dry.
I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I frowned, and stared in that direction, trying to see what it was. "What is that?"
The clouds cleared up, and we could all see it clearly. It was a forest… but it was wrong. There was a very large patch in the middle that was black, instead of green like the rest was.
"It looks… like a scar." Sokka said, mostly to himself. He sounded horrified.
~~Water~~
We landed right in the center of the black forest.
I inspected the ground, the burned trees, and the remains of everything there.
Fire Nation.
At the moment, I really, really, really, hated my people.
"Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled furiously. "Spirits, they make me sick! Those evil savages have no respe-"
Katara shushed him, and he responded with, "Am I not allowed to get angry?"
I sighed, and pointed to Aang. He was kneeling on the ground with a depressed look on his face. He scooped up the ash on the ground and poured it through his fingers. "Why would anyone do this?"
"It's probably a warning to a village somewhere around here. They probably managed to keep the Fire Nation out somehow, and they're giving the village a sign that says 'you can't fight us forever'." I said darkly. Katara and Sokka both glared at me, and I realized they hadn't needed an answer, and quickly shut my mouth. Now Aang looked even more depressed.
"How could I have let this happen?" Aang asked.
"Aang, this isn't your fault. This doesn't have anything to do with you." Katara said, trying to comfort him.
"Yes, it does. The Avatar is supposed to protect nature. But I don't even know how to do my job." Aang sighed.
"Of course you don't." I said, coming over and sitting next to him. "I don't think there's anyone who's willing to help us knows how to be the Avatar. Except Bumi, of course. But I don't think he'd be much help."
"Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me when the time came."
"Roku… you mean the Avatar before you? He died over a century ago. How would you be able to talk to him?" Sokka asked in confusion.
"I don't know." Aang sighed again, dropping his head.
"Aang, I don't know anything about the Avatar, or what he's supposed to do, besides keep balance in the world. But I think what it all comes down to, is what's in here." I pointed to his heart. "That's all that matters. Do what you think is best for both yourself and the world."
~~Water~~
Zuko pushed back bamboo reeds in annoyance. He had searched his whole ship from top to bottom, and there was no sign of his uncle anywhere. So, he had resorted to searching through the forest near the dock, calling out for his uncle. Soon enough, he found his uncle's robes hanging on a tree branch, and pushed passed it, revealing his uncle sitting in the center of a natural hot spring with steam coming off the surface.
"I'm here." Iroh said, waving at his nephew.
"Uncle, we need to start moving again. We're getting close to the Avatar. I don't want to lose him again!"
"You look tired, Prince Zuko." Iroh commented, completely disregarding his nephew's order. "Why not join me in the hot springs? Soak away your troubles."
Zuko mentally rolled his eyes. "My troubles cannot be soaked away." You should know that. "It's time for us to go!"
Iroh, it seemed, would not be swayed so easily. "A wise man once said, 'You should relax every once and a while.' The temperature's just right. I heated it myself." Iroh sat up, put his hands together, and breathed steam out of his nose. The steam rose from the water, getting in Zuko's face. As he waved his hand through the air, getting the steam away from himself, he glared at his uncle again.
"Get out of the water!"
"Very well." Iroh got to his feet, and Zuko immediately realized his mistake and put his hand up to block the view of his uncle… who, shall we say, was not wearing anything at the time.
"On second thought, I'll let you have some more time. But if you're not back in half an hour, I'll leave without you." And Zuko stormed off without another word.
Iroh sat back down in the hot spring. He knew full well his nephew would not leave without him, and he would stretch his half an hour for as long as he could.
~~Water~~
"Hey, Aang, ready to be cheered up?" Katara asked, coming over to the depressed Avatar. She had wandered off for a while, and now she had returned.
"No." Aang said, still sounding depressed. An acorn suddenly flew from Katara's hands and hit Aang in the side of his head. "OW! How was that supposed to cheer me up?!"
Sokka sniggered. "Well, it cheered me up." I rolled my eyes, plucked an acorn from the ground, and threw it at the idiot as hard as I could. It hit his forehead, and he rubbed it in pain. "Right. Not helping."
"No, it is not." I agreed with him.
Katara smiled at us, and then turned back to Aang. She knelt down beside him. "Look at these acorns, Aang. They're everywhere. What that means is that, someday, the forest will eventually grow back. The birds and the animals that all lived here before will return."She placed an acorn in Aang's hands, and then closed his fist over it.
Aang stared at it for a moment, before he smiled at the waterbender. "Thanks Katara."
