the scary tunnels

a/n: 2.8k words for you lovely people <3. remember to vote and comment please, this took me a week ;> (i've written all the drafts for this season and i plan post them daily or twice a day)

also, i was thinking of writing another atla live action fic but a male oc airbender as the love interest and y/n as zuko's cousin/sister/relative and she follows zuko on the journey...yes/no?? tags??

warning: death mention, literally one tear, sibling arguments, jealous katara?

💧✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼💧

authors pov

10:12 AM. OMASHU

the water tribe siblings walk through the gap in a part of the mountain. 

tweets from the birds, the sun shining bright and buzzes from the insects, make it seem like today is going to be a good day. let's hope. 

katara goes in first, sokka behind her and y/n behind the two of them, putting her hands to her face to stop the leaves brushing past her eyes. 

"this can't be right," sokka says, squinting his eyes in the dark as he holds the map. 

"this was the only opening in the mountain," katara says as she's infront of him. 

"are you sure?" sokka asks, but his question is left unheard. 

"listen. do you guys hear...music?"

"music?" y/n repeats, walking to meet sokka's pace. the three water tribe siblings walk further into the funnel and they are, in fact, met with music. 

"when you find yourself in darkness," they see a group of people, dancing, singing and playing musical instruments around a fire. "and all you see are rocks and stones..." the one playing guitar stops singing to talk to sokka. "oh good. grab that, would you?" the he continues to sing. "remember that a precious gift lies buried deep inside..." sokka bends down, picking up the instrument. he looks up, expecting for the guy to say something and he does. "shake it," sokka's neutral face turns into a one of absolute shame as katara tilts her head and y/n almost bursts into laughter. "so dig a bit and you will find jewel of my heart. jewel of my heart," very enthusiastically, sokka shakes the maraca, y/n holding in her smile. "jewel of my heart, yeah," 

but towards the end he seems to thoroughly enjoy it but then katara raises her eyebrow to look at him, he stops acting with disinterest. he scratches his head, looking at the ground. 

"yeah," the guitarist says to the water tribe siblings. "that was all kinds of right. so what are you doing here?"

"what are we doing here?" katara repeats. "what are you doing here?"

"we're doing what we're doing,"

"right," y/n starts. "but why are you doing what you're doing here?" she points to the ground. 

"acoustics," oh. "best in omashu," he strums his banjo, the group joining harmonies. "hear that? harmony. that's what we're all about. harmony, music, love,"

katara nods, looking at them, weirdly as they start to play music again. 

"if these guys are okay being here, the tunnels aren't probably that bad," sokka says to his sisters, but the guitarist of the group hears them. 

"tunnels? oh, no. these aren't the tunnels," he abruptly stops the music, making the water tribe siblings look at him. he walks over to a place which could strike fear in anyone's heart. "those are the tunnels," y/n's heartbreak spikes, looking out lightless and scary the tunnels look. "yeah, i wouldn't go in there,"

"we don't have a choice," katara says. "we have to find our friend,"

"well, in that case," the guitarist walks over to a wall which seems to have some form of art on it. "you should probably see this. it's a tale of two lovers," as the guitarist starts to speak, y/n felt the story come to life. "oma and shu met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages. the villages were enemies, so they couldn't be together, but their love was strong so they found a way. they learned earthbending from the badger moles, becoming the first earthbenders. they built elaborate tunnels so that they could meet secretly. but one day, oma didn't come. she'd been killed in a attack. devasted, shu wielded her earthbending power to bring the villages to their knees. she could've destroyed them all. but instead, she declared the war over. both villages helped her build a new city where they would live together in peace. the great city was named omashu as a monument to their love,"

y/n wipes the tear, trying to exit her eye. that story is so beautiful. 

"love is brightest through the dark," the guitarist reads the quote off the top of the entrance to the tunnel. "remember that, especially if you're going to go into the dark void from which no living being ever returns,"

"wonderful," y/n mutters as he starts to sing with his group again. 

"oh, two lovers..."

"it'll be okay," katara says, trying to lift the morale. "there's nothing to be afraid of in there,"

"right," sokka says. "there's no such things as angry spirits,"

"come on then, let's do this," y/n says, leading into the tunnel first. katara follows her, sokka taking one last look at the group, before following his sisters. 

"secret tunnel, secret tunnel, through the mountains. secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel. yeah," the leader of the minstrel takes one last look at the children walking deeper into the tunnel. "they're doomed,"

💧

with lanterns at their disposal, the water tribe siblings walk through the tunnels, katara holding the map. 

"this way," sokka says, walking left. y/n follows without question but katara does. 

"is that what the map says?"

"the maps unclear, but i got a hunch," using his boomerang, sokka marks an x on the wall beside them. 

"a hunch?" katara deadpans. 

"yeah, a hunch," sokka says, looking back at his younger sister. "a feeling, an instinct," katara says silent, y/n looking around. 

