Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA.
AN: Okay, so back in chapter 10 I said I had done some maths and come up with Anji as the 302nd Air Avatar of the 1208th Avatar cycle, the 4830th Avatar, but now some more research I have realized I am WWAAYY off (because A; I hate doing maths and thus rarely put effort into doing so properly and B; I was basing it on Roku's 'thousands of lifetimes' line to Jeong Jeong combined with multiplying the statues rather than just counting them and so on). As in, the general agreement based on the Hall of Statues is that Aang (and thus Anji) is the 182nd Avatar, meaning he's the Air Avatar of the 45th Cycle, with an average age of 50 (which would make sense, given historically short lifespans making 50 quite elderly in the RL equivalent world). So, although it isn't (as far as I remember) for those people who are obsessed with little details like me, Anji is the 182nd Avatar, not 4830th.
BTW, I made a quick few changes to repair some mistakes at the end of chap 22. Just a few tiny things caused by the update to fix the dates resulting in a previous draft being used, etc. Just in case anyone wants to take a glance. It's not quite the way I had it (and wanted it to be), but I couldn't remember the how it was so *shrugs*. Anyway...
Read, enjoy and review!
Chapter Twenty-Four
City of the Sun 2
Sun Warrior Island: Fire Nation waters: 18th lányuè, 99 AG
"Run!" Anji yelled, Azula shooting a furious look at Zuko as they sprinted for the doorway. They skidded through just before the entrance was sealed off. The trio raced for the temple exit, where they paused to catch their breath and re-group.
"Damn it DumDum!" Azula snapped, glowering at her brother and slapping his head. Anji grabbed her wrist and gave her a sharp look to keep her from repeating the act. "What were you thinking? What a stupid thing to do!"
He raised his chin defiantly to hide his guilt and embarrassment. He didn't even know why he had taken the stone, only that it seemed to call to him. "I-"
His attempt to defend himself was cut off by when the stone beneath their feet slid aside, sending them all plunging into a cell beneath them. They all screamed, Anji attempting to stop their descent with her airbending. But although she was able to use her bending to land unharmed, the fall was too short for her to act in time to help her companions, resulting in Azula swearing as she twisted her ankle harshly and Zuko landing on his side and groaning as he hit the hard sandstone floor painfully.
"Are you two alright?" Anji asked fretfully, worry for her adopted siblings overwhelming her anger at Zuko's impulsive theft. She fussed over them, a quick examination determining that Azula's ankle was probably sprained but not broken, and Zuko had at least bruised, if not cracked, a rib.
"Damn it Zuko," Azula repeated, glowering at her brother. He was distinctly less defiant now that his little act of thievery had gotten his beloved if irksome sister injured and trapped them all. "Now what are we going to do?"
"Did you have to steal the stone?" Anji added with a sigh, glancing around with a frown that deepened as she examined the cell. There were three solid walls of sandstone, same as the rest of the ziggurat, the last side of the room having gold bars. They were too heavy to budge, and when she and the others felt the walls, there was no sign of a possible secret passage.
Zuko didn't respond, one finger tapping the stone and guiltily avoiding the others' eyes.
"Who dares to trespass in the Temple of Agni?" A thunderous male voice demanded. A man in red and gold clothing different to anything the group had seen before stormed forward, a group of men and women, all with red markings painted on their faces, at his heels. The man who'd spoken wore a feathered headdress and appeared to be the leader.
"I told you they weren't extinct," Anji hissed at her friends triumphantly.
"Yes, wonderful, you were right, now focus!" Azula hissed, eyeing the war-like and angry group warily.
"A group of thieves, Chief," one man stated disdainfully as he glared at them. "They must be punished for their heretical actions!"
"Wait!" Anji cried, raising her hands in a 'stop' motion. "Please, listen to us. We did not intend any insult, nor did we mean to trespass or steal. Zuko will return the stone, I swear. He only meant to look at it more closely," she dissembled. "But then we had to run to avoid being sealed into the room."
"A likely story," the same man scoffed.
