Eclipse Ruins

Pov: Katara

A few days had passed since that day. Fortunately, we managed to escape the Fire Nation. The real problem was that we couldn't rest in any village because most of them were under Fire Nation control.

As for the survivors we rescued from the prison, it was more complicated; a woman who had lost her arm died halfway through the journey. The other survivors didn't want to accompany us any longer than necessary.

That didn't stop them from accusing Haru of such a tragedy, and that he was the real culprit in the deaths of so many fellow earthbenders because of his revenge.

I didn't totally agree with putting all the blame on Haru, but it was true that we could have prevented it.

Suki had said that if Haru hadn't attacked, Aang would probably have been captured by the Fire Nation and the mission to save the world would have ended before it even began.

When Aang woke up, he confessed that he didn't remember anything and I was relieved because he is an extremely innocent person in some respects. I don't want to tell him what happened in prison and, even if I could, I don't have the courage.

Suki believes that Aang, as Kyoshi's reincarnation, should know and understand the cruelty of war as soon as possible. On the other hand, surprisingly, Sokka disagreed, and decided that we should tell him that the Fire Nation had sent reinforcements and prevented an escape with all those people, and refrain from talking about the battle.

When Aang asked about the blood on our clothes, I have to admit that I almost freaked out, almost burst into tears.

Sokka said that in retaliation for the Fire Nation's escape plan, the Firebenders had started a massacre of the prisoners. Practically hiding the fact of how the battle had started.

Aang was extremely frustrated with himself, blaming himself for being knocked down by a guard before the battle.

Sokka said that he agreed with Suki that Aang needed to become a great warrior in the future, but if Aang knew how disastrous this battle had been, he would probably never face the Fire Nation again.

So, for Sokka, it was better to let Aang believe that the Fire Nation was completely to blame, motivating him to mature faster during the journey.

Sokka and Suki made sure that Haru and I never spoke of what had happened, a promise and a heavy burden if necessary, so that one day the world would live free from the oppression of the Fire Nation.

On our daily journey to the North Pole, we found a cave large enough for Appa to enter and rest. We set up camp, picked fruit for dinner and rested up for the next day's journey.

I watched the sun rise outside the cave and once again tried unsuccessfully to get a good night's sleep. Every time I slept, I relived that day, remembering the blood and the screams.

I held the necklace my mother had given me with the symbol of the Water Tribe. In recent days, I hadn't felt comfortable bending water when I remembered that woman using the same bend as me to hurt innocent people.

Was this bloodbender really from this world? How could such a terrifying and dark ability exist? It goes against everything I believe in.

Bending water reflects the freedom and beauty of nature, that's what my grandmother taught me. This bloodbending was practically a form of oppression, forcing your will on people through violence.

- Are you okay, Katara? - Aang asked.

- Aang? You should rest.

- I'm fine now, in a lot of pain, of course, but I'll survive. - Aang joked with a broad smile.

Aang walked over to Katara's side and sat down on the ground to admire the new sunrise on the horizon.

- It's so beautiful that it makes me forget there's a war going on. - said Aang, looking at Katara with concern. - Are you all right?

- I'm fine. I'm fine. - Katara replied with obvious nervousness.

- I've noticed that you've been sad for the last few days. Has something happened?

- Nothing's happened. - I felt my eyes watering, I tried to hold back the tears, but it was extremely difficult. 

Aang put his hand over Katara's, trying to calm the emotions his friend was feeling.

- Listen, Katara, you're a good person, a good friend. I promise you that I will do my best to ensure that there is peace in this world, that all people have the chance to experience a dawn far from evil. - Aang said with determination, looking directly into Katara's blue eyes.

Aang knew in his heart that the Fire Nation had crossed the line when it killed innocent people, and he had the ability to stop it. A feeling of guilt covered Aang's heart, but instead of shaking him, it filled his heart with determination when he saw the sadness in Katara's eyes.

An unknown emotion slowly began to blossom inside Aang, but he hadn't yet had enough experience to understand it. However, he knew very well that he wanted to create a world far from tyranny and prejudice, a world where Katara could live in peace.

***

A few hours had passed since the Avatar team, now with Haru in the formation, flew through the skies towards the north.

The Avatar team's location was still unknown to the Fire Nation, and they took the opportunity to reach the North Pole as quickly as possible.

The clouds acted as a great disguise for the great flying bison, leaving only a silent journey for the group.

