Chapter 4: Winter Solstice Meetup
When Harry first went to Hogwarts, he was excited and happy. He would have sworn nothing would have topped becoming part of a completely different world filled with magic!
Then there was the whole stone thing and facing Voldemort at the end of his first year.
Then there was the Chamber situation where he barely escaped hundreds, if not thousands, of man-eating spiders the size of cars and some bigger. After that, he barely survived slaying a snake that can kill with its gaze alone and was over 60 feet long. That was all before destroying a diary made by Voldemort that could possess people.
Just last year, he learned how to defeat literal soul sucking creatures (Dementors). Took lessons in defense from an actual real-life werewolf. Discovered he had a Godfather who was falsely imprisoned for killing his parents. Then Harry and his godfather almost had their souls sucked out by hundreds of Dementors.
In that same night, he found out Hermione was going back and forth through time the whole school year. He time traveled himself and defeated the hundreds of soul sucking creatures with a full Patronus to save his past self, so his past self could then travel back in time and save himself…
It was really way too complicated if he thought on it too long. Harry was pretty sure some kind of time paradox thingy was involved in some fashion.
Anyways, the spell he successful cast due to… reasons… was difficult even for full-fledged and grown up wizards to properly cast.
After all of that happened, Harry learned he was involved in a prophecy that meant he would have to save the world from Voldemort, if he wanted to live himself.
Things still weren't done yet…
Earlier this year he went to the Quidditch World Cup. Learned there was an old tournament between three wizarding schools, two of which he had never heard of before this school year. Found himself forced into said tournament against his will and ended up going to a completely different world yet again.
While here in this world, he discovered a new power inside himself. Made new friends, one of which literally has the power to use all of the elements. Flew on a giant bison to get from place to place. Learned a mighty spirit brought him here so he would be ready to face what laid ahead of him back home. Was captured by a bunch of warrior beauties. Fought side by side with said warrior beauties in an all-out battle. Ended up in part of an old Mad King's plot to teach his old but young friend about his destiny.
Oh yeah… They also managed to get in a prison break here not too long ago. It was Katara's idea. It was kind of impressive how a few words from her, some coal and standing defiant ended up being the push the prisoners needed. Harry, Aang, and Sokka didn't really do much there. That was all Katara.
Next, Harry discovered Aang could travel between both the physical and spiritual realms. Which was why they were now riding Appa to a temple in the middle of the Fire Nation. They were doing this so Aang could meet with his past life's self to have a chat.
It seemed Aang's life was also filled with very complicated things.
Harry had only been here a month and a half at most. Already his time here was giving over three years in the wizarding world a run for its money when it came to stuff happening.
"We have trouble following us," Katara said to the others. She pointed to a familiar looking ship. "Zuko," she said with finality to them.
[-] [-] [-]
"Nephew! This is foolish. You should not chase the Avatar into Fire Nation Waters," Iroh said sternly.
"I must capture him, Uncle," Zuko replied.
"Need I remind you that you were banished from the Fire Nation? Zuko... You risk being arrested if you continue this," Iroh said.
"Father will understand. I'm doing this to capture the Avatar," Zuko said in certainty.
"Many words can be used to describe my brother. Understanding is not one of them and never has been. You give my brother too much credit," Iroh said.
"Then we knock them down before they enter the Fire Nation," Zuko said as he collapsed his spyglass. "Arm the catapult!" he ordered his men.
[-] [-] [-]
"We have incoming!" Sokka shouted as he watched a large fire ball hurtle towards them.
"On it!" Aang shouted as he briefly glanced back and got Appa to dodge the fire ball.
"What do we do? He'll fire another one any minute now," Harry said. He was pretty sure having to continuously dodge fire balls wasn't a good thing. Appa started this trip in the early morning. Well before the sun would rise. There was no way he could keep it up for too long.
"We have bigger problems…" Aang said in worry to his friends.
"Is that a blockade?!" Sokka asked in worry.
Right in front of them was indeed a Fire Nation Blockade. These ships were massive compared to Zuko's. These were warships. They had several catapults on each, not just one like Zuko's ship.
