A/N: Hey!! I want to thank my school for going on fall break last week, it helped me get to writing Book 2! Unfortunately, I won't start posting that until 2025 :(
Responses from chapter 8:
Vapor23: Thank you for your review! I'm glad my writing could make you laugh, Akira is really funny. I'm also glad that you enjoyed the little momeny between Katara and Akira, I try and add those deep talks as much as I can :) As always, thanks for your continued support, and I'm excited for the next chapter of your fic!
SuperMarioFan(numbers): Thanks for your suggestion, but I actually have already written that episode. You'll just have to see what happens in that chapter ;)
"Let's go, Appa! Come on, boy," Aang pleaded. My brother had decided that going to the Fire Nation was too dangerous for Me, Sokka and Katara. So now it was just going to be him and Appa going to the crescent island.
"Aang, Appa's not gonna budge," I sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry, but Katara, Sokka and Kiri aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us," Aang explained, "If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself,"
"So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!" He exclaimed.
"I think his big butt is trying to tell you something," Sokka said.
"Please don't go, Aang," Katara added, "The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation, neither can I," I turned my attention to Aang, who was looking back at Appa.
"But I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means," Aang argued, walking up to Sokka and Katara, "I need to get to the fire temple before the sun sets on the solstice, that's today!" He hopped onto Appa using air bending.
"Katara's right though, it's not smart to go to the place that wants to capture you alone," I said.
"We're not letting you go into the Fire Nation, Aang," Katara stated.
"At least not without your friends," Sokka added, "We got your back," Momo landed on Aang's shoulder and Appa licked Sokka.
"Ew!" Sokka exclaimed.
"It's a long journey to the crescent island," a man said, handing Aang supplies, "You'll have to fly fast to have any chance of making it before sundown, good luck,"
"Thank you for your-" Aang started.
"Go!" The man interrupted. Then, we lifted off into the sky.
The sun had risen, and we were nowhere close to the crescent island.
"Come on, boy, we've got a long way to go," Aang said to Appa, "Faster!" The bison grunted in response, slightly picking up the pace. Suddenly, Katara noticed something.
"Aang, we've got trouble," She said. I turned my attention to what she was talking about. A Fire Nation ship, but not just any Fire Nation ship, Zuko's ship.
"Yeah, and it's gaining fast!" Sokka exclaimed. I then noticed that a giant fire ball was launching from the ship, towards Appa.
"Fire ball!" I exclaimed.
"I'm on it!" Aang replied, turning Appa with the reins. The fire ball flew past us, landing in the water below. It didn't smell very pleasant, in fact, the smell was so bad and so strong that I feared it would burn off my nostril hairs. I quickly pinched my nose.
"We have to get out of Zuko's range before he shoots another hot stinker at us!" Katara said.
"Can't you make Appa go any faster?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah, but there's one little problem," Aang responded.
"What is it?" I asked. I looked over to the water below, and noticed a whole bunch of ships going back and forth across it.
"A blockade," I said quietly to myself.
"If we fly north, we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade," Aang explained, "It's the only way,"
"That's not the only way," I said, "We could always just run it,"
"Are you kidding me? That's too dangerous!" Aang exclaimed, "This is exactly why I didn't want you to come,"
"And that's exactly why we're here," Katara replied.
"Let's run this blockade," Sokka said.
"Appa, yip yip!" Aang exclaimed. The bison grunted in response before speeding up. Suddenly, a whole bunch of fireballs lifted up into the sky, causing all four of us to scream. Aang narrowly dodged each fireball. One of them exploded in front of us, burning little patches of Appa's fur. Katara, Sokka, and I quickly scrambled to pat down the flames.
"Stupid firebenders," I muttered bitterly, "Are you alright, buddy?" Appa grunted and nodded in response, and Aang pulled us higher into the sky. We began to fly above the clouds, but somehow, the fireballs still made their way up to us. We all screamed as we narrowly dodged another one. I was looking ahead, not knowing anything that was happening behind me. Suddenly, I heard screams, and saw that Sokka had fallen off of the saddle. I gasped and quickly pulled him back in with a mini air vortex. Sokka screamed as he landed back in Appa's saddle.
"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed.
"I'm okay, thanks to Akira," he replied, giving me a smile. My heart fluttered and my cheeks flushed as I smiled back.
"Don't mention it," I said, trying to sound cool. We suddenly dipped down, the blue ocean below coming closer and closer. Appa's feet landed in the water. Sokka was smacked by a fish, which Momo then grabbed. We were still dodging the fireballs, this time from a closer angle. Aang pulled us forward quickly. A giant fire ball came hurling straight towards us, and with a powerful airbending kick, Aang snuffed it out. I did the same air vortex thing as I did with Sokka to pull my brother back, and we made it past the rest of the ships. We had ran the blockade, so our next step was to get to the crescent island.
