CH 7 - ATLA 6 - Meeting The Cast

(Word Count: 2,412)

It didn't take the gang long before they found the empty town of Taku and landed. I watched them through Chi Sense as they built a fire to keep them warm, then Aang took off to find medicine for his friends.

That was my cue. I headed over. I entered the pavilion they were camped at.

"Hello!" I called to them. I could tell that Katara was startled and scared at my sudden appearance, especially because they were in no state to defend themselves. Appa was defensive and growling at me, and Sokka was too delirious to even notice I was there.

"Easy there, big guy." I raise my hands to show I mean no harm. "I come in peace."

"W-who are you?" Katara croaked out. Man, they were in really bad shape.

"My name is Callan Stone. I was camping here on the other side of town when I saw this big guy come flying down from the sky. So I came to investigate. But I have to say, you two aren't looking so good. I have some water here if you need it."

"Yes, please."

I walk over to her and give her my waterskin. Appa kept eying me suspiciously, giving me another low rumble growl. Obviously he knew his friends are in no position to defend themselves, so he's letting me know not to do anything funny. I smile at him warmly. Appa is the MVP of the Gaang.

However, seeing the huge bison protecting the Gaang in the show was very different from being on the receiving end. Having a bison many times larger than you growling threateningly at you was definitely unnerving.

As Katara drank, I said, "Your friend here cares about you very much. He's very protective." Katara was too weak to respond and just nodded. Sokka chose that time to pipe up.

"You should listen to his jokes, they're the best!" And with a giggle, Sokka snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag and curled into Appa's leg.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I know a good remedy that will help you break your fever. I'll go fetch it and I'll be right back."

I leave them and descend the hilly town and head to the swamp. Using Chi Sense made finding the frozen frogs easy and I returned not even an hour later.

"I found it. Here, suck on these. It'll cure you. I handed Katara her frog, and just stuck Sokka's frog in his mouth directly. Katara in her fever brain didn't think anything of the frozen frog and just started sucking on them.

Internally, I grimaced. 'I'm so glad that I haven't gotten sick yet. I would take a pill of any size compared to this.'

As I waited for the inevitable fallout when the frogs thawed out and started squirming, I stoked their fire with some more wood. 

It took a few minutes but then Katara shrieked and spat out the frog squirming in her mouth. Sokka was now fully awake and  coughing, trying to scrape away the frog taste from his tongue.

"What the heck? Why was I sucking on a frog?" He groaned, "so gross!"

I laughed, "Well, it worked didn't it?"

Katara was glaring daggers at me. Sokka just noticed my presence.

"Wait a second! Who are you? Where'd you come from?" Sokka demanded and whipped out his boomerang.

"Easy, your fever may have been cured, but your bodies still need rest." I try to placate him. "My name is Callan Stone. I'm an earthbender. I was camping on the other side of town when I saw you flying down from the sky. I saw that you were sick so I went and got you those frozen frogs as a cure." 

Sokka eyed me suspiciously. "Earthbend something, so we know you're not lying."

"Easy enough," I said. I flicked my wrist and a small stone flew into my palm. "Believe me now? I mean you no harm. Now, judging by your clothes, you two are from the water tribe. What are your names and why are two young folk like you doing so far away from home?"

Sokka didn't answer, but Katara was the more trusting type and said, “My name is Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka. I'm sorry my brother's so distrusting. It's just that we're traveling with the avatar so we need to be cautious." 

"I see. I thought so, what with the sky bison and all. Well," I stand up. "I don't want to keep you two from your rest. You should really sleep. If you guys need anything, my camp is set up on the other side of town. Just come by."

"Thank you, Mr. Stone." Katara said.

I cringed inside. "Don't mention it. And please call me Callan. If people started calling me Mr. Stone, I'll start feeling really old. Good night."

I left for the night and went back to my own camp. I checked my WP. 1150. I got 100 WP for helping out with the frogs.

Aang will have a long night, but he'll be okay. Just to be sure, I use Chi Sense and sure enough Zuko was dressed as the Blue Spirit and sneaking into the fort to save Aang.

So I just climb into my bedroll and sleep.

~ CatAR ~

When morning came, I packed up my camp and rode Book over to the Gaang. Katara and Sokka were packing up camp and I arrived just in time to see Aang offer the frozen frogs he collected to them, only to see that they were fine again. He just dropped his arms to his side, letting the frogs drop to the ground. He looked so done.

"Good morning!" I called out.

"Callan!" Katara said, "Good morning. Thank you again for your help last night."

I waved off her thanks and dismounted. "No problem." I looked over to Aang. "You must be the avatar. It's nice to meet you. My name is Callan Stone." 

Aang, upon meeting someone that doesn't want to capture or kill him, forgot about his exhaustion. He came up to me with a big goofy grin and shook my hand. "HI! My name's Aang! Wow, with a name like Stone, you gotta be an earthbender!"

I laughed. "Sure am!" I did the same thing as last night and flicked my wrist, making a stone fly into my palm.

"Woah! Katara, did you see that? He didn't use any bending forms!"

"Yeah, now that you mention it." Katara looked at me. "How were you able to earthbend without moving?"

"I did move." I showed them the wrist flicking motion I did. "I moved my hand, see? It looks cool, but it is really inefficient. It takes around 3 times the Chi to move a third of what I'm usually able to. Rumor has it that masters of bending are able to bend while only moving their eyes."

"What? So eyebenders are a thing now?" Sokka asked sarcastically.

I snort. "Not really. Like I said, this way is costly. Anyway, it was nice meeting you guys. I should be on my way."

