Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Year: 64 BG

Boots squelching on the jungle floor, Roku frowned at the mud which splattered his saffron robes. Sweat accrued in patches across his body – he hadn’t quite mastered the art of moderating his internal temperature yet. Roku heard the cries of the howler monkeys before he saw them, gibbering and whooping in their canopies. If Roku had to make a guess, he’d say they were mocking them.

“We’re getting close, now,” he said to his companion, “I can feel it.”

Gyatso airbent a fly away that was making rounds over his head, “Of course you do.”

“Hey! My sense of direction has gotten better these past few years,” Roku put a hand over his chest in defense, “And if you’ve got any better ideas, I’m open to suggestions.”

His younger friend carried his staff over his shoulders, each hand hung over the timber casually, “Lola will find me; she always does.”

“That could take days,” Roku groaned, “We need to find the travelling party as soon as possible.”

Gyatso was picking his nose, “Why? Scared of the dark?”

Roku rolled his eyes, “We have none of our camping equipment, and I don’t think you want to hunt any animals for supper, so yes, I think spending the night in the rainforest is far from ideal.”

“Oh relax,” Gyatso eyed the trees, “There’s plenty of fruit and non-meat food we can gather.”

Roku spied for any fruit that was low enough to grab, but all he caught was a sleeping viper-bat hanging inside a tree trunk, and in the branch next to it, a large spider waited on its silk web.

Oh, why did that stupid hippo-tiger have to wind up separating them all. They were supposed to be on the other side of the forest by now!

Disha and the others probably went south of the river, and that’s where he and Gyatso were heading. Surely by sunset they would have ought to come across them.

Night had come; the sun had abandoned them much how Roku’s hope of rescue had abandoned him.

He sat alone in a clearing of trees, where they would be relatively safe while they slept. At least making a fire had been easy, and so far they had been fortunate enough to have not been rained on. Roku stared at the embers and thought about a nice spicy Fire Nation meal. Roasted turtle-duck or pig-chicken noodles or salmon or eel-

Roku’s stomach grumbled. He put his head in hands and wanted to scream.

As if on cue, Roku heard branches bend and twigs snap as Gyatso returned to their camp with food, or Roku hoped was food.

The little monk carried an armful of mushrooms; he puffed his chest out proudly, “Dinner!”

Roku raised a brow, “How can you tell those aren’t poisonous?”

“The maggot-slugs were eating them happily,” Gyatso answered with a shrug.

Roku wanted to barf but gave a strained smile, “Amazing. Good job, Yat.”

“I would have turned them into a delightful mushroom stew, had we had access to clean water, and a pot to cook in,” Gyatso grimaced, “But I guess eating them raw will do.”

Putting his hand out, Roku suggested, “We can roast them a bit in the fire. Maybe that will drive any bugs inside them out.”

Gyatso nodded, “As long as we don’t kill them, I’m down with that.”

Roku and Gyatso skewered the mushrooms on some sticks they found earlier, and raised them above the flames. As predicted, the heat drove the insects out. They put the sticks over the grass and airbent all the bugs off the mushrooms.

“This is disgusting,” Roku said under his breath.

Gyatso stuck out his tongue in response.

Soon enough they were eating the mushrooms. They were brown, now slightly blacked thanks to the cooking, but also warm and dry. Rather crunchy in places even. Roku had tasted much nicer mushrooms in the past. These ones weren’t revolting necessarily, but they were so plain without spices.

“Spirits, these are delicious!” Gyatso cried, “I mourn the stew that never was!”

Roku fixed a smile and said nothing.

Laying down on the dryest patch of land they could find, Roku and Gyatso stared at the stars. A whole sky of constellations and wonders. The eye of the cosmic God had never been so vivid, Roku thought. It was stupendous.

“Look a shooting star!” Gyatso pointed to the left.

Roku squinted, “I don’t see it.”

“Too late; you missed it,” Gyatso grumbled.

He always missed them. Roku was beginning to wonder if he would ever see one. The Great Comet was still sixty-four years away – he always had that to look forward to.