"We made it!" Aang exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air.
"We got into the Fire Nation, great," Sokka said.
Many hours later, the sun was setting, and my eyes felt heavy and tired. I was just about to drift off to sleep, when Aang began to speak.
"There it is-" He started, "The island where Roku's dragon took me,"
"You did it, buddy, nice flying," Aang said to Appa once we had landed. The bison yawned, flopping onto his back.
"Oh, you must be tired," Katara cooed, rubbing Appa's belly.
"No, I'm good, refreshed and ready to fight some firebenders," Sokka replied.
"I think she was talking to Appa," I said, holding in a laugh.
"Well, I was talking to Momo," Sokka replied quickly.
"Sure you were," I responded sarcastically.
We were walking up to the temple, and I noticed that there were no guards anywhere nearby.
"I don't see any guards," I said.
"The Fire Nation must've abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku died," Katara responded. We were hiding behind some stairs, watching for sight of any people.
"It's almost sundown, we'd better hurry," Aang said, hopping out from behind the stairs. The rest of us quickly followed behind. We ran into the temple, beginning to tiptoe once we got inside.
"Wait, I think I heard something," Sokka whispered. We all turned our heads around, and saw a group of elderly men wearing red robes. I almost jumped at the sight, being caught off guard by the sudden appearance of these people.
"We are the Fire Sages, guardians of the temple of the avatar," The old man in front stated.
"Great, I am the avatar," Aang said.
"We know," The elderly man replied in a harsh tone. Suddenly, he blasted a ball of fire at us, to which Aang quickly blocked.
"I'll hold them off, run!" My brother instructed. Although I wanted to stay and help fend off the firebenders, I knew that I didn't have time for an argument with Aang, so I listened and followed Sokka and Katara out of the room. As we were running down the hallway, me faster than the other two due to airbending, Aang appeared in front of us.
"Follow me!" He exclaimed, zooming off forward. I quickly raced after him.
"Do you know where you're going?" I heard Sokka ask from behind.
"Nope," Aang replied. I sighed, but continued to run. As Aang and I turned the corner, a bunch of the firebender guys appeared and began their attacking stances. We quickly turned back around, heading the direction we came.
"Wrong way!" Aang shouted.
"Definitely the wrong way!" I added.
"Come back!" I heard from behind me as I zoomed down the hall. We continued to race down the hallways, and ended up at a dead end. If we weren't running from the fire guys, I would have said my grievances about this dead end.
"I don't want to fight you," The voice I had heard earlier said, "I am a friend," I turned around, identifying the owner of this voice as one of the fire sages.
"Firebenders aren't our friends," Sokka stated harshly. Aang got into a defensive stance. The sage walked up to him and bowed on his hands and knees, catching my brother off guard. It weirded me out. I had seen people praise Aang, whether it be for his airbending abilities, or his grades in school, but I had never seen anyone bow down to my brother.
"I know why you're here avatar," the sage said.
"You do?" Aang asked, pulling out of his defensive stance.
"Yes, you wish to speak to Avatar Roku," the sage responded.
"How does he know this?" I thought.
"I can take you to him," He finished.
"How?" Aang asked. The sage moved back a lantern on the wall, revealing a small hole. He pressed his hand to the hole, bending fire into it. The fire formed a door which opened into a rocky area.
"This way," the sage said.
"Find him!" A voice exclaimed. I didn't know who this voice belonged to, but they didn't sound friendly.
"Time is running out, quickly!" The sage urged. My friends and I gave each other glances before entering the door, which the sage closed behind us.
"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home," The sage explained as we walked down the stairs in the secret cave, "He formed these secret passages out of the magma,"
"Did you know Avatar Roku?" Aang asked. Sure, the guy may have looked old, but not old enough to have known Roku, who died over one hundred years ago.
"No, but my grandfather knew him," The sage replied, "Many generations of fire sages guarded the temple long before me,"
"We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place," He finished.
"Is that how you knew I was coming?" Aang asked.
"A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred," Thhe sage explained, "The statue of Avatar Roku-its eyes began to glow,"
"Thats when we were back home," I stated.
"Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there, too," Katara added.
"At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world," The sage said.
"If this is the avatar's temple, why did the sages attack me?" Aang asked.
"Things have changed, in the last, the sages were loyal only to the avatar," The sage said, "When Roku died, the sages eagerly awaited for the next avatar to return, but he never came,"
"They were waiting for me," Aang stated, his tone sad.
"Hey, don't feel bad, you're just only one hundred years late," Sokka said making my brother's eyebrows furrow.
"Yeah, that helps so much," I said sarcastically.
