Chapter 55: Waterbending Scroll
Above a vast mountain range, high enough to even spot some trees, a Flying Bison slowly makes its way southeast while carrying three teens in its saddle.
Seeing Aang pacing around on the saddle, breathing heavily, was really irking Sokka "Would you sit down?! If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off. What's bugging you anyway?"
Worriedly, Aang replied "It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives."
Amused, Sokka spoke with clear sarcasm while facing Aang "Well, let's see. You pretty much mastered airbending, and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm pretty sure you can master three more elements by next summer."
Frightened, Aang was losing his cool; "I haven't even started on waterbending, and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What I am gonna do?!"
Katara gently held Aang's arm, speaking with a soothing tone "Calm down, it's going to be okay. If you want, I can try to teach you some of what I know."
That surprisingly was enough to make Aang smile "You'd do that?"
Nodding and looking over the side of Appa's saddle, the girl continued "We'll need to find a good source of water first."
Feeling the need to input his sarcasm in this lovely scene, Sokka grinned and commented "Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in..."
…
Water splashes high after Appa jumps into a river, turning soaking wet and almost knocking poor Momo off the rock he was standing on, then turns over and just floats on his back.
Sokka's eyebrows trembled while he stood there, soaked and holding a big stick with a large gathering of leaves at the end. "…. Why did I have to suggest that…."
"Don't worry Sokka, Appa likes you very much, he won't create a ruckus, I promise!" Aang said with a huge beaming smile.
Katara on the other hand could only grin at her brother's misfortune. "Go on, go clean Appa while I teach Aang… "
….
"Uncle! Someone's changing our course!" Shouted an angry, prideful Fire Prince, clearly afraid of a possible mutiny in his crew.
"Oh… Actually… I assure you; it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko, " says the old General while scratching his beard.
Zuko had a hopeful expression on his face when he heard the serious tone of his legendary Uncle, he rarely talks like that "Did you manage to get the Avatar's trail?"
Iroh's eyes narrowed "Even more urgent… it seems I-" he stopped talking to rub his forehead in stress, which made Zuko rather afraid… Iroh was never that serious and distressed! But then the old man continued…. "-I… have lost my lotus tile…"
"Lotus… tile?"
"For my Pai Sho game, of course! Most people think that the lotus is insignificant., but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ." He concluded with a serious, stern expression.
"You… You gotta be kidding me..." Said Zuko in utter disbelief.
"No, unfortunately, I am not, I indeed lost the lotus tile." Iroh nodded sagely.
"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?!" Shouted Zuko in anger, Madara as a teacher or not, Iroh knew how to push his buttons like no one else! It's like the old man had a manual on 'how to piss off Zuko' always in his robes!
"I see. You, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check with the merchants at the nearest port." Iroh said excitedly. "Hopefully. They will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life.
Zuko was literally breathing fire at the ceiling in anger.
"I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew."
"ARRRGHHH!" The room is filled with smoke from Zuko's outburst, clouding the view of everyone as he storms out, shouting in anger.
…
Sokka was amused while watching his sister trying to teach Aang how to waterbend. He considers it "trying" because Aang was doing it even better than his sister does! Even after years of 'practice' Katara's mastery over water is nowhere close to the ten minutes of training that the Avatar just went through.
'Well... he IS the Avatar… but it's still funny, and I will never let her forget this' he couldn't help but chuckle.
"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!?" Shouted an angry teenage girl.
Then things escalated to the point that Katara even felt bad in the end and apologized to Aang for her temper, but completely ignored apologizing to her brother… screw this guy!
As they kinda…. Washed away…. their supplies during their extremely brief waterbending lesson… they had to find a nearby trading port so they could spend their massive fortune of three copper pieces! Madara would've snorted at that from the other side of the world if he wasn't busy at the moment…. Peasants….
Cross that, two copper pieces… Aang HAD to buy a stupid whistle, and now they are almost out of the money that King Bumi gave them back in Omashu, guess being the Avatar isn't that profitable after all… well Aang lives on "grass" so... there's that…
As the group was led by some weird guy with a clearly evil appearance towards a shop owned by the most obvious pirate in the Avatar World, Katara decided to follow their "high-risk trading" style and hijacked a pristine waterbending scroll, which led them to their current situation…
An angry shout echoed "MY CABBAGES! EVERYWHERE SOMEONE RUINS MY BELOVED CABBAGES! THIS PLACE IS WORSE THAN OMASHU!"
