Author Note: Woah! We're finally up to chapter 20 and nearing the end of book 1. Thanks everyone who has stuck with me so far! I greatly appreciate you all. Please remember to follow, favorite, and review. It greatly helps with my motivation and the frequency of new chapters. Have a wonderful and awesome day!
Chapter 20
Appa roared as he broke through the clouds. Team avatar sat along the saddle as they hovered high above the winds. Eyes fixated ahead as they were moving deeper and deeper into the fire nation. Avatar Roku, the prior reincarnation of the avatar had told Aang to go there so they could communicate for a longer period. He needed to give Aang a warning and a lesson on his next steps for their journey. Aang, also needed help to aid Benjamin…
Katara sighed as she knelt along the saddle. Her hands combing through Ben's hair as she used her free hand to move up the blanket over him. His eyes were closed, his breathing was hollow. He looked to be asleep, but Aang told them the gravity of the situation.
When he entered the spirit world, he couldn't leave. His soul or rather spirit…was lost there and they needed to enlist Roku's help in getting him out and back to the world.
Jet sat there and watched the fallen Jedi. Hands through his hair as he sighed. "I still don't understand, what happened?"
"Well, you see…"
Jet shook his head, rendering Aang mute. "No, that's not what I mean. Benjamin, he is different. He's changed ever since that time in the forest."
"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.
Jet leaned against the saddle. Eyes fixated on Ben as he remarked on what he had heard through the grapevine and rumors. "He's meant to be this powerful jedi…taking on all these people and great warriors. He destroyed Zhao's warship, killed numerous dark Jedi and fire nation soldiers, but after what happened in the forest…"
Katara remembered of her and Ben's interaction beforehand. That spaced out look in his eye and even remarked on his hesitation and fear. "Yeah…" Sokka muttered. He and Jet had a rocky relationship beforehand, but he was onto something. "No…not just before the forest. Ben's been changing slowly for a long time now. Ever since he built his lightsaber."
He remembered that time in the cave. After Ben blasted that creature with powerful volts of electricity that cracked and burnt the air. The way his golden eyes turned into euphoric orange, the way his voice roared as he had to fight with Ben to drag him out of the cave. It was a hunger, he wanted to fight more and to keep on going.
Aang strained his eyes ahead. He didn't understand what was going on. Yet, a part of him felt…guilty. Was it due to him that Ben was struggling so much? He was different from Sokka and Katara because he was told to go with him…
He remembered that time in the end of the chasm…of Ben confessing to him what he had done. Was he forcing himself to go with them?
Aang shook his head, it didn't matter right now…all that mattered was to focus and head to the fire nation and talk to Roku. Finish their conversation and get Ben the help he needs. "So, what are we going to do…" Sokka murmured.
Jet's eyes widening as he turned towards the warrior. "What…" He mouthed as he looked back at Katara and Aang. They were past the fire nation borders at this moment. "You don't have a plan?"
"No?" Aang carelessly spoke. "We usually just wing it like Ben does…or Sokka comes up with something on the fly."
Jet shook his head as his eyes darted to the side. They were here…officially within fire nation territory. He could see the ornate temple along the top of a huge mountain. Aang ushered Appa to descend as the large bison landed far away from the temple but was still close enough to get to walking distance.
The gang began to disembark as Momo curled along Aang's shoulder. The avatar taking him off and pointing towards Ben's body. "You got to watch out for Ben while we're gone." Aang ordered. The feline just staring at him as he let out a sigh. Momo curling along the top of Ben as Aang rolled off of Appa's tail.
"Are we just going to leave him?" Jet asked.
Katara turned towards him. Shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, I don't think we can do anything else. Appa is smart, if there is danger, he'll take him far away…and Momo is trained to come get us."
Sokka nodded his head. Lightly patting the bison as the group began to slowly regroup. Arming and mentally preparing themselves for the coming journey. "Jet, your swords…where are they?" Sokka questioned.
Jet looking behind him instinctively, those blades were apart of him for the longest of times, only to sigh in defeat. "That dark jedi from before, destroyed one and I had to leave the other behind. Next time we are in another town I'll get a replacement."
Jet didn't like the idea of getting replacement swords…but he knew it had to be done, especially because he was traveling with the avatar now. Katara ran up Appa's tail. Going towards Ben's form as she unbuckled his lightsaber from his belt.
A whisk of wind following as Jet instinctively reached his hand forward, feeling the cool glint of metal as he stared at it. Turning the object towards him as he leveled it with both hands. "Benjamin's blade…" He whispered.
