Chapter 13: Haru’s Village

[Ahh!... So you want to fight an old man?... How rude of you… Maybe I should teach you not to pick on old people]: king

The King then used the stone wall he created to stop the spikes sent by Soren, and separated it from the ground before sending the wall flying towards Soren's direction as it made all of the stone spikes crumble due to the force behind the wall. As Soren saw the wall closing in on him he quickly dodged to the side, but only for the King to expect Soren's actions as the King then sent 2 boulders straight towards Soren, only to have Soren try and erect a defence of stone, but had it broken through as the boulder slammed into Soren sending him flying back.

[Oh… so such a tiny pebble was able to take you down huh?... Such a shame, and here I thought you would give me a good exercise]: king

Soon the dust and dirt screen cleared to show Soren getting up, and he had a bit of a limp as he tried to protect the rest of his body by sacrificing the right side of his body making both his right arm and right leg take the damage, but it's not like Soren didn't protect himself as he used some of the mass from the boulder and covered his leg and arm as it was sent into his body. Soren had a bit of blood running down his arm as his tunic was a bit ripped due to the impact, and Soren's hair was a bit disheveled.

'So this is what it's like to fight someone with almost 100 years worth of experience in real battles… Nina, is there any chance of winning this battle?': soren

{Yes, there are many ways you can win this battle, but the possibility of pulling them off are slim due to the damage you have sustained, along with the lack of Chi}

'Looks like I will need to improve then… Hehe, this was only supposed to be a test anyway, I guess I can give up here, but before I do I'm going to give it my all in an all or nothing attack': soren

[You are strong, old man… But I'm not done… I'm going to give you my all in this last attack]: soren

Soren then began to stomp both of his feet as he better lowered himself into a crouched stance to better his defence, then with his arms he raised them before lowering them to his side. Everyone who saw this fight wondered just what Soren was trying to pull off, but once they felt the whole room, or better yet, the whole city of Omashu start to tremble, they all knew it was going to be a big attack. The ground began to shake and crumble as cracks began to form around both Soren and the King before the ground began to rise into the air and form a ball shaped planetoid the size of the room. Both Soren and the King left the now forming planet and landed on what was left of the ground as Soren felt the massive drain in his Chi, and was on the verge of passing out, while everyone else in the room began to feel the cold sweats as they saw what was being formed and all thought the same thing.

'What a monster': everyone

Soren was using an attack that was imparted to him by the Earth Lion Turtle, and it was one of the attacks that was meant for Aang, or whoever was the current Avatar, but Soren had yet to teach Aang any Earthbending, and this was the first time anyone had ever seen it. This move was meant to create whole island, or if you were powerful enough, you could create a whole world, but only a God would be able to pull off such a feat, while it was said that all 4 of the Lion Turtles came together and created this world as they were the closest things to God in the world.

[I hope you survive this!]: soren

Soren who was on the verge of collapse said these final words before he sent the small planetoid the size of the room towards the King, and when the King registered Soren's words he began to freak out as he quickly began using all of his power to try and stop the attack, and even with all the power the King had amassed over the years, he was slipping as his muscles began to tear from the inside.

[A-Aang!... Please! Help me!]: king

When the King began begging for Aang's help, the face he made while asking reminded Aang of an old friend as he mumbled a name before shouting it.

[Bumi!]: aang

Aang quickly moved into action for his friend almost unconsciously as Aang's eyes began to glow White while his tattoos also began to glow White as well. Aang then began to use the power of Earth and wind as he called upon one of the previous Avatar's who mastered the power of Earth more than the other elements, and began moving his arms in a grabbing and splitting motion as the gigantic boulder began to split and crumble as the rocks and dirt began to fill in the hole that was made previously. Soon, all that was left was just a tiny boulder that King Bumi was able to toss to the side, and Aang had also passed out due to the overuse of Chi.

[Aww… Aang… You saved my life]: bumi

King Bumi walked over to Aang and picked him up, and then he walked over to Soren and picked him up as well before using what little Chi he had left to bring the both of them up to the spectator seats, and watched as both Katara and Sokka ran over to inspect the both of them.

[You are free to go… Please, tell Aang when he wakes up that it was nice to see him again… I'm tired after all that… These old bones really aren't what they used to be, I'll have my guards escort you out]: bumi

Katara and Sokka were then led out of the castle to where Appa was kept, and both Soren and Aang were brought along as well, and once everyone was on Appa, the guards left and Katara had Appa start flying towards the North. After a few hours, Soren had woken up, and saw that Aang was also awake and had taken over flying Appa, the sun begun to set and Aang found a nice clearing where everyone could rest, and after setting up camp Sokka went out to find some food, but only came back with a bunch of nuts and rocks. And as they were asking Sokka where the real food was, they all heard loud banging sounds a ways out into the distance, and seeing how everyone except Sokka was curious about what was making the sounds, they all went to explore.

[Look, that guy's an Earthbender]: katara

[Let's go meet him]: aang

[He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously]: sokka

Just as Sokka finished speaking Soren shouted out into the distance.

