The Mysterious Traveler
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Harry Potter (although I wish!)! They are owned by their rightful owners (which is anyone who owns the legal rights).
Enjoy Chapter 3!
Chapter Three:
The Enemy
"Sorry we can't fly out of here right now," Aang apologized to the dark-haired boy, yawning as he sat atop of a donut-like snowhole, while the flying bison laid down below. "Appa still needs to regain his strength."
"Great!" snapped Severus as he sat on the ground with his arms crossed, his back against the animal's fur. Although angered by the fact that they seemed to be stuck in the South Pole, his mind was stuck on the dream he had the previous night. The one of the light in the abyss.
The bison grunted as it rested.
"Yeah, I liked her too," said Aang.
Severus sneered at him as he began to wonder what they were going to do if they had to spend the night. They had no source for firewood for warmth, except for the animal. He supposed the creature's body heat would be more than enough to help them survive the night, but he still didn't like their situation. More worries came to him as he struggled with the possibility that he still had no idea what he was in for when they reached the mainland, wherever that was. He still had no idea where to start in searching for a way back home.
Aang's smile disappeared as something caught his eye and turned his attention towards the water. His eyes widening at the sight of a Fire Navy ship, just barely visible in the fog.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed, jumping to the ground. "We need to head back to the Water Tribe!"
Severus frowned, "Why?"
"Because there's a Fire Navy ship heading directly for the village," he pointed towards the water.
Severus turned and saw it, sneering, "They made it perfectly clear that they don't want us around. Why should we help them if they obviously don't want it?"
Aang stared back at him in shock.
"B-because it's my fault and I need to do something about it!" his expression became form. "And because... it's the right thing to do."
While Severus sneered at that last part, "We'll be out-numbered, with only a girl who can bend water and has no training; and a boy who loves to play soldier and most likely hasn't fought a real battle in his life; and a small number of villagers, who happen to be women and children. The odds aren't in our favor!"
Aang glared at him with disgust, "Well, I don't care what the odds are! I need to help them!"
Severus stared him, dumbfounded at how naive and stupid he was. He knew what the boy would do next and couldn't allow him to leave. The bison, as it was called, would not react to his commands. The kid was his only safe way out of the South Pole.
Shaking his head, he took his wand quickly cast a paralyzing spell at him. Aang's eyes widened as he quickly dodged and brought his staff down against the ground, sending snow up into the air. The distraction was more than enough time for Aang to run off, promising a sleeping Appa he'll be back soon as he captured a penguin among the pack that was nearby.
"You'll get yourself killed!" Severus cried out.
The boy disappeared over the hill of snow, making him sigh as he slowly followed, arriving just in time to see him rushing towards the pack of hybrid penguins. Getting onto one, he began riding towards the village, gaining speed.
Looking back towards the ship in the distance, Severus scowled at the kid's decision, hating his Gryffindor-like behavior.
What did he think was going to happen? Save the day and scare the bad guys away?
Staring at the bison, he wondered if he could somehow get it to take him to the mainland, but was quickly reminded that the animal would never listen to him without the kid.
Sighing, he marched his way over to where the penguins were, using a full body-bind curse to capture one and use it in a similar matter that the monk did. Though it was very difficult, he managed just fine as he slid his way on the back of a hybrid penguin back to the Water Tribe.
The sunset had brought in a fog, making it hard to see beyond the reaches of the Water Tribe village. If there was a Fire Navy ship coming their way, there was no way to tell, at least not until the ship had docked at its shores.
Sokka prepared himself for an attack that he knew was coming. He dressed in his best Water Tribe warrior outfit and had painted his face with war markings, an act of honor for his people. He sharpened his boomerang, prepared his club, and put on his furry boots; keeping a look of determination on his face. The moment he saw the candle flicker at the movement of wind, he picked up his weapons and immediately ran out of his tent.
Ready for a fight, he stood at the top of the icy walls that stood between the threats of the outside world and the village within, keeping vigilant as he listened to his surroundings.
