Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or anything associated with it except my fanfictions.
I'm going to tell you something. Today is 7/17/2020. In ten days, Kataang Week Starts. Now, I know a lot of people are panicking over what they're writing right now. But I'm not. Why?
Because I'm going to be worrying twice as much when I finally start writing.
I'm doing a challenge for myself. A Kataang prompt every day, on the days the prompts are assigned. Of course, that does mean this story will be put on short hold while I frantically write during that week, but... you'll probably enjoy Kataang Week if you're reading a Kataang AU.
Just expect second-rate writing.
Oh yeah, and the chapters are getting longer and longer. NOT what I wanted. It's probably what you guys would like though. Assuming you even like the story in the first place...
Just carry on! A mad writer's ramblings!
Sokka was draped precariously over the edge of Appa's saddle, head facing the clouds alongside Appa, swaying dangerously in the wind. One false move from Appa would send Sokka spiraling towards the ocean, the young man meeting a sudden and premature end through the jolting impact of his imminent fall. But despite the peril he was in, Sokka couldn't care less. He was the one responsible for it in the first place. In fact, it might have been better if he had fallen off Appa a long time ago. At least he wouldn't be having death wishes just to end the monotonous torture he was currently forced to endure.
It was a very long, very tedious, very boring, very uneventful trip they had embarked on. Certainly, their travels into the Earth Kingdom had not been so long-winded as their sailing to the North Pole, the endless blue punctuated by the exasperated groans and moans from Team Avatar, and the disgruntled chitters from Momo - but that was before, when Zuko was with them. Zuko was the counterpoint of the team, combining compassion, passion, and pessimism in a very interesting personality of juxtaposition that had kept Team Avatar afloat - pun intended. And if nothing else, Zuko provided the entertainment of the group by unwittingly and unwillingly lending himself as the butt of all the group's jokes. Sure, they could still tell jokes about Zuko, but they weren't as fun or as entertaining as they were before when Zuko was present to voice his irritation and indignation over the relentless teasing by Aang and Sokka.
But at least there was still Aang. They had already had a small taste of traveling by themselves when Zuko was sick, and when the Fire Nation crew had refused to jeopardize their safety. So it wasn't as if they were suddenly plunged into a new situation unawares and completely unprepared.
"Aang, how ya doin?" Sokka asked desperately in a feeble attempt to regain some life and purpose. He rapidly deflated when Aang responded with a noncommital grunt, half-nodding in drowsiness, arms loosely gripping the reigns of the flying bison, paying no heed to Sokka's heroics to keep them somewhat alive until the Earth Kingdom. Momo was in the exact same position as Sokka, and besides, Sokka needed some real human interaction. It didn't exactly look like Appa was in the mood for talking either. Sokka scowled. He was trying to do something here. He wasn't about to let that featherbrained airbender ruin his magnificent efforts. "Aang!" he shouted forcefully, making the airbender shoot up, lose his balance, and topple over the side of Appa.
"I'm here Katara!-" Aang yelped, then realized he was suspended in midair, and slowly starting to fall away from Appa. His face paled, and with shaking fingers, he scrabbled for the inside of his robe, and took out that useless bison whistle. After fumbling around with it, Aang blew on the wasteful contraption with all his might. As was expected, no sound came out, and Aang kept falling.
Sokka sighed. Stupid Aang. Stupid air. Stupid Avatar. Stupid Appa. Stupid whistle. Stupid everything. Except for him, of course. And Yue. Definitely not Yue. But after snapping out of his little side tidbit, he finally decided to do something, and made an effort to get to Appa's reigns to guide the flying bison down to catch Aang before he would be forced to use his bending to save himself, when Appa suddenly bellowed and dove downwards. Instead of finding himself falling through the air as he had envisioned earlier, Sokka now found himself holding on for dear life so that he wouldn't fly off Appa's back. "AAAAIIIIEEEEEEEE!" he screamed. This was NOT what he had expected to break up the sameness of their days. He was expecting some new meat, or some new stories, or some new and exciting action, not the adrenaline rushing through him as he desperately clung to Appa's saddle as though his life depended on it. Wait, his life did depend on it.
Shut up, Sokka, he thought to himself.
