-Inside the Jasmine Dragon-
"It was a frustrating and arduous undertaking but between Kang and Hakoda they were able to amass a large army consisting of fire nation refuges and former soldiers, water tribe warriors, and earth bending soldiers and volunteers from almost all the rings." said Iroh "Non combatants were to be sent to the center ring"
"How did Kang get everyone to work in such a cohesive unit" asked Kanna " I mean, Yeah he was a former earth kingdom general but I don't know how he was able to get the fire nation soldiers to fall line. They didn't have to listen to him"
"Oh, but we did" said a former fire nation soldier from a near by table "We had a common enemy, and Kang called the shots, period"
"That and if you didn't he would sic Iroh or Azula on you guys" laughed his friend, a former earth kingdom soldier
"Speaking of Azula" said Hui "Redeemed or not, she was still technically a princess. Why was she listening to him, or allowing him to talk to her like that? She could have pulled rank and out right refused"
"If I truly had to guess" said Iroh thoughtfully "I'd say Azula was scared of disappointing him. From the first time she met him, He made it clear he wasn't afraid of her but at same let her know the he had grown to care about her a great deal ... in his grouchy way of course. I think that meant a lot to her and she didn't want to lose that "
"It makes sense I guess" said Lan "But when are you going to get to the good stuff? The siege and what was going on with Aang's group?"
"Yeah" said Hahn "I mean all they had to do to prove themselves was open a door? Grab the handle and pull. How hard is that?"
"Actually it was very hard" said Iroh "Inside Aang and Xi'an would find how dire the situation had become
Chapter 25-
The Door
Despite the perpetual hurricane surrounding the floating temple of the sky benders, the weather in the courtyard was surprisingly calm and cool with a light gentle breeze wafting through the beautiful tended gardens.
The normally quiet and reserved sky benders were awash in a buzz of conversation regarding the current outsiders. One of them claimed to be the legendary Avatar, His girlfriend from the water tribe,
A boy who claimed to be of the fire nation, A little earth kingdom girl, and The last a boy with strange colored eyes who Sister Xue claimed to be the Avatars Guardian.
Aang's group was pushed past the group of curious sky benders by Kai and her group of cronies, who seemed to enjoy her job a bit too much.
Kai was pretty hostile for an Air bender. She was a what you would consider an sky nomad version of a tomboy. Her hair cut short with her bangs framing her arrow tattoo setting her apart from the other girls, preferring to wear a boy's nomad clothing as opposed to long robes the other females wore. She would almost be pretty if not for the mean scowl that seemed permanently on her face.
The group was separated as Xi'an and Aang were led in front of a massive stone door that seemed to be carved out of the stone mountain of the Sky temple.
I don't know, Aang" said Xi'an running his hand across it's rough surface "Usually people lock things away for a reason. Who knows what we could be opening a door to?"
What do you think is in it? asked Xi'an
"I have no idea" said Xi'an
"I don't think we have anything to worry about" said Sister Xue wiping some moss off the great door revealing some old engraved writing "Read for yourself"
"Only when two become as one shall this way be open to you" read Aang
"What does it mean?" asked Xi'an
"We don't know" said Monk Lu "Perhaps you'll find out
"You'll stand here Xian" said Sister Yen pointing to a stone circle on the ground to the right of the door
"And you'll stand here Aang" said Sister Xue pointing to a stone circle to the left of the door
As Aang and Xi'an steped on the circles, a loud click was heard as two large cages shot up from the ground trapping both. Four statues rose out of the ground around Aang's cage each with an one of the four element symbols. On Xi'an's, only two rose out of the ground bearing the water and earth symbols. A slow rumble rocked the the temple as the outer doors opened, revealing an ingenious puzzle.
"What is this?" demanded Te "Let them go go!"
"We cant" said Sister Xue "Not until the test is done"
"The test has begun" said Monk Shyu "Use your bending to unlock the puzzle"
"Don't hurt yourselves boys." said Kai causing her group of cronies to laugh
'Xi'an stomped the ground knocking the entire group off their feet in response causing the remaining sky benders and Aang's group to laugh in response. Even sister Xue had a small chuckle much to the embarrassment of the girl
Aang went first blowing air into one of his statues causing the door to open slightly. Shooting earth in the next caused it to slam shut violently.
