Chapter 12: The Spirit Solstice Part 1

Ricky was wearing his grey and blue hoodie since the Earth Kingdom was frigid cold during the winter. He looks up in the sky to see the sun beginning to rise from the mountains as he sees the stars fading from the sky and the moon slowly setting in the west. He kept silent about what Haru's dad said about he wasn't the only one who came into this world. Aang was still awake, riding Appa as the rest of the gang were sleeping silently.

"Hey Aang", Ricky called out.

Aang looks up from his daze and at Ricky.

"Yeah Ricky, what is it?"

Ricky stayed silent for a while, but then begin to ask Aang a question.

"What do you think what Haru's dad meant by I'm not the only one?"

Aang was confused at first, but then he remembers what he was talking about. His mentor did say, "The Avatar will ally an unlikely ally beyond the stars, sent by the Spirits and Spirits beyond."

'Could Ricky be that unlikely ally?' Aang asks himself.

"I don't know", he bluntly answers.

They didn't say anything as they heard their friends waking up from their nap.

"Where are we?" Sari tiredly ask.

Aang was about to answer until Katara slowly look down with tired eyes and a confusing look on her face.

"Hey, guys what's that?"

Ricky, Aang, Sari, and Sokka look down at what Katara was pointing at. To their surprise, they saw a huge land of burnt forest that covers for miles on end.

"Whoa", Sokka murmured.

Everyone was shocked to see the entire burnt forest. Aang doesn't know why, but he felt to go down there to see what happened down there.


The Gaang walks in the burnt forest as they try to find any signs of life. But all they heard is just the wind blowing through the dead trees.

"Those Fire Nations!" Sokka yells angrily, "They have no respect—"

"SHH!" Katara hissed at her brother.

Sokka turns toward her sister.

"What", He whispered angrily, "I'm not allowed to be angry?!"

She points her head towards Ricky, as he clenched his fist with smoke coming off of it. Sokka realizes that Ricky is a 'FIRE'bender and forgot completely about it. They turn around to see Ash with a sorrowful look on his face. Katara and Ricky walk up to him, placing their hands on his shoulders.

"How could I let this happen?" he murmured.

"It's not your fault Aang", Katara reassuring him.

"But it IS my fault! It's the Avatar's job to protect nature, but I failed."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole", Ricky reminds Aang, "To get you a teacher."

Aang scoff at the moment.

"Yeah, a teacher about waterbending. but not how to be the Avatar."

Ricky didn't know what to say about that, he knew that Aang needs to master all four elements to defeat the Fire Nation. But how can he if the previous Avatar, Avatar Roku, passed away centuries ago? He just wishes that he could bend any element but fire since he has seen how destructive the Fire Nation and he regrets having that power.

Aang didn't say anything to his friends as he kept blaming himself for not doing his job, but that's when something strange happens; he saw a small, white, little Lilly instantly grow out of the ground in a matter of seconds. He starts rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but Lilly was still there.

"Hey guys, do you see that?" he points out the white Lilly.

His friends look at where he was pointing at. They saw nothing.

"See what?" Sokka asks.

Aang looked at his friends in confusion, he looks at the Lilly again and this time, it was gone. He started to question himself in has he lost his mind or was just imagining it. But that's when he saw something from the corner of his eye; it was a strange creature with one half of its body was a lion with two horns and the second half of a horse with a golden-covered, serpentine tail. Its eyes were like an ember glow and smoke faintly coming out of its nostrils. Was this creature the one responsible for the fire?

Ricky looks in Aang's direction and saw the same creature staring at them before turning around and disappearing into the burnt forest.

"You guys seeing this?" Ricky asks.

"See what?" Sokka asks annoyingly, "There's nothing here. Come on, let's get going."

Katara, Sokka, and Sari start walking toward Appa, leaving Ricky and Aang behind.

"You saw it too?" Aang asks Ricky.

Ricky looks at him with concern.

"You mean about that creature?"

"Yeah. I thought I was getting crazy for a second, but what was that?"

Ricky thought about it for a bit, the more he thinks about the lion-horse hybrid, his mind could only give him a comparison to a chimera and nothing else. The two boys start climbing up Appa until they saw an old man walking toward them, causing all five to turn their heads.

