The monster slammed its arm down on the root, forcing us to separate. It turned to Sokka and shot vines out of its hand. The vines wrapped around Sokka and lifted him into the air, flinging him around like a ragdoll. Aang used his airbending to cut off its arm, releasing my brother, only for the monster to turn its attacks on him. He was smacked away. The monster grabbed Sokka again.
"No!" I yelled. I bent a wave for me to ride up to the monster, bending the water to slice a hole in its arm. But the vines just grew back. "Aw, come on!" It tried to pound me into the ground, but I bent the water around my feet to push me away. I sent a giant wave at it, then created a dry path and ran towards the monster.
It grunted and slapped me away, leaving me dazed. Aang was flung away as well.
"Help!" Sokka shouted. I looked up to see the vines pulling him into the monster.
"Aang! That thing is eating my brother!" I screamed. He nodded and sped to the monster on an airball. Then he jumped on top of it and whipped a tornado around it. I froze the vines around Sokka, then shot a blast of water at him, effectively pushing him straight through the monster and out the other side.
Aang airbent the monster's face into the water, before it smacked him away again. I growled and waterbent at it over and over again, not letting it fix itself. At one point, I thought I saw something inside the monster, but I wasn't sure.
Apparently Sokka was. "There's a person in there! He's the one bending the monster!" With a shout, I sliced off the top half of the monster, thinking that I'd finished it.
Nope.
The vines from the bottom of the monster wrapped around me and lifted me high in the air. Aang ripped the the monster apart with airbending.
"Why'd you bring us here if you were just gonna attack us?!" he demanded, his hand in the air.
"Stop!" The vines fell away, and in their place stood a squat man in a leaf loincloth. "I'm not the one who brought you here.
Aang and Sokka shared a look, still in their offensive positions. "We were passing this swamp when this voice told me to come here," Aang said slowly.
Sokka jerked his at Aang. "Aang's the Avatar. This happens more often than wanted."
The man gasped, "You're the Avatar? Please, this way!" He gestured for us to follow him.
I looked at my friends. "Beth would say something like, 'Right. Just follow the strange man who literally just tried to kill us.' And I would agree with her."
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Well, Beth's not here right now, so ..." He turned to Aang.
He frowned, "I have this feeling that we're supposed to go with him. Plus, we'll probably find Beth along the way." Aang faced the man. "Lead the way."
*****
"Who exactly are you?" I asked, looking down at the ground far below. The man had brought us to the giant tree Aang had pointed out before.
The man smiled, "I am Huu, protector of the swamp." He bent a vine out of our way. "I try to stop people like the knife-swinger here." Huu pointed at Sokka, who still had his machete out.
"Finally. You see, guys? He's just a normal guy protecting his home. The swamp isn't magical," my brother sighed, sheathing his machete.
Huu nodded, "Oh, it's magical. I heard this place talking to me too, and I reached enlightenment under this here tree."
Sokka rolled his eye. "Oh, yes. The swamp just loves to chat."
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𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋 ᵃᵗˡᵃ
Fanfiction~Book One of the Crossing Worlds Series~ Annabeth Queen believes in living life to the fullest. Time is precious, and she wants to make the most of it. Anything extraordinary is fair game. So maybe being transported to the Avatar world can be her ne...
