Part: One- The Lutdeo
Chapter: Five- A Flicker of Hope
Author: Fritters-4-Psi
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Kashi, Risha, and things to come up in later chapters.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Three hours had passed since Aang had seen Sokka when the Avatar heard a far off sound. Quickly, he got to his feet. Warning Katara, they faced the direction the sound was coming from. Aang had his glider and Katara had a full bucket of water. The sound drew closer. 'This can't be the Fire Nation,' Katara thought, 'This is too soon for them to have been able to catch up with us.'
To her relief, it wasn't the Fire Nation. Her brother had returned with some meat, and a strange girl. The girl wore black, baggy pants and a tank-top that was a dark green in the shade, but under the correct light glinted red. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a simple pony tail. And her eyes were an odd greenish-yellow. Aang had already approached the girl and was asking a multitude of questions. "Hi. I'm Aang. What's your name?" he asked.
Aang. That name was familiar Risha realized. She had heard that name before; used in reference to the Avatar. He matched the descriptions she had read on the wanted posters issued by the Fire Nation. An Air Bender. Wide grey eyes. Blue Air Bender tattoos. She was thankful she had a conscience, or else she might have decided to bring him to the person offering the highest reward for his capture; Admiral Zhao. Risha shook her head slightly. She had heard that Zhao had captured Aang once, but he got free. Even rumors from the Fire Nation had passed her way; they sometimes spoke of the cruel treatment of the Avatar while in Zhao's possession. She wouldn't betray the innocent youth.
"My name is Risha," she replied.
"That's a really big, uh, creature. It's really nice that you helped Sokka pull it to our camp. I don't like death. I'm a vegetarian. Wow, that thing's really big. Do you think it was hard for Sokka to catch it?" Aang pondered.
"Actually, Sokka wasn't the one who killed it. I was," Risha said sadly.
"Oh. Sorry," Aang said quietly, but regained his composure, "What are you doing out in the woods?"
"I live here. I'm the Proprietor of Koertan Forest. I make sure that all the rules of the forest that were laid down by the Earth Nation are followed," Risha stated.
"How old are you?" The Avatar asked.
"I'm sixteen; I'll be seventeen in four months," she replied.
"I have a pet lemur. His name is Momo. And a flying bison. His name is Appa. Do you have any pets?" Aang asked.
Katara laughed quietly to herself. Aang's curious innocence was so adorable. For no reason, Katara looked to the sky. Fear gripped her. In the distance were three tendrils of dark smoke. "Uh, guys. I think we have a problem. I think that's the Fire Nation over there," Katara pointed to the smoke.
Risha looked to the smoke. "That's the Fire Nation, all right," she confirmed, "I take it that you're trying to avoid the Fire Nation?"
"Uh, yeah," Sokka commented, "Anyone who doesn't want to avoid the Fire Nation is, probably, insane. And isn't it great? They seem to be half a day's journey behind us. With their komodo rhinos, they can catch up to us in roughly, three hours, I'd say."
The rest of them looked at Sokka. What Katara and Aang knew that Risha didn't, was that for a while now, Sokka had become quite the cynical pessimist. "My house is only three-fourths of an hour away. You can stay there with me for a day or so, until you think that the Fire Nation had passed. There's a barn that the flying bison could stay in, so he wouldn't be spotted. The previous Proprietor of Koertan Forest had a large family; there'd be plenty of rooms for everyone," Risha suggested, "There's a shower and lots of food. Fruits and vegetable, too."
At hearing the word 'shower', Katara's eyes lit up. Sokka's eyes did the same at hearing the words 'lots of food'. "That sound good, doesn't it guys? Let's go then," Aang decided.
To the Avatar and the two teenagers from the Water Tribe, it seemed that Risha was just whistling some random tune. A short while after, though, three Koertan and another creature emerged from the forest. "Oh, wow! That's another flying bison! You have a flying bison! This is awesome! Why didn't you tell me you were an Air Bender? I mean, I'm obviously an Air Bender; I have the tattoos. Imagine, I thought that all the Air Benders and Air Nomads were dead except for me. What's your flying bison's name?" Aang was extremely excited.
