The Mysterious Traveler
Welcome back!
I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.
Just heads up, I am going to be posting 3 chapters at once: 27-29
I got into the groove for writing and ended with over 20,000 words but that's too much for one chapter so I decided to split it up into three chapters instead.
Enjoy Chapter 28!
Chapter Twenty-Eight:
The Battle of the Northern Air Temple
A moment of silence passed until Sokka spoke first.
"This is bad! Very bad!"
"No shit, Sherlock!" Severus shouted. He turned to Aang, marching up to him, "I told you that coming here was a bad idea! And not just me, Jeong warned you about how little time we have! Now this Zhao not only knows where we are, but he knows that we are back into a corner because we won't leave until they do!"
Aang began to tear up, just barely managing to hold his emotions at bay.
"Hey, don't yell at him!" Katara got between them. "What happened is not Aang's fault!"
"Enough!" Sokka cried out silencing them. "We have until morning, at best! We need to get working on the hot air balloons to lift everyone out of here and they need to be done by then."
"I'll gather everyone! We'll meet at the dinning building in twenty minutes!" the Machanist declared, running out of the room, being followed by his two children.
"Alex, what was that?" Katara asked, her face softening.
"What was what?" he glared at her, still under a lot of angry emotions.
"That… energy you unleashed. It was similar to what we saw back in the South Pole. And is it true what he said?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know or you won't tell?" she pressed.
"I don't know!" he nearly shouted.
"Guys!" Sokka cried over him to get their attention. "We'll argue about this later. But for right now, we need to get with everyone else and decide what we're going to do. Lets go!"
He led the way out of the room, being followed by Aang and Katara, with Severus slowly coming behind them.
Twenty minutes later, all forty inhabitants of the temple gathered in the large dinning building, with the Machanist, Sokka and Renee in front of them. Everyone was tired and wondering what was going on, a little grumpy even.
"The Fire Nation has found us and are coming," the Machanist announced.
Everyone started to panic.
"When will they be here?" someone called out.
"By morning, if we're lucky."
"Where are we going to go? There's no way for all of us to leave the mountain," said another nameless person.
Renee spoke next, "That's not true. By foot, we won't make it. But by air, we can go over them."
"Not all of us can use those glider things," said a woman.
"And there aren't enough for all of us," said a young boy.
"True, but my father has created a hot air balloon that can hold a couple of people. If we can build a few more, we may be able to fly everyone off this temple."
"But where will we go?" a random person asked.
Sokka stepped forward, "There's a valley that we found, a place where others have already begun their lives. It will be safe for you there."
Everyone began to show interest and ignite a little hope in them.
The Machanist lowered his head, sadly, "However, we still have one major problem. The hot air balloon has an issue of holding hot air in for too long. If it gets too hot, it may catch cause the balloon to have holes, despite the cloth I've done that is resistant to heat. Or if it is resistant enough, it will keep floating. But if we make an area for the heat to escape, it will continue to drop."
Hearing this only made their fears grow.
Renee turned to her dad, "Is there no way to let the hot air out while still enough in?"
A kid titled his head, "Like a cup lid?"
Sokka's head popped up, "That's it!"
Everyone looked at him.
"What is?" Aang asked.
Sokka ran to the small table that the Machanist had set up, taking an ink pen and redesigning the map of the hot air balloon.
"Hold on, don't ruin it!" the Machanist protested.
Sokka turned around and presented the map to everyone.
"We just need to put a literal lid on top to let the hot air out, then when we drop to a comfortable enough level, we pull the level to close it so it fills back up again."
Everyone stared at him in shock.
"Wow," Renee smiled, walking up to him, winking as she took the map from him. "That's pretty smart, Sokka."
"Brilliant!" the Machanist shouted.
Katara leaned in to Aang, "Ugh, if only we can figure out how to get a lid for his hot air."
She, Aang and Teo laughed.
"It was basically my idea," the same kid whispered under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest.
Severus rolled his eyes, deciding to weigh in his opinion, "Instead of building multiple air balloons. Build one."
Everyone looked at him.
"Why?" Renee asked.
"If everyone focuses on one big air balloon, things will go faster. It just needs to be big enough to hold thirty to forty of you. The rest can fly on their gliders."
