The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 1: Air, Chapter 4: The Southern Air Temple, Part 2

(Originally posted December 9, 2022 on AO3)

Aang's heart pounded in his chest with adrenaline as he peered around Roku's statue in an attempt to see the person who had entered the room. Zuko and Iroh had hidden behind the statues of Avatar Kyoshi and Avatar Kuruk (Aang still wasn't sure how he knew which names to match with which statues), panic evident on Zuko's face as Aang saw him light his fire daggers.

When he moved his gaze back to the shadow, a thought occurred to him. Could this be the person I'm supposed to meet? Or maybe it's a descendant of my people? As the shadow drew steadily closer, he suddenly realized its shape did not exactly appear human. Could it possibly be...?

Feeling more courageous, he stepped out from behind Roku's statue and towards the door, as Zuko hissed, "What are you doing? If that's a Fire Nation soldier, they won't hesitate to attack!"

As Aang approached the creature and could finally make out what it was, his suspicions were confirmed, and he was suddenly filled with glee. "Lemur!" He exclaimed, sprinting towards it. The lemur pricked its ears and arched its back, startled at the sudden noise, and turned around to unfold its wings to fly away back into the sanctuary outside.

"Wait! Come back!" Aang laughed, chasing after it, and he heard Zuko yelling after him behind. If a lemur had survived, that gave him hope that other denizens of the temple may have survived too. Maybe this lemur could lead him to them!

He chased the lemur down a long hallway that led outside, flinging himself over the balcony to follow it, eyes watering from the speed of the fall. Softening his fall with a gust of air, he spotted the lemur disappearing behind some ripped drapes into a dilapidated structure that he didn't recognize. He followed the lemur, grinning. "Hey, come back!" he repeated, pushing his way past the drapes and into the structure.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he became aware of his surroundings, his breath hitched, eyes widening in horror. All around him on the ground were long-decayed corpses, all dressed in Fire Nation uniforms.

Unable to look away, his gaze gradually moved to the back of the structure to where a beam of light illuminated a single corpse that stood out against the others. It laid half-buried in snow against the back of the wall, and it was dressed in the familiar orange and yellow colors of Air Nomad monk robes.

Aang fell to his knees, tears burning in his eyes as he recognized the simple wooden necklace with the Air Nomad symbol carved into it resting on the skeleton's chest. There was no mistaking it. This was...

"Gyatso," Aang said aloud, his voice cracking.

He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands as he began to sob, waves of uncontrollable grief and anger arising within him.

*****

Zuko stopped to catch his breath at the bottom of the cliff Aang had just jumped off. He scanned the environment for the airbender, heart pounding and lungs burning from breathing in the freezing air. What if we just lost him?! He thought angrily, beginning to feel panicked. What if he took this as a chance to run away and leave us stuck up here? I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a faint sound coming from inside a nearby dilapidated structure, worn drapes covering the entrance. He cautiously made his way to the entrance, carefully pushing his way past the drapes into the structure. Relief washed over him as he spotted Aang crouched on the ground. "Hey, Avatar!" He barked. "You'd better not run like that again, or you'll regret- "

Zuko stopped in his tracks as he abruptly noticed the mass of long-dead skeletal corpses surrounding them, all wearing Fire Nation uniforms that were at least 80 years old. "What...?" he felt himself say aloud, bile rising in his throat as his eyes were drawn to the lone corpse in the center of the room that was not in Fire Nation uniform. He recognized the wooden necklace as the same one from the statue of Aang's mentor.