The Swamp

It was around noon in a little Earth Kingdom village and the town was bustling with activity. Villagers were going about their business of work while the homeless were out in the streets trying to provide for themselves. Especially for Zuko, Iroh and Aiko. The three fugitives were sitting in the middle of the village doing a routine they did when they came to a town. Their ostrich horse was curled up behind them, Zuko was sitting against it with his head down and Iroh was holding his hat for money from the passing villagers. He watched as many people passed by, even a man pulling a cart that had geunine masks for sale. Looking to his left, Iroh saw a man walking by then held out his hat and said, "Spare coins for weary travelers." 
The man smiled as he took out a copper coin and tossed it into the hat. 
"Thank you." Aiko said.
"This is humiliating! We're royalty! These people should be giving us what we want!" Zuko griped.
Iroh's face fell from his nephew's negativity. 
"They will if you ask nicely." Iroh said as his smile returned.
"Besides Zuko, they have no idea where we're from so it's best that we keep it like that." Aiko pointed out. Then a young woman in a purple dress, yellow tunic and a fancy hat walked by.
"Spare change for a hungry old man?" Iroh asked holding out the hat.
"Aw, here you go." The woman said, dropping it into the hat.
"The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile." Iroh gave his thanks. 
That caused Zuko to facepalm while the woman just laughed. She walked away and a new face took her place. A man in casual clothing, a long beard and a pair of broad swords on his back. The man stopped in front of them.
"How about some entertainment...in exchange for a gold piece." He pulled out a gold coin.
"We're not performers." Zuko said to discourage the man.
"Not professional ones anyway." Iroh said the opposite of Zuko.
He set the hat down and stood up. 
"It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty!" Iroh sang.
"Come on! We're talking about a GOLD piece here! I wanna see some action!" The man said then reaching behind him, the man unsheated his broad swords. It made Zuko look up and his eyes narrowed as he prepared to react but Aiko held him back. Iroh became a little nervous when the man pointed a blade at him.
"Dance." He ordered.
The man swung the sword against the ground to get Iroh to move.
"They kiss so sweet that you really got to meet the girls from Ba Sing Se!" Iroh sang again.
The commotion had drawn the attention of a few people. And while some didn't think much about it, there were a few in the crowd who wasn't too pleased of how the man was treating Iroh. Even Zuko could hardly keep it together and wanted to fight for his uncle. 
"Nothing like watching a fat man dancing for his dinner." He said.
"Here you go." He said before tossing his coin onto the ground. Iroh picked the coin off the ground while the man started to walk off. The man made a few motions with his hands before bringing the swords together and putting them back in the sheath. 
Iroh sat back down and said, "Such a kind man." 
Zuko angrily glared at the man.
Elsewhere, Appa was passing over a large Ban Grove swamp with a growl as he flew. The skies above him were a bit cloudy at the time. It had been a day or so since the group had left Omashu. And while they were upset that things hadn't gone as planned, they knew that it was best to move on. Aang steered Appa as Lucy and Erza went over their map. Sokka was currently sharpening his machete. Natsu and Gray laid down on the saddle as Wendy looked down below at the forest. 
Aang wasn't paying much attention as he stared at the swamp below. Ever since entering the skies above it, the young Airbender felt as if something in it were speaking to him. Without meaning to, he directed Appa to descend. Lucy looked at Aang and noticed they were going down.
"Aang, is there a reason why we're going down?" Lucy asked. Aang didn't seem to hear Lucy's question as they continued to descend. 
"Aang!" She called out as Aang was startled out of his trance-like state. 
"Why are we going down?" Lucy then asked.
"What? I didn't notice." Aang said.
"You notice now?" Sokka questioned as they continued to descend. 
"What's going on?" Katara asked.
"I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think that the swamp is calling out to me." Aang said.
"Is it telling us to get something to eat?" Natsu stupidly asked.
"No. I think it wants us to land there." Aang answered.
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land for there to land on." Sokka replied.
"Are you sure the swamp is telling you this Aang?" Erza asked.
"I think so. Bumi said that to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" Aang asked.
"Yes." Sokka said.
"I don't know. There's something ominous about this place." Lucy told herself.
"We should probably get out of here. I'm getting the creeps." Happy said aloud. Momo ducked down, Appa let out a agitated roar and Grace snarled.
"See even Happy, Grace, Momo and Appa don't like it here." Sokka said.
"Okay. Since everyone feels so strong about this, bye swamp. Yip yip." Aang said. Appa roared before ascending back higher into the sky. But as the group continued to fly, a tornado suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was coming up behind them fast. Gray looked back when he heard the commotion. 
"Uh, you might wanna throw in an extra 'yip'! We gotta move." Gray suggested.
Aang steered Appa in a serpentine like movement, but the tornado seemed to follow their movements. 
Lucy was then pulled out of the saddle by the high winds. She yelled as she was nearly sucked into the tornado, but Natsu grabbed a hold of her hand. Aang jumped up from Appa's head and into the saddle. Then with a spin, the Airbender created a sphere of air around them that caused the wind around them to calm a little. With the wind dying down, Lucy fell back into the saddle.
"Thanks." Lucy said.
