So... hi guys. Due to the lack of reviews, I am starting to lose some motivation. You are probably gonna say, that I said that to get sympathy, but in reality its just to state the facts. Please tell me if this chapter is more exciting. ^o^ And please review!
To karanathefirebender: Thank you for your support and reviews. Also the answer to your question is in this chapter. ^.^
Man, I am so excited about Book 4, I wonder what's the back story on Korra's haircut. Hmm (._.)
Also I don't own LOK or ATLA.
Book 1 :Wondering
Chapter 6:The Past, Present, And Future.
Akina's POV
After Lily's out burst, Cheryl had disappeared. At first I shrugged it off, but then I remembered that frown on her face. I hope she is okay. I went to her room to check if she was there. The room was neatly set up and empty. I then went to the stables to see if she was visiting Sona. I then asked the servants, but none of them had seen her. I grew more worry, if she wasn't anywhere in the palace, what happened to her? I began to panic, normally back in Republic City she would run off to the pier. But this was the Fire Nation, I had no knowledge as to where she would go. I spotted Sean and Lily in the living room watching TV, and quickly went to them to tell them that Cheryl was missing and I needed their help.
Sean's POV
I was watching the Special Probending Tournament with Lily when Akina rushed in. She had a very worried face.
"Can you send a search party for Cheryl?" she asked me and my sister.
"Why? Isn't Cheryl in the palace?" I replied. Akina shook her head no.
"No. She's gone missing." Missing? Did Cheryl get kidnapped or something? Cheryl was pretty strong, she wouldn't get caught that easily and besides, the guards didn't report anything suspicious.
"He's adorable!" my sister cried. I looked at my sister. She was petting a jumping up and down hamster-rat.
"What's wrong Fluffy?" said Akina with a concern face.
"Lily, stop petting Fluffy. He's getting annoyed."
"Awww, but he's so cute." my sister pouted and did as she was told. The hamster-rat quickly ran towards the door and waited for us to follow. We quickly obeyed. Fluffly had led us to the wall that protected our home. He was jumping up and down on a specific spot. Trying to tell us something. He then did a digging motion on the spot. Akina face instantly changed.
"Cheryl must had dug a tunnel to get some fresh air!" My sister's and my face scrunched up in confusion. The ground looked pretty flat, and isn't there plenty of air within the castle. Akina ignored our confused expressions.
"Do you know any earth benders that know seismic sense?"
"Why?"
"Cause then we can know where the tunnel ended!"
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, and can't Bolin do it?" Akina took a deep breath, nodded and placed Fluffy on her shoulder. We went to find Bolin in the guest corridors. Father had told me that Bolin was a good friend of Avatar Korra, a lava & earth bender and that's all I know of him. I had over heard that he was staying here for 1 or 2 days before going to the South Pole to visit his older brother Mako.
When I showed the girls to Bolin's door, Akina quietly knocked it. Bolin opened the door with a tired smile on his face.
"What brings you all here?" he asked
"Cheryl's missing. She dug a secret tunnel, and we need someone who knows seismic sense to know where Cheryl went," Akina gave Bolin a pleading face.
"Sure, I know seismic sense, just lead me to the location." Akina and the others guided Bolin to the wall where the tunnel was. Bolin used his seismic sense and then brought the others to the other side of the wall. He opened up the tunnel that Cheryl had used to get out.
"Such, a big tunnel. Man, your sis is a great earthbender." said Bolin as he examined the tunnel structure.
"Actually, I think Cheryl used Sona's earthbending to get away." replied Akina
"Sona? As in the badger-mole?"
"Yep, badger-moles were the first earth benders."
"Wow, great animal guide choice. It's kinda like Avatar Aang's sky bison." Akina nodded and then looked around.
"Where to now?" I asked. There wasn't any tracks to see where Cheryl went.
"For starters, we could ask the villagers. Bolin, can you and Lily ask around?" asked Akina. They both nodded a yes become taking off to the nearby street market. Of course my sis was my faster. I then heard someone clear their throat behind me. It was my father.
"What happened?" he asked
"Cheryl's run away. At least, that's what we think so far." I replied. My father chuckled.
"Its now been a tradition to search for the avatar." he shook his head as if he was recalling a memory. Akina laughed too.
"Man, the Royal Family of the Fire Nation sure is good when it comes to finding the avatar." She said after giggling. My father smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Go find your friend. I'll be waiting."
Akina then pulled me into the streets after bowing to my father. I waved bye to my dad as I walked farther away from the palace.
