While she still couldn't completely heal everyone, by the end of the week, Katara had clearly made a difference with her newfound abilities. That much was obvious; Penguin's Landing had suddenly sprung to life, and it warmed Aang's heart to see children playing in the streets, elders gossiping, and various other villagers going about their daily activities just like he had seen with the inhabitants of Wolf Cove.
Gilak beamed when the four of them entered his tent the morning of their planned departure. After they had all sat down, he dismissed the rest of his warriors, save for Lirin, who remained standing a few feet behind him. She still had a slight cough, which Suluk had said was normal, but otherwise, she looked to be nearly back to her old self.
"Today is the day you have decided to leave us, is that correct?" Gilak asked after the last warrior had cleared out.
Aang nodded. "That's the plan."
Gilak's gaze moved to Katara, and he smiled gratefully. "Katara. Penguin's Landing will forever be grateful for what you have done for us. Trust that your name is not one that will be forgotten in this village." He paused for a moment as he struggled to keep his voice steady. "Without you, Lirin might not be standing here today. She's like a daughter to me."
He looked over his shoulder at Lirin, who shook her head and smiled affectionately at the old man. "And you think I'm the one who's grown soft?" She joked lightheartedly. "But in all seriousness, thank you, Katara."
Katara smiled in return. "It was the least I could do. I'm just happy I was able to help."
"As are we all." Gilak replied. "Kids… I am forever in your debt. Whatever Wolf Cove needs, I will provide. Warriors, supplies, anything. I still can't send everyone since there are still those who need to rest and recover, but I will send who I can."
A wide grin spread across Aang's face, and the four friends looked at one another with expressions of joy and relief.
"Thank you, Chief Gilak! Dad will be thrilled!" Sokka exclaimed.
Gilak smiled warmly back at the boy. "I'm sure he will be. It's been too long since I've been back to Wolf Cove. This will probably be the first time in quite a while that Hakoda will actually be happy to see me," he chuckled, then sighed. "So. What is your plan going forward?"
"We've got two more villages we're going to ask for help," Sokka explained. "Starting with Ausuittuq."
"And Grey Wolf Village after that!" Aang added.
Gilak's smile disappeared. "Ausuittuq and Grey Wolf Village?"
Aang and Sokka's eyes met briefly. That expression wasn't a good sign.
"Yeah... Is there something we should know?" Sokka asked.
"When was the last time Wolf Cove had contact with either village?"
Sokka put his hand on his chin and squinted his eyes as he struggled to recall what Hakoda had told them. "Dad said that we had last had contact with Ausuittuq about… ten months ago? So more like eleven months now, I guess," he replied, counting his fingers.
"Your dad also said that they hadn't had contact with Grey Wolf Village in two years," Zuko added with a frown.
"There's a reason for that," Gilak sighed. "Grey Wolf Village no longer exists."
The four friends looked at one another with dismayed expressions upon hearing this revelation. Aang knew it was a possibility that any of the villages could have been taken out by the Fire Nation—in fact, Hakoda and Bato had said it would be—but he had hoped that they were wrong.
"It was destroyed by the Southern Raiders, most likely shortly after your village's last encounter with them," Gilak continued. "They were completely unprepared… Those damn ash makers are monsters," he growled, his features twisting with contempt.
Aang immediately recognized the term "ash maker" and frowned deeply. He had learned from his friend Kuzon that this was a slur for "firebender", but it was apparently also used to refer to anyone of Fire National descent. Apparently, a city guard had uttered the slur at Kuzon the last time his friend had traveled to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, where he and Aang had planned to meet up to visit their friend Bumi. When Bumi had found out, he'd wanted to earthbend that guard into a pulp, and despite being a staunch pacifist, Aang had almost let him.
"What about Ausuittuq?" Sokka asked apprehensively.
"It still exists. Old Chief Muktuk is a good man, and we trade with them every few months," Gilak replied. "Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find the help you're looking for there. Their population has dwindled quite a bit recently for reasons I'm not certain of, and Muktuk has never given me a straight answer when I've asked if there was anything they needed help with. I doubt they can afford to send what little warriors they have left."
"Do you think they may be dealing with the same illness as Penguin's Landing? Or maybe a different illness?" Katara asked.
Gilak hummed thoughtfully. "Chief Muktuk didn't mention any plague the last time we met to trade four and a half months ago, though we haven't heard anything from them since then, so I suppose that could be the case." He shook his head. "Either way, I would not advise going there. There are rumors that dark spirits prowl the surrounding tundras."
"That shouldn't be an issue," Aang said, recalling his successful experience with calming Hei Bai. "As the Avatar, I'm the great bridge between humans and spirits. I've already had some experience dealing with a dark spirit anyway." He folded his arms proudly. "I think I know how to handle them."
"Well, whatever you decide, you are welcome to whatever supplies you need for your journey," Gilak said. He stood up, and bowed deeply. "Thank you again. And stay safe out there."
When the quartet returned to their tent, Sokka was the first to speak. "Well, looks like it's time to head back home, gang!"
"Wow, Sokka," Aang said. "I'm surprised you're taking this so well. You don't want to at least try going to Ausuittuq?"
"Nope," Sokka replied. "Honestly, after everything Gilak said, I don't think it's worth it. We've got guaranteed help from Penguin's Landing. That's more than I'm sure most of us thought we would even get in the first place."
Aang nodded thoughtfully. He supposed that there was no use being upset, especially when they had just been so successful with securing help from Gilak. He had to admit that it would feel nice to end this mission on a high note.
"Sokka, you heard what Gilak said. If the villagers of Ausuittuq are suffering from illness, I can help them," Katara argued.
"Not this again," Sokka groaned. "Staying may have worked out for us this time, but we can't afford to spend another two weeks helping another village! Even if you can use your magic water to heal them–"
"Not magic, waterbending," Katara corrected.
"Whatever! We don't even know for sure if that's what's going on down there! We could get all the way there, find out that their problem isn't something any of us can help with, and then we'll have wasted our time!"
Katara grunted in frustration. "Aang, Lee—you both understand, right?" she asked, taking the two both by surprise. In the past, she had not attempted to involve them in her arguments with her brother. "If there's a chance that I can help, I want to take it."
"I don't know…" Zuko said apprehensively, and looked to Aang.
Aang pressed the side of his fist to his mouth as he considered what would be the best course of action to take. "Well... whether the village is dealing with a plague, dark spirits, or both... it might be worth checking out."
"Are you sure?" Zuko asked apprehensively. "We have less than two months until the raid. It sounds risky."
"My thoughts exactly," Sokka added. "And Gilak said they probably can't even send warriors to help us fight the Southern Raiders."
"These people are worth more than what they can give to us!" Katara shot back angrily, causing her brother to shrink back.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, and Aang struggled internally about what decision to make. He didn't want to ignore these people if they truly needed help, but Zuko was right that their deadline was closing in…
"... Katara makes a good point, you guys," Aang said eventually, breaking the silence. "I can't just do nothing if these villagers might be in trouble. It sounds like either way, there's a good chance either she or I will be able to at least do something to help."