Finally, when Appa had positioned himself below Aang, the airbender created a gust of wind to cushion his fall, and of course, Sokka was the unwilling collateral of the bender's actions. It always happened to him, someone or other doing some sort of magicky element shish kebab and turning him into their unwitting victim...
"What was that for?" Aang shouted angrily, getting up in Sokka's face, finger pointed furiously at Sokka's chest. "You made me fall out of the sky, and I almost became the world's first Avatar pancake! What was so important that made you shout my name!"
"Oh, please," retorted Sokka. "As if you're in any position to argue -"
"This is my bison you're riding on," Aang pointed out.
Sokka glared at the upstart young boy before him. "Not helping!" he barked, lips drawn out in a miffed pout. "Haven't you noticed how boring this ride is? Absolutely nothing's happened, and you were dozing off in Appa's saddle, muttering about my sister!" Aang suddenly blushed. "That's why I called you, but apparently you decided this was one big drama act, and then you fall off Appa with a dramatic flair, and you almost died!"
Aang pondered Sokka's argument. "Well, to be fair, I couldn't possibly have died. I'm the Avatar, and I've mastered the element I was falling through and the element I was about to plunge into. I don't see the big deal about it anymore. Sorry I guess," he said sheepishly. But his eyes brightened, and he proudly presented the bison whistle in his hand. "At least we know this works now!" said Aang cheerfully.
"Hmm... I guess you're right. About me being right, of course." Sokka saw Aang's raised eyebrow and hastily added. "I was only joking! Kind of. Sort of. But what I meant to say was, that bison whistle is going to come in mighty handy someday, you know."
And they chuckled together. It wasn't quite the deep belly laughs they had aboard Zuko's ship, or even the lighthearted laughter they shared with Zuko, but it was something. Sokka pointed this out. "Hey, I'm feeling a lot better now. That really woke me up."
Aang narrowed his eyes playfully at Sokka. "Uh-huh, and I thought I was supposed to be the optimist, or - how did you put it? - liar."
Sokka snorted. "I'm realistic. Pessimist, whatever. Same thing. But like you said before, it's kind of hard to lean either way when the facts are staring you straight in the face."
Aang's eyes widened. "You're right, Sokka!"
Sokka rolled his eyes. "Of course I am. What do you expect? We all have to face the facts in the end -"
"No, not that, Sokka." Sokka looked at the airbender curiously. "Behind you. Do you see that? 'Straight in our faces,' too..."
And Sokka turned around, and lo and behold, a range of mountains was in sight. Still a fair distance away from them, Sokka was able to make out the tall tower that peeked out from the peaks, and Sokka stood there with his mouth agape. "We're here," he said in shock.
Then he got angry, and stomped the ground. "Dang it! And we were only just starting to have fun!" Momo chirped in agreement, while Appa groaned, letting Sokka know that the flying bison did not approve of Sokka stomping on his back.
The inside was quite an interesting sight.
From above, it looked like an elaborate cross within a circle. Four massive towers marked the ends of the cross, extending further outward into bridges that connected the base to the rest of the colors of yellow, green, and white proved to be a welcome contrast to the endless hues of blue Aang and Sokka had long become sick of - Sokka more so than Aang. They wasted no time in pulling on Appa's reigns and guiding him to a landing on one of the fortress's battletowers, and were greeted immediately by a tall, sturdily built man clad in elaborate armor of various shades of green and brown, with a cape that signified his high ranking in the Earth Kingdom Army. "Welcome, Avatar Aang! I am General Fong, and welcome, to all of you great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka."
Aang climbed off of Appa's back. "Thanks, General Fong! It's an honor to meet y-" and was cut brutally short when his legs didn't support his weight and he came crashing down hard on the concrete floor. Sokka laughed at Aang, and made his way down - or tried to. The lack of exertion of the boy's muscles had turned them as weak and limp as noodles. General Fong surveyed the two groaning boys on the floor with concern. "Don't worry about us!" gasped Aang. "We've been traveling for several days straight! Worry about Appa - he's probably tired from the constant flying! We'll get back some feeling in our muscles eventually!" Appa lowed in agreement. "See? Appa agrees! It's probably not a good idea to get on the bad side of a ten-ton bison, anyways..."
General Fong blinked, then bowed. "As you wish, Avatar Aang. But first - we give you the welcome you truly deserve?"
