The Dark Avatar
Introduction:
This story is the first part of The Dark Avatar Trilogy, named Rise Of The Elementals. It takes place twenty five years into the future of the Avatar show, and takes our favorite team, now separated through a reunion, where they would once more have to face themselves, each other and most of all, their unknown enemies.
Trilogy Summary:
Twenty five years into the future, horrific events of seemingly random order begin to take place, and the Avatar is sent to put a stop to it, however, things are not as simple as they seem, and as the Avatar delves deeper into them he discovers terrible parts of the Avatars' history, lost to the race of man. As new foes emerge, seeking to undo the balance he had worked so hard to recreate, would Aang be able to reunite with his friends and rise above the challenge offered to him by fate?
Part Summary
When a group of meteors crashes on the world, strange sightings begin of terrifying creatures with immense capabilities and the keeper of balance is summoned. However, soon he finds that things are not as they seem, and behind these seemingly unprecedented events there is a far older and more terrible story linked directly to the past lives of him himself as a cosmic-scale history reveals itself.
Part One: Rise Of The Elementals
Chapter One
The black velvet, embroidered with tiny white dot-like patterns that was the night sky stretched on to the horizon, with the exception of the great shining crescent, right in the center of view. Moon and star light alike lit up the dark and lush knoll, bestowing the grass with an enchanting gleam, and illuminating the lone couple sitting in each other's arms on it.
Their silhouettes seemed conjoined, as they embraced each other warmly; savoring the moments they were together. The beauty of that night almost seemed to be a gift for those two lovers who knew to appreciate it. The knoll rarely had visitors, despite the magnificent view seen from it, and so it was more unusual than not to see human beings there.
That is, until the couple moved nearby. Ever since they discovered this natural treasure near their new dwelling, they had visited the lonely hill every evening to watch the sun set, and the night sky. They would often talk, but at times they would prefer to simply bask in the beauty of nature and appreciate it in all of its forms.
Suki and Haru first met in the celebrations following the end of the One Hundred Years War, it seemed as though their love had blossomed ever since they first laid eyes on each other, and this bond only grew stronger as they continued to see one another. All who knew them said marriage was inevitable, and indeed they were right. The humble, small ceremony eventually took place, and the two embarked on the journey of building a life together.
The time of peace after the end of the war greatly eased this process, and since both lovers were gifted and talented, they had few troubles settling in, even having the time to watch the sun set every evening, a personal tradition of theirs.
And as they enjoyed the cool night air and painting-like sky, they felt the good times would last forever, as couples in love are wont to feel.
They were wrong.
A sudden streak of light was seen far above in the sky, an undefined shape, enveloped in flames, falling right from the sky, and heading, to the couple's dread, in their direction. A small trail of smoke followed the crashing meteor, as it sped towards the ground, and with little-to-no time to act, the Earth Nation's most envied couple could only watch in terror.
They were soon relieved however, as instead, the cosmic projectile crashed down in the stretch of woods some distance before their sanctuary of love, uprooting several trees in it's descent, and lifting up a large amount of dust, clouding the area of the impact.
Suki and her mate tensed, expecting another meteor to follow the one already touched down, but none came. Relief spread through the grateful and they shared a short kiss, but as they drew apart, relief exchanged with excitement.
"Let's go check it out!" The once Kyoshi warrior suggested, with a grin of anticipation and gleaming eyes. Her Earthbender husband cracked a smile at her excitement and nodded.
Both elevated themselves from the ground and took off in a playful jog to the meteor, (last one there's a Shirshu cub!) but as the clearing made by the meteor was visible to them through the mass of trees, they slowed down, and took in the view of the newly-made crater with awe.
As they emerged into the clearing, the couple held their hands and exchanged looks of thrilled enjoyment. They were almost at the rim of the crater, just about to lean over and look down, when the blur of a dark shape shot up from it, and landed before them. The ground slightly quivered at the impact, sending the unprepared humans stumbling backwards to regain their balance.
Before they could manage it though, a large, dark hand grabbed Suki by the throat, with neither a warning nor a comment, and lifted up the warrior so she was level with two piercing, steel-colored, snake-like eyes.