Sokka pursed his lips together and sighed in exasperation. "Lee, back me up on this. This isn't a good idea, right?"
Zuko's gaze moved back and forth between the Water Tribe boy and Aang before closing his eyes. "Honestly, I agree with Sokka."
Sokka smiled approvingly and nodded.
"But… I also trust Aang."
Sokka's smile immediately morphed into an irritated frown.
"Besides, who knows," Zuko continued, ignoring Sokka's grumbling. "Maybe there are people there who would be able to help Wolf Cove. Every person matters in a situation like this, in my opinion."
Sokka huffed and smacked his palm to his forehead. "Fine. Seems I've been outvoted on this. I seriously hope you all know what you're getting us into."
This would be so much easier if I could firebend, Zuko thought in annoyance as he attempted to start their campfire for the night with two pieces of flint.
For the past three days since leaving Penguin's Landing, they'd continued to follow the map that Hakoda had given them, but had not yet found the village of Ausuittuq. Based on Gilak's information, Zuko wouldn't be surprised if the village was so small that they had already flown over it, missing it completely.
And what's stopping you from firebending? he questioned himself frustratedly as he continued to struggle with the flint. Oh yeah. You still haven't told Sokka and Katara the truth about who you really are.
Zuko grunted and shook his head. He had gotten so close to telling Katara the other day before Gilak had interrupted. Ever since then… the idea of telling the truth had simply gone back to feeling too risky right now. They already had enough to worry about; telling the siblings now would only make things worse.
At last, Zuko managed to get the campfire stoked, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his gloved hand with a sigh. It had been a long day of flying; luckily, they had managed to find a nice, large cave for tonight's shelter. This felt much safer than sleeping out in the open like usual, especially the further into the tundra they went.
He looked back to the mouth of the cave as he picked up his bedroll to unfurl it, and seemingly out of nowhere, an uneasy feeling began to creep up his spine. He turned to see if his companions were being affected by it as well, noticing that Katara was holding her own bedroll and staring off into space with a disturbed expression, while Sokka was holding his head in his hands, his wide eyes darting around in alarm. Aang had sat up from where he had been laying on Appa's head as well; he was pressing a palm to his forehead, his eyes squeezed shut as if he were in pain.
"Is anyone else feeling… weird all of a sudden?" Zuko asked.
"I feel like… like spider-flies are crawling all over me," Sokka said with a shudder.
"Me too," Katara added. "Something doesn't feel right."
"Aang?" Zuko asked after his friend did not immediately reply.
"Huh?" Aang blinked.
"Are you feeling weird too?"
"Yeah…" Aang replied somewhat absent-mindedly.
A roar in the distance pierced the silence that followed Aang's reply, and Katara and Sokka shot over to each other, clinging to one another in fear.
"Wh–wh–what was that?" Sokka stuttered.
Aang and Zuko's eyes met, and they shared an equally anxious expression.
"Maybe it's just a wild animal?" Zuko asked, though deep down, he had a feeling it was something else entirely.
Aang shook his head slowly. "No. I think it's a–"
Before Aang could finish, a dark purple, multi-eyed creature materialized outside the mouth of the cave, and Zuko's eyes widened in terror.
It was an angry spirit.
"Get behind me, stay in the cave, and don't try to fight it!" Aang yelled over his shoulder as he jumped down from Appa and ran to the outside of the cave, grabbing his staff and resisting the urge to move into a defensive stance. He had helped Hei Bai return to his normal self before—couldn't he do the same for this spirit?
The only problem was that he didn't know what was triggering the spirit's anger, nor did he know how to find out. Unlike with Senlin Village, there was no burned-down forest nearby to indicate what had agitated it.
"I don't want to fight you!" Aang addressed the spirit. "You're in a lot of emotional pain right now, I know that! Please, let me help you–"
The spirit swung its tail directly towards him, and he just barely managed to jump out of the way. It lifted one of its arms, which Aang saw were winged, and swiped at him again. He managed to evade the blow again with a roll, but the creature quickly phased closer to him and knocked him several feet back with its tail, and he grunted in frustration. This was starting to feel like his first encounter with Hei Bai all over again.
"Why are you fighting us? What have we done to upset you?" he pleaded, and glanced back nervously at the cave. His eyes widened when he saw Zuko running towards him, broadswords drawn.
"Zu– Lee, go back!" Aang yelled in frustration as they both evaded a blow from the creature's tail. "That won't work! Remember what happened when you tried last time?"
"Well, I'm not just gonna sit back there and watch this thing try to beat you up!" Zuko shot back angrily, and lunged to attack the spirit.
"Neither am I!"
Aang and Zuko were both momentarily distracted by the voice of Sokka. They turned to see the Water Tribe boy running towards them, machete drawn as he shouted a war cry.
"Sokka, no! " Aang and Zuko both yelled at the same time.
The spirit took its opportunity to strike, and its tail suddenly split into a multitude of what looked like ribbons, each one pinning down Aang, Zuko, and Sokka.
"You distracted us!" Zuko yelled angrily as he fought against the spirit's restraints. "Now none of us can fight it!"
"Neither of you should be trying to fight it!" Aang yelled back. He struggled under the spirit's grip, but it was useless.
The beast roared, and its glowing, beak-like orange mouth revealed many sharp teeth. Even Hei Bai had not been this vicious.
How on earth was Aang supposed to get everyone out of this?
Suddenly, the spirit froze. In the momentary silence, to his complete surprise, Aang heard what sounded like a flute echoing in the distance, its tune pleasant and light. As the lone flute's tune slowly increased in volume, it was joined by a second flute playing in harmony.
Aang quickly began to notice the spirit's form was shifting, almost like it was coming in and out of focus. Eventually, the spirit's form shifted completely. While it still looked very much like a spirit, its previously harsh edges had somehow been softened, and it now resembled a giant, scaly, bird-like animal. The spirit calmly released the three boys, turned around, and faded away much like Hei Bai had done in Senlin Village.
Aang sat up and sighed in relief, but felt unable to relax completely. Who had been playing those flutes, and how had they been able to get the spirit to calm down when he—the bridge between humanity and spirits—couldn't?
"Is everyone okay?" Katara cried out as she jogged over to the boys. "I–I wanted to help, but I didn't know what to do!"
"It's okay Katara," Sokka said as he pushed himself off the ground, looking slightly shaken. "We're fine."
Katara squeezed her brother into a tight hug, and the strength of it made him grunt. "Why would you just run out there screaming like that? Didn't Lirin teach you anything? Meathead…" she mumbled.
"I told you guys not to attack it," Aang said in slight annoyance as he helped pull Zuko up from the ground.
"What even was that thing?" Katara asked.
"A dark spirit," Zuko answered. "Exactly like Gilak warned us about."
"I knew we shouldn't have come here," Sokka said, shaking his head. "We need to go back to Wolf Cove. Right now."
Aang frowned. "But we haven't even gotten to Ausuittuq yet!"
