Chapter 7: The Swamp
Proto sat, hearing the wind gently rustle his and his allies' garments. He sat completely still, his gaze fixed on the overcast sky, though not seeing. Proto was in thought about methods to return home. So far, he had come up empty-handed. Momo warbled before the patter of his paws moved from one side of the sky bison's saddle to the other. Paper rustled in time with garments, as Katara studied a scroll. A soft grinding noise made its way across the saddle as Sokka sharpened his slashing weapon. Proto felt a slight change in his vertical acceleration, and Sokka spoke up.
"Hey, you takin' us down for a reason?" Sokka asked Aang who didn't respond. Appa groaned. Proto reached out his own mind. Aang was distracted. His mind was harmonizing with energies below. Someone, or something below was utilizing Aang's heightened sensitivity to paracausal energies to call to him.
"Aang! Why are we going down?" Sokka asked again, raising his voice.
"What?" Aang asked, his mind breaking the connection. "I didn't even notice," Aang said.
"Are you noticing now?" Sokka asked rhetorically, as the descent continued.
Katara stood, "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"I know this is gonna sound weird but I think the swamp is… calling to me," Aang said.
"Doesn't sound that weird," Proto interjected.
Sokka looked over his shoulder at Proto's emotionless helmet.
"You don't count. Weirdness seems to be a fundamental part of you," Sokka said, to which Proto only shrugged.
"Is the swamp telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka asked, partially sarcastically, partially seriously while turning his attention back to Aang.
"No, I-I think it wants us to land there," Aang answered.
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on," Sokka pointed out.
"I don't know," Aang challenged. "Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen," he said. "And now I'm actually hearing the Earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" Aang asked.
"Yes," Sokka answered definitively followed by a trill of agreement from Momo.
"I don't know. There's something ominous about that place," Katara said while peering over the edge of the saddle.
Appa roared, which Sokka used to further his case. "See? Even Appa and Momo don't like it here," he said. "Proto what about you?"
Proto paused a moment. "While I have no doubt in our abilities to handle ourselves in such an environment, I do feel that the unease it causes would be something to avoid," Proto responded, veiling his own distaste for the strange energies behind logic.
"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this, bye, swamp. Yip yip," Aang said before pulling Appa into a climb.
Proto felt a spike in energy, and whipped his head around, to see a small tornado zooming towards them from behind. "We may not have a choice," Proto said while making to stand.
"What are you- oh. Oh. OH! Aang? You better throw in an extra yip. We gotta move!" But the tornado was already on top of them. Appa burst forward, twisting, and turning but the freak weather stayed glued to them. Sokka was lifted up and out of the saddle, yelling in terror as Katara grabbed one arm and Proto grabbed the other. Aang jumped into the saddle to create a barrier of wind to counteract the air currents of the tornado. It worked, and Sokka was yanked down back into the saddle. Aang was straining to hold the sphere in place. Proto moved to help him but hesitated.
"I don't need to fry the kid!" Proto thought to himself before dramatically reducing the energy in his hand, which took a moment. A moment too long. The saddle jerked as Appa's leg left the protective sphere, messing up Aang's concentration and removing the protective layer causing all of them to fly up and away from Appa. As he was being flung around like the chew toy of a pet dog to some architect of the universe, Proto saw Appa and Momo go speeding off in a different direction as the freak weather dissipated. Proto righted himself and landed on his feet with a large splash. Katara and Sokka landed in much less graceful ways, and Aang used his airbending to slow his fall. Sokka and Katara quickly righted themselves, the former standing with a groan. As they all regained their bearings, Aang noticed something.
"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang asked, before jumping to a nearby tree and starting to climb. High above the canopy, he began calling their names in hopes of finding them. Below Sokka, Katara, and Proto trudged through the waters, following Aang's call above.
"Sokka you've got an elbow leech," Katara said while pointing out the large, and aptly named parasite that had attached itself to Sokka's right elbow.
"WHERE? WHERE?" Sokka asked while beginning to thrash in hopes of shaking it off.
"Where do you think?" Katara asked while crossing her arms. Proto grabbed Sokka's right arm and the offending leech before yanking it off and applying a quick bit of light to the site.
"Why do things keep attaching to me?" Sokka asked angrily before rubbing the elbow only to find that there was no blood. "Err, thanks," Sokka said to Proto realizing what had happened.
"Don't mention it," Proto said while tossing the leech into a tree behind him before it splashed down back into the water. Aang swung down to them on a vine.
