Avatar: Shadows in the Mind - Chapter Thirteen
Title: Shadows in the Mind
Summary: Five years after the war is over, the world is finally settling into an uneasy peace. When the Avatar and his friends disappear into a swamp in the southwest Earth Kingdom, they find themselves fighting not only for their lives but to prevent another way from breaking out. Chapter Thirteen: Bumi starts to move, Mai and Zuko reach the center of the swamp, and Aang gets some answers.
Rating: Light T, for violence and blood.
A/N: This might have gone up a couple days ago; except for I wanted to wait for ff.net's alerts to go back up before I posted this.
Chapter 13- Casus Belli
Bumi considered himself a man of few faults. Surely, he would not have been selected as the king of Omashu if he’d had many inherent personality flaws. He was kind and he was fair and he was good to the people who were under his care and an all-around decent human being - sure, there were many who considered his inability to resist a good joke a fault; Bumi considered it a talent, and really, it was simply a mark of his considerate nature that he would go out of his way to make others worry about silly, petty little things while he himself took on the burden of the serious decision and the big picture.
There was one thing, however, that Bumi had struggled with since he was a young boy, a problem that plagued most earthbenders - he simply could not stand to be wrong. This meant that he did not make a single decision lightly, whether it was where to establish trade routes or which of his servants to mess with that morning. Careful consideration of both sides of an issue and all possible consequences very rarely led Bumi down the wrong path, and he was one of the most fabulously successful kings in Omashu’s history simply for his ability to weigh both sides of an issue: a rare thing in an earthbender, who could be known for acting on stubborn impulses.
But now it was looking like Bumi had made the wrong choice in one of the most important decisions he had ever made as the ruler of Omashu. Was it possible that the young Bao was truly that treacherous? That he could betray Bumi and his country? How could he fool Bumi, moving around right under his very nose?
Although, Bumi thought, interrupting this dramatic train of thought, clearly he’d been somewhat suspicious if he’d felt the need to go through the things Bao had left behind in the first place. No wonder Bao was always scolding him for being too curious - there was a treasure trove of treasonous material laid out right in front of him that he’d always overlooked, always trusting Bao and the way he ran his business.
Bumi decided to overlook the fact that it wasn’t laid right out as much as it was locked up right in a desk drawer that he’d had to pick the lock on.
Either way, Bao had once again forced Bumi to abandon his familiar stance of Neutral Jing and take some actual action.
With a sigh he stomped his foot and opened up the wall, entering the room where the Earth King himself was eating lunch with his pet bear.
“Afternoon son,” Bumi greeted, giving him a small wave. The Earth King frowned at him. “And Bosco,” Bumi hastily added, nodding at the bear. “I came to inform you that I’m returning to Omashu at once.”
The king’s head snapped up from the adoring gaze that had been aimed at Bosco. “What? You’re leaving?”
“I have to!” Bumi exclaimed. “I’ve left Omashu to itself long enough - and the way things are going, I’d like to get some of our defenses in order-“
“You can’t think it will come to that!” the king exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
“No, no, no!” Bumi rushed to reassure him. “But our defenses are not nearly as sophisticated as Ba Sing Se’s-“ a gaze out the window showed him one of the walls out on the horizon - “And I won’t have my city occupied by any forces that are not my own ever again.” Neither Fire Nation nor fellow Earth Kingdom forces would take his city right from under him.
“Do you want a guard?” asked the king, properly pacified and returning his attention back to his meal and his pet.
“No, thank you. I shall just return with the unit I brought with me.”
“Your heir has already left the city?” the slant of his eyebrow indicated that the past was a long time ago, and now the Earth King did not miss a single thing of importance in his own city. Bumi mentally cursed Pakku.
“I’ve sent him ahead of me to Omashu, but I don’t want to leave too many decisions to him-“
“Afraid your own heir will usurp you, King Bumi?” There was an amused tone to his voice but Bumi felt his spirit darken at his words.
“I may live forever just to spite him,” Bumi announced regally before turning from the room.
***
Mai swayed where she stood, shocked to her core by the scene in front of her: Zuko, standing between Azula and the waterbender, openly challenging his sister. Azula, her eyes wild, simultaneously looking exhausted and as if she were on the most extraordinary high, as if she had never imagined having both Zuko and the waterbender right there in front of her for the taking. The waterbender looked pale and anxious, her attention neither on Azula nor Zuko but up in the trees as if searching for something.
“Aren’t I the one you’re looking for, Azula?” Zuko sneered, and Mai felt a strange pit grow in her stomach as she watched the two of them.
She had followed Azula to this point, as she had always done, and she had been planning on helping Azula accomplish her goals, as she had always done, but she had never planned on being stuck with Zuko, and actually talking to him; this was not a fight she wanted to be involved in or even witness. Who could she pull for? Who should she want to win? Who would she follow when it was all over? Her future was unsure no matter who came through the battle and got them out of the swamp.
Before she could contemplate this train of thought further, a solid mass slammed into her, nearly knocking her off her feet. It took her a long moment of panic to realize that the arms wrapped around her actually belonged to Ty Lee, though her greeting wasn’t only enthusiastic happiness; Ty Lee was trying to pull her aside, out of sight.
“You’re okay!” Mai exclaimed, but Ty Lee ignored her, tightening her grip and pulling harder.
“Come over here, get behind the tree, get down,” she hissed, her eyes wide with panic and the heat of her palm so warm against Mai’s back it was as if the acrobat was branding her.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” They were hidden from view behind a tree trunk - and knee deep in water, Mai noted with distaste - but she could still hear the sound of fire and of Zuko and Azula calling out behind her.
“We’re okay right now,” Ty Lee answered, her eyes straying to the trees above them, like the waterbender. Mai’s eyes instinctively followed hers, but she could spy nothing in the thick canopy above them. “What were you doing with Zuko?’
“I got stuck with him when Azula first found him. When we got split up.” Mai turned and tried to crane her head around the tree, but Ty Lee grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her down again.
“Stay out of sight,” Ty Lee hissed.
“What are you doing?” Mai snapped, “We need to help-“
“Help who, Mai?” Ty Lee asked, her eyes narrowing. Noting the way Mai’s cheek’s reddened, she looked away. “It doesn’t matter which one of them wins anyway.”
