Gloomy maiko lover I do see the change thanks for pointing it out. I had some time so I posted two chapters. This and the next one. These two are some of my longest.. Usually I stop at 2000 words but these both top 3000 so here you go.
Azula stood in front of the soldiers. Her siege on the western earth kingdom base had so far been a success except for not capturing the Avatar. She had worn their defences down and they were about to break through the defenses of the main tower. The Avatar she realized had left but she could still take out their defense force and claim the base for Gao.
"It's funny. I could go back to Omashu and over throw Gao. But that doesn't make any sense. I only want the Avatar. To get to him I have to use Gao's resources. Once I have the Avatar there will be no reason for me to a part of any of this" Azula thought to herself.
A boulder flew forward and the last bit of boarding on the tower came down. Azula gave the signal and all her men started swarming into the tower.
General Fong sat in his chair. He heard a bang and knew that Gao's men would be coming in. He had decided to stay with the fort because he thought of it as his home. His entire family had been lost to the war. This was all he had left. He had decided if it was going down he was going down with it. He had actually decided it long ago when the fire nation was close to domination of the earth kingdom.
General Fong heard the sound of many footsteps climbing the stairs of the tower. He stood up and took a stance.
"I won't go down without a fight" the general thought to himself
When the door was busted down the soldiers were met with boulders. General Fong continued his onslaught but he couldn't hold that many off. In minutes a hundred soldiers were in the room. As General Fong sent off attacks he was hit in many places by rocks and boulders. He stopped for a second to catch his breath. The soldiers had stopped attacking but had formed a circle around him. There were now at least 200 hundred soldiers in the room. The soldiers shifted a bit and Azula now standing in the circle with the General.
"So you are the fire nation girl they talk about" General Fong said.
"I guess I am" Azula said sounding bored.
"I guess you are going to cart me off to Omashu to do grueling labor for the wretched slime Gao" General Fong said remembering what he had heard the other captured soldiers had been sent.
"No, I am not taking prisoners today" Azula said.
The next couple of minutes were filled with screams as the general was burned alive and beaten with boulders. After he was finished he was a crumpled heap of burnt flesh and broken bones.
"What now" A captain asked Azula.
"This" Azula said before hauling a fire ball at a barrel of blasting jelly. The side of the wall exploded and flames were spreading through the room.
"I recommend you soldiers get out of here before you end up like him" Azula said.
The soldiers hurried out of the tower as the tower burned.
Miles away Katara, Sokka, and Suki sat on the fire nation ship. They were bored. They had left Kyoshi Island about a week before and here currently docked at a pit stop. This was the last port before the southern water tribe. The climate on the island they were on was noticeably colder. Suki had decided to go with them to the South Pole. She didn't want to be away from Sokka. Lieutenant Jee was walking over to them. He had been in the small village getting supplies.
"There is news from the north" Lieutenant Jee said.
"what is going on?" Sokka asked.
"The western earth kingdom base has been overrun with Gao's men and burnt to the ground. General Fong is dead" Lieutenant Jee answered.
"Where is Aang?" Katara asked worried.
"The avatar's whereabouts are unknown. His bison showed up at the Omashu base with wounded soldiers. As for he and your friends, they could be anywhere" Lieutenant Jee said.
They nodded and processed this information. They got back on the ship. They were all thinking of Aang Toph and Teo.
Miles away Aang stood on the forest floor. He put his hand out and a burst of flame came out. He had been working on this for a week. He expanded the flame. He was attempting to make the flame bigger but not hotter.
"Focus come on bigger not hotter" Aang thought to himself.
He focused and the size of the flame was propelling his hands upward.
"Here we go" Aang thought to himself.
Aang stopped the flames. He looked up and saw clear skies.
"Looks like it's time for a field test" Aang thought to himself.
Aang stood up straight. He then bent his knees. He jumped as high as he could. In two seconds he was thirty feet in the air as he peaked in height he let out the large flames out of his hands and feet. The propulsion from the blast allowed him to hover.
"I'm doing it. I'm flying" Aang thought happily.
Aang decided to try changing direction. He was able to move side to side and left to right. A few moments later the fire ceased. Aang couldn't keep it up for too long. He fell through the air. He used his air bending to slow himself down. He was about to land in a river. Aang waved his hand and a piece of ice formed in the middle of the river. He landed on it and started surfing down the river.
"woo yeah" Aang yelled as he used water bending to increase the current.
He realized too late he was about to go off a waterfall. As he went down he once again used air bending to slow himself down. He land in the water and swam to shore.
