Hey guys! I'm sorry for this taking THIS long but here's Chapter 2 of Book two! I hope you enjoy :)
"Is it from Su?" Yin asked with a hand on Ryu's shoulder. Ryu shook his head from side to side.
"Who is it from?" Yin asked.
Ryu tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. While the others tried to figure out what was wrong, Yin picked up the letter and read over it. His mouth was agape, and a minute later he dropped the letter and reached over to grab Ryu and hugged him. Ryu was still in shock, not even acknowledging Yin. He was completely out of it. Sara and Ki were extremely confused.
"Are we gonna be left in the dark or are you gonna tell us?" Ki asked. Ryu was staring blankly as the tears streamed down his face. He snapped out of his trance and looked at Sara.
"It was my parents," Ryu said.
"It was your parents?!" Sara said loudly as she reached over and read the letter out loud.
Ryu,
We hope that this letter gets to you. When we first saw you in the news, we knew it was you. It's been eleven years, and we thought we'd never find you. Never in our wildest imagination would we have thought they took you to Omashu, to safety. We're extremely happy you've been safe this whole time.
After two years of searching, we lost hope that you were still in Gaoling, or even still alive. We'd given up and life hadn't been the same without you. We've feared every day that you may be lost somewhere, or even dead. It's now been eleven years, but it feels like only weeks have gone past.
When the world saw that the Avatar had been found, everyone rejoiced. There were celebrations in the streets. They said that the Avatar was an orphan boy in Omashu, and in our guts, we had a feeling. When we first saw that picture on the television, we broke down in tears. We knew it was you immediately from your hair and your green eyes. Your father, sister, and I have been given new life and hope.
We hope this letter finds you well. We ask that you come to Gaoling so we can finally see you and hear your voice again. We want you to have a loving family once again.
Love,
Mom and Dad
"I don't understand," Yin said, "I thought you said your parents abandoned you?" Yin took his shirt off and threw it on the poolside as he was getting ready to swim.
"Me too," Ryu said, sitting on the edge of the pool. "That's what I was told by Sparo, that the parents of children who no longer wanted their children would leave them in the outskirts since it didn't cost as much money as putting them up for adoption."
Yin interrupted as he was stepping into the pool, "Wait, it's not free to put kids up for adoption?"
"No, too many orphans, not enough space," Ryu responded.
"Wait, you have a sister?!" Sara asked as she re-read the letter to herself.
Ryu shrugged, "I don't remember anything about a sibling." Ryu responded.
Yin did a lap in the pool, emerging on the other side. "What are you gonna do?" He said after he wiped his hair back.
Ryu just sat there for a moment before responding. "I'm gonna go see them," Ryu said hesitantly.
"Well, guess we're not unpacking," Sara said.
"No," Ryu responded, "I'm going to go see them. Just me."
"Ryu, you can't go alone, not with what's going on. Think about what just happened, we were just attacked on our welcoming visit. If you go alone and something happens to you, do you think the world can wait another 17 years for another Avatar?" Sara responded, "The Firelord would never let you go by yourself anyway."
"Well then it's good that it's not her decision, now isn't it?" Ryu walked out.
"We can't let him go," Sara said as soon as Ryu was far enough away not to hear them. "Not alone, he's the Avatar if he gets lost or worse, the whole world will be in trouble."
"I'll go with him," Ki said, but Yin immediately shot it down. "I'm going with him." He said as he got out of the pool. "I've known him for years, I should be the one there with him. Besides, I'm an orphan too, I know how he feels."
"How are we gonna get him to let you go?" Sara said.
"We'll figure that out when we get to that point, I guess." He said as he dried off.
The next morning, everyone woke up to servants asking them how they slept and what food they wanted for breakfast. Ryu barely slept the whole night and was up when one of the servants knocked on his door. The man bowed as he walked in, pulled out a notecard, and started reading what Ryu's itinerary for the day was. Ryu cut him off as he started. "I'm sorry, I won't be able to do any of that today. May I have an audience with the Firelord?"
The servant hesitated before answering. "Her Highness is very busy with day-to-day business. I will go down and call to see if it is possible. Would you like breakfast?"
"No thank you, I'm not hungry," Ryu responded. The servant left and Ryu sat in bed. He thought about his family, or at least he tried to. He couldn't remember any faces. He'd forgotten that he even had a sister. He contemplated if it were a good idea to go. He was always angry about not having parents or a family and assumed it was because the parents he did have didn't find it necessary to look for him. The letter he received said otherwise, that they were looking for him. They do love him, and they want him in their lives.
