Chapter 2
Author Note: Hey, this is kind of my first time doing one of these. You know…on the second chapter of my tenth story…
Moving on, I have plans for how this story is to go, and I plan for it to be long. Right now I'm writing at what I feel is a decent place, so I'll just post whenever I finish a new chapter. Unless I can't be bothered, in which case I will post in batches, kind of like I am today.
Anyway, that's all for now.
…
"So, who is this guy again?" Sokka asked with confusion, looking back from his spot on Appa's head at Feng who was sitting in the saddle alongside Katara and an Aang who would not stop hugging him. Luckily for the younger boy however, Feng, in an effort to connect with his bending style, had always been fairly easy going, and didn't seem to mind the physical contact.
Now, the reason Sokka was asking this now was that up until this point, the group had been busy gathering whatever supplies they could manage whilst avoiding fire-nation soldiers, the entire group pilling onto Appa before they took off as they moved across the Earth Kingdom's land.
Currently, they were flying over an enormous forest.
"Didn't I already tell you?" Aang said in confusion, looking between the water tribe siblings with a puzzled frown.
"No, Aang, you didn't." Katara smiled gently, shooting Feng with a curious expression along with a raised eyebrow.
Taking his cue, Feng cleared his throat, sitting forward as he made sure to project his voice so that Sokka could hear as well.
"What I believe…Aang," Aang grinned brightly at the usage of his name, something Feng had only done on the boys instance, "had meant to say is that we may have gotten a little side-tracked in the commotion escaping Omashu, so it must of slipped his mind, but as for my name, I am called Weifeng, but please call be Feng, as it is my preferred nickname."
"You got it Feng." Aang said cheerfully, making him shrug.
"As for who I am…I have been in search of someone like Aang for a long time."
"Yeah, as has everybody else." Sokka scoffed, not even looking back while Katara smiled in apology for her brother.
Feng didn't take offence to it however.
"Ah, but that's were you are mistaken, my pony-tailed companion." Feng said, ignoring the "Hey!" he got in reply. "I have not been searching for Aang because he is the Avatar, I have been searching for him because he is an Airbending Master."
Aang preened a little under the praise while Katara tilted her head.
"But why would you be in search of an Airbending Master."
Aang was no longer able to contain himself, bouncing up and down on the spot as he was.
"That because Feng is an airbender as well! Just like me." Aang's eye's shined. "I'm not the only one anymore!"
""You're an airbender?!"" The two siblings yelled, both of them staring at Feng in shock and incredulity.
"Yes, yes I am." Feng smiled slightly, holding out a hand to create a small stream of moving air in it as proof.
"That's…that's fantastic!" Katara yelled, her smile blindingly large at the news. "Aang, you were right, you're not the last one."
"I know." Aang smiled, a few tears beading in the corner of his eyes. "I was as shocked to hear as you, but I'm so glad I did."
Aang reached out, tugging on Feng's arm to embrace him in a hug again as the boy in question just sighed, going along with it. While he wasn't as touchy feely as Aang clearly was, he was just as happy to meet a fellow airbender as Aang was.
"But how? I thought that the fire nation ki-dealt with all of the Air Benders 100 years ago." Sokka frowned, only changing his choice of language under the glare he received from his sister, both Aang and Feng frowning at the sentence.
"They…did." Feng said sombrely, his eye's glazing over as did Aang's, Katara continuing to shoot her brother a glare.
"I'm sorry about him," Katara frowned, "he doesn't really think before he speaks."
"No…he does not, but Aang here of anyone deserves to know." Feng said softly, shifting slightly so he could look at Aang. "I'm sorry to say that the fire-nation really did manage to kill all of the Air Nomads. Between the aggressive nature of the Fire nation and how distinguishable they were, even the ones that managed to escape the initial assaults were found."
A dark look appeared on Aang's face, and while Feng wished otherwise, he knew he couldn't make it better. He had known this basically his whole life and he still didn't like thinking about it.
