WARNING; a few chapters will be skipped as i don't want to drag book 1 out.. plus I have a number of changes to make from the original plot.
ASH IN THE SKY
(ROKU'S TEMPLE)
Shinra sat on Appa's saddle as they flew over the open ocean, one of his books in his lap as he studied its contents, both words and the illustrations of hand signs. "Ninjutsu For Dummies" was its title and Shinra wondered if the author actually knew their title was a backhanded insult to everyone who bought it.
Shinra decided to look up for the first time in what felt like over an hour. "How much longer till we get there?"
"Honestly I can't say" Aang replied.
"Of all the weird things we've done so far, flying directly into the Fire Nation definitely tops the list" Shinra sighed as he closed his book, using a small strip of cloth as a bookmark.
It was... An eventful couple weeks to say the least.
For one, they'd made another pitstop that got them in trouble. Particularly, in the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu where the nutty King basically kidnapped them and challenged Aang to a lot of crazy shit including a duel. Shinra however managed to escape getting kidnapped the same time Sokka and Katara did and managed to hide out till Aang had to fight the King. He'd only managed to disable the other fighters that'd been given to Aang as options. As it turned out, the King was actually Aang's childhood friend the whole time. He'd just done all he did to teach Aang how to think outside the box.
Or as Shinra put it to them "honestly, there shouldn't be a box in the first place"
Then they'd freed an entire ship full of Earth Kingdom prisoners, particularly a boy named Haru and his father.
And most recently, Aang had a little spirit world adventure after Sokka got kidnapped by an angry spirit who was mad about the forest getting burned down. That adventure was what led Aang to visit the temple of Roku, the past Avatar where he was given a vision of a comet.
And now here they were, heading to that same temple which happened to be situated in the Fire Nation.
How convenient.
About thirty minutes later, Shinra looked at the clouds around them as they flew,his hair still being ruffled by the wind... Then he noticed something.
"Hey guys do you smell that?" Shinra furowed his eyebrows. They all sniffed the air to smell what he was talking about.
"Smoke?" Sokka asked.
Shinra followed the smell and immediately had a mix between worry and exasperation on his face. "Oh come on!"
"Aang, there's trouble!" Katara called out. Sokka followed their gaze to see a Fire Nation ship with none other than Zuko standing on its bow.
"And it's gaining fast!" Sokka said.
"Can we make one trip where we're not being hunted or shot at?" Shinra complained.
"Aang," Sokka said. "might I suggest we go faster... Now?!"
Aang wasted no time in whipping Appa's reins to make the sky bison go faster.
"They're starting to catch up!" Katara yelled. At that moment, multiple fireballs began flying towards the team and Aang kept pulling on Appa's reins to avoid them.
"Fuck it,at this rate, we're gonna get hit!" Shinra tried to hold on to the saddle. "Aang, keep Appa steady!"
"Why?!" The Airbender asked from his position on Appa's head.
"I'm gonna slow them down" Ares had his eyes fixed on the ship. "or at least stop the fireballs"
"Can you even do that?!" Sokka asked.
"Let's find out" Shinra got up and immediately spawned a clone who immediately made a lightning blade. Shinra himself grabbed the clone's left arm.
"Ready?" Shinra asked his clone who nodded, the blue lightning crackling in his right hand. He immediately threw the clone off Appa's saddle, immediately catapulting him towards the nearest fireball, the blue lightning still in his right hand.
Shinra pursed his lips as the lightning technique came in contact with the fireball, destroying it completely. "Okay, it works"
"Aang,can you make Appa go any faster?!" Sokka asked.
"Yeah,but we have a big problem!" Aang yelled back.
"Which is?" Shinra asked. Katara crawled towards where Aang sat and looked to see a bunch of boats circling.
"A blockade!" Katara said.
"Can't we just power through and ram it?" Shinra asked.
"If we head north, we'll avoid both the Fire Nation and the blockade" Aang argued.
"You said you need to speak to Roku urgently!" Shinra said. "Going north would just take more time!"
"This is exactly why I didn't want you guys to come!" Aang groaned.
