Chap. 3
The Gathering Begins
Rastla and the other Architects spoke to the two of them quickly, relating the plan needed to finally bring down the Fire Nation. Oscuridad and Aang listened intently, soaking up each word that was said to them. Finally, they finished and Rastla asked, "Do you understand all that has been told to you?"
"Yes Mother, we understand perfectly." Oscuirdad said.
"Me too." Aang added.
"Good, because you must follow this plan if you are to survive the battle, Aang." Roku said. "Only a fully realized Avatar has the power to take down the Fire Lord, and only a force like what you must assemble can get you to him."
"You must find Guru Pathnik and receive your training." Ralin, Architect of Light said. "And you Nightstalker, must help him to form that force while he learns of fire. When you awaken, you must choose those who shall go out and collect the warriors we have spoken of."
"Of course, Ralin." Oscuridad said with a nod. "I will not let you down, my Master."
"I know. You never have, Shadow Knight." Ralin said. With that, the golden-robed Architect turned to Roku and said, "Thank you for your aid in bringing Aang here, Roku. You may return him to Earth now, where I am sure he will continue to benefit from your guidance."
Roku nodded and moved over to where his young counterpart stood. Roku placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and in a flash of light, the two Avatars vanished. Oscuridad looked at the empty spot a moment, then said, "It's that time, isn't it?"
"It is." Rastla said. "We could not tell you with the Avatar here. There is no way to know how he would react."
"There still isn't." the bat said with a sigh. "I've been dreading this, you know. Aang has spent so much time trying to understand how things are, and this is going to totally change that. Once he gets past the shock, he's going to wonder why we didn't tell him. He may not forgive us."
"The Avatar is strong, my son." Rastla said. "He will understand. It was done for his protection."
"Maybe. But still….." Oscuridad paused a moment then said, "Dios, yo espero que él nos perdone."
"He will." Aeris, Architect of Wind said. "Aang has much kindness in his heart. He will forgive you."
"I hope so. I'll send him then, I'm guessing?" the bat asked.
Aeris nodded, and then Rastla said, "The time has passed quickly, my son. You must return to Earth and put this into motion."
"Right." Oscuridad said, as he turned to face his mother. The Architect of Shadow waved her hands in the air, and suddenly the bat was covered in darkness. Within seconds, the shadow vanished, taking the bat along with it.
Aang and Oscuridad flew through the corridors between the world of the Architects and Earth, reaching their bodies in seconds. They slammed back into them, and awoke with a gasp. The two of them sat up and looked around, seeing that the others were still asleep. They also saw the early rays of the sun streaming in through the window. They looked at the sunlight, then looked at each other and nodded. The two of them left their beds and walked from the bedroom into the main hall, heading in the direction of the war room. But first, they wrote a note, telling the others to meet them in the war room.
Of course, no one found that note for a few hours. But when the sun had risen into the sky, Katara arose from bed, found it, and read with much curiosity.
"What is going on?" she wondered, as she read it over again. "Guys, we need to see you in the war room. There have been some big changes that we need to discuss. Come as soon as you read this.
"Well, it's Aang's handwriting." She said. "But what could've happened to cause this?"
"To cause what?" Iroh asked with a yawn, as he pulled himself out of bed.
"Aang left us a note, Uncle Iroh." Katara answered. "He wants us all in the war room to discuss some big changes."
"Hmm. If that is the case, it is likely quite serious." The old general said. "Aang would not make a joke about this. Besides, Oscuridad is gone as well. If he is involved, then this could be quite important. Perhaps the Earth King has a new idea for the battle plan."
"Well, only one way to find out." Katara said, as she moved over to her brother's bed, and began the arduous task of waking him. It a few shakes, as well as a blast of cold water to wake him, but eventually, Sokka climbed out of bed and listened to what was going on. He then helped wake up the others, and after they had changed and washed, the group headed to the war room.
But when the got there, the group found the Earth King and the Council of Five standing outside the door.