"But some did manage to last longer than others, mainly those who were still learning Airbender, the ones who had not yet received their tattoos."
"Their tattoo's?" Aang said in question, touching a hand to one of his arrows.
Sokka was the first one to get it.
"They weren't able to hide the tattoo's, not permanently." Sokka frowned. "They go over all of Aang's body, even past where his hairline would be on his forehead. It would be a dead giveaway for any fire nation pursuers to look for."
"Yes." Fen frowned, thinking about the hardship and pain his fellow benders would have gone through. "But those who did not have the tattoos? If they let their hair grow and don't airbend, with no distinguishing marks they could just blend in with the earth kingdom populace. My grandfather on my mother's side was like that, an airbending acolyte who managed to escape the massacre and live secretly in the earth kingdom."
Seeing that Aang was still sad, Katara chose to continue speaking as a thought crossed her mind. "Your grandfather, do you remember his name?"
"Yes." Feng nodded; it was a name that would be forever engraved in his memory. "His name was Yagi."
Aang shot up, recognition flaring in his eyes. "Yagi?! Can you tell me some details about him?"
"Well, he was very tall and fairly slender, and he had grey eyes just like mine. I don't remember what his hair colour looked like though, it had long since turned white in my earliest memory of the man."
Even with such a sparse description, it was enough for Aang who was back to smiling widely, if a little bitterly. Feng noted in the corner of his mind that Aang liked to pretend everything was fine, even when it wasn't.
"I know him! He was one of my friends at the Southern Air Temple. Is he still alive?" Aang asked with a hint of desperation, staring Feng in the eye.
"I'm afraid not." Feng sighed, shaking his head as Aang wilted. "He died just after I turned 8 at the grand old age of 104, much longer than he had expected to make it to. He was the one who helped me with the basics of airbending, but he was able to do little more than pass on the very basics due to his bodies state of disrepair."
"Oh…okay, at least he was happy." Aang tried to comfort himself by saying, earning a nod from Feng. "He was, Aang, he was. He lived a long, happy life, enjoying it with his family."
An awkward silence dawned over the gang, a sombre mood overtaking them all.
A couple minutes of this passed before Katara gave up, wanting to distract them.
"You said you had been looking for Aang because he's a master airbender, right? Does that mean you want to learn under him?"
"I do." Feng nodded with a smile, turning his gaze to Aang for a response.
"Teach you?" Aang blinked as a smile broke out on his face. "I'd love to teach you how to be an airbender! I can teach all the little tricks I invented, like the air scooter, and my marble trick and everything else! Although it will be a little awkward to teach someone older than myself."
Feng could see how that might have been a concern. "Ah, but your actually 112, which makes you the elder one. I must say, the years have been kind to you, not a wrinkle in sight."
"Heh, yeah, they have." Aang smiled, just a touch awkwardly which made Feng sigh in his heart. Apparently, his social skills were a bit lacking after so long of minimal interaction.
"So…if I'm going to teach you, the first thing I need to know is what you do know." Aang smiled as he changed the subject, his smile more genuine now as was Feng's and Katara's.
Before Feng could reply however, Sokka's asinine voice butted in.
"Now hang on just a second Aang. Do you really think you should be taking on a student right now? We're on a bit of a time crunch and you still have two elements you need to learn and a third you have to master, or has Aang somehow managed to master water bending in the past few minutes Katara?"
Katara shook her head slowly as Feng frowned, glaring slightly at the back of Sokka's head.
"Well…that is a valid opinion." Aang admitted grudgingly as Feng glared harder. Luckily for Sokka however before Feng could muster up the effort to send a blast of air to push him overboard, Katara intervened.
"But what if he only teaches Feng when he's otherwise not doing anything? We're still looking for an earth bending teacher and we can't exactly practice water bending while flying on Appa, but there's still plenty of air around." Katara said, gesturing around them. "It wouldn't take any extra time at all, and Feng could practice by himself while Aang learns his other bending styles."