“I was born under the White Tiger,” Gyatso began, “You were born under the Vermillion Bird. How cliché of us. Do you think your waterbending friend will be born under the Black Tortoise?”

Roku shrugged, “Probably. The best waterbenders are born in their season of vitality – winter. I will need a skilled companion from every nation.”

Gyatso snickered, “Do you ever think there was an Avatar who only had non-benders in their team? Perhaps he didn’t trust any benders that he knew.”

“Anything’s possible,” Roku yawned, “Alright. I think I’m going to hit the hay, or the mud, I suppose. Goodnight.”

He turned over and stretched before shutting his eyes.

“'night. Have sweet dreams about Ta Min or whatever you dream about.”

Roku threw a stray pebble at him.

“Hey!”

It was going to be an interesting night.

Chapter Text

At daybreak, Roku stirred awake. At first he blinked and found the sky was burning, or rather, the sky was burning his eyes. He snapped them shut and rubbed at his eyelids, scrubbing them of an uneasy ache. His head felt fuzzy and vague too, like it wasn’t really there.

“Gyatso?” he called, his eyes still closed.

“Mhhm,” he heard, somewhere in the distance to his left.

Roku rose his eyelids slowly and blinked rapidly at the bizarre scene around him. Why were the trees swinging side to side? Why were they so unstable? Glimpsing the forest floor, Roku yelped at all the snakes slithering around. There were so many, you couldn’t see the ground. Just a river of snakes.

“Gyatso! We need to fly away!” Roku crawled away and got to his feet, spotted Gyatso face down on the floor, and shook his shoulder, “We’ve got to go! We’ve got to go! The snakes are going to eat us!”

His younger friend rolled over. Roku put his hands over his mouth and almost fainted.

Gyatso no longer had an arrow tattoo, rather he had too much tattoo, because Gyatso’s skin had turned completely blue.

“WHY ARE YOU BLUE!?” Roku hollered, stumbling back in case Gyatso’s blueness spread to him.

Meanwhile Gyatso sat up, face blank, took a look at his hands and guffawed, “I’m blue! Hahahah!”

For some reason the hilarity of the situation finally hit Roku, and his face of terror melted into a fit of giggles as well, “You’re blue like a, like a blueberry!”

“I’m a little blueberry!” Gyatso cheered and kicked his feet like a toddler.

Roku laughed harder, his knees hit the floor. He wasn’t sure why.

“Oh Spirits, why do you have a chameleon on your head?” Gyatso caught his breath, pointing to his head-piece.

“A what!?” Roku put his hands on his head and felt something heavy, something really heavy. For some reason, the texture escaped him, but he swore it was scales.

Scales.

Snakes.

Roku’s eyes went wide, “The snakes!” he whipped his head around and caught a thousand snakes crawling towards them.

Scanning the ground for his glider, Roku grabbed it and opened it, preparing for take-off, “We need to escape the snakes!”

Gyatso didn’t move off the floor however, “I don’t see anything.”

“How can you not see anything!? There’s loads of them heading our way!” Roku waved his arms frantically around.

But the monk shrugged, “The sky is on fire. I would rather fight an army of snakes then get burned to a crisp, especially since I’m a blueberry now.”

Roku looked up and Gyatso was right; the sky WAS on fire. Why the inferno was the sky on fire!?

(Did he accidently burn it while he was asleep? He was a very naughty Avatar then).

Gyatso, however, wasn’t too concerned and instead got up with one question in mind, “Are you hungry? I think we ate all those mushrooms I found last night. Maybe I should go back and get more.”

Roku remembered those mushrooms and pulled a face, “No.”

“Why not?” Gyatso pouted.

“Because,” Roku folded his arms petulantly, “I didn’t like them.”

Gyatso’s eyes widened, his pupils shrank into mere specks and he gasped, “I knew you were only pretending to like them! Liar!”

“No, I’m not!” Roku cried, “I never said I liked them in the first place!”

“You jerk!” Gyatso sent a wave of air with his bending, knocking Roku onto the floor.

