Chapter 8: Avatar Roku
Aang, Katara, and Sokka hurried through the mine's tower and out into the empty field beyond, Momo flying above their heads. Appa lay on the ground outside, having been too large to fit comfortably through the tower or on the space between the wall and the pit, and the sky bison blinked his eyes and raised his head as he heard his human companions approach.
"Come on, Appa, we need to get out of here!" Aang shouted. "Think you can outfly a dragon, buddy?"
"I think it might be too late!" Katara called, and Aang spun in the direction she was pointing. The dragon had rapidly closed the distance between them and now swooped in before landing directly in front of the Avatar. The three humans stood frozen for a long moment as it leaned close to them, and Aang found himself looking directly into its eyes – they were old eyes, filled with wisdom and power, but somehow he knew that there was little anger in them, and what anger was there was not directed at him or his friends. Then, as he looked more closely, Aang realized something else- he could see the desolate ground faintly through the dragon's body.
"Wait a minute," he said, "you're not a live dragon after all, are you? You're another spirit!"
"So, is that good news, bad news, or 'we're all going to die' news?" Sokka asked. "'Cause that's kind of weighing on my mind at the moment."
"Good – I think," Aang said, and then turned back to the dragon. The creature had folded its wings and lowered its serpentine body to the ground, and now it lowered its head directly in front of its face. From its mouth hung two long tendrils that the Avatar thought looked rather comically like a mustache – and then one of them snaked up and, before Aang could react, touched itself lightly to his forehead.
Suddenly Aang found himself hovering in the middle of the sky, and the dragon was flying towards him – except that it was real and solid now, not a spirit, and mounted on its back was an old man who had Fire Nation robes and a long white beard, and who must have been-
Aang stumbled back as the vision vanished, and then he smiled widely. "Avatar Roku!" he said. "You must have been Roku's animal guide – kind of like his version of Appa!" He looked back at his friends. "All right, now I know that the dragon's friendly."
"Well, that's great, but it doesn't answer the big question," Katara said. "Why's the dragon here in the first place? Does he have some sort of message from Roku?"
"Maybe he just got lonely?" Sokka suggested. "I mean, even creepy dead dragons need to socialize, right?" Katara shot an exasperated glare at her brother, while Aang turned back to the dragon and regarded it questioningly. The dragon raised his mustache-tendril once again, and once again pressed it to Aang's forehead.
The Avatar found himself on the dragon's back, and then they were flying. The Earth Kingdom spun beneath them and then it was gone, and they were over the open ocean. That too passed, and they came to a volcanic island, desolate save for a single lonely temple tower that reached high into the sky. The dragon didn't slow down as he approached the walls, and Aang raised his hands to shield himself, but they merely passed harmlessly through. At last they came to a sealed room at the heart of the temple, and there in gold was a statue of Avatar Roku.
"Well, this is nice," Aang said, "but I'm still not sure what you're trying to say."
The dragon turned to regard a large sunstone built into the wall, and then time began to spin until a ray of sunlight struck the stone and was reflected onto an identical stone above Roku's statue. The great beast lowered its head once again towards Aang, as if asking if he understood now.
"I think so," he said. "It looks like I need to wait until the solstice for the sun to hit the stone right – and will that let me talk to Roku?" The dragon only nodded.
"All right, I think I've got it," Aang said. "Is there anything else?" Suddenly the world fell away beneath him, and the dragon vanished as well. He was hovering alone in the void of space, and then something streaked by -something huge, and powerful, and fiery – a comet…
Aang gasped and sat up. He was sitting on the ground in front of the mine, and time had obviously passed – the sun was rising. Katara and Sokka rushed to his side and helped him up, and from nearby Appa rumbled worriedly. There was no sign of the dragon.
"Aang, what happened?" Katara asked. "When the dragon touched you, you passed out and it vanished."
"I've got to go to a temple on the Winter Solstice so I can talk to Avatar Roku," Aang said, rubbing his head.
"But the solstice is tomorrow!" Katara exclaimed.
"Today, actually," Sokka said, motioning at the sun.
"Yeah, I guess it is," said Aang. "And the temple… it's in the Fire Nation." At Katara and Sokka's shocked expressions, he shook his head. "I know, I know, it's going to be dangerous, but I get the feeling that I have to do this. I need to talk to Roku so that I can become a better Avatar – and there's something else the dragon showed me, something about a comet." He pulled away from the Water Tribe siblings and walked over to Appa.
Katara put herself between them. "Wait," she said. "Listen, Aang, I'm not going to try and talk you out of anything. I'm going to tell you that we're coming with you."
"Katara, it's dangerous!" Aang protested. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me!"
"I don't want you to get hurt either," Katara said. "That's why we need to go with you – so we can watch out for each other."