Unfortunately, Aang wasn't able to keep the sphere of air going and it shrunk a little. One of Appa's paws stuck outside and it must have disrupted the technique as the sphere of air dissipated. Everyone screamed as they were pulled off of Appa and being thrown in the tornado. They fell down into the swamp below them. Appa, Momo, Grace, Happy, Carla, ShineGreymon and Omnimon were thrown in a different direction."Is everyone alright?" Erza asked.
"Other than the fact that some random tornado came and knocked us off, I'm fine." Gray answered.
"But where are Appa, Momo, Grace, Happy and Carla?" Wendy asked, looking around. Aang used his airbending to jump between the trees upward. 
"Appa! Momo! Grace! Happy! Carla!" Aang shouted. But he didn't hear anything for miles except the sounds of the swamp.
"This is bad." Katara said. When Katara looked to her brother when he stood up, she pointed to him.
"Sokka, you've got a elbow leech." She said.
"Where?! Where?!" Sokka shouted as he frantically looked around for it. 
"Gee I don't know, you tell me idiot." Gray said. Sokka looked down to his right elbow and saw the leech.
"Why do things always attach to me?" Sokka questioned. 
He was able to pull it off and throw it away, but Katara and Gray had to duck when it came flying at them. 
"Maybe the animals think you're attractive." Lucy said sarcastically. Natsu and Gray chuckled while Katara and Wendy giggle.
"Very funny." Sokka muttered.
Aang came swinging down on a vine and touched down in the water. 
"You couldn't find them?" Natsu asked.
"No. And the tornado just disappeared." Aang said with a shrug.
"Just what kind of swamp is this?" Lucy asked.
"Only one way to find out." Ray stated as the nine moved off to find their friends.
Elsewhere in the swamp, Appa was caught in a tangle of vines. He had ended up in them after being thrown by the tornado. 
"Appa!" Happy exclaimed. 
"Hold on. We'll free you." Carla said. ShineGreymon stepped forward and tore the vines apart. Appa was then freed but fell to the ground. Appa landed with a huge splash with Grace still on him.
"You okay buddy?" Happy asked.
Appa shook off the water in his fur before leaping into the air again. But the bison didn't get far as he was once again ensnared by vines.
"This is terrlble. We need to find the others. Who knows where they are." Carla said prompting Grace to bark in agreement.
After traveling for an hour, Sokka tried a different approach. 
"We need to speed things up if we wanna get outta here." Sokka said, as he started to swing his machete at some vines.
"Agreed." Gray said as he swung his sword at some vines.
"Guys, maybe we should be a little nicer to the plants." Aang suggested, not liking the way Sokka and Gray were treating it.
"Aang, they're just plants. Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka sarcastically asked.
"How about you listen to Aang for once? Something about this place feels...alive." Lucy glanced around and said.
"I'm sure that there are lots of things that are alive out here and if we don't wanna get eaten by them, we need to find Appa, Momo, Grace, Happy, Carla, ShineGreymon and Omnimon as fast as we can." Sokka pointed out. 
"I just hope they're safe. I hate to think about what'll happen to Carla." Wendy said.
"I know what you mean. Hope Happy's fine by himself." Natsu said.
"They will be fine." Erza said.
"Lucy, what's wrong?" Katara asked.
"It's Grace. I'm worried about her and the others." Lucy said.
"They'll be alright, Lucy. Let's keep searching." Gray said.
"Uh, Gray...?" Katara stops talking.
"Let me guess, I lost my clothes again?" Gray asked as he's in his boxers again.
"Yeah." Katara answered.
"I'll be right back." Gray told them as he went to look for his clothes.
"Let's go." Erza ordered.
Appa growled as he trudged through the vast swamp, leaving large footprints in the mud as he went along. Momo, Grace, Happy and Carla sat on the saddle. Appa soon came by a large root that stood at an arch. Appa stopped to observe the situation. The root wasn't tall enough for him to go under and Appa already knew what might happen if he went over. And with a shake of his head, he didn't want to get stuck in vines again. Then with a defeated groan, Appa fell onto his belly with his legs splayed.
"C'mon, big guy. We gotta move." Happy said but Appa groans at Happy to be quiet. "Okay. You leave me no choice." Happy said as he gets the bison whistle and starts blowing it but Appa ignores it.
"That didn't work." Carla said.
"I'll try it again." Happy said but Grace barks to warn the cat but Happy doesn't listen. "Quiet, Grace." Happy said as he blows the whistle again but Appa uses his tail to squish the cat. "Ow..." Happy moaned.
"Grace warned you." Carla said and Momo chitters in agreement while Grace shakes her head.
Meanwhile Lucy, Aang, Natsu, Katara, Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Sokka are walking through a foggier part of the swamp.
"Appa! Momo! Grace! Happy! Carla!" Wendy yelled but no response.
"I don't think they can hear us, Wendy." Lucy said.
"And we can't see them either in this fog." Katara said.
"We're making camp for now." Ray instructed.
"What was that?" Katara asked, frightened.
"Just swamp gas." Gray said.
"Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here." Sokka assured. Then the swamp gas passed over them. Everyone cringed or held their nose from the smell.
"You don't believe in anything is what your problem is." Natsu said.