“Of course it matters!” Mai was trying her best not to get flustered and lower herself to Ty Lee’s level of panic, but the sounds of battle behind her combined with Ty Lee’s behavior and the intense darkness of the center of the swamp were driving into her very heart, causing the pit in her stomach to erupt and engulf her chest and arms and head. Fighting sudden dizziness, she clutched Ty Lee’s shoulders, fighting the urge to shake her. “It matters! No matter who wins, we have to help. We can’t-“
“It doesn’t matter, because no matter who wins we still have to get out of the swamp, Mai.” Ty Lee shook her head, her hands clutching Mai’s forearms at her shoulders. “And we won’t. We’ll never get out. He’ll never let us.”
Mai blinked dumbly. “But he said - Zuko won’t -“ Zuko had promised her.
Ty Lee’s confused look mirrored her own, but then realization dawned and she let out an uncharacteristically harsh laugh. “I’m not talking about Zuko. This goes way beyond Zuko, Mai. Look up into the trees. Do you see him?”
Mai instantly looked up again.
“He sees us, Mai.”
“What are you-“ She cut herself off when she saw it; a pair of eyes gleaming in the darkness of the branches. Her heart actually skipped a beat and heaviness settled over her, as if she could barely move her limbs even with effort. Dragging her eyes back to Ty Lee’s, she choked, “What is that? What’s going on?”
“It’s the Avatar,” Ty Lee whispered softly, failing to keep the horror out of her voice.
“What is he-“ Before Mai could get the question out, the ground rippled dangerously underneath her. Ty Lee fell to the side, splashing though the water in an attempt to keep her balance.
Ty Lee’s eyes were wide as she stumbled. The ground rippled again, and this time Mai fell as well, losing her grip on the tree trunk and landing on all fours in the water. When she looked up, she realized that the ground had risen in front of her, and standing at the crest of it was the blind earthbender. Behind her, Ty Lee let out an almost silly sounding squeak in surprise.
“Toph!” A moment later another figure joined her; Mai blinked before she remembered the waterbender’s brother. For a moment she could only kneel there and stare at the two of them, even as the knives in her holsters slid up to her fingertips, ready for action. Oddly, neither one of them seemed to notice Mai there, looking behind her at Ty Lee.
Sokka put a hand on Toph’s shoulder; at the same time Ty Lee cried out, “No wait!” Then the earthbender slammed a foot down on the ground, and the earth rose like a wave of water and tried to engulf her.
***
She felt it, the moment Aang had changed. Aang and Katara had just entered the very edge of her vision - she had been leading Sokka towards them to meet up, and thanking the spirits that they appeared to be okay - when Aang had propelled himself off the ground. Then all she had seen with Katara was a giant black spot, a hole in her vision, something that took in everything but gave nothing out.
It also coincided with the sudden disappearance of the quiet, menacing voice that had been speaking to her. It unnerved her almost as much as when it had been speaking to her; like a rock, she had been worn down and had become almost accustomed to its presence. The fact that all she heard was emptiness seemed ominous; as if its attention had been stolen by something more important, more dangerous.
When Azula and Ty Lee had found the pair at the center of the swamp, she’d picked up her pace, trying to ignore both her apparent eagerness to face Ty Lee and how her stomach had bottomed out when she had realized that Azula had attacked Katara and that Aang wasn’t helping her.
Toph had tried her best not to let Sokka notice her distress, but he must have noticed something when she’d seen Azula, because he had also picked up his pace, his long legs easily pacing hers. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She had bit her lip. Toph hated lying to him, but she hated letting him worry about her even more. “I think I found Aang and Katara,” she’d said hesitantly, as honest as she could bring herself to be at the moment.
But when Zuko had appeared at the center of the swamp with them, she’d broken into a full out run, both grateful to see him and cursing him for getting them mixed up in this mess. Sokka had let out a yelp at suddenly being left behind, but had caught up with her within seconds. “What is it?” he’d urged. “Are they in trouble?”
“I think so,” she had ground out between gritted teeth, finally giving up in frustration and calling up the ground beneath her to spur her on faster.
Sokka had fallen behind - just barely, as she could still see him behind her - so she had been by herself when she had first pulled up to find Ty Lee and her friend Mai cowering behind a tree trunk in front of her.
For a moment she had felt triumphant, every cell in her body crying out for a fight and to help her friends. Then Sokka had arrived behind her, and she had felt the uncertainty rolling off of him in waves with his unsteady heartbeat, which had, in a way, just angered her even more. He’d put a strong hand on her shoulder, and Ty Lee, sensing her intentions, straightened and put out a hand - “No, wait!” - but Toph couldn’t wait a second longer and slammed a foot down, uprooting the ground beneath them and nearly sending the pair flying.
“Toph!” Sokka exclaimed. “What are you do-“ Before he could finish his question there was a whistling through the air; Sokka dodged and flung his machete out and was just barely grazed by one of Mai’s stilettos.
“Hey!” For a moment, all he could do was look down in shock at his chest where a streak was blooming purple on blue cloth, but then Mai let two more knives fly towards him and he ducked and rolled away.
“Wait!” Ty Lee was getting up, making another attempt to stop them, but Toph let out a growl and called the earth up again, the water draining away as she raised it up and made another attempt to knock the acrobat off balance.
Above her she could hear the sounds of branches creaking and leaves rustling; someone was moving above her, and though she couldn’t see who it was she knew by the pit in her stomach that Aang was close. Katara had managed to disentangle herself from Zuko’s battle and was on the other side of the center, in a defensive position and clearly looking for the Avatar.
In front of her, Ty Lee flipped and attempted to come at her from above; Toph, unable to see her exact position, draw up an entire shield of rock to block herself from Ty Lee’s hit. The hit still managed to crack the rock - Ty Lee gave a wicked howl of pain - and Toph felt dust and pebbles hit her face before she dropped the shield and pulled the ground directly from under Ty Lee’s feet.
Ty Lee stumbled once again, but before Toph could make another move something struck her in the back of her head. Grabbing behind her - she hadn’t seen anything coming - she felt the smooth hilt of one of Mai’s knives, lodged sideways in the large bun of her dark, thick hair. Behind her, she could hear Sokka calling her name while struggling against Mai.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, yanking the knife of her hair and trying to ignore the chunks that came out with it. Ty Lee was still sunk up to her knees in front of her, and Toph took advantage of the moment to twist her foot and sink her even further, almost to her naval.
