THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(XXVII) Fire

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka asks, as Appa's feet briefly graze the ocean water underneath us.

"You're not one to complain? Since when?" I retort, shivering slightly. It suddenly feels a lot colder than before.

"I have an idea! Why don't we all get on your back and you could fly us to the North Pole?!" Aang retorts in Appa's defense.

"I'd love to," Sokka replies sarcastically, pointing at his back. "Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for take off."

"Well, if you insist," I tell him mockingly, harshly putting Momo on his back. Momo simply grabs onto his shoulders and stares back blankly.

"Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," Katara says, being the voice of reason, as always.

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe," Sokka gestures to the vast ocean around us. "There's nothing up here."

"I'm tired, and I'm hungry, and I'm cold..." I start complaining, but Katara cuts me off.

"I think I have a spare coat around here... Here it is!" Katara pulls out a blue Southern Water Tribe coat from her things and hands it to me. "It may be a bit too big for you, though."

"I really don't mind," I say, accepting it and putting it on. I then raise an eyebrow at Aang, who seems unbothered by the change in temperature. "How are you not cold?"

He shrugs. "I just airbend the warmer air towards me. It's called thermorregulation."

Suddenly, Appa's calm flight comes to a halt, as he quickly reacts to avoid being hit by several pointed ice spikes that suddenly sprout from the water below us. Katara and I exchange knowing looks.

"Waterbenders," I mutter, as I grab on to Appa's saddle to keep myself from falling off.

"We found the Water Tribe!" Katara says happily.

However, we're not out of danger yet, because before Appa can fully recover from the previous attacks, the water sprouts up once again and freezes Appa in his place. Soon after, I notice that we become completely surrounded by Water Tribe canoes, each one filled to the brim with waterbenders, probably the ones that attacked us to begin with.

"Uh... Why are they attacking us?" I ask, raising my hands so that they see that we mean no harm.

"They probably are expecting a Fire Nation attack soon," Sokka notes.

When I first heard that we were heading to the North Pole, I have to be honest, I expected to see small, modest igloos and a few snowmen, but certainly not a gigantic ice fortress guarding a whole ice-sculpted city. It's quite remarkable, really, and if it weren't for my inexplicable dislike for the cold weather, I would probably even love it here. Maybe if I were born a penguin. Or a polar bear dog.

"The Northern Water Tribe," Katara says, in awe.

"We're finally here," Sokka adds, sounding just as impressed.

The wall suddenly lowers itself, allowing us to get inside the city's border. I suddenly notice that it's waterbenders who are working together to get Appa and us moving over the water, something that seems pretty cool. I wonder what else they use these canals for, maybe even for a delivery system like Omashu's?

"This place... I'ts..." I begin, unable to finish.

"Beautiful!" Katara finishes.

"I was going to say freezing, but yeah, that too."