Dragonzer and Appa were gone and Aang was upset.
Aang shouted, enraged at Toph, "How could you let them take Appa!? Why didn't you stop them!?"
Okay, maybe upset was a bit of an understatement.
Toph appeared forlorn but then retorted with her arms swinging wide, "I couldn't! The library was sinking and you guys were still inside-"
"You could've come get us! I could've saved him!" Aang snapped.
"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here," replied Toph again, "The Sandbenders snuck up on me and-"
"You just didn't care!" he snapped again, "You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!"
Katara and Ryuki were trying to play peacekeeper and the voice of reason.
"Aang, stop it. You know Toph tried her best. She saved our lives," Katara said calmly.
"She's right, and I know how upset you are now, Aang-san. I'm upset that I lost Dragonzer too," Ryuki added sadly. He was still a bit saddened by the Professor's choice to stay in the buried library but there was nothing they could've done in time. Or couldn't they? Couldn't he? He could've used Clock Up and saved everyone in time, even Appa and Dragonzer. He could've helped to fight the Sandbenders…why didn't he? "Fighting won't help us either! And I agree with Katara-san, Toph did all she could to save our lives."
"But who's going to save our lives now?" Sokka said as he turned towards the others and motioned to the endless desert with an arm.
Aang snapped, "That's all any of you guys care about: yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" He then stalked off, sulking angrily.
Katara said. "We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now."
"I'm going to go look for Appa," Aang said firmly as he unfolded his glider and flew away.
"Aang, wait!" Katara called after him, running towards the spot he took off from. She sighed in depression, "We better start walking. We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se."
"You go. I'll go after him," Ryuki volunteered. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he's safe."
"You think if we dig up the big owl, he'll give us a lift?" Sokka asked. Everyone stared at him. "What? I was just asking."
"I doubt he'd be happy to help us after what I did to him," Ryuki said, "And as for rides," he drew out three cards, "Here, these might help." He threw them into the air and called, "Wildcat, Razroclaw, Hardhead, I call you!"
"Wildcat?" Katara questioned.
"Razorclaw?" Toph added, confused.
"Hardhead?" Sokka scratched his head.
The cards flashed. Ryuki had summoned Hardhead, Wildcat, and Razorclaw. Katara and Sokka gasped in shock at the three beasts and approached them cautiously.
"Amazing," Katara said in awe.
"But are they friendly?" Sokka asked uncertainly.
"They are," Toph confirmed. "It's just a feeling, but they don't mean us harm."
"They don't," Ryuki added confidently. "You guys can ride them while I go look for Aang-san. Don't worry, they'll respond to you, they can understand human speech."
"You don't say…" Sokka said, not entirely convinced.
"Find him and bring him back, okay?" Katara pleaded to Ryuki, holding his hand.
"Hai," Ryuki nodded before he took off after Aang, leaving a trail of flames.
((You're worried about him, aren't you?)) asked Yaminekoryu in Ryuki's mind.
((Must you ask?)) Ryuki answered back. ((He's my friend, of course I worry.))
((There was a lot of anger in him and also sadness. You could see it in his eyes.))
((I just hope he doesn't do anything crazy.))
"Appa! Appa!" Aang continued to call but he received no answer. He continued to look high up in the air.
"I knew I'd find you sooner or later," Ryuki said as he flew up next to Aang. The young Avatar frowned.
"What do you want?" Aang questioned.
"Looking for you," Ryuki answered.
"Well, now you've found me, now get lost!" Aang snapped rudely.
"Aang, listen I know how you're feeling right now," Ryuki said.
"No you don't! You don't know what it's like to lose a good friend!"
"Yes I have!" Ryuki shot back angrily, surprising Aang a bit. "Gomen," he apologized. "Listen, I'm trying to look for Dragonzer too, maybe if we stick together, we can help one another and find them faster, okay?"
Aang reluctantly nodded. He then glided down and blew on the Bison whistle before landing on a dune. "Appa! Appa!" He received no answer and stared across the horizon. "No? NO!" He slammed his staff angrily on the ground, creating a large mushroom cloud of sand. Ryuki was blinded and blown away a bit but remained where he was. He landed down to see Aang crying in frustration.
'He's only 12 years old and he's lost his entire civilization, has the fate of the world on his shoulders, and just lost his dearest friend,' Ryuki thought sadly. Aang reminded Ryuki of himself.
"Come on," Ryuki said to Aang, "You're dehydrated right now." He created a cold glass of water. "Here, drink it."
"No," Aang refused but then had the cold liquid poured over him. "HEY!"
