Book 3: The Original Earthbenders
Travel was uneventful. The United Earth Kingdom's population was mostly clustered in large population centers, so they didn't encounter too many small villages or towns while they wandered. The meandering path through the forest kept them safe from the Energybender's search, but also meant they had to sleep in the dirt and forage for food. On the upside, removing dirt from edible roots made decent earthbending practice.
"So the way I see it, Avatar Sen, is Korra and Aang both knew Energybending too. So, if we get you to the point where you can do that whole talking to the past lives thing, you just ask Korra what to do, and bam, Howler's gone."
"Howler?"
"Some people call the Energybender that, because you know, there's a howling noise when he…when he does his thing, you know."
Sen had gotten livelier and more talkative, but it was probably best not to remind him about the Energybender's ability to rip people's souls out. Wasn't good for morale.
"So how do we get me there," Sen asked. "I tried just talking to myself, you know, 'Hey Korra', and I got nothing."
"I don't know. Spiritual stuff is not my area of expertise. I'm just spitballing ideas here."
"You're a really terrible master, you know."
"Hey, am I making you call me Guru? I'm just a guy trying to do his best."
They paused and glared at each other for a bit before continuing their walk. Sen squinted, and he could barely make out a plant he recognized and tore the soil around it out of the ground. Earthbending was pretty easy for him now that he was actually trying.
"I'm sorry Hanjo, it's just kind of hard, neither of us knowing what we have to do."
"Don't worry about it," Hanjo said. Sen tossed him a chunk of the root, and Hanjo took a bite of it. He tried to talk and eat at the same time, but the root was tough and bitter. He finished chewing before he continued.
"I figure I'll train with Earthbending same as you, and then I'll be a master. Maybe I'll learn some cool technique too."
"Yeah, Avatar teammates have a habit of doing that. You think you'll learn lavabending, or maybe invent a new type of bending?"
Hanjo grinned to himself.
"Funny you should mention that."
"What, you got a new technique in mind already?"
"No, not that. You'll see. Anyway, back to what you said earlier. You making it official? I'm part of Team Avatar?"
"I don't see why you wouldn't be."
"Awesome," Hanjo said. He'd been limping the past few weeks, but he started to take on a strut. That was a mistake, now his leg hurt like hell. He started limping again. Sen laughed at him.
The geography started to change. Less big trees, more scrub grass and small bushes. Mountains were starting to show in the distance.
"We should start turning east. Seems like we're coming up on the desert."
Trying to cross the Siwong would only end in a very dead Avatar, and that wasn't what they wanted. East would take them to the coastline, and then they could follow it north towards Zaofu.
"Makes sense. You want to head for Zaofu? The Beifongs have always liked the Avatar, they'll probably help us."
"We might stop there, but I don't think we should go to the Beifongs. Howler's probably on our tail, and he'd be watching them."
Sen nodded. The Beifongs and the Metal Clan were powerful, but the Energybender had proven his power as well. It would be better to avoid his attention entirely than risk a confrontation they might lose.
"So where are we going, then? You seem to have a destination in mind."
"Well, long term, I figure we head for Republic City and Korra's Portal. We find an Earthbending master on the way, and then we go into the Spirit World to help you do the talking-to-Korra stuff. After that, we can come out either the North or South spirit portals to throw the Energybender off our tail."
"That's a good plan," Sen said.
"I've been thinking about what I'd do if I was the Avatar for a long time," Hanjo admitted. "Although you weren't part of the plan."
"Well my plan for being the Avatar was not being the Avatar," Sen said. "So we've both been thrown off."
They turned east and kept moving. The trees started to come back, and the soil got softer underfoot over hours of walking. As days went on the terrain shifted again, gradually becoming rockier and more mountainous.
"This is going to be a problem," Hanjo said.
"How do you figure?"
"How many plants grow on mountains? We can't climb over them if we rely on foraging. We'll have to go around, or stop at a town and get supplies before we make the climb."
"If we stop in a town that could put the Energybender on our tail."
"Which is why this is going to be a problem," Hanjo restated. "But honestly, I think we should risk it. I know I can't be the only one getting sick of roots. Finding a town would let us get some real food."
"We find berries now and then," Sen argued.
"Not to mention we could get a map, and if we keep anyone from realizing you're the Avatar, we might be able to score some transportation."
"We've got feet," Sen argued.
"You really don't want to go to a city, do you?"
Sen shook his head.
"Well too bad," Hanjo shot back, grabbing Sen by the wrist and dragging him away from the mountains. "Good Avatar's listen to their Team, and as I represent all of Team Avatar, your team votes find a town."
"When I talk to Korra I'm going to ask her if you can fire someone from Team Avatar," Sen mumbled. Hanjo laughed at him.