Aang looked down to the ground, then back at Katara, and he smiled. "Thanks, Katara," he said. "It means a lot to me."
Moments later they were on Appa's back, flying west, towards Roku's temple – and the Fire Nation.
/
Azula yawned and stretched as she stepped onto the warship's main deck; she saw Zuko standing near the railing and the two siblings exchanged a wordless nod. They'd gotten underway once again as soon as they'd returned to their vessel; now it was midmorning. Azula paused for a moment to regard the Earth Kingdom landmass as it faded into the distance – and then her eyes widened as she saw a fast-moving speck that seemed to be flying into the west.
"You- spyglass!" she called to the nearest sailor, who hurried over and handed the princess the device she had requested. Azula held it up and focused it on the flying object, which now seemed like – yes, it was. The Avatar's bison. The Avatar himself must be on the creature's back.
"Azula, what is it?" Zuko asked, hurrying over.
"The Avatar is in sight," Azula replied. "We need to order the helmsman to pursue immediately."
"Are you sure?"
Azula rolled her eyes. "Take a look for yourself," she said to her brother, handing him the glass. He did as she instructed, and then his own eyes widened.
"It is!" he exclaimed. "But he's heading west. Why? That's straight for Fire Nation territory! Has the Avatar gone mad?"
"Entirely possible," Azula observed. "I can't imagine that being preserved for a hundred years as a child would have a good impact on one's mental stability. But honestly, it doesn't matter. The chase is on again." She turned towards the bridge. "Helmsman!" she called. "The Avatar is in sight. You are ordered to pursue!"
As the ship reoriented itself, Azula took the spyglass back from Zuko and regarded the sky bison through it coldly. "This time," the princess whispered, "you're mine."
/
"Come on, Appa!" Aang called to the sky bison as the sun rose high overhead. "We've got a long way to go today. Faster!"
"That might not be such a good idea, Aang," Sokka said, pointing at the sea below them. "Because it'll just mean that we'll run into those guys a whole lot sooner!"
"Oh, no," Katara said. "A blockade! The Fire Nation must have set it up to keep people like Dad from getting warships into their waters."
"Well, maybe they can deal with ships," Aang told her, smiling, "but I don't think they're ready for Appa. Higher, buddy! Let's get out of their range." Appa rumbled in response and began to rise, but before he'd made it far there came a flash of light from one of the Fire Nation ships that stretched in two long lines towards the horizon, and then an enormous fireball was heading straight for them.
Appa veered upwards sharply, and the projectile barely grazed the tip of his tail before falling. The bison groaned and Momo screeched, but he didn't falter.
/
Azula lowered her spyglass and scowled. "Of all the blasted, inconvenient," she muttered under her breath. "Paper and brush, now!"
"What's the matter?" Zuko asked his sister as a soldier hastily brought her writing materials.
Azula didn't look up from her page, now stretched out on the bridge's table, as she answered him. "The Fire Navy's blockade," she said. "We're almost in homeland waters, and if they stop us, they'll cost us valuable time and we'll lose our prize." A fireball landed with a hiss in the ocean mere feet from the ship, causing both siblings to start. "Among other dangers," Azula added.
"So, how is that note supposed to help?"
"I'm telling them who we are and that they mustn't interfere with Fire Lord Iroh's niece and nephew," Azula snapped. "Now, let me finish this!"
"Fine," said Zuko. "Well, if whoever is in command of that blockade wants to shoot at the Avatar, I think we can get in on that plan as well." He dashed from the bridge, shouting orders that the catapult was to be raised and loaded.
Azula, thankful for the quiet, quickly finished her message and called for the crew to bring her a messenger hawk. With the large red bird perched on one arm, she stepped out onto the deck, inserted her scroll in its message case, and let it fly. Even as the bird took to the wing, she heard the crank of metal and turned to see Zuko and another firebender ignite a fireball and launch it into the air.
/
Appa rumbled angrily as more fireballs launched through the air; most of them passing by harmlessly, but occasionally one passing close enough to singe his fur and causing the bison's human passengers to duck. Aang crouched low over the reins, wondering whether trying to run the blockade had been such a smart move after all, and desperately hoping that his decision to seek out Roku's temple wasn't going to get himself and his friends killed.
Suddenly and without warning a fireball arced up above Appa's head and came flying down straight for his back. Aang acted without thinking, jumping to his feet and spinning his staff. The resulting whirlwind caught the projectile and held it suspended for a long moment before it burst, raining smoke and cinders but otherwise rendered harmless.
"Is everyone all right!" Aang called.
"I'm fine!" Katara called, while Momo chirped in the affirmative from where he crouched beside her.
"I'm a little covered in soot, here, but otherwise, I'm good," said Sokka, before attempting to brush said soot off and coughing profusely.
