Hey everybody, I've been working on this story for a while now and been publishing it on reddit. I've decided to start cross posting it here, to help reach a wider audience. I'll be posting the 6 chapters I've written so far over the next few days/weeks. I welcome any and all feedback.

Chapter 5 - Changing Course

For all of their initial worrying,Yuan and Kunchen were plesently surprised by how much they enjoyed Nerrivik's company. Kunchen liked the extra conversation, and Yuan was fond of her sarcastically making fun of the airbender during these conversations. She helped ease the awkward silences that fell between the two boys, and her past several months on the road had made her a pretty good cook. Quick with a joke, but revealed very little about her life before she began traveling. This didn't bother Yuan at all, who could careless about most anyones backstory, but Kunchen clearly wanted to dig further. She was able to brush off any probing questions, only revealing that she originally came from the Northern Water Tribe.

This slight awkwardness aside, the final four days of the journey, between Dailan and the White Lotus Temple, passed quickly and peacefully. On the fourth night, when they were roughly two hours away from the temples location, they decided to stop and sleep before arriving first thing in the morning.

They woke at dawn, ate a small breakfast, before getting on their way. The final drive passed with little conversation, everyone too anxious about finally reaching their destination. Yuan was surprised to find himself feeling as sad as he was about the journey ending. "I guess I've grown to like these guys better than I thought I would." He quickly pushed these thoughts down, trying to focus on what he would say to the White Lotus Sages. Would they train him at bending the different elements? Would they help explain what it meant to be the Avatar? Were there any cool powers he didn't know about yet?

They took a sharp turn on the small forest road they were traveling, and soon emerged into a clearing, with a large temple surrounded by a large grass field. There were several tents set up in this field, but the trio of benders paid it no mind, as they took in the beauty of the temple. It was an almost entirely white structure, with blue tiled roofs and red wood frames for doors and windows. A gate was positioned in front of a main courtyard, which lead into the temple proper, a three part building, with a 4 story structure at the center, flanked by two 3 story structures.

"This is it" thought Yuan to himself. "This is what I've been looking for. All my questions can be answered, and I'll finally have a place where I don't have to hide" The last thought excited him the most, as he'd almost forgot what it was like to live life without constantly making sure he wasn't revealing himself as the Avatar. But now that he was here he could finally lay down his burden.

A small elderly man, in a set of blue and white robes emerged from the temples ajar gates. "Why hello there friends. What brings you to this temple? I don't recall being informed of any visitors for today."

Yuan hopped out of the jeep and made a bowing gesture towards the man. "I'm sorry we couldn't let you know sooner master, but we've been on the road for a while now. We've come to seek the guidance of the Order of the White Lotus."

The man's brow furrowed slightly. "White Lotus? They moved out of this temple almost a decade ago."

"Wait …. What?" Yuan managed to stammer.

"I'm sorry, but whoever told you this is where you could find the White Lotus is a few years too late. There is a town only a few miles from here that you can stay at though." And with that, the man turned and walked back through the gate.

Yuan stood there for a moment, utterly dumbfounded by what had just happened. Kunchen reached out a comforting hand. "Yuan, it's ok. We'll figure something out. Why don't we head to town and try to get our heads straight," he said in a meek and apologetic voice.

"No."

"No what?"

"I mean no, I'm not done here yet. I'm going to go talk to this guy and get some answers." Yuan's voice was eerily calm.

"And by talk you mean ..." Kunchen had retracted his hand at this point.

Yuan had already begun walking to the gate. He gave a small shrug and replied, "Don't worry I'll be back in 5 minutes." At this point the calm in his voice had gone from eerie to terrifying.

After he had passed through the gate and out of earshot, Nerrivik spoke up, "Shouldn't we follow him, you know, to make sure he doesn't commit a homicide?"

A clearly scared Kunchen turned to face her, "No I think it's best if we let him do this one by himself."

"Does he only come in two modes, statue or enraged?"

Kunchen thought for a moment. "The only time I've seen him genuinely smile was when he punched a Preacher in the face."

