"So are there any other elements you guys can bend?" John asked, as Jade took a gander over the side to get a good look at Ba-Sing-Se. "No. But our neighbors from the Earth Kingdoms and the Water Tribes can manipulate water and earth." One of the many guards told John, still feeling sorrowful for how eagerly he blasted a thirteen year old child with fire…
"Oh. Neat. I can manipulate windy stuff, but I guess it's not one of your guys' elements." John demonstrates his powers, kicking up a powerful gust of wind and playing with the clouds. "So then it's true! You're an Air-Bender!" One of them spoke with excitement, surprising him.
John didn't ENTIRELY abandon the idea, but didn't really put any stock in it. Goes to show what he knows, he guessed. "Cool. Does that make Jade a Space-Bender, then?" He pointed at his sister, and they all looked over at her, as she turned around.
"I mean sometimes I bend space. But there's a little more to it than that." She lifted a rock off the ground, and enlarged it into a boulder, dropping it in the distance. "You must be an earth bender!" Another Soldier spoke up with contagious excitement as Iroh arrived to watch for the moment. "I've got more, actually. How about-" She summons the radioactive power of the Green Sun! It calls to her like a beacon, even from such great distances. "Fire bending too?!" She giggled in response. The idea of a primitive people being amazed at everything she did was too funny to her.
"Come on Jade, stop teasing them. I'm sorry everyone, we're not elemental-bender-guys." John was of course quick to correct Jade's misdirection. Iroh on the other hand found himself a little relieved, all things considered. He was just too old for these kids to shake things up too much.
"Everyone." He finally spoke up, and the guards parted to make way for him. "Dismissed. I would like to have a word with our guests." His words were of course as genuine as they came, and John being the gullible little goofball he is, is instantly swayed.
Jade on the other hand, is skeptical, but has a good feeling about the guy. And she's certainly not one to doubt her intuition. "And you are?" She asks, keeping herself reserved and ready. "Iroh. Would you like to share a cup of tea?" Jade and John look at each, then nod at him in agreement.
"Yeah, I'd love some, actually." John answered jovially, anything but pastries as far as he cared. "Yeah, okay." Jade summons a table from the ship and a tea set they had on hand, gets some water in there, and considers how she'll get a not-radioactive fire going…
Of course the answer was Iroh with a quick flick of his fingers, lighting a small fire for them. "Oh. Right. Fire-Bending." She grabs a bit of wood, and places it on the fire, making sure it's properly lit. "So how long are we waiting?" John asks, as Iroh begins setting up some amenities to simply rest.
"Just a few minutes, and we will have a wonderful cup. It's one of Life's many gifts." Iroh said, no quote of course, it wasn't time for that JUST this moment. John and Jade on the other hand were busy thinking about how they never much actually had to wait for things anymore thanks to the Alchemiter.
"Nowadays John and I just alchemize our food." Jade tells, a little bored as she leans back and holds herself up. "Either that or it's endless sweets from Nannasprite." John shudders from the thought. Iroh of course couldn't help but laugh to himself, watching these two animated children overflowing with youth and vigor. "Then this tea must be to you like your arrival to our world is to us?" With military precision, Iroh had already begun discerning every aspect of these children, and his years of practice flew right over their heads. To some extent it even flew over Iroh's head too. His methods nowadays only ever found themselves in service of support and compassion.
"You know what? I like you, Iroh. So how about that tea?" Jade asks, as Iroh takes a look at it, and finds that it's done. "You have a good eye for tea, it seems. Might I share some old wisdom of the craft?" He had to ask, always ready to share one of his many passions with anyone who was ready to hear it. "Maybe another time! First… John and I need to figure out how we return to our journey."
"We do?" John asked. "Yeah. It's not like I can just open a portal where we're going." She answers. "You can't?..." John; With a little more concern. "I can- But it's not that simple. Do you have ANY idea how far that portal sent us? If I just open a portal, we could be flung even further…" John slowly inched away as she began rattling off all the possibilities… Something about getting too far from the Green Sun- Something else about no powers- Another thing about being stranded- Whatever she's talking about with time dilation across such vast differences… Dave not being here… Time shenanigans too hard without him… Rabbit was so complicated to begin with… And John's favorite movie… Nick Cage and Liv Tyler… And Casey… John proceeded to space out so hard, Jade grew concerned…
A sudden tug at his shoulder- "John, you dumbass!" A smack to his face… "Huh?!" And a return to reality! "Oh hey. What were we talking about?" He asks his Ecto-Sister, smiling at her as she chuckles to herself, and Iroh pours them more tea. "Then you must have had quite the journey. Perhaps you could do with a break. Besides, it gives me a good excuse to share my greatest skills." He smiles. As Jade sips the tea, considering it, she decides to agree.