Aang decided to use the tactical retreat maneuver, carrying both Sokka and Katara with him and leaving the Pirates behind, eating dirt… quite literally at that…
After landing near the river, they set up their tent and made Appa comfortable, as Aang was putting his glider away, he commented "I used to kind of look up to pirates… but those guys are terrible."
Katara answered mischievously "Oh I know, that's why I took this…" She said while pulling the waterbending scroll from her tunic.
"No way!" Aang was surprised.
"Isn't it great?!" Katara was excited.
"No wonder they tried to hack us up, you stole their waterbending scroll!" Sokka was enlightened.
"Well... I do prefer to think of it as high-risk trading…"
Aang laughed out loud "Good one, Katara!"
As they continued to discuss how stupid Katara's idea was, well Sokka was doubling on that considering that they could've ended up dead if it wasn't for Aang's flight, they ended up deciding to agree to disagree, with Sokka walking away and Katara and Aang moving towards the river and unfolding the scrolls.
"Look at these moves! It's almost a complete move set of waterbending!" shouted Katara excited, she has never seen such complex postures and movements before, being the only waterbender in her tribe.
Aang was equally excited "Right?! And look, it seems that it has a signature!" he pointed to the bottom right of the scroll.
"Uh... I didn't notice that… hmmm it says… Ka… Kaliya… I think? I mean it does sound like a Water Tribe name." She probably would've ignored such a small detail if Aang wasn't beside her when she opened the scroll.
"It sounds girly," Said Sokka while chilling under a tree with a straw between his lips, not even looking at the duo.
"Yeah… as girly as the Kyoshi Warriors that kicked your ass so hard that you decided to run away…" commented Katara with a respectable level of snarkiness.
Gulp.
"Yeah… just as I thought…" Concluded the girl while turning her attention back to the scroll. "…she should be a powerful waterbender if she was the one to create such a well-made scroll…" The scroll was in mint condition, so she thought it is a rather newly made scroll.
"If we find her, she can teach us both Katara!" Said Aang in excitement.
"Sorry to interrupt your enthusiasm," said Sokka lazily "But I rather put my faith in that Madara guy, he did teach Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, and he also taught that guy that keeps following us around to capture Aang…"
"Well, I disagree… this Kaliya obviously is a very skilled waterbender, while Madara's bending is still uncertain at best! For all we know… he could be a firebender…" shrugged Katara.
Sokka started laughing out loud "Firebender?! HAHAHAHAHA yeah right…" sarcasm was oozing out of his words.
As time passed, the situation repeated itself. Aang had a clear talent for waterbending, that was no joke, the baldy could do almost every single move from the scroll on his first try! It drove Katara into madness.
She had to take the scroll away from Aang, to prevent herself from exploding again, and walked while carrying it to a more secluded area with the intent of learning on her own without feeling pressured by the Avatar's extreme expertise with the elements… oh how happy she will be when he starts to learn earthbending….
While reading the scroll again and again, using the water from a small puddle to do the movements in repetition, time passed.
"Come on!" She shouted in anger, failure is frustrating... repetitive failures are even more so.
"I can't believe it is this hard, why couldn't this Kaliya have made a more step-by-step guide, or added some notes?!"
"What name did you just say?"
Katara jumped in fright, that voice… she recognized that voice!
Looking back, over her shoulder, she could see Zuko coming out of the foliage, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Repeat that name!" He demanded.
"W-what does it matter to you?"
Loud voices came from behind the bushes "We got one of them!" she recognized those voices as well...
'Pirates!'
"TELL ME THE NAME!" Shouted Zuko, expelling some flames from his fists, he wasn't kidding.
"K-Kaliya…?" answered an extremely confused Katara, even more confused after she saw Zuko's eyes trembling after he had confirmation of the name.
"There you are! And you got the scroll too, great!" Said the Pirate Captain, still carrying his green Iguana Parrot on his shoulder.
Taking a deep breath, Zuko stared at the scroll for a second before turning toward the Pirates, and his uncle who was right behind them.
"Well, gentlemen…." He assumed a combat stance "…It seems that the deal is off."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Hello there! another chapter for yall!
This one was rather.. time consuming.. to write, for many reasons really... one is that i had to cross refference with the actual canon chapter that this one is based of, i also had to create the believable buttefly effect and took liberties to tie both Canon with the Fanfiction lore, and blend them together to make them merge perfectly.