"Are you the Avatar?" the old man asks.

Aang rubs his arm in embarrassment, "Y-Yeah?"

"My village needs your help."


The Gaang discovers a partially destroyed small town as they were led by the old man.

"This boy here is the Avatar!" the old man shouts out.

The villagers begin to surround the kids with excitement.

"So the rumors of your return are true!" The chieftain of the town says.

He looks over and spots Ricky with Katara and Sari. The chieftain walks towards Ricky and he notices the chief coming towards him as he starts to gulp.

"And you must be the kid who can bend blue fire, am I right?"

Ricky sighs in relief, seeing that this chieftain isn't like the one from Kyoshi.

"Yeah, that's me", he says sheepishly, "I didn't expect there to be rumors about me."

The chieftain chuckles a bit.

"The Fire Nation has spread the rumors about a young boy who's traveling with the Avatar and can bend blue fire, which is really rare here. Sometimes they call you 'The Blue Dragon'."

Ricky flushes pink in the compliment he was getting.

"So, what's the problem?" Aang asks.

"A spirit has been attacking our town and what's worse is that it's abducting our villagers for the last three nights" the chieftain explains sorrowfully.

The Gaang's eyes widen in total shock, but Ricky was the only one who's confused.

"Um, not to be rude but what are you guys talking about?" Ricky questions, "I'm still new to this world."

The chieftain looks at firebender with a quizzical look.

"Do you have spirits in your world?" he asks.

"Do angels and demons count?"

The villagers begin to whisper to one another, making Ricky even more uncomfortable.

"So, why is the spirit attacking you?" Sokka broke the awkward moment.

"We don't know", the leader replies, "But I fear that it's going to get worse once the winter solstice arrives."

"What happens when that happens?" Sari asks curiously.

"You see, once the solstice arrives, our world and the Spiritual World are merged, causing any spirits and humans to enter both worlds with ease." the old man explains, "The Avatar is the only one who can help us to stop the angry spirit: Hei Bae."

"Yeah...Right", Aang laughs nervously, rubbing his shoulders.

"Hey Aang, can we talk to you for a second?" Ricky asks him.

Aang turns around as he begins to whisper with Katara and Ricky.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Katara asks.

"I don't know", Aang whispers, "I don't know how to get to the Avatar World and there's anyone who can teach me it."

"So...What now?" Ricky asks, "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know", Aang answers, "But I have to help them."

Ricky and Katara nod as they begin to find a way to help the villagers.


It's been eight hours since they been in the village since all they did is wait till the sun has set so Aang could talk to the angry spirit.

"This is stupid", Sokka says with concern, "Aang can't do this all by himself."

"If anyone could stop the spirit, it's the Avatar", the old man replies.

Ricky didn't know what to explain it, but he felt a cold shiver down his spine like something is watching him. He saw the sun finally set as night begins to approach the sky.

"Hei Bae, where are you?" Aang calls out.

Just then, something came out of the fog and reveals as what Ricky can explain it was a four-armed, finless orca, with a pattern of a panda design. Ricky's eyes widen in total shock to see something like that.

"What the heck is that?!" Ricky whispers in surprise.

The group violently shushes him to shut up, causing him to flinch. He watches Aang trying to persuade the giant monster, but it seems to do nothing but roar at him. Aang starts to chase after the giant six-legged beast as it continues to destroy the buildings. It wasn't long till the beast hit Aang towards the roof, this cause Ricky to snap.

"Hey!"

"Ricky, don't!" Sokka yells for him.

Hei Bai instantly turns around to see Ricky and Sokka running towards him, but the beast knocks Ricky back causing him to break some of his ribs and snatch Sokka away. Aang got up from the rubble and saw Hei Bai kidnapping Sokka and running towards to the forest.

"Sokka!" Katara yells in total fear.

Sari grabs hold on Katara, trying her best not to let go off, she looks over to see Ricky trying to get up but fail due to his broken ribs.

"Sokka! Don't worry, I'm coming!" Aang yells as he races towards the misty forest.