"Alright. Seeing your world might be fun anyways. How about you, John?" John folds his arms and looks over to the distance, where Jade left the ship. "I should go check on Davesprite, I think I might have upset him again." He tells her, and she quirks an eyebrow. "I think it's just the bird side of him talking." John looks down and thinks about it, rubbing his chin as he works it out. "I know the bird-stuff had an effect… But I think he knows that too. Right? He's just mixed up. Not quite got everything as figured out as Dave."
Iroh makes a quick mental note to speak to Davesprite. He KNOWS none of these kids have anything figured out when it comes to THAT. And watching Jade and John talk about their friend like that tells him who needs help the most. "Alright, you go check on the ship. I was worried I might have damaged something anyway. In the meantime, I'll go investigate this world." They clasp hands, shake, and John floats away, surprising Iroh as he flies off with his powers.
"I suppose most of you can float?" He asks. "Yep. Except I can also teleport! Come on." And like that she teleports herself and Iroh across the planet.
…
John arrives at the Golden Battleship and lands on the bridge to find Davesprite talking with Nanasprite and some consorts. "Well shit, man. I think Jade might've grabbed Derse and Prospit. She kinda just snagged all those planets like they're fireflies. Like the ones on John's planet. You know, those little glowy assholes that light up and shit. Man actually I could rap about this- Lay me down a beat Nannasprite." Nannasprite begins beatboxing like it's her goddamn birthright, because she deserves good things like this. But of course it's cut short, as John speaks up.
"Did someone say John?" He asked… The dorky grin, the genuine meaning… It was almost too much for Davesprite… "Sup." He forced as he fought to keep the laughter down. "Fuck-" He slammed his fist into his chest- "I'm okay. Just… Shit… Alright- Alright- I'm good." John just kind of nervously chuckles, as Davesprite fights the irony trying to make him laugh at the ironically most beautiful thing John had ever done to him.
"So anyways, ship's fucked. And I don't know if Jade actually took Derse and Prospit with us. Ya' got any ideas?" Davesprite folds his arms and waits for an answer, as John looks over into the distance. He chuckles again and rubs the back of his head. "Hell if I know. Sorry Dave. She kind of JUST teleported away. But what's the damage? Let's take stock for when she gets back."
Davesprite looks at Nannasprite. "Right. Well… I dunno. We got some broken computers and shit. I think the rudder's like, busted or something. The uh… Navigation computers are also probably broken. I mean shit, dude, the fuckin' ship isn't working. What do you want, a written report on everything that's slightly less frustrating to use than your old sylladex?" John laughs at that last one, the hassle it gave him seemed so trivial in retrospect. "Yeah. That old thing really did a number on my room back in the day. Sometimes it even got… hazardous…" He nervously chuckles to himself again as he reminisces on it.
"Yeah I bet you fiddling with that thing was probably a sight to behold. Anyways, ask these chumps, they'll probably have a straight answer. I'm gonna go and make myself into a legend among the locals. Rub my shitty ectoplasm all up in their history and shit. It'll be like: 'Man- You remember the night that bird dude visited the village two hundred years ago and never came back? That was pretty dope.' Anyways see ya'." John this time opted to wave as he flew off, before high fiving Nannasprite, since she also deserved that.
"Man… He's still such a dork."
…
Jade and Iroh end up on a mountain, and they look around. "So do you know where we are?" She asks. "I have a map, actually." Iroh lays it out on the ground, and she studies it for a minute. "Right. Okay. We're here then." She points at the random spot she teleported Iroh and herself. "I think we should slow down, Miss Harley. These old bones aren't quite built for teleporting around like they used to. Besides…" She looks at him. "Life can often be like a good story, when you rush through it, you often miss the best part." Jade stands up and folds her arms. "And what part would that be?" She sneers and raises an eyebrow, trying to get a rise out of him.
"The enjoyment of reading a good story, of course." She brushes her hair back. "Well I enjoy it plenty. Thank you very much. But hey. Maybe I AM moving too quickly. I've still got three years to get this back on track." She shrugs and they stand up, as she tucks the map deep within her sylladex. "Well, if we'll be going the long way... If you like, I know a good dumpling shop around here." Iroh advises her as he points at a path in the distance.