A sudden pierce scream caused most of the group to jump in fright. They huddled to Erza in fear.
"Really." Ray sweat-dropped. 
"That's the source of the screaming you just heard." He pointed to a little white bird sitting on a tree branch before it opened it's beak and let out another screech.
"Anyway I'm going to start a fire."
"We need wood first." Sokka came across a branch that was growing up from the root. Removing his machete again, Sokka started to hack through the wood.
"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that." Aang said, walking over.
"No, I asked the swamp. It says it's fine." Sokka said even though they all knew that it wasn't true. Sokka then pretended to make his point by shaking a tree limb and asked, "Right swamp."
"No problem, Sokka." He said in a high-pitched voice. Seeing as how he wasn't convincing them, Sokka hacked through the branch annoying Aang.
"Swamp, may I please cut Sokka's head off if he acts like a smart-mouth again?" Lucy asked a nearby root. 
"'Go for it, Lucy.'" Lucy puppets the nearby root while taking Erza's sword making Sokka shake in fear.
"Uh, let's just sit down." Sokka quickly said.
It was a little while later when the group found shelter in a hollowed out tree. The tree had no top to it, but it did stand above the swamp water. Ray used his Firebending to start a fire and Wendy looked around, worried.
"What's wrong, Wendy?" Katara asked.
"Do you guys get the feeling we're being watched?" Wendy turned back and asked.
"I don't think so. I mean, we're alone out here." Gray said.
Sokka swatted a buzzing fly with his machete. The fly suddenly started glowing brightly and everyone shielded their eyes. The glowing bug then drifted up into the trees and a multitude of eyes were revealed. Aang became worried and said, "Except for all of them." 
Most of the gang huddled to Erza in fear again. 
"Right except for them, but there's nothing to be scared of." Erza calmly responded.
Elsewhere in the swamp, Appa, Momo, Grace, Happy and Carla were trying to get some rest on a tree limb above the water. In the saddle, Momo chittered as he could hear all the croaking, tweeting and other noises of the swamp. 
"What was that?" Happy asked.
"Just random noises. Go to sleep." Carla told him. 
Having had enough of the noises, Appa let out a roar and Grace barked loudly. This caused everything close by to be quiet.
"Good job." Carla told them.
"Thanks guys." Happy said in appreciation. He and Momo curled up in the saddle, they tried to sleep. But another sound caused Momo to wake up again and Happy's eyes widened.
"Who's out there." ShineGreymon demanded.
Back at the group's campsite, the embers of the fire started to die out. When the gang was sleeping, someone was watching them through vines. 
One vine started slithering towards them and wrapped itself around Sokka. 
Ray, who was on guard duty yelled, "Hey, wake up!" 
Each of the group woke up with a yell as they were pulled into the darkness of the swamp.
Sokka pulled his machete out and plunged it into the ground. 
He fought against the odd bindings and was able to cut the vines. The vine pieces fell to the ground. Sokka looked about for the others and more of the vines. He found the vines first as they came at him. Sokka hacked at the vines and was able to cut a few of them. He tried to run when more came, but one snagged onto his ankle and pulled him down. Sokka turned and cut the vine before running again.
The Water Tribe teen ran before tripping and tumbling down the root. He splashed down into the water. Sokka looked up before quickly getting back up and running when the vines launched themselves into the water. Sokka ran off to find the others.
Katara and Erza struggled against the vines that were wrapped around them. Moving to where she could move her hand, she brought out the water in her satchel and cut through the vine. Erza moved her sword underneath the vine wrapped around her and hacked it off. When no more vines came at them, they ran off into the mists of the swamp.
Natsu and Wendy struggled against the vines binding them. Natsu burned them away with his Fire Dragon Slayer magic freeing the two. They ran when more came, but they snagged the pair.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu burned the vines to a crisp, but more came and tried to grab the two.
"Ice-Make Sword!" Gray hacked through the vine coming towards him and ran off, but a vine headed in his direction. He froze the vine solid with his ice magic and it shattered. A vine sneaked up behind and wrapped around his waist.
"Ice-Make Axe!" A axe made of ice hacked through the vine and Gray ran off.
Lucy tore through the vines that wrapped around her with a water whip. She ran off to find the others when more vines came towards her. She bent a gust of air and blew them away before running into the mists of the swamp.
Ray stuck both of his swords into the ground to avoid being dragged off into the darkness of the swamp. He effortlessly ripped the vines off and ran into the mists of the swamp before any vines could attempt to grab him.
Aang had managed to stand up on his own two feet, but couldn't break free of the vines. But even though he was stuck, Aang was able to maneuver his arms to create an air sphere around himself that made the vines expand around it instead. When the sphere fell, Aang jumped out of the way when vines came back in tight. Jumping into the trees, Aang ran along the branches while the vines gave chase. But as he jumped towards another branch, a vine was able to snag his foot and drag him back down to the ground.
Aang grunted when he landed in the water, but used a palm thrust to blast him away from the vine. The blast of air sent him sailing through the air before Aang was able to right himself and land on the roots of a tree. Looking about he couldn't see any sign of his friends.
"Guys?" He called out.
