Here's part two. I'm telling you now that in this part we will get to see a few of the characters from Avatar.
We walked inside my house, ready to do anything but homework. While I locked the door behind me, Brianna was untying her sneakers knowing by now that this was an Asian home which meant shoes off. After I took off my Converse I lead her up the stairs to my room that hadn't been organized for quite a while. Brianna sat on the comfortable brown sofa in the corner while I sat on my favorite desk chair.
"So what do you want to do?" I asked after a short silence. Brianna shrugged her shoulders, like she often did when she didn't have any idea what to do. I sighed wondering when she would actually have an answer to that question that I asked her. Just then an idea came into my head. "My mom bought some popcorn so we can watch a movie or something," I suggested.
"Oh Okay then," Brianna said a bit shocked at the random suggestion. Ignoring her confused tone I got up from my seat and headed for the door.
"Okay I'll get the popcorn, so you go pick a movie from over there." I pointed to a nearby table that had a bunch of DVD cases on it. Brianna's face lit up as she walked over to the table then squealed with delight. I gave a heavy sigh and I walked down the stairs trying to remember why it was that I had agreed to this friendship with someone who was my polar opposite. I quickly snatched the bag of popcorn from the kitchen table and made my way back to my room.
I opened the door to my room while I unsealed the bag of popcorn. I handed the bag over to Brianna after taking a fist full for myself. I shoved the popcorn into my mouth eating it in a matter of seconds. I always ate everything quickly so that I wouldn't waste time on more important matters. Brianna took the bag then handed me a DVD before eating the popcorn in a more mannered way than I had. I flipped the DVD disk over so that I could read the title.
"Avatar," I read the center word aloud. I raised an eyebrow toward Brianna. "Didn't you finish watching this? And anyway you know I only have the first DVD right?" She held up one of her hands telling me that her mouth was full and to wait for her to swallow.
"I know that, but I don't want to watch an anime right now and anyway I'm in an Avatar mood." She said to me trying to sound convincing. I shook my head and sighed wishing she was better at persuading people. I then walked to the TV and turned on the DVD machine.
"You're just lucky I let you pick," I said as I popped the DVD into the slot. I could already tell that Brianna was smiling at her victory of being able to watch Avatar, but we both knew that was just because I liked the series too. If it had been something like Cat Scratch I would have killed her, but I didn't have such a DVD.
While the DVD was loading I walked over to my chair and took off my jacket. As I placed it over the chair I had forgotten the objects that I left inside. By the time I realized that, it was too late. I heard the clatter of marble hitting the wooden floor as I stood frozen, my face to the TV. I heard Brianna's footsteps walk over to the sound and picked both of them up. I slowly turned my body around and saw Brianna holding out the yin charm to me. I flinched slightly but Brianna didn't seem to notice. I looked down at the charm as the questions started to fill my mind, once again all unanswered. I slowly took the charm from Brianna while not looking down at it for fear of seeing the eyes again and having that feeling flow within me. I then noticed that Brianna was staring at me with an anticipated look as if she was waiting for something.
"What?" I asked, rather confused and a bit pissed. She looked over to the charm in my hand then turned her attention back to me.
"I was just wondering if you were going to put it on," she said innocently. I felt my grip on the charm tighten. Did I dare to place something so supernatural on my body? I looked down at the charm in my hand. In that moment for whatever reason I felt calm and at one, making me doubt that anything bad would happen. I took each end of the strings and tied it around my neck as if it were a choker. I then tied the ends of the strings into a bow hoping it wouldn't look too weird or out of place. When I had finished I saw Brianna scan me up and down then smiled.
"It looks great!" She said completely happy with my choice of style.
"Umm thanks," I said a little taken back by her sudden outburst. I then walked over to her and took the charm from her hand. I lifted her right arm up so that it would stand perfectly horizontal to me. I took the ends of the yang string and started to tie it around her upper arm. I was able to make a cool pattern so that she wouldn't have too much extra string hanging off of her arm. When I had finished I tied a small knot and tucked away any extra string, making it look a bit more professional. I watched as Brianna's eyes widened and then formed a huge smile on her face. She then suddenly hugged me almost killing me in the process. When she released me from her deadly hug, I decided to be overdramatic, as a joke, and pretended to inhale deeply as if I was almost choked to death.
"I'm guessing you like it," I said still inhaling. She ignored my act knowing that I was just joking around but laughed anyway.
"You kidding, I love it!" She exclaimed as her smile spread. I sat back down on my chair as I crossed my legs.
"Yeah well, I know that you're not the necklace type like me. So I just made something else besides a bracelet. Since I know you'll just lose it if you tied it around your wrist, and you have to admit, it looks cooler this way." She nodded her head as she smiled down at her arm where the charm hung. I sat up straight then noticed that the main page came up, ready for us to click the play button. Since I had lost my remote years, I automatically got up from my seat, went to the DVD machine to click Play. I hit the button then turned to Brianna who seemed eager for the episode to start.