It was quite embarrassing; all the snakes and the maggot-slugs were laughing at him. Even the tress were amused. Oh no, the rainforest needed to take him seriously – he was the Avatar!

Roku was so driven in proving he was the Avatar, he plain forgot he could bend any elements and just shot up and threw himself at Gyatso. He pinned the shorter boy to the ground and swung his left into his face.

“Ouch!” Gyatso cried, his right cheek bruised, “That really hurt, I didn’t know you had that much muscle on you, Avatar.”

Roku was about to punch him with his right when Gyatso used his free had to send a blast of air into the Avatar’s chest. Roku was sent flying backwards into a tree. Pain shot through his back as Roku made impact with the bark, before flopping down onto the floor, like a flagpole that had been hit with too much wind.

Gyatso cackled and pointed from where he laid on the floor, “Take that you prissy princess! Next time, you can find the food!”

Roku had broken a bone before, so he knew how painful it was. He hadn’t broken anything in his fall, but he might have.

Gyatso would pay.

The Avatar, ignoring his fresh pain, growled at him like a rabid animal.

Gyatso hissed at him.

They both got up and started circling each-other, to say like a dance implied too much precision and elegance. No, they circled each-other like two wolf-dogs ready to brawl.

Staff-gliders propped in their hands like weapons, Roku and Gyatso were about to go at it when a horrendous smell entered the scene.

The smell of a hippo-tiger.

“Look!” Gyatso yelled.

He didn’t need to though, Roku heard the shiver-inducing roar of the apex deadly predator and knew his time was up.

Not far at all from where they had set camp last night, said creature was mounted on a hill, overlooking them with its black eyes. It’s powerful jaw stacked with numerous sharp teeth.

“RUN!” Roku cried, setting off without another thought. Gyatso followed at his heels.

They couldn’t fly; the sky was burning. They couldn’t climb the swinging trees; they were unstable.

All they could do was run for their lives.

Chapter Text

Sending a breeze to clear the fallen leaves, Disha found what she was looking for.

Two sets of footprints, drying in the mud, shoeprints designed and made by air nomadic hands.

“South of the river?” Opame scrunched her nose, “Why would they go there? That territory belongs to spirits.”

Jampa shrugged, “Neither Gyatso or the Avatar have taken this route before, perhaps they were uninformed.”

“Then we’ll have to travel quicker,” Disha decided, her robes flowing behind her, “Come on.”

The young nomads sighed and shook their heads.

After air-speeding away, Roku and Gyatso evaded the hippo-tiger chasing them through the jungle. The creature was fast, but they were faster, and soon enough they were running out of stamina. Eventually it seemed they were no longer being pursued, and they started to slow down, dropping their sprint into a jog.

“Do you think its given up?” Gyatso panted, “It feels like we’ve been running for hours.”

“Maybe we have been running for hours,” Roku gulped, “I can’t see the sun anymore, I can’t feel the sun anymore!”

Gyatso blurted, “I feel nauseous. I need to stop!”

Heeding his friend, Roku came to a halt. Gyatso bent over and contracted his throat muscles. Thankfully, nothing came past his lips.

Not wishing to stare at him, Roku looked around to see if the trees were still swaying side-to-side. They were still now, and instead looked blurry and darker. Ominous, to say the least.

“Roku!”

Flinching, Roku turned to see where that voice had come from. It was a sweet, feminine voice. He hadn’t heard it in a long time, but he remembered it with ease. It could only belong to one person.

On the other side of a retching Gyatso, was Ta Min. She was dressed in her usual formal robes, her usual light make-up and carried her usual sweet smile.

How had she gotten here?

Roku didn’t care. He raced up to her and pulled her into a hug, “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, Roku!” she chirped.

Roku pulled back and asked, “Why are you here, not that I am complaining, but how?”

Ta Min blushed, “Because I have something important to tell you.”

He nodded, hooked on every word, “What is it?”

“I love you, Roku,” Ta Min confessed, “And I want to be with you. Forever.”

His heart was beating so fast, he swore he was going to faint. Then Ta Min pulled him into a kiss and Roku had no more thoughts.