He sat in his room for an hour before putting on clean clothes and heading downstairs. When he got downstairs, the others were eating breakfast. He sat in an empty chair but just looked at the table. "How'd you sleep?" Ki asked,
"Decent" Ryu answered.
"That bed is the most luxurious thing I've ever laid on," Yin said muffled as he stuffed his mouth with eggs.
Sara looked in disgust, "Didn't someone teach you how to eat like a normal person?" She asked him rhetorically.
He ignored her and continued eating. There was a knock at the door and Sara got up to answer it. At the door were two guards, each with a red button-down jacket, black pants, a black belt, and swords sheathed on their left sides. Ryu got up and went to the door when he saw who was there. As Ryu walked up, the guards bowed to Ryu.
"Avatar Ryu," one of the guards started, "Your request for an audience with Her Royal Highness, the Firelord, has been accepted. The time for the audience is as soon as possible. We will take you when you're ready."
"Thank you," Ryu said and bowed to them. They bowed back and took one large step back. They both took another step back, but turned to face each other and gave Ryu and Sara a view of the street. They saw how the two got there, by a carriage similar to the one they had all taken last night. The guards pivoted again so that they were facing the street. They then walked uniformly and slowly back to the carriage.
Ryu got ready in some semi-business clothing. A button-down red-shirt with gold stitching and pants. He didn't quite know what to wear to the Palace, but he thought it couldn't be too far off from his choices. He decided to also wear his necklace, but before he put it on, he ran his fingers over the symbols. 'The divine medium who has descended upon our mortal world' he read over and over again in his head. He thought about how his job was to learn the elements and bring balance to the world, not spend time with his family. However, it always haunted him what his family was like, where they were, who they were, what they looked like, but most of all: why? Why was he orphaned and had to live in squalor? Why was it that he had to raise himself in Omashu if they've been alive this whole time? Why did he have to deal with all of this stuff with the Avatar without parents being there to help? He wanted these answers.
As Ryu left, the rest pleaded to go with and were already ready. Ryu put up a fight at first but none of them would budge, so he let them come with. They all piled into the carriage and headed to the Palace.
When they got to the center of the city, they entered the large stone walls and were greeted by the Royal Palace. The large structure was mostly a deep shade of red with lighter red and gold as accents. The structure resembled a large flame in its design. As they got closer, they saw on the steps leading up to the palace, people in long red robes standing on each side of every other step. When they pulled up, two guards opened the door and Ryu got out first, with the rest following. Ryu walked up the steps, and as he passed each of the people on the steps, they bowed. When he got to the top, a man was waiting. He was wearing a red and grey outfit, had his jet-black hair slicked back, and wore glasses. "Avatar Ryu," he said as he bowed. "Please, follow me". Ryu and the rest followed him as they walked into the palace. The inside was a vibrant red with gold accents with very high ceilings. Those working around the palace stopped what they were doing and kept their heads bowed as Ryu walked past. They walked through the palace until they reached the end of a hallway with large double-doors and two guards in front of the doors. "Your audience with the Firelord is now," He said as he gestured to the door.
"You guys stay out here," Ryu said to the rest.
"No, we wanna come in," Yin said to Ryu sternly.
Ryu said to Yin, "No, this doesn't concern you. Look, I let you guys tag along here, this is something I have to do myself."
Ryu approached the door, and the guards bowed. One of them opened one of the large doors and Ryu walked in.
Ryu's heart felt like it was beating out of his chest as he had no idea what to expect. When he walked in, he felt the presence of fire, as the room had a stage at the opposite side which was lit up with fire. In the middle was the Firelord's throne, empty. For a second he was confused until he saw a figure walk through the fire and sit on the throne.
"Avatar Ryu, it is always a pleasure to meet with you. To what do I owe the pleasure?" The figure said.
"Firelord Izumi," Ryu started, "In my mail, I received quite a troubling letter. As you know, I am an orphan- or...was...an orphan? I'm not sure how to put this but I received a letter from people who claim to be my parents."
After a slight pause, Izumi spoke. "I see, may I see the letter?" Ryu pulled the letter out of his pocket but didn't know how to get the letter to Izumi.
"Usually only royalty is allowed onto the throne stage," Izumi stated, "however, I can make an exception," she said.
Ryu approached the stage and lept onto it. He manipulated the fire to die down around him and was no longer able to only see Izumi's dark shadow. She smiled at him and he handed her the letter. She opened it and read it, handing it back to Ryu.
"I can't begin to imagine how you feel right now, Ryu," she said. "I need your help, Firelord," He said back.
"I'm willing to help you in whatever way possible, but I'm not sure I can get you to Gaoling," she responded.
