Author Note:
Hey guys. Still here in 2022
Compliments of the new season.
This Chapter is a little different.
Most of this story is told either (well mostly) from a Zuko perspective or from the perspective of someone from the Fire Nation or from a general point of view. Not this chapter however. This chapter will be a two part interlude. Pretty much zero Zuko and zero Fire Nation. Its filler-ish but not because I would like to believe that it might be important to the story Back Without Regrets.
There is something I have to clarify first. After some research, it has come to my attention that Tui the Moon Spirit is referred to as male while La the Ocean Spirit is referred to as female. In my would make sense that Tui and Agni are like brothers seeing as they are both seen as masculine and provide light and they are just two sides of the same coin.
However, for purposes of this story, Tui is female and is La's sister. I just want that to be clear for everyone so that there's no confusion here on out.
To my wonderful readers, I give you Chapter 11
Enjoy!
Jiang-sama
An Interlude Part One : A Past That Now Is
The Southern Water Tribe
Hakoda, Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, was a broken man. His tribe had been subject to a raid from the wretched Fire Nation that hadn't happened since he was young child. At first he was concerned that the Fire Nation would carry his daughter away, his daughter that had been blessed by the spirits with water-bending. But the gift at this point had proved to be nothing but a curse on his people and his own family as long as the Fire Nation was in power.
The Fire Nation raid had caught the tribe by surprise and caused some significant damage around the settlement. It felt like a long battle yet the Fire Nation had soon left their shores just as soon as they had arrived. But Hakoda would later find out that his wife had sacrificed herself for their daughter and was taken away by the Fire Nation. He wasted no time in gathering the men and elders together to plan for Kya's rescue from the Fire Nation, only for the Fire Nation to return to their shores and declare her death without even giving them a body to bury.
The tribe was distraught, but none more than Hakoda. In his years of living, he thought the Fire Nation wouldn't bother with the tribe since the last waterbender had been taken away. Then his daughter, Katara, showed her gift and he was worried. Worried that the Fire Nation would come back, or worse that she could even be the avatar and be claimed by the world to fulfil an age old duty to restore balance. Not that there was much to worry about since his people hardly travelled much like before and no one wanted to see the Fire Nation back in their lifetime.
But here the tribe was, mourning the death of his beloved Kya.
At some point when night fell, Hakoda had isolated himself away from the tribe, glaring at the horizon that was alight with southern lights. He had been out there for hours, the cold already setting in his bones but his heart too stubborn with grief to care. Hakoda did not know what to do with himself, to curse the spirits or to curse himself for failing to protect the love of his life. He was truly lost.
An Interlude Part Two : A Past That Once Was
To send one's soul back in time is no mere feat.
The one sent in time goes easily with courage to change the future.
And ordinarily the future does change, but at what cost?
However, to send Zuko back into the past without the power of the eternal time spirit, the future is left in chaos. Present and future are re-written by the second to accommodate the changes of the past.
It is clear that the spirits that banded together to change fate have a bigger disaster to handle than they realised.
Tu Di Gong the Earth Spirit
Tu Di Gong had walked different plains for as long as he had existed, when there was no word to speak of, when the world was one, and when the world became two, of the physical plain and the spirit world. For a being that existed a long time, one that should carry the wisdom of the ages, he still could not find it in himself as to why he agreed to Agni's plan without involving the more important spirits.
They did not involve the council of the lion turtles, or the more important ancient spirits like the eternal spirit of time Krono or the Mother of Faces, Wan Shi Tong, Koh….If Tu Di Gong had to be honest with himself, he'd rather not involve Koh. He was just an untrustworthy snake. Point is that because not all the important spirits and beings were not part of the plan involving Fire Lord Zuko, the world, both spirit and physical, was in serious danger. The world was slowly loosing balance and it won't be long before a calamity would destroy them all.
Thus what brought Tu Di Gong to the temple that lay within the hidden frozen sea deep in the South Pole. The frozen sea was one of the few places that existed both in the physical and spirit world much like the swamp in the earth kingdom. One would have to compare the temple to Wan Shi Tong's library to have a good idea of what the temple of the frozen sea was like. Trivia aside, it was time to wake a sleeping wolf from its long slumber and hopefully right the mistakes of the spirits.