Before she could make another action, however, she realized that something warm was trickling down her neck and that her scalp stung. Her hands went back into her hair, searching for the wound and to check for damage -
“A superficial wound only, Lady Bei Fong.”
Toph froze, disbelieving. It was back.
“It’s of no matter to me. I’ve come to collect-“
“No!”
She’d gotten distracted. Once she heard the voice again she’d forgotten, for the first time in her entire life, that she was in the middle of a fight. She completely missed Ty Lee pulling herself out of the muck; all Toph felt, before she stumbled to the side, disoriented, was the blow on her forearm and the blow at the base of her neck.
“A life for a life, Toph.”
***
The hem of her robes had caught fire; she didn’t notice until her husband stepped on them to put them out and she tripped. His strong arms caught her, and she looked back at him, nearly gasping in shock at the orange light that shone bright across his face as they fled in the night. He was glowing like a holy demon, and suddenly his face shifted from the familiar comfort of her own husband’s to that of one that she frequently saw in dreams - that of the Fire Lord, his eyes narrowed menacingly and smoke curling behind him.
She reacted in outrage instead of fear, however, and though her arms were not very strong she balled a fist and hit him as hard as she could in his scarred eye. He howled like she had stabbed him and let go of her, dropping her down onto the hard packed earth.
“It’s all your fault!” she cried.
His hands reached down again and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her hard and calling her name -
“Song!”
With a gasp of air she sat bolt upright, nearly knocking heads with her husband, who was leaning concernedly over her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed. “You were crying out-” he reached a cautious hand out towards her. “And you’re awfully flushed.”
She rubbed her forehead roughly, wiping the cold sweat from her brow. “I’m okay - it’s just, after last night -”
The night before the Fire Nation had raided their quiet little village. For the third time in her life she’d been forced to leave her home and look to start over once again. Her husband had roused her from a sound sleep and told her that he could see smoke rising over the trees - and not minutes later an explosion had ripped through the village so strong it had rocked their little house right to its core.
It had been a dry summer, and once the trees caught the fire had spread quickly. It was utter pandemonium - Song had spent a long night moving elderly and herding children and treating wounded soldiers while her husband had worked with the other men to create a firebreak in the forest to prevent it from spreading any further.
It was all disturbingly familiar to her - the chaos, the confusion, the crying children, the warm wind blowing in her face, the men leaving - all things she had suffered through once as a child and again as a teenager when the Fire Nation had raided during their final war efforts. She’d lost her father the first time, her mother the second, and she was sure to her soul that she would never see her husband again, losing yet another precious person to the Fire Nation. When he’d limped into their little refugee camp with the other men right before dawn she had thought that she had fallen asleep and was dreaming out of worry for him.
He’d quietly explained what happened before they fell into a restless sleep: the Fire Nation had raided a confidential storehouse before settling it alight. Civilians hadn’t known of its existence, which meant that only Lord Zuko himself could have passed the knowledge of it’s location down to his military leader in order to orchestrate the attack.
“He’s already taken the Avatar,” her husband breathed. “And now he’s trying to cripple the Earth Kingdom and start the war effort all over again.”
And now, trying to help neighbors pick through the remains of their homes, Song cursed Lord Zuko and everything he stood for.
When she’d first met him she’d had some optimism - though he was clearly suspicious, he was polite enough when forced to be and his uncle cut an almost jovial figure for a refugee. It wasn’t until after the theft of their ostrich horse and the subsequent trek into town did she see the wanted posters and understand his true nature; the only thing that Fire Lord Ozai was good for was disruption and deception, and his only son had inherited these traits in spades.
When Zuko had taken the throne she was one of the few who didn’t celebrate, having been given a private glimpse of the person he truly was. He had promised peace; he had promised to end the fighting; he had promised to make his evil father’s name forgotten.
What had it brought them? The Avatar missing, again. The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation at odds, again. A night spent fleeing fire and smoke, again.
Song had lived in the north, in the west, and now in the south. She had lived off the busy trade routes and in an isolated village. She had lived both by the sea and far inland; every time, war had come to her village.
And what could she do? She could pick up and move along. Again.
Her husband came up from behind her, wrapping his arm around hers and entwining their fingers. She leaned into him, grateful for his steady support, and looked up into his dark eyes.
“Want to head west?”
***
“So lifetimes ago in the land of the spirits dwelled not one but two deadly-“
“Excuse me,” Aang interrupted, far more politely than the situation probably called for. “But why are you dancing?”
The spirit that had entered the little clearing behind him stopped immediately and put a hand up to its chin, tapping it thoughtfully. “He likes it when I dance when I tell stories. Paints-” its arms were flung out wide, waving like a breeze, “-a physical-“ he dropped to one knee and spun around, coming up on the other, “-picture!” it finished with a flourish.
Aang blinked, then rolled his eyes and resumed his examination of the barrier of trees around the edge of the clearing. The Spirit World frequently inspired this sense of irritation in him. “I’d love to hang around here while you say more things that don’t make sense, but I really need to get out of here and get back to my body and Katara.”
“The waterbender!” The bright colors of the spirit’s face lit up even more at the mention of Katara.
Aang narrowed his eyes. “My betrothed.”
The spirit waved a scolding finger and raised an eyebrow. “When the king is away, any peasant may with his rich things play.”
Aang grimaced. “That was terrible.”
It’s shoulder’s slumped, wide mouth dropping into an almost comical grin. Even the bells dangling from its head seemed to hang limply. If Aang had looked closer, he might have even seen a single tear of grief rolling down its cheek. “I really am more of a physical actor.” It said, grudgingly.
With a frustrated sigh Aang turned away again, tilting his head up towards the sky. The orange had faded into a dark purple, no stars shining though a white light was emanating clearly from the moon. Aang blinked in surprise and stifled a gasp - curled up within the light was Yue herself, her face emotionless, her eyes focused downwards on the earth below her. Aang thought he might feel some comfort if she looked and saw him - but her gaze remained steady, clearly focused on something else that was happening in front of her.
