Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN LOK OR ATLA I ONLY OWN MY OWN CHARACTERS
Book Two A New Hope Chapter Eight: Ren Alone
That night while everyone was asleep Ren packed a small bag and grabbed her glider. She heard Hope yawn and looked over and saw that the large cat was looking over at her. She walked over and started to pet her and Hope purred. Ren got up and opened the door and looked down the hall. She didn't see anyone so she walked out of the room and closed the door. She avoided all of the guards and ran towards where the domes came out of the ground. Once she reached the dome she began to bend it so it made a small enough hole for her to get out. She then shut the hole, thinking about the safety of the people in Zaofu.
Now that she was out of Zaofu she opened her glider and was heading for the swamp. Her Uncle Meelo mentioned the Banyan Grove Tree, so that is where she was heading. She knew her great Grandpa Aang and Korra had been there so she figured she should go. She remember her Aunt Asami telling her about how Korra could touch the spirit vines and see things through them just like Toph. Ren though if she tried maybe it would make her feel better. She just felt so alone.
Ren arrived at the swamp and she walked around and saw all the creatures. She heard all the noises of the swamp. No wonder Toph wanted to live here, no one could bother her. Ren continued to walk and she saw a cave. She walked in and got a familiar feeling about the cave. She continued to walk further in until she tripped over some wood. She lite the wood and looked around the cave and realized why it felt so familiar. She had found Toph's cave from when she lived in the swamp. She sat next to the fire and set her bag and glider down.
Something led her here but what? She didn't have time to sit and think about it she had to find the Banyan Grove Tree. She picked her bag and glider back up and walked out of the cave. She opened her glider up and made her way straight up. She then saw a large tree and she knew that was where she was heading. Once she arrived she stood there and touched the tree. She could feel everything through the tree. She thought about how it could have something to do with her having to be rooted just like a tree. She took a deep breathe and went into the Avatar state. She saw everyone back in Zaofu in a panic.
Back in Zaofu Jinora had just found Ren's room empty. She ran to Kai and quickly told him that Ren was missing before running to tell Su. Su had ordered all the guards to search every inch of Zaofu until Ren was found. Tenzin and Pema tried to comfort Jinora and Kai now that Ren had disappeared. Meelo couldn't even look at his sister, he felt like the whole thing was his fault. Ikki and Rohan just looked at each other and then at Jinora who was hysterically crying.
"This is all your fault Meelo. Maybe if you wouldn't have said what you did, Ren would still be in her bed asleep," Ikki said.
"I know okay Ikki I don't need you telling me," Meelo said.
"Will you two just stop arguing already we won't find Ren this way," Rohan said.
"Oh because you're such an expert on finding Avatars," Ikki said.
"Will the three of you just shut up already! I mean seriously if I were Ren I would run away too!" Lee yelled.
Everyone looked over at the Avatar's brother who was clearly not pleased with the arguing. He walked over to Jinora and Kai and hugged them and just stayed there. Lee felt like he lost a very important thing now that Ren was missing. Maybe it was because he had. Ren wasn't only his sister but his twin. A guard walked in and everyone looked up.
"Suyin, I'm sorry to give you this news but I don't think the Avatar is in Zaofu. When we were searching we noticed that the domes looked like they had been bent by someone," the guard said.
"Thank you," Suyin said dismissing the guard.
Ren finally stood up and looked around. Now she knew why Toph used the vines to watch everyone in was very useful. Korra learned to do it and now Ren did too. Ren was right about one thing though she was becoming a stronger Avatar. She thought she would be right about the Banyan Grove Tree making her not feel alone but she wasn't. She sat down and looked around to see the swamp wasn't as great as she thought it would be. She felt a spiritual presence and she thought maybe it was just in her head. She then thought maybe it was the swamp until she looked up and saw a dragonfly bunny spirit. She held her hand out and the spirit sat in her hand. This spirit came to her for a reason but she couldn't figure out why. The spirit then jumped on her glider and Ren realized who the spirit was.
"You're Furry-Foot. My mom told me about you. I'm not going back to Zaofu," Ren said.
Furry-Foot disappeared and Ren started to freak out. She knew she had to leave before Furry-Foot appeared in Zaofu. She grabbed her thing and started to run. She opened her glider and took off toward Republic City. She knew that Furry-Foot had bought her some time. She didn't realize that she dropped some of her bandages that she had packed.
She arrived in Republic City and made her way for the illegal fighting rings. After the council had heard about Korra fighting they had banned them, but that didn't mean anything. Ren had heard about the fighting rings one time on the streets but never really went to check them out. Once she got there she watched all the fights going on and noticed that there was one for every element but air. She saw people placing bets on the fighters and she didn't know whether to bet or fight. Ren walked up to a man a pulled him down to her height.
