The Air temple (Part 2)

Aang's screams tore through the empty halls of the Southern Air Temple, carried by the violent winds that raged around him. The storm of his grief howled, shaking the ancient structures, and for a moment, it felt as if the temple itself was mourning alongside him. Katara struggled against the force, her arms shielding her face from flying debris. "Aang, stop! Please!" she cried, voice barely piercing through the deafening cyclone.

Sokka, held aloft by the fire ropes I conjured, flailed midair. "Not that I don't appreciate the rescue, but can we not be in the middle of a tornado right now?" Momo clung to my shoulder, chittering in distress. My firewall flickered, wavering against the sheer force of Aang's power. The raw energy pouring from him was untamed, uncontrolled—an echo of the past refusing to stay buried.

I sighed. "This is the Avatar State. Powerful, but fueled by emotion. Aang, if you don't want to bring this temple down on us, you need to get a grip." No response. His tattoos shone brighter, the wind whipping even faster. Rocks levitated around us, trembling in anticipation of release. His mind was trapped in his sorrow, lost in the past. Fine. If words won't reach him, action will.

I stomped forward, letting my flames dissipate. I felt the wind claw at my body, but whenever it did instead of blood fire came out and healed the wound in an instant. I walked up to him, although I kept Sokka and Katara out of the wind range to protect them. His glowing eyes stared past me—through me—lost in the void of his pain. I raised my hand and slapped him straight across the face, like a Will Smith-level slap. 

The wind halted. The glow flickered, then vanished. Aang gasped, stumbling back, clutching his cheek. The silence that followed was deafening, a stark contrast to the raging tempest from moments before. His breath was unsteady, his body trembling. Katara rushed forward, falling to her knees beside him. "Aang!" she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Tears streamed down his face. "They're gone, Katara… they're all gone." His voice was small, broken. "Gyatso… everyone…"

Katara pulled him into a hug. "I know. And I'm so sorry, Aang."

Sokka dusted himself off, still hanging midair thanks to my fire ropes. "Uh… little help?". I released him, and he hit the ground with an undignified thump. He groaned. "Okay, yeah, thanks."

Aang sniffled, wiping his eyes. "I lost them… I lost my people."

I exhaled, crossing my arms. "Then honor them. You're still here, Aang. You still carry their legacy, they don't exist just in memories but in you."

He looked at me with a mixture of grief and uncertainty. "But how? How can I carry all of that alone?"

"Your the avatar, dumbass. You have like 81 other souls in you, filled with wisdom, guidance, bloodthirst, and multiple other things. So, get up and stop whining already? You are not the only one who lost something important everyone here did, and we all gather here to make sure that your dumbass would restore the balance of the world. So until the world peace is restored, I don't want to hear about you whining ever again or I will send you to your next reincarnation early." I said, I never liked Aang in the first season only when we got to season 2 with the Earth Kingdom did he become someone who I can respect.

"I think what he means (Katara glares at me to shut me up) is that You're not alone." Katara squeezed his hand. "We're here for you."

Aang's eyes searched ours, looking for something—hope, maybe. A reason to keep going. Finally, he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "I… I still have to stop the Fire Lord. It's what Gyatso would've wanted."

"That's the spirit," I said, stepping back. "Now, if you're done summoning hurricanes, maybe we can—" A deep rumble interrupted me. The ground beneath us trembled slightly, and my senses sharpened. Something was wrong.

Sokka frowned. "Uh… was that the aftershock of Aang's breakdown, or…?"

I glanced toward the entrance of the temple. "No. That wasn't him."

Aang, still shaken, stood up. "Then what—" A shadow fell over us. A massive creature landed on the temple steps, its presence oppressive, its piercing yellow eyes locked onto us with an unnatural intensity. It was a creature I had never seen before—large, bat-like wings, dark fur covering its muscular frame, and a long tail lined with jagged spines.

Katara gasped. "What is that?" Momo screeched, hiding behind my head. The beast let out a low, guttural growl, its nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air. Its gaze landed on Aang—and something in its stance changed. Recognition. It knew him. 

I moved in front of Aang. "Stay back."

Sokka unsheathed his boomerang. "Right, because when a giant monster randomly shows up, it's always friendly."

Aang swallowed. "It… it looks familiar."

The creature lunged. I reacted instantly, flames roaring to life in my hands as I shot a controlled blast at its feet, forcing it to halt mid-charge. It growled but didn't retreat. Instead, it flapped its enormous wings, kicking up a whirlwind of snow and dust.

Aang coughed, squinting through the storm. "Wait! I—I think it's an Air Bison!"

Katara's eyes widened. "What?"

I studied the creature again. Now that I was looking closely, there were remnants of Air Nomad features—its fur patterns, the way its wings moved like gliders. But it was… twisted. Darkened. OH SHIT…It is Vaatu, he probably did something but wait he wasn't introduced yet nor did they state that there is another air bison so why? The answer to this was found with the system as it responded.

[This is real life, not some TV show. Of course, there is another air bison how else is appa supposed to you know…procreate the air bison shown in LOK.]

That is a pleasant surprise to hear, but why is it corrupted? I did gear the response from the system as The beast let out another earth-shaking growl before slamming a powerful claw into the ground, sending shockwaves in all directions. The temple steps cracked under the force. "Okay, I don't care what it is—if it kills us, that doesn't matter!" Sokka yelled, already sprinting toward cover. This is the reason why I like being friends with Sokka, he has survival instincts and you know what I am joining him. 

We two ran for cover since I was not fighting that thing, we also had our eyes connected for a second and reached a mutual understanding. Thus began our legendary friendship but more on that later. Aang, however, didn't move. He stared at the creature, something shifting in his expression. He stepped forward.

"Aang—" Katara reached for him, but he didn't stop. The creature snarled, lowering its stance, ready to strike.

Aang raised a hand. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The air stilled. The beast hesitated, its ears twitching. It studied Aang, confused. Aang took another step. "You're one of the last, aren't you?" His voice was filled with sorrow. "Like me." The creature's growl softened. For a moment, it looked… lost. Like it was trying to remember something.

Aang slowly reached out. "You don't have to be alone anymore. You have me-"

 The ground once again trembled and out came Appa saying with a deep voice "Mooo!!" 

"And Appa," Aang said while laughing as Appa licked the other bison, The creature trembled. Then, with a final, heavy breath, it collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. The tension in my body eased slightly. 

[ That's the reason ]

Katara released a breath she had been holding. "What… just happened?"

Aang knelt beside the creature, gently placing a hand on its fur. "I think… it was waiting for me."

I sighed. "Great. Another addition to our little misfit gang."

Sokka groaned. "Can we please go a single day without some life-threatening drama?"

"No, let's first focus on having one life-threatening drama every day instead of multiple," I said to which Sokka chuckled, meanwhile katara looked madder for some reason. Other than that Aang's posture seemed lighter. Hope had found its way back into his heart. And with that, our journey continued.