Time to dust off the ol' fanfic pen....
Ever since I had the Avatar/Harry Potter dream mentioned a few entries ago, I got this crazy scenario for a Avatar/HP fanfic. I haven't written fanfic in ages; years I think, but in the past couple of days I've pounded about about 5,000 words to an as yet unplotted Aang-meets-the-wizarding-world fic.
What in the world have I gotten myself into? I have no clue. But it's been fun to explore the characters and trying to imagine how each would react to the situations.
If anyone's interested, here's the first bit behind the cut. Spoilers for Season 2 of Avatar.
The last thing he remembered was the cool touch of Katara’s hand as she used the water from the Spirit Oasis to heal the wound in his back. Then he fell into blessed darkness…
Down.
Down.
Down…
* * *
“Aang!”
Sokka looked over Appa’s back to see Katara cradling Aang’s bald head close. His arrow tattoos were glowing. Sokka felt a jolt of alarm.
“What’s wrong? I thought you healed him.”
“I did, but he’s crossed over into the Spirit World,” she said, worry evident in her eyes.
Sokka breathed a sigh of relief. “What are you worried for? He does that stuff all the time.”
“He’s too close to death,” Katara whispered. “What if he can’t come back this time?”
* * *
Aang ran through the tangled bog of the Spirit World, his tattered monk’s clothes flapping behind him. The scuttling noise of a hundred pinchers climbing the trees above and behind him sounded menacingly in his ears and he tried to put on a burst of speed.
“This is my domain, Avatar,” hissed the voice, seemingly from everywhere. “Your face will be mine…”
Aang thrust a fist behind him, creating a frantic wave that washed out the scuttling noise for a moment, but then it continued again, faster than ever. Ahead of him he could see a clearing in the spirit swamp, but panic clutched at his heart as it revealed a body of water larger than he could see across. A dead end. He could bend only so long, weary as he was already, but the spirit who hunted him was tireless.
A low laugh echoed just behind him, but Aang dared not turn around, not with the expression of fear now pulling his features into a grimace. No expression! He told himself, but it didn’t work. A breath as cold as the grave stirred his tattered clothing and he felt the pinchers hovering above his skin, waiting to grab hold.
The water in front of Aang erupted with geyser force, spewing up and over the boy and forcing the ancient spirit away with a strangled cry of fury. Aang stared at the water, amazed; he didn’t do that. The pillar of water pulled back and waited in front of Aang’s feet like a platform. Hearing the scuttling resume with a vengeance behind him, Aang needed no further invitation. With a leap aided by airbending, he landed into the water, and felt its warm security hurry him safely away.
The water pulled him under, to hide his trail he suspected, and zoomed him along hidden currents past mottled spirit fish. Aang lifted his arms, fingers spread wide and made a breathable bubble of air in his cocoon of water, though he wasn’t entirely sure he needed air in the Spirit World.
“What’s going on? Not that I’m not thankful for the help,” he added hastily.
“Avatar Aang, you are in danger here.” The voice seemed to come out of the water itself and Aang’s eyes widened. He knew that presence.
“La, the Ocean Spirit!” The water gurgled in acknowledgement. “I thought you couldn’t leave the mortal world?”
“I can but only at great need,” said La. “Koh the Face Stealer is angry with you.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Aang said dryly. “But I don’t know why. My last encounter with him ended peaceably enough.”
“It seems as though you are mistaken, Avatar Aang. One of your past lives, Avatar Kuruk, has destroyed Koh’s tree in an effort to kill Koh himself. Koh knows that Avatar Kuruk could only have found him by your help, for no one willingly seeks out Koh very often.”
“Avatar Kuruk?” repeated Aang in a confused voice, feeling that strange familiarity as he did the first time he saw Avatar Roku’s statue in the Southern Air Temple. “He was a waterbender, right? But I’ve never met him-myself-whatever.”
“You have met Avatar Kuruk, but you unfortunately do not recall the encounter. Koh is angry enough that he will chase you to the mortal lands to kill your body, though he needs your spirit to do so.”