"I want to fight," Ren said.
"Sure kid. Wait you're the Avatar," the man said.
"Yea I am got a problem with it," Ren said.
"Not at all," the man said.
Ren stepped into the ring and notice that there was water all around her. The other fighter was a male much lager then Ren with a lot of muscle tone. He had a fair completion and dark hair. Ren heard the bell and the fight started right away. The man threw quick punched which sent water each time. Ren easily dodged each shot the man fired and pulled water out of the side and sent it toward the man and pulled him into the rest of the water. She made sure his head was above the water before she froze it. She heard the bell ring signaling that she had won the match. She heard some people cheer and some people boo. The man walked into the ring and Ren walked over to him.
"Earth is next kid so you have to go," he said.
"I want to go again," Ren said.
"Alright if you say so," the man said.
Korra, Aang, Toph, Zuko and Katara appeared in the stands to watch Ren and a woman in the ring. "She isn't really going to do this is she?" Katara asked.
"She will until she feels like she isn't alone anymore," Korra said.
"She is on a path of self destruction," Aang said.
"Only she can see that Aang and you and I know that best. Once she does that she has to help herself before anyone else can help her," Korra said.
"You have to try something," Katara said.
"Why this is fun watching Badgermole beat the shit out of people," Toph said.
"Toph, this is a serious matter," Katara said.
In the ring Ren was waiting for the bell to ring. Once in rang she sent two rocks toward her opponent and waited for an attack that never came. She then saw Vikram's face and he was laughing at her. She kicked a rock at her opponent and continued to throw rocks nonstop. The bell rang but Ren never heard it and she kept attacking. The man in charge ran out and began yelling and Ren finally snapped out of it.
"That's it you're done," he said.
"I didn't want to fight anymore anyway," Ren said.
"You're lucky I don't tell someone you were here," the man said.
"You're lucky I don't report this whole thing," Ren said picking her things up and walking out.
Ren walked out of the building to find Aang, Katara, Korra, Toph and Zuko standing there. She wondered why they were out of the Spirit World. She wanted to know how they were out of the Spirit World. She just wanted to be left alone, was that to much to ask. She sighed and looked at them and then shifted her weight.
"Ren you can't do this kind of stuff," Katara said.
"It's my life okay. I was hurt and I need to do things my way. I'm telling you the same thing I told everyone back in Zaofu. I want to be alone," Ren said.
"Ren I tried to help myself and it didn't work. I wanted to be alone too. It is very self destructive. You don't want to do that," Korra said.
"Just leave me alone I can do it be myself," Ren said.
"Damn stupid must run in your family Sugar Queen," Toph said.
"I said just leave me alone," Ren said blasting fire where the spirits once stood.
Ren heard a little girl scream and she looked up. She saw the little girl from the museum holding her arm and her mother standing next to her. Ren's eyes widen and she just stepped back and fell. The mother and girl now looked at Ren who was on the ground.
"You're not the world's hope. You're the worst Avatar ever," the girl said.
Back in Zaofu Jinora and Kai tried to think of where Ren could have gone so they could tell people where to look. Jinora walked outside because she couldn't take it anymore. Pema followed her in hopes that she could say something that would make her feel better. Jinora sat on a step and just looked at the sky and wondered where Ren was. She then saw a dragonfly bunny spirit.
"Furry-Foot, I haven't seen you in a very long time," Jinora said.
"Why would the spirit come now?" Pema asked.
"Furry-Foot knows where Ren is!" Jinora yelled.
"Where is she?" Pema asked.
"The same place we found Korra. She is at the Banyan Grove Tree. Oh I could kill Meelo for giving Ren that idea. Oh Furry-Foot thank you. Kai I know where Ren is, she's in the swamp at the Banyan Grove Tree," Jinora said.
In the swamp Jinora, Tenzin, Ikki, Meelo, Rohan and Kai made their way for the Banyan Grove Tree. Jinora was so relieved that she finally knew where Ren was. As the got closer to the tree Jinora grew more and more excited to finally see her daughter. They had finally landed Oogie and Jinora jumped down and started to look for Ren. She didn't see her anywhere and she wondered if Ren recognized Furry-Foot and left. Kai walked over to her and Jinora shook her head.
"How do we even know that Ren was even here?" Meelo asked.
"Furry-Foot told me," Jinora said.
"The dragonfly bunny spirit," Ikki said.
"Yes. Plus if Meelo wouldn't have mentioned it Ren wouldn't have thought of it," Jinora said.
"Ren was here," Kai said picking up the bandages the Ren dropped.