"do you guys see that?" she asks, spotting blue spots on the ceiling. sokka notices it too. "put out your lights," y/n says, blowing out her lantern. sokka and katara follow her, blowing out theirs. 

the ceiling lights up with green bio luminesce. green stars on the ceiling of the tunnels. they're actually crystals but who cares?

"well, what do you know?" sokka says, looking up in awe. "'love was brightest in the dark'. get it? it was a clue," katara looks at her siblings confused. a clue?

"katara," y/n starts. "you have to let it get dark so you can follow the light,"

"that's how you find the path," sokka finishes off, the older water tribe siblings walking deeper into the tunnels. 

"the light of crystals?" katara deadpans, following after them. "these things are everywhere. on the walls. on the floor. they're pretty random,"

"katara, i'm sure it's a path, okay?" y/n smiles, slowing down to match her sister's speed. but katara still doesn't look convinced. 

"it said 'love is brightest in the dark', not 'glowy rocks'," she continues, mainly talking to sokka. y/n sighs, scrunching up her nose. 

"poetic licence," sokka says. "like the minstrel said, love is the answer. love is all you need. love makes the world go round-"

"now, you're listening to minstrels?" katara asks in disbelief, making sokka roll his eyes and continue to walk on. "sokka, wait!"

"katara, what is your problem?"

"my problem is you're not taking me seriously,"

"guys, can we please-"

"this again,"

"i'm not a little girl anymore,"

"yet, you keep acting like one,"

"and you keep acting like you know everything when you couldn't even tell that a traitor was flat out lying to you,"

"says the girl who fell for a terrorist!"

"that's not what happened!"

"guys, please-"

"you should've never talked to him!"

"you don't get to tell me who to talk to!"

"and you don't get to ignore me!"

"i can if you're being an idiot!"

"can we stop?!" y/n shouts, getting between them. "why do you guys always have to argue?! we're away from home and we're alone together! every time we open our eyes, there are dangers, so many dangers but you guys decide to argue about it when we could just talk! there so many times that we..." that they could have died. y/n looses her voice, sitting on a rock, her face in her hands. "all i know is that we're a long way from home," she misses home. 

katara and sokka both sit either side their older sister. y/n pushes their heads on to each of her shoulders, hugging them. 

"imagine if gran-gran could see us now," katara mumbles. katara didn't want to admit it. but she's realised how much closer y/n and sokka are getting. not that they weren't before. 

"could really go for some of her seal jerky," sokka says with a hum, playing with his boomerang. 

"or her noodles," y/n says with a smile. 

"with shrimp," katara continues. "with the hot broth,"

"we'll get some soon," sokka says. 

"you really think so?"

"yes," y/n says, squeezing her siblings tight. "if none of you guys don't, i do," a silence passes over the water tribe siblings. "come on, let's keep going," she gets up, pulling each hand from each sibling. katara and sokka reach for their lanterns, y/n getting hers too. 

"seal jerky," katara says to sokka. "i never knew how you could eat that stuff," the three of them walk further into the tunnel. and maybe, they weren't doomed. 

💧

using his boomerang, sokka marks an arrow on wall. katara waterbends, y/n watching her proudly. she's progressing. but she's not at good as she is. 

"you're getting good at that," sokka says, watching his younger sister. she smiles, bending the water into her satchel. 

"practice and some good instruction," katara says. 

"oh?"

"yeah? from the scroll?"

"yeah," katara says dryly, knowing the next thing she says won't get the same proud reaction. "and jet, he helped me through some things," sokka stops talking, looking at katara with a frown on his face. "he lost family, just like us. he knows how those memories can hold you back. he got me to see that i'd only be thinking about how mom died and not how she lived," y/n watches how sokka continues to look away from his sister so she hits his arm, getting his attention. "jet might have gone down the wrong path, but he was pushed that way. just like sai was,"

the male stops, his sisters stopping their paces too. 

"you know, sai told me i should be an engineer," sokka admits to katara. "that was my true calling,"

"he's not wrong~" y/n says in a singsong voice. sokka roll his eyes. 

"do you believe it?" katara asks. 

"i don't know," he admits. "but it was nice to hear someone tell me i had something to offer to the world. besides my superior fighting skills!"

"oh my," y/n laughs, making katara giggle. the three of them continue to walk, before stopping. there's a wall blocking their path. 

"oh, that's not right," sokka says, looking straight at the wall. 

"the crystals were just crystals, like i thought," katara says to him. sokka turns around, walking back with a scoff as y/n and katara follows. they make it to the route they were on before but there's a wall blocking that path. 

"what the..."

"this shouldn't be here," sokka says, pointing with his boomerang. "we were here before, but this wall wasn't,"

"how is that possible?"

"it's not..."

"unless..." 

"the tunnels are changing..." the water tribe siblings look at each other in fear as they say those four words at the same time. 

💧

"this is crazy," sokka says as him and his sisters, quickly walk through the tunnels with their lanterns in their hands. "how can tunnels change?"

