"Where am I? What happened?" Rengoku wondered.
Opening his eyes and taking a good look at his location, he had no earthly idea of where he was or what was going on. He was standing in a garden filled with the most beautiful array of flowers and clear skies vaster than what his eyes could see. Although if he had to choose, the most prominent thing that caught his eye was…
"The Sun," he gazed. It was bright and beaming in the center of everything around him and surprisingly enough he couldn't take his eyes off of it along with being surprised that it didn't hurt his eyes to look at.
Taking a deep breath and trying to feel his surroundings, he noticed how in tune he felt with everything here and while not all that surprising due to his flame breathing, it did feel weirder than normal. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but it felt like the sun itself was supporting him here.
"So we finally meet, Rengoku-san."
Looking around, Rengoku didn't notice he was here with anyone else and immediately took a fighting stance with his blade wondering who had been watching him.
"Show yourself. It is not wise to sneak up on me when my guard is down so I'd appreciate it if you made yourself known, stranger," Rengoku said, still weary of whoever that voice was.
"Sorry, I should've made myself known before speaking. My apologies as I mean you no harm."
The sun above him slowly changed shape and drifted closer and closer to the ground. The figure shifted into a figure resembling a female human while retaining the shining embrace of the sun it originally was.
"I've been waiting for you, Rengoku-san. My name is Agni and I am what you may call a spirit. The world you are currently in is known as the spirit world and is a place where any and all spirits come when they have departed from the physical world."
The frown on Rengoku's face made itself known as he attempted to quickly process the words that Agni was telling him.
Rengoku had long believed in things such as the spirit world and spirits themselves thanks to the teachings of his mother and the fact that he had been fighting literal demons for as long as he could remember. The fact that he was here, talking to one wasn't the issue, it's the other part the spirit mentioned.
"Ugh, it hurts…" he thought while gripping his chest. "Something's not right here."
"You are a very perceptive man, Rengoku-san. What is the last thing you remember before coming here?"Agni asked. The spirit's face and tone turned somewhat serious as Rengoku pondered her question in his mind.
"The last thing...what was I doing before I got here?" Racking his brain in an attempt to find an answer, flashes of a man with pink hair and two other swordsmen rushed into his head.
"I was...fighting that man. Akaza was the name he gave me as a sign of mutual respect for our clash." Frowning, other details slowly crept into his head. Demons, demon slayers and his family broke through his head and more memories made themselves known. "I was assigned to protect everyone that night and to eliminate that upper moon demon before he could harm anyone else…"
"And then…"
"And then…"
His eyes widened when he realized the answer to his question was staring him in the face. If the spirit world was a place where things come after they've departed the physical realm and he's currently standing here talking to this spirit then that would mean he'd found his answer.
"I died protecting everyone on that train." Touching his chest again, he could feel a hole like scar sitting in the middle of his chest, "I was impaled during my fight with Akaza and my time as a Hashira came to an end." Smiling to himself, Rengoku remembered the last conversation he had with Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu and knew everything would be ok.
Agni had seen many things during her lifetime as the flame spirit the avatar world needed, but never in her day has she seen a man start smiling once they realize they've died and can never go back to the way things were.
"It didn't take you long to figure this out. How come you aren't more upset or bothered by the fact that you were killed in battle? Normally one would have conflicting feelings about how their life ended, but instead your smile feels warm without any hidden feelings behind it."
"Make no mistake about this, I'm not happy that I died. Not in the slightest, but I entrusted my will of fire to the generation after me once my job was completed. If our battle against the train demon was any indication of their potential, I'm sure they'll blow past my expectations and surpass me in a heartbeat!" he boomed to Agni.
Making eye contact with her, his entire demeanor beamed with sincerity and she could tell he was very different from what she had originally. "What a strange person you are, Rengoku-san," she said.
"Ah, I've been told my personality can be a bit boisterous," he replied back.
"That may be the understatement of the century," Agni chuckled.
The air between the two seemed to grow warmer almost instantly as the aura Rengoku was currently giving off was currently hard to put into words, even for a spirit like her.