There was a loud crash beside him. The spirit had started singing and dancing again and ran into the throne in the center of the clearing, making it rock dangerously on its base. “Why are you here?” Aang asked wearily.
“I’m here to introduce myself to my new master,” it said, confused at Aang’s ignorance of the subject.
“I am not your master. You do not belong to me.”
“My lord! Everything in this clearing belongs to you. You wouldn’t be here if it didn’t. The spirit was shocked, scandalized at Aang’s words. “This is your place! You created it!”
“I did not!” Aang snapped back, looking around at his surroundings again. He was pretty sure he’d never been here before - although, that garish throne was ringing a bell, but he’d probably seen something similar in Bumi’s quarters-
“You did! Of course, I wasn’t really around then, though to hear him tell it, you were a firebender then.” It peeked over the back of the throne at Aang, eyeing him suggestively. “And female.”
Aang rubbed his eyes. “You mean a past life.” Naturally. Something he personally could not have been involved in at all.
“It’s still you.” It shrugged, like it should have been obvious. “Anyway, you created this place yourself, back when you were that female firebender, what was your name, god knows he’s mentioned it enough times but I’m just so terrible with words-“
“Because you’re really more of a physical actor-“ Aang supplied in monotone, trying to ignore the headache that was starting to build behind his eyes.
“-Right! But you created this place and imprisoned him here a long time ago.” It cut itself off, apparently satisfied with the information provided.
Aang waited patiently for a moment before flinging his arms out. “And?”
“And what? You created this place and now you’re here and it belongs to you. He is probably very pleased with himself right now.” At this point it was sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of Aang, like a child waiting for a bedtime story.
“I did a lot of things a long time ago!” Aang cried in frustration. “I don’t remember any of them!”
“Ah!” It rolled backwards into a handstand and then onto its feet, its arms up triumphantly. “Well, he’s always had a connection with the earth, in a weird way. He could get into people’s heads and see their doubts and magnify them and make them worse. He could influence people and make them do things. And you, obviously, had some, ah, issues, with a spirit controlling people in the real world from the domain of spirits.”
At Aang’s stony glance, it quickly trained its eyes down and added a hesitant, “My lord.”
“And that’s why he’s taken my body? To settle some old grudge against me?” Aang asked, watching as the spirit started leaping gracefully around him.
“Actually!” It popped up, directly in front of him, one finger in the air to make a point. Aang gave a yelp of surprise and fell backwards, the spirit towering over him. “You were kinda like… a…” His fingers waved impatiently through the air as he thought. “A back-up plan!”
“A what?!”
“Well you see, he’s always been attracted to court life.” It scratched the back of its head, the bells jangling annoyingly, then shot out an arm towards the center. “That’s why you left that throne!’
“That ugly thing?” Aang craned his head backwards to look at the horrible throne shining dully in the moonlight.
“Yes! You left it for him! You see,” it leaned down conspiratorially, getting very close to Aang’s face, “it wasn’t so much the influencing the real people from the spirit world that bothered you; it was the influencing the kings and other leaders from the spirit world that really upset you. That’s why you confronted him.”
“But!” it exclaimed, jumping away from Aang again and falling into a waltz with an invisible partner, “everything in the swamp is connected, right? You learned that lesson, right?”
“I’m the Avatar,” Aang said flatly. “Everything is connected to me.”
“Right!” the spirit sang, pleased with Aang’s progress. “We saw you! You were adorable.” Aang’s eyes narrowed again, and it hastened to add, “But you’ve grown to become very manly, my liege.”
Aang sat up, arms crossed. “What does this have to do with him knocking me out of my body?”
“Well you see, not just everything in the swamp is connected! Everything is connected to everything!” it cried joyfully. “And since he couldn’t connect directly to people, he could connect into the swamp and branch out from there.” Its arms and one leg was out, apparently miming the action of ‘branching out.’ “But then the waterbenders moved into the swamp, and he could connect to them through it, and from there he could branch out, and find other people - and since he so loved court life, the first and best mind that he found was that of-“
“Zuko,” Aang interrupted, suddenly remembering Zuko coming to his bedchamber, still in his nightclothes and in a cold sweat, clutching the parchment and going on about his sick uncle. “He drew Zuko here and I-“
“You were right behind him!” It beamed happily at Aang. “And I’m very pleased to see you. You are far better than he is - of course, we’ve only had a very short time together thus far and you could turn out to be very cruel-“
“Hey!” Aang cried indignantly.
“But at least you don’t have anyone running around, spitting and growling and destroying perfectly nice furniture-“ it went on, talking over Aang and gesturing towards the chair and the claw marks in the arm. “And I think, and I know you shouldn’t say unkind things about those who aren’t here, because they cannot defend themselves, that all that fire made him a little nervous, after all that fighting he did with you-“
“For not being very good with words, you sure have a lot of them,” Aang muttered, pushing himself off the ground and ignoring how unnerving it was to be unable to do so without airbending.
The spirit clutched its chest. “The first signs of cruelty arise! Ai, my lord! What have I done to offend?” It dropped to its knees and hobbled towards Aang, who suddenly found that he had developed a twitch in his right eye.
Aang just glared, and the spirit flopped onto it’s back, panting slightly. “Of course, if you’d rather not spend eternity as my master, you could always get out of here and go get your body back.”
“How?!” Aang exploded. “Tell me how!”
The spirit shrugged. “No idea. But you’d better do it before he gets out of the swamp. Because then, you know, he’s going back to the courts and then suddenly he’s the Avatar and people will treat him like he is and his ego is just going-“
“You’re no help at all, you know that?” Aang groaned in annoyance, pacing furiously through the clearing, following the tracks that had already been made.
He was trapped in a place of his own making and he couldn’t get out. He had been forced out of his own body and had lost his bending ability. He was stuck with a chattering nitwit who was completely useless.
Collapsing onto the throne - which was just as uncomfortable as it looked - Aang groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Not even in those darkest days before he had faced the Fire Lord had things ever seemed so hopeless before - and it was all his fault. For the first time in his life he wished he had access to the memories of his previous lives, to see how he had faced this spirit before or what could be done - though there was a certain, terrifying fear growing inside of him that there was nothing he could do. He had done this to himself.