Although he was still upset about what Aang and Katara did earlier that day, there was a feeling of guilt within him. He felt bad for the way how he acted towards the Airbender kid. It was obvious he wasn't a Fire Nation spy, let alone an actual threat to any of them. His anger towards him was just based on raw emotion that he failed to control.
The only thing he didn't regret was the way how he spoke to the other guy, Alexander Prince. He didn't know why, but there was something about him that he didn't like, especially in the way he looked at everyone and acted. He couldn't deny that there was a level of mysteriousness surrounding him, which made him all the more interesting, especially to Katara.
But in his experience, mysterious people usually never led to anything good, which made him feel justified.
Suddenly, there was a small, distant noise in the background, getting louder with each passing second. The ground started to shake and the villagers began to run to their tents, screaming as they held their kids close to them.
Sokka immediately recognized the loud noise of ice breaking from the pressure of a ship.
Readying his boomerang, he noticed his watchtower, which wasn't much to begin with, collapse from the shaking of the icy ground.
"Oh man!" he whined.
Feeling the presence of something big coming right towards him, Sokka turned to find the front part of a metal ship coming through the fog, becoming visible for all of the village to see.
Gasping, he forced himself to be strong and to stay where he was.
Meanwhile, Gran-Gran watched in horror of the ship that was coming towards them. Katara picked up a child from the ground, rushing the boy to safety. As the ship got closer, large cracks spread across the ice from the pressure, going over the icy walls of the village and moving along the ground. When Katara searched for her brother, she saw him holding his ground on the unstable icy walls, quickly realizing that he was in danger of being hit by the ship as it got closer.
"Sokka!" she cried out, wanting to smack him for his stubbornness. "Get out of the way!"
Thankfully, the icy wall collapsed just before the ship reached him and moved Sokka backward with the debris, just out of reach. The ship came to a stop at the spot where Sokka used to be and a loud noise of steam could be heard from the engines within.
As an eerie silence followed, with the exception of the ship's engines, everyone began to come out of their tents and look up at the ship. They gasped at its size and presence of power within its shadow. Even Sokka's his arms and legs were shaking.
Suddenly, the very front end of the ship fell forward, making Sokka quickly back away, just inches from being hit by the steel as it made contact with the icy ground. The impact echoed throughout the icy land and a cloud of snow flew up into the air. Steam still came from the ship, making it hard to see the enemy that would come down those bridge-like, staircase steps.
As the steam and the snowy cloud started to disperse, a series of figures appeared at the top of the steps, revealing Fire Nation soldiers and their leading commander, who were looking down upon them.
Kneeling onto one knee, Sokka stared at them with a burning hatred.
The invaders made their way down the steps, fearing nothing before them.
Sokka began to run forward, making a battle cry as he readied his club for a fight. However, before he had the chance to strike first, the leader brought his foot up and knocked the club out of his hand. Before he could realize what had happened, he felt the same foot make contact with his head, making him fall into a bank of snow.
Everyone gasped.
The leader approached the crowd and looked at all of the elderly people. Despite the Fire Nation helmet that he wore, everyone could see the scar on his left face.
"Where are you hiding him?!" he demanded to know.
When no one answered, he reached forward and grabbed ahold of Gran-Gran by her furry coat.
"He would be about this age, master of all elements!"
When no one answered, the leader pushed Gran-Gran right back to Katara, who took her by the elbows to keep from falling. But before they could react, the leader unleashed his firebending into the air, letting them feel the heat against their skins, making women and children scream.
"I know you're hiding him!" he declared, becoming more frustrated.
Hearing a battle cry from behind, he turned to find Sokka running towards him with his boomerang. Although slightly caught off guard, the cry allowed for him to quickly dodge his attack and trip him, making him fall to the ground. As he prepared to send a ball of fire towards him, Sokka made another battle cry and rolled out of the way, which impressed the leader at his ability to react so fast. He was even more impressed when the Water Tribe Warrior sent his boomerang right at him, only having a second to dodge it. The attack left him surprised, but angrier as well.
