Avatar: Bounties

Marvel Mountain

The team had officially entered the area of Marvel Mountain where the conditions were cold and ruthless. Only the toughest and most mentally strong people have ever traversed such an area and lived. All five of our heroes were in several layers and puffy coats to prevent them from catching hypothermia. Wanting to lighten the mood, some conversation began starting with Nilay:

Nilay: So what should our team name be? Every great team has an awesome name!

Duncan: What great teams are you talking about?

Nilay: Oh you know; double-trouble, triple-threat, Quadruple catastrophe…

Da-Wei: Is that last one actually a thing, feels like you made it up.

Chloe: How about the goofy weirdos, anyone?

Da-Yong: (facepalm) Our honor has just dropped 75 points…

Duncan: Chloe we are not using that name, no team would ever willing call themselves that

Da-wei: How about team avatar 2.0?

Da-Yong: Very original (all sarcasm intended)

Duncan: How about N.C. triple-D?

Da-Yong: How in bonkers did you come up with that name?!

Chloe: Yeah bro, I mean you said my idea was terrible but at least mine were actual words!

Nilay: Kind of sounds like a rapper name.

Da-Wei: Team avatar 2 and a half then?

Duncan: Guys, it’s the first letter of our names combined!

Da-Wei & Chloe: OOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Nilay: It’s the best one so far.

Da-Yong: In that case why don’t we just do D.D. and the short stacks?

Nilay, Da-wei, and Chloe: HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT!?

Duncan: Oh boy, here we go again…

The Marvel Mountain was not only known for its tough weather and terrain, but also rumored to be home to some of the most legendary creatures in the world. The most sought after bounty when it came to creatures was the elusive Yeti Dragon. Many stories have been told about this legendary beast but none has been able to catch or slain one in the history of the world. The thought of bumping into such a creature excited Nilay and Chloe but the other three did not share the same enthusiasm, especially Da-Yong whose fire bending was essentially useless in this cold weather.

As they got further along the path they arrived at a snowy field of Armadillo Musk Oxen. They were musk oxen with their body covered in an armadillo plate. (Orange bounty, unless provoked in a herd then blue bounty) They were just minding their own business and so our heroes thought they should let them be. Chloe noticed that in the middle of the field was a little creature that didn’t seem to fit the crowd. She approached the critter and found out it was a snowy wolf-hound. It was all alone and still a pup and of course the first question Chloe asked was could they keep it. Duncan and Da-Yong immediately shook their heads. “Well can we at least give it a name?” she asked. Out of nowhere, the thought popped into both the older siblings’ brain: “SUF-DAWG!”

A few minutes had passed since they walked through the field full of oxen armadillo but all of a sudden they heard a loud roar coming from the top of the mountain. The terrifying roar sounded very similar to that of a giant beast. The five heroes were on their guard and although the snow was thick and covering the ground, Da-Wei could sense the ground shaking and it wasn’t from any natural movement. He alerted everyone that something was coming their way; it was the herd of armadillo musk oxen all charging towards them.

Nilay told everyone that the roar from the mountain probably terrified the herd and now they are just running full speed in panic. Duncan had to quickly assess the situation, none of them were very mobile right now in the thick snow and Da-Yong was really feeling the effects of the chill. “Duncan, the puppy wolf-hound!” Chloe cried out. They could see the little pup trying to run away from the herd but it could not keep up and was eventually lost in the massive group. Duncan knew he had to rescue the pup or else he would never hear the end of it from his sister. He came up with a plan and everyone listened carefully.

