THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(III) Fire

We hide behind the statues, and I pray to the spirits that they don't know we are here. Sokka makes a shushing gesture towards us. "Firebender. Nobody make a sound."

"You're making a sound!" Katara retorts irritably.

Sokka then raises his club, glancing towards the entrance. "That firebender won't know what hit him."

"Are you insane? You're going to get yourself killed," I note, making him roll his eyes.

"We're all going to get ourselves killed if we don't stop him!"

Before I can protest any further, Sokka leaps onto his feet and storms out from behind the statue, waving his club in the air like a madman. I sigh before I follow his lead, copying Katara and Aang who are doing the same thing. However, as soon as we leave our hiding places and check out what had made that suspicious noise, we see no firebender. Actually, there's no one there. Well, no one except for the cutest, funniest looking animal I've ever seen.

"What is this?" I ask out loud, as the creature perks its large ears upward.

"LEMUR!" Aang replies excitedly.

"DINNER!" Sokka corrects him, practically drooling.

Is it just me, or did the lemur give Sokka an offended look?

"Don't listen to him. You're going to be my new pet," Aang reassures the small creature.

"Not if I get him first!" Sokka retorts, and all of a sudden, he lunges himself towards the lemur, who arches up in terror and makes a run for its life, followed closely by a hungry Sokka and a protective Aang.

"WAIT!" Aang cries, while Katara and I exchange annoyed looks.

"Who do you reckon will get bit first?"

"I'd be more worried about Sokka falling off the temple," Katara replies, making me giggle.

We then follow the two boys, who are still on the lemur chase. I must say, I am seriously starting to feel bad for the little guy. Having two crazy boys chasing you around would certainly stress anyone out. Also, neither one of the alternatives would sound particularly appealing to me.

We finally catch up to Sokka, who is watching Aang airbend his way down a balcony, following the flying lemur.

"Hey! No fair!" Sokka yells at him.

"We need to get to Aang," Katara says worriedly. "Before he finds..."

We quickly run back down the flight of stairs, following the echoes of Aang's excited giggles. He's clearly still chasing after the lemur. All of a sudden, however, the laughing stops, and we walk to a chamber that was covered only by loose red curtains.

Taking a quick look around, I can easily tell the Fire Nation was here at some point, given the exuberant amount of helmets and spears laying on the floor. And sure enough, I see Aang on his knees, his face hidden in his hands.

Sokka and I exchange knowing looks. I know he's thinking the same thing as I am, and when Katara joins us, I know she's finally realized what happened here, too.

"Hey, Aang! You find my dinner yet?" Sokka says, trying to distract Aang.

"I'm sure Sokka was just kidding," I try to say in an attempt to alleviate the tension.

"Aang, I wasn't really going to eat the lemur, okay?" Sokka says, to no response. He sighs, slowly walking towards him. I suddenly notice the remains of an airbender who I assume was Gyatso, Aang's friend, from the engravings on his necklace. "Oh, man. Come on, Aang. Everything will be all right. Let's get out of here."