He remembered how he used it, how Ben instructed him to look…to connect to the force and locate the shatter point within the dark jedi. Maybe it was due to all the adrenaline and insanity that was happening, but he never truly felt how heavy the blade truly was.
His hand hovered over the trigger, taking a deep breath as he pressed down. The recoil of the blade shocked him as the brilliant purple beam ignited from the hilt. He did a couple of practice swings as Katara remarked on Ben's prior lessons with Haru.
She coughed into her fist. "A lightsaber, it's different from a standard sword. Ben told his apprentice that he would have to get used to its weight."
Jet moved the blade around. Trying to get a proper feel of the weapon. "It's strange, I've never truly used something like this before." He spoke, unigninting the lightsaber and attaching it to his belt. The group began to move forward and into the temple.
Ben's eyes widened in alarm. His gaze unfixed as he stared all around him, it was a place he had never seen or been too before. A place in which he didn't understand or…
It was a mountaintop. Ben craned his head around to take in the sights, even then he felt it coming at him first. The waves of strange feelings that circulated through his body, he knew that the force was at work here.
It was a beautiful place. A place that he could never imagine in a million dreams or a thousand nods, a place which he had to see to know it wasn't merely a fantasy. The smell of the salty ocean, the tint of tendrils of bright green grass that sunk into his boots.
The rays of sunlight that blossomed with wildflowers of all colors that were assorted like rainbows. He could hear the croaking of birds, the way the waves crashed along the cliff edge and even the way the wind pushed through the mounds of green grass.
He stood there on that edge, his eyes going down towards his outfit. He was wearing his robes even then…
"This…it isn't." He was speaking, his words glossed as his lightsaber flailed around with the wind as well. He knew this wasn't a dream, it wasn't a force augmented trance as well. Rather a…
He heard the crunching of sounds coming right behind him. He quickly turned around, drawing his lightsaber as the purple beam ignited from the saber. He eyed the figure that was approaching him. It was a man that was smaller than him. Between 5'11 and 5'9. He wore large traditional jedi robes that covered his whole body, his face covered by the brown hood that hid his features.
"Jumpy, aren't you…" He mumbled as he stared at the jedi exile. Ben let out a sigh as he felt the distinct feeling of the light side of the force, the pressure that was here that exceeded anything he felt before. "A blade that stirs with fear…"
He unignited the blade, attaching it back to his belt as he sighed in response. "You'd be jumpy if you were dealing with the shit I've been dealing with." Ben answered back. He once again gazed off from the edge, seeing the clear blue sky that was unrivaled by any sight he had seen before.
"Your master, she told me to speak with you…she believed that me and you would have an understanding." The hooded figure spoke, right before Ben could utter a response. The man threw off his hood, long neck length brown hair fell from the hood, discarding his heavy Jedi robes. "You're even wearing robes like my own…"
Ben's words were hitched. Almost at a clear and present stop, it took him a second to realize who he was speaking with.
He let out a gust of hot breath. "I can understand why Meetra believed that you would be able to better understand me." Ben answered, he observed the man's features. He glossed down at the robe that perfectly mirrored his very own. "I know of you, one of the rising stars of your order. One of the greatest duelist of his day, even strong enough to contend with the dark lord Exar Kun."
Ben felt the uneasiness of the words. Exar Kun, those words stung deep…not only just to him but to Benjamin as well. Such a name was known by the Mandalorians, and the jedi with his Mandalorian blood made it a message to forever ingrain it into ben's head.
"I know of you, the betrayer…the one that joined Exar Kun as his Sith Apprentice and in the end lost the force after murdering his own brother. To train Vima Sunrider the daughter of the famed Jedi Grand Master, and in his death, he found redemption…I know of you, Ulic Qel Droma."
Ulic and Ben both stared at the other. Both Jedi were exiles of the same order, both were Jedi that fell in war and walked the path of both the darkside and the Sith…and in the end both lost the force.
Though, that was where their situations were different. While Ulic had the force wrenched away from him…stripped from that connection and was only given clarity and the force back after death.
Ben choose to give it up. To only regain back his connection due to the horrors this world was facing, and to once again to protect those he loved. Ben and Ulic were far more alike, Meetra was right to have them speak to one another.
"Benjamin, I have spoken to your master, and she believes that you are ready." He began to approach, his young battle-hardened face displaying an air of maturity of a true warrior of the force, the pressure he exceeded nearly caused Ben to stammer in response. "You've felt it, haven't you?"
