Disclaimer – all original Avatar: The Last Airbender characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Bryana Konietzko and Michaela Dante DiMartino.
Chapter 2. The Orange Eyes.
Year 64 AB – Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, Hama's Inn.
After getting pregnant, Hama decided to stop abducting villagers during a full moon for two reasons: one, she didn't want anything bad to happen to the baby, which would jeopardize her whole plan, and second, without the moon spirit abducting villagers, Yan Zu stooped snooping around and focused on her.
The waterbender simply pretended to be a kind innkeeper while Yan Zu helped her with everyday chores. She naturally kept sneaking out to give the kidnapped villagers water and leftovers. Leaving them to starve or die of dehydration was too simple and easy. After nine months, it was finally time for the baby to come out.
The labor lasted seven hours, but Hama managed to give birth to a boy. Yan Zu was overjoyed to have a son, but his smile quickly faded as everyone in the room noticed that the newborn was silent. Yes, he was alive, but he wasn't crying, and his breathing was hoarse.
Yan Zu, Suri, and Ding, who was thirty-one years old at the time, stayed with Hama, who lay in bed. In the meantime, Henea, the elderly herbalist who was the closest thing to a doctor in the village, examined the boy in the other bedroom.
Hama was horrified, to say the least. If there was something wrong with the baby, her whole plan could go down the drain, and everything would be for nothing. Yan Zu paced nervously around the room with his arms crossed over his chest. He was also horrified, but unlike Hama, he didn't have ulterior motives. He genuinely wanted his son to be alright and well like a true, loving parent.
When Henea entered the bedroom, everyone looked at her. "How is he?" Yan Zu asked worriedly.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you exactly what he has," the elderly woman answered, shaking her head. "I know for certain that it affected his lungs, hence the hoarse breathing, but nothing I have can help him. The good news is, the doctors at the capital would be able to help, the bad news is..."
"What?" Hama asked, raising her voice despite her exhaustion.
"I'm afraid he won't survive the trip," Henea replied, closing her eyes. "He simply doesn't have that much time. I'm sorry."
Yan Zu felt like his whole world crumbled into ash. As if it was punishment for his crimes. Hama, on the other hand, wanted to freeze the herbalist right there on the spot for her incompetence. The healers in the water tribes would surely be able to handle the boy's condition. Suri and Ding felt sorry for the two and didn't know what to say.
When Henea left, Yan Zu began to ponder like crazy, refusing to give up. He had only one idea which came to his mind like a small light of hope at the end of a tunnel. "I'll ask the spirits for help," he announced, turning to Hama. "If anyone can help us, it's them."
"Are you sure about that Yan Zu?" Ding asked, unconvinced. "The only spirit I know is kidnapping the villagers."
"But he stopped appearing during full moon," Yan Zu pointed out.
"True," Ding admitted. "But the kidnapped villagers haven't returned yet. So even if the spirit stooped kidnapping people, it doesn't mean it won't start again whne it feels like it."
"Do it!" Hama said suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. "Whatever it takes, make sure our child is okay."
Yan Zu didn't need more permission or convincing. He simply nodded to Hama and quickly left the bedroom, heading to the one with his son. Yan Zu entered the bedroom, where the baby lay still on the bed and sat down in a lotus position right next to it.
"You're going to be okay, my son," he promised. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and began to meditate.
Spirit World, Sin'Bey Forest.
The Spirit World was a parallel plane of reality that coexisted alongside the physical world inhabited by humans. It was home to the spirits, a vast range of immortal, supernatural entities that often embodied different aspects of life and nature.
Yan Zu opened his brown-colored eyes, noticing that he successfully left his physical body, meditating into the spirit world, and appeared as a spirit in the Sin'Bey forest, the home of the dragonfly lizard spirit, Sin'Bey. The eldritch, verdant forest, which was surrounded from all sides by tall mountains, was shrouded in mist, making it a mysterious and gloomy place. Not a single leaf moved due to the lack of wind.
