BANG!
Our cart flies over the edge and, just as I predicted, has flipped us upside down.
We are given a view of blurred buildings and colours above our heads as we all feel a force pulling us from the cart. No one is screaming. We can't with our hearts in our throats.
The cart slowly slips from our petrified fingers, gravity separating us from the secure solidity of the cart.
Our petrification is brief and once it has passed, we scream.
"AAAAAAAAAHH!" Sokka screeches he desperately scrambles for the cart but his fingers are just a few centimetres too far away.
Momo spreads his wings and he flies back and forth between all four of us. He grabs onto any part of us that he can reach and pulls, as if he could prevent us from falling. He barely stays with one person before switching to another, clearly in panic that it even shows in his panic animal noises.
I join Sokka as I scream but I didn't even try to reach for the cart. My fingers feel too numb that it feels like I can no longer use them.
Aang stares at the ground in a trance as he feel weightlessness. He is so used to this feeling but for some reason, he feels like to air is too stiff and too still to bend it to his will. He even barely reacts when his staff falls below him, over his head. He feels nothing but the expectation of the ground waiting below him as he blankly stares at it in a daze.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!" Katara cries once she starts to feel her stomach dropping with dread, knowing that her entire body is soon to follow with a splat.
A burst of energy overpower his fear, filling his empty shell with power and control.
And at the same time, I feel myself going into overload and I shiver as I feel a shock of energy running up and down my spine.
Aang's wide fearful eyes changes to a challenging glare.
His arm shoots out and snatches his staff from the air. With a single vertical swing, he flips the air around us 180 degree and we fall right back into the cart in the exact sitting position except for Aang who chooses to stand.
While Aang is silent, the rest of us continue to scream for a few seconds. Our loud shrieking slowly dissolves when the panic subside as we slowly register that we are safely back in the cart. Aang remains standing but he drops his staff into the cart and gets into bending stance. We watch the air above above us shift and he moves his arms in circular motion, creating a tunnel that stretches from where we are to the chute that we were aiming before we fell over the edge.
Only after a while did I understand what is going on, Aang is using his air bending to get us to the chute safely.
I am in awe at this sight of air bending prowess as I feel my fears being blown away.
So this is the power of an Avatar...
A grin slowly spreads on my face and I turn around to cheer, "This is amazing!"
But when I turn, Sokka and Katara gasp, shocking away the grins they had just a moment ago.
"She..S-S-S-S-She...!" Sokka stutters while leaning as far as he can while pointing a fearful finger at me.
I tilt my head in confusion and look behind me, expecting to somewhat find a ghost lady floating in mid-air or something but there's nothing ahead of us other than that chute. I turn back to them in befuddlement once I am sure that there's nothing behind me.
"What?" I ask.
Katara raises a shaky finger and points at her own eyes. I tilt my head and my hand involuntarily copies Katara. I expect to find something on my face but after a wipe, and then a second wipe, I find nothing on the palm of my hand.
I look at them once again to find both of the loss for words and choose to point furiously at Aang instead.
I look up and I swear that for a moment I feel that I was falling all over again.
His eyes are glowing.
"Uumph!" We grunt as the cart roughly lands into the chute and continues to slide slowly down the path.
Aang lets out a breath, as if he wasn't breathing the entire time he was bending and slump down into the cart. Katara stretches out her arms to catch him when he starts to fall back and remains limp in her arms.
The Avatar groans as he strain to open his eyes fully. His eyes focus on nothing in particular and just wonder around the scene ahead of him aimlessly.
"...What was that?" I ask as I point at Aang, referring to his eyes a moment ago.
"More importantly, what were you doing?" Sokka counters with his own bewilderment.
"What did I do?" I reply defensively, playing dumb at the possibility that...maybe that problem showed itself again.
"Wan, your eyes glowed!" Katara's answer snaps Aang out of his trance and he quickly sit upwards.
"You glowed?"
I quickly shake my head and arms wildly at this, denying everything.
"So you are like a second Avatar!" Sokka bursts out from shock as he points an accusing finger at me.
"No! No, I'm not!" I reject the absurd idea.
Sure, any normal person would love to be an Avatar. All powerful and ruling all the four elements and stuff.
But...I just don't fit being an Avatar!