Aang tries to keep up with Hei Bai but the angered spirit was faster, as the fog was getting thicker and thicker by the minute. That's when he trips on something and fell to the ground. He got up and starts to see the fog begin to fade, revealing a statue of a giant panda and a burnt forest. He looks down in defeat and grips his pants.

"I failed you Katara."

It's been hours since Aang and Sokka disappeared without a trace and she was worried. She was accompanied by Sari, but she had to keep an eye on Ricky's injury. It didn't help that to hear Ricky was hurt caused by Hei Bai when her brother and Aang gone.

"You alright?"

Katara turns around to see Sari, with a worried look on her face.

"No, I'm worried about Aang and Sokka," she answers, "I'm scared."

"I bet they'll be fine," Sari reassured, placing her hand on her shoulder.

What they didn't know is that Aang came back, but something was off about him: he was blue.

"Hey Katara, Sari! I lost Sokka."

But they didn't hear him, he begins to look confused.

"Uh, guys? I'm back."

He tries to touch Katara, but instead, he phased right through her. His eyes widen in fear in realization: he's in the Spirit World.

"Come on, we need to check on Ricky," Sari said.

Aang follows the girls and saw Ricky bandaged up on the chest and his left arm.

"This is all my fault", Aang grimly murmured.

"It's not your fault Aang," a mysterious voice says.

Aang turns around to see the same lion horse he saw back in the burnt forest.

"Wait, I know you..." he murmured

The beast didn't say anything as it turns around and walks towards the entrance.

"Hey, come back!" Aang yells, but the lion horse didn't respond.

Aang begins to run towards the winged lion, but then a dragon came out of nowhere blocking Aang and the lion. Aang tried to use his airbending, but for some reason, it didn't work. He turns his head, to see the dragon was just a mere inches away from his face.

"What do you want?" Aang asks.

The dragon touches Aang, showing a familiar face to Aang.

"You're Avatar Roku's animal guide!", Aang responded, "Just like Appa!"

The dragon nodded.

"Can you help me, my friend has been kidnap by Hei Bai and I don't know what to do."

The dragon turns around, lowering himself to Aang's level. Aang thought that he might take him to Roku, he looks back to see Katara was standing next Ricky and he looks back to the dragon.

"I'll go," Aang got on the dragon's back and it took off into the air.

"I'll come back for you Katara, keep Ricky safe."

As the dragon flew to an unknown destination, the horned chimera-like creature looks up and begins to walk into the mist.


General Iroh was sitting on the back of an ostrich-horse, he thought it was funny that he's going to Ba Sing Se where he tried to conquer years ago when he was known as the Dragon of the West. But that's when he saw something familiar: a dragon, that thought to be extinct, but what makes bizarre is that the Avatar was riding the dragon. But to make things crazier is that he also thought he saw the horned lion horse, but the two disappears.

"What is it?" The captain asks.

"Oh, nothing", Iroh reply before thinking, "Actually, there is one problem."

"Well, what is it", the captain asks impatiently.

"You see, my ankles are too sore and the cuffs to placed on me are too loose."

The captain raises his eyebrow in suspicion.

"Too loose?"

"Oh yes, these cuffs keep bumping into my wrist and might slip right off in a few minutes. Would you mind tightening them for me?"

The earthbender thought about it for a while and then nods his head in approval.

"Very well. Corporal Wa-Shing, tightens the prisoner's cuffs."

The corporal salutes and pulls Iroh down to tighten his cuffs. Iroh closes his eyes and breathes deeply before heating the metal, grabbing the corporal's hands causing them to burn. The corporal screams in pain and drops to the ground, trying to withstand the pain from the burn. Iroh then jumps into the air and blast fire at one of the guards and ran straight towards the hill, rolling downhill.


Aang and the dragon were sitting on top of a temple, Aang was getting impatient.

"Who are we waiting for?"

The dragon didn't respond, this causes Aang to become more impatient.

"Why are we even here?!" Still no response, "Look, my friend has been kidnapped by Hei Bai and Ricky is hurt. I need to know what's going on."

"You will in due time Avatar", a mysterious voice said.

Aang turns around to see the horned lion horse he saw in the village and forest.

"You. You're the one I saw in the village and in the burnt forest." Aang points out. The creature chuckles at Aang's response.

"Yes Aang, I am."

