To LoamyCoffee, and also superpierce from before, I feel like [Total Concentration Breathing] is something that could easily be put in even without a full Demon Slayer crossover because, not only does Firebending come "from the breath", but Air Nomads likely also make use of "breathing techniques" to accommodate for life on the Air Temples. Honestly, that Katara and Sokka didn't feel any ill effects when visiting the Southern Air Temple felt a little like a missed opportunity, them noticeably not being at their best while Aang is completely unchanged.
As for the plant eugenics, I can totally see Varrick putting money into something like that, especially since downing raw chilis of one kind or another seems like part of his "creative process" as we see on Book 2. And as for Mako in Book 2 Canon, it isn't always easy to do "the right thing", and if he did lie to the legit President of the United Republic about something so sensitive, he really would lose all his Credibility. And in some circles, if you lose that, you lose everything. I'm sure Team Avatar was upset at him at the moment, but I'm sure that once they had time to cool their heads, that they did eventually forgive him, because he was stuck between a shitty option, and a really shitty option.
And it isn't like Aang never had to make a tough call, or do something morally dubious. Like that time he lied a bout the "Sacred Crystal Orb" to the Gan Jin & Zhang.
To Blaze1992… Well, you'll just have to wait and find out~
To IS6A6E, the nudity thing was actually a Dragonball Z Abridged reference to how when Vegeta died, he didn't have his clothes on, but Goku did have his clothes on when he died; even the weighted gear which he wasn't even wearing when he died. As for what he'll be wearing when he gets back…~
To Okaze, Zhu taking his body with him to the Spirit World does mean he can Bloodbend, but the problem is, Spirits may not have the same sort of Blood for him to Bend. Some Spirits may simply be made of "pure cosmic energy", or be living plants, or animated objects.
To Loyal Follower (Guest), I haven't played Jade Empire, but I have seen some of Studio Ghibli's works, and I can definitely agree that Kung Fu Panda meshes strangely well with the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender; because remember, Po coming to terms with his conflicting emotions and gaining "true mindfulness", is not that unlike the path to Enlightenment taken to achieve Nirvana, which opening the Chakras to ascend to the Avatar State is a blatant reference to.
And that is some heavy, heavy shit for a Nickelodeon kids' show and a cartoon bear voiced by Jack Black.
As for Zhu and Korra's wedding being multiracial, I can definitely see that being the case, as Aang and Katara's own wedding must've been similarly multiracial given there weren't any "legit" Air Nomads left apart from his two fanclubs; even if one of them was more of a gossip club and the other "culturally appropriated" the Airbending Master Tattoos. For Korra & Zhu, I'm sure it'd be a mix of Southern Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom traditions, since Zhu has basically "foresworn" the North. As for "Fools Rush" by Frank Sinatra… The choice in music might not be too out there, given how Republic City is framed like it takes place in the 1920s era. Mind you, Frank Sinatra music would be a bit anachronistic because the "Where Angels Fear to Tread" album came out in the forties…
To Lucius Walker, Jinora would be a bit of a hard sell. Maybe in a "What If…?" kinda story on AO3, but romantically, Zhu and Jinora parted on good terms, and I wouldn't want to backtrack on that. Nor would I want to backtrack with Opal since they too ended things amicably, and I think she'd make for a great godmother.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
At around the same time Zhu began meditating on his Chakras, Air Temple Island was once more invaded.
However, this was not by any sort of political movement. Instead, it was a small cadre of men and women representing the Northern Theocracy. In addition to an elderly clergyman in fine drapery, trailed by monks and nuns of the North, were an entourage of "holy warriors" whose long flowing armor in all blue with brilliant white accenting was meant to emulate when Aang had channeled the power of the Ocean Spirit La in repulsion of Admiral Zhao's forces. At the very center of their ranks, garbed completely from head to toe not leaving a strip of skin exposed, were two of the highest authorities in the Northern Theocracy.
One was clad in all flowing white, decorated only with a single black spot upon their veiled face; the other was their opposite, clad in all flowing black decorated only with a single white spot upon their veiled face. Both of their veiled hoods resembled the head of koi fish, with similar fish-like trails running across the ground at their heels.
These two, whom the rest of the retinue surrounded and protected with a literally religious fervor, were the "interpreters" for Tui & La, the twin Ocean Spirits residing in Agna Qel'a's Spirit Oasis. Twin spirits who yet still resided where they had in the Material World more than seventy years hence.
Of course, if the White Lotus were intimidated by such a showing of force, be it martial, religious, or both, they didn't let it show. Those who'd had their Bending taken but could still fight were out in force, be it with spears, axes, swords, or bows while those who had kept their Bending, either domestically or abroad readied themselves for battle.
The standoff had been intense, with neither side making the first move ever since the elderly clergyman had made known his demands. Right as tensions were about to explode into a full-on inquisition, the shadow of a Sky Bison swept over and between the two factions, weaving a figure eight above the two before Tenzin dismounted, his billowing robes catching the updraft of air he conjured around himself as he slowly descended between the two.
"All of you! There will be no more fighting on Air Nomad grounds!" Tenzin said imploringly.
"Yes, yes, all four Air Nomads and their hangers-on," the old clergyman, his face wizened like old leather, scoffed derisively with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Oh I'm sorry, am I supposed to know who you are?" Tenzin scoffed in turn, clearly having found out about this incursion through the worst possible intermediary. "Because if I'm not, then the early bird special is about three blocks that way. And also tomorrow."
"Harumph, I happen to be the head priest sent to preside over this outreach mission," the elderly man huffed, refusing to give his name. "One of our own is in residence here, and we are here to bring him home."
"If you're referring to the 'Mud-Blood' you savages brutalized all his prebuescent life, he's not interested," a White Lotus, Aki, scoffed derisively.
"Allegedly, brutalized," the elder dismissed like he were talking to a small child. Who also happened to be mentally retarded.
"You cretins basically exiled him, and Air Temple Island doesn't believe in extradition," Lee scowled as he conjured a pair of Fire Daggers.
Tenzin wanted to correct the White Lotus that the Air Nomads technically did believe in extradition, provided there was sufficient proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, but figured if they didn't know that, there was no need to correct that assessment.
"Go jump in a volcano, Ash-Sniffer," one of the holy warriors huffed.
"Make me, Fish-Fucker."
"What'd you just call me, you filthy heathen?!"
"ENOUGH!" Tenzin raged, his Qi sending a blast of air washing over the elderly priest and his retinue, threatening to throw them into the bay. "What made you think for even a second that Zhu would leave with you after he rebuffed your previous messengers under no uncertain terms?"
"That is none of your business, Hermit," the old priest scoffed like an insult.
"Uhhhhhhh… Should I come back later? Or do you need help busting some heads?"
"Avatar Korra, glad a fellow countryman is finally here," the old priest hummed jovially as he rubbed his hands together. "Listen, there is a spiritual matter that needs attending to, and your servants are… getting in the way."
"I'm sorry, ' servants'?" Bumi scoffed.
"Or 'hired help', or whatever 'politically-correct' vernacular I need to use," the old man waved off dismissively.
"Look, buddy, if this is anything like with that creepo at Pizza Palace, you can just hop on your fancy schmancy pleasure yacht and piss off!" Korra scowled as all temperament fled her.
*GASP!* "Now see here you Southern-"
The next moment a brilliant blast of crimson light shone from the heart of the island, the Northern delegation gawping as they looked up at the elevated landmass while only the rearmost of the White Lotus turned their heads, the others remaining fixed on the potential intruders.
