Chapter 16
Confrontations
Breathe in.
I gently stroked Katara's hair as the girl sobbed, heartbroken. As soon as we had gotten far enough away Katara had started crying. I hadn't realized just how badly she had fallen for Jet and now I was regretting the advice or lack of it that I had given her back in the tree house.
Breathe out.
I stormed away from the Gan Jin tribe, furious. I could not believe their audacity. They completely brushed off what I said and then called me ignorant. Snarling I kicked a rock, sending it skittering over the deserted ground. I hated this. I hated being like this, I deserved more respect then that. They had no right. No right.
Breathe In.
"I know you have your secrets and you know what, I'm okay with that but the second you feel that you can tell us let me know. We all care for you and we all trust you. I just would like to see that you trust us." He told at me softly.
Breathe out.
"Prithvi," I called, "I need to talk to you."
"I do not believe I said that I would come when you called." I opened my eyes and looked up. Prithvi stood above me appearing completely solid. I quickly stood from the stony ground I was sitting with my legs crossed. Wincing, I realized that they had fallen sleep as the feeling of pins and needles assaulted them.
"You just did." I pointed out as I brushed dirt off my legs, my face twisting in annoyance. Prithvi glared at me.
"The purpose of mediation is to clear your mind," he added, ignoring my statement, "not to go over everything that has happened in the last week." This turn it was my turn to glare. Prithvi sighed.
"Why did you call me Madison?" He asked. I took a deep breath. Better get this over.
"I have some questions that I need answered." I admitted, my eyes taking in the small clearing I had been sitting in.
"No." I paused then turned to look at Prithvi.
"What do you mean no?" I snapped, "I have every right to know considering you warned me about him." Prithvi shrugged.
"There are rules. If a spirit breaks them the punishment is severe."
"Aren't You one of the spirits that would discipline the rule breakers? Who would argue with you?" I barked. My anger growing. I wanted answers.
"There is a level of accountability among even the stronger spirits." Prithvi stated icily. "I cannot tell you more than I already have when it comes to Lung." I grimaced. All Prithvi had told me about Lung was that the spirit wasn't to be trusted and that he was Prithvi's brother. Not a lot of information to work from.
"Why do you suddenly want to know so much about Lung?" Prithvi asked me. "Are you truly interested in him or is it something else that you wanted?"
"I've been…" I trailed off, unsure of how to articulate my feelings.
"Noticing that there isn't as much change as you expected?" Prithvi asked. He still hadn't moved from his position. I was beginning to wonder if it was a trait of his to never move.
"That's one of the things. I thought making change would be easy but I've been struggling with it."
"That tends to happen and you life is only going to get even harder from now." I frowned and crossed arms.
"What do you mean?" I asked. Prithvi rolled his eyes.
"Spirits can see human's memories. That hasn't changed with you. We know your past we even know the future of the world as well as you do."
"Then why can't you change the world!" I cried. "Why do you need me at all!"
"Spirits are not allowed to interfere. We cannot take action. The only spirit who can is Ravva and she can only interfere with the current avatar. No one else." Prithvi stated.
"So you use me to make the changes you can-"
"I do not." Prithvi snapped, "I know better. Loopholes have a tenacity of biting the one who had the nerve to use it in the first place. However some spirits are not as wise and would use you to make changes they wanted to see." My brow furrowed in confusion. I had a suspicion of who the particular spirit Prithvi was talking about was.
"Lung?"
"Him and others like him."
"Why would they want to use me?" I demanded, frustration building.
"I have already told you that. I am sorry Madison, I can tell you no more." Prithvi turned and then he was gone. I stared at the place the deity had been standing, with the distinct impression that I wanted to dropkick him across the planet. My lips curled as I stalked out of the clearing, I was furious and I just wanted to beat something into a pulp and at that moment I didn't care what it would be.
"Pala are you okay?" I turned to see Katara looking at me. I shrugged.
"Fine. Just frustrated. Where are you going?" Katara looked up from the bag she had been adjusting on her shoulder.
"Going into town, we're out of food." I frowned, but nodded. Running out of food tended to happen when you had a twelve year old boy, a fourteen year old girl and another boy of sixteen. All three were at that age when they needed to eat a lot so that their bodies would keep growing. While Aang was used to the occasional fasting which is why he had done so well back during our time at the great divide. Back there it was only my anger at frustration that kept me going. Although that might have been because the only ones who went without food was the guide, Aang and I.