"..."

"Oh don't worry, the guy totally deserved it."

Yuan caught the old man as he was about to walk through the main entrance, on the other side of the court yard. He grabbed the man by the shoulder, "Hey wait a minute, I still have a few questions."

The man turned to him with a sour look on his face, "I'm sorry that you were misinformed, sir, but there's nothing I can do to help."

"I'm sorry, sir, but that's not good enough. I traveled almost two weeks to get here, and I'm not about to walk away with nothing. Do you know about any other White Lotus Temples? " He let his anger slip through initially, but managed to draw it back.

"Sigh … I'm not completely sure, but there might still be a temple on Airbender Island, in Republic City," the man replied.

"Anywhere else?" Yuan's tone turned to pleading. He'd traveled all this way to avoid that city, and he had no intention to go back on this impulse.

"Once again, I'm sorry, but that's the only one I know of. May I please return to my regular duties now?" The man turned towards the door again.

Yuan grabbed him by the shoulder again, his anger reigniting again, "Wait, I'm not done …" he trailed off as the front entrance and two men emerged.

They were both tall and imposing men, with thick beards. Yuan immediately recognized from their uniforms that they were United Republic Peacekeepers. He quickly retracted his hands to his sides, and looked down to avoid eye contact, before he began to berate himself for not realizing what the tents in the field had meant. One of the men looked between Yuan and the old man. "Is this kid bothering you?" he addressed the older man.

"No, he's just frustrated. It's no trouble." The old man was clearly annoyed, but he felt sorry enough for Yuan that he didn't want to cause any extra trouble. The soldier regarded the old man for a moment before he walked over to Yuan.

He stood 6 inches in front of Yuan, puffing his chest out to further exaggerate the size advantage he had. He looked up and down the young Avatar, carefully sizing him up. Yuan looked up once to meet his gaze, before quickly looking back down. The Peacekeeper gave a chuckle at this, "Well at least this dirt pounding scum knows his place. Stop bothering this man, and get out of this temple, unless you want trouble."

Yuan quietly acquiesced with a nod, before he turned back through the courtyard and out the front gate. He silently walked back and got in the jeep only briefly looking at Kunchen and Nerrivik. "Ok, that's all I needed," he said, his voice defeated. "Let's check out that town he was talking about."

"So that's it? Nothing he can do, good day?" asked Nerrivik. The group had found a small tea shop in town, and decided to use it to regroup and collect their thoughts. Yuan had explained what had happened inside the temple, neglecting to mention the possibility of another temple in Republic City. The option was off the table, so it didn't even warrant a mention.

"Yeah, pretty much. I would have kept asking, but the Peacekeepers were pretty clear about not wanting me around," Yuan replied with a small sigh.

"Why are the Peacekeepers such enormous jerks?" asked Kunchen. As they had driven into town, Kunchen and Nerrivik had got to witness The United Republic's finest first hand. A group of soldiers had been out on a small patrol, when an older couple accidentally bumped into one of them. The couple immediately bowed their heads and and began to spew forth a series of apologies. The soldier listened to them before he replied with a slew of insults and slurs, such as "Dirt Pounders" and "Clay Eaters". Yuan had actually had a few of these directed at him before, mostly from Bartok.

"They aren't all bad, but a lot of them let their power go to their head, and decide that it's their new duty to let everyone around them know how they're just a bunch of clay eaters, and should feel graced by the Republic's presence." Yuan gave a small snort after he was done explaining.

"Man, the longer I spend out of Zaofu, the worse the world seems. How is everything this messed up?" Kunchen asked, still trying to piece together all that he'd experienced over the past several days. His worldview had been shaken time and time again, and it was really starting to show.

"It's not all that bad," Nerrivik defended. "There are plenty of good people out there, they just don't stand out as much as the bad."

Yuan shook his head at this. "I don't know what it's like in the North Pole, but Kunchen's not wrong; everything in The Earth States is pretty messed up."

