Aang sits upon the serpentine back of the spirit dragon, Fang, flying through endless clouds. Orange and red hues painted the sky as dusk was fast approaching. He had no idea where the creature was taking him, but he had to hope it was somewhere with answers. Answers he desperately needed.
Soon enough, they come upon a crescent-shaped island within Fire Nation waters. The spirit guide treated what made Aang uneasy like air. Fang paid no heed to the ships roaming the hostile waters, the dragon flying past them to their apparent destination.
On the relatively small island, upon a lone hill, sat a five-tiered pagoda. It must have been a temple of some sort. Aang didn't have time to observe more than that as Fang zoomed through the entrance. He twisted gracefully through the hallways until they reached the central-most room.
Then, he proceeded to fly straight for the ceiling.
"H-hey, what are you doing?!" Aang panicked as the beast didn't drop his speed. Guess he really was dying today. But not by being eaten, but by crashing into a wall at the speed of sound!
"Ah!" He closed his eyes, bracing for an impact... that never came. It felt like they passed through ceased moving, landing elegantly on the floor.
They'd effortlessly entered whatever room was above the ceiling.
Aang blinked, shocked that they easily passed through the walls before remembering they were in the Spirit World. Spirits have no care for the walls, a dragon even less so, even if they were in the mortal plane still.
The airbender felt that the noble, scaly beast was judging him for being terrified just now."Uh... I knew! I knew it all along."
"No, you didn't." That was what Fang's unimpressed huff meant.
Deciding to take the judgement with a grain of salt, Aang slid off of Fang's back. The dragon was patient, letting the boy explore the room with his eyes.
It was empty aside from a ray of light and a statue of Roku, similar to the one he'd seen in the inner sanctum of the Southern Air Temple. This room seemed to have been built with the most care compared to the rest of the temple. But he didn't come here to see a nice room!
Walking up to the visage of his past life, Aang sighed, "I don't understand, this is just a statue of Roku. What am I supposed to do with a statue? Admire the craftsmanship?"
The dragon, of course, didn't say anything. He only gave Aang a glance, and with a saint's patience, moved his feeler again. As it connected with Aang's forehead more images revealed themselves.
A comet blazed, ferocious and ominous. It lit the sky in a burning fire, foreboding as it turned night to day.
A young spirit with silver-white hair, his eyes darker than the sea's deepest trenches, screams as a shadow tries to overtake him. The evil laughs as waters bleed crimson, its good counterpart, a being of light, doing nothing to stop it.
The young spirit looks on in horror as the light's human host refuses to help out of fear for their own life. A vow broken.
The first of many betrayals.
"Ah!" Aang stumbles back, terror coursing through him. It takes him a minute to regain his bearings, and when he does he's nothing but questions. "What was that? Who was that?!"
Thousands of thoughts crossed the young boy's mind. That person... It looked like Ayaan. But they were a spirit, definitely. Covered in shimmering, black and white scales and glowing marks. It couldn't have been him.
Could it?
The others were almost featureless, too vague for him to discern. But the scene felt so achingly familiar. He wanted to scream at them to save him. But no words could be spoken. Something felt so primally wrong it left him gasping for air.
He wanted to apologize. But why? Why did that single image invoke such emotion in him? The comet was just a comet, it had meaning, but he didn't understand it yet. Yet the other scene, it felt much more important.
Why had he been shown something so horrible? Aang had so many new questions his arrow felt like it was falling off.
The shadow. It was nothing but a still figure, but it made his skin crawl. Even though there was no scent, he imagined rancid copper. The smile that split its hidden face in two, milky eyes reflecting hues of crimson light.
It had taken over someone already, and wanted the man in his vision. It wanted him so badly it forewent all caution and reason. It was a disquieting image.
What did those visions mean?This was important. Finally, he had some leads to something. This journey was a whole lot more than he originally thought. The world was already at war, how could it possibly get worse?
Fang leaned down to him, wrapping around him in a show of comfort. Aang appreciated it, letting himself calm down before continuing. Even if it was another life, a friend was a friend. The boy let his hands run across the smooth, warm scales.
"Roku wants to speak with me about all of the things you showed me, right? But... when can I talk to him? How? I need to speak with him as soon as possible!"
A statue wasn't enough. He needed a face-to-face in-person chat a hundred years ago, not yesterday. He couldn't let this go unsolved another moment.
Not only could this answer the questions about his duties as Avatar, but it could also reveal something about the connection he shares with Ayaan. That spirit with the shimmering scales... Aang needed to know who he was and why he felt so familiar to the warrior he knew.
His arrow gave off a faint light he didn't notice.
Fang, feeling his urgency, lets another feeler touch the airbender's head. With a faint glow, Aang gets his answer. Days pass in the vision, and the single ray of light in the room moves closer to the statue's eyes.
