Arc 1: Avatar CH1: Are You A Spirit?

Katara saw the abandoned Fire Nation ship move inland slowly, pulled by a green spark in the distance. It was summer, and even in the warm season, the nights were brutally cold and too dangerous for anyone unprepared. She decided the creature had to be a spirit. That's where the glow was coming from, and nothing else but a spirit could do something amazing like drag a giant fire nation ship inland. Through the frigid rushing wind of mid-summer, she could hear the grinding of ice. She wanted to go and meet the spirit it was close by, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She approached the spirit slowly, at first testing the ice with every step bending some patches to keep her footing secure. The green spark in the distance grew brighter as she approached until she saw the form of a man. One hand grasped the ship while he walked one step at a time, hardly struggling.

Its head snapped towards her, and she saw his face. She felt her cheeks heat up despite the cold and knew in her gut that the spirit had no trouble seeing her in the dark. Then, at the sudden stop, the ship rocked before a light shot up out of the vessel. It exploded high in the air, and she knew more fire nation ships wouldn't be far behind.

She felt like such a fool; she was going to go fishing with Sokka, but now they would have to prepare for an attack with no warriors. The spirit watched with her as the explosion slowly died down. All they could do was wait for the inevitable, but her father and the warriors wouldn't be around to save them this time.

Tears welled in her eyes as the significance of what she had done set in. The spirit was taking the ship away, and it hadn't gone off until he stopped. If she hadn't come, the ship might have been too far inland for the signal to matter.

The spirit vanished before her eyes, and suddenly all she could see was the drenched shirt he wore. That would be a death sentence for someone normal, but he didn't appear cold. The green light that had surrounded his body had died down as he looked her over curiously.

It was time to speak if she didn't say anything, then he might leave back to the spirit world without helping them. "Please, great spirit, my village did nothing wrong. This is all my fault; I didn't mean to interrupt your task. If it's within your power, protect my village from the Fire Nation." The spirit nodded his head, and she felt a weight lift from her chest.

Katara didn't know what he was the spirit of, but he must have been powerful. But, of course, not just any spirit can pull a whole Fire Nation ship. Then there was the way he moved, one moment, he was far away, and the next, he was right on top of her. She reached out a hand, and she took it in her mitten. The cold didn't bother him at all, he looked human, and his eyes were so green they seemed to glow in the moonlight. He hadn't said a word, but she felt confident that everything would be ok with a spirit on their side.

She pulled him along back to her village.

…

I fucked up; there was no other way to look at it. Somehow, I ended up in the ass-end of nowhere in the artic of all places. My cold resistance skill kept leveling up, and I was sure it would be maxed out before too long. Going through one hell of a boss raid had left my clothes drenched with sweat, and eating one of the fruits the hundred-headed dragon guarded led me here. If only I knew where in the world here was.

"My darling, fear not; we are no longer in the former world. Recorded dialogue from the ones known as Samson, Swarm, and Obelisk has confirmed a need for training. While you are powerful and have clawed your way from irrelevance to my user, your basic skills are incredibly low for someone of your majesty. This world is perfect for relaxation and training; there is plenty of food available and numerous unique forms of life. The world is like a rank F dungeon." My system Lu Zhi said.

Having a personal system that talks to me were weird. I was used to the hands-off passive system of my world, but after I ate the god fruit, things changed. Whether they were for the better or not was up in the air. My new system took up the duties of the old one quickly enough, but now I was elsewhere. My world was gone, and I couldn't even find an old master to train me now.

Samson's advice rang through my mind more often than I would like. He taught me a lot in the dungeon as they took me to the heart of a truly alien being. But that was in the past; I had to defend a village from a group calling themselves the Fire Nation.

While their ships were impressive, their name left a lot to be desired. I originally took the ship to use it as a frame for my new home. So how was I supposed to know it was primed to release a flare the second it rocked?

"Why take me away? I'm not a coward?"

"Who are you talking to?" The girl dressed in blue asked.

She was a cute dark-skinned girl with blue eyes and, unfortunately, clingy. I thought she only wanted a handshake to seal our bargain; instead, she dragged me to her home. If what I've heard about barbarian tribes were true, she's either going to try to mount me or chop off my head. Unfortunately, there was a good chance of both. I've heard of one hellcat of a celt who chopped off a legionnaire's head after she slept with him for supplies. If she wasn't so weak, I would have attacked while her back was turned.