"By the Spirits…!" one of the nuns gasps, and then gasps again when the two dressed like koi fish suddenly fell to their knees and prostrated themselves in the direction of the light, foreheads pressed firmly to the dock as they muttered incomprehensible prayers in ancient tongues.
"Move yourselves at once! I demand to be let in!" the old priest once more demanded as he insistently strode forward, only for Tenzin to blast the man back before Korra could.
"You shall not pass!" Tenzin howled. "There may be only a small handful of Airbenders remaining in the world, but we are still a proud nation, and I personally will not umbrage such trespass!" he said getting into an Airbending stance, the White Lotus forming up at his flanks while the holy warriors of the North too got into battle ready stances.
Before tensions could explode into full-on bloody combat, Jinora suddenly swooped down on her Air Scooter, botching the dismount and almost landing on her face if not for Korra catching her.
"Jinora! Jinora, what's wrong?!" she asked seeing tears on the girl's face.
"Zhu…! He…! He's…!" she gasped for breath, desperation lacing her tone.
Korra's eyes going wide, she quickly conjured an Air Scooter of her own before shooting off to the heart of the island, leaving Tenzin and the White Lotus behind.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Elsewhile…
"-UUUUUUUUUUCK!" Zhu cried as he continued to fall through technicolor skies toward equally technicolor ground.
His fall broken by a large heart-shaped leaf he landed face-first in, he tumbled down a succession of enormous leaves the size of houses past mushrooms the size of skyscrapers. The otherworldly foliage of the Spirit World seeming to reach up to catch him, even with all these impediments to his momentum however, the red head still landed harshly on loamy ground.
"Ow…" Zhu groaned into the loam, though admittedly he'd been hurt far worse.
*Thump*
"OWWWWWW!" he positively howled as the spine of his journal struck him in the back of the head, the Bloodbender curling up in the fetal position as he held the Tortoisegoose egg slowly forming on the back of his head. "Oh, and it just. Keeps. Getting. BETTER!"
And why did he think that, you might be asking?
Because as soon as he got his wits about himself, he discovered himself to be completely… nude. We'll go with "nude".
"Fan, fucking, tastic. This is like the flaming noodle incident all over again!"
Mussing with hair that'd been tangled into knots as he flopped through the skies of the Spirit World, after applying a little Blood Healing to the knot on the back of his head, the red-head let out a long exhale as he drummed loamy grass with his toes, letting the general "aura" of the Spirit World soothe him for wont of anything else to do.
"Well, I suppose it could be worse. I could've wound up on the doorstep on one of those edgy Spirits."
"Yeah, and boy would that have sucked, eh, doc?"
"You can say that agai-"
. . .
Whipping himself around, the red-head came face to face with an enormous bipedal rabbit with gray fur, his muzzle, belly, paws, and feet a pristine white, the Spirit's raised ears beating him out in height by a few inches.
" . . . Hello," Zhu returned after taking a moment to process.
"Hey, yourself, kiddo," the Rabbit Spirit waved. "So, what landed you in this neck a' da' woods?"
"Oh, you know… Astral Projection."
"Ah, that. Seen it a few times myself," the Rabbit Spirit said as he began to nibble on a root vegetable. "So, why the road trip?"
"I want to check out a book from a certain library," Zhu said subconsciously shielding his modesty with his journal.
"Hey, c'mon now, Red, this is a judge-free zone," the Rabbit Spirit said gesturing to his own exposed nudity; even though he didn't have any visible genitalia.
" . . . You know what? That's completely fair," Zhu shrugged as he let his journal hang from his side.
After all, only Human Spirits wore clothes, and some of them didn't even care about nudity.
Allegedly. Probably.
"So, do you have any idea how to get to Wan Shi Tong's library from here?"
"Sorry, doc. Not a clue," the rabbit said with a head-shake and a shoulder-shrug. "My advice, pick a direction and start walkin'. Concepts like 'here' and 'there' get kinda wibbly- wobbly in here."
"Yeah, that's… also perfectly fair," Zhu said as he took a broken branch from the ground, lobbed it into the air, let it land, and followed where the pointy end sent him.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Elsewhile…
"He's just… gone…?" Korra gasped incredulously as she beheld a rumpled pile of clothing surrounded by otherworldly flower petals, Akamaru and Naga both snuffling and whining quite pitiably as they tried to find some other trace of him.
"He… He was right next to me… And then he wasn't…" Jinora shuddered. "Korra, I'm so sorr-"
"Don't apologize; this was always his plan. I just… I thought he'd still be here, not… Not completely gone…!"
Falling to her knees, before she'd even realized, she'd knelt in the bed of flower petals and gathered up Zhu's garments, hugging them to her chest.
"They… They smell like the soap he uses…" she murmured through his discarded shirt.
"Korra…" the Airbender girl said laying a hand on her shoulder. "Zhu will be back. He came back before, he'll come back again."
" . . . "
"You know, there's a quote from an old philosopher I'm quite fond of," Jinora hummed thoughtfully. "A great love is a lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all that you think about. And you can focus on it, and try to force it. But the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But if you're patient, and hold still… Maybe. Just maybe, it'll come to you."
" . . . That sounds sappy as hell," Korra chuckled in the middle of a sob.
"Maybe a little," Jinora admitted with a cheek-scratch. "But it certainly makes you feel better, doesn't it?"
" . . . Yeah, maybe a little," Korra nodded, folding Zhu's clothing as-neatly as she could manage before setting it back within the ring of flower petals, which even now hadn't been disturbed from their resting place. "Come on, let's go tell Tenzin what happened."
"Maybe we should keel this to ourselves?" she offered.
"I'm pretty sure everyone in Republic City could see Zhu's little lightshow. I don't think there's much point in keeping it quiet."
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Elsewhile as Zhu traipsed about in the Spirit World, the sun had come up, gone down, come back up, and then there was rain and snow and night again.
All in the same hour!
"Uuulch...! My head hurts..."
His eyes might've known that all that craziness only went down in the same hour, but his body clock was thrown completely to shit by the rapid day-night-day-night cycle.
And what's worse was he was still buck-ass naked, which as any experienced hiker would tell you, really sucked when there was rain and/or snow and/or nightfall as-applicable.
If it were just he-himself he had to worry about, he could power through, he'd done it before. But because of the precious cargo he carried, he had to be extremely mindful of what he exposed his peace offering to. He was fairly certain that if he arrived at Wan Shi Tong's abode empty-handed, he'd be thrown out on his nude, muscular ass. And that was even before considering how he'd be received if he had no clothes on.
Popular fiction itself was rife with examples of marooned protagonists using leaves and vines to make clothes for themselves, but crafting garments on that level not only required tools, but was also time consuming. And if the wibbly-wobbly nonsense of the skies overhead was any indicator, "time" between the Spirit and Material worlds was not always linear.
Example of a worst-case scenario that came to mind, came from an old Fire Nation story about a fisherman who was invited to a castle under the sea by a Dragon Spirit that was actually a princess who had disguised herself as a turtle for some reason, and four-hundred years had passed in exchange for three of marital bliss. Oh, and there was something in there about a box that shouldn't be opened but the fisherman opened it anyway aaaand…
He really wished it was a 1:1 amount of dilation, though he wasn't holding his breath.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Elsewhile, Tenzin had only barely managed to avoid an enormous diplomatic incident between the Northern Water Tribe and the Air Nomads.
