High in the mountains is where the Southern Air Temple stood. It was dark. The bright stars and the clear night sky sent a wave of relaxation and serenity to the people below. As people below were retreating into their homes to rest for the day, there was a young woman rushing through the empty pathways into the main temple where the Monks inhabited. In her arms, she held a tiny infant. It was asleep, coddling the woman's long brown locks. "Shhh. We mustn't wake the monks." She whispers to her child, moving quietly within the temple. She continues on until she makes it to a large wooden door with two long winding horns. The most spiritual room of the temple--the sanctuary filled with statues upon statues of the avatar's reincarnates. The woman holds her child close while she airbends blasts of air into the horns. Shortly after, the doors open and the woman sneaks inside. The smell of wood and the historic ceramics of the room fill the air as soon as the woman walks inside. "Hao, look at this place..." She says looking up at the seemingly endless ceiling. "These people, are all of the Avatar's past lives." She walks up to the statue of Avatar Roku. "This was the Avatar before that little boy Aang. The boy that lives with the monks." The woman stares into Roku's eyes, a sudden gloss of sadness overtakes her. "That young boy has so much responsibility..." She takes a deep sigh, "This room may be filled with empty statues of the avatar, but Hao, it's filled with spirits. We may not be able to see them at this time, but they're here in this room and maybe listening in on us at this very second...Hmm?" She looks down at her baby who was still asleep. She gives a motherly smile and continues to walk around the room.
Suddenly, the woman's sense of relaxation jolted to a stop as she hears a commotion outside. "What's happening?" She speaks to herself as she quickly runs deeper into the sanctuary. She feels a loud rumble beneath her. Her eyes widen. She curses underneath her breath, "Fire Nation..." She looks around frantically, "Hao, we'll be safe don't worry." The child was beginning to wake up to the noise. The loud rumbling began to grow into loud explosions, deafening, and terrifying. The child began to cry, and the woman was attempting to comfort her, "Shhh. Don't be afraid..." She blows a gentle wind onto the child's face, a soothing gesture. Suddenly a loud voice echoes throughout the Temple, "FIND THE AVATAR." Large masses of footsteps seemed to cause mini earthquakes within the temple and gave the woman an even heightened sense of fear. "Oh, Hao..." She hugs the infant and quickly looks up. "Spirits. The spirits that watch over this sanctuary, please!"
The footsteps get louder and louder, "Find each and every one of them! We will lead the Fire Nation to victory!"
"Oh Spirits please!" The woman began to cry. A storm begins to brew outside, the rain loud, the thunder rolling. "Captain! There's a large door over here! It's opened!" The woman kisses her child's face, "Hao, the spirits will protect you. Spirits! Protect my child! I beg you. All the lives today, may she live to tell our story, and bring peace to the Air Nomads!" Her eyes fill with tears as she stows her child deep within the sanctuary. "Goodbye Hao. I love you." The child looks at her mother's face for one last time trying desperately to grab ahold of her.
"You there!" A gruff voice yells out. "Get her!" The woman sends a powerful blast of air towards the soldiers. "For the Southern Air Temple! You will not win!" She repeats, "You will not win!"
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The Hidden Airbender || Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction||
FanfictionA young girl protected by the spirits, tarnished by her past, and forced out of her own home for survival. Hao survived the Fire Nation raid of the Southern Air Temple. She doesn't know why she was chosen to be the only survivor, she just knows that...