As we approached the village, my qi radar skill bounced across the igloos finding their occupants and measuring their power. Katara was the only one worth a damn, and I wouldn't trust her to be a lookout.

"My partner, you wouldn't be able to see her."

"Are you married?"

"Our union is closer than conjoined twins. I'm your fulcrum, and you're the power and will. Together we are system and user. We are not wed, and we would accept no god's blessing to this union. If you want your thoughts to be known to me, they will be." Lu Zhi said.

"No, I'm single; why did you call me a spirit? Are there legends of spirits here?"

The girl snorted. "What else would you be if not a spirit? Do you think I'm dumb because I'm a girl?" She said defensively.

"I understand. It sounds like you believe I should think your dumb because you're a girl. Where do those words come from, and do they have to do with spirits? Are there ghost-type monsters around here who call you dumb?"

My fist tightened, and a small spark of green qi swept up my arm.

Katara stared at my arm with wide eyes. Instead of fear, she looked almost giddy.

"No, but the Fire Nation will attack soon. If they were close enough to see that flare, it wouldn't be long before one of their vessels showed up. They look like the one you were pulling. How do you not know about the Fire Nation?"

"I understand this group of pirates, bandits, or whoever they are sounds scary to you." Telling her that I understood was an important tactic. We made a bargain, and she needed to know how much my support was worth as quickly as possible. Maybe it was prideful of me to dismiss the Fire Nation, but I didn't feel like they were relevant.

I had important training to get to, and a few petty bandits weren't a threat to me. "They are one of the strongest countries in the world," Katara said.

Concentrating on my qi, I waved two of my fingers forward and split the ground before us until the line was out of sight. It was a simple application of qi control and aura manifestation. Green aura glowed along the cracks I had made with the brief show of force.

Katara stared at the line I tore into the ice with a concentrated aura burst. Small twisters danced around the cracks from the sudden increase of heat. "Are you an air bender?"

"No, I am a Monk of Destruction." She looked less impressed by my Mega Rare job than if I had something as lame as air bender.

Any decent, long-ranging fighter would eventually develop tricks to harness the raw elements with their qi manifestation and some specialized. Despite having a mega rare job and a high level, I was still at the basics. While I was uber powerful compared to most people, even from my world, my skill and stats didn't equal my level. I needed to work my ass off to make any real gains.

My cold resistance continued to rise until Katara led me into her hut. Crawling behind her had its own rewards. Despite how thick her clothing was, the girl had a rear for days. If she proved to be open and not crazy, I could get closer to her.

That was one for the barbarian girl. So I would give her that.

Celts were known for their blue or green eyes but never dark skin or hair. I also wasn't in my previous world. Despite that, qi was still a thing.

"Katara, who is that? He looks almost like a member of the Fire Nation?" The boy in his sleeping bag suddenly lurched up and hit his head on a hanging pot. "Why is that there?"

"You hung it up and didn't bother to move it," Katara said.

"I must be dreaming because my sister wouldn't bring a stranger into our home."

"Ok, Sokka, don't freak out, but we may have accidentally signaled the Fire Nation."

"What, how?" Sokka yelled and hit his head again.

"I was dragging the derelict ship inland to serve as a skeleton for a home I planned to build. The ship was made of good steel, and it would have been a waste to leave it since no one seemed to want it. Your sister saw me dragging it and approached me to see what I was doing. When I stopped, something in the ship shot up and exploded in the sky."

"No one is that strong, and if you pulled a ship like that, you would rip off sections of the hull."

"Imagine I can bypass those issues as easily as breathing."

"Then there is probably a patrol of Fire Nation ships on their way. But if you're strong enough to move one of their ships, they probably won't be much of a challenge for you."

"Yea, I'm not worried about beating them. Unless they are prepared to send thousands of ships at me right now, I have nothing to worry about."

Sokka sighed. "Yea, too bad this is just a dream."

Katara couldn't take it anymore by that point. "It's not a dream, Sokka. He's really that strong and a spirit. When the Fire Nation comes, he promised to defend us."

…

A flash of green light shot across the water just as Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation had prepared to turn in for the night. His eyes widened, and he knew what this was. It was a sign, it had to be, and that light had to come from a power source. The Avatar was alive and well and near. So when the flare went off, he chose to ignore it. The Southern Raiders would handle it, this was their patrol, but now things were different. The Avatar was alive, and soon Zuko would have his honor back.

