"The Roku warriors"

The green crystal was shattered into a million pieces by the blast of lightning, which just barely missed Aang's head. The Avatar and his friends ran for their lives through the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se, looking for another way out. Their plan to retake the city was a complete and horrendous failure. It was just the five of them against the army of firebenders and Dai Li. They were foolish to think that they could imitate Azula's victory. But they were so close... they had her alone...

Blocks of stone followed the lightning bolt sent at them, nearly hitting Toph, but Aang smashed it with his hand easily. They were pursued by Azula and the Dai Li. The predatory firebender followed them, tracked them, and hunted them through all parts of the world. Normally, they'd stay and fight, but now she had sheer numbers on her side. Toph led the way, smashing through crystals and anything in their path, fighting for a way out. She and Sokka were injured during their attempted small invasion, and they needed to get out so Katara could heal them.

Zuko paused long enough to send a fork of lightning at his sister while the others ran through the mazelike passageways. They turned down one path, but a group of Fire soldiers were running after them. They abruptly turned down another tunnel, weaving, running, and finally losing their followers. They stopped to catch their breaths.

"Wait a minute, someone's coming," Toph whispered, panting. "It's those two cronies."

"We can handle them," Sokka said, using his left arm to lift his sword, the other injured. Zuko seemed reluctant, but nobody commented. Mai and Ty Lee came into view, and Katara was about to hit them with water when Mai shouted out.

"Stop! We want to help!"

"I don't believe you," Katara said coldly. Aang and Toph both sensed that she was telling the truth, but neither said anything. No matter what, they couldn't be trusted. She was an enemy.

Mai and Ty Lee surprised them by giving them quick, easy, and truthful directions out of the Catacombs. Zuko seemed as if he was about to say something to the girl, but Toph whispered urgently that Azula was coming. Katara and Sokka ran ahead, but the other three stayed.

"Come with us," Zuko nearly begged to them. "We'll protect you."

"We'll hold her off, get going!" Mai said urgently to him. Her voice was so different, so emotional, and sincere. She was tired of the war.

"Wait!" Zuko shouted, as Toph and Aang pulled him along. Aang didn't very much care about them, they had caused too much harm in the past. They knew of the consequences of going against Azula, but that was what they chose. Zuko struggled, but they got him out of there. They were able to escape.

Later, in their next encounter, Azula informed them that the two girls were dead.

  🌊  🌳  🔥  🌪

Many of the Fire Nation's Outer Islands passed by underneath them as they sped along the ocean. They were going faster than Aang remembered going with Sokka, Katara, and Toph, but he guessed it was because they were making no effort to hide themselves now. They were in relatively safe territory.

Above them, the sun was at its zenith, the gliding white birds sailed overhead, and the ocean waves rolled. Everything seemed so similar to what the Avatar was familiar to; except for the people he was traveling with, he felt like he was at home. Sabishi, his new lemur-friend, curled around the boy's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. She differed from Momo in many ways, but he liked her company. It was soothing, and not as strange as being friendly with Zuko and Azula.

The great ten ton bison reached its destination when Aang saw the crescent-shaped island in the distance. It looked the same as ever—the mountain peaks loomed over the rest of the island. Upon closer inspection, however, he realized that the volcano was completely dormant, and the island was filled with trees and other vegetation. Also, he noticed that the Temple of Roku was missing from the island. The lack of the Temple immediately disheartened him, and he began wondering if there was any hope at all for him returning to his own familiar place, the dimension that he called home.

He abruptly pulled out of his dark thoughts when he spotted wooden dwellings—many of them, in fact. There was a whole village of people inhabiting the island, but he saw none of them yet. The arrangement of the houses seemed to be scattered and random, some on higher elevations than others to suit the uneven land. Now he knew why the island was infested with trees. These people had come here many years ago, and the roots of the crops and other plants they buried softened the hard rock into soil, allowing trees and other vegetation to grow. If there was any Temple devoted to Avatar Roku, it was only a thing of the past, probably destroyed many, many years before, assuming Avatar Roku even existed in this world.

