I am sooooo sorry everyone for the late update. I totally forgot about updating on Thursday and my friend came over again this weekend. Sorry again :/

But the good news is that the Gaang is finally making their big appearance :D So read and enjoy!

~Ned

Chapter 5- The Explosive Meeting

Danny had been having the time of his life in the past month! He had learned so much from Sam over the brief amount of time they had been together. He could even navigate and maneuver his way through the forest without her help anymore.

During the first couple of days Sam taught him the basics, icebending, moving from one area of the forest to another by running into a tree (yeah, Danny was scared by the thought at first also), and then there was her help with Danny's form switching. Of course Sam did not know how Danny was about to go from human to spirit, but she was a great motivator and helped him master it so that he could do it on a seconds notice.

During their time together Danny could not help but wonder what being half spirit, a Halfa, entailed or how exactly he became one. After all Sam hated to bring the topic up so he still had no clear answers. However after the first week of wondering and asking an uncooperative Sam for answers, he pushed the topic into the back of his mind and classified it as unimportant.

So he decided to focus on different and more important things, one of them being his bending. Over the time he had been with Sam he had practically mastered icebending and was now trying to get a handle of waterbending without a knowledgeable teacher. Then there was his firebending.

He noticed on the first day that he could only bend one element in each of his forms, his spirit only did water/ice, while his human only had fire, so no matter how much Danny tried he could never seem to do them at the same time. There was also the issue that Sam did not know how to firebend, so he did not have a teacher for that either. But thankfully he had Sam to put out any fires that he accidentally caused, although she was never pleased to do so. Thus Danny was forced to cut his firebending practice to a minimum. The only firebending he knew how to do was shoot fire out of his fists, nothing else; no fire break dancing, no dragon breath, he could not even figure out how to shoot fire out with a kick!

The techniques for waterbending and firebending were also very different as far as Danny could tell. No matter what move he tried to do that he learned to do as a waterbender he could never do it as a firebender. It was all frustrating to say the least.

'How on earth does the Avatar learn to do it?' Danny asked out loud to no one in particular as he flew into a tree and transported to the edge of the forest next to his old village. 'All the moves and techniques he must have learned to do. Each element must have taken him decades to master!'

'Don't worry about it so much, Phantom.' Sam spoke into his head. They had learned a while ago that they shared a link of sorts. It was not anything special like reading each other's minds. They simply project their thoughts to one another. 'I'm sure that you'll find a way to master firebending eventually.'

'Yeah, if a firebender came out of nowhere and wasn't in support of the Fire Lord then maybe, but the chances of that are zero to none especially since we are right smack-dab in the middle of the Fire Nation.' Danny said in aggravation.

'You worry too much.' Sam said with a hint of humor in her voice.

Danny let out a sigh at her words. After the talk he had with that Fire Nation soldier the first day he had been Phantom, he thought that maybe his mother and sister would stay in the village. After all, he had given his mother the hint that there was a spirit in the forest and had desperately hoped that if his mother heard about it she would want to stay to investigate. However it would seem she chose the wrong time to get over her obsession and instead decided to go with Vlad all the way to the Fire Nation Capital.

Danny would have tried to stop her, but with his current situation it would be difficult to say the least. It was not because he was bound to the forest like Sam was, because he was not, he was able to come and go as he pleased. The things that made it difficult was of course the fact that everyone thought he was dead, so coming out of nowhere with a different look would be a horrible idea. Then there was the fact that he was now half spirit, and the last time he checked, his mother wanted to experiment on them, so telling her that he was alive because he was now half spirit would be like committing suicide.

'I think I worry the right amount.' Danny corrected Sam, as he stared at his long lost home, wanting nothing more than to have his old life back, even with the spirit obsessed parents. Well, at least that was how he felt for the first five seconds until a loud 'Boom!' exploded inside the town and Danny jumped in shock. 'Great, what did the soldiers do now?' Danny thought with a roll of his eyes as he leaped off his tree and started to fly towards the commotion.

