A Joke
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Avatar: Awakened Gamer
🕑 Added 2021-12-31 15:46:10 +0000 UTCChapter 93 - Spirit and Human
***
As they got closer to Omashu, Appa had to rest after his long flight across the sea. Sokka took this chance to open his Map and noticed that the base with General Fong wasn't too far away. A certain thought passed his mind, but he dismissed it just as quickly as it came.
An army, he needed that bad. Sometimes you had to go to the lion's mouth to kill the beast. Or something like that. But Sokka wasn't trying to come up with a quote, instead, he tried to recall how this episode played out. Since it had been over a decade since he saw the Avatar, his memories were a little foggy, though the intelligence stat helped somewhat so he wasn't going in blind. Still, being in this world for quite a while now had refreshed his memory.
He knew how General Fong was, and how the old general would threaten Katara's life in the original story. This was due to the man's desperation to have Aang enter the Avatar State and defeat the Fire Nation that way.
Sokka had already finished his deal with Haku and got the jutsu's detailed descriptions in the chat. He would copy those later to create a skill book, and he had also given the information Haku wanted.
"There should be an Earth Kingdom base that way," Sokka pointed towards a certain discretion.
Aang stared towards the horizon but saw nothing, only mountains upon mountains. "I don't see anything."
"That's because you don't have my super eagle, x-ray sight that can see through mountains."
The air monk was confused, tilting his head. He was over a hundred years old, so Sokka understood when sometimes sarcasm flew right past Aang's bald head.
"He just used a map," Katara sighed. "So don't listen to anything he has to say."
Sokka smirked. "Hey now little sis, don't ruin my fun. There aren't a lot of ways to entertain myself up here. So it's either starting an argument or being sarcastic."
"Or you could just stay quiet,"
And just like that, another argument started. Sokka had an elated smile, his eyes filled with happiness while Katara screamed in anger.
Sokka remembered the times Iroh said that he had quite a twisted sense of humor, and how he amused himself. Sokka couldn't help but agree, the old uncle was right, like always.
***
Upon landing in the middle of an open space, which was a grand walking road. The Avatar and his team were welcomed happily.
Sokka and Katara stopped arguing. When alone they might get on each other's nerves sometimes, but as siblings, they understood that publicly fighting would only make them seem divided. Well, Sokka understood that, as Katara only did it instinctively so others wouldn't think bad of her.
"Avatar!" Suddenly a yell of joy rang out, as a man dressed in armor distinct from the other soldiers came running. He had a long brown beard, and his eyes glistened with hope. "The brace warrior, Sokka, and the beautiful maiden, Katara. I welcome you to this humble camp."
Though the man acted very honored, the place was anything but humble. Great walls stood about, training dummies, and earthbenders littered the place. This was a fortress, and it wasn't something easily dismissed. Sokka could tell that this was the earthbenders home advantage.
"Hello, General Fong, right?" Sokka stepped forward, clasping his hands respectfully. "I was wondering if we could rest here for the night. Our sky bison is tired, having carried us straight from the Northern Water Tribe to here."
Well, maybe not exactly straight as they had traveled by boat a little. As water-clone Sokka, had been around to make sure that the deal had gone well and supplies from the Northern Tribe were sent south.
"We would be honored to," General Fong smiled and laughed out loud at the proposition. He didn't bother hiding how happy he was at this. "I have already prepared a feast for you."
'Can they afford to waste resources on a feast?' Wondered Sokka, his mind going to the business side of the matter instead of thinking about the political side first. He could see many ways General Fong could be playing it. But Sokka had seen the beggars and starving children of the Earth Kingdom, a small feast won't blindside him to the reality.
Each day they keep messing around, a starving person will die because of them, soldiers will kill each other. Blood will spill, and battlefields are going to be covered in corpses.
Sokka knew what it was to have someone close to you die because of a stupid decision by the higher-ups. They make a single mistake and thousands die. Like a judge that can sentence an innocent man to death.
**
When the time of the feast came about, Sokka observed as the festivities happened around. He gave one glance to Kiwi, and the small fox spirit that was hiding under Katara's clothes gave a nod.
"I heard about the spirit that decimated the Fire Nation fleet, can you tell me more about it?" Inquired Fong, clearly interested in the prospect of having a powerful spirit like that as a protector.
Even Sokka was a little surprised, as by now Fong should have started trying to guilt-trip Aang into entering the Avatar State. But instead, the man had taken a different approach.
Sokka felt a sense of intrigue at this. At first, he had thought of having General Fong have an 'accident'. It was a shame since the general was very passionate. But seeing this, a new plan started being concocted.
So with a smile on his face, Sokka, who was sitting at the same table as the general, tried to get Fong's attention. "I heard Spirits can be quite peculiar. If you can get them to like you, they'll be your companion for the rest of their life."
Immediately that caught the General's attention, and he turned toward Sokka so fast that many felt like his neck would break moving at those speeds. "Oh, please go on."
Fong had an intense gaze, and Sokka could feel the tension in the air. But he wasn't pressured by it and he just continued. "Normally Spirits are kind of wild, and rarely come to the human world. But when they do, supernatural events follow with them. Some spirits are strong, and some are weaker. But humans and spirits can make deals with humans and come to an understanding."
He mentioned towards Kiwi secretly, and the little fox jumped up, creating small clouds in the air as it stepped on them, this gave Kiwi an ability that somewhat imitated flight. This was a small trick, as the little fox spewed out some smoke, and these lame performances had everyone staring at it in amazement.
Sokka on the other hand was very unimpressed by all this. But the trick had worked as intended. He knew that making his words believable for everyone there needed to be proof. This was also so he could draw everyone's attention that similar results could be achieved with Aang's Avatar State.
'The Avatar essentially is the perfect tool for this. It is the best combination between human and spirit-'
Suddenly, Sokka's thoughts halted as he glanced at Kiwi. An idea struck him like a bolt of lightning and he now saw a solution he hadn't even thought of before. The fusion between human and spirit is possible. Raava had shown that with the first Avatar and that was how the cycle started.
Kiwi… was a weak spirit. Just like Raava was during the fusion. But the Nine-Tailed Spirit Foxes, while they might not be at Raava's level, they too were known as strong and a mature nine-tailed fox should be around the same level of Old Iron, a spirit that was somewhat equivalent to an Avatar. Around as strong as the Ocean Spirit.
Was a fusion similar to that possible with Kiwi? Having such strength at his fingertips excited Sokka, making his heart beat faster, as a sense of greed bubbled within him. But he crushed those feelings with an iron grip, faster than Gamer's Mind could intervene.
Being reckless now would be a stupid move. For all he knew, only spirits like Raava and Vaatu could achieve such results. Usually, humans and spirits fusing would cause the human to die if the Spirit stayed inside their body for too long, even if they get out before the victim dies, they will usually be left with strange deformities.
Sokka remembered these details from Korra when she learned of the first Avatar's story. But that was also the reason he believed that fusion between a human and Spirit would be possible.
Even when the Avatar cycle started, Raava itself didn't believe that a human and spirit could achieve such perfect symbiosis.
'I will need to do some research on this later.'
….
A/N: Soon new years will come, for some it might already be a new year. So Happy New Year!
