The Mysterious Traveler
Welcome back guys!
I'm trying to write as much as possible, just been busy and tired.
I can't believe that we've finally made it to the Northern Water Tribe story-arc now. This was something I've been excited to write about because a lot of changes are going to be happening. New developments and directions are going to be taken here. There was a time when I thought I would never get there but here we are. After so long!
Hope you guys enjoy chapter 30! Wow, did I really just say 30? It's mind blowing to me!
Chapter Thirty:
The Northern Water Tribe
In the woods of the mountains, Fire Nation soldiers searched through the wreckage of what remained of the Northern Air Temple after its destruction and collapse. They searched for anything valuable and for any survivors, including bodies they could find.
The mountain itself still had smoke floating into the air, a reminder of what had taken place just a few days prior.
Admiral Zhao and War Minister Quinn walked among the wreckage, watching as the men continued their search, moving stone and rock.
"This is a disaster!" stated Quinn.
Zhao nodded, "But not a complete loss. We know that the Avatar survived, so we know where he'll be heading to next."
"But the loss of the Machanist-"
"Is of no matter. We have the plans for the Drill Operation and an invasion force to destroy the last of our enemies-"
"Sir!" a soldier called out. "We found something!"
Zhao and Quinn immediately began to run to the source of the voice, being followed by others. Once they arrived, their eyes widened at the sight before them. A war balloon, with the Fire Nation sigil, laid in the wreckage, torn to shreds.
But that wasn't all.
Maps and plans, most of which were destroyed or barely held together were around the area as well. Some of which were already in containers, protected from the fall, fire and wet ground.
Zhao walked forward and picked up one of the containers, opening it to take out what was inside. He rolled out the scroll and read what was on it. He then looked at the war balloon and back to the scroll, smiling.
"This, War Minister," he turned to Quinn, holding the scroll high in the air, "may have been a defeat, but it's also a gateway to many victories."
Zuko stood at the front of his ship, staring out towards the sea as he searched for his prized, waiting for the moment he sees the mainland of the North Pole.
"Zuko," a voice called out from behind.
He dared not to look back.
"This mission you strive towards is foolish," Iroh shook his head. "The Northern Water Tribe will be difficult to break into, you'll stand out like a sore thumb. How do you even plan to get in and out with the Avatar?"
"The Avatar isn't my only target, uncle."
"But what about your crew? They'll be in danger of being captured or killed if you go through with this."
"Which is why we will settle a few miles down from the tribe. I'll set out on foot and scout the area."
Iroh sighed, "You say that Zhao is now Admiral?"
"Yes."
He rubbed his chin, deep in thought, "Which means that he will have the power to amass an invasion force to attack the Northern Water Tribe and the Avatar. But, there is also a bright side to this?"
Zuko frowned, turning slightly to him.
"What do you mean?"
"If we wait, we'll be able to sneak into the tribe during the invasion, a distraction to cover us. Or, if you're dumb enough-"
Zuko growled.
"-we can sneak in before the invasion arrives."
"We?"
"No nephew of mine go such a daring mission without some backup. And besides, I know a thing or two about waterbenders and even secret tunnels beneath the ice that seals like to use."
"And you're telling me this now?!" Zuko shouted.
Iroh laughed, "Been keeping it a surprise. To make sure you don't try to leave without me."
Zuko breathed heavily with anger, "Fine! Once we reach the mainland, we'll set up camp and decide which course of action we will take."
Iroh nodded as he turned to leave, "Until then, it's teatime. Good thing we restocked before setting sail."
Zuko growled as he turned back towards the ocean ahead, his eyes narrowing in determination. Excitement and worry filling him.
"There it is!"
Everyone watched in awe as they neared the icy walls of the Northern Water Tribe, standing hundreds of feet tall, with watchtowers on the balconies of the wall, sandwiched between a mountain of ice on each side, with the sigil of the Water Tribe carved into the middle.
They were accompanied by four boats. Though calling them boats was not entirely accurate. More like silver plates the size of training platforms from Hogwarts.
"The Northern Water Tribe!" Katara exclaimed.
"We're finally here," Sokka sighed in relief.
Severus quietly nodded, impressed and in awe himself of the structure of the icy walls. It was something out of a Hogwarts book come to life.
Six waterbenders performed a stance together and used their bending to create an opening for the bison to swim on through, with one gesturing for them to go on through.