Then the Avatar remembered a mistake he had made during their travels. They had often traveled low to the ground, and while Zuko and Azula didn't know his reasons, Aang wanted to be seen by Sokka. He wanted to see his friend. He didn't know why, even though this Sokka was much different. He was Sokka, and that was all that mattered. Back in his own world, the Sokka he traveled with would have picked up on Aang's behavior, as perceptive as he was. He was trained to survive in the harsh climates of the South Pole and would be suspicious of Aang's weird behavior. Now, he realized it was a serious blunder on his part. He wanted Sokka to find them, but his arrival could end up bringing harm to the villagers...

The bison landed on the side of the island hidden from the rest of the village. He did not know if these people were hostile or not, and he didn't want to take a chance. That philosophy was trained into him during the two years after Sozin's Comet. Whenever he and his friends were out of supplies, they resorted to stealing from Fire Nation soldiers to survive. They became known throughout the world as mysterious entities, coming and going, freeing small villages from the Fire Nation clutches, and fighting the soldiers. After the Comet, their reach extended to most of the world.

His plan was to watch the village secretly for a short while, and see if they were friendly enough to let them enter safely. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko often had to resort to spying for that reason, and if the town wasn't deemed safe enough, they stole. That was the way things went. Neither of them liked it, but they needed to survive. They were constantly on the move—there were no safe places in the world.

In the world he was familiar with, Zuko and Sokka were both master swordsmen, always training with each other and getting stronger. Sokka's meteorite sword struck fear in the hearts of many. Zuko was just as fearsome. Aang looked over at him as the older boy looked around suspiciously, and almost fearfully at the ocean. It was as if he was expecting Water Tribe attacks all the time. He looked at the broadswords sheathed on his back. He found it odd that both Zukos used the same weapon, but only the one he knew was able to firebend.

He was pulled from his thoughts abruptly as Sabishi screeched and flew into the air, flapping her wings frantically. Before Aang could get the staff from his back, he found his legs pinned to the floor by a thin knife that caught on his trousers. Before they could even think, Azula was pinned in the same way and Zuko's sleeve was stuck to a tree. He pulled one of the swords out and started swinging it madly, as if to deflect any more of the projectiles. Aang was in the process of pulling the deeply imbedded knives out when a black-clad girl appeared in front of him, holding other knives ready. Other girls similarly clothed jumped from the trees, wielding more knives, arrows, darts, needles, and shuriken. Aang narrowed his eyes and held up his arms in a gesture of surrender. If only he could bend earth...!

"Who are you?" one of the women asked. She walked calmly out of the foliage, seemingly unarmed. Her voice was drab and monotonous. He was surprised to see someone he recognized, a former enemy. She was one of Azula's old friends, and they had fought her many times. Shortly after Zuko joined Aang, however, she always seemed reluctant to fight.

"We could ask the same of you," Zuko retorted. "Let us go!"

Since they were of the Fire Nation, Aang assumed they were allies. He nearly laughed at his thoughts, but it was true in this twisted world. "I am the Avatar," Aang told them. "Let us go. We mean you and your village no harm."

"Prove it," one of the women said, as monotonously as Mai. "The Avatar abandoned us one hundred years ago." Aang sighed, and created a swirling ball of air in his hand.

"Satisfied?" he asked impatiently, to some of their surprised gasps and wide eyes. "We need a place to rest, and some food."

Mai bowed. "Of course. Come to our village," she said shortly and to the point. Zuko looked at Aang and shrugged. Mai's warriors went ahead of them, leading the way. "We are sorry," the girl apologized. "Our island has been left out of the war for the greater portion of this last century, but lately they've been attacking our shores. Our island is the closest to the Earth Kingdom and away from the protection of the rest of the Fire Nation. We have been wary of everything."

"We understand," Aang said. "But I have a question." Mai looked at him, nodding curtly for him to continue. "This island—is there a sort of... shrine or temple or anything... dedicated to Avatar Roku?" he asked hopefully.