"I'm coming along." I told her firmly. Katara smiled.
"That's what Sokka and Aang said." I chuckled and nodded.
"Well let's get going then. Okay?"
"I think this melon is rotten." Katara pointed out to the seller as she held the watermelon up for inspection.
"It's not rotten."
"It's making a swishing sound when I do this." Katara insisted, moving the melon side to side. The saleswoman snorted.
"That's all the ripe juices swishing about."
"Actually that's a sign that it is in the early stages of decomposition." I corrected from where I was inspecting a pomegranate, "A melon that's properly ripe should still be firm enough to make no noise." The saleswoman glared at me, apparently she had seen Katara as a good way to get rid of the fruit that had passed its expiry date.
"It's alright." Katara stated quickly, "We're out of money anyway." A shiver of cold went up my spine. I recognized that sentence and hearing it caused a shiver to run down my spine. I knew this part of the story. It was the storm.
"Great, no food and no money." Sokka complained. I shivered. Autumn was fully set in and there was a distinct chill in the air.
"Well how about you find a job." Katara suggested tersely. I knew she probably didn't really mean it but she had a point. We needed money and not from that fisherman.
"I'll do it." I quickly spoke up. I wasn't going to let Sokka get on the same ship as that old man. We'd go and save him but I was not going to endanger anyone in the meanwhile.
"Don't be ridiculous I can do it."
"Well you're not" I replied in a brisk manner. Sokka shot me a glare.
"Pala, a word. Alone."
Sokka dragged me away from everyone out of hearing range before looking me dead straight in the eyes.
"I've told you before I'm okay with you keeping secrets but I'm going to do what I think is best. If you know better you have to tell me why first." I fell silent. What was I going to tell Sokka? What could I tell him? I stared at Sokka blankly. I had no idea what to say.
"Sokka, I..." Sokka frowned and turned to leave.
"Wait." He turned.
"I don't know how to start and even if I did... I don't think anyone would believe me." There was the strangest look in Sokka's eyes as he nodded.
"It's okay. I promise I'll listen and keep an open mind." He grinned, the same smile he used when he was about to pull out the sarcasm.
"I've seen the avatar be resurrected, ended up in the spirit world and been more than halfway across the world on a giant fluffy monster. Nothing can surprise me anymore."
"I'm not from here." My breath caught. Was I really going to tell Sokka. An image flashed in front of my eyes of Sokka with a betrayed expression on his face which quickly shifted to anger before he left.
"Of course you're not. You're from Kangaroo Island."
"No..." I was beginning to shake. It was now or never, I had to let them know.
"I'm not from Kangaroo Island. I've been lying. I've been lying since I met you and Katara." I looked up from where I had been staring at my feet. Sokka's face was blank as he took that in. I quickly averted my gaze to the side. I didn't want to see the betrayal on his face.
"Not everything. I mean I've told you guys the truth about my family, just... some of it was altered and some things I let you believe that you decided yourself and stuff like that. I never lied about how I felt about-"
"Pala, calm down. You're ranting" I looked back at him. His eyebrows were pressed against his blue eyes. Still, all I saw was sincerity.
"I know you were keeping your secrets for a reason. I just don't know what that reason was." I nodded, licking my lips.
"So if not from Kangaroo Island... where do you come from?" I took a deep breath. I was almost crippled by the fear invading my very bones.
"I'm not from here." I repeated. I couldn't think of anything else to say. It was too hard. How on earth was I supposed to say that I had been from another world where this one was just a story? Why was it so easy for all those fictional characters that people made up to say so?
"You're not from the earth kingdom?" I winced. Sokka wasn't going to guess unless I told him straight out. I didn't blame him. No one would instantly assume that someone had come from another world.
"I'm... not from this... world." I winced on the last word. I didn't know what Sokka would do. It was then I noticed how still the air was. Not a gust of wind, not the slightest movement in the trees. Not that I had expected anything less, a storm was coming.
"You're from the spirit world." In hindsight I realized that believing I was a spirit was the next logical step for Sokka to take.
"No, well, no not really. I passed through there on my way here apparently but I don't remember it. I come from a world where bending is a story. A legend. It wasn't real. Or at least most people didn't think it was real. And I'm rambling again." I blushed deeply, embarrassed. Once again I looked up at Sokka, he was shocked. His mouth hung open and his eyes bulged.
