Balance | Old Version

Chapter 20

Elua's POV.

Aang and I cower beneath the blue dragon as it wreaths in blue fire.
"You don't know where Sokka is, do you?" Aang asks the dragon nervously. I stare at the dragon, feeling like I had seen it before. Suddenly, I see an old man riding the dragon the way Aang and I ride Appa. When it was alive, the dragon was red and brown. I shake my head as I come back to reality.
"You're Avatar Roku's animal guide! Like Appa is to Aang," I say with a small smile.

"We need to save our friend and we don't know-how. Is there some way for Aang to talk to Roku?" I ask the dragon, it doesn't respond but bends its neck as if asking us to get on. Aang and I jump onto him
"I'll be back Katara," Aang says as he looks at the village. "Take us to Roku!" Aang tells the dragon and it takes off into the sky. After flying for a while, the dragon swiftly approaches a volcanic island, where a beautiful Fire Temple sits at the top of it. We enter it and fly straight towards the ceiling.
"Hey, what are you doing!?" Aang shouts in fear.

"Ahhhh!!!" We shout as we rapidly approach the ceiling, which we pass through harmlessly. The dragon alights on the floor of a secret chamber at the top of the temple. It is empty except for the statue of an old man. Aang and I walk towards the statue.
"I don't understand. This is just a statue of Roku." Aang states. I stare at the state and this time the vision I have is of a huge, flaming comet rocketing through the sky.
"Is that what Roku wants to talk to us about? A comet? When can we talk to him?" I ask the dragon. Aang looks at me confused.

"How do you know that?" He asks me confused.
"I'm having visions," I tell him. The dragon lowers its head and reveals the sun shining through a tiny window high up in the ceiling. The shaft of light, previously blocked by the dragon, now hits the wall near the statue of Roku's right shoulder and I get another vision, this time of time passing at the Fire Temple. I see the exterior of the temple sitting on its volcanic promontory. Clouds fly by at incredible speed overhead and the sun rounds its daily course in a matter of seconds.

Three days pass in this fashion before I see the floor of the statue's chamber. Two written characters. Days pass in rapid succession. My view shifts to the statue from the back of the room, where it is clear with each day where the shaft of sunlight hits the back wall gets closer to hitting the statue's face as each day passes.
"It's a calendar, and the light will reach Roku on the solstice!" I say smiling, finally, I had something helpful.
"So, that's when I'll be able to speak to Roku?" Aang asks, and the dragon nods.
"But we can't wait that long. We need to save Sokka now." I tell the dragon. The dragon bows its neck and we jump on again.

The dragon departs from the volcanic at a terrific speed. The dragon flys through the wasteland at the edge of the forest. Up ahead we see a bear statue, rapidly growing larger.
Aang and I brace ourselves for impact, but instead, we wake up, now back in the material world. We quickly grab our gliders and make our way towards the village. When we get there we land in front of Katara. Katara sees us and quickly runs towards us. She engulfs Aang into a hug.
"You're back! Where's Sokka?" Katara asks as she doesn't see him.

"We're not sure," I tell her sadly as the sunsets. Aang begins to walk back into the village. As he approaches a building the spirit appears. The spirit breaks through the roof of the building with the wind chime. It roars in triumph, releasing blue energy from its mouth. Aang cries out and begins to make an energy shell similar to the one he created in the Southern Air Temple.
"Aang, what are you doing? Run!" Katara shouts.
"It's alright, Katara," I tell her.

The creature roars and runs toward another building, but Aang runs underneath its legs and then jumps up onto its forehead.
His hand glows light blue, and Aang sues a panda bear superimposed over the spirit. Aang jumps back to the porch of a nearby building.
"You're the spirit of this forest. Now I understand. You're upset and angry because your home was burned down. When I saw the forest had burned I was sad and upset. But my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back." Aang tells the spirit.

The spirit stands still while Aang speaks and when he is finished, he shows Hei-Bai the acorn that Katara gave him.
The spirit picks up the acorn and suddenly transforms into a giant panda, he turns and walks away from the village. Aang stands on the porch. Katara, the other villagers and I walk up behind him. We look to the panda exiting the gate. Behind him, a shrubbery of bamboo grows in seconds.

A moments later, Sokka and a few villagers exit the shrubbery looking confused and disorientated.
"Sokka!" Katara shouts as she runs off the porch and hugs her brother.
"What happened?" Sokka asks as he looks around in confusion.
"You were trapped in the Spirit world for 24 hours," Katara tells him as they let go.
"How are you feeling?" I ask him with a small smile, his face suddenly flushes red.
"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom!"

Later That Night.

"Thank you, Avatar, Nadir," The Chief says smiling at Aang and I. "If there only were a way to repay you for what you've done." He says.
"You could give us some supplies and some money," Sokka tells him.
"Sokka!" Katara and I shout as we look at him with a disapproving squint.
"What? We need stuff." He states shrugging.
"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey." The Chief says as he bows and then walks away to get us supplies.

"I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out what to do all on your own." Katara says.
"I couldn't have done it without Elua," Aang says as he smiles up at me. "But, there's something else," He says looking downcast.
"What is it?" Sokka asks.
"I need to talk to Roku and I think I've found a way to contact his spirit." Aang states.
"That's great!" Katara exclaims with a smile.
"Creepy, but great," Sokka says nodding.

"There's a temple on a crescent-shaped island, and if Aang goes there on the solstice he'll be able to speak with him," I explain to them.
"But, the solstice is tomorrow," Katara says with a confused look.
"Yeah, and there's one more problem," Aang says as he rubs the back of his neck nervously.
"The island is in the Fire Nation," I state, they stare at us with their mouths agape, a look of shock and fear washing over their faces.