[-] [-] [-]
Aboard the flagship of the blockade stood a tall muscular man in his mid-forties with dark brown hair. He closed his spyglass and gave a dark grin. "Shoot the bison down," he ordered.
"But Commander Zhao, there's a Fire Nation ship following it," the ship's captain said in shock.
"It belongs to a traitor. They're of no consequence anymore," Commander Zhao said with a vengeful grin. He was thinking back to his last encounter with the Exiled Prince.
The two of them engaged in the long-honored tradition of one on one combat. It was known as an Agni Kai. The Traitor Prince challenged Zhao to the fight after the commander deemed hunting the Avatar too important to leave to Zuko. Zhao started out winning and making child's play of the prince's attacks.
Zuko then broke Zhao's stance and gained the upper hand. Just when the prince had Zhao on the ground. The foolish boy showed his cowardice and refused to even attempt a finishing blow. Zuko turned his back on Zhao. The Commander was enraged by the boy's mockery of the ancient tradition and attempted one final attack. It would have won him the duel. It technically wasn't over until one opponent burned the other anyways. Zuko was the one who chose to turn his back.
The boy's uncle intervened though and showed how far the once mighty Dragon of the West had fallen. The most sickening part of it all was how Iroh acted as if he and Zuko were the honorable ones, and Commander Zhao was not. It was both frustrating and humiliating to Zhao. This was why he had no sympathy for the traitors.
"Fire," he ordered the blockade once the catapults were armed and targeted.
[-] [-] [-]
Aang, Katara, Sokka and Harry all yelled in fear as they saw several catapults fire on them at once. The sky was filled with burning boulders trailing black smoke! Aang tried his best to dodge with Appa. Katara and Sokka held on the best they could for dear life.
Harry stood as steadily as he could. "I'll try to get rid of them!" he called to Aang who tried to steady Appa more. Harry was going over all he knew of Airbending. It wasn't much, but he was sure it was enough to redirect fireballs. He also had his wand too, if needed.
Harry stood in the middle of Appa's saddle. He sent basic Air Blast after basic Air Blast at boulders and redirected them. Harry was focused, but also a bit excited he was able to put some of his lessons with Aang into practice. This is what he and Aang did for most of Katara's time limit on her prison break.
Aang ran him through the very basic of airbending moves. Harry didn't need to have fully mastered mediating to get these moves right. They didn't require much in the way of refined control. At the same time, they could be very effective.
[-] [-] [-]
One of the errant fireballs struck Zuko's ship. It even managed to hit the engine.
"Prince Zuko! They got the engine! We need to stop for repairs," the engineer shouted.
"Technically, we are still in Earth Kingdom Waters. Commander Zhao can't arrest us," Iroh said to his nephew in a vain hope the prince would listen.
"Keep going! I will get the Avatar. Not Zhao!" Prince Zuko shouted in command. It didn't matter to Zuko the first plan failed. Getting the Avatar first was all that mattered.
[-] [-] [-]
Aang managed to guide Appa up higher into the clouds, but a large fireball reached up even higher than the others. "Hang on tight guys!" Aang shouted just as Harry sat back down. Aang had to tilt Appa a lot more than was safe to avoid the fireball.
"Help!" they heard Sokka shout to them. It seemed he fell from the saddle during Aang's evasive maneuvering.
Aang managed to put Appa into a dive. Katara and Harry barely grabbed on to Sokka's hands and pulled him back in to the saddle. Appa couldn't level out right away though. He was still a little tired and there were plenty of fiery boulders raining down on them.
Aang kept pressing forward having no other option. They were harder to hit this low at least and were getting closer to the blockade. They only had to make one last break for it.
Commander Zhao had one of the catapults adjusted just for such a situation. As the Avatar and his group rose up just high enough to pass over the ships, he shouted, "Fire!"
A fireball was hurtling right for Appa. They were too close to dodge and it was coming straight at them. Aang stood up and launched himself forward. He sent a powerful Airbending kick right at it just in time. The kick connected with the fiery boulder and it exploded into pieces, which fell harmlessly to the sea below.