Okay, Feng was no longer going to send Sokka flying, at least for his sister's sake, but he would still do something in revenge. Something annoying. Katara on the other hand…well she just might find something good under her pillow.
"Yeah, that's right!" Aang cheered, waving his arms excitably. "On Appa's back is a perfect environment to learn Airbending, we're in the air, and like Katara said, I can't water bend up here, so what's the harm?" he asked Sokka.
The boy frowned in thought but couldn't find anything against the idea, so he nodded. Sokka didn't actually want to deny Feng his chance to learn, but sometime sacrifices had to be made for the bigger picture, a fact that the others hadn't seemed to learn just yet.
"Yeah, that'd be fine. Sorry for being so hard on you man." Sokka apologised to Feng, at least slightly aware that his words would have offended him.
Feng just sighed, nodding as he lowered his planned revenge to petty. Sokka was right about the time crunch, and Aang was the Avatar. As much as he wished it wasn't, Aang's duties were far more important than his studies.
"Right, back to what I said earlier, what do you know?"
"Hmm…" Feng muttered, tapping his chin in thought. "…well, I was introduced to the very basics by my grandfather. Things like breathing exercises, temperature control and how to flow through the attacks of others, but that was all I managed to learn before he died. After that, I had to learn from this scroll he had kept all those years, and, well…"
"A scroll is nothing compared to a proper teacher." Katara finished with a sly grin.
"Yeah." Feng sighed in agreement. "It doesn't help that some of the writing was damaged due to age, so a few of the later abilities I have nothing on."
"A scroll…" Aang muttered, tapping his chin before snapping his finger. "A-hah! It must have been one of the intermediate summary scrolls, ones given out for refreshers."
Feng just shrugged, having no way of knowing either way.
"Was the first three abilities mentioned the air cushion, air blasts and the wind run?"
"Mm-hmm." Feng nodded as Aang grinned, lacing his fingers together behind his head.
"Yeah, I know just what scroll you are talking about. What other things were on it that you know?"
Let's see Feng thought. "The air ball, the air punch, the air shield and the gale slice. Also mentioned were the air bomb and breath of wind, but those entries were too damaged to make any progress in."
"Okay," Aang grinned, pleased with what he had heard, "I'll have to go through them one by one to see how good you are at them, but for now that seems fine. Is their anything else you know? Self-invented technique or something?"
Here was where Feng would have to be more careful about what he said.
"Well, there are a number of small things that I suspect that every airbender knows but doesn't really focus on like repelling rain, but there are a few things I've developed over the years. Firstly is a dense ball of air located around my head. I can use it to stay under water for a decently long time, about 15 minutes or so."
"Yeah, I know that one." Aang revealed, still grinning at the novel situation of teaching another airbender.
"The only other thing I'm aware of, more through a consequence of practicing inside to hide my abilities, is that it's possible to suck the air out of a room with enough concentration."
"Suck the air out?" Aang frowned, tilting his head out in a puzzled fashion.
"Yeah." Feng nodded. "I may have learned about it by accident, but it can be used to make wet clothes dry really fast for some reason, but I haven't really learned anything else that I can do with it. Aside from that though, I do have one other thing I know, but it's more of a tool really." Feng revealed, reaching to his sides to grab hold of his fans, holding them out.
"War fans!" Sokka cheered, instantly recognising them. Say what you will, steering Appa could get boring, so he may have been paying closer attention to the talk than he should have.
"Yes, they are war fans." Feng confirmed, giving the boy an odd look. "How did you know that? In all my travels no one has ever correctly named them, just assuming they were regular fans."
"Well," Sokka shrugged, a bashful grin on his face "a while back we stopped by Kyoshi island, home of the Kyoshi Warriors. They exclusively use war fans to protect their island."
"I know." Feng said. "It's where I learned how to use mine."
"What, no way?! Me too." Sokka grinned at the shared experience, something that amused the other two judging by the amused glances they'd exchanged as Feng turned back to his teacher.