Cheryl's POV:
I had gone away from the palace to a spot near the ocean. I was standing on a ledge that oversaw a lot of shoreline. I closed my eyes, stretched my arms and breathed in the air. It felt good to be in a breezy area. People were surprised to see a badger-mole in the Fire Nation, but I wasn't really concerned that Akina would interrupt my moment of peace and freedom. I had a feeling that if I told some one that I was going to get some fresh air, I would be followed by some guards. I hated being under supervision all the time, so I took the advice of the nagging feeling in my head. Besides, I was only going to stay out for a little while. Not like the world would end right now.
I stared out into the open sea. Just being away from all the commotion and busy life of the city made me feel better. Being in a nature area prevented me from thinking about my family. Mom. Dad. I miss you. I felt a tear roll down my right cheek. I quickly wiped it away, being sad wouldn't help my situation besides I had made a new friend, Lily. I smiled at the thought of how joyful she was when she first met me, she was so welcoming. I sighed, if only the world was that way, but then again if the world was that way there would be no need of the avatar. I softly hummed the song 'Don't you Worry Child' the way my mom sang it. She used to sing sing it to me before she got busy with the Flower Shop.
I then heard some rustling behind us and I stopped humming. Both Sona and me turned our heads to the forest behind us. Out came out a ton of gentle spirits. There were at least 15 of them. They jumped up and down, as if warning me of something. I got up and reassured Sona before slowly approaching them.
The smallest one hop to me, and placed my hand on it's forehead.
"Come with us to a safer place. You are in danger." It told me, it's exact thoughts came straight to me as if a buried power arisen.
"What do you mean?" I replied back.
"There is no time to explain." It said before it and its friends carried me over their shoulders. Sona followed them quietly. My vision went black after they transported me somewhere.
Jinora's POV:
I was currently at Air Temple Island. Ever since Korra passed away, us Air Nomads have been trying to bring peace during disputes. I had gotten a telegram a few days ago that told me that they had found the next avatar, her name was Cheryl and was currently at the FireNation. The telegram also told me about how the girl was kind, yet fiery at some points but was too polite to do show it. I smiled when I received the telegram, this girl was similar to Korra in some ways.
Today I decided to meditate to gain a moment of peace. Things were getting pretty hectic between the nations when to came to trading, and working things out of hard work.
As I meditated a spirit buzzed by me and landed on my shoulder. I opened my right eye while staying in meditation position. It was Bum-Ju! I scratched it behind the ears, and smiled. He leaned into my touch, but then suddenly jumped as if he had forgotten to do something.
He than jumped off my shoulder and onto the ground. He then paused as if he was trying to think as something. He pointed at the sun, then at the ground, then at the water that surrounded the island, and then the spinning gates. I tilted my head to the right, why was he pointing at those things? Each of the items that he pointed at were different. Wait a minute, the sun gave power to firebenders, the ground meaning earth, spinning gates meaning air, and water...could he be talking about the avatar?
"Is it about the Avatar?" I guessed. Bum-ju nodded his head excitedly.
"What about her?" Bum-ju then pointed at a nearby flower that was floating on the water. I studied the red-petaled flower. It was a Red Lotus flower!
"Red Lotus?! No! Are they after the Avatar again?" Bum-ju nodded. My eyes widen, it was already a close call with Korra. I hate to think how it would be even more terrible for Cheryl, besides she had only recently discovered her identity, she wasn't ready for this battle. Bum-ju looked like he had more to say but I quickly went to radio Irwin to alert him of the situation. Since I wasn't paying attention to his next words, he followed me as if I was going in the right direction.
When I got to outside of the radio room on Air Temple island, there was a badger-mole standing near the doorway. Bum-ju hopped onto it and bounced up and down. The badger-mole seemed it be annoyed, but then pushed me inside with its head. I stared confusingly at it before peeking inside.
On one of the corners of the room was an unconscious girl, and a whole bunch of gentle spirits were protecting her. I lifted my hands to signal that I was peaceful to the spirits. I crouched down by the 15 year old girl. By her clothing, I could tell she was from the Earth Kingdom. For some reason I felt like I had a spiritual connection with her, but before I could read her spiritual energy, Kai, my husband busted inside.
"Jinora! Suppe-" He looked at what I was squatting by.
"Who is she? How come the spirits are protecting her? And is she okay?" His face was full of confusion and so was mine.
I looked back at the girl, and touched her fore head. She didn't seem to have a fever, yet she was sweating and continuously turning from right to left.