Despite the restricted visibility, Yan Zu knew where to go. Aside from being Sin'Bey's home, the forest was also an entrance to the realm of Keepers, the home of the ancient spirits, who embodied four elements of nature.
Yan Zu dashed through the tall trees towards his destination, and soon, he reached a large cave entrance. He sat down on his knees and patiently waited even though time wasn't on his side. Yan Zu knew well that if he'd try to rush inside, Sin'Bey, who acted as a guardian and could turn invisible, would kill him immediately since no humans were allowed to enter.
He heard a growl above him and raised his head. At first, he saw nothing, but after a few seconds, Sin'Bey revealed himself. The spirit clung to the wall with his head facing downwards, staring at Yan Zu with red-colored reptilian eyes. Long tail, abdomen, three pairs of legs with claws, and a long head with a V-shaped snout, were all covered in black scales. He had two pairs of long, veined, and membranous wings on his back.
"Greetings, Sin'Bey," Yan Zu leaned forward and bowed to the powerful spirit. "I humbly ask to speak with Shen'Rai, the leader of the Fire Keepers. The matter is urgent."
Sin'Bey went down to the ground and sniffed Yan Zu a few times. With a long growl, he turned around and entered the cave. Yan Zu got up and exhaled. After a few moments, which seemed like an eternity for Yan Zu, Sin'Bey left the cave and once again positioned himself above the entrance.
"Thank you," Yan Zu spoke, bowing his head while Sin'Bey once again became invisible.
At that moment, Shen'Rai left the cave as well, and Yan Zu almost didn't recognize him at first. His once colorful feathers became pale, and the only things that didn't change were the purple-colored flames on the feathers of his five serrated peacock-like tails.
Despite his appearance, Shen'Rai elegantly approached the human while leaving many feathers behind him. "Hello friend," spoke the phoenix spirit. "What happened?"
"I need your help," Yan Zu replied straight out. "My son was born with a sickness that affected his breathing. He has little time so you're his last hope."
Shen'Rai squinted his orange-colored eyes. "In that case let's not waste anymore time," he stated. "Return to the human world and meet me in our cave. I'll be there."
Yan Zu nodded, and without a second thought, he closed his eyes.
Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, Hama's Inn.
Yan Zu's spirit returned to his body, and he quickly grabbed the boy. He left the bedroom and went to Hama and others to inform them about everything.
"And?" Hama asked immediately when Yan Zu entered the bedroom with their son in his hands. Suri and Ding looked at him, curious to hear what he had to say as well.
"I need to go to the underground cave," he informed. "The spirit is waiting for me there."
"Good, I'll go with you," Hama stated and tried to get up, but Suri quickly stooped her, pushing her back on the pillows. Hama was too weak and dizzy and couldn't move Suri away.
"Out of the question!" the merchant said forcefully with a frown. "You just gave birth for crying out loud! Let Yan Zu take care of it!"
"Yes, I agree," Yan Zu said. "I'll handle this. Stay here for now and I'll be back as fast as I can."
Ding gave Yan Zu a towel, which the man used to wrap around the baby. "Stay with Hama," Yan Zu said, and Ding chuckled. "Heh, I never intended to mess with spirits in the first place. That's your job."
Yan Zu nodded with a faint smile and left the room.
A few moments later – Fire Nation Central Island, Underground Cave.
Yan Zu entered the underground cave with the baby in his hands. Like he said, Shen'Rai already waited for him. "Show me the child," he asked, and Yan Zu complied, placing the wrapped-up boy on the ground.
The phoenix spirit approached the silent boy and leaned towards him. "Hmmm... I can heal him by giving him part of my life force," Shen'Rai assured. "However, you do know what will happen. He may experience physical changes as side effect."
"As long as he's okay," Yan Zu replied, making Shen'Rai nod.
