Trunks had watched Zuko's ship sail away, he considered shooting a ki blast and destroying it, but he decided to give them a second chance. Next time he wouldn't. Aang recovered quick from his outburst, and decided that he would take Katara, Sokka, and Trunks to see the Southern air temple, in the morning. Right now everyone was asleep, but Trunks couldn't bring himself to doze off, his mind buzzed with all that had happened.
Where and when exactly was he? All of this bending stuff was completely new to him. Maybe the machines coordinates messed up and brought him to a different planet, but that doesn't explain why there are humans here. ''Ah! This is so confusing.'', he thought to himself.
After a good half hour of sleeplessness, Trunks decided to meditate the way Gohan taught him to so long ago. He sat cross legged with his back straight, his fingers on top of each other and his thumbs touching. He closed his eyes and peered into the darkness, focusing only on the pulsating energy in his core. However, oddly enough he could feel something in the darkness, a very faint energy.
He snapped his eyes open, looking around the tent the villagers gave him, scanning for any odd energies. He spread his senses wide, he could feel the sleeping villagers and animals near by, nothing was out of place but Trunks was sure he felt something. In the end he chalked it up to just a blip, but he still couldn't bring himself to sleep.
'Oh well, doesn't look like I'm sleeping tonight so I may as well get some practice in', he thought, as he stepped out of his tent. He slowly levitated into the air, as not to wake anyone, and took of so he was a good distance away from the village. "This should do". He took a capsule out of the case Bulma gave him before he left, pressed the top, and threw it. *Poof*. In front of him now was a giant spherical ship with capsule Corp written boldly across it.
Trunks entered the ship and headed for the control buttons, 20x Earth's gravity would be a decent start. He removed his top and pressed the large red rectangular button, watching the room turn crimson as he felt his body become heavier. Taking his stance, he started some of his katas. He was a flurry of roundhouses, jabs, hooks and straight kicks, though slow to him anyone on this world would find his movements undetectable due to sheer speed. Next he flipped back, landing in a handstand, and began his 1000 push ups. Trunks trained until day break.
Aang was the first to wake up, giddy with excitement at the thought of taking his new friends to see his home. He rushed about setting up Appa's saddle for the journey, it would take a while to get to the Temple. An hour after Aang, katara and Sokka woke up, likely woken up by the racket.
"Aang what are you doing so early?", Sokka grumbled.
"Just getting ready to go". Aang jumped off Appa, looking around confused. "Uh guys, where's Trunks?"
As Aang asked the question Trunks swooped in from above, landing behind Sokka and causing him to jump.
"You have got to stop doing that!", Sokka yelped.
"You've also got to tell us how you do that", Katara chimed in.
"Hehe, sorry, maybe later", Trunks said rubbing the back of his head.
"Where were you anyway?"
"I couldn't sleep so I headed out for some light training, I didn't want to wake anyone up so I headed away from the village. I also caught a few fish for the trip." Trunks popped down a net of a few dozen fish in front of Sokka.
"Trunks... I love you", Sokka said, hugging him.
"Guys let's get going!", Aang shouted as he jumped back onto Appa.
"Alright Aang, stay calm", Katara laughed. Katara had been quiet for a while, to be honest she didn't sleep much either. Aang was so exited to go back to the Temple, but she knew he wouldn't find the home he lived in. Katara hid her concerns behind a smile and climbed into the flying bison.
"OK Aang, let's see this fly shall we", Sokka mockingly said.
Aang only smirked. "Appa, YIP YIP!".
With a growl and slam of his tail, Appa soared into the air as though he were weightless. In a matter of seconds they were among the clouds and Sokka could only peer over the edge, slack jawed, as Katara gave him the 'I told you so' look.
After a few hours of flying, Trunks could feel the lack of sleep begin to weigh on his eyelids so he thought he'd try and catch up on some on the way to the Temple. He lay down with his arms behind his head and dozed off, falling asleep nigh instantaneously.