"They lost hope that the avatar would ever return," The sage said, "When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other sages were forced to follow him,"
"I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord," He added sadly, "When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other sages,"
"Thank you for helping me," Aang said. The sage smiled and we continued walking the path.
"Where do these stairs lead, anyway?" I asked after we had been walking for a few minutes.
"They lead to the sanctuary," The sage explained, "Once your inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku's statue, only then will you be able to speak with him,"
We were now walking up the long, winding stairs. I wondered how many more flights we would have to walk up. We finally made it to the top of the staircase, and the sage pulled away the ceiling to reveal the sanctuary. He walked into the sanctuary, being quickly followed by the rest of us. As we walked up to the door, the sage gasped.
"No!" He exclaimed.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The sanctuary doors-they're closed," The sage replied. Aang walked over to the large door, attempting to open it.
"Can't you just open them with firebending, like you opened that other door?" Katara asked.
"No, only a fully realized avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone," The sage explained.
"What, does this door have selective opening or something?" I asked.
"I guess you could say it does," The sage replied, "Or, the sages must open the doors together with five simultaneous fire blasts,"
"Five fire blasts, huh?" Sokka asked, "I think I can help you out,"
"This is a little trick I picked up from my father," Sokka explained as he filled small bags with some sort of substance, "I seal the lamp oil inside an animal skin casing, Shyu lights the oil-soaked twine, and ta da!"
"Fake firebending!" He finished.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, Sokka," Katara said.
"This might actually work," Shyu added. Sokka proceed to fill the holes meant for the fire blasts in the door with the bags.
"The sages will hear the explosion, so as soon as they go off, you rush, in," Shyu instructed Aang. Sokka quickly raced towards Katara, who was hiding behind a pillar, after placing the last bag.
"It's almost sunset, are you ready?" Katara asked Aang.
"Definitely," My brother replied with a nod. We were hiding behind the same pillar.
"Good luck," I said. Shyu used a fire blast to light the bomb bags, and went behind the pillar with Aang and I. I poked my head out from behind the pillar, watching as the five fire blasts lit. Debris began to fly all over the place, and I covered my face with my arms. Aang quickly ran over to the door, pulling on the handle repeatedly once he got there.
"They're still locked!" He exclaimed.
"It didn't work," Shyu said glumly. Aang dropped to his knees.
"WHY WON'T IT OPEN!?" Aang yelled, hitting the door with powerful air swipes.
"Aang, stop," Katara said, "There's nothing else we can do," Aang's expression changed from that of anger to sadness.
"I'm sorry I put you through this for nothing," Aang said sadly.
"I don't get it," Sokka said, "That blast looked as strong as any firebending I've ever seen,"
"Sokka, you're a genius!" Katara exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow at this. Apparently, Aang was somehow reading my mind, because he said exactly what I was thinking.
"Wait, how is Sokka a genius?" He asked, "His plan didn't even work,"
"Come on Aang, let her dream," Sokka replied.
"You're right, Sokka's plan didn't work," Katara said, "But it looks like it did,"
"Huh?" I said. I didn't understand what she was getting at.
"Did the definition of genius change in the last hundred years?" Aang asked.
"Come quickly! The avatar has enetered the sanctuary!" Shyu shouted. We were hiding behind the pillars, watching as Shyu went through with our plan.
"How did he get in?" One of the sages asked.
"I don't know, but look at the scorch marks, and down there," Shyu replied, pointing to different places on the door. A shadow came past, which was Momo.
"He's inside, open the doors immediately," the sage commanded, "Before he contacts Avatar Roku," Aang, who was next to me, peered over towards the sages, watching as they used five simultaneous fire blasts to open the door. When the door opened, Momo was revealed.
"It's the avatar's lemur," The sage stated, "He must have crawled through the pipes, we've been tricked!" Suddenly, Momo began to attack the sage, causing him to scream and fall back. Sokka, Katara, and I quickly got to work on grabbing the rest of the sages.
"Now, Aang," Shyu said. But there was no response. I was crouched on the floor, struggling to keep the sage I was holding still.
"Aang, now's your chance!" Katara yelled. No response again. What was he doing? Suddenly, I got my answer. Aang was being held captive by none other than prince cyclops himself.
"The avatar's coming with me," He said. Suddenly, the sages began to retaliate, making us under their control.
"Close the doors, quickly!" Zuko commanded. He began to lead Aang down the stairs, I looked back at my brother. I knew he wasn't going to just simply allow Zuko to capture him, the sun was setting and he still hadn't spoken to Roku. Aang looked back, making eye contact with Sokka, Katara, and I, who were now being put in chains by the sages. Aang wiggled out of Zuko's grip, coming up behind him. He kicked the scarboy down the stairs, assisted by airbending, and ran towards us.
