Archive of Our Own ^beta

For the past few days, Xiao Liang has been noticing a strange dark shape flying above his small Fire Nation village. His friends always did tease him about having an active imagination and being strange, but he couldn’t help wondering if they were right. No one else seemed to notice the dark shape, and every time he tried to point it out, it would disappear.

Instead of being depressed or discouraged by his treatment, Liang only felt determined. He would find out what that dark shape was and prove to the others that it wasn’t just his “active imagination” and that he was telling the truth. So, every day, he would sit in a creatively hidden fort at the top of one of the nearby hills and wait for the shape to come back.

——

Blackjack used his free time when he wasn’t following the Boss around to explore the new world he found himself in. When Big Boss had asked him if he would give up living in the world he knew to accompany Boss into a new one, Blackjack had jumped at the chance. No world, he figured, was worth living in if the Boss wasn’t there. The whole time Boss had been missing, Blackjack had been terribly bored and extremely depressed. He flew around the world three times before giving up and waiting in his stable at Camp Half-Blood, barely eating and sleeping all the time.

But now, he was back at the job, waiting on the Boss to call him so he could be of service, and exploring in the meanwhile. The first place he decided to explore was a small town near this giant volcano that sat near a heavily populated river. He wondered why there were so many fish in a freshwater river, but this world was so full of new creatures that he couldn’t really be surprised. Besides, technically all sea life were his family.

The first fishy cousin he met was a strange-looking guy that was almost half the length of Blackjack’s trunk. He had the body of an eel, but the face and legs of a rat. What a weird cousin, he thought! His eel-rat cousin explained that this world was full of creatures that were mixtures of animals rather than just one type of animal. Blackjack wondered how they knew what those animals were if there were only mixtures around here. On the bright side, Blackjack didn’t think he would stand out as much as he would back home if someone spotted him!

After meeting his cousin, he followed him around for a little while and realized that the rat-eel could actually go on land for a while before returning to the river. Blackjack had decided—he needed to get acquainted with the new creatures around here so he could go get the Boss to help them out when they needed it like he did back home.

Blackjack returned to the river everyday after checking in with the Boss and his group. They were holed up in that upside-down city above the big canyon. Boss made sure he didn’t call it the Grand Canyon; apparently, there was a difference.

When Blackjack felt like he had a good knowledge of the river creatures, he decided to change locations. But, before he could do that, he heard a cry for help. This was it! He galloped toward the beaver’s dam where he could hear most of his fishy cousins whispering. They were gathering to see what was happening, a good sign that something was happening.

Surprisingly, when Blackjack arrived, it wasn’t a fishy cousin who needed help, but a mortal child. He tilted his head in confusion and wandered closer to observe what had happened. When he stepped on some sticks near the riverside, the child’s head whipped in his direction and he called out to him, reaching his hand out like some of the campers did back home when they had fallen off of something.

——

Liang noticed that the dark shape would always pass his village before disappearing over the forest, so he decided to start in the forest. He spent every day wandering around until he found odd track marks near a large river. The marks looked like some type of large animal had wandered around, going on both sides of the river, and possibly into the river as well. He wondered what kind of creature could fly and swim, especially with these tracks.

A few days of observation revealed that the tracks always originated beside and stayed around the river! Liang just knew that he would find something if he spent his days around the river. He would return to the river every day after school, ignoring his mother’s warnings and his father’s confusion. He would definitely find out what the odd shape was. He was so close!

Then, one day, he made a mistake. Liang was wandering around a few feet above the lizard-beavers’ dam when he slipped on a moss-covered rock and fell into the water. Since Liang’s city was pretty far inland, he had never learned how to swim! He flailed around a lot, gasping for air when his face broke the surface, but was eventually swept right into the middle of the dam.

“Ow!”

He tried to pull himself up, but every time Liang tried to grab a stick to pull himself out, it would break off into the water. The dam was made entirely of twigs and mud, so it wasn’t very sturdy when faced with a tween-aged boy.

“Help!” he cried, kicking off of a stick underwater to push his face above the lapping stream. The river had looked a lot smaller from the side! Now, it seemed like there was a vast gap between the middle and the end of the river. When he tried to move closer to the edge, the twigs under his feet broke off and dunked him back underwater. He was forced to push himself back to the solid spot he had found near the middle of the dam.

“Oh my gosh, I’m going to die out here!” he cried, scrabbling along the dam for a hand hold, and finding none. When the dam creaked dangerously loudly, Liang froze. He couldn't help it, shame built up in his chest and Liang started to cry.

Suddenly, he heard a noise from the riverside and turned to see what it was. Liang's tears had filled his eyes and he could barely make out a dark blob standing beside the river. His thrashing legs were barely bobbing his head back above water and he reached his hand toward the blob desperately.

