trying to get to the spirit world
warnings: slight violence?
💧✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼💧
authors pov
08:29 AM. A FOREST AWAY FROM OMASHU
"where did sokka go?" katara says, looking around. y/n stands up, brushing the dirt of her water tribe attire. aang shrugs, making y/n sigh.
""let's go look for him," she says, pulling aang up.
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walking through the forest, katara spots her brother kneeling down.
"sokka," she says, walking over to him not realising that there was a younger girl there. the younger girl runs away, making sokka stand up, putting his hand out to her.
"no wait," the girl already being far gone, e picks up the doll that was in her hand and looks at the three with an annoyed look.
"what?"
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y/n looks around as she runs with the rest of her family, sokka leading.
"over there," he says as they seem to have ran into a small village settlement.
woah. it's nice and quiet. she feels the rain fall around as the smell of the earth hits her in the nose. she would like it here. if she wasn't trying to save the world. she would have like kyoshi island too.
the girl runs towards her house, her father coming out of it. he walks quickly down the stairs, embracing her.
"there you are," he says. "you know better than to wander off by yourself,"
"hey, she-she dropped this," sokka says, holding up the doll. the father pushes his daughter behind her, glaring down at the three teenagers and one kid. "we're not here to cause trouble. we...she was just scared,"
aang turns around, looking at all the people whispering and looking at them.
"something bad happened here, didn't it?" aang says, facing the man. the man looks down, his lip trembling.
"please forgive my manners," the man looks over to sokka, nodding at him. "thank you for helping my daughter,"
"no need to apologize," sokka shrugs. "i can imagine, living this close to the fire nation means you've got to stay on your guard,"
"yes," the man nods. "we have seen our share of war,"
"was that how the forest was destroyed?" katara asks. "a battle?"
"no. the firebenders just wanted a clear path as they moved through the mountains,"
"that's why the burned down the forest?" y/n asks in disbelief. "really?"
"but after the fire, strange things started happening," the man continues. "our crops started dying. our-our animals stopped grazing. it-it's almost as if the land itself had gotten sick," katara turns back, looking towards the land. "a few days ago, we sent out an expedition to search for food. and they never came back," the little girl peeks out from behind her father, scared. y/n gives her a smile, trying to make her feel better, but the girl hides behind her father again. "my son, shi-yong, he was with them," a silence of understanding passes through the group. "we know what it's like to live in fear. but this, this is something deeper,. it's something...beyond this world,"
aang zones out, feeling the energy around him. the different spirits between the realms. the water tribe siblings look at him in suspense.
"you're right," aang says, zoning back into this realm. "your people are beyond this world. but i can get them back,"
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"the world we live in isn't the only world there is," aang says, walking through the forest with the water tribe siblings behind him. "there's another realm beyond ours,"
"the spirit world," katara says, looking at aang. sokka and y/n walk behind them, the girl wiping her hands on her clothing.
"usually, the two remain separate, but there are places where the barrier between them is thin," aang says.
"so the forest is one of thin places?" y/n asks.
"i don't think it. i feel it," aang says as they continue to walk. "and i believe the fires weaken the barrier even more. the avatar is the bridge between the natural world and the spirit world, and i can feel how close the two are. it's like ice that's started to crack,"
"so you're going to hop into the spirit world, grab the lost folks, and hop back," sokka says, summing everything up as he always does.
"something like that," aang says, nodding slowly. "yeah,"
"you sounded a lot more confident before," sokka says, which makes y/n slap his shoulder.
"sokka,"
"because all of this is my responsibility," aang says, holding onto his glider. "yes, i need to get to the north so i can save the waterbenders, but i also need to help these people so they don't lose their homes and the ones they love..." the airbender looks down to the dirt with a frown on his face. "the way i lost mine,"
"aang, it's literally impossible for you to do everything," y/n says. "we can help you. we will help you,"
"like bumi said, 'the avatar has to do the impossible'," he walks off, making y/n sigh and scratch her head.
the boy is literally a child.
"come on," she mumbles to the rest of her siblings, as they follow aang.
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"i need to find where the spiritual energies are the strongest," aang says as they are getting deeper into the forest.
"and where's that?"
"i'll know it when i find it," aang says, looking back at the oldest two. y/n snickers as sokka rolls his eyes.
"you almost said something specific," sokka says as him and y/n walk in sync. but then a tree branch hits them both in the face.
"what the-" y/n mutters, rubbing her nose. "sokka, are you okay?" she says, looking back at him. he hums with a nod, pushing the tree banch down.
katara and aang, nowhere in sight.
"katara?" sokka calls out as y/n puts her hands out, just in case she needs to waterbend. "aang?" they both start to run, y/n bringing up a circle of water around them. they both trip over a log which is the dirt, the water splashing into them.
the two groan in pain and slight annoyance. turning over, sokka screams as he sees he's face to face with a wooden face.
y/n flinches at his scream, turning over. oh, it's just a big wooden owl. wait, what? she gets up, helping up her baby brother. there's big wooden animals everywhere. she sees aang and katara in the middle, aang placing his staff against a rock.
"a shrine to the spirit of the forest," aang says, looking up at the wooden bear which is half burnt. "this is the place," sokka and y/n walk over to katara as aang sits on a rock which is infront of the shrine. the avatar puts his fists together, closing his eyes.
"so, what do we do?" sokka asks, scratching his cheek as he looks at his sisters. katara looks at sokka in disbelief.
"we watch over aang," she says. "once his spirit crosses over, his body will be vulnerable. we need to protect him,"
"oh," a silence passes over them. "and how will we know that this works?"
"uh..."
"i'm not sure,"
"i'm getting hungry,"
"actually, same-"
"hey, do you mind?" aang says, turning his head to look at the water tribe siblings. "i'm trying to concentrate here,"
sokka puts his hands up as y/n snorts. katara rolls her eyes at her brother as he starts to shush everyone.
y/n sighs happily, this shouldn't take too long. aang's got this.
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she was wrong. not about aang. aang's still got this, one hundred percent. she just didn't think it would this long. it was day time when he started. the night has now fallen.
she continues to look up at the stars, admiring them. her mother is up in the stars.
aang continues to concentrate; listening to way that sokka is flipping his boomerang, the way that katara is moving to practice her bending, the way y/n sighs softly and closes her eyes every three minutes.
aang's eyes open as he feels his spirit disconnect from his physical body. he gets off the stone, looking at the shrine.
"hey guys," katara says, getting her siblings attention. "i think it's worked," y/n turns to aang, seeing the airbender, blue and transparent.
the water tribe siblings smile at each other, before all screaming as they realise that they are, also, blue and transparent. y/n looks down, seeing her physical body in the middle on her siblings. one arm around each sibling.
"what is happening?" sokka asks, looking at his hand.
"i don't know but this is weird..." y/n says, looking down at her body.
"aang!" katara calls out for help.
"i've separated my spirit from body, but somehow," the airbender starts. "i brought you guys with me,"
"how is that possible?"
"must be the energies in the place and thinness of the barrier and my power," sokka's eye twitches as he walks over to aang.
"get us back!" he says, shaking the twelve year old. "get us back now,"
"sokka," y/n calls out, trying to pull away with the help of katara. but a surge of energy pulses through each of them. they've switched worlds. the scenery is different. you can tell, but the music, the smells, the flowers upon the trees. oh, and the fact that y/n is literally twitching in fear.
"uh..."
"oh my-we're in the spirit world!"