By the grace of the spirits, Gyatso hadn’t thrown up. He had managed to keep his mushrooms down, for now. Breathing normally again, he turned to see what Roku was doing and suddenly found the urge to vomit again.

Roku had decided to make-out with a small tree.

Blinking, Gyatso just stared at him blankly. This day had been one long, extended nightmare, and he was ready for it to end, but seeing Roku this desperate to get some action, well, it was disheartening to say the least. He was right there for spirit’s sake!

Gyatso couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Roku by the shoulder and pulled him off that tree, put his other hand around his neck and pressed a hard kiss on his lips. Roku’s eyes widened in shock, but didn’t move away.

As quickly as he had given it, Gyatso removed himself off Roku’s mouth and mumbled, “You taste sappy.”

Meanwhile Roku squinted, “Sozin? Why did you kiss me? Do you- do you want to do it again?”

Gyatso stared at his friend numbly, before actually barfing all over his shoes.

“Look, Nun Disha, a campsite!” Jampa pointed excitedly at a pile of burned branches.

Disha swept her gaze over the scene, “Yes. The Avatar was here not long ago.”

“And here’s where the footprints lead,” Opame followed the trail of erratic prints down the hill, “The proximity of the prints suggest they were in a hurry.”

Jampa frowned, “What could have sent them into such panic?”

“There’s no evidence of any sort of predator from what I can see,” Opame hummed, “Perhaps it was an aerial threat.”    

Disha kneeled by the charred wood and smelled the air, “They cooked something.”

Jampa and Opame scanned the area for any remains of food and found nothing but two long thin sticks, discarded near by.

“Do you think this could be a clue?” Jampa examined them, feeling the odd substance on them.

Opame inspected them, “Perhaps they were used to grill the food.”

“Oh yeah,” Jampa gave a sheepish grin, “I didn’t think of that.”

Disha came up to them, “Can I have a look?”

Opame passed her the sticks.

Sniffing them, Disha’s eyes went wide with alarm, “Spirit Mushrooms!”

“What is it?” Opame asked.

Disha dropped the sticks and pulled out her glider, “I just told you – Spirit Mushrooms. Gyatso and Roku are in danger! We must fly to them!”

“But how can we see them from the air?” Jampa cried.

“We’re no longer searching for them,” Disha said, gravely, “Our new target is a lot more specific.”

Washing his boots in the puddle he found, Roku fussed, “I can’t believe you!”

Gyatso nursed the second bruise on his face he had received today, “Don’t be such a drama queen. You’ll get new boots.”

“FROM WHERE!?” Roku looked around them, “We’re lost in the middle of a jungle if you failed to notice!

A leech had decided to attach itself to Roku’s foot and the Avatar seized it and flung it into a bush.

Gyatso rolled his eyes, “Lola will find me; she-”

“ALWAYS DOES! I KNOW!” Roku quickly heated his soggy shoes, “Well she’s taking her sweet time today! Isn’t she!?”

“I haven’t lost faith in her,” Gyatso said primly.

Roku put his shoes back on, stomach grumbling, “Let’s just find a shelter before the afternoon rains soak us, provided the sky turns back to normal.”

“Agreed,” Gyatso paused before sniffing the air, “Hey, do you smell that?”

Roku sniffed as well, “Yeah…”

“EGG CUSTARD!”

“ROAST TURTLE-DUCK!” 

They exchanged guilty looks, before Roku mumbled, “Egg custard; of course.”

“Look! The smell is coming from those stones up ahead!” Gyatso gestured to some large rocks in the distance.

Roku started sprinting, “Last one there is a rotten egg!”

Gyatso chased after him, “No fair!”

Turns out the rocks was a dark opening to a cave.

The boys approached the imposing entrance, still smelling the delicious food inside. Around them the jungle was normal; the trees had at last stopped swinging.  

Roku hesitated, “I don’t know, Yat. It seems a bit too good to be true.”

“What do you mean?” Gyatso scowled, “There’s probably people inside making dinner. We’re nice and friendly; they have nothing to fear.”

