Runes of Ruin
By: Bubbajack
Co-authors/Editors: IcySnowSage, First Hassan
Special Consultant: Heliosion
Note: Special Thanks goes out to my Super Patrons Apostle_of_Darkness, Ben Wanless, Bobby Glass, CrazymanDK, Jac, and Jareth Norris.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or Elden Ring. They both belong to their respective owners.
Ch.1: Falling Between the Cracks.
'Well I guess this is what I deserve for going against the wishes of a spirit,' Sokka thought as he fell through the void, seeing the horrified face of his little sister Katara and Aang as he pulled out of his dive from trying to save them from Wan Shi Tong as his library slowly sank into the sands of the Si Wong Desert. He smiled at them, doing his best to reassure them as he fell into the sinking depths of infinite knowledge. Thankfully, he landed on a pile of sand. It broke his fall even if it left him spitting small granules out of his mouth. Sliding down the makeshift sand dune, Sokka saw a knowledge Seeker, one of Wan Shi Tong's long legged coyotes. The amber-eyed dog approached him, its tail wagging despite the danger of the situation.
"Okay, good boy, good doggie. Can you show me another way outta here, preferably fast?"
The spirit let out a 'yip' of affirmation before it trotted off, with the Water Tribe Warrior following closely behind.
He followed the Knowledge Seeker even as the library rapidly filled up with sand. When the fox crawled under a half buried duct of some kind, all Sokka could do was bite back a curse before he started crawling after the desert native. He could feel the rough stone of the duct tearing at the back of his clothes, like a whetstone being drawn across a dull blade. Pulling himself out of the duct with a strained hiss as the rough stone tore at his back, Sokka found the Knowledge Seeker sitting in front of a giant wooden door reinforced with iron, its tail wagging. Going up to it, he asked the spirit, "Is this a way out?"
The Knowledge Seeker yipped in affirmative, and Sokka reached into his satchel and threw the dog a piece of jerky which it gobbled up before he pushed on the heavy doors. As he pushed, a bright light emanated from the crack in the gap Sokka was creating, until it swallowed him in its candescence.
The Knowledge seeker wagged its tail, pleased with a job well done. It had done as requested by a visitor. It showed the visitor a quick secondary exit from the library. Not many if any used the Old Door anymore. Even the Master had forsaken its use, but since the visitor had requested it, the Knowledge Seeker acquiesced. It even got a treat for its good deed! He hoped the visitor found what it was looking for in the Lands Between the spirit and mortal worlds.
(...)
Chapel of Anticipation
Sokka found himself in a place he didn't recognize. It was a building that's for sure, made out of stone. 'Am I in the Earth Nation?' He wondered. The scent of candle wax and spent wicks was cloying in the air, drawing his club Sokka carefully stalked forwards. When he noticed someone laying in a corner, he sprinted up to them, hoping to render aid. Yet the moment he touched the woman, he knew it was pointless, her body has long since cooled, white robes stained crimson with blood.
Sokka grimaced. "I'm sorry this happened to you, whoever you are," he said as he gently closed her eyes with one hand. He noticed a message written in her own blood that she had the strength to write in her death throes. "Become a Lord,"
Sokka didn't know what a 'Lord' was but it sounded important, like a Water Tribe Chieftain, or Fire Lord he supposed. 'I have no idea where I am, and meeting up with Aang, Toph and Katara comes first,' So thinking he pushed open the wooden double doors.
He found himself on a craig like precipice. A rickety looking rope bridge off to his left looked like it led to a much more stable piece of land. 'Well, I still don't know where I am, but I have direction now, and that's a start,' So thinking, Sokka carefully made his way across the rope bridge and was relieved that it was more stable than it looked. A large stone archway framed a great statue of a woman, her arms splayed out over an ark. Warily approaching the statue, Sokka felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and rolled out of the way as something impacted the ground with enough force to kick up a dust cloud.
As it cleared, Sokka saw a gigantic misshapen thing drag itself out of the impact site. It had multiple arms and legs attached to a bloated body, it skittered around like a bloated bug, a sword held in multiple hands while several other arms propped up a massive shield. Sokka took one good look at the thing and said, "Nope,"
He decided discretion was a better part of valor, and ran towards the mish-mashed monster only to slide through its far too numerous legs and kept on running before taking a flying leap off the cliff edge into the choppy waters below. The waters were cold but nothing compared to the bone sapping chill of the Southern Arctic Tundra he was used to. He surfaced in the ocean and tried to swim as best he could, only to be tossed around by the waves like driftwood. He turned around just in time to see the rock hurtling towards his face.
"Why me?" Sokka asked himself as he slammed face first into the stone edifice.
(...)
Sokka coughed up saltwater as he groaned weakly, fading in and out of consciousness. As he was doing so, he could've sworn he heard the clop of.. Hooves? He then heard snuffling and the warm breath of some kind of beast near his hand. Then came… a woman's voice. It was eloquent, smooth, and warmed Sokka's cold body.
