The Wooded Temple (Halloween fic)

[Kali Gargoyle]

Since 2000, I’ve written a Halloween inspired fanfic for whatever fandom I happen to be a part of that year. It’s a personal tradition. This year, it’s Avatar. At first, it was difficult to come up with an idea, since unlike my last two fandoms, there is no Halloween in the Avatar world. Fortunately, there are plenty of spirits.

This fic is rated about PG-13, for violence, scary scenes, death, and a touch of gore. Remember, it’s a Horror Fic. This is the first part. I’ll be posting a little each day.

EDIT: Okay, I really didn’t like how this story turned out after I posted it in this thread, so I made some alterations. If this is your first time reading this, please read the full, finished version here:
www.geocities.com/kaligargoyle/thewoodedtemple.htm
If you have already read what I wrote here, I did add quite a bit.

The Wooded Temple
An Avatar: The Last Airbender Halloween fanfiction
By Kali Gargoyle
**

"Run!"

The four friends fled straight towards the cover of the trees. True, it would give very little protection against their three pursuers, but it was better than staying out in the open like they were.

Toph suddenly skidded to a stop, yelling out, "Aang!"

The Avatar turned and leapt to his friend’s side, matching her earthbending stance. Together, they raised their fists and the ground in front of them, creating a wall to hide them. They ran at the static sound they recognized as the buildup to the Princess’ lightning attack. The wall would explode and crumble with a single strike, but before it did, Aang and his friends will have disappeared into the forest, buying them some time.

Toph ran straight for Katara and Sokka’s hiding place behind a large tree far into the forest. "What are we going to do?" Katara whispered.

"We have to get back to Appa and Momo," Aang told them. "Then we can escape."

"One problem," Toph pointed out. "The Crazy Girls are between us and the fuzzballs."

Sokka had climbed up into the branches of the tree to keep an eye out. "They’ll probably follow our trail straight in. If we go deeper into the forest, then circle around, we may just be able to get around them and back to the village."

Katara nodded. "What do you think, Aang? Aang?"

The young airbender was staring off into the trees. Katara touched his shoulder and the boy jumped. “What’s wrong, Aang?”

"I don’t know, I just have this feeling..."

"Noooo...." Sokka groaned. "I hate it when your Avatar senses get all tingly. It means something bad is going to happen. Usually to me."

A warm breeze blew through the clearing and Aang moved into a defensive stance. "It’s just the wind," Toph said. "There’s nothing out there."

"Nothing?" Katara asked, turned towards Toph. "Not even animals?"

"No..." Toph said slowly, the realization dawning on her that the woods should be full of animals, but there was nothing but an eerie silence.

Sokka jumped from the tree. "Come on, let’s get moving before the dangerous ladies catch up with us."

The dead silence of the woods was shattered by a shrill screech, like an animal in pain. The trees in front of them were shoved aside by some invisible force. Brief patches of light and shadow revealed a large animal shape, but not enough to identify it. Katara opened her waterskin, prepared to attack, and Sokka pulled his boomerang.

"What is it?" Toph yelled over the creature’s screams. "I can’t feel anything, what’s there?"

The only way they could tell the spirit-creature was moving was a slight distortion in the scenery behind it. Aang stepped forward. "Spirit! I’m the Avatar. My friends and I only want to travel through your woods in peace!"

After several seconds of silence, the group started to think that the spirit was going to let them go. “Hey, it worked this time.”

Without warning, they were hit with a gust of wind that blew them all out of the clearing. As they got to their feet, they heard the screams getting closer, chasing them down.

"Run!" Sokka yelled, pulling people after him.

"Sokka, wait!" Aang yelled back. "I think we should try and talk to it. It might be upset, like Hei Bai."

"Great, because that little adventure was so much fun for me!" Sokka replied over his shoulder.

The trees to their left shattered. The four sped up, practically feeling the monstrous spirit on their heels.

"There!" Katara pointed out a building that appeared between the trees. The group headed straight for it, taking shelter under its roof. They hid behind the walls, catching their breath, listening intently for their pursuer.

Several minutes went by and nothing happened. "I think we’re safe in here," Sokka said.

"What was that thing?" Toph asked, a panicked lilt to her voice. "I couldn’t feel it, like it wasn’t even there."

Aang sat against the wall. "It was some sort of spirit. There’s something wrong here. I’m not sure what, but I think it needs our help."

"Oh yeah, it seemed very frightened," Sokka replied sarcastically. "I realize this is all part of your Avatar thing, but you’re not much help to anyone if this thing kills you. We’re the only ones in danger here. We have to get back to Appa."