"Oh! It's a calendar, and the light will reach Roku on the solstice! So, that's when I'll be able to speak to Roku?"
Fang lets out a huff of affirmation.
This is great news! He had a time and a place to get answers! After searching for so long, he finally had a way. He wouldn't just be a kid who got stuck with the Avatar title, but actually start learning to be it.
But there was one glaring problem: "I can't wait that long to save Ayaan! I need to rescue him now!"
There was no way he could go back without his honorary brother. If he had to scour the entire spirit world he was going to find Ayaan. He didn't want to fight Hei Bai, but if he had to, he would try.
Fang shakes his head, which confuses Aang. "What do you mean? Hei Bai took him somewhere! I have to rescue him and all of the other people he took!"
The dragon, with a gentle nudge, shows him one last image. A large sea creature Aang had only seen in murals was swimming in the ocean depths. Their eyes met before it turned away, and the image vanished to the present. In her fins, however, was a familiar youth being carried to the surface of a lake.
"He's... with another spirit? She's taking care of him somehow?" The dragon lets out a huff of affirmation again.
Aang couldn't ask Fang for details more than that image. But he could tell the guide was assuring him his friend was okay.
"Does that mean he's already back in the physical world? Please, tell me!" The boy asks a slew of other questions regarding Ayaan, but Fang simply waits for Aang to get on.
They'd stayed long enough, and he knew what he needed to do. There was nothing left for Fang to show him. Not now, at least. So, with his greatest speed, they sped away from the island and back to where his body was.
"Are you taking me to Ayaan?" The dragon only huffs, concentrating on flying. "Alright! Ayaan, I'm on my way! Just hang on a little longer!"
They burst through whispy clouds as the sun continues its flight only took a few minutes, the dragon diving from the sky to the forests below. Fang effortlessly traverses the dense trees until they fade to the scorched woods. Aang, holding on for dear life, sees the clearing full of monuments as they go beyond it. Statues of pandas circling an even larger, taller panda standing on its hind legs.
"Ah! Not again!" Just like with the ceiling at the temple, the dragon was wholly unbothered by their imminent collision with the large statue. Aang closes his eyes again, bracing for impact out of reflex.
He doesn't see when Fang disappears into the monument, but he can feel his return to the physical world. A gasp of air escapes him, a bit relieved he didn't go splat. Though he should have realized it wouldn't be a problem.
"I-I'm back! But where's Ayaan?" When he realized that he was alone, the joy of finally having a way of getting some answers ebbs to nothing.
"Is anyone here?! Hello?!" Aang hops down from the top of the panda statue, getting a good look around. Maybe there was something here. Ayaan always taught him to thoroughly observe his surroundings.
Well, he was trying to teach him. The airbender wasn't lost on the fact that he could be a handful. The young chief was trying though, always giving his best for them.
The inexperienced Avatar had no idea where he'd ended up, or how he ended up here. This placed felt sacred; a shrine in a similar way as the cresent island large panda statue at its center stood over the others, a guardian. It had to be a clue regarding his current spirit monster problem.
He had all the pieces to the puzzle, now he just needed to put them together. But that came second to finding Ayaan. He opened his glider and prepared to leave when a glint of that familiar, slivery white glistened in a ray of orange sunlight.
Holding on to hope, Aang turned, looking down at the base of the giant panda he'd just been on. Just around it, almost hidden by its shadow, were wayward strands of that flowing hair. Aang sprinted as if his life depended on it, turning that corner in a blink.
On the other side was the one he wanted to see the most.
"Ayaan!" Tears of joy fell as Aang quickly knelt on the ground beside him. The blessed youth was sleeping peacefully amid a bed of soft grass and budding bamboo. The bags beneath his eyes were gone, and his face was refreshed with vibrance he hadn't seen in weeks.
He looked so much healthier than before, but the most startling difference Aang noticed was his hair! It was so much longer now, spilling across the green like rivers of snow. It practically sparkled in the waning sunlight.
'What the heck? Did Ayaan get an upgrade in the spirit world? No way his fanclub won't grow again.'
The airbender could hear the squealing already.
"Hey, Ayaan. Wake up!" Aang gently tapped his cheek, hoping to stir him away. But the older boy didn't answer, not even a twitch. His only response was his continued breathing, unbothered by the world. Aang was worried, but he just thought whatever he'd gone through took it out of him.
Ayaan was the type to wake at the slightest of sounds. For him not to even flinch at his joyful cries or anxious questions was unimaginable.
Though getting kidnapped by a spirit monster for a whole day was also unimaginable.
Thankfully, Ayaan wasn't injured. That was something to celebrate! The hard week must have finally caught up to him thanks to whatever happened with Hei Bai.