[Hey!... You're an Earthbender? Can we talk for a bit?]: soren

The Earthbender saw Soren and the others and began running for his life as he used some Earthbending to set a blockade for his escape, and seeing as everyone wanted to talk to him, along with the possibility of there being a market in the village he lived in, they all began following him from a distance. Once they entered the town, Aang and Sokka began looking for some food, while Katara was trying to find any sign of the boy they saw earlier, and as if luck had struck, she saw what appeared to be the back of the boy that they met in the forest enter a house nearby.

[Hey guys… I think I found where that boy ran off too]: katara

Katara began to walk towards the house, while Soren began looking for some food as he was quite hungry, but seeing as he lost everyone else, and there was a commotion off in the distance he decided to go see what was going on, and when he got there he saw a group of Firebenders threatening a shop owner, and inside the shop were Aang, Katara, Sokka, and the boy they saw earlier.

'Looks like I found them': soren

Soren then came up and waited behind the group of Firebenders, and happened to see them threatening the old lady who owned the shop with fire in their hands, and seeing his chance to be sneaky, Soren put out the fire by taking control of it from a distance making the guards a bit surprised and on alert. After taking money from the lady who ran the shop, they left while still wondering what had happened for their fires to go out like that, but didn't put much thought into it as they left, and Soren entered the shop and gathered back up with everyone else.

[Soren!... You're back, did you find some food?]: katara

[No… But why is the Fire Nation here?]: soren

[They have been here for 5 years… Fire Lord Ozai uses our towns coal mines to fuel his ships]: lady shop owner

[They're thugs!... They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it]: boy

[Quiet Haru… Don't talk like that]: lady shop owner

[But Haru's an Earthbender… He can help]: katara

[Earthbending has been forbidden… It has caused nothing but misery for this village, and he must never use his abilities]: lady shop owner

[How can you say that?... Haru has a gift. Asking him not to Earthbend is like asking me not to Waterbend… It's a part of who we are]: katara

[You don't understand]: lady shop owner

[I understand that Haru can help you fight back… What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?]: katara

[They can take Haru away… Like they took his father]: lady shop owner

Katara was shocked as she found out why Earthbending was frowned upon, and seeing Haru's face she could tell he was hurting inside and the hate for the Fire Nation was evident in Sokka's eyes as he began to flip on how the Fire Nation was just ruining the lives of everyone. After calming down, everyone began to talk and the question about having a place to stay came up, and Haru's mother offered for them to stay in the barn behind their house, to which the offer was gladly accepted. Soren quickly went to sleep on a pile of hay, while Sokka and Aang began making their own beds, and Katara wanted to apologize to Haru, so she followed him through the forest, and later on that night Katara came back and began to tell everyone about what happened.

[I was so brave of Haru to use his Earthbending to save that old man]: katara

[You must have really inspired him]: aang

[Or maybe he fell in love with you hehe]: soren

When Soren said that, Katara began to blush, while Aang wanted to change the conversation to a new topic while inside he was a bit jealous of Haru as he saw the way Katara acted towards Soren's teasing.

[Everyone should get some sleep, we leave at dawn]: sokka

[Dawn?... Can't we sleep in for once?]: soren

[Absolutely not!... This village is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers… If they discover you're here Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast… Good night]: sokka

[I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts]: katara

[I said good night!]: sokka

As the night rolled by, Soren felt some weird vibrations from the ground almost as if the sound of marching troops was coming towards their position, and since this was a first, Soren woke up and went to see what was going on. Soren then saw a large group of Fire Nation soldiers surrounding Haru's home, and when Haru opened the door, he was grabbed.

'I gotta save him': soren

Soren quickly went into action as he rushed in from behind the soldiers and sent some stone spikes towards them, catching them all off guard as Haru was dropped.

[Quick! We are being attacked from behind!]: fire nation soldier

One of the soldiers shouted, bringing all the attention onto Soren, and they began shooting Fireballs towards him, but as he dodged them, he got a notification.

{Ding!... New Quest: Earthbender Pep Rally… Get captured along with Haru, and start a movement that puts the spirit back in the Earthbenders hearts}

'So this is how my night will play out… I'm tired': soren

Soren put in a few more moves before he acted like he was out of steam, then the Fire Nation soldiers took both Haru and Soren into captivity.

[Come on men!… We got 2 for the price of one Hahaha!]: fire nation soldier

Soren and Haru were then put in metal cuffs and brought to the prisons, while Haru's mother saw the whole thing play out with her son being taken away along with one of the people from Aang's group as he tried to save Haru. The next morning came and both Haru and Soren were now wearing prison uniforms and were standing in the middle of a metal courtyard void of any kind of rock or soil, and they were also in the middle of the ocean.

[Welcome new prisoners!... I am the warden, and what I say goes around here, if you treat me with the utmost respect, you will have an easy time here, but if you anger me… Well… You will quickly see my bad side]: warden

The warden made a few fireballs and held them in each of his hands as the heat radiating off of them was intense, but to Soren it just got a little warmer in the area.

[Now!... Get to work!]: warden