The old priest had been nothing but rude, and the holy warriors weren't much better than all of the stereotypes either. Eventually, with the Republic City Council acting as an intermediary, it was decided that Tui & La's interpreters at the very least would be allowed into the heart of Air Temple Island to prostrate themselves. The theocratic entourage on the other hand had to remain on their elaborately decorated yacht out in what constituted as "international waters" between Air Temple Island and the sores of Republic City.
The council had offered to put the entourage up in one of Republic City's finest hotels if not the embassy, but with Tui & La's interpreters prostrating and fasting themselves on Air Temple Island, they instead chose to remain on their yacht and wait out Zhu's return.
They'd have remained moored on Air Temple Island's docks quite obstinantly, were it not for the fact that Tenzin's brother ordered a passing ship to fire a warning shot across their bow. Nothing that'd actually run the risk of hitting anything, but it got the point across. The Northern Theocracy was very far from home, and all sorts of "accidents" could occur on the high seas.
As was to be expected, the whole thing had turned into an enormous spectacle, and when word spread that Zhu, who had been "Spirit-touched" much in the same way Princess Yue was, had corporeally projected himself into the Spirit World after Air Temple Island had been lit up like a lighthouse, Water Tribesman began making pilgrimages toward the island to pay their respects and/or offer worship.
They'd been politely rebuffed, of course, but that didn't stop a daily parade of offerings from being delivered to the island. Eventually, the gazebo where Korra had first meditated so many months ago was surrounded by a veritable moat of offerings. Food, incense, material goods with sentimental value; if it had been offered up to some sort of Spirit in the past, it had likely found its way into the pile. Korra had actually become a smidge jealous of all the adulation, what with being "the Avatar", but given the last time anything even remotely worship-like had occurred she'd been suckered into joining Tarrlok's taskforce, she quickly got over the sentiment.
The hardest part for her was simply living with the fact that Zhu was just… gone. His place at the dining table remained perpetually empty, Akamaru was inconsolable, Naga was equally despondent, and even when she herself could sneak out of the women's dormitory to Zhu's, his bed was still as empty as he had left it. And because his sheets had been laundered on the very same day he left, there wasn't even his lingering scent do indulge herself in.
So, she turned her attention toward her Airbending, Jinora acting as a surrogate teacher while Tenzin chewed out the Council for granting the Northern Theocracy permission to make landfall upon his island behind his back.
*PFFFFFFFFFF!*
*Crick*
"That's great, Korra! The crack's… twice as big as the last one!" Jinora said appraising the gourd Korra had emptied her lungs into and writing down her findings.
It was only science if you wrote it down, and if the practice was called "science", no-one in the city could accuse Korra of wasting her time while there were still "ex-Benders" shuffling about.
"Haaah…! *gasp* Haaaah…! *gasp* Haaaaah…!" Korra panted as she passed it over to Bumi, who had repaired the one she'd practiced with before and passed that over. "How… did Zhu… do this…?"
"He actually didn't. Him corporeally projecting himself into the Spirit World was from a number of factors, not just Total Concentration Breathing," Jinora answered.
"Wait, you aren't thinking about going in there after him, are you?" Bumi asked pointing to Zhu's folded clothing in the gazebo.
"I mean… Maybe?" Korra offered. "But I probably won't. Knowing my luck, as soon as I do, he'll come back and we'll have missed one another by seconds."
"That's also a distinct possibility," Jinora hummed before breathing into a gourd of her own and cracking it. "Whoo! Got a little heady there…"
"Yeah. Just imagine what my Firebending will be like when it's back," Korra hummed right as Naga perked up. "What is it, girl?"
"Whoa! Offerings ahoy," Bolin gawped as he and the others came around the corner.
"Guys? What're you doing here?" Korra asked as she shot up.
"We managed to coordinate a little time off," Mako answered as he, Asami, and his brother came up to them. "Of course, I'm also technically on-duty even if I'm not officially a cop yet," he admitted, showing off his dull gray fatigues and officer's cap. "I thought the others were exaggerating about the offerings, but I guess it was just that literal."
"Korra, how are you holding up?" Asami asked worriedly.
"It's… I'm fine, it's just… It's hard not having him here, you know?" Korra admitted, feeling no need to put up a front.
"True, but at least he's heading in the right direction," Bolin hummed. "I mean, that Spirit Library's gotta have what he needs, doesn't it?"
"Well, not like there's anywhere else to look," Korra admitted, since if Wan Si Tong's library turned out to be a dead end, they were kind of screwed.
"You hungry?" Asami asked. "I can try to make us some pizza."
"Oh, half the work's already done. Ever since Zhu's pizza turned out to be such a hit, the monks have been making dough, so I'm sure there's a risen batch lying around," Korra admitted, feeling a bit puckish.
"I still can't believe the guy invented a new food…" Mako hummed, hearing word that another Pizza Palace was being built closer to the police academy after Varrick bought one of the nearby establishments out.
"Technically it isn't new food, it's just in a new shape," Bolin corrected.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"Ugh, I would absolutely kill for a pair of shoes right about now."
Because if there's one thing that trekking it across the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation both taught him, it was that a good pair of shoes were an absolute must! And point of fact, whenever the Blind Bandits were replacing their gear, first priority came to the shoes. Clothing could be patched and sewn, but unless you were a Cobbler, there was little you could do about your shoes.
And sure, the grasslands in the Spirit World were plush like shag carpeting, but as soon as you step onto what passed for a beaten path, getting small pebbles or shells or nuts or so-on caught literally underfoot…
"Note to self: learn to take clothes with you while Astral Projecting…"
Apart from that one Rabbit Spirit, there were actually very few Spirits crossing his path. Which was very, very weird considering they were the ones with the run of the place. And even if they shied away from Humans, being "Spirit Touched" at the very least should've opened some sort of receptivity.
"Honestly, it's like this whole place's hackles are raised."
Everything looked ordinary enough; or at least as ordinary as plants and mushrooms the size of skyscrapers were. But the air was just… charged in a way, like anecdotes said was what happened before some huge battle.
"At least Aang described his forays into the Spirit World well-enough that I'll know what Koh's lair looks like."
Avian Spirits suddenly taking flight in the middling distance, Zhu turned their way to see if he could get some hint as to what was going on.
A moment later the foliage before him exploded outward, a gleaming silver form like the gondola of an airship with a domed windshield coming right at him, its headlights and fluorescent green accents the last thing he saw before he was struck down with a loud-
*THUNK!*
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"ZHU!" Korra cried as she shot out of bed, covered in fear-sweat.
"Korra, I heard your screams! What's wrong?" Asami cried as she came into the room, bedraggled with an Equalist Shock Gauntlet on her wrist.
"I…! I had a dream! Or maybe, a vision…?" the Avatar gasped as she held her face. "Asami… Did your dad ever, ever try to make an Airship capable of going into the Spirit World?"
"Not that I could ever recall. And usually airships are impossible to hide once they're off the ground," the heiress hummed. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just… That's what it looked like before whatever 'Avatar link' I have with him was cut off…" Korra said as she gripped her bedsheets. "Maybe it's just stress. I mean… that airship gondola didn't even have a balloon attached to it. Not to mention Zhu wasn't wearing pants for whatever reason."
"Well, I'm not sure what to say about you dreaming about Zhu with no pants on~" Asami giggled. "But maybe the other thing was some kind of 'Airship Spirit'?"
"Yeah, but who ever heard of a Spirit that took the form of an object?"
"Actually, Fire Nation lore is filled with examples of inanimate objects springing to life on their 100th birthday," Asami replied. "Tsukumogami, I believe they're called."
