Balance | Old Version

Chapter 47 (The Cave Of Two Lovers)

Elua's POV.

It had been about a week since we left General Fong's army base. I had regained most of my strength and Sokka had mostly stopped pestering me...mostly. We've been at a river for a while now, Aang and Katara were practicing waterbending while Sokka was floating on a rather large leaf.
"You guys are gonna be done soon, right?" Sokka asks as he and Momo float in the water. "We've got a lot of ground to cover if we wanna make it to Omashu today," He tells Katara and Aang as he covers his eyes with his arm.
"What, like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" Katara asks him as he continues to float, only in his underwear.

"I can be ready in two minutes," Sokka tells her, but she doesn't look convinced. "Seriously. Whenever," He says.
"Sure," I say dragging out the 'ur' with an amused smile.
"I can!" Sokka shouts as he sits up on the leaf. I nod dramatically as I sit on the sand. Suddenly, I feel the water splash me, I look up at Sokka and see him laughing at me. I smirk, his eyes go wide remembering that I can bend water. I raise up some of the water, creating a huge bubble in the air. I let go of it and it falls on him, making him fall off his leaf and into the river. I laugh as he resurfaces and glares at me.

"You deserved that!" I shout to him, still laughing. As my laughing settles down, we begin to hear music come down the hill. We all look up and see a few people walking down to the river as they play their music and singing.
"Heh-hey! River people!" The man that was singing says as he smiles at us.
"We're not river people," Katara tells him.
"You're not?" The man asks in shock. "Well, then what kind of people are ya?" He asks.
"Just...people," Aang answers with a shrug.
"Aren't we all, brother?" He asks with a strange smile.

"Who are you?" Sokka asks as he walks through water and points to the man.
"I'm Chong, and this is my wife, Lily," The man, Chong, says as he motions to a woman beside him. "We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us!" He says happily as he strums the instrument in his hand.
"You guys are nomads? That's great!" Aang says with a smile. "My sister and I are nomads," He says happily as he motions to me.
"Hey, me too!" Chong says smiling. We look at him confused.
"We know...you just said that," I tell him, but he doesn't seem to care.
"Nice underwear," Chong says pointing to Sokka.

Sokka's expression turns to one of embarrassment and he quickly walks away, leaving us with the unusual people. We all end up sitting either on Appa or around him as Chong and Lilly tell us stories about all their travels. After a while, Sokka walks back over to us, now dressed.
"Hey, Sokka, you should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere," Aang says with a smile as he leans against Appa, who's fur is now braided with flowers.
"Well, not everywhere, Little Arrowhead," Chong states. "But, where we haven't been we've heard about through stories and songs," He tells us with a smile.
"They said they'll take us to see a giant nightcrawler," Aang says.

"On the way, there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow," A man that is traveling with Chong and Lily says as he lays on the ground smiling.
"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy I guess it's up to me," Sokka says, making Katara glare at him as Lilly braids her hair. "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows," He states.
"Whoa...sounds like someone's got a case of 'destination fever'," Chong says as he leans back against Appa. "You're worried too much about where you're going," He tells Sokka.
"You've gotta focus less on the 'where' and more on the 'going.'," Lilly states.

"O. Ma. Shu," Sokka says slowly, trying to get them to listen.
"Sokka's right," I state. "We need to find King Bumi so Aang and I can learn earthbending somewhere safe," I tell them, agreeing with Sokka.
"Well, sounds like you're headed to Omashu," Chong says, making Sokka hit his forehead in frustration. "There's an old story about a secret pass...right through the mountains," He states.
"Is this real or a legend?" Katara asks, unsure if he was just making stuff up.
"Oh, it's a real legend," Chong says. "And it's as old as earthbending itself," He says as he begins to strum the strings of his instrument while the other two begin to play a flute and drum.

"Two lovers, forbidden from one another...a war divides their people, and a mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together," Chong sings as he plays his instrument. "Yeah, and I forget the next couple of lines, but then it goes..." He pauses for a moment. "Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountain! Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!" He sings loudly and proudly, and when he finishes everyone claps, except Sokka.
"I think we'll just stick with flying," Sokka says, not looking impressed. "We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine," He states.
"Yeah. Thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground and we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable."

Later.

We were trying to make our way towards Omashu, but some Fire Nation soldiers had spotted us and were now throwing fireballs in our direction. We keep dodging them, but eventually, we are given no choice but to land.
"Secret love cave," Sokka says as we walk by the Travelers. "Let's go," He says dejectedly. 
"How far are we from the tunnel?" I ask Chong as we walk.
"Actually, it's not just one tunnel," Chong states. "The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth," He explains.
"Labyrinth!" Sokka shouts in shock.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Chong says, not worrying at all.
"All you need to do is trust in love," Lilly states. "According to the curse," She adds, making Sokka stop walking and stare in shock.
"Curse!" Sokka exclaims, he sighs as he begins to walk again.
"Hey-hey, we're here!" Chong says as we come up to a large hole in the side of a mountain.
"What exactly is this curse?" I ask him in confusion.
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever," Chong explains.
"And die," Lilly adds.

"Oh, yeah, and die," Chong says as if it's nothing. "Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song," He says smiling as he walks in front of the entrance to the labyrinth. "And die!" He sings.
"That's it! There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!" Sokka says, obviously aggravated.
"Hey, someone's making a big campfire!" The other man, Moku, says as he points to some smoke rising into the air.
"That's no campfire, Moku," Katara tells him.
"That's Fire Nation. They're tracking us," I state as I turn to the entrance of the labyrinth.
"So, all you need is to trust in love to get through these caves?" Aang asks.

"That is correct, Master Arrowhead," Chong answers, I look over to Aang and see him staring at Katara for a few moments.
"We can make it," Aang says with a smile.
"Everyone, let's go," I say as they all begin to walk into the hole. I turn around and look at Sokka, who is standing still and not moving. "Sokka, get over yourself!" I shout to him.
"I am not going into some cursed maze!" Sokka shouts to me.
"Cursed maze or Fire Nation?" I ask him, he seems to be considering the second option. "Lets. Go." I say sternly, he sighs as we follow the others into the labyrinth. As we walk into the cave, the entrance begins to collapse as the Fire Nation soldiers trap us in the cave.