"And it looks like we're out of range of the fireballs, too," Katara said, turning to look over Appa's back to where they had now left the blockade behind. "They're not shooting at us anymore, and I don't think anyone's trying to follow us – wait a minute, there's one ship coming through the blockade. I don't think it was part of it, and it's smaller than the others."
"Well, I think we all know who that's gotta be," Sokka said.
Aang did, and his heart sank. Zuko and Azula had found them again.
/
"Well, we didn't manage to hit the Avatar," Zuko said, "but we made it through the blockade. Whenever he gets to where he's going, we'll have him – and in the Fire Nation, we'll be on home ground, and he won't have anywhere to run."
"Yes," Azula agreed absently, stroking her chin. "I do wonder what he's after, though. Oh, well, we can always ask him when we have him prisoner."
"It doesn't matter," said Zuko, resting his hands on his swords. "We'll get him long before he finds it."
/
Twilight was falling as Appa approached the island that Aang recognized from his vision – crescent-shaped and volcanic, with a temple perched atop it. "There it is!" he shouted. "Everybody, we made it!"
"Uh, Aang?" Sokka asked. "Was that there in the vision the spirit dragon showed you?"
Aang turned in the direction he was pointing and saw what was berthed between the island's horns – a Fire Nation warship, larger by far than any he'd ever seen and decorated with an elaborate golden spike on the prow and what looked like a small palace instead of the usual plain tower. "That's definitely new," the Avatar said, "but from here, I don't see anyone on board. Let's land on the other side of the island and try to sneak in without anyone on the ship knowing we're here."
Appa came in for a landing on the far side of the island, and when his feet touched ground, have a loud huff that plainly said no further flying was an option any time soon. "Aw," Katara said as she slid down his side and walked over to stand by his head. "Are you tired after all that flying?" She playfully ruffled the fur near Appa's ear.
"Well, I'm all good!" Sokka said, drawing his boomerang and twirling it idly in one hand. "We're here, and let's do this. What could go wrong?"
"That's the spirit!" Aang said. The three of them crept quietly along the island's rocky ridge until they came to the base of the temple – a single, tall pagoda with several tiers, roofed in red and gold. They slowly picked their way around the base until they came to a door, and then they ran inside.
As they made their way through the temple's dark, red-tinted halls, they didn't meet a single living person. A strange sensation began to prickle the back of Aang's neck – something wasn't right here, he knew it. At the same time, he knew that this might be his only chance to talk to Avatar Roku – he couldn't turn back now just because he was scared. Finally, the three emerged into a large, spare chamber at the temple's center. It was empty, except for a man.
He was tall and powerfully built, dressed in rich red robes, and his back was turned to them. Aang could see that his hair was long and black and he had a topknot at the center of his head; his hands were clasped behind him. He wasn't an old man, like Roku had been in the vision, but the style of dress and hair were similar. The Avatar tentatively stepped forward. "Excuse me," he said. "Are you Avatar Roku? I need to talk to you."
The man was silent for a moment, and then he laughed, a high and cold sound that would have made Aang's hair stand on end, if he'd had any. "I have been waiting for you for some time," the man said, his voice deep and yet curiously raspy. "And now fortune has delivered you to me on the very eve of the Winter Solstice. Yes, young Avatar, we have much to talk about – but I am not Avatar Roku." He turned around slowly, and Aang gasped – this man was in the prime of his life, and he wore a long, thin beard, but his resemblance to Zuko and Azula was undeniable. "I am Prince Ozai."
Aang finally found his voice. "Run!" he shouted to Sokka and Katara, interspersing himself directly between the Fire Prince and his friends. "I'll hold him off!"
"Aang, we're not leaving without you," Katara said with cold determination in his voice, and from the pouch at her side she drew a long tendril of water. "If he wants you, he has to go through us first."
"A touching sentiment," said Prince Ozai, "but it will not save you." Quick as a serpent he spun and drew both hands up to his sides before striking forward with them; lightning blasted from his fingertips and struck the temple's floor, where it exploded and sent all three young travelers flying. As they tried to stumble back to their feet, he ran forward, bending fire from both his open palms in a long arc and setting it around them in a tight, blazing circle.
"How truly disappointing," Ozai mused, seeming almost to be an ominous shadow from where he stood beyond the circle of flames. "When my brother told me he had sensed your return and that he wanted me – his strongest firebender – here at the Avatar's Temple on the Solstice to await you, I had thought it a foolish request. Surely you wouldn't dare to come here? But you have, and now you are mine with hardly a struggle."
Ozai motioned, and from the other doors that ringed the central chamber poured Fire Nation soldiers who surrounded the captives as the prince stepped backwards. Then a small group of older men in red robes and headdresses that Aang had never seen before stepped forward and approached the Fire Lord's brother. They bowed deeply, but when they rose there were dark expressions on their faces.