" Really…" Korra blinked amazedly.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"I can't believe you ran someone over!"
"He came out of nowhere!"
"He was standing in the middle of a clearing!"
"W-Well I still managed to hit the air brakes…"
"And you threw him fifty feet."
"It wasn't that much. And at least he didn't fly into a tree or a rock or something."
"That's a small comfort. We aren't exactly running a Triage back here, and I doubt the locals will appreciate what we did to one of their own…"
"Speaking of which, why wasn't he wearing pants?"
Zhu's head pounded as he listened to the muffled voices looming over him, feeling like that other time he'd gotten hit by an airship gondola, minus having to cling to a windowsill in a death grip.
Opening not his eyes, but his "third eye", he "saw" two bodies standing above him. One male, one female, both into the early years of their adulthood. Things were heated, a given since the man ran into him and was being chewed out by the woman, but not heated to the point of violence. That they put some sort of medical patch on his forehead, and on his chest, showed they'd attempted to remedy aid.
But, this wouldn't have been the first time someone had "helped" him, only for it to be part of a much bigger con.
Rolling the fingers of his right hand, out of view of the two, he allowed the most subtle traces of Blood Healing to wash through his veins, taking away the least of his pain. As soon as it felt like he didn't have a railroad spike jammed between his eyes, with a powerful clench he formed a fist, the two's bodies suddenly locking up.
"W-What the-?"
"Can't move-!"
"Who are you?" Zhu said as he cracked an eye open, sitting up with the aid of his free hand as he appraised the two.
On his right was a young lady, looked like Fire Nation, but at the same time "not". She had fair skin, violet eyes, purple bangs, and black hair drawn up into a spiky ponytail, her figure on the modest side. Her attire consisted of purple-and-black shoes of elaborate make, black pants of an unfamiliar weave, and a purple short-sleeved shirt with strange violet accents; a large D and an L flanking what looked like a casket with a Spirit coming out of it in the middle.
On his left was a young man, looked like Fire Nation, but like his compatriot, at the same time "not". He had light skin with messy black hair, blue eyes, and a lean athletic build. His attire consisted of red and white accented shoes of an elaborate make, blue pants of an unfamiliar weave, a white short-sleeved shirt with a red oval in the middle, and a brown leather Jacket thrown over that.
"Wait, who dressed me?" Zhu asked finding himself in almost exactingly the same attire as the young man, minus the jacket and the shoes.
"He did-"
"Yeah, why were you walking around in the nude?" the young man cut off his partner. "No judging, just seems like a weird cosmetic choice."
"More important, why can't I move?" the young woman asked fighting his Bloodbending hold.
"I'm still asking the questions here," Zhu said narrowing his eyes, keeping his clenched fist hidden. "Why did you run me over?"
"Technically we only hit you-"
"It was an accident," the young woman cut her partner off.
"What are you doing here?" Zhu demanded.
"We are… really lost…" the young man admitted.
"Why are you here?"
"I'll answer you with another question. Where is 'here'?" the young man asked.
"And back to what I asked, why can't we move?" the young woman demanded, clearly losing her patience.
" . . . You'll understand if I'm a bit wary after getting run over," Zhu said as he slackened his hold on the two.
"Once again, we only hit you," the young man stated. "Uh, I guess you can call me Danny."
"Sam," the young woman replied.
"I'm Zhu," he answered. "As for your other question, how the hell did you get into the Spirit World and not even know this is where you'd end up?"
"Spirit World?" the man named Danny blinked. "Don't you mean the Ghost Zone?"
"No, I mean the Spirit World. Ghosts and Spirits are usually not the same thing…" Zhu hummed.
" . . . Okay this is going to sound really weird, but what planet are you from?" Danny asked as he sat down within the cramped space.
"Earth."
"Okay… Do you know about the Disasteroid?"
"Don't you mean Sozin's Comet?"
At this, the two shared a significant look before Sam asked-
"Do you know who Danny Phantom is?"
"Who?"
" . . . We can absolutely never tell Tucker about this," Sam said facing Danny.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
What followed was a story that to anyone else would've sounded completely absurd, but to Zhu who'd been up to his eyeballs in 'Avatar Nonsense' and been galivanting through the Spirit World both, Danny and Sam's tale was perfectly feasible.
Allegedly Danny and Sam came from a world that was also known as "Earth" but was not in fact the same world as the one they suspect Zhu was from. They spoke of a world split into seven continents, where mystical powers in Humans were extremely rare, about countless technologies that to Zhu only existed in science fiction radio dramas, and how this "Disasteroid" almost destroyed the entire world had everyone not banded together and made the entire world intangible with the power of "a million Ghosts" and a giant conductor with metal tendrils spanning the entire globe. Danny Phantom, who they referenced earlier, had spearheaded the effort and had statues erected in every major city in the world.
Their belief that they came from "Alternate Earths" was only furthered by the footnote version of the world history that Zhu gave to them. The Fire Nation, Sozin's Comet, the Hundred Year War, and even the Avatar were completely alien concepts to them. Especially the idea of Bending what Sam called "the Cardinal Elements".
As for how "Earth-1" and "Earth-A" were interconnected, based on present evidence, it seemed as though the "Ghost Zone" of their world, and the Spirit World of his, were in fact interconnected to one another. Or at least that's how they framed it in relation to a relic they called the "Infi-Map"; a near-complete map of an extraplanar realm, not only leading the home addresses of "a bazillion ghosts", but also to all the natural and man-made "Ghost Portals", some of which lead to different places in time.
"So… if this map of yours leads to literally everywhere, how the hell did you get lost?" Zhu asked as they ate some self-heating, 'shelf-stable' rations.
Varrick had actually been experimenting with a similar idea, last he heard, but hadn't quite gotten the ratios right.
"As soon as we crossed over into this Spirit World of yours, this happened," Danny said opening a gold-capped scroll with white parchment. Held within the paper, almost like a window, was the image of swirling golden clouds, completely nonsensible.
"How the hell do you break a map?" Zhu asked as he held out his hands.
Danny, shrugging his shoulders, held it out for the red-head to take, who spread it across his lap before saying.
"And what the hell are you talking about? There's a route right here."
"Wait what?" Danny blinked as he got shoulder-to shoulder with the red-head who pointed to a spot on the center of the map.
On said map was a cleared-out area surrounded by giant mushrooms, a tiny "Specter Speeder" in the middle of a clearing. Connecting to that clearing was a slaloming path through the Spirit World, leading toward idyllic rolling grasslands, a cozy cream-colored cottage in Eastern style with thatched roofing and surrounded by giant standing lily pads at the end of that winding path.
"How'd you do that?" Sam blinked.
"Do what? All I did was hold the thing."
"Frostbite… He said that the Infi-Map 'is able to lead a person to their destiny'…" Danny said thoughtfully. "You said you Astral Projected into the Spirit World because there's something you absolutely had to get. What if that was why the map brought us here?"
"I mean, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that ever happened to us," Sam admitted. "I guess we're supposed to help you on your quest, and then we'll be able to go home?"
"I mean, I won't say no to a ride or the clothes. Maybe some shoes…" Zhu admitted as he rubbed his scuffed-up feet.
"I'll… see what we have in stock…" Danny sighed as he went to an overhead compartment.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"So you're actually married to your Earth's greatest hero?" Sam asked as Zhu guided the Specter Speeder through the winding course that the Infi-Map fed him.