With a deep sigh, Risha explained, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, kid, but I'm not an Air Bender or an Air Nomad. You did ask if I have any pets . . . I have one. It's this flying bison. Her name is Kashi."
Risha saw the dejected look on Aang's face. She knew that he must feel a great loneliness in his heart. It must be hard for him. Not only being the Avatar, but being the only Air Bender left. She decided not to crush his hope completely. "Well, hey. I read that flying bison are only around when Air Nomads or Air Benders area around. Maybe there's a chance that an Air Bender was born into one of the other nations. Or maybe there's an Air Nomad wandering the land," she said, trying to cheer Aang up.
A smile crept across his face. "Yeah, that's right," he said, joyfully, "You're right. It is possible. Where did you get Kashi from? Did someone give her to you? If so, who? Maybe they were an Air Nomad or Bender. We could go find them."
"Slow down, kid. I found her in the forest one day. It was when I first got here. When I was first assigned to my post. It was before I got the dogs, so I had to make the daily rounds myself. She was about two tons when I found her. Flying bison grow quickly. She's got to weigh seven and a half tons now," Risha explained.
"Why is she here, though? I mean, there's plenty of ways of transportation to your house. There's those three Koertan and Appa. Someone could always walk," Katara said.
"You said you were worried about the Fire Nation. They know you have a flying bison. I have a flying bison. I'll fly. It'll get the Fire Nation started off in the wrong direction," Risha explained her plan, "While I'm doing that, you can ride the Koertan to my house. They'll know where to go. So no worries about steering."
The other three began to protest that her idea was too dangerous. Risha had already jumped onto Kashi's back and took to the sky, without a word. The three Koertan walked up to the three humans graciously. Aang took an immediate liking to one of the Koertan. The vast entirety of its body was a dark brown. There were, however, white arrows on its body. From its nose to its poll, was one of the arrows; the point was at the nose. Another arrow started with the point at its withers and went to the tail. There was also an arrow of each of the hind legs. White marrow in the horns caused their coloring to have an arrow-like pattern.
One of the two other Koertan walked up to Katara. It was a lighter brown color than the one of Aang's, but its legs up to the knees and hocks, respectively, were black. As were its horns and the nose. The last Koertan was mush bigger than the other two; it was massive. Instead of one pair of horns, there were two pairs. There was a fiery look in its eyes. As Sokka approached it, it pawed at the ground.
By the time that Sokka had managed to mount the creature, after being thrown from its back at least three times, Aang and Katara had already started to bond with their Koertan. Without being given any aides, the Koertan turned and walked on. The winter had passed and the trees had their new leaves for a few months. On the buds, were small, developing fruits. Along side the riders, Momo was flying. He'd fly up to the trees, then climb back down. Bringing up the rear, was Appa, who was slowly plodding along. Suddenly, Momo darted down from the trees. Sokka's Koertan caught sight of this out of the corner of its eye. He spooked and bolted off deeper into the forest.
Worried about her brother, Katara nudged her Koertan into a canter; Aang followed suit. Shortly, they caught up with Sokka. He was on the ground, in a mud puddle that in an open space. Katara looked intently at her brother to see if he was okay. She would have asked, but Aang tapped her on the shoulder and pointed in front of them.
There, in front of them, were two buildings. One was a two-story barn. It was painted a dark brown, to blend in with the surroundings. The house, which was the same color as the barn, was also two-stories. "Well, I'm guessing this is Risha's home," Aang said.
"Yes, it is."
They turned around and saw Risha behind them. "When did you get here?" Sokka asked.
"Just a few seconds ago," she replied, "When did you fall in a mud puddle?"
"Hey, it's not my fault that I'm in the mud. Your Koertan is, obviously, badly trained. It threw me to the ground," Sokka pointed to the Koertan he had been riding.
