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The Last Woodbender Chapter 16 (End of The Northern War)
🕑 Added 2022-09-10 17:46:58 +0000 UTC"I swear, between you and Aang, our group has the weirdest experiences," Sokka mumbled from the front of Appa's head. Naruto had just retold the story of his little trip to the spirit world and how He met his dragon spirit express.
"Well, at least you can't say you get bored." He shrugged in reply, a smile on his face. He flinched as his head ached again and pointed Sokka in the direction that less pain was coming from. This Aang sensor thing he has going on is helpful but really annoying. Katara glanced at him in concern. She tried to make his head feel better with waterbending, but apparently, bending doesn't work on spirit stuff. Typical.
"Do you think Aang will be able to wake up soon?" Yue questioned worriedly, clutching her hand to her chest. He sighed and looked out over the snowy landscape.
"I really have no idea, but I'm guessing that when he does, this migraine will go away, so I'll be able to tell," Naruto responded. He shivered against the cold as the winds picked up and pulled the hood of his parka over his head, noticing the others following his example.
Glancing over at Katara, He saw that she looked troubled and concerned. She hadn't spoken more than a couple of sentences since they left the oasis. Yue, noticing the same thing as him, placed her hand on Katara's shoulder comfortingly.
"We'll find him. Prince Zuko couldn't have gotten far in this weather." She said reassuringly. Katara shook her head.
"I'm not worried they'll make it out. I'm worried that they won't." She corrected quietly, somehow still projecting her voice over the wind. He frowned at the implication of her words before shaking his head in return.
"No, Zuko has his firebending, and he'd never let anything happen to Aang now that he finally has him," Naruto said, lighting a flame in his own hand to warm himself. He held it closer to the other two girls, and they smiled at him gratefully for the warmth. Sokka's voice brought our attention back to the front of the bison.
"Yeah, they're not gonna die in this storm. If there's anything we know about Zuko, it's that he never gives up. They'll survive, and we'll find them."
He yawned sleepily as the sun set in the distance. They had been searching for Aang for a long time now, and He was beginning to get tired of just staring at the snow. Suddenly his eyes shot open as the headache he had just disappeared into nothingness. A small streak of light flew through the sky, falling in the direction that they were heading in.
"Look! That's got to be Aang!" Katara shouted, getting Sokka to make Appa go faster. As they got closer to the ground, he spotted two figures standing outside of a small cave. One was holding the other by the collar of their shirt.
"It's Aang and Zuko!" Naruto pointed out, seeing the trademark colors of Avatar's clothing. They landed quickly, and Katara jumped out with Naruto. Zuko glared at them and tossed Aang to the side.
"Here for a rematch?" He questioned, moving into a fighting stance. Katara and Naruto followed their hands out in front of them.
"Trust us, Zuko; this won't be much of a match," Katara responded angrily. He quickly shot a blast of fire at us, and Naruto stepped in front of Katara, dispersing the blast with a swipe of his hands. From behind him, Katara swept her hands forwards to send a wave of snow at the prince. Once it connected, he was lifted up in a giant pillar of ice again before being slammed to the ground and sending snow everywhere. Naruto grimaced as he saw that he had lost consciousness on impact. Ouch...
"Hey, this is some quality rope," Sokka said with an impressed face as he cut Aang loose. Naruto rolled his eyes at that and shook his head.
"We need to get to the oasis; the spirits are in trouble!" Aang announced as he untied his legs himself. They quickly loaded back up on Appa, but Aang hesitated. Looking back at Zuko's prone form, Naruto immediately understood what he was thinking. Zuko would die out here if we left him.
"Wait, we can't leave him here," Aang stated, a determined frown on his face. Sokka just rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"Sure we can; let's go." He countered. Naruto huffed at his cold-heartedness and hopped off the back of Appa. Naruto walked over to Zuko and knelt next to him. He grabbed his arm and placed it over his shoulders.
The weight on his shoulders suddenly got lighter, and He saw Aang smiling at him from the other side of the teenager. He smiled back before we both led him back to Appa. Aang jumped up first and reached down to grab Zuko from Naruto.
"Oh, sure. This makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us." Sokka grumbled. Aang glared at him.
"That doesn't make it right to technically kill him, Sokka." Aang insisted. It looked like Sokka was about to argue again, but Katara's hand on his shoulder stopped him. She smiled at them and just nodded towards Appa's reins.
"Let's just hurry back to the city. They need our help."
Aang explained to us how Tui and La were in the human world now. They were the koi fish in the spirit oasis. No wonder Naruto felt a pull towards them earlier. Suddenly the sky turned red as the moon changed colors. Naruto grasped his head again as he suddenly felt like he was about to pass out. Katara put her hand on his shoulder worriedly as Sokka put his on Yue.
