Earth Kingdom...

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"There it is!" Sokka yelled excitedly as he spotted our destination.
"Finally!" I groaned. "No offence Appa, but it is really boring back here. We should at least get a decent sound system installed..."
Appa made a rumbly noise in response as he flew towards the outpost. He landed on a wide-open space, and a man dressed in green armour approached us.
"Welcome, Avatar Aang!" he called out cheerfully as the rest of us stretched out our stiff muscles. "I am General Fong," he said, bowing low, his men doing the same.
I snickered quietly. "Hehehe...thong..."
"And welcome to all of you! Great heroes!" wow, the guy was incredibly melodramatic. "Appa! Momo! Brave Sokka! The Mighty Katara! The Illustrious Mogui!"

"Mighty Katara?" Katara muttered, amused. "I like that."
"Who doesn't like having their ego stroked?" I asked, nudging her and smiling.
Then there were the fireworks. "Geez, is this really necessary? It's like a big sign saying, 'the Avatar is here, please attack!'"
"I think it's cool," Sokka said, grinning and sounding pleased.
"Only cause they called you 'Brave Sokka,'" I retorted.

"Avatar Aang, we were all impressed with the stories of how you single-handedly defeated an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole," General Fong explained, once he had brought us inside, stroking his beard.
'I think I should grow one. It looks cool, sitting there stroking his beard like he's really wise and stuff,' I thought to myself.
"I can't imagine what it must be like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility."
"What can we say?" I shrugged. "We are ridiculously awesome."
"I try not to think about it too much," Aang responded, shaking his head at me with a grin.
"Avatar," General Fong said, smiling warmly. "You're ready to face the Fire Lord now."

"What!?"

"Hey now! Let's not jump to conclusions!" I said, putting an arm out before Aang, more as protection for him than to stop him.
"I'm not ready!"
"Aang still needs to master all four elements," Katara frowned in confusion.
"Why?" General Fong asked, sounding mildly disinterested.
He got a bit worked up and stood up behind his desk as he spoke. "With the kind of power he possesses—power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes—he could defeat the Fire Lord now!"
"But sir, Aang can only do those things when he's in the Avatar state," Sokka explained.
"See, it's the special state where I-" Aang started to explain before Fong cut him off.
"I'm well aware," Fong started to walk around his desk. "Your eyes and tattoos glow, and you're able to summon unbelievable power. Without you, we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation."
Aang answered slowly, very uncertain as he spoke. "Right... but I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar state, much less what to do once I'm there."

"So it's decided then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar state, and then you'll face your destiny," Fong said casually.
We all jumped to our feet, Sokka and Aang surprised, while Katara and I were more on the 'no way in hell' side of the spectrum.
"No!" Katara snapped. "Nothing's decided. We already have a plan. Aang's pursuing his destiny his way."
"Don't be messing with powers you don't comprehend, Buster," I growled, stepping between Aang and Fong. "I shoulda packed my angry eyes..."
"Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on. May I show you something?" Fong said condescendingly, waving Aang over.
We stepped over to a window, and he pointed out a building with a crowd outside it.

"That's the infirmary," he said gently. "And those soldiers are the lucky ones."
He turned to Aang, putting a hand on the young airbender's shoulder. "They came back. Every day the Fire Nation takes lives. People are dying, Aang!"
I tensed and tried to keep from attacking the man. He was trying to guilt-trip Aang.
"You could end it. Now! Think about it."
"Don't meddle with things not meant to be meddled with," I said, looking Aang straight in the eye. "No war was won without sacrifice. But no war was won when the people were stupid about it either." 

Later that night, Aang came back in, looking very down.
"I told the general I'm in," Aang explained softly. "I told him I'd help by going into the Avatar state."
"Aang no!"
"You did what!?" I roared, jumping to my feet. "Aang, I thought you were smarter than this! This is war. You can't save everyone!"
"I have to try!" Aang said, looking at me desperately. "Please understand, Mogui, I have to do this!"
"You're playing with fire, Aang," I replied shortly. "Remember what happened last time?"
Aang's face fell, and he looked crestfallen. "This isn't the same..."
"You're right," I said shortly. "It's worse. It's worse than worse... It's The worst! It's the Worstchestershire sauce of worst!"
"Mogui!" Katara tried to stop me.
"No, Katara. He needs to hear this," I ignored her pleading looks. "He needs to hear how messing with something like this will only end up hurting the people he's trying to help."
I turned to face Aang again. "If you want to use the Avatar State so badly, ask the experts, not power-hungry generals driven mad by the war!"
I turned sharply on my heel and left, planning to cool off before I said or did something colossally stupid.

The next day, I agreed to join Katara as we observed how they planned to induce the Avatar State. Apparently, they thought chi enhancing tea was the answer. Instead, we had a hyper Aang buzzing around and talking fast.
"I guess he could talk the Fire Lord to death," Sokka said dryly.
And then Aang knocked himself out.

Attempt numero B.
"Maybe I could shock you into the Avatar State?" Sokka questioned.
"I love surprises!" Katara put her hands around Aang's eyes.
When she removed them, Sokka had made it look like Momo's head was his, and Momo screeched as Sokka jumped towards Aang. Aang screamed, paused and looked at his hands. 
"Still not glowing."
Sokka stumbled and fell, and I shook my head at the stupidity of this all.

Attempt tres.
"You are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations. Now I will join the four elements into one! Water, earth, fire, air! Four elements together as one!" a priest called pretentiously, throwing the named element into a bowl, then throwing the mixture onto Aang.
"This is just mud!" Aang said, annoyed.
"So...do you feel anything?" the priest asked curiously.

Aang's nose started to twitch, and he lifted a hand. I glanced around, and everyone looked hopeful. Aang sneezed, and lucky me, I had been out of range because everyone else was covered in mud.
"Bless you," I called lazily, bored with all this. "Come on; this is your third attempt. It's not happening. You're gonna get yourselves hurt real bad..."
"We have to find a way," the General said resolutely.
I threw my hands up and gave an annoyed snort before turning and leaving.

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