"Can you believe I got this for Christmas two years ago but I've never used it?" I said making her eyes shoot open. Before she could respond I silenced her by lifted my hand up. "It's starting," I said as I pointed toward the TV screen. She put on a pouting face, but I just ignored it as I turned back to the screen wondering why the introduction of when Katara is speaking didn't pop up. I walked over to the TV wondering if the DVD had been damaged in the two years I had it. I looked up at the screen but only saw white. "That's weird," I said then turned to her, "Brianna does the DVD always start like this?"
"Uh, not that I remember, no," she said while thinking back to the DVD she had borrowed from our other friend years ago. I turned my attention back to the TV and was about to push the eject button on the machine when I noticed a dot on the screen. The figure was dark blue but a lighter shade glowing around it. It was similar to the blue glow that had covered the charms before.
"Brianna, come here for a sec." I motioned for her to come closer to the TV. When she did I pointed to the dot without coming in contact with the glass screen. "Do you remember seeing something like that?" She shook her head no.
"I don't remember any of this happening," Brianna said as she stepped back from the TV. "Maybe your DVD's different." I gave her a doubting look making her lift her arms up. "What? I couldn't think of anything else!" I ignored her and turned back to the screen. The dot had grown bigger while we were talking that whole time. For some reason it formed a shape that looked somewhat familiar to me. I stood there close to the TV waiting for the figure to come into view. My eyes shot open when I realized that it was a dragon, but it wasn't just any old dragon, it belonged to Avatar Roku.
I suddenly felt threatened as I quickly walked over to the DVD controls and tried to eject it again. However the DVD slot refused to open making me panic more. I tried turning off the TV's screen by pushing the power button repeatedly, but it didn't work either. I tried everything even pulling out the plug but nothing was working. Roku's dragon just seemed to be coming closer. I ran over to Brianna side, who had been watching and questioning me the whole time but never got a response.
"We have to get out of here," I said while taking her hand.
"Why?" She asked alarmed but also a bit scared at the same time.
"I can't explain it, but we have to go!" I felt a shiver run up my spine making me turn my attention to the TV. I saw the image of Roku's dragon up so close to the screen, then it had turned around and stretched its tail towards us. My grip on Brianna's wrist tightened as I tried to pull her towards the door. "Hurry" I yelled out to her, but it was too late.
I felt something thick and scaly wrap around our waists then tightened its hold on us causing us to collide against each other. I looked down and saw its blue spiritual tail around us. I struggled to break free while Brianna just stared at the TV screen wondering what was going on. I was about to bite at the tail but then I saw that we were being pulled toward the TV screen. Brianna closed her eyes waiting for the impact while I tried to see if I could find a way for us to get free, but found nothing.
I felt a weird sensation flow through my body as if the air had been sucked right out of me. Then I could sense something powerful near me or to be exact on me. I looked down at my neck where the yin charm hung and noticed that it was glowing the same blue aura that it had earlier, only it was much stronger and brighter. I turned over to Brianna who still had her eyes closed, but was now slowly opening them. I looked to her right arm and saw that her yang charm was also glowing.
I saw the yang charm start to change. The string transforming into a white metal brace that looked like something an Egyptian would have worn. The yang charm was placed in the middle of the brace, still glowing, as a black chain appeared to the right of the charm. It circled around the brace until it reached the other side of the charm then attached itself to its side.
I stared down at the brace waiting for the glow to fade like before but didn't. I then felt eyes on me as I turned my attention to Brianna who was staring at me with a shocked expression. It was then I realized that she was looking down at my neck where my charm was. I looked down and saw that it too had transformed itself. The string was now black metal bars with white small gems that centered on them circled around my neck with the yin charm on top of it in the center. The two bars at the top and bottom were straight while the center one curved all around and formed two small swirls that stood either side of the charm, making it have more of an elegant effect.
I couldn't help but be shocked. One because of all the weirdness that was happening, and two because I didn't even feel the choker change while it was still on me. I looked down at it and then back at Brianna's brace. Both charms were still glowing and both had completely changed from what they once were. More questions started to form in my mind making my head hurt due to overload. I glanced over at Brianna and realized that she seemed scared and frightened, having to take all that has happened. I bumped Brianna with my shoulder so that I could get her attention. She turned her head her eyes full of confusion and a hint of fear.
"Don't worry, we'll be okay. Besides do you think an old dragon like this is going to be able to beat us? I highly doubt that." I said that trying to both calm her down and maybe even make her laugh. She seemed to relax more, happy to know that she wasn't alone in a situation like this. She tried to force on a smile but I knew that she was too shaken up to actually truly smile. I looked around at my surroundings for the first time. It looked as if we were up in the clouds but the sky was also a blank white, making the whole area seem empty and endless.