Aang caught some air from the blast in his cloak, which gave him the momentum he needed to land back safely on Appa's head. "Phew! Made it!" Aang said in relief as they flew right over the ships. It would take the soldiers too long to adjust the aim of the catapults. The group would be well out of range by then.
"Well… we got into the Fire Nation," Sokka said as he and Katara held on to each other.
Harry looked back and frowned. He wasn't so sure being in the Fire Nation was wholly a good thing. He saw Zuko's ship was blowing out a lot of smoke, but it was still aiming for them with no sign of giving up, even if it was heading right into the blockade.
Just as Harry thought the ships would collide, the blockade ships cut their engines and Zuko's damaged ship sailed through harmlessly. "What are they up to," Harry wondered to himself. He didn't think they were on the same side. The blockade was attacking without a care if they hit Zuko's ship or not. Why would they suddenly work together?
[-] [-] [-]
The journey from the blockade to the Fire Temple was by no means a short one. It was already afternoon and still they had to go a good bit more to reach the island.
"What's he playing at?" Zuko said in thought, as he lowered his spyglass. Soon after they made it through the blockade, a ship broke off from the others and followed at a distance.
"Zhao means to follow us to the Avatar and capture you both," Iroh said to his nephew.
Zuko was in thought. He did not want Zhao getting in the way or taking credit for capturing the Avatar. Capturing the Avatar was his only way to regain his honor. He would not let some sly old bored navy commander with no honor take the chance from him.
The exiled prince looked to his ship's engine in thought. The smoke was thick and the trail it left behind them long. "Then we'll give him a trail to follow," he said with narrowed eyes as his plan formed.
[-] [-] [-]
It was already evening by the time the Gaang made it to the temple's island. Aang was getting really anxious. He needed to get there on time. The vision he received from Avatar Roku, his last life, made it very clear he had a short time frame to make contact. If he missed that, Aang would have to figure out what that horrible vision he had of the giant fiery comet in the sky meant on his own. He knew it was bad, but that was all.
The group finally landed. "Good Job, Buddy. You can rest for now," Aang said in sympathy for Appa. Appa let out a great groan and rolled over.
Sokka was up and stretching as he was getting ready for their part of the mission. They still had to get Aang to the temple in time. They had no idea what awaited them inside the temple.
[-] [-] [-]
Just as Appa got close to his destination, Zuko boarded a small sea craft. He looked up to his uncle and said, "Remember. Keep going north. That should throw Zhao off and the smoke will provide me cover."
"Be safe, Zuko," Iroh said to his nephew.
Prince Zuko looked to his uncle for a moment and merely nodded to him.
[-] [-] [-]
Aang and the others were unaware of the oncoming danger. They were instead making their way to the temple. It was a bit unsettling how empty it was though.
"Where is everyone?" Aang asked.
"Maybe it's abandoned. Once Avatar Roku died, they might not have seen a reason to stay here. It isn't exactly a scenic location," Katara said. The island was little more than rock, steam and some lava.
"The building is still impressive," Harry said in a moment of awe.
The temple itself was a tall Oriental styled temple with five levels. They weren't all small levels either. The first one had to be at least two floors worth of height alone.
"We need to go. It's almost sundown," Aang said as he vaulted the wall and ran towards the front door. The others followed not thinking of a better way inside with the limited time window they had.
As the group quietly made their way through the temple, they barely had time for more than a glance at the richly decorated interior. It had many tall polished stone pillars colored a deep red and gold. The place was both impressive and imposing to look at.
"I think I heard something," Sokka whispered to the others.
They turned around to see a group of five older men standing in front of the exit. They were wearing similar red robes and tall hats. In the center, was the oldest and clearly highest-ranking man. "We are the five sages. Guardians of the Avatar's Temple," the main man said.
Harry got into a stance ready to fight. He didn't trust these men. He had a feeling they were here to guard the temple from them.
"Great! I'm the Avatar!" Aang said cheerfully. It seemed he had no sense of urgency in this situation. Perhaps there were side effects from being frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years.
"We know," the leader said with narrowed eyes.