"Hey Aang" Teo said.
He was sitting on shore with Toph. Aang smiled and looked at the scenery. The last time he was here he had met those cool nomads. He smiled remembering where that adventure had led.
After they split up from Appa, Aang, Teo, and Toph had traveled on foot. They hadn't gotten very far. Teo was still finishing repairs on his chair so they couldn't fly. Toph's feet were still recovering from the burns. She could see but only about a foot in front of her. She had temporarily lost her extensive "vision".
"I am almost done with the repairs on my chair. We can fly the rest of the way" Teo said excitedly.
"Cool but this entire mountain range is controlled by Gao's men if we try to fly through we'll get shot down because they have control of old fire nation battlements from the war" Aang said.
"Then how do we get through" Teo asked.
"There is a pass underground that leads right to Omashu from here. Sokka Katara, and I took back when we were traveling in the earth kingdom" Aang said.
"Underground cave sounds like my kind of place" Toph said.
The trio made their way to a valley. There they came to a dead end with a pile of rocks.
"There isn't anything here" Teo said.
"Not yet" Aang said.
Aang walked up to the pile of rocks and kicked it. The rocks blasted in different directions revealing a tunnel. Teo read the inscription on the wall.
"The cave of two lovers" Teo said.
"Sounds lame" Toph said.
"It's a magical place" Aang said.
Aang picked up a large stick. He lit the tip on fire and handed it to Teo. He then made a small flame in his hand and they walked forward. The walked for about twenty minutes.
"When are we going to be out?" Teo asked.
"Who knows? The tunnels constantly change. This place is cursed so the walls change" Aang said.
Teo and Toph looked at him like he was crazy.
"Why would you go through here if it is cursed?" Toph asked.
"The curse says if you let love lead the way than you can find your way out" Aang said.
The look on Toph and Teo's faces was priceless. The both looked very worried and afraid now.
The walls started shaking and the cave started collapsing.
"Oh no" Teo said.
The rocks fell and Toph made a roof over herself and Teo. Aang jumped to the side. They were now separated by a large wall of earth. Before Aang could clear the earth wall he was surrounded by badger moles. Aang's flame was out but he could sense their vibrations. He stomped his feet a couple of times to see how many there were. There was a little young one that was coming toward him. Aang took a defensive pose. When it reached him the badger mole gave him a big lick. Aang laughed and rubbed its fur.
On the other side of the wall Toph and Teo were stranded. Teo had the make shift torch Aang had made.
"This isn't going to last much longer. We got to get out of here while we still have light" Teo said.
"Yeah I think your right" Toph said.
Toph's foot injuries prevented her from seeing anything other than that which was a foot away. They continued to trek through the tunnels. Eventually they came to the end of the tunnel. There was a large hole.
"Let's go in there, maybe its and exit" Teo said.
"Okay" Toph said
Toph and Teo walked into the room. They looked around. They saw many depictions and carvings along the wall.
"This looks like a tomb" Teo said.
"A tomb for who though?" Toph asked.
"wow what is this" Teo said.
Teo started reading, "They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages, the villages were enemies so they could not be together but their love was strong and they found away. The two lovers learned earth bending from the badger moles. They became the first earth benders. The built elaborate tunnels so that they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth forever. One day the man didn't come he died in the war between their villages. Devastated the woman showed a terrible show of her earth bending power. She could have destroyed them all. But instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new place where they would live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love. Love is brightest in the dark" Teo finished.
"Wow that was deep" Toph said.
"Look at this statue" Teo said shining the stick up to the wall.
Teo looked at the statue of them kissing. Toph stomped her feet and was able to see enough of it.
"Well there is a statue of them kissing and it says love is brightest in the dark and it says love will get us out of here. So how can we use this" Teo said.
"We could kiss. Wouldn't that believe in love?" Toph said trying to sound off handed.
"I uh we uh …" Teo stuttered not knowing how to answer.
"Look I am just thinking of options. I have no idea what to do. If that becomes our last resort then so be it but let's think of other options" Toph said.
"Oh my, did I just blow a chance to kiss Toph. Stupid, stupid stupid" Teo thought to himself.
Elsewhere in the cave Aang was on top of the baby badger mole. It had been very friendly and it had picked him up and put him on its back. Aang decided to along with it and see where it would lead him. He was going through deeper and deeper tunnels. Suddenly the badger mole broke through a wall and they were in the biggest cave Aang had ever been in. there were hundreds of badger moles all around.
"Wow, this must be the main habitat for badger moles. This is amazing. I've never seen so many in one place. Look at all the families" Aang thought to himself.