"And this is exactly why we came with you" Katara replied.
"Fine," Aang sighed,not willing to argue. "we'll do it"
"Let's run this blockade!" Sokka said as Shinra nodded in agreement.
Aang immediately whipped Appa's reins, causing them to descend at a high speed towards the ocean below. Shinra then noticed a few catapults with fireballs readily ignited on them.
"Damnit..." He whispered.
He quickly placed his fingers into the cross sign once more,this time summoning five more clones... Causing Appa to grunt in protest at the weight of the sudden extra passengers.
"Sorry Appa!" Shinra apologized as the clones all had lightning blades charged. Seconds later,the clones went flying, thrusting their bolts of lightning into catapults they came in contact with while appa still dodged the fireballs that the others launched.
Shinra felt his Chakra reserves reduce due to using two high ranked Jutsu at once. One of the fireballs caused an explosion that sent Shinra and Sokka flying off Appa's saddle. Luckily,the bison did a somersault and caught the two dark skinned boys before they plunged into the ocean.
"Everyone okay?" Katara asked.
"I just saw my life flash before my eyes..." Shinra whispered, grabbing his chest with his eyes wide from shock. "But aside from that... I'm good"
"I'm good too" Sokka said.
Aang takes a glance behind and his eyes widen.
"Shinra! incoming!"
Looking up,the ninja noticed the fireball heading directly towards them and his hands quickly went into a blur as he weaved the hand signs for Gale Palm.
A gale of wind immediately shot forth from the boy's palms, destroying the flaming projectile. But another one was quickly fired off as well. Shinra then dropped to his knees. Kami, this was getting exhausting.
"Aang!" He called out. "A little help?!"
The bald boy got off his seat and quickly leapt towards the fire ball with his foot extended. A strong gust of wind erupted from his foot, destroying the fireball. Aang was suddenly pushed back on to Appa by the wind,the water tribe siblings catching him immediately.
"We made it..." Shinra breathed out.
"We got into the Fire Nation," Sokka said, eyes wide with disbelief. "Great!"
"Now to Roku's temple..." Shinra laid back on the saddle.
-
"So,where do you think they're going, commander?" The Captain asked.
"I don know..." The Commander - Zhao, replied. "But I bet a certain banished prince will know..."
Zhao clenched his fists, seeing the Avatar and his friends escape him. So, that was the strange new boy running around with the Avatar? He seemed to be as powerful as people described and also seemed to indeed possess Airbending And lightning. But how had he multiplied himself? Where had this child come from?
"Commander Zhao, the boarding party is ready to board Zuko's ship" the Captain said. Zhao looked at Zuko's ship before making up his mind.
"Cut the engines!" Zhao ordered.
"Sir?" The Captain said.
"Let them pass..." Zhao said, a smile growing on his face. "I want to see where the banished prince is going"
About an hour later,the group of kids eventually arrived on the island Aang saw during his visit to the spirit world. Shinra, who'd taken that time to rest from his chakra usage,snapped his eyes fully open once Appa landed.
After all the kids got off,the bison fell over,tired from the long period of time spent flying.
"We did it,buddy" Aang hugged his flying. "nice flying"
"Honestly, he helped us big time" Shinra reached out, petting the sky bison himself. "Thanks Appa"
Appa roared happily at his praise and stuck his tongue out. Katara then walked over and rubbed his belly. "You must be so tired"
"Actually I feel fine" Sokka said, stretching and flexing his muscles. "Refreshed and ready to fight some firebenders!"
"Dude,she was talking to Appa" Shinra rolled his eyes as he dusted his vest.
"Oh,well I was... Talking to momo" Sokka said, pointing to the flying lemur who was on a tree branch doing what appeared to be pull-ups, causing Shinra to laugh.
Walking towards the Fire temple, Shinra noticed that there were no guards anywhere.
"If this is a temple dedicated to the previous Avatar, shouldn't people be around?" Shinra asked. "You know,to guard it?"
"I don't know" Aang replied. "maybe after Roku died everyone abandoned it"
"I don't know why but I find that very unlikely" Shinra shook his head as looked around.