"Don't worry, Torrent. Fortune is on his side. We found him here, after all," The sound of footsteps walking through a puddle could be heard, and then the woman spoke, her voice almost right next to his ear as she spoke, "One of his kind is sure to seek the Elden Ring…" Sokka felt his consciousness fading even as he heard the woman say, "Even if it does violate, the Golden Order,"
(...)
Sokka woke up, with a groan, his body ached a lot less than before, which was good, but his clothes, sans his satchel were destroyed, seemingly they had been turned into bandages for his numerous wounds by his mysterious benefactor. Next to his head, sitting on a smooth rock was a pair of flasks, a glowing… thing, and sitting under them, was a note. Poking the glowing thing first to make sure it wasn't dangerous Sokka found it had some give to it yet it was semi squishy like the blubber on a seal. So he picked it up, and put it in his satchel. He then looked at the flasks with a critical eye. One was the color of blood, and the other matched his eye hue. He sniffed them. The red one had the scent of meat, earthy tones, and some sort of spice. The blue was cold like the scent of the air in the North Pole, and for a brief moment, Sokka was reminded of Yui, his first love who became the moon spirit.
Shaking himself, Sokka stored the vials and picked up the note before walking over to the odd leafless tree nearby and began to read. The woman's handwriting was in a long flowing scrawling script. If Sokka had to describe it as anything, he'd call it elegant as he read
"Dearest Warrior,
I found thee in quite a miserable state. So much so, I doubted whether thou wouldst survive or not. However, thou is one of fierce constitution. For survive thy wounds thou didst indeed do. Shouldst thou wish to stretch thine legs and test thine prowess, headset down into the Cave of Remembrance, and prove thyself. Upon success go through the doors over yonder and take the lift up to Limgrave proper, and I shall meet thee soon,
"Signed, M." Sokka looked down into the hole she called the Cave of Remembrance. Then he looked at the damn ghost sitting in the chair next to the hole. "What do you think?"
"Tarnished go forth, and recall thy warrior blood," It said to him.
"Yeah, I was afraid you'd say that," Sokka said before he took the plunge, wondering what a Tarnished was.
The enemies in the cave, if they could be called that, weren't so dangerous. Sokka felt bad killing them. It felt like he was beating baby seals to death. They flailed around haphazardly, no skill or finesse involved at all, their swords may have well been blunt objects. The only real skill displayed was by a shieldman who never had the courage to attack, and a man with a bow who once he closed in found his weapon was some sort of advanced weapon that while still a bow used an advanced pulley method combined with a trigger. He wished he could have studied it more, but this particular piece looked well worn to the point of near breaking. Then, Sokka found himself in another water soaked cavern.
From the opposite side, a man in regal armor wielding a spear came towards him. Sokka felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise again, this one wasn't like the others. He moved with purpose, and determination in his stride. 'I'm almost naked with nothing but my club, and he's in full armor and his weapon has superior reach, this should be fun,' Sokka thought.
The man came at him bellowing, "For Godrick!" as he slashed with his weapon. Sokka rolled to the side avoiding the overhead chop before darting in, past the man's guard and beating him over the head several times with his club before drawing back as the man tried to sideswipe him with his weapon.
'His weapon has reach but it's slow,' Sokka noted, 'I can do this,' He thought to himself. A dangerous but workable plan forming in his mind. Taking what he'd learned from Suki on Kyoshi Island, Sokka danced close to his foe, letting him swipe at him before dancing out of his range and darting back in to punish him for overreaching. He kept this up, even as the warrior tried to shorten the distance between the two of them by jumping and slashing at him, and even going for a rolling slash. None of it worked however. Sokka had fought and been trained by better. Thus with a warrior roar of his own the Water Tribe Warrior released a brutal four hit combo on the knights helmeted skull. His helm dented, his skull bled and he finally fell on his side unmoving.
Sokka was out of breath by the time it was all over. "You fought well," He told the corpse of this "Soldier of Godrick" He had no clue who Godrick was, but it must've been someone worth fighting and dying for, for this man at least. Not for the first time since he entered the cave, Sokka saw several golden motes of light leave the corpses and enter him. He had no idea what that was about, but it wasn't hurting him, so he decided it couldn't be too bad he assumed. He checked the man's body for anything of value and was happy to find that though his metal armor was useless the leather he was wearing underneath was still serviceable.
So he put it on before heading out of the tunnel the man had come from. He came out over a cliff that overlooked the door from before. "I did it!" Sokka cheered, throwing his hands up in victory before he made his way towards the double doors. Just beyond was a hallway, a larger area protected by some kind of barrier. 'What's with all this Avatar stuff?' Sokka wondered. As he tapped the stone statue that jutted out from the involiable barrier. "Well I'm not getting in here," He told himself as he walked down the hallway.