***
Chapter 14: Dies Irae
Summary: Five years after the war is over, the world is finally settling into an uneasy peace. When the Avatar and his friends disappear into a swamp in the southwest Earth Kingdom, they find themselves fighting not only for their lives but to prevent another way from breaking out. Chapter Thirteen: Bumi starts to move, Mai and Zuko reach the center of the swamp, and Aang gets some answers.
Rating: Light T, for violence and blood.
A/N: This might have gone up a couple days ago; except for I wanted to wait for ff.net's alerts to go back up before I posted this.
Chapter 13- Casus Belli
Bumi considered himself a man of few faults. Surely, he would not have been selected as the king of Omashu if he’d had many inherent personality flaws. He was kind and he was fair and he was good to the people who were under his care and an all-around decent human being - sure, there were many who considered his inability to resist a good joke a fault; Bumi considered it a talent, and really, it was simply a mark of his considerate nature that he would go out of his way to make others worry about silly, petty little things while he himself took on the burden of the serious decision and the big picture.
There was one thing, however, that Bumi had struggled with since he was a young boy, a problem that plagued most earthbenders - he simply could not stand to be wrong. This meant that he did not make a single decision lightly, whether it was where to establish trade routes or which of his servants to mess with that morning. Careful consideration of both sides of an issue and all possible consequences very rarely led Bumi down the wrong path, and he was one of the most fabulously successful kings in Omashu’s history simply for his ability to weigh both sides of an issue: a rare thing in an earthbender, who could be known for acting on stubborn impulses.
But now it was looking like Bumi had made the wrong choice in one of the most important decisions he had ever made as the ruler of Omashu. Was it possible that the young Bao was truly that treacherous? That he could betray Bumi and his country? How could he fool Bumi, moving around right under his very nose?
Although, Bumi thought, interrupting this dramatic train of thought, clearly he’d been somewhat suspicious if he’d felt the need to go through the things Bao had left behind in the first place. No wonder Bao was always scolding him for being too curious - there was a treasure trove of treasonous material laid out right in front of him that he’d always overlooked, always trusting Bao and the way he ran his business.
Bumi decided to overlook the fact that it wasn’t laid right out as much as it was locked up right in a desk drawer that he’d had to pick the lock on.
Either way, Bao had once again forced Bumi to abandon his familiar stance of Neutral Jing and take some actual action.
With a sigh he stomped his foot and opened up the wall, entering the room where the Earth King himself was eating lunch with his pet bear.
“Afternoon son,” Bumi greeted, giving him a small wave. The Earth King frowned at him. “And Bosco,” Bumi hastily added, nodding at the bear. “I came to inform you that I’m returning to Omashu at once.”
The king’s head snapped up from the adoring gaze that had been aimed at Bosco. “What? You’re leaving?”
“I have to!” Bumi exclaimed. “I’ve left Omashu to itself long enough - and the way things are going, I’d like to get some of our defenses in order-“
“You can’t think it will come to that!” the king exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
“No, no, no!” Bumi rushed to reassure him. “But our defenses are not nearly as sophisticated as Ba Sing Se’s-“ a gaze out the window showed him one of the walls out on the horizon - “And I won’t have my city occupied by any forces that are not my own ever again.” Neither Fire Nation nor fellow Earth Kingdom forces would take his city right from under him.
“Do you want a guard?” asked the king, properly pacified and returning his attention back to his meal and his pet.
“No, thank you. I shall just return with the unit I brought with me.”
“Your heir has already left the city?” the slant of his eyebrow indicated that the past was a long time ago, and now the Earth King did not miss a single thing of importance in his own city. Bumi mentally cursed Pakku.
“I’ve sent him ahead of me to Omashu, but I don’t want to leave too many decisions to him-“
“Afraid your own heir will usurp you, King Bumi?” There was an amused tone to his voice but Bumi felt his spirit darken at his words.
“I may live forever just to spite him,” Bumi announced regally before turning from the room.
***
Mai swayed where she stood, shocked to her core by the scene in front of her: Zuko, standing between Azula and the waterbender, openly challenging his sister. Azula, her eyes wild, simultaneously looking exhausted and as if she were on the most extraordinary high, as if she had never imagined having both Zuko and the waterbender right there in front of her for the taking. The waterbender looked pale and anxious, her attention neither on Azula nor Zuko but up in the trees as if searching for something.
“Aren’t I the one you’re looking for, Azula?” Zuko sneered, and Mai felt a strange pit grow in her stomach as she watched the two of them.
She had followed Azula to this point, as she had always done, and she had been planning on helping Azula accomplish her goals, as she had always done, but she had never planned on being stuck with Zuko, and actually talking to him; this was not a fight she wanted to be involved in or even witness. Who could she pull for? Who should she want to win? Who would she follow when it was all over? Her future was unsure no matter who came through the battle and got them out of the swamp.
Before she could contemplate this train of thought further, a solid mass slammed into her, nearly knocking her off her feet. It took her a long moment of panic to realize that the arms wrapped around her actually belonged to Ty Lee, though her greeting wasn’t only enthusiastic happiness; Ty Lee was trying to pull her aside, out of sight.
“You’re okay!” Mai exclaimed, but Ty Lee ignored her, tightening her grip and pulling harder.
“Come over here, get behind the tree, get down,” she hissed, her eyes wide with panic and the heat of her palm so warm against Mai’s back it was as if the acrobat was branding her.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” They were hidden from view behind a tree trunk - and knee deep in water, Mai noted with distaste - but she could still hear the sound of fire and of Zuko and Azula calling out behind her.
“We’re okay right now,” Ty Lee answered, her eyes straying to the trees above them, like the waterbender. Mai’s eyes instinctively followed hers, but she could spy nothing in the thick canopy above them. “What were you doing with Zuko?’
“I got stuck with him when Azula first found him. When we got split up.” Mai turned and tried to crane her head around the tree, but Ty Lee grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her down again.
“Stay out of sight,” Ty Lee hissed.
“What are you doing?” Mai snapped, “We need to help-“
“Help who, Mai?” Ty Lee asked, her eyes narrowing. Noting the way Mai’s cheek’s reddened, she looked away. “It doesn’t matter which one of them wins anyway.”