Turning away from him and floating towards an empty flower bed, Agni stopped in place and turned back to him knowing the things she was about to ask of him might be completely unfair. "Rengoku-san, why do you think I've summoned you here today?"
"I have no idea. It must be important if such a powerful spirit summoned someone as lowly as I," he answered. Truthfully this was the one answer that he couldn't find any sort of meaningful answer to other than, this spirit needs help. And what kind of flame hashira would he be if he didn't hear out what this person had to say?
"Humble as well as intuitive. I may have struck gold with this one," she thought to herself.
"You aren't entirely wrong, however I would definitely disagree with calling yourself lowly. Your willpower and tenacity is what I'm banking on helping turn the tide in the wretched history of terror the fire nation has plagued upon the bending world."
"Um, I must have missed something, because I have no idea what any of what you said meant. The fire nation? Bending world? Would you mind explaining what you meant by this?" he said.
Slapping her forehead, Agni had completely glossed over the fact that Rengoku wasn't from this world and instead was from another. Concepts such as the fire nation and bending would probably be a foreign concept to him as he's probably never even heard of them before now.
"Again, my apologies, Rengoku-san. I should've explained a few things before we continue any further." Expression turning serious once again, "For starters this world we are in currently, spirit world aside, is entirely different from the world you originally inhabited. This world has what we call benders and similar to how you mimic fire with your breathing techniques and blade, they can directly manipulate the elements of earth, air, water and fire to their whim."
"Each element is divided into nations covering the world and for centuries there was harmony. Peace is an unachievable concept, but harmony between the four elements is always key to keeping the balance of the spirit world and the physical world. Things continued down this steady path until the fire nation decided that they knew what was best for the rest of the world and began their reign of tyranny that has lasted an entire century."
"Have I lost you at any point? I know this is much to take in all at once, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to stop me and ask."
"No, no I get the overall gist of what you've said even if I will need heavy details about this fire nation you speak of. For now though please continue with your run down of things," he replied back.
"Well if you insist. When the fire nation attacked the rest of the world, they were ruthless and left many burned to ash in their wake. The greed and hatred of the fire nation got to the point that at the start of their reign they decided to completely erase an entire people from existence."
Rengoku almost choked hearing this. "What do you mean "erase"? That shouldn't be possible!"
Shaking her head, that signaled to him that the words that were coming from her mouth were true. "I'm afraid so. The Air nomads were a group of airbenders who lived in the mountains away from conflict between the other three nations and what happened to them remains the greatest atrocity I've ever bore witness to. In this world there is one sole individual who holds the balance between the two realms on his or her shoulders and that person is called the Avatar."
"The Avatar is one who can manipulate all four elements and is reincarnated into a cycle starting from fire, air, water and earth. Each person varies in personality and goals, but the one thing each has in common is a goal of preserving the peace between the four nations. When it was the air nomad's turn to be blessed with the spirit of the avatar and the fire nation sensing the avatar would be the only person in the world who could stop them once he became of age and strong enough, they decided to completely eradicate their people as a presumptive strike to avoid this."
"How awful," Rengoku muttered. Even while serving under the demon slayer corp, he'd never heard of a genocide of an entire group of people just because they were fearful of what they would become.
"Their hatred would continue to fester and once they had successfully eliminated the air nomads, the power balance shifted in their favor and has been like that ever since. Recently they've been hunting down waterbenders in smaller tribes located south and the numbers have dwindled at an alarming and outright depressing rate."
Reaching down and setting her finger tip on the flower bed, Rengoku noticed how even though she was the only light this world possessed and should be incredibly hot to the touch, the flowers weren't catching on fire.
"Fire itself is dangerous when being wielded incorrectly like it has been for the past hundred years," Picking up a single flower in her grasp and handing it to Rengoku, "What do you believe fire is, Rengoku-san?"
"Fire is...I guess if I had to describe it from my own experiences, it's something more akin to constant movement and growth. If you aren't careful, it can harm not only you but others around you as well so whenever I use my technique around civilians, I'm always careful to contain it and harness it into something useful."
Agni could see his eyes light up once again recalling how fire is supposed to make one feel. It's something she hasn't seen in ages and she had no intention of stopping this young man from spilling his heart to her.
