Fan Fiction ❯ Finally Woken ❯ An Interesting Beginning of a Twisted Relationship ( Chapter 1 )

Lucien's lucid brown eyes flickered open. He was lying on his back on something soft, his head felt like it was splitting open, and he was most definitely not in the den in front of the TV. Groaning, he sat up and clutched his aching head. He sat like that for a few minutes, letting the pain in his head recede, eyes closed tightly.

 

A bird chirped. His eyes flew open again. Sunlight dappled the soft grass around him and huge trees towered around the little clearing he sat in, looming impressively, like sentries holding off the darkness of the forest surrounding him. Lucien could feel himself hyperventilating, but couldn't seem to think of anything to do about it; he felt numb all over, including his mind. Then he found himself sucking at air that suddenly refused to go into his lungs. White stars danced behind his eyes, and then blackness enveloped his brain in a suffocating cloud.

 

When Lucien regained consciousness, the sun was directly overhead. Noon. Who knew how long he'd been gone in his world? He was quite positive now that this wasn't his world, or his universe, or his… Anything. He was lost in someone else's world and he didn't know how to get back.

 

He stood up and took a deep breath. Okay… Find shelter…No, definitely find food first. His stomach growled a loud agreement and he took a venturing step towards the woods. Nothing happened. Good so far. Another step, and then another, and then he was wandering through the trees, gaping open-mouthed at all the wacky animals and very weird berries and nuts. Most definitely not his world. A bird that resembled a Bird-of-Paradise soared past with a keening chirrup, its long tail feathers trailing elegantly through the air behind it as it vanished back into the trees. Lucien was fascinated. It was all so… Peaceful…he thought vaguely. Then he heard something that stopped him dead in his tracks.

 

“We're not going the right way!”

“Sure we are! You just can't tell yet `cause we haven't gotten there yet!”

“Where ARE we going?”

 

He knew those voices! He'd heard them before, when the television went psycho and blasted him through a billion dimensions to here. The first voice was light and gentle. Definitely female, and probably younger than him. The second was male, stubborn, and slightly comical. The third was high-pitched and curious. A boy younger than him.

 

Lucien found himself changing directions and moving with a more purposeful stride than before. He was going toward the voices, maybe hoping that they'd know what was going on. He wasn't sure. His mind was still numb. Somehow he was moving silently among the natural fallen debris on the earth, and it reached his dazed mind that they wouldn't hear him coming. Some small part of him decided that might be good

 

Aang bounced ahead, then turned and waited for Sokka and Katara, who were still bickering. “Sokka, are you sure there's a town around here? The whole island just looked like one big forest to me,” Aang interrupted thoughtfully, walking backwards so he could face the siblings and still keep up. Sokka turned slowly to face him, his light-brown face dark red and one eye twitching slightly.

 

“Yes Aang. I am sure there is a town here. Now be quiet before I-” Katara broke in, saying, “Maybe we should scout ahead, Aang. C'mon.” She sprinted forward, grabbing Aang's hand and dragging him after her. Then Sokka froze and snatched Aang's other hand, stopping both of them. He put a finger to his lips and listened hard.

 

Snap. A dry branch cracking under someone's weight. The faint rustle of foliage being pushed aside. The quiet sound of another person's breathing.

 

Katara backed away from the noise slowly, taking care to remain as quiet as possible. Sokka silently slid his boomerang from its holster around his shoulders and lifted the blade end high, preparing to strike. Aang dropped into a fighter's stance, ready to send a wall of air at the trees.

 

The noise suddenly stopped. Whoever it was had paused, and the three could almost feel him listening. No one made a sound.

 

Then Katara felt a pair of strong gloved hands cover her mouth and she was yanked backward. Aang turned and saw her wide blue eyes vanishing into the shadows of the forest and shouted, “Katara!” while lunging after her. Sokka bellowed, “Look out Aang!” as the Whoever-it-was burst from the brush and sent a blossom of flame at the Avatar, his unscarred eyes sparkling with delight.

 

Lucien had stopped when the threesome had, watching them from behind a bush. He too could hear the weirdo guy in armour making his way inexpertly through the bushes, but was still shocked when the girl was yanked backward and the kid and older boy were jumped on by the freak with the scar. The kid was throwing something invisible at the guy, and he was being forced backward, as if by blasts of air. But what was even weirder that either the scarred teenager or the invisible ammo the arrow-headed child was using on him was the sudden explosion of fire, which apparently came out of the scarred dude's clenched fists, which he was now using to punch thin air.

 

Lucien felt light-headed. This was all just too much. And then he heard the girl scream and flinched. Both the kid and the other teenager, who looked around Lucien's own age, shouted something, but neither could escape for the flames apparently being shot out of the freak's hands. Lucien froze, unsure what to do.

 

The girl screamed again.

 

Damn! he thought furiously to himself before plunging after her and her captor.

 

Katara was being pushed around and jostled through the brush by the Fire Nation soldier, who had a tight grip on her upper arm and moved purposefully through the trees. He's taking me to Zuko's ship, she realized with a pang of horror. He's going to use me as bait for Aang! She began to struggle harder, beating helplessly at the thick armour plating the soldier's body and screaming at the top of her lungs, hoping one of the boys could hear her and would come. There was no water here for her to throw in his face, only the moisture in the air, and she wasn't advanced enough to gather that into any amount of liquid big enough to be effective against the man pushing her. But then she heard the sounds of someone crashing through the trees towards her and the soldier, and she cried out both boys' names in relief before she saw the person running to her rescue and her eyes grew wide.