"I'll return it," Zuko promised glumly, stroking the humming stone sadly.
"You have yet to identify yourselves," the chief noted, studying them shrewdly.
Anji exhaled slowly, glancing at her two friends before turning back to the Warriors and raising her chin regally. "I am Anji of the Air Nation," she introduced herself gravely. "I am the Avatar. These are my companions, Zuko and Azula of Clan Ōkroda of Ember Island. We are here to learn the ancient ways of firebending."
"The Avatar?!" Several gasped, there was a series of hissed whispers before the group fell silent again at their chief's raised hand.
He and Anji locked their gazes and didn't break them as he spoke. "We will release you from the cell and escort you to meet the masters. They will judge the worthiness of yourself and your companions, Avatar. If you pass, you will be welcome among us to learn our ways."
Anji bowed at the waist, fists pressed against each other and touching their forehead. "I appreciate your words, Honoured Chief. Please, if you would be so gracious as to take us to the Masters."
/\\\/\\\/\\\
"If one wishes to learn the ways of the sun, they must learn from Ran and Shaw, the Masters," the Chief explained as he led them from the temple towards a courtyard. "They will judge you. Your hearts, your minds and souls. Your ancestry. If you are deemed worthy, they will bestow their gifts upon you all."
"All of us?" Zuko repeated. "Me too, or just the girls? I'm not a bender."
"That may be so," the chief acknowledged. "But that does not mean you cannot be blessed by Them."
"Or punished," his aide, who had earlier been introduced as 'Ham Ghao' muttered lowly, glancing at them suspiciously, particularly as Zuko, still holding the egg-shaped rock to his heart. The chief had not yet requested it be returned, and the young man was reluctant to mention it. Something about the warmth of the egg made him feel warm, deep within himself.
"Clan Ōkroda, you said?" Ham Ghao questioned the two Fire siblings. "Would you be related to Firebending Master Iroh, by any chance? The Dragon of the West and General of the Earth and Fire Allied Army?" Surprisingly, his hostility faded to a fond air at the thought of Iroh.
"He's our uncle," Zuko confirmed, startled that the isolated people knew his uncle. Perhaps they had more contact with the outside world than he had assumed.
"Hm, it has been some time since we heard of the Dragon of the West," the chief mused. "A fine, honourable man, and an amazing bender."
"Do you know Uncle?" Azula asked incredulously. "How-?"
She was unable to gain an answer, as they had reached what was clearly their destination.
They arrived at a large, open courtyard where the Warriors all positioned themselves in what were obviously pre-assigned positioned, some taking up drums and beginning to beat them in a practiced, synchronized rhythm. Others began chanting in an ancient dialect that was unfamiliar to the siblings, though the Avatar twitched in subconscious recognition and anticipation formed eons and lifetimes ago, even if she was unable to translate the words consciously. The remainder of the Warriors took lotus or kneeling positions and began moving their arms in what were clearly firebending movements. They were vastly different from those taught to Anji by Hei-Ran, or ones Azula had learned from her father and their family scrolls. It was almost like waterbending, with its flowing, gently changing movements. Zuko, who had passed many hours watching his bending kin practice, recognized many forms as ones used by Iroh. Again, he wondered if his guardian had some contact with the ancient people, strange as the thought was. If he had met the Warriors, why had Uncle never said anything, neither to his family nor his fellow firebenders?
One person walked forward, maintaining a flickering circle of fire that he passed to the first person he reached. From there, the flame was passed along a human chain of firebenders until the chief received it and turned to the trio.
"Thousands of years ago, the legendary First Avatar persuaded the Great Spirits to bestow the gifts of element bending to their favoured mortals," he began. "The Wind Spirits were the first to assent to his plea. They gave the blessing of airbending to your ancestors, Avatar, with the first airbenders in turn swearing never to besmirch the Spirits' gifts by using it for harm.