"My family developed flame breathing which is derived from sun breathing. The basis for all breaths originate from the blazing sun itself so the untapped potential of a small flame to develop into something great and hopeful is incredibly high. The inverse is also true as it can develop far too quickly and in the wrong hands can bring death and devastation anywhere it spreads…"
"But!"
"That's why people like me are needed. I use my flames for justice and to shield people from any harm that may attempt to befall them," Placing a fist over his chest, his body felt extremely hot yet felt like he had to continue on with his speech, "I've always used my flames to burn away demons or turned any ally of destruction to cinder should they pose a big enough threat to innocent lives. From what I've heard, all these fire nation demons have accomplished is seeding more hate, more death and more misery since they started down this dark path."
"Unacceptable!"
"Flames themselves should never be used in the manner you have been informing me about. Anyone who abuses flames for their own twisted desires are no better than the demons I fought," he finished.
Agni continued to smile listening to Rengoku's speech about what fire means to him and she knew she made the correct choice in bringing his soul over to this world. "Rengoku-san, if you were from this world, how would you go about bringing change? People's perception of fire has been tarnished thanks to the tyranny of the fire nation over the past 100 years," Agni asked.
"For starters, these fire nation monsters have got to be dealt with. From everything I've heard from you, the world can never know true peace again until they are subdued and their wicked hearts burned to ashes. I've always been confident in my abilities as the Flame Hashira, so it would be no problem finding whoever was in charge and eliminating them should they refuse to stand down."
Rengoku noticed that Agni seemed to be contemplating something as her expression became unreadable even for someone as perceptive as him. "Actually, there's a reason why you are currently here with me instead of joining your other fallen comrades."
"What do you mean, Agni-san?"
"As you know the world I'm from is in constant turmoil thanks to the firelord, the one who rules and runs the fire nation, and the fire nation itself. Lives ruined, civilizations and people destroyed and things people hold near and dear continue to be trampled upon without a single thought."
"Rengoku-san, I'm asking…", Placing both feet on the ground and getting into a kneeling position with her head on the ground as if to beg for something, Agni decided the very least someone of this man's calibre deserved was genuine respect as he'd blown her expectations without even really trying, "No, I'm begging you, please save my people from this dark path they've set themselves on."
"After the elimination of the air nomads, I've had to watch as countless atrocities continued to be orchestrated and acted out without care for anyone other than themselves. It's been so long since I've seen someone who possessed the same flame as an Avatar while not actually being one themselves. You..I truly believe you can be the one who stands alongside the Avatar and help bring peace to this land," she finished.
Agni was a spirit bowing down to a mere human and for some reason, she saw nothing wrong with that. She'd sat back and watched for a century as everything crumbled around her, so if this man could shine a warming beacon of light that she herself couldn't do then who was she to be so prideful as to not ask for this man's entire support.
Taking a knee while placing a hand on her shoulder, Rengoku gave her another warm smile. "Raise your head. There is no need for any of this, Agni-san. You brought me here for a reason and I doubt someone of your calibre would be doing any of this if you didn't believe I could help you in some way, am I correct?"
"If you really believe that I can help the people of this world, then who am I to deny you your dream?"
Agni could barely believe what she was hearing. "This man is truly something else…it's like his aura isn't that of a human at all. No, it's more akin to a spirit similar to me," she wondered.
"Rengoku-san, while I'm happy you will oblige me in my foolish quest to save my people before it's too late, I want you to understand what this truly entails. Once I transport you into this world, you won't be able to leave again. That means until you complete your goal or die, you won't be able to see your comrades again in the afterlife. This also includes your mother who I know has been on your mind throughout our entire talk," Agni said.
"Mother…", His mind raced around with thoughts of her blissful smile and kind aura that set his entire soul at ease and because of this his heart momentarily wavered. This world surely needs his help as a spirit such as Agni herself summoned him thinking he could restore the true meaning of fire back into this world. On the other hand, he wanted above all else to see his mother's smile once again. As a Flame Hashira, Rengoku understood he had a duty above all else to keep people safe and protect the value and very nature of good against the antithesis of that which was evil.