"That would work," said the Machanist as he rubbed his beard. "I have enough supplies to make one, I just need enough people to help me make it."
Some in the room nodded, though pretty much everyone agreed to the plan.
"We have four kinds of bombs; smoke, slime, fire and…" Sokka struggled with the last one.
"Stink!" the Machanist declared. "Never underestimate the power of stink."
Some children giggled.
"What happens when they arrive?" a random person asked.
Aang walked forward, presenting himself in front of everyone, "The Fire Nation may have numbers and machines on their side, but we have the only route for them to come at us and air power."
"Air power?"
Aang nodded, "We control the sky and who comes up this mountain. That's something the Fire Nation can't control. While others are working on the air balloon, some of us will be taking to the skies and dropping the bombs we have in order to keep them away. We will buy more time as we possibly can."
Some kids cheered, while some of the grownups nodded.
Severus' head popped up, an idea coming to mind, "If we cause some avalanches on the mountainside, we can block some of the ways up here. And put some traps along the way, a warning sign that they are close, as well as further support."
Teo smiled, "Leave that to us!"
The Machanist coughed, getting everyone's attention, "Then it is agreed. All grown ups will help build the air balloon, all children who knows how to use a glider will help with setting traps, including defense."
Renee spoke up, "Lets do this! Morning is eight hours away people, let's move!"
As everyone began to disperse, Severus took a moment to get some quiet time to himself. Still reeling from the overwhelming emotion he had experienced earlier, he tried to get himself under control, knowing that he needed stay focused.
Once done, he passed one of the large balconies, where the Machanist, Renee, Sokka and a lot of people were getting the air balloon construction under way, making way to the balcony where Teo, Aang, Katara and the other gliders were stationed, prepare to make their traps.
He saw Kori and Kiri off to the side.
"I want to help."
"No, honey, it's not safe. And its past your bed time."
"But they aren't going to sleep."
Severus ignored them, taking out his wand as he took a glider from the ground, approaching Teo.
"So, how does this work?"
Admiral Zhao looked up towards the mountain, tired after the long climb down. He turned to see War Minister Quin ordering his men to begin the climb, following behind many others had already begun an hour ago.
He felt the need to stick around, to see how things went from afar.
He knew what the Avatar would do. He was an open book. But for the Mysterious Traveler… he was something else he couldn't entirely figure out. There was a part of him that wanted to help but hid very well. He was the one he wanted to know about, what he would do in an attack like this.
If by some miracle they did make it out of this, he would need to be prepared for the next time they met at the Northern Water Tribe.
Zuko sighed in relief as he climbed the outer walls of the Norther Air Temple, tired than he ever been before. The moment he climbed over the side of the wall, he collapsed and passed out for a little while, struggling to stay awake.
The moment he regained consciousness, thanks to the rising sun in the distance, he forced himself up and began to search the temple for the Avatar. He used the heat within himself and from the sun to force himself awake, running on fumes to do so.
By the time morning had arrived, the traps had been set and everyone was on guard, preparing for when the warning signs of the coming invasion was near. No one had fallen asleep, even Kori and Kiri. Everyone was on edge and unable to relax.
The team in charge of making the air balloon were still working as fast as they could finish it and get it up in the air. But they still needed more time.
Severus patrolled the area on his glider, having gotten a quick lesson from Teo and from Aang, who went with him to make he didn't crash. It took some time, but a few hours allowed him to get some practice in and get the hang of it. He preferred this way over flying with a magical broom, way easier to control.
He saw the sun rising in the distance and was mesmerized by the sight, taking in its beauty as he saw what he couldn't in the dark. The skies felt like something out of a painting and he now understood the difference of being flown and flying.
Suddenly, a loud boom caught his attention, turning the glider to go around the temple, getting a glimpse of the Fire Nation down below as some men fell to the deaths from the trap they had set off. He also saw war tanks, using some grappling hooks to pull themselves up.
"They're coming!" a little girl cried out.
After landing on the platform, he went straight to Teo, Aang and Katara.
"They're coming right up the side we are on."
They heard more booms in the distance.
"And they're coming fast. With tanks too."
Everyone gasped.
"How did they manage to get tanks up here this quick?" one of the children asked.
"They must really want this temple," another said.