"Why not?" Ryu asked. He thought the only person who could surely help would be Izumi. He wasn't sure why, as the Firelord, she couldn't help.
"The White Lotus is still under investigation for what happened in Zaofu, meaning it's up to me to protect you, anyone that I can send with you would be sending Fire Nation troops on Earth Nation soil. That and relations have almost completely broken down with the Earth Nation over the Zaofu attacks. They believe we are responsible for arming the terrorists because of our warplanes being used. We don't know how they got their hands on some planes of ours, but the President won't take that as an answer. If something happens to you, it could result in a major conflict, maybe even war." Izumi said. "I simply can't risk negative outcomes."
"With all due respect," Ryu started, "I don't think I can continue my Avatar training until I can find answers to this huge part of my life. I won't be able to focus like I've been able to. If you can't help me, I'll have to find a way to Gaoling myself, and I will get there by any means regardless of safety." Izumi looked down and sighed, then looked back at Ryu.
Ryu walked through one of the doors back into the hallway. His eyes had to readjust after being in the throne room, only lit by the fire on the throne stage. The rest of the gang perked up after leaning on the side of the wall, looking at Ryu.
"I'm headed to Gaoling," he said to them.
As they walked down the steps of the Royal Palace, Ryu told them of the deal they made. "I leave tonight, after sundown so it's not as obvious. I can spend up to 7 days gone. It'll take about 12 hours to get there and 12 hours to get back, so I'll have 6 days in Gaoling. She made me agree to one stipulation though." Ryu said as he stopped while walking down and turned to the rest, "I have to have one of you come with me."
Yin crossed his arms and stepped in front of Sara and Ki, "If you told me a year ago that I'd be meeting your parents, I'd be shocked," he said with a smirk.
"You're traveling with the Avatar. That's pretty low on the list of things to be shocked about." Sara said while looking at Yin.
Yin's smirk fell and his face turned to one of confusion. "Well...You KNOW what I mean" He said as he turned to her.
"Wait," Ryu said, "Why do you think you get to go with me?" Ryu had already decided Yin was the obvious choice, he just didn't like his cocky attitude on the matter.
"I mean I've been with you the longest, and it'll be just like it was before these two," He said as he whispered the end with a smile.
"Still here, can still kick your ass like that one time in Zaofu," Sara said.
"That was ONE time and you said you wouldn't keep bringing it up!" He said as he turned to her.
"Does everyone agree with this decision?" Ryu asked. Sara and Ki nodded.
"Alright, you get to come," Ryu said with a bit of a smile.
Yin had a big grin and grabbed Ryu and picked him up. "We're gonna meet your parents bro!" he yelled in excitement. They continued down the stairs and headed toward the carriage. "Hey if your sister's hot, can I hit on her?" Yin asked.
"If you hit on my sister, I'll go into the Avatar State and kill you," Ryu said.
"Aw come on!" Yin said as he walked behind.
"Dude, you don't even know how old she is, what if she's like 7?" Ki said to Yin.
"That's disgusting to think about, Ki," Yin responded.
"You're the one potentially hitting on a maybe-7-year-old!" Ki said as they all piled into the carriage.
Ryu got back to the house and started packing. He didn't know what clothes he should pack, so he packed a mix of formal clothing and informal clothing into his duffel bag. As he was putting in the metal pieces to his outfits, Yin walked in.
"Are you excited to meet your birth parents?" he asked.
Ryu paused for a bit. "Am I making a mistake?" Ryu asked.
Yin had a puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I've spent as far as I can remember on my own, basically raising myself. I had to live my life with only me as the main support. I lived because I felt I needed to. I never looked forward to anything, just thinking about the next day. Now, these people claiming to be my parents come in and want to be part of my life? Why would I want that? And now, I have much more important things to be doing. I should be learning firebending! I should be training to help save the world! Not worrying about things like this."
"Well, it could be a mistake, could not be," Yin said as he sat in the armchair in the corner of Ryu's room, slouched with his legs spread far apart.
"Well thanks for that insight, oh wise one," Ryu responded.
"What I mean is," Yin started, "It may be a mistake, but you won't know until you go. Maybe you'll regret it or maybe you'll get some closure after so long. But if you don't go, you'll always be thinking about how it could've been."
"What if, when it comes down to it and the world needs me, I'm not prepared because I'm too busy trying to play family?" Yin got up from his chair and stopped right in front of Ryu.
"You're the Avatar," he said, "but you're still just as human as the rest of us and deserve what we do." He put a hand on Ryu's shoulder. "And, you'll be prepared for when the world needs you. You won't be if you can't focus on training." He started to walk out of the room.