"Now, you probably know this Aang, but I can use my fans to enhance the strength of my bending, or at least I can for less precise applications. I still haven't managed to figure out how to create a gale slice using them."
"Mm, I can see why." Aang nodded with a grin. "Learning how to cut with tools was one of the last things I learned before I'd mastered Airbending. It is good that you know how to use them though, as combined with the other skills you mentioned you seem to have a pretty good foundation to work with."
The boy got to his feet, standing comfortably in the breeze as he did, moving to the centre of the saddle.
"Alright, now for some practical testing." Aang grinned, motioning for Feng to move to his feet. With only a slight frown he did so, hesitantly standing with slightly crouched legs, taking a few unsteady steps towards Aang, looking downright clumsy in comparison.
Amused, Katara moved to where Feng had originally been seated against the saddle bags, staying out of their way as she settled in to watch the show.
Once Feng was in position, Aang gave the elder boy's form a look over, paying particular attention to what motions he was making.
"Well, I can already see a few things we can work on. As it is, you're stance is a little off of what it should be."
"What do you mean." Feng frowned, looking down at his legs. "I'm standing directly in the pose from the scroll." He would know, he had practiced a lot by water.
"You are." Aang confirmed, taking the same position, but instead of standing there Aang made slight movements, going with the flow of the breeze instead of pushing against it. "But you are not ment to stay stationary in your pose. Airbending is all about the freedom of movement, at sidestepping you problems and working around them. What you doing right now is a good stance, poised for movement, but you aren't moving. You're stationary, your frame pushing against the wind."
Feng felt his frown easing as he took in the boys words. That…made a lot of sense in his mind actually, and without hesitation Feng tried to take the same approach Aang did, not tensing his muscles as much as before, allowing himself to be pushed around slightly by the breeze, swaying with it.
"Yes! Just like that!" Aang grinned, putting his hands on his hips. "I might just be better at this teaching thing than I thought."
The caused Feng to crack a smile, already finding the benefit of a teacher. Sure, it was a little disheartening to know he'd been doing it wrong for so long with how much effort he had put in to his training, but there was nothing he could do about it, so there was no point in getting angry over it.
Silently, Feng closed his eyes, just feeling the air move over his body as his cloak flapped in the wind, feeling the subtle flow of air moving back and fourth around him. Sure, it was primarily in one direction, they were flying after all, but the resistance of his body forced some of the air to wrap around his body, almost hugging him.
"Good." Aang voiced sounded into his ear, sounding like he was smiling. "Try to be even looser, you're still a bit stiff. Remember, you want to be the leaf, flowing where the wind takes you."
Flow were the wind takes you, huh? Alright, Feng could do that. Without a hint of hesitation, followed through, loosening all of the tension in his body, his movement becoming even more erratic as it did, even forcing him to take small steps around the saddles area.
Unfortunately, as caught up as he was in his attempt, the sudden presence of a large gust of air was enough to send Feng flying, his body being too loose to resist, so with nary a sound he was sent flying off of Appa's back.
"Hmm, that's a bit much wind." Feng muttered, opening his eyes to reveal the forest below him, and not the saddle like he had been expecting. Looking around him, Feng spotted the form of Appa who was already being forced to turn, the frantic expressions of Aang and Katara looking down on him as they yelled.
Still, while some might panic in such a situation, Feng was an airbender.
Thus, instead of panicking, he just grabbed the sewn in handholds by his side and held out his cloak, beginning to glide in place above the treetops. Now stable once more, Feng kicked his feet out creating blasts of air out of them to send him shooting forward, angling himself upwards to gain height.
Once he was high enough, he directed himself in the direction of Appa, sending one final blast of air to speed himself upwards as he glided towards them, slowing down slightly at the end as he released his handholds, letting his cloak lose its structure as he landed in the saddle once more.
"Nice of you to join us again." Sokka sarcastically drawled, making Feng shrug.