Yes! the Waterbending Scroll from Canon WAS from Kaliya! it was a great idea i had a long time ago, before writing the second volume even, the moment i added her to the roster of characters that idea came to mind, just to make her even more official in the world of Avatar!
I believe some people will be displeased that we jumped from Madara POV, to Team Avatar + Zuko POV, but that's a thing that i need to do as both events.. Madara vs Dragons, and this very necessary Waterbending Scroll chapter happens simutaneously.
So i decided that after Madara fell asleep and the curtains closed on that scene, it was the perfect opportunity to do this PoV sequence, before hopping back to Madara, and the Team Avatar... and then Madara... and then Team Avatar... and then... you got it, right? XD
I hope yall liked the Madara-less chapter! XD and i hope yall keep enjoying all the chapters that i come up with, either in this series or on others, yall are the best community of reaters that i could've hoped for! thank you.. you bunch of lovable sausages!
Have a great day, and stay awesome!
Chapter 56: Between Autumn Leaves
"GRAB THE GIRL!" Shouted the Pirate Captain right before receiving the most painful kick to the face that he ever got.
Zuko moved like a shadow, with fast and precise strikes always aiming to incapacitate in a single strike.
A punch to the throat here, an elbow to the liver there.
After training his martial arts with Madara, his usage of firebending diminished considerably, he still used it quite a lot, but he didn't mainly depend on it to fight like before.
As Zuko was knocking out every pirate within his reach, one of them managed to sneak past him and grab Katara in a chokehold.
"Argh!" she shouted trying to fight back, it was then that she focused on the puddle of water on the ground, and with hasty but incredibly focused movements, she created a perfect water whip that quickly moved towards her captor's face.
!! the man was startled; he didn't know she was a waterbender and was caught completely off-guard and was also forced to let go of her.
Taking advantage of that, Katara kept using the same water whip again and again, striking different parts of the pirate's body and dropping him to the ground like a ragdoll.
Iroh on the other hand was just chilling, doing minimal movements to take care of the very few pirates that aimed at him instead of his nephew.
The old General saw the girl finally using her bending in combat and couldn't help but smile, he then saw her running away in haste after her victory, with the scroll in hands, and couldn't help but shake his head wryly, focusing back on his nephew's fight, though an item left on the ground caught his attention.
Zuko, who was kicking ass, seemingly in the zone, finally stopped when he realized that every potential threat was laying cold on the ground.
Looking around he asked with a raised eyebrow "Where's the girl with the scroll?"
Scratching his beard, Iroh answered, "She ran away… after winning her battle beautifully, may I add, she decided to escape…."
A thick vein popped on Zuko's forehead "And you in all of your wisdom didn't think of stopping her?!"
The old General laughed awkwardly "Don't be like that Prince Zuko, I am old… and…" he placed his hand on his round, bloated belly... "Not in the best of shape to chase down young people…"
As he was patting his belly, he noticed a weird thing in one of his inner pockets, and after checking inside, he couldn't help but shout excitedly.
"PRINCE ZUKO!"
"What? Did you get her trail?!"
".. No… even better than that!"
"The Avatar's Trail then?!" Hope could be seen in the young Prince's eyes.
"No... even better than that, Look!" He shouted as he pulled an item from his inner pocket "My Lotus Tile! It was in my pocket all along!" He said with a huge beaming smile.
..
..
Zuko's eyebrows trembled, and heavy breaths that had wisps of flame came out of his mouth.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" He couldn't handle it, moving in fast speed he grabbed the damned tile and tossed it towards the jungle with all his strength!
"…." Iroh just stood there, with a shocked expression that became tearful… "My… my lotus tile…"
As the duo of Fire Nation Royals went back to their ship, Zuko was so pissed that he ended up burning parts of the jungle with his firebending.
Seeing their Prince in such anger, one of the ship soldiers couldn't help but ask Iroh.
"Why is the Prince so angry today, General?"
Iroh just coughed and scratched his beard, yes, he has a habit of doing this. " Well… he seems to be in a bad mood, let's go eat something shall we?" he grinned awkwardly.
The rest of the day went practically silent inside the fire nation ship, with only the guards exchanging some banter and jokes as they finally set sail again.
Knock Knock Knock.
"Come in," said a calmer Zuko as he sat in a meditative position while facing a wall of his bedroom that had his twin scimitars mounted on the wall right above a fancy black kimono with red clouds which also was on display.
"Prince Zuko, here's your dinner," said Iroh while carrying a tray with a healthy meal and some juice to his nephew.