Haru said nothing for most of the journey, still tormented by the consequences of his revenge. Suki stared silently at a map, seemingly looking for a better reference for the place they were flying over. Sokka, on the other hand, was being Sokka.

Aang drove his flying bison calmly and patiently, sometimes playing with Momo, who liked to sleep on his lap.

- We must triple our caution! - said Suki gruffly, holding the map in her hands. - We're in the region with the largest number of Fire Nation soldiers. We're practically at the territorial center of the Fire Nation's conquest.

- So we can't stop at nothing. - said Sokka as he approached Suki to look at the map. - That means we could be unlucky enough to encounter more powerful people as enemies.

- No matter how many enemies there are, if we use our best moves, we can win. - Haru commented as he looked at the horizon.

- That's a very stupid statement. - Suki commented.

- What do you mean by that? - Haru looked at Suki and seemed annoyed.

- We were lucky to defeat that blood-bending woman. She may be someone of a high level, but she's not the most powerful.

- Are you talking about Kai? - I asked worriedly.

- Yes, he's more powerful than the king of the Fire Nation himself. Rumor has it that he's quite active on the west coast.

- So why haven't we found this Kai yet? - Sokka asked. - I mean, our group has the Fire Nation's greatest enemy literally driving the flying bison we're riding in.

- Lucky. - said Suki. - We've been lucky so far... Tell me, Haru, how are the rumors about Kai in your village?

Haru watched as Suki thought about how to answer the question from the best warrior in the group.

- I've never seen him in action, but I know how loyal the soldiers are to him, almost as if they admire him as if he were the Fire Lord himself.

The group was surprised by Haru's words, except Suki, who had expected something like this from the proclaimed strongest firebender of our time.

- Great, now I have to worry about bumping into that monster on the street. - Sokka commented, crossing his arms, annoyed at being at such a disadvantage.

- Suki, how far are we from the northern tribe? - I looked at Suki curiously.

- We're a few hours away from a village, if we use these mountains as a reference. - Suki pointed to the mountains.

- What's the name of this village? - Aang asked, excited to meet new people.

- Hmmm, it looks like it's called Senlin Village, but it's not a good idea to fly there. - Suki put down the map and handed it to Sokka. - This map has information going back decades, but it's quite inaccurate about the conditions in this village.

- So the village is inevitably under Fire Nation control. - Haru commented.

- Then we have to help! - said Aang with determination, looking hopefully at the horizon, not noticing how tense the group became for a moment.

Our journey went without incident, nothing special. Until a few hours had passed.

- Guys, look at this! - said Aang, drawing the attention of the whole group.

When I turned to see what Aang was looking at, I prayed to the spirits that it wasn't the Fire Nation throwing fireballs in our direction.

My eyes widened in amazement, as did everyone else's on the Flying Bison.

A huge mountain seemed to have been cut in half, with a huge trail of destruction leading to what must have been a large, practically destroyed forest.

I had no words to describe such destruction, especially with the many craters that seemed to have been caused by explosions or large impacts.

Aang felt subconsciously intimidated, as if he could instinctively recognize who or what could cause such destruction.

- Who could do such a terrible thing? - Aang asked himself, overheard by the Avatar team.

- Fire Nation! - said Sokka and Haru at the same time.

Aang took Appa to the center of the destruction; it was quite pitiful to see how everything had been destroyed.

- Aang, are you all right? - I asked, worried about his reaction.

- It's the Avatar's duty to protect nature. - Aang said.

- Maybe the Fire Nation burned the forest to make it easier for their troops to move. - Suki looked around, noticing traces of humans in the dead earth.

Aang remained silent. With everything he had learned about the Fire Nation, perhaps this destruction was just another test to make his heart grow more mature.

A part of Aang believed that the accusation of destruction had been caused by the evil hands of the Fire Nation, but a part of his soul, or rather his past lives, was certain that what had destroyed this forest had not been done by human hands.

- What are we going to do? - Haru asked. - Should we continue our journey?

- I think we can give Appa a rest. - I said, seeing how Appa was taking the opportunity to rest. - He's practically doing all the work to get us safely to the North Pole.

- Katara's right, we can't ask too much of Appa. - said Suki. - Let's wait for Appa to rest for an hour.

Unfortunately, there were no plants for Appa to eat, so he slept to conserve his strength. Almost an hour later, we were surprised by the arrival of an old man. The old man had a bald head and a wrinkled face, with a large beard that reached his knees, wore a torn cloak and used a walking stick to support himself.

- Don't move! If you don't want to get hurt, stay away! - said Suki, her metal fans ready for battle.