"Technically we're engaged, and it's her previous Incarnation that's the world's 'greatest hero'," Zhu answered from the navigator's chair. "Korra's still got a ways to go, but I'm sure that whole mess with the Equalist civil war got her at least a chapter in the history books," he said reaching over to Danny's wrist and adjusting his hold on the yoke. "What about you two? This… 'space ship' as you call it… I doubt just anyone can get their hands on one of these, let alone this magic map of yours, so who are you exactly?"
"Well, if you ever find yourself in Amity Park, we can always tell you then," Danny hummed.
"It'd probably be for the best if I didn't tell anyone back home about your 'Alternate Earth'. If any of the crime syndicates, let alone the Bending Supremacists, ever found out there was an entire world of non-Benders ripe for the plundering…"
"Oh trust me, our Earth is far from defenseless," Danny chuckled.
"Although I do agree that no-one wants to see another world war, let alone a multi-world war," Sam cut in.
"Still, though, to think we'd find breathing, living proof of Multiverse Theory," Danny hummed excitedly.
"What about this 'Ghost Zone' of yours?"
"Ehhhh… There's still people out there who consider the Ghost Zone as more of an 'afterlife' then 'another world'," Danny shrugged making a so-so gesture with his hand. "I mean, it's kinda hard to argue with that when there's Ghosts of formerly-living people swimming around in there. I mean, I literally saw Elvis in there once."
"Danny, he's from another world. He's not gonna know who Elvis is," Sam cut in.
"Well, as long as you don't write any of this down, no-one can call it science," Zhu hummed.
"Oh, so you have that saying too," Danny hummed.
"Still, it's pretty wild that you happen to speak the same language as us," Sam nodded.
"What do you mean?" Zhu asked.
"I mean… the whole Avatar thing sounds like it's steeped in Buddhist principles, so if anything, your spoken language should be closer to Chinese than English…"
"Probably best not to think about it," Danny hummed. "Ah, I think I see our destination," he said as they came out of the 'Spirit Forest', idyllic rolling hills spreading out before them, its sole man-made structure sticking out like a sore thumb.
"Let's hope whoever's there is receptive to hosting guests," Zhu hummed. "This map of yours isn't showing anything new, so maybe we're supposed to do something here?"
"Wouldn't be the first time we got held up somewhere," Sam nodded.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"Helloooooo?" Zhu called out as they disembarked, Danny and Sam having him take the lead since he was the closest thing to a 'local' around here. "Anyone home? We kinda parked on your lawn!"
"Definitely seeing Chinese influences in that architecture, with a mix of Japanese too," Sam nodded appreciatively as she took a picture with something that looked like a camera, but was smaller than a sandwich and didn't use any flash powder.
The next moment Danny gasped, a plume of blue smoke escaping his lips.
"Um, is that normal where you come from?" Zhu asked as the young man slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Sam, get back," Danny said putting himself in front of her. "I'm going ghost!"
"Going what?"
*FWISH!*
A ring of light snapping into existence around his waist, the next moment it split in half flying in opposite directions along his body, his street clothing metamorphosing into a black tight-fitting jumpsuit with white gloves and boots and accents –a P inside of a D on the chest—, the young man's hair turning white like Princess Yue's, and his eyes glowing green like his Fake Firebending.
"Danny, don't you dare instigate!" Zhu said as his wrist bruised before his fist clad itself in blood.
"Oh my, you young folk nowadays are so energetic!" an elderly voice hummed jovially from within the domicile, loose-fitting robes in shades of green accented with gold coming into view. The old man wearing them was portly with a bald head, long white hair, and a beard with eyebrows to match. His eyes were kindly, laugh lines marking his face, very much the image of a man that'd allowed himself to age gracefully.
"Iroh?" Zhu gasped with wide eyes.
"You know this ghost?" Danny asked as his stance eased.
"I… Not personally, but…" Zhu admitted. "Iroh, what are you doing here? How are you here?"
"Oh, you know. When my work was done in the material world, I chose to leave my body behind and come to the Spirit World," the old man hummed.
"Um… Iroh, I'm not sure how to say this, but you didn't leave your body behind. You took it with you," Zhu stated.
"Really…?" the older gentleman blinked.
"Yes, really. When I was trying to astral project, I studied your memoirs extensively."
"Huh. Imagine that."
"Wait, you mean he vanished like Yoda?" Danny blinked, something childlike glimmering in his now-emerald eyes.
"I don't have any idea who that is," Zhu deadpanned.
"Danny, don't go down that rabbit hole," Sam chastised. "Um, Iroh, sorry if we parked on your lawn."
"Oh, this isn't my land, I'm just living here," Iroh waved away. "Still, that's an interesting looking Airship you have there. Where is the balloon?"
"Ah… That's actually a bit of a long story," Danny said as a ring of light encircled his waist before his transformation reversed itself, now that the Ghost he'd been sensing turned out to be non-hostile.
All the other Ghosts, or "Spirits" as Zhu's people called them, had been somewhere between less-than-friendly to outright hostile of the scratches and scuff marks marring the Specter Speeder were any indicator.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
One tea party later…
"Oh my, what a fascinating tale," Iroh hummed like someone being told an amazing story; because what Danny, Sam, and Zhu told him was the very definition of an amazing story. "And I guess that explains why the Spirits have been so out of sorts as of late."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, imbibing on her fifth slice of 'Spirit Cake'.
She wasn't normally the sort to pig out like that, but since she'd never gain any weight from eating them...
"Well, it seems like young Daniel is quite dangerous, because most of the Spirits hackles have been raised," Iroh hummed contemplatively, his fingers steepled before him. "Of course, it isn't like he's the only Half-Spirit around here," he said giving Zhu a significant look.
"Wait, you're a Halfa too?!" Danny blinked incredulously.
"I mean, I can't do what you just did," Zhu answered with a vague hand gesture. "I'm 100% Human, it's just… I was stillborn, and then my parents gave my body over to a Spirit like what happened with Princess Yue…"
"Which is why the Spirit World was so welcoming; at least compared to when others who are less-than-welcome find their way here," Iroh nodded.
"Far out," Sam hummed his way like she were seeing him for the first time.
"Well, that explains all the tension I've been feeling in the air," Zhu hummed as he drank his tea, feeling strangely uplifted as he imbibed.
"Guess that explains why we were having so much trouble leaving," Danny said scratching his hair. "As soon as we fell into the Spirit World, it was like we were going in circles. Our compasses wouldn't work, and our map got all wonky. Had to pass by that same mushroom five times before realizing we were kind of stuck."
"And it wasn't like we could just sit around and do nothing. We kept getting attacked by angry Spirits every five minutes, and unlike the Ghost Zone, we aren't intangible here," Sam added.
"Hm. It seems like you three were brought together for a reason," Iroh nodded.
"Perhaps," Zhu nodded, a bit wary of someone who could supposedly put the entire Spirit World on notice. "Iroh, you wouldn't happen to know where Wan Shi Tong's library is, would you?"
"I'm afraid not," he said with a shake of his head. "However, it seems like you already have all that you need to get there," he said gesturing to the Specter Speeder in an uplifted tone. "All I can do, is wish you the best of luck on your journey."
"I see. Thank you very much for your hospitality, Iroh," Zhu said clasping his hands together before bowing reverently, Danny and Sam reciprocating the gesture. "Is there any sort of message you'd like me to deliver once I'm back in the Material World."
"If you'd asked me that when I first made my way here, I'd have probably said yes," Iroh hummed. "However, I've been gone for a long time. Those that I knew have either mourned for me or already passed away. I wouldn't want anyone sent on a fool's errand looking for someone that's already passed on from the Material World."