"i knew the crystals were wrong,"

"katara, can we do this later? please," katara rolls her eyes but doesn't speak. a large growl echoes through the tunnels. the three of them stop in the steps, their breaths quickening. 

"any chance i imagined that?" sokka asks his two sisters. the growls get louder and louder and it seems to be like it's coming from in front of them. 

a large black ad white badger mole bursts through the wall, shaking its head around. it senses the three humas, roaring at them, releasing spit. 

"badger mole," sokka squeaks, y/n squeezing her arm out in fear. 

💧

the water tribe siblings run through the tunnels, holding their lanterns as the massive mammal chases after them. 

it nips at sokka's clothing, making him fall to the ground. he yelps out, reaching out for his sisters. 

"y/n! katara!" being the first to turn around, y/n whips out water from her water satchel, dropping her lantern, throwing at the badger mole. the beast whines, burying itself into the wall. katara and y/n run back to sokka, helping him up. "thanks,"

y/n smiles at him, picking up her lantern as she follows katara, leading them around the tunnel. 

"dead end," she says, hearing the badger mole getting closer and closer. they all turn around, watching it get closer and closer. 

"guys, i'm sorry," sokka says to his sisters. 

"we're sorry too," as sokka's in the middle, he grabs both of his sister's hands, the girls giving him a small squeeze. the badger mole roars at them, the water tribe sibling closing their eyes out of fear. 

"what's going on?" sokka asks with a whisper. "are we dead?" 

y/n slowly open her eyes, looking at the badger mole then looks at sokka's hand. he's connecting them. 

"'love is brightest in the dark,'" she repeats. "oh my-it wasn't about the crystals. i don't think that's what guided oma and shu through these tunnels," she let's go of sokka's hands, waving hers slowly in front of the badger mole. "it's blind,"

katara gasps in shock and awe. 

"they navigate by sight," the younger says. "but by feeling. they sense feelings and react to them. anger, fear, but mostly love,"

"'love is brightest in dark'," the sisters say at the same time. sokka nods, taking in the information. 

"so they respond to love?" he questions. "how do you think they do with verbal commands? uh, excuse me, mr badger mole. we'd really appreciate it if you could show us the way to the palace...please?"

the badger mole roars, crawling backwards. it starts burrowing into a wall, the water tribe siblings smiling at each other. 

"let's go find aang,"

💧

y/n, sokka and katara run out from behind rocks seeing the bind that aang is. 

"sokka, get the king!" katara shouts, throwing the water onto the floor, bending it into ice. sokka slides across it, pushing the king out of the way of the two boulders. 

"aang, together!" y/n shouts, getting water from her satchel and throwing it up at one of the boulders. she freezes it, using the water on it to throw it back onto the ground. aang uses his airbending to throw the other boulder away from his friends. 

"are you okay?" katara asks, running over to him. aang nods, breathing out deeply. 

"well, kid, you sure know how to bring the house down," sokka says as him and y/n join the two.

bumi grunts, earthbending some debris away, getting the gaang's attention. 

"cheater! you cheated!" he stomps, point over to aang. y/n, sokka and katara get their defences up, just in case. "you didn't do it on your own, you didn't learn anything at all,"

"you were wrong," aang says, walking closer to bumi. "you can rely on your friends, and that's the only way i'm going to save the world. with my friends,"

"you think like a child,"

"is that really so bad?" aang reaches inside his air nomad clothing, getting a necklace. "remember this?" he asks, showing it to bumi. "i use it to call a friend," he gives it to bumi who shakes his head in confusion. "that's what i'm going to do now. call on an old friend," bumi looks at it closely, the memories of his childhood coming back to him. "you're right. i wasn't here for the world. or for you. but i'm here now,"

bumi nods at aang, his eyes glistening. he is here now. and now balance of the world will be restored. 

💧

walking onto a balcony, y/n takes in the view. it's bright so her brown eyes need to adjust for a bit. she walks with her family and king bumi. 

"your highness," one of the butlers say, getting his attention. "we've called up the reinforcements,"

"and...and, and you doubled the guards on the walls?"

"yes, your highness,"

"good. tell them i'll be there soon," the butler nods, walking away. 

"wait, what's going on?" aang asks. 

"fire nation forces are on the move," bumi tells aang. "they'll be here by dawn,"

"you're under attack?"

"we will be, but we will be ready," bumi says. "fortunately, a source tipped us off," sai appears ,bowing his head towards the king. 

"sai?" sokka questions with a smile. 

"the mechanist alerted the generals to network of spies in the city," y/n, aang and katara all smiles at sai as he nods at them. "helped us round them up. now, all of you get out of here. the avatar has places he has to be. we can take care of ourselves. it's time omashu rejoined the war. oh! but i do have one more challenge for you," bumi says, bending down a little to speak to aang.

y/n sighs. let's hope it's something small. they are on a mission; to save the world.