I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender Enjoy!
The King of Omashu
"There it is, the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" Aang said, pointing towards a walled city in the distance. Celina found the city to be amazing, it was nothing like back home in the South Pole. "I used to always come here to visit my friend, Bumi."
"They have buildings here that don't melt!" Sokka gaped in amazement.
"Well, let's go, slowpokes! The real fun is inside the city!" Aang told them excited and airbended himself farther down the hill that they had landed on.
"Wait, Aang! It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar," Katara warned him.
"You need a disguise," Sokka stated.
"So, what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" Aang asked.
"No, but maybe we can work a little magic to get you one," Celina said heading over to Appa. Running her hands through his fur several times Celina collected enough to use as a disguise. It took some fiddling around with the fur and rope but in the end, she got the result she wanted, a disguised Aang.
"Great! Now you look just like my grandfather," Sokka approved.
"Technically he is 112 years old," Katara pointed out.
"Now let's get to skippin', young whippersnappers! The big city awaits," Aang said putting on an old man voice.
The four of them walked towards Omashu with Aang telling the water tribe siblings how great and friendly the city was. They got to see it first hand when one of the guards earthbended a cabbage merchant's cart into the air.
"Yeah, they sure look friendly," Sokka commented sarcastically.
"Just keep smiling," Aang told them as they approached. Celina looked over at her siblings who were clearly uneasy. Taking a deep breath Celina prepared herself for whatever was about to happen. Everyone halted as one of the guards earthbended a rock and held it over Aang's head.
"State your business!" he ordered.
Aang rushed out from underneath the rock, getting up into the guard's face. "My business is my business, young man, and none of yours! I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!" Aang threating in his old man voice. The guard dropped the stone in surprise. Everyone seemed frozen. Thinking fast Celina walked over to Aang and pulled him out of the guard's face.
"Dad, don't be rude," she scowled Aang and then turned to the guard. "I'm sorry about him; my father has become testy in his old age." Katara and Sokka stood there shocked by Celina's actions but Aang was happy to see his friend playing along.
"It's alright Miss. Just tell me who you are," the guard ordered.
"Name's Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis, the Third," Aang answered, keeping up his old man voice.
"This is my niece and nephew," Celina added motioning to Sokka and Katara.
"Hi, June Pipinpadaloxicopolis," Katara greeted. "Nice to meet you."
"Well, you seem like a responsible young woman. See that your father stays out of trouble," the guard said to Celina. "Enjoy Omashu!"
"We will," Celina assured him. The guard motioned for them to pass, signaling for his other guardsmen to open the gates. Once inside Aang took them over to the railing to look over the city. There were many houses crowded inside the walls with chutes weaving around the buildings.
"This is the Omashu delivery system," Aang explained. "Miles and miles of tubes and chutes. Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down."
"Great, so they get their mail on time," Sokka said rolling his eyes.
"They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes," Aang said.
Aang had convinced the Water Tribe siblings to jump into one of the carts to use the mail system as a slide. Well, he had to convince Celina and Sokka, Katara was on board from the beginning. But now that they were all in the cart looking down at the steep chute they were having second thoughts.
"One ride, then we're off to the North Pole, Airbender's honor," Aang promised.
"This sounded like fun at first, but now that I'm here, I'm starting to have second thoughts!" Katara said, expressing the rest of her siblings' thoughts. As soon as Katara finished her sentence they were off, accelerating down at an alarming speed. Celina held on tight to the cart and closed her eyes. Flying through the chutes was nothing like flying on Appa and she detested the feeling in her stomach that the slides caused. Throughout the ride, she heard much shouting from her brother and sister along with others. At one point she felt her stomach lift up into her throat and was pleased to find when the movement had stopped. Opening her eye Celina found that they had landed on a cabbage stand that they saw trying to enter Omashu earlier.
"How…?" Celina wondered having seen the cabbage stand flung off into the valley. She dropped her confusion for worry however when the four of them were surrounded by soldiers.
"Two cabbages please," Aang said sheepishly.
o
The soldiers had escorted the four of them to the palace where they were brought before the king. "Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages," a guard explained.
"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" the cabbage merchant exclaimed. Celina raised an eyebrow at him.
"Silence! Only the King can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, Sire?" the guard asked. Sokka was nervous, Katara was pulling her best innocent look, Aang was trying to look like he was invisible, and Celina just waited.
"Throw them…A feast!" the king declared. Everyone looked at him confused but accepted his decision and went to work creating the feast.
