If I were to use a single word to describe the Avatar State...
The word would be 'choking,' in a sense.
"I'm not going to ask again!" Aang roared as he destroyed another sand glider. "You tell me where he is, NOW!"
"What did you do?" The leader of the Sand Benders asked his son in horror. Ghashiun immediately took a step back.
"I-It wasn't me!"
"How dare you!" Toph's voice was filled with anger as she pointed directly at him. "You even put a muzzle on my friend, and you dare to lie?"
Hearing this, Aang froze, his face darkening.
"You muzzled Appa?"
And then it happened.
A sudden silence fell over the desert as Aang's eyes and tattoos started to glow a blinding white.
The world seemed to stop as a wave of unimaginable pressure washed over everything around us. The amount of Chi radiating from him was overwhelming. It was like standing beneath an ocean with no way to escape—the kind of pressure that made every breath feel heavier than the last.
Entering the Avatar State, Aang swung his staff, tearing the last of the Sand Bender's gliders apart instantly.
Panicking, the Sand Benders stumbled back in panic as Ghashiun raised his hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to the Avatar!"
Aang's voice echoed unnaturally, with countless voices speaking through him at once.
"TELL ME WHERE APPA IS!"
"I traded him!" he confessed. "To some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now... they were going to sell him there!"
"Please!" the guilty Sand Bender begged. "We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"
The winds surrounding Aang grew stronger, and sand spiraled around him while the storm grew with every passing second. His anger had reached its peak.
And as I stared at him... I suddenly remembered the first time we met.
The first time my future sight activated.
The first time I saw a glimpse of what Aang could become.
... The Aang from that vision was even more terrifying than his current self.
Holy shit.
What did I feed this kid in the future—
Before I could process that thought, an arm wrapped around mine, and I was yanked backward.
My head snapped to the side, meeting Sokka's face.
"Come on!" He shouted over the roaring wind. "We need to get out of the blast radius!"
Pulling a stunned Toph along, we immediately made a break for it, putting distance between ourselves and Aang in the Avatar State.
Then...
The winds began to slow.
The roaring storm faded into silence.
The sand that had been swirling violently around us slowly drifted back down to the ground as the sphere of air surrounding Aang dissolved.
And what remained was Aang, crying in Katara's arms, his body trembling as she held onto him tightly.
Katara's own expression was strained, fighting back tears herself.
All that remained was a twelve-year-old boy who had just lost his best friend.
Soft sniffling echoed beside me as I watched Sokka and Toph rush forward, wrapping the two of them in a hug.
... While I felt terrible that Appa had been captured—he was a good sky bison, and he even tolerated the ridiculous inside jokes I made from time to time—my eyes remained dry.
Maybe it was because I hadn't known him as long as they had?
But seeing the pain on their faces, I couldn't just stand there.
So I silently walked over and joined the hug.
"We'll get him back, Aang. I promise you that."
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NEXT UPDATE: 26 July, Sunday
A/N: Bonus Chapter 1 will be posted tomorrow.
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