"Prince Ozai," said their leader, "with all due respect, the Fire Sages must protest the army's intrusion upon this sacred temple! The Fire Lord honors our order- surely your brother cannot have desired you to disturb our peace in this manner!"
"Your peace will be disturbed no longer," said Ozai. "Captain, take the prisoners to my ship. We return to the Capital at once!"
The prince raised his hands before him and brought them sharply down; at once the flames dissipated. Before Aang, Katara, or Sokka could react, soldiers seized their arms (one of them grabbing Momo from midair and stuffing him into a bag) and marched them from the room, Ozai's triumphant laugh ringing in their ears.
/
"We're approaching the island, my Prince, my Princess," the sailor said, bowing to each in turn. "The Avatar's bison went down somewhere behind the temple."
"Excellent," said Azula. "Spyglass." The sailor handed it to her and she lifted it to her eye, observing the island intently – and then her eyes widened. "That's one of the royal flagships – I think it's Father's!"
"Are you sure? Give me that!" Zuko snapped, snatching the spyglass away from his sister, who regarded him coldly. Peering through it, he found he couldn't deny the apparent evidence. "What's Dad doing here?"
"Who knows?" Azula asked, her hands tightening on the ship's rail. "But if he's captured the Avatar himself, and then we show up and he thinks we failed him…"
"He's not going to be happy," Zuko finished.
/
The Fire Nation soldiers marched towards the island's shore, their three prisoners held tightly between them. Sokka eyed the massive ship that waited in the bay appraisingly, then glanced at each of the guards in turn. "So," he said with feigned nonchalance, "is it just me, or is your Prince always that nasty?"
"Silence, Water Tribe scum," one of the guards – probably an officer, based on his uniform – snapped. "Insult the royal family again and you will lose your capacity to insult permanently."
"Man, these guys have no sense of humor," Sokka muttered. "Just a guy, trying to make conversation. So, Aang, I don't guess you've got any ideas for getting out of this mess?"
"Maybe if I had some way of calling Appa," the Avatar said, "but even then, the ship might be able to shoot him down from this range before he got far with us. That would be horrible." He hung his head. "I just don't know."
"Wait," Katara said, turning her neck to look behind them, "I think someone's coming!"
The guards came to a halt halfway between the temple and the shore and turned to see three of the red-robed men from the temple rapidly approaching. "Hold!" the leader, who looked somewhat younger than the others, shouted. "Prince Ozai has decided he wishes to interrogate the prisoners himself before we leave. He has ordered us to bring the Avatar and his friends to him at once."
"Why would the Prince do such a thing?" the officer demanded, stepping forward. "It would be easier by far to interrogate the prisoners on the ship, where they can be contained. Unless you have a written letter from His Highness to the contrary, the Fire Sages have no authority over the army!"
"Well," the lead sage said, leaning close, "what you have to understand is – " before he finished speaking, the sage quickly looped one arm around the officer's and twisted, sending him sprawling to the ground. The other guards stood for a moment, shocked, and then leaped into action, shooting fireblasts at the old men, who deflected them with ease and returned fire.
"I don't know what's going on, but now's our chance!" Aang shouted, drawing an inhumanly deep breath and then releasing it in a blast that sent several more of the soldiers sprawling. Behind him, Sokka wrenched his arms free of the soldier who was holding him and tackled one of the two who held Aang; when the soldier who had Katara lunged to help him, she bent a small amount of water from the pouch at her side and shot it on his hands, where it froze solid. The soldier stared in shock for a moment, and then rage crossed his features as he melted the ice shackles – only for Katara to seize his arm and pull him off balance, sending him sprawling to the rocks.
"Kyoshi Warrior style," she said. "Maybe you should learn it."
Sokka managed to wrench the helmet off the soldier he was wrestling with and then slammed his head into the ground, knocking him out. Aang, one of his arms now free, bent a slice of air that struck the other soldier who held him, sending the man flying several yards before he crashed to the ground. Quickly, the freed captives ran to the fallen guards and retrieved their possessions – Sokka's weapons, Aang's staff, and the bag that contained Momo, who quickly flitted out when freed and landed on Aang's shoulder. They turned to face their rescuers – the Fire Sages.
"Hurry!" the lead sage said, motioning with one hand. "Follow us before they regroup!" The three old men turned and ran, Aang and his friends following behind them.
"So, I'm not the only one thinking this might be a trap, right?" Sokka asked.
"Sokka," Aang said, "they'd already taken us prisoner. Why would they free us just so they could take us prisoner again?"
