Chapter 112 - Chapter 114

Three days later on top of the volcano that belonged to Avatar Roku's island. Orlando started waking up from his sleep. He made no noise as Dragon was still unconscious. He sat up properly and stared at Dragon as he laid there flat on the ground and breathing peacefully.

Orlando looked around the island and all the damage that Dragon had done to it. And still, Orlando had no idea what had happened here to cause Dragon to do this. They had not been together for long, but these years were enough for them to get a connection stronger then most humans get in a single lifetime.

The winds of the night were calm and peaceful. The air was cold but refreshing. Orlando's feathers were swaying in the night wind. And with the enchanting light of the moon bouncing off his body, he looked like a creature of legends.

"Orlando? How many days have I been asleep? " Dragon opened his eyes and sat up with his vision still a little blurry. He looked around and realized something was different. It was nothing physical, but he felt a strange connection with something beyond his current understanding.

Orlando turned around and bowed down and snuggled his beak against Dragon. His worries were gone now that Dragon had woken up and he could relax. "kaa"

"Three days? Not so bad. I just wish I understand what happened to me." He sighed and continued to go through the battle piece by piece.

Dragon suddenly got enlightenment and he closed his eyes again. And immediately, what looked to be a piece of his soul broke out and shaped itself as a person in front of him. "We have a lot to talk about." Said the soul form of the man that now stood in front of Dragon.

"Who are you?" Dragon felt the level of power that this soul possessed. If he was alive he would have given Dragon a challenge.

"I am Roku, the previous Avatar that walked this wordly ground. Now I exist as just a memory. You connected with the energy that was left of me on this island. And now that you called, I have come. Ask your question, I don't have long. This is a temporary form, I can't keep it for long."

Roku said while standing there without emotions visible on his face. This seemed more like a prerecorded message than an actual part of Roku's soul. Dragon's shock lasted but a minute and he quickly got his thought in check.

"Are you aware of the battle that took place inside of me three days ago? If you are, then do you know what it was that I battled. It was powerful, and I felt like it wasn't even its complete form." Dragon looked perplexed while asking the Avatar about his battle three days ago.

"I am aware of it. And I don't know who you were fighting. But I can tell you I have never felt anything so evil in my life. Whatever attacked you, it is still inside of your soul. It has just gone to hiding. And if you wanna get rid of it, you need to master Energybending." Roku said in a monotone tone of voice.

"Can you teach me?" Dragon said without much hope that it would lead to the previous Avatar becoming his teacher.

"I can't teach you because I don't know it. The only known users of this bending arts are the Lion Turtles, but they are all rumoured to have died to hunters of their kind."

"Can I possibly master this myself? Have you seen anyone energy bend?"

"Never seen it, but if you are gonna try and master it by yourself I recommend finding a place with a high spiritual connection. Nothing in the world is impossible. And the Avatar isn't the only one that creates miracles. But I am running out of time, so heed my last words carefully." Roku said and his form started to blur slightly.

"There is unrest in the world. It's the Avatar's task to solve this unrest, so I ask you not to interfere in his mission. But guide him. Show him the way when he loses hope in his ability to guide the world." Roku said and as the last words left his mouth, his form dissipated and he disappeared from the world again.

"hm, a place with a high spiritual connection. It took me weeks to get a reaction from the spirit world. So maybe this island is too far gone to provide a good spiritual connection. Should I leave and try to find something else?" Dragon asked himself in a calm tone.

Dragon looked at Orlando, and asked himself what the right decision would be. 'Not interfere? Am I not to interfere even if my friends are in danger? What if I go and kill the Fire Lord right now, how would I affect the future?' Dragon closed his eyes while feeling his stomach turning.

"All this weight never affected me before. Why am I suddenly afraid of the future? Why am I dreading the consequences of my future actions?" Dragon felt sick to his stomach, and it felt like three hundred years of misconduct came to settle a score with him finally.

It was all to overwhelming and Dragon vomited on the ground. Orlando reacted strongly and thought someone attacked his friend so he took a battle stance in front of Dragon with his wings spread out to look bigger.

"I'm okay, Orlando. I am just not feeling all that well." Dragon got up, but he managed only to walk a single step before falling down because his legs had no strength. His body couldn't muster enough strength to keep him standing.

"I'm shaking? Why?" Dragon looked down on his hands and saw that they were shaking, and they wouldn't stop no matter how hard he gripped them.

"What is going on with me?" Dragon was on his knees and held his shaking hands in front of his face.

"This feeling? Is this fear?" Dragon looked out over the ocean and saw fire nation ships approaching the island.

"Fire nation? What are they doing here?" Dragon's eyes focused on the ships, and he saw that they were filled with soldiers.

"Kaa!"

Storm? I did that?" Orlando nodded and Dragon understood that something serious had happened to him during his meditation.

"We need to leave. I am in no shape to fight. And we don't want my face plastered on posters all around the Fire Nation. Take me out of here, Orlando." Dragon said and jumped upon his back.

"KAA!" Orlando screamed and took off into the sky. He flew as high as he could and he didn't hold back his speed this time, he was like a bolt of lightning as he took off away from the island.

The duo were thousands of meters up in the air and Orlando watched the beautiful scenery around him. But he didn't take it in, and he didn't focus on flying, he was only focused on taking Dragon far away from that island. In his eyes, that island was evil and if he could, he would destroy it for causing so much hurt to Dragon.

Hours passed and Orlando was flying over a massive continent now. He had entered its borders a few hours ago and now the ocean had disappeared from view. Even Dragon couldn't see the ocean anymore.

"Orlando, we are about to enter the desert. Be careful of sandstorms" Dragon said in a pained tone. His hands were still shaking and he was focused on trying to enter his soul space, but with no success.

Everything around him became a distraction and he had suddenly become sensitive to everything around him. The winds, the heat and the roaring pain inside his head. This was something he had never experienced before. He had never felt fear, and he had never experienced this kind of instability inside his mind.

The desert was massive and Dragon had no idea where in the world they were currently. The highest priority for him was to find the source of his current state of mind. But unfortunately, the only thing he found was more pain and confusion.

The ground was sparkling from the sun rays, and the endlessness of the desert itself painted a beautiful picture. And suddenly this endless desert experienced a change. A spiritual presence had appeared within its borders, and a calling appeared inside of Dragon.

He who sat upon the giant eagle looked up, and for a single moment in time, only this strange calling existed inside of his mind. "The desert is calling me! This is what Roku was talking about, the spiritual connection. That place is here somewhere." Dragon looked around but saw nothing. But he could still feel it.

"Orlando, go west. There is a calling towards the west." Dragon yelled, and Orlando like a good soldier changed directions and started flying west.

'Hurry!' Dragon spoke to himself. He was afraid the connection would disappear and his goal would again disappear from view.

"There, Orlando, in the distance. Is that an oasis?" Dragon and Orlando both saw the magical land that appeared like a sparkling treasure in the desert.

Orlando landed about a mile away from this beautiful oasis. It was a small pond of water with a few palm trees surrounding it. On the outside, it looked like a regular oasis that Dragon had seen hundreds of times. But no other oasis had this dense amount of spiritual energy surrounding it.

"Let's go." Dragon said and started walking. And a very peculiar thing about this oasis was that the closer Dragon got to it. The bigger it became. The trees grew bigger and the pond turned from a pond to a lake.

When Dragon finally came close enough, he felt the connection strengthen and suddenly his vision went black. He lost consciousness again, and this time Orlando joined him and also fainted on the spot.

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End