By some miracle, Ursa’s instructions led us true and we were able to sneak between the tourist beach houses, up some winding roads, and finally back to the mountains where Appa was grazing.
“Where’s the nearest sort of safe place we can land?” I shouted to Macco through the wind. I was steering Appa while Macco was sorting through the maps in the saddle, per usual.
“Gimme a sec!” I could hear the shuffling of papers behind me. Then, “Okay, so there’s not much populated land in the way. Besides, you know, some Fire Nation islands and I think after the few run-ins we’ve had with them that might not be the best of places. Wanna try the Earth Kingdom?”
“Sure. Where should we go in the Earth Kingdom, though?”
“Well, there isn’t much besides some deserts, plains, and—oh! How about this: we could go to Omashu!”
Omashu. The city in the hills. I couldn’t help smiling at the thought. After all of Dad’s stories about his fun times there over 150 years ago and when he, Mum, and Uncle Sokka went there on their adventures. I had heard that their previous ruler, King Bumi, had been a part of the White Lotis, a group of old guys that were the greatest masters of their elements, like, ever. Sure it was a city mostly for earthbenders, but the Earth Kingdom was known to be pretty relaxed about visitors. And two harmless watertribe kids weren’t going to do much damage…
“Yes!” I burst out instantly. “Oh, yes, Macco, let’s go there! How long will it take us?”
“Yeah…” he said, trailing off. “That’s the only problem. Because of all the places we want to avoid, it’s a little bit out of the way. It’ll take us all of today and into the night some. Will Appa be able to make it that far?”
I thought for a moment, “I think so. When we get to Earth Kingdom soil, though, we’ll just have to give him an extra-long break. He shouldn’t be hungry; he had plenty of time to graze, so hopefully we’ll make it.”
“That’s reassuring,” Macco said sarcastically. “Anyways, while you fly us to our eminent doom, I’m going to read up on some customs and politics in the Earth Kingdom so that on the off-chance that we make it there we won’t screw up even more.”
“You do that Research Boy,” I said from my position at the reigns, staring out at the open expanse of ocean laid out before us. Appa was fast, strong, and had endurance like I’d never seen before, but even he was living; he wasn’t a machine; he couldn’t go forever. I was worried. I patted his furry head and whispered in his ear, “You did it for Mum and Dad; I know you can do it for us. Good luck, bud.”
---
The day dragged on slower than I thought possible. Macco and I switched off a few times to rest after our early start this morning but it never seemed to be enough. Poor Appa yawned a few times, his tail moving slower with each hour.
“Look!” Macco suddenly exclaimed from the front as I was lying in the saddle, looking up at the darkening sky. I bolted up, sitting ramrod straight.
“What?” I cried. And then I saw it. At the horizon where the sun was setting, making the water around us glow, rocks emerged. I gasped. “Land!”
“We’re almost there! Keep it up, Appa,” Macco said to the airbison.
“How much longer, do you think?” I asked my navigator.
“No more than an two and a half hours, tops.” I sighed in relief. We were almost there!
---
Two and a quarter hours passed before we landed on the coast with a tired grunt from Appa. As soon as we were off of him, he flopped over with a thud, his weight stirring up the dust around us.
We set up camp and then we slept.
---
I was awoken by a gust of wind. Sitting up, by the glow of the I could see the outline of a hot air balloon landing not four airbison lengths away from us!
“Macco!” I whispered harshly, shaking my slumbering partner. “Macco, wake up! Someone followed us!”
Finally, he stirred and with a grumble sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Silently, I pointed to our stalker’s balloon. Macco’s eyes grew wide. We both got out of our sleeping bags and slunk behind a large tree as a figure stepped out of the balloon.
“What’s the game plan?” Macco whispered to me, unsheathing his sword.
“This.”
YOU ARE READING
I Am Not the Last Airbender {ON HOLD}
FanfictionStrong-spirited wild child Jalia, who loves nothing better than to tease her best friend, Macco, is the daughter of Katara, a waterbending legend, and Aang, the current Avatar. That's a lot to live under the shadow of. Not to mention the fact that...