Ben didn't need an understanding…he had felt it. Almost like a whisp in the air, when he would call upon the force or swing his lightsaber blade. Something felt off, there was a distinctive change in the air now. A calling in the force which he couldn't explain.
"Good. The time of the Jedi hiding in this world is coming to a close…the age of secrecy of the force is coming to an end, whether the four nations like it or not." Ulic clicked his lips, shaking his head. "The final war shall be determined by the avatar and which side has the strongest force sensitives."
Ben knew what Ulic was talking about. This was never just about bending, the Sith were at play and the fate of this world would revolve around the avatar and the force users. It had to end this way, whether they liked it or not. "Then what shall I do, I won't allow the fire nation or the Sith win."
Ulic nodded his head with the young exile's statements. The old Jedi parting his lips to speak once again. "Benjamin, you are the last of the jedi in this world. There is no reinforcements from our galaxy. No one is going to come to save you from our galaxy, this was a one way trip. I hope you said your goodbyes to your old life."
Ben didn't need to understand, he already understood. He knew he would never figure out what happened to his mother, he knew that the confrontation with the force in his galaxy was not his problem anymore. He was a Jedi of this world…he had to do right by this world because now it was his home.
"Alright, we got that out of the way. It is time to increase your training, the threats shall surely grow. There are only higher mysteries for you to learn. The path you must take within the force…I cannot choose it for you."
"Is it battle that stirs you, to meet an enemy blade upon blade? Such is the way of the greatest of the Jedi warriors…the Weapon Masters."
"Maybe, it is teaching others of the force. To train students of the higher mysteries of the force…the way of the Jedi master."
"…or is it the way of the Jedi Watchman. Men and woman…who have taken the calling of traveling through the systems, to find and train force sensitives in the way of the Jedi."
Ben's fingers combed through his hair. Eyes fixated as he stood with hollowed breath. Eyes to the wildflowers as his thoughts raged like a storm. He had questions and desired answers. One was of his loss of his force abilities. Secondly, Ulic was a great Jedi, but he would be foolish to just ignore the reason behind their meeting…for Meetra to call him for them to speak, she must of found out…
Both him and Ulic…were students of the prior dark lord of the Sith, Exar Kun. Yet, that begged another question. 'Why has Meetra chosen to not face me…why has her voice, her presence chosen to avoid me?'
Yet, they were questions in which he had to find the answers to. But there were still pressing matters, so he dug into himself. "Why me…" He questioned.
Ulic sensed the uneasiness and hesitation. Parting his lips. "You are the last of the Jedi…such prestige classes are rarely ever attained. Yet, your circumstances are different. As being the last Jedi of this world, your feats during both the Mandalorian and in this world, and finally as protecting the avatar…such an exception must be made."
Ulic felt the tension go down within Ben, smirking in response as Ben dug into himself once again. A Jedi master, one of the masters of the force. He knew for a fact that he wasn't ready to attain such a role. It took ten students to become a true master of the force and he had only trained one. It also left an icky taste in his mouth, he didn't know how to explain it, but he didn't like the idea of it.
Secondly, the way of the weapon masters. Ben had spent his time with his lightsaber and was relearning his forms. He had nearly relearned all Shien or Form V through his battles and numerous practice sessions. Yet, to be considered a true weapon master…one must learn all the lightsaber forms. Even including Jar Kai.
Still…he was a long way to go for both forms. Yet, the third and final one, it made him feel something else. The way of the Jedi watchman had been disbanded for years. Ever since the time of Exar Kun it had been gone.
Ben turned towards his friends…to Haru, the boy he found in that backwater town and trained him to become a Jedi. Now he was using the green bladed lightsaber of his grandmother, going, and liberating the frontier from the fire nation.
'The watchman, they have seeked out force sensitives…protecting the innocent and training them.' He glanced down at his hands. Fingers curled into two steady fists as he knew his choice.
"Ulic, I have decided." His eyes glossed from the flowers and to Ulic. Mind concluded as he knew his choice. "I wish to walk the path of the Watchman…"
Ulic noded his head. "It isn't some great test. Decide who you want to be and keep on training, learn the way of the force and teach it to those you feel can handle it." Ulic spoke those words, almost like they would be parting. But both men knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
He sighed as he stared at the aggravated teenager. "Yet, I suspect that you aren't satisfied with this. Trust me, I am not finished yet. I bet you even have questions of your own…"
After sneaking around the temple and being caught by the fire sages. Team avatar pushed through the hidden passageways. Being led by the fire sage as they eyed the roaring pit of lava.
