We are flying over a large forested area, it is covered in fog, and looks rather menacing. Sokka is rubbing a whetstone against his machete, while Katara is looking from a scroll to me then back to me. Aang is staring down at the swamp, and he seems to be in a trance. I look down to see that we are slowly descending.
"Hey, you taking us down for a reason? Aang, why are we going down?" Sokka asked
"What? I didn't even notice." Aang said
"Are you noticing now?" Sokka asked
"Is something wrong?" Katara asked
"Yeah, you looked like you were in some kind of trance." I said
Aang still looks down at the swap.
"I know this is going to sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me." Aang said
Sokka wraps his arm around his waist.
"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka asked
"No, I…I think it wants us to land there." Aang said
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on." Sokka said
"I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen, and not I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" Aang asked
"Well you are the Avatar if you think it's telling you to land, then land." I said
"Yes," Sokka said
"I don't know. There's something ominous about that place." Katara said
"You know where I stand… or sit." I said
Momo hides inside Appa's saddle as Appa groans.
"See, even Appa and Momo don't like it here." Sokka said
"Okay, since everyone except Kida, feels so strongly about this, bye swamp. Yip, Yip." Aang said
Appa groans and flies upward, away from the swamp. A tornado emerges from out of nowhere, heading right for us.
"Guys, guys." I said
Sokka turns to look at me.
"You better throw in an extra "yip"! We gotta move." Sokka said
Appa starts to fly faster, attempting to avoid the tornado, however he is not fast enough to get away. As the tornado begins to move closer to us, the wind begins to pull Sokka right off from the saddle. Katara and I grab onto his hands, holding him back from flying into the tornado. Aang jumps up onto Appa's saddle and creates an air shield around Appa, stabilizing the air and allowing Sokka to fall back into the saddle, uninjured. The wind sucks Appa, who is still protected by the air shield, into the tornado. Aang struggles to maintain the air shield, however as it shrinks, one of Appa's legs slips from the protective air, thereby breaking it. We all fall off of Appa. I use my bending to lessen my fall. Aang's lands lightly while Katara and Sokka land quite roughly. Appa and Momo are thrown elsewhere in the swamp.
"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang asked
He quickly jumps up to the top of the trees, looking for his animal friends as he uses the height to search for them.
"Appa! Momo!" Aang yells
I look at Katara and Sokka.
"Sokka, you have a elbow leech." I said
Sokka starts to freak out, panicking.
"Where? Where?" Sokka asked
"Really Sokka where do you think?" I asked
Katara takes the leech off of Sokka, and throws it back into the water.
"Why do things keep attaching to me?!" Sokka yells
Aang swings over the muddied water on a vine, waiting for it to stop moving so he can land.
"You couldn't find them?" Katara asked
"No, and the tornado…it just disappeared." Aang said
We all turn to face the darkness of the swamp. We start to walk around. Sokka is cutting vines with his machete.
"We better speed things up." Sokka said
"Sokka I don't think you should be doing that." I said
"I agree with Kida, maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp." Aang said
Sokka cuts some more vines.
"Aang, these are just plants. Do you want me to say "please" and "thank you" as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka asked
"Maybe you should listen Aang, and Kida. Something about this place feels…alive." Katara asked
"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can." Sokka said
Sokka continues to slice through the vines. As we walk through the vines I feel like someone is watching me. We are now walking through a foggier part of the swamp.
"Do any of you feel like someone is watching us?" I asked
They all shake their heads no.
"Appa. Momo." Katara yells
"There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night." Sokka said
Several flies surround Sokka. Sokka swings his machete at them, trying to shoo them away. At that moment, a huge bubble of swamp gas rises from the muddy water below. The gas grows closer towards us.
"What was that?" Katara asked
"Nothing, just swamp gas. Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here." Sokka said
The four of us groan as the smell reaches them, with Sokka waving his hand in front of his nose as Katara clamps hers shut. Suddenly, the quiet is shattered by a terrifying scream, causing all to scream and huddle together, looking around wide-eyed for the source. I look around to see a small, grumpy-looking white bird. It opens its beak extremely wide, emitting the terrifying scream, and flutters off.
"I think we should build a fire." Sokka said
Sokka runs off to a nearby tree and cuts a few pieces of wood from its roots.
