𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄
𝘌𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴
𝟬 𝗔.𝗚.
┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
THE SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE was covered in its nightly layer of darkness with the light of the moon peeking out from behind clouded skies and shining down onto the reaching rooftops as a young woman made her way through hushed hallways. She attempted to be as silent as possible while she walked through the inactive corridors, but her footsteps betrayed her, appearing to be twice as loud as they normally would have been with each step taken sounding louder than the last. This wasn't going to stop her from getting to where she needed to be, though. She knew that it was simply just the silence of the night that made everything seem louder than it would have in the daylight.
There was a candlestick within her hand—made out of brass and shined like a golden mirror to reflect licks of flames—that she firmly held onto with her thumb and forefinger slipped through the small looped handle to keep it from falling from her grasp. Its warm orange flames flickered while it lived as her only source of light within the entirety of the hallways she walked through, however, she didn't seem to be reliant on its brightness to find her way through such twists and turns... Her cedar grey eyes did not stray far from the path set before her as she effortlessly navigated her way through the halls without a second glance or thought. She had walked these corridors many times before this.
Her footsteps soon came to a stop. She had arrived at a wooden door near the end of a hallway, stationed on the second level of the temple that was filled with either sleeping or meditating monks, Air Nomads; people she had begun to refer to as 'her people'. It was not as if she ruled them, but simply that they had raised her, along with her younger brother, and gave her a sense of belonging.
She took in a deep breath that filled her lungs with the chilly midnight air while she turned her gaze downward and away from the door in front of her. She watched as the flame from the candle before herself flickered in the air as its heat melted the wax and caused drippings to fall into the curved dish below it, releasing the subtle smell of ginger and jasmine into the breeze that swept through the robes that were draped over her body.
All she could focus on was the mesmerizing candlelight, a heart that drummed against her ribcage like a tanggu, and the sound of blood that pumped through her veins and caused her ears to ring. There was no denying that she was nervous. Extremely nervous.
Her eyes drifted back up towards the door in front of her as she released the air still lingering within her lungs. She raised her free hand, noticing its slight shake as she set a gentle, yet sturdy, knock upon the dark lumber frame. Then, she stood within the silence that followed her actions, waiting for someone to open the door from the other side of it, only... no one ever arrived to complete the expected task. The absence of such made a frown of confusion form between her brows. It was rather unusual of him to not answer the door.
She reached her hand back out and slowly placed her pale fingertips onto the door handle, turning the knob to the side before she gently pushed it open. She peeked her head into the room that had been guarded by the lumber frame. There were no objects of sentimental value within the room that appeared before her, in fact, there was barely anything within the lonely chamber at all. The only noticeable value was a staff leaning against the window that sat across from the doorway. It was native to this young woman's people, only carved by the Air Nomads that lived within their few temples, and of which she personally owned one of, as well: a glider. A tool that could only be used by Airbenders.
A young boy was among the few things within the room. He stood in front of a neatly made bed, where he placed an agilely rolled-up scroll of paper bound with thin twine onto a plush white pillow, making not a sound as he did so. He didn't seem to notice the girl that now stood behind him. He was far too focused on what he was doing to have noticed her—or perhaps, he was far too engrossed in his thoughts, to have noticed her presence.
"Aang?" the young woman couldn't help but speak in a sense of confusion as she closed the door behind herself.
The boy jumped at the sound of her voice, "Elua!" he yelped in surprise as he swiftly turned around on the back of his boots with nothing but a big and bogus smile plastered on his pale face.
"What are you up to?" Elua asked with her arms crossed over her chest and eyes squinted in an action of suspicion. She could already tell he was acting unnaturally.
The boy in front of her—Aang—chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his bald head, right where the beginnings of a blue tattoo began to show from beneath his yellow and orange robes. They were in the shape of an arrowhead, painted in the light color of blue that resembled that of a cloudless summer sky, and traveled down the center points of his forehead, neck, and arms. It was something that all airbenders were given when they entered mastery... including Elua.
"Nothing!" Aang chuckled again as he gave his sister another fake smile. "I was just... going to bed," he said, obviously lying through his teeth. He desperately tried to keep that innocent look on his face as he spoke to her. It wasn't going very well so far.
His unusual behavior made Elua frown once again. She took her eyes off of him as she lifted her chin ever so much and leaned past her younger brother, attempting to get a glimpse of whatever it was that he had placed on his pillow only a moment ago, but he quickly followed her actions and blocked her from finding what she was looking towards.
Elua frowned as she moved her posture back up, "What are you hiding?" she asked, looking down at him in puzzlement, uncertain why he would hide whatever this was from her.