Not far away, someone was out and about when they came across the bison's foot prints. A man with a leaf hat, green loincloth, leafy arm bands, a small moustache and wooden glasses, poked the foot print. Glancing back he said, "Due, Tho. Come and take a look at this."
"What?" Two other swamp men said and came over. One was a slightly chubby swamp man and the other was a much skinnier fellow. The skinny swamp man, Due, looked between the two and asked, "What'd you fellas reckon makes a track like that?"
"Don't know, Due." The larger one, Tho, said with a shrug. Then poking around the footprint he said, "It's something with six legs. It's got pretty big'uns too." 
"Leaves a nice wide trail to follow." Due said ans looked to where the footprints lead.
"You know what's at the end of that trail?" Tho asked. Due shook his head and Tho grinned.
"Dinner." He said.
Appa and the others continued to search for their friends in the swamp. Momo, Grace, Happy and Carla sat in the saddle as the sound of buzzing came to their ears. The lemur looked about for the bug and started following it around with his eyes. Momo chittered as the bug buzzed around him. When the bug flew away, the lemur opened it's wings and took off after it. 
"Momo, wait!" Happy called out to the lemur.
Momo followed after the bug and was able to catch it when it stopped on a log. 
"There you are. Will you quit..." Happy cut himself off as the log turned out to be a cat-fish gator that rose it's head from the water with a roar.
Momo screeched in fear and took flight to get away from it. 
"AAAAHHH! Cat-fish gator!" Happy yelled as he took flight as well.
The cat-fish gator pursued the two until they reached Appa. Appa caught the cat-fish gator in his mouth. The screeching Momo landed on Appa's head and looked at the wriggling creature in the bison's mouth. After a second or so, Appa finally spit the cat-fish gator out. It fell into the swamp water before resurfacing and hissed at the three.
"Ha! In your face loser." Happy said. Momo glared and hissed back at the cat-fish gator. Grace barked loudly making the cat-fish gator turn tail and leave them alone.
"Imbeciles." Carla shook her head. Appa groaned loudly in agreement.
"Hey." Happy sounded offended by Carla's statement. Momo also chittered offended.
In another part of the swamp, Katara and Erza walked into a different area where tree roots were covered by white flowers.
"Aang? Sokka? Ray?" Katara called out.
"Lucy! Gray! Natsu! Wendy!" Erza called their names but there was no response.
They saw two figures standing in the mists of the swamp. 
"Hello? Can you help us?" Katara asked but there was no answer.
"Who are you two?" Erza asked as they got a closer look.
"Mom?" A smile grew on Katara's face as she asked.
"Jellal?" Erza questioned.
"Mom!" Katara shouted.
"Jellal? Is that you?" Erza asked.
The two ran up to the figures. A splash could be heard behind them.
"Hey, why are you talking to a pair of stumps?" Ray questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Katara gasped as what she had seen was only an illusion of the swamp. 
"Oh they're just illusions." Erza said. Katara broke down in sadness and dropped to her knees. 
"I'm sorry Katara." Erza consoled her.
"That's okay. By the way, who is Jellal?" Katara asked.
"He was a childhood friend." She answered.
"Let's keep moving." Ray ordered.
"Right." Katara nodded.
Natsu and Wendy managed to get away from the vines. They walked through another part of the swamp.
"Luce! Aang! Katara! Sokka! Ray! Ice Princess! Erza!" Natsu called out but got no response.
"I hope they're all okay." Wendy said aloud.
"Me too. I wonder if..." Natsu cut himself as he saw something in front of him.
"No way." He gasped.
"What's wrong, Natsu?" Wendy asked.
"I-Igneel?" Natsu questioned in disbelief.
"Igneel? You found him?" Wendy asked.
Natsu ran up to the figure he was seeing and Wendy followed him. They stop to see what resembled two dragons. One was a red male dragon while the other was a white female dragon.
"Igneel! It's really you!" Natsu shouted as he ran up to the male dragon.
"Is that Grandeeney?" Wendy asked in shock.
"I can't believe I've..." Wendy stopped as she had only seen an illusion produced by the swamp. It was just a stump. Natsu also realized it was a mere stump, shocking him.
"No...way." He said before his shock became anger.
"NO WAY!" Natsu shouted as his Fire Dragon Slayer magic burn the stump he believed was Igneel.
"I can't believe it was a trick." Wendy said as she broke down and began to cry.
"That was just a waste of time. C'mon. We should get moving if we wanna find our friends." Natsu told her as they walk into the swamp.
Gray walked through a different part of the swamp.
"Lucy! Aang! Katara! Sokka! Ray! Ash-for-Brains! Erza! Wendy!" Gray called out but received no response.
"This is just great. One minute we take a rest, and the next vines show up and separate us. What's next? A tree coming to life?" Gray asked as he continued his search but then heard something.
"Who's there?" He demanded, looking looking. Then he sees what looks like a woman with short hair wearing a green bra and a green bikini.
"Ur?" Gray asked.
"Ur, is that really you?" He repeated the question running up to the woman to reach her.
"You're really..." Gray trailed off as the illusion faded revealing a stump in Ur's place.
"Should've guessed. Whatever. Guess I'd better keep looking." Gray shrugged before walking into the swamp.
In another part of the swamp, Sokka continued to hack through plants.