The spirit lowered his head and delicately touched the boy's forehead with his beak. At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the tiny infant took a deep breath. He opened his brown-colored eyes, which turned orange and began to cry. Yan Zu never thought he'd be happy hearing his own son crying. He exhaled with relief and smiled.
Shen'Rai leaned back, allowing Yan Zu to take the boy, who cried loudly without any trace of the hoarse sound. Tears began to appear in the man's eyes from happiness. "Thank you," Yan Zu said as tears fell down his cheeks.
"Don't mention it," Shen'Rai replied and closed his eyes. "The time has come."
Suddenly, his feathers began to burn, and flames covered his whole body. Yan Zu took a few steps away, wiping his tears and looking at the burning phoenix. The air in the cave became hot, and the flames lit the whole place. With a final burst of light, the only thing that remained from the once-mighty phoenix was a large pile of grey ashes.
After a few seconds, the ashes moved, and a small phoenix, not bigger than a messenger hawk, emerged from them, spreading his wings. Young Shen'Rai shot a multicolored flame into the air, creating a vortex of yellow, orange, blue, white, purple, violet, green, and red fire.
Yan Zu never saw such fantastic sight in his life and only stared at the flames with awe. When the flames finally went out, Shen'Rai fluttered his wings, shaking the ashes from them. "I'm back," Shen'Rai announced. Once again, his feathers were vibrant and bright as if freshly painted.
"That was an impressive and beautiful sight," noted Yan Zu.
"If you could live as long as me, you would get bored of it pretty quickly," replied Shen'Rai. The phoenix looked with his orange-colored eyes at the boy. "By the way, I can tell you right now that he's not a firebender," he stated. "Keepers can sense their element in humans and I don't sense fire in him. If you want him to become a bender, contact me when I become an adult."
"And when that will happen?" Yan Zu asked.
"After around six years," answered the phoenix spirit. "Only after that amount of time I'll be able to return here. Young phoenixes must remain in the realm so we won't see each other until then."
"I understand," Yan Zu nodded and looked at his son. "I return to my home as well. His mother will be overjoyed hearing his cry, as strangely as that sounds. Thank you one again, my friend." The man bowed his head and left the cave, heading towards the inn.
Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, Hama's Inn.
Even before Yan Zu entered the bedroom, everyone heard the boy's loud cry, which echoed in the inn. Yan Zu entered the room with a giant smile on his face. Hama sat up and exhaled with relief.
"Is he okay?" Suri asked.
"Yes," Yan Zu confirmed, approaching the bed and giving Hama the boy, who felt the presence of his mother and calmed down.
Hama, Suri, and Ding looked at the boy and immediately noticed his vibrant, orange-colored eyes. "Okay, that's something," noted Ding. "I hope he's not a demon now."
Suri slapped Ding in the back of the head. "Ouch! Hey, I'm just saying that those aren't normal eyes," Ding stated. "You don't see people with such vibrant, orange-colored eyes."
"That may be true," Suri replied. "But that's not a reason to insult him and besides, he has beautiful eyes."
"A spirit needed to give him part of his life force, that caused the change of his eyes," Yan Zu explained. "Still, it was a very delicate change. When spirits possess or pass through humans, they can badly disfigure them."
"I didn't ask before for obvious reasons, but since everything turned alright, did you thought about his name?" Suri asked.
"We had a few ideas," Yan Zu said, gently stroking the boy's head with his hand. "But I have a new one. Since it was a fire spirit, who saved his life, I think we should name him, Huo, for the fire."
"Huo," Hama repeated the name and fought the urge to snicker. She shivered at the thought of her son's name having anything in common with the Fire Nation, although no one would suspect her son to a be waterbender with such a name. Plus, she was genuinely grateful to the spirit for helping her child so naming him like that was appropriate. She also didn't want the spirit to get angry and take away his life force from Huo. "I like it," she added.
