Eye of the Storm

Page Twenty-Three

They walked slowly along a rocky and barren land that looked endless. They were all silent and exhausted, the weight of the lost battle still in their minds. "This is humiliating." Katara spoke up. "Do you mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation, or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple."

"Both." Katara replied, defeatedly. "Sorry, guys, but Appa gets really tired carrying all these people."

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are."

"They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out, now he's going back in." Haru replied, sounding tired. "I miss Pipsqueak."

"I miss not having blisters on my feet." They stopped when they reached a canyon. They were so high up that there were clouds hovering in the cavern. "Hey, we're here. I can feel it." Toph's pale eyes lit up, and they all looked around. There was nothing around. "Uh, I think your feet need their eyes checked." Katara replied. "Yeah, there's nothing here." Gopan added. "No, she's right, we are here."

"Wow, it's amazing." They took Toph's word for it since none of them could see a thing. They climbed aboard Appa and flew town to the temple. And only now did they realize Toph was right. It was as though the temple was upside down on the underside of the cliff. Quila's jaw dropped, and Gopan's eyes lit up. They'd never seen anything like it before. Appa landed and they all unloaded near a fountain. "It's so different from the Northern Air Temple." Teo said in amazement. "I wonder if there are any secret rooms."

"Let's go check it out." Haru said excitedly. He, Teo, and The Duke all rushed off to explorer the temple. Aang was about to run off too, but Katara stopped him with his staff. "You guys go, I think we need to talk about some things."

"Why can't I go?"

"We need to decide what we're gonna do now. And since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this." They all sat down on flat benches made of large stone blocks. "Fair enough. So, what's the new plan?" Aang crossed his arms. He obviously wasn't thrilled to be talking about this again. "Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan. You just need to master all four elements, and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."

"Oh, yeah, that's great." He flicked a pebble. "No problem, I'll just do that."

"Aang, no one said it's gonna be easy."

"Well, it's not even possible. Where am I supposed to find a firebending teacher?" Aang did make a point. In a war against the fire nation, what firebender was going to teach him? "We could look for Jeong Jeong."

"Yeah right, like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again." Aang lay back, casually. "Who's-- Oh, never mind. If it's important, I'll find out." Toph voiced Quila's and Gopan's thoughts exactly. Aang took his glider in his hand. "Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" Aang got a running start and soared off into the mist before anyone could stop him. "What's up with him?"

"There's got to be someone who can teach him firebending."

"But who? If this Jeong Jeong guy is a no-go, then who would teach Aang against their own nation?" Quila asked. "Well, if Aang knows a little bit, can't he just practice on his own? Isn't that how you learned water bending?" Gopan asked, directing his last question at Quila and Katara. "It's not as simple as that. I only learned from years and years of diligent practice, and Aang doesn't have that kind of time. Katara learned from scrolls and masters."

"Come on, let's go after him." Sokka stood and they followed him to Appa. They caught up with him soaring around the canyon. "Aang, can we talk about you learning firebending now?"