All five sages then took in deep breaths and shot fire blasts at the group. Harry and Aang worked together to deflect the attacks. The sages were stunned to see a second Airbender traveling with the Avatar.
Aang and the others took the sage's moment of stunned surprise to run away. They dashed quickly through several halls in the temple. Aang was in the lead shouting which turns to take.
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Sokka asked.
"Absolutely none!" Aang said in reply as he rounded a corner.
Sokka was about to sigh when Aang quickly returned. "Back this way!" he said in urgency.
"Wait. Avatar!" the youngest of the fire sages tried to get their attention.
Aang and the others were already out of earshot. However, their blindly run through the temple plan led to the most likely outcome, a dead end.
"What do we do now?" Sokka asked.
"I don't want to fight you! I'm here to help," the man said as he held his hands up.
"Firebenders only help by giving you a fire ball to the face," Sokka said aggressively as he stood in front of the others. Harry, Aang, and Katara all took bending stances.
"I know why you're here. You wish to speak to Avatar Roku," the man said while still trying to look non-threatening.
"How can you help?" Aang asked.
The man bent fire at part of the nearby wall. A hidden passageway opened as part of the wall lowered. "I can take you to him. Follow me. My name is Shyu," he said.
The group decided they had nothing to lose and followed him. They were on a tight schedule after all.
[-] [-] [-]
Zuko arrived on the island's shore. He looked back one last time to make sure he wasn't followed. He was safe from pursuers at the moment. It seemed his plan worked. He went back to focusing as he looked over the temple before him.
A part of him wished he had made an attempt to visit the place in the past. It was considered a great honor to visit the Avatar Temple. It was probably one of the few sites seen as scared by his people. That was before though. Before he was exiled. Before he was forced to leave his home.
Now, things were different. Zuko had no such luxuries as touring around the world with his uncle. No matter how much Uncle Iroh seemed to treat their exile as such. It always infuriated and confused Zuko when he thought too long on his uncle's behavior.
"I need to get the Avatar. Then I can worry about Uncle," Zuko told himself as he approached the temple.
[-] [-] [-]
"Avatar Roku built these passageways back when he lived here," Shyu told them as they made their way through the temple's secret passages.
"Did you know Avatar Roku?" Aang asked. He still at times didn't fully grasp he was gone for a hundred years and how much time that really was. To him, it was as if he woke up from a short nap instead of a hundred years.
"No. But my grandfather did. There have been many generations of Fire Sages guarding the temple long before me. We are all connected to it at a spiritual level. When the statue's eyes glowed a few weeks back, we knew it meant you returned," he explained.
"That happened when we were at the Southern Air Temple. Roku's eyes glowed there too! Along with the other statues," Katara said.
"Since this is an Avatar Temple, why did the sages attack me?" Aang asked.
"It was a mix of corruption and desperation that lead to where we are now. The Fire Sages used to be loyal only to the Avatar. We eagerly awaited the new Avatar after Roku died," Shyu said.
"I kept them waiting…" Aang said to himself with a deep frown.
"It's only been 10 decades. You know how it is. Better late than never. Don't feel so bad," Sokka said in a poor attempt to cheer Aang up.
"What happened then?" Harry asked getting them back on topic.
"After Fire Lord Sozin started his war, he came here with his army and demanded their loyalty. Many bowed to them out of fear for their lives. Some bowed to him seeing it as a chance to get in his good graces. Since then, most of the sages have enjoyed the power and privilege of their positions under the Fire Lord, even as he cut back their numbers. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord, especially the current one. I knew what I had to do once it was obvious you returned," Shyu said.
"Thank you for helping, Shyu," Aang said gratefully.
"We're almost there now. Once you get inside, look at Avatar Roku's statue. Wait for the light to hit it. Only then, will you be able to commune with him," Shyu explained to Aang.
Unfortunately, once they arrived in front of the inner sanctum's doors, they were shut tight. "Nooo!" Shyu shouted.
"What's wrong?" Aang asked.
"The sanctuary doors are shut! It must have been the bishop," Shyu said.
"Can't you just open them? Like you did earlier with firebending?" Katara asked as she looked over the doors.