"Aang! Katara! Ray! Stupid swamp! Dumb, ugly vines! Lucy! Natsu! Gray! Erza! Wendy!" Sokka shouted.
"You think you're so tough, huh?" Sokka questioned the swamp in frustration before trying to fight his way through. But he ended up tripping and fell into the swamp water. When he picked himself up, Sokka looked up to see a beam of light coming down from the trees. But who he saw floating in the air really surprised him. It was the spiritual form of Princess Yue.
"Yue?" Sokka asked.
Sokka walked forward and the two looked into each other's eyes. But Sokka tried to fight it by shaking his head and saying, "This is just a trick of the light. Swamp gas." Then turning away from the spiritual form of his love interest he continued to play it off. "I probably hit my head running away last night. I'm going crazy."
Then he looked back to see if what he was seeing was still there. But he became a little nervous when she was not only still there, but then said, "You didn't protect me."
Her words echoed not only in the swamp but in Sokka's head. The teen tried to rub his eyes and when he looked again he saw that she was gone. Her words made Sokka think about that night and what happened. A little of the guilt returned and Sokka couldn't help but feel like it was his fault again. He sighed before turning around, only to find 'Yue' standing in front of him. Sokka yelped as he fell to the ground. He landed in the swamp water before looking to Yue, but found that she had disappeared. He looked about the swamp to see if she was still there, but couldn't. Sokka only glared as he stood back up and took out his machete.
Lucy walked through a different part of the swamp.
"Guys! Guys!" She called out, but didn't hear anything.
"Just what kind of swamp is this?" Lucy asked herself. Then she heard what sounded like singing.
"Hello?" She questioned looking for the source of the song. As she searched she saw what looked like a woman who mostly resembled Lucy and she had the same blonde hair.
"Hello?" Lucy asked as she ran to the blond woman. She was the source of the song and she held someone.
"Mom?" She questioned and the woman turned to face her.
"Hello there." Layla said with a smile.
"Mom. It is you. I can't believe it. I thought you were gone." Lucy said aloud.
"Of course not, Lucy. I'm sorry for not always being there for you." Layla apologized. Lucy noticed who she was holding. It was a little boy with semi-long dark blond hair and brown eyes.
"Who is he and why does he look familiar to me?" Lucy asked.
"Why this is your brother, Lucy." Layla informed her.
"Brother? But I don't seem to remember having a brother." Lucy retorted.
"Someday, you will realize." Layla said, still smiling.
Lucy looks around to see if anyone else is here but when she looks back to Layla she's gone and so is the little boy.
"Mom? It's probably just an illusion. I should find the others." Lucy said as she starts to move.
"Better do that, Lucy or you'll never be able to see your Avatar friend again." A voice said and Lucy looks around to see where the voice came from and she looks up at one of the trees and finds Luke standing on a tree branch.
"That cloak...you must be one of those cloaked creeps!" Lucy yelled in hatred.
"I always thought you were stupid in the family." Luke said.
"What do you mean I'll never see Aang again?" Lucy asked.
"Sooner or later he'll be alone and by the time you come to help him, it'll be too late and he'll lose his life." Luke said.
"Whoever you are, you don't know the first thing about Aang! We'll always protect each other no matter what! You trying to pick a fight?" Lucy asked.
"Oh, grow up. Do you two really think you're working together because you're friends? You'll never know what's gonna to that bald kid if you don't find him right now." Luke said as he disappears through the trees.
"Was that also a vision or was that real? There's no way Aang's gonna lose his life. We've always worked together to keep each other safe. I should find him now." Lucy said as she continues walking.
Aang walked through his part of the swamp.
"Guys! Where are you?" Aang shouted.
He came to a hill and looked up and thought he saw two people. One was a girl in a white dress and the other was a boy in white clothing standing next to a boar with wings. 
"Hello? Who are you two?" Aang called out. The boar took off into the swamp.
The girl started giggling and the boy laughed. They suddenly turned around and started running off.
"Hey! Come back!" Aang called out to them.
Using his airbending, he was able to jump to the top of the hill. But when he reached the top, he couldn't see any sign of the two. The sound of giggling made him turn around to see them standing on the branch of a tree. Aang then jumped towards the tree and swung on some vines to chase after them. But when he passed over the branch, he saw that they weren't there. The giggling came from behind again and he looked to see them running across the ground. Turning his vine around, Aang swung to the ground. Dropping to the ground, Aang ran after them. But when he passed between to tree branches, the giggling came from above and it made him look up. The girl and boy were standing on a branch before running across it. Aang huffed in irritation before jumping up and running across the branch. The Airbender hoped that when he caught up to them, whether he caught them or they stopped on their own, he could get some answers.
Appa continued to paddle down one of the many water ways of the swamp. But when they saw three boats filled with swamp men in front of them, Appa stopped and the seven looked at the men. The two sides just stare at each other. 
"Uh, who're they?" Happy asked.
"Don't know. I don't wish to know." Carla answered. Momo chittered while Grace snarled.
"Look at that, Tho. Are those hairy little fellas riding on that thing?" Due asked his friend.
"No, that's what them folks call a lemur. Saw one of them at a traveling show one time. Real smart they say. The other one oughta be a doggy and those two things are cats." Tho said from the back.
