Chap. 17
Epilogue
It was a few hours later, as the sun began to set into the west, that the group began to finish packing up Appa for the next leg of the journey. The Knights had been more then willing to carry their own weight, and had been a huge help in packing Appa. Still, they had been held up a bit because Aang and the others were eager to hear about the Knights and their roles in the world…..
"So what are the gods like anyway?" Katara asked Agua, as they loaded a few more packs onto Appa's saddle. At that, the cat chuckled and said, "You know, they don't actually like to be called that."
"What, gods?" Katara replied. The cat nodded and explained; "Humans were the ones that termed them gods, but they call themselves Architects, because they laid down the bones of the universe.Although, someone else gave them the blueprints."
Seeing Katara begin to ask another question, the cat quickly answered it, "We've never metthe guy(we don't actually know if he is a guy) but we call him the High-God. The Architects say he was the one who created them and told them how to shape the world, including our home."
"So where do you come from anyway?" Aang asked, as he tied another few bundles onto the saddle.
"Well, nowhere around here." Agua answered, as he secured a few more ropes.
"But Fuego said that he came from somewhere in the Earth Kingdom." Katara added as she climbed into Appa's saddle.
"Well, that was kinda our cover story. We didn't want to give you any hint as to who we were until we could show it to the Fire Nation too."
"Why?" Katara asked as Hierro climbed up into the saddle.
"Well for one thing, you probably would've thought we were crazy." The spider answered. "Second, we've been alive for more then five hundred years. If we don't keep a little drama in what we do, we'd go crazy. Besides, telling you we come from an alternate world isn't exactly a believable story."
"Wait, you guys are from another world?" Sokka asked in surprise.
"Yeah." Luz answered, as she threw another bundle on Appa's back. "You guys didn't think this were the only one, did you?"
"You should see it." Fuego added, as he dragged over a few more heavy packs. "It's full of amazing landscapes, grand cities, and….."
"Don't you have work to do?" Oscuridad said suddenly, as he walked past the red man. "Right." Fuego replied quickly, as he continued dragging the bags forward. After Zuko had left, and questions had arisen, Fuego had admitted his part in leading Zuko to the island. Oscuridad had not been pleased, but had acknowledged that Zuko had proven an aid in the battle. However, he had sentenced the red man to pack most of the stuff onto Appa, a task that Fuego had grudgingly accepted.
"So if Fuego comes form another world, that story he told us was a lie." Sokka concluded, glaring at the red man.
"Well, yes and no." Fuego answered. "My father, Darya, did give me the inspiration for language and my duty to redeem the Fire Nation. But the chicken story, well, that was me."
"Oh my God, you told them that?" Bosque said with a laugh. "And you said it was Darya? Oh you are dead."
"Hey, it's not my fault I couldn't tell the truth." Fuego snapped back. Turning to back to the kids, he continued, "My name isn't from an Earth Kingdom language either. It's actually from our world, and it's one we're all quite fluent in. Hell, that's where we picked our names this time."
"We just thought it would be cool to pick different names for each world we get sent to." Aire explained from the side. "After that, all that was left was coming here and making sure you guys were captured by Zuko."
"WHAT! You arranged that?" Sokka yelled, dropping his stuff, as Katara and Aang glared at Aire as well.
"We knew you wouldn't believe us if we came up and told you about us." Trueno explained, coming up to his brother. "Besides, we wanted to earn your trust, and what better way then freeing you from a Fire Nation ship?"
"But how did you do it?" Katara asked. Smiling, Trueno snapped his fingers. A wave of silver surrounded him and when it vanished, the form of the shopkeeper stood there. As the trio stared in amazement, Aire said, "Plus, Agua and I messed with your bending on the docks."
Sputtering, Sokka manged to get out, "You put us in danger so we'd trust you? Why didn't you just tell us who you were!"
As Trueno changed back behind him, Aire put his hand to his chin in serious thought. After a moment, he shrugged and said, "It made us more mysterious that way." Sokka stared in shock for a moment, then slammed his fist into his forehead and began muttering to himself.
Aang however, was far less annoyed. "Well, at least you guys got us out of there. And besides, now all we have to do is find a safe place and you can teach me and Katara bending."
"Um, actually that might be a problem." Fuego said, rubbing the back of his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we're kinda not allowed to teach you." The red man replied.
"I'm afraid he's right Aang." Oscuridad added. "The Architects forbid us from training any mortals."
"But I need to learn all the bending arts. And you taught before." Aang exclaimed.