"We won't get anywhere if we stick around here much longer!" Sokka argued.
"Are you all okay?" a new voice interjected.
Aang spun around to see two Water Tribespeople standing several feet behind them. One was holding a spear, while the other had a bow on their back. Neither of their weapons were aimed at them, but both Sokka and Zuko immediately raised their own weapons nonetheless.
"We're fine," Aang replied. He suddenly noticed the wooden flutes hanging from both of the strangers' hips. "You were the ones who played the flutes earlier?" He stared at them wide-eyed.
The archer, who appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties, nodded in reply. They were very tall, sported a wolf tail and two long plaits of hair on either side of their face, and were carrying a large sack on their shoulder.
"Yes! That was us! Sorry. My sibling doesn't speak much," said the other hunter, who was much shorter and stockier, sported a short, cropped hairstyle, and looked to be around the same age as the archer, possibly a year or two older. "They can speak, but for some reason, most of the time they choose not to."
"That is correct, dear sister," the archer confirmed.
"Katjuk," the hunter with the spear groaned, shaking her head.
"Whatever you did saved our lives back there," Aang said, pressing his palm and fist together with a bow. "Thank you."
"Ahem," Sokka interjected loudly, having dropped his blade to his side upon realizing that these two strangers were not hostile. "So, are you gonna tell us who you are, or…?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the shorter hunter exclaimed apologetically. "I'm Miki, and this is my sibling Katjuk."
"Nice to meet you!" Aang smiled. It was nice to see some friendly faces. "I'm Aang, and this is Lee, Sokka, and Katara."
Katara stepped forward and gave a friendly wave. "Hello! Sokka and I are from Wolf Cove up north. Our dad is the village chief, Hakoda."
"The big village!" Miki gasped, a smile spreading across her face. "We haven't traded with you guys in ages! I'm so excited to see what you've brought! Penguin's Landing never has good stuff," she pouted.
"We're not here to trade," Zuko interjected with slight irritation. "Can either of you please explain to us what just happened with that spirit?"
"Oh yeah!" Miki replied. "The spirits are affected by music. Our flute-playing can pacify them for a short amount of time, though it sadly doesn't seem to make them completely go back to normal."
"They always come back dark," Katjuk said, shaking their head.
"Affected by music…" Aang echoed. He began to recall the use of chimes and pan flutes by the Air Nomad monks to aid in spiritual meditation. It made sense.
"So that thing could just come back at any time and start attacking us again?" Sokka asked, eyes darting around nervously.
"Well, thankfully most of the pacified spirits seem to stay that way for at least a little bit," Miki said. "We usually don't stick around long enough to find out exactly how long, though."
"You said spirits . As in, there are more than one?" Zuko asked with a frown, and glanced at Aang.
Aang could guess what the Fire Prince was likely thinking. Multiple dark spirits who could only be pacified temporarily with music? It sounded like this would be a more difficult issue to resolve than they had previously thought.
"Are you two from Ausuittuq?" Katara asked. "Is it nearby?"
"Yes," Miki replied. "But if you're not here to trade, why are you here?"
Aang and Katara looked at one another. "We're here to help," Aang replied.
"So let me get this straight," Miki said as she and her sibling led the gang to the village on foot. Aang had offered to fly them there, but Sokka had smartly pointed out that landing a 'ten ton magical monster' at the village's front doorstep might not be such a good idea. "You're the Avatar."
"Yep," Aang replied.
"And this giant beast is your… flying buffalo?" she asked, using her thumb to point to Appa behind her.
"Flying bison," Aang corrected, and Appa roared in agreement.
"And your flying cat."
"Lemur," Zuko corrected, and Momo chirped from where he sat on his shoulder.
Miki nodded slowly as she looked at Zuko. "You rescued the Avatar from the iceberg he was frozen in for the past century."
"Uh huh," Zuko replied.
Lastly, she pointed to Sokka and Katara. "And your village is about to be attacked by the Southern Raiders in less than two months? And you know this because the Avatar had a vision about it?"
"That's pretty much it," Sokka replied, while Katara nodded.
"But that still doesn't answer my question. What are you all doing here?"
"Well…" Aang began. "We were originally sent on a mission by Katara and Sokka's dad to go to ask the other villages closest to Wolf Cove for aid against the Southern Raider attack."
"We went to Penguin's Landing first and managed to convince Chief Gilak to send some of his warriors to help," Katara added. "But when we told him we were going to Ausuittuq next, he warned us that your village's population has been shrinking, and that there were rumors of dark spirits."
"Which we now definitely know is true," Aang said. "And as the Avatar, I'm the great bridge between humans and spirits, meaning I can help!"
Katjuk and Miki shared a surprised but hopeful glance.
"Thank you, Avatar," Katjuk said. "You didn't have to take the time to come help us, especially with the deadline you have."
"What kind of Avatar would I be if I didn't?" Aang replied brightly.
Miki smiled gratefully at Aang and sighed. "It's true that our village is… not doing well at the moment. There are only a handful of us left."
"Many were killed," Katjuk added somberly.
"Killed? By the Fire Nation?" Sokka questioned, tightening his grip on his machete handle.
Katjuk nodded. "Two years ago, the Fire Nation found out there were waterbenders both here and in Grey Wolf Village."
"We didn't stand a chance against the Southern Raiders, and lost a lot of good people," Miki said. "Grey Wolf Village was completely destroyed. It was a massacre. Some of the survivors joined our village, but most others fled the continent entirely."
"It's good that they left," Katjuk murmured. "First the Fire Nation, and now dark spirits..."
"Why don't you guys just leave, too?" Sokka asked. "I wouldn't wanna stick around either after all that, especially if freaky glowing monsters were attacking me all the time."
"Katjuk and I are the only villagers who can protect ourselves out here," Miki responded, shaking her head. "We can't just abandon our people to starve."
"What happens to hunters who can't protect themselves out here?" Katara asked concernedly.
"There are no other hunters," Katjuk replied. "It's just us."
Sokka's eyes widened. "Just you?"
"Unfortunately, we have the dark spirits to thank for that," Miki sighed. "To answer your question, Katara: those who can't protect themselves are killed by the spirits."
Aang's eyes slowly widened. "Killed by the spirits?" He had never heard of a spirit killing anyone. Even the enraged Hei Bai hadn't killed any of the Senlin Villagers.
"Well, not 'killed' in the traditional sense," Miki explained. "Those who suffer an attack are always found unconscious, usually in the middle of the tundra. When it first happened, we thought that the afflicted only needed a few days' rest to recover. But we were wrong."
"What happened to them?" Katara asked worriedly.
"Their spirits had been separated from their bodies, and a body can't survive without its spirit for too long," Katjuk replied.
Katara's eyes widened in horror.
"And we didn't know of any way to heal them, to get their spirits back… We still don't… So, eventually…" Miki began to shake, and Katjuk put a comforting hand on their sister's arm.