"Uh - no offense, General, but didn't you already give us one?" Sokka asked, confusion written plain on his face. This confusion was erased when he heard a loud whistling sound, and he craned his neck just to see the first fireworks crackle and pop in the air. Below the fireworks were earthbenders tossing the projectiles in the air, then using earthbending to propel them to significant heights before they exploded in a panorama of bangs and colors.
Sokka and Aang grinned at their reception. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Aang said.
"Not bad, not bad," Sokka agreed.
General Fong clapped his hands. "Now that I've seen you two satisfied with your reception, I will show you to your rooms." he then leaned in on the boys ominously. "I've also heard that there was a third person to your party. Any idea where he is?"
This question caught the boys off guard. "He... sort of split up with us. He said that so long as he was with us, trouble would come from all sides. He also mentioned that he needed to take a journey in solitude, to see the horrors of war first hand."
"I see," General Fong said, surveying the clouds. He turned to them. "We shall meet tomorrow, to discuss certain pressing matters. I'm sure you will be pleased with what I have to say..." he sounded his statement as though it was a threat rather than an assurance, and as he turned away from the boys - who were now stretching - they looked at each other in horror, confusion, and fear. They had been promised that once they arrived, an escort would be immediately ready to send them to Omashu.
Just what did this General want with them?
He sniffed the air, and smelled the acrid stench of fire and ashes, something that had certainly not been there before. He opened his eyes to reorient himself, and did a double take when he realized hwere he was.
He was at... the Southern Air Temple? But that couldn't be. They were an ocean and many mountains away from his former home. Perhaps he had dreamed everything. Maybe his people were alive! A rush of ecstasy filled his bosom, relief that everything had been a dream.
But the smile that had slowly formed on his face was quickly replaced by a frozen mask of tears. Because if everything had been a dream, then that would mean Katara was a dream as well.
He had never felt so conflicted in his life. Who did he want? His people, his culture, his entire youth? The preservation of the Air Nomads? The prevention of a century long war? Or did he want... her? The angel that had brought meaning to his life, had showed him that he had not truly been living, had been his light in a world of darkness.
He carefully wandered down the corridors, calling out for everyone to hear. He shouted out every name he knew, every greeting he was taught, every method of garnering attention he had learned. But all that came were the echoes of his cries and the empty silence that came afterward...
He rushed outside, trying to establish whether the reality he had just escaped from was a mere fancy of his sleep, or was a frightening reality he had become accustomed to. His breath hitched when he sprinted outside, to find...
Nothing. No sounds of life. Just the weeds growing through the cracks of the former glory of his old home.
And to his shock and utter horror, he felt relief. And joy. That Katara was real. He fell to his knees and began to sob. He hated himself. He hated everything he stood for, hated that he had to exist. What kind of person would sacrifice their people, their culture, for someone else who they were likely to never know again? How could he cast away his entire life and upbringing for a girl who likely did not return his affections? How could he cast an entire race aside for the woman he loved? What was he to dismiss one hundred years of suffering for a blue-eyed beauty in the South Pole who had likely moved on from him? He had even let her go, and yet... he pined for her, more than ever. He curled up on the floor, not caring about anything else. Despite his manic efforts to rebuke himself, he couldn't, he just couldn't.
He loved her.
And nothing else mattered.
Still shaking from his sobs, Aang stood up, stumbling here and there, wandering aimlessly down the halls. He was unsteady on his feet as he had only just began to realize how deep his love for Katara was. He had thought he would be able to cast aside his people for her, but never thought the opportunity to prove it would occur. And when the time came, he chose her. Without hesitation.
He was a horrible person, a horrible Avatar.
But he was in love.
And that made all the difference.
He guiltily approached the room that held Gyatso, and stopped at the tarp hanging over the door, hand held out, brushing across the covering to Gyatso's prone, skeletal body. He felt sick, wanting his mentor to die because it meant he met her. It made him so sick as to be unable to face the mentor he betrayed, even if it had occurred a hundred years later, long after the fact. But he took a deep breath, and opened the tarp. Part of what made a bender was letting go of fear and uncertainty, something the monks had once taught him... he was nearly crippled in his guilt at choosing a girl over his entire civilization.