Nerrivik gave an offended look. "I have been traveling all over The Earth States for the past 3 months, you know. Just because you want to see the worst in the world doesn't mean you need to drag everyone else down with you."

Yuan should have felt bad about upsetting both his companions this much, but his own misery at the situation was really enjoying the company. After a few moments of awkward silence, he got up to make a quick trip to the bathroom. He positioned himself at the urinal, and noticed that the wall next to him was covered in wanted posters. Yuan looked up and down these posters, checking for anyone he might recognize from Urumqi. He saw the Iron Scorpion and The Rising Earth's leader Haiyan featured prominently above all others. He also saw Phu's and had a chuckle over how comically bad he looked in his photo. After he was done laughing, he suddenly noticed another familiar face, that stopped him mid-stream.

It was an older picture, about two years old, from when he had initially joined the Village Guard. He still had his bun, and his features were noticeably younger, thanks to his ensuing puberty, but if you squinted just right, it was clearly Yuan's off kilter smile staring back at you. Underneath there was the standard legal fair, but the two parts that Yuan noticed were the phrases, "Wanted for aiding and abetting in terror activities" and " a 5,000 yuan reward; alive."

He shot over to the wall to grab the poster with one hand, while using the other to pull up his pants. He folded the piece and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. He checked for any United Republic Forces before completely exiting the bathroom. Once he had convinced himself the coast was clear, he made his way back to the table, where their tea had already arrived.

"Hey, me and Kunchen talked it over a bit, and decided we should probably be looking for other White Lotus Temples," Nerrivik announced as he sat down.

"Oh, ok, uhhh… yeah, that sounds," Yuan responded absentmindedly. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what the best way would be to get out of town, and not alert the Peacekeepers.

"Um well, we didn't know where exactly to start looking," said Kunchen, slightly worried by how distracted Yuan seemed. "We were hoping you would have an idea of where to start looking. Any ideas?"

"Uhh, well …" before Yuan could think of a way to respond, two United Republic Peacekeepers walked through the door of the tea shop, going to the front table to order. Yuan panicked at the sight of them, scrambling under the table to avoid being seen. Both Kunchen and Nerrivik peaked under, to see him sprawled out underneath. About a minute later, after the soldiers had taken a seat at the far end of the restaurant, Nerrivik finally asked, "Ok, I know you don't like them, but that was a bit extreme."

"Yeah," agreed Kunchen. "Are you ok, Yuan? I thought you just didn't like Peacekeepers, not that you were afraid of them."

"I'm not afraid of them, it's just … well … I found this in the bathroom." Yuan reached into his pocket and pulled out the poster. Kunchen and Nerrivik intently studied it for a few moments, before doing a few quick double takes with the sub-table Yuan.

"Holy crap!" Kunchen exclaimed "What is this? Why do they have a wanted poster out for you? Wait, you said that some of the Peacekeepers from your village saw you bend other elements? Do you think that the United Republic is trying to capture you?"

Yuan gave a shrug. He'd thought about whether or not they were looking for him for a while now, but he'd never been sure. Now that he had the poster he didn't know what to think. Nerrivik responded before he could, "Wait, then why would they have you wanted for terrorism, with a bounty that sized? This just draws unnecessary attention to you. If they wanted it to be a big deal then they would have called you the Avatar and had a huge bounty. If they wanted to keep it secret, then they would have made it a smaller crime, paid less, and only ask for information. But instead of that, they charge you with terrorism and give you a medium bounty. Why?"

They both began to stare intently at Yuan. "Well, you see the thing is … sigh, I might have been helping some Rising Earth members when they found out I was the Avatar." He quickly began to explain his situation, this time telling the full story of why he left Urumqi. Both his friends stared for a second before their faces contorted into different emotions. Kunchen looked angry, almost like he'd been betrayed, while Nerrivik looked puzzled, yet sympathetic.

"So you lied to me and my family is what you're saying." Kunchen said, his voice flat and pissed.

"Well I thought about it and decided, 'Hey I recently fled my village after assisting two notorious terrorists fight against United Republic Forces,' wasn't the best opener possible." Yuan felt guilty, because on some level he knew the accusation had a lot of truth to it, but it was still pretty unfair given his circumstances.

