Anachronism
((Has edited it))
I'll take a crack at writing again. So, as a warning, it's not a hundred percent that I'm going to continue this but I really am going to try and I will try to update once a week every Saturday. Give or take a day occasionally. And ignoring the fact today isn't a Saturday.
Disclaimer: No ownership on anything except on Kita and Akeo.
((Notes from yours truly))
"Speech"
Thoughts
Enjoy n.n Er…you'll figure out the title! If not I'll explain later. Oh right! Sorry if the beginning is a little confusing and choppy. Sadly, it's the best our of…what? Five or six tries? Laugh now and not in the review. Thanks n.n
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Chapter One: History Lesson
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Aang slowly opened his eyes. He woke up because that's what most people do when they feel cold air on their face with the feeling of falling. "Wha—?" He gasped. They were falling. Very, very fast towards an unfriendly looking patch of ground, too. He looked around to see they were not very high in the air. Quickly, Aang activated an air bubble around all of them just before they hit the ground. "Whaa—!" The force caused the bubble to burst but it managed to break the fall enough so Aang was thrown a few feet forward. Sokka and Katara landed in a heap by a rock, Prince Zuko and Haru by a tree. The odd girl that attempted to capture him landed in a bush a few feet from Appa and Momo.
"Ow!" Sokka yelled, his eyes opened and he saw Katara. "Katara! Are you—"
"I'm fine." Katara muttered, rubbing her head and getting off her brother. "How's everybody else?"
"Get off of me!" Zuko yelled, shoving Haru off.
"Hey! Not my fault that demented girl knocked me out!"
"I can here ye all!" Snapped a redhead, sitting up from the bush. "It's a miracle this didn't break!" She jumped up from the bush and slipped off the giant sword from her back. "Wow…whoever saved us; I'm forever in their debt." She slipped it back on.
"Uh…your welcome?" Said Aang.
"Where are we?" Haru looked around. The sky was a clear blue and they could hear a bird chirping; very different from the foggy beach they had been on. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Katara joined the center of the clearing with Haru and Aang. "All I can remember is a bright flash of light after we got thrown into the water."
"Well that's helpful." Zuko spat sarcastically. He sniffed the air. "We're nowhere near an ocean."
"Course we're not!" The redhead had an odd accent like her left eye. The right was gray while her left eye had vertical split of gray and green. "We're in me home. Obviously I wasn't dreaming when I met you folks. So that means I was thrown back in time then. I guess…."
"What?" Sokka snorted, "You were thrown back in time? Sorry. Not possible."
"I wish," the girl sighed. She wore black armor that looked a little like regular clothing. It went down to her wrists and ankles, meeting ankle-high shoes and black gloves. "If it isn't, explain how I found Aang. He's the Avatar before—"
"For the last time; you are not the Avatar!" Zuko snapped. "You were not thrown back in time like you were moaning about moments before we were taken by that light, we're in our time, and Aang's the only Avatar."
"Then how do you explain this?" Kita snapped back, hurling a fireball at Zuko and then a rock that was ten feet away from her. "Prove that!'
Zuko dodged both easily. "You're a Firebender and you had the rock in your pocket."
She huffed up a little. "Look, I can prove to you I was thrown into your timeline and now you're in mine."
"How many times do we have to tell you that's impossible?" Sokka snapped, joining the fight.
The other three, Haru, Katara and Aang watched from the sidelines. "Think we should break it up?" Haru asked.
"Nah," Katara shook her head, "I want to see if Zuko's stubbornness can be outmatched by my brother." Even though this was a rather serious situation, Katara couldn't help but find the argument amusing.
Aang laughed, "That might take a while, Katara."
"Probably." Katara nodded.
"Look," The redhead called Kita snapped again, "I got thrown back a hundred years! I can prove I was thrown back! I know things only you guys would know! Sokka," She turned to Sokka, "You almost got a shot at a girl named Yue—"
"Stop now." Sokka's voice and face suddenly changed. "I suggest you stop now before you cross any more lines." The atmosphere took on a new feel.
"What? Worried I'm right?"
Sokka glared.