Hanjo led the way to what his gut told him was the direction of a town. They didn't find one, but they did find a road, and roads usually led to towns, so it was just as good.
Hanjo led the way down the trail of upturned soil, occasionally flicking a pebble back at Sen to test his reflexes and his earthbending abilities. Sen deflected them all easily. Eventually Hanjo decided it was time for a bigger test.
"Alright Avatar, let's see your progress," Hanjo declared, stopping suddenly. Sen came to a halt behind him, sighing. "Before we reach whatever town we're headed for, I want you to be able to lift a boulder as big as me! Get started!"
Sen shrugged and turned his attention to the ground. He was actually fairly confident in his Earthbending, despite his lack of practice. It was coming naturally to him.
With a stomp of his foot and a sweeping pull of his arm, a large chunk of earth tore itself free of the ground and began to hover in the air. It was slow going and unsteady, but it was definitely moving. Sen reached out with his other arm, twisting it in the air, and the clod of soil started to stabilize and rose steadily from the ground.
"Alright! Now move it towards me for a size comparison."
"Why don't you just walk over there?"
"Learning experience," Hanjo declared. Sen grunted.
With a gentle sweep of his arms he commanded the earth to move left. When Hanjo was satisfied with his progress, he took a step or two towards it, sparing Sen the effort of moving it further. Hanjo examined the rock to see if it met his criteria.
"It's a little shorter than me," he said skeptically. "But I suppose it's wider around, so I'll give it to you. Good work, Avatar!"
Sen exhaled heavily as he let the stone drop. That wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Apparently being the Avatar wasn't a free pass to bending talent.
"You've made really good progress considering you couldn't bend at all a week ago," Hanjo reminded him. "Don't be worried if it's a little challenging."
Sen wasn't exactly proud, but something about Hanjo's tone felt condescending. He decided to level the playing field.
"Let's see you do the same thing," He challenged.
Hanjo thought about it for a moment. He examined the rock that Sen had finished moving and rubbed his chin.
"Alright," He said. "I guess it's not fair for me to boss you around if I can't do it."
That's all Sen wanted to hear. He sat down and watched while Hanjo readied himself to match Sen's feat of earthbending.
"Keep in mind I'm injured, alright? Don't hold it against me if I screw up."
"Not a problem."
Hanjo braced himself and imitated Sen's motions, focusing on the rock. Things started to shake, but not the rock. Hanjo looked around.
"Did I do that?"
The ground shook again. It definitely wasn't Hanjo. Sen stood up and looked around.
"Maybe there's a railway nearby?"
The rumble stopped and started again. Hanjo shook his head.
"Train's don't stop and start like that," He said. "It's got to be something else."
The rumbling started again, this time even louder and more intense. Sen looked at the ground. They were still on the road, standing in the middle of the dirt path. He looked up and down the path. The rumbling had gone on without stopping for an unusually long time.
Looking down the path, Sen finally realized what was going on. He grabbed Hanjo by the collar and dragged him to the side, towards the tree line.
"This isn't a road!"
Hanjo wasn't able to question what it was for quite a while, until Sen had finally stopped choking him by dragging him by the collar. Once they were clear of the not-road, Hanjo finally got a chance to breath and ask what the heck was going on.
"What the heck is-"
He didn't actually get the chance to ask what the heck was going on, because before he finished asking, the heck that was going on burst out of the ground. A gopherlion tore itself out of the ground, crawling along the dirt path that its tunneling created. Its fur was mangy and scratched, showing that it had been in combat lately. It sniffed the ground where Sen and Hanjo had been walking.
"Oh, that's what's going on," Hanjo said. Sen shushed him.
The gopherlions mane shuffled as it sniffed and huffed at the ground. Eventually its nose reached the stone that Sen had been moving, and its head took a sudden turn towards the tree that Sen and Hanjo were hiding behind.
"Oh crud, run!"
Sen grabbed Hanjo by the collar again, gagging him once more.
"What are you doing," Hanjo coughed. "We can't fight a gopherlion!"
"Just start Earthbending," Sen ordered. "I have an idea."
Sen stomped the ground, sending a shock through the earth. The gopherlion had stopped tunneling, but the rumbling hadn't stopped.
The gopherlion caught sight of him almost immediately, and began its attack. They weren't particularly fast on land, but they were huge and they had powerful claws. If this didn't work, Sen would probably get mauled. What a way to go.
Hanjo found his courage and backed him up. He lifted the biggest stone he could and sent it flying towards the gopherlion. It was an amateurish attack, and not particularly good, but the gopherlion avoided it out of instinct. Between Sen and Hanjo, they managed to keep the Gopherlion at bay until reinforcements arrive. Gopherlions avoid rocks out of instinct because they have a natural rivalry with badgermoles.
