Avatar: The Red Dragon

Chapter 20: The Voice

A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you're all safe and doing well. I'm very sorry that it's been a long, long time since I last updated this story.... But finally, the continuation is here today 😄 Here's a short summary of what happened in the last chapter.

Nanami and her friends have embarked on the United Forces Second Division's ship led by Captain Bumi, eldest son of Avatar Aang. They have been navigating for a few days until arriving to the place Masters Ran and Shaw indicated to Nanami. However, when they reached the place, no island was in sight, and they got even caught in a thick fog. Nanami fainted on the ship, and the crew desperately tried to wake her up, but she stayed unconscious. Then, a mysterious voice spoke to her.

Now, enjoy this new one 😄

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"Nanami! Nanami!"

Nanami opened her eyes wide at once. She was lying on her back, on a hard ground. Not moving an inch, she glanced, with rapid eye movements, in all directions to figure out where she was. However nothing but darkness surrounded her.

Where am I? Why is it so dark? Where are the others?

She sat up cautiously, and tried calling for her friends, but only her own voice echoed in the space.

What in the world happened? We were caught in the fog, and then I don't remember anything else after that.

Nanami wasn't a fearful person, but those creepy situations made her panic a lot. Her heart started beating faster, and more loudly in her chest. She tried to breathe slowly to calm down, as she got used to stressful situations lately.

Calm down, Nanami... First, let's do something about the dark. You're a firebender now: make some fire!

Nanami joined her hands, side by side, and firebended to make a flame in the palm of her hands. However, nothing appeared, leaving the little girl alone in darkness. She tried repetitively, but no flame ever came out.

What the -? Why doesn't it work? Did I lose my firebending or something? Pff... Why can't I firebend when I need it the most?

Nanami grumbled to herself while blindly walking towards an unknown direction. She tried feeling around her, hoping to find a wall to lead her way, but the space seemed empty.

Am I alone here? Where is this place anyway? It's so dark, I can't see anything.

"Hello. Anyone here?" she shouted. "Helloooooo," she kept on calling.

As her voice echoed, a dim point of light suddenly appeared behind her, a bit further away. She turned around, and squinted her eyes to analyze the source of light.

Light? So, someone's here!

Relieved not to be completely blind anymore, Nanami rushed towards the light, and stopped right in front of it. When she got closer, she could discern that the source of light was a flame, floating in the air.

What's this?

Intrigued by this unusual fire, Nanami extended her hand to touch the flame, unconsciously thinking she couldn't be burnt by it. However, she felt a sharp pain as soon as her fingertips brushed the fire, and took out her hand immediately. She didn't get enough time to worry about her burn as a rumbling sound resonated, and the ground under her feet shook from light vibrations.

"Who dares to disturb my eternal sleep?" a deep voice growled.

The flame got bigger, illuminating more space around the little girl. Nanami stared at the fire, in surprise, then turned her head in all directions, searching for the originator of that scary voice. But, under the light of the fire, she could see no one else.

"Who's there?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. No one answered. "Is there someone here? Show yourself."

"How dare you give me orders, impudent human," the voice growled again, in a rage, making the ground shake more vigorously this time. The shaking made Nanami stagger, and she had to try her best to keep her balance without any support.

As the voice grew stronger, many other small flames appeared, and, little by little surrounded the young girl. Circled around by fire, Nanami felt uneasy and oppressed. Her heart started beating faster, and droplets of sweat ran down her worried face. She looked in every direction, trying to find a way to escape, but the separate flames grew bigger to form a ring, leaving no space for her to get away.

"I'm sorry," Nanami apologized. "I... I didn't mean to be rude. I just want to see you." She cleared her throat, and continued, as calmly as possible, "My name is Nanami. I came here to find Tai Long, the Red Dragon. Masters Ran and Shaw told me to come to his island, but we got caught in a thick fog. I don't remember anything after that, but when I woke up, I ended up here, in the dark, separated from my friends."

The rumbling sounds faded little by little, and a heavy silence fell upon her again. Still surrounded by the ring of fire, Nanami wasn't safe yet and had to keep her guard up. She nervously waited for the voice to speak again, sweat still running down her temples.

"How do you know about Tai Long, little girl?" the voice asked, with a less angry tone.

"My grandma told me about him," Nanami began timidly. Then, with a more assured tone, she added, "Her ancestors, well, our ancestors, came to Shen Dao island after fleeing from the Capital City. They built a village, Tizon Village, at the foot of a volcano, and discovered that a dragon was actually living in the volcano. That dragon's name was Tai Long, known as the Red Dragon. He became the protector of Shen Dao island and its inhabitants. But one day, the Fire Nation came to kill Tai Long. Sadly, many people died during this fight, and Tai Long disappeared after that." She paused a little after a long speech, and continued, "My grandma's grandfather was a kid from a family that had survived the fight, and that had come back to the main island."

The voice listened to Nanami silently, and kept quiet after she finished her explanations. Nanami wasn't a patient person, and seeing the voice not manifesting themselves, she decided to speak first. "Who are you? Do you know Tai Long?"

"I'm the one asking questions, little girl!" the voice growled, making the ground shake again. "So you are a descendant from the people of Tizon Village... Why do you want to meet Tai Long? What do you want with him?"

"I... My firebending is kind of different from other people. My grandma said it is similar to Tai Long's powers. I hope he can answer all my questions when I meet him."

"You are a firebender!?" the voice rumbled furiously. The ground shook again, more intensely, and started to crumble under Nanami's feet, revealing crevices filled with lava. "No firebender is allowed on this island! You will pay for what you did!"

"No, wait, please!" Nanami tried to step on the safe parts of the crumbled ground, but she was still trapped in the fire ring, and didn't have much space to move around and dodge the cracks. "I didn't come to hurt Tai Long or anything. I just want to talk to him."

"You will meet your end here, firebender!"

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it even though it was very short! More trouble awaits the team in future chapters, so stay tuned for the rest 😆 Sorry again for taking so long to update, and see you in the next release!