The lift looked like a cage without bars to him. He warily stepped into it, being careful of traps. 'Okay, so what do I do- woah!' He thought as he accidentally stepped on the pressure plate and the ground lit up, showing a beautiful vine motif before the lift began to ascend of its own volition. Only once it stopped did Sokka dare raise his hands from over his head. 'Did, did I just fly? Like Aang on his glider?' He asked himself. He stepped off the lift and looked back at the strange device. 'How does it work? There aren't any benders making it move, so how?'
Honestly, between the strange bow and now this he could spend a good amount of time trying to figure out how they worked, but time is something that wasn't on his side at the moment. Just like in Wan Shi Tong's library, he needed answers. Though now, it was more about where he was, rather than how to defeat the Fire Nation. Still, answers were needed all the same. So he went to the door, fixed his fingers underneath the small crack from which sunlight was coming from, and pulled upwards. The hinges must've been well oiled for they gave right away. When it did, he stepped forwards, the sunlight blinding him.
When it cleared he gasped. For he was standing on a hill overlooking a vast plain, there was a gigantic glowing golden tree in the far background, a castle on a cliff in the near background, and a dilapidated church off to his left. Directly ahead of him was what looked like a small campfire with a man in odd clothes standing not too far from it. Deciding he was his best bet, Sokka made his way over, scrambling down the rocks towards the man.
As he got closer and got a better look at him Sokka was put on guard, for the man was covered in dried blood, his face covered by a pale white mask. Standing across from what he thought was a campfire, Sokka found it was more of those golden motes, condensed on the ground. He poked it with his foot, and it flared up like a flame, pointing up and then amazingly at an angle towards the castle in the distance. 'Great, more Avatar stuff. Sorry world, but you've got the wrong guy. I'm Sokka, the Meat, Sarcasm and Logic guy. You want Aang the Straightlaced, Vegetarian, Monk.'
Raising a hand to the masked man in greeting he said, "Hi… I'm Sokka, would you mind telling me where I am and who you are?"
The man's very chuckle held sinister overtones as he said, "Oh yes... Tarnished, are we? Come to the Lands Between for the Elden Ring, hmm?"
"No I-" Sokka tried to say, but the man didn't let him finish,
"Of course you have. No shame in it," He continued, before his tone changed to something snide and pitying, "Unfortunately for you, however, you are maidenless. Without guidance, without the strength of runes, and without an invitation to the Roundtable Hold… You are fated, it seems, to die in obscurity,"
"Not likely pal, and I'll have you know, I've had… maidens… before."
The masked man chuckled, "Luckily for you, however, there is one shining ray of hope for even the maidenless. Me. Varré. So, take care to listen," He nodded down at the small campfire-like flame, before he continued, "Are you familiar with grace? The golden light that gives life to you Tarnished. You may also behold its golden rays pointing in a particular direction at times. That is the guidance of grace. The path that a Tarnished must travel,"
"Follow Grace huh?" Sokka said dubiously, he highly doubted following the glowing trail as ill-equipped as he was would be a good idea.
But Varre nodded, "Mm, indeed. Grace's guidance holds the answers. It will lead you Tarnished to the path you are meant to follow. Even if it leads you to your grave. Grace's guidance will reveal the path forward, most certainly. To Castle Stormveil, over on the cliff. The home of the decrepit demigod, Godrick the Grafted,"
"Demigod? I think you've got the wrong guy," Sokka told him. Sokka could barely handle a spirit that was a librarian. May Yue help him if he tried to slay an actual god! "I didn't come here to fight a demigod or claim a fancy ring. I was just trying to get out of one danger and traded it for another,"
"Sad to hear that," Varre said uncaringly, "Regardless, It's time you set off, I should think. Either to Castle Stormveil, on the cliff, where grace would guide you. Or to some other errand that may reveal a way home for your poor tortured wayward soul. Though if I were you, I'd still seek the Elden Ring, maidenless as you are. With even a fraction of its power, you could accomplish incredible things… if you don't end up dead in a ditch somewhere first that is,"
"Yeah thanks a lot for the pep talk Varre," Sokka said blithely.
"Anytime dear lambskin, anytime," The masked man said, waving Sokka walked off, carefully making his way towards the dilapidated church. He didn't feel like fighting the giant of a man on the horse in nothing but cheap leathers. He breathed a sigh of relief as he safely entered the confines of the church and saw another site of grace. He sat down at it, and it flared like a campfire. He noticed a man in the corner and carefully approached him.
"Well I'll be your Tarnished, and more importantly, you're not trying to kill me on sight, meaning you've still got your wits about you. My name is Kale and I am a merchant. One that was once part of a Great Caravan of traders. Well, before everything fell apart anyway, now it's just travelers like you Tarnished that's keeping everything from going tits up. You wouldn't happen to be looking to buy would you?" Kale tried to keep the eagerness out of his voice at the end, but Sokka wasn't fooled.
"Depends, what I need more than anything is information, do you also sell that?" The Warrior asked.
"Needs must young warrior, if I may, I suggest you buy the survival kit for some runes. It'll get you started, and I've also got some armor for sale if it pleases you," Kale said as he began laying out his wares.