"I'm so sorry," Aang said softly. He couldn't fathom how horrible that must have been to witness. Could something similar have happened to Iroh and the other Senlin Villagers if Aang had not managed to calm Hei Bai in time? "I've been trying to figure out why that spirit back there was so angry… How long has your village been dealing with dark spirits?"
"They weren't always dark," Katjuk replied. "For generations, our people have lived in harmony with spirits in this area. The reason there are so many here is because of our village's proximity to the South Pole, the spiritual center of the continent."
Miki stopped walking for a moment. "You know, Katjuk, now that I think about it… didn't the spirits start changing after the raid?"
Katjuk nodded. It seemed the two were beginning to come to the same realization. "Could the two be related?"
"I don't know for sure," Aang replied. "But I do know that spirits can be influenced by strong negative emotions, or acts of destruction. I'm sure the Fire Nation caused your people a lot of pain, especially when you lost so many in the raid."
"That is certainly true," Katjuk nodded.
"And it sounds like the spirits aren't helping things by killing more of your people," Katara added, shaking her head somberly.
"It's become pretty dangerous to travel too far from the village," Miki said. "Like I said, Katjuk and I are pretty much the only people who can protect ourselves out here nowadays, and that's thanks to our flutes." She chuckled weakly to herself. "Before all this, we only used them for meditation and storytelling purposes. We never thought we'd have to use them to protect ourselves from dark spirits."
Aang looked at Zuko, and the two shared an uneasy glance. They had discovered the most likely cause of the spirits turning dark, as well as what was temporarily effective at calming them, but Aang still had no idea how he was supposed to resolve the issue. This seemed to be much more complicated of a situation compared to what happened with Hei Bai.
Based on the look in the Fire Prince's eyes, Aang guessed that they were probably both thinking the same thing.
I wish Iroh was here .
"Here we are!" Miki announced. "Home sweet home."
As Zuko looked down the slope ahead of them at the village of Ausuittuq, he realized Gilak had not been exaggerating when he had said that it was small. The village consisted of eight tents, one small igloo, and a wall that looked to be only a couple of feet taller than Zuko himself. Additionally, the village did not have a gate like Wolf Cove and Penguin's Landing. Instead, there was a gap in the wall that was being guarded by a lone, skinny-looking teenager holding a spear at his side.
The boy abruptly flinched upon realizing how many people had approached him. " Miki," the warrior said nervously. "You guys were supposed to bring back meat, not more people!"
"We did bring back meat, Tak," Miki replied with a wave of her hand, and Katjuk slung the large and heavy-looking bag they had been carrying on their shoulder into the boy's arms. "And relax. These are travelers from Wolf Cove!"
"Wolf Cove?" Tak repeated, wide-eyed. "What are they doing here? "
"We don't have time to answer all your questions right now," Miki replied impatiently. "We need to take them to see Thod."
"Okay, okay," Tak sighed. "Just go. They're your responsibility, though."
"Yeah, yeah," Miki said with another wave of her hand, and led the group into the tiny village.
They did not have to walk far. Miki and Katjuk came to a stop at the back of the village next to the lone igloo, where a small group of about fifteen to twenty people, mostly consisting of children, their mothers, and elders, were gathered around a balding old man with long, white hair and a long, white beard. He was sitting on a block of ice, and he moved his arms animatedly as he spoke.
"... and the wolf spent its dying breath defending its pack from the fearsome komodo rhino. Thinking it had won, the komodo rhino taunted the remaining members of the pack: 'Your leader is dead. You have lost.'"
A chorus of gasps erupted from the members of the old man's audience.
"'No,' a small voice replied. It was the youngest wolf in the pack. 'Our pack will not fall apart without our leader. A leader is not what makes a pack strong.'"
The children in the audience began to cheer.
"'Brothers, sisters, siblings—individually, we may be weak, but if we band together, there's nothing we cannot do,' the little wolf cried, and together with his family, they lunged upon the komodo rhino, overpowering it."
The adults in the audience began to cheer as well.
"The komodo rhino's snide laughs transformed to cries of fear and pain as it was defeated by the pack. Together, they tore out its throat, at last having avenged their fallen leader. From that day forward, the wolves vowed to never again allow themselves to be subjected to the oppression of the komodo rhinos, and together, they rebuilt their great city."
The entire group of listeners cheered heartily, and Zuko's brow furrowed as he watched the scene. The metaphor in the story was obvious.
"Yeah!" Sokka cheered. "Go wolves!"
"Who is that?" Katara asked, appearing both inspired and mesmerized.
"One of our elders, Thod," Katjuk replied proudly.
"He's the village storyteller," Miki said with a wide smile. "He reminds us who we are, and he makes sure we don't lose our heart, despite the hardships."
"Ah, Katjuk. Miki," the old man said, walking over to the pair and giving them each a hug. "It warms this icy heart to see that you two have returned safe and sound once again. And I see you have brought some visitors?" Thod smiled at Sokka and Katara.
"Nice to meet you," Katara said with a bow, and elbowed Sokka so that he would do the same. "I'm Katara, and this is Sokka. Our father is Chief Hakoda of Wolf Cove."
"Chief Hakoda! An honorable man. It is a pleasure to meet his children," Thod bowed back politely. "May I ask what brings you to Ausuittuq?"
"Dad sent us on a mission to ask the villages closest to ours for aid," Sokka explained. "We're anticipating a Southern Raider attack on Wolf Cove in less than two months."
Thod's brow furrowed in concern, and his smile slowly disappeared. "What horrible news… I am sorry to hear it," he said, pressing his palms together. "Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've noticed… we do not exactly have the warriors to spare for your cause. I sincerely apologize, seeing as you came all this way…"
"Oh, that's actually not why we're here!" Katara explained, waving her hands back and forth. "We–"
"Just a moment," Thod suddenly interrupted, holding up his palm. "Who are these foreigners?" It seemed he had finally noticed the presence of Zuko and Aang, who had been standing behind Sokka and Katara this whole time, and Zuko noticed that he had a hostile glint in his eyes. While Gilak had been suspicious of them at first as well, this old man somehow gave off a much more unsettling aura.
"Oh, these are our friends, Aang and Lee," Sokka replied, clearly not having noticed the abrupt change in Thod's tone and demeanor. Katara had, though, and she looked quite taken aback.
"I know they're foreigners, Thod," Miki said quickly; it seemed she had noticed the change. "But they aren't just any foreigners." She gestured for Aang to come forward, and she grabbed his shoulders. "This kid is the Avatar! "
Upon hearing the word "Avatar" and taking a closer look at Aang, Thod's demeanor completely changed again, and his eyebrows rose high on his wrinkled forehead. "Arrow tattoos!" he exclaimed.
The small group of villagers—which Zuko was now beginning to realize might just be the entire village—heard Thod's exclamation and had gathered around him once more, murmuring to one another.
"Yep," Aang said quickly, and dove into his pocket to grab his marbles, clearly not wanting a repeat of what happened during their first meeting with Gilak. He grinned widely and presented his floating marble trick, eliciting several gasps from Thod and the villagers.