"Only a fully realized Avatar has the power to do so alone. Otherwise it takes all five sages to do so while simultaneous firebending fire blasts at it," Shyu said.
"I've got an idea!" Sokka said as he saw all of the lamps on the walls around them. Sokka gave them orders and the group followed. As he filled the last of five bags with oil, he told the others the details of his plan.
Harry partly figured it out once they got working. He had to admit Sokka was very impressive when wanted to be. Harry hadn't a slightest clue what to do before Sokka instructed them. After they started working, he was surprised he hadn't thought of such a solution.
"This is a trick dad taught me. You pour lamp oil into animal canvas bags and attach a fuse. Shyu lights the fuses and bang! Fake firebending," Sokka said.
"You really outdid yourself," Katara said clearly impressed with her brother.
"Should we have measured out the fuses? I know we are talking about milliseconds here… but if it needs to be that accurate…" Harry said in worry.
"It doesn't. As long as they are close enough it should work, and this is close enough," Shyu said.
Sokka and Harry placed the bags inside the openings to the door. Aang was getting ready to dash inside. Katara was anxiously looking around the area making sure no one sneaked up on them.
"The sages will hear the blast. You will need to get inside quickly," Sokka said to Aang.
"Got it!" Aang replied.
"What do we do about a second plan?" Harry asked.
Sokka blinked to that. He hadn't really had time to come up with one. Katara seemed to have an idea though. "As long as it looks like it worked, we're good! The sages will come and they can open the door for us," she said.
Sokka was nodding to that. "Shyu can act like he just got here in time to see Aang head inside. We'll keep them distracted after they open the doors," he said.
"How do we make sure they think it happened?" Harry asked. He didn't want to take chances with this.
Sokka gave a grin. "Aang's idea from Omashu!" he said.
"Huh? I mean I don't think they have a mailing system here like Omashu," Aang said.
"No. I'm talking about when you wanted to send Momo through the pipes," Sokka said as he pointed to them on the doors and adjusted the last bag. He forgot how important it was to have a backup plan momentarily. That was a down side to being on a short time limit.
"You up for it, Little Buddy?" Aang asked Momo who appeared from under his cloak's cape. The lemur gave a little purr. "That's the spirit!" Aang said with a smile.
"You ready, Aang?" Katara asked.
"You bet!" Aang said in determination.
The others got back a safe distance. Shyu stepped forward and sent out a flame, lighting all of the fuses. Seconds later there was the sound of the explosion as smoke rushed forward.
Aang ran fast at the doors. He was just about to dive inside when suddenly he noticed they weren't open. "Plan B!" Aang called to the others quickly.
Sokka sighed. He really hoped it would have worked. It should have. Maybe it wasn't just a regular fire blast needed to open them. He was relieved Harry asked them about a backup plan. He was also impressed Katara came up with the idea.
"Places everyone," Sokka called.
The group all took their places hiding behind pillars. Shyu stood off to the side. He would run up just as the other sages made their way here. The group all waited anxiously and really hoped it didn't take too long. They were still on a time limit!
[-] [-] [-]
Just as four of the sages ran up to check the explosion, Shyu ran over from a different direction. "Come quick! The Avatar got inside," he called.
"How?" the Fire Sage Bishop asked.
"I don't know… But look! Scorch marks!" he said as he pointed them out. He then narrowed his eyes and added, "And down there. His shadow!"
"He's inside! We have to open it up before he contacts Roku. Who knows how powerful he'll become if he does," the bishop said.
The five lined up in front of the door. The sages sent forth five streams of fire into the openings. Sokka now knew why his plan didn't work. It required a stream of fire not a simple fire blast.
Sokka and Harry crept forward quietly.
The doors opened!
The sages blinked as they saw the small creature inside instead of Aang. "The Avatar's Lemur… He must have crawled in through the pipes," the bishop said.
Harry and Sokka quickly grabbed a fire sage each and held them so they couldn't break free. Shyu grabbed the one next to him and Katara jumped forward to grab the last. "Quick! Now's your chance, Aang!" she cried out to him.