Kiri was in complete awe as they passed through the tunnel and exited out the other side, the sunlight blinding them for a few seconds until they adjusted again to find themselves in a boxed area, where more waterbenders began to open the floodgates to rise the water so they could enter a small river of some sort to enter the city itself.
Severus was further impressed with the system he had witnessed and how the river itself was like a road that they were now on. The city itself was built into the icy landscape, with ice cliffs all around and houses that were made from ice too. Its infrastructure was inspiring to him.
"I can't believe how many waterbenders live up here," said Katara as they were escorted through the city.
"Yeah," Aang smiled. "We'll find a waterbending teacher in no time."
Renee started to write in her journal.
"Hey, what ya writing?" Sokka asked, peeking over her shoulder.
Renee bit her lip as she wrote fast, "Coming up with new inventions. My brain is being overwhelmed right now by this place."
"Hey, is that a whale?"
"No, it's a machine to allow people to go underwater. If the waterbenders can control water, what if they could allow for something to remain flood-proof for people to use."
"Oh, good idea! Maybe instead of giving it the body of a whale, give it a more mechanical style. Like metal, what the Fire Nation uses."
"That's the idea," she raised an eyebrow at him. "It just will be shaped like a whale?"
"Why?"
"Because they're beautiful creatures."
He stared back at her, lost in her wondrous imagination as she wrote.
"Yeah, y- I mean, they are!"
Everyone rolled their eyes at them.
As they passed through the city, people started to look over the side of the buildings and from the sidewalks, pointing and waving at them. Aang and the others waved back in return.
As they passed under a walkway, a canoe passed them by and Severus felt uneasy, like as if someone was looking at him, specifically and turned to see a young girl sitting in the front, eyes blue as the sea and hair white as snow. She was beautiful, a sight to behold, even from a long distance. But it wasn't her looks that caught his attention, it was her stare.
The moment their eyes met, she turned away, blushing as they passed each other. The canoe floating away as he looked on, his eyes boring into the back of her head. Lost in thought about what he had just experienced.
He didn't know if his mind was playing tricks on him, but he swore he saw something else. An expression on the girl's face that he couldn't figure out, let alone if it was real.
He shook his head and turned away, pushing the girl far from his mind as they continued to the royal palace in the distance.
Rin-Shaw unmounted his rhino, landing on the ground with a thud. He patted the animal's side and turned to the horizon, watching as his soldiers marched on. It took a while but he had managed to sail his men from the Fire Nation colonies and to the coastline right next to the Kolau Mountains, preparing for his first siege as Major General and he wanted to do it right. His mission was to bring peace to all of the Southwestern regions of the Earth Kingdom.
And over the mountains waited one of the last remaining free cities the Fire Nation struggled to take control of.
One of his officials ran up to him.
"Sir, there's…" he panted, trying to catch his breath.
Rin-Shaw reached for his water bag and handed it to him, which the man immediately accepted and drank his fill, handing the bag back to him.
"Now, report."
The man nodded, "There's… I don't know how to describe it, sir."
Rin-Shaw sighed, "Then show me!"
The man nodded and led the way, while Rin-Shaw took the reigns of his rhino and led it with him in pursuit. The walk was farther than expected. The man brought him to a small village, entering as he watched the people back away by his approach, some even forced back by his own men.
"This way, Major!" the man called out, standing next to a large tent.
"What is this?" he demanded. "Why have you sent up a detention center here?"
The official swallowed, "Because… some of the locals attacked us, sir."
Rin-Shaw raised an eyebrow, "Did they use earthbending against you?"
"No, sir."
"So, a couple of stubborn villagers attacked you without bending of any kind and you felt the need to inform me before dealing with simple punishment yourself?"
"Not bending, sir. Some… well…"
"Spit it out, soldier!" he nearly shouted, his patience running thin. "Either they attacked you or they didn't! Explain the meaning of all of this before I demote you!"
The man swallowed again, sweat rolling down his forehead, "Inside… sir."
Rin-Shaw sighed and entered, pushing aside the fabric. Once inside, he saw a couple of men and women on their knees, tied up and gagged. Some were children as well.
The man entered from behind and approached them, "They attacked the men, using…"
"Using what-"
Suddenly, the people on the ground began to scream, their voices muffled by the gags, catching their attention. The room itself felt unnatural and different, the atmosphere and gravity felt off-balanced.