"I don't know," I said in reply to 2 of the questions. "But we should bring her to one of the secret dorms to heal." Kai nodded and placed the girl onto his back in piggyback position. I brought a towel and a bucket of water into the girl's new dorm room, while Kai placed her onto the bed. Bum-ju and the badger-mole followed too.
The badger-mole tried to nudge the girl awake, but it wasn't working. The girl's eyes were squeezed shut, she was still sweating and turning back & fourth , it was possible she was having a nightmare. I then told Kai to get my Gran-Gran, Katara to see if she knew what was wrong. She was 100 something by now, but she knew knowledge of things I didn't and this was the perfect time to use them. I wet the towel and placed it on the girl's forehead. Then, I waited for Gran-Gran to come.
Akina's POV:
Both Sean and me had asked many people already, but we didn't get any clues yet. I knew that Cheryl liked breezy places, but their were many places near the Fire Nation Palace that were like this. So our best bet was asking around. I was just about to ask an elderly selling pretty fresh fish, when I heard some unsettling things around the corner to my right.
I quickly pulled Sean and made a shush sign to my mouth to signal for him to be quiet. He mouthed make a 'Why?' I pointed to the two men in the alley. We hid behind the corner that spun into the ally. Sean studied the men with me. They both wore a black-colored outfit with red details and a red hood. They also had metal shoulder plates and wrist protectors.
"Did you hear? The Avatar escaped the palace alone, and she only knows Earth and Fire bending. She'll be easier to kill then that Water Tribe Avatar from the last generation." said the man on the right. Both Sean's and my eyes widened with shock. Had they been planing o so long ago?
The other man nodded happily.
"We can finally get rid of the Avatar, and all the World Leaders. But our alliance with the Earth Queen won't last long," The tall man grinned evilly. "Then we can all be finally free from control. Freedom."
"Let's go meet with the others to find the Avatar before she goes back to the palace." I held my breath as Sean and me hid in the shadows. Luckily, the two men didn't notice us as they exited the ally.
"Who were they? Cheryl's in trouble and we have no idea where she is." Sean said worriedly. He had taken the exact words from my mouth. I narrowed my eyes and stared into the ground, I remember seeing those uniforms before while reading the Avatar Korra section of the the Avatar History book. I scratched my head. Then the answer clicked into my head. The Red Lotus! They had tried to end the Avatar Cycle and killed an Earth Queen during Korra's era. My heart beat faster, I feared not only for Cheryl's life but the end of peace in the world. I spotted Lily running with Bolin in a certain direction and quickly pulled Sean to catch up with them.
Bolin's POV:
We had asked around, getting no luck until we met on a street that apparently Cheryl had taken since many of the villagers there had seen a huge badger-mole with an Earth Kingdom girl riding it. An elderly woman selling fruit told us that Cheryl had asked her about a breezy point nearby and she gave Cheryl directions to 'Lookout Point'. Lily and me both thanked her before Lily guided me through the route to the place.
That's when we heard a familiar female voice calling our names. We stopped and looked back. It was Akina and Sean! I got Lily to stop so they could catch up with us. When they did catch up, they had really worried faces and were panting.
"Did you get any clues on Cheryl's location?" said Akina between breaths.
"Yeah, she's at 'Lookout Point'" I replied.
"We gotta hurry. The Red Lotus are after her." she said in a whispered tone. My breathing stopped for moment, Cheryl was only a kid, she wouldn't stand a chance against them. Lily and Sean both had confused faces, but Akina just urged them to continue running. We did as we told and followed her.
I was surprised that Akina knew the way, but according to Irwin, this girl was all about history & geography. As we were running towards the forest, Sean mouthed the words 'What's the Red Lotus?' I mouthed back 'Later.' And he nodded back in understanding. I could understand why Akina was so worried, Cheryl was like a little sis to her, if anything happened to Cheryl, she wouldn't forgive herself. It was kinda like how Mako treated him. I only hope that we got to Cheryl before the Red Lotus did.
Cheryl's POV:
After the spirits taken me somewhere, and I had blacked out, I got another vision or to be exact, memory. This time I, actually it was Korra, but once again I was looking through her eyes,was somewhere underground with green crystals everywhere. There was a Red Lotus symbol behind me, don't ask me on why I knew it was that symbol, I just knew it. I also had my hands bound up be chains on each of my limbs. There were a couple of people standing over at the edge, and then a big blob of black was metal bent into my body's limbs. So...much...pain. I heard a echo of voices saying that the Avatar wasn't needed no more, and the words felt so true too. "Give up, give in, darkness is stronger than ever" I screamed, and opened my eyes for real this time.