Pulling the glowing squishy thing out of his satchel, Sokka asked, "What is this?"
"Ooh! That my friend is a Rune, crush it and you'll gain many runes which you can either strengthen yourself, should you have a finger maiden, or barter with," Kale grinned at the last part.
Sokka sighed, "Give me the crafting kit, the full set of chainmail, any information you have on the local area, and… What are these rocks and the pot?" He asked.
"Those aren't rocks young man, those are smithing stones and are used to enhance one's equipment," Kale informed him, "The pots can be used repeatedly to craft various tinctures but only if you know the recipes."
"I'll take the stones and the pots too," Sokka said, "As for recipes, I'll figure that out on my own." He grew up in a society that wasted nothing, he could figure this out easily enough.
"Very good," Kale pushed the armor towards him and offered his hand for Sokka to shake, which he did. When he did so, he felt something drain from the core of his being. As if he'd just spent a ton of energy all at once.
"Woah there, easy lad," Kale said, seeing him react. "Was that your first time doing a rune transfer? It can leave you feeling a little weird the first couple of times," the merchant warned. "Sit down a sec and let your head stop spinning,"
Following his advice, Sokka sat and waited for his head to stop spinning, "That was weird." Sokka said after a moment.
"It always is for first timers," Kale said with a chuckle. "Don't worry you'll build up a resistance to it and soon won't even feel it," He assured him. "Now it's getting dark and it's frightfully dangerous out here at night, even more so than during the day. So I suggest you get some sleep and decide where you want to go from here come morning."
"Good idea, night Kale," Sokka said, going back to the sight of grace and sitting down and closing his eyes. Praying to Tui, La, and Yui that Aang, Katara, and Toph were doing okay.
(...)
Si Wong Desert, Night:
The spirit of the Gang had never been lower. Not only had Appa been kidnapped, but Sokka the man with the plan, the one who made sure they knew where they were going, and what they should be doing, and if they had enough supplies to get from point A to B was gone. Aang was sullen and silently grieving over the loss of his furry friend. Katara was doing her best to lead the trio through the desert, despite the fact she was hurting worse than anyone, and Toph? Toph had never felt more useless. She let Appa get taken, she had decided not to go into the library where she might've been able to do something to help Sokka, and to top it all off, she could barely see let alone bend in the desert.
'This sucks!' Toph thought to herself as she did her best to follow the sound of Katara's footsteps, as even angry, 'Twinkletoes' was too light on his feet in the sand for her to pick up anything. 'Sokka's gone, Appa's gone, it's all my fault, and I've never been more useless in this stupid, sandy desert!' She kicked the sand pointlessly, 'It's sand, and I hate it! It's rough, coarse on my feet, and it's irritating! I can't see a damn thing!'
"Toph?" Katara called, "Is everything okay?"
"No, Katara," Toph said sullenly, "Everything is far from okay," Toph replied before she tripped and fell over a rock.
Katara was by her side an instant, "Are you alright?"
"No! I can't see, it's my fault Appa is gone, and Sokka is gone too, this sucks this all sucks and it's all my fault!" Toph refused to cry. Her name was Toph and it rhymed with tough dammit and that's what she was.
She felt more than saw Katara's arms wrap around her, "Toph it's not your fault Appa or Sokka are… gone. If you hadn't stopped Wan Shi Tong's Library from sinking we… Aang and I wouldn't be here right now. Right Aang?" She asked the usually exuberant cueball.
"Yeah I guess," Aang said sullenly.
"Aang I know Appa's not here right now, but… couldn't you be a little empathetic? I mean I'm worried about Appa too, but he's tough, and I doubt the Sandbenders are going to do something like eat him," Katara pointed out. "You aren't the only one who lost someone today,"
The Avatar grimaced and looked away, "I'm sorry Katara," Without looking back he said, "But I can't say I don't blame Toph for what happened to Appa. I already blame myself for Sokka,"
"Aang," Katara said sadly. Katara wanted to be sad, she wanted to weep for her brother, and sing his death song for him as Southern Water Tribe tradition dictated, but they didn't have time for any of that. They had to keep moving past the grief, past the desert, for both Sokka and Appa's sake. "We need to keep moving, it's… it's what Sokka and Appa would've wanted."
"Do we even know where we're going at this point?" Toph asked, "Sokka was the map and plan guy. It was his thing. If this team were a single person, then Sokka would be the brain," The Earthbender pointed out.
Katara put her hand on her hips and sighed, "I remember looking at the map once. Ba Sing Sei is directly north of the Wan Si Desert so all we have to do is follow the brightest star in the sky," Katara pointed to the star to emphasize her point, "So if we travel at night from now on when its cooler, we'll be able to make it to Ba Sing Sei and conserve water,"
"Sounds like a plan, I guess," Toph said, even more sullen than earlier since Aang laid Appa's loss on her shoulders.
"Fine, maybe we can find those sandbenders on the way there," Aang said, sounding bitter yet resolute simultaneously.
