This morning, Heido wakes me up.
"Let's get going!" He shouts, I knew he'd probably wake me up early today but I'd expected it to be unintentional at least. I shake off my drowsiness when I hear the roar of what sounds like a dragon. After quickly getting my traditional earth bender clothes on, I head outside.
Just as I suspected, the avatar's own dragon.
"His name is Fang." He tells me, seeming chipper as ever. He's never seemed this excited in my presence before.
"How'd you hide him?" I ask, marveling at the massive winged creature, standing at the height of an entire house!
"I know a guy who works at a stable, he kept Fang there for the last couple of days." He says, putting his belongings on Fang's saddle. "Pack your stuff, we're headed for a place near the fire nation today."
I nod, running back in to get my clothes, mainly just a sleeping bag with some extra food just in case.
Once I get on the dragon, Heido yells a command at Fang to get him flying. "Yip! Yip!" he yells, Fang follows the orders and starts flying.
"Have you ever flown?" He asks as I admire the land below us, nearly falling off the saddle.
"Not for years!" I exclaim, "Not for years..." My excitement turns into sorrow.
I don't exactly like to talk about my past, I'm not really proud of some of the things I've done...
Anyways, even though my mood has shifted, I still feel grateful for this chance. It feels like a start to a new beginning. Meeting Heido, learning I'm the dark avatar, everything. Sometimes I wish Katakan were along for the ride. But it's probably the best thing that could happen after her passing. Who knows, if this had turned out differently I might have gone with her in the following days.
After a long ride to the fire nation outskirts, we finally land. I see a small farm not too far, and the border into the fire nation just past that.
"Is that where your friend lives?" I ask
"Sure is, isn't it a beautiful farm?" He says, sounding very excited to see his friend.
"Yeah, looks nice" I reply.
As we approach the farm, I hear a loud shout from the farm.
"Hey Heido!!" A feminine voice shouts excitedly.
"Hey Ursu! Long time no see." He says, must be a childhood friend.
"Nice to meet you, Ursu." I say, shaking her hand. "My name's Hiragan, Heido brought me here on the way to the northern water tribe."
"Oh you must be the dark avatar he was after." She replies.
"Yep, I assume he left some time ago to search for me?" I ask.
"Not entirely. He went out to learn more bending styles and bring himself closer to Hylia, but mentioned that he wouldn't mind finding the dark avatar as well." Says Ursu.
Ursu seems to be of fire nation heritage, but her necklace indicates air nomad blood as well.
"Could we stay the night?" Heido asks.
"Of course you two can! We have a guest bedroom that Hiragan can sleep in."
"Sounds good." I say.
We all sit down for some tea.
"We didn't just come here to get rest, you know." Heido says while sipping from his cup.
This is news to me.
"Oh? Why'd you stop here then?" Ursu asks.
"Well, I'd like to bring you to the northern water tribe and the air temples. Wouldn't it be nice to go somewhere linked to your heritage like that?" He asks convincingly.
"It would be nice." She answers. "But my family has an entire farm to tend to, I can't just leave." She says with a sad tone in her voice.
"I know someone who could come by and help your parents out every so often." He says, likely knowing she has no reason to stay.
"I'll think about it." She retorts before heading off to bed.
"You like her, don't you?" I ask, playfully nudging his side.
"No, we're just good friends" He says, hardly hiding his real feelings.
"You're not a good liar." I say
"I don't like her!" He exclaims, before storming off to bed.
The night goes by in a flash, some of the best sleep I've had in a while.
I wake up to Heido already getting his bags into Fang.
"What about Ursu?" I ask.
"She's not coming." He says sadly.
Just then, she comes running out of her house with a red sleeping bag.
"You were just gonna leave without me?" She exclaims.
"I thought you didn't want to come." Heido says, confused.
"I decided it would be best to come." Ursu says. "The crops will be fine, my family knows some people already who can tend to them." She says.
He smiles as she gets on and we start our flight to the northern water tribe.
The ground below flying by, it feels magical. I can see pretty much all of the fire nation from here! I can see why airbenders are considered to have the happiest lives out of anyone.
Then a thought crosses my mind: How do we know there'll be someone willing to teach us water and airbending? No one wants to teach the dark avatar, yet everyone wants to teach the light avatar. I'm sure Heido has a plan though.
"Let's land here" Heido says while flying over a massive plain of grass.
"Why?" I ask.
"Fang needs some rest, and it'd be nice to gather some food, we have a long journey ahead." He says while Fang lands perfectly on the ground, near a lake.
The beautiful landscape puts me at ease, not a tree in sight, just small lakes and flowers.
"This place is beautiful!" Ursu says, putting her sleeping bag on the ground.
"No kidding!" I exclaim jokingly, walking over to a lake. I take my shoes off and sit at the lake, taking in the beautiful landscape. There's a ring of mountains in the distance with white peaks. I imagine we're getting close to the Northern water tribe. The sound of wind calms me enough to sleep, but I can wait till sundown.
The sound of a rock slamming out of the ground, and into the water startles me enough to jump to my feet and get ready for battle. It turns out to just be Heido practicing Earthbending.
"You're getting good." I tell Heido, he's about as good now as most Earthbenders get by their teenage years.
"Thanks." He says before shooting more rocks into the water, and summoning rock pillars from the ground.
I guess it'd be best for me to practice fire bending right now. Lifting my robe off and putting it onto Fang, I place my feet firmly into the ground. Taking a few deep breaths, I can feel the chi flowing through my blood.
My hand flies through the air, igniting the surrounding oxygen into a decently sized burst of fire.
The heat emanating from it fills me with adrenaline.
The training continues with me helping Heido and vise-versa until nightfall. We all decide it's time for bed, and put our sleeping bags onto the ground.
YOU ARE READING
Shadow Of The Avatar
AdventureA man named Hiragan wakes up to find his dear wife arriving home from medical school. A set of events leads him to finding out that he's the dark avatar, and it's his mission to help save the world.
