Three hours later, Danny slowly woke up. Tucker grabbed a bowl of food and handed it to him immediately. Danny smiled blearily at Tucker and began to eat.
"So, that's happened before?" Katara asked suddenly. Danny swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded.
"The first time it happened, I was in the spirit world and the landscape changed around me unexpectedly. Ended up falling off a cliff. Instinctively, I caught myself by using my bending. Before that I didn't think my bending would work. But anyway, I came back after that, too tired to keep going in the spirit world and as soon as I got back, I passed out. When I woke up, I was starving and Sam and Tucker were freaking out," Danny recalled. He resumed eating his meal.
"Well, of course we were freaking out. We didn't know about the whole using his bending too much made him pass out thing. We thought something had happened in the spirit world and stopped him coming back or something," Tucker retorted and poked at the fire. Sam and Toph were practicing earth-bending.
"How many times has it happened?" Aang asked. Tucker scowled at Danny. Danny finished the food and placed the bowl on the ground beside him.
"Not many times. Maybe five or six times. Most of the time it's because the landscape decided to change but a couple of times I had to fight off a spirit. Not all spirits approved of creating me," Danny answered.
"That's too many times in my opinion," Tucker grumbled softly.
"Oh come on Tuck, I don't mean for those things to happen. At least Aang was here this time to tell you guys what happened," Danny pointed out. Tucker shrugged.
"I guess, and we can always tell if you've passed out or gotten trapped in the spirit world," Tucker relented.
"How?" Sokka inquired. Tucker smiled.
"Danny's eyes. When he's in the spirit world, they're green. So if he falls over unconscious, all me and Sam have to do is check his eyes. If they're green, he's doing spirit business. If they're blue, he's passed out for some reason. We found that out the second or third time Danny collapsed on us," Tucker answered.
There were a few moments of silence. Tucker tossed a few more logs on to the fire and picked up Danny's bowl and went to wash it.
"So, um. Your bending… what can you do?" Aang ventured. Danny smiled.
"I can fly, but not for long. I can turn myself intangible and invisible. They take the least energy. I can fire off a blast of energy. I can also do a scream. It's really destructive and powerful. I wouldn't dare do it unless there's no other choice. The first time I used it, accidently of course, I wiped out a lot of Fire nation soldiers, half the village I was in and passed out for a day. I might be able to do other things but that's what I know I can do. I can also sense spirits," Danny answered. Aang, Katara and Sokka blinked in surprise and let that information sink in.
Tucker returned with some more firewood and stoked the fire. Danny smirked at his friend.
"Sulking?" Danny asked. Tucker glared at him.
"No! Why would I be sulking?" Tucker responded defensively. Danny chuckled and nodded to Sam who was using her earth-bending to juggling a number of rocks mid-air while blindfolded.
"Because Sam is busy earth-bending and you were stuck looking after me," Danny guessed, knowing his friend well enough to know he was right. Tucker scowled at him.
"No, I just don't see the need for her to keep rubbing it in my face," Tucker grumbled. Danny rolled his eyes. Aang frowned.
"Shouldn't you be happy for her? She's finally found a teacher and Toph's a good one to have," Aang pointed out. Tucker blinked before nodding slowly.
"Sorry, yeah. You're right. It's just not easy when everyone around you is able to do cool stuff like bending rocks or talking with spirits. Guess I'm jealous," Tucker whispered, surprising Danny.
"I know it's hard Tucker, but I'm sure you can do stuff that Sam and Danny can't," Sokka offered, understanding Tucker's situation too well. Tucker shrugged.
"Collecting firewood," Tucker muttered. Danny nudged Tucker.
"Tuck, you're the best archer I've met. And you're really smart. I mean you're great at figuring out machines and temple mechanisms," Danny informed him. Tucker smiled slightly at that.
"Really? Sokka's pretty good with machines too. He helped an inventor we know to make some weapons and transport that really helped us in the war," Katara remarked. Sokka straightened proudly, puffing out his chest.
"Ah well, you know just doing what I can," Sokka announced loudly with an attempt at being modest.
Tucker grinned and began to ask about the inventions which Sokka was more than happy to tell him about. Danny, Aang and Katara smirked at the non-benders.
"Guys we have a group of people coming this way. They feel really heavy, so might be soldiers!" Toph shouted unexpectedly. Sam tore off the blindfold and glanced at Danny. Tucker jumped to his feet, abandoning his conversation with Sokka and grabbed his bow and quiver. Tucker notched an arrow and Sam rushed over to Danny's side.
"Woah, paranoid much?" Toph remarked. Sam shook her head.
"Soldiers usually attack Danny. And since his bending wears him out too much to be useful in a fight, we have to protect him," Sam retorted.
Aang, Katara and Sokka got to their feet as well. Then a group of fifteen Fire nation soldiers burst into the clearing. They were deserters.
"The avatar? And the false avatar! Men, surround and attack," a large burly man in important looking armour commanded. The soldiers obeyed and spread out, circling the teenagers. Toph and Sam stomped down on the ground in perfect unison and the ground cracked open, catching a lot of soldiers off guard. Aang used his air-bending to blow attackers away and he redirected fire the soldiers were using against them. Sokka threw his boomerang at a soldier and then pulled out a sword he'd been given until his space sword was found. Katara opened her water bag and formed watery tentacles around herself, knocking the soldiers over and freezing them to the ground. Tucker loosed arrow after arrow at any soldiers that got close to Danny. Danny dodged fire blasts thrown at him, turning intangible sometimes. Within a few minutes the deserter Fire nation soldiers were defeated, lying unconscious around their clearing. The teens quickly gathered everything together and jumped on to Appa, fleeing the clearing before any soldiers came around and attacked them again.
Thought we could use some action.
Poll will close tomorrow, mid-day, Greenwich Meantime. Make sure to make your choice before it closes.
jbgilroy.
weebly.
com
Until the next chapter.