"Are you okay?" He asked her in concern. She looked up at the moon tiredly.
"I feel faint..." She mumbled. He saw Aang grasping his head from the front of Appa as he experienced the same thing.
"Something's wrong with the moon spirit," Aang stated, staring at the sky. No, really? What gave it away, the giant, red orb in the sky? He frowned at the moon and shivered at the sight. It was almost...blood red like the moon was bleeding to death right in front of them.
"I owe the moon spirit my life." Yue suddenly drew their attention as she spoke. He turned towards her in confusion as Sokka frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was born, I was very sick and weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I were asleep, my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, underneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, and I opened my eyes and began to cry. That's when they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon."
Naruto stared at the princess as she finished up her story. It was amazing that the spirits did that for her. It also explained her rare white hair. Naruto looked up at the moon again.
"Well, now's your chance to help save the moon spirit."
They flew as fast as we could right to the oasis. When they arrived, Naruto saw a group of firebenders standing at the front of the small pond. And guess who was at the front holding a bag of fish? That's right, General Monkey himself. Honestly, that guy needs to do something about those sideburns. As they got closer and landed, Naruto could hear him shouting something.
"-They'll call me Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao the Invincible!" He stated, almost maniacally. Suddenly he began screaming as Momo launched at his face. The lemur crawled all over the man's head before flying back over to Aang's outstretched arm. Naruto jumped off behind him and glared at Zhao.
"How about Zhao the Crazy?" Naruto offered instead. Truthfully it was better than Zhao the Monkey. They all prepared to attack the group of firebenders, but he suddenly lifted his hand.
Naruto gasped in horror as he prepared to burn the moon spirit. Aang quickly dropped his staff to the ground in alarm.
"Zhao, don't!" He exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender. The man continued to stare at the bag.
"It's my destiny to destroy the moon and the water tribe." He growled out.
"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the water tribe. It'll hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, it would destroy the balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos it would unleash on the world!" Aang insisted, trying to convince Zhao of the craziness going on. Suddenly a voice cut in, making everyone look to the source.
"He's right, Zhao!" Iroh exclaimed. He smiled at the man as he stepped forwards.
"General Iroh? Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao asked himself sarcastically.
"I'm no traitor, Zhao; the fire nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance. Whatever you do to that spirit, I will unleash upon you tenfold! Let it go now!" Iroh demanded angrily. Naruto honestly would like to see General Iroh go full out. Focusing back on the situation, He looked over at Zhao.
He seemed to come to his senses and kneeled to the ground in defeat. Lowering the bag into the water and releasing the fish. Everyone relaxed except Naruto, but suddenly the overwhelming feeling of dread filled Naruto.
Zhao raised his hand, ready to strike with a war cry. A movement beyond average human speed reached him, a sudden extreme pressure was on his neck, he tried to speak, but the sheer strength crushed his throat, he coughed blood, as the grip on his neck tightened causing him extreme pain, grunting in pain, not being able to scream anymore.
Trying to break free, sending weak punches to the hand that had grabbed him. Looking down to see who did this, his whole blood went ice, frozen in fear, when he saw the blonde glaring at him, his usual blue eyes now the color of Pure Ice.
"No One Will Remember You," Naruto spoke, the grip tightening the moment he said that.
Zhao coughed more and more blood, drips of blood falling on Naruto's face as the general started shaking wildly; his crushed throat prevented him from screaming, but the loud grunts of pain came out of his mouth, and his widened eyes showed that he was suffering.
"Naruto, Stop," Aang shouted; he and the old firebender had defeated the firebender soldiers that were with Zhao, who tried to attack Naruto after he attacked the General.
Aang was about to stop him with force when he stopped dead on track; Zhao's skin slowly started to blacken, his muffled screams reached everyone as he grunted like a dying animal, blood coming out of his mouth like a fountain, and his skin started emitting steam, his skin now black like coal, his skin blistering, melting off from the bones, his eyes now long gone, blood mixing up with his scorched body.
The man had stopped moving; Naruto simply let go of his body when he figured he was now dead; the grass had turned dark from his power, and the water had slightly vaporized.
Naruto's vision was all blurry; everything started spinning as his face fell on the grass; the last thing he heard was a woman calling out to him.
Naruto Please
**********
Next thing he knew was his head lying on something soft; where am I? He asked himself; the room was dimly lit by torches attached to the ice walls; he tried to use his hand to stand up when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his head.
Falling back against the pillow, gripping his head in pain, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he tried to remember, yet, the last thing he remembered was that lunatic trying to kill the moon spirit and the woman screaming his name.