"Have you started packing?" Ryu asked.
"Packing? I'm just gonna wear this!" he said as he gestured his hands to the clothes he was wearing.
"For five days? That's disgusting!" Ryu exclaimed.
"You forget who was an orphan with you, I've had my fair share of struggle," he said with a smirk on his face.
"Well, now you're on Team Avatar and you accumulated a decent wardrobe in Zaofu now go throw some of it in a bag or else I'll have Ki come with me!"
"UGH" Yin sighed in an exasperated manner as he walked back to his room.
When they finished packing, Ryu and Yin took their stuff downstairs. Sara was outside practicing metalbending while Ki was in the dining room on the phone with his parents.
"Are you sure you want to do this? I know it's a bit of a sore spot for you and if things don't go right it could hurt you, and I don't want-" She started, Ryu then cut her off.
"I'm sure this is what I want to do. Why are you worried so much?" Ryu said with a smirk and a pat on her shoulder and then started moving stuff over towards the front door.
She turned away, put her hand on her hip, and with the other, she scratched her eyebrow. "Because I can't help it," Sara said as she went back upstairs to go get something. Ki could see the interaction from the dining room and heard Sara when she mumbled through a convenient pause in the conversation with his parents.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm here," he said back into the phone.
"All set?" Ki asked the two as they were at the door with their bags, and a carriage to take them back to the palace.
"Yep, we'll be back soon!" Ryu said as everyone hugged.
After they said goodbye to each other, Ryu and Yin went to the carriage. A man took their two bags, and they got in. As the carriage started moving, they waved to Sara and Ki, who waved back.
"Wow," Yin said,
"What?" Ryu asked,
"This is the first time we're splitting like this since all of us met,"
"Oh, you're right," Ryu responded,
"Especially with Sara…" He looked down at his shoes and started to overthink.
"They'll be fine and it'll give them more time to bond!" Yin said, "I mean if I have to be honest, those two probably have the weakest relationship out of us four," He said with a shrug.
Ryu looked at him slowly with a confused look on his face. "That's weird because anyone who's been around us would probably say it's you and Sara."
"Nah nah bro, we may be mean to each other but it's a friendly mean!"
"She didn't try to beat me up in Zaofu, dude," Ryu said with a smirk.
"I wouldn't either if that person was a master earthbender and a pretty decent firebender...and it was ONE time that we all promised to never mention again!" Yin said, annoyed towards the end.
"Look, all I'm saying is I think you guys would hate each other if it weren't for me."
"Oh yeah because you're so important," Yin said, crossing his arms and looking out the window.
When they got to the temple, men in all red greeted them and took their bags. They once again walked up all the steps where an aide greeted them.
"Follow me," the aide said as he took them back into the palace.
As they walked through, staff to the Firelord would stop and bow to Ryu.
Yin leaned over and whispered to Ryu, "They're being a little bit extra, don't you think?" he asked. "Yeah it's kinda creeping me out," Ryu responded.
The aide walked them to a greenhouse with plants growing everywhere. Yin was amazed and walked up to one. As he was about to touch it, the aide spoke up, "No touching the plants," he said politely but firmly. Yin caught back up with them as they were walking. When they got to the end of the room, the aide opened a door that led to outside and they were greeted with the beautiful sunset, with the sky having tones of yellow and orange with some purple. The outside area was grassy but neatly kept, and a few large boulders protruding from the grass. The main attraction, however, were the creatures that were around. Ryu recognized the animals from science class. He saw a few lemurs flying around, a jackalope munching on some grass, a group of toucan puffins hanging around one of the boulders, an eel hound, and a few sky bison walking around. The Firelord was there to meet them with a woman who was wearing a brown outfit with boots, an apron, and a pair of thinly-rimmed round glasses.
"Welcome to our sanctuary!" the Firelord said, gesturing to the area with her hands.
"Hi," the other lady said, "I'm Princess Ursa, you can just call me Ursa, I'm the Firelord of the daughter- I mean the daughter of the Fire- oh you know what I mean," she said nervously as she shook Ryu's hand with both of her hands.
"Hi, I'm Ryu-" She cut him off,
"I know who you are of course!" She said to him,
"Are you a bit nervous or something? You don't have to be nervous around me!" Ryu said with a smile to her.
"I know I can't help it, seeing the video of the stuff you did in Zaofu was amazing, I've never seen bending like that!" She exclaimed.
Ryu's smile quickly faded and looked towards the ground "Yeah I get that a lot," He said quietly.