"Oh, sorry. Katara was supposed to take Horo. He's a really good boy, but he requires a woman's gentle touch," Risha stroked Horo's forehead, "I figured Aang would like Boka because of the arrows on her. You were supposed to take Fruma. She's the gentle doe that lets anyone ride her; she's for arrogant beginners."
"I'm not an arrogant beginner. Just to let you know, I've ridden stuff thousands of times," Sokka defended himself.
"Like what?" Katara asked, interested in what her brother would say.
"Like . . . Appa! I've ridden Appa," Sokka pointed at the flying bison.
"And riding Appa is so difficult. You sit in the saddle and sleep, while Aang or me are steering," Katara exclaimed, "And I know you never rode anything by yourself back home."
"I may not have ridden a lot, but I have a natural talent with animals," Sokka said.
"That's just what an arrogant beginner would say," Risha stated, "And if you had a natural talent with animals, then you would have been able to help the doe by yourself yesterday when it was calving. I, on the other hand, have an actual natural talent with animals. Not just a self-proclaimed one."
This comment irritated Sokka. With a glare, he said, "Oh, and you're so modest too."
Her glare matched Sokka's. Horo stepped up toward Sokka. He lowered his head threateningly and pawed at the ground. "Are you challenging my authority as Proprietor of Koertan Forest? That wasn't an inherited title. I earned that title. It was years of suffering in . . . " Risha cut herself off and tried to calm down, "It took me a long time to get where I am. For years I didn't know what had caused me to have this raw, natural talent with animals. Back in my original home, it was hard for me. Let's put Appa in the barn. Then we can go inside and I can explain myself."
Without speaking, Risha led the way to the barn and opened the doors. Aang walked Appa in there and told him that he'd be back out later. Risha gave the flying bison a giant bale of hay, to munch on happily. There was a complex lock on the outside of the house's door, which Risha opened with ease. The inside of the house was almost one giant room. The second floor was a loft that covered half the ceiling. There were rooms with walls up there, but there was also a balcony that over looked the bottom floor. The rooms on the bottom floor were underneath the loft floor. The rest of the first floor was one giant room. The kitchen, the living room, and dinning room were all connected; there weren't even any walls to differentiate them.
There were so many decorative things in that house. A flag from a nation that neither Aang, not Katara, nor Sokka could identify. A giant skull that, possibly, could have come from a flying bison. The traditional suits of armor from each of the nations. And a flag from the Fire Nation was next to the other flag. "Why is there a Fire Nation flag?" Sokka asked accusingly.
"To remind me of my past," Risha said quietly.
"They killed the rest of your family, didn't they?" Katara asked, "We can understand that. Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation. And as you know, Aang lost his entire nation to them."
"I'm not one to dwell on the past. I will now tell you what I told you I would. I'm not going to pussy-foot around this. I'm just going to come out straight with it. You might want to sit down," Risha said, "I'm a Lutdeo. That flag on the wall that you probably couldn't identify, is that of the Lutdeo."
A blank look covered all their faces. The blank look passed from Aang's face quickly. "I think I know what you are. A Fauna Bender. It's like the Element Benders. They can control elements. You can control animals. Lutdeo is just the technical name for it. Fauna Benders used to help train the flying bison for the Air Benders," Aang explained, "Back when I got Appa, the Fauna Benders came and one was like three years older than me. She was apprenticed to one of the Masters. She, actually, looked a lot like you. And her name was Risha. Is she related to you?"
"You met my great-great grandmother?" Risha asked surprised, "She was a Fauna Bender. I was named after her. You knew her! What was she like?"
"A lot like you, to be honest," Aang said.
"My cousin and I, back home, would always go into the library and look at the old family portraits. He always said that I had to have been our great-great grandmother reborn. For a while, my cousin was the only person who knew about me being a Fauna Bender. Actually, until I applied for the job as Proprietor of Koertan Forest, he was the only one besides myself that knew. He told me, that if I didn't want anyone else to know, he'd take the secret to his grave," Risha laughed.
"Your cousin seems like a really nice person," Katara said.
"He was really nice. He was a good person," she replied.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Please review.