"Show 'em no fear!" cried one of the children in the crowd, throwing a spear at Sokka. Rushing forward with the weapon, Sokka tried to cut off the head of the snake by running the pointy end through the leader, only for that very pointy end to disappear as the Firebender brought up his hand and broke the top off. Caught off guard, Sokka could only watch in shock as the leader took the spear from him and started to hit him on the head with the other end, causing him to fall backward.
Rubbing his head in defeat, he slightly smiled when he saw his boomerang come flying in from behind and strike the leader on the head. Landing right next to his feet, he quickly recovered it, but his smile immediately disappeared the moment he saw the anger in the leader's eyes, who lit up his fists into flames.
Suddenly, a penguin came sliding right from behind the Fire Nation soldiers at high speed, carrying Aang on its back.
Striking the leader, he fell on his chest, with his helmet falling off in midair and landing next to him. The penguin slid right past the cheering children, causing snow to fly into their faces, although they didn't seem to mind as they resumed cheering.
Coming to a stop, the penguin immediately bucked Aang off of him, quickly shuffling away.
"Aang!" Katara cried out with joy and relief. "You came back!"
"Hey, guys!" Aang waved to them, smiling.
"Hey, Aang. Thanks for coming," said Sokka as he waved, a hint of annoyance and humility within his voice.
Turning their attention to the hostile men in front of him, Aang got into a battle stance, ready for a fight with his staff.
Meanwhile, the Fire Nation soldiers formed a half-circle around him, with their leader in the mid part.
Taking his staff, Aang swung it to the left and right, sending a gust of wind towards the Fire Nation soldiers, pushing them slightly backward. Jumping into the air, he brought the staff straight down and created a ring of wind that went in all directions, getting snow on everyone.
"Looking for me?" Aang asked, although it was more of a statement.
"You're the Airbender?" the leader asked with surprise. "You're the Avatar?"
"Aang?" whispered a very shocked Katara.
"No way," Sokka stared at the boy with awe.
The leader and Aang started to circle each other, while the other Fire Nation soldiers held their distance.
"I've spent years of preparing for this encounter, training and meditating to fight the greatest bender this world has ever known. But you... you're just a child!"
Aang frowned at him, "And you're just a teenager."
Infuriated, the leader sent a wave of fire towards him.
Gasping, Aang starting spinning his staff to deflect the fire, struggling to hold his own against the Firebender.
Suddenly, something came flying into the air from a snow bank, striking two of the soldiers. Sliding across the ground and disappearing into a cloud of smoke, a penguin emerged and quickly shuffling away. As the cloud cleared, Severus stepped forward, his wand in hand.
Caught off guard, the leader then turned his attention towards Severus, including his men.
Sokka, Katara, Aang and the entire village turned towards him as well, shocked by his entrance.
"You came!" Aang cheered.
As the firebending soldiers shot flames at him, Severus put up a shield charm to protect himself and cast a few Stupefy charms, taking down a couple of them. Using a couple of harmless curses and hexs, he took a few more out.
The leader was dumbstruck by what he had witnessed, but he quickly regained his focus, "What kind of sorcery are you planning at? Who are you?"
Severus sneered as he got into a stance himself, aiming his wand at him.
Meanwhile, everyone else was staring at Severus with wide eyes, unable to process what they had just seen. Even Aang was dumbstruck as he stared at him.
"Aang, we need to get out of here!"
"I'm not abandoning them!" Aang refused, holding his staff in a defensive position.
"We can't win this fight!"
"Neither of you are going anywhere!" the leader yelled back. "Seize them!"
More Fire Nation soldiers coming running down the steps of the ship, forcing Severus to prepare himself for a fight from all sides. He sent a couple more spells directly at them, hitting a few. He blocked a series of attacks from the leader, managing to hold his ground.
Screaming could be heard from behind him, turning to find that some of the Fire Nation soldiers had started grabbing some of the women and children. He instantly knew that he needed to grab the monk and leave as quickly as possible. Without the boy, he had no other way of getting himself off of the South Pole, but his opportunity was being blocked by hostile enemies who stood between him and the Airbender.