They were met with silence. "Any second now Aang… It isn't like we have a limited time window or something," Sokka said dryly as his sage uselessly struggled.
"Ummmm guys…" Aang said in worry. He came around a pillar with Zuko holding him from behind.
"The Avatar's coming with me. Get those doors closed quickly!" Zuko barked to the sages.
In their surprise, Harry and the others loosened their grips by accident. The Fire sages used that moment to turn the tables. Now, their positions were reversed. Zuko held Aang for a moment as he saw the others get secured by chains.
He gave a nod of approval once the sages started to close the doors. He turned around to head back down the stairs and exit. Aang looked back in desperation as he saw the doors close.
Aang grew determined and used that moment to break free of Zuko's grasp. He then spun around and shot Zuko down the stairs with an air blast. He looked to Katara, Harry and Sokka.
"Go!" Katara shouted to him.
Aang used airbending to propel himself forward. He jumped up and bounced off the fire sages' heads just as they were getting ready to try and block him. Aang managed to barely slip inside just as the doors closed behind him. They flashed and sealed shut behind him. The others let out a collective sigh of relief before they focused on their own problem.
[-] [-] [-]
"Look at the statue… Wait for the light to hit… The light is hitting it! I don't know what to do! How am I supposed to know what to do? I only know Airbending! How am I supposed to do anything? Tell me. Please!" Aang pleaded to the statue. That vision was really getting to him.
Aang watched in nervousness as the light moved up the statue. He hated seeing how little time he had left. He didn't know anything about being an Avatar. He hated himself again for running away. If he hadn't… Maybe he would know what to do here.
The evening sunlight hit the statue's eyes and they glowed bright white. Aang found himself surrounded by a mist. Soon he was standing in front of Avatar Roku.
"Greetings, Aang. It is good to see you. What took so long?" he asked with a slight smile.
Aang was in awe. He then gave Avatar Roku the salute he was taught by the monks.
[-] [-] [-]
"Why did you help the Avatar?!" Zuko demanded. He was in no mood to be patient. He was frustrated by how useless the sages were in opening the doors again. They said something about Avatar Roku sealing the doors and not wanting to be disturbed. Zuko didn't get it.
Avatar Roku was Fire Nation! He was even good friends with Zuko's great grandfather until that tragic accident, which took the lives or Roku and his wife. Why was he helping this new rogue Avatar instead of his own people?
"Answer me!" Zuko shouted again at Shyu.
"It has always been our duty to help the Avatar. It still is," Shyu said proudly.
There was a loud clap coming from a different part of the hall. Everyone looked to see who it was. "Such moving words. You should have been in theater," Zhao said mockingly. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Then you wouldn't be a traitor."
He looked smug as he added, "But I'm sure the Fire Lord will be soooo moved by your words, he'll understand."
"Commander Zhao!" the Bishop said as he saluted the man with the other three sages following suit.
Zhao ignored them and walked closer. "And Prince Zuko. It was such a clever trick with your little smokescreen. But even I can read a map. It was so obvious what you were doing once your little shanty boat tutted away," he said.
He narrowed his eyes again. "Two traitors in one day and soon the Avatar as well. How pleased the Fire Lord will be," he said smugly.
"Too late, Zhao! You heard them. The Avatar sealed himself inside. No one can reach him. Not even you," Zuko said defiantly.
Zhao was in such a good mood he actually found Zuko's temper tantrum humorous. "Ohhh Zuko… What was it your sister always called you? I forget," he said feigning thought for a moment.
"Doesn't matter. Really though… I figured even you would realize he has to come out sooner or later. We'll be happily waiting here with a pair of cuffs in hand just for him," the Commander said with a confident smile.
[-] [-] [-]
"There is something very important I must tell you, Aang. That is why I sent my dragon to find you and guide you here when you were in the spirit world," Roku said to Aang.
"Is it about that vision? Of the comet?" Aang asked.
"It is," Roku said solemnly. "A hundred years ago Fire Lord Sozin used the power of the comet to start this war. With the comet's power under their control, Sozin and his army of firebenders were more powerful than ever before! They used its power to deal a deadly and devastating strike on the other nations," he said.