A little over half an hour later… "So you're SURE it's this way. Right?" Jade asked, just to make sure. "Of course." Iroh answered, smiling along as they went. "It's been a while since I had a good walk like this. And I've never really had dumplings. I was born on an island, you see." She tells him, reminiscing and taking a moment to remind herself of her forge duties as the Witch of Space. "An island, you say? Reminds me of my homeland. The Fire Nation is built on an archipelago of tropical islands with many active volcanoes." He shares with her and she raises her arms in excitement! "Yeah! My island had a volcano too! It was actually my session's forge. Which I guess doesn't mean much to you… It's a whole prophecy. I digress-"
And suddenly, in a flash of light, a group of resentful-assailants descend on the two, who Iroh quickly begins dismantling one warrior at a time. "Earth Kingdom assassins out for revenge, I can handle them. " He tells Jade and she nods, sliding back to stay out of his way. "Alright."
The first two lift the earth below them and shoot earth spikes at him, but he avoids them by mimicking the Air Benders, then catches a flying brick from another by mimicking Earth Bender techniques. He closes the distance as they're disorientated by shock- Without even fire bending he strikes one in the head, knocking him out as he dodges another brick that strikes a different opponent in the head, knocking them out. Five left. They suddenly surround him, standing back and ready to counter any movement he makes.
Iroh stances up into a fire bending pose. He usually only breaks it out when his opponents wise-up and starts fighting carefully. He slides his foot creating a wave of fire to disorientate the first three, and blows fire at the other two with his fingers. The flames are powerful, in fact, more so than he had been planning. He jumps out of the circle and throws more fireballs, before knocking out another one by jumping on his head, and slamming his elbow into the other one, knocking them out too. Because people are surprisingly easy to knock out, for some reason.
Anyways, they suddenly start floating in the air… "What the hell?!" One of them screams, as Jade floats over, and the rest of their friends do so as well. Iroh, on the other hand, places his arms in his sleeves. "Sorry, I got kind of bored just watching." Jade lifted the other knocked out assailants too, before warping them away. "Where did you send them?" Iroh asks.
"Dropped'em in a lake over there. Like, a kilometer away. So what was THAT about?" She teleports next to him and they return to their walk. "The Fire Nation, back when it was ruled by my brother, and our father, and his father before him, had turned to conquest after Avatar Roku had died over two hundred years ago." Jade perks up at that. "Avatar Roku? Like Aang?" She asks.
They finally arrive at a large village, with stone walls surrounding it and a small keep at the back. "Yes. The Avatar is… a cycle of reincarnation. Every time an avatar dies, a new one is born, and the cycle starts all over again. Where they will be taught by powerful bending masters, and learn to commune with the spirits, as the bridge between worlds. That's how it goes at least." Jade stayed silent, following as she worked through all the information for a minute.
"Right… So… Those dumplings?" She asks, as they finally stop at a stand. "We're already here!" Jade had been catching eyes like flies to fly-paper due to her strange dark clothing. "Mushi! It's been too long!" The vendor asked, since Iroh had only come here on rare occasions. Jade took a glance at him, and he chuckled. "Please, my friend! Have I not apologized enough for the alias?" They laugh together for a minute, and Jade folds her arms.
…
A young girl grabs a slab of heavy metal, and bends it, sharing it with her fellow earth benders. "Alright you clods! See THIS?! This is what metal bending is!" She let out a boisterous speech to get the group started. The men and women who came to learn were unsure about being taught by some thirteen year old girl, but the demonstration is still proof of skill.
This girl is Toph Beifong.
Boisterous, hardy, and powerful. She may be thirteen years old, but she is the world's greatest earth bender…
So anyways, a woman emerges from the door, informing Toph that she has a visitor. Aang and Zuko came for Toph first, since she was the closest, still being at the Earth Kingdoms. Katara and Sokka on the other hand, are over in the Fire Nations brokering peace treaties to pacify the Water Tribes. It only made sense, since the Water Tribes had been coming close to being wiped out.
They wanted retribution.
The Fire Nations however did pay for their mistakes, their crimes, their transgressions. They'd been sending resources and men to mend the damages, good faith and luxuries to restore their old relations.
"Twinkle toes! It's only been days but it feels like years! How's it been, big guy?" She'd been enjoying wordplay lately, and found it helpful when mocking her friends. Toph of course hadn't separated from Aang in a while, she was busy in Ba-Sing-Se, repairing the major damages to the walls, and rebuilding houses with her fiercely honed technique.