"Okay my turn" said Xi'an bending water into his statue
The door inched open slightly but when he bent earth into the other status the door again slammed shut
"Well that didn't work" said Aang "Maybe we're doing this wrong. Let try this, I'll start you go next
Aang shot air into his statue, followed by Xi'an being water into his, followed by Aang bending earth into his leaving Xian with...nothing. Unable to bend fire, Xi'an sighed in frustration as the great door slammed shut.
"I told all of you that this was a waste of time" sneered Kai "They're nothing special! Just a bunch of fakes!"
The girls went back to where they were trying to work on the airships, however a younger group of unruly and disrespectful Fire Nation Recruits were causing trouble for the Kyoshi warriors by refusing to work. A defiant smirk plastered on all their faces as the other warriors tried to get them to work.
"Well well well girls" said the leader of the bunch "I hope you had fun snitching to that old fart but that doesn't change the fact that we are fire nation and we don't take orders from anyone other than the royal family. Not you Kyoshi peasants, not you traitors and most certainly not that old decrepit earth Kingdom trash up on the wall"
"Is that so?" asked a very familiar voice with a very condescending tone "I suggest you heed Suki's orders or else face my wrath"
"Oooh, Another Earth Kingdom girl who thinks she's tough? I'm soooo scared" said The leader of the group causing the others to laugh "Perhaps if you're cute I might grace you with my company later, consider it charity"
From behind others Azula stepped into view. Dressed in common earth kingdom clothing and her hair pulled into a simple ponytail it was easy for most to not recognize her. Most common soldiers hardly got a glimpse of the royal family much less knew what Azula looked like up close. Still thought the princess , their disrespect would not go unpunished.
"I have a boyfriend already" said Azula with a cruel smile "Oh and I'm not earth kingdom but their clothing is quite comfortable...
With a simple wave of her hand she blasted a wall of fire mere inches from their feet. A cold chill went up the spine of every one of the disrespectful boys. Blue fire...there was only one person in all the fire nation who could bend blue fire... Gulping deeply all of them knew what horrors awaited them. Dropping quickly to their knees they hoped that they could appeal to her mercy...
"Princess Azula" the leader gulped "My sincere apologies. I meant no disrespect"
"And yet you show it to me anyway" said Azula evilly "Under any other circumstances, my honor would demand me to challenge each one you to an Agni Kai. I'm sure you know which one of us will win don't you?"
"Yes, your majesty" said the leader of the group shaking in fear
"But I'm not going to do that today" said Azula "Because we need every able body to fight, including worthless sacks of flesh such as yourself. Consider yourselves forgiven for now"
"Many thanks for your mercy, my princess" the leader of the group said with relief in his voice
"But..." sneered Azula as she snatched the young leader off his feet by his throat "If you give Suki and her warriors any more trouble, even one time, I challenge you to an Agni Kai on the spot and I will make you suffer tenfold. Is that clear"
"Crystal" said the boy
"Oh and one more thing..."said Azula dropping him to the ground "Don't ever disrespect General Kang again. Now get to work all of you"
As the boys rushed to make the repairs that needed to be done, The rest of the girls looked on in shock. Azula showing mercy in her cruel way. I had not gone unnoticed on Suki that she defended her or Kang
Mai and Ty Lee were not quite sure that she had changed all that much
"Azula?' asked Ye "Don't you think your were just a little bit too scary?"
"Only to people I dont like" smiled Azula pinching Ye's nose softly "Come on let get things fixed up"
As the two headed off in the direction of one of the airships Both Mai and Ty Lee looked on confused
"Wait a minute?" said Ty lee "Azula has a boyfriend?
"Stranger things have happened" sighed Mai " Lets go you airhead, we got ships to fix"
"I am not airheaded" argued Ty lee as she followed closely behind "I'm bubbly"
An hour passed as Aang and Xi'an tried a multitude of combinations with with no success
Humph, I knew you two were all talk!" snorted Kai
What is your problem?" asked Aang
"My problem is that you're outsiders" said Kai "And you don't belong here!"