"It made them that powerful?" Aang asked in a mix of horror and awe.
"Yes. Stronger than even you can imagine," Roku said.
Aang gasped.
"Fire Lord Ozai will use its return to end the war," Roku said gravely.
Aang was in complete shock.
"You must master the elements and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before the end of summer. He may be content at the moment to let others do his dirty work, but he is still powerful. You will not be able to defeat him without becoming a fully actualized Avatar. If his plan succeeds… Even the Avatar won't be able to stop him," Roku said.
"This is bad… This is real bad… I only know Airbending! How can I master all of the elements before summer?!" Aang said beginning to freak out.
"Mastering the elements takes decades of study. But you must do it before summer's end," Roku emphasized.
He was going to say more, but Aang freaked out and interrupted him again. "How?! I just have months…" he said.
Roku gave him a smile. "I know you can do it. You've done it before," he said.
Aang felt encouraged by his words. He couldn't help but give a smile as he remembered he had many past lives. All of which mastered the elements. He should be able to do so as well.
"The solstice is coming to an end. Our time grows short," Roku said.
"What if I need to talk to you again?" Aang asked sounding a little sad.
"I'm a part of you and always will be. Whenever you need me, I will be there to aide you," he said.
Aang gave him a nod.
"You are in danger, Aang. Commander Zhao and his men are waiting to ambush you once you leave. I can help you face them. If you are ready," Roku said as Aang saw a vision of what he was saying.
Aang's eyes and arrows started to glow bright. "I am ready," he said in a voice that seemed to echo as he spoke.
[-] [-] [-]
Harry was worried about Aang. Zhao and his men were waiting right outside the doors. He wished he could help, but he wasn't advanced enough in Airbending to escape ropes, let alone chains. His wand was again too slow and clunky for this world. Combat here flowed way too fast and was too chaotic for pointing wands and uttering incantations.
The doors suddenly glowed bright.
"Get ready!" Zhao ordered his men.
The doors opened and all of the firebenders shot flames at it. An unearthly mist seemed to flow from the doors. The fire was caught and compressed into a single ball. A tall and ancient looking man with flowing white hair and a thick beard with glowing eyes could be seen through the mist.
"Roku…" Shyu said in awe.
The firebenders and sages looked terrified and awestruck at the sight before them. It was the former Avatar at his prime.
Suddenly, the fire orb blew outwards and blasted them all backwards. A blade of some kind shot the chains confining Harry and the others. The chains just disintegrated when struck. The sages scrambled and ran as fast as they could. Zhao looked stupefied as he gawked at the sight before him.
In the confusion, Zuko took just one second to be awestruck. He then used the distraction to escape to his boat. Zhao would try to arrest him even after all of this, if he stayed.
The ground trembled around them all. Zhao got up with his men and ran after the sages. The place was falling apart around them.
Katara looked worried at the vision of Roku. She knew Aang was there in some fashion, and she felt he would need their help once he finished whatever he was doing. He had gone into the state a few times and the power was incredible, but he was always very exhausted afterwards.
"We have to go! Avatar Roku is tearing the place apart," Shyu said in worry to the others.
"Not without Aang!" Katara cried in worry.
Just then, Roku chopped the ground with one hand. The stone floors split apart and the crack grew even more. Roku raised his hands and magma from below was starting to bubble to the surface.
It was after that a cloud seemed to envelope him. Then the mist blew away and disappeared. Aang groaned as he collapsed to the ground. Sokka and Katara were there by his side. Harry took point to make sure no one else would attack them. They barely noticed Shyu seemed to have disappeared as well in confusion.
Right when they were about to wonder how they would escape, Appa roared from outside. He hovered just outside the new giant hole in the temple's wall. Harry climbed onboard first. He held his hands out as Sokka and Katara passed him a very exhausted Aang.
"We've got you, Aang," Harry said to him.
The group were all on Appa's saddle as they flew away and saw the temple collapse. They didn't realize a spyglass was watching them as they left. Zuko put it away and was relieved Aang and the others escaped. He was the one who would capture the Avatar. Not Zhao. Not anyone else.