Sokka shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe this is some weird Fire Nation ritual. Maybe Prince Ozai and the Grand High Muckity-Muck Fire Sage don't like each other and it's some political thing. Who knows?"
"You're paranoid," Katara said, shaking her head. "More running, please!"
The sages led them partway along the island and then stopped; the leader launched a small fireblast into a seemingly-featureless shelf of rock, and Aang gasped as a door slid open, revealing a tunnel that seemed to lead into the island's heart. The sages ducked inside, and after a moment's hesitation, the three travelers followed them. The lead sage came last and shut the door behind him.
"I'm still not completely sure why," Aang said, turning to him, "but you helped us a lot. Thank you." He bowed.
The sage smiled and returned the gesture. "My name is Shyu," he said. "It is my honor to have aided the Avatar. We were certain you would never return!"
Aang looked at the floor guiltily, then back at Shyu and smiled. "Well, I'm back now," he said lightly. "So, what's going on?"
"Walk with us, and we will talk," Shyu said, forming a small flame and holding it up before walking further into the tunnel. Aang walked at his side (Momo on his shoulder regarding the Sage's red hat with fascination), with Katara, Sokka, and the other Fire Sages following behind. "Our order was founded long ago, and one of our duties was always to serve the Avatar. After Avatar Roku died, we eagerly awaited the next Avatar, but one never came. Many of our order lost faith that you would ever return, and dedicated themselves instead to the Fire Lord, but some of us remembered. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord, and when I saw that you were here, I had to act."
"Wow," Aang said. "So, is that why those other guys are helping, too?" He glanced back at the other sages.
"No," one of them said. "We have served Fire Lords Sozin, Azulon, and Iroh faithfully for many years, and will serve whoever sits the throne. But Prince Ozai is not Fire Lord, however much he wishes to be, and he has no respect for our order, and his presence here in our sacred temple is an insult that we cannot allow to pass. I still serve the Fire Lord, but I am happy to thwart the Prince."
Sokka looked at Katara and grinned. "See? Politics. I knew it."
"So where are we going?" Aang asked.
"These tunnels crisscross the island and the temple itself," Shyu explained. "Avatar Roku made them, in my grandfather's time. Using them, we can get you to the temple sanctuary and past the guards; only the Fire Sages have knowledge of this place."
"How did you know I needed to get to the sanctuary?"
Shyu stopped and looked at Aang directly. "Because there can only be one reason the Avatar would come to this temple on this day, with the Solstice upon us. You must contact your past incarnation; only then will you learn how to set this world back into balance – if only we are not too late!"
/
The moment their warship's ramp touched shore, Zuko and Azula hurried down onto the island. They sped towards the path that lead to the temple – and came up short when they found their father standing on it, flanked by his own soldiers and facing a man in a lieutenant's uniform whose face was drenched in nervous sweat.
"You had the Avatar in your custody and you allowed him to escape?" the Prince snarled. "I should have handled the prisoner transfer myself; unfortunately I was left in the temple, trapped in pointless philosophical discussions with the High Fire Sage while the victory I had achieved was thrown away!"
"My… my prince," the lieutenant stammered, "it wasn't my fault… the Fire Sages, they turned on us, this is their doing!"
"Oh, I'm certain it is," said Ozai in a voice that was softer than that which he'd used before, but no less dangerous. "And I will see to them shortly. But you are wrong on one account." Without warning, Ozai's right hand shot forward, trailing sparks. There was a flash of lightning, and then the lieutenant's lifeless body crumpled to the stone. "You were the ranking officer present. Of course it was your fault."
The Fire Lord's brother turned from the dead officer without a moment's backward glance, and then stopped when he saw his children and regarded them coldly. Immediately, Zuko went down into a bow; beside him, he could hear Azula doing the same.
"Father," the princess said – as Ozai favored her, it was often safer to let her do the talking, so long as nothing recent was worth her lying about – "we have come to this island in pursuit of the Avatar, as you commanded us do. What is your will?"
Ozai smiled coldly. "The Avatar is on this island, but I know where he's going – the temple sanctuary. Rise, Azula – we shall defeat him together." He glanced at his son out of the corner of his eye. "Zuko – try and keep up."
The prince turned and swept away, heading back towards the temple; Zuko and Azula fell into step behind him. "He didn't even bother asking us how we were doing," Zuko muttered under his breath, too low for Father to hear him.
"Calm down," Azula replied in the same hushed voice. "The chase is almost up. Focus on that – then worry about Father."
Yes, Zuko reminded himself – the mission. Help take down the Avatar, show your worth, and then Father will have to respect you – that was the inner fire that had driven him ever since they had set out. With Ozai here, now, it seemed that Zuko would have an audience either for his crowning glory – or his ultimate shame.