Almost immediately, Thod dropped to his knees and kowtowed before Aang, startling him and causing him to take a step back. "You've returned to us! At last , you've returned to us, Avatar!"
The rest of the villagers immediately followed suit, and within moments, everyone, including Miki and Katjuk, were kowtowing towards Aang. Zuko was suddenly uncomfortably reminded of his father's coronation.
Aang chuckled awkwardly. "Hey, it's okay, you guys can stand up! And please, just call me Aang!"
No one immediately made a move to do as Aang had asked, and Zuko frowned, seeing his friend was clearly feeling very uncomfortable. He stepped next to Aang and cleared his throat. "Enough bowing. He said you can stand."
Zuko's voice seemed to snap Thod out of it, and the old man quickly stood back up, brushing the snow from the front of his robes, and the rest of the villagers followed suit. "Of course. My apologies, Avatar Aang," he responded, completely ignoring Zuko.
Zuko's frown deepened. Aang had literally just asked to be called by his name alone. He was really starting to not like this Thod guy. In fact, the entire vibe of this village was starting to feel very… off to him.
"The Avatar told us he came here to help us with the dark spirits!" Miki said excitedly. "He said he's the bridge between our world and theirs, so if anyone can help us, he can!"
"So, wait a minute, I'm confused," Sokka interjected. "Is Thod your chief? Gilak said a man named Muktuk is your chief. Where is he?"
Sokka's question was met with momentary silence, and Zuko saw that all of the villagers had varying expressions of sorrow on their faces.
"Dad—Muktuk—is sadly no longer with us," Miki replied quietly, tears welling in her eyes. "Four months ago, he took a group of our remaining strongest warriors and hunters into the tundra. He wanted to get rid of the dark spirits once and for all."
"I tried to warn him not to go," Thod said solemnly, shaking his head. "I told him that spirits cannot merely be defeated with human weapons. They must be cleansed. But he had grown tired of the constant losses."
"He left with twenty people," Miki said, squeezing her eyes shut. "We found them all unconscious the next day."
Zuko looked at Aang, and he could see the distress in the Avatar's gray eyes.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Aang said, and Zuko could tell he was doing his best to appear calm. "I'll do whatever I can to help. That's an Avatar promise." He pressed his palm to his fist and bowed.
Zuko shook his head. We never should have come here…
"This is crazy. You know that, right?" Sokka hissed. "I told you guys we should have just gone home!" He grunted as Momo leapt from where he had been laying on the top of his stomach to curl up around Aang's head.
The four companions were currently laying in their bedrolls in the very tiny guest tent that had been set up for them. Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Aang were all squashed next to one another, and there was barely enough room to stand up.
"If anyone has a chance of helping these people, it's Aang," Katara argued. "Don't discourage him!"
"I'm with Sokka," Zuko said. "I'm sorry, Aang, but this is way too much for you to handle right now. You weren't able to reason with just that one spirit that attacked us—how are you supposed to reason with multiple dark spirits?"
"I know, I know, but I feel like I should at least try…" Aang argued. "I mean, we have a pretty good idea about why they're angry now. I can use that!"
"Look, just because you were successful with Hei Bai doesn't mean you're suddenly an expert in dealing with spirits!" Zuko snapped. He immediately felt guilty when he saw the look on the Avatar's face, and sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to say I think you can't do it, but… what if something goes wrong?" He turned to look Aang directly in the eyes. "What if they kill you, too?"
Aang looked as though he didn't know how to respond, and turned away from Zuko's gaze.
"See? Lee gets it," Sokka said.
"Well, what do you propose we do, then, Sokka?" Katara asked. "These people are still in danger."
Sokka sat up for a moment, hand on his chin as he began to think. "This village is already so small. They've lost most of their warriors, and their chief. They're incredibly vulnerable out here."
"Yes, which is why it would be pretty awful of us to just turn around and say, 'Actually, we can't help. Sorry!'" Katara argued, sitting up as well.
"I know, Katara. I'm not saying we should abandon the village. But what if…" He pressed his lips into a thin line, then he snapped his fingers and smiled. "What if we brought everyone back to Wolf Cove? They'd be safe there, and I'm sure dad would be happy to welcome more people to the village."
"Sokka…" Katara murmured. "That's not a bad idea."
Sokka blinked several times. "Oh. Thanks. It's not often I hear those words from you."
Zuko and Aang sat up as well. "While I agree that it's a good idea," Zuko said, folding his arms. "What if the villagers don't want to leave?"
"He's right. We can't force them," Aang said.
"Maybe we won't have to force them," Sokka replied. "Maybe we can convince them somehow."
"How?" Aang asked. "Even if we can convince some, what about the others?"
A slow smirk spread across Sokka's face. "We don't need to convince everyone. We just need to convince one person."
The following morning, Aang found himself standing alone outside Thod's igloo. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, and made his way inside.
"Excuse me. Elder Thod?"
Thod, who had been meditating on his bedroll in lotus pose, opened his eyes and smiled at him. "Young Avatar," he said warmly. "Do you need to speak with me about something?"
"Yeah…" Aang replied, putting his fist in front of his mouth and clearing his throat. "About your dark spirit problem…"
Thod nodded for Aang to continue. He took it as a good sign that the old man looked curious rather than suspicious.
"You see… I'm not a fully realized Avatar. I'm not anywhere close, actually. I haven't even learned waterbending yet. After we help Wolf Cove with the Raider attack, our next stop is the Northern Water Tribe."
Thod's eyes narrowed. "A pity that you must go to Agna Qel'a to learn waterbending. If it weren't for the ash makers, you could have learned from a great Southern master." He shook his head.
There was that "ash maker" slur again. Aang did not like that he was hearing it for a second time in the span of less than a week.
"Yes, well, um… I talked about it with my friends last night, and I'm just not sure I'm spiritually prepared enough to truly be able to help fix your dark spirit problem for good," Aang continued, fidgeting with his sleeve.
"I see…" Thod replied, and the clear disappointment was evident in his eyes.
The old man's expression shook Aang's resolve. He was about to tell this old man that he wasn't even going to try and help with the dark spirits, despite that literally being one of his jobs as Avatar. He hadn't even been here twenty-four hours, and he was already disappointing people…
"But that doesn't mean I'm not going to help!" Aang said quickly. "Sokka and Katara said that Chief Hakoda would be happy to welcome the people of Ausuittuq as new residents of Wolf Cove. Everyone would be safe and well-protected there, and you wouldn't have to worry about the dark spirits."
Thod's eyebrows rose. "I… Well, that is certainly a generous offer. But our people have lived here for generations. This is our ancestral homeland. We can't just… leave."
There was the reaction Aang had been expecting. "I know," he said. "And I know how difficult it is to have to say goodbye to the home you knew for so long. That's how I felt when I first went back to the Southern Air Temple and had to leave it again."
Thod looked at him with genuine sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Avatar Aang. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you."
