A/N: Chapter 2, enjoy !
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"Agh!" Kalden shouted as the girl pulled him through the forest, and he broke from her strong grip, "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm getting you out of here," The girl said, confused, "Avin, it's not safe for you to be here."
"Stop calling me that!" Kalden exclaimed, as he backed away from her slowly, "I'm Kalden."
"No, you're not…" The girl trailed off, and realization struck her. "You…Avin, you don't remember me, do you?"
Kalden looked at the girl, and sat on the ground, his head in his arms. "No…I don't remember. I can't remember anything."
"Oh, Avin…" the girl said sadly, kneeling down and reaching out to comfort the boy.
"You know who I was, right? My name…was Avin?" Kalden asked quietly, as the girl nodded.
"Can you tell me anything about who I was?" Kalden asked, "And who you are?"
The girl smiled, wiping a tear from her eye, "My name is Feizhi. I'm sorry, Av- Kalden. I...I didn't know you that well."
"Feizhi, were we friends?"
The girl remembered all the adventures, from escaping the Fire Nation to just talking about whether numbers or letters were better. All they had been through together…but looking at her friend, all the things that only she remembered now.
"Yeah," Feizhi said, a bit sadly, "We were friends."
"And…Avin was my name?" Kalden asked.
Feizhi nodded.
"I want to find out more about myself," Kalden said, "Any idea who might know?"
"The Avatar and his friends. You knew them, and I'm sure they'll be able to tell you a lot." Feizhi said quietly, as she got up.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kalden asked, as the girl started turned to face Kalden.
"You don't remember me, Kalden. Its better we both go our separate ways until you do."
"But, Feizhi…" Kalden said, getting up slowly, "I don't know where to look for the Avatar, and I'm hurt. How am I supposed to find him?"
"The Avatar was last seen in an Earth Kingdom village along the coast," Feizhi muttered, "And don't worry about that leg. You've healed from worse."
"Really?" Kalden asked, scratching his head, "Well, I guess I'd better get going."
Feizhi took out a ferry ticket, and gave it to Kalden. "This is your ticket out of the Fire Nation. Do not talk to anyone, and stay hidden. Keep a low profile, and most importantly, do not airbend."
"Airbend?" Kalden asked as Feizhi walked deeper into the forest.
She turned and smiled, and said, "Wow, you really did forget everything. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when you finally do catch up with Aang."
"Aang…" Kalden whispered, as the name sounded familiar…he looked up, and Feizhi was gone.
Kalden walked out of the forest, and looked around. He could see the port from where he stood, and started walking down the winding path to the port, ferry ticket in hand.
It's funny…but I have the strangest urge to go penguin-sledding…
With the Gaang
"Remember, breathing exercises are important to firebending," Zuko said as Aang took deep breaths.
"Got it," Aang said in between breaths, and he clasped his hands together.
"Okay, let's see how you've improved," Zuko said, stepping behind his student.
Aang took one more deep breath, and got into his stance. Then he released a flurry of flames in quick succession, as he went through the basic firebending stances.
"Very nice," Zuko said, "But I notice that you hesitate as you go through the forms. Make sure you know what you're doing, and do it with confidence."
"Right," Aang said, panting.
"I think you've earned a break," Zuko said, stretching his arms, "Besides, don't you have airbending training left to do?"
"Yeah, I should go practice. Thanks, Sifu Hotman!" Aang exclaimed, running back to the campsite.
"And stop calling me that!" Zuko shouted after the Avatar.
Aang ran through the campsite, bowling over Sokka and stopping to get a drink of water.
"Hey, how did firebending training go?" Toph asked.
"It went great," Aang replied, wiping his face, "I really think I'm getting the hang of it."
"Aang, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Katara asked, as Aang grabbed some food and put it in a bag.
"I'm just going to do some training, Katara," Aang said, running into the forest, "I'll be back soon!"
"Just be careful!" Katara shouted after her friend.
Aang sprinted through the forest, past the tall trees, and stopped, about a mile from where the campsite was. Aang sighed as he got into an airbending stance, and looked across the clearing.
Avin used to train with him, and the two would always find a way to have a great time. (And get in lots of trouble, Aang chuckled to himself) Without him, airbending training had gone back to being nothing more than a lonely chore.
As he jumped and flipped through the air, Aang realized that finding an airbending partner wasn't actually what was bothering him.
It was guilt. Despite everything, he had managed to find another airbender. And as soon as he did- Avin went and got himself killed.
To be honest, Aang admitted, it wasn't totally his fault. Avin had, after all, joined Aang and his friends under the pretenses of friendship, and later betrayed them to the Fire Nation.
Avin also seemed a bit…psychotic. He seemed like a different person at times. He also had a theory about a conspiracy in the Air Council. It all seemed pretty crazy, and no one could doubt Avin was a bit mentally unstable.
On the other hand, Avin wasn't evil. He had decided to fight alongside Aang at the last second, proving he did have some good in him after all. But his double-betrayal cost him badly.