"Oh of course, because it's not like it's important information that might have helped us. Thank you for keeping me in the dark, I feel so lucky to have such a great friend." Yuan and Nerrivik had never heard this much sarcasm coming from Kunchen before.

"Because you've been handling everything so well. It's not like every little thing about the world outside of Zaofu and the Air Temples doesn't completely mess up your entire worldview. You've given me so many confused puppy-dog looks over the past few days, I'm not sure if I'm traveling with an air nomad or a toddler." Yuan knew what what he was saying was harsh, but once again he'd reached a point where he didn't care.

Before Kunchen could respond, Nerrivik slapped her hand over his mouth. "That's enough from both of you. Yuan you shouldn't have lied to us for so long, but Kunchen you know why he did. You're both wrong, you're both idiots. Moving on, is there anything else you've failed to tell us?" She gave Yuan an expectant look.

He fidgeted around for a little before admitting, "Ok there was one other thing. The old man did say there might be another White Lotus Temple, but that it's in Republic City."

Kunchen threw up his arms and gave a huge eyeroll at the revelation. "Of course, cause why bother telling us, we're just the people that have to live and travel with you."

Nerrivik pointed a finger at his mouth. "Zip it. Now, Yuan, I'm assuming you didn't tell us about this because…"

Yuan snorted slightly. "Because there's no way we're going to Republic City. There are other ways you guys can have me thrown in jail or killed that don't involve traveling half a continent."

"Well do you have any other ideas?" she asked.

Everyone was silent, until Kunchen finally spoke up, "She's right, we can't have you stay at Zaofu, ditto for the Air Temples, if we want to avoid an international incident, especially now that you're a wanted criminal. The White Lotus is our only real option."

"That still doesn't address me not wanting to rot in jail, or you know, be killed. Why can't I just find somewhere to lie low?" he asked this question with a genuine sincerity.

"You said it yourself that you can't stay hidden forever. Besides, you're the Avatar, you have a duty to the world." Kunchen answered.

"Yeah, but I don't know what that is, do you? I don't know anything about being the Avatar. Nobody's ever explained what I'm supposed to do. Nobody even wants me to exist. I have no idea what I'm doing, or why I should be doing it. Maybe the world would be better off without me." Yuan began to curl up a little bit under the table, looking at the ground.

Kunchen and Nerrivik had never seen this side of him. This morning they weren't even sure it existed. The anger on Kunchen's face faded and turned to sympathy. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I know you're under a lot of pressure, but this is why we've got to get to the White Lotus Temple. They'll be able to explain what you're supposed to do. You look nothing like you do in your picture, anyways, there's no way they'll recognize you."

Yuan sat in silence for a few more moments before he came to a decision, "Well I guess if I stay in The Earth States, they'll find me eventually anyways. Might as well go down trying to find some answers."

Kunchen smiled at this, before leaving the booth to go start up the Jeep. Yuan and Nerrivik stayed back so they could finish their tea first. Yuan got up from under the table, laughing a little about how silly he felt underneath it. Nerrivik smiled a little bit at this. "Hey I did want to let you know something."

"What is it?" he asked genuinely curious.

"When you said the world might not need you. It does. I know I tried to convince Kunchen that thing's are alright, but you're right, things are seriously bad in a lot of places. Everywhere I've been to has been scarred from all the violence happening. This world needs an Avatar, even if you're not sure what to do yet."

Yuan gave her a small smile. "Thank's. That actually means a lot."

The three drove off in relatively good spirits. It was easy to find a route to Republic City, and Kunchen was especially excited to drive on the new highway system they'd been installing over the past decade. Yuan had slowly been pumping himself up for the journey, and had managed to push down most of his own fears. Nerrivik was probably the most excited out of the three, although she hid it well. One of her main goals during her travels was to get to Republic City, and now she'd be there in about a weeks time.