Aang and Shinra pushed the doors open, revealing the giant chamber they now stood in.
"Woah..." Shinra whispered as they admired the temple's interior beauty along with the rest of the team. Suddenly Sokka spoke.
"Guys, someone's coming" Sokka said. They then heard footsteps that quickly revealed to belong to men dressed in red robes.
"We are the Fire sages" One of them spoke. "Guardians of the Temple of the Avatar"
'They have sages here too?' Shinra thought.
"Great!" Aang spoke up. "I am the Avatar!"
"We know" was the sage's only reply before he and the others began shooting fire at the four kids.
"Guess they're not here to welcome us!" Shinra said, placing his fingers into the cross sign and summoning two clones, much to the sages' shock.
"Hold them off!" Shinra said as he and the others began to run.
"Yes sir!" The clones replied in unison.
"We cannot let the Avatar contact Roku," The elder Sage said. "There's no telling how powerful the boy might become"
"Aang do you even know where you're going?!" Katara asked as they ran down the red lit hallway.
"Nope!" Aang replied.
"We're so screwed" Shinra said, pulling his arms backwards as he ran.
'You have no idea...' Came the fox's voice.
'You could help us out, y'know!' Shinra responded.
Aang took a sharp turn left,but soon came back, running in the opposite direction.
"Wrong way!"
"Seriously!" Shinra complained as they all made an abrupt turn. A fire Sage soon came out of that same direction Aang avoided and called after them.
"Wait,come back!"
None of them were willing to take that chance. After making a turn,however,the kids ran into a dead end. Turning to face the Sage from before,they were surprised when the man surrendered.
"I'm not here to harm you" He said. "I'm a friend"
"Firebenders aren't our friends!" Sokka retorted.
"Hey!" Shinra took offense at that.
"I know why you're here" The Sage said.
"You do?" Aang raised his eyebrow.
"And I can help you" the sage continued. He then pulled down an old lantern, revealing a secret passage in the wall. "This will lead you to Avatar Roku"
The footsteps of the other sages were heard.
"Hurry" He said. The gang wasted no time in running into the tunnel,the Sage closing the door behind them. As they heard the footsteps get closer, Shinra held his breath for what felt like hours before the footsteps finally started fading.
"Thanks" Shinra whispered to the Sage who nodded in return. They then made their way through the secret passage.
The sage whose name was Shyu, explained how he didn't know Roku but his grandfather did,how the sages waited for the next Avatar after Roku died but joined the Fire Lord after many years of waiting. When asked how he knew they were coming,he explained how Roku's eyes had lit up a few days before,the same day the statues glowed at the Air Temple.
After the brief recap of events, The group arrived at the top of the temple to a huge door that had two dragons designed on it. Shyu's eyes widened in disbelief.
"No!"
"What's wrong?" Aang asked.
"The doors! They're locked!" Shyu cried.
"Can't you just unlock it like you did with the other door?" Shinra asked.
"No," Shyu shook his head. "only a fully realized Avatar or five sages can open it"
'Why couldn't I have been a Fire user?' Shinra sighed.
Sokka stroked his chin and pondered this... Then an idea struck him.
"I think I can help you out"
Minutes passed as Sokka,Shinra and two of his clones poured oil into bags and put them into the mouths of the statues on the door.
"This trick should work," Sokka said. "Shinra and I will seal the animal skin casings, Shyu will light them up and tada! Fake firebending!"
"Wow, Sokka " Katara said. "This actually might work"
"And if it doesn't, we're all toast" Shinra deadpanned.
The Pony tailed boy then smiled at his work before walking away so Shyu can light it. Katara held Momo in her hands and Shinra stood beside her, watching for the results.
"Ready?" Sokka's asked Aang.
"Definitely" the monk replied.
"This blast will get the sages' attention," Shyu explained. "So once it opens,you must enter quickly"
The team nodded and backed away from the door. Shyu then lit a flame his index and middle fingers, igniting the ropes before running away himself. The Sokka - Approved explosives made contact and exploded, shaking the room and causing smoke to pile up. Aang then used some of his Airbending to get rid of the smoke,only to reveal that the door was still locked but had black soot marks all over it.
