𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 ꩜ prince zuko

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CHAPTER TWENTY

        BY THE TIME THE morning light touched the horizon, the team was already bustling with activity, loading their gear onto Appa's back in preparation for the journey to the Fire Nation and their final battle. Yan moved quickly, helping each of them pack; within a few minutes, they were ready and dressed in their familiar clothes as they prepared to leave Ember Island behind. "Okay, that's everything," Sokka spoke as he secured the last parcel onto Appa's saddle, glancing over at the sky bison munching on a stack of hay.

        "No, it's not. Where's Aang?" Toph asked as she sat on the edge of a fountain. The others turned toward her, expressions shifting to alarm as they realized none of them had seen Aang since the night before. Worry took over and the group sprang into action, fanning out through the house to search, room by room, level by level. To cover more ground, they split up; it was Sokka who stumbled upon Aang's glider lying forgotten in a corner, an unsettling discovery since Aang never went anywhere without it. Their search led them to the beach where they found a trail of footprints in the sand, ending abruptly at the shoreline.

        "So, he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asked as the group stood at the end of the trail where the footprints vanished into the sea. Sokka quickly dismissed Katara's suggestion that Aang had been captured, pointing out that the sand showed no signs of a struggle.

        "He couldn't have run away, he left behind his glider and Appa." Sokka brushed off Toph's hypothesis, standing and crossing his arms. "It's pretty obvious: Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle. He's definitely on a Spirit World journey."

        "But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko asked when he recalled the times Aang had meditated into the Spirit World, leaving his physical body behind in the material world.

        "He can't be missing now, not today of all days. He has to still be on Ember Island. We should split up and keep looking." Yan insisted. The group nodded in collective agreement; Sokka and Suki took off on Appa while Toph and Zuko searched the surrounding area together. Katara and Yan headed into the nearby town, hoping for any clue to Aang's whereabouts. There, they came across a group chanting Aang's name, but it turned out to be nothing more than the theater troupe responsible for the dreadful play about Team Avatar.

        The group returned to the vacation home, their search yielding nothing; despite splitting up to cover more ground, Aang was still nowhere to be found. As they discussed their next move, a realization struck: Momo hadn't been seen either. It dawned on them that wherever Aang went, Momo was likely there too. "We've got a real problem here, guys. Aang's still missing and the comet is only two days away." Yan sighed, brushing off Sokka's half-hearted joke about Appa possibly eating Momo. The group turned their focus to Zuko, awaiting his thoughts.

        "Why are you all looking at me?" he demanded when he noticed everyone's eyes were on him.

        "Well, you are kind of an expert on tracking Aang. If anyone has experience on hunting the Avatar, it's you." Katara answered, Zuko sighing and nodding in agreement.

        By sunset, the group departed Ember Island, beginning their journey toward the Earth Kingdom. They traveled for hours until they reached a dense forest; there, they disembarked and continued on foot. After half an hour of walking, they came upon a tavern where loud voices and commotion spilled out from within. "And the reason you brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?" Katara called out over the chaos of the tavern, the overwhelming noise of people running wild and fighting as they stepped inside.

        "June," Zuko answered, pointing to a woman who sat at a table, fighting off a man who came at her all while drinking her tea.

        "Oh, yeah, that weird bounty hunter with a giant mole creature she rides around on," Sokka confirmed, he, Katara, and Aang having met the woman in the past.