The lieutenant who had just been executed was not the first man Zuko had seen his father kill, whether as punishment or in an Agni Kai, but his fate weighed heavily on the prince now nonetheless, both for the man himself and what his death indicated about Ozai's mood. His grip tightened nervously on the swords that hung at his side. He couldn't fail now.
/
Aang didn't know how long he and his friends followed Shyu through the hot darkness of the tunnels; it was impossible to tell time here, so far away from the sun and sky. Every so often they passed small openings in the rock where rivulets of lava flowed disturbingly close by, but otherwise there was little differentiation in this place. The Fire Sages apparently knew their way, though, and eventually they emerged through a trapdoor and into a pillared hallway that was obviously inside the temple. The day's fading light shown through nearby windows.
"The sanctuary is nearby," Shyu said. "If we are lucky, then the Prince will not have ordered the chamber sealed – it can only be opened by five firebenders." He held up a hand for everyone else to stop, and then stepped forward, peering around one of the pillars. "Oh, dear," he muttered.
"What's the matter?" Sokka asked. "Did they seal the doors?"
Aang stepped forward to stand beside Shyu. "No," he said, "but it think it's just as bad." The doors were open only a crack, and in front of them stood two rows of masked firebending soldiers, their hands raised to meet any challenger.
Sokka stuck his head next to Aang's and winced at what he saw. "We're going to get cooked if we go out there."
"Let me try to talk to them," said Shyu. "Maybe they haven't heard about what happened below." He stepped out behind the pillars and walked in front of the soldiers, who didn't attack, but neither did they lower their guard.
"Out of my way!" the sage ordered. "I must enter the sanctuary to perform an important ritual before the solstice passes. You know that Fire Lord Iroh puts great store by our ways."
"That may be," one of the soldiers said, "but the Fire Lord isn't here. Our orders come from Prince Ozai, and he told us not to let anyone into the sanctuary. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him."
"I intend to," said Shyu darkly, turning away as the picture of affronted dignity. Before he got far, however, Momo leapt from Aang's shoulder and darted into the open area, seizing the startled sage's hat and knocking it to the floor.
"What is that?" the soldier who'd spoken before demanded. "It might be with the Avatar. Kill it!"
"No!" Aang shouted, running forward and throwing himself between the soldiers and Momo. Beneath his mask, the leader's eyes widened before he launched a fireblast, which Aang caught on his staff and deflected. The other soldiers responded with blasts of their own, which were caught and throne back towards them by Shyu and the other two sages. Katara and Sokka ran to stand beside Aang.
"Listen, Aang," said Katara, "you need to get into that sanctuary. Cant' you, I don't know, do that air scooter thing and blow past the guards before they know what hit them?"
"I can't just leave you all out here!" the Avatar exclaimed, horrified.
Sokka shrugged. "What? You think we can't handle twenty or so firebenders?" He glanced up nervously to see that those twenty or so soldiers had pinned the three sages in a semi-circle around Aang and his friends and were slowly forcing them back.
Aang hung his head. "I just don't want you –or Shyu, or anybody – to have to get hurt because of me!"
Suddenly a bolt of lightning sizzled through the chamber, stopping the combat in its tracks. All parties turned to see what looked like dozens more soldiers pouring into the hall – at their head, Prince Ozai, with Zuko and Azula close behind him.
"When did they get here?" Sokka demanded, gesturing at the prince and princess. "This isn't fair!"
"Surrender, Avatar!" Ozai called. "You're outnumbered and outmatched – there is no escape from us now. Surrender, or you and your friends will all perish."
"Go, Aang!" Katara said. "It's now or never. Go!"
Aang looked from Katara to Sokka and back again and nodded wordlessly. Then he leaped lightly into the air, formed a spinning ball of air beneath his feet, and propelled himself forward at a speed no ordinary human could match. He knocked the firebenders aside with the sheer force of his passing, and then he was through the doors and into the sanctuary. The doors slammed shut behind him.
/
"No!" Ozai snarled as he swept forward. "Seize them!" he ordered to his troops, who surrounded the two Water Tribe adolescents and the traitorous Fire Sages, and then he, his children, and two officers approached the sanctuary doors. The mechanism looked simple enough, he noted; a lock made in the shape of a five-headed dragon. It appeared that the only necessary technique was a basic fireblast into the dragons' mouths.
"Ready," he said, "and fire!" Five blasts struck the lock in unison, but the doors remained closed.
"What is the secret?" Ozai demanded, wheeling on the sages. "I swear on Sozin's legacy that I will burn those doors down if you do not tell me how to open them."
One of the Sages – Shyu, Ozai thought his name was – smiled thinly. "It will do you no good," he said. "The doors are sealed until the Avatar is done. Avatar Roku does not wish to be disturbed."