"Your Highness? What are you doing here?" Zuko asked.
"Waiting for you, it seems." The King replied. "The Avatar and the Nightstalker have been inside the room since early this morning. I received a note asking me to come and speak with them, but they said that they needed to relay their message to everyone."
"And now that you are here, we can find out what that message is." General How said, as he moved towards the doors and pushed them open, allowing everyone into the room.
"Good to see you guys." Oscuridad said, as the group entered.
"Likewise." Luz said. "Now, are you going to tell us what's going on, or what?"
"Well, Osc and I had a dream last night." Aang began.
"You brought us in here for…. Wait, you both had the same dream?" Sokka asked in confusion.
"It wasn't exactly a dream." Oscuridad said. "It was more like a communication."
"So who spoke to you?" Katara asked.
"Avatar Roku, and the Architects." Aang replied.
"What?!" Tierra cried out in shock. "What did they say? Was it important? Was it about me? Cause if it was, I swear to God I didn't know about that shrine…"
"Uh, no, it wasn't about that." Aang said. "They gave us a new plan for attacking the Fire Nation."
"They said that the Earth Kingdom Army isn't enough on it's own." Oscuridad said, motioning for the others to gather around the table. Gesturing to the map of the world spread out over it, the bat said, "It's going to take something greater then the Earth Kingdom Army, or the Water Tribe Army, or even the Fire Nation Army. We have been charged with the creation of an army the world has never seen before- The Army of the Avatar."
"Hmm, I wonder who thought up that name?" Toph asked sarcastically. Aang shrugged in reply.
"So, who is going to be in this army?" Sokka asked.
"You are still going to use the Earth Kingdom troops, right?" the King asked.
"Of course, Your Highness." Oscuridad replied. "This Army will be composed of a fighting force that hasn't been seen in a hundred years; one composed of Waterbenders, Earthbenders, and Firebenders."
There was silence a moment, as the group looked at each other, then Luz said, "Honey, you do realize that the Fire Nation has been attempting to kill us for a while now? I don't think there are too many of them that feel like helping."
"Most of them, but there have been a few." The bat replied, gesturing towards Zuko and Iroh. "And now, we're going to find some more." Gesturing to the map, Oscuridad said, "The Architects gave us specific locations in which to find specific people." Pointing to a spot on the fringes of the Earth Kingdom, the bat said, "Aang, Iroh, Luz, Sokka, Katara and I are continuing with the trip to the Fire Nation, along with the rest of the Earth Kingdom Army. But first, we're making a pit stop here to pick some recruits."
"But we have all the troops we can handle from the Earth Kingdom." The Earth King said. "There's no one left."
"We aren't picking up Earthbenders." The bat replied. "There's a group of Water Tribe warriors stationed here. We'll need them in the Army, and I doubt it'll too hard to convince them. You see, they've been stationed there for two years, ever since they left the Southern Water Tribe."
"Wait a…. this is Dad's fleet isn't it?!" Sokka yelled out in happiness.
"That it is." Oscuridad said, as he watched Katara and Sokka's faces break out in radiant smiles. "Your father and the rest of the warriors are going to be very useful in our plan."
"So, I guess I'm not going to recruit from the Water Tribe?" Agua asked.
"No, you still are. Your job is to head down to the South Pole and find Pakku and whatever Waterbenders can come with him. You can travel the waters faster then any ship; it shouldn't be a problem. After you find them, head to the North Pole and ask the Chief for any warriors that he can spare."
"The rest of you have your own missions." Oscuridad continued, as he marked different spots on the map. "Fue, you and Zuko are going here. It's an Earth Kingdom territory under Fire Nation control. They use it as a prison, where they keep some of their more dangerous prisoners. It's also where their keeping an old friend of ours; Shyu, the Fire Sage that helped us in the Temple. This is also the place where Jeong Jeong and his group were last seen. Your job is to find/free both of them."