As more soldiers surrounded them, Aang lowered his staff, "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone here alone?"
Severus wanted to smack the kid, knowing fully well that there was no way to grantee the safety of the villagers with this deal he was making. But, much to his surprise, the leader known as Zuko lowered his stance and nodded.
"I'll agree to your terms. But only as long as he surrenders too," he pointing directly at Severus.
He raised his wand, making it perfectly clear what his answer was. But he was caught off guard as Aang brought his staff down and forced his wand out of his hand, landing into the snow.
Severus sneered at him, "What do you think you're doing?!"
Fire Nation soldiers grabbed them, tying their hands behind their backs as they took their weapons.
"No, guys! Please, don't do this!" Katara cried out as they were led up the steps of the ship.
Aang looked at her, smiling in a failed attempt to reassure her, "Don't worry, Katara! It'll be okay. Please take care of Appa for me until I get back."
Severus scowled at him, hating how naive the boy was.
The leader walked to them and declared, "You're now prisoners of the Fire Nation, you'll know me as Prince Zuko, heir to my father's throne."
He gave the order to set sail, declaring that he was going home as they began walking up the metal steps.
Severus scowled himself for getting himself into this situation, making a mental note to hit the kid when he got a chance.
Standing at the top of the metal stairs, the ship's engines gave off a loud steaming sound and the front end started to rise. Just before it closed, both Aang and Severus looked back at the Water Tribe and met the eyes of Katara and Sokka, who stared back with sadness.
With a taut, the doors closed and sealed their fates, feeling the ship begin to pull away from the icy shores. After a few minutes, the two of them were then being escorted to the surface of the ship, meeting the one who called himself Fire Prince Zuko. For a quiet few seconds, they stared into the eyes of their enemy.
"This staff and stick will make excellent gifts for my father," he held the two items in each hand, studying them over. "The weapon of the Avatar, and the weapon of... well, whatever you are exactly," he glared at Severus. "But it doesn't matter, because either way, he will be more than pleased with my success. But I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers," he then turned his eyes on Aang. "Considering you were raised by monks, who refused to resort to fighting by any means necessary. At least your friend had a sense of honor to fight to the end."
Aang and Severus glared at him.
Ignoring them, he turned to his men next.
"Take the Avatar and his companion to the prison hold! I'll come to interrogate them later. And take these to my quarters," he handed the two items over to a half-bald man.
"Here, you mind taking these to his quarters for me?" the same man handed them over to the soldier next to him.
Both Aang and Severus were then led down below the ship, heading through a straightforward hallway.
As Aang taunted the soldiers, Severus sneered at him from behind his greasy hair, eyes looking down at the metal floor.
He felt so angry and frustrated with his growing situation. In just one day, he had managed to get himself stuck in another world and get captured by an enemy he didn't know, all because he acted out of desperation to save the only kid who could get him out of the South Pole. Maybe he should have taken his chances of using the bison for himself. Or had placed the Airbender in a body-bind when he had the chance.
As the Fire Nation soldier used his key to unlock the door, Aang almost decided to use his airbending to free them but went against it as Severus was in the way of the soldier in front of them. The two of them were then placed in separate prison cells of a small dark room, only being lit by a small candle next to the door. Although still free to walk around in their tiny cells, their hands were left tied behind their backs.
Severus sat down on the dirty ground, closing his eyes as the door closed, leaving them alone.
"Okay, so what do we do now?" Aang asked, curious about their next course of action.
Severus refused to answer him as he began to get to work on the rope his hands were tied in, hoping he had more than enough time.
Alrighty, so we finally get some action in this story.
I just recently saw 'Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them' the other night (as of November of 2016), so I was in the mood to write this. Small review of the movie (no spoilers, I promise), it was... alright. The characters were alright, the creatures were very creative and interesting, even the atmosphere and feel of the movie felt like a Harry Potter film, but the story and pacing had its problems. Also, did anyone else feel like we just met Luna's great, great grandmother in this? Because I sure did!
Thank you for the reviews guys, it means a lot. :)
See you in Chapter 4! :)