Aang shook his head and looked at the ground. "It was really hard, but I had to accept that things weren't ever going to go back to how they were. If I had just stayed at the abandoned temple, I would never have been able to move on and start healing. And I wouldn't be here now."
Thod nodded slowly.
"You've already lost so many people, not just to the Fire Nation, but to dark spirits," Aang continued. "And I can't guarantee that I can fix your problem, even if I try my best. Just… try to think about what's best for your village."
Thod was silent for several long moments.
"I'm sorry," he said at last. "But I can't. I won't force my people to abandon our home." He shook his head. "You say that we'd be safer in Wolf Cove, and yet you know that the Southern Raiders are attacking it in less than two months."
"Well, yes," Aang replied. "But Chief Hakoda's preparing his warriors right now, and Chief Gilak already agreed to send some of his own warriors to help. We have a really good chance–"
"No," Thod said firmly, and Aang could hear a hint of anger in the old man's voice. "You clearly don't know what the Raiders are like. We have never been able to defeat them. They always come, they always take what they want, and they always leave suffering in their wake."
Aang frowned, beginning to grow irritated as well. "But what if things are different this time? The Southern Water Tribe will be more prepared to fight the Raiders than it has in decades. We can win."
"You don't know that for certain," Thod countered.
"No, I don't," Aang sighed in exasperation. "But you don't know that we can't!"
Thod narrowed his eyes again. "Fine. So be it. If you are not going to even try to help us cleanse the dark spirits, then I think it's best you leave."
This statement struck Aang like a heavy blow. He said nothing as he turned to leave, and tried to ignore the intense wave of guilt that was threatening to consume him from the inside out.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Aang sighed dejectedly as he paced nervously next to Appa outside the village walls that evening. "I tried talking to the other villagers too, even Miki and Katjuk, but nobody even wanted to consider leaving without Thod's explicit approval."
"I'm not surprised," Zuko sighed, folding his arms.
"These people practically worship the guy," Sokka added. "It's creepy."
Aang groaned in frustration. "If I had just been able to convince him, everything would be so much easier."
"So even after everything you said to Thod, he still doesn't want to leave?" Katara asked incredulously. "You definitely would have convinced me."
"He's just a stubborn old man, Katara," Sokka said. "You know what old people are like."
Zuko sighed audibly. "I hate to say it, but at this point, I think we just need to leave," he said. "I know it's not ideal, but Aang shouldn't have to risk his life to try and help these people with their spirit problem. And we gave Thod a perfectly good alternative option. A better one, in my opinion, but he just won't see reason."
Katara shook her head. "There has to be some other way we can convince everyone to come with us…"
"Why do they think they'll be safer if they just stay here?" Sokka said frustratedly. "If they do, they'll keep getting attacked by spirits until there's no one left. If they go to Wolf Cove, sure, the Southern Raiders are going to attack, but we're gonna be ready for them! And at least we know we can actually fight the Southern Raiders. Fighting dark spirits just seems to make them kill you more quickly."
"There's no use sitting around and complaining about it," Zuko said, standing up. "I'm telling you guys, we should just leave."
Aang's fists shook at his side as he listened to his friends, his eyes squeezing shut. "I won't just leave!" he finally exclaimed, startling everyone. He then sighed. "... Not without trying at least one more time to calm the spirits."
"No," Zuko argued. "Aang, you shouldn't–"
Suddenly, the Fire Prince froze, as did Sokka and Katara.
Aang winced in pain as he felt his head begin to pound just as it had the previous night, and he was nearly overcome by a wave of what could only be described as a crippling feeling of anger and anguish, this time much stronger than what he had felt when the spirit had attacked them before. "Agh!" he cried out, holding his head in his hands as he fell to his knees.
"Aang!" Zuko exclaimed, rushing over to help him stand back up. "... Another dark spirit is coming, isn't it?"
Aang slowly opened his eyes and nodded. He took a deep breath through his nose as he steadied himself on his feet. He tried to make himself understand where these emotions were coming from, and that they were not his own, despite knowing them well.
Sokka whipped his head around anxiously, holding his machete up in front of him. "Where's the spirit? I can't see anything."
Aang looked up at the horizon, and at last, the same winged purple spirit from before materialized at the top of the slope.
However, the spirit was not alone this time. Behind it materialized several more dark spirits large and small, all monstrous and brimming with hostile energy.
"Oh no…" Zuko murmured.
Aang felt his heart begin to pound in his chest. What had drawn them all to the same place at the same time?
"It looks like I don't have a choice anymore," Aang said, standing up straight and willing his voice to remain steady. "I have to try to pacify them to protect the village."
"Aang, no. There's way too many!" Zuko argued in panic. "You really think you can calm all of them?"
Aang shook his head. "No... But I have to try." He looked back to the horizon. Strangely, the spirits had not made any moves yet. He saw this as his opportunity, and turned back to Sokka and Katara, who were staring at the spirits with horrified expressions. "Sokka, Katara—can you guys help Lee gather the villagers and get them somewhere safe?"
"I'm not going anywhere," Zuko interjected. The Fire Prince's intense gaze pierced Aang's own, amber eyes blazing. "I won't leave you."
Aang groaned. "Fine!" he shot back in frustration before turning back to Sokka and Katara. "Take Appa, and try to fit as many villagers on him as you can," he instructed the Water Tribe siblings. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but I think everyone should be able to fit." He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "If I fail… I want you to fly everyone back to Wolf Cove."
"Aang, we can't just abandon you," Katara pleaded. "There has to be something we can do! The world can't lose the Avatar again. And we can't lose you! "
"I'm sorry, Katara," Aang replied, avoiding her gaze.
"Come on, let's just go!" Sokka said, pulling his sister with him towards the village as she stared back at Aang with tears in her eyes.
"Zuko, you really should go with them," Aang begged. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you because you stayed here with me."
"And you think I could live with myself if something happened to you because I wasn't here to help?" Zuko countered.
Aang's eyes widened and he smiled slightly. "Alright, alright," he conceded. "Just… stay back here for now. I'm going to go up there and try to talk with the spirits." He took a deep breath, picked up his staff, and tapped Momo's foot, causing the lemur to jump off of his shoulder and fly over to Zuko's.
As he slowly walked up the slope towards the line of spirits, he internally called out to his predecessor. Avatar Roku, Aang pleaded. Anyone. Please. I need your help. I need to know how to calm these spirits. There has to be someone who knows what I can do.
Unfortunately, there was no response. It seemed he was on his own.
"Great spirits of the South," Aang called out as he approached the hoard. "Please listen to me. I'm Avatar Aang, the bridge between humanity and spirits."
Several spirits began to growl, though none made a move to attack. He took this as a good sign.
"I know about the atrocities committed on your sacred land," he continued. "I know what the Fire Nation did. And I understand your pain, and your anger!"
Still, no answer from the spirits.
"When I found out what the Fire Nation did to my people, I was so angry and hurt, and I lost control… That's what's happening to all of you, isn't it?"
At last, he came face to face with the winged purple spirit. It towered over him menacingly.