"Go!" Katara said. Aang began to race towards the closing door, using the sages heads as support once he flipped forward. Aang leaped into the room just as the doors were closing. I sighed in relief as I realized Aang would get to speak to Roku in time.
"He made it!" Katara exclaimed. Suddenly, blinding glowing light came from the door, and I looked away in response. Once the glowing stopped, I went back to looking at the door. The sages and Zuko began to hit the door with fire blasts, but it didn't open.
"Why isn't it working?" Zuko asked annoyedly, "it's sealed shut,"
"It must have been the light," one of the sages replied, "Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside,"
Later…
"Why did you help the avatar?" Zuko asked Shyu bitterly.
"Because it was once the sages duty," Shyu replied, "It is still our duty," suddenly, I heard clapping coming from somewhere in the room, and my attention turned to a man with soldiers behind him.
"What a moving and heartfelt performance," The man said. I recognized his voice as the one I had heard earlier, the one that caused us to go into the cave with Shyu.
"I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain to him why you betrayed him," The man said.
"Commander Zhao," One of the sages greeted.
"And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work," Zhao said, "Two traitors in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased," Suddenly, Zuko was taken by the arms, much like he himself had done to Aang, by one of the soldiers.
"You're too late, Zhao," Scar guy said coldly, "The avatar's inside, and the doors are sealed,"
"No matter, sooner or later, he has to come out," Zhao replied. I gasped before turning to look at Katara and Sokka. What were they going to do to Aang once he came out?
The firebenders positioned themselves, readying to attack my brother. Any moment now, Aang would come out of the sanctuary, and I feared that it would be his end.
"When those doors open, unleash all your firepower," Zhao commanded.
"We've gotta do something!" I said.
"How? We're strapped up in these chains," Sokka replied. Suddenly, the blinding light came back, and I shut my eyes tight, afraid for what might happen next.
"Ready…" Zhao started.
"No! Aang!" Katara called out. I shut my eyes even tighter, tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Fire!" Zhao exclaimed. I shut my eyes as tight as possible. The tears were now spilling out of them. My brother was going to die in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I heard the noise of fire blasting, which made me cry even harder. I heard Katara gasp, and out of habit, opened my eyes and looked up. Although my vision was blurry from the tears, I could tell that the figure that was bending the fire was not Aang.
"Avatar Roku!' Shyu exclaimed breathlessly. Roku retaliated, sending the fire back to Zhao and his soldiers. The flames burned off the chains that were holding Sokka, Katara, Shyu, and I. It also burned off the chains that were holding Zuko, who ran away once freed. Roku looked toward the sages, his eyes glowing white. Much like Aang's whenever he emerged from the water onto Zuko's ship a few weeks ago, or when he found out about Gyatso back at home. The sages ran away in fear.
"Avatar Roku is going to destroy the temple," Shyu explained, "We have to get out of here!"
"Thank you for all of your help, Shyu," I said, "But you can go, we're not leaving without Aang," Roku put a large hole in the floor, revealing the lava below. The rest of the soldiers and sages ran out of the sanctuary, but Sokka, Katara, and I stayed. Magma filled the room, going through the ceiling. We huddled together behind a pillar, our only focus being not dying. Suddenly, the destruction ceased. I peeked my head out from the pillar and noticed that the old man had been replaced with the familiar face of my older brother. I gasped and raced over to Aang, who dropped to the ground.
"We've got your back," Sokka said as he and Katara pulled Aang up.
"Thanks, where's Shyu?" Aang asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. After I told him that he could go, I figured that he had left with that last group of soldiers and sages. But when I thought about it, I didn't see him there. When we walked over to the stairs, we saw that they were being engulfed in lava.
"What do we do about that?" I asked. Suddenly, a pillar dropped, causing us to all yelp and run away from it. The temple was falling, and there was only one way out; a giant hole in the wall. We all let out a gasp as we saw Appa and Momo appear. We quickly jumped out of hole, sliding down the roof onto Appa's saddle. We quickly flew off, looking back to see the temple completely destroyed and covered in lava. Momo popped up next to Aang, wearing a sage hat for some reason. My attention turned back to the temple, which was now invisible due to the smoke.
Later in the night, we were all still sitting on Appa's saddle. I was looking at the moon, taking in its glowing beauty. My attention turned to Katara, who had pulled Aang into a hug. I saw that Sokka was pulling in too. I scooted over to them and joined the hug as well. Although we weren't saying anything, we knew that we had each other's backs no matter what.
A/N: Wow! I can't believe we're almost halfway through Book 1. Thanks for all of your support so far :) And don't forget to review! It helps me get motivated to make more chapters :DD