He shook his head. The monks were in the past. He was in the now. Where Katara existed, his people be damned. He didn't know what Katara meant for him, and likely would never see her again in the first place, but... her very existence drove him, kept him going, kept him anchored to reality. Whether she knew it or not, the only thing that kept him on his feet, that proved the final, impenetrable barrier to his desolation, was a Watertribe girl, who made his crushing grief and sorrow dissipate into nothingness. His people might have been gone, but she wasn't. And this time, he could make a difference for her. It was time he truly forgave himself, and moved on from his century of solitude and sacrifice. He took a deep breath, and went through the opening, and stopped dead in his tracks.
It felt almost like an out-of-body experience, where he saw himself as he was immediately after realizing Gyatso's death. His arms held up, his tattoos glowing, his feet in midair, the Aang that was glowing looked at the real Aang, and a wind started to kick up. He could see Zuko hiding behind a wall, fear stark on his face. The winds grew stronger and stronger, until Aang's clothing began to whip wildly around his body. And the winds kept getting faster and faster. The glowing Aang glared at the real Aang, and a powerful gust of wind slammed into the Avatar and sent him flying off the mountain, his screams echoing in the valleys below...
As the ground drew closer and closer, he shut his eyes, waiting for the rough impact, but instead, he tumbled onto a smooth floor, seemingly uninjured by the mortal fall. He looked down at the ground, confused as to how he was still alive, and realized where he was.
Roku's Sanctuary? In the Fire Temple? Wasn't it... destroyed?
And then he realized that he was dreaming. But none of his dreams had ever seemed so vivid, so real, so... alive. If anything, this rather seemed like a vision from the Spirit World. Of course, that itself begged an entirely different question: why was he seeing this? Why the thoughts of Katara? Sure, he loved her, but... what was the dream's significance? And furthermore, why was it showing him "Glowing it up," for lack of a better term?
The doors to the sanctuary suddenly burst open, and Aang was confronted with yet another visage of his glowing self. Eyes narrowed in anger, hands outstretched, ready to perform the moves that would lead to the real Aang's demise. He desperately shouted in vain, trying to stop the personage from doing whatever it was doing. The visage either couldn't hear him or ignored him entirely, as it bent a fissure in the ground, and Aang once again found himself falling into nothingness...
He woke up with a start, forcefully waking up Momo, who had been peacefully sleeping on Aang's pillow. The spooked lemur then hopped onto Sokka and flew out the door, and everyone within the room was now wide awake.
"Who? What?" Sokka said, eyes still closed, holding up his boomerang and his club. "Have we been captured again?"
Aang didn't speak, but slowly got out of bed and walked outside. Sokka, remembering everything that had happened as well as where they were, opened his eyes, which widened as they saw his best friend walk out of the room they were sleeping in. "Aang?" Sokka asked tentatively. He then sighed. "I guess I'd better go check on him, Momo." Momo chirruped in agreement, and Sokka, grumbling, cast away his very comfortable sheets and blankets, and trudged out to where Aang had gone.
The stars were shining brightly in the sky. Sokka eyes traveled up to find the familiar constellations he had grown up with - ones of Tarik, the leopard-seal, and others - but to his surprise, the stars were in an entirely different formation than the one he was accustomed to for most of his life. Interesting. Did the constellations change as one's relative position in the world changed? Interesting... He filed it away in his brain for a later time. He had an Avatar to find.
It didn't take too long. Aang was hanging over the railings, staring ahead, eyes glazed. Sokka walked up to the young boy and put his hand on Aang's shoulder. "Everything alright, buddy?"
"I had a nightmare, Sokka." Sokka's eyes widened. What with all the spiritual mumbo-jumbo they encountered over the past few months, Sokka was absolutely positive that whatever it was, it could not be good. At all. "I dreamed I was back at the Air Temple, and I started to wonder if all of this was a dream. At first, I was hopeful that none of this happened, and then I realized what that meant."
"We didn't exist." Aang simply nodded. "So then you were conflicted over choosing us and choosing your people, so I'm guessing you chose your people?" At first, it seemed as though Aang ignored his question, but then in the dim light of nightfall, Sokka saw an almost imperceptible shake of the head. What was that supposed to mean? Was he missing something here? Sokka sighed, deciding to dwell on it later. "So, what happened? You caused Momo to attack me in his sleep, and I want to know the reason why."
