Yay Bumi!
We entered a large green chamber room where an elderly man sat on a throne with two guards at both his sides. When I got a closer look at him I recognized him to be King Bumi wearing his green royal robes, that I hadn't seen him in in a long time. The six guards brought us forward to their king as they released us. One of the guards then stepped forward to inform why it was that we had been brought here.
"Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for: vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages."
"Off with their heads, one for each head of cabbage!" the merchant yelled out.
"Hate to break it to you, but we don't have enough heads," I told him in a mocking tone. He glared at me, tempting me to flip the bird at him but didn't.
"Silence, only the King can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, sire?" the first guard asked the crazy looking old man. I watched his ancient eyes scanning us: Sokka, Katara, Aang, Brianna, and finally me. Sokka looked completely nervous, Katara stared at him with hopeful eyes, Aang trying not to look too noticeable, Brianna stared blanking up at him probably recalling the scene from her memory, and me who just remained emotionless. Although I was taken aback when I realized that his gaze had not only stopped at Aang, but also at Brianna and me. I was unable to read what he was thinking, but could tell that he had something planned for us.
"Throw them..." he began to say causing everyone to turn their attention to him, ready to hear his answer "...a feast." Everyone, besides Brianna and I, looked at one another confused. Even the guards that serve him didn't know what the crazy old king was thinking, but followed his orders and led us into a large green dining room. The food came in shortly after and covered the table with all kinds of: meats, pastries, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Momo didn't waste any time and started attacking any of the foods he found appetizing. King Bumi walked in and stood behind Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Brianna and I sat at the sides, in between the three, opposite each other.
"The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin" Bumi said as he took a leg in his hand.
"Thanks but I don't eat meat," Aang told him. I watched the old man intensely, knowing that he was just testing us.
"How about you? I bet you like meat" Bumi said as he shoved the chicken into Sokka's mouth. I heard Katara whisper something to Aang, about Bumi being crazy, but I was too occupied with the thought of what the old king was planning with Brianna and I. "So tell me young bald one. Where are you from?" Bumi asked as he sat down in his own seat, across from them.
"I'm from Kangaroo Island." I felt one of my eyes twitch at the poor choice of location, seeing how it wasn't even a real place.
"Oh Kangaroo Island eh? I hear that place is really hopping!" I stayed silent as I heard someone in the background cough. I heard Sokka suddenly laugh at the really bad joke, but I just blocked off all sounds until I was sure the embarrassment was over. Before I realized what was going on Bumi had thrown a chicken leg at Aang, who caught it by using his air bending. "There's an air bender in our presence and not just any air bender, the Avatar!" Aang dropped the chicken and put his hands behind his back, hoping it would make up for his actions. "Now what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pipinpadaloxicopolis?"
"Okay! You caught me. I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out" Aang said as he looked under the table. "No Fire Benders here. So, good work everybody." He placed his arms over Sokka and Katara as he motioned for Brianna and me to follow them out the door. "Love each other, respect all life and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!" Unfortunately for Aang his plan didn't work, because the guards had blocked the exit preventing us from leaving the room.
"You can't keep us here. Let us leave!" Katara ordered sternly.
"Lettuce leaf?" Bumi asked as he took out the plant from his plate and started chewing at it slowly.
"We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts!" Sokka whispered to us.
"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges, but for now the guards will show you to your chamber," Bumi said after completely consuming the leaf.
"My liege, do you mean the good chamber or bad chamber?" The guard to his left asked him.
"Oh shit not this again, it was painful enough to watch the first time. Do I really have to watch this a second time?" I whispered to Brianna, who laughed at both the scene and my comment.
"Take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!" Bumi ordered the guards after finally clearing up the misunderstanding. "Except for the two young ladies with the with the yin and yang jewelry, I'd like to have a word with them." Brianna and I flinched not expecting him to separate us from the group so quickly. We both slowly turned to King Bumi, who had a satisfied look on his face. I felt a hand tug at my right sleeve making me look over. I saw Aang look up at us with big worried eyes, which made him look like a sad puppy.
"Don't worry," I said trying to calm him down with a gentle smile. I grabbed the hand that was holding my sleeve and gently squeezed it before letting it go. "We'll be okay."
"Yeah I mean come on Aang, it's us we're talking about" Brianna told the worried monk confidently as she patted his bald head. "We'll be back before you know it."
"Promise?" Aang asked us with a desperate look in his eyes. I could feel my heart melting and saw from the corner of my eye Brianna tearing up as she stopped patting his head, both of us affected by his cute behavior.
"Yeah," I told him softy before he, Katara, and Sokka were taken out of the chamber. When the doors closed King Bumi sent away his guards, leaving the three of us alone in the large room.
"Let's cut to the chase shall we," Bumi told us calmly. "I know who you two are and why you're here." We both were taken by surprised at this news and took several seconds to regain our composure.
"Well just to make things clear," I said after recovering from the shock "we also know who you are. You're King Bumi, the same Bumi that was Aang's old friend, that he knew a hundred years ago. You are one of the most powerful earth benders of this time and are also a member of The White Lotus." The old man just stared at me with wide eyes, unable to take in all that I had said.
"And people think I'm crazy," King Bumi said still looking at me strangely.
"Not really, I'm just like to be well informed when it comes to things involving the Avatar. So back on topic, would you like to share some things with us? Let's start with what you know about us, then you can explain what you're planning." Bumi suddenly burst out laughing leaving Brianna and I both confused while we waited for him to calm down.
"I have to admit, you're really sharp for someone so young," he said as he wiped away the tears from his eyes.
"I've been told that often," I said not knowing how to respond to his laughter.