Katara managed a hopeful smile, trying her best to keep their morale up, despite how much she was hurting at the moment, "Maybe? If we can get Appa back that'd be something wouldn't it?"
"Aang could you scout ahead on your glider?" Katara asked, "Toph and I will catch up when we can,"
"Sure," The Avatar grunted before he took off, shooting a glare at the earthbender that the waterbender was glad she couldn't see.
Taking Toph by the hand, she said, "C'mon Toph we've got a lot of ground to cover and we're burning moonlight,"
Giving the older girl's hand a squeeze, Toph said, "I'm really sorry about Sokka, Katara… I didn't know him nearly as long as you or Aang but I… appreciated how he'd constantly forget I was blind and just treat me like a normal person. He was… someone special to me, because of that,"
Katara let out a shaky little laugh, "H-haha, yeah he could be forgetful."
"I didn't mind, believe me. It was nice to be treated like a normal girl for once," Toph said with a sad smile.
Suddenly, Katara understood, "You liked Sokka, didn't you Toph?"
"Not that it matters anymore, but yeah, I did," The younger girl admitted, "He treated me like a normal girl and completely ignored my condition. It's what I've always wanted… and now he's gone. But you shouldn't have to listen to me!" She said looking up to where she thought Katara's face was. "He was your brother, you knew him better than anyone, your probably hurting worse than Twinkle Toes or me together right now, and your being the mature one, like always,"
"Normally, when someone in the Southern Water Tribe dies, we sing their death song, a song of all their achievements as we bury them in ice before we send them off to La, the Sea Spirit. But we can't exactly do that out here can we?" Her gaze scanned the horizon and all she saw was an endless expanse of sand. A different kind of sea to be sure, but one far from La's embrace.
"No," Toph agreed, "I guess you can't," Toph shook her head at the unfairness of it all, "By the Badgermoles! You can't even mourn him properly as is your custom! That's just… not right,"
Katara let a few tears slide down her cheek, "No, it's not. But like I said, Sokka would want us to carry on. He want us to beat Firelord Ozai, and spread the news of his plan for the Day of Black Sun,"
"For Sokka?" Toph asked.
"For Sokka," His sister agreed.
(...)
Church of Elleh, Early Morning:
Sokka awoke with a groan before he stood up and stretched, feeling the satisfying pop of the vertebrae in his spine before he took a proper look around the church of Elleh. Another statue of that woman hanging from the arch was present, and he saw a hammer and anvil that he'd overlooked the other day. Going over to it, he found a smithing stone just laying there. Kale didn't seem to react when he picked it up, so Sokka shrugged before sticking it in his satchel. He decided today was the day he would map out the terrain a bit. Get the lay of the land and such. First however, he decided to read the notes he bought from Kale the night previously.
The first spoke of something called a "Wondrous Physik" That could be found at the Third Church of Marika. He had no idea what that was, nor where. But it sounded important, so he'd keep an eye out for it.
The second note spoke of a nearby set of ruins that was currently occupied by the troops of one "Godrick the Grafted"
"Well, I guess I could scope out those ruins," Sokka said to himself as he saw a family of deer meander past the church. Sokka felt his stomach rumble hungrily. "But first, breakfast," He said to himself as he slowly stalked the family of deer through the underbrush picking some fruit as he did so…
(...)
Ten minutes later, Sokka was hauling an entire mature deer back to the Church, the side of its head caved in by a lucky toss of his club. Kale came over and watched as he dressed the deer, removing the organs and skinning it with an expert's precision. "Lot of meat on that deer you caught friend,"
"I'm gonna cook up some steaks, want some?" Sokka offered.
"Mighty kind of you friend," Kale replied. "I'll stoke the fire shall I?"
Pretty soon the two had two steaks sizzling in a cast iron pan Kale had on hand and were just waiting for them to cook. Sokka threw some of the fruit he'd picked in with the meat for flavor which Kale had told him was Rowena Fruit and could be dried into raisins which made good trail food when combined with jerky, or a good meal for pack animals.
Once the steaks were done, Sokka divvied up the food, the rowena fruits having caramelized in the heat of the pan, and became a sort of sweet sauce. As the two ate, Kale opened up to him a bit more. "You're a good lad. Not many would share a meal with one of the merchants from the Grand Caravan. So I'll tell you a secret. Should you wander into the mistwood down south, and hear a wolf's howling, should you reply with a finger snap," He demonstrated by snapping his own fingers, "You might meet a like minded sort similar to yourself."
Sokka nodded, "I'll keep that in mind, I'm about to go check out that fort you mentioned in your notes. Gatewatch Ruins?"
"Ah," Kale nodded, "If that's the case then just a moment friend," He retreated to his wares before he returned with a brass telescope. "Here, you'll need this to track the enemy and their movements. Many Godrick's men are hanging around there, so do be careful. It'd be a shame if my new customer went and died so often he forgot about old Kale,"
Sokka nodded, silently wondering what he meant by 'dying so often' as he did. Before he left on his venture, he decided it would be prudent to arm himself with more than his club, so he took the deer apart, using its sinews and bones to create a shortbow some of its thinner bones to create twenty or so arrows, and used the hide to make a quiver which he slung over his hips. So armed, he slipped into his chainmail selling his leather to Kale for a pittance, before heading out into the wilds, hitting every Site of Grace he could find along the way.