"Ursa takes care of the sanctuary and all the animals here," Izumi said as she put a hand on her shoulder. "Ever since she was a kid she was fascinated with animals."
"It's a very beautiful sanctuary but...why are we here?" Ryu asked.
"Well, you need to get to Gaoling, and the least attention-drawing way is probably not with an airship," Izumi said to them.
"What way do you think is best?" Yin asked.
"Follow me," Ursa said as they started to walk.
They walked in the grass over to one of the air bison who looked at them as they approached the sky bison. One had a mount on and a rope tied to both horns. As they approached, Ursa gave the bison treats from her apron and rubbed each of their faces. Ryu was a bit apprehensive to get any closer, as the biggest animal he'd encountered was a pet bear in Omashu.
"Don't worry, they don't bite!" Ursa told him as she waved him to come closer. She gave him a handful of treats and told him to give them to the bison with the mount. Ryu extended his palm with the treats in them. The bison's head moved closer and sniffed the treats before gently chowing down on them. When all the treats were gone, the bison moved a bit closer to sniff Ryu, and then gave him one big lick on his face. Ryu was a bit surprised but welcomed the affection.
"She likes you already," Ursa said, "her name is Limi, but she also responds to Li-Li," she said as she adjusted her glasses and put her hands in the pockets of her apron.
"That's great and all but we're gonna fly her to the Earth Kingdom? We don't know how to fly a bison!" Ryu asked,
"Don't worry, most of the heavy lifting has been done for you," Ursa said, "part of training a bison is making them friendly to those who haven't flown before either. Here are the basics." Ursa walked towards the back where Ryu saw Yin petting Li-Li on one of her legs.
"She's so soft," he said with a huge grin on his face.
"You'll need to hear this too," Ryu said as he grabbed Yin by the collar and pulled him with them. They got to the back and walked up Li-Li's tail. Ursa instructed them to put their bags down on the mounting area and Yin sat at the edge of the mount watching as Ryu and Ursa sat on top of Li-Li's head.
Ursa grabbed the rope between the horns, "Pulling right makes you go right, pulling left makes you go left." She said to him.
As she pulled in those directions, Li-Li's head moved in that direction.
"To fly, all you do is say 'yip-yip'!" Ursa said as she snapped the rope.
Li-Li made a bellowing groan, bent her knees, and pulled her tail up. She struck her tail down and extended her knees, sending them soaring into the air. Ryu and Yin were completely taken off-guard, screaming as they left the ground. Yin grabbed onto the mount as tight as he could, as Ryu grabbed onto Ursa.
"Sorry, I forgot to warn you!" She said with a huge grin.
As they flew, Ryu got less nervous and looked around to see the view. He saw the palace in full view as they circled. "To go higher, you pull tight over your head, to go lower you pull tight towards your waist." As Ursa told them, she demonstrated to them and Li-Li ascended and descended. "For long flights like yours, you'll want to be pretty high up towards the clouds!"
"We have to go all the way up there?!" Yin asked, Ryu looked back and he had gotten a little better but was still white-knuckling the saddle.
"Don't worry! It gets less scary!" Ursa said as they came back around the palace. "And when you want to land, you just snap the rope and Li-Li will find where she can land safely." She said as she demonstrated, and Li-Li flew back towards the sanctuary and landed gently. "She's a herbivore so she'll eat grass, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other non-animal foods," Ursa said as she climbed down.
Izumi walked over to where they were and pulled something from her robe. "You'll need this to show you where to go," she said as she handed Ryu a scroll. He unrolled it and it was a map of the world. She marked where they were in the Fire Nation as "x" and circled a location in the middle of the Earth Nation. "I circled Gaoling to help you out," Izumi said, "I recommend once you guys get back over land to find a small town or something and find out where you guys are and where you need to go to get to Gaoling," Ursa stood next to Izumi and they just stared.
"That's it? I just go?" Ryu asked,
"Yep! Safe travels!" Izumi said.
"Thanks so much, guys, we'll be back soon," Ryu responded.
"Li-Li, yip yip!" He said as they soared back into the air with Yin screaming and Ryu just giggling nervously. He steered her over the city to see it once again, amazed at the view as they passed. The sun setting gave the city an orange hue, and the light reflected off of the gold in the city giving it an unreal look. As they left Royal Caldera and flew over New Tsai Dun, they looked at all the lights and displays.
"Isn't it a bit weird how...nice things are here?" Yin asked,
"What do you mean?" Ryu responded.
"I mean why is it so nice here while we had to live in Omashu? How can the world be so...different?"