"All right," Kita shrugged and turned to Aang, not aware or ignoring the lines she was crossing. "You managed to freeze yourself where you woke up a hundred years later." She turned to Haru, "You were busted by an ungrateful old man who ratted you out for earthbending after you saved him. You," She pointed at Zuko, her finger an inch from his nose. "You received that lovely scar—"
Zuko hand shot out and grabbed her wrist and applied a large amount of pressure. Kita showed no sign of it hurting but he knew it did. "You want to stop. Now." His voice reached a deadly whisper and his eyes were narrow slits, sparkling with hate.
Kita gave him a cocky smirk, masking the pain, "You still don't believe me." She wrenched her hand from his grip with a little difficulty. "You all still think I'm crazy and I'm lying. I'll prove to you the Fire Nation has conquered, that I'm the Avatar and you're whole lives are in books." She walked towards a small break in the bushes and turned to Katara. "Oh yah, the fortune teller was right. You did get with a powerful bender."
This caught Katara off guard. "Oh yah? Who?" She folded her arms, staring Kita straight into the eye. Katara was half hoping to prove Kita was crazy and the other half was hoping she'd actually know the answer to the question.
Kita smirked, "Let's go to the city. I can prove it to you completely. Seeing is believing."
Zuko followed her, wanting to prove she was insane. Sokka also followed her, determined as Zuko to show she was wrong. "Hang on," Aang ran up to Appa, "I'll be back soon, okay boy? Don't leave." He ran after the others.
"You're lucky we managed to land in a private area." Kita said to Aang, "Belongs to Akeo. It's where he teaches me earthbending sometimes. Luckily, before I got thrown to you guys for maybe an hour or two, he had to leave for a week of solitary training."
They walked through bushes and weaved through trees until they could hear the bustling sounds of people walking through streets and the chatter of friends. Kita was leading them to the edge. "See?"
She pointed to a slight opening in the forest. "How do we not know we just landed in some Fire Nation city?" Demanded the ever-skeptic Sokka.
Kita sighed. "Fine, watch." She stepped out of the forest and onto the cobble-stone streets.
Within seconds, people flocked to her. "Avatar Kita!" Gasped one. "You've been missing for two weeks!" Exclaimed another. "Are you all right?" Asked a little kid.
"Two weeks?" Kita looked surprised.
"Yes!" Nodded a civilian. "Where have you been? It's Victory Week! We can't celebrate our victory without you!"
"I've been out looking for Flying Bison. To make sure that rumors are true. It is. Now, I must go. Bye!" Kita darted from the crowd and back into the forest. The others looked skeptic still except for Aang, who looked stunned. "Happy?"
"No!"
Everybody turned to the voice. It was Aang who said this.
"No! I'm not happy with this!" He turned around and ran back to the clearing.
"Aang!" Katara yelled out.
"Ignore them! They're practicing for the play!" Kita ordered, sticking her head out of the forest before running after the others. "What does it take to satisfy you people?" Kita groaned.
"Aang!" Katara had caught up with the Air Nomad, "Aang? What's—"
"What's wrong? What's wrong!" Aang's eyes were wide with fury. "I'll tell you what's wrong! If what I just saw was true, that means I missed another hundred years and I wasn't there to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world! That's what's wrong!" Aang's eyes were beginning to glow blue like his arrow tattoos. "Am I destined to let the world fall apart! You saw how your world was! It wouldn't have been like that if I hadn't disappeared! Now look! The Fire Nation is in charge!" A great gust of wind blew out in all directions causing everybody, except Appa and Momo, to be blown backwards.
"What are you talking about!" Kita yelled over the howling wind, "You died fifteen years ago! I have proof! You fought the Fire Nation and you lost!"
The wind died down and Aang crumpled to the ground. Kita walked up to Aang and looked down at him. "How can I know you won't be lying?" His voice sounded hopeless. Katara made a step toward Aang but Haru stopped her and shook his head.
Kita's expression changed. She knelt down, "Real easily." She looked at the ground and focused. A small chunk of dirt rose into the air. "I'm still learning earthbending. That's why I have some green on me armor." She said this, indicating the green tank-top like shirt on and short-shorts that clung to the armor for decoration.
"That doesn't prove anything! Haru can do that!" Sokka snapped.