"So where is this forest the Painted Lady mentioned?" Aang asked his group as he looked around the large village that the spirit had mentioned.

"I don't know, why don't we ask around?" Katara stated as she walked over to a fruit stand, hoping to ask the clerk for directions.

"Wait Katara; we shouldn't just go around asking strangers for directions." Sokka said as he grabbed his little sister's wrist.

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. "Will you calm down Sokka, it's not like I'm asking for the weakest points in the Fire Nation Capitol. I'm just going to get us info on the forest." Sokka gave his sister a glare before she pulled her wrist out of his grip. "But if it'll make you happy I'll be careful." She said as she started towards the fruit stand. "I would like two Papayas please." Katara said sweetly, trying to be discreet.

Of course she hated the disgusting flavored fruit, but it was the first thing she saw when she got to the stand, so she would just have to get over it. The clerk looked up at her briefly before he nodded and started to gather the food and put it in a basket.

"This really is a magnificent village," Katara continued, being totally truthful. The village was actually very nice and full of life, but the clerk remained passive at the change of topic, "it seems so green and rich. Is there a forest nearby influencing it?" she pushed a little harder trying to keep her voice civil and trying to not give away her intentions.

The clerks face then turned terrified, erasing any evidence of his past neutrality. "You don't want to go there." He said his voice trembling. "There have been a lot of disappearances in there, one man even mentioned seeing rabid animals and demented spirits!"

Katara looked at the man in shock, not sure if she should walk away slowly from the obviously crazy man or feel sorry for him for falling victim to the strange rumors. "Wh-what do you mean?" She asked, although a small part of her told her to shut her mouth and walk away.

"Every person that has ever gone into that forest has never come out!" The man practically yelled. "General Masters had even left more than half his men here to deal with the issue and ditched the place himself to go to the Capital!"

It was then that the rest of her group came forward, all interested, yet hesitant. "Did you say demented spirits?" Aang asked, clearly interested. Katara smiled slightly, remembering the last time they dealt with a 'demented spirit.' It ended up just being the forest's spirit that had his forest burned down. The spirit had simply been angry and stole the villagers to get revenge. Katara began to wander what could make a spirit so angry when even the village was flourishing from the forest's health.

"No one knows about the spirit for sure, only one person saw it and came back, however he moved to the village west of here to live with his family a few days after the incident. However he did say that he saw a boy with snow white hair and glowing green eyes and a strange black and white animal shaped spirit that travel with a platypus bear." The Clerk exclaimed.

The four kids exchanged uneasy looks, except for Toph, who simple asked, "Can you tell us where this forest is so that we can avoid it?" Katara's heart seemed to have stopped at the young girls words, hoping that the man would not look deeper into Toph's meaning.

"It's to the north of here." The clerk exclaimed while pointing towards said north. "I strongly suggest you go to the village to the west of here if you are ever desperate to go north. Just ask the people in the village where to go and they should take you as far as you need to go to avoid the forest." The clerk stated and Katara stared at him in shock, not expecting him to be this helpful, even if the last half was not needed thanks to Appa.

"Thank you," Katara finally said before anyone in the group could say anymore, "you have been very helpful, and don't worry, we'll be safe." She then grabbed Toph and Sokka and lead them to the south so they would not raise any suspicion.

"Good, now that we know not to go into the forest, we should leave." Sokka exclaimed, irritation clear on his face.

"Are you kidding, this spirit could help us find Schim with our new group member, we can't leave now!" Aang exclaimed, "Besides, I'm the Avatar, I could probably reason with the 'demonic' spirit in the forest."

"I agree with Aang, we came this far, we can't leave now!" Katara stated stubbornly and Toph nodded in agreement.

"Good, now let's go, before it gets dark." Aang stated as he started to walk to the north, everyone followed at equal pace except for Sokka who just trudged behind, grumbling to himself once again.

It was then that everything went wrong. Sokka, who had dragged his feet in frustration, scrapped his foot against two spark rocks that had been accidentally dropped next to the fireworks that were for a celebration that was going to be held sometime in the week. However Sokka, being full of bad luck, sparked the rocks that lit one of the fireworks in a fairly large crate. Right when that happened, Sokka's luck got worse; two Fire Nation soldiers turned the corner to witness the event.