"I see," Zhu nodded. "Wouldn't be the first secret I'm keeping," he said as he sat up. "Once again, thank you very much for your hospitality."
"Think nothing of it!" Iroh waved with a smile. "And please, if you and Korra ever make your way back here, I insist you join me for tea again."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Zhu nodded, Danny and Sam standing up and making their way to the Specter Speeder before he stopped short. "Hold on a second… Iroh, you took your body with you at the end of your life…"
"So it seems."
"And I also took my body with me."
"That you did."
"You say I'll be able to make my way back… Does that mean you can too…?"
"Who knows~?" Iroh chuckled good-naturedly. "I've never tried~"
" . . . "
" . . . "
" . . . "
It went without saying that Zhu, Danny, and Sam had no words to that.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Zhu alongside the two foreigners, delved further into the Spirit World now that the realm itself wasn't conspiring against their every turn.
To the two foreigners, the sights were completely fantastical, though they were also sure Zhu would feel the same if he ever saw the Ghost Zone. In comparison, while the Spirit World was infinitely more palatable, not to mention photogenic, the lack of the "invulnerability cheat code" they'd become accustomed, made the Spirit World infinitely more dangerous. The Specter Speeder was their only way back home, and that they'd been tangibly attacked, meant becoming stranded was a very real possibility. Sure, most of the Spirits fled from them, or more specifically, from Danny, but the ones that stood their ground could've very easily peeled the Specter Speeder open like a tin can.
The Infi-Map, as it turned out, needed a local's touch to work properly here, because as soon as Zhu passed it back over, that same roiling fog on the magic parchment would intrude once again. So with that in mind, they spent hours, or maybe even days traipsing through the Spirit World from above; because just as Zhu suspected, time wasn't always linear, as none of the Specter Speeder's clocks or Danny and Sam's watches remained consistent, either with one another or with the rapidly fluctuating skyline.
This of course gave Danny and Sam something they called "jet lag" whenever night would fall for only a few hours, and the idea that planes could get large-enough to carry hundreds of people at a time still boggled Zhu's mind; just as the thought of flying bison boggled theirs.
Eventually, however, they finally arrived at their destination.
"Sam, was there something funky in that tea?" Danny asked as the three of them craned their necks upward.
"I'm not sure, but I'm definitely seeing what you're seeing," Sam nodded as she stared incredulously at the sight before them. "Whole thing looks like the Taj Mahal with a little Hagia Sophia on the side if I'm being honest."
"I don't know what either of those are, but honestly, I shouldn't be too surprised, given where we are," Zhu said with a frank expression.
Reason being, at the end of the path the Infi-Map took them, was Wan Shi Tong's spirit library. The major caveat… was that it was hanging upside down from the canopy of a massive tree that put the banyan-grove tree in the Material World's Foggy Swamp to shame. In fact, the canopy was so large it was practically impossible to see the end of it, every single tree contributing to the mass far larger than any artificial structure the Material World had to offer. If one didn't know any better, they'd have thought that the Earth was doing double-duty for the sky.
"So… um… Do we find a place to park?" Danny asked as he continued to drink it in with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"I mean… It couldn't hurt," Sam admitted.
"I think this goes without saying, but I think you two should stay here with the ship. There's no telling how a Spirit like Wan Shi Tong will react if we bring someone so-obviously dangerous into his abode," Zhu said as he clutched his leather-bound journal close to his chest.
"Yeah… Yeah, that's probably for the best," Danny said, still remembering when the Specter Speeder got clipped by a dragonfly the size of a bus.
And so the trio made their way upwards in a coiling spiral, drinking in the majesty of that part of the Spirit World before they listed toward the monumental entrance.
Right as Sam was about to express concerns about how one would even navigate an upside-down building, the three of them were almost ripped from their seats as gravity upended itself. The Specter Speeder's alarms squealing in protest, a moment later the internal gyroscope compensated, rolling the craft over a full 180 and making what was upside-down stand right-side-up.
"Well... I guess that answers that question," the young lady hummed, Danny rolling with the punch and extending the boarding ramp.
"Well, wish me luck," Zhu said as he adjusted the elaborately-made 'sneakers' on his feet.
"Don't worry. We'll be here when you get back," Danny nodded.
"I should think so. He's the only one who can read the map that'll get us home," Sam added.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Wan Shi Tong's library was just as elaborate within as it was without. Setting aside the fact that gravity had paradoxically inverted itself compared to the exterior, it was all as Aang had described it in his memoirs. The rooms and hallways were clad in mosaics and columns decorated with owl effigies, the floor-to-ceiling shelves positively packed with scrolls, books, and other physical storage media. The center of the building was split by a massive chasm that went all the way down, spanned by bridges of solid stone. Scattered about were Jenamite crystals, illuminating the fantastical space in place of the electric bulbs that had become so commonplace after Lightningbending had been commercially harvested.
The hairs on the back of Zhu's neck standing on end as he felt a shift in the air, Zhu slowly turned on his feer before craning his neck up, coming face to face with the library's custodian.
Aang's memoirs were incredibly descriptive, but they had nothing on the real thing.
"Wan Shi Tong," Zhu bowed reverently at the massive Barn Owl-like Spirit with clasped hands.
"Zhu, of the Northern Water Tribe," the looming Spirit regarded him.
"I was exiled from the North, so that title is hardly appropriate," Zhu corrected before asking- "You know my name?"
"I know a great many things," Wan Shi Tong replied. "I consider your kind to be quite repugnant, but I will admit, being touched by Mother Blood, given some of her essence by her own volition, makes you infinitely more palatable than Yun of the Earth Kingdom. Not that what happened to Father Glowworm was entirely undeserved."
"I see," Zhu nodded. "I would not tread upon this hallowed ground lightly. Not after the way you parted company with the previous Avatar. However, my needs are quite dire, and I can only make this humble offering, and hope you umbrage my presence for a small amount of time," he said laying out his journal before the spirit, before getting to his hands and knees and pressing his forehead to the floor.
"Ah, the Dogeza. A form of posturing originating from the Fire Nation. It seems you are well-traveled. For a Human, at least," Wan Shi Tong hummed as Zhu bore the nape of his neck to the ancient Spirit.
"When one is begging for aid, it's only proper that one prostrates," Zhu returned.
"Hm. Indeed."
With a fluttering of voluminous black feathers through the air, Zhu's journal vanished, though he did not yet raise his head, Wan Shi Tong taking a moment to peruse the kernel of knowledge given to him before stopping short.
"This journal. Half of it is empty," Wan Shi Tong said in a neutral tone tinged with annoyance.
"It is because my research is not yet complete," Zhu answered. "As a matter of fact, there may not ever be an end; only countless amendments and revisions. Because knowledge isn't a destination with an 'end'. Knowledge is a journey, because there is always more to learn, and if the day ever comes where there's nothing more to learn… well… I just hope I'm not around to see what that looks like."
"Hm. Indeed," Wan Shi Tong hummed in an appreciative tone as he looked upon Zhu's notes with a renewed interest, the pages of the journal fluttering. "Ah. I see. Fascinating. I was unaware Bloodbending could be used in such a way," he said re-reading the section concerning the grafting of Noatak's forearm onto Tarrlok's. "Of course, none who practiced this discipline of Waterbending ever sought to write any of it down," he said closing the journal before handing it off to a fox-like Spirit. "At least you put in the effort to prepare an appropriate offering."
"It was all I possessed that you would truly place value in," Zhu answered.