"Oh, so Haru can do this too?" Kita let the chunk of earth slowly rotate when four tiny balls of flame appeared around it. This caused some eyebrows to rise. "See? I'm the Avatar, Aang died fighting fifteen years ago like you guys did. There is a little room I can lead you guys to if you want." She stood up. "This is what I've been trying to prove to you guys!"
Aang looked up. "Really?" He still sounded a tad doubtful.
Kita nodded. "Hang on a sec. I have to give you guys all fake names and Aang," she ripped her gloves off. "Now we just need to find you a hat. We'll make up some excuse about the tattoos when we need to. The only person we really need to worry about is me cousins, siblings and father. Other than that, we're fine."
----!ilikepagebreakssometimesdoyou!----
Kita led the group down a narrow hall lit by blue orbs. "Okay, you have to promise me something before you read up on your history."
"What?" The group stopped after Kita. She was the barrier between them and 100 percent proof this really was a different time.
"You will not go into an angry rage like earlier. I told you the basics of what you'll find." With that, Kita turned the knob and pushed open the ancient wooden door. It creaked loudly, causing everybody to cringe. They stepped in to be hit by a wave of ancient, musty smells of books and mothballs. "Sorry 'bout the smell." Kita kicked aside a small, cottony looking ball that made a loud clatter once it hit a table. "Mothballs." She sighed. "Take a seat; I'll go get the books. There are only three, so you'll have to share." Kita disappeared behind a dark shelf after shutting the heavy door.
The group sat down, bathed in an orange glow from orbs positioned randomly about the depressingly small room. "Oh yah," Kita called out from behind a shelf, "I'll tell you about your uncle later, Zuko." Kita stepped out, holding three, thick leather-bound books. "They don't say it in here." She placed the books on the heavy wooden table with a dull thud. "This will contain your lives, achievements," she handed one to Katara and Aang, "failures, secrets," one to Haru and Sokka, "And deaths." She handed the last one to Zuko. "Enjoy" Kita chirped and headed off for another shelf.
Everybody at the table glanced at each other before carefully opening the books to read. The paper in the books was old, yellowed and the ink looked faded and feathery. Zuko was silently grateful to have a book to himself. He could read at his own pace without the worry of somebody gasping in his ear or asking him to turn the page. He looked at the table of contents. Lord Zuko was the first thing he spotted. It was followed by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Mistress of Water, Earth Demon, Faker, and many other titles but the only other one that interested Zuko was Savior Azula. Zuko's face twisted into a great amount of hatred and anger. The prince was about to slam the book shut and toss it across the room but he was too curious to find out how he got the title "Lord." Ignoring the rest of the table of contents, he found the chapter he was looking for on page four. The first thing he spotted was his age of death. "Thirty-six...?" He muttered. It seemed the others found their ages too. He could hear them muttering other numbers such as thirty-five, twenty-nine and thirty-two. It seemed they all died rather young. For a few minutes there was silence, ignoring the page turning, but it was interupted by a loud yell.
"Ewww!" Aang recoiled back from the book a little, his tongue sticking out.
"Gross!" Katara looked mortified.
"What?" Everybody else looked up.
Kita appeared upside down, hanging from the low ceiling with an evil smile and looked at Katara. "Found it?" She had her arms folded.
"Ah!" Everybody--except Zuko--jumped from her sudden appearance. ((I've always wanted to do that...))
"Found what?" Haru asked.
"That Katara did get a powerful bender. She and Aang just read her choices." Kita's smile widened but then became a slight frown. "But you died before revealing who it was." Kita dropped onto the table, landing on her feet. "Keep on readin'. You'll never find out who." She jumped off the table. "Sorry for knocking off some years." Kita sat next to Haru with her own book. "I have me book now. No need to worry about me dropping from the ceiling again."
Haru gave Kita a susipicious look before returning to the book. "Done with this page?" He asked. Sokka nodded and turned the page. Apparently he, Haru, was the one who died at age thirty-two. They were reading his chapter, Earth Demon, first since it was the only one they could identify out of them all. "Who do you think Faker is?"
"Don't know," Sokka shrugged, "We'll find out when we're done with this chapter." Sokka was still in a snappy attitude but who wouldn't be in this scenario?