Yan Zu kissed Hama on the forehead and smiled at Huo. Everything turned out great for his family, and Yan Zu wondered if he wanted his son to become a firebender. However, they had six years to decide.
Spirit World, Realm of Keepers.
Young Shen'Rai returned to the spirit world and flew inside the cave guarded by Sin'Bey. Of course, the dragonfly lizard spirit didn't stop a Keeper from entering his realm. After a short flight through the dark tunnel, the young phoenix spotted a light at the end.
Shen'Rai flew out of the tunnel and immediately felt the sun's warm rays. Even though the phoenix flew earlier into a cave, he now flew under a clear blue sky. Beneath him was a vast, majestic, somewhat volcanic landscape with a massive, gold pedestal in the middle.
At first glance, one could think that the place was deprived of all life due to the amount of fire, but everything was alive and well. The grass and the leaves on the trees were red, orange, and yellow in color. Some even had flames on them but weren't being burned at all. Small streams of lava flowed downwards from a large volcano, which was adorned with red-colored crystals, and spread in all directions.
Small birds with black feathers rested on the tree branches with burning leaves while red-black lizards lay in the fire while some swam in the streams of lava.
Shen'Rai noticed a burst of blue fire and headed towards it. He soon spotted three of his siblings sitting around in a circle, waiting for him. Not counting Shen'Rai, who was the easiest to distinguish thanks to his size, every adult phoenix was the same except for the colors of their crests, feathers on their five serrated peacock-like tails, and the flames on them.
Shen'Rai landed next to Nou'Rai, a female phoenix with a white-colored crest, and sat down on the yellow grass.
"You're finally here, brother," said Wei'Rai, a male phoenix with a blue-colored crest, who became the new leader after Shen'Rai's rebirth. "I was about to visit the physical world to get you. You know that young phoenixes can't leave the realm."
"It was an urgent situation," explained the young phoenix. "My friend needed help."
"We must focus on our task and not on human needs," pointed out Wei'Rai. "Your friendship with that human is already frowned upon by all other Keepers. Our existence must remain a secret from all the humans, even the Avatar. The fact that one of them knows about our existence and how to find us can cause trouble for all of us."
"He didn't tell anyone about who I am or what I do," stated Shen'Rai. "And we known each other a long time so I trust him."
"Humans are complicated creatures," said Vin'Rai, a male phoenix with a green-colored crest. "They can change their decision on a whim. One can hardly predict what they'll do, but mostly, it's never a good thing."
"Exactly," Wei'Rai agreed. "They easily betray their own kind and even family members. They don't respect the spirits and the only care about themselves. They even hunted the Ancient Ones, who gave them the power of the elements in the first place. It's really a pity that we can't get rid of them without consequences."
"You talk like Chin'Rai," noted Shen'Rai. "That way of thinking caused her to-"
"We all know what happened to her!" Wei'Rai raised his voice as the blue flames on his tail intensified and grew. "Everything would be fine if it weren't for the meddling of that human, who became the first Avatar!"
"Calm down brother," Nou'Rai said gently. "What's done is done. We can't change it. No matter how much we try."
Wei'Rai sighed, closing his orange-colored eyes. The blue flames on his tail returned to standard size. As the phoenixes were about to continue their conversation, the gold pedestal flashed, and a symbol of water appeared above it, drawing their attention.
"Water Keepers called a Gathering," noted Vin'Rai. The three phoenixes looked at Wei'Rai. Since he was a new leader, Wei'Rai needed to be present. The phoenix stood up and flew towards the pedestal.
"Try not to make your brother angry," Nou'Rai asked, looking at the young Shen'Rai. "You know that he's not a fan of humans."
"I know," assured Shen'Rai. "That's why I didn't tell him that I gave a human child part of my life force."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," replied Vin'Rai, shaking his head. "Wei'Rai would be upset to say the least."