"Felt like a flight, you know how it is."
He didn't, but the thought of Sokka trying to fly did send a burst of amusement through Feng's mind as he refocused on the other two teens in the saddle.
"Well…it's good to see that you can fly, but you might have gone a bit too loose there." Aang grinned, no longer worried now that Feng was back and unharmed.
"You think?!" Katara cried, throwing her arms up. "You gave us quite the fright there Feng!"
"And I am sorry about that," Feng admitted calmly with a smile, "but you have to remember that, like Aang, I am an airbender…and what can airbenders do?"
"They can fly." Katara sighed, losing some of the tension in her body.
"Exactly." Feng nodded, agreeing with here before he turned back to Aang.
"So…want to try that again?"
To his credit, Aang did give the though some consideration, but he obviously decided otherwise judging by the shake of his head.
"No, maybe later." Aang slyly glanced at Katara, seeing how she was still agitated. "Although I like what you did with your cloak. It's about the same think I can do with my staff with the wings out, if not quite as well."
"Mm." Feng nodded, raising out a finger to interject. "But unlike yours, my cloak will never be seen as anything other than a cloak, and thus nothing to be suspicious of. Your staff on the other hand, well any close inspection will reveal what it is."
"Maybe." Aang replied, shaking his head as he refocused himself. "Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot we can do until we find a place to rest. While some airbending can be done on Appa, we need to be on land for me to properly assess your progress without the breeze interfering." The boy shrugged apologetically in a what can you do fashion, which was fair enough.
"But while I can't assess you, that doesn't mean you can't show me what you can do with those fans of yours. I never actually learned how to use them when I was younger since I preferred my staff, as did basically everyone from the Southern Air Temple. I'd be interested to see what you can do with them."
Feng couldn't help but smile at the earnest expression Aang was sporting, staring up curiously at him, so it was to no-one's surprise that he withdrew them fans, holding one in each hand in view for Aang to see.
"As Sokka declared, these are called War Fan's, which are different than the standard fans you can find in most of the earth kingdom. The biggest difference is in the materials used to make them, primarily in that war fans are made out of stronger materials."
"Like the Kyoshi warriors who have metal fans." Sokka interrupted, making Feng turn his head and nod.
"Correct, the Kyoshi Warriors use metal fans, but as you can probably tell," Feng gestured at his fans, "mine are not visibly made of metal, which is what I want you to think. As much as I enjoyed the metal fans of Kyoshi Island, they are fairly recognisable in the rest of the earth kingdom, which considering I wanted to maintain a low profile, isn't really helpful for me."
Aang, Katara and Sokka nodded, all of them sitting and looking at Feng vigilantly.
"But metal fans are the most durable, which is why I decided to go with a compromise." Feng revealed, snapping his fans open, revealing the bright red material to all as Aang made an appreciate sound. "Excluding the outer ones, all of the inner ribs are made of metal, and the fabric, while beautiful, is made of a tear resistant material. The outer ribs on the other hand, actually have metal on the inside are just covered in a thin layer of hardwood. Together, this makes for a durable fan that at first glance looks no different than any other, exactly how I like them."
"That's clever." Sokka admitted as he looked at the fans appreciatively, his thoughts going onto the avenue of hidden weaponry.
"I thought so." Feng confirmed before grinning crossing his arms in front of his body. "But as I said, these fans are meant for more than just looking good. They are for enhancing my bending."
Under the gang's watchful eyes, Feng throw his arms outwards, taking advantage of his large arm span to create a large gust of air, two streams going out from either side of his body in a way that caused Appa to experience a bit of turbulence.
"Woah!" Sokka yelled, grasping onto the reins tighter as he shook slightly. "Be careful!"
"No, do it again!" Aang suggested instead, grinning widely at the display. Feng felt more inclined to go with his teachers request, so leaning forward, Feng swung his arms behind him, bringing the fans close together as a single, larger stream of air was sent behind him, providing a small boost to the flying bison.
