Here is The Boy on The Ground. Take two!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 12

Zuko and Aang faced off. The two young benders were going hard and had been ever since the first rays of sunshine had started peeking through the clouds.

The fire from Zuko was bright and hot, burning beautifully in the early morning light.

Aang's fire was dimmed and was hardly hot enough to do damage to anything if they had been under attack. Zuko noticed.

"What's your problem?" Zuko finally asked, frustrated. "Why can't you focus today?"

Aang flushed and looked at the ground. "It's nothing." He said as he took his fighting stance. "Let's go again. I think I have it now."

Zuko shook his head and crossed his arms. "C'mon, Aang. You have to tell me now."

Looking up, Aang didn't see the banished prince, or a brutal fire bending instructor; he saw his friend and that thought comforted him. Even if the world was ending because of him, Aang knew that he had his friends at his back.

"Well, you see…" Aang started and then it all fell out. All his thoughts and confusion about Percy and their quest, primarily about his dream. It had freaked him out more than he would have liked to admit. Luckily Zuko could see that and didn't push for exact details.

When the young avatar finished he looked up imploringly at Zuko, who felt the heaviness of Aang's burden on his back, but refused to let it bother him.

When he decided to help the avatar, he guessed a lot of this would come with the package.

"Okay, listen, Aang." Zuko started out and sighed. He had never been good with words. "You have to know that none of this is your fault."

"Yes, it is though!" Aang whispered. "It's my fault the wall between the two worlds are breaking… Weren't you listening? The avatar must have been keeping it solid with some sort of cosmic energy."

"It's not your fault the walls are breaking, though!" Zuko argued. "It's not like you asked Azula to shoot you in the back and cut off your connection to the Avatar spirit."

Aang started to interrupt but Zuko held up his finger, cutting him off. "And you didn't want to be stuck in an ice burg for a hundred years, or anything like that… It's just…" He stopped, searching for the right words… 'destiny' didn't seem right this time.

"Zuko's right." A voice said behind them. The two boys whirled around. "It's not your fault Aang, it's The Fates'."

/./././././

Percy sat bolt right up on Appa's leg. In the distance he could hear the fire bending training going on.

He groaned and flopped back down. Trying to bury his head in the soft, white fur of Appa. Sadly, even his thick fur didn't block out the noise.

Even though his body was still exhausted and in need of rest, Percy could tell he wasn't going to get any more sleep that morning.

In the early morning light, Percy got a good look at the campout. A mountain nearby was covered in lush grass and bushes and the woods was surrounding them from all other sides. The trees lined around them in nearly a perfect circle, but still providing enough space for the camp.

Even though he strained his eyes, Percy couldn't see Zuko and Aang. He concluded that there must be another clearing somewhere close in the thick woods.

Percy groaned again and got up. He might as well use this time to practice with Riptide. He hadn't had his sword very much since he had arrived.

The pen was dug from his oversized pockets and it magically turned into a sword. With the familiar weight of the sword, Percy walked around the back of Appa and bumped into a blurry eyed Sokka.

"Whoa." Both boys jumped back and looked fully alert now.

"Morning." Percy offered, recovering first.

Sokka nodded his head in response. "Morning, what are you doing up already?"

Percy shrugged. "The training woke me up."

"Yeah me too. Stupid jerk bending."

Percy laughed, "Jerk bending?"

"Yean… you wouldn't know as much but the Fire Nation is kind of a nation of jerks…"

"Yeah, okay. Make's sense." Percy thought it over. "Hey, since we're both up, we could do some sword play if you're feeling up to it?"

Sokka perked up, "Yeah!" He cleared his throat and tried to play it off cool. "I mean, yeah, sure, whatever."

"Alright then," Percy clapped his hands together. "Let's go find a clearing where we won't be bothering anyone."

The two started off towards the woods. The sun was up now and its long fingers were just starting to warm the earth, there was no wind and it felt like it was going to be a hot day.

"Hey, Percy…" Sokka started to say. He hesitated. "I have a question, if you're fixing the wall over here, and people from your side do their job… how are you going to get back? You know, to your own world?"

Percy looked sad, but he didn't look surprised, like the thought had accrued to him before. He kept walking, his eyes fixed on what was right ahead of him.

"I dunno, Sokka." He said finally. "I was hoping we'd figure that out sooner or later."

"Cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess."

"I guess."

There was silence for a few minutes as the two made their way through the dense trees and underbrush.

"Hey," Percy said, "What's up with Aang and Katara?"

Sokka stiffened. "What do you mean?" He asked sharply.

"You know," Percy grinned. "They like each other."

Sokka shuddered. "Gross. I don't want to talk about it."

Percy laughed and was about to say something more when they stumbled into a clearing. In the middle stood Aang and Zuko. The two boys came just in time to hear Zuko struggle to find the right words.

They glanced at each other and started to back away when Percy understood what was happening.

Aang felt guilty.

It was obvious. The poor kid, he didn't deserve this. Any of this.

Percy immediately felt sorry for him. How many times had he felt the same way?

"Zuko's right." He blurted out. "It's not your fault Aang, it's The Fates."

Zuko and Aang both turned around sharply to see who had snuck up on them, both relaxing when they recognized Percy and Sokka.

"What do you mean by 'The Fates'?" Aang asked. Mimicking Percy's dark and foreboding voice.

"The Fates…" Percy tried to explain. "They decide everything, what you're going to eat for breakfast, who you'll marry, when you'll die. There's nothing you can do to stop it, Aang. It's nature."

Aang looked freaked out and Percy mentally slapped himself. He was only making it worse. "No, you see, as long as you keep out of their way and try not to piss them off, you'll be fine, and even if you do see a string get cut, that doesn't mean you'll die like the prophesy says, it all gets mixed up in the middle but it usually comes out alright in the end because…"

Percy forced himself to stop babbling and take a breath. All of that had come out wrong and Aang did not look comforted.