Aang chuckled as he floated down. "I know right!" He gave her a hug for a greeting, then Appa ran over and licked her- "With everything that's been going on, all the work… It really HAS felt like years." She giggled as she hugged Appa, still blind as a mole, but she'd recognized that tongue anywhere.
"So what's with the visit, Aang?" She asked, giving him a big smile, as she got a huge sky-bison-lick to the side of her head. "Your hair's sticking up- Anyways. A… How should I put it… It's hard to explain." He tried to tell her. "Would you call it a development? Like... a new event in the happenings of the world?" Toph knew Aang wouldn't come to disturb her unless it was important, especially during her first day as a master to her students.
So either it was some huge event that needed the immediate attention of Team Avatar… OR he wanted to update her on whatever. It didn't matter, really. "Yeah. A development. That works." He chuckles again as he works out his answer. "Listen. So, some people kind of… showed up out of nowhere. They can fly, one of them can travel super fast in an instant, the other is an orange boy with bird wings." For the first time in her life, Toph was genuinely dumbfounded.
"Excuse me?..." She laughed a little, unsure if she should take it seriously. "Sorry, I'm sure Zuko could explain it better." He admitted before looking around. "Speaking of whom… Where did he go?" Toph pointed to the distance, where she felt his footsteps. "Just over that way. I was wondering why you never brought him up. Come on, twinkle toes." And with that, they run over to wherever the hell Zuko is.
…
John finishes writing down the list of items that are in need of repair. "Alright, I'll list everything from our findings." He began, a pencil in his hand, another on his ear, a big dumb grin, and a whole lotta' gusto! "Weapon Systems: The missile pods are no longer functioning, and cannot be used. One of the three primary assault cannons have been destroyed, and the second is barely operational. The twelve minor cannons seem okay, but small amounts of damage have been noted here and there." He squints his eyes as he sits down, focusing on what he'd previously written- "Okay so the Point Defense systems are pretty ruined…"
He adjusts his glasses and takes a breath of fresh air as everyone mutters between themselves. "Moving on, okay- the uh- the on-board-maintenance system has been shut down, meaning if we turned it on, we could have had the ship run diagnostics- Whatever that is. Anyways, the computers are broken and need repair. A couple thrusters are torn, some doors just won't listen, and the reactors need a checkup, yada yada- What do we do?" John, as you would have easily guessed, got bored rather quickly.
One of the salamanders advised the obvious method of getting a prospitian to fix it, they were quickly mocked by a crocodile who advised they instead try and repair the ship themselves. The idea was met with multiple signs of frustration, as a turtle instead has the idea to further stabilize the ship's quickly degrading state… They all come to a consensus that the Pink Turtle is correct, and prepare to get to work before something finally comes to John-
"Wait a minute." He says. Everyone stops, turning to look at him again as he rubs his chin. "Why's the ship all broken up in the first place? I could have sworn it was fine just moments ago." Casey walks up to him and tells him that it was actually Jack Noir that had damaged the ship as a byproduct of hunting and murdering everyone on Skaia. In fact the ship had been in a pretty bad state from the start, they weren't ever very certain WHY John and Jade chose this one, but they figured it best not to question the two children.
John places two stern hands on two equally stern hips. "Alright. Now why didn't you guys tell us?" He asks, a less-than-pleased look on his face. They tell him he never actually asked. They're surprised he never noticed all the disrepair. Asked if he just never noticed until now. "Huh. I guess I didn't… I suppose landing on THIS Earth is what made me realize what happened. I guess I should've realized what was going on, with all the torn up walls, slashed support beams, blood splatters… Man…"
He cracks his knuckles and claps his hands! "Alright! Let's get to work everyone!" Just like his father taught him, John knows there ain't nothin' like a little elbow grease!
…
It was a normal, peaceful day in the settlement. Everyone was happy, working hard, and the caravan had just returned with their imported goods, from all the hard work and mining they'd gotten up to. That was what their settlement of course had been planning to trade. Materials from the mines, for resources from much larger kingdoms and villages.
This all was the case until Davesprite descended on high, and everyone assumed a spirit from the Spirit World had come to visit them. But why THEM? It could not bode well. They knew whatever it came here for was important, so they'd best watch and listen carefully, in case any wrongs may yet be righted.
Dave kind of just floated over all chill like, as everyone in what he assumed was some kind of village turned to look at him. He kind of just stood there and waited, until one of the men came up to him. Davesprite raised his hand up to, like, his chest or something. "Sup." He said, and this guy just reels back, scared of the kid for some reason.