"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that." Aang said
"Sokka I agree with Aang. We really shouldn't be hurting the plants in the swamp." I said
"No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine. Right, swamp? "no problem, Sokka."". Sokka said
Sokka continues to chop up the roots, while Aang looks somewhat annoyed.
- - - - - Small Time Skip - - - - -
We sit around a fire. Katara keeps glancing at me. I look away from at the swamp.
"Do you guys still not feel like we are being watched?" I asked
"No I feel it to." Katara said
"Please, we're all alone out here." Sokka said
Sokka uses his machete to try and scare off a fly. The fly turns into a bog, shining ball of light. It flies away from the gang, illuminating over a dozen pairs of eyes staring at us. We turn around and see them.
"Except for them." Aang said
We turn back around and huddle together.
"Right, except for them." Sokka said
On looker's Pov:
The camp fire is beginning to die out, and the four friends are huddled together, sleeping. Someone is looking at them through the vines. A vine snakes its way to Sokka's leg, which is sticking out, and begins to wind around both it and Sokka's whole body. Each is tied up by several vines that snake out of the frame. They are still asleep - Sokka holding his machete and drooling - but they awake screaming as the vines simultaneously yank them all out off the screen and away from each other. Sokka plants the blade of his machete in the ground as he is dragged away. Katara, Aang, and Kida are also dragged off into the mist.
Sokka gets up and looks around for his sisters and Aang. The respite does not last long as vines are suddenly thrown at him. They wrap around him and attempt to drag him away again. Before he can travel too far, Sokka starts hacking the vines with his machete. He frees himself and runs back down the tree root, pursued by more vines.
Katara, struggling to free herself from the vines. Using a water whip she cuts through her bonds and runs off into the mist.
Aang, frees himself by creating an air bubble around him and expanding it. His bonds attach to the bubble, and Aang jumps away before they ensnare him again. He jumps through the trees, closely pursued by more vines. He escapes a vine that pulls him to the ground using his airbending to propel himself far away and soon finds himself alone in the swamp. Aang looks around for his friends.
Kida freezes the vines and then pulls herself free. She runs off in a different direction the vines follow her. She creates a ice box around herself, the vines wrap around the box. After a few minutes the vines retract. She brings the ice box down. She looks around to see that she is alone.
Katara:
"Aang! Sokka! Kida!" Katara yelled
I look ahead to see a Water Tribe woman, her back is facing me. She wears the same robe as me and has the same hair style. I begin to walk towards the figure.
"Hello? Hello? Can you help me? Mom? Mom!" I yell
I run towards the figure, tears streaming from my eyes. I reach the figure and place a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't believe…" I start
The smile leaves my face as, I'm standing in front of a tree stump. I realize the figure was only an illusion. I gasp, and fall to my knees as I begin to cry.
Sokka:
I have a firm grip on my machete.
"Aang! Stupid swamp. Dumb, ugly vines! Katara! Kida!" I yell
I become caught, in some vines. I quickly slice myself free.
"You think you're so tough, huh?" I asked
I trip over myself as I cut myself free from the vines. I fall face first into the mud, I lift up my head to see Yue in a beam of light not far from me. I stand up and put my machete away. I walk towards Yue.
"Hello? Yue?" I asked
I take ahold of my head, before removing them and shrugging, turning away from the apparition.
"This is just a trick of the light…swamp gas…I…hit my head running away last night. I'm going crazy." I said
I turn back around, and walk closer.
"You didn't protect me." Princess Yue said
I rub my eyes in disbelief, opening them to find that Yue has disappeared. I sigh in relief, but as I turn around I fall over backwards startled at seeing Yue right before my eyes. Yue disappears immediately after that. I stand up and pull my machete back out.
Aang:
"Katara! Appa! Kida! Momo! Sokka!" I yelled
I wander through the swamp. I notice an unfamiliar girl in a dress standing on a hill, accompanied by a winged pig.
"Hello? Who are you?" I asked
The pig flies off and the girl giggles, before turning around and running away.
"Hey, come back." I yell
I hold my hand out as though to grab her.