His hair stood up on his skin, “I don’t know. My gut instinct is telling me we should wait before heading in.”

Gyatso scoffed, “Yeah well your gut instinct said we should go south of the river, didn’t it? Maybe we shouldn’t be listening to your instincts.”

“This is different,” Roku insisted, but he was cut-off before he could further explain.

A haunting scream pierced the air, coming from the cave. Seconds later a shrill, “Roku!” followed.

Of course he didn’t need another second to identify that voice.

“Yasu!” Roku raced into the mouth of the cave, “I’m coming!”  

Chapter Text

The screams did not lessen, Roku found, as he swung his legs across the sharp rocks lining the cave like teeth. If anything they only increased in volume and in terror.

Gyatso hurried behind him, “Roku, wait!”

Roku did not wait; he could not wait. He continued to charge into the darkness, the smell of fresh food withering away as he did. Instead a putrid whiff of decaying flesh filled his senses. Roku did not hesitate. As the light from outside waned, the cavity only spread in its length. Roku lit a flame with his palm, careful to avoid tripping over the objects nestled in the ground. He dragged his gaze down, sparing a second to see what lay at his feet and found alabaster bones caked in dirt and grease.

“Roku stop! You were right; we shouldn’t go in,” Gyatso warned not far away, “There’s something off about this place!”

The Avatar did not stop however, “You can stay behind. I’m finding Yasu.”

Gyatso sighed in exasperation while panting, “I thought that was the name you said. Come on, Ro, you know he’s dead; your mind is just messing with you.”

Roku snarled, turning around, “Can’t you hear him!? That voice!?”

Raising a brow, Gyatso said, “No. As I said, its all in your head.”

That caused the Avatar to halt in his run.

The air reeked of death and mould.

Yasu was quiet now.

Roku stared at his shadow on the ground and swallowed a sob. Gyatso put a hand on his shoulder. They both said nothing as the silence devoured the cave.

It was finally under the light of his fire, Roku could say, “You’re not blue anymore.”

His friend perked at that, “And you no longer have a chameleon on your head.”

“Thank Agni,” Roku muttered.

Gyatso gave a wry smile, “Do you want to go back outside, now?”

“I think so,” Roku sniffed, “It stinks in here.”

Before Gyatso could reply, a small breeze passed, snuffing the flame out.

It was pitch black.

Roku made to summon his flame when he heard a blood-curdling scream, and this time, Roku was certain he hadn’t imagined it.

“Gyatso!?” he cried into the nothingness.

The nothingness had no response.

Roku paced forth and was met with cold air. Only a kindle of light from the entrance could now be seen from where he was, and suddenly it felt a great distance.

Something sharp and wet encircled his ankle and Roku was pulled into the unknown. He didn’t even have time to scream.

Blearily opening his eyes, Roku awakened to the sight of water.

Water surrounded him from all directions, although it only rose to his shins. Everything else was a lavender haze of mist and obscurity, no matter which direction he was facing. The water was darker than the haze, and thicker, as opaque and cold as marble. Although he could walk along it easily, the murky water reminded him of his mother’s sink after she had scrubbed the black off her inkbrush. Roku treaded through the odourless water aimlessly, not sure what he was supposed to do. All he could hear was the water’s splashes hitting his knees and the heaviness of his breath as he waded deeper.

Was this what the spirit world was like?

At last Roku spotted a dark clump of something buoyant on the water, just visible through the haze. He treaded quicker, his bare feet slapping the soft, cold ground beneath the water. This couldn’t be a dream; Roku could never run in dreams. Today he was permitted to move, not glued to a spot where he could only writhe in distress.

Yet when Roku finally reached the floating mass, he wished he had been.

Half-submerged in the water was a young boy, his head fully under. He was shirtless; his back wrinkled and purple. His trunks a faded red, but Roku recognised the style. Brown hair fanned around his head, still as a leaf on a pond. Roku didn’t want to look anymore, but his body had frozen. All of a sudden the water had dropped severely in temperature and Roku was certain he must have paled like the corpse in the water. Nothing stank, which was the only mercy.