"But yes, you are absolutely correct about everything. I am Aang's friend Bumi and I am planning something for Aang and the two of you. Aang needs to learn this to be able to face the Fire Lord."
"Yes, that is clear to us," I said interrupting him as I crossed my arms "but that doesn't explain what you're planning to do with us."
"Yeah, what are you gonna do to us?" Brianna asked him suspiciously.
"Yes well, I want to confirm something. When Aang disappeared one hundred years ago I went and gathered as much information about the Avatar, hoping that I would find something that would help me find him. Unfortunately I didn't find anything that answered my question of how he disappeared, but I did discover something. When I was reading several research materials a certain legend kept coming up. This legend was about two warriors from One Nation coming to our world during our time of need. Judging from the look of you two you must be them."
"It was the clothes, wasn't it?" I said letting out a heavy sigh.
"That and the energy I sense from you two," Bumi answered, still amused with my responses.
"Our energy?" Brianna asked confused.
"Do you mean our auras?" I asked not sure if he used the right words.
"Well yes you can call them auras or energy. Like Aang who has a special aura some people can sense, you both have similar auras, but all are unique."
"I think I can understand what you are saying. It's because we all possess rare abilities that create these auras am I right?" I said after pondering a bit.
"Once again you are correct, now back to the matter at hand. You both are the Legendary Warriors of One Nation. I take it you both already know that, but my instincts tell me that you have yet to completely learn to control your abilities."
"Uh yeah, we don't. We never knew that we had these powers until recently." Brianna tried to explain to the King.
"Besides that, our situation is different from Aang's. He will be able to learn from several masters to perfect his bending. He'll also even be able to have a good idea on how to be an Avatar from his past lives. We, on the other hand, are one of a kind. We don't have a teacher. All we can do is search inside ourselves and hope that we can find the ability along the way. It's like fighting blindfolded. We don't know what we are capable of," I explained adding more details to Brianna's explanation.
"I see well then it's a good thing I kept some of my research materials with me." My eyes shot open and stared into King Bumi's eyes. They looked completely serious and honest, but I could see a hint of excitement. "That is what you two will be tested on. I have in my library, books on both of you. You must find them before Aang completes his tasks or else you'll have to leave empty handed. There are three books in there that will give you the most information and they are just like the two of you. Different but connected so that they become one." Brianna and I glanced at each other as we both tried to decipher what he had said. We both heard him let out a yawn, which caused us to look back at him. "Well it's getting late I don't know about you girls but I'm going to bed. The Library is the second door down the hallway and the guest room is on the second floor to the right," he told us as he headed for the door while stretching his arms.
"That won't be necessary because Brianna and I are going to start right away, if you don't mind" I told him before he would make it out the door.
"Suit yourselves," he said to us without even looking back before leaving the room. Without a second having passed, the guards appeared by the door and followed Bumi to his chamber. I turned to Brianna, who seemed to be drifting off into a sleep which must have meant that the sun was going down.
"Brianna, why don't you go to sleep in the guest room and then come down in the morning? I'll start looking until the sun rises then you can take your shift" I told her as I started to make my way towards the library.
"No way, what if you find the books when I'm not there? That would be totally unfair and I'd feel like I didn't help at all!" Brianna complained as she caught up to me. "I'm going whether you like it or not!" I rolled my eyes remembering that she had inherited her stubbornness from both her parents. Although it wasn't always a bad thing, but there are moments when it gets annoying and inconvenient for I too, had also inherited my own mother's stubbornness.
"Whatever, but I'm not waking you up if you fall asleep." I heard Brianna growl next to me but I ignored it, like I usually did. We walked in silence until we got to our destination. I placed my hand on the door's handles and pushed it open. Inside was a large room that was about the size of half a house. The room was lined wall to wall and floor to ceiling with nothing but shelves, each holding too many books for me to count. Brianna and I just stared at the room, wondering how we were going to find the books in all this mess.
"Damn it," I said cursing under my breath. "How the hell are we going to get through all of this?" I said just barely above a whisper as I let out a heavy sigh. "Whatever, I guess we better get started." I walked towards one of the book shelves and picked a book from it.
"Hey what are we supposed to be looking for anyway?" Brianna asked.
"Three books," I said sarcastically, making her growl again.
"You know what I mean!" Brianna said yelling out as she raised her hands up.
"Hai, hai" I said still in a sarcastic tone before switching back to my serious self. "But yeah you're right. We have no clue what we're looking for. The only thing we have that could help us is what King Bumi said. 'There are three books in there, that will give you the most information and they are just like the two of you. Different but connected so that they become one'. What does he mean by that? How can a book be different but connected?"
"Maybe they were made by the same author," Brianna said thinking of a possible answer.
"Maybe but we can't be sure of that," I said still pondering what to do. "Well I guess we'll just have to keep looking until we find it." I said as opened the book but then put it down as I slapped my forehead. "Fuck!"
"What," Brianna asked a bit startled having almost dropped the book in her hand.
"How can I be so retarded? We can't even read their language!" I shouted as I threw the book to the ground. "How are we supposed to find it without even knowing what it says?"
"Well let's just look through some books maybe we'll find something," Brianna said trying to calm me down, but I could tell that she was upset about it too.
"Let's just hope this world likes to put lots of pictures in their books," I said half joking. Brianna let out a small giggle, but really hoped that what I said was true.
It's a sad truth, but yes we can't read their language. Yes I tortured the cabbage man. Why, because that one line was just so stupid that I had to make myself say a smart remark. It wouldn't be me if I didn't. In case some of you don't know what "flipping the bird" is go ask your mother, she will just LOVE to explain that one to you.