Ryuki glared, "That wasn't a request, Aang-san. How would Appa feel now if you killed yourself looking for him? Now, drink up!"
Aang took the second ice cup and drank it, reluctantly and sighed.
"Come on, let's go find the others. They're probably looking for us." Ryuki summoned Dragblacker and the black dragon growled hungrily at Aang. "No, Dragblacker! He's not food!" He then turned to Aang, "Hop on, Aang. You need to rest yourself."
A shadow passed overhead of Katara, Toph, Sokka and Momo. The large black dragon landed, much to Katara's fright but she calmed down when she saw Aang and Ryuki. Aang hopped off and kneeled. Katara slowly approached him as he did.
Katara said sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Aang. I know it's hard for you right now, but we need to focus on getting out of here."
"What's the difference," Aang said hopelessly, "We won't survive here without Appa, we all know it."
((He's even more depressing than that Raven girl)) Ifrit said in Ryuki's mind but was promptly silenced by his host. Ryuki drew Dragblacker back into its card.
"Come on, Aang!" Katara said, "We can get through this if we work together. Right, Toph?"
"As far as I can tell," the young Earthbender replied, "We're trapped in a bowl of sand pudding. I've got nothing."
"Any ideas, Ryuki?" Katara asked their Zodiac Knight companion.
"We could ride on Dragblacker, but he can only carry so many people for so long. Our only hope is to ride Wildcat, Hardhead and Razorclaw out of here and hope for the best." Ryuki bowed, "Gomen nasai, Katara-san."
"Sokka, any ideas on how to find Ba Sing Se?" Katara asked her intoxicated brother. Ryuki blinked as he saw the look on Sokka's face as he pointed upwards.
"Why don't we ask the circle birds?" Sokka spoke in a daze.
Katara and Ryuki looked up and the Knight asked, "What are those things?"
Katara looked left and right and said, quickly, "Ugh? We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together. We can do this. We have to." Katara got on Razorclaw and pulled Aang on behind her. Ryuki helped Toph onto Hardhead and then went and helped slung Sokka over Wilcat and got on the tiger with Momo on Wildcat's head. The group then made their way across the desert, riding on the Zodiac Beasts.
Ryuki had received an explanation about Sokka's condition and shook his head. Sokka was high on cactus juice. Great…just great…
Katara suggested, "I think we should stop for the night." The three Beasts stop and the group get off them
"Is there any more water?" Toph asked
"Here," replied Katara. "Everyone can have a little drink and if we run out, then Ryuki can make some more with his powers." Katara opened her water flask and bended out an orb of water. Momo leapt at the water and tried to drink it, causing it to fall to the sand below. Sokka panicked and scrambled towards the wet spot in the sand.
Sokka shouted melodramatically, "Momo, no! You've killed us all!"
Katara assured him, "No, he hasn't." Katara placed her hand over the moist sand and bended the water out of it.
Sokka said, relieved. "Oh, right, Bending." Katara bended the water back into the flask and gave it to Toph. "Sokka, let me see the things you got from the library."
Sokka reeled back and clutched his bag full of scrolls. Offended, Sokka yelled, "What!? I didn't steal anything! Who told you that?" He then pointed an accusing finger at Momo. "It was you! You ratted me out!"
"Sokka, I was there," Katara said as she took Sokka's bag.
Aang said pessimistically, "It doesn't matter. None of those will tell us where Appa is."
Katara pulled out one of the scrolls and unrolled it, revealing a star map. Ryuki observed it over her shoulder.
"No, but we can find out which way Ba Sing Se is. We can use the stars to guide us. That way we can travel at night when it's cool and rest during the day." Katara sighed. "Just try to get some sleep. We'll start again in a few hours."
"I'll make the fire," Ryuki volunteered, 'And keep an eye on Aang and Sokka…'
Everyone was soon fast asleep, all but Aang who was still miserable without Appa. Ryuki opted to give the young Airbender his space and watch over everyone. He had called Wildcat, Razorclaw and Hardhead into their cards to allow them to rest as well.
Ryuki could barely keep himself awake. Too much had happened. His eyes grew heavy and soon closed before he dozed off to sleep.
Ryuki found himself floating in a dark abyss and then he was in water. He spluttered as his head got out of the water and then he saw Titans Tower.
"I'm…home…" Ryuki said as he stepped out of the water and onto the shore. He kneeled down, smiling wide, "I never thought I'd be back here."
"Hey, Leo!" he heard a voice call and Ryuki turned to see Craig, standing in the water and then saw a huge wave coming up behind him. It was well over 15 feet tall!