"What?" He asks, that same stoic deadpan on his face. "Y-You're a spirit-" The guy says, and Davesprite just kind of glances downwards at himself. "You know, that's a pretty damn apt description of what I am nowadays. I mean shit, look at me, I'm this feathery ghost just floating around. But how about you guys?"
The settler was suddenly very confused. This Orange Spirit seemed to talk so casually about coming here. The Settler had to assume he just didn't know enough about spirits yet. "Wh-What have you come here for? What have we done? Are you seeking The Avatar?" Davesprite groaned at that, making the settler nervous. "Man, hell no, that kid's an asshole. I just figured I'd come see what's poppin' over here. Come get in all the biznasty you guys were gettin' up to. Uh- Simply put, I'm kind of just here to say hello." Davesprite reached his hand out, and the settler took it. He already realized these guys were afraid, and figured he would try and ease their nerves.
They shook hands for a moment, before relaxing and Davesprite put his thumbs in his pockets. "Everyone, the spirit is friendly!" Davesprite gives'em a thumbs up from behind the guy, and they all begin walking over to see the spirit.
"So have you really come for no reason?" The settler asks, and Davesprite nods. "Yep. I mean, I could have just stayed home and like, I don't know, rap or something but I can do that anywhere. So yeah. What've you guys been up to lately? Any cool, uh… I don't know, I'm fucking bored." He looks around the settlement, trying to think of something they might have been doing.
"Well… Mr. Spirit-" The settler-guy begins, but Davesprite is quick to fix it- "Davesprite, but you can call me Dave. What's your name?" It was a weird name, but as far as everyone knew, that's just how they were. "I'm Lomi, the head of our Earth Settlement. It's an honor to meet you, Dave." Davesprite gave him a nod with a grin.
"So anyways. As I was-" Lomi began. "We'd just gotten a shipment of luxury goods from one of the major earth kingdoms, thanks to our hard work in the mines." He showed Davesprite over to the shipment, meeting the people who were lifting boxes off the cart. "Hey Lom- What the hell?!" One of them yells, grabbing the attention of the others, as they all stare at Davesprite.
"Sup. Resident spirit from the Spirit World. Figured I'd shove myself in your business." He greets. "This is Davesprite, the friendly spirit!" Lomi introduces, gesturing to Davesprite as the men walk up and take a look at him. "So you're friendly?" One of them asks. "Yep." Davesprite takes a look at the wagons, just some boxes and barrels, and other such containment units that shouldn't be much trouble for grown men to lift. "Yeah. I mostly just came here out of boredom. Figured I'd get to know the people out here. Right? So far it's been pretty dope."
"Well… We need to get back to work, but it's nice ta' meetcha Davesprite." The one who first greeted him says, giving Davesprite his second forein handshake before walking away. Everyone begins walking over to return to helping the workers with unloading their carts. "So everyone helps out." Davesprite says, as Lomi begins walking over himself. "Yes, the sooner they can ship off, the sooner they can bring us more stuff!" Davesprite floats over and lifts a box right over his head, just like his older brother would do, and John's dad would do with that car of theirs.
Everyone on the other hand, gasps in shock at the sight of this young boy lifting a two-hundred kilogram box over his head. "What? I figured I'd help." He floats over to where the other boxes are, and places it in front of them. "But that box- That was one of the heavier ones! Is this the strength of the spirits?!" He flash-steps back and forth, placing another of similar size on top of the first one he grabbed. "I mean I guess? I'm not much stronger than before I became well, THIS." He gestures to himself in his birdy-wholeness.
"Anyways, I'll go get the rest of the boxes." He flares out his wings, and begins moving many boxes at a time. The time he spent playing Sburb, and the years fighting his brother… This was easy for someone like him, it had to be, if he wanted to stand up to the ogres and cyclopes that had gained the powers of Jade's hellhound. "This shit's nothing new, guys." He finishes moving the boxes and resting them on the ground with a huff as he rests his back against a particularly high stack.
"I mean, none of us can lift so many boxes…" One of the burly men admits, as he heaves a box over his shoulder, wiping away the sweat to prove how tough it is for him. "Oh. Damn. What's up with that? I guess it IS because I'm a spirit?" He asks, shrugging as they all kind of nod in agreement. Davesprite didn't have much of an answer for it, honestly. But then he realized that this world didn't have the same rules as the ones he knew. "Well, sorry about that. I don't usually like to gloat like that. Now I feel like a bit of a tool." He says, as he rubs the back of his head.