Perhaps if he closed his eyes and surrendered to the water, Roku would be still like a leaf too…

Something freezing touched his back.

Fear spiked through him and so did warmth, because Roku rediscovered how to move and whipped around to deal with what was behind him.

Ta Min’s pretty pink lips had turned blue as her head bobbed in the water. Her eyes were open, looking up at nothing. Her limbs contorted and weightless.

Roku welcomed back the numbing cold in his gut when he turned to see another body in the water – this time it was Sozin, in a similar state to the woman next to him. Not far from Sozin, floated Gyatso, just as paralyzed and helpless as the others. Beyond Gyatso was Nun Disha, her arrows as pale as his. Beyond her was his grandmother, then his childhood nanny, then his parents, then the chef, then their neighbours whom he sometimes played with in his early youth.

Faces and faces of people he had known, and then some faces of people he didn’t know at all. Suddenly a mass of corpses floated past him, or he drifted past them, everyone he couldn’t save. Everyone he can not save.

This is the fate of those who rely on Avatar Roku.

For the third time that long, dreadful day, Roku woke up. At least he was dry this time, and he could smell something; burning wood.

Snapping his eyes open, Roku caught the light of the dancing flames under a giant cauldron. The smoke rose, tickling the cave’s ceiling. Roku couldn’t quite make-out what was cooking inside the cauldron, however.

Well, that wasn’t great.

Resting on his shoulder, was none other than an unconscious Gyatso. Roku sighed in relief at seeing his friend was breathing normally.

The oddest thing was, neither of them were restrained in any way. When Roku tried to move his legs, he figured out why. He had been paralysed; not one muscle beckoned his will. He achieved moving his neck and that was about it. Only feeling a striking sharp itch on his side, did Roku spot two red spots marking his right calve.

Gyatso had a pair of identical spots on his left thigh.

Hm.

They were done for.

“Had a nice rest?” a feminine chuckle reverberated through the cave, a series of hard clicks and taps followed.

Roku angled his head so it faced the roof of the cave. Something was crawling down, towards him and Gyatso. When it left the shadows, Roku felt all his blood drain out of him.

“Welcome to my home, Avatar!” the monster chirped, her smile having extended her long, bristly mandibles, ready to embrace him in a hug.

Roku’s scream probably woke up Gyatso.

Chapter Text

Soon enough Roku’s scream was joined by Gyatso’s shriek as they both saw what had captured them.

The monster had the head of a centipede, the torso and arms of a human and below her waist was the body plan of said arthropod. She stared down at them curiously, appearing upside down from this perspective. Her human skin was black as night, only her nipples were more a shade of blue. Her centipede legs were an orange-red, vibrant against the firelight. She tutted at them with her lower jaw before going around them in an arc, fifteen pairs of legs followed her.

When she reached the ground, Roku finally saw her the right way up. It wasn’t an improvement.

“Come on, boys. You behold me like I’m some wretched beast,” the centipede-woman folded her arms, her antennae lowered in disappointment.  

Roku cried, although he wished he sounded braver, “Let us go!”

“Yeah we’re sorry for entering your territory!” Gyatso tried, sweating buckets.

The monster shrugged, “Apology accepted.”

“So you’ll let us go?” Gyatso probed.

The centipede scratched her head, “Hmmm. No. I’m quite hungry today.”

“Roku is the Avatar!” Gyatso pleaded, “You can’t eat him! At least let him go.”

Twisting his head to face Gyatso, Roku protested, “Shut up! I’m not leaving you.”

Gyatso stared at him determinedly, “That’s not your choice.”

“The little one is right; its not,” the centipede said, “Besides, I’m not going to eat you.”

Roku and Gyatso let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh no; I’m still eating you,” she pointed to Gyatso, “But the Avatar has more worth to me alive.”

Roku and Gyatso let out a swear.

“It’s nothing personal,” the monster shrugged again, “I just want to give a nice gift to my little brother is all. See, unlike me, he likes playing with his food. I have no such patience,” she made towards the cauldron.