"Ugh!" Aang groaned. "I'm never gonna talk to Roku!"
"Shit," Shinra said. "All that and the door's still standing?"
"Language!" Katara looked at him.
'If you release me, I'll blast it open with a tailed beast bomb' came the nine tails' voice.
'Nice try, puffball'
"I don't understand" Sokka shook his head. "that blast was as strong as any firebending I've seen"
"That's it!" Katara's eyes lit up. "Sokka, you're a genius!"
"Wait,what?" Shinra asked.
"His plan didn't even work " Aang added.
"You're right" Katara said. "but it looks like it did"
"Katara... Are you feeling okay?" Shinra raised an eyebrow.
"Just hear me out " Katara started.
The other sages came in quickly to see Shyu waving his hands.
"Everyone,come quickly!" He cried. "the Avatar is inside!"
"But how?!" The Elder Sage asked in shock.
"I don't know,but look!" Shyu replied, pointing at the door which showed a shadow moving underneath it.
"We must not allow him to speak to Roku" the Elder Sage said.
Shyu and the other Sages immediately shot fire at the door, finally opening it... only to reveal Momo as the one inside, eating a nut.
"It's the Avatar's lemur! We've been tricked!"
Immediately the words left his mouth, Momo jumped on the Elder Sage, blocking the man's view. As he struggled with the flying lemur,Sokka and Shinra wasted no time and grabbed the rug the sages had been standing on, yanking it and causing it to fall.
"Aang,now!" Katara signalled the Avatar who had been hiding the entire time. There was no response from the Airbender for a few seconds,until suddenly Aang emerged,but he was restricted by the banished prince,Zuko.
"The Avatar's coming with me" Zuko growled.
"No the fuck he's not!" Shinra replied.
The Jinchuriki leapt forward at a high speed and immediately sent a kick to Zuko's back, causing him to let go of Aang and fall over. Aang took the opportunity and leapt over the Fire Sages blocking his path, making it through the door,just before it closed.
"He's in!" Sokka cheers. Seconds later,He, Katara and Shinra were caught, held down and chained to one of the room's pillars.
"Oh, great... Just great" the ninja rolled his eyes.
Zuko and the fire Sages attempted to open the door a second time using their combined firebending,but the door refused to budge.
"Why won't it open?" Zuko demanded.
"It's the light" The Elder Sage explained. "Roku doesn't want us inside"
"I can't blame him" Shinra remarked, causing all eyes to temporarily fall on him. "You're trying to capture his successor"
"Why did you betray us brother?" The Elder Sage asked Shyu.
"Because it is the Fire Sages' duty" Shyu replied. "and it still is"
"I'm sure the Fire Lord will understand once we bring him a pair of traitors" A voice jumped in, revealed to belong to Zhao as he walked in. "What a moving and heartfelt performance"
"Commander Zhao" the Elder Sage said, bowing along with the other Sages.
"And Prince Zuko..." Zhao continued with a malicious smile. "A noble effort on your part,but I'm afraid it didn't last very long... Your little smokescreen didn't work"
As Zhao spoke,two soldiers took hold of Zuko.
"Two traitors with one stone," Zhao smirked. "The Fire Lord will be pleased"
"You're too late Zhao!" Zuko said. "The Avatar's already inside and you can't follow him in"
"Doesn't matter" Zhao said. "One time or another he has to come out"
Zhao then walked over to the chained group of kids,his eyes fixed on Shinra who had a stoic expression on his face.
"Ah, yes" Zhao said. "You must be the self proclaimed ninja who uses both air and lightning... Tell me child, how did you acquire such power?"
"Go sit on a cactus, asshat" Shinra glared up at Zhao.