The warrior struggled valiantly, grabbing at the hand and trying to force it away, all the while kicking with her feet, but to no avail. Haru acted without even thinking, watching his love in harm's way, he immediately launched a spire of earth at the hostile creature, but the latter merely smashed it with his free arm off-handedly, as though it was not worthy of much attention. But as Haru began to mount another assault, the creature sent a casual kick at him, though it was casual to the creature, the force of the kick alone was enough to send the Earthbender crashing against the nearest trunk of a tree.
Suki, in the meanwhile was beginning to choke, and the lack of air and the obstruction of her blood flow was starting to become apparent, though she continued to struggle, her resistance soon became weaker, and her gagging became more pronounced, now joined with a repulsive gurgling sound as her saliva built up in her throat.
Just as the thought passed in Suki's fear filled mind that it was over for her, the creature's hand released her, dropping her unceremoniously on the ground, spluttering and gasping for air, her hands on her throat.
Haru was only just beginning to recover from his crash when the creature at last paid him attention again. Not one to make short battles long, it strode over, with gigantic steps, and with a swift, fluid motion snapped the Earthbender's neck, silencing him for eternity.
"So pathetic and hideous…" It commented, studying the dead human's form, "They are not meant to last." With that inscrutably said; it turned over and returned to the air gulping warrior, who was oblivious to her mate's fate.
It lifted Suki up once more, now from the hem of her clothes, glowering at her, and asked. "Where is your Avatar?"
She was halfway through compiling the answer to that question, when she suddenly asked, "Our Avatar?"
"You will bring him to me, or many more will end as he did." He turned Suki around, so she could see the dead body of the man she loved. And before she could react, before she could scream out, he had let her go, and he was gone.
And scream out she did, a scream of anguish and loss as such this forest has never heard before. Haru was dead, her other half, was dead.
The polished stone floors on the outer, central plaza, cleaned regularly by the young monks were now slightly blemished, as a young monk dropped a tray of food unto them.
He stared at the sky, his gaze following the flaming projectile heading towards the nearby waters. It was rather uncommon to see such large meteors around, and it was certainly the first time this monk has ever seen one. This one would not burn before it struck the ocean, that much was clear to the young monk. For now, he forsake his duty to clean the floor, and rushed to call his peers to view this sight.
The South Pole's ocean was serene, blue waves rippling around the shining white icebergs calmly. A particular Waterbending student, who drew his inspiration from this sight of the waters of his homeland, sat still on his boat, watching the waves. He appreciated the stillness of the ocean.
It was no surprise, if so, that he was shocked as those were suddenly disturbed by a large crashing object, knocking his boat backwards with the immense waves of water. The Waterbending student, having been too focused on the water to quite notice what had crashed into his precious ocean, rushed to shore, in order to inquire if anyone had seen what it was that disturbed his peace.
The Great Walls of Ba Sing Se, still standing in their entire glory, a marvelous sight for any man, of any nation, for these walls held not only the record as the highest walls in existence, but also a long history, never before failing the citizens of Ba Sing Se, (Though breached twice, the enemy has never progressed far enough to invade the city).
An Earth Kingdom guard stood jadedly on top of the Great Walls of Ba Sing Se, staring dully out into the surrounding area, ever since the war has ended, his job has become even less than obsolete, since no one was expecting any attack on the outer walls. But it brought in the money, and so he couldn't complain, it secured him a house in the middle quarter, and he was grateful for that.
Today however, a pleasant surprise graced his shift, for something interesting did occur to him, the uncommon sight of a crashing meteor, somewhere on the other side of the Serpent's Path, The trail of smoke following the meteor was a big one and so was the fireball surrounding it, and ergo, so was the meteor. He quickly called his sergeant, for he did not want to witness this rare sight alone, and it might put him in the latter's good books, and perhaps earn him an early end to his shift…
The FNS Deliverance was one of the Fire Nation's oldest vessels; it has been thoroughly reconstructed after an unexplained explosion in the engine room tore out half of the hull. But in the sakes of preserving this ancient relic, it has been put in the repair bay for months on end. And now, for the first time in years, it was once again sailing the waters around the Fire Nation's isle.
How ironic it was that on the first time in years that the Fire Navy has set this ship on patrol, after a massive investment in it's reconstruction, that it would once again sink, this time, due to a massive meteor, emerging quickly out of the sky, and crashing straight into the front of the ship.