Aang threw a withering glare at Sokka, clearly not appreciating the older boy's awesomeness. "So anyways, after that... I started exploring, found everyone gone and the place ramshackle. So... you know what that meant. I finally stumbled across my old mentor's room, and found myself standing next to his dead body. Except... it wasn't really me. The other me had his tattoos and eyes glowing, and then I saw a terrified Zuko. I was promptly blown off the temple."
Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Hey, that kinda draws some parallels between our time at Roku's Temple."
Aang's eyes widened. "After the Southern Air Temple, that's where I found myself - back at the sanctuary. I saw the doors open, and then I stepped out - glowing again - and then I created this fissure in the floor, which I fell through. That's when I woke up, and Momo started hopping all over the place."
"Well, thanks for ruining my sleep, I appreciated it a lot. Really," deadpanned Sokka. But then he got serious. "Something like that happened when we were there - except we saw some sort of visage of Avatar Roku."
Aang frowned. "So, we know for sure at least part of my dream was based in reality. But then what does it mean?"
Sokka shrugged. "Dunno. Not for now." He yawned, and Aang joined in soon after. "Short nap. Then we go see Fong. Then we figure out what's wrong. Did I rhyme? Eh, it doesn't matter. Sleep now, meat later, think in another lifetime." Sokka dragged himself back to their room, and Aang reluctantly followed.
Sokka could only hope that the matter at hand wasn't that pressing so that they could postpone its discussion for a few hours. A teenaged boy needed his sleep, after all.
Aang and Sokka walked into Fong's discussion room. Fong was seated on a throne, and the two boys were kneeling on the ground. Momo playing with Aang's shawl, tugging at it with an audacity only had by innocent creatures and raucous toddlers.
"So what was it you wanted to discuss, sir?" Sokka asked respectfully. No need to get on the bad side of a powerful Earth Kingdom General, especially in his own base.
General Fong got straight to the point. "I believe you're ready to face the Firelord, Avatar."
The reaction from the two boys was instantaneous. Aang and Sokka threw up their arms, swiftly getting out of their seats. Momo, being disturbed, squawked indignantly, and after much angry chittering, flew away, likely to find someplace better to be. But Aang and Sokka could not be bothered with the flying lemur's cute antics, especially after hearing such a shocking declaration. "What?" Aang was taken aback by the audacity of General Fong's statement. "No I'm not!"
"Yeah. Aang still needs to master two more elements," Sokka said. "If we went to the Firelord right now, we'd be wiped out."
"Not if Aang was in the Avatar State." Fong stood up and began walking around the room, talking animatedly to persuade the two boys that his genius idea was the best course of action to take. "You see, with the potential Aang holds, we would be able to cut a swathe into the heart of the Fire Nation, when we would otherwise ourselves be cut down before we even came within sight of the easternmost Fire Nation island."
He only drew a blank look from Aang. "Uh... not to be rude... but what is the Avatar State?"
Sokka butted in before Fong could open his mouth. "Wait! I think I know! It's when you get all glowy-eyed and you do your Pow! Bam! Airbending Slice! action. Y'know, like back at the Fire Sages' Temple."
"Oh. I see," Aang said hesitantly. "But powerful or not, I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar State."
Fong's eyes glinted. "Then it's settled. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State and then you'll face your destiny."
Aang rose angrily. "No. Nothing's decided -"
His fierce outburst was cut off by Sokka's input. "Actually, you know what, the general has a point." Ignoring Aang's spluttering and weak protests, Sokka turned to face a triumphant general. "Mind if I talk some sense into this young man?" Sokka said dryly. General Fong eagerly acquiesced, and with a beckoning of his finger, Sokka walked outside, Aang trailing his wake.
When they reached the place where they were the night before, Sokka turned around. "I know you probably don't understand, Aang, but -"
"Are you kidding? I'm the only one that understands!" Aang said with an intensity that raised Sokka's hairs. "Don't you realize that I haven't even mastered the four elements yet? Fong might have his own idea for my destiny, but let me tell you right now that I'm going to be pursuing my own destiny." He turned away from Sokka, but not before the watertribe boy grabbed Aang's arm and whirled him back to face Sokka. "What are you doing?"