Rage boiled inside the Fire Lord's brother, but he held it in check. "Very well," he said. "He can't remain inside forever. When he comes out, he will face our massed power." He turned back to face the doors. "We wait."
"Oh, Aang," the voice of the Water Tribe girl said behind him, "I hope you know what you're doing!"
/
The temple sanctuary was as Aang had seen it in his vision – a large room, bare save for the statue of Avatar Roku on a raised dais at one end. He approached it cautiously, looking up at the golden image, and tried to find some trace of himself there. "Um, Roku?" he asked. "I'm here to talk to you, and – "
Before Aang could finish speaking, clouds swirled around him, cutting off the sanctuary from view; when it cleared, he found himself standing on a rocky plain under a clouded sky – and there, in front of him, was Roku, an old man with red robes, a white beard, and a kind smile, no statue but very much flesh and blood, or at least spirit.
"Aang," the previous Avatar said gently, "what took you so long?"
Memories of a desperate nighttime flight, a storm at sea, and an iceberg flashed through Aang's mind, but before he could respond, Roku continued. "I have something important to tell you, Aang," he said. "That is why, when you were still on the border between the material and spirit worlds from your encounter with the ancient spirit and the Spirit Walker, I sent my dragon Fang to find you."
"Fang showed me something about a comet," Aang said. "Is that what you mean?"
"Yes," said Roku; he gestured at the sky and the clouds vanished, replaced by another vision of that great mass hurtling through space. "A hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin harnessed the Comet's power and used it to strike a deadly blow against the world, beginning the war. It made him and his firebenders a hundred times stronger than they ordinarily were – stronger than you can possibly imagine."
"But if that was a hundred years ago, why is it important now?"
"Because," Roku said, "comets follow paths in the sky. Sozin's Comet has been gone for a century, but now it is returning, and when it does, the Fire Nation will have the power it needs to finish the war once and for all. You must face the Fire Lord and the rest of the Fire Nation's Royal House and defeat them before the comet returns."
Roku gestured to his side, and a great wall of flames shot up from the ground. Within it, Aang caught flickering glimpses of six figures – in front stood Lu Ten, his expression serious as he gazed with purpose into the distance, and beside him Zuko, who had two drawn swords in his hands and a scowl on his face, and Azula, who smirked coldly and held a fireball in one hand. Behind Zuko and Azula stood their father, Prince Ozai, who regarded all he beheld with an expression of utter contempt, and beside him a hauntingly beautiful woman who must have been their mother. Behind Lu Ten was a shorter, stouter man, his hair and beard gone to grey, but he was richly robed and wore a crown like a rising flame, and in him Aang felt like he could almost feel a power that was not visible, and yet was greater than any of the others. This had to be Iroh, the Fire Lord.
Then the figures vanished in a wall of flame that rose higher and higher with a roar; Aang shouted and stumbled back as it rose above him, seeming to become huge enough to devour the world, and then it vanished and he was alone with Roku again.
"Mastering the elements takes years of practice," Roku said. "But you must do it before the end of the summer, when the Comet returns."
"I don't know if I can do that, "Aang said, looking down at his hands.
Roku smiled. "I know you can. You have mastered the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes. Now, the solstice is ending, and we must go our separate ways. You know the danger that awaits you outside. I can help you face it – if you are ready."
Aang paused to draw a deep breath, and then looked up at Roku. "I'm ready."
/
Katara's heart hammered in her chest as the doors to the temple sanctuary opened. "Aang!" she shouted, "No! Don't do it!"
"It's too late!" Prince Ozai shouted triumphantly. "The Avatar is mine! Don't bother taking him prisoner this time – as soon as he comes out, kill him!"
The doors opened all the way, and Katara's heart sank as smoke poured from them, followed by a silhouetted figure – but then she paused, realizing that this couldn't be Aang, it was too tall… and then the smoke cleared completely, and she realized it wasn't Aang at all.
It was an old man, an old master, bearded and robed; white light was in his eyes, and power was in his hands. "Avatar Roku!" Shyu exclaimed from nearby, and he and the other sages slipped from the now-limp arms of their captors and fell to the ground in deep bows.
"It cannot be…" Ozai whispered in disbelief, and then he struck, launching fireblasts of immense power from both hands; at his side, his children and the soldiers did the same. Roku caught the flames as effortlessly as a child might catch a ball and sent them spiraling back towards their originators. The soldiers scattered, and with them Zuko and Azula fled and ducked behind the pillars, but Ozai remained, deflecting the redirected blasts and them charging lightning bolts from both hands. He was a firebending master the likes of which the world had seldom seen – he was supremely confident that no foe, not even a dead Avatar, was beyond his power.