The dragon then took us down to where a large cloud was and placed us there, for whatever reason we didn't go through the cloud. Brianna stood perfectly still afraid that if she took one step she would sink right through. I on the other hand carefully tested out the cloud making sure that something like that wouldn't happen. It seemed safe enough but it made me wonder if we were really in the DVD. Nothing around us seemed familiar to me and also the fact that a spirit can be seen or even come in contact with the living.
My eyes shot open as that thought came into my head. I looked down at my hands to see if I was a spirit or still part of the living. To my surprise I was both! My body still obtained its solid structure and color, but there seemed to be a spiritual aura that surrounded me. I turned back to where Brianna stood and saw that she too was in the same condition.
I felt another chill go up my spine as I motioned to Brianna to get behind me. I stood my ground ready for whatever was coming. The dragon began to circle around this one area as the clouds started to form a human body. It was then that I understood that it must have been the dragon's owner. I looked back at Brianna as I pulled her to my side so that she was no longer behind me. She looked at me wanting an explanation as to why I had her out in the open like that.
"If I know this series as well as I think I do, then we should have nothing to worry about." My response to her wasn't really a good answer because it left her face blank, but I was too preoccupied with the thing that was coming to greet us to even bother with Brianna.
The clouds seemed to be growing bigger until finally they stopped and started to clear away. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that I was right about who had come to greet us. There standing across from us was the Avatar Roku, who had long ago passed away and was now part of the Spirit World. I studied him seeing that he was just like his dragon, having a spiritual aura about him. I glanced over to Brianna who had her mouth opened as wide as it could go. It was then I realized that not only had our charms changed physical shape but we had been changed as well. I hit Brianna on the shoulder to get her attention as I whispered to her so that the two spirits couldn't hear us.
"Look at your hands," I said as I pointed to her palms. She looked down at them as I instructed, then her eyes widened as she made a quiet broken up gasping sound. She then looked up at me wondering if I had an answer as to why we were both glowing and two dimensional. I shrugged my shoulders not knowing what to tell her but then pointed with my eyes to Roku knowing that he must have an answer to our questions.
"Welcome to the Spirit World young heroes, I am Avatar Roku of the Fire Nation," he said as he bowed his head slightly to us. I bowed my head to him just as he had done making Brianna also follow my example but less gracefully.
"I'm Rebecca and this is Brianna we are from another world. It's nice to meet you Avatar Roku." I said introducing both of us to him as I pointed to myself then Brianna. Brianna was able to build enough courage to wave to Roku slightly and said a quiet 'hello'. I took a step forward towards Roku and his dragon companion who was curled up around him.
"Avatar Roku, would you mind explaining to us why it is you sent your dragon to bring us to your world?" I asked with a completely serious face. I could feel Brianna stare at me from behind not liking the tone I was using with him, but I paid no mind to her because I knew that she was wondering the same thing.
"I can see you are unhappy with my choice of sending my dragon to fetch you," he said in a somewhat joking tone trying to lighten my mood but I remained composed and serious. I saw him give out a slight sigh as he looked like he was ready to explain. "I have called you here because you were chosen by someone with great power to assist the current Avatar in his quest."
"A great power," I repeated his words with a hint of disbelief. I then remembered the charms as I reached up to my neck and touched mine. "Do you mean these yin and yang charms?" I waited patiently for his response as Brianna watched us only understanding about half the conversation.
"That is correct," Roku said as he nodded his head slightly. "Those charms were destined to find you; it was no mere coincident that you just happened to stumbled upon them."
"Why us, what did we do to get these?" Brianna asked finally having spoken for the first time since the conversation had started. I could tell that she was both in denial and shocked at his reasoning, but I couldn't blame her, even I had a hard time believing if what he was saying was true.
"Destiny had led you to him," Roku said not completely answering the question.
"Who is he?" I asked not fully understanding who he had meant. Roku looked to me and then over to Brianna with sad eyes.
"The First Avatar," he said his voice a bit shaky. I raised an eyebrow as to why he was looking down at our charms when he said that. "The First Avatar had sacrificed his life in exchange for making those charms."
"Do you mean to say he's dead?" I asked not understanding whether he had passed away or just disappeared from existence. Roku shook his head making both Brianna and I even more confused.
"He is inside your charms." I pulled my hand from it while having an awkward feeling run through my head. Brianna on the other hand just stared at her charm in disbelief, but then remembered all that had happened and was able to somewhat accept it. "He has spent centuries waiting for you both and now the time has finally come."
