"Appa, good morning." - I shouted as I jumped onto this large ball of wool that weighed over ten tons but could fly.
"GRAAAAAAAH…" - Appa rumbled sleepily, opening his big mouth and trying to lick me.
"Stop, stop, stop, Appa, don't lick me. I don't want to wash my things again." - I hurriedly shouted, dodging the huge tongue of the bison.
- "GRRAFF…" - Appa snarled with a deep breath, closing his mouth. Thus, he shows his displeasure.
"I know that in this way you show your love to me, buddy, but in such a frost your saliva will freeze and I will be left without clothes." - I said affectionately, stroking the arrow on Appa's head. This is his weak point, he is always thrilled when he is stroked like that.
"GROOF..." - Appa uttered and like a cat, he began to fawn on my hand, and then with a loud *BOOM* rolled over onto his back and offered me his big belly, which I immediately began to scratch, from which Appa began to get even more buzz.
"I love you too, buddy." - with a wide smile, I said, jumping on the belly of the bison, which immediately hugged me with its six paws.
It's good that Appa hasn't noticed any changes in me and treats me the same as the old Aang. Yes, and I, despite all my changes, still adore this kind giant and feel a special connection with him, which, it seems to me, has become even stronger than it was before.
At least I don't remember Aang's memories of him feeling Appa's emotions. And I feel them, especially now when I touch him. Perhaps this is related to the fact that Appa is the guardian beast of the current Avatar and even if I am not quite the person with whom this connection was originally born, I remain the Avatar (although I have not checked this, I feel it very clearly) and the connection is still in place.
And it seems that after Aang first entered the Avatar state 100 years ago to save the life of himself and Appa, the Avatar + guardian beast bond only strengthened and now we are connected not only by mutual feelings but also by some kind of mystical or spiritual chain (or something like that).
Another Avatar hellhole that I don't understand, but that's how it seems to work. Although my theories and reasons are not particularly important, I am sincerely glad that Appa is with me and that the sky bison himself feels the same way.
It is good to have at least one close living being. Without Appa, I would feel even more alone and so I always have a big and plush animal that I can hug as much as I want to cheer myself up. Yes, it's a pleasure to hug Appa, and his fur is like a real cloud… Ahem, something got me carried away, I need to return to reality.
Getting out from under the bison's paws and going up to his muzzle, I stroked him again, asking in passing: "How are you, boy?"
"GRRF…" - basking under my caresses, Appa growled loudly and I completely understood him, yet the spiritual connection between us exists for a reason.
"Still powerless, huh? Well, then sleep some more..." - I said affectionately, not at all surprised at this state of my friend.
Unlike me, Appa had a very hard time getting frozen in an iceberg. After being released from the captivity of ice, I also felt exhausted but recovered rather quickly (probably because I am the Avatar), but the same cannot be said about Appa.
Not only could he not even take off yesterday, but with great difficulty, he delivered us, Sokka, and Katara to the icy mainland, where the people of the Southern Water Tribe live. Appa was so exhausted that he did not even have the strength to reach the village.
As soon as his paws stepped on the hard ice, he immediately collapsed and fell asleep so soundly that I could not even wake him up. In the end, I had to leave it right here on the shore and go to the place of lodging for the night, which I asked to arrange closer to Appa and away from the village so that the locals would not stare at me.
As a result, they gave me an empty needle of the departed hunter, in which I spent the night.
"*BBBRRRR*" - While I was thinking and petting Appa, his bellies (flying bison have five) decided to tell me what they want to eat.
"So you're hungry? Well, it's time for breakfast. Just what...?" - I said, and looked thoughtfully at the icy wasteland surrounding us.
Like their owners, Sky Bison are vegetarians and eat only fruits and other plant foods, which, as you might guess, is a serious deficiency here.
I'm not sure if the locals have ever eat something so mundane to the rest of the world, especially after all the magicians of the tribe were captured, which destroyed trade with other nations.
While I was puzzling over where to get food for Appa, and a lot of food, because he is not small, I heard footsteps in the snow, the owner of which was heading towards me.
After waiting for a while, I saw Sokka heading towards us, a fifteen-year-old swarthy guy, dressed in a thick fur coat (no way without it here), carrying a bag filled with something in his hands.
"Good morning, Sokka." - I said friendly, to a guy who still does not trust me and, in principle, he can be understood.
"I thought your monster would want to eat, so here it is. I hope this is enough." - Sokka said, dropping the bag on the ground.
"Appa is not a monster, he is completely harmless. What is this?" - I asked, rolling my eyes, lifting the bag, and seeing some dry green plants in it.
"It's frosty algae that we extract from the bottom of the ocean. We eat them raw ourselves, but after drying, we use them as food for arctic chickens and as bait for hunting. I think your "harmless" monster, capable of swallowing a person in one fell swoop, algae will also fit into food." - Sokka said, not forgetting to add sarcasm to his words.
"It's very nice of you. Thank you." - I said, and dumped all the seaweed in front of Appa's muzzle, in which everything immediately disappeared and, then he immediately began to snore. Tired poor fellow...