"I know Aang." Oscuridad said gently. "But it didn't exactly happen that way. See, when we suggested teaching early man bending, we had to put it through their judgment. They immediately shot down teaching shadow and light, since those are the driving elements of the universe and extremly difficult to control. Eventually the Architects decided that the four main earthly elements would be the only ones taught. But before we could begin teaching, they decided that they would be safer for them to do it themselves. So they took animal forms and taught the first benders the rudimentary skills of bending, like the flying bison for the Airbenders."
"You mean human benders aren't as powerful as they could be?" Aang asked, his own needs put aside for the moment in his curiosity.
"They could have grown more powerful, yes. But that was what the Architects feared. They didn't want Elementals running around outside of their direct jurisdiction. But they are not allowed to directly affect the progress of humans by order of the High-God, unless it affects the balance of good and evil. That's why they took animal forms as a disguise and gave us credit with creating bending because we were only the representatives of their power. And we were allowed to create their 'godhood' and establish their laws since that would affect good and evil.
"But why can't you teach me?" Aang pressed on.
"The power would be too great. You see Aang, the difference between us is the level of connectedness. When a human bender uses an element, he or she is forcing that element to become an extension of his or her own being. When we do it, we are extending our own being. We Knights were born of the Elements, and therefore we have a much deeper connection to it. It's how we can transform into them, and stay immune to their touch. But because humans did not develop as deep a connection, they can't perform those skills, and cannot be corrupted by the power gained by it. And frankly, the only we could give it to you would be to transform you so that you were like us. Even then you would have all the know-how without any of the experience. If you fought the Fire-Lord like that, you wouldn't last long."
"Wow, they really make it hard don't they? They let me survive at the cost of all my people. And now their own Knights can't even train me." Aang muttered sadly, as he took up Appa's reins.
Sighing, Oscuridad climbed onto Appa's head and put his hand on the young Avatar's shoulder. "Aang, nothing worth doing is ever easy. You will have to learn everything the hard way. But you won't have to do it alone. We are going to help you find Masters to train you, and when you go to face the Fire Lord, we will stand with you."
Aang was quiet a moment, and then said, "You're right. But I wish you weren't."
"So do I. So do I." The bat answered.
For a second, silence ruled again, then Aang asked, in a rather cheerful voice, "So I don't suppose you've ever ridden a buffalo- lion before?"
"I've heard of such things." The bat answered. "I take it you have?"
"No, but I know a place where we can. You interested?"
"A dangerous, time-wasting excursion on the way to saving the world? Why the hell not?"
"Great, you two are going to get each other killed. Can we go now?" Luz asked sarcastically.
"Yes dear." The bat muttered, as he leapt off Appa's head and then took a look at the bison. A moment later, Sokka noticed what he was looking at.
"Hey, I don't think Appa can carry everybody." The young Water-tribesman said as he mentally counted the added weight of the Knights.
"How many do you think he can take?" Oscuridad asked.
"Maybe two or three." Sokka answered after a moment's thought.
"All right. Fuego, Agua, and Truena will ride. The rest of us will follow."
"How? Build a raft or something?" Sokka asked in confusion as the three selected Knights climbed aboard Appa.
The bat smiled and said, "Sokka, we're Knights. One of the first rules of knighthood is getting armor."
With that, the bat closed his eyes and the blue-black fire suddenly spread out over his body. But within seconds, it had hardened into a suit of blue armor, complete with a long, flowing, metal cape. As the other Knights went through similar summonings and called their own armor, the blue cape rose up of it's own accord and hardened into a pair of wings.
"We know how to travel." The bat said, as wings appeared on the other Kngihts as well. Sokka stared for a moment, but then shook his head and said, "Fine, why not?"
"Well, now that that's taken care of, let's go!" Aang yelled. "Appa, yip-yip!"
The bison shot into the air, soaring as majestically as a six-ton animal possibly can. One by one, the Knights took off after him. But before Oscuirdad could follow, he felt a hand on his amr. Turning he saw Aire standing next to him. "Something wrong?" the bat asked.
"¿Él piensa que él es el Airbender pasado?" Aire asked, knowing Aang and his friends couldn't understand or hear the language at this point.
Oscuridad shrugged and replied in the same tongue, "Él descubrirá sobre ellos pronto bastante.. Además, dijeron que no podemos decirle hasta que el tiempo correcto.." Aire nodded, and the two spread their wings and took off after Appa. Their words passed on through the air, unheard to any but themselves. But if they had been heard and spoken in the common tongue, they would have gone like this …
"He thinks he's the last Airbender?"
"He'll find out about the others soon enough. Besides, they said we can't tell him until the time is right."
Whenever that is……
THE END?