Accidental Avatar 2-RocknRoll

Why you always lying?

We followed Jet into a dimly lit warehouse, which was empty save for a few sacks, a pile of canvas and rope.

"This is the place I heard about," Jet said as we all started looking around.

"There's nothing here," Aang sighed as he lifted bits of rope.

"If this is a trap-!"

Jin cut Katara off as she readied an attack. "Will you give it a rest already? We get it! You guys had a bad break up!"

Katara blushed beet red and was about to retort when Jet decided to repeat what he'd heard.

"I told you, I work nearby," he insisted. "Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had."

"And you figured, a giant furry creature must equal Appa, yes?" Mogui asked.

"Well..."

"He was here!" Toph called.

We all looked over at the pint-sized bender, and she was holding up a wad of white fur. We hurried over to her, and Aang stroked the clump with a sad expression.

"We missed him," he said softly.

An old, white-haired man strolled past, pushing a broom before him. He glanced at the fur in Aang's hand.

"They took that big thing yesterday," he told us. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. His information is suspiciously well-timed. 

"Shipped him out to some island. About time, I've been cleaning up fur and various, uh... leavings all day."

As he began to stroll away again, Aang rushed to him, calling out.

"What island!? Where's Appa!?"

"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whaletail Island bought him up, guess for a zoo or such, though could be the meat would be good," the old janitor answered wearily.

"We've got to get to Whaletail Island!" Aang turned to us, Sokka having already pulled out a map and looking for the island. "Where's Whaletail Island?"

"Far," he answered glumly. "Very far."

He lay the map on the floor, pointing out an island close to the South Pole. "Here it is."

"That's practically back where you started, isn't it?" I asked, frowning.

"Aang, it'll take us weeks just to reach the tip of the Earth Kingdom," Katara said wearily. "And then we would still need to find a boat to get to the island."

"I don't care!" Aang said, standing up. "We have a chance to find Appa. We have to try."

"Must be nice to visit an island," the janitor suddenly piped up. "I haven't had a vacation for years."

I cleared my throat before Katara could snap at the old man.

"Thanks for your help, old-timer," I said, standing up and putting a hand on Aang's shoulder. "But we wouldn't want you to get in trouble on our account."

The janitor nodded dismally as he shuffled off, muttering under his breath about not being needed.

"You're right, Aang," Katara sighed, also putting a hand on Aang's other shoulder. "Right now, our first concern is to find Appa. We can come back when we have him."

"All right, let's get moving," Sokka said.

"Mut," Toph said, drawing everyone's attention to me. "Your body language is... anxious."

"Yeah, your face looks like someone asked you to work out the square root of pi or something," Mogui added, standing up.

"Something isn't adding up," I said, shaking my head. "This is all... too convenient. No word about Appa for weeks, and suddenly we have several leads in a day."

"Maybe we got lucky," Aang said brightly.

"Life doesn't work like that," I said firmly. "We're being spoon-fed information. Someone is lying, and they're trying to get rid of us."

"He's right," Jin said, her arms folded over her chest, a frown on her face. "We clearly ruffled some feathers. We've been asking too many questions, breaking the rules. Someone is trying to get rid of us, and they've probably set this all up to do just that."

"But this is something we can't pass up," Mogui pointed out. "What if it really is luck? What if Appa really is out there, and we didn't go because we were suspicious?"

"Mogui's right," Sokka added.

"I am? Huh, that's a switch."

"What about Amaya?" I said, folding my arms and staring down Mogui.

"Not cool, dude," Jin said, putting a hand on my arm. "You don't just spring impossible decisions on people like that. Wherever Amaya is, she's with... people who will keep her safe. Appa needs us. I know you are suspicious, and I am too, but they're right. We can't pass up this opportunity."

I sighed heavily and turned to leave. "Right, then why are we still standing here?"