"Then where did she go?" Rohan asked.
"I don't know but let's head back to Zaofu and make a plan to find her," Tenzin said.
Back in Republic City Ren sat in an alley and waited for the next step. She felt alone and she just burnt that girl. She was called the worst Avatar ever. She saw lights from a stadium and she went to the roof of a building to see why they were lite. She saw that it was pro bending night at the stadium. She remembered hearing stories about the Fire Ferrets and how amazing they were. She made her way for the stadium and figured she would watch people beat each other up the legal way. When she arrived she saw a boy about Sky's age and a girl about Gopan's age arguing. She walked over to them to find out what the problem was.
"Hey what's the deal?" Ren asked.
"My friend here said she had someone else that could be on our team but there is no one. We can't participate if we don't have a third teammate," the boy said.
"What kind of bender?" Ren asked.
"An earthbender," the girl said.
"I'm an earthbender," Ren said.
"You're just a kid," the boy said.
"Yea but you need a third teammate. I don't feel like paying so it's a win, win. I also know the members of the Fire Ferrets so I think I can hold my own," Ren said.
"Okay you're in," the boy said.
Ren got in the uniform which actually fit. She stood in front of the other earthbender. She looked at the team and realized that they were the Rabaroos. They were a very experienced team and the Fire Ferrets had faced them. She heard the announcer talk about who would be playing and the sponsors. The bell rang and the match started. Ren's teammates were quickly knocked out. It was now three on one. Ren sent two earth discs at the waterbender and sent her back a zone. The earthbender sent a disc at Ren and she jumped over it and before it smashed Ren sent it flying back sending the earthbender back two zones. The waterbender tried again and Ren sent a disc that went through her water and knocked her off the platform. Ren only had two people to worry about now. She sent two discs flying toward the firebender sending her back two zones and into the earthbender who went back another zone. The firebender sent quick punches and Ren dodged every blast. Ren kicked sending two discs which hit both benders sending them both off the platform.
Ren heard cheers from everyone and saw lights flashing from cameras. She refused to take off her helmet because she didn't want people to know that the Avatar had just done pro bending. The announcer ran over to her and tried to ask her questions but Ren pushed him away. He reached for her shoulder to pull her back and when she went to push him away again she knocked the helmet off. Everyone gasped and stopped what they were doing to look at Ren and the announcer tried to ask her questions. Ren used her air bending to get to the booth to pick up her things and left in a rush.
Back in Zaofu Bolin, Bumi, Mako, Wei and Wing were all sitting around the radio listening to the match to calm their nerves. Everyone was doing something to calm down for the last hour and would regroup in about fifteen minutes to continue to try to figure out a plan.
"That's right folks Avatar Ren is following in Avatar Korra's footsteps tonight. She just single-handedly defeated the Red Sand Rabaroos. It was quiet the sight folks and it was a great match but the Avatar gave the Rabaroos a run for their money," the announcer said.
The men looked at each other in disbelief. Ren only liked to watch the pro bending matches. She had already expressed that she would never participate in one. Mako and Bolin were very shocked that Ren could take a team such as the Rabaroos down all by herself. They the realized they should go tell everyone and stop sitting there. They ran into the big room that everyone was sitting in and tried to regain their breath.
"We..know..where..Ren..is," Bolin tried to say.
"Bolin speak without stopping every five seconds," Opal said.
"He's trying to tell you we know where Ren is," Wing said.
"What, where is she?" Jinora asked.
"She's back in Republic City. She was just at the Pro Bending Arena. She just beat the Red Sand Rabaroos," Mako said.
"She went back home," Jinora said closing her eyes.
"She went to that stupid stadium and participated in that game. I knew rebuilding that area was a terrible idea," Tenzin said.
"Obviously it wasn't because Ren followed in Korra's footsteps and participated in pro bending. If it wasn't for that we would have no clue where she is right now," Kya said.
"That was an amazing match. She should make her own team and do this on a regular basis," Bolin said.
"Not going to happen," Kai said.
"That's what Tenzin said about Korra and she joined the Fire Ferrets," Pema said.
Back in Republic City, Ren was sitting on the roof of the temple. She didn't know where else to go so she just sat there. She looked up at the sky and wondered when this empty feeling would go away. She then heard Vikram's voice and he was laughing at her for being a failure. She looked around but couldn't see him anywhere. Ren just laid down and hoped that if she went to sleep that the voice would stop. She soon felt a light drizzle and jumped in the window into the attic and slept there.