"Indeed," Wan Shi Tong nodded. "Very well then, Zhu of Blood. You are welcome in my library; for a time."
"Aren't you going to ask my purpose for coming here?" Zhu asked as he raised his head, but remained kneeling.
"Word of what has transpired in Cranefish Town has reached my ears, even here," Wan Shi Tong answered.
"I thought the Spirits didn't care for Human conflicts," Zhu hummed, choosing not to elucidate on how the settlement's name had changed.
For a Spirit as old was Wan Shi Tong, a period of seventy years was probably below his notice.
"We don't, but there is only so much posturing we are willing to stomach," the Knowledge Spirit huffed. "Claiming that we gave him the power to take away people's Bending... If you yourself had not stepped in on Mother Blood's behalf, another Spirit would have."
"Mother Blood… My parents died before they could tell me her name."
"Mother Blood kept her identity to herself, choosing to let her actions do the speaking," Wan Shi Tong replied. "Do you wish to know more about her?"
"I…" Zhu began before clamming up. "I am sure that if Mother Blood wanted to converse with me, that she would have sent me a sign, or at the very least, an intermediary."
"Perhaps," the Knowledge Spirit hummed. "If you require aid finding what you seek, my Knowledge Seekers are but a call away."
"Thank you, o' wise Spirit," Zhu said bowing reverently once more.
When he raised his gaze, the Knowledge Spirit was already gone.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Wan Shi Tong and his Knowledge Seekers were rather meticulous in their recordkeeping, so it was a simple matter to find where the books and scrolls pertaining to Chakras and Chi were. After that, one of the fox-like Spirits guided him to where the information he sought resided.
Of course, that was the easy part. The hard part was finding that special "something" that'd help him overcome the block in his research.
In the olden days where Bending was practically a prerequisite for ruling, be it an entire nation or just a community, a great deal of research had been done in an attempt to ensure that all born from royal Bloodlines, or just the bloodline of the leading class, would possess some form of Bending for the sake of legitimacy.
At first, they used in-breeding to preserve the "purity of bloodline" they thought was the key to Bending, but eventually, they caught on to the fact that the more you laid with your own cousins, or Raava forbid your own sister, the more-inept and infirmed the royal offspring would become. And it wasn't wholly uncommon for two Benders to give rise to a non-Bender, either. Some would claim it to be an ill omen, or a sign from the Spirits if not outright mischief on their part, but others attributed it to a matter of pure chance like whether a man would sire a son or a daughter.
Zhu honestly could've shortchanged a great deal of his wanderings years ago if he'd been able to make his way here, on account of finding many familiar titles among the old, but he was also fairly sure that without the knowledge his travelling had enabled him to accumulate, Wan Shi Tong wouldn't have given him the time of day.
And so, Zhu would read, read, read. When hunger or nature called he would return to the Specter Speeder and make use of the facilities therein. But then he would go back to the reading.
A part of him felt bad for holding the two of them hostage, given no matter what they did their magical map refused to cooperate with anyone but him, but he had an entire city, not to mention his fiancé, to worry about. They may have exchanged names, stories, and bread with one another, but ultimately they were acquaintances and tourists who'd gotten themselves into a bind.
And of course, with the inconsistent day/night cycle of the Spirit World, it was hard to know when a day had genuinely come and gone.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
Eventually, if the amount of time they'd been there could even be called an "eventually", Sam asked for an audience with Wan Shi Tong.
Zhu, against his better judgement, obliged her an escort.
Danny attempted to come as well, but when the Knowledge Seekers at the door floofed up to thrice their size and bore their fangs, the "Halfa" as he called himself accepted that he wasn't wanted, and that as long as Sam abided by the rules, it was little different from stepping into a library back home.
"Zhu. I see you have brought a foreigner in tow," Wan Shi Tong hummed as he loomed over the two Humans.
"I have. Samantha of Amity Park wishes entrance to your library," he said waving her before him, the young woman stepping forward confidently, with only a small amount of trepidation. Bowing her head, she presented a thin magazine titled-
"Black is the New Black…" Wan Shi Tong hummed.
"A Goth fashion magazine from my… homeland," she said abstaining from saying 'world'.
"Goth… Goth… That is not a word I am familiar with," the Knowledge Spirit hummed as he took up Sam's offering with his feathers and began leafing through the contents. "Hmmmmmm… I see… Ah, I see~" he hummed as curiosity changed to appreciation. "Normally, black is only worn in funerary shrouds, and at most for only a week at a time. To think that fashion trends had become so… refined in my absence from the Material World," he hummed preening his feathers slightly.
"Well… the world is a big place," Sam answered, trying to sound like she had nothing to hide. "So… may I come in?"
"You may. Just make sure you keep that… thing… at the door," he said as his silhouette momentarily changed from an enormous owl to something frightening and monstrous.
She was hardly any sort of stranger to Ghosts with multiple forms, Prince Aragon and Princess Dorathea the prime examples that came to mind. But if there was one thing that years of forays into the Ghost Zone had taught her, it was that you never challenged a Ghost –or in this case Spirit—in their place of power.
Sure, it was technically Danny who did the "challenging", she and Tucker had the benefit of being wholly Intangible while within the Ghost Zone, but the point still stood.
And that was probably why being in this "Spirit World" as Zhu called it frightened her so much. Because suddenly they were in a fantastical place where she could get hurt, where she and Danny could get stranded.
Perhaps the Infi-Map genuinely had guided them to Zhu, at least with its own obstinancy.
"Thank you for your generosity, Wan Shi Tong," Sam bowed. "I will attempt to carry new knowledge for you on my forays, in the event I find myself here again."
*RECONSTRUCTION*
" . . . What's that?"
"WHOA!" Danny yelped throwing his phone up, Zhu snatching it from the air before it hit the control panel, turning it over in his hand to gaze at the tiny window therein.
"What… What is this thing?" Zhu asked flipping the tiny window over in his hands.
"It's a video player," Danny answered as he took it back. "Don't you have TV where you're from?"
"We have radio, but not this 'TV' of which you speak," Zhu answered. "So… that's some kind of recording, and not just little people trapped behind the glass?"
"Most in your position would've assumed it was tiny people and that-only," Danny hummed.
"Well, given I was run over by an airship without a balloon, my mind is very open to new ideas," Zhu said looking around at all the complicated instrumentation around him.
Instrumentation that blew the best Future Industries had to offer completely out of the water.
"Heh, yeah, Tucker would have a trip with you~"
"Tucker… He's a friend of yours?"
"Yeah. He's the tech-wiz of our group. And he'd totally flip to know that there's other worlds out there with actual people living in them," Danny nodded.
"Yeah, you called it 'Multiverse'?"
"Mmhm," Danny nodded. "I mean, I knew that the Ghost Zone went on 'for infinity', but I guess I never really stopped to consider how far infinity actually was."
"Well, I'm sorry for holding you and Sam up like this, but-"
"Say no more, I completely understand," Danny said holding up his hands. "It's really hard being the A-Team, having so-many people counting on you. We hardly had any business being here, and we do kinda owe you for running you over."
"Well, at least you were on ground level when it happened," Zhu nodded.
"Still, what's it like? Having so many people with magical powers just… openly wandering around?"
"What's it like to not have people like that wandering around?" Zhu asked in turn.
"That's fair," Danny nodded. "So, how's your search going?"
"Very well, I just need to do a little more skimming and I'm sure I'll be able to break through this block," Zhu answered. "I also singled out a couple lost texts on Astral Projection while I was reading too, and I'm fairly certain that now that I've been here, the next time I go to the Spirit World I can just manifest in places I've already been. Allegedly."