"You don't have to live in pain anymore. It's okay to be upset, but it's not okay to hurt people over it," he said. "Please. The Fire Nation isn't here anymore. You don't have to hurt anyone."
To his surprise, the purple spirit's form had begun to blur slightly, as did the forms of some of the surrounding spirits. Was his speech working?
"Who are you to tell us how to feel?"
Aang felt himself jump. Was that the voice of a spirit?
"Exactly," another voice said. "We were all very surprised when we sensed Raava's presence, Avatar. We've all been quite curious to see what you could possibly be doing down here."
Raava? Aang wondered, having no idea who or what the spirit was referring to.
"Where have you been for the past century? You abandoned this world when you were supposed to protect it."
"What? That wasn't my fault! I never meant to be gone that long…"
"Do you know just how much damage humans have caused since you've been gone? "
"I know the Fire Nation has done a lot of horrible things, but I'm going to stop them, I–"
"What does it matter what nation they're from? All humans are the same!"
"They destroy our sacred forests! They pollute our rivers and oceans! They spill senseless blood on our lands!"
"Humanity no longer respects the spirits!"
"What about Ausuittuq?" Aang asked, growing more and more anxious by the second. "They've taken care of this land for generations, they respect the spirits!"
"The Avatar does speak true. Those humans at least have done their best to uphold the ways of their ancestors."
"So what? A tiny group of humans being decent doesn't make up for the thousands of others who have no respect for the spirits or the balance of this world!"
"Enough chatter!" the large purple spirit bellowed, lifting its wings, and the voices of the spirits quieted down. "This is our sacred land. Humans have devastated the balance of this place. They do not belong here anymore. You should not be protecting them, Avatar."
Aang felt a spike of panic in his stomach. "No, please! Leave the villagers alone! They don't want to leave, they want to stay here, and they'll continue to respect the spirits as they always have!"
"They don't want to leave?" The purple spirit echoed. "Then we will make them leave."
"I can't let you hurt them," Aang said, moving into a defensive position out of instinct, pointing his staff forward.
A chorus of gasps echoed from the group of spirits.
"Look at him! He's going to try and bend at us! "
"We see whose side you're really on, Avatar."
"We won't tolerate such disrespect!"
The murmuring of the spirits grew louder, and their forms began to shift solidly back to those of dark spirits. Eventually, Aang could no longer hear anything but distorted growling.
No, no, no, he thought. They're going to attack the village!
He began to back away slowly, glancing behind him at the distant shape of Zuko next to the village wall. He wanted to signal for him to run, but he also didn't want to somehow spur the spirits into action. He could only hope that Zuko could see what was happening from where he was and have enough sense to go find Katara and Sokka and flee with them.
"I don't want to fight you," Aang pleaded.
"Get out of our way, Avatar," the large purple spirit ordered. "You cannot stop us. We have made our decision."
"Oof!" Aang grunted in pain as the heavy force of the winged spirit's tail slammed into him, knocking him back several feet down the slope.
"Aang!" he heard Zuko yell from behind him.
Aang winced as he pushed himself to his feet. His staff had been flung off to the side, and he ran over to attempt to grab it when a spirit materialized in front of him, knocking him back again.
"Ugh!" he grunted again. He didn't want to have to use his bending against the spirits, but they were quickly advancing on the village. He had no choice. "Please, just stop!" he cried out, and moved his arms to create a blast of wind, which actually managed to blow several of the spirits back.
Thankfully, this gave him an opening to grab his staff, which he used to enhance his air blasts as the spirits continued to attack him. However, as he had feared, this simply seemed to make the spirits angrier, and several managed to phase past him to Ausuittuq, where they began to destroy it.
"No! Stop!" Aang cried, turning around to run towards the village.
Suddenly, a spirit materialized directly in front of him, taking him off guard, and it pinned him to the ground.
"Let him go!" Aang heard Zuko yell again, though this time, he sounded much closer.
"Zuko, don't! You need to stay back!"
"Rrrrrrah!" Zuko screamed, shooting a large blast of fire at the spirit who was holding Aang down, causing a part of it to disappear completely. It loosened its grip on Aang, and he was able to blow it off of him with a blast of airbending and run over to Zuko, who had shot several more fire blasts at the other spirits, momentarily slowing them down.
"Thanks, hotman," Aang said gratefully. "But are you sure it's safe to use your firebending right now?"
Zuko paled for a moment. "Monkey feathers! I–I didn't even realize what I was doing! I just saw you were in danger and I guess I wasn't thinking!" He whipped his head around to look back at the village, as did Aang; it was still being ravaged by dark spirits.
"Nobody else should still be around," Zuko said, clearly noticing Aang's dismayed expression. "I saw Katara and Sokka fly off on Appa a few minutes ago, it looked like they had managed to pack all of the villagers into the saddle!"
"Thank goodness," Aang sighed. "At least everyone's safe. But I don't know if these spirits are gonna let us leave as easily…"
Suddenly, a long, ribbony red spirit lunged at them, and Zuko quickly unsheathed his broadswords, slicing directly through it several times.
Unfortunately, however, it soon became clear that Zuko's attack hadn't actually harmed the spirit—instead, each section of the spirit that Zuko had sliced had morphed into a smaller version of the same spirit!
Zuko lurched as one of the small spirits latched onto his leg. Another jumped at him and latched onto his arm, then another, and another. Before long, Zuko was overcome by the creatures, and Aang began to panic again as he tried to figure out a way to get them off of his friend.
"Aang! Help!" Zuko cried out, falling to the ground and dropping his broadswords. He even tried to firebend again, but the spirits quickly pinned down his hands.
The red spirit's individual parts morphed together again, and it pinned Zuko to the snowy ground.
"Let go of my friend!" Aang demanded, intending to use an air blast to knock the creature off of Zuko, when suddenly, he felt himself being yanked back again as something curled around his arms and waist. He was whipped around, now face-to-face with the purple winged spirit once again.
"You forced our hand, Avatar," it said, shaking its head.
"I never meant for any of this to happen," Aang cried out as he struggled in vain. "Ausuittuq is gone, and it's all my fault…"
"We would have destroyed the human settlement eventually regardless of your presence here," the spirit said, almost as if it were attempting to cheer Aang up in some twisted way. "It is unfortunate that we were forced to fight you. But the Avatar always sides with humans, and neglects the spirits. Your predecessor was the same, and because of him, the world has fallen completely out of balance!"
"Well I want to restore balance! But I've barely gotten a chance to even try, and if you kill me now, I never will!"
Aang craned his neck back to look at Zuko, who was still struggling to free himself from the red spirit. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening—Zuko's expression was slackening, and a faint blue glow seemed to appear just above his skin. Aang could see the Fire Prince's spirit being torn from his body!
As the intensity of Aang's fear increased, it began to morph into anger, and he began to feel himself losing control. No, please, he begged, fighting to keep the Avatar State from taking over. It'll only make things worse! And I'll just end up hurting Zuko!