Katara was in deep thought. Aang said he wanted to read her history first since he was the last to die out of them all. Kita was proof of this that Aang died last. It seemed that she died at age twenty-nine and she did fall for a powerful bender. She had three choices: Haru, Aang and Zuko. Zuko was the part that mortified her and got Aang to nearly barf. Aang was also grossed out but rather happy to know he was a one of Katara's choices.
Many hours of reading later, once everybody had read up on their histories, a knock on the door caused everyone to jump including Kita and Zuko. "Kita?" It was the gentle voice of her eldest cousin, Eeshi. They noticed she didn't have an accent like Kita. She opened the door. "What are you doing down here?" Eeshi was clothed in a short gray sleeved shirt that was over a very tight dark gray long-sleeved shirt and a dress that matched her short-sleeved shirt. Her eyes were gray as well and her black hair was in a braid down to her ankles. To top it off, she had a giant bow slung over her shoulders.
"Oh, hi, Eeshi." Kita smiled and waved. "I was just showing these people the histories of who they're dressed up as." She said the lie coolly as if it were the truth. "They want to make sure they'll have it right for the contest later."
"Oh," Eeshi nodded. Her wary face showed a smile, "Well, if your guests wish to stay here, they may." Eeshi was about to leave but stopped, "Actually, you should come out. Master Akeo wishes to continue the earthbending class. You've missed two weeks and he's gotten very worried." Kita's face changed its hue a little. "Oh, and, Muro," Muro was the name Kita gave to Aang, "Be sure to remove that hat and gloves before entering the contest." She gave them a smile and shut the door.
Kita looked at the others. They seemed a little numb after reading their histories. "Aang," Kita waved a hand in front of his face, "Aren't you needing to learn earthbending?"
"What's the point?" He looked away and hugged his knees, "The Fire Nation's won."
"So?" Kita put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow, "Doesn't give you the right to give up. C'mon, we're going outside. You guys should come. Fresh air might do you some good."
"Yah," Sokka gingerly got up, "Fresh air polluted by the Fire Nation."
The others got up except Aang and Zuko. "What?" Kita cocked her head.
"Nothing." Aang sighed and got up to joing Katara.
"What about you, Lord?" Kita asked, walking up to Zuko.
He got up. The prince was a few inches taller than Kita so she had to look up. "Don't ever call me that." He hissed before joining the others. He had no point in life now. The Avatar didn't need to be captured because Lord Ozai was gone now. Their histories went mostly into the battles they had gone into and how they felt when their friends died. He couldn't believe it. He, Prince Zuko, befriended the Avatar and the lowly peasants that aided him? That was impossible. Not only that, it was hinting he had been hoping for more than friendship between Katara. He mentally shuddered at the thought and followed them to the outside.
"Avatar Kita!" A young man yelled out once they were outside. He had messy black hair and very green eyes. His skin was deeply tanned and he wore a long-sleeved green shirt under a brown tunic and matching pants.
"Master Akeo," Kita bowed.
The Master earthbender Akeo bowed in return. He looked very young, not much older than seventeen. "Knyght Eeshi told me I would be teaching another pupil?"
Kita nodded, "Muro! C'mon!"
Aang glumly walked forward and bowed. Akeo bowed in return. "All right, let's begin. We can start over there."
"Okay. Hang on a sec," Kita ran up to Katara and the other boys. "Ask Eeshi about our homeland. It'll make her feel better and she might tell you more history, okay?" She ran off to a giant tree where Akeo and Aang were sitting.
Katara glanced at Eeshi after a moment. "Excuse me, Knyght?" She approached the woman. She was already curious to why the lady had "Knyght" in her name and was wondering what a Knyght was.
"Yes," Knyght Eeshi bowed, "I am a Knyght. Do you wish to speak to me?"
"Uh...yah." Sokka joined his sister.
"We were wondering if you could tell us about your original homeland. Avatar Kita already told us some things." Katara tried Kita's suggestion.
"You wish to learn about Kitonae Island?" Eeshi's expression brightened.