Only in self defence or defence of another would they fight. It, as well as being the first benders save the Avatar Himself, granted the airbenders a deep spirituality, so strong that every one of them was born a bender, even those with parents of another bending affinity were airbenders. Some strayed, but only ever one or two at a time and all who did so saw their strength and abilities diminish in response. The Air Nation was the sole nation that never once caused a war, nor did they have an army or military force of any sort.
Instead, they devoted themselves to helping the world. They gave what medical aide they could, though airbending cannot heal as water can. They tended the needs of the mind, and spiritual needs of the various nations that the Avatar could not deal with for whatever reason, with stupas in various places throughout the world."
Azula and Zuko were startled by the tale, but Anji simply nodded in comprehension, expression even. The only sign of her sorrow were her tight fists. The chief went on.
"Following the pattern of the Avatar Cycle, the waterbenders gained their bending next," he continued. "They were the only benders to learn directly from their patron Spirits. La, at the request of his beloved, Tui, and the urgings of the First Avatar, agreed to bestow the ability of bending on the humans favoured and chosen by the Light Moon Spirit. Then, those benders watched the Spirits interact with one another, and thus became the second set of benders in the world.
Because of the way they learned to bend, waterbending, relies almost as heavily as airbending on spirituality, and the people of the Tribes, be they bender or not, have a strong affinity for the Spirits, visions and so on. It is why waterbending is the only element that allows for healing or spiritbending, as it requires a particular type of spirituality to access a person's chi."
The siblings didn't know how to react to that, and truthfully they were puzzled as to the relevance of it all, even if it was interesting to hear. Anji, for her part, was feeling a headache come on as her most ancient memories sought to come to the forefront of her mind due to the tale, even though she was about forty cycles too long past the First Avatar to access his memories without a great deal of effort. The chief ignored the puzzled expressions of the siblings and the tension in all three of the teenagers' expressions as he continued to speak.
"For centuries, the Great Spirits remained in the Spirit Oasis of Agna Qel'a, and swam around one another in physical forms. With each loop, they went in and out of the Spirit Realm. Many wars have been fought throughout the Age of the Avatar.
This is not the first conflict started by the Tribes, nor are they the sole race to invoke a war. And many other waterbenders misused their gifts, such as the despicable Yakone of the Northern Water Tribe, who was one of Avatar Korra's greatest foes and a master of bloodbending who learned to do so even in daylight, where previously it was restricted to beneath a full moon, when a waterbender's strength is at its' peak.
Despite these sins, Tui and La and their fellow Spirits of the Poles did not abandon their people. The Light Ocean and Moon Spirits continued to put themselves at great risk by maintaining their physical forms, for Spirits are as mortal as humans. The Spirits were willing to risk it for the love they bore their Chosen people.
But, on the eve of the Great Slaughter, their disgust and grief at how the waterbenders had abused the blessings bestowed upon them by Tui and La so appalled the Spirits of the Tribes that they returned to the Spirit Realm, and have remained there ever since."
Now, the trio were all entranced by the tale. Anji let out a shocked gasp when the Chief declared that Tui and La had abandoned the Material World. She was not too surprised, but it was horrifying and disheartening how much things had spiralled. Again, she wondered where to even begin healing the damage of this war, not just by the Tribes, but to them as well.
"Earthbending was the next element to be given to humanity," the Chief informed the fascinated group. Truthfully, this wasn't quite certain, as in reality the Great Spirits had bestowed their blessings on people at different but relatively synchronous times. At some point, however, the story had evolved to reflect the cycle. "But Prithvi, the Spirit of the Earth, was a loving and generous spirit, and far less selective as to whom would receive her gifts. She gave earthbending to any mortal who would agree to the demands she made in response, demands to maintain and protect her domains, to be generous and bountiful like a harvest, to be stern and unyielding as rock when it came to their morals, and so on.
She gave the blessing first to the lovers Oma and Shu, when they sought her aid in hiding their love from their feuding villages, and then as word spread of her generosity, more and more came to her. Any who held the traits she praised, the qualities needed to be an earthbender, received her gift. That is why there are so many earthbenders, and why their abilities range so broadly.