"Help me!" He tried to scream, but water entered his mouth again and he choked. It felt like the entire river had filled his lungs at this point. He could barely breathe and he just felt so tired. The cold water made his legs stiff and soon they weren't responding as well as they were. He made one last desperate grab for the dam, and his hand hit something warm and wet. He scrabbled for a handhold against it and grasped what felt like hair. Then, all at once, he was pulled from the river and deposited onto the back of something large and hard. He coughed weakly, still clinging desperately to the hair in his hand for fear that he was going to fall back in. Black spots danced around his vision as the empty feeling in his chest slowly dispersed and he took several gasping breaths, coughing out lungfuls of water on whatever surface he was lying on.

Just before his vision completely went black, Liang remembered what his mother told him to say when someone helped him. It seemed appropriate now . . . but his whole body felt so . . . heavy . . .

——

Blackjack pumped his legs a few more times and clopped his way back onto the riverside, turning to make sure his little human companion hadn't fallen off. The little human was lying limply on his back and he heard a faint whisper leave his lips.

"Thank you."

Blackjack puffed up his chest with pride and started moving toward the forest. He usually flew past a mini city on his way to the stream. Maybe the people there could help the little person. Blackjack did a really good job! Even though it wasn't a fishy cousin, he had helped without having to go get the boss!

He disappeared into the forest, using his wings to keep the little human from falling off his back.

——

Li Na was worried. She couldn't find her Xiao Liang anywhere and it was nearing dinner time. He didn't usually stay in the forest when the sun fell past the tree tops. She had scolded him the last time he came home late. But her son had been obsessing about something in the forest and going everyday to find it. Li Na had thought it was just a game he was playing, but if he had really followed something into the forest . . .

She saw her husband down the street and rushed to meet him. "Have you found anything yet?"

The man just shrugged. "Be calm, Li Na, our son is growing and needs adventure! He will return soon."

She felt her cheeks warm and scowled at the oblivious fool, "What if he's hurt?" she snapped, gesturing to the forest path near them. "He might have been attacked by an animal! Or worse, captured by the spirits!"

He just laughed. "Li Na, you tell our son too many bedtime stories."

Then, there came a loud sound from the forest. The couple froze and turned their wide eyes to the dimly lit trees as soft thudding sounds came closer and closer. It sounded like no animal they had ever heard before.

"Get behind me," her husband ordered, holding up his farming hoe protectively and putting one arm in front of Li Na. She stepped back and strained her eyes toward the woods. Her heart raced like a dozen goat-rabbits hopping down a mountainside. Was this the creature that had captured her son's attention for the past few weeks? Had he found it? Maybe Liang was there right now!

Li Na ignored her husband's protests and rushed toward the darkening woods, following the clopping sounds that almost echoed through the leaves. She paused to look around and her husband bumped into her from behind, almost throwing them both off balance. There, to the side was a formidable dark figure, one that towered over them and almost reached the lower leaves of the trees above their heads. An oval-shaped head sat on its long neck, leading down to regal shoulders and a smooth black mane that rivaled the hair of their village's most beautiful maiden. The soft orange glow of the forest made the shape seem almost ethereal. When the creature spotted her, two enormous wings spread from either side of it, revealing a most beautiful flying creature with intelligent eyes. While her husband floundered desperately for words, Li Na stepped forward and reached her hand out to the spirit, for such a mighty creature could be no less.

"Please, great spirit," she begged, "where is my son? Where is Xiao Liang?"

It tilted its head at her and she saw the spirit's eyes shimmer in the setting sunlight. After a moment's deliberation, the spirit walked toward her, and she saw the source of the odd thudding noise. The spirit had hooven feet that clopped against the forest floor loudly with each step. When it stood right in front of Li Na, she held her breath and clasped her hands against her chest. At last, the spirit turned and lowered one of its handsome wings, revealing the sopping wet form of her Xiao Liang.

Li Na cried out in a mixture of relief and horror, reaching forward as the spirit's wing allowed the boy to slide into his mother's arms and holding her son as tightly as she could, sobbing when the soft thumping of his heartbeat reached her ears.

She looked up to the majestic spirit with watery eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, pressing tight kisses to her son's face and head before looking up again. "Thank you so much!"

The spirit dipped its head in welcome and turned, revealing a flicking tail of the same soft mane as the one on its neck as it sauntered back into the forest, reaching a small clearing where it spread its wings and took off, disappearing into the darkening sky.

——

Blackjack was proud of himself for safely escorting the little human back to its home. The bigger humans had surprised him at first, but that lady seemed trustworthy enough, so he just flew over the mini city a few times to make sure they brought him back inside before flying off. He had so much to tell the boss! He couldn't wait to see him again! And he flew off into the light of the setting sun.