The Lunar Warrior [ATLA FF]

Book 1: Water | 55 | Phantom Allies

"Good evening, Lord Ayaan." The Phantoms said, appearing out of thin air.

"Hello?" He greeted. Currently, he was being assaulted by licks so he couldn't give them attention as he normally would. He scratched the cheetah seals all behind their ears, much to their absolute delight. They purred like they were big house cats instead of ferocious beasts. For Appa, it was a scratch underneath the chin.

Momo felt a little jealous and landed on his chest demanding ear scratches. How dare these big cats try to steal his human's amazing scratches?! He hissed at them. But Jia, Mei, and Chen hissed right back, baring their teeth.

'What are you, a snack?' -Chen

'You wanna go?!' -Mei

'I'm busy cuddling, come back later.' -Jia

This only earned each of them a tap on their mouth and a chastising glare from Ayaan. "No fighting." His voice was stern, finite. They immediately stopped as if they didn't hate each other two seconds ago, whimpering as they lowered their heads and ears as apologies.

"Good. You must be nice to each other." He gave them each a scratch behind their ears for being good, and from then on it was blissful.

'Yep. We're keeping him.' The big cats thought.

'Says who?!' Momo's side-eye said back.

'Says--'

Before anything could escalate again, Appa slammed his tail down. It was soft enough not to jostle Ayaan, but loud and firm enough that the rumble could be felt through the ground. His large, brown eyes glared down at the four little beasts before him, lowly growling.

'This is my calf. Don't get ahead of yourselves. Momo, calm yourself.'

'Y-Yes, sir.' The cats backed down immediately. Momo simply huffed, but he too returned all of his attention to the extremely comfortable chest he was on.

Authority speaks, and Appa had it all.

Sokka was glad that he was okay now, even though in the back of his mind, the worry remained. "We'll stay here for a while, and then we're off. You need rest, Ayaan."

"But I swear I'm fi-"

"REST."

He was about to retort, when five fluffy beast made their opinions known too. It was too much to resist. "Okay..."

Ayaan, too tired to resist the lull of sleep amid the warmth of the cuddles, sleeps soundly without a single dream. The others decided to keep what had happened before to themselves. It was obvious to them that Ayaan did not remember.

When he looked at them, they could see the love that they missed. He was worried about them, those grayish-blue orbs full of warmth even though it was cold around. The Ayaan they knew was back and healthy. As scary as that spirit had been, they were more than thankful.

After Ayaan got another night of rest surrounded by glorious fluff, they continued their travels further into dangerous territory. As the weeks went by, they got closer to their temporary companions, the Phantoms.

"Ayaan, could you show me the move you did before? You know, the ice you shot from the river?" She had optimism in her eyes. She'd deduced that it had something to do with his spear art since the movement he did looked familiar.

"I could do it again, though I have no hope of teaching it." He sighed. He wanted to be more help to them, but trying to put his instincts into words was almost impossible for him.

"That's okay. Viewing it is enough." Katara understood that. As frustrating as it was to never be good at something she loved, she knew her brother was trying his best for her. That's all she could ask for.