"Bet they taste like possum-chicken." Due said.
"You think everything tastes like possum-chicken, Due." Tho said with a roll of his eyes. Due shrugged before turning his attention to them.
"Come on now, fellas. Just a little closer. Nice and easy." Due said. 
Then he said something really stupid, "Nothing to worry about. We're just fixin to eat ya." 
"Eat us!? No!" Happy shouted.
"Yip yip!" Carla commanded and Appa started running back down the way he came. Tho looked to Due and questioned, "What'd you say that fer?"
"Well, we are!" Due pointed out. Tho facepalmed before saying, "Yeah, but you don't have to go and tell them that!"
"Well, how's I supposed to know they'd understand me? And why were one of those cats talkin'?" Due asked. Tho then shouted, "Come on! They're gettin' away!" 
Due stood up on his legs as did the other two at the front of their boats. Then waving an arm back and forward, Due and the other two started to bend the water. Then spinning their arms in circular motions, they made the swamp boat speed after them.
Appa was able to bound across the water to try and get away from the Swampbenders. 
"Faster! Faster!" Happy yelled.
The girl and boy continued to laugh as they ran through the swamp. Aang continued to chase them as he bounded across the marshy grounds after them. He ran by a few trees before pushing some hanging moss back. Then he thought he saw them standing on top of a hill. He was really confused when he asked, "Who are you two?"
Then jumping over a tree branch, Aang ran really fast towards the girl and boy. He reached out to grab their shoulders. But when they looked back, Aang saw not only that it was Katara, but Erza and Ray were with her as well. All three gasped when they saw Aang coming and the Airbender crashed into them. They fell down the hill and bumped into Natsu and Wendy as they tumbled.
Near the bottom of the hill Gray and Sokka heard something coming towards them and turned to face it. But they didn't notice it coming from behind them as all six of their friends knocked into them from behind. As Lucy continued her search, she heard a noise and turned only to knocked into as well. They all slide down what turned out to be a giant root before coming to a stop at the bend.
Lucy was the first to get up. 
"What happened to you guys? I've been looking for you." She asked.
"So have we." Natsu answered.
"Yeah, me too." Gray added.
"Same here." Sokka continued.
"Yeah." Katara nodded.
"I was chasing two children." Aang said before using his airbending to stand again.
"What children?" Wendy asked.
"I don't know. I heard laughing and saw a girl and a boy." Aang shrugged and said.
"Well, there must be some random party out here and we didn't get our invitations." Sokka sarcastically said.
"No one would even bother to invite you to a party." Gray muttered causing Sokka to cross his arms.
"I thought I saw mom." Katara said. This surprised the group, as they knew the subject of their mother was hard for Katara. Even Sokka seemed to quiet down a little.
"Look, we're all just scared and our minds were playing tricks on us." Sokka said.
"That's probably why we see things out here." Erza deduced.
"What'd you see Erza?" Natsu asked the red-haired woman.
"I thought I saw Jellal." Erza answered.
"What about you guys?" She turned to the others and asked.
"I thought I saw Igneel." Natsu answered.
"I thought I saw Grandeeney." Wendy added.
"Who are they?" Katara asked.
"Our adopted dragon parents." Wendy explained.
"You two were raised by dragons?" Aang asked.
"Yeah." Natsu answered.
"I thought I saw Ur." Gray said.
"What did you see, Sokka?" Katara asked.
"I thought I saw Yue, but that doesn't prove anything." Sokka said.
"No one cares what you say, Sokka." Lucy told him.
"What did you see, Luce?" Natsu asked.
"I thought I saw my mother and a little boy. I don't remember seeing him before, but I felt nostalgic about him for some reason." Lucy explained.
"Look guys, I'm sure we think about the people we care about all the time and we miss those people." Lucy turned to them and said.
"But what about me? I didn't recognize the people I saw. And all of our visions led to this exact spot." Aang stated.
"So where is here? The middle of the swamp?" Gray asked a good question. They all looked about as Aang said, "Yeah. We're at the heart of it. The very center of the swamp. It's been calling us here." 
"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone. For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here." Sokka argued.
"And for the last time, NO ONE cares what you say." Lucy replied, annoyed.
Just then a giant shape burst out of the water next to them. The group was shocked at what they saw. They all stared up at the beast as it had green skin and a brown wooden mask for a face. The beast lashed out an arm and the group scattered to avoid being hit. Then a orange fireball struck it. A screaming Sokka ran from it and it lashed out its arm. The arm stretched out before grabbing Sokka and yanking him back.
"Requip!" Erza donned her Purgatory armor and cut off the arm holding Sokka. 
The monster turned it's attention to Erza who cut the monster's arms off again.
"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray created multiple ice lances that impaled the monster.
In the water, Sokka tried cutting up the vines before they were pulled back into the monster's body. Sokka got grabbed again and the swamp creature surfed across the water with him in its grasp. Katara stepped in and cut the monster's left shoulder with her waterbending.
"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu rushed towards the monster. He produced a large stream of fire that came in contact with it, burning it and sending it flying from the force of the produced fire. 