 

Lucien smashed through the last barrier of brush and sent a flying kick at the helmet of the man holding Katara. It made him stagger, but didn't seem to cause any permanent damage and he was still gripping the girl's arm. Thank god I took Martial Arts at school, Lucien thought, bringing his elbow down into the tender inside of the man's elbow and making him yell and release the girl. “Go!” he shouted at her, waving a hand backwards in the direction he'd come from. “Run!” But she only stood, apparently dumbfounded by his sudden appearance. And now the soldier was regaining himself, and he was drawing back a big gloved fist.

 

Katara stared, shocked, at her saviour, who was motioning frantically for her to go back, but all she could see was his very strange appearance. And now she could see the jet of flames coursing through the air towards him. She gasped and took a step back as the fire neared him, but he had seen the soldier's attack coming, and though he seemed surprised at the ball of fire, he did a deft back flip and evaded the blast, which scorched the ground and left the once-green grass smoking. The boy had had enough, it seemed, because he grabbed her wrist and tugged her after him, ducking more flames as he darted into the trees. He leapt over fallen logs and crashed through the undergrowth at a dead run, and she stumbled trying to keep up with him. Far behind, Katara could hear the firebender's bellows of fury growing fainter.

 

Prince Zuko kicked out and sent a swift trail of fire at the water tribe peasant, who jumped out of the way just in time so that the heat of the flame grazed his cheek but left no mark. The Avatar sent shockwave after shockwave through the air at the banished prince, but Zuko merely dug in his heels, grabbed a hanging tree branch, and retaliated every time with untiring ferocity. In a rare pause in the fight, Zuko took his chance and let out a malicious laugh, shouting, “You've already lost, Avatar! I have the girl, and if you want her to return to her brother in one piece you'll come with me.” It worked. Both boys froze in their tracks, staring at Zuko in apparent horror.

 

Lucien was panting hard when he finally stumbled into the clearing, the girl behind him gasping for air and still obviously gobsmacked (such a fun word! ^_^) at both his sudden appearance and his looks. He could feel heat rising in his face when she still didn't look away from him and simply tugged her along harder, towards the place where the three had been ambushed. The scene before him appeared to be in slow motion, with the armoured teenager laughing insanely at something that the other two boys obviously found horrifying. “Hey!” Lucien yelled, waving his arm flamboyantly to catch their attention.

 

Sokka was gaping. He knew it, but he couldn't help it. He'd just been told that his sister was now the prisoner of the biggest jackass in the world. Who knew what Zuko'd do to her if Aang didn't go with him? I mean, that kid was nuts. Seriously messed up. Just like all the other Fire Nation bastards. Sokka could feel his fists clenching by his sides, and then he drew back a fist and aimed at that smug little brat's face (little being used as an insult; the prince was actually a bit taller than him). Sokka felt a twinge of pleasure at the look of shock that appeared on Zuko's face when his fist flew towards him, but then someone shouted and he froze, his knuckles inches from the prince's nose, and both the banished prince and Sokka looked around. And there was Katara, standing behind some strange kid in even stranger clothing.

 

“Hey!” Lucien shouted again, pulling Katara forward, and then, “WHOA!” He bent over backwards (literally) as a blaze of fire shot over him. The snob with the scar was howling with frustration and flames spurted from his hands as he furiously punched at Lucien again and again. He shoved the girl behind him, grabbed a big rock while the brat was distracted with his little fire show, and lobbed it as hard as he could at Zuko.

 

Prince Zuko, the banished royalty of the Fire Nation, fell backward as something big and hard slammed into his stomach. He was thrown to the ground, and lay there for a moment, winded and clutching his stomach, as the new boy raced forward with his would-be captive. His amber eyes flared with anger at the insolent little pipsqueak that dared ruin his plans, and kicked out from his place on the ground. To his satisfaction, his foot connected with the boy's hip, and he was thrown sideways, striking a thick tree trunk, and the prince was on his feet before the new boy had a chance to get up. Concentrate, he muttered to himself, taking a deep breath. His body began to heat up, and he could feel the fire pressing against his skin, begging to be released. He held it, even as he felt his skin grow painfully hot with his own powers.

 

Aang realized what Zuko was doing a moment before he did it and sent a blast of air at the other three, throwing them into the forest as he leapt after them. The searing heat of Zuko's attack made them gasp and the fire that roared over their heads nearly deafened them. The banished prince had sent fire from every part of his body, making a circular explosion of flame that penetrated deep into the forest, forcing birds to take flight to avoid it and sending small animals skittering away. The Avatar had created his own circular blast of air around the four at the same time as Zuko released his attack. The widening wall of wind had blown the fire away from them, but when Aang leapt to his feet and rushed back into the clearing with Sokka right on his heels, ready to defend themselves from the teen nobility, they found it empty. Zuko had vanished.

 

Katara crept out from the bush she'd ducked under and stood up, walking dazedly out to where Sokka and Aang stood, looking warily around for signs of ambush. There were none. Prince Zuko had really left, retreating to his ship, where his uncle would spend several long hours and about fifty cups of tea trying to calm him and put out the fires he created. Her rescuer staggered out after her, looking, if possible, even more dazed and confused than she did.

 

Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Lucien all stared at each other; well, the first three were pretty much just goggling at Lucien, who was glancing nervously between them, as if waiting for one of them to attack him. Then Aang, or “The Arrow-headed Kid” as Lucien thought of him, stepped forward, stuck out a hand, and said cheerfully, “Hi! My name's Aang! What's yours?” and Lucien fainted.