All the responsibility, especially in this time of war where everyone expects you to be this great hero, the saviour of the world. Bloody hell, I'm just a kid! I can't be some kind of beacon of hope and lead the world to peace and happiness!
I can't even remember to comb my own hair in the morning!
"Impossible! If there was a second Avatar, I would have known about it. The world would have known about it!" Aang argues over his shoulder to Sokka while checking his memory for such information.
"Well, maybe you were stuck in that iceberg for so long the spirits made a new Avatar." Sokka theorises.
"The spirits can't...just make a new one! The spirit of the Avatar has always been only one! That's why the single spirit of the Avatar goes through many cycle of rebirth. If they could make another so easily, then why only make one in the first place? Two would have been better and they would have been made a long time ago." Katara refutes his theory.
Aang tries to agree but Sokka replies before he could even take a breath. I just remain silent and watch Sokka and Katara argue.
"Well, maybe they got impatient. After all, one hundred years?"
"Wan's twelve! That's way too long before making a second Avatar!"
"Ah ha! So you admit of the possible existence of a second Avatar!"
"Oh..My...God, Sokka! No! Weren't you the one that said Wan was some kind of bender-bender!?"
Sokka opens his mouth, ready to continue to argue but Aang interrupts.
"How about we just ask Wan what's going on?" Aang suggests as he gestures with both hands at me while shifting glances between Sokka and Katara.
Oh please, no.
"Yeah, Wan, do you know what's going on?" Katara steers everyone's focus to me and I freeze under their gaze.
"No! I don't! I really don't! I swear I don't glow!"..."Usually!"
I shrug in confusion, not really sure what's going on either.
"And besides, Aang's the Avatar! If anyone should have an answer to these glowing problems of mine, it should be him!" I hastily answer as I gesture to Aang with both of my hands.
"I don't know anything either! I've never met anyone that glows other than me. When do you usually glow, anyway?" Aang asks and for a moment, his attention temporarily shift to what's behind me before focusing on me once again.
I follow his eyes to see what's behind me that had attracted his attention for a sec to find that it's just a normal, unhindered ride ahead. It seems we're heading to this big building but it wont be for a while. Turning back to my friends, I try to remember.
"Uh...I was in class just a few days ago. Two days before you guys met me, I think. I was in class and I was dozing off. I think I feel asleep or something because I felt myself dreaming. I was flying across the sky and then I saw a lot of blue..." I trail off, struggling to explain what happened next.
"Dream? Didn't you say you had a weird dream? And you thought I was in it?" Katara points out as she points to herself, reminded of the conversation we had in Kyoshi.
"What dream?" Sokka asks his sister.
"I had a dream that I thought I saw her. It was all a blur but I remember her eyes. It was big and blue, like hers! There's also the blurred colours of her hair and skin tone. And the blurry blue clothes you guys are wearing right now." I explain since Katara couldn't know the answer.
"You mean you had a vision?" Aang tries to make reason.
A vision, huh...
"I don't know." I answer while rolling my eyes upwards as I search for an answer in my brain.
"What happened when you glowed?" Sokka asks the next question.
"I don't know! I wasn't myself! Apparently, I started glowing in the middle of class and my classmates and teacher ran out the door! When I came back from that...'vision'...I was back in class, sitting straight with...broken pieces of my school desk in my hand." I lift my left hand and stare at it before clenching it tightly into a fist. I can almost feel the prickling of the wood splinters.
"B-but I didn't know I was glowing. They said I did but I have no idea. I think during the 'glowing period', my mind and soul was somewhere else. It felt like I was going somewhere else...I could see my island from far above in my first dream and it felt like someone was pulling me. I saw the grass, the trees, the sun...And then blue. I think it's...a big wall of ice around me." The gang exchange glances, having a feeling of familiarity with what I am describing. "It didn't feel...normal, like the usual normal dreams, but instead it was sort of...just...weird."
"And you were...in that ice, Katara, I think. Actually, it's more like you're in between the ice? And looking down at me." I nod as I spill more detail. I'm starting to remember these dreams again after forcing myself to forget them.
Katara and Aang exchange their surprise but didn't voice it out. They don't know for sure if what they're thinking is true. They need more info.
"That was the first." I conclude the first part.
"And then?" They urge me on.