I jump to the top of the hill, only to find she has completely disappeared from sight. Hearing her laugh again, I turn around only to see her running across the limbs of another tree. I use the vines to get to her, however before I can reach her, the girl moved and is now running across the ground, I try to chase the girl. I continue to chase the girl through the treetops.
Kida:
I was wondering through the swamp trying to find the others.
"Katara! Sokka! Aang!" I yell
I see Katara and Sokka. I run towards them. They turn to look at me. Sokka looks at me with disgust, while Katara looks at me with betrayal.
"Why didn't you tell us you could firebend?" Katara asked
"You are no sister of mine." Sokka said
"Please let me explain." I said
"No, what is there to say. You are a firebender that's all I need to know." Sokka said
He turned and disappeared. I looked at Katara.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Katara asked
She turned and walked away. I ran after them. I wasn't paying attention where I was running. I ran right it to Sokka. I hear something. I turn to see Aang and Katara rolling down the hill, and into Sokka knocking him over.
"What do you three think you're doing? I've been looking all over for you." Sokka said
Katara hasn't moved she has her hand on her head as she sits on the root they have fallen onto.
"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you guys." Katara said
"I was chasing some girl." Aang said
"What girl?" Katara asked
"I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress." Aang said
"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations." Sokka said
"I thought I saw Mom." Katara said
"Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here." Sokka said
"You saw something too?" Katara asked
"I thought I saw Yue. But, that doesn't prove anything. Look, I think about her all the time, and you saw Mom, someone you miss a lot." Sokka said
"What about me, and Kida? I didn't know the girl I saw. And all our visions led us right here." Aang said
"What did you see Kida?" Katara asked
"My worst fear." I said
They nod, Aang begins to walk around, as if looking for something.
"Okay…so where's here?" Katara asked
"The middle of the swamp." I said
Aang looks around, his gaze finally resting on a massive tree growing right next to him.
"Yeah the center…it's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here. I knew it." Aang said
"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone. For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here." Sokka said
As Sokka finishes his tirade, a seaweed monster jumps out from the water.
"I think that brings the points to universe 4, Sokka 0." I said
"Not now, Kida." Sokka yells
We all huddle together as the monster begins to attack us. The seaweed monster goes after Sokka first as the we split up, each running in different directions. Sokka is picked up and swung around, only being released as Aang uses airbending to slice part of the monster's arm off. The monster goes after Aang, flicking the monk away and into the surrounding trees. Sokka is shown fighting with the vines that had him captured only seconds ago, and so intent was he at destroying them, he failed to notice a column rising behind himself. The column attaches to the seaweed monster and Sokka is swiped from the ground. I freeze the monsters arms and quickly shatter them. But more vines just replace them. The fight ends as Katara begins to waterbend repeatedly at the monster, slicing through the vines and not allowing the monster to regenerate. A person is seen inside the monster, bending the vines.
"There's someone in there. He's bending the vines." Sokka yells
Katara and I send a bending move together. The slice goes through the mask on the seaweed monster, my ice from the blast freezes the surrounding vines.
"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us!?" Aang asked
"Wait!" the monster yells
The man steps out of the vines wearing nothing but a leaf loincloth. Sokka covers my eyes.
"I didn't call you here." the man said
I push Sokka's hands away. We all share looks of confusions, Sokka quickly gets in an offensive stance.
"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land." Aang said
"He's the Avatar. Stuff like that happens to him a lot." Sokka said
"The Avatar? Come with me." the man said
"What your name?" I asked
"Huu." Huu said
We follow Huu, who leads us to the top of the giant tree.
"So, who are you then?" Katara asked
"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it, like the fella with his big knife." Huu said
"See, completely reasonable. (puts machete away) Not a monster, just a regular guy defending him home. Nothing mystical about it." Sokka said
"Oh the swamp is a mythical place all right. It's sacred. I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan grove tree. I heard it calling me, just like you did." Huu said
"Sure you did. It seems real chatty." Sokka said
"See this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink, take root, and spread some more. One big, living organism. Just like the entire world." Huu said
"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Aang asked
"Sure. You think you're any different from me or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree." Huu said
We are all listening to what Huu said.
"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked
"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death." Huu said
"But what about my vision? It was someone I had never met." Aang said
"You're the Avatar. You play by different rules." Huu said
Aang looks down trying to understand.
