Disclaimer: I do not own this series in any way, form, or fashion nor do I plan to make any kind of profit off of this...other than making people happy.
Chapter 3: Ok, so now what?
Ok, so they were in another world altogether. No that isn't quite right, they were somewhere new but it was a part of the world they came from but just its spiritual counterpart. Actually it was more complicated than that but it's all she could really get that made almost any kind of sense.
So here she was, lying in a bed not unlike the ones from whence they came, sharing a room with Katara and hoping this was all some weird dream incurred by something hitting her on the head. She let out a sigh. It'd be to good to be true, she thought rather reluctantly. This place was still giving her a headache but she was hoping it'd go away with some time and sleep. Of course hearing Katara's rhythmic breathing as she slept next to her help relax her. She still didn't know why Katara had this kind of effect on her but she wasn't about to question it at the moment as it helped sooth her mind. Sleep quickly overcame her.
"Toph, are you still sleeping?" She heard Katara state more than question as she roused her from her slumber. As she started to rise from the bedding she heard Katara gasp slightly. Shaking her, she tried to get her hair down but all that accomplished to do was kick up all the dirt around her in bed.
"Uhh, how about you go get your bath things so you and I can go to those hot springs I was told about by our hosts?" Katara suggested and in reply she let her head fall back onto the bed to try and get some more sleep in. Well, she tried anyway and not a moment sooner she felt the covers being pulled off her small form and the cold air, well she was pretty certain this place had air, bite at her exposed skin. Katara may have won this round but she was far from beaten.
She sighed in a very content manner. She had to admit the water was very relaxing. At the moment she was gently floating around on her back in the shallow side of the spring. It wasn't like she was afraid of venturing to deeper waters it was just that she couldn't swim…well. This was also information she wasn't about to share with everyone else.
After a few more moments of silent relaxing her slow floating movements were halted as her head came into contact with something soft and subtle. She heard Katara 'eep' and what the top of her head was rested upon quickly move out of the way. After a few more moments to register what just happened, she had the decency to blush.
"Ok," she heard Katara begin, "I think that's enough relaxing for now, so we should get dried up and back to the others."
"Uh, yeah sure." She replied a little dazed. As she stood she felt Katara lightly grasp her hand to help lead her out. She may have been proud but she accepted the help because she couldn't navigate through water very well, something she told Katara about. As they were getting out and dressed she couldn't shake the thought of how she touched, however inadvertently, Katara in a very…intimate area. She couldn't stop blushing.
"So, you said you needed my help?" Aang asked. They were currently seated around a table like object, enjoying a light snack with their host, Sozun, and waited for his answer. It's not everyday someone comes to ask for help in a different plane of existence so needless to say they were just a bit curious as why they were here.
"I have brought you here to help fight a war." He replied calmly as he took a sip of…something.
"What!" Sokka exclaimed, "But we have our own war to fight!"
"I understand this but the one we are facing is a much bigger threat to everything, not just one nation conquering all but an outcome of total destruction to both our worlds and as the Avatar he has an obligation to both your world and the spiritual, my world." He said sternly as the sound of his cup hit the table a little forcibly.
"What do I have to do?" Aang asked seriously, breaking the silence.
"You can't be serious, we only have so much time before the comet arrives and…" "I know Sokka," Aang cut off, "but like he said I have a duty here too."
"But what I would like to know is why you need Aang's help?" Katara asked.
"We are having trouble holding off the Horexes. Unlike from where you came, we cannot bend and neither can our enemy and after seeing you handle the one that managed to slip through, you will all be a great advantage."
"Horexes?" everyone voiced at the same time.
"Yes, that twisted, mangled creature you saw yesterday is our current enemy." Sozun explained. He also went on about its origins, something about negative feelings and the massive death caused by a war of great magnitude. So in short, it was their fault and 'their' meaning the Fire Nation. The whole destruction thing, well all that is are those creatures wanting to devour all spirit and flesh they could. Good news through all of this is that they can be hurt by physical means, which is why Sozun wanted our help because they couldn't do much against them except slow them down.
"Great," Sokka said a bit sarcastically, "another adventure we find ourselves in and oh I bet we'll learn some life lessons in the process." An awkward silence fell. "What? I was just trying to lighten the mood."
The next day they were told to head west to a barrier post where they would get further instruction as to what they would be doing. They were currently riding on Appa's back at the moment. Toph felt Katara come to the back of the saddle to sit with her.
"So," she began to ask, since it has been on her mind for sometime, "what does everything look like here?" tilting her head up towards Katara she waited for an answer.
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain." Katara said as she took a moment to think about it. "It's like everything is see through and isn't. I feel like I might end up slipping through ground at any given moment and it's harder to bend the water here. Also there isn't a cloud or sun to be seen, no moon either yet there's light and it gets dark. It's all very surreal."
"I know what you mean," she picked up, "vibrations don't feel the same here and I can't even feel these spirits at all." It was silent for a little while as the wind blew across their faces.
"So what does Sozun and them look like?" Toph asked.
"Oh well he looks like a regular man, just his face has some weird markings and he's very tall. He's also has that see through visage" Katara answered.
"Well I hope this doesn't take to long, it's not like we have another war to fight." Toph said with small smile gracing her face. Katara laughed lightly at the little joke.
"Yeah me too."
"We're here!" Aang shouted a moment later.
As they landed another spirit, who introduced himself as Korin, greeted them. Katara described him as a giant bird like man. This place kept getting weirder and apparently, from the stories she was told, Aang was here before.
"Please follow me." Korin said while walking away.
"Hey Aang." She called out while walking.
"What is it Toph?" Aang turned to ask. "You've been here before right?" "Yeah but not like this."
"What do you mean?" she asked with general confusion.
"Well last time I was here I was in a spirit like form so everything was different than how it is now since we still have our physical forms."
"Oh ok." She said and sighed a little to herself. That was a big help, she thought rather defeated in trying to figure this place out a little better. She then felt everyone stop. She guessed they made it to their destination.
"We are going to have to let down the barrier to rest our erectors," Korin started explaining to them in what he called their 'war room', "and during this time the enemy will get word shortly when it goes down. While it is down we need you to take this cavern around this small formation of mountains to reach their encampment on the other side. These aren't mindless creatures they are smart and good at what they do and they always attack in massive groups so be careful." He finished to let what was said sink in.
"So what are we supposed to do once we're inside." Sokka asked.
"Somewhere inside the structure there is a collective will, basically a mind, from where they come to be spawned. Destroying it will cause the ones from it to go into a frenzy and literally tear themselves into nothingness."
"What does it look like." Aang was the one this time to raise a question.
"We don't know," Korin answered seriously, "Each one we've seen have been much different than the previous but you'll know when you find it."
Before any more questions could be raised a horn sounded off in the distance.
"it is almost time, I need to get you four to your departure points."
As they were leaving once more Sokka asked another question, "How many of these 'wills' are there anyway?"
"Roughly," Korin paused to think about it, "hundreds." Everyone faltered in their steps at the answer.
"Guess we won't being going home anytime soon." Sokka voiced.
AN: Well there you go another chapter done and on time 0.0 go me XP. Anyway hope you enjoyed. The action for a while will be more stealthy and avoidance that much fighting as they'll later come to realize how much of them there actually are. If anyone got any suggestions for any part of this war throughout Book 1 I'll be happy to hear them, cause I need more ideas. The hot spring scene was inspired by 'Bath Time' by AloofAndAndrogynous so go and check out . thank you again for taking the time to read. Oh and if you get the joke about life lessons u gets an internet cookie, it tastes just like spam. Till next week