the spirit world and all it's craziness

a/n: 1.8k for you pretty people 

warnings: slight violence?, harm, blood mention

💧✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼💧

authors pov

10:44 AM. SPIRIT WORLD

y/n walks besides katara and aang as sokka is behind the three of them. she looks around in awe, literally feeling the energy from this place. besides being scared out of her bending. 

"gyatso used to tell me that spirit world and the physical world are tied together," aang tells the two waterbenders, since the non bender isn't listening. "what happens to one affects the other. it's kind of like your soul and your body. separate but connected,"

"that make sense," katara says, y/n humming with agreement. 

"gyatso had a way of making thigns easy to understand," aang says as they continue to walk. sokka, who's behind them, is it complete awe of everything around them. "he made everything easy," 

"he sounds awesome, aang," y/n smiles, trying to encourage him. 

"he was,"

"you know," katara starts. "i've always felt i was a spiritly attuned person. might be why i crossed over with you,"

"i'm not so sure about myself," y/n states. 

"oh, is that a frog or a froggy thing?!" sokka shouts, pointing at spirit with disgust. y/n, katara and aang look back at him for his comment. 

"i have no idea how he got in here," katara mutters, squinting her eyes at her older brother. 

"the villagers are probably trying to find a way out," aang says to the two girls. "they're probably looking for something familiar,"

"assuming they realize they don't belong in here," katara says. 

"none of you belong in here," y/n looks up in fear, her eyes going wide as she looks around. 

"uh, who said that?" aang says, stopping in his steps and looking around. 

"who said what?" katara asks, looking at aang. 

"no human beings in this realm," aang and y/n look up in awe, seeing the massive owl spirit. katara and sokka follow their eyes, fear spiking through them as they see the spirit. 

"that is one big birdie," sokka says as he continues to look up. 

"'birdie'? i am no birdie," the spirit of knowledge says, looking quite offended. "i'm the spirit of knowledge itself,"

"i'm so sorry about my brother, sokka," y/n says to the spirit. 

"he didn't mean anything," aang continues. 

"guys, who are you talking to?" katara basically repeats, looking at her sister and her friend in confusion. 

"what do you mean?"

"they do not hear what you hear," the spirit says, bowing down towards aang slightly. y/n fidgets with minho's bracelet. "their small minds are incapble of comprehending my speech,"

"but i hear you,"

"you are the avatar," the spirit says. "you were meant to have one foot in this world.

"what about me?" y/n speaks, the spirit putting its beady eyes on the oldest. "i can hear you. and i'm not the avatar,"

the spirit hums, raking his eyes over the girl. 

"i am not sure," he does know. but he doesn't want to say. she'll have to figure it out on her own. "they, however, are interlopers," the spirit says, motioning to sokka and katara. "and the longer they stay, the more dangerous it will be for them,"

"dangerous?"

"dangerous?" sokka repeats from aang. "birdie's not going to eat us, is it?"

"that should be the least of his worries," the spirit says to aang and y/n. "there are creatures in here that will do far more than devour your body. they'll eat your soul,"

"aang? n/n? what's he saying?" aang and y/n discreetly look at each other. 

"he says he's not going to hurt us," aang says to them as y/n nods, agreeing. "all we want is to find our missing friends, and we'll get out of here,"

"there is one who lives in a stone hut not far beyond the woods," the spirit says. "he may know what's become of your friends. follow the path, and you will find him," 

"wait, what did you mean about danger?" y/n asks. "what could happen to my siblings?"

"there are things in here that will reveal truth to humans," the spirit says to the water tribe girl. "truths they're never prepared to face. it will show them who they really are, and that can cause a great deal of pain. farewell, avatar. and you, girl, you will be prepared to face everything that comes across your path," the spirit says, bowing towards y/n. "and remember, stay on the path," 

the spirit flies off, the gaang ducking to let it leave. 

"bye-bye birdie," sokka says, giving it a wave. y/n looks at her brother amused. 

💧　

the gaang walk through the spirit, sticking to the path. 

y/n is muddled. well, my mind is. or like, her thoughts are. why did she hear what the spirit was saying? is there something wrong with her. she isn't the avatar. and she isn't that spiritual. 

"oh, did you see that?" sokka says, crashing into her back. 

"see what?" y/n asks, turning around, seeing sokka point...to nothing. or nothing that she can see. 

"did you see...that?" sokka mumbles, confused. did he imagine it?

"sokka, relax," katara says. "the owl said we'd be fine as long as we stuck to the path. right, guys?" she looks back at her sister, who's fidgeting with her bracelet (her and minho's bracelet) and her friend, who's looking down distracted. 

"right/yes!" aang and y/n say at the same time, which makes them look even more suspicious. 

"guys? what did the owl really say?"

"he..." aang starts but looses his voice. should he tell them?