(...)
The first thing Sokka made note of was that these soldiers weren't very attentive. He rather easily snuck up on the ones right up the road, and took down a loosely grouped unit of four. One was patrolling up and down the road, another was walking through the underbrush, a third was sitting on the ground paying no attention at all, while the last was seemingly searching through a pile of rubbish.
They all died silently whether it was to his bow, or getting their heads bashed in by his club. He searched them all when he was done and found some throwing knives on one of them like Azula's friend May liked to use. 'They'll come in handy,' He thought to himself as he crept through the brush.
Up ahead, he saw a cave mouth and some soldiers crowding around the entrance. 'Must be something important in there if they are trying to keep people out,' Sokka thought. Feeling confident since so far none of these men had laid a hand on him, he strode confidently forward towards the trio of soldiers, with a bit of swagger in his step. "Alright guys, step on up so I can knock you down,"
The knights groaned and came at him in a shambling run. Sokka deflected the blow of the first knight that got to him first, and to his surprise, blocking the blow sent him skidding back. 'Geez, just how strong are these guys?' He thought while rolling away from another knight who tried to flank him, his sword stabbing deep into the earth.
The third foe, armed with twin daggers flailed at him like a wild animal. His daggers were like the claws and teeth of a rabid beast. Releasing a roar of defiance, Sokka bashed the dagger wielder several times upside the head, leaving him bleeding and unmoving by the time he hit the ground. He turned, still feeling the rush of battle and bashed one of the other approaching knights in his forward facing kneecap. It buckled under the pressure and the knight took a knee only to be kicked onto his back by the spry warrior of the Water Tribe. Sokka raised his club with both hands to finish another foe…
Only to stumble back when an arrow pierced his armor. He looked up, and saw the final knight had enough wits to switch to a bow. He'd shot him in the chest, and if his trouble breathing was any indication, collapsed one of his lungs. Yet Sokka wasn't going to give up! He roared, blood flying from his mouth as he charged the bowman before he could ready another shot and tackled him to the ground before he proceeded to beat him with his weapon until he stopped moving.
Sighing to himself he said, "I did i-" Pain exploded from his body at the same moment a sword burst from his chest impaling through his chainmail. Sokka glanced behind him to see the knight he had disabled but not killed had crawled his way over while he was distracted and stabbed him from behind. The last thing Sokka thought before the darkness of death took him was, 'I got cocky,'
(...)
With an accompanying gasp of shock, Sokka awoke and looked around, he found himself… Back at the Church or Elleh? His hands flew over his body looking for the fatal wounds he knew should be there… only to find nothing. Not even his chainmail was all that damaged. Just a few scuffs and scratches here and there.
"I-I don't understand?" Sokka said to himself, "I thought I died?"
"First time dying in the Lands Between young warrior?" Kale asked, making his way over. Sokka nodded dumbly, making the merchant cackle, "Hahahah! Well let me reassure you, in the Lands Between, death means next to nothing, thanks to the grace of Queen Marika the Eternal," the name was said almost spitefully. That along with the glance at the statue at the back of the church let Sokka finally now know the name of the woman depicted, but also the ruler of the land, and Kale's thoughts on the current ruler all in one fell swoop.
Said man continued, "One can die, but each death comes with a consequence. Firstly, with every death, one's Runes are lost on the location of one's death. It is unknown why but it is thought to be a test by the runes themselves that one must prove one's strength by retrieving them. But if one dies without retrieving their runes, they disperse perhaps because they are disappointed by the weakness of their holder. The other thing you must know is this. Repeated deaths with no runes on one's person will slowly erode one's memories until you are but a husk of a man, no better than a corpse. Fit only for Erdtree burial."
"So… I can't die as long as I'm here, but my runes are gone, and without them I'll slowly forget everything?"
"Yes," Kale said gravely, "Runes strengthen the body and keep the wits sharp. Its why runes are traded rather than coin, much more valuable by far,"
Sokka nodded, he understood now, the value of runes. He couldn't afford to be overconfident just because he couldn't die here either. From what Kale described. Death was the least of his problems in this place. First things first though, he had runes to retrieve…
(...)
Sokka was quiet and careful as he approached the site of his death. He didn't expect the men he'd killed to be up and walking around again but in a land without Death, what could one expect he supposed. He dispatched them just as easily as he did before and then he was back to square one. At the site of his death, he saw a trio of golden tree stalks, some with baby buds and leaves sticking out from them, lay there. Sokka didn't know why, but he had a gut feeling those were his lost runes right there. 'Okay, gotta be smart about this,' Sokka thought as he hid in the brush. 'And the smart thing to do, would be to draw the bow,'
So thinking, The Tribesman unslung his shortbow from his back and nocked an arrow, citing down range at one of the guards. Sokka took a breath and held it, only exhaling when he took the shot, just like he did when he was seal hunting on the ice back home with his spear. His arrow hit home, nailing a guard in the back of the leg, and sticking there, even as he hobbled his way towards him as he faded back into the foliage.
