Book 4: Winds from Tomorrow [Action: May 30th-June 1]

[savedtheworld]

[Action: Days 5-7]

[It's odd for Aang, waking up in House 56. What is this, some sort of bunked bed? He can't remember whatever led him to sleep there. Doesn't this violate his decision to maintain some distance from his younger friends? He slips out of the house early in the morning, or tries to. It's possible that anyone else in the household could have caught him before he was able to leave.

Aang spends the rest of the day and the next two days going back to his daily routine. He meditates in the forest near Avatar House. He goes through town, either casually strolling or zipping through on his Air Scooter, to stay social. On Day 5, he also has to set up his tent near his meditation spot again. Where could his old tent have gone?]

[ooc: Aang is aged up (kinda)-canonically to around his 40s. He also remembers Luceti in an alternate way where he was brought here at this age. The shift has also caused some memory fluctuations (who's that Yakone fellow again?), although the possibility always remains that he's actually from a somewhat alternate version of canon (aka my handwave if my few assumptions get jossed)

Replies come from beardofbalance.]

Comments

[biteoffherhead]

I do not appreciate being flung around like prey.

[She snorts.]

But I did always find their more deceptive tricks so much more insulting.

[beardofbalance]

What did they do to you?

[biteoffherhead]

Over these short cycles of the seasons, I have been insulted in every way, from having my memories altered to having my body taken away from me.

[beardofbalance]

I'm sorry that they've done that to you, Moro. Like I said, they have no sense of respect for even one such as you.

[biteoffherhead]

It is fine. Their flesh getting tangled in my teeth will be reward enough.

[beardofbalance]

As nonviolent as I've been raised to be, I somehow find myself unable to protest this.

[biteoffherhead]

You wouldn't dare challenge the will of a god.

[Well she doesn't know that but it's definitely stated more along the lines of "you better not".]

[beardofbalance]

I suppose not. I'm only supposed to help them, through peaceful means.

[biteoffherhead]

You serve your purpose well.

[Holy crap praise from Moro, good job Aang!]

[beardofbalance]

[He gives a bow.]

I feel honored, Moro. Thank you. It means a lot from another world's spirit.

[biteoffherhead]

If only you had been there to teach those fools not to march on the mountain. A boy in my world tried to stop things... but he was a fool. By the time he arrived, the war was ending. Everything was going to die.

[beardofbalance]

What... what happened to him?

[biteoffherhead]

He fell in love with San. My daughter.

He attempted to reason with the humans, but there was little point. To pay for their crimes, humans were swallowed by the gods in mouthfuls as they burned the trees. Instead of accepting this as their just punishment, as it was forewarned to them, they took offense.

That boy was just as selfish. As expected of a human. He wanted nothing more than to take San from the forest. Though San has a human body, she is wolf of heart. Her place is, and always shall be, in the forest.

[beardofbalance]

[He didn't think over the logic of a wolf having a human daughter, as the story wiped the smile from his face. He listened cautiously, as it was all too easy to imagine him and the Firebenders in their place. And hadn't he tried selfishly choosing Katara above all in the past, even if she wasn't in the same position as the San person?]

I see. It's horrible that it had to come with that. And... it's also very unfortunate when love gets in the way of duty. In the past, there have been times when my duty as the Avatar has clashed with what my heart wanted. But I was lucky enough that in most cases, following my heart wound up helping me to do what I had to.

[biteoffherhead]

But you fell in love with a normal human. And your role does not keep you away from humans.

My daughter once belonged to humans. But her parents surrendered her to me to spare their own lives! She grew up a wolf. Though she is not a wolf, and not a human... her place is in the forest. No human can love it as she does.

[beardofbalance]

How do you know I didn't fall in love with a lion turtle? [A small but somewhat nervous laugh.] Sorry. I see what you mean. It sounds like a wonderful way to live life.

[biteoffherhead]

And he would take her from that, to force her among normal humans.

[beardofbalance]

[He shakes his head.]

That wouldn't be right, if she wanted to stay there. I hope the boy learned his lesson.

[biteoffherhead]

I will never know. The Forest Spirit reclaimed the life he gave me, and I finally got to rest.

[For the first time, her voice is hushed, and almost peaceful.

She was very happy to follow the will of the Forest Spirit, even if it reclaimed her life before she could protect it.]

He will save her. And if everything dies, they shall be the last two to do so.

[beardofbalance]

[Aang pauses, taking it all in.]

Oh. I... I didn't know. I never [watched the movie] heard your whole story. I feel sad, but it's also kinda peaceful. I think I feel hope for them.

[biteoffherhead]

Hope.

[A tired, old, bitter chuckle.]

I do not. Even if they somehow survive, the gods have grown weak and small... the forests will be unprotected and humans will tread carelessly upon them with no consequence to them.

[beardofbalance]

That doesn't sound good. But... you and Ran and the boy... you have to have left some kind of legacy. Even if the gods are in decline. There has to be something left behind to help your world stay balanced. [He has to believe it.]

[biteoffherhead]

...If the Forest Spirit yet remains, after his death, then life will begin anew.

[Because he is a real god, a much more mystical and powerful one than Moro, and such a profound concept is not alien to something like him.]

What happens in those final moments after my death is absolutely necessary to know, to understand the outcome.

I have but fuzzy visions of when my head detached from my corpse, and bit off Eboshi's arm. Death seemed all around me... and after talking to San, once she arrived here, I can only assume that the great spirit's head was cut off.