Roku panicked and squeaked, “Wait!”

The centipede stopped and turned, “Yes?” it was a bored tone, and Roku knew he had to get her attention quickly.

“What is your name? I haven’t heard of a spirit of your description.”

She turned fully towards him this time, her large black eyes smug, “I never let humans live to tell the tale. So, here’s the tale. I am Kalaka, Princess Of the Centi, the Dark One, Daughter Of Faces and Sister to the Face-Stealer.”

Of all the entities her brother could have been… “So, are you going to take my face?” Roku asked.

He was stalling. For what, he had no idea. Perhaps until an idea came to him.

Kalaka barked a laugh, “No. I never understood my mother and brother’s obsession with human faces. To be frank with you, I find them rather hideous,” Kalaka started kicking the dirt next to her in a rapid but deliberate manner, “No, I prefer them…” she bent down and picked something up, “Without all the flesh and blood,” she held up a brown skull.

Gyatso looked green again. Roku attempted a smile, “Skulls can be beautiful.”

Kalaka smiled, “I’m glad you agree, Avatar. I’m quite tempted to collect yours, but alas, no greater gift will present itself to me better than this,” with that, Kalaka raced up the cauldron, her thirty legs drumming the stone of the boiling pot as she made it to the top.

She grabbed the giant ladle and began stirring, “I’m going to have human stew! Delicious stew! Stew! Stew! Stew!” Kalaka sang happily to herself.

Gyatso wasn’t impressed by the irony of the situation.

Minutes passed and Roku wondered if he could go into a meditation and briskly ask Avatar Kyoshi, or maybe Kuruk, if there was a way to undo the paralysing venom of a Centi Spirit. What was their weakness?

“You know, I truly hoped those mushrooms would have furthered your aggression levels. Humans are so much easier to catch when they’ve already beaten each-other up for me,” Kalaka mused.

Roku and Gyatso exchanged a look, eyes wide. They would have slapped their foreheads if they could move.

“No matter; I’m faster than any man alive,” Kalaka boasted to herself, smug from her antennae to her back pincers.

Judging by the size and girth of her body and legs, Roku believed her.

A rumbling sound emanated from near the stew. Roku hoped it was an earthquake coming to kill them all before this spirit could.

But no, “I’m so hungry!” the spirit proclaimed, rubbing her stomach, “And this stew won’t yet be ready for awhile…” she slowly rotated her head and her eyes landed on Gyatso, “Perhaps a little snack ought to do.”

“Maybe not?” Gyatso chuckled weakly, “Don’t want to ruin your appetite.”

Kalaka started crawling towards him, “You underestimate my appetite, little one.”

Roku started panting, “Please! I’ll do whatever you want, just leave Gyatso alone.”

“I want eyeballs for my starter,” Kalaka licked her lips, “That’s what I want.”

“Then take mine!” Roku begged.

Kalaka snorted, “Koh likes his prizes fully intact.”

Gyatso sighed in resignation, “It’s been nice knowing you, Roku.”

“No!” Roku spat, “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I’m sorry for kissing you on the lips,” Gyatso confessed, “without asking.”

Roku blanked, “You what…”

Just then Kalaka jumped and seized Gyatso by the shoulder and neck, “Watch closely Avatar. The Centi are a stronger race than you will ever be,” she bared her dripping fangs, ready to puncture Gyatso’s right eye.

Then everything went white.

Carrying her pack of dwangfruit juice on her shoulder, Disha hurried over the jungle plains on her glider. Opame and Jampa weren’t far behind at all, carrying their own loads too. Muttering something improper under her breath, Disha hoped they weren’t too late.

“The cave’s entrance should be just at the end of this valley,” Disha reassured them, seeing how tired they were.

Opame and Jampa nodded, determination set in their eyes. They were good kids.

However, soon, they were stopped dead in their flight. The three of them pivoted to the ground, eager to have a closer look.

Disha landed and walked to the edge, gaping at the large hole in front of them. It was a dark, deep pit. Mountains of dirt and grass scattered around it suggested it had just been made. Made by what, was the question.