Finally, the First Avatar came to Agni, and spoke with Him, trying to convince the Fire Spirit that He too should gift the ability to firebend on some humans. Agni was wary, however, and more discerning than his compatriots, and so He came up with a plan. He had the Avatar select a group of possible firebenders with the traits He desired His worshippers to hold, and devised a test for the candidates to ensure that those given His blessing would be worthy of it. Then He gave this Flame, the Eternal Flame, to His children, the dragons, who in turn gave it to each candidate. Those worthy of Agni's blessing could hold and manipulate it, and were the first Sun Warriors. The rest died.
For thousands of years, our people have held this Flame and kept it alight constantly. Legend says that if the Eternal Flame dies, so too will the ability to firebend. If you wish to learn firebending from Ran and Shaw, then you each must hold and maintain a part of the flame, and prove yourselves worthy of Agni's gift."
The trio let out shaky breaths, exchanging nervous looks. Zuko was especially nervous because the Sun Warrior Chief seemed to expect him to participate in the ritual.
"Ah, Honoured Chief," he said uneasily. "I'm not a bender."
"You are a son of Agni," the Chief shrugged. "Many of these people are not firebenders either. The Flame is special. Trust in the Great Fire Spirit, Boy, and open your heart for His judgement." He then returned to his speech. "This Flame represents the philosophy of the Warriors: if the flame is too small, it goes out. If it is too large, it will get out of control. You must remember that fire has two paths: life or destruction. Which is the road you will choose to walk?"
After another exchange of looks, the group squared their shoulders determinedly, and Azula accepted the Flame first from the chief. Somehow, working off an instinct she didn't know she had, she was able to divide it in two, keeping one part and passing it to Anji, who also split the Flame in two, handing the final piece to Zuko. The girls watched tensely, relieved and stunned when, as the chief had confidently predicted, the non-bender was able to hold the flame close to his heart unharmed.
The chief gave a smile to the startled and mollified trio before growing serious again as he pointed to a mountainside.
"The cave where the Masters reside is there," he informed them. "Take your flames up there, and be judged by Them."
/\\\/\\\/\\\
It took the best part of an hour of climbing, taking care to maintain their flames and trying to help Azula climb with her aching ankle, for them to reach the mountaintop. The chief, Ham Ghao and the other Warriors waited there for them. On either side of the mountain top were two cave mouths. It was clear to the trio that the masters must have been within.
"Those who wish to meet the masters shall now present their flames," the chief announced loudly to the audience.
The friends exchanged nervous glances before each turned to a cave. Anji turned eastwards, bowing and holding out her fire, while Azula and Zuko did the same facing to the west.
"Sound the call!" The chief ordered his subordinates. One lifted a horn to his lips and blew loudly, causing the ground to rumble. From the dark mouths of the caves, a set of glowing yellow eyes appeared.
"By Agni's bright light," Zuko breathed in shock as a red dragon streaked out of the cave Anji faced, whilst a blue one flew from the one the siblings had been bowing to.
"Dragons," Azula gasped. She blinked and shook her head. "That makes so much sense," she muttered, her flame flickering from shock.
She trailed off, mouth falling open in uncharacteristically obvious amazement as she gaped up at the two giant shadows that had flown to hover above the group, peering down at the astounded trio with uncannily knowledgeable and ancient gazes. After a moment, they began flying in a circle over the group in a manner that recalled the Taegeuk symbol. Uncertain what to do, the three young travellers straightened, watching with fascinated expressions.
"We must preform the Dancing Dragon with them," Anji announced abruptly after several moments of watching Ran and Shaw's movements. The Avatar's voice had gained a male echo with an anachronistic accent similar to the Sun Warriors. Her companions were used to that by now, even if this new accent was different to the more common ones, and so barely batted an eyelash. They did give her sceptical looks however.
"You seriously think we need to dance for the dragons?" Azula asked doubtfully, voice gaining a sarcastic tone as she continued. "What, are they going to judge our worthiness by how graceful we are?"