"I don't see us getting this thing open " said a defeated and frustrated Aang to Xian, ignoring the girl
"I've never known you as the quitting type" said Xi'an "Two into ..one... the path opens..."
"Hey how about we try that thing we did in Omashu?" said Aang
"I don't even know how we did that last time!" said Xi'an
"Just follow my lead" said Aang sitting down in a lotus position "We're going to try to enter the avatar state"
"Are you sure this is going to work?" said Xi'an sitting into a lotus as well
"Got any other ideas?" said Aang closing his eyes "Just do what I do and first empty your mind"
Closing their eyes and breathing deeply, a pulse of blue energy started to flow between the two cages growing stronger and stronger between the two boys. Suddenly their eyes popped open, glowing with the mysterious power shattering their cages as if they were made of fragile paper. As they floated into the air they they used their bending in complete prefect synchronization as if one mind. Both bending opposing elements at the same time,. Aang Fire and Air with Xi'an Earth and Water.
Every sky bender gasped in awe as the Great Door opened with a loud groan revealing two large statues. From the forehead of each statue, a beam of light shot toward Xi'an and Aang hitting both
in their foreheads causing them to enter the spirit world...
Kang gathered the leader of each group to access the situation before sundown. There wasn't much time
before the invading army made it's way to the walls of Ba Sing Se Because of that it was important that everyone is where there supposed to be.
"Long Shot, Smeller bee" said Kang "Whats the status?"
"Archers are stationed on the outer perimeter" said Smeller Bee
"We're stretched pretty thin but we have catapults to fill in the gap in the line" said Long Shot
"Very good" said Iroh "Whats the status with the Kyoshi warriors?"
"All ships repaired " said Ty lee
"The refits?" asked Kang
"Sokka's weapons have been fitted on and tested" said Azula
"i would expect nothing less from you ladies" said Kang
"How about the front line" said Iroh
"I won't lie" said Hakoda "We have small group of troops but I'm not sure they're enough considering what we're against.
"They'll have to do" said Kang "I will meet up with the front line shortly"
"So will I" said Sokka
"I will too" said Toph
Kang nodded his head, not exactly wanting to risk the kids but having no other option either
"What about me?" asked Ye
"I want you head to the center ring" said Kang
"But I want to fight!" said Ye
"Your not fighting" said Kang
"But..." argued Te
"Te? Will you do it for me?" asked Azula "Please?"
Ye nodded her head while Mai and Ty Lee looked at each other in disbelief, again Azula acting very out of character for her.
"Alright everyone get to your posts" said Kang "We got a city to defend
Xian found himself back in the spirit world, he didn't think it was possible but it looked worse than when he last saw it. Almost everything has taken a black decay like look to it. It was a very unnerving feeling, it just meant things probably just gotten worse
"As I thought" said a voice from behind him "You're just as worthless as all your kind are!"
Xi'an didn't have to even bother to look behind him. There was only one person he knew of in the spirit world who held him in such disdain, Avatar Kyoshi.
"Good to see you too Kyoshi" said Xi'an "Where are the others?"
"They're safe...for now " said Kyoshi " But now were all in danger thanks to you"
"Me? Asked Xi'an "What did I do?"
"Lo pan is sowing death and destruction and you are accomplishing nothing!"
"We can beat him! Aang is better" said Xi'an showing his necklace " And we have this! We can fight him on his own level"
"Ignorant as always " said Kyoshi "Aang is not better, far from it. You have no idea what you have do you? Thanks to Lo Pan, The Shi crystal is empowered by the spirits of past avatars. And whether you know it or not you've been using it, leeching the power of the avatars. Your no better than the person your fighting! "
"That is enough Kyoshi. Ease up on the boy" said Avatar Roku walking into view "We dont have a lot of time. I'd rather not waste it on dwelling on old wrongs"
"Whats going on? Everything looks worse than last time" said Xi'an
"The delicate balance of the world has shifted" said Roku " If its not righted soon, I fear both the spirit and the mortal world will be destroyed.
"How long do we have?"
