HT Sokka

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Holding Together: The Southern Air Temple

[tidescommand]

sokkathewise:

[thewhitegloveddemon]

The winds were slowly dying down. Sokka raised his head to get a better look, earning him a bump in the head from a small rock flying in the residual winds. Grunting painfully, he used his club to push himself up.

“A-Aang?” he tentatively called out to the airbender laying in the dirt. Moving forward, the warrior kept his club raised. He didn’t know what this kid was capable of, anymore.

His concerns took a new turn when he saw nothing more than an unconscious young boy. Worried about the boy, Sokka knelt down beside him, giving Aang’s cheek a light tap. “Hey, hey, wake up…”

Katara slowly lifted her head once the winds had died, relief flooding her expression that Aang had calmed down, but was replaced by worry at his limp and unmoving form. She slowly pushed herself to her feet and approached alongside her brother. “Aang?”

She knelt down beside Aang’s other side, eyebrows creased. He wasn’t waking up. “That must have been his Avatar Spirit…All that raw power from his past lives…”

Azula cried out in fear when the pillars shattered above her, and she instinctively brought a bubble of flames up and around herself and her father, wrapping them both in a blue vortex of flame for protection.  Once the wind stopped howling, she let it down again, clinging to Jeong Jeong in fear for several more moments before pulling away.  Seeing the unconscious boy on the ground, she headed over, not to the downed Avatar, but towards Chey.  ”Chey,” she said sharply, offering her hand to the man.  She could see that he was injured, but then, many were.  ”Come on.  Let my father deal with the Avatar, I need your help attending to the rest of the camp,” she said firmly.

Jeong Jeong stood panting after the whirlwind subsided, still on edge from the swirling blue fire that had surrounded him a moment before.  When Azula let go of him, he took a moment to observe the situation; there had to be a dozen men at least hurled about by the Avatar’s rage.  He shot a harsh glare to where Chey lay propped up against a boulder, but their eyes didn’t meet, and the sage turned back and approached the Avatar.

Chey accepted the hand offered to him, though he winced at the pain of reaching up. He swiftly reassured everyone who had heard his expression of pain.  ”I’m okay, I’m okay.  It’s just a cracked rib.”  He hissed loudly when he shifted his weight onto his legs to stand up.  ”Or three.  Not my first though, seventh, eighth, ninth.  Hey!  That’s a lucky number!”  Chey’s first reaction was always to joke around; even if they never voiced it, the second deserter suspected the men liked having him around to lighten the mood around the perpetually irritated and gloomy hermit.  ”Alright Azula.”

“Come on Aang” shouted the other Airbenders “Come play with us” they said disappearing around the walls of the temple, “Wait for me” Aang shouted after them. As he rounded the corner the other children had disappeared and its their place stood a firebender in full battle dress “Hahahahahahaha It’s a shame you weren’t here to protect your people” he said before he launched a fire blast right at Aang, the second before it reached him he closed his eyes.  In the pit of dust outside the temple he sat bolt up and screamed “NOOOOOOOOO” he thrashed out at the shadows as the direct sunlight blinded him scrabbling away from the reaching hands.

[sokkathewise-blog]

Sokka drew his club again as Aang lashed out, stumbling back into a clumsy defensive position. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the girl approaching Chey, which in turn made the warrior notice the far more concerning figure of an old battle-scarred man approaching him, Aang, and Katara.

"Stay back, old man!"

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Holding Together: The Southern Air Temple

[thewhitegloveddemon]

“Aang!” Katara cried out again, slowly pushing against the rush of wind in an attempt to approach the upset boy. However, a tug at the arm brought her down and Sokka was bracing her against the ground behind his club. She could not approach; it was far too dangerous with all the debris, but she prayed her voice, at least, could reach him.

“I know what you’re going through right now! I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! We both do! You feel so hurt and angry and alone, but you’re not! You have us! Sokka and I, we’re your family, now! We care about you, and we want you to be okay! Please, Aang!”

Azula couldn’t meditate over the rush of the wind.  It was so loud and so powerful, not to mention the sounds of rocks and debris hitting the walls as well.  She got up again and started to hurry outside, concerned about what was going on, concerned about her father.  When she saw he’d remained inside, she looked up at him with a concerned expression, then peeked past the doorframe to see what could be seen from their protected place.  ”What’s going on, Father?  Are we under attack?  I thought they were peaceful…”

Jeong Jeong knuckles were white as he gripped the wall for fear of the Avatar’s whirlwind, and waved for her to stay close the the ancient wall.  ”The Avatar knows what happened to his people; he might enter the Avatar State now!”  He was furious with Chey, but when he heard the former Captain and many others cries of pain and shattering stones, he could only feel a terrible fear.  Fear for his daughter, and what the arrival of the Avatar meant for the new inhabitants of the old temple.