Aang swallowed hard. Just what he needed, an angry immortal, face-stealing spirit to chase him on top of the whole Fire Nation. “So what do I do?”
“Trust me,” La said in a singing voice. “I am taking you temporarily to a country where Koh has no power.”
“But I can’t leave!” protested Aang. “I still need to learn to open the seventh chakra and firebending and-“
“You will learn, Avatar Aang. But for now, your safety is paramount. If you are killed, you will be reborn, but your new body will not have time to master the elements before Sozin’s comet arrives. By that time, it will be too late.”
======
ETA: The event with Avatar Kuruk happened in an Escape from the Spirit World comic, which you can find on Iroh.org. If you haven't seen it, it's bascially this: Aang takes a brief trip to the Spirit World after his battle in 'Crossroads of Destiny' and meets a few of his past lives, all the way back to the last airbending Avatar, a woman named Yangchen. Anyway, Avatar Kuruk, a waterbender, was searching for his bride-to-be, who Koh had stolen on their wedding day. Aang mentions to Kuruk that he saw him not to long ago, and Kuruk goes off to look for him. After seeing that, I couldn't imagine a forceful personality like Kuruk's being daunted for too long and wouldn't Koh be mad... *shudder*
I think I may have to fudge the timeline here; it feels like it's happening too fast, but if no one's paying attention it should be okay. LOL.
Thinking about the logistics of this fic made me wonder what Hogwarts House Aang would be in if Sorted. I attempted to take a sorting hat quiz based on the answers I think Aang would choose, and it came out strongly Hufflepuff. But since JKR revealed that the four houses coincide to the four elements, I almost envision a confused Sorting Hat sitting on Aang's head and not really sure where to put him since, as the Avatar, of course, he's the master of all four elements.
But I don't think sorting will come into play in this story. I'm thinking to set it right after the events of Ootp, in the short two weeks where all Voldy and the DEs broke loose on the world. Not quite sure where to go with it after that, right now I'm still having fun letting Aang meet the strangeness of English cuisine and he's so curious about everything, it's rather hard to keep him focused on the task at hand.
What in the world have I gotten myself into? I have no clue. But it's been fun to explore the characters and trying to imagine how each would react to the situations.
If anyone's interested, here's the first bit behind the cut. Spoilers for Season 2 of Avatar.
The last thing he remembered was the cool touch of Katara’s hand as she used the water from the Spirit Oasis to heal the wound in his back. Then he fell into blessed darkness…
Down.
Down.
Down…
* * *
“Aang!”
Sokka looked over Appa’s back to see Katara cradling Aang’s bald head close. His arrow tattoos were glowing. Sokka felt a jolt of alarm.
“What’s wrong? I thought you healed him.”
“I did, but he’s crossed over into the Spirit World,” she said, worry evident in her eyes.
Sokka breathed a sigh of relief. “What are you worried for? He does that stuff all the time.”
“He’s too close to death,” Katara whispered. “What if he can’t come back this time?”
* * *
Aang ran through the tangled bog of the Spirit World, his tattered monk’s clothes flapping behind him. The scuttling noise of a hundred pinchers climbing the trees above and behind him sounded menacingly in his ears and he tried to put on a burst of speed.
“This is my domain, Avatar,” hissed the voice, seemingly from everywhere. “Your face will be mine…”
Aang thrust a fist behind him, creating a frantic wave that washed out the scuttling noise for a moment, but then it continued again, faster than ever. Ahead of him he could see a clearing in the spirit swamp, but panic clutched at his heart as it revealed a body of water larger than he could see across. A dead end. He could bend only so long, weary as he was already, but the spirit who hunted him was tireless.
A low laugh echoed just behind him, but Aang dared not turn around, not with the expression of fear now pulling his features into a grimace. No expression! He told himself, but it didn’t work. A breath as cold as the grave stirred his tattered clothing and he felt the pinchers hovering above his skin, waiting to grab hold.