He passed by two badger moles and their small infant. He smiled at the sight. The small badger mole he was riding led him toward the back of the room. Aang looked up and saw a large earth platform. On it was what looked like the biggest badger mole he had ever seen. The young badger mole stopped and Aang got off. The large badger mole looked down at him. Aang looked at her. It reminded him of the mother sky bison. Aang put his hand on the bison's nose. The tattoo on his hand started to glow.
Everything started to spin around. Aang was standing on a mountain top. There were clouds everywhere in front of him was a young beautiful woman.
The woman began to speak, "I am Oma" she said.
"Your Oma, the woman who made Omashu" Aang said in shock.
"Yes after my death I became the spirit of earth bending. My story and yours are linked" she said.
"How?" Aang asked.
"Many ages ago humans began to learn the bending arts. Shu and I were the first earthbenders. We had learned from the badger moles. I became the badger mole spirit. Two twins learned fire bending from the dragons. The became the fire spirits when they died. They now live as dragons.
"I've met them before" Aang said.
"And there is also Tui and La, rather Yue and La" she continued.
"I have met them too" Aang said.
"There was another woman who became the mother sky bison" Oma finished.
"What does that have to do with me" Aang said.
"There was one other person. A man, he traveled the world. He was the first man to meet a lion turtle. The lion turtle taught him energy bending. He found the air bending woman and learned to control the wind. He found tui and la and mastered water. He found me and I taught him earth bending. He found the twins and the sun warriors and learned fire. He was the only person to ever master more than one element. By that time he was very old. He didn't want all of his hard work to go to waste. He used the full power of his energy bending to alter his spirit. It took hours of intense meditation and power. He created a system in which his spirit would be reincarnated to another human with his full abilities. The human would learn the elements and keep balance in our world. This being would have energy bending powers that allowed it to reach the spirit world. After they died another would be born in their place. Each reincarnation would have access to the previous reincarnations' memories and powers. The processed ravaged his body and subsequently killed him. But it had worked. He was reborn and the cycle began. That is how we are connected. I am the spirit of a single element. You are the spirit of the entire world. Your spirit exists to balance all of the elements and spirits in our world" she finished.
Aang looked at her. He was astonished at the story of his spirit.
"You Avatar Aang are the most powerful of any avatar to date. The collection of knowledge and power in the Avatar state is the most it has ever been. You are the youngest fully realized Avatar and you have the powers of energy bending at your disposal. Yet you hesitate to use your power and you are truly humble. You feel pure love toward all but the love you share with the water tribe girl is the purest of all. In this cave many have been lost. The only ones who can leave are those with pure unconditional love. The only exception was the water tribe boy who figured out how to manipulate the badger moles"
"Good old Sokka to bend the rules of an ancient spirit cave" Aang thought to himself.
"My city is in danger as you know. I can feel it. This is a danger like no other. It isn't the danger of invaders but the danger in itself. The city might destroy itself. Please Avatar save my city" she said.
Everything started spinning again and he was back in the cave. The small badger mole that had brought him there was waiting. Aang hopped on his back and they left the room.
In the tomb Teo and Toph were walking toward the other entrance of the tomb.
"This make shift torch has maybe a minute left on it. What are we going to do?" Teo said.
"What can we do" Toph said.
The two were both now holding the stick. They were looking at each other. The light started to dim as the stick went out. Toph started to lean forward and Teo followed. A second before they made contact the light went completely out. Two seconds later the ceiling was shining.
"No way" Teo said.
"What?" Toph said not being able to see the light.
"There are crystals on the ceiling that lead out of here. Let's go" Teo said.
Teo wheeled forward and Toph walked forward. Teo saw a light and then they were outside.
"No way we are free" Toph said.
"Yeah" Teo said.
"That is one crazy cave" Toph said.
"Toph about back there…" Teo started but before he could say anymore a badger mole broke through the side of the mountain. Aang was sitting on top.
"Hey guys" Aang said happily.
"Aang" Toph said.
"How did you get out?" Teo asked.
"The usual avatar spirit magic" Aang said laughing.
The trio laughed and began moving again.
"The grand city of Omashu is right over this hill" Aang said.
As they walked over the hill the saw the city. The once grand bridges that led from the mountain ranges to the city were broken. They saw an earth kingdom base on one of the adjacent mountains. Aang could see soldiers on the wall guarding the city. There was artillery being shot at the city by the earth kingdom base.
"So that's where Gao is" Teo said.
"Looks like the real fight is about to begin" Aang said.