"I read books from Suyin's study, the nations have had such a troubled history even after the Hundred Year War, the Earth Nation especially. The Fire Nation just didn't have hard times." Ryu told him as they looked out. Soon, they reached the port and were over water once again. Yin looked behind them, and they could see New Tsai Dun and Royal Caldera City as it faded from them.
After a while, Ryu decided that since they were flying in a straight line, he didn't need to be on Li-Li's head and joined Yin on the saddle. They looked around them as the clouds passed and the wind rushed around them.
"Why don't we travel like this all the time?" Yin asked.
"I have no answer to that, but it feels very...familiar," Ryu responded.
They enjoyed the sun completely set and it turned to night, the clouds were there but they could also see the stars as they dotted the sky. "So, since it's the two of us again, I gotta ask you...Sara?" he said with his eyebrows moving up and down.
"Yeah, what about her?"
"I mean do you like her?" Yin asked, smiling but slightly frustrated that Ryu didn't pick up what he meant.
"Oh, uhh," Ryu said as he looked back up to the sky, "That's all I needed to hear," He said with a smirk, "Well no, I did like her at first I guess? I just don't think she liked me. Now we're just really good friends. I don't have time for relationships like that."
"Dude, she liked you," Yin said, "She doesn't act the way she does with you with anyone else, and when I hit on her she-"
"You did what now?" Ryu cut him off,
"Oh, yeah, a little back in Zaofu, but she wasn't receptive at all! No need to go all glowy on me!" Yin said back.
Ryu chuckled and shook his head, "No wonder you two don't get along," He said.
"WE GET ALONG JUST FINE!" Yin yelled with both fists clenched and veins popping from his temple.
Ryu calmly put his hands up and said "Relax, no need to go all glowy on me," with a smirk.
"That's your thing," Yin said as he crossed his arms and looked over the side.
"Oh but how I wish it wasn't," he said as he threw himself in a lying position on the saddle, stretched out to where his head was by Yin's feet.
"Wait, what? Why not?" Yin asked.
"I just wanted a normal life, when we were in Omashu I just wanted to finish school so I could get out and go somewhere else, forget about being an orphan, start a family and spend the rest of my life with them. I don't think that was a lot to ask for. Now those dreams are gone and I have to save the world and with what? My decent earthbending and okay firebending?"
"Ok saying your earthbending is decent should be a crime," Yin started, "you're one of the most powerful earthbenders I've ever seen. Firebending and the other elements will come with time, you have to be patient. Well, I have to be patient because once you're able to waterbend, I'm gonna harass you big time as a way to train you,"
"You mean you don't annoy me enough already?" Ryu asked.
Yin snorted. "You tired?" Yin asked him,
"yeah," Ryu said as he closed his eyes.
"I'll fly Limi then, you get some rest," Yin said as he got up and walked over to sit on Li-Li's head. Ryu tried falling asleep, but he couldn't. He stared at the stars and felt the rushing wind around him. It gave him a sense he hadn't felt before. A sense of freedom.
Sara was blindfolded performing attacks without bending. She was trying to practice her seismic sense. Ki stepped out and got a little close when she fully extended her palm which luckily only grazed his nose.
"Hi Sara," he said as he stared at her palm with wide eyes. With the other hand, she removed her blindfold "UGH," she bellowed out of frustration. "I should've sensed you there."
"You've been practicing since Ryu and Yin left, don't you think you should call it a night?" he asked her.
She thought about it and eventually decided to. They headed back inside where they sat on the couches in the living room. "So, Ki, how is it traveling with us for the first time," she asked him. "It's pretty good, this is the farthest I've been away from my parents though which kinda sucks,"
"You'll get used to it...well, you had cool parents so maybe, maybe not," she said and then realized that was a mistake. "That kind of came out wrong, you'll miss them but you can still call them and talk to them like you were earlier! It won't be so bad," she realized she was just making it worse so she stopped.
"I appreciate it, I really do," He reassured her with a smile. "I'm just happy you guys let me be a part of this group,"
"What do you mean?" she asked, "Well, you're a talented earthbender, Yin's a talented waterbender, and Ryu's the Avatar," Ki said, "I can't bend anything…" He said as he looked to the ground.
"So I can move rocks and Yin can make big splashes, so what? You're really smart and strategic, what happened in Zaofu was partly because of you!" she told him.
"Thanks," he said. "When I was on the phone…" Ki started, "I heard you say you couldn't help but worry about Ryu, did I hear that right?"
Sara paused for a moment as she remembered back. "Oh, yeah, I didn't think anyone heard me on that," she said.
"Do you like Ryu?"