"Avatar Roku?" she asked. A weight dropped into his stomach. Did he not exist...? "Avatar Roku hasn't been around since before Kyoshi, several hundred years ago. What could you possibly want with him?" Aang nearly sighed with relief, but Zuko and Azula looked at him questioningly.

"I need to ask him something," the Avatar replied. "Is it possible?"

"I don't think so," Mai replied. "There was once a temple here dedicated to him, many years ago, but it was swallowed by a tsunami. None of it is left." Aang lowered his eyes. Was there anywhere else to get some kind of help? He couldn't stay in this place forever! "Today, he only exists through our name. We are the Roku Warriors."

Suddenly, Aang remembered something with a jolt. Suki! She was just like Suki! Well, not quite, but it was an eerie parallel. I'll think more on it later, he thought, because at that moment, they arrived at the village.

  🌊  🌳  🔥  🌪

The Roku Warriors were different from the Kyoshi Warriors. The fan-wielding fighters were swift and fought much like waterbenders—putting their opponent's force against them. They deflected attacks. The Roku Warriors were just as agile, but they were more suited to stealth than outright fighting. They were, to put it simply, assassins. They all wielded knives, just like Mai. That's something else I should think about, Aang thought later, Mai used the same weapons in my own world.

He was sitting in the room in the inn given to them by the residents of Crescent Island. They seemed happy to see him, but the joy did not last very long. The people were morose. Many had been lost in a recent raid by the Water Nation. They were still rebuilding. Aang, Zuko, and Azula offered to help, but they said it was their own burden. Afterwards, he was able to see the hope in their eyes as they worked.

The firebender in the room with him was jadedly snapping her fingers, releasing small spurts of red fire into the air, which dissipated as soon as it was lit. It was still unnerving to see her bend red fire instead of her trademark blue flames, and Aang had never seen her do it. Her golden eyes turned to his grey ones from across the room. She had a calculating look in her eyes, but Aang turned his head away, not realizing he was staring.

"What are you staring at?" she snapped. He was saved from replying by a knock on the door. "Come in," Azula sighed.

"Sorry to disturb you," Mai said, opening the door. "But the rest of the village wants you to go outside. They want to give a feast in honor of the Avatar."

"You really don't have to," Aang said, standing.

Mai nodded. "So be it."

Zuko stood up. "That was great knife-throwing back there," he commented. "It's not often that I get beaten."

"Please, who have you beaten? A rock?" Azula snorted.

"I find that hard to believe with you swinging that piece of metal around," Mai said, folding her arms. "An old woman can beat you." Aang wasn't able to stifle his laugh, remembering a moment when they returned to the South Pole after the Comet, for a safe haven. Gran-Gran slapped the firebender as soon as she saw him. Zuko turned to him angrily.

"Don't you start too!" he threatened, pointing a finger at him.

"Hey, leave me out of this," he said, putting his hands up and snickering. Zuko fumed.

"Fine then, let's fight!" He turned to Mai angrily. Now his honor was insulted.

"Whatever," Mai replied, nonplussed. She lazily waved her hand in a gesture for him to follow her. Zuko put a hand on the swords sheathed on his back and followed her as she left the room.

"This should be interesting," Azula commented to Aang, as they, too, chose to follow. "I'm placing my bets on that emotionless girl," she whispered to him, snickering. Aang smiled back to her, hardly meaning it. It would be an interesting fight, but the Avatar feared Zuko's honor would be damaged further.

Their walk through the small village was interrupted by no one. Nobody followed them or even knew the two were going to fight, instead probably thinking that Mai was giving them a tour around the village. Aang noticed that the girl's mere presence commanded respect, and she was clearly the leader of the small band of warriors. The leader of the village, Mai's father, was also a respectful figure, but Aang had only met him once. It seemed that he used Mai to control the affairs of the village.

The girl led them to a plain, wooden building. Aang looked around the area. It was fairly secluded from the rest of the village, a bit higher in elevation than the rest of the houses, which Aang learned was a sign of status. Only the leader's home was higher in the mountains. This building was in a small copse of trees.