"Craig!" Ryuki called as he ran after her. "Look out!" But the wave crashed down on both of them and the next thing Ryuki knew, he was underwater! He hated water! He was then shocked to find that he could breathe. He then saw Craig holding his hand out and Ryuki tried to swim after him, swinging his arms frantically. 'I knew I should've learnt how to swim!'
"You could try standing," he heard a female voice speak and Ryuki did. Laughing in embarrassment, he turned to see Jinx, standing on the beach, waving at them. Ryuki waved back, smiling.
"Hey, Jinxy-chan!" Ryuki said happily as he ran over and hugged the girl. "I've missed you!"
"Ryuki..." Jinx said softly. "You have to go back…and fight…"
"Huh?" Ryuki spoke in confusion but then found himself in a dark void. "Nani!? Where am I? Jinx?" But Jinx was no longer there. Was this reality? A dream? Or a nightmare? Ryuki looked around curiously until he took a step forward. A bunch of doves flew off of the ground, which lit up. As soon as the doves all flew away, Ryuki saw that the floor was a stain-glass portrait of Aang and his friends. Ryuki pondered at the portrait.
"So much to do, so little time..." a bodiless voice said.
Ryuki looked around curiously and wide-eyed and asked, "Who- Who's there? Show yourself!"
"Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?" the voice continued.
"Of course, I can." Ryuki said as he stepped forward.
As soon as Ryuki was at the center of the platform, three trapezoids appeared on different parts of the platform.
"Power sleeps within you." the bodiless voice said as a weapon appeared on each trapezoid. The weapon on the trapezoid to Ryuki's left was a shield that he recognized as Jawz's (Tazuka's) Shark Shield. The weapon on the trapezoid that was all the way to Ryuki's right was a familiar looking staff. It was Shadow's Cobra Staff. Ryuki then looked ahead of himself and saw a sword. It was Pluto's Dog Sword. These were the weapons of his friends.
"If you give it form, it will give you strength." the bodiless voice continued, "Choose well."
Ryuki thought for a minute, and then put his finger up and pointed to each of the weapons and after a moment, said, "I choose the sword!" He walked over to the sword and picked it up, looking curiously at it.
"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction…" the bodiless voice explained, "Is this the power you seek?"
"Hai," Ryuki replied, nodding without hesitation.
"Your path is set," the bodiless voice said. The sword disappeared from Ami's hand.
"Chotto!" Ryuki shouted, "What was that all about?"
"Now, what will you give up in exchange?" the bodiless voice asked.
"I must give something up? Fair enough" Ryuki replied, "I'll give up the staff."
He walked over to the trapezoid where the staff was and picked the staff up.
"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin," the bodiless voice explained, "You give up this power?"
"Hai, I'm not of a magic user anyway. That is more of Shadow's expertise," Ryuki replied. Then, the staff disappeared
"You've chosen the power of the warrior, you've given up the power of the mystic." The bodiless voice explained, "Is this the form you choose?"
"Hai." Ryuki answered.
The trapezoids sank into the ground and disappeared. Ryuki got back on the floor and saw that the floor began to shatter. Ryuki, again, fell down screaming. He soon came down slowly and then landed safely on another circular floor where there was a portrait of 4 people dressed in red costumes and wearing masks. The next thing he knew, the sword appeared in Ryuki's hand.
"You gained the power to fight," the bodiless voice said.
"Hai!" Ryuki exclaimed. He then swiped his sword in an attacking way.
"Alright! You've got it," the bodiless voice praised, "Use this power to protect yourself and others."
Suddenly, a group of dark creatures, 4 in total, rose up from the ground and surrounded Ryuki. They appeared as skeletal black demons with feathered wings and horns and thin tails. Ryuki knew immediately what they were: Horrors.
"There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong," the bodiless voice continued.
Ryuki swung his sword wildly as he ran at the Horrors, screaming. Every swipe Ryuki attempted, he killed the Horrors in no time. Then, a Horror came up behind Ami.
"Behind you!" the bodiless voice shouted. Ryuki quickly turned around to see another Horror. More of them appeared.
Ryuki continued to fight the shadows with his sword until they all died. A few survived and sank into the ground, making a dark void appear on the ground. This caused Ryuki to sink into the ground. He felt like she was sinking in quicksand. After that experience, Ryuki was laying on the ground, swinging his arms wildly as he screamed. He calmed down as soon as he looked around. He was on another platform. This one portrayed three hearts. There was a silhouette of a person in each heart. Ryuki then spotted a door at the end of the platform. Before Ryuki could touch the door, it began to open slowly, and an almost blinding light lured Ryuki in.