"At the most 7 days" said Roku "Lo pan must be defeated and the Shi crystal destroyed or I feel the the both worlds as we know it will cease to be"
How do I destroy it?" asked Xi'an
You will have to...
Aang found himself in a massive hall of statues, on the left every avatar. On the right was statues of people he didn't recognize but due to the different color eyes he assumed that they were the guardians . The difference between the two sides was the right was not as consistent as the avatar's there were fewer guardians than avatars.
"Amazing isn't it? said a voice
Turning around, Aang saw a man about in his 30's dressed quite strangely. How ever he noticed he had eyes like Xi'an.
"You... Your a guardian aren't you?" asked Aang
"Once upon a time, Kid. The name is Ghen" said The Man "I was Kyoshi's"
"I didn't know Kyoshi had one" said Aang "She doesn't seem to like guardians too much"
"I'm not a subject she speaks of kindly I'm afraid" said Ghen "However, that is not the reason I contacted you Aang
"Why did you contact me?" asked Aang
"The spirit wold is tearing itself apart, and it will be only a matter of time before the mortal one is destroyed as well " said Ghen "I fear the Shi crystal is the cause"
"What is the Shi crystal anyway?"
"Long ago before the before bending, even before the Avatars there was the Shi Phoenix." said Ghen "It was an artifact of the spirit world allowing those who passed to return for 1 day to finish what was unfinished".
"Finish what was unfinished?" asked Aang
"Yes" said Ghen "to say good bye to loved ones or to have revenge. However one spirit stole the Shi and took it to the mortal world. They reaped untold destruction upon the world for a long time. It took the first avatar to stop him. Unable to destroy the Shi, he broke and scattered it to the winds hoping it would never be found
"But it was" said Aang
"Unfortunately it has, I noticed your guardian has a piece of it" said Ghen "He hasn't been using it has he?"
"Why do you want to know?" asked Xi'an suspiciously "So what if he has?"
"It important" said Ghen sharply "Has he been using it?"
"Yes, He has. When he has needed to" said Aang "Why is that so important?
"That is unfortunate. Because"...said Ghen " I'm afraid your friend is on borrowed time now"
What do you mean he's on borrowed time?" said Aang "He's dying?"
"The Shi crystal needs a spirit to function" said Ghen sadly "Every time he has used it, using the avatars power...it slowly takes a bit of his life away. You have to understand, he wasn't meant to harness the avatars power. Only the avatar is meant to have it"
"Its killing him?" asked Aang "Then I'll make sure he doesn't use it anymore!"
"As long as you two use it together" said Ghen " He'll be safe, but he cannot use it by himself anymore or If you two are ever seperated...
A loud explosion rocked the temple as a giant fire ball smashed the two statues destroying them and sending Xi'an and Aang back into their bodies. Another fireball sailed through the air destroying the gangs small airship and damaging the bison stables.
As the two boys came to, the sky benders were in a panic rushing around. The older monks and children hid as the younger ones armed themselves for a fight. From hurricane appeared 4 damaged but still extremely dangerous airships, the only survivors of the flight through the heavy winds.
Admiral Zhao smiled evilly as he looked through his spyglass. While it was unfortunate to lose most of his fleet, he soon would have his revenge on that brat Zuko and as an added bonus wipe out this newly discovered temple of air benders. The battle of the sky had begun...
The sun set on the city of Ba Sing Se as Kang's militia of misfits prepared for battle. Long shot and Smeller Bee along with many Yu Yan archers readied themselves on the outer wall. Iroh and a squad of fire benders manned the catapults Azula, Suki, Mai and Ty lee each commanded an airship waiting on stand by. Toph, Hakoda Kang and Sokka lead the meager ground and tank forces outside the the walls.
A loud rhythmic stomping sound came from the east, softly at first then louder and louder until it was almost deafening. The report from the scouts was woefully inaccurate, the legion appeared on the horizon everyone gasped on how big the enemy army actually was. 30 of theirs to 1 of Kang's
But everyone stood their ground, nobody ran. With a loud horrifying unified howl, the enemy army charged Kang's Small forces. The battle for Ba Sing Se had begun...