What happened? He questioned himself, cursing that his friends weren't here. Naruto thought of perhaps shouting; someone would definitely hear him from outside when the sound of the door opening reached his ears.
Turning his head to see Katara reluctantly walking towards him, a deep frown on her face. Naruto felt his heart racing faster, fearing that something had happened to Sokka and Aang.
As she made her way over to him, he forced himself to stand up, ignoring the pain. "Sokka, and Aang, are they-" "They're fine," she cut him off; he sighed in relief, his shoulders slumped down, feeling lighter now, he allowed himself a small smile.
"What Happened?" He asked, moving his legs over the bed, his naked foot making contact with the cold floor. Katara spoke nothing for a whole minute. Instead, she reluctantly sat near him, a conflicted look on her face, as she turned her head to face Naruto.
"Well-
Later
"Thank you for everything you did for us, Avatar," Yue's father said in appreciation. The blonde was silent as Sokka was saying goodbye to Yue. His hands holding hers close, their foreheads touching.
"Don't worry; once the War is over, I will return back to you," Sokka promised, wiping away her tears with his index finger; hearing his word brought a smile to the princess's face.
"Don't cry now; your face is much prettier when you smile," he said; she smiled, a light blush on her cheeks.
"I will be waiting for you," Kissing him, the Southern Warrior returned the kiss, holding her close as if she would disappear at any moment.
Naruto turned his attention to Katara, who received a gift from her master, a scroll of some kind. At least this time, we don't have to deal with pirates, he thought with a groan.
Eventually, everyone said goodbye, but before flying away, Aang glanced briefly at Naruto, who was looking at the vast ocean in front of them.
"...Do you think this War will... change us?" Aang suddenly asked with a hint of fear in his voice, the image of the dying general still too fresh on his mind. He hated to admit it, knowing that this War could perhaps turn him into something he didn't want to be.
Just how far should we go? Aang questioned himself, feeling a pang in his heart. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Naruto.
"It depends on us, Aang; we don't know what awaits us; whenever we change or not is not something any of us can guarantee, but I can promise you this," the entire group leaned a bit closer to hear.
"We will never separate, we might go through hardships, but nothing will ever separate us," he promised with resolve, reassuring them that everything would be fine.
Aang looked back over at Naruto for a moment before smiling. He patted the blonde on the shoulder as they looked up over at the moon.
Suddenly a hand was laid on both of our shoulders. Naruto glanced behind me to see Katara smiling at the both of us. They turned to face her and smiled at each other before going in for a group hug. Aang wrapped his arms around him and Katara as they did the same. Hearing a little noise, he looked behind us and saw Momo staring at them, left out of the love.
"Come here, Momo," Naruto said, holding his arms out to the lemur. He immediately leaped at him and snuggled up on his shoulder. Katara giggled as he rubbed his face against hers. Sokka walked over to them with a smile on his face; he was glad that he was feeling better. He stood with them as they looked up at the moon; even Appa joined in.
Everything was quiet now, and the seas were calm. There were minimal casualties, and they won the fight.
Naruto was thankful that the battle was over.
Fire Nation
"So General Zhao is dead, and Zuko failed to capture the Avatar," a dark voice spoke; the man speaking was surrounded by flames, his face barely visible, his eyes colder than the North itself. Sitting cross-legged on a small platform, watching over at the peasant kneeling in front of him, on a lower platform was sitting the princess of The Fire Nation. She was playing with her fingernails, not caring much.
"Yes, my lord, our informer told us that a kid named Naruto in Avatar's group used black flames," the messenger said, his voice and body shaking, kneeling in all his fours in front of what was left of the Royal Family.
"Black Flames?!" The Fire Lord repeated with a frown, sounding slightly surprised, before looking down at Azula, who now looked more focused on what they were talking about.
"Do you have a poster of his face?" The Fire Lord demanded, turning his attention back to the messenger who reluctantly stood up, handing over the poster, one to him and one to Azula.
Looking at the poster, The Fire Lord frowned slightly. He's just a boy; if he doesn't want to serve me, then he will soon be Ash in the Wind, he thought; meanwhile, Azula was thinking the exact opposite.
A fingernail slid from his hair to his chin, and a smile grew on her face. Not bad, he's quite good-looking, she thought with an unsettling smile; perhaps her mission to capture the Avatar wouldn't be so boring after all.
Book 1 is finished; what do you think so far?
Yue is still alive; she will have importance in the story later; she won't be written out.
Now Toph and Group Azula will enter the picture. I can't wait for our Melon Lord to meet Naruto.
Thank You all for Reading my Story. The next Chapter will come out Soon.