"The second time was when I was at home. I wasn't allowed to go back to school until I get...'fixed'. My dad went to find a priest so that's why you haven't met him. Anyway, I was napping in the evening or something and I...I think I had a second glowing period. I was...surrounded by dead people...a lot of bones...When there was, like, a hurricane or something. Or just a bad whether. I also felt really angry and horridly sad and I think there was some kind of screaming at the back of my head. I think there was someone there with me...but when I tried to find out who it was...I woke up."
The gang are now sharing their surprise through their eyes but didn't say anything. They wonder if there's more for me to say.
"Um...Then there's the third. The last one before I met you guys. I was having dinner. I was drinking hot soup and I felt really warm but then all of a sudden I feel myself feeling really, really cold. I felt so cold and I think I was drowning and..."
"And you saw soldiers. On a ship. And there was water flying around beating them up." Aang's continuation shocks me from my thoughts.
"H-How did you know!?" Did he know this because it's another one of the Avatar's ability? I didn't know Avatara could read minds...!
"Wan, those are my memories." Aang tells it to me slowly, both for my and his sake as well.
I blink once. Then twice.
"What?"
"They're my memories. When you had your first vision... I think it's when Katara and I first met. I was frozen in an iceberg."
Oh, Aang did say something about that but...I didn't really connect the dots.
"But that doesn't mean...anything!? It was just a dream." I start to take deep breath, feeling myself starting to tremble from this unbelievable turn of events.
"And your second...'vision'," Sokka air-quotes. "That is when Aang learned about the...y'know..."
"The end of my kind." Aang helps Sokka out.
"Right. He exploded into the Avatar state. I told you that he glowed. He glowed from his eyes like you did. Except Aang has more glowy parts; his tattoos. That's why you saw all the bones. It was when we were at the temple. I'm also pretty sure we didn't say anything about that particular detail. Who would tell a 12 year old kid about human bones!? And the third one was when Aang fell overboard of a Fire Nation's ship. We thought he was going to drown but he came back onto the ship in his Avatar state and fought back the soldiers." Sokka explains cautiously.
"And when Aang went into the Avatar state just now..."Katara trails off, allowing Sokka to pick up where she left off.
"Wan, I think your glowing problems are connected to Aang's Avatar state." Sokka concludes as he gestures to me and Aang.
We remain silent as we look slowly look at each other, all of us stunned into silence.
"...What am I now...?" I breath out the question that has been asked way too many times.
A shadow looms over us. We look up to find ourselves entering a building and feel our cart halting to a stop.
"Ahem!"
We yelp as we jump in our seat from fright before turning to the voice.
It's a guard. With 4 more behind him with their spears ready to attack at the slightest suspicious movement from us. We raise our hands in the air and surrender silently.
"We'll continue our conversation later." Aang whispers so only the 4 of us can hear before the guards run up the us and painfully twists our hands behind our back.
The guard bends some earth to restrain our hands before taking a step away from us.
"Get out of the cart! No funny business! Keep your heads down and don't even think of trying to escape."
We do as we are told and we slowly get out of the cart. Spears poke behind our backs, shocking us walk forward.
With 4 guards, each one of them behind each of us, the one remaining guard leads us deeper into the building.
Where are we anyway...?
I try to look around the room for any clues but I feel a small shock of pain from my back.
"Ow!" I hiss before the guard behind me scolds me.
"Don't look around!"
Damn it... I try to look at the others but I can't see them unless I move my head because they're all taller than me. Silently grumbling, I keep my head down and just keep walking forward so I don't get into anymore trouble.
We must be in a pretty important building because the doors are very wide and tall. We even had to take the stairs down and I can see artwork hanging on the wall and...
Things that you just have the urge to touch because they look so expensive.
We must have got into a very important building.
After a while of mindless walking, we are shoved to the ground, forcing us to land on our knees.
"Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, travelling under false pretences, and endangering the citizens." One of the guards behind us announce.
No longer feeling the tip of the spear on our backs, we look what is ahead of us.
Sitting on his throne, which is quite plain looking to be honest which is very surprising, is his Highness, King Bumi. He looks just like in the textbook!
His fingers and long and bony-looking with rings on each finger. He looks to have a severe hunched back problem as well. King Bumi's eyes are uneven but both still manage to have a slight twinkle of mischief. One eye, his left one, has more focus then his right eye. The left eye even still have colour in his iris while his right does not. I'm not sure if it's because he is possibly blind in one eye or not though.
