Chapter 3: A Threat Looms
The air was thick. Not with smoke or mist, but something heavier, like memory and shadow woven into the atmosphere itself. Aang stirred. His eyes opened slowly, squinting against the dim gray light. He lay on soft, damp earth, surrounded by towering, narrow trees that twisted toward the sky like skeletal fingers. Their bark was pitch-black, and they swayed with no wind, moaning softly in protest.
The f'rest stretched on endlessly in every direction. Nothing was in focus. The trees bled into the sky, the ground pulsed gently beneath him, and even his own limbs felt out of sync, as if reality refused to hold its shape.
A voice broke through the haze, firm but echoing from nowhere.
"Stop."
Aang turned sharply. The distortion in the air shimmered like ripples in water. From between two crooked trunks, she stepped forward, tall, statuesque, her feet not quite touching the ground.
Avatar Kyoshi.
Even in the dreamlike distortion, her presence was unmistakable. Her hair was bound in a high, regal topknot, held in place by golden pins. She wore her iconic green-and-gold robes, though the colors were dulled, as if seen through fogged glass. Her war paint, two bold red marks beneath piercing eyes, seemed to glow faintly. Yet her face, her entire form, flickered, as if some unseen interference refused to let her fully exist in this place.
"Kyoshi?" Aang asked, stepping toward her. "What's going on?"
She opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was thunder and whisper at once.
"We… need to…"
But her words fractured mid-sentence. A strange distortion passed between them like a wave of static, and her voice splintered into echoes.
"…You… enemy… Roku… must…"
More words followed, some desperate, some forceful, but they came as fragments torn apart before reaching his ears. He strained to listen, to understand, to catch even one clear sentence, but it was like trying to hold onto smoke.
Then the world twisted.
The trees melted into shadow. The ground dropped beneath him.
Aang screamed.
He shot upright, heart hammering in his chest. The fire beside him hissed softly, the night air cool and clear. A clear night sky above.
His body moved on instinct, legs bent, arms raised, a defensive stance ingrained through years of training. For a moment, he looked around, unsure of where he was, unsure if he was still dreaming.
"Aang?" Katara's voice was soft and worried. "What's wrong?"
Sokka blinked blearily from across the fire. "Dude, you okay? You look like you saw a ghost."
But Aang didn't answer.
He was breathing fast. Too fast. Like he had just flown across the entire Earth Kingdom in a single breath. Sweat clung to his back. His chest heaved with every inhalation. His eyes darted wildly across the dark tree line surrounding their camp.
Still not speaking, still not sure he could.
Katara slowly exited her sleeping bag and reached for a water pouch.
"Calm down, Aang," she said gently, kneeling beside him. "Did you have, like… a bad dream or something?"
She offered the pouch. Aang took it with trembling hands and drank deeply.
The cool water helped. A little.
But his eyes were still fixed on the forest beyond the firelight, his thoughts lost in that broken voice, in Kyoshi's eyes, eyes trying to tell him something the world itself didn't want him to hear.
Katara sat beside him quietly, her hand still on his arm as he drained the water pouch. The fire popped once, scattering a few sparks into the night. Sokka yawned and rubbed the back of his neck, still watching Aang carefully.
Aang lowered the pouch slowly, his hands no longer shaking, but his eyes, still wide, were fixed on nothing.
"Roku… Kyoshi…" he murmured.
Katara tilted her head. "What?"
He blinked and seemed to come back to himself. His gaze finally met hers. "I saw her. Kyoshi. And I think she was trying to tell me something about Roku. Or maybe… about me."
That got Sokka's attention. "Wait, both of them? In your dream?"
Aang nodded. "I was in this forest. It wasn't real, or not fully. Everything was… wrong. The trees were huge, black, like they were burned or dead. I couldn't see clearly, and her voice kept breaking apart like there was something stopping her from speaking."
"Stopping her how?" Katara asked.
"Like… like someone was jamming the Spirit World," Sokka muttered, half-joking, but Aang didn't laugh. He just stared back at the fire.
"She said something about needing to do something. About an enemy. Roku. Maybe me. But I couldn't understand her, it was all cut off. It was like she was trying to warn me."
Silence fell between them, heavy and thoughtful.
"Maybe it's connected to what will happen during the solstice," Katara said softly, brushing her hair behind her ear. "When you will meet Zuko and Roku… or, his spirit. He is supposed to contact you in two weeks, right?"
"Yeah," Aang whispered. "That's coming up soon."
Sokka crossed his arms and leaned back. "And if it's anything like last time, it's going to be another fire-filled, death-defying disaster. So maybe Kyoshi showing up now is like… a trailer for the sequel."
Aang didn't respond to the sarcasm. He looked up at the stars instead. "There's something coming. I feel it. Something big. Bigger than the Fire Nation even. Like… like something in the Spirit World is shaking loose."