Aang slowly looked away from her with an expression of shame overtaking his fake smile and not daring to glance back up at her as he kept himself quiet. Whatever this was about, he obviously didn't plan on telling her, or maybe he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. Either way, she had to know what was going on, it was the only way for her to help.
"Aang...?" Elua trailed off with a sense of invitation for him to share whatever it was that seemed to be bothering him. She only got a mumble in return. "What?" she asked as her frown deepened in confusion due to his muted response.
"I'm running away, okay?" Aang rushed his words out as quickly as he could. His shoulders slumped as he spoke to her, gaze turning back up, spotting the look of shock and disbelief that fell over his older sister's face. "They're going to send me away," he said as his voice sounded strained from the lump of pain and sorrow built up within his throat.
Elua sighed as she set the candlestick that was still in her hand down, "Monk Gyatso isn't going to let that happen," she spoke calmly to him with a kind smile. "and neither will I."
"It isn't up to you, though," Aang shook his head sorrowfully, "and... no one wants me here, anyway!" he suddenly raised his voice as he threw his arms up in exasperation with anger, sadness, and irritation swelling up inside of him as his true feelings came to light.
"What do you mean?" Elua asked as she tilted her head in question. "Of course everyone wants you-"
"No, they don't!" Aang cut her off with his yelled anger. "I never asked to be the Avatar," he muttered, mostly to himself, as he turned his gaze towards the floor once again. He didn't want to look at his sister with all of his built-up betrayals and hurt. It wasn't her fault. He knew that.
"No one ever asks to be the Avatar," Elua stated, a knowing look pointed at her brother, but she could tell that he had no wish to listen to her words. "I know it's a difficult life sometimes, but remember, you're not alone. I am here for you," she said calmly and with care for him.
He didn't speak a word to her as he walked over towards the window and took his glider into his hand, using his airbending as a current to pull the wooden staff over to himself before he looked out the window, and watched as the moonlight streamed in through the thin curtains of his room. He was contemplating something based on the look that washed over his face. She just wasn't sure what was going on in his young and confused mind.
"Aang, running away from your fears has never helped anyone overcome them, and it will not change anything, either. You could leave this world entirely and you would still be the Avatar."
He heard her words, he did, but he didn't listen to them. She held back another sigh as she walked over towards him and placed a gentle hand onto his shoulder in an attempt to comfort the troubled young Avatar. He didn't seem to want her help, though, as he pulled away from her almost immediately after he felt her sisterly touch. It was far too late now. He had already made up his mind and nothing would be able to change it anymore. She could tell that much.
"I'm sorry, Elua," Aang said as he quickly moved away from his sister and caused her to stumble backward. "I can't stay here," and that was the last thing he said to her before he climbed over the edge of the window sill and jumped out of his room without another thought to stop him.
Elua rushed towards the window as a gasp of surprise filled her lungs. She bent out of the window, ignoring the cool breeze that hit her facial features as she scanned the courtyard below herself, searching for her young and confused brother. He had already begun to move away from the temple as a flying bison—his companion known by the name of Appa—followed beside him as they both were about to leave without a second farewell to the place that he had lived his entire twelve years of life nor to the person who had fought every rule of their people to stay with him all of these years: his now extremely worried sister.
She shoved herself off of the stone window with her hands as she rushed out of Aang's room and ran back through the hallways of the temple. It was all a blur as she found herself skidding to a stop and flinging the closed door to her sleeping chamber open, glider quickly summoning into her hand with her airbending, not a second to lose as she rushed around. She raced towards the window of her room and jumped off of its railing, just as her brother had done but a moment ago, and sent a gust of wind at her feet to bring herself down at a controlled stop.
It wasn't difficult for her to spot the giant flying bison that floated through the midnight sky along with the small figure of a boy sitting upon the animal's head. She stood there for a moment, at the edge of the air temple's mountainous terrain, just watching as the bison and her brother slowly soared away from their beautiful and tranquil place of home. But she knew that she had to do something. And quickly, too.
Elua looked down at the ground as she took a few steps backward, feeling the dewy green grass beneath her boots before she lifted her gaze back up, locking her eyes on the bison that was getting farther away from her with each second that passed her by. She took a deep breath in before she began to move her legs, and finally, allowed them to carry her at a speedy pace.
She sprinted towards the cliffside of the temple's landmark as she threw her glider into the sky in front of herself, its signature orange wings catching the wind around it and keeping itself within the air, and just as she came to the edge of the mountainside with freighting heights before her very eyes... she leaped.
