Avatar; The Royal Firebender.

The Winter Solstice Finale, Roku and Zuko

With the sun starting to sink in the sky, Aang circles the crescent shaped island in which Avatar Roku once resided. Bringing Appa in for a landing, he chooses a clear spot on the gravelly beach to land, far from the volcano that's been leaking lava into the ocean for the past century. Quickly jumping off Appa, Zuko walks up the beachhead shortly followed by the rest of the Gaang. At the tip of the beach a set of stairs had been carved into the basalt face leading towards a dozen story tall temple seated at the crown of the southern volcano. The heat of the island felt like a welcome home to the avatar, he had long missed the warmth of his home country. Sokka and Katara however are far less enthused about the intense heat radiating off of the volcanos and from the sun. Opting to have left their heavier clothes on Appa, the two southern water tribe members still sweat profusely due to the temperature.

    They follow the prince of the fire nation up what felt like seven thousand steps towards the temple on the volcano. With each step towards the crater they feel the temperature decrease with the altitude, albeit slightly. Getting to the base of the temple Zuko takes a deep breath before pushing the large doors aside. With a creak the doors are pushed into the main fourier of the temple, and following the avatar’s lead, Aang, Sokka and Katara enter behind Zuko. While the prince enters the room with confidence, his allies on the other hand are slightly more apprehensive about entering the temple of Roku. Upon entering, the three who had not been to the temple take note of the intricate designs of the floor and stairwell leading towards the roof. Walls fitted with hooded lamps adorn the building with a soft reddish glow. Ahead of them, Zuko stands before the fire sages saying nothing and standing tall.

    “Fire Sages.” Zuko says addressing them collectively. “I am Avatar Zuko, and I wish to commune with Avatar Roku.” He states his intentions clearly.

    “We know, we recently sent word to Firelord Ozai that you are the Avatar.” One of the sages greets him with a bow prompting the other sages to do so. “The head liaison for the temple has gone personally to tell your father. Leaving me as the grand sage in his absence. My name is Shyu. Firelord Ozai had instructed us to not allow the avatar to commune with Roku, however seeing as you the crown prince are the avatar, we can make an exception to that rule.” Shyu explains as he and the other sages stand from their bowing posture and lead Zuko towards the stairs.

    “I don't know how he will react to me being the avatar of fire.” Zuko responds as he follows behind Shyu, placing his hand on the gold handrail of the grand staircase. “I was instructed by Chaejin that the avatar would have been an air nomad.”

    “We were mistaken, after we discovered our initial mistake we believed that it would be your sister who was the avatar of fire but we failed in that too. Now that we know without doubt that you are the avatar we wish to rectify our previous mistakes and assist you in this endeavor.”  Shyu explains.

    “Did any of you know Avatar Roku?” Aang questions as they continue up the staircase.

    “No. But some of our ancestors did. My grandfather was one of the sages that helped Avatar Roku with his spiritual journey.” Shyu responds as he continues to lead them higher and higher in the temple. “Avatar Roku had a strong affinity for the ability to bend Air and Earth, though he had issues with water like all previous fire bender avatars before him. I expect that you’ll be in a similar situation. He was also the one who formed the tunnels under the temple using magma bending. An ability only known to the avatar.”

    Zuko soon lost attention to what Shyu and the others were talking about. Instead he lost himself in the strange familiarity of this island. He had heard stories of what Avatar Roku had accomplished during his lifetime but nothing more than his feats in bending and in diplomacy. The waves washing against the ashen soil of the island passed by each small window as they made it to the top of the stairs. Zuko almost walked on autopilot, as if such a thing existed, and nearly bumped into Shyu. The older firesage merely chuckled at the Avatar being lost in thought as he lead them to a giant steel door with a five headed dragon on the front. Each of the heads spiraled and snaked about the artwork on the door. Each adorn with a pair of rubies for eyes and large expectant mouths open as if waiting to be fed something. The bottom of the door was trimmed in fire and much like the rest of the opulent temple, it was made from what looked like solid gold.