I was sitting up on an unfamiliar bed. The towel fell off my head, and onto my lap. I shivered, pulled my legs towards me, hugged them and rocked back and fourth. The dream had creep me out, and I had a feeling I needed to talk to Korra to get the full story on the memory. I looked to my right. It was Jinora and Katara. Wait a minute, I don't know these people. But... I knew their names...and had a feeling that I could trust both of them. I looked downward and found the spirits that had taken me here staring at me.
Branyt's POV:
I heard a girl scream, that scared me like crazy. It came out of nowhere, and it didn't sound like any of the airbenders I knew that lived here. I quickly rushed to the source of the sound. I found an 15 year old Earth Kingdom girl sitting on the bed with Master Jinora and Master Katara sitting in the same room as her. Why was this girl suddenly here? I studied her face... she looked like...Cheryl!
I humbly steeped forward. The girl looked at me confused and hugged herself even tighter.
"Are...you...Cheryl?" I asked. The girl's face expression changed into many different emotions, but settled on a neutral face in the end. She then hesitantly nodded. My face instantly brightened! I haven't seen my old hometown friend in years. I had moved here a couple of weeks ago to train for airbending, and had also gone to visit her place, but her parents told me she was on a vacation...which was weird since this time of the year was dedicated to school.
"It's me Branyt!" I said excitedly. "Don't you remember me?" She blinked a couple of times before giving me a tired smile. I frowned, she normally wouldn't act like this. She would usually give me a hug or at least say something good naturally. Did years being apart make us lose our friendship? Jinora noticed my frown.
"Why don't you...get some tea& food for our new guest here?" Jinora said to me. I nodded slowly before exiting. Cheryl watched me leave and I waved awkwardly to her before going to the kitchen to do as told.
Katara's POV:
I quietly closed to door. It groaned before fully closing itself. The girl seemed to cringe when she heard the door hinge. Both Jinora and me frowned, we haven't seen this type of behavior since Korra was recovering from the Red Lotus attempt to kill her with poison and suffocation. The girl hummed a song while continuously rocking. She was staring at Aang's Memorial Island and had sad eyes.
I brought my chair over by the girl's bed. I carefully turned the girl to face me. I stared into her eyes, they were gentle and kind, yet a fiery passion to protect loved ones with hints of fear. I sat down.
"Is your name Cheryl darling? Can you tell us your origins? Don't worry we won't hurt you and you are on Air Temple Island in Republic City dear." I asked softly. The girl nodded.
"I know you won't hurt me." She said quietly and then paused.
"Katara...Jinora." they were the only words that came out of her mouth for quiet some time, then she looked at us and she waited for a response. We just stared out of shock, many people knew my granddaughter's face, but only few knew me personally.
She then eyed the blue armband that Jinora wore and squinted.
"My armband." were the girl's next words. I gave a confused face to Jinora, that armband was Korra's, Korra had given it to Jinora before she passed away. Jinora carefully pulled the armband off her arm and gave it to Cheryl. The girl smiled as she touched the fabric as if the armband's texture was familiar. While Cheryl touched the armband, Jinora studied the girl's spiritual energy. When she was done, Jinora's mouth laid wide open. I looked back at Cheryl, she was playing with the spirits now and had a smile on her face.
"Why didn't you tell us that you were the Avatar?" Jinora asked. The girl's eyes sadden even more and continued petting Bum-ju.
"I was getting some fresh air after fire bending training, when the spirits came and transported me away . While I was unconscious on the way here, I got a memory of being Korra...getting poisoned...and something telling us that the Avatar was no longer needed." She replied. I quickly gave the girl a hug, I knew what was coming next. At first she tensed, but then relaxed.
"So much pain," Cheryl continued speaking while her voice spoke in some kind of trance. "So confused...So much doubt" I let go and noticed her face full of tears. Cheryl wasn't sobbing, but there was pain spoken in her face and tears just kept dripping.
"Don't cry, everything is going to be okay." said Jinora as she wiped Cheryl's tears. Cheryl gave a confused face before touching her wet cheek.
"I'm not crying...Korra is" she whispered.
So...there you go folks! Team Avatar is almost complete! Also, now the little prologue makes more sense. And I will be including also characters from LOK. Although I know that Korra will get over her depression, the memory that Cheryl is experiencing is ONLY is from the time Korra was feeling scared. Hope you liked this chapter. Please, please review!