the end of the reactions to the avatar's rebirth, for now. Briefer, to avoid becoming tiresomely repetitive.
also, towards the end, there's a section where Aang is talking transcribed from sokka's perspective. the words that look like gibberish are deliberately so. Since sokka isn't really understanding them at all.
O0O
All across the world, light flared, and people stopped what they were doing in shock as something spoke to the very core of their being. Some screamed, some fell to the ground in worship, some simply stared, minds burned away by the torrent.
In the Palace of the Northern Water Tribe, in the practice yard that stood near the hall of the Clan Chiefs, an old man with long hair fell silent in the middle of a tirade to an erring pupil. He stood, mouth working silently, his eyes seeming to stare into nothing as the ice before him erupted in a fountain of frost. He shook himself and dismissed the students, all of them. They ran before the could see the pattern graven on the floor.
In a small, cold supply post in the southern sea, a stocky man with thick sideburns went silent in the middle of a toast. The goblet of wine dropped from his hands to spread in lines across the table. Then he gasped and fell to his knees, hands curled tightly on the floor, breath rasping in his throat.
ôLeave meö he grated out, and his guests hurried out as quickly as dignity allowed.
None of them glanced at the quartered circle the spilled wine had made.
In an ancient, ruined shack standing atop a cliff that overlooked a swamp, an old woman picked herself up off the floor. Laughter bubbled in her throat, and her gnarled hands worked against each other eagerly.
She felt a sudden urge to gather certain herbs. Rare and powerful.
Her cackles echoed across the marsh.
In a village that rested just below a smoldering volcano, a wrinkled fortune teller smiled as her apprentice lay shivering on the ground. The girl had not been ready for her first vision, but the call of that spirit would wait for no mortal.
And on a small ship deep in the ice floes of the south pole, an old man sat back quietly in his chair and frowned in thought as he stroked his beard. His eyes never wavered from his nephew's back.
O0O
Zuko was just placing a stone on the middle board of the zho tower sitting between him and his uncle when the world went white.
He was in the middle of diving for the deck to avoid whatever it was when the blazing light cut off abruptly, as if it had never been. He felt, faintly, like he was missing something. A memory on the edge of thought that vanished even as he reached for it.
He put it out of his mind and strode to the prow of the ship, staring at the line of liquid fire that stood over the horizon.
ôJaoö he ground out, and the young sailor nearest him started as he heard his name, ôtell the helmsman to head for that light. Make all speed.ö
The man bowed and ran, but Zuko had already dismissed him from thought. He turned back to stare at the pillar of light.
Then it vanished.
His scream was accompanied by a gout of flames that reached nearly as high as the bridge.
ôControl is the foundation of power, my nephew.ö
Zuko forced himself not to yell at his uncle. It did no good, and always made him feel horrid afterward.
ôI know, Uncle, it's just...it's so clear, whenö
ôNoö the word was harsh, ôthat clarity is illusion Zuko. Rage makes the world seem as clear as spring water, but it paints everything in a wine- haze.ö
Zuko winced. He certainly did tend to do foolish things when angry. And he was of Agni's Blood, even in exile. His men could no more disobey a foolish order than a wise one.
ôYou think,ö the older man went on more gently, ôthat this is the end. That all you must do is to reach that place, and the avatar will fall into your grasp.ö
Zuko nodded, then hung his head. 'fool' he thought, furious with himself, 'as if you've never thought that before'.
It was just like the Northern Air Temple, or the dozen times he'd heard rumors of benders doing things that shouldn't be possible.
None of those had panned out either. Not every oddity came from the avatar.
It did little to calm the pounding in his head and chest, and he turned back to stare at where the pillar of light had been. Even when he focused on his uncle's words, he still couldn't shake the feeling, the knowing, that this was it.
'I will find the Avatar, this time' he thought, 'and I will reclaim my place.'
O0O
ôWhat you are.ö the strange boy said again, as he had every five minutes since Katara, the stupid girl, had freed him from the ice. After the first startled babbling, the boy had started speaking in what sounded like East Rapids dialect spoken by a deranged parrot-cat, which seemed to be the closest language he knew to Sokka's own North Spire dialect.
None of Sokka's attempts at any of the trade languages, or the smattering of Wagchampa he'd picked up from Earth traders did any better for letting them understand each other.
He shook his head again and put a hand over his stomach to indicate himself.
ôSokkaö he said, then punched the boy, lightly, on the arm and grunted an interogative.
This time, it seemed to get through. The boy frowned for a moment, then turned all the way around in his seat at the front of the saddle, and put his hand over his own stomach.
ôAang, me Aang. Be...ö and Aang faded back into incomprehensibility.
Sokka stifled a groan.
By the time the lumbering...thing...had gotten them back to the village, Sokka was feeling rather satisfied with himself. Katara was breathing steadily and didn't show any signs of real hurt, the kid was making more sense, by then he sounded almost as understandable as an East Rapids man, for what little that was worth. And the kid didn't seem so bad, for someone who'd been frozen in a giant crystal sphere of ice for who knew how long...
He felt like smacking himself in the face, and never mind the cold mittens. That hole in the ice was new, he'd been out hunting that way not a month before.
His sister, that hole in the ice, a mysterious stranger...
He went ahead and smacked his face. He'd have to find some way to get her to follow his order not to fool around with waterbending anywhere near the village.
Or at all, if he could manage it.
He pulled Katara down from the saddle and passed her to Kana to tend to, then waved away the crowd that had formed with a few sharp words about finishing their work. The sun wasn't even halfway up the sky yet, and it would be a good two hours before it was time to break for midday.
It took them longer to disperse than it should have, but he didn't feel much need to harass stragglers. It wasn't every day he rode into town one some strange beast with an unconscious sister and a chattering kid.
He walked with the boy, with Aang, while they found a place to drop the beast off, then lead him through the door of his family lodge. It wasn't the biggest, Katugnuk's household had been built to include his entire extended family, and took up five times the space of Sokka's lodge, but it was well made. He deposited the boy on a fur draped over a flat stone and pulled off his parka before sinking to his own similar seat across the room.
ôFire and meat are yours this night, and the shelter of my roof.ö
The boy looked like he understood one word in three, if that, but it didn't matter, it was a ritual phrase.
ôWhere wnglble be? No hear yesterday you ngn! Penguin nat fly? Me penguin nat fly! To Eat?ö Aang said.
And just like that, all pretense of dignity fled the room. Sokka smacked his face again.
