SMST P7A: The Ethereal Path of the Avatar! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: SM, R1/2, ST and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Special note: For this week, I will restrict most of my work to 1000+ words per story, in an effort to "catch up". C&C are welcomed.
Part 14
A day later…
With the skies calm and cool, Appa the Flying Bison glided along the air currents. This circumstance was not lost on anyone.
"These clouds," Katara says, as she looks over to the side of Appa's saddle, while on her stomach. "I can just touch these clouds with my hands…"
Sokka, who was practicing levitating a small rock, turns towards her sister.
"Maybe you can," Sokka says.
"Well, you might be able to hold them just yet, but you'll be able to move them soon enough," Ranma says, as he continues to lounge on his back with his eyes closed.
"Looking forward to it."
"Hey, Aang, let's see if we can now!" Goku yells.
"Sure!" Aang replied.
"Hootcha!" the boys say in unison, as they leap into a bed of clouds.
Usagi scrambles to the side.
"Goku! Aang!" Usagi yells. "Don't worry, I'm coming to save you-"
"Usagi, they'll be fine." Ranma says, as he yawns.
"Um, well-"
"Ta-da!" Aang says, as he and Goku plop back on Appa's saddle, thanks to Aang's glider.
"Oh, Goku, don't scare me like that!" Usagi yells, as she shakes her foster son.
"Owie…"
"Well, at least we know that clouds are wet," Aang says, as he uses an air bubble effect to dry himself and Goku off.
FWOOSH!
"Oh, no!" Usagi says, as she tried to fix her hair. "Now, I got the frizzies!"
Momo the Flying Lemur hops on Usagi's head and attempts to comb it.
"Hey, guys," Sokka says, as he notices something on the ground. "That part of the forest…"
Everyone looks towards the front, as sees that a section of the forest was burnt.
"Huh," Ranma says.
"Do you think the Fire Nation are around?" Goku asked.
"I don't know. Then again, this could be a natural phenomenon."
"I don't think so," Aang says. "All I know is that as the Avatar, I'm suppose to protect nature, regardless of the cause."
"Then we should do something about it," Usagi says.
All eyes turn towards Usagi.
"Huh?"
"Well, I do know a few tricks to help restore a forest."
"Really?" Aang says with excitement.
"Really. I happen to be a specialist in botany. And with the added bonus of magic, I think I can do something about this problem."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Katara says. "We should get started on our task, if we are to make the trip to the North Pole in a timely fashion."
Aang looks at Katara with a smile.
"Thanks."
A short while later…
"Look at this…destruction." Goku says sadly, as he looks around. "Reminds me of home…"
"What's home like?" Sokka asks. "You've never really talked about it much."
"Um, let's see," Goku says, as he thinks aloud. "It was a forest with a lot of water falls and valleys. You could reach into a river and pull out a fish with your bare hands. During the day, it was cool, but at night…it was warm enough to sleep underneath the stars."
"Sounds nice," Katara says.
"Yeah. I lived in the forest with my Grandpa. And then when he died from an accident, Mom and Dad were there for me."
"Well, at least someone was able to," Sokka says with a sigh. "After Mom died, Dad became distant…and this was before the Southern Water Tribes sent their best warrior, Dad included…"
"At least you guys had parents," Aang says. "All I had to guide me was Monk Gyatso."
"What happened to your parents?" Katara asked.
"I don't know. None of the Air Nomads have parents, once we are given up for training at a young age."
Ranma shook his head. Like Aang, he was trained practically since the day he could walk. And even though he course in life made him a better martial artist, Ranma sometimes wished that he had a normal life…
"Personally, I always believed that it's the family that you make that counts more than the family that you come from. Believe me."
Aang nods his head, as he clutched the acorn that was thrown at him by Katara, as a part of her attempt to cheer the Avatar up. He then turns towards Usagi.
"Usagi?" Aang ask.
Usagi turns to face Aang, while she was examining the soil samples with her Tricorder…
"Yes?"
"Can you help?"
"As a matter of fact…yes."
"Really?" Katar asked.
"Sure. Although the forest got burnt down, the soil is rich in nutrients."
"So…what now?" Sokka asks.
Before Usagi could answer-
"Hello!" says an old man, as he used a cane to approach Aang's party.
Sokka looks towards the man.
"Who are you, old man?" Sokka says.
WHACK!
"Ow!" Sokka says, as he felt the back of his head.
"Respect your elders," Ranma says, as he lowers his hand.
"MY elders are back home, Ranma."
Ranma gives Sokka a raised eyebrow.
"SORRY, 'sensei'. Sheesh."
"How can we help you, sir?" Katara asked.
"I am from a nearby village that is being attacked by the spirit of this forest," the old man says. "And when I saw your flying bison, I prayed that the Avatar was with you."
"Aang's the Avatar," Goku says.
"Then we might have a chance," the old man says. "After all, it is the Avatar that stands between the human world and the spirit world."
"But…I don't know how to do that."
"Well, Usagi and I are experienced in dealing with spirits," Ranma says.
"You…you do?" Katara asked.
"Sure. Spirits are sentient beings without form. We know a couple of tricks that'll help Aang fulfill his role."
"So, what do you say, Aang?" Sokka asked.
"Well…if Ranma and Usagi can help, then I'll try," Aang says.
"We'll do our best to help," Ranma says, as he turns towards his wife. "Right, Usagi?"
"Hold on," Usagi says, as she begins her ritual spell. "Okay, I think I got it."
Usagi waves her hand over an acorn…
"Hey, it's starting to sprout-" Usagi began to say, before-
WHOOSH!
The acorn immediately becomes an adult tree. Unfortunately, due to the speed of the growth, Usagi got her foot caught on a branch. Now, she was upside swinging.
"Usagi?" Ranma asked.
"Oh, don't mind me," Usagi says, as she tries to laugh off her predicament. "I'm just…hanging around."
"…"
"You need help, Mom?" Goku asked.
"Well, maybe a little."
As Goku flies up to help his mother from her predicament, Sokka turns towards his sister.
"And SHE is one my teachers?" Sokka says with disbelief.
"Look on the bright side," Katara says. "At least we KNOW we can restore the forest."
"Well, then, let's go help these people," Aang says.
While everyone is preoccupied, Ranma suddenly turns around and scans the destroyed section of the forest. For some reason, he felt as if he and his traveling companions were being watched…
"Ranma, are you coming?" Usagi asked.
"Um, sure," Ranma says, as he turns to follow the old man to his village.
Tbc.