"Alright, get ready everyone!" Teo shouted out orders. "Our goal is to keep them at bay for as long as we can. Until the air balloon is finished, we keep throwing everything can at them. Got it?!"
"Yes, sir!" everyone yelled, except for Severus.
"Then take to the skies!"
Severus rolled his eyes as everyone began jumping off the balconies on their gliders, cheered on by those on the ground as they prepared more bombs.
Katara boarded Appa, alongside Momo, as they took off to help as she handed the gliders their bombs.
Severus sneered at the idea of children as young as nine fighting in a battle like this. Granted, he was sixteen, but still.
More traps went off as Aang and Teo led the attack as they dived through the clouds, meeting the enemy as they dropped stinky, slimy, smoky and fiery bombs on them. Arrows and firebending were used against them, but speed and maneuvering were on their side.
Using his wand, Severus cast a spell to cause an avalanche to fall on top of the soldiers nearing the top, the snow and ice crushing some and causing others to fall off the side. It took a moment for Severus to realize that he had killed so many with one blow but pushed that feeling to the side. He would not allow for such things to distract him now.
The attack went smoothly, managing to make the pathway slimy and smoke-filled for ground troops to continue, forcing some to retreat. Until the tanks arrived and began to shoot their hooks onto the side of the mountain, pulling themselves up. A few almost catch Appa above the skies, making the bison pull up to avoid being hit.
Using his own cutting spell, Sectumsempra, he sliced through the metal of the chains, managing to make them fall, even as they shoot backup hooks to reattach to the mountainside.
But it soon became overwhelming for them as it soon became clear that they were going to need more than just slime, smoke and stink bombs to keep them away.
Aang flew up to Appa and landed on top of the saddle.
"Throw slime on the mountainside!"
"What?!" Katara to turned to him.
"Trust me!" he took off again, taking a few slime bombs with him as he threw them onto the snowbanks and steep sides, causing it to slide.
Trusting him, Katara started doing the same, with Momo joining in.
Others heard his constant call and refocused their efforts to make the side of the mountain as slippery and sticky as possible, with Severus and Teo joining in. Soon enough, they had turned a quarter of the side into a mess of slime and stickiness.
But it wasn't enough as the tanks climbed over the side and began to make way to the temple, shouting fireballs and flames at the gliders. Some fireballs reached the side of the wall, making loud booms and causing debris to fall, making everyone scream.
The tanks moved through the slime and stinky parts with little trouble, making them realize that while they halted the ground troops, the tanks needed a different approach.
Aang landed next to the side of the temple and began using his airbending to cast tanks away, making them land upset down, only for the mid-center to flip around, allowing for them to move again through counterbalance.
"Man, these guys sure have some great designers," said Teo. "I think I know how they work."
"How?" Katara asked.
"I remember my dad tinkering with a counterbalancing system, something to do with water. Works great, huh?"
"Water?!" Katara's head popped up. "Can you get me close to one?"
"No problem!"
Finding the closest one near to Aang, Teo and Severus put on some cover fire as Katara leaped down next to him and began to take a deep breath, using her knowledge of the waterbending scroll to focus in on the tank and turning the air into ice against the snowy ground, spreading to the tank and consuming it, causing the wheels and nails to come apart.
She did the same with another that tried to attack Aang, using the water in the air to lift it up and break the ice, flipping it on its side.
However, more showed, backing them into a counter as Fire Nation soldiers used their bending to melt and solidify the slime and stinky parts of the mountain, pathing a way for them. As Aang deflected fire away from them, Appa flew down and used his horns to flip the two tanks in front away, allowing for them board him and take off before more fire was sent their way.
"Retreat!" Teo cried out. "Retreat!"
Everyone flew back to the balcony, landing safely.
"Is the balloon done?" Aang asked one of the kids.
A girl shook her head, "No, but they're almost done."
"How much longer?"
"We don't know."
Severus took off again to get a better look, watching as the entire mountainside filled up with tanks and soldiers. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they began to climb the walls and breach the temple.
He needed to do something and fast to keep them at bay. But what?
Suddenly, he smelt something disgusting and instantly remembered what had happened yesterday with the rotten eggs.
One of the leaks!