"You couldn't find them?" Katara asked.
"No," Aang answered. "And the tornado, it just disappeared," he said, somewhat disturbed. There was plenty of folklore surrounding swamps from before the golden age, but Proto didn't have anything remotely close to this in his records.
"We keep moving. Either until we need rest or until we find Appa and Momo," Proto said as he took the lead. Unfortunately, deep sight wasn't very helpful. Appa and Momo already didn't leave much in the way of psychic imprints, and Proto would have to get close to somewhere they had been before he could actually get to their psychic imprints, even then it would be difficult to pick up those specific imprints in a literal sea of creatures who all left their own faint psychic imprints.
As Proto was pondering these things he ended up going around many obstacles, which Sokka decided was hindering their progress a little too much.
"We better speed things up," he said as he slashed through the group of vines Proto had been looking for a way around.
"Maybe we should be a little bit nicer to the swamp?" Aang asked as Sokka took another swing.
"Aang, these are just plants," Sokka reasoned rearing up for another slash. "Do you want me to say please and thank you as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka asked rhetorically.
"Maybe you should listen to Aang," Katara urged. "Something about this place feels… alive," Katara said while looking at the trees around them.
"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here. And if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can," Sokka said before taking another swing. As he continued, Proto felt something very familiar. He had felt this before, at the altar of reflection before Savathûn's defeat. He was being watched; the whole group was. Proto turned his head and saw a grouping of vines about twenty paces behind them that moved ever so slightly in a certain rhythm. A very noticeable psychic imprint was all over and around these vines. Proto turned his head back towards Sokka and decided to act ignorant for now.
Eventually that evening, the four of them came to a clearing at the end of their fruitless search for Appa and Momo, Katara putting out one last hopeful call.
"There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night," Sokka said before smacking at a group of insects floating around his head. A release of gas spooked Katara.
"What was that?" she asked hurriedly.
"Nothing, just swamp gas," Sokka reassured. "Look there's nothing supernatural going on here," he said while motioning to the empty waters around them. Said swamp gas then made Sokka, Katara, and Aang cover their noses, briefly before they were holding each other after what sounded like a scream. Proto was ready to investigate until the scream sounded again, this time he noticed a bird overhead closing its beak as the scream ended. Proto relaxed, but the other three did not.
"I think we should build a fire," Sokka said while moving to gather fuel. He then used his machete to chop up the roots of nearby trees.
"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that," Aang said apprehensively, flinching every time Sokka's machete came down.
"No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine. Right swamp?" Sokka asked a branch before grabbing it and animating it with poor ventriloquism.
"No problem Sokka," the branch "said" in a squeakier version of Sokka's voice before its temporary bestowment of intelligent thought and speech was quickly removed by a lateral slash of Sokka's machete. The action was met with disapproving glares from Katara and Aang.
With a fire going Aang and Katara didn't necessarily complain and were quick to huddle up close to it, Proto and Sokka were more relaxed.
"Does anyone else get the feeling we're being watched?" Katara asked, glancing over her shoulder into the darkness.
"We are," Proto thought, but Sokka voiced his own thoughts.
"Please, we're all alone out here," Sokka said before taking a few swings at a nearby bug. As if the universe was out to prove him wrong the bug flared with brilliant bioluminescence before flying away, illuminating a number of eyes in the overhead canopy that shifted away from the bright light in an attempt to regain their concealment.
"Except for them," Aang said, his voice shaky.
"Right, except for them," Sokka said while gripping Aang's shoulder.
"They're just curious," Proto said calming the others down a little. "You three get some rest, I'll keep watch," Proto insisted while standing and turning his back to the fire.
Proto's recommendation had landed solidly with the others. By first light, all three were leaning against one another as they slept, and the fire was but embers. While Proto seriously doubted anything would happen, he still refrained from summoning Themis out of worry that he would wake the others. Sleep was vital for humans, at least normal humans, and he didn't want to deal with the avalanche of questions. Proto also used this time to ponder their departure. An airborne departure may not be possible, in fact, getting airborne may not be possible until out of the swamp, or at least in a large enough clearing. So deep in thought Proto was, that he failed to notice vines snaking around Katara Aang and Sokka until they shouted in surprise. Vines dragged them off in separate directions into a morning fog, hiding them from view. The acoustics of the giant stump they had sheltered under weren't helping him locate the others either. Proto forced the fog away only to see Aang bolting away. Proto sighed in frustration.