It was only thanks to the soldiers that anyone knew what happened. "Everyone, GET DOWN!" One of the soldiers yelled, and everyone in the area complied without question, even the Gaang listened and hit the deck.

'Boom!'

Danny flew only a few feet about the roof tops of the village, invisible to the naked eye. Danny loved this part about being half spirit, flight and invisibility. Yep, things could not get better.

As he flew he saw what had caused the commotion. A large box of what Danny thought used to be caring either fireworks, or low level explosives had exploded. He looked at it with interest and then saw a flash as two groups of people running away from the scene of the crime. Danny looked at the groups with interest, not sure about what to make of one of them.

The first group he brushed off since they were just Fire Nation soldiers. The other group was the one that caught his eyes, due to the fact that the soldiers were chasing after them. It had been a while since anyone had angered the soldiers that much, so out of natural curiosity Danny could not help but want to investigate even further. So he followed the small group of four that where being chased, staying invisible of course.

The group had two boys and two girls, all of them were no older than seventeen and all had dark hair. The youngest boy, who he guessed was either twelve or thirteen, had a headband over his forehead and wore a school looking uniform that looked a little expensive compared to what Danny used to wear.

The youngest girl looked about the same age as the youngest boy; she wore soulless shoes and had piercing light grey eyes that told the world that she was blind. The oldest boy looked about sixteen, had light sea blue eyes that were just a little darker than Danny's own. He also had a terrified and guilty look on his face, and guessing by it Danny assumed the boy was the one that caused the explosion. He could not help but smile at the thought, loving anything that would anger the Fire Nation's soldiers as much as he did on a daily bases.

The oldest girl looked about Danny's age, fourteen, maybe fifteen, and looked a lot like the oldest guy, dark hair, light sea blue eyes, and tanned skin tone. Their faces had slight differences, but they also had similarities. Danny guessed by the group's situation that they were not part of the Fire Nation army, and hope flourished in his chest at the idea of one of them being a firebender.

'Sam, we have company, be nice.' Danny thought as he flew next to the oldest girl, and quickly whispered, "Turn left," trying to direct them into the direction of the forest. He hoped that his motion had not freaked her out as he said it. After all, mysterious voices out of nowhere usually called for alarm. However the girl briefly nodded, immediately accepting the advice that came out of nowhere and pulled on the blind girl's shirt.

"This way!" She yelled as he turned left, the rest of the group followed without complaint.

'Apparently drastic times call for drastic measures.' Danny thought out loud.

He immediately heard Sam laugh in his head. 'You are living proof of that Phantom.' Sam said with amusement.

Danny felt his cheeks warm up at the comment and was glad that at the moment he was invisible. "Keep going straight." He quickly whispered in the girl's ear again after seeing a panicked look on her face as she looked at every corner like she had lost her new found guide and did not know where to go next. "Alright, take another left then just keep going, the forest is dead ahead." Danny said as he led them through the last turn. He then turned around to face the soldiers, thrilled to see that all of them had immediately stopped once the group of four finally passed through the forest. 'They learn fast.' Danny thought and Sam laughed again as he sent her an image of the startled soldiers.

"Wh-what are you waiting for, go get them!" One man stated as he shoved one of the soldiers forward. Danny smiled, waiting for one of them to pass through the threshold.

"Are you crazy? I've heard the rumors circulating about the forest!" The man that had been shoved stated. "Anyone who enters never returns!"

Danny could not help but roll his eyes at the village's ridicules rumor circulation. The only people that ever went missing where from the Fire Nation army, Danny and Sam were very strict towards the animals about randomly attacking villagers (who had recently stopped coming into the forest completely), but soldiers were fair game. Danny could not help shivering at the thought, but refused to let it affect him, 'Wild animals have to eat too.' Sam had said and Danny regretted having to agree with her after the first five attacks upon their forest since each group he kicked out came back eventually.