The water in front of Aang erupted with geyser force, spewing up and over the boy and forcing the ancient spirit away with a strangled cry of fury. Aang stared at the water, amazed; he didn’t do that. The pillar of water pulled back and waited in front of Aang’s feet like a platform. Hearing the scuttling resume with a vengeance behind him, Aang needed no further invitation. With a leap aided by airbending, he landed into the water, and felt its warm security hurry him safely away.
The water pulled him under, to hide his trail he suspected, and zoomed him along hidden currents past mottled spirit fish. Aang lifted his arms, fingers spread wide and made a breathable bubble of air in his cocoon of water, though he wasn’t entirely sure he needed air in the Spirit World.
“What’s going on? Not that I’m not thankful for the help,” he added hastily.
“Avatar Aang, you are in danger here.” The voice seemed to come out of the water itself and Aang’s eyes widened. He knew that presence.
“La, the Ocean Spirit!” The water gurgled in acknowledgement. “I thought you couldn’t leave the mortal world?”
“I can but only at great need,” said La. “Koh the Face Stealer is angry with you.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Aang said dryly. “But I don’t know why. My last encounter with him ended peaceably enough.”
“It seems as though you are mistaken, Avatar Aang. One of your past lives, Avatar Kuruk, has destroyed Koh’s tree in an effort to kill Koh himself. Koh knows that Avatar Kuruk could only have found him by your help, for no one willingly seeks out Koh very often.”
“Avatar Kuruk?” repeated Aang in a confused voice, feeling that strange familiarity as he did the first time he saw Avatar Roku’s statue in the Southern Air Temple. “He was a waterbender, right? But I’ve never met him-myself-whatever.”
“You have met Avatar Kuruk, but you unfortunately do not recall the encounter. Koh is angry enough that he will chase you to the mortal lands to kill your body, though he needs your spirit to do so.”
Aang swallowed hard. Just what he needed, an angry immortal, face-stealing spirit to chase him on top of the whole Fire Nation. “So what do I do?”
“Trust me,” La said in a singing voice. “I am taking you temporarily to a country where Koh has no power.”
“But I can’t leave!” protested Aang. “I still need to learn to open the seventh chakra and firebending and-“
“You will learn, Avatar Aang. But for now, your safety is paramount. If you are killed, you will be reborn, but your new body will not have time to master the elements before Sozin’s comet arrives. By that time, it will be too late.”
======
ETA: The event with Avatar Kuruk happened in an Escape from the Spirit World comic, which you can find on Iroh.org. If you haven't seen it, it's bascially this: Aang takes a brief trip to the Spirit World after his battle in 'Crossroads of Destiny' and meets a few of his past lives, all the way back to the last airbending Avatar, a woman named Yangchen. Anyway, Avatar Kuruk, a waterbender, was searching for his bride-to-be, who Koh had stolen on their wedding day. Aang mentions to Kuruk that he saw him not to long ago, and Kuruk goes off to look for him. After seeing that, I couldn't imagine a forceful personality like Kuruk's being daunted for too long and wouldn't Koh be mad... *shudder*
I think I may have to fudge the timeline here; it feels like it's happening too fast, but if no one's paying attention it should be okay. LOL.
Thinking about the logistics of this fic made me wonder what Hogwarts House Aang would be in if Sorted. I attempted to take a sorting hat quiz based on the answers I think Aang would choose, and it came out strongly Hufflepuff. But since JKR revealed that the four houses coincide to the four elements, I almost envision a confused Sorting Hat sitting on Aang's head and not really sure where to put him since, as the Avatar, of course, he's the master of all four elements.
But I don't think sorting will come into play in this story. I'm thinking to set it right after the events of Ootp, in the short two weeks where all Voldy and the DEs broke loose on the world. Not quite sure where to go with it after that, right now I'm still having fun letting Aang meet the strangeness of English cuisine and he's so curious about everything, it's rather hard to keep him focused on the task at hand.