All of this good feeling came to a precipitous end, when they found themselves stuck in a small line of other cars, in front of a large chain link fence, with a small gate and station in front of the road. A United Republic soldier walked up to the car, and handed three forms and pens to Kunchen, "Please fill these out, sirs and ma'am."

"If you don't mind me asking sir, what is this about?" Kunchen ventured. "What are these forms for?"

The soldier gave a friendly smile, "Oh, you're about to enter United Republic controlled territory. This is just a standard border check to make sure nobody bad slips by. Nothing to worry about, just fill out the information forms, and we should have you in and out in 5 minutes or so."

After he had walked back to his office, in the station, full panic set in for Yuan. He quickly reached into his pocket to grab the wanted poster. With some concentration, he managed to light a small flame underneath it, quickly reducing it to ash, which he proceeded to unceremoniously dump out the side of the car. "Ok, now as long as they don't have a copy we should be all set," he said, faking a small laugh.

"Relax, I'm sure we'll be fine. Like I said you look nothing like your old photo," reassured Kunchen. "Just fill out your form, and act confident." As easy as that sounded, Yuan struggled with the first line asking for his name. He couldn't use his own name, and all the other fakes ones he was thinking of were also probably wanted for terrorism. Eventually he picked the name Shin, because unless he'd started strapping bombs to his pigchickens, then he was one of the few people in Urumqi not in trouble with the republic.

The rest of the page he blatantly forged with lies, saying he was a stone carver from Omashu. He'd hope that this would seem low profile enough, but he soon began to worry if it was too low profile, and that they might be suspicious. He wanted to change it, but was scared that anything more would draw unnecessary attention to himself. This cycle of worry continued for several more minutes until they were finally at the front of the line.

They parked underneath the stations overhang, and were ushered out of the jeep by the soldier who'd given them the forms. He showed them to three separate office rooms, one for each of them, while two other soldiers began to give their car a thorough inspection. Yuan sat nervously in one office, while a man behind a desk looked over his form. After a quick read through, the man looked up, "This seems to be in order for the most part, but I do have a few questions."

A small sweat began to break on Yuan's neck, but he nodded for the man to continue. "Ok, now I'm assuming you weren't formally taught how to read and write?" Yuan gave a reluctant nod. His mother had taught him enough to read, but he'd always been awful at writing. "That's what I thought, there are a few spelling mistakes here, so I just want to clarify a few things. One, you're a stone carver, I think it says? Ok, good now on your reason for wanting to get into United Republic Territory I think it says that you're going to visit a friend in the city. You neglected to mention the name of the friend, however."

"Oh, uhh… her name is Jeu."

The man wrote a quick note, but began squinting at Yuan. "Would you happen to know 'Jeu's' address?"

"She didn't say …, but I think she lives near the bay." Yuan knew nothing about Republic City's geography, and hoped this would do.

The man didn't write anything this time, but continued staring at Yuan, looking him up and down. He locked eyes with Yuan, almost like he was trying to stare into his soul. They kept this staring match going for several seconds, until the first soldier walked through the door. "Just finished our checks, they're all good." The man behind the desk gave a quick nod, stamping Yuan's papers and handing them back.

"Good luck with your trip to Republic City. You've got about a week before you actually reach the borders, but the trip should be fairly peaceful. This territory is under our control," said the man, with a smile on his face. Yuan awkwardly smiled and nodded at both of them, before slipping out the door, back to the jeep.

He was the last to get in, and after he took his seat they were off. Once they had put about half a mile between them and the station, Yuan finally exhaled, "Holy crap, that was stressful. Why'd they let us out so quickly?"

Kunchen looked over with a grin on his face, "I'm a Beifong. We're pretty well respected everywhere thanks to my great-great grandma. All I have to do is flash a few identifying papers, and I can get in pretty much anywhere. See man, stop worrying so much, if we got through there, we'll get into the city."

Yuan gave a small smile at this. Maybe things would finally start working out. "Probably not," he thought to himself. "But it's a nice thought."

Coming Soon: Chapter 6 - Puppet Show