“Of course it matters!” Mai was trying her best not to get flustered and lower herself to Ty Lee’s level of panic, but the sounds of battle behind her combined with Ty Lee’s behavior and the intense darkness of the center of the swamp were driving into her very heart, causing the pit in her stomach to erupt and engulf her chest and arms and head. Fighting sudden dizziness, she clutched Ty Lee’s shoulders, fighting the urge to shake her. “It matters! No matter who wins, we have to help. We can’t-“
“It doesn’t matter, because no matter who wins we still have to get out of the swamp, Mai.” Ty Lee shook her head, her hands clutching Mai’s forearms at her shoulders. “And we won’t. We’ll never get out. He’ll never let us.”
Mai blinked dumbly. “But he said - Zuko won’t -“ Zuko had promised her.
Ty Lee’s confused look mirrored her own, but then realization dawned and she let out an uncharacteristically harsh laugh. “I’m not talking about Zuko. This goes way beyond Zuko, Mai. Look up into the trees. Do you see him?”
Mai instantly looked up again.
“He sees us, Mai.”
“What are you-“ She cut herself off when she saw it; a pair of eyes gleaming in the darkness of the branches. Her heart actually skipped a beat and heaviness settled over her, as if she could barely move her limbs even with effort. Dragging her eyes back to Ty Lee’s, she choked, “What is that? What’s going on?”
“It’s the Avatar,” Ty Lee whispered softly, failing to keep the horror out of her voice.
“What is he-“ Before Mai could get the question out, the ground rippled dangerously underneath her. Ty Lee fell to the side, splashing though the water in an attempt to keep her balance.
Ty Lee’s eyes were wide as she stumbled. The ground rippled again, and this time Mai fell as well, losing her grip on the tree trunk and landing on all fours in the water. When she looked up, she realized that the ground had risen in front of her, and standing at the crest of it was the blind earthbender. Behind her, Ty Lee let out an almost silly sounding squeak in surprise.
“Toph!” A moment later another figure joined her; Mai blinked before she remembered the waterbender’s brother. For a moment she could only kneel there and stare at the two of them, even as the knives in her holsters slid up to her fingertips, ready for action. Oddly, neither one of them seemed to notice Mai there, looking behind her at Ty Lee.
Sokka put a hand on Toph’s shoulder; at the same time Ty Lee cried out, “No wait!” Then the earthbender slammed a foot down on the ground, and the earth rose like a wave of water and tried to engulf her.
***
She felt it, the moment Aang had changed. Aang and Katara had just entered the very edge of her vision - she had been leading Sokka towards them to meet up, and thanking the spirits that they appeared to be okay - when Aang had propelled himself off the ground. Then all she had seen with Katara was a giant black spot, a hole in her vision, something that took in everything but gave nothing out.
It also coincided with the sudden disappearance of the quiet, menacing voice that had been speaking to her. It unnerved her almost as much as when it had been speaking to her; like a rock, she had been worn down and had become almost accustomed to its presence. The fact that all she heard was emptiness seemed ominous; as if its attention had been stolen by something more important, more dangerous.
When Azula and Ty Lee had found the pair at the center of the swamp, she’d picked up her pace, trying to ignore both her apparent eagerness to face Ty Lee and how her stomach had bottomed out when she had realized that Azula had attacked Katara and that Aang wasn’t helping her.
Toph had tried her best not to let Sokka notice her distress, but he must have noticed something when she’d seen Azula, because he had also picked up his pace, his long legs easily pacing hers. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She had bit her lip. Toph hated lying to him, but she hated letting him worry about her even more. “I think I found Aang and Katara,” she’d said hesitantly, as honest as she could bring herself to be at the moment.
But when Zuko had appeared at the center of the swamp with them, she’d broken into a full out run, both grateful to see him and cursing him for getting them mixed up in this mess. Sokka had let out a yelp at suddenly being left behind, but had caught up with her within seconds. “What is it?” he’d urged. “Are they in trouble?”
“I think so,” she had ground out between gritted teeth, finally giving up in frustration and calling up the ground beneath her to spur her on faster.
Sokka had fallen behind - just barely, as she could still see him behind her - so she had been by herself when she had first pulled up to find Ty Lee and her friend Mai cowering behind a tree trunk in front of her.
For a moment she had felt triumphant, every cell in her body crying out for a fight and to help her friends. Then Sokka had arrived behind her, and she had felt the uncertainty rolling off of him in waves with his unsteady heartbeat, which had, in a way, just angered her even more. He’d put a strong hand on her shoulder, and Ty Lee, sensing her intentions, straightened and put out a hand - “No, wait!” - but Toph couldn’t wait a second longer and slammed a foot down, uprooting the ground beneath them and nearly sending the pair flying.
“Toph!” Sokka exclaimed. “What are you do-“ Before he could finish his question there was a whistling through the air; Sokka dodged and flung his machete out and was just barely grazed by one of Mai’s stilettos.
“Hey!” For a moment, all he could do was look down in shock at his chest where a streak was blooming purple on blue cloth, but then Mai let two more knives fly towards him and he ducked and rolled away.
“Wait!” Ty Lee was getting up, making another attempt to stop them, but Toph let out a growl and called the earth up again, the water draining away as she raised it up and made another attempt to knock the acrobat off balance.
Above her she could hear the sounds of branches creaking and leaves rustling; someone was moving above her, and though she couldn’t see who it was she knew by the pit in her stomach that Aang was close. Katara had managed to disentangle herself from Zuko’s battle and was on the other side of the center, in a defensive position and clearly looking for the Avatar.
In front of her, Ty Lee flipped and attempted to come at her from above; Toph, unable to see her exact position, draw up an entire shield of rock to block herself from Ty Lee’s hit. The hit still managed to crack the rock - Ty Lee gave a wicked howl of pain - and Toph felt dust and pebbles hit her face before she dropped the shield and pulled the ground directly from under Ty Lee’s feet.
Ty Lee stumbled once again, but before Toph could make another move something struck her in the back of her head. Grabbing behind her - she hadn’t seen anything coming - she felt the smooth hilt of one of Mai’s knives, lodged sideways in the large bun of her dark, thick hair. Behind her, she could hear Sokka calling her name while struggling against Mai.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, yanking the knife of her hair and trying to ignore the chunks that came out with it. Ty Lee was still sunk up to her knees in front of her, and Toph took advantage of the moment to twist her foot and sink her even further, almost to her naval.