"Another world?" He asked incredulously. Then something else occurred to him.
"Another world... where we're the legends?" I nodded mutely, as one hand subconsciously reached up and began stroking my necklace. I stayed quiet as Sokka reached the next conclusion.
"You know what's going to happen. You know our future because you heard it in the legends of your people." I stared at Sokka in shock. I had known he was smart, brilliant even but this was farther then I would have ever guessed. It was now my turn to stare. After a moment I nodded again. I swallowed and sighed.
"That's why I didn't want to let anyone know." I admitted, my body shaking.
"I was scared. If I told someone then either they'd think I was crazy. Or you'd stop respecting me as a friend and companion and all I would be is your Virgil in the Inferno or someone would spill and let someone know and then our enemies would start going after me to and-"
"Sokka! Pala! Aang's run away!" I jumped and spun to see Katara looking up at us, eyes wide in fear. My heart stopped. I was still breathing fast, reeking of panic but my heart had stopped. Aang was gone and I knew exactly why. While Sokka and I had talked the old woman and her husband had come up and just like in the series, the fisherman insulted Aang just like he had in the series.
"Come on, we need to go." I stated briskly, "Aang needs us and we have to get to him before the storm sets in."
The ride on Appa was awkward. No one talked. Sokka was thinking over what I had said and I was fearful of what his reaction would be. Would I just become a guide? A cheat sheet for their life or would they still be able to look at me as their friend. As if I was no different, only that I had some wisdom that could help them along the way like Roku or Iroh. Katara was focused on steering Appa and looking for Aang.
We found the cave that Aang was hiding in easily enough, but not before it began to rain. We ran inside to see Aang sitting with his back to the entrance, clearly upset.
"I'm sorry I ran away." He murmured softly. I stayed back, letting Katara give the assurances.
"It's okay, that fisherman was way out of line."
"No he wasn't." Aang replied, not even looking at us. Sokka shot me a worried glance but I ignored it. Instead I walked past the three of them, into the back of the cave. There was a lot of twigs and sticks and here and there, dried moss. Good tools for starting a fire. I stopped when that came to my mind. Back at home I had gone camping but it had never been as far from civilization as this was and it had never involved surviving off the very land itself as Sokka and Katara and even Aang had taught me to do.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
I picked up a bundle of the wood and dropped it in a pile in front of Aang and Katara. Sokka sat to the side slightly, seeming deep in thought. While Katara and Aang talked about the dream, the nightmare Aang had last night I set up the small fire which would reduce the cold and damp.
After the fire was started and Appa had joined us inside the cave Aang began his story. I knew it well. While he talked I mentally drifted away, my mind going to another story that was ongoing at this time. The story Iroh was telling the crew of Zuko's ship at this very moment.
"The world needed me and I wasn't there!" Aang shouted, pulling me from the images in my mind with a start.
"Aang, you're being to hard on yourself. Even if you hadn't run away you might have just died like the others." Katara reasoned.
"You don't know that."
"You know, normally I'd agree with you but I think my sister is right this time." Sokka pointed out, "Maybe somethings have reasons for happening."I looked up at Sokka and allowed myself to smile. Something told me that he wasn't just talking to Aang. I took a deep breath. My turn.
"What's done is done, Aang. You can't change what's already happened. You can only change what is going to happen. Try to think as every day you wake up as a second chance to right what you got wrong the day before." Aang smiled at us lightly and nodded.
"Come on, let's get going."
"Help!" I jumped at the shout. An elderly woman dressed in a heavy rain poncho. Katara stood up and ran towards her, eyes wide in shock.
"It's okay. You're safe." She assured the woman. I quickly hurried over and helped support the woman until we reached the fire. The woman was old, her jowls hung down like a bulldogs and her wrinkles created shadowy folds across her face.
"But my husband isn't."
"The fisherman?" Sokka asked, standing. The woman nodded.
"He's still hasn't returned and he should have been back by now. The storm is a typhoon. He's caught out at see and no one will go out in this weather." I turned and looked at Aang.
"It's your choice Aang are we going to save them or stay here." Katara and Sokka sent me incredulous looks but I ignored them. Aang frowned before his eyes set in determination.
"We go."
A typhoon was an understatement. It was everything I could do to hold on to Appa's saddle. The rain was blinding and icy cold. Sheets of ice water which stung my face like needles. Aang sat on Appa's head, steering. Katara and Sokka sat beside me, both struggling as much as I was.
