The Frozen Century Nearly a full day had passed since Sora and Aang had fled the Southern Air Temple.
Sora drifted through the skies aboard Inma, his eyes tracing the breathtaking scenery below—the scattered islands and the vast, endless ocean that looked capable of swallowing entire continents whole.
Despite the beauty, Sora’s mind was constantly wandering, plotting his future.
Once I reach my training grounds, should I start by mastering airbending to control sonic pressure, or should I focus on friction to generate heat?
he mused.
Sonic pressure is probably the best place to start.
I’ve always loved the sound of explosions.
If I can perfect compressed air waves, I’ll possess a lethal force capable of shattering bones and causing human bodies to rupture from the inside out.
Thinking back on his own train of thought, Sora couldn’t help but shiver.
Every single bending concept he came up with was designed purely for slaughter and execution.
Yet, he didn’t care.
He shook off the grim thoughts and pressed onward.
Moments later, the sky turned pitch black.
Violent storm clouds rushed in from every direction, surrounding them in an instant.
Thunder rumbled so violently it shook the atmosphere, and blinding arcs of blue lightning flashed through the darkness of the night.
“Damn it!” Sora cursed.
He needed to break free from the storm immediately.
“Massive Air Sphere Shield!” Channeling his bending, Sora manifested a gigantic sphere of compressed wind, enveloping both himself and Inma.
The external gale was razor-sharp and brutal, but Sora’s shield continuously cycled the air currents inward, ensuring the barrier remained structurally stable against the storm.
Defending like this is useless.
I need to move and get out of the eye of this hurricane.
“Inma!
Fly straight up, now!” Sora roared over the howling wind, urging his beast to ascend before the ocean could drag them down.
Inma let out a strained, roaring cry, fighting the crushing wind resistance with everything she had as she strained to climb higher.
At that exact moment, a desperate voice pierced the storm.
“Appa, yip-yip!
Appa, go up!
UP!” Aang’s frantic screams echoed through the thunder.
Hearing Aang’s voice, a sudden, sickening realization washed over Sora.
No way…
Am I caught in the exact storm that puts Aang to sleep for a hundred years?!
Blast it!
Sora immediately prepared to blast an air path directly upward.
As for Aang?
I’m sorry, kid, but I am not interested in taking a century-long nap!
But fate had other plans.
In the next chaotic second, the massive forms of Appa and Inma collided mid-air, completely shattering Sora’s balance.
“No!” Sora, Inma, and Aang were sent spiraling into a free fall, plummeting straight toward the raging ocean.
Aang had already lost consciousness, completely oblivious to the chaos around him.
Just before blacking out, he thought he heard a voice that sounded like Sora’s, assuming it was merely a hallucination brought on by terror.
Deep beneath the ocean surface, Sora stared as Aang’s body suddenly erupted into a blinding, glowing blue light.
He recognized it instantly: the Avatar State.
Aang was about to trigger his defensive ice cocoon.
Sora desperately attempted to blast the water away, trying to break free from the ocean’s suffocating drag, but the immense pressure of the sea was far too powerful to overcome.
Suddenly, a shockwave of absolute zero temperature exploded outward from Aang.
It instantly flash-froze everything in its path—Appa, Inma, and Sora himself.
Son of a bitch…
Is it really my destiny to sleep for a hundred years?!
That was Sora’s final, bitter thought before the intense, biting cold forced his brain to shut down, plunging him into a deep state of cryogenic hibernation.
The Avatar’s freezing mechanism possessed a unique property, preserving the life functions of any living being caught within it.
Sora knew he wouldn’t die, but he was trapped.
The freezing process took about fifteen minutes to fully solidify, but Sora had long since fallen asleep, spared from watching the ice lock him away.
The massive iceberg drifted erratically through the storm—sometimes breaching the surface, sometimes sinking into the abyss—until it completely vanished from the face of the ocean.
One Hundred Years Later Deep within the frozen wastes of the Southern Water Tribe, a colossal, unnaturally shaped iceberg locked the past away.
Standing before the towering wall of ice were a brother and sister: Sokka and Katara.
They stared deep into the translucent blue structure, entirely mesmerized.
Encased inside were two distinct silhouettes.
One silhouette belonged to a boy frozen in a calm, meditative posture.
The other silhouette belonged to a young man locked in a low, aggressive horse stance, appearing ready to spring forward into battle at any moment.
Both figures were completely frozen, suspended in time.
“Sokka, there are people trapped inside the ice!
We have to help them, fast!” Katara cried out, rushing toward the iceberg and striking the surface.
“Uh, Katara?
Don’t you think it’s a better idea if we just go home?” Sokka muttered, eyeing the frozen figures warily.
“Sokka!
How can you say that?
There are people in there who need our help!” Right then, a sharp sound echoed.
CRACK!
A visible fracture split the surface of the iceberg.
The single crack rapidly branched outward, multiplying and tearing across the massive frozen structure until it engulfed nearly half the iceberg.
SHATTER!
The iceberg violently erupted, sending massive chunks of ice raining down around them.
“Get back, Katara!” Sokka yelled, lunging forward to shield his sister from the falling debris.
As the ice stopped falling and the mist cleared, Aang stood in the center, his eyes and tattoos glowing with a radiant, piercing blue light.
The Avatar State held for two brief seconds before the light died out, and he collapsed forward.
Katara caught him before he hit the hard ground.
“Be careful, Katara!
It could be a monster!” Sokka warned, pointing his spear defensively.
“What are you talking about, Sokka?
He’s clearly just a kid,” Katara reasoned, gently holding him.
Sokka poked Aang’s head with the blunt end of his spear to make sure.
Slowy, Aang opened his eyes, blinking up at Katara.
“Please, come closer…
I want to ask you a question,” Aang whispered weakly.
Katara leaned in.
“What is it?” Aang’s eyes popped open, suddenly full of life.
“Do you want to go penguin sledding with me?!” “Uh…
sure, I guess?” Katara replied, utterly bewildered.
“Appa?!” Aang yelled, suddenly remembering his sky bison.
With a powerful leap that launched him nearly ten feet into the air, Aang vaulted into the center of the shattered ice crater.
There lay Appa, slowly waking from his long slumber.
“What is that giant fluff-monster?!” Sokka yelled, dropping his jaw.
“This is Appa!
Appa, wake up—” Appa blinked his massive eyes, and upon seeing Aang, lazily extended his giant tongue and licked the boy from head to toe.
“Wait!
, look!” Katara shouted, pointing toward the remaining core of the shattered ice, her eyes wide with urgency.
“We forgot about the other person in the ice!”