Sokka sighed. "Aang, if you really want to do things your way, fine. But think about it. While you're gallivanting across the world, doing who knows what, mastering the elements, the war's still going to go on. Take a look over there." Sokka pointed to the infirmary down below, where a steady stream of injured soldiers slowly trickled in and out. "Those are casualties of war, Aang. And those are the lucky ones. Because they came back." Aang looked down at his feet, shuffling uncomfortably. "Every day, people are dying, Aang. The Fire Nation takes lives. Who knows? Maybe in the future, they'll take my dad's life. But you have the power to end this war now." Aang was beginning to waver, lips pressed into a thin frown as he surveyed all the war had caused, knowing there was far more than the eye could see that had been caused by the war. Sokka rushed in for the kill. "And what about my family? We've already had our mother taken from us. And now, my sister is all alone, while I and my dad are away trying to end this war, not knowing if we'll ever come back." He could see the tears starting to fall from Aang's cheeks. Sokka felt bad for playing the pity tile, but he pressed on. "And there's hundreds and thousands of stories like ours, Aang. You have the potential to give these people a happy ending. Shouldn't you do that? Your responsibility is to the world, after all." Sokka struck a nerve. Aang buried his face in his hands, and they stayed there for a long time.
When Aang finally looked up at Sokka, his face was as expressionless as if Koh had stolen his face. "I'll do it," he said in a monotone voice.
The sun was decidedly not shining bright on the day Aang decided to stray from his intended path.
"This rare chi-enhancing tea is a natural stimulant. In an ordinary warrior, it improves strength and energy ten-fold. In you, it may induce the Avatar State." Fong, Sokka, and Aang were seated outside, sitting on top of pillows, watching as the General poured a strange brew into a cup. Fong offered the cup to Aang, who reluctantly took the cup.
Aang surveyed the tea in his hands with apathy. "Ten-fold energy, huh?" He steeled himself and brought the cup to his lips, and took a tentative sip. All of a sudden, his eyebrow started twitching uncontrollably.
"I suppose he could talk the Firelord to death," Sokka said dubiously as the airbender's ordinarily energetic nature was magnified beyond all proportions.
"IsitworkingIsitworkingIcan'ttellSomebodytellmeifI'mintheAvatarState'causeIdon'thaveagoodviewofmyselfAmItalkingtooloud?" was Aang's indistinct chatter as he zoomed up and down the outside setting where they were sitting - well, all of them except for Aang. Fong rubbed his beard as he surveyed the situation before him, then smiled. "Well, we couldn't exactly get it to work first try, could we? Let's move on to the next method!"
"I'm starting to think this thing is never going to work," muttered Sokka as Aang slammed into a pillar with an audible "Oomph". Sokka started to wonder whether Aang's initial misgivings weren't unfounded after all.
They were in a chamber, dimly lit by torches that looked like they were going to die off within the next five seconds and by lamps that were put in the center of the room. Like seriously, that was a serious waste of space. When Sokka had the chance, he was going to give some architectural lessons to the rest of the world. It sure looked like they needed it. At the end of the strange parade of lamps and whatever those green metal things were, there were statues of weird, predatory felines with manes - some sort of lion. They acted as the guards for some weird stairway that lead to a tall, enigmatic door with a brown circle with a dot within above the passageway.
Aang was dressed like a madman - wearing a piece of garb from each of the four nations. Besides his own Air Nomad clothing, he had on a Earth Kingdom belt, a Fire Nation kilt, a Water Tribe cloak, and an Earth Kingdom Army helmet with a plume of green leaves topping off the bizarre ensemble. An bald oracle with wild, bugged out eyes stood on the stairs, wearing a strange vest - hopefully not from animals - and having wrappings around his arms. He raised a jug of water and a bowl of dirt with dramatic flair. "You are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations. Now I will join the four elements into one! Water -" he poured the water into a large pan before him. "Earth -" he poured in the dirt. "Fire -" he dropped his wares and tossed a torch into the strange mixture. "And air!" he finished, taking out a bellows and blowing air onto the pan. "Four elements together as one!" And with that, he flung the contents of the pan onto the Avatar.
Aang examined himself briefly, then only had one thing to say: "This is just mud!"