They nodded. Zuko and Haru remained silent. To be honest, they were both depressed. Haru's family was dead but he wasn't going to cry in front of everybody. Zuko had no meaning of existence now so he was currently a walking shell of anger and depression. ((He wasn't before?)) "Oh, sit down then. I'll gladly answer any of your questions." She knelt. The others followed suit. "So, what is your first question? Do you know of anything? I don't want to tell you anything you may already know." Her voice was ever so gentle and feathery that it made them feel a little safe regardless of what was going on.
"It was founded around the time of Avatar Kyoshi." Haru said after a moment. "Right?"
"Yes." Eeshi nodded, "Very good. Anything else?" The others shook their head. "Well, since you seem to know very little of Kitonae, our warriors are very different and everybody is trained to be a Knyght. That is what we call our warriors." She stared at Kita, who was currently sitting cross legged, trying to keep a chunk of dirt orbiting a stationary piece of dirt. Her gaze returned to the others. "Her training's to be complete once she is sixteen. Then you'll have to address her as Avatar Knyght Kita." Once again, they nodded.
"People who live on the shores of the island are most likely to be waterbenders. Those who live in the forest part, earthbenders, those in the prairies are firebenders. There are rumors of airbenders in the mountains but nobody ever returns when they go to investigate."
"Actually, I have a question." Sokka said before Eeshi opened her mouth.
"Yes?" She wasn't offended and seemed glad that somebody had a question.
"Ki—Avatar Kita's weapon is really different compared to the others I've seen. So is yours...are they custom-made?" Sokka was interested in the weaponry even though he considered Kita's sword ridiculous.
"They are custom made. All weapons on Kitonae are custom made. Once a person is capable of walking, they are placed in the center of many weapons. Some things others might not think of as a weapon. They are to walk up to one and then it is forged with their blood. It's like---"
"You little kid!" Kita yelled. Aang was laughing his head off. "He just said to hold the mud! Not throw it!" Aang had skittered up a tree as a mud-covered Kita yelled at him.
"Uh oops?" He hung upside down with a goofy grin on his face.
"Avatar Kita! Muro!" Akeo's voice was currently filled with poorly covered up amusement. "Both of you! Drop down and give me twenty-five! Now!"
"Huh?" Aang was hanging from the tree like a sloth but with one arm hanging on to the tree instead of both.
"Push-ups." Kita hissed before falling down to the ground. "One...two..."
Eeshi sighed. "Where were we? Oh yes! Weapons! The weapons are like our own limbs. We only know how to use the ones we're issued. If you handed me Kita's sword, besides the difficulty holding it up right, I wouldn't know how to use it. I only use my bow and arrow and daggers. We also have a different form of martial arts. Kita has been taught the arts of the spider and cat. I've tried teaching her wolf but she doesn't seem to interested. I myself have been taught spider and monkey."
"So," Katara spoke up, "When did the Fire Nation find Avatar Kita?"
"When she was three. They took her and us to the capital when she was ten so she could complete certain Knyght training."
"C'mon Muro! You can do better than that!" Kita had finished her push-ups and now she and Akeo were trying to get Aang to complete the twenty-five.
"You can stop now." Akeo ordered, still sounding amused.
Aang jumped up. "Thanks...now what are we gonna do?"
Akeo sat down again, "We're starting this again. This time, no mud."
"Aww..."
Akeo smiled, "That's the next meeting."
----!itsapagebreakagain!----
"I hope you guys don't mind sharing the same room." Kita led them down the hall. "We have a curfew here. You have less than an hour to get home once it's dark and well, it's kind of past an hour."
"Kita," Aang walked up to the Kitonae Islander, "I have question…"
"Yes?"
"If you're the Avatar…why aren't you stopping the Fire Nation? They've taken over and—"
"The Avatar's duty is to keep balance. Aye, I know." She shrugged and put her hands on her head, "They aren't doing anything too nasty. They seem to be keeping order. And I can't leave this place without permission or anything. I'm not even allowed to use bending until I've mastered them all."
"But there's no Airbender to teach you. So that's basically saying that you can't use your bending." Katara pointed out.
Kita shrugged. "The world's at peace for now. I'm neither pro or con for the Fire Nation. Here's your room." Kita stopped in front of the door. "See you guys tomorrow. Appa's in there, just to let you know." She turned around and walked off.