They must have had missed one or didn't plug it up very well. Either way, he had an idea and hoped that it would work. Only problem… if it went too well, he could doom them all.
Deciding to go through with it, he flew down and held his wand, waiting for the precise moment to cast his fire spell. Passing over the large opening and smelling the terrible rotten eggs from down below, he whispered the spell and a fireball was sent down through the large hole. He pulled up and flew as far as he could back to the temple.
A few seconds passed and he began to fear that he had missed or that his spell may not have been enough, until…
KABOOM!
He barely had time to process anything as he felt the force of the blast hit him, sending him flying out of control. He struggled to control his glider, unsure of which way was up or down. Or even sideways. After managing to balance himself out, he found himself heading straight for a wall. Quickly reaching for his wand, he cast a spell to weaken it, allowing himself to crash right through and land on a pathway, his glider torn to shreds as he rolled against the stone ground, coming to a stop on his stomach.
Everyone screamed as the mountain side exploded, being followed by a series of other loud booms as the soldiers and tanks disappeared, smoke blocking their view of what was happening.
"What's happening?!" Aang shouted.
The Machanist ran up from behind them, panting as his eyes widened, "Oh no! The gas beneath the temple has erupted!"
"Isn't that a good thing?" Teo asked.
"Well, it got rid of our invaders and will cause the rest to retreat, however-"
The rumbling got louder and violent, making them realize what was wrong. Everyone began to panic and scream.
"Everyone!" the Machanist cried out. "Make way to the balloon, we're almost done!"
Everyone began to run as the rumbling got worse, with one of the towers beginning to collapse in the distance.
His vision burry and a humming noise echoing through his ears, Severus' struggled to get a better grip of his senses and surroundings, slowly realizing that the ground shaking. Putting the pieces together, his eyes shot open as he quickly knew that the entire place was coming down.
He berated himself for such a foolish action, though he knew that it was either this possibility or being overwhelmed by Fire Nation soldiers.
Forcing himself up, he looked for his glider only to find it destroyed, making him moan. So he continued across the pathway, hoping to get to the balloon or Appa. Or even another glider so he can get off this temple before it took him to the bottom of the mountain.
However, as he made it about halfway across, his vision became clearer and realized that someone was standing in his way.
"Aang?" he called out.
When the person didn't answer, he asked, "Who are you?!"
"Your only way out of here!" the voice replied.
His eyes widened, recognizing the voice.
As his vision became clear, his worst fear was confirmed when he saw Prince Zuko standing before him, blocking his way.
"Where's Alex?" Katara asked, realizing that their friend wasn't with them.
"I don't know," Aang replied as he waited for everyone to make way to the other balcony, where the nearly completed air balloon was waiting. "Last I saw him he was taking off after we had landed."
"You don't think he…"
"I'm sure he's fine!" Aang called back.
"Alright, the balloon is sorta finished!" the Machanist declared. "Climb aboard!"
Aang and Katara turned to see a giant air balloon being filled up with heat from a machine, slowly rising as everyone began to get on, though making sure not to trample over each other.
As the temple continued to collapse all around them, Zuko and Severus stared each other down, almost oblivious to what was going on.
Reaching behind him, Zuko unsheathed his broadswords and prepared himself in a stance against his enemy.
Severus sneered, "Don't you realize tht if we don't leave immediately this place is going to be our graves?!"
Zuko huffed, "There's plenty of time to capture you and make my escape."
Severus shook his head, "No wonder you were banished."
Anger filled Zuko's eyes.
He wished he had enough energy to cast a stunning spell or something to get him out of the way, but he was already too tired from the lack of sleep and the effort he had been putting into his magic just for the battle itself. There was only one other way to fight him.
Reaching behind to unsheathe his own sword that was strapped to his back, he put his wand away and prepared himself in a stance, though he kept his free hand near his pocket, just in case. He studied his opponent, trying to understand why he wasn't using his firebending against him. Then he quickly realized the truth. Just like him, he was tired and most likely running on fumes now after such a long climb.
Suddenly, a tower collapsed, and debris flew everywhere, time slowing down for them as rock, stone and dust flew past them, not even flinching as some collided with their bodies.
Using the moment to strike first, Zuko lunged after Severus, but was met with surprise as he blocked his attack, using good footwork to back away and keep a good stance.
