The Traitor Princess

Chapter 9 - Winter Solstice, Part One: The Spirit Wold

The four friends were flying high in the sky, just above the clouds. The sun was shining and the weather was ideal. Katara was leaning over the edge of the saddle, staring at the clouds. Sokka was whittling something, and Eziri had her head in a book about Earth Kingdom flora. She picked it up at the last village and thought it might come in handy.

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" Katara asked. "Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft cottony heap."

"Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka suggested sarcastically. Eziri kicked his foot with her own, not even looking up from her book.

"You're hilarious," Katara retorted. Aang piped up from Appa's head with his glider.

"I'll try it!" He launched himself off the side of Appa and into the clouds, causing all three teens to peer over the edge and watch as he fell. He laughed and cheered until he was out of sight. After a moment, he popped up, flying his glider, and landed in the saddle. He was soaking wet.

"Turns out clouds are made of water." Aang created an air bubble and sent the water flying off himself.

"Aang! My book!" Eziri complained as she shielded her book from the oncoming water.

"Whoops...sorry, Eziri," He said with a sheepish grin.

"Hey, what is that?" Katara asked as her attention shifted to something below. Everyone joined her at the front of the saddle to get a good look at what she was pointing to.

"It's like a scar," Sokka observed. As they got closer, they decided to land in the patch of land Katara spotted. The surrounding area was lush, green forests. However, this area was charred, dry, and covered in ash.

"Listen, it's so quiet. There's no life anywhere," Sokka said.

"Not anymore, at least," Eziri added, solemnly. Each person spread out a bit, looking at their surroundings in sadness. Katara noticed that Aang was especially downcast.

"Aang, are you ok?" Katara asked.

Sokka continued to look around and noticed rhino footprints along with soldier footprints. "Fire Nation!" He shouted. "Those evil savages make me sick!"

Eziri winced at his words and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to appear smaller. She knew Sokka didn't mean any offense to her specifically, but she still felt guilty for the awful scene before her.

"They have no respect for--" Sokka continued but was cut off by Katara shushing him. "What? I'm not allowed to be angry?" He whisper-shouted. Katara just pointed to Aang who was knelt on the ground with his head down.

"Why would anyone do this?" Aang asked sadly. "How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you," Katara reassured.

"Yes it does," Aang argued.

"No, Aang. No one is at fault except the soldiers who burned this forest and the one who gave them the order. My nation is responsible, not you," Eziri said. Sokka looked over to the firebender and saw the guilt-ridden expression on her face. He regretted his harsh words earlier--he didn't think about how it would affect Eziri.

"No, Eziri, it's the Avatar's job to protect nature. But I don't know how to do my job."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole--to find you a teacher," Katara pressed.

"Yeah. A waterbending teacher. But there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me."

"The Avatar before you? He died over a hundred years ago; how are you supposed to talk to him?" Sokka asked.