The weightless feeling of falling overwhelmed her senses as she jumped off of the cliffside, but before she began to plummet, she grasped onto the wooden handlebar of her glider and lifted her legs to sit at the back of the gliding wings. And then, she began to soar, effortlessly gliding through the midnight sky and elegantly turning to her side as she flew directly behind her brother and his fluffy giant friend.
Aang instantly groaned in annoyance as he heard the sound of a glider closing at the back of Appa's saddle. "I am not going back there," he said as he turned around to see his sister now standing behind him. He watched as she sighed and took a seat on the brown leather saddle without a single word of response. "You're not going to stop me?" he asked in confusion, body turning to fully face her now.
"What could I do to stop you? You're the Avatar," Elua said with a careless shrug of her shoulders. She knew forcing him to go back home wouldn't help anything. Maybe he just needed a few days away. "Where do you plan to go?" she asked calmly.
"I don't know," Aang shrugged in response to her question. "Maybe the Fire Nation?" he asked more so than stated as he turned back around, missing the look of worry and dread that fell over Elua's face, as well as the color that quickly drained from her complexion.
"How about Omashu instead? You haven't been there in a while, and I'm sure Bumi misses you," Elua suggested. She struggled to hide the apprehension in her voice as she spoke to him, silently hoping that he wouldn't notice her odd behavior, not having any such will to tell him the truth right now.
"Okay," Aang said as he didn't quite catch the change of tone in her voice. "But, don't you want to go see-"
"No," the words swiftly rushed out of Elua's mouth. "Let's go and see Bumi," she said with a forced smile on her face.
It wasn't more than a second later that Elua's attention jumped up to the sky as the sudden sound of thunder and lightning cut their conversation short. Its loud noises looped around them as the weather's vibrations echoed through the wind that had begun to pick up as they were speaking with one another. She finally spotted the clouds that had become increasingly darker than they had been earlier that night, quickly having piled up above them into a great big storm, one that happened to resemble that of a hurricane and caused her heart to sink into her stomach with a sense of dread and nervousness that washed over her body.
This wasn't good, at all.
She had hoped that Aang would see all of this and turn back around just to be safe, but as she looked over to him again, it seemed that he was overlooking all of which could easily become dangerous. He was obviously making himself ignore the clouds that were now dumping rain down onto them and the ocean that had begun to rage below them as they flew over it. He continued to push on and through the very dangerous weather conditions. Elua could not do the same though, and she knew that, somehow, it was up to her to get him to turn back and home.
"Aang!" Elua shouted over the heavy wind to get his attention. "I have to tell you something–!" her words were cut off by a fork of lightning striking down right in front of them with a drum of thunder following right after it.
Appa swept out of the way of the dangerous electric light, quickly saving himself and the two siblings from being electrocuted, but not without almost throwing them off of his back in the process.
Elua attempted to stay as calm as she could while she held tightly onto the side of the saddle, "We have to turn back, Aang!" she shouted over towards her little brother, knowing that if they stayed out in a storm like this, it was more than likely to end in the harm of both of them along with their furry friend.
"I'm not going back!" Aang yelled back towards her as he tightened his grip on the reins and tried to get Appa safely through the storm.
The ocean raged even more than before with its vast body of water holding a force that could undoubtedly kill anyone and anything that stood at the receiving end of its crashing waves... and one of those very waves just so happened to be headed straight for them. It hurtled through the dark blue—almost black—raging water and must have been ten times taller than a Fire Nation vessel. Just the sight of it made Aang and Elua's eyes go wide with fear as it towered over Appa and them, beginning to curve down into itself, more than ready to crash onto them in a simple matter of seconds.
"Aang!" Elua shouted one last time, trying to reach out to her brother, but never getting to him as the wave came crashing down and swept the three of them into the stormy gray ocean below.
The frigid temperature of the water shocked Elua's muscles as she fell under the waves, but she ignored the ice-cold feeling that stabbed all over her body and instead focused on forcing herself up towards the surface, knowing that she could only hold her breath for so long before she would need air again. She fought against the currents with all of her strength as she frantically moved her arms and kicked her legs. She almost reached the surface, feeling the cold air hit her now wet skin for one cruel second, but the ocean brought her back down and under with another harsh wave of water that sent her into a backward spiral with her arms thrashing around as she tried to find her way back up again.
It wasn't long until underwater bubbles began to float away from her as the last bit of air within her lungs involuntarily released, quickly finding its way back up towards the surface without her with it, and leaving her far behind without any more oxygen to hold. Her vision didn't last long after that. She could make out all of the little black dots as they collected at the corners of her eyes that burned from the salty seawater. The last thing that entered her line of sight was one bright flash of white light as it engulfed the ocean floor.
And then... nothing.