Luna had to be honest with herself – she wished she had died from drowning in the water and stop wasting everyone’s time and that another person will take place of the Avatar.

Park Sunyoung. Avatar of the fire breed. Died age 17. Pathetically drowned due to being pulled down by a waterbending psycho. May she rest in peace.

Yeah, she wished it had been that easy to escape from her problems, but no, she just had to attain her consciousness and woke up spluttering and coughing water out of . The salty taste of the sea lingers around and she gently hit her chest a bit to slow the coughing down.

“You okay?” said a voice and Luna pulled herself up and rested against her elbows, squinting at her side. There he was, a heavily breathing Kai, his wet hair sticking all over his head and his bangs covering halfway down his eyes. He looked so worn out, Luna was surprised he was nowhere near fainting.

“What happened?” She managed to ask, sand coating her wet attire as she tried to brush them off. Kai wiped his hand against his chin and glanced at the sea in front of them.

“I was helping Kyungsoo fight the earthbender earlier, but it wasn’t easy doing combat in water,” he said, “Punches and bending here and there and you guys jumped in. The waterbender from earlier had caught on and went after you.”

“Oh no,” Luna widened her eyes, “You don’t supposed I…that the guy had found out I’m the Avatar?”

“Well,” Kai scratched his head, “I might have given him a concussion in the head. It’s not too bad doing earthbending underwater, people hardly dodge the attacks. But yeah, hopefully he lost his memory or something.”

“You did what now?!”

Kai gently swatted away her hand, “Hey if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have gotten CPR and is currently breathing by now.”

“CPR…” Luna’s voice faltered and her ears quickly turned red as she brought her hands to her lips, “You didn’t.”

“Oh but I did,” a faint smirk played along Kai’s lips as he wiggled his eyebrows, “Now that you’re aware we could probably move on to the next step, you know what I mean?”

Luna grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at his face, in which the later was caught by surprised and spluttered out bits of it, “Hey, I’m joking! Geez!”

Patting herself, Luna stood and looked around for anyone she knew. Currently it was just her and Kai. She looked at him and he just shrugged. Both were separated from the others, that’s for sure. They were still at the sea so the others couldn’t have gone too far off. Behind them was a mass stream of trees, a jungle.  Luna shook her head to get rid of any dumb thoughts and set off to look for them.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kai asked, slowly jogging after her. Luna wringed her wet clothes, “I’m looking for them, what else.”

“You do realise it’s going to be dark soon right?”

Luna looked over at where Kai was pointing. The sun was currently setting down the horizon and shades of orange decorated the sky. There aren’t any birds seen and the temperature was certainly getting colder.

“We should dry ourselves first if you don’t want to freeze to death in those wet apparels,” Kai said, looking around and picking up sticks and twigs he could see, “Make fire out of these and then…”

He didn’t even finish his sentence when Luna lit up a bright flame at the top of her palm. She raised an eyebrow at him and he dropped the firewood he had collected, “…and that works too. Yeah, sure, I forgot you’re a firebender for a while there.”

“Said the person who ambushed me because I look like a firebender the most.”

“Are you still going on about that?” Kai looked bewildered, “Oh come on, past is past, I see you differently now, O dear mighty Avatar.”

Luna gave him a sceptical look before piling up the firewood and lighting them up.  She settled on the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest. The glow of the fire reflected in her eyes as she gazed upon it. Kai stood there awkwardly for a second before taking off his hoodie and setting it on the ground to dry. Wearing just a white shirt, he took his place beside the fire and extended his palms towards the heat.

He looked at Luna, “Don’t you want to take your clothes off?”

“What?!” Luna gave him a horrified look, clutching her apparel and scooting away from him, “For what?”

“To dry of course.” Kai rolled his eyes, “and I actually meant your jacket. It’s the least you can take off anyway.”

Luna still didn’t move as she glared at him. He groaned, “I’m not gonna do anything to you! Why is it that people always think my handsome looks have anything to do with getting into it!”

“Ew don’t even think about that.” Luna scowled, “My brother isn’t here to beat you up so don’t blame me if I get all defensive.”

“I can control myself, thanks.”