Aang looked at the others and by the looks on their faces, Toph and Katara agreed with Sokka. The young Avatar sighed, "All right."

"Good, now that we’re all thinking clearly, let’s see if there’s a back way out of..." Sokka trailed off.

"What’s wrong- Oh no!" Katara gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes went wide, not believing the scene in front of her.

"Um, are those what I think they are?" Toph asked.

To be continued...

[Funk Oni]

I like what you've got going so far, I'm curious to see where this goes. You didn't force the spirit description upon the reader, which I admire.

All of the canon characters are acting just as they're supposed to, at least in my opinion. That's rather rare in fanfictions and something that I find myself second-guessing constantly whenever it comes time to write for any canon character.

Well executed, I'll be sure to follow the next chapter.

[Kali Gargoyle]

I’m glad my characterizations are good. I usually visualize my stories as actual episodes, so I can hear the voices and see the actions to get a feel of how accurate I am.

Part Two:

Aang stepped forward. "They’re people. Or at least, they were." He walked out amongst the corpses, every one of them burnt to a crisp.

"Oh man," Sokka whispered. "There wasn’t any trace of the Fire Nation anyway else in the area."

"I don’t think this was the Fire Nation," Katara said. "Do you think that spirit could have done it?"

"No," Aang said. "If it could do something like this, it would have killed us already. It was something else." He closed his eyes. "But what? And why?"

"To bring you here, of course."

The four got back into defensive stances, facing the shadows where the voice had come from. "And you’ve added to your little group. Your earthbending teacher, I assume."

Something about the voice was familiar. It sent cold shivers down Aang’s spine. "Who are you?"

Footsteps approached them. "I’m hurt that you’ve forgotten me so soon." A pair of Fire Nation boots stepped into the light. "I thought I’d made quite the impression." The rest of the figure moved forward until his uniform, and then face was revealed.

Aang stood frozen. "Zhao."

The Admiral smirked. "I’m glad you remember me, Avatar." As he came closer, the kids could see the drastic changes the admiral had undergone. His skin had a blue tint to it, with sunken cheekbones and heavy, dark circles under his eyes. "And once I defeat you, I will never be forgotten."

Zhao yelled as he shot twin fire blasts at the group, scattering them. Aang deflected the attacks with air blasts, then hit the admiral with a blast that sent him flying across the room and into a wall. "I didn’t think you survived the North Pole," the Avatar said, standing in defense of his friends.

Zhao got to his feet. "Actually, I didn’t. I was dragged to my death by the Ocean Spirit and found myself trapped in the Spirit World. But I found a way back, and used that WindFox to get you here, so I can have my revenge." Another fireball was aimed at Aang, who blocked with a stone wall he pulled up from the floor.

Zhao was so focused on Aang, he didn’t notice himself being surrounded by the rest of the group. Katara hit him with a blast from the left and Toph slid the ground out from under his feet. From his knees, Zhao surrounded himself with a dome of flames and pushed it outward.

The group all shielded themselves with their elements, while Sokka hid behind an altar.

Zhao got back to his feet. "Foolish children. You can’t possibly beat me. What can you really do, kill me?"

Sokka crawled over to Aang. "He has a point, what are we going to do?"

Aang deflected another fireball, stumbling back. Zhao laughed. "Surrender Avatar!"

Aang weighed his options as Toph and Katara kept Zhao busy. He felt something brush against his legs and looked down. At his feet sat a small, fox-like creature, small whirlwinds appearing as it moved its tail. The young Avatar knelt down beside the animal. "You’re the WindFox, aren’t you?"

The spirit creature looked up at him with sad eyes. "He used you," Aang said. "Can you help us defeat him?"

The little animal rubbed his head against Aang’s hand, then scampered off towards the battle.

To be concluded...

[catalyst283]

OOooo. This fic is really good; I can't wait for the next chapter. ;D


Visualizing it helps; or at least it helps me when I write.

Your mixture of description and action flows very well; a lot of authors have trouble getting both action and description down; they usually can only do one or the other; but you did both and did it very well.

Kudos to you; you've earned some karma.

[Sparky]

very good...i agree the characterization is very good. I especially noticed toph and sokka are very well done, most writers have trouble with those two characters but you've done a great job! karma and i cant wait for the next part

[Kali Gargoyle]

Thank you! I like writing Toph and Sokka, because I share their sarcastic realist natures. ;D

Part Three:

Katara hit the wall hard and fell to the ground. Zhao turned to focus on Toph. "A little blind girl? That’s the best The Avatar could find?"

