Hey guys, Jack here with a new chapter. I know, I haven't updated for a while. To be honest I was a little burnt out on Avatar in general. My current health state hasn't helped the situation either. But, hey, something is better than nothing, right? So without further delay, let's get on with it:
I awoke to the crackling of a fire. It was nighttime out. I could see the stars through the branches above me. With a groan, I blinked a couple of times and tried to sit up. Pain in my midsection quickly put an end to that, and I fell back onto the sleeping bag I was laying on. I took slow breaths with my nose. My entire core felt sore and breathing quickly became a careful process.
Slowly, I moved my hands up my sides and front, feeling the bandages that were wrapped around my ribs and upper stomach. Okay, so I'd been injured, badly from what I could tell. I didn't remember much of anything after the end of the fight in Omashu. Although as I lay there, it occurred to me that getting stabbed was probably why I was in so much discomfort.
I turned my head toward the campfire. Aang was asleep, curled up on Appa's legs. Closest to me was Katara. She was sitting with her back to me and it looked like she was sewing on something. Across the fire from her was Sokka, who was idly nudging the coals with a stick. Every once in a while, Katara would pause in her movements and look at a scroll that was open next to her. She'd study for a few moments, and then return to her original task.
"You've read that thing five times, checking it again isn't going to change anything," Sokka said the third time she did this.
"There's got to be something I'm missing," she replied, not looking up from the scroll.
"Katara, relax. You said it yourself, he needs time to rest. Your boyfriend will be fine," he said. Katara sat up straight at that.
"Boyfriend? Who said anything about a boyfriend? I didn't!" she said, a little too quickly. Sokka's eyes narrowed at his sister.
"I was just kidding, but are you…" I chose that moment to cough, interrupting him and getting Katara's attention. She was over me in the blink of an eye.
"Morgan, you're awake!" she said, relief in her voice, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got stabbed," I replied as she helped me sit up and lifted a waterskin to my lips.
"You're lucky. The blade missed all your organs. Closing your wounds was easy, with the Spirit Water Pakku gave me," she said as I drank. Hearing her words, I spat the water out and began to cough and sputter.
"You did what?!"
"Hey, Morgan, relax. She saved your life with that stuff," Sokka said. I had to clench my teeth as I lay back on my bedroll to keep from going into a full on panic attack. My memory of the show might have been come and go, but I defiantly remembered the small vial of Spirit Water that Katara had, and the importance it played later on.
"You shouldn't have done that. I'm not important enough," I said quietly.
"You're important enough, both to me and the group as a whole. So I don't want to hear it," Katara said. As she went about inspecting my wounds, I couldn't help but chew my lip with worry. With the Spirit Water being used on me, what was suppose to happen to Aang during the showdown under Ba Sing Se?
We were losing altitude, and fast.
Flying east, we found ourselves under a gray overcast sky, and over the sprawling greens and browns of a massive swamp. All of us were preoccupied with our own thing. Aang was flying Appa, Sokka was sharpening his machete, Katara was studying a waterbending scroll, and I was mainly just laying there watching the clouds go by. My ribs were still wrapped up, and moving was often more hassle than it was worth, so to pass the time I spent the day strapped into the saddle in an effort to make a little movement as possible.
It was actually quite maddening, given how little I could move. But it was the only way I could travel without huge amounts of pain later on, so I was forced to bite my tongue and imagine shapes in clouds as they went by.
We'd been flying for a while when the decent started. Sokka was the first to notice, halting in his sharpening in order to look out over the side of the saddle.
"Hey, any reason you taking us down for a reason?" he asked. Aang didn't answer. I sat up some, to where I could just barely see the top of the Air Nomad's shiny scalp. He was starting at the wetland below in a trance, like a moth drawn to a flame.
"Aang, why are we going down?" Sokka asked, a little louder and a little more forceful this time.
"What? I didn't even notice," Aang replied, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.
"Are you noticing now?" Sokka asked. I peeked over the side of the saddle and could see that we were descending at a decent angle. Katara's eyebrows met together in puzzlement.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, setting her scroll to the side and moving to the front of the saddle.
"I know this is gonna sound weird, but, I think the swamp is…calling to me," Aang said.
"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka asked, a hand on his stomach. I rolled my eyes. Ever since my injury, I'd been relieved of cooking duty until I fully healed, and Sokka hadn't let it go this whole time.