The fire sage turned around, eyes locking towards Jet belt. "A Jedi?"
Jet quickly turned back. Waving his hands. "No…it's my friends, he's a jedi."
"A jedi…" The fire sage turned back. To the wandering path ahead as team avatar continued up. "I've heard about them before. Only high-ranking members of the fire nation are told of their existence…likewise of the Sith."
Aang didn't speak. Yet, there was a question dawning on him…a question that Benjamin couldn't answer. Aang ran up towards the fire sage. Explaining to him about what they had found along the southern air temple. The fire sage held a look in his eye, the look of guilt and regret.
"It was horrible you know…the prior fire sages were not allowed to interfere with fire lord Sozin. It was a massacre; I am so sorry young avatar." He apologized.
Aang shook his head. "No…you're alright. Helping us shows your loyalty and how you want to change things. Thank you. But that's not all I wanted to ask you." Aang spoke, taking a pause as he uttered in the next part of his question. "…but when I was there. Not a single Jedi skeleton…or a lightsaber. I don't understand, where were the Jedi when my people were getting killed?"
The fire sage took a heavy breath. The man stopping as he turned to face team avatar. His eyes hollow as he desperately clung to himself. He couldn't face them, his eyes fixated on the floor as he knew the next couple of words would shake them.
"The jedi. Yes, young avatar you are correct. It makes sense that you wouldn't find any of the Jedi there. It is because the Jedi did not come to the airbender's aid…they didn't act."
The group stared, and not a singular moment anything happened. "What…that's impossible!" Katara erupted. "Benjamin told me that the Jedi were guardians of peace. How does this make any sense at all?"
"Katara…" Jet spoke. Resting his hand on the base of the girl's shoulder as he turned back towards the fire sage. "Do you not understand how strange this sounds. I don't know much about the Jedi but with my short time with Benjamin has taught me that they wouldn't allow something like this to happen."
"I understand that this is quite the shock, it eludes us as well. Still, you must understand that through all the records there was not any real answer…even the history of the Sith rising once again has been locked away, only accessible to the lords in the Sith academies located along the fire nation."
Sokka tried to think of any explanation. The Jedi had gone into hiding and they even went to a secret academy so Benjamin could find and build his lightsaber. Even now, knowledge of the Jedi and the Sith had begun to spread and not a single Jedi had turned up.
They thought that Ketaru the dark jedi with a green lightsaber was a Jedi like Benjamin…only to realize that he was merely a Sith. They had found Jet and Ben had trained Haru…making there only be two Jedi in the whole world right now.
The thought freaked out Sokka. Yeah, the Jedi could rebuild but that pressure would forever weigh onto Benjamin. Whether he liked it or not, he had a responsibility.
"Come on, Sokka…" His sister spoke up. Grabbing him.
Team avatar went up to the area. The five dragon areas in which all of them were arranged and meant to push fire bending in. Sokka enlisting his idea but failing, but the appearance working in favor. Leading the sages as they unlocked the door with their fire bending. Aang leaping and going inside, but as the doors began to close…
A crimson blade ignited. Zhao…him and his fire benders funneling through the room. Him and Zuko working together as there mean and a dark Jedi pushed through the veil of darkness. Right before he could leap out the door was shut behind him.
The fire benders funneled through the room as sparks of flame ignited. Jet glancing towards his belt, feeling the pressure of the object…the strange feeling it emanated within him. He sighed, grabbing it from his belt as he lifted the blade in both hands…igniting the weapon as the purple beam sparked to life. Compounding between the light and the dark as the dark Jedi began to swarm and surround them.
Ulic had his thumb along his chin as he stared at Benjamin. "You ask, why this block in your force powers was created?"
Ben nodded his head. Eyes drawn forward as Ulic strained his eyes off the ground to finally face Benjamin. An answer beginning to form.
"I don't know if this is it, but I think I can offer a solution…" He paced around the area as he spoke. "You've made leaps and bounds in your training…let me try something."
He approached. Leveling his right hand as Ben took a heavy breath. Taking it with his other hand as both men closed their eyes. For a time, it was short, but Ben could feel it. Like the electric current of force lightning or the spark of an open flame.
His eyes snapped open as he broke from the dead Jedi's grip. "How did you do that?" He questioned. Ulic lightly chuckling.