Sokka snuck around the guardsman even as he hacked and slashed away at the bushes and trees. Drawing one of the kukri he'd gotten previously he crept up on the man silently like a kangaroo-mouse he'd heard lived in the Si Tang Desert, and once he was close enough, he slit his throat, dragging him into the green camouflage and hiding his body. He searched him for anything useful, and found some basic throwing knives. He switched to them, deciding to save the kukri for something special.
He repeated the process twice more, leading his foes on a merry chase through the brush only to sneak up on them and take their lives. And just like that, the men who killed him died. Not to strength, but to a cool head and a sound plan. "Strength of mind trumps strength of arms once again," Sokka said to himself as he went into the mysterious cave.
He saw just within, the dimly glowing light of Grace. Giving it a nudge with his foot, it exploded into its full brilliance. Now, Sokka was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them, and to go into an unknown cave with no light source and not knowing what kind of fauna could be living inside it was the definition of stupid. So he turned right around and left the cave marking it on his map for later.
Instead he made his way down to the place Kale told him about called Gatefront Ruins. As he got closer, he pulled out the monocle Kale had given him and scoped out the camp. There were a lot of guards, one of which was a big guy in fancy armor carrying a square metal shield and a spear. That guy patrolled up and down the main road. Along with him another paced a trumpet tucked into his belt. Moving to a new position Sokka noted several men sitting near campfires or patrolling with dogs. One man looked to be guarding a warchest and a set of stone stairs in the middle of the camp seemed to be leading down to a second level of some sort. Up the road a bit from the man guarding the warchest near the gate proper was a Site of Grace. Circling back around, Sokka made a bee-line towards it. He reckoned if he died, he'd wake up back there.
(...)
He sat down at the Site of Grace, contemplating his next move, when a girl in a green cloak complete with hood materialized out of nowhere! Sokka didn't hesitate, he moved as quickly as he could, grabbed the girl before she could remove her hood and got her down at the Site of Grace as he kept his eyes on the soldiers hoping none of them saw her.
"What art thou doing? Unhand me this instant, Tarnished!" The woman spoke with an accent he wasn't familiar with, but he found it pleasant. Even so he shushed her.
"Shh, quiet, soldiers right over there, they might've spotted you," He told her as he peeked out from the hedge the Site of Grace was half hidden behind. Seeing none of the guards had reacted, Sokka sighed in relief before turning to the girl, "What were you thinking?! If they'd spotted you, we'd have both died,"
"Thou must be new to the Lands Between Tarnished. Death has fled this land, or hast thou not been informed?" The woman said her acidic tone leaked through her hood.
Giving her a sharp look, Sokka replied, "Oh I'm well aware, that doesn't mean dying doesn't hurt, and I'm allergic to pain you see. So I do my best to avoid it."
A hint of a smile appeared on the half covered face, "Is that so? Tis probably for the best that," The girl then reached up and removed her hood revealing she had curly light auburn hair, a single open green eye, the other was closed and tattooed with the symbol of a bird's talon. Her skin was pale, and her hands looked withered as if from burn marks. Sokka gripped her hands and asked, "Who did this?" Seeing the look of shock on her face, he let her hand fall, "Sorry, I…"
"This… happened long ago," The girl said, surprised by the sudden fierceness in his tone. "Didst thou lose someone to flames Tarnished?"
Sokka said nothing for a moment, "My mother, she was killed by a Firebender," He shook his head, and with it, his sullen demeanor, vanished as well, "But I haven't even asked you your name, I'm Sokka Hadokkasson, and you are?"
Melina inclined her head, "Melina is my name, and it is good to greet you properly at last, Sokka Haddokasson, might I say your looking much better than when we first met?"
"Your 'M' from the cave!" Sokka realized.
Melina nodded, "I am. I do hope the Crimson and Cerulean flasks I left you have served you well?"
Sokka blinked, before reaching into his satchel and producing the very flasks she'd spoken of, "Oh yeah, about them, what do they do? I never bothered to drink them since I only had the two,"
Melina's mouth fell open a bit, "Thou hast gone this long without even knowing the use of the flasks? How many times hast thou died already?!"
"Just once I'll have you know!" Sokka rebutted, "I'm not dumb, I'm a trained hunter… and there's not much difference from hunting an animal, to hunting a man,"
'He is skilled,' Melina thought, 'Green perhaps, untrained, but he has potential. Mayhap Torrent had the right idea, picking him,' Clearing her throat she said, "I came here originally to offer you an accord. Thou art maidenless, I however can play the role of a maiden, and channel runes to increase thy strength, and offer guidance. In return for this service, I wish for you to take me to the foot of the Erdtree."