"Of course I like Ryu! He's a great person and even though he's the Avatar he's down to earth, Now Yin on the other hand-"
Ki cut her off, "I think you know what I meant by if you like him," He stated.
She sighed and after a slight pause, she nodded, "You can't tell him…" She said as she locked her fingers together and looked Ki in the eyes. "I won't," he assured her, "that must be hard though. It seems like he always has something on his mind nowadays like he's never fully here."
"Yeah, after what happened in Zaofu he's been a bit rattled. He doesn't like that he killed people and I think it's coming to him that that's what being the Avatar means sometimes to save the world."
"I feel that," Ki said, "when I electrified that pond I didn't know how much voltage it would produce. Turns out it was a lot. Some were just stunned but others…"
"It's a cruel world. Those people would've done it to you without remorse. I know it's hard, but you gotta forget about it. You just ended up outsmarting them." She told Ki.
After a bit of silence, Sara happened to look over and see the letter she tossed on the floor yesterday. She chuckled to herself, "I never even opened this letter," she said as she got up and picked it up. She opened it and unfolded the neat paper. She could tell it was her father's handwriting. As she read, her eyes widened, and she became more and more worried as she realized Ryu and Yin were back in the Earth Nation.
"Oh no," she said in a worrying tone, which prompted Ki to look up inquisitively.
Ryu stared at himself on a cliff, giving it his all. He was bending the earth underneath him and launching it at his opponent, but nothing stopped him. When Ryu looked closer, his opponent was someone he thought he'd forgotten about.
Lee Tin.
Ryu tried sending everything he could at Lee Tin, but everything was either easily dodged or crumbled right in front of him. He got closer and closer to Ryu until Ryu's only option was to cause a dust devil so Lee Tin couldn't see. Ryu watching was helpless, as he saw himself struck with fear knowing that that won't work. Seconds later, as Ryu was on the edge of the cliff, Lee Tin emerged, picked him up, and threw him off the cliff. Ryu watched in horror as he saw himself thrown off the cliff. Then Ryu emerged again, air swirling around him to form a tornado with him at the top. His eyes were glowing a bright blue, while the rest of his face had an angry expression. He bended earth slabs up to restrain Lee Tin, then firebended three very large fire whips. Just as Ryu was about to strike him down, he jolted awake.
He saw the clouds again, and the sky was bright orange on the verge of pink. He got up and walked over to the front of Li-Li, where Yin was asleep on her head. Ryu flicked him on the head and he jolted awake, rubbing where Ryu flicked him.
"How long were you asleep?" Ryu asked.
"Not long at all," Yin said as he pulled out the map, "I've been kind of steering us in this direction so once we reach land we shouldn't have to do much maneuvering," Ryu looked at the map and it didn't quite look how Izumi gave it to them until he realized what Yin had done.
"You turned the map upside down!" Ryu yelled.
"What? I did not!" Yin responded.
"It goes this way!" Ryu said as he flipped it.
"It wouldn't go that way, why would it go that way?!" Yin said, gesturing to the map.
"Because the Fire Nation is in the West, not the East! You did the same thing in Ba Sing Se! Give me that!" Ryu said as he snatched the map from Yin's hand, "Go sit in the saddle you've had your fun," Ryu said as he took control of Li-Li. Yin went and laid down on the saddle.
As soon as they got back over land, Ryu started to descend to find any sort of town they could stop at. After an hour of looking, Ryu found a small town with older buildings in the middle of a woodsy area. He snapped the rope and Li-Li lurched towards the ground. She landed a bit away from the town, and Ryu and Yin hopped off. Ryu walked over to see Li-Li's face.
"You've done pretty well so far girl!" He said to her. She licked his face and he chuckled. "I'll go see if they have anything for you to eat." He told her as he patted her head.
Ryu and Yin walked over to the town, but as they got closer, they realized it was less of a town and more of an outpost. There were only a few buildings, all that seemed to be selling something and a few stands were set up around them. One of the buildings was labeled "tavern", and Yin wanted to go in there to ask about where they were. When they walked in, some men and women were eating and drinking, some listening to the radio, others laughing and banging their fists on the table, and in the corner was a man behind a bar with a bunch of drinks behind him on shelves. They walked up to him and he looked up and grinned, "Can I help you, gentlemen?" He asked them with an upbeat tone. Ryu was relieved to hear his tone, as he wasn't sure how the man would react to two teenagers walking in.
"Uh yeah," Ryu said as he pulled out the map and handed it to the man, "Could you show us where we are?"