"Those are just rumors, now go in and get those brats!" Another soldier stated and Danny rolled his eyes at the soldiers in front of him, irritated that such grown men could be such sacredly cats.

"Let's just go in together." One said out loud, breaking the conflict between two of his fellow soldiers. However Danny's smile returned at the slight shake of the man's voice.

"Alright," the one that shoved the other stated, "together."

After they all let out a relaxing breath they took a step into the forest and Danny's smile grew ten-fold. He stretched out his hand and froze the ground underneath the soldier, who all immediately fell onto their butts.

"Wh-What the heck was that?!" One yelled as he tried to get up, but only ended up slipping again.

"It's the spirit!" Another yelled, and a majority of the soldiers immediately stiffened. Apparently none of them were too thrilled about the talk of spirits, which only make Danny's smile turn devious.

He then sucked in a deep breath and let out a loud, "GET OUT!" that sounded like both a growl and an ominous groan. Then all six of the men's face paled and without a second's hesitation they booked it, not caring who they trampled in the process.

Danny held his stomach to suppress the burst of laughter that would have escaped. 'Phantom, your company has arrived, you better get here, and if possible, as a human.' Sam said and Danny had to take a few deep breaths before he could stop the bursts of laughter.

'Alright Sam, be there in a flash.' Danny said as he flew into a tree and then found himself in the middle of the forest. With a smile he allowed the two rings to form around him, transforming him back into his human form with his usual Fire Nation citizen clothes. He then walked towards the four unknown persons inside his forest, knowing this was going to be interesting.

"We…we actually made it!" Aang said as he leaned over and panted, exhausted form their run. "How did you know where to go Katara?"

"I-I don't know, I just heard a voice that lead us hear." Katara answered not entirely sure if the voice had been in her head or if someone or something had whispered all of it into her ear.

"Like the way that swamp had called Aang, cause that didn't end so well." Sokka exclaimed with a nervous look on his face.

"Well if it wasn't for the swamp we probably wouldn't have met Toph, so I would say it was pretty good advice." Aang stated in a 'matter of fact' tone.

"All I'm saying is that we got attacked by a lot of swamp water and plants, I simply don't want to relive the experience." Sokka said with a shrug.

It was then that a bush rustled and Sokka turned around about ready to pull out his trusty boomerang. However what stepped out was just a small fire ferret that looked mildly interested in the group as it trotted over to them.

"Watch out Sokka," Katara started as she and Aang began to chuckle, "Ferrets have been known to be ferocious and deadly."

"Hey, it could have been anything!" Sokka defended himself, but he then glared back at the ferret, contemplating whether or not to attack it to release the stress his friend's laughter was causing him. However as he stared, the ferret started to let out a series of squeaks, like it was trying to talk to them. Before anyone could even begin to think about how to respond it started to walk towards the center of the forest. It stopped when it got a few yards ahead then looked back, as if saying. 'You guys coming?'

"It is just me, or does it look like he wants something?" Katara asked; her voice sounding a little freaked out.

"Yeah…it looks like it wants us to follow it." Aang agreed, but then let out a shrug and started to walk towards the red ferret.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked about ready to grab onto Aang like he did his sister when she decided to just walk over to something unknown.

"Following it, it may be able to take us to Schim." Aang answered simple, and the ferret nodded, causing everyone but Toph to stare at it in horror.

"Smart ferret." Aang said with an approving nod as he started to follow the animal again, and everyone followed, confused and worried.

When the ferret finally stopped they were deep into the middle of the forest, "Alright we followed you so where is this 'Schim?'" Sokka asked in irritation, wanting nothing more than to get out of this forest before they fall too far off track and loose the small amount on time they have to get to the Fire Nations Capitol before the solar eclipse.

"Someone is coming." Toph yelled and everyone froze

"Good senses." A boy said as he stepped out from behind a tree, Sokka was immediately on guard as he saw the boy's Fire Nation clothes. "Welcome to Schim's forest, my name is Danny."