"Hold on," the bodiless voice said. "The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."
"All right," Ryuki nodded.
"Ryuki, what are you afraid of?" the voice asked.
"Um…" Ryuki thought a bit. He was afraid of water, but maybe that wasn't what he was really afraid of nor was it the answer the voice wanted either. He then knew what he was going to say, "Becoming weak." If he was weak, how could he protect his friends?
"Is being weak really so bad?"
"How can I protect people if I'm weak!"
"Next question: What do you want out of life?"
Ryuki answered as he stared at his hand, remembering his status as an Orphenoch and Knight, "To live."
"Live? Is that all? Very well. Last question: What is most important to you?"
Ryuki smiled widely and answered, "Friendship!" with little hesitation.
"Friendship? Interesting." The voice repeated Ryuki's answers, "You're afraid of becoming weak, you want to live and friendship is important to you. Your adventure will begin at dawn. As long as the sun shines brightly, your journey will be a pleasant one."
"Hai! Arigatou!"
"The day you open the door is both very near but also very far away."
"Huh?" Ryuki tilted his head in confusion.
Ryuki then appeared on a circular floor depicting a group of people in matching space suits. One looked human, another was a big red alien, another was a female humanoid with blue skin and the last one was a robot. Ryuki approached a light and then the Horrors appeared again. Narrowing his eyes, Ryuki quickly defeated them.
After that, a light revealed a flight of stairs. Ryuki went up the stairs and found himself on a platform depicting two humanoid rabbits, a humanoid coyote, a humanoid duck, a humanoid Tasmanian Devil, a and a humanoid road runner standing in front of a beautiful woman with long golden hair with a golden aura. The first 6 figures were dressed in matching black suits of some kind.
Ryuki saw the light ripped through the void and thought that was the way out of this insane dream.
"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes," the bodiless voice warned.
"Nani?" Ryuki asked and then his shadow lengthened before something rose up from it. The figure was clad in pure black armor, similar to Ryuki's Draco armor. The only difference was there was armor plating covering the arms and legs and there was a pair of antennae on the front of the helmet. Also, the eyes under the faceplate was red and attached to the figure's belt was…
"The Hyper Inzecter!" Ryuki gasped in shock.
"Bur do not be afraid…and do not forget," the voice advised. "That you have strength and light within you."
Ryuki drew his deck out of his pocket, thanking the gods it was still there and summoned his belt before sliding it in. His armor encased him and he gripped his sword. He charged at the doppelganger but it moved to the side to elbow Draco in the back. Draco picked himself up and swung the sword, only for it to be blocked and then he was kicked across the floor. He got back up again and growled before sending fireballs flying, but his double dodged each one before appearing in front of Draco and sent him flying with a powerful punch.
"How can I win?" Draco questioned as he stared at his sword…suddenly, it glowed and then reformed into a weapon, resembling a key. "What is this?" His double came at him and without thinking, he stabbed the weapon into its chest. The double staggered back, in pain, before exploding.
"Yatta!" Draco cheered.
"Excellent, you are worthy of being the Keyblade Master!" the voice congratulated.
"A 'key…blade'?" Draco pondered, staring down at the weapon in his hand. "Is that what this is?" A door appeared before him.
"Use that to open the door and do not forget that you have the mightiest weapon of all."
"Well, this is a key," Draco said before stepping towards the door. He pointed the Keyblade at the door and it then swung open, engulfing Draco in bright light. He screamed in shock as he was blinded.
Ryuki/Draco vanished but then Libra appeared and said, "And don't forget that you will open the Door to the Light and close the Door to the Darkness."
Ryuki was shaken awake and yawned before he mumbled groggily, "What a strange dream…A key…blade?" He then saw Katara wake up the others. "Katara-san? Nani?"
"Come on, get up, we need to go," she said as she continued to rouse everyone awake. Ryuki just couldn't keep himself from thinking about that dream.
Kat jerked awake as well and sat up, sweating and panting hard. She was in the room she was sharing with Ty Lee, Azula and Mai in an inn they were staying in for the night. She just had a nightmare. She stared at her hand and said, "A Living Gate…?" She then forced herself calm and went back to sleep, not noticing that her shadow was changing into a demonic shape before turning back to normal. They had a long day tomorrow...Azula had been telling about some sort of drill and a place called Ba Sing Se.
A/N: I bet you know what's going to be happening soon…and hope you recognize some of the figures depicted on the platform.