The truth was, even if Aang didn't feel guilt, it still hurt to lose a friend. And at the end of the day, Avin had really been his friend.
Aang shot a blast of air in frustration, and sat down. He started meditating, like Monk Gyatso had taught him to do whenever he was feeling angry of frustrated.
Soon, the feelings were gone, replaced by a calm peace of mind. Aang sighed as he got up, and looked at the setting sun. The sky blended in a mix of pink, red, and orange, meaning training was over, and it was time to get back to the campsite for dinner.
Aang felt a strange feeling grip him, almost as if he were being watched. He shrugged it off, though, thinking, Sokka must be rubbing off on me. Now I'M getting paranoid!
Meanwhile, the figure hidden in the high branches of a tree close by smiled. The last airbender, huh? And he's the Avatar, at that. Funny, though…he's a lot younger than I thought he'd be. I wonder how he's managed to survive, let alone stay young like that…oop, he's on the move.
The girl jumped silently through the trees, following Aang all the way back to the campsite.
At a port along the Earth Kingdom coast
Okay…I made it to the Earth Kingdom…Kalden thought to himself, getting off the ferry, now what? It's not like I have the faintest idea HOW to find the Avatar…Aang…whoever he is!
Kalden was starting to consider just walking around and asking "Have you seen the Avatar? Have you seen the Avatar?" until someone told him, when he saw a small girl crying.
Hey…Kalden walked over to the little girl and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? You shouldn't be here by yourself. Where's your family?"
The girl sniffled, and said, "I lost my family."
Kalden's eyes softened, and he said, "I'm sorry. I know how that feels."
"Did you lose your family too?" The girl asked, as Kalden wiped a tear from her face.
"Something like that," Kalden replied. It's weird, but…this feels very familiar…
His hands twitched, as if they wanted to do something, but couldn't. Kalden looked down at his hands, and said to the girl, "Hey, I have something that will cheer you up!"
I hope this cheers her up, Kalden thought as he let his hands move freely. They swerved and went through a series of motions, and a small gust of wind formed in the palm of his hand.
Kalden grinned widely as he moved his hand closer to the girl, and she leaned in to take the gust of wind. As soon as Kalden let go of it the miniature tornado it faded into the air with a small poof, and the girl giggled as it disappeared.
"Hey, I made you smile," Kalden said, as a soldier shouted.
"Hey, you there!" A Fire Nation soldier ran up to Kalden, "Did you just airbend? You did, didn't you?!"
Kalden remembered what Feizhi had told him…No airbending…to be honest, though, it's not like I was EXPECTING it…just kind of snuck up on me…
"You better go," Kalden said to the little girl, "I really hope you find your family." She nodded and ran off into the village.
"What's the problem here?" Two more soldiers joined the first.
"He just airbended! I saw him!"
"I always wondered, is it airbent, or airbended?" Kalden asked as a few soldiers ran up to him.
"Well, I think its airbended," one of the soldiers said.
"Really? Sounds like airbent is the proper way-" another began.
"Oh, be quiet!" The first soldier said, as he pointed at Kalden, "The point is, I saw him airbending!"
"Well, you guys," Kalden said, backing away slowly, "This has been a fascinating dive into the world of the…past tenses…of verbs…but I really have to get going."
"Hey, you're not getting away that easily," A soldier exclaimed, as Kalden jumped over a cabbage cart. However, he timed his jump wrong and ending up bowling over the cart, sending cabbages flying, along with the man running the cart.
"My cabbages!!" The man shouted as Kalden scrambled to his feet and, looking embarrassed, ran into the village.
"After him!" A soldier shouted, and the three started running after him.
Kalden pushed past a group of teenagers as he raced through the streets of the small village. Hey, wait…I should be looking for the Avatar…
"Have you seen the Avatar?" Kalden asked as he ran past an old woman, who shook her head.
"Have you seen the Avatar?" Kalden asked a group of kids playing in the street, and they all shook their heads.
Kalden ran across the plaza, where he asked a small boy, an old man, a newlywed couple, and an attractive teenage girl if they had seen the Avatar.
Barring the girl (who had hit Kalden across the face when he started staring) all of them had the same response: they had not seen the Avatar.
"Hey, maybe…" Kalden turned around and saw the Fire Nation soldiers that had been chasing him across the village. They caught up to him, and surrounded the young airbender.
"Have you guys seen the Avatar?" Kalden said.
Next thing he knew, Kalden was sitting in a prison cell. He leered at the guards who had brought him in, as they sat down, panting and wheezing, trying to recover from their Kalden-chase.
Can't believe I got my butt thrown in jail, Kalden said, I bet the Avatar never gets in this kind of trouble…
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A/N: Hope you liked it ! Anyone familiar with 'muscle memory' ? Could that have something to do with Av- er, Kalden's little airbending stunt...? And, what's with Aang's new stalker? Chapter 3 coming soon !