Rin-Shaw's eyes widened at what he saw, fear and awe filling him as he looked at the person in the middle of the group. Then anger rushed in, his eyes narrowing.
"Quarantine the entire village!" he ordered. "And set up a perimeter!"
The sound of drums echoed around the large room of the royal palace, the drummers banging the top of their drums with great force, doing so in synch. Three waterbending performers entertained the audience by doing beautiful moves with the water they controlled in midair, though only amazing the small group that sat next to the Chief of the Water Tribe and his high ranking nobles at the high table. Everyone sat on pillows as opposed to chairs.
Some servants brought hay on a large piece of man-made wood for Appa, who growled at the sight of food and moved up from where he laid, scaring the servants away while Sokka and Severus smiled.
Once some kind of raft was placed in the center of the room and submerged by the small pool, the Chief stood up, immediately silencing the drummers and stopping the entertainers as their water went back into the large pool behind them.
"Tonight we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister of the Southern Tribe," he gestured towards Katara and Sokka, who beamed at him. "And they have brought with them someone special. Someone who many believed had disappeared from the world until now…" he then presented Aang, "... the Avatar!"
Everyone began to clap.
"And we also welcome the arrival of another special person. Someone we've heard about in the recent three months but never knew if he truly existed… The Mysterious Traveler!"
Clapping resumed as Severus turned away, blushing.
"And finally, we celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday," he turned to the three approaching girls behind him. "Princess Yue has now become of age."
Everyone turned to the three girls and set their sights on the one in the middle.
Severus' eyes widened, immediately recognizing her from earlier that day. He would have recognized that white hair from anywhere, even those blue eyes. He shook his head, questioning himself.
Princess Yue bowed to everyone before her, while her handmaidens backed away, "Thank you, father. May the Ocean and Moon spirits watch over us during these troubled times."
Everyone clapped.
The Chief smiled as he motioned towards the area of where the entertainers used to be, "Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform."
Everyone turned to the waterbending master as he and his students began to perform for the audience with their bending, maneuvering water to their design and liking. Everyone was clapping again, especially Aang and Katara as they watched in awe.
"He's the one!" Aang exclaimed.
Katara nodded, "Without a doubt!"
Meanwhile, Severus began to eat from his plate of food that made been prepared for him, ignoring his surroundings as he took advantage of the moment to have to himself.
Renee and Sokka were engaged in conversation, thinking up ideas and making plans. Aang and Katara continued to watch Master Pakku. Kiri and Kori enjoyed their meal while watching the performers in awe.
Someone approached Severus and slowly sat down next to him, though he was barely aware of this, trying to keep to himself and not attract attention. But he felt the stare of the person next to him and felt uneasy, struggling to contain his blush. Forcing down a cup of water, he turned to the intruder of his space and met those blue eyes that immediately caught his attention. He felt like he could get lost in them for eternity.
Closing his eyes, he took around drink of the rest of his water and asked in the best polite voice he could muster up, "Can I help you?"
Princess Yue looked away, blushing, "I… um… you looked lonely…"
"There are others close to me," he motioned to Katara and Aang on the other side of her, though Aang was getting up with the Chief to go meet Master Pakku.
"But… you left this seat open."
"And you choose this seat as opposed to the one to your father."
"He understands. I asked for permission to sit next to you so I could get to know you."
Severus paused, caught off guard by her answer, "And why is that?"
Yue blushed again, messing with her hair, "You're the Mysterious Traveler. The man who accompanied the Avatar on his adventures. The man who can… perform magic."
Severus cringed, remembering his wand that now lied at the bottom of the cold ocean. It was such an embarrassment that he now lost the one thing that connected to his magical core more easily and had broken it during his fight with Zuko.
His eyes narrowed.
Zuko, the bastard! Talk about a bloody nuisance who kept getting in his way. Three times now he had his run-in with the guy. He was almost as bad as James P- Nope! Not even close. No one could beat Potter… and Black. No one. And he couldn't help but feel that like those two, he would see the Fire Prince again.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he nodded, "I can. Though not as well as I could before."
Yue's eyes grew, her curiosity getting the better of her as she moved closer to him, "How so?"
Severus looked at her and sighed, "Wizards and witches have what is called a magical core. But to use it is… complicated. We use wands to control our magic, to use it any way we see fit."