"Thank you, Uncle." He said as he stood up and went to eat.
"You are not mad at me anymore?" Asked Iroh a bit curious.
"I was never mad at you, some of your actions indeed drive me crazy .. but…"
"But?"
With a loud sigh, Zuko explained "Teacher once told me that you usually use your antics to teach me something… even though I fail to understand what that thing is other than driving me mad…"
Iroh couldn't help but chuckle, a warm smile appeared on his face as he heard Zuko's explanation. 'It was the best idea to take Zuko there back then…'
"But you don't seem very worried about their escape..." Added the General.
"Well, I am pissed, but not that worried… I got this…" Said Zuko as he presented a finely crafted waterbending necklace. "The girl dropped it, probably during battle, and didn't pay attention to it…"
"Oh!!" Iroh was impressed as he also saw the item on the ground as Katara left, but also confused "When did you get that?"
Zuko smirked "When you were crying about your damned lotus tile... sorry about that anyway" his last words were filled with sarcasm.
Cough…
"It's no big deal, Prince Zuko.." After rummaging through his pockets, Iroh brought out another Lotus Tile, and with a huge beaming smile he said "I got another one in the port, just in case!"
Another vein popped on Zuko's forehead, and this time Iroh was quick enough to hide the tile.
'WHY CAN'T I WIN ONCE!?'
"Anyway…" said Iroh, trying to diminish his nephew's anger a bit. "What do you plan on doing with that necklace?"
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, at least a bit, Zuko explained "There are some good mercenaries around the Earth Kingdom that worked for the Fire Nation years back, one of them is notorious for having a domesticated Shirshu that can track scents."
"I see! Very smart Prince Zuko, we will track that mercenary so they can help you find the owner of that necklace!"
"Precisely… and considering how close that girl always is with the Avatar, I will capture him and reclaim the scroll at the same time!" Said Zuko with a smile.
"Very impressive planning… I am curious what that waterbending scroll has that got you all worked up and instantly turned on those pirates…"
"I heard the girl saying that the owner of the Scroll is named Kaliya…"
"Kaliya eh?... like... Mr. Uchiha's subordinate?"
"Exactly, I can't allow people to steal things from Teacher, it would be a great dishonor as his disciple." Said Zuko with conviction.
Iroh couldn't help but smile happily at that "Good, that's very good…"
….
Dawn finally graces the land of the Earth Kingdom, and inside a red Maple Tree Forest, a flying lemur could be seen chasing a bug. In his pursuit, he lands on the ground to see a neatly stacked pile of lychee nuts. When he runs towards it, Momo is pulled into the air by a cage trap, joining two other caged animals.
"Where's Momo?" Aang asked his traveling companions after hearing Momo's screeches from afar.
Deciding to check it out, the trio moved through the forest until they spotted three animals in their cage traps, hanging by ropes on tree limbs.
"Hang on, Momo!" Aang shouted and used his airbending to fly to the top of the tree, jumping from trunk to trunk to get higher. Once he found the traps' mechanisms, he quickly undid them and carefully lowers Momo to the ground where Katara and Sokka are waiting.
Seeing the sad expression of the other two trapped animals, Aang couldn't resist and gave them a reassuring smile "Alright, you too!"
After the hog monkeys run away and Aang slides back down from the tree, everyone gathered around the traps to examine them.
"These are Fire Nation traps." Says Sokka while narrowing his eyes. "You can tell from the metalwork. We'd better pack up camp and get moving."
As they gathered their things and begin to pack them into Appa's saddle, Sokka interfered.
"Uh-uh! No flying this time." He said.
Aang was confused "What? Why wouldn't we fly?"
After taking a sleeping pack from Aang's hands, Sokka explained. "Think about it... Somehow Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable."
"What? Appa's not too noticeable!" interjects Katara.
Pointing dramatically at Appa, and turning his condescending tone on, Sokka replies "He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him!"
The bison in question yawns as Aang pats his head "Don't worry buddy, Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow."
Their banter continues, with Sokka finally naming himself Leader while Katara defended Aang's right to be the Leader since he is the Avatar… but proving her wrong, Aang just kept playing with Momo and making funny faces to Appa, not paying attention whatsoever, which makes her reluctantly accept Sokka's Leadership… for now….
After walking through a bush, Sokka spotted a Fire Nation campsite with a lot of soldiers; most of them were seated or crouched near the fire with bowls in hand and a couple of them sat close to the tents, which had the Fire Nation emblem on the doorflap.