Could he really just sit this one out and finally be selfish once in his life. He gave well over 100% in his fight with Akaza, so maybe, just maybe he's earned some well deserved rest. After all, his time as a Hashira ended with his last dying breath in his previous world. Maybe things would be ok if he just-
*SMACK*
Agni was left extremely confused as out of nowhere, Rengoku smacked both sides of his face seemingly snapping himself out of whatever deep thought he was in.
"Of course not!" he exclaimed. "Sorry about that, when you mentioned my mother my thoughts and heart wavered ever so slightly so I had to remind myself of what I'm supposed to be doing. A Hashira is supposed to be a pillar of strength, no matter what. Even if I'm in a foreign land and have no idea what's right or wrong, I'll carve out a path for myself and others with this flame of mine."
"Yet again, you go above and beyond my expectations, Rengoku-san," she chucked again. Standing up and meeting Rengoku eye to eye, she decided to fully inform him of a few key figures he would need to find and interact with during his journey if he wanted to change this world for the better.
"Don't worry, Katara. I'll be fine," Hakoda stated. For the past hour he'd been attempting to say goodbye to his kids and prepare for the long journey this war would inevitably take him on.
"Why do you have to go? Why can't you stay here with us? With me?" she muttered, trying to wipe all the tears from her eyes. She knew for weeks that her father and his crew were readying up to set sail again due to the war, but even knowing this, tried her hardest to convince him not to leave to no avail.
"Katara, I know you don't want me to go, but I have to do this," he replied. Kneeling down to her level, he wiped the tears from her face, "You understand why I'm leaving right? I'm making an extremely difficult decision in leaving you all unprotected, but we don't really have a choice as of now."
"Until this war is over, we must continue to adapt and endure and that's what we water folk have always excelled in." Smiling at her, he looked over at Sokka who tried to put on the bravest face he possibly could've even if Hakoda could see the tears forming in his eyes.
Placing his free hand on Sokka's shoulder, "Sokka, while I'm gone you and the other boys...no you men are in charge of things while we are away. That means making sure everyone is fed, clothes and protected among other things. Can you do that for me son?"
"You can count on me dad!" he replied.
"That's my boy," Pulling both his son and daughter into a tight embrace, he soberly reminisced on the little functional time he had with them after Kya's death. He hated leaving them when they were still so vulnerable mentally, but with how the war was going, he felt he had no choice other than to fight if he wanted his home to remain in one piece.
Attempting to prolong the hug as much as humanly possible, he saw his best friend in Bato start walking up to him, clearly touched with what he was seeing. "Take as much time as you need, old friend. We won't be leaving until you are good and ready so hug away you big softy."
"I'm not soft. There is just something in my eye," Hakoda stated. Bato always could spot when he was beginning to tear up even when he tried his hardest to hide it. The teasing he suffered from their childhood because of it wasn't fun by the way if he might add.
Standing up off the ground and looking his children in the eye one last time, he looked back at Bato with determination covering his face again, "I'm..I'm good, the sooner we set sail the better. Katara, Sokka I will keep the both of you on my mind throughout the entire trip and I pray for the spirits to watch over you until I return. No matter what happens next, always remember that above all else, I will always love you."
Nodding their heads and deepening the hug one last time before letting go, Hakoda and Bato made their way over to the Akhlut which is the ship hosting their very long journey into the sea and began to board it when something caught their eye.
"What the-" Hakoda started.
A glowing bright light cut through the sky like it was born from the heavens itself making it almost hard to see what it was even supposed to be. The entire village looked up at the sky with many conflicting emotions running through them. Some were in awe with how beautiful it looked. Some were confused at why something like this showed up out of nowhere near the tundra that was beside their village. The thoughts on the Akhlut however were almost one and the same.
"Fire Nation," Bato answered seemingly for everyone. Fear rippled through the boat realizing that they'd been figured out and now had to deal with another ambush. Hopefully they were more prepared than last time. Hakoda would never forgive himself if something happened to his children due to his inability to protect them.
"Everyone change of plans, ready for battle and follow me," Hakoda barked. "We don't know what type of enemy we're dealing with so assume they are fire nation and are out to ambush us again. We will hit them harder and faster than they can hit us in order to keep our village safe. Are we clear!"