Either way, Luna did take her jacket off. It would be too cold if she wears it while it was wet during the night. She could just settle with her three quarter top for the time being. The fire crackled as it released sparks to the sky. Kai fed it a twig from time to time to keep it alive, occasionally poking it with a stick once in a while.

“So tell me,” Luna began, as it was getting too awkward for silence, “how skilled are you in earthbending?”

Kai shrugged, “Probably basic. Not to the master extent. People can easily assume I’m a non-bender since I don’t earthbend much. Kyungsoo’s the master at it.”

“And why don’t you bend much?”

Another shrug was given and Luna released a silent huff. Kai put down the stick and leaned back onto the ground, staring up at the sky.

“I’m the only earthbender in my family. The others are non-benders. Sometimes I get treated a bit special than my siblings because of it, and I realised it was creating a black hole in the family. Nevertheless, I reduce my earthbending so it would seem fair.”

‘But being an earthbender isn’t something you chose, it isn’t your fault, right?” Luna asked. Kai sighed, “I guess, but they wouldn’t understand. I chose to lessen my bending to balance things out.”

“Huh,” Luna raised an eyebrow, “Who would’ve thought you had a nice personality.”

“Hey!”

“Joking.” Luna lied down on the sand as well, gazing up at the dark star-covered sky.  Her hands fiddled around with the sand, clasping some and letting them run through her fingers. The sea breeze blew past, letting the sparks from the fire fly in its direction.

“Why are you not panicking?” Kai asked. Luna looked at him, “Huh?”

“We got attacked by Kris’s henchmen, the others are nowhere to be found, your brother isn’t around and seems to me Kris is getting quite hot on your tail.”

Luna drummed her fingers against the sand, sighing, “I guess I’m just too tired to be thinking about it. I didn’t ask to be the Avatar.”

“But being the Avatar isn’t something you chose,” Kai got up and rested against his elbow, feigning false surprise as he brought his other hand to his chest, “It isn’t your fault….right?”

Scoffing at the similar situation they had earlier, except this time it was the other way around, Luna rolled her eyes at him, “Dummy.”

She raised her hand up in the air, making sparks of flames flying off her tips as it ascends in the dark. Kai stares at it, watching it go further up and disappears. He glanced at Luna for a bried second and opened his mouth to say something before a loud rustle was heard among the trees.

Luna sat up straight immediately, facing the direction of where the noise came from, “What was that?”

The rustle came again, and it sounded like something was moving in the jungle. Kai stood up, bringing his fists together and started to walk slowly towards it before Luna grabbed the hem of his shirt, “What if it can attack us?”

“Come on, I’m an earthbender,” Kai said, “And you’re the Avatar. If anything, we’re the ones that’ll be attacking it.”

“I’m not totally convinced.” Luna stood up, lighting a flame in her hand and cautiously walked towards the jungle. The noise came again and she saw something big moving along the mass of trees. It didn’t move all that fast nor was it informed of the two people trying to catch a glimpse of it. Kai popped out from behind Luna, “Think we can move in nearer now?”

Luna pursed her lips and moved closer. Soon they were inside the jungle, hiding behind a tree. Luna lit the flame brighter and gasped. Kai looked alarmed, “What is it?”

“It’s…it’s huge!” She said. Kai rolled his eyes. That really wasn’t the response he wanted. Luna gripped his arm with her eyes still on the moving object, “And I think I’ve seen it somewhere before…”

“Oh yeah?” Kai stepped closer, walking over the tree roots and lost his breath for a split second when he saw what the object really was.

A humongous turtle the size of his Maserati was crawling slowly among the trees. Kai’s mouth formed an ‘O’ as he watched it move further. Luna tapped his chin, “Come on, let’s follow it.”

“You want us to follow that into this dense jungle and leave our nice and warm sanctuary?” He asked, bewildered. Luna rested her hand against her hip, “We aren’t doing anything anyway, and it’s just a turtle. Somehow I’ve got a strong feeling about this one!”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Kai scoffed, “I’m not one to trust what you’re feeling to be quite honest. What if the others are looking for us?”

“Then they’ll do the better job. Stop whining and be a man for god’s sake.” Luna groaned and grabbed his wrist, pulling him along despite his subtle protests. The light from the fire in her hand guided them to see and follow the turtle, having to walk over huge buttress roots and avoiding lianas. For an animal who’s supposed to crawl slowly, it’s actually moving quite fast. They had to upgrade from shambling to brisk walking, what with the unfamiliar surrounding adding more difficulty to move.

