Chapter 20

Tanya, meanwhile, looked down at the monkey-lemur, and an evil grin spread across her face as she conjured a ball of fire above her other hand.

"Now then, let's find out what roast lemur tastes like."

...

The monkey-lemur started screeching and writhing frantically in her grip, but could not escape Tanya's hold. Grinning wickedly, Tanya brought the fireball close enough to singe some of its hairs.

Only for her eyes to be drawn away at the sound of Zuko yelling in a mix of pain and fury.

The Avatar was free, having managed to throw Zuko down a flight of stairs, and was charging straight for her. Immediately she relinquished her grip on the lemur and slid into a firebending pose, but by then it was already too late.

The Avatar was fast. Moving with the speed of the howling winds themselves he dodged past her, ducked through the legs of one sage, and sprang over the shoulder of another. He was going for the door, which had still yet to fully close!

"Go!" The captive water tribe girl shouted, at exactly the same time that Tanya shouted "No!" Flames burst to life beneath her feet, and Tanya used the jet propulsion technique to surge forward, literally hot on the heels of The Avatar as he made a last, desperate jump towards the door.

Carried by a gust of wind, The Avatar slid through the narrowly closing crack in the door.

A fraction of a second later Tanya, for once grateful for her small stature, slid in after him.

And with an ominous clunk the doors closed and locked shut, trapping the two young benders inside.

...

Aang looked wide-eyed around the room he found himself in.

Was it the Fire Nations' forgotten reverence, or Roku's own humility that caused his shrine to be so lacking in wealth? The shrine was mostly hewn from the stone around it, and sparingly decorated with rich red tapestries and other small items that must have meant something to Roku in life.

Personally Aang preferred it this way. It felt more personal, like a reflection of the man Roku had been rather than a gaudy display of past wealth.

At the centre of the shrine stood a statue of Avatar Roku, and a red beam of light trickling in through a window in the ceiling above traced a lazy path across the statue's body up towards the head.

Thunk.

As the doors clanked shut behind him Aang heard another sound, the clinking of metal armour, and quickly twisted around to discover that he wasn't as alone in here as he'd thought.

The golden-haired firebender from outside, the one who'd appeared leading the fire sages yet was herself dressed in military armour, had also slipped in through the doors behind him.

Slowly the girl stood up, her eyes instantly locking onto him with a fierce glare.

"Now hold on." Aang said in what he hoped was a calming tone, his hands held out defensively in front of him. "There's no need for us to fight."

If the girl had acknowledged what he said she didn't show it, instead keeping that same frosty glare on him as she slid into a fighting stance. Sensing trouble, Aang slid into a stance of his own.

"I mean it. We're both trapped in here until the end of the solstice anyway. Why don't we sit down and talk?"

"And give you all the time you need to consult with Roku about how to kill the Fire Lord?" Tanya asked sarcastically, clenching her fists. "I don't think so!"

Suddenly she sprang into action, punching forward to unleash a straight jet of fire. Aang spun on his heel to avoid it and darted to the side, using a gust of air to carry himself further away and up into the air.

It had been nearly a hundred years since the extinction of the air nomads, and in that time the world had forgotten how to fight airbenders. Masters neglected to teach their students techniques designed to limit the manoeuvrability of an opponent they never expected to face again, and as such Aang enjoyed an indisputable agility advantage in most battles.

Only the oldest warriors and Zuko, who was beginning to develop techniques of his own through sheer trial and error, knew how to fight against an opponent who could move through the sky itself to dodge their attacks.

As such, Aang was pretty confident that he could simply avoid the attacks being thrown at him until an opportunity to knock this girl out presented itself.

Which was why it caught him off guard when the girl's snarling face rushed up to meet him.

Airbending flight techniques were all about letting yourself go with the flow of the wind; harmonising yourself with the natural rhythm of the world and sailing upon it to reach your destination.

The technique this girl used was nothing like that. Using jets of fire spewing from her hands and feet she forced herself into the air, defying the natural laws of gravity through her own power and will.

It was a very firebender thing to do; like swimming through a tidal wave rather than surfing atop it. That didn't make it any less effective though.

The golden girl collided with him mid-air, aiming to elbow him in the stomach with enough force to drive the wind out of him. On pure instinct Aang twisted at the last second, causing the blow to knock painfully against his ribcage.

It hurt, but knocking against a hard target caused the impact to push Aang out from the girl's reach.

Still wincing in pain, Aang swung one arm out in a circular motion, conjuring a strong gust of wind to sweep him around underneath the golden girl and away into the direction she'd just come from.

But the golden girl wasn't finished yet. Abruptly cutting off the jets of flame, she tucked her legs in and allowed herself to flip around in a lazy arc. When her momentum carried her to the wall of the opposite side her feet found purchase against the smooth stone easily, and she bent at the knees with practised ease to nullify the force that would have normally led to a bone-shattering crash.

For a split second the kinetic force kept her pinned to the wall, almost as if she was some kind of spider-woman, before more jets of flame erupted from her feet as she leaped forwards again, propelling herself back towards Aang.

There wasn't enough space for either combatant to fly to their fullest extent, so what followed was a deadly game of cat-and-mouse where they both used their respective elements to propel themselves off the walls, ceiling and any other objects across the room.

Aang swung around like a monkey, twisting and turning in impossible arcs through the sky. The golden girl meanwhile was more akin to a bloodhound: bursting forwards in quick, sharp bursts as she attempted to swipe him out of the air.

From her fingers she shot small bolts of fire to try and intercept him each time he turned to evade her, and despite being a master airbender Aang found himself only dodging each projectile by a hair's breadth.

The girl's talent for aerial combat was insane! He'd have thought she had a lifetime's experience fighting airbenders if it wasn't historically impossible.

It wasn't long before one bolt finally met its mark, scorching Aang's hand as he twisted to evade her charge. The pain disrupted his movement, causing the air he summoned to spiral out of his control and sent him careering down to the ground.

With a horrible crunch he crashed down face first at the foot of Roku's statue, groaning in pain as the golden girl touched down gracefully behind him.

"How fitting." The golden girl sneered, pacing towards him like a panther stalking its prey as she conjured a dagger of flame in one hand.

"It was on this island that Roku perished and allowed the hundred year war to begin. Now his reincarnation will be captured in the same place, and allow the Fire Nation to finally bring it to an end."

Winded and unbalanced by the impact of his crash, Aang crawled forward and propped his back up against Roku's statue, turning to face his attacker with wide eyes. The cold, ruthless glint in her gaze caused an icy grip of fear to grasp around his heart.

"Of course I won't make the same mistake as Zuko." The girl continued, brandishing the fire-dagger above her.

"Clearly the only way to capture you is to cripple you enough that you can't bend." Another step, and the girl was right above him, ready to bring down with a single strike.

"This is the end, Avatar!"

Woosh.

The world turned white.

Aang looked around in shock. A white fog had appeared from thin air, filling the room in the blink of an eye. No, not the room, for as he looked around Aang realised that that was suddenly no longer where he was.

There were no walls, no statue, and no crazy golden girl trying to cripple him. All that existed was an endless space of white, cloud-like mist.

"It's good to see you Aang. What took you so long?"

At the sound of a voice, one his ear's had never heard before yet he somehow immediately felt he recognised, Aang turned around. There stood an old man dressed in rich red robes, his long white hair kept immaculately in place by a golden headpiece.

"Avatar Roku!"

...

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