Sokka had his weapon ready and Haru had bent a stone from the ground, ready to crush the old stranger.

- When I saw the bison, I thought I was seeing an illusion. - The strange old man pointed at Aang, ignoring the threats against him. - These tattoos are just like my father told me... Are you the Avatar?

- Yes, I am. - Aang confirmed, realizing that the old man was harmless. - My name is Aang.

- Thanks to the spirits, Avatar, my village needs your help!

- Your village would be Senlin Village? - asked Suki, worried that this was a trap.

- Exactly, my village is in great danger.

***

We flew with Appa to an area full of trees, an area that hadn't been affected by the destruction we saw earlier. I was worried because we still don't know if the old man was a spy who wanted to capture Aang.

Because of the altitude at which we were flying, we could see a small, modest village, with no Fire Nation soldiers lurking around.

When we arrived at the village, the people seemed extremely suspicious, which for some reason relieved me, as it meant that the Fire Nation was probably not welcome in the area.

- You must be the Avatar! - said a man wearing an elegant kimono. - I'm the chief of this village.

- Nice to meet you, I'm Aang. - Aang bowed in respect. - These are my friends, Katara, Sokka, Suki and Haru.

- It's an honor to have the savior of the world in front of me. - The village chief said expectantly.

- What do you need my help for? Is it the Fire Nation? - Aang's expression hardened for a moment, wary of the Fire Nation again.

- I'd rather the Fire Nation were the real problem. - Said the depressed village leader. - Our village is being haunted by an evil spirit that has been attacking us for the last few days.

- An evil spirit? - Sokka instinctively raised an eyebrow, not believing what the man was saying.

- A few weeks ago, a spirit suddenly attacked us. Whenever it gets dark, it attacks us for no reason and so some people have been caught by it. - said the boss with frustration and sadness. - We looked for our friends, but they had disappeared.

- Isn't this spirit attacking because of the destruction of the forest? - asked Suki, trying to understand the delicate situation. 

- If that were the case, we would have fled this region years ago.

- How can you be so sure? - I asked.

- The destruction you're talking about happened decades ago. Once, when I was younger, I enjoyed stargazing, a hobby I used to do when I was younger. - The Chief said nostalgically, but his expression changed. - On one particular night, I saw what looked like two balls of fire falling from the sky with great force. Of course, everyone in the village was as curious as I was about what had fallen from the sky. Unexpectedly, we began to hear what sounded like the roar of a monster, as well as the sound of explosions and earthquakes. More frightening, however, was a golden light that made it seem as if night had turned into day. There was a huge explosion and, when it subsided, we saw the forest destroyed and a mountain broken in half.

The Avatar team was perplexed by the man's account; it sounded like a made-up story, but as they had recently seen the trail of destruction, it was easier to believe.

- Have you found out what caused all this? - Sokka asked, sweat beading on his brow.

- No, but we did find a badly injured woman who seemed to have been a victim of the disaster. Her name was Katsu, and we found her wandering around disoriented and rescued her.

- Is this woman Katsu here? - Aang asked.

- Unfortunately not, when she regained consciousness, she was heading west. - The Chief pointed in the direction he had last seen Katsu.

- Towards the Fire Nation. - said Haru, suspicious of the veracity of the story. 

- What is the spirit's name? - I asked, wanting to know more about this mystery.

- His name is Hei Bai. - The chief confessed regretfully.

***

At nightfall, we stood in the destroyed area of the forest, each of us preparing for the arrival of the evil spirit.

Aang wanted to try a peaceful approach with the spirit, since it is his responsibility as Avatar to be the bridge between humans and spirits. 

I watched the moon and felt my power double. By the way, I had bought a canteen, so now I could bend water without too many restrictions.

Haru had made a makeshift chair out of earth to wait for the spirit, and sometimes practiced his Earthbending with some stones in his hand, turning them into sand.

Suki and Sokka were talking to each other, whispering to each other, probably chatting as a couple while nothing much happened.

Appa slept, unperturbed by any sense of fear around him, and his friend Lemore imitated him, sleeping on top of his head.

As the hours passed, it was clear that nothing was happening, as the moon was practically in the center of the sky, turning midnight.

- Okay, this isn't working. - said Sokka angrily. - I'm hungry and I could be asleep by now, maybe the ghost doesn't even exist.

- You can't just give up! - I complained, seeing how ignorant Sokka was being.

- I'm not giving up, but I'm hungry. Aang, do you have any way of attracting this ghost?