"It's just a trifle." - Sokka said indifferently, trying not to show how much he liked my thanks.
"I think this will be enough for you until the evening, Appa, rest, I will return later." - I said, stroking the bison, and after looking at Sokka, I added: "You know, you're a very good person if you don't try to make yourself a 'cool guy'..."
"I don't make anything out of myself! I'm such a cool guy! The coolest!" - Sokka turned up his nose and exclaimed, indignant at my words.
"Well, keep thinking like that. Better, let's go to the village, I promised around Katara to get acquainted with your fellow villagers." - I said, starting my way to the village, which is relatively close.
Sokka decided not to say anything to my last words and followed me, casting me glances full of suspicion. I couldn't stand it for long, so I looked at him and asked: "What? Still think I'm a spy?"
At my sudden question, Sokka hesitated a little and looked away, hesitating a little, he answered: "…Perhaps…"
"And the fact that you accidentally found me immured in the ice does not bother you? I don't think anyone in their right mind would put on a show like this just to send in a spy. Everything could have been made much easier." - I said, giving him an ironic look.
"Maybe you're right, but that still doesn't change the fact that you're very suspicious…" - Sokka said, narrowing his eyes.
"Think what you want, but I'm not a spy, I'm an Air Nomad, we don't do that. We are generally the most peaceful people in the world." - I said as I twirled my pole and sent a sickle of compressed air into the sky to demonstrate my bending.
"I still don't trust you..." - Sokka said stubbornly.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you or your loved ones, I just need time for Appa to regain his strength. In a couple of weeks, I will leave you. And I'm not going to be a freeloader, because I understand that life is not easy here, so I will help in any way I can, at the same time, and earn food for myself and Appa." - I said with a smile.
Luckily, my words had some effect on the tribal prince, and he relaxed a bit, though his stubborn nature showed itself again as he said: "Okay, I don't mind you staying, but I'll still be watching you…"
"Do what you want." - I said lightly, and at that moment we came to a small village surrounded by a wall of snow.
The village itself was extremely small and consisted of only fifty tents made from the skins of local animals, and a few other small buildings built from compressed snow.
When Sokka and I entered the village, we saw all the inhabitants who had gathered in the center and looked at me like I was an incomprehensible animal. That's why I wanted to spend this night outside the village, so as not to see such a sight in the morning, although it still overtook me.
The whole group consisted of women of different ages who looked at me very wary and even with a drop of fear, and children, the oldest of whom was no more than eight years old, who looked at me with undisguised interest and already wanted to run up to me, but they're held by mothers and grandmothers.
Also, Katara was here, who had already forgotten that I pissed her off, and now looked at me with joy. Running up to me and Sokka, whom Katara ignored, the girl grabbed my arm and dragged me to the crowd, intending to introduce me and prove that she did not invent me and that I exist. I'm sure when Katar told him that she and Sokka found me yesterday, few people believed her.
"Guys, this is Aang, the Air Nomad, the real one. Aang, these are the people of our village." - enthusiastically, said Katara, still clinging to me.
"Hello, nice to meet you." - I said politely, bowing my head a little and feeling uncomfortable under all those stares.
The older villagers didn't know how to react to my appearance and were probably already thinking about what problems my presence would bring them, so they continued to look at me warily.
What can not be said about the restless children who, despite the prohibitions of their mothers, wanted to escape from the grip of their parents to come closer to me and touch the one they had heard about only in fairy tales.
The silence dragged on, and we continued to just stand and look at each other until they were older children, gave up trying to escape from their mother's captivity, and simply asked the question: "Can you use Airbender?"
Trying not to make nervous women too nervous, I answered with a kind smile: "Yes. And to prove my words..."
I began to collect the currents of air and twisted them over my raised hand to create a semblance of a spiral ball. When there were enough flows, I crouched and hit the ground with this pseudo-Rasengan, which caused a strong whirlwind that lifted all the lying snow into the air, thereby creating a snowfall that delighted all the children and not only.
"Incredible…" - Katara, who was standing next to me, said in shock, to which Sokka, who was also nearby, nodded in agreement.
Seeing the joyful faces of the children, the mothers no longer hold them back and they began to run in circles, catching snowflakes. It seems that I made a good first impression, and now even women are not so afraid of me.
"You are an Airbender." - said the old woman, who quietly approached us, while the others watched the gradually easing snowfall.
"Gran Gran, I told you!" - Katara yelled, pleased to have proved her point.
The old lady ignored her granddaughter and looked at me seriously and said: "The air benders haven't been seen in a hundred years. It's a miracle that you appeared here..."
"Yes, I already guessed that the world in which I woke up is not at all the one I'm used to..." - I said melancholy, looking at the saddened children, as the snowfall ended.
To get their smiles back, I repeated that trick and, to drive away the sad mood, I continued to amuse the children for several more hours, despite the prohibitions of Sokka, who himself soon became involved in games. The same goes for Katara.
Not bad, it turned out to be an acquaintance with the tribe of the 'White Wolf'...
My pa* treon: pa* /Lazybender
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