Carved In Rock || ATLA

Hell On Heels

Avatar Day

"I'm hell on heels say what you will, I done made the devil a deal. He made me pretty, he made me smart and I'm gonna break me a million hearts. I'm hell on heels, baby I'm coming for you." - Pistol Annie's

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"You really did it this time Happy Feet, you got us thrown in prison and we're not even in the Fire Nation. You know this is the kind of shit - sorry, I said another bad language word - the kind of crap I'd expect from Sokka but not you."

"How was I supposed to know they wouldn't accept Water Tribe money? And are you ever gonna let the language thing go? I'm a monk, bite me."

"Now's not the time for your poetic justice Aang, that's what got us in here in the first place."

Aelita and Aang sat across from one another in the unkempt prison courtyard, both of them convinced this had to be one of their strangest days together yet. Earlier that morning they were woken up by the sounds of Sokka yelling at Mushu and Momo for spirits knows what before their camp was ambushed by the Rough Rhinos. The mounted cavalry unit from the Fire Nation earned their name from their brute force and the armored komodo rhinos they rode and they managed to catch the teens totally off guard. Colonel Mongke thought he had the upper hand when his men surrounded the team but they were able to escape on Appa. Sokka spent the rest of the morning sulking when he realized his boomerang had been left behind in the haste. After putting some distance between them and the Rhinos the team stopped for supplies at a small village on their map, the Chin Village, where an unsuspecting merchant invited them to the town's Avatar Day celebration. The celebration was anything but cheery for Aang or Aelita.

In the town square there were giant wood and straw carvings of Aang and Aelita and even carvings of their past lives; Roku and Tulan, Avatar Kyoshi from the Earth Kingdom, and Akira Ragnar of the Northern Water Tribe. But, instead of praising the carvings, the team watched as villagers lit them on fire instead. That was what landed them in this mess. Aang couldn't let anyone question the honor of him or any of his past lives and that's exactly what this village was doing. After he and Katara put out the fires Mayor Tong, a meek and weaselly forty-year-old man admitted that Avatar Day wasn't a celebration of the Avatar but to pray for the fall of the Avatar. According to the Mayor three hundred years ago Avatar Kyoshi murdered their village leader Chin the Great in cold blood, Akira Ragnar defended her actions and striking down the rebellion of the town against his partner. Now Aang and Aelita were in jail.

The young Avatar asked for a chance to clear he and the Akira's names despite his partner's objections. Aelita knew firsthand how hard it was to convince anyone their history was wrong considering she grew up being taught that Sozin started the war to share the Fire Nation's wealth with the rest of the world. Besides, the crime in question was three hundred something years old, how would they possibly prove their innocence? Apparently, they were leaving it up to Sokka. While Aang and Aelita sat in jail because the town refused to accept Water Tribe money for bail he and Katara were off searching for 'evidence'. They were screwed.

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Elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom.

Blissfully unaware a husband and wife walked through the quiet streets of their town after a successful morning at the market. Over the man's shoulders was a thin bamboo pole that held a basket on either side, both filled with produce and fresh fish from the river. In her arms, she carried a smaller basket filled with tea leaves and baked goods. They chatted aimlessly, neither of them knowing they were being stalked from the rooftops. Out of what seemed to be nowhere a shadowy figure jumped down from one of the nearby buildings, and crouched on the ground, startling the couple. When the figure stood they found its face to be covered by a haunting-looking blue mask that looked like a demon spirit straight out of the stories they were told as children. The spirit unsheathed dual broadswords from behind its back the other two could do nothing but cower in fear. In one fluid motion, the spirit struck but no blood flowed. The husband flinched back as his baskets fell to the ground, his wife dropping hers as she clung to him for dear life. The spirit snatched up all three baskets and disappeared into the shadows as quickly as he came.