"I guess that's kind of the point, though. Becoming a guide was like, now you gotta be this frivolous tool, shitting out rhymes and unbelievably stupid riddles like they're bricks. I mean come the fuck on, I got fused with this shitty bird I killed 'cause Jade's got a thing for animals. Like sweet bitchin' hell man, let's all pretend everyone gives a shit and like, I don't know, actually win. But turns out you fuckin' can't, 'cause god gives you cancer or something, and now you gotta go and-" He looks at everyone again, and floats back down since he kinda lost himself there for a moment.
"Uh… What?" Lomi asks, as the trading-guys walk away to go lie down. "Nothing. Just stuff about where I, uh… Well… Just a dumb game I played." He tells everyone as they watch him float back down. "Oh, I see. With your spirit friends?" Lomi asks, trying to work it out in a way that makes sense with his current understanding of the world. "Sure. Yeah, spirit friends…" Davesprite looks down, remembering the ones he left behind. John, Jade, Rose… Those three, the ones from HIS timeline. They're gone now. He wasn't even sure if Alpha-Rose remembered everything from his timeline… He shook his head, it didn't matter.
"Hey. Do me a favor-" Davesprite poked the man's chest. "What? But I thought-" Davesprite stopped him "No, not like that. Just, shit. I'm not even- Listen. I know this better than anyone else, that if you ever find any weird frog-ruins. Bombs, Bending-Powers, Nukes if you have to, just destroy them IMMEDIATELY." Lomi simply nods, as Davesprite does his best to sound as serious as possible.
"I understand. You can consider it done." Davesprite actually smiles, his unflinching stoicism once again broken for today. "Nice. Haha. nice. I'll make sure to remind everyone to thank you, when you die of old age. Now I'mma go check and see if y'all got any birdseed in these boxes over here. See ya'." Davesprite finishes, before floating away and over to the boxes.
…
Appa carries three members of team avatar through the air, Toph and Zuko already got their greetings out of the way off screen, because the author kind of entirely forgot Zuko was even there, and didn't want to rewrite it. So yeah, just stick with me here-
"So what's up with these kids you were talking about? One of them was an Air Bender?" Toph was the first to ask, deciding she would take it seriously, since she knew how much it meant to Aang. "Yeah. I hope so." Aang said, at the reins as he turned his head around, before focusing on flying again. "Right. The young boy with the blue clothes. His friend killed him." Toph's eyes widened at that- "What?!" Toph was rarely surprised, and even more rarely showed it. This was different.
"N-Not like- Well he- The boy came back-" Zuko stumbled on his words as usual, when he focused too hard on trying to find the perfect way to mend the situation- "Excuse me?!" Toph was now completely flabbergasted, there was no way this could be real! "It's true. His head was lopped clean off, then his body began to glow… and he came back… I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't already seen it with my own eyes, Toph. This is something we've NEVER seen before." Zuko tells her, as she sits back down, and places her head in her hands…
…
Iroh and Jade find themselves on one of the islands of the Fire Nation, having teleported halfway across the world to see a nice beach. "You know, back on earth, I would visit my island's beach all the time. You know, sit down, take in the vast ocean, and never go anywhere BUT my island… It kinda sucked actually-" She realizes, as she takes in the ocean. "I'm sorry to hear that." Iroh was still kind of struggling to figure out how to talk to these kids. "Did you not have much?" Jade sighed at that, because she actually had a lot to her name, so much that she never had to WORRY about anything BUT her future.
"No. I had plenty. The day my grandpa died, I was still a baby, wielding guns if you can believe it. Grandpa was a weird man- Anyways, it's just, I never actually met anybody, I guess THAT'S what made me weird." She flings a rock, and it bolts through the water, blasting the stuff miles into the air with the explosion.
"I… see." Was Iroh's simple reply. In all honesty, in this short time he'd learned so much about the girl. In fact, she actually convinced him that by teleporting around, she would get to see more of all the cool landmarks on his planet before she had to leave. He figured that teleporting around could actually ALSO be a good book to read… or however that metaphor was suppose to work-
…
So Team-Avatar-Minus-Katara-and-Sokka was just moseying about in the sky, all chill and shit until some kind of undersea volcano decided to go absolutely fucking ballistic right under them! Aang was quick to respond trying to part as it shot towards them, but he was too late-
They're suddenly teleported, landing next to Jade and Iroh, as they look over. Toph just stares at her, as she taps Appa's saddle to get vibrations through the area- "Did we just teleport?" She asks, as she jumps down. "Yep! Sorry about that! It was my fault!" She calls out to them.