"No, I…I think it wants us to land there," Aang answered.
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land ON," Sokka countered.
"I don't know," Aang said, "Bumi said if I wanted to learn earthbending, I'd have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"
"Yes," Sokka answered without hesitation.
"I don't know, there's something ominous about that place," Katara chimed in.
"What do you think, Morgan?" Aang asked. There was a buzzing in my ear before I crushed a mosquito against my neck with a slap.
"Hard pass," I said. At that moment, Momo let out a chirp and Appa a growl.
"See, even Appa and Momo don't like this place," Sokka said.
"Well, since everyone feels so strongly about it: bye swamp," Aang said before giving his usual yip yip and a crack of the reins. Appa kicked his feet and sored skyward again, almost as if he was happy to get far away from this place.
The tornado came out of no where and ripped us out of the sky after that. No, that's not me being overly dramatic. An honest to God tornado appeared, ripping trees up as it went, picked us up and spat us back out. The other three got torn off the saddle, while I remained in place due to my restraints. Appa was forced down through the trees, and got hung up in the vines on the way down.
As the sky bison kicked and clawed in an effort to get free, I undid my restraints and stood to the best of my ability.
"Hang on, big guy, I'll cut you loose," I said as I drew my hunting knife and started to cut some vines. Even Momo helped, scurrying all over the flying bison and chewing through the plant material. The vines finally gave way, sending the two ton fluff monster and myself falling to the swamp floor twenty feet below.
Not gonna lie, I screamed like a little girl the whole way down. The impact was enough to put me on my backside and knock the wind out of me. As I lay there, gasping for breath, Appa tried to take off again, only to get hung up in more vines.
"Hey, big guy? Looks like we gotta walk from here," I said as I started to pull myself back upright and Momo started the process again of nibbling the sky bison free. After that, Appa began to slowly trudge his way across the swamp floor. I just rode on top, not entirely sure of what to do. There was no sign of the others, or any other human life for that matter. Wildlife, however, was in abundance. There were always bugs, birds, and frogs all chirping and croaking at each other.
The noise became more of an issue as night fell and Appa found some random fallen tree to sleep on. While he lay down, Momo was busy scampering all over the place, looking around for a source of the constant noise around us. I lay back in the saddle with a blanket over me as I watched the stars through the canopy above.
For the first time since I woke up, it was just me and my thoughts.
I had to find a way to refill Katara's Spirit Water vial. Without it, Aang and the Avatar Spirit were surely doomed. Taking Azula down wasn't an option. She was just too good. Even if I had the drop on her, she'd probably come out the other end of the encounter okay. Her friends had probably told her about my waterbending by now, so that cat was out of the bag and advantage was gone. I could shoot her. Humans can't dodge bullets, even less so if they don't know it's coming. But that was to be a desperate last resort. Besides, according to the Spirit Girl, there was someone out there hunting for me, specifically.
Just when I thought my afterlife couldn't get even more convoluted, something new was bound to happen.
Appa let out a massive bellow, which silenced the trees around us. Momo came and curled into a ball next to me before falling asleep, and I was quick to follow him.
There were three boats, each with two men sitting in them. They all wore leaf hats and lion cloths, and worse, they looked hungry. I stood on Appa's head with my bow at the ready and Mono sitting on my shoulder. For several heart pounding seconds, there was only the noise of the swamp.
"Do any of you speak Common?" I finally called out.
"Hm, what do ya make of that?" One of them asked.
"He got a bow, Du. Could be dangerous," the one that shared his boat replied. A frown crossed my face.
"Oh yeah, cartoon Florida," I muttered to myself. The swampbenders had been amusing to me when I was small. Now that I was close enough to possibly hear banjos, it was much less so.
"Look, if it's all the same to you guys, I'd really rather not fight," I spoke up.
"We don't trust outsiders, stranger, you'd best get on and leave you're tasty friends there," the one named Du replied. He and a partner in another boat stood and began to rotate their arms. A rather large wave was generated between the craft and came straight at Appa. Thankfully, the bison stood his ground, and so did I. My own arms moved in a parting motion, and the wave split around us. The frown on my face deepened as I felt the strain of such a move deep in my chest. If the swampbenders ever noticed it, they never let on, as they were too in awe at what I had just done.
"Hey, you're a waterbender! That means we're kin!" Du yelled out with a bright smile on his face. I tried to return the smile, but could only give a pained grimace. The good news was all I had to do now was wait around for the others to track down Appa. Bad news was that I was stuck to the closest thing this world had to backwoods Florida residents.
