The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 1: Air, Chapter 9: The Blue Spirit

(Originally posted March 6, 2023 on AO3)

Aang gripped Appa's reins tight, trying his best to keep the bison steady as the torrent of icy rain beat down relentlessly upon them. He had thought that surely the bad weather would have let up after another week and a half of flying, but it seemed the universe was determined to make his life difficult.

Currently, they were attempting to make it to the city of Bin-Er before nightfall. Aang had never been there before, but he knew a bit about its history as an important trade route between the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe. Their supplies were running low again, and they needed to reach the city to replenish them. Aang tried not to worry too much about the fact that they would probably be out of money once they restocked.

Unfortunately, Aang's relationship with Zuko seemed to have regressed back to square one since their argument at the Northern Air Temple. The Fire Prince hadn't smiled once since they had left the temple, and most of the time he barely spoke to Aang unless absolutely necessary, and even then it was mostly grunts or nods.

Honestly, this didn't bother Aang too much anymore, as he had grown weary of trying to put on a smiling face and pretend like everything was okay. Because it really wasn't, though he didn't want to admit it to himself.

He also felt bad for poor Iroh, who had found himself stuck in the middle of this situation. Zuko had also been shutting his uncle out, and nothing Iroh did could make much of a dent in the armor the Fire Prince had encased himself in. Aang could tell that the old man was probably just as exhausted as he was. They were all exhausted.

Truthfully, Aang had no idea what to do now. There was only one Air Temple left that he hadn't checked—the Western Air Temple—but Zuko and Iroh had already been there six months ago, and said they had found nothing. Guru Pathik had said he hadn't seen an airbender since the war started, and neither had anyone else. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Aang to hold on to the hope that any of his people had survived Sozin's attack.

Maybe there's something Zuko and Iroh missed when they were there, the tiny hopeful voice in his brain posited. That was all he was going off of now. He didn't want to think about what he was going to do if he failed to find anything there either.

"Aang!" the voice of Iroh called out from behind him, causing him to flinch. "Are we getting close to Bin-Er?"

Aang felt a spike of panic as his awareness of his surroundings returned, looking around frantically to realize he could no longer see clearly through the torrent of rain. "Uhh... I think so!" he called back.

"I think we should take shelter until this rain lets up!" Iroh replied. "We'll all catch colds if we stay out in this much longer!"

Iroh was right. Aang wanted to make it to Bin-Er, but it was too dangerous for them to continue flying in this weather. "Okay, I'll take us down!"

He steadily lowered them, and to his relief managed to spot a cluster of ruins in the nearby mountainside that would hopefully provide enough shelter. Thankfully, when they landed, it appeared that the sheltered area was big enough for Appa to fit under as well, and upon disembarking, they jumped back in unison as the bison violently shook the water off of his fur, narrowly avoiding getting even more drenched than they already were.

While Zuko worked to get a campfire started, Iroh and Aang unpacked their soaked belongings from Appa's saddle. Once they had gotten their campsite situated, Iroh unfurled their soaked world map onto the ground, carefully to prevent it from tearing.

"Hmm..." Iroh said, brows furrowed, and coughed lightly, clearing his throat.

"Do you know where we are?" Aang asked. He hoped they hadn't gotten too turned around due to the storm.