"Alright," Proto began "I know you're here," he said as he turned "because I'm looking straight at you," A large splash sounded as a humanoid plant-creature made of vines jumped into the clearing before shooting vines out to entangle Proto, who in turn vanished in a purple flash, only to reappear directly behind the plant creature, a silver and blue bow in his hands.
"Got you," Proto said, letting an arrow fly into the backside of the creature. The vines twitched, but then fell away around a man who had a composite arrow shaft through him, the intricately designed arrowhead dripping crimson onto the now inanimate vines. The stocky man who wore a small covering made from leaves and had shoulder-length gray hair sputtered before stumbling back. He then felt a tremendous force slam into his back and went flying and hit tree roots face first.
"I have a number of questions, you are going to answer them to my satisfaction, understood?" Proto asked as he flipped the man around, though he didn't wait for an answer, instead he grabbed the head of the arrow he fired earlier, ready to use it as leverage for the ensuing interrogation.
"Why were you following us? Why did you attack the Avatar?" Proto asked hotly.
"The *cough* Avatar?" The man wheezed out. "I need to- Arghhh," the man yelled out in pain as Proto pulled on the head of the arrow and pulled part of the shaft through the man's torso.
"Not an answer," Proto growled out.
"I was protecting… the swamp," the man said, coughing up another large glob of blood.
"What do you want with the Avatar?" Proto asked.
"Need to teach… him," The man croaked out.
"For the love of, fine. This is gonna hurt like hell," Proto warned before yanking the arrow all the way through and smacking his hand charged with light onto the wound.
The man didn't have time to react, grimacing when the moment was over, reeling from the pain.
"Let's go," Proto said before pulling the man to unsteady feet. "We have a lot of ground to cover.
"No need, they're at the Banyan grove tree," the man said before beginning to walk. Proto fell in behind, deciding against questioning it. The man had seen what he was capable of and had no intention of facing him again in one-on-one combat. As they moved through the swamp a familiar trio of voices echoed from ahead.
"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone," Sokka was saying as the man parted some hanging vines.
"You'd be surprised," the man said, taking in the group who were at first apprehensive but then relaxed seeing proto just behind him.
"And you must be the Avatar," the man spoke directing his attention to Aang. "Come with me," he motioned before leading the group up the roots of the massive tree. As they walked Sokka decided now was a good time to mention his gripes to Proto.
"Weren't you keeping watch?" Sokka asked.
"Up until just before he attacked, I was," Proto responded while keeping pace.
"Right… convenient timing. Wait, he attacked us? And now you're just chummy with him?" Sokka asked in an accusing tone while raising his voice.
"We're not "chummy," and I don't think he appreciated being Shish Kebabbed with an arrow after you got lost," Proto countered, his voice remaining entirely monotone.
An uncomfortable pause fell over the entire group.
"So, who are you?" Katara asked trying to change the subject.
"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it," he answered while moving a vine out of the way and allowing them all to pass. "Like this fellow with his big knife," he motioned as Sokka walked past.
"See? Completely reasonable- not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it," Sokka said while sheathing his machete.
"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right. It's sacred. I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan grove tree," the man said taking a seat. Proto, Katara, Aang, and Sokka all sat in front of him.
"I heard it calling me, just like you did," he said.
"Sure, you did. It seems real chatty," Sokka answered, not sounding remotely convinced.
"See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread then sink and take root and then spread some more- one big, living organism, just like the entire world," the man said, motioning with his arms. Proto glanced over his shoulder at the landscape below.
"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Aang asked.
"Sure," the man answered. "You think you're any different from me, or your friends, or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree." Proto nodded subtly, appreciating the man's wisdom.
"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked.
"Visions?" Proto asked. Sometimes the traveler gave visions, perhaps this one of the paracausal entities of this reality.
"We all saw stuff because our minds were playing tricks on us. We were scared, tired, and hungry," Sokka said, once again waving off any notion of the supernatural.
"I saw my mother. She died at the hands of the fire nation some years ago," Katara answered, looking down as she recalled that moment.
"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to 'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death." The man explained.
"But what about my vision? It was someone I had never met," Aang said.
"You're the Avatar. You tell me," the man encouraged.
"Time is an illusion, so it's someone I will meet," Aang realized. The man nodded.
"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo," Sokka said while standing, deciding that they needed to move on.
"I think I know how to find them," Aang said, shifting to press a hand against the root he was sitting on.
"Everything is connected," Aang muttered to himself before one of the tattoos on his hand began to glow. A small shift in local energies followed. Proto saw a line of energy race down and into the swamp, a moment later Aang stood.