"Time is an illusion. So, it's someone I will meet." Aang said
Huu nods.
"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo." I said
"I think I know how to find them." Aang said
He kneels down and places his hand on the tree.
"Everything is connected." Aang said
A few seconds pass.
"Come on! We've got to hurry." Aang said
- - - - - Time Skip to Finding Appa and Momo - - - - -
A jet of water appears and destroys the boat. The two people from the destroyed boat fly into the water as Aang appears on a tree branch.
"Appa." Aang yells
Aang airbends a stream of air, throwing a guy into the water and freeing Momo who was being held by said guy.
"We're under attack." guy 2 yelled
Said guy scoops up a puddle of water and sends it towards us. Aang, Katara, and I engage in a water/ice bending fight, with neither side gaining an advantage.
"hey, you guys are waterbenders." Katara said
"You too! That means we're kin." guy 2 said
Guy 2 ceases waterbending, followed by a slightly disgusted Katara and I. We see Sokka and Huu run up to the branch we are standing on.
"Hey Huu! How you been?" guy 2 asked
"You know Due, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual." Huu sai
"Huu?" Sokka asked
- - - - - Time Skip - - - - -
We are all sitting around a fire. One of the swamp people is waterbending some liquid in a pot to stir it, and Due grabs a fish from the pot before moving over to the fire.
"How you like that possum chicken?" Due asked
"Tastes just like artic hen. So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa? You've got plenty of those big things wandering around." Sokka said
Sokka points to a catgator lying behind Tho.
"You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family." Due said
Due pulls the fish off the branch and gives it to Slim.
"Nice Slim." Sokka said
Sokka throws a bug at the catgator, it bounces off his nose and he growls at Sokka, who cowers slightly. I laugh.
"Oh, he don't eat no bugs. That's people food." Due said
"Where'd you say you was from?" Tho asked
"The South Pole." Katara said
"Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?" Tho asked
"No, it's all ice and snow." I said
"Hmm. No wonder you left." Tho said
"Well, I hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here. Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp." Sokka said
"What about visions?" I asked
"I told you, we were hungry. I'm eating a giant bug." Sokka said
Sokka holds up said giant bug, taking a bit of its abdomen. He swallows it with some difficulty before exhaling sharply, sticking his tongue out.
"But what about when the tree showed me where Appa and Momo were.?" Aang asked
"That's Avatar stuff, that doesn't count. (to Huu) the only thing I can't figure out is how you made that tornado that sucked us down." Sokka asked
"I can't do anything like that. I just bend the water in the plants." Huu said
"Well, not accounting for weather. Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp." Sokka said
- - - - - Time Skip Next Morning - - - - -
We are back on Appa, we just left the swamp. Katara is looking at me once again.
"What is it Katara?" I asked
"Are we ever going to talk about it?" Katara asked
"Talk about what?" I asked
I saw Sokka and Aang looking at us. Katara looks over at them as well.
"What is she talking about?" Sokka asked
I looked back at Aang, who gives me a nod.
"She talking about how when we were fighting Mai, and Ty Lee in Omashu. I couldn't use my ice bending, so I used my firebending." I said
There was a long pause.
"You can firebend?" Sokka asked
"Yes I can." I said
"How long have you been able to?" Katara asked
"I learned I kind firebend when I learned I could bend ice." I said
"Wait so this entire time… I want to see it." Sokka said
I opened my hand, and in my hand was my white flame. Sokka and Katara kind of just looked at me.
"Who else knows?" Sokka asked
"Gran-Gran, Dad, and mom." I said
"Mom knew?" Katara asked
"Yeah, I bended in front of her. I wanted to tell you guys, but I was afraid you would hate me." I said
"Why would we hate you?" Katara asked
"Because of how you feel about firebenders." I said
They looked at each other, then at me, then at Aang.
"How come you aren't saying anything?" Sokka asked
"Because I already knew. She helped save me and Jon-Jon. Using her firebending." Aang said
My siblings looked at me. They both came over and sat next to me.
"Thank you. That's what I saw in the swamp was you guys saying you hated me."
"We could never hate you. We might have been a little mad that you hadn't told us sooner, but never hate you." Katara said
I smiled and pulled them into a hug. I looked up at Aang and motioned for him to come over.