"Requip! Heaven's Wheel!" Erza donned Heaven's Wheel armor and summoned multiple swords which cut through the vines but more grew from it's shoulder repairing the damage Katara and Natsu had done. Wendy blew the monster away with her Sky Dragon Slayer magic. She was sent flying by a third vine arm from its abdomen. Lucy caught her and then summoned Aquarius to assist her as the two struck the swamp monster with water. Their distraction gave Gray a opportunity to use his Ice-Make magic in a attempt to freeze it. The monster shattered the ice and charged at Gray. Sokka was absorbed into the monster's chest. 
Elsewhere, Appa was still on the run from the Swampbenders as they still chased them. The bison bounded through the swamp while the Swampbenders continued to use waterbending to chase them. They were able to follow the bison's movements even when he went through the twists and turns of the swamp. The Swampbenders were soon starting gain on the two as they continued to go through the swamp.
But luckily, Momo took up action by throwing the group's stuff at the Swampbenders. A crown of sorts hit Due in the head, and though it hurt when he clutched his head, the Swampbender was able to keep on bending the water to make the boat go forward. Momo picked up one of Sokka's rolled up shirts before throwing it at them. The shirt hit a swamp man and it caused the boat to swivel. 
"Yeah. That's it! Keep em coming!" Happy exclaimed.
Tho then became confused and questioned, "Now what would a lemur need a shirt fer?"
The out-of-control boat crashed and the two boatmen screamed as they fell into swamp water. The two boatmen tumbled before falling fully into the water. Momo chittered in laughter while Appa kept on running. 
"We should keep moving before..." Carla trailed off when she, Happy, Momo and Grace slammed into a tree branch. When they fell down, Tho was able to catch them. Tho tightened the bag before setting it down on the floor of the boat. Appa roared as he continued to run through the swamp with the Swampbenders still chasing after him.
Aang, Lucy and Wendy created a whirlwind that twisted the vines of the creature into a towering formation. 
Katara and Gray ran onto a root and froze the parts around Sokka. His teeth chattered from the cold feeling. Erza broke Sokka free with her water magic leaving a giant hole in the monster.
Katara and Lucy send large round blades of water at the monster. The water sliced through the swamp creature's body and didn't give it any time to regenerate. Natsu, Gray and Erza join in the attack. A figure stood in the monster before making more vines to cover him up again.
"There's someone in there!" Sokka shouted.
"He's bending the vines!" Wendy exclaimed.
Lucy, Katara, Gray and Erza sent a really big blade at the monster.
Their blade cut clean through the monster's wooden face and body of vines. The bottom of the mask fell off before the cut portion of the monster fell into the murky water as well. But it didn't seem like it was through yet as more vines from the swamp creature lashed out at them. It captured Katara, Gray and Erza and held them up high. But they didn't have to worry for long as Lucy and Aang dropped down from the trees while spinning before unleashing a huge wave of air at the creature. This ripped the vines apart.
"Why did you call us here if you were going to kill us?!" Aang demanded.
"Wait! I didn't call you here." A voice said. It was a man wearing a really small leafy loincloth.
"You didn't?" Lucy asked.
"We were flying and I heard something calling to me. Telling me to land." Aang explained.
"He's the Avatar." Gray said.
"Yeah and stuff like this happens to us a lot." Sokka added, but Lucy smacked him.
"The Avatar? Come with me." The man said.
The group followed the man through the swamp. They all climbed up the large roots of the Ban Grove tree in the middle of the swamp.
"So who are you?" Wendy asked.
"I am the one who protects the swamp from folks that want to hurt it." The man said as he maneuvered a vine out of the way of their path. Then he said for example, "Like this fellow right here with his big knife." 
"Yeah. That's because he's an idiot and has no respect for plant life." Lucy pointed out, earning a glare from Sokka.
"This is a relief. Forgive us. We thought you were just a monster, but you're just defending your home. I suppose there's nothing mystical about this place." Erza said.
"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place all right. It's sacred. I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan-grove tree. I heard it calling me just like you did." The man said.
"Sure you did. It seems pretty chatty." Sokka sarcastically said.
"Please be quiet." Ray turned to him and ordered. 
"See, this whole swamp is actually just one big tree spread out over miles." The man said and they all looked out to the swamp. They saw how it spread out as far as the eye could see as he said, "Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more. One big living organism, just like the entire world." The man explained.
"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Lucy asked.
"Sure." The man shrugged as they all sat down too. "You think that you're any different from me, or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it." He said.
"But what about the visions we saw?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah. What do they mean?" Katara questioned, wondering about that part.
"In the swamps, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone, but the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death." The man answered.
"But what about my vision? It was two people I've never met." Aang asked.
"You're the Avatar. You tell me." The swamp man said with a knowing grin.
"Time is a illusion so they're people I will meet." Aang started as he thought about the man's words. It clicked in his mind as he put it together. 
The swamp man nodded as he got it right.
"Sorry to interrupt this lesson, but what about Appa, Momo, Grace, Happy, Carla, ShineGreymon and Omnimon?" Natsu asked.
"I think I know how to find them." Aang said.
Maneuvering to where he kneeled down on the root, Aang placed a hand against it. Then he said, "Everything is connected."