I came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You know, Aang," said boy looked up at me. "The Fire Nation uses fire. We do too, but my father once said, 'too much fire can be nothing but destructive, Tora. Fire will reduce a forest to cinders in a day. The water and the wind will spend a century nurturing a forest to health.'" I tilted my head back slightly, closing my eyes. "As much as I love firebending, I think it's best if most of us stick with the wind and the water."
We all suddenly heard a noise, and turned out heads in that direction. Coming toward us was an old man wearing green and walking with a cane in his hands. He walked up directly to Aang.
"Who're you?" Sokka demanded, getting too his feet and glaring at the man, instantly putting a hand over his boomerang.
"I saw the Flying Bison. It's impossible… but, I can see those markings, plain as day." He gestured to the arrows on Aang's head. "Are you the Avatar, child?"
Aang looked over at Katara for approval to confirm the man's question. When she nodded, Aang turned back to the guy and nodded his head.
"My village needs your help!"
"What do you mean?" I asked, coming forward. The old man saw me, and his eyes widened.
"A firebender travelling with the Avatar?" He asked in amazement. He stared at me for such a long time, I felt a little uncomfortable. Then he said, "If the Avatar trusts you, then my village will as well."
I blinked in surprise. I was not expecting that.
"To answer your question, we must go to my village. There, I can explain everything." He started walking back in the direction he came from.
"Think we can trust him?" Sokka asked me.
I shrugged. "He doesn't look Fire Nation. He looks pretty trustworthy. And, hey, what's life without a few risks? If he is Fire Nation, then we should help him anyway. If he's leading us to a trap, we can just get out of there as soon as we can, right?"
~~Water~~
By the time we reached the old man's village, the sun was starting to set. And, let me tell you, the village was pretty bad looking. Houses were destroyed or burned down to a crisp. I immediately went to "Fire Nation" but then I realized that the firebenders wouldn't leave with only a few buildings destroyed. They would have burned down the whole village, or make it a colony. If it was a colony, then the Fire Nation symbol would be at least somewhere. But I didn't see it anywhere.
"Think it's the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked the others.
"No. The Fire Nation would destroy it completely, or make it a colony. If it was a colony, the symbol would be here. But I don't see it." I told them. The old man nodded along with what I was saying.
"The Fire Nation doesn't pay any attention to our little village. We don't have anything to offer them here. What attacked our village is much, much worse." He said.
"If you don't have anything here, then why did they burn down the forest?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure."
Okay, then.
The old man led us to a large building, probably their Town Hall. A large group of people were inside the building, and the old man introduced us to them. An important looking man came over. The old man told him Aang was the Avatar.
"So the rumors are true. You have returned to us." He bowed to us. "It is my greatest honor to be in your presence, Avatar."
Wow. I thought in amusement. This'll do wonders for Aang's ego.
Aang bowed as well. "Nice to meet you too. So… is there something you need help with?"
The chief looked away with an unsure expression. "I'm not sure if you could help us."
The old man spoke up. "Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope." He turned back to us. "For the last few days at sunset a Spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei-Bai, the black and white Spirit." He said darkly.
"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asked.
"We do not know, but each of the last three nights he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near." The chief said sadly, walking to the doorway.
"What happens then?" Katara asked curiously.
"Oh, I know." I said. They turned to me. "On a solstice, this world – or, as Sokka would put it, the real world-" I waved my hands around in the air, gesturing to our surroundings. "And the Spirit World come closer and closer together, until the line that separates them is non-existent."
The chief nodded. "That's right. And Hei-Bai is already causing terrible destruction. Once the solstice is here, I shudder to think what he will be able to do!"
Aang still looked confused. "So, what is it you want me to do?"
The old man smiled. "Who would be better to stop a Spirit than the Avatar? You have a connection with the Spirit World that we do not. You are the great bridge between our worlds."
"Uh… okay… yeah, sure." Aang said, sounding unconfident and unsure. I frowned. This is not going to end well.
"Hey, 'great bridge guy', can we talk to you for a second? Over there?" Katara said, sounding concerned. We came over to a window, and I looked out and saw the sun slowly starting to disappear over the horizon.
"You seem a little unsure about all of this, Aang." Katara said worriedly.
"Well, maybe it's because I don't know anything at all about the Spirit world!" Aang said. We all stared at him in disbelief. "It's not like there's someone who can teach me about it!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.
"Well, there should be." I decided, crossing my arms. "If you don't know anything about the Spirit world, how are you going to help these people?"
"I don't know... but I have to try, don't I? I mean, remember what you said, Tora?" He asked me. "You said what matters is I have to do what's best for both me and the world. And right now, trying even if I don't know anything is what's best for me and the world."