"No worries! It was just a bit of water!" Aang laughed, since he wasn't in any actual danger. "What are you doing here though?" He asks, as Toph begins to actually accept the situation. It was so out of left field and weirdly serious for her, that she wasn't quite sure HOW to deal with this situation. "So you guys can just teleport?" Toph asks. "Yes." Jade answers. The two girls smile at each other for a moment.
"Nice!" Toph thought that, if anything, that was pretty neat! "Heck yeah!" Jade floats off the ground- "What- She disappeared-" Toph begins looking around, only to quickly realize that Jade is actually just flying. "Ah- Right. They said you guys can fly. That's also cool." Her words bite with disappointment, since of course, Jade has all but disappeared in her mind.
"Uncle Iroh. What are you doing here?" Zuko asks, as he walks past the two girls who've already started playing with their powers. "The youngster teleported us over. She wanted to see the Fire Nation's lands." He answers, as rocks fly past Zuko's unassuming and equally uncaring head. "Right. How about you two come with us, then? We're on our way to pick up Katara and Sokka anyways." Zuko gives him a smile, a rare yet very contagious disease that I wish I could inject into my body like crack. "That would be wonderful." Iroh was of course quick to agree, never missing out on a chance to spend more time with his nephew.
Jade teleports over, with Toph on her shoulders, they have already become the best of friends! "Did you guys know she was raised by animals?! I was raised by an animal!" Jade said, emphasizing that similarity they share! "Yeah! She's like the sister I never had!" Toph said, as Iroh and Zuko awkwardly chuckle at their surprisingly instant click.
"Hey guys!" Aang called out, grabbing their attention- "Appa's finished resting, we can head out now!" He told them, having mostly only watched all this happen in the distance. Jade teleports everyone over, her excitement pretty much killing any last sense of subtlety she had left- "Totally! So what- Do we ride up here?" Jade asks as she floats her and her new sister right on up and onto the saddle. "Yeah!" Aang says, jumping right up onto Appa's back, while Jade places Toph back on the saddle, and rubs her chin.
"Here wait, Aang, I got an idea." She tells him as she teleports Zuko and Iroh on top, she figures she'd help out those old bones of Iroh's. "What's up?" He asks, as he stands up and walks over on Appa's back. "Get on the saddle." She tells him, as Appa nudges his head up ever so slightly, trained not to 'cause you know, Aang might fall off. Jade stands up and flings her arms to either side of her body. She teleports the saddle right off of Appa's back, and it floats there. She shrinks Appa down to the size of a cat, and places him on the saddle, then sends it forward through the sky.
Jade hands Appa over to Aang. "You ever give'im THIS kind of break?" She asks, as she lies back, with a smug look on her face. "Hah, no. Look at how small he is! I didn't know you could do this- Wait. You can UNDO this, right?" He asks, a twinge of concern under the excitement-
"Oh, yeah, I can make him the size of a mountain if I wanted." They stare in awe of the concept, everyone except Toph- "Can you make ME the size of a mountain?" She asks, and Jade considers it- "I guess." She admits, despite knowing she PROBABLY shouldn't…
"I don't imagine I should, though. Sadly. Can't imagine how people would react to a giant girl stomping around in the ocean." She admits as she bashfully rubs the back of her head. "I'm just enjoying petting op Appa like this." Aang spoke up, doing just as he said he was. "Pfft, no fun." Toph chuckles as she lies on her side.
"Uncle." Zuko once more began. "What do you make of all of… THIS?" Iroh just shrugged. "I've got nothing."
…
"Why do you hate frogs, mister spirit?" A young girl asks, as Davesprite sits on a box. "Huh? Oh. Nah, Frogs are pretty dope actually. I just don't like temples themed after them. Those are made by assholes." He says, not a single care in the world for a child's innocence. "Oh. Why's that?" She asks again, and Davesprite sits back.
"Well, it usually leads to The Game somehow, then you get the reckoning, and the meteors start falling everywhere, and it's a whole thing…" The girl stared at him, as he began muttering to himself. "What's the game like?" She asks, and Davesprite groans, before continuing.
"Have you ever played the Sims? It's like that- Wait you guys don't even have trains, there's no way in hell you know what a computer is. Okay here wait." He sits there for multiple minutes, trying to come to an answer as the girl grows bored.