Nilay was using his air scooter technique with Da-Yong on his back carrying them far away to safety. While they were escaping, Da-Wei used his earth bending to create a giant rock pillar to raise Chloe and Duncan and himself to higher ground to see if they could spot the pup from above. It took a while but Chloe eventually spotted the pup with its paws over its head trying to avoid getting stepped on by the stampede. Da-Wei and Chloe both used their earth bending to create a walled path for Duncan to reach the puppy. As Duncan got close to the wolf-hound he noticed the little fellow was badly injured on the right leg. He knew they had to quickly take him to safety and have him treated as soon as possible. Duncan picked the pup up but as soon as he did, the walls of the path that Da-Wei and Chloe created was crumbling. The snow fall was getting intense causing a lot of problems for Da-Wei and Chloe. The Armadillo Oxen were still coming without end in sight. Duncan was wide open to the mindless charging animals and all he could do was dodge as many of the oxen as he could with one arm holding the wolf-hound pup. Chloe and Da-Wei were in a panic as they had no idea what to do. Their strategist was stuck in a bind and he was quite preoccupied to come up with anything. Suddenly, a couple of people popped up to the high ground beside the two earth benders. It was Da-Yong and Nilay. Nilay was telling them that the roar from afar caused the Oxen to panic, so perhaps they could be calmed with a soothing sound. Da-Yong handed his little brother a makeshift violin he had quickly assembled not too long ago with some wood he found and some string he had. Da-Wei pulled out the special meteor rock he got and quickly changed it into the shape of a bow. With that, Nilay used his air bending to slowly descend Da-Wei down closer to the herd while he was playing a musical piece. Duncan was still holding his ground while Da-Wei was playing, as initially the music didn’t seem to have any effect. As time passed, the music started to get into the ears and the soul of the animals. The oxen began to slow down and eventually came to a halt as Da-Wei continued playing. Da-Yong and Chloe took the opportunity to grab Duncan and the pup and get them to safety. The Oxen had calmed down and the music began to slowly fade away as Nilay and Da-wei slowly pulled back to regroup with the rest of the team.

They traverse the Mountain looking for a good place to rest and patch up the injured puppy. They eventually came to a cave that looked unoccupied and they were about to check for danger inside until they heard a loud howl coming not too far from them. Duncan immediately signaled Nilay to take the puppy with him into the cave and Da-Yong to follow him as well. He was confident that Da-Yong would be enough to handle what was in the cave if there was any trouble. Da-Wei and Chloe would stay behind and guard the entrance in case of any intruders.

So the team split off and carried out their assignments. Duncan, Da-Wei, and Chloe were at the entrance ready for their approaching opponent. Out from the snow appeared a pack of fully grown wolf-hounds who did not look very happy. Chloe figured that these were the little pup’s family members and the pack thought that they stole their little one. Da-Wei also noticed that there was one wolf-hound in particular that was bigger and standing on a high rock; he was the alpha. Chloe tried to explain to the pack that they were trying to heal their puppy but unfortunately they didn’t speak the same language. In all, Duncan counted 7 wolf-hounds plus their leader. The 7 began to spread out and surround the three benders. Duncan knew that there was no other choice but to fight but they also had to make sure not to cause much harm to the animals.

Three of the pack members began to pounce but the three benders dodged out of the way. The other four followed up but Chloe used her bracers to block their attack. The other two were knocked to the side by Da-Wei and Duncan gently. The other three continued their attack using their claws and their jaws but all three of them were very nimble and quick. However, two of the hounds that got knocked over earlier came back and pounced on Chloe and Da-Wei. They were both lying down on the snow with the creature over them and Duncan quickly reacted by using his ice hockey stick to smack them off. The other wolf-hounds were trying to sneak their way into the cavern but Da-Wei and Chloe combined their earth bending to block the entrance of the cave. Another loud howl was let loose which caused a ceasefire. The alpha had enough of his members fighting and he walked up and challenged one of the fighters to a 1 on 1 match. Da-wei was eager to battle but Duncan knew he had to be the one to take on this challenge.

The alpha immediately lunged with a great speed right at Duncan. Duncan anticipated the move and was about to dodge and counter attack but the snow severely hindered his movement so instead he was forced to use the snow to create a shield for himself. The alpha continued its relentless assault with its claws and fangs forcing Duncan to slowly back away until he had backed into a ledge. It was difficult to see how far the fall was behind him and before he could even look behind him to assess the situation, the wolf attacked again forcing Duncan to lose balance and fall off the ledge. Duncan fell off the edge and luckily it wasn’t a huge fall. The alpha followed Duncan below approaching him again. Duncan attempted to get back on his feet but he slipped from the icy surface below him and fell back down. He realized that there was quite a bit of solid ice around this area and that gave him a brilliant idea. Using his waterbending he created a couple of ice blades beneath his shoes so that they acted like skates! When the alpha attempted to attack again Duncan dodged his attack with ease. Again the wolf-hound tried to slash the ice-skating Duncan but the beast could never hit him. Duncan would run circles around the alpha and just gently hit the creature on its joints weakening it and preventing it from moving and attacking. After enough hits, the alpha fell down in exhaustion with Duncan emerging victorious.