Before she could make another action, however, she realized that something warm was trickling down her neck and that her scalp stung. Her hands went back into her hair, searching for the wound and to check for damage -
“A superficial wound only, Lady Bei Fong.”
Toph froze, disbelieving. It was back.
“It’s of no matter to me. I’ve come to collect-“
“No!”
She’d gotten distracted. Once she heard the voice again she’d forgotten, for the first time in her entire life, that she was in the middle of a fight. She completely missed Ty Lee pulling herself out of the muck; all Toph felt, before she stumbled to the side, disoriented, was the blow on her forearm and the blow at the base of her neck.
“A life for a life, Toph.”
***
The hem of her robes had caught fire; she didn’t notice until her husband stepped on them to put them out and she tripped. His strong arms caught her, and she looked back at him, nearly gasping in shock at the orange light that shone bright across his face as they fled in the night. He was glowing like a holy demon, and suddenly his face shifted from the familiar comfort of her own husband’s to that of one that she frequently saw in dreams - that of the Fire Lord, his eyes narrowed menacingly and smoke curling behind him.
She reacted in outrage instead of fear, however, and though her arms were not very strong she balled a fist and hit him as hard as she could in his scarred eye. He howled like she had stabbed him and let go of her, dropping her down onto the hard packed earth.
“It’s all your fault!” she cried.
His hands reached down again and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her hard and calling her name -
“Song!”
With a gasp of air she sat bolt upright, nearly knocking heads with her husband, who was leaning concernedly over her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed. “You were crying out-” he reached a cautious hand out towards her. “And you’re awfully flushed.”
She rubbed her forehead roughly, wiping the cold sweat from her brow. “I’m okay - it’s just, after last night -”
The night before the Fire Nation had raided their quiet little village. For the third time in her life she’d been forced to leave her home and look to start over once again. Her husband had roused her from a sound sleep and told her that he could see smoke rising over the trees - and not minutes later an explosion had ripped through the village so strong it had rocked their little house right to its core.
It had been a dry summer, and once the trees caught the fire had spread quickly. It was utter pandemonium - Song had spent a long night moving elderly and herding children and treating wounded soldiers while her husband had worked with the other men to create a firebreak in the forest to prevent it from spreading any further.
It was all disturbingly familiar to her - the chaos, the confusion, the crying children, the warm wind blowing in her face, the men leaving - all things she had suffered through once as a child and again as a teenager when the Fire Nation had raided during their final war efforts. She’d lost her father the first time, her mother the second, and she was sure to her soul that she would never see her husband again, losing yet another precious person to the Fire Nation. When he’d limped into their little refugee camp with the other men right before dawn she had thought that she had fallen asleep and was dreaming out of worry for him.
He’d quietly explained what happened before they fell into a restless sleep: the Fire Nation had raided a confidential storehouse before settling it alight. Civilians hadn’t known of its existence, which meant that only Lord Zuko himself could have passed the knowledge of it’s location down to his military leader in order to orchestrate the attack.
“He’s already taken the Avatar,” her husband breathed. “And now he’s trying to cripple the Earth Kingdom and start the war effort all over again.”
And now, trying to help neighbors pick through the remains of their homes, Song cursed Lord Zuko and everything he stood for.
When she’d first met him she’d had some optimism - though he was clearly suspicious, he was polite enough when forced to be and his uncle cut an almost jovial figure for a refugee. It wasn’t until after the theft of their ostrich horse and the subsequent trek into town did she see the wanted posters and understand his true nature; the only thing that Fire Lord Ozai was good for was disruption and deception, and his only son had inherited these traits in spades.
When Zuko had taken the throne she was one of the few who didn’t celebrate, having been given a private glimpse of the person he truly was. He had promised peace; he had promised to end the fighting; he had promised to make his evil father’s name forgotten.
What had it brought them? The Avatar missing, again. The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation at odds, again. A night spent fleeing fire and smoke, again.
Song had lived in the north, in the west, and now in the south. She had lived off the busy trade routes and in an isolated village. She had lived both by the sea and far inland; every time, war had come to her village.
And what could she do? She could pick up and move along. Again.
Her husband came up from behind her, wrapping his arm around hers and entwining their fingers. She leaned into him, grateful for his steady support, and looked up into his dark eyes.
“Want to head west?”
***
“So lifetimes ago in the land of the spirits dwelled not one but two deadly-“
“Excuse me,” Aang interrupted, far more politely than the situation probably called for. “But why are you dancing?”
The spirit that had entered the little clearing behind him stopped immediately and put a hand up to its chin, tapping it thoughtfully. “He likes it when I dance when I tell stories. Paints-” its arms were flung out wide, waving like a breeze, “-a physical-“ he dropped to one knee and spun around, coming up on the other, “-picture!” it finished with a flourish.
Aang blinked, then rolled his eyes and resumed his examination of the barrier of trees around the edge of the clearing. The Spirit World frequently inspired this sense of irritation in him. “I’d love to hang around here while you say more things that don’t make sense, but I really need to get out of here and get back to my body and Katara.”
“The waterbender!” The bright colors of the spirit’s face lit up even more at the mention of Katara.
Aang narrowed his eyes. “My betrothed.”
The spirit waved a scolding finger and raised an eyebrow. “When the king is away, any peasant may with his rich things play.”
Aang grimaced. “That was terrible.”
It’s shoulder’s slumped, wide mouth dropping into an almost comical grin. Even the bells dangling from its head seemed to hang limply. If Aang had looked closer, he might have even seen a single tear of grief rolling down its cheek. “I really am more of a physical actor.” It said, grudgingly.
With a frustrated sigh Aang turned away again, tilting his head up towards the sky. The orange had faded into a dark purple, no stars shining though a white light was emanating clearly from the moon. Aang blinked in surprise and stifled a gasp - curled up within the light was Yue herself, her face emotionless, her eyes focused downwards on the earth below her. Aang thought he might feel some comfort if she looked and saw him - but her gaze remained steady, clearly focused on something else that was happening in front of her.