"It will be better if you stop visiting that human," Nou'Rai advised, placing her large wing on Shen'Rai just like an older sister, who put her hand on her brother's head. "They live short lives and the sooner you'll forget about him, the better for him and you."
"Why do you even keep visiting him?" asked Vin'Rai.
"Because I'm not getting bored with him," replied Shen'Rai, coming out from underneath Nou'Rai's wing. "Firebending became tiresome for me. We always repeat our cycle without end. Although short, human lifes are interesting."
Both adult phoenixes looked at each other. "You're not a human, Shen'Rai," pointed out Vin'Rai, looking back at his brother. "Remember, no good can come from associating with humans. Stay with us and simply forget about them."
Shen'Rai sighed and didn't reply. He knew he couldn't visit the physical world for six years, that was certain, but after that, only time would show.
As he flew higher and higher, Wei'Rai finally reached the top of the pedestal where Nukuio, the leader of Water Keepers, waited for him. Nukuio was a long serpent-like creature with reptilian blue-colored eyes. His serpentine body was covered in green-blue, shiny scales with light-grey stripes, which coiled around his body. He had two dorsal fins, which consisted of six spines interconnected by green-colored cartilage. His mouth was filled with many sharp, interlocking teeth oriented backward and was flanked on either side by a pair of long sensory barbels.
By the amount of water underneath his body, it was clear that Nukuio used waterbending to elevate himself towards the top of the pedestal. He was now coiled around the pedestal like a snake with the upper part of his serpentine body raised.
"Nukuio," Wei'Rai nodded towards the Water Keeper, who nodded back. "Wei'Rai."
A rumbling sound came from Wei'Rai's right side, and both spirits turned their heads towards it. When the rumbling stopped, two large hands equipped with long claws grabbed the edge of the pedestal.
"Good to see you, Denger," said Nukuio as the leader of Earth Keepers, pulled himself up. Denger was a large pangolin-like creature with green-colored, pupil-less eyes and a tail, which ended with a bony ball-shaped mass. His whole body was covered in large, hardened, brown-colored, overlapping, plate-like scales and knobs made of green-colored minerals. Each of his six legs was short but sturdy, and while he walked slowly, every Earth Keeper could curl up into a ball and move with incredible speed.
"Likewise," replied the Earth Keeper, looking at the empty part of the pedestal where the last Keeper should stand. "Nin To won't be joining us?"
"No," Wei'Rai shook his head. "She and the other Air Keepers don't have the strength. Their forms have shrunk and they no longer have the power to fly."
"That's the reason I called this Gathering," stated the Water Keeper. "I visited the physical world a short while ago and eavesdropped on humans aboard a ship. The war still goes on. Apparently, there's only one last human with the element of air and he's being hunted by humans with the element of fire. That human, is the Avatar."
Wei'Rai shook his head. "Perfect," he sighed, clearly displeased. "Is he dies, there will be no more humans with that element."
"He failed to do his job," stated Denger. "The Avatar should prevented things like this from happening and when they do happen, he should quickly react. He was supposed to keep the balance and peace."
"He failed to do that more than once," added Wei'Rai. "His predecessor, the Avatar born with the element of fire, could've prevented that war from happening in the first place. Instead, he didn't do it because he was too soft. Many of the Avatar's reincarnations failed in their role."
"Without the spirit portals, we can't restore the balance," pointed out Nukuio. "The Avatar made sure of that when he closed them."
"And the current Avatar is the last one who can open them when he masters all the elements," added Denger. "So if he dies..."
"No one will able to open them," Wei'Rai finished the sentence.
"If the human war will continue, there's a high chance that many other elements will cease to exist as well," stated the Water Keeper.
"To be honest," Wei'Rai began and turned around, preparing to leave. "If the humans will kill each other, I won't cry after them. We saved them once and that was one time too many. After so many sins they have committed against the spirits, maybe it would be a fitting punishment."
With those words, the Fire Keeper left the pedestal and headed back to his brothers and sister.
Please R&R ;)