A collective sigh came out from the reconstruction crew of the ship, watching it sail from the safety of their dockyard, and they stared at each other helplessly, knowing that many weeks of work will wait for them once the salvage crew drags in the remains of their proud work.
ooo
The sun had only just peeked from the mountaintops of the next day, bathing the sky in an orange-red color, when the nuns of the Eastern Air Temple began to go about their daily chores, the Mother Superior walked about, monitoring her sisters as they went through their daily Rota, she was rather young to be a Mother Superior, but since the Air Nomads have only just recently been re-introduced to the world, most Airbending Masters were young, and not elderly as the monks before them.
Earlier that morning, a group of nuns went on their assigned task of foraging and should have returned late, in the early hours of noon, however, when she saw the leader of the group, a rather responsible sister she took a liking too, she was not pleased to see the look of distress upon her face.
"We found a woman; she came out of nowhere and collapsed!" The young nun let out in one breath, "And she asked to call the Avatar, there she is…" She gestured over to two nuns carrying a green garbed, red-haired woman, covered in a variety of cuts and bruises, as well as signs of extreme exhaustion. She was trembling, and obviously struggling for every moment she was awake, whatever it was she wished to see the Avatar about, it had to be important.
"Go and summon him, I will tend to her, hurry now, he is on the veranda overlooking the eastern mountains." The Mother Superior ordered, and the nun hasted to do as she instructed, sprinting past her superior across the large stone court.
"Avatar Aang, Avatar Aang!" She called, the sound of her feet rapping against the stone disturbing the eerie silence of the terrace, the tall monk in bright orange turned to her, hands and forehead adorned with blue, arrow-shaped tattoos. His warm grey eyes surveyed her fondly.
"Yes sister, what is it?" The Airbender asked, twirling his staff in one hand as he inquired, careful inspection would reveal that he was not physically touching his staff, but rather bending the air to make it spin.
"We found a woman!" The female monk declared hastily, "And she asked to see you; she said her name was… Suki I think…" The young nun scratched her bald forehead, but her confidence restored to her once her Avatar showed signs of recognition, he ceased twirling his staff and focused his gaze upon her intently. "She's in the eastern plaza…" He strode past her quickly, so that she had to jog to keep up with him, "She collapsed near us, and she's injured, Mother Superior is tending to her now though, so I'm sure she'll be okay."
"There you are, Avatar Aang!" The Mother superior called out as the two approached, only barely holding the filthy, wounded warrior back from charging at the Avatar, Aang sprinted over to his old friend, crouching next to her as she struggled.
"Suki, what happened?" He asked urgently, "Are you all right?"
"Aang! Thank goodness Aang, you've got to stop that thing, it's going to kill people, it killed people already! It… it killed Haru… you have to stop it!" The female warrior cried urgently, managing to release one of her hands from the Mother Superior's hands and used it to grab the male monk's hand, childlike, begging for help.
Aang's expression changed rapidly to surprise, and then to a stony melancholy as Haru's fate was revealed to him. He suppressed a strong pinch of tragedy and shock, whoever it was that killed Haru, he needed to stop them, and for that, he needed Suki to be calm.
"Suki, listen to me, take a deep breath and tell me exactly what happened." The former last Airbender commanded firmly, grey eyes etched with piercing determination. The distressed woman did as he instructed, and took a deep rattling breath.
"We were sitting near our home, and a meteor landed in the forest. Haru and I went to see what it looked like, but then this creature jumped out at us…"
"Creature?" The Avatar inquired, hoping she did not hint at the outrageous idea that it was…
"An alien, it came in the meteor, this giant black thing, with big snake eyes!" Suki described frantically, pushing it beside the point, why was he wasting time? That thing could be out there, killing more people, just like he killed him… her love.
Aang did not know what he preferred, for Suki to be telling the truth, so he won't have to deal with her growing insane, or for her to truly be mentally unstable, so he won't have to work out what steps to take against aggressive extraterrestrials.
"He killed Haru, and he told me to get you, he said he'll keep killing people until you show up!" Suki said, her voice losing whatever balance it had, and now flying between a high-pitched shrilling cry and a series of low pitched sobs.
The male monk wasted no time after he heard that, he threw a significant look to the Mother Superior and opened his glider staff, taking a short sprint and throwing it into the air, before jumping on it, clinging to the support beams meant for his hands as he bended the air currents around him. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, bending the air to greatly accelerate his flight. There was no time to spare.