"Who are you?" Aang asks.

"To your people, I am a Spirit. But not a Spirit you have seen, but in easier words for you and your friends..." The chimera paused for a moment, before taking a deep breath, "I am the one who is responsible for bringing Paul Cole Richards to your world."

Aang's eyes widen in both shock and anger.

"You sent him here?! Then why don't you just bring him back to his homeworld and he would see his friends and family again?!"

"I'm afraid that's not how things work Avatar."

"What do you mean?"

"Paul Cole Richards is dead."

Aang didn't say a word for a moment, "What?"

"In his world, he is proclaimed dead after being shot in the chest. But here, he has an important role here."

"What do you mean by that?" Aang asks, even more, curious than he was ever before.

"All time my friend. But for now, you must save your friend Sokka."

Aang widens his eyes in realization.

"Oh, my Spirits! I completely forgot!"

"Do not fret Avatar, for I have a plan."


Iroh made it at the bottom of the hill, but he was still not out of the clear. He's sees some of the earthbenders still coming down the mountain, while creating rock slides at high speed. Iroh dodges them, but he was still suffering from some hits from some flying rocks at him. He groans in pain while spitting a rock out of his mouth.

"I hope my nephew gets here soon", he said to himself.

That's when he was surrounded by the earthbenders and prepared to attack. But suddenly, a blast of fire came out of nowhere and revealed it to be Zuko landing in front of Iroh.

"Nice work nephew", Iroh smiles.

"I learned it from the best," Zuko said determinedly.

Iroh and Zuko were back-to-back, preparing to attack the earthbenders.

"Let's get 'em," Zuko growls.

Iroh nods and they blast their fires at the earthbenders. The guards try their best to fight off against the firebenders, but they were proven to be impossible. They began to be taken out one by one as they all were lying on the ground beaten. Zuko looks at his uncle and threw a robe on top of his head.

"Can you PLEASE put some clothes on?" Zuko pleaded.


Katara and Appa still waited at the entrance, when all of a sudden she spotted Aang coming towards her.

"Aang!" she cries out, hugging him. "Where's Sokka?"

"I don't know", he replied, "But I have a plan."

Then suddenly, footsteps were heard behind them and it reveals to be the lion horse. Katara gasped in awe and horror.

"It's okay", Aang reassured her, "He's with me."

Katara looks at him confusingly.

"He?"

"Well, it's difficult to explain," Aang rubs his head.

The villagers and Sari came out of their houses to see Aang, but they also saw the creature as well.

"What is that thing?!" one of the villagers yelled out.

The lion took no response to the villager's panic and looks at Aang and Katara, everyone could only whisper at the beast that stood beside the Avatar before Katara decided to break the tension.

"Aang, is my brother okay?"

The young airbender didn't know how to answer her question since he doesn't know the answer, but he couldn't lie to her. That is when the creature spoke.

"You're brother and the people of this village are safe."

Everyone all gasped in shock, more whispers and gossip became audible than the former. This was the first time they ever heard a creature speak and many begin to question what it is.

"Do not fear, I am here to help you and the Avatar," the spirit proclaimed with authority in his voice, "You must first put trust in the Avatar if you wish for your family and friends to return unharmed that were captured by the angered Hei Bai."

"I'll go and get Ricky," Sari says and runs toward the house.

"I'll go help her," Katara told Aang and ran straight towards her.


"Ricky you got to wake up. We need you." Sari continues to lightly shake him but to no avail.

"Come on Ricky, we need you, Aang needs your help to stop Hei Bai," Katara tells Ricky, but he didn't respond.

"May I be of assistance?"

Sari and Katara turn around to see the spirit standing next to her. they both slowly get up and walk backward. The lion leans down and begins to breathe on Ricky's wound with a golden mist coming from his mouth. The wounds begin to glow and then fade, causing him to moan in pain.

"What did I just miss?"

Katara and Sari quickly hug him.

"Ricky, you're okay!" Katara cried.

"Of course I am. I was just sleeping is all." Ricky reassures until he saw the golden lion smiling down at them.

"Hey, you're that-"

"I am," the spirit simply responds.