Celina sat down at a table loaded with food. The others were still confused as to what was going on but Celina didn't question it.
"Heheh! The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin," the king said.
"Thanks, but I don't eat meat," Aang told him.
"How about you?" the king asked Sokka. "I bet you like meat." Taking a drumstick he stuck the chicken in Sokka's mouth. Sokka was surprised but happily chewed on the drumstick.
"Is it just me, or is this guy's crown a little crooked?" Katara whispered to her group.
"Leave him alone, Katara. He's just different, that's all," Celina said coming to the king's defense. Of course, Celina would come to the king's defense; she had been different all her life and knew the effects of being made fun of. There was no way that she wanted anyone to go through that kind of torture.
"So, tell me, young bald one. Where are you from?" the king asked.
"I'm from… Kangaroo Island," Aang lied.
"Oh, Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hoppin!" the king joked. Celina smiled at his joke, she had to admit that it was as bad as one of Sokka's jokes but didn't want to shot him down. Sokka laughed soon after.
"Well, all these jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay," the king said and then threw a drumstick at Aang who used his airbending to catch it. The guards gasped in surprise. "There's an airbender in our presence and not just any airbender, the Avatar! Now, what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pipinpadaloxicopolis?"
"Okay! You caught me," Aang admitted, standing up from the table. "I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out, no firebenders here. So good work everybody. Love each other, respect all life and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!" Aang grabbed his friends and tried to get them out of there. Unfortunately for the group, the guards stopped them.
"We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts," Sokka said.
"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges. But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber," the king said.
"My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" a guard asked.
"The newly refurbished chamber."
"Wait, which one are we talking about?"
"The one that used to be the bad chamber, until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course, we've been calling it the new chamber, but we really should number them. Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!"
o
The guards lead the group to the newly refurbished chamber. They earthbended the wall down and pushed the four of them in before earthbending them in. Celina looked around the chamber and had to admit it was nice. There were long pieces of green clothes hung from the ceiling, creating a canopy effect, along with three comfortable looking beds.
"This is a prison cell? But it's so nice," Katara commented.
"He did say it was newly refurbished," Aang pointed out.
"Nice or not, we're still prisoners," Sokka said.
"I wonder what these challenges are gonna be," Aang wondered.
"We're not sticking around to find out. There's gotta be some way outta here," Katara said.
"How? There's no way out of here unless it's by earthbending," Celina asked.
"The air vents!" Aang exclaimed.
"If you think we're gonna fit through there then you're crazier than that king," Sokka said.
"We can't, but Momo can," Aang explained. Everyone looked over at Momo who was laid out on one of the beds licking an apple. Aang walked over and picked the lemur up. "Momo, I need you to find Appa and bust us outta here!" Aang went over to the vents and tried to shove Momo in but the animal only got in halfway.
"Go on, boy, get Appa!" Aang tried to encourage.
"Aang, stop trying to stuff Momo into the vent," Celina said, walking over to the two and pulled Momo out. The lemur thanked her by liking her cheek.
"Eh, how was Appa supposed to save us anyway?" Sokka asked.
"Appa is a ten-ton flying bison, I think he could figure something out," Aang said.
"Well, no point in arguing about it now. Get some rest, Aang. Looks like you'll need it for tomorrow," Katara told him.
"But there's three beds and four of us," Aang pointed out.
"You guys take the beds," Celina offered. She stood up on one of the beds and tested the strength of the decorative clothes. She smiled, satisfied to find they were strong. "I'll just sleep up here. It'll be like a hammock." Before anyone could protest Celina hopped up onto the hanging fabric and got comfortable. "Goodnight, guys."
o
She was back at the South Pole, out where none of the tribe had gone out of fear of getting lost. Celina was frozen in place, watching the sun sink lower and lower in the sky until it was gone. Everything was pitch black. Fear sunk in as the blackness started to move around her.
"Hello, my dear Celina."
o
Celina woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Her hand went up to her forehead before pushing back stray hairs that had come out of place in her sleep. Trying to calm her breathing Celina leaned over the fabric, hoping to talk to Sokka only to find that he wasn't there. Panic set it as she found that both Sokka and Katara were missing. She jumped off of the fabric and rushed over to Aang's bed, shaking him awake.
"Aang! Aang! Sokka and Katara are missing!" she exclaimed.
"What?!" The wall opened up as guards stood in the opening. Both of them looked surprised when they saw Celina next to Aang.
"We missed one," one of the guards said astonished.
"Where are my friends?" Aang demanded to know.