"Yes, sir!" his men replied.
Gearing up with extreme quickness and grabbing any and all weapons available, Hakoda and his men rushed off the boat and started their trek into the frozen tundra that hosted that huge flash of light a moment ago.
"Koda what do you think that was?" Bato asked.
"A signal flare maybe. It didn't look like one I've ever seen. It might be another new toy their military has cooked up as part of their war efforts," Hakoda answered.
"Oh joy, more toys for those monsters to play with," Bato groaned.
Picking up the pace even more, they noticed the light disappear above them in a flash and the only thing left in its wake was a figure laying on the ground.
"Where did the light go?" a soldier asked, nervously. Everyone continued to check their surroundings as fear of this being an ambush was extremely high.
"It just vanished," another said.
"Bato, can you see what that is ahead of us? You have the best eye sight out of all of us so try and make sure that's not a trap of some kind," Hakoda ordered.
"Sure thing," Focusing his eyes on the figure laying on the ground ahead, his eyes widened when he realized it wasn't a trap or toy as he'd originally thought. "Koda...I think...it's a person."
"What!" Hakoda exclaimed.
Everyone froze as the implications of a person laying on the ground unmoving signaled one of two things, either one they managed to capture someone from the village and decided to string them along on a wild goose chase hoping to tear them away from the village or two this was a trap and the person on the ground wasn't really dead and the moment they got near, he'd attack and most likely burn them.
"What does he look like? Do you think this is a trap?" Signaling for his archers to raise their bows, he motioned for them to aim in case his friend's judgement determined that this was indeed an ambush of some sort.
"He doesn't look like a water tribe member, Koda," Bato replied. "Hell his hair is golden with red tips. Have you known any fire nation members to have hair like that?"
"No, not at all," Hakoda said.
"Is it safe to approach him? Do you see the fire nation anywhere near us? We have to be absolutely sure this isn't a trap, Bato."
Nodding to his leader, Hakoda signaled for the men behind him to lower their weapons. Motioning forward while keeping their guard up somewhat, they reached the location where the strange man was laying.
"He's naked?" Hakoda gawked. The man layed out in front of them was wearing absolutely nothing at all other than being slightly covered by a modified looking haori with a flame motif that didn't help convince anyone that this wasn't some fire nation ambush.
"It seems so. I don't even know what to make of this," Bato answered, equally confused as to what they were looking at.
"What I can be sure of, is that this isn't an ambush. The timing of it feels wrong compared to how they normally operate and leaving one of their own out here naked and alone is still literal suicide," Bato added.
"What do you wanna do now, Koda? He looks somewhat fire nation even with his...unique looking hair. And you know the village won't take kindly to an outsider who looks like him if we bring him back."
"You're not suggesting we just leave him here? I don't trust him either, Bato, but if we left him out here to freeze to death, we'd be no better than the enemy!" Hakoda snapped.
"Calm down, Koda, my mistake. I'm just saying, stay cautious around him, that's all."
"We aren't leaving him and that's final. I want one of you to wrap him in as much cloth as you can until we can make it back to the village. If he's injured then we'll treat his wounds and see what information he has and how he even got out here to begin with."
Signaling for his men to begin, they started moving the haori covering his body and froze when they noticed a huge crater-like scar covering his chest. It looked like someone had attempted to impale his chest with something small and compact.
"Tui La, what the hell is that on his chest?" Hakoda asked.
"It looks like an old scar, sir," a soldier answered. Touching his chest, it didn't feel fresh or still healing so he could assume that it wasn't in danger of getting infected.
"When we get him back to the village, have the healer look into that first and foremost. I've got the feeling this man will have quite the story to tell us when he wakes up," Bato interrupted.
Finishing wrapping the strange man up and hoisting him over their shoulders, they started back to the village still uneasy not only about having to prolong their journey to help out with the war, but whoever this strange man was or how he ended up naked in the frozen tundra.
"Things can never be simple for us water tribe folk, huh Koda?" Bato wondered.
"They almost never are," he groaned, continuing the trek back to the village they were supposed to leave behind.