"Wands?" she titled her head.
Severus sighed again, "Little sticks that allow for wizards to access their magical cores."
"Can it be any stick?"
He shook his head, "No, it has to have magical ingredients and must be compatible to the wizard."
"So… where's yours…"
Severus paused, feeling irritated by the question, but he pushed that aside, "No. It was destroyed during the Battle of the Northern Air Temple."
Her eyes widened, "You were in a battle? What was it like?!"
Aang had returned from meeting Pakku, immediately being asked questions by Katara about him.
He paused, unsure of how to answer or if he should. He could see the excitement and awe wonder deep in her eyes. It was written all over her face. She was naïve and innocent, and a part of him didn't want to ruin that. But he wasn't going to lie either. So…
"It was… terrifying. It was nothing like in the stories that parents like to tell their kids."
Her excitement began to vanish.
"I was purely running on adrenaline, acting instead of thinking. I did everything I could to stay alive. Nothing else mattered except winning, and we almost lost.
Yue sat back as she listened.
"So… I made a choice that only a Gryffindor would have made. A stupid act that almost got us all killed, especially me."
"What did you do?"
He closed his eyes and struggled with himself. Should he tell her? This complete stranger who barely knew? He didn't want to but yet… he wanted to. His throat hurt, so he took his refilled cup of water and downed it all.
"The temple we were defended had been built on a mountain of toxin gas," he couldn't stop himself; he felt the need to let it out. "The leader of the group of refugees there had been searching for a way to stop the leaks so that it couldn't be ignited, but he missed one and had accidentally built up enough gas to cause the temple to fall apart. And At the end of the battle, I saw the leak and cast a fire spell to ignite the gas.
"I… hoped that the explosion would buy us more time. But I miscalculated about the damage the explosion would have on the temple. We were… lucky we even made it out alive."
He felt relief in his throat.
Yue stared at him with sympathy, reaching over to place a hand on his shoulder, "You did what you could."
Severus stopped her, moving her hand away, "Doesn't matter anymore. I got my first taste of war and I'm not looking to do it again."
She looked hurt by his action, "But… what about the war?"
He looked at her, "What about it?"
"Well… aren't you fighting to… end it with the Avatar?"
He stared back at her with confusion and shock, uncertainty.
"All I want is to…" he paused.
What did he want? Was it to go home? Home to what? Hogwarts? His parents? Slytherin? Lily?
He shook his head refusing to think about her.
But the question still remained... what did he want? If not to go home, then what? And if it was to get home, what was home? He couldn't even answer those questions, let alone the one that was just asked. He felt so confused and so lost.
Yue saw the look in his eyes and sadly smiled, "I apologize for being such trouble for you. I just have one more question to ask."
He wanted to be left alone but he was curious as to what she was going to ask.
"Aright."
She hesitated before speaking, looking into his eyes, "Is it possible to learn this… power of yours? For one to be… gifted with it?"
He frowned, looking towards Kiri, "If one has a strong enough magical core at birth then yes. But it isn't just something that happens."
Yue nodded, "And… if one happened to have this magical core, would they be able to see visions as part of those powers?"
Severus stared at her, intrigued, "Yes, but only as a seer or through other magical means."
She nodded again, though not satisfied, "Thank you for your time, Traveler-"
"It' Alex."
"What?" she paused as she got up.
"It's Alex. Alexander Prince."
Her eyes lit up, "You're a prince?!"
Severus immediately felt embarrassed by the confusion, "No! I'm not a prince, it's just my last name!"
"Then why did your family take such a surname?"
"Because they saw themselves as royalty, purebloods who were above others."
She frowned, "Why hasn't anyone else heard of them?"
Severus paused, feeling even more embarrassed, "Because… my mother and I are the last of our family."
Her face fell, "Oh, I'm so sorry."
He didn't answer back, feeling too uncomfortable to do so.
Realizing this, Yue bowed to him, "It's an honor to meet you, Alex. I hope your stay will be to your liking. Good night."
He watched her retreating form, feeling relief at finally being lone and also sadness.
His eyes fell on Aang, who was glaring at him. Glaring back, he left the rest of his meal unfinished and walked back to the room that the Chief had given them to stay in at the palace. The whole time feeling someone following him.