His lightning bolts never struck. Roku regarded him with burning, inscrutable eyes, and then struck with a blast of airbending as powerful as a hurricane. Katara was rocked off her feet by the force of the wind; Ozai, who took the full blast of it, was flung through the hall's windows and out into the island's sky, his final, disbelieving cry echoing on the wind.
When he was gone, Roku raised his arms and brought them slashing down, and the temple shuddered beneath him. Deep beneath the foundations the long-dormant volcano awoke, shaking the island with tremors, while the stones themselves began to collapse.
"Avatar Roku is destroying the temple!" Shyu called; he and the other sages scrambled to their feet and fled towards the other end of the hallway. "You need to get out of here!"
"We're not leaving without Aang!" Katara shouted back. She rose and turned to face Roku, knowing that Aang had to be inside there somewhere – surely the only way a past Avatar could interact with the world was through his living self? The old man regarded her for a long moment, his expression unreadable, and then he stopped bending and folded his hands before him. Avatar Roku vanished into smoke, and when it cleared, Aang remained; he groaned once and then collapsed into Katara's arms.
"Now we can get out of here," she said, lifting the Avatar up and carrying him towards the secret tunnel. Sokka got there before her and shook his head.
"No good!" he said. "The whole thing's full of lava!"
"What are we going to do?" Katara asked – and then she realized that Momo was gone. Before she had time to process that fact, the lemur returned, shooting in through the broken window – and behind was the great bulk of Appa.
"Come on!" Katara shouted, climbing on to the bison's back with Aang still in her arms, Sokka close behind. Appa gave a loud rumble and then launched himself out the window as the temple began to collapse into fire behind them.
/
On the shore below, a ragged but still enraged Ozai regarded the collapsing temple with disgust. As a master firebender, he'd been able to save himself from his fall by using flaming jets to slow his descent, but it hadn't bought him enough time to keep the Avatar from escaping. Even now he could see the unmistakable shape of a sky bison flying to the east, far out of range of bending or catapults. Clenching his fists tightly, Ozai turned to face the now-captive Fire Sages and his children.
He addressed the Sages first. "Why?" he demanded. "Was it for power, glory? Some vengeance against me or my family? Why betray the Fire Nation for the Avatar?"
The Sages regarded him coldly, but only Shyu spoke. "You are blind, Prince Ozai," he said, "to all that is not yourself. I did not betray the Fire Nation – I merely fulfilled my duty, which was to the Avatar before the Fire Lord. I do not expect you to understand."
Ozai snarled and turned away. "You are fortunate that I do not have the authority to execute you. Let my brother deal with you." His gaze went from them to his son and daughter. "Zuko, why did you let the Avatar strike me? You had a perfect opportunity to strike while he was focused on me, and you didn't take it!"
"Father, there was nothing I could have done!" Zuko protested. "If Azula or I had tried to fight that head on, we would have been overwhelmed!"
"He's right," Azula said; Zuko's eyes widened at her support. "We faced Avatar Roku tonight, not Avatar Aang; the latter is a child, but the former was a master of all four elements, a fully realized Avatar. Don't blame Zuko – we couldn't have defeated him, not in his own temple."
"I'm disappointed that you take his side, Azula," Ozai said. "I must return to the Capital and report to the Fire Lord. The two of you will resume your hunt. And this time," his eyes lingered on Zuko, "I expect you not to fail me."
"Yes, Father!" they both chorused and bowed, as Ozai swept away and returned to his own ship, rage still gnawing at his heart.
/
Once they were on board their own vessel, Zuko turned to Azula. "Why'd you do it?"
"Do what?" she asked, as if she didn't know; Zuko scowled.
"Defend me to father," he said. "I'd always thought you agreed with him that I wasn't worth much."
Azula shrugged. "You came to help me against those earthbenders when you didn't need to," she said. "I returned the favor. You didn't need me to put in a good word for you with Dad – I certainly didn't change his mind – but I did it. We're even. Don't expect it again."
"Don't worry," said Zuko as he rested his arms against the ship's railing and watched the volcanic island as they pulled away, "I won't."
But inside, he wondered.
/
Aang stirred and came awake to find that he was on Appa's back, flying under a dark sky. Katara leaned over him, a relieved smile on her face. Exhaustion and the weight of what he now knew he had to do hung over the young Avatar, but they'd escaped, and as Katara leaned in and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace, he found that, for now, he could be content.
/
This was a somewhat unusual chapter to write, because the central events (Aang goes to the temple and makes contact with Roku) had to happen very close to how they did in canon by necessity, while surrounding events were made different by my AU. I did want to go ahead and introduce Ozai (not the last time we'll be seeing him in this book, by the way), show a bit of how Zuko and Azula's relationship is evolving, and put emphasis less on the Fire Lord personally as the ultimate enemy and more on the Fire royal family as a whole.
-MasterGhandalf