When Danny found the group of four that he had helped he could not help but address himself and Sam to the group. Sam had told him so many times to do that before he did anything else, she mentioned something about using proper manners towards guests. He was also forced to say Sam's real name, so that he would not confuse the group, like he had done on so many occasions.

When Danny finished addressing himself he could not help but examine the group and felt relieved that the kids in front of him did not have a single scratch on them, knowing that half the forest wanted nothing more than to attack them simply by the clothes that they wore.

"Schim?" The oldest girl asked.

Danny smiled at the girl, pleased that she asked nicely and without suspicion. "She is the lady and protector of this forest. She had sent me to welcome you as guests."

"Then who are you?" The youngest girl, that Danny had earlier assumed was blind, asked, her voice sounded slightly worries and Danny could not help but frown in confusion.

"I am Danny, my job is to assist and protect when I am needed. If it is not too much to ask, may I inquire your names?" Danny mentally laughed at the large words he said, remembering all the harsh lessons Sam insisted upon him so that he would not offend any of their welcomed guests, whether they were spirit or human.

The four exchanged uneasy looks, and Danny watched in curiosity as they huddled together and began to whisper to one another. He was half tempted to eavesdrop, but before he could his heart seemed to stop when he felt a weird pulse go through him as he sensed the four's energy through the forest.

That was another up side of being connected to Sam; he could sense every living being in the forest, even the plants. He had not noticed until now since he felt no need to probe his guest since they were obviously human. But one of the kid's energy snuck up on him and practically made the hair on the back if Danny's neck stand on end, and it was coming from the younger boy wearing the headband.

'The Avatar,' Sam explained in his head, 'be nice to him and I'll be there as soon as I can.'

Danny looked at the boy uncertainly, not sure how the Avatar, the person destined to restore order to the world, could be younger than him!

"We would like to meet Schim before we distribute our names." The oldest girl exclaimed simply as they broke out of their whispering circle. Danny could not help but respect her diplomacy, but that did not pull his thoughts away from the Avatar. So Danny simply nodded at her response, still trying to see an ounce of maturity that would imply that the boy was actually meant to overthrow the Fire Lord.

"What's your deal?" The oldest boy asked, stepping in front of the Avatar and cutting off Danny's line of sight.

Danny looked up at the boy in front of him, not sure if he should respond or simply stay quiet until Sam got there. However the glare he received from him did not let up and Danny did not feel Sam close enough to interfere, since she could not use her teleportation technique in her weakened state so far away. So he had no choice but to answer the boy's question. "You are traveling with the Avatar." Danny stated bluntly, since he never was one to shy away from a subject, especially when someone was staring at him so intensely.

Everyone stared at Danny in shock and horror. "How…" The Avatar started.

"Schim," Was all Danny could bring himself to say at first since he did not want to say, 'I felt your different energy,' yeah, that would probably freak them out, "this is her forest. If she did not know who was entering I'm sure she would not have let you enter the center of her forest, despite my request to let you in." That was mostly true; Sam barely let any villager this deep into the forest without a reason.

"Your request?" The oldest girl asked, her face still covered in shock, but the horror subsided some.

"Yeah, I saw you four running away from those Fire Nation soldiers, and anyone able to piss them off that bad are okay in my book." Danny then looked over at the oldest boy and a wide smile crossed his lips. "I'm guessing it was you that caused that huge explosion?"

The boy's face then turned into the shade of a tomato, "Did this Schim tell you that too?" the boy asked.

Danny could not help but laugh, 'He would think that.' "No, your guilty look did." The boy's face only turned a deeper shade of red.

"Danny, please stop tormenting our guests." Sam said as finally teleported out of a tree in her glowing wolf form.

Danny's face instantly beamed at her. "In my defense he made it way to easy."

"Y-you're a spirit!" The oldest girl exclaimed in awe.

Sam nodded, "Yes, I am Schim, the spirit of this forest." She then looked over to the Avatar with a pleasant smile on her face. "May I ask why I have earned the honor of having the Avatar in my forest?"