Once he entered the room and began to prepare for bed, he heard someone enter and turned around to see Aang at the doorway.
"Why did you do it?!" his voice heavy with anger.
"What?" he asked.
"Don't act like you don't know!" Aang nearly shouted, walking up to him. "I overheard you telling the princess what you did at the Northern Air Temple! It was you who ignited the gas!"
"Aang?" Katara called out from behind, entering the room. "What's wrong?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong!" he pointed at Severus. "He was the one who ignited the gas that destroyed the temple!"
"Wait, what?" Katara was shocked by this. "It was you?"
Sokka and Renee entered, while Momo flew onto Katara's shoulder to hide.
"What's wrong?" Sokka asked.
Aang continued to glare at Severus, "You destroyed my home! Thanks to you, it's nothing but a pile of rubble now!"
Severus grew frustrated and irritated, "I did what I had to do! No matter how Gryffindor it was!"
"What's a Gryffindor?" a voice asked, making everyone except Severus and Aang turn to see Kiri and Kori at the door.
"My only fault was how reckless it was to ignite it without thinking of the repercussions. But in retrospect, it needed to be done."
Aang's eyes widened with anger, "Do you have any respect?! Ever since you've joined us, you've been disrespectful and thoughtless! Did you even stop to think about how precious that temple was to me?!"
"Oh, so you get to be selfish because of some temple that wasn't even being used for a hundred years while the rest of the world burned?!"
"We'll leave you be," whispered Kori as she tried to pull Kiri from the doorway, only for the girl to run forward and tackle Katara's leg.
"Don't change the subject!"
"No, let's not! Because that's part of the problem now, isn't it?! You talk about how selfish I am while you delayed our arrival here just because you wanted to ride hog monkeys and elephant koi fish!"
"And you helped by wanting to escort the Freedom Fighters to safety!"
"So?!"
Severus was now fuming, so many emotions running wild, "And let's not forget who it was that wanted to go to the temple in the first place! We could have gone after coming to the North Pole, but no! You needed to come to see for yourself if there were any more of your kind out there!"
"And you destroyed it!"
"What I did at the Northern Air Temple stopped the Fire Nation from overwhelming us! Tell me what would have had happened if I didn't?!"
"The Machanist was almost done at the time, we could have made it!"
"While fending off Fire Nation soldiers from shooting down the air balloon? They would have burnt it down before it had the chance to get high enough! Igniting the gas bought us the time to escape!"
"You're not hearing what I'm saying-"
"Aang," Katara touched his shoulder. "He's right."
The airbender turned to face her, shocked, "What?"
She stared into his eyes, "Alex… was right to ignite the gas. He saved us from what was about to happen."
"But… my home-"
"Was already doomed. You heard Zhao, he was going to burn the place to the ground no matter what happened. Whether or not we escaped would have made no difference. The battle was lost. Alex did what he needed to do."
Sokka nodded, "She's right, Aang."
Aang's eyes filled up with tears, "I… no… that temple was one of the last remnants of my culture. My people."
He fell to his knees.
"I failed to protect even that. I really am the worst Avatar!"
Katara rushed forward, hugging him, "No, you're not, Aang! You're here now, trying to make things right!"
"But how can I win when I haven't even mastered waterbending? The end of summer is six months away, and I've wasted four months just to get here."
Severus' eyes lit up.
"There's still time," Katara teared up. "Once we're done here, we'll return to Omashu and have King Bumi train you. And once that's done, we'll go find Jeong on Meso Island. The masters have all been found, Aang. We just can't have any more distractions for now on."
Sokka came forward and joined their hug, while Renee, Kori and Kiri watched on, tearing up at the sight.
Severus watched too, feeling uncomfortable but yet tempted as well. So he turned to look out the window and towards the beautiful sky above, the northern lights shining bright for all to see. He felt at peace looking up at them, wishing that the moment would last forever.
Suddenly, he felt a hand take his own and he looked down to see Kiri, who was also staring out the window. She smiled at the sight; a smile that made him want to do the same. But he kept control and compromised to let her hold his hand instead.
For once, it felt nice to not be alone in this world. To not be the only magical being to walk this plane of existence. That someone else was there to make him feel less alone.
What ya guys think? Please leave a review ofyour thoughts and opinions. I want to hear them.
Also, I apologize for any grammar errors.
I'll see you guys in Chapter 31!