With a final, massive rumble, intense enough to knock Sen and Hanjo off their feet, the badgermole ripped open the ground beneath the gopherlion and dove out of the ground, catching its foe on massive claws. The force of the impact carried both the massive tunneling beasts far from the pair of earthbenders and deep into the woods. Sen was more than happy to let the two of them duke it out far away from them.
"How'd you do that," Hanjo said. His eyes were wide with surprise and admiration.
"We're all earthbenders," Sen said. "I figured it would give us a hand if it knew we were in trouble."
He could hear the two beasts howling and clawing at each other in the distance. The scratches on the gopherlion had let him know the badgermole had to be near, so from there it was just a matter of letting it know where they were. Still, he was a bit surprised it had worked.
Eventually the animalistic sounds of combat slowed down and eventually stopped. Sen dared to peek out from behind the tree. He could barely make out the Badgermole through the trees. No sign of the gopherlion.
"I think it won," Sen said. "Come on. Maybe we can help it."
"Help it? It's a giant earthbending monster!"
"Gopherlions have claws too," Sen said.
Hanjo stayed behind while Sen moved back towards the clearing that they'd mistaken for a road. The badgermole was there, but it didn't much look like it had won. Its skin was torn all over, and it was lying on its side, breathing heavily. Sen walked towards its face.
The badgermoles blind eyes stared forward, ignorant of the world around. It didn't react to Sen's movements. He stomped on the ground once, making a shockwave just like his first fight with the bandit. The badgermole suddenly sprung to focus, its eyes frantically darting around. It saw Sen, but didn't focus on him, continuing its scan of the area. A circle of displaced earth showed where the gopherlion had tunneled to make its escape, but it looked past that as well.
After a while the badgermole lurched to its feet, barely able to stand, and began calling out. Sen tried to calm it down before it hurt itself even more. He knew almost nothing about badgermoles, so he tried petting it like he would a dog, avoiding the claw marks in its furry hide. That didn't work, so he decided to step back and let its panic play out.
It crawled some distance away, and then came to a halt. Sen heard shuffling and heavy breaths. Then squeaking. Badgermoles didn't seem like a squeaking animal. He decided it was time to investigate.
He stepped slowly around the wounded animal, trying to get to its face again. He heard more squeaking, growing faster and more frantic. When he finally reached the front, he saw the source.
A young badgermole, small for its kind but still nearly the same size as Sen, was stomping in circles in front of the larger badgermole, squeaking as it stomped. Every stomp sent a small shockwave through the ground.
"Oh no," Sen said. He suddenly realized what he'd done. "You came because I thought I was…"
The wounded badgermole looked at Sen, and at its child. Its breathing was slower and more ragged now. The young badgermole stopped stomping and pressed its head against its mother's cheek, letting out a low whine. Sen sighed and looked the badgermole in the eyes.
He stomped his foot once, creating a shockwave again. The badgermole felt his presence with its seismic sense. Sen stomped again. The younger badgermole also turned to look at him. He gave a final, massive stomp, heavy enough that the large badgermole lurched and the younger one was sent off balance, tumbling away from its mother. Towards Sen.
The mother gave one last heavy sigh. Sen didn't know if it was clever enough to understand his purpose, but he hoped it had. He put his hand on the young badgermoles head, trying to calm it. It worked much better than it had on the mother.
Hanjo had caught up, finally, to see what was going on. He saw Sen cuddling with a badgermole, and once again had to question what was going on in his life.
"She came to protect us because she thought I was its child," Sen said, his voice heavy with guilt. There were tears welling up in his eyes.
"Oh," Hanjo said quietly. He didn't quite know how to process this. Eventually it all caught up to him, and he knew what he had to say.
"Well, Sen, you're one step closer to being an Avatar."
Sen didn't say anything. He was focused on the badgermole he'd orphaned.
"You've got yourself an Animal Guide, the way I see it."
Sen stared at the badgermole for a while, and then smiled.
"I guess I do. What do you say, kid? Want to be an animal guide?"
The little one stomped again, creating a ripple that knocked Hanjo and Sen to the ground.
"He says yes," Sen grunted. He got off the ground and grabbed his new companion by the chin. "Let's call you Gun."
Sen started walking the way they'd been travelling before this whole incident, and Hanjo followed him. It was time for them all to move on.
"C'mon Gun! We're on the road again."
Gun grunted once, and promptly disappeared underground. Sen dove after him a little too late. He stared at the patch of displaced soil where the badgermole had been sitting.
"That was embarrassing," Hanjo mumbled.
"Well," Sen grunted. "It's not like we were friends, right? We knew him five minutes."
"Still, it seemed kind of…destined, right? Like it was meant to be."
"Let's just go on," Sen said.
The duo started walking again, and as they moved, they failed to notice a lump of shifting dirt following their heels.