Aang felt the anger build and suddenly he felt a power wash over him and he began to feel as if he was floating, the raw power whipped Aang’s airbending into a full blown storm. It started pull branches off of the trees and one was launched clean through the wall of the temple where it carried on taking out some of the pillars launching splinters over Jeong Jeong, Azula and the other men inside. Aang continued in the Avatar State his airbending picking up objects and launching them across the temple and even off the mountain and into the abyss below.  A large rock swung low and smashed into the statue of Monk Gyatso destroying it sending the shards flying everywhere the shards of rock missing Katara, Sokka and Chey the rock continuing on through the roof, where the already weakened pillars gave out collapsing large sections of the roof. Aang looked on, the shock of seeing Gyatso’s statue annihilated caused a flash of memories snapping Aang out of his trance and giving him the control of his body back moments before he felt his eyes give out, the power of the avatar state gone Aang’s now unconscious body fell and landed in the rounded hollow in the dirt. 

[sokkathewise-blog]

The winds were slowly dying down. Sokka raised his head to get a better look, earning him a bump in the head from a small rock flying in the residual winds. Grunting painfully, he used his club to push himself up.

"A-Aang?" he tentatively called out to the airbender laying in the dirt. Moving forward, the warrior kept his club raised. He didn't know what this kid was capable of, anymore.

His concerns took a new turn when he saw nothing more than an unconscious young boy. Worried about the boy, Sokka knelt down beside him, giving Aang's cheek a light tap. "Hey, hey, wake up..."

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Holding Together: The Southern Air Temple

[tidescommand]

Chey put his hands up at the stance Aang maintained, desperately trying to caution him.  ”Easy there buddy.  It’s just that no one’s seen a living airbender in a hundred years, so we didn’t think anyone would mind.”  He just had to specify living, didn’t he, implying that people have seen plenty of dead airbenders.  He still didn’t seem to grasp that he was dealing with the Avatar, and excitable child who wielded incredible power when upset.

Upon hearing Chey talk about the death of all of the Airbenders Aang’s hands curled into fists, his knuckles going white, his finger nails digging into his palms. Aang stood, his head bowed low, as he did so the wind surrounding them started to blow harder, the wind now blowing leaves and small rocks along the path causing the door to tap against the other. 

Katara stiffened, her eyes immediately moving in Aang’s direction. Chey had just tactlessly confirmed what she and Sokka had gently been trying to say. The airbenders really were gone. Not even just gone. He had suggested to Aang they were dead. 

She expected a reaction, most certainly an upset one, but nothing like this.

The young waterbender held onto her brother tighter, her feet trying to dig into the floor so the wind wouldn’t blow them back. “Aang!” She tried to call over the rush of wind. 

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Aang tightened his fists tighter still, the wind surrounding him and gathering around him forming a sphere around him whipping the nearby leaves ripping them from the trees and starting to pull up the rocks surrounding them on gravel path causing them to act as projectiles embedding themselves in trees and narrowly missing the people nearby.

[sokkathewise-blog]

"Yeah, and you ash breathers are the whole reason for that!" Sokka snapped back, his low position keeping him for feeling just how strong the winds were whipping--until it was too late. A flying piece of gravel flung the boomerang from Sokka's hand. As Katara neared, he rose up enough to drag her down to the floor with himself. The warrior drew his club, using it to shield his and his sister's faces.

"A-Aang, calm down! You're gonna kill us all!"

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Holding Together: The Southern Air Temple

[thewhitegloveddemon]

grandlotuses:

[sokkathewise-blog]

Aang was closing in on the lemur, which was heading towards the tall locked double doors, as they closed in the lemur lept between the doors. What Aang thought upon seeing the doors now open, he slowed to a stop where he heard a voice Hey. Aang spun to the source of the voice, thinking it was another airbender, but the person who met his eyes was far from an air bender, Aang took a bending stance “Who are you and what are you doing here”.

Chey stood straight up and put his palms out in surrender.  He had seen the icons of monks making tornados, and wasn’t going to risk provoking the airbender in front of him, already cursing his stupidity at surprising him.  ”Whoa there, I’m a friend.  My name’s Chey, and I’m kinda hiding from the Fire Nation.”  Jeong Jeon’s going to be so mad at me; what if they’re spies?  “As I think you are,” he said, gesturing towards his robes and arrows.

Jeong Jeong peered down towards the temple’s doors from the cell he had taken up residence in, gritting his teeth at Chey’s idly loud voice ringing across the stone structure.  His eyes widened when he saw the robes the youngest one was wearing.  If he really was an airbender, he would have to be the Avatar.  He narrowed his eyes again, noticing the way the boy walked; he didn’t flow like water, nor did his footsteps have the weight of a master earthbender.  The hermit turned his gaze from the window, sliding the board back over the only source of light and pressing his forehead to the floor in front of the icon of Avatar Yangchen illuminated by candlelight.  

Aang's loud sighting of the lemur startled Sokka enough to make him lose his balance entirely, causing the warrior to drop straight down on the pole between his legs. The pain had Sokka's eyes almost rolling into the back of his head, as he tilted to the side, and fell down between the poles.