"I don't mind I guess, but that's gonna be one heck of a walk," Sokka replied, seeing the Erdtree glowing off in the distance. If it was that large, how far away was it really? "I really want to find a way back home, I… didn't mean to come here intentionally,"
"Thou… thou art not Tarnish?" Melina asked, her brow knitting in confusion.
Sokka found her face looked cute like that, but held his tongue, "Nope, didn't mean to come here, got sent getting sucked into the spirit World by angering a Spirit of knowledge. Not my brightest move I know," He said, holding up his hands defensively when he saw the deadpan look Melina was giving him. "But this whole channeling runes thing, how does that work?"
"A demonstration then, let me lay my hand on you, for but a moment," Melina said before placing her hand on his shoulder, "Share them with me, your thoughts, your ambitions, the principles you would follow. So that the Elden Ring might be mended so that the Elden Ring might be mended."
Sokka felt warmth flooding his body, and when it passed he felt… more whole, complete than before. "Wow, that was… wow."
"Indeed, this is the power of Runes. To fill in the cracks of a person, and enhance what is missing. No one is perfect. Thus there are always… imperfections that could be improved, smoothed over in thou will, by the runes,"
"Yeah I get it, it's like packing more snow into an igloo wall. Reinforcing what's already there."
Melina nodded, "Yes, you are correct… and I mean no disrespect when I say this, but you are just a man of little skill or repute. That puts you in a unique position. With enough runes, thou canst make thyself into whatever thee wishes. An unstoppable warrior clad in the heaviest of armors? A dexterous rogue deftly wielding the nimblest blade? The intelligent sorcerer or priest flinging spell or miracle from afar perhaps? The choice is yours."
"Not much for faith and all that mystical mumbo jumbo. That's more Aang's thing than mine. But yeah, we have an accord."
"Excellent, Then it's settled. Summon me by grace to turn runes into strength. Ahh, another matter. I bequeath to you this ring," She took his hand, and handed him a small thin gold band, before saying, "Use it to traverse great distances. It will summon a spectral steed named Torrent. Torrent has chosen you. Treat him with respect," She said seriously.
Sokka slipped the ring on his right index finger, "I will but before you go, do you have anything else you'd like to share with me?"
Melina looked down into the Grace for a moment before she said, "This tiny golden aura is the grace of the Erdtree. This light once shone in the eyes of your Tarnished brethren. But now it is all that guides you. Or so I hear. The rays of grace, that guide you through your burden. Upon the cliff, in Castle Stormveil, is a Shardbearer. A demigod who inherited a fragment of the shattered Elden Ring. If the rays of grace signal the castle, then the Elden Ring beckons you," She looked up then, her sole green eye locking with his blue ones as she said, "As an ally by pact,...I pray that you are fit... To face the challenge presented by the Ring."
"Thanks, I don't think I'm ready to storm any castles yet, but I'm sure I'll get there eventually." Sokka told her honestly.
"Time is on our side, my ally. The Shattering War has ended in a stalemate. None can, nor have made a move for quite some time now. Should even one Shardbarer fall… everything will begin to change," Melina said before her form faded into motes of blue light.
Smiling a bit, Sokka sighed to himself, "Well, before I even think about taking on any demigods, I should focus on clearing this camp of normal men first," Sokka felt better though, he had a short and long term goal… now, he just had to get to work.
(...)
Word Count: 8106 Number of Pages: 16 Date Completed: 4/27/2023
(...)
AN: This is gonna be different. I am writing about Sokka, going through the Elden Ring. This is either going to be really fun, or a huge pain in my ass because Elden Ring is fucking Huge and I don't wanna describe every little thing he does… But whether or not this even continues past chapter one is up to you readers! So review if you even want this to continue. Hope you enjoyed the read and till next time, this has been Bubbajack, and here are Snowy and First Hassan.
Snowy: This was done as a writing experiment for Bubba. I asked him to pick a character that hasn't been done much by him. He chose Sokka. I then had the hard task of finding a good world to crossover with him. I chose Elden Ring. This story is the sum of those efforts. Hopefully this is well liked by the readers. Thank you.
First Hassan: Wow! Did I hear that right?! Sokka? Katara's brother? And aspiring warrior and the comedic group of Aang's gang is in Elden Ring? Beware tenants of Lands between cause Sokka is here to mess/fix things up like he always does in the avatar series! First Hassan here and we are bringing you to another unique story the mad author has made. When my fellow co-author/editor Snowy brought this topic up I was also completely surprised that Bubba mentioned Sokka. He is one of my favorite character in Avatar last airbender. I really love Sokka's guts as he maybe a screw up and the clown of Aangs group but once he shows his worth, he can be an asiriping character when you get to learn more about Katara's brother. Thank you guys for reading our story, if you want more or want to be a chapter ahead, head to Bubba' account where it hasn't been edited by yours truly. I'll see you guys later! (Turning around while blue flames surround Hassan before disappearing)