"You have a sharp tongue,boy" Zhao hissed,and the fists clenched. "Watch what you say before you lose it"
"Oh, you'll hit me... Maybe even fire bend at me?" Shinra continued, looking into the commander's eyes. "You must be really tough if you can attack a kid who's chained up. If you have any real confidence,untie me and we'll go at it,right here and now"
Zhao chuckled at the boy, waving him off as he walked up to the soldiers he brought with him.
"Yeah,that's what I thought" Shinra said. "Pussy"
"Shinra!" Katara hissed at him.
"How's Aang gonna make it out of this?" Sokka asked.
"How're we gonna make it out of this?" Katara added. "Shinra, can't you make one of your clones?"
"I can't move my arms" Shinra said as he struggled to move his chained limbs.
"Well what are we going to do?" Katara asked.
'I have a solution' the nine tails spoke.
'I'm listening...' Shinra replied.
'I'll lend you some of my Chakra' The Fox said. Shinra was surprised.
'okay this is the second time.. you sure you're okay, fox?'
'Don't make me change my mind'
'okay okay I'm sorry. I was just joking' Shinra rolled his eyes. 'Just don't hurt my friends'
'no promises '
Shinra let out a breath... He didn't even know why he was trusting a literal tailed beast. But seeing it as their only chance of survival right now...
'Let's do it'
Seconds later, Shinra felt his body slowly getting enveloped in the familiar demonic chakra,till eventually it covered him head to toe.
"Shinra...?" Katara had noticed their friend's transformation and looked at him with fear and concern. It was the same way he'd looked at the temple and on Zuko's ship...
The Jinchuriki let out a grunt that sounded like a growl due to the transformation affecting his voice as well.
Turning his eyes towards his current enemies, Shinra noticed the shocked expressions on each of their faces... Zhao's smug demeanor had dissipated into fear and amazement rolled into one,the sages were immobilized by fear and even Zuko was shocked.
"This again...?!" Zuko whispered.
With a slight grunt, Shinra pulled at the chains binding him and his water tribe companions, causing them to break almost immediately.
"This feeling..." Shyu whispered. "This is beyond human..."
With a loud creak,the door Aang previously passed through started to open, getting everyone's attention.
"Once the doors open,unleash all your firepower!" Zhao ordered the Sages and the soldiers who immediately took firebending stances.
Once the door fully opened,white eyes emerged from the darkness. Zhao and the others immediately unleashed their fiery assault. Katara and Sokka's eyes widened in horror.
"Aang!!" Katara cried.
'Damnit!!'
'Calm down kid, he's fine'
'How are you so sure?'
'I'm a spirit... and I know the Avatar spirit wouldn't just let the kid get killed'
As if to prove the fox right, the flames dispelled to reveal none other than Roku himself. Everyone in the temple was shocked to say the least... Zhao in particular was terrified.
"Avatar Roku" Shyu whispered.
Roku then waved his hands, blasting fire all through his former temple. Shinra then picked up on what Roku planned to do and inhaled a deep breath before taking off,still covered in the nine tails chakra. His target; Zhao.
"We need to leave," Shyu cried. "Roku and your friend are going to destroy the temple!"
"Not without them!" Katara argued.
The retreating commander was taken aback when the the Jinchuriki landed in front of him, slightly crouched and staring him down with intense rage.
Zhao growled at the boy and sent a blast of fire his way which Shinra dodged. The Commander sent two more, also effortlessly dodged. Getting enraged, Zhao fired a third blast of fire,more powerful than the other two, only to have his fist caught by the biju-empowered Shinra who wasted no time in firing a punch of his own towards Zhao,this time with the attack hitting it's target; Zhao's midsection.
The impact sent Zhao flying and hitting one of the pillars in the temple. Zhao had barely regained his bearings long enough to see the Jinchuriki about to land on him,a lightning blade– now purple due to nine tails' influence – already in his right hand. The Fire Nation commander rolled out of the way just in time, causing the lightning technique to leave a small crater in the floor where he'd just been moments ago. Zhao's eyes widened in shock.
This was definitely no ordinary boy. That lightning would've been enough to impale him.
