The sun dipped low behind the Ba Sing Se walls, casting long shadows across the sandstone streets. Even with the war over, the Earth Kingdom capital still buzzed with the sounds of rebuilding. Merchants shouted, children played, and the clink of armor echoed as Dai Li agents—now under new leadership—patrolled less like shadows and more like protectors.
Aang sat cross-legged atop the palace roof, eyes closed, feeling the currents of the wind around him. His glider rested by his side, and Appa snored peacefully below in the courtyard. The Avatar's robes fluttered gently in the breeze as he tried to meditate. But something tugged at him—an unease that wouldn't settle.
"Still up there pretending to be a kite, Twinkletoes?" came a voice from below.
Aang opened his eyes with a grin. "Hey, Toph."
The blind earthbender stood with her arms crossed, smirking. "You've been brooding more than Sparky lately. That's saying something."
Aang slid down beside her. "It's not brooding. I just… feel something. A presence. Like someone's watching."
"Spirit stuff?"
"Maybe," he replied. "It's hard to explain. It doesn't feel like a spirit. But it doesn't feel human either."
Before Toph could make a joke, a shout came from the palace gates.
"Aang! Toph!" It was Sokka, panting, his wolf-tail flopping as he ran up the stairs. "There's something you need to see."
In the throne room, Katara stood next to Zuko, who was visiting from the Fire Nation for peace negotiations. Both of them looked unusually tense. On the floor knelt a figure, cloaked in a tattered gray robe. A faint mist seemed to cling to their body, and their hands were bound in glowing chains—made of spirit energy.
"Who is this?" Aang asked, approaching.
"We don't know," Katara said. "He just appeared in the middle of the Lower Ring. People said he walked through a wall of shadow."
Zuko added, "He hasn't said a word. Not a name. Nothing. But his presence… it's unsettling."
The figure slowly raised their head.
Aang froze.
The person's face was pale, eyes completely black with faint violet rings pulsing in the irises. And though the room was filled with light, the air around him seemed darker—as if light itself bent away.
Toph stomped the ground gently, reading his stance. "…He's not afraid."
Finally, the stranger spoke, his voice like wind through dry leaves.
"The shadow has awakened. The cycle is broken. The Avatar must choose… or the world will drown in silence."
And then he collapsed.
To be continued...