Zuko rushed to the ship's living quarters. "Uncle the Avatar is close. I saw a sign."

"Prince Zuko is that why the ship is turning to port. What was the sign?"

"A green light shot across the water just after a flare exploded. It must be him; where else could such power come from. The heat of its Uncle, I could feel it from the deck."

"Then you should tell the captain to slow down and then get some rest. Attacking so soon will see you facing a fully aware Avatar. I know you are excited, nephew, but you'll need your rest."

"No, I can't. I need you to train me right now, Uncle. Teach me the advanced techniques so I can defeat the Avatar. If he is there, then he's had a hundred years to master the elements."

"I will teach you what I can, but first, you must rest. Tomorrow will be a trying day for the both of us." Iroh said.

…

The green light had traveled through ice and snow and started a process. A sphere of Ice had fallen into the water, cut free of the glacier, and began to drift out to sea. The ice had already begun to break apart, and soon the Avatar would be free. Underwater currents dragged it quickly from the glacier it had rested within for a hundred years west on a collision course.

As the ice traveled through the sea, the captain slowed down the ship and set the course for the night. The spotter had changed hands and prepared for a long night staring at the sea. Fire Nation discipline wouldn't allow the spotter to nod off like lesser soldiers would have. He was a member of the Fire Nation; they were like everyone else in the world except more. Their soldiers were more soldiers than the rest, and even their spotters wouldn't nod off when others would.

No matter how good the spotter was, he couldn't see the block of ice bobbing up and down before it was too late.

Hundreds of pounds of ice fell on the deck, and the engine exploded. The crew shoveling coal were doomed while soldiers rushed out onto the deck. General Iroh and Prince Zuko were on the deck seconds before the iceberg burst open. A child with arrow tattoos fell on the deck from the ice, followed by a massive white bison.

"Uncle, do you think that's the Avatar?" The Bison shook awake, and even the boy started to turn over. But then, he stood up and looked around before focusing on the two royals.

"Where am I?"

"You just rammed into our ship and fell out of the ice. Were you trapped in there, young man?" The ship gave a lurch, and the engine came back to life. Their course continued, but they couldn't control it anymore. Wherever they were going, they had to hope they could repair the ship once they arrived.

The young man nearly fell over the railing into the icy depths below. A horrible grinding sound filled the air as the ship pulled away from the iceberg. Crew members moved, trying to put out fires and plug any holes before they sunk the ship.

Iroh rubbed at his beard and thought quickly. "Young man, you look confused. Would you like to come with us back to the Fire Nation?"

"Sure, I have a friend back there. Do you know Kuzon?" Zuko opened his mouth to say something then Iroh bumped his nephew.

"Of course, we know a Kuzon, but just to make sure we're on the same page. What date do you think it is?"

"12BG, I have no idea what the G stands for, and no one wanted to tell me. My name's Aang, by the way; I haven't been in a long time. So hotman, will you take me."

Iroh and Zuko exchanged a look before men started rushing down into the engine room to get the place under control.

"Sir, until we stop, we can't repair the engine. So we'll have to wait until we hit land then begin repairs." The engineer froze as the Bison groaned before laying down for a nap.

"Good idea, buddy; after that storm, I feel exhausted," Aang said and laid down for a nap.

Zuko stared at the scene before turning to his Uncle. "Do you think he's the Avatar," Zuko whispered?

"If he is, then he looks good for 112. Do you think he'll share his secret?"

"It would explain why no one has seen him for hundreds of years."

"My honor is so close, but I want him in chains. If he escapes, then we might never catch him."

"I would advise you to stay away from him, nephew. Captives are much easier to keep when they don't realize their situation. If we're careful, he might walk right into the throne room none the wiser."

"A turtle duck in hand is worth two in the air. So I will befriend him to make sure he returns home with me."

"Nephew, are you sure that is the road you wish to go down. You aren't Azula; you can't pretend to care for someone only to betray them like she can." Iroh said.

"I don't want to leave it to chance, Uncle. This is the best chance I'll ever get, and if I mess it up, I'll never get an opportunity like this again."

"Be calm, Prince Zuko, this once do nothing, and you will have your honor back without lifting a finger. You don't want to earn your honor back only to lose it by betraying a friend. That isn't you, nephew."

"Then what should I do."

"Go to bed; we have the Avatar now; all we have to do is treat him like a guest," Iroh said as Zuko closed the door behind him.