"You can do it, Aang." Katara said, beaming at him encouragingly.
"Yeah. We're all gonna get eaten by a monster from the Spirit World." Sokka said, but he said it like Katara had – all encouragingly and nice. I shoved him, and he slammed into the wall. The other two laughed.
I slung my arm over his shoulder. "You'll figure something out. You're a smart kid."
~~Water~~
Iroh jerked awake when he heard the bushes rustling. "Who's there?" He scanned the area, looking for the making of the noise. A meadow vole suddenly jumped onto the side of the hot spring. Iroh relaxed and chuckled, letting the creature crawl up onto his hand. He began speaking to it, telling it how he had missed his nephew's deadline because of his nap, but then added, "But it was a magnificent nap."
The ground suddenly began to shake, and three triangular rocks were pushed into the hot spring, trapping him. Earth Kingdom soldiers suddenly emerged from the trees and came toward him. A soldier picked up his clothing from the tree branch and announced he was a Fire Nation soldier.
"He's no ordinary soldier." The captain declared. "This Fire Lord Ozai's brother, the Dragon of the West. He was once the great General Iroh, but he's our prisoner now."
(Dun, dun, DUN!)
~~Water~~
Aang was now walking through the streets of the village, his hand wrapped tightly around his staff, just in case.
I was shifting back and forth, rocking on my feet nervously. I was nervous for Aang. The kid didn't know anything about the Spirit world. I only knew some stuff from my father's books, but not anything that would actually help. I had already told Aang what I knew about the Spirit world.
Bending doesn't work in the Spirit world. All the Avatar past lives live in the Spirit world. Not that many Spirits can live in the mortal world. There are specific places on earth for the Spirits to pass through into the mortal world, and Vis versa.
That's kind of everything I know.
What are you looking at? What do you know about the Spirit world? You've ever been there? No? Then shut up!
"Hello? Spirit Hei Bai? Do you hear me? This is Avatar Aang speaking. I'm... here to try to help you with… stuff." Aang said awkwardly. I slapped my forehead. Oh dear Spirits, we're all gonna die.
"This doesn't feel right. I don't want to just sit here and watch until some Spirit monster shows up." Sokka said in annoyance.
"If anyone can save us, the Avatar can." The old guy said.
Sokka muttered that Aang still shouldn't have to face the Spirit along. I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to somewhere so we could talk.
"Sokka, I agree with you. But I don't think these villagers do. If we're going to help, we have to wait until we're positive Aang can't do it alone. Deal?" I held my hand out for him to shake. He stared at it for a moment, then he sighed and shook my hand.
"Deal." Then we heard Aang shouting outside and rushed over to the doorway so we could see what was going on.
"Hei Bai? Are you here? Well, Spirit… I order you to please leave this village in peace! Don't come near it again unless you mean no harm!" He twirled his staff dramatically, then planted it in the ground like a flag. I closed my eyes. It was almost too painful to watch.
"Okay. Well, I guess that settles it." Aang said cheerfully. He started walking back over to us, when I saw something in the forest. It looked like a huge fox-dog, except it had a sort of rounded snout, had six arms (four regular ones, and two smaller ones in the front at his neck) and was covered with black and white markings. Oh, and he had really sharp teeth.
Needless to say, it was incredibly freaky looking.
On instinct, I grabbed the sword that was attached to my hip. I had started it keeping it by my side almost all the time, ever since Omashu and that Earth Kingdom prison.
Aang turned around and came face to face with the Spirit. He said something, and then bowed to it.
Suddenly, Hei-Bai opened his mouth and screeched very loudly, blue energy exploding from his mouth. Aang didn't move, but he dropped his staff. Then Hei-Bai shot past him into the village. Aang turned around, and continued speaking to the Spirit. "My name is Aang – the Avatar! Avatar Aang! I want to help you!"
I winced as Hei-Bai destroyed two more buildings with his blue energy. He continued destroying several buildings, while Aang ran after it, trying to get its attention.
"His methods are quite..." The chief was cut off when we all had to duck from flying pieces of wood that either flew through the window or crashed against the wall of the Town Hall. "Interesting."
"I don't think it's interested in talking." Sokka said, clenching his boomerang. "We should go and help him."
"No, only the Avatar could possibly stand a chance against the Black and White Spirit." The old guy said. I frowned. Doesn't seem like much of a chance to me.
"Aang will come up with the right thing to do, Sokka." Katara agreed. My frown deepened. Not Katara too!