Smiling, Feng brought his arms back as he snapped the fans shut, holstering them again in a smooth motion before sitting down again, back in his original position against the supply packs.
"That was pretty good, Feng, especially considering you haven't practiced it a lot." Aang congratulated the teen, shuffling over to be closer to him.
"You can tell?" Feng asked curiously and with a hint of surprise. Aang was right, he hadn't practiced that often with them, he couldn't afford to, not when he was trying to keep his existence from the fire nation a secret.
Hell, the one he had just created had been one of the five biggest airblasts he had ever made.
"Yeah." Aang nodded with a smile. "While it was quite powerful, enough to propel a ship forward at a decent speed I think, the edges of your blast were a bit ragged, which is a clear sign you're not used to that kind of power in your bending. Don't worry though, we can work on that."
"I'd like that." Feng grinned, allowing his body to go limp as he enjoyed the breeze. This was the first time that he was flying under something not of his own power, and he found that it was far more enjoyable this way.
Sure, being able to fly personally was convenient, even if it was more gliding with some bursts of air, but that required focus and his chi which prevented him from loosing himself in the experience completely.
Right now though, he could feel the air rushing past from him, and he didn't have to do anything expect enjoy it, so he closed his eyes as the air rushed over him due to Aang's flying bison. The closest he'd ever come to experience this was when he would sit on the edge of a cliff that experienced a lot of wind, but even that was a step down compared to this.
It was…freeing, in a way that he'd never expected. For the first time in a long time, Feng felt some of the tension and darkness he bore lift of his shoulders, unlike the previous years which had only added to them. Forget learning under Aang to master airbending, just travelling around like this was worth the loss of anonymity.
Some time passed as Feng experienced a fugue-like state, but eventually, it was a change in motion of Appa that drew him out of it. Looking around curiously, Feng could see that they were still flying over a great forest, but unlike before, there was a fog covering much of it, giving the trees a more mysterious and sinister vibe.
Katara was diligently reading a scroll of some kind, maybe something to do with water bending judging by the symbol for water on the side, while Sokka was using a whetstone against the blade of his machete, having switched with Aang in the time Feng had been out of it.
This actually brought a frown to Feng's face as it was not like him to miss such obvious signs of movement nearby it had been one of the aspects about himself that had kept him alive all these years.
But after meeting these three people just earlier in the day, he had already zoned out among them. The freeing feeling of flying really was dangerous, Feng mused.
"Hey, you taking us down for a reason?" Sokka asked curiously, looking up from his blade to state at Aang who for some reason was staring at the swamp below. "Aang!"
"What? I didn't even notice." Aang replied with confusion, shaking his head a little.
"Are you noticing now?" Sokka drawled, gestured at the perilously close tree tops passing below them, much closer than they had been earlier.
"Is something wrong?" Katara piped out curiously, putting her scroll away as she moved closer to the head of the saddle, an action Feng reciprocated. Something was clearly wrong if both Aang and he were zoning out.
Yes, in the past Airbenders had been teased sometimes for being 'air-headed' as they were, but this was a point even beyond that. Looking down, the sudden fog, seemed even more suspicious to him now.
Aang replied to Katara, still sounding dazed. "I know this is going to sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me."
"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka asked somewhat pitifully as he held his stomach, only to receive a shake of the avatar's head.
"No, I…I think it wants us to land."
"Are you sure?" Feng asked, interrupting whatever it was Sokka was going to say as he closed his mouth.
Aang hesitated, an uncertain expression appearing on his face as Feng hummed, looking back down at the swamp below. "Do you think this could be…something Avatar related?"
Aang blinked as Katara tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Avatar is meant to keep the peace between the spirits and the people, right?"
"I believe so yes." Aang nodded, staring at Feng as he pondered, tapping a fingers on his knee.
"Can you see anywhere we can land, or if you can't, could you potentially ask the forest if it could open up a space for…Appa was it?"
Aang nodded.
