Violent Delights, ATLA

chapter thirty three, anomaly

"Guys, you'll think I'm crazy but it feels like a metal man is coming."

Aang groaned awake, a light shining directly in his eyes. Everyone else stirred awake upon hearing Toph's warning, all staring at the vague silhouette of a man standing on the hot spring wall with a metal hand reflecting moonlight. San didn't recognise him at all but a queasy feeling bubbled in her gut. Before she could comprehend what was going to happen, the man shot a combustion wave at them with Aang blocking it by earthbending. But the earth he manipulated exploded and everyone flew back from the impact.

"Who is that?!" Sokka hissed, his hair whipping up from the air currants of the explosions.

"An assassin, probably. He's gonna try to kill us," San said. "Blowing up stuff with his mind is pretty awesome though."

He cleared his throat. "Priorities."

"Right. We can't beat a guy who explodes things with his mind for now so let's all retreat to somewhere safe." She instructed as everyone else nodded obediently.

"I'll try to distract him!" Aang declared, running off into the smoke.

"Yip yip." San commanded, in charge of flying Appa. He roared as he took off, past the smoke and far away from the explosion man. Debris threw themselves into the sky behind her with every explosion heard destroying the surrounding mass of land. It was fortunate the area was rather barren and the Avatar was able to hold him off on his own, long enough to allow them to escape, but everyone had a sinking feeling he'd hunt them down again.

"Remember anyone trying to hunt you down with explosives?" Sokka turned to San, the innocuous question spilling from his lips.

"No, all the ones I had the misfortune of running into were earthbenders or non-benders." She recalled out loud. "I don't think he's here for me from those people. I think his job is to end Aang once and for all."

"But how does he know he's alive?" Katara gulped, playing with her hair. Everyone remained silent, unable to come up with an answer.

San guided Appa to land on the flat surface of a tall mountain to rest. In the rising dawn, Aang awoke from his spiritual dream and said he needed to visit Roku's home during the summer solstice. Appa glided through the clouds and dove for the obsidian crescent-shaped island; completely desolate.

The waves below lapped quietly, steadily rising over the obsidian land as everyone waited patiently for Aang to have his spiritual talk with Roku. As the seconds ticked by, the volume of the water surrounding the island increased until San felt it reaching her ankles.

"Do you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"The water rising." She yelped when something liquid made a tug at her foot. Frightened, she turned around and saw part of the ocean form a claw-like hand at her ankle.

"I think the ocean spirit wants to have a chat with you." Katara said in awe. 'If only she knew what La's attitude's like,' San thought sourly before making her way to the edge of the island. It didn't take long for her to see the koi fish's mirage, the outline of her body almost glowing.

"So I hear you almost died. Again." La deadpanned as Momo peeked from behind San's ankle to see who she was talking to.

"For a tiny fish, you're packed with a lot of attitude." She scowled. Getting a lecture from the ocean spirit (a mirage of her anyway) wasn't something she was in the mood for at all. "Sorry for being so careless when I visited the Spirit World. I'll be more attentive next time."

"That's not what I'm here for." The slightest furrow of the sun spirit's brows urged the koi fish to continue, "There are abnormal fractures dividing the plane of the Spirit World and the Mortal Realm threatening to let the world fall into more chaos than it already is. Very few areas in this world act as a bridge from this realm to the next and if there are holes ripping the barriers apart when there isn't supposed to be, then it's an immediate cause for concern."