After considerable effort to get him out, Sokka laid across the ground, groaning. "I hate this place..." His head turned to the side, catching sight of Chey and Aang. The warrior sprang to his...belly, army-crawling his way at a surprisingly fast pace toward the pair.

"A-Aang, get away from him! He's Fire Nation, he's gotta be!" Sokka shouted, waving his boomerang as threateningly as he could from the ground.

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Holding Together: The Southern Air Temple

[thewhitegloveddemon]

notamazingnorspecial:

[sokkathewise-blog]

“I think so too” Aang smiled to Katara looking at Gyatso’s statue when he heard Sokka shouting “Lets go see what Sokka wants” Aang said taking one last look at the seemingly deserted building ‘Maybe they’re right’ Aang thought while leading Katara back towards Sokka and Appa. He carried on down the winding paths of the temple and then reached the Air Ball field, before he spotted Sokka at the top of one of the poles. “It’s the Air Ball field Sokka, this is where my friends and I play” he said cheerily before jumping up to join him.

Sokka’s voice carrying through the crisp mountain air called Katara’s attention back further down the mountain. Leave it to Sokka to be so distracted as to not follow them all the way up, but her own curiosity was peaked. What were those poles for? “Okay.”

She lightly jogged with Aang back down the winding pathway and came to a stop near them on the ground. He designated it as some sort of set-up for a game (Air Ball, apparently), though she didn’t understand what sort. She cast a curious glance up at the airbender. “How does this game work?”

"How're you supposed to play on--" Sokka cut himself off, when he saw how easily the airbender leapt onto one of the poles. "Oh, right." Hearing that the field was just a game lowered Sokka's interest. At the same time, he didn't want to be shown up by a kid three years younger than himself. The Water Tribe warrior attempted to walk seamlessly across the tops of the wooden poles--"attempted" being the key word. His legs noticeably wobbled, as he made it across one or two poles.

[thewhitegloveddemon]

Holding Together: The Southern Air Temple

“It’s not too much further” Aang said cheerfully looking back from his seat on Appa’s head as they sped past the rocky wilderness of the mountain range that surrounded the Southern Air Temple. Aang turned back to notice the landscape starting to look familiar, he was surprised just how familiar the mountains looked, convinced he hadn’t been gone for more than a few days he looked up the most recognizable of all. ”Okay, Hold on tight” Aang whooped before pulling back on Appa’s reins and yelling “YIP YIP” pulling the bison up, the wind whipping at his robes and all the supplies tied down on the saddle behind him.

There was a moment of coldness as they passed through the fog and clouds before being bathed in the warmth from the sun as Appa leveled out and Aang broke into a wide smile upon seeing the temple again “Everyone, Welcome to the Southern Air Temple …. We’re home buddy, We’re home” as be brought Appa round and landing in the open area beside the Air ball field. 

[tidescommand]

“Wow, Aang, it’s amazing!” It was. It really, truly was. A temple carved into the stone atop a huge mountain, so cut off from the rest of the world. A safe and secure place for the Air Nomads to live in peace. Winding paths led from what she assumed was a flat panel of rock to land Sky Bisons on, a strange area full of pillars and, more impressively, the tall towers and numerous balconies that decorated the exterior. It looked so wondrous and exciting from the outside.

Even so, part of Katara worried the same couldn’t be said for the inside. Aang was assured there were still Air Nomad monks around, that the only way to reach an Air Temple was by Sky Bison. Maybe a hundred years ago, that was so. However, a hundred years had passed since he was sealed away in ice. The Fire Nation could very well have found a way up there. 

The Fire Nation was nothing if not untiringly persistent when they wanted something. Especially when they wanted that something exterminated.

Katara didn’t voice these thoughts, though. She had warned Aang and that was the best she could do. He was happy to be home and she didn’t want to take that away from him. All she could do was hope she was wrong. When Appa landed, the novice waterbender slowly and carefully climbed down by use of the large mammal’s fur. She was finally getting used to travelling on his back and, she had to admit, flying definitely had its merits. She turned back towards the temple once her feet touched stone, and turned her eyes up towards the temple. “I never thought I’d set foot on an actual Air Temple. This is incredible.”

[sokkathewise-blog]

Sokka felt considerably less majestic, clinging for dear life to Appa's saddle. The first time flying was a blast, but, Aang hadn't really caught on that he and Katara weren't quite used to it. Now that excitable little boy was at the reigns. When the flying creature finally stopped, the Water Tribe warrior cautiously stuck his head up, his blue eyes darting about. Not that long ago, the only oddball thing in his life was his sister and her magic water. Now, he had to contend with arrow-headed children, with arrow-headed monsters, both of whom could fly through the air. Sokka was out of his comfort zone, to say the least.

"You sure this was a good idea? We're not joking about this 'hundred year' stuff, kid--err, Aang. Even if there are Air Nomads, they might not even use this temple, anymore. We could be walking right into a Fire Nation base! That's it, Katara, get back on the logic-defying beast of burden, we're getting out of here!"