"You want us to find the Deserter?" Zuko asked in amazement. "But no one has ever been able to find him. He knows those woods like no one else."
"We found him once." Fuego said reassuringly. "We'll find him again, and I'm sure he'll want to help."
"Toph, I'm sending you and Tierra someplace special. You're going home." The bat said. "I need you two to get one of your old friends from the Earth Rumble- The Boulder."
"Huh?" Toph asked. "Maybe you didn't notice, but Boulder wasn't exactly sharp."
"True, but he was a good Earthbender, and the Architects say we can use him."
"OK, but how do you expect me to go home? My parents will try to lock me up again." Toph protested.
"That's why I'm sending Tierra with you. Besides, you don't have to see them. All I need you to do is go, get the Boulder, and get out. But if you can get anyone else, that'd be great." Oscuridad said, before moving on.
"Desierto, Bosque, I'm sending you two here, to the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom. You'll be looking for Haru, Tyro, and the rest of the Earthbenders from the village. The Fire Nation still controls the region, so you'll have to be careful. Hierro, you and Aire are taking a trip to Omashu. You're going to free King Bumi. Trueno will be recruiting Suki and the Kyoshi warriors. Once you each have your recruits, you'll meet up with the rest of us in the Fire Nation."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Toph asked.
"I think I know." Trueno said. With that, he drew his staff and removed the gemstone from it's casing. Placing it on the table, his hand suddenly crackled with energy and struck the stone. There was a small crack of thunder, and then six identical stones sat on the table.
"Right on, bro." Oscuridad said. "Every group, take a stone. With these in your possession, you can travel with the speed of lightning. Once you have your troops, think of the Fire Nation and the stones will speed you there. But be warned; they can only be used one, so be careful."
"Well, at least we'll have time to practice." Zuko said.
"Actually, we don't." Aang said. "Roku and the Architects said that we were going to have to get to the Fire Nation sooner then expected."
"How soon?" the Earth King asked.
"We all set out tomorrow. We have a week to get everyone to the Fire Nation."
"WHAT?!!" was the loud, collective response. "Aang, are you crazy? We don't have half of the Army here yet! Besides that, the Fire Nation is surrounded by warships! We need to plan out how to get past that!" Sokka yelled.
"No we don't." Oscuridad said. "All the good we've been doing in the world has been restoring the balance, bit by bit. We've given the Architects some control back. They promised us safe passage into the Fire Nation. But after that, we're on our own."
"But…"
"I know it's hard Sokka, but the Architects know what they're doing. They said that by going to the Fire Nation now, we'll gain the last part of the Army. I don't know how, but the Architects would never do something like this without reason."
Sokka tried to give a response, but nothing could come to mind. After several fruitless minutes, he sighed and gave up. The Earth King turned to the generals and said, "If this is what the gods say we must do, then so be it. Prepare the troops as quickly as you can."
"As you wish, you Highness." General How said with a bow. With that, the generals left the war room to do just that. Slowly, the others started to move away as well, each leaving to contemplate what had been placed in front of them. All, that is, except for Aire and Oscuridad. The two of them remained, waiting to be alone so that they could speak. The falcon had a pretty good idea as to what his assignment really was, but he needed to make sure.
Finally, the last of them left, and the two brothers were left alone. There was silence a moment, and then Aire said, "I've got a big flight ahead of me, don't I?"
"I didn't want to say anything in front of the others." Oscuridad said. "It would cause too many questions. But I need you to go there. You and Hierro will leave together, but once you're out of sight, take off."
"I knew this day would come. But I didn't think it would be this fast." Aire said.
"It always comes fast, little bro." The bat replied. "Do you think you can do it?"
"I can find it. But beyond that, I don't know. It's been a long time."
"If anyone can drive something out into the world, it's you Aire. You know that."
"True. Very true. But what do you think he will do?"
"I don't know. But I'm hoping he won't hate us, or else this whole thing is doomed."