"If you are feeling like this it could be important, and if the forest want's us to land so badly…what's to stop it from forcing the issue?"
Sokka fell backwards at Feng's statement, a fearful expression on his face.
"W-what do you mean by that, force the issue?"
"I mean what I said." Feng shrugged calmly, feeling none of the concern Sokka did. This would not be the first time he had interacted with a spirit, and if he was traveling with the Avatar, he doubted it would be the last.
"Guys…I think Feng's right. I don't know why, but I can't help but feel like this is important Aang admitted, an apologetic expression on his face.
"If that's how you feel, then I'll trust you Aang." Katara replied softly, gesturing two the two other boys. "We all will."
"Speak for yourself." Sokka grumbled, hefting his newly-sharpened blade to defend himself. "If this goes horrible wrong and we get eaten by some tree-spirit thing, I reserve the right to say I told you so."
"And we will let you." Katara sighed, nodding at Aang, as did Sokka and Feng, making Aang nod back.
"Alright, here goes then." Aang breathed out, taking a large breath in before he began to address the forest. "I know you want me to land, great forest! But I don't currently see a spot for Appa to get through. Would you be able to open a space for us?!"
Aang voice echoed through the dense air as four teens waited with bated breath for something to happen, listening until the last echo of Aang's bending-infused voice faded into the distance.
A few seconds after that, another voice broke the silence.
"Huh, I guess it was nothing." Sokka said, looking around calmly before shrugging. "Oh well, time to keep moving I guess."
Singing, Aang raised the reins held in his hands, ready to signal to his animal friend to climb before a sudden clamouring of noise filled the forest, a number of great tree's all creaking and groaning as they visibly began to move, the leaves rustling as they did, a clearing thrice the size of Appa appearing in the forest, a mound of land separating them from the swamp below.
Sokka closed his mouth with a clack, his face just a bit paler than it was before.
"Me and my big mouth."
This received a few glances from the others before Aang shrugged, directing Appa to land in the new space.
…
"Well, this doesn't seem so bad." Sokka had the gall to say, looking around the still lit clearing as they gang dismounted, standing on the slightly spongy earth below them.
"No…but it's still weird." Aang replied, looking around the darkened depth of the swamp for any sort of sigh. "Hello!? We're here! What do you want?!"
Slowly, the quiet sound of movement began to appear around them as bright green vines began to snake out from hidden depths, moving slowly as to not scare them.
"…well that's not creepy at all." Sokka sighed, looking up at the sky as if to ask why him.
Four of the vines reared upwards, pointing towards each of the teen's before the gestured to follow, curling their tips inwards.
"You want us to follow?" Aang said with only a hint of confusion, receiving what was almost a nod from the vine swaying in front of him.
"Aww, how cute!" Katara cried, smiling as she moved towards the vine next to her, touching it without fear. "It's like a plant version of a polar-bear dog!"
The vine slowly began to wrap around Katara's arm, fully enclosing it in it's grasp.
"Yeah, a much creepier version of a polar bear dog." Sokka critiqued, poking the vine in front of him with his blade, making it rear back slightly as if struck.
The other two vines took this as a chance to wrap around Feng's and Aang's arms, the pair of them easily allowing it. If Feng had to describe how it felt, the best he could describe it as was that…it felt like a vine.
Sorry, but that's literally how it was. If you don't know what a vine feels like…just imagine something that's mostly smooth with a hint of roughness, and you'll be pretty close. Of course, regular vines didn't tug on your arm as these ones did.
"It seems like it want's us to split up." Feng said, taking a step forward in the direction his vine was indicating.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Katara asked with concern, only now looking away from the vine she had been playing with. Her words seemed to act as a bit of a warning for the vines as Feng could feel his begin to tighten.
"No," Feng shrugged, beginning to walk as the pressure on his arm lightened again, "but what's life without a little risk?"