"It was a simple trick that I learned from my master. You've reconnected with the force and had been making leaps and bounds within your retraining. It seems that your mind simply couldn't cope with how vast and infinite the will of the force was…likewise, your feelings have created a shield against it."
Ben glossed down to his hands, curling them into two fists as he tried to immerse himself once again into the force. Trying to draw on raw emotion, only for the attempt to prove fruitless.
"Relax…this isn't something that will come to you immediately. It is something that you must learn, the force is too far vast, and your feelings are a powerful shield."
"Then how do I fix this…I can't fight like this. My core abilities may be able to handle the standard fire nation soldier, but this hesitation will surely get me killed."
Ben remembered that prior dark jedi. How he was merely a toy to be played with and was no real combatant. Without Jet and his natural affinity towards finding shatterpoints who knows what could have happened. 'I need my abilities…I need them, right now!'
"Obviously, through training within the force…if you keep on training and focusing on the path ahead. You shall surely reignite your abilities." Ulic explained, finally an answer presented for Ben as he smirked. Yet, he could tell that Ulic was far from finished.
"Benjamin, I and your master…in this place between life and death. Force spirits, we reside, and we can feel things. Light and dark, but I never believed Meetra and her tales of what you are…of how powerful the dark side is within you."
Ben could feel the way the air tightened between them; it was no secret of who Ulic Qel Droma was. One of the rising stars of the Jedi Order, helping to defeat the onderionion dark side cult and countless other heroic feats. Making his fall even more tragic…
After the death of his master, Ulic went into a dark side cult as a secret agent only to be broken into the dark side due to the complexities of Sith poison and the alchemical arts. Exar Kun, Benjamin's master would find Ulic and duel him. Not that many people know what happened during that duel, but Exar was pronounced dark lord of the Sith as Ulic being his apprentice.
The dark wars or to some…The Exar Kun Wars. A short series of conflicts that nearly destroyed the galaxy, in the end Ulic murdered his own brother and was cut off from the force by Nomi Sunrider. He would later aid them in besting Exar and would wander the galaxy in exile…until his redemption in training Vima Sunrider.
"Your raw force power is astounding and you hold the right of the guardian class with your abilities with the lightsaber. Yet, I can feel the dark side within you. It's a hunger, squirming within you with a powerful complexity of emotions." Ulic grimaced his eyes peering into Ben like heat rays. "Your master…and I know what you have been doing, apprentice. Dark side artifacts, and giving yourself into these dark side powers…"
Ben grimaced. Wrenching his hand through the air as it cut like a blade. "Don't give me that, Ulic. I am not like you or my master…I don't have a choice; I know what I am doing." Ben sighed, wrapping his arms around himself. "To defeat the hordes of dark jedi and the fire nation…to restore balance to this world, I don't have the time to immerse myself into the teachings of the Jedi, I need all the help I can get."
Ulic took a heavy breath. It was like staring into a mirror, another Jedi just like himself…wanting of good intentions to save the world and restore balance to the force. Yet, he knew that immersing yourself within the dark side was the wrong way to do things. If he didn't get through Benjamin of how dangerous the path he is walking…he will surely fall to the dark side.
"Benjamin, I know that you are in pain. Trust me, I can feel the guilt, the hate, the anger…and most importantly the fear." He watched as Ben clicked his lips, feeling the shame run over the young jedi as he continued. "…but this isn't the way. You are the last of the Jedi in this world, the only one that can make things right. If you were to fall to the dark side, you would surely spread for unspeakable evil purposes."
Ben shook his head. Voice steeped with bile and malice as he turned towards the ghost. "I know what I am doing, I can control the dark side of the force." He threw his thumb to his chest. "I fell before, after Malachor V. But I have fri…a new family. I have people that need me and rely on me. I've fallen before but I know that path better than anyone."
"I've thought like you did before…when I was in that Sith cult I imbued myself with the powers of the dark side to hide my presence, I believed that I was immune to it…"
As those words parted. His figure began to change, a powerful flurry of raw emotion starting to surround them like a wind currents. His eyes glowing a deep orange, but it was the mark on his forehead. The mark of the Sith… "If you follow Exar Kun. Just like I did before you…he will turn you into something far less than a Jedi or a Sith, there are worse things in the galaxy…"
"IM NOT AFRAID!" Benjamin screamed. Ulic eyes widened as he stared at him. He could feel it, suppressed fear. That was when Ulic began to understand…he began to understand all what Meetra had told him, was true.
