Daughter of the Moon - Book Three: Fire

Chapter 4: Avatar Kuruk

- Elara -

The legend of Avatar Kuruk and Ummi wasn't a long one, but is was bizarre enough to leave anyone baffled at the idea of how anyone could allow someone to get hurt because of their complete disregard towards their spiritual responsibilities. Although, I was sure most people had assumed Kuruk had been the one the blame for the violent encounter involving Koh, the face-stealer, but what they didn't know was that Ummi had also played a significant role in her own downfall.

"Let me get this straight..." Aang hollered over his shoulder as he tried to process the story I had just told him. "Avatar Kuruk married a Moon Warrior?"

"Yes, at least, that's what the legend tells us," I said. "Ummi was a Moon Warrior who had broken tradition and Spirit Law to forge her own path. I suppose the spirits were angry with her for that, so they sucked her into the spirit world as a punishment."

"That seems a little harsh, don't you think?" Aang asked.

"What can I say," I answered bitterly. "The spirits have a way they want things done, and they take out their anger on those who don't follow along..."

My thoughts were cut short as Hei Bai skid to a near stand-still, almost throwing Aang and I out of our seats as he stopped to tread carefully around a monkey that happened to jump in front of his path. I didn't think much of the encounter as we passed by it, but I was immediately taken aback as the creature turned to face us—at least, as it tried to. I'm ashamed to admit that I couldn't help but to cry out in distress when I saw that the monkey was missing his face.

"Shh!" Aang ordered nervously as he twisted around and threw a hand over my mouth. "We're in the Realm of Koh. We better be careful."

I nodded cautiously as Aang turned to face forward once again, but Hei Bai didn't even take more than two steps forward before being startled by another spirit. Aang and I yelped as Hei Bai bucked us out of our seat and into the mud, the two of us looking up just in time to see a human-like bear sprinting towards us like some kind of a crazed animal, wielding a massive and extremely threatening spear (we only freaked out a little bit...or a lot...same thing).

"Koh took your face and replaced it with a bear's face!" Aang exclaimed as the spirit landed right in front of us.

"Relax kid. I'm not going to hurt you," the spirit chuckled as he removed his bear head, revealing a very human head underneath (thank goodness). He then extended his hands to us and helped us out of the mud as he continued to speak. "My name is Avatar Kuruk. Nice to meet you two."

Aang and I went to return the Avatar's greeting, but we quickly discovered that was not going to be an option. He almost didn't even seem to take a breath as he continued to onto a topic that he was more interested in.

"Now tell me, have you seen a beautiful woman with long, brown hair around here?" Kuruk asked.

Aang looked to me suspiciously before answering the man. "No. Who is she?"

"She was my wife," Kuruk answered sadly as the mud around our feet began to rise, forming a column around us as the Avatar's memories flickered against the dark sludge.

"When I was a young Avatar, I traveled the world, challenging other benders to tests of strength," Kuruk began, Aang and I gawking at the past scene as we watched him challenge a random villager to an Agni Kai completely unprompted (not to mention the fact that I had to bite my cheek to keep my mind from wandering too far). "I loved impressing people with my bending prowess...especially girls."

The scene shifted to display the young Kuruk at one of the Air temples as he modeled his airbending skill by forming a small vortex in his hand, the air decorated with dozens of lotus flowers. I scoffed at the girls as they ogled at the boy's completely ignorant display of bending as the image shifted once again, the muck now displaying Kuruk as he surfed a massive wave on an ice board (and I had to admit that I was embarrassed that I hadn't thought of that sooner).