"That's comforting," Sokka muttered.
Katara frowned. "But what does it mean? Why would Kyoshi be warning you now? And why mention Roku and not a guy like Zuko? I thought he was trying to help."
"I don't know." Aang pulled his legs in and rested his chin on his knees. "But whatever it is, I don't think it's just about mastering the elements anymore."
A few crickets chirped In the distance. The night pressed in again, thick with tension.
"We've been heading north," Katara said slowly, "hoping to avoid the Fire Nation, hoping to reach the Northern Water Tribe. Maybe… maybe we're not avoiding anything. Maybe we're walking right toward it."
"Great," Sokka groaned, lying back in his sleeping bag. "So much for my 'don't die before breakfast' strategy."
Aang gave a faint smile but said nothing.
Katara gently squeezed his arm again. "We'll figure it out, Aang. Together. You don't have to carry this alone."
He nodded, grateful, but in the back of his mind, the forest still lingered. So did Kyoshi's flickering form. And the sound of her voice, trying to reach him from beyond some unseen wall.
"We… need to…"
The words echoed again. And Aang knew, as surely as he knew the moon would rise, that his time was running out.
And so was the world's.
---
The morning haze over the Fire Nation capital shimmered like rising steam, softening the blood-red banners that lined the rooftops and marketplaces. From the royal palace balcony, Prince Zuko stood motionless, shirtless and silent, the breeze tugging gently at his hair. Below him, the caldera city stretched and stirred, waking slowly under the golden eye of the sun.
His gaze swept across the streets, not with awe or pride, but calculation. Merchants opened stalls, soldiers rotated through patrols, commoners bowed to red-armored officers. It all moved according to schedule. Just as planned.
And yet…
Zuko's mind wasn't on the streets.
Not entirely.
His fingers rested against the railing, still warm from the night sun. He could feel it in his bones, the lingering heat from her skin, the imprint of her breath, her nails, her voice whispering sins into the crook of his neck. But when he'd reached for her at dawn, the sheets were empty. Cold.
Typical Azula.
Last night had been war disguised as desire. Their bond twisted, raw, manipulative, powerful. The kind of intimacy where you never truly let your guard down. Yet something about it had felt real. Dangerous, even. Something Zuko had expected but didn't want.
And now, she was gone. No note. No sign. Just that familiar storm of her presence lingering in the corners of the room like leftover fire smoke.
Zuko exhaled through his nose, forcing the distraction away.
There was no time for sentiment. No time for second-guessing.
The next stage of the plan was already in motion.
Lieutenant Jee and the crew would be reaching Kyoshi Island in a few days. The scroll he'd given them would ensure cooperation from the local leadership. Suki's mother, was the key to what came next. And Ensign Lee… if he played his role right, he'd be more valuable than the entire garrison combined.
Zuko's lips curled faintly, but it didn't last.
His thoughts, as they often did in moments of quiet, drifted back.
To the Spirit World.
To him.
The airbender from last night.
He hadn't spoken it aloud. Wouldn't. Not yet.
Older. Wiser. Infinitely more dangerous. That strange, abrupt meeting, if it had even been real, was burned into his memory like a fresh scar. That crushing aura. That voice full of disdain. That moment when he'd been pushed across the void like a child struck by a master.
A ghost from another life, maybe.
Or a warning of what was to come.
Either way, Zuko had no time for cosmic interference.
"Don't get in my way," he muttered aloud to no one in particular.
He turned from the balcony, leaving the city's light behind. Inside, the chamber was still dim. Silk curtains stirred gently over open windows, and the scent of last night's incense lingered, thick and cloying.
Zuko crossed the room with purpose, pulling his robes from the dressing stand. Every motion was practiced, deliberate. The scar on his left eye throbbed slightly, perhaps from memory, or perhaps from the meeting ahead.
He was late.
Ozai waited.
So did the generals. The admirals. The council.
They would expect answers. They would expect fire.
And Zuko would give it to them.
He fastened his belt, smoothed his tunic, and stepped toward the door, each footfall echoing with the certainty of a man ready to reclaim not just a title, but the world.
But as he reached for the handle, he paused.
Just for a second.
A flicker of the dream. Of the airbender. Of the void.
Of the question still hanging in his mind like ash in a breeze:
What the hell is really going on?
He shoved the thought down and opened the door.
Let the spirits haunt him later.
For now, he had a war to win.
[A/N: Can't wait to see what happens next? Get exclusive early access on patreon.com/saiyanprincenovels. Please be aware that my schedule has changed. Since chapters will be longer, I cannot maintain the same release schedule as before. So it will be down from five weekly to three weekly. Specifically Mon-Tue-Fri. If you enjoyed this chapter and want to see more, don't forget to drop a power stone! Your support helps this story reach more readers!]