Mai walked up to the building, and then spoke to them with her back turned. "This place was where Avatar Roku's temple once was. It is a sign of our respect for him to put our dojo here, our training place," she explained. That was why the surrounding area looked sort of familiar, next to the rest of the mountains, Aang thought. She opened the sliding door, revealing an expansive room with nothing on the floors except for a row of wooden dummies standing by the far wall. A few of the Roku Warriors were practicing, hurling knives at the wooden dummies and hitting them with deadly accuracy. A few windows let sunlight into the room. "Come on," she sighed jadedly to Zuko. Mai walked to the center of the room, looking at him expectantly with a hand on her hip, clearly bored and uninterested. The other girls, realizing what was going on, made room for the two of them as Zuko, somewhat nervously, walked up to Mai. They both bowed curtly to each other, and took a step back. Zuko unsheathed his weapons.

He stood there somewhat awkwardly, waiting for her to attack. Everyone waited. Mai wasn't even taking out any weapons! "Well?" she asked. He still didn't move. He tried to remember something his Uncle taught him about patience... Well, this girl certainly had a lot. The seconds stretched into minutes.

"This is a waste of time," Azula muttered. Zuko, unable to take it any more, rushed towards the still-weaponless Mai with his dao broadswords, shouting out. Mai was unfazed. As he was pulling back to strike her—well, he wasn't really going to hit her—she twirled a piece of metal in her hands and held them up, blocking his blow effortlessly. He paused, shocked, as he saw the two black kunai knives in her hands. She took advantage of his moment of hesitation, ducking under the strike and swiping out with her weapons, pulling back so she would not slice his abdomen. In just those few moments—even when they were standing motionless—she spotted many flaws in his swordsmanship. He was too aggressive, not very light on his feet. She quickly deemed this battle over, nicking him in the hands with her knife precise enough not to draw blood, and forced him to disarm. His weapons clanged to the floor.

"Those are useless to you if you do not know how to use them," she told him, standing up straight. The young man was angry, but was trying not to show it. "You have much to learn." He looked up at her. "Yes, I will teach you what I know. You need more skill if you are going to be a companion of the Avatar. You will have many difficult battles ahead."

Aang was surprised. She seemed wise beyond her years, much wiser than he would have ever thought. But, then again, he never really knew her back in his own world. He supposed that her taking up the mantle of leadership must have had something to do with it.

  🌊  🌳  🔥  🌪

"It seems very suspicious to me," Kanna said to her grandson. "It is almost as if he wants to be found."
"Either that or he must be bad at covering his trail," Sokka said, scratching his chin. The two of them, along with Sokka's lieutenant, Kinto, a hot-headed waterbender, studied a map of the Fire Nation Outer Islands, searching to follow the Avatar's trail. "He's got to be at the outermost island."

"I would not go there," Kanna advised. "It might be a trap, or a ploy to mislead you." The boy was so obviously dipping low below the clouds, giving them a short view of him. From there, they easily predicted his destination. "What would he gain from going to Crescent Island?"

"He is probably fleeing to the Earth Kingdom, for protection," Sokka said. "We cannot let him go. We must capture him before then."

"Prince Sokka, he might have supporters at that island waiting to attack—"

"I make the decisions around here, woman! We are going to Crescent Island!" Sokka burst, giving the order to Kinto, who nodded, almost fearfully. His anger was not a usual trait among the waterbenders, but most of the crew attributed it to his mysterious past and exile. Kanna, however, looked unfazed.

  🌊  🌳  🔥  🌪

Zuko waited patiently in the underbrush of the island's dense woods, his golden eyes scanning the area. When the training started, he was terrified, but he was quickly getting used to it. Mai was personally training him, and at first he thought she was a madwoman. She had him run for his life through the woods, constantly on guard as she was perfectly hidden. She was hunting him, it seemed. And so far, he was failing miserably, and he had many cuts and scrapes to show for it. She threw her knives with astounding precision, slicing him across the arms