"he said," y/n starts. "he said that it could be dangerous for you guys in here. that you might have to face the truth,"

"but how bad could the truth be?" aang says, trying to brighten the mood. 

"right," katara says, looking down then looking at her brother. "right?"

"the truth?" sokka says to himself as they start walking again. "yeah. yeah, i can deal with the truth. what i can't deal with is getting eaten by some giant spirit monster,"

a large low growl rips through the forest, the gaang halting in their steps. 

"you had to say something," katara mutters, her brown eyes looking around. a black and white spirit crawls into their view about a mile or two away. it growls again, facing the gaang. 

"aang, y/n," sokka starts. "please tell me that's some spirit language only the two of you can understand, and it's saying 'welcome, friends, would you like some cake'?"

y/n laughs dryly, fear spiking into her heart. 

"that's not what it's saying," aang says, shaking his head. the spirit gets closer and closer, katara breathing in and out quickly. "just stay on the path. the owl said it'd be okay as long as we stay on the path,"

"we're on the path, we're on the path," sokka nods to himself. the spirit roars again, charging at them. "we're on the path! we're on the path! we're on the path!"

"get off the path!" aang jumps out the way, onto the floor as y/n pushes both sokka and katara out the way. a claw from the spirit scratches her as she lands on the dirt. 

katara gets up quickly, sokka doing the same; looking around with a quickened breath. y/n gets up, hearing the large growl from the spirit. she winces, looking at her arm. her water tribe attire ripped on the sleeve and she can see red seeping though it. it's blood. 

she looks at the spirit, seeing the three scars on it. that wooden bear had the exact same scars...

"it's the spirit of the forest," she mumbles. 

"i can't bend. i can't bend!" aang exclaims as his hand is out. 

"i can't either," katara says after trying. 

y/n moves her hands in a waterbending motion but nothing follows her movements. she winces, flexing her hands. 

"neither can i," she calls out. 

"look out!" sokka says to y/n who doesn't turn around quick enough and gets pushed to the floor by the spirit. her breathing quickens as her hands are grabbing the dirt as she closes her eyes in fear. 

a rock is thrown in the spirit's direction, making the spirit growl towards sokka. 

"hey, skunky! why don't you pick on someone your own size?" it roars at sokka, the boy squinting his eyes from the amount of air that came with the roar. "i-i didn't mean me," the spirit wacks one of its arms towards sokka, the boy flying back with a shout. 

"sokka!" y/n and katara cry out, not seeing the boy through the mist. 

"everyone, run!" y/n scrambles getting up, and she runs. 

💧

"aang? katara? sokka?" y/n calls out as she walks through the fog. she doesn't like this. she doesn't like at all. 

"y/n..."

y/n perks up. 

"aang? katara? sokka?" she shouts. "i'm coming! i'm coming!" she starts to run, picking up her pace, ducking through the branches and wincing every time a leaf touches her arm. sge needs to get something to cover it, or it'll get infected. "guys! where are you?"

"you're strange,"

y/n stops running, looking around. she can't bend. and she's never been good with weapons. she picks up a fallen branch, holding it in her good hand. 

"who...who's talking?"

"me," y/n turns around, seeing some type of spirit. it looks like a centipede, with a face. red lips, dark eyes. "you're not falling for my traps. but you're not the avatar,"

she locks eyes with the creature, her heartbeat quickening. 

"what have you done with my family?"

"ex or including the avatar?"

"aang is my family," y/n states, her tone holding no argument. "what have you done with them? all of them?"

"well," the centipede says, crawling around y/n. "your biological family is my food-"

 "what-"

"and the avatar is quick. so he's hiding somewhere," the spirit says, quickly. "were you meant to be an avatar? why are you resisting?"

"meant to...what?!" y/n is not sure if she should laugh or run. running looks more appealing at the moment. meant to be the avatar? wait that means, if aang had did in the ice eighteen years ago, she could have been the avatar? is that why she heard the spirit? is that why she's better at bending than katara? is that this spirit is so annoyed at her for not falling for its traps?

"you're thinking about running,"

y/n turns around running from the spirit. she drops the stick, hiding behind a tree. 

"come here, little girl! i'll take you to your siblings!"

y/n squeezes her eyes shut. if she can't see it, it's not there. pretty weak, she knows. but she can't see this in any other way. 

"y/n," that voice sounds familiar. minho? "y/n! you need to open your eyes now!" she opens her eyes, seeing the blond haired male smiling at her. 

"minho!" she whispers, hugging him. "how are you-"

"you really are weaker than i thought," minho says, distastefully. y/n falters, letting go of him. his face changes, to the spirit. "pathetic,"

💧

y/n opens her brown eyes, reaching for her siblings. slowly but surely the three of them walk through the tunnels, alongside the rest of the villagers who were also captured by the spirit. 

she spots aang, smiling at him as he runs towards the water tribe siblings at full force and hugs them. they're safe. the four of them are safe. and they'll stay safe together.