"Wait," Sokka called out. Kita turned around. "How do you not know we won't just run away in the middle of the night?"
"Let's think about this logically, shall we? You're stranded in a time period you know little of, Victory Week's gonna end and what are you gonna do then dressed like that? Also, this place is guarded so well, the only ones allowed out are people with either me permission or anybody in me family and you only know of Eeshi and her kids. Don't forget, they're eight so not many are going to listen to them." She bowed, "Enjoy your sleep. We'll plan in the morning. Good night." She walked off.
Katara opened the door and poked her head in. There were three beds on one side and two on the other. "Well, sleeping arrangements are covered."
"I swear that girl is crazy." Sokka stated as he stepped in. "She expects us to sleep in the same room as Zuko? I thought she made it clear she knew we hated each other!"
"Maybe she's hoping we'll become friends like we did in those books?" Aang shrugged and patted Appa, who licked him as a greeting. "I missed you too, boy."
"Yah, but we're in a totally different scenario. Remember what it said about how that friendship formed? We were in the middle of a war. We joined forces to stay alive."
"But we became friends in the end." Aang pointed out. His cheery nature returned. Throwing mud at your reincarnation can do that to you sometimes.
"So? We're not in the middle of a war now are we?"
Aang shrugged. They all looked at Zuko. He had taken no part of the conversation. He had decided to pick a bed and just lie on it face-up. He didn't bother with the covers; he just closed his eyes and was already asleep. "That's just freaky." Sokka shook his head. "Whatever. Katara, sleep there." He pointed to one of the two beds. Katara opened her mouth to protest but figured she'd let her brother be a big brother. Just this once.
Haru shrugged, drained from the history lesson and flopped back onto a bed. Maybe he'd take an earthbending class tomorrow with the Avatars. At least they learned how to keep Kita, or any Kitonae Islander, under control if she got on their nerves: Touch her weapon. We could probably have fun with that, the boy thought as he yawned. He was too tired to even cry about his deceased family. He could feel the familiar rocking feeling of sleep and the world slowly drifted away and he was floating to his dream land….
…To then be painfully brought back by a shrill scream. "What?" Haru jumped up to look around. The room was dark but a sudden flame appearing in Zuko's hand lit the room up with an orange glow. "What was that?" Haru was on his feet, wide awake like the others. ((Always the others…sound like Lost anybody? No; this won't be based on Lost FYI))
"I don't know bu—"
"Everybody up and awake?" Kita had opened the door, causing light to pour in.
They nodded after shielding their eyes from the sudden light change.
"Good! Somebody snuck in…as you can tell, they got someone. I suggest you gather yorr stuff up and follow me."
"What about Appa?" Aang asked.
"Look behind your bison, lad."
Aang did. There was a pair of giant doors.
"Just open it and he'll wait outside. I'm sure he's that smart. I'll meet you guys at the end of the hall." With that, Kita ran off.
After opening the doors and forcing Appa out, they were now running down the hall. They saw Kita and she had her giant sword out. "Have you figured out who got attacked?" Asked Haru.
Kita shook her head. "Follow me; we'll meet the others outside in the courtyard where we were earlier. Me family's already out there." She then stepped out the door into another hall but she only got a few feet before slipping. She caught herself on the wall that was the fork to three different halls.
The others slipped like her. "What was tha—?" Aang stopped when he looked down. The floor had some red smears about the golden tiles. It was blood. Not too much, but enough to make traction change.
Kita looked down the hall to her left. She picked her sword up and held her arm out. "Don't." She ordered. She turned the corner. "Well, lads and lass," Kita reappeared after a few seconds. "We've got ourselves an assassin on our hands."
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End of Chapter One OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
There yah go! Yes. Kita's accent is Irish. Go Irish! Woot. Oh, right. Definition for "Anachronism":
"A person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age"
Thank you dictionary (dot) com! Perfect for them, no? If you made it through this chapter, congrats! I'm amazed people could survive such bad writing. Well, when you review, no flames. Kay? Thanks! Er…I was gonna say something else but I forgot. Just, you know…press the blue button!
You know you want to! n.n