As he ventured deeper into the temple, blue lights popped up to light Tu Di Gong's path through the lone corridor. The walls held murals that told stories of the waya* and their relationship with the people of the southern water tribe, but Tu Di Gong was not as a scholar or historian. He finally reached a set double doors guarded by two wolves, one silver and one black, that seemed frozen in their sitting positions.
"I seek an audience with your master," Tu Di Gong began, "Open the doors"
Tu Di Gong was greeted with momentary silence before the sound of cracks filled the air and the doors before him parted open with pieces of ice falling to the ground. The wolves came alive and broke from their frozen positions, bowing low to Tu Di Gong. The said spirit marched his way through the doors in to a large room with a raised platform at its centre. On top of the platform was a large grey wolf with black, white and silver streaks along its fur, laying in a sleeping position.
Stopping before the wolf, Tu Di Gong began, "Amarok, the Lone Waya, rise from your slumber"
The spirit lazily opened one eye and took in the sight of Tu Di Gong.
"I thought I smelled dirt," a husky voice said, belonging to the wolf despite it not moving its mouth, "It has been a long time, Gong. I didn't think you'd ever leave the comfort of your dirt holes and journey here"
"I am not here to entertain your humourless sarcasm," Tu Di Gong replied.
"So what problem brings you to my den?" Amarok asks, "Clearly you're not here for a social call"
"The world is in danger and I need you to call on the ancient spirits to restore the balance before its too late"
Amarok opened his other eye and shifted into a more alert position.
"Explain"
And explain Tu Du Gong did, giving an account of the events of the world and the decision of the spirits to send Zuko back into time. Amarok remains quiet for a time, digesting the information that has been given to him.
"So Tui's dead?" Amarok asks.
"Yes and no," replied Tu Di Gong, "the Tui we know was killed. Her successor Yue, who had a piece of Tui's life force, took her place"
"And you say a child of Agni did it?"
"Correct"
"And is the vile human still alive?"
"No. La took care of him from what I have heard," Tu Di Gong replied, "Amarok, I know you have your history with Tui and Agni…."
"That bastard was supposed to take care of her," Amarok growled, jumping to his feat and glaring down at Tu Di Gong.
"Which is why Agni proposed that the boy be sent back in time and correct everything"
Amarok muscles tensed before he eased back to his laying position, saying "So why are you here if you already have your solution?"
"The boy was sent back with our combined power, but the present and the past are running side by side and the world is out of balance. There is a possibility of a clash of timelines that might just destroy us altogether. We need the ancient spirits to step in before any further damage can happen," Tu Di Gong explained.
"You seem to have done a lot well by yourselves so far. Figure out a way to call on the ancients on your own"
"It has always been your duty and that of your kin to guard the ancient spirits and serve as their guide. In any case our spiritual power is already almost depleted from sending Zuko to his past and as it is, I am at my limit and being away from my hearth. I am weak as it is"
Amarok took a moment to actually look at the earth spirit. He didn't look like the prideful stubborn and strong spirit that he was. He was tired and aged which was unusual despite the time that has passed.
"You said that the boy was sent back into his own time?" Amarok asked.
"Yes," answered the earth spirit.
"That requires a lot of power and a certain sacrifice," Amarok stated, "What was the sacrifice?"
Tu Di Gong remained silent, looking to the side.
"Did you tell the boy of the sacrifice required for such an attempt?" Amarok pressed.
"I am not certain considering we left it to Agni to explain everything to him," Tu Di Gong answered carefully.
Amarok huffed, "Classic Agni"
He slowly rose to his large paws and leaned back, stretching his muscles before finishing off with a shake of his fur.
"I will send my kin to call on the ancients," Amarok stated.
Author Note
So this chapter really took a lot of research for me to do in order to actually write it. Finding lore and incorporating into a story is difficult especially that I have to find a balance between the ATLA lore and different cultures in our world.
For the wolf spirit was particularly difficult. There's quite a number of different aspects of wolves and wolf spirits than you would believe. I had to take reference from the Native American and Inuit lore and fashion something that fits into the avatar world without changing too much.
As such I settled with Amarok for the name of the wolf spirit as it is in the Inuit tribe. I'll go more into his folklore for purposes of this story as we go into future chapters.
Most of my research is accredited to
Wikipedia,
Avatar Wiki,
Native languages . org (Native American Legends)
Wolfsongalaska . org
Bioone . org
And Google
*waya is the word for wolf according in the Cherokee tribe.