balance → atla, reader insert [HIATUS]

05 | the king of omashu

CHAPTER FIVE!
THE KING OF OMASHU

     OMASHU WAS NOTHING LIKE [Y/N] HAD EXPECTED. Although, what was she to expect? She had never been to an Earth City before. Aang took the opportunity to excitedly describe it the best he could to them on their way, punctuating the description with "You have to see it for yourselves."

       Despite the imagery he attempted to convey, she, Katara, and Sokka were in total awe once they mounted the snow-covered mountain crest.

       In the midst of the valley was a walled city atop a large rock promontory. The walls were tall but the mountains behind them were exceedingly taller. A lengthy and narrow, switchback road led up to the city. It was beautiful but did it really have to be that excessive?

      [Y/N] dreaded the walk but the grandness of Omashu was enough to distract her. Even Aang's eagerness managed to lift her spirits a little higher as he led the group to the entrance.

     "I used to come here all the time to visit my friend, Bumi." Aang told them.

      "Wow," Katara breathed. "We don't have cities like this in the South Pole."

      "They have buildings here that don't melt!" Sokka exclaimed.

     "This place is huge," [Y/N] muttered, the walls grew impossibly taller as they moved forward.

     "Well, let's go, slow pokes! The fun is inside the city!" Aang exuberantly airbended himself further ahead on the path.

     "Wait, Aang!" Katara said as they caught up to him. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar."

     Sokka nodded. "You need a disguise," said Sokka.

    "So what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" Aang asked.

     "Actually," [Y/N] eyed Appa. "That's not a bad idea." She nudged Sokka. "Hey, give me a hand."

      In a matter of a couple minutes, they utilized Appa's shedding hair to construct the perfect disguise for Aang. [Y/N] tied a piece of rope around the bundle of hair to place on the boy's head.

    "There," she said. "That should hold for a while."

      She joined Sokka and Katara to take a second to admire the finishing touches on their masterpiece. Aang looked utterly ridiculous and it took everything in her not to laugh. A short boy with a long, white mustache and tall hair bound together with a short piece of rope. It wasn't too convincing but it successfully hid his most prominent arrow.

      "I think we did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself," Sokka said smugly. [Y/N] rolled her eyes but a smile played on her lips.

      Aang scratched his head. "Oh, it's so itchy! How do you live in this stuff?" He asked the sky bison.

      "It's great! Now you look just like my grandfather." Sokka said.

       "Technically, Aang is 112 years old." Katara pointed out.

       Aang grasped his staff and adopted a faux "old man" voice. "Now let's get skippin' young whippersnappers! The big city awaits."

       He hunched over, using his staff as a walking stick. [Y/N], Sokka, and Katara followed after him. Though having the old man persona, he continued to inform them of minute details of Omashu in his regular voice.

        "You guys are gonna love Omashu. The people here are the friendliest in the world."

       Just in front of the entrance, three guards stood in front of an older man who had a cart full of vegetables in tow. The four of them stopped short when they heard one of the guards address the vendor.