In his dreams Trunks could hear something and could make out some strange images. Flashes of a man filled his head. He wore an orange tunic and his hair fell framed his thin face. "Find the ancient one".
Trunks snapped his eyes open. They'd landed.
"Wakey wakey", Katara laughed.
"Guess I must have knocked out the whole way here".
Aang began hurrying everyone to the Temple. "Hurry up guys, I've got so much to show you!", he said as he pushed Trunks along.
Looking around the place did look amazing architecturally, but it also looked abandoned, like a ghost town. It was clear that Sokka and Katara knew what had happened, and Trunks got the jisttgat it was t anything good.
"Guys look, I used to play airball here", Aang pointed toward a place covered with stumps of wood. "and that's where the bison would be", he pointed at a clearing next to the air all field. Suddenly, Aang's expression became sombre.
"what's wrong Aang?, katara asked.
"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs, now.. It's just weeds."
Sokka could tell Aang was upset and decided to change the subject. "Hey, why don't you show us how to play".
"I'd like to play too", Trunks said.
Soon Trunks and Sokka where in the air ball field with Aang. The young airbender rotated the hollow ball in the palm of his hand, smiling, he threw the ball into the sky and then launched it forward with a roundhouse kick. The ball ricocheted of the stumps, heading towards Sokka who braced himself for impact, but it was Trunks who stopped the ball. Trunks couldn't airbend the ball so he was just using small bursts of kiai to launch it back, it wasn't nearly as effective as Aang's bending, which gave him a greater dexterity. After a few minutes Aang had won, the score being 5-7, Trunks managing to get a few shots past.
Getting down off the stumps, after being bruised by the air ball in multiple places, Sokka noticed something metal in the snow. Getting closer he could see what it was, and so could his sister. A Firebender helmet.
"We have to tell him", Sokka told katara.
"I think Sokka's right on this", Trunks agreed.
Reluctantly Katara called Aang, but when she saw his smiling face she quickly covered the helmet, and Sokka, in snow.
"What is it", Aang asked.
"Nothing, just a new waterbending move", she lied.
"We can do that later, there's a whole temple to explore"
Aang led them all to the centre of the temple, stopping to show them a statue of his master monk Gyatso. Aang bowed to the statue in respect, a hint of remorse in his eyes as he stared at the effigy. They carried on further into the centre until they came across a massive door, an intricate mechanism placed on it.
"Where are we going Aang?" Katara asked.
"To the sanctuary, there's someone I'm ready to meet."
"There's no way someone's survived in there for 100 years Aang".
"Well I did in an iceberg".
"Fair point", Katara admitted.
"Hey Aang, you want me to open this thing?", Trunks asked. He could see any other way of getting it open since there was no keyhole.
"Nah, don't worry I've got the key". Aang made a sharp inhale, filling his lungs with the dusty air, before strutting his arms out and blasting a gust straight into the two openings in the mechanism. The sound of Bells and whistles could be heard, as they watched the machine whirr. Slowly the gigantic wooden door opened, revealing a large room dimly lit by a ray of sunlight.
A unanimous "Woah!", came from the three non airbenders.
Walking in, they could see the hall was filled with statues of people in a large spiralling fashion. The statues swirled around, going all the way up to the ceiling.
"Who are all these guys?", Katara asked.
"These are all the previous avatars", Aang explained. While Aang walked the rest of them over to a statue of an old man, Trunks felt the energy he'd felt before. It was coming from deeper into the vault, almost calling him. He walked over, past hundreds of statues, until he came across the source of the energy. An old wooden statue.
"Weird, why are you giving off energy?", Trunks thought. He stared at the figure, a sleek man with shoulder length hair and a goatee. It was different from the others, for one it was wood, but it had something else with it. A snake like entity circled it, some sort of spirit it seemed. Trunks couldn't help but gaze into the eyes of the statue, which possessed an eerie feeling of life, entrancing him. Suddenly, they flickered gold, followed by the entity around it lighting ablaze. The half saiyan flinched in surprise, suddenly finding himself in a completely different place.
