Wandering Firebender

Two: The Boy

Elio rushed out of the ship and dove into the water, cautiously swimming around the ship to stay out of sight. He swam towards a secluded part of the shore, away from the dock. He pulled himself onto dry land where the overhanging trees of the forest kept him hidden.

"Oh this sucks!" He growled to himself, laying on his back and taking some time to catch his breath. He swiped the wet hair matted over his forehead backwards. Swatting away the spiderflies buzzing around, he began to progress forward, following the lead of a small creek.

The crackles of thunder and lightning sounded in the distance behind him. Looking back, he could see storm clouds making their way over through the holes in the canopy over his head. Elio sped up his walking pace; a downpour was coming.

The creek led him to a bridge. Elio stepped off of the slanted hill and onto a paved dirt trail. He crossed over the bridge and began to follow the trail, hoping it would lead him away from the Fire Nation sailors and towards a town where he could find lodging and food.

As he continued on his way, the sound of someone humming caught his attention. He walked around a bend in the trail and found a young boy walking with a stick in his hand. He seemed young: maybe between the ages of 8 to 10.

"Hey, kid!" Elio called out. The boy turned around and tilted his head strangely.

"Who are you? I've never seen you around here before." He asked.

"I'm just...passing through. What are you doing way out here? Don't you hear the storm coming?"

"Huh?" The boy looked up at the sky, "Ah! You're right! I should be getting home!"

"Is there a town down this way? I need a place to wait the storm out." Elio asked.

"Oh yeah! My village is just that way! It ain't much, but I'm sure you could find someone willing to help ya. Follow me!" The boy waved his hand for Elio to follow and began marching down the trail.

"Thank you." Elio said, holding tight to his bag and following behind the boy.

However, before they could reach town, the rain began to pour down on them. They sprinted along as quickly as they could, but when hailstones began to come down along with the pouring rain, they knew that they would need to find a place to take shelter.

"Follow me! I know a place where we can stay dry!" The boy shouted, taking him off of the trail and into the forest.

"I think it's a little too late for staying dry, kid! Where're we going?" He questioned, keeping in step next to him.

"Right there, see?!" The boy pointed forward. Elio looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a hut made entirely of stone. The boy crawled inside, and Elio crawled in afterwards.

"Ugh. That sucked." Elio said with a groan. The boy laughed, seeing that Elio was completely unaccustomed to such harsh weather.

"Yeah, it gets that way here a lot. It's because we're between the ocean and a desert plain. The hot and cold air's always crashing into each other and making nasty storms."

"Huh, interesting," Elio nodded. "Well thanks. What's your name, kid?"

"Tenzin," He introduced himself with a smile. "What's yours, teenager?"

"Elio. Nice to meet you, Tenzin. What is this place?" He asked, looking around. The inside of the hut had a fire pit and a few shelves within it, all completely carved out of stone.

"Oh yeah. One time there was an earthbender traveling near here. He got caught in one of the storms too, so he made this little home with his earthbending! Isn't that crazy? It's been around for a long time!"