“Do they have badger-moles around these parts?” Jampa wondered, hesitantly.

“They do not,” Disha prepared her glider, “We’re going down. Be on guard.”

Opame and Jampa offered no resistance, they would run into fire if she asked them to.

And so they descended into the pit, vertically, but not swiftly. Anything could be down here, but Disha had a feeling it would be something they were looking for. The more they flew, the less light there was. She was beginning to miss her human-torch. If the spirits were kind, this pit would not collapse in on them.

Eventually they reached the bottom, it wasn’t too deep into the earth, and as Disha expected, it led them to what they were after.

She landed on her feet, dropped her glider and wasted no time running towards a collapsed Roku. He was laying on his front, his face in the dirt. Bones were scattered around him. Disha pulled him up and put her fingers to his neck.

His pulse throbbed healthily. Disha let out a sigh of relief.

“Nun Disha!” Opame called.

She and Jampa were pulling up Gyatso, in a similar state to Roku.

On the other side of the cave, was a large cauldron, except whatever fire had been cooking its contents had gone out. In one direction, the cave continued, and in the opposite, a wall of earth had been brought forth to block whatever was on the other side of the tunnel. It appears she hadn’t been needed, nor the dwangfruit.

Roku suddenly started coughing in her arms, his eyes opening, “Nun Disha?”

“Shhh, I’m here now,” she patted his head, “You’re safe.”

“I… I can’t remember what happened,” Roku sent his gaze around the room, “What did I do?”

Disha smiled simply, “You saved yourself and Gyatso.”

Roku stood weakly, moving out of her arms, he spotted his unconscious friend and sighed, “Is he okay?”

“He’ll live,” Jampa confirmed, giving a thumbs up on both hands.

Roku fell to his knees again, edging on tears.

*Three days later*

Roku glanced out his window, leaning on the wall. It was another beautiful day in Gaoling. He watched the kids play outside in the street, not a care in the world. One of their mothers was scolding them for kicking the ball too near the house. Roku discovered a tether of a smile found its way to his lips.

“Are you going to waste another day in here?” Gyatso complained as he stepped into the room, both eyes unimpressed at his friend.

The Avatar held tight to the wall, his smile quickly crumbling, “I’ll come out tomorrow.”

“That’s what you said yesterday,” the monk plodded on himself on the couch, “Quit the procrastination. We need your help with things.” 

Roku didn’t make eye-contact with him, “I’m not procrastinating. I’m recovering.”

“From what? Being possessed?” Gyatso rolled his eyes, “We’d both probably be dead right now if your past lives hadn’t known Kalaka’s weakness.”

“I know,” the Avatar agreed, “But I still feel… uneasy. I need more time, please be patient with me.”

Gyatso sighed, shaking his head, before standing up, “Listen, I have never been in the Avatar State, so I can’t act like I know what you went through, but know I am grateful that you did. Whatever pain or distress you had or are currently experiencing, none of it was or is for nothing, because that’s what the Avatar State is for – for self-preservation. Every Avatar before you has used it, I’m sure you’ll get used to it in time.”

Roku nodded stiffly, “Thank you, Yat. It’s the night when everything is worse. I fear I won’t be able to control myself ever again – I’m anxious for when next I may need it… but you’re right. Maybe one day I will be able to master it. Even if I have to teach myself.”

Gyatso patted his shoulder, “I know you can do it.”

It was then Roku realised Gyatso was being genuine, and some of his previous smile returned. He wrapped Gyatso in an embrace.

Shocked, Gyatso needed a moment to register Roku was hugging him before he hugged him back, leaning into his neck.

“I hope no one walks in right now,” Gyatso joked, nervously.

Roku kissed him on his forehead before releasing him, “Why?”

Gyatso blushed and fiddled with his hands, “Um… no reason.”

Roku shook his head and sighed, but his smile hadn’t disappeared. He continued staring out the window, at the sun peaking in the sky. Gyatso also watched in silence, soaking in the moment of peace.