- Hmmmm... the spirit world! - Aang seemed to be regaining his energy. - I forgot I could try to enter the spirit world.

- Can you do that? - Haru asked.

- Not exactly, I managed to talk to Kyoshi with a lot of effort, but it was still a valid attempt to enter the spirit plane.

- Do you think you can do it now? - I asked worriedly. - Isn't it possible that the spirit is trying to attack you?

- If it's a problem, I can use my bend to escape or scare it away if I can't have a peaceful conversation. - Aang seemed relaxed, probably because this was a matter that didn't directly involve the Fire Nation. - Besides, you can protect me when I'm in the spirit world.

- All right, let's do it. - said Sokka, exhausted. - I should have brought some snacks first.

I saw Aang sit in the lotus position and stay there for several minutes.

I let out a tired sigh and went over to Haru, who quickly made a land chair for me to sit on.

- Thank you. - I look at Haru, who still has that blank look on his face. - How are you?

- I'm fine... at least physically. - Haru strokes the area where his shoulder was injured in the last battle, still in the process of healing.

- There's no need to blame yourself... The responsibility lies with all of us. - I whispered, not wanting Aang to overhear the conversation.

- I'm the only one to blame here, that's a fact. - Haru seemed disappointed in himself. - I hope to redeem myself when the Fire Nation is destroyed.

As the conversation continued, Aang's tattoos began to glow, drawing the group's attention. Everyone watched expectantly as they saw another of the Ultimate Warrior's skills in action.

Aang's tattoos began to flash again and again, as if the Avatar mode was being switched on and off, until a heavenly light exploded from Aang like a wave of power that hit the Avatar team.

***

My body felt strange, like it was lighter, but I felt completely dizzy and nauseous. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was in a forest with no branches, like a dead zone.

I got up because I didn't recognize the place, luckily when I looked to my side, I found everyone unconscious, including Aang. But something was wrong, we were all glowing and transparent.

- Sokka! You're all right! - I shook Sokka, trying to get him to wake up.

- Just five more minutes... - Sokka mumbled, as if he were asleep.

- There... what a headache. - said Haru, getting up from the floor, quickly noticing that his body felt strange. - What? Did I die?

- I think... we're in the spirit world. - I said, noticing the completely abnormal atmosphere.

- How can you be so sure?

- Look at this! - I pointed to a faceless animal.

It took a few minutes for the group to pull themselves together and realize the terrible situation they were in. In just a few seconds, Sokka had practically freaked out and ordered Aang to bring everyone back to the mortal plane.

- You'd better shine again, or I'll make you shine! - threatened Sokka, annoyed that his plans were always going wrong.

- I didn't know I could take people to the spirit world! - confessed Aang, embarrassed by the situation.

- Let's calm down! - Suki tapped Sokka's injured shoulder to end the drama. - We have to find out how this happened.

- I think the destruction of the forest may have weakened the barriers separating the mortal world from the spirit world and, with my power, I may have accidentally pulled you all in, creating a large portal. - said Aang timidly, because he still didn't know how to solve the problem.

- If there's a way in, there must be a way out. - Suki rationalized. - We have to stick together, we can't underestimate the Spirit World.

- I thought it was a wonderful place, but it looks like it needs a makeover. - Haru commented.

- Why don't we go up this hill to see this place better? - I suggested it when I saw a hill that was easy to climb.

- Okay, but don't get separated! - Sokka ordered.

The group that had formed to save the world walked for a few minutes to the top of the hill, with Aang recklessly leading the way over the unknown terrain.

- My spirits! - I asked, my eyes widening at the sight.

- What happened here? - Suki said in surprise, regret in her voice.

- It looks like this place has been through hell itself. - said Sokka.

- Aang, do you know this place? - Haru couldn't help but stare at the pitiful sight.

Aang subconsciously remembered Kyoshi's words about a war that had taken place in the spirit world.

- The Eclipse War. - Aang commented subconsciously, caught in the vision of this place.

The Avatar team was trapped in a completely apocalyptic vision, a great metropolis in ruins, with the pure concept of chaos implanted.

Huge buildings were destroyed, sculptures in ruins, streets and houses covered in black flames. Large numbers of human and draconic skeletons were scattered in all directions.

The Avatar team had no idea, but they were all in the Forbidden Territory of the spirit world, a place that was nothing more than the ghost of a great civilization, the original home of the Celestial Dragons and the first elemental nation of the past.

Next chapter: The Nation of Light