Aang followed Danny in silence as they walked across a massive empty field.
"I see what you meant by the landscape changing," Aang commented. Danny laughed and slowed half a step so Aang could walk alongside him.
"I'm sorry for back there Aang. I didn't want to undermine your authority with that spirit but I knew that if you had tried that, she would have attacked us. I really am sorry," Danny apologised softly. Aang shook his head.
"I should be thanking you. I didn't have a clue about what to do. What did she mean by me ordering spirits to forgive me?" Aang inquired. Danny smiled grimly.
"Spirits don't generally trust humans or their excuses. By making excuses or reasoning with spirits about… er being away. It angers them. By trying to move on, you are dismissing their feelings and in a way ordering them to forget it. As the avatar, spirits are obliged to obey you. Not all do but most will. But ordering them around, however unintentional, it upsets them," Danny explained. Aang blinked in surprise but nodded. Now it made sense why all the spirits hadn't been listening to him.
Danny came to a stop and held out an arm to stop Aang.
"What's up?" Aang asked. Danny pointed down and Aang saw the water. Danny knelt down and scowled.
"It's not water. We'll have to go around. Check for yourself so you know for future reference," Danny announced. Aang knelt down and stared into the water. Despite the water not being more than a foot deep, it fell into shadow at the bottom and there seemed to be a swirling motion. Also the pool of water-like substance gave off a faint smell of flowers. Danny and Aang straightened and began to walk around the pool.
Danny suddenly groaned.
"What?! What's wrong?" Aang immediately questioned. Danny sighed.
"To get out of the spirit world we need to meditate where we came in. That stone plinth should be around here somewhere and I just found it," Danny explained and pointed into the middle of the pool of not-water. Aang squinted and spotted the plinth they had to get to.
"Oh, so we have to go through it don't we?" Aang realised. Danny shook his head.
"No, I can get us there. But it's going to drain me. Chances are the minute we get back, I'll pass out since I have to get there with a passenger," Danny admitted. Aang frowned.
"How? The only way we could get there would be to fly and I can't air-bend in the spirit world. I know that much," Aang inquired. Danny nodded.
"Normal bending doesn't work here," Danny agreed before scanning the lake, looking for anywhere closer to the plinth. He scowled finding the lake a perfect circle.
"But my special bending does work here. I told you my bending is from my spirit or soul. Not sure if there's a difference with me. I can fly but it drains me a lot, especially when I'm carrying someone," Danny explained. Aang frowned. Danny sighed and edged closer to the lake.
"Aang come a little closer, I don't want to fly for longer than I have to," Danny called.
Aang edged closer to the lake and gasped as Danny began to breathe deeply and floated into the air. He grabbed Aang by the arms and lifted them both into the air and sped to the plinth. He stopped above it and lowered Aang gently on to it before falling heavily to his feet. He gasped for air. Aang's eyes widened in concern to see Danny looking pale and sweaty.
"Danny, are you alright?" Aang asked. Danny nodded shakily.
"Yeah, I've just never carried someone when I'm in the spirit world. It was a lot harder than I expected," Danny mumbled. Aang sat down with Danny and waited for him to catch his breath. Danny smiled gratefully to Aang.
"Alright, I think I can meditate now. But I'll definitely pass out when we return to our bodies. Don't panic, it's just so I can get back my energy. Tell Sam and Tucker that I had to use my bending and they'll understand," Danny informed him.
Aang nodded and waited for Danny to start breathing slowly and measured.
"I'm not leaving until you do Aang, in case you get trapped or something," Danny told him with a smile, sounding a lot better already. Aang smiled and nodded. He settled into his favourite meditation position and began to breathe deeply. Slowly the world around him faded and he returned to his body and he heard Toph's voice explaining a form to Sam.
"Aang! You're back!" Katara exclaimed as his tattoos faded and he opened his eyes. Aang smiled at her and turned to Danny.
Danny heaved a big sigh and opened his eyes. They pulsed green before fading to blue then they rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the side.
"Danny?!" Katara shouted and ran forwards, already taking out water from her water bag to heal him.
"Danny? Aang what happened in there?" Tucker inquired, rushing to Danny's side before Katara.
"He told me to tell you that he had to use his bending," Aang recalled. Tucker glanced at Aang before nodding.
"Katara, he's fine. Just unconscious. He just needs to rest. This has happened before," Tucker informed the water-bender. Katara blinked in disbelief.
"Maybe I should check," Katara suggested. Tucker shrugged.
"Be my guest but you won't find anything. He's just exhausted. He'll wake up in a few hours looking for some food and he'll be fine," Tucker replied.
Katara knelt beside Danny and swept her water encased hands over his body but didn't find anything needing to be healed. She returned her water to her water bag before turning to Aang.
"What happened in there?" she ventured fearfully. Aang shook his head.
"Nothing bad. We found the spirit that attacked yesterday and Danny figured out a way to help the spirit, he didn't say what. Then we walked back to where we entered the spirit world and then we came across a lake of stuff. We had to get to the centre to get out but Danny said it was dangerous to touch the lake. So he… he used his bending to get us to the island," Aang recalled. Katara frowned.
"I thought you can't use bending in the spirit world," Katara reminded him. Aang nodded.
"You can't. But Danny said because his bending is special, he can bend in the spirit world. But he warned me that he would pass out the minute he got back," Aang explained.
"Danny's bending comes from him. Normal bending like air-bending, water-bending and so on, they come from the mind forcing their control on to external objects. Like Katara's water in her bag or the air around us, or the earth we're walking on. Danny's bending is derived from his very being. He uses too much energy at once and he passes out. A little like the avatar state when you trigger it for defence, I hear," Tucker explained. Aang, Katara and Sokka were watching Tucker, listening. Toph had stopped concentrating on her lesson and began to listen.
"Danny probably used his bending to fly. That drains him a lot, especially when he's carrying something or someone. But I think using his bending in the spirit world drains him even more than usual. But after some rest, he'll be fine," Sam resumed for Tucker still practicing a particularly tricky hand flick form for her earth-bending.
Aang nodded.
"Yeah, that's what happened exactly," Aang confirmed. Tucker dragged Danny's arm around his shoulder.
"It's probably a good idea if we go back to camp and get a fire and food going," Tucker suggested. Sokka stepped forward and grabbed Danny's other arm and together both non-benders half-carried and half-dragged Danny towards the camp they made the previous night. Grudgingly Toph and Sam followed, loathed to interrupt their earth-bending lesson. Aang and Katara followed afterwards.
A little more on how Danny's special bending works. In case you're wondering, Danny's ghost powers are his bending.
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Until the next chapter.