"Raava…?!" Aang felt the purple spirit's grip on him loosen slightly, and turned to see that its many eyes had widened significantly. It almost looked… afraid.
Just as Aang was about to submit to the Avatar State, the pleasant sound of two flutes echoed in his ears, and he was immediately snapped out of it. "Katjuk! Miki!"
The flutes' tune had thankfully once again caused the purple spirit to freeze, its form shifting back and forth from light to dark as it had the previous night. Aang finally managed to slip out of its grip, landing softly into the snow, and looked up to see Appa floating overhead. Sokka was sitting on the bison's head, holding the reins, and Katara, Miki, and Katjuk were seated in the saddle.
"Aang! Hurry and get Lee!" Katara called as Appa lowered slowly. "Katjuk said they've never used the flutes on this many spirits at the same time, and they don't know how long they can keep them all pacified!"
Aang nodded and quickly made his way over to the now unconscious Zuko, grabbing his staff on the way. He pulled the Fire Prince out of the now unmoving red spirit's grasp and hugged him close. "Zuko… please, please tell me it's not too late," he murmured.
"... Aang? What happened?"
Aang pulled back and beamed at Zuko. "You're okay! Thank goodness!" He hugged the Fire Prince tight again. "You still have your spirit!"
"Huh?" Zuko replied, still confused.
"I'll explain later. Right now, I've got to fly us up to Appa," Aang said, pointing above him. "We don't have much time, so put your arms around my neck so you don't fall."
He crouched down slightly, and a now wide-eyed and flushed-looking Zuko quickly did as he was told, linking his arms around Aang's neck from behind.
"Hang on tight, okay?" Aang instructed, flicking open his glider.
"O–okay!" Zuko stuttered.
Aang took off, soaring above Appa and coming to a landing on his saddle.
"We got 'em!" Sokka exclaimed with a relieved grin. "Now come on, let's get out of here before those spirits snap out of it!"
"Are you sure the villagers are safe wherever you left them?" Aang asked worriedly as they flew north, away from the village. "What if more dark spirits attacked them when you went back to rescue us?"
"Thod was actually the one who told us where to go," Katara said. "He said everyone should be safe outside of the borders of Ausuittuq's ancestral lands."
Aang nodded; that would make sense. He just hoped the spirits weren't angry enough to ignore those borders.
"Is your friend Lee going to be okay?" Miki asked concernedly. "You're sure he still has his spirit?"
"He's fine," Aang replied, smiling slightly as he looked down at his friend. Zuko had passed back out almost immediately after they had landed in the saddle; the Fire Prince was currently fast asleep, head resting on Aang's shoulder. "Just exhausted."
"That's a relief," Miki exhaled.
"Thank you both again, by the way," Aang said. "I never thought that music would save my life someday. Especially not twice."
Katjuk smiled. "Always a pleasure to help the Avatar."
"We're here," Sokka called out over his shoulder, and within moments, they had landed next to the mouth of a large cave, similar to the one they had attempted to camp in the night prior.
All villagers seemed to be accounted for, thankfully. Aang felt a pang of sympathy in his heart as he saw the somber looks on everyones' faces. However, they all seemed to perk up a bit when they realized that the Avatar had returned safe and sound.
Aang attempted to rouse Zuko so they could dismount, but the Fire Prince merely grumbled. He sighed and shook his head with a smirk, then scooped the unconscious firebender into his arms and jumped out of the saddle, using airbending to soften their landing.
"Thank the spirits!" Thod cried out as he rushed over to the group. "I am so glad you are alright, Avatar Aang!"
"Me too," Aang said, gently placing Zuko feet-first onto the ground, while Katara and Sokka hurried over to put each of his arms around their shoulders.
"Aang, how on earth were you just carrying Lee? He's so heavy!" Sokka complained, clearly struggling.
"Or maybe you're just weak," Katara joked with a smirk, and Sokka glared at her as they carried Zuko to a bedroll.
"You risked your life to protect the village," Thod said. "We saw it from the air."
"Of course. I was just doing my duty as the Avatar."
"Avatar or not," Katjuk said, putting their hand on his shoulder. "Not just anyone would do that for a random tiny village they had only known for a day. You're a good kid, Aang."
Aang smiled up at the archer for a moment, then sighed and slumped his shoulders. "But I couldn't stop them. I tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't listen to me, and I was too weak to fight them. They seem to hate all of humanity for what the Fire Nation did, and they were angry with me for not being here to stop it… I'm sorry. I guess I'm a pretty useless Avatar."
"Don't say that!" Miki chided. "You're just a kid! We should never have put that much pressure on you in the first place. Besides, if it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't even be standing here right now."
"The siblings speak the truth, Ava– Aang," Thod said. "We owe you a great deal."
"You don't owe me anything," Aang replied, shaking his head.
"Then at least allow me to apologize," Thod insisted. "I was wrong to decline your offer to move the village. Because of my stubbornness, I almost caused the world to lose the Avatar again."
"It's alright," Aang said. "I understand. Like I said, I know how hard it is to leave the place you've called home for so long."
Thod chuckled slightly. "You really are very wise for your age. The world is lucky to have such an Avatar."
Aang smiled at the old man in return. "So were you able to bring any supplies with you when you left?" he asked, scanning the cavern.
"We were able to squeeze in one large bag of food and a few full waterskins," Miki answered. "But they probably won't last us long."
Aang nodded. "Sounds like we should head to Wolf Cove as soon as possible, then."
NOTES: There are lots of little notes/fun facts for this one, so please bear with me as I list them out here:
- "Ausuittuq" is an Inuit word meaning "place that never thaws." The village doesn't exist in AtLA canon, I just created it for this AU like I did with Penguin's Landing. Grey Wolf Village, on the other hand, *was* a canonical village (info about it can be found in one of the guidebooks for the AtLA Tabletop RPG) that got destroyed by the Fire Nation sometime around 95AG.
- Speaking of timelines - since it's been a couple months since the winter solstice, it is currently mid to late winter of early 97AG in the AU timeline. The rest of Book 2 will continue through spring, summer, and fall and end in the winter of late 97AG-early 98AG. By that time, everyone will have had a birthday at some point, so Zuko will be 14, Aang and Sokka will be 13, and Katara will be 12.
- Thod is another character from the "North and South" comic trilogy - he's Gilak's second-in-command and a storyteller who inspires the SWT rebels.
- I completely made up all other new characters in this chapter (Miki, Katjuk, Tak, Muktuk) - I also have really been wanting to incorporate a nonbinary character at some point (being nonbinary myself), so that's how Katjuk was born lol.
- "Ash maker" being slur for firebenders is canon. Thod and Gilak use the term to refer to Zuko in "North and South", and Aang basically says that he doesn't appreciate them using a slur to refer to his friend.
- Flutes/music pacifying spirits is actually something I got from Book 2 of Legend of Korra, where Bumi uses a flute to temporarily pacify a dark spirit (though it doesn't work super well for him).
- Poor Zuko... he got to be carried by Aang, but he wasn't even conscious for it lol