It worried Aang that he wasn't waking up, but for now, all he could do was let him rest and be thankful.
With the strength he gained from the warrior's hellish, uh, thorough training, Aang managed to carry Ayaan on his back. It was a bit awkward with how short the airbender was, but he could manage with a bit of airbending and creativity.
A bit of airbending to make him lighter, some finesse to keep his new, flowing hair off the ground, and ta-da! They were ready to get back to the rest of their family.
"Let's go back." With peace of mind and new determination, Aang pressed forward to Senlin. The next time he met Hei Bai, he felt like he'd know what to do.
He didn't notice the faint yang symbol appear on Ayaan's forehead as the warrior breathed, fading away without a sound.
.
.
The softest rays of sunlight gently graced vibrantly blue eyes. There was cheering all around, tearful reunions laced with heartfelt joy. Ayaan sat up from where he comfortably lay on Appa's front leg, dazed with a head of wild, silver-white hair.
'What happened?'
He remembered sinking into a starlit lake with Belinay, and then overwhelming light. Images flashed across his mind, voices his, yet not. It was too much to make sense of. But he'd gotten some answers, for now, he'd focus on that.
The light Belinay had gathered for him were... scattered remnants of himself. Or maybe, past selves? Ayaan wasn't sure how Aang dealt with the fact he had past lives. How did he have past lives? No, that didn't matter right now.
The light was memories. The faintest hints on what he needed to do, or more specifically, where he needed to go. He didn't understand exactly why, but there was something he needed in those places. The things he was 'missing'.
A pool surrounded by ice, warm and full of soothing energy. A large tree with roots spanning miles across a swamp. In a forest where identities are lost and gained. These were just glimspes of what he'd seen, visages of... himself roaming their darkness. The light was the only clue he had about it, and Belinay couldn't tell him much more.
'How does this even work?'
Ayaan felt a headache coming with all this new information. He had a terrible feeling it was only going to get more complicated the more he figured out. Whenever he saw the phantoms again, he'd ask if they knew about the places he'd seen.
For now, he decided not to worry about it. It wasn't in his nature to dwell on things too hard to understand. Spirit shenanigans were confusing. Though seeing the absolute celebrity Aang had become, Ayaan assumed he managed to soothe Hei Bai.
The chilling sensation across his scar had vanished. No matter how it happened, he was glad the fluffy panda was happy. He hoped his forest grew big and strong again.
"Ayaan?" Aang noticed he was up immediately, followed by Sokka and Katara. All three ran over to him checking him over from head to toe. "Ayaan! You're up!"
"Yes? Is everyone okay? What happened?"
"That's what we should be asking you!" Sokka huffed, the other two nodding in agreement. "You got Ayaan-napped for a whole day! How are you feeling? Did the spirits pull any spirit shenanigans on you?"
Ayaan had a feeling saying 'yes' was the wrong answer, so he said nothing.
Apparently, silence answered for him. The boomerang enthusiast gasped dramatically, "You're not an imposter are you!? Quick, what's my favorite food?!"
Katara, caught up in her brother's stupidity, quickly adds, "What's my favorite color?!"
"How old am I?!" Aang finishes, and the trio eagerly awaits Ayaan's answer.
Ayaan sweatdrops, but answers them. "You'd think your favorite dish is anything with meat, but you love stewed sea prunes the best. Especially the ones Gran-Gran makes. Katara, your favorite color is sapphire blue, the same shade as Mom's parka. Aang, that's a trick question. Physically, you're 12. Chronologically, you're 112."
"Ayaan!" They all pile up on the poor warrior, Momo joining in atop his head. Appa even get in on it, nuzzling the teen until they all fall over. The situation was ridiculous.
Then they heard it. It was a hearty rumble they could feel in his chest as he pulled them all in. A precious sound they thought they'd never hear.
Ayaan, for the first time in a long time, laughed.
They took a moment to admire the sound before joining him, taking a few moments to forget the world and be happy.
The rest of that morning was spent celebrating Senlin's rescue. Sokka gorged himself on good food, Aang showed the children airbending tricks, and Katara plotted and planned all the ways she was going to do up Ayaan's longer hair.
Not that he was going to let her play with his hair yet. For now, she was stuck watching and plotting.
And Ayaan? He was doing his best to ignore the new admirers he'd gained in the village. Now, thanks to his siblings, he was well aware of what that heated gaze meant. While jarring, it was also flattering. But, he had better things to focus on than his... popularity.
As they'd gotten the supplies they needed from the village and prepared to take off, Aang told them something Ayaan was sure he'd heard wrong.
"I need to get to an island in the Fire Nation to talk to Roku in two days."
...He hadn't heard it wrong.
He blinked once.
Twice.
And then, a third time.
"...You want to go where?"