"Come on, we've gotta hurry," Aang said before taking off. The man, Sokka, and Katara were quick to follow, but Proto loitered a moment and paused to look back up at the tree. In his mind he felt a pressure.
"You seek Wan Shi Tong: he who knows ten thousand things."
"Thank you," Proto said to the tree before jumping down to follow Aang.
By the time he had caught up, Katara and Aang were fighting over dominance of a wave with another water bender, dressed similarly to the man.
"That means we're kin!" the water bender said to Katara, who didn't look too pleased at this revelation.
"Hey Huu," the water bender said seeing the old man arrive later with Sokka. "How you been?"
"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines- the usual," Huu answered.
"Huu?" Sokka asked.
Later that night, the group joined the people of the swamp for an evening meal.
"How's that possum chicken taste?" one asked Sokka.
"Tastes just like arctic hen. So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa if you've got plenty of those things wandering around?" Sokka asked, motioning to a creature that looked like a cross between a crocodile and a catfish.
"You want me to eat Ol' Slim?" The man asked incredulously.
"He's like a member of the family", the man said before tossing Ol' Slim a fish.
"Nice Slim," Sokka said and tried to join in by tossing a cooked bug to Slim who didn't appreciate the gesture.
"Oh, he don't eat no bugs. That's people food," The man said while laughing. Another man spoke up.
"Where'd you'd say you was from?" he asked.
"The South Pole" Katara answered.
"Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there do they?" The man asked.
"No, it's all ice and snow," Katara clarified.
"Hmm. No wonder you left. And what's goin' on with you?" He asked Proto.
"Not hungry," Proto said simply brushing off why his portion had remained entirely untouched.
Sokka, without prompt, snatched up Proto's portion.
"Sokka! Be nice," Katara berated.
"What? He said he wasn't hungry," Sokka said while digging into a second helping of Possum chicken.
"Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen you eat," Katara said to Proto.
"My face isn't a pleasant sight," Proto said hoping that was the end of the conversation.
"Some hideous scar you're self-conscious about?"
"Sokka!"
"What?"
"It's fine Katara," Proto said.
"Well, I hope you realize nothing strange is going on here. Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp," Sokka said after swallowing another mouthful.
"What about the visions?" Katara asked.
"I told you: we were hungry. I'm literally eating a giant bug," Sokka said, holding up said bug before taking a large bite out of its head.
"But what about when the tree showed me where Appa and Momo were?" Aang asked.
"That's avatar stuff. That doesn't count," Sokka said quickly dismissing Aang's counterargument.
"And Proto didn't have a vision because he was focused on fighting. The only thing I can't figure out is how you made the tornado that sucked us down," Sokka said partially to Katara and partially to Huu.
"I can't do anything like that. I just bend the water in the plants," Huu answered.
"Well, no accounting for weather," Sokka said, brushing off the incident.
"Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp," Sokka said.
"Not mysterious, no. But mystical, yes. Spiritual as Aang would call it. Paracausal as I would," Proto said. "It is true I did not have a vision when you had them as I was focused on fighting. The swamp, or more specifically the paracausal entity that resides within the banyan grove tree sensed my dilemma and it had answers for me. But my mind, while sensitive to paracausal energies, was too guarded and focused for the spirit to make contact with unless I was in very close proximity to the banyan grove tree. So, it called Aang instead, hoping to bring me by proxy. I briefly communed with the entity before joining the group in finding Appa, so that it could give me the answers I need," Everyone looked at Proto with a mix of feelings. Aang and Huu seemed to be awe-struck by what he had explained. Katara and the swamp people seemed confused, and Sokka seemed confused and somewhat sour.
"Wait, what do you mean "paracausal entity"?" Aang asked.
"You would know them as spirits," Proto clarified.
"Wow. Does the swamp spirit have a name?" Aang asked.
"Yes… Gaia," Proto answered while looking at the banyan grove tree through the canopy.
"Gaia…" Aang repeated softly.
"So… the tornado was Gaia forcing us down?" Sokka asked.
"Yes it was," Proto confirmed, "But it was Gaia who kept us safe," he added on. "Many cat-crocs roam this swamp, many larger than Ol' Slim. Do you think it was pure luck none of them ever encountered us?"
"So, it was Avatar stuff?" Sokka asked. Everyone gave him quizzical looks.
"Because if so, it plain just doesn't count," Laughter echoed underneath the canopy.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. I'll see you in the next chapter.