"Ah, wait!" Aang shouted. "Can you teach me some earthbending?"

I pause. I wasn't really expecting that. "I'm not the one destined to teach you earthbending, Aang. I am far from mastering earthbending, much less ready to teach someone else." Afterall, I don't want them to miss out on Toph. "When you are ready for an earthbending master, do not go to just anybody. You must look for an earthbender that waits and listens to the earth."

"Waits and listens…" Aang trailed off thoughtfully.

"Also, a word of advice. As a natural Airbender, you will find earthbending to be your hardest element to master. Earth is Air's opposite after all. So don’t be discouraged when you struggle with it. One thing to keep in mind as you seek to master an element is to look at what it represents, and the feelings you are holding in your heart. When you airbend, how do you feel?"

"Well, I feel happy and free."

"Right, Air is the element of freedom. When you earthbend, you must be immovable, steadfast, and determined. For example, when someone attacks you," and I use the circular steps of baguazhang to move behind him. "You move around them." Now Aang was between me and Katara. "But what if I go to attack Katara? Would you move?"

Aang was shocked when I moved like an airbender would, but he focused when he heard my question. "No, I would stop you."

"Good. That's exactly the attitude you need to earthbend. When I earthbend, I focus on my determination to protect those I love." I turn away from them and earthbend a stone wall. "You keep that determination in your heart, and you will make a fine earthbender. Try it." I gestured to the wall. "Channel your determination to protect your friends through your Chi, and the stone will move."

Aang stepped forward to the wall, with determination on his face. He may have been thinking of just last night, and all the stuff he went through to get medicine for his friends. He took a deep breath and punched out at the wall. The wall burst outward. "I did it! Katara, did you see that? I'm an earthbender!"

I peeked at my system to see if that counted as a quest, and it did, a full 200 WP for getting Aang to earthbend.

"Good job, kid. But remember, you'll still need to find a proper master once you've mastered water."

I went back to Book and mounted. "Maybe we'll see each other around. Best of luck to you, Aang, Katara, Sokka."

As I left, I cringed hard at myself, and I felt my Low Cosmic Connection close. 'Not the one destined to teach you? Why'd I have to say it all chuuni like that, gosh! I bet they all think I'm weird now. Wait, why am I worried about what a bunch of kids think of me?' I sighed heavily. I couldn't help it, I grew up loving their characters. Of course I wanted the actual people to like me. I'm going to have to meditate to reopen my chakras.

~ CatAR ~

When Callan was out of sight, Aang turned to Katara and Sokka, his eyes sparkling. “Did you see that? He was so cool!”

“His words were full of wisdom. I’m sure he’s had a great many experiences. When he saw that we were sick, he knew exactly how to help. He even knew what to say to put Appa at ease.” Katara sighed wistfully.

“He’s obviously a very powerful bender. I didn’t even know it was possible to use bending like he did. And that airbending move! He must have met some airbenders that taught him! I should have asked!” Aang said excitedly. "But I don't get it. If he's not the one to teach me earthbending, who will?"

~ CatAR ~

After leaving the Gaang, I had left to go to the Abbey, where nuns made perfume. As I traveled, I kept two stones floating above my hand and practiced changing the stones' temperature. I made them as hot as I could make them, then as cold as I could make them. This was an easy way I could practice earthbending while riding Book.

I could get them to be hot enough to boil a pot of water instantly, but there seemed to be a missing key to unlock lavabending. I doubted it was just pumping a lot of Chi into the rocks, otherwise the amount of Chi to pull off the lavabending moves I've seen in Avatar Korra would be astronomical. 'Maybe my earthbending skill is too low level?'

For cooling the rocks, I could get them to be ice cold, but it wasn't enough to do anything significant. It definitely seemed to be much harder to cool than it was to heat.

By the time I made it to the Abbey, it had already started to get dark. 'I'd rather sleep in a bed if possible, so let's see if they have a room available.' I went and knocked on the front gate. It wasn't too late so many of the nuns were still awake. One of them quickly opened the gate to see who was knocking. 

"Hello, I am the Mother Superior of this abbey, how may I help you?" The nun asked.

'Wow, she's so tiny.'

The Abbey was a bit weird in the world of the avatar, because this was the only place that was based on a catholic monastery. The nuns here lived mostly isolated and gained their funds through making perfumes. It seemed out of place.

I didn't know if I would be allowed to lodge here for a couple days, but considering that they let Bato stay here as he recovered, and even let him decorate his room as he pleased, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Hello, ma'am, my name is Callan Stone, I was wondering if I could pay for lodging for the night?"

The Mother Superior gave me a once over, and looked at Book. "We don't usually allow guests to stay. I'm sorry, you'll have to make due with your tent."

Dang. Did they only let Bato stay because he was injured, or do I look untrustworthy? Kinda hurts, but I guess it is a bunch of nuns living here. They wouldn't let a man stay unless they really needed help.

"I see. I understand, I just figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Aside from staying the night, I was also interested in the perfumes you sell here. Could I return in the morning to talk business?"

"That's fine. Please return in the morning." Then she shut the gate in my face.

Well, that was kinda rude wasn’t it?

I headed back down the road and found a nice open area within the trees to pitch my tent. Actually, did I even want to interfere with this part? I could always come in after their fight. Now that I think about it, if Zuko and Iroh see me there during the fight it'll be much harder to gain their trust.

At the same time, there are WP to be had in talking to Aang about his fears of Sokka and Katara leaving him. Yeah, I can just hide during the fight.

After some sword practice and meditation, I went to sleep.