The female nomads of temple hurried to take the worn out Suki to a resting place, where she could recover from her traumatic injury, all hoping that whatever it was Aang was facing, would not take anymore lives.
After a short and nerve-wracking flight, Aang reached the area of the Earth Kingdom where Suki and Haru chose to reside, the crash site of the meteor was apparent from his height, as the damage done to the forest was great. However, Suki had said that the creature, whatever it was, threatened to kill people until the Avatar was brought to it.
It didn't take him much time to locate the latest scene of disturbance in the creature's path, as a large pillar of smoke was rising from what Aang knew to be a small village to the west, turning his glider around, he headed in that direction, turning his glider upwards, so that the sails would pick up the wind he bended and propel him forwards.
Time was of the essence, that was the single thought in the Airbender's mind as he rode the wind towards his destination, but a dark sensation in the pit of his stomach gave him an unearthly feeling that it was already too late. He landed on the outskirts of the village, and sprinted forwards, decreasing the air resistance with his bending as he went, so that he sped in inhuman speeds towards his goal. He quickly halted however, as he was forced to swerve and avoid a large object standing in his path. He skidded to a halt some distance past it, raising a cloud of dust from the ground, and turned his head just in time to see a large fist approaching him.
He raised a defensive in time, striking with his staff upwards roundly, only slightly deterring the aggressive gesture, which even in despite of his preemptive action managed to scrape his ear, leaving it pounding in pain. Whoever it was, silhouetted by the twilight, they were fast, as before Aang even had a chance to recover from the first strike, a second followed, which he only just barely dodged, having to duck below the high hook punch, and just as he raised his offensive, a swerving crescent kick descended, shattering his staff and sending splinters into the air.
Aang grimaced as a minute fragment of wood struck the corner of his eyes, but the distraction was costly, awe aside, as his adversary sent a devastating roundhouse kick to, should he have been upright, where Aang's chest would be, however, since he was crouching, it was his upper jaw that took the blow, he could almost feel it fragmenting as he soared across the patch of dirt on which the combat took place. He crashed heavily unto the ground, dragging as he went, not even having the focus of mind to cushion the earth to ease his landing. The unthinkable came to his mind, he had to run, he wasn't ready for this. Suki was right, that thing could not be of Earthly origins, the strength of its blows, and the speed in which it struck were impracticable for a human being. He had to regroup.
Though his eyes were closed, Aang knew the creature was advancing on him, evident by his heavy weight, and the tremors in the ground as it trudged towards the Airbender. It was fortunate he had studied with Toph Bei Fong, for otherwise he would not have trained himself to feel such vibrations strongly. He rolled backwards, gracefully getting to his feet and making several tactical steps backwards. He began to resent the twilight, for revealing only the basic, massive shape of the creature, if only he knew what he was fighting against…
The creature stopped; fists on its hips, glowering at its retreating opponent, it did not speak, but its intent was obvious. Aang could almost feel the words in his mind, "Come back when you're ready."
Aang took off in the direction of the village; the wind he left in his wake blew out the flames easily and the Avatar hoped that the survivors would have the smarts to get as far away as they could from there. But for now, if the spirit of the planet was to live on to defeat this threat, he had to withdraw. As always when he was in doubt, he knew to whom he should turn, but in order to do so, he had to return to the Eastern temple, and without his glider, he would have to do so on foot, prolonging his journey. He felt a twinge of guilt thinking of his fateful staff, hand crafted by the former Airbenders over a century ago, it was his most prized possession, and his only one, being a monk. He resolved not to think of it, he would ask for a replacement from the Mother Superior for the meanwhile, and see what he could do about his own later.
As he ran he felt grave disappointment in himself, he was running away, leaving people to die at the hands of the terrifying alien presence, but what was he supposed to do? How does one deal with a celestial being, or better yet, how does one attack such a being without understanding what it is first? Perhaps it could be negotiated with? He felt shameful, as though he was merely making up excuses. He has not even attempted bending against the creature, let alone entering the Avatar State. His instincts, his intuitions told him it wouldn't work, that he needed to run and figure out what that thing was before attempting such desperate tactics.
As he debated this matter with himself, the creature was still standing rooted on the spot, in the exact same position, and after being sure the Avatar was not to return, it turned around and began to walk away loosely, and lightly, emanating an aura of pleased cruelty.
ooo