Everyone watched in amazement as the arrow on Aang's right hand started to glow. A circle of energy formed around the Avatar's hand before shooting down the Bang Grove root. The rest of the group and the swamp man all watched as the energy ran down the root and into the swamp. 
The trail of energy traveled very fast and very far through the swamp. Aang concentrated as he could feel something from the roots. Suddenly, the swamp showed Aang an image of a fleeing Appa being caught by a net from the Swampbenders. The bison gave a panicked roar as he tried to escape.
Aang's eyes shot open as he knew they had to hurry. 
"Come on. We've got to hurry! They're in trouble!" He said.
The group looked to each other as he started to run before following after him.
The Swampbenders were overjoyed by the catch that they made as they dragged Appa behind them with their boats. Happy, Carla and Momo struggled in their bags while Grace struggled in the small net.
"Set my lines by the river bed! Caught ten fish and killed 'em dead! Cut 'em and gut 'em and I tossed the heads in the water to keep them cat-gators fed." Tho sang but then the boats stop when a large sphere of energy destroyed one of the boats.
"You have some friends of ours. We're here to get them back." ShineGreymon glared down at the Swampbenders.
"Appa!" Aang shouted.
Bringing both hands to his side, Aang shot a blast of air at Tho. It knocked Tho off the boat and into the water behind him. Lucy proceeded to free Momo, Happy, Carla and Grace.
"You guys okay?" Lucy asked.
"Yep. Thanks, Lucy." Happy replied as Grace licked her.
"We're under attack!" Due shouted. He then sent a stream of water at Aang, Lucy and Katara, but the three were able to block the wave. Both sides pushed back and forth on the wave.
"Hey! They're Waterbenders!" Katara realized.
"You too! That means we're kin." Due said.
Katara's face fell as if she really didn't like the sound of that.
Just then Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Ray, Sokka and the man appeared on the root.
"Hey, Huu! How have you been?" Due asked.
"You know, scared off some folks, swung some vines, the usual." Huu shrugged with a grin.
"Huu?" Gray asked.
Later that evening, the group and the Swampbenders were gathered around a campfire. 
"How about some possum-chicken?" Due offered. Sokka took it and started eating.
"Tastes like arctic hen." Sokka compared what they had back home. 
"So why're you guys so interested in eating Appa? You've got plenty of those big things wandering around." Natsu asked.
"You want me to eat ol Slim?" Due asked as if the idea were crazy. Then patting the cat-fish gator on the snout he said, "Slim here's like a member of the family."
He tossed a fish to Slim who caught it with his mouth. Sokka then removed a bug on his shish kabob before tossing it to Slim, "Nice Slim."
But the bug hit the cat-fish gator on the head. The reptile glared at Sokka and growled as the Water Tribe teen shrieked in fear.
"Baby." Gray muttered.
Due started laughing before saying, "Oh, he don't eat no bugs. That there's people food."
"So where'd you guys say you were from?" Tho asked.
"The South Pole." Katara said while Sokka started eating again. Tho shrugged and said, "Didn't know there were Waterbenders anywhere but here." Then he asked, "They got a nice swamp there, do they?"
"No. It's mostly all snow and ice." Katara informed them. That shocked the Swampbenders before Tho commented, "Mm, no wonder you left." 
"Well, I hope you guys realize that..." Sokka was cut off by Lucy.
"That it's only your opinion and you should shut up and stop bragging about it." Lucy said.
"Whatever." Sokka replied as he took a bite of a giant bee and gave a face of disgust before swallowing it.
"Were we really hungry when it came to the visions?" Wendy asked.
"I don't know, Wendy." Lucy admitted.
"Huu, if you don't mind, what I can't figure out is how you made the tornado from earlier suck us down." Erza said.
"He wouldn't be capable of something like that." Ray reminded her.
"Yeah, I just bend the water in the plants." Huu nodded in agreement.
"Okay then." Lucy replied but then began feeling uneasy.
"Luce, what's wrong?" Natsu asked.
"It's nothing, Natsu." She reassured him.
'I can't help but think of what that cloaked guy said to me about not saving Aang. What did he mean by that? Who is he? Why does he look familiar to me?' Lucy asked herself mentally.
Unbeknownst to the group, Luke was standing on a tree branch overlooking them.
"Lucy's never gonna cut anything. Still gotta break that floozy in. Her friends also need to suffer. I'll be more than happy to make them suffer." Luke said before disappearing.
Back at the Earth Kingdom town, the streets were eerily quiet in the night. The man from before that cruelly made Iroh dance walked about the quiet streets. The man stopped when he heard something before reaching behind him and unsheating his blades. He swung them around to intimidate whoever was behind him as he turned around, but he didn't see anyone there. With a glare, he asked, "Who's there?"
The sound of running feet made the man turn the other way, but he didn't see anything. But when a figure did appear from out of the shadows, a hand grabbed the man's wrist and caused him to drop his blade. The man yelled in pain from the twist of his wrist and swung his other sword. But the other man was ready for him as he grabbed the man's other wrist before twisting it too. The man dropped his other blade and the other person then threw the man into a stack of crates. The man cried out as he fell to the ground.
The mysterious figure stepped up to the dropped swords before kneeling down to pick them up. When he stood tall again, the Blue Spirit looked down at the man before stepping back into the shadows.