Benjamin…whether he knew it or deluded himself, knew of the slim line that he was balancing on. Maybe, it allowed him to keep himself steady but how long could he keep on acting like this. How many times could he give into his passions and raw emotion until he does fall to the dark side and pitch this world into darkness?
Ulic didn't know what to do…he heard that Benjamin was a problem child, but this took the cake. "…I'm using Exar to gain more knowledge. I am not like you or him, I walk my own path."
Ulic sighed. He tried to warn him…to tell him…he shown him of what he was reduced to, and he knew that Benjamin had heard of his legends. The rest was out of him and Meetra's hands. He could only hope that Ben would stop deluding himself and learn what the force truly was to him.
Ulic raised his head. "Benjamin, we do not have much time right now. Yet, heed my warning…do not walk the path me and Exar had walked…it is one of misery, even I believed I was immune to the allure of the dark side."
He began to vanish as the place began to crumble into itself. His voice still radiating as Ben watched it break as he felt the dirt break underneath his feet. "Heed my words, watchman. Go to the northern water tribe…and meditate there. Your master is awaiting!"
Ben fell into darkness. The heavy light of the sun beginning to grow dimmer as he felt the weight of everything slowly starting to return to him.
Jet laid limp on the floor. Eyes half closed as blood pooled from his nose and mouth. Ben's unignited lightsaber was in front of him as the dark jedi held his shimmering red blade. Zhao stood over the boy as Katara, Sokka, and the fire sage were wrapped in chains.
Zuko and the rest were trying to get the door open forcibly only for the fire sage to tell them how once the doors are opened and the avatar enters…none can open it.
Jet laid there. Consciousness still reeling as his head was in a blur…he could hardly remember what happened. Him and team avatar rushed to best the fire nation soldiers, Katara and Sokka dealing with them, but it was the dark jedi that thrown them around like toys.
He grimaced. Body sore as he tasted the copper along his lips. Eyes fixated along the floor as his ears rung. He was a good duelist, an excellent combatant with his swords but with that blade…he was only able to defend for less than a minute. Force pushed away and into a pillar.
'If only I was stronger…if only I was faster.' He thought. Eyes turning towards the memories, blending together with the burning of his town and his second home due to the fire nation. Red hot malice burned within him. The lust for revenge and to strike back even harder against the fire nation only giving him strength.
Yet, it was Benjamins words reminding him of his abilities…of his potential and how drawing on anger would only hurt him in the process. He squinted as he started to feel like he was underwater.
The dark Jedi held the shimmering crimson blade in hand. Eyes locking along Jet's frame as he stared at the lightsaber hilt. "This wasn't the jedi…this isn't the one that bested Kiara and the other member of the academy."
Zhao watched; eyes narrowed as he traced along the frame of Jet. He wasn't Benjamin but it would be foolish to discount what had happened.
"What is he then…" Zhao asked.
"A force sensitive, surely this one is quite powerful and has a strange feeling within him." He clicked his lips leveling the blade in both hands as he eyed Jet. "He would only become a problem later on…mineself will surely deal with this pest."
Katara screamed for them to stop, only for Zhao to rest his hand on the shoulder of the dark Jedi. "Wait, you've mentioned before that he was strong…if he was taken back to the fire nation. What would the reward be?"
The dark jedi sneered, eyes ahead as he unignited the lightsaber, the red beam traveling back and into the hilt as he stared at the admiral in question. "He shall surely be broken into the ways of the Sith, I do not know what rewards you speak of you would attain…"
There was a bite in the Dark Jedi's words. Clasping through the air and into Zhao's throat. But after they were spoke, the doors began to creak open. The firebenders taking point as they…
The spirit of the avatar, rolling through with a vibrant and powerful flame. Burning through the chains and launching Zhao, the soldiers, and the dark Jedi backwards.
They didn't waste a second…Katara and Sokka grabbing Jet, Sokka tightening Ben's lightsaber to his belt as he was lifted away. Explosions and fire rioting through the temple as all they could do was push down through the hallway. Until Aang collapsed.
The young avatar's eyes snapping open as he began to understand that this wasn't the place to take a break or ask questions. Sprinting with his friends as he airbended a powerful blast to break through the wall. Fresh air funneling through, but as all hope seemed lost…
"You guys need a lift!"
They strained their eyes seeing Appa rise up in a blur. Ben golden eyes shining as he turned towards everyone, awaken as Jet was dropped off into the saddle. The team finally awakened and learnt more of their purpose and abilities now breaking into the air. Farther away from the fire nation…