His attention then turned back to Shinra who seemed to be preparing for another attack. Zhao readied himself as well,he would go all out if he had to. But before either one of them could attack the other again,the floor cracked open between them and spewed lava. Looking towards Roku, Shinra realized he was the cause of the disruption. Zhao, however was terrified at the prospect of facing two highly empowered enemies at once. He chose this moment to retreat, using firebending to propel himself upwards... But the ninja had other plans as he quickly ran through handsigns to send the commander a little parting gift.
Bullets of wind found their way to Zhao as they shot the man out of the air mid flight. The fire navy commander fell to the ground once more, groaning in annoyance and pain.
Shinra felt his knees to weak after that technique.. matter of fact, his entire body felt heavy.
'What is going on...'
'Damnit, your body's still too weak' the nine tails grumbled.
The 14 year old felt himself slip out of consciousness before he was even able to reply.
"Aang!" Katara and Sokka cried as they ran to the Airbender.
"Where's Shinra?" Aang asked. The team looked around for their friend till they spotted him lying across the room.
"There he is!" Katara cried. "I'll go get him"
Sokka nodded in agreement and held Aang steady while Katara kept dodging falling debris and spewing lava to reach Shinra.
"Shinra,please wake up" Katara begged. "we've gotta go"
Unfortunately,the leaf ninja wouldn't budge.
"Using the nine tails' power must've knocked him out " Katara whispered. "How intense is that thing?"
The waterbender shook the thoughts aside for the time being and hoisted Shinra's arm around her neck, carrying him over to the window where the other two boys and Appa were waiting. They wasted no time in getting on the bison and Aang immediately grabbed Appa's reins as Katara placed the unconscious Shinra on Appa's saddle.
"Ready?" Aang asked, receiving nods from everyone. "Appa, Yip yip!"
The bison immediately takes off, leaving Roku's island to burn in a hot and fiery mess.
"What happened to Shinra?" Aang asked.
"I think he used power from the fox again" Katara shook her head. As much as she appreciated it, she didn't like the amount of hatred that emanated from that form.. and the fact that it rendered her friend unconscious was another concern.
"It felt so... Dark" Sokka added. "The fox might be hated in his village, but it definitely saved us big time"
Aang slowly took in the new information and glanced at Shinra. The more times this happened, the more Aang actually wondered just how much power was sealed deep within him. He couldn't have been more glad to have Shinra on their side.
Aang then went ahead to inform them of the comet and how he needed to defeat the Fire Lord before its arrival.
"Sounds like a plan " Sokka grinned.
Eventually they landed on an island, spending the night sleeping together atop Appa's saddle,all huddled together almost protectively with Shinra in the middle.
Behind Shinra's eyelids however, something strange was going on. He was walking through a familiar forest area.. the forest surrounding the border of Konoha. Shinra knew he was dreaming from how good it looked. It looked better than he remembered. It was greener... More peaceful.
He should've known better than to accept a deal with that ball of orange fur.. now he was unaware of anything else going on outside.
Shinra sighed.. well at least he was in konoha.. kinda.
Shinra was about to start walking down a path to the village when he heard a rustle in the bushes, causing him to freeze.
"Come out" Shinra said without turning his head. "before I throw something at you"
"Your sense of detection really is refined" A gentle, elderly sounding voice replied. "You were trained well"
Shinra furrowed his eyebrows but kept his guard up.
The rustling continued till the owner of the voice was visible. Out of the bushes came an old man in red robes. He had white hair adorned by a golden headpiece. His face looked gentle and warm. Usually Shinra would've kept his guard up,but the sight in front of him both shocked and confused him.
He was standing face to face.. with Avatar Roku.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Shinra" the former Avatar smiled.
Shinra usually would've bowed in respect but he couldn't believe what was in front of him.. the previous Avatar knew his name.
"What the fu-"
And that's chapter six. Honestly I'd like to hear from you guys if the story's going well and if skipping chapters took anything away from the story.. God, I feel like M. Night Shyamalan just for doing that. I don't know, man... Just let me know in the reviews... Constructive criticism. If you act uncivilized, I will take you as irrational and not acknowledge your existence.
Thanks again for reading and see you sooner than you think.