"Did you enjoy the game?" She asked. Davesprite looks directly at her. "No. It took my sister, and my friends from me. And now I'll never see them again." He answers. The girl frowned. "But it was fun, right?" Davesprite looked down, remembering everything he'd been through with Calsprite… "No. No it wasn't." His stoic deadpan answer made the small girl nervous… "D-Did ANYTHING get better?" That one was a better question. "I mean… YEAH?... But no, they haven't gotten better."
A small group of settlers emerge running from the forest- "A bear! An Armadillo Bear!" One of them shouts, as Davesprite's wings extend and he darts into action. The girl was completely awestruck, just watching the glowing orange boy soar through the sky at breakneck pace in a moment's notice to deal with whatever her peopls' problems are, despite his own.
Davesprite listened for noise, and flew around dodging trees branches and rocks, his tail forming a snake-like trail as his body snakes around the area- He arrives to find a large bear with an armadillo shell on its back, terrorizing a woman as he floats between them and equips his sword. "Run, I'll deal with it." He tells her, as she stands up. "Don't hurt her-" He nods, and she runs away.
The Armadillo Bear sizes him up, growling and snarling as she stabilizes herself on the ground. "So you're a girl, huh? Ya' got some kids or something? Is that what we're doing?" He asks as the Armadillo Bear takes a swing at him, giving him a glance at the shell on her back as he dodges out of the way. "So you really ARE part Armadillo. Well damn, that's pretty dope. I wonder how tough this thing is." He says, as he grabs one of the armor plates on her back, surprising her.
The bear twirls around on her back and tries to bite him. Davesprite grabs Her snout and whips himself over her head, smacking his tail into her back- She begins rolling and Davesprite flies upwards, watching her blast through trees and rocks, tearing a trail through the ground in her rage- "Alright, you need to calm down, before you destroy the whole forest." He tells her as he floats over, finding her crashed into a crater.
She snaps at him with another attack- His back hits the ground, he'd gotten careless for just a moment. She roars at him and he cringes his face from the saliva. His tail curls around her arm, and he begins flapping his wings, and carrying her through the sky- She stares at the ground, and he stares at her. "Ya' done yet?! I'm not even here to fight you!" He lowers her back to the ground, and she runs away in fear as he watches.
A couple hours later, while Davesprite was searching, he finally came upon her children. "Yeah, as I thought." He stretches and picks them up with his tail, the children kicking and screaming, caling for their mother as he rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, come on you little shits." He says as he flies into the air, and looks for the mother, which was considerably easier, since she was pretty huge compared to her babies. Her territory was also probably rather huge, so he figured he'd just lead her to a different spot in it, where the settlers wouldn't have to worry about running into her again.
She roars at him again for even THINKING of touching her babies- He smacks her, his physical strength knocking her face to the side, and making her whimper as she crawls away. "Alright, I'mma dip, you have fun getting into pic'a'nic baskets and like, eating honey and shit." He tells her, floating away as she inspects her children, making sure they're all accounted for and safe. They were cute to say the least.
Davesprite suddenly realizes he's lost… "Shit." He says, floating around through the forest, looking for the settlement he was protecting. "John's definitely gonna laugh at me for getting lost like this. Dude I don't navigate forests- I can navigate the shit out of a city block, that's my home territory. But like, shit, forests are just trees, and grass, maybe a river or two, some rocks here and there- Actually, you know what? I could rap about this." Davesprite then proceeded to have the greatest rapoff against the denizens of the forest this world had ever seen.
On the other hand, the settlement would in many years continue to grow into a great bustling kingdom, forming its own organization that would hunt down anything related to Sburb and Skaia. They would however fail to find anything, as in this world never actually had any of that, nor a First Guardian.
…
Everyone arrives on the deck of the ship again. "Alright, I think the ship is secure. I'm gonna go find Davesprite and make sure he's okay, guys. You feel free to go have fun now that we don't have to worry about the ship." Everyone on the ship watches John float away into the sky, before they begin to discuss what they should actually do while he's gone.
John returns to Ba-Sing-Se, in case Jade or anyone else he knows might be here. He however doesn't find anyone, just locals and whatnot going about their lives, the Fire Nation soldiers have of course been sitting out in their camps outside the city. Sadly the people of Ba-Sing-Se aren't all that inclined to make friendly with fire-benders.
It may have only been a year, but the mixing of nations was slow. John was unaware of all of this. Because he's never been here before. What did you expect? To be honest, he probably wouldn't care either, with all those irons in his fire, he just didn't have enough space for the goliath shipment of tungsten that came from having to worry about the four nations…
But then, he would meet someone, someone who would give him a chance to consider otherwise…
End of Chapter: 2
Thank you for reading.