"So ... do you feel anything?" the oracle asked quizzically.
Aang was about to answer when suddenly he lifted his head and raised his finger. Everyone leaned in, curious as to what had happened. Perhaps he did feel something?
Their question was answered moments later when Aang sneezed so forcefully that everything around him became encased in mud.
As the gooey substance trickled down General Fong's beard, he shook his head. "There has to be a way..."
"Or maybe we just need to follow the actual cycle. This isn't accomplishing anything except eating up time and causing delays. Even if this does work in the first place, how are we going to get him out of it?" This was the final straw for Sokka. The entire day, they hadn't so much as taken one bite of food just to explore radical options for trying to induce the Avatar State. Sokka had had enough. He was meat-deprived, bored out of his mind, and highly concerned for Aang's welfare. The boy was sneezing, for La's Sake!
General Fong shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I say we call it a day."
The beleaguered Avatar opened his mouth to say something, but then collapsed unconscious into Sokka's arms. Sokka raised an eyebrow at General Fong. "Is this a side effect from the tea?"
General Fong shrugged again. "Beats me. I only even know of it because one of my soldiers told me about it."
Immediately General Fong found himself staring into Sokka's snarling face. "You did what? You fed a tea to Aang that you didn't know what would happen? What if the person who told you about the tea was a spy? What if Aang would be poisoned? Our last hope would be gone!"
General Fong looked extremely uncomfortable, and Sokka could feel the general's fearful trembling under his iron grip. "Well... worst comes to worst, we could just wait for the next Avatar..."
"Oh, really?" Sokka said calmly, but internally he felt like grabbing the old General by the throat and throttling him to kingdom come. "So before you were talking about how people were dying everyday and how the Avatar had the power to end that right now. And now you're saying we can wait another decade or two for the next Avatar to come? What kind of trash is your mouth made up of, man? You're crazy!" He didn't even wait for General Fong's hastily constructed response. "I'm in half a mind to punch you. You know what? That's what I'm going to do." Sokka's fist connected with the general's head, and the mighty general lay sprawled unconscious on the floor. He looked to see that none of the soldiers bothered to make a move, utterly shocked at the words their General had spoken. At least that was good. His jubilant mood quickly disappeared as he realized the gravity of his situation. "Ugh! So what am I going to do now?" he whined. "We were supposed to get an escort to Omashu and be well on our way there, and now look where we are! Aang's out cold, this crazy general's out of commission, and I'm left all alone." He sighed. "I guess I'll let Aang be for a while, and then we'll be on our way. You guys don't mind if we leave without an escort, do you?" He glared pointedly at the soldiers who had witnessed Fong's comeuppance.
None of the soldiers dared object.
His head hurt so much. His body felt like a herd of rhinos stampeded over him - that almost did happen once, during the war. But his face felt like it had been hit especially hard - he couldn't even move his mouth.
He groaned and got up. What had even happened? He turned to his second-in-command, Colonel Cai. "Cai, sir."
Cai regarded the General derisively. "General, sir."
"Can any of you tell me what happened? Everywhere feels hurt, especially my face." He took a closer look at his surroundings, noticing that the sun was shining down from the east instead of the west of evening. And where were the two boys? He hadn't even gotten started on his methods! "And where did the Avatar and his friend go?" he asked Cai.
Cai narrowed his eyes. "They left. Without an escort. Because they didn't trust you anymore. And to be honest, none of the troops stationed here are loyal to you anymore."
Fong's eyes widened in shock, then anger. "What in the world are you talking about, Cai?-"
Cai simply tossed a piece of paper to the General. "After a long correspondence with the capital, you have now been demoted. I'm in charge now." Fong's face dropped as he realized he had sacrificed his life's hard work for nothing. "We can't have anymore slip-ups or nutcases like yours," Cai informed Fong as the former general sank to the ground in despair.
What... what have I done?
Aang was on top of the same mountain he had stood on when he had first communed with Avatar Roku. His predecessor stood before him, face somber as the old firebender gazed down on the young airbender. "Roku, I -"
Roku raised a hand. "At peace, Aang. As your past life, I am always with you, and am always within you. As such, I am well aware of the situation you were put in today."
Aang suddenly became worried. "Wait. Did something happen? Did anyone get hurt? Did the Fire Nation attack?"