"I can't see anything!" I screamed, unsure if they could even hear me over the howling wind and thunder. This was a thunderstorm mixed with a hurricane. It wasn't natural.
"The boat! There it is!" Katara bellowed. She pointed. I followed the finger. A little wooden boat bobbed on the tossing sea, a twig over rapids. It was helpless as was the elderly man desperately trying to control the sails.
"I can't land Appa there!" Aang shouted to us. I nodded.
"Just take us down as close as you can. We'll do the rest." I didn't hear Aang's response if he even made one. A strong gust of wind almost knocked me off-balance. Sokka grabbed my arm. I winced at the strength but didn't say anything. Appa descended in jerky moments that scared me out of my wits. Soon enough we were close enough to the boat.
"We have to jump!" Sokka shouted. I nodded despite the fear gripping me. I was going to be brave. I didn't have a reason to be scared. Taking a deep breath I gripped Sokka and Katara by the hands and we jumped.
I hit the deck and collapsed to the ground. Sokka and Katara let go of me, not wasting a second. Sokka began helping the old man get control of his sails and Katara began bending water out of the boat, easing its load. I stumbled to my feet quickly and ran to join Sokka and the old man. As soon as the sails were secure I grabbed Sokka.
"We have to leave the boat and get him onto Appa."
"This is his livelihood! We can't leave it!"
"If we don't he won't have a life to worry about!" I screamed.
"How do you know that?"
"You have to trust me." Sokka looked worried but nodded. He grabbed the man and started dragging him over to Katara and I. Aang was coming back down. It was going to be hard but this was a risk we had to take. As Aang swooped down with Appa, Sokka and the old man jumped, reaching for Appa's tail. They landed, Aang having left the bison's head to help the elderly man up to the saddle. Katara and I were next. With a cry I launched myself from the boat, Katara right beside me. We hit Appa's tail with a loud smack. We clambered up, shaking and wet onto the saddle.
"GO! GO! Go!" My voice was raw and by the last word it cracked painfully. Aang spun Appa around and we flew away the giant wave forming right on our tails. We flew for minutes although it could have been hours. Every time we tried to fly in the direction of the village we were forced to turn around. Finally Aang turned us into the eye of the storm.
I watched the fire as I picked apart the fish meat on my lap. We had managed to escape somehow and reunite the woman with her husband. The elderly couple had been grateful and given us a meal. Three good-sized fish. I had told my friends that we needed to get completely dry as well as our clothes. Aang had kindly air dried everyone and now we sat beside a roaring fire with three beautiful smoked fish sitting on our laps. Even Aang was partaking in the meal, which told me just how hungry the young avatar was.
"So are you going to tell them?" Sokka asked me as he moved to sit beside me. I shrugged.
"I don't know. I mean, I'm sure Aang would appreciate having someone else to share the burden of the world on his shoulders and all but Katara..." I paused and looked deeply into the fire. The coals glowed in an ethereal light, casting dark shadows across the faces of my friends.
"You think she'll reject you?"
"She's fourteen and naïve, her world is all black and white. She might believe me but she'll be angry I kept it to myself and she'll think that I will always have to take action to try to change things."
"Do you really think that?"
"Katara's a nice girl." I told Sokka, "but I don't know her as well as I should."
"Maybe give her a chance because if I know and Aang knows but she doesn't... she won't forgive you for a while."
"I know that Sokka." I sighed, "I'm not completely ready to tell everything."
"I'll wait." I smiled at Sokka. In the fire a large snapped loudly.
"Thanks."
I am so so sorry that this update is so late. To make up for it though I'm posting two chapters at the same time chapter 16 and chapter 17. I severely underestimated how hard it would be to move and unpack in an entirely new place and to add to that we got a kitten three days ago. A little eight week old cat is now added to the family and getting underfoot as well doesn't help anything. On another topic I'm for sure going to be able to update once again every Saturday for the foreseeable future. I'll let you know if something changes about that. Also I've been thinking of renaming myself Firebrand, the book that Princess Kassandra (AKA Princess Kassie) was named for. Anyway thank you for your patience and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to write back to every review. I hope that will change as well. Anyway. Once again thank you and I hope you enjoy chapter 17 of Change the World.
~ Princess Kassie (Soon to be Firebrand) Out.