Meanwhile, Aang was still running around, trying to talk to Hei Bai – who didn't seem interested in talking to him at all. Aang kept shouting, trying to get it to listen, but the Spirit kept running off and destroyed another house. Aang jumped onto a building, and saw Hai-Bai pounding a house into dust. When the Spirit again did not turn around, Aang's face got all red and angry, and he shouted, "I command you to turn around now!" His voice echoed across the village.
Hei-Bai finally turned around, swatting Aang off the building and flying backward until he hit a roof. He slid down and collapsed on the ground. I winced. That's gonna leave a mark.
"That does it!" Sokka yelled, running out of the Town Hall. "C'mon, Tora! We're helping him!"
I sprinted after him, pulling out my sword. I heard Katara gasp behind me.
"Sokka, Tora, wait!" she screamed after us. I heard the old man say it wasn't safe for Katara to follow us.
I felt my heart stop when I saw the monster standing over Aang. "Don't touch him!" I yelled, holding my sword out and running over to the two of them. "Sokka, get closer and kneel down!"
Sokka obliged, sprinting forward and getting down on all fours. "Closer than that!" Sokka got back on his feet and ran forward until he was close enough. "Good! Now get down!"
Sokka got down on his knees again. I sprinted forward, holding my breath. Please let this work.
As soon as I was close enough, I jumped into the air, hit Sokka's back with my foot, and used it as a springboard of sorts. I flew into the air again, and I aimed my sword point at Hei-Bai's back. I landed directly on his lower back, and tried to stab him. Keyword being tried. Hei-Bai's skin was rubbery and slick, so my sword slid right off him. But I was able to stay on, until Hei-Bai suddenly rolled over onto his back. I managed to jump off his back before he crushed me, and I tucked my knees into my chest, rolling across the ground. I lay on the ground, dazed, until I felt something cold and big grab me.
I screamed at the top of my lungs. Hei-Bai had captured me. "Let me go, you-"
"Hei-Bai! Over here!" Sokka yelled. He threw his boomerang, and all it did was hit Hei-Bai's butt and fall to the ground. I wish I could have face palmed myself, but my arms were trapped. Sokka ran toward Aang, who was still sitting on the ground.
"Sokka, go back!"
"We'll fight him together!" Sokka replied.
"I don't want to fight unless he-" Hei-Bai suddenly shot forward in a black and white blur and picked up Sokka. I screamed even louder when the Spirit shot out of the village and disappeared into the forest.
~~Water~~
Almost two hours after Zuko had specifically told his uncle he would leave without him in half an hour, Zuko stormed into the glade (after making sure it was safe from his naked uncle). As he walked into the glade, he noticed two things were missing from the hot springs – his uncle, and the water that had been in the hot spring.
"Sir, maybe he thought you left without him?" One soldier offered.
Zuko inspected the sharp rocks pointing out of the base of the hot spring. "Looks like there's been a landslide." Another soldier said.
"Rocks don't slide uphill." Zuko narrowed his eyes, thinking. "They didn't move naturally." His eyes widened as he realized what happened. "My uncle has been captured by earthbenders!"
~~Water~~
While Hei-Bai was speeding through the forest, Sokka had managed to get his arms free, Aang was chasing us on his glider, and I was screaming every curse word I knew. And I knew a lot.
"AANG, IF I DIE I'M COMING BACK FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD AND KILLING YOU MYSELF! THEN I'LL KILL YOUR REINCARNATION!" I screamed at him. Aang winced, but I was too freaked out to feel guilty.
"HELP!" Sokka screamed. Aang stretched out his arm as far as he could, and Sokka did the same thing.
"Hold on!" Aang yelled. Hei-Bai seemed to speed up, and I closed my eyes as tightly as I could.
Dear God, Spirits, or whoever's listening, if I'm gonna die, please let it be quick.
And everything went black.
Ooooo, Drama!
What will happen in the Spirit world? Will Zuko find his uncle? Will Aang save Tora and Sokka? Will I ever stop asking questions?
You'll have to wait to find out, yes (duh) , yes (double duh), NO!
Remind you of anyone?
Bolin: I have a couple questions. Is this an all vegetarian island, is that where you train airbending, do we have to wear Air Acolyte clothes; do we each get our own sky bison, and final question, how many trees are on this island?
Ikki: Yes, yes, no, no, ten thousand five hundred and fifty two!
Edit: So, how'd you guys like the new version? Personally, I like this version better, and not just because the old version could help in getting my story deleted.
But, if my story is deleted, and I'm working hard to make sure it isn't, don't worry - I'll change some things, and then repost it. So don't you guys worry.
My plan is to work on one chapter a day.