Roku shook his head. "No, although I do wish I was conferring about that with you. The situation at hand is much more dire. I believe it is time for you to learn." The mountains before them vanished, and suddenly, they were on the back of Fang, soaring through the sky amongst the clouds. Tens of hundreds of glowing figures stood atop the intangible tops of condensed vapor, and Aang recognized all of those faces. They were the faces of previous Avatars, his own past lives.
"The Avatar State is a defense mechanism that empowers you with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars." The scenery before them changed to that of a mountain range, Avatar Kyoshi standing at the base of one of the mountains. She began a series of moves Aang assumed to be earthbending - and then her eyes glowed. They stopped glowing, and Aang suddenly heard a rumbling sound. He turned around and saw two enormous statues of what appeared to be badger moles. They were a fraction of the size of the mountains, but they were astoundingly huge. It was not possible for any bender to even attempt to nudge the statues. But when Kyoshi bent them, it seemed to take absolutely no effort out of her to lift them up and shoot them through the air.
"The glow is the combination of all your past lives, focusing their energy through your body." They were suddenly in the ocean, next to an Avatar from the Water Tribes. Aang was shocked to see empty wells in the Avatar's eyes where life and joy should have existed. Anger and grief reigning in the young man's eyes. With a determined glare, the man's eyes shone briefly, and he raised his hands, creating a massive tsunami that propelled him and the raft he was on through the water with rapid ease.
The scene then changed to a grassland. A forest provided a backdrop to the airbending woman standing at peace. Suddenly, her eyes glowed, and she whirled around, creating a massive gale that caused all the trees to lean away and the grass to bow down.
"In the Avatar State, you are at your most powerful." A Fire Nation Avatar was settled in a wide stance, arms held below his stomach. His eyes gleamed, and with a push to the air, he sent molten lava from four volcanoes shooting into the air, and the flows cascaded down in a fiery waterfall. "But you are also at your most vulnerable."
"Wait. W-what do you mean?" Aang asked. He was able to grasp that the Avatar State was immensely powerful, and granted him abilities no one else was able to wield. But there were limitations? The scene suddenly reverted back to the clouds where all the previous Avatars resided.
Roku supplied the explanation. "In the Avatar State, you are channeling all of your past lives. Although this means you gain access to their power and wisdom, it also means you put them in a state of weakness. If you are killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken, and the Avatar will cease to exist." Aang's eyes widened.
"Oh no..." he whispered in horror. "What was I about to do?"
Aang suddenly woke up with a start, finding himself on Appa's back.
"Wakey-wakey, Avatar," Sokka said teasingly. His voice lowered as he got more serious. "In case you're hungry, there should be a meal you can find in the sack we have."
"Sokka, I can't do it!"
"Wait, what?-"
"I'm not going to master the Avatar State. It's too dangerous! General Fong's idea was a horrible one! No matter what he says or does, I won't do it! I won't! If I die in the Avatar State, I won't even be reincarnated! Please, Sokka, I know you want this war to end, but we can't do it this way!-"
"Woah, woah, woah, Aang! Settle down! No one's gonna force you to do anything!" Aang blinked at Sokka, and then took a look below Appa.
They were hovering over a forest, green foliage extending in every direction as far as the eye could see. There was no signs of people anywhere. Aang shook his head to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, then took another look. Nope, no crazy general's base in sight. Aang looked askance at Sokka.
Sokka was only too happy to answer. "I kinda eventually figured out that this general was off his rocker, so I decked him and hightailed it outta there. We're on our way to Omashu, with no escort, unfortunately. Although that means you and I can continue off from where we left off!" Sokka scratched his head. "Now, where did we leave off?" His eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah, something about pessimism and sticking to the facts!"
"How many times have I told you, Sokka, looking at the downside of everything is lying even more so than being hopeful?"
"Dude, you have to face the facts. If you look at everything realistically -"
"You mean pessimistically -"
"Same difference."
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
Aang frowned, and then got an idea. "Is too!"
"Is not!" Sokka shouted triumphantly. His victorious smirk was soon wiped off his face as the realization that he had been duped hit him. "Hey!"
And Aang's and Sokka's laughter rang out through the air as they floated above the clouds.
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