𝑾𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 1)

Siege of the North*

Jade had absolutely no idea where she was.

When she opened her eyes, what she found was some kind of swamp. The buzzing in her veins was gone; instead, she felt some kind of warmth. The spirity feeling was stronger than ever. It was almost like an aura of some sort that flooded her senses. It hung over her like the fog that hung over the swamp water before her. She saw tall brown trees that towered over her. The sky was a cloudy greenish-yellow rather than the dark blue of the night.

Watching an unfamiliar bird fly by, Jade realized she was only sure of one thing. This was not the North Pole. 

"Ah!"

Hearing the scream beside her, Jade screamed, too. She flinched to the left as her head snapped to the right. But when her blue eyes met familiar grey ones, she froze.

"Jade?!" He gaped at her.

"Aang..?" She blinked at him. Then she glanced up to find them under a stone arch. It was the only thing she recognized, identical to the one at the Spirit Oasis. "W...Where are we?"

"Jade, we're in the Spirit World."

She froze again. She blinked at Aang for a second before her eyes all but bulged out of her skull.

"What?!" Scrambling to her feet, she glanced around frantically. "I'm in the Spirit World?! How is even that possible -- I-I thought only the Avatar was able to come here!" She paused. "Unless...am I the Avatar?"

Blinking, Aang stood up. "Uh...No. I'm the Avatar." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe you're not really here. Maybe I'm just imagining you."

When he poked her cheek a few times, she narrowed her eyes. Her face was a little pink as she swatted his hand away.

"I think I'd know if I was a hallucination, Aang."

He smiled sheepishly. "Right. Sorry."

She turned to look around again. "I don't understand how this is possible...But I guess that's not important right now." She turned back to Aang. "Since I'm here, maybe I can help you find the Ocean and Moon spirits."

"Yeah!" His smile faltered slightly. "But...the only thing is that we can't bend in the Spirit World. So you should probably stay close to me."

This time, it was her turn to smile sheepishly. "Noted."

~㊌~

Aang kept a grip on her hand from the moment they began moving. They weren't looking for long before Jade spotted a square stone arch. Sitting under that arch was a white furry figure in a brown shawl.

Tugging Aang's hand, she pointed. "Look over there."

They drew closer to the figure to find that it was a baboon monkey. Its legs were crossed and its fingers were pressed together. The monkey was meditating, and it seemed to be wearing some kind of necklace.

"Um..." Jade spoke up uncertainly. "Excuse me..?"

The monkey said nothing. Jade wasn't even sure whether or not it heard her. She and Aang shared a glance before he tried next. "We're sorry to disturb you. We just really need to find the Moon and the Ocean spirits."

The monkey didn't open its eyes. "Go away."

Apparently, it did hear them.

Aang and Jade met eyes again. The monkey poked one eye open before frowning. "You're still here?"

"Yes! We need -- "

"Ohm!" The monkey cut him off.

Jade puffed her cheeks in frustration. "Mr. Spirit Monkey Sir -- "