"I’ve knocked the attitude out of tougher guys than you," The Blind Bandit smirked.

A barrage of fire was sent in Toph’s direction, stopped by an earth shield. Toph slammed her hands against the ground and surrounded the admiral with stone bars.

Zhao pulled his arm back and punched right through the bar in front of him. "I think you’ll find me unlike any other ‘tough guy’ you’ve gone up against, little girl."

Before he could begin another attack, the WindFox latched onto his hand. Zhao screamed and tried to fling the pest away, but it remained stubbornly fastened to his limb.

Sokka rushed to his sister’s side. "Katara!" He helped her to her feet and moved towards the door.

Aang grabbed Toph’s shoulder. "Leave with Sokka and Katara, I’ll finish this."

"But-"

"Go!"

The earthbender ran after the siblings, leaving Aang to face the Admiral alone. "I can’t let you leave, Zhao."

"You can’t stop me." Zhao finally pulled the WindFox from his hand and threw the beast aside. His flesh was hanging from the bone, but no blood dripped from the injured limb. He held it up to give the Avatar a better look. "See? Not even death can separate me from my destiny. After I get my revenge on you and regain my place in the Fire Nation, I’m going to get that failure of a prince. Victory will be mine!"

Aang struck the ground with his staff. "No, I can’t let you." The temple chamber filled with wind, throwing around sacred artifacts, bones, and dust.

Zhao raised his hand to guard his face. "Is that the best you can do?" He tried to shoot fire only to have it deflected by the winds. With a snarl, he threw himself at the boy.

Aang leapt back, dragging his staff along the ground, opening a chasm in the floor beneath them. Unable to change his course in mid-flight, Zhao fell into the hole, just barely catching the edge with his uninjured hand.

The Avatar looked down at his enemy. Zhao looked back up. "I’ve learned a lot since I saw you last," Aang finally said. "I’ve learned a lot about my duty as The Avatar and that I have to put the good of the world before my own wants, and even needs. And sometimes, for the good of the world..." The airbender’s staff hit the ground again and the dirt beneath Zhao’s fingers eroded away and fell, along with the admiral, into the pit.

Aang watched him fall. He never heard him hit bottom, but as soon as Zhao was out of sight, Aang brought his fists and the walls of the fissure together until there was no sign that the floor had ever been disturbed.

**

"Aang!"

Katara ran to greet the airbender as he exited the temple. "Are you all right?"

Aang just looked at her for several seconds, a lost look in his eyes. He finally smiled, a small, sad smile. "Yeah. We better get going."

Thunder crashed down on their heads, shattering the peaceful silence of the forest, causing the four to jump. The tiny WindFox shot out from between Aang’s feet, transforming in midjump into the transparent monster that had chased them to this temple. Several seconds later, cries and the sounds of fire blasts could be heard echoing through the woods.

Aang’s smile got wider. "I think that’s his way of thanking us for saving him from Zhao."

"We better hurry," Sokka said. "Before anything else happens."

Sokka, Toph, and Katara started walking, but Aang stayed behind, staring at the temple. Katara’s hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Aang, are you really okay?"

Aang lowered his head. "Yeah." He looked off in the direction the WindFox had gone off in. "Thanks, friend."

He turned and followed the others out of the forest.

The End

I hope you enjoyed the story. To be honest, I’m disappointed in myself this year. Usually I can give a more suspenseful, spooky, creepy experience. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s my first year in the fandom, I’m out of practice, or because my original idea fizzled out on me and this was a last minute thing.

[Funk Oni]

I think it's a good start. Don't look at it as something to be disappointed as, look at it as the groundwork for an amazing story.

I feel that the first chapter established a powerful and dark mood, one that was well executed and left me looking forward to more. But to be honest, the two chapters following fell a bit short of what I was expecting.

It's still well written, and I think that you have the potential to make it an amazing story. Thank you very much for writing it!

[Kali Gargoyle]

I decided I really didn’t like how this turned out, so I added to and rewrote a few parts. Read it here:
www.geocities.com/kaligargoyle/thewoodedtemple.htm

I like it a lot better now. For some reason, I haven’t been “possessed” by the Halloween the last few days. But I decided to put on my costume and makeup and get into character. Still not sure, but I’m rarely happy with my work anyway. ;D

[Time Bandit]

It's Awsome Loved it funk oni is right it doesn't look like something to be dissapointed about
I enjoyed it
someones earned some karma!