The man chuckled and smiled, "You kids a little lost?" he asked them. Yin smiled a bit and shook his head up and down. After inspecting the map for a bit, the man pointed on the map. "You guys are right here," He said to them, Ryu and Yin both turned facing the same way the man was facing to see the map. He pointed towards the southern part of the Earth Nation. "You guys seem to be on track if you're headed to Gaoling," he handed the map back to them.
"Wow so not only can you not read a map, but you don't know directions either so you ended up being doubly wrong," Ryu said as he looked at Yin.
In the corner of the tavern, two men and two women were chatting and laughing, until Ryu and Yin had walked in. One of the men got a good look at their faces, which tipped him off a bit. He told the other three, and they were all craning to get a good look. When Ryu and Yin turned towards them to see the map, one of the men pulled two crumpled pieces of paper from his pocket, with Ryu and Yin's faces on them and a bounty reward towards the bottom. "Well I'll be," he said to the others, "today's our lucky day."
As Ryu rolled up the map, he saw four people approaching him. At first, he thought they just wanted to see the man behind the bar so he stepped out of their way. However, they followed. They walked right up to him, so Ryu greeted them hesitantly.
"H-Hello…" He said as he waved to them.
"Hi," one of the women said, "grab him".
One of the men popped open a water skin and froze his arms to the wall of the tavern while freezing Yin's entire body to the wall right next to Ryu. The man behind the bar and everyone else stopped what they were doing, and the only sound in the tavern was the radio still playing. One of the men, who was the biggest and most buff of the four, walked right up to him, bent down a little, and they stood face-to-face.
"You're gonna make us rich, kid," He said to Ryu.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ryu said in bewilderment.
"You will soon," the man responded, "c'mon, let's take 'em".
He took a few steps back as the waterbender walked over to remove him from the wall. As soon as the water bender got close enough, Ryu breathed fire in his face. He then kicked towards them as they were caught off guard. Yin took advantage of the situation and freed himself from the ice. Once he was off the wall, he bended the ice on Ryu's hands back into water and attacked the biggest of them with it, wrapping it around his neck. As he couldn't breathe, Ryu started throwing fire punches to make the rest back up.
"Let's go!" Ryu shouted, and he and Yin sprinted out of the tavern with the map. The water around the man's neck dropped and he could breathe again.
"The bounty says one earthbender and one waterbender," He said to the other three.
"Maybe that was a mistake but that's their faces," one of the women said, tending to him.
"Chase after them!" The man said as he caught his breath, and the four sprinted after Ryu and Yin.
As Ryu and Yin ran back to Li-Li, the four bounty hunters caught up with them. One of the women started firebending while the biggest man started to earthbend. Ryu turned back around and started to fight back with the fire and dodge the earth, being light on his feet and not staying on the ground for too long. When he saw an opening, he slammed his fist on the ground, causing a fissure to open up in the ground large enough for the firebender to fit in. As the others stared in amazement, he caught them off guard again with firebending and managed to get away from them and get back to Li-Li. They wasted no time, Ryu hopped on her head and Yin got on the saddle.
"Li-Li, yip yip!" Ryu shouted, and with a groan and a tail flap, Li-Li was back in the air.
The bounty hunters stared at them as they flew away, and the earthbender spoke, "I didn't know he was the Avatar," he started, "guess why the bounty's so high. Don't worry, they gotta come back this way once they go back to where they came from. And next time, we'll be ready for 'em."
"What was that about?!" Yin shouted as he walked back and forth on the saddle.
"It had to have been an accident, we've never seen those people ever," Ryu said as he shook his head.
"It's not a coincidence when you're the Avatar. It's never a coincidence when you're the Avatar!" Yin yelled.
"Gee thanks," Ryu responded.
"We should've brought back up or something, can't we get White Lotus guards again?" He asked in a worried tone.
Ryu closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side. "That's not gonna be an option for a while. Ba Sing Se is still holding trials on the ones who snuck in with everything going on in Zaofu, and there's an investigation still going on. They find new stuff that incriminates more people every week. Suyin and Izumi don't trust them right now."
"Well, what about Fire Nation guards or something?"
"Will you relax?" Ryu started, "We handled it back there, we can handle ourselves."
"Yeah, for now," Yin responded, "All I'm saying is if they wanna get to you, they're gonna get more people or weapons to do it." Ryu just ignored the last comment. "What if it was the Peratil Clan?" Yin asked.
"I...did away...with that Ultace guy so I doubt that's it."
"Yeah, but if what he said was true then it doesn't stop with him," Yin said.
All Ryu could do was sit in silence.
That was Chapter 2! Leave a comment, follow, and favorite to see more! I hope to not have this long between chapters again. Thanks for reading!