Severus struck next but Zuko acted fast enough to stop the blow, keeping up the pace against his foe.
As the two backed off and circled each other, they struggled to keep balance with the rumbling beneath them.
"I see that somebody has been teaching you the way of the sword," said Zuko.
Severus did not reply, keeping his attention of the Fire Prince.
Each attack by Zuko was met with a block, the sound of steel against steel echoing through their ears. Their feet played around each other, getting the other in a stance needed. Almost like a dance.
Once everyone had boarded the air balloon or taken off on their gliders, Aang, Sokka, Katara, Momo, Kiri and Kori boarded Appa, taking off just as the balloon did.
"Guys! Look!" Kiri called out, pointing in the direction of a walkway.
They turned to where she was looking at and saw Severus in the distance, engaged in combat.
Katara's eyes widened, "It's Zuko! He's fighting Alex!"
"How did he find us?!" Sokka moaned.
Aang stirred Appa towards them, the bison grunting.
Severus heard the grunting of Appa but didn't dare give his enemy an opening to attack. So he attacked next, delivering a knee to Zuko's chest, forcing him backward.
He turned to the direction of the bison and pointed towards the edge of the wall, running around Zuko to get up to speed. He sheathed his sword and began to run as fast as he could, seeing the bison fly just a few feet from the edge of the wall, with Katara and Sokka reaching out their hand.
As the ground started to give way, he prepared to jump to the bison until he felt something slam into him, sending him to the side of the bison and over the edge of the wall.
"ALEX!" multiple voices cried out, one in particular crying "MASTER", as Severus felt himself falling to his death. Realizing that whatever hit him was still on him, he turned to see Zuko, hugging him as they fell from the collapsing temple, debris all around them. He punched and kicked him, trying to free himself.
Hearing Appa's grunting, he looked up and saw that the bison was diving for them, matching their speed. Katara reached out, being supported by Sokka and Momo. Severus reached for her hand but felt Zuko's own casting fire at them, forcing them to pull up.
Elbowing the firebender in the face, he was let go as he cried out. But despite that he was free, there was no way for the bison to reach him again. He was falling too fast. Managing to turn around, he saw the ground below rushing up to meet him.
Meanwhile, Zuko pulled the level on his parachute and disappearing from sight, slowly floating down as he successfully stirred away from any falling debris.
Severus reached into his pocket for his wand and his eyes widened as he pulled it out, his heart racing as he looked at it.
It had been snapped into two, only held together by a single string.
Time seemed to slow down as he saw the ground getting closer, so he closed his eyes and prepared for the end. He thought about his life and the journey he had been on since coming to this world. For all of its flaws and hardships, he actually liked it. Though he wouldn't say that out loud.
His thoughts then went to his homeworld and what was currently happening there. How Lily was doing and if she missed him? How people reacted to his death?
He stopped himself, laughing as he realized how dumb it was to think such things. He knew how they felt and how they reacted. How else would they?
No, if he was going to die, he was going to spend his last seconds thinking about his friends.
Friends?
He couldn't believe he was actually thinking of them idiots as his friends. But in truth, they really were in the end. Who else could come close to the definition beside them? They had been with him every step of the way to this moment.
It was funny.
With Lily, he feared how she would react to everything he said and did. But with them, he held no such fear, always knowing that they understood. Or at least, on some level they did.
He realized that he never apologized to any of them for his behavior. Then again, would he really if he didn't know he was going to fall to his death? Again?
It took him a while to realize that something was off. The wind didn't feel right, nor did how he felt being in midair. He should have collided with the ground by now.
Opening his eyes, he gasped at what he was seeing. No, what he was doing.
The ground was literally six feet from him, but he wasn't falling.
He was floating.
His heart racing and his mind going wild, he tried to come to terms with what was happening. Had he silently and wandlessly thought of the Aresto Momentum spell by accident? No, he didn't. He knew he didn't. And besides, he wasn't that powerful in that field yet to do so. Unless, of course, he did so by sheer force of adrenaline.
Suddenly, he stopped floating and crashed against the ground, feeling extremely tired as he heard the grunting of Appa in the distance and someone calling out his other name.
He began to lose consciousness, struggling to stay awake as darkness consumed him.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys in chapter 29!