"Well, at least they're not trying to eat us," I said quietly to Appa and Momo. Both of them grumbled themselves, and I couldn't agree with them more.
Misty Palms Oasis.
If John had to choose two words to describe the small outpost on the edge of the Si Wong Desert when he first saw it, they would have been 'overly disappointing'. It was a small cluster of adobe buildings, huddled around a rather pathetic mound of ice that rose out of the sand. There were hardly any palm trees for shade, and hardly any signs of life either beneath the merciless sun. In fact, the entire place looked like it would be swallowed by the desert within another ten years or so. Still, when the gunslinger stepped into the only tavern within the settlement, he was more than happy to be in the shade.
The guide he had 'recruited' had been left out in the wastes, to be picked apart by the buzzard wasps like his cohorts before him had. John justified it to himself as the man had tried to turn on him and get free. He'd had no choice but to shoot and kill him like the others. Now that he saw the interior of this small tavern, a rather cold part of his mind was thankful that he had pulled the trigger. In a far corner were some men wearing the same style of desert clothing his captive had been. No doubt, if he'd shown up in here with him still alive and at gunpoint, there would've been trouble.
Instead, he crossed to the bar, where a man was using a pair of short swords to craft fruity drinks.
"What can I get you, stranger?" the bartender asked, eyeing John and his odd, sweat stained clothing.
"Can I trade for something to drink?" John asked, setting down a gold trinket he'd found on one of the desert people he'd been forced to deal with. The man picked the trinket up and eyed it for a short moment before giving a quick bite. Satisfied, he gave a quick nod a quickly prepared an icy drink, complete with a straw and an umbrella. John took the drink and sat himself at a small table in a corner. Other than a single candle contained in a small, shallow wooden bowl, there wasn't much to look at. He removed his hat and laid it on an empty chair before staring down into his drink.
Where did he go from here?
It had been made clear that home wasn't an option, at least, not until his task was complete. But, how was he suppose to complete it? He had no money, no idea of where he was, not even a change of clothes or a canteen to call his own. Even the language was proving to be a barrier. Sure, everyone seemed to speak English, but the few signs and posters he had seen were all in Chinese. If he was going to last, he was going to need to learn how to read the local script, and fast. He was also going to have to find a way to make some money. There were only so many trinkets that he'd gotten off of the desert dwellers, which meant he'd have to figure it out quick if he didn't want to go hungry.
A figure bumping his shoulder brought John out of his thoughts. He looked up tiredly, expecting to find yet more trouble ready to try and collect some form of debt it seemed to think he owed. Instead he found himself looking at a man in his mid thirties. He had a receding black hairline and was dressed for travel in the desert, however he was much more well kept than anyone in the cantina currently.
"Oh! My apologies, I did not see you there," the man said. John blinked in surprise. For the first time since this whole crazy situation had started, someone had actually shown him manners.
"Think nothing of it," he replied, almost like he was in a dream. The newcomer went to turn away, but paused and looked back at him again with a curious expression.
"Begging your pardon, but would you happen to be a mercenary of some sort?" he asked.
"Do I look like one?" John asked with frown, looking down at his sweat stained clothes with confusion.
"You do, somewhat. If I may, I would like to inquire about hiring your services," the man said. John looked up at him again and was about to turn him down, but then he hesitated. He'd already proven that he was effective with his guns, and he was in desperate need of cash, or whatever counted as such around here.
"What's the job?" he asked. In need of cash or no, John wasn't about to dive head first into a no win situation.
"I need an escort for my next expedition into the desert. The sandbenders have only gotten bolder in recent months with their raiding parties," the man explained.
"Expedition?"
"Oh! Yes, where are my manners? I am Professor Zei, head of anthropology at the University of Ba Sing Se, and I am currently preparing an expedition into the Si Wong Desert to look for evidence of lost civilizations," he said, extending his hand to shake. John eyed him with a sense of caution. Yet, something about this so called Professor perked his interest.
"John Marlow. And, well, if you need a hired gun, I guess I'm your man," he said as he shook Zei's hand.
"Excellent! Tell me, Mr. Marlow, what do you know about Wan Shi Tong?"
And cut. That's what I got for this time around. Remember to read, review, and let me know what you liked or didn't like, and I'll see you all next time.