There was a loud crash beside him. The spirit had started singing and dancing again and ran into the throne in the center of the clearing, making it rock dangerously on its base. “Why are you here?” Aang asked wearily.
“I’m here to introduce myself to my new master,” it said, confused at Aang’s ignorance of the subject.
“I am not your master. You do not belong to me.”
“My lord! Everything in this clearing belongs to you. You wouldn’t be here if it didn’t. The spirit was shocked, scandalized at Aang’s words. “This is your place! You created it!”
“I did not!” Aang snapped back, looking around at his surroundings again. He was pretty sure he’d never been here before - although, that garish throne was ringing a bell, but he’d probably seen something similar in Bumi’s quarters-
“You did! Of course, I wasn’t really around then, though to hear him tell it, you were a firebender then.” It peeked over the back of the throne at Aang, eyeing him suggestively. “And female.”
Aang rubbed his eyes. “You mean a past life.” Naturally. Something he personally could not have been involved in at all.
“It’s still you.” It shrugged, like it should have been obvious. “Anyway, you created this place yourself, back when you were that female firebender, what was your name, god knows he’s mentioned it enough times but I’m just so terrible with words-“
“Because you’re really more of a physical actor-“ Aang supplied in monotone, trying to ignore the headache that was starting to build behind his eyes.
“-Right! But you created this place and imprisoned him here a long time ago.” It cut itself off, apparently satisfied with the information provided.
Aang waited patiently for a moment before flinging his arms out. “And?”
“And what? You created this place and now you’re here and it belongs to you. He is probably very pleased with himself right now.” At this point it was sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of Aang, like a child waiting for a bedtime story.
“I did a lot of things a long time ago!” Aang cried in frustration. “I don’t remember any of them!”
“Ah!” It rolled backwards into a handstand and then onto its feet, its arms up triumphantly. “Well, he’s always had a connection with the earth, in a weird way. He could get into people’s heads and see their doubts and magnify them and make them worse. He could influence people and make them do things. And you, obviously, had some, ah, issues, with a spirit controlling people in the real world from the domain of spirits.”
At Aang’s stony glance, it quickly trained its eyes down and added a hesitant, “My lord.”
“And that’s why he’s taken my body? To settle some old grudge against me?” Aang asked, watching as the spirit started leaping gracefully around him.
“Actually!” It popped up, directly in front of him, one finger in the air to make a point. Aang gave a yelp of surprise and fell backwards, the spirit towering over him. “You were kinda like… a…” His fingers waved impatiently through the air as he thought. “A back-up plan!”
“A what?!”
“Well you see, he’s always been attracted to court life.” It scratched the back of its head, the bells jangling annoyingly, then shot out an arm towards the center. “That’s why you left that throne!’
“That ugly thing?” Aang craned his head backwards to look at the horrible throne shining dully in the moonlight.
“Yes! You left it for him! You see,” it leaned down conspiratorially, getting very close to Aang’s face, “it wasn’t so much the influencing the real people from the spirit world that bothered you; it was the influencing the kings and other leaders from the spirit world that really upset you. That’s why you confronted him.”
“But!” it exclaimed, jumping away from Aang again and falling into a waltz with an invisible partner, “everything in the swamp is connected, right? You learned that lesson, right?”
“I’m the Avatar,” Aang said flatly. “Everything is connected to me.”
“Right!” the spirit sang, pleased with Aang’s progress. “We saw you! You were adorable.” Aang’s eyes narrowed again, and it hastened to add, “But you’ve grown to become very manly, my liege.”
Aang sat up, arms crossed. “What does this have to do with him knocking me out of my body?”
“Well you see, not just everything in the swamp is connected! Everything is connected to everything!” it cried joyfully. “And since he couldn’t connect directly to people, he could connect into the swamp and branch out from there.” Its arms and one leg was out, apparently miming the action of ‘branching out.’ “But then the waterbenders moved into the swamp, and he could connect to them through it, and from there he could branch out, and find other people - and since he so loved court life, the first and best mind that he found was that of-“
“Zuko,” Aang interrupted, suddenly remembering Zuko coming to his bedchamber, still in his nightclothes and in a cold sweat, clutching the parchment and going on about his sick uncle. “He drew Zuko here and I-“
“You were right behind him!” It beamed happily at Aang. “And I’m very pleased to see you. You are far better than he is - of course, we’ve only had a very short time together thus far and you could turn out to be very cruel-“
“Hey!” Aang cried indignantly.
“But at least you don’t have anyone running around, spitting and growling and destroying perfectly nice furniture-“ it went on, talking over Aang and gesturing towards the chair and the claw marks in the arm. “And I think, and I know you shouldn’t say unkind things about those who aren’t here, because they cannot defend themselves, that all that fire made him a little nervous, after all that fighting he did with you-“
“For not being very good with words, you sure have a lot of them,” Aang muttered, pushing himself off the ground and ignoring how unnerving it was to be unable to do so without airbending.
The spirit clutched its chest. “The first signs of cruelty arise! Ai, my lord! What have I done to offend?” It dropped to its knees and hobbled towards Aang, who suddenly found that he had developed a twitch in his right eye.
Aang just glared, and the spirit flopped onto it’s back, panting slightly. “Of course, if you’d rather not spend eternity as my master, you could always get out of here and go get your body back.”
“How?!” Aang exploded. “Tell me how!”
The spirit shrugged. “No idea. But you’d better do it before he gets out of the swamp. Because then, you know, he’s going back to the courts and then suddenly he’s the Avatar and people will treat him like he is and his ego is just going-“
“You’re no help at all, you know that?” Aang groaned in annoyance, pacing furiously through the clearing, following the tracks that had already been made.
He was trapped in a place of his own making and he couldn’t get out. He had been forced out of his own body and had lost his bending ability. He was stuck with a chattering nitwit who was completely useless.
Collapsing onto the throne - which was just as uncomfortable as it looked - Aang groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Not even in those darkest days before he had faced the Fire Lord had things ever seemed so hopeless before - and it was all his fault. For the first time in his life he wished he had access to the memories of his previous lives, to see how he had faced this spirit before or what could be done - though there was a certain, terrifying fear growing inside of him that there was nothing he could do. He had done this to himself.
***
Chapter 14: Dies Irae