"Basically what you're saying is the First Avatar has chosen us to help the current Avatar," Brianna repeated still not believing anything Roku was saying. Roku nodded his head making me sigh with disbelief.
"Okay let's just say that this is all true, how are we supposed to be able to help the Avatar? We are just normal teenagers that don't have any experience in this type of field." I explained to Roku trying not to give any hints that we already understood the concept about benders and how their world worked.
"Inside you the two of you lays the power of two out of the four elements." He turned toward Brianna who jumped when they made eye contact. "Brianna, you have the elements of fire and earth within you, and because you have the element fire you are more active during the day." I saw Brianna squeal in delight happy that she got the two elements that she most liked. Roku then turned to me even though I already knew what my elements must have been from elimination.
"Rebecca, you have the elements air and water within you. The same is applied for you because you are Brianna's opposite, making you more active during the night."
"What does that mean?" I asked him wondering if it meant that we were now benders. "Do we now have special powers?"
"Yes, but not like what you see here in this world. Here we have people called benders that are able to control one certain element. There is but one person who is an exception to that concept, they are called the Avatar. There is only one in every life time; when one dies another one is born into the next element nation. The one you are to serve is from the Air Nomads. Just like every Avatar he is able to master all four elements without any problems. You two will be assisting him throughout his journey."
"I'm sorry but I'm still having a hard time believing all of this," I said interrupting in the middle of his explanation. "I can't believe without some sort of proof or test." Brianna nodded her head in agreement. Roku nodded understanding what we meant. He then lifted his right arm making the clouds form together again. When the clouds parted it revealed an Asian looking chest that floated towards us. The lid slowly opened revealing all the gold and treasures it had inside. We both looked up at Roku confused as to what this had anything to do with what we had talked about.
"Please choose one of the items inside," he said with a calm and composed voice. We nodded to him as we started looking inside the chest. I looked all around the chest at all the gold and silver jewelry that seemed like they were worth a lot of money. I couldn't help but gaze at their beauty but at the same time I wasn't tempted to take any of them. Brianna also seemed to have the same feelings as we started piling up all the objects that we didn't seem to be satisfied with.
After what seemed like hours we had come to the very bottom of the chest but there were still some jewelry inside. I gave out a sigh wishing for this to be over when something in the chest caught my eye. It was a small silver stick that looked no longer than a hand and was rather dull compared to all the other things that were inside the chest. I took the stick into my hand and started to examine it wondering what it was that made me so attracted to it. I gave in not knowing why I had chosen something like this.
I looked over to Brianna who seemed to also have made up her mind as well. To my surprise she had chosen something that looked as dull and small as the object I had chosen. It looked like two small golden hooks that formed an X-shape. I raised an eyebrow wondering why she had chosen something like that but knew that I was not one to talk.
"You done" I asked Brianna making sure that she was satisfied with her choice.
"Yeah, I'm done." Brianna said rather surprised that I had finished the same time that she did. I nodded my head and we started putting all the other things inside the chest. When we had finished putting everything inside we both placed our hands on the lid and closed it. The chest then moved away from us and disappeared into the spot that it had originally appeared.
"We've made our choice, now what do we do?" I asked ready for the next instruction. Roku nodded his head understanding as he got ready to tell us the next step.
"You must now place the items in front of your charms." We did as we were instructed. I placed the stick a few inches away from my neck as Brianna placed the hooks above her charm with her left hand. "Now you must close your eyes and empty your mind." I raised my eyebrow and looked over at Brianna who looked just as confused as me. I shrugged my shoulders and did as he asked us to do.
As I closed my eyes I could feel something flowing from within me that started to fill my whole body. It felt as if I was being purified by something cold but refreshing, and for some strange reason the feeling of being happy and free started to fill my head. I could feel something powerful in my hand making me open my eyes. A bright white light was coming from the palm of my hand as I could feel the stick growing in size within it. When the light had finally stopped I was able to get a better look at what the stick had now transformed into.
It still had its silver color but was much thicker and looked more like a staff. At each end of the staff was a dark blue blade that was decorated with two silver markings. The staff had grown so much that they seemed to be as tall as me but was light in weight. Looking at the staff carefully it looked like a combination between both what the Water Tribe and Air Nomads would have used as a weapon.
I looked over towards Brianna and saw that her item too had transformed into something almost completely different. The hooks had grown so that they were the length of Brianna's arms but were still a golden color. The handles of the hooks however looked like Fire Nation insignias with red ribbons tied around it, but I knew clearly that the twin hooks were only used in the Earth Kingdom. I had never seen weapons such as these in the Avatar series before making me feel a bit uneasy. I looked toward Roku who looked satisfied with us.
"You two truly are the Legendary Heroes from One Nation," he said with a gentle smile. "I am honored that I have been chosen to greet you to our world. Please help the Avatar and save our world."