"The King will free them if you complete your challenges," the other guard told him. The guard who spoke earlier came inside the room to grab Celina but Aang held out his staff protectively.
"She's staying with me," he said sternly. The guards paused, thinking it over but agreed before ushering Aang and Celina out of the room. They were taken straight to the throne room where the king stood wearing a new blue, purple, and light green robe. The king looked surprised when he saw Celina with Aang.
"How did you evade my guards?" he asked genially curious.
"There were only three beds in the chamber so I decided to use the decorative fabric as a hammock. I'm guessing your guards only checked the beds," Celina explained.
The king blinked twice before giving her a smile. "I like you," he told her.
"Um… thank you," Celina replied.
"Enough, I'm don't have time. Gimme my friends back! We're leaving!" Aang interrupted angry, having grown impatient.
"Ohh, I thought you might refuse…" the king said and then looked over at a wall that came down because of earthbending. It revealed guards holding Sokka and Katara. They placed colored rings on their fingers which shrunk to size. Sokka and Katara struggled to try and get them off. "So I will give your friends some special souvenirs. Those delightful rings are made of pure genemite, also known as creeping crystal. It's crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall, your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."
"Ah! It's already creeping!" Sokka screeched as the rock started growing.
"I'll do as you want," Aang submitted.
"Mmm," the king smiled.
"Sir, do you want us to get another ring for the other girl?" one of the guards asked.
"Nah, she's cool," the king answered, giving Celina another smile. Celina awkwardly smiled back, not entirely sure how to react.
o
Celina had been stuck watching Aang complete the challenges that the king had set up while simultaneously watching the creeping crystal continue to engulf her siblings' bodies. The most intense she had watched however was when Aang chose to fight the king. Turned out the old man was in excellent shape underneath the robes and was the best earthbender that they'd ever seen. There were several moments during their fight where Celina held her breath, thinking that the king had gotten Aang. But Aang had succeeded in the end and she was looking forward to getting Sokka and Katara out of their bounds.
"You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question," the king said.
"That's not fair!" Aang shouted. "You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests."
"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything," the king replied.
"Oh come on!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What… is my name? From the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes," the king told Aang and then left them to ponder his question.
"How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang asked the three of his friends.
"Think about the challenges, maybe it's some kind of riddle," Katara said, offering her advice.
"I got it! He's an earthbender, right? Rocky! You know, because of all the rocks?" Sokka said, earning silence as a response.
"We're going to keep trying but that is a good backup," Celina told her brother.
"Okay, so back to the challenges. I got a key from the waterfall. I saved his pet and I had a duel. Everything was different than I expected, they weren't straightforward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would," Aang thought it out.
"Why does this remind of one of your old friends you were telling us about?" Celina muttered out loud.
A huge smile appeared on Aang's face. "I know his name!"
o
The group stood in front of the king who had changed back into his green robes. "I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities. Bumi, you're a mad genius!" Aang said and then ran up and hugged him.
"Oh, Aang. It's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally," Bumi replied.
"Well, a hundred years in an iceberg can do that to you," Celina joked around. "But now that that's done, can you free my brother and sister now?"
Bumi pulled his fist back and earthbended the creeping crystal off of Sokka and Katara. The crystal went flying everywhere. Both Bumi and Celina managed to catch a piece.
"Genemite is made of rock candy," Bumi explained. Celina looked down at the rock in her hand and easily took a bite out of it.
"Delicious!" she smiled and tucked the candy in her pocket for later.
"Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka asked.
"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people, hehe. But I do have a reason. Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord, and when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius!" Bumi explained. "And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends to help defeat the Fire Nation."
Bumi turned and smiled at the Water Tribe siblings. "Celina, I must thank you for coming to my defense. I have been used to being called strange by people but I've never had someone scold others for doing so. Especially someone I have just met. Thank you, young lady," Bumi said to her.
"I've been called strange and weird by my entire village. I know how damaging it can be to your self-confidence and I don't want anyone to go through what I have just because they're different," Celina told him. Bumi smiled at her and gave her a hug.
"You have so much wisdom for one so young, yet are mad enough to think outside the box. The world needs more people like us," he said to her.
"Thanks, Bumi," Celina said, returning the hug.
"Thank you for all your wisdom. But before we leave, I have a challenge for you," Aang said.
o
The Water Tribe siblings stood at the beginning of the mailshot, watching as Aang and Bumi shot down them in a cart. Smiles were on all of their faces.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer.
"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.