A soldier with an eyepatch over his left eye noticed the group and got up.
"Run!" yelled Sokka as they tried to escape, but another firebender blocked them off by setting the bushes behind them on fire…
"We're cut off!"
Narrowing his eyes towards the firebender, Sokka spoke in a somber tone "If you let us pass, we promise to not hurt you."
"What are you doing?" Katara whispers
"Bluffing…" Sokka whispers back.
"You promise not to hurt us?" Asked the eye-patch soldier condescendingly before a whooshing sound is heard and the soldier is knocked out by an unseen tranquilizer dart on his back.
"Nice work, Sokka!" Shouts Aang in excitement "How'd you do that?"
Shrugging, Sokka replied while clearly confused. "Uh…. Instincts?"
"Look!" Contrary to the duo, Katara was keenly looking around to understand what happened, and she did just that after looking towards a tall tree.
On top of a branch of said tree, a young man with tanned skin and dark brown hair, tossed down his blowpipe and unleashed his two hook swords. He jumped down, taking down two soldiers on landing, and ran forward, taking down two more.
"Down you go," he says with a confident grin, leaving Katara amazed, Aang shocked, and Sokka even more confused.
The fight continues as more young men join the dual wilder's side and after not too long they manage to take down the whole camp and prepared to take all the spoils.
"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed!" Said Aang in excitement.
"Army?! Pff… There's only like… twenty guys…" Sokka said disdainfully.
"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak."
Aang laughs as he looks at the tiny one. "Hahaha! Pipsqueak, that's a funny name!"
"You think that my name is funny?" The largest man in the area responds instead, towering over all of them like a tall tree.
He kept staring menacingly at Aang who, against all their expectations, just laughed louder and said "It's hilarious!"
Everyone started laughing out loud, well… everyone except Sokka who was a bit confused about this whole ordeal.
The two groups eventually became harmonic with one another and Jet invites them to their hideout after looting the camp.
Once they arrive by a tall tree, the group climbs up while using ropes until they reach a complex of treehouses, hidden between the red tree leaves of the forest, a perfect place to hide and rather cozy too.
After the group went to the "Main Building" Everyone took a seat, while Aang in all his wisdom decided to take a seat on one extremely clean and pristine chair that was left on a higher spot than the rest.
"NO! Don't sit there!" Said Jet with a serious gaze.
"Uh… Why? I mean… it's just a chair…" Said Aang clearly confused, but respected their wish regardless.
Seeing the bald kid moving away from the chair, every Freedom Fighter calmed down, and Jet, who can clearly see the Team Avatar's confused visages, explains.
"That's a seat of honor for our honorary member."
"Uh.. there's no one else here… or are they away?" Ask Aang.
Shaking his head, Jet explains "He isn't one of us in presence, but he is one of us in spirit and heart."
"And who is he?" asked Katara.
"There are many names that he is known by, we don't know his real name, but around here he is known by… Ghost…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Hello there! here to deliver the chapter of the day!
this one is a loooong chapter! in terms of word could.. is 2.2k! very close to the longest chapter i've written so far! But considering how much dialogue and short paragraphs this one has compared to the other one that was massive on info dumps... this one takes the lead for the longest chapter i've written.
On my PC, this one is almost 6 pages long!
I am happy to see people enjoying my work as always, im taking my time with the Canon story, not going to fast but not going too slow either... i will start skipping some canon chapters like The Great Divide and other minor ones.
When i write this fanfiction, or any other really, my main goal is to make every chapter essential, i don't want a single chapter to feel like filler, i want them all to tell a story that tiest together at the end and creates a beautiful arc!
I am really annoyed on how many looooong ass fighting chapters exists, or how many boring expo dumps and filler content exist >_>
In my chapters, i prioritize with Dialogue + Character Development, Dialogue + Plot, or Plot + Action. Never just one or the other, but them combined... i feel it makes it way better this way, it makes the reader understands that theres more than one thing going, which is a quality in writing that i value a lot.
My goal in writing this fanfiction is to write the kind of story that i would love to read, it's sad that i know the spoils tho XD if anyone can actually mimic my style somewhat and build their own amazing story i would be thrilled to read it! But yeah... i write what i like to read... so that's why i dont take polls or reader's demands seriously, this is my story.
Have a great day you wonderful sausages, you all are a great crowd to have around! I hope you enjoyed, see you on the comment section, and as always have a great day and stay awesome!
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