[-] [-] [-]
"No Traitor Prince! No Avatar! All I have are five measly traitors," Zhao roared in anger aboard his ship.
"But only Shyu turned traitor…" the bishop pleaded.
"You are all guilty!" Zhao snapped.
"T-T-There's something really important! There's two of them! Two Airbenders now! The dark haired boy, with the excessively messy hair. He's one too," he pleaded again.
"Two Airbenders? You take me for a fool?! Everyone knows just one remains. Fire Lord Sozin made sure of that right at the start of the war," Zhao said looking very unamused at the prisoners.
"I-I-It's the truth, Commander!" another one stammered. The others, except Shyu, nodded in agreement.
"The words of traitors mean nothing! People will say anything if they think it will get them out of trouble," he said while glaring at them each in turn.
"Throw them into the prison hold. I want them out of my sight," Zhao barked to his men.
[-] [-] [-]
Aang looked downhearted as Appa flew into the night sky at an easy pace. "What's wrong Aang?" Katara asked in worry as she sat next to him.
"I spoke to Avatar Roku. He told me I have until summer's end to master all of the elements," Aang said.
"Wow… Why such a deadline?" Harry asked.
"Sozin's comet…" Aang said quietly. That was all he needed to say for them to understand. Everyone in the Bending Countries knew about Sozin's comet. Katara and Sokka told Harry about it soon after he met them all.
"That's tough…" Sokka said.
Harry sat on Aang's other side. "You can do it. You're the Avatar. The way I see it. You already have all you need to know inside your mind. What with your previous lives and all. You just need some training to unlock it and learn how the styles have changed since last time," Harry said in comfort to his friend.
"You have us by your side too. We'll do all we can to help you," Katara said.
"I love BBQ. I don't want to be BBQ though. I'm all on board now. Today I remembered how important it is to have multiple plans. I will not forget that again. We'll figure this out. You'll learn waterbending, earthbending. Even jerkbending. You've got this," Sokka said as he clasped Aang's shoulder.
"Jerkbending?" Aang asked in confusion as he looked to Sokka.
"Yeah. Like Zuko and them. You know. Jerkbending," Sokka said.
"It's called firebending, Sokka…" Katara said with a roll of her eyes.
"Firebending. Jerkbending. Same thing," Sokka said with a shrug.
Katara was about to scold her brother, but she stopped. Aang and Harry started laughing at the name Sokka gave firebending. Aang laughed even louder. "I guess that means its, Jerk Lord Ozai then," he said grinning.
"See. Aang's got the right of it," Sokka said grinning.
"Jerk Prince Zuko," Harry supplied getting laughs from both Aang and Sokka.
"You've got it too, Harry," Sokka said proudly.
Katara rolled her eyes and sighed a little. There was a smile tugging at her lips though. She may not be on board with this new naming convention, but it seemed to cheer Aang up. That's what was important at the moment.
A/N: I started to skip around more and have some things happen off screen so to speak here. I will still do my best to have the more integral parts of the Avatar story happen, but we will have to see. Just as a guideline, if something is only briefly touched upon here and that bothers you, then just figure it was mostly canon how it happened.
If anyone wants to review this chapter, I would like to hear how I handled the whole glossing over, but not discounting part at the start of this chapter. I want to try a few different ways to discuss and summarize previous events without using flashbacks.
I was thinking about not even mentioning the prison break episode at first. Then I realized Haru and his dad, and I think some others who were with them, came to help with the Battle of Black Sun, which is very important. I felt they played enough of a background role to at least have the events mentioned instead of cramming in a flashback when the battle happens in the future. There will be some characters who actually get a lot more screen time then them in the series, but won't be in this story.
I don't really hate those characters, but I felt they have no real impact on this story. I also have to really cut back a whole lot of the series. I have ideas on episodes I feel matter for this story. I will admit it seems rather front loaded currently.
The second season seems it will be easier to cut back or shrink down in some ways. I never really truly understood how many episodes of season 2 take place in Ba Sing Se until working on this story. I can shrink that stuff down a good bit I feel.