dive and disappear without a trace (ATLA x BNHA)

Chapter Six

After a restful nap on Shouto's part, the four set off on their previously interrupted journey to the Air Temple. The silence offered a good chance for Shouto to make sense of that morning's events, which had been niggling at the back of his mind ever since.

It had been a bit surprising back then to open his eyes from what he thought was only a few minutes of rest to find all the rest of his traveling companions crouched in front of him, apparently a couple hours later. He really hadn't meant to make them worry and even go so far as to search the woods for him, but they had, and Shouto felt a twinge of guilt even now.

To be fair, Shouto had fully intended to return to camp by morning, but apparently, what he had intended to be a short break morphed into a two hour nap and he missed the deadline. The hug at the end was nice, admittedly, although hugely awkward. Even Shouto could tell that much, and if he was even picking up on the awkwardness, it was bad.

And—Aang had said he was part of the group. That he could talk to them. It was unexpected—Shouto barely ever spoke to them, had said maybe a total of ten sentences before that, but still he was thought of as a part of the group.

And...could he really confide in them about his situation? Would they even believe him? And what if they took offense to his decision to hide it from them? Well, maybe he could test the waters first, give a hypothetical. Yes, perhaps.

Shouto cleared his throat, folding his hands in his lap. The noise successfully caught their attention, and Shouto made sure his face was one of absolute indifference. He had to be careful to not seem too invested in his story, lest they think it pertained to him.

"Have any of you ever heard of...visitors, I suppose, from another world?" They all looked at him in humored surprise, although Shouto wasn't sure he said anything funny.

"That is not what I thought you were going to say," Sokka snorted. "Are you one of those conspiracy theorists? Like the ones who think they've seen visitors from outer space or something?"

"...No, I don't believe myself to be one, although I do think there's a fair chance aliens exist. But anyhow, I don't mean visitors from space, I mean a...different dimension."

"I think you're going to have to redefine yourself, there, buddy. You're definitely a conspiracy theorist," Sokka told him. "That's even crazier than seeing aliens!"

"Actually, aliens aren't that crazy, if you think about it," Shouto said. "We're here, after all."

Sokka just looked at him.

"...Anyway," Katara intervened, "no, I haven't heard of people from other dimensions coming here."

"I don't know if this counts," Aang said, "but I sort of remember this one legend about the moon and ocean spirits coming here from the Spirit World."

"The Spirit World?"

"Yeah, it's sort of like a separate world where all the spirits live. That's all I know about it, though," Aang said sheepishly. Shouto sighed internally. He could have figured all that out from the name.

"Oh...okay. Thank you," Shouto said, a bit disappointed. He was back to square one.

"Why do you ask?" Katara queried curiously.

"I was just wondering," Shouto said, at a loss for a better excuse. Maybe he should start thinking about things before he says them. He sure was finding himself in a lot situations like this.

"Right," she said hesitantly, but let it go.

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"Welcome to the Southern Air Temple!" Aang announced, spreading his arms wide.