Before anyone could speak, a roar filled the air as the three young teens and spirit turned their heads to see Hei Bai had come back and Aang was ending him off. Out of instinct, Ricky got out of the small house and raced toward the two, and launch a fireball at the four-armed monster.

"You miss me, Airhead?" Ricky asks as he skids next to his friend.

Aang smiles to see his friend is alright, "I need all the help I can get."

Ricky nods and sees Hei Bai roars in pure anger as it raises it arms to smash down at the two benders. Ricky and Aang dodge them as they begin attacking it with everything they got. Ricky starts shooting more blue fire at the spirit but it did little to effect as it charges at the two benders making the two immediately dodge Hei Bai in separate directions. It lifts its large white arm and swats at Ricky and launches a loud sonic blast at Aang, knocking him back a few yards away. He quickly got up but his eyes widened when saw the raging black and white spirit running at him, but it was thwarted when the chimera spirit tackled it. Aang watched in awe and horror to see the two spirits fighting against each other. Hei Bai was bigger than the lion horse, but the lion was far more powerful as it swiped, bite, and shoot out a pillar of flames from its mouth. The angry spirit roared in pain as it backed away on its hide legs before a black mist started to form around the spirit. At first, everyone thought the strange beast was killing Hei Bai but something within the black mist begin to morph into a humanoid creature with red eyes and let out a horrifying screech. The beast jumped out of the burning spirit and onto the ground with burned marks covering its body with horrifying screams of pain coming out of its mouth. Everyone was in terror when they saw this evil beast that was no bigger than an average height of a grown adult before it ran out of the destroyed village and into the night. Silence once more filled the air and the chimera spirit ceased its firebreathing with the black and white spirit collapsing to the ground out of exhaustion.

"Is everyone alright?" Ricky called out with the sounds of agreement and nodding heads.

The brunette let out a sight of relief and turns around to see the beast walking towards Hei Bai, its terrifying form slowly changing into a giant panda. Hei Bai slowly got up and look at the spirit and back at the village. Everyone was scared for a bit before looking back at the lion horse. It nods its head and the other spirit in return before walking out of the village. That's when Sokka and some other villagers came out tugging him Aang raced towards him, giving him a hug.

"Sokka!" Katara cries out, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sokka replies, "but I need to go to the bathroom."

Aang laughs while Katara gave him a disguhugged himcky walks toward Sokka and gave him a hug.

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good Pony-Man."

Sokka sighs annoyingly as the Gaang begins to laugh.

"I see that everyone is back safe and sound," the lion horse spoke.

Sokka gasps in shock and looks at the Gaang for some answers.

"He's with us and he's a spirit," Aang said.

Sokka didn't k what to say but just gawk in awe and in terror. The creature chuckles at the kids and looks at Aang.

"Avatar Aang," the beast said, "You must head to the Temple of Avatar Roku, he will tell you everything you and your friends need to know."

Aang nods as the villager chieftain walks to the Gaang.

"You have saved my people. What can we do to return the favor?"

"More supplies would be nice", Sokka answers.

"Sokka!" Kato

"What? We need some in order to get to the North Pole."

"Very well," The chieftain bows and turns to the winged-lion, "And what can we do for you, Spirit?"

"There is nothing you need to give me, chieftain. I will take my leave now."

The horned spirit nods its head and walks towards the gate and disappears into thin air, causing everyone to gasp in awe.

"Wow", Sari whisper.

"So, where's the temple Aang?" Ricky ask.

"Well", Aang murmurs while rubbing the back of his head, "It's at the Fire Nation."

Katara, Ricky, Sokka, and Sari's eyes widen in terror.


Author's Note: Hey guys, I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! So sorry for not posting anything lately. My mom still won't get rid of the block on this website on my account so I'm using hers instead. Anyways if you guys aren't comfortable with this chapter; that's what the warning above is for. No hate comments alright. Anyways, I'm going to work on the Pokemon: Battle of the Gods chapter and probably change one of the previous chapters since I think it didn't hold well. But don't worry about it, Ash and Dawn will reunite and there WON'T be any harems in it. Anyways, hope you guys like it. LeoPrime13 is out, PEACE!

EDIT: I've edited some parts of this chapter and removed the obvious symbolism and will do with the second part as well.