"Yeah, well, it's a good thing this happened during an extended break and not just a weekend," Danny said looking out at the skyline, or at least what passed for such under a massive tree canopy miles and miles across, as it rapidly transitioned from day to night, the Jenamite crystals within and without the library glowing like guiding lights. "Next time, though, we'll probably stay away from the golden portal unless there's some kind of beacon to be left behind."
"That'd probably be wise," Zhu hummed, still chewing on the idea that there were other worlds out there. Worlds with technologies that made the best of his own look abject and primitive in comparison.
And of course, that he'd probably have to carry such wisdom with him to his grave. The only way to truly keep a secret, was to keep the circle as small as possible, and as long as no other-worldly invaders came from Danny and Sam's world to his to whip up some kind of trouble, he was content with that.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"EUREKA!" Zhu whooped.
"What? What is it?" Sam asked from down the hall as she made her way over, a number of volumes tucked under her arms.
"I have it! That little 'something' I've been missing! I have it!" he whooped holding up a scroll covered in meridian patterns.
"That's great!" Sam whooped. "So we can get going, now?"
"Yeah, it's probably for the best," Zhu nodded. "Wan Shi Tong's been a little edgy ever since Danny last poked his head in, so we should probably get going while the going is good," he said taking some notes on stationery the Knowledge Seekers had given him.
Wan Shi Tong wasn't exactly of the sort to loan anything out, not anymore, but he wasn't a hoarder to the point that he'd stop visitors from copying what they had learned either.
At least as long as it wasn't for destructive purposes.
"Now if only he'd do something about that corpse…" Zhu said glancing down the hall at the mummified body of Professor Zei, nestled among the ancient volumes he'd been reading ardently even as he wasted away to skin and bone.
That or the Knowledge Seekers gave him food and water and the guy just died of natural causes. Either/or.
"Wait, that's really a dead body?!" Sam gasped. "I thought that was just a macabre decoration!"
"Oh if only it were that simple," Zhu said as he double-checked his compiled research.
*RECONSTRUCTION*
"So… Are we there yet?"
"Danny, don't infect his world with that piece of slang," Sam chastised.
"Actually, that piece of slang is already there," Zhu amended.
"Ah," Sam blushed embarrassingly.
"And anyway, yes, we're almost there, just keep pushing on past the canopy, and then we'll be straight…"
The words he was about to say died on his lips as they broke past the woodlands and arrived on a massive barren plain, with rocky ridges and winding rivers radiating in weak spirals around the centers of both halves of an enormous Yin/Yang symbol that went on for as far as the eye could see. The lighter half of the ground was empty at the center, but spearing into the sky from the darker half was a brilliant orange ray that seemed to shoot up into infinity.
Danny on the other hand, had plumes of blue mist burbling out of his lips as his eyes found the enormous gnarled tree at the very epicenter where the edge of Yin met Yang. And it wasn't just that singular puff of mist either. His Ghost Sense was going off non-stop, a feeling of dread welling up within him that not even the King of All Ghosts, Pariah Dark, had instilled in him.
"Danny…? Danny, Earth to Danny!"
"Wh-What?" the Halfa blinked.
"Danny, you've been spacing out for ten minutes," Sam said worriedly before following his gaze. "You sense something bad over there, don't you?"
"Yeah. Real bad…" Danny said as he drew his hands away from the yoke before fiddling with the scanning equipment. Multiple scientific apparati sprouting from the Specter Speeder, after several long seconds a wireframe of the massive, gnarled tree manifested on the screen, reams of data that Zhu couldn't make heads or tails of appearing alongside. "Whatever's being held in there isn't going anywhere. Not for a good while at least."
"So this is a Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep kind of thing…" Sam said as a shudder went up her own back.
"Yeah… I guess some things are just universal," Danny hummed.
"Well, thankfully it isn't that tree in the center we're aiming for," Zhu hummed as he fought down his own shudder, a primal sliver of him thankful they hadn't come up on it from the other side. "See that ray of light off the port bow?" he said pointing to the left. "That's the Spirit Portal we're aiming for. According to that one book I skimmed through, that's a naturally-occurring Spirit Portal that'll take us to the North Pole. We fly through that, and we're home free."
"Hey, what about us?" Danny huffed.
"I don't know what to tell you," Zhu said holding up the Infi-Map, which showed the ancient tree in the center of the massive Yin-Yang symbol, as well as the orange Spirit Portal gleaming like a star through the darkness. "This is where your Infi-Map led us, and it's purely coincidental that I actually know where that Spirit Portal leads."
"What about the other one? If that orange ray takes us to the north, wouldn't the opposite one take us to the South?" Sam guessed.
"Seems like the Southern Spirit Portal is closed shut," Zhu hummed. "Not that it's really any of my concern. The North's a big theocracy that's caused me nothing but pain and suffering, so my advice; when you punch through, you gun it southward, hope nobody sees," he said as his dorsal scarring quivered under his clothes.
"And when we get back to Republic City?" Danny asked.
"You two can stay with me on Air Temple Island until I'm able to charter a course back to your home world or the Ghost Zone," Zhu answered. "That or this map of yours just decides to cooperate on its own."
" . . . Well, we aren't exactly spoiled for options," Danny sighed as he shifted the Specter Spirit toward the Spirit Portal. "Seatbelts on, I'm going in!"
Zhu and Sam tightening their seatbelts, the next moment Danny gunned it, the Specter Speeder shooting forward faster than any airship Zhu had ever seen.
Moments before they delved into the massive beam of energy, Zhu felt something looking at him sidelong, the red-head catching the barest glimpse of something impossibly ancient within the bossom of that massive, gnarled tree before the three of them vanished from the Spirit World.
*AN*
The Danny Phantom cameo was not in the initial planning stages for this chapter, let alone this story, but it seemed strangely appropriate for a foray into the Spirit World. Especially with the "Infi-Map" literally leading to different places in time, if not other worlds.
That and my recent interest in Danny Phantom crossovers; one for a My Hero Academia story, the other for Hazbin Hotel.
Those of you who've followed me, or chatted with me, will probably know that I fell out of love with Naruto crossovers a good while back. The truly unique stuff I'll read, but so many crossovers are just "Naruto re-skins" because he can be treated as the "Lowest Common Denominator", that I need to be very selective in what I read on that front without getting my hopes up.
And it's part of why I make lots of Cameos or Multi-Crossovers in my work. OCs who aren't the main character, who aren't given love and attention, can be a bit "meh" when they're only Supporting Cast. It's why I've made such efforts to make the OC I do use, have realistic flaws, both in character and personality, so that way they don't have "the answer to everything" and nothing is challenging.
Zhu might seem like the type, but that's only because he's well-traveled, having met many people and gone to many places. It's why "the elder" is synonymous with wisdom and knowledge; because they've been to many places, met many people, and learned many things.
And of course, the Kung Fu Panda reference in Iroh using Oogway's line was also quite funny, since as I understand it, Iroh either took his body with him or just abandoned his body outright. I was a little blurry on that detail as I was finishing up the draft, but I can easily imagine him pulling a Qui-Gon Jinn or an Obi-Wan Kenobi or a Yoda and just vanish leaving his clothing on the ground. I'd like to think that maybe he "left it all behind" at Ba Sing Se, under that tree where he sang to his so in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se".
Anywho, tell me what you think of this foray into the Spirit World, and I'll see you next time on Giant-Slayer: New World.