The next morning she woke up to hear all the air acolytes talking about the incoming airship and flying bison. Ren quickly got up to see Pepper and Oogie along with an airship and a few other flying bison. Ren picked her things up and grabbed the roof and flung herself up. She saw that everyone was home and that the Beifong family had come with. She assumed that it was to look for her. They were going to look for awhile because she wasn't coming home yet. She saw her mother walk in the temple and a few short minutes she heard the attic door open. Ren knew a few family pictures were in the so she assumed that's why her mother went up there. She then heard her mother walk to the window so she crouched down.
"Ren please just come home already," Ren heard Jinora say.
"I'm sorry I can't come home yet," Ren whispered before she ran across the roof.
Jinora heard foot steps on the roof and she stepped on the ledge before making an air scooter so she could get up to the roof. Once on the roof she saw Ren running and opening her glider before she took off.
" Ren come back!" Jinora yelled.
Ren looked back to see her mother standing there. She then saw metal cables coming for her glider and she maneuvered around them. She then saw water whips and she sent them back so she could get away. She saw her father, Aunt Ikki, Uncle Meelo, Uncle Rohan, great Uncle Bumi and grandfather with their gliders. She sent air blasts trying to knock them out of the air. She started sending fire blast and they all backed off and Ren looked back one more time before heading for the city. She knew she didn't want to go to the Spirit World because she would get a lecture about how she should be at home.
She went to the park where Korra's statue was and sat down. She looked at the plaque on the statue and ran her fingers across the words. She felt a presence behind her and she turned around to find her old team again and Korra. She signed and stood up before gesturing for them to follow her. They were all under a bridge that people rarely walked under. Ren knew she was the only one that could see them and she didn't want to look crazier then she already did.
"What do you guys want?" Ren asked.
"Ren, We have seen all the things you have done. You were at the Banyan Grove Tree so you could spy through the vines as you told Toph once. You went and fought at the underground ring. You did pro bending. You did amazing by the way. You also went back to the temple and ran away from your family and broke their hearts all over again," Korra said.
"Where are you going with this?" Ren asked.
"When Twinkle Toes over there wanted to be alone and she came to the swamp I helped her by showing her the Banyan Grove Tree. She was then found and went back home," Toph said.
"Ren what Toph is trying to say is you are avoiding home. People there are trying to help you with your injury and you refuse to let them," Zuko said.
"So I'm not alone," Ren said.
"No you're not. You haven't been alone in two lifetimes now," Aang said.
"How do I fix this?" Ren asked.
"Well I would start by going home and telling everyone your sorry. Tell them you needed your space and your way of healing. Tell them you had a spiritual journey," Katara said.
"I think the announcer for pro bending night makes the spiritual journey one kind of hard to believe. Uncle Mako and Uncle Bolin listen to that than more than they listen to Aunt Asami and Aunt Opal," Ren said.
"Well Ren in a way you did have a spiritual journey. You talked to us, and we are dead making us spirits," Suki said.
"You make a valid point," Ren said.
"Wait I haven't given any advice," Sokka said.
"What advice could you give her?" Katara asked.
"Don' drink cactus juice," Sokka said.
Everyone looked at Sokka with their eyebrows raised. "I'm eleven, I'm not stupid. I know not to drink cactus juice," Ren said.
"That was terrible advice Snoozles," Toph said.
"Great Grandpa Aang, Korra. Can I ask you guys something?" Ren asked.
"Of course Ren," Aang said.
"After I was stabbed I was about to give up until I heard Raava. She said Ren we always said we would never give up in any of your lifetimes. Do not make this the first lifetime that you give up. Ren you have to keep fighting, You have to win this fight. What did she mean?" Ren asked.
"Well when I saw Wan and Raava she told him that she would be with him for all of his lifetimes and that we as Avatars will never give up," Korra said.
"Oh and Korra I was right this is about Amon. This man lost his bending to Amon and is taking revenge on everyone. I'm the worst person to him because I can bend for elements. I don't understand why he just didn't come to me or you and ask for his bending back. I don't want the answer or help I need to do this alone first," Ren said.
"Didn't we just talk about this?" Sokka said.
"I'm suppose to try and make my own plan and not depend on my past lives," Ren said.
"Ren I don't mean to be rude but go home. They miss you," Katara said.
"Thanks for the advice. I don't feel so alone anymore," Ren said opening her glider.
(Author's Note: I know the chapter is called Ren alone but I felt like I had to show everyone that her family was still looking for her. Also I felt like the one thing that would make Ren want to go home was her old team and Korra because Korra has been there and her old team is dead. I felt like all of the things that Ren did was her way of dealing with it. She likes to fight so that is where the fighting ring comes in and since she has been around Mako and Bolin her whole life pro bending and the swamp because of her past two lives. Last note I felt like Ren had to want to go home by the end of this chapter. Reviews are welcome and thanks for reading)