"They want us to dance," Anji insisted stubbornly, echo of her Warrior predecessor's voice fading. "Do you have any better ideas? We have to do something. Unless you want to stand here and wait to be eaten. How would you like to be served? Roasted or baked? Personally, I think I would prefer roasting." Given that sarcasm wasn't typical of Anji, they assumed that was a legacy of who was probably Avatar Takeo, the last Warrior Avatar.
Azula scowled and Zuko shrugged at her.
"She does have a point," he stated. Azula sighed and gave a begrudging nod. Together, the trio formed a triangle and went into the first step of the dance. Zuko hadn't preformed it back at the temple, but he'd watched intently enough to follow along well enough.
"The time has come for the masters to make their judgement," the chief declared as the dance ended.
The trio shuddered nervously as they met the dragons' gazes. Abruptly, the dragons unleashed a large blast of multi-coloured fire at them, engulfing them. But they did not burn.
Instead, they saw. And they understood.
/\\\/\\\/\\\
Anji found herself in a sort of throne room decorated in the Fire Nation style and colours. She blinked and was startled to open her eyes and see the two dragons hovering before her, showing their necks and bellies as their wings flapped to keep them aloft.
"And so the Host of the Spirit of Light walks the world again," the dragons growled together. Anji shuddered slightly at the strangeness of their voices. She wondered if she sounded like that when in the Avatar State.
She straightened and raised her chin, trying to be respectful without. "I do," she confirmed. "And I am here to put an end to the War and restore Balance."
"You must learn to bend fire first," the red dragon noted, flying around her in a spiral.
"We can give you the power you seek," the blue one added.
Anji vaguely wondered which was Ran and which was Shaw, then dismissed the thought quickly. She was too busy trying to keep her gaze on both at once despite the pair being on separate sides of the room to worry about names.
"But the question is this," the red dragon stated. "Do you seek justice?"
"Or do you seek vengeance?" The blue dragon finished. "We can give you either. But you must choose." They flew together to hover side by side, and Anji found herself staring at one eye for each. Staring into their eyes, two images came to her mind.
In both, she saw similar scenes, herself using fire against an ice city within the Coalition. But there were several small, important differences. In the red dragon's eye, she saw herself wielding fire against blue-clad soldiers, her flames avoiding the civilians, also dressed in the coloured of the Water Tribes. Indeed, the fire almost seem to curve protectively around them, shielding them from the battle between the Avatar and the Coalition. Her expression was stern and grim, like those of her predecessors in their effigies and images, but not cruel and her eyes glowed with the starlight of the Avatar State.
In the eye of the blue dragon, however, she saw the same place, but her fire raged indiscriminately, killing soldier and civilian alike. Lightning fell from the sky, striking down anyone within reach, leaving blackened and burnt corpses littering the snowy streets. Even the buildings were destroyed. What frightened Anji most, however, was the faint smirk on her vision self's eyes as she unleashed her fury on any and everyone in blue, sparing nobody and hearing no pleas for mercy.
Anji expected a new set of nightmares to torment her sleep after this.
"I can give you the ability to restore Balance," Red whispered in her mind as Anji stared at the visions, barely able to hear him.
"I can give you the ability to take vengeance for your losses," Blue countered, showing her an image of the Temples burning, the screams of her people, her family, intermingling with the cries of the Tribespeople her vision-self was murdering. For a moment, prompted by the painful memory, she was tempted by the thought of taking vengeance for her people's slaughter. For a moment.
She saw Kelsang fall in her memory, and it snapped her from her moment of weakness. She would dishonour the memory of the Air Nomads if she gave into the desire to spread fear and pain in their names. Instead, she turned to the red dragon and bowed to him, meeting both his eyes and speaking in a resolute voice.
"Teach me, Master," she requested firmly. "Show me how I might restore the Balance of the world and restore peace."
The blue dragon disappeared soundlessly into smoke as she stared into Ran's (for she now knew that he was Ran and the blue dragon his brother Shaw) eyes and understood what even Hei-Ran had never fully learned, despite being the most acclaimed master of her time.