"What I'm trying to say is that this is not your fault, this is not your mistake… But it has been made your responsibility. Worrying about why it happened is not going to fix anything, okay?"

He looked kindly at the young avatar.

"It'll turn out okay… I promise." He said softly.

He nudged Sokka, realizing that his time was done here, and the two backed out.

"That was a pretty heavy promise." Sokka said gravely once they were out of earshot.

"I know… but I'm used to it." Percy whispered.

/././././././././

"So," Percy pulled out his sword. "You ready?" He grinned but he was still trying to shake off the look Aang had given him back in the other clearing.

"Ready." Sokka called back.

The two faced off, circling slowly around each other, getting a feel of the others weaknesses and fatalities.

Percy lunged first. Sokka dodged.

"You like sword play, don't you?" Percy asked.

"Of course." Sokka tried not to let himself get distracted. "Who doesn't?"

"Mostly monsters." Percy took a swing at Sokka, who blocked it. The two swords collided with a mighty clash. "Monster's think it's a terrible way to die."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, weird, ain't it?"

Sokka jabbed his sword at Percy's middle. Percy's sword blocked the blade and swung it away from him.

Then the real fight started.

The two went forwards and backwards, concentrating hard on their next moves. Swinging, stabbing, rolling and ducking out of the way they went. Shouting at each other and enjoying the feeling of being lost in an art.

They were so engrossed by it that they didn't notice two sweaty fire benders appear on the sidelines, or a watchful water bender with a flying lemur on her shoulders. They didn't look up when a sleepy, grumpy earth bender showed up, either.

Back and forth, swinging and dodging.

Sokka was a fast learner and had remembered everything Percy had taught him the other day, so much that Percy actually had to work hard to keep his place.

Only when the sweat was dripping into their eyes and their muscles screamed out for a rest, did Percy decide to end the fight.

Sokka swiped quickly at his legs but Percy jumped up and landed with both feet on the flat of the blade, trapping it under him and knocking it out of his opponent's hands.

"Dead." He announced, leveling his sword at Sokka's throat.

"Awe!" Sokka wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand as he slumped away to get his sword.

Percy felt a surge of pride towards Sokka. The kid had done well.

"You know," He said. "You're really good. A lot better than you were two days ago, even."

"Gee, thanks." Sokka said bitterly.

Momo chirped loudly and landed on Sokka's shoulders, who scratched behind his long ears.

"Thanks, Momo."

"Hey! My compliment was sincere, too!" Percy laughed.

Sokka stuck out his tongue, "Yeah, I felt the love…"

The others on the sidelines were all laughing quietly at the two bickering. It was obvious the two were already close friends.

Aang was laughing at something Toph had said when a soft hissing sound floated towards him. He stopped laughing and turned around, eyes searching the thick trees around them. He couldn't see anything but he could hear them and they didn't sound very friendly.

"Aang?" Katara took a step closer to Aang, in case it was fire benders coming to snatch him away from her. "What is that?"

"I dunno." Aang shrugged.

"It feels… weird." Toph chewed her lip.

"Weird how?" Zuko asked.

"Like… snake women or something." Toph said. She closed her dimed eyes and focused on the vibrations coming from the forest.

Percy and Sokka were getting curious as to what everyone was so fascinated by, so they came over to investigate.

The muscles in Percy's aching body tensed up and he reached for his sword again.

"What is it, Percy?" Toph asked. "You know!"

"Everyone should go back to camp and start packing." Percy ignored Toph. "I can handle these."

"What are they, though?" Katara asked. "Toph said they felt like snake women."

Percy looked impressed. "Really? Good job… that's exactly what they are."

"Are they…" Zuko and Sokka exchanged glances. "From your world?" Zuko asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Now go!" Percy ordered. The hissing was getting louder by the second.

"Perssseusss. We can ssssmell yous. No ussse hiding from ussssss."

Katara looked horrified. "How do we fight them?" She asked, her hand already on her hip flask.

"You can't." Percy said. "Only my sword can kill them, you guys will only make them mad. Just go! I can handle them! It sounds like three or four."

"We'll go pack up and we'll be back to pick you up in a second, okay?" Katara told Percy. "Come on, Toph, we need to go."

She grabbed the hand of the younger girl and the two started off running towards Appa and the camp.

Aang watched them go. He looked at Percy and suddenly felt protective of him. The big voice on the mountainside had told him to look out for Percy and make sure he didn't sacrifice himself for them.

"You guys go." Aang said to Zuko and Sokka. "I'll stay with Percy."

Percy smiled down at Aang. "Thanks kid, but it's not that many. I think I'll be fine on my own."

Across the clearing, eight large women with thick scaly trunks instead of legs burst from the trees. When they caught sight of Percy, they grinned and snarled, showing off their long, sharp teeth, brandishing their clubs and spears.

"Actually, you can stay." Percy concluded. "But you two," He pointed at the other boys. "Have to go make sure the girls are safe, I have no doubt they can take care of themselves but right now, we're not taking any chances."

Zuko and Sokka nodded and followed the girls back to camp. Two extra pairs of hands would make the packing go quicker, too.

"You ready to kill your first monster, kid?" Percy asked.

Aang nodded. "Wait… kill?"

Percy laughed hysterically; the kind of laughter you'd hear from somebody who lived through the worst of battle. He raised his sword and charged into the middle of the pack of monsters.

Woop Woop! Sorry it took so long! My super awesome beta (Annabeth Brady) was away . She's back now and I'm just about to send her the next chapter! Stay tuned!