"We came here on the Painted Lady's request." The oldest girl answered. "She said we would find an ally here."

Danny flinched as the fur on Sam's neck stood up. "Did she now?" Sam growled. "And if I am in no position to give you one?"

"But we need more allies to go up against the Fire Lord!" The Avatar spoke up, not seeming to notice Sam's aggravation.

Sam looked like she was about to either growl or bit his head off. "That does not mean I am willing to risk my forest!"

The four kids looked at Sam in shock, not expecting such an answer. "Sam," Danny said giving her a worried look, "what are you talking about?"

Another growl erupted from Sam's throat, although Danny could tell it was not meant for anyone in the forest at the moment. "She did me one favor, one, and now she expects me to just give y-… in so easily!" Sam said, hesitant towards the last part.

Danny let out a sigh, recognizing the situation was almost the same as when she brought up Koh. "What did she do for you?" Danny asked as he crouched down next to her, so that they were now face to face.

"Before you came she lent me some of her spiritual power so that I could keep my forest in tacked. I will be forever grateful for that, but I can't give you an ally." Sam said as she looked up at the Avatar's group. "I…" She then looked over at Danny.

Danny felt his heart stop at her words finally plugged into place. 'She wants me to go?' Danny asked, not sure if saying it out loud to a bunch of kids he barely knew right now would help or harm them at this point.

'Rumors spread faster than I anticipated,' Sam stated to Danny as she looked down, as if ashamed. "I…I guess I don't have much of a choice." Sam said and Danny felt something stab at his chest.

"But Sam…" He started, unsure as to how to continue.

"So you'll give us an ally?" The Avatar asked a smile on his face, despite the inner turmoil that was going through both Danny and Sam.

"Yes…" She then looked back at the group, "but you will all have to promise me something." A bright light then engulfed Sam as the last word left her lips, when the light dimmed it revealed the fourteen year old Sam that Danny had grown so accustomed to seeing. "When you take Danny," Sam said as she stalked over to the Avatar and shoved a finger into his chest, "you will return him here safely once you defeat the Fire Lord, no exceptions!"

Everyone nodded in understanding, except for one person. "Wait, you want us to take him?" The oldest boy asked pointing at Danny; his face looked both shocked, and totally disappointed.

"Yes." Sam growled as she gave the boy a deep scowl, and he backed up in either fear or shock. "Danny is very skilled, and once you gain his trust he might tell you why." She stated with a ghost of a smile aimed at Danny, who returned with one of his own.

'You're talking about Phantom, aren't you?' Danny asked and Sam's smile grew as she gave him a small nod.

'Tell them when you are ready,' was all she said back.

"What about the demented spirit that has been rumored to fly around here?" The oldest boy asked, now out of his shocked/fearful state. Danny gave him a sharp stare and could not help but think that the boy had some sort of death wish.

"What about him?" Danny and Sam asked in unison, each sounding like a low growl.

"Where is he, everyone in the village is freaking out about him!" He exclaimed.

Danny rolled his eyes, wanting nothing more than to discover whoever invented rumors and punch their nose in. "You know I never got all of your names." Danny said in a desperate attempt to change the topic.

"Oh, right!" The Avatar said his smile still on his face, taking the bait way to easily. "My name is Aang, this is Katara," He pointed to the oldest girl with light sea blue eyes, "Toph," the apparently blind youngest girl, "and this is Sokka." He said pointing at the oldest boy with light blue eyes.

Danny smiled and held out his hand for the Avatar named Aang. "Danny Fenton; at your service!"

Well there you have it, Danny is joining Team Avatar! However how will this effect the forest? Well we'll find out on Thursday, so no worries :)

Alright, I haven't done this in a while, but it's quiz time! :3 I'm going to ask a simple question, whoever gets it right will earn a sneak peek into the next chapter, so think hard! So *cough* Who is Koh? Simple right ;)

Good, so remember to review to give me your answer for the quiz and to tell me if I messed anything up in this chapter, because I wouldn't be surprised if I did.

~Ned