His robes are in the shade of the nicest green I have ever seen. They are much brighter and richer in colour while the normal ones look more dull.
King Bumi also have some extremely wild white hair but is bald at the top of his head. Instead of hair occupying the top his head, he wears a crown that has two large, long, slightly curled horns.
"That's him, Aang. That's King Bumi." I whisper to Aang. I maintain my eyes on the King, still in slight disbelief that I'm in the presence of royalty but I turn to Aang when I receive a lack of response from him to find him squinting at the King.
Aang looks confused and he definitely feels that way too. Sokka, Katara, and I anxiously wait for Aang's next move. Will Aang recognize him or not? Or more importantly, does King Bumi recognize Aang?
Aang swallows the lump in his throat before taking a chance. He takes a shaky breath in before opening his mouth.
"Bumi...? It's me, Aang!" Aang calls out.
The four of us focus on the King, waiting anxiously for his response. If he really is Aang's friend from 100 years ago, which he should be, we might...not be punished for the trouble we've caused.
Probably.
Possibly.
Maybe.
King Bumi raises a brow at Aang, taking in the Avatar's features. He must recognize him...Please!
"...Nope. Never met you."
My stomach drops.
"What!?" Sokka, Katara and I screech at the King but King Bumi barely flinches. No, the edges of his lips slightly twitches instead.
The feeling of complete numbness renders Aang unable to react like we did. Instead, he just stares at him, begging and pleading with his eyes that what he had just heard was just a joke as he ignores the whispers going on around him.
"Wan, are you sure this is King Bumi!?" Katara panics as she shoots me a question.
"Y-yes!" I answer with slight hesitation. I want to be 100% sure but I can't...I didn't pay much attention in school. Did I remember wrong? Was it really someone else?
"What about a brother or a son? Bumi the Second?" Sokka tries to jog my memory but I shake my head furiously.
"He was one of the few interesting topics in school!" I press as I review my memory of the class over and over again in my head, slowly but surely gaining confidence that I'm not wrong.
Sokka and Katara remain silent, truly empty of ideas to understand this situation. We only stare at each other then at Aang, wondering how he is doing.
He still hasn't move or even blink as he tries to maintain eye contact with King Bumi(?). The King stares back at the Avatar, his lips twitching more as he tries to resist the upturning of his lips but fails after a few tense seconds.
"AH HA HA HA *snort* HA HA HE HE *snort* HE HE HAAAA!"
The King burst out laughing, surprising everyone in the room. He snorts as he laughs loudly and smacking his left knee as he laughs his heart out. The two guards standing on both side of the King exchange confuse glances and shrug at each other, completely lost on what they should be doing now.
"Oh ho ho ho ho! Did you see that? Hah! I got you good, Aang. Ooooh, I try, I really do try to hold onto being serious a little more but it's been so boring here! I needed a good laugh!" King Bumi raises from his throne and walk down the green and gold carpet towards us.
Aang, apparently still feeling a little numb, can only stare up at King Bumi and breath out in a daze, "Bumi...?"
King Bumi smiles as his soft eyes twinkle at the sight of his best friend and open his arms, "Welcome back, Aang. I've been wondering where you've been."
Aang waste no time to rise from the ground and run straight into the hug. King Bumi bends the earth cuffs off Aang's wrist to they can fully execute the hug.
Sokka sighs in relief while Katara and I watch with sappy smiles on our face.
"Hey, Aang..."
"Yeah, Bumi?"
"Did you get balder?"
Baffled by the absurd question, I turn around to see if anyone understood what King Bumi had just said. Sokka and Katara look just as confused while the guards barely reacts. They must be used to King Bumi's random questions.
Aang, on the other hand, just laughs.
Author's note: Finally pushed an update. Sorry to say but I'm very busy but I'm still trying to write this story. Yeah, I pretty much skipped the entire 'Bumi's trails' and stuff because I feel like it will just unnecessarily stretch this arc for too long. I actually planned a trial where the theme is about lying. King Bumi wasn't suppose to reveal that he is King Bumi and he would lead Aang around for a but until Aang figures out that Bumi was lying and that he is indeed the King Bumi that Aang knows from 100 years ago. Bumi will then pass an advice or something that nothing is ever straightforward and Aang should always expect the expected and the unexpected.
Thank you for reading and your lovely reviews of encouragement. They really give me the drive to write.