Luna had a whole train of thoughts running through her head as she chased the unknown yet very familiar animal. She knew that animal. She had seen it before, but she couldn’t quite remember when and where. Due to the clouded thoughts going on in her head she didn’t realise she was already jogging and running with her eyes only on the turtle. Kai struggled to keep up with her and yelled at her when she nearly ran over a mini plateau and lost her footing at the edge. She could’ve fallen over if it wasn’t for Kai who grabbed her waist and pulling her down to the ground, avoiding what could’ve been a major accident.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” Kai asked between heavy wheezes of breaths, with Luna sitting between his legs against his chest, dumbfounded at what just happened. In front of her was the very edge leading down to a continuous mass of trees. She hadn’t realised the footing and shook her head for a bit.

“Sorry….” She muttered, “Got a bit…occupied.”

“You don’t say. Come on, we’re losing that thing.” Kai helped Luna to her feet and they both jumped over the ridge, chasing after the turtle. Or rather, only for a few seconds. The said animal was found immobile and was staying in one place, head bowed down to the ground. Luna slowed her pace, brightening the flame in her hand to see what was going on.

A life size statue of a man stood there, made of stone and there was lianas draping over it with moss growing at the bottom. It looked very old and Kai scrounged up his face, “Weird. I wonder who put this here.”

Meanwhile Luna had agaped as she slowly approached it. She extended her hand, hesitant to touch it, “I…I remember now.”

Kai looked up from checking out the huge turtle, “What?”

“This…This is the statue of Yesung, the previous Avatar before me,” Luna pulled the lianas off the statue, “And that turtle belongs to him, Ddangkoma.”

“Oh that rings a bell. He’s an earthbender wasn’t he?” Kai realised, “He was from Busan. Hmm I should’ve paid attention in history class before. What’s his statue doing in the middle of the nowhere?”

“No idea,” Luna said, “No wonder Ddangkoma looked familiar just now.”

“You’ve….met this turtle before?”

“It was in a dream, during my Avatar…” A sudden thought struck Luna so hard she accidentally snapped a vine. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she turned to Kai, who raised an eyebrow at her, “Your Avatar…?”

“My Avatar state!” She clasped her hands together, “In my dream, I met Yesung who told me that all Avatars have this death-like trance where we can meet our previous selves from previous lives. I could try that right now and reach him for help!”

“I don’t know…” Kai scratched his head, “The last time you were in that Avatar state you seemed pretty….dead. Chanyeol got so worried.”

“That’s cause you didn’t know what was going on. We nearly died just now and I’m pretty much at my wits end here,” Luna dusted the statue off, “I have to do this. Watch over me.”

Biting his lip, Kai rested his hands on his hips and thought for a moment before letting out a dejected sigh. He held both of Luna’s shoulders, lowering himself to her eye-level, “Be careful, don’t keep me waiting.”

Luna smiled at him and turned to face at the statue of Yesung. She closed her eyes as Kai stepped away, concentrating on her Avatar soul and what Yesung had told her to do before. A warm wind blew around her as she focused her spirit into it. Kai looked nervous, rising his arms a bit to cover himself from the leaves that was blown around from the wind. Luna’s eyes opened and they were glowing as her feet raised above the ground.

At the same time, the statue’s eyes glowed as well as the wind got crazier. After what seemed like forever, Luna’s eyes closed, her body going limp. The crazy wind and all the glowing stopped and she fell to the ground, which could’ve physically hurt her if Kai hadn’t moved forward and caught her body in his arms. Her head rested against his neck as he kneeled onto the ground, cradling her against him. She was barely breathing.

“Luna? Hey!” Kai shook her gently, patting her cheek and put his ear to her chest. He could still hear her heartbeat, but it was faint, as if she’s dying. If this was what she meant by the death trance, Kai hoped it wouldn’t affect her when she comes back. He looked up at the statue, which seemed like it was gazing upon them. Tightening his grip around Luna, he pressed his forehead against the top of her head and whispered, “Hurry up wherever you are.”