Not too far above him were Da-Wei and Chloe who had witnessed the entire battle. They cheered for the winner while the wolf pack were in shock that their leader had lost. The two younger siblings were about to hop down in celebration but there was another violent roar that came from the mountain even greater than the last. This time it caused an avalanche on the mountain that was heading straight for our heroes and the wolf pack. Duncan quickly signalled to the two younger benders to gather the wolves to safety. Chloe and Da-Wei quickly rounded up the pack of wolves with them and they hid under the ledge for cover. Duncan put the heavy alpha on his back and skated to a safe place not too far away from Chloe and Da-Wei. They couldn’t reconnect because the avalanche was coming too quick.

As the avalanche approached Da-Wei and Chloe, they used their earthbending to create a cover over them and the wolves. The snow was hitting the cover hard but going over their heads. Duncan was watching from a distance as Chloe and Da-wei were holding up against the heavy snowfall. Unfortunately, the cover would not last as the debris from the avalanche broke off parts of the stone covering them. Chloe and Da-Wei immediately changed their stance to reinforce the wall but one of the wolf-hounds from the pack got carried off by the snow. The rest of the pack barked in sadness while the alpha who was watching this from afar attempted to stand up to save the lost wolf but it was still very weak from the fight. Duncan pat the alpha on its back telling it to rest. Duncan rushed towards the avalanche that was carrying the wolf away. He found a wooden plank nearby that he used as a snowboard to ride on the avalanche, steering with his body and his waterbending against the snow. Duncan eventually caught up with the wolf and pulled it out from the snow. With that he wanted to pull to the side and get away from danger but the added weight of the wolf shattered the wood plank causing them to get buried back into the snow. Luckily though, thanks to Duncan’s quick thinking, he was able to create a water sphere around him and the wolf to prevent themselves from sinking deep within the snow and eventually with time the avalanche began to dissipate.

Da-Wei, Chloe, and the pack of wolves began digging at the snow for their companions. It took a bit of time but eventually they struck an icy sphere that Duncan had created. They shattered the sphere and out of it came Duncan and the wolf that he had rescued from the avalanche. Chloe gave his brother a big hug and the wolf-hounds quickly rushed around to make sure their brethren was okay. Once they were sure their pack was reunited they turned towards the benders and could sense that they had a deep sense of respect for what they had done. Also by this time, coming in from the air scooter were Nilay and Da-Yong. Upon arrival, Da-Yong had in his hands the once injured pup that was now patched up thanks to Nilay’s treatment. Da-Yong let the pup run to it’s mother and the pack was finally all reunited.

The air of uneasiness was finally lifted and everyone could breathe a huge sense of relief. The wolf-hound all gathered and licked each of the heroes in the face in gratitude for all they had done. Once the heroes were finished cleaning the saliva from their faces the alpha stepped up towards them and the benders could sense that it wanted them to follow him. It was a bit of a trek but eventually the alpha came to a halt on what seemed to be a deadend. All that was around them was snow and a wall of stone covered in snow. However, the alpha looked directly at Da-Yong and moved his head in the direction of the wall. Da-Yong wasn’t completely sure what the alpha wanted but he guessed that the alpha wanted him to blast the wall with his firebending and so he did. As the snow melted it revealed a door of steel against the wall.

The door was locked and sealed tight so Da-Yong was ready to roll up his sleeves and just blast another huge heat to melt the door. As he was about to do so, Chloe stepped in, grabbed the door with both her hands and bent the door out of their way. Duncan, Da-Yong, and Nilay all dropped their jaws in amazement, “You are a metal bender?!” Chloe just smiled and chuck the door to the side and continued through the entrance. Da-Wei followed suit as well as Nilay, while Da-Yong and Duncan made sure they thanked the alpha and the entire pack. They waved and parted ways as they now entered the hidden passage within Marvel Mountain.