Without looking back, Feng walked into the tree's, trusting the forest spirit to not lead him astray. He had experience with both malicious spirits and beneficial spirits, having experienced them these past few years, so while the forest did have a gloomy feel to it, it still felt like it was only trying to help.
This left the other three members of the gang to exchange glanced, looking down at the vines wrapped around each of them. Tugging on her vine slightly, Katara sighed as she felt it tighten.
"You're just going to pull us along if we refuse, aren't you?" Katara sighed, making a section of the vine ahead of here move up and down as if to say yes. "Well, if I wanted to be safe, I would have stayed back home in the Southern Water Tribe, so I think I'll act like Feng a little a see where this goes."
And like that, Katara too walked through the mist, disappearing from view.
Sokka looked at Aang with concern as he too started walking.
"What?" Aang shrugged. "You heard the lady." And then he was gone, leaving just Sokka with an insistent vine tugging on his arm.
"Fine, fine." Sokka sighed, not letting go of his machete as in a situation like this, it would only be his friend. "I don't suppose you could lead me to some food on the way?"
…
Feng trudged along for what felt like about ten minutes, only narrowly avoiding getting his feet wet by leaping from tree to tree. Due to these acrobatics and the fact that Feng was cooperating, the vine had let go of Feng and was instead moving just in front of his view, showing him the path it wanted him to go.
Leaping off of one final tree root sticking out of the water, Feng wrapped his hands around a low-hanging branch, swinging forward and letting go as he flipped through the air, safely landing on another root as the vine finally stopped moving, instead going limp as it sunk into the water as Feng was left with only the obscuring presence of swamp gas as his companion.
"Alright…what was it you wanted to show me…" Feng muttered, keeping his eyes peeled as they darted back and forth.
Suddenly, movement in the corner of his vision appeared, making Feng snap his head to the right as he looked at what had set him off.
Crouching on top of another low hanging branch was a figure that caused Feng's breath to halt. It was an imposing looking finger, even the fact that it was crouching not taking away from it's imposing statue. Hell, it must be at least two-heads higher than him when it stood up and twice as wide.
That wasn't the most concerning part about it though. No, that was what the figure was wearing.
It was dressed in loose-fitting black clothing, so black that it seemed like it was sucking in the light. Light that it was using to make the red trim crisscrossing the figure glow, a red aura being given off by it just enough to help highlight every little detail of the figures' mask.
A mask that was a deep red and bore the visage of a snarling demon, an angry looking one.
"You…why are you here?"
"Why?" The figure asked with a rasp, tilting its head as it stood from the crouch, perching calmly on the thin branch, not a hint of disturbance in its figure. "I'm here as a warning…and a promise."
Crouching slightly once more, Feng was caught unaware as the figure leapt forward, smashing down into the water in front of Feng in an explosion of water, drenching his lower legs as the figure stood eye to eye despite the fact that he was standing on a root.
"A warning to those that seek revenge. A warning to those who reveal in it. A warning to those who cannot let it go." The figure snarled, it's eyes pools of darkness as it leaned in ever so slightly, its voice promising violence.
"And a promise that if you continue the path you seek…you will become what you see before you."
And without waiting for a response the figure reared it's arm back, acting like it was going to strike Feng in the chest. Alarmed, Feng leaped back with an air enhanced jump, dodging the mighty blow as it smashed into the root where he had previously stood with a stream of miasma streamed out of its elbow, smashing both into and through the thick root and into the water below, causing a pillar of water to fly upwards as it did, covering the looming figure.
Feng, meanwhile, focused on landing on the branch he had aimed at, only wavering slightly as he looked back at his previous position, feeling spooked. Only, instead of being greeted by the figure's imposing stature, when the water splashed back into the swamp, it had disappeared, the only sign of it's existence being the destroyed tree root.
"Why…why would he warn me like that?" Feng muttered, dwelling over his thoughts until he heard the sounds of his travelling companions yelling his name, the trio searching for him. It was enough to distract him, but not enough to stop him dwelling on what had just happened.