The Outsider- Avatar Fanfic

Chapter 14- Spirits gone crazy

'So, you're sure Bumi pointed us in the  right direction?' Katara said uncertainly, glancing around to the ground below us, the wind whipping her braid about in a wild dance.

'Well,' Aang called out from Appa's head, stretching. 'He did say it was north-west, so I guess this is the right direction.'

'Why did he tell us to go to this village in the first place?' I said, a tad irritably. Ever since the 'incident' in the arena, I had been a bit withdrawn, only speaking when necessary. I wasn't angry at Bumi or Aang for tricking me, instead I was...uncertain.

Aang shrugged, absentmindedly stroking Momo's huge ears. 'He said we would know when we got there.'

There was silence for a bit as Appa glided throughout the clear winter sky. The snow had begun to melt on the ground below, so instead of white it was a sea of green that moved below us. I leaned against the edge of the saddle, gazing out in front of us absentmindedly, the wind whispering nonsense in my ear as it travelled by. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an image of blackened trees and ashen stumps filled my mind, the smell of smoke stinging my throat and causing me to choke. Eyes wide I shot backwards, landing on a dozing Sokka, causing him to yelp.

'Are you okay?' Katara said in alarm.

I couldn't answer her. I scrambled up the front to where Aang was sitting, straining my neck to see in front of us. It wasn't long before I saw the black mark among the vibrant green.

'What is that?' Aang said in horror, catching sight go it.

Katara and Sokka joined us, and I could hear their gasps. 'It's like...a scar,' Sokka murmured.

We quickly settled down in the middle of the burned forest, the silence deafening as we stepped onto the ashen ground, shocked. I bent down and scooped up a handful of black dust, watching it slip through my fingers and float away in the wind. 'Why did you show me this place?' I whispered to it, but I didn't get a response.

'Firebenders!' I heard Sokka hiss, and turned to see him by a pair of tracks. 'Those bastards! If I catch them-'

'Sh!' Katara placed a finger on her lips. Sokka looked offended.

'What, I'm not even allowed to be angry now?!'

Katara pointed a finger to Aang, who had knelt in front of a fallen tree, its once rich brown bark now scared with black.

'How could any one do this?' His words were soft, barely a whisper, and yet they echoed through the fire ravaged forest. I slowly walked up to him, lowering myself next to my airbending teacher.

'You know, where I come from, we get fires every year. We call them bush fires, and they can be...' I hesitated, searching for the right word, 'horrific.'

I had his attention, his teary grey eyes looking up at me. 'One year, after a ten year draught,' I continued, 'we had the worst fires in our history. Over a 130 people died, and thousands lost their homes. The thing is, we don't have any benders who control fire, so we have to do it by using water and manpower.' I paused, memories of orange smoke and burning bark raining down on our front yard swimming in front of me.

'After the fires finally stopped, the forest was...dead. Just black trees as far as the eye could see. No animals, no greenery. Nothing.' I flicked my eyes up to Aang, Katara and Sokka, and slowly smiled.

'But I came back after a year, and do you know what I saw?' I opened my palm, where I was holding a seed. 'I saw green. The trees weren't dead, they were alive and well, and growing the most beautiful green shoots.' I placed the seed onto Aang's hand, his eyes suddenly hopeful. I stood up and with a gentle wave of my hands I caused the ash to fly up, revealing seeds lying on the ground.