MAYA [Book 1 - Water]

Chapter 22 - The Black & White Spirit

-Zuko's Point of View-

"We've interrogated most of the nearby villages and some of them have said that they witnessed a flying buffalo heading north. I believe it's the Avatar," Lieutenant reported.

"We'll keep heading north then. Let's ask the nearby villages we passed by on the way," I answered. "Ready the rhinos! We'll continue this search on land," I commanded. 

"You're heading out Prince Zuko? It's already peak afternoon," uncle said as he walked outside of the quarters. "I'm not going alone. We're all going," I sternly answered and then I walked towards the rhino's compartment.

We better do this quickly if we want to find the Avatar before sundown. 

--------------------------------------------

-Maya's Point of View-

Hours have passed since we last had a pit stop for lunchtime and by now it's probably close to dusk.

I am resting on the rear end of the saddle and Sokka is sitting opposite to me. Katara is in the middle laying on her stomach and sightseeing the clouds. Aang was on top of Appa's head with Momo. All of us are taking this time as an opportunity to relax— you know before any mishaps happen again.

Gosh... Thinking back on it, it's been days since we left the south pole and we're not yet halfway to the North but there's already been a lot of things going on. I'm surprised we've made it this far.

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they? Like you could just jump down and you'd land on a big soft cotton heap," Katara suddenly said while admiring the fluffy clouds. I also looked at them and she was right. With the clouds turning bright pink because of the nearing sunset, they look like a bunch of fluffy cotton candies floating in the air.

"Maybe you should give it a try!" Sokka teased Katara. "You're hilarious," Katara sarcastically replied. These siblings seriously, even when resting, always have time to argue.

"I'll try it!" Aang suddenly shouted. He jolted up and jumped into the air with his glider in hand. The three of us peeked from the saddle's edge to look at Aang. He tackled one of the clouds and swiftly passed by it. Until we couldn't see him anymore. 

When we were wondering where he went or what had happened to him, we suddenly heard from behind us a whooshing noise of the wind. We looked back and we saw Aang riding his glider and then he landed on top of the saddle. He was completely soaked with water. 

"Turns out clouds are made of water," Aang said and then he placed his glider down and air bent himself dry. Momo was affected by Aang's air bending and it made his fur frizzy. 

We were all looking at Aang and Momo until Katara suddenly noticed something from afar. "Hey, What is that?" she asked and then she walked towards the saddle's front end.

All of us followed behind her and then we saw, from a distance not so far away— a gigantic black spot in the middle of the forest. "It's like a scar," Sokka said. I looked at it with my eyebrows crossed, and I can't help but feel a raging anger inside of me. Who would ever do this?! Why would anyone burn down such an innocent forest?!

"Let's land down there and have a look," I said with an angry tone. A few minutes later, when we reached the center of the burnt area of the forest, we landed down there and had a look at the surroundings.