"What the hell?", Trunks exclaimed. The area was completely white, akin to the room of spirit and time. He walked forward, sensing an energy in the distance, one that he'd felt wandering about before. As he reached it, it vanished.
"Hello there.", came a voice from behind him. Instantly he tuned around, ready to fight, seconds away from blasting whoever it was. However, as he caught sight of who it was, he was shaken. It was him, the man in the statue. "I'm Wan, the first Avatar, and you're a problem"
"That depends, why have you been following me like a ghost?". Trunks lowered his fist, it still didn't quite trust the strange man.
"To cut it short, you're breaking the balance".
"What do you mean?", Trunks asked.
"It's hard to explain, but this world exists in a balance, and your energy just can't exist here. It can handle a bit, but you've got way too much. If you carry on using it, you risk completely throwing off the balance."
"Is that why Aang went crazy at the North Pole when I powered up?"
"Yeah. You overloaded the world energy limit of this world, and as the Avatar it all filtered through him, triggering his Avatar state."
Trunks felt a bad, regretting that he could've hurt Aang. "So what do I do? I'd leave, but I'm stuck here for the time being. If my energy risks throwing this world off balance, I'm practically a ticking time bomb?"
"Well that's why I'm here", Wan smiled. He walked over to Trunks, holding a hand out to him. "I'm going to send you to an old friend of mine." Trunks thought for a moment, considering if he should trust this guy.
"I have a duty not to wreck this world, so I guess I have no choice". Trunks grabbed his hand, and instantly Wan was gone, in his place a goliath of a creature. "I'm guessing you're Wan's friend then?", Trunks remarked.
"Indeed I am", The creature replied. He was, in every essence of the word, huge. Resembling a kind of turtle and lion fusion, the beast emanated a raw aura of prestige, wisdom, and reverence. Trunks watched as it extended a claw towards him, but couldn't move.
"What are you doing!? Let me go!", he yelled.
"In order to keep your power from destroying this world, I must alter it to that which is stable". The lion turtle held out his claws, positioning them on Trunks' chest and forelock. "in life I would grant humans the gift of fire, but to you I grant with it knowledge". With a flash of light, he was back in the room.
He felt different. He didn't feel as charged. What had that lion turtle done to him? "He said he would change my energy". Trunks held out a hand, meaning to conjure up a ki ball. He focused the energy to his hand as he would usually do, except instead of ki, he shot out a wave of flames. "What!", He yelped in surprise.
"Trunks!", called Sokka from the entrance. "We're going to check out the other places, you coming?"
"I'll be there in a minute, you guys carry on", he replied.
"Suit yourself", Sokka said, walking off.
Trunks got up, trying to draw out his ki. He took his regular fighting stance, throwing a few punches. His physical attacks were significantly hampered, only being able to use his biological strength; however, he couldn't bring forward any ki in large amounts without making fire. He breathed in deep, clenching his fist tight, and then launching it forward, releasing a condensed ball of flame.
"Damn it! I'm stuck in this world and now I need to get my powers back, what a pain!". He'd need to learn how to Firebend for the time being , his attacks were looking pretty weak compared to the attacks he'd seen at the village. About to head out the door, he felt a spike of Aang's energy, immediately followed by every statue around him lighting up.
Trunks bolted towards the group, instantly finding hurricane force winds the moment he stepped out. The wind speed caught him off guard, nearly blowing him off the mountain, however he was still able to push through with a little force.
"Aang, stop! I know it hurts, but you have us! We're your family now!", Katara cried out. Trunks could see her getting closer to the boy, and thought he'd have to knock out Aang before he hurt her, but to his surprise the airbender descended.
The young monk fell to the floor, tears streaming from his eyes, as he regained his breath. "I'm really the last airbender, aren't I?", Aang